Happy Holidays!

As the year draws close to an end, Myss Lafunky's Blog is grateful for all our committed readers, audience and writers. Thank you for your commitment to the vision of this blog. Next year, the posts will be more frequent than how it was in the last quarter of this year.

Revisit some of our popular blog posts from 2016 and you'll find helpful primers on subjects like:

Freedom, How to Take Revenge When Someone Offends You, Waiting on the Lord, Ways to boost your confidence in the Lord, Things you should do in the morning as a Christian, Shaped by adversity, Having faith in God, What it means to fear God and Joy to the World. 

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Joy to the World: Christmas in Kiri-Kiri Prison Nigeria

I’ve been honoured to be part of a great group of people that want to make a difference in this world. The name of this group is called the Destiny Trust and part of their plans for 2016 was to have what we tagged an unlikely Christmas for children behind bars. When I say children behind bars, I’m not referring to juvenile offenders but to children that are either too young to be separated from their mother or were given birth to by mothers serving time in prison as at the time of their birth. As such, when Sage heard of such a project, nothing was going to stop him from spending time with these young ones. Ps. 127: 3 – 6 paints a picture of how God sees children.

                    3. Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him 

On the D-day, 11^th of December 2016 I found myself at Kiri-Kiri. For those that haven’t been there, let me paint a picture. Kiri-Kiri is a town located in Apapa, Lagos and within that town lays the famous Kiri-Kiri prison. The prison has different blocks for male, female and maximum prisoners; each of these prisons feature high fences and imposing gates that are properly guarded. It is not the kind of place one can break out from; forget prison break and the escapades of Scofield, T.Bag and co. With a lot of anxiety, I drove into the Kiri-Kiri compound and the first thing I did was to get into trouble with a guard for making a U-turn at the gates of the maximum prison. A huge dose of humility, an explanation that it was an innocent mistake and apologies was what rescued me. Eventually I arrived at the gates of the female prison and right there on the fence I was greeted with the following words:

A home away from home.

Don’t be frightened.

Just walk into an atmosphere of love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness, self-control and abundance of God’s grace upon your life.

This was the strangest place to find such words written at the gates. These words belonged at the gates of a church or at the gates of a rehab centre, so I thought. If you read carefully, you will recognize the fruits of the spirit listed out in Gal. 5:22-23:

22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Eventually, we got in, observed all the necessary security checks, dropped the gifts with warden for distribution later and were taken straight to the church where the Sunday service was on-going. When we got in, the sermon was about how we should accept whatever situation we’re facing and accept God’s will. Not such an easy thing to do when you’re in a prison cell. Despite the situation, these women sang praises to God of His greatness and how God is the biggest. Service ended, we were introduced and the women were asked to bring their children to join them in the chapel. Just as inscribed on the fence of the prison, there was joy as these women praised God, danced to His greatness and partook in singing the Christmas song ‘Joy to the world’ (even though we all forgot the lines at different points in time; who forgets the lyrics to Joy to the World?). There was so much joy that one of the ladies, to the loud cheers of the others, boldly said to us:

"Don’t see us as prisoners but as students."

There was also an interesting remix to Joy to the world sang by one of the women; such a lovely voice and so many talented women. One of the women played the drums while the other played the talking drum. The little babies weren’t left out of the fun as we took turns carrying them and playing with each of them. For some reason they kept rejecting the sun-shades of one of the volunteers. 

Joy is the essence of Christmas. Joy that our Saviour, Jesus Christ was born. Joy that we get to celebrate God’s love for us (Rom. 5: 7 – 8). Love so great that He sent His only begotten son down to earth to be born in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. As we left, I watched as a mother left the chapel with tears in her eyes while another had tears in her voice as she prayed for us and felt saddened that these children would spend their first Christmas in prison with their mothers. It was a blessing to be able to spread joy and the amount of thanks and the heartfelt prayers from the ladies were the best gift I could ever receive. It was indeed an unlikely Christmas! As we celebrate Christmas in our different locations, let us spread joy, love and speak life into the lives of the people around us, friends and strangers alike. Please remember these children and their mothers in your prayers.

Find out more about the Destiny Trust on:

http://destinytrust.org
https://www.facebook.com/thedestinytrust/
https://www.instagram.com/thedestinytrust/
http://destinytrust.org/get-involved/

Merry Christmas from Sage

Should I fear God?

It's December...woop woop! I usually love December, a month where the birth of Jesus Christ is remembered by the whole world. A month where some people show the love of Jesus Christ by sharing gifts with their friends and families. Another thing that I like about December is the beautiful decoration at shopping centres and at various houses. What do you like about December?

Back to this week's post, it's about fears. When you think of the word fears, what comes to your mind? Keep reading...

Prior to getting married, my husband (who was then my fiancé) encouraged me to learn swimming as he believed it was a life skill to have. I took on board his advice and I attended swimming lessons once a week. So, after we got married, we went on honeymoon and I had our swim wears packed because I was ready to display my newly learnt swimming skills.

As the days of the honeymoon went, there were various opportunities for us to swim but I was scared to enter the pool even though I had attended swimming lessons. With hubby's encouragement and seeing how he was showing me different acrobatic moves inside the pool, I became audacious and entered the pool. But guess what? I was still terrified, I didn't float properly and I was scared and I feared for my life, I thought I would drown. When you think about the word 'fear', we don't usually have a happy thought, we have a terrifying feeling in our minds. 

When we think of our relationship with God, some of us have questioned why we need to fear God if He is a loving God. Check out the biblical stories below: 

- Think of the story of Adam and Eve, when God appeared to them, they became terrified because they knew they had sinned against God. What does that tell us? Sometimes we become fearful when we are afraid of the consequences of our actions.

- Think of the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Joseph shun evil, he refused to engage in any sexual activities with his master's wife because of his fear of God. This fear was not because he was scared of the consequences or he was afraid of God but rather, this fear was a profound reverence for God, he carefully thought about how his actions may offend God or discredit the name of God.

From the story of Joseph, can you see how fear is not always a bad thing but rather it can be a good thing to stop us from doing the wrong thing.

 A few bible scriptures for you to think about: 

- The Bible says God has put his fears in us to stop us from doing wrong things. Exodus 20: 20 says: "Moses said to the people, "Do not be scared, for God has come to test you, that the fear (profound reverence) of him may be before you, that you may not sin." The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. (Exodus 20:20).

- “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” (Psalms 111:10 ESV). 

- “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7 ESV).

When Jesus Christ came, He changed the fears we had for God. Jesus Christ demonstrated the love of God to us and told His disciples and several people not to be afraid. In fact, He said, there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out all fears. For fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love (1 John 4:8). 

Jesus Christ however told us about the type of fear that He wants us to have, He said in His absence, He wants us to work out (actively pursues spiritual maturity) our salvation with fear and trembling (using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Jesus Christ). This can be found in Philippians 2:12 (Amplified Version).  

Jesus Christ wants us to fear God but the fear is to respect and do things out of love for Him and avoid anything that will discredit the name of Jesus Christ.

 Finally, the scriptures say that the conclusion of our Christian journey is to:

Fear God [worship Him with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is almighty God] and keep His commandments, for this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, every hidden and secret thing, whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 AMP).

- Myss Lafunky

Relax! Do not be anxious or worried about anything

A lot is going on in the world at the moment, from Mr Donald Trump winning the US election to the UK's Brexit. In addition, various families are fleeing from war zone countries looking for a safe haven; there are also families that are not able to afford their everyday meal. 

Some of you are questioning where God is and some have continued to wonder how God can be allowing things that make them anxious to be happening. Even Jesus acknowledged that we live in a world where trouble is never farfetched (Jh 16:33). 

Nevertheless, The Lord said you should not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything (every circumstance and situation), tell God everything and trust that He has heard you (Philippians 4:6 Paraphrased).  Why not take a few seconds to tell God about your worries and fears? I am very confident that He will work everything out at the best time.

Have a lovely week!

Are Your Words Gracious?

It's a new month. Can you believe it's November 2016 already? I mentioned to someone yesterday that November is still very far away, not realising that November starts tomorrow until I was reminded. Thank God for keeping us alive. Glory be to God. Once again, I officially welcome you to the month of November.  Please, keep reading for this week's post. This week's post allows us to individually reflect on how gracious we are. 

According to the dictionary, to be gracious means: 

- to be courteous, kind, and pleasant, especially towards someone of lower social status.- The word gracious is synonyms to being:  courteous, polite, chivalrous, well mannered, decorous, gentlemanly, ladylike, tactful, diplomatic and civilised.

Looking at the meaning of the word 'gracious', can you confidently describe yourself as being gracious at all times? Are there situations that may trigger you not to be gracious? 

Do a self evaluation of when you are gracious and not gracious, try and identify ways that you can be gracious in line with the above definition. Also, think about your triggers, what are the things that influence you to speak graciously or not? 

There was a time that I was challenged to be gracious with my words for a whole month; I had to regular evaluate my progress at the end of the week. From my reflection, I was able to identify that sometimes my thoughts would think ungraciously, however, before the words came out, I had controlled what I said. Also, I noticed the Word of God that is inside me influenced the choice of words that I use. Furthermore, I noticed that my environment, and the closest people to me also subtly influenced the choice of words that I had used and still regularly use. 

You can also give the challenge a go. Perhaps challenge yourself for one day, two days, a week? Two weeks? One month?

You can teach your children, siblings, Sunday school children about what it means to be gracious and what God expects us of His children when it comes to our words. 

There's a scripture that I usually remember with regards to my use of words. It says: we will give an account for every careless word that we speak (Matthew 12:36).

Let me leave you with a few biblical scriptures about being gracious: 

- “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

Proverbs 16:24 ESV.

- “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but gracious words are pure.”

Proverbs 15:26 ESV.

“And all spoke well of him  (Jesus) and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"”

Luke 4:22 ESV.

Have a lovely month ahead.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com

Want To Walk On Water?

Ever heard of the story of the second man to walk on water? His name was Peter and he was a fisherman who had met Jesus and also spent time touring the land of Israel with Him. If you were to meet Jesus, what would you ask Him? Back to the story, Peter wanted to be sure that He was actually seeing Jesus and not a ghost when he saw a Jesus lookalike walking on the sea, he asked: "If it is You, command me to come to You on the water." So, Jesus beckoned on him to come. Peter got off his boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. However, as Peter was making his way to Jesus on water, the wind was boisterous and Peter became frightened and started to sink. He cried out to Jesus to save him and Jesus didn't hesitate. Jesus reached and grabbed his hand and saved him. However, Jesus had to question his faith, He told him that he should not have doubted (Paraphrase of Matthew 14:24-31).

Can you see yourself in Peter? You know God, you have a relationship with Him, however there are things that pop into your mind or things that you see or hear or read that generate fear or doubt in your heart. Let me remind you that you are not alone. The devil constantly sows seeds of fear and doubt in us.

How do you deal with this? 

Recognise that fear and doubt will not add anything positive to your life. The scripture says that you should be anxious for nothing but to turn that anxiety into an opportunity to pray for God's help regarding the anxiety. (Phil 4:6)

Recognise that you can't control what people say or write, you can't control some things from happening etc. However, you can control how you respond to it. How then do you respond? 

When you feel afraid about anything, remind yourself of the power of God and remind yourself of what the Word of God says about that situation. Constantly say it out loud or you can respond to the thought in your head as well. If you confront the negative thoughts in your head with the Word of God, you will overcome the fear as the Word of God will give you victory, peace and further directions. Like Peter reached out to Jesus, remember to reach out to Jesus and not to things that would add to your fears and doubts. Jesus Christ is always calling out to us to do both the possible and seemingly impossible. Don't be faint hearted like Peter, step out with boldness!

Have a lovely week.

Waterfalls

Hello Myss Lafunky's readers & followers

Happy New Week. How was your weekend? Apologies for the long break. Myss Lafunky would like to thank some of our committed readers and followers that have contacted me to ask why articles were not being published. Thank you for your care. We are back now. 

Today's post has been written by one of our guest writers, Sage. I trust you will learn a couple of things from this short write-up.  Two major lessons for me from today's post are: 1) To have a fulfilled and satisfied life on this earth, Jesus Christ (Including His principles) must be part of our everyday living and it is only in Him that we can have a long lasting fulfilled life. 2) Our lives and souls can never be at rest until we find rest in God.  

                             Waterfalls

What is that water you're drinking? Alcohol? Sex? Porn? Drugs? Womanising? Greed? Social media followers? Have you noticed how you can never be satisfied by these things? We lie to ourselves that once we drink of this water, we'll be okay. Lies!! These things were never designed to satisfy us; they were designed to keep us thirsty and wanting more of it. 

The only water that is designed to satisfy us is Jesus. Note His conversation with the woman at the well. Jesus is the only one that has the waters that will satisfy you for eternity.

“Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not get thirsty nor [have to continually] come all the way here to draw.” (John 4:13-15, Amplified Version)

 - Sage

Sage is a graduate of human resource management and a 24/7 salesman. A clay in the hands of the Potter, he is on a journey to knowing God and becoming the man God has called him to be. He has a passion for football and society at large. In his quest for knowledge, he has recently restarted his passion for reading books. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

Photo Credit: http://www.shawacademy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/waterfall-photography-tips-1000x605.jpg