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Purpose fatigue

So these past weeks I have invested myself in praying for something in particular and when I say invested I mean prayer, fasting, the whole works. Sometime last week I thought God had answered my prayers and I was relieved and ecstatic that now I could finally rest easy until I realized the answer had still not come. And boy was I deflated. The thought of praying for the same thing for even just another day when  I  thought that battle was over just sank my spirit. Have you ever been in a situation where you thought something was over: you thought the healing was going to happen that day, or you were so sure that you were going to get a particular job, or you were convinced in your spirit that this was your month to get pregnant… and it simply did not happen?

This week I read the parable of Jesus turning water into wine and something caught my attention. To give context, Jesus is at a wedding with his mum and the wine runs out. Mary, his mother, tells Jesus of the situation and advises the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. John 2:6-7 NIV

What caught my attention was the fact that the jars of water held 20-30 gallons of water and the servants filled each of them to the brim with a total of 120-180 gallons of water! What tiring work that must have been!  It must have looked like a futile job considering that with each gallon, they did not see any change to the water in the jars, it was still water. But they persevered and filled them all to the brim in obedience.

Have you ever gotten fatigued doing something you know God wants you to do or is right for you to do because results/ rewards are not immediately apparent? Have you wanted to throw in the towel, just stop hoping or waiting and say God just do your thing whenever you are ready? Well, there is a lesson to be learned in a sunday school song:

Don’t stop praying the Lord is nigh; don’t stop praying He hears your cry. God has promised and He will do; Don’t stop praying He’ll answer you!

Be encouraged! Keep filling the jars with water (keep praying, keep hoping, keep trusting, keep serving, keep applying for jobs) and when you have filled them all to the brim, wait for God’s move. It will surely come.

Yours truly.

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Let’s talk about Jesus for a minute

So this week I read something in the book of Judges that caught me off guard:

After a while the people of Joshua’s generation died, and the next generation did not know the LORD or any of the things he had done for Israel. Judges 2:10 CEV

How is it possible that a whole generation did not know anything about God or what he had done? Up until that point in the lives of the Israelites it had been one miracle after another. The most  incredible stories in the bible are seen in the redemption of Israel from slavery and settling them in the promised land. From angelic visitations, burning bushes, golden snakes, the ten plaques,  pillars of fire, light and darkness happening simultaneously in the sky, seas parting so people could walk on dry land, walls falling at the sound of trumpets, to mention a few…. I mean how could these stories get lost and a whole generation did not know about them?

As I reflected on this, I had the opportunity to examine my life. I realized that I almost never talk to my kids about the awesome things that God is doing in our lives. My husband and I share these wonderful stories between us and spend time thanking God  for his many benefits but we never include our young kids in these discussions or offer them the opportunity to join us to thank God. I know they are very young and probably would not understand any of it and perhaps that is what the Israelite parents thought too and before long a whole generation did not know God! This week I have come to see why it is important to include them so early in their formative years so it becomes a part of them. This scripture still holds true:

And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:7-9 BSB

This week I challenge you to talk to your kids about the things you are appreciating God for and encourage them to join you in thanking God. If you don’t have kids, I encourage you to include a total stranger in your praise break. Together lets be intentional in raising a generation that knows God or at the very least has heard of His awesomeness!

Yours Truly.

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Seeking recognition for a job well done

This week I read an interesting passage of scripture that got me thinking about an incident that happened towards the close of last year. See, I give a lot to my work. I put in 110% everyday and an opportunity presented itself where I would get recognition for my hard work but I did not and boy was I livid. I was angry and upset for days. Although the moment passed, I learnt many lessons from that incident; the most prominent being to be humble because it is God who exalts. I sincerely thought I was done with the lessons until this passage:

“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ ” Luke 17:7-10 NIV

Wow! speak of a dose of humility. Jesus was telling his disciples not to actively seek praises, thanks, or recognition for doing their assigned duties! As I begin a new year, I am encouraged that the work I do be it career wise, household chores, taking care of the home and kids, serving in church, whatever it may be, I do for God. And instead of looking for recognition and getting upset because XYZ did not say thank you or acknowledge my hard work, my response this year will be, “God, I am your unworthy servant and I have only done my duty.”

Yours Truly.

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What does 2020 have in store?

Dear readers,

2019 was a very interesting year in my walk with God. I learned so many things about my life and my relationship with God by blogging about my daily experiences and thoughts. I grew closer to God and a big part of that growth process was because of you. Knowing that I was putting my life out there helped me accountable and honest about the things I wrote.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 NLT

You became my “cloud of witnesses” who held me accountable. I walked the talk as much as possible (still struggling with the love bit) and lived in truth of the word of God I shared. So thank you. Many of you were silent readers and so I do not know if this blog was helpful or not but I trust that you were encouraged and strengthened in your walk too.

This year, I hope to make the experience better. Here are some of the things to look forward to:

  1. I will be more consistent with my posts- this means I will dedicate time to meditating on God’s word which is always the inspiration for my post
  2. I will upgrade the site- this means that there will be no ads to interrupt your reads, the domain name may change and I will upgrade the look of the page.
  3. I will occasionally invite guest writers to write pieces so my blog is enriched with more of the good stuff you enjoyed in 2019.
  4.  I will try and make the posts interactive to give you the opportunity to ask questions, respond to the posts and share your thoughts. I believe in the collective sharing of experiences, knowledge, and revelation to encourage growth. So in 2020 don’t be silent readers. Comment. Share your experiences. Together let’s be part of each other’s “cloud of witnesses” and let’s grow together in our intentional Christian living.

May your 2020 be blessed and may you lay hold of all that Jesus Christ has laid hold of for you. You are deeply loved by God. I look forward to an amazing year!

Yours Truly.

 

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On the twelfth day of Christmas…

On the twelfth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Eternity that’s free, A thousand songs to sing, Streets of pure gold, Mansions above, A Robe and A Crown, A body glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting life and Salvation full and free!

You made it….the twelfth day of Christmas is here… and there is a reward at the end of this post for your patience 🙂

This year, I’ve had a few conversations who do not believe in Jesus in Christ but claim to believe in God. Almost all these people do not deny that there is a God who is in all of us and works through us. Variations of this include statements that we are all gods, God is the sum of all us, or that God is the force that drives everyone to do good. Paul in his day encountered a similar group of people in Athens who had built an altar to an unknown God. These people believed there was something bigger than themselves and bigger than all the other gods that they worshiped and the named this thing “the unknown God”.

2019 presented me with the opportunity to encounter this God people are so desperately trying to describe more intimately in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ultimate gift given to man by God out of his immense love for us and as a way to bring man to an understanding of who He is. Jesus is what the world needs; He is what every heart is desperately searching for. God gave us Jesus so He is no longer the “unknown God” but a God who is known to all and by all in this world and for all eternity.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 1 john 4:9 NLT

God wants man to live in relationship with Him forever and that is why he gave us Jesus so forever becomes a reality. And what will it take? Belief. You have to believe that Jesus is of God, from God and is God. That is the first and most important step on this forever journey. Are you seeking to know God? It’s not too late! Don’t wait till  January 1st, 2020 to make life alternating decisions. You can start right now…

Now for your reward… here’s a video of the full song which served as the series for the past 12 days:

Merry Christmas from Yours truly to all of you wonderful readers. It has been an amazing year and I am grateful for your patronage.

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On the eleventh day of Christmas…

On the eleventh day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me A thousand songs to sing, Streets of pure gold, Mansions above, A Robe and a Crown, A body glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD. Psalm 40:3 NASB

Someone recently said to me, “I can’t wait for 2019 to be over! This is one year I will not miss!” She was lamenting to me about her woes and struggles of 2019. When I look back at 2019, I can pinpoint many times I too was filled with uncertainty. Sometimes  I felt like I was stuck on a hamster wheel called life and I questioned my very purpose on this earth. A few times I had full-blown anxiety attacks.  But one thing I know for sure is that the blessings of the LORD upon my life in 2019 were incredible; some of them utterly unbelievable!

If I were to count those blessings, words would not be enough to thank God. For starters,  He has woken me up for 357 days in a row. I am on this side of eternity and I am ending the year with a heart of gratitude in spite of everything that went down in the year. That is enough to burst out into songs of praise.

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise!

Yours truly.

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On the tenth day of Christmas…

On the tenth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Streets of pure gold, Mansions above, A Robe and a Crown, A Body Glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.  Revelations 21:21 ESV

God promises us the pleasure of living in a heavenly city someday whose street is made of pure gold.  Gold in its purest form can be beaten down to very thin sheets that it appears transparent. Do you know how much refining the gold would have to endure to be that flawless? While we look forward to walking on the streets of gold, there is something very close to that here on earth: the words and promises of God.

And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. Psalm 12:6 NIV

The words of God found in his holy scriptures are as flawless as the gold that makes the street of gold and it is right within our grasp.

But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it. Deut 30:14

The promises of God are sure and give us hope and so in this season, as you merry and eat and drink, feed your mouth and heart with the word of God. let it be near you and let it refine you so that someday you are fit to walk on the streets of gold.

Yours truly.

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On the ninth day of Christmas…

On the ninth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me Mansions above, A Robe and a Crown, A body glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2 KJV

I learnt this scripture many years ago in Sunday school but this week I took some time to think about the words. A mansion is a large impressive house according to dictionary.com. Interestingly, Jesus is saying here that His father’s house (singular), comprises many large houses. This caught my attention! My mind went back to the story of when Jesus was driving away those selling in the temple. He said “my house will be a house of prayer” again singular use of the word house.

In this season, I am reminded that there are many Christians from all over the world that are celebrating the birth of Jesus into the world;  not all of them belong to the same denomination. Some are Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostals, Apostolics and what have you.  God’s expectation of all Christians all over the world is that they together, regardless of race and creed form one house. The scripture from John above is true of our eternal home in heaven but even more so true of how we live on earth: On earth as it is in heaven!!

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 NIV

Together, all denominations that truly call upon the name of the Lord build a spiritual house: the house of prayer where acceptable sacrifices are offered unto God. So in this season, let’s not be divided by which church or which faith one belongs to. We are many mansions in God’s house.

Yours truly.

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On the eighth day of Christmas…

On the eighth day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me A Robe and a Crown, A Body Glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

Christmas time presents many opportunities to celebrate. We celebrate the end of the year, the company of friends and loved ones, and the exchange of gifts. The sound of laughter and merrymaking is heard in many homes. This Christmas I want to present you with two new reasons to celebrate:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation: and with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bridegroom decked with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 Douay Rheims Bible

You have been adorned by God Himself. You are like his very own Christmas tree. He has decked you with the garments of His salvation and dressed you in the robe of His justice. He has shrouded you with jewels and beautified your life; and like the star atop a Christmas tree, he has put on you a crown. That’s what God sees when he looks down from Heaven at you this Christmas: His very own well-decorated tree. And this is all so that He will be glorified…plain and simple!

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release from darkness to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who grieve in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61: 1-3 BSB

Yours truly.

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On the seventh day of Christmas…

On the seventh day of Christmas, JESUS gave to me A Body Glorified, Power from on high, Joy for my soul, Love for all men, Peace in my heart, Everlasting Life, and Salvation full and free.

So earlier this year I was diagnosed with a chronic condition and I was devastated. One of my prayers for the year was that no one in my family would receive a new diagnosis of any disease in 2019. My prayer seemed to have been answered as everyone seemed to be dodging the diagnosis bullet except for me and I was disappointed.

I am reminded in this season that there are so many people (Christians and otherwise) who are living with chronic conditions and the stress of the holidays does not make it better. While some are bustling away and enjoying the shopping and busyness of the Christmas season, there are many that dread this time of year; It is a reminder of the fact that they cannot do the things that they love, or eat the things that love, or hang out with the people they love because of the state of their physical and mental health.

This morning, I was encouraged with a promise from scripture:

Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaiah 51:11KJV

There will come a day and soon when those who have been ransomed by God shall return to Heaven (Zion, the beautiful city of  God) with singing and rejoicing and this imperfect body riddled with diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, paralysis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and whatnot will be stripped away.

I could not have said it any better; such powerful and encouraging words right from scripture:

What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. I Corinthians 15:50- 53 NLT

What blessed hope!

Yours Truly.