My name is Sydney and as a follower of Christ, I am called to share the gospel with the world (Mark 16:15-18) so that all who hear it and believe will be saved from their sins. I am called to share my testimonies to the Glory of God. On this Blog I have recorded every experience worth sharing for the restoration of faith of the unbelieving, to remind the world that Christ is the lamb of God who was sent to take away the sin of the world to bring us back to God.
On Tuesday something told me to fetch my Bible before my first youth leader connect group meeting. Before opening my Bible, though, my dad asked me to message my brother to tell him to pick up some luxuries on his way home. So I left my Bible closed on my desk, grabbed my phone and as I was about to click on BBM, my phone's screen shifted to the left and I instead accidentally clicked the Bible app. I thought, well God must want to show me something right now because I don't believe in accidents lol and I read: "Today's verse" which said:
"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:19-20)
I thought this was just the perfect verse for the day, being that I was going to be at a Hillsong church connect the night in which I knew we would end off with prayer. I then messaged my brother, put my phone down and opened my Bible at a random spot. I read about Jesus and just as I was about to stop reading, something told me: "don't be lazy, don't end here, just read one more page." I then paged over and listened to this thought and there stood the same verse without me even realising was at in the Bible: "Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” I jumped back into my seat, looked up while pointing my finger up at God with a smile on my face saying "Whoa! God...you are good" lol when I arrived at our connect group I shared this experience with everyone. (We ended up having a spontaneous picnic underneath the stars.)
When we wrapped up and all held hands to pray I asked the leaders of our connect (Michka and Adrian) if they could pray for my family. I really want them to know God like I know God now. I want them to be saved. I just want us all in Heaven when it's our time, you know. It's something I've been praying for a lot lately, but I thought I would ask our connect group leaders to pray too, because of the verse God had shown me. 3 people praying the same prayer is better than just one. The Wednesday I woke up early for no reason and walked into my mothers room and I caught her on her knees at the side of her bed, praying! What a great God we serve, but it doesn't stop here, the real goosebump material is still coming up!
It was Thursday evening that I said a desperate prayer to God almighty. I asked God for a sign. I said "God almighty, please show me something. I need to see something to fill me with hope. I feel so lost tonight. Please God, show me something. I want to be favoured by you like you favoured Mary. I want you to be pleased with me and I need to know that you are pleased with me. I need to hear from you or I will carry on doubting. Am I doing the right thing? Please show me a sign in the book I am about to open. Please God. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen"
When I opened my book of daily readings at a random spot, expecting to see a verse, my eyes were instead drawn to a picture of Jesus preaching on the mountains. He had a ray of light around his head and I immediately thought back to when I saw a ray of light around my head in the water's reflection (Testimony 16). I thought to myself 'My word, how could I have forgotten about such an incredible experience? Is this world so distracting that it would make me forget about such a miraculous moment in my life?' I was immediately filled with an incredible amount of hope, I knew that I was on the right path and that God was reminding me about this moment, because the words on that page were like a blur in the background and that picture is what stood out to me as bright as the light around the head of Jesus. Below is the picture I randomly opened my book at:
The amazing things is that I could have opened at any other picture of Jesus in this book but I opened at the page in which he has a ray of light around his head. This is the only picture in the whole book in which Jesus is shown with a ray of light. All the others just have a ball of light surrounding his head, or a cross. I thanked God for this sign, but guess what, I still had some natural human-doubt in me. I still was unsure as to why God showed me the ray of light around my head in the first place as well, and whether it meant that I am chosen/anointed or not. So I prayed another prayer from my heart and I fell asleep happy that night, because I had indeed been filled with hope like I had asked - but still felt I needed another clear sign. The next day (God didn't wait a week or even 3 days, God showed me the very next day) I received a message from a stranger on Facebook. Below is the message that sent Goosebumps all over my body and caused my eyes to water up from joy:
Praise the LORD God almighty because this is as clear as it gets lol thank you GOD! You see, all you have to do is pray and God will answer your prayers. Say a prayer right now and see for yourself :) God bless you.
Last Tuesday I went to Caledon with my two best friends, (Keegan Basil and Jandro Saayman). If you have been there you will know that they have several pools, the higher you go the hotter it gets. It's actually really beautiful, you should make your way down there lol anyway! The point is while we were sitting in the bottom pool, I noticed a light around my head. This light came in the form of long lines. My first thought was 'wow that's so beautiful'. I assumed it was just the sun shining behind me, but as I moved the light followed me everywhere, and it only surrounded my head, not the rest of my body. Keegan then came swimming toward me, and I was trying to see if he had this light around his head too, but he didn't. "What are you looking at in the water, you're making me scared" he laughed. "Tell me I'm not crazy Keegs, do you see a light around my head?" "Where?" "Just look inside the water around my heads shadow, there are long lines of light coming from my head. Do you see it?" "Oh there! Yeah. So?" "Well how come no one else has this light?" he looked down at his reflection and looked a bit confused. He then moved away from me still looking at his reflection, but he didn't have this light. I then showed Jandro and he too just said casually "Oh, that's weird?" I then told Jandro: "Go grab my camera quickly I want to capture it so I can put it on my Blog!" Jandro took the picture (below) but the light cannot be seen? This is the picture we took below:
The actual picture
We then made our way to the higher pool and as I got in, still thinking about how strange this was, I looked down and the light was still there. As I climbed into the pool from the steps it followed the shadow of my head once again, and once again no one in the pool (there were two ladies) had this reflection of light around their heads. I just thank God for giving me two witnesses because I feel that no one would have believed me if I was the only one who saw it lol I also would love to know what explanation science could possibly come up with for this strange event, because if it were a reflection of the sun, why would only ONE person have it and not all the others in the pool, and why was it only shining from my head? Everything happens for a reason and I believe that it was shown to me for a reason - it definitely helped my faith. This was truly one of the most supernatural experiences I have ever had in my life, so far and I am grateful to have seen it. I hope that this also filled you with faith, reminding you that there is more to the physical, there is a Spirit, a heaven, and a God who loves you - believe!
I have a lot to share since my last post and I'm not sure where to begin lol! I suppose I should start from the first experience since this all actually really started since the anointing service at Hillsong Church, so here goes!
On 14 December 2014, our Pastor at Hillsong church (Pastor Phil) announced: "Today we are having our anointing service. Our church members are going to come around to everyone and anoint you with oil on your foreheads for the new year." I became really excited when I heard this lol because the word "anointing" had been standing out to me a lot before that service so in my head I was like Oh yeeeaah". As the church members went around to every single person in church I got a feeling that something good was about to happen. I then prayed to God "God, one true eternal God, if this is of you, and this is what you want for me, then please place my struggles in someone's mind and lead them to me. I want the right person to come to me." My struggle was thoughts that the enemy of God would place in my mind, negative thoughts about myself and about my life. Out of nowhere these thoughts of inadequacy would enter my mind "You are inferior. You are nothing. Everyone else is better than you. Your friends do not like you. You should be alone, distance yourself from them. Nobody likes you. You're ugly." etc and these thoughts stop me from doing so many big things in this world, that I know I am very capable of doing. After saying this prayer I waited until approached by one of the main leaders, "Have you been anointed?" she asked my mother who was next to me. "No, both of us haven't." "Okay I'll get to you soon." She proceeded in anointing and praying for the person sitting next to us. I thought to myself "Well, she must be the perfect person to anoint me, because she's a leader here and she must be the one that God placed my problem with, makes sense?" And just as I started getting excited lol another young lady on the other side of the pathway approached us and asked us if we had been anointed, and she made her way directly to me. "What is your name?" she asked "Sydney" I said as tears filled my eyes. She then anointed my forehead with oil and began to pray for me. Her prayer went something like this: "Father God, I ask that you remove any evil words spoken over Sydney and her life. I ask that you remove the strongholds the devil has placed in her mind." I began to cry even more at this point. "Protect her from the enemy, let her see the changes clearly. Remove these false beliefs so that they leave her for the new year and she can fulfil her purpose without them stopping her." At this point I was sniffing like a baby lol "Please bring people into her life, let her meet some good people for her life for this new year. In Jesus name. Amen." When she was done we smiled at each other and I grabbed her and hugged her, because she has no idea what a huge impact that made in my life. I felt free from partial captivity.
On this same night two "supernatural" incidents took place. The first was beautiful, the second was something out of a horror movie lol on my way home from Hillsong at about 8pm I got a call from my two best friends "Syd, we overslept and when we woke up it was too late for church! So upset we missed church!" "Ah, you guys missed an incredible service, you really were supposed to be here tonight." "Can we come over? Let us know when you're home. You can tell us about it." They came over and I explained everything. When it was time to leave, as they were pulling out of the driveway I looked up at the sky at a bright white star, the brightest in the sky. I looked back down at their car and waved goodbye and as I was waving, out of nowhere, this really bright orange/red light shot from the sky fast toward a tree and it was gone. My first thought was "That was definitely an alien ship, no doubt." lol I only saw a shooting star once in my entire life, in my backyard when I was really young. So to see this really felt like it meant something, and I felt like I was being watched in anticipation. I thought maybe I should walk to this tree, but doubt and fear sunk in and stopped me from walking alone in the dark. As I stood there starring at the tree I heard a voice "Sydney?" I turned around and it was my brother lol looking very confused. "Come here quickly! Come with me to this tree!" I asked him." Sebastian must have been scared out of his mind, because he didn't even reply lol he just went back to bed. I went to his room "Seby! Come with me quickly, I just saw a shooting star and I feel like I have to go to the tree it flew into." "Nope. Not going. No way." and so I ended up not going either. I can only imagine how weird that must have looked though hahahaha seeing your sister stand outside by the garage starring at the sky in the dark lol I wouldn't go with either. I then returned to my bedroom to write and read a little before sleeping.
When I was sitting in bed on my laptop my dog (who never leaves my side) had his head down with his eyes facing me. His eyes were closed, but they were flickering fast, which I've never seen his eyes do before, and I've had him for a while now lol. I thought that maybe he was just having his first doggy nightmare lol but then he opened his eyes for a while and starred at me with white eyeballs then he closed them again. His eyes then started flickering again, moving really fast up and down. I touched his body to wake him, but he didn't move it just kept flickering. I shook him harder and he finally woke up, so I figured it was just a nightmare. I closed my eyes and started dozing off into a nightmare. I started feeling attacked, my mind was flooded with negative thoughts and the hugest headache came over me. I opened my eyes and on the left side of my face, standing on all fours was my dog Chaplin, starring down at me for the first time. This fully got me up lol So, not being sure if we can pray for animals, I said a prayer saying "Father God if this dog is possessed, please rebuke this demon." and I added "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus, leave my dogs body now" and I slept in peace. What is weird is that it happened again twice after this moment (on other days) and I managed to take a video of his eyes the third time it happened with my phone, but guess what, my phone will not play it. It plays all the other videos, but when I click play on that video it's just black. So since there are no witnesses (as there normally are) all I have is my words and experience, and I'm sharing it. Below is a picture of my dog that I'm talking about, Chaplin.
So as you can see for yourself, this is a cute dog lol we must never hate people or animals, only the evil spirits who influence them as Jesus Christ once cast demons out of a human and allowed then to go into animals (pigs) which then drowned immediately. So we, while remaining realistic, need to also remain vigilant. There is a saying that goes - rather safe than sorry.
20 November 2014: I just saw my second animal spirit symbol in my room. I decided that it is important for me to start keeping record of these things to help others become aware of what is happening in the spiritual realm and also to keep as a part of my collection of testimonies (to restore the faith of unbelievers). I don't think anyone would believe these things if they haven't witnessed my full journey/story, I feel that I would perhaps be labelled as insane to anyone who is not open to spiritual truth, especially those unfamiliar with the Holy Spirit - because that's what we tend to do. "If I don't understand it, if it didn't happen to me, then I'm going to label it as weird and insane." So the only people I have spoken to about this is my father, mother, brother and best-friends who have witnessed my entire journey since I was saved by Jesus. (If you would like to virtually witness my journey then simply read from Testimony 1 upward)
So I've already briefly shared a post on the previous animal spirit symbol I was shown (Testimony 13) it was the symbol of a crab, and was shown to me in a bright pale-yellow light. (If you didn't read that testimony I will add it into this with even more detail) What makes the first animal spirit symbol so mind-blowing is that 2/3 days before the night of seeing it (shaped like a crab) there was a dead crab laying right outside my sliding door. I was sitting at my bedroom desk when suddenly my domestic-worker-bestie walked into my room saying: "Sydney, there's a crab outside your sliding door hey. I saw it yesterday. It's dead. Did you see it?""A crab? Don't lie Lien." I laughed, because: "there is no chance that a crab would be in our backyard.""Just open your blinds, it's still there." she said "I don't believe you." I said, while walking over to my sliding door lol but as I opened my blinds I had to believe, because there it was before my eyes - a random dead crab. If Lien had picked the crab up and disposed of it the day before, I would not have believed her, because I haven't seen a crab in years? And I always saw it near the ocean. What would one be doing in my area? What would one be doing in my backyard? I stood starring at the dead crab thinking how strange it was that "Not only is this crab in my backyard, but it crawled up to my gate when it could have crawled anywhere else? And the strangest fact of all, is that it crawled right here and died." Picture below of the dead crab laying on it's back:
After starring at it for a while I then closed my blinds and decided not to over-think this or try and link it to anything spiritual. "It's just a dead crab, there's no meaning." I told myself. Fast-forward 2/3 days later I'm sitting in my bed after a very long prayer on my knees. All of a sudden the atmosphere changed in my room. It became more "real", is the best word I can use to describe it, and I had the feeling that something supernatural was about to happen. It was like if an angel had to appear in front of me I would not be shocked or scared, kind of feeling. I looked around my room for a while waiting for something to happen, and it did. Up against my closet door appeared a yellow light in the clear shape of a crab. It didn't hit me immediately that there was still a dead crab placed outside my sliding door. It took me a few minutes to make that connection and it was quite the trip when I did lol my immediate thought was: "I need to find out what this means, I need to research it right now" and so that is what I did. I went onto the internet and searched on google: "Crab spirit Bible" to see what I could find that was biblical related and not "new age". I found an article on animal spirit symbols. Above the website read "EQUIPPING THE SAINTS FOR MINISTRY" It's subtitle was "THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT FOOLED". A part of the introduction read:
"Over years of ministering Isaiah 61, or the deliverance ministry, we have come to recognize individual spirits by pictures or visions that are repeatedly given by the Holy Spirit to pinpoint a certain entity. For instance, if the [Holy] Spirit shows us a mushroom cloud, as in the after wake of the atom bomb, we know we are dealing with a spirit of insanity" etc... and true or not I did not know but on this Website it listed all the types of evil spirit symbols and what they meant. There were so many! But I was in search for anything to do with a crab which is what I feel the Holy Spirit revealed to me, and I found it! On that massive list was (number 5): "Control spirit - Spider, Octopus, CRAB. It controls through it's arms leading to many hurts and wounds in a person. Just as the person seems to be almost free, it will pull one of it's tentacles to cause the person to pull back. The spirit conveys, and will slowly cause bitterness, hatred, unforgiveness and suicide to surface." And I started thinking about this one horrible day and night I had where I felt sad for no reason and I wondered why? I cried and started feeling sorry for myself. Thoughts like "I've been a victim all of my life is this ever going to end?" It was a random load of depression on me, who is normally happy 24/7 even when not smiling I'm happy inside, dancing everyday, singing everyday, but not that day. I immediately rebuked the spirit of control saying "You, spirit of control, I rebuke you right now in Jesus name, my body belongs to God. Satan has no power over my body in Jesus name!" and felt something lift off of me! I felt a gentle warmness in my stomach and an instant calmness. I am so glad God is showing me all of these things because now I know the reason we find so many unhappy, depressed, suicidal people in our world. They reach that point because they are being influenced and controlled by the unseen evil spirits. The world is unaware and has stopped believing in miracles and the supernatural/spiritual realm, so we all play the role of very easy victims.
So TODAY (20 September 2014) I was searching for videos on Jesus and the end times, because for some reason I had been doubting Jesus lately, even after what He did for me. I came across a very interesting end times video and after watching that Sid Roth Youtube Video (Paul McGuire Interview) at the end of the video he prayed for the viewer to have something supernatural happen to them, for the Holy Spirit to enter the room in which that person was, and for God to fill that person with what they needed to prepare them for the end times, I was that person lol I have to admit I became a slightly scared person when he looked into the camera and said that - because I thought "Oh boy what's gonna happen now..." lol but then he added that we are the ones who need to accept it though. So when the video ended I prayed "God you have not given me a spirit of fear, you have given me a spirit of power, love and of a sound mind. I accept anything you want to give me or show me. I am open to receive. In Jesus name. Amen." Again the room became "different" and I looked around the room and asked: "God could I see an angel?" (I had been asking for this a few days before that as well, but maybe I'm just not ready to see that yet, maybe it would scare me at this stage, or maybe it's not necessary). Suddenly, behind my door against my white wall, another light appeared. I thought it would be an angel, but it wasn't lol it was the very clear shape of a bird. I could see how the wings instead of going out though, were positioned going down on each side. The shoulders of the bird were quite squarely shaped as well. A little disappointed I thought "That's not an angel God" lol but I got back onto my laptop and searched for bird symbols. I wondered if there wasn't maybe something on that previous article on birds as I just focused on the crab spirit and lust spirit the last time (Testimony 13) and I found that there were two bird spirit symbols on that list. The one was a black bird, which didn't look like the one I saw, the other was a "Thunderbird" and I had no idea what a thunderbird looked like, so I googled it lol (Thank God for Google) and I found the EXACT shape the light was! Incredible! View the shape below (Of course it had no patterns, it was just a light yellowish white light in the following shape):
And on the same website it read: "Antichrist related spirit - thunderbird, morning bird of American Indian lore, swine or pig." I thought all my doubts about Jesus must be coming from this spirit. I rebuked it immediately :) so yes, there is far more to the physical - that much I am certain of. And if you would like to walk this spiritual journey then say this prayer: "Father God, I love you. I am a sinner, but I do not want to sin anymore. I believe that you sent your son Jesus into the world as a human sacrifice for our sins. I believe that Jesus was crucified, and that You rose him from the dead again. I believe that he is seated at the right hand side of you in Heaven. I believe He will come again. Let your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven God. Satan no longer has power over me. In Jesus name. Amen."
Tonight after a long prayer for others and then myself I saw something floating about in my room, it was shaped as a crab, precisely shaped as a crab. I found this really strange, because for 2/3 days now there has been a dead crab situated right outside my sliding door. Now, I have not seen a crab in the physical for years so seeing that was quite astounding. Being a child of God who is now more aware of the spiritual I wondered as I looked at this big crab what it meant, but I thought maybe I was just over-thinking things so I just left it there figuratively and literally lol tonight though, after seeing this crab shaped vision, I immediately researched it. I searched "Crab spirit Bible" to see if there was anything on it? This is what I found (thank you God):
"Control spirit - spider, octopus, crab. It controls through it's arms leading many hurts and wounds in a person. Just as the person seems to be almost free it will pull one of it's tentacles to cause the person to pull back. The spirit conveys and will slowly cause bitterness, hatred, unforgiveness and suicide to surface."
This same article,which lists many symbols of evil spirits, also mentioned that the "Lust spirit is almost always a frog". A video I had watched quite some time back, at the very beginning of my journey as a true Christian, immediately came to mind. In this video a man by the name of Howard Pittman explains his NDE journey where he was shown how possession takes place in the spiritual realm. He mentioned that demons came in shapes of people and animals that we can recognize from earth and spoke about how he witnessed a woman and man in the same hospital his earthly body was resting in, speaking to each other. He said "it was obvious that they could see not me, nor the angels or demons. Yet I was so close to them I could almost reach out and touch them.I could hear and understand everything they were saying. They thought they were alone and as they laughed and talked they were unaware of the horrible creature standing in between them." So they couldn't see him in the spiritual realm, but he could see them in the physical world as well as what was happening in the spiritual realm, where he was at the time. He watched what he explains as "a horrible looking slimy green frog" enter the face of the man. The angel that was escorting Howard Pittman then explained that "the demon was able to enter the man because he made himself desirable and attractive to the human."
While watching this video back then the majority of me believed it to be possible even though it sounded far-fetched. I believe that to be because of the gift of discernment (the ability to judge well) that comes with the Holy Spirit. I would never have believed in these things before being saved and I didn't even know there was a spiritual realm to begin with. Now looking back at that video, I can watch it with new eyes that have learned even more through God with a mind that is even more wise. I am going to attach the video below this post. It is an hour long but you absolutely have to watch this video, even if you don't believe it now, God will confirm everything later on your journey.
That all being said, remember that the enemy of God only has a foothold/ door into your life if you choose to sin, because sin is rebellion from God (Who tells us not to sin). If you do anything that you feel God would not be proud of ask for forgiveness immediately, repent. All children of God are targets of the enemy of God, because they are saved and helping God save others, so always be on guard. always be awake and ready. God will always warn you and prepare you for what is coming you just need to recognize the signs and rebuke, rebuke, rebuke in Jesus powerful name!
If you would like to read about the types of spirits you get you can visit these two articles: Symbols of evil spirits and Types of evil spirits to remove these spirits from your life all you have to so is say "I rebuke you spirit of _ in Jesus name!" and you will actually feel something being lifted off you.
If you would like to virtually witness these spirits being rebuked you can watch this video of Derek Prince rebuking spirits in Jesus name. Below is one of the most insightful videos you will ever watch in your life. Before watching it ask God to help you to always understand what is the truth, to give you the gift of discernment. I pray that God protects you, guides you and fills you with peace, love, joy, understanding and wisdom, in Jesus name! God bless :)
Today I write about my experience with spiritual attacks. It's quite lengthy, so make yourself some tea, maybe a snack as well and get comfortable, because you are about to read an online book lol the best thing about it though, is that it is the truth... and it's free! I share these attacks to remind you of the battle taking place in the spiritual realm everyday, so that you can become more aware of it and no longer be a victim to it, because you have the authority! You see, whether you are aware of it or not the enemy of God tries to stop you from worshipping the one eternal God everyday of your life, because he wants you to worship him, he wants you to listen to him.You become fully aware of it when you have the Holy Spirit inside you and then of course you also become a target of the enemy of God, let me explain why though.
In my last post I mentioned that if you sin, you are like Adam and Eve, who listened to the devil by eating the fruit that God told them not to eat. This means that when you sin, you are not listening to God. When you sin you are listening to the devil, therefore you are following his way of teaching. And so when you sin you are giving the devil power over you and your life. The devil specially targets born again Christians (who forget to pray and put on their armour) because He knows that he has lost control of them and his job (and the job of his workers) is to keep trying to tempt us so that we fall back into sin. You see one more person who is saved by Christ is one more person that will be entering the Kingdom of God when they die! So all he wants is to drag you back into drinking and sinning. He uses people who still follow him (to tempt you or discourage you) and his target is your mind. The devil and his workers try their best to speak lies into your mind, so that they can get you to doubt what God has said in His Word - just like in the beginning. The devil made Eve doubt what God had said and then she gave in and sinned. (We have a choice to give in or resist). The enemy of God uses your mind, because he knows that thoughts bring about emotions and emotions bring about actions and you need to know it too!
I have been getting a few attacks since the day I was saved. The first one was the worst, because I didn't know what was happening lol It took place in Sun City. I had travelled to Sun City to take part in Idols South Africa's theatre week stage, from the beginning to the end of that trip I had really negative thoughts in my mind, not your average negative thoughts, they were basically make-believe thoughts about myself and the people around me. Before the trip I was feeling confident, I thought to myself "I can actually win Idols you know, it's easy, and I can use it to bring people close to God, I feel like they will listen to me if I have this title" but as soon as I landed there and we entered the stage area something came over me. My mind just flooded to a point where I couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't. It's really hard to explain, but my mind was telling me to believe things that were not true, very delusional thoughts and I felt like I couldn't trust anyone around me. At that time I wasn't strong as a Christian. Throughout this whole Idols experience, the one I was so excited about, I was giving the devil power over me to manipulate my mind - because I was believing all his lies. On the first day I allowed fear into my mind and countless insecurities about myself, like if someone spoke to me I would try and find a hidden meaning to what they were saying like they were secretly insulting me. I even found it hard to sit around the dinner table and engage with people I just wanted to be silent and pay these negative thoughts all of my attention. It's such a hard thing to explain, but basically I had lost touch with reality and couldn't take Idols or people seriously and I just wanted to go home to Cape Town, immediately. I wanted my mommy lol
My Idols audition
On the second day, the day I got knocked off of Idols, I made the decision that I wasn't going to let fear control me and I tried my best to do better on stage while still thinking all these distracting thoughts. You have no idea how hard this was for me, and all I kept thinking was that if I just went home and saw my family again everything would be fine (but what I really needed to be doing all along was praying for protection, and reading the Word of God - which I was not doing). When the judges made their decision and sent myself and Trevor (the other person in my group) home, all of the people voted out went into the same room where we all waited hours until everybody else voted out on the day arrived. In the meantime someone had started a discussion about witchcraft, talking about what they had witnessed in their churches of people shaking, demons being rebuked etc. This was the first time I was really hearing about how real all of this is in our world. I curiously listened, but didn't pay too much attention to it, mostly because I kept disbelieving, I only wanted to believe in the good, not the bad because ain't nobody got time for that lol
Later I started feeling an intense FEAR of getting back onto a plane and so I asked the organizers if there was any way I could perhaps instead take a bus from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein, and they said they would arrange it, but they didn't. They gave me my flight details the next day. After a 2 hour bus trip to the airport and a couple hours of waiting I made my way to my plane and was shocked at the size of it. Already having a sudden fear of flight I then still had to get on my first SMALL plane lol when I was seated inside I asked the man next to me "Have you travelled on these small planes before?" lol "Yes I have, are you scared?" "I just haven't been on a plane this small before. Don't you feel turbulence more on these small planes?" "It's not that bad, it's better than a big plane." I found some closure in those echoing words, but they soon echoed away. As soon as the plane took off the biggest fear came over me. I had to close my window cover, because I couldn't bare to watch how high we were. (I had traveled to Johannesburg, Durban, New York, London and Paris before this flight and was fine) I sat back deep in my seat, my hands started shaking, my heart was beating hard and my chest was tense. I just kept telling myself "This is it" lol "this is how I am dying, this plane is going down and I am about to die." I then added "Father God, please don't let this plane go down, I'm not ready to die I have so much to do, please. In Jesus name. Amen." When we landed safely in Bloemfontein I celebrated with the person next to me lol I thought I was in the clear for a few minutes, but turned out that I had just arrived at the destination of the peak of this evil experience.
When I arrived inside my brothers soccer house I realized that I had literally not eaten anything throughout the entire day (I wasn't hungry at all, I had just completely lost my appetite) and it was dark outside already but we decided to walk. We walked to a steers nearby and I noticed that as my brother was talking to me I struggled to put my sentences together. I could hardly speak I just kept saying "I feel weird hey. I don't know what's wrong but I feel weird." I thought maybe I just need to eat something (again not praying for protection or reading the Word). When our food arrived I had this split second of hope "everything's going to be fine now" until I put the food in my mouth and couldn't taste anything. It don't know what paper tastes like, but it tasted like paper. The thought of swallowing something that didn't taste like anything made me feel sick and I couldn't eat it. "I need water Seby, I can't taste this food I'm not going to be able to eat it.""Sydney, force it, because I don't know what to do if you pass out, mom and dad are only coming tomorrow, what would I do?" I ate about 3 chips, took one bite of the burger and forced it down and that's all I could get in me without throwing up. The walk back was the worst, I started seeing purple light everywhere in the darkness. My mind was a place of torment and I couldn't walk anymore because I felt as though I were about to faint. Again I thought: "This is it" lol Sebastian then lifted me up and carried me on his back. I then started feeling just, unsafe and began worrying that someone would jump out of the bush with a knife and attack us, at that point I started praying for protection. "Father God, what is happening to me? Am I dying? I can't die here in Bloemfontein in the street! I'm not ready to die God please!! Protect me against evil, please I need you God!!" When we got back to the house I finished two bottles of water and decided to sleep, but as soon as I closed my eyes I saw a familiar face and it looked really evil and I'm not sure if it had anything to do with overhearing those witchcraft stories or if they were a warning sign, but something inside me told me to say a prayer against witchcraft immediately. I didn't know what to say though? So I pulled out my cellphone and searched for a prayer on Google (lol) and I found the longest most effective prayer ever: Prayer against evil I went to the bathroom to be alone and said this prayer and immediately felt 1000 times better. I could sleep, and woke up alive the next day, so great. When my parents arrived I told them what had happened. I celebrate now though, looking at the growth I received out of this experience. You can either Give Glory to the devil by constantly complaining about how he has ruined your life, or you can give Glory to God for all He has brought you through, for how He has strengthened you, rescued you, corrected you and taught you. Below is a picture taken in Bloemfontein with my brother the next day after the attack.
I had a few attacks after this one, but now you can see how God uses it. So yesterday I got Kelly (the girl who told me she had a vision about me) at a casting and she was talking about how she had witnessed a woman being possessed and mentioned that she had too been getting attacks. "When last have you been attacked?" she asked "Well it happened once recently while having dinner with my family, I had to leave the table to pray. Other than that it hasn't happened in a while.""When it happens you are to pray and read the word of God. Just know that we have nothing to worry about. The devil wants us to fear." she said and I agreed. After the casting my brother and I headed to Mcdonalds in Kloof street. While we were eating I noticed a man walk into Mcdonalds to use the bathroom. Something told me there was something evil about him. I watched him as he walked all the way to the bathroom. He was a dark-skinned man dressed as if he could live on the street in a worn out grey sweat pants and a black top. He looked troubled and in a daze, like he was on autopilot. A while later he left and I started feeling strange. I felt weak and fear filled my mind again. I started praying in my head directing my prayer to any evil spirits I cannot see. "You have no power over me. I am a child of the Most Powerful. I am protected by the blood of Jesus Christ and no weapon formed against me will prosper in Jesus name." I was feeling better, but not 100% better, so I told my brother "let's go to the car I feel like sleeping." We got into the car and as we were pulling out I saw that man again standing in the parking lot only he was saying things to himself while looking at my brother's car. I starred at him while he did it and he suddenly looked up directly into my eyes through the front window and stopped saying things, with a slight evil grin on his face. He looked so familiar to me at that point, but I don't think it was his face I think it was the way he smiled that seemed familiar to me. I said a prayer against him and for my brother's car and messaged another person who always prays for me to pray against this attack I was having. The person I messaged said that they had just been thinking about me and wanted to message me and that God places thoughts in our minds to help others, because we are all connected through Christ. And yes, there are evil people in this world - but God is faithful. I would like to that my Father God for these experiences and thank Him for protecting me and giving me these testimonies that I can share with the world. I know this is just the beginning. The message: Do NOT stop praying!!!! When you wake up in the morning get on your knees and pray for protection, put on your armour and you will be fine. Until my next post, here is a video on Spiritual Warfare (if you too are experiencing spiritual attacks) you can do more research by searching the net, its everywhere if you just look, but rather focus on the Word of God - it's sufficient. This video below was very helpful when it comes to witchcraft attacks though, so it will definitely help you too, enjoy! May God bless you, guide you and protect you, in Jesus name! Amen
On 21 September 2014, I was baptized again (I was baptized as a baby, but I obviously had no idea what was happening then lol). My heart had been longing to get baptized "again" for quite some time since I said the salvation prayer and I had been coming across a Bible verse saying you must be born again, a lot, I had also been hearing of people getting baptized, and then my church (both Hillsong and The Bay) announced that they would be doing baptisms services. I took it as a clear sign, that perhaps I should get baptized lol I am so happy I made this decision. There's just something beautiful about leaving your old life, old self and old ways in the past and becoming a new person, with new ways. On 21 September 2014 the old Sydney died, and I was born again! I now leave behind all of my sins, and choose (now that my eyes are opened) to try my best to live a godly life like Christ, and through Christ. You see, thousands of years ago when Adam and Eve sinned the first time the devil took authority over them and all who do the same, because when they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree they were not listening to God Who said "Do not eat it" they were listening to the devil who said "Eat it" And so if you sin you are not listening to God who says "You must not sin" you are listening to the devil who says "You must sin" and since God's Kingdom is a Kingdom for people who obey God, those who listen to the devil will not enter it. But the good news is that:
"God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
(John 3:16)
God had a plan to save people and He sent His angel Gabriel to a virgin woman named Mary, who was highly favoured by God for being so pure, to tell her that she would be having a child and that He will be named Jesus and he will save his people from their sins. When Jesus came into the world and died on the cross, His was made to be a sacrifice for all of our sins, so that we can come back to God. And Jesus Christ is our example, and he was baptized (Matthew 3:13-17) and so as he taught, we must also be baptized (John 3:1-21). And below is a picture taken by Hillsong Church Cape Town of my baptism:
I remember quite some time back I had tears in my eyes as I read the story of Noah in the Bible, how God chose to save him and his family only, because he was righteous. I had tears in my eyes, because I kept thinking negative thoughts like "Now because of all the things I did in my life, all those drunk nights, I will never be righteous, because of these actions I chose. If I had just avoided drinking and nightclubs I would never have walked that path. It's too late for me, because I already did it. If the world were to end tonight, I would not be saved from the flood" I went to sleep feeling down that night and the next morning, still feeling low I started thinking about it again in the car on the way home. "Why did I do all those things. Now I will never be righteous. God can't I just take it all away so why am I even trying" Immediately I looked out the widow to my left and there stood a sign in the distance against a wall "You do not have to be great to start. You just have to start to be great." I felt immediate motivation that I had been lacking all along and felt it was a sign from God telling me "Yes Sydney, there is a way." I smiled. Later I was lead to finding out about Hillsong's baptisms and I'm happy I have this second chance and I learned that God can wipe our sins away.
"I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more."
(Hebrews 8:12)
Thank God for His Mercy, that He forgives our sins and wipes them away - that is true forgiveness. As it is written, God's will is not for people to perish, but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)Praise be to God!
