by Jeanie | Nov 6, 2018 | Uncategorised
Quite often people say I speak in parables and this may be true because I grew up in a code-speaking environment so I somewhat have a knack for speaking allegorically and ‘exclusivizing’ everyday language – basically, hiding or codifying the true meaning of words.
I think I have made enough contribution to be awarded an Honorary Degree in Encryption. Besides, I so much enjoyed playing ‘hide and seek’ as a child I ended up in a bottle. How’s that for an achievement? Just kidding! I am Jeanie, not Genie 
2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
Psalm 61: 2-4
Overwhelmed
In the opening verses, the psalmist asked to be led to a higher rock moments he was overwhelmed.
For you this may be times:
… You feel you can’t take any more
… It seems the weight of the world is on your shoulder
… You are weary, discouraged or hopeless
… It feels like you’re alone and nobody cares
… You don’t feel like praising, praying, or fellowshipping
I am talking about:
… The wintry and windy seasons that intensify your plea (whatever it be)
… Challenging times that get you singing ‘carry me dey go’ or ‘que sera sera’
… Dry seasons that deplete your jar of flour and jug of oil (debt and bad credit)
… When there is lesser capacity than there is content
… Days you believe you can fly but there’s headwind beneath your wings (ask Kelly or Midler)
You get the picture!
When
This could be an instance or a single incident with varying severities such as defamation, dismissal, divorce, disease or a near-death encounter. The truth is everyone has a ‘when’ but what’s even more crucial is where/who they go to and what they do then. Some people go into caves, restaurants, pubs, clubs yet others default to social media, rehab, or church.
Where/Who
This can be physical or invisible. For the psalmist, it was a rock which is symbolic of strength and stability (God). The cliffs and crags in biblical times had crevices which made them a perfect hideout during a war. No wonder David calls God a shelter for privacy and protection, and a strong tower – fortified against, and inviolable by the enemy. I love this! Your rock might be a parent, sibling, friend or spouse. Go there!
Here are a few lessons from the Psalmist:
- You may not be able to go on your own. In other words, you need guidance and support. Engage with the right people, principles or processes. Be led.
… Lead me to the rock. Psalm 61:2b
- You need a higher plane. A different level than you’re presently navigating. Change dynamics!
Shift focus!! Switch positions!!!
… to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2b
- You not only need a place to hide but also a place to abide. A place to rest, relax, recharge, and recover. Where is home? Where is heaven? Where is your heart? Where is your harbour or haven? Where do you hideaway?
…I will abide in Your tent forever. Psalm 61:4a
Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young– a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King, and my God. Psalm 84:3
Related journal
Hideaway Home 2
by Jeanie | Oct 22, 2018 | Uncategorised
That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. Rom 4:17
The first and perhaps the most important thing that jumps out to me in this passage is that God is the one who engineered the communication and action that resulted in the making of Abraham. It matters a lot whom you allow to speak into your life; especially when you are in a low place. But I am glad that in this instance, God is and he spoke enriching and life-changing words which transformed Abraham.
The next thing that thrills me is the phrase – ‘I have made you’ which speaks of intention, selection, ordination, and function. God herein confirms his plan and purpose for Abraham. See, he had been operating way beneath his calling, class, and capacity. He was really meant to be a father of many but at the point in time, he was a father of none. What do you do when your vision is not aligned with present reality? Wherein lies your hope when a prophecy seems unfulfilled? How do you carry on when you are yet to see the word become flesh?
Believe!
Believing otherwise known as faith is a central theme that underpins the Christian walk. It is a confident assurance and complete reliance on God and his promises. The writer of Hebrews said:
But without faith, no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and rewards everyone who searches for him. Hebrews 11:6
Have you ever wondered how you can have or grow your faith? You only need to know 2 things in order to ace the Faith module:1) God is real. 2) God is a rewarder. Say it out loud if you can. God is real! God is a rewarder! One more time – God is real! God is a rewarder!
God is real
God isn’t abstract or artificial simply because his shape or form cannot be seen.
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:20
God is a rewarder
God has integrity and provides the best ever indemnity and security– be it for service, loss or injury.
Tell those who obey God, “You’re very fortunate— you will be rewarded for what you have done.” Tell those who disobey, “You’re in big trouble— what you did to others will come back to you.” Isaiah 3:10-11
What comes back to you is a function of whom you believe and how you believe. Do you believe the God that is limitless and can restore the seemingly dead (Resurrector) or is your faith in some lifeless deity like Baal? Do you believe in the one who is able to make new things out of nothing (Creator) or have you placed your confidence in an Asherah which really is a moulded idol? Take heed who you believe in.
Little wonder Abraham had a ‘creative’ miracle in his life. He believed God even against all hope – eliminating seemingly valid considerations such as their age, fertility, agility, etc. When most people would research and publish their inability, Abraham chose to focus on God’s ability. Where is your focus, friend?
As we approach the end of the year, you may have questions, concerns, problems or none of the above. Whatever your state or status, God can work in you to bring about his good pleasure if you are willing. Why don’t you release those faith-filled words into the atmosphere once more:
God is real!
God is a rewarder!
God will make me!
by Jeanie | Jul 28, 2018 | Uncategorised
The words written there are mene, which means “numbered,” tekel, which means “weighed,” and parsin, which means “divided.” God has numbered the days of your kingdom and has brought it to an end. He has weighed you on his balance scales, and you fall short of what it takes to be king. So God has divided your kingdom between the Medes and the Persians. Daniel 5:25-28
I was at bible school a few days ago and during a session on developing intimacy with God, the keynote speaker talked about calibration as a means of checking and adjusting the accuracy of an instrument (us as individuals) using a benchmark (the word of God). As I reflected on the lecture, I remembered a hymn which is a family favourite based on the above text – The Handwriting on the wall.
At least once a year, we holidayed at our grandparents’ and our parents never ceased to talk to us about the day of reckoning’, which for some of us was every day. Usually, before one’s cup was full, a chronicle would be read, however, some people were completely unaware of their standing. To subtly communicate this and other things, my cousins developed a language that codified pertinent information. Unfortunately, some of our parents caught onto it after a while so we came up with another game plan – code words that are predominantly scripture-based!
Mene …Mene is one of those words and would often be used when someone overstepped their boundaries, became a nuisance or was about to be whooped! Mene…Mene was an alert to say ‘you haven’t got much time’ or ‘you need to act fast’ but most importantly ‘repent now’. The fact that one repented didn’t mean there weren’t consequences for their actions; so effectively, some received impartation by the laying on of the hands with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Talk about mysteries, we were fluent!
The text is the story of Belshazzar who took over the reins of Babylon from Nebuchadnezzar. The scene is a party graced with princes, queens, and concubines and as they tasted the wine, he ordered that the sacred goldwares and silverwares looted from the Jerusalem temple be brought out. Now as the guests drank from the goblets, a handwriting appeared on the wall.
Belshazzar profaned and trivialized the holy, at the same time worshipped idols, no wonder God showed up in the way he did. So the question is: Are there things that could potentially be contending or taking God’s place in your life? Is there any chance that you have been irreverent to God or belittled him? Selah!
Never worship any other god, because the LORD is a God who does not tolerate rivals. In fact, he is known for not tolerating rivals. Exodus 34:14
Can you read what’s on your wall?
You may not have a ‘literal’ handwriting on the wall but you probably have had an encounter to that effect. Perhaps there are circumstances around your employment, finances, health, relationship…..whatever it is; you may not understand but you will recognize it because it is an unusual occurrence. In Belshazzar‘s case, the hand wrote the message on the wall. There are 4 key things at play:
The hand: The communication tool (What)
The message: The main content and meat of the matter (That)
The wall: The communication medium (How)
There is also the interpreter, Daniel (Who). The interesting thing about Daniel is that he had social and spiritual responsibilities. Socially, he was governor of the whole province of Babylon and head of all Babylon’s wise advisers. Spiritually, he was a prophet of God who spoke and interpreted his divine will.
Each and every one of these is unique to us. Except in a corporate setting like a nation, family, or church. The action here is for you to identify the ‘hand’, ‘message’, ‘wall’, and ‘interpreter’ in your situation.
My personal belief is that the tekel (evaluation) preceded the mene (judgment) and parsin (consequence). God is loving and just desiring that all come to repentance and not perish. As you can see from the story, the mene and parsin are down to God but there is something you can do.
Tekel – Examine yourself!
God is a God of knowledge and by him, actions are weighed. Therefore, the earlier you ‘calibrate’ the better. Isaiah encourages us to seek the Lord while he may be found. Paul admonished the Corinthians’ thus:
Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.2 Corinthians 13:5
David prayed:
Search me O God, and know my mind. Test me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23
Speaking through Isaiah, God said:
“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other”. Isaiah 45:22
Now, here’s what Jesus said to the church in Ephesus:
Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Revelation 2:5
The more provinces kings governed, the more influence and tribute they had. In effect, Belshazzar‘s verdict would affect his relevance and finances. But unfortunately, it had a much dire effect. He was so focused on the festivities and activities that he failed to repent because he didn’t realize there was a timer on his life. Imagine what would have happened if he quickly sought God rather than honour Daniel. Could God have withheld his wrath and pardoned him?
Here are a few questions for reflection:
- Can you read what’s on your wall?
- Have you ‘tekeled’? Are your records wanting or trusting?
- What are you going to do about it?
Therefore, whoever knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin. James 4:17
by Jeanie | Jan 16, 2018 | Uncategorised
35 Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” 36 They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. Other boats followed along.37 Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?” 39 He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. Mark 4
Different life situations by virtue of their uniqueness and complexity would warrant different solutions and resolution methods. 2018 promises to be a year of new frontiers, horizons and opportunities but would have a number of challenges – as the saying goes, with new levels come, new devils, How will you deal with the curve-balls 2018 throws at you?
In the book of Mark, Jesus and his disciples were faced with a life-threatening situation. Although the rest of the crew onboard were panicky, Jesus was comfy, relaxed and resting – sleeping (on a pillow) to be precise. Eventually, they beckoned to the captain possibly after following preliminary emergency procedures. ‘Boss, this ship’s about to go down, does that mean anything to you?’ they asked. Now, here’s his response:
- He woke up: You must understand the significance of timing in relation to your purpose. There is a time for everything. Sleep is meant to be a momentary period of rest that serves to bring equilibrium to your spirit, soul and body. It’s ok to take a “little sleep, a little rest, a few more minutes, a nice little nap” here and there but be careful to not be impoverished by it. You may have heard the saying ‘too much of something is bad’. Too much food will get you obese and cause complications, too much work will result in exhaustion and lead to debilitation, too much sleep, on the other hand, will affect your effectiveness and potentially cost your life. The desire to sleep extensively or excessively implies an unwillingness to live or succeed. Jesus slept but when the time came for him to get up, he did not roll-over and snooze. One interpretation says ‘he roused himself’. Yes, there are times you won’t want to but you must. Rouse yourself. Charge-up. Kick-off. Get active. Quit being lax and delinquent. Awake from your slumber and take action. Be responsive and proactive. Wake up!
- He got up: You need to adopt a different posture to tackle certain issues. There’s a famous saying that is it insanity to continue to do the same thing with the expectation you’d have a different result. Get up, do something different! You can start by taking that problem to the Lord in prayer, the disciples did. You’d be amazed at how much the Lord cares for you. Get up!
- He rebuked the winds: You cannot afford to assume a victim’s mentality when you are a victor. Get yourself together, assert your position and put the trouble in its place. Say to the mountain be lifted from hence to thence. Speak to the wind, hush! Rebuke the devil at work in your health, home and finances. Tell it, be gone! If you do not reprimand and correct the situation this time, worse will come because it is assumed you’re alright with it. It’s okay to have words, bawl out and take the enemy to the task. This singular action has astonishing results, give it a try. Rebuke!
Peace is not the absence of storms or winds but one’s ability to ride the tide in spite of – now that’s mastery. Great calm is an achievable state and standard. It is possible to live liberated, luxuriously, whole with nothing missing or broken. Peradventure this is not your present reality, you can enforce it!
No flood should be able to drown you nor should any fire have the ability to consume you. Why? Because God said so! What are you going to do with this information? I encourage you to speak it over your life. Decree that you may be justified.
Big doors are swung by little hinges. You only need to make a little step change towards your great expectations. You can start by waking from your slumber.
by Jeanie | Jun 25, 2017 | Uncategorised
Elisha said, “Open the east window.” So he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot! ” So he shot. Then Elisha said, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, yes, the arrow of victory over Aram. You are to strike down the Arameans in Aphek until you have put an end to them.” 2 Kings 13:17
Last time, we looked at the significance of the bow and arrows in the hand of the believer. Today, we will consider how to focus the bows (prayer, fasting, worship, giving, etc.) for maximum effectiveness.
The text says firstly that the bow was targeted at the Arameans based in Aphek. In the same vein, your bow ought to have a mark. You need some precision regarding the target of your shots! Target east, don’t fire aimlessly. More importantly, you must open the window; in other words, clear the atmosphere!
Secondly, Elisha’s decree was aligned to the assignment of the bow. It is pointless trusting God for financial blessings when you are currently unfaithful with what you have been given. And if you are believing God for a spouse or child, do your actions align with your confessions or vice versa? It is crucial that your faith and corresponding action work hand in hand for victory and breakthrough to ensue. Why don’t you take a minute to speak over your present situation? Decree that you will totally overcome. You will rise above. You will breakthrough and have complete victory. Now, seal it with a praise!
Elisha said, “Pick up the arrows and hit the ground with them.” Jehoash grabbed the arrows and hit the ground three times, then stopped. 2 Kings 13:18
After Jehoash had shot the arrows, Elisha advised him to strike. But why? To ensure total victory, a strike is necessary because it seals the deal – there is only so much a shot can accomplish. That’s why David didn’t just stop at slinging the stone, but picked up Goliath’s sword to cut off his head. Jehoash stopped at three strikes. This shows that it is possible for one to give up just at the edge of their breakthrough. Would God have bothered despatching Angel Mike to assist Angel Gab if Bro Dan had stopped praying? Selah!
The king needed at least 2 more strikes to completely destroy the enemy. But because he quit, his victory was limited to the number of times he tried. I don’t know about you but I want total conquest, not a one-time or two-time victory. Consequently, the man of God was angry with him. May God never be displeased with you due to your lack of faith in him! I pray for grace to continue in his will until he gives you a new focus or challenge.
I implore you today to be deliberate and consistent in spiritual warfare. Don’t stop at shooting, strike also. Jericho didn’t come down until 7 complete cycles of marching. March onward, Christian soldier! Pray without season, bless the Lord at all times, be not weary in doing good for your harvest is underway. Shoot and strike!
More in this series:
Shoot and strike 1
