When You're Losing Your Faith

King Asa of Judah  - A Man of Faith

2 Chronicles 14 describes King Asa - "Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord, his God."

So, what does it mean to be 'good and right' - obviously this means he was a man of faith. He was a righteous man, a truly Godly man. He did not flirt with sin, he knew he had no place to hide because he knew God watched him. He knew even in darkness, he could not hide from sin so his life was basically an open book. He had constant knowledge that God watched him. God saw everything he did.

One thing I've learnt from this sermon is that King Asa was King Solomon's Great Grandchild. I'm sure you all know the story of King Solomon, he was the wisest man (apart from Jesus) in the Bible. So, I'm sure King Asa read about his great grandfather's teachings, about his life, his wisdom and how he fell in his wisdom. He must have studied about Solomon and read his proverbs in those days, about adultery etc. So, it must have taught him a lesson, probably not to repeat what his great grandfather had done. The fact that his great grandfather preached a great message against adultery yet that is the very sin that cost him everything. But King Asa sought after God. He must have wondered, surely, how such a wise man, with such an anointing, blew it all off? He must have said to himself that he did not want to be like that man.

Nonetheless, he had a great father. His father, Abijah, was a praying man. In 2 Chronicles 13:10, even during the war - Abijah encouraged everybody and preached to them, saying, 'As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are the sons of Aaron, the Levites assist them...God is with us, He is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.'

So, King Asa knew that Men of God, caught up in adultery end up ruined and fail in their faith. He KNEW that men who did not set their hearts to PRAY end up with no peace and no order in their homes. He KNEW that the secret to God's favour is available to those who SEEK Him with all their hearts. 2 Chronicles 14:4 - 'He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey His laws and commands.'

Because Judah sought after the Lord, they prospered. But this does not mean they were immune to the enemy's attacks. We seem to think that just because we are Christians, we won't have trouble. But think about Job, think about all that happened to him. Think about Paul, who was continuously belittled for his faith. Jesus Christ, Himself, as God on earth faced many troubles I'm sure, but he was a man of faith. (What am I saying, He is God, so surely, He had faith).

Anyway, Asa faced a MILLION man army against his 3,000 man army. But guess what he did? He prayed. It made me think, when I'm faced with calamity, I should surely pray. Not just that, Asa and the people of Judah had PEACE. This means they had no FEAR, they feared nothing. I don't know HOW I would feel but it wouldn't be peace at this point. I am trying to imagine facing a million man army with 3000 people on my team.

But, he PRAYED. He remained faithful. He remained calm when he faced calamities - 2 Chronicles 14:11 - ''Asa called to the Lord his God and said, 'Lord, there is no one like You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, You are our God; d not let mere mortals prevail against You.'''

King Asa had no other strategy. He went and rested it all before the Lord. Imagine! I mean, he only had an army of 3000 men yet the enemy had millions. He had no plan but instead, he sought the Lord and he prayed. They prospered in the end and they were still at peace. A praying person who prays in faith will not be overcome.

That's one thing I've learned - You should always seek God. Even when you are prospering, not just in hard times. In GOOD times, thank Him. Be grateful for where You are. Pray for your families, your friends, your loved ones, pray!

The Warning

Clearly, he was going down the same route as his grandfather (Solomon) because God saw fit to send a prophet to warn Asa. In Chronicles 15 - God sent Azariah, the Son of Oded who went out to meet Asa and said to him, 'Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you but if you forsake Him, He will forsake You...be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded...'

The warning here is important. We can actually apply it to our life. You know when you pray, pray, pray and then get the thing you were praying for, do you ever get spiritually lazy? Do you get prideful? That's what God foresaw happening to Asa. He  foresaw that Asa would have pride and be confident in his own flesh. He would lose his anointing. God knew so he sent Asa a warning. I can't help but remember how God sent the Prophet Nathan to warn King David about his sin too. The good thing is that King David took it on.

Nonetheless, King Asa took on the words of Azariah and he took courage. In fact, he removed all idols and abolish idol worship. He repaired the altar of the Lord and even offered sacrifices to God - obviously a way of giving thanks to God for the favours received. (Nowadays, we pray and praise God, which is a spiritual sacrifice).

They entered into covenant with God and repented for what they had done, hoping for a better future. They diligently sought after God themselves with ALL THEIR HEART and with ALL their SOUL. Asa even took down the image of Asherah, this image that his own grandmother would worship. An idol, in his palace - he did this whilst destroying all the idols in his kingdom. She must have sought after God took and sought after him because, remember, all who did not do this were put to death, men and women.

Because of this, there was NO war in the land!

The Fall

So, how did King Asa come to his fall. How did this happen? Well, something was happening. The King of Israel wanted to wage war against Judah, so King Asa decided to take the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord's temple and his own palace and he sent it to Ben-Hadad, King of Aram, who was ruling Damascus. This seems different. This time, he seems to be forsaking God. Instead of praying and trusting God, like before, he tries to make this other King his friend. If he didn't have to do this, he would have had to pray to God. He trusted in himself. He felt comfortable and God was not pleased.

So, guess what God did? He sent another prophet to Asa. 2 Chronicles 16:7, the prophet sent a message to him, saying, Because you relied on the King of Aram, and not on the Lord, your God, the army of the King of Aram has escaped from your hand...' Basically, God was trying to tell him, to remind him that he was the one who delivered them out of the battle against the million man army. He even told him, 'the eyes of the Lord are only on those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.'

He would have nothing but pain and suffering from then on, only because he trusted in himself. His pride got to him. What was his response? He was enraged. He was angry. Why? Because of what this prophet was saying. He knew he used to be like this prophet. He was a man of prayer, he sought after God, he was a righteous man. He walked and spoke just like this Prophet.

God inflicted him with a disease in his feet. It was a severe disease, I have no idea what kind of disease it would be but it was bad. But, even then, Asa did not seek the Lord. He did not get help from the Lord. He went after doctors! He sought after them but not after God.

So, there's a lot I've learnt from King Asa. Well, not a lot but quite a bit.

1. Even when we have strayed away from Him, or really...never even KNEW Him, somehow He is still there, waiting for us to come back. To welcome us back into His loving arms.

2. Prayer is important - we have to SEEK God and He will be found by US. It's really a choice. The Prophet Azariah, teaches me a lot actually. If we seek Him, He will be found by us. He is there. If we forsake Him and ignore Him, He will ignore us. God isn't a God that forces us to worship Him, even if He does desire it, it's a choice on our part. When we are distressed, we should seek after Him. We should be strong and take courage, because at a point, we will be rewarded (2 Chronicles 15:7). This reminds me of that scripture, where God tells us to not grow weary for at the appropriate time we will reap a HARVEST if we do not give up.

3. Judah's desire to please and worship God actually resulted in them getting more blessings from Him. 2 Chronicles 15:15 - the Lord actually gave them rest on every side. They had peace.

4. Instead of acknowledging his own guilt, Asa was upset and angry. He even imprisoned the prophet that the Lord had sent to him. He refused to seek God even when he was in pain, in suffering, in his illness. He did not repent for what he did. He was angry and even oppressed a few other people, apparently. He was bitter!

The Lord warns us a lot about enduring and staying committed to Him and His way of life until the very end. In Matthew 24:12, Jesus said, 'Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.' But, look at King Asa, he was righteous for most of his life but he failed to remain faithful to God and serve Him until his death.

In Hebrews (one of my favourite Books), we are encouraged to have faith. We are told to have confidence in God, that the JUST must live by faith.

But just like King Asa, God gives us a CHOICE. Remember the story of Cain and Abel. How Cain got SO angry at his brother, Abel, because Abel received more favour from God. He was angry and in his anger, he killed his brother. God even warned Cain, telling him that sin is crouching at his door, and tells him to RULE over that sin.

So, endure the race, guys and girls. x

Getting To Know The Holy Spirit

This is not about spirits or getting involved in the spirit world and dealing with secret societies or whatever; this is about Christians who are told in Galatians 5:13 and onwards to 'walk in the Spirit'. The full scripture says; 'Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But, if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law'. 

We hear so much about manifestations (speaking in tongues, prophesying etc.), the power of the Holy Spirit but some of us don't talk about WALKING in the Spirit or the guidance of the Spirit of God. How He has come to take FULL control of what we DO or SAY and how we ACT. Just because YOU speak in tongues, or have GIFTS of the Spirit doesn't mean you WALK in the Spirit of God. Jesus sent the Spirit to take HIS place. He fellowshiped with His disciples but left the Spirit of God, His MIND, the ESSENCE of God. How amazing is that? We have been made in God's image, we have His Spirit and we can choose to just let go and walk according to His will. 

Works of the Flesh
'Now, the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness and the like of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

This itself TELLS you what it is NOT to be in the Spirit of God. If you commit ADULTERY (voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse), you are living according to your OWN desires. I know it's become such a norm now...I mean, look at Kim Kardashian (I don't mean to bash her but she's the one I can think of now), she was still married to Kris Humphries at the time she got in a relationship with Kanye West and was even impregnated by him. This alone shows that adultery was committed. In the olden days, this used to be a sin punishable by STONING because of the act itself. In family law, I learnt that consummation is the act that actually solidifies the marriage. So, the wedding does not necessarily make you married, but having sex with your husband MAKES THAT BOND. When you go out of that bond, that's adultery. 

Another one is FORNICATION - these are sexual relations committed by an UNMARRIED person. Pornography, masturbation, sexual immorality...all things done by somebody who is not married...that is fornication.

UNCLEANNESS - This covers a wide range of all sorts. Uncleanness, in my opinion, is a spiritual uncleanness. So, all filthy talk must be GONE - 2 Timothy 2:16 tells us to 'avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.'
For me, godless chatter includes those who share what they do with their boyfriends. I don't want to know the details of what you've been doing. That's for your privacy. First of all, I don't want to imagine that and second of all, whenever I look at that boyfriend of yours, I probably won't see him in the same way because of what you have told me. 1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us that 'bad character corrupts good manners...' So, imagine if you are such a good girl but because your friends are all filled with filthy speech, you are obviously going to take that ON and may change. (Not always the case, but it happens.)
Proverbs 18:21 is something I also try to live by; 'the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruits'. So...be careful what you say!

Be clean...what does being clean involve? This means stop listening to the voices in your LIFE and learn the voice of God and be OBEDIENT to that voice. His Words (the Bible) will build your faith and  that faith comes by HEARING His Words. In order to hear His voice and His Words, you must be in a position to hear them. So, if you are living by the flesh, then you will only hear the voice of your flesh. If you listen to music that is obviously...explicit, watch movies full of sex, violence and nudity, then that's what you will hear. Remember, you sow what you reap. 

LEWDNESS/LASCIVIOUSNESS- Well, to be honest, I didn't know what this word meant until I look up it's meaning. So, apparently it means to be ignorant, wicked, unlearned. Basically, it means lacking moral values. This is for those people who gather in God's house to worship, hear His word, enjoy fellowship yet those who appear to be holy lead a lust-filled life. They fornicate, carry on affairs, feed their own addictions to pornography. Jude 4 tells us that 'for there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.' Jude is telling us that there are people out there...possibly those on pulpits, who are up there, preaching but living a life full of lust, full of filth.

IDOLATRY - This is easy because idolatry is everywhere and has been since biblical times. In those days, they had Babylon - which (I actually went as far as watching The Truth Behind Hip Hop 7, just to find this out), historically, had gods made by hands, so people clearly had no faith, priests were worshipped by people (Dagon was a priest - Dagon is just another name for Nimrod who was came from Canaan and Cush - all this through the bloodline of Noah). Other things they did at Babylonian times was have people enslaved, homosexuality was common in place, bisexuality was worshipped with the sun and moon gods, newborns were scarified to idols, paedophilia was seen as 'reincarnation', marriage was not sacred. 

What is idolatry nowadays? Well, pretty much the same thing. We hold celebrities (hence they name, they are celebrated) up to a high level. We see them as gods, we want to know what they are wearing, what they are doing so we follow them on social media, we email them, we go to their concerts, follow them worldwide (that's for those die hard fans). We do SO much for people who do not even acknowledge YOU. Do you know they have a Church of BEYONCE now? The religion is called Beyzus. They call it the Church of Beyzus. How crazy is that?

Paul tells us in Romans 1:21-25 that 'for although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts became darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles...they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen.'

I'll post a video down below so you can see the effect of idolatry - especially with celebrities.

WRATH - Wrath is defined as extreme anger. You can see this spirit in those who are fatherless because their father was never there during their childhood. For example, Tyler the Creator, Chris Brown - I feel for them because if you do listen to their music, some of the lyrics are just sad. For example, Tyler The Creator's song 'Bastard'. Man, I felt bad for him. 

When we hold on to unforgiveness, we only hurt ourselves. We cannot hold on to these things. What we are doing is simply changing how we think, how we act, based on what they did to us. Proverbs 27:3, 'A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.' Holding on to unforgiveness will simply weigh you down. 
Proverbs 22:10, 'Drive out the mocker and out goes strife (wrath); quarrels and insults are ended.' So, forgive those who hurt you, and anger will be gone. True forgiveness. 

SELFISH AMBITION - This is self-explanatory. This is simply YOU seeking your own ambitions. Selfishness. Pride. It's not wrong to be ambitious. In fact, I've been praying for an ambitious brother, I have an ambitious father, my grandfather was an ambitious man. BUT, having that strong desire to achieve something for YOURSELF. Colossians 3:23 - '...and whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, for the Lord, and not for men...'
Whenever we do things according to our own accord, this produces pride. We become pride and God doesn't like pride. He loves humble.

ENVY: Envy is simply jealousy. You envy those around you when nothing is going according to YOUR way. Godly contentment cannot be achieved until you get ride of all that. Surround yourself with people that will encourage God's plan in your life and not their own plan for YOUR life. People who are not happy and satisfied with their own life will try and stop your contentment. Guard your life and your children. Especially during your waiting period, you must be content. 

Anyway, I won't go through the whole sin list but you get the point - you cannot be an instrument of God's vessel if you, yourself, are unclean, if you are involved in sorcery, if you a re committing adultery continuously,envy others, you are selfish and seek to feed your OWN desires. Jesus was a servant...He came down as a KING, the father of all fathers...yet He served US. He died for us. Let's try and be that way.

BUT the good news is that we CAN live according to God's Will. The way JESUS lived on earth. By having and WALKING in the SPIRIT of GOD. When you have His SPIRIT you are a NEW CREATION. This means no more envy, no more selfishness, no more arrogance, no more filthy talk. This doesn't mean it will come just like that. It will be challenging but to HIM who is able to keep you from FALLING and present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. 


Fruits of the Spirit

LOVE - Ah, that word that seems to be thrown around like it means nothing. Well, the Bible defines it in 1 Corinthians 13 - love is patient, love is kind, love is not self-seeking, not selfish, it makes no records of wrongs but seeks to find the good in others. Now, can you say that you love that person? Oh, and to lay down your life for others...it's safe to say that the love that God gives us cannot be compared to the love we give to others. The love that God gives US is incomparable to the love of others. When we lose our way, He is always ready to embrace us. So, try and walk in love. We should realise that all humans make mistakes, try and have the heart that the Lord had. When people make mistakes, have the heart to forgive them. 

JOY - This is hard to do because when we are led by own will and way, then our joy depends on our circumstances and we struggle with depression. I think joy is very much a personal thing. We have to realise that people in the bible actually endured much more suffering that we probably ever will but they had joy in the midst of it because they knew that God was in control. This does not mean pretending to be happy just because the bible tells you to have joy. But we have to exercise this. The Lord tells us that we should consider it PURE JOY whenever we face trials and tribulations of many KINDS because we know that perseverance simply builds up our faith. (James 1:2-4) 

PEACE - This is a word used by a lot of the disciples in the bible. Peace be with you, may God grant you peace..Well, the only way to understand this is by defining maybe what the opposite of peace is...FEAR. Remember that story in Luke 8:24? Well, let me remind you...
One day, Jesus said to his disciples, 'let us go over to the other side of the lake'. So they got into the boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down the lake, so that the boat was swamped and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him saying 'Master, Master, we are going to drown!'

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided and all was calm. 
'Where is your faith?' he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, 'who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.'

What does this teach us? We all somehow that inherent fearful spirit in us. No matter how much God continues to bless us and answer our prayers, we still fear the next time we face another crises. Didn't Jesus tell them they'd get in the boat? In fact, they were with Jesus in that boat and they still had fear.

I don't know about you but sometimes I get scared too. I pray for jobs, I get through to the interviews but I still have that FEAR no matter what. It's just weird...then I tell myself, 'Chansa, God has not given you the Spirit of fear...calm down...'

So, continue living according to the Spirit of God. No matter what happens in life, ensure that you have love, you have joy, you have peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.

Paul told us that we are ALL victims of sin in some way of another. But, these are things that our FLESH were subject to and still desire. So, it is important to put away the works of the FLESH and live through the Spirit of God. Use all the Fruits of the Spirit to overcome the works of the flesh.

Psalm 119:101 - I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word...Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path, I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow Your righteous laws.

Have a good week!

We Are Hosea's Wife

I love the Book of Hosea. I  read it quite some time ago but it's never too late to write what I learnt. Besides...I've got my notes, and it's still clear enough in my head. Okay - this is the story of Hosea's Wife, known as Gomer, in a nutshell.

Gomer was a prostitute. She didn't try and hide this sin. She flaunted it actually, living like a prostitute and sleeping with anyone who would buy her something pretty. She was known as the town prostitute. I wondered why God told Hosea to marry HER.

But He did...and God essentially used this marriage to draw a before and after picture for us. Gomer's sinfulness led her to a life of slavery and it was Hosea's right to get rid of her adultery. But GOD instructed Hosea to do something unusual. Hosea bought Gomer back from slavery and still loved her. Would you do that? Your wife/husband is constantly cheating on you yet you keep getting them back, loving them just as much as before and treating them as wonderfully as if she were brand new, a virgin. After Gomer had treated him so badly...so awfully, Hosea GAVE her mercy and grace she didn't even deserve. I wonder why...


Well, this is reflective of how God loves us. Our sin against Him is hurtful. It HURTS Him just as much as Hosea's wife constantly cheating on Hosea. We may not think that our sin is all that bad, but each time we do it, it insults Him. He bought us with the greatest price ever paid...His own blood and then...instead of treating us like SLAVES (which He is entitled to), He welcomes us back each and every time.

In a way...we are all like Hosea's wife. We are not perfect (but perfect in Him), but we struggle to remain faithful. The only thing that actually surprised me is Hosea's constantly forgiveness despite his wife's unfaithfulness. His love remained. Anyway, regardless of us being unfaithful, God is always faithful to us.

Sinful actions are like concrete to the soul. After a while, your heart becomes hard and heavy, preventing YOU to turn to God for help.

Also, this is not to judge anybody because your relationship with God is so different to my relationship with God. It is personal. Some people believe we can't wear make up as Christian women...others believe we can. Some people don't do their nails, others do. Some people don't believe in speaking in tongues, others do. It's all different. But being loyal and faithful to God is the main thing. Being obedient and loving your friends is the main thing. Being kind to one another and consistency in talking to God is the main thing.

God bless x