The Other Cheek.

John 10:10, "The thief comes to steal kill and destroy..." This is a verse we hear from time to time but it's days like this that we see the true nature of the enemy. The attack on the Westgate mall has shocked the nation, who can do such a thing, shoot women and children indiscriminately, shoot innocent to further whatever wicked cause that the devil has burdened on them.
Times like these we turn on the television and the news leaves tears in our eyes and the thought that if it were not for God's grace, I would be at Westgate mall, enjoying my Saturday like all the victims were. I read the status update of one of my former classmate on Facebook, she was praying for her family which was at the Westgate Mall.  Her update shook me and I wondered how can such a disaster strike so close to home?
The attackers are still at Westgate Mall, they continue their siege on innocent people and brave officers. It's easy to be afraid and to let your joy and peace be robbed by the predicament our country faces. But I will not fear neither will I let my joy and peace be robbed by these attacks.
I might not know anybody who is a victim, at least not that I know off, I might not know what the victims and their families are going through right now, but I know this much, when Jesus was asked what to do when attacked by evil people, he said the following words, " But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also" Mathew 5:39.
Don't be afraid, give them the other cheek. This doesn't mean that we let them attack us without defending ourselves, or that we put ourselves willingly in the face of danger. It means that when they attack us like they have, we respond from somewhere we haven't been hit. They can injures us, persecute us but no matter what they do they can't touch our soul. The soul in which Jesus resides in, the soul full of love, peace and kindness.
So today, whether I am a victim or not, I will respond with love. I will pray for the victims and I will pray for my enemies as well. I will pray for the attackers for God to free them from the hate and evil spirit that has consumed them. I will turn the other cheek, just like Martin Luther King jr did, just like Nelson Mandela did and just like my Saviour Jesus did.
When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34. So today I ask you to pray for our enemies, to respond with love as opposed to hate and vengeance. An eye for an eye will make the world go blind, so when they expect violence, hate, restlessness and stress, we will show them love, peace and understanding that comes from God so that they too may get to know the love that God has for them.
It might be difficult for you to do this, but I ask you to pray that God gives you ability to see the attackers just as God sees them. This should be our prayer and even in the horror of these attacks, the light of Jesus Christ will shine bright even to save those that attack us.

Let the light of Christ shine through in you today.

So start a prayer chain, pray for the victims, the attackers and our country. And thank God for his grace that saves all that choose to believe Jesus is Lord.
I didn't quote the whole of John 10:10. The full verse reads as follows,"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." So today I ask you not to be afraid, Christ comes so that  we may have life, peace, joy and love. Christ came for you, me and the attackers to.
 If you want to experience this peace and love, all you have to do is follow the instructions on the following scripture, Romans 10:9 'That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.'
Say this prayer with me, "Oh God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus is Lord. I believe Jesus was my substitute when He died on the Cross. I believe His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection were for me. I now receive Him as my Saviour. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful grace. Amen.”
Rest assured that God will use all these things for good and for his glory, so we might mourn for our loved ones and country men and women today, but we will rejoice tomorrow, whether in this earth or when we march as Saints into the gates of heaven, I know one thing, a better day awaits us.
Be blessed.

The Story That Changed My Life.

The dreams I had as a boy sounded better in the day time when I told my loved ones than when I saw them in the night time. "When I grow up Mum, I'll be a Pastor, just like Daddy." The dreams I had as a boy felt best when I preached to my childhood friends (Thank you Benjamin for reminding me of this.) and for the first time saw the talents God had put in me.
As I grew up, no matter how many dreams I had, I still remembered the young little boy telling his parents how he would step on a pulpit one day. But soon enough, those dreams soon became distant memories. Every once in a while, the window panes in my room turned to mirrors which reflected the dreams I had. Like a white screen in a movie theatre, my life would play before my very eyes and I would feel robbed of my dreams. The tape would stop rolling the moment I got to where I was in life,  and then the darkness that lied beyond the window panes became apparent.
I would try to picture my future but it was futile, I had a better chance counting the mosquitoes I had killed by smacking them against the wall and they left a small blood stain on the dull white walls of my hostel room. I had no big picture like I once had, so whatever goals I set, new year resolutions, short term goals, long term goals, basket goals, academic goals and goals towards improving the relationships I had with my friends and family, I fell way short.
It was frustrating at first, then the frustration slowly turned into hopelessness and despair. When it seemed it couldn't get any worse, I failed to complete my academic requirements for graduation, I had let myself and others down. My goals were no more, I took each day as it came my way, it was like staring into a black hole of hope and aspirations. The darkness that was beyond the window pane was right before me, and with every step I took, with every passing day, I stepped further away from the dream projecting canvass. Distant memories turned into painful ones, and my joy and peace were robbed.
I turned to the mirror, and although I never said it or thought it, it always seemed that I asked the mirror, " Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the biggest disappointment of them all?"   Then those hardened hopeless eyes on the reflection would look right back at me, and as we locked eyes, I would fell like the biggest disappointment of them all.
I know these look like first world problems or an overreaction, but imagine failing in all you do, imagine failing on what you define yourself by  picking yourself by, imagine failing at what you love. Now imagine yourself forgetting who you were, and watching your identity getting snatched from you. Imagine being the sole reason behind all this, being the reason to why you're friends and family don't trust you anymore. When you feverishly point towards anything to blame but the rest of your fingers point right back at you as the cause of this fever that was almost bringing you to your demise.

But in this dark place, the brightest light shone at the end of the tunnel. A story of love authored by Great I AM got to where I was. The story is one sentence long, but it  reads longer than any past I had lost. The story is one sentence long but it feels better than a breeze on the hottest day, better than a cloud on a sunny afternoon. The story is one sentence but it's a pat on the back and a soft palm that wiped my tears away. The story is one sentence long but it's everything I desire and more than I can imagine. The story is one sentence long but it's better than any high that any drug(s) can make you experience. The story is a true story.
The story reads; "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
In my despair God reminded me of his gift to me, and I made the decision that I had postponed for most of my life (the time is now!). I accepted Jesus into my life and I asked the Lord to forgive me of my sins. And nothing else mattered, my problems didn't flee, I still had a long and difficult path to walk, but whenever I felt defeated all I had to do was to call upon God and all of my burdens were lifted.
It's not a cliché, it's not a claim that I am good or of what I have done, this is not me condemning others, rather this is me being a witness to God's awesome grace. I felt it, the new start, the new living translation in Ephesians 2:8 states,' God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.' To God be the glory, He stretched his loving hand to a sinner like me and embraced me, He made me spotless and gave me a clean slate, a slate that He wipes clean every time I fall, even when I don't deserve it, Jesus still loves me.
So whenever I feel like I am falling or failing,  I remember the words of 1st John 4:17, ' As Jesus Christ is, so are we in this world.' As Jesus is in heaven, with no sin, disease, fault, failure, stress, pain, lust, despair, troubles, worries, hunger, addiction, with no troubles of this world, so are we here on earth. Whenever I think about the mirror mirror on the wall, Jesus Christ reminds me, it's not me about me on this earth, it's about Himself.
And on that darkness beyond the window panes, He speaks these words to me, Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Hope and a future awaits me, and they await you too if you choose to let my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to save you today.

 It sounds like I'm possessive of Jesus when I say Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Saviour, but as a witness of what the Lord has done for me and the peace and joy that I now enjoy, you will understand why I am like this. For the Lord has restored my soul, and He restored the years the locust stole from me, and Jesus wants to be your Lord, Saviour, Restorer and your best friend. All you have to do is follow the instructions on the following scripture, Romans 10:9 'That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.'
Say this prayer with me, "Oh God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus is Lord. I believe Jesus was my substitute when He died on the Cross. I believe His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection were for me. I now receive Him as my Saviour. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful grace. Amen.”

Read the Bible as much as you can, try and start with reading the Gospels, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John and read about the life of Jesus on this earth. Be a member of a Bible based church, follow what the Spirit of God tells you and in all circumstances Praise the Lord.
Be blessed.

 Then I was a boy and I was oblivious of what I was doing, now I am a man very aware and a witness of the Grace of God. Because of the Great I AM, I am. I am forgiven of all my sins, I am realizing God's purpose for me, I am at the best point of my professional career and sports career and I am free indeed. From a boy dreaming to a man living the dreams! Thank you God for Your Grace. This is my testimony.
Be Blessed.

Questions and Truths.

I got questions and I know you do too. Nothing is worse than battling with questions in your head and having no surety of whether the position you hold on the matter is right. All the questions I had can be summerised into one, and I'm sure we all battle with this question. Eternity? Eternity? Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God  has put eternity in every person's heart, so don't lie to yourself, don't run from the question or neglect it.
Eternity? well Ecclesiastes 3:11 continues to say that we can not fathom what God has done from beginning to end. So it begs the question, if I can't understand it, why did God put it in my heart? Well the answer is simple, eternity is not something we can understand or describe, it is something we LIVE. Eternity is not a question that we can answer on pen and paper, when the author of Ecclesiastes wrote this verse, he did not follow to give a detailed answer to what is eternity, but instead he mentioned how we can't understand the works of God from beginning to end, because God is eternal, so don't expect an answer to eternity from me. But I can tell you one thing, we all Live it.

The choice then becomes, how can I get the best from eternity? How can I get eternal life? You MUST be SAVED! Jesus said to Nichodemus in John 3:3, " I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." 
Then comes this question why must I be Saved? Romans 3:23 says, 'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,' we are all sinners. This is a simple truth that we must all accept.
Then the question becomes, why must sinners be saved? Romans 6:23 reads, 'For the wages of sin is death...' It's as blunt as that, sin begets death. The word wages is used, wages is pretty much the salary one gets at his job, a salary is what you earn, what you deserve, so for being sinners, death is what we deserve! And by death, the author means eternal separation from God, in Hell! But it's not game set and match, we can be saved.
The question then becomes how can I be saved? When Paul and Silus were asked this question by a philippian soldier in Acts 16:30-31, their answer was short and precise, read it for yourself, ' And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.' BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED! How awesome is that! It's simpler than reciting the alphabet.
But it doesn't end there, being saved isn't the end of the story, it's merely the beginning. Remember Romans 6:23, the verse that told us about the wages of sin, I left out the best part of the verse, 'For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Imagine yourself drowning in a pool, then a life guard comes and saves you, but after saving you, he gives you a gift. God gives us the gift of eternal life, through Jesus, all we have to do is believe.
But it doesn't end there either, remember Romans 3:23, 'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,' well I also didn't mention the awesome verse that follows it, notice how Romans 3:23 ends with a comma, this is the end of the sentence. Here is what follows, Romans 3:24, ' and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.' We are justified! What does this mean? Justified is a legal term but break it down just-if-i'd, it means just as if I had. Just as if I had done what? All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus; just as if you had never sinned, just like Jesus! How cool is that!
Jesus paid your wages, He died on the cross so that we may live. John 3:16-18 says, " For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." Understand that we are already condemned and nothing we can do can change that, but God has given us a gift, His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, whoever believes in  Lord Jesus is no longer condemned. Don't let anybody lie to you, Jesus came to save us not to condemn us, He holds out his hand and gives to you his gift of salvation, but it is upon you to receive it.
So what are you waiting for, receive God's gift. "How do I receive God's gift of salvation?" you ask. Scripture is very clear on this. God really wants you to be saved, so He has made the instructions very easy:
Romans 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
It's that simple, if you are dumb don't worry, use sign language or whatever way you communicate, confess that Jesus is Lord. Speak this simple prayer with me today if you are willing to receive this gift today, “Oh God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus is Lord. I believe Jesus was my substitute when He died on the Cross. I believe His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection were for me. I now receive Him as my Savior. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful grace. Amen.”
If you said this simple prayer with me, God gives you the surety of spending an eternity with him in heaven! Don't be fearful that you will sin again and not go to heaven, righteousness is a gift you have received from God, and it's not a gift if you have to work for it or live in fear of the gift being taken from you. So if you sin, ask for forgiveness and remember that God justified you, and you are just as if you had never sinned!
In conclusion, we can't define eternity but we live it, you either receive the  gift of eternal life, Matthew 16:27 'For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.'

What have you done today, have you received the gift of salvation? Eternal life or eternal damnation, heaven or hell, Deuteronomy 30:19, ' This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.' Choose life, choose Christ.

Make sure you read the bible everyday, pray, go to a Bible based church and be a living testimony to this gift. Tell every person you can about it and praise God at all times. Check out the following links for more encouragement,

http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=379

http://www.godssimpleplan.org/gsps-english.html

Be blessed.