A good habit called........... JOY!

One day, I was in the buttery located in my college, revising and waiting for my paper, I had an exam that day. And in my institution, during those periods, the buttery is usually filled up. Firstly, I was very hungry, secondly, I was very exhausted like never before and thirdly, I was extremely cranky. The waiting line didn’t even make me feel better because the queue was too long for me to stand and wait, so I managed to find a small corner at the extreme end of the buttery where I could sit before it got to my turn. After waiting patiently for almost an hour, at long last the buttery was finally getting empty, I stood up to buy some snacks and a drink to just comfort myself with. Unfortunately for me, the sales woman there was the meanest person I have ever met in the cause of my entire life. You couldn’t even meet a worse complainer like her. She had the worse attitude I had ever seen, she complained endlessly about the money I had offered, and her not having any change for me. Whereas the basket in which she kept the sales money, from where I was standing, I could see that she could just make a little compromise for me, but this wonderful lady didn’t budge one bit. She even insulted me on top of it all. My body all of a sudden became very hot, tears already in my eyes, and I couldn’t contain it anymore! Left to me, that day, what I was thinking was how to attempt murder… I couldn’t have been in a worse mood than I was then, I was mad at the world. At the end this ruined my whole day, everything anybody said or did that day offended me..…
What am I saying in essence?
A lot of Christians meet people like that and go through much worse and have no idea how to react positively, but at the same time, we choose what should control us. We always have a choice. There’s this saying I heard some time ago, ‘he who angers you controls you, especially the person that does so intentionally’.
Therefore, if we find ourselves in those kinds of difficult situations, especially the kind I found myself in that day, let no one steal your joy… you never know the battles people are fighting, making them that way. You have to develop the habit of joy and happiness no matter what. Keep a positive outlook! Joy shouldn’t depend on your circumstances; it should be a choice you make!
Looking back, I wish I could change the approach I took on that day, maybe told her how God loves and cares for her, and how he wants her to be joyful, or I should I have spiced it up by making a joke to cheer her on! It would have made a whole lot of difference. Be like a proton! Always positive!

Nehemiah 8:10b says: This day is holy to God, don't feel bad. The joy of God is your strength( MSG ).

You need a word encounter.

A while back, I got this insight from one of my favourite ministers..

Please, relax and read this story carefully:

Once when he was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, the crowd was pushing in on him to better hear the Word of God. He noticed two boats tied up. The fishermen had just left them and were out scrubbing their nets. He climbed into the boat that was Simon's and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Sitting there, using the boat for a pulpit, he taught the crowd. When he finished teaching, he said to Simon, "Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch. "Simon said, "Master, we've been fishing hard all night and haven't caught even a minnow. But at thy word (KJV), I'll let out the nets." It was no sooner said than done—a huge haul of fish, straining the nets past capacity. They waved to their partners in the other boat to come help them. They filled both boats, nearly swamping them with the catch. Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell to his knees before Jesus. "Master, leave. I'm a sinner and can't handle this holiness. Leave me to myself." When they pulled in that catch of fish, awe overwhelmed Simon and everyone with him. It was the same with James and John, Zebedee's sons, co-workers with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "There is nothing to fear. From now on you'll be fishing for men and women."

                                                                                                                 Luke 5:1-10

The fisher men in this narrative were already burnt out and bereft, when Jesus came into their boats and instucted them to thrust out a little from land. And he instructed them "Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch." Peter argued that they had been grafting all night and had taken nothing. Then he said, "But at thy Word"...

This story adequately describes the situation many believers find themselves in today. Jesus has entered into their lives, just as He has entered peter's boat (remember we are vessels of mercy according to Romans 9:23) but, they are still frustrated, because the presence of Jesus in your life does not mean an automatic access to breakthroughs. What triggers breakthroughs in your life is, "But at thy word". It is the Word of God in you that determines your worth in life. To make maximum impact, you must never underestimate the Word of God for your life. Respond to the Word positively, that means actually taking out time to read and meditate, understand and soak yourself in it.

Looking at peter, you will discover that the encounter he had with God's Word not only ended his frustration, but enabled him to make the kind of impact that is still being felt somany years after his death!!!!

That could be your testimony too. Get a Word encounter!

What's up with SIN?

I was studying a few days back, and this question just came up in my mind... What's up with sin? I looked at the lives' of a lot of growing Christians, including my self, and I began to wonder, why does it have a very strong hold on us?  I have lived for a few years, I obviously don't have all the answers to all the questions. Nevertheless, this article, would make you understand, a few reasons why sin should no longer have a place in your life. And these are the reasons I have come up with;
Love
Faith
Hope
When I was young (laughs) which I still am, thinking back about a year or two years ago, I made excuses for everything. Why I didn't sweep the house, clean the toilets, run an errand, do the dishes, study hard in school... and so on.. I was a total deadbeat. Without being cognizant that all these things where pushing me from God's best, and moving me to sin. But are you aware of what love did for me? It took hold of my heart, because I thought, if I don't do the dishes, who would? I don't have any younger one's idling around that I could summon  with the task. And not doing it would make my mum mad. So if I love her, I have to first show it by obedience.
               Secondly, I recently realized that Faith is dead without work. I think it's the only thing among these three that I realized very late. There is no magic that happens with education. Call down the fires of heaven all you want. Even though I make excuses that Education is not my thing, I can do without it, blah blah blah. But all that is balderdash, because my plan initially is to kabash (speak in tongues) my way to success, which is not possible if I don't read or work towards it. I then realized that because when I was not reading, I left a lot of room for the devil to perform his tricks in my life. I gossiped endlessly, read novels that added only new words to my life, and even slept at odd hours because I would be awake all through the night watching movies or chatting away destiny... on Facebook :). So what I am doing, is not only to kabash, but to add a little hard work or a lot if it's needed into my life, so that I would produce a great change or greater changes in my academic life.
                Last but definitely not the least, hope is something I was born with. Hope is something not only Christians should have, but for all. There is something I always say, if there is hope for a tree that has been cut down, surely there is hope for me. I started saying it the first time I read Job 14:7. When an individual comes to the full realization of why Jesus died, and why He even came in the first place, the individual would come to the understanding that, what ever tribulations He/She is going through, there is always hope. It's very easy for us to get beat down, because a job is not forth coming, or a child is always ill, or a spouse not being the best company, or not having the best result, or not having any friend, or being single for a longer time than we expected or even having problems with our finances. All these things brings us to doubt God and question his existience leading us to sin against him. Let us remember always, there is nothing difficult for God to do. Let us list out all the good things he has done. By doing that, we are paving the way for God to show us what He is made of..

                 So in conclusion, always keep these things at the back of your mind: LOVE, FAITH, HOPE. Because sin no longer dwells in us. These are enough to keep us busy for a life time!

 

Each moment of time that we have comes with a reminder that there are no guarantees of another like it. Each time we say ' I love you ' to our spouse, may be that's last time they hear our words on this side of eternity, each time we hug our children or go after a dream, may be the last time we have that opportunity. That's why we should work at living each day for all its worth! 

Since a crooked stick can draw a straight line, then a messed up girl like me could still write about an awesome God

Perfect peace, rest, unshakable faith, salvation—these enduring promises belong to all who trust in God. These blessings come, not by wishing but by willing, by deciding to sink our roots into God, spending time in prayer, reading his Word, holding fast to his commandments, and yielding to his Spirit at work within us. Scripture tells us we are to live and move and have our being in the God who made us. When tragedy comes, as it inevitably will, and when the world around us begins to tremble and shake, as it inevitably will, we will not be shaken. Instead, the Lord who is the Rock eternal will be there, giving us rest and peace.