Tuesday 24 January 2012

Disappointments aren't....

So we all have had an disappointing moment in our lives, at least most of us have -:) . We at times wonder why God who loves us and is all knowing would allows us to suffer pain of which He could have helped us avoid. There had been times i would why didn't He just intervened?

One of my closest friends once told me not to view set backs and disappointing as such but to view then as stepping stones to greater heights, sort of seeing them as "stepping stones not as stumbling blocks". While this statement may seem purely philosophical, it has a great deal of spiritual truth. I have always said and believed that as a child of God whatever happens to me is for good and happens because God loves so much. "Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose ".

While we are still undergoing sets backs is difficult for us to understand or even think that God will use those situations make us better than we are, This week i was just looking back to some disappointing moments that i have had in the recent past, it is only now i can see clearly why what happened is important to me now, even though it pained for that short while, the effects of some of those moments are making my life more full at this point in time. At times God allows such things to shape our character, to protect us from harm, to take us to opportunities and connect us to people who will help us in achieving our purpose. The best mind to have i come to learn is : God loves me, and will only let what is ultimately good for me and His kingdom happen to me.

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 1 Cor 10:13"


This should be encouragement to us whenever are going through a tempting moment, we will manage through God's help to come out triumphantly, only lets hold on what He wants us to, otherwise will have lost the battle. Just thinking of the disappointments of Jacob at his uncles, and how they turned out to be a blessing, every single of them. 

Monday 23 January 2012

His Joy and Satisfaction

Today is Monday, to many, Mondays are not the best of the days, most are sluggish and still hooked to the less formal and relaxed weekend activities. Well that applies if you are not like me, i always desire that i will hit Monday running and the best Mondays to me, are those following a Sunday night spent in front of my laptop, being an inspiring geek, it quite a high for me.

Well today am happy and at peace, it is surprising, and i am so grateful to God for giving me this peace in my heart. There is a reassuring joy that fills ones heart when they have spent time with God, when there is nothing hindering your communion. There is those words in Psalms 103: 5 "who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's", i held on the them during new year's eve, i still hold on them today as i await on Him, for He has blessed me, and Has prospered me, He has taken disgrace and sin from me, clothing me with His grace and glory. Isn't He great and awesome?

Lets all acknowledge Him and His power and His deeds, I worship you great and awesome God, who sits on the throne, administering justice to all. I echo the words of Hagar: Genesis 16:13 "The One who sees me". Indeed He is the one who sees me, in joy, in pain, He never lets go. When i am rebellious He stills calls me to Him, when my heart burns with love for Him, still He is there for me.

Sunday 22 January 2012

When Bad News is GOOD News

The ending week was somewhat disappointing, "somewhat" is quite an understatement because the week's events were if anything depressing.

But those bad pieces of news seems to be good news, that God has something better than that for me. ( This just reminds me of the story of Abraham and Abimelech, God prevented Abimelech from sinning by making sure he did not touch Sarah. God has various ways of keeping us from places we should not be or companies we should not keep).

Genesis 28 & 29, The story of Jacob and his wives, how Jacob had to run away from his home, spend the night in the open with a stone for a pillow and later been tricked by Laban. Bad news that some what resulted into blessings for him, the most significant (according to me) been the time had a dream and God affirmed His promises to him, and Jacob made a promise to that God will be his God if He will be with Him. It may have been a cold night, but it significance resounds to this day.

This reminds me of post election violence in Kenya, this deadly incident has served to make Kenyans more respectful, more tolerant and more patriotic (Kenyans for Kenyans project as an example of a more united Kenya, the new constitution and the evident determination not to go that route again). Bad events that will make us reap good rewards now and for generations to come.

Matthew 9:18-38, this particular passage records  several miracles that Jesus performed; Raising of the ruler's dead girl, healing of the woman with the issue of blood, healing of the two blind men and the casting out of the dumb demon from a man. The events that had happened to this particular persons were bad news to them and their family, death and disability are very paining and saddening experiences. But by allowing Jesus into their situations, the bad news was transformed to good news, to them and for the kingdom of God.

We desire a better Kenya, better life, we need to allow Jesus to take charge of our lives, and we shall rejoice in His deliverance.

Psalm 11, no matter what happens, or threatens to happen, we can always take refuge in our Lord. As elections comes this year, our country is safe in Him, our economy is safe, even if all went wrong, our lives are safe and secure in Him.

Proverbs 3:11-12, even when we pain because of God's discipline, it is still good news "because the LORD disciplines those He  loves, as  a father the son he delights in".

Today the focus is on praying for the country:

DAY 7 January 15, 2012
Genesis 28:1 - 29:35, Matthew 9:18-38, Psalm 11:1-7, Proverbs 3:11-12
Kenya
•Pray for the people of Kenya,
•A change of culture of impunity from families to institutions
•Pray for the knowledge of God to be upon the people of Kenya
•Pray that Christians will be salt and light of the world
•Pray that God will turn people from wickedness
•Pray against the strongholds and altars of Satan and that God will build His altars.

On the go: Thoughts of devotion

Towards the end of last year (2011), one of my favorite TV station had what they called "movie marathon" which was an extended time of back to back movie shows, that started at 10.00 pm until dawn. Being a movie lover, it was quite a treat  and i planned to stay up for most part to watch the movies. Today i have some sort of a marathon, i need to try and recover time lost in my devotion time, the frequent power and internet interruptions have had quite a toll in my devotion time.

I am hoping to write on fragments of wisdom that i will get as i go through the bible, they could be perhaps, just a series of wandering thoughts...

Matthew 9: 8, 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man. What do people say about my life? Do they find cause to praise God? Do i bring praise or shame to our LORD?


Loving God vs duty, Matthew 9: 12-13, what is important to me, pleasing God or pleasing traditions?

Transformation for change Matthew 9: 16-17: i am transformed? in mind, in perception, in will ? or my christian life and experience is a patch over my human ideals? human thinking, or shd i say carnal thinking?

So many times like the pharisees we critic those who do things diffidently from us, or from tradition, thinking our way is better. This have lead to a lot of conflict in the church while we do not look at what we are sent to do but concentrate on the methods. Jesus ate with sinners in order to win them over but pharisees took issue with Him coz they treasured their ways at the expense of God's purpose, Jesus sought to correct this by quoting Hosea 6:6 "I desire mercy not sacrifice". May God enable us to understand when He uses people in different ways to achieve His purposes for this world.

I will stop this post at this point, but i will include an extract from the prayer bulletin meant for praying the church in Kenya.

DAY 6 January 14, 2012
Genesis 26:17 - 27:46, Matthew 9:1-17, Psalm 10:16-18, Proverbs 3:9-10
The church in Kenya
• Pray for the church in Kenya, and its leadership
• Pray for election that it will be peaceful
• Pray for healing and reconciliation in the church
• Repent on behalf of the church for the sins committed both of omission and commission
• Seek for the unity of the church despite the denominational boundaries
• Pray for boldness to condemn evil and stand for justice
• Pray for a godly leadership in our country
• Pray that justice and righteousness will be the foundation of this nation

On Stewardship: Lessons from feeding the 5000 men

Today is Sunday, yet again i was privileged to part of a fellowship, been in a community of believers at life-spring chapel at Embakasi. Today we continued with our series on LIFE Stewardship. This is 3 part of the church's life cycle that aims at equipping the believers to achieve full LIFE in Christ. The other parts of the Life Cycle are LIFE Foundations and LIFE Relationships. More on this can be found on the church's website.


The scripture readings : John 6:1-15, it is the story of the feeding of the 5,000 men by Jesus. It is  quite a well known portion of scripture , i have heard and thought about it in various interpretation, but never in the sense of stewardship. The Wikipedia defines stewardship as an ethic that embodies responsible planning and management of resources, it also refers to the responsibility to take care of something belonging to someone else. To be a steward, and or act in steward to something, is known as stewardship.


The Big Question
The sermon focused on the responses of Jesus' disciples to His question: "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"


This question can be expanded to cover the various questions we ask in our life, "where will i get rent, food, clothing, ...?" The questions we ask about our well being, our country's, our families.


The Human Response
The responses of the disciples are typical of how most of us will and do respond to this and such questions: 


7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” ---Pessimism, it is impossible, we simply cannot manage, we see what cannot be done, not what can be done. Sort of half full / half empty scenario. 


8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” - Disregard of what we have, poor mentality of who we are, of what God has given us.


Jesus Response
 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
In faith took with gratitude what was available and solved the need, i shall be looking more at His response and how all this relates to stewardship in a later post.


Scripture taken from bible gateway, this blog is my personal understanding of the sermons and is not necessarily exact sermon preached, 

Sunday 15 January 2012

Stewards

Today is Sunday and we had a sermon on stewardship, it was more or less an introduction to the theme of the year which is growing in Life Stewardship. The key scripture for the theme is drawn form Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
   the world, and all who live in it (NIV)

In the sermon, the pastor referred to key events where God gave stewardship to man, The first to Adam and the second to Noah after the flood.


Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (NIV ,emphasis mine)


Genesis 9:1-2 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands(NIV,emphasis mine)


Lessons from the two events is that God always blessed, before he gave them the role of taking care of His creation. Both of this two men had pleased and had God's favor prior to their blessings. Adam from the fact of been created in God's image and Noah due to his obedience.


The rest of Psalm 24, kind lay out the preconditions to be blessed of God and been His stewards:


 3 Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
   Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
   who does not trust in an idol 
   or swear by a false god.[a] (NIV ,emphasis mine)


What will happen to them?
 5 They will receive blessing from the LORD 
   and vindication from God their Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
   who seek your face, God of Jacob.[b][c
(NIV ,emphasis mine)

Thursday 12 January 2012

The Work Place

Day 3
Oops, i have missed a day...

Today's Scripture readings: Genesis 2 0:1 - 22:24, Matthew 7:15-29, Psalm 9:1-12, Proverbs 2:16-22


Genesis 20:1-22:24, is the story of Abraham living in the land of the philistines where God fulfilled the promise of giving him a soon. i think the most famous sections of this passage are when Abimelech took Sarah, when Issac was born, when God provided water for Ishmael, when Abraham obeyed God and choose to sacrifice his son.God will always watch over us and all that He has given us when we are faithful to Him, regardless of who or what opposes us, we can always have that assurance that at the end we shall triumph. Abraham prospered in a foreign land, was respected and feared because God was favoring him in all He does, walking with God will enable us triumph in our work places and business regardless of what opposition we may face.

We should not sacrifice our relationship with God, as we seek progress in business or career, we should always be ready to give all for Him, many loose their faith to keep their jobs, Abraham choose to give up his only son, so he could obey His God, he received him back from God so to speak with even more confirmation of what great things God intended for him, we today are beneficiaries of this act of faith. Lets not neglect our walk with God for anything.

A key phrase of this passage should be "In the mountain of the LORD it will be provided", most true, most accurate statement of all times, what we want, it will be provided at the mountain of God. There is that psalm that talk of them who can stay/stand in the mountain of God, i will check it out later.(I got it :) psalm 15).

Matthew 7:15-29, i guess i am been biased in the way i look at the passages, as mainly because i want to relate them to the theme of prayers today which is the work place. The first part of the passage is a warning against false prophets, Jesus said the only way to tell bad from good is looking at the fruits, i want to relate this to many persons who may give your counsel on how to about your job or business, they may be well intention  but are their fruits good? do they walk with the lord? on the the flip side are we in the work places true or false prophets, lets ask God to help us that in all that we do, that we shall be true to His word and we represent Him well.

Finally the passage says, it will do us a lot  good to practice His words (i think in context here of the sermon on the mount), i think it will be really nice if we were to look at the sermon on the mount with specific to our conduct at the work place.

Psalm 9:1-12, It is a call to sing praise to Him, He has overcome our enemies, it is also a call to trust Him more, for He is  a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Even as we pray, we will have the confidence that He has vanquished  our enemies, and given us victory.

Proverbs 2:16-22, it continues to extol the benefit of wisdom and retaining the word of God, it will keep us in the right path and save us from harm, it ensure our permanent blessings while the evil ones will perish. lets then pray that God will help us walk in wisdom and also pray that those we work with/for will too find the way of truth and follow it with all diligence.

DAY 3 January 11, 2012
Genesis 2 0:1 - 22:24, Matthew 7:15-29, Psalm 9:1-12, Proverbs 2:16-22
Workplace
• Pray for colleagues, and the organization you work for
• Pray for the your colleagues by name
• Pray for those that do not know the Lord that they would know Him
• Pray for those who know the Lord that they would be salt and light to others (Matt 5:13-16)
• Pray for the prosperity of your organization (Gen 39:2)
• Pray that ungodliness will be uprooted in your organization
• Repent for the sins committed and any kind of injustices in your organization






Wednesday 11 January 2012

Praying for the family

Second day, i feel tired and have that thought, if only i could watch a movie... That aside today was a good day, but last night was wow, just after reading that He is the One who sees me, and getting so encouraged in knowing that God will be with me, i got good news as long time client emailed and requested for a meeting.. it seems i getting out of the woods and i am so grateful to the One who sees me. Today was a great day, full of hope because of Him, been my God, been there for me in love and compassion, i am so grateful to my God for helping me come this far.

Today is set to be a prayer day for the family.

Scripture readings : Genesis 18:16 - 19:38, Matthew 6:25 - 7:14, Psalm 8:1-9, Proverbs 2:6-15


Genesis 18:16-19:38, This is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and their destruction. The major lesson in relation to the prayer items of the day is the power of intercession. Abram interceded for the righteous in the cities not to be destroyed with the wicked. Through His intercession, God had mercy on Lot and his family that they were saved from the destruction. We have a responsibility to intercede for our family through prayer and also through Godly living. If the cities had some righteous people (10), the cities would have been spared, if we live Godly lives, God will also deliver our families, our cities and our countries because He will remember us, hence spare them. V20 says "So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived (NIV)"


Matthew 6:25-7:14, The passage start by telling us that we should not be worried about anything, but we should commit all things to God. Despite what could be happening in your family, do not worry about it, but take this time to present it before God in prayer. It also encourages us to seek the kingdom of God and its righteousness and that all things will be added to us, as we pray for our families, we should especially pray that all the family members will be righteous and men and women after God's heart, for after we all attain this, the all other things we need, be it peace, love, wealth, health, children etc will be added to us. So the major prayer item we should always have for our family is that we should be right with God.

Lastly it encourages us to ask, seek, and knock, with the assurance that God will hear and answer us. It gives the example of parents who always grants the requests of their children, it assures us that despite all things, God will assuredly answer our plea. This will give us the assurance as we approach Him, in prayer.

Psalm 8:1-9, This passage recognizes the majesty of God and how He has blessed us, Indeed as we go to pray for our families, we should not forget to thank and praise God in recognition of this far He has brought us. Everyone of us have something to be grateful for, no matter how difficult life has been, God has been with us, that why we are not yet crushed, that why we can still read and write this. He's been good to us, and we need to recognize His power and majesty as we approach in prayer, let our hearts be full of praise and adoration. This will also help boost our faith, Knowing He is so capable and that He has been with us in the past.

Proverbs 2 : 6-15, The benefits of been good far out weights the benefits of been evil if any. God will uphold the upright, giving them victory. Lets our prayers be also prayers for God to give us wisdom and His knowledge for then we shall be guided into His ways. He shall be a shield to us if our walk is blameless, He will guard our course if we are just and will protect our way if we are faithful. Indeed we should pray for this wisdom, because after we have it 9 Then you will understand what is right and just  and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart,   and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 
11 Discretion will protect you,  and understanding will guard you (NIV From Bible Gateway).

One of the lesson i am getting from this is, i ought to pray so much for me and my family, to be right with God primarily and for all other needs secondarily, whatever i ask in His name, i am assured He will give, and that i should not worry or be anxious of anything, but bring all to Him.

The Prayer Items for the day: 
DAY 2 January 10, 2012
Genesis 18:16 - 19:38, Matthew 6:25 - 7:14, Psalm 8:1-9, Proverbs 2:6-15
Family;
Repent any sins on behalf of the family (2 Chron 7:14 
 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.)

Pray for your extended family, and their needs (1 Tim 5:8  Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever)

Pray for God to save those that are not born again (Mk 5:19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”)

Pray for those who know the Lord to continue to experience Him (Acts 10:2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.)

Destroy any kind of strongholds that would be present in your nuclear and extended family (Judges 6:25-26 
That same night the LORD said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.”)

Pray for God to use you to reach out to the extended family

Pray for God’s visitation

Tuesday 10 January 2012

New Beginnings

Prayer and Fasting

Today marks an interesting season for me, it is the start of our church's annual beginning of the year prayer season. It involves prayer and fasting for 21 days, for the fast, you are free to choose various forms of fasts that you are comfortable with. I will provide a link later on to the church's website where you can get more info on this. For me i am not sure i can go through a full fast for 21 days, so i choose a fast i think i will be able to go through with (with God's help), i will not watch movies for this period and will spend the time i used to watch movies in reading the word and in prayer.

Scripture Readings
Today is day 1 and the scripture readings are: Genesis 16:1 - 15, Matthew 6:1-24, Psalm 7:1-17, Proverbs 2:1-5 

Genesis 16, is the story of Hagar and her son, Ishmael. It is preceded in chap 15, with God making a covenant with Abram that He will increase his descendants to be as numerous as the stars in the sky, in chap 16, Abram agrees to go by his wife's plan to have a child through her maid. This chapter is about what happened after the maid conceived. she was mistreated and later sent away, it is during this bleak moment of her life, that Hagar obtained the promise of God's prosperity and blessings.

I would identify with Hagar, for this year has begun quite in the wrong footing for me, and like her feel like giving up. It must have been difficult for her sitting beside that spring in the desert, not knowing what to do, or where to go. But God came through for her and all she could say is "You are God who sees me, i have seen the One who sees me" vs 13. As i begin this year, i am trusting to see Him who sees me, am trusting that in midst of all this desolation, He will affirm and encourage me in His word and promise.

Perhaps you too like me are wondering what will become of you, or your family this year, believe with me that the One who sees you our Almighty God, will come through for you and encourage, comfort, guide and bless your life.

Matthew 6:1-24, is part of the sermon on the mount. I think it generally addresses the aspect of attitude in our doing the religious duties like giving to the needy, prayer, fasting and what we treasure. As we begin this journey of seeking God and allowing Him to work in us. We are been cautioned of doing it inappropriately as so doing will rob us of God's blessing. My prayer at this point is that God will help us pray, and help us be of such attitude and motive that is pleasing to Him in all we do.

Psalm 7:1-17, what i can get from this is the confidence of psalmist, he is confident that he has lived a righteous life and is not afraid to approach God. As much as i may not have such confidence based on my record, i will entrust my life to Jesus Christ whose blood washes  sin and all sins giving us confidence in approaching the seat of mercy. My prayer is to commit the entire of me to Him in repentance that He may reign in me and guide me in all what i do.

Proverbs 2 1-5, this is a call to be deliberate in our search for God , the fear of God and knowledge of God. We are called to accept His words, storing up His commands, applying our ears to wisdom and applying our heart to understanding. May He indeed help us to be deliberate in seeking Him and living in the manner He directs.
Prayer Items
The prayer items of the day were posted as:
Personal
Today is the first day of something new. Regardless of where you are in your relationship with God, 21 days of prioritizing the Lord over essential needs in your life will draw you closer to him and transform whatever needs to change. Pray for the following;
• That God will help you to envision how you will resemble him more closely at the end of these 21 days.
• Repent of your sins and wherever you have not been walking in God’s will (Ps 51:7).
• Pray that the Lord will continue to transform you (Ps 51:10)
• Pray that God’s will be done in your life as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10)
• You will continue to grow in your spiritual life and disciplines that would help your growth, such as prayer and fasting, reading God’s word, fellowship and witnessing (Acts 2:42-47)
• Pray for your personal needs such as, financial, social etc. (Phil 4:6).



According to me, the verse of the day is:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4: 1-7 NIV , Verses taken from Bible Gateway)

Saturday 7 January 2012

The Samaritan Lesson

When we read the book of John chapter 4, the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, the lesson we mainly get is that of repentance and forgiveness among some other lessons. But yesterday night as i looked at some of this verses, it came to my mind something i had not seen clearly before. When Jesus told her in v10  10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”(NIV), The Samaritan woman was like: 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”


Which was in fact true, looking at the face value of the situation, what she did not know or realize at the moment was the potential and the power of who was promising to act.  Jesus was of course not referring to the physical water at that moment, but we know if He wanted to provide her with the physical water, He would, based on all the miracles He had done and later did. The point here is, The woman looked at the physical impossibilities and never at the power of whom promised, basically because she was ignorant of the capability and power of Jesus.


This may not be the "actual" or the "intended" lesson of the passage, but i tend to draw a parallel between her response and my response to many situations that i gone through and am going through, when i am called to trust upon God for provision and tend to wonder how He will come through for me. When i cannot find a way, i feel so desperate wondering if He will actually deliver me.


The lesson i am learning is, He is capable of doing what He promises, whether we can see how or not, it faith to believe onto His promises without physical evidence.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (NIV) 
[Bible Readings taken from bible gateway]