Give Careful Thought To Your Ways

Main Scripture: Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Haggai 1:5

When was the last time you gave thought to your ways? Are you really please with yourself? Are you satisfied with your day to day actions? Would your mother be pleased? Would God be pleased with everything you’re doing?

In today’s scripture the Lord Almighty was imploring the Jews to consider their ways because they were so concerned about building their own houses and neglected the work of God.

Fast forward to now, this scripture can be made relevant to our lives. In our pursuit of worldly possessions and happiness we often forget what God created us to be, we often put the work of God on the back burner. Not only that we often neglect the Godly values that was instilled in us by our parents and God himself. Other things that get neglected are our families. During this pursuit for success and happiness we also become selfish always looking to please ourselves even if it means compromising.

Psalms 135:15-18 says “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them and so will all who trust in them.“ David is saying is that whatever we seek after, whatever we give value is what we become. Therefore even if someone tries to steer us in the right direction we don’t hear because our idols are our goals, we must achieve them by whatever means necessary.

So ladies, my encouragement to you today is to carefully give thought to your ways. See if you have compromised your values, see if you have neglected your family and friends. See if you have neglected God. It is never too late to give up those idols and give God a chance to lead. Here are two scriptures that will keep you on the right path and will prevent self from taking over:  

•  Proverbs 3:6 (KJV) – “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

• Proverbs 16:3 (NIV) – “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”

Let’s Pray,

Father help us to consider our ways, show us everything that is within us that is not of you and remove them. Lord we commit our ways, our thoughts and our plans to you.

In Jesus Name

Amen

Are You Different?

Main Scripture: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

Song to Mediate On: "Dare to Be Different" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ntfU8iBvo8)

Are you different? Do you find that you are uncomfortable conforming to the standards and norm of your environment? Have you ever been called mad or crazy because you do things a little different from everyone else?

It was Aristotle that said “no great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.” It is also said that “success is for people who dare to be different.”  So today I want to encourage you to embrace being different.

In today’s scripture Paul encouraged the Romans to be different by not copying the behavior and customs of this world instead they should allow God to transform them into new people by changing the way they think.

You see ladies’ being different is not a bad thing, Jesus Christ himself was considered different because His teachings and customs were different from the Jews. However, if He was not different from the Jews many of us would have been lost and doomed for eternal damnation today. Ladies so too, as Christians we need to be different from this world by focusing on God so that He can transform our mind and our thinking.

Also, successful people did not become successful because they conformed to the norms of this world instead they dared to be different. They dared to be different despite the name calling, the smirks and the laughs.  So today if you are different, whether physically or in the way you do things or even in how you dress, embrace it. Dare to be different. You were given your unique characteristics and traits for a purpose, you are special just the way you are.

Let’s Pray,

Father thanks for making each of us different. We embrace our difference and pray that you will help us to use them to bring you glory.

In Jesus Name

Amen

No Fear Zone

Main Scripture: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

Song To Meditate On: Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies] – Chris Tomlin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOkImV2cJDg)

Today’s scripture is well known and is used quite often by a lot of us. It tells us that God did not give us a spirit of fear, however, how many of us actually sees the manifestation of this scripture in our lives? How many of us can say we fear nothing?

As women we have so many fears, we fear that we won’t get married, we fear that we will not have children, we fear that something will happen to the children while they are away from home, we fear that we may not live long enough to see our children become adults and there are a myriad of fears that we have.

Today I want to remind us that we do not have to fear as it was not given to us by God. However, if it was not given to us by God then where did it come from? Will Smith in his movie “After Earth”, said “Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist…. danger is very real” he said ,” but fear is a choice.”

I must say I agree with Will Smith as we often think a lot about “what if” and then become fearful because of what we think the answers are. Another thought is that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real.

Ladies, whatever fear is and wherever it came from, I encourage you to banish it from your lives. Enter the No Fear Zone, do not make irrational or hasty decisions because of fear, do give up on your dreams because of fear, do not settle for less than your worth because of fear. Instead, allow what God gave us to be manifested in our lives. He gave us a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. The amplified version says “… [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”

Have A God Filled Day Ladies

Let’s Pray,

Mighty God, our Sword and our Shield, our Rod and our Staff we come to you today and declare that the spirit of fear will not be of us as nothing that is not of you shall abide within us. Instead Lord we receive the spirit of love, power, calm and a well-balanced mind.

In Jesus Name

Amen

Respect is Due

Main Verse:  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves Phillipians 3:2 (NIV)

Ladies have you ever noticed how some people demand respect before first showing respect?  I was taught that respect is earned. Therefore, before we can gain respect, we must be able to show respect for others regardless of their class, colour or creed.

Albert Einstein once said “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” 

This is something I believe we should all strive to do, but often times, respect is granted based on your position in society or a certain organization.

The main scripture today encourages us to think of others more superior than ourselves.  This scripture does not suggest that we should only respect the Pastor, the Prime Minister or someone we hold in high esteem because of their position. Instead it suggests that we should esteem everyone higher than ourselves this includes the man who is begging on the street, the boy who wipes our windscreen and the lady who cleans the office.

Ladies, it is also very important to show respect to our youths. As mothers, sisters, and caregivers of this earth, we need to respect the youths. Confucius said, “A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do you know that his future will not be equal to our present?"  Many times because they are younger than us, we don’t value their opinions, we don’t respect their space and we don’t even take time out to listen to them. Well, they have perspectives, thoughts and opinions too. They are simply a miniature of us. The bible tells us that they are our heritage (legacy, birthright, inheritance), they should be cherished.

Another set of people we often disrespect and disregard are our elders however, they are the storehouse of wisdom and we should seek to learn from them.

Last but most importantly, we need to respect ourselves. If we don’t respect ourselves first, then no one will respect us. When you respect yourself this will be evident in your attire, your attitude and even the persons you associate with.

Let’s Pray:

Almighty God, thank you for preserving us another day. As we go through today, we pray that you will help us to respect ourselves and others.  Help us to cherish our children and to respect our elders. In Jesus name.

Amen

Have a God Filled Day

The Gift of Time

“The greatest gift you can give someone is your time. Because when you give your time, you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back” Unknown.

 “A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: ’Daddy, may I ask you a question?’

DAD: ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man.

SON: ’Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’

DAD: ’That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the man said angrily.

SON: ’I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’

DAD: ’If you must know, I make $50 an hour.’

SON: ’Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: ’May I please borrow $25?’

The father was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.’
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

‘Are you asleep, son?’ He asked.

‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy.

‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier’ said the man. ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $25 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The man saw that the boy already had money and started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the father grumbled.

‘Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied.

‘Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.” ~ Unknown

You see ladies; time is not something that you can ever get back because it is not unlimited. Unlike money you can never get back your time therefore when you give it to someone they are more likely to remember it even more than the money or a gift you gave them, especially if you have a busy schedule.

As women it is usually very important that our spouses spend quality time with us. A woman is usually more interested in her man spending time with her, even more than him providing for her every need. As seen in the story above children also value the time that their parents spend with them even though that time might have been spent at work making money to provide for them.

Ladies today, make a decision to give your time to someone whether it is time spent listening to someone, encouraging someone, ministering to someone or visiting someone. Spend some time with your spouse and your children. It will surely be appreciated.

Also remember to spend some time with God as well, this time will prepare you and give you the strength needed to give the gift of time to someone else.

Have A God Filled Day Ladies

Let’s Pray

Lord thank you for the gift of time, forgive us for not giving some of it back to you.  Help us to share it with someone today even though it seems like there is not enough time in the day.

In Jesus Name

Amen

Follow God’s Path

Main Verse: Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy. Deuteronomy 5:33 (NLT)

Song to meditate on: Show me you’re Way – Darlene Zschech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvOuEVA2h2Q) 

     

Have you ever been invited to a party or a function where the directions were sent to you but you forgot them or you left them at home because you thought you knew where you were going? You then got lost and found yourself somewhere that is considered dangerous?

In today’s scripture we see where Moses was speaking to the Israelites and impressing upon them to stay on the path that God has commanded them to follow. That way they would live long and prosperous in the land that God was about to give them. The background of this scripture saw where Moses had just given the people of Israel God’s standard for right living - the Ten Commandments.

You see ladies, we are still expected to obey God’s standard for right living and like the Israelites when we disobey them we can suffer dire consequences.

 How many times have we found our self at a place in our lives where we have to stop and ask how did I get here? If we should be honest with ourselves we would admit that if we obeyed God’s commandments we would not be where we are today.

One of the commandments state that we should not commit adultery, however there are many broken homes, depressed women, dysfunctional children and unhappy people in our world all because of acts of adultery committed by unsuspecting couples who thought that one act would not have any consequences.

There are many other examples like a little white lie, acts of fornication, yielding to temptation, disrespecting our husbands, not loving our wives, provoking our children and so on. All of these are examples of turning away from God’s path that leads to us not living a long and prosperous life.

So ladies today, I encourage you to walk in God’s path, obey his commandments so that you may live a long and prosperous life.

Have A God Filled Day Ladies.

Let’s Pray:

Wonderful savior and father, we thank you for laying out a path of right living for us. Grant us today the desire to live according to your commandments so that we may live a long and prosperous life.

In Jesus Name

Amen.

Murmur Not

Main Verse: Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. John 6:43

Song to meditate on: Show me your Way – Darlene Zschech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvOuEVA2h2Q)

        

Recently at church my Pastor prayed and spoke about the spirit of murmuring. He reminded us that the Bible commands us in John 6:43 not to murmur. As such I began reflecting and doing some research on the topic.

Murmur according to the KJV Dictionary is “A complaint half suppressed, or uttered in a low, muttering voice.” And a murmurer is “One who murmurs; one who complains sullenly; a grumbler.”

Notice that the complaint is half suppressed or uttered in a low voice, it therefore means that a murmurer does not make a full or formal complaint, they probably just grumble and complain in secret to a friend or maybe to everyone except who the complaint is to be made to. Often this leads to gossip and misconceptions about the situation or person the complaint is being made about and does not solve anything.

I also realized that most times murmurs are usually because something is not going the way the person wants it to go, not necessarily because something is wrong with what is happening. This can be a result of some selfish agenda on the path of the murmurer. If we look back at scripture we see where the Jews complained or murmured because the behavior of Jesus was not according to what they thought it should be. For e.g. the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1–16). They murmured because they had worked all day while others who had worked for a much shorter period received the same wages. They had received their just due but they still murmured. The scribes and Pharisees murmured against the disciples of Jesus because they ate and drank with publicans and sinners but they were really striking out at Jesus (Luke 5:29–32). They did not care that the publicans and sinners needed Jesus. They were only concerned with their personal agenda. The Jews murmured about Jesus because He said He was the bread of life (John 6:41). Instead of investigating His claim in an effort to know the truth, they murmured.

Now let us look at our own lives, we often murmur when we do not believe that things are going the way we perceive it to be. We murmur about jobs, our relationships, church, the country etc.

Ladies you may be experiencing something right now and you are murmuring because you cannot deal with the situation and you do not believe that it should be going the way it. I encourage you to stop murmuring and remember that God’s thoughts are higher than ours and his ways are also higher than ours. As such whatever you are going through is God preparing you for something bigger. “Murmuring blinds your eyes to the possibilities that God has for you.”

Therefore despite what you are going through whisper these words today “I cannot Lord thy purpose but all is well that’s done by thee.”  Ladies hope thou in God, He is indeed the author and finisher of our faith.”

Have A God Filled Day Ladies.

Let’s Pray:

Oh Lord, thank you for another day. Help us not to murmur instead put our hope in you.

In Jesus Name

Amen.