GLOBAL DAY OF PRAYER

Dear All

I mentioned in my last posting that last weekend was the Global Day of Prayer http://www.globaldayofprayer.com/

We (me and my friends) had a great time together following the prayers on God TV and also praying together for the nation of Israel on its 60th birthday and also for several countries around the globe.

I have inserted a banner on the global day of prayer. I hope you will be part of it to pray for your nations and also other nations of the world.

May you be blessed as you lift others in prayer to the Almighty God.

Until next time PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens)

Blessings

DO YOU HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP?

My dear friends, it’s been a while since I communicated to you.
This weekend hosts the global day of prayer and I thought our topic of discussion should also lean towards that.

Today I thought we dwell on the question “Do you have a personal relationship?”
I know some of you have already started asking the question “with whom?”
Well, I will begin by saying that I am a Christian, a believer in the almighty GOD creator of heaven and earth. I was born in a Christian family and my parents made sure they taught us the word of God through Bible stories and also taking us to church along with them. As I grew up I realized that my parents would encourage me to go to church but the decision was now mine whether I wanted to go or not. I had questions like why do I have to go to church? Is it necessary? What does going to church benefit me?

With all these unanswered questions lingering in my mind, one day in my adult Sunday school our teacher mentioned something which made all the difference and answered the questions that were in my head. He talked about having a personal relationship with God. He said you can be born in a Christian family, your parents can be pastors of the largest congregation, you may be the most well behaved, kind, generous, good hearted person in the world but that does not mean that you know God. What does knowing God mean? It means having a personal relationship with Him. Then what does it mean to have a personal relationship with God? The Holy Bible says “if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead than you will be saved” (Romans 10:10). A personal relationship begins by believing in someone, knowing them on a personal level, otherwise there is no relationship. If we take an example of our day to day life, those people whom we call friends, it’s not just any other person, they are people we have grown to know and have developed a personal relationship with them. In the same way that is what we have to do if we want to have a personal relationship with God; we have to be interested to learn more about Him, getting close to Him and believing in Him, spend time talking to Him in prayer and telling Him what is within our heart.
Remember it is about a personal relationship, do you have a personal relationship with God or you are still in the crowd of having a church going habit because that is what you do on a Sunday? In this fast and changing world it is important to know what you believe in otherwise you will be tossed to and fro by winds of corrupt messages that do not glorify the LIVING Almighty God.

Mind you I am not saying that it is wrong to go to church but we have to know why we really do it.

My prayer to all of us today is that may we develop that personal relationship with God, let us know Him, and trust me you will never regret.
Until we meet again remain blessed. It is never too late “if you confess Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him up from the dead” you have began your journey towards developing a personal relationship with God.
Let us join together in the Global prayers lifting our Nations to God.

YOU CAN PLAN.. BUT WHO IS IN CONTROL???

During the month of March I addressed a few issues concerning women, and this month we will look at day to day living. I thought we start this series by pondering on "who is in contro?"

Lets start by looking at this quote from the bible "Proverbs 16 vs 9 : In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps"

What have you planned for this year? You know when the year starts we always have what is called "New year resolutions", which some people stick to up to the end of the year, while others kind of lose track of their resolutions a few weeks or days into the new year.

So I ask the question again what plans do you have for this year, is it to get a good job, get a good house, find a spouse, get closer to God the list is endless.

What steps are we taking to fulfill our plans? Some of us could be working very hard to earn money to help us achieve what we want, others could be even trying to get contacts so that they can have a good ground to execute their plans, while still others are on their knees praying that God should see them through their plans. It is interesting to note how man can plan a lot of things and think that they are in control and suddenly it dawns that they are not so much in control or may be not in control at all.

Well the quote from proverbs 19 vs 9 reminds me that everyday no matter what I plan and think and wish to do, there is someone greater than I who orders my steps all the way and makes sure that the plan goes well. The interesting part is that God even adds into the plan those points you missed during the planning and makes things even better.

I will leave you with the question who is in CONTROL in your life??

Remain Blessed until we meet again right here...

A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE ON RELATIONSHIPS

Hello friends, as you may have noticed this month of March we have discussed a few issues concerning women I thought to crown it all we look at the CRUCIAL matter, RELATIONSHIPS.

What kind of relationships am I talking about? Today I will focus on boy-girl or shall we say man-woman relationship. And this is not just male or female friends at work or church, I mean relationships which if they work out will culminate into husband and wife.

This is an issue which I have thought about for a while and being female myself and in talking with my female friends and coleagues I realise that there are so many things that happen in a friendship between male and female counterparts which may lead to a one thinking they are in a relationship (both male or female member) while in actual sense there is none.

What am I trying to say here, friends (of the female gender) we have to be careful with what we conclude out of friendships. Let us not let our emotions betray us into thinking "oh because Mr J walks with me to work everyday or calls me twenty times a day then he is in love with me" NO! thats a non starter, unless you and MR J sit down and discuss what your friendship is all about there is nothing like a relationship there. You will be shocked that Mr J does not even think about you that way. This line of thought has led to so many disastrous endings of women getting pregnant and Mr J saying " I am not interested in you". So you know what that means single parenthood and emotional trauma that you will live with for the rest of your life. To make it worse with the HIV floating around in our world, Mr J could actually deliver an extra present with the baby, HIV and this means a troubled life for the baby and a bleak future for you as a woman.

It has also happened that women end up making wrong choices in their career because as they plan of their future they plan it with Mr J in the back of their heads while on the other end Mr J is only thinking about himself and you are not part of his plan. So let us be honest with ourselves, if we are not sure whether we are in a relationship or not, then most likely we are not and its high time to discuss with Mr J.

I am not saying that having a relationship is a wrong thing, but thinking that you are in a relationship with someone without agreeing with that person, that is WRONG.
Someone will say "but you know sometimes things just happen", yes I agree sometimes things just happen but think before you "LEAP". Relationships can be fun and rewarding if the basis of the relationship is good and is based on a mutual agreement between you and Mr J.

Women let us wake up and think about ourselves and our future. Lets make sure that we are in the right relationship. Let us not rush into getting Mr J just because Miss P got herself a Mr J. Her time is not your time. Your time will come just hang in there, there is no need to rush, there is always a time for everything.

Men this is also something you can chew on. Well you may not get pregnant but you can surely contract HIV and end up in relationships that are painful and traumatic.

Untill next time, Stay Blessed

ONCE YOUNG

Hello my dear friends, today I thought we could look back to the days when we were young.

What inspired me to write this article is really one of those things that we encounter everyday. I was standing on a bus stop waiting for a bus of course and on this particular day it was stinging cold. I was frozen to my bones and this reminded me of my old primary school days.

Do you remember those days in Malawi when we were going to school in shorts, in June and had to run or play with friends to keep ourselves warm? Yeah this particular cold day reminded me of those days. JUNI (referring to the cold weather) AKUTSINA osati zibwana!

I remember the days we would sit in class with my coleagues and the wind will be blowing through the open windows, the teacher would say that the cold was to keep you awake but ......

One day we were in boarding school and I guess those of you who have been to a Malawian boarding school will relate with me how tough it was to take a shower when its cold, especially those from the North and in Dedza and other mountanous areas of Malawi. I remember to have had some conversation with some male coleagues who said that they would compete on who would stay the longest without a shower (Kupha dry!) because of the cold.
In other words taking a shower in the cold was the biggest challenge especially when you had to use cold water! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Other than that, there are so many things that I look back to and they bring a smile on my face of when I was once young. Going to kindergatten (ku mkaka), singing and laughing away not forgeting the epilogue of sleeping for two hours before going home.
Then came the tough part of STD1 where you think the whole world has turned against you and you don't understand why your loving parents have to be so CRUEL to send you to school. DO YOU REMEBER!!!!!!!!!!!? Or may be I was the only one who had this problem.

All in all school was fun and at the end of the day I look back at everything and see where I am today, I thank my parents for taking the courage to encourage me.And all in all I thank God for the opportunity to go to school and be where I am today.

I am sure those of you reading this blog have your own experience. Lets share it and laugh together.

WE WERE ONCE YOUNG ISN'T IT?

God Bless

HAPPY EASTER

MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU and MAY YOU KNOW AND EXPERIENCE THE REAL MEANING OF EASTER.

BEING A HOUSE WIFE

Let me start by saying that the last topic brought out interesting discussions and comments. Many thanks to all of you who read the post and also shared with others.

Today we take a look on the other side of the coin, being a house wife.

What does it mean to be a "house wife"?. I will give some definitions that I have heard from talking to people what they view as a house wife. Some people say a house wife is a woman who stays at home and manages the household. Others will say a woman who is usually not working, may be has not gone to school so they can't get a job anywhere than staying at home. Another group will describe a house wife as a "goal keeper" meaning someone who waits for handouts from her working or employed husband.

Its interesting to note that in all these definitions a house wife is someone who is looked down upon in the society of women (I will use my home country as reference). There are several men who would prefer a house wife because they will manage the home full time and may also respect their husbands more because that is their only source of income. As for me I would say a house wife is a woman whom we have to respect in society even though she is not a career woman (lawyer, secretary, doctor, scientist, you name it), being a house wife is a career on its own.

I will start by pointing out that there are so many women who do not have any office jobs but spend their whole day at home and have a lot of talent which they can share with the society.

I have seen house wives who have used their time of staying at home as a time of thinking and developing their career, either in hand work such as knitting, sewing or even cooking. What am I trying to say here? Being a house wife does not mean that you just stay at home, bear children, and cook food for your husband. That is the time a woman can also develop their talents.

There are alot of things that women can do whilst at home, talk of painting for example, sketch drawing, gardening, decorations, all these seemingly small things can earn you as a house wife a career.

I know of women who are house wives and are good in baking, who have ended up opening bakeries, others even shops for wedding cakes and now they have thriving businesses. I know of women who started by trying to sew some small dress and realised that they could do more with their time at home and talent and now have tailoring shops which supply uniforms and other types of clothing to different schools and institutions.

So women, house wives out there, wake up and develop your God given talent.

Until next time

stay Blessed.