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Walking by faith

Filed under: LIFE stuff — 25 Comments
March 4, 2016

Walking by faith – Everyone knows by now there are a deeper side to me and a life altering back story.

But I have never really told my story about my walk in faith.

I am opening my heart here and I know there are risks…because the world is not always a good place to lay your heart bare. But this is the time to do it…my walk in faith has brought me to this point where I feel compelled to share.

So those that want to know about a story of pain, hope, miracles and LIFE, read on.

As many of you know, 11 years ago (at age 40) I was lying on my “deathbed” in hospital. At one point no blood pressure and heartbeat and ready to die. A brutal attack and mutilation left me with a broken soul and the will to live has left me, my heart was filled with darkness and pain which I could not carry anymore.

Me 2 months after hospital:

rotaste1

 

Then the unexpected happened. While I was lying in my hospital bed, weak and not expecting anything but death, I heard a voice, God’s voice. The voice was clear…”Gert, I am offering you life…I have a plan for you. You must choose…”

I cannot put in words that moment…I experienced an incredible beauty, softness, kindness, pureness,  holiness, love and I saw LIFE…and in that moment my life changed. I was heartbroken, I was weak and I spend a lot of time in conversation with God over the next few days lying in my bed. I was soooo close to choosing death…but this unexpected experience showed me LIFE and I made my choice.

Sure, before this I knew about God and I knew the Bible. But this changed my world. Suddenly God was not just in a book anymore but He was more real to me than this world around me. And for just that brief moment I felt the touch of God…and I was utterly overwhelmed and unprepared.

Two weeks in hospital and I was strong enough to leave. Prognosis not good…some doctors gave me a couple of years. But it was not in their hands, I chose life and God was in control.

I was a changed man…but, the pain and darkness in my heart of what happened was not over. The weakness I have, is that I put a lid on things and push it deep down, trying to bury it…never really dealing with it.

My walk in faith deepened over the next years.

Now at 51 I am a living miracle of God. The body is still broken. Kidneys functioning at 50%, struggling with my liver, and that is just the tip of the iceberg with my serious health problems. But that is insignificant for God…look at me…with my severe health issues and being expected to be long dead by now, God has turned this around to the extend that I am looking the healthiest and fittest I ever did in my life. For Him, NOTHING is impossible.  He is in control, not the doctors, not me, not medical science.

Me, today…4 months away from 52:

gert

 

Now this all sound incredible and it is, but my world was about to be rocked again. God knew that the pain and darkness that I am trying to bury needs to be addressed. Every now and then an event triggers the lid from coming off slightly and the pain and darkness boils over. And recently the Holy Spirit kicked off that lid for good. All that pain and darkness surfaced and there was no way I could put back the lid on again. The Holy Spirit do not mess around…that lid was gone!

I struggled to breath, it felt like my heart was tearing in two…I pleaded with the Holy Spirit to please ask God to come and take my life…I could not bear the pain, it was overwhelming. My power to push it down was gone.

 

But let me give you a glimpse into how incredible God works.

The Holy Spirit literally forced me to walk into a church I do not know the next day, and walk up to the first friendly face I see and tell him I need someone to pray with me, now (!)  and intercede on my behalf before God. Now anyone that knows me, will realize this is the worst thing anybody can ask me to do. I am a total introvert, sitting always quietly in the corner doing my own thing and NEVER EVER just walk up to people I don’t know, let alone in an environment total foreign to me. This was going against everything I am.

But instead of doing this, I wanted to die, because this darkness and pain was so intense and overwhelming that again I was at this crossroad point in my life where I had to choose between life and death. I had a young son who I adore and a beautiful loving wife and if it was not for them chances was I was going to choose the easy road out. I was breaking down in tears continuously…and I am NOT an emotional person!

So I DID IT! I just did it in total obedience. I went to the church the Holy Spirit indicated to me, my wife and son by my side. I walked up to the first friendly face I saw and I told him what the Holy Spirit instructed me to do. He smiled and said I must go and sit, someone will come to me. A few moments later a guy, my age, walked up to me and touch my shoulder and smile. We went to a quiet corner outside and I told him my story, laying my heart bare, told him of my pain and the way the Holy Spirit is working with me now. We bend down and started praying, he laid me before God…during this moment the Holy Spirit told me that because of my obedience, He will now plea my case before God and lay my pain of the darkest corners of my heart before God. I could hear it, I could literally hear the murmurings, not words, but I could hear everything. I felt the touch of God as I did in my hospital bed and broke down in tears by grace I do not deserve. God once again began the 2nd miracle in my life, healing my pain in my heart.

The following week was extremely emotional for me as the Holy Spirit carried me through this process of cutting the pain in my heart out, piece by piece.

I thought my walk was close with God previously, but had no idea how intense it was about to become.

This God I bow down too, has become more real than anything else in this world. I am totally unprepared for how amazing and incredible His love, His holiness, His power and His kindness is.

 

So many people I talk to over the internet ask me “Why do God, if He is a good God, allow this pain and suffering in this world to continue?”

The world is a broken place. We have made our choices to abandon God and with it comes pain and suffering. God is the ultimate gentleman…He NEVER force His will on anyone. Bad things happen to even good people everyday…and you know what, it strengthens you to become a stronger person reaching greater heights. Look what happened to me…through it God strengthened me to reach heights I thought never possible in my life and I am touching many lives out there and helping people. I am a hard nut to crack and God knows it. He had plans for me…but left to my own devices that plan would never come into play. He allowed things to happened to me and come over my path. Bad things…like Job, but like God is, He turned everything around into blessings beyond believe. I still had to make the choices myself…but God gentlemanly lead me in the direction…

God wants so much the best for us, but when we abandon Him we are left alone in this broken world. The heart of God is such that He allowed that, which was most precious to Him, to be put through pain and mutilation and to die on a cross for us, just so that me and you would have direct access to God and the Holy Spirit.

My sins in this broken world prevents me from having a direct link with God, because before God nothing that has any sin or darkness can stand and live, nothing. God is pure and holy. Only through the sacrifice of Jesus, who was blameless, could He die in my place and through that allow me to talk to God and be saved. It had to be someone blameless, he had to had no sin because that is the only way He could die for ours.

God could have sent armies of angels to rescue Jesus, but this shows God’s heart…unmeasurable kindness and compassion. He did not have to do this for us…He is the Almighty God, rescuing us just by grace…which we do not deserve.

 

Now, many devoted believers don’t like it when they hear of someone like me who had such incredible experiences with God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ (I had Christ holding His hand on my shoulder at one of my toughest moments in prayer and more…)

Why me, what makes me special?

Remember Maria?…remember that between all the disciples of Jesus, SHE was the one that quietly bent down with her tears falling on Jesus feet and rubbed very expensive oil/perfume over His feet, no words, just an act of utter compassion. His disciples were not impressed about the logic that such expensive perfume was wasted. But she had a relationship with God on another level, why?…because of the AMOUNT of grace she required to be saved. Be happy and joyful if you required little grace to follow God, then you are blessed indeed. People like me (and Maria) carried so much pain and darkness in our hearts that the grace we require, is massive. This amount of grace changes you on every level and your relationship with God, is extremely intense.

 

Last week on one of the biggest radio stations in Cape Town, they aired this young woman who had a vision where Jesus Christ appeared to her and told her: “Go and tell the world, I have finished preparing all your places in heaven. I am coming to fetch you. The time is up.”

The Holy Spirit confirmed this in my heart…

Now, I know God said, no one knows the date and time, but I am making sure me and my family is ready…I cannot wait to join my Lord and Saviour!

 

I pray this article means something to you…it comes from deep within my soul.

Be blessed.

Gert Louw

Gert Louw staring

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Boost your energy, stamina and immune system in one go!

Filed under: SUPPLEMENT stuff — 8 Comments
March 4, 2015

Click here to PLAY video “BOOST energy and immune system in one go!”

 

Before I even talk about training aspects, let me first take you down the road my wife was the past few years. She had severe restless legs syndrome and were continuously fatigued. Those that have severe restless legs syndrome will know that it can drive one crazy!

After many prescribed medications was tried, I got here to do some extensive blood-work tests.

A surprise was that she had very low magnesium levels in her blood.

Immediately the light went on! Magnesium plays a crucial factor in various muscle related functions as well as energy and ATP related functions in the body. It even have an impact on the nervous system and skeletal bone maintenance.

She was put on high dosage slow released magnesium supplements and within just a few days her restless legs syndrome disappeared. For her it was like a miracle. Her energy levels also drastically increased.

Slow Mag is now part of her daily supplementation.

This is a mineral that is so underrated. By far the greatest majority (in excess of 70%) of people is deficient of magnesium.

For the bodybuilder, a magnesium deficiency presents a big problem:

  • He WILL struggle to build muscle, feel fatigued and energy less continuously.
  • Being deficient will even result in an immune system being under pressure, thus further impact on available gym time. Thus also why critically important that any hiv+ person must make sure he/she supplement with slow mag.
  • Athletes and bodybuilder need more nutrients than less active people. So it will be a given that you will require supplementation of magnesium.
  •  Magnesium further helps the bodybuilder to reduce the accumulation of lactic acid and reducing the perception of fatigue during heavy training.
  • Magnesium even helps lowering the blood pressure resulting in healthier kidneys and heart.

To sum it up, the bodybuilder will struggle severely to build muscles when magnesium deficient. He will be regularly sick due to compromised immune system, more prone to become diabetic and have a much higher risk for heart disease. His energy levels will be severely compromised and he will feel on edge the whole time…and much more!

Extract from www.livestrong.com:

“If your diet consistently falls short on magnesium, the resulting chronically low levels can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and Type 2 diabetes, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. A significant association exists between the amount of magnesium you consume and your overall risk for cardiovascular disease, reported a review in PLoS One in March 2013. Getting enough magnesium in your diet also helps lower inflammation, which may fight health conditions accompanied by inflammation, such as diabetes and heart disease, according to a review in the February 2014 issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.”

Magnesium plays a key role in hundreds of cellular processes, from metabolizing food into energy and absorbing calcium to maintaining a strong immune system and keeping your heart, muscles, and nerves functioning properly.

Magnesium relaxes muscles and is anti-inflammatory. This mineral also has a laxative effective, so it can help relieve constipation. Magnesium has also been found to have a protective effect against stress. Take 200 to 300 milligrams per day of the mineral magnesium (unless you have kidney problems or you’re prone to diarrhea).

Extract from www.organicfacts.net:

Prevents Asthma – Patients that suffer from chronic asthma may be able to normalize their breathing with the help of magnesium supplements that aid in relaxing the bronchial muscles and regulating breathing. Even wheezing and breathlessness can be relieved through administration of intravenous magnesium.

Keeps bones healthy – Magnesium is directly related to bone density, and subsequently, an inadequacy of this mineral in the body can be a cause of osteoporosis. Magnesium helps in the regulation of calcium levels in the body, along with vitamin D, copper, and zinc. Magnesium, along with calcium and Vitamin D, should be taken throughout the developmental years and adulthood, since it eliminates the chances of developing osteoporosis when you get older.

Essential during pregnancy – Magnesium is one of the vital elements to ensure a healthy pregnancy. Proper intake of magnesium supplements during pregnancy is extremely beneficial for reducing the risk of osteoporosis and increasing the pain tolerance level, thereby resulting in a smooth delivery process and an optimization of blood pressure. Magnesium sulfate is the best treatment for preventing eclamptic seizures in expectant mothers who may have hypertension.

Treats back pain and cramps – Magnesium helps treating people with severe backaches by relaxing back muscles, kidney stress and muscular tension. As mentioned earlier, magnesium also helps in the body’s absorption of calcium, which may lead to faster healing of the bones. Symptoms of cramps in the legs, as well as general fatigue are traditional symptoms of magnesium deficiency. Therefore, proper intake of magnesium supplements acts as a cure for chronic leg cramp problems.

Prevents constipation – Magnesium provides quick relief from constipation, and a high dose of water-soluble magnesium supplements is known to bring sound relief for even the most severe constipated state. This laxative property of magnesium relaxes the intestinal muscles, thereby helping to establish a smoother rhythm while passing bowels. Magnesium also has another property of attracting water, which in turn softens the stool and helps it to pass easily.

Prevents diabetes and regulates sugar level – The health benefits of magnesium extend to diabetic patients also, as this mineral helps to regulate the insulin reaction to blood sugar levels. Magnesium supplements are vital for all diabetic patients as many of them suffer from magnesium deficiency. Magnesium aids in regulating blood sugar status, thus promoting normal blood pressure. Hypertension is one of the major reasons for an impending heart attack, and it has been found that many people with high blood pressure also have a magnesium deficiency. Therefore, extra nutrients and mineral supplements with magnesium content are vital in order to avoid any medical complications.

Cures psychiatric disorders – Magnesium is known to cure some of the worst forms of psychiatric dysfunctions such as panic attacks, stress, anxiety and undue agitation.

Cures migraines – Migraine attacks badly affect many Americans, especially, females.  Magnesium supplements and liquids considerably reduce the severity of such attacks and may also help in reducing the rate of recurrence.

Produces collagen –Magnesium is important for producing proteins that are slowly transformed into collagen. Collagens are naturally occurring proteins mostly found in fibrous tissues like tendons, ligaments and the skin. It is also present in the cornea, bones, the gut, cartilage, blood vessels, and intervertebral discs. The more collagen in the system, the stronger those areas of the body will become.

Absorb minerals –Magnesium helps to absorb vital vitamins and minerals like sodium, calcium, potassium and phosphorus. Mineral absorption usually occurs within the small intestine and this benefit of magnesium ensures the detoxification of many harmful toxins in our body.

Activates enzymes – Magnesium also helps to boost the energy production in the body and it promotes theactivation of enzymes to create cellular energy.

Controls bladder functions – Many people who have blabber problems and suffer from the frequent urge to urinate may find relief by taking magnesium supplements. Urination problems can come from a variety of reasons such as nephritis, infections, or sometimes interstitial cystitis; however, regular intake of magnesium can bring great relief to these ailments.

Happy training!

GertFITNESS

50th birthday studio COVER

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