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…

I finally admit… I FEEL LOST!

In a world where everyone seems to know what to do, what the next step is and what the next move should be I feel lost.

Too often, I wonder if I’m on the right path, if I’m making the right move, if I’m doing what I ought to do right. And just then the vulnerability or do I say anxiety sneaks in and I wonder if I am the only one who feels this way.

I couldn’t possibly explain this to someone and they fully understand what I mean. Even if I could, the fear of the unknown cripples the words before I can let them out.

And when I am overwhelmed with the thoughts in my quiet time, I ask myself could this possibly be part of the plan you spoke of when you said – I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope? (Jeremiah. 29:11). Because, some days the bumps along the way are so rough I can barely hold myself back from worrying.

Dear Jesus, I know you have my life all figured out, but like a child anxious to find out what surprise the parents have for her, sometimes, my curiosity gets the best of me.

Sweet Lord, calm the storm within me and help me remember you will never leave nor forsake me.

Love Always,

Sitamka.

 

 

 

 

MOVE YOUR FEET…

Two days ago and the day before that, on my way to work i kept passing by a church billboard and the main thing that caught my attention was the day and time for their mid week services- Thursday 5.30p.m so, I thought to myself if I rushed out immediately after I closed form work I could totally meet up.

So, after a long day at work yesterday, I was super tired and I needed my “beloved” sleep but amidst the tiredness I could not silence that voice in my head that kept nudging me towards that service. I was not hurrying home to do anything besides sleep so I might as well just stop over at the church and enjoy the service – it was on my route home so I made up my mind to attend.

I got into the church about 20minutes before service started and I chose a convenient sit, just in case I decided to leave at any point in the service. I just sat observing the last minute preparations before the start of the service, and soon enough the service started.

I had never really attended any service there – well a Don Moen Concert, does not count- so I felt a little out of place but I caught up soon enough and was not so conscious of my environment.

When the choir got on stage and began worship ministration, I felt like i could not have chosen a better way to spend my evening. It was relieving to just sing on and on and on. And just when i was thankful for the amazing worship session and telling myself well, if nothing, that was a blessing – the preacher was introduced and he got on the stage.

I was captivated from the very first minute he got there till the last minute when he walked off the stage. I was literally pinned to my seat the whole time -absolutely enjoying myself. By the time he was done preaching, it was absolutely clear that God needed me to be there. I could not place why the urge to go there that evening was so strong but I am glad I responded to it. I was blessed being a part of that service and got the filling I did not even know I needed.

Sometimes, God will pull you take you out of your comfort zone  and require you to do something – could be anything  (big or small)- whatever that thing is DO IT! Because at times like that, there is an overflow of blessings, peace and satisfaction that comes with fulfilling a task that God has given to you.

Do not let anything or anyone stand in the way of you doing something that  God has expressly demanded of you, you may never know what you will miss but the bottom line still remains that you will be missing out on something you probably don’t know you even need.

It is my prayer that when the time comes for you to move your feet towards a task that God has given to you, that you will not hold back but you will give it your all and reap the immense benefits that come along with it.

God bless you.

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.

BE STILL…

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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.

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

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i-INSPIRE

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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.

BABY STEPS TO MATURITY…

In our walk with God, as with every important phase of life, progress or do i say growth is important. In the sense that, we move from little “baby” steps to maturity (in this context we move from weakness to strength).

Photo credit: http://www.google.com

Watching my niece grow helped give me a  different understanding to the concept of growth. Watching her crawl as a baby and now watching her match up the stairs unaided or even watching her grow from making sounds that we barely understood at the time to making very clear statements is a wonderful blessing. It is an amazing sight to watch and I am filled with so much pride and joy every time she learns something new or perfects something she was not so good at. Sitting back to think of it, I wonder if that is how God feels each time we overcome weaknesses or gain strength in what used to be our weaknesses.

Our weaknesses are not the problem, but what we do about them is what matters. Do we surrender our weaknesses to God so that He helps us overcome our weaknesses or do we attempt to do it on our own? Before you decide which road to take, I will give a few scriptures that might aid your decision-making process.

1 Samuel 2:9b – “… for by strength shall no man prevail”

Philippians  4;13 – “For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

When Jesus Christ is your priority, you realize you are the main beneficiary of the relationship you both share. You probably just do not know it, but, you need that relationship more than you could ever understand. The best part of it all is that, He takes the burden off you and simplifies your relationship with Him – exchanging your struggles, burdens and worries with His rest. (Matthew 11:28).

So, what’s it going to be? The choice is yours… Are you going to let Him shoulder the weight of your fears, habits and weaknesses while you enjoy rest as He leads you down the path of righteousness? Or are you going to shoulder it all and keep walking blindly and most likely unsuccessfully down the path of righteousness?

Who better to lead you to any destination, at all, than some one who has tread the path to same destination?

One more thing, it is one thing to want God to lead you down the path of righteousness but it is another thing to move your feet when He leads. God will not force you to follow when He leads. What joy is there to be derived from a relationship born out of even the smallest bit of duress?

I pray you make a decision today to let God lead you and actually follow when He leads.

PRAYER;

Father, help me realize that you love me enough to make my walk with you a growth process, that in overcoming my weaknesses I could not only become stronger in my total dependence on you but that through the journey we could form a bond that could stand the test of time. Help me to hold fast to your hand when you lead and give me the grace to move my feet especially on the very tough days.