A call to persevere.

“Love that perseveres is one thing, but to persevere with love, is quite another.”

We are all called to love God, ourselves and the people around us so much so that it would be safe to say, that we were designed to be conduits of love. Love heals, restores, liberates, accepts, and as The Bible puts it, “always perseveres.” It does not give up, it does not quit but rather, continues to believe for the best. It is a dynamic force in our midst that empowers and compels us to bring forth gold from the people that God has called us to.

In my experience, when God calls us to love people, it is usually a call to persevere. We are all a complex amalgam of experiences that are bitter-sweet. As such, in our attempts to share the love that God has put within us, we will have experiences that at times leave us in the valleys, and at other times, may feel like mountain top experiences. It is not always a smooth sailing, and when dealing with a world that is full of people that are delightfully different, perseverance is key. We may not always get the responses we desire or expect, but we can choose to persevere, and the call to persevere is again something that we are called to do with love.

Whether we are believing for dreams to take flight, marriages to be restored, families to be reconciled, communities to be rebuilt, enterprises to take shape, or visions to manifest; it will always mandate perseverance. On searching the meaning of this word, Google tells me that it is synonymous with persistence, tenacity and staying power. It is the ability to stand in the midst of adversity, difficulty, trails and tribulation which are a promise from God as surely as is the crown of life that is ours to receive, once we have stood the test.

In our journey through life, perseverance is not an option, but a necessary test that we are bound to encounter from time to time. Wisdom tells me that the way we do it will determine how long we stay in the test. If we travel properly, then I believe that The Lord is able to give the required quickening which will hasten that which we are believing for.

Begs the question, “what does it really mean to travel well?”

The Lord recently gave me revelation. He told me that though it is important to cultivate love that perseveres, it is equally important to persevere with love. And not just with love, but with; joy, peace, patience , kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This spoke to me so powerfully that it literally shifted my spiritual posture and perspective to one of hope, courage, faith; all of which served to catapult me further into His Bosom to hear what else He had to say.

It came to me nearly six times (if not more) through various mediums in the span of a single day, and I knew it was my Word for the season I am currently in. Let me share,

“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, AMP)

I knew it was The Lord. He always comes through with an unmistakable impetus for His Children. Our lives hang on every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God, and to say the least, I was absolutely ecstatic to hear from Him at a time that was critical to my understanding of where I was in my journey with Him. As God is committed to making us more and more like Jesus, it is always helpful to know what it is that He is cultivating within us in this current season that we find ourselves in. For me, He made it crystal clear : perseverance.

Though it is not our first and natural response to get excited about something like perseverance when we would much rather have breakthrough, the truth is that even Jesus persevered. Through all the rejection, misunderstandings, insults and hardships that were destined to come His way, He persevered. The Bible tells us that He even endured The Cross for the joy that was set before Him. However, my recent conversations with The Lord have revealed that it is His desire to see us persevere not only for the joy of the reward, but to persevere WITH joy in our midst as we make our way towards the reward. A Bible verse He seems to have laid upon my heart is as follows,

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12, NIV)

Friends, as I continue to press in, what I’m learning is quite simple. We may need to persevere in our walk with The Lord, but we can take heart in the confident expectation that Christ will come through, but at the appointed time. Meanwhile, we will abide in Him as surely as He abides in us, allowing Him to transform us from one degree of glory to the next. We will stay in The Word and allow The Word to stay in us. We will confess His promises and allow His promises to dwell within us. We will grow in the revelation of what it means to be in Christ, and let that revelation permeate every crevice of our being. We will resolve to not look with our natural eyes, when God has enlightened our spiritual ones. We will learn to see every situation through the eyes of The Father. We will ask for a wise and discerning heart. We will come to an understanding that if Jesus is both, The Lion and The Lamb, then our love needs to be both tender and tenacious: tender in its approach and tenacious in its intention.

So, as I hasten to a close, my only exhortation is that as surely as we are called to persevere in love, we are also called to persevere WITH love. To be able to stand in the midst of the vicissitudes of life with unyielding peace and joy that comes from abiding in Christ will not only help us receive the upgrades in our relationship with God and thus, in our Identity in Christ; but perhaps will also pave the way for us to develop into a people that are no longer tossed to and fro, because we have learnt that the promises of God are a superior reality to what we see happen in the natural, and as long as we remain, “joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer,” we are well on our way to walking into a reality which when manifested is sure to blow all our paradigms of what Our Great God is able to do with a heart that is committed to not just love with perseverance, but to persevere with Love.

Enough said, friends.

Selah.

Receive.

“It is not a performance based spirituality, it is a love based response.”

I used to be a very performance driven individual. Always wanting to achieve more and never feeling content with all the abundance that God had already bestowed upon me, I feel that I can trace that back to a need for Identity. However, having surrendered my life to Christ, I have since embarked upon a soul saving, mind renewing, life changing adventure. God blessed me with an appetite for His Word which brought healing to my bones and strength to my soul. The Bible says that the entrance of God’s Word gives light. All I had to do was to learn to bask in it.

I learned the vital importance of letting the Truth of what HE says about me override all else. I still have journals that I filled with His Word, the only thing that brought me closer and closer to a fuller revelation of my Identity in Christ. I began to learn that I am loved so much that Jesus didn’t even flinch when He took The Cross not just for me, but as me. Having nailed all my sin and shame, my limitations and shortcomings, my weaknesses and failures; He died. But after three days, we all know He rose again.

What His resurrection means for us personally is something I am intrigued to know more and more. Lately, I have had a feeling that it means so much that my tiny, finite mind cannot even grasp the fullness of. However, what it does testify to is the truth that we are now sons daughters of The Living God. He loves us perfectly, with a love so pure that the only response to it is, love itself.

It is by Grace that I have received these revelations and pray that I continue to grow in them. It is Perfect Love that declares we are the righteousness of God in Christ. We are enough, just the way we are. I have understated it, for God’s Word says that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” God takes immense pleasure in us. Not even remotely concerned with where we come from, He is solely focused on who we are becoming. This process of becoming is a life long adventure with The Lord, but I think the foundation needs to be securely anchored in Perfect Love.

I feel strongly about this because I’m just about beginning to experience it as the Love which casts out fear and as the Love which drives out the need to perform to be accepted, simply because we are beautifully cherished in The Beloved of God – Jesus Christ. His Love takes us the way we are, but is too faithful to leave us the same way. We may come to Him with traumas, hurts, wounds so deep that it seems hopeless, but The Lord turns it all around, slowly but surely. He invades our inner space with unfathomable peace, uncontainable joy, enduring patience, steadfast kindness, and unrivalled majesty. He takes our pain and translates it into a Purpose. He gives us spiritual gifts and talents to equip and empower us to fulfill the hope of the calling we have received. He gives us a heart of flesh and puts a new spirit within us. He chooses us in His Mercy, and uses us in His Majesty.

Friends, we all have a unique brand of brokenness and The Lord is not surprised nor intimidated by it. He knew us before He laid the foundations of The Earth and His Love towards us remains unchanging. He formed us with affection that we never can earn or deserve, but only receive by Grace. I believe we need to receive it on a daily basis because if God loves a cheerful giver, I’m guessing He is one. He waits for us to come to Him so we learn to live from a place that is not defined by our performance, how well we seem to be doing or not; rather we learn to live from a place that is only defined by The Perfect Love of God which makes no demands, but longs to be accepted for the treasure that it is.

Once accepted, the deposits then made are finer than pure gold.

Together, let’s receive it and let’s experience it.

Amen.

Travelling well.

“We never have to be anxious about our future, because as we are travelling, it is unraveling.”

The other day, I was a bit anxious about my future as I pondered that its something always uncertain. We never know what lies ahead, but I realized that I do know The One who does know. So, I decided to spend some time with Him. I took my Bible and went downstairs in the cool, evening breeze and sat on something that looks like a ledge. God is the Source of all comfort, and as is the norm with Him, He came through. Let me share what He revealed,

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.” (Matthew 6:25-26. MSG)

When I first received my copy of The Bible, nearly eleven years back, it was the section on “Do Not Worry” that captivated me the most. Truly, if God cares even for the birds of the air, how much more does He care for us? Little by little, I read on and God kept speaking. The next few years were defining as I met Jesus and couldn’t resist but surrender to a Love that promised me more than I could imagine. As I look back at my journey, it never ceases to amaze me.

The Word of God informs us that He cares so much for us that He sent Jesus to die a gruesome death on The Cross at Calvary to prove it. His resurrection paved the way for us to receive The Holy Spirit, who is our guide at all times. He is our inner compass. He is the one who can help us navigate the issues of life in the best possible manner. Slowly but surely, information became revelation. Since then, I may have my moments of doubt or anxiety, but I know that I am forever changed for The Love of God has left me dumbfounded.

As I write, I realize the futility of anxiety. We may feel it, but it does not have to define us. What defines us is Who made us in His own image and even before releasing us into this world, made plans to prosper us and give us a hope. He does not reveal all things at once, for what would we need faith for then? On what grounds would we cultivate our relationship with God? What conversations would we have? How would we learn to stand, to wait, to listen, to yield, to obey? How would we grow and develop in wisdom and stature? Would life really be interesting?

I don’t think so. I think what makes our life meaningful and interesting is our relationship with Our Creator. I think His big plan was to enable us to walk this journey with His Precious Son, Jesus who would anoint us, guide us, comfort us and be in constant fellowship through The Spirit He has given us. The Holy Spirit gives us revelation knowledge, but He does that only one step at a time. Staying in step with Him has taught me to remain tethered to Jesus and be sensitive to what HE is doing, as opposed to what we want to see happen. All His promises are ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen,’ but they all come with a process attached, for it is in the process that we get to become more and more like Him – which is the big plan!

Though it is quite futile to worry about a future, that God, in His Infinite Wisdom and Agape Love, has prepared for us even before laying the foundations of The Earth; yet, in our human frailty, we still do. It is comforting at such times to remind ourselves of something that is commonly used, but never ceases to lose the potency of,

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32, NIV)

Friends, the blessing is already prepared. It is us who are being prepared for the blessing. Whatever God has called us to, laid on our hearts and given us an insatiable passion to believe for; He will certainly bring to pass. The process, however, is what He needs us to partner with Him in – something which is a joy and a privilege. I often think it’s like watching my Father work and build, I simply get to lay the bricks.

This sentiment paints a sublime picture of fellowship where we travel together on this beautiful journey called life. If there is anything more beautiful, it is this. With Jesus, we get to travel with lightness, freedom, peace and joy for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He never puts more on us than we can bear. It’s not in His nature for He is the Lover of our souls. His Words come to mind as I continue,

“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:26, NIV)

It is abundantly clear that God’s main purpose is to bring about an authentic heart and soul transformation, in and through a relationship with Christ Jesus, so that we can have the character and stature necessary to fulfill the call that He has placed on our lives, a call that needs us to encounter Jesus as Love so we can be love; as Grace so we can be grace, as Mercy so we can be mercy to the world that is around and about us, a world that we are called to touch and transform, but only to the extent that we ourselves have been.

The roles we have in our lifetime, whether we are parents, teachers, artists or entrepreneurs; serve as platforms for our Purpose to manifest. The degree to which we can do justice to this sacred privilege that comes guised as Purpose depends on how well we travel with Jesus. In my experience, the more I remain conscious that The God of Eternity dwells in my midst, the more I am assured that, as Christine Caine so aptly puts it;

“The same God who saw me this far is the same God who will see me further still.” (I think I paraphrased it!)

Looking back at my journey, I now see His miracle working power at work throughout my life. I am sure that if this resonates with you, then together we can resolve that the next time we feel anxious or uncertain of what lies ahead, all that we have to do is look back. Look back at the times that He moved mountains, parted seas, broke down the gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. Look back with awe, wonder and astonishment at His Majesty, and allow the profound sentiments that thus emanate to linger on in our deepest crevices, till we know beyond a shadow of doubt, that we never have to be anxious about our future, because as we are travelling, it is unraveling.

Slowly, but surely.

Blessings.


Completion.

“Identity is birthed in a state of total dependency.”

The Identity that God bestows upon us is not tied to the things of this world, rather it is tethered to The One who dwells in Eternity. When we yield our life to Christ, it is an absolute privilege to be connected to The One who orchestrates events and circumstances in our lives in a manner that would require us to seek Him. Whoever seeks, finds; and there is nothing better than finding The God of the Universe tabernacling in our midst. Simply because when we do, we begin to find ourselves too.

God, in my experience, reveals Himself through Jesus in innumerable ways. When we first receive Him in our hearts, it is a response of love to Love. He reveals Himself as the Lover of our souls who died and rose again in order that we may have a life beyond our past and a hope for the future, a life more abundant here on Earth and life everlasting in Heaven. This is the heartbeat of Perfect Love, which once tasted of begins to manifest seeds on the inside of us that gives us the heart to believe again. We are encouraged by Love to believe for an exceeding, abundant life which is sure to blow all our paradigms of what life can look like. One of the most beautiful verses from The Bible is as follows,

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20, NIV)

I think it is imperative to note that The Word says, “according to the power that is at work within us.” I believe that The Lord says this because the degree to which we can enjoy a life abundant in the riches of Heaven depends on how much we have yielded to the work of The Holy Spirit who resides on the inside of us. The more we yield, the more it demonstrates our need for complete dependency on The Lord.

The Good News is that we can easily depend on Him for He is Faithful. As I write, I am reminded of yet another verse. Allow me to share it,

“He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’” (John 7:38, AMP)

In His encounter with the Samaritan woman, Jesus revealed Himself as the living water, that whoever drinks of, will never thirst again. It follows that as we surrender ourselves to the working of The Holy Spirit, He will give us revelation upon revelation of The Father’s Character and Heart, exemplied by the Person and Presence of Jesus Christ. The more we start to know Him, the more revelation we will inevitably receive of who we are IN Him. As He is, so are we in this world.

I know that is a loaded statement because He surely is a lot of things. His Character is faithful, steadfast, unchanging, immovable, unwavering. His personality is revealed as The Savior of nations, The Father of Love, The Warrior King, The Prince of Peace, The Joy of the world, The Alpha and Omega. In and through a relationship with The Holy Spirit, we too get to become all these things. We too can remain steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of The Lord. We too can cultivate the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. We too can resolve to finish what we start. We too can learn to war and contend against circumstances until they yield to the Promises of God on our lives, as surely as we have yielded to the work of God in ours.

This, to me, represents the birthing place of our Identity in Christ. The more we are yoked to Him, the more we are able to step into who it is that God is calling us to be, here on Earth. The more that we are able to step into that God ordained Identity, the more we are able to shine as beacons of light in a world that is lost, hurting and broken. The Eternal Words of Our King come to remembrance,

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16, NIV)

There is therefore, no need for us to hide or minimize ourselves. At the same time, it is vital to know that our place in Christ is both, royal and humble. We are seated in heavenly places in Christ in order that we may be humble enough to extend the same invitation to those that we are called to touch and transform. We are at The Right Hand of The Father in Heaven, and at His Feet here on Earth ; both at the same time. This posture, paradoxical as it is, is the heartbeat of our Identity in Christ.

It is an Identity that is birthed, cultivated, sustained and eventually brought to completion on the other side. The Word puts it like this,

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV)

On this side of Eternity, we depend on Him to reveal our Identity from glory to glory. On the other side, however, we will not need to depend on Him, for we will be found IN Him, and brought to completion. And this time, forevermore.

Amen.


Everlasting.

“Your everlasting love of me gives me life everlasting.”

Our lives as believers are juxtaposed between these two Kingdom realities: the everlasting love of God and life everlasting with Him.

What drew me the most towards God and still continues to, were revelations of His Love towards His Children. His Love of us is based on who HE is, for God is Love. A rich enough revelation of this truth is something that I hunger for each day, for I recognise how intimately my Identity in Christ is tied to it. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me more, and there is nothing I can do to make Him love me less. It’s called Agape Love, I believe, that takes us just the way we are, overlooks all that we are not, and gently whispers, “You are my Beloved.”

When the God of the cosmos says that, it washes away everything that condemns, our sin and our shame, exemplied by the blood sacrifice of Jesus on The Cross of Calvary. He took all that we were not and nailed it to The Cross. His resurrection declares that we are now new creations in Christ. The old has gone, the new has come; and the new is the righteousness of God in Christ.

In Him, we have access to promises of God that will never fail, because HE never does. He is Love, and to quote something I was reading today,

“Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:8, NIV)

My experience of Him has taught me to value Him for who He is TO me, than what He can do FOR me. I understand that He loves me, so I can trust Him with the fruition of all that He has sovereignly spoken over my life. But my job, if you will, is to receive His Love each day in fullness and abundance so much so that it leaves from little to no room for doubt or unbelief. The Bible clearly states,

“Perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18, ESV)

Friends, our ability to trust in His depends on how much revelation we have received about His true nature and character. He is unwavering in how He feels towards us, so we can stay grounded in His Love, even when the world caves in. We can remain steadfast even in the face of opposition so much so that we start to recognize that it is just another opportunity for God to reveal His Faithfulness. We can live free from the shackles of shame, and instead choose to walk in blood bought freedom. We can learn to tap into the power of Christ in us in every circumstance and turn it into a Kingdom situation that enables us to be the loving kindness we ourselves have received in a world that desperately needs to see it, before it can believe it.

The starting point for it all, however, lies in our ability to choose well. Wisdom would lead us to choose Love over all else, for all else is only an overflow of what we have found in the depths of the riches of this profound Agape Love. The Word says,

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33, KJV)

I believe that God asks us to do this because He understands that above all else, our deepest need is to know that we are unconditionally loved, at all times and in all situations, a tangible experience of which leaves us empowered and liberated to be ourselves, unique creations that God in His Majesty designed before time beginning in a manner that the times to come will never bear witness to again.

That is our intrinsic value as His Children. There will never again be another you, or another me. If God, who made the Heavens and the Earth, can love us the way we are, then my guess is, so can we. When we allow God to fill our hearts with love, it has no option to spill out into the part of the world we find ourselves in, and whatever love touches, it transforms. Hearts are softened as our love is felt by those we are connected to. Fortified walls come crumbling down and trust bridges are formed instead. Prayers take on a whole new form and are backed by the Power of God in our lives. Our horizons expand as love deepens. Heaven cheers us on. We enter into a wide, open space in The Spirit where nothing shall be impossible to us. We begin to believe outrageously as we are loved deeply. Palpable shifts occur on the inside of us, till they are felt on the outside of us. Suffice to say, we are learning to become world changers.

Life is too short a trip to be lived with anything less than a deep enough revelation of how beautifully and completely we are loved by Our Father in Heaven who left no stone unturned in sending His Precious Son, Jesus Christ, to Earth from Eternity, to make a way for a lost humanity to be reconciled once again to The Father Heart of God, and find it’s way back Home.

Clearly, the everlasting love of God has given us life everlasting. What we do with what we have received will make all the difference.

Selah.

Doing it smart!

“Breakthroughs are a result of patient endurance and passionate persistence.”

Some things take time. God’s promises are as sure as His timing is divine. I know we have all heard of the common phrase that He may not come when we want Him to come, but He is always on time.

Why is timing so important to God?

I believe timing is everything, friends. A blessing when given prematurely, can easily become a burden. There is a reason that even a driver’s license needs us to mature to a certain age for us to receive and then, appropriate it.

Likewise in The Kingdom.

Promises are currency. They are permission granted. They are like I said, a license. But just as presenting a four year old child with a car is perhaps not the wisest thing to do, (unless it’s a toy car), God uses the tool called time in His Hands to mature, grow and season us as believers so that when we have developed sufficiently in and through a relationship with Christ, the sustenance of a manifested promise is something not only God can trust us with, but so can we.

I believe with all my heart that God trusts us. More often than not, it is us that need to learn trust, to trust in Him and to trust in ourselves. If Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and Hope is a confident expectation alive on the inside of us; then it begs the question,

What is trust?

Trust, I believe, is the bridge that takes us through the process and eventually catapults us into the promise we have been given. Trust is a spiritual weapon which when, having stood the test of time, serves as a potent weapon in our quiver. Trust is also a display of the confidence we have in The One who calls us by name. Trust is a huge part of our faith adventure, and as I dig deeper, the words of Bill Johnson are brought to my remembrance;

“Bold faith rests on the shoulders of quiet trust.”

But as we wait in this “quiet trust,” what is God doing? What is He saying? What is He developing? What is He pruning? What is He purging? What is He forging?

It is God’s ambition towards us to forge the character of Christ within us. This is not something words will ever be sufficient to articulate, but in and through our experience of Him, we begin to get glimpses of revelation into His Character and His Heart, and before we even know it, we begin to morph into the likeness of that which we have just witnessed in our spirits.

Jesus’s time on Earth was one of patient endurance and passionate persistence. He endured all the times that He was rejected, misunderstood, tempted, betrayed and eventually crucified. He bore The Cross for the joy that was set before Him, and the joy that is set before us also gives us strength. No, I’m not just talking of the manifestation of a God given promise, but rather, who that manifestation is pointing to. Our victories are assured through the blood sacrifice of Christ so much so that our starting point in every challenge or difficulty is – Victory. We are a race of people that do not work for victory, rather, from it. So, given this assurance, we can confidently put the outcome and it’s timing in God’s faithful hands, while simultaneously directing our focus, attention and energies on who it is that God is making us into, during the process; and who is it that such a Great God is revealing Himself as, at such a time as this? To me, this is the beauty of process.

When yielded to and guided by His Careful Hand, the process becomes a magnificent opportunity to know Jesus and who it is that He calls us to be. Viewing it through the lens of Heaven, as we travel from our time here on Earth into the timelessness of Eternity will not only help us receive the upgrades in our relationship with God and in our Identity, in and through that relationship, but can quite possibly even hasten the coming of the breakthrough that we are contending for. The process that God had for the Israelites could be easily traversed in eleven days, but it took them forty years. My guess is that we ought to be smarter than that.

When God initiates a process, He always does it with great intentionality. He does it with the outcome in mind, not only the relational/circumstantial change that we are led to believe and fight for, but also the internal transformation that He wants to bring about, a transformation that is necessary for us to be able to stand the weight of the blessing, once released.

I would like to exhort you at this point with something The Lord has exhorted me with,

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19, ESV)

He will come through, friends. He will. But my hope and prayer is that we will learn to travel well during those processes that seem painful at the time, but will always produce a harvest of righteousness. We will learn the art of patient endurance and passionate persistence, simply because it takes all of that. It took Jesus a lot of patience to be still and not utter a word as insults upon insults were hurled at Him before the crucifixion. Let me say it the way Scripture does,

“He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.” ( Isaiah 53:7, NIV)

When the Sadducees and the Pharisees lied about Him and conspired against Him, He endured with such unrivalled assurance of Identity that serves as a model for us to follow till the end of time. His persistence, I believe, was rooted in an outstanding passion for His Purpose, to reconcile the lost and to redeem all of Creation. We were the joy set before Him, and as we learn to set our gaze and our joy on the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ, we will begin to tap into the strength we need to contend for breakthrough, while simultaneously enjoying the process as we learn to journey well on this sacred pilgrimage called life with a Companion who is as faithful as the rising of the morning sun, and perhaps even more.

Now that’s doing it smart.

What do you say?


Is He worthy? 👑

This today marks my 💯 th post on the blog, and I couldn’t think of a better way to mark this milestone than by embellishing it with a very “worthy” worship song – “Is He worthy?”

That’s a question that will inevitably evoke a resounding, sonorous, “Yes!” but I have a feeling that the reasons, experiences and sentiments that evoke our response are so subjective to our own unique walk with The Lord, that it’s going to mean different things to all of us. But what does tie our “Yes!” together is what The Blood of Christ has accomplished for our fragile lives, lifting them into a reality so majestic that it has no option but to leave us in complete wonder and awe at the Greatness of our God👑www.youtube.com/watch

Your Love.

“Your Love sets me free from the weight of both, failure and success.”

Before God laid the foundations of the world, He had you and me in mind. He had great plans for us, great thoughts towards us and loved us with an everlasting love. He still does because The Word says,

“For I am the Lord, I change not…” (Malachi 3:6 KJV)

He is steadfast in His Love towards us so much so that He gave us His one and only Son – Jesus through whom we have an explicit demonstration of the unconditional love of God towards us, a love that knew us before the beginning of time and longs to see us in life everlasting. One of my most favorite verses of Scripture is as follows,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV)

There is undoubtedly a lot to unpack from this, but what is the most comforting is that even before God formed us in the womb, He knew us. He knew us intimately and completely. He knew every tiny detail of our lives. He knew every mistake we would ever make and every detour we would ever take. He knew everything we would think would disqualify us and He STILL loved us, chose us, called us.

It is a revelation of this Perfect Love of The Father that sets us free to be ourselves and to flourish in the calling that we have received in our lifetime. This love reassures us that it keeps no record of wrongs, but instead delights in our attempts. This love not only accepts us wholeheartedly; but cherishes, treasures, adores and esteems us. This love separates our “do” from our “who.” This love does not see who we are not, it is focused on who we are becoming – the righteousness of God in Christ. This love understands all our struggles and frailties, but boldly declares that when we are weak, we are strong for Christ’s power rests on us. This love does not depend on our behavior or performance, but is solely contingent on the character of God, because God is Love.

I really thank God for Jesus. He nailed not only our sin and shame, but also the lie of performance, perfectionism, legalism and religion to The Cross and set us free. Instead, He gave us relationship with The Father. I perhaps have lost count of the number of times I have recited the following verse to myself (and my guess and hope is that perhaps you have too!),

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1, NIV)

So, the question really isn’t if we are loved or not, because we are and one hundred percent at that. The question is, “how do we reciprocate this love?”

I believe the best way to reciprocate this kind of love is to receive it. Fully and abundantly; thereby allowing it it shape all of our life’s responses, choices and decisions. When The Father’s Love has begun to wash over us, like tidal waves, taking us from one dimension of glory to another, a transformation begins. We feel different : light and free. We recognize that we do not have to be perfect, we do not have to perform for acceptance and we do not have to be validated by man. We simply need to receive the Love that first loved us and let it flow organically, spontaneously, freely and horizontally – into the world that is around and about us, till all that are connected to us have a glimpse of the freedom and love The Father has lavishly bestowed upon each and every one of us.

Friends, when we live like that, we begin to live like Jesus. He knew He was thoroughly loved by The Father and from the abundance of that revelation, He was able to stand in the Truth of and thereby, manifest His Identity as The Son of God, which empowered Him to withstand all that He did and accomplish His Purpose. Opposition, rejection, betrayal; nothing deterred Him because He was fully validated by Love.

And the same is true for us too.

However, in our process of learning to live like Jesus, we are going to have times where we fail, we stumble, we fall short. But that is precisely when the strength of our relationship kicks in and we recognize that even though we may have made a mistake or perhaps, dished up a mess; we are STILL covered by Grace and the constancy of our Father’s Agape Love.

THAT is what gives us strength in the face of failure. We are still who He says we are and we are still able to do what He has called us to. Nothing disqualifies that which has been birthed and cultivated by Love. Hence, we continue to remain steadfast and press on towards the mark of the high calling that we have received.

But what happens when we succeed?

I was reading The Bible today, and came across a verse that seems apt to be mentioned here,

“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13, NIV)

Since it is God who works in us through His Spirit what is pleasing to Him, since it is God who gives us the grace we need in our time of need, since it is God who is an ever present help in times of trouble, since it is God who through radical revelations of His Love enables and empowers us to be all that we were created to be and do all that we have been called to do; who gets The Glory?

He does, and that is the purpose of any measure of success that we attain in our lifetime. We have the absolute delight and pleasure of reciprocating God’s Love in times like these by casting our crowns at His Feet and letting it all bring praise, honor and glory to His Highest Name!

All designed in order to help us live life the way God wants us to – light and free. We neither have to be burdened by the guilt of failure nor crushed under the pressure of success; simply because our Identity is tied to neither. Birthed in and redeemed by Love, our Identity transcends this temporal world and finds its origin in and its way back into Eternity. No longer bound to the constraints of the world, we have indeed been set free to blaze trails for generations to come in order that they too may know who they are and whose they are, a beautiful journey of passing on the baton of faith; all made possible because of a Trailblazer who nearly two thousand years ago, descended from Eternity into Earth, to pave a way laced with Grace, Truth and Mercy, a way that is The Only Way and is etched out in the Power and Triumph of His Blood that runs in our veins till today.

So be it.

Amen.