Sacrifice of Praise
22 May 2009 7 Comments
in Because Jesus lives I can face tomorrow, God is good all the time
There is a Christian song which has the verse, ‘We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord…’. I never really understood what that meant until I heard Pastor Joel Osteen preaching about it. I tried to write a post about sacrifice of praise but it didn’t really come out the way I wanted it to. But the Pastor was able to put it very well.
“Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name”
(Hebrews 13:15, AMP).
The Bible tells us there are many ways to praise and worship God— but have you ever thought about what it means to offer a sacrifice of praise? It means that we acknowledge God above our circumstances. We live our lives in such a way that we honor and glorify Him no matter what is going on around us. We rejoice in all things.
For example, when somebody offends you and you feel like giving them a piece of your mind, but instead you just smile, do you know what you just did? You were saying with your actions, “I am living at a higher level. I am acknowledging God in every circumstance.” On the freeway, when someone cuts you off and you’re just about to tell them what you think, but instead you look over and smile, that’s giving a sacrifice of praise.
Remember, God promises to dwell among the praises of His people. When you continually offer up praise, you are inviting God’s presence and power into every area of your life!
Enjoy the weekend blogren.
Easter…
09 Apr 2009 13 Comments
in Because Jesus lives I can face tomorrow, God is good all the time
Easter is finally here. A time for us to enjoy a long 4 day weekend but more importantly, a time for us to joyfully remember that God sent His only Son to die for us and if we accept Him as our Saviour, we shall have eternal life.
Enjoy the Easter holiday everyone.
Anger…
02 Apr 2009 14 Comments
in Because Jesus lives I can face tomorrow, God is good all the time, Thoughtful
“And don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry”
Ephesians 4:26, NLT
When I get angry or upset, I tend to lash out at the world. Especially if I am ‘scratched’, which may not necessarily be someone actually deliberately provoking me but something small. Like Rhys may decide to act stubborn and decide to write on the walls with his crayons 2 days after the house has been painted. Boy does he get the fill of my wrath at that point.
I hate doing this so I learnt long time ago, that at such times I need to first cool down before doing anything about it. The other thing was that getting angry or upset would mean you giving the person who caused it control over you. And I love to be in control so I learnt that dissipating it as fast as possible was the only way to get the power back. The techniques: breaking glass, watching a cartoon, listening to music, talking to someone who cares especially him but most importantly prayer. How do you deal with your anger?
This is some inspiration from Joel Osteen concerning anger:
Do you realize how much energy it takes to be bitter or hold a grudge? We only have a certain amount of energy for each day. If we use it for the wrong purposes, focused on the negative, dwelling on who hurt us, we’re not going to have the energy we need for the right purposes. We’re not going to make the best decisions. We’re not going to be as creative. We’re not only doing ourselves a disservice, but we’re doing our family and our friends a disservice.
Remember, you can’t control what people do or say. You can only control yourself. If you’re allowing others to upset you, then you are giving away your power. The Scripture says, “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” The reason many people have no joy or enthusiasm is because they go to bed every night with anger and unforgiveness. When you go to bed like that, with a cluttered mind, focused on the negative, you wake up with the same negative emotions. Don’t let anger and unforgiveness block God’s blessing in your life. Choose to let those things go so you can live in the peace, joy, and power the Lord has for you.
The Healing Power of Laughter
24 Feb 2009 11 Comments
One of the greatest stress relievers God has given us is laughter. It not only makes us feel better, but it actually releases healing throughout our system. When we laugh, it restores and rejuvenates what the pressures of life have taken out.
Proverbs 17:22 puts it like this, “A happy heart is like a good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing.” Notice, when we’re good-natured and full of joy, taking time to laugh and play, it’s like taking a good medicine. That’s what helps us to stay healthy. People that laugh regularly are 40% less likely to have a heart attack than people that don’t laugh regularly. Laughter triggers the right side of the brain, which helps release creativity and helps us to make better decisions.
There is too much sickness in our world today. Much of it is related to sadness. It’s directly related to the fact that we don’t smile enough. We live uptight and stressed out.
But even during trials and hard times, God says to us, “I’ve got a solution. In difficulties, cheer up. In famine, laugh. Keep your joy.” You can laugh your way to victory, to better health and to more energy.
God knows the end of the story. He knows the final outcome. The good news is you and I win. God always causes us to triumph. We should have a spring in our step, a smile on our face, joy in our hearts and unshakeable faith. God’s plan for our lives is for good and He has the answer to our every question. Knowing this, we can laugh at the days ahead!
Nothing Can Hold You Back
19 Jan 2009 19 Comments
in Because Jesus lives I can face tomorrow, God is good all the time
“The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree…” (Psalm 92:12).
Have you ever seen a palm tree in the midst of a great storm or hurricane? That tree may be bent so far over that it’s almost touching the ground, but when the wind finally stops, that palm tree bounces right back up. And do you know that while that palm tree is hunched over under the pressure of the storm, it is actually growing stronger?
The reason God said we’d flourish like a palm tree is because He knew there would be difficult times. He knew things would come against us to try to steal our joy and victory. God said, “You’re going to be like a palm tree because the storms of life will come, the winds will blow, but you are going to come right back up again stronger than before.” Nothing can hold you back! No weapon formed against you will ever prosper. No matter what’s happening in the world around you, keep standing. Keep praying. Keep believing. Your brightest days are right out in front of you, and God’s plan is to bring you blessing and victory all the days of your life.
Inspiration from Pastor Joel Osteen
Living Under the Rain of God
19 Dec 2008 12 Comments
in Because Jesus lives I can face tomorrow, God is good all the time
I have been going through a number things lately that have been putting me down but God is good all the time and He is faithful…
This inspiration hit home for me and thought I would share it… again. Continue to praise and worship God and be thankful even through the hard times. I’ve known that for a long time but a reminder is needed once in a while.
God longs for us to be like a well-watered garden, flourishing, full of joy, always in blossom, even during times of famine. In the Bible, the prophet Elijah experienced an extreme drought for three and half years. Even though his circumstances could have easily kept him discouraged, he activated His faith through praising God and thanking Him for all He had done. It wasn’t long before the heavens opened up and provided rain for the people in the land.
When you are in a dry spell, decide to be like Elijah and continue to give God praise. The key to staying flourished and keeping vitality in our lives during dry times is to send up praise. By praising God at all times, what happens naturally with rain accumulating in a cloud will be the same spiritually in our lives. When you keep sending up praise, that cloud, like a rain cloud, can only hold so much before it releases and comes bursting down. It’s a cloud of God’s blessing raining down favor, keeping you protected, giving you good breaks, and making sure you are always in blossom.
When times grow difficult and thoughts of “It’s never going to change” come into your mind, that is when it’s time to switch over into praise and say, “Father, I want to thank You that You’re changing things in my favor.” Remember, God has promised to prosper us even in the desert!
Inspiration from Pastor Joel Osteen
Thankful…
27 Oct 2008 18 Comments
Thankful for the Blood that Jesus shed on the Cross
Thankful that God always loves and cares for us
Thankful for you being in my life… yes you who is reading this… you are in a way
Thankful for the support system that is family… who will still love you inspite of all your muwawa
Thankful for the friends who are always true and always there
Thankful for the unconditional love that is plentiful in our lives… that we sometimes take for granted
Thankful for him and the way he puts up with so much of my drama but still loves me
Thankful for the small things in life that make it enjoyable and worth living… the cat welcoming you home by rushing towards you and rubbing its body on your legs…
Thankful to God for making all the above possible and a reality.
Remembering the day…
23 Oct 2008 23 Comments
in God is good all the time, Joy, Something special...
Kale it has been 3 years… 3 years of having the blessing that is Rhys. Time can really fly by.
3 years since I last went to the hospital to have a growing ‘entity’ removed from my womb. 3 years since I was screaming my heart out due to the excruciating pain but at the same time dying of laughter. What could I possibly have had to laugh about at that time? The thing is, the other lady who was in the delivery room with me was busy shouting in between contractions,
“Mukama nsonyiwa. Sikyabidamu! Banange Katonda nsonyiwa.”
And ofcourse the nurses were not helping by saying,
“Wagenda yo tolaba?! Nanti mwali munyumirwa.”
It just won’t sound as good in English but basically this is it:
Chick in labour – “God please forgive me. I will not do it again. Please forgive me.”
Nurses – “You understood what you were doing at the time. Busy having a good time.”
The majority of Ugandan nurses are notoriously known for being unfriendly/ unloving although the lady who was taking care of me was actually really lovely. Though at one point, a serious contraction was hitting and she came to say something to me while touching my shoulder, I almost ate her head off. As if she didn’t know better.
But it was all worth it when at 20.15hours, my little bundle of joy was placed in my arms…
And now that it is 3 years later, I feel more blessed and all gooey inside for the joy and blessings he has brought to our lives as a family and all who know him.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RHYS.
Detoxing Your Mind
11 Oct 2008 19 Comments
in God is good all the time, Thoughtful
Thought I would share some inspirational words from Joel Osteen…
We hear a lot about detoxing our physical bodies today from all the chemicals, bacteria and pesticides in our foods. It does our body good to go through deep cleanses and rid our bodies of toxins. In the same way, there are all kinds of toxins that can build up in our mind. When we go around dwelling on the wrong thoughts, thinking about what we can’t do, how somebody hurt us, what someone said we couldn’t do, and how we’ll never get ahead; those thoughts are toxic thoughts. And toxic thoughts left alone become like toxic waste. It will eventually contaminate our whole life. It affects our self-image. It affects our attitude and our level of confidence. It becomes a part of who we are.
That’s why it says in Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else guard your heart for it affects everything you do.” The writer is saying to make guarding your mind a priority. Put this at the top of your “To Do” list because if your mind gets polluted, your whole life is going to be polluted. Every morning when we get up, we should go through this cleansing and detoxing. Forgive the people that have hurt us. Let go of every disappointment. Detox low self-esteem. Detox the negative words. Detox little dreams. If you will guard your mind and not let these toxic thoughts take root, but keep it full of faith-filled thoughts, you are going to rise higher and higher into new levels with God!
I missed him…
08 Oct 2008 13 Comments
in God is good all the time, Thoughtful
I missed his laughter…
I missed his contagious smile at a time when I want to kill him for something wrong he has done…
I missed his cheeky way of trying to get away with stuff…
I missed his warm welcome for me when I get home, him struggling to carry what I have brought and fighting to get into my bag to look for his chocolate treat…
I missed the way he sometimes acts all grown up by standing his ground and saying, I SAID NO! in such a sweet way for whatever he doesn’t want to do…
I missed his zeal for life and need to explore, to know what is beyond…
I missed his ability to drive me up a wall because he doesn’t want to follow what I am saying to him…
I missed his singing, Jesus in the morning Jesus in the noooo time…
I missed the essence of him….
…I missed my baby boy.
Rhys was sick last week. He had malaria and a stomach bacterial infection. So vomiting was like the order of the day… every half hour or so for the first two days. On Monday when all this drama started, even with all the vomiting, he seemed strong and was his usual jolly self. But then after a while, he started to seriously weaken probably because of the medicine and his loss of appetite which meant hardly eating or drinking. And the little he would have would end up coming all back after a short while.
It was so gut wrenching for me to see him just lying down on the couch most of the time during the day since he did not have the energy to be up and about, basically like he normally is.
God is our Saviour and hears our prayers… Rhys is now back to being him… but for those days, I really missed him.
