Category Archives: Lifestyle

April 8, 2023 · 12:36 pm

SENT AS I WAS SENT

Jesus told them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, SO I AM SENDING YOU.” John 20:21

Many of us must have heard different versions of the story where a father told his kid to tell his friend that was visiting that he was not at home, just because he did not want to see the friend at that time. Kids will be kids and the young one did what kids will do by saying exactly what the father told him to say, while emphasizing that the message was from the father. Well…we could berate the kid for betraying the father, but this was a display of complete obedience :).

In a way, this is similar to how Jesus walked the earth in His days. He always alluded to the fact that He was fully in contact with the Father and transmitting the messages He got from the Father to those that came to listen to Him. He also let them know that whatever He did was because He was in consonance with God.

I have not spoken on my own. Instead, the Father who sent me told me what I should say and how I should say it. John 12:49[GW]

So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. John 5:19[MSG]

And on one of those days, when Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, this was Jesus’s answer to him in the presence if the other disciples:

Jesus replied, “I have been with all of you for a long time. Don’t you know me yet, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9[GW]

So essentially, Jesus was sent to deliver the word of God to everyone and also to live in such a way that everyone that saw Him should be left with no doubt as to who the Father was and what the Father’s character was.

Therefore, if Jesus sent us the same way He was sent by the Father, it means that the totality of our lives should reflect Jesus. When people hear us, they should understand what Jesus sounded like and the messages that He brought with Him from the Father. When they interact with us, they should imagine exactly what Jesus would have been like if they were born in His days. We should be the image of Jesus that people see in our generation.

If we spend some time in introspection, what would we see in comparison to the expectation of Jesus in sending us out? We should be bold enough to say like Paul: Follow my example, just like I follow Christ’s. 1 Corinthians 11:1 [CEB]

I will end with the words of this hymn by Albert W. T. Orsborn

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,

All his wonderful passion and purity,

O thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine,

Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.

Picture credit: https://fpcparagould.org/

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January 24, 2023 · 7:56 pm

ANANIAS & Co.

I was on the cast of a stage play in my secondary school days. I did not have to memorize any scripts. I was a soldier in the play and all I had to do was to appear on stage at the right time with the other soldiers and fight. We disappeared backstage as the curtains were drawn on our scene. There was also another one in which I was just one of the stagehands and only got on to the stage when the curtains were drawn and away from the sight of the cheering audience.

On these two occasions, I definitely did not get any accolades from the audience because I did not do anything remarkable in their sight. However, without the fight scene in the play, it would not have been complete and of course, no stage play is smooth without the work of the invisible team that rearranges the stage between the scenes.

Celebration of those that are in our faces is a natural reaction for us and should not come as a surprise to anyone. However, some people do a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes and never make it to the stage in their entire careers. Yet without these people, the A-list actors that we celebrate will not be where they are today.

There are quite a few people in the Bible that did some heavy lifting in the background, they are not mentioned many times in the scriptures. Yet without their exploits, the story would be far from complete. I have chosen to call Ananias the Chief of this group of people. After he prayed for Paul and baptized him, his name was mentioned only once again in the Bible and that was by Paul himself during a speech. Under the prevailing circumstances in his days, getting up to seek out and pray for Paul was a great act of faith and obedience and definitely went a long way to shape the story of the New Testament scriptures as we have it today.

Another person that did not get much screen time but played a significant role was Hur, who helped to hold up the hands of Moses with Aaron in the battle against the Amalekites. This act secured victory for the Israelites at that time.

Others are Elisheba, the wife of Aaron and matriarch of a great lineage of priests that include Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, one of the women that supplied the physical needs of Jesus while He walked the earth; Gilalai, one of the priests that participated as a musician in the procession led by Ezra; Hassenaah, a man whose sons built the Fish Gate during the reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem under the repair programme led by Nehemiah; Jehiah, one of the gatekeepers for the Ark of the Covenant in the time of king David. There are so many more. These people may not have had a great mention, but their exploits are by no means meager and the scriptures will not be complete without them. What is important is that they played their part in God’s “play”.

Now we are on that stage, and we have to play our parts. That natural desire to be seen and applauded will always be there. So, if the acts and scenes we regularly appear in do not attract many accolades, the tendency to want to trade places will often tug at us. However, we must consciously remind ourselves that the applause of men is not our purpose and God’s scale of success and prominence is different from the scale that we use and it is His own that really matters.

Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men. Colossians 3:23 [AMP]

Whatever it is that you are doing, God sees, God knows and God gives the best accolades. Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap if we do not give in. Galatians 6:9 [AMP]

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December 24, 2022 · 8:50 pm

REMAIN SEATED

“Remain seated until the seat belt sign is turned off”

                                                                                  Every pilot

I have been travelling quite a lot recently and each time the aircraft lands, the pilot or the cabin crew lead always makes this announcement: “Remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the aircraft comes to a complete stop and the seat belt sign is turned off”. 9 times out of 10, people just ignore the instruction and jump out of their seats as if the instructions were to the birds of the air. I have observed this with different nationalities, so it’s not the specialty of any particular set of people.

When you don’t get up like everyone else, there is a strong pull to conform and do the wrong thing with the crowd because everyone is doing it and everyone seems to accept it. This is worse if you are in an aisle seat and the passengers you have blocked in are giving you that quizzical look. The force of the stare could almost lift you off your seat. It takes a deliberate decision not to join the crowd on those occasions.

As we navigate our multifaceted courses in life, we will come face to face with opportunities to follow the crowd in the wrong direction. The decision may be seemingly innocuous or in some cases, quite significant. At those times, “The end justifies the means” appears to be a wise counsel. When we find ourselves at those points, our focus should be the internal satisfaction that comes from a good conscience and not external satisfaction.

The Bible is filled with examples of those that tilted to either side of the balance in following the crowd and we can learn from all of them:

Aaron buckled under the pressure of the crowd and made the golden calf as a god for the people of Israel. 10 out of 12 spies chose to see themselves as grasshoppers, while Joshua and Caleb saw things differently. Noah endured the mocking of the crowd for a very long time to build the ark. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chose to stand alone and not flow with the crowd, even when faced with the lion’s den and the fiery furnace. We know how the story ended for each group.

In these days when many people are under so much pressure from the strains of the global economy, the temptation to make little compromises for gain may appear so strong. When we can’t see any way out of the pit we find ourselves in, joining the crowd may appear logical, especially if the compromise seems insignificant. Wrong is wrong and the number of people doing wrong does not make the definition of wrong to change. We can find encouragement and direction from the following scriptures and more:

You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. Exodus 23:2

Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them! Proverbs 1:10

Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. Mathew 7: 13 – 14

God knows, God sees and His grace is sufficient. Stay the course and don’t join the crowd. God is able to do it, but even if He doesn’t do it the way expect or when you expect it. He is still faithful.

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December 4, 2022 · 3:39 pm

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Growing up, one thing that I kept trying to do each year was to retain money in my home-made piggy bank, hoping that I would accumulate enough money at the end of the year to buy something that I really wanted to have. All through those years, one thing that remained constant was that I never did it. I either did not start or when I started, I broke the bank mid-way into the year. The fact that I was not able to pull this off in the previous year did not make me stop trying.

At the beginning of each year, the expectations are very high for the days ahead and the excitement is almost palpable. With this euphoria, many of us set goals and write down our lofty aspirations. At that point, nobody sets out not to achieve these goals. We write them down because we hope to see them materialize at the set time. We also write down things that we commit to pray for throughout the year, asking God in faith and believing that they will come to pass.

When the end of the year beckons, most people make out time to look at the year in retrospect. On many occasions, it would be that some of those things we planned to achieve at the beginning of the year are real only on paper or wherever we wrote them down. Also, some of the prayer points may not have materialized the way we expected. It could be disappointing and discouraging.

When this happens, it is easy to focus on those unachieved goals and unanswered prayers. It becomes even more debilitating when we compare ourselves with other people that seem to have everything working for them like clockwork and it appears as if there is something wrong with us or something we are not doing well. A pity party is born. Ingratitude sets in. We wonder why God did not answer our prayers and it goes on and on like that.

When we find ourselves going down this road, we need to make a conscious decision to count our blessings instead of counting the woes by focusing on the things that did not work as expected. What we focus on becomes magnified in our eyes and ultimately shapes our thoughts and lives. When we make a deliberate attempt to count our blessings, we would indeed be surprised like the old hymn says. We would realize that we have so much to be thankful to God for. One thing we will discover when we count is that we made some achievements that were part of our list and also others that came to us as a bonus. In all these things, we ought to remain thankful by default.

I find the words of the hymn Count your Blessings very instructive in this direction and I would like to encourage you to take some time out to sing and think deeply about those words as this year comes to an end.

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February 23, 2022 · 10:04 pm

STRONG AND COURAGEOUS

Recently, I had to go through a test that involved riding a bicycle for 6 minutes at different speeds to generate power. I started with an initial target of 60 Watts and ended at 145 Watts. It was very easy at the beginning as I had full energy and the required effort was not much. As it got harder, my energy waned, the required effort increased but I needed to complete the task. During the last 30 seconds, I almost gave up. The assessor had to count down for me. As he got closer to zero, I managed to pull together a burst of energy to make it to the end. When I almost quit, the countdown from the assessor and his reassurance somehow gave me the courage to persevere to the end. It didn’t matter that my legs were quaking at the end, what was important was that I didn’t give up. I made it!

The first chapter of Joshua has 18 verses and the phrase “Be strong and courageous” appears in 4 of those verses. 3 times God used this phrase to charge Joshua and the last time, it was the response of the people to his ‘commencement’ speech as they prepared to go into Canaan.

This same Joshua was one of the 12 secret agents that saw the giants in the land and had the temerity to bring back good news to the people, telling them that they could take over the land even though they were indeed minuscule when compared to the size of the giants. Even when 10 of them rationalized and buckled. Before then, Joshua had passed through intense mentoring and internship in the school of Moses. He had both theoretical and practical experience. Also, Moses had deposited a measure of the Spirit in him by laying hands on him. Yet, when it was time to lead the people into the land of their promise, God felt he needed this charge. Why?

Moses had put his hands on Joshua and appointed him to be the new leader. Then Joshua, son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom. So, the Israelites began to obey Joshua, and they did what the Lord had commanded Moses. Deuteronomy 34:9

Joshua had the commission to lead the people, the people had the promise that they would inherit the land. God’s promises are sure and steadfast, but it did not mean that there would be no obstacles and hurdles along the way. For God to repeat that phrase multiple times suggests that in spite of the anointing, Joshua’s work experience and the foundation of God’s infallible promise, some of those obstacles had the power to initiate the thoughts of quitting in his mind. If he gave enough thought to the obstacles instead of fixing his mind on the promise, nothing would have stopped him from giving up on the way. That would have made the people to miss the bounty that God promised them.

Joshua went, saw and conquered. The promise of God did not remove the giants that they had seen during their reconnaissance visit. They still had to fight and overcome them. He held on to God’s promise and the charge to be strong and courageous. He led the people to their inheritance. He has left the stage and we are on the scene now. As sure as the rising of the sun each day, we will face our own giants. Reasons to doubt the efficacy of God’s promise will abound. We will get to the brink. When those storms arise, we have the same charge and promise. Indeed, we have more than enough promises to keep us going in the Bible. If He did it for Joshua, He is able to do it for us as long as we remain strong and courageous, fixing our eyes on Him and His word.

Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 (CEV)

Image credit: Blue Pea Pod

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May 4, 2020 · 7:20 am

I DON’T KNOW

Have you experienced that awkward moment when a question was thrown at you and you threw back an answer that you were convinced made zero meaning? In order not to appear ignorant, you just crafted a combination of words while exuding sterling confidence built on a foundation of thin air, knowing quite well that you were not making any sense. In most cases, the people asking the questions are nice enough and play along pretending to understand you so that you will not be embarrassed.

One of my friends was not that lucky in an encounter that he had with a senior executive at work. As part of the processes to get a required approval, he had to explain some details to the senior executive. When asked a question, he had no clue what the right answer was, but decided to ride his luck and just say something. He did not expect what he heard next. The boss told him: “If you don’t know, just say you don’t know”. You can only imagine the rush of blood to his face when those words hit his ears.

I dont know

At the root of this behaviour in most cases is the feeling of: “I should know this but I’m ashamed that I don’t know and I don’t want to be seen as someone who doesn’t know”. In Zechariah Chapter 4, Zerubbabel could have pretended that he understood what he was seeing. He was a reputable prophet and he should have known what the vision meant based on his long years of prophetic experience. The angel’s questions in verses 5 and 13 tend to suggest that he expected Zerubbabel to know and understand what he was seeing. Zerubbabel, however, did not know and he was not ashamed to say that he did not know. This admission gave him the opportunity to receive an accurate interpretation of the vision from the angel in those two instances. He chose the higher path of stooping low to learn and it paid off like it always does.

When we don’t have the answer and we pretend to know, we leave the person asking the question with an impression of us that might be difficult to change in the future. The shame we were trying to avoid may now come to us in multiples. No matter how long you’ve been in church, it’s okay not to know answers to some questions. You may even be a pastor. It is still okay. And then as a teacher, it is okay to tell your students that you don’t know but make a commitment to get back to them with the answer.

The chance to say “I don’t know” may not always be an opportunity to learn anything, it may just be an opportunity to simply say “I don’t know” and move on without shame. Humility. We are not omniscient and it’s okay not to know somethings. But this does not mean that we should bask in blissful ignorance and not seek to acquire the requisite knowledge and indeed more. It is also instructive not to plan to answer “I don’t know” to the same question more than once. The first one is enough cue for us to go and research the topic.

Keep learning!

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January 18, 2020 · 4:45 pm

NOT JUST FOR PRUNING SAKE

I have always wondered why some babies make their first appearance on earth with strange haircuts. Some sections are fully cultivated and resplendent, while others are completely bare or designed with sparse vegetation. In most cases, there is usually no clear pattern to the hairstyle. However, after a few years, you’ll struggle to recognize what was once an unattractive ‘real estate’. The transformation starts immediately after the first haircut and continues to be perfected with more haircuts. I can only imagine what those heads would look like if they were allowed to just develop like that.

My childhood days were before the days of electric clippers, when all sorts of contraptions ranging from scissors, manual clippers and blade-and-comb were used to plough the hair. If you didn’t experience these things, you don’t know what you missed.

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These haircuts can be likened to the pruning of trees to make them more fruitful and desirable. The hair strands that are removed from the heads by haircuts are not exactly useless or dead strands, but their removal is essential for the required transformation. That’s the same thing with pruning. When you prune, you are not necessarily removing dead branches, but living branches that need to make way for the perfection of the tree. If these trees are not pruned, they will never reach their full potential. If the trees had sensory nervous systems, I guess pruning would be like surgery without anaesthesia…not a very pleasant experience.

There is more to Christianity than going to church and being very active in the church. There is definitely more to our relationship with God than just being good people and living chaste lives. And there is more to our walk with God than being consistent with our daily Bible study and prayers. Whatever level we get to, however deep our relationship with our Heavenly Father gets, there will always be more. We are called to live supernatural lives, doing the very same things that Jesus did while He was on the earth as summarized in Acts 10:38:

And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.    Acts 10:38 (NLT)

That ‘more’ does not come with business as usual. It comes with continuous pruning. That’s why Jesus said:

“I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].”  John 15:1-2 (AMP)

The branches that need to be pruned are not necessarily bad or offensive things, they include nice things that just need to be dropped if we have to get to the level that God wants us to get to at every point in time. They are mostly things that compete with the sacrifices of time and other resources that should be devoted to God or other forms of personal and spiritual development. If we do not drop these things, we will always be at the milk level and not able to graduate to solid spiritual food and bones, like Paul said to the Corinthians:

“I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready…” 1Corinthians 3:2 (NLT)

The things to be pruned are different for everyone so; there’s no one size that fits all. Part of the work we need to do is to be on that continuous journey of self-examination to know what we need to drop at every point in time. When we discover these things, we then need to take the responsibility for pruning them off and by the way, this pruning is not for pastors or church workers only, it is for every Christian, because…

These signs will accompany those who have BELIEVED: in My name, they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues;  they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.” Mark 16: 17 – 18 (AMP)

If we are believers then we really do not have any excuse but to keep pruning and flourishing. That’s what we have been called to and it is a lifelong call. We must never become satisfied and complacent. We must keep pushing till the very end

12 I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into His abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover. 13 I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. 14 I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus. 15 So let all who are fully mature have this same passion, and if anyone is not yet gripped by these desires, God will reveal it to them. Philippians 3:12 – 15 (TPT)

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December 15, 2018 · 5:59 pm

FAITH AND CONFIDENCE

Growing up, I had so much faith in my father. I believed he was a superman and that he could actually slay a lion with his bare hands just like Samson. I never had any reason to doubt whatever he told me. I just took his word for it. If he ever told me he could fly, I’m sure I would have believed him. I’m almost certain that most people had the same kind of blind faith in their parents – that’s just the way kids are – ‘doubt’ is not part of their lexicon and they don’t rationalize things the way adults do.

I recently read two Bible passages that reminded me of the pedestal on which I placed my dad as a child.

So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me Acts 27:25

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Romans 4:18 – 21

Paul was sure that he got a message from God and he was confident that it would happen just as he had been told. Based on his experience with God, there could not have been any other outcome. The weather and the waves were indicating something else but that didn’t matter to Paul. He was sure of the source of the message. If God said it, it was done.

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When Abraham and Sarah were told that they were going to have a child, there was no reason for them to believe that it was possible apart from the fact that the message was from God. Naturally, all hope was lost. In those days, if there were professors of ‘Conception technology’, they would have told Abraham to wake up from dreamland. But because God said, it, Abraham believed it and it happened just as he was told.

confidence

For Paul and Abraham to have unwavering faith in God, they were sure that the words of assurance and promises were from God and they knew God’s character of not being capable of failure. Because of deep relationship, they could tell the difference between God’s word and their subtle imaginations or wishes. They were God’s sheep and there’s no way they would have followed the voice of strangers.

Consistent, unbroken fellowship with God is key in knowing what God is saying at every point. The ‘saying’ could come while reading through scriptures, listening to messages, worshipping God in music or in many other ways. In whatever form it comes, the constant factor is RELATIONSHIP.

Whatever the cost, we must keep the fire of this RELATIONSHIP on, for therein lies our SALVATION and the foundation of our FAITH.

 

Photocredit: www.childrens-ministry-deals.com, www.psychologytoday.com

 

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May 29, 2018 · 6:26 pm

I BROUGHT MY OWN SHOES

I recently attended an event that was organized to welcome the new member of the leadership team of a company. The event also doubled as a farewell ceremony for the departing leader. The accolades were not in short supply because the outgoing leader was an exceptional leader on every front. He was the type of leader that Jim Collins described as a Level 5 leader in his book; Good to Great. Many were sad to see him go, but he had to go.

Several people were invited to make speeches as the evening wore on, most speakers focused on the outgoing leader, with a few making remarks that alluded to the new member of the team that he had very big shoes to fill. Almost everyone seemed to agree with that point of view because the impressions on the hearts and minds of people were deep.

When it was time for the incoming leader to make his commencement speech, he made a very remarkable statement. He said “I am not going to try to fill Mr X’s shoes because I brought my own shoes”. So, he already told everyone that he was not made from the same mould. His style was going to be different and he did not suggest that he was going to lower the standards. He was just different and he was going to be himself.

shoes

It’s good to have people we look up to, especially people that have gone ahead of us successfully. But we must never aspire to be them. We should rather aspire to become the best version of ourselves that God made us to be. We will stand on the shoulders of those people, learn from their mistakes and glean from their wisdom. We will place our hands in their hands and allow them to lead us. We will plant our footsteps in their footprints if needed. We will draw out deep things from the depths of their hearts. We will be humble around them, no matter what we become. We will preserve their good reputation while building ours. In all this, WE WILL NOT BE THEM because we will bring our own shoes!

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March 15, 2018 · 3:12 pm

I WANT THAT…

SALAD! Now that’s something I really really longed for when I was much younger. Unfortunately, the closest I ever got to it then was hearing about it from my primary school classmates. It was never part of our meal plan because it was a luxury back then and it just wasn’t one of the things my parents could be bothered about.

The fact is that I actually never knew what it looked or tasted like, but I seriously wanted it, simply because I knew some of my classmates were enjoying it regularly. Another fact is that though I never had salad, I never lacked food to eat and my parents did the very best they could within their means.

Fast forward to the day I finally had the opportunity to fall on vegetable salad, I could not understand why I actually thought I was missing something. There was no light bulb moment and there were no drum rolls in my ears. At the heart of the craving was the fact that someone else had it and I felt I should have it too.

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The feeling or craving that I had in those early days is similar to the feeling we have as adults when we want something we feel we should have, especially when our contemporaries are enjoying the very same things. It could be anything ranging from position, car, real estate, job, network, children and spouse to clothes and holidays.  When we don’t have it, we feel as if we are missing something great. When we eventually get it, buyer’s remorse sets in.

This feeling is a very good breeding ground for ingratitude and envy. We unconsciously become blind-sided by those things that we don’t have. We fail to enjoy the moment and thank God for where we are and for the things that we have. The promises of God fade from our vision and begin to appear unreal. Promises such as:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”. Jer 29:11 (NLT)

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Matt 6: 31-32 (NLT)

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Jesus knew that the days of such feelings will come, so we already have this warning in Luke 12:15

Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.” (MSG)

Paul also lent his voice in his letter to Timothy

 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.  After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 1Tim 6: 6 -7 (NLT)

What is it that I don’t have right now that I desire to have? Instead of dwelling on those things, I can choose to take a step back and instead think of the things that I have and give God praise for them. If we Meditate on the love and sovereign power of the ALL SUFFICIENT GOD, this will help us magnify God instead of the challenges and the peace of God that passes all understanding will flood our hearts.

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