Desert...

I’ve been craving the desert for some time now. So hopefully, my mind hasn’t been full with desert lands just because of this post, but because something is cooking and I’ll find myself holidaying in the nearest future.

A thought dropped in my heart a few weeks ago. I was thinking about how the Middle Eastern countries seem to have this depth of wealth from digging in their desert land and finding oil. They are rich in oil, giving them so much wealth and splendor. Now a desert land isn’t your typical holiday spot, a place where you’d crave to live in… it is dry, hot and have I mentioned dry and hot?

But the beauty of it is, in this dry hot sandy land, is where oil is drilled out from, enriching the nation and being a blessing to the world around it. I mean oil can be found in other countries as well, and not necessarily in only desert land, we have oil in the wetlands of Nigeria. But I’m just going to dwell on how profound this picture of the desert and oil is.

So maybe your life feels like it’s in a jam. Everything seems acrid… the air is dry, your throat is patched and you’re just burned up by the sun of all your worries. Maybe now is the time to dig, not maybe, now is definitely the time to dig. Maybe we have this desert experiences o we can be spurred to dig deeper and bring out oil… something extraordinary, something oily and desirable to the nations of the world, even while its taking care of you.

Dig deep and drill out some oil.

Dig with your praise and thanksgiving. And don’t even kid yourself, digging is work, its tiring, its not always jolly, but it’s a job that needs to be done, without the drilling, there’d be no oil spilling out. So dig, worship when you don’t feel like it, when the sun is at its hottest, you dig harder… you worship more when it feels driest.

Let your praise break grounds.

Let your thanksgiving explore.

Let your worship cause the gem within you to spill out.

That’s when you think harder… that’s when ideas start gushing out.

A lot of people have told stories of how being at their lowest jolted them to their peak and kept them striving…  both in business and ministry.

It’ll pay off if you don’t just drop your tools in despair and give up just like that, just when your at that point where your next strike is hitting gold.

Make no mistake, God loves you and He isn’t a wicked father to let you come up with nothing after all that digging.

I will praise Him, even when the fig tree doesn’t blossom…. That’s like digging in a dry land. Your continuous praise can seem like a drag, a labor, because most times you feel nothing like praise.

 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 13:15

So even if you feel God Himself is serving you a sentence, thus the sand dunes in your desert are the highest, its not a reason to give up… God loves you and if you dare to keep digging, then you will come up with something of value. I have observed that dry seasons end with great testimonies.

Also, it just hit me that we’ve got exotic sweet fruits growing from this desert lands… dates etc. Out of something ugly, something sweet emerges.

The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Isaiah 58:11(NLT)

God’s got you.

And you also have reasons to dig even in wetlands, because there’s oil too. Dig in all seasons, basically. But most especially in the dry season, don’t let sand storms steal your joy.

Keep digging!

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. ... Psalm 95:1-6

Hot Mess...

I’ve been a hot mess these last few weeks. The weather has been extremely hot, as you would know if you’re in Nigeria…. But then, Makurdi seems to see being hot as a competition, it/she/he (whatever gender this town is) feels a need to prove that it’s hotter than the rest of the country, I’m sure it’d have a stand off with its fellow towns in the far north if given a chance. I mean, someone needs to tell it/she/he  that saying “you’re so hot” is just a complement and not literal and it has nothing to do with the weather. We don’t say a guy is hot and get burned when we touch him… well, people sort of get burned when they touch some guys or girls that go with the hot tag, but that’s besides the point. Makurdi is Hot. And in the lyrics of some song I used to love singing years ago “take the sun, multiply its heat, ten times over, what you get is me” It certainly feels like that here. (now don’t go searching for that song, a nice Christian boy/girl shouldn’t be singing it. Its got good beats though. )I was in jos some weeks ago, it was hot, but i felt like I was in winter wonderland compared with what it feels like in Mkaurdi.

You know the term gold digger? Well I’m publicly admitting to be an ice-digger… I beg your pardon, not the bling-bling kind of ice, ice like ice-cubes. I crave ice cold drinks all day, which shouldn’t be a problem, but then the power situation has been epileptic. Between that and using the generator…. the fridge hardly has any ice-cold drinks. There are cold drinks available, but the fact that they are not ice-cold kind of exasperates me, I can’t stand the wannabe colds. I whine about it, not just talking whining, but the real kind of whining with the sing song voice, and oh my gosh, that’s so annoying, even to my ears, especially on a hot afternoon, most especially on a Hot Sunday afternoon, because you see, Sunday seems to take its name literal, it is a sun day indeed, and so the sun, its kids/heat/rays, up to a million generations come out for a sun day cook out, and we have to endure their family reunion, after all it's their day.

And so, if you’ve got ice cold drinks, then I unashamedly admit that I love you. I hound you; I talk to you with ice lust in my eyes when I hear of how cool your fridge is. I’m after you for your ice.

Anyway, the point of this post is to say, like I said before, I’ve been a hot mess. I don’t want to go out, because going out will require real innerwears, which requires real clothes and real clothes will require shoes and a well-prepped face, and hair products in my hair which add to the heat . My hair has been set free from extensions of any form in commemoration with the heat, but even with being extension free, I am still tormented by my hair, just the other day, I stared longingly at a video on instagram of this lady shaving off her hair and I desperately wanted to do that, because its so hot and I don’t even want my own hair touching me, I want my scalp exposed to whatever kind of cooling effect it can get.

I’ve had to walk out the house looking disheveled too many times, I am half way to being disqualified and kicked out of the ‘too cool for school’ gang waiting list. And then I almost fainted or threw up or did something I’m not sure of in the market the other day because of course, it was hot and the sun just smoked some weed I guess, because it was extremely high.

Thus, when I was invited for an event, as much as I wanted to be home with as little clothes as decently possible to save the household from trauma, I decided to give myself a break from myself and the heat. I threw caution out the window today.

So I dressed up. I used foundation… I dared it, how brave I was, bronzers too.  I put on lipstick and eyeliner, I used dangling earrings, and I even spritz on some chanel. A lot of it actually, why not go the whole nine yards huh? Then I wore a dress without sleeves to give me a bit of sanity.

Thus I got to the venue of the event… and well, it was a Christian music event, held in a hotel hall, none denominational... as I sat pretty feeling for my hand fan and ready to whip it out any moment, this lady sat next to me, and oh boy, the way she looked at me, and squeezed her nose like my chanel stunk of skunk. Apparently, I was too worldly for that event. I wore dangling earrings, make up and the nerve of me to expose my arms like that. I felt judged, and since I couldn’t explain to her, that I was a saved lady, and that’s why I wasn’t taking off the extremely long dress to sit by her in my undies for fresh air, I just sat there being judged as I fanned myself vigorously with one hand and raised the other hand up in worship. Even the air conditioners and fans in that hall were having heated conversations with the makurdi weather, they all worked so hard with nothing to show for it, like some government retirees.

Now I kind of feel better after all this ranting. I’m back home where there is freedom of expression, as clothes don’t matter, especially when you’re in your room, praying the spare generator being used doesn’t go off as the other one has packed up from over use and hasn’t been repaired yet.

Nigeria my beloved country!

April’s Fool... A Love Note To You

I think it’s hilarious that this year, Easter just happens to fall on the national holiday for fools.

A fool says in his heart there is no God, but don’t be fooled!

The gospel is not just a fairy tale with pitiful punchlines and gruesome deaths, incredible battles and fearless warriors...

And like Col. Moyo who certainly isn’t a fool puts it “The bible is replete with stories of how God raised people from the dung hill and set them among princes.”

It’s got good stories with Oscar worthy biopics waiting to be made out of them. 

But beyond the tears, the laughs, the wisdom and the awe within the pages that carry the message of the gospel, is the power of God that brings salvation.

Jesus at the Centre, from the beginning to the end of it. 

In it is the power to transform.

April’s fool, there is God O!

There’s no God you say?

I need to show you charts, and slides and intelligent arguments to prove my point?

I may not be able to match you with intelligent arguments because the gospel is not about your intellect. 

It certainly doesn’t seem like an intelligent decision to bankrupt heaven for someone like me... but hey, look who’s balling in grace.

April’s fool

He’s dead and long gone you say... just a man from the history books who worked our brains and gave us religion that has tremendous success in making us zombies.

He must have been really good then... two thousand years later we’re intelligent adults still “deceived” by the sensationalism of who He is.  

Don’t be fooled.

He died on the cross, He was buried, He was raised on the third day according to scriptures!

The grave is empty!

Who has believed this report? 

Not you, you smugly smirk... 

Don’t be fooled! 

Believe it or not... it’s true and your unbelief doesn’t change it.

He was wounded for (even) your transgressions.

He was crushed for (even) your sin.

The punishment required for (even) your well-being/Peace fell on Him

And by His stripes (even) you are healed.  

God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.... even you who deny His existence, daily you are a living witness to this truth. 

It truly is finished.

He is risen.

So why be fooled?

Second Hand Smoke...

Research shows that second hand smoke from cigarettes is more dangerous than first hand smoke. So as much as you can do what you want, risk your health and chain smoke as you want, please don’t do it in public. 

That’s why smoking in public places has been banned in some countries. Don't endanger the lives of others with your bad habit.

Most times, the troubles loved ones go through affect those around them more. It’s just like the second hand smoke effect. About 4years ago, my mom was ill. It was a life hanging by a thread kind of situation( thank God it was a scarlet thread her life hung on.) It took its toll on me. We were in the U.K. for 5 months and by the time we came back to Nigeria, she was healed(praise God) and looked like a bunch of fresh ripened bananas, while I, on the other hand, looked like the one who had spent months receiving treatments.

I had lost so much weight, I dropped two dress sizes and was the perfect size0,(a models dream size) with no effort, just like that! My BMI wasn’t great either and while I didn’t feel the effect of it, I had to go on an ensure drink diet, just to get some nutrients in.

 

All those moments praying, the psychological effect of fighting worry in the face of outrageous reports, hospital trips, drugs, doctors, watching the recuperating process, waking up in the middle of the night just to be sure she was still breathing etc are at me without me knowing. I remember giving a plate to eat something only to find my mum having an episode and I’d abandoned the food and my appetite would be out the window by the time I was done with her. 

You have no idea how what you do affects others, the positive and negative things you do find expression in the lives of those around you. There’s a ripple effect. That's why we have to be sensitive and remember ever so often that we don’t live just for ourselves.

Sometimes what we preach is not the verses or chapters, it's the Spirit of the word made flesh in us: our lifestyle, our faith, our excellence, compassion, and our resilience.... Are people blaspheming God because of us? Are we not mirroring the words we claim to believe in the way we live our lives?

As leaders your choices affect those who follow you! What you say or do could be what determines the kind of leader they will be in future. 

As parents your children see you even more than they hear you. 

As business owners, what are you portraying to your employees and partners?

As Christians, quit being stupid!

“Each of us will give an account of himself to God. Try to live in such a way that you will never make your brother stumble by letting him see you doing something that he thinks is wrong.” (Romans 14:12-13 

“Mature people limit their freedom for the benefit of others. Because you’re afraid of what other people think? Of course not. You do it out of love. In situations where there is no clear right or wrong, you have to ask yourself, “How will my decision affect other people?” Rick Warren 

Even if you feel you owe no one anything and God loves you sans your good works... think about the souls you may be driving away from this beautiful life in God you have by your lifestyle with zero ounce of integrity and character even with all the anointing dripping off you? If they can’t see the effect of God in you why should they desire to have Him for themselves?

What report do people have about you, your business, your home, your relationships etc?

 

You’re not doing it for the gram, for the likes and the pat on the back... do it for the lives! That’s what matters more! 

Sweets, Pied Pipers and Manifestations...

Some would call my cousins and nieces spoilt. I would call them spoilt occasionally…. But sometimes I wonder if the term spoilt is used loosely. I think the term is relative. They have the necessary orientation and values planted in their little minds… but the fact that chocolates were such a luxury to me when growing up, shouldn’t make me think they’re spoilt for getting chocolates whenever they desire it… I hardly had any except someone traveled abroad and it was well rationed. Or the fact that taking a bottle of soda from the fridge just like that was forbidden…. I had four siblings and our treat on some nights was a few bottles of ‘mineral’ shared amongst us… kept in the fridge overnight and made into a nice cup of Fanta/coke ‘ice-cream’ now those kids have ice-cream almost every day and every other day when they cry for it, they come to the house and it’s a miracle if they don’t attempt to drink everything they find in the fridge. I join in the indulging of these generation, what puzzles me is when mummy joins as well, like lady you were the one who raised me and you are lenient with them?

To the kids, it isn’t a luxury. Buying packs of candies for them gets them excited but not as carried away as I would have been… they don’t try to keep it to stretch for days, they just eat and eat knowing there’ll always be more. Its not a scarce resource, neither is ice-cream occasional, its an exciting though if I put myself in their shoes and try to rearrange my growing up days.

And I’m sure this has made them less susceptible to strangers luring them with sweets and biscuits, because these are things they have in excess, so don’t come playing that pipe for them expecting that they would dance to your tunes to bye bye land.

That’s how children of God should be. We should be so spoilt in walking in the manifestation of Gods Spirit, and being in environment when it flows freely and is taught liberally. Miracles should flow around us and through us, so much that the supernatural is super natural to us and it doesn’t even have to be spectacular so we don’t scare people, that’s not the idea. There’s healing here… there’s word of knowledge; there’s workings of miracles, we prophesy etc yayyyy… but not yayyy because it’s an uncommon practice, but yayyy for the goodness of God.  In our secular jobs, we operate in the Spirit of seeing and knowing, we operate in the wisdom of God etc. Of course we don’t trivialize them because they occur constantly, we never get used to the joy of it… You see when we get to this point where we are walking in manifestations of the Spirit easily and regularly; we wouldn’t be easily moved by the ‘magic’ churches springing up everywhere.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man for profit. 1 Corinthians 2:7

This manifestations has been given to everyone, not just your pastors, but you too, you who has been saved.

Children of God are so desperate for something spectacular, the dramatic… but we’re too sophisticated to go to native doctors and so the native doctors got sophisticated too, they dressed in suits and built bigger shrines and named them churches and children of God are dancing there stunned by magic shows because they are not used to miracles. They love the entertainment they receive where demons throw stunts and act proper nollywood dialogues before they are cast out, where account numbers are called out etc. That’s why they are easily scammed and easily duped, used and dumped. Thus they go around lumping all pastors in a group and cussing out, when their lack of knowledge and understanding led them to the slaughterhouse.

We’re not surprised that God healed… but we’re excited at the multiple ways He shows Himself and that He would choose to use us.

The Spirit of God isn’t for a select group of people, it isn’t just for the pastors or the mature Christians, its for everyone of us… its been given to everyman to profit withal. Ask for a fresh outpouring of the spirit on you, ask for a stirring, desire it, and know that when you ask you are granted and walk in it. Walk in the power gifts, in the utterance gifts etc. God loves you and His spirit is made available to you to profit.

Its not a scarce resource, its flowing all around, and when you’re constantly feeding on it, you wouldn’t be easily deceived when the pied piper pastor comes to deceive with magic tricks.

The Love Collision... This Love.

So I planned these whole big interviews with various people like I did two years ago to talk about God’s love. But somehow, I haven’t been quite motivated to get round to doing it. I just want to talk about this love as it comes to me. Maybe before the end of the month, I will get on with that.

But God’s love is real, it is true, and it is my daily reality.

It’s amazing to walk around, or even hang with people who have no idea that they are the ones Jesus loves. I want to describe this love to them, I want to tell them in the simplest term, but humans sometimes don’t understand simplicity, they go for the complex, and its so hard for me to say it in a complex way… simple is better, “God loves you”… God is not hounding you to excitedly throw you in hell. Yes you’ve messed up, but you’re not too messy for His love and grace to clean you up.

“For God so loved the world...” 

That doesn’t sound generic to some, thus it’s easy for them to take steps back, removing self from ‘the world’ in the word and making way for who this verse is talking about, the brand of special people... Probably your neighbor who prays more than you do, or the guy at work that never loses his temper, the lady who never takes selfies and only posts scriptures on social media, the colleague who’s always running off to church or even the Pastor etc. Or maybe God so loved mother Theresa or Maria Woodworth-Etter or Aimee Semple McPherson or Kathryn Kulhman or Adeboye etc

But it means YOU as much as the next person.

Say to yourself  “ For God so loved me He gave me Jesus...”

Who is Jesus? He is Love, He is salvation, He is grace, He is mercy, He is Life, He is wisdom, He is Favor, and He is Joy, Peace... Hope and so much more. 

Jesus is for everyone... It’s up to you to receive Him, this precious gift. God made flesh. Love, life, and grace made flesh.

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.”

John 3:16-17 MSG

Got Jesus? 

Love Collision: The Beloved

God’s love crushes every hard wall of condemnation that’s putting a wedge between you and Him. All you have to do is reach out for it.
He’s doing everything possible, using every means possible to make us understand that Christ died for our sins, and there’s a never quenching flame of love burning in His heart for us.
‘Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: ‘ Romans8:35(msg)

The Love Collision...

A post shared by Joy Inyamu Akut (@inyamuakut) on Jan 31, 2018 at 5:34pm PST

Ours is a story of love... from the beginning to the end, creation to redemption and the life we live in between the finished works of Christ. 

It’s so hard to harden your heart to the truth of a God who absolutely loves us when we have seen Him give His all for us. He has shown us kindness, mercy, grace and so much more.

February is the month the world has set apart to celebrate love, and it’s a month where Inyamu’s Eldorado celebrates the greatest love story ever told. In interviews, songs and just anyway possible.

Why?

Because I’m so desperate for people to know the truth, that there is a God who is deeply in love with them. 

There is a God who’s desire to bless you and spoil you in His love is greater than the need to punish you. 

You see, He paid the price for our sins on the cross... it’s easier to stop running from Him when you realize that you’ve been forgiven, all you need is repentance and acceptance of this forgiveness. You’ll only end up paying for sins He already paid for in Christ if you don’t embrace this truth of love and rest in the warmth of His salvation.(and your payment never comes even close to the wage of your sin)

God went out of His way to prove His everlasting love for us when He sent Jesus to the cross.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Romans 5:7-8msg

We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:6-8‬ ‭MSG‬‬

God loves you!

That’s what I want you to get out of it all. His love stands supreme and makes it all worth it.

His love shows a lot of PDA, it’s not a secret to be hidden.

His love rejoices over you with singing.

His love is the MVP.

His love is King! 

If you’ve never received this love, now is the time... is as simple as saying these few words, but so profound it changes your life forever. From darkness into His glorious light. From ashes to beauty. From despair to peace and joy and ALL good things.

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" Romans 10:9

 Here we go...

Thank you Lord for dying for my sins,

Thank you precious Jesus for your endless love for me. I confess all my sins and receive your forgiveness. I declare that you are Lord, come into my heart. I surrender to your love.

❤️

The Beef That Breeds Nightmares!

In light of the recent killings by fulani herdsmen in Benue state, I wrote this down. It is not my intention to downplay what happened to a place of fiction. It's just me, trying to make it feel more real, trying to picture it from the eyes of a victim.

May the souls of all those killed rest in peace. 

There’s a flight response triggered in both humans and animals alike in the face of danger. Adrenaline, a metallic taste in the mouth, impaired cognitive function, fleeing, a strong desire to survive and there’s the other way we respond to danger,  the freeze, and that is my response today. Legs firmly planted on the dusty ground, not shaking; fear lounging in the corner, not interested in what my eye is taking in, my heartbeat regular, my cognition is alive…. more alive than it’s ever been. I take in everything happening around me like the reporters who dare to go into the carnage of war torn zones, but unlike them, I have no security. I am exposed. I have no hope for survival, or rather, I’m not thinking about surviving or being a victim, I am just existing in that moment, frozen.

There’s a trickle down my legs. I have urinated on myself… that’s the only thing that gives away what my subconscious mind feels in the back of my freeze moment, or maybe I just couldn’t hold it in anymore, I was on my way to find a spot to squat and pee when everything changed.

I imagine the jests Terwase my brother would throw at me if he knows what just happened to me…. I, the city girl, the self acclaimed ‘know what’s up’ girl with painted pepper red nails and pink lipstick, with well lined perfectly highlighted brows peed on herself.

He would laugh for a lifetime, but he wouldn’t as it were, because he can’t, and he can’t because he’s lying dying a few feet from me, his stomach with a deep gash that has left his intestine or something that looks like it hanging out, his right hand semi-detached from his body from the shoulder… his eyes open and bewildered, fixed on me, his sister who was going to be a nurse, wanting me to do something to stop the pain, or maybe wanting me to run? But I am frozen. Beside him is his pregnant wife Ieember, dead already with a nasty gnash on her head and her neck, the baby that was on her back, ten month old Bem is sprawled, half removed from her back, his naked body looks lifeless from where I stand.

My grandmother screams calling on God as she falls from a machete hitting her back. The people that matter in my life are all falling or have fallen dead. I see others, neighbors and some relations running. Would they be able to escape?

The smell of roast yam fills the air.

I love roasted yam. In fact, that’s what lured me to the farm today. While they farmed, my grandmother and the very dead Terwa were going to roast some yam with some bush rat the younger kids caught and I wasn’t going to miss out on it. Just to show them that I wasn’t a farm girl anymore, I wore my borrowed shoes, the ones I took from carol my roommate, and I sprayed a little too much perfume… I came to slay them with my sophistication but here I am in the midst of the worst kind of slaying I have seen.

Heaps of harvested yams are on fire, yams from our hard work, yams that were to be sold for out livelihood and to sponsor my education set on fire… the smell of burning yam, fresh blood, dust and burning flesh hit me… I smell the screams of the fleeing, the dying people and the killers more than I hear them. I smell the smell of evil.  

Bodies drop, babies cry, and as the blood hits the ground it cries out for vengeance. I see the humans, who may as well be demons raise their machetes and land them on the babies. The barbarians, eyes expressionless, a dark evil looming as they do their evil like zombies, controlled by something beyond what the human race can describe.

The Christmas holiday is over, and nursing school resumed two days ago, but with all my city girl façade, I love being home, I love being on the farm, even though I hate the work. I love being around my grandmother and her funny jokes, I love the pride my siblings have when they show me off to everyone in the village. I love speaking ‘perfect’ English to the clan head and the admiration of my childhood friends who didn’t get to continue school like me. I love my mother’s cooking and Father’s endless pride as he calls his first daughter ‘Doctor’…. so I delayed resumption, because as much as I love to become a nurse and one day a matron in a big hospital, I hate the stress of classes and homework, the teasing of some of my classmates calling me a ‘village girl’ just because my grades are better than them but I have a tiv accent they say.  If I left two days ago, I would not have had to witness this. But I’m thankful I did not leave, because what is life without my family? I wonder where my mother is, is she dead already or did she run? She was to come meet us in the farm. What would my father say when he gets back? He went to the neighboring village to sell some products.

As I stand in the midst of the carnage, I see one of them running towards me, I still don’t run, he raises his machete with a menacing look on his face, it lands on my skull, I feel no pain, just a thud… in the freeze mode, there is a decrease in the feeling of pain. My legs suddenly shift as it gives way for me to hit the ground, before I land, another blow hits my side, I feel the blood gushing out, then a throbbing headache and for the first time, I begin to shake as my body no longer answering to my mind jerks, and then its blank. The last thing I see is the face of the devil, a herd’s man not older than eighteen.

My name is Mercy, or Mhorun as my grandmother named me, a child of mercy, reporting live, or dead as the case may be from the carnage of Guma.

A second year nursing student, an aspiring matron. First of its kind from my family, the only educated one beyond primary education. The city girl. The shanpepe of my father’s house.

With all of this achievements, I am still equated to the life of a cow… my life and that of my loved ones, taken in exchange for a cow, that is our beef, their beef with us… their excuse to wipe us out.

Gone with the wind...

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 I have been a victim of blustery days …

Some days ago, I had another windy experience, we had just finished a press conference for a worship concert holding later in the evening, and we were out taking pictures and just having laughs, but in the midst of that, I was fighting a warfare with the wind… my free hand held on to my dress, I wouldn’t have minded much if I did it in a classy way like the famous Marilyn Monroe pose, but oh well, it was more of a clumsy way, not fit for an iconic moment. I was not ready to expose the men of God to another sort of unsolicited worship, and so one hand with my drink and plate of snack, and the other holding down my dress, I walked bent over to a sit and found rest and protection from the shame of being exposed. Oh the struggle!!!!

Subtlety fighting with the wind...

Most ladies in skirts and dresses regardless of class has had her own share of fighting for her right to dignity with the wind. It doesn’t spare anymore, not even the royals from its assault. You have to be well armed with quick reflexes or you’ll leave yourself exposed… indecently! What a vulnerable moment it is being exposed.

But in all these, the queen, Queen Elizabeth found a hack to tackle this problem, she uses a perfect defense for this war with the wind and I love it. We wouldn’t be seeing any gone with the wind tabloid picture of her royal treasure anytime soon. I read once, that she has weights sewn onto the hem of her clothes. Curtain weights to be precise, are sewn into the lining of her dresses and skirts, giving them extra weight thus making a windy waltz and a royal exposure near impossible.

"Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth." Ephesians 4:14(NLT)

We need to take a cue from her majesty and I’m not talking about dresses. We need weights to hold down our beliefs when the wind of new doctrines blows or we’ll be left exposed.

Let the weights of the truth of Gods word you’re grounded in, your worship etc keep you from exposure when the wind blows your way. There’s a lot of wind of ridiculous teachings from clueless people blowing on social media, talking against some of the very rituals of our faith, if you let it sweep up your faith you’ll be left exposed, and what a loss it is when we are exposed.

The word says we’re immature when we jump on any teaching that comes our way, they may come off as eloquent, but we’re been tricked into the lies that sound so clever we’re convinced it has to be true.

Be grounded in the word of God for yourself….  As for all the ‘wind’ of doctrine that is blowing people out of their belief, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—”I Peter 2:15 NKJV

In other words, keep doing the good you’re convicted by the word of God to do... Stick to your truth long enough and time will silence the ignorance of ‘foolish men.’ Truth can only be buried for so long with arguments... but it’ll always exhume itself with its results! Let the weight hold you down, and soon enough, you’ll see just how wrong the wind was/is.

It’s the New Year. Be wise. Test every Spirit before you go with the wind of the voices. Seek God… You’ll never understand God’s word, the scriptures, His power and His principles with just head knowledge. That’s why people carnally and wrongly interpret scriptures and many allow their skirts blown with this wind of deceit… Don’t be quick to despise prophecies

Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Ephesian 4:14(TLB)

Sew in your weights and don’t get exposed.