MOYO WANGU USICHOKE

Have you ever begun doing something with so much psyche and Just when you are about to finish, your heart faints, your energy is drained, and you feel like giving up? Have you ever been in a situation that you have given your whole energy to something, I mean whole of it, mentally, physically, emotionally, financially and it doesn’t seem to work? You get a point and when you are just about to give up…viola…things work out?  Sometimes you have given up only to later realize how close you were to the goal? It could have been a task, a challenge, a journey, an innovation, a discipline you are trying to cultivate, whatever it is! Well, I have done that countless times! You begin something with so much energy only to ‘get tired’ in the midst. 

Well, it is with that in mind that I was thinking about the salvation journey. Back in the days, growing up there was a way the gospel was preached and could cut deep down the soul. Well, I wasn’t born again then but then had the privilege of listening to crusades from the comfort of our home from the nearby market. The Sermons and gospel songs were deep and heaven sounded so real, it felt like Jesus was really coming and there was a sense of urgency to get saved and walk with Christ. I remember when I got baptized and could now partake the Lords table, the teaching was so clear....whoever takes the Lords table in unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. 1^St Corinthians 11:27, well that hasn’t changed as the word of God does not change. Back then I kept a small book that had a record of my sins (wink wink😏😉)  so that I do not forget any of them when going for confession during mass, I was just a young gal who had just finished her catechism, baptized and confirmed and could now confess and partake of the Lords table. This was a very serious affair, I didn’t want to joke around it.

When I gave my life to Christ many years later, the message had not changed. There was urgency and salvation was real. Take a thought too and remember how it was and circumstances in which you gave your life to Christ. Take the journey day by day of events before and after, recount them to date, has the Lord been faithful? Personally, I would say...yes he has been very faithful. How about your zeal to seek and serve Him, is the curve going up, straight or it is going down? how about your giving? Prayer life? Bible study? Basically, how is your energy now compared to when you gave your life to Christ?  Or salvation has become kawaida na umezoea mungu such that everything happens? Testimonies? What happened to them? Or it has become normal? Or you are giving up on waiting upon Christ? Do you feel that the Lord has tarried, and you can move on to your own things and keep the bare minimum? Is salvation still a matter of urgency to you?

There is a song I love sung by New Life choir that was famous when I was growing up. It is named Mapambazuko, It says that we should ensure that our names are written in the book of life, Not just  our specific ministry records. Goes like this….” Hakikisha Jina lako, limeandikwa mbinguni, kwenye kitabu cha uzima ujulikane mbinguni, ndipo kutakuwa furaha ukiihama dunia”  It brings about the reality of life, salvation and heaven.it talks about many things we do that are good but not the main thing like going to church, serving in ministry without giving our life’s to Christ.  It calls us to always take stock of our salvation day after another to ensure we are not missing the mark or dropping out of the way.

Now, back to our salvation journey, do we still have the zeal? Are we still waiting on the lord or we have given up and gone back to our old ways? Are we zealous to keep our testimony or things have become Kawaida? Are we still working out our salvation with fear and trembling? Yes, there are countless reasons to give up, I bet if we sought for them we would have many of them…But Christ is coming for the Church, we should be found ready and waiting we should not be found like the foolish virgins who were waiting for the groom yet did not have oil in their lamps. How does it feel waiting for a whole night for the groom only to be locked outside and miss the party? It is like waiting upon God for years denying ourselves the pleasures of this world only to give up and get locked out when Christ comes. 1^st Corinthians  9:24 urges us to all aim at the prize that we shouldn’t just run for the sake of being in a race. My prayer is that we shall not give up even as we wait for the Lord amidst the challenges of this world. We shall keep our Hope in Christ even as wait upon Him. Let us trust in Him, :Let us put or hope in Christ! Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
 
Am telling this to My heart today , infact I am preaching to my self! You cannot faint,you have to keep moving, you have to keep loving the Lord, you have to keep waiting upon the Lord. You cannot give up! No you have to press on…Moyo wangu usichoke kungojea bwana. Romans 11:22  Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, persistent in prayer. Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

Brethren, God is watching to see us finish the race and finish itwell... Mungu anataka mwisho mwema jinsi tu anafurahia mwanzo mwema. Let us keep the faith and at the end we can look back and say,  just like Paul, in 2^nd Timothy 7-8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8From now on the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day— and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

Romans 13:11-12 And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light

Friends, Christ is nearer than when we first believed

Moyo wangu Usichoke.
Nawe Rafiki yangu usichoke.
Tumalize mwendo salama.