Recently I was traveling from the Copperbelt to Lusaka on a luxury Coach.
Seated next to me was an elderly lady who was traveling to the same destination as myself.
What attracted my attention to this lady, was the fact that despite the coach having luggage compartments, the lady decided to carry her traveling bag on her lap for all the more than three hundred kilometres to Lusaka!
http://is.gd/eGwNe
I could not find out from her why she decided to do so, as I saw it fit that it was none of my business.
My only conclusion I made was that, the lady was just trying to protect her valuables in the bag. She must have heard of travellers who have lost their property whilst traveling.
In our own lives a lot of people carry their burdens in their shoulders unnecessarily.
Our Lord and Saviour tells us that we should offload our burdens onto Him. This will give us the opportunity to enjoy the comfort of traveling on His "luxury coach".
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28).
By having a constant companionship with our Lord by abiding in his Word, the burdens of our lives will be lighter to bear as He will carry them for us most of the way.
Good day and stay blessed.
Amen!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Your Testimony - A More Effective Sermon !
In our lives we go through so many trials and temptations .
The situation one finds himself can sometimes become so desperate that one looses all hope of ever coming out of it.
In my life, I have experienced several trying moments.
I am sharing them with you here for the glory of God.
In his book, "The Purpose Driven Life" ....Rick Warren says:-
"You may not be a Bible scholar,but you are an authority on your life, and it is hard to argue with personal experience.
Your personal testimony is more effective than a sermon, because unbelievers see pastors as professional salesmen,..".
In 1961, when I was only eight years old, I suffered from a sickness that almost took my life.
For over three months, I was bed ridden with no hope of recovery. My parents took me for treatment at various health centres without any improvement.
Finally they sought services of a traditional medicineman who, somehow, managed to restore by health!
As a result of this sickness, I had to repeat my Grade three class (then called Standard "1") in 1962.
When I was doing my fifth to seventh grades, between 1964 1966, I used to stay with my Grandparents at Moonga Village which is found on the perimeter of the Barotse flood plain in Mongu District.
I was then attending a school which was some four kilometers from the village.
My parents were then working at Namachaha primary school which went up to Grade four.
The school was located on the Barotse flood plain. It used to shift to the dry land (Kuomboka) annually during the flood season which is between April and July.
The Barotse flood plain is very rich in fish and milk during the dry season, hence it was always a pleasure for me and one relative of mine, whom I was schooling with at Namachaha school during our lower grades, to visit my parents regularly.This would be on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend holiday.
The journey to the school was over a stretch of some fifteen kilometers across a mainly grassy and sandy piece of land.
Because of the danger of being attacked by bandits, in areas which were not populated, we used to travel in groups of between ten to fifteen children.
After crossing the Zambezi River, it was safer to travel in smaller groups in populated and nearby villages.
On one particular trip, I and my relative were the last ones to head towards our destination.
It was then getting very dark. We were only guided by footpaths and silhouettes of trees and lights from fires which marked the presence of oncoming villages.
At one time we drifted offcourse westwards, until we reached very thick vegetation which was near a tributary of the Zambezi River.
We were very scared and had to run towards a village which we could figure out in a distance.
When we reached that village the residents there were surprised to see us. We had just travelled through some unmarked landscape, without a foot path.
We told them that we were going to Namachaha School. They told us that we were almost there. However, they advised us to spend the night in the village.
As children, we were advised not to spend nights in strange villages for fear of being bewitched, and thus we turned down the offer.
We were then advised to be rush as it was already very late in the evening.
Due a large number of school children travelling to the school on a regular basis, the footpath approaching the school was fairly wide. We could therefore manage to run on it without difficulty.
When we reached the school it was close to midnight. Our parents were surprised to see us. They wondered how we managed to reach the place under difficulty conditions.
The following morning we learnt that there were some lions that had come to the area recently and had killed a number of cattle in the neighbouring villages.
On hearing this, we trembled at the thought of what could have happened to us if we had come in contact with the beasts!
On 28 October 1994 I was admitted into an intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital. This was after I lost nearly two litres of blood due a bleeding peptic ulcer.
I went into a comatose state as result of shock brought by the loss of blood. My life was saved by emergency blood transfussion. My breathing was assisted via an oxygen mask for several days.
I stayed in the ICU ward for a total of ten days.
The peptic stomach ulcer was as a result of a heavy beer drinking habit which had been going on for nearly twenty years.
In April 1996 I was temporarily dismissed from employment with a workmate.
This was after investigations of one senior official, linked us to his questionable activities.
On appeal, we were both found innocent. The truth was that the official used our positions to carry out his activities behind our backs. The ordeal took 51 days of torment before we were reinstated.
On 18 May 2005, I was in another near-death situation due to a diseased appendix in my stomach. An operation to remove it, saved my life on 19 May 2005.
The surgeons who removed it could not believe their eyes at how big it had swollen and puss filled due to infection. This could have killed me instantly, had the infected appendix burst and fed the puss into my blood system.
On 8 January 2010 I was out employment , after a fixed term contract which was due to expire in a year's time, was terminated without notice.
My efforts to secure another job or start a business has not been easy.
As if that was not enough, my only source of income, rentals for a house I have in Lusaka, were not been forthcoming for over six months.
The last tenant vacated the house on 31 December 2009 after a dispute.
I have had four potential tenants who intended to occupy the house from January 2010. In all cases they withdrew at the last moment due to one reason or another!
The fifth person who showed interest to rent the house in May 2010, turned up to be a con man.
It took me an agonising sixty days to get another tenant.
I believe that the Lord shall see me through this episode of my life as He had done before.
The Bible says :-
"Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!" (Psalms 46:10).
"No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).
"At that time you will ask in my name, and I do not say that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." (John 16:26-27).
"But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you."" (John 11:22).
Amen!
The situation one finds himself can sometimes become so desperate that one looses all hope of ever coming out of it.
In my life, I have experienced several trying moments.
I am sharing them with you here for the glory of God.
In his book, "The Purpose Driven Life" ....Rick Warren says:-
"You may not be a Bible scholar,but you are an authority on your life, and it is hard to argue with personal experience.
Your personal testimony is more effective than a sermon, because unbelievers see pastors as professional salesmen,..".
In 1961, when I was only eight years old, I suffered from a sickness that almost took my life.
For over three months, I was bed ridden with no hope of recovery. My parents took me for treatment at various health centres without any improvement.
Finally they sought services of a traditional medicineman who, somehow, managed to restore by health!
As a result of this sickness, I had to repeat my Grade three class (then called Standard "1") in 1962.
When I was doing my fifth to seventh grades, between 1964 1966, I used to stay with my Grandparents at Moonga Village which is found on the perimeter of the Barotse flood plain in Mongu District.
I was then attending a school which was some four kilometers from the village.
My parents were then working at Namachaha primary school which went up to Grade four.
The school was located on the Barotse flood plain. It used to shift to the dry land (Kuomboka) annually during the flood season which is between April and July.
The Barotse flood plain is very rich in fish and milk during the dry season, hence it was always a pleasure for me and one relative of mine, whom I was schooling with at Namachaha school during our lower grades, to visit my parents regularly.This would be on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend holiday.
The journey to the school was over a stretch of some fifteen kilometers across a mainly grassy and sandy piece of land.
Because of the danger of being attacked by bandits, in areas which were not populated, we used to travel in groups of between ten to fifteen children.
After crossing the Zambezi River, it was safer to travel in smaller groups in populated and nearby villages.
On one particular trip, I and my relative were the last ones to head towards our destination.
It was then getting very dark. We were only guided by footpaths and silhouettes of trees and lights from fires which marked the presence of oncoming villages.
At one time we drifted offcourse westwards, until we reached very thick vegetation which was near a tributary of the Zambezi River.
We were very scared and had to run towards a village which we could figure out in a distance.
When we reached that village the residents there were surprised to see us. We had just travelled through some unmarked landscape, without a foot path.
We told them that we were going to Namachaha School. They told us that we were almost there. However, they advised us to spend the night in the village.
As children, we were advised not to spend nights in strange villages for fear of being bewitched, and thus we turned down the offer.
We were then advised to be rush as it was already very late in the evening.
Due a large number of school children travelling to the school on a regular basis, the footpath approaching the school was fairly wide. We could therefore manage to run on it without difficulty.
When we reached the school it was close to midnight. Our parents were surprised to see us. They wondered how we managed to reach the place under difficulty conditions.
The following morning we learnt that there were some lions that had come to the area recently and had killed a number of cattle in the neighbouring villages.
On hearing this, we trembled at the thought of what could have happened to us if we had come in contact with the beasts!
On 28 October 1994 I was admitted into an intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital. This was after I lost nearly two litres of blood due a bleeding peptic ulcer.
I went into a comatose state as result of shock brought by the loss of blood. My life was saved by emergency blood transfussion. My breathing was assisted via an oxygen mask for several days.
I stayed in the ICU ward for a total of ten days.
The peptic stomach ulcer was as a result of a heavy beer drinking habit which had been going on for nearly twenty years.
In April 1996 I was temporarily dismissed from employment with a workmate.
This was after investigations of one senior official, linked us to his questionable activities.
On appeal, we were both found innocent. The truth was that the official used our positions to carry out his activities behind our backs. The ordeal took 51 days of torment before we were reinstated.
On 18 May 2005, I was in another near-death situation due to a diseased appendix in my stomach. An operation to remove it, saved my life on 19 May 2005.
The surgeons who removed it could not believe their eyes at how big it had swollen and puss filled due to infection. This could have killed me instantly, had the infected appendix burst and fed the puss into my blood system.
On 8 January 2010 I was out employment , after a fixed term contract which was due to expire in a year's time, was terminated without notice.
My efforts to secure another job or start a business has not been easy.
As if that was not enough, my only source of income, rentals for a house I have in Lusaka, were not been forthcoming for over six months.
The last tenant vacated the house on 31 December 2009 after a dispute.
I have had four potential tenants who intended to occupy the house from January 2010. In all cases they withdrew at the last moment due to one reason or another!
The fifth person who showed interest to rent the house in May 2010, turned up to be a con man.
It took me an agonising sixty days to get another tenant.
I believe that the Lord shall see me through this episode of my life as He had done before.
The Bible says :-
"Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!" (Psalms 46:10).
"No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).
"At that time you will ask in my name, and I do not say that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." (John 16:26-27).
"But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you."" (John 11:22).
Amen!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Confidence,Trust and Hope
CONFIDENCE :
Once all village people
decided to pray for rain. On
the day of prayer all people
gathered and only one boy came
with an umbrella...... That's
Confidence....
TRUST:
Trust should be like the
feeling of a one year old baby
when you throw him in the air;
he laughs.....because he knows
you will catch him........
That's
Trust............
HOPE:
Every night we go to bed, we
have no assurance to get up
alive in the next morning but
still we set the alarms to wake us up
and
still make plans for the
coming day..........
That's Hope...........
Put your Confidence; Trust and Hope in GOD
For He is Faithful and Just ...
Amen !
Once all village people
decided to pray for rain. On
the day of prayer all people
gathered and only one boy came
with an umbrella...... That's
Confidence....
TRUST:
Trust should be like the
feeling of a one year old baby
when you throw him in the air;
he laughs.....because he knows
you will catch him........
That's
Trust............
HOPE:
Every night we go to bed, we
have no assurance to get up
alive in the next morning but
still we set the alarms to wake us up
and
still make plans for the
coming day..........
That's Hope...........
Put your Confidence; Trust and Hope in GOD
For He is Faithful and Just ...
Amen !
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