RISE AND WALK 2011

I know it has been a year of struggling and hardship in whatever you have been experiencing. You might have been seated at the beautiful gate waiting for Peter and John to pass by and give you gold and silver. Did you ever realized that this cripple man could walk? What about himself. Do you think he was expecting a miracle of walking? What do you think he wanted from Peter and John? Did he know for sure Peter and John had someone who could be a solution to his life? Why do you think this man was he taken to the gate but not in the temple? Do you think the people around this man had a hope of him getting well? What do you expect Jesus to do for you next year? the year 2011? Have you ever tried HIM? Would you like to do so? You may be cripple like this man. You don't move, you are holding a dead ministry, a dead mission which does not Go Ye as commanded by Jesus in Matthew 28: 19,dead marriage, dead business, you may be also dead spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. This is a year of a walk!! In name of Jesus of Nazareth, stand up and walk! This is what has been a problem in our lives. Sometimes we don't know where our help can come from but let me assure you that our God is not a sleep. He does not wear a watch but He is always on time. Our eternal God does not measure time in the same way we do. A thousand years seem endless to us but to Him it is nothing because He stands above time. God bless you and a happy new year 2011. http://friendsofjesusministries.blogspot.com/ Pastor Mike

UNFORGIVING HEART

UNFORGIVING HEART. “No……., no I am tired of you! I won’t accept your apology! A way from my sight, you silly man! I don’t know why I got married to a such foolish man? Why have you repeated this………. Why, why? you think I don’t have people to help me?” Akinyi could be heard lamenting and cursing her husband. Near her children and animal stood staring at her. A voice of a man could be heard in a low tune begging her, Akinyi please, Akinyi please, forgive me, forgive me, I beg you! But Akinyi on her climax could not listen to that. “Last year you treated me like this and I forgave you, This year again…… again, no…….. I don’t want. You plus this the so called Mother- inlaw you have always been backbiting and mistreating me. For how long will you continue doing this?. Since I got married to you people I have never got any peace at all!. I am now going to apply for a divorce. I am blaming myself to have married to a such man who is useless. A man who does not know how to take care and look after his family ”said akinyi. She could be seen wiping her tears with an old handkerchief Akinyi lives in a rural village whereby farming is the main economic activity. She has one acre piece of land. And does mixed farming. Rateng her husband on the other hand, since he has no hope in future has taken drinking as his lifestyle. He has been stealing chicken for sell so that he may get one tin of local bear. This issue has been a thorn in the flesh of Akinyi. She does not sleep at all, and she is growing thin and thinner. There is a time she fainted and thought that she was bewitched by one of her neighbor but thank God a pastor came and took her to the village hospital. It was found that Akinyi is developing some ulcers. Oriedo is one among the friends of Rateng. Who is believed to be spoiling Rateng. There is a time when Akinyi met him on the way and became sick just after seeing him. “I hate this man! Said Akinyi. I am praying for him to died! “Why just my husband”. Akinyi was so angry with him. The Bible says in Ephesians 4: 31-32 “ Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put a way from you with all malice And be kind to one another even as God for Christ sake has forgiven you” Resentment is that deep feeling of displeasure or anger that we have toward someone because of past offense. It is our painful memory of past hurt. It is the greatest enemy of right relationship. It destroys friendship and turns friends into enemies. But the most damaging effect of resentment is the destruction of the one who hold it. If we hold on to resentment, it can grow into bitterness. Bitterness affect our health, our minds, our personality and relationship with God. Bitterness affect our health. It is poison to our body. Resentment, bitterness, hatred, an unforgiveness can cause ulcer, high blood pressure, and a dozen of other sickness. 90 percent of our illness are caused by anger, fear, resentment and bitterness. Holding bitterness in your heart can cause you loose sleep, and be tired most of time. Take a way enjoyment of your food, kill your happiness. It affect our minds and bring depression .It affect our personality for the more we resent someone or think about him we become like him. When you focus your emotion on someone you become like that person. It also affect our relation with God. For if you don’t forgive you are asking God not to forgive you. Forgiveness set us free for it is the only one thing that can set us free from resentment and bitterness. Forgiveness is not trying to forget what happened to you, but it is bearing the wrong or injury of yourself an choosing to remember no more. Forgiveness is so costly. The one who is forgiving pays the price of the injury or evil committed. In order for Christ to forgive us. He had to pay the price or the penalty of our sins by dying on the cross. It is costly to forgiven. It is costly to forgive but it is more costly not to forgive. How can we return from bitterness to forgiveness. -Recognize God is our judge Romans 12:19. Don1t revenge but leave it to God. - Confess your sins to God. If you hold bitterness know that you are sinning. - Pas the sentence of death upon resentment and bitterness. - Forgive just as Christ has forgiven you. - Trust for the Holy Spirit to make your forgiveness real. Forgiving others and getting rid of bitterness is a result of our working together with the Holy Spirit. We can not do it a lone and the Holy Spirit can not do it a part from our choice. But we must work together with Him. Divorcing your spouse is not the solution for your marriage. It is good to reconcile with your spouse and allow the Holy Spirit to help you. For any suffering and struggling you are undergoing remind God in prayer and He will help you. Put your trust in God and He will care for you.

They killed my husband and set the house on fire!

All was well as wanted to go to bed after taken our family supper together. Little did I know I could lose my husband in a short while Resba recalls how she heard loud screams and noise from far from the neighborhood at a round 10:00 pm. Within a short a while I saw a gang of men numbered about 30 storm my homestead and started destroying everything in sight as though they were send. The youth were armed with assorted weapons and sang war songs demanding the members of the other tribe community vacate the area. They told us to go back to our ancestral land for we had betrayed them in just concluded election. They did not even spare the livestock at the cowshed. “The worst that I least expected happened when the man whom I knew ordered my husband to be killed.” said Resba. My husband was pleading with them to spare us, but who heard him?! The presence of group leader made things worst. He was the first one to stab my……. Husband with a sword at his chest. The rest followed and killed him on the spot. My husband died. She narrated as she fought back tears that were rolling on her cheeks. “The gang later set our house on fire before leaving me with my seven children staring and trembling at their dying father not knowing what to do!” Said Resba. I was six months pregnant when this horrible ordeal happened. We took refuge at a nearby church before leaving to a show ground when violence escalated. Some times we faced tough moments in our lives as though we have no one there for us. Remembering to what happened to the early church. During the reign of Nero in 64 AD. Many Christians died. Jesus Christ promised us that He will never forsake us. Though we see these things in our lives as we live here on earth, one day we shall be with Him in heaven. Where we shall get a rest, where our tears will be wiped, no pain, no hunger, no war and diseases, no burning of houses and tribe fighting each other. Have heart Jesus is coming for us soon!!