My intercom rang.
I picked up.
"Sir, you have a visitor."
It was the receptionist.
I asked her to let him in.
I was the in-house architect in a construction company.
My friend, an architect colleague Timothy came visiting.
We'd been friends for a decade...
He came in, we talked, shared scriptures & prayed.
About an hour later, Timothy took his leave.
I saw him off to the car park.
"Tim, where's your car?" I asked.
"I came with a cab", he replied.
"Ah! Car issues! I guess it's at the mechanic's...."
Timothy's response stunned me:
"Naaa. I gave it away."
You WHAT??
"I gave it away. We invited a pastor to come preach in church last week.
The Holy Spirit asked me to give him the car."
It was a BMW.
Tim left in a cab.
I went back to my office, my mind in shock.
It took a while to process what I just heard...
We were both single young architects, just starting out life.
I wondered if the Holy Spirit asked me to give away my car, I would.
It would be very inconvenient not to be mobile in Lagos!
Imagine you have a date?
Which lady would want to date you if you ride cabs & buses about?
These were my concerns.
But my friend, Tim gave out his one & only car- just because the Holy Spirit told him to!
I knew inside me I wasn't broken to that level.
But I was challenged & provoked!
That day, my spirit shifted.
"Whatever you can walk away from, you have mastered for life."
Timothy walked away from his car.
That area of his life was permanently settled.
This happened over 20 years ago.
Timothy & his family are in Canada now.
We spoke last nights & I brought up that incident with him...
The irony is, in these 20 years Timothy had given out loads of cars.
It became a tradition for him to be giving out a few cars every year:
He'd buy cars in Canada, freight them to Nigeria and give them away to people as led by the Spirit.
He has become a free car-giver...
This morning, I read Psalms 41-50.
Verse 5 of chapter 50 struck me: "Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice."
Here, God spoke of His SAINTS.
Then He went ahead to give a detailed description of those He identified as SAINTS:
Those who have made a covenant with Him by SACRIFICE!
Not those who mount the pulpit to preach.
Not those who wear religious robes & carry religious titles.
Not church workers.
Those who have made a covenant with God by SACRIFICE.
Let me ask: what can YOU walk away from...?
Do you have possessions, or possessions have you?
Can you walk away from them?
Jesus once asked a rich guy to go sell all he had & come follow him.
Scripture records the guy went away, sad.
He was possessed by his possessions.
(Matthew 19:16-22)
Many of us are like this guy...
I learned very significant lessons from Timothy that day:
Don't hold on to anything tightly.
See everything you possess as temporary.
Be willing to give away anything- my life is not dependent on them.
A man's life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.
Today, there's nothing I hold so dear I cannot walk away from.
I don't place much value on any of the material things I possess.
A Job submitted, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, naked I depart."
May our possessions not possess us in Jesus' Name.
Amen.
Shalom.
😇
PS: I wote that thread yesterday.
For some reason, the Holy Spirit asked me not to post it yet.
So I refrained.
This morning, I woke up to read Psalms 51-60:
Psalm 51:17- "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken & a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
I realised why the Holy Spirit asked me not to post.
This verse is key.
The only thing God requires of us is BROKENNESS.
Timothy could give out his car because he was BROKEN.
I saw it as a big deal, a challenge- I was concerned about jumping buses & cabs because I wasn't BROKEN.
In Jonah chapter 1, Jonah was like me.
He was not broken. So, when God gave him an instruction, he refused to do it.
in chapter 3, he was broken: God gave him same instruction, he did as he was told.
Chapter 2 broke him.
May we be broken in Jesus' Name.
Amen.
Shalom.
😇
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"Calm down! CALM DOWN!"
She was talking too fast, I couldn't understand her.
But I knew she was hurt.
And ANGRY!
She called me that evening, around 7pm.
From the background noise, I knew she was in traffic.
"Please park, let's talk", I advised.
"I'm not driving", she replied...
"I'm in my car, in front of Cash & Carry".
I asked her to take a minute to calm down...
My mind went back a few months earlier when she got married to the love of her life.
When I saw her call, I had assumed she wanted to tell me she was pregnant or something...
Hearing her so agitated set an alarm ringing in my head.
What in the world could be wrong, I wondered.
When she calmed down, she told me a bizarre story.
A week earlier, her husband had suggested they buy a new TV and move the one in the living room to the bedroom.
She agreed...
"She said Africa is different because we are more fetish and diabolical than other continents
She said accepting Jesus and the Holy Spirit is not enough..."
I've heard this submission countless times.
And it's amazing how a lot of Christians believe this NONSENSE...
There's a Nigerian Church that teaches "Sanctification" as a doctrine: when you get Born Again, you still need to be "sanctified" BEFORE you can be baptized in the Holy Spirit, they teach.
Yet, Cornelius & his household got baptized in the Holy Spirit BEFORE they got Born Again!
When you show them SCRIPTURE that renders their sanctification doctrine false, they tell you, "THIS IS AFRICA!"
Like Africa has a way of making SCRIPTURE less powerful, Africa has a way of making the resurrection of Jesus less effective!
Many years ago, I read a book on relationships; "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman.
Gary listed these Languages as:
*Quality Time.
*Acts of Service.
*Gifts.
*Words of Affirmation.
*Physical Touch.
He described each of these languages in detail.
Very interesting book...
Gary explained that people would have better relationships with their spouses if they understood the language their spouses speak.
For example, if my spouse's Love Language is WORDS OF AFFIRMATION, I would be wasting my time buying her GIFTS, thinking I'm pleasing her...
She would be happier with me if I just say "I love you, Sweetheart... You're the best thing that ever happened to me... You're the most beautiful woman on this PLANET & the ENTIRE UNIVERSE..."
That will make her happier- & cheaper for me: saves me the money I spend on gifts!
Years ago when I worked in a Bank, one of the Marketers had a very hot exchange on her phone in the Office.
When she was done, one of her colleagues asked, "Who was that on the phone?"
She replied in a very loud & angry voice: "IS IT NOT THE IDIOT I MARRIED?"
Woah!!!
😳😳😳
Everybody was shocked!
She stormed out of the office & slammed the door.
That was sometime in 2006, 18 years ago.
She later reconciled with her husband & they moved on.
But as many of us as heard her call her husband an IDIOT didn't forget!
It became a joke in the office...
😊
When we close from work & he comes to pick her, you'd hear people saying, "Awwww! The IDIOT has come to pick his wife!"
She NEVER knew her indiscretion in the office that day would turn her into a laughing stock.
She became the butt of jokes amongst her colleagues...
😄😄😄
K had an accident & was rushed to the hospital.
His friends rushed there just in time to see him wheeled into the theater for an emergency operation.
One of K's friend, B knew one of the Doctors in the hospital & he called him up.
Then they all started praying for K...
The doctor went into the theater and came out after a few minutes.
He pulled B aside & shook his head.
"I'm not sure K will make it! It will take a miracle for him to survive this!"
B went to the others who were praying.
"What did the doctor say", they asked...
"Bad news! He said it will take a miracle for K to make it!"
The frienda became despondent.
"Does anyone know any members of his family?" They started making arrangements for K's demise.
In that moment, another friend, J rushed in!
He asked, "Guys! How far? How's K doing?"