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.

 

KNIT FOR THE JOURNEY

Today, during my bible study I was directed to Psalm 139:13-16 (I particularly love the wording of the New Living Translation) and to say the least I was in awe of God’s overwhelming love.

He did not just “mass produce” the human race, He carefully handcrafted each individual to fit His purpose. Every single detail about the person you see staring back at you in the mirror, was carefully thought out, none of it was a mistake or mere happenstance.

The Psalmist had me reeling with excitement at the wordings of verse 16.

“You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed”

That verse got me heaving a sigh of relief knowing that God is aware of every part of my journey- the joy, the excitement, the strengths, the weaknesses, the abuse, the bullying, the insecurities, the hurt, the pain, the mistakes, the disappointments- even before I experienced it. None of it happened without His knowledge, none of it was a coincidence, nor a mistake , He was absolutely aware of it all.

Doesn’t that just make you feel some sense of relief and give some reassurance of His love knowing that God is constantly aware of everything that happens – every second, every minute, every hour- meaning we are never really alone through any situation we may be experiencing.

The main thing to keep in mind through all of these scriptures is that every single experience of the  past and present are necessary for the future God has planned for you. You cannot afford to take any experience of your life for granted just because it was painful, or hurt or you made a mistake, God factored all of that into the fabric you were made up of.

Every turn your life takes is necessary for the predestined end God promised they that love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Hang in there, God has got you covered and be encouraged in the face of that storm you are currently going through, He is not unaware of the challenges you are facing and He is counting on you to push through because He has equipped you for it long before you came into being.

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.