THE GOOD SHEPHERD

A good friend of mine was in dire need of money to feed his children. He had to visit his children that day and give them some financial support. He didn’t have anything on him. He was downhearted, how will my children eat? He thought to himself. He knelt down and begun singing a song of praise. The song was about Jesus being the good shepherd. Then the Holy Spirit whispered to him. Do you think the good shepherd will not look after his sheep? Within minutes he heard the message tone on his phone. It was a text message of an old friend who had sent him money. He couldn’t believe his eyes. In times of hardship, when we sing praises instead of complaining, God comes through for us. Jesus is really the good shepherd. Let us cling to him and He will take care of his sheep.

I am the good shepherd; and I know my sheep and am known by my own. (John 10:14)

L'EAU DE PARFUM ; THE FAVOUR OF GOD

I was in the kitchen, cooking my favourite meal when the home phone rung. I grabbed the napkin close by the sink and cleaned my hand. I then picked up the phone. Hello, I answered, the voice on the other end said;  is this Mrs. Johnson? I replied in the affirmative. Ok Mrs. Johnson, she continued, we are calling you in connection with a job you applied two years ago. Are you still interested? I said yes. Could you please come for an interview tomorrow? I said ok. What time? 8. 00 a.m. she concluded. When I hanged up, my heart sank. I haven’t worked in two years. I prayed so much for this job, which I even gave up. Why didn’t they call me earlier, this is a wrong time to call me for a job. I am 5 months pregnant! I stopped cooking, picked some books and started preparing for the interview anyway. Afterwards, I went into my closet and found a dress that could hide my bump; I matched it with a pretty coat. I was really showing and I realized no dress was hiding my bump. Ok, I said, when I go to the interview, if she realizes I am pregnant that’s ok. Who could hide a 5 months pregnancy anyway? I went to the office premises very early and waited for the interview to start. I was eventually called and my interview begun. During the interview, the interviewer started looking at my bump, I felt so uncomfortable. When my interview ended, I knew I wasn’t getting the job, obviously, she has found out that I was pregnant. Two weeks after, I had a call whilst shopping at my favourite grocery shop that I had the job. I was confused: why did I get the job? Didn’t they see that I was pregnant? I started having mixed feelings. It didn’t feel so good. So I set out the next day to work, my first day. I got there very early again and waited for an orientation. A lady walked to me and said we are sorry, there is a training programme and we will like you to take part. That was how I was thrown into the job. Officially, I had started work. I worked for about two weeks, when the director asked me if I was pregnant. She said she never knew I was pregnant. I was so shocked. The God that we serve is so great. If he wants to do something for you, He will do it no matter the circumstances. Sometimes our inner self is our stumbling block or our greatest obstacle. Based on our experiences and the conditions that we are in, we feel the answer to our prayer should go this way or that way. God is sovereign!  1 Corinthians 2:11 says “ for who knows a person’s thought except their own spirit within them, in the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the spirit of God.”

I WAS A MURDERER

A young man was on his way to visit a sick brother. He sat in a bus quietly wondering what was making his brother’s sickness get worse. His mind was full of many disturbing thoughts. Unexpectedly, he heard the spirit telling him to preach about forgiveness. He looked around and found some young girls giggling in the bus. He thought to himself, if I start preaching, those girls are going to make fun of me. So he decided not to do it. The spirit kept prompting him, and then he finally said to himself: this is certainly not the time. An appropriate time will come for this message. The Holy Spirit was therefore ignored. In the middle of the journey, the bus stopped and a lady got down furiously and he automatically knew the message was to that lady. He felt so bad after, but the opportunity was gone. Two weeks after, he was going to visit a friend when he saw an obituary of the lady who got off the bus with so much anger. He wept! He kept on asking people around if they knew the lady  on the obituary. One middle aged woman told him of how the young lady had stabbed his irresponsible husband and the husband had stabbed him in return and she died. Why he asked curiously? The lady caught the husband red-handed having a sexual affair with another woman. When did this happen he inquired further?  The woman replied; two weeks ago, sadly the deceased knew nothing about forgiveness she added. The young man bowed his head in shame. He realized that because he did not obey the spirit to preach forgiveness, a beautiful soul has been lost. Spread the word; "Forgiveness is love! love is God!"

THE BUMPY RIDE

A woman asked her husband to buy her a second hand car. The husband said to her Anne, I will buy you the car but be patient. Anne became very disobedient to her husband because of her husband’s inability to buy her a car. She grew distant from her husband. A car was tearing their marriage apart. The nagging and the insults worsened. Home has turned into hell for the husband. The relationship was deteriorating. The husband was gradually been pushed out. After a while, the wife came home one day and saw a beautiful car parked in the yard of their house. It was a very beautiful and an expensive brand new car. Wow! She exclaimed. What important visitor do we have here? She went close to the Car and found a note in the windscreen. She opened the note and she started crying. She cried her eyes out.

The note read” Honey, I have finally been able to buy you the car. I was waiting for the right time to give you this car. I was able to find out one thing; you cherished the car more than me.  You do not value the relationship but you value only the things you want to have. Have your car and enjoy your new relationship! See my lawyer, until then, enjoy the ride!” Are we interested in having a relationship with God or we are interested in prayer because of the products we expect to get? If we are patient and we build this relationship, we even get products we are not asking for. In these days, we want the product more than the relationship. Ask yourself: If you get the product will you continue to cherish that relationship?  God wants us to have the relationship so that we trust him enough to only give us the best of things in life. Let’s begin to cherish that relationship whether we have by products or not, so that we become God’s friend. Prayer is the ultimate way to commune with God so that He will be your companion in life.

“Now unto Him, who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you ask or think according to the power that works in us.” Ephesians 3:20

VICTORIA'S SECRET

John was wrongly accused of embezzling some funds in the Insurance Company where he worked. He has worked there all his adult years and rose to the position of an Assistant Manager. His wife, Victoria was a stay at home mom with five kids when John was laid off. For John being   employed again was unsuccessful owing to the bad record. Surprisingly, Victoria couldn’t find a job too. They sold almost all their properties to make ends meet. For three years, they depended on friends and family for their upkeep. Their friends and family were also getting tired of supporting them. The lovely home Victoria and her husband shared has turned into something else with constant fighting and nagging. I met Victoria through a friend and immediately our friendship begun. I told her about making God her “All dependency”. I said to her one afternoon that the secret to receiving miracles from God is to abide in Him. Gradually Victoria shifted her focus from friends and family that could help her out of her situation and focused on God entirely. It wasn’t easy, I told her abiding in God is frustrating but God is there with you. Out of the blue there would be donations and gifts to her that she knew nothing about. After a while, she called me one evening to tell me how her husband has been reinstated back into the job and has even been compensated for being wrongfully accused. I cried that day, I was so happy. Victoria’s secret to her miracle was to abide in the Lord.

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27

A SIP BECOMES A GULP

Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the Lord, trust Him and he will do this.”

I once worked as an intern in one of the social security firms in the country. A law student who was visually impaired was seeking for student loan to pay off her tuition. She was such a lovely young girl who always beamed with smiles anytime she came to the office. I happened to be the customer care representative working on her documents; we therefore developed an enviable relationship. Anytime we finished working on her documents, I took her to the roadside and put her in a taxi and she went home. This I did for a long time. She therefore developed that trust and anytime she passed by the office, I escorted her to the roadside/ bus stop. Even when I wasn’t in the office owing to official errands, she waited for me to return and I escorted her to the roadside as usual. I had become her only trusted escort. Although, she had never seen me, she believed I will take her safely to her destination. She was exercising Faith in me. It started as a one-time thing and it gradually developed into this big trust. That is the faith that God wants us to have. He knows it is difficult to trust Him fully, but little by little as we put our trust in him we overcome our fears, so that we can fully have faith in Him. God wants us to trust Him and have Faith in all things for WE ARE SAFE IN HIS ARMS.

A MOTHER'S LOVE

As a hen gathers her chickens under her feathers.

So is a mother’s love

A mother’s love gives warmth and protection.

Mothers are uniquely created to love

Such great is that love that;

They are entrusted with God’s gift.

We are grateful for Mothers!

We share inexplicable bonds with them.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there!

Kudos and well done!