Things That Change

It has been ages since I wrote here. Not just here, it has been long since I wrote an sms.  When was the last time you received a text from me? Sometimes one's crime levels upgrade and you are careful not to leave a trail of evidence behind. Or maybe I lost my mind and can no longer say something meaningful, or maybe there is no reason. It is just life happening where Instagram looks cooler than Facebook and Twitter more trendier than Linkedin. The same reason that makes milkshake more romantic than maziwa mala. Pop corns healthier than mahindi choma. It is when talking to strangers is more fulfilling than late night conversations with friends. When you scroll your phone and you have no one to ask for some loan. Thank God to *844# you can always get sorted. It is when fiction give better company, silence and solitude gives you better therapy.

There is no greater discovery than understanding what it means to be a human being. The larger percentage of the seven billion people on earth have no clue. There is just something way way way beautiful when a mortal soul touches the reality of what it means to have breath. Nothing else really matter much than being. Being human and being sure about it.

Maybe that is what I have been upto..... 

Important Notice

I have struggled in getting a title for this post. This is because it is difficult to summarize what I want to talk about.

Read the sentences below and take time to 
feel them. Feel each sentence independently without being influenced by the previous one.

1.  You are not important.
2. Are you really important?
3. You are important!
4.  You are really important.

I hope you have managed to feel each sentence independently. The truth is, the feeling you felt about the first sentence influenced the others. To most of us, the first sentence kinda really penetrated inside, making the rest unimportant!

Before coming up with this exercise, I was analyzing how most people feel about being important. One thing I realized is that most people’s importance is affirmed by other people, especially people we look up to. We all speak to ourselves, affirming who we are. But have you realized how sometimes our own voice is not as powerful as the voice of others?

We have all struggled with a notorious mosquito. The kind of mosquito that makes you wonder, are mosquitoes important? And as much as we might feel as if mosquitoes are not important, their importance is not determined by our opinion of the same.

Some people don’t feel as if they are important. Yet if you told them in the face that they are not important, affirming their inner voice, they would get really offended and become defensive, a feeling produced by the first sentence above.

Other people really feel important. And most of these people feel important because of something external. An accomplishment, a recognition, a status or something. And if a stranger who was not aware of who they are came and told them in the face that they are important, it would feel awkward. This is because their importance is tied to something known. And if they lost that thing, they would feel unimportant.

It therefore seems the issue of importance is really a personal issue. And when I was thinking about it on a personal level, I realized how unimportant I have felt because my inner voice was not as powerful as the external voices. It is as if someone telling me am important has a greater value than I, who knows myself better, telling it to myself. And to some extent I would find myself wanting to hear someone tell me I am important.

And imagine if I had titled this blog post with either of the four sentences. Had I titled it.. You are not important.. Those I know and who expect me to know they are important would have felt bad, those who are doubting their importance would have sought to look for an affirmation and those who I don’t know would have wanted to prove that I am wrong. Had I titled this blog post.. You are important, those I know, seeking an affirmation would have felt really good to read on, those who I don’t know and they feel important would have ignored while most people would think it is just a cliché.

Now, what if I had titled it… I am not important… So many of you would feel so sorry for me… and wonder why I feel this way. Others would actually agree.

The essence of this post is to encourage you to know that you are important. And your importance is not pegged to something external as much as is, your intrinsic value. We should learn to believe in who we are and be impervious of the external voices that may or may not agree with us. We should give more weight to the voice in our heart more than the voice of others. That our importance is first and foremost ours to feel, to know, to be.

Could it be being that being important is not something to feel? Could it be something to know, like head knowledge? Just a thought.

Are you important? You tell it to yourself!

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.

Lessons on Faith From London 2012 Olympics

London 2012 Olympics brought together countries from all over the globe. Many athletes competing could not speak one language. But that did not limit their participation.  As I was just reflecting on this thought, I realized how easy it is for the church to come to the unity of faith. You see, in any sport, the participants do not necessarily have to learn the same language, all they need to know is learn the language of the game. If it's handball, you have to know what makes it different from netball or volleyball. If it's triple jump, you need to know the drill and so with each game.

Once you understand the language of the game, whether in a global tongue like English, or in a local dialect like Kalenjin, you are good to go. And as you enter in the field to play, though speaking different tongues, all players are in essence speaking one language, the language of the game.

The Kingdom of God is bigger than our local realities, it is massive beyond the global sense. Beyond the galaxy, the seen and the unseen. And sometimes one can wonder if the maturity of the church according to Eph 4:13, will come when the church comes to the unity of faith, then will the end really come?

But following the above thinking, let us assume the journey of faith is indeed a game at the Olympics, the reality of maturity is like playing at the Olympics and the people of faith are the players. How then can we make the maturity of all saints a possible reality?

To qualify for the Olympics (maturity of faith), one has to practice, learn the language of the game and be good at it, having achieved the set standard. The language of the game in this context is the Knowledge of the Son. This means that you have to have a level of the Knowledge of the son that is substantial enough to make you qualify for maturity.

Did you realize as nations competed at the Olympic they did not send the whole country there? Everybody could not achieve the standard required to play at the Olympics! What does that mean? It means REPRESENTATION. Could it be as much as the quantum that qualifies one for maturity is unknown, the reality of representation could the secret? That as long as some people are able to achieve the set standard required, they can stand on behalf of the rest and their representation can be considered as an achievement for all? 

Back to the basic thought of this note. 

If each player, in their local reality, learnt the language of the game, and acquired the standard required to play at the Olympics, then the unity of faith we seek could become a reality. And so, the task is for me and you to strive to achieve the standard that will qualify us to play at the Olympics. To strive for the knowledge of the son that will bring us to MATURITY.

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!

What Is Your Claim?

If you look at brands they have a communication tagline. This tagline is what we call a claim. Now I was musing about it and I realized human beings do have taglines too. Why do brands have taglines?


Taglines are a condensed representation of the values or attributes a brand wants to be perceived as offering to the target audience. Unfortunately some of these claims are not realistic and neither are they true. But marketers know if they feed you with a claim over and over, your mind starts to think that it is a true claim and we start as we seek to fulfill the created demand and thus we end up consuming the brand.


Let us look at two big brands in Kenya and see what they claim to offer.

OMO : This is a detergent that aggressively fights for her market share. In the recent past they claimed that Dirt is good. Obviously that is a lie if dettol is to go with. Anyway, they would show kids learning how to ride bikes or learning how to play football and as they fall, they would get a badges of honor and that is how dirt is good. In the same campaign they used footballers (Samuel Etoo) to endorse the brand. Who doesn't want their kids to succeed? According to OMO let your kid get as dirty as they can, that is the way to succeed. In my words, let your kids get as dirty as they can, you will only end up using more OMO for the meantime. By the time you realize dirt aint good and your kids cloths are something else, OMO will have come up with another claim... Fights Dried In Stains... who is laughing now?


Let us look at another brand


Coke: Always Refreshing. Life gets monotonous and boring for most of us. And as we engage with what we do we get drained and dehydrated. Knowing water is the best beverage to hydrate, Coke tells you to get refreshed always and so they model that bottle adorned with ice cold sweat that makes you crave for one. That is the claim that water no matter how healthy cannot beat so easily. And that is why it is easy to grab a cold soda over a cold glass of water. Then realizing that people are becoming more health conscious, BRRRRRR came in the picture. We want something exciting to shake us from the inside. And that campaign was a success. And before we realize there is nothing BRRRR about a cold coke, they came up with now what is here... open happiness. Now what is this? Ok, this is fantasy. And subconsciously we are looking for some open happiness... Something liberating, something beyond. Are we still talking about quenching thirst? You tell me...


In a nutshell, that is the power of a tagline, a claim.


Most human beings unfortunately do not have a conscious claim. But of yoy stick around a person you will hear something they say way too often.. Let me sample a few, life is hard, life is boring, I can't do that. I wish I was... I wish I had, If only, I will be happy when... Someday I will...


I believe your claim whether conscious or unconscious will define what you offer life and how your surrounding configure themselves for you. As earlier said, a claim may not be true, but as we consistently engage with it, it starts defining so many things for us.


Having thought about this, my claim for this season is living a great story.

So, what is your claim?

For How Long?

For how long will I look at the Mirror

And see I am still the guy I dont want to be?

Like a broken glass, pieces scattered

Can I really be fixed?

For how long will I speak these awesome words

Words that  don’t match my lifestyle?

Like an ever talking radio,

Can I really become?

For how long will I keep falling and rising,

Getting dirty while still in the shower?

It feels like a just washed silly pet

Can I really get clean, for once?

For how long shall I wander

Never getting to my destination?

Like a vagabond roaming all over

Can I really arrive?

For how long shall I remain scattered

Weak and weary and never gathering?

Like a cup of spilled milk

Can i ever be collected?

I am tired of this life

I am tired of this song

I am tired of this me

I am tired of it all

I have to become,

I have to gather

I have to be fixed

I have to get it

Once and for all

I have to confluence

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.

Simplify your life

It is very unfortunate that as human beings we have made life very complicated. Just check how many of your friends on facebook have their status as it's complicated and you will understand what I mean. The issue is not even relationships but generally life has become complicated.

I was sharing with a friend who was looking for closure on the issue of his dad. His dad left them when they were young and he has never forgiven him or even understood why God allowed that. And he has been carrying very heavy burdens, hurts and pains of the past. He has lived his life from the past. Looking at himself as a victim of circumstances and as a reject of life. The worst past was that he actually hated the other children who his father got from a relationship with another woman because he believes they stole from him what was rightful his.

I must say, such situations are tough and painful. When you ask yourself what it could have been had your dad been there for you. Painting all the pictures in the mind of what you missed and how you could have been a better person had your dad been there. And such mental pictures on add agony to life making the burden of the past just more unbearable.

Luckily for me when we were having our meeting, another friend of mine came and joined in the fellowship. And as we were sharing he happened to be a child of another woman. (I hope you get the picture). This guy was raised by a man who neglected his rural family and got a new wife in the city and got children and life continued. I thank God because he is a God of purpose.

And as we were fellowship, now having a deeper sight into life, we realized that there are so many things in life that we have no control of.  There are things that were done to you, that hurt you and brought much pain, but that is past and you know it was beyond you then. But now that you are here what are you doing about it?

It is so easy to carry heavy loads with us all our lives, blaming circumstances, blaming people and wishing it was better. But wisdom dictates we lay our past down and decided to live our lives all a new; to start all over again, to be grateful that we are here and that we have the power to change our future. To focus on what we can do now with what we have than to keep complaining of things we didn’t have.

Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, that He came to give us a new life, an abundant life. And as we focus on the plans He has for us it will be easy to let go of our burdens, of our hurts and of our pains and to allow Him to breath in us a new life and a new ability to forget the past and focus on the future.

And that is how to simplify your life. To understand that today is the first day of your life, that today you can start all over again, that today you can write a different story out of your life. It is not easy but it is possible to live a simple life.

Let go of the past and its burdens and press on to your place of glory in God.

Walking on High Hills

Life is not always smooth. Sometimes we have to go through tough situations and moments where we have no clue what to do. In such instances, we have to develop a new capacity so that we can navigate through. Sometimes such capacity comes after we have made a mistake and burnt our fingers. And that should not discourage us. Just becasuse we have burnt our fingers or made mistakes should not kill the enthusiasm towards life.

They say it is how you respond to life that determine what happens to you. And I agree. Whether you are wallowing in success or stuck in a quagmire, how you respond to where you are determines how far you go. Always remember the past has past and we have the present to prepare for the future.

The best attitude is the attitude of I can do it. It is the joy of walking in high hills and climbing great mountains. Wherever you are keep moving forward.

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.

Something is Terribly Wrong…. Ha ha ha ha

Have you ever found yourself on the wrong and the only thing you do is laugh at yourself? I have, severally. I actually laugh at myself more than any other person does. It is because I appreciate my stupidity once in a while when I get on a stupid mode.

I think something is terribly wrong somewhere. If indeed the word of God is true and if I say that I believe in that word, why then am I stressed up chasing and looking for these things? Didn’t he say they will be added unto us?

Don’t get me wrong, we have to chase after our dreams, and I encourage everyone of us to do so. We have to do these things but not at the expense of the kingdom. The first question we need to ask ourselves is why we are chasing after our dreams.

We have basic needs but life cannot just be about these needs. Life is much more than this. The kingdom of God is not just about going to heaven, it is about the people. That they may have abundant life on earth and that there may be hope and joy.

So, if life is more than our needs and the Kingdom of God is more than going to heaven, we must then understand Mathew 6:33. Seek first the Kingdom of God and it’s righteousness and these things will be added to you. The thing is, when we focus on meeting the needs of other people, which should be the reason for every business or career, and then in essence we are seeking the kingdom. But our careers and our businesses have become just means to serve us and we do not care about people. We have become oppressors of those we say we are serving and that is what is terribly wrong. Does what we do bring hope to the world?

You might say your career does not allow you to oppress people. But look at how you do the things you do. Do you serve faithfully, ethically and in a manner to please God? What would those who work with you say about God as demonstrated by you? And do you get so engrossed in the job that you have no time for God; even to say thank You?

Something is terribly wrong, and I can’t help but laugh. But until we realize seeking the Kingdom is the reason why we exist, we shall be stuck in the rat race, chasing after these things. And let me tell you, when you get hold of these things, I hope they don’t swallow you as they tend to do, and I also hope that they bring more life to you, more hope and more joy. That is the essence of life.

Eyeing the Things that Count

What would you do if your needs were catered for, for a whole year?

You must agree most of us are occupied everyday in what we call work but more often than not we are just on the paper chase. We are looking for money to cater for our needs and more money to make life easier, and more money so that we can afford a few luxuries. And that is okay.

Most people in my generation are concerned with amassing wealth for ourselves. We want it big, we want to make a statement, we want to be on the top of the pyramid, we want to be up there. And that too is okay.

What happened to calling? What happened to service? 

The other Saturday I had a whole day with high school students in a boys school in Murang’a. And as we were doing an afternoon session, which I was teaching about attitude, I realized no one wants to be a teacher, or a shepherd of the people of God. And as much as no one gave a reason for that, it is evidence we have lost the sense of calling. Where people would give their lives out to serve the community and leave a mark in the lives of many generations. That is not found in us anymore. 

We don’t mind serving the community so long as they compensate for hostile conditions and provide 4 by 4 for us to ride on, no wonder we have enough NGO’s. But I wonder who they are serving more; themselves or the communities.

And as life tends to do, not all of us get to become the doctors we dreamed about, and as fate would have, some actually end up becoming teachers. And since most of us are just in OCCUPATION and not following a CALL, you can excuse the state of our current generation. We are occupied all day and night, rushing through life as we try to make ends meet. But is that all; to meet ends?

What would I do for a whole year if all my needs were catered for? I would go for a holiday. Sad as it may sound, but I have realized even when I talk about serving community and blaming my lack of enough resources and time for not doing something in my society, those are just lame excuses. I have no community sense in my heart. I want to serve the community if in doing so I get served. And that explain our leadership crisis. We want to serve our people to be served.

And as I reflect on the state of my life in regards to service, calling and leadership, I can only desire for a complete metamorphosis, to drop self interest and seek to serve where I can and to capture the call in my life. And as I struggle to make ends meet, I will not neglect my part in society to leave this place a little better than I found it. And so I want to get hold of the things that matter. 

Cowards

Does it scare you that cowards will not inherit the kingdom of God?

This means if you do everything else right; either being driven by fear and after all accomplishment still remain a coward, then you do not have a place in the Kingdom of God.

What is it that you are afraid of? Is it the fear to succeed? Is it the fear to fail? Is it the fear of making mistakes? Is it the fear to try out your idea? Is it the fear to love? Is it the fear to let go? 

Unless you learn to face your fears, you should know your fate by now. We have not been given the spirit of fear or timid, but the spirit of boldness and good courage.

Be strong and of good courage. Start doing that which you are afraid. There is nothing that beats fear than faith. Exercise your faith by taking the first step.

I Give Myself to You

This song by William McDowell I give myself away has been playing in my head over and over again. And the more I think what it means to give myself to God the more scaring it gets. I know my life is not my own and that I belong to God, but there is the tendency to want to hold on to myself. How do you lose all control and let God rule every aspect of your life? How do you accept that God want you the way you are, to create something beautiful out of you?

If you grew up in the rural area or you reared chicken, maybe you have seen a hen behaving helpless, especially when you have layers and you don’t have a cock. It gets to a time when you chase a hen, it gives itself so easily. And when you are chasing it especially if you want to slaughter it, you get offended when the hen gives an indication of wanting a cock, and you are not one.

And as I was thinking about giving myself to God, that is the picture that comes to mind. That there should be an innate need within me that just loses control and submits to God, getting to the point of being a slave of righteousness. But who wants to be a slave? I mean, having nothing of your own in a capitalistic society means you are nothing! But the encouraging thing is realizing that his burden is easy and his yoke is smooth, so we should delight in giving yourself away all in the name of pleasing the master..

We were discussing with some friends on the seed that fell on the thorny grounds from the parable of the sower. You realized the seed does not bear fruits because it is choked by the thorns. The interpretation of that word is a representation of those people who hear the word of God and the worries of this world choke that word.

And many of us are victims of worry. We worry too much, that even when God says I have good plans for you, worry cuts you off from the reality of that word. One of the things that really amazed me is when I realized worry is not just about tomorrow but about us. We worry because we don’t believe in our capability to become or achieve the things that we desire and the things that God wants accomplished. It’s like when God declares that you are a mighty warrior, and instead of embracing that word and running with it, you look at where you are and assume that word. We despise ourselves and worry that we can never be the mighty warrior as declared. That process in the mind of doubting ourselves mixed with fear and unbelief chokes the word of God bit by bit and over time, we do not achieve that which was intended. We miss our destiny and our inheritance.

You can never get to your destiny without pursuing it. You have to become by doing something that propels you forward. As the body of Christ, our destiny is to be transformed until we acquire the full nature of Christ. So, we must keep pursuing that. When we look at ourselves, we often cut ourselves off from some of the things that God declare not believing that indeed we are supposed to be the partakers. We are the ones.

We should allow the word of God to define us and to transform us until we become that which God declares in His word. We should mature up into knowing God and His nature and His power. When God created the earth and everything in it, He only took six days and when he looked at his creation he said it was good.

Now, God has taken more than six days to create us, I mean we are am still work in progress. This shows us how patient God is with us, and better still if in six days he made everything good, how much more glorious is He turning us to be having taken all this time?

Let us partner with God in what he is doing, let us pursue his word and his declarations. For we are all but just Work In Progress, and when He is done with us, it will be something beautiful, something heavenly, and something glorious. Give yourself to Him so that He can use you.

Finding Rhythm

I don’t believe in formulas because they never work for me. I don’t know whether it’s because of the predictability or the rigidity part of the formula that repels me. And when I am talking about formulas, don’t mistake them with principles. I believe we can never bend a principle; we can only bend ourselves against them. But today am talking about formulas.

You have heard people talking about the seven steps to spiritual maturity, or six ways to the top, or ten things to do to spice your marriage, or four things that will blow your mind.. I kind of always tend to disagree with that way of living. I aint saying that those things can’t work, they do but not for me.

I have come to think of life as a great orchestra band. Each one of the things I do is a voice to this song; each activity is like playing an instrument that adds a sound to this band called my life. To make great music, the voices and the instruments must be in harmony. They are totally different, yet when arranged well, they create a rhythm and a flow that can be danced to, enjoyed and consumed to bring out freshness and relief.

And that is how I look at my life. I don’t need formulas, rather I seek to get harmony and create a flow out of my life to make great music. I look at all the activities and people that I get to be involved with in my life, as either a voice or an instrument that I need to tune and keep in rhythm as I create my music. 

Have you noticed how everything that is part of us is melodious? Look at the eye, they blink together, look at the hands, they swing in rhythm, listen to your breath, your pulse; they all have a flow, a rhythm.

That explain the need to create a flow from the things I do. Like I will take time to pray and meditate on God’s word because it tunes me to keep in rhythm spiritually. I will eat healthy, rest and exercise because I want to tune my body and keep the rhythm. I will take time to develop my relationship with my wife, because I want our lives to be synchronized. And so it is with most of the things I do. I want to keep a flow.

This doesn’t mean that my life is flowing so well, no. As a matter of fact many are the times am out of rhythm and off beat. But I start looking at which voice or instrument that needs to be tuned, and as I work on the part that is making the wrong sound, I find myself getting back to rhythm. 

Are you out of tune? I am sorry I don’t have a formula for you; I guess you just need to look keenly at the people and activities in your life and see how you can create a melodically harmonized life out of the existing chaos and noise.

Check John 7:38

³⁸ He who believes in Me (Jesus), as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” NKJV