My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me." And my heart responds, "LORD, I am coming." Psalm 27:8, NLT
DEDICATION
These thoughts are dedicated to my wife Mary, our children; Fairness and Serene and our generations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank my wife Mary for being one woman who creates an environment conducive for hearing when God is speaking and for writing.
Thanks to men and women I interact with on matters of spirituality. My time with you has born good fruits in my life, marriage, family and business. As I interact with you I get so many topics to write on.
Special thanks to God for the great things He has done in my life. He has spoken with me throughout the period of writing these thoughts. Without His voice these thoughts could not have existed. I cannot forget the peace and well-being in my family from Him.
INTRODUCTION
The desire of God is to have a heart to heart talk with us. He longs for us to pour our hearts to him in order for Him to fill our hearts with his words of life. He knows all the nasty issues in our hearts and He is able to take them from us. But we have to pour them to him. These thoughts are a vessel that carries worries, concerns, troubles, name them, in people’s hearts to God, and it brings what is in the Gods heart to the people. Through these thoughts the human heart transfers its content to God and receives the amazing grace of God. I hope every person who will interact with these thoughts his or her heart will encounter divine healing, life rejuvenation and refreshment.
GOD KNOWS YOUR LOCATION AND ABILITIES
Although there is a very high rate of unemployment in our nation, it is not easy to find learned and jobless young people in our villages. A good number of them are in our towns looking for opportunities. There is a mindset that is cultivated in us in our early years and it distresses us; it tells us after college or university education we are not supposed to be in our villages. We are supposed to go to towns to seek for employment opportunities. But, do people get meaningful jobs when they flood our towns?
When we finished university studies there were people who could not go back to their families. We left them around the university or towns that were around looking for opportunities. Others went for asylum in other towns in our nation. I specifically, I went back to our home; a place where people knew me in and out. I was not worried of what they would say on finding me do the ‘odd jobs’ with my computer science degree.
There are two things that make men and women not to return to their villages or home area after college or university studies, or when their jobs contracts are terminated. One is a belief that only when people are in towns can get to know where there are opportunities and that is where the issue of tarmacking starts. One spends time moving from one place to another in search of a job that does not exist. Two, people fear what others say. Not many people can do manual work while learned as others mock them. Our education system in most cases produces choosy people; out there men and women with college and university certificates do have a list of jobs they cannot do.
One thing as a people we need to come in terms with is God cares for us, and if God cares for us he is concerned with what happen to us after school life or when the jobs we do comes to an end. We need not bother our brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, relatives and friends by living with them in our towns as we look for job opportunities. That behavior does not end well. It has its own pains. God does not remember people because they are in towns or near places with job opportunities. Have you not seen local people complain that outsiders have taken their jobs?
Moses, the one who led the children of Israel out of Egypt, is one person who was remembered by God. When he was called to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, he was not in Egypt. But God knew the exact location he was in. He located him. When God is giving people opportunities he does not look where a person is, he looks on the ability in a person. If he was able to see Moses in the graze fields, even today he is able to see the jobless people and people in needs in areas where they seem to be forgotten. One only needs to have a right mindset.
The mistake people make is being selective. The certificates people have, the abilities people are gifted with and positions men and women have held in the past have created oppressive standards in their lives. How can a diploma or degree holder bend his or her back in a farm? How can a talented artist work out of stage? How can a former supervisor or manager be a casual laborer? But, the heartless truth is God does not favor people because they are learned, talented or they have held notable positions before.
We all know that the anointing of God outshines everything in this world, but, when David was anointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel that did not separate him from being a shepherd boy. None of us should be choosy in this life. We need to be like David. We should not be worried of doing what people call odd jobs. When the right time will come for us to use our certificates and past experiences no one will tie us in the graze fields we are in. A time came for David to leave the shepherd boy work and it will also come to every person with a talent, certificate, experience and so forth.
To every person with an ability that is not in use right now, never worry because you are not in town or a known place. God knows you. People may not know where you are but God knows your exact location; he knows the exact latitude and longitude you are within. Whatever comes in your way do it with humility. Do not allow the devil called ‘being selective’ destroy you. A day will come and God will take you where that ability you have will be in use. God is still on the throne and he has not forgotten or abandoned you.
LIVING AT PEACE DEPENDS ON YOU
How do you relate with the people around you? There was a place I passed some time back and I found a new home being built. When I asked a person from that area who was building that home, he told me, “I really do not know his name but he is not a peaceful person. The first day he came here he was too arrogant. No one knows him even his neighbors.” How many of us are like that man, people who are not in good terms with their neighbors or people close to them?
Many are the times we think the people around us are not useful and therefore we do not make every effort to live in peace with them. How many people are you apart with in your place of residence? How many parents of the school where your kids school you are not in terms with? How many of your workmates you do not relate well? How many torn ties have you not taken a step to mend in your life? Our egos and pride at times do not allow us to bow down and pursue peace with all people.
We need to know living in peace with all people depends on us. It does not depend on other people. Whether other people are hostile unto us or not living peacefully with them is on our hands. It does not rest on the ones who harm us. It is not reliance on parties that work to pull us down. It is not on the hands of men and women who dig pits for us or those who roll stones to crush us. It depends on us! It is our individual responsibility and it demands our effort.
As Paul wrote to the Romans, “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18, Christian Standard Bible”. This demands us to live a life that searches for peace even when our lives are pushed into a corner. This means no revenge, arrogance, fights and living a life that does not interfere with peace. If the good people can put an effort to live at peace with all people some troubles cannot exists. I look forward for a day when people instead of retaliating and living in antagonism, they will be saying, “Do all you want to me but I must live at peace with you.”
If only we can know the benefits of living in a cohesive marriage, family, workplace and society we can sacrifice our lives in order to live in it. Where people are relating well there is progress. It is very easy to get help from others where there is a peaceful co-existence. But where people do not face each other there is a wall of separation. In such a situation each person dies in issues that others can help to solve.
I hope you know the story of the prophet’s widow who asked help from Elisha, when a man who was owed money by her late husband came to take her two boys and make them his slaves. Elisha asked that poor woman what she had in her house. She told him she only had a jar of olive oil. Then Elisha told her, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. 2 Kings 4:3, NLT.” Then the woman was told to go to her house and shut the door behind her and her sons, and pour oil into all those jars, setting the full ones aside. That is how a miracle happened. That woman got enough oil to sell. She repaid the amount owed and was left with a lot of cash to cater for her family needs.
One thing we need to learn from that woman is she was living at peace with the people around her. If she was not a peaceful woman she could not get empty jars. If there is a home she did not borrow empty jars, it all depended on how she related with the members of that home. The oil had the capacity to fill as many jars as possible. The number of people that woman was in good terms with dictated the number of jars he got and as a result the amount of oil she got. If you were that woman how many jars could you have gotten? Could your oil be enough to repay the debt and be left with something tangible? It all depends on how you live with the people around you.
God can do great things in our lives through the people around us. But it depends on how we relate with them. If we can pursue to live in peace and harmony some issues cannot bother us. Living in peace with all people saves men and women from dangers. Some marriages, families, workers, leaders and businesses get into chaos since the people around cannot signal dangers ahead. The reason being their relationships are sour, hostile, muddy and the like. Can the people around you warn you in case there is a danger ahead of you? It is time to break the walls of hostility and make an effort to live in peace with all people.
UNSTOPPABLE IDEA
I closely follow the political happenings in our country but rarely do I comment about them. The recent political developments seem to be unfavorable for the deputy president. His pursuit for the presidential seat appears to be at risk. The political forces act as if they want to block him from reaching the presidency. But will he be able walk above the blocks on the way?
In life every worthy idea that enters into a person’s heart must encounter forces to stop it. What can help a person does not come easily. It must be fought for. There are systems, forces and mercenaries that must be dealt with. What blocks you from reaching where you want? Is it the people? Is it the systems in place? Is it lack of the necessary resources?
What makes people not to actualize their ideas is where they source them. All ideas of human and individual interest can not materialize. No single idea that is developed by a person can overcome the limitations in systems, mercenaries and forces directed to stop it. Where do you get the ideas that you want to implement in your life, marriage, family and what you do every day? Are they out of selfish interests? What do you really want to achieve with your idea? Is it something that will make others better or will it oppress them?
The only idea that cannot be stopped is the one that comes from God. The divine word that enters a heart of a man cannot be blocked. There is no force that can tame it. It overrides systems, mercenaries and forces created to divert it from becoming a reality. Any idea that originates from God comes with an inbuilt ability that propels it to reach fruition. It has no selfish interest and it is not a tool of cruelty but it is meant to benefit humanity.
When God looks on the world he is able to spot men and women he can trust with worthy ideas. He is able to know the people who can lead others out of a pure heart. He is able to know people who can build spirits of others. He is able to identify men and women who can heal marriages and families. He is able to know people who can own businesses that can transform their communities. He cannot be corrupted in order to give these ideas to people.
In the history of the early church there was a man by the name Simon. He was living in the region of Samaria. He was a sorcerer before he got born again. It happened that Peter and John prayed for the new converts there and by laying hands on them they received the Holy Spirit immensely. Simon was touched by that action of John and Peter and decided to give them money so that he could receive the power to make others receive the Holy Spirit. He did not know their action was an idea from God and could not be bought with money for selfish gain. How many times people long to have divine ideas in order to control others?
When we read about Abraham, Moses, Hannah the mother of prophet Samuel, King David, Abigael the wife of Nabal, Nehemiah, Daniel, Jesus and other people who overcame obstacles to reach where they wanted to be, one thing stands out; all their ideas came from God. All the challenges they faced in their lives they conquered them by the power of God. God gave them power and wisdom to jump hurdles that were put on their ways. Before the divine ideas came to these people they were ordinary men and women. Their ideas brought life, hope, healing and all that is good to the world around them.
The power of any idea lies in its source. It is not in the people. It is not in the systems in place. If it is an idea that can better the world nothing can stop it. But if it is for selfish interest the blocks on the way must halt it. Read about Haman and his idea to annihilate Mordechai and the Jews. His idea did not bear the fruits he expected. Read the story of Balak spending Balaam to curse the Israelites. His idea could not meet his desires. Blessed is the man with an idea from God because nothing can stop him. There is no person or power that can stop what emanates from God.
THERE IS A GOD WHO CARES
It is now two years since I resigned from formal employment. It has been a period of learning and trusting in God. I have learnt lessons that formal employment could not have taught me, at the same time my relationship with my maker has improved. My heart is stronger than before. My mind has been broadened. I have discovered myself; the real me. I have started a journey of actualizing myself. I longer tense as I used to. The constant threat of being sacked no longer bothers me. I do not meet anyone who makes noise on me. I manage myself.
Before I resigned I was afraid of unknown. I avoided thinking how my life would be in case of retrenchment or my employment contract being terminated. The performance review meeting we used to attend would stress me a lot. But when I decided to exit formal employment I told myself, “Whatever will be let it be I have God.”
There was a case of one person that fired me to resign. It was of a man who had joined a certain organization as a junior clerk. He had climbed the ladder to become a supervisor within two decades. Unfortunately, he was retrenched at his forty’s. He was caught by the termination letter unaware. He was shocked. His health deteriorated. After a few months he was pronounced to be in depression. It was while at that state that I met him.
That man had a plot purchase loan that was in default class. The bank he had taken the loan from was after him. But he could not service the loan. He had no other source of funds. Any place he was searching for another job he was met with the phrase, “we are not hiring.” What the wife was doing could only meet their daily needs, leave alone their two school going kids. The worst thing was the same plot housed the family. If the bank could auction it then he could be left without anything to show out of his toil. He would go back to paying rent or relocate to his rural home. As I talked with that family I realized the same can happen to me and any other person in employment.
What would happen to you if your employer tells you, “Tomorrow do not come. We have decided to downsize our operations and you are one of those who will be laid off.” There is a serious need of us to be always prepared for such statements. Anything can happen but if it will find us prepared we will not be depressed. Our families will not be shaken.
There was a person we were talking with about the looming retrenchments in our country and he opened up his life. He told me, “If I am laid off today I will sell the properties I have and payoff all my loans. The fact is I will be left like someone who has ever been in employment. I will restart my life.” That is the situation many people in formal employment are in. There are a lot of uncertainties about what next. If you are employed think about it.
For those two years I have been out of formal employment I have learnt there is nowhere it is written I have to be employed to live. Also there is nowhere written the specific place I have to work. We should get out of the box of the places we are employed. Those places are not our end. Our lives should not be dictated by the places we work in. Jobs do end but life must continue.
We only need to know we live because of God and not because of jobs we do. Instead of fixing our minds on where we work we need to fix them on God. When jobs end God knows how to sustain those who look on him. I have known God as a God who cares for his people when they have no place to report to work. In case you are retrenched, threatened to be laid off or about to retire do not be stressed how you will stay alive, there is a God who will keep you alive.
MENTAL FREEDOM
Today as a nation we are celebrating 56th years of self-governance. But the biggest question is; are we living in freedom? Are we dealing with our issues the way we want? Are we having full control of ourselves? Colonialism is not only about dominating and oppressing other people politically, economically and socially, it also includes enslaving the mind. Are our minds free?
The greatest freedom one can achieve is mental freedom; when the mind is free all other things falls in place. The enemy knows the power of the mind and to imprison a person’s life the mind is taken possession of. When the mind is in chains no life, marriage, family, workplace, business and nation can thrive. Mental slavery stagnates lives.
The way inmates in our prisons do not have the power to control and make decisions about their lives; likewise, men and women in mental prisons do not control or decide anything about their lives. In my local language we say such people ‘brains are carried by other people’. Who controls your life? Who makes decisions about your marriage and family? If your thoughts, speeches, decisions and actions are influenced by another person freedom is far from you.
In our world today, so many people are not in mental freedom. The political and religious fanatics we see in our places are just a reflection of how men and women are in mental slavery. There is a lot of radicalization on the wrong direction in people’s lives. Are you a person who is just heckling around or are you in the process of becoming one? Every person need to seek mental freedom.
When people see unfaithfulness, corruption, stealing, dishonesty, killing, and all the vices in the world as a way of life they follow that trend. But the people who live in those vices are already colonized in their minds by those evils. They are in hostages. It does not mean they are on the right track and none should follow them. There is a need to decolonize the mind of men and women.
The way to achieve it is consuming the right content. We should not follow the worldly standards but Godly standards. Only where there is Godly content men and women can achieve mental freedom. I do not mean religious teaching but words that sets people free; the gospel of truth that Jesus brought.
SWEATY SITUATIONS
Why do gazelles long for water? In 1990s the forest that bordered our home had a lot of gazelles. As we walked inside the forest to collect the firewood, burn the charcoal or fetch the water we could find them graze freely. At times they sneaked at noon to the farms that bordered the forest to feast on the fresh leaves of beans, peas and carrots. But, on several occasions they found themselves inside the traps set by poachers.
When we visited the water points within the forest when the sun was hot, we could find them around the water points. They really enjoyed the cool environment around the streams. It was at that time I came to know gazelles do not long for water streams because they are thirsty. It is their bodies that do not have several sweat glands. So when their bodies become hot there is slow heat exchange. To ensure there is good heat regulation they look for cool places and that is how they find themselves near the water streams.
When the psalmist likens the thirst for God to that of a deer panting for the water points, it means he or she was in sweaty conditions and the only place that could provide a safe, secure and satisfying environment was near God. In psalms chapter 42 verse one, we read, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. NLT.” The question we need to ask ourselves is; when the conditions around us are hot where do we go? What do we do at that time?
When your life becomes sweaty what do you do? Do you get into depression? Are you stressed? Do you think of suicide? Do you give up being a good person? It is time to write in our minds that when life is too hot for us we need to be close to God. We should pant to be near God and not walk away from him. It is in God our lives can be cooled.
When your marriage makes you sweat, what do you do? Do you prepare your fists ready to fight? Do you develop a million negative attitudes? Do you regret being in it? Do you look for ways to get out of it? Do you look for an opportunity to revenge? All these responses do not normalize or stabilize the heat in marriages. It is being close to God that regulates the heat that makes the people in marriages to sweat. If you are in a sweaty marriage look for God and your marriage will be in a cool environment.
When your workplace or business becomes too hot for you, what do you do? Do you engage in an irrational argument? Do you allow hatred to grow in you? Issues that make people to sweat in a workplace or business are many and no one is immune to them. It is where people go for solace makes the difference. Only those who go to God resort to a place where there is refreshment and safety.
We need to make a choice like the psalmist of going to God when we are in situations that make our lives hot. It is in God we can find the power that can cool issues in our lives, marriages, families, jobs, businesses and all that make us sweat. If a deer can find comfort in streams of water, we can find relief in God.
DO YOU KNOW YOUR PROBLEMS?
There is a mental disease which I know not its specific medical name that those who are affected by it do not know whether they are sick or not. In my local language a person who suffers it is referred to as mundu utete kariko, “the one who has lost sense.” It makes the affected person to be forgetful and at times speak irrelevant topics in the midst of a conversation. Some years back I had a contact with an old granny who was affected by it. Whenever her children dared to take her to the hospital she refused saying, “I am not sick. I have no pain.” She did not know she was sick. But, there was a time she could think she had lost her house keys and she could find them for hours while still holding them on her hands.
In life there are people who are like a person who has lost sense. They live in problems but they do not know they are in problems. For instance, a family that is characterized by early marriages rarely does its members realize that is a problem. Such a problem becomes their lifestyle and it terrorizes them in their lifetime and their generations. It is very unusual to find a person in that family without a child who is above twenty years. That problem keeps members in that family in darkness. They do not have time to build the foundation of their families, careers and lives. Someone told me such people start to climb the tree of life from the top.
Do you know the problems in your life, marriage, family, place of work or where you spend your day? The issue of people not being aware of the problems around them is not new. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a perfect example of an area with people who do not know the problems in their environment. It is only Lot who was aware of the problems in those cities and he lived a life that was not oppressed by those problems. As other people were consumed by fire because of wickedness in those cities Lot was in safety. It is only people who know a problem exists that look for its solution.
Jesus came to set people free from slavery of sins, but, there were people who did not know they were in prison of wickedness. They were comfortable in leading lives of sin. They were peaceful in the world of darkness. In John chapter 8 and verse 33 we read, “They answered, “We are Abraham’s descendants. And we have never been slaves. So why do you say that we will be free?” ERV.” How many of us are like these men who were in slavery, darkness and illnesses and did not know they were in it; people who were not open to what could set them free?
I wonder how many men and women are yoked by fights, greed, corruption, jealousy, alcohol and drug and all the vices in the world and yet they claim to be okay. A spouse who engages in infidelity and other issues that are a threat to the existence of a marriage has a problem. Any member of a family who lives a life that can crumble his or her family has a problem. A worker who lives or works against workplace ethics is in darkness. A leader who does not lead his followers in the right path has a problem. There is a need of men and women to realize the problems they are in. That is where a search for a transformational solution starts.
Radical changes in life are initiated when men and women understand they are in a problem. There is no revolution that can happen without a problem been identified. If we want to change our lives, marriages, families, workplaces, businesses and nations we must know the problems we are in. If we live like people with illness and claim to be healthy we will never change anything. Change is for people who know their problems and strive to get out of them.
THE IDEA OF HEAVEN
I have not written any article about heaven in the past but I know it exists. I am not bothered by it. I know only the people who lead right lives will enter through its gates. That city is not for crooks. I know the idea of heaven is chilling but will you be one of the people who will make it there?
There was a meeting I was more than a decade gone. In that meeting, there was a catholic priest who was in attendance. Since all the people who stood to speak in that meeting talked a lot about going to heaven, when he was invited to speak he said, “Instead of thinking too much about heaven, we should think how we can live peacefully with each other.” Those words have been in my heart since the time he uttered them.
If only we can lead an upright life in this world, then we will make it to heaven. But if our lives are defined by what is evil automatically we will not be among the saints. Life in heaven will not start at its gate, it starts in this world. How one lives today defines where one will enter when the gates of heaven and hades will be opened. Where will you be?
As we live, we should focus on leading straight lives. When I was learning computer programing there was something we used to call conditional statements. In a computer program it is the condition statements that define what next. For instance, when one goes to an automatic teller machine to withdraw money, it is the condition statement that takes a person to the next step. If one has no money in the account he or she cannot get even a coin from it unless one has a credit card.
Likewise, our lives are designed the same. If we lead straight lives, our lives will be good and at the end of the day we will find ourselves at heaven. But if we lead bad lives conditional statements will not allow us to enter heaven. We will be directed to another place and no one can access heaven on credit.
None of us should be preoccupied with the idea of going to heaven. What should consume our energy is doing what is right. We should be more concerned with how we work, do business, run our marriages and families, and how we live with the people around us. It is only when these facets of our lives will be on the right course that we will get an opportunity to dine with God.
If we will set our lives straight then our lives will terminate at heaven. God knows for how long the program of our lives will run and we should not allow the evils in the world to make us shift from the right path. Heaven is for the people who will not be corrupted by the dirt in marriages, families, workplaces, leadership, business activities and the wickedness in the world.
EITHER GODS GRACE OR MATUHUHU
Every person has unique abilities. There is divine grace in every person. It is very easy for people to identify the godly powers in their lives. But, the divine abilities people are endowed with depend on how they relate with God. In many occasions people do not know when their relationships with God become sour that grace leaves them.
When that grace goes what is left in a person is what my people call matuhuhu. That is, useless, irrelevant, devoid of life and unhelpful content or information. Is your life full of divine abilities or matuhuhu has taken over?
Do you know a musician who used to sing lively songs but nowadays sings matuhuhu? Do you know a preacher who used to preach accurate gospel but now speaks matuhuhu? Do you know a marriage that had life but today it is defined by matuhuhu? Do you know a worker or a business person who used to work or do business in a right way but the vigor is now gone and matuhuhu is now the order of the day?
The beauty in people’s lives, marriages, families, jobs, businesses and leadership styles originates from a good relationship with God. The day darkness enters in that relationship the supernatural grace evaporates. The container is left empty and that is when matuhuhu sets in.
When Adam and Eve were left by God in the Garden of Eden their lives were full of life. They were living a life full of potential. They had no deficit in their lives. They were perfect. But the day they destroyed their relationship with God the power they had left them. They became ordinary people and life became too tough to them. When God came as usual to visit them he found them having matuhuhu.
If there is something we should be keen with in our lives, marriages, families, jobs, businesses and in our leadership is the presence of God. We should guard it with all our minds, hearts and strength. We should not joke around with the divine grace we are given by God. That supernatural power is at our disposal as far as our relationship with God is right, otherwise matuhuhu must reign.
When a person is controlled by matuhuhu, he or she becomes like an empty vessel. It is only noise that he or she can give out. Do you know what King Saul did when his life became full of matuhuhu? He looked for a way to destroy David; the one who would give life. People whose grace is gone are very dangerous, they destroy the rising stars. They are like King Saul.
When God’s grace left the house of Eli, the whole family was wiped from the face of the earth. No one should think about a good life outside the divine power of God. In all the years I have been in this world I haven’t heard matuhuhu helping or building lives. But, I know how matuhuhu has ruined lives, marriages, families, jobs, businesses and leaders.
The only way to avoid matuhuhu is to remain in terms with God. If you have a talent that is giving life, a marriage that is haven of peace, a family tied with cords of love, a job or business that has life or a position of leading others that has hope cultivate a good relationship with God. Where God is there are good things but where He is not embraced matuhuhu dominates. Choose to be a person with God’s grace.
HEART TO HEART TALK
The heart of a man carries so many things; some good and others bad. There comes a time when a person cannot hold what is in the heart, especially when the heart has carried a lot of heaviness. At that time a person looks for a heart that he or she can empty the contents of his or her heart. But do people get a heart worthy to unload their hearts to?
As I grew up I had an opportunity to learn from my late grandmother. Since, we lived in the same house; I was exposed to her life. She was a woman who had a listening heart. It was not once, twice or thrice men and women came to her to empty their hearts. I can vividly remember people who came to her with marital, family and relationships issues, but by the time they parted with her they were healed. I witnessed anger, bitterness and tears melt in her presence. She restored joy and hope to troubled hearts.
There are several issues that burden the hearts of men, women and children. The major concern is not those issues but availability of a heart where they can be emptied. I have been in schools and I can confidently say some children have issues troubling them and their parents do not provide a heart where they can unpack them. If you are a parent, how open and available are you to your children? The drunkenness and fights in marriages and homes denies children hearts to air their issues to and as a result they search for answers from the wrong people.
Currently, depression is sweeping people. We have good people who have terminated their lives; others have slaughtered even their families. We condemn them. We curse them. But, how many of us have a heart of helping others. The people in depression have gloomy issues in their hearts, but, no one wants to listen to them. How many people can open their hearts to you relating to the troublesome issues they go through in their marriages, families and workplaces?
There was a day I was going to church. A few steps ahead of me was a lady heading to another church. She met another two ladies. As they exchange greetings, one of them said, “We had come to buy spinach.” That lady responded, “It is good. Let us bring our children up. The men who divorced us will know we can live without them.” The way they expressed themselves with unpleasantness caught my attention. As I sought to know them later, I learnt they were all bitter divorcees. But, where do they empty their woes?
God knows all our worries. He knows we need to empty our hearts. He is always ready for us. He longs for us to have a heart to heart talk with Him. His heart is open for us. His ears are wide open for us. He is able to hold all the heaviness in our hearts. He is able to cool our lives. He is able to put words of life and hope in our hearts. He is able to rejuvenate our lives. We only need to have a heart to heart talk with him. When our hearts are sick Gods heart has all the remedies we need.
The God we believe in is the same God Abraham had a talk with when his heart was weighed down by infertility. He gave him Isaac. It is the same God David had a talk with when his heart was not at peace because of King Saul hostility. He protected David. He is the same God in whom Job poured all his agony to when he was tormented. God restored his health, wealth and gave him other children. God’s heart is ready to absorb tough issues in our hearts. He only demands us to have a heart to heart talk with him.
TAKE CHARGE, GODLIKE, PROSPER, REPRODUCE AND FILL THE EARTH
We are in another year. We know not what will happen to us in the next twelve months or in days to come in our lives, marriages, families and workplaces. There are so many voices from different quarters that are predicting a tough year ahead. But, will this year scare us? Will we stand the pressure that will come to us this year? Are we ready for the uncertainties ahead of us?
I have been in this world for almost four decades and I have realized victory or defeat in life is not pegged on what one have, neither, is it on one’s physical strength. What is in the mind dictates what will be born in a person’s life; whether victory or downfall. What is in your mind as we start this year and decade? It is the mental state of a person that carries the power that runs a life.
The mind is like a camera. The pictures one takes are exactly what one can print. The quality of the pictures, whether clear or blurred, depends on what was taken. What kind of a camera is your mind this year and decade? Is it the one that takes stunning pictures or not? Each day God gives to us is an opportunity to take pictures of what we want our lives to be. It is good to have progress mind concerning our lives, marriages, families, jobs and all that relate to us. We should take our minds out of people and situations that pull us backward.
As I was thinking about this New Year and decade a word stirred my mind. It says, “God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.” Genesis 1:26-28, Message.”
From that passage, there are five words that we can put in our minds that can change our lives for good. Can you pick them? These words are; being responsible or taking charge, godlike, prosper, reproduce and fill the earth. As the year and decade starts we need to be responsible for our lives, marriages, families and jobs. We should have accountable, trustworthy and answerable mind going forward. We should not allow negligence that has been in our lives to continue controlling us. Take charge of your life, marriage, family, job or business. Do not allow people and situations to steer your life.
The person God created was not an ordinary person. He made a person who would reflect Him on the face of the earth. We need to put this in our minds; we are not common people. We are the people who are supposed to reveal God in our lives, marriages, families and in our workplaces. The greatness, goodness, fairness, mightiness and all the good things we know about God we are the people who are supposed to show them to the people around us. If in God there is victory, likewise, we should lead victorious lives.
In the past, the emphasis of prosperity has been material but in this year and decade we need to prosper not only in financial matters but also in spiritual, marriage, family, relationships and workplaces matters. This is the time to have balanced prosperity. The facets that make our lives must play in the same league. We have to declare it from our minds that if our pockets or spirits or families are playing The Premier League then all the other areas of our lives must play the same league. We should not be financially able but poor in our spiritual lives. We should not be doing well in our jobs but our marriages and families are in degradation.
This is the year and decade we need to talk about multiplication and expansion. Our lives, marriages, families and jobs or businesses should not be stagnant. It is time to breed. The person God created has the power to give birth to new life and ideas. We need to set our minds on bringing new life to our lives, marriages, families and workplaces. We should not continue with the past mindset that is defined by unfruitfulness, emptiness and the like.
ABEL TEARS
When we do evil to the people around us what do we expect in return? Many are the times we think no one knows about the evils we carry out in our closets. It is very rare to think one is in watch when propagating evil during the night. But, the truth is people may not see us but God is always in watch of what we do. And, God does not allow any evil to go unpunished. He is a fair God.
The outcome of Cain killing is a quintessential example of what is given birth by our evil actions. “God said, “What have you done! The voice of your brother’s blood is calling to me from the ground. From now on you’ll get nothing but curses from this ground; you’ll be driven from this ground that has opened its arms to receive the blood of your murdered brother. You’ll farm this ground, but it will no longer give you its best. You’ll be a homeless wanderer on Earth.” Genesis 4:10-12, MSG.”
Every evil action cries to God. The crookedness men and women plot and execute has its effects to their lives. The decadence in marriages cries to God. There is no intruder or third person in a marriage who goes scot-free. The pains some people go through in their lives or marriages are results of planning, organizing, participating or funding downfall of other people marriages. If one wants the best in his or her marriage then let him or her refrain killing marriages. Cain’s of marriages are ill-fated.
When I was a young boy, around ten years old, there was a day we woke up and found a cow’s udder and rotten eggs buried in our garden. Our grandmother was not happy of it. As she talked with bitterness she said, “These are the things that bring trouble in families. There is someone who does not wish us well. May the evil he or she was intending to befall on us go back to him or her.” I know we have people who are responsible for the anguishes in some families. What they need to know is their actions cries to God and what can only come back to them is pain. Cain behavior made the ground to be unfruitful to him; a person’s evil behavior towards families leads to miseries. When you see a family in confusion it might be another family tears are being heard by God. It is good to look for what can make families to stand.
I salute people who do not take part in others downfall. I honor parents who do not look for what can destroy other people children. But, the ones who teach other people’s children evil ways, for example, the ones who sell drugs and alcohol to children and others rape children, the tears parents of those kids shed because of their children do reach God. You cannot kill Abel and escape the agony of his tears. Abel tears are given first consideration by God. When we interact with other people children we should build their lives if we want peace.
In our workplaces and businesses we have people who destroy others. It is not once I have listened to narratives of how some people have led to termination of their fellow workers contracts. I know of people who have caused some businesses to sink. But, do these people lead good lives when they get those jobs or attain control of those businesses? There was a story I was given some years ago of a young lady who made a senior manager of an organization she was employed after school to be sent home for good. That manager had worked for that company for more than a decade. The trap the girl set caught that man. The girl was happy and was given a promotion. But, that action yielded confusion in the life of that girl. The cry of that man and his family could not go unnoticed before God. How many cries do reach God in our places of work or businesses every day? For the sake of good living we need to be careful with other workers and businesses.
I won’t mention about the Cain’s in leadership. But, every evil a person does to another will one day produce pain. People do cry and God do hear them. We should not be blind to think evil actions will bear good results. It is time for pain that has tarried. As my people say, “Cuma yaku Ãrà riko ya gûkuora, your issue is in the kitchen cooking.” If we want good things in our lives, marriages, families and jobs we should shun evil, otherwise we will be homeless wanderer on Earth.
IF NOT GOD
In my life I have not been a person who smokes or takes alcohol. When I was a young lad I used to hear my late grandmother and other people who paid her a visit talk about how the two had ruined people’s health, marriages, families and even jobs. As I grew up I developed a dislike of them. But, I have lived with people who cannot live without the two. What I know about them is there are people whom they respect such that they can put a lit cigarette in their pocket or hide beer bottles under the table when those people appear. Such kind of people avoids some behaviors because of the people they respect. What can’t you do because of the people you esteem?
In our lives we are exposed to all vices. We can steal. We can be corrupt. We can be immoral in our marriages. We can be worst people in our families. We can participate in workplace or business malpractices. But, what prevents us from being crooked? Is it our friends or the people we respect? Is it the ability, time or opportunity we lack? Of course, no, it is the respect we have for God that stops us from being in evil.
The greatest work we should do in our lives is to cultivate a respect for God. A reverence for God is not more of talk but actions. It is the response we give when an opportunity to do evil is at our disposal. It is what one does when he or she is in a position to loot his or her country or community resources. It is what people in marriages do when an opportunity to cheat on their spouses emerges. It is how leaders react when tempted to oppress the weak. Do your actions reflect respect for God?
We admire the biblical characters like Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, but one thing common to these men is they respected God. There were things these men could not do because of God. Joseph could not sleep with Pharaoh’s wife. Daniel could not get down on his knees and pray Darius. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego could not fall down and worship the image of gold. What can you say in your life, marriage, family, workplace or business you could have done it if not God? A respect for God should make us not to lead a life that is a disgrace to Him.
Respect for God should tie our hands from giving the people around us blows. It should also compel us to say no to all unrighteousness. If people can afford to bear the burns of cigarette in their pockets and others can pour beer because of the people they respect what can’t we do because of respecting the God we love? If when respectable visitors are coming to our homes or offices we remove all the mess and put things in order, why don’t we do that to our God? Does it mean we do not respect Him?
A person who does not do what is wrong because of God honors Him. Such a person finds the heart of God being ready for him or her. If we want God to come straight away in our lives, marriages, families, jobs and businesses then we need to respect Him. It was Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego respect for God that made them experience instant grace of God. According to the history of the ancient Egyptian law, the penalty for rape was death or disfigurement. Men found guilty of rape were castrated or had their penis amputated. Joseph could have been judged using that law but the God he respected saved him immediately. Likewise, Daniel could have faced the wrath of hungry lions but he respected God, the same concerning Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the fire had the power to consume them but respect for God rescued them from its flames. Respect for God is power but many times we fail to have it because of the way we live. Do you have it in your life?
A COMMUNITY PERSON
How do you live with the people around you? What is the kind of the mind you have for your community? The way we live with the people around us either makes God to like us or hate us. All we do in our societies matters and there is a book where all our actions towards the people around us are recorded. If history can be read of our relations in our communities what will yours be like?
We are used with the sweet words people give during funerals and in most cases those narrations and descriptions are total lies. The people who are given an opportunity to talk on behalf of our communities mislead people. There was a burial I attended somewhere and in the midst of the crowd someone asked, “Who is the person the speaker is talking about? The person I came to burry was not good as such.”
In our communities we are fond of praising even bad people. We talk well of men and women who are thorns in our residential areas. We exalt people we know are responsible for marriages and families collapse. We clap for leaders who have stolen our community resources. We are happy of people who sell drugs to our children. We cover the chili pepper in our places of work. But, we need to know God is not ashamed to call a spade a spade. And, there is no single day God will use peoples description to define us. He sees all our moves and interactions with the people around us with His own eyes.
In the bible there are men and women who lived well in their societies. One of them was Noah, about him it is recorded, “But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah. This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:8-9, MSG.”
Noah lived in a community where human evil was out of control. People thought, imagined and lived in evil. Every place people were it was all about evil. God was not happy at all with that community. But, He liked the kind of life Noah was leading. Noah was straight while dealing with his community. He was not evil to it. Noah carried God to his community.
How many of us are like Noah in our communities? How many of us God can be pleased with in our communities? How many of us can walk with integrity while dealing with our communities? We have residential, marriages, families, workplace, social media and so forth communities. Do we stand for what is right in those communities? Can God really be happy with what we do in those communities? God falls in love with people who lead good lives in their communities. But, a community hooligan has no place in His heart.
GODS PRESENCE
What determines whether God is with the people? Is it what goes around in their lives? There is an intellectual tradition that colonizes us to think God is with us when everything is okay in our lives. We see as if people going through hell in their lives, marriages, families and places of work are abandoned by God. But, the fact is absence or existence of a challenge is not a guarantee of God’s presence or absenteeism.
We have so many people whose lives, marriages, families, jobs or businesses are always in summer but God is not with them. Being in high-spirit is not a sign of God’s presence. God’s presence is not measured by the quality of life one leads. We have so many crooks whose lives, marriages, families, jobs and businesses are in calm state. But it’s their bad days that have not started.
When Cain killed his brother, Abel, he was happy. He had achieved what he wanted. But he did not know God was not with him anymore. The dwellers of Sodom and Gomorrah were revelers, but, God was very far from them because of their character. The software or applications in our minds that tells us merry living means Gods presence needs to be an uninstalled.
Thinking God has abandoned people because their lives, marriages, families, jobs or businesses are in chaos is a mis-thought. We have people in gloomy situations but God is still with them. The presence of storms is not a sure prediction of Gods absence. We have people who must go through life hurricanes in preparation of a better life ahead of them.
Joseph was a man who was straight before God, but, he had to go through prison to become that which God intended. David had an anointing from God, but that did not give him favor before King Saul. He had to run for his life. He had to sleep in caves. A person who would have seen Joseph in prison or David pretending to be a mad person would have thought God was not with them. The hardships we see in people’s lives, marriages, families, jobs or businesses are not an indication of Gods’ absenteeism in their lives.
What defines the presence or absence of God is the kind of life one leads. God does not dwell where evil reigns. If one leads a twisted life, such a person is out of God’s presence; whether his or her life is at peace or not. It is only a straight living that guarantees Gods presence. Doing what is wrong kicks God out of people’s lives, marriages, families, jobs and businesses. Is God with you?
It is “the wrong things the sinful self does: committing sexual sin, being morally bad, doing all kinds of shameful things, worshiping false gods, taking part in witchcraft, hating people, causing trouble, being jealous, angry or selfish, causing people to argue and divide into separate groups, being filled with envy, getting drunk, having wild parties, and doing other things like this (Galatians 5:19-21a, ERV)” that make God to pack His belonging and leave people’s lives. There is no way God can be in a job or business characterized by malpractices. If we want God to be in our marriages and families we have to clean the dirt in them.
There is a mental disease which I know not its specific medical name that those who are affected by it do not know whether they are sick or not. In my local language a person who suffers it is referred to as mundu utete kariko, “the one who has lost sense.” It makes the affected person to be forgetful and at times speak irrelevant topics in the midst of a conversation. Some years back I had a contact with an old granny who was affected by it. Whenever her children dared to take her to the hospital she refused saying, “I am not sick. I have no pain.” She did not know she was sick. But, there was a time she could think she had lost her house keys and she could find them for hours while still holding them on her hands.
In life there are people who are like a person who has lost sense. They live in problems but they do not know they are in problems. For instance, a family that is characterized by early marriages rarely does its members realize that is a problem. Such a problem becomes their lifestyle and it terrorizes them in their lifetime and their generations. It is very unusual to find a person in that family without a child who is above twenty years. That problem keeps members in that family in darkness. They do not have time to build the foundation of their families, careers and lives. Someone told me such people start to climb the tree of life from the top.
Do you know the problems in your life, marriage, family, place of work or where you spend your day? The issue of people not being aware of the problems around them is not new. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a perfect example of an area with people who do not know the problems in their environment. It is only Lot who was aware of the problems in those cities and he lived a life that was not oppressed by those problems. As other people were consumed by fire because of wickedness in those cities Lot was in safety. It is only people who know a problem exists that look for its solution.
Jesus came to set people free from slavery of sins, but, there were people who did not know they were in prison of wickedness. They were comfortable in leading lives of sin. They were peaceful in the world of darkness. In John chapter 8 and verse 33 we read, “They answered, “We are Abraham’s descendants. And we have never been slaves. So why do you say that we will be free?” ERV.” How many of us are like these men who were in slavery, darkness and illnesses and did not know they were in it; people who were not open to what could set them free?
I wonder how many men and women are yoked by fights, greed, corruption, jealousy, alcohol and drug and all the vices in the world and yet they claim to be okay. A spouse who engages in infidelity and other issues that are a threat to the existence of a marriage has a problem. Any member of a family who lives a life that can crumble his or her family has a problem. A worker who lives or works against workplace ethics is in darkness. A leader who does not lead his followers in the right path has a problem. There is a need of men and women to realize the problems they are in. That is where a search for a transformational solution starts.
Radical changes in life are initiated when men and women understand they are in a problem. There is no revolution that can happen without a problem been identified. If we want to change our lives, marriages, families, workplaces, businesses and nations we must know the problems we are in. If we live like people with illness and claim to be healthy we will never change anything. Change is for people who know their problems and strive to get out of them.
THE IDEA OF HEAVEN
I have not written any article about heaven in the past but I know it exists. I am not bothered by it. I know only the people who lead right lives will enter through its gates. That city is not for crooks. I know the idea of heaven is chilling but will you be one of the people who will make it there?
There was a meeting I was more than a decade gone. In that meeting, there was a catholic priest who was in attendance. Since all the people who stood to speak in that meeting talked a lot about going to heaven, when he was invited to speak he said, “Instead of thinking too much about heaven, we should think how we can live peacefully with each other.” Those words have been in my heart since the time he uttered them.
If only we can lead an upright life in this world, then we will make it to heaven. But if our lives are defined by what is evil automatically we will not be among the saints. Life in heaven will not start at its gate, it starts in this world. How one lives today defines where one will enter when the gates of heaven and hades will be opened. Where will you be?
As we live, we should focus on leading straight lives. When I was learning computer programing there was something we used to call conditional statements. In a computer program it is the condition statements that define what next. For instance, when one goes to an automatic teller machine to withdraw money, it is the condition statement that takes a person to the next step. If one has no money in the account he or she cannot get even a coin from it unless one has a credit card.
Likewise, our lives are designed the same. If we lead straight lives, our lives will be good and at the end of the day we will find ourselves at heaven. But if we lead bad lives conditional statements will not allow us to enter heaven. We will be directed to another place and no one can access heaven on credit.
None of us should be preoccupied with the idea of going to heaven. What should consume our energy is doing what is right. We should be more concerned with how we work, do business, run our marriages and families, and how we live with the people around us. It is only when these facets of our lives will be on the right course that we will get an opportunity to dine with God.
If we will set our lives straight then our lives will terminate at heaven. God knows for how long the program of our lives will run and we should not allow the evils in the world to make us shift from the right path. Heaven is for the people who will not be corrupted by the dirt in marriages, families, workplaces, leadership, business activities and the wickedness in the world.
EITHER GODS GRACE OR MATUHUHU
Every person has unique abilities. There is divine grace in every person. It is very easy for people to identify the godly powers in their lives. But, the divine abilities people are endowed with depend on how they relate with God. In many occasions people do not know when their relationships with God become sour that grace leaves them.
When that grace goes what is left in a person is what my people call matuhuhu. That is, useless, irrelevant, devoid of life and unhelpful content or information. Is your life full of divine abilities or matuhuhu has taken over?
Do you know a musician who used to sing lively songs but nowadays sings matuhuhu? Do you know a preacher who used to preach accurate gospel but now speaks matuhuhu? Do you know a marriage that had life but today it is defined by matuhuhu? Do you know a worker or a business person who used to work or do business in a right way but the vigor is now gone and matuhuhu is now the order of the day?
The beauty in people’s lives, marriages, families, jobs, businesses and leadership styles originates from a good relationship with God. The day darkness enters in that relationship the supernatural grace evaporates. The container is left empty and that is when matuhuhu sets in.
When Adam and Eve were left by God in the Garden of Eden their lives were full of life. They were living a life full of potential. They had no deficit in their lives. They were perfect. But the day they destroyed their relationship with God the power they had left them. They became ordinary people and life became too tough to them. When God came as usual to visit them he found them having matuhuhu.
If there is something we should be keen with in our lives, marriages, families, jobs, businesses and in our leadership is the presence of God. We should guard it with all our minds, hearts and strength. We should not joke around with the divine grace we are given by God. That supernatural power is at our disposal as far as our relationship with God is right, otherwise matuhuhu must reign.
When a person is controlled by matuhuhu, he or she becomes like an empty vessel. It is only noise that he or she can give out. Do you know what King Saul did when his life became full of matuhuhu? He looked for a way to destroy David; the one who would give life. People whose grace is gone are very dangerous, they destroy the rising stars. They are like King Saul.
When God’s grace left the house of Eli, the whole family was wiped from the face of the earth. No one should think about a good life outside the divine power of God. In all the years I have been in this world I haven’t heard matuhuhu helping or building lives. But, I know how matuhuhu has ruined lives, marriages, families, jobs, businesses and leaders.
The only way to avoid matuhuhu is to remain in terms with God. If you have a talent that is giving life, a marriage that is haven of peace, a family tied with cords of love, a job or business that has life or a position of leading others that has hope cultivate a good relationship with God. Where God is there are good things but where He is not embraced matuhuhu dominates. Choose to be a person with God’s grace.
HEART TO HEART TALK
The heart of a man carries so many things; some good and others bad. There comes a time when a person cannot hold what is in the heart, especially when the heart has carried a lot of heaviness. At that time a person looks for a heart that he or she can empty the contents of his or her heart. But do people get a heart worthy to unload their hearts to?
As I grew up I had an opportunity to learn from my late grandmother. Since, we lived in the same house; I was exposed to her life. She was a woman who had a listening heart. It was not once, twice or thrice men and women came to her to empty their hearts. I can vividly remember people who came to her with marital, family and relationships issues, but by the time they parted with her they were healed. I witnessed anger, bitterness and tears melt in her presence. She restored joy and hope to troubled hearts.
There are several issues that burden the hearts of men, women and children. The major concern is not those issues but availability of a heart where they can be emptied. I have been in schools and I can confidently say some children have issues troubling them and their parents do not provide a heart where they can unpack them. If you are a parent, how open and available are you to your children? The drunkenness and fights in marriages and homes denies children hearts to air their issues to and as a result they search for answers from the wrong people.
Currently, depression is sweeping people. We have good people who have terminated their lives; others have slaughtered even their families. We condemn them. We curse them. But, how many of us have a heart of helping others. The people in depression have gloomy issues in their hearts, but, no one wants to listen to them. How many people can open their hearts to you relating to the troublesome issues they go through in their marriages, families and workplaces?
There was a day I was going to church. A few steps ahead of me was a lady heading to another church. She met another two ladies. As they exchange greetings, one of them said, “We had come to buy spinach.” That lady responded, “It is good. Let us bring our children up. The men who divorced us will know we can live without them.” The way they expressed themselves with unpleasantness caught my attention. As I sought to know them later, I learnt they were all bitter divorcees. But, where do they empty their woes?
God knows all our worries. He knows we need to empty our hearts. He is always ready for us. He longs for us to have a heart to heart talk with Him. His heart is open for us. His ears are wide open for us. He is able to hold all the heaviness in our hearts. He is able to cool our lives. He is able to put words of life and hope in our hearts. He is able to rejuvenate our lives. We only need to have a heart to heart talk with him. When our hearts are sick Gods heart has all the remedies we need.
The God we believe in is the same God Abraham had a talk with when his heart was weighed down by infertility. He gave him Isaac. It is the same God David had a talk with when his heart was not at peace because of King Saul hostility. He protected David. He is the same God in whom Job poured all his agony to when he was tormented. God restored his health, wealth and gave him other children. God’s heart is ready to absorb tough issues in our hearts. He only demands us to have a heart to heart talk with him.
TAKE CHARGE, GODLIKE, PROSPER, REPRODUCE AND FILL THE EARTH
We are in another year. We know not what will happen to us in the next twelve months or in days to come in our lives, marriages, families and workplaces. There are so many voices from different quarters that are predicting a tough year ahead. But, will this year scare us? Will we stand the pressure that will come to us this year? Are we ready for the uncertainties ahead of us?
I have been in this world for almost four decades and I have realized victory or defeat in life is not pegged on what one have, neither, is it on one’s physical strength. What is in the mind dictates what will be born in a person’s life; whether victory or downfall. What is in your mind as we start this year and decade? It is the mental state of a person that carries the power that runs a life.
The mind is like a camera. The pictures one takes are exactly what one can print. The quality of the pictures, whether clear or blurred, depends on what was taken. What kind of a camera is your mind this year and decade? Is it the one that takes stunning pictures or not? Each day God gives to us is an opportunity to take pictures of what we want our lives to be. It is good to have progress mind concerning our lives, marriages, families, jobs and all that relate to us. We should take our minds out of people and situations that pull us backward.
As I was thinking about this New Year and decade a word stirred my mind. It says, “God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.” Genesis 1:26-28, Message.”
From that passage, there are five words that we can put in our minds that can change our lives for good. Can you pick them? These words are; being responsible or taking charge, godlike, prosper, reproduce and fill the earth. As the year and decade starts we need to be responsible for our lives, marriages, families and jobs. We should have accountable, trustworthy and answerable mind going forward. We should not allow negligence that has been in our lives to continue controlling us. Take charge of your life, marriage, family, job or business. Do not allow people and situations to steer your life.
The person God created was not an ordinary person. He made a person who would reflect Him on the face of the earth. We need to put this in our minds; we are not common people. We are the people who are supposed to reveal God in our lives, marriages, families and in our workplaces. The greatness, goodness, fairness, mightiness and all the good things we know about God we are the people who are supposed to show them to the people around us. If in God there is victory, likewise, we should lead victorious lives.
In the past, the emphasis of prosperity has been material but in this year and decade we need to prosper not only in financial matters but also in spiritual, marriage, family, relationships and workplaces matters. This is the time to have balanced prosperity. The facets that make our lives must play in the same league. We have to declare it from our minds that if our pockets or spirits or families are playing The Premier League then all the other areas of our lives must play the same league. We should not be financially able but poor in our spiritual lives. We should not be doing well in our jobs but our marriages and families are in degradation.
This is the year and decade we need to talk about multiplication and expansion. Our lives, marriages, families and jobs or businesses should not be stagnant. It is time to breed. The person God created has the power to give birth to new life and ideas. We need to set our minds on bringing new life to our lives, marriages, families and workplaces. We should not continue with the past mindset that is defined by unfruitfulness, emptiness and the like.
ABEL TEARS
When we do evil to the people around us what do we expect in return? Many are the times we think no one knows about the evils we carry out in our closets. It is very rare to think one is in watch when propagating evil during the night. But, the truth is people may not see us but God is always in watch of what we do. And, God does not allow any evil to go unpunished. He is a fair God.
The outcome of Cain killing is a quintessential example of what is given birth by our evil actions. “God said, “What have you done! The voice of your brother’s blood is calling to me from the ground. From now on you’ll get nothing but curses from this ground; you’ll be driven from this ground that has opened its arms to receive the blood of your murdered brother. You’ll farm this ground, but it will no longer give you its best. You’ll be a homeless wanderer on Earth.” Genesis 4:10-12, MSG.”
Every evil action cries to God. The crookedness men and women plot and execute has its effects to their lives. The decadence in marriages cries to God. There is no intruder or third person in a marriage who goes scot-free. The pains some people go through in their lives or marriages are results of planning, organizing, participating or funding downfall of other people marriages. If one wants the best in his or her marriage then let him or her refrain killing marriages. Cain’s of marriages are ill-fated.
When I was a young boy, around ten years old, there was a day we woke up and found a cow’s udder and rotten eggs buried in our garden. Our grandmother was not happy of it. As she talked with bitterness she said, “These are the things that bring trouble in families. There is someone who does not wish us well. May the evil he or she was intending to befall on us go back to him or her.” I know we have people who are responsible for the anguishes in some families. What they need to know is their actions cries to God and what can only come back to them is pain. Cain behavior made the ground to be unfruitful to him; a person’s evil behavior towards families leads to miseries. When you see a family in confusion it might be another family tears are being heard by God. It is good to look for what can make families to stand.
I salute people who do not take part in others downfall. I honor parents who do not look for what can destroy other people children. But, the ones who teach other people’s children evil ways, for example, the ones who sell drugs and alcohol to children and others rape children, the tears parents of those kids shed because of their children do reach God. You cannot kill Abel and escape the agony of his tears. Abel tears are given first consideration by God. When we interact with other people children we should build their lives if we want peace.
In our workplaces and businesses we have people who destroy others. It is not once I have listened to narratives of how some people have led to termination of their fellow workers contracts. I know of people who have caused some businesses to sink. But, do these people lead good lives when they get those jobs or attain control of those businesses? There was a story I was given some years ago of a young lady who made a senior manager of an organization she was employed after school to be sent home for good. That manager had worked for that company for more than a decade. The trap the girl set caught that man. The girl was happy and was given a promotion. But, that action yielded confusion in the life of that girl. The cry of that man and his family could not go unnoticed before God. How many cries do reach God in our places of work or businesses every day? For the sake of good living we need to be careful with other workers and businesses.
I won’t mention about the Cain’s in leadership. But, every evil a person does to another will one day produce pain. People do cry and God do hear them. We should not be blind to think evil actions will bear good results. It is time for pain that has tarried. As my people say, “Cuma yaku Ãrà riko ya gûkuora, your issue is in the kitchen cooking.” If we want good things in our lives, marriages, families and jobs we should shun evil, otherwise we will be homeless wanderer on Earth.
IF NOT GOD
In my life I have not been a person who smokes or takes alcohol. When I was a young lad I used to hear my late grandmother and other people who paid her a visit talk about how the two had ruined people’s health, marriages, families and even jobs. As I grew up I developed a dislike of them. But, I have lived with people who cannot live without the two. What I know about them is there are people whom they respect such that they can put a lit cigarette in their pocket or hide beer bottles under the table when those people appear. Such kind of people avoids some behaviors because of the people they respect. What can’t you do because of the people you esteem?
In our lives we are exposed to all vices. We can steal. We can be corrupt. We can be immoral in our marriages. We can be worst people in our families. We can participate in workplace or business malpractices. But, what prevents us from being crooked? Is it our friends or the people we respect? Is it the ability, time or opportunity we lack? Of course, no, it is the respect we have for God that stops us from being in evil.
The greatest work we should do in our lives is to cultivate a respect for God. A reverence for God is not more of talk but actions. It is the response we give when an opportunity to do evil is at our disposal. It is what one does when he or she is in a position to loot his or her country or community resources. It is what people in marriages do when an opportunity to cheat on their spouses emerges. It is how leaders react when tempted to oppress the weak. Do your actions reflect respect for God?
We admire the biblical characters like Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, but one thing common to these men is they respected God. There were things these men could not do because of God. Joseph could not sleep with Pharaoh’s wife. Daniel could not get down on his knees and pray Darius. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego could not fall down and worship the image of gold. What can you say in your life, marriage, family, workplace or business you could have done it if not God? A respect for God should make us not to lead a life that is a disgrace to Him.
Respect for God should tie our hands from giving the people around us blows. It should also compel us to say no to all unrighteousness. If people can afford to bear the burns of cigarette in their pockets and others can pour beer because of the people they respect what can’t we do because of respecting the God we love? If when respectable visitors are coming to our homes or offices we remove all the mess and put things in order, why don’t we do that to our God? Does it mean we do not respect Him?
A person who does not do what is wrong because of God honors Him. Such a person finds the heart of God being ready for him or her. If we want God to come straight away in our lives, marriages, families, jobs and businesses then we need to respect Him. It was Joseph, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego respect for God that made them experience instant grace of God. According to the history of the ancient Egyptian law, the penalty for rape was death or disfigurement. Men found guilty of rape were castrated or had their penis amputated. Joseph could have been judged using that law but the God he respected saved him immediately. Likewise, Daniel could have faced the wrath of hungry lions but he respected God, the same concerning Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the fire had the power to consume them but respect for God rescued them from its flames. Respect for God is power but many times we fail to have it because of the way we live. Do you have it in your life?
A COMMUNITY PERSON
How do you live with the people around you? What is the kind of the mind you have for your community? The way we live with the people around us either makes God to like us or hate us. All we do in our societies matters and there is a book where all our actions towards the people around us are recorded. If history can be read of our relations in our communities what will yours be like?
We are used with the sweet words people give during funerals and in most cases those narrations and descriptions are total lies. The people who are given an opportunity to talk on behalf of our communities mislead people. There was a burial I attended somewhere and in the midst of the crowd someone asked, “Who is the person the speaker is talking about? The person I came to burry was not good as such.”
In our communities we are fond of praising even bad people. We talk well of men and women who are thorns in our residential areas. We exalt people we know are responsible for marriages and families collapse. We clap for leaders who have stolen our community resources. We are happy of people who sell drugs to our children. We cover the chili pepper in our places of work. But, we need to know God is not ashamed to call a spade a spade. And, there is no single day God will use peoples description to define us. He sees all our moves and interactions with the people around us with His own eyes.
In the bible there are men and women who lived well in their societies. One of them was Noah, about him it is recorded, “But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah. This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:8-9, MSG.”
Noah lived in a community where human evil was out of control. People thought, imagined and lived in evil. Every place people were it was all about evil. God was not happy at all with that community. But, He liked the kind of life Noah was leading. Noah was straight while dealing with his community. He was not evil to it. Noah carried God to his community.
How many of us are like Noah in our communities? How many of us God can be pleased with in our communities? How many of us can walk with integrity while dealing with our communities? We have residential, marriages, families, workplace, social media and so forth communities. Do we stand for what is right in those communities? Can God really be happy with what we do in those communities? God falls in love with people who lead good lives in their communities. But, a community hooligan has no place in His heart.
GODS PRESENCE
What determines whether God is with the people? Is it what goes around in their lives? There is an intellectual tradition that colonizes us to think God is with us when everything is okay in our lives. We see as if people going through hell in their lives, marriages, families and places of work are abandoned by God. But, the fact is absence or existence of a challenge is not a guarantee of God’s presence or absenteeism.
We have so many people whose lives, marriages, families, jobs or businesses are always in summer but God is not with them. Being in high-spirit is not a sign of God’s presence. God’s presence is not measured by the quality of life one leads. We have so many crooks whose lives, marriages, families, jobs and businesses are in calm state. But it’s their bad days that have not started.
When Cain killed his brother, Abel, he was happy. He had achieved what he wanted. But he did not know God was not with him anymore. The dwellers of Sodom and Gomorrah were revelers, but, God was very far from them because of their character. The software or applications in our minds that tells us merry living means Gods presence needs to be an uninstalled.
Thinking God has abandoned people because their lives, marriages, families, jobs or businesses are in chaos is a mis-thought. We have people in gloomy situations but God is still with them. The presence of storms is not a sure prediction of Gods absence. We have people who must go through life hurricanes in preparation of a better life ahead of them.
Joseph was a man who was straight before God, but, he had to go through prison to become that which God intended. David had an anointing from God, but that did not give him favor before King Saul. He had to run for his life. He had to sleep in caves. A person who would have seen Joseph in prison or David pretending to be a mad person would have thought God was not with them. The hardships we see in people’s lives, marriages, families, jobs or businesses are not an indication of Gods’ absenteeism in their lives.
What defines the presence or absence of God is the kind of life one leads. God does not dwell where evil reigns. If one leads a twisted life, such a person is out of God’s presence; whether his or her life is at peace or not. It is only a straight living that guarantees Gods presence. Doing what is wrong kicks God out of people’s lives, marriages, families, jobs and businesses. Is God with you?
It is “the wrong things the sinful self does: committing sexual sin, being morally bad, doing all kinds of shameful things, worshiping false gods, taking part in witchcraft, hating people, causing trouble, being jealous, angry or selfish, causing people to argue and divide into separate groups, being filled with envy, getting drunk, having wild parties, and doing other things like this (Galatians 5:19-21a, ERV)” that make God to pack His belonging and leave people’s lives. There is no way God can be in a job or business characterized by malpractices. If we want God to be in our marriages and families we have to clean the dirt in them.
HEART TO HEART TALK
DAVID WAITHERA
PUBLISHED 2023
© DAVIDO DIGITAL SOLUTIONS
DAVID WAITHERA
PUBLISHED 2023
© DAVIDO DIGITAL SOLUTIONS
