Whatever Your Hands Find to Do: Do It Well

Hi Readers and Followers,

Apologies for my late post. 

The above topic inspired me recently. 

God said in His Word ( The Bible) that: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NKJV) "

The Good News Translation explained the same scripture in a simpler way.

Work hard at whatever you do, because there will be no action, no thought, no knowledge, no wisdom in the world of the dead—and that is where you are going. (Ecclesiastes 9:10 GNT).

I recently read an article by Joel Osteen (A Pastor) about giving God the best in all that we do, even when we are cleaning the dishes, when we are mowing the lawn, when we are helping a friend or a neighbour, do it with all your ability, and don't just undertake the tasks shabbily.

As I usually state on my blog, there is a danger in whatever we feed our thought and mind with.

It was awesome that, Joel Osteen's article was available for me to drawn upon. I knew I read the article for a purpose. 

Please, PAUSE! If you find yourself reading this post, God wants you to give that particular task your best. He is reminding you that, you are not giving it your 100%. He wants you to start now and also for you to ask for His support and not depend on your own knowledge.

During the week, I was busy undertaking a cleaning task, I had to encourage myself with the Word of God in Ecclesiates 9:10. 

I love the Word of God so much. As I was cleaning, I was constantly reminding myself of God's Word, which says that: "Whatever I find myself doing, I must give it my best even if I am not being paid for it."

Final words...Did you know that when you do something to the best of your ability and with a sincere heart, God would honour you?  God will open more doors of blessings and opportunities for you.  In my case, I was able to carry out the cleaning tasks that I'd set for myself within a short space of time and I was not weak. 

Remember..

1. In the little things that you do, God wants you to give it your best shot.
2. At your place of work, give your work your best.
3. When you are helping others, give it your best.
4. Always give the best version of you.
5. Always give a little more than you promise.
6. To give anything less than your best is mediocre and unsatisfactory.

Enjoy the remaining days of this week.

 

- Myss Lafunky.

 

Picture reference: http://lockernoise.com/

 

 

Stop Girl Trafficking: War on Women

Hi readers and followers,

As you are aware, I usually blog about the 3 R's (Relationship with God, Relationship with our spouse/fiancé/boyfriend or girlfriend and Relationship with People.

 

I was recently given an opportunity by www.mateyscott.com to write a guest post on War on Women. Although I have professional experience on the topic, I was sceptical to blog about it as it's a sensitive issue that a lot of women (vulnerable) struggle to speak out and seek support as they are scared that they will be blamed/they will be judged.  If we do not speak out/speak against Rape/Human Trafficking, there is likelihood that perpetrators will increase their abuse.

Human trafficking is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Almost every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims. 

Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines Trafficking in Persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Keywords: Someone who is trafficked is exploited, coerced into engaging in things that they would not naturally do, the abuse of power by someone, etc.

Please, open the link below and read Tabitha's account of being trafficked, Tabitha was sexually exploited by her Uncle. 9 in 10 rape cases are usually committed by a relative or someone known to the family.

http://www.mateyscott.com/my-shattered-life-a-life-of-a-trafficked-girl

Notes: Thank you to our followers/readers that are sharing Myss Lafunky's blogspot on their social media. Please, this week, do me a favour, share the blog and tell others about it.

If you have any questions or you have been affected by the above story, please contact Myss Lafunky on trulymakingadifference@gmail.com

- Myss Lafunky 

Love Gone Sour: The Story of Hosea & Gomer

Happy Monday to my readers and followers,

Hope you had a lovely weekend?

Basically I have heard and read different views about how God instructed Hosea to marry an adulterous wife, and how it can be applicable to our relationships and marriages.

What's your view? Please, take your time to read Hosea 1-3.

So...Hosea and Gomer..

Hosea's marriage to Gomer is a most troubling nuptial tale. The Lord told Hosea to marry a promiscuous woman, she bore him three children, who, if their names are indication, were trouble; and though Gomer repeatedly committed adultery, the Lord INSTRUCTED Hosea to FORGIVE her again and again and to continue to be faithful to her. (Would you be faithful to your spouse if your spouse was unfaithful to you?). 

What would it have been like for Hosea to marry someone who he knew would be habitually unfaithful?

Would God really command us in this dispensation to marry someone that He knows will be unfaithful? In this era, God told us in the book of 1 Corinthians 6:14 that, we must not become partners or associates with those who do not believe in Jesus. But there was no record that, Gomer did not believe in the Lord. Therefore, we cannot rightly state that, Gomer was not a believer but her action did not depict a life of a Christian.

Back to Hosea.

Do you think he would have found it difficult to obey God's commands? 

The Lord said to Hosea in Hosea 3:1 that, Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.

Would you obey that command?

I believe the book of Hosea reminds us of God's love for us and His love for His people.  God has continued to remind us of how His chosen people (People of Israel) abandoned Him, and gave themselves to other gods (Hosea 3:1b). Did you know that God kept going after His people, despite their unfaithfulness? He kept showing them His love over and over again. He wanted them even though they had not wanted Him (How difficult would it be to love someone that does not love or want us?)

God is also teaching us about forgiveness, He is telling us that, when our friends/spouse offend us, we should receive them back with love, we must follow the example of God's love and how He showed His love to His people ( But in reality, this is not easy, we need to be willing to allow God to help us).

 

I also believe God is reminding us that, we may shape each other as believers, "iron sharpens iron", in other words, God can use you to transform someone. Even if we are part of someone else's transformation, it is finally God, not us, who effects the change. We are not called to change others but we are called to love and forgive each other, as we are loving and forgiving one another, God will change us all for the better.

Imagine, how Gomer must have felt when her husband reconciled with her and said, "You are to live with me many days". - Hosea 3:3. 

I believe God wants us to work out our flaws and not give up on ourselves. Also, God may give you a spouse with flaws and you need God and determination to nurture each other.

You may even stumble across things that you don't like about your friends/spouse in the course of your relationship, God is telling you as He told Hosea that, He is ready to help you to love that person, particularly if that is God's plan for you and your spouse/your friend to continue your relationship.

Please, create time to read the book of Hosea. Try and contextualise the account of Hosea and Gomer. I do not believe God is telling us to marry a Promiscious person; God was using the story to remind us of His unconditional love for us and how we are to love others regardless of their sinful lifestyles, and for us to love others with sincere hearts and not retaliate any offence.

Finally, God is reminding us to trust Him in our decision making, like, Hosea listened to God's directions and how He obeyed God, He wants you and I to obey His teachings.

Please, do not use the story of Hosea to justify marrying a Promiscious person, remember to be guided by the Lord in all your decision making, just like Hosea was guided by God.

I hope I have not confused you with this write-up.

My daily devotional guided my write-up as well.

- Myss Lafunky

My Weekend Experience of Following Jesus..

Happy Monday to my committed readers and followers,

Hope you had a lovely week? What's the weather like in your country/city? In England, the weather is becoming really cold, it doesn't feel like autumn at all. 

Sequel to last week's post about following God...

My weekend was very interesting.  Myss Lafunky undertook a task that she had never done before. Basically, the Holy Spirit told me to undertake a Spoken Word (Monologue/recitation of poem in a dramatic way) amongst the midst of young people, the message was about purity. 

I didn't want to follow His instructions as I was quite timid, I felt I would disrupt the programme that had been planned. I don't know where I got the boldness from, I told the youth leader but at the same time, I said I was nervous as I'd not done a Spoken Word before. Nevertheless, I made the decision to follow God's instructions, it wasn't easy as Spoken Word was out of my territory.

I went for it and I truly enjoyed it. When I arrived on the stage, I was a bit anxious, however, I became relaxed and I allowed God to speak through me.  It is to be noted that, I prepared for the Spoken Word, I structured what I planned to say and I thought about the demographic of the audience.

 

After the Spoken Word, a lady from the audience came to me, she said she was extremely shocked and ecstatic when she saw Myss Lafunky (me) as she had always read the blog from Nigeria, now, she is in England, she met the blog owner. I was also amazed as I didn't know how to react or respond...now I wished I'd taken a picture with her.

My Lessons from following God's instruction

- It might not be easy to follow God's instruction the moment God tells us to do something.

- From my experience, the likelihood of pondering on tons of negative reasons as to why one cannot follow the instruction from God is very high.

- There is a responsibility for us to prepare for the task, plan for the task, and to give the task our best.

- There could be distractions ..which start from our thoughts. We must allow our thoughts to be positive about God's instructions. Remind yourself of what God says about it.

- If you are not certain that you heard from God, kindly tell God to confirm what He had said to you through someone else.

- Tell God to help you to follow His instructions as you cannot do it on your own. God loves people that humble themselves. He loves people that acknowledge that they are spiritually poor without Him.

I hope you have been able to learn one or two things from this post.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

- Myss Lafunky

N: B- Check out the guest post that I wrote for Christian women's blog. Here is the link: http://blogsbychristianwomen.com/2014/10/dont-judge-im-love-kiss-yes-possible/

Follow Me: Must I Follow Jesus?

Hello readers and followers,

Myss Lafunky would like to welcome you to the month of October.  It seems this year is going pretty fast.

I am sorry for not publishing a post on Monday. My week has been hectic even though it's only Wednesday. I can only thank God for strength. I have created time to rest, I now feel better.

Remember to send your questions, comments, concerns, and stories to trulymakingadifference@gmail.com

Back to today's post..

Jesus said: "Come, follow me and I will send you out to fish for people." ( Mark 1:17)

Can you picture Jesus coming along to you and saying, "Follow me?" How hard or easy would it be to drop everything and go? 

Would you literally drop everything for Jesus? Or would you procrastinate and tell Him to come back in a few years or months time before you follow Him?

Imagine, if God spoke to you and your spouse to drop everything and to follow Him.

Are you aware that Jesus spoke a similar command to Simon and Andrew? Did you know that they they dropped everything and went with Him?

As children of God today, how life changing is His call to us, although the Lord may not call you to turn your backs away from your life's work or your family in order to become a Missionary.  However, the term "Follow me" can be linked to numerous things.

Would you seek God's views before you make that crucial decision?

Would you remember what Jesus would do before you embark on disagreeing with your friend/spouse?

Would you abandon your own plans, goals and dreams to serve and help somebody else because Jesus Christ directed you?

Would you ignore your fear, worries and listen to what God says about you?

Would you ignore your age and other people's past experiences and follow Jesus's principles?

One could actually argue that, Andrew, Simon Peter followed Jesus because they saw Him in real life, therefore, they found it easier to obey Him than it is for you and I to obey.

For us, the only way that we can know how we are to follow Jesus is through His Word (The Bible). Through giving our lives to Him, and telling Jesus to help us to live a life that is worthy.

Also, Simon Peter and Andrew had each other, they both made the decision to follow Jesus. They supported each other.

Do you have friends that are influencing you to follow Jesus's principles? Are you encouraging your spouse to follow Jesus by the way you live your life or through the decisions that you make together?

The Word of God says that..Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labour (Ecclesiastes 4:9).

Are you ready to follow Jesus? Are you praying for your friends, relations, spouse, siblings, and colleagues to also follow Jesus in all that pertains to their lives?

Jesus is calling you to follow Him.  He loves you, Yes You! He cares, He wants to teach you the way to live your life. He wants you to reign with Him in Heaven forever when it's time. 

Do you need help in following Jesus? Please, contact trulymakingadifference@gmail.com or you can speak to a local Christian Pastor/Reverend in your neighbourhood or contact a local Christian group on Social Media.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father Jesus, I come to you today. Please, help me to follow you all the days of my life. Teach me what it means to follow you. Help the people around me to follow you. Amen.

- Myss Lafunky

NB - Myss Lafunky has written articles for different Christian women's group. Recently, one of my articles was accepted by a Christian women's group, it's going to be published on 4th October 2014 CST. I will share the links with you all. 

Have a lovely week ahead. See you next week.