Fattened For Slaughter

Photo Source; Google Search

When Isaac was born (Genesis 21), he did not know that he appeared in the middle of his father’s journey. Abraham who had left his home land to a place to be shown by God, had gone through a rough process. He was old, his wife had been barren, he had gotten a child with their maidservant and He had God brooding over him.

Have you ever seen a child being raised by wealthy grandparents? That is how it felt for Isaac. He was a child of the promise. He was an explosion of joy not a just a bundle. I see Abraham showering his son with everything sweet and beautiful. I see Isaac growing into one happy chubby boy. Let’s say a little obese. Every birthday, Abraham would throw such a huge bash and they would feast to their fill.

Abraham must have done his best to teach Isaac about God their father. I see him giving Isaac stories that seemed fictions.  How he had lied about his mother in Egypt. How he thought God was never going to come through. How Ishmael was supposed to replace him and how he had a great promise following his life. I just wonder how Isaac took all this.

Then one day, kaboom! God appears and demands Isaac for sacrifice. Abraham knows nothing but perfected obedience. But that does not deal with the matters at hand. Now how do I break this news to my dear aging wife Sarah? How do I bring Isaac, a now stronger man than I to lie on the altar?

Isaac was so used to his dad’s escapades it seems. This 3 days trips to the mountain to sacrifice to God without a sacrifice on sight was unusual. “Is dad getting too tired to remember we need a ram?” He must have wondered.

When it dawned on Isaac that he was the one to be sacrificed, he must have wondered. You mean my dad has been fattening me for slaughter? You mean I am just but a delicacy? But then again, what can I do but be for my dad his delight, and to His God, now our God, a fulfillment of His desire?

And at times life feels like that. We experience so much goodness and favour just for God to come back and demand the same. Did you just get a pay rise and now struggling to give more? Have you just gotten married and now unable to serve in ministry? Have just had a baby and you now have no time to pray? Has your business received a new contract you have no time to engage with God? Has God showered you with so much blessing, you are too chubby to fit through the doors of the church?

Indeed the test of perfected obedience is more challenging when you are walking in abundance than in lack.

Here a poem to summarize this thought

Fattened for Slaughter

Picked from the wild

Into a pen placed

Daily fodder provided

Fresh water availed.

Well sheltered

All needs met.

Home have I found

My shape now round

Check out how so proud

I bounce and sound.

Freed yet bound

Here now am ground

Picked from the flock

Now the owner's choice

Keenly He eyed me

For this great day

Guests already settled

Dressed ready to feast.

Facing the knife

The culmination of this life

My now fatty meaty heart

Is making dinner delicacy

Fulfilling the very reason

He gathered me in His pen.

And it’s a matter of laughter

How I was fattened for slaughter

But what other reason greater

Than be slayed for the master

Thoughts by Josef Munuhe

God Is Our Life-Building Facilitator

I am a team building facilitator. My job requires me to coordinate experiential learning processes for teams. My role as the facilitator is to provide a safe (physically and psychologically), supportive, non-judgmental atmosphere, in which participants try to accomplish tasks beyond their self-imposed limitations.

So when a team contacts me, we do a need assessment that guides me in formulating activities and a program for them. These needs are the things that are hindering the team from performing as a team and achieving more. The activities are supposed to produce learning points in line with the needs identified. 

So as I set those challenges for the team, I have in mind what the team needs are, I have in mind what this activity seeks to achieve and I have the confidence that the team process as they do the activities, will produce the required lessons for them. The only way to assimilate the lessons from an activity is through what we call a debrief. The team sits back and starts reflecting on their process, analyzing their feelings, analyzing their actions and their responses and articulating their learning points.

When I was thinking about my work, I started thinking about how God is our life building facilitator. He know the things that are hindering us from achieving our purpose and call. And so everyday he sets challenges for us, knowing that our processes will produce learning points that if assimilated will make us a better people, able to do life as He wishes. And as much as we might feel as if a challenge is impossible, (just like my teams do all the time), when I engage with him and allow him to facilitate me, He guides me through my processes until I manage. He also knows our self-imposed limitations and He wishes we could break those limiting barriers and be the people He created us to be.

Unfortunately, we don't see it that way. Some of us shun away from challenges, some of us are not focusing on becoming better and others are prisoned by their self imposed limitations they can hardly do a thing. They are slaves.

But God is our Life Building Facilitator. Let us learn how to allow him to guide us through life, to teach us thing through our process and to trust him that though he sets ahead of us challenging things, he know that we can surely do it. 

And yeah, you must make it a habit to always do a debrief with God. Take time everyday to reflect on your learning points and allow those lessons to become part of you.

Change Me Oh Lord!

We have prayed this prayer over and over again. That God may change us. 

Then just as I was changing my son's diaper it hit me... what kind of change do I want?

You see, when a child has pooped on themselves, they are desperate for a change. They scream to express the desperation. Even if they are hungry, they will not be comfortable to suckle. As you come near them, as you hold them, they are desperately wishing you could just figure it, that they need change.

How many times have we desperately cried out to God for change. A change of diapers? When we poop on ourselves and the discomfort of sin is eating us up alive. Our hearts are so burned we are developing a rash? When our immaturity has blinded us up not to see the greatness of our God. We cry and wail, showing how desperately we need a clean slate... and God in His faithfulness, changes us or should I say changes our diaper... and as we indulge in our usual delicacies... we poop again and the cycle continues. We are ever crying to God for change.. a change of diaper!

But how beautiful would it be when God matures me up.. the kind of change that will teach me how not to poop on myself. The kind of change that matures me. The kind of change that brings me to a higher and deeper level in Him.

And just like a child, we start by pooping on ourselves and God changes our diapers, but He expects us to grow up and mature. He expects us to desire a better change, a deeper change, a renewing change.. something permanent.

And so as I lift my hands and ask God to change me, I focus on getting into a transforming process, the kind of change that makes me more like him.

Change Me Oh Lord!

Accounting For Life - IFRS 99

Someone said that we live life forward but understand it backward. And I must say that statement has some element of truth. When I was thinking about this I realized life is more like an accounting profession.

The other day my friends and I went to some pricey restaurant to devour some international cuisine. It was one of those things you do once in a year because for sure we don't work for the stomach but for other things as well. The meal was orgasmic as much as the pleasure was short lived once the bill was presented.

Then we started discussing about giving a tip. My friends are all trained accountants. So obviously no one was willing to give a tip. So I asked how come accountants are that mean they are not willing to give a tip? It's at that point I was corrected. Accountants are not mean; it is just that they have to match each expense to a budget line. Unfortunately in the accounting system, they don’t have an entry for tips. 

The dilemma is, how do you account for a tip? The amazing thing is even when you are on official duty and you have been given some money to use, if you give tips to those who serve you, when you go back to the office, you are not reimbursed the tips you gave. The principle is, match all your expenses to a budget line and provide documentation for the same.

That is a stressing life.

Lucky are the accountants, for when we get to heaven it will be easy for them. The bible says, and each one of us shall give an account for their lives. And all those of you who think matching your expenses to a budget line and providing documentation is a lot of work, woe unto you. How will you account for your life?

So, I have come up with an International Financial Reporting Standard IFRS 99 – Accounting for Life as a guideline for you as you prepare your books when your financial year finally ends and you life stops being a going concern or is liquidated.

·         Create your budget lines – Love, forgiveness, kindness, faithfulness, integrity, stewardship, fruitfulness among others

·         Match your expenses to a budget line –For example, when you incur hatred, show love, when you are wronged, forgive.

·         Finally, provide documentation – Let your life be a testimony!

Make My Day

You know those days when something special happens in your day and you go... this just made my day. Sometimes it’s just an act of kindness, a funny joke or a gesture of humanness.

Life can be so ordinary that we find ourselves going through the motions.

As the year starts, I was asking myself what do I do that everyday I will have that moment of .. this or that made my day.What do I do?

Then I remember the verse that say, This is the day that the Lord has MADE, I will rejoice and be glad in it. This means that, my day is already made J

At the end of it all the lesson is to look at the ordinary with a special eye.

I would have loved this note to make your day, but I am glad that the Lord has made a day for you. REJOICE

His Own

The other day I was in the village and someone was screaming during the day. That is the only alarm system available for the village folks. The best thing about these people is their willingness to indulge in such occasions. They all come to either help or just watch depending on the happening. The watching part is the favorite for most.

When I was growing up, I was not spared. Our homestead was a shoot location for a drama series. It’s not once or twice we had villagers coming to spectate as we washed our dirty linen outside our yard. I think I only survived the shame because most of it happened at night and also the following episodes would be shot at a neighbor before it gets back to ours. The funny part is how people behave the next day as if nothing happened. Unless your face still carries the evidence.

There is this one night my folks were fighting and my brother and I were really pissed. Occasionally, I would avoid taking sides because I had discovered I needed both my parents the same way. But this night, I needed to say something. I am actually not the one who started; I am more of a coward, my bro did.

He ferociously tried to tell off our dad, mumbling a few words as his 5 year old mind would allow. Then when he ran out of what to say, the moment fell awkwardly silent. I raised my voice, still hiding among the spectators and yelled at our dad; “hey, just allow me into the house I pick up my stuff I go. I don’t belong here”.

And in that awkwardness our dad answered back laughing, “If you want to leave, go ahead, but first come here and remove the cloths you are wearing, everything you have here is mine”. And the crowd laughed at me hilariously. I was 6 yrs old and I had never felt that helplessly cornered and owned. Clearly there was no way I could detach myself from the circus.

That statement has never left me, more so when I think about our father in heaven. He owns us and everything we have. Yet many a times we want to excuse ourselves from his affairs, especially when we feel inconvenienced and disadvantaged. And unlike our earthly dads, his ownership is bound with such a deep amazing love that we can’t comprehend. Even when things are ugly, when things are tough, when things are not making much sense, he is just but crafting something beautiful out of us.

The call of God on your life may be taxing you. Loving your neighbor may seem an impossible task. Being a peacemaker may not be a thought in your mind. And yet that is your call; to uphold the values of God and to walk in his principles. And I know how now or then we get the feeling that we should back off and give up on God, that we don’t belong.

Or maybe the show is on your yard. Neighbors spectating your struggles and enjoying the drama in your life. But it’s not for you to respond in bitterness, depression, shame or by running away. No. Just know that you belong to him. Everything you are and everything you have is his. And so you have nowhere to go. Stick through the process.

Would you Apply?

The most unfortunate thing about life is that we find ourselves in it. In a place we didn't ask to be, with some aspects of our lives that we may not have the capacity to change. We just find ourselves in here.


Assume we got back in time, with what you know now, would you apply to be born given a chance? Would you choose your gender? Would you choose your father? Would you choose you mother? Would you choose the place you were born?


For a long time I used to say, if I were given a chance to apply to be born on earth, I would have requested for a pass. No second thinking. I would not have chosen to be born. Period.


The fortunate thing is, I didn't have a chance to chose. But instead God chose me. He chose my gender, he chose my father, he chose my mother and he chose the place I would be born.
And now that I know that, I am at peace with life. I don't look at any aspect of my life as an accident or as an unfortunate thing, but as a design from God. The processes I went through were not hapharzard, but a crafting of God, moulding my path into who I am. Isn't that wonderful?


And now that I am empowered to make choices of the life I want to live, I have learnt to enquire from my manuacturer, because from the look of things, He is better positioned to know what I need and where I should go and what I should do than I can ever think.


Truly you don't know yourself until God tell you who you are. And that is all you need. God.

The Broken Vessel

God is looking for a broken people to use. A broken heart and a contrite spirit He won’t despise. Unfortunately we have become broken vessels.

What’s the difference you ask?

A broken vessel is the kind that leaks, the kind that cannot contain. And so when God deposits His treasure in such a vessel, within no time everything is lost. Such kind of a vessel will only waste great resources achieving nothing for God.

We need to be vessels of honor for God. Vessels that are able to hold the treasures released from God. These treasures include His word, His values, His Grace and His blessings. But never should we get familiar with God. We ought to appreciate the fact that we are only vessels and so we must always have a broken heart.

Let us be vessels of honor with a broken heart and not a broken vessel with a golden heart.

They Way I want to See Us

There is a reason why they say we should not judge a book by its cover. But I still can't help it. I judge a book by its cover and that includes the price tag. But once in a while especially if the book is not wrapped up, I peruse a few pages and check out of it's a worth read. If I am not convinced I check out online reviews just to get an opinion. Then I decide if I can afford the book. Which could either mean I start saving for it or just get cash and buy.



And I think that is the same process I use to decide who I should talk to, make friends with and keep as a friend. Not a bad strategy because we must make sure we have the right friends but again the same reason why I ignore books with dull covers always comes into play.



I have been having a desire to know how God sees people. How does He look at us?



There is no color, no skin type, no weight, no dress, no background info, no accent, no make up, no car, no house, no academic qualification, no ettiquette, no homour, no nothing that shapes the way he see us. He looks at us as His own and loves us that way.



And that is how I want to look at you, as a brother and as a sister, sharing one father and living in one amazing mansion called earth, where everything we have is our father's, we are just stewards. And that is the way I want to look at it that way. That is teh way I want to see us.

Heaven Day 1

On the waiting room, she sat and pondered, how could her husband have made it in heaven. They both had been involved in a fatal accident during the day and that was their last day on earth. And now each in a glass cubicle, they were waiting to be ushered into paradise. But her mind was bothered. She really wanted to know what had happened that gave her husband access to heaven. Having lived with him for 32 years, she doubted he would even get near anything glorious.



She was first to enter through the door that was on the far corner of the glass cubicle that lead into paradise. And Alas! She was in hell.



Not really understanding the occurences that sorrounded her, she demanded an explanation. And God being just assigned to her an angel. The angel was so heartbroken to see the agony in the woman's eyes, he broke down into tears.



''Woman, if only you loved. That was the greatest commandment. That you love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. I know while on earth you did your best, but we could not fail to notice that when you came over here and saw your husband on the other cubicle, there was no love in your heart. The transactions that went in your heart were the transactions of judgement, the transactions of giving up on people and transactions of deciding people's fate in your heart and these have denied you access to heaven. For in heaven only love abides.
_____



God is love and those who know God live in love.



Love your God with all your heart, your mind and your strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. This is the greatest commandment



People may not deserve it, but just love. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us and loved us. That is the love we are called to. That while our neighbor is unlovable and undeserving, that we shall love them and wish for them what we wish for ourselves.

A Den of Robbers

Before I share my thoughts let us consider some scriptures in John 2:13-17.

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.’’ NIV

We all know that our hearts are the temple of God. We also know our life processes are transacted in our hearts. So the question is, what transactions is your heart conducting? Referring to the above scripture, I have come to realize that for a long time, I had made my heart a market place. A place where I tell God to do this so that I can do that for Him. Where the transactions of my heart are about merchandizing, losing this to gain that for my own sake. And that is what Christ refers to as a den of robbers.

Is your heart a den of robbers? Examine your heart and check out what kind of trade has been going through in your heart.

In this season of TFM we are going through different maturity transactions. These transactions have come to reconfigure our hearts. We are learning that the cross is a transaction point, where new agreements, covenants and contracts for the conduct of life in the earth. God is whipping out the trade in our hearts and replacing it with a zeal for His house. A zeal for Him. That we may be found in Him, that we may become for Him.

So, I would urge you to keep tracking, keep enquiring, don’t get familiar and don’t lose the sight of the bigger picture.

When Mercy Offends

Simon was my high school classmate and a weed supplier in school. He was a day scholar and when we were in form 2 our CRE teacher discovered that Simon didn't know the Lord's prayer. So the teacher charged me with the task to teach him the prayer. So we became friends. Not a friend as in a friend but we would talk and we didn't have those walls people put between the savedees and the school crooks. I also liked Simon because he used to lend me his text books which he didn't have time to read. He scored a D- in KCSE.


I am walking in town, I have an important meeting and am running late. Guess who I meet? Simon. He is so delighted to meet me, it's been like 7 years since we left high school. He started narrating to me how he appreciates how I showed him the love of God fr being his friend and when I would preach to him. And he told me that my efforts were not in vain because he got saved like a month prior. I didn't believe him.


He proceeded to give a testimony and yenyewe he was so happy. Yet I still didn't believe. And since I was in a hurry to a meeting I had to excuse myself. I pretended to be happy, I hugged him and I wanted to leave. In my heart I didn't see how Simon could be saved. I knew him too well. I knew he was good with his mouth and he always had very interesting stories. I felt maybe he was trying to impress me so that he can borrow me some cash. He looked like he needed some. And so before he could ask I voluntarily gave him a 200 note. We exchanged numbers and I left.


Throughout the day I kept replaying the brief encounter with Simon. I knew he was just trying to milk me some cash and he must have been happy that I produced something. And that was my version of the story. The was no way Simon could have received Christ as his Savior.


I am in shags. It's Christmas and as usual everyone has come home. We are hanging out at the local trading center. I meet a few of my former classmates and we are happy as usual to see each other. Then I meet Richard. Richard was also my classmate, who was neighbors to Simon. And on asking him how Simon was, He told me that Simon actually got saved and he now serves as a missionary. He is so changed and doing so well with his life that Richard was getting inspired to get saved.


I was so ashamed. I realized if I was god for a day how some people would suffer. I realized I don't know mercy or love. I realized am such a hypocrite. The guy who stays at the gate. He is not getting in and not allowing others to come in. If Simon had expected me to lead him to the Lord, most likely he would have waited all his life...


And now I know that mercy offends. When you think you know God, He surprises you like that. When you are there feeling sorry that your village thief has just been caught, crucified and now headed to hell, he is actually on his way to paradise. On his cross he met the savior. Just when you think that girl is a gone case, God's love meets her and makes her new.


How i pray that I will have a heart like our Lord's, the love like that of our God and a compassionate spirit that sees a saint in every sinner. God help me :-).

Why Is It This Hard?

You know the story of the young rich man who came to Jesus seeking to know how to get into the Kingdom? This guy was doing everything we consider godly yet he had not secured a place in the Kingdom of God. And when he asked Jesus what he needs to do to get in he was told to go sell everything, give it out to the poor and come follow Jesus. He went home very sad.

Why is it this hard to follow Jesus? to get into the kingdom of God? SELF.

Human beings have this force within us that seeks to preserve ourselves. We seek comfort, security and freedom. That is why we would want to be sure we are safe for tomorrow, we would love to take care of ourselves and we would want to do what we feel like and be good with it. Most a time these things are tied around SELF.

On the other hand, God is looking for people who can trust Him and have faith in Him to provide comfort, security and freedom. But His way of providing this requires death to self. Death to self means we lose our own ability to provide for ourselves comfort, security and freedom and give that ability to a being we have not seen but whom we connect through faith. TOUGH.

Look at Paul, he says he considers everything rubbish having known Christ. He was a learned man, a great achiever and a track history of greatness. Yet he says that is all rubbish because he has known Christ. I would wish to occupy that position but you have to agree with me it is not easy. 

Back to the rich young man, why do you think he went home sad? He was not ready to lose his comfort, his security and his freedom. And although he did all the religious acts thoroughly and consistently, he did not come to a place of accessing the Kingdom of God because he sought to preserve self. When we look at Zacchaeus, he let go of everything and accessed the Kingdom.  This rich young man didn't have the correct sight of Christ. I mean, it was possible even after selling and giving away everything, to actually have it all restored and given more. But self blinded him.

I am convinced that the way to access Christ and His kingdom is to surrender everything to Him and to be safe in His words and His demands. And once we occupy this position we are able to achieve comfort, security and freedom. Having no trace of self in us.

I Once Wanted

I wanted to be known, to be famous
To be adored, a demi god.
I wanted to be popular, admired
To have it all, to have it big

I wanted to matter
To be the in thing
The big thing on airwaves
The sensation on social media
The most sought after talent
I wanted to turn heads as I walk on the streets
To know that I got it all.

I wanted to speak and be listened to
To ever be right and perfect
To be it

Then I heard them speak
That it is not about me but God
And it pierced my heart deep
Why is He that selfish?
All glory to him?
I wanted some

And so I stopped
I stopped dreaming
I stopped trying to be
I was ok with being nothing
I was ok not mattering
I hid and remained ordinary

But now I know better
I know where to hide, where to be found
I know why He is selfish, I can see what he means
And I want to be part of that meaning

I will do may best and be the best
I will be his slave, his servant, his delight
I will position self to reflect his light as much
I will be aggressive to get hold of his call
I will move forward and desire greater spheres
I will seek his kingdom and its righteousness


And I will do this for him
Knowing they might reject me
Knowing I may not be sought after
Rather be despised
Knowing I may not be the in thing
I may never be a big sensation
But I will still do it

And in case all I ever wanted came true
It will not for me be
But for him who got hold of me
For I once wanted, but now I know.

How Does God Think?

There is this verse that says that God’s thoughts are so far from our thoughts and God ways are way beyond our way. This has made me wonder how then does God think. I have desired to know exactly how God think so that it can be easy for me to please him and do his will. And if our thinking is far from God’s thinking I am hesitant to base my life on man’s thoughts.

Here are my thoughts on how God thinks, and they being my thoughts…. I can’t promise much.

1.    I think God is selfish and his selfishness is for our own good. He says he is jealous when we don’t worship him and when he gets angry we suffer. He went through much hustle to deliver the children of Israel out of Eqypt so that they can worship him. When they missed this, they were destroyed in the wilderness. In our human thinking, selfishness is a vice and that is true because unlike God who everything is about him, our lives are not about us but about God. And that is why God says unless someone loses their lives they cannot find it. That is the paradox. Our selfishness is destruction to us while God’s selfishness is our salvation. And once we align our lives to becoming slaves of God, we are elevated into son-ship where we co heir the Kingdom of God with Christ.

2.    All things work out to serve God’s purposes. As humans we have learnt to classify things as bad, as good, as right and as wrong. Let us go back to Eqypt, when God killed the firstborns so that Pharaoh can let go of the Israelites was that good or bad? Was it right or wrong? How I see it, God is after fulfilling his purposes, and in his sovereignty he can do anything for that. While as humans we shall be trying to reason in our classifications of thing, we end up missing it all. The secret therefore is to capture the purposes of God and make them our own. That is the safety we have. And no wonder the verse that says that ALL THINGS work out for good to all those who love God and all called in his purposes. Once we are in God’s purposes ALL THINGS serve us for good.

3.    The nature, the power and the word of God. You have people say that God is good, all the time and all the time God is good and that is his nature. That statement is true. The nature of God is a nature of goodness considering both the first point where he can do anything to bring us to a place of knowing him and worship him. His nature to forgive and forget, to offer grace and mercy and to provide the holy spirit as a helper and comforter so that we can indeed get to walk in his purposes. The power of God is evident in creation and in his intent. Knowing that God is able to do what he promises to do. And his word which is true and transformative to make us acquire the right attitude and perspective which inform our lifestyle. God does not lie. As human we are full of fear, doubt and blindness in connecting with God, and that is why we need faith. We cannot please God without faith. Faith needs to be exercised so that it grows. We are justified by our faith as the word says. God intent is that we may have an abundant life that is full of goodness as we experience his power. And so our thinking must be transformed so that we can embrace obedience towards the purposes of God and therefore enter into these things.

4.    Eternity: As humans we are always in fear when we think about the afterlife. Our thinking wants us to have our life and then a spiritual life. That is not how God thinks. God’s intention is to dwell among us. That where I am, you too may be found. The coming of Christ was so that we can find our way back to God. The idea is not that we may just live on earth then go to heaven and live with God, No. The idea is that we can start living with God while on earth as we build a dwelling place for him so that where we are, God is. This means we cannot have separate, segregated lives but must build one life that fulfils God purposes without the classifications earlier discussed. And so we must build a balance life so that we can grow into maturity where we have the fullness of Christ’s nature in us as a body. And so when time ends and we enter into eternity, it won’t be an awkward moment being where God is because we have been walking with him and have acquired his nature and his fullness.

These are just some of the thoughts I am able to gather now,  I am on a quest to understand how God thinks so that I can try minimize the gap between his thoughts and mine and those called with me.

What is God?

If God is love, and according to 1 Cor 13 we have a description of love, then it would be accurate to say that:

God is patient

God is kind

God does not envy

God is not proud

God is not rude

God is not self seeking

God is not easily angered

God does not keep records of wrongs

God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth

God always protects

God always trusts

God always hopes

God always preserves

God never fails.

And if we are being transformed to be like God, then we can replace the above traits with our names and see where we need to work on.

Be love.

I don't Know

Living in the information age makes everyone assume that just because you can find information so easily so you know it. Especially on how to live life and to do it well for the after life. One thing I am learning with life is that I actually know nothing. And that is why I have accepted the student role in life.

If you show life that you know it, you will soon discover that you have no idea. But when you choose to let life teach you, then you find that life is much better. Every situation, every person and every circumstance becomes a learning process for you and then life becomes a learning experience.

And even our faith, we cannot assume that we know, that we have read the bible a hundred times. That is deception. As the bible says man lives by the proceeding word from the mouth of God, we must then keep listen afresh each day that we may hear the word for the season. Most people are missing the ways and the moves of God because they already think they know.

Teach me oh Lord thy ways, hold my hand and help me walk with you.... i don't know... I have not been this way before.

It’s for God to Judge

Why would God put a commandment and declared that you should not covet after your neighbors’ wife? You can never understand that until you get married! When I was thinking about that (triggered by someone’s comment how I have the best wife, which I do and I thank God), I realized most of the time we look outwardly and not inwardly to gauge how well we are doing.

When I was a kid, I remember cooking stories about my parents especially my dad so that we don’t look like we are down. And we would go further to bragging among other kids when we have cooked chapos and kuku or something like that. And kids would take turns proving how good they are beyond the rest.

I remember when I was in class three after the Easter holidays, I came bragging to my desk mate the way our dad took us to the Aberdares country lodge and the fun we had. Then he narrated to me how they went visiting their uncle in Gilgil and how they went through a roundabout. The funny part of this story is I felt so defeated because I hadn’t been to Gilgil and I didn’t know what a roundabout was and my simple mind imagined going through a roundabout must be a greater experience beyond the visit we had.

Last month I had a chance to pass through Gilgil on my way to Nakuru and didn’t I laugh at myself when I remembered that story, there is no roundabout in Gilgil!

Human beings have a tendency to compare with their peers, thus the word peer pressure. We have developed a competitive spirit and we actually evaluate how well someone is doing based on how other people are doing. That is why it is generally acceptable among some people to fake till they make it. But I have been thinking how erroneous and empty such a thing is.

That is nothing compared to what people say about those who die, especially if such people are not religious or have conspicuous character flaws. In low tones and in whispers, you will hear some declaring how they are rotting in hell and such, and then the funeral is just a PR exercise. But does it matter? I mean they are already dead.

I have been thinking about it and I must say it’s something I want to get out of. Our lives are not for comparison, because we have different gifts, different stories and different reasons why God placed us on earth. And as much as we would want everyone to adhere to our own code of values, we must be ready to accept that we could be wrong.

I like what Paul says when he say, I consider everything else rubbish to the knowing of Christ. And that is the place I would like to get to. And in that place, you only wish the best for other people, not thinking highly or lowly of yourself but just living your life to please God.

Why do people talk bad about Judas the Iscariot? Have you ever considered that part of his purpose on earth was to betray Jesus so that he can actually be crucified for you and me to access salvation? And if that was his purpose, why wouldn’t God accept him in his Kingdom for doing his purpose? Just a thought

I am so sure at the cross very few people knew that the thief on the right hand of Christ spent his evening in paradise. Maybe the person he stole from prided in the justice he got through crucifixion and she would narrate how in hell he was rotting…. How erroneous.

The thing is, it doesn’t matter what we think about you as human beings, what matters is what God thinks about you. And so we should focus on pleasing God and not men, and stop judging other people because we don’t know what God is up to with their lives. And most of all, that we may accept who we are and grateful for what God has blessed us with.

Hadithi Za Abunwasi

Now there is this debate that the world is ending on 21^st May 2011. And as I follow tweets, status updates and peeps conversations one thing is evidence; how casual people have become with God. There is no much fear of God in our generation. The word of God has just become hadithi za abunwasi.

The end will surely come; we just don’t know the timings. And that is not even the important thing. The important thing is what is Jesus coming for? That is what we should be focusing on becoming for him. In Acts 3:21 the bible says that Jesus must remain in heaven until the restoration of all things spoken by the holy prophets. This means, believers should focus on accomplishing the spoken word and thus becoming the bride Christ is coming for.

Just imagine on the wedding day, the bride gets prepared thoroughly. In details. And when Jesus says that he is building his church; that is what he is looking at doing, thoroughly preparing his bride (the church) for himself.

And so our focus should be to mature up in Christ, to attain his full measure and to fulfill the spoken word by actualizing it. The enemy’s strategy is to create little fires here and there that catch the attention of every believer and thus losing focus on what we ought to be doing. The enemy also seeks to make the finish (not the end), look like a myth or something impossible. And in so doing, people will forever wander in the wilderness and the powerful word of God will just be hadithi za abunwasi to those who are perishing.

How Great Thou Art (no more)?

There is nothing as refreshing as a walk in the forest, or when you sit still at the bank of a river with your legs dipped in the water, or when you are listening to a water fall. It is also refreshing to feel a breeze of the wind on the top of a hill and having a look at the villages down there. Nature is refreshing.

And that is why the writer of the hymn how great thou art captured the nature of God. I mean the beauty of a high mountain is exhilarating, the singing birds, the therapeutic brooks and such can only reflect the beauty of the creator.

The other day I was thinking on what will be left of nature to show the beauty of my creator to my grandchildren. I fear the rivers will have dried up, the beautiful indigenous forest will have been settled on, the mountains will have no more snow, the birds will have nowhere to stay so that they can lead us in praise during morning glory, the elephants and their trumpets will only be available as videos online. What will I tell my grandchildren?

The degradation of the beauty of our environment has an adverse effect on how God, who is the creator, is perceived. I know he is sovereign to create and destroy, but what about when we as humans become the destroyers. Are we not attacking the NATURE of God? And when the effects of our irresponsibility become destructive, how then shall we sing how great thou art?

How I take care of the environment is of great importance if I am concerned as how God is perceived by the generations to come. I may not do much, but I can do the best with what I have. Plant a tree or two each year, use water wisely, preserve the energy and just be a faithful steward.

It is so easy to blame God when disaster struck, and to start thinking of how cruel and evil God is to send us the floods and such, yet we could and can do something now to make sure the future ahead of us reflects the beauty of creation and the nature of God.