Rands and Cents

Jessica and I enjoy coin collecting and one of the things our Dad always brings back home for us when he visits another country, is some of that country's currency. If there are any of our readers who enjoy the same hobby I thought that a post about the money we use in South Africa might be interesting. :)
South Africa’s currency is the Rand. We find it interesting that the Rand takes its name from the Witwatersrand (White-waters-ridge) which is the ridge upon which the city of Johannesburg is built. It is along this ridge where most of South Africa’s gold deposits were found.

One Rand is divided up into 100 cents. The symbol for the rand is: “R”, and it’s ISO code is: ZAR.
[Just by the way - you will often see South Africa represented by “ZAR”. This comes from the Dutch: Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek . You might have noticed too that SA's internet TLD name is "za".

The Rand became S.A’s currency in 1961, when the country got independence from Britain and became a republic. The Rand replaced the S.A. pound.
The first banknotes had the image of Jan van Riebeeck (the first VOC administrator of the Cape) printed on them. In the 1990’s the notes were redesigned with images of the Big 5 wildlife. As Jessica and I were born in the ‘90s these are the banknotes that we are familiar with, though we do have some of the old ones in our coin/banknote collection. :)

The Rand has quite a history – not always good! We were very surprised to learn that between 1961- 1982 it was worth more than the US dollar! The current exchange rate is around
R1 = $ 7.34. Of course this makes things rather expensive when we have to order something from the USA or Europe. :(

Faith Is Our Victory

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

- 1 JOHN 5:4

When you come to Him, don't come as a floater. "I'll go up and try it and see if it works." You'll never get nowhere, but when you come with this kind of a determination, that you have sold out lot, stock, and barrel... When you're tired of the world, and sin, and unbelief, and flusterations and doubts, and come to the living God with a anchor surely tightened in the Rock of Ages, the Holy Spirit's here to pull you into the Presence of the living God, that will give you a faith that'll overcome anything there is in the world: sickness, disease, and even death itself.

You say, "You said death, Brother Branham." And that's what I meant. Death.

Was not it, Lazarus, who was laying dead in the ground, and had already corruption set in, when Jesus said to Martha, "Where have you buried him? And if you won't doubt you shall see the glory of God."

"Did not I tell you not to doubt," He said to Jairus that day? "If you'll only believe, you can see the glory of God."

Then faith overcomes death. Faith is the victory over death. Faith is the victory over sin. Faith is the victory over sickness. Faith is the victory over worry. Faith is the victory over flusterations. Faith is the victory over the world.
You say, John, when he wrote that, he did not have my troubles. He did not have to deal with the folk that I deal with. He did not have to go through the things that I do. That's right. He may not had to deal with the same folk. He may not had to overcome the same thing, but he never excluded them. For he said, "This faith is the victory that overcomes the world, the whole thing."

How is it? It's faith in it. Ride above it. When we have the written Word of God laying before us, and the Holy Spirit here performing and showing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, with the Divine promises written here, that, "whatsoever thing you desire when you pray, believe you receive it, and you shall have it.", what do you have to do then? Have faith, not just floating faith, not just a make-believe faith, but a real faith.

Now, faith is a conqueror; faith is an overcomer. It just isn't a peace maker, it overcomes. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. What does it do? What is faith? What is the conqueror? Conquer and victory is the same. To conquer, it means to beat down, to override, to handcuff, to throw into prisons. It means that the sin, that once ruled you, you rule it now. It means that you have overcome it, you've whipped it. You're greater than it is.

Br. William M. Branham - FAITH.IS.OUR.VICTORY 58-1004

Happy Birthday, Rachel

Happy 15th Birthday, Dearest Rachel!

You're a wonderful sister and friend!

Hope you have a special day!

May our Lord richly bless you today and always.

I love you.

~*~

Dance of the Planets

Over the past few months an amazing performance has been going on in the sky - the astronomers call it "The Dance of the Planets".
It is the movement of the planets as they move towards and away from each other.
This year we've seen an amazing number of alignments and groupings of the planets and certain stars. As with all of God's creation, it has been fascinating to watch!

This week Venus, Mars and Saturn are grouped in a nice triangle, with Mercury below. Look for them over in the west just after sunset.

THIS EVENING (Aug. 11th) get out early to see all four planets above the new crescent Moon.     
Look for this grouping early evening in the western sky.
 *It is easiest to first look at the new crescent Moon and then look above it and find Venus, the Evening Star, which is the brightest of the group, then it will be easier to spot the other planets.
*Above Venus, just to the right is Mars.
*Below Venus, also to the right is Saturn.
*Once you find Saturn, start looking back down towards the Moon and you will see Mercury shining above it - also slightly to the right.
Click here for a diagram to help you find and identify the planets. Keep a look out over the next three nights to see how this grouping changes.

Here's a good animation  (although from the Northern Hemisphere) of the Dance of the Planets from Jul 04 to Oct 06 2010.

Enjoy star-gazing! :)

Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:

- Jeremiah 31:35

Perfect Love

A wonderful Scripture I'd like to share today:

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

- 1 John 4:18

 

Also sharing these lovely Perfect Love Wallpapers made by my friend, Lacy.

 

 "Thy Word Forever" has a new look and lots of new uploads!

 

Hope you've all had a wonderful blessed weekend! :)

Moment By Moment

Just a poem I'd like to share - the words are so true. The past month has really been a rough one - lots of trials for our family in one way or another! We have also all been ill. Through all the troubles the LORD is so very faithful and sees us through it all! He is so wonderful and it's wonderful to know that no matter what we go through God is there every moment.

Moment by Moment

Never a trial that He is not there;

Never a burden that He doth not bear;

Never a sorrow that He doth not share,

Moment by moment I'm under His care.

Never a heartache, and never a groan,

Never a tear-drop, and never a moan,

Never a danger but there, on the throne,

Moment by moment, He thinks of His own.

Never a weakness that He doth not feel;

Never a sickness that He cannot heal,

Moment by moment, in woe or in weal,

Jesus, my Saviour, abides with me still.

—Daniel W. Whittle

The weather has been quite warm these past couple of weeks and on Sunday afternoon we all went for about an hours drive just to get out a bit. As it hardly rains in winter in this part of the country it can get very dry and dusty. Spring and (hopefully)the first rains should be just around the corner though so we are looking forward to that! :)