Having An Accountability Circle Is Helpful

Hello Everyone,

I hope you've had a lovely weekend and you are off to a great start.

Psalm 1:1-3 says:

"Oh, the joys of those who do not

    follow the advice of the wicked,

    or stand around with sinners,

    or join in with mockers.

But they delight in the law of the Lord,

    meditating on it day and night.

They are like trees planted along the riverbank,

    bearing fruit each season.

Their leaves never wither,

    and they prosper in all they do."

As Christians, God expects us to seek counsel by following the advice of a sound Christian or those that would point us on the right path. It is godly wisdom for you to follow the advice of those that will lead you on the right path while it is foolishness to listen and follow the path of those that will lead you to engage in things that are wrong or in things that aren't God's plan for your life or in things that compromise the truth of God's Word or your integrity. 

In your life, do you have access to people that you can seek spiritual guidance or business or financial guidance or career guidance? For parenting guidance? For emotional well-being support? For wisdom in general? Someone, to offload to? You need to have wise people in your life that you have given permission to speak into your life. 

One thing you need to realise is that anyone that you are accountable to or anyone that you would like to be accountable to would expect you to be the one coming to seek counsel and to update them on how you are getting on. Who are the people within your accountability circle?  

You need good advice in life to succeed. Proverbs 24:6 says "So you need advice when you go to war. If you have lots of good advice, you will win."

Most importantly, I'd like to encourage you to ask God to lead you and show you the right path to follow, and for God to lead you to the right accountability circle that you need in your life per season. 

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say hello in the comment section.

Have a lovely week!

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How they lived a Purpose-Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download it on Google Drive for free, click here.

You Will Give Account of Your Skills

Hello Everyone,

How is your week going? Thank you for your positive feedback on the last article that I wrote regarding God being the God of all nations. If you missed the article, click here to read it. 

At the beginning of the week during my time alone with God, and at my workplace Christian fellowship, I reflected on the Scripture in Matthew 25:14-28 where Jesus described His kingdom. 

Jesus said His kingdom is like a man who gave three servants money (he gave one servant, 5 pounds, another servant, 2 pounds, and the third servant, 1 pound) to spend and invest wisely. Two of the servants spent the money and invested wisely. They were faithful with the money they were given and their master blessed them. Their master was impressed by how they had produced more from the little he had given them.

What about the third servant? 

I haven't forgotten about him:) 

The third servant did not do anything with the money he was given, he preserved it and didn't do anything with it. The master wasn't pleased with what the third servant had done as he expected him to have generated more money with what he had been given. Not doing anything is actually doing something.

How can we apply this teaching to our present-day Christianity?  

Let's start by changing the word 'money' to talents/ special gifts/abilities/skills. The Lord gave them special talents/abilities/gifts/skills. God has given each and every one of us special gifts/talents/abilities/skills for us to use as good works on this earth, to bless lives and to shine the light of God. 

Ephesians 2:10 says "We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Christ Jesus. Now we can do good works. Long ago God prepared these works for us to do."

Are you using the gifts the Lord has given you to be a blessing to your church, community and surroundings?

While God has not given us equal gifts/talents/abilities/skills but He has given every person a gift/talent/skill/an ability to impact lives positively. This story about the three servants is a reminder that we are all going to give account to God for how we are using/used the talents/gifts/skills/abilities He has given us. 

The unfaithful servant wasted an opportunity to produce much more with the money he was given. As a result, he was judged as a wicked, evil and lazy person. You probably won't have thought a wicked/evil person is someone who chooses not to do what the Lord had asked them to do.

You are responsible for what you do with the talents/gifts/skills/abilities that the Lord has given you, and you are also responsible for where you use the talents/skills/gifts/abilities the Lord has given to you.

Are you using the talents/skills/abilities where the Lord would like you to use them?

For your good works to be acceptable before God, you must use the talents/gifts/abilities where and when He wants you to use them at every particular time. Let me share a personal experience with you.

A couple of years ago, the Lord instructed me to leave a bubbly and big flourishing church where my husband (fiancé at the time) was part of the leadership team of the church, and I should go to a church in Sandwell to support them as they were crying in the spirit for help. I am a firm believer in doing whatever the Lord instructs even when it doesn't make sense. 

I had a discussion with my fiancé and my best friend about what the Lord was asking me to do. They both said since the Lord was asking me to do this, I should go for it.  I left the old church and committed myself fully to the new church in Sandwell, UK. The Lord said my service to Him was not going to be acceptable if I stayed serving at the old church even if I was using my talents/gifts/abilities really well, even if people and the leaders were praising me. 

I took a courageous step and left the church immediately and I started attending the new church. I didn't burn any bridges with anyone as I told the Pastor of the old church and I still attended special events at the old church. In fact, they had a special programme for my husband and I when we were about to get married. 

I grew so much in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of ministerial ethics and served joyfully during my time at the church in Sandwell. I also made new friends that I have continued to sustain. God also blessed me tremendously. After marriage, my husband and I relocated to another town. We were asked to plant a church in the town we were moving to but God didn't give us the go-ahead at the time. Nevertheless, a few years down the Lord, God gave us the go-ahead to plant a church. 

Actually, I have only shared a positive experience with you. Let me share another experience in which I didn't take the right step before I eventually learnt from God about the importance of taking the right step at the right time.

There was a time when I moved to a new city and I ran away from a new growing church as I refused to commit. I wanted to be attending two churches at the same time and eventually decide where I would be. The Lord said you cannot serve two masters and I must choose to serve in 1 place. I chose the big church to serve. The Lord seriously told me off for not committing to the growing church where they needed help. I apologised to God and the Pastor for the wrong step that I had taken. 

I went through a time of intimacy with God to learn what it means to serve God. I am immensely grateful to God for what He has taught me over the years. I also thank God for giving me another chance which I responded positively, with the help of my fiancé (now husband) and my best friend. 

Why did I share my personal experience with you? I shared for you to know that where and when you use your talents/skills/gifts/abilities matters to God as you will give account to God about this. 

Why not take a pause and say a prayer to God?

Prayers

Lord Jesus, grant me the awareness to know the gifts you have given me.

Lord Jesus, grant me the wisdom to know where and when you would like me to use my gifts.

Lord Jesus, let my service be accountable to you.

Lord Jesus, help me not to serve you in vain.

Lord Jesus, give me the courage to always do what pleases you.

Do any of the above resonate with you? Which ones, and why? 

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say hello in the comment section.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How they lived a Purpose-Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download it on Google Drive for free, click here.

How Are You Sharing Your Christian Faith?

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are well. As a church, we are running an Evangelism Campaign to encourage Christians to share their faith with others. The thought that we may have people within our neighbourhood or within our network who do not know that we have the key to eternal life is worrying. How would your neighbours and colleagues feel if they knew you had the secret to eternal life but didn't share it with them?

Our God is a global God and He desires that people from every nation, tribe and tongue know and love Him. Jesus came for all! He died to atone for the sin of every person. 

In Genesis 17:5, God said to Abram, no longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 

In 1 Kings 8:60, when Solomon dedicated the temple to the Lord, he said a prayer ..."So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other."

In Acts 1:8, the Word of God says that when you have received power from the Holy Spirit, you are to tell people everywhere about Jesus, people in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and in every part of the world.

Let me dissect Acts 1:8. The Word of God says...  And in Judea and Samaria, and every part of the world. This means you can be reaching the global audience concurrently, you don't have to reach your local community first before you reach the world. With my writing ministry (Mysses Lafunky's Blog), I have been fulfilling this Scripture for the last 11 years. Glory to God for the courageous faith to start this blog.

Let me ask you a question.

If you have 1 minute to share Jesus with others, what would you share with them and what approach would you use?

What would be your approach? If your approach isn't listed above, feel free to share. I'd love to learn from you.

I'd like you to take a pause and reflect on some of the global statistics about the Christian faith globally, provided by the team at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.