LETTER TO GENERATION X

So I sat down sometime last week watching one of the major local T.V stations in the country as they discussed Project X.

We've had an interesting couple of weeks with this issue being a major focus of the media; on radio stations, on T.V, on Instagram, on Twitter, on Facebook... it has been everywhere.

I have sat listening, watching and seeing all the drama around it unfold and I decided to write a letter to the young people of our generation and just share with them a little bit if what I've learned about it from the word of God and what He has been teaching me.

So here goes...

Dear Generation X

I hope as you read this you are well and enjoying your day as it is.

I write this letter with great concern in my heart as I look at what has been making rounds in the media regarding your generation and the interesting activities that are being made available to you.

As I listen to some of you speak, I am amazed at what you consider as good, what you do not mind engaging in for your own benefit. I guess I can bring in that recent survey that was done with you guys on what you consider as corruption and whether you mind engaging in it.

So let me get this straight... You do not mind being corrupt so long as you do not get caught??? I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of theft being good for you to gain wealth... well, so long as you do not get caught stealing.

I remember growing up being taught that in all things God sees us... that even when I cover myself with a blanket, or get under the bed, it still doesn't matter, God is seeing me. Has that changed? Has God stopped being that great and mighty God who sees us in all our nakedness and sees all the way into our hearts?

I know we all want the good life; drive the best cars, live in the leafy suburbs of Nairobi, take holidays to the best destinations you can imagine... I know I want it too. But unlike what the world says, the end does not justify the means, it does matter when you sin to get yourself there. 

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:12

The Bible asks us to be content in our different situations and  live in the knowledge that God plans for us are good and He always wants the best for us as He says in Jeremiah 29:11.  

Then there's the next big thing; the elephant in the room... Project X. 

I really don't know where to start with this one... alcohol, sex, fun... really??? Now what makes it worse is to hear people justify it all and say it's all good. Since when did we accept sin and say its all good and we can engage???

First thing is sex... So sex has become the order of the day in our generation, we have all hear the myths of how sex before marriage is good, move from one bed to another, call it fun and lots of enjoying, getting a hang of things before we settle for one person... I bet you've heard it all and I also bet many of you have given thoughts to it and maybe tried it. 

But the honest truth is this; it is all a lie... it is all the devil's schemes to cause us to throw our life into sin and it hurts me when I see so many of you young people accepting sin and letting the devil have a laugh. There's a lot the Bible says about our sexual purity, and one of my favourite bloggers has covered it in her article It's Just Sex... But here's one that covers it all...

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I beg you dear loved ones, to uphold purity, honour God with our bodies, serve God with every morsel of your being, let God look down at you and have a smile on His face. 

I have experienced God's faithfulness, and especially with the knowledge of God's faithfulness and the fact that when I'm content in Him, He is able to provide for all my needs. 

Then comes alcohol; the fun and joy we all want to have as young people. I have spent 4 years at the University and I often hung my head in shame as I saw young people indulge. I don't think I'll ever be ashamed to tell it as it is... it is a sin. 

"Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish!" Proverbs 31:6

I see young people  perishing every single day as they continue to engage in alcohol and claim there's all good things in having their drinks. I beg you dear Generation X, there's nothing more in those brown bottles than death, there's nothing more in alcohol than perishing. I have made up my mind that I will not sit back and see you throw your lives into perishing and do nothing about it. 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16

I always pray for you, Generation X, that the devil will not convince you to indulge in sin since you will walk your way to the grave, you will walk your way into eternal damnation and that is where the devil will find his joy. I always pray that you will find your way back to the cross of Christ and find all good things in Him. 

It is with love that I send out this letter to each and every one of you, with love that I make a prayer for you every day and with love that I ask that you turn away from worldly ways and hold on to Christ as your joy and source of salvation. 

Yours sincerely, 

From a fellow brother in Christ. 

MY FEAR OF MARRIAGE- OVERCOMING MY FEAR

 

Marriage... precisely 2 years ago, I wrote an article on My Fear of Marriage. 

I expressed my great concern for the institution that is marriage, how it had been made into a joke, a carnal union not based on our Christian values. I remember ending the article by making a prayer. I trusted God that He was going to lead me to the institution of marriage and that I was going to honor Him through it. 

And two years down the line, I have seen Him take complete control of my relationship matters. I remember sitting down and declaring that a time would come that I would love a girl enough to go down on one knee and ask her to marry me. 

As I was writing the article, I was still single... by choice. And in terms of relationship choices, I have learned so much to get to the point that I am at right now. I've had the desire to share a little bit of how the journey has been so far, and with so much effort, I am here asking God to help me find the right words to share just how much the journey has made an impact in my life and what God has taught me. 

1. Knowing God's Will

This for me was the starting point of my decision to stay single. I had made my own decisions for so long and I always ended up where I was, what I was doing and who I was. And it never ended well.

Many times, we want to be the ones to decide on our relationships; I have to confess that so many times I never really asked God if I should be dating the persons I dated before, and it never ended up progressing. I never dated for more than 3 months... maybe close to 4 months, but never getting there. 

This time it was different... God told me to wait and I decided I was going to listen to Him... and I waited. I remember making a vow to go down on my knees and pray to God to bring a girl my way, and He did

Interesting thing is, at the time I wrote the article, I had not held more than 5 conversations with my now fiance, and I never imagined in my wildest dreams that it is her I would now be planning to marry. But every step of us being here now has been led by God. 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Letting go of my own desires was the starting point of meeting Enid and I never regret it one bit. Getting our plans aligned to what God desires for us is the first step we need to take. If we are not in God, how else are we going to know the good plans He has for us???

2. God has sustained us this far

I sit back and look at where Enid and I have come from, from the first time we spoke on phone, to the first time I met her and to me noticing her... Our relationship has just flowed... I don't know how to explain that. 

How hard is it sometime to get a girl's number? At times you see a girl and you walk over and ask her for her number, and she has no motivation to give it.  I never had that challenge, she called me. I look at our first date... she did not say no or give me a hard time. God had built us, one step at a time, to a point of building our friendship enough for us to sit and have coffee together so many times, even before I asked her to be my girlfriend. 

The Challenging times we faced are when we each tried to create concerns and questions as to whether we were in the right place, when other people said things and it sounded like this relationship was the wrong one, when we compared each other to people outside the relationship and thought they were a better option. There were times that we both were just about to end the relationship, because it seemed the other person was not all in.

But there was always God's voice telling us to stick right there, reminding us that we did not get ourselves there and that it was He who did. 

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

He reminded us, in our separate situations, that it is He who had brought us together and that He was able to sustain it. Sitting here right now and reminiscing on the journey so far, He really is the one who has got us to where we are right now. 

As we got into the relationship, God reminded us that, the most important thing, is that we need to honor Him even in our relationship, to keep ourselves pure and to glorify God in our relationship. I know Enid has taken time to write a little bit about some of the decisions we made in honoring God. I know we'll be writing more on this bit, but you can see her article here.

So let me put it this way, God led me a girl, I got a best friend and I fell in love with her, He has sustained us this far and we continue to trust that it is He who will get us to the end of our courtship and into marriage. And I know He will still continue to teach us and lead us to growth in our relationship.

God did answer one of the prayers I made in my article 2 years ago... that I'd go down on one knee and ask a girl I love to marry me, and that, with tears in her eyes, she'd say yes because of the love we have shared. And just like I had prayed, it happened. If I had doubted God's ability to answer prayers, there is no doubt now that He really does. 

Two years down the line, all I can say is that God has done it for us this far... and it is He who will continue to guide us.

RAGE

 

So as I sit down writing this, I am from a point of seeking peace and calm. 

Anger, rage, frustration... these are 3 words that simply explain what I was feeling a while ago and many times what many of us feel so often. 

Just a few moments ago, I had someone walk into my office with rage and anger and it took lots of grace not to get to the point of having an argument. I could feel anger building up inside, I could feel every muscle in my body aching to just erupt and let go of all that piling pressure, I could feel my breathing get heavier by the second and the rage building up inside. I wanted to shout, I wanted to get angry, I wanted to be heard... 

But it took way more grace to walk away, it took way more strength to hold back and find a quiet and peaceful place where I could sit and have some time with God. And seated there in silence, I asked God to forgive me for what I had just felt, I asked God to take that away from me because certain that it was not from Him. 

And as I sat there, God sent me this word; 

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14

Just breaking this down helped me ask myself a few questions as I meditated on the situation I had just experienced... According to v. 12, there's 5 things listed that I should clothe myself with; 

1. Compassion
2. Kindness
3. Humility
4. Gentleness
5. Patience

I had to take time to ask myself if I had shown these 5 attributes in my time of anger, realizing I had not was the first thing and seeking forgiveness from God because I had gone against His will.  

I can assure you this, it is not always easy to find theses 5 attributes in certain situation, but Paul reminds us that once we are clothed in this at all times, then even as these situations come our way, we'll easily find these attributes in us, enough for us to control ourselves. 

Paul then goes on to talk about forgiveness; and for me, I needed to seek forgiveness for what was sin and to forgive for the situation I had found myself in. You see, when we want to take control of situations around us, it gets very easy for us to sin... against God and against our brothers and sisters. And forgiveness then becomes key... and it's forgiveness, just as Christ forgave us. Find it in your heart to forgive. 

Above all these is love, it binds all these other things in perfect unity. If we have love in our hearts, there's just no room for anger and rage to build in us, whatever the situation. Paul just caps it all up in a way that reminds us all that, if we follow and live by, then we'll put away all the discord, anger, rage etc that causes us to sin and separates us from God. 

I think writing this was more for me, to find peace and to find an answer to my current situation... but I do hope it provides peace for you as you read it and share it with those around you. 

Love one another!

Prayer

Dear Lord of love, please forgive me for the times I have been angry at my brothers and sisters; may I find it in my heart to forgive them. Lord I pray that you clothe me in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience all these capped in love that is from You. Tank you for listening to my prayer, in Jesus name I pray, Amen!