Happy Holidays!

As the year draws close to an end, Myss Lafunky's Blog is grateful for all our committed readers, audience and writers. Thank you for your commitment to the vision of this blog. Next year, the posts will be more frequent than how it was in the last quarter of this year.

Revisit some of our popular blog posts from 2016 and you'll find helpful primers on subjects like:

Freedom, How to Take Revenge When Someone Offends You, Waiting on the Lord, Ways to boost your confidence in the Lord, Things you should do in the morning as a Christian, Shaped by adversity, Having faith in God, What it means to fear God and Joy to the World. 

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Joy to the World: Christmas in Kiri-Kiri Prison Nigeria

I’ve been honoured to be part of a great group of people that want to make a difference in this world. The name of this group is called the Destiny Trust and part of their plans for 2016 was to have what we tagged an unlikely Christmas for children behind bars. When I say children behind bars, I’m not referring to juvenile offenders but to children that are either too young to be separated from their mother or were given birth to by mothers serving time in prison as at the time of their birth. As such, when Sage heard of such a project, nothing was going to stop him from spending time with these young ones. Ps. 127: 3 – 6 paints a picture of how God sees children.

                    3. Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him 

On the D-day, 11^th of December 2016 I found myself at Kiri-Kiri. For those that haven’t been there, let me paint a picture. Kiri-Kiri is a town located in Apapa, Lagos and within that town lays the famous Kiri-Kiri prison. The prison has different blocks for male, female and maximum prisoners; each of these prisons feature high fences and imposing gates that are properly guarded. It is not the kind of place one can break out from; forget prison break and the escapades of Scofield, T.Bag and co. With a lot of anxiety, I drove into the Kiri-Kiri compound and the first thing I did was to get into trouble with a guard for making a U-turn at the gates of the maximum prison. A huge dose of humility, an explanation that it was an innocent mistake and apologies was what rescued me. Eventually I arrived at the gates of the female prison and right there on the fence I was greeted with the following words:

A home away from home.

Don’t be frightened.

Just walk into an atmosphere of love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness, self-control and abundance of God’s grace upon your life.

This was the strangest place to find such words written at the gates. These words belonged at the gates of a church or at the gates of a rehab centre, so I thought. If you read carefully, you will recognize the fruits of the spirit listed out in Gal. 5:22-23:

22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Eventually, we got in, observed all the necessary security checks, dropped the gifts with warden for distribution later and were taken straight to the church where the Sunday service was on-going. When we got in, the sermon was about how we should accept whatever situation we’re facing and accept God’s will. Not such an easy thing to do when you’re in a prison cell. Despite the situation, these women sang praises to God of His greatness and how God is the biggest. Service ended, we were introduced and the women were asked to bring their children to join them in the chapel. Just as inscribed on the fence of the prison, there was joy as these women praised God, danced to His greatness and partook in singing the Christmas song ‘Joy to the world’ (even though we all forgot the lines at different points in time; who forgets the lyrics to Joy to the World?). There was so much joy that one of the ladies, to the loud cheers of the others, boldly said to us:

"Don’t see us as prisoners but as students."

There was also an interesting remix to Joy to the world sang by one of the women; such a lovely voice and so many talented women. One of the women played the drums while the other played the talking drum. The little babies weren’t left out of the fun as we took turns carrying them and playing with each of them. For some reason they kept rejecting the sun-shades of one of the volunteers. 

Joy is the essence of Christmas. Joy that our Saviour, Jesus Christ was born. Joy that we get to celebrate God’s love for us (Rom. 5: 7 – 8). Love so great that He sent His only begotten son down to earth to be born in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. As we left, I watched as a mother left the chapel with tears in her eyes while another had tears in her voice as she prayed for us and felt saddened that these children would spend their first Christmas in prison with their mothers. It was a blessing to be able to spread joy and the amount of thanks and the heartfelt prayers from the ladies were the best gift I could ever receive. It was indeed an unlikely Christmas! As we celebrate Christmas in our different locations, let us spread joy, love and speak life into the lives of the people around us, friends and strangers alike. Please remember these children and their mothers in your prayers.

Find out more about the Destiny Trust on:

http://destinytrust.org
https://www.facebook.com/thedestinytrust/
https://www.instagram.com/thedestinytrust/
http://destinytrust.org/get-involved/

Merry Christmas from Sage

Should I fear God?

It's December...woop woop! I usually love December, a month where the birth of Jesus Christ is remembered by the whole world. A month where some people show the love of Jesus Christ by sharing gifts with their friends and families. Another thing that I like about December is the beautiful decoration at shopping centres and at various houses. What do you like about December?

Back to this week's post, it's about fears. When you think of the word fears, what comes to your mind? Keep reading...

Prior to getting married, my husband (who was then my fiancé) encouraged me to learn swimming as he believed it was a life skill to have. I took on board his advice and I attended swimming lessons once a week. So, after we got married, we went on honeymoon and I had our swim wears packed because I was ready to display my newly learnt swimming skills.

As the days of the honeymoon went, there were various opportunities for us to swim but I was scared to enter the pool even though I had attended swimming lessons. With hubby's encouragement and seeing how he was showing me different acrobatic moves inside the pool, I became audacious and entered the pool. But guess what? I was still terrified, I didn't float properly and I was scared and I feared for my life, I thought I would drown. When you think about the word 'fear', we don't usually have a happy thought, we have a terrifying feeling in our minds. 

When we think of our relationship with God, some of us have questioned why we need to fear God if He is a loving God. Check out the biblical stories below: 

- Think of the story of Adam and Eve, when God appeared to them, they became terrified because they knew they had sinned against God. What does that tell us? Sometimes we become fearful when we are afraid of the consequences of our actions.

- Think of the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Joseph shun evil, he refused to engage in any sexual activities with his master's wife because of his fear of God. This fear was not because he was scared of the consequences or he was afraid of God but rather, this fear was a profound reverence for God, he carefully thought about how his actions may offend God or discredit the name of God.

From the story of Joseph, can you see how fear is not always a bad thing but rather it can be a good thing to stop us from doing the wrong thing.

 A few bible scriptures for you to think about: 

- The Bible says God has put his fears in us to stop us from doing wrong things. Exodus 20: 20 says: "Moses said to the people, "Do not be scared, for God has come to test you, that the fear (profound reverence) of him may be before you, that you may not sin." The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. (Exodus 20:20).

- “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” (Psalms 111:10 ESV). 

- “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7 ESV).

When Jesus Christ came, He changed the fears we had for God. Jesus Christ demonstrated the love of God to us and told His disciples and several people not to be afraid. In fact, He said, there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out all fears. For fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love (1 John 4:8). 

Jesus Christ however told us about the type of fear that He wants us to have, He said in His absence, He wants us to work out (actively pursues spiritual maturity) our salvation with fear and trembling (using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Jesus Christ). This can be found in Philippians 2:12 (Amplified Version).  

Jesus Christ wants us to fear God but the fear is to respect and do things out of love for Him and avoid anything that will discredit the name of Jesus Christ.

 Finally, the scriptures say that the conclusion of our Christian journey is to:

Fear God [worship Him with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is almighty God] and keep His commandments, for this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, every hidden and secret thing, whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 AMP).

- Myss Lafunky

Relax! Do not be anxious or worried about anything

A lot is going on in the world at the moment, from Mr Donald Trump winning the US election to the UK's Brexit. In addition, various families are fleeing from war zone countries looking for a safe haven; there are also families that are not able to afford their everyday meal. 

Some of you are questioning where God is and some have continued to wonder how God can be allowing things that make them anxious to be happening. Even Jesus acknowledged that we live in a world where trouble is never farfetched (Jh 16:33). 

Nevertheless, The Lord said you should not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything (every circumstance and situation), tell God everything and trust that He has heard you (Philippians 4:6 Paraphrased).  Why not take a few seconds to tell God about your worries and fears? I am very confident that He will work everything out at the best time.

Have a lovely week!

Are Your Words Gracious?

It's a new month. Can you believe it's November 2016 already? I mentioned to someone yesterday that November is still very far away, not realising that November starts tomorrow until I was reminded. Thank God for keeping us alive. Glory be to God. Once again, I officially welcome you to the month of November.  Please, keep reading for this week's post. This week's post allows us to individually reflect on how gracious we are. 

According to the dictionary, to be gracious means: 

- to be courteous, kind, and pleasant, especially towards someone of lower social status.- The word gracious is synonyms to being:  courteous, polite, chivalrous, well mannered, decorous, gentlemanly, ladylike, tactful, diplomatic and civilised.

Looking at the meaning of the word 'gracious', can you confidently describe yourself as being gracious at all times? Are there situations that may trigger you not to be gracious? 

Do a self evaluation of when you are gracious and not gracious, try and identify ways that you can be gracious in line with the above definition. Also, think about your triggers, what are the things that influence you to speak graciously or not? 

There was a time that I was challenged to be gracious with my words for a whole month; I had to regular evaluate my progress at the end of the week. From my reflection, I was able to identify that sometimes my thoughts would think ungraciously, however, before the words came out, I had controlled what I said. Also, I noticed the Word of God that is inside me influenced the choice of words that I use. Furthermore, I noticed that my environment, and the closest people to me also subtly influenced the choice of words that I had used and still regularly use. 

You can also give the challenge a go. Perhaps challenge yourself for one day, two days, a week? Two weeks? One month?

You can teach your children, siblings, Sunday school children about what it means to be gracious and what God expects us of His children when it comes to our words. 

There's a scripture that I usually remember with regards to my use of words. It says: we will give an account for every careless word that we speak (Matthew 12:36).

Let me leave you with a few biblical scriptures about being gracious: 

- “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

Proverbs 16:24 ESV.

- “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but gracious words are pure.”

Proverbs 15:26 ESV.

“And all spoke well of him  (Jesus) and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"”

Luke 4:22 ESV.

Have a lovely month ahead.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com

Want To Walk On Water?

Ever heard of the story of the second man to walk on water? His name was Peter and he was a fisherman who had met Jesus and also spent time touring the land of Israel with Him. If you were to meet Jesus, what would you ask Him? Back to the story, Peter wanted to be sure that He was actually seeing Jesus and not a ghost when he saw a Jesus lookalike walking on the sea, he asked: "If it is You, command me to come to You on the water." So, Jesus beckoned on him to come. Peter got off his boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. However, as Peter was making his way to Jesus on water, the wind was boisterous and Peter became frightened and started to sink. He cried out to Jesus to save him and Jesus didn't hesitate. Jesus reached and grabbed his hand and saved him. However, Jesus had to question his faith, He told him that he should not have doubted (Paraphrase of Matthew 14:24-31).

Can you see yourself in Peter? You know God, you have a relationship with Him, however there are things that pop into your mind or things that you see or hear or read that generate fear or doubt in your heart. Let me remind you that you are not alone. The devil constantly sows seeds of fear and doubt in us.

How do you deal with this? 

Recognise that fear and doubt will not add anything positive to your life. The scripture says that you should be anxious for nothing but to turn that anxiety into an opportunity to pray for God's help regarding the anxiety. (Phil 4:6)

Recognise that you can't control what people say or write, you can't control some things from happening etc. However, you can control how you respond to it. How then do you respond? 

When you feel afraid about anything, remind yourself of the power of God and remind yourself of what the Word of God says about that situation. Constantly say it out loud or you can respond to the thought in your head as well. If you confront the negative thoughts in your head with the Word of God, you will overcome the fear as the Word of God will give you victory, peace and further directions. Like Peter reached out to Jesus, remember to reach out to Jesus and not to things that would add to your fears and doubts. Jesus Christ is always calling out to us to do both the possible and seemingly impossible. Don't be faint hearted like Peter, step out with boldness!

Have a lovely week.

Waterfalls

Hello Myss Lafunky's readers & followers

Happy New Week. How was your weekend? Apologies for the long break. Myss Lafunky would like to thank some of our committed readers and followers that have contacted me to ask why articles were not being published. Thank you for your care. We are back now. 

Today's post has been written by one of our guest writers, Sage. I trust you will learn a couple of things from this short write-up.  Two major lessons for me from today's post are: 1) To have a fulfilled and satisfied life on this earth, Jesus Christ (Including His principles) must be part of our everyday living and it is only in Him that we can have a long lasting fulfilled life. 2) Our lives and souls can never be at rest until we find rest in God.  

                             Waterfalls

What is that water you're drinking? Alcohol? Sex? Porn? Drugs? Womanising? Greed? Social media followers? Have you noticed how you can never be satisfied by these things? We lie to ourselves that once we drink of this water, we'll be okay. Lies!! These things were never designed to satisfy us; they were designed to keep us thirsty and wanting more of it. 

The only water that is designed to satisfy us is Jesus. Note His conversation with the woman at the well. Jesus is the only one that has the waters that will satisfy you for eternity.

“Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not get thirsty nor [have to continually] come all the way here to draw.” (John 4:13-15, Amplified Version)

 - Sage

Sage is a graduate of human resource management and a 24/7 salesman. A clay in the hands of the Potter, he is on a journey to knowing God and becoming the man God has called him to be. He has a passion for football and society at large. In his quest for knowledge, he has recently restarted his passion for reading books. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

Photo Credit: http://www.shawacademy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/waterfall-photography-tips-1000x605.jpg

The Power of Faith

God has given us a special gift and this gift, we all have different measures of it. The more we study the Word of God deeply and continuously hear the word of God, the more this special gift increases and the more it will do tremendous things in the lives of those that are around us and in our own lives.

This special gift is called Faith.

Faith is when you believe and trust in what you can't see the evidence but you have a positive belief that it is real. The more you believe, the more you see the evidence that it is real.

Amplified Version of the Bible explains Faith as “the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality--faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” 
HEBREWS 11:1 AMP.

God reminded us in Hebrews 11:33 (English Standard Version) that Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, Samuel and David conquered kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions and obtained promises from God due to their faith in Him.

KEYWORD: * FAITH*

What are you using the faith in you to do? 

Have a great week! 

Take time to study the word of God this new week.

Photocredit: www.cubsindia.com

Shaped By Adversity

Dear Readers & Followers, 

Have you ever experienced any difficulties in life? How did you overcome it? 

Are you waiting on the Lord for something? 

Using our human understanding, nobody wants to experience any adversity, trials or difficulties and nobody wants to significantly wait on God for anything, we would prefer our wishes to be granted the moment that we had asked, isn't it? Nevertheless, have you ever thought of how you are being shaped in the process of waiting? And in the process of trials? 

Usually during the process of trials, our characters experience a lot of pruning, this means our character is being shaped, our understanding and knowledge should also be improving, our insecurities are likely to be replaced and permit me to say when you come out of the trials, you become more confident in God. 

Do you know what Satan wants? He wants children of God to faint/give up/crumble in the place of adversity. God warned us against this, the Bible says that if you fail in the days of adversity, your strength is small (Proverbs 24:10). 

In the place of trials, it's an opportunity for you to learn about yourself, to grow, to discover various biblical ways to cope with the trial.

How are you being shaped in the trials that you are experiencing? 

-  Be mindful of how you are being shaped when you are going through trials and when you are waiting on God.

-  Are you allowing your emotions to take over? Or the Word of God? Remember, believers are guided by the Word of God not by their emotions or other people's emotions. The just shall live by faith and not by emotions. The just knows that the vision is yet for the appointed time and it shall come to pass. The just knows that God makes all things to work together for their good.

- As painful or sometimes time-consuming as some trials can be, it's an opportunity for you to discover yourself, shape your character and depend on God.

The Word of God says in Romans 5:3b -5: 

"We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

Hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (English Standard Version). 

The Message Version gives a clearer explanation, it says: 

"We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. 

In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!"

Be encouraged! I pray you will find comfort and rest in God even in your most difficult times in Jesus name.

If you are living a life that is pleasing to God and you are experiencing sufferings, it means that you are precisely where Jesus predicted you would be.  He knows exactly what you are going through and He would see you through.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

Have a great week! 

The Word of Who?

Hi Readers & Followers,

It's a new week and a new dawn. Apologies for the long break, the blog has now fully resumed.  This week's post stemmed from an incident that occurred last month and my lessons from the church Sunday sermon that was preached at Christ Church, Royal Leamington Spa, England.

I recently travelled to a number of countries and prior to travelling, I was informed that the particular airline that I was planning to use were known and still known to misplace people's suitcases and they are also known to delay delivering people's suitcases back to them.

I'd read a number of poor reviews about people's dissatisfaction about their suitcases being misplaced and their precious items. Wouldn't it be right for me to be anxious about the fact that I had booked to fly with the same airline that a large number of people had raised concerns about? Nah! I held unto God! I wasn't shaken by the reviews. Nevertheless, I decided to share all that I'd read with my husband; he confidently and boldly said: "we are children of God, our bags cannot go missing as God has it all under control." His sharing of God's word reaffirmed my own conviction in God's faithfulness to His children. Furthermore, I remembered the perks and amazing benefits of being a tithe payer, I told God that tither's rights must follow us and God must set rules, boundaries and take charge of everything that pertained to our trips. I kept reminding myself of the word of God in Malachi 3:10-11 which says:

"Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts."

I told God that our lives are built and guided by His Word and I was convinced that tither's blessings would follow us. Upon our arrival at our first  destination, a number of passengers were informed that their suitcases did not arrive and they would be contacted within the next two days with regard to their luggage. I patiently starred like a hungry Eagle seeking a prey as I kept observing the Baggage carousel and within a twinkle of an eye, our bags arrived. I gave thanks to God for honouring His Word. Furthermore, God also surprised us with other freebies from the airline. In other words, all the negative views that I had been informed about the airline did not affect us.

The preacher in church shared that children of God should conform to God's rules and views as our own views change because various things such as; time, circumstances, culture, among others things are likely to impact our views while God's views do not change. He advised us to allow the word of God to transform our lives and we should avoid being influenced by the rules and norms of this world especially those that contradict the word of God.

Apostle Paul encouraged us in the book of Colossians 2:7 that we should let our roots grow down into Christ, and let our lives be built on him. Once our lives are built on him, then, our faith will grow strong in the truth we were taught, and we will overflow with thankfulness.

When happy, let the Word of Christ dwell in you.

When faced with any difficulties, let the Word of Christ dwell in you.

When you are feeling anxious, let the Word of Christ dwell in you.

When what you are seeing does not make sense to you, let the Word of Christ dwell in you.

When counselling others, let the Word of Christ be your source.

When encouraging others, let the Word of Christ be your guiding point.

As the Word of Christ dwells in you richly, you will be transformed positively to who God wants you to be, you will experience joy, victory and you will be fulfilled.

May the word of God dwell in you richly from now and forever in Jesus' name.

Have a great week! See you next Monday.

Healing in Jesus' Name

Hello Readers & Followers

It's another new week, another chance to get it right, another week to give thanks to God, another week for our lives to preach Christ by the way we live. Something interesting occurred to me last week. I wore a beautiful skirt suit to work and different people complimented my outfit. 

During the course of the day, one of my colleagues called my attention to the hem of my skirt, I looked at the edge of my skirt but I couldn't see anything. A few of my colleagues became hysterical and said the hem wasn't just about the edge of your skirt. They had brought my attention to the hem of my skirt which was torn. I looked at my skirt again and finally, I saw the tear and they were kind to give me a few tips on how to go about sewing it. 

While this discussion was going on, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the power of God and the mighty miracle that He had done when a woman touched the hem of Jesus' garment. The Holy Spirit reminded me that God is still very much in the business of doing the same miracle today.

How did the Touching of a Hem Lead to Healing?

The Bible recorded that a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years and had spent all she had on physicians and yet could not be healed by anyone. This woman had faith that if she could touch the hem of Jesus' garment, she would be healed completely.

Guess what?

One day this woman came up behind Jesus and touched the hem of his garment, and IMMEDIATELY her discharge of blood ceased. The miracle happened immediately and Jesus perceived that power had gone out of Him, He asked if someone had touched Him and the woman humbled herself by falling down before Him and she told Jesus why she had touched Him and how she had experienced healing immediately . Jesus did not tell her off but rather He embraced and nurtured her by saying "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." This account can be found in the book of Luke 8:43-48.

Jesus wants me to remind you that there is no need to focus on HOW He would heal you completely, He wants you to just believe that He has the power to heal completely regardless of physicians' reports and irrespective of the years the disease has been in your body. The belief in the name and power of Jesus Christ can bring healing. Are you exercising the power in the name of Jesus? Do you believe in the power of miracle through the name of Jesus?

Confront any fears you have about your healing by DAILY reading what the Word of God says about it. What the Word of God says has more power than any doctors' reports. With God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. Mirror the Word of God back to Him; God honours His Word and keeps to His Word.

Actions

Speak the Word of the Lord to every part of your body that requires God's healing. 
Confront your fears with God's promises about it.

Pray for your family and friends that require God's supernatural healing.

Ask God for the strength to wait on Him for a miracle of healing. 

Take time to pray for others that require extra strength from God to wait on Him for a miracle of healing.

I'd leave you with this song by Sinach.

Have a lovely week ahead!

Vision to Reality

Dear Readers & Followers

I'd like to encourage you to start this week with a joyful heart and thanksgiving.

One of the things that I have learned from attending Bible College is ways that we can serve God. The list below is not exhaustive:

• Look behind you (Hindsight) - This means past experiences may birth a ministry or a service for you to start.

• Look inside of you (Insight) - God has given you talents according to your own ability. Your natural talent or your passion may give you an insight to the service that God wants you to render to Him. In other words, God can use your talent to start a project or a ministry.

• Look in front of you (Foresight) - Ask yourself: "what do I want to be remembered for?" What positive contributions would you like to be remembered for? Would God be pleased with your service?

• Look above (Oversight) - Proverbs 3:5-6 says that you should trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. This therefore means that you should surrender the vision to God, ask God to give you a go ahead, ask God for His own plans for your life and learn to wait on God to respond.

Have a great week ahead!

Photo Credit: http://www.betsycroney.com/

A Vow to Praise God

David said: "I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life." (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭56:12-13‬ ‭ESV‬‬). 

Is God due your praise this morning? Have you made a vow to praise the Lord at all times? David said in Psalm 34:1 that he will bless the Lord at all times and his praises will be on his lips. 

David made a vow to praise God and looking through the book of Psalm we can see how he praised the Lord in the morning, noon, night, through the good, through trials and tribulations and through victory, David praised God.

Why should we praise God? 

1. Praise God because He made us (Psalm 100:1-4)
2. Praise God for who He is ... He's a good God. Psalm 106:1 says: “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”
3. Praise God for all His Word is True, His word is Yes and Amen (we can totally depend on his word) "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us" - 2 Corinthians 1:20
4. Praise God because of His greatness and mighty works (Psalm 150:1-5) 

So, what are the benefits for you when you make a vow to praise God?

• You will experience the fullness (not half or quarter) of Joy - praise uplifts our souls. Our own hearts will be filled with joy. Psalm 68:3 says “But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!” Our heavy heart becomes light. When you’re in a bad mood, begin praising God and you’ll be amazed at how the atmosphere would change.

• Praise changes the spiritual climate. It leads to victory.  When Paul and Silas were in prison, they praised God and an earthquake freed them. Praises lead to deliverance. See what Acts 16:25-26 says.

• Praise fulfils your primary purpose as a created being. 1 Peter 2:9 says that we are a chosen generation, a Royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light

• You receive hope for the future. You are being reminded of the blessings of God over your life when you praise Him and you reflect on what He has done for you, which gives you hope for the years ahead.

• Those around you would benefit from it, both believers and unbelievers, it can draw people to Christ and it can encourage those in the Lord. Ephesians 5:19 say "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord"

Tips on Praising God

• Read the book of Psalm regularly 
• Spend time in fellowship with God
• Sing praises and hymns
• Let His praises always come out of your mouth wherever you find yourself
• Praise him with your mind, dance, instruments etc.

Let our lips offer praise to our God. Lips of our children and every household of God.

Can God Boast About You?

Then the LORD asked Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless--a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause." ( Job 2:3).

Again, the Lord said to Satan:

 "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil." (Job 1:8). 

Can God Boast About You? 

How blameless are you before God? Do you stay away from evil? Do you honour God? Or are you of the school of thought that it's not possible to be perfect and blameless? 

Matthew 5:48 says be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. We are to become perfect and walk towards perfection.

How to walk towards perfection

1) Cleanse yourselves from everything that defiles your body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1). It means to stay away from the things that would tarnish your walk with God whether it's what you see, read, hear, where you go, etc.

2) Study the Bible everyday and carefully do what is written in it (Joshua 1:8). 

3) Ask the Holy Spirit to help you (John 14:26). 

4) Be disciplined.

5) Love the Lord and do things that show that you love Him. 

The bible says that For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life ( John 3:16). If you were to personalise John 3:16 to your life, what would you say? For (insert your name) loves the Lord that....

Prayer

The strength and boldness to walk in perfection, Lord grant unto me in Jesus' name. Help me to live in perfection. 

Have a great week ahead! 

Are You Disciplined?

What is Discipline?

It’s a conscious control over one’s lifestyle; mental self-control used in directing or changing behaviour (I gleaned that from the Microsoft® Encarta® dictionary). The bible gives many instructions on how to live our lives as children of God such as: “this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night . . .” and “pray without ceasing” among many others. But how many of us are committed to actually doing these?

The issue is not with the clarity of the instructions or the resources to execute them because more often than not, we actually do execute them. I believe the culprit here is discipline. Where is the discipline to continue executing these instructions?

Just like developing any skill that requires learning and practice over a period of time such as learning to become a computer programmer or a musician etc. developing into the fully grown adult believer in Christ requires us to learn and continuously practice the word of God. Not just when we feel sad or happy or when we are in a tight corner and things are not going our way but all the time. Consistently!

Like athletes who control every bit of their lives to ensure that they are fit and fully prepared for a race or match, we believers have been called to a life of discipline, a conscious control of our lifestyle to ensure that we are not disqualified by God on any grounds. This is not to say that we are saved by being disciplined. No, we are saved by God’s grace and mercy but we remain saved by being disciplined in our commitment to God. Paul said: “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified” (1Cor 9:27).

The question for you today is: “Are you disciplined in obeying the word?” Have you been consistently studying the word, praying, evangelising, giving to the needy, reaching out to those in need of some form of support etc.?

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being not disciplined at all and 10 being fully disciplined. What would you scale yourself? What would increase your scaling and what should you avoid?

I leave this with you: “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1Pet 4:8)

Photo Credit: www.carmelmoments.com

Is God fair? The Fairness of God's Judgement

Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.

When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. 

Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 

Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair! 

When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. 

Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.

Reference: Ezekiel 33:12-20 NKJV

Enjoy your weekend.

How to Take Revenge When Someone Offends You | Part 2

Welcome to the second part of this interesting topic. Click here if you missed the first part from last week.

Caveat! I do not want you to think that Myss Lafunky has mastered this topic, it's an on-going learning and teaching from the Holy Spirit for me and I thought to share His teachings with me to you readers and followers.

So, the question today is: “How does God expect you to take revenge?”

• PRAY FOR THOSE WHO HURT YOU. How easy is this? Naturally, when we think of those that have hurt us or those who seek to hurt us, we seldom have positive thoughts. However, Jesus Christ wants our response and feelings to be motivated by the type of love that He has shown us. Jesus gave several specific examples in Luke 6:27-36. In verse 28, for example, He said: "Bless those who curse you and pray for those who hurt you."

• SPEAK WELL AND KIND OF THE PERSON particularly behind them and to others

• PRAY TO GOD TO TRANSFORM YOUR HEART AND THEIR HEARTS

• REMEMBER THAT GOD's Opinions and what He says about you is more important, therefore, prayerfully and patiently let go of the hurt so that God can also forgive you of your wrongs (Matt 6:15)

• DON’T pretend to God when you are still hurt, pray honest and humble prayers to God. Tell God how you truly feel and tell Him to help you.

• REMEMBER that God will take full responsibility for whatever punishment should be administered to offenders. The Scriptures say: “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the LORD. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” (Romans 12:19-21 NLT).

• DO NOT CONTINUE TO ANALYSE THE SITUATION, PUSH THE THOUGHT AWAY and LET GO. If you entertain the thought, from experience, the hurt would become fresh in your heart and it could affect your mood and how you view the person.

• DO NOT GIVE IT TIME. Time does not heal hurts, a conscious decision to forgive heals all wounds.

Prayer

Father God, please heal my heart of every hurt and help me to forgive and show love to those who have hurt me in Jesus' name.

Have a lovely week!

Photo Credit: www.pinterest.com

How to Take Revenge When Someone Offends You | Part 1

Have you ever been hurt or insulted by anyone? As part of life, it is inevitable for people to hurt us and it is also a natural response for us to strike back negatively. Do you know that a large number of people struggle to be healed from hurts, insults, verbal offences? Please, do not contribute to hurting others. Humbly apologise to those that you have hurt, never find a justifiable reason not to apologise.

So, what do you do when someone offends you? I found the image below (adapted for www.mysslafunky.com) very useful when managing any hurt, insults and offences. I hope you will find it useful as well. Credit goes to the anonymous author.

Prayer
Help me to bless those who curse, hurt and insult me. I naturally cannot bless them, Jesus, I need you to teach me how to bless those that hurt me.

Watch out for Part 2 next Monday!

Have a lovely week!