Frankly speaking…

Once again we are at that long awaited time of the year when a selected few dress in black robes and black headgear, head to JKUAT and are burned in the scorching sun in the Graduation Square. Their families are invited and are eager witnesses.

Graduation is a scary thing for many people because it feels like the end. The end of being in that familiar thing called school. What scares most is the fact that after that, the future opens up into one great big unknown and the expectations narrow down to a detailed and categorical 100,000. You wonder if you'll get that elusive job and wonder if you'll like it if you do. You wonder how long you can continue living with your parents before people start making the subtle comments less subtle. You wonder if you are actually up to the challenge of the jobs that you are applying for and you wonder if you'll make it if you decide to do your own thing. You wonder whether you can work anywhere else other than that one town that is familiar to you. And you wonder, what is God thinking or planning for me.

The word 'Graduation' is also used for measurement so in this case it gives an unnerving connotation of being measured. But we are all familiar with this world of being inspected, scrutinized, compared to, checked out, sized up, looked at, looked over, classified and then finally labeled. Hmm.

It's a scary world that we are living in and it brings about all manner of rational and irrational doubts. We begin to wonder, "Am I really a failure because I have been labeled one?" "Am I that stunning success that they say I am?" "How much longer can I satisfy their expectations?" "Are they right?" "Am I right?"

What is the Truth?

There are three things that we need to think about when it comes to the Truth.

1. The Word of God is Truth.
   
2. The Word of God is the only Truth.
   
3. The Devil is a liar.
   

We know that the Word of God is Truth because the Word of God said so. Jesus is a true testimony because he walked on earth. He is the reason we believe everything we read in the Bible. He is the great proof.

We know that the Word of God is the only truth because anything outside of the word is actually not the word and the word already affirms that there is only one truth and that Truth is Jesus Christ who is the way the Truth and the life. ( Bear with me)

Finally, we know that the Devil is a liar because Jesus, aka the Truth aka the Word said so. And also from experience.

The above are slightly confusing statements but in the spirit of Graduation, we have all learnt that 'the more confusing it sounds, the simpler it actually is.'

John 8:44….He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Let me tell you the Truth… The Truth is that we are Sons of the Most High God, the chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a peculiar people. The truth is that you are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. The Truth is that we have a hope and a future and God has a purpose for each one of us. The Truth is: Jesus has already overcome for us. The Truth is: faith can move mountains, feed five thousand and let you walk on water. The Truth is that the Name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous run to it and are safe. The Truth is: Jesus wants us to be well. The Truth is: if we call to him, he will answer us.

The Truth is not only about happiness and success. God is in the business of making you more useful not making you happy.

The Truth is: the wages of sin is death. The Truth is: God is a consuming fire. The Truth is: God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. The truth is: we are dying, yet we live on; beaten and yet not killed, sorrowful and yet always rejoicing.

The Truth is: if you completely obey the lord, meditate on his word day and night so as to be sure to obey his laws, Like Joshua, then, you will be successful in everything you do.

We are living in a time that is very unclear and confusing and it is difficult to tell what really it is that we should believe. We don't want to mislead ourselves into a place of denying reality and living in a perfect but imaginary world, but also we do not want to suffer constant despair as we take on these never-ending struggles. Well, there it is. The Truth is the Word of God. Always listen to him with both ears, the smart stuff that's in-between them and your heart. God, not the world, tells you who you are. God tells you what you are made of and made for. 

Congratulations to all you guys and girls who are graduating today and yesterday. All the best in your future endeavors! God has brought you this far and he shall take you wherever you let him!

  

Rose of Sharon

That I would open my heart
Like a rose opens its petals
Whether in the sun or in the rain
And so let your love shine on me
 
That my scent would be sweet
My motives true and pure
A honeyed fragrance of rose
From my offering of obedience

That my life would bloom 
My life's work blossom
In the brilliance of the rose
Bearing the spirit’s fruit
 
That my heart would know courage
Unbounded and relentless
Enduring as the rose in the storm
Or as it blooms in the desert

That my ways would be modest
And gentle and kind
As soft as the feel of the rose
As gentle as the Spirit's whisper
 
That I would learn to count my days
In each minute I must set my mind
To blooming all the bloom in me
Unashamed praise for my master

The stuff that makes a man…

2nd Peter 1:5

So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. 6 Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. 7 Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin.

The New Living Translation

In high school, I remember that every second term, after exams, we'd have an entire week of what we called Talks. Talks was ideally a week of counseling, motivation and guidance, organized by the school for us girls. We all loved this one week. The speakers were almost always really boring and discouraging but the week was the most stress-free week of the entire school year. All you had to do was attend. No one forced to listen. And that's the part we all loved about 'the week for talks'.

Amongst the people who would talk to us, some condemning, some disapproving, some rebuking, some criticizing, others truly motivated us with their life stories and struggles. We were lucky to have people who would speak to us and try and inspire us. There are things that I learnt then in those talks that have seldom been mentioned again. Amongst the forgotten, lies the stuff that makes a man. Virtues.

What does 'virtue' mean? We rarely use that word. Virtue is defined as quality that is morally right and admirable. The word 'goodness' has also been used interchangeably with the word 'virtue' in many bible versions.

Everybody in the world is wonderful and special. God made us all and he loves us all, each in a special way. However, we are at liberty to choose our value. Let me explain. If you have two houses, one built with straw and hay and the other made of rock, which is of more value? If you have two runners, one works out once a week and the other trains 5 hrs a day, which of the runners would Iran buy for more money? Both are houses. Both are runners. Both houses have the same owner. Both runners run for the same team. But one of each has got more value than the other. And guess what, "Chema cha jiuza, kibaya cha jitembeza". God has trusted us with increasing our value by gaining His values. You want to be a better person, runner, businessman? Add value to yourself. (Thanks Sii!) You want to sell your old computer? Raise it's specs. You want to sell yourself? What are you made of?
 

There are a number of virtues that I have found and believe are essential to making a Man*(terms and conditions apply) of God. As a Christian, you are never to be caught just sitting there and letting life pass you on. You are supposed to be assertive and active in your 'fighting the good fight'. I think it is a good idea to identify virtues that appeal to your personality and strive to build character. Build on these values, do not let a minute go to waste. Work with these values in the kingdom of God. Remember: Identify, Build, Work.

Honor is good stewardship. It is being trustworthy and showing responsibility towards your fellow brethren brought about by your respect for them. Honesty is putting the right date on your 'Refund voucher' even if the money is at stake. Honesty is giving back the matatu guy the extra change he hands you. Honesty is not-being on Facebook when you should be working. Faithfulness is making a point of remembering to carry that money that you promised. Faithfulness is starting something and sticking to it until the point of completion. If you are going to start something, start well. If you are going to start well, finish. If you are going to finish, finish well. Dependability is one of God's defining traits. If you are his son, this trait should show. Dependability is being there on time. It is being trust-worthy and reliable. It is being able to carry out your end of the deal. This is not only towards humans, this is even towards God. Can God depend on you to carry out his will here on earth? Mercy Patience and Kindness. Show mercy and you will be shown mercy. Mercy is putting yourself in the shoes of that person who is in excess in that matatu that you are travelling in. Yes, she has no right to make you share your seat. Yes, it is illegal to share your seat. But now that you are already speeding on the rough Limuru road, take pity on that woman because it's late and she just wants to get home. Remember that there are many times that you are undeserving and sometimes outright wrong yet your heavenly Father does not bat an eyelid when he shows you mercy, favour and kindness. Otherwise, NEVER get into a matatu that is already full! Patience is forgiving your sister who's borrowed your favourite shoes again and ripped them. Although some people never seem to get it, you just have to forgive them again and again. Dignity and integrity. Dignity is not drinking tea with a little cup with your pinkie up! It is not walking around so stiff that you scare people. Dignity is self respect. It is not-saying that curse-word that just seems to want to come out of your mouth. Not-listening to that dirty joke. Not-having coarse conversation. Not-involving yourself in gossip and rumor mongering. Integrity is knowing who God expects you to be and being it.

Courage, Determination and strength.

Through out the ages, God has raise up extra-ordinary men of faith and their defining characteristics have been these three. Courage Determination and Strength. This is actually what faith is made of. Faith is having the courage to believe that which is difficult to believe, it is being determined to continue believing no matter what and it is the strength to make these decisions and stick to them.

When Moses died, Joshua was in a fix. He had really big shoes to fill. But you know what God told him? "Be strong and of Good Courage! Remember my commands and be confident." Joseph refused to give up regardless of his bad circumstances. Regardless of shattered hopes, Joseph was determined to serve the Lord. Note, Joseph was determined to serve the Lord not to be successful. His focus was on his purpose and that was to honor the Lord God. Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego are the greatest examples of courage. "Throw me into the lions den and see if my God my God won't save me!" "We'd rather burn than go against what our God requires!" and there's the classic, " I'd rather eat vegetables than eat your evil meats ( insert chocolate, junk… etc)!" That's courage for you.

Christianity s not for the faint-hearted. It is a long journey that involves a lot of sacrifice. In fact, the sacrifice is so much that it is literally dying to oneself. It is a challenge. It is a battle. You will cry and you will be beaten down by the journey's difficulties. You will do right when everybody else around you is doing wrong. You will fail and you will get up again while everybody watches. You will be terrified of the Goliaths but you will sling the stone. You will make a fool of yourself and then the devil will humiliate you, drag you through the mud and shame you using the people closest to you but you will overcome. Christianity is a challenge and the better you get at each challenge, the harder the next one is going to be. And believe me, you will always feel the pinch when it comes, whether you are eight or you are eighty.

Sugar and spice and everything nice is what little girls are made of. Men are made of struggles won, difficulties overcome and troubles triumphed over. Jesus has already overcome for us.

Are you a man? Or are you a little girl?

 
 

The Shoes of Readiness

Ephesians 6:15

…and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of truth.

NIV

Every church-going Christian has probably heard this verse many times. The sandals, which a Christian should wear as part of the full armor of God, are described as readiness.

 
 

Now, readiness involves two things in the context of this verse. First it involves preparation and then it also involves willingness. They are both important and we can think of them as the sole and the straps of these sandals that we must all adorn.

 
 

Preparation

Preparation should be a big part a Christian's daily life. You see, you cannot succeed unless you are prepared to.

Preparation means making ready. It means considering what will be required and making the arrangements that are necessary for these requirements. How can we know what will be required while we do not know the future?

Personally, I have seen two ways that we can have a clue of what is coming:

• Past experiences
  

  We do continuous assessment tests in school to give us a feel of what the main exam will be like and in the battlefield, we watch our opponents' tactics so that we get better and better at fighting him every time we enter the battle field.
  

  You see, as a Christian, every struggle and experience should be a learning opportunity. Not only learning about ourselves but also learning about where the devil tempts us and how God tests us.
  

  Let every experience be a preparation for the next time you face something similar to that which you are facing now. Take every opportunity to remind yourself of what God expects you to be like.
  

• God
  

  God know the future and he knows what you will face tomorrow. Allow him to prepare you. Allow him to change you and submit to his Spirit by taking heed of his word.
  

  Read the word. Read the word. Read the word.
  

   
   

  We are the fortunate generations who have the word of God with us night and day. Hs Spirit surrounds us waiting to work in us , with us and through us. He cannot wait for us to say yes and see the Lord's hand.
  

 1        Blessed be the Lord my Rock,

Who trains my hands for war,

And my fingers for battle 

 
 

Let the Lord prepare you. Ask him to prepare you. Get prepared and remember that preparation is a constant, daily and hourly process. You are not prepared once and for all. Remember to take you daily dose of preparation.

How to prepare

1. Read the word. Read the word. Read the word.
   
2. Meditate on it. The word is lovely and enriching.
   
3. Practice the word. The word is instruction, follow it.
   
4. Apply the word in your situations.
   
5. Pray according to the word.
   

 
 

Willingness

Now, we Christians have got one big fault. When we are caught in a difficult situation, we fight inside ourselves for too long. There is no servant like the eager and responsive servant. Let us make a habit of responding quickly to the Lord's commands. If God says "Tithe", give today. If God says "Reach out", don't wait for tomorrow. Let us rid ourselves of reluctance and be filled with zeal for the Lord our kind master. Would you like it if God was reluctant to save you from trouble you were in? What sort of friend wants the other to respond quickly while he never does? Let us be the sort of friends to God and to others as we would like God to be to us. You must prepare for each day, each test, every journey and every temptation.

 

Preparation and Willingness

Preparation and willingness must go hand in hand for us to say that we are ready.

 
 

Proverbs 19: 2 It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.

 

 
 

We have all learnt that preparation is the one thing you cannot afford to skip if you are facing something important. Tomorrow is an important day to the Lord. Prepare for it.