Category: Gospel

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So Refreshing!

Today I invite you to take a trip with me down memory lane . . . first to my childhood, then to my early twenties! Come along with me, won’t you? 

For as long as I can remember, I wanted people to like me. I sought approval. Not to mention that I worried about everything. My guess is that this attitude came from my father leaving when I was a just a toddler. Somewhere in my little soul, I must have felt unloved because my mum was busy navigating her new life as a single parent while caring for my almost newborn sibling. Every time I think about my younger self, my heart goes out to that little girl . . . she had to navigate complex issues at such a tender age.  

So here I was, wanting people to like me and ready to try almost anything to “fit in.” As you can imagine, I found myself in places that I shouldn’t have been, and with friends that weren’t the best company for me. This is pretty much how I lived. That is, until somewhere in my mid-twenties when the company I worked for quietly decided to close down their Kenya office. I lost my job when they gradually started laying off people. 

And you know what? With the job went many of my friends! As you can imagine, my worries doubled! Actually, they more like quadrupled! In my seemingly endless spare time, I began to find comfort in writing prayers asking God to get me a new job and new friends (who would like me, of-course). I believed in God; which is why I penned the prayers. I also wanted to have a meaningful relationship with God. But, I worried that I couldn’t obey all His commandments, and I was unwilling to commit to rules I knew I couldn’t keep. Neither did I want to give up things I was doing that He didn’t like; and they were many! 

At about this time, I made a new friend and she invited me to a women’s gathering; which turned out to be a Bible study. Then, one day, while I was at this Bible study, I discovered something completely new that I had never heard before: 

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV

I was surprised to discover that a relationship with God is a gift He gives, and not a set of rules to follow. So, quietly, at home, on my own, I told God that I wanted to accept His gift of salvation, and have a relationship with Him. 

That was quite a while back. Since then, I’ve learnt to pray about everything; and I mean everything! Rather than worry endlessly about all manner of things, I pray. Also, because I now know that God loves me as I am, I’m healing from the need to have people’s approval. Which means I am free to be myself because I’m not doing or saying things to get anyone to like me. (And no–I’m not going around saying mean things or acting irresponsibly!) It’s so refreshing to just be myself!

Oh! And God did give me new friends and a new job.  

In fact, as I write this, I am reminded that God works all things together for the good of His children. What started off as unemployment brought me salvation, new friends, and an entirely new and unexpected career. 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Romans 8:28 NIV

Isn’t God wonderful? ❤️

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I Can’t, But God Can!

This is part two of a previous post, which you can catch here.

Back to 1 Samuel 20 . . . Jonathan could have been content in the knowledge that he was next in line to be king, and sided with his father, King Saul, about harming David. Jonathan was after all the one set to benefit most if David was out of the way. But Jonathan chose to do what is right—he told his father that his treatment of David was unfair, and then he advised David to flee. Jonathan acted righteously! 

What came to mind at the end of this story was every-day situations that we face. For example, how many of us see our mothers mistreat our sisters-in-law and say nothing? How many of us are hesitant to warmly welcome our brother’s wife into the family? How many of us see our brothers or husbands speak hurtfully to children and say nothing? How many of us treat some children in the family better than others? Or distinguish between how we treat children from the city and those from the village? How many of us listen in silence while one friend gossips about another? Or, how many of us are unwilling to care for an ageing parent who neglected/abandoned us as children? A whole number of day-to-day situations flashed through my mind, and I confess that I have certainly not always acted righteously. There is massive room for me to change my outlook and constantly ask myself, “how would I want to be treated in this situation?” Plus learn to speak up in love and not judgement . . . 

It feels like a enormous change is required, and I know that I certainly cannot do it on my own. Which is why I am so grateful that when I confess my sin to God, He is faithful to forgive me and forget my sin (1 John 1:9). Then I can go ahead and ask Him to give me the grace to love people . . . because I acknowledge that I cannot do this in my own effort.

“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.” 
Philippians 2:13 NIV

Isn’t it wonderful that we serve a God who gives us His Spirit to work in us so we are able to do the things He desires and asks of us? Especially so for the things that we cannot do on our own?

Thank You, Jesus! ❤️

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I Already Know This, Or Do I?

I’m doing some research and needed to understand what the word “righteous” really means. And, I wanted to get it in a way that I could explain it to a child.

It’s a word that we use rather often . . . especially if you are in the habit of reading the Bible. Perhaps, like me, you are in the habit of reminding yourself what the Bible says:

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
1 Cor 5:21 NIV

Which is why I was doing my study from an “I already know what this means” perspective. I was truly shocked to realise I knew little about what it means to be righteous. And now that I think about it, I can’t quite explain what I thought it meant before. I think it was an abstract concept in my mind—something along the lines of doing what God or the Bible says. Which in itself isn’t wrong, but extremely general in meaning. 

I dove into chapter twenty of 1 Samuel. The story of Jonathan and David coming up with a plan to verify whether King Saul really intended to kill David. And here’s what I learnt: whereas before I would have stated that Jonathan was simply a good friend, now I see that in this instance, he acted in righteousness. 

Before I tell you why I think this, let me tell you what I’ve concluded is the meaning of righteous: it is the ability to do right, or treat others right. You know like what Jesus said in the Golden Rule, “do to others as you would have them do to you . . . ” (Matthew 7:12). And, righteous actions flow out of the love inside you. The brotherly (or sisterly!) kind of love where you want what’s best for the other person. 

Can you imagine what it would be like if we, followers of Jesus, treated people right? Can you imagine how easy it would be to share the gospel? 

Lord, help us! Fill our hearts with Your love, and give us the grace to treat others how we would like to be treated.

Look out for part two . . .