#rhematown iss.151
Everyday Jesus – Hymn 311
“I could not do without thee”, said the priest.
The pianist proceeded with a familiar tune, the choir joined, and the rest of church sang along.
I could not do without Thee
O Savior of the lost,
Whose precious blood redeemed me
At such tremendous cost.
Thy righteousness, Thy pardon
Thy precious blood, must be
My only hope and comfort,
My glory and my plea.
As the first stanza went by, I couldn’t help but imagine the cost of my redemption. I tried to wrap my mind around what Jesus must have gone through for love.
A man had a lover who he gave up everything for, including his wealth and prestige. He gave her his attention and showered her with gifts. She lacked nothing but yet she wasn’t satisfied. She gave herself to riffraffs and vagabonds who had nothing to offer her. Her lover couldn’t give up on her despite her promiscuity. Life however caught up with her and she contracted HIV. She felt bad for herself and knew she deserved to die. She didn’t want to cause her lover more pain so she ran away but her lover went through thorns and pains until he found her. He said to her, ‘I don’t care about what you must have done. I still love you. I’ll transfuse your blood into mine and take yours. I’ll die of the HIV but I want you to live’. Shocked and guilt stricken, she told him she couldn’t accept such offer. ‘what if I go back to my old ways? I don’t trust myself. I’m sick of myself. I disgust myself’, she said. Her lover said to her, ‘my death would take care of it all’.
Isn’t it amazing? The story is unbelievable… I mean, it’s not even ordinarily possible. I heaved and shook my head to clear it as the church began the second stanza.
I could not do without Thee,
I cannot stand alone,
I have no strength or goodness,
No wisdom of my own;
But Thou, belovèd Savior,
Art all in all to me,
And weakness will be power
If I lean hard on Thee.
Another exciting thought hit me. And I thought…this could be it.
Melania Trump did nude photographs during her modeling days but she’s now America’s first lady. According to societal measure, she definitely doesn’t deserve to be the first lady of America but she is. Her past doesn’t matter anymore, just because she married to Trump. Her critics would still greet her as ‘Her excellency’, if they are ever opportuned to come before her. She has a covering and her prestige comes from association. Her weaknesses became power because she leaned hard to Trump.
Exactly how I’m a beneficiary to Christ’s sacrifice just by the reason of my belief in him. My husband is the King of kings…chew on that!
I could not do without Thee;
No other friend can read
The spirit’s strange deep longings,
Interpreting its need;
No human heart could enter
Each dim recess of mine,
And soothe, and hush, and calm it,
O blessèd Lord, but Thine.
The third stanza brought my consciousness back as I remembered “The lady, her lover and her Lord by T.D Jakes. There are issues and aches that rise up in me, that even I do not understand. So how do I explain it to anyone? Only my manufacturer, I imagine, can understand. T.D Jakes while trying to explain a lover’s role and Jesus’ role in a lady’s life said, “But, in the stillness of the night, when he has gone to sleep and there are pending issues on her mind, it is her Lord who works the night shift and watches over her in the dark. He is the one whom she can talk to when her words cannot describe what she is feeling. Her husband may understand what she says, but her lord understands what she feels”.
No human can enter the deepest and darkest part of my heart to soothe, hush and calm it. Only the Lord.
I could not do without Thee,
For years are fleeting fast,
And soon in solemn oneness
The river must be passed;
But Thou wilt never leave me,
And though the waves roll high,
I know Thou wilt be near me,
And whisper, “It is I”.
Finally the last stanza came and tears rolled down my cheeks. People have left me and I have left people. Some people left because they couldn’t cope with my excesses and I don’t blame them one bit. Others left because I couldn’t meet up with their standards. I don’t blame them either. I pushed some away and they left. I cried over some and still didn’t even notice some leave. Some didn’t leave by choice. They promised never to leave but death took them away and it’s sad that nobody has power over death. Through all these human helplessness and limitations, I found someone that come what may, will never leave. “And though the waves roll high, I know thou wilt be near me, and whisper, “it is I”.
The church chorused an “Amen”.
-ChyD
#rhematown iss. 150
Everyday Jesus – 4 loving-thing ‘sweet’ nothings that you don’t want!
The world is so ‘loved’ up that she really wants no more. I think I have heard a lot of ‘I love you’s that some of us really want no more. I mean, we have heard it too much that it only holds a little drop of water only and only when we want to fool around with a special someone. My point is this: ‘I love you’ is too clichéd that it means nothing to many people; I mean, didn’t anyone tell those words to Jeffery Dahmer and why did he end up with such a troubled mind that gets tranquilized only when he adds a medal to his ‘Milwaukee cannibal’ reputation, a money making condiment if you like- I mean, didn’t Juicy Jay add it to Katy Perry’s ‘Dark horse’ hit? What I am saying is that this renowned serial killing dude of the late 90s was ‘loved from the heart’ at least by his ma yet he loved to eat men’s hearts out! I think that he like many of us was born and raised by mere, I repeat mere 100% human parents who have got mere ‘sweet’ nothings that were no good for us because they were ‘loving junks’ to our little growing young hearts. I would want to show us these loving junks that we should not allow inside of us, so we don’t end up puking on anyone. I call them the loving-thing sweet nothings or junks if you like and ama tell on just 4:
“Never be mad, oh little one”. This is what ‘loving’ mummies and daddies and uncles and aunties all mean when they call little Denis ‘a messed up lazy thing’ just at the point he was about winning the heart of his 6 year old love of life; and this loving mummy and uncle expect Denis to say “oh thanks, that was just what I’ve been tryna say all day”. Ahn ahn, I repeat nah nah, Denis would be a menace because he’s got his own mind too, even if you say it’s a little one! Who said that babies do not have a right to be mad too, we can only give them enough liberty to fume at us, so that they might not want to yell at us later. They might actually, but we must show some empathy! By the way, you would never find this scene in that movie except you see it again in your mid harmattan night dream, just saying. Thanks!
“Awwwwn, she is such a cute little dumping place, can’t you see?”. This is what some mummies mean to say when they have some food stains on their hand written job application and want to put the blame on someone’s little life, even when she knows that this 7 year old someone had been chilling at her *Ma nnukwu’s place since God knows when. Little someone would feel like one messed up old poop especially if she had been trying to be a lady at least to gain some respect. My point is we should know when we are forcing the people we said we love to become sports rackets after we said that they are the objects of our love. Don’t even say that your racket is your best friend because even if you do, I’d tell you that it’s simply because it doesn’t have the will of mind to stop you from using it. Well, little ones do, okay?
“You are my love toy, baby”. (Coughs) please are you still with me? This is what Zee world mummies and daddies mean when they force their ‘favorite’ son to quit his untamed hopes and dreams because some successful mummy and daddy needs a successor to their own dreams. That is it.
“You have no life baby, but I can give you some”. This is what some mummies and daddies and besties do when you don’t agree with their views and persuasions and they say “you don’t love me, do you”? My point is, does love not set us free, and does love produce mindless zombies? I don’t think so, Abba Daddy in his love and power made us and gave us what it took to want or stab him, just think about it!
Favouromeje, 2017
*Ma nnukwu is the igbo title for Grandma
#rhematown iss. 149
#rhematown iss.148
EVERYDAY JESUS – DAMSEL IN DISTRESS
09/2/17
Dearest Damsel in Distress,
I hope that this note does not leave you without help, having found you in distress.
I have come to learn by experience, how bleak a future could be when you cannot see any lights at the end of the tunnel.
Oh DD, I am at that tunnel right now, it feels as though my cloud is night and I dare say that I have not found any silver linings yet, it’s so really dark in here!
DD, I really cannot tell you that I know how I got in here, or my way out of here; and the blanket thick darkness in this tunnel is so smoldering yet I am unshielded from the ice cold in here. Maybe they are even hot ice, I really cannot tell.
You know Damsel in Distress, the only clue that I have is to simply cry because I really just cannot help it.
I have a lot of hope, and I have some faith too but I guess I don’t have any answers at all in my supplies – in fact, I got lost in here with nothing in my convenient pack!
Nevertheless DD, I would want to share with you, a few of my little things – some of the strengths that the LORD is giving me here!
I do not know how my help out of here will come, but I know too well that the LORD has helped me by His Spirit. I have chosen to hang on to His grace because His mercy is all that I have to hang on to. Sometimes, the rain beats me so hard, the ocean tries to drown me, the fire burns with smoldering smoke with me buried-stuck inside, and the mountains don’t even let me have the luxury of a little air to breathe.
But do you know what DD, I can never be consumed! I have not found that in my Bible, it’s not about here being too dark to see; the Spirit is my inner witness!
I mourn but I am blessed daily by the LORD’s comforting Spirit. I know that my pain would all go away someday because I know that it is well with my soul. I know that even if everything choses to remain dead hopeless, I’ll live through it all.
One thing I know for sure is that my problems are not pioneered by God but I know that He will hijack the situation to beautify me even more, my “sisterly” Ubamara calls that ‘Make up’!
Therefore DD, because I know that beauty is my sorrow’s end, and spiritual endurance is my heart’s fate, I have chosen to hang on because I BELIEVE! And because I believe, I am going to show myself that I believe.
I am going to grab a pale from time to time, and I’d soak my feet ready for some generous pedicure. I have chosen to take my bath times more seriously because I have promised myself to savor every single bit of it, even my lotion times too! I am never going to forget to wear myself some beautiful makeups every single morning. I am never going to forget to eat good food, no junks! And I am really going to be walking in here with some self-respect. I would never forget to keep myself hydrated because I need to look beautiful for my beautiful end. Who wants to look like a mess at red carpet entry? Not me, most def! You wouldn’t want to DD because our end is fairer than any Grammy red carpet’s euphoria, trust me!
Damsel in Distress,
Favour Omeje.
ON KINGS AND DOMAINS.
What makes this thing wrong?
Is a question I have been asked on many occasions, especially when it comes to upholding sexual purity until marriage, referring to it as ‘the right thing’.
I have often been battered with answer’s summed up in the statement
‘ To call premarital sex wrong is to deny human nature, there is no need being fake about something that comes to you naturally, you christians should just stop being religious and face reality’
To these I would simply laugh because in all honesty, the point seems valid, but I dare say only from a first person (selfish) point of view.
Let us Ascend To The Place Of The Most High And See Things From The Ominicient Point Of View.
As I pondered on this issue I was taken back to the garden of eden. The problem was never in the fruit, neither was it in the eating. The problem came straight from the thinking.
‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he’
Where the mind of man ceases to consider the possibility of life outside of himself, there will always be a reparcursion for his actions.
To eat fruit is not wrong,
The tree of Knowledge of good and evil is not a ‘bad’ tree.
I know this because all that God created is good.
But what made this thought and action wrong? why did man fall?
Man fell because his thought and action altered the divine order of things.
Man must cease to see himself as an insignificant element merely roaming the earth, with the sole purpose of having sex and making babies, only to eat, grow old and die. He must begin to see himself as the custodian of the ancient secrets of the earth, the guardian, caretaker, husband, tender of the earth. A force that is capable of changing the course of the earth as we know it.
We are only mere men if we choose to be.
This was Adams sin, and a sin ever so recurring in our world today.
To see himself below who he really is.
To think for once that he can act in isolation of the inevitability of consequences.
You see, Adam neglected the fact that in life, there are no voids, that a quest embarked upon outside the divine order would always give birth to something new, an antithesis.
Man’s mandate to be fruitful and multiply is not restricted to the birthing of children after his own kind, it far encompasses the meanial box we have put it in.
Anything birthed by man through the power of life Himself (Holy Spirit) will be equally as powerful, equally as alive, and equally bring its resultant consequence with earnest velocity.
Adam sowed to the flesh when he ate of the tree outside of divinity’s plan, and of that sowing Adam reaps corruption ever so lasting.
To this again I say, We are only mere men if we choose to be.
The choice is never devoid of consequences, and trust me they far supersed the fear of STDs and early pregnancy,
I speak of consequences that sowing to life or death can bring. One more desirable than the other, one more fruitful than the other, one more blessed than the other.
Both very much eternal.
#GraceandPeaceFamily
