STOP TO REMEMBER

A voice is heard in Rama, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. Matthew 2:18

Two days ago, I happened to stumble through the above passages twice in one reading. First, I read them from Jeremiah 31:15, then moments later, I read them again from Matthew. Of course with Christmas round the corner, we all need to remind ourselves of Christ, Our Saviour’s birth from scripture.

But while the birth of Jesus brought so much joy for some, for others it brought pain and great loss… the demise of little boys. Boys who could probably have been Jesus’ neighbours and playmates. Just imagine… when Jesus came back from hiding in Egypt, most of his agemates were all dead and gone. Yes… killed by Herod in the hope that Jesus was among them.

Just like during Christ’s birth, today STOP TO REMEMBER those mothers whose pain and loss will only be magnified this Christmas as they miss their sons and daughters… especially those who are out in war or the fallen heros. STOP AND SAY a prayer and remember…Christmas just like in the actual Christ’ birth will not necessarily bring joy to everyone.

STOP TO REMEMBER…those voices weeping in the land.

 

 

 

YOUR LAST ENEMY

1 Corinthians 15:25-26 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. THE LAST ENEMY to be destroyed is death.

I have heard this declaration by Christians more often than not. ‘I HAVE NO ENEMIES.’ But the truth be told. Yes…you have enemies. In fact, from the very moment you openly declared your allegiance to follow the Lord Jesus, your first and greatest enemy became the devil. The devil uses other agents to oppose the purpose of God from being accomplished in your life. And while his agents maybe physical, emotional or spiritual…the most effective of them all is when he uses people.

This morning….the Lord whispered these words into my heart. ‘I WILL USE YOUR LAST ENEMY TO THRUST YOU INTO YOUR DESTINY.’ Suddenly, I understood what that meant. Throughout the bible history, we see people who rose up to oppose God’s chosen servants. And while facing their enemy, in human weakness, God always entered into their situation to show Himself strong on their behalf.

SHATTERED DREAMS: DEALING WITH DISAPPOINTMENT

2 Samuel 12:19-20 David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realised that the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, ‘HE IS DEAD.” Then David got up from the ground. After he has washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and WORSHIPPED. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

SHATTERED DREAMS: How do you deal with the disappointment? Truth be told. There is no easy way to deal with the disappointment of broken dreams? But there is always a way…THE WAY! Every time I go back to read about David’s encounter in 2 Samuel 12, my heart is deeply stirred. Why? Because I see an attitude which is so rare today…yet is badly needed especially when all hope seems lost! Let me give you a little background on King David’s encounter. We all know about David’s extramarital affair with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. A baby is conceived…and a husband who has no idea about it…gets killed on the front-line to cover up for the King’s sin. But God cannot be mocked. He sends Nathan the Prophet to David…and uncovers his sin…and with it, the consequences which includes the death of that child conceived in an act of adultery. Of course, it would have been worse. But God spared King David’s life in exchange for his baby’s.

For seven full days and nights…David touched no food as He PLEADS with God to spare his son’s life to no avail. His whole household is also deeply affected by the unfolding events in the King’s house. On the seventh day, his child dies.

…BUT THOSE WHO KNEW JESUS…

Luke 23:48-49 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and WENT AWAY. But all those who KNEW him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, STOOD at a distance, watching these things.

It was on Good Friday that I first came across the above scripture. And it been the day of remembrance of Our Lord Jesus’ death, I had even thought about writing my thoughts from this scripture verses…but somewhat, I found another topic to write about. However, I told myself that sometime in the coming week, I would write from the above verses. Little did I know that it was the Lord who had restrained me until the proper time.

You see, the first thing that I notice which made me cry when I read the above scripture, was that even though many people who had gathered at Calvary had witnessed the events that surrounded Jesus until his death, many of them never STOPPED nor PAUSED to reflect on what had happened. For them, it was something unusual…but not strong or captivating enough to hold them back from the NEXT adventure in their lives.

POLAND: GOD’S WAY IS PERFECT

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 There is a TIME for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven:
a time to WEEP and a time to laugh, a time to MOURN and a time to dance,..

My country, POLAND is WEEPING. We are in the season of MOURNING!

The tragedy that hit our country on Saturday has not left anyone indifferent. Why because suddenly, our lives were put on hold…as we remembered, contemplated, reflected and reviewed what was but now wasn’t. I don’t remember ever experiencing such kind of emotions at any given time in my entire life. All at once, as the faces of familiar people in Politics, the financial world, entertainment and public services passed through the TV screen, my heart refused to take all these facts in. It wasn’t only about the loss of our president and his dear wife, but the loss of active members of parliament and senators, all the heads of the country’s defence system, the governor of the Central bank, the governor of the National Archive, the head of the Human Rights Organizations, all the ministers in the office of the president, an archbishop and a number of priest, two presidential candidatures from opposing parties, the president of the Olympic Committee, among others. In a sense, every important government institution was affected one way or another by this tragedy.

But beyond their public functions, these people were fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends of people among us. Yet….as I see the country ask so many questions which at most go unanswered, the Lord reminded me these words:

A NATIONAL TRAGEDY: PRAY FOR POLAND

I live in Poland…because I am married to a Pole. However, a couple of weeks ago, I became a Polish citizen and therefore, Poland is now my NEW COUNTRY. This morning, my country suffered a National tragedy. THE PRESIDENT OF POLAND ALONG WITH HIS WIFE and 87 other high ranking Polish ministers and government officers died in a tragic government plane crash in Russia.

Please PRAY FOR POLAND. For peace and understanding; For God’s hand to be on this country in this trying hour. For unity and brotherhood among all the people. And for the families and friends of those who lost loved one in the plane crash; for comfort and hope.

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY FOR POLAND, my country!

God bless you.

Gladwell Musau Kozak

ALIVE FOREVER!

1 Corinthians 15:54-55 When the perishable has be CLOTHED WITH THE IMPERISHABLE, and the mortal with the IMMORTALITY, then the saying that was written will come true: “DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.” “”Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Dear friends,

For me….this Easter Weekend has been a teary one. Yes…God HAS LODGED in our house. For the last three days, I have been treading softly knowing that He is listening…eavesdropping into my conversations. My eyes….are wet at ever turn and corner. I can’t help but tell you a bit of what He spoke into my heart this morning.

As I lay in bed…I asked Him this question. ‘God, why didn’t Adam reach out and eat from the TREE OF LIFE when you placed him at the Garden of Eden? You had told him to eat from all the other trees in the Garden except from the TREE OF GOOD AND EVIL. Then why didn’t he reach out to eat from the TREE OF LIFE along with the other trees at his disposal? For a moment, I lingered on…waiting for an answer but none came. So, I got up and went about my business. Then at the breakfast table, as I talked to my husband about some things I’ve been reading in the Internet about the Persecuted Church around the world….the Lord interrupted me…mid-sentence. I began to cry again! Friends, I cried a lot yesterday, and the day before. And so again…I started this morning….with TEARS! But different kind of tears. Something has changed.

God spoke into my heart this words. “THE TREE OF LIFE…was JESUS. THE TREE WHICH ADAM COULD NOT REACH OUT TO EAT FROM WAS JESUS HIMSELF.” Jesus was right there, in the middle of the Garden of Eden all along.The reason why Adam did not reach out to eat from the TREE OF LIFE is because of all the trees in the Garden, it was the MOST UNATTRACTIVE for his physical eye.

A SIFTING AND A BETRAYAL

Luke 22:3 Then SATAN ENTERED Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.
Luke 22:31 ‘Simon, Simon, SATAN HAS ASKED to sift you as wheat.

TWO MEN….Judas, the Iscariot and Simon Peter. Three years earlier, before Jesus entered the scene, they were just ordinary men. One was a fisherman at the shores of Galilee and the other, nothing much is said about him before then. But here there are,…three years on sitting with a man called Jesus of Nazareth…whom they have come to love, revere and have deep admiration for. Yes…here at the table of communion. The Lord’s heart is deeply troubled. Yes…because the time has come…THE TIME which His Father had been waiting for. To glorify His Son through a death…DEATH ON THE CROSS.

But while Jesus knows that His death is imminent, His heart is also deeply troubled by the fate of two men…men who had been part of His team. Men…who had shared bread at His dinner table, listened to His sermons and teachings, men who had witnessed great miracles. And yet…these two men, Judas, the Iscariot and Simon Peter has something else in common which the Lord knows about: SATAN’S PLANS WITH THEIR LIVES.

HUMILITY: TWO GREAT LESSONS

Philippians 2:5-9 YOUR ATTITUDE should be the same as that of CHRIST JESUS:
Who, being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but MADE HIMSELF NOTHING, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being obedient to death_ even death on a cross! Therefore God EXALTED HIM to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,…

It was one of my many conversations with the Lord. This past week, I was asking the Lord. WHY HUMILITY? Why did you have to pass me/my family through this painful path of humility? Is it necessary or mandatory? A couple of days after asking this question…the Lord answered. ‘I HAVE STRIPPED YOU OF VAIN GLORY.’

The Lord took me back to the story of Moses. He was born in Egypt during the time when the children of Israel were under bondage and when Pharaoh had ordered for the killing of every male child born into a Hebrew family. But with God’s intervention…Moses survived when Pharaoh’s daughter took him under her wings as her own son. So…while the children of Israel was oppressed and forced to work under very difficult circumstances, Moses….grew up and walked on the CORRIDORS OF POWER at the Pharaoh court. Oh…his heart was with his Hebrew brothers and sisters, but his presence and loyalty was with the Pharaoh and his family. In every sense of that word…HE HAD GLORY…or so it seemed.

Then everything changed. One day…he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. The following day, he tried to intervene between two Hebrews fighting, and to his utter shock, he heard these words. WHO MADE YOU RULER AND JUDGE OVER US? Before he knew it, the glory he once enjoyed was no longer his. Hence…he fled to the desert. You see, VAIN GLORY…is just but for a time and a season. Without HUMILITY….your glory will soon fade away or be stripped from you with one wrong move you make. One moment, Moses was the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and the next, he was a fugitive on the run.

HIS DEATH: MY FREEDOM

Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death_ that is, the devil_ and FREE THOSE WHO ALL THEIR LIVES WERE HELD IN SLAVERY BY THEIR FEAR OF DEATH.

Someone may ask you or me. Are you afraid of death? Personally, I will say, YES, I am afraid of death…or maybe I am afraid of the dying process. Yet…no matter what your answer is on this one…fact remains YOU AND I WILL SOMEDAY go through that process. Sorry, friend. Its INEVITABLE!
But, some years back, I read the above scripture and understood something deeper. We as Christians…know that death is not the end…but the beginning of LIFE…of LIFE ETERNAL. Nothing is lost for the believing person when death occurs. But despite that knowledge, we live still as if death has power over us.

I like that word in Hebrew 2. Knowing that Jesus came and died on the cross for my sins is one thing. But understand that through His death,