Monthly Archives: February 2015

Living It Out As A Joint

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The Beggar at the Temple Gates: Acts 3:3-8:

3 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; 3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. (KJV)

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More Than A Story

For the longest time this has just been a story and a metaphor for me but recently it hit squarely between the eyes. I was sitting

Image courtesy of https://shecyclesnairobi.files.wordpress.com

Image courtesy of https://shecyclesnairobi.files.wordpress.com

in a bus at the traffic lights at the General Post Office in town, thinking about all the things I needed to do and how my means were inadequate. In this instance, means included time, finances, ideas and host of other things I couldn’t even begin to understand. I was wondering how God could place such a heavy demand on my life yet I couldn’t fulfil it.

As I stared out of the window watching the flow of traffic I noticed that many people were waiting for the lights to change and the cops to stop cars for them and the numbers grew on either side of the road. Suddenly I heard my heart sing a part of the chorus of a song we used to sing in Sunday that says:

Silver and gold have I none, But such as I have give I thee,
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
I sat up straighter as my heart and mind connected the dots. It hit me that the things I needed to do are God given assignments and they have their supply in my obedience.

Simple In Purpose

I am here for a reason and purpose and I came fully loaded for it. The first time I heard those words it was from Dr. Cindy Trimm in 2012 and for a long time I wondered how I could be fully loaded yet I was struggling so much. Now revelation Amazing Two-lovable-babies-resizecrop--unfolded. My purpose on this wonderful planet is to lend strength, serve above the call of duty and create room for God to function. Therefore, every situation I am in requires a different expression of this purpose but I have all I need to achieve the set goal in me through Christ Jesus.

So, if the situation needs impact to the economics of a household I will either have work I need done and the money I need to pay for it or I will have money to just give. If it is about building someone’s faith, I will have an unexpected gift, a word or something else. This means I am a joint always ready to supply. Supplying as a joint is not confined to money, words and prayers. It could be that someone feels unwanted and a warm smile, hug, listening ear or invitation to visit will change their circumstances. The critical thing is to have the right focus and mindset so that I understand what is needed from me, by whom and I supply in the right amount at the right time.

The Reality

When Peter and Paul met the beggar at the gate, they heard from God. The beggar was lame from birth and was focused on money to meet his needs. God however, knew that his next season was bigger and He had to change the beggars mind. The beggar unaware that the next people who would speak to hime heard from the Creator Himself and would receive revelation that of what he (the beggar) needed for the next phase. Imagine his surprise when Peter and Paul helped him to rise and walk in the Name of Jesus. The fact that he didn’t know he needed to walk for his next season didn’t stop God from sending His servants to make it possible. The fact that he had accepted his place at the gate and his disability didn’t mean that God’s plan would change.

The Power to Release

The question that remains is: how many people are stuck somewhere because you and I am so caught up thinking about what we don’t have yet we have something that they need & are sitting on it?

I realised that the joy of serving Jehovah is not in being able to meet the visible needs but rather in meeting the needs people Amazing Rock-splashes-at-sunset-resizecrop--aren’t even aware of or the ones that are unseen and unspoken. Oh the joy of giving what God says to give and not what I think that person needs.

  • Has God sent you with a word for your pastor or spiritual authority that seems simplistic and you have not given it yet? Give it.
  • Has God sent you give someone something small when you know they earn more than you do? Give it.
  • Has God asked you to share his love in simple silent ways to people and you have deemed it too small? Share it.
  • What is it that God has asked you to do that is seemingly foolishly simple and you are wondering about its value? Do it all the same.

The Call

Get up and do whatever God says then watch and see how HE turns it around for HIS glory. I stood amazed when I did the little thing that God asked me to and my availability answered the prayer of a friend with time and a listening ear. It provided encouragement and strength in a way I could never have grasped if I hadn’t seen it myself.

Oh how I pray that I continue to be a #LivingEpistle and obey these small simple things and watch and see the goodness of God unfold for me and those around me. I also pray that you would join me on this wonderful journey to living out our God given purpose.

 

Living It Out From Here To There: 2

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Picture courtesy of Billy Sketchmaster Mugambi https://www.facebook.com/SketchmasterB?fref=ts

Picture courtesy of Billy Sketchmaster Mugambi

As God has re-written the script for my life, I have realised that I have relentlessly pursued things that have not been mine. Yet I must say that as I have accepted this new path and begun to ask God to help me thrive, I have found grace and peace beyond measure, the doors I need open have opened, the ones that needed to close have closed. I have understood forgiveness in a new way. It is more for me than it is for the other person. I have learnt that living free is letting go of all I have known and learning afresh how I need to live. It has meant letting go of people, things, desires, thoughts, thought processes and so much more to connect to God’s design for me. Key words here…God’s design.

Even greater is the knowledge that His plan for me is nothing like His plan for anyone else; not even my sister, brother, mother, father, husband, child or friend. What God has planned for me is mine and no one else can live it out on my behalf. What God has for me brings me peace even when the whole world thinks I am mad and wonders what I am smoking and even when my life seems to be falling apart to me and the rest of the world. What God has for me mirrors Him, His plans, purpose, abilities and realities. What God has for me sets me up to be seen in the spheres He needs me seen and hides in the spheres where He needs me hidden. What God has for me brings my travel companions close and pushes all others to their respective places.

The Road We Must Walk:

Image Courtesy of Judy Niemyer

Image Courtesy of Judy Niemyer

The reality is that the road each of us must walk to live out our lives for God has means that we must cease comparing and benchmarking ourselves with others. Each of us needs to find our place in God’s plan and then walk in it with confidence no matter what. Let me explain. John the Baptist was sent of God to be the advance team and prepare the way for Jesus (Isaiah 40:3). He dressed in camel skin, ate locusts and honey and lived in the desert. He came out to baptise and share the start of the gospel. Jesus came after John at His appointed time and His purpose was to die and save the world. He came eating & drinking with all, changing water into wine, talking with the sinners, healing the sick, raising the dead and the works. He was despised and called a glutton. People didn’t like either of them because they were different from the norm yet each remained faithful to their call. (Matt11:18-19)

John the Baptist was beheaded for speaking the truth and his head served on a platter. Christ stayed the course to the cross and once wished the cup be taken from him. Yet He stayed true to His call and chose to die to save us. He prayed for strength and grace and went on to His destiny. I dare say that their certainty that God had called them kept them on track. Their commitment raised all those who needed to walk with them to show up and created opportunities to speak up for God and open doors for them.

Definitely Different:

Should our lives really be any different? I don’t think so. Will we have challenges? Of course. How do we overcome the challenging times? By standing our ground in absolute faith. Let me clarify that faith isn’t having a plan B for the off chance that God’s word won’t come through. Faith is following each instruction God has given me to the letter even as I don’t always see the immediate result. Faith is believing in and living out the hope I have in Christ and knowing that it will work out. Faith is walking daily in the confidence that every joint connected to me will supply on time. Faith is providing the right thing needed for every joint I am connected to.

Living it out from here to there is being confident that I know that I know that I know that I have heard God, I am walking in

Picture courtesy of Stephen Ananda

Picture courtesy of Stephen Ananda

His purpose and plan for me and that no matter what, I will stay the course, live the life and bring Him great joy. Living it out from here to there is being certain that I am called and appointed and nothing will stop me from walking the chosen path with joy and confidence in He who has called me and is faithful to complete this work in me.

Living It Out:

Are you truly living it out from here to there? Are you on the way to becoming a #LivingEpistle? Are you confident of the call on your life and the road you are travelling? Remember, a life lived out is of great, great joy to our Father in Heaven.

Let’s live out our lives every day.

Living It Out From Here To There: 1

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Picture courtesy of Billy Sketchmaster Mugambi https://www.facebook.com/SketchmasterB?fref=ts

Picture courtesy of Billy Sketchmaster Mugambi

In the last few months I have had a refresher course to really understand how God is at work in me. God has always been at work in me but I have rarely kept as close tabs on it as I have done off late. A door has been flung open and I have been allowed to understand things I never really realised were there.

This morning as I walked back home after taking my son to school, I was reminded of a message I heard a while back. The crux of it was this: “Each one of us must be able to track our lives from the day we really met God. There is a story to each life that has to be told and lived out. There is also a scripture that undergirds each of our lives. Do you know yours? Each of us lives out a covenant with God that operates in a certain way, do you know yours?”  When I say really met God, I mean that day when even though you may have been a believer for a long time, there was a day when many things suddenly made greater sense and you had a deeper connection to and with God.

This message because was reinforced in a conversation about a post I shared on FB last Saturday. This is what I posted:

Life has been challenged on so many fronts this year but the greatest one has and continues to be the value of my life…Over the last few weeks I’ve talked a lot about Judy Niemeyer and the Impact she had on me especially her last days.

Picture courtesy of Billy Sketchmaster Mugambi https://www.facebook.com/SketchmasterB?fref=ts

Picture courtesy of Billy Sketchmaster Mugambi

Today was another of those moments. We were at a memorial for someone else today and a couple of things stood out…

  1. The value of my connection to people may or may not be missed based on how deeply my life touched them.
  2. People understand love in different ways based on who they are. For some its finances, others time, and others physical contact and still others conversations…the question is do I know the languages of those around and do I connect with them as such?
  3. There is a gem in me that needs to be let out that all who need what I have get it on time. This pouring out also helps me because as I pour out I leave space for others to pour into me and their destiny is tied to pouring out into me.

The teary part for me is the realisation the extent to which the destiny of others is tied to the unfolding of mine. At the memorial I heard story after story of a life well lived, hearts and lives changed, and I wondered how to live my life better every day.‪#‎IntentionalLiving…

Remember the #2015Tears are happy tears because they celebrate how far we have come…

A life well lived out is one that is so many things. It is productive, full of impact, an expression of God, a connection to love, compassion, grace and understanding. It is alive, vibrant, free, connected, colourful and graceful. It is full of faith, grace, wisdom, truth, honesty, understanding, giving and contentment. A life lived out well is one that is based on the script God the Creator wrote for this particular vessel.

It has been said over and over that there’s no standard script for all our lives. There are however, individual scripts for each of us based on who God created us to be, who He know we are and what He knows we have to pass through to become all He has desired or us to be. That said, each of us must find a way to connect to their path and walk it out fully.

A life well lived is the pouring out of the gem that is in me into the appointed people and following my instruction from God.

Picture courtesy of Billy Sketchmaster Mugambi https://www.facebook.com/SketchmasterB?fref=ts

Picture courtesy of Billy Sketchmaster Mugambi

It is about rising to the peak of who I am in Christ whatever that may be. If I am set to be influential in the corporate world, business world, local food market, in a public vehicle, on the street, I must rise to be all I need to be, where I need to be and when I need to be. It means that I must find my place in Christ and be content with it even when it leads me down a road I wouldn’t have gone by my own choice because that road will open doors I would never have reached. It is finding joy, peace and grace along the path I am destined to walk, with those I am destined to walk with. It is saying only what I really need to say and no more. It is doing only what I need to do to the very best of my abilities regardless of the cost. It is to showcase God in all His fullness through my life.

Are you truly living it out from here to there? Are you on the way to becoming a #LivingEpistle? Are you confident of the call on your life and the road you are travelling? Remember, a life lived out is of great joy to our Father in Heaven.

Let’s live out our lives every day.

“Lord Who Did You Create Me To Be?”

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possibilitiesThe last month has been full of talk about resolutions and goals so I am not going to add much to that. I am sure you have your goals set if you are one of those who wait for January or you already had them set if you are one of those who do them before the end of the year or you fly by the seat of your pants.

If you ask people who know me well they will tell you I always have a plan A to Z till the end of day with little or no room for failure. As an ardent planner I would always have every t crossed and every i dotted. Recently, something has repeatedly come to my attention and in the last few months it has changed me. 2014 changed many of the thoughts and patterns for good because I came to understand a few things differently.

I have always been driven in life and in some instances these dreams of grandeur were misplaced and were driving me insane. Ok, maybe to say insane would be pushing it a bit too far. In 2001 things weren’t going as planned and I was going out of my mind because I couldn’t wrap my head around how to get out of that place. Help finally came when a group of us did a joint focus with forty days of purpose and very simple questions to answer:clouds 5

  • Lord who did You create me to be?
  • Lord how do You deal with me?
  • Lord how do You desire for to live my life out from here on out?

In a past post I have talked a lot about the question of how God deals with me and you can read it in greater depth here. The question that has been on my mind again recently is “Lord who did You create me to be?” This I had come to understand related directly to purpose and reason I am alive. We all talk about purpose and why we are here but it is such a technical discussion that many of us aren’t even sure what it means. We are looking for a deep explanation or great well written statement yet it is often something very simple with a deep outworking.

Here is an example. A good friend had her purpose simplified to “Nurture and give strength”. Before you think that is too vague let me explain a bit. Her core gift is to encourage and support others. This is lived out in many different ways depending on the person, situation and instruction. For some it is a listening ear, for others a hug, for others a word, for others working alongside and for others it is a slap on the face. It can even translate to a profession like an administrator, HR manager, teacher, pastor, etc. Can your purpose statement be so simple? Yup! Can it be lived out daily? Most certainly! Does it need interpretation? Totally! Purpose has to be the thing that gets us out of bed every day and gives us the energy to go on even when things aren’t going as well as we would like.

Picture courtesy of Sociedad Argentina de Horticultura

Picture courtesy of Sociedad Argentina de Horticultura

Recently my daddy reminded me that when I walk into purpose and consistently stay there everything is good even when the surrounding circumstances look different. So using my friend as an example again, if she has to care authentically she has to feel and understand the needs around her. This has meant that she has faced significant struggle and pain in life. Sometimes it has seemed that God has deserted her and her life is off the rails but at the end of each season she has come out stronger and deeper in her relationship with Him. Each time it has brought her closer to the realities of her purpose and made her more relevant.

The other day someone struggling with meeting their daily needs sat with her and she was able to share real life, heartfelt options that ministered to them. She didn’t have money in her pocket to give but she had ideas about who this person could talk to who could open a door. She had a challenge to their current perspective that helped re-align them to God. She had compassion and love to respond with the right words, in the right tone and at the right time. Most of all she had the heart to pray the right prayer and be the right contact for this person in need.

It has been amazing watching her walking in her path even when it didn’t make sense to her family and those of us who are her friends. However, every day I find that she is clearer in the things that matter to her questions about how to walk. Did she want the big car, the nice home and the recognition? Sure. Is it the centre of her life anymore? No. Her understanding of who she is in Christ is now the bigger issue. This really got me thinking and in many ways I am still thinking about it. Suddenly, something I saw by Joel Osteen made sense. He said, “Don’t stay focused on what somebody else can do better. You’re not running their race. You don’t need what they have.”

As we live out our daily lives, it is absolutely essential that we find this place and operate in this kind of balance always. Ps 139 resonates in my heart because I know that if He knew why He created me and I connect to that purpose then my life on this earth will definitely be worth something bigger and longer lasting than my years here on earth.