FAITH ON CRUTCHES

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrew 11:1

Just imagine yourself unable to move your own weight around….just for a moment. Then again, imagine a little change in your situation because you have something to help support your weight…that’s right; crutches.  For someone in need, crutches can seem like a god-send.  You see for a long while, I tried to convince myself that what I had was better than not having at all. In the past 2 years, my faith had been tested and stretched to the limit. My faith had been shaken and turned inside out…in a sense…my faith had been exposed.

And because of this…my faith was sure….but it lacked the certainty of the unseen. My hope was still intact…but my vision was distorted. As I began to seek the Lord about my faith’s condition, He didn’t seem to be in a hurry to answer…. not until recently. His answer came in as a shock to my system: “YOUR FAITH IS ON CRUTCHES.”

In otherwise, the Lord didn’t come to offer me good wishes and hope for a speedy recovery something that I had been seeking from Him all throughout my shakings. No…instead He was offering me more:FAITH WITHOUT CRUTCHES…a NOW faith.  Just like Jesus had asked the man who had been an invalid for 38 years… He is asking you and I today. “Do you want to get well?” And I suspect your answer as a good as mine. Yes, Lord!

Your faith need not be on crutches. He is saying to you and I today;

“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” John 5:7

 

 

 

 

AMAZING GRACE

Goodness me! Where do I start? It’s good to be alive….and I truly mean that. GOD has been GOOD… and I mean that as well. When my family set out into the unknown this past July, we never could have imagined what was in store for us. Yes…unknowingly, we had set…or rather God had set us up for the next IMPOSSIBLE mission yet to encounter in our lives. Hmm..meeting and marrying my husband was a challenge in itself…and yes, the IMPOSSIBLE then… become POSSIBLE…because of HIS AMAZING GRACE.

Then again…bringing my daughter to the point of birth…was yet another IMPOSSIBLE mission…but became POSSIBLE because of HIS AMAZING GRACE. Then come July…and then August…and what had seemed like a brilliant idea to pack up and leave behind family, friends…and yes, familiarity…becomes infused with deep frustration and ANGER when things didn’t seem to move on as quickly as we had anticipated.

BUT….let me stop there. My soul had to be born again. Yes…on 17 October, the anniversary of my 17th year in the Lord, which was also the first anniversary of this blog, I seat in church listening to the preacher say what I needed to hear. Yes…my heart needed to be REVIVED, RESTORED and REPLENISHED in a new and AMAZING way. Yes…HIS AMAZING GRACE has keep me and my family going…and I can now say…I am rising up again to walk the course He has set out for me.

God has been GOOD…and I mean that! And HIS GRACE has been AMAZING!!!

For all my blogging friends out there….I want to say thank you….for your prayers and love! And for all my readers…known and unknown…I will be back. God has been doing an AMAZING JOB…in my heart and I hope when I will get back on this page…it will show…as it did with Moses whenever He came down from the mountain of the Lord to face the children of Israel.

May the Grace of the Lord be with you, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit now and forevermore. AMEN!!!

THE GRACE FOR VICTORY

2 Kings 13:18-19 Then he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and the king took them. Elisha told him, ‘Strike the ground.’ He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, ‘You should have struck the ground FIVE OR SIX TIMES; then you would have defeated Aram and COMPLETELY DESTROYED IT. But now you will defeat it only three times.

Everyone who enters into a fight…hopes always to win. But there is always a WINNER and a loser. However, there is another different angle to any kind of fight. Sometimes, you might win by default or sheer luck. Thankfully, as a child of God…who is constantly faced with different kinds of battles…our perspective in a fight is…or ought to be that one of a victor. Yet…in spite of this awesome knowledge, we at times enter into our fight UNARMED and UNPREPARED to endure through to the end. At other times, we have no strength to keep our hands on the WEAPON for too long. That’s what happened to the King of Israel.

Israel was ever fighting different kinds of enemies. Before each battle, according to the instructions, each king was required to inquire from the Lord through the prophet. In the account from 2 Kings 13, we see Jehoash, King of Israel consulting Prophet Elisha before going to fight the Arameans. And this was Elisha’s instruction to him.

2 King 13:15-17 Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put HIS HANDS ON THE KING’S HANDS. ‘Open the east window,’ he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. THE LORD’S ARROW OF VICTORY, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. ‘YOU WILL COMPLETELY destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”

A TIME TO REMEMBER AND CELEBRATE!

Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday. It will be the 8th birthday we will be CELEBRATING together…as a couple and now, as a family. His birthday is made up of many fine and treasured memories of our times together. The Lord has been gracious…oh, yes…too gracious. Like David, I REMEMBER and in prayer I ask;

‘WHO AM I, LORD GOD, AND WHAT IS MY FAMILY, that You have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in Your sight, O GOD, You have spoken about the future of the house of Your servant. You have looked on me as though I was the most exalted of me, O God. 1 Chronicles 17:16-17

Our past….has been MEMORABLE
Our present...is PALATABLE
Our future…will be INCREDIBLE

I met my husband almost 8 years ago while he was a missionary brother in the Catholic congregation of the CONVENTUAL FRANCISCANS FRIARS...whose founder was ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI in the 12th Century. On that first birthday together, I gave him a little book with beautiful proverbs and sayings unaware that 8 years down the road…some of the words in that little book who come to pass…in ways unimaginable.

WARNING: SHE COMES WITH FAVOR

Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds a GOOD THING and receives FAVOR FROM THE LORD.

I guess every country has its own traditions when it comes to the wedding cards. But back at home, in Kenya, my native country, we have this expectation that on the wedding card there is always a scripture verse chosen by the couple to-be, as their wedding motto. Of the many wedding cards I have come across, I did notice that many couples chose the above scripture for their new marriage covenant. And for many reasons than not, I DO LOVE THIS SCRIPTURE VERSE. For one, it is a scripture more husband-directed than wife. Secondly, its a scripture that comes with two sure declarations from the Lord: A GOOD THING AND FAVOR.

A wife is a GOOD THING….because she is a gift from God to man.

Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is NOT GOOD for man to be alone. I will make a HELPER suitable for him.”

A wife is GOOD THING….because she came from man.

Genesis 2:22 Then the Lord God made woman from the rib he had taken OUT OF THE MAN, and he brought her to the man.

I HAVE SEEN YOUR WIDOW’S OFFERING

Luke 21:1-4 As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a POOR WIDOW put in two VERY SMALL COPPER COINS. ‘I tell you THE TRUTH,” he said “this poor widow has put MORE THAN ALL THE OTHERS. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she OUT OF HER POVERTY put in all she had to live on.”

It is just but a little over 6 months since I started this blog. This morning, as my hands were busy doing the dishes, my mind was also busy wandering here and there. How I had managed to keep up with the pace of posting is only by the GRACE OF GOD. And yes, partly because of a blogger friend, Elaine Davenport, who stood by me…urging me on. A month or so before I started this blog, someone I had thought of as a friend suddenly turned their back on me and my family….and caused us much harm. If she had stopped there, maybe it would have been different. But no, she took it upon herself…to cause damage on relationships I had established with others…whom she had come to know through my friendship with her. And after all the pain and heartache she had caused, I forgave her….and moved on.

But…I was not the same person. Then again, two weeks later, after I ventured into the blogging world, another painful blow happened to me. But this time, even though it was as painful as the first one, I refused to be shaken. No…I had nothing except CHRIST to hold on to! And each day, despite the battle within…I kept writing. I kept giving….more than I had. I kept going…believing, hoping against hope. Some days, I had wings, but most, my hands felt feeble and weak. I never stopped. I don’t know why, but I kept going!

MY PORTION OF GRACE

Genesis 43:33 The men had been seated before him in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest; and they looked at each other in astonishment. When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, BENJAMIN’S PORTION was FIVE TIMES as much as anyone else’s. So they feasted and drink freely with him.

We all know the story of Joseph’s reunion with his brothers in Egypt. And while the story is incredible in itself, a perfect example of forgiveness for us to follow, in those few lines above I saw something I had never seen before. BENJAMIN’S PORTION.

But before I expound on this one, let me give you a little background about BENJAMIN.

Benjamin was the second and last son of JACOB AND RACHEL.
Benjamin was given the name Ben-Oni by his mother Rachel but his father changed it to Benjamin.
Benjamin’s birth was difficult and his mother Rachel died immediately after he was born.
Benjamin was born on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem) and his mother was buried there.
But the most important of all these facts is that, BENJAMIN was the only son borne to Jacob after God had changed his name to ISRAEL. In other words, BENJAMIN WAS THE FIRST AND ONLY SON OF ISRAEL.

So here is the truth about Benjamin.

OF ALL GRACE

1 Peter 5:10 And the God OF ALL GRACE, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have SUFFERED a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

ALL GRACE…the God of ALL GRACE. When I read this verse this morning, something inside of me leaped with joy…yet at the same time, I felt overwhelming frightened because while, I know this scripture verse from inside out…I had missed the most important part of it. Yes, the simple but most powerful words in the whole verse…THE GOD OF ALL GRACE.

If we know the Lord, then we understand GRACE. But no, neither you nor I can claim to understand ALL GRACE. You see, in 2000, the Lord spoke to me a promise through this scripture verse and over the last ten years…I have been living, breathing, dreaming and walking this verse…yet, I hadn’t seen the seeming obvious truth. ALL GRACE means all the