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How
To Get Over Your Past - 1 -
June 1st Week - 2010, CURRENT ARTICLE
"...They
shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee
away." Isaiah 51:11
All of us
have chapters we wish we could rewrite. Dr Harold Bloomfield
says, 'Unresolved emotional pain wreaks havoc on your immune
system, cardiac function, hormone levels, and other physical
functions. We must make peace with our past because our life
may literally
depend on it.' To get over your past you must, first, run
on sentence here start looking at it differently. Reframe it.
Ask, 'How did
it make me stronger? What do I know now that I didn't know then?'
Don't focus on what you lost, but on what you gained. Second, understand
the difference between guilt and shame. Guilt is feeling bad
about what you've done - it's healthy; shame is feeling bad about
who
you are - it's toxic and debilitating. All of us have things
we'd like to change about ourselves, but when God created us
He said,
'...it was very good...' (Genesis 1:31 NKJV), so start seeing
yourself as He sees you. Third, stop punishing yourself with
the 'if only's'.
After stumbling badly and having God pick him up, David wrote,
'Happy is the person whose sins are forgiven... whom the
Lord does not consider guilty...' (Psalm 32:1-2 NCV). Forgive yourself;
God
has. Because He sees you through the cross, you are 'accepted'
(Ephesians 1:6 NKJV).
Finally, move
from pain to gain. Healing takes time, so expect some anger,
fear and sadness. Don't disown
them; they're part of the process. But don't adopt them either;
know when it's time to move on. You can't walk backwards into
the future, and the future God has in mind contains more happiness
than any past you can remember. Pastor
Charity Kamau
Kenyan Community International Church
(206) 852-2024
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How
To Get Over Your Past - 2 -
June 1st Week - 2010, CURRENT ARTICLE
'..."Behold, I make all things new."...' Revelation 21:5
Your past
can either be an albatross around your neck, or the wind beneath
your wings. So, run on sentence accept what happened.
If you don't, you'll keep reliving it. While working in the Congo
as a missionary, Helen Roseveare was brutally raped. Writing about
it she says, 'I must ask myself, "Can I thank God for trusting
me with this experience, even if He never tells me why?"'
The secret of trust doesn't lie in answers; it lies in acceptance.
It's knowing that in the midst of whatever has happened, is happening
or will happen, God is in control. Either you fix your mind on
that and determine to live again, or go through life feeling like
you never got a fair shake. Then, you must bury the past or live
with its ghosts. Rehashing old hurts is like watching the same
movie over and over, hoping for a different ending. It's not going
to happen! Learn from it and move on. You don't drown by falling
into the water, you drown by staying there. Get out of the blame
game. Blame is a waste of time. When you blame yourself you multiply
guilt, chain yourself to the past, and increase your already low
self-esteem.
When you blame
God you cut yourself off from His power, doubt replaces trust,
and you put down roots of bitterness that
make you cynical. When you blame others you add to the distance
between them and you, and lose the only option that works -
forgiveness. Instead, trust the One who promised to 'make all
things new', and
move forward.
Pastor
Charity Kamau
Kenyan Community International Church
(206) 852-2024
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................................................................................ How
Would Jesus Handle This? -
March 1st Week - 2010
...Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:12
Are you complaining
because someone has disappointed you? Are you keeping score when
it comes to gift-giving, initiating
phone
calls, or picking up the tab? Are you upset because you feel
like you give more than you get? Jesus experienced all these
things - and more. His closest friends let Him down. Those
He called and counted on often proved to be unreliable
and immature.
They learned slowly and usually the hard way. One doubted Him,
one denied Him, and one even betrayed Him.
Yet He forgave
them and loved them anyway: '...having loved His own..
He loved them unto the end' (John 13:1 NASB). Jesus loved His
friends
not because
they were worthy of His love, but because His love made them
worthy. Love does that! In his book Knowing God, JI Packer
writes, 'There is tremendous relief in knowing that God's
love for me
is based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst in
me. No discovery can disillusion Him in the way I'm often
so disillusioned
about myself, or quench His determination to bless me. There
is great cause for humility in the thought that He sees all
the twisted things about me that others don't see. Indeed,
He sees
more corruption in me than I see in myself. Yet He wants
to be my friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given
His son
to die for me in order for me to realise this purpose.'
So
before you react in anger, remember God's grace. Use
His Son as your
role model and ask yourself, 'How would Jesus handle this?' Pastor
Charity Kamau
Kenyan Community International Church
(206) 852-2024
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................................................................................ How
To Have a Good Day -
February 4 Week - 2010
..."without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5
You can change the course of a day satan has negative plans for,
by spending time with the Lord, especially when you sense any attitude
or behaviour in yourself that's not Christ-like. Jesus said, '...without
Me you can do nothing.' (John15:5 NKJV). On the other hand, 'I
can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' (Philippians
4:13 NKJV).
Negative feelings are like unwelcome house guests: the worst thing
you can do is to invite them in. You may not be able to override
them in your own strength, but if you seek God's help He will enable
you to walk according to His ways, not by your negative emotions
and perspective. 'But what if someone offends me?' The Bible says
we're not to be oversensitive or easily offended. Actually we are
commanded to forgive those who hurt us, not letting things fester.
Sometimes we want to forgive and do what's right, but we find doing
it difficult. More often than not, the right thing is the hard
thing to do, not the easy thing. That's when you need to pray and
allow God to talk to you through His Word. Only then will you find
the strength to do the right thing.
Remember,
you're in a war, and the battle begins the moment your eyes open
each morning. To
win, '...be strong in the Lord...Put on the whole armor
of God...having girded your waist with truth...put on the breastplate
of righteousness...having
shod your feet with...the gospel of peace...taking the shield
of faith...And take the helmet of salvation...the sword of the
Spirit...praying
always...in the Spirit...speak boldly...' (Ephesians 6:10-20
NKJV). Pastor
Charity Kamau
Kenyan Community International Church
(206) 852-2024
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Are
You Bearing Fruit? -
February 1st Week - 2010
...the
fruit of the Spirit... Galatians 5:22-23
Notice three things about fruit:
First, fruit is visible. Remember the 'show and tell' method of
learning in school? James writes: '...Show me your faith without
your works, and I will show you my faith by my works' (James 2:18
NKJV). It's not enough to 'talk a good game,' you must 'live it'
before others every day.
Second, fruit reflects the character of the tree on which it grows.
If it's an apple tree it's going to produce apples The more you
submit your life to Christ, the more like Him you'll become.
Third, fruit is always borne for someone else's benefit. You'll
never see fruit chewing on itself, or saying, 'I don't want to
be picked.' Good fruit makes someone hunger and reach for it.
The Holy Spirit wants to produce fruit in you so that others can
feed off you and be nourished. In contrast, all deeds of the flesh
are selfish. The flesh says, 'You made me mad. I'm not happy. You
have what I want. You are irritating me.' But the fruit of the
Spirit is Christ-centred and others-centred. Notice, the word 'fruit'
is singular, even though Paul lists nine different kinds of spiritual
fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self control, but they all come from the same tree.
This tree can produce everything you need for every area of your
life. You don't have to go to the Holy Spirit for peace, and some
other place for love. Or go to the Holy Spirit for patience, and
somebody else for self-control. It's all on the Spirit's tree.
So, are you bearing fruit?
Pastor
Charity Kamau
Kenyan Community International Church
(206) 852-2024
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Being
Ready -
January 4th Week - 2010
Be dressed ready for service... Luke 12:35
God can move so quickly that one day it feels like all hell has
broken loose in your life, and the next, like you're seated in
heavenly places. And in both instances: '...it is God
which worketh in you...' (Philippians 2:13 KJV). The Bible uses words like
straightway, immediately, and suddenly to remind us that when
God moves we must be ready to move too. He doesn't announce it
with trumpets and a fanfare so you must stay prepared, especially
for something you've been waiting for a long time. You may be
just a moment away from the answer you've been seeking.
That's
all the time it takes God to change things; a moment! Don't
let discouragement dull your faith or procrastination steal your
opportunity. Referring to His second coming, Jesus said,
'Let
him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything
out of his house' (Matthew 24:17KJV). You've got to decide whether
you're going to accept what God has for you now and move
forward,
or return to your house, because your unfinished business
can cause you to miss God's best. And so can waiting for others.
A paralysed
man missed his healing for thirty-eight years because
he waited for others to act. He told Jesus: '...I have
no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred
up...' (John
5:7 NKJV). For years he sat beside the solution, but others
caused him to miss it. Nothing is more important than what
God is saying
and doing in your life right now: not what's going on in
your house, not the actions or opinions of others. What matters
is
being ready. Are you ready?
Pastor
Charity Kamau
Kenyan Community International Church
(206) 852-2024
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