Sunday 27 March 2016

He is Risen!

A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN JUST 3 DAYS

  • A baby can be born
  • One could die
  • An illness could emerge
  • One could be healed from an illness 
  • A baby is conceived
  • God blesses us
  • One could have travelled to different places.
  • A business deal could have been sealed.
  • A marriage proposal may have occurred.
  • A wedding may have taken place.
  • You could have been given your special gift or promotion.
  • An exam is passed.
  • Add three extra days to it, the Lord created the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in this world in just 6 days.

Indeed...a lot can happen in just three days.

Something miraculous happened within three days. Something that assures you and I of heaven. Something that wiped off all our sins. Something that is always ready to help you to live a fun and pleasing life on this earth and thereafter.



What happened?

Jesus Christ died for our sins. He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day. Third day! WOW!
He is the ONLY God to have died and risen. No account of any other god that had died and risen exists.
After Jesus Christ had died and risen, He was seen by Peter, the twelve apostles and more than 500 followers.
Jesus wants you and I to have a relationship with Him. Thus, He has allowed the same POWER that raised Him from the dead to live inside us. This power is called the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand God, comforts us, directs us and teaches us among other things.

Thank you Jesus Christ for your death and for your resurrection. The ONLY GOD to conquer death.
Happy Easter to everyone. Remember the reason for the season. The Easter egg symbolises a new life; it symbolises Jesus' emergence from the tomb and resurrection.

He is Risen!

Enjoy Your Easter.

Saturday 19 March 2016

Pushed to the Breaking Point?

I recently stumbled on an album on Spotify titled: "Church Folk Gotta Laugh Too" and I thought to myself, I go to church so, let's see what this is about. This album was a collection of prank phone calls to Christians accusing them of something they had not actually done. The prankster (Nephew Tommy) was actually put up to make these calls by close friends or family members of these oblivious victims. He was also really good at pushing the buttons of these people and it didn't take long before some of them started cursing and threatening to beat up the caller. Yes! You read that right. Supposed Church folks were pushed to the point that they spoke vulgar word.

This got me thinking! How did this happen? These people are meant to be Christians yet, at the application of the right amount of provocative pressure, they completely exploded! But the real question from this is how would I have reacted to such a phone call? (By the way the calls seemed very legitimate). I probably would have done exactly what they did or probably even worse! I believe that’s why Jesus said: “Stop judging so that you will not be judged . . . So why do you see the piece of sawdust in another believer's eye and not notice the wooden beam in your own eye?” (Luke 7:1-3) In that scenario, I would have thought to myself that I was justified to speak that way to the caller especially because he started it and also there wasn't anyone else listening to my conversation. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!


No matter how far back against the wall we are pushed as believers, the Word of God to us is that God would not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle. He gives us the strength to endure it so He can be glorified. (1Cor 10:13). So, when we are tempted to react in a way that doesn’t glorify God, that’s the exact same time we should CHOOSE not to respond to the temptation and respond positively. When someone speaks to me accusing me of something I haven’t done, I shouldn’t lose my faith then speak and behave like someone who isn't accountable to anyone because we shall account for every word we speak (Matt 12:36). I have been translated from darkness in the light and I should ALWAYS uphold the standard of the light. Our words should be seasoned so that we know what to respond to any question or accusation. I am in no way saying that this is easy, NO! It’s really hard, even the scriptures attest to this (James 3:2). And that is because our human nature wants to “put that person in their place” and get back at them for insulting or speaking harshly to us.

What then is God expecting of us to do in such situation? It is to watch what we say! We should examine our words before we speak them. I learnt 'THINK' from a book by John Maxwell where he recommended that when we speak, our word should be True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary and Kind (THINK). I can assure you that threatening to beat someone up is not kind, trust me :)

So, as you go into this week, don't let anyone push you to a point that you speak without grace. Let your words be True, HelpfulInspiring, Necessary and Kind.


Photo Credit: http://tracyhurst.com/

Monday 14 March 2016

Yes, You! Let Your Yes be Yes and Your No be No

This week's message is about the promises that we make. Are you someone that makes a promise and never fulfils it or you never respond to the person that you had promised something? Have you said Yes with good intentions but you were unable to fulfil your Yes?

Have you ever had to say Yes to someone to feel accepted or as a way to prove that you are reliable? Or are you known to always say No but now you carefully examine when you say No and when you say Yes before making a decision?

If any of the above applies to you, this is an opportunity to ask God for mercy for promises that you have made deceitfully and for promises that you have not been able to fulfil. I have said my own prayer too.

Does God care about the promises that you make? Does He care about your words and actions? Certainly! Jesus said: "But I tell you that everyone will give account on the Day of Judgement for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted (declared not guilty), and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:36-37).

Are you conscious of the promises you make? Let me share a few experiences with you. I was once part of a planning committee for an event and one of the committee members promised to do something but when it was time to redeem the pledge she had made, she became silent without any response and she removed herself from the planning team. A few of us took it upon ourselves to follow-up on her, however, our actions fell into deaf ears; till today, we still do not know what made her not to fulfil her promise.


Are you thinking Myss Lafunky has mastered the act of ensuring her Yes is a Yes and her No is a No? No! I'm a work in progress through Christ Jesus my helper. There was one thing that I had been woefully guilty of, do you know what it is? Making telephone calls. I had previously made a promise of ringing friends on a regular basis but I tend to be very pre-occupied to ring or sometimes the timid nature that I sometimes exhibit had prevented me from initiating contact. How have I been improving? I have resulted to maximise the use of text messages using different mediums and I have also shared my struggle with my friends.


An example of letting your Yes be Yes and letting your No be a No is an experience that my friend recently had. He was persuaded to undertake a task, upon several persuasions, he kept his word of  'No'. Infact, I'd also joined the people to persuade him to say Yes, however, my friend reminded me of what the Word of God says when we say Yes or No to things. He also reminded me of the importance of being a person with integrity and being truthful about what we say and the motives of what we say.

What does God say about our use of Yes and No?  The bible says: 

"Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple Yes or No, otherwise you will be condemned." (James 5:12).

Jesus Christ said that:  Just a simple, "Yes, I will, or No, I won't. Anything beyond this is from the evil one." (Matthew 5:37).

No doubt that we sometimes have justifiable excuses of why we have said Yes or No to something. However, the Lord is displeased and disapproved of this practice when we do not keep our word and also when we swear by heaven.

Jesus Christ wants us to be sure of what we say. He wants us to say and follow through with what whatever we say. He was an epitome of his teachings. The bible says that: "for no matter how many promises God has made, they are, "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God." (2 Corinthians 1:20).

It's time for us to turn a new leaf. Let's be like Jesus Christ, let our Yes be Yes and our No be No to whatever we do or say.

Have a lovely week.

- Myss Lafunky



Photo Credit: www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com