Edge of Glory

Merry Christmas Lafunkites. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with any long sermon or post, even though it’s our last post for 2017. I’m sure that’s the last thing you’d want, when you should be roasting turkey and cooking jollof rice. Cheers to my shortest post ever! I tagged this post the edge of glory because we find ourselves at exactly that point as we prepare to crossover into a new year. 

When I set out to write this post, it was intended as a review of 2017, but the Holy Spirit kept hammering this into my heart. So instead of doing my will, I must obey, after all, I am a bond-servant of God (Rom. 1:1). 

A lot of lessons were learnt in 2017 but the most important of all is that God is forever faithful (II Tim. 2:13). Even when you don’t stay with God, God stays with you (Denzel Washington said so, and if he did, it must be true; Denzel never lies 😁).

As we prepare for 2018, prepare for the manifestation of the glory of God in your life in Jesus' name. No weapon formed or fashioned against you shall prosper, that is my prayer for you. So, look back on 2017 with your eyes on 2018. In my final post for 2017, I leave you with one final charge, BE INTENTIONAL! Be intentional in your prayer life! Be intentional spiritually! Be intentional in your love! Be intentional in your slaying! Be intentional in what you give your attention to! Be intentional in your finances! As you live intentionally, you will move from the edge of glory into the glorious life God has planned for you in 2018 (Is. 40:8). Have a glorious 2018! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sage

Happy Holidays

Dear Readers and Followers,

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Myss Lafunky's Blog.

Lovey Dovey

When the Kokomaster falls in love you know say water don pass garri, don’t get it twisted, love is a beautiful thing (D,banj, Fall in love: 2008)

Love is one emotion that makes you question if you really know yourself. Why? Because you do things that even your conscience has a hard time rationalising the action or in some cases reaction. In my young life, I have done some things because of love that till tomorrow, I can’t believe it when I think back. I won’t bore you with any of my stories, I’ll save them for my grandchildren 😁.

As the year come to an end, there are a lot of weddings going on, people getting engaged while some take the first step towards a new relationship. This past weekend, I witnessed two of my friends exchange their wedding vows and get married. Nigeria is probably the only country in which a couple have three different marriages. Nigerian weddings typically follow this timeline: Thursday: married by law (registry); Friday: married by culture (traditional marriage); Saturday: married in the presence of God (white wedding). Not looking forward to the wedding stress at all lol. Despite the heartbreaks and disappointments, love never goes out of fashion.

Love is an action, a conscious decision to always look for the best in your partner even when they’ve let you down or annoyed you. It isn’t that butterfly fluttering in your tummy, that’s your hormones. It isn’t that weird "kumbaya beautiful rainbowy" outlook that you have at the beginning of a new relationship. It is the conscious decision you make even when your partner is acting the exact opposite of what you expected or of the illusion they painted for you at the beginning. How do I know that love is an action? It's because of the person (can I call Him a person?) that set the standard.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NIV).

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." (I John 3:16, NIV).

This is the standard God set for us when it comes to love. He loved us so much that He took the action of sacrificing His one and only son so we can have eternal life. A conscious decision, an action! The action was so great that it baffled the great Apostle Paul in Romans 5 (read it yourself) as he tried to understand the magnitude of God’s love for us. 

As we enter the final week to Christmas, the charge for each and everyone of us is to go out into the world and spread the love of God. Christmas is such a beautiful period because it is a period in which people go around spreading love through gifts and cards. So, in the spirit of Christmas, show love to the unlovable, the needy and helpless, the broken and down-trodden. Show love to your partner, family and friends. Be intentional in your love. Merry Christmas!

Sage

P.S. Fall in love by D’banj was on repeat as I wrote this post lol.

Taste & See

Christmas is almost here! I hope you’ve gotten out your decorations 😊. Christmas is that time of the year when you get to dust off the recipe book and try out another way to cook turkey before you return to the tried and tested method that guarantees that you won’t go hungry on Christmas day. I remember back then in Birmingham, on the day before Christmas, I’d go out to buy turkey, plantain, mashed potatoes, gravy, cake, drinks, mixed vegetables and everything else that ensured Christmas day would be a memorable day. Christmas in Nigeria just isn’t the same, we’ll see this time around sha.

My Birmingham Christmas Meal

Isn’t it strange that as human beings when we see good food, the saying: seeing is believing doesn’t apply. What applies is taste and see 😂. Until you taste the food, you don’t believe that it’s good. That why the bible in Ps. 34: 8 says:

Taste and See that the Lord is Good… (NIV)

But the question we should be asking when we read a verse like this, is why does the bible say we should taste and see and not just see? This is because taste is an action that involves you taking the step to find out for yourself. When you taste, two things are involved: 

1. Hope, which is the foundation of faith and 
2. Faith that God will respond to you. 

On the other hand, seeing doesn’t involve you trying it out and therefore hinders your ability to ever convince anyone about what you are talking about. This therefore means that our ability to witness (Matt. 24:14) would be severely affected. If hearsay isn’t admissible in the court of law, why should it be admissible in the kingdom of God? God wants each and everyone of us to try Him out for ourselves and not rely on what the pastor or our parents or anyone else tell us about who He is or who He should be. That would be limiting a limitless God to the perspective of the person who told you about Him. To some, He is Jehovah Rapha, to others He is the Jehovah Elohim, but you will not know what He is to you until you taste and see for yourself. That is why when Moses asked God, who should I tell them sent me, He replied with what would forever be the greatest reply ever: I am that I am (Ex. 3:13-14). Meaning that whoever you see God as is who sent Moses. Isn’t that epic?

Just like that good meal that you’ll eat on Christmas day, the charge is for you to taste and see for yourself that the Lord is good and in doing so you will be an effective witness unto the world. When next you hear someone tell you seeing is believing, tell them no, seeing is not believing. Tasting and seeing is believing lol.

Sage

A Reflection | Wanting More and Living Within Your Means

Hello Readers & Followers

How are you doing today? It's December, the month that we have chosen to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Have you started feeling "Christmassy"? I have attended at least two Christmas parties so far that have set my mood in preparation for Christmas. Another thing that has also helped set my mood for Christmas is the culture of giving and shopping during the Christmas period. Here in England, there is a culture of sharing gifts with one another during Christmas, therefore, a lot of us shop for various items during the Christmas period. What better way to start this month by writing about spending within our means.  Keep reading...

"Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer (food/manna) for each person you have in your tent" (Exodus 16:16 NIV)

Reading the story in Exodus 16:1-31, God gave specific instructions to Moses, He said He was going to bless the Israelites with food from heaven. However, there was a clause to this. God said that everyone would go out each day and gather as much food as he needs and God would test them in this, to see whether they will follow His instructions.  

So what were the instructions?

Firstly, God instructed them to gather an omer for each person they had in their household and they were not to leave the food overnight. Guess what? Some of them did not listen to the instruction, some gathered more and left the omer over night. Something terrible happened in the morning; when they looked, the food was full of maggots and had a terrible odour.

The second instruction came that on the sixth day, as the seventh day was going to be a day of rest, the Israelites were to gather what they would need for two days and they should keep what was left for the next day. Now, remember that for the first six days, God told them not to keep the food until the next day and when they didn't listen to the instruction, the whole food ended up with maggots? God is indeed a God of principles and order. 

Back to the second instruction, God now told them to keep the food until the next day. Guess what?  When they checked the food the next morning, the food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odour.  Do you know why? Because they kept to the instruction to the letter.

Are you thinking that it may have been wise for the Israelites to gather extra food and save it when the first instruction was given? A lesson God wants us to learn from this is that while we are spending and planning smartly, God wants us to trust Him with our needs both now and in the future. He also wants us to be guided by Him when it comes to our spending. 

Let me tell you another story that I recently read...

"An elderly couple was looking for a piece of property in a neighbourhood dotted with brand-new, expensive homes. Through careful planning and spending, the elderly couple had paid off their first home and put their children through university. Now they wanted to build their dream home in which to retire.

As they drove around the neighbourhood, the husband was impressed with the number of young families living in the neighbourhood. He noticed they all had nice expensive cars. He was curious because the local economy was suffering. He asked the estate agent that was showing them around: 'How can these young people afford such nice houses and cars?'

The estate agent responded: 'Many of them can't, they live on debts and loans, they are funding their lifestyle through loans, debts and credit cards. A lot of them grew up in nice homes and with nice cars, they think they deserve everything their parents have even though their parents worked for years to get those things.'"

The question for you this morning is, are you living and spending within your means? While it's okay to borrow for necessities, you should always pay for luxuries.

• Work hard, spend within your means, pay cash for your items, if you can't afford some things that are not necessities, it clearly means you do not need those items at this present time
• Be clear about your wants and your needs
• Also, understand that God's blessings aren't necessarily monetary
• Don't be in a hurry to accumulate unnecessary things in debts and loans
• Recognise that there's a time for everything. You may not own that brand new car and brand new house at the same time with everyone else
• Be aware of peer pressure and society pressure. Some may question why you are living in a particular house or driving a particular car and you may end up putting pressure on yourself to accumulate debts that are unnecessary.

Finally, remember that the borrower is always a servant to the lender. A borrower cannot rule over the rich (Proverbs 22:7). 

The charge for you this week is to spend and live within your means. Avoid spending on credit.

Have a lovely week! Sage will be writing for the next three weeks. Make sure you watch out for his write-ups.

Mysses Lafunky