Month: April 2020

‘Tomorrow is Thursday’, he argued. ‘No, it’ll be Friday’, I responded. ‘Oh! I’m sorry. I got the days mixed up’, he resigned. The conversation ended and I realized how easy it is to forget which day of the week it is when you have been home for weeks trying to stay safe. The regular church services are now online, non essential businesses are temporarily closed, not to forget the Virtual Easter, one of a kind!

The effect of the partial lock down amazes me: the quietness, reduced traffic, long queues at the grocery stores, and the sight of most people in masks and gloves. My heart longed for everything to be back to normal again. I prayed again silently in my heart asking God to calm this raging storm, but even in the quietness I feel the Holy Spirit saying, ‘Make the moments count’. I remembered a poster I once read at a pediatrician’s office, it says: “Don’t count the hours. Make the hours count”.

Friends, in times like this, God is calling you and me to make this partial lock down moment count. If you are off work, working remotely from home or a front line worker, overwhelmed with online classes, lonely and getting anxious, getting bored despite watching most of the movies on Netflix, Pureflix, Youtube, AppleTV etc, getting addicted to TikTok or games or whatever the case may be: Please make good use of this moment. When this is all over, we will long for that quietness again, a time to just pause and relax without rushing out through the door to start the day. Remember, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” – Ecclesiastes 3:1- NIV.

Remember the Parable of the Talents – ¹⁴For it is just like a man who was about to take a journey, and he called his servants together and entrusted them with his possessions. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The one who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made a profit and gained five more. ¹⁷ Likewise, the one who had two made a profit and gained two more. ¹⁸ But the one who had received the one went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. Matt. 25:14-17 AMP.  The talents in this passage represent any kind of resources that God has given us such as our gifts, abilities, and time inclusive; we are to invest these resources wisely until Christ returns. The servant in the passage also went at once (without delay) to trade with the talent and alas, he made a profit, and so did the second servant with two talents. The talent business is not how much, but how well we are investing the talents. Beloved, do not be like the unprofitable servant, “make the very most of your time on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence, because the days are filled with evil”. Eph 5:16 AMP

Here are some few tips on how to make great use of our time:

• Make it a time to study a book of the Bible (YouVersion bible app is a great tool)
• Spend some quality time with God.
• Spend more time with your family if applicable.
• Help your children to improve spiritually and academically; make time to connect with them.
• Clear the clutters in your home.
• Engage in a family project.
• Stay active physically.
• Improve your skills and talents(You will be amazed at the amount of information on the internet).
• Try out new recipes.
• Discover and focus on your purpose.

Please feel free to add to the list depending on your circumstances, availability, accessibility and affordability. You can make a flexible schedule as well and be accountable to someone or yourself as the case may be. But after all this is said and done, I want you to be able to look back at this period and say I achieved all these during the lock down;what the enemy meant for evil, God turned it to good.

God is calling us to some quietness, to see the vanity of this world and how meaningless it can be, please take time to focus on eternity.  Jesus Christ, our example said “I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day, the night cometh, when no man can work” – John 9:4 (KJV)

Stay strong and stay covered by the precious blood of Jesus.

Shalom

      The Joy of His Presence

      Ps.16:11(NLT)

The thoughts run in your head over and over; you desperately wish for a change. You wish for better and closer family relationships, nicer cooperative team mates at work, calmer work environment, more friendly neighbors, better community, less critical church members, and a more profitable business. Yet you silence the thoughts that challenges you to make the difference, I’m too small to make a difference, just an individual. Sounds familiar???

Our desperation often helps to stretch us beyond our limits. Once upon a time, I was tired of looking forward to a chaotic day at work, fearful of making errors, astounded by the way team members are so critical and judgmental of each other, at loss for words at lingering bitterness, really longed for peace in that environment although I loved the job. But just like you, I felt too small to make a difference. I was blinded by what was going on around me that I forgot my identity. God has placed me there to make a difference especially through my prayers. I began to declare peace into the atmosphere, sometimes I go to work early to declare God’s peace over every team member, every client, phone call, email and so on. Alas, I began to see changes, calm work environment, peaceful days, even changes in the attitude of team members towards each other.

Friends, wherever you are, God has placed you there for a purpose; the purpose to reign as kings and queens on this earth. Remember Elijah was as human as we are and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. James 5:17-18 NLT(New Living Translation version).

It is time to stop being invisible in the spirit. Be the light over your family, congregation, organization, school, church, community or wherever you are right now. Begin to speak the changes into reality. Now tell them this: “As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say” Numbers 14:28.NLT.

I dare you to begin to declare the changes you want to see around you. Is your organization running at loss and the joy of being gainfully employed seems to fade away, begin to declare that God will cause the business to prosper for your sake (I’m a living testimony of this), and if you are a diligent worker, God will open doors for you to be an employer also. Learn from the story of Jacob. Begin to declare safety over your children’s school(s) for their sake, wisdom for directors in your organizations, love between family members, unity and love between church members, and God’s intervention over that situation at work, home or church that no one knows how to approach. Remember to ask in faith because “anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6b NLT.  Also your prayers can make all the difference: the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16B NLT. Declare, be expectant, and watch God move.

God has placed us in strategic places to be the DIFFERENCE because HIS PRESENCE MAKES THE DIFFERENCE and YOU ARE A CARRIER OF GOD’S PRESENCE.

Beloved, be the difference that God has created you for.

Shalom.

            The Joy Of His Presence

            Ps.16:11(NLT)