AT YOUR WORD

I have never tried fishing in my life. Actually I had never seen Omena until I was 17.. If the price of fish is something to go by, I bet fishing is difficult.By the way, I see some advert of fishermen  singing to fish so that they can catch the big fish.Wait, how did I start a post about fish?

Well it started when I thought about the disciples fishing. They cast their nets all night long without catching anything.  Then Jesus tells them to put out their nets into deep water and to let their nets for a catch.. 

 

Seriously, given that they had been fishing all night they could as well have given up and claimed it was not their night. However, at the command of their Master, these guys gather their nets again and cast them one more time, this time, deeper..Deeper than before.  And as Scripture records in Luke 5:6-7; they caught so much fish that their nets almost broke. So much so that  they had to ask for fishermen from another boat to help them. How now?

The very same sea that they had caught nothing the whole night is the very same sea that they caught such a huge number. So what changed?  Well the difference was Jesus.. A whole night without Jesus was futile but a few minutes with Him was so productive.. Friend I felt like reminding you of  the difference Jesus makes. You might have tried something for years on end but you can try it one more time, with Jesus in the picture. 

Today I challenge you to cast your net a little deeper.. You have toiled the whole night, I know. You have waited for your blessing for so long, yet Like Peter and his Cohort you can cast your net, one more time. You can trust the Master.. That though your weeping has lasted the whole night, your joy is on its way.Though futility and barenness have been your names, productivity will soon be your name.

THE REMNANT

The last one week has been a scandalous one punctuated with desperation from all corners. So much so that His Excellency could ask  "Sasa mnataka nifanye nini". 

 I will tell you that by the time a  commander in chief, a "His Excellency" asks the less than excellency what to do, things are hot and serious. By the time a primary school student answers that Kenya's gift to the world is corruption, then you concur that all is not well.

As the scandals  raged on and on,  I have been wondering whether there are people in Kenya that are not corrupt. I have heard phrases like 'Everyone is corrupt only that most are lacking the opportunity to be corrupt'. Is that true for you? I can tell from the stories I have been reading on the media that people generally have given up and do not see the need to hold onto integrity. For what? Some have even started asking, while others wait their turn to loot.

I am reminded of the story for Elijah, tempted to give up on his battle against the foreign gods. He felt so lonely in his quest to continue worshipping the One True God. Then in 1 Kings 19:18 God reminds him:

Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him."

I know the situation in Kenya feels hopeless. However, I remind you today that it will be more hopeful if you and I can purpose to be the remnants. We can decide that we shall not bow to the dragon. The dragon of corruption. 

Fellow christian, If God started counting His faithful remnants like in Elijah's time, would we be found among the 7,000. Truth is God is counting on us. Can we be counted on? Will we be that remnant?

HOPE SIDE

The month of October is slowly crawling to its end. It has been a good month. A cancer awareness month. .

I have had the opportunity to listen and read quite a number of accounts of survivors. One theme that I found in all of the accounts is the positivity. All of the survivors are so optimistic about life I was impressed.

On closer observation I noted that most people who have been through very rough patches in life are the most grateful. They all look at life through the glasses of hope and the frames of optimism. Those that have lost much are most often most grateful for what is left.

Friend, must life teach us to be grateful by breaking us?  Life is beautiful. Appreciate it. Let it not take a tough rough experience to appreciate the beauty and gift of life..

See you on the hope side of life.
Best Wishes.
Mwarray

MY GOLDEN CALF

What is the place of God in my life? What will be His position when I grow older, wiser and richer? When I finally "have it all"? These are questions that have lingered my mind for months on end. I pose the very same questions to you.

I ask these because sometimes when we read about Aaron and the Israelites making a golden calf and worshipping it, we shake our heads shrug our shoulders; wishing we could cast a stone right at Aaron's forehead and ask "Who does that?' "How could you?".

If for  a moment we took a keen, honest look into ourselves we'd realize that we are not worthy to cast a stone. We'd be surprised  that like the Israelites we bow to foreign gods.. We have carved and worshiped some calf.Maybe not made of golden earrings as theirs; but they are "golden calves" all the same.

It is tragic that we have tried to replace God with earthly things that cannot take His place. We have turned to our careers, families, monies, friends, media,drugs to try to fill the place of God to no avail. We have become so engrossed in our seemingly busy schedules that we have neglected the Maker of the very time.

Friend, what is that golden calf in your life? That kalittle god that has replaced your affection and attention for God. That kathing that has become so significant to you that it has choked God out of your life..You know it full well. I know mine too that is competing with His position.

My charge for us today is to crush that calf and cast its ashes in the sea. That we would make the conscious decision to let God be in His rightful place.To never be deceived by the achievements of this life. Never to be blinded by the fleeting pleasures of this life.Am I suggesting that everything we do is a calf? No it isn't. However, if it totally squeezes God out of your life, then it is certainly a calf. A big fattened calf. 
Truth is the calves that we bow to will one day pass away.I ask that we'd give God His place in our lives i.e. at its EPICENTER.

WORRY LESS;PRAY MORE

I love Sundays because they are an opportunity to rest,rejuvenate and refresh. And of course to reconnect with God and people.It is a day to renew after a long week, in readiness for another week.
 

So on this particular Sunday, a few weeks back, I go to church as usual. Then these tiny toddlers;children I mean, are asked to minister.They step on the pulpit and with all the vim and vigour, begin to sing at the top of their voices: 

"Why worry when you can pray". 

They dance on and on and on. You know how children sing as if demanding an answer? That is exactly how they sang and danced. Like they were actually waiting for the congregation to explain,with illustrations, their reasons for worrying.

You see, there are those verses that I have read so many times but never really heeded to Matthew 6:25-34 is one such:  
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?

For some reason, when there is cause to worry I could worry quite a lot, about literally anything.Of course I had heard men of God thunder Phillipians 4:6 a thousand and one times but I think this once, God decided to use a younger and softer mouthpiece to remind me

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

After the little children had ministered I was ready to go home. I think the sermon was already half-preached for me. On this Sunday,the children had touched the right nerve. They had given me a better alternative.A way to redirect my energy.

Today, I encourage you too to re-channel your energy.Rather than being a professional worrier like I was, be a prayer warrior. Those many worries that are wearing you down, take them to the Lord instead.He is the only one who can give you peace for today and hope for tomorrow.

TOMORROW'S A TAD LATE

Seven days ago I told you of how life is already happening, here and now  . In the same week I came across two songs that seemed to me that heavens were screaming something down at me.  The first was Tomorrow by Tamia which says in part:

Jesus said here I stand

Won't you please let me in
And you said I will
But tomorrow

Jesus said I am he
Who supplies all your needs
And you said I know
But tomorrow

Jesus said here I stand
Won't you please take my hand
And you said I will
But tomorrow

Then I came across Casting Crowns with the song The Very Next Thing that tells of how we trip over today setting sights on tomorrow. We wait for "Opportune moments" to be good while life unfolds right in front of us. Looking back we see the many things we missed out on along the way while waiting for the next thing. It says in part:

I spend all my time
Dreaming what the future's gonna bring
When all of this time
There's a world passing by
Right in front of me
Set my sights on tomorrow
While I'm tripping over today

Who says big things
Are somewhere off in the distance
I don't want to look back
Just to see all the times that I missed it
I want to be here and now
Starting right here, right now

With the very next words of love to be spoken
To the very next heart that's shattered and broken
To the very next way you're gonna use me
Show me the next thing
I'll do the next thing

I was challenged to say the least as I remembered the many things I have ignored as  wait for tomorrow which is not even promised.  

I love to share what I have learnt and this is what I have learnt in the last week, that it is in the very next thing that we are to be kind, loving, caring and all the good virtues we wish on ourselves.We need not wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow might be too late. So how about doing and being the best version of who God created you to be? How about being right with Him today rather than tomorrow?

NOW HAPPENING.

For two decades now I have been waiting for life to happen. I have waited for so long.In primary school, I wanted to go to high school. In high school I wanted to be in college. Total freedom. No bells. Consolation was its "Just a few more days, I will fly away to a land where joy shall never end." Heaven knows how loudly we sang that song in chapel. Campus was our land of joy.Or so we thought.

High school was done. Here Came Campus!.Yaaaaay.The long awaited freedom.  In first year; At last. But NO, I wanted to be in second year. I was tired of being a Freshman already. I wanted to be sophomore sooner. Then I realized there was too much work. I wished I was in third year. 

I was told fourth year was easier; the work load would be way less. The higher you go, the lesser the burden, they said. So I waited for that fourth year.. Always consoling myself that life would be easier then. From my window, I watched the fifth years in pyjamas all day. Playing cards in the day. Laughing so loudly in the night while I struggled with assignments. Of course I envied them; quite a lot. I wanted to be in fifth year.. So yes I got to fifth year and was busy; so busy.. I wonder how the previous ones had such amount of time. 

Then I was introduced to "out there". Where one is free from books. Free from crazy assignments, cats and rats.Life would be good then. Consolation: "Just a few more days". Just like that; campus was done.. Then came the out here.  Looking for a job. Dropping CVs all over and moving from office to another with brown envelopes.. Life was about to start. Life would soon start. I would be so happy. So the internship came, and I was excited to start life.. In the meantime, I was looking for a job. You know life is good when one has a job, I thought.. More money,more privileges. More joy. You know. So the search and the longing continued.

Somewhere in the"waiting for life to start", It dawned on me that all along life had been happening.They say life starts at 40..Well,I don't think so.Life began already. Life does not begin when conditions get perfect.. Not when you clear school, not when you get a job or get married. It is the time in between.That stretch between the mountain or the valley. At the centre of arrival and departure, is where the journey of life happens. The period between perfect and imperfect is what is called Life.

I am reminded of the story of a boy with a magical wand that he would pull whenever he was in a phase of life that he did not like. So he pulled during class time to go for break.He pulled his singlehood into a relationship then into marriage,into children, into adults then into old age.In his old age he realized his last move on the magic wand would be death. As he lay in bed  about to die he regretted  that all his life he had pulled his life away.

Friend,God ordered our lives in seasons and appointed a time for each. So stop "waiting" the season away. He is not surprised that you are in it because He is the author of time. So when its time to plant,plant.If to uproot,uproot.Don't let life pass you by as you wait for life to happen. It is happening. 

Here and Now.

Best Wishes

Mwarray