Thoughts and Other Things

The older I’m getting, the more I’m learning to accept and deal with the fact that bad things are part of life. At some point I thought I was lucky that bad things are only coming my way now, but I learned that they were always there, I was just protected from them. And part of growing up is being left to see and experience life in its bareness and rawness. From my own experience, I’ve noticed that we tend to resist bad things when they come our way, because, well, bad things never feel good, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good, or rather, that they don’t serve a good purpose. Think of a pregnant woman. I’ve heard women experience pregnancy differently, and that even with one woman, pregnancies aren’t the same. Let’s think of the group of women who experience more hell than others. Morning sickness, fatigue, discomfort, aches and pains, swollen feet, bloatedness, heartburn and sleeplessness are among the common ailments. For nine whole months. Imagine that. And just when you think...

In the first part of this title, we discussed two practices from Acts 2:42 that help one’s walk of faith to be a productive one. We emphasised the importance of reading, hearing and speaking God’s Word, and actively participating in fellowship. We will now discuss the remaining two. 3. Breaking of the bread This refers both to the meals they shared together in their homes (see Acts 2:46) and to the Lord’s Supper (see 1 Corinthians 11:20-22). The emphasis with the meals they shared together in their homes was not only the unity and communion (see Acts 2:44), but also their giving. Giving is vital to your spiritual well-being as a believer.  Not just because ‘blessed is the hand that gives’, but because giving is a declaration of my faith and trust in God for the provision of my needs. This includes all forms of giving such as tithes, freewill offering, giving towards the building/extension of God’s house/kingdom, and giving to those in need. There is much debate surrounding the...

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post titled ‘ Out of practice ’ where I shared about the importance of being consistent and not staying away too long from anything, especially the things of God. A friend of mine has asked me to follow up on that post and talk about some of these practices or disciplines that we shouldn’t stay away from so we can successfully walk with God and win our battles. (I advise that you have your Bible handy so you can follow). The key to these disciplines is locked up in Acts 2:42. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer .” These were the practices of the early church whose success in their faith goes without saying if you’ll continue reading the book of Acts and the epistles. These are 4 pillars by which a believer’s spiritual life should stand. 1. Apostle’s teaching What the apostle’s taught was the unadulterated Word of God, the teachings and revelations they received from Jesus ...

A lot is going on in and around me lately, hence the silence. 4h30 in the morning while lying down on a make shift bed made of blankets, having not slept beyond 4 hours, I read Ephesians 1. My heart stuck on a phrase in verse 11. “ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will , ” God has a plan. He has a purpose, a will. He has an intended plan for everything and everyone and through Jeremiah 29:11 we know that He only has good plans for us. But what happens when something bad happens? Does He have control only over the good? Not according to this verse. It gives us the understanding that God remains in control even in hostile situations because He is constantly at work, working all things out to conform with His plan, even the bad. Bad and evil doesn’t intimidate God, He has ultimate control over it, being able to move it around as He pleases, and what pleases Him is us having ...

Let’s talk marriage, again, lol. I swear I cannot exhaust this subject, no matter how much I try. I was going over Genesis 1:28 with the saints the other day as we explored the subject of family. It’s impossible to talk about family without talking about marriage, because the way God designed it, family starts with marriage (not children). I was listening to Jimmy Evans and he confirmed this truth when he explained how important it is for couples to put their marriage first. I know how wrong that may sound, and having not understood Scripture, I would have said Jimmy got it wrong, I’ve heard so many parents describe their children as their world. But he is absolutely right. He goes on to say that if you’ll put your children before your marriage, you won’t have a marriage after the children leave. He says children are temporary in the sense that they will eventually move out and build their own lives without you (and you should let them) but you’ll always be married to your spouse. Tr...

Hey there happy readers! How you guys doing? How’s the new year treating you so far? I’ve had a hectic start, no thanks to the wise guy who made January/February exam period a thing. Like how did they approve of such? You can’t even enjoy the December holidays because you have a book in front of you the entire time. Not that I mind reading, but reading about the different approaches to counselling and psychotherapy is not my kind of read for the holidays. Anyway, the whole experience of preparing and studying for an exam was a horrible reminder of how out of practice I was. The last time I wrote a three-hour exam was 4 years ago. It was like re-learning how to ride a bicycle. Okay, maybe that’s not such a good example because I’ve never forgotten how to do that, but I think you catch my drift. I’m a night owl, my brain functions better at night so I always studied at night. I’d go to bed in the wee hours of the morning. Not this time, my brain and body simply refused to go past midni...

I recently preached a message of this title and it still resonates in my heart. We read from 1 Samuel 1, a very popular text. Focus is obviously always on Hannah, but God drew my attention to Elkanah’s cry, Love’s cry, His cry. “Elkanah her husband would say to her, ‘Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” 1 Samuel 1:8 This cry of his is based on the fact that He loved her, and out of love, he made provision for her, covering her weakness (see verse 5). But Hannah had a rival, and she was more conscious of her enemy than she was of her husband. We’re told Peninnah would provoke her whenever they went to the temple, provoking her on the basis of her weakness, her infertility. She would provoke her in order to irritate her, provoking her until she’d cry and not eat (see verse 6 and 7). Note her rival’s timing and her intention. Note her target and how we are only told of the provocation after we are told that ...