Dear YOU

Dear You,

     How are You? I know I never bother to ask. Well that's because I am sure you are doing just great! I'm the one with issues. Today, however, I have not come to rant and rave about my issues, and what You are doing about them, or why You are being super slow about it all. Nope! Today, I'm really just saying, Hi! Wassup! I love YOU. You've been good to me, and all my loved ones. I love You because You created me. I love You because You love me, and I love You because even though the rest of the world may have lost all hope in me, You never have. I love You because You cared enough to sacrifice your son for me, and I love You because even though I can be such an ungrateful naughty kid sometimes, You have not disowned me. I wonder why it hasn't crossed your mind though. I wonder about a lot of things actually. Like why I have never seen your face, or why I have never heard your voice. Then I realize that You do talk to me. You do show me your face. All I need to do is listen to that still voice. I must admit its very hard, because there is so much noise. I can barely hear You. How do I work on that? Please help me.
     I thank you for your kindness. I thank you for your mercies. I thank You for your comfort, and I thank You for the wonderful plans You have for me. I thank You for the opportunities, as well. Now all I need to do is learn how to recognize them and make the most out of them.. but yeah, thank You for providing them in the first place. Thank You for all the good things around me, and all the tiny little things that bring me so much happiness and joy. Thank You for protecting me from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence as well. Thank You for good health and loved ones. Thank You for miracles! Thank You for unexpected amazingly awesome miracles! Gosh, I'm so glad that I'm alive... so in everything I give Thanks to You. For my myopic vision cannot be compared to your absolutely perfect one. So I trust You totally and completely, and give You my life, my heart, my soul, my being... not just because You own them in the first place, and can take them just as easily as You gave them to me, but because You care for them better than anyone else, even me!

                                                                                                                                 Yours, Me

Who do you look to?

'I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made Heaven and earth. He will not let my foot be moved. He who keeps me will not slumber.......' Psalm 121

For some reason, I have been so vimless these days. It's really crazy. I don't know if any of you have ever gotten to a point in your life where for some reason you feel too lazy to read your Bible. Too lazy to have your quiet time and meditate, and too lazy to pray for yourself. Funny thing is I found time to stop in the middle of the day and say a short prayer for other people that I cared about. Yet I couldn't pray for myself. I dunno why. Maybe I thought my problems where so many and if i started praying, it would end up praying for like 30 minutes or something. Or maybe I just didn't want to deal with my problems, because in order to pray about something, I would have to think about it first, and I didn't want to have to deal with that. Ok, now I'm sure you think I have some pleeeeeeeenty problems. I probably don't. Hmmm... But life after college seems to be a big one. Extended family issues seems to be another one. Just those two are enough to give me a headache. I guess another thing is that somehow I figured that God would always be there for me, and He knows my needs, my dreams, my aspirations, my musings and my confusion .... or maybe I was just being lazy and stupid. Who knows. Anyway, I prayed yesterday.. it took a lot for me to pray. Yet after I finished I felt so relieved. I felt like I had just spoken to my long lost friend. My friend who was always 1 step behind me and 2 steps ahead of me at the same time. The friend who protected me from 'the snare of the fowler' and who 'sent his angels to take charge of me and guard me in all my ways ... ' (Psalm 91).  I felt so relieved yesterday, because I felt like I had properly poured my heart out. I even prayed for all my friends that I was worried about. Those who were sick, those who were looking for jobs, those with relationship problems etc.. Felt so much better than my random one minute 'Oh God, How are You? I know You are well. I'm also well. Please guide me through the day. Amen' or 'God, you said by your stripes we are healed. Please heal so and so person. aMEN'. Not that there's anything wrong with those short hurried prayers on the tube. However, its always good to spend more time with God, have a conversation with him, and pour your heart out. Trust me, when you are done, you'll feel so much better.

So here's my question for the day.
When you are in need, when your friends are in need, who do you look to? For who you look to will greatly affect your mood, your perspective, and the result you get!

Peace and Love ppl!

I Look To You - Whitney Houston

Then what?

I had a discussion with a relative some years ago which brought back something I had wondered about since childhood. I hear bereaved people say things like "I know he's in a better place now", or "I'm not worried because I know she's in Heaven now" and I used to wonder why they thought that. My relative was saying how she does believe there are such things as ghosts but she doesn't believe that everyone who dies becomes a ghost because otherwise her father (who passed when she was a teenager) would have intervened in her life in some way and prevented past misfortunes from befalling her.

Before we had this discussion, I thought of ghosts as a useless topic. I never thought of a ghost as something that could actually offer comfort to someone. My relative would have felt better knowing that her father's ghost was with her, looking out for her. She made me realise that people don't always see ghosts as scary. At the same time, I realised how focused human beings, even Christians, can become on the here and now.

How do you know what happens to people when they die? The Bible really is sufficient and as I grew up and fell a little more in love with searching the scriptures, the answer became so clear.

According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven...and the dead in Christ will rise first...And so we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)

So if I'm reading this right, when people die, they don't go anywhere. They neither go to heaven nor hell, that's for sure. Like the living, they must first face Judgement Day. We may know this but choose to comfort ourselves with the thought of our loved ones sitting up in heaven already, smiling down at us. But so then what happens to our spirits while we wait for Judgement Day?

Is it possible that we become ghosts then? No, because the author of Hebrews says that "man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement"(9:27). We're not doing anything. We're not watching over our loved ones or protecting them because we don't become angels when we die. We're only waiting. It figures because for God, a day is like a 1000 years and a 1000 years like a day (2 Peter 3:8) so we're probably not waiting very long.

It's important that Christians are realistic about physical death and what happens after because it's inevitable; and by realistic, I mean Bible-informed. One thing we know for sure is that whether our bodies are alive or dead, our spirits and souls are conscious and we can find true comfort in knowing that "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints"(Ps. 116:15). Dead or alive, God cherishes His children.

Thankful 102

Dear God,

Thanks for the other night: family time with you is refreshing.
Thanks for my job and all my colleagues at work. They are painful and wonderful at the same time.
Thanks a lot for allowing me to understand and love my work. I already see myself shining like you promised. Tell Mr. Ghost to keep me humble even when I make it to the top.
Lord thanks for transportation forth and back every day...When do I get my own ride?? My legs almost always don't fit in the darn commercial buses.
I'm also grateful for the stunt you pulled the other day. I was shocked but glad you did.
Thanks because you alone give me the strength to work as much as I do. I hope this blessing comes without gray hair. I'm still young.
Thanks for UPS Ghana. They're timely and reliable and without them I never would've been able to get a copy of Sherri Shepherd's Permission Slips.
Thanks for letting the reader of this post understamd that although the book targets women, there are some interesting things everyone can learn from it therefore reading it doesn't make me sissy. Plus it's enjoyable to say the least.
Thanks because I was wrong about the dude who I thought was gay. It would've been a shame.
Thanks for all those ideas you keep pushing into my head but good God! slow down....ok so will you add that to my swearing list? I hope not because really, I AM talking to YOU.
Thanks for understanding.
...Thanks for listening to all my prayers and answering some. Try email sometime, it's really good. You could have your own Gmail (GodMail) account.
Thanks for small mercies. I was thinking, instead of giving them bit by bit why don't you put them all together and gimme a HUGE blessing? Never mind me Lord, you know what's best for me and I thank you for not making me figure everything out myself. To have your job would be just impossible for mortal me. Your multi-tasking is off the hook! Yea, I watched Bruce Almighty. I think you were great and you made your point. Now I know for sure that you're black. lol.

Sincerely yours,

Ananse

We live to see...

Young as we are we all have needs and wants, most of which as children of God we channel to Him. Our prayers and life in general are about what He can do for us and sometimes (which should not be the case) what we can do for Him, so to speak. But have you ever wondered what your needs would be when you grow old and may have fulfilled most of your earthly requirements?
Yesterday at church a group of well aged men and women gave me insight into and a glimpse of what life ends up being all about in old age. An elderly man from the group said a couple of things I couldn't hear but their song re-emphasized it all. In a nutshell, the end is all about God's glory filling the earth and the universe thereof. Elderly people don't worry much about wants and needs as much as they wallow in great expectation of the Second Coming, when all evil and earthly desires will fade away and the Glory of the Lord shall be revealed. Then I remembered what serving God is all about. It's not about the 'going to heaven' aspect, rather, it's about the eternal glory of God and us being a part of it. Throughout our lives we hear about God in all his splendor and might and glory, and only experience a microcosm of it. Serving God is more satisfying when we hold and press on towards the goal of seeing the fullness of the His glory.

AGAIN

Here is a song by Donnie McClurkin that always lifts up my spirits, makes me happy and makes me thankful... here are the lyrics.


Again I call You, and again You answer
Again I need You, and again You're there
Again I reach out, and again You hold me
You console me once more, and again

When I needed company, someone
just to sit with me
When I need a helping hand, someone
to understand me
When I need someone who cares,
someone to wipe away my tears
Reach out and calm my fears,
I know that You'll be there

Again I call You, and again You answer
Again I need You, and again You're there
Again I reach out, and again You hold me
You console me once more, and again

Every time I turn around, the most
amazing thing I've found
You're there to pick me up each time
When I fall down
You never seem to mind and
You're always treating me so kind
Time after every time, You've proven once again

Again I call You, and again You answer
Again I need You, and again You're there
Again I reach out, and again You hold me
You console me once more, and again

... And again, You will come through once again



:-)  :-)  :-)
God is always there for you... sometimes his answers seem slow, sometimes its not what you quite expected... BUT ITS ALWAYS GOOD... ALWAYS ALWAYS GOOD!! He Loves You.

Connect

A young man from a very remote village came to Accra in search of a new life. He stayed in his distant uncle's house where he cleaned and did everything his uneducated self knew how to. One thing that amazed him was how in the city, one didn't necessarily have to light a match in order to have light. All one had to do was press a switch on a wall and a small 'lantern hanging on the ceiling' illuminated the room. "Wow," he said to himself, "I must take this with me to show to my friends back in the village".
When it was time to go visit his village, he packed a 'lantern' (bulb), a wire, and a switch along with other interesting things he had seen and bought.
Upon arrival at the village, he gathered his friends and family together and shared with them his experience in Accra. Of course he saved the best for last: the very cool 'lantern'. As his family and friends sat around him, eager to see what he was about to show them, he immediately took out his light components. He fixed the switch on the wall and tied the bulb to the wire and hang it on the wooden plank above the room. Standing by the switch and simultaneously pressing it, he finally said, "Let there be light!"....... and there was no light. No one had told him about electricity and the concept of circuits and connectivity.

Our Christian lives are meaningless and without 'light' if we do not connect with the Spirit of God. It's God's spirit that makes us function as we ought to and most importantly keeps us connected to our Father. We stand alone as mortal bodies ( the bulb) and the only way we can communicate with God (the switch) is if we stay connected to his spirit (electricity if you like) and worship him in SPIRIT and truth. That was we can allow the light of our Father to shine in and through us so the rest of the world can see.

Answered Prayer

I asked for health that I might do greater things
I was given infirmity that I might do better things
I asked God for strength that I might achieve
I was made weak that I might learn to obey
I asked for riches that I might be happy
I was given poverty that I might be wise
I asked for power and the praise of men
I was given weakness to sense my need of God
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life
I was given life that I might enjoy all things
I got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for
Inspite of myself, my prayers were answered-
I am among all men most richly blessed.

Author Unknown

Amazing Love

I’ve heard it said that the book of Romans is the best book in the Bible and that its 8th chapter is the Bible’s highest point. It begins this way:

Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death (verses 1-2).

I sometimes find myself thinking back to something I did in the past, something that I’ve regretted doing and repented of. Human as we are, those of you who have given your lives to Christ and repented of your sins know that being forgiven does not always mean that you can forget. And yet, we can always find comfort in the verses above: because we are in Christ, we are no longer chained to our sins. Our sins are no longer our crosses to carry. According to Christ, the only thing we are obligated to do or the only cross we must continue to carry is the memory of what He did for us the day He died on the cross. I think the sins that plague us, especially those we continually commit and do not repent of, do so because of the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. The feeling of guilt is not there to make you feel like a bad person but rather to let you know that your Spirit is yearning for a change and your past sins become a lesson to you as you work towards perfecting your faith. God loves us too much to want us to wallow in the things of the past. This brings to mind one of my favourite hymns, Amazing Love How Can It Be:

And can it be, that I should gain

An interest in the Saviour's blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! how can it be

That Thou, my God, shoulds't die for me?

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature's night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;

Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!

Alive in Him, my living Head,

And clothed in righteousness divine,

Bold I approach the eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

LET HIM

Oh troubled heart, why do you worry?

Why the self pity?..the gnashing of teeth

and why do tears fall freely down your face?

Why do you fear?

Oh troubled heart

Did HE not say HE has got your back?

Did HE not say HE will always be there?

Did HE not say 'call on me and I will answer'?

'Ask and it shall be given'?

'Seek and ye shall find'?

So why do you worry my ears with your wailing

Your ranting, Your raving

What is stopping you from going down on those knees

From asking for what seems nearly impossible

Do you think HE brought you this far to watch you fall?

Lift you this high just to see you tumble down?

'Build me up buttercup', HE does not play

Sadistic tendencies, HE has none of that

So please do allow me to sleep

For I am the wrong person to talk to

I see not how I can possibly help

I certainly did not make you.

Thankful 101

Dear God,
I'm thankful because you are MY God and not the rocks and stones' like you threatened to be.
I'm thankful because of all the people you could have chosen to accomplish that small detail of your plan for this world, you chose me. I only ask that you help me stay on the right path so I get to see what that detail is all about.
I'm thankful because you believe in me when I don't believe in myself. Because even when I lose my faith and tread a dark path, you still remain faithful and guide me back into your light. Really Lord, where do you find the patience for mankind?
I'm thankful because you created me and everyone I love after Jesus died to save us. I can't imagine being swallowed by the earth like some Isrealites were or being turned into an animal like King Nebuchs was. A burning bush or a writing on the wall would've freaked me out!! You must admit you were pretty scary back then.
I'm thankful because just as you promised, you sacrificed your only Son for us - and He didn't complain too! You and Jesus are about the coolest Father and Son there ever will be.
I'm thankful for your Holy Spirit who guides and counsels me everyday. I'm only sad because He doesn't give the kinda super powers I imagined having as a child.
I'm thankful for Mel Gibson. Through his Passion of The Christ you brought a lot of people around the world closer to you and saved a few more souls.
I'm thankful for my family: Dad, Mum and my three brothers. Can't complain but if I had to...Why don't I have a sister? and why are we so many??
Thank you Lord for Grandma. Oh that woman has been a blessing. I used to think she was a pain(she still is sometimes) but Lord, the wisdom you've given her to share with me is just amazing!! And the way she'd phone me when I was in school, just to say God bless you Kobe, was very touching. When she eventually come to heaven, please give her a kiss for me.
I'm very thankful for that one time when you didn't grant me my earnest wish. If you had I would've missed all the beautiful things and people you have brought into my life. I definately would have missed that delicious fufu and banku I ate at Kumasi. What was I thinking asking you to take my life???
I'm thankful because you bring all these trials my way. I'm sorry I failed some but all in all you taught me valuable lessons and increased my faith. The last one though was a bit harsh don't you think?
I'm thankful because you made me in your own image and likeness. You must be one good-looking God, with a big head.
I'm thankful for my co-authors on this blog, Shirley and Abby. You knew I'd been thinking of starting this blog for some time and you brought them in at the right time. Help me find a guy so I can balance the hormonal levels.
I'm thankful because unlike the other pompous idols of little gods who scare their followers, eat their food and make them kill each other, you are gentle ask nothing of me but to believe in you, love you back and have fellowship with you. The fact that I can talk to you any time, any day is even way cooler! But really, thanks for allowing me to know you the way I do and for all that you've been to me the few years of my life.

Faithfully yours.

Me

P.S. Please bless the reader of this blog.

As unto God

I have always know that there is more to being God's child than allotting 2 hours of Sunday for Him and having my not so daily quiet time with Him. God know that if He spend that much(little) time with me I would be dead by now. The Christian stereotype is as such and the rest of his time is spend living an ordinary life with no God-sense. I had been that kind of Christian for a long, long time until the eve of 2008 after which I decided to involve God in even the smallest, seemingly insignificant aspects of my life.
But last Sunday I was reminded of a very important aspect Christian living which keeps us closer to God. Paul said that "to live is Christ...." and in Colossians 3:12-end(click to read), he first admonishes us to be kind, merciful and forgiving. He later tells us to let God's word dwell richly in us, hold love dearly in our hearts and relate to our family well. In all our doings however, he mentions twice that we should do them "as unto God and not unto men". This means letting God be the reason for our every action. If we have this in mind we'll realise that we will begin to involve Him more in every aspect of our lives and harness a God-sense which will keep us focused on Him.

A Myriad of Lessons

Time and time again it strikes me how meaningful forgiveness is to the Christian, whether he or she knows it or not. The page-long book of Philemon is centred around forgiveness but each time I read it, I find a new lesson. Many different things came to me when I read it today and I want to share them with you.

In the book of Philemon, Paul acts as a diplomat of Christ, interceding between Philemon and his former slave Onesimus. By running away from his master, Onesimus automatically became a fugitive and his easiest option was to return to Philemon, beg for forgiveness and ultimately receive a branding on his forehead with the letter ‘F’ to ensure that he never forgot he was once a fugitive.

After becoming a Christian, Onesimus became eager to return to Philemon and make it all up to him (running away meant he’d wronged him), and the book of Philemon is Paul’s letter defending Onesimus. The name Onesimus itself means ‘useful’. Paul tells Philemon that before he ran away, Onesimus was useless to him anyway (v. 11) but then he found Jesus and he was now useful to the ministry. He pleads with Philemon to take Onesimus back not as a slave but as a brother in Christ (v. 16).

Paul obviously knew what the Onesimus name meant and he knew that Philemon would know it too. His play on words were likely to strike a chord with Philemon. It’s a lesson on how crucial words are. We can’t throw out words as we please or speak to people in just any manner. Paul reasons with Philemon saying that ‘perhaps’ Onesimus had to leave Philemon for a reason (v.15). Thing is, Paul wasn’t sure. He was willing to bet that MAYBE if you’ve put your life in God’s hands everything will happen just as He wants it to.

When someone wrongs us, as in the case of Philemon, we may not always fully understand why. Especially if we’ve shown kindness to the person, opened up our hearts to the person, cared for the person, etc. Forgiveness is a delicate topic because it can be very difficult to actually achieve. It’s helpful to remember like Paul that we must keep in mind that God sees and knows everything that happens to us. Perhaps He allows the things we see as negative to happen to us. We’ll never know the mind of God and it’s probably best that way because we may be unable to comprehend or understand His purpose for our lives, but the things that our human minds see as negative or evil are always things that God can bring good out of because HE LOVES US!

Prologue...

Life is a question mark; no one has it all figured out. Our lifetime activities sum up a quest to complete the means to an end which we spend our entire life trying to figure out and achieve. Why are we here? What is our purpose? Why do we do what we do? How did we begin? How shall we end? Are we determinants of our own end? These are some of the questions we innately ask ourselves the moment we begin to reason as humans. Ultimately all we as humans have one specific, universal need that has to be met by our own conscious selves, sane or insane: the need to believe. It is the one passionate need that is constantly being satisfied in everyone's life on way or another. Without belief, no action is taken and we are all but frozen in time, lost in a transitional state of doubt.
We decided to start this blog in order to share our one superior belief, which is in God. This is a one-way communication blog in the form of letters from creatures to Creator, and articles telling Him and readers as well all sorts of things: experiences, questions, comments, ideas, you name it. Personally it's our own way of getting closer to God, being true to what we believe in and generally airing out our feelings toward life. For readers of this blog, we only hope that our posts can inspire them to believe in Him too, as the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

WHERE WOULD I BE?

So, I was listening to this gospel song that I am absolutely crazy about. Many a time have I shed tears, because I was listening to this amazing song. Not tears of sadness, but tears of joy at the awesomeness of the God I serve, his wonderful mercies and where He has brought me. Words cannot even begin to explain what God has done for me, and how many times he has saved me from even death, and here is not the place for me to get into such sentimentalities, anyway. So all I'm going to say is God never fails!!! If you have a bucket full of trust, and you know not what to do with it, please invest it in God. Credit crunch doesn't affect him, and he is not a junk bond. You can find the lyrics below, and a Youtube link to listen. Enjoy the song, listen to the words, and reflect on how far you've come by the grace of God. I dare say that I couldn't have done a thing without Him, and that's just what it is. Nothing will ever make me believe that there is no Supreme Being taking care of me, even if the rest of the world thinks I'm absolutely out of my mind.

What kind of God can make the morsels of snow, fall from a grey sky

What kind of God can weave the tapestry of a rainbow, and sketch it into a sky

It's no wonder how he can do, every little thing he does for me

If it hadn't been for you, where would I be?

What kind of God can give you a vision, and create a skyscraper tall

What kind of God can use the pattern of color, and give it a name like fall

It's no wonder how he can do, every little thing he does for me

If it hadn't been for you, where would I be?

I'd be at the bottom when you told me there's a place at the top for me

I'd be on the back side when you showed me there's a place in the front I should be

I'd be on the outside looking in when, you've prepared me a table for kings

If it hadn't been for you, where would I be?

What kind of God can take my fragile and wounded heart, fill it with unconditional love

What kind of God can take away my guilt and shame, and give me grace to rise above

It's no wonder how he can do, every little thing he does for me

If it hadn't been for you, where would I be?

I'd be at the bottom when you told me there's a place at the top for me

I'd be on the back side when you showed me there's a place in the front I should be

I'd be on the outside looking in, when you've prepared me a table for kings

If it hadn't been for you, where would I be? (Repeat 2x)

Just like a ship without a sail, without you!!!

Where would I be? - Smokie Norful 

~ Excuse any mistakes. I just copied and pasted the lyrics :-) I have bolded my favorite lines. Love the last line . It just says it all, doesn't it?