Immanuel-God with us!

“…the virgin will be with a child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means ‘God with us’ …” Matthew 1:23 NKJV [italics & emphasis mine]

When Jacob was about to face his brother after years in exile; an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a trance - after the business meeting, Jacob would not let Him go. The bible tells us that Jacob fought with God and won-thus the angel of the Lord gave him a new name as his blessing-Israel, meaning a man who wrestled with God and man and won [Gen 32].

In most African tradition, you are not allowed to call your elders by their first names (why? Any takers?) As we think of Immanuel, let us think of who people call us—what name have we been given? blessed? friendly? supportive? rock? Or cursed? cone-man, lazy G, poor Jim, CD? People will call you what they perceive you to be…if you have a negative name (given upon birth or people around you), take a closer look at your values—what you represent…for whatsoever we sow, so shall we reap!

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copyright ©2007 Light to my path † † † by TJM Kyara

What will you give him?

“…On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh… ” Matthew 2:11 NIV 1984 [italics and emphasis mine]

Giving can be both an act of worship and expression of Love. The late Ed. L. Cole [also hailed as father of men’s ministry] once said “you can give without loving, but you can not love without giving”. When we love, we give; and generally we can tell how much you love by how much you are willing to give from your possessions. We know how much God loves us by how much He GAVE for us, “...for God SO LOVED the world that HE GAVE his one and only son…” [John 3:16, NIV italics and emphasis mine]. Jesus himself said “…greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life ffor his friends.” [John 15:13 NIV, italics mine] He was saying you know how much I love you by how much I have given you-my precious life.

It is good as Christian that we have given God our lives, and that it is no longer us that live but Christ in us; but we need to go a step further, we need to GIVE our possession to Him for His Kingdom to be extended on earth. What will you give God-Jesus this Christmas, simply as an expression of love and adoration for him?

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copyright ©2007 Light to my path † † † by TJM Kyara

Wise-men still seek him today!

“…Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”… ” Matthew 2:1-2 NLT 2004 [italics and emphasis mine]

Some sects/people don’t celebrate Christmas as they don’t believe that Jesus was ‘actually’ born on December 25th and the fact that Christmas as a holiday its origin is pagan. May 23rd and Sept 19th are popular amongst the non-conformist. As for me and my house, we ‘choose’ to celebrate this day not because Jesus was actually born on this date, but as a celebration of ‘God with us’ living amongst us, who once became us to save us.

Amongst all this confusion, we have forgotten why we celebrate the birth of Jesus. To most westerners (Africa and other Developing countries not far behind), Christmas is a commercial holiday-buying and selling products festively. Jesus is no longer at the centre of HIS CELEBRATION, what a shame. Like the ‘wise guys’ in the scripture above, wise men/women will strive to seek Jesus and why the son of God humbled himself to become human. Celebration of His birth has no meaning if we loose sight of His mission as He humbled himself even unto to death.

For those in Exile

“…Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper… ” Jeremiah 29:7 NIV 1984 [italics and emphasis mine]

For those of us who are in foreign land, we tend to be hang up with where we come; we pray and work so hard for our ‘home country’ we read papers and seek information about it day and night. We may be physically away, but emotionally and spiritually we are still back where we come from. While this in itself is not bad/wrong, the text above reminds us of our commitment to the Land that God has ‘caused’ us to be in.

In the text above, Jeremiah told Israel that they still had 70+ years to live in exile; and so he said you may as well start praying for this land for when it prospers [other translations says when it has peace], then you will also prosper. I therefore urge brethren living abroad to PRAY FOR THE COUNTRY/CITY you are in…ask God to give it peace, for when it is in peace, you will be in peace. For others, your exile land may be the job that you have to do for now, company that you have to work for, people that you have to live with, ministry/church that you have to be in—pray that it/they prosper, for if they do, you will too!

copyright ©2007 Light to my path _† † _† by TJM Kyara

Weakest Link—your body!

“…Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak… ” Matt 26:41 NIV 1984 [italics and emphasis mine]

If you call a seminar on prosperity, the church will be full; call seminar on courtship and marriage the pews will almost be filled...but dare to call seminar on prayers, the turn up—Pastor and his family. On the eforum, no lively contribution is made when we talk about prayers—why is that? We know we ought to pray without ceasing, we know the importance of prayer yet we somehow become aloof when it comes to it.

The disciples in the scripture above went to sleep when Jesus asked them out to pray, they let him down at the time when he needed them most. Our religion has not helped either, it has turned the most beautiful experience into religious ritual—prayer is simply talking to God. It doesn’t have to be in the synagogue, it can be in your bedroom, bathroom, car, office—anywhere. When we pray, we not only communicate our heart to God, but also affirm in our spirit what we believe and ask of Him.

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copyright ©2007 Light to my path _† † _† by TJM Kyara

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” Ps 119:105 KJV

Can God Forget?

“…Put Me in remembrance [remind Me of your merits]; let us plead and argue together. Set forth your case, that you may be justified (proved right) … ” Isaiah 43:26 AMP 1987 [italics and emphasis mine]

I don’t know about you but for me, the idea of a God who forgets scares my wits out. What if He forgets He created us? What if on judgment day He forgets that He saved me? What if He forgets to uphold the universe and the entire creation plummet into bottomless dark void beneath to posterity forever? This makes me wonder what the above scripture really means.

When the prophet of God told King Hezekiah that he will die, he turned to God and began to remind him (God) of his walk before him [2 Kings 20:1-6] and guess what? God listened (and remembered?) He changed His decision and added unto him 15 years. I believe the scripture above is about prayers/talking to God, bringing to his attention the things that we want to highlight at that moment. This is what James says that “…The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results…” [James 5:16b NLT]

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copyright ©2007 Light to my path † † † by TJM Kyara
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” Ps 119:105 KJV

ye have not, for ye ask not!

“…you want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God…”

James 4:2 NIV [italics and emphasis mine]

I have realized recently that I worry more than pray as pressure from all corner of my life has increased and overwhelmed me over the years. I realized that there are so many things that I have not really ‘asked’ God for them/about them. I once read a banner which said “why worry if you can pray” and I thought mmmh…easier said than done!

James reminds us that, one of the reason we don’t have what we want is simply because we have not asked God for them. “ask, and it shall be given you” [Mat 7:7 KJV]; “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” [John 15:7 KJV]. However, James also cautions us that sometimes even when we pray (ask) we will not receive because we have wrong motives “…even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure…” [James 4:3 NLT]

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copyright ©2007 Light to my path _† † _† by TJM Kyara

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" Ps 119:105 KJV

Worship, an art or act?

“…but the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him…” John 4:23 NKJV [italics & emphasis mine]

From ‘American Idol’ to ‘X-factor’ people pay million of dollars/pounds in true worship of their idol. Our ancestors worshipped big trees, mountains and caves, the modern society worship celebrities and wealth. This is the proof of the thesis put forward years ago that “when purpose is not known, abuse will take place” God is the one who created the thirst in our soul to worship, we have abused this creation and turn our affection from creator to creation [createes].

The church is not exempt either, we worship our pastors (bishops), worship leaders, singers e.t.c. but God is looking for people who will worship Him and Him alone. True worship comes from within [heart/soul], it emanates from a deep respect [reverence] for who and what God is…it is an attitude of the heart. Kneeling down, clapping hands, dancing, stoop, crouch e.t.c. is simply an outward expression of worship from inward conviction and it is only meaningful if it expresses the right attitude and heart.

Question: Can an un-believer worship acceptably before God?

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copyright ©2007 Light to my path _† † _† by TJM Kyara

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” Ps 119:105 KJV

What do you see?

“…we saw the giants, the sons of Anak…and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers…” Num 13:33 KJV [italics & emphasis mine]

“where we stand determines what we see” goes the old-adage, and what we see determines our choice of action and consequently destiny. A convicted killer responding to a journalist as to why he killed said that people hated, be-little and despised him. While this answer may have come from a complex psychological paradox of the human mind, the bottom line is, he acted based on what he saw in his mind-and so do we all the time.

WHAT DO YOU SEE? WHERE DO YOU STAND when you see what you see? The stubborn Hebrews in the text above chose to stand in the natural and allowed the natural to determine their belief and hence their action [needless to say thousands died on that day]. If we are to overcome our life challenges, we need to see ourselves the way God sees us-no less no more; and God sees as “…chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…” [1 Pet 2:9 NKJV]

some things are possible, if we believe!

“…if you can believe, ALL THINGS are possible to whom who believes…” Mark 9:23 NKJV [italics & emphasis mine]

Some of us have paraphrased the above scripture to read “…if you can believe, within reason (i.e. being practical), then it is possible that God will do it…” We only believe God in things that are humanly possible for instance we don’t have a problem believing God for miracle of health when it is malaria involved, but when it comes to Cancer? AIDS? we back down…

The reason is our faith has never grown beyond what was necessary to receive salvation. We know how to get faith “…faith cometh by hearing” [Rom 10:17 KJV], but we don’t know how to release it. Faith is released by WORD of OUR MOUTH; we used this principle when we got saved. We believed in our heart AND CONFESSED with OUR MOUTH [Rom 10:8-10]. Possibility for you-as believer-is determined by your CAPACITY to receive the word of God, believe it in your heart AND speak/confess it with your mouth (faith filled words) “…the tongue has power of life and death…” [Prov 18:21 NIV].

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copyright ©2007 Light to my path _† † _† by TJM Kyara

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” Ps 119:105 KJV

for archived light to my path and comments visit www.light2mypath.blogspot.com

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Lord Teaches us to Profit

“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel : “I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go…” Isa 48:17 AMP

If we learn from the lessons that God sends our way all around us everyday, we will become more and more profitable in everything we do. This includes our career, marriage, finance…everything. Oh if we could really believe that God is teaching us so that we may prosper, we will take our lessons seriously and learn them heartily.

Our trouble is, we think of God as a ‘mean’ dictatorial heavenly super-power being who just wants to impose his way, will and plan on us. When we hear of him as a father, we think of him as our earthly father and in so doing we measure him short. All God wants to do is to partner with us, teach us so that we may gain profit and in so doing build His kingdom.

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copyright ©2007 Light to my path _† † _† by TJM Kyara

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” Ps 119:105 KJV

for archived light to my path visit www.light2mypath.blogspot.com

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Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord

“…do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.…” Rom 12:19 NIV

Recently I was driving at night from a conference (full of anointing :-) when a driver behind me sprung his full light on and off and then on; he was signalling me to let him pass. I was on the middle lane of a three-lane motorway, I thought surely he can pass on the right, so I kept my speed and ‘my lane’ and he kept his full light on. After 2-3 mins I was furious, I moved to the left lane to let him pass then moved back into the middle lane right behind him and shot my full beam at him…I was determined to let him taste his own medicine…does this sound familiar? may be its just me!

Our natural instincts as human beings is to hit back, tit for tat; but the LORD says, let me handle them that hit you—vengeance is mine, I will get them for you and when I do, I will recompense you at the same time. But sometimes it feels like the Lord is taking too long to ‘get them’ that hurt us and we take matters into our own hands and in so doing we play God…how dangerous! Let God sort them out, your part is to take the matter into God’s hands and for God’s sake ‘leave it there’.

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copyright ©2007 Light to my path _† † _† by TJM Kyara

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” Ps 119:105 KJV

for archived light to my path visit www.light2mypath.blogspot.com

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