About

Life is a call to discover, and there is plenty to be discovered. In the island of knowledge we are surrounded with an ocean of things that we don’t know, and things that we don’t even know we don’t know. However, in the little already known and to be known, there is one significant that if we haven’t, we should be bending over backwards to find out. And that, is truth.

The reality is there are two essential groups of people, people that believe in one truth and people that believe in no truth. Now, there is another class I am campaigning its annihilation especially among my readers, the class that say there are many truths( I.e. “this is true for me, and that is true for you” group.). I’ll take the detour of the one truth believing people which I reasonably resonate with and this road takes us to our fundamental subject. If you have already found truth in your life, you will concur, that discovery of truth leads you to an accountability a responsibility to it. But life being life, you will have some tests to meet. The two tests of fidelity, fidelity to truth.

Test number 1

The first test of fidelity is the test of adversity. This may be seemingly the less preferred compared to the next one to be presented. Some are to find their lot in the flame or flood. It is no easy path to tread yet the banner of truth demands to be up. There are many called upon to bear the test of adversity for truth. It is true that in this particular side of the universe, everyone has their fair(sometimes seemingly unfair) serving of cares. Yet I speak of a fold, that is called to bear an extra scoop, for the sake of truth. Their portion may well be the scaffold and it is no walk in the park.

I have a message to this lot. You will do well to learn in the school of patience. For longsuffering there is most definitely a reward, but this should not be the driving force of your standing. Truth is its own reward. Let your faith be moored in it after proving its validity. And when the winds and waves of adversity beat and threaten to capsize your already ratchet boat, be steadfast in what you believe. The strife will surely not be long. The test has its end. You shall stand, if you will just hold fast.

Test number 2.

There is this second and most appealing test. To most, especially those in the outside looking in, it doesn’t really even look like a test. But it has brought down mighty men. The test of prosperity. I have had this thought just now as I am writing this, this is the sugarcoated, candy seasoned test. It has its place among the high and mighty. Now how high and mighty is relative to your current state. Not many are unfortunate to have this test. I say unfortunate because it is equally a hard nut to crack, maybe harder than adversity.

So has this been your path to tread? The path of the pomp and show, the sidewalks of fame and power, the pavements of money and wealth? Must be nice? But truth’s cry still find its lot in this, and it too or more, demands your allegiance. Now the peculiarity of this test is that it appeals to the natural inclinations towards self in humanity. But truth requires something above that. It sets its claims a notch higher than self. It competes for the top and tier of the mind and its claims are immutable neither can they be hushed.

For these, is called upon the balm of humility and integrity. The battle can get gruesome, but they too are to remember that truth is a reward greater than what this life offers. To side with truth is nobler than to rub elbows with the mighty men in impiety. The table of truth offers more splendor than the garbage served in the high tables made by flesh and blood. That they would go forth in shamefacedness yet faithfully performing there exalted duties is my plea to them. Truth will not always necessarily call you to sell all and follow it. It may require that you resort to that when its claims are to be compromised. But this group is called to remain faithful in the much allotted to them while waving high the banner of truth.

Can the tests be passed?

Some most assuredly may be required to meet both of the two tests. There is victory but it will not come easy. We will all have to meet these tests of fidelity, but praise God, we have the marking scheme of history to look to.

The Bible says:

KJV Isaiah 33
6 And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

And behold God sent a man to save a nation and indeed, nations. Recognizing truth, he to was held to responsibility and required to meet the two tests of fidelity. However it is written of him:

But Joseph’s character bore the test alike of adversity and prosperity. The same fidelity to God was manifest when he stood in the palace of the Pharaohs as when in a prisoner’s cell. PP222.1

How was Joseph enabled to make such a record of firmness of character, uprightness, and wisdom?—In his early years he had consulted duty rather than inclination; and the integrity, the simple trust, the noble nature, of the youth bore fruit in the deeds of the man. PP222.2

Have you known truth?

How shall you meet the tests?

I have had many a question on this subject. I have not freely spoken about it but today…today you’re in for a treat.Let me tell you of the lover of my soul.

I know a man, I have known a man and I am yet knowing him. Recently, a friend of mine told me, that by the time you get into marriage you won’t have known everything about your spouse. So still without knowing him full well, he proposed and I think I know enough to say yes. I said yes! You have to know enough to say yes. And I will tell you how it all began.

So I had heard about him, from people around, but we had never really quite interacted. Even so, he apparently knew me, and he made the first move. This is what he said:

KJV Hosea 2
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

And he found me destitute and hopeless, tossed about by the pleasures of life that left me desolate and naked. And he said to me:

KJV Ezekiel 16
6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

And thus our story began, and he reminds me over and over again:

KJV Exodus 19
4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

So he gave me ten promises, that I should learn to live free and in his love. And he bade me saying:

KJV Exodus 20
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,.

Therefore, I should be true supremely to him and him alone. He says to me;

KJV Song of Solomon 8
6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

So He walks and He talks with me. If I leave Him, I will surely die, but I know He won’t leave me. And so that I don’t forget, every seventh day, I set all aside for Him. And He tells me I’m His own, and the joy we share as we taryy there, none other has ever know.

And I know, I know sometimes I have left him, for vain lovers. And he has wept over me, and sent a message saying;

KJV Jeremiah 2
2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

But throughout His love hast not let me go. In the showdown of suitors, he has won my heart. Thus when he asked the fateful question;

KJV Exodus 19
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

I have said YES! For who can love me so? I have found rest for my weary feet, a balm for my aching heart, overflowing waters for my fainting soul. Hallelujah! I am satisfied! And He doth rejoice over me acknowledging;

KJV Isaiah 54
5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

So until that wedding, I’ll hold fast to Him. Though many dazzling sights I see, the cross still has a wondrous attraction for me. For this Man was willing to die in my stead. So I’ll trust the Jesus, Lover of my soul till He comes for me. But until then, it’s still just My Lord and I.

Depression has honestly been on peoples lips lately. I am however particularly concerned that we got some things all wrong. As I demystify some of these issues, I want to start by appreciating the awareness being created. My concern is that we are remaining there. We are remaining in just letting people know there’s a problem and not finding solutions. Creating awareness is not wrong, the opposite rather. But you have not yet quite helped someone who is depressed by just letting others know that depression is real. People need solutions. Depression also needs closure.

Often than not, we just want to tell depressed people, “there is help,” or “look for help”, when we ourselves don’t know where to find it. I mean if you have the contacts of a therapist send them that instead. Give them actual avenues for help,or be the help. Take them to the ” help”. Don’t just say, “seek for help.”

We also tend to have a syndrome of “reach out.”We want people to come to us, when we should be going to people. This should not be merely because of some supposition that someone is not well. We should make it a culture to check on people. The reason is also partially because most depressed people won’t walk around sulking and red eyed. They’ll be the friendliest neighbour, the most smiling girl but victims in the drawn curtains. For you to help you must be a regular, intentional check up friend and not a “hi” once and always posting “reach out.” You reach out.

There is also another class of posting “depression quotes.” I honestly don’t know what intention is behind this. In fact I believe you’re actually helping no one, if anything you’re making things worse. The sad songs, the sad poems and little quotes…I think if you’re going to write sad things that are only descriptive and not prescribing how to get over it, there is no use for posting it. I understand for some it serves to vent, but you would rather share it with a friend and not the world because I believe you need help and not views. We are not to live to dampen each other’s lives. It could be making someone else feel worse so for this class I only have one word, stop.

I think today I’m being hard on y’all. However, kindly regard this as a serious article requiring the “hard” language.

Of to more solutions, it would do us good to foster an attitude of gratitude. You know what’s better than Thanksgiving? Thanksliving! Find things to be grateful for. Own a journal and maybe every morning or evening try and find anything to be grateful for; fresh air, breath of life, a nice haircut or even that you’ve made your bed that morning. You will find more contentment, more beauty in life. Studies show that complaining actually shrinks or contracts your prefrontal cortex that you become less able to think and places the brain in a fight/flight mode. Give thanks, you have nothing to lose aside from a bitter life or cloudy day.

Read your Bible, pray everyday. You realize we’ve switched to some type of self-help prescriptions and I cannot overemphasize this one. God welcomes us to His audience chamber and He is always eager to listen to us. His infinite and tender mercy is a fountain overflowing and He longs to unburden us. When we pray we open our hearts to a friend able to do exceedingly abundantly above what we can ask. We also need to read His word because it is how God speaks to us, and often, our answers are therein.

I hope that we practice most if not all of these things. Depression is serious and rampant but it is nothing to be proud of. There is no glory in it. God in His infinite mercy reveals to us things we can do in our sphere to help us live a good quality and quantity of years. And for the things in His sphere He says, “cast your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

I think we should finally come clean on this. Often than not, when someone outrightly calls you a “church girl/boy” they are being sarcastic and its not a complement. Church girls and boys probably have the most boring and difficult livelihood and I’ll show you why…

First and foremost, these religious, spiritual people have to struggle with not being alone. They constantly just have a Friend to turn to wherever they are. They are not left to wander on their own. This is a very unfortunate situation especially being that human beings are continually in need of sympathy and companionship. While others enjoy languishing in loneliness from time to time, they have an ever present Helper.

Church girls and boys also really struggle with having genuine, caring friends in their midst. They cannot help but find people in and around their society who deeply care for them. While others flourish in fluctuating circles and having to meet requirements in clicks, church girls and boys are simply accepted just as they are. They do not have to do anything to find acceptance. Can you imagine the horror?

It exceedingly excruciating for these group of people that they in addition have to walk around in modest apparel. They have to dress in clothing suitable for the prevailing climatic conditions. They are not in constant attempt to keep up with the ever changing fashion of the world. For them, all they need is to buy clothes affordable to them and suitable for the weather. They merely dress for glory and beauty.

Another important point to note in the struggle of being a church person is actually just being in the know. As the world is in heavy pursuit of answers to questions such as reasons for existence and formulating laws to curb immorality, church people only need a Bible as a remedy to all these. They not only have knowledge of the past and present but also the future. They are always carrying a heavy basket of knowledge on healthy living, how to raise children and even how to handle death.

If you thought it couldn’t get any worse then brace yourself! These people are doomed to live forever! Even beyond the grave, they have a hope for resurrection. They have a reason not to be worried about the temporal things of this world. For them, is laid up a crown of righteousness and an abode with no tears or fears. How outrageous is this? I mean, who would even want this?

The answer is everyone! Yes!😹😹 Today, aside from all the satire, I want to recognize that there are actual struggles in being a church girl/boy. That’s a discussion for another day. Also there are much, much more benefits of being a believer or a Christian and I hope that if you are one you naturally reflect them. If you are not, then what are you waiting for?

This blog is sponsored by a random pedestrian who called me a church girl. I wish he could read this. Huge shoutout to him!😊

#proudchurchgirl.

I chuckled a little when this title came to mind. It reminded me of a cartoon my brother watches…okay fine, I suppose I watched it too, but that’s beside the point. Let’s get straight into our topic.

About twenty years ago NASA set out on an expedition to build a telescope to be launched into space. The daring mission has since been faced with insurmountable predicaments considering it had been estimated to be accomplished by 2007. The James Webb telescope even so was launched into space on the 25th of December 2021. After covering hundreds of thousands of miles, it reached its final destination just yesterday, January the 24th where it is expected to stay for the rest of its useful life. Now, not merely as an economist but just as a reasoning human being, the cost of this telescope particularly caught my attention. The James Webb telescope cost around 10billion dollars with an initial goal of $3billion. Even more, this seemed unrealistic considering it having a useful life of 20years.

Now why would anyone, especially among the brightest minds in the world, shoot 10billion dollars to space? Now, I’m not the only one asking these questions. In an interview with space experts, a news anchor from aljazeera asked whether it was a reasonable move. He asked, what were the benefits of this telescope and would they balance this cost. To my surprise, one answered that among the reasons for such expeditions is trying to find meaning, origin and the reason for existence. In fact, in part of the NASA mission statement this is what it says,I quote “increase understanding of the universe and our place in it.“

Human beings are still searching for meaning. There seems to be a big question mark that is burning in our hearts. Where did I come from? Why I’m I here? Where I’m I headed?…

In the process, people have done many things to fill this gap, to find meaning in life. In a lecture series in Harvard 12 years ago on justice, the students were asked to respond on what they find most pleasure in, watching The Simpsons or Shakespeare. Most of them chose The Simpsons. Why? Because it was most entertaining, they answered. But when asked on which of the two, if stuck in a farm in the middle of no where, they would watch for the rest of their lives, most of them said Shakespeare. Why? Because Shakespeare seems to bring more meaning and development of the mind, said one of them. He would not like to be merely entertained for the rest of his life. These were university students!

With that being said, we then firmly reinforce that there is a search for meaning deep in us. Meaning, not merely to be momentarily thrilled but a deep driving force, something to wakeup to, something that makes us better people. We want to enter continually into a higher sense or state of existence. This writer puts it better; that:

It is claimed by some that the human race is in need, not of redemption, but of development—that it can refine, elevate, and regenerate itself. pp73.1

What we are trying to do is pretty cute. But my mind is confounded on the whole point. I mean, I do not want to scale the uttermost heights in the halls of academicians or end up in the most commendable section in Guinness record book then eventually die and vanish into nothingness. I suggest to you that at the very heart of every human being is life. We want to live. And I’m not talking about only a quantity of life but quality.

I confess that part of my suggestion is that we actually go for the things that fulfil us most and work for them. But I would be misguiding you if I first didn’t present to you the Provider and Sustainer of life. The above quote concludes thus:

As Cain thought to secure the divine favor by an offering that lacked the blood of a sacrifice, so do these expect to exalt humanity to the divine standard, independent of the atonement. The history of Cain shows what must be the results. It shows what man will become apart from Christ. Humanity has no power to regenerate itself. It does not tend upward, toward the divine, but downward, toward the satanic. Christ is our only hope.

You are first and fundamentally in need of Christ. Subsequently then does He refine our tastes and inclinations to lead us to the highest state of existence. He offers not only a quantity but a quality of life. Eternity is consistent of this, and it begins now, by believing and accepting Him to mold you.

God does not want us just to survive but to thrive. ~David Asscherick.

Are there times you have placed you aside, though you needed the help equally or more, just to help others? Well, this is for you.

With the love of many waxing cold, it is rare to find these kind of people. Even more they often go unappreciated. Therefore, I would personally like to appreciate you, if you are a wounded healer. Realize that your eccentric initiative makes the world a bit bearable. It is the noblest task, second only to glorifying God.

With that being said, it is easy to fall into self pity if you live recounting how many people did not return to say thank you. You may likely turn bitter and resentful rooted from valid and entitled gratitude. These feelings are nevertheless avoidable. Avoidable is key because people can actually be very ungrateful and at the same time finite. Finite because they may not actually know how much it cost you to help, and sometimes, they shouldn’t. Therefore, serve not expecting appreciation. Let seeing someone doing better from your efforts be the thank you.

It is also paramount to search within of what the intentions of your helping are. Are you helping to be appreciated, to be elevated, to feel you are better than those who didn’t, out of pity or to just for Christian formality? For any of the above, the end result will be fatigue, pride or bitterness. I give you the fundamental intention for every work of kindness..

I would not encourage the formal politeness current with the world, which is destitute of the true spirit of courtesy, but the politeness that springs from real kindness of feeling. HP 296.5

This, however, can only spring up from a heart that is constantly looking to Christ. It is only natural for the carnal man after helping to expect some glory, especially when it involves some denial of self. But if we are to be joyful in our service, if we are to actually enjoy and be constant in this noble course, we can only ask from the One who Himself was the sacrifice, who sacrificed all. Let every hand given then be out of kindness and brotherly love. Only then will we find beauty in ministering.

There is also a syndrome that befalls wounded healers of thinking you can help everyone. The spirit is admirable but it is often a recipe for disappointment. Your path will cross by people whom you can help wholly, but also there are people whom you can only go as far as pray. This should not surprise you. You are human too. These are the places where we may truly grasp the power of prayer. I thank God for these places too, for they remind you that you actually need His hand to give a hand.

Dear wounded healer, beware of a type of pride that comes with this cause. In the the business of “rescuing the perishing” you will be sure to see some completely, positively impacted through your means. This is absolutely phenomenal and it should gladden your heart. Even so, pride may be crouching at your door. In such moments be sure to be happy but conferring all the glory therein to your Enabler. Recognize also that service is duty and not a favour.

Finally, take time also and accept to be ministered unto as well. You can easily be caught in the loop of ministering and forget your own wounds. There is no glory in that. You also need a doctor. Let your friends also acknowledge and be made known of the fact that you are also not all well. Sometimes they simply don’t know. Don’t crucify them for that. Tell them and if they are willing, let them help you. More than that, the major and sometimes the only help you can get is the Balm of Gilead. Yes, I’m talking about Christ. I’m not saying this to make Him your last, go-to resort. No. In fact, He should be your first. He is the Great Physician and He will also reveal to you how you can find healing.

God bless you, wounded healer. Be sure, your recompense is great in heaven and even more, you are not alone.

If you’re alive at this time and age you’re probably familiar with the phrase, “tutapewa mwili mpya” ( we’ll be given new bodies). Aside from the comforting implication of this phrase, pointing to the second advent of the Creator, underneath lies dissatisfaction from addressed or addressee.. Unfortunately, very few are anticipating or even preparing for that radical event but anyway let’s talk insecurities.

Humanity generally seems to be in a constant cycle of want. That’s probably why I even have to study economics but hey, who’s complaining. The point is insecurities arise from a perceived or legitimate better, that we lack, or faulty that we have.

Insecurities are diverse ranging from skin, weight, height, body shape to character, temperaments and some even religion. These are things that are basically part of us, but we don’t like pointed out, seen or spoken about. I’m addressing this because nothing that concerns your peace of mind is too little. Let’s tackle this then in these systematic steps;

You have acceptance with God. First things first, and fundamental, your Creator’s opinion should matter to you first. The fact that He accepts you just as you are is really what counts. He does not need us to change anything in ourselves in order to come… If there’s anything that needs change He is the one to help you do it in the long run but it is never the condition to His acceptance of you. If anything, your worth is written in the conspicuous language of the cross.

Who is in your circle? Using the chemistry analogy, consider your social life as with two energy levels and you’re the nucleus in the middle. This is because we generally have just to deal with everyone in Christian courtesy, but not everyone fits in the first, and smallest energy level. It is the one closer to you. So who are in this energy level? These are meant to be people dearest to you, people who’s opinion matter most to you. We cannot ignore the fact that some insecurities arise from these people, making even stuff that you were not initially insecure about now a thorn in the flesh. Be careful to ensure these are people who want the best for you, who you already find acceptance with just as you are. Consequently, even the weaknesses that you have will be corrected with words laced with grace.

Can you do anything about your insecurity? It may be hard to cover this completely but let’s try. Let’s reason together. There are things that we may prefer to not have that we will have to accept( assumption: I’m dealing with a rational reader). Things like height or skin color etc may be beyond a human being. Here is where “you’re fearfully and wonderfully made” comes in and/ tutapewa mwili mpya. Guys, can we just let God be a righteous judge and trust the hand that makes out of dust a living soul?( thanks in advance😌)

Otherwise to some good news, there’s allowance to change some on two conditions; that it is to the glory of God and that you’ve implemented step one and two above. Clarity? Sure! Maybe you feel like you are too “well fed” …it may be hindering your mobility etc, and you feel you need to do something about it… Exercise how you need to, focus on a healthy diet, monitor your sleeping habits( all these are just suggestions that I’m realizing everyone should practice either way) and take it to the Lord in prayer. God is concerned about both our eternal and temporal needs. In accordance to His good will, with divine power and human effort combined, we can do all things! Further, insecurities that arise from trauma and loss, people, its okay to seek for help, in fact, we should.

Conclusively, let us set our hearts on things above. Let’s really determine and define what matters to us. Even as we look forward to live eternally, in a body incorruptible, eternity should begin now. It is not merely about the quantity, but also the quality of life. We must practise a healthy life style; healthy diets, healthy attitudes, healthy character, healthy healthy healthy. For we have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and sound mind.

Have you ever had an insecurity and conquered? Have you some useful tips? Feel free to share below, it will be much appreciated. Spread some sunshine😊.

Titles should be earned. And for those that cannot be earned, then titles should be upheld, lived up to.

So what is your title? Are you that scholar who’s scaled the heights of your specialization to be called a professor? What is your title? Are you called princess, and I do not mean the sweet nothings lovers call each other nowadays or that you were named so by your mother, but that you were born in royalty… Or do you merely feed off the the titles of passerbys and ambitious conductors, you know, the likes of “madam” or “mrembo“.. Titles.

Now all of these are titles. Some come easy like birthrights and some are like those that it can be said, in the sweat of thy face, shalt thou earn this title. Some are but flattery while some have been hard earned. Either way, the good titles should be upheld.

With that being said, probably one of the most common titles is Christian. It holds the majority in the ranks of religious organizations, it is held by the small and big, tall and short, poor or rich. Sadly, it has fallen prey to the unspoken law of prevalence, where if something is too common or monotonous it loses its initial appealing magnitude or the ability to serve its purpose. People in the long run forget the initial and intended mission of something common and there is a mirage or rather lack of clarity of the whole substance of the thing. Consequently there arises a division since everyone is scavenging to find the right course, at least to them. This has caused impalpable turmoil in Christendom and widespread disintegration into small groups. I have no intention today to delve into who is right and who isn’t. I simply want to appeal to reason and understanding, has Christianity become merely a title?

So what comes with being called a Christian? I stand in my ground to believe no one is born a Christian nor an atheist. The reason is simple that an infant has no capacity to have beliefs…but of course, the environment they are born in plays a large role in them deciding what they choose to consent to. Therefore assuming you chose to be a Christian, did you understand the terms and conditions?

Alluding to the famous phrase based on Acts11, the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. But what led to the name, or title? Well, it is very basic and found in the very positioning of its syllables, Christ-ian…the same way that if you’re from Egypt, we will call you an Egypt-ian… So Christian is from the name Christ…in other words, if Jesus had a nation called Christ, then members of that nation would be called Christians… And basically they would comply to the laws of the nation, in this I mean, Christians are of Christ, thus they follow the way of Christ. I might have confused you, so let this inspired writer place it pointblank!..

To be a Christian is to be Christlike. CS 54.1

But how do you get this title in the first place? It is an arbitrary choice to believe in the One by whom you will be called. You choose to believe in Christ and in the Father who sent Him, for it is written the just shall live by faith. And faith comes by hearing the word of God.

But Christian has become just a title, flaunted in the halls of sin with the excuse of “grace”. From the very top leadership to the merest of congregant….we are the ones grabbing our neighbour’s land, we are the worst triflers of hearts, we are among the harshest of bosses, laziest of students and when the heathen see us and are puzzled, they are forced to conclude, ah Christianity is just a title!..

Now thus saith the Lord, My name is blasphemed among the unbelievers because of you. We are not Christlike anymore. Have we not heard the word of God? Is our faith so dead considering how it has not wrought good works?

Paul says, that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (I.e. justification, sanctification, glorification). I agree. I believe in the power of the gospel. The gospel should bring out the best in man. It should produce the noblest of men, the meekest of ladies, the chastised of youths, the competent of employees. It is in the church that we should find those husbands who would open car doors for their wives, those children that would be quiet in reverence to God during worship, ladies who only know to speak good of others and leaders who rebuke in love. It should be a communion of sinners not saved in their sin but from their sin. How then should our light shine forth before men?

In this journey, our path has been lighted by the flame of the burnt martyrs as we track the footprints of Christ. We have not like them been called to physically die for our faith,..yet.. Unfortunately, time is no longer on our side. A time is coming when you will not only have to prove by your works, but by your blood, of the faith you profess. I do not know if your faith will endure, beheading, being skinned alive, or being stoned. But this is the time to prove that you are worthy of the acclaimed title, Christian. It is not just a title, its a lifestyle.

In high school we read a certain set book called tumbo lisiloshiba and it was rather a combination of books. In it there was one that was enthralling by the name masharti ya kisasa… It is basically translated to the new order of things(the Swahili gurus you’ll forgive me for the inexact translation). Now a summary of the book would be that in the new order of things, gender based roles are retrogressive focusing on the domestic marriage setting. Aaah the nostalgia is overwhelming but in any case I’m sure you’re throbbing with curiosity, some even armed to teeth with responses to preconceived ideas provoked by today’s topic. Hold your horses, you may be in for a shock of the century at the turn of events but I shall try to feed your curiosity in the course or end of this read…. Our fundamental focus will be, Thus saith the Lord

So what does the Lord say about men and laundry? First in the context of our study, who are men? The Bible says:

Genesis 1
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.… Now we will assume the context of this verse for our study. Accordingly therefore we deduce man means, male and female… And yes, I have a couple of more verses but here’s one more..

Matthew 4
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Once again this was meant to mean in its context(also in Deuteronomy 8:3) that a man and woman shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. I’ll leave that at that as we move to, what do I mean by clothes.. Thus saith the Lord:

Isaiah 64
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Now righteousness is right doing or rather keeping the law, even as sin is the transgression of the law(1John3:4). The blessed Bible alludes any seemingly righteous deed of our own to filthy rags. We shall hence look at clothes as character or righteousness.

Isaiah has already drawn us to what our clothes/ righteousness is like. Filthy rags.. I know of no one who would enjoy to be adorned in rags. We would have them washed to remove their filth, right? But really even if that would be possible we would only be dressed in some clean rags. Thus it is also with our characters. The moment we want to try and make ourselves look right, if you even care about righteousness, we start to go wrong. And many have failed miserably others dismayed and discouraged because of this.

We have a laundry problem. We are trying so hard to wash our clothes. The general response of the Christian seems to be, since God has loved me so much, I need to try and please Him so that He accepts me into His kingdom. But what does the Lord say?;

Jeremiah 13
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

As surely as the Ethiopian cannot change his skin neither can we, accustomed to do evil do good. The answer is, men cannot wash their clothes, they should not. Yet Matthew 5:48 still resounds that be ye perfect, and Jesus still said that blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. How shall we be filled, how shall we get rid of filthy rags of self righteousness? Thus saith the Lord:

Zechariah 3
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

There is a new garment that all would obtain. We need not wash rags. The sweet command echoes, take away the filthy garments, I will clothe thee with new raiment. This raiment is Christ. He has become our righteousness!! Behold, thus saith the Lord:

Romans 13
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

John 15
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Dear reader, as I bring this to a close,I hope you realize the significance of this garment. There is a wedding feast and you are invited. Go ye unto a wedding with rags? no! There’s a light in the window, tables spread in splendor, all are invited, but few are chosen, only those who have the right garment. Put Christ on, only then shall you stand.