STAND TALL AND BE COUNTED!

A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way. Luke 19:2-4

For a couple of months now, the story of Zacchaeus has been lingering on my mind. I had planned to write on it sometime in early October last year, but I kept pushing it aside. But the Holy Spirit kept at it and hence I had to surrender.

For the most part, his story might seem far removed from our own reality. But looking closer… you realize that in so many ways than one his story is mostly like your story! Lets face it, Zacchaeus had much going against him than for him. He was public enemy number one; a tax collector. He was short; everyone around him had a better view…meaning he had to do with the second-hand eyewitness account of what was happening around him. He was a curious man; he wanted to see who Jesus was…not so much as to know him as a friend but rather as the new kid on the block. And above all, he was a wealthy man.

Let’s face it. In life, you and I will encounter difficult situations. Like Zacchaeus, you may suffer from many shortcomings not of your own making…but others which are self-made. You may be limited by a physical, emotional or mental disability which continually hinder your progress. But God is saying to you and I today… GO THE EXTRA MILE and I will meet you along the way. Use what is at your disposal  to gain what you are missing. Like Zacchaeus… there is a sycamore tree for each and everyone of us. Climb yours… STAND TALL AND BE COUNTED. Jesus is coming your way!

THE YEAR OF JUBILEE: REST FOR YOUR SOUL

 Count off seven sabbaths of years – seven times seven years – so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpets sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a JUBILEE FOR YOU;- Leviticus 25:8-11a

I started the New Year with one thing in mind: REST. Yes… rest! Why does God demand of His children a time fo rest? Why doesn’t He want us to be on the move on a constant basis? If anything, the world we are living in, is obviously in a RUSH PANDEMIC. Everyone seems to be busy caught up with something… be it important or insignificant. The point is the world is busy…and that includes my world.

For a long while, I have lacked that space and time for rest… rest for my soul. Rest for soul-searching and seeking the mind of Christ. But while I have been busy filling my time with other things, my soul has being yearning for something else altogether. Then, the Lord spoke into my year. 2013 will be a year of Jubilee for me.  In other words, its will not only be a time for REST for me, but it will be my time of REST seven times multiplied!

For me, the Year of Jubilee means family, home, love and friendship. It means laughter and merrymaking. It means the sound of children playing and music and dance. Its means that my HANDS ARE NO LONGER TIED. I don’t know about you… but I will enjoy my time out and embrace the goodness that comes with the package.

Care to join me? IT IS THE YEAR OF JUBILEE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOEL TO YOU ALL!

Unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

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.

 

 

 

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!!!

THANK YOU ALL

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement. Yes…my family arrived in the UK on the 7th July and we have been trying to settle in. Obviously, there is still alot to be done…before we can move on but God has been faithful. Walking this road is a SWEET/BITTER experience in itself…but just as a friend sent me an email last week….OUR FAITH ought and should always look away….but LOOK UP at the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our FAITH. And while our circumstances and life sitiuations are different in every sense of that word….WE SHARE THE SAME FAITH….the faith that stays FIXED ON JESUS. The faith that Peter had when he walked on water towards Jesus. The faith that Hannah had as she cried out in faith to the Lord for a baby, the faith that Paul and Silas had when locked up in the prison. I am tapping into that SAME FAITH… and I hope and pray you will take the same grace today and walk down with me…towards the END of the promise.

BY THE WAY….Sarah laughed at the beginning out of fear but in THE END, she laughed out of pleasure. Whatever your reason for laughter….GOD IS FAITHFUL.

PS NOTE: I am not yet back on the net full time. So do bear with me.

DOES IT MATTER

The last time I checked….and I kept wondering, “GOD, DOES IT MATTER?” All this trusting, believing, pleading and staying at one point. “DOES IT MATTER?” So here I am and the Lord put it out well. Yes, it matters. Oh…it more than matters. I am stretching your spiritual muscles. For too long…you have confined yourself to accomodate what you can handle in your present situation. But I am here…I want you TO STRETCH, I want you TO ENLARGE, I want you to MOVE OUT….yes, because I have plans for you. In case you might wonder who this word is for…It for me….and you, and him, and her, and yes….for most of us.

DARE I SAY MORE…..read ISAIAH 54 for the bigger picture.

You are loved! God bless you all.

PRAY FOR MY FAMILY

Hebrews 10:35-36 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be RICHLY REWARDED. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

I don’t know who will read this…but my friend…DON’T GIVE UP! SIMPLY DON’T THROW IN THE TOWEL. Your reward is on the way. Just a little while longer….and you will be rewarded greatly!!!

As some of you might well know, my family and I are in a season of transition and we have been preparing to leave our country for sometime now. In just a little over a week, we will be finally saying goodbye and heading to our new home. Of course, we have this blessed hope and assurance that it will be well. And even much more than that. GOD HAS GONE BEFORE US….and He is OUR REAR GUARD. I am encouraged each day…and especially by the many blogging friends I have come to know through this blog. I thank God for each and every one of them. And I thank God for my readers….who I will not be able to communicate with through this blog for a while as my family settles into our new country and home.

I therefore humbly request that you keep my family in prayer because we need it. And may the Lord bless and keep you all…hoping to catch up with you….sometime later before the end of Summer.

YOU ARE ALL A BLESSING….and MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU ALL!!!!

WALK OUT…WALK ON!

Matthew 14:25-29 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, WALKING ON the lake. When th disciples saw him WALKING ON the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them. “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ‘Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.” ‘COME,” he said. Then Peter got DOWN OUT of the boat, WALKED ON the water and came towards Jesus.

WALK OUT…means: to leave suddenly without explanation, flounce out, get up and go, storm out; abandon; go on strike etc.

WALK ON...means: move forward, pace up; move your feet along on a solid base etc.

We might be all familiar with the story of Peter walking on the water. But…let us look again from a different perspective. Jesus has just appeared to his disciples in the middle of the night. And oh no…its not what you might want to hear. How I wish…it was in the middle of a good dream to reassure them that he is there for them. But no…it wasn’t. In fact, it was DARK; and yes, it was ALL WATER around; and what more; the WAVES were high and the WIND was against them. Talk about a grim scenario… and you have it right here.

Is Jesus aware of where you are at the moment? My friend…I bet He does!!!
Is Jesus aware of the dangers that surround you at every turn? My friend…I am persuaded He does!!!
Is Jesus indifferent to your journey of life? My friend…I ask you, please read again Matthew 14:25.
…Jesus went out to them….is self-explanatory. Jesus is coming out to you today!

TWO EMOTIONAL WOMEN!!!

For the last 3 days, I have been EMOTIONAL….yes, I am full of GOOD EMOTIONS. And while I do not know how to express them through this computer screen…one thing is for sure. My EMOTIONS at this point in time can only equal the emotions of these TWO VERY EMOTIONAL WOMEN in the bible. So…I will borrow their words…to express my own emotions as well as theirs!

HANNAH…THE BARREN ONE.

She was married to a wonderful husband but couldn’t bear him children. She was constantly mocked and ridiculed by her co-wife. But finally, God heard her prayer and opened her womb. She became the mother of Samuel…one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament.

1 Samuel 2:1-10 Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart REJOICES in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance. ‘There is no-one holy like the Lord; there is no-one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. ‘Do not keep talking such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed. ‘The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those whose were full hire themselves out for food, but THOSE WHO WERE HUNGRY HUNGER NO MORE. SHE WHO WAS BARREN HAS BORNE SEVEN CHILDREN, but she who has many sons pines away. ‘The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings to the grave and raises up. ‘The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. HE RAISES THE POOR