Touching the tip of a Pyramid!

This is only a quick blog post and photo of moi while I mix work and tourism in Egypt. I shy away from posting photos of myself on this blog but .... Well, there is always a 'but', right? The above was taken last week when I visited the Giza pyramids in Cairo last week and thought to share.

This is not a background image or photoshop work. This is the real thing. So how did I touch the tip of the biggest pyramid at Giza?

It's secret. You tell me. :)

Many blessings,
Lady Akofa.




Anything Other than what God intends

To itch to know
and
to have
and
to be
anything other than
what God intends for me
to know
and
to have
and
to be
must go.

~Elisabeth Elliot~

90 turned 106 days-What would you ask God for?

Let me be upfront and ask you a question. Can I? If God were to come down to earth physically and asked you, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you,” what would you say? Pause and think about this. I figure this might be a way to fast-track a long-standing request, right? Smart move. Or ask for big purchase items such as a house, a car or something glamorous like that? Good stuff to own. Or maybe ask God to get that thorn-in-the-flesh enemy off your back… urgh! Wouldn't that be cool?

We all know about Solomon’s fabulous request for wisdom when God asked him that question in a dream, 1 Kings 3: 5-15. Solomon’s request was so unique and touching that God decided to utterly bless him such that he would be known today as the wisest and richest man ever lived.

Some preachers, Sunday School teachers have taught that wisdom be the ultimate request a Christian could ever ask for if God asked a similar question. I humbly beg to differ. With all his wisdom, Solomon allowed himself to be strayed by the idolatrous practices of his non-Israelite wives such that he wasn’t wholeheartedly devoted to God to the end, 1 Kings 11:1-13, especially verses 3-6. This is not to say that wisdom is not important, it is.

I don’t know whether I’ll change my mind in a year or two but I hope not. I’ve soberly thought through this for quite sometime now. I’ll ask for a humble heart so that I’ll be able to stay faithful to God, to love and serve Him all my life.

Are you crazy? You say. Of all the good things God could offer why would you ask for something that is spurned by the world as a ‘weak’ virtue?

When you love God wholeheartedly, He blesses you in the good times and the not-so-good times, right? That’s a fact. God loves to give good gifts to His children.

“I travelled to China and won the business bid, then got another contract in Kuwait. Canada is next!”
“See the degrees, publications and conferences to my name! You sure don’t know how hard I worked to become Very Reverend Prof...”
“Can you believe that I’m 75 years old? The other day, somebody saw me and thought I was in my 50s! By the way, did I tell you our youngest son and his wife had twins last week? I’m a twinie grand-mom!”

Sounds vaguely familiar? Certainly you probably are not as old as the 75 year granny or probably have never stepped beyond the shores of your country before. But in other ways we may have reasoned along similar lines. I know my own human tendency to get swollen-headed by accomplishments to that point that I think that I don’t need God. That was one thing God warned Israel against in Deuteronomy 8:10-18, linger a while at verses 13-14.

You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth and so confirms his covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today. Deuteronomy 8:17-18

Selah.

I’ve read how quick Israel was to turn away from God to their own ways and idol worship time and time again. I’ve seen this in myself too, especially when all goes on well.

The greatest command is to love God unreservedly, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and the first commandment is to serve Him only, Exodus 20:1-4. Jesus Christ confirmed it Himself, Mark 12:28-34. Loving God with actions does not come easy for me but John says it’s important too, 1 John 3:18. I believe true love is proved by faithful service, so the two go hand in hand. Although sometimes service can be provided without love.... but I digress. I hope you're not lost. :) So back to the point:

What’s the ultimate thing you’d ask God for?

Selah,
Lady Akofa.

Note: As I have already mentioned it took me quite sometime to come to this point. Don't get me wrong, there are days that I'm not particularly humble, loving or enthusiastic in serving God or others. But this is an ongoing prayer and I'm hoping that I walk the talk everyday.

Patriotism Paraphernalia

While I'm still in the patriotic mood let me just show you some paraphernalia. I'll get back to my bible reading challenge posts that I've been meaning to share.

An African-American colleague of my mom spent Christmas back at home and returned with this as one of her gifts to my mom.


While I'm not necessarily a fun of Obama, I stand in awe of him. I mean, he's the first African-American President of the US of A! But there are Obama funs in my house, just as we have different political affiliations within one house, with regards to Ghana politics.

I wouldn't eat the chocolate till I had taken a picture of it. See the coats of arms. I was sooo amused!



So it's not all about US of A. Below is a food flask made of Ghana colours. Too much light in the picture, but you get the drift, don't you?

I find it also amusing that Obama's campaign message was about 'change.' Atta Mills campaign message was also about 'change'. I guess Americans and Ghanaians are looking forward to something different and are tired of presidents who have served two terms. It's nice when a new president promises something new and different. I just wonder, are the citizens themselves willing to do the hard work it requires to change so that we eat of the fruit of better and greater things?


And oh, that's my Ghana scarf above.

God bless ya,
Akofa.

Lady Akofa’s Prayer for Ghana

I thank You Papa God for today. This is not a superficial thank you, but a THANK YOU from the very bottom of my heart. Thank You for the great things You have done and for the Greater things You will do.

Thank You for Ghana o! Thank You for seeing us through 2008. There were whirlwinds here and there but You were with us as a people. The campaigns, meetings, rallies and all… yE da W’ase. Such a critical time in the life of any country… you saw Ghana through.

What if we had become like Kenya, Congo, Angola or Sierra Leone? Ooooh, LORD! Thank You for sparing us

the tears and fears,
the bloodshed and bombshell,
the victimization and rapes,
the war-driven poverty and hunger,
the torture and betrayal,
unrestrained youth-driven gangs and the guns.

Thank You that we, Ghanaians, are alive to see this day in peace. You are not called Asomdwehene (Prince of Peace) for nothing.

We have a new president, John Evans Atta Mills (Prof.) and I say thank You. He has given himself up for such high service. I want to believe that he’s sincere. You know the intentions and affections of a man’s heart. I pray that You’ll enable him to discharge the duties of his office with Vision, Bridled Zeal and Faithfulness… to the Very End. He cannot do it alone. May Your Holy Spirit lead him to make decisions that will establish Ghana in Righteousness. Aaah, Papa God.

Righteousness exalts a nations,
but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Proverbs 14:34

When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice;
When the wicked rule, the people groan.
Proverbs 29:2

Have we not heard groans under leaders such as Idi Amin, Adolf Hitler and Mobutu Sese Seko? Let not groans be our portion, Papa God.

Thanks for our vice president, our first female speaker, the MPs and the yet to be appointed ministers who have also given themselves up for this service. I pray for wisdom and strength for each one of them through Christ Jesus, the Wisdom and Power of God. May they be faithful to their vision and promises of serving the people. May they not be found wanting when it’s time to render account. Indeed, he who has been given a trust must prove faithful, 1 Cor. 4:2.

Now LORD, I pray for all Ghanaians, including and especially me that we’ll submit to the authorities, whether we voted for them or not, whether they were appointed or promoted, according to Your Word-Romans 13:1-7. Help us to obey the laws and simply do what is right so that we’ll not live in fear of being ‘caught’ by the police, our bosses or some other authority figure.

Where the authorities go wrong, help us to refrain from finger pointing, gossiping and slandering. Instead, help us to earnestly pray and seek the best procedure or channel to humbly draw their attention to the perceived wrong.

Papa God, thank You that I can say today that ‘Ghana is Sweet,’ for You have made it so! LORD, when I recall, Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April, movies giving me a glimpse of ethnic and political strife that led to unimaginable atrocities and painful loss in Rwanda in 1994, I can only say, “THANK YOU for sparing us,” in sober reflection.

May Christians in Ghana be faithful to pray for the country so that we can continue to live holy and godly lives daily, drawing others to the richness of the Kingdom by word and deed, 1 Tim. 2:1-6. Then we’ll continue to enjoy abundant peace and security. Then we’ll continue to hear sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the voices of thanksgiving in the house of the LORD, Jer. 33: 6-11.

I say THANK YOU, Papa God for Ghana. Amen.

Lady Akofa.

90 days-Solomon's wealth

I completed my bible reading challenge in 106 days instead of 90 days. I admit that at some point I rushed in a bid to beat the deadline. But that was unrealistic looking at the number of days I had missed. I’m glad that I was able to continue the challenge over the Christmas break because it was for me the least feast Christmas break I’ve ever had. Not because there was no food, but I chose to set a few days apart for the LORD. The day after I completed the challenge, I thought, “Oh, what a pity! No bible reading challenge anymore?” You know challenges can be invigorating. For now, yes, but I’ll certainly do it again. So I’ll be sharing a few thoughts that I noted during the bible reading over a few days on this blog.

I was awesomely struck by the description of Solomon’s wealth during the bible reading. From the descriptions, I wonder if today’s Forbes’ assessed rich men and women can match Solomon’s wealth of those days, 1 Kings 10:14-29.

Solomon was, as some people will say ‘filthy rich.’ But this was a blessing from God in answer to a request, not ill-gotten gains. Solomon was so rich that silver was a common thing, of little value. Every utensil (goblet) in his palace was made of gold. Can you imagine seeing that shiny yellow metal all over the palace? And what does the bible say of silver? We herald gold, bronze and silver in our Olympic games but silver was as common as stones in Solomon's day. Stones? Yep, like the ones you step on in the ground. His throne was overlaid with gold with 12 lions, 6 on each side leading up to his throne.

Even with his vast wealth, people brought gifts to him. And I believe he also gave gifts as well.

Just a miniature demonstration of our God, who owns everything. His streets are made of gold. What is so valued today in the estimation of our financial analysts, someday I’ll walk on it. So will you when we get there. Isn’t He amazing?

Awed by God’s wealth,
Lady Akofa.

Happy New Year!- A mixed bag of thots

Afiehyia pa!*

Afi yi nkↄ ne afi pa bɛ to yɛn!**

Ghana has a new president, John Evans Atta Mills (Prof), after 2 rounds of elections, with his major opponent closely tailing him. The elections were not without some minor skirmishes here and there but all ends well. The date set for his swearing in is 7th January, 2009. I pray that he will be able to faithfully serve the people and lead with divine wisdom during his term of office.

Last year was the most challenging so far. Spiritually. And we all know that the spiritual has a profound effect on the physical, right? I can only say it's been by God's grace that I've gotten this far. It reached a point that I had to step back and pause. It seems I really didn't know how to pray. Thus it became a constant prayer, "LORD, teach me how to pray." There were other challenges of course, but this is how I'll describe 2008.

I really appreciate the wisdom of God when our new pastor preached on Isaiah 40:31 at our watch night service. Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength. It was a confirmation of my end of year/new year convictions after my spiritual challenges of 2008.

I also appreciate God's power and loving-kindness on New Year's day. It rained with peals of thunder, although we are in the dry season! It seemed God was saying, "My daughter, this is just a foretaste of my power. In the days ahead, I'll show you even more and you'll be awed. Then you shall give Me the glory due Me." I couldn't help but think, "Double blessings. Showers on New Year's day! I can't wait to see the all goods things God has in store for me, my family, my country and the world at large!" Aaah, how I love rain....

I've purposely not drawn up any new year resolutions. I seem to always fail at them anyway. :) Really, apart from my already existing commitment to love God passionately, to be faithful in prayer and personal study of His Word, to serve God faithfully and gladly through my job, family and ministries I'm involved in at church, I simply have no new year resolutions. All that I failed to do or wasn't consistent in doing last year, I'll seek to do this year, God willing. There is no point in getting worked up over new things while old things have been left undone. I'd like to live simply, focusing on the few things that matter most to me.

For some reason, these words from a song have stuck with me since last December. I've never had a personal theme for the year before, but I think this will be it:

Great things He has done, GREATER THINGS HE WILL DO.

Please read 1 Corinthians 2:9 and Isaiah 64:4 to understand why I know that God will do greater things in 2009. As already mentioned our watch night exhortation was on Isaiah 40:31, coupled with my personal convictions make me so excited for this year.

I wish all my readers nothing less than God's VERY BEST in 2009. May God equip you with everything good for pleasing Him and doing His will (Hebrews 13:20-21) through Christ Jesus and His Spirit.

God bless ya,
Lady Akofa.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Literal Translation from Akan to English:

*A good year meets you! or Happy New Year!

**This year should go and a good year should meet us!