I read a devotional that resonated deeply I had to share it here.
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1 John 4:4 NIV – “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Did you hear that? The one who is in you, the Holy Spirit that is alive in you, is greater, more powerful than anything that is in the world. We have the authority to speak out against the darkness, fear, sickness, even death.
It’s Him in us who makes us strong.
It’s Him in us who makes us brave.
It’s Him in us who gives us confidence.
It’s Him in us who gives us eyes to see a hopeful future.
It’s Him in us who allows us to not worry.
It’s Him in us who gives us the tools to fight battles bigger than ourselves.
It’s Him in us who helps us to overcome darkness.
It’s Him in us who gives us joy, in every situation
So when you feel fearful, in panic, overcome by darkness, know that it’s Him in us who can tackle and overcome all things, not by our strength but His strength in us.
If you take just one thing from this devotional it would be: Call on the name of Jesus. It’s more powerful than you, than any circumstance God bless
Over the last few years, I have been challenged to understand my mindset and ensure it is right. What does right mean? Right means that my mindset will enable me to grow and become all that God intended for me when he created me. Right means it enables me to overcome the different barriers or situations that are holding me back. Right means that it encourages me to keep moving forward even in very challenging times.
Mindsets are taught in our homes and the environments we spend the most time in. We are raised with certain parameters and beliefs about life, people and things but we have to keep asking if they still serve us today. Let me explain, each family has its traditions and customs but are they all still good for the current situation?
Your ancestors didn’t trust a certain tribe because of their history but does that stand for everyone in that tribe or is it now a burden to carry? I remember listening to friends decry a certain tribe how they cannot be trusted yet I have friends from that tribe who are nothing like the generalisations being discussed. I had to question my belief about that group of people and many other things.
I say it is in the mindset because our view is influenced by how we think and what we believe.
Every morning I wake up and wonder how I got myself here, she said.
Where? I asked
Into this relationship, job, life, social circle…everything!!!
Why? What makes you think that?
I had always pictured my life to be rosy and happy. I wanted a strong family, a good job, stable income, children, nice in-laws, good looks for life, self-confidence…the whole nine yards.
And what do you have?
It feels like nothing.
But is it really nothing?
What do you mean?
Simple, do you really have nothing or are you so focused on what you do not have that you cannot see or understand what you do have?
What do I have?
That is for you to figure out and tell me.
Why?
When you discover what you have and recognise what a blessing it is, your view on life is transformed permanently. Sometimes the best thing that can happen for us is to shift our perspectives about our lives.
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It is strangely easy to see all the difficult things we are going through and get stuck there never or rarely see the good that is all around us. I have found that in times when you lack something significant, your mind struggles to connect to the other realities around you. It is easy to turn to the wrong sources of support when you are lonely or the wrong business options or models when you are worn out. It is easy to wallow in sadness when you are lonely and never see the good around you.
What would it take to shift our attention?
As I have read through Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, I keep hearing Moses remind the children of Israel of what ‘The Lord, their God…’ said. Even though Moses was the one in the presence of God for a chunk of the time, he did not ascribe the word spoken to himself rather he knew that it was for the whole community. Yahweh wasn’t his personal God, He was the Almighty God who would be credited for leading the children of Israel out of the place of hardship into the promised lands.
The Israelites had to get to the place where they understood that:
God was for all of them: He was not the preserve of Moses and the high priests. He could be approached. He was trustworthy. He was interested in all of them equally. He did not have favourites rather He showed up more for those who sought Him more.
The miraculous did not overpower the personal: Just because God did big miracles in battle or when the ark was taken or when the priest carried, he was also interested in the personal acts. He saw Achan steal, heard the words of Dothan and his friends, heard the complaints of Miriam and Aaron and so on. When each one crossed the line, it didn’t matter that they were elected of God, they each had to bear the results of their actions.
We must always choose our path: when the Israelites chose not to go up the mountain with Moses, they chose a lower covenant expression. When Joshua chose to stay around Moses and sit at the door of the tent of meeting when he went in to meet God, he chose a deeper connection to and understanding of God and the possibilities there off.
The same applies to us today.
God is AVAILABLE we just have to call him and he will answer.
God is NEAR he never leaves us nor forsakes us no matter how hard it may look.
God is FAITHFUL, he watches over his word to perform and guards the one he has called to walk a certain way.
God is WISE and gives WISDOM to those who seek him in spirit and in truth and commit to walking with him.
God is LOVE, love is defined by him, grown with him and expanded through him.
When all is said and done, even when life is easy, a little hard, crazy heavy or just flat…God is committed to his children. He neither sleeps nor slumbers or forgets us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:35, 37-39
I have thought a lot about love recently. It has been so often that sometimes I wonder if I am obsessed with it, then I realise I have a difficult relationship with. I found that more often, we are in love with the ideal of being in love and just maybe we don’t understand love. You see, for so long I took everyone’s definition of love but never really crafted my own. Really? Yup! Why? It was just easier to absorb what was around me so I had lived by definitions from common places like home, church, community but I have so many questions.
I realised that many of us do not even understand that we all have a love language. A love language is simply how every individual expresses and receives love. According to Gary Chapman’s book, “The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate,” 1992, there are 5 main love languages namely service, gift-giving, physical touch, quality time, and words of affirmation. I have seen other lists of up to eight but often they all fit into these 5 and this is where I will remain.
So, imagine with me that my love language is time and my partner’s gifts and neither of us know our languages are different or even try to understand the other person’s language. It doesn’t matter how many gifts he gives me, I will always feel unloved because he doesn’t spend time with me. Again, even as time is important to me if we spend together time just sitting in the same room doing different things, that is not what I need. I need focused time, frequent sessions, time to process, safe spaces where I can be me without judgement. Now…I could actually sit in the corner and whine how he doesn’t listen or care for me, yet he is doing what he knows based on who he is.
Now suppose I don’t take time to understand his love language and never buy him anything but just insist on spending time together, do you think we would have hope to be happy together? Not much. He will be left feeling as deserted and disappointed with the relationship as I am feeling and we will have challenges.
It also fascinated me how many times I hear, ‘Happy wife, happy life.’ Does that mean that men will do whatever makes their wives happy even at the detriment of themselves? How is that a balanced relationship? Children hear their father saying that statement and translate it to mean that you just allow mum to have her way and the home will be happy. Is that really helpful to our children? Not at all. Does that help the mother continually grow and transform into the full likeness of God? Not at all.
Love has to be more than emotions and appeasing one another. It has to be more than selfish demands, it has to be more than extreme displays of affection. It has to be given from a settled person and received by a settled person. However many of us are unable to be that because we do not love ourselves.
I have come to believe that love is so 1 Cor 13, but it must first be applied to myself then others. Do I treat myself in the 1 Cor 13 manner, do I relate with myself that way such that I don’t keep track of all the mistakes I have made and pile the anger and shame on me? Am I eternally hopeful about how my life can be and who God has said I am? Do I apply every element of that passage on myself as self-love? The reality is that if I cannot love myself…I cannot love others.
Love starts with me, then flows out to others. Do you love yourself unconditionally? That is the starting line of true love.
The story of Abraham really changed my perspectives on leadership. We don’t know Abraham’s birth order but as we follow him, there are things I had never seen. God deliberately used people despite their age and birth order. Let me demonstrate
Isaac wasn’t the first born of Abraham’s loin, but he was the son of promise. Jacob was the younger son, but he was the one appointed to live out the word of God over his family. Joseph was the first son of his mother but the second last of his father, yet he was designed to lead and change the world through becoming Pharoah’s deputy and feeding the whole world as they knew it then. When Israel was about to die, he blessed Judah to be the one in the lead, yet he was the third son and not the eldest. When Israel was blessing Joseph’s lineage he made Ephraim over Manasseh.
Why does this stand out?
For so long we have told people that the older ones need to be the leaders but that isn’t always true. Leadership is a factor of age because age is simply the passage of time. An elder I know used to say that everyone grows old and if they do not get wise, the village fool will still be the village fool when he is 100 because leadership is about the capacity to gain wisdom and understanding.
When we first meet Joseph he was an arrogant young man whose head was puffed up because he saw things in the future and because of his lower position in life, he wanted to prove he was better. This behaviour really irritated his brothers because based on their understanding of leadership as a function of age, they worked to take him down permanently. Ironically, taking him down caused them more grief than they ever thought would be possible for the rest of their days…so imagine a community with leaders like these ones.
What does it take to be a leader?
Confidence: Even though Joseph was young and relatively foolish, he knew that the dreams he had were about him. He knew in his heart that it was who he was and it would come to pass. This confidence ensured that he would be consistent and rise into positions of leadership wherever he was, as a slave, a prisoner and then at the top of the tier.
Consistency: No matter where he was, Joseph was consistent, he did his work well and in time God blessed him, his work and the people he worked for. this consistency meant that no matter the situation and the location, he was able to change the lives of people.
Compassion: He understood that he was a steward and not the owner but he ensured that the people working were well cared for. Remember how he looked at the cupbearer and baker in the morning and noticed they were disturbed. Many leaders are not interested in their people’s moods or emotional states and that is detrimental to the team morale. His awareness of the people in his ecosystem ensures that it keeps working well and aids his success.
Constant learning: Many of us are used to leaders who don’t know a lot but mask it by talking down at people or being bullies. One of the things I think he did well was to keep learning. Joseph was the spoiled son of a wealthy man so was used to having servants around. Of course, they took care of the sheep but do you actually think he knew how to manage a store and lead a team?
Leadership is about showing others the way and if you are immature, you cannot lead effectively. It is therefore not a function of age but of one’s desire to grow and move forward. So before you call yourself a leader, look at the list above and see where you fit. If there is room to get better, go to the place you need to and get better.
So don’t tell me you are appointed to lead just because time has passed and you are older than me chronologically. Don’t expect me to follow you because you are older and think you have done a lot. Come and lead me if you are indeed an appointed leader and able to inspire people around you to focus on growth and change. Come and please give me more than age as the reason I should follow you.
Let us stop using age as the measure of leadership and look at the ability to inspire, show the way, model patterns of success and a commitment to the cause. Leadership rises and falls on the shoulders of those who are willing to put in the work to change and keep changing.
In this walk of life, our foundation is in Christ. Foundations are the security and stability of any building or life and our walk with God has to be based and built on and around a few important things:
Salvation – the walk starts when we accept Christ as the true son of God and commit our lives to him in full obedience and joy. This is more than just praying the sinner’s prayer and living life. It is about a close encounter with God that transforms our lives forever.
The Rhema word of God – Rhema word is when God speaks a word directly to us. This happens when a scripture jumps off the page as we read or a song suddenly ministers deeply or a thought comes to mind that is totally beyond our ability or a message you hear resonates very deeply within. The Rhema word strengthens us and inspires a deeper desire for God and commitment to Him.
Learn the disciplines of God – walking with God demands certain regular patterns of life and practices
Prayer – spending time with God in conversations committing self, others, the community, the world to God. It is a strong connection
Scripture – read the word of God daily, listen to messages
Fellowship – part of a community of believers
Fasting – letting go of things that hold our attention for a time that we may focus on God and prayer. The most common thing is food but that is not the limit
The practice of the presence of God – A deep commitment to be grounded in God and the habit of being soaked in His presence every moment of the day
Accountability – live under authority, have a community who know about your desire to walk with God and is committed to helping you stay the course
Personal commitment to God’s call
Peer accountability – with people your age
Mentors – people who are head of you on the journey who can guide
Parental – they brought you into the world
How do we build our foundation?
Choice – we choose to do whatever it takes to get closer to God, we choose to stay the course no matter what, we choose to walk in faith in the one who called us and holds us up, we CHOOSE to be intimate with God every single day and connect with His people
Stillness – a state of your heart that is free from worry and focused on God to hear his voice. Stillness has to come from the inside and thus cannot be faked. It is about a stillness in your spirit that opens up your heart and mind to God and His word no matter how soft his voice is. Stillness invigorates life and frees us to be who we really are.
Quiet time – time out of the routine of things to hear God, know his heart, understand his essence and become more like him. It is about scripture, meditation, prayer, connection and growth in all aspects of yourself.
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