for africa by africa: FINDING GOD

for africa by africa: FINDING GOD: FINDING GOD: Well, you know, sometimes God allows things to happen in your life, to make you stronger, and if you are not careful, th...

FINDING GOD

FINDING GOD:

Well, you know, sometimes God allows things to happen in your life, to make you stronger, and if you are not careful, they could cause you to lose faith if you let it. See, at one point in time I had a house, car, money and I thought I had it going on. I had all this material stuff, and I was missing God.

You see, God doesn’t care how much sin you in, if He wants you, He’s gonna reach deep down, inside all of it and just snatch you right up out of it. He doesn’t care. No, I didn’t care though. Just a little young, knuckleheaded kid raised by his mom.

My mom used to pray for me all the time. Mom could pray to Jesus like his kingdom would come. Anyway, I remember the day- it was me and my 2 brothers in the car.

We had 3 kilos of cocaine in the trunk. Police got behind us and pulled us over. They told me to say it was mine since I was the youngest. I did. Got me 12 years in prison. As they say- he, who does the crime, has to do the time-that’s the street vibe.

Now, don’t get me wrong, prison is a bad place, but that’s where I found God. See, ain’t no amount of money worth the peace I have right now. I can’t walk everyday looking over my shoulder, not knowing if this is the day I go to hell. That’s no way to live.

So now, every morning I wake up, it’s new mercies that I see. I’m a saved man, a new man and I know it. I know it.

BE THE LADY GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE

BE THE LADY GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE:

What I can’t believe is how you allowed him to take you there. Never let a man drag you in the gutter like that. You picking up a knife, yelling and screaming- you be the lady hat God has called you to be.

So what if he wants to leave? Let him leave! Sometimes we try to hold on to things that God is trying to really tear apart.

When are you going to realize, baby, before you had riches, all you had was Jesus? I dare you to trust God. Trust Him and believe honey. Only believe. He’ll do it for you. He’ll fix that situation.

MY DEVOTION

The experience of allowing God’s grace to meet us in our need can be likened to the parent who stands back and lets a child chooswe to soar or fall. In life, we learn more from our falls than from our victories. God, the ever good parent, allows us a wide playing field to experience both.

Each of us is entrusted with certain capabilitieas and specific gifts that God means for us to develop. That usually requires discipline from us. Our development is not automatic or effortless. God’s grace entrusts to us what he could develop for us, but he instead leaves the development to us. He is not indifferent or detached, but he grants us the dignity of living up to our God-given potentialities.

God promised to be with me and that he will never leave me but I too have to put feet to my “God help me” prayers. However his promise is not that he’d do everything instead of me. God knows that to do it all for me would work against my best interest.

What is in my best interest? God seems to think the building of my character-my endurance to persevere- is in my best interest. James 1:3-4 says,” for you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

I don’t think James had my ability to endure physics in mind when he wrote that basic spiritual promise, but I think that premise applies to everything we find humanly vcahllenging. Our challenge are opportunities for us to develop spiritual muscles as well as character muscles. In ait all is God’s grace, available to us always dispensed with God’s fatherly wisdom.

My prayer for you today………..

Heavenly Father, like a good parent, you are helping me develop my spiritual muscles and character muscles. Today, help me see any challenges I encounter as glimpses of your grace- opportunities for me to strengthen my character and to become a little more like Christ. amen

40 BRAVE SOULS FOR CHRIST

40 BRAVE SOLDIERS FOR CHRIST:

In 200 A.D, the Puritan mountains saw a lot of persecutions and the governor over-saw a command to go and kill Christians in the mountains. 40 Christian soldiers vowed never to raise a sword against their brothers despite the general’s warning of a death sentence in the freezing lake in the mountains.

The soldiers did not give in. they went to the lake and with their teeth chattering due to the cold mountains weather, they joyfully and worshipped heartedly as they embraced each other. The brave souls for Christ echoed in that dead silent valley even as tears ran down their cheeks but their smiles glowed even the more.

The general warming in a tent all lit with a fire place, watching the soldiers from a far off called on the men to denounce Christ but they continued even the more singing; “40 brave soldiers for Christ! 40 brave soldiers for Christ!”

Before midnight, one soldier seeing he couldn’t take the cold anymore ran to the warm tent and was congratulated at the fire place for a ‘wise’decision of denouncing Christ.

The 39 remaining still continued to brace the cold and even the more raise their voices to the skies singing; “39 brave soldiers for Christ!” they sang till the centurion at the tent ran and converted; “no, not 39 but 40 brave soldiers for Christ!” they sang this all night long till their death.

Love and staying together even in the cold and when the world is chattering, is what we are called to do as Christians. It is all about sticking together and warming each other and encouraging one another in braveness. It is a choice of love for more fruits!

In essence that’s what the Lord is whispering to you today in hope that you show the world love. They thought they pinned him on the cross. Look at how much he has done for you and saved you. A crime was committed in a sense and now he is asking you to communicate his life in love.

Christ paid for oneness in Christians and we’ll grow in fruitfulness according to love. It is a choice we make.

Loving each person from different walks and them sensing it will people come to know God in a mighty way? It’s not in your bumper stickers that they will know you are Christians but the world will be won through your love, embrace and looking at them in their potentiality in Christ. That’s the greatest commandment!