What Faith Really Means [Sweet Pancakes From The Devil]

[Image by Katie Quinn]

Some want the gifts but do not believe in the existence of the Giver

How do you receive gifts from a hand you are not seeing?

Maybe they are handed sweet pancakes from the Devil

We humans have a heart condition too shallow to know differences

Between sweet and sour

Between bitter and better

We often mistaken shiny for good most times

To know good we must collaborate with the Giver

We must know with certitude the hand handing down our gifts

Cause real faith is believing that God the giver is 

And all that He has given, is giving, and would be giving is REAL

Ponder : In a (church) culture that magnifies the faith of receiving things instead of receiving God, have you ever wondered how dangerous the outcome of this could be? Consider the term 'sweet pancakes from the devil', God is the giver of all good things but we forget all that glitters isn't of necessity gold. What is the harm in letting the gifts pave the way for us as Christians? Would love to hear your thoughts

Wonder : Hebrews 11:6 (The Holy Bible)

Posture of Surrender

[Image via Pinterest]

I have prayed a thousand times not assuming the posture of surrender.

I’m standing tall and decreeing

A picture comes to mind; Hitler and his comrades.

He issues his command with a stern face; whether they like it or not, they go after their general’s bidding.

I am Hitler sometimes

And  God? I don’t know what I’ve made of Him

Like Jack, I put him in a box

Like Aladdin, I rub my genie in the bottle

But He’s no genie, I better start realizing that

When we come to pray, what have we come to do?

To bow before God or to make God bow before us?

I’m reminded this morn; as I curl up in my place of worship of one truth

Sometimes Hitler’s do have their way but the end isn’t something our world admires.

I don’t want to be known as a God follower by the world and still commanding God in my closet.

I will learn

I will learn how to come boldly and still bowing

Surrendering and still possessing dominion in the places required of me

‘God is a Father’

‘God is a lover’

‘God is a friend’

‘God is a security’

Many things about the Divine comes to mind in this holy position as I put my gaze on his wounded son also planning to shift the scene to him rising gloriously on the third day.

But I’ve learned my lesson from being a commander.  I will hold on to these truths of him and still be ready to move up when I hear his voice calling in the quietness of a sour morning

“Come up yonder my liebling* to see a new part of me you never knew”

It’s the posture of surrender we know these things

It’s in the posture of surrender we realize God isn’t a boring genie

It’s in the posture of surrender we learn what true prayer is about

And if we learn well, we will be long remembered long after Hitler is forgotten.

*Liebling - German for dear one or little one

Question of The Day: When you hear the word prayer what exactly comes to your mind? What practical ways can we remind ourselves of what prayer really is? How can we surrender in the place of prayer and still possess the dominion ascribed to us as Christians? I would love to hear from you :)

* * *

If this blessed you, check out this post I wrote some months back on the same subject

On Community : Ayo's Journal [A Birthday Special]

 Image via flickr

 

There is something more powerful than anybody - and that is everybody - Eddy Rickenbacker

3:45 am



August 1


Monday

It's morning and almost dawn. I woke up with a sense of nostalgia. Yesterday I came back from a teenage retreat organized by my church. I was a coordinator right there and sincerely miss everyone. It's the summer and most packed their bags for their various summer spots after. Okay, I'm gonna miss each and every one of my guys, I just said that again and sincerely I can't wait till next year when we all are gathered for another.


I'm sitting here listening to Audio Adrenaline's Glory. It's a bit rocky and it's from a CD I got when I left high school. The whole scene this morning gets me wondering how easily we tend to move on after a human contact. Everyone likes to prove 'strong' and fake the ' it's was really nice meeting you but i have moved on since then'. Sometimes we even give it a shrug humming at the end 'i have a life to live'. I remember high school days, I remember college days, I remember my service year. I remember the amazing and beautiful people I met. How I had a chance to pour into their lives and how they sincerely poured into mine too. The laughs, the cries, the worries we shared, the joys we both jumped to. I look back and smile. Now everyone has moved on both emotionally and in fact geographically. But one thing I try for time to time to do is to treasure those times in my heart and not just be cynical about them. I remember this truth from time to time; I cant have a real and sincere life without the people around me.

Dear friends we must remember, people need us and we need them too. Let's learn to freeze the beautiful moments we all have. Some people our paths would never cross again but it's in the moment we release ourselves to draw from the treasure of moments we had together that our paths cross again. And it's does a good thing to us. It clears the room in our hearts to love a little more and respect what it means to be truly human.

It's not that I do these things from time to time. Sometimes if not most I tend to lean to the side of being emotionally frozen but I'm learning too. I'm learning to pick up the phone once in while to send a big electric smile. I'm learning to retell a story of how an old friend helped me through a very hard time to a new friend. I'm learning to appreciate from day to day the various beautiful people I have come across my entire life. And I invite you to do the same. Though it might get us tender at first but we should remember this ' We can't have a real and sincere life without the people around us'.

The little lessons I have been learning about the importance of community has spurred this up. Finally I would like to give a big shout out to everyone I went to high school with, everyone I went to college with, everyone I did the national service with, in fact everyone I did primary school with, I sure remember you too. A big thank you for the joy days. It was a privilege sharing life with you. And lastly, to my church youth group, I sure have a date this time next year. I cover my eyes as I say this but I might just say it, I might as well be packing for the next retreat. It's a great privilege sharing life with you. :D






P.S.-


October 31


That was some months back. And today my birthday, as I look over the last year of my life, one of the many lessons I've learnt is 'not neglecting community'. People are important. This past year for me was a redefinition of why I am here. I had to make lot's of HARD choices, and serious my back still pains. LOL! I also had to say lots of nos and turn down lots of good things.

I'm grateful to God, my Sustenance who keeps leading me into all I need to be and learn  per time. I'm also thankful for friends who don't think I'm a monster for forgetting and not calling them on their own birthdays ( cause, really I'm not one) LOL! .  I'm wide-eyed and expectant for the year ahead. I hear romance and travel. Did you just raise a brow? There's a time for everything and it's beautiful when you wait for your time, oh yes it is. And yes, lots of writing still and some personal projects I would be embarking on.

And also to my readers, it's been a privilege. You are one of the many reasons I'm here.

This year expect the unexpected, God can do more than we can ever imagine. A little exercise: Pause, Imagine the best you can for yourself . . .  are you through? Where you stopped is where God starts! Lean your entire being on Him. Trust in Him

U R LUVED :)

If I had it to do all over again,

I'd get help

If you make it to the top alone,

then you didn't climb averyhigh hill - John C. Maxwell

Question of the day: What are your thoughts on community? How important are other people from your point of view? Would love to read your comments :)



I Remember a Time In June

Image by globalrain

I remember a time in June

The prophet always came telling us about His comeback

He danced to the music of the spirit he heard

We never heard the music

“He is a mad man” I looked up at Mama as we stopped at his spot to hear what he had to say

“Why?” She looked at me with amazement in her eyes

“He dances to no tune. He shakes like an epileptic”

‘Ssshhhhh!” she said as she dragged me away from his place by the street corner

With our heavy load of our market goods we journeyed home, I with a bigger burden than I carried

I remember a time in June

When the prophetess woke us up with a loud shriek in the middle of a coming morning

I remember my little brother waking up agitated.

“It’s the prophetess again” I cooed him back to sleep

“But why does she scream like that?” he asked in a sleepy voice

“Maybe she’s inhabited by demons unseen”

We laughed as he rested his head back on the old pillow to get some more sleep

But now our cities are safe

Mad men don’t do dances anymore at street corners

But now our brothers sleep in peace

Inhabited women don’t scream the message at early waking hours anymore

But this doesn’t change the message

No it doesn’t

If He comes back to a people rejecting to hear His message because of the ‘frantics’ of His prophets; who is to be blamed?

In times like this I will play the wise man

I will keep my head under my June umbrella

Remembering the dance of the prophet and the shrieks of the prophetess

Whether they are mad or possessed is not for me to say

Their message is my concern

Their message: “Jesus is coming very soon”

My Question: “So what have I been doing about that?”

P.S. – For a culture that lures us to forget the message of the Lover (even within the four walls of the cathedral). We might choose to or not to listen, But the truth in the message never changes. Very soon Jesus the Lover comes for His Beloved. And what are we doing with that message? Or are we carried away by the ‘frantics’ of the prophets? Maybe it’s the gravity of the things they see that makes them dance like the ‘epileptics’ we call them.



Privilege

[Image by cubagallery]

I tip toe into the T.V. room

‘Will He come today?’ is the question that hits hard at my heart

A sense of confusion awakens me from the hands of the night and pulls me in still

So what am I to do?

I have come

I find my place on an empty side and seat still

My mind is sour

I want my bed

I doze a bit

I snooze for a while

My attention thaws

My mind wanders

And it’s then I remind myself I’m not an alarm

Why should I snooze in the first place?

And it’s then I am alarmed!

Alarmed by the truth that it’s a privilege

It dawns on me twenty five minutes into the ordeal that he’s been waiting for me long before I came.

And I came 15 minutes late

Actually I woke up 5 minutes late

I struggled with the inevitable hand that invites us to nature’s rest for the next 10

And finally I threw back the duvet, found my bedroom slippers and walked over like a knackered fresh army intake invited for his first drill

This is not a drill, I have to remind myself

It’s a privilege

An invitation to meet with the King of all the richest kings of the earth and more is a privilege.

I wouldn’t mind a morning with the Sultan of Brunei

In fact a couple of mornings

Guilt flushes my face as I think on that

When the Divine invites me on mornings and I feel jaded about it ; I need to see

Maybe I’m blind to who he is

He is God

The sultan would one day pass and shouldn’t be compared to the One whom he will one day answer to

Last time I heard

He’s bigger than this room

He’s bigger than this earth

He’s finger span is bigger than entire universe

 And last time I checked

He’s been waiting for me long before I came in 20 minutes late

And I’m wondering

How does a big God fits himself into my ‘tiny’ TV room to talk to little me?

Stepping Out:

The Christian is peculiar. He has a God that wants to meet with him or her, A God that wants intimacy and wants to know the individual personally, the real God. But most have made him into a ‘Sunday’ God, a God who is lofty and doesn’t indulge or isn’t concerned with our affairs. Or like the character in the verse above, some see relating to him as a duty.

But seriously, I beg to differ. . .

There can be expressions. There can be a dance. There can be a song of love. He can be a best friend and I’m learning that too. But wait. . . Like all relationships, our relationship with the Divine requires time, openness and some other things we overlook. And it's important to note that quantity does not equal quality but quality has to be consistent to retain quality.

So what can you do today to increase the quality of your time with God? Who knows you might just be starting out or you might have stopped overtime due to not ‘meeting him there’. I want to encourage you, it’s not too late. God would redeem the lost time and draw you close. So back to the question: what can you do today to increase the quality of your time with God?

It might be simple as resetting your alarm wake-up time.

Till Next time

U R LUVED



That Thing Around Your Neck

[Image by Cubagallery]

That thing around your neck

Yes that thing

I see you looking for it

But it rests right on your collar bone

That thing around your neck

The very one you are looking for

It could choke you, you know

You walk with it gallantly

You show it off like a new necklace you just got from the market square

You show the people what you cannot see

That thing around your neck

It’s the one that has belittled the greatest of men

It’s the unheard siren that echoes the destruction to befall the deaf traveler

It’s the thing that makes mere men tread carelessly where angels adorn

That thing

You call it confidence

I call it pride

You modernize it and call it ego

I stay true to wisdom and still call it pride

That thing around your neck

Don’t bother

You won’t see it

If men could hang it like a necklace

They would put it off so easily

The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart

In the matters of the heart

That thing around your neck

Or is it around your neck?

ON BEAUTY : MUSINGS OF A SAINT

[Image by Enjoythelittlethings]

She’s quick to say beauty is beyond skin deep because she isn’t

But beauty that which is skin deep sure opens doors

But wait. . . .

Isn’t it fleeting?

It is a blessing to be beautiful

They that know that don’t suffer from the disease it brings

Cause they have found its everlasting cure

It’s a blessing not to be beautiful

They that know that don’t die of the shame it brings

If you say you are not beautiful, you haven’t found your purpose

Some need that which is skin deep and that which isn’t to fulfill their life mission

Some only need the later

None can fulfill it without the later

She who stands amidst a sea of faces to boast that she can fulfill hers only with the former is one who abuses beauty.

ON GIVING : MUSINGS OF A SAINT

[Image By Madelinetosh]

What you give remains

When you give

What you just did was to freeze it in the hands of time

You will always be remembered for it

If you want it to last forever

Why don't you give it today.