Insight

One of the things that struck me yesterday was the way God's word is: It is particular, His instructions are very specific.

Once again; God being the generous Almighty that we know is offering free advice: Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked:_| Plain clear and simple. And knowing God and who he is , I would rather follow this insight, Lest I am listed among the wicked: And that's not what I signed up for really when I took on his semblance as a child of God.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

Recipe for success. Fruit , produce , bountiful harvest is only enjoyed when it is timely , thus has got to be in season. There is green all through , life is alive if I should say all through their course of life.

Life is achieved when we tap into God's abundant reservoir. There we know that His grace and favor are forever abundant in us.

Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”

4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 “I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”

I am so sure that this applies to me today. I am being challenged to forgive, a lot this season of my life, and this passage reminded me why.

And for all of us in life when we get betrayed, let down,slandered, sabotaged and mocked: Do not fret, because even then, God am sure will fight for you, say to your enemies, This is my son: They ask and I will make the nations their inheritance, the ends of the earth their possession: Whoa Even so , Come Lord Jesus.

be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11. Serve the LORD with fear,
and celebrate his rule with trembling,

Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

But above all: Blessed are those who take refuge in him.

The Living Word...

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)

On day 2 of the race, for all of us who are in this, we read Genesis 1, 2 and 3. Verse 26 of Genesis 1 tells us man was created in the image of God, in His likeness that he may RULE over;

• The fish in the sea
• The birds in the sky
• The livestock
• All the wild animals
• All creatures that move along the ground

Literally, this is ruling over everything on earth. So why did God give man all so much authority over the earth, anyone?

Chapter 2 of Genesis, lets look at verse 7, man was formed, God did not say...let there be man. He breathed into his nostrils and man became a living being. I believe this is one of the reasons man was given authority to rule over the earth, he is special to God. Imagine God breathing into your nostrils, anytime God, anytime. :-). In simple words, God breaths into anything and its starts living from then on...

Now to 2 Timothy 3: 16, scripture is God breathed, any doubt that it is living? No!! ( Speaking for me).  My prayer is as we go through the Bible, may we be transformed by it.

I pray that God's Word will Teach Us:
May it teach us who He is so that we may follow in His footsteps.
Teach us to Love as you have loved us God, more so to Love you more and more each day as you are Love. You loved us even when we did not know you.
You are a forgiving God teach us forgiveness.
May we gain Wisdom as we go through Your Word. May we grow in knowledge of You.

I pray that God's Word Will Rebuke Us: 
The Lord rebukes those He loves. May we be receptive to this. May our hearts be open to this so that we may see and repent of all sins that need to be repented. I believe God uses the rod as the last remedy...personally, i don't want to get there...naogopa kiboko. :-). Seriously.
Read Hebrews 12:1-12

I pray that God's Word Will Correct Us: 

Why does God correct us? Lets read Hebrews 12:7-11

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Need I say more?. God we accept correction from you. We know you love us. Amen.

I pray that God's Word Will Train Us in Righteuosness:

God we pray that Your Word  will train us in righteuosness that we can fellowship with you and do Your bidding in courage, joy and faith. May it train us in righteuosness that we become thoroughly equipped to pray, praise and serve You in every single way that You would desire.

May Your Living Word come alive in our lives.

Amen.

The Race

The Marathon,
A race for life indeed
An earnest search for the truth,
The truth in-depth.
A moment to learn,
That life is and will always be,
God Oriented.
A search for deep intimacy with my creator.
Am reminded that as one spends more time with someone else,
Then more like them they become.
More like the creator of the universe,
The lover of my soul,
the Great I am.
So as I journey this race,
Everything obscure around me
I have an everlasting hop that is forever vivid.
And that I choose to grasp even more firmly,
Till more and more like Him I become.

So be it Lord...

Starting With A Bang - Literally!!

Talk about baptism of fire. So on the eve of kicking off our 52 week journey we have a road trip to go to attend a meeting at my sons school. 2AM we are up and about, prepping the mandatory chapati na kuku!!

5:30AM after a prayer, we are off. Just about halfway through the journey, chatting away with Jo as we chart the way forward for Rafikistry (the teen centre that she's recently launched) we encounter a drizzle and after the dry season that it has been lately we make comments about the interesting turnaround.

A few kilometers later on a steep descent we loose control of the car and off we go!! Turn this way, nothing doing. Turn that way, nothing doing. Next thing we know ... BANG right into the road barrier. Suddenly the car is facing the direction we came from and one more time ... BANG. We come to a halt and all we can do is proclaim the glory of the protection of the Lord.

Were the car to have a blackbox some of the last recorded conversations would have included the following from Jo:

• 'O God do not allow this to happen'
• 'God we can't end like this'
• 'We are finished'
• 'O my God'

Psalm 91 and 23 came alive!! The 'limo' was pretty damaged and could not move ... but that matters for nothing. We were protected by God. No one hurt - just a tiny scratch on Jo's toe.

A review of what could have been revealed the following among others:

• there no other vehicles on either side of the slope
• there were no pedestrians along that point
• despite the impact the barrier never completely gave way - had it done so the end of the slope is a river way way down from the barrier
• help was at hand... we were not far off from the nearest police station, we have friends from around that area who mobilized help, Jo's home is not way way off and we had the car towed there, another car with parents to my sons school mate was behind and Jo was able to proceed to school ...

We could go on and on ... BOTTOM LINE - 'He will save you from the fowlers snare' - He did!!

And we are off with a BANG.

You?

Week I

In order to keep check on how we are proceeding it would be nice to have a print out of the route map in order to check out as we journey on. However, we still provide a list here of the readings to be covered under week one:

Sun: Rom 1 & 2
Mon: Gen 1, 2 & 3
Tue: Josh 1 - 5
Wed: Ps 1 & 2
Thu: Job 1, 2
Fri: Is 1-6
Sat: Mat 1,2

Let's go.

Starting...

Oh Lord;
May my knowledge of you increase even as I start this journey.
Knowing you makes all the difference in my life,
And as I journey on to worlds unknown,
With my heart alert, and my feet to the ground,
May I learn and accept to unlearn
To your glory,

Amen,

Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

So be it Lord.

On Your Marks ...

First up, it's great to have people to be with when going through the tough race that is life. It is even better when that race is about connecting with God through His Word.

Allow me to make a few quotes that could be relevant:
'A journey of a thousand miles start with a single step'
'If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.'
'Two are better than one,because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.'

I attach herewith the road-map to covering the Bible in 52 weeks. As indicated we'll use the Thematic Approach - adopted from bible-reading.com.

In order to keep ourselves in check I propose to start a facebook event where we shall be posting our comments and our status in the race. Herewith a blog where could share our experiences and stories over the journey. Any avid bloggers among us?

Every quarter we shall be running a health check to see whether we are experiencing growth in our walk with Christ. I will be sending this out by separate email next week and I encourage you to take the check as soon as you receive it and compare your result with other subsequent checks.

Please note that the marathon should not replace your daily quiet times with the Lord but rather supplement your walk with Him. I also attach a RBC booklet on Keeping Our Appointments With God which provides some good input on how we can enrich our daily encounter with God.

Please feel free to tag along your friends and colleagues as we kick this off on Sunday.

Remember - this is a marathon, not a sprint - we are in it for the long haul.

On your marks ....