Quite often, I find myself trusting

Why is “Trust” such an important thing in life? A lot comes to mind when we think about it. Maybe it reminds you of someone or something, either in a good or bad way. You have to agree that it’s important. We don’t actually learn it. We are born with it. We cannot exhaust all the dynamics of trust, but I just have a few thoughts put on paper. Let’s reason together. Who taught you to trust? You've trusted and still trust mom or dad since infancy. Kids trust mommy. They trust daddy too, well, most of the times. Mommies are more trusted, and really we can’t blame the kids. It’s a fact that they tend to warm up to the feminine side more easily. But that’s a story for another day. They trust that mommy loves them enough to do anything to make sure that their world is a happy place. They view life as one big roller-coaster ride. No worries. They trust. They trust that after a hard days work (Read PLAY, but they’ll make you believe they worked), mommy will make sure that they get dinner. I call it work since from my personal experience, a conversation in the evening with my daughter goes something like this

Daddy: How are you?

Pati: fine

Daddy: “how was your day?”

Pati: fine

Daddy: What did you do?

Pati: I read, I watched my brother, and I molded.

This is the most recent one. She will hardly tell me that she played, though I know it makes up 95% of her activities.

Two nights ago I was “trusted” with the noble responsibility of buying her chocolate. Twice she asked me for it. I’m yet to buy but I have to, if I want to still be trusted. I’m not implying that we become genies to our kids by granting their every wish, but I love it when she asks me for something because that spells one word for me: TRUST.

So, we grow and we advance in age, doubt creeps in. Why is that the case? Well, of course the world turns out not to be that safe haven that our homes have been. I trust that most homes are safe havens, again, thanks to mommies. The reality of “the fall” dawns on us, and we begin to realize how rotten a world we live in. But still, we have to trust.

Trust is a significantly essential task that we engage in everyday. You trust that when you sleep at night, you’ll wake up the following morning. When you wake up you trust that you’ll get ready on time and be on schedule.When you get into the bus/matatu, you trust that the driver knows how to drive, and that his license is valid, and that the vehicle is capable of taking you from your home to the workplace without falling apart into pieces on the way. You never ask the driver how much fuel he has. God forbid, if he had a quarrel with the wife, has had it with life and so has decided to veer off the road when he approaches that bridge over Athi River. You simply trust him. You trust that you’ll get to work on time and find that your boss hasn’t woken up in a bad mood and decided to reduce the work force by half. You trust that at the end of the month when you cash the cheque that it won’t bounce.

Our trust either is developed from our own experiences or from the experiences of others.

When you drank your first coke soda, it wasn’t from your own experience, rather someone else’s. That goes for so many of the things that we trust. We sometimes know for a fact that our object of trust is trustworthy, or simply take the risk.

The hardest part of trust comes when we involve relationships. The simple reason being the fact that when we are relating, we’re revealing. We are revealing ourselves to another. What was safe with us is not anymore; we share. Our weaknesses are exposed. Our secrets sometimes are revealed. Yet, we have to trust the other person. It’s undeniably difficult to explain the need to trust others, but I guess it’s said that no man is an island. So really, does that leave me any choice? Given a choice won’t it be easier to just be on our own? God thought so too, until He saw Adam’s loneliness.

Life, really, is a journey full of hope and so we trust. We trust that tomorrow will come. We trust that things will get better. We trust that after the darkest night, dawn will break forth. We live a life of trust whether subconsciously or completely aware of that fact. We cannot do without trusting. So then here is what I have learnt; when I trust others, I expect them to never betray that trust. It’s the same case for me. I have a responsibility to never betray the trust that others have in me. When trust is broken, it can become irreparable. Why take the risk?

Finally brethren,

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths {Proverbs 3:5,6}

I Want To Be Just Like You

He climbs in my lap for a goodnight hug
He calls me Dad and I call him Bub
With his faded old pillow and a bear named Pooh
He snuggles up close and says, "I want to be like you"
I tuck him in bed and I kiss him goodnight
Trippin' over the toys as I turn out the light
And I whisper a prayer that someday he'll see
He's got a father in God 'cause he's seen Jesus in me

Lord, I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be just like me
I want to be a holy example
For his innocent eyes to see
Help me be a living Bible, Lord
That my little boy can read
I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be like me

Got to admit I've got so far to go
Make so many mistakes and I'm sure that You know
Sometimes it seems no matter how hard I try
With all the pressures in life I just can't get it all right
But I'm trying so hard to learn from the best
Being patient and kind, filled with Your tenderness
'Cause I know that he'll learn from the things that he sees
And the Jesus he finds will be the Jesus in me

Right now from where he stands I may seem mighty tall
But it's only 'cause I'm learning from the best Father of them all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z8bXcBRIU0

by Phillips Craig And Dean

When it's all been said and done

When it's all been said and done

There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth
Did I live my life for You

When it's all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I've done for love's Reward
Will stand the test of time

Lord Your mercy is so great
That You look beyond our Weakness
And find purest gold in miry clay
Making sinners into saints

I will always sing Your praise
Here on earth and ever after
For You've shown me Heaven's my True home

When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone
Lord I'll live my life for You.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOyp7ERn6v8&feature=related

By Robin Mark

I need you. You need me.

There is something to learn;

In every mistake or good deed,

In every failure or victory,

In every broken or a joyful heart,

In every thought or conversation,

In every relationship or partnership,

In every friendship or enmity.

There is something to learn in every person.

I love Dr. Phil. He is painfully blunt and straight forward. So this time I'm the patient, seated next to him and he blurts out loudly in front of the audience,

"You think of yourself as self-sufficient. You judge almost everything and everyone. It has to be your way or no way. You are always right. You don’t take no for an answer. When you show up, you dominate conversations. When we plan events you’re the coordinator, facilitator, and any other available position. You have no respect for other people’s opinions or feelings. You’re the centre of attraction. In a community initiative, you want to be an individual. When we want to be a team, you want to be your own team."

My jaw drops. If only I was deaf, so I don't get to hear that. The truth hurts.

More often than not we think our problems are around us or in other people, but we are not eager to look within ourselves. It’s easier to point a finger, than to admit wrong-doing. Fault in other people is identified with ease, than the good in them. We trust ourselves so much that we have stopped believing in other people. I watch WWW wrestling. Everyone considers them selves the only champion. Others, perfection {Read Alberto del Rio}. Others, awesome {Read ...The Miz}. There is a fight known as “the submission”, but don’t be cheated, no one submits. Even when beaten, one still beats his own chest and claims to be “The one”. We come short of feeling immortal.

What is it about humanity? We were made to co-exist, but would rather put a hedge around ourselves. We keep a safe distance to protect our “perfect lives”. Jesus taught us a very basic principle, “Do unto others what you’d have them do to you”—Luke 6:31. You don’t have to be a Christian to practice this truth. Our treatment for others is directly proportional to how we ought to be treated. If you treat your brother like a doormat, why in the world would you want a royal treatment yourself? They have a name for it; PRIDE. They also have a phrase for it; Pride comes before a fall.

So I looked under the sun. I found myself judging. I found myself looking at the external. The way he dresses. Where they live. Which community they come from. Just admit it. Like me, you have been at a place where you judged a person based on the external. What we come to learn afterwards is that mostly they are the complete opposite of what we thought they were. Maybe that’s why a man who doesn’t drive is intimidated by a lady who does, and would rather not ask her out. If she earns more than I do, then she is not my type.

Our perception is not always right. Our assumptions mislead us. Our society has made us consume beliefs and notions that have no iota of truth in them. Take, for example, the area of dating; Without naming names, some women or men from certain communities are considered good in sex, others are perceived as good at housework, others are considered lazy, others as either cons, unhygienic, hot-tempered, witches, and the list goes on. If you ask me, it’s irrelevant where a person comes from, when it comes to relating with them. Don’t get me wrong. I do respect the fact that people do have different preferences. But deep down in your heart, you know you look at certain people as lesser than yourself.

So, what’s the problem? The answer is “ME”. Let’s call it the “Me-Syndrome”. Whether you admit it or not, you can never live alone. God thought that Adam would do just fine on his own. He later realized the loneliness that Adam experienced inside. Many of us are “celebrities” to the world, but lonely within ourselves. We have deep flaws and that’s what we chew on when we switch off the lights and retire to bed. They keep us awake. The reason is simple. There are three people that we can never deceive; God, Satan (master deceiver) and ourselves. So I’m I living a lie?

This is what I think I should do;

Admit my inadequacy.

No matter how well we are doing financially, academically or in any other way, we are not complete all by ourselves. We are not self-sufficient! Period!

Realize my need for community.

The truth is; we need others. Well not if you have watched the series “LOST”, where a common phrase is used “The others are coming”, but let me not digress. Bottom line; I need you and you need me.

Choose to belong

Jesus walked on earth. He was and still is “All-Sufficient”. Yet, He chose 12 people (read fishermen, tax collector, doctor etc), to walk with. He actually chose the people that are often looked-down upon. Do I look down on certain people?

Get rid of the “Gain the world” mentality

Jesus Himself asked, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but lose his soul”. {Mark 8:36}. Most of us have lost our souls within ourselves. According to our friends we are energetic, full of oomph, living to the fullest. We achieve and accomplish. We concur. We are at the top of “our world”. But deep down with in ourselves, we are lonely and looking for meaning. I might dominate the outside, but if I haven’t dominated myself {Emotions, attitude, ego}, it leaves me empty.

Let God be the judge

Stop judging people. Jesus taught that it’s easy to see the speck in my brother’s eye, while totally ignoring the plank in my own. We really want to help others, either genuinely or out of malice, but we ignore the fact that we too are in dire need of help.

Even when we are treated wrongly, Paul taught, “Do not repay evil for evil, but be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone” {Romans 12:17}. OUCH!! Yeah, I feel the same way, but hey, you want to go to heaven?? Just do it and leave the rest to God. Do not be quick to judge, or jump in to conclusions. Don’t believe every thing you hear. And, be that as it may, I ought to forgive even when I find out about the mistakes of others, of course, unless I’m perfect. I’m not. No one is.

So then, here is my conclusion. We need lessons about attitude, and Jesus is our greatest example.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! {Philippians 2:5-8}

This song humbles me;

I need you, you need me.
We're all a part of God's body.
Stand with me, agree with me.
We're all a part of God's body.

It is his will, that every need be supplied.
You are important to me, I need you to survive.
You are important to me, I need you to survive.
(repeat 3X)

I pray for you, you pray for me.
I love you, I need you to survive.
I won't harm you with words from my mouth.
I love you, I need you to survive.
(repeat 8 X)

It is his will, that every need be supplied.
You are important to me, I need you to survive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMcJL_UDAvw&feature=related

Single mothers or just irresponsible fathers?

For what seems like eternity, we wait. We long to behold our baby for the first time. You wonder how they are doing all that time. How are they developing? Is everything OK? You monitor the kicking, growth, development. The clock ticks. The day draws near. Emotions run wild. Anxiety. Excitement. Even Fear. You will be parents to a new born. It’s a joyful time.

Around the corner, it’s the same script but a different cast. A lady all by herself. She is carrying a bundle of joy, but with a faint look in her eyes. A wrinkled face, she has cried a lot. What’s it going to be for my baby? Why doesn’t the father care? She looks so lost in her own world. It’s as if the world is crumbling all around her. She knows too well that she is headed to becoming a social outcast. Single parenthood! The clinic visits! The bills! The burden! She feels all alone.

If children are really a gift from God, why would a man walk away from his own flesh and blood? How can a man ignore the fact that there is someone growing in a lady that he might now NOT want to see, but who happens to be his own DNA? Where is the first love? Where is the love for innocent life?

So finally the baby comes around. The joy cannot be contained. There are countless smiles of adoration in the faces of the family, friends and colleagues. The parents to the new born rejoice. The PARENT to the new born also rejoices. Both forget the pain, the waiting, the journey, and just want to celebrate. But there is a flip side…

Tears flow. Tears of joy; for the couple. Tears of joy and tears of pain for the single parent. So what is love? A feeling that is there today and gone tomorrow? Or, a choice we make? If I cannot feel love for my blood, at least I should BE A MAN. I should own up. I should be able to CHOOSE to love. A man who took pride in his strength, achievements, success; But now a frail image of a pathetic, selfish, cowardly being. I might not want to see the mother, possibly because I never wanted a baby in the first place. It was just sex, not just without strings attached, but without babies attached! Fine! This wasn’t part of the plan. But, does God make mistakes? We do! Why should our own mistakes, be carried on to our baby as if the baby is the “mistake”. He is not! She is not!

The society has done nothing much to make the situation better. Mothers loathe their baby for getting a baby of her own out of wedlock. Fathers hate. God forbid, they even throw out the “NOW EMOTIONALLY WEAK, PHYSICALLY EXHAUSTED” daughter who is at this time in need of PSYCHOLOGICAL and EMOTIONAL support. Friends gossip. They become fewer. The lady has lost her self-worth, by now. There is no hope of getting back together with the baby’s father. We didn’t even want to get married in the first place. So, perish the thought. We can never be a family. Still, He is the father. But where is he?

Young mothers are with us. In church they are sitting next to us. In our neighborhoods we rub shoulders with them. They long to belong. They long for love. Are they any lesser? We are a close knit family. Perfect family, so we think. My daughter’s name is purity, she is pure. She can’t become like our neighbors’. Why worry? So, single mothers remain isolated. Rejected! Separated! Not needed! Unloved! .., and the many more evils that we heap on them. Is there hope for them, or is this the end of their story?....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................{SILENCE}............................................

Phew! Thank God. It’s not the end. The world may conclude our story, but God WONT. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to justify parenthood out of wedlock. But if church is for saints, what are you doing inside? Warming the pews? Hypocrite!

God Himself is the father to the fatherless. He is the husband to the widows. His anger lasts but for a moment, but his favor a lifetime. But what do we, as parents do? We trample upon them. We call them a disgrace. We write them off. How can they even hope to get married some day? HEHEHEHEHEHE! We laugh at the idea, it sounds ridiculous. SHUT UP!!!!! Who are we as a society, religion or social groupings to write off the “broken pots” if you would, when the potter Himself still has clay in His hands?

The baby grows. Their innocence draws back the very people who rejected them. Now the father wants to contest for custody. The grandpa wants to take pride in the grandkid. The society starts to realize their fault. They start to see the potential in the children who were once rejected. They are the top of their class. In Sunday school they prove to be the best. They excel. They once again light up the soul of the very mom who thought that her world was an abyss, full of agony and pain, and that she was seated alone at the bottom……………………………….

When we thought that the story had come to an end………{SILENCE}……………………… we start rewriting……

“He never got to have a surname, yet we write history… HIS STORY.”

OUR SOCIETY IS IN DIRE NEED OF RESPONSIBLE MEN…….. Why are we busy legalizing lethal brews….?

May God have mercy on “THE MAN”

IN CHRIST ALONE.....'NUFF SAID

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

I'LL CRY TEARS OF JOY IN PAINFUL MOMENTS

This walk of life does sometimes feel like “walking into the unknown”. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the many demands that each day puts on our plate. Phew! If only we could take a break from all that’s happening around us. We feel abandoned, rejected and forgotten. It’s as if life is happy to see us miserable. Why me? The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. Somehow every one seems to get ahead of us. There is accelerated growth in our friends’ lives apart from our own. Ever feel like this? Well, you know what, it’s okay. I have felt that way before.

Lets go back to the source of my life; God

1. 1. God made me to have dominion over all

When God made man He gave him dominion over all creation. The plan of God was not for man to be dominated, but to dominate. It wasn’t His plan that circumstances and situations should dominate in my life.

Genesis 1: 26- 28Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

This is a truth that we need to have in our hearts. I know that this did change when man sinned against God. We became slaves to sin and thus the law was introduced, and this too enslaved us. But God does say that we are no longer slaves to the law.

Romans5:12,13--Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.

Galatians 3:13--Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, I have authority. I have authority in His name, and through His blood. When Jesus became a curse for us, we were freed from the curse of sin that for a long time bound us. We are no longer under the curse. We are heirs with Christ. God owns the universe and everything in it, and that's my inheritance. WOW!

2. God understands and cares for me

I have to understand this profound truth; God cares for me. What happens in my world does not take God by surprise, because He is always there for me ahead of time. This is what He tells me; H is faithful so much that He will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear. That He will provide a way out. (1Cor10:13). God knows and understands my needs.

Matthew 6:31-34--So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Whatever it is I’m going through, I will stand strong and boldly declare; Lord, I know you are faithful, and in the end I will be victorious.

1Peter5:7--Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Psalm 55:22--Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.

3. God is my source of help

King David must have grown tired of running from Saul, and maybe running to Jonathan (his best friend) for help. He was running from a furious king who sought to kill him, and to the King’s son who was willing to help him. This is what we do most of the time. We run to friends, family etc. But more often than not we get disappointed. A friend can only do so much. But the friend in Jesus will never disappoint.

Psalm 121:1-3-- I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber;

I cannot go through life on my own; this might send me to the grave sooner than I want. So I choose to trust in God; my helper.

4. God holds my future

This is another truth. I might not know what tomorrow holds, but my God does. And so all I need to do is to trust him with my tomorrow. If He was there for me yesterday, He will be there for me today and even tomorrow. Our God never changes. People do. People get tired of listening to our lamentations, but God can never get tired.

Proverbs 3:5-7-- Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Isaiah 40:29-31-- He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

5. God is on my side

Our God never forsakes us. That’s the truth. It’s important to realize that I’m not fighting my battles alone. God is with me and that assures me my victory. Isn’t this unfathomable grace that God calls me a victor when indeed He is the one who makes sure that I win. Be that as it may, it calls for total surrender and being confident in God. That’s what Elisha did. He understood how Omnipotent God is.

2Kings6:15-17-- When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Our God fights for us and is on our side. When surrounded by circumstances we have to understand that we are not alone.

Acts8:30-31-- And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Go ahead and celebrate life. Yesterday is gone, learn from it. Today is here; make the most out of it. Tomorrow is in God’s hands, do not weary yourself worrying.

May the will of God be done on earth, as it is in heaven.