Personal Beverley Rutland Manners

Personal Beverley Rutland-Manners

UPDATE 4TH NOVEMBER 2024
IN THE FOURTH WATCH

The Fourth Watch occurs between the hours of 3am and 6am and is said to be the time when Supernatural experiences are likely to happen.

The fourth watch is defined by the Roman watch as a time spanning from 3am – 6am. Biblically, strategic events take place particularly during the night and early morning hours/watches: The Hebrew watch was divided into three watches, the first, middle and morning watch. As the Roman influence and supremacy was established, the number of watches increased to four and were described in numerical order 1st (6pm – 9pm); 2nd (9pm – 12am); 3rd (12am – 3am); 4th (3am – 6am). During the 4th watch there are significant power encounters that make way for the Kingdom of God to penetrate the earth.

Fourth Watch 4th November 2024

I woke up abruptly from a sound sleep. At first I thought I must be dreaming, but as events followed each other I realised that something supernatural was happening.
It was as though I was reliving some terrible things I had done to other people throughout my life. Things I had not thought about for years past, and definitely never with the clarity of intense emotion that was attached to each incident.
I recalled with horror each and every scene that appeared before my eyes and it was as if I was seeing it from the other person's perspective for the very first time.

Had I really done this? Really?! I was overcome with grief and horror time after time, as these scenes presented themselves in bright clear color and in total reality. A strange thing was that the wronged party was never shown, and yet I knew exactly who it was.

There in my bed, tears of repentance flowed and I cried out to God to forgive me for each wrongdoing, Each person I wronged had long since disappeared from my life and I had no idea of where they might be so many years later. So I asked the Lord to bless them, wherever they might be. Things were also brought to my mind of people who had been uncommonly good to me at various stages of my life, and I was moved to thank God for having brought them into my life when He did.

In retrospect, I wonder if I was being given the chance to repent of wrongdoing. I wonder if perhaps I was being judged as we all must be one day.

Philippians 2:9-11
So God lifted him up to the highest place.
God gave him the name that is above every name.
When the name of Jesus is spoken, everyone will kneel down to worship him.
Everyone in heaven and on earth and under the earth will kneel down to worship him.
Everyone’s mouth will say that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And God the Father will receive the glory.

Miracle In Johannesborg 2019

Johannesburg was known to be the most dangerous city in the world. Australian government warnings were many, for example 'Don't take a taxi because not all are taxis, many are kidnappers!' The travel agent had me arriving at Johannesburg airport, at one am.
There was I, an elderly white woman in a wheelchair, alone in the dark with my luggage, outside the airport, with a 2 hour drive facing me to the designated apartment in Sth Africa where I had been invited to a wedding.

Dozens of young men rushed up to me saying 'Taxi madam? Follow me!' And I watched helplessly as one of them raced off with my luggage! I remember whispering "Jesus HELP ME!" and instantly a face appeared close to me over my right shoulder. He said "I am an Uber driver, this is my I.D. I am a Christian and I will get you safely to wherever you want to go".

I nodded and he raced off through the crowd and retrieved my luggage. The long drive to my apartment was uneventful and I was grateful that I felt safe. The month that I spent in that apartment waiting with much trepidation for uncertain events to unfold and the miracles that happened in order to save me are another story.

"People hurt me too much, so I turned to animals for friendship"

Me with my first 'very own' dog Dusty - my best friend.

I was so proud of the first show ribbon Majesty and I won at the Bankstown gymkhana in Sydney. There was no one to drive me so I'd ride him through the streets from Narwee where we lived in Sydney to the reserve where the shows were held. I always dreamed of the day I'd be able to compete in "Smartest On Parade" but by the time we rode there my horse was sweaty and his feet dirty! So it never did come!

Jazmar was an ex steeplechaser and he was given to me because no one else wanted him. He was nervous, a bit dangerous and had some bad habits he'd picked up from being bored and mistreated. He and I got along really well. I think it was because we were kindred spirits, outcasts out to get the world before it got us.

I had one of those childhoods that you prefer to forget. To give you an idea, I went through 11 foster homes, had as many changes of school and was always "the new girl" I had difficulty fitting in and making friends and I ran away from home several times. As I grew into my teen years I was a dedicated atheist...or is it agnostic...anyway, I remember saying to anyone who mentioned 'God' to me, something that went like this...and worse....

"If there IS a god then I don't want to know him, he's a bastard."

Like many other people I've met since, I thought that it was God (if there was one) who did all the bad things or at very least, he allowed them to happen. That didn't sound too loving to me, and God was supposed to be love. Yeah, right! What had my sister Valerie and me ever do to deserve what happened to us! Either God didn't exist at all, or else he was the vilest most hateful creature possible.

I developed a 'victim' approach to life, a 'poor me' attitude. My love of animals and their unconditional love for me comforted me and many a time my tears wet a horse's mane or fell onto a dog's beloved and understanding face. I was in a car accident that broke my neck and injured my lower spine. A friend brought me a book to read while I was laid up in hospital. The book was 'The Power of Positive Thinking' by Clement W Stone and Norman Vincent Peale.

That book, written in simple and entertaining language, turned my whole life around. It taught me that each one of us has the inbuilt power to flip the coin from the negative to the positive side, and it was so easy that I couldn't understand how I had never thought to do it before. I was amazed to learn that we always have a choice, even when we think that we don't; a free will, and that what we choose will have a direct bearing on what happens to us throughout our lives. It was exciting to discover that I wasn't trapped in my past. I could actually CHOOSE what kind of person I wanted to be and become that person! Naturally it didn't happen overnight, and it took hard work, but it was an empowering knowledge.

The Deal that Changed My Life Forever

It was ridiculously simple, the way that led me to God. When I was at my lowest ebb, I decided to put him to the test. Someone told me that there is a scripture that promises if we seek we will find, and if we ask God for bread he will not give us a stone.

I got down onto my knees and folded my hands as I'd seen people do in films.  I figured that was a respectful thing to do if God was really there. I told the thin air that if God was real, if it was true that he existed, then I wanted to know for sure. I asked him to reveal himself to me.  As I got back up from my knees, I didn't feel any different, nothing had changed and I thought 'oh well, I tried' and let it go at that. But God didn't.

A short time afterwards, I met a young woman about my own age, called Shirley. Shirley and I got along really well, except for the fact that she kept bringing up the subject of 'Jesus'. It drove me nuts! Finally I got so sick of hearing her talk about her "savior" that I told her we couldn't be friends any more unless she laid off the Jesus stuff.
Shirley went quiet for a minute and then she said, "I'll do a deal with you then, Beverley"

"Oh yeah," I said, thinking to myself this'll be good! "what's that?"

"My husband and I hold a bible study meeting at our home, once a week on a Thursday evening. If you come to our meeting just once, I promise I will never mention Jesus to you again unless you want me to."
I hesitated before I answered her. Unless I wanted her to? She had to be kidding!

The last thing I wanted to do was go to some bible meeting with a group of nutty Christians and listen to them talking Jesus all night. But I really liked Shirley, she was great and a fun friend to have. Maybe I could just go this one time. It would be worth it to stay friends with her without having to hear her blabbing about all the God shit.

"OK" I said finally, "it's a deal. But I know what you're playing at, and you're wasting your time"

The following Thursday Shirley picked me up and drove me to her home.  Everyone else had arrived by the time we got there, and when I walked into the room, the people gathered in the lounge room were so friendly, hugging me and welcoming me that it was downright embarrassing and I felt very uncomfortable.  It was weird already I thought to myself, and the meeting hadn't even started yet!   People didn't normally hug and kiss you on the cheek when you'd never met them before.

Finally, everyone sat down and got out their bibles. Shirley sat beside me and handed me one, whispering that she would find the pages for me so that I could follow the study. The evening dragged along and I was relieved when it eventually ended and we gathered in the kitchen for refreshments. As soon as it was respectfully timely, I asked if I could please be driven home.

I was glad that Shirley didn't ask me what I thought, or put any pressure on me. We chatted about other things on the drive back to my place and when I waved her goodnight from my porch, I was relieved. The deal was done, and now Shirley and I could be normal friends.

Oh yeah? Seriously?

To my surprise, over the following days, some of the scriptures I'd read that night kept popping into my head. One in particular.
"For God so loved the world, that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but will have ever lasting life." John 3:16

Could it be possible that there really was a god and that he actually loved ME? The idea seemed unlikely, but what if it was true? I had questions that needed answers. I went back the following Thursday.

It's not easy living the Christian life and there is no way any of us could do it unless in God's strength, which is glorified in our own weaknesses. But to know "joy unspeakable" and to have "the peace that passes all understanding" regardless of the situations surrounding us, and to have the hope of eternity with no more pain suffering or death, are treasures that like some other awesome things in life, are impossible to describe unless you've experienced them.

But it still took me years to understand that choosing a life without God is actually taking the easy way out, for those who aren't prepared to take on the challenge of a vulnerable heart.
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it" Matthew 7:13

Are Bible Stories Myths and Fairy Stories? I used to think so.
The Bible can be the hardest book to take down off the shelf and read, and the hardest to close and put away. Every one of Its prophecies over thousands of years have all come true to the exact time and place and it is logical that the last few which remain will do the same. Cities and even individuals mentioned in the Bible from thousands of years ago were thought to be fairy stories until geologists and archaeologists uncovered cities that revealed the truth.

Just one example of many is the Hittites who were long thought to be figments of imagination in the Bible stories because there was no sign that they had ever existed.... that is, until archaeologists uncovered the whole city and found tombs with inscriptions of the very names of people mentioned in the Bible. Too many to be co-incidental.

The Bible says that before Jesus returns, we will live in perilous times, in a world ravaged by increasing hunger, disease, crime, and increasing disasters. The Bible likens the happenings of the last days before God will finally end it, to a woman in labor. Just as labor pains become more frequent and of greater intensity until at last the baby is born, so will the tragic events of political unrest, poverty, fighting amongst nations, economic distress and natural disasters increase in frequency and intensity until the promised return of Jesus Christ.

Looking back, I realize now that although I had turned my back on my Heavenly Father, He had not turned His back on me. I see so clearly now, the way He was always with me as I went through my trials and sorrows.

God is so GOOD.
By a miraculous set of circumstances I found my beautiful mother again after separation from 3 years old.
That's Cobberdog Rutlands Clementine in the picture visiting MY MUM with me.
Vale: my mother passed away at 4am in Australia on 25th September 2013.