Ayokunle always knew this marriage was never going to work. Ayo and Kunle could never get on. They both wanted different things in life. Viewed life with different lenses. Kunle wants to live to the fullest. Ayo wants to play it straight. Ayo wants to act the way Kunle feels. Kunle wants to act the way Ayo thinks.
Its amazing how two people who cannot stand each other can live in the same house. Share the same facilities. Eat from the same table. Use the different areas of the house at different times for different things.
But Ayokunle had no hand in the matter. The nuptial bonds between Ayo and Kunle were tied by grand design. Just knew the marriage had to work. Divorce was not possible. But this could never be a marriage of equals. One person had to be dominant and the other submissive. But who and why?
The fate of these three persons, Ayokunle, Ayo and Kunle, are intrinsically linked. The death of one is the death of all. Or is it?
How can Ayokunle let Ayo reign and keep restless Kunle under wraps?
Friday, March 30, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Spiritual Sickness
Whenever we think of Jehovah-Rapha, the God that Heals, we always seem to equate that healing with the physical healing i.e. blindness, handicap as contained in the bible. But what about healing from spiritual sickness.
Sickness is defined as the impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism. Whenever my physical body gets sick, i go to the doctor, get some drugs and after a few days am right as rain. Sometimes, the sickness can be prevented by living healthily, but at times it is also caused by unforeseen circumstances. It just happens. But is spiritual sickness the same. Is it possible to live a healthy spiritual life, read your bible, spend time with God and still fall spiritually sick.
But what is spiritual sickness? Hmm. I reckon its not being right with God. Not living the life he intends for you. Not being close to him. And the symptom. SIN. The presence of sin is that sign that all is not well with ones spritual life. I suppose i recieve my healing from spritual sickness in repentance and belief that i will be well again. Luke 17:19 says
"Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you."
But is it unrealistic to expect to never be spiritually sick. Do we just trod along and when we fall just say sorry i cant help myself and move on? How do we stop being indulgent? How do you differentiate between spiritual sickness resulting from an unhealthy spiritual life and one that just happens. Is there any such difference?
As usual i have more questions than answers.
Will ponder on this a bit more.
Easy
Sickness is defined as the impairment of normal physiological function affecting part or all of an organism. Whenever my physical body gets sick, i go to the doctor, get some drugs and after a few days am right as rain. Sometimes, the sickness can be prevented by living healthily, but at times it is also caused by unforeseen circumstances. It just happens. But is spiritual sickness the same. Is it possible to live a healthy spiritual life, read your bible, spend time with God and still fall spiritually sick.
But what is spiritual sickness? Hmm. I reckon its not being right with God. Not living the life he intends for you. Not being close to him. And the symptom. SIN. The presence of sin is that sign that all is not well with ones spritual life. I suppose i recieve my healing from spritual sickness in repentance and belief that i will be well again. Luke 17:19 says
"Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you."
But is it unrealistic to expect to never be spiritually sick. Do we just trod along and when we fall just say sorry i cant help myself and move on? How do we stop being indulgent? How do you differentiate between spiritual sickness resulting from an unhealthy spiritual life and one that just happens. Is there any such difference?
As usual i have more questions than answers.
Will ponder on this a bit more.
Easy
Monday, March 26, 2007
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
One of the major themes through a lot of my posts has been the fight between our human/carnal nature and our spiritual side. Like Pastor Paul said during his sermon yesterday, Xtains in particular, suffer from a split personality. I suppose this is further evident in many of the great men of God who fell. This internal war raging for control of our minds and soul is one i can identify with. Its a battle that i can say ive been fighting all my life. But prob for the better part of the last 10 years Mr. Hyde has been running things. Since i decided to take my xtain life more seriously ive found out that though the power of sin in my life is broken, the presence of sin remains.
Like Paul, i still do the things i dont want to do and dont do the things i should do. But it seems certain situations result in who turns up i.e. Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. Ive come to the realisation that i cannot kill off Mr. Hyde for good, but i need to starve him of oxygen so he does not breathe and keep reappearing. I should never get complacent when fighting against him. I need to fill my mind with Godly thoughts and not give him room to manoeuvre. My mind should not be fertile ground for negative thoughts which it feeds on. My reaction to whatever challenges and difficulties i face in life should be centered on God and not on my "natural" human reaction.
I will like to see more of Dr. Jekyll in my life. And hopefully through God's help, this my dream will come to pass.
Easy
Like Paul, i still do the things i dont want to do and dont do the things i should do. But it seems certain situations result in who turns up i.e. Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. Ive come to the realisation that i cannot kill off Mr. Hyde for good, but i need to starve him of oxygen so he does not breathe and keep reappearing. I should never get complacent when fighting against him. I need to fill my mind with Godly thoughts and not give him room to manoeuvre. My mind should not be fertile ground for negative thoughts which it feeds on. My reaction to whatever challenges and difficulties i face in life should be centered on God and not on my "natural" human reaction.
I will like to see more of Dr. Jekyll in my life. And hopefully through God's help, this my dream will come to pass.
Easy
PUSH: A Scorecard
Its a been a week since PUSH ended. I can honestly say its was a worthwhile experience which i know intend to do annually. I now understand the importance of fasting and will definetely be doing a lot more of it during the year as the spirit leads me. I would like to talk about my experience of the fast from both a physical and spiritual perspective.
Physically, the first few days were hard but it got easier as the days progressed. Strange as it may seem, i enjoyed the discipline of it all. Being controlled in when you eat. It was a great, though at times painful, experience. But a part of me still misses it. I now have a greater appreciation for discipline and i intend to be more disciplined in other areas of my life.
Spiritually was a different story. I couldnt spend as much time with God as i would have liked cos of work commitments amongst other things. I also wasnt exactly the greatest example of Christlikeness and holiness during the period. But i learned a lot and was blessed in several ways during the period. I learnt about God's mercy towards me. I not only depend on God, but depend on his mercy. Live by his mercy and grace. Am definitely not a holy person by any stretch of the imagination. Fasting for 3 weeks was never going to transform me overnight. Its a journey of a lifetime and i have just started it. Garageboy. Be PATIENT.
As this was my first fast, it definitely was a good time spent. And i would like to thank everyone who helped and encouraged me during this fasting process.
Take care peeps....
Physically, the first few days were hard but it got easier as the days progressed. Strange as it may seem, i enjoyed the discipline of it all. Being controlled in when you eat. It was a great, though at times painful, experience. But a part of me still misses it. I now have a greater appreciation for discipline and i intend to be more disciplined in other areas of my life.
Spiritually was a different story. I couldnt spend as much time with God as i would have liked cos of work commitments amongst other things. I also wasnt exactly the greatest example of Christlikeness and holiness during the period. But i learned a lot and was blessed in several ways during the period. I learnt about God's mercy towards me. I not only depend on God, but depend on his mercy. Live by his mercy and grace. Am definitely not a holy person by any stretch of the imagination. Fasting for 3 weeks was never going to transform me overnight. Its a journey of a lifetime and i have just started it. Garageboy. Be PATIENT.
As this was my first fast, it definitely was a good time spent. And i would like to thank everyone who helped and encouraged me during this fasting process.
Take care peeps....
Sunday, March 11, 2007
"For my power is made perfect in weakness"
As i am a human being, living in human flesh, with human faults and weaknesses, i find this bible verse very intriguing. Ive spent the last few days trying to understand what it is trying to tell me. I think i have a better understanding.
Our weaknesses causes us to do things that displease God. But God loves us so much that He wipes the slate clean. His power over us is love. His unconditional love for us is shown through his mercy towards us. Encouraging us to surpass our faults and weaknesses and seek him.
I find it hard thinking someone could love me so much as to keep on forgiving me. God's power over us is his redeeming love for us. We appreciate this power more when we know we dont deserve it. Dont deserve His blessings yet he chooses to bless us. It spurs us forward. God's power is made manifest in our weakness. That is when God's power is shown to us. When our burdens of guilt and shame are lifted and we see Him again. And we are free....
That in my opinion is what is meant by "God's power is made perfect in weakness". We get to experience God's perfect love.
Thats all folks have a great weekend.
Our weaknesses causes us to do things that displease God. But God loves us so much that He wipes the slate clean. His power over us is love. His unconditional love for us is shown through his mercy towards us. Encouraging us to surpass our faults and weaknesses and seek him.
I find it hard thinking someone could love me so much as to keep on forgiving me. God's power over us is his redeeming love for us. We appreciate this power more when we know we dont deserve it. Dont deserve His blessings yet he chooses to bless us. It spurs us forward. God's power is made manifest in our weakness. That is when God's power is shown to us. When our burdens of guilt and shame are lifted and we see Him again. And we are free....
That in my opinion is what is meant by "God's power is made perfect in weakness". We get to experience God's perfect love.
Thats all folks have a great weekend.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Practice Makes Perfect
One of the things am learning about this fasting process is what it means to be a practicing xtian. When hunger strikes, as it does round 3pm, the pain reminds me to focus on God. Maybe say a prayer or sing a song or just think of him. Just something to put me back in God’s presence. As the days go on, it starts becoming part of you and it’s really cool to be honest.
Problem starts after you break your fast. It’s like you go back to how you were beforehand. You are comfortable and feel satisfied. That physical pain is not there anymore to remind you to focus on God. Basically, you are in prime position to take him for granted, get complacent and inevitably to fall.
The phrase “thorn in my flesh” came to mind recently and I did a search in my bible. It linked me to this passage and it says it all
2 Corinthians 12:
7 And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated.
8 Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me;
9 but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
This is a profound statement. I believe the thorn in our flesh, that nagging issue or fault or besetting sin serves the same purpose as hunger during fasting. Question is how to channel the pain from the thorn to focusing on God like during the fasting when we get hit by hunger pains. What is different about physical pain than emotional pain that makes it easier to channel to God? Is it that emotional pain aint that bad? Is it cos physical pain comes from the flesh which is easier to deal with while emotional pain is from your soul? Or is it physical pain is more instant while emotional pain more delayed? To be honest I don’t know. It might be a case of different strokes for different folks. Maybe for some people it’s the reverse. I think this will have to be discussed in my blog at some point in the future.
But I like this scripture because it goes on to say "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." God has given us enough tries for us to get it right with him. What we need to do is keep practicing his principles.
Am happy I decided to do PUSH this year. Am learning so much about myself and God. I definitely could be praying more. This is obviously an area I will need to work further on.
Anyhow peeps later
Problem starts after you break your fast. It’s like you go back to how you were beforehand. You are comfortable and feel satisfied. That physical pain is not there anymore to remind you to focus on God. Basically, you are in prime position to take him for granted, get complacent and inevitably to fall.
The phrase “thorn in my flesh” came to mind recently and I did a search in my bible. It linked me to this passage and it says it all
2 Corinthians 12:
7 And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated.
8 Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me;
9 but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
This is a profound statement. I believe the thorn in our flesh, that nagging issue or fault or besetting sin serves the same purpose as hunger during fasting. Question is how to channel the pain from the thorn to focusing on God like during the fasting when we get hit by hunger pains. What is different about physical pain than emotional pain that makes it easier to channel to God? Is it that emotional pain aint that bad? Is it cos physical pain comes from the flesh which is easier to deal with while emotional pain is from your soul? Or is it physical pain is more instant while emotional pain more delayed? To be honest I don’t know. It might be a case of different strokes for different folks. Maybe for some people it’s the reverse. I think this will have to be discussed in my blog at some point in the future.
But I like this scripture because it goes on to say "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." God has given us enough tries for us to get it right with him. What we need to do is keep practicing his principles.
Am happy I decided to do PUSH this year. Am learning so much about myself and God. I definitely could be praying more. This is obviously an area I will need to work further on.
Anyhow peeps later
Thursday, March 01, 2007
I Don't Want a Miracle
Last night, the visiting pastor said something that hit home. You should't ask for a miracle, you should ask to be a blessing. That is deep. Asking for miracles is like living from hand to mouth. But to ask to be a blessing is to operate at a higher level. He gave the illustration of 2 people. 1 that has 5 cars and the other has none. If the guy with 5 cars, gives the other guy a car for free, the other guy receives a miracle. But the other guy is in a position to be used to bless people.
This is a serious paradigm shift. It requires looking at the bigger picture. Believe God for everything. Not to focus on current needs alone. Ive had issues asking God for mundane things. I feel as if am using him or cheapening his love for me. I feel better just asking Him to be with me. To never leave me. To have his grace cover me. To guide and protect me. To forgive me of the sins which i wilfully commit. To help me to have faith in him. But now i can ask for another one. To be a blessing to people not for my own benefit but for his.
I need to learn to be a more compassionate person. I mentioned "love" and "kindness" as some of the core values i need to improve upon this year. In order for me to be a blessing to others i need to let go and open up. But thats what i want to be Lord. A blessing.
Just a quick aside. Before i attended House on the Rock, i just believed what everyone said about it. A church filled with scantily clad ladies and people thinking they are in a disco. What i have discovered is something completely different. The Word that comes from that pulpit has changed my life. I love that church and even though i grumble about a few things now and again, those things are minor. If anything i would invite anyone who hasnt been to come to a Sunday service preferably 2nd service at 9:15pm at the Muson Centre, Onikan.
Its a great place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Easy people
This is a serious paradigm shift. It requires looking at the bigger picture. Believe God for everything. Not to focus on current needs alone. Ive had issues asking God for mundane things. I feel as if am using him or cheapening his love for me. I feel better just asking Him to be with me. To never leave me. To have his grace cover me. To guide and protect me. To forgive me of the sins which i wilfully commit. To help me to have faith in him. But now i can ask for another one. To be a blessing to people not for my own benefit but for his.
I need to learn to be a more compassionate person. I mentioned "love" and "kindness" as some of the core values i need to improve upon this year. In order for me to be a blessing to others i need to let go and open up. But thats what i want to be Lord. A blessing.
Just a quick aside. Before i attended House on the Rock, i just believed what everyone said about it. A church filled with scantily clad ladies and people thinking they are in a disco. What i have discovered is something completely different. The Word that comes from that pulpit has changed my life. I love that church and even though i grumble about a few things now and again, those things are minor. If anything i would invite anyone who hasnt been to come to a Sunday service preferably 2nd service at 9:15pm at the Muson Centre, Onikan.
Its a great place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Easy people
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