KACHELBELA: #Eagerly_Waiting_With_Expectation

KACHELBELA: #Eagerly_Waiting_With_Expectation: Dear Diary, #Eagerly_Waiting_For_That_Announcement #The_Perpetual_Readiness #When_The_Trumpet_Sound Dear Diary as you are aware, the o...

#Eagerly_Waiting_With_Expectation

Dear Diary,

#Eagerly_Waiting_For_That_Announcement
#The_Perpetual_Readiness
#When_The_Trumpet_Sound

Dear Diary as you are aware, the other day we just exercised the first phase of our democratic and civic duty, since then we are anxiously and eagerly waiting for the second and third phase especially the presidential election announcement. Today, I was in the office then at around 11:30am my colleague alerted us that the famous Bomas was being set in readiness for the presidential election announcement and acceptance speech. Being consciously aware of the tention and the anxiety, I asked my supervisor to release guyz to go home. Myself and two colleagues left immediately. I made it home in time the handsome IEBC CEO was making the press briefing, apart from the form "thare four bee" I gues I heard him say at 2:30pm the IEBC Chairman Hon. Chebukati would make the presidential election announcement. Well, anxiously and eagerly I waited, glued on the TV and sending prayer request to pray for the commission. I am sure most of us are still warmly tucked on our sofas eagerly waiting. 2:30pm came and past 3pm another briefing calling us to be patient then at 6:40pm another briefing asking us to wait until 7:30pm!

Earlier on I had logged in FB and the first post I saw, "Chebukati ni wewe tutangoja ama ni Yesu?" Thanks to one #PeninahSenga, it got me thinking! The way we are anxiously and eagerly waiting and preparing for this announcement, how about our readiness for Christ's return?

Come with me to Luke 12:35-48; James 5:7-12. These passages talk about preparstion and readiness for Christ's return. We can learn something here:

1. Be dressed in readiness for the Lord's return, Luke 12:35-40. Are you dressed up ready for Christ's return?

2. Keep your lambs alight, v. 35. Do you have the necessity for His return?

3. Anytime, All the time, be ready, v. 36. We don't know the exact time He will return. Some prophets have given us probable dates of His return but really? I know it's been over 2,000yrs and still the man of God keeps telling you, "Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King; Hallelujah hallelujah, we are going to see the King...!" Ok, thing is, be ready!

4. Is Christ your personal Lord/Master? V. 37. Remember, He MUST be your Lord ad Savior.
We are eagerly waiting for the presidential election announcement, trut be told, some people will reject Him others will accept, submit and erve Him.

5. Will you accept to be His servant? V. 37-38. While some will reject to submit to His Lordship, others will be His servants. You have a choice!

6. Are you expectant? V. 40. You see, right now we are all eagerly waiting in expectation that Chebukati is going to make a credible announcement. Likewise, we must have an eager expectation that JESUS is coming.

7. Are you consciously aware of the reasons for your READINESS? V. 42-48.
The reason we are eagerly waiting is because we voted and now we want to know who's going to be our honorable President.
I'd like you to know when Jesus comes again, He will judge everyone accordingly.
- Some will be rewarded, v. 44.
- Others will be punished, v. 45-48

In conclusion:

- Be patient until the Lords Coming, James 5:7-8.
- Stand firm, v. 8
- Do not grumble,v. 9.
- Persevere in faith, v.10
- Maintain your integrity, v. 12.

So help me God!

Yours faithful scribbler,
NzakuNashipae

KACHELBELA: The Christology of Hebrews 11: Faith is The Basis ...

KACHELBELA: The Christology of Hebrews 11: Faith is The Basis ...: Dear Diary, In the preceding chapter the author closed with a call to persevere in faith. In this chapter he unfolds rich thoughts on f...

KACHELBELA: The Christology of Hebrews 11: Faith is The Basis ...

KACHELBELA: The Christology of Hebrews 11: Faith is The Basis ...: Dear Diary, In the preceding chapter the author closed with a call to persevere in faith. In this chapter he unfolds rich thoughts on f...

KACHELBELA: The Christology of Hebrews 11: Faith is The Basis ...

KACHELBELA: The Christology of Hebrews 11: Faith is The Basis ...: Dear Diary, In the preceding chapter the author closed with a call to persevere in faith. In this chapter he unfolds rich thoughts on f...

The Christology of Hebrews 11: Faith is The Basis of All That I Hope For

Dear Diary,

In the preceding chapter the author closed with a call to persevere in faith. In this chapter he unfolds rich thoughts on faith.

Meaning, Features and the Nature of faith, v. 1-3

1. Faith is central to Christianity. As I schemed through some bible verse that talk about faith, it is used in varied contexts:

a.       A conviction as in Heb 11:1; 2 Cor 5:7. In the Christology of Hebrews 11, Faith (Greek word pistis) is the assurance or conviction of things hoped for, a present and a continuing reality, v.1a.

b.      A behaviour inspired by complete surrender to God as in Heb 13:7;

c.       A trustworthiness as in 1 Cor 4:2; Matt 24:45; 1 Cor 15:14, 17

d.      A system of doctrine, creed or body of truth as in James 2:14-16; Jude 3; Gal 1:23

2. Faith is the basis of all that we hope for, v. 1a.
3. Faith extends beyond what we can perceive with our five senses. It is the basis by which we proof things immaterial, v.1b.
4. Faith gives us a sure conviction that creation originated with God, v. 3.
5. Faith gives us a sure conviction about the existence of God and His moral character-as God who faithful to reward His seekers, v.6

Faith is universal- it was and is manifested in people who lived before and after the Flood, v.4-38.

Ø  As this chapter unfolds, we see that the ancient fathers had witness borne to them on account of their compelling and consistent faith. The reason for their success was based on their faith.

Consequences of faith

Ø  By Faith:

ü  Abel offered a better sacrifice, v.4.

ü  Enoch pleased God. Certainly, without faith it is impossible to please God. Here two things are basic: one, the worshipper MUST believe that God exists. Without this there is no possibility of faith. Two, the worshipper MUST have a conviction that God has a moral character, He is faithful and rewards those who earnestly seek Him, v. 5-6;

ü  In response to a warning concerning things not seen, Noah was motivated by faith to build an Ark even when there was no indication of the imminent flood. Popular public opinion and available meteorological evidence didn’t stop him to act on God’s command, v. 7. His faith preserved his entire household and was in right standing with God.

ü  Abraham promptly obeyed and went even though he didn’t know where he was going, v.8; Gen 12:1. Certainly to leave the certainty and comfort you know to go out into the unknown only relying on God’s word is an essence of faith. Paradoxically, he accepted God’s promises and acted on them-he made his home in the Promised Land, v.9.  He also had a forward look to the eternal city with permanent foundations whose architect and builder is God, v. 10. Even though there was no visible indication the promise of a son would ever be fulfilled, Abraham and Sarah, an aged couple, lacking in physical ability to cause birth. Abraham had unwavering faith in the promise-keeper, v. 11. Verse 12 introduces the inevitable consequence of that faith. God promised, Abraham believed and so numerous descendants came from him. Wow! God demanded that he sacrifice his son Isaac, v.17. Interestingly faith preached to him that God would work it out, he offered Isaac as a sacrifice. Really? Yes! Well, Abraham was ready in will and purpose to offer the required sacrifice; he withheld nothing, Gen 22:5.

ü  At near death, the patriarchs’ faith looked beyond physical death. It undergirded the patriarchs’ blessings: Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future in accordance with God’s purposes, v. 20; Gen 27:27-29, 39-40; Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons, v.21; Joseph spoke about the exodus and gave instructions about his bones, v. 22; Gen 50:24-25; Ex. 13:19. He had a conviction that Canaan was the Land for God’s people.

ü  Against the kings edict to have all male boys below 2yrs killed, Ex. 1:22, Moses’s Parents hid him because they saw he was no ordinary kid. Rather than fearing Pharaoh, they put their faith in God, v. 23; Ex 2:2-3.

ü  When Moses became a grown man, he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, v. 24. He gave up great privileges, comfort and prestige and readily accepted oppression with God’s people instead of pleasures and treasures he could find in the king’s court, v. 25. His faith emerged triumphantly, he saw Him who is invisible, v.27. By faith he established the Passover and the result is that the destroyer passed over the Israelites, v. 28.

ü  Israelites followed Moses through Red Sea, v. 29; Ex. 14:14, 21. Certainly, it is faith that enabled people to respond to God’s doing not courage. The Egyptians courageously attempted to cross but drowned.

ü  The power of faith felled the walls of Jericho, v. 20; Josh 6:1-21. The acted on the conviction that God was in control; they went round the city once a day for six days and then seven times on the seventh day and you know, the walls came tumbling down.

ü  This hall of faith closes with an outcast Gentile woman who had a decisive conviction; she put her life on the line by welcoming spies, v. 31.

ü  Certainly it’d take volumes of books to write about other champions of faith, the likes of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. All these men and women of faith battled vast odds and set worth example for us.  Through faith, here are other broad results of believers’ faith namely: conquered kingdoms, administration of justice, fulfilled promises, divine intervention and deliverances from lions, furry of flames, edge of sword; others had their weakness turned to strength, became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies; the dead were raised to life. Those who were tortured, jeered, imprisoned, persecuted, martyred for their faith refused to give up their faith.

The Promise

Ø  All these preceding men and women were commended for their faith. God made the promise to them, but by the time they died none had received the promise God. Note that God made many promises which He kept. The promise referred here is Jesus the ultimate fullness of the blessing so that together with those who have gone ahead of us would be made perfect, v.40.

Ø   

Application

Ø  He above successes are understandable. Jesus came and opened the way to the very presence of God. He is the ultimate promise, persevere in your faith. Look forward to the country, the eternal city-heaven.

Regards

NzakuNashipae

KACHELBELA: #Wrong_Station #Wrong_Queue #Retrace_Your_Steps

KACHELBELA: #Wrong_Station #Wrong_Queue #Retrace_Your_Steps: Dear Diary, Today, we the honorable Kenyans have exercised our mandate as voters. Some of us have really been extremely and/moderately i...

#Wrong_Station #Wrong_Queue #Retrace_Your_Steps

Dear Diary,

Today, we the honorable Kenyans have exercised our mandate as voters. Some of us have really been extremely and/moderately involved in the politics. Some of us coloured our social media with hate, propaganda, call for peaceful voting, prayers, Canaan memes etc. in a few hours we'll have a new set of leaders for the next term. Some of us were at our respective polling stations by 6:00am and others at varied timing. Personally, I made it to Pumwani Health Center at 10:30am and voted at 12:54pm. While there I observed a few things to scribble about.

Fast forward, inside the polling station, quite a number of people queued in the wrong queues only to get to the clerks to be told to go back and locate their respective queues, quite discouraging! Now, there's this lady who was ahead of me. After long hours in the queue she was told that her polling station is Kariokor Social Hall. Broken and frustrated, she left in a huff vowing that she won't vote! Now, with all the a adverts IEBC made, was this lady ignorant? By sending an SMS to 70000 you'd know your voter details, did she know about it? Yes, she had a valid identification card. Sure, she is a registered voter but she came to the wrong polling station! Who is to blame?

You could have everything right but be in the wrong place. Most of us don’t set out to find ourselves in the wrong places. In fact, it seems, you’re walking along, having good time, trying to choose wisely and do the right thing then suddenly, you’re in the wrong place! Certainly, you feel frustrated. Probably you ask yourself or God, "I set out to do the right thing; it has cost me time and other resources, how did I end up here?" Despite the frustration, some of us retrace our steps, and go at the right place but others let the frustration take toll on them. Your life can veer off-course unintentionally, if you find yourself at the wrong place, retrace your steps. It's not too late to go to the right place.

Dr. Luke tells us the story of the prodigal son, (Luke 15:11-32). This young man got his rightful inheritance but he ended up in the wrong place. There he squandered his wealth in wild living. Soon, he was hungry and longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating. He came to his senses and retraced his steps to his father's house. My point here is this, maybe you veered off-course, RETURN. Retrace your steps to the Father. He is waiting! Retrace your steps to the right place to do then right thing.

Regards,
NzakuNashipae

KACHELBELA: #I-Am_In_Love_with_The_One_I_love

KACHELBELA: #I-Am_In_Love_with_The_One_I_love: Dear Diary, #Love_Without_Reason Dear Diary as you know, your faithful scribbler is in love with a certain human being. For now, th...

#I-Am_In_Love_with_The_One_I_love

Dear Diary,

#Love_Without_Reason

Dear Diary as you know, your faithful scribbler is in love with a certain human being. For now, this is a lil’ secret but steadily we’ll let the cat out of the bag. Last Sunday but one I attended a friend’s bridal shower and like every other guest, I was curious! So our facilitator pleased my curiosity, she asked the questions my ears were itching to hear, “Why do you love this dude?” “What made you choose him?” Well, the host’s responses challenged my perception. She said that on face value, perceived from her pink-colored glasses, she dismissed the one she now loves. Fortunately, the dude didn’t give up the pursuit, he kept pursuing her. So, one day she stopped running and asked God (paraphrased), “God, what is it about this guy? I’d like to learn something from him!” She gave the guy a chance and they grooved and finally walked down the aisle last weekend in a holy matrimony to live happily thereafter. Her advice to the single ladies in the house was this, “Girls, don’t despise a guy based on what you can see at that particular moment. Ask God to open your eyes to see beyond the now.” Wow! That’s a 10 million $ advice, I needed it!

Apparently, it’s like something must motivate you fall in love with someone. By the way, now that I am in love, why do I love the one I love? I know soon when the beans spill probably I will have my girlfriends taunting me, “Of all the dudes, why did you choose to love this one?” I have to look for a tangible reason why I love him so that when people ask me about it, I am fortified with 10,000 reasons. Okay, here are my potential 10,000 reasons for loving the one I love but there is a “What if…!”

1. Looks? Mmm, “the one I love is the most beautiful in the whole world?” Really? Well, according to my pink-colored glasses, maybe or maybe not. They said beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
2. Humour? Eh, well the one I love is very wry and melancholic but somehow I still have a genuine hearty laugh over his wry humour.
3. Smile? Well, there are times his smile sparkles but other times, story for another day.
4. Mental intelligence? Pass!
5. Material possession? Hehe, remember the Ezekiel’s Dry Bones scene? Pass!
6. Flamboyant, vivacious? Nah!
7. Generosity? Well, haven’t gotten any glitzy favours to warrant this quality but what I have observed is that the one I love doesn’t woo me with this quality. I have an ego; I earn my money so I don’t want someone to entice me with money. But once a while I get some descent treats. Sometimes, I determine to pay the bill. Ooops, I know you raised your brow but let’s move on!
8. Well-educated? I just got my 1st degree the other day to add to my one or two certificates and diploma. How about the one I love? Pass!
9. An excellent mega-vision worth submitting to? Huh!
10. A leafy-suburb kid? Not at all! In fact, their estate gives me ‘depression’. Ha ha #Nimeleft.

Doubt me but I have critically searched through a huge list but I haven’t found a definite reason. Aaaaiiii, NzakuNashipae! You are kidding! Alright, I give up! Let me keep looking for some tangible reasons then I will be right back. As cliché and cheap as it sounds, I don’t have a tangible reason for now but everything about the one I love is his being, a person made in the image of God! Every fibre of his being stringed together is what I love. So is it by choice or by chance? Eish! How do I answer this one?

Forget about my 10,000 reasons why I love the one I love, but I think love is dynamic and diverse. In the meantime let’s search through the scriptures to gather tangible reasons why I love the one I love: 1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:8, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” Romans 5:8, “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 Corinthians 16:14 “Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us what love is and what it is not. 1 Corinthians 13:13, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” 1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”  1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” 1 Peter 4:8, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” Hebrews 13:1 “Let brotherly love continue.” 1 John 4:11, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Songs of Solomon 8:6-7, “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, ... Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.”

Wow! I give up searching for reasons to love the one I love.

Yours faithful scribbler,

NzakuNashipae