Dear Unbeliever...
Dear Unbeliever,
If you’re wondering why I chose to write to you, well, I was wondering the same but I am writing because I think there are a lot of things we have to hash out about this “Believer” versus “Unbeliever” silent battle we have going on in this world. First, let me clarify that I am speaking to the Unbeliever who does not believe in Jesus Christ and those of us who call ourselves followers of “the way” of Jesus. I am aware that while you might not believe in Christianity, you possibly believe in other religions or some other source of power or force as the secular world calls it. Let me also state here that I am no expert of the bible or the Christian religion - just a girl who encountered God in my confusion and brokenness and He is helping me day by day to peel the layers of truth which only comes from Him. With that said, you’re in good company with me here. I really don’t think we will be able to finish everything I have on my mind today so I have thought of breaking this letter into various parts and I would really love for you to stay on track with me week by week till I get to the end of it.
I recently read that there are over 4000+ religions in the world as of 2021. You can imagine my shock just as you are upon hearing this. This only adds on to your confusion doesn’t it? You’re probably wondering - what's the purpose of all these religions? I’ll tell you - religion is man’s pursuit to find God and by doing so, they come up with different ways of getting there. Since religion is man’s creation, sometimes it is bound by their own/personal traditions, rituals, doctrines, egos, pride, etc. This is why you’ve probably noticed the different forms, practices and requirements of certain religious organizations. Truth be told that I am spooked out just like you are when I see some of the doctrines and practices of some of these religious entities. There are days I wonder how God must be feeling - watching us make all kinds of proclamations, engaging in all kinds of practices He has not commanded us to. Well, I’ll have my answers when I finally get to heaven and see Him face to face. Did I just weird you out by speaking about ‘Heaven’? Sorry if I did but I think we will address that in this letter as well.
I am aware a few things that turn you off about us Christians/Believers and those are the things I would like us to chat about.
- Why do we serve a man whom we have never met called God - does He even exist or someone has just managed to convince millions of people that God exists? More so, we try to get you to believe that truly God exists.
- Why do we believe the bible really is God’s book and we should live our lives by it?
- How do we get to condemn you (Unbelievers) to hell, playing God and judging over your lives when you see our (Believers) hypocrisy on full display? We secretly do the same things you do and even worse but then we call you all kinds of names and act so pious on Sundays or when we are in church. We say one thing and do another and guess what, if I were in your shoes, I’d be completely turned off too.
- You wonder why we preach abundance and prosperity yet most Believers are poor and miserable. Well, that cannot be enticing can it? I mean, you don’t even believe in what we believe in yet you’re doing well on your job, you’re OK financially and have all your basic needs met while we Believers seem to be struggling to even put food on the table.
- Why do some preachers or religious leaders lead extravagant lives and yet we try to guilt Unbelievers for spending their money any way they please?
- Here’s a big one - we make noise about someone called the Holy Spirit. Some of us even speak and pray in weird languages called Tongues. I know how funny you think we sound and I also know you think we must be losing some screws in our heads to be speaking stuff we don’t even understand.
- We claim miracles and supernatural powers and you can’t believe that we actually believe those things really exist or we are just making up stuff that really shouldn’t be.
- Then the big and final one for me - this thing called “salvation” and eternal life that we drum in your ears and make so much noise of. Like we really believe there’s an afterlife and a place called Heaven when no one that you personally know that has passed on has come back to life to even tell you what happened when they took their last breath.
Well, looks like we have a few points to discuss in the next few weeks. I know the Holy Spirit (it’s OK if you don’t know Him yet or believe He exists) will guide me to have an honest and candid conversation with you. I will be able to share my personal experiences and testimonies with you to bring home some of the things we will be chatting about. I will be quoting some scriptures - don’t be turned off by that as I need them to make my points clearer. If you don’t have a bible and do not want to own one, it's OK but you can verify what I’ll be quoting by just putting it in the google search browser and bam!
Just a little bit about me - I’m not your average Christian woman. I don’t like religion and I have a hard time obeying religious rules. I honor men and obey God and His word instead. Yup - that’s me. I believe in studying and feeding on the Word of God, Praying and having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. My hunger for the things of God which has led me to passionately share Jesus Christ came from a place of personal encounter with the Lord. My mother became a Christian Believer when I was about 7 years old. We came from a family of hard core idol worshipers - a.k.a pagans. God found it worthy to call my mother out of the darkness and laid a mantle on her life. My mother didn’t even know anything about the bible before God called her. I know that sounds a bit sci-fi to you but another time, I’d explain in detail. BUT - in the last 33+ years, God has used her to plant over 50 churches, brought thousands of people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, delivered people from spiritual bondages, healed so many sick people and I can go on and on. Can I tell you though that while I grew up with such a powerful woman that God was using mightily, I was very displeased to see the challenges, attacks and pain she had to endure in doing God’s work? The many car accidents she had on her way to evangelism and crusades - even at one point her car was flipped over a bridge into a river. Oh yes - she has seen it all and I had to suffer through it all as her only daughter. It devastated me so much that I wanted nothing to do with openly serving God. In other words, I ran away anytime God had to be involved. I even had my own doubts about God at some point. I thought He just made the people who heartily serve Him suffer for no reason. I like you even doubted His existence at some point. It was one thing after the other but can I tell you that in all these things, my mother till this day says “she counts it all joy?” She would do it again and again if God asked her to? She talks about how faithful God has been to her and how blessed she’s been and I even get confused sometimes because I see it differently - that she sacrificed so much and lost so much because of God. How can she experience all these bad things and still be in love with God?
Well, after all these years of me running and silently being mad at God for various reasons including the attacks that came on my own life as well, He finally got my attention and now I understand why my mom feels the way she does about God - she’s literally dedicated her life to Him and no matter what happens she’s for Him. I really hope that during our conversations over the next few weeks, you’ll get to see my heart as well - that I do understand where you’re coming from and hope to change your perception of Jesus Christ. Most importantly, you will see that He is not as judgmental as some of us Christians have made you think. He doesn’t condemn you and He does not hate you. Even if you choose not to love Him, He still loves you and desires nothing but to have a one-on-one relationship with you. He doesn’t like religion either - He thinks it keeps people in bondage and clouds their perception of Him. You’ll see how cool Jesus is - He allows me to be my girly self (high-heels, red lipstick, tutu dresses and skirts) and still manifests Himself through me. He accepts you just as you are and when you start your relationship with Him, He will gradually transform you into the King or Queen He created you to be.
So, are you ready to have these discussions with me? Then come on back here next week as we chat about point number 1 listed above. May you be blessed as you go out and blessed when you come in this week.
To be continued…
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
Declarations For September 2021
Pray with me…..
My Father in Heaven, I thank You and bless You for bringing me into the 9th month of this year. I thank You for the preservation of my life, provision and guidance thus far this year. Abba Father, You have been faithful through it all and You have made a way even when there seemed to be no way. Just as a woman carries a child for 9 months and births, I am declaring that:
- You are birthing your possibilities in my life this month.
- Every vision, dream or prophecy You have revealed concerning my life is coming to fruition in this month.
- Out of my belly will flow rivers of living waters.
- I am a well and a fountain that will never run dry.
- You have put a new song in my mouth this month.
- You are surrounding me with your glory and favor in every area of my life.
- I am shining brighter than the stars.
- You have counted me righteous to excel in your kingdom.
- I am a city on a hill and my light will shine over all the nations.
- Kings are striping their robes for me and making me their King.
- You are subduing nations before me.
- Nations are coming to my call to partake of the glory You are birthing in my life.
- All doors are opening in front of me and no gates are barred to my destiny.
- You are going ahead of me and levelling the hills, shattering the bronze gates and smashing the iron bars.
- You are giving me treasures hoarded in the dark and secret riches hidden away.
- You will forever be the Lord who has called me by Your mighty name.
We declare that it is so and so it is in the mighty name of Jesus Christ we pray! AMEN!
XOXO
Lady Abena.
Why He Lost The Crown
Last night my bible study was on 1 Samuel 15 and as I was reading that chapter, I received an illumination on why King Saul really lost the crown. In this chapter, the Lord had commanded the prophet Samuel to give clear instructions to Saul on how he was to carry out His (God’s) punishment on the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they were coming out from Egypt. God asked Saul to go and attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. He asked Saul not to spare the Amalekites at all but to put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys. God instructed Saul to completely wipe out these people off the surface of the earth but what did Saul do? He and his army kept the King of the Amalekites alive, kept some of the best sheep, cattle and goods and were unwilling to destroy completely as the Lord had commanded.
This infuriated the Lord because Saul defied His orders. God deeply regretted making Saul King over Israel and He immediately rejected Him. This troubled the prophet Samuel deeply and he cried to the Lord all night but He was not going to give Saul a pass on this one. What was interesting is when Samuel meets Saul and he admonishes Saul about the decisions he had made to keep items from the Amalekites and defying God’s order. See how clueless Saul was in this situation - he kept telling the prophet that he (Saul) and his army had kept the good stuff to sacrifice it to the Lord. Somehow in his mind, he thought God would be pleased by that decision - to bring back the plunder from the Amalekites to offer them as sacrifices to Him (God). In 1 Samuel 15:20, he (Saul) affirmed that he had obeyed the Lord’s command to the fullest extent. He really saw no wrong in what he had done because to him (Saul), pleasing the Lord should be a priority.
In 1 Samuel 15:17, the Prophet Samuel reminds Saul what a small-minded person he (Saul) is and even with that deficiency, the Lord still anointed him King over Israel. It was obvious that Saul did not grow out of that mindset. This is where the light bulb went off for me - Saul’s behavior; defying the orders of the Lord and trying to offer sacrifices when the prophet who made him king had not commanded it, was over compensation for what he lacked. A lot of times, we have found ourselves in situations or roles that we probably feel undeserved for and think we need to overdo it to be liked or accepted. The saddest part of Saul’s de-throning is what he says in 1 Samuel 15:24, that he (Saul) was afraid of the men (his army) so he gave in to their request. That drives my point home - Saul, although anointed, still lacked the leadership mentality, training and skills required to lead. Being the first King that Israel had, there was no curriculum or onboarding training for him and God even made his reign easy peasy knowing what he (Saul) lacked - just obey Him (the Lord) and His prophet Samuel.
You see, the favor of God can lift a man, but if you do not have the humility to obey, listen and learn the right things, chances are you will be dropped unexpectedly. Saul lost the crown because although he was king, he didn’t understand the rules of engagement with the Lord - that Adonai prioritizes obedience over any amount of sacrifice you can offer Him. Saul did not come into his fullness as a king - he still carried the mindset of a commoner and a donkey chaser. Saul was more interested in people’s approval and acceptance than obeying the Lord who made him King. Even when the prophet refused to go with him, his last request was for Samuel to honor him (Saul) before the people and elders. He was still worried about his reputation before the people.
I can understand - we live in a world of humans. The accolades, applause and approval of men are much desired and rightly so. Unfortunately, this can be a very dangerous trap and many people have fallen victim to this. People have lost their crowns because they chose to prioritize what others say over what God says concerning them. Day in and out I am tempted to stay, bask and flourish in the applause of men but I have to remind myself to take the accolades, applause and affirmations on surface value and not allow it to get into my head. I learned this from a mentor in the Kingdom of God who advises to not let anyone clap you out of your destiny. The sweet nothings, the praises and even encouragements - however honest and genuine has a way of birthing pride in men. I have to make a conscientious effort daily to not be a victim of the praises of men because you can easily fall for it. I sometimes find myself wondering if people thought I didn’t receive or welcome their niceties the way any normal person should. Really, I am more than appreciative of them but I can’t stay in that head space hence Satan capitalizes on that and flips me out. I receive them, give the glory back to God and press on to do more and better next time.
I don’t know about you but I do not want to lose any crown the Lord has given me and the new ones He is molding for me. In urban language, we need to stay WOKE and obedient with the things of God, especially what He is commanding us to do. May the spirit of the Lord convict us to stay in alignment with him and His will for us daily. Amen!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.