Work on the ReLationship aspect...

On one Sunday, I did not attend church, well, as i do most of the time. In the kombi that I boarded to take me into town, I sat besides a young man, whom, when i first entered turned to his friends to say "Maureen is back" and the guys at the back started making the same retort. I thank God for i did not react. Inside of me I thought of just telling him

"I am no Maureen!"

As they talked some more, they started talking about some Pastor and I asked them if he was from AFM- that was the beginning of the next conversation.

He asked me if I was coming from church, and I told him no. i told him I had woken up feeling really tired and weak, that i did not go to church.

His next question was how come I was strong enough to get into town now, when I had failed to go to church?

Strong question, but one I responded to as " Because I dont have any church to go to, I am still looking around"

He didnt say anything afterwards, but I continued, why did you go to church?

He said that this Sunday, they had decided to do their own fellowship as people with dissabilities. I had not even noticed!!!

He said they felt happy and were comfortable, with no feeling of stigma around them or any discrimination. All they were able to do was share the word and praise God!

It dawned on me how insensitive the other members could have been, but I was inspired by their desire to praise God even without the larger church. Well I didn't get to ask which church...

If anything, I am just a christian, with or with no Church. That doesnt have to change.

The reason why emphasis even in church should be on relationship as opposed to religion, is how we conduct ourselves as Christians outside of our churches. We act so badly that people do not even understand the essence of your going to church, or claims of being a christian.

In one of the conversations with a friend of mine, He said Why is it that people act in so terrible ways and yet they do not want to be found out? I acknowledge, but I also would like to believe it is an issue of church doctrines.

What do I mean?

I told a bethren once that "With your drinking, God wants you more. Don't judge yourself, just go to church"

You see, people believe that God wants perfect people, but thats not true, I mean, Jesus himself said "Why do you call me good, ONLY God is good!"( Matthew 19 v 16-17)

So, go before the Lord in your weakness, and he will strengthen you. Go before God in your drinking, and God's word will transform you. The bible tells me ".....Be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind". This only comes through the word of God.

Moral standards might have been set, but how faithful are we to follow them?

Societal standards have been put up, but whose standards are we going to live in?

Churches have laid out doctrine after doctrine, but they forget the best words are found in the bible.

Whose report are we going to believe?

Is it the church that is expecting too much from humans. I believe those who attend church are not only people of commission, but people who want to understand the belief, or those who are forced to attend church, or those who seek to have people at their funerals, or in search of a wife, or husband, companionship or juicy gossip.

The churches are infested with people who want a clean edge of sinning without people suspecting.

A religion is boring,...A relationship, exciting, for no one knows what's around the corner, or what will emerge from underneath. It has surprises and it has expectations. It has its ups and it has its downs, it has laughter, with its share of tears, it has its hopes and it has its fears, but in a relationship, there is always faith, trust and conviction for a desired end.

So, build a relationship with God and all things will fall into place. .."Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all will be added unto you.."

I WENT THROUGH THIS ARTICLE AND IT, IN A VERY ILLUSTRIOUS WAY EXPLAINS WHAT I MEAN BY SEEKING FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AS OPPOSED TO PURSUING RELIGIOUS IDEALS...I HOPE YOU FIND IT HELPFUL TOO....

What is Religion versus Relationship

Religion versus Relationship is a concept that is used within the church to separate the people who go through the motions of "church" and the people who actually experience a full Relationship with Christ and bear fruit that advances the kingdom. There is a great misconception that is causing confusion among people with their perception of God. Many people are starting to come to realize that you cannot experience the fullness of a Christian lead life by just going through the steps of Religion. These steps include but are not limited to:

• Going to church when you feel like it
  
• Not reading the bible
  
• Being holy only on Wednesday and Sunday
  
• Not applying what the preacher says to their lives
  
• Not participating in ministry

People are starting to realize that you must have a Relationship with God in order to receive the many promises that are in the bible, you have to apply what it is in the bible and not just go by what you hear in church or from people who don't know Jesus. Remember revelation knowledge is what is revealed from God and in order to hear from God you have to know what His voice sounds like. You have to have aRelationship with Him and know that through His word He reveals Himself to His people. Here are some examples of Religion versusRelationship.

Religion will keep you satisfied right where you are.

Relationship will have you searching for more of Jesus because you know that the more anointing you have in your life the more you can help others and the more your life will prosper.

Religion will have you accept things without questioning or searching for the truth.

Relationship will have you looking for the truth. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. So therefore you will always search for the truth.which is Jesus.

Religion will have you wondering why you are not fulfilled and why things are the way they are and why you cannot change them.

Relationship will have you searching for ways to change your situation and since you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, you will learn how to let God change your situations through you.

Religion will teach you that the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) is a dance people do in church.

Relationship will let you know that the Holy Spirit is the most important asset to your Christian walk and is the source of your power. The same power Jesus used to defeat death, heal people, cast out demons and do every miracle in the bible.

Religion will teach you that Satan is powerful and you cannot defeat him.

Relationship will let you know that through the power of the Holy Spirit in you, you can defeat Satan, the same way Jesus did.

Religion will teach you that you are not as good a Christian as others such as ministers, pastors, church elders and famous people in the bible.

Relationship will let you know that the same Holy Spirit that is in them is in you and you have access to the same anointing they do.

Religion will teach you how to know of God.

Relationship will let you know how to know God.

Religion will keep you under a religious glass ceiling where you supposedly are a lowly sinner and cannot reach greatness.

Relationship will let you know that you are the righteousness of God and you are a co-heir to His kingdom. Through the power of the Holy Spirit He has given you the ability to do greater thing than Jesus did.

Religion will teach you that you need to dress a certain way to come to church.

Relationship will let you know that Jesus wants you to come as you are. It's not how you look on the outside that Jesus is concerned with, He wants to change you from the inside out.

Religion will teach you that God works in mysterious ways and no one knows the ways of the Lord.

Relationship will let you know that according to I Corinthians 2:10 says "But it was to us that God revealed these things by His spirit. For His spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets." NLT

Religion will teach you that you can't tell God how you really feel because He only wants to hear good things.

Relationship will let you know that you can talk to God because He is your friend and you can let Him know when you are upset and He will reveal to you that He will never leave you nor forsake you and through all situations He is with you and will bring you out.

Religion will teach you that just listening to the sermon and not reading the bible is ok.

Relationship will have you searching for more of God through his word and will also let you know that the more you know Jesus then the more power you have to live a spirit filled Christian life. Knowledge and power and knowledge is the word of God.

Religion will teach you that coming to church is "enough".

Relationship will let you know that God continuously wants more of you and in order to receive the fullness of the anointing, blessing and promises God has for His people, you have to do more then just fill the pews.

Religion will teach you that your spirit and soul are the same.

Relationship will teach you that you are a spirit, with a soul living in a body. Your body is your earth suit so that you can exist here. Your soul is your mind, will, intellect, emotion and imagination. You are a spirit and that is how you communicate with God.

Religion will teach you that the main people of the bible were so special that they did things that you could not do.

Relationship will teach you that the main people of the bible were anointed by the Holy Spirit and that is the same Holy Spirit that you have inside you. So therefore you can do even greater things then they did.

Religion will teach you that Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are three different people.

Relationship will teach you that Jesus, God and the Holy spirit are three different manifestations of the same God.

Religion will teach you that you should not expect God to bless you, you should hope that he blesses you.

Relationship will teach you to have a spirit of expectancy. The more you know Jesus, the more you will learn that He wants to bless you, He wants to empower you, He wants to anoint you so that you can show people that through Jesus you are a powerful person of God.

Religion will teach you that God does not want you to be rich or prosperous because money makes people evil.

Relationship will teach you that one of the reasons Jesus came was so that we could live more abundantly and when money is in the hands of God's people then they will use it for God's kingdom.

Reflections.....

Sometimes, we give ourselves time, or do we ever give ourselves time to look into the spiritual mirror?

Well, there are those times when I do look into that mirror and i wonder, does my physical self speak anything of my spiritual being?

From the way I dress, eat, speak, walk, interract?

Each time I am confronted by the reality that half the time my physical being does not correspond with the desires of the spiritual.

However, I am glad that i do take time to make a reflection, because through this, I can work on making me a better somebody.

a friend of mine, through his own reflections of what had happened on a particular day, sent me a message on my phone that "each moment is a potential to make us better or worse people".

I thought that was deep!

So I have decided to make each day a day for growth. You see, we do take our small actions for granted but once we make these small excuses, we might get used to them and forget that its wrong.

The thoughts of Paul really did strike me the other day. It is one chapter when Paul looks into the spiritual mirror and sees the inadequacies presented by the physical well-being.

It was a point that he saw the reflections of his life in comparison with the Spiritual well-being. What he believed in and what he was striving to achieve in his life. In as much as he was proclaiming the omnipotence and greatness of god, he still had to look at himself to see if what he was speaking was what he was living by.

I now realise what he was talking about. I now understand were he was coming from.

Even Christians of today need to do that. It is only after an evaluation that we are able to grow, both spiritually and physically.

Here is the Chapter that did strike me on reflections;-

Romans 7 (King James Version)

1Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

2For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

3So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

9For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

12Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

13Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

14For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

16If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

The irony of life

I am going through a book called “When God doesn’t make sense” by Dr James Dobson, and I tell you I have felt my spirits lifted. Somehow, the concepts he brings to life are not only true, but they are real. I have never felt so compelled to re-visit my faith, my beliefs and my everyday life.

You see, there are moments as humans were we have failed God. We have managed to do everything that God doesn’t represent.

In times when we have all things, we honor and praise God. But when we are faced with a challenge, we start to backslide. Or rather, when we have nothing we honour and praise God sincerely, but the moment we are blessed, we lose our focus, and we cut ourselves from the vine.

In an article I wrote sometime back “Angry with God?” I was exploring the possibility that I could be angry with God because of the ways I have acted. I might not necessarily be the most immoral person around, and I might not have committed murder, but the idea of staying away from everything God represents is not only disastrous, but it is the most hollowing feeling one gets to carry for a long time. I might be one privileged person who has had to live in this realization that it is either we trust in God no matter the circumstances or we fall into our doom and gloom. Our actions thereof may show that we are angry with God.

On my way from Mavingo to Harare on 3 October 2009

Our life is one puzzle that we could never comprehend. God did not just make us, he made us. He took his time to consult and say “let us make a man in our own image”. with everything else, he merely commanded, but with man, he made.

I can imagine God on his knees, really molding the dagga on the ground, designing this glorious creature saying “wow, this has got to be the final and most important creature”

I can imagine the love, the passion and even the excitement that God had when he was making the first man. I can imagine the pride he had, such that he took his own breath, and breathed life into this clay he had molded. I can imagine God with the brown clay in his hands, sticking on his fingers and getting all dirty, saying this creature is just magnificent. It is a replica of me!

I remember when my brother’s wife was in labour. She held my hand and said “auntie, please pray for me”. The pain in her voice pained me so much a tear dropped.

As I walked out and tried to talk to the nurses to check on her, I was just feeling I should be here.

But at this clinic, one could not be with his wife during birth, and had to wait until the next visiting hour to see her.

I remember her mother seated outside the clinic, waiting for that one hour to come so she could be by her daughter’s side.

It was this love that kept the mother there even from outside, it was this love that I felt compelled to contact even my pastor to pray for her with me, it was this love that my brother dropped a tear when he heard the child was now out. It was this love that made me jump when my brother’s wife called and said “Kabuda tete” (she has come out)

I am imagining, our human joy, our love, as imperfect as it is, compelling us to stick with her in spirit and trying to think of God at this particular moment, when his mould was shaping up. When he had finished, looked at the mould, washed his hands, stood back awhile and scrutinized his making, went back to fix this and that, stand back again and nodded.

I can imagine the love, excitement and passion God had when his hands were now clay-free and he was there and saying “this is it”.

He breathed his breath into this clay, and it came about alive. Imagine the joy!!!

He is God, but he has love.

He is God, but he is liberal

He is God, he is jealous, but he is tolerant

He is God and he is amazing.

Anyway, going through this book by Dr Dobson made me realize that God loves us so much that he allows certain things to happen to us not because he wants to see us cry, but because he wants to see us strong, convicted, convinced and determined.

He does not want to see the pain, but he knows, after birth, we shall all rejoice.

We shall shed a tear of joy.

So, do not think God has forsaken you when events look sour, he is there. The pain you are having, he is feeling it too. But sticking to him brings ultimate joy, which earthly pain can not surpass.

Trust in the Lord all the time. Jesus died not because he wanted, but because it was God’s will.

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” John 15 v. 13

So be true to God, as he is true to you….

THIS THOUGHT STRUCK ME EARLIER WHEN I WAS JUST STARING AT THIS MACHINE IN THIS OTHERWISE EMPTY ROOM DOING A BIT OF VIDEO EDITING..

There is a feeling that I carry
A feeling inexplicable
A feeling one is concerned so much about
A feeling that just makes me too conscious of what I do
A feeling hardly visible

I have felt like this
And I have prayed about it
But the more I look deep, the more confused I get
I thought I would sink, but only God knows I keep afloat
I thought I would faint, but the closer I get to faint, the more vitalized I feel
The thought of dying comes through,
But the strength of life gets through

The idea of sinking comes up
But the momentous swim comes through

The more I trudge along,
The more the darkness closes in
As I chase after the light, which looks but miles afar
As I run forward, the less the light I see
The nearer the light seems, the furthest it is from within reach
And to think I thought it was easy

To think I thought it was all for me
To think I thought I could comprehend all
To think I thought I could fight it off and win,

Oh how disillusioned I have been
How lost I feel now
But the weaker I grow, the stronger I become
The vaguer it becomes, the clearer it becomes
The more painful it gets, the more rewarding it feels
The more confusing it is, the more my eyes see
The more my ears learn, the more my heart discerns

Why all has to happen in an opposite way?
It never ceases to boggle my mind
How enchanting life is,
How mesmerizing life is,
How ‘lifeful’ life is

Oh, the irony of life….