LOVE

I have always thought love to be that elusive thing…. Here today gone tomorrow, intense lovey dovey goeyness that takes over everything rendering you incapable of conversations about or with anyone but that person who is the object of your affection.

What always puzzled me about love was its end… fizzle…pop! Done!! Suddenly the fireworks and strawberry scented life (I like strawberries) is over…done! Kaput! Then you look at this person and ask yourself HOW? HOW did I ever love this person so much?

Then there is that one person – my womens you know him…  “ the bad man”  the one who swoops into your life with complete intensity  and never leaves even after he physically vacates your life. He will pay rent occasionally but act like a landlord… I think you know who I mean girls… is this Love

 

Love! What is this thing? Like happiness, we as humans have found its  intangibility and  very existence almost…  slightly… borderline mystical

No one will ever  tell you in uncertain terms what love is, but they will let you know their definition  based on their life’s experiences( if u have had a bad man experience your love take is usually very “colourful”)

My first love- Romantic love – Didn’t start off with warm gushy feelings but with a simple connection. It was a negative connection in the beginning as I dismissed him as not worth my time… but there was something there…

Then… we would bump into each other and everything would stop!!!  Music- off. Speech- Mute and the rest in slow motion… Literally everything around us would cease to matter. All  within weeks of dismissing him.

I did realise years later that love is multifaceted ( my experiences)  this little , ominous, visibly elusive word LOVE is like a chameleon  ever changing in colour but the animal remains the same,

My first love walked away from “us” and I let him because his happiness was the most important thing to me

I remained a woman who loved him – but the colour of my love for him changed. No longer an “in” in front of my love

But the best part of this love was the return of that part of my heart he had stolen . Given back to me to make me whole again so that when REAL love comes along no one is in possession of pieces of my stolen heart

22.9.12

 

TP31W

TP31W….

…TP31W… It’s not a code…
I finally have gotten to that place where this is not Morse code anymore, it’s not Greek and I am not still trying to crack it… TP31W (The proverbs 31 woman) as most of us know her is, well at least for me, a woman of a character that I know I would strive my whole life to emulate, and eventually -just fall to my knees in despair because no matter how hard I tried I did not think I could be her (she wakes at the crack of dawn 31:15 NLT …. Most times I am too spent to do that)
At the beginning of the chapter King Lemuel is being given advice by his mother (a woman hahahaha). I took out from it 3 pieces of advice, and I will paraphrase mostly, I found to be important even now in our times;
1. Do not allow drink to destroy you by becoming its slave
2. Do not allow your time and strength to be spent chasing women
3. Always fight for those who cannot fight for themselves
So whilst trying to understand this I realized * blond me * that the proverbs 31 woman is a sister to someone, a daughter to someone else , a Mother to another and a wife to one. Good advice any Mother would give her son as these are the things that bring great men to disrepute.
Was King Lemuels Mother TP31W?– I had been wondering about this woman for months …. Who was she?
– INTIMIDATING-
That is the one word that described her to me for the longest time… I started writing this piece when I was done with my last Songs of Solomon piece but this woman intimidated me so much and had me asking myself who I was to even write about her?!
I was not even half way there as a possible proverbs 31 women yet. I even asked myself if perhaps this is why I am unmarried… I cannot cut it as the woman we were created by God to be… This woman, in my mind, just had a thong over her fabulous corporate suit, TP31W emblazoned across her perfect work shirt ( un-creased , crisp, starched and just perfect), ready at the drop of a dime to don a cape and take flight.
She was simply ,amazing, she cooked, she cleaned, she sewed, knitted, loved, smiled, cleaned up after, had 32 hour days, never tired and never complained , always showered, smelling like expensive perfume and immaculate looking… WHO? WHO? Who can be her?
You can imagine how this put a stop to any writing about her that I was going to do !!!!
I gave her a lot of thought and she wouldn’t leave my mind as I asked myself how God would put this seemingly bionic woman in the bible if she was an unattainable character! Was she to be realized only on paper? Only in King Lemuel’s times? THEN… I came to the realization that but God, you or I cannot be her. Great! It was such a simple truth ( sigh of relief)I thought to myself I can hardly write about this now can I? it is but a paragraph – So I left it lingering and stewing in my mind thinking it was done …I had CRACKED TP31W Code… but had I?
Then I suddenly clicked that there are 4 Keys to being this woman… and you can only get these keys ( Gifts) from God.
The Gift of Love – only God can give you the Gift of Love that endures all , a love that can be patient and kind ( 1 Cor 13:4-9) a love that will not boast or recall wrongs done, doesn’t give up, a love that is always hopeful…This love is what keeps that picture of your husband being respected at the City gates ( 31:23) close to your heart and in your mind long after he has annoyed your whole being but 10 hairs on your head! Long after you have hit him over the head with a Neanderthal club (in your minds eye)
The Gift of Faith- Only God can give you faith – (Romans 3:28) only he can give you the faith you need as a mother and wife, the faith that provision is your portion even when the businesses have failed and all you have to stand on are his words. Faith is what will keep you on your knees long after things are seemingly falling apart in your marriage and your home.
The Gift of Righteousness- knowing that through Grace you are righteous keeps you out of the loom of despair, depression, doubt, fear and guilt . Trying in your own right to be” righteous” and “perfect” and do it all as per the template is what sets you into doubt and all those negative emotions.
Grace is that little thing that we all struggle so hard to understand. WE DO NOT HAVE TO DO TO GET FROM GOD… His love is there regardless of what we do or don’t do it’s hard to grasp that , especially when, like me, you grew up knowing that God was a rewarder of your actions … good action = good reward, bad action= negative reinforcement!!!!
But no… he, in his power and might just helps us to be Righteous because we definitely cannot be in our fallen state.

The Gift of Wisdom- This Gift is the silver bullet. The Gift that lets you realize when you are operating in your other gifts, helps you to pick your battles and say the right things at the right time and just generally be a source for your husband and family to draw from. Sometimes just shutting your mouth is the hardest thing …especially when the “ I told u so” is tickling your tongue, but It can be the wisest thing to do

The proverbs 31 woman cannot exist on her own strength without God she cannot, cannot, CANNOT operate .Without the Holy Spirit and she will not prosper ( physically, mentally, spiritually or emotionally) without Jesus

Proverbs 31 is not about works ! its about allowing the gifts to manifest in and through you . she must understand her purpose and calling in relation to her husbands and boom! The code is broken

September 26th 2012
ABE

 

My Words

 

 

My conversant self knows the power that words yield//

The power to speak into your heart negativity that destroys your core//

The won’t, can’t, don’t the mustn’t and hasn’t//

The negativity that will destroy your hearts desires//

Cull your creativity before it can even begin to flourish//

Kills your spirit, yes your very core is destroyed by the power of words//

 

Words can keep you in a sea tumultuous//

You trapped!

Yes trapped in a life boat rowing till your palms are raw and getting you no where//

Such is the power of words when used to opress//

Used to breakdown and manipulate for selfish pleasures//

The power of words can turn an ocean liner into a life boat struggling against the current//

 

How do you take simple harmless words//

And fashion them into that sword that you continually sharpen to slice through me//

Why do i let it happen. I know my worth//

And I know my power of words//

My God given strength. My power of words//

I will, I can, I did, I should and I have.

My core is back. From a life boat to a sail boat//

Wished sails on myself, I knew my destination but allowed the wind to steer me//

To avoid imminent danger…….

I learned how to navigate with the wind and the stars at my disposal//

So now wish to be an ocean liner, richly furnished, and awesome//

With destinations and routes firmly etched within.

I know what I want and your power is lost on me.

I have my own power of words within.

Yes MY POWER OF WORDS//

 

 

Written by: Nana-Amakura

2002

 

Song of Songs.. a few lessons in love

The more I read this Book the more I seem to be learning and some of the lessons are such seemingly simple ones…you know like 2 comes after 1 type of  lessons… Things that  are so obvious  one would expect them to be applied to all “love based “ relationships but sadly they are not!

SO let me go ahead and share the few  simple things to Love that I learnt. My assumption is that the relationship is permanent and in this context lets refer to it as marriage. I will assume also that both parties are WHOLE. No damaged spirits and souls.

In  a relationship- in this context we will assume it is a permanent relationship – marriage.  It is important to ;

1. Compliment each other often:- The whole song is full of compliments . The Lover and Beloved have nothing but sweet somethings  to say to and about each other.  HE compliments her constantly, likening her eyes to doves, verse 15 she does  reciprocate  1vs 16- You are so handsome, my dear;  You are such a delight to me.

 

When someone compliments you it makes you feel special, now when it comes from someone you have deep feelings for  and the feelings are reciprocated ,how confident in them do you become? I can only imagine how much easier it will be stand at their side in the tough times if their tongue only ever speaks sweet and beautiful things about you and too you

1 Solomon V8-11

 

1. Notice and acknowledge that you noticed the small things….  There is a  song I thought of  whilst writing this  it is a  Boyz II Men  track  and has lyrics that go, I think, “ Little things mean a lot appreciate what you got…”

The beloved and the lover both notice minor details about each other ,  and the lover ( the man) mentions how “ your hair is beautiful upon your cheeks” Really? I mean a man who notices the little things like that ? My hair is beautiful upon my cheeks? Was the wind blowing it on her cheek  at that point? Had she placed it there as  part of a hairstyle? Hair on your cheek is a small detail… but he noticed it!

1. 3.       Do not give  foolish pride room in your relationship

Pride can be defined as an excessive high opinion of oneself… the 3^rd Chapter opens with the beloved tossing and turning and unable to go to sleep. So what does she do? She runs the streets to look for him… I doubt it was the same context we have of going to fetch your man from the “bar” ( for want of a better example) after a  disagreement  ( hehehehehe).

Towards the end of the 2^nd chapter he had made it clear to her that he wanted to get married but somehow her pride got in the way. He walked away , she realized her foolishness and went out into the streets to look for him. In those days a woman running around outside at night was definitely not a common sight. ( crazy lady they musta thought)The gates were locked at nightfall and no one could come in and or go out . (Rahabs story remember? If not, read it ) So just imagine what she looked like running helter skelter  after sunset trying to fix what she thought she broke. All pride was set aside and when she found him! She didn’t waste time STRAIGHT to her MOTHER!  “ Mum this is the man I want to marry ..just so that you know” J

1. 4.       Be vulnerable to each other – even if outsiders see you as being  foolish

These days whenever a sister is talking about how wonderful her partner is people tend to snicker behind her back and even to her face “ wait til he shows her who he really is”

Being vulnerable means that you allow the other person to see the innermost part of you knowing full well that there is a possibility that they may not meet your every expectation. I opened with a behavior that is common these days, that behavior stops a lot of people from being open with their mates less someone says to them “you should protect your heart how can you be so stupid…. “

Shulamite  warns however not to push love until it is ready, this would suggest that being vulnerable with the right person is not foolish…

1. 5.       Do not hide your love from anyone

The whole of this book is full of a peanut gallery who pipe in every now and then- man do they know how these two feel about each other – all the way through-

There is even a point where they are ever so slightly irritated asking Shulamite why she thinks her mans is better than all other men Chapter 5 vs 9. LOL!!! I imagine a few eye rolling women with necks moving from side to side rolling eyes and clicking fingers…

I really laughed in chapter 6 when he says “ turn your eyes from me  they excite me too much” LOL the intensity of the feelings that he would ask her not to look at him too intently,  I am pretty sure the effect her Gaze had on him was not lost to anyone. I for one am glad she was looking at him so intently , without those intense stolen stares and looks we wouldn’t have such a rich book for me to be writing about.

1. 6.       Allow each other space and Celebrate each others roles as man and woman

This point  I inferred as I read.  It was clear that as much as they were deeply in love and spent a lot of time together she still had her role as a mother and wife  daughter and sister and homemaker and of course business woman. She was not afraid of handwork ( remember how her brothers made her neglect her vineyards to look after theirs)

Towards the end she is clearly working on the land and ensuring she is industrious whilst the husband provides for the family ( Proverbs 31 again if you still haven’t read it please do). Both of them are busy doing  what they enjoy. This helps keeps things FRESH!!! Injects new life into a relationship and reminds you time and again why you love each other

 

1. 7.       Attitudes and actions speak louder than anything

All through this book Shulamite and Solomon spoke a lot but there was also a lot of action . They went ahead and did and everything they did was done swiftly, with precision and had a result!

They noticed each other and did something about it  ( Courtship oh!)

He realized it was more than just a lil” crush asked her to marry him she declined. She realized she was wrong, what did she do? She went to look for him, once she found him  she SWIFTLY took him to her mothers house. THEY got engaged., then they got married…  Love is a lot of doing. You need to “do” to stay in love and do for each other- there is no place for selfishness .

 

Love is who God is and for us to know God completely we  must submit to him, for him to guide us to our purpose. When you submit to God you will find it easy to submit your will to your partners , this makes for a peaceful relationship as they, to an extent, ( assumption here is that neither party has esteem issues) come first!

 

All these points can be applied to our relationship with Christ too… if you have one, if you don’t, don’t be shy it’s a step at a time but take the first step. He awaits you with open arms

 

Amakura Erbynn

May 7^th 2012

 

 

 

 

 

Afro Chic

Afro Chic is how I would describe my style!

Pro  everything that is African! from what I wear to how I wear my hair to the very names I was given from birth. Always been proud of being African and my dream was always to travel the length and breadth of this continent and imbibe all the cultures. Somehow that dream started to fade as one year in Kenya turned into 8! yes…8!then somewhere in year 7 I gave birth to a Ugandan child   So I guess I got my Africa!

Kente defines me and is my bloodline, Leteisi brought me up and became part of my fibre , Kikoyi ardoned who I have become and enhanced the beauty of the many cultures that have made me who I am. The Afro chic who is Afro Chic…

You see I am one of those people who wants to first do Africa before going west …but not in everything… let me be clear- I like our food but man do I love me some pasta , and fries, sushi and funny cheeses I could not eat Pap or Fufu on the daily! NO

I love me our african men too especially when they been frequenting the western influenced Gyms to aid with his arrogant yet strong stride thats shows me that “YES! I am here… acknowledge my being”

And I love me my KINKY hair …yes I do , the tightly coiled curls that do not slide easily through my afro comb yet speak volumes about who I am, ( stubborn maybe lol) My hair may not have large easy curls or be straightened with a relaxer but I love that it is me, a true representation of who I am and what I stand for… right? sigh!

There is a small issue though I encountered a month ago, and I am semi ashamed to say that I am bordering on appreciating it ! yes! * I bow my head in shame* THE WEAVE*

The weave,  the anti of Afro Chicness, or is it… I have one on my head.and I have been spotted in public a few times in it…heck I even have photos … ( my drivers license is rocking my weaved head) .. as I type this I have flipped my head back a couple of times to get the hair out my face – My afro dont move… LOL never moves… the weave does. I cant tell a lie.. I love it! * sheepish smile* I feel like I could be in a L’oreal ad…” …because I am worth it”

I get a second glance as I walk by only because I have long wavy ,and at times they are straight, tresses rolling down my back! Brothers can lie all they want about how they like natural girls but they will ALWAYS look at the weave wearers in a whiplash inducing manner… and when you have a weave…you walk in slow motion so everyone can see you…not sure why it is so..but I walk slowly now,  even in flats…

I can “brush” my hair…you know how nice it is to brush your hair with long firm strokes and not to just get the kink looking unkinky or to try and look like an african president from the 60’s/70’s- think Kwame Nkrumah/ Sir. Seretse Khama/ Jomo Keyatta… TERRIBLE PUSH BACKS! Atrocities akin to the baggy Skinny Jeans for men…. but with a weave the brush glides through it ….

But the best thing about the weave for me is this… my afro is still under there… I didnt have to loose it so guess what …I haven’t REALLY sold out… I am still afrochic..if I can wear European clothes I can wear a weave.

I.AM.STILL.AFRO.CHIC

 

Love- Song of Songs

 

Song of Song/ Songs of Solomon has always been one of those books that befuddles me completely …I had “heard “ it was about Love but many a time I thought it was possibly a little too racy and wondered how it was even in the bible…then someone told me how it is God’s love story to us… uhm…how? I was not buying that story .I mean Psalms…Makes sense, Proverbs..makes a lot of sense so does Ecclesiastes But Songs of Solomon… a struggle for me . For a book with 8 chapters I was completely at a loss to exactly what the book teaches and what I can learn from it . For a book with just 8 chapters that I had read from beginning to end 4 times and still could not confidently say I understand what the teaching was … it was time to fix it .. So Yesterday I sat down and decided to understand this book, as someone who likes to write and enjoys imagery and plays on words I just didn’t understand why I didn’t get this book… So let me share what I learnt yesterday 1.      Just by its name Song of Songs…this was the ultimate Song… there is no other song like this… So I understood that this was the ultimate story or  Love-song so whatever is in it should be a blue print to something ? shouldn’t it? A blue print to how love should be 2.      Then I learnt ( from Proverbs mind you.) that Wisdom and Love are Gifts  of God. These are the kind of gifts one must receive with GRATITUDE and CELEBRATION. How many of us truly celebrate Love  and are thankful for love daily – we get irritated most with our loved ones, we are meanest to loved ones, we do not tell our loved ones that we are grateful  for them or even celebrate them, we are unforgiving and t times over expectant of our loved ones. 3.      The Voice of Love and The Voice of Wisdom in the bible are usually women’s Voices…. Hmmmmm ( Something to ponder)

So what is the book about Ama,? Well this book is about Solomon (it is not clear if Solomon is the actual King or another chap) and Shulamite ( Shulamite is actually the female version of the name Solomon- just an interesting piece of information I thought I would share)It is a book about their love and their love journey In the book they are referred to as Lover and Beloved. This book depicts Love in all its Spontaneity, beauty, power and exclusiveness. It also shows the experience of love in separation, in intimacy ,in anguish & ecstacy as well as in tension and contentment. Are these not the phases of love? All of them! when you find your true love – your ordained partner  its not always rosy Love is clearly multi coloured multi layered and multi faceted and here it is in the bible… all these feelings are part of what Love is …. Now back to the feminine voice ( she speaks a lot more than the chap – nothing much has changed huh) She speaks profoundly of love 1.      Its exclusivity  2:16  my lover is mine and I am his 2.      She portrays its beauty and delights- this can be seen in the imagery used …lilies, flowers pomegranates, water, streams, grass ,forests, vineyard…. To name a few 3.      The voice claims loves Spontaneity 2:7 ….Do not arouse or awaken love till it so desires 4.      The Power of Love- how it can overcome anything and nothing can kill love  8:6-7 Many waters cannot quench love neither can the floods wash it away 5.      And of course its preciousness as I alluded to before – it is the Lords Gift This type of Love was Gods intent for a normal marital Life  see Gen 1:26-31 and Gen 2:24 In the Song the voice of the Beloved is dominant and shows us her experience as 1.      She who loves 2.      She who is loved The Song Starts with her wish for the lovers Kiss ( Crush I guess ) and ends with her urgent invitation to him for loves intimacy( By this stage they are married) In a time where it was the norm to have more than one wife this song is about one mans love for one woman  and her love for him and shows us the importance of , •       love in a marriage •       The Beauty of fidelity •       Love as a decision and choice- once u choose to love and be in love that leads to marriage u must choose to stay in love throughout the ups and downs of the journey

Now something else I learnt the song details the journey of love for these two The song takes us through their times together first meeting – to the 5th  by the 5th meeting they are married. The couple courted 1-2 got engaged  and then married 3-4. All their meetings have joy  and is it not amazing how they knew ! it took less than 5 meetigns but they knew it was the right decision From chapter 4 n wards talks to how they /(she especially cos that was my focus )behaved as a married woman . ( parallels to the proverbs 31 woman can be drawn here . The imagery talks to how she is now looking after her vineyard and has staff that she pays… so she is able to look after her family etc etc etc (please read proverbs 31 if you haven’t already) The song shows us how to behave in relationships at all the different stages- in the Song Solomon starts off by only describing her face and neck which is veiled all through courtship and engagement . She doesn’t let on too much as they just tell each other sweet nothings… Once they are married he describes her face her arms and her waist legs and feet as does she his ( chapter 5) this represents the way the bible expects us to conduct yourself in Chapter3 she realizes she almost lost him and goes searching for him and immediately introduces him to her mother – ENGAGEMENT… ( What all romance books are made of the big fight then one party goes looking for the other and they meet again and confess their undying love and liove happily ever after…swoon swoon swoon)

So for me this was a profound study and I hope it has shed some light for you as well…I am yet to complete the study So I will share anything else that I may pick up….

 

 

 

 

On My Knees

ON MY KNEES…
I have spent the past two years trying to not have to get on my knees to pray… for a myriad of reasons… To be honest some of my reasons were really, how do I say this, shallow.However I have a few that I believe are not so shallow.
When you are in a skirt/ dress or shorts your knees are bound to look shady afterward. Now I can be a bit of an absent minded chic, so after getting up for sure I know I would be traipsing around town doing my business with ashy knees and there ain’t nothing remotely sexy about ashy knees.Nothing!
I don’t know about you I do not particularly enjoy realizing I have been walking around with ashy knees- NO! Completely unsexy.

Then there is the whole uncomfortable feeling in the knees as you kneel and – you would think- due to the nature of their name knees, that kneeling would be… comfortable.. Think again! Not in a long shot. Not even in the Catholic Church I was raised in where they pad the kneeling thing… it is still NOT comfortable. As a result I grew up thinking prayer was meant to be painful and uncomfortable and a small punishment , all this – all this because of kneeling!

Back to the matter at hand have you noticed how vulnerable you feel when kneeling?
1.you can never get up swiftly. When in a kneeling position if danger was to present itself trying to get up swiftly just renders you looking undignified, clumsy and ungraceful. Call me vain (Do not judge me My God is still doing a good work in me) if I can avoid looking ungraceful, I surely will… I am just being honest.
2. The only way to fall with a semblance of dignity (when kneeling) is to fall forwards- SPLAT- then you can just ensure that you end up spread eagle, face down and just pretend that you are practicing the survival position for the day it’s just you and a hungry python in an open field (yes Pythons cannot get a grip on you to squeeze if you are spread eagle)
Totally ungraceful
3. If you fall backwards, or to the side, your legs get involved and it’s just a hot mess of ankles knees and calves all in a confused heap of human
UNGRACEFUL
So it begs the question that led me to all these ungraceful thoughts- Why do we kneel when we pray?Why? do we have to kneel?
I tend to pray seated in my car, walking around (yes even during my quiet time I pace) standing with arms to the heavens and head bowed, or depending on how hard my day has been, lying in bed! I tend not to kneel. I am just not particularly inclined to it .
So Last week whilst praying I just happened to get on my knees and by the time I was done praying I understood the power behind kneeling…
As I went down on both knees I felt wobbly for a bit then I continued to pray, as I prayed I was struck by the humility and selflessness that you feel in that position of surrender. My mind immediately went to different African cultures where the woman would kneel as she served her husband or her father and it suddenly made sense to me. (Shock and horror)
Matthew 20:20 NIV
[A Mother’s Request] Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.
Esther 3:1-2 MSG
Some time later, King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, making him the highest-ranking official in the government. All the king’s servants at the King’s Gate used to honor him by bowing down and kneeling before Haman—that’s what the king had commanded

Kneeling before someone is a sign of reverence, respect, honour and I was amazed (again) at the majesty and power that is God, His magnificence and his sheer size
1 Kings 1:31MSG
Bathsheba bowed low, her face to the ground. Kneeling in reverence before the king she said, “Oh, may my master, King David, live forever!”

Kneeling before him shows you have submitted your control over your life to he who is God, Yahweh, to he who knew you before you were born, to he who knit you in your mother’s womb.
He, who only asks for you to have a relationship with him ,so that he can tell you WHY he created you. Tell you what your purpose is and how he will use you to carry out his Kingdoms agenda.
To feel his power in your life all you ‘kneed’ to do is kneel
Amakura Erbynn
March 27th 2012

 

Faith Part 3
Having faith is not an easy thing. Trusting in what you cannot see and what you do not know ( cos the future is all mystery to us ) is very difficult so once again I feel compelled to add onto the message regarding faith-and the journey that it is!
2 Kings 6:16-23
16[Elisha] answered, Fear not; for those with us are more than those with them. 17Then Elisha prayed, Lord, I pray You, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 18And when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, Smite this people with blindness, I pray You. And God smote them with blindness, as Elisha asked.19Elisha said to the Syrians, This is not the way or the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. And he led them to Samaria. 20And when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw. Behold, they were in the midst of Samaria! 21When the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, My father, shall I slay them? Shall I slay them?22[Elisha] answered, You shall not slay them. Would you slay those you have taken captive with your sword and bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and return to their master. 23So [the king] prepared great provision for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

Faith- No Matter how bad things seem faith keeps you smiling … Faith keeps you up when everything around you speaks to you needing to be down and out. Faith keeps your sun shining when its cold, grey and raining… Faith is the substance of prayer.
There is no prayer when you have no faith- well there can be prayer but my question is where is the prayer going and what are u expecting if you yourself do not believe in it.
SO we are taking a small break from Mary and her cousin and going back to Kings… The book of Kings is about Kings who rule over Israel and are predominately evil Kings who allow for the worship of other gods outside of the Living God. Pagan worship became the norm rather than the exception and open worship of The Living God in some cases would get you in trouble….
Ok now we have context to the era a time when the Government completely didn’t respect your “right” to worship as you wanted …Tough tough times… anyway back to our story… so Elisha is going about his business just being the prophet that he is …always managing to kee[ the King of Israel a step ahead simply because God is with him.
The King of Syria of course… is livid! So what does he do? surrounds the City Elisha inhabits… Elisha happens to be there with his servant… Imagine that …there you are chilling one morning and there is an army a FULL army with horses and Chriots surrounding your city! Heh! His servant panicked “ Oh my goodness we are surrounded what shal we do?’( paraphrase) and he was fear stricken and what does Elisha say?
“Fear not; for those with us are more than those with them” If I was his servant I probably would have said “ Dude Really? There aint no one here …it is just you and I ! Have you lost your mind…but then I was not there
How could he say fear not…he must have known something his servant didn’t know… and what was that – He knew that Gods Angels were there with him.. We forget sometimes that God is actually with US all the time no matter how bleak things seem in the natural he gives his Angels charge over us Psalm 91 vs. 11-12
Now that is a lot of faith. The Enemy has surrounded your city- you don’t have an army of your own (physically) things look quite impossible but you tell your servant not to be afraid then you PRAY!
Elisha’s Prayer is what really amazed me vs. 17 – O Lord opens his eyes so he may see!
That’s it! 9 words! NINE! And guess what. The servants eyes were opened and he saw the army of Angels that were their protection!!!!
Faith is the foundation of prayer…and it seems to me that faith comes in stages… likes school. Elisha had a PHD in Faith cos he didn’t have longw winded conversations with God about how thigns are and what he needed and blah blah blah..Him and God had a very good relationship and he just asked… Open his eyes…and they opened… in vs 18 he prays and says “ strike these people with blindness “ and blind they became . He spoke and it was! He prayed and it was all theis from a place of faith. The simplicity of Prayer the simplicity of faith to create an amazing outcome
Now before I likened a smile ot prayer… Prayer is dependednt on Faith and prayer is meaningless without faith.
Prayer comes from a place of relationship – you cannot pray effectively wityout a relationship with God. Prayer effective comes form a place where you and Christ have a relationship a nnice balance of talking and listeneing . At the level Elisha was at he just needed to speak and it was done. This gives me so much hope that as I contimue my journey it will only get better I will get to a place where my fait and my prayer grow to a point where I just need to sepak and it is effected only because we have a relationship that is grounded in Gods love . SO I contimue to choose to flow his commandment of love daily ( Cos if I went by how I feel some days they would be no love for everybody
Now a small thisg to onsider- Faith Prayer and forgivenss. When the Enemy found itself bang in the middle of Smaria- Elisha told the King of Israel NOT to slay thiem but to feed them and send them back! In those days it would have been ok to off a few ad send their heads back to their King…
Elsiha demonstrated LOVE! Through his forgiveness and demonstration of Love to the “enemy” he was once again showing the depth of his faith- I really cannot wait to ge t to a level like that . A lecvel where he is so secure in his relationship with od killing a few hundred thousand men who were out for your blood will not affect your life because whether they are alive or dead Gods plan for your life relains Gods plan for your life. Eliusha lived in obedience, hearing Gods voice , answering ito it , and having his prayers met.
In short Faith is a multi- faceted thing. You require faith to be ableto pray effectively you require Love in your hear and spirit to be able to have your prayers be effective. In a hear of love there is no room for unforgiveness and don’t I know all about unforgiveness but that is another story.
FAITH LOVE FORGIVENESS= EFFECTIVE PRAYER
Amakura Erbynn
25.09.2011

 

Faith in a Smile 2

Looks like this one off “thoughts” email is not done yet… Let’s keep going with Mary, our Saviours Mother and her experiences!

Luke 1 48-49
…From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me- holy is his name

“ he has done great things for me” I was looking at this phrase through worldly and modern eyes in the year 2011. There ain’t nothing great he has seemingly done!
Goodness me, can you imagine Mary’s thoughts- or even your thoughts as a modern woman should you have been in her sandals.
Pregnant! Yup! Check! Virgin! * snicker* but yes check ..Man can you say SCANDAL!! A very Juicy one at that … I can imagine all the BBM’s, IM’s , texts and conversations “ Did u hear about Mary? …. She is pregnant! And she says she is a virgin” “ Poor girl, she must be loosing it- I hear she is on drugs…she claims an Angel told her it was all Gods doing” “ are you for real? “ as all and sundry shake their heads and laugh at our girl Mary!!
With all that going on around her ( cos we are human and we haven’t changed in 2000 years) she still managed to say “ he has done great things for me” HOW ?
Through God’s Grace Mary was able to see the great things the Mighty one has done in her life – She refers to him in her song as ;
God her savior – is it because he possibly saved her from losing her mind whilst all the gossip was going on around her ? Or was it because in his wisdom he gave her discernment and slight insights into what was happening to her? Who she was going to carry? Her role in the future of the world?
Mighty one- Cos he showed his might n her life by promising her a child in a manner that was unprecedented? Her cousin being pregnant was a clear demonstration of God’s might! How was she pregnant when all had given up on it ever happening…
“…From now on Generations will call me blessed “ if we go back a couple of chapters into the beginning – Genesis – Sarai was referred to as a mother of nations- meaning g a woman who would be the beginning of many …many …many….Mary was part of that line and the blessings clearly continued

What am I trying to demonstrate? the importance of faith when you have no reason to smile…when everything around you seems dark and when you feel that the sun has taken a long hiatus from your life. Faith is, at the time, all that you have to stand on.
Let’s go back a bit to verse 11 of the same chapter. Zechariah- Elizabeth’s Hubby-
The Angel of the Lord came down told him his wife would be having a baby and he must name the baby John. Zechariah ( a man of God mind you) pretty much asked the Angel if he done gone lost his mind…does he know how old he and his wife are- he really dismissed the story and was filled with disbelief. Disbelief= no faith. Lack of faith! And what happens!? He is struck dumb… he had no speech!
In chapter 45 Elizabeth says to Mary
“Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her he will accomplish” how amazing is that?
Listening to God- Believing God. Having Faith!
Listening to God is Prayer- Prayer is not just asking and talking it’s also about hearing. Hearing requires faith and obedience. Faith that that which you hear is Gods voice, and that what he said will come to pass and obedience to do that which you hea r you should do
“His mercy extends to those who fear him”
Fear in this context I equate to respect. When you have a healthy respect t for someone you tend to listen to what they have to say and not bombard them with requests and questions and not give room to hear their counsel … we Need to hear God.
“ Faith comes by hearing the word ..” Romans 10:17
In John 1:1 we are told that in the beginning was the word and the word was God so faith in effect can be said to be that Faith comes by and through hearing God-So the more you hear God the more you will have faith…. Eg of people hearing God and having faith.. Abraham / Isaac/

FAITH- a five letter word but so hard… so difficult to live
What things in your life has God placed before you and you have questioned his authority? Questioned the sense in what has been placed before you? Why do we do that knowing he is sovereign Lord, our King, Majesty
Listen to God first… then talk…
For Mary to be able to have this much faith ,asides form the grace upon her life, it is clear to me that she had completely surrendered her life to the fulfillment of the prophecy Angel Gabriel placed on her life….

1 Believe
2 just Love God and trust him
Why do I say these two things…. Regardless of what you do or not, if the source of your prophecy is from God…it WILL come to pass. Nothing and no one can stop it from happening. Jeremiah 1: 7 I knew you before you were born!
Mary received a prophecy on her life from an Angel. A messenger of God’s . The prophecy was spoken over her life … a life that had already been written in the book and whether she liked it or not it was going to come to pass…eg.
Sarai had disbelief when the 3 men came and told her she would have a boy child at the same time the year after…she laughed in mocking manner- disbelief. It came to pass. Regardless
Our very own Zechariah… disbelief…regardless of his feelings of disbelief…it came to pass
SO Faith is the cornerstone to keeping that Smile (the prayer that a Smile can be) a permanent fixture on your face!
Smile and have Faith! God will do the rest

Amakura Erbynn
September 2011

 

Faith in a Smile

Kirk Franklin has a song called “Smile” and in paraphrase the song is about how when you feel sad or when things are seemingly really  bad you must still Smile. Smile because you know that God is doing a work in your life…Just cos it is not  a good day it does not mean the day has no purpose…

It is so easy to just become routine about our Christian life and I was forced to think About Mary in my quest to understand faith- my need to have more faith a bit more… and putting her in modern context mad me see how the woman must have been so AFRAID… I used my life as a yard stick because when I fell pregnant I was  unmarried and not in a very stable relationship with my sons father to put it mildly  I fa-reaked out! I was so afraid it took me months to tell my dad! I was so afraid he would take away his love. ( How foolish was I)

What more when the guy knew for sure he hadn’t touched you. You know for a fact that you are a virgin…can you imagine how dark that day could have felt  for her had it not been for God’s presence- through his Angels and through his Grace! Can you imagine it happening to you now? In this day and age?The ridicule? The gossip… and then what if Joseph had bailed…Man ! Mary – she just had an insurmountable amount of Faith! … and God helped her really dig her feet in deeper into her faith  by sending off to see her cousin Elizabeth! Elizabeth had been believing in God for and praying for a child… there she was with her Answered prayers of the Wombs fruit… how could she fear! How could she not have faith…in a God whose vision and wisdom is unfathomable to us mere mortals

 

So I started reading further- Luke 1: 46-55

My Soul glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my savior for he has been Mindful of the humble state of his servant

 

WOW!

After all that …her  heart mind and emotions came together to glorify God… and her sprit rejoiced..it was Glad, it was happy, it was full of joy! With all the turbulence in her life she was glorifying God in happiness… SMILING! J

Then she talks about how he is mindful of the humble state of his servant… Along with his love this to me is significant of the complete unconditional Love God has for us …COMPLETE- his Mind is FULL of us… of me.. he knows the state that I am in Body, mind, spirit and soul.., He is Mindful of me that he will do his will in my life in spite of me ,he is mindful of my hurts to come and those in the  past; he is mindful of my needs- spiritual and otherwise; past and yet to come.. he is mindful of ALL that pertains to me…

How can I not then Smile, Praise him and Glorify his name daily knowing that his is so mindful of me… even the Angels asked him “ what is the son of man that you are mindful of him…” Psalm 8v4.

 

Smiling through the pain, Smiling through the joys,Smiling through the uncertainties, Smiling when  you are not sure the light on your path will be sufficient for your next step, Smiling when its so dark where you are… Smiling anyway.

Your Smile is a song of praise, a prayer that his grace is sufficient , your smile is a sign of Faith.

 

Amakura Erbynn

12/09/11