Color blind?

Are you color blind?

I work with people from 'vastly' different backgrounds. People of different color, religion, culture, tastes and preferences. For a long time I placed racism in a different class from tribalism or preferential treatment based on belonging.

Today, I was sending out work to one of my church teams and suddenly it dawned on me that I unknowingly was classifying them in groups with respect to their origin. Unconciously I was being tribalistic! This came as a total shocker to me, as I never considered myself tribalistic. In this case I was considering the fact that these were french speaking rather than the fact that they were members of my team. This realisation made me re-adjust my thinking immediately as I repented of my attitude.

Are you trully color blind?

We need to constantly review our thoughts and motives to ensure we're not discriminating or fueling discrimination.

God help me to be color blind.

Innocent

My steps, Your Steps

Father, lead my steps in the right paths.

I do not want to take a road you're not on, or invest in a project you're not in.I do not want to be excited in a prospect, you're not in. Order my steps Lord, I give you full control. As you lead, I'll follow - that's the Plan.

Lead my steps in the right paths.

...And when out of impatience I opt to go ahead, still show me your love and find me in my confusion. I belong to you and all I have belongs to You. This is my heart's cry ~

Lead my steps in the right path.

I can feel the pressure, but I know you're surely in control, your promises are forever. If I, bbeing who I am, care for my own, those you've given me. What about the one who made me and loved beyond sparing His only son.

I know you're leading my steps in the right path.

Wolves may rise and rivers flow. The evil one may have his arrows in the ready position but theirs is nothing, that shot is wasted. The promise is still true~ In heavenly places with Christ Jesus.

I am not alone, my steps are ordered by the Lord.

"I" respect

Recent happennings have made me to re-evaluate my regard upwards for mothers.When my wife left for London, I thought it will be business as usual - Hey - how further could I be from the truth! It was not going to be the first time she was going to be away for a while, but I guess, God wanted me to see what I'd so far missed.

Deron (our first son) fell ill just when I'd taken leave to REST, PLAN and PRAY. Well, he got my attention. I treated my trip to the hospital with him like a military routine, as we were to travel the next day to Bamenda. My ears were of course closed to any suggestions in the direction of hospitalization etc. We got the drugs and back home to pack and prepare.

Enter Ariel...To be continued...

Yesterday

Yesterday, during Bible studies, the Pastor asked why we thought God didn't destroy man and start over when he sinned in the garden.

Why do you think He didn't do this?

Dirt

dirt  (dûrt) n. 1. Earth or soil. 2. a. A filthy or soiling substance, such as mud or dust. b. Excrement. 3. A squalid or filthy condition. 4. One that is mean, contemptible, or vile. 5. a. Obscene language or subject matter. b. Malicious or scandalous gossip. c. Information that embarrasses or accuses. 6. Unethical behavior or practice; corruption. 7. Material, such as gravel or slag, from which metal is extracted in mining. [Middle English, variant of drit, excrement, filth, mud, from Old Norse.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

As I drove to work this morning I noticed something that puzzled me. To give you a bit of background, I had 2 passengers ie a neighbours kid I sometimes drop off (as his school is on my way to work) and one of my friends, living with us at the moment. My brother in-law who lives with us had done a superb job with cleaning the enterior of the car, infact I liked what I saw and immediately became protective. My younger passenger, like most young school boys, didn't bother much about the cleanliness of his footwear and this got me thinking he was going to spoil my temporal internal 'bling'. I brushed the idea aside as I focused on the road ahead. 10 minutes later I dropped up my friend and was about to drive off when I noticed a 'noticeable' amount of shoe dirt, where her legs rested...( I am not usually this paranoid about dirt...it's just that the shine in the interior had the better of me)! Arggggggggggh, I moaned internally. Now, I thought, I had to deal with to dirty carpets, rather than just one.  My younger smilly customer soon reachedh his destination and skipped off. As I was about to drive off though, I noticed his area (inspite of his conspiciously dirty shoes), still possessed it's bling. I looked hard to see if I'd find any dirt, but there was none. No shoe dirt, no dust, no mud...wooh! OK That was weird I thought, then some thoughts dawned on me:

1. God, our maker, made us in His image and likeness. Sin (like dirt), distorts this image and separates us from God. Somehow, the cleanliness of the interior of a vehicle made my spirit light and put a song in my heart. When it got dirty (by a few specks of dust), I could feel a cloud settling over me. I begin to understand why God hates sin.

What is required of you, when you know Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,? Knowing that, Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Get rid of the dirt confess your sin today and receive Jesus in your life. The next step? Rom 10:9, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

2. When we judge (and we should do so sparingly), we ought to judge righteously and not per appearance. I, in no way suspected my friend  would be the one to 'spoil' my pleasure of having a clean ride and rather condemned my younger passenger before the fact. How many times have we fallen in the trap of judging others based on appearance rather than on true facts? Whatever measure we apply or grace we provide in our judgement of others...the same awaits us. That is divine Judgement.

A pleasant week as you meditate on these things.

Repetition

In one of the rare moments during which I chat about 'other issues' with my boss, we looked at why some people were more efficient than others. He's had the added advantage of having been in the military and therefore stands the chance of making a balanced judgement. As we disected the subject, it came down to one thing repetition. Repetition is key to learning anything. This probably explains why I have failed so far in my pursuit of learning how to play any musical instrument. I have had my hands on the electronic keyboard, acoustic guitar, flute, drums...and even fruity loops!

Practice makes perfect. Having the knowledge is good, but that's just the base. Put it into practice, once, twice, trice etc and you'll surely 'own' it, if you hang in there long enough. Yes, some people are born naturally skilled to do certain things, but the greater number of us are not genuis! That said, the practice of our faith and spiritual discipline is the natural spring board for spiritual growth. When a Christian chooses to fast, study the bible and pray regularly, the benefits are priceless.

First, you come to know and understand God, His will and promises better. It also opens you to a new world, wherein impossibility is but a word and the miraculous is to be expected.

Next, it shows you (like a mirror), who you really are. The book of James talks about the mirror effect of the Word of God. The best thing we can do for ourselves is see ourselves as we trully are. Unless you get to that point, you really won't be able to make any progress, as your base is false/faulty. Run yourself, through a biblical reality check.

The most important of results however is that it tells us of man's fall, his depravity and God's gift of eternal life to all those who choose to lay aside their pride, ignorance etc and accept to follow Jesus.

The bible is loaded with stories Jesus told about the kingdom of God. His repetition was surely in a bid to sow the absolute truth of the Kingdom in the hearts and souls of His audience. Do you know Him?

Is He your lord?

Inno

Reflection

One of those days when you just glide though, with many questions and in-wards reflection. There's so much to be known, so much to be read, so much to be learned, but it seems like the forces of distraction are getting their best...I reject..I stand strong...God give me strength.

When you struggle though periods of uncertainty, when you need your quiet time, be absolutely sure to take a break and look in but up also. THe Joy of the Lord is my strength...it will be Your strength, if only you can trust Him with your uncertainty.

Enough of me. One thing I'm thankful for is God's love and provision. check out the attached picture...
That's how I spent the later part of last Friday...eating good, grilled chicken. Enjoy!