Light-A-Lamp

Beauty Still Thrives in the Heat of Life

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

She walks into the coffee shop at night, barely thirty-five minutes before shut-down. You remember her name. It's Mona. Yes, like the girl Leonardo Da Vinci painted, although she looks nothing like her. She's more beautiful, of course. Incomparable to the painting. Unrivaled. High cheek bones. Slender fingers. You feel you're a lucky guy to see her walk through the door. You only know her name because a few weeks back you couldn't help but ask when she came in for her regular Caffe Macchiato.

You stop wiping spilled coffee off the counter at the back. "Hey, I'll get this one," you say to the employee in front. He scurries along leaving you to serve the girl. You're not confused about whether or not she's smiling because it's obvious. Her smile causes her cheeks to rise higher, revealing the widest cutest dimples you've ever seen. "My future daughter will have dimples like yours, Mona," you mutter under your breath, half-hoping she heard you and half-hoping she didn't.

As soon as you get some free time, you walk to where she's sitting. "Do you mind?" you ask, pointing to the chair beside her. She shakes her head, and soon time flies as both of you talk about the abrupt change in weather from bad to worse and how politics will be tougher this year. Then she talks about the hurdles she had to overcome this winter.

There are three words she keeps repeating. "It's just God," she says, showing off her pearly whites. "He's my rock. I am a living testimony of His grace."

How such an ethereal and glorious creature like Mona could easily say "It's just God" baffles you. She looks like everything's perfect (a beauty to behold) and yet she's telling you of obstacles God has helped her through. Here she is, still standing in the most difficult of times. If she wouldn't have talked, who would have known?

She whispers again, "I can't afford this everyday, but I will someday. If God has brought me through what I told you earlier, He can bring me through this." And then, with grace, she throws her head back and giggles.

Beauty thriving through the heat of life. Imperfection intertwined in perfection. Weakness dipped in His perfect strength. It must be God in her.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From my experience, I know that beauty still thrives in the heat of life. How? When you're so soaked in the Word of God that every other experience (good and bad) lines up behind the Word. It becomes the very thing you live for-- the love that multiplies into every facet of your life, the bread to satisfy your hunger, the light to shine in your darkness, and the fortress to protect your city. God's word is the only way I know through which beauty shines through even in the heat of this life and through the droughts of wilderness experiences.

Check out this scripture in Jeremiah 17: 7-8 and tell me if you're thinking what I'm thinking.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit."

No one told you that heat will not come, or that there won't be years of drought. But the promise is that when those things come, your hope will be in the Lord, and your leaves...they will ALWAYS be green, no matter what.

If You Could Die For Me, I Will Love Like You | A Valentine's Day Musing

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:00:00 +0000

[Image by Rayani on Flickr]

In anticipation of Valentine's Day, I sought to write something strikingly profound about love. But words failed me.

What is love? Do I really know? Am I worthy of writing about it?

More and more, as God keeps giving me the grace to 'walk the talk,' I'm finding out that love is a supernatural thing. A God thing. It's a very intricate web that goes beyond human understanding and involves so much more than a man giving expensive gifts to his woman or vice versa. Love is not the commercialized snapshot of Valentine's day where Cupid shoots his arrow and the man of your dreams finally proposes to love you forever. It transcends and goes beyond that. It encompasses everything we do on a daily basis.

Love is so much more than what we know and it makes me so emotional when I think about the depths of love and how often we slap the true meaning of love right in its face by our mediocre and superficial understanding of it. The Greeks understood it well enough to divide it into four categories: Agape, Eros, Philia, and Storge. Yet, they couldn't capture it into one. It was too complicated.

Capturing Love into One:

I've found a complete description of love. Something that captures love in its entirety. This is what it is:

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13 ESV)

The truth is if you can die for me, your love knows no bounds. Every other kind of love, you see, lies in the shadow of this one.

Every bit of love that we will ever show in this life can only be a fragment of His love. His love is the highest form and is what multiplies into the different facets of human love: the love between a couple, the love from parents to children, the love between relatives, and the love between friends.

God's love will drive you nuts.

It will transform your life completely and hold you until you're driven to action. It's the kind of love that makes you want to love like Him. It drives you to do the craziest things you never dreamed you'd be doing: defeating any form of failure, saving a total stranger from destruction, leading a soul to Christ, tearing up over someone you don't know, helping someone else fulfill their own dreams, and sacrificing so much time in helping a friend in need. This kind of love, in addition to the primary types we're familiar with, is at the center of God's heart but often forgotten. The love that chose to die for us whether or not we loved back. We ought to replicate it. We need to be crazy and heads over heels in love with people regardless of religion, race, language, or creed, and perhaps something we do for them will get trapped in their hearts and they will see God through us.

The Samaritan woman left her bucket at the well and became an evangelist of His love. She ran to the marketplace to tell everyone that there was a man called Jesus "who told her everything she ever did." Something happened to her while she was talking to Jesus. She'd most likely been feeling she was living a secret life, a life she thought only the numerous men she slept with knew about. But as she spoke with Jesus and He unraveled her secrets, she felt the loving nature of God pouring into her spirit strongly and all the burdens she'd been carrying by herself suddenly felt lighter. She left her bucket by the well and ran to tell anyone she could find about Jesus. The one who was loved much became the lover, and many of us have a similar story of the love that set us free.

This is my summary of what God's love will do to you: The one who is loved much by God will become the lover. If Jesus could die for you, then you'll become a lover too.

There will be no need to wait for someone to love you first before you love them back. There would be no need to focus only on Valentines Day, you would be a gift-giver 365 days a year. Your love will be selfless and not commercialized. That's what God's love would do to you.

I pray that on this day, love will have a deeper meaning for you. I pray it transcends the commercialization of Valentine's day and breaks through to the hearts of those of you who feel like no one knows what you're going through. That's not true. God knows. God sees. His heart bleeds when you bleed, and His hand moves to steady you when you shake. He is already calming your storms and healing your brokenness. His love speaks better things than the love of man.

It's not a cliché or surprise that I write about God's love today of all days. I am someone who has been deeply loved by Him, forgiven much, blessed much, and redeemed much. My whole life is a story of His love. And because of this I have now become, by choice, such a lover, never hesitating to tell you how record-breaking this kind of love is at every opportunity I get. You can't buy this kind. Neither can you find it in physical things or in men. Only in Him. Today would be a good day to open your heart and experience His love. In the wake of Whitney Houston's passing, we are reminded that life is fleeting, but see, God's love is everlasting and will remain even when everything else passes away (RIP Whitney). So let us grasp His love and be crazy about this kind of love today.

Happy Valentine's Day in style, Readers. Hold the hands of your loved ones and tell them that you will love them with the love of Christ, because that's the best kind of love you can ever give them today and always. And then of course, don't forget the chocolates, roses, and gadgets too. *wink*

"You Are Not A Label" (Not Defined by Circumstance)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:10:00 +0000

[Image by Lightherlamp.com]

With her forehead creased and lips transfixed into a contorted grimace, Nosa looked up at the woman asking her the now-so-familiar question. She was defenseless. Thrust out into the open to be speculated upon. Singled out like prey. Caught like a fish in a net. A sense of foreboding suddenly broke upon her.

"Can I help you, Ma'am?" Nosa asked gently, using her recited secretary voice.

"Are you the girl who lived in the house that got burned? I saw you on TV. I am so sorry that happened to you."

"No, it's okay. Thanks for your concern. Is there something I can help you with?"

"They said it was five hours before they found you under the flames. It must have been dreadful being under all that smoke."

A small laugh erupted from somewhere within. The lady in red was an intruder to her circumstance. And there were many other intruders. People who don't know a thing about how it feels to be engulfed in flames, but yet choose to ask you about it. Boldly defining and labelling you as "the girl who got burned." How many other people will ask her how it felt? How many times would she have to explain that horrible feeling of death and suffocation she never wanted to remember again. She did not want to talk about that day. She wanted to push it far, far, away from the confines of her memories.

"Ma'am, thanks for your concern, but are you here to see somebody?"

"Ah, yes. Mr. Phillips. Is he in the office?"

"Please, have a seat. I will page him at once."

It took a while before the lady in red went to take a seat. She was staring at her face. At the scars from the fire.

When she left, Nosa slowly stretched her bandaged arm toward the phone on her desk. Trying not to wince, she lifted it up to her left ear, where the scorching fire had left a deep scar. She'd been out of the office for two weeks now, but she'd needed to come back or else she would have lost her job. It still hurt so much just to walk. Or bend. Or eat. Or talk. And the headaches were increasing.

But healing was coming, oh she just knew it. And if anyone dared to say much more about what she'd endured in that fire again, she was gonna say to them, "I have a name. I'm not "the girl who got burned.' My name is Nosa."

(fiction)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Girl Who Got Burned

The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo

The Young Lady Who Can't Get Married

The Couple Who has no child

The One Who's Out of Status

The Sick Man

Always in Hospitals

The Jobless Man

The One Without a Degree

The, the, the [insert other labels]

Labels, labels, labels!

Are you defining yourself or being defined by others by something negative today? STOP now. Stop defining yourself by that condition. You are so much bigger than whatever is causing you to walk with your head turned downwards. Be confident in your esteem because the One who formed you in your mother's womb made you beautiful & wonderful.

Have you heard the story of the woman who was defined by a medical mystery in her time called the "issue of blood?" She'd been bleeding for twelve long years and her neighbours, family members, and friends all knew what was happening to her...so they defined her as "the woman with the issue of blood."

However, one day she saw Jesus walking down the street with crowds of people following Him, and she must have said to herself, "I'm not going to continue being defined this way. I'm going to touch the hem of His garment and be whole once again." She did. And she got healed instantly.

Now, you might interject by saying "My story isn't as simple as hers," but what story is simple? I want you to know that there was nothing simple about bleeding constantly for thirteen years. Your case might be different, yes, but not unsolvable. Your own healing might come in a different way but the main thing you need to know is that whatever has been defining you for this long WILL end when you touch the hem of His garment.

I listened to such an amazing speech by T.D. Jakes (relating to this topic), and it blessed me so much that I'll share it with you ---> WATCH HIM HERE speaking @ Elevation Church. I hope you watch and enjoy it just as much as I did. But more than that, I hope you rid yourself of every definition circumstances have tried to give you. The best is yet to come for you. Just you touch the hem of His garment and see what happens. Everything good will come. Be patient. Let go and let God take over.

Dear Readers. May you never live your life by a definition based on a mere myopic condition that is smaller than God. He is bigger than every challenge that threatens to come your way.

People Break Walls With More Than A Shout

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

I say:
I'm ready to break walls with my shout.
Waiting for God's strength to break forth through me.
Thou voice in me, I command you, SHOUT!

But He whispers:
"People break walls with more than a shout."

Really? How do they do that? What about the walls of Jericho? Surely, they broke down those walls with a shout. He whispers again. It's barely audible, but I hear Him. "You need more than a shout."

Most of us are familiar with the song that goes like this, "the walls of Jericho fell down flat, the walls of Jericho fell down flat, when the children of God were praising the Lord, the walls of Jericho fell down flat."

That song has this unmistakable vibe to it. It makes me feel like I'm about to destroy the devil's camp, like I'm part of a marching army, a hero-in-the-making...as though a movie director is in the background shouting to me from the other side of the set, "Lights. Camera. Action!" I'm dressed for the scene and all I need to do is SHOUT when the trumpets sound. Fiction or not, some walls are going to have to come crashing down.

Wait, wait, wait. Hold up! Rewind!

People break walls with more than a shout!

There are some important things we need to do before we even dare to shout.

I) Know the plan. Before Joshua executed this idea of marching around Jericho and 'shouting', He knew the plan. God had already told Him that they would take over the city. And even after that, Joshua sent two spies into the land to confirm if it was time to move. The men came back and said, "The people's hearts are fluttering because they've heard stories about God parting the Red Sea for us." Aha, that confirmed everything. So Joshua was certain that God's hand was in this and that He wanted them to get this territory. He had already paved the way by allowing terror to fall on the people. The road was zoned, the map plotted. The plan was set. If God is not in it, your shouting ain't gonna crash any walls.

People break walls with more than a shout!

II) Follow the instructions. The truth is many of us love shortcuts. I mean, we have shortcuts for everything under the sun. We have drive-throughs at banks, vending machines at work, pre-packaged lunches from grocery stores, and millions of Apps for our smart-phones. We're in a microwaveable generation where it's always time to go! But God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He still wants us to absorb the moment and take solid steps (not shortcuts), take in the entire process and build our character/personalities while we're at it. The instructions for taking down Jericho were: 1) Pack food and water because you will need it. 2) Cross over the Jordan River on dry land (it took them 10 days to walk through the river). 3) Every day (for 7 days) wake up in the morning and walk around the walls of Jericho 7 times (if you calculate the amount of times they walked around the city in those 7 days, it would be 7 * 7 = 49). 4) On the 7th day (and the 7th walk) when you hear the trumpets, give a loud shout (this is when the "shout" finally surfaces).

People break walls with more than a shout. But they also take over cities with more than broken walls.

III) Go in and fight for victory. What many of us miss is the action after the prayer. The fighting after the shout. The doing after the talking. The execution after the strategy. We're all puff and no smoke most times. If the children of Israel had only shouted, the walls would have crashed, yes, but the city still would not have been taken if the people had not actually fought the battle. (For full story, read Joshua Chapters 1-6)

So people break walls with more than a shout. But they also take over cities with more than broken walls.

I am so excited about this lesson that I am looking forward to applying it to my life soon. I hope you are too. Let us break down walls with more than our shouting, and let us take over cities with more than broken walls. Dear Readers, I hope you understand this. May God bless you and empower you to achieve victories by listening to Him for valid instructions this year.

5 Shocking Things That Make Us Forget

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:29:00 +0000

You finally find yourself on the fantasy vacation you've been purposely orchestrating for the past fifteen months. As you climb out of the yellow taxi, you hold your two luggages tightly in each hand, and then a smile breaks forth upon your face. You suddenly feel like dancing to a melodious tune, even while still standing out there on the side-walk. Alas, you made it.

As you step into this beautiful place, you're almost in tears because deep inside, you know how you had to jump through hoops to secure this two-week get-away. It wasn't easy, yet somehow you managed to do it. You're here. You're here! You can hardly believe it. After 6 years of working for the company, you could finally afford this luxurious vacation. A dream come true.

And so you wake up late the next morning and decide to take a stroll down the beach. Maybe take five minutes of your morning to do a personal inventory on your life so far, you tell yourself.

You put your hands in pockets full of cotton and walk down the beach with nothing but your bare feet, a pretty dress, and the sun kissing the tips of your shoulders. You pause once in every few steps to pick up sea shells and throw them against the lures of the wind. It feels so warm beneath your feet, and you feel you're far away from the evil throes of winter. Far away from storms, protests, tornadoes, or even earthquakes. It's just you in this quiet place, a rented island.

After walking for a while, you decide to sit on a tiny plot of the purest, whitest beach sand you've ever seen on this side of the Pacific, and then you raise your eyes to the sky to see how blue it is, and you smile for the second time today, because you know...you just know...that you're in bliss right now and you don't ever want to forget this moment. A moment like this comes only a few times in one's lifetime, if not just once. An experience like this does not fade away easily. And if there's ever a place called one-mile-from-Heaven, this is it. Right here.

Your personal inventory reads like this: In the past year, you've lived in one of the largest, busiest, and most lucrative cities of the world. Check! You bought a house last year (not just a house, but a 2000ft home). Check! Furniture fit for a queen. Check! Employed a landscape architect to put olive trees in the backyard. Check! Water fountain. Check! Gated home. Check! Security. Check! Good pay. Check! Plus, being married to a man who loves you (and who is also made). Check! What more could you ask for? Your dreams have been fulfilled and are still being fulfilled even right now in this very moment. It's been challenging and life has not been perfect, but you can still say "Look, I have achieved all this."

But you, my dear, seem to have forgotten one critical thing. That it was God who brought you through this journey and you would never have been able to do it on your own without Him.

* * * * * * * * * *

Today, dear readers, I want to remind you of something that might not be a constant part of your memory. You see, before we were all born, God spoke the world into existence with a Word. And there was life.

Nothing exists in this world that was not framed by His word. All things belong to Him and originated from Him. He begot life and all that life has to offer. He is the ultimate Architect, designing the world to the standard of His majesty. He is the Author of Intelligence and everything intelligence produces, including our works (and the wealth these works provide) are from Him. By His Spirit, we also are moved to go out there and create beautiful things and attain conquests. There's no journey that we go through in this life that He has not orchestrated and allowed, so to Him all the glory must be 24 hours of every single day.

I read something this morning that reminded me of how we often forget the Source. In Deuteronomy Chapter 6, verses 10-12, the children of God were being reminded about 5 things that could make them forget about the miraculous journey God had brought them through:

“So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities (1) which you did not build, houses full of all good things (2), which you did not fill, hewn-out wells (3) which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees (4) which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full (5)— then beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

Did you spot the 5 things? Large cities (or inheritances), houses full of good things, hewn-out wells (or sources of water), vineyards and olive trees (or natural resources), and the biggest one - FOOD. These things, which came from God Himself, can make us get carried away if we're not careful, such that we forget the Source of all things. So today, take a stand to REMEMBER. And remembering where we come from and how far God has brought us (even in the midst of challenges) causes us to break forth into praise. You won't be able to stop His worship.

What do you think about the things that make us forget? Sound off your thoughts in the comments. Lots of love, me.

The Opinion That Matters The Most

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:48:00 +0000

[Image by Philippe on Flickr]

It took thirty-eight critical years for an invalid to know whose opinion mattered the most. He had been paralyzed for 38 years and was finally approached one day and told to pick up his bed and WALK.

Are you kidding? First of all, in all his 38 years of sickness he'd never heard of that sort of nonsense. "Pick up your bed and walk." Just like that? Secondly, here comes this man, called Jesus, telling him to do this on the Sabbath day of all days, a holy weekly observation when people aren't supposed to do so much as lift a finger.

Yes, He said it. "Pick up your bed and walk." And boy-oh-boy, if He was bold enough to command a 38-year old paralysis to leave this body on the Sabbath, then this invalid was definitely willing to take a crazy shot at faith. And guess what? He did exactly what was asked of him. And it worked! He suddenly found himself taking beautiful strides beside the pool in front of which 38 seconds ago he had laid there paralyzed. So whose opinion became the most important to Him? You guessed it right. Jesus! (See John 5).

So later when the keepers of the law came to meet this man saying, "it is the Sabbath. You are not authorized to take up your bed," he looked them dead in their eyes and boldly replied, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, "Take up your bed and walk."

At that instant, He realized that no other opinion in the entire universe mattered more to him than the one which restored his life back to him along with the 38 years he'd been defeated.

"The Man Who Healed Me." His opinion had become higher than anyone else's.

**********************

Dear Readers,

In the recesses of the powerful phenomenon known as 'The Mind,' we humans have piled up such unbelievably immense amounts of subject matter. In this generation of crushing technology, information is only found at the flick of our finger-tips. Who could have foreseen that the Internet age would make it so easy? Due to this age of technology, we have voluminous amounts of opinions from countless resources all fighting for a second of our attention span.

But this year, I want to challenge you to take a different approach to the way you select the opinion that matters. Let's be like the man who was healed by Jesus, who said, "But the man who healed me, that man said to me, "take up your bed and walk." All of a sudden, all the information in that man's brain became streamlined to just one source. Every object in his mind pointed to Jesus, and all his thoughts became subject to the love of Christ ("what manner of man is this who chooses to heal me on a day like this?")

You can make that choice too, no matter what you're going through. Choose the most important opinion and stick to it. Be ruthless with your choices this year, because they will affect the potential of the rest of your life. It is only 13 days into 2012 and a lot of transformations have already taken place in the world to set the pace for the rest of the year.

In whatever you do, choose God's Opinion.

Because He is God and holds time in His hands, the opinions of how my time would be spent this year will not be dictated by the standards of the world but by God's standards. Because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, I will choose to occupy whatever territory He places me in. Because His Word is true, I will choose to seek what He says before I take any actions. Because He is the center of my universe, I will choose to hold on to His Word more than holding on to gravity or fickle political sabotages. Because He places kings and princes in charge, I will choose to respect authority. Because He is a refuge for the oppressed (Psalm 9:9), I will also trust Him to set at liberty those who are currently being oppressed in the world today. Whatever the case may be, we must be careful to put His Word before ours, and His will before ours. His opinion is what matters the most above all else. So when I take my stance on world affairs, I want it to be planted in the Word of God first.

So friends, whose opinion will matter the most to you this year? I pray that even as you #occupy your territories, you will choose Him first and let His Word direct your every move in these perilous times. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). What do you say?

There's Much More To The Fact (A 2012 Musing, Part Deux)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:40:00 +0000

[Image by Meredith]

"Let us go up at once and occupy the land, for we are well able to overcome it."~Caleb. Numbers 13:25-31

Let us go up into their midst

In full force

Broad Daylight

Let us do the unthinkable

The Unexpected

Like roaring lions on a fixed mission

Let us rise up and do the bidding

Shock them beyond comprehension

Break through the confines of limitations

And finally let go of our myopic views

To grab a hold of a brighter day

To see the original truth, and nothing but the whole truth

(by me)

Dear readers, let me ask you an important question. Do you think Caleb was so blind and stupid that he could not see that the men of Canaan were way bigger than himself and the rest of the Israelites?

Today, I want to introduce the fabulous idea that he was not blind or stupid like you might think. He was there live with the rest of the eleven spies, and while the rest were marveling at the appearances of the giants, he was also being flabbergasted at their heights and the way they were so strongly built. He probably even shivered at thoughts of having to fight for the land with these strong giants. But you see, what I want to bring to the table here is that there was a difference to the way he was thinking. There was something else that he had which the others lacked woefully, and it was the 'complete truth.'

While the other spies only saw the giants, Caleb also saw a God who could WIN regardless of how tall or strongly built they were. While the others only saw fresh grapes, Caleb's mind had already fast-forwarded to how it would soon be him eating those fresh grapes and enjoying the milk and honey.

Fact + Facts:

You see, there are facts, and then there are "complete facts." You cannot take a fragment of a story and call it "The Story." We become our own destiny-killers when we can't see the full story. Most times our views are so myopic that we set up limitations for ourselves when there never was supposed to be any.

It's time to break free of your limitations...

We see only 20% of the story when there's 80% more to be deciphered. We see only a fragment of the real deal when there is the whole substance waiting to be unveiled. There was once a myth that portrayed human beings as only having the ability to use 10% of their brains, and although this is not true according to reports from MSN Health, I dare-say some of us hardly utilize the full capacities of our intelligence.

There's more to the basic facts, friends. There's more to the Spirit. There's more to life. There's more work done behind the scenes that we can ever thank God for in the physical. It would take having the eyes of a man such as Caleb to understand that whenever we see facts, we can rightly divide those facts against the complete truth (which ultimately is the Word of the mighty and living everlasting God).

In 2012, may God open our eyes to not just see the giants in our lives, but to also see the God who is able to train us and skill us so finely that we will be able to take out these giants with only as much as the sounds of trumpets. Amen.

Sound Off your thoughts in the comments...

Happy New Year again...LOVE, me.

On Intersections Between Strong & Weak (A 2012 Musing)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:01:00 +0000

[Image by Lucy James Photography on Flickr]

An Intersection between Strong & Weak is actually between Sweet & Bitter. Two polar opposites. Two extreme roads, one narrow, the other wide. Two arrows, one bent, the other straight. Two diversions. Two different choices. Two peas in a pod, one dark, the other bright. Two separate lives. Two characters. Two split personalities. Two roads to take but only one choice.

There's a secret I'd like to share with you-- When the year 2012 arrives in all its majesty and splendour, you will (consciously or unconsciously) have to choose between being tenacious (strong) or lax (weak). So tell me, dear friend, which road would you find yourself taking when you get to this intersection? Strong or weak?

More than 2000 years ago, God bestowed an unusual strength upon a guy who grew to be tall, good-looking, and fully endowed with his daring dreadlocks and almost arrogant well-defined muscles. The Talk of the Town indeed. Who didn't know him? There was no one who couldn't tell of his great exploits. Even foreigners were very much aware.

His unusual strength was given to him for a reason-- that he should deliver the Israelites out of the hand of the Philistines, so that the children of Israel could once again feel God's presence and know that He was indeed their protector and Father. So God chose a barren womb to bring forth a hero. His name was Samson, and at some point in his life (let's call it an intersection), he had to choose between Strength and Weakness.

See, he was born to be set apart. Called a Nazirite from the womb, he was destined to be holy by staying away from wine or grape juice, and fresh grapes or raisins (anything that was plucked from a grape-vine). He was also not to shave the hair on his head or go near a dead body. (References: Judges 13 & Numbers 7). But one sad day he defied destiny by eating honey out of the mouth of the carcass of a lion, he who was supposed to stay away from the dead. From that day, it seemed as if his life went on a downward spiral. He kept getting caught in the wrong places and with the wrong women who tempted him, and in the process lost his dignity and was captured by the Philistines. Sadly, the Bible says in verse 20 of Judges 16, "But he did not know the Lord had departed from him."

So he was plunged into captivity where he became a DISGRACE and a scornful topic in front of the Philistines who he was supposed to be defeating. But here's the thing, even in captivity he made a very important choice between strength and weakness, and in the last few hours of his life he called out to God, "O, Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines."

And with his last breath, He pushed the pillars of the building in which he was chained, taking down about three thousand men and women (Philistines) in the process. It was recorded that Samson took out more enemies at his death than when he was alive. What a triumph.

YOUR OWN STORY:

Now, your own story will be different and more triumphant than Samson's, in Jesus' Name. No, you will not go before your time.

The point is that today I encourage you to choose STRENGTH in 2012. No matter what circumstances have come your way in 2011, whenever you stand at the intersection between Strong & Weak, choose STRENGTH.

Choose strength. Choose victory. With one blow, defeat failure. Even if you failed at something in 2011, remember that the Word of God says, "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again," (Proverbs 24:16). Also remember the Word that says, "Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness," (Lamentations 3:22-23). It is never the end of the battle until the victory is won. So dear friends, aim for the crown in 2012. It is yours for the taking. Isaiah 61 prophesied about Jesus saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon [Him], because the Lord has anointed [Him]...to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Any year can be your acceptable year if you believe. 2012 can be your acceptable year. Because Jesus was born, you are free to take the victory. Because of Him, you can start afresh because of God's grace. Sin no longer has any hold on you because He bore your sins when he died on the cross. Because He chose to be strong for you, you can also choose to be strong today. And whatever you believe by faith will be yours.

Please, when you stand at the intersection of Strong & Weak in this new year, tell me you will choose STRENGTH and defy all odds.

God bless you, readers. HAPPY NEW YEAR...and looking forward to writing again in 2012. May God strengthen you with His own strength in 2012, and may you never give up because He has not yet given up on you. Would love to read from you in the comments, and until 2012...Ciao!!! Choose strength :)

He Sees The Depths of Your Nakedness, So Run to Him

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:47:00 +0000

[Image by Jean Goff on Flickr]

"People! Come and see. Please, I beg you. Listen to me," she screamed. She wasn't yelling to anyone in particular, but to everyone who dared to stop and listen.

It was a busy market-place, oh yes, she knew. But what had happened to her only minutes ago had compelled her to discard all sense of reason.

She halted every worry about the way she looked some miles before she got here. Crazy hair, sweaty face. No longer did she care about appearing delusional. She just kept running, loose, wild, and free like a mad woman. "Quick," she told herself. "Faster." She wanted to tell everyone the news. Lost her pair of bathroom slippers in the process, but she didn't care. Couldn't find her scarf, so she allowed the wind to blow through her naked brown strands of hair, plunging them into mad cascades down her back.

"Believe me when I tell you this," she screamed again. "He saw my nakedness." Maybe no one stopped to listen because not one of them understood what she meant by nakedness.

"No, no. I don't mean my body. I mean he told me everything I've ever done. Secrets about my life. And not just that, He has given me what no one else can ever give me. Living water. Come and see this man."

One young boy finally stopped to listen. Then an old woman. Suddenly, at the mention of her nakedness, people began to stop to listen. And one by one she told them what had happened at the well...

(true story told in the form of fiction)

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Nakedness is the very essence of you. No clothes. No coverings. No false appearances. Nothing of that sort. I tell you, your nakedness reveals you just as you are. In your birthday suit- the way you were born.

Let's look at two instances of nakedness.

#1. When Adam and Eve sinned, they realized the essence of their nakedness. So it was that when God came to walk with them, as He usually did in the cool of the evening, they ran away from Him because they knew He'd see right through to the depths of their essence. So they decided to flee, shameful of what they had done.

#2. The woman at the well, hers was a different story. She did not feel judged when Jesus saw her sin, instead she felt His love when He offered her rivers of living water. (Full story in John Chapter 4).

What was the difference between these two instances? In the first, nakedness brought guilt, but in the second, it exposed love. Jesus came to redeem us from the judgment nakedness reveals. His salvation tore the curtains of the temple so that you can run into the Holy of Holies. No longer do we need an intermediary, He has carried the burdens of our nakedness to the Father, and we are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. In other words, when God looks at your nakedness today (your mistakes, your sins), He sees Jesus on the cross. He sees His Son's righteousness.

He sees everything you've ever done since the day you were born till this very hour. He sees you when you wake up in the morning, to when you sleep at night. He sees you as you read this blog. He sees your sins. He sees your struggles. He sees your determination and accomplishments. But more than that, He sees your VICTORY in Christ.

So, today...please run to Him. Yes, even because He sees your nakedness. Don't hide in the bushes, you cannot hide from God. Run to Him. He is merciful. His hands are waiting to embrace you. Run to Him. He is the Father of the Prodigals. Run to Him. He is the redemption for your naked sins. Run to Him. He is the source of living water. What man cannot tell you, He will tell you about yourself. What man cannot do for you, He will do for you.

There's no longer the need to run away. Jesus has paid a very dear price for you. You can now run to Him when He sees your nakedness, not away from Him. That's what the woman at the well was trying to tell the people.

Question for the Day: Have you ever considered running to someone who sees and knows everything about you (and who genuinely loves you)? God does, so run to Him first. I Love you readers, but God loves you more. Looking forward to reading from you in the "comments." Happy 1st of December. New month, new beginnings :)

The Three Killers of Fear | Power, Love, A Sound Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:45:00 +0000

[Photo by David Pons on flickr]

Short Fiction

A pounding knock on the door jolted Jemimah and she almost fell off the dining chair. She tried to steady herself but her hands were shaking. She was afraid. And it certainly did not help that she'd been thinking of all sorts of frightening scenarios just before the knock.

"Who is it?" she yelled. Then she remembered the phone conversation from this morning and she knew exactly who it was. She dropped the papers on the table, put on her rubber slippers, and dashed for the door. "I'm coming." In seconds she was there.

As soon as she opened the door, she flung her arms around him as though she'd been waiting to do so all day. His leather jacket was freezing because of the cold weather, but she held on tightly nonetheless, even as the unfriendly wind blew in her face.

"I'm so glad you're here," she whispered.

"Jem, are you going to let me in?"

"Hmmm. Is someone is being feisty here?"

"Well, are you?" He laughed.

"Only if you ask me nicely."

"Okay. Can I come in?"

So much for asking. Without waiting for her reply, he shoved himself in-between her body and the door. In amazement, she watched as he took off his jacket, hung it in the near-by closet, and headed straight for the papers.

The papers. The frightening papers. She felt like opening a hole in the ground and hiding down there for a while.

"What time is the presentation?"

"Seun, I already told you this morning that I'm not going."

"Well, I came to tell you that you are."

"What do you mean?"

"You need to kill your fear and step out in faith. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

* * * * *

The spirit of fear visits each of us at different times in our lives, and when it comes all hell lets loose. When it comes, we feel like we're going to make a big mistake. Something that we will never be able to recover from. And then we choose to let it take over and we never take a step forward so that we don't make a mistake. Then we begin to move around the same mountain again and again, never moving into the promise land--- our promised Canaan.

But I'm breaking my "break" today just to tell you that there are three things more powerful than the spirit of fear. According to 1 Timothy 1:7, these three killers of fear are "God's power, God's love, and a sound mind."

A) All POWER belongs to God. If anything else tries to rear its ugly head against you, or tries to show you how powerful it is compared to God, remember Psalm 62:11, "God has spoken once, twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God."

B) LOVE: 1 John 4:18 says it all. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out all fear, because fear involves torment."

C) A SOUND MIND: If your mind has 100% faith in something, then 100% percent of the time you will be certain. The mind is our seat of reasoning, and hardly any serious action is taken without a certainty in our minds. If your mind can move you to do something, then it can also move you to rebuke fear. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." There you go: every thought must be captive to Christ. And Christ only brings victory, not defeat. So a sound mind must reason that we are ALWAYS victorious, no matter what.

I hope I've been able to convince you that you possess three killers of fear within you.

Let's talk about it. Is there anything that makes you afraid? Have you defeated fear in the past? How? Are you willing to put 1 Timothy 1:7 in mind every time a fearful situation arises? I hope you do. Love you all, will be reading your comments, till next time on the Lamp :)

A Passionate Intermission

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 15:12:00 +0000

First, a Letter to you:

Dear Readers, I have missed you. I am still working on my writing project, so the hiatus is taking longer than I expected. But I wrote this little piece today, and I can't wait to share what I have with you. Enjoy.

Love,

Me.

"You've Got to Be Passionate About Something."

Passion is what drives the world today. Passion is at the core of your very being; the internal piece of matter that is unseen but yet a vital force to your very existence.

Without passion, you have no moves on the Chess Board.

This is how Paul introduced himself to the Galatians, "I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone." Galatians 1:14-16 (ESV).

Three phrases struck me:
1. "So extremely zealous."
2. "Advancing beyond many of my own age."
3. "But when He revealed His Son to me."

Those three phrases describe someone filled with so much passion for the truth.

See, what he considered to be the truth before his encounter with Jesus was not the truth. But he was passionate about it regardless, even in his ignorance, and God saw his passion. Yes, God saw the passion that ignited through his veins and coursed through his blood.

There's nothing wrong with believing a theory is true. When you're passionate about what you believe in, God sees your heart. And He knows the kind of person you are (whether you know the God that He is or not). He will see that you're not one to fold your arms and do nothing in the world. He will see that you're either hot or cold, because He sees everything. He is the Apha and Omega. He was there before the foundations of the world and had seen you before you were born.

But there's one thing God will never do, and that is sit back and let you be passionate about the wrong things.

That's why Paul had a personal encounter with Jesus. His passion was so extremely in the wrong direction, that God knew the only way to give him the TRUE revelation of Jesus was for him to meet Jesus himself. And this one encounter changed his whole view on life. He diverted all his resources from being passionate about the wrong things to being passionate about the right things.

The questions here are: Are you passionate about something? What makes your blood boil? Search your heart and ask yourself. Why are you the way you are? Do you search for the truth?

You've got to be passionate about something, dear. You've got to be passionate about the truth. For if you know the truth, the truth shall set you free. The truth will visit you at your point of need and liberate you from lies that have successfully bound you in chains up until the point where you get a hold of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. This Jesus that we preach, He's met us personally at our points of need. He has a kingdom that never ends and will never die. Even when all passes away, when dust meets dust, and when skies fade away...He will still be there as before.

Even while I am away, God is working on me...directing me to see the passion He has given me, and ultimately directing me to resources to use.

May you have a personal encounter with Jesus. May your passion be re-ignited today. May your heart's desire for the truth be fulfilled. Don't stop your search. Don't hinder your passion. Keep searching scriptures. Keep scratching the surface of God's love until His love overshadows every single thing that you do.

Until I write again, my prayer for you today is that your various passions in this life be re-directed and re-aligned with the truth of God's Word & His love for you. Amen.

Selah.

PS: Looking forward to reading your comments on Passion, and to sharing this on Twitter & Facebook with your friends. Also, please visit BonaSings.com (the young woman in the photo above) and meet a Singer/Songwriter God has filled with a passion for Him.

On Being Thankful for June & Sweet Hiatuses

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:47:00 +0000

The winds are blowing towards the proverbial North, and just like a kite runner, I must run along now with my paper kite swaying in the wind to wherever my hand leads it.

I'm thankful for the month of June. Last year, God was a "Faithful God" to me. He gave and He sustained I, my husband, and my entire family, till the very end.

In these past six months, I can say God has been my "Confidant." He's been the friend that listens when no other is listening, and it's been such a fantastic thing to act like I'm talking to myself, when indeed it's God I'm talking to. Father, I love You.

In this month, I am also thankful to you readers who decided to nominate the Light-A-Lamp Blog for best Religion Blog. Christianity is a Religion, but more than that, it embodies the heart of God, that He sent His only begotten son just so that you and I can be close to Him (redemption)- and that we can be broken from shackles which bound us in our past.

But we must travel beyond the walls of Religion, we must be the hands and feet, and we must have ears to hear the words God is telling our generation today. This blog is not merely about Religion. We are more than rules and regulations. We are more than Religion. We don't do it because we have to, but we do it because we're in love. And when someone is crazy in love, they begin to do things that they can't believe they are doing. *Giggles*

I'm thankful for you who nominated this blog for the Nigerian Blog Awards (NBA). You're wonderful and amazing. Of course, the blog would love your votes as well when you are ready to do so. :)

On Sweet Hiatuses:

In July, I will be going on a long journey with my pen and paper. I have to. Away from distractions, just me and the Holy Spirit speaking to me about a long-term project that I am supposed to write. I love you all, and may God continue to bless you even as you peruse the Archives of the Blog. Oh, I'll definitely miss you :)

PS: All the contents of this blog have been written specially with you in mind. Just go to the 'Top Ten Writings' on the sidebar, or the "Labels" at the bottom of the sidebar, and may the Holy Spirit lead you to what you need in your life right now.

Amazing How The Same Power is in You

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 04:05:00 +0000

[Image by His Noodly Appendage]

Fiction

Even with my frequent forgetfulness, that morning will forever be etched in my memory. It remains as clear as crystal.

I had peered closely at the child which came out of my womb at exactly two hours & thirty minutes into Tuesday. She had the same face as her father. The same rotundness. The same nose. A replica which could not be feigned, try as she might, not even if the entire medical staff decided to switch the babies in all the units.

I'd thrown my head back, evoking a loud-belly laughter. My eyes teared up and I wiped them with the back of my hand. And when my husband, who'd been sitting by my hospital bed reflecting, asked why I was laughing, I'd simply said, "No one can steal her away from you. She's your carbon copy."

Today, she stands here in our kitchen, and once again I look into those big brown eyes.

"It's my first day at work, mom," she says, as she tucks a strand of her naturally curly black hair behind her ear. "I'm kind of scared."

It feels like eighteen years have rushed by as fast as the Amazon river. Like a swoosh in the wind. A thousand years to us are like one day to you, God. It's already here, she's a grown woman herself now. She must take up more responsibilities. And receive Your power.

I take her hands into my experienced ones, and after we say a short prayer, I raise my head to look into her eyes again.

"Listen to me, honey," I say. "The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is at work in you right now. You've got to use it."

She nods her head in agreement, but I don't know if she quite understands the impact of what I've just spoken into her life, even as she's leaving home for the first time to be plunged into the real world.

* * * * *

"[That you may know] what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named..." Ephesians 1: 19-21

The truth is, I don't know how to describe this kind of power. Or how would you suggest I describe it? Something so big that can raise a human from the dead? It's beyond me. Or you. Or anyone else. Or the depths of science.

It's incredible.

But one thing I can tell you right now is "that same power is in you."

Don't tell me you're not capable of achieving something. Because you are.

Don't tell me you can't do the unbelievable task in front of you. Because you can.

Don't tell me you're only second best. Because you're obviously not if the power used to raise Christ from the dead is the same one entrusted into your hands, and it's the same one in EACH OF US.

You can do amazing things.

Before you were born, that same power spoke a word, and things erupted upon the surface of the deep. Mountains, trees, oceans, valleys, creatures...man.

Before you came into this world, that same power parted the red sea, divided the Jordan, raised dry bones to life, flattened the walls of Jericho with human voices, caused the sun to stand still for 24 hours, provided manna in the middle of a desert, and water from a crack in a dry rock. That same power chose Esther (a supposed nobody) to be queen, Joseph to become Pharaoh's confidant, converted David from ruddy lad to giant-slayer, and Paul from murderer to spirit-filled.

Anything can happen when you're filled with this power. Things will start appearing where they weren't possible, and cups will be filled with water in a drought. But most of all, when something dies in your hands, this same power is the resurrecting power that can bring it back to life.

Question for today: Would you walk in this same power today, or would you just shy away from it by saying "this power could not possibly be in me?" Remember, it's toward us who believe.

Listen to this:

Hidden Baskets of Left-Over Fragments

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:00:00 +0000

[Image by Vlasta2]

Left-overs are the forgotten, despised sisters of delicious well-cooked meals. They have always carried a derogatory meaning. Almost as though cursed, no one ever wants them. No one desires the remains of what someone else has eaten (or what they themselves have eaten). Oh, how despicable.

But have you ever filled the palms of your hands with soft left-over crumbs of bread from a breakfast meal? Have you ever had many guests at a party, only to be overwhelmed by what left-overs they throw in the thrash?

Let me tell you something amazing: Jesus understood the power of hidden baskets of left-over fragments. See what he said after miraculously feeding five thousand men, women, & children with only five loaves of bread and two fish.

"So the men sat down, in number about 5,000. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost." Therefore, they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets..." [John 6:1-14]

* * * * *

In reading about the miracle that happened that day, I could not stop thinking about why Jesus felt it was necessary to gather up the left-over fragments.

So that nothing is lost...(was what He said). So that no part of the miracle is lost. So that no part of the testimony is gone unacknowledged.

In the midst of our testimonies, do we remember the spill-overs, or the remnants?

We forget that God blesses us for one day, but it spills over to a thousand days after...so that nothing is lost.

We forget that we're saved once, but it will last us for the rest of our lives unto eternity...so that nothing is lost.

We forget that we're redeemed once, but we have enough grace to pour over to the rest of our lives...so that nothing is lost.

We forget that we have in abundance so that we can share the spill-over of wealth to the hungry and thirsty...so that nothing is lost. And the baskets go around and around, in circles and connections across the entire globe...

"You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over. Surely, God's goodness and mercies shall follow me all the days of my life." [Psalm 23: 5-6]

There's power in the left-overs of our testimonies. Think deeply about the last testimony for which you gave thanks to God. Do you find that there's so much more to thank Him for? Do you see that your testimony can be divided into twelve baskets and you might still keep filling up more baskets?

In God's gifts, He never gives just one testimony...He ensures that as long as you remain in His embrace, your testimonies keep spilling into multiple baskets...and even the left-overs carry so much weight. So that nothing is lost. That's because a loving Father is not satisfied with giving His child just one blessing. There's always something more. There will always be the remnants of an indescribable grace. That's the power of baskets of left-over fragments, that our mouths will be continually filled with praises. To me, left-overs are no longer a curse.

Question for the day: Have you ever had testimonies which spilled over, and one blessing kept leading to another? That's the power of your left-over fragments. Never forget those crumbs of blessings which spilled over from one. Have a blessed week, readers :)

A Perpetual State of Rejuvenation, Renovation, & Preparation

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:20:00 +0000

[Image by Sufino]

This is about me and how I was inspired by something I did.

On Sunday morning, I woke up very early with an extra burst of energy. Feeling wonderful, ecstatic, and almost whistling (I still don't know how to whistle), I sauntered (you might call it dancing) to our dainty living room.

"What can I do to create more space?" I asked myself. "How can I redesign it into something more amazing?"

Before I knew it, I was pushing couches aside, turning tables around, dragging shelves to the middle, and realigning the big old entertainment center into its new position. Not to forget we bought a new Art-work for the our dining area (yippee!!!). More space was what I wanted. More color was what I desired.

Questions were running through my mind as I reorganized. What if I had more than two guests soon? What if I were to host a fellowship meeting (which I know I am scheduled to do soon)? What if people came to visit, but they were more in number than I could ever imagine? More than what I was used to (maybe one or two people at a time)? There were so many "what-if's."

I was in a state of preparing for a great future. Yes, I've just started my own (albeit small) family, but it's never too early to prepare for a bigger event in one's life.

Today, I can tell you that I was able to create more room and add some more color to a once picturesque living room.

* * * * *

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. (Matthew 24:42-47).

Redesigning my living room space reminded me of how we all have to prepare for greatness. If greatness has not met you yet, how would it find you? Would you be prepared or would you be found wanting?

There are higher visitors that want to show up in your home- God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But when they come, would they find you prepared? When God wants to put you in charge, would you be ready to be a leader? When God is ready to anoint you for a greater purpose, would your head be ready to receive the oil?

Friends, I want to encourage you to be in a perpetual state of rejuvenation, renovation, and preparation. There's always gonna be a higher rung in the ladder, a higher place God wants to take you. Never get comfortable in a sweet spot. Never feel you've "arrived," because you serve a great God and He doesn't run out of ideas.

Question for the Day: Has anyone been feeling they need to move things around in their life to prepare for a greater purpose? If you have been feeling this way, then go ahead and prepare yourself for the greater works God is calling you to. How have you guys been? I've missed ya! Have a blessed week, Readers.

Dear Giver, Please Love Yourself First

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 23 May 2011 05:00:00 +0000

[Image by Martin Ujlaki]

Dear Giver,

I have a confession to make. You may not know who I am, or much about me, but I have been observing you for quite a while now. I might not know your last name, or even your first, but the little I've seen is enough to make me conclude that you are an amazing human being.

You give, and you give...and then you give some more. You don't get any rest until you've given for a day. That's why I call you "The Giver." I look at you from my window sill, and every step you take down the street carries such grace. Within each feet is someone lost, waiting to be found by you. Or a poor ragged man who would have gone without lunch, but you went and changed his hopelessness into hope. Or a young girl who thinks she's lost, but because you were there at the right time, she finds her way home again.

Sometimes, I wonder if you ever pause to take a deep breath.

The other day, I saw you with your brother. You two were joking about something, and then it turned into an argument. You must have been telling him not to make the same mistakes you made, but in the end, I watched you dip your hands into your pocket to give him the money he needed. Your brother is lucky to have you.

On another day, I bumped into you. You looked alarmed, but quickly regained your composure, apologizing profusely, and then bending down to pick up the piles of papers which fell from my hand.

"I am sorry, I wasn't looking," you said.
"I am terrible about watching out too, it's not your fault. Sorry."
"Would you like me to buy you lunch?" The Giver in you showed up in that second.
"Don't worry about it, dear."
"No, seriously. I owe you one."

You ended up buying my coffee the next morning, and you came all the way to the sixteenth floor to deliver it to my office. Your generosity, although you may not have realized it, had extended all the way from the first floor to the sixth, from your heart to mine.

Again, sometimes I wonder if you ever pause to take a deep breath. Sometimes, I think about you, and I ask myself if you ever stopped beside the beggar down the street to smell the roses layered on the green grass. Yes, you gave him the money, but I wish you paused to smell the flowers.

I pray for you every day. And I pray that you receive so much more. I pray you do, Giver, because you deserve it.

Yours Sincerely,
Your Admirer.
(fictional letter)

* * * * *

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. (Mark 1:35)

It's such a beautiful thing to be a giver. But sometimes we get caught up in the "doing" and not in the "receiving."

Before Jesus faced the multitudes, He often went up to the mountains alone. And what did He do when He went up there? He received a refreshing wind from His Father. And then He went back down to the throngs of crowds, to give what He had lovingly received.

That scripture, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself," further emphasizes that you have to love yourself (take care of yourself) before you can truly love (or take care of) others.

✪ You need joy in yourself before you can truly have the capacity to give joy.

✪ You need to love yourself first before you can totally lose yourself in loving someone else.

✪ You need to nourish yourself first to have the nutrients to pour out on others.

Dear Giver, please love yourself first. Then only will you have the "full" capacity to love others as God loves you.

The Choice Always Precedes the Mission

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Fri, 13 May 2011 23:00:00 +0000

[Image by misswired]

Just one choice will set the pace for your entire life's mission.

When that young ruddy-looking boy dusted his feet and stepped up to the Philistine giant, it was not a spontaneous or lackadaisical decision. His choice came way before the opportunity for the mission. David did not just wake up that morning thinking he'd be 'warrior of the day.' Think about it.

Before that single event in history, he chose God. He studied Him like a son does his father, and his conclusion was, "My God is able." It was not an overnight decision.

You see, God designed the world with choices, but He's always wanted us to make the right ones. On one side of the garden of Eden was good, and in another section evil stood its ground. If God made man for His glory, then our choices were meant to glorify His name forever. Glory does not come by restraining our free-will. It comes by allowing us to choose "good" for ourselves.

--------------------

"Choose for yourselves this day, whom you will serve..." Joshua 24:15

Your one choice will set the pace for your entire life's mission.

If you want to choose God, don't worry about the mission that comes after that. Worry about making the right choice first, and only then will God begin to help you connect the dots.

Little by little, just like David, you will learn by being stationed in the backyard where you have to lead sheep. By endurance and a little patience, you will begin to realize that God is able to do what He says He will do. And then one day, you will tear down a bear with your own hands, and you will know that the strength you have comes from a greater source.

The day you tear down a bear would be the day you get convinced that, truly, you can do anything God says you can do.

✪ Make the choice to be good, and good will find you.

✪ Make the choice to live a life filled with purpose, and purpose will find you.

✪ Make the choice to worship God, and praises will fill your mouth.

✪ Make the choice to study His word, and the Holy Spirit will teach you.

✪ Make the choice to find good friends, and bad company will desist.

✪ Make the choice to live with a Godly purpose, and that purpose will find its way to your home.

Friends, this life is first about making choices, and then the mission. Exactly how you're going to accomplish this (the steps, the objectives, the master plan)-- I can't tell ya, but that section of the manuscript comes much later after you've made the choice to do life God's way. Just do it. Make the right choice first.

Question for the Day: Is there a choice you've been afraid to make because you don't know exactly how you will fulfill it? Someone reading this might be struggling to make the right choice. Make that choice first (if the Holy Spirit is leading you to do so), and then allow Him to help you fulfill it.

When You Can Do Something Bigger Than Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Wed, 04 May 2011 20:40:00 +0000

[Image by eirasi on Flickr]

The scales fell off my eyes that night. I, Jeremiah, heard what I'd never heard before. That night, I lay on my bed tossing from side to side, wondering if it was really me the Lord was speaking to.

Did He think I was someone else? I did not want to get carried away to forget I was from the least tribe in Israel, Benjamin.

But as a matter of fact, it was me He was speaking to. To establish this, He said:

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you."

That's what He said. Can you believe it? Those words struck me on my chest, causing my heart to beat faster. There's no one greater than the Lord. If He says He saw me before I was born naked into the world, then so be it. But not only that, He came to my bedside to let me know who I truly am. If He didn't tell me, I would have continued living a clueless life.

"Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you."

How does God ordain people before they're born? Does my foolishness in the past few years not count? Did I not get bad grades on my behaviour so far? I don't understand lots of world theories and preconceptions. How can I be sure about this so-called 'ordainment?' Ah, Lord, You are magnificent. You know it all, Master Potter. If you feel that even the mistakes of my past few years can be subject to Your will, then I submit to your majesty and sovereignty. Why do I think I'm mediocre, Father? Only You alone knows what it is you've created me to fulfil.

"Ah, Lord God! But I cannot speak. I am still very young."

Immediately I said that, I got reprimanded. "Do not say "I am Young," He answered.

Now that God has spoken, I lay right here in this same bed asking myself some questions. What is age to God? What is the length of years to God? In just one year, God is capable of teaching me everything I need to know. My mouth was too fast to complain. Am I wiser than the One who knew me before I knew myself?

"Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms."

That's it. He has said it, and by His grace, I can do it.

That night, I slept like a baby.

[Story inspired by the true account in Jeremiah Chapter 1]

* * * * * * * * * *

After battling with the questions in his head about why God had called him out in His youth, Jeremiah went on to give many powerful prophesies to the children of Israel. There are 52 Chapters of his words written in the good book.

When He realized that it wasn't about his small self, or lack of self esteem, He let go and allowed God to use Him. That's when He did something bigger than Himself.

See, Jesus once said that God could raise up stones to praise Him. That's if we're not willing. That's if no man feels empowered enough to come forward. That's if you don't know that you can do something bigger than yourself, that you can worship Him in spirit and truth.

I've been wondering what next to write about, and I went back to Jeremiah. It made me realize that even in the busyness of our days, when we get so pressed in-between work and play, when we can't seem to get a breathing space and everything seems to be choking us...even in these looming seconds of our days, we can still do something bigger than ourselves. Yes, we can do the very "BIG" thing that God has called us to do. It is not by our power or by our might.

Question for the Day: Have you been feeling like you can't do "it" (whatever your "it" is)? I'm telling you right now that Jeremiah didn't think he was capable. But he did it. And if he did it, you can do it too. Just throw your hands up and let them reach out to God, don't throw in the towel yet-- that's not what God made you for. You're tougher and more capable than you know. But God knows. He knew you were capable even before you were born.

When Foundations Are Destroyed (Special Edition)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:20:00 +0000

[Image by His Noodly Appendage]

Muculent, slimy, and despicable bathroom tubs became the ultimate safe haven. Thousands of people huddled together inside them that fateful night. Trembling, they gasped at the onset of a 200-mile long tornado, accelerating forcefully and bearing down with all its energy.

From the eyes of those huddled down in the bath tub, tears began to fall. But who could tell where the tears would land in the midst of a losing sense of gravity?

Tears were falling, but they weren't landing. There was no place for them to settle with gusty winds rising from the tornado and carrying them along.

Screams escaped lips, but tell me, who could hear anyone in the midst of the overpowering noise?

Suddenly, roofs of houses (even grocery stores and restaurants) flew off their tops and right then, the effect of the tornado became more direct upon the bricks, mortar, and wood. Aligned pieces got dismantled, flying across big rooms, part of which had once been in fine mansions.

And just like that, in the twinkle of an eye, the foundations of a great city became terribly destroyed. This is the second deadliest day for a twister outbreak in the United States history. The death toll is 337. Many more people were injured, and as many as 1 million homes in Alabama are still without electricity.

* * * * *

"If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Psalm 11:3

When the foundations of buildings are being tossed in the wind, you can't do anything. All you can do is wait and pray silently that the walls don't crush down on you.

* * * * *

Now, let us move away from the tornado disaster which took away lives in the past week in North Carolina, Tuscaloosa (Alabama), Birmingham (Alabama), Mississippi, and Tennessee. Look at your own life for a second. Does it seem that some foundations have been blown away by a tornado?

See, if your foundation is destroyed, you need to get the Saviour. Man cannot save you, but I know a mighty unlimited God who can. If your foundation is destroyed, you need to get His help. Again, when your foundation is being destroyed, all you can do is pray silently that the walls don't crush down on you...because they will if you don't have the right foundation. That's why you've got to build it right.

What Foundations?

✪ Your Intimate Knowledge of God

✪ Your Ideas About the Way to Live Your Life

✪ Your Instigations About What Eternity Really Means

✪ Your Convictions About the Spirit and the Flesh-and the Difference between the two.

✪ Your False Sense of Security in the Wrong Things

To me, if the foundations of all these concepts are not based on God, then they are being tossed by every form of virulent winds born into the world today.

Start from scratch again. You are already skilled as a builder, a craftsman. God made you in His own image, to be intelligent; you have the ability to lay the right foundation for your own self. Let us take our foundations and build upon the rock of Christ, upon which no tornado can bear down.

Please pray for the victims of natural disasters. Please pray for your own life and the concepts around which you have built your foundations, that they be the right ones.

On Viewing the Fine-prints (An Easter Musing)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:36:00 +0000

[Image by Madelinetosh]

That one moment when you stop and look into the sky, and you stretch out your hands as though reaching out to God, and you ask "what are the fine prints?" Or "What's the point?" Or "What do you have to do to get it?" Or "What if you'll never really know?"

In many documents, the fine-prints are the words with the tiniest fonts. They are usually so small that you can hardly read them, unless of course you raise the documents close to your face so that you can see them clearly. Unless of course, you think it matters. Unless it is THAT important to your life.

During Easter, the fine-prints of the entire meaning of Christianity are enlarged in bold so that hopefully everyone can see. In it we can understand what happened and why we are where we are today.

See, on that cloudy day, Jesus walked several miles with a cross strapped on His back and thorns on His head, to a place called Golgotha ('place of skulls')...to where murderers had been sentenced to death prior to His own sentence, just to die for you and me and to place the burdens on an innocent lamb, that blood might be shed to build a new covenant.

✪ Now in Him, instead of death we can receive life.

✪ Instead of judgment, we can receive forgiveness.

✪ Instead of nails, we can receive love.

✪ Instead of consequences, we can receive forgiveness.

✪ Instead of leaving the earth to futility because of the sins of the world, we can embrace the Father again and receive new life and living waters that we might not thirst again in futility.

[image by coconinoco]

That anyone....truly, anyone...who calls upon the name of Jesus, can be saved, even right here in the nick of time. Right here, while reading this blog.

These are the fine-prints of Easter. In the midst of days off work, organizing Easter egg hunts, grocery-shopping for Easter bunnies, and groveling in the kitchen to make an Easter dinner. In the midst of all these is the reason this Friday is called "Good Friday." That He died for you and me, and on the third day (Easter Sunday) He rose up from the dead, collected the keys of Hades, and sat at the right hand of the Father. This fact, single-handedly, is the most important thing that could have ever happened in the history of the universe.

What this means to me is priceless. Happy Easter, people.

Question: What does Easter mean to you? Readers, I hope you have the BEST Easter ever, and I hope you pause to reflect on these fine-prints.

For Length of Days, For Long Life

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 05:00:00 +0000

[Image by Mabyssal]

"Honey, close your eyes, count to three, and slowly repeat what I just told you."

I wrap my arms around him and rub his shoulders, gently cajoling him. He responds, but not what I expected. Then he gives me that look, the one where his eyes become smaller than they really are, and I immediately sense the gargantuan fear coming from somewhere inside him.

Motherly instincts tell me that he's just encountered a Goliath that he cannot defeat. He is shaking because he's afraid, and doesn't know how to tell me.

"Mummy," he mutters. "I don't think I can do it." He averts his gaze to the window sill. Outside, birds are chirping and going about their usual morning routine, whatever it is they do. One flies down to the sill to watch us have our conversation.

"Jeremiah, look at me."

I lift up his chin so that his eyes meet mine. "You're an intelligent boy, don't you know? All you need to do is tell yourself that you can do it. Never say you can't. You hear me?"

He shakes his head. And his fist. "But...but...I can't."

What is this I see? A tear sliding down his face. No, it can't be.

I reach out to him, this rascally naughty son of mine, and I hug him as tightly as I can. After all, he is only five years old and already at the top of his class. He's my own little genius, I tell you. I whisper into his ears, "Repeat what I taught you, Jeremiah. Don't be frightened. Now, count in fives to fifty."

He closes his eyes and opens his mouth only just a little. Muffled sounds come back to me.

"Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty." I stay right there and wait for him to finish. "Thirty-five, forty, forty-five, fifty."

When he opens his eyes again, I am right there looking at him with pride. I can never forget how widely he smiled.

For many weeks (and years) after that episode (he is now seventeen years old), he has not forgotten the count, and has gone above and beyond the call. I've seen my son rise up with confidence every morning, ready to take upon each day. Ready to use his memory to defeat any Goliath who tries to stand in his way.

For length of days to come, and for the whole of his long life, he will always remember.

*Fiction*

* * * * *

My son, do not forget my law,
   But let your heart keep my commands;
   For length of days and long life
   And peace they will add to you.
Proverbs 3:1-2

What results in length of days? What memories keep us alive, elongate our days, and give us peace? If we forget the law, how does that affect our lives?

My Musings:

✪ We are what we take in. Whatever we memorize as the truth tends to spread out into every area of our lives. Because of this memorized truth, we become stronger and stronger, and soon enough we will be able to defeat our giants.

✪ Whatever we know as the truth will be reflected upon every action we take in the world. If we know God's strength is made perfect in our weaknesses, then we will learn to feel strong regardless of circumstances. If we know that we're storing treasures in places where thieves cannot break into, then we will entertain a lifestyle of endless giving. If we know that meekness is quiet strength, then we will be willing to serve.

✪ Whatever we repeat again and again will become a part of us, the very foundation of our character. If you can't remember that the Word says "You're victorious in Christ," then it won't be part of your foundation. We have to repeat the Word so that we don't forget the truth about who we are.

✪ Although we want to remember always, sometimes we may forget. But just as we can pick up broken pieces of a bottle, we can always pick up the word of God to remind ourselves of His promises. This is why Solomon says, "do not forget," because there's a natural tendency to forget the Word and focus on what we feel are current pertinent issues.

✪ The life of a man is in God's hands, but our decisions also help us to live well. Our decisions produce longevity of life. Our decisions lead to peace or harmony. It's up to us to choose God's Word. Or the filth that comes with wanting a reckless lifestyle.

Question(s) for the Day: What specific word from God have you kept in your life that causes longevity of life? And what lesson(s) did you glean from this?

Three Gifts: On Bothering God, Faith, & Translations

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 05:00:00 +0000

[Image by Xtina, Flickr]

Last week visited, and along with it a barricade of blessings.

So, here I am, not holding anything back from you. These are the gifts with which I've been blessed, three videos sent to me by readers/friends. I hope that when you partake of them, your week will also be nourished. I made summaries of each of them.

1. On Bothering God:

If you have a loving father, you would understand that he would not mind being bothered by things that matter to you, right? Fathers want to know about the nitty-gritty of your life. They want to know if you "like that young man," or if you "want some more money," or if you "can survive in the field you've chosen." They want to know everything. And we ask ourselves why we should pray? We need to rise up and pray to God because He wants to be bothered. We need to pray without ceasing, because that's the heart of our Father. Here's the first gift-- sent from one of my most respected readers (and commentators), Ike.

2. On Faith:

"It's not just the evidence of things hoped for." Sometimes, we want to think that faith is simple. "Isn't it just believing something when you can't see it?" However, it would enlarge your mind to know that faith transcends that restricted definition. There's more to it. What do you do when you're repeatedly hurt but you still believe in God anyway? What do you do when all odds are against you, but you still stand on God's word? What do you do? One of my favorite bloggers posted this on her blog, and I requested to share it here-- a podcast where she speaks about faith using the power of "Spoken Word." Here's Kafo.

3. On Waiting for Translations:

"All of you people standing there, when the plane lands, clap your hands. Wave the palm branches! You singers over there, start singing," was what the leader of the Kimyal tribe said. Have you ever danced around your house because someone gave you the gift of the bible in your own language? Were you one of those patiently sitting on your doorstep waiting, praying that you won't die before someone brings the Word of God to you? And have you cried when you received something you've been waiting for your whole life? Well, the third video was sent from one of my wonderful friends, Ann. I hope you rejoice with these people, who at last, have received the Word of God which brings EVERLASTING LIFE. Isn't it lamentable how we, who have the Word of God already, sometimes take it for granted?

I pray you have the most exciting week ever. Three things you must do: Pray without ceasing, have faith beyond the ordinary, and wait on God for something far beyond your comprehension. Make someone's day by retweeting this post and sharing it on Facebook.

One Day in God's Will & One Thousand Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:00:00 +0000

[Image Credit]

I woke up this morning excited about two things...

1) The blog A Day in God's Will is featuring a Guest Post I wrote, titled "Falling In Love With a Stranger."

2) Today, I will also participate in Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts, by writing about little things I'm thankful to God for below.

Here's an Excerpt from my Guest Post...

Falling In Love With a Stranger:

Only pure unadulterated anticipation can make a woman swoon over a stranger like that. Why wouldn't she? She's known him more than anyone can ever know him, this man she's never met. Not just about him as though it were only a story of hear-say, but more of a deeper revelation of who he is. But of course, she should, right? He's been existing in her head for the most of her early twenties, and now that she's approaching thirty, he appears more clearly in the nooks and corners of every part of her wandering heart.
She walks to her bedside table, switches on the small lamp, and confidently pulls out "The List" from the top drawer. The Japanese paper feels light to the touch and crumbles underneath her fingers due to the number of years it has been stowed away down under by she who will never reduce it to shreds...

Are you enjoying the story?

TO READ THE FULL GUEST POST, please visit the blog "A DAY IN GOD'S WILL."

For Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts, today, I'm thankful for...

#1 For life and purpose. Realizing that life is not a "come-and-go" ordeal, it only has meaning because each of us were created to fulfill purpose. Look at the lives which, heart-brokenly, have been lost in the past few weeks due to futile clashes, wars, and natural disasters both in Africa and Japan. A wise man once said, "the best potentials can be found in the graveyard." Sadly, it's true. These are people who might never get to fulfill their purpose on earth. So as long as you're still alive and talking, you have the chance to LIVE fully and fulfill your purpose. Don't wait for later, do it now.

#2 For HOT Pancakes & breakfast. On Friday, a co-worker brought in breakfast, and I got to eat three hot pancakes laden with syrup and butter. I felt very grateful to God for breakfast at that point. Doctors say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It was yummy. I hope you eat breakfast each morning.

#3 For Family and Skype. This week, I got to talk to my immediate younger sister through the video feature on Skype. Sometimes technology makes you feel overwhelmed, but at other times it brings you closer to the ones you love.

#4 For the onset of Spring and summer. This Winter has been the most stubborn Winter I've ever experienced. It refused to say good-bye even now that April has come, but I can see that lovely Spring has come to slowly cajole her sister to go to bed, and I'm glad she's finally speaking up. Soon enough, sister Summer will also show her face, and she's not one to be shy.

#5 For LOVE. Sometimes, love has its peaks and valleys, but I'm thankful for both because they build character. Thankful for my "better half." I was telling someone the other day that it's good to get with someone who, for lack of a better expression, "loves you more than you love yourself." That way, despite your imperfections, he will still be there for you anyways.

What are you thankful for today?

What If This is the Filthiest of Places?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 05:00:00 +0000

[Image by Stumayhew]

Out of somewhere, a strange wind blows heavily upon you, lifting up strands of hair, letting them rise above your shoulders only to drop again in cascades around your neck.

Wait, are you thinking it is a refreshing wind? Oh, no. You're mistaken. This one carries with it the stark staleness of desolate homeless men and women sitting on pavements with torn, wrinkled, rotten blankets and old socks.

See, you thought you'd be the least likely person to be found here, this despicable place of filth. No man should be here, not even them. However, here you are, holding up your right hand to cover your nostrils; walking in a zig-zag manner to avoid kicking them by any chance, seeing that they lie about like flea-infested dogs.

You try to block the stench, but there's just no way. It forces itself on you like a harlot, begging you to take it in.

...ѕυ∂∂єηℓу, уσυ яємємвєя ωну уσυ'яє нєяє...

That night at the revival, wasn't it you who came out lifting up your hands and wanting to be used? Yes, you came out crying, asking God, "What about me? I want to be Your vessel. Use me," you pleaded. You didn't know how or when you wanted to be "sent," but you weren't worried about it. The world was dying, and if you were living, of what use was life to you?

So you drop your hands, releasing your nose to allow the stench. You breathe in and out for the first time. At first you feel like fainting, but there's an invisible hand on your back keeping you straight. A voice speaks, "You will not faint, or grow weary."

In the light of this knowledge, you run to the first seemingly lifeless person, toss away his torn, wrinkled, rotten blanket. You take his hands in yours, even though they are stained with mucus and old chicken soup.

"I'm here to save you," you whisper, in the midst of your crying.
"What?" He doesn't seem to understand.
"I said, I'm here to save you, sir."

You begin to pull him up. The pulling gets tougher and tougher, and at some point you just want to let go, but that invisible hand comes back again, and two become stronger than one. That's it, the homeless man is up. You did it! You allow the tears to fall, but this time they are tears of joy.

So what if this is the filthiest of places?

✤ ✤ ✤ ✤ ✤

Children of God, when you find yourself in filthy places and dark trenches, don't be the first one to run away. Don't be the first one to cry, there's no need to. You were placed in the kingdom for such a time as this. So when it seems rough and you seem to be living the most difficult life, turn that difficulty into a miracle for someone else.

In case you forgot, let me remind you of who you are:

♣ "You are the light of the world. A city that is set above a hill cannot be hidden." (Matthew 5:14) | Hey, light exists in dark places.

♣ "Then [Jesus] said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19) | His followers become fishers, and fishers go through seasons of turbulent waters searching for the biggest catch.

♣ "And these signs will follow those who believe: in My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark 16:17-18) | These people spoken about here will, at some point in their lives, be surrounded by demons and serpents which they would have to be courageous enough to cast out.

Question(s) for the Day: So what if you're in the filthiest of places in your life right now? Is it at work, or school, or in the marketplaces of your world? Will you stay right there and be bold enough to do what you were called to do?

Nothing Like a Good Answer

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Abayowa) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 05:00:00 +0000

[Image by Freepik]

A few nights ago, I lay cuddled up in bed counting the seconds before I fell asleep. One, two, three, four, five. The events of the day began to draw upon the last few calories of energy I had left, and my breaths became more and more relaxed, drifting away into the concentrated breathing that comes with slower heart beats. Just as my eyes began to close, I muttered the words, "Thank You, Father."

I just wanted to show a little bit of appreciation, you know. To thank Him for showing me the way, how to handle the tasks of the day. You see, it's not every night that I remember to thank Him, but I was glad I remembered that night.

However, I didn't expect what came next. It was beyond me. I thought I'd say "thank you," close my eyes and fade into the night. But what happened next exceeded my expectations. It didn't end there. I heard a voice within my spirit say the words, "My daughter."

I called him "Father," and He called me "daughter." There's nothing like a good response. Needless to say, it wasn't a one-sided appreciation. I became filled with so much joy that I couldn't help but start laughing. He answered me! He answered me! He could hear me too. Something so small became something so big. In that moment, I felt His presence so strong, and I knew He wanted me to know that more than anything else I was a daughter to Him and He'd always be there for me. He was my Father, but I also had an endearing title on His lips: I was His daughter. The very thing I needed to hear before sleeping.

* * * * *

There's nothing like a good answer, guys. For as many of you as have been waiting for responses, don't drift into slumber before He replies. If you can be quiet for a moment, He has a word to give to you too. If you call Him Father, listen close enough and you'll hear those words too. "My daughter," He would say. Or "My son."

Behold the Lord's arm is not shortened,

That it cannot save;

Nor is His ear heavy,

That He cannot hear.

Isaiah 59:1

The righteous cry out

And the Lord hears,

And delivers them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 34:17

Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying,

"This is the way, walk in it."

Whenever you turn to the right hand,

Or whenever you turn to the left.

Isaiah 30:21

Now, this is the confidence that we have in Him,

That if we ask anything according to His will,

He hears us.

1 John 5:14

The scripture of Isaiah 59 goes on to say that it is our iniquities that separate us from Him. In other words, it's the unholy things we immerse ourselves in that prevent us from hearing His good response. It's not that He isn't there, but it's because we can't feel His presence. Sin hides His face from us like a wall that stands in-between us and Him.

Today, I want you to be CONFIDENT that you have a Father that hears you when you call His name.

Question for the Day: Do you have something you want God to respond to in your life right now? I dare you to get rid of every distraction and listen for that voice in the wind. The still small voice that comes just when everything is quiet and you're about to drift into sleep. I tell you, don't sleep until you hear His voice.

PS: I want to use this opportunity to thank You, Father, for helping me reach a LANDMARK, the 400th post on the Lamp. Thanks to all of you readers who've continued this journey of "learning" with me. May God be as close to you as the oxygen you breathe, Amen.

*Light-A-Lamp*

Beauty Still Thrives in the Heat of Life

If You Could Die For Me, I Will Love Like You | A Valentine's Day Musing

"You Are Not A Label" (Not Defined by Circumstance)

People Break Walls With More Than A Shout

5 Shocking Things That Make Us Forget

The Opinion That Matters The Most

There's Much More To The Fact (A 2012 Musing, Part Deux)

On Intersections Between Strong & Weak (A 2012 Musing)

He Sees The Depths of Your Nakedness, So Run to Him

The Three Killers of Fear | Power, Love, A Sound Mind

A Passionate Intermission

On Being Thankful for June & Sweet Hiatuses

Amazing How The Same Power is in You

Hidden Baskets of Left-Over Fragments

A Perpetual State of Rejuvenation, Renovation, & Preparation

Dear Giver, Please Love Yourself First

The Choice Always Precedes the Mission

When You Can Do Something Bigger Than Yourself

When Foundations Are Destroyed (Special Edition)

On Viewing the Fine-prints (An Easter Musing)

For Length of Days, For Long Life

Three Gifts: On Bothering God, Faith, & Translations

One Day in God's Will & One Thousand Gifts

What If This is the Filthiest of Places?

Nothing Like a Good Answer

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