ALL THINGS WORKETH

By Esther Kung'u || I do not understand how a human being would do such a thing to another person with similar flesh and blood. I mean, how would anyone take a panga (machete) and slice up a young child’s legs and arms simply because they are albinos. I mean, we are living a crazy world alright but this, this is beyond humanness. It is beyond my ability to comprehend. I know Cain, driven by anger and jealously, struck down his brother, Abel without second thought and drained the beautiful life out of him. His own flesh and blood. We are in the world pattern that dictates survival for the fittest among other funny ideologies. Most people do not want to fear God and acknowledge Him. They mock Him to His face and deny Him and I wonder within my spirit, do they know their end? Do they have the slightest clue what hell will be like?

EXPERIENCE

By Esther Kung'u || You know the place you get to and life just downright hits you in the stomach and you can’t even breath, leave alone wake up. A small effort to rise up from your bent position and life, as strong as any boxer you know throws in another punch. Awww! The rest of the world sighs. For you, they look. They can’t help you up, they can only watch. Seems tough and unfair right? C’est la vie. In English, that’s life. I was in that position, that of the punching end, just some few days ago and as I pen this story down, it is not a fictional piece. I want you to understand that just because you are born again doesn’t mean that you are immune to tests, trials and temptations. Yes, you have the armor of God and a piece of it says in Ephesians 6:16 that “in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows (some say fiery darts) of the evil one.” Can you check at the love letter He wrote through prophet Isaiah 43:2 “ when you pass through the waters,I will be with you;And through the rivers,they will not overflow you.when you walk through the fire,you will not be scorched,Nor will the flame burn you.”

I COME EXPECTING JESUS

I come expecting Jesus, to meet me in this place

I come expecting to receive, His mercy and His grace,

When I eat the bread and drink the wine,

It will be a holy moment in time,

I come expecting Jesus, to meet me in this place.

By John Chisum.

When the two men were walking to Emmaus, they did not recognize the lord who appeared to them. The revelation did not occur to them as one would have expected. I am talking about the revelation that Immanuel, God with us was not yet clicked into their minds. They had Him standing and walking right in their direction yet they knew Him not. Quick relation to today and you will see people who are walking with Jesus yet, they do not know Him. They cannot recognize His face. They cannot recognize that the Lord is risen and He will never die again. Look at the story in Luke 24:13-35 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Walk to Emmaus

¹³ That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles^[a] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. ¹⁶ But God kept them from recognizing him……²⁸ By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, ²⁹ but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. ³⁰ As they sat down to eat,^[b] he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. ³¹ Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!

³² They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

These two men felt the manifestation of Jesus in their hearts when He started talking about the scriptures. They however did not recognize Him. They did not know Him at the time. Sometimes we are walking to Emmaus and the Lord appears to us and we cannot recognize Him until the bread is broken, and wine is offered. It takes the bread of life to have open eyes, open ears and open hearts.

We know within us what the truth is but until the bread is broken, our hearts, eyes and ears stay closed. As the Lord breaks the bread to you, every time you read the word and an as He offers the cup before God as the High priest, the author and finisher of our faith, release our heart, your ignorance and submit to the opening of your heart. As John Chisum makes that prayer that he expects to see Jesus at the place of breaking of bread and offering of the wine, symbols of Jesus’ sacrifice, let it be that holy moment in time for you too. Let His will be done on earth, for you, as it is in heaven. In heaven, the will has been done already, now let the will of the Father crowd your mind with understanding, knowledge and wisdom that only He, can give.

I STAND STRAIGHT

By Esther Kung’u || Nairobi, Kenya

I stand straight before you and expose everything I have got to your mind.

I stand to educate you, to teach you the truth, to lie to you, to fill you with filth,

To challenge you, to create in you illusions about life.

I stand to hold you, to glue you to myself and whenever you want to engage in something, I will hold you back with a good lady, posing next to your favorite sports car, or a baby advert to your three-year old excited junior or worse, a magic product that promises what it cannot keep.

I stand to criticize your behavior and encourage it at the same time. I will travel the world in seconds and bring you the best of love and passion and the worst in war and death.

I stand before you to make you a potato lying on a couch. I stand straight before you and even when you know my behavior, my addictive nature, letting loose from me lacks lustre. You have given yourself over to me as I stand before you.

I stand before you to gossip about someone else, I stand to shake the world concerning another nation and even when I do not have all the facts, I will be confident as I stand before you. Straight I will stand before you.

I will lie to your face, looking straight to your eyes and whenever I blink or lose my mind,

You will always say, oohhh! No. I lost the signal.

I stand before you today as your set and will tell you something different than what I said yesterday. You know my untrustworthiness and you will still trust me.

I will destroy someone’s faith-family with a twisted mouth, I will not relent to take you to the clashes in your ethnic turfs. When you fight, kill and hate each other, I will not gasp, I will stand before you.

Before I leave this spot I am standing on, I want to stand before you one last moment to say, I am sorry.

I’m sorry for wounding your tribe with clashes,

I am sorry for crashing your hope with my lies,

I’m sorry I aired filth to kindergarten,

I’m sorry your wife expects you to behave the way I taught her to,

With soaps, seductions and sassy series of movies

For all that I’m sorry.

I’m sorry I made easy cash out of your illegally circumcised under aged girls,

I’m sorry when you cried injustice, I laughed all the way to the bank.

I’m sorry you saw your daughter in a compromising position that led to her death,

And when I was done putting her in pictures, words and music,

I left you to bear the pain.

I’m sorry I was not responsible enough to handle the truth about your clan,

I spattered your divorce, your broken home and exposed your weakness to the whole world to see, to mock and laugh at you for being the world tease.

I’m sorry I did all these and much more. Listen as I stand before you,

I will continue standing straight in your living room, your car, your street and whenever I get crazy, please shut me up with the mute or off knob.

SALVATION

By Esther Kung’u 30 October 2012||Nairobi

Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. That is the Holy Ghost telling me. I don’t know about you but I agree with every preacher and teacher who says that salvation is not easy. It is a struggle to become more and more like Christ. To think pure thoughts (all the battles of men start in the mind right?) to meditate the beauty and law of the lord. (Like David in ps 119) then act like Christ.oh, you think its easy? No, it aint easy.lemme get some lil’ American accent aiit? Now here is the dealio.

"...kuhepa mapae starts"

You chuck from a matatu while cruising to town when for no apparent reason violence and kuhepa mapae starts. In the mix,coz your brain is kinda slow, the po-pos arrest you for walking in a manner likely to suggest al-shabaabism or lawlessness and you are to spend one night (or weekend when the word ‘unlucky’ is an understatement) in a hard, cold,dirty,murky Kenyan prison cell. There are two options; for fear of going to prison and staining your reputation you are to bribe or pea mapae kitu kiasi (nowadays due to the economic upheaval the kitu kidogo has become kitu kiasi and as mwananchi statistics predict, kitu kikubwa and kitu kikubwakubwa is likely to hit the market.yap, laugh but it is sad).the second option is; take up your cross and carry it. Which do you choose as a believer? I knew your mouth will scream, lemme go to prison if I have to but is it that easy? Bribing seems like the easy way out, according to logic and sense, but when I look at God, His stand is still the same. Just like His nature, His laws don’t change.

A look at Exodus 23:8 you shall not take a bribe which blinds the clear-sighted and distorts the cause of the just and Deuteronomy 10:17 says, for the Lord your God  is the God of the gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty and the awesome God does NOT show partiality nor take the bribe. Now look at the benefits of not taking a bribe in Proverbs 15:27  he who profits illicitly troubles his own house but he who hates bribes will live or check this out in Ecclesiastes 7:7 for the oppression makes a wise man mad and a bribe corrupts the heart.

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THE LORD

By Esther Kung'u || Oct 24, 2012 || Nairobi

The Lord is our refuge and our strength. In Him we place all our hopes and dreams. To Him we cast all our burdens and cares, because He is our burden bearer (Ps.68:19) He has promised us a future and a hope (Jer 29:11) and because He is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent, He will do what He says He will do. The Lord is coming to execute His word quickly. His yes and amen to the promises He makes for men that put their trust and lean not on their own understanding but in all their ways, acknowledge that He alone stands as God. For He says in his word that we love Him with all our all heart, all our mind and all our strength. Because He who started the work in us is faithful to bring it to completion. The Lord is delighted in your small beginnings and whenever He chastens You, do not despise His chastening because the Lord does so to those He loves.

He is faithful to keep His word to fifty generations and for those who chase after Him, those who seek His face with all diligence will find Him. Seek Him while He is near and can be found. He is able to do for you exceedingly abundantly above what you ask or imagine. When you ask, believe in your heart that you have received and it shall be done unto you according to His word. I repeat, the Lord is faithful. Abounding in mercy, slow to anger, a loving Father.

He stands guard over the righteous and whoever trusts in the Lord will never be disappointed. My heart will cry out to my God and in His throne, He will incline to my call. He will not let the enemies surrounding me to swallow me. The bulls of Bashan will not trample over me, for the Lord is my strength, the rock of my salvation. I choose to lay my life open and bare before the Holy of Holies because even Sheol and Hades are not hidden from His eyes. In His presence, darkness and light are the same. The Lord our God is a God of valor. He will fight my battles; carry me on his shoulders as we celebrate His victory, even before the war starts. I am the Lord’s and the Lord has called me precious in His sight, the apple of His eyes that whoever touches me touches Him. I will not avenge any of the wrongs my enemies have committed against me for the Lord declares that vengeance is his to execute. 

Stand back oh my enemy for the Lord who rides on the wheels of the wind and leaves clouds of dust when He walks is coming to avenge and vindicate His righteous ones. Do not stand in the way of His holy wrath for the Lord cannot be challenged, He stands justified. Let every man be called a liar but the Lord remains true. For I have seen the Lord and I have not died.

Holy One of Israel, You who sits on the throne of mercy. Justice and righteousness are the foundations of Your throne. In Your presence I will stand, covered by the cloak of righteousness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is by grace that I am considered qualified to step in the presence of the Holy of Holies for You are the anchor of my life, the author and finisher of my faith. It is You I want to be faithful to first because I will reflect the same to my brothers. I love You I love You, I love You my Jesus.

UNASHAMED

Esther Kung'u || Oct 12, 2012 ||  Nairobi

I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The dead me has been cast out. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of jesus christ. I wont look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, showy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I dont have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, back up, let up, or shut up until ive preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of christ. I am a disciple of jesus christ. I must go until he returns, give until i drop, preach until all know, and work until he comes.

And when he comes to get his own, he will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear for "i am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of god for the salvation of everyone who believes." (romans 1:16)