Focus

Help me to FOCUS Lord on you and the things you deem most important in my life. Turn my gaze away from distractions and going my own way. I need your Holy Spirit power to fill me anew, so I can FOCUS. Amen🙏🏾 

Sovereign Lord - remembering Marianne and Benedicta

This May 2017 was twelve years since I received the news of my father's passing away. I remember that I was in the car on the Tema beach road in Accra Ghana, and hubby was driving. A phone call came in and the news was broken to me and the beautiful sea scape and beach instantly lost their meaning. The grieving process has taken me through various twists and turns, and I am in a place of peace and acceptance now. Thoughts of my late father, together with just receiving the news that I am all cancer free at my five year check up, brought me to remembering two women. Marianne Dappa and Benedicta Ampong who have also passed on to glory at various times after my Dad. This post is in honour of these two women who like me were diagnosed with breast cancer. We all belonged to the same house fellowship which we hosted in our home for a season. I still cannot get my mind round the fact that out of thirteen or so regular attendees to the fellowship, three women were found to have breast cancer within a short space of time. We could not be from more diverse backgrounds and ages, and the only common threads are the obvious one that we are all women and attend the same fellowship. It is like a cruel coincidence, and definitely a trial in terms of, 'how could God allow this to happen' in so small a group? 

It was devastating to hear the news of the demise of these two sisters. I just cannot fathom why neither of them survived. They were both steadfast in faith and were very strong women. They got good medical interventions. I keep asking why they were called home and why I have survived . I must be honest and say that I sometime felt guilty and I know this is not a rational reaction. It is what it is, and I wish to face it square on and accept the sovereignty of God. Psychologically, it is a challenge to think of. I have not been stronger or more focussed, or stood on the word of God any more than either of them. 

I have been thinking of this over the years and it came up again as I crossed the milestone of five years post surgery. My conclusion is that I don't know the answers to all my questions, or to fully comprehend the pain of separation that their families have been and are going through - God alone decides, He alone knows. It is just by His grace that I am still here. 

So, I wish to celebrate my two sisters in the Lord, co-warriors , who have been called home. To honour their memory and their lives. RIP Marianne Dappa and Benedicta Ampong. May the Lord continue to strengthen their families and all who loved them.

 Amen 🙏🏾

We are pressure cut diamonds- thoughts on the role of pressure in our lives

Pressure is important and necessary in this life if we are to be refined in the way that our Father God wants. Each one of us comes to this earth like a rough cut diamond, bearing the limitless potential and creativity that is wrapped up in our DNA. Our true brilliance needs time and the pressures of life before it can be experienced by us and also seen by others. 

Our DNA is not just about physical, psychological and emotional characteristics we inherit from our parents and ancestors, it also includes the image of God which he placed inside every single human being he created. Our spiritual DNA may appear intangible until we make certain choices that connect us with what God intended when he allowed you to survive in the midst of some one hundred million potential sperm. 

The thought of this is mind blowing and sometimes I find it difficult to grapple with understanding the full impact of what this means. Arriving here on the planet with our God DNA means we already have:

-The mind of Christ

-All the powers of heaven

-The characteristics of God himself

We were imbued with this sometimes enigmatic quantum of power from the God Head in a way that should make us able to withstand the knocks of life. 

It's hard to imagine this, but we are to embrace the knocks of life, for in and through them, the unique characteristics of our particular kind of diamond is revealed. This is because every one of us has a purpose or destiny or life's walk; whatever we like to call it, what this 'path' signifies is the 'reason for our being'

We see so many examples out there in the world and also in our lives of the indomitable human spirit. People who travail beyond the confines of crushing limitations to excel in some way and thus bringing us to a place of inspiration and wonder. 

One of the key God characteristics we came with is creativity. Inherent in each one of us is the capability to use our God given creativity to surmount the issues we face. Creativity is an agency of change, it is an agency of healing, it is the most potent force of God. 

Unfortunately, the popular information pushed out there is that creativity resides in musical and visual artists alone - or at least mostly in that group of people. This is not true, every human being has creativity buried within them because it is a key aspect of the Godly DNA we arrived on planet earth with. There are many ways that creativity is expressed, even more than the Seven and a half billion humans inhabiting this beautiful earth. 

Our primary job is to unleash this inherent creativity through various fields of endeavor to bring about change in a manner scripted by heaven. The pressures of life force us in various directions. The purpose of pressure is to direct us to develop in growth producing ways. To shut down and oppose the odds that stack against us is like a physical work out to build and strengthen our muscles, but in the spiritual/ soul sphere of our lives. This is the role of 'pressure' in our lives. So it is really worth keeping this in mind when we are going through our sometimes painful life's journey , that your particular design, brilliance as a diamond is being 'cut and polished'. The brilliance of a diamond is predicated on how it is cut, how many facets it has which ultimately reflect light in optimum ways. 

So embrace pressure, and shine forth the glory of God, reflecting His true light, His character and DNA which is already within. For all their beauty and brilliance, Diamonds are very hard and not easy to break. In the analogy I am focusing on here, it means we are actually more resilient than we can imagine.