EVALUATE THAT RELATIONSHIP…

The gift of friendship is beautiful but the gift of true friendship is what we ought to look out for. Too many times we remain friends with a lot of people for the wrong reasons, from material gains, to peer acceptance, to something as trivial as company.

If the company is standing in the way of your godliness, it has got to go! – there is no easy way to say this.

It is so easy to undermine the influence the company we keep or do I say “our friends” have on us and we keep deceiving ourselves that we want to change them or at least “help” them-It is about time you wake up and realize that it is okay to pray for their salvation from a distance rather than let them threaten your walk with God. Because even the bible recommends in 1 Cor 15:33 “ Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits”.

How much clearer does it need to be for you to get it?

Have you ever met someone and spent a while around that person only to realize that you  now do certain things like he or she does?

Or have you ever heard the line “… You are acting just like your friend/sister/brother/colleague XYZ?”

You have? and so what makes you think for a moment that this does not also apply to your spiritual life as well?

We all have that friend that brings out the best in us, like we also have that friend that brings out the worst in us too.

Note that, in the above verse, the wordings do not go as follows:

“Blessed is the one who is neither wicked nor a sinner, nor a mocker”

Maybe you should re-read that to get the wordings super clear! My understanding of this is that walking in step with the wicked, merely standing in the way that sinners take and sitting in the company of mockers can absolutely stand in the way of my blessings.

Do you want to grow in your walk with God? If yes, its about time you let that ungodly relationship go – and before you assume I mean any and every kind of relationship. it could be with an old buddy that is stuck in the past who cannot see past the person you were few years ago or even a favourite roommate who will not let you overcome your habits of excessive partying and drug abuse or even that colleague that gives you the details on the latest gist and the list goes on.

The bible requires us to “Guard our heart with all diligence for out of it flows the issues of life”. If being around them does nothing to spur you on your christian walk it is safe to say you are not being diligent at guarding your heart because soon enough you will be spreading the ungodliness you have received from these relationships.

Your relationship with God will remain at a standstill or even experience a decline in progress until you cut these relationships off.

Whatever is not leading you towards God is certainly leading you away from him so its about time you made that decision.

More of God’s grace as you aim to please him.

Love Always,

Sitamka.

 

Dear Jesus…

When I woke up yesterday earlier than usual at 4.15am. I was excited that I would have enough time to organize myself, get my make up done and still be at the office in good time.

It was so easy to wake up and slip into my basic morning routine and yet I forgot the most important detail of all – a few minutes with the One who gifted me the breathe that woke me up.

I could have easily taken my time to pray and even study my bible before getting my feet off my bed to do anything else. Looking back now, I realize my biggest pitfall is allowing my feet touch the ground before we talk, because I know how badly addicted I am to my patterns, my plans.

Oh my! I do not know how you love me so passionately even when i do little or nothing to reciprocate a love so amazing.

After taking my time to “doll” myself up, I realized I was running late and then… I remembered to call you and still you came through for me and I got in on time.

Still, the routines did not stop there, I could have taken a few minutes to say thank you but no, I got to my desk and slipped into my “busy” morning routine at work. And just like that before I could say “Jack”, yet another day ended.

Another 24hours without even an hour with you. Another 24hours gone by without knowing what your plans for me within those hours were. Another 24hours without adequate gratitude for the love and blessings I enjoyed because you still call me yours. Yet, this morning I was presented with a clean slate, a fresh start, a symbol of renewed love in the form of the breathe of life!

How is it even possible to love someone so passionately?

Indeed, no one could ever love me like you do.

Thank you for not counting my wrongs against me but instead wrapping me with the warmth of a love I could never really explain nor deserve.

I am indeed privileged to call you Father.

 

Your Beloved little girl,

Sitamka

 

 

 

 

DEAR JESUS…

 

Dear Jesus,

It is easy to come to you when my hearts’ heavy with sadness, worries, hurt, and even loneliness only after I have been turned down or disappointed by those who I expected to fix my issues for me. It is so easy for me to remember you when i stay up at night thinking through the truck load of things that did not go as I hoped and planned they would (especially when I gave you no thought when those plans where being made). It is even easier, to call on you when I cry myself to sleep, overwhelmed with the sadness, the pain and the hurt that words could never describe because then only to do i realize that you alone see right through me.

I want to be able to talk to you just because I love you, and know you never get tired of hearing the tiny little details about my day or even my life but sometimes consciously and otherwise I let things and people take your place in my heart.

Teach me Lord that as much as you have promised never to leave nor forsake me, you never want me to leave your presence either. Help me to make conscious efforts to develop my communication as well as my overall relationship with you. Amen.

Love Always,

Sitamka.

 

NEW SERIES ALERT…

Prayer changes things…

During my time away, I had to battle  a lot with praying because, more often than not even though my heart was heavy with lots to say, I just couldn’t find the words to convey the words. I am pretty sure, a lot of people battle with moments like this.

In times like that where, spoken words fail me, written words make up for that.

So, I’ll be starting a new series – “DEAR JESUS”.

It is pretty much a compilation of thoughts that randomly cross our minds or even those we ponder on, in private time but can’t seem to pray about maybe because they seem too trivial, or too heavy or maybe even too random.

I hope it will be a blessing to someone and help you realize you are not alone in your struggle as well as give you courage to actually pray about any and every thing.

Love Always,

Sitamka.

RECONCILIATION

One of the hardest phases, we as Christians will ever have to deal with is reconciliation back to God right after we fall.

Have you ever dealt with the heaviness in your heart that comes from the guilt of knowing, once again you have failed God?

Have you ever dealt with the weight of having to wake up each morning –wanting to pray- but simply can’t because you cannot help but feel you are undeserving of His mercies?

Do you have those odd moments in your day when you want to say a quick prayer and then you remember you didn’t (or better still couldn’t) offer a prayer of gratitude when you woke up this morning and suddenly you are overwhelmed with more guilt and can’t pray?

Ever had an issue with our best friend and suddenly you rarely talk not because you hate each other but you “think” he/she is mad at you and vice versa. It just keeps prolonging the silence and until one person takes the bold step to talk to the other person, we simply keep carrying the weight on our shoulders.

We can totally relate with one, or more of these situations and more than anything God wants to bridge that gap in our communication.

You were not created to be infallible, where that the case there would be no need for the gift of God’s ONLY son, Jesus Christ to us. God freely gave us this gift as an assurance that nothing could be greater than His love for us.

Jesus Christ was sent to die for our sins, to be that bridge we need between our sins and the throne of mercy. By coming back to God through Jesus, we are cleansed by the blood He shed for us and wrapped by His mercies, making us blameless in the sight of God. God sent His son for us so we never have to be alone through any phase of our life – the blood of Jesus is our eternal assurance that God’s love for us will never fade, it is the seal that should serve as a constant reminder that nothing could separate us from the love of God.

Sometimes, being aware of the fact that God loves you is a piece of cake but accepting that absolutely nothing could separate you from His love could be the hard part. And that is the tricky part where the devil comes along and hits a replay button on all the bullet points that would otherwise have made you an unworthy recipient of God’s love and mercy (were it not a gift) but at those times, maybe you could be privileged to have a friend or just anyone at all hold your hands in prayer and remind you of God’s promises of His love and mercies, but some other times, when there is no one to lift you up in prayer, you have got to go down on your knees and Yes! The first few minutes may be a little slow and you may even have nothing to say as you may be overwhelmed by the reality of how much God is willing to forgive you just because He loves you.

Hang on there on your knees. Yes! Stay there. Embrace that gift. Let it soak every fiber of your being and immense you back into the warmth of God’s love.

By the way, if you don’t have the words, that’s okay, stay there in the silence allow Him speak to your heart. Nothing could be more liberating than feeling God’s presence envelop you and knowing that even before you set your knees to the ground His arms were wide open to receive you.

God loves you, He has not given up on you and never will. It is all on you to realize He is that lover that will not stop fighting until you come back to Him.

Today, is as good a day as any to get back on track with Him. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, so why not make today count? Why not unburden your heavy heart today?

Matthew 11:28:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”

Are you battling with the guilt of your sins?

Are you battling with the weight of the burden (of your sin) that you have been carrying around for a while?

Do you battle with the thoughts that your sins are unforgivable?

God has an amazing gift for you today – HIS LOVE, HIS FORGIVENESS, and HIS PEACE.

Before you tell yourself- “I’ll do this later”. Right now, take a moment form what you are doing and ask the Lord for the grace to receive His unending gift of forgiveness and the peace that accompanies it, as well as the grace to drop your guilt at the foot of the cross today.

 

PRAYER:

Father, I am thankful for the gift of Jesus Christ to be a sign of your eternal love for me.

I confess my sins today, and ask for the grace to fully receive the gift of your mercy and let go of the guilt as I embrace the rest that only you can give.

Thank you for restoring my faith and trust in you.

Amen.

PS:

Feel the relief? Yeah! That’s what if feels like when you hand it all over to God.

Have a fantastic day!

 

Love Always,

Sitamka.

 

BE STILL…

---

Sometimes, in a bid to distract ourselves from the things that bother us the most, we spend quality time being busy, doing absolutely nothing (nothing useful, I mean). But in the silence of our room (or even in just random quiet moments), we are faced with our biggest fears, worries and challenges and that’s where we are faced with the decision to wallow in worry or trust God.

Recently, I had to deal with some intense level of sadness over things I felt were going wrong in my life- or do I say, the things that were just not going as I would have liked them to. I spent so much time worrying, being sad and even crying about them, but nothing I did seemed to make me feel better.

I had to chat up one of my closest friends and I gladly “unburdened” telling her how I felt at a stand still and how things weren’t going well and all. After listening to me complain for a considerable length of time, she simply counted some things which in her opinion where a sign of some not-so-small progress. These were things I had sincerely overlooked but hearing someone tell me, made me feel thankful and helped relax my troubled heart.

Yes, there will be times when you can not seem to find the right words to pray (good thing is even when words fail us, God knows our hearts desires and feels our hurt)  and tears are the only way to let out that sadness or anger, or even sharing with a friend, family member, colleague or even pastor but the most important thing to remember, is God’s instruction to us when we are going through various storms in our lives – “PEACE,BE STILL”.

In a world where there is a lot of priority on being busy as opposed to making progress, it seems almost impossible to just “BE STILL”. I am not opposed to you doing what outrightly needs to be done, as even the bible says in James 2:20& 26 that “… faith without works is dead”. There are so many things about your life that you will never be able to take care of, no matter how hard you work- the reason being that, it is just not your job to fix it. Only God can fix those things, at those times, all you need do is BE STILL.

We may never be able to admit it to anyone else, but the feeling of just waiting (being still) scares us so much, we will rather be busy doing anything just so we do not have to be still. Stillness in our world sometimes could be interpreted as being stagnant or lacking progress. But you can be rest assured, when God calls you to stillness and you respond, you will make more progress than you could have made on your own.

God’s call to us today, is for us to trust Him with all our fears, worries, cares and burdens and just be still- Yes, just be still.
When you feel like your heart’s so heavy and you are overwhelmed with anxiety, in that moment, hard as it may be, remember God’s word to you- “Peace, be still”.
Yes, that loud voice in your head will be screaming for you to act, to do something but if you can remember the comforting words of Psalm 94:19 you will find some bit of calm. King David says in Psalm 94:19- “When doubt fills my mind, you give me hope and keep me of renewed cheer”.

PRAYER:

Father, thank you for the immense blessings you shower me with, day after day. Forgive my ingratitude, and teach me to count my blessings always. Today, whatever life throws my way, teach me to be still and know that you are the God who loves me and is constantly working towards bringing me to a predestined end. Amen.

WITHOUT ME, YOU CAN DO NOTHING

John 15:5–

 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

There is a massive excitement that most adults even children get as Friday draws near, heralding the beginning of the weekend. But, ever get through the week and when Friday rolls by you start asking yourself- “What did I achieve this week?”. And this question rolls through different spheres of life- family, work, school, church, personal goals and plans. Well, a lot of people can totally relate with that.

Well, a lot of people deal with certain measure of disappointments where plans are concerned. If you are anything like me who loves to plan A LOT!!! Not meeting up with plans can be very upsetting but then again, but then again more often than not we plan as though we are in control of our lives. Too often than not, we forget what the bible says about committing our plans to God.

Don’t get me wrong, even the bible supports proper planning as seen in Luke 14:28-33–

“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. …”

But then again, be sure that your plans are subject to God’s will and plans for you. Before you ask “How will I know God’s plans for me?” – There’s no better way to know God’s plans than to ask him. I love the New International Version of Proverbs 16:3 – “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans”. Also the New Living Translation of Psalm 37:5 says “Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust Him, and He will help you”.

As the week begins and you start making plans for your week, here are a few quick scriptures to have in mind:

Jeremiah 29:11–

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Proverbs 16:9

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps”.

Proverbs 3:5

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding”.

Proverbs 19:21

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails”.

Isaiah 55:8-9

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways,”declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”.

More importantly, remember –

Luke 18:27

“But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

PRAYER:

Dear Lord,

As this week begins and I go about making plans,  help me to remember that your plans are superior and will always bring me to a predestined help. Teach me to trust you with all my heart and reflect same trust as I subject my plans to your will.  Thank you for your grace this week, Amen.

WALK WITH ME

WALK WITH ME…
Source: http://www.google.com

Sitting and meditating on God’s goodness and grace which I have been able to experience first hand all through the years I’ve been blessed with on earth. Sometimes the thoughts alone are not even enough because a humans’ thinking capacity is simply not enough to quantify the greatness of God.

In the life of a Christian, everything is not always as rosy as we sometimes think it to be. There are several challenges that we are faced with that will surely shake the very foundation of our faith. That very foundation we built by spending countless hours in Sunday school, listening to different tapes and reading books from men of God. Just when we thought we could face any circumstance and stand strong in the midst of the storm, something comes to test our faith.
Suddenly we find ourselves questioning the very carefully outlined principles with which we programmed our mind and body to act whenever the storms of life come. Guess what? God still remains God, despite the hard times we go through and major challenges we face. As Christians sometimes we can all agree that the journey towards the mark of the high calling might be overbearing to a point where we feel we actually begin to question our faith, but when times like this come around, all Jesus is screaming out to you is Look at me! I am the Author and finisher of your faith (Hebrew 12.2).
Now what does an author mean? In simple English terms, an author is the writer or creator of a Story. In other words, God steers the direction of our faith and puts it in places where we will need it exactly, which means whenever we need faith to kill sin, Jesus steers our faith in the right Direction and gives us what we need to be able to handle that situation or any other situation. That being said, there is a special grace to handle every circumstance we find ourselves in.
Now Hebrew 12.2 also talks about Jesus being the finisher of our faith. It is common knowledge that not every author of a book gets to be the person to conclude it. Sometimes death or any other unforeseen circumstance can occur and hereby deter an author from finishing a story, which makes it possible for someone to be an author but not THE finisher. But when we have the creator of heaven and earth as the author of our faith you can be rest assured that he will bring everything to an expected end with a perfect finishing.
The Amplified version reads:
“Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the leader and the source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its’ Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection].
This is the type of faith that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had when they refused to bow to the King and said “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” The type of faith that makes you understand that your belief in the word of God is not only tied to physical manifestation, but relying solely on the word of God. A faith that has been finished by the testing and purifying by fire, which explains why Jesus was there with them as the fourth man in fire to establish the finishing of their faith having been brought to full maturity hallelujah!. Their faith had been tried, and brought to maturity when they decided to stick to God’s greatness and defy a great earthly King who could only but destroy their mortal flesh.
When a book is finished, the reader is expected to gain a full understanding and knowledge of the purpose to which the book was written for in the first place. This was and is the original plan of the author.
In our daily walk with God, we often times fall short and let go of all we held dearly unto at one point. We might have even been crucified in the Church, scorned by the very people we called family, but in all these trials God did not change from being the omnipotent God neither did he change from being the Almighty. He remained God.
This walk with God is not an easy one, because many great people have fallen short of the glory of God because of their lack of faith. They connected their belief and based it mainly on manifestation and miracles which means that when things are not showing or connecting as they desire, they immediately stop believing and start doubting God’s ability. The good thing is that during this walk with of faith with God, while we are taking baby steps God guides us throughout only and only if we are truly willing to give him full control and let him steer our faith himself instead of choosing the situations we need faith for and the ones we choose to handle ourselves.
** God is not too far away from you that he will not hear your cry. It does not matter how far you may have drifted away from faith in him, he is ever present to reconcile your faith in him. Give him a chance today. Be blessed.

Post by: Kio-Harry Stanley

For: Sitamka

---

i-INSPIRE

---

Hebrews 3:13

“You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.”

Today is a good day to turn away from your sins and return to God, and let Him fill you with more peace and joy than you could have ever hoped for. Do not let your sins continually separate you from the warmth of His love. Turn to Him today, He’s waiting with arms open wide.

PRAYER:

Father, as I go through this day, help me to please you in all I do. May my sins not be an excuse to run away from you knowing that I need you most each time I fall. Thank you Lord for your grace, Amen.