Facts About Giving.

This year has been truly magical for me (its not over yet still expecting more miracles and breakthroughs..abi nah). I have experienced the love of God in more ways than I can count or explain even in the disappointments. I am naturally a very content person hardly expecting much from people but always eager to help out. I LOVE TO GIVE. Like I tell my friends GIVING MAKES ME HIGH..lol. In the build up to Christmas  I have received gifts from unexpected places and people. I have also given when it seemed impossible to give. ITS WHO I AM. Giving is such a beautiful act. Every time people give, I am reminded about the generosity of God and the ultimate gift of Jesus. Lets examine certain truths about giving in no particular order.

FACTS ABOUT GIVING.

•  When God gives, He not only attends to the things you need, He also provides those things that you never knew you needed and probably never prayed about. That's why HE IS GOD.

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He knows you more than you know yourself. GOD HAS INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF YOU.

• God uses people-you are created as a conduit of blessing. Everyman is a channel for reaching out to the world.  The blessings, talents, gifts that you have are not meant for selfish purposes but as an outreach to a world in need.
• Little is something- I love supermarket chain Tesco's tag-line "every little helps". Every cent can go a long way to alleviate the need of another. What you consider little or insignificant might just be the right amount of assistance a family in need requires to survive another day.

  

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• If you cannot give from the "little" you've got there's a small chance that you'll give when you've got "much". however since "much" is a relative concept wonder when that is? If you cant give from the thousands in your piggy bank, you definitely wont give when when you have millions. The true hallmark of giving is the ability to give even when you barely have "enough". Mark 12:41-44. When God gave mankind the gift of Jesus he did not have a spare son to replace the one He'd given up/out.
• Giving does not stem from what you have or don't but from an understanding and trust in God's ability to take care of you. Phil 4:19
• It is an act of love. John 3:16
• its more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35
• Giving should be done joyfully and not grudgingly. Corinthians 9:17.

  

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• Its an act of worship.
• Expect a reward. What is a better reward than knowing you've made a difference in the life of another. Nonetheless when God gave the gift of one, he received the multiple result of you and I alongside a lost world.
• Giving can be learnt.
• Giving should be an increasing or progressive act/attitude
• it does not entail money alone.
• Giving is intentional
• You don't really need a reason to give, JUST GIVE. 

  

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Don't let this season pass without sharing with another person. Remember "EVERY LITTLE HELPS"

The Fault in our Stars.

The title of this post is based on a movie about two teens, Hazel and Augustus who both have different cancer conditions. They met at a cancer support group and their journey of love follows the complexity of living a full life within a short time. Truth is, I have not watched the movie yet but was deeply moved by its promotional clip. The part that caught my attention was when Hazel asked Augustus why he was staring at her. He gave a simple yet profound answer "because you are beautiful".According to the world standard, there is nothing pretty about a girl living with cancer and logging around an oxygen tank to help her breath. But Augustus saw beyond Hazel's challenges and only focused on the beautiful woman trapped within that broken shell. Never mind that Augustus was broken Himself. Knowing his own "brokenness" he connected with Hazel's "brokenness". The cancer was the bridge that brought them together. He did not judge her or condemn her but empathised with her suffering because he was suffering too. He understood her pain, weakness and frailties.

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In  a particular scene in Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, the noble man Cassius says to Brutus  "the fault dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves".
We live in a broken world with broken people who deny their brokenness but go about hurting people while hurting themselves.  The world is filled with hurting people trying to heal others when they require healing themselves.These ones end up doing more harm than good "you hypocrite,first take the plank out of your own eyes and then you will see clearly to remove the speck in your brother's eyes" Matthew 7:5 .
The thing is we've all got something in our "eyes". Nobody has perfect vision that is why every man is a work in progress as we journey to perfection.

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I sometimes attend a support group for parents with special needs kids in my area. The aim of the group is for parents to glean from each others experiences and encourage one another. At the meetings we don't laugh at each other but laugh together, bonded by our challenges though some more trying than others. It would be foolhardy to laugh at others when my life aint so perfect itself.
Our challenges might be different but everyone has got an issue whether speck size or plank size. Instead of laughing at others, show understanding!
The fault in our stars is that we spend too much time time judging others instead of empathizing, showing compassion and offering  a helping hand.

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That's why I adore Jesus. He did not come to judge the world but save. John 12:47. He had every right to condemn but he didn't.
Relationships will augur well if people love more and judge less. The fault is not with our stars but in us.Too many broken people acting all put together but broken nevertheless.  We are broken people desperately in need of a saviour. Thank God we may be imperfect but we serve a perfect God who makes all things beautiful in His time.

Simple things.

I opened my mail this morning and was blessed by a personal reply to one of my posts. It did not only bless me, it inspired me to do more as it shows that in a way the stories are making an impact which makes the few moments spent slugging at my laptop worthwhile (don't mind me, I love what I do when I do get to do it *sigh* ..lol) The stories do not serve to inspire and bless you alone but encourage me as well. It also goes to show that every simple act we do goes a long a way to impact our immediate enviroment and the world at large. So what are you contributing into your world. Remember, the story about the slave girl in the book of 2 Kings 5? Her name is not mentioned but her simple act of good deed is recorded for generations to read and learn from. She was a slave serving in the house of Naaman,Commander of the Aram army. Despite his enviable position, Naaman had a problem-LEPROSY which this little slave girl had a solution to. What blew my mind about this girl is that she did not consider her inhonorable position as a slave or that she'd been taken from her family (probably never to be seen again) but rather saw an opportunity to be a blessing. She did not allow herself to be embittered by her circumstances but sought to be an object of blessing. A simple advice and recommendation to Naaman from a nameless slave girl set this army commander forth to his deliverance from a condition that had otherwise marred his life. Another simple act act of good deed is the story of the little boy that gave up his lunch for Jesus to feed five thousand people in John 6:1-13. I believe that the boy had more faith in his little fingers than all the disciples put together. Unlike kids that are naturally selfish, he gave up his lunch without a struggle because he knew that Jesus could use his little contribution to feed a much needy crowd. Moses did not know how powerful his shepard rod was until he lifted it up for God to part the red sea Gen 15:16. I'm sure it never crossed his mind that his simple rod could make the difference between life and death for the Israelites.

Don't despise the effect of simple things. A simple kind gesture could be a life changing act that someone else needs. It could be as simple as a smile. I remember when I just had joshua. Single me with a disabilty and no family in a foreign country. No one to seek the much needed assistance from. I could barely take care of myself how much more this little lad. Imagine, my surprise when this beautiful lady in my place of residence walked up to me and offered to take care of josh so I could rest. She wasn't really a total stranger. I had been seeing her around and we shared the occasional chit chats but at that point in time I wasn't ready for any form of relationship but she eventually broke down my reserve with her offer to help. 6 years on, we are the best of friends as a result of that simple act. Never underestimate your giftings saying its insignificant compared to what Bill gates is doing but you are YOU and that makes you IMPORTANT. Why not give that idea a kick start, it will sure make a difference. Remember there is power in SIMPLE THINGS.