Tuesday, February 24, 2009

An Intimate Relationship with God

Our first reading is taken from Matthew 22.37-40 “Jesus replied ’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Our first call from God, our utmost and highest priority in life – to Love God with all we have. To give Him our highest devotion before all people and all things. This love is to be more than an expression of our mind, more than the words we speak. A sincere, intense and passionate love expressed through the emotion of the heart. A heart of submission to Him, and a soul consumed with an eternal longing for fellowship with Him.

And so, today as we meditate on the meaning of this first commandment from our Lord may we be challenged as He calls us on to a deeper walk with Him.

Genesis speaks of the intimacy with God experienced by the first created couple in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:8 ‘Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man ‘where are you?’

We see in this passage of Scripture the plan of God for His creation to walk in close fellowship with their Creator, to speak with Him in a personal and intimate way, to have communication between one another.

Jesus spoke in parables – in simple, illustrative stories -- to convey His message. John 10: 3-11.“The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.

Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what He was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

The relationship of God to His people is compared to the care and protection of a shepherd to his sheep and the sheep of the Lord will know His voice intimately and obey the voice of the shepherd. He calls His sheep by name, giving each one individual attention and leading them into green pastures of refreshing.

To know God in this way requires of us a high commitment to Him – in prayer, a two-way communication with our Creator. For the experience of prayer as described in His Word is not a one-sided conversation.

For many believers, conversion to Christ comes through experiences in Sunday School or family sharing as a young child. The way of salvation and reconciliation to God is shared and a commitment is made. I became a Christian late in life and attending a local church was a new experience for me. Enjoying the fellowship and new way of life, I had much to learn. Scripture reading and prayer devotion became a daily commitment. However for some time I did not experience the presence of God, or the reality of knowing His voice.

Our local church sponsored a prayer seminar. We were challenged to devote one hour each day to prayer. The Scripture Matthew 26.40 was emphasized in the teaching sessions. Jesus prayed in the Garden before His crucifixion vs 39” My Father if it is possible may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will but as You will.” Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you not keep watch with Me for one hour”, he said to Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

I felt challenged to pray one hour each day, rising one hour early before my family on most days. Using the prayer model – ACTS –

A

Adoration

spending time in praise, expressions of delight in the Lord

C

Confession

personal repentance, seeking His forgiveness and restoration

T

Thanksgiving

giving thanks to Him for salvation, His goodness, answered prayer

S

Supplication

bringing personal prayer requests and supplication on behalf of others.

For some days, I felt no reality in my prayers. James 4:8 became my personal promise from the Lord Draw close to Me, and I will draw close to you. Then the presence of the Lord came as I entered my prayer session and suddenly it was as if someone had entered the room. My prayers no longer seemed to bounce back to me. The conversation was not one sided. For in the room with Me was the reality of the presence of another. And suddenly, prayer for one hour took on new meaning for me. To just sit in His presence and enjoy Him became a reality of my prayer life. The presence of the promised One, the comforter, had come. And how much we need His presence, for in the presence of the Lord is healing, power, strength, inner peace and restoration. At these times, we can sense the will of the Lord in the situations we bring to Him for direction; we can hear the still small voice of the Spirit.

What is our commitment in prayer to our Lord today? Will five or ten minutes be sufficient? Are we ‘too busy to pray’ or ‘too busy not to pray’?

For some of us, He may be saying “Will you not watch with Me for one hour?”

Our World is in need of prayers for peace, our families need prayers of protection and guidance, our community needs prayers of healing, provision and deliverance.

May we hear His challenge today and may the blessing of the Lord be on each one as we seek Him and trust in His unfailing love.

I will close with a personal experience. Recently, my spouse and I visited a lake nearby on a fishing trip. We set up our folding chairs and threw in our fishing rods and settled down to a relaxing wait for our ‘first bite’. Spending time in quiet meditation with the Lord I watched as a flock of noisy pink galahs flew past, flapping their wings rapidly. I felt the Lord impressing upon my heart that there are times in our lives when we deal with problems and situations in this way, with much stressful effort, drama and anxiety. And as I reflected on my own personal experiences, from across the lake on the right hand side, came a pair of eagles. The eagles soared effortlessly and majestically together in a ‘dance’ of harmony – from above the water across land they soared in my direction. I felt the Spirit of the Lord speak into my heart, the words of

Isaiah 40:31
But those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength
They will soar on wings like eagles
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not be faint.”

The prayers of the saints soar upwards towards God, heavenwards, on eagle’s wings. The mind, heart and soul of a praying saint are lifted upwards, towards God. The power, presence and love of Jesus call us to look up, and to know that our deliverance is near. For the Jesus we remember at Christmas has promised to come again.

And there is a place, even in the midst of all our suffering and trials, as we look to Him, where we can be taken out to soar with Him, above even our trials and circumstances. A peace that passes all understanding, a peace that the world cannot give.

Ps 26:8 “I love the house where you live, O Lord,
The place where your glory dwells.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Kenya JOKES!!!

This is an Conversation between a Kenyan Policeman and an Innocent Citizen who simply happens to be walking home from work late at night.


Gijana Untatoga wabi?
Jina yago nani?
Baba yago nani?
Unataga nini?

Gan you Broduce your ID?
Basi if you gannot broduce your ID
Wapi Gitambulisho?
If you gannot broduce Gitambulisho
Wapi drivers licence
If you gannot broduce the three gavament tocuments
Twende mbele!


(But I am innocent….)

Innocent gitu gani?
Haguna mutu innozent Genya
We gan charge you with anything
Unataga gani?
Smoking with violence
Looging at a female gender with breach of gontract
Looging at a government building zuzbiciously
With indend to gommit murder
Unataga gani?

Unaweza gujitetea?
Gitu gani hii?
Ati fifty bob
Hata haiwezi gununua jwing gum
Toa besa gijana

(…nibakishie bus fare)

Ogay,
You are a law abiding zitizen
Unataga tuguzindikishe?

Friday, February 6, 2009

Its FOOD we want, Not TALK!

"I am in danger of hunger in my country. Why can’t the Government look at our plight instead of leaving us to die like dogs?" Nobody could fail to be moved by the plea of Ethuko Nangole, 80, as narrated by The Standard, last week.

Neither could anybody with the heart of flesh fail to feel for Mary Chelal as she resignedly narrated the wretched life she has been forced to live, thanks to the drought and famine ravaging huge swathes of the countryside.

Nobody, apart from our ever quarrelling political class, it seems. For as the ordinary folk dig deep into their already impoverished pockets to share with their dying colleagues, our leaders are twiddling their thumbs not sure how to react to the crisis. The best they have done is play a verbal ping pong on the causes — and the available mitigation routes — of the disaster.

In North Pokot, Chelal was quoted pitifully recounting her travails: "We share water pans with donkeys, cows and wildlife.

The animals defecate and urinate in the water but we still use the dirty water for domestic purposes, we have no option," she said, adding: "It smells bad but I have not taken water for two days, it’s the only water we have here."

As the two women were being interviewed, their leaders were engaged in "more pressing" matters in Nairobi. Agriculture Minister William Ruto was busy on the floor of the National Assembly engaged in verbal sparring with Ikolomani MP Bonny Khalwale. And while at it, sacking top officials of the National Cereals and Produce Board.

On his part, Nangole’s representative to the august House John Munyes blames the Government — the same one he serves as Labour Minister – for the poor woman’s woes.

The Government needs to streamline logistical details so that people like Nangole can get food, the minister says.

What our leaders should realise is that we do not care how much talk and verbal sparring they engage in. All said and done, what we want is food. Period. Isn’t it amazing that with all the machinery at its disposal, our Government is behaving like the current food crisis just hit us out of the blue?

Any intelligent person knows well the whole process of maize planting, weeding and harvesting. And I want to believe that there are people employed in various Government departments with the sole responsibility of tracking this process and ensuring that we have enough grain reserves.

If there was rain failure, what did these mandarins in Government do to cushion Kenyans against this disaster? Whatever happened to planning?

In China, those culpable in the scandal that saw baby milk being contaminated were sentenced to death with others getting stiff jail terms. In contrast, we have sent some fellows from the NCPB home.

Sadder than this callous incompetence is the booming business some unscrupulous traders have taken to, minting millions from selling maize meant for the starving. These death merchants smile all the way to the bank as they feed their children, wives and mistresses with blood money they made while some helpless Kenyans are burying their children, victims of famine.

Leaders must face the reality and address problems facing the people.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Sad Story

When nine-year-old Samuel Mutunga collected empty jerricans with his mother to rush to the accident venue, he did not know he would witness the horror of his life.
This was after word went round that a tanker had overturned at Sachang’wan, two kilometres from their home at Kibunja.

Mutunga says his mother, Jacqueline Kavai, called him to go and get petrol, which they could later sell and get money for his school fees and buy food for the family.

"Mum told me to pick anything empty, from jerricans, buckets and basins," a tearful Mutunga recalled yesterday.

He said he followed his mother who was ahead of him because he had to ensure that his sick father had medicine by his bedside just in case they took long to return. The couple’s five other children were also left behind.

Scrambling for petrol

Mutunga said his mother arrived at the scene with his three uncles and immediately started scrambling for the spilt petrol. When he got there, Mutunga said he decided to stand across the road to witness the drama as men, women, and children fought and splashed over the petrol.

"I did not go near because I saw people shove and push and I knew I could not manage," he said.

However, what followed five minutes later would forever remain etched in his mind.

"I kept monitoring where my mum was because I knew she would call me once she had filled the jerricans, suddenly, I heard an explosion and everything was on fire," he said, shuddering.

"I saw my mother burning, she was at the edge of the trench where petrol was flowing. She was screaming as she tried to cross the road towards where I was. Then she fell down."

"I was confused, I could not help because she was on fire and rolling on the ground. When the fire went out on her body, she just lay there, badly burnt everywhere. I heard her say: "Mwambie baba yenu nimeenda (tell your father I have expired)".

The class three pupil at Noble Primary School at Kibunja started to run towards his home to tell his father.

"The place was full of fire. People were burning and screaming. Many headed towards the river, but they kept falling," Mutunga told The Standard.

He says when his father, who was suffering from a bout of malaria saw him, he sensed danger.

"My father demanded to know what was happening and I told him mother had burned to death. He fainted," he said.

"Every time I sleep I see my mother on fire and hear her shouting at me, I am gone! I am gone!" he says.

His father Mr Robert Chesima Kiraka says Mutunga is traumatised.

"He is young and the pain of seeing a parent die in a fire is just too much," he said.

Mr Kiraka says he was lucky because he was sick at the time since he would have definitely been at the trench of death with the rest of the village. Mutunga, who is the first-born, says he regrets going to the scene, but insists he loved his mother very much and always assisted her in chores.