GREAT LOVE

GREAT LOVE

I wasn’t those kids who grew up in a Christian home. My parents had Christian background and even went to church as kids but for some reason that culture was not passed down to us.

I became a Christian in High school. Fully committed and never turned back since. Sometimes I wonder how people can “backslide”

I think everyone has some rebellious moments and some take it to the extreme but I don’t really understand how one would simply just walk away from GREAT LOVE.

 Think about it, we all look for love in one way or another in people, in things, in animal and when you finally discover God’s Love you realize that your mind cannot comprehend it. You just know different aspects of it and you cannot completely fathom the depth or height or width of it.

Why is that? Because GOD IS LOVE. Simple.

I personally believe our Christian journey is to explore that love throughout our life. That is why we are told to worship God with our lives/ lifestyle.

 Jesus put it in this way Matthew 22:27 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

That is a lifestyle. It is not something you switch on and off depending on who is around you and what you are currently feeling.

I recently read a book THE 5 LOVE LANGUAGES by Gary Chapman

I highly recommend it and you learn these ways we communicate love to one another.

·         Through Physical Touch

·         Through Words of Affirmation

·         Through Gifts

·         Through Acts of Service

·         Through Quality Time

You will discover that we all have there but everyone has different ranks for what comes first.

What is mind blowing about this is what a transformation a relationship can have once you can figure out what the other persons love language is. The idea is that you express love the way the other person feels most loved not the way you feel most loved.

What I have discovered is that God speaks all our love languages. It is not even an issue, God Loves you whether you seek Him or not, but you only feel His Love when you accept and receive it. It is always there. Even when you are in a situation where it is easier to question God’s Love for you.

It is not measure by circumstances or feelings. It is constant because God is Constant. It does not change even when we change.

On of my favorite things to do is read scripture. A great book to read is the Gospel of John. As compared to the other Gospels, that one speaks God’s Love through and through. If you have not done a study just yet I encourage you to study the Book of John.

I love to spend time in God’s Word because I am sure there is always something I will read that will reassure me of His Love.

I will write on more of God’s Word in a another article but I just thought I would attempt to explain the concept of God’s Love

Here are a few scriptures that tell us about God’s Love from

http://www.allaboutgod.com/bible-verses-on-love.htm

Bible Verses on Love - God’s Love For Us 
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20 

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. - Deuteronomy 7:9 

For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones... - Psalm 37:28 

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. – 1 John 4:9-11

Bible Verses on Love – Love for God
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. - 1 John 4:16 

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. – 1 John 4:19-20 

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. - 1 John 3:10 

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. - Matthew 6:24 

So be very careful to love the LORD your God. - Joshua 23:11 

I love you, O LORD, my strength. - Psalm 18:1 

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' – Matthew 22:37-39

MY FLAWS AND I

MY FLAWS AND I

This week I came across this article from a site called Flawnt It Kenya

I was intrigued by the nature of it and that it is a site that generally helps people to appreciate themselves as they are, flaws and all. I had to share the links, feel free to check them out. Click on the links

Flawnt It Blog  Flawnt It Kenya Page

Going to the site helped me think about my flaws, both physical and emotional. After I read some of the stories I did realize that I have grown.

Let me explain.

A lot of those stories were very familiar. The stories where you concentrate on what is wrong with you until they become your truth. You point out what is wrong with you before you give a chance to what is good about you.

You always want to be someone else or look to the old version of yourself and not pay attention to the journey that got you to where you are now in the first place.

As a woman in Africa, it is easy to live life in passing. What I mean is that your life can actually pass you by because you are always waiting for what is next. If that next stage does not come quick enough there is something wrong with you.

When you are a child, you want to be a teenager, as a teenager you can’t wait to be in your 20’s so you can be independent, after you finally get a job you want to get married, after marriage you want to have kids, when the kids come you want them to grow up, when they are grown you want to relocate upcountry and wait for life to end.

It is always the next thing in life we look to and we barely enjoy our present status. There is always more to strive for.

The biggest one that women in Africa get most stressed about would be the stage of getting married and having children.

You will never hear the end of it until you pass this stages. People can even forgive you for not having a career, but if you are not married or do not have kids at a certain age, you are branded as someone who has something wrong with them. Your faults are always pointed out and used against you.

I made up my mind to be my personal encourager. I have a gift of encouraging people, I can easily be a source of encouragement to another person until one day I stopped and realized that if I believed so much that it can happen for someone else, why not me?

I became more aware of what I told others and put it upon myself that as I tell someone something I should back it up with a personal story so it’s real to me as well.

Like if someone is stressed out about not having a job, I share that I didn’t have a job for years and how I used my time and by the time I did get a job I had even learnt to negotiate terms and was a huge asset to the company. That way I also believe God comes through for people and it’s even more encouraging when a personal story is tied to it.

I will admit I still have days when I am down dwelling on what is wrong with me, but I have learnt that it is important not to stay down. It will not make my flaws go away. In fact my flaws contribute a lot to who I really am, for it is in them that God shows Himself strong in my life. That is one of the biggest lessons I have learnt thus far.

I will end with this video clip. I hope it will inspire you more to embrace life. Click on the link below

Video

ARE YOU A HOBBIT OR AN ORC?

ARE YOU A HOBBIT OR AN ORC?

I was having a discussion about life and experiences with my sister and she said something profound in the end that inspired this article

Yes we are big Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit by J.J.R Tolkein fans and we tend to re-watch them annually and we can probably recite Smiggles lines to the T by now J

So either way we were discussing life experiences and how people generally go through a difficult period in life and either bounce back like a Hobbit or disintegrate like an Orc.

 Let me explain from my own personal view from watching the movies.

Hobbits are a very peaceful race. They mind their own business and rarely seek adventures outside their comfort zone. They are also very community based and lead simple lives.

 The thing about Hobbits is that as much as they were a private race they were loyal and very reliable. If a Hobbit is given a task they will accomplish it and they will risk their lives to keep their word. The only Hobbit who defied that was Gollum and it was mainly because he allowed the ring to consume him. That made him turn into Smiggle. And from then on his good nature always battled his bad nature until his demise.

So what can we learn from Hobbits

• ·         When we encounter trials remember that there were once good times before and look forward to them coming again. Mindset is half the battle. Tough times do not last and they build character. You will agree half the hobbits in the story grew a lot after their experiences
• ·         Finish what is expected of you no matter what the circumstances. Observe the situations and take it one step at a time. Your biggest fears don’t really exist. It’s all in the mind. There is nothing the Hobbits encountered that they did not overcome, even those they had only heard about.
• ·         Consider if your current situation is a catastrophe or an inconvenience. Hobbits always saw the greater good and saw the possibility of the end of the situation if they persevered. You can only change situations you take responsibility for, if you keep passing the blame you remain in the same place. Learn from your mistakes and circumstances.
• ·         Pain is part of life. Otherwise we would just take everything for granted. If you know you can lose something you will probably hold it more dearly than if you know it is always going to be there. What we need to learn is live in the present because that is what you really have. There is always something to be grateful for even when you are going through your worst moments in a painful season.

• ·         Hobbits did not even need to ask for help because of their communal nature they were helpful to one another. But either way if you are alone, ask for help. It doesn’t hurt to seek a helping hand when you need it. It’s not always obvious to others.
• ·         Great things take time. There is nothing great that suddenly happened. It is always a process. The process is not always a pretty one either. Sometimes your attitude in the process will make you get where you want to go faster or slower.
• ·         Believe it or not you are not alone even at your loneliest, someone may be watching out for you from a distance. Even as the Hobbits were trying to get the ring to Mordor they were completely unaware that the elves and the humans were fighting to keep the attention of the eye away from them so they could finish the journey. It had been years since they last saw each other, but there was hope and the Hobbits completed their quest.
• ·         Everyone heals differently. That can be seen with how the lives of the different Hobbits concluded in the movie/book. Some got married, others went to live in a special land, others sought new adventures. Seek healing either way just don’t expect to heal like others do.

     Be vulnerable and be your true self and never give up the good that exists in you that is what being a Hobbit is all about.

     As for the Orcs

   What is an Orc. Believe it or not they were once Elves. They were once beautiful mystical creatures that became tortures soles. It’s easy to judge the Orc as they look now but if you understand where they came from you find it hard to believe that they used to be such grant creatures.

I  I think that’s what happens to us when we dwell too much on the negative side of our life experiences.

   Everyone goes through difficult times but sometimes we just let it consume us and if we let it do so for too long we change and become bitter and angry at the world.

• ·         The Orcs did not fight the evil that tortured them, they succumbed to it.
• ·         The Orcs became a victim if their circumstance and did not take responsibility, they decided that everyone should suffer as much as they do.
• ·         The Orcs always felt someone has to pay and suffer just as they do. They never in any instance tried to defy their current fate, they just went with the flow. There was not one orc who decided to change sides even once, they only got worse and even turned on each other at times
• ·         Because the Orcs were not at peace, no one else could be. They caused trouble even where there was previously no trouble.
• ·         The Orcs policy was to recruit others into their war if not they just tortured and killed you.
• ·         The Orcs had no ambition and just blindly followed their evil master. They did not even attempt to take the ring for themselves

I think it is very possible once in our lives to have Orc tendencies. Some of us get out of it but some do not. It is an unfortunate place to be in, but there is always hope. There is an inner Hobbit in each of us hoping for the best.

I am sure after this you may consider re-watching Lord Of The Rings because it’s been such a while. Please do. I am sure you will view it with greater insight.

So remember you always have a choice on whether you are a Hobbit or an Orc

       images courtesy of Wikipedia, lotr.wikia.com, scifinow.co.uk

ARE FRIENDS FOR FOREVER?

ARE FRIENDS FOR FOREVER?

Happy New Year everyone. I hope the holidays were good to you. Even as the new year begins. My year has some what began with reviewing my friendships.

As children the worst thing anyone would ever tell you is “I am not your friend”

That can cause a child’s life to literally stand still and feel the worst kind of rejection. We usually do not think it affects us as adults but it actually does. Outside of family who can you really count on to be there for you?

One of my friends is in a transition period where she will be in another country and going with her through the process made me realize how far we have come. She is one of my oldest friends but I realized that our friendship was more than about how long we knew each other but about how much time and energy we invested in each other. Knowing that she is in a new season doesn’t make me worry about our friendship because the roots are deep.

 I also have friends I made along the way and I cannot imagine how fast our friendships have developed. It’s amazing how you might think that the best friendships are the longest ones, that’s not necessarily true, it’s more about quality than quantity. How much does one put in the friendship and how willing are you to be vulnerable to one another.

I wasn’t one who had close friends growing up, I was a typical loner. I had people around me, talked to almost everyone but no real connections with anyone. I used to sit and write or draw. I completely misunderstood what friendship was supposed to look like. As I became older, I realized I was in a crisis and I actually prayed to God to bring friends into my life, and He certainly never disappointed me.

 The truth is that life happens and that is when the friendships are tested. I know there are people I was good friends with before but after transition things changed. It took me a while to discover that some friendships are seasonal others are for a lifetime. When season friendships ends it can take you by surprise and a lot of the time they do not end well. Not that they end in a fight necessarily but they can just end because no one is putting effort in sustaining it.

I recently started re-watching old animated features that we watched when we were kids. There are many, very many but something clicked when I re-watched Jungle Book.

Mowgli was conflicted about the unexpected and he wanted to remain in his comfort zone and in the familiar despite being in danger.

Bagira was the friend who knew him since he was a child and Mowgli sometimes took him for granted and just saw Bagira as the one who wanted to get rid of him.

Baloo was Mowgli’s fun friend and they clicked immediately they met. Baloo saw a lot in Mowgli and felt that he could protect him despite the danger.

When Mowgli was finally attacked by the tiger, Baloo risked his life to save him.

In the end Mowgli proved that he could take care of himself, with the help of the vultures he got rid of the tiger.

There is also at the end of the feature where Mowgli finally meets a fellow human and finally gets what Bagira was trying to do in the first place. Apart from trying to keep him safe, Bagira knew Mowgli needed to be around other humans to understand who he was better. As much as it was hard for Mowgli to let go of Baloo, he knew he had to go to the village. Either way both Baloo and Bagira would always be a part of his life.

 From all this I am sure you may have identified a Baloo in your life of a Bagira. There are no friends that are alike. That is why we have more than one friend. I know for me my friends all have a particular need they meet in my life. Even the seasonal ones. I have learnt to get past the being very attached to people. I always just thank God when someone is in my life and I know that with God there is a reason someone is in your life.

My best friend is God. He has been with me even before my presence on earth. He knows my deepest secrets and desires and what is best for me. I have learnt to go to Him first with my issues big or small and because He is so Awesome He directs me to who can help me best or be a source of comfort to me. I certainly do not take Him for granted. He always wants what’s best for me and I cannot fathom my life without Him.

I am grateful for my friends, because I know my Best Friend {God} brought each and everyone of you in my life.