Chasing Donkeys
In the book of 1 Samuel chapters 9, 10 and 11, we are introduced to the story of how God asked the prophet Samuel to anoint and coronate Saul, the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin to become the first monarch over His people - Israel. Saul’s father had lost his donkeys so he had sent him (Saul) with a servant to go and look for the donkeys. It was during this time that God led him to prophet Samuel whom the Lord had already spoken to him regarding Saul. In 1 Samuel 9:21 CJB, Saul, understanding the mantle that God was putting on him, made a profound statement which will be the basis for this blog piece:
“Sha’ul replied, “I’m only a man from Binyamin, the smallest tribe in Isra’el; and my family is the least important of all the families in the tribe of Binyamin! Why are you saying such a thing to me?”.
Saul was reminding God through prophet Samuel that by virtue of earthly qualifications, he is not fit to be a King. His own vision of himself, his calibre and all does not even align with Kingship. I mean the guy was chasing after lost donkeys so go figure. Kings came from royal seeds, men of valor and power, warriors who could take on nations, etc. It was no surprise that even when Prophet Samuel anointed him, there were still some Jews who refused to accept him as their king and would not pay respect to him or give him gifts.
Honestly this has been the story of most men and women and I am here to remind you that where you are today or how small your vision of yourself is does not mean that is what God sees in you. Your reality is not a limitation to God’s manifestation in your life. God takes the ordinary to do extraordinary things. All through the bible - He empowered men who didn’t qualify or had some defect to become tools for the manifestation of His power and glory. I tried to cast my mind around all the great men who have done extraordinary things in life and none of them came from greatness. From Bill Gates to Bezos, Steve Jobs et al, these were men who started from nowhere and now they control the wealth of over 7+ billion humans. Some of them even barely made it through college but see where God has allowed them to be. Reality can limit our vision and that is why it is important for us believers to know what God has spoken over our lives. Saul thought chasing donkeys was his call when God created him to be a King over his own people. When he called him to be king, He (God) gave Saul a new heart and poured His spirit on him to be able to fulfill the assignment.
There is nothing God cannot do with your life. Your destiny is not tied to your place of birth, your location or even the family you come from. What you need to do is start prophesying to yourself everything you desire to become, including the ones God has revealed to you through visions and dreams. Your reality will not add up if you try to do the math but HE IS GOD - He owns everything in the world including the means and strategies to lift you to where He wants you to be. Stay in alignment and expectation and develop yourself and your capacity while you wait for His manifestation. It will not be by might, nor by any power that we will prevail in this kingdom. It is just by the Spirit of God, His mercy and His Compassion. He is the lifter of men! Believe that because I am a living testament of this.
I pray for you this week - that if you have been lost in the wilderness chasing after donkeys, may the Lord align you with His vision of you and call you to your place of Kingship. May the Lord align you with the people who will anoint and propel you into your destiny. May the Lord give you a spirit of discernment to be able to discern who your helpers of destiny are when He sends them your way. May He give you the grace to endure and the spirit of wisdom to guide you through. May the Lord give you a new heart and pour His spirit on you to enable you to fulfill your destiny. In Jesus’ name - AMEN!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
When Jesus Heals
In Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48, there’s a story of a woman who had suffered hemorrhaging for over 12 years. With faith, she touched the fringes of Jesus’ garment as He was on His way to Jairus’ house to heal his sick daughter. Yesterday the Lord gave me an opportunity to share this woman’s story on our weekly broadcast called “Woman To Woman”. The Holy Spirit did something beautiful during the ministration. When I got to the part Jesus had stopped and asked the crowd who touched Him and waited for the woman to come out and He blessed her for her HEALING FAITH - the Holy Spirit spoke to me and elaborated more on that part - that Jesus didn’t just call her out to confirm her faith but it was really to restore her dignity, honor and bring her out of her hiding place. That really wasn’t in my notes and during my reading and preparation for the broadcast that never crossed my mind either. I love the Holy Spirit and how He downloads stuff into my heart, mind and ears when I am ministering.
Everything we learned about this woman was that she was ostracized from her society because she had an unclean disease. Bleeding from a woman at the time was treated almost like leprosy. It really was that serious and I urge you to listen to the broadcast here The Woman With The Issue of Blood. Jesus really could have just walked on because He being God knew who exactly had touched Him. Ignoring that woman would have meant confirming that how the society at the time treated her was acceptable but He refuted that by calling her out in front of the thousands of people that she had been hiding from for over 12 years. Then He honored her and restored her back into society. This is what happens when Jesus Heals you. He restores everything else that was broken in your life. He doesn’t just heal - He brings fullness and wholeness to your life.
In whatever area of your life that you are trusting the Lord for healing, be it physical, emotional or spiritual, trust that He will heal you completely and perfect everything else that concerns you. As you walk into this new week - know and believe with all your being that EL-RAPPHA, the Lord our Healer is restoring everything that concerns your life in His mighty name! Amen!
XOXO,
Lady Abena.
Does God Hate People?
A couple of weeks ago I spoke at the Girls Conference and on the second day of the conference, I had an open discussion with the girls – answering their questions and I must say that it was eye opening for me. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, He directed me to answer each question as He wanted me to. One of the questions from the girls that stuck with me was whether God hated people who are homosexuals. She was asking because she is in High School and there have been loads of discussions surrounding gender issues and based on her faith as a Christian girl, it has been impressed on her that God hates homosexuals. I must say that I did not expect that question but I thank God for His wisdom to have answered this young lady and the almost 200 people who were present.
God DOES NOT hate anyone. The bible is clear in Genesis 1:37 (NIV), that “God saw ALL that he had made, and it was very good…”. This to me means that God cannot possibly hate anything He has created including us human beings. Further in Genesis 6, we learn of the SINS of men that the bible reports: “The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled”. The bible further describes the holiness of God – He cannot dwell among sin. That said, anything that He had commanded us humans not to do that we engage in is sin before Him and that separates us from Him. God hates sin, He doesn’t hate the human beings He created but the sins we engage in. Sin separates us from God so when it looks as if God is angry at someone or some nation, it’s because He has separated Himself from them because of the sins that are being committed. It is important to note that Jesus’ ultimate desire is that everyone will come to repentance. Which means that even in our sins, he is mercifully waiting for us to turn back to Him and follow His ways.
If you’ve ever had the same question or thought somehow that God hates you for whatever reason, be assured in your heart and spirit that He loves you more than your earthly parents ever can and He’s waiting for you to come to repentance and Holiness and walk in His ways.
May you walk in peace knowing that God loves you and desires to dwell in your heart always.
XOXO,
Lady Abena.