![]() A perfume bottle can most times carry such delicate and beautiful craft and as beautiful as the perfume bottle can be the actual scent it holds can be deceiving based on the perception of the outer appearance of the bottle… just because the bottle is well crafted does not mean the scent it produces is sweet and great smelling…this analogy pertains to your body, who is occupying your body? The thing with sin is the fact that we cannot hate the person that commits sin (as Christians we are to love everyone…including the sinner,) but we can hate the sin they commit (that entity slash spirit slash evil that’s controlling them) because in that moment of sin their body is being used as a vessel for evil most times by “impure spirits,” God wants us (yes…you and I) to be vessels for Him, as beautiful as His crafted our bodies our inside must match the outside meaning our inside should be occupied with God and holiness (remember…impurity contaminates the body and shields holiness from ever dwelling in you in fullness) your body is the temple in which the Lord wants to dwell in rent free as His son paid the dues, God the father, the Spirit and the son want to room in you with no contamination from anyone (anything) else…such as evil slash unclean spirits, create your vessel for God’s purpose so that the Lord can dwell in it in peace, Hate sin love the sinner and love God and love godliness. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9 Memory Bengesa
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![]() Christianity is not an example of antidisestablishmentarianism, rather it is arcane to those that try to tear it apart and nit-pick just to "try" and figure it out, so what I have a self-love for God and His people? (and it doesn't equate to the way YOU carry your relationship with God) What I do not do is care for the concerns of the world which place me in the minds of “critics” …only the one they call the Christ is the judge of my actions, the affairs of society do not concern me as they bring forth societal crucifixion in my ascetic, God loving life. True- Christianity of course is more than your everyday aphorisms: “To blessed and not stressed” or “You are a victor not victim” or “You have to go through your story to get to God’s glory” or “You have to have a test for a testimony” ... and so on! I depend on the four aspects that govern my life, salvation, baptismal in water and Spirit and living in holiness... these are my concerns and the concerns of those that wrote the letters before my time but of course under God’s direct supervision, this is step one to the Christian life (as for me), not the apocryphal stories that are conjured from the mind of the lost (in other words...don't complicate Christianity) just because Christianity is not a walk in the park but rather a level of solace doesn't mean it has to be complicated, we have God at our disposal to assuage our life’s journey, those that do not know about true-Christianity place their souls in harms way at the risk of the hands of belied man made doctrines…the truth is…God is alive and still present from back then till now, the fallacy is that the world can live harmoniously practicing the way of the word and the world (what foolishness!) You cannot be in the middle of the fence, that is not true-Christianity according to the doctrine (Bible), all the braggadocio of some bloviate “false-prophet” or “wolves in sheep’s skin” who have led good and yet ignorant people to stray from Christ will as-well face their judgement on judgement day, my concern is of you and to you...make it your sole business to being the "title-deed" owner of your relationship with the Lord... understand the one they call the Christ, the messiah is walking back on this earth no sooner than you can say “I love hamburgers and fries!" now is the time to give God a chance, now is the time to join the movement of the tribe of the anomaly… (The Born Again Christian’s) the peculiars, the ones that are awake and sober and are awaiting the return of the Christ in patience, I am unapologetically Christian and proud in whom I serve. -A breviary from the memoirs of Author, Memory Bengesa © (Inspired by chapter 6 of Born Again Afresh by Memory Bengesa) Posted by Memory Bengesa at 9:43 PM
My faith in God has taught me a lot and it is because of that I'm reminded that plans don't fail, (wait!) Let me clarify my statement, you-see sometimes we sit around and waste time concocting endless lists of man-made-plans when God already has the Plan for your-plan, just because you plan-a-plan and it doesn't go the way you planned doesn't represent failure, it just represents the fact that God has a certain plan for your plan. Some years ago I woke up running extremely late and I was frustrated, my coworker and I where carpooling that day, when she pulled up to my driveway she waited patiently, frustrated because I was 15 minutes late from our departure time I came outside the house with a bit of an attitude towards myself (because it wasn’t like me to be running late-but it seemed that everything that could go wrong was going wrong) we got in the car and headed for the connecting bridge from one state to another and it was here where we were detoured, the bridge was completely shut down which made me feel even worse because I had initially made us run late and now we have to detour through downtown! Man! My plan that morning seemed to be failing us! As we arrived downtown I turned the radio on to listen to traffic delays... and unbeknownst to me-our lives had been spared by 15 minutes! Thanks to the mishappenings that seemed to be failing us that morning! We found out that a major accident on the bridge we normally crossed over (the one that was shut down) eerie enough to say but the accident involved a gas semi-truck that exploded exactly at the time that we should have been crossing over into Illinois on the side that we would have been traveling on! So…to help you understand the scenario; this was a two way lane on each end with a short concrete median in the middle and a short metal rail on the right side so there would not have been any room to maneuver given the predicament of the explosion… even up to now I get goose bumps thinking of the mere fact that had we been on time we'd been on time for death but God! Had other plans for us, sure we got to work late but we were alive, even though the plan didn't go according to the way I wanted it-it still produced results in the fact that the main objective was met, which was being at work, sometimes in our lives we feel as though a plan has failed when God is actually creating a detour for the plan due to some unseen dangers and harm! And God’s knowledge of it, so next time you feel as though your plan failed thank God for making a plan out of your plan.
Posted by Memory Bengesa at 12:35 PM 2013 ![]() I remember it as though it was yesterday when God called me to individual purpose, I truly thought God had mistaken me for someone else but that quick I corrected my jejune mind, for God is not a God of desultory... I was scared straight to pursue the task God gave me and I think my main fear being; "how are people going to react toward my calling?" (In which I know now, it is not about people’s reaction but God’s action) till God eased that thought then the next set-back thought was; "will I be any good?" Then God proved that point by allowing a recognition-award here-and-there, finally I was convinced that this is where He wanted me, I took heed and challenged myself to explore my calling so that I could surpass areas of comfort-and because of that I challenged myself to face the areas of dis-comfort and it was in the areas of dis-comfort where I found favor and promotion, "how could-this be?" Only God! Knew... today I believe God for yet another breakthrough in this next level of individual purpose promotion that He has brought me to! This task is mightily heavy, as crazy as this sounds I am actually anticipating God's greatest miracle in my life for this project, I can truly say the human-man in me cannot fulfill nor see it coming to fulfillment but! The spirit-man in which I am led by knows that God will see me through and I can endure this challenging process only because God has taught me to face my own self-doubt, insecurities and fear of my calling, I never thought in my whole entire life I would ever go through such incongruous events but God keeps reminding me that I have to go through the valley to get to the mountain top! God has never failed me and he won’t fail me now, His plan for my life will not founder-for I serve a living God! #2013-project. Posted by Memory Bengesa at 7:42 PM 2012 ![]() Some people are born in the impossible-of-impossible situations were dating back from birth to childhood they felt as though there was never a chance of possibility-but when they are hit currently with trying times in life they turn to believe the possible they never knew and it is here where they succeed from the realm of impossible to the reality of possibility whereas some people are born in the possible-of-possible situations were dating back from birth to childhood they felt as though there always has been the chance of possibility-but when hit currently with the harshness of life they tend to feel the impossible for the first time which deceives their state of mind to believe in the impossible than the possible they grew up in which causes them to remain in a stage of impossible thinking, the difference between the two individuals is simply the fact that the one born into impossibility and the one born into possibility made decisions in their lives that would directly affect the out-come of their perspective on life, understand that your dreams are as good as your mind of possibility-believes (not thinks)… dreams that are birthed into impossibility by an impossible-mind frame stand a chance to die before they reach possibility, dreams birthed in impossible situations with a mind-frame of possibility stand a chance to succeed (thrive) through the impossible and produce the possible. Posted by Memory Bengesa at 6:34 AM 2012 ![]() For those of you that do not know this part about me-please allow me to share! I am a huge Disney slash Pixar fan! Yes! I said it and I mean it! You say animation I say where and what time? The main reason I enjoy watching animated movies is simply for the fact of in that moment I can escape into a world that is yet blissful and full or moralistic adventure’s with such perfect detail and funny characters (don’t judge me….) Today as I was thinking about dreams Pinocchio came into mind, the old wood-carver carves a puppet in which he named Pinocchio, Pinocchio was brought to life by a blue-fairy (don’t stop reading I am not done) who told Pinocchio he could be a real boy if he proved himself brave, truthful and unselfish, today you are faced with a dream, perhaps it’s the adventure of starting your own company, pursuing a calling, flying a plane and or feeding the hungry in a third world country-whatever your dream is-it’s your dream (Geppetto-the wood-carver) had a dream, he built it with his own hands and believed in his own dream so-much-so that it came to life to Geppetto, I am pretty sure the local towns people wanted to put him in the nut house-because surely how can a wooden carving come to life? But to Geppetto-the most important key player in this it would come to life, his dream proved his bravery in believing in his own dream, his truthfulness of commitment to his dream made him unselfish to himself which gave him a deeper desire to follow his dream into fruition. Today people are looking at you like they looked at Geppetto and today some people are even talking about you but as long as you build the dream with your own hands and believe that your dream will be alive (Reality) and walk (Success) then your dream shall be alive (Succeed.) “Build your Pinocchio (Dream) and believe (Know) that it will be alive (Reality) and walking (Success.)” Posted by Memory Bengesa at 8:48 PM 2013 ![]() We all have that one or two if not three cousin’s that you generally don’t get too excited to see-sometimes! My long-distance six times removed cousin Comfort came to visit me some years ago, I remember it as though it was yesterday, when comfort showed up at my door-step unannounced I was in a bit of a surprise as there was no warning or call made so I had to quickly accommodate, after the day of visit it seemed that Comfort was in no rush to moving on to the official destination…sooner than later days turned into months and of a sudden it seemed that Comfort was there to over stay her welcome… which made me realize why I did not care too much for Comfort in the first place… you-see, ever since the first day Comfort worked hard to sway me into the same path of stagnation, when I had-had enough I put my foot down and gave Comfort an ultimatum! It was not easy because that is still my relative but I had to do what I had to do in order to succeed personally, I realized why my mother warned me against Comfort and I also realized that we had grown apart after all the last time she came around we were just teenagers… after I sent comfort packing I realized that the family rumor of Comfort was true, majority of my family will not let Comfort stay in their homes not even over-night because of the known habit of stealing, after I sent comfort packing I realized my health was changing (stopped going to the gym-gained most of my weight back) and my bottle of motivation was missing (My writing stopped) and my drawer full of hope (Seeing past the present in my writing and seeing the done project) was also gone and lets not even talk about my purse of bliss! Not only did Comfort come into my life to take from what I had worked hard for but I literary felt as though I had to start all over again which was painful as I had worked hard to obtaining hope, weight-loss, motivation and bliss, after comfort left ironically enough my favorite first cousin Uncomfortable showed up, at this time I was reluctant to even entertaining any more family after my ordeal with Comfort but! Uncomfortable had a way of always making me feel on the edge-for the better… so in a sense I embraced Uncomfortable, I remember when I initially met Uncomfortable, I could not wrap my mind around her because she was the total opposite from comfort… truth be told; it took me a while to even embrace her in my life because the feeling of getting used to Uncomfortable was not easy-but throughout life I have come to terms with the fact that Uncomfortable is going to be Uncomfortable and its either you like it or not and I chose to like it, So! Uncomfortable came in for a day as well and over-stayed her welcome but I could tolerate Uncomfortable because of all the great life lessons Uncomfortable taught me before, at first I felt as though I could not relate with Uncomfortable but when Uncomfortable started to show me my own strength by believing in me I felt very confident, Uncomfortable has been patient by teaching me one step at a time and truth be told between you and I… I initially did not like Uncomfortable-I despised Uncomfortable but after spending lots of time with Uncomfortable-Uncomfortable is starting to grow on me… so-much-so that I have even asked Uncomfortable to be my permanent roommate. Ladies and Gentleman! If you want great success in your life’s endeavor it is time for you to part ways with your long-distance cousin Comfort and reach out to your first cousin Uncomfortable and let Uncomfortable take you through the barriers of Comfort, Uncomfortable will bring out the inner strength you never knew off that will help you attain your endeavor, remember if you let Comfort over-stay the welcome then you stand to have your life’s endeavor stolen and if you are not too careful Comfort’s twin “Laziness” will show up and then you really will face challenges attaining your endeavor. by Memory Bengesa at 5:00 AM 2013 ![]() What makes you stand out among many at your place of employment is your ability to go the “Extra-mile,” after spending years in the leadership role in Corporate America I came to notice the difference between each employee that came and left, the employees that stood out the most for promotion sake and or recognition where the ones that went the “Extra-Mile,” and please understand that they did not go the “Extra-Mile” because they had to, they went the “Extra-Mile” because they wanted to and because of that willing attitude they were easily noticed and set-apart from the rest (average-sometimes-complacent-employees) some people go to work on a full time status with a part-time mentality and wonder; “Why they are not getting promoted,” your ability to carefully master tasks and to go above and beyond with an “Extra-Mile” attitude starts at the very basic things you already do, if you cannot willingly go the “Extra-Mile” for your employer what makes you so sure that you will be able to go the “Extra-Mile” for your faith, health, own company, marriage, children and or family? No matter what you do in life even if you dread your job or love it… always do it to your best and with an “Extra-Mile” Willing attitude as a part of your great work-ethic not reward-seeking and witness the great favor upon your life. Remember a voluntary “Extra-Mile” attitude breed’s an abundance of favor. "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." Colossians 3:23 Posted by Memory Bengesa at 7:11 PM 2013 ![]() The common symptoms for Christian Passivity are the two letter words “BUT” and “OK,” when these two words become germane to your everyday vocabulary of faith then please understand that you are a foot step away from being a passive Christian which is dangerous in the fact that undiagnosed passivity breeds subtlety, Passivity plus subtlety equals ultimate enemy obliteration. What do you think about Homosexuality? “It is against my belief “BUT” if that’s what they want to do then that’s what they will do.” What do you think about sin? “It’s hard being a Christian “BUT” I cannot judge those that sin because I am not perfect.” Do you go to church every Sabbath? “ I try to “BUT” sometimes I wake up late and tired from working and feel its “OK” for me to get some rest. I can truly go-on-and-on with the “BUTS” and “OK’s” of passive faith talk, it’s fair enough for me to say that you understand the lesson at hand... so! Before you say “BUT” and or “OK” to justify the faith, ask yourself if that sentence is defending the faith? Or depleting the faith? Choose your words wisely and defend the faith as the warrior of Christ that you have been raised up to be! But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15 Yours truly Memory B The unapologetic servant of Christ and slave to my Fathers will. ![]() It is in the times of immeasurable difficulties that you really face the description of a "True-Christian," after all Job is the best example for what to-do when in such a situation but what was it that really gave him the strength? I am often reminded of my life’s “lows” and when I speak of “lows” I am talking of my walk in the valley right before I get to the mountain top of favor and break-through, I am often reminded of hiking, I remember it as though it was yesterday, I was in grade 7 and about 12 years old, I was mostly excited about being in grade 7 for the simple fact that my high school journey was going to begin in the next school term, however funny-enough the pinnacle of my excitement about grade 7 was also the fact that we got to embark on a camping experience at “Camp Jeff Cox,” in which the time came and went and the day for “Camp Jeff Cox” came, we waved good-bye to our parents and school and embarked on a long journey to Inyanga... we finally arrived and all I could remember was the cool looking cabins, among several activities I can never forget the hike we took mainly because of traditional myths about Mt. Inyanga that terrified us half to death... it was known to legend that the mountains stole children and that people venturing into the mountain could not talk about anything they saw because the mountain would steal that person... you where not to talk about any weird colored clay pots, weird-strange animals and or anything bizarre your eyes saw...so legend claimed, my second reason of excitement was the hike itself which seemed long, hard and torturous (in my 12 year old mind at that time) while hiking I noticed the guide was constantly glued to the hand held map and would often stop to turn back and I don’t think he was turning back to measure our distance but I think he was familiarizing himself with the surroundings, once said and done and finally up at the mountain top the pain from the legs and body seized, it seized at the site of nature’s beauty, by the time we had to walk back to the camp grounds nothing felt difficult or tiring, it actually seemed like we made it back to the camp site sooner than we climbed the mountain (and no I did not see any weird things as legend stated) once at camps grounds we could not stop talking about our experience at the top of the mountain, from what I could remember-I don’t even think I spoke of the difficulties of initially hiking through the torturous valley. My brothers and sisters, as a Christian I am often reminded of this hike I took at the age of 12, I think about the guide that had the map and when he continually stopped to familiarize himself (get his bearings) I am reminded of our walk here on earth, in order for God to bring out our godly-character and grant us kingdom favor you are going to walk in the torturous valley, it’s going to seem difficult, hard, challenging and at times not fair, and when that happens then you act like the guide and stop, look back and recognize how far God has brought you and how good He has been through it all (get your God-bearings)...like the guide use your Bible to navigate you through the trying times, understand that once you get to where God wants you-you will be engulfed by His power so-much-so that you won’t even feel the heartaches, pain, betrayal, difficulties, struggle and all the things you might have felt when you initially started your journey to the mountain top of favor and break-through! Posted by Memory Bengesa at 2:35 PM 2013 ![]() C’mon! What are you waiting for? Seriously! Release the leash of limitations, don’t wait for anyone to empower you-empower yourself, make less money but have more joy, let your passion work for you, take more trips and learn to live again, life is intended to be enjoyed while on the path, who cares about what people think? Care about what God thinks, don’t crowd yourself with meaningless limits, break every barrier and object that looks, smells and or mimics a limit, it’s your bar so set it as high as you want it to go, if God wanted us to be limited thinkers then He would have made us as computers, define your odds, redefine your goals, set your best foot in motion and don’t turn back, and sure! Someone will buy that, you are gifted, and those hands are made of gold and are made for gold, you are royalty, your dreams are possible!!!! Posted by Memory Bengesa at 8:46 PM
![]() I am so often reminded of my old ways of thinking, I remember that the majority if not everything was “supposedly” common sense to me until the Lord started to deal with me in a deeper sense, I had this revelation while in my leadership role and way after I came to know Christ... I cannot count with the fingers on my hands plus my toes how many times I have often used the phrase; “Its common sense” while training or just conversing with people…Christ's compassion for mankind goes deeper than the; “It is common sense phrase,” His love supersedes one’s ability of not having this human expectation of “Common sense” that we (Yes! some of you and I ) hold other people accountable. One thing I have truly learned is the mere factor that sometimes as human beings we tend to hold each other to very high superficial expectations, when I say superficial I am now talking about the level of expectation that you as an individual would handle things, sometimes we expect people to know what we know or to be able to do what we do whether its at work on the same job description, general life knowledge or whatever the case is, I can tell you that I fell-guilty in this area more than once, at one point and time in my life I felt that things that were very common sense (general things) to me should have been common sense to others and I felt that the basic things that came easy to me should have come easy to others…my type of thinking at that time was very dangerous in a lot of aspects but today I want to highlight a correlation that is visible among “Christians,” some “Christians” hold people to a high level of expectation that in turn when that person doesn't perform to “their” expectations” it causes that “Christian” to give up on them and or pass judgment, brothers and sisters, what has come easy, natural and or what is “common sense” to you is not always the same case with other people, you have to (I repeat), you have to! Have patience with all mankind and understand that everyone’s thinking capacity is uniquely crafted, everyone doesn't come from your household and or up bringing so please create a Spirit of sensitivity within yourself to understand the uniqueness of peoples thinking and because of that they don’t see things through your eyes-perse…the next time you think in your mind when ministering and or just conversing with someone that “Its common sense,” remember that Jesus walked this earth with a great compassion for all mankind and never expecting anyone to have the same level of "Common sense" as He had but rather He taught for understanding-sake, so next time when you think of uttering the phrase; “It is common sense,” make sure you teach that person to have a full understanding like Christ did and does… after all your “Common sense” just might not be that “common.” “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” 1 John 3:16 Posted by Memory Bengesa at 7:50 AM 2013
![]() And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 So many times we get caught up in our wants versus the needs and if we are not too careful we might become victims of blessing-deprivation and fall negligent to our required blessing proportion (that’s correct!) Though the word deprivation is synonymous to basic necessities it’s also appropriate for a believer to understand the importance of not depriving one's blessings... the act of not being happy or content with what God has already given you can lead to an act of blessing-deprivation... sure! If you are like some, where they feel-often than most that they have everything they need but what happens when they start looking at other people’s blessings and wondering why it’s not them? Or better yet-this one is my favorite…when non-believers seem to be getting more blessings than believers! (I know-right! What’s up with that?) I have truly come to learn through God that everything I have in this moment is a blessing (literally) that clunker of a car-is a blessing because I don’t have a hefty note-which can be an additional financial burden, that old-raggedy house and furniture I have is an absolute blessing because some people in other parts of the world don’t even know what a couch feels like later-alone a place with a roof over their head and running water! Even though most than less the food I have in my pantry and refrigerator is not comparable to having fillet Mignon and lobster tails every night but that’s OK too because it’s a blessing to even have some type of food in the pantry and refrigerator so I eat it with sheer-joy, whatever the case is-it’s all a blessing-a blessing God has given you and no one can take it away or compare to it, avoid depriving yourself from the acknowledgement of God’s blessings in your life by always thanking God for every-little thing in your life (I mean every-little thing in your life) praise God in thanksgiving at all times and enhance your appreciation for God’s blessings, just think for a second that maybe-just maybe you might be missing out on the crucial lesson at hand by depriving your blessings and feeding into your wants and or yearning for other peoples blessings. I always think of the time when I was younger let’s say anywhere from the time I learned to eat soluble foods and right before teen years, my mother would always give me a serving of food in my plate that was proportionate to my age, she never served me with the same serving that she served my father, why? (I am glad you asked) because she knew that my father’s appetite and stomach could handle his large portion and she knew that my small stomach could only handle the little portion she gave me and because of that no food was wasted-because if she served me the portion she served my father at the age of 5 I stood a chance to over eat and mainly waste the food, when we tend to over eat (In my experience) I feel horrible and regret eating the food and then when food is wasted in most cases it’s because there was an overabundance in the plate which creates for a lack of appreciation! (I think you know where I am going with this one!) God gives you an appropriate portion blessing so that you remain energized in Him and grateful in Him, if He gave you an over-sized portion of blessings all the time you will never be thankful, instead you can end up wasting the resource because of the abundance of it (yes! that is where I was going!) So next time someone says; “count your blessings,” make sure you-literally count them! By Memory B Posted by Memory Bengesa at 1:48 PM 2013 ![]() Before I came to Christ in a saving manner I often wondered what kind of God would allow His own to suffer, whether if it was from terminal cancer, death and or incurable disease...I just had a hard time I should confess wrapping my mind around this concept but by all due respect that was my ignorant non-Christian mind…a mind with no Holy Spirit guide and a mind without God’s wisdom, once in salvation I made it my business to understand more-more of this God I once questioned and! Low-and-behold a great revelation came upon me and this time around I am proud to say it was through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and long sought out wisdom through God and through my own personal forbearance I understood exactly what kind of God we serve! Theologians have invested great time in researching the “thorn in Paul’s flesh,” which is evidence that some really want to relate to Paul's thorn or just want to know what it was, the pieces of scripture and or great sources of reference have succored with my research which has been more than a great “wealth of interesting information” to be able to read and understand the different views of some in which I thoroughly respect, however through some scriptures like, 2 Corinthians 12:7, 2 Corinthians 11:24-26, Acts 13:45, Galatians 4:13…and the lists of Bible verses pertaining to this subject are endless-these are to name a few…and through out I have yet come across a “specific” mention of this “thorn” that Paul spoke of and when I state specific I literally mean specific in terms of what the diagnosis/ prognosis of this “thorn” that Paul suffered from without the dilution of man-made interpretations, despite the somewhat suspense of the “thorn” in Paul’s flesh in which I personally enjoy taking the layman approach-by the way only because for years like most despite my unsaved questions I bore and still bare a thorn in my flesh…don’t worry it's not a pimple, freckle, mole, beauty mark or anything located superficially on my flesh, rather it’s an interesting thorn-a thorn that left me in quandary before coming to Christ of whether or not an individual like I could be loved genuinely, would I be able to live a normal life in lieu to my “thorn?” questions arose in the brinks of desperation but I am here to tell you that the discovery of Christ in my life has eased my once objective thinking to an optimistic and grateful thinking through God's transformation-you see…intimately knowing God and loving Him has allowed me to embrace this once nagging “thorn” in my life... I now know for a fact that my “thorn” allows me to maintain a coat of humility and reminds me constantly that I too am human and need the Lord more than I have ever needed Him despite the work He does through me and sometimes in life we do need such reminders, I am often reminded of the time that Paul begged God to take the “thorn” away and God reminds Paul that; “He is all he needs and nothing else should matter,” (that’s my interpretation of course of 2 Corinthians 12:8-9) the “thorn” in my flesh has allowed me to become dependent on God for strength which has allowed my faith to grow, it has also believe-it-or-not shielded me from bad life decisions... just because God has called you to Ministry doesn't mean you are 100% pure of all “thorns,” don’t let your “thorn” hold you back from experiencing God’s best in your life, Paul traveled and planted churches and healed the sick but his “thorn” is a positive constant reminder that even the man/woman of God can have a “Flaw” and God can know it-and choose to do absolutely nothing about it because at the end of it all He is all you need! By Memory B Posted by Memory Bengesa at 12:07 PM 2013
![]() He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20 So! Realistically and not insinuating that you haven’t experienced these mountain tops but the world’s highest mountains range from about 29,035 feet to about 26,545 feet tall! If you ask me that is a whole lot of mountain, majority of us will think of mount Everest when we think of a mountain or at least that’s what comes to my mind…however while I am on a visual stimulation kick, picture-this! Standing in front of whatever mountain that comes to mind and then picture trying to move it whether it is physically and or mentally, “how do you think that will work?” or should I say, “how can you apply Matthew 17:20 while facing the mountain you are envisioning?”…take your time and think it out really good-I have time… (don’t worry it’s not a trick-question...) OK! Some of you can snap out of the “blank stare towards the ceiling-gaze" and lets re-group and really think of what the ultimate message is in Matthew 17:20, even though we tried visualizing our mountain-moving-tactics it still seemed humanly impossible-right? Which is absolutely normal… understand that in today’s world a majority of people are not necessarily and realistically face-to-face with Mount Everest but! I can say this-though… a majority of people are facing enough trials and tribulations that seem like mountains in their lives, Jesus was not insinuating that we use super-natural cosmic powers to move a mountain just because we think we have faith, understand that a mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds your eyes will ever see and all He was stating is “just-believe,” note He did not say “if you have faith of an avocado seed” or “if you have faith big enough like a baobab tree..." today might be the day that you are facing the mountain of foreclosure, bankruptcy, job loss, family loss, cancer and or finical hardships, even though the realistic mountains are huge, tall and mounted to the ground pretty tightly it can almost seem that way with your spiritual slash life mountain…if you are not too careful it will weigh you down and overwhelm you with its heaviness, understand-while facing this mountain right now is your time to exercise the belief in your faith and instead of applying for the high interest loans to pay your bills and put food on the table believe that God will come through-even in the last hour, so-what! The Doctors consider your diagnosis iffy-God is the healer of all and as long as you have that faith of a mustard seed your terminal cancer and or illness of a mountain will move in Jesus name-I declare it! Brothers and Sisters…the point being before you believe someone else and or something else for a solution to moving your life’s-challenging-spiritual-mountain, believe in God-first and witness your faith breaking bondage's, loosing addictions, loosing illness, and bring peace and comfort to you! You have to have belief in order to have faith and faith to have belief! The two are directly related and you can NOT have one without the other! Love You in Christ, By Memory Posted by Memory Bengesa at 7:59 PM 2013 ![]() Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 I spent a whole year last year waking up and trying to be consistent in the gym, mind you I have been a gym member for about 8 years now but a non-participating member at times (don’t judge me) however last year I told myself that I wanted to go the whole year, a whole year’s worth of attendance commitment because unlike before I’d get on my momentum-spike right around January and hit my burn out right before fall started and drop out slowly but surely, so to cut a long story short I went somewhat hardcore in the gym last year (at least I thought) did what I had to and when the year was over I didn't feel as though I had produced the results I was looking for after my commitment level goal so feeling really unmotivated this year I sat down to think of what really happened, mind you I knew I had to go the whole way with the “naked truth” of the matter, for instance I realized that even though I stuck out in my commitment of my gym attendance without any interruptions for a year out of 8 years I did not do much for my eating habits (ding-ding-ding…so just because I have to tell myself the truth doesn't mean it’s always an easy pill to swallow) my personal truth at its core kind-of- hurt me, I mean-really! It-did because if I wanted to sugar-coat my eating habits I would justify them by saying; “I was eating healthy” but the truth would be to my standards of “eating healthy” not to a nutritionist standards, my own deception of eating healthy is-knowing that I did not eat out from fast-food establishments and the fact that I cooked more at home but! When the rubber meets the road (which it eventually does) my cooking at home and my daily eating was not precise with healthy habits for instance (the sugar devil was getting me...) my candy fixation (chocolate-which I think I’ve been delivered from) were also not quote-and-quote healthy eating habits, I was struggling at letting go of my favorite not-so-good-to-my-health-foods such as; ice cream, chips, cake and chocolate, I’d rather work hard in the gym than surrender my relationship with unhealthy snacks…so any ways-my “naked truth” for that year’s not so progressive gym results was the “naked truth” of my eating habits, I had to curve some habits and learn some new ones and revisit some to come to terms with my new year’s gym momentum in order to gain real results. You see brothers and sisters, even though this might be a mere example I have come a long way... like some I used to struggle deeply with admitting to the “naked truth” as it stood in my life, I justified the truth to make myself feel good and or normal and somewhat functional in my human capabilities when the “naked truth” begged to differ in my life, I want to advise you-today to seek God all mighty in boldness to help you with your own “naked truth,” even though addictions can be classified as bondage and or strongholds but the first part to healing, spiritually and professionally is admitting the “naked truth” to your addiction, you might have been married 8 times and divorced 8 times and still continue to look for a mate because your deception of your truth to relationships might have been justified all throughout the 8 marriages (just a random example) so-much-so that you truly believe it’s the other peoples fault for your broken marriages, well today I say to you my love! With love, embrace the “naked truth,” ask God to help you, I am not necessarily saying failure was your fault but sometimes when we reveal the “naked truth” about ourselves we inversely heal past wounds and diminish hindering deceptions... you see, I used to be like some, when I was 250 pounds I used to say that “I am big-boned,” or even when I was struggling financially I used to say that, “I have too many bills to pay-that is why I am always broke” there were times that even my own relationships with friends failed that I actually blamed them instead of looking at myself and facing my “naked truth,” it is true to context that the truth-hurts, trust me I know! No one wants to be labeled as a bad parent, neglectful parent, neglectful friend, selfish spouse, abusive spouse, addicted person, poor, failing, criminal, bad, and-so-forth, no one wants any negative captions associated with them-especially Christians “sometimes” (not all-just-some! So calm down) I don’t understand why some Christians put so much pressure to be close to perfect than to embrace the flaws that we have so that God can fix and or strengthen them for His glory and testimony-sake! Some Christians think if they face their “naked truth” they have failed their spirituality when in terms they are strengthening the growth of their spirituality…if people could worry about their own “naked truth” and facing it to fix it then some people would not be so worried about the flaws of the fellow Christian brother and or sister, understand this my friend! You have to be concerned about your “naked truth” not what others will think, may think and or even say… I think of times where up to now I have lost some friends only because I faced the “naked truth” that allowed for me to be truthful with myself then them…a while back-recently I was invited to a dear friends birthday bash, it was great for them but not for me-you see if you knew me before salvation then after salvation you’d understand that there are some places up to now in my saved mind I cannot step a foot in and because of that I did not attend the birthday party, did I want to go and support them? Yes! But did I want to be in that environment? No! So I could not even for a second allow the enemy to play mind games with me and persuade me in going-and have me believing I've been saved so “I’m tough” nooooo-buddy! I turned down the invitation which might have upset and or disappointed them but my life is at stake here…I know the “naked truth” of the demons I once wrestled with and wouldn't pay a dime to act as though I’m Jesus and nothing can harm me or bring me down, “let me tell you something-Honey! This new, improved and saved Memory had to come to some "naked truth’ to stay in line and in focus with my relationship with God”… (Sigh… Ok! Let me get off my soap box and get back to the topic) As I was saying… once you learn to accept your own “naked truth” you will be able to be truthful with those around you, truthful with yourself and you will be able to live a truthful life, you will be able to embrace any personal change that needs to be done and or constructive criticism given to you, embracing your own “naked truth” is truly liberating! Love you that much-stay blessed! By Memory B Posted by Memory Bengesa at 6:23 PM originally published February 27 2012 |