8 Things To Consider When Planning a Holiday as a Christian

Hello Readers and Followers,

I hope you are all doing well.

As a Christian, imagine the joy of receiving guidance from your Pastor or favourite teacher of God's Word on planning your holiday! 

When our family travels, I find inspiration in seeing women and girls embracing modest swimsuits. It’s a beautiful commitment I cherish for my daughter and myself, even though finding appropriate options often takes some effort. Have you experienced this as well?

Men, this is a call for you too. God expects you to choose swimsuits that maintain modesty and avoid drawing unnecessary attention.

Let’s explore key considerations for planning a holiday with purpose and faith. Proverbs 16:9 reminds us, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." Before finalising dates, budgets, or bookings, reflect on these 8 points:

1. Pray It Through: “Lord, direct my steps. Show me the path You want us to take for rest, adventure, ministry, fun, and rejuvenation. Guide me away from what does not please You.”

2. Ask the Lord for Three Things: Seek wisdom regarding the timing of your holiday, provision for costs, and protection for your journey.

3. Listen to God’s Voice: He may guide you with “not yet,” “go here instead,” or “this is a time for rest and connection.”

4. Purpose: Understand why you desire a holiday—whether it’s for rest, family time, solitude, adventure, or ministry. Let God illuminate your purpose.

5. Who’s Coming?: Review your church calendar and ensure someone covers your responsibilities. This is as important as in your workplace. Also, be mindful of your children’s school schedules; uphold their education and Christian values when booking a family holiday. 

6. Evaluate Destinations: Consider 2-3 potential locations, analysing costs, logistics, and the surrounding environment.

7. Surrender to the Lord: Ask for supernatural provision, save diligently, plan ahead, and consider instalment payments.

8. Book with Prudence: Practice wise spending, as God expects prudence from us. It embodies applying godly wisdom to our daily choices, reflecting our thoughtfulness and responsibility.

What does the Bible say about prudence?

You need to make wise choices. The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.— Proverbs 22:3. 

Your faithfulness in managing time, money, and relationships showcases your dedication to the Lord. Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” — Luke 16:10. 

Not Presumptuous: Even Jesus refrained from testing God. “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” — Matthew 4:7. Faith is about prayer, planning, and trusting God’s outcomes.

Peace and Order: “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” — 1 Corinthians 14:33.

What does being prudent and Christian look like?

A) Pray AND Budget.  

B) Save for both present and future needs.  

C) Work diligently as if serving the Lord.

The world may act from fear, but as a Christian, you are to be inspired by faith. Your planning reflects your trust in Jesus to lead you, so you need to commit your plans to the Lord and remain open to His guidance.

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say hello in the comment section.

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How They Lived a Purpose-Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download it on Google Drive for free, click here.

An Open Letter to Christian Writers

Dear Readers & Followers,

Over the weekend, I had a discussion with my husband about the journey of my Christian writing website (www.mysslafunky.com) and the various experiences I encountered since its inception. During our conversation, I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to encourage fellow writers in my network who may be facing similar challenges that I encountered in 2012 and 2013.

In December 2012, after months of hesitation to launch, despite feeling the Holy Spirit's clear guidance, my husband encouraged me to start a faith-based website where I could write and share Christian articles. I initially believed that writing on social media was sufficient; however, I felt the Lord telling me that there were audiences from search engines waiting to find my content.

When I launched the website in December 2012 and began writing, I noticed that my readership was minimal. Sometimes, only five, ten, twenty, or fifty people would read my articles. I often checked the analytics, feeling discouraged by the low numbers. I expressed my frustrations to my husband, who reminded me that even those five or ten readers matter to God and that their souls are important. He encouraged me NOT to focus on the number of views or likes, but rather on fulfilling God’s calling to write.

Once I shifted my focus away from metrics and persisted in writing, the Lord began to lead people to my website in remarkable ways. Recently, I decided to check the analytics, and I was amazed to find that over 790,000 people had viewed articles on the site, with an average of 30,000 readers last month. I also checked the first article that was posted in December 2012; the article has been read by 14,734 readers.

If you are a Christian writer or someone who writes to uplift and encourage others, remember: do not despise the days of little beginnings. Keep writing!

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say hello in the comment section.

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How They Lived a Purpose-Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download it on Google Drive for free, click here.

Managing Life's Storms as a Christian

Hello Readers & Followers,

I hope you are well.

We all face storms in life —regardless of our race, age, gender, social status, or position within the church. This includes individuals in roles such as Reverend, Minister, or Pastor. Life’s challenges can touch us all, and nobody is exempt.

Job 14:1b says, "Everyone born of a woman will experience trouble." Nevertheless, God says in Isaiah 43:1-3 that, "When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up—the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, your Saviour..." God is reassuring you that you are only passing through all the life's storms and they will not crush you because He is with you. 

One way to manage life's storms is to identify their source or cause, allowing you to learn how to deal with them effectively. It is God's desire that none of life's storms will crush any of His children. Did you know that God's true children are those who believe in Him and apply His teachings to their lives? - John 1:12-13 and Romans 8:14. Our Heavenly Father is not the Father of everyone. Jesus said to some religious people in John 8:44, "Your father is the devil as you do what he wants..." 

                                 So, is God your Father or is satan your father?

Back to the teaching, so what types of storms could you experience on this earth?

1) The Storm of Life - This is a storm that happens to every individual, whether you are a Christian or not. It could be the death of a friend or a family member, waiting that is beyond your control, sudden health issues, conflict in a relationship, war in your country or a neighbouring country, and it has affected the cost of living, unsuccessful job interviews, etc.

When the storm of life comes, depending on its severity, only a life built on the Word of God will stand. In Matthew 7:24-27, two men chose to build on different foundations. When the storms hit, only one of their buildings remained intact, while the other one crashed. Why was this? This was due to how they built the foundation of each building.

What could help you manage the storms of life?

- Feeding your mind on the true Word of God

- Praying (In Word, through Music, through Journalling, through arts, prayer walking, praying in the Spirit)

- Making a conscious effort to fellowship with Christians by attending church

- Seeking counsel from a Christian counsellor

- Seeking therapy from a Christian therapist

- Asking your Pastor to pray for you

- Fasting and Prayer.

2) The Storm of Disobedience - The example of Jonah in the Book of Jonah 1:4, the Lord sent a strong wind to blow, and such a bad storm came up, and the ship that Jonah was in was about to be broken to pieces due to Jonah's disobedience. Jonah was choosing to run away from the instructions the Lord had given him. Jonah realised what he had done, and he asked to be thrown into the sea, and a fish swallowed him - Jonah 1:12.   

From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God, who ensured that the storm of disobedience did not kill him. Jonah's prayer:

When I was in trouble, Lord,

I prayed to you, and you listened to me.

From deep in the world of the dead,

I begged for your help, and you answered my prayer. - Jonah 2:1-2.

The Lord answered Jonah's prayer, and He restored him.

We also have the example of the Prodigal Son, who made some poor choices, and the Lord enabled him to come to his senses after he had experienced a storm by feeding on pig food, but the ultimate goal of the storm was to restore him to his father. - Luke 15:11-32.

3) The Storm of Opposition - This storm is sent by the devil through human beings to stop or oppose you from fulfilling God's purpose for your life. Jesus rebuked the devil when the devil brought the storm of opposition to His disciples' ways through a very strong wind in the boat. Jesus rebuked the wind. - Luke 8:22-25.

It's not a nice experience when the devil tries to oppose us as Christians, but one thing I would like to assure you is that Christ has conquered the devil and has overcome the world - John 16:33. God will make everything to work together for your good, especially if you love the Lord. - Romans 8:28.  Joseph experienced a lot of challenges from the opposition, but God caused everything to work together for his good.

4) The Storm of the Lord - The Lord can send storms to destroy your enemies, as vengeance is the Lord's. The Lord allowed the Red Sea to swallow the Egyptians. The Lord allowed David to destroy Goliath, who was an enemy of God's children. Jeremiah 30:23-24 says:

See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath,

a driving wind swirling down on the heads of the wicked.

The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until He fully accomplishes the purposes of His heart.

In days to come, you will understand this.

How to recognise where the storm is coming from?

A) Spend time continuously asking the Lord where the storm is coming from.

B) Ask the Lord to search your heart. Is there anything that you have done that may have caused this?

C) Ask the Lord for His specific instructions on how to manage the storms.

D) God is sovereign; thus, He may choose not to tell you where the storm has come from and why you have experienced the storm or are still experiencing the storm, but be assured that His presence will be with you in the storm and He will see you through. Let me leave you with one of the Scriptures that I started with. God says in Isaiah 43:1-3 that, "When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up—the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, your Saviour..."  God is reassuring you that you are only passing through all the life's storms and they will not crush you because He is with you. 

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say hello in the comment section.

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How They Lived a Purpose-Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download it on Google Drive for free, click here.

Divine Timing Is Part Of God's Plan

Hello Readers & Followers,

I hope you are well.

There is a reason the Scripture is silent about the age at which the Lord instructed Noah to build an ark.

It is evident from the Scripture that it took a while for Noah to build the ark, and it took a while for the Lord to send the flood that was going to cover the whole earth/the flood that destroyed the whole earth during the time of Noah (Genesis 6 & 7).

The delayed timing of the flood coming to the earth was part of divine timing that demonstrated God's mercy and how God's desire was for people not to perish. 

2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent."

Because this is God's desire for humanity, it does not mean humanity wants this desire.

The delayed time of the building of the gigantic ark was a warning to humanity to follow Yahweh, but sadly, almost the whole world, apart from Noah's family, yielded to God's Word, and they were saved.

The road to enter God's Kingdom is narrow, but the highway to hell is broad and the broad gate is wide, while the gate to heaven is very narrow and only a few ever find it.

Which road are you on?

Jesus spoke about the broad road. He described some people who thought they were on their way to Heaven, but when they got to the judgment, He said to them, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23).

They protested, “But Lord, I cast out demons in your name. Lord, I was an evangelist. I was this; I was that” (Matthew 7:22). And Jesus said He would say to them, “I don’t even know you.” 

Jesus said the broad road is deceptive. It may seem right to many people to get what they can out of life, to seek their own pleasure, to satisfy their own appetites. But the Bible says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Jesus said that the road to heaven is narrow and the gate is narrow, and that He is the gate. “I am the door,” He declared. “If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” (John 10:9). 

Which road are you on today? 

Which direction are you travelling?

The daily choices that you are making determine the road that you are on.

The road to heaven requires discipline, yielding to the instruction of the Holy Spirit and daily surrendering to Jesus.

The choice is yours on the road to be on.

It is my desire for you to enter into the final ark.

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say hello in the comment section.

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How They Lived a Purpose-Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download it on Google Drive for free, click here.

What Are You Doing With Your Time?

Hello Readers & Followers,

I hope you are well.

Will you say this Prayer?

Dear Lord, teach me to number my days,
That I may gain a heart of wisdom,
In Jesus' name.
Amen!

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say hello in the comment section.

Have a lovely day!

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How They Lived a Purpose-Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download it on Google Drive for free, click here.

The True Test of Your Love for Jesus

Hello Readers & Followers,

I hope you are well.

There is no coincidence with our Lord Jesus Christ.

It wasn’t a coincidence when Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him (John 21:15-19). This interaction contrasted sharply with the three times Peter had denied, rejected, and lied about knowing Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75).

How do you think Jesus felt when Peter denied and rejected Him?

Despite Peter's denial, Jesus embraced him and even prepared breakfast for Peter and his friends.

Would you be able to forgive someone easily if they denied you? That person could be a friend, spouse, leader, manager, family member, or pastor.

It's easy to profess your love for Jesus when it doesn't require any sacrifice. However, the true test of your love for Jesus lies in how you demonstrate the love of Christ to those around you, especially when you don't "feel" like it based on the circumstances.

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say hello in the comment section.

Have a lovely day!

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How They Lived a Purpose-Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download it on Google Drive for free, click here.

3 Ways To Embrace The New Thing That The Lord is Doing!

Hello Readers & Followers,

I hope you are well.

Isaiah 43:18-19 AMPC says "Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

For some of you, the Lord has shown you a vision of what He is going to do in your life and God has shown you a glimpse of the future. What the Lord wants from you is to Perceive it, Know it and Give heed to it.

Perceive it!

You need to patiently ask the Holy Spirit to help you recognise and discern what He is doing in your life, your church, and your nation in this season. Make sure you keep seeking the Holy Spirit and I am confident that you'll be guided by Him if you're serious about looking up to Him. Jeremiah 29:13 NIV says "You will seek God and find God when you seek God with all your heart."

Know it!

God wants you to know how to interpret this present season of your life, and also when He is bringing a change of season your way. It is in the place of fellowshipping with God that you will get to know the mind of God. Also, it is in the place of fellowshipping with God that your faith will be strengthened in the things that you have perceived. Remember, fellowshipping with God includes spending time alone with God, and also fellowshipping with your church family to hear the mind of God through the sermons/songs/prayers at your local church.

Apostle Paul had fellowshipped with God so much that when he and his disciples were experiencing challenges, Paul encouraged the disciples by saying he had faith in God and he believed and he knew what God had said to him would surely happen (Acts 27:25). 

Jesus said to the crowd in  Luke 12:54-56 NIV “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does and when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?"  

I'd like you to take a pause right now and say this prayer: "O Lord, help me to interpret this present season of my life in Jesus' name."

Give heed to it!

To enjoy the New Thing that God is doing, God wants you to be a part of it and not be a discourager of what God is doing in your life, church and nation. Do not play a part in quenching the Spirit.

As you give heed to what God is doing this season, your patience will be tested, your love for God will be tested and your love and motive for the things of God will be tested. In fact, you'd want to go back to your comfort zone or what you naturally desire but to enjoy what God is doing, you need to commune with God to discern what He is doing in this season.

I love hearing from you in the comment section. Please take a minute to say hello in the comment section.

Have a lovely day!

Yours in Christ,

Mysses Lafunky

I have a free e-book for you. The book (15 Women of the Bible: How They Lived a Purpose-Driven Life). This e-book was written by my Bible Study Group. To download it on Google Drive for free, click here.