TRUTH…

The Old gate (Nehemiah 3:6) represents truth. In many lives today, this gate is broken down - people no longer rest upon truth.

Truth is always old, and it is upon old things that every new thing must rest. I read somewhere that  

   “whatever is true is not new, and whatever is new is not true.”

We live in a post modern society that believes there are no absolutes. So “truth” is being forsaken.

Modern society is rapidly throwing away biblical truth which the church has stood for since Christ’s day. It is saying in effect, that we dont need these things anymore. But if we allow this “old truth” to go, the consequences are that the walls crumble  and then we are just like everyone else.

I often think about the story of a man who went one day to visit an old musician.. He knocked on the musicians door and said

” what is the good word for today?”

the old musician did not say a word. He turned around and went back across the room to where a tuning fork was hanging.

He took a hammer and struck the tuning fork so that the note resounded through the room. Then the musician said

“that, my friend,is ‘A’. It was ‘A’ yesterday. It was ‘A’ five thousand years ago and it will be ‘A’ five thousand years from now”.

Then he added,

“the tenor across my hall sings off-key. The soprano upstairs is flat on her high notes and the piano in the next room is out of tune.”

 He struck the tuning fork again and said,

“That is ‘A’ and that, my friend is the good word for today.”

That is truth, Truth is always the same. Like God, it never changes. We need to rebuild the old gates of truth.

what are the areas we have broken down in this our long journey of life?  truth at work, to the kids, in our relationships, to our spouse…

it just gets worse doesnt it? every other time one untruth to cover another and then what results is the emergence of a new definition of ‘truth’ - where they are no absolutes… where there is no right or wrong…

Ask for the old paths, where the good way is and walk in it…

Selah 

 

TENA DESIREE TEBEKAEMI

It came again, the betrayer…

Only this time it took one of our very own

You, so full of life

You, a personification of friendliness

 

Tee, you took a walk

Then it became a journey

There was no goodbye

But there was a life well spent

 

You were a dear friend

I remember the first time you spoke to me…

You heard me discussing my accommodation problems with someone

Then walked right over and offered that I could move in with you!

 

All those weeks I stayed with you,

And in the years that followed as your friend

 You showed your true colour

The human embodiment of love, hope, purpose, fun and desire

 

You left behind a message…you lived to love

For that, you will remain alive in our minds

Even in REST, you will not be a memory felt, but a memory kept

Now, that is not a statement,

It is a PROMISE.

 

Till we all meet again

Anytime, anywhere I hear your name

I won’t grieve…

Instead I will remember,

TENA, the young lady who lived a full life

 

 

ONE more STep - The tale of a fly

I dont know if it was while i was washing or if it had walked into the trap by itself…  I had been staring at the fly struggling in the pool (more like a few drops) for a few minutes.

At first i thought it was playing in the water because what attracted me was the way it seemed to be running to and fro inside the pool. It took a little while for me to realise that it was trying to GET OUT of the water.

After a while i noticed it would scurry from one end of the tiny pool of water and then turn and repeat the journey in another direction… what i found amazing was that it always turned just when it had very nearly reached the end of the pool to “dry land”.

that was when i realised that it didnt know that it was at the end of the pool

- so it would just walk, walk,and then seeing no dry land, turn and head in another direction.

I pulled a chair and sat down to watch. I couldnt understand it, how could it not know that it was almost free at each point before turning to head back into the pool. i wished it could hear me so i could shout;

 ”you silly fool, you could have been free a long time ago”

i watched its pace change from fast scurring around to a much slower drag as it seemed to now crawl around. I could use a broom to prod it out of the water but i was angry with it…

why couldnt it just take that one (okay maybe four or five) steps that would lead it out of the pool; was it blind - could it not see dry land?

i left the kitchen and took the chair back to my room.i sent an email or two and then i remembered the silly fly  and thought to go back and check up on it. 

 by the time i got back, it was dead. it was still in the water , it had the two back legs touching dry ground but its body was fully submerged in the pool - so i realised it must have died while it was turning again to head in the other direction…

even in death, it didnt realise it could have been free - just one more step.

i just started crying. i was both sad and angry at the same time.

how could it not have known? why did it not take a few more steps in the same direction? why did it keep turning around when it was so close to the end?…

a few hours later, when i was on my bed, he started speaking

“do you realise you humans arent any different from that fly? you find yourselves in little pools prepared by the enemy or by accident.

 but you are always too busy trying to get out of it that often times you do not realise that you already have a part of you on dry ground…but because you cant feel the full blast of fresh air signifying dry land, you head back in (your own definition of trying another approach).

then when people ask you, you say fasting is not working, i want to try praying (or any of the many other ways we decide our problems will be solved)…

finally, you give up and die in the man made pool “

I didnt feel fantastic after that, but at least i knew of other areas where i could make improvement -

 the fly was dead forever… but you guys are still alive -  we all, struggling in our different pools

The worst thing that could happen would be in many years for you to look back and realise that you were one step away from a life changing breakthrough but you didnt make it because you were not persistent enough…

Remember, the fly was persistent..only it was not in the right direction!

 

 

Without Warning…

Hello guys,

Hope u all had a lovely week. I saw this short clip and i thought it would do as a “food for thought” over the next few days… and maybe help us make a move to change something in our lives…

For this week, i will present us a three course meal…

Click on this link

For the main course, click Allow me to re-introduce the Christ 

Desert is What if you had no more excuses?

Have a great week… and remember -  the worst thing to do after going through those links is to do nothing…

THE BLINDFOLD!

Hello all,

Hope you all had a great weekend. Last week was my birthday and i kept moaning to a friend that i was getting old… (imagine yeah?) Anyway, i woke up this morning feeling tired and  was thinking… “this old age thing is not funny oh” and then, just as quickly, another thought hit me and i realised that its not with how much life we have, its with how much we can put into that life - and remember life comprises of one day rolling into another!

So i thought, Funmi you have a duty to make your  day (and eventually your life) better by blogging today and blessing others!

So, before i could get bogged down with other tiny details of life, here i am! Todays edition is not mine. It was sent to me by email and i think it is a very great piece. Read on…

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth’s rite of Passage?

His father takes him into the forest,blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold…It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he
discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don’t know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Moral of the story:

  Just because you can’t see God, doesn’t mean He is not there.

In our world of today, the things that we go through are a lot more trying than sitting in a forest all night!

What i also learnt from this is that if you do not act in the Knowledge that God is there with you in those trying times,

chances are 10:1 that you will take your blindfold off before dawn.

… and I hope you dont!

Dependable…

Without opening my eyes, I knew it was morning…

I could feel the shy rays of light pushing its way into the day…into my room

but i couldn’t open my eyes , something was missing…so i lay there.

45mins later, i finally opened my eyes and picked up my phone - no text message

I sighed and closed my eyes again.

another hour passed by before i dragged myself out of bed. I was now two hours behind my plan for the day. 

 My sms had not come in and i was feeling miserable.

My friend Tosin, had started sending me text messages about two months ago. It started as a morning prayer and an encouragment for the day. He would usually send the sms on his way to work - and because he left for work very early, his sms became my morning alarm. Over time, i got used to waking up to the sound of my phone announcing the sms.

What better way to start your day than to wake up to  a lovely sms before getting out of bed.

On this morning, no sms came in. - Tosin had travelled out of town the day before and could not send me my morning sms. All through the day, i felt like there was something missing from my day, like i was driving at night without headlights…

The next morning, i was on my bed… this time the sms came in a few minutes after i woke up (Tosin got back the night before). I smiled in relief as i opened my eyes to reach out for my phone  - and that was when He spoke…

” Funmi, do u know it would be nice if you could be this consistent and sold out to speaking with me every morning?” 

I groaned, but you know i try… plus, this is different

“how is this any different? … it would be very great if i could depend on you to be here to commune with me every morning the way Tosin can almost bet that you wont be able to get out of bed if his sms doesnt grace your phone… Its not just about your morning prayer, how much of our communion do you carry into the day with you?…How exposed to the day would you feel if u were to miss a morning of communion?…”

I felt quite ashamed at the end of our small chat.. But then thats what my relationship with the Father is all about.

 I learn daily… One step forward, two steps back, 10 forward, pause …(until i am jolted ) and then i move again

Since that day, my song has been if your presence doesnt go with me, Lord i dont want to leave this place… its a much slower journey but its more satisfying.

There is nothing like stepping into a new day with God and spending the day hand in hand with Him.

He is a Faithful and Consistent God… how much of a dependable child are you?

New Beginnings

Hello Guys,

 Happy  new year… and Congrats for being part of the army to step into 2008!

I hope that in this year we will be able to share more of the essense of living and loving… and helping others live.

I hope i will blog more often… and u will visit and comment more often

I hope you will have cause to be joyful in this year

I hope you will know more of God

 … i hope this world will know more of His message that u bring through your daily life…

…i hope for many things  and i know i may not be able to get them all done

buts its worse not to hope for anything at all

SO my friends, i dare you to Hope…

Welcome to 2008!!!

12 Months of Thanksgiving…The Praise walk

It was a freezing -2 degrees as i walked up the road to my house that night.

I passed by a car and saw my reflection - what i saw was a school girl, carrying a backpack and clad like an Eskimo …

I shook my head as i remembered the good Ole days in Nigeria when i was a “big girl”.

 I started feeling sorry for myself and was slinking into a “Na wa for this life” mood when He spoke…

“why do you always see your cup as half empty rather than half full?…at this rate you will wake up one day and find out you will never lived your life because you never stopped for once at any phase to learn what you were there for. you have what some can only dream for but you cant stop dreaming about what others have…”

It was a long scolding and at the end i was very sober…but i also had a new instruction i had to follow.

I was to embark on what i later called 15 days praise walk!

I was challenged to start my day with a 15 min prayer walk around my neighbourhood and just thank God for the different  things He had done for me 1.e. one topic/area of my life(family, friends, career, relationship…etc) per day.

I was to do this for the next 15 days and not make one single prayer request!!!

…Today is DAY 12 and i must say it has been a beautiful experience.

There have been days when i have had tears stream down my face as i explored certain aspects of my life and REALISED how faithful God had been to me….

There has also been days when i would remember some other “close shaves” i have had and i couldn’t resist doing a “komole” dance style for papa God right there on the road!

Above all, its been a challenge i am glad i accepted. It has helped me take a step back and really SEE all God has done in my life

…plus i cant believe i could go 12 days without a prayer request! (hmm, on that one, i used nja sense  and transferred all my requests to my friend and asked my friend to pray for me)

So friends, i “tag” you to take up this challenge.  Do It!

15mins for 15 days… spread the word! encourage your family and friends to all try it!!

..and lets exit this year in a “GRAND PRAISE” STYLE  !!!

I dont drink!

“Can u mix me a little something without alcohol in it? “

i asked the bartender sweetly

“that would be £1.80″ he said handing me a glass of cranberry juice with ice

I turned and almost bumped into my team members…all six of them staring at me.

“are u guys alright” i asked? ….

“we should be asking you” the most outspoken one said… before i could speak, she continued

“u always turn down our invitation to go to the pub and now that u finally agree u are asking for a cranberry juice?”

“i think its because she is a christain” one of them said.

“oh no, dont tell me we are bringing up that God dude into this conversation again”

another moaned and from there a heated debate started among them while i sipped my juice and watched them have a go at each other.

They must have realised i wasnt talking because they turned to me after a while and waited for me to speak…

“look guys, i try to live my life by what the bible tells me to do. its not easy and i make mistakes sometimes but thats what the christain walk is about… trying to do what is right and having a personal relationship with God even…”

the outspoken girl interupted me and said

“pls cut the crap, my boyfriend is into all that born again thing and that doesnt stop him from drinking or from us having sex…and he is african like you”

my brain was going in many directions, here i stood facing six people from different parts of the world, none of which shared my cultural, religious beliefs and values..God help me, i prayed…

 ” guys, this is what i believe in, and it has worked for me for many years. believe it or not, i talk to God and he answers me- through things around me and many times i actually hear his spirit speak to me. I like to do what is right and i am happy for every commandment i am able to obey. (then, facing the girl who spoke) I dont have anyright to comment on what u and your boyfriend do, thats between him and God …by the way, africans arent the only christains”

“Is that why you always refuse to come with us to the pub?” one asked

 i smiled and answered

“but i am with you here now, am i not? i can come with you but it will be on my own terms. If i asked you to come to my church you wouldnt, and i wouldnt be able to do anything about it so u shouldnt be able to make me feel pressurised into doing anything i dont believe in..should you?”

They all kept quiet and i saw grudging respect in their eyes…

In this new age, we very often encounter people and circumstances that question the very root of what we believe in and once we discover we are in the minority, we shrink and slink away in silence. ..and tell ourselves i”kuku” know i believe in God… Its bad enough that we are in a world where people now crucify you for pointing out what is wrong

This people dont fear to declare how they live their lives…

why should you be afraid to or ashamed to make your own declarations?

As i walked home in the cold that night, i felt light and happy - it was a victory…

Friends, if you dont stand for something, you will fall for everything! (bad fall oh!)

when i got to class the next day, i gave them a list of something i blogged about a while ago.

 I said “this list is about all other things i stand for…”

they read it quietly and gave it back to me..

we have remained good team mates since then - playing hard and working hard. infact they have been the best group i have had since my course started.but everybody knows their “level” now…

I had made my stand clear.  i had made my niche.

We know we believe in God, God knows it,

 the church knows it …

Its about time we let the world know it!!!

THE BUS DRIVER

I was at the bus stop…If the bus didn’t come in another minute, I was going to be late for lectures. (And that was going to be bad!) 

I found myself silently praying for God to make the driver faster so he could get to me on time. Thankfully, the bus arrived and I scrambled in.

Just as I got in, an old lady behind me stopped by the driver’s window and said “hello, how are you doing?”

I didn’t hear the drivers’ response but I was really surprised at the exchange. 

It was at that point that it occurred to me that I got on the bus to and fro school everyday for the past five weeks and I had no idea what the driver looked like…

(Male, female, black, white, fat, thin, sad /smiley face) I had no idea - I always just got on the bus, showed the driver my bus pass without actually ever looking at his/her face.

 

When I got home, I shared my experience with my flatmate and she surprised me further by saying she knew most of the drivers that plied our route and their different shifts.

When I showed surprise, she said “I see them everyday, they get me where I am going, how can I possibly not recognise them?” 

I need not explain how bad I felt – not just because of the bus driver, but because of something else I learnt that day…

Most of the time, our relationship with God is like mine with the bus driver(s).

 I couldn’t be bothered as far as they got me where I was going. Most of us see God as a means to an end

…. The “Big guy” that gets things done –gets us a new job, car, heals our sick, makes us very rich (how could I forget that!) …

He is like the bus driver, we only remember him when we need him!. There is no personal relationship at all, just a contract…

“I be good (no drinking, smoking, killing, womanising) and you answer all my prayers” kind off contract.

Some of us are prayer warriors – but are we sure it’s not because we happen to have many needs?

 I have now improved my on my behaviour to the bus driver. I say “hello” when I get on and smile or say “bye/thanks” when  I get off… they are not just “tools” driving me to school anymore… they are real people to me now. 

 

Food for thought: 

Can you change God from being the “big guy/ bus driver” to a real person in your life?