Immanuel! Immanuel! Immanuel!

I’m hoping for a different and unique Christmas season this year. I hope to spend time with my family and over good food, of course! : - ) I might visit a few friends as well.

I’ve been listening to Christmas carols. Sometimes I meditate on the words, especially those that speak of the coming Messiah’s birth and the salvation His has brought to all people. You should try it! I mean take out a hymn book or search the internet for Gospel centered Christmas carols and feast your heart and mind on them. Of all the songs, "O come, O come Emmanuel," has resonated with me this season.

The Israelites had been waiting, for a the King who would sit on David's throne. The King who would restore the Kingdom that had been destroyed through the sins of their forefathers. They were looking forward to the Prophet who would be greater than Moses. The Messiah who would be the Great Restorer and Deliverer. Isaiah, Jeremiah and others had prophesied about this King. And for a long time, there was no Word from the LORD. It seemed the prophets had padlocked lips for a season. And all of suddenly a young, unassuming lady was pregnant with that long anticipated King!

We don’t know what pleasant surprises or challenges may come our way in 2011 but these are bound to happen. Life is a roller coaster sometimes! However, God is ALWAYS with us in the midst of our joys, accomplishments, pain, sadness and all. We should feast on this Truth and more importantly at those trying times when it appears as if God has closed shop and gone to bed for good, lol! Remember.... His Name is Immanuel, God with us.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” which means
“God with us”.
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife
Matthew 1:22-24

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5-6

To my bloggie friends and random visitors, I wish you God’s blessings & may You feel God’s loving embrace throughout the coming year!

God is with me & God is with you. Amen!

God bless ya,
Lady Akofa.

Caught in the Act but Free in the End!

I’m really, really fascinated by the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Sweet Grace! This is more or less my rendition of the story:

So this woman was caught in adultery.  I can imagine the commotion as  the person(s) who saw the act, the Pharisees and the teachers of the laws dragged Madam from the ‘crime scene’ through town to the temple courts. I can imagine the taunts and threats of death being yelled out as she was paraded through town. “Boo! Shame on you, woman!” People shouting at her in disgust.

BUT, it takes two to tango. Where was the man - her male accomplice? Why wasn’t he dragged through town to face the same punishment?

So the leaders brought her to the temple courts. What blessedness that Jesus Christ was there teaching at that same time!

“They made her stand before the group.” 3b- NIV

“They made her stand in the middle of the court…” AMPLIFIED

I can imagine Madam standing all alone before everyone – fearful, ashamed, remorseful, unkempt… after all she had just been dragged from bed! Eyes looking her in judgment. Busy tongues wagging. “Have you heard……. Eeeeiiiiieeee, this woman paa! How could she do such a thing!” Fingers snapping and fingers pointing at the culprit.

“So let’s ask Teacher Jesus. He should be able to justify that Madam should be stoned to death, just as the Law of Moses commands. As for this one, we caught her feeli, feeli. No... libilibi, no lavalava!”

BUT, they didn’t say, “We caught them!” They said, “We caught her!" Were there not two people involved in the ‘crime?’

“So what you say, Jesus?”

I can imagine the whispers and the noise gradually dying down as the gathering wait for the final judgment.

But Jesus has already stopped teaching. He too grows silent. He bents down to write on the ground. Was He making Madam’s anguish lengthier by making her stand there or what?

The people persisted with their question, after all Jesus claims to be the Chief Teacher of the Law. “Aaaaah, Jesus paaa! You mean to tell me that you don’t know what the punishment should be, eh? You say, you be Messiah. Talk now!”

Still… complete silence all around the temple. If pins had dropped, I’m sure you could have heard them.

“If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her,” John 8:7b; NIV.  And He continues to write on the ground.

One by one, they leave. Gray-haired Koo Hia drops his stone and leaves first. Another wrinkled old man limps away with his walking stick.  One of the priests adjusts his  tunic  and walks away. An old lady remembers her unexposed sin too; she steps aside in shame. Similarly, the younger ones begin to leave the temple courts until it is almost empty.

The ‘accused’ is still standing before Jesus, who is continues to write on the ground. He looks up and surveys the temple courts.

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” John 8:10

“No one, sir,” she said. John 8:11

“THEN NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU.” JESUS DECLARED. “GO NOW AND LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF SIN.”

What liberating words!
A ‘dead gonna’ is now a free woman.
The accused, now justified by Jesus!
The death sentence turned around to a new and better life.

AND CATCH THIS: Because her male accomplice wasn’t brought before the temple courts along with her, he may have missed the true forgiveness and justification from Jesus.

God bless ya, 

Akofa.

Trusting God: Some lessons will never end

A few things I’m learning about Trusting God:

• Nobody is born knowing to put our trust in another person. We learn it based on the reliability of the person as shown over time and through various experiences. A newborn knows to turn his/her head a particular way with an open searching mouth because the baby knows the direction of breast milk through an established pattern. And the baby also grows to know that s/he will get a response to his/her cries; often the louder, the more likely attention will be given to him/her.

• I’m never going to reach a stage in my life where I’m not required to choose to trust God. Indeed, I’m going to have to decide NOW to rely on God, whatever comes my way in the future.

• I’m required to trust God even though I don’t know what the next step will be. In fact, I’m to trust God for the next step! Proverbs 3:5-6.
  

• Choosing to trust God, in the face of the unknown increases my faith because I rely on the Unseen yet Dependable One.

• Periods of Trust- There will be different times at which each situation will require a deeper reliance on God.

• There will always be times of waiting before I see physically what I am hoping for. What or who I decide to believe and to decide to do during those seasons of waiting is up to me.

• Degree of Trust - There will different things for which I’ll have to trust God. Some will require greater faith, more inner wrestling with God than others. Others will require ‘blind faith,’ in the sense that you don’t see the future or the expected results but you know God and what He has said concerning you and the situation. But the point is, whatever degree to which I need to trust, I need to put my hopes in God, the LORD.

• Just as there will be different things for which I’ll have to trust God; so will everyone but the specifics will differ. Some will have to trust God for a child in the midst of fertility challenges, while others will have to trust God for a spouse after many years of waiting. There are others will have to trust God for the salvation of a lost daughter, another for spiritual deliverance and yet another for physical healing. Some for day to day meals or housing as they battle poverty, adoptive parents for a child, for a job in a shaky economy, for a marriage or a relationship to be restored, a teenager gone missing and needs to be found… the list is endless.

You get the picture? We all walk different life paths but it is the same One God who powerfully and lovingly works in, for and through us to display His Glory.

So… what are your needs, your desires or concerns? You can turn to God, who wants to be gracious to you.

And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:10- ESV

In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
Isaiah 25: 9- NIV

Digging deeper,
Lady Akofa.

Only in Ghana! MJ Wafer

So, so, so.... One of our lovely moms gave this to me in church last Sunday. She is always giving small gifts to people at Sunday services. I was so amused to see the label: Michael Jackson's initials and an image of him moonwalking. Hehehe! And yes, that's a made-in-Ghana product.

I have yet to eat it though.

God bless ya,
Lady Akofa.

Service is the call for all leaders; not squabbles!

Ah! Who am I that I should even stand before these big, big people, eh? I recently had a bit of epiphany and I just had to share to our African leaders, specifically these 3 groups of people: politicians, traditional chiefs and religious leaders, especially Christian leaders who should know better!

There is a deep sense of pride and power that potentially comes with “rising to the top.” There is a lot at stake, lots of people looking up to you as a leader and lots to be done. May God grant our leaders grace.

When leaders are blinded by long-drawn out disagreements, they seem to lose sight of the very character traits that got them to the “top,” --- humility, teachablity and accountability. They forget the inherent call of a leader is SERVICE.

Such blinded leaders hold on to their pride, unrealistic expectations and hurts in their squabbles. It’s a shame that some of our leaders have been so blinded by “self-rights” that they cannot serve the people they had promised/pledged to serve when they took up “post.” No wonder development, growth and success so often eludes us in Africa.

It’s time to pray for these leaders to uproot bitterness from their hearts and lives, to completely forgive and reconcile so that they can really focus on what really matters.

Jesus Christ refused to be entangled by the traps of the Pharisees and Sadducees because He wanted to accomplish His ONE GOAL: the salvation of people like me! Amen!

Praying for African leaders,
Lady Akofa.

That I am His Child, For all Time

People may take pride in their profession such as a doctor, domestic engineer, journalist, chief executive officer, wife/husband, movie agent, celebrity model, pastor, etc. All these are temporary because they are limited to earthly circumstances and to this earth but of this, I’m sure:

That I am His Child, Forever.
♥

Amen and AMEN!

Delighting in Him,
Lady Akofa.

Only in Ghana! Speaking in Tongues

Sometimes, I’m tickled by conversations I have with people, especially when

1. we speak different languages (literally) or
2. when people use inappropriate words or unintentionally use certain words to mean something else. This makes for potential misunderstanding and conflicts but can be a source of humour!

Sometime ago, I had a brief conversation with a retired cleaner and messenger. He wears many hats, by the way. I was so amused by it that I typed it for my personal pleasure. This conversation is an example of situation 1 above, where he was speaking in broken Ghanaian English and I, formal educated English. I normally switch to broken Ghanaian English when I meet such people but for some reason, I stayed with formal English in this encounter. I’m sharing here.

Former co-worker, a pensioner: I wan box cover.
Me: There are things inside so I won’t be able to give you the box. By the way, what do you want the box for?
Pensioner: I wan put puss cat for box make I take home.
Me: Eeeiiiee! Pussy cat! You’ve got a pussy cat!
Pensioner: Somebody stole my Big puss cat, eh! So I get small (baby-my insert) puss cat make I take home.
Me: Oooh... as for this one. Somebody has probably taken your Big cat to make Fufu and light soup. Oooh sorry o!
Pensioner: Ooooh.... every time visitor come for house, they make say, this puss cat dey BIG, fine! Now i-no more. Oooooooh!

*Note: Yes, there are people who eat cat meat. I’ve not yet tried it. I doubt I will.

Amused,
Lady Akofa.

Only in Ghana! Potholes

Rain does some pretty wonderful things... Brings life and ... death. Remember the flood in Noah's day? It rained 40 days and needless to say, you know what happened in the end.

Fire does some pretty wonderful things too.

But I'd take water if let let me choose between fire and water. I think you can recover some things after a flood but I'm not sure what one can recover from ashes.

About a week or two week ago, we were driving home from I don’t remember where, and I commented on the association between rain and potholes in Ghana. And my mom responded, “There is a saying that you choose which pothole you’d want to fall into.” Hehehe! And there are very deep ones too.

You see, overtime our road gradually erodes as rain softens the ground with the added pressure from vehicles. So you see all these drivers dodging potholes, running into the other lane in the process. Welcome to not so smooth driving in Ghana = Bumpy rides.

It was such a pleasant surprise to see the potholes being filled over the weekend by the road works people.

God bless ya,
Akofa.

Not Enough Containers 2

It was windy.

There was thunder.

There was lightening.

It was pouring.

And the containers were still not enough to contain the blessings that gives us food to eat and water to drink, wash, etc... When you brush your teeth every morning with water, my sister, my brother... thank the Giver of Life.

Yes, that was the 'best picture' I could get.

God bless ya,
Akofa.

Not Enough Containers

Ever since our gardener got laid off early this year, I’ve taken a special interest in watching out for the plants in the flower pots. It gives me great pleasure to uproot weeds, prune the plants, dig up fallow soil and to water the plants. I’m even more excited to see tender shoots, leafs fresh and tender and flowers blossom.

When plants start to droop and wither, I know that their nourishment has been long overdue and I must quickly nurse them back to life; yet one day at a time. I think I’m now familiar with each one and with their patterns.

I’ve also taken special interest in rain. It’s not that I don’t like rain. I’ve always loved rain, except for my childhood days when I sang with my playmates,

“Rain, rain go away!
Go and come another day.
Little children want to play.
Rain, rain go away!”

Rain has been sporadic this year as compared to last year. And since we have water shortage from time to time, I’ve taken delight in making sure barrels and buckets are put outside to collect water from the roof when it rains. Because… it seems when it rains, it rains heavily.

One day, as I was excitedly replacing full buckets with empty buckets and getting wet, a thought came to mind,

“God sends abundant rain and you don’t have enough buckets/vessels to contain it all.”

And today it rained cats and dogs.

How gracious God is with His showers of blessings. Free. Abundant. My God of UnLimited blessings. And we just can’t contain it because it’s meant to overflow!

I thank God for the lesson- He is BIG!

Revelling in My UnLimted God,
Lady Akofa.

May 17, 2010.

Only in Ghana! - Abro ne nkate

Okay, I'd like to think there are some things you'd only find in Ghana like my latest delicacy: Abro ne nkate (corn and groundnut/peanut). Like you see at the side. It's roasted corn (you can see the popped corn) and roasted peanuts. When I bought this I asked for lots of peanuts and little corn. The corn is usually hard.

It's considered a snack for the average Ghanaian, and it's not what you'd see the rich or well-to-do Ghanaian eating but this to me is a delicacy. Why? I just don't get it everyday, lol!

So when you decide to visit Ghana one day, try this. And let me warn you, be ready to crack your teeth.... just a little. :-)

BTW, watch out for my new series: Only in Ghana!

Glod bless ya,
Akofa.

“I was arrested…!”

I’m always amused whenever I hear Christians in Ghana share their conversion experiences and often describe the significant turning point with such words, “The Holy Spirit ‘arrested’ me and I gave my life to Christ that day.” Hehehe!

Can you picture Mr. Holy Spirit as a police man holding a BIG stop sign at the end of a dead end street? Hehehe!

And then I remember it used in a context where an aggrieved party was asking for prayer for the person who had stolen from her so that the person would come and confess his/her sins to her. “I want God to arrest the person so that the thief will come and confess to me.” Uh….Oh-uh… I had a bit of a problem with such a request. I’d prefer that we pray that the LORD leads the ‘thief’ to repentance that leads to salvation first, then the person would be led to deal with specific sins at the Cross and the way God requires.

Oh…. I digress… we were talking about a Police Man and how He does a wonderful job of ‘arresting’ people, eh? The beauty of it all is that He doesn’t take his ‘suspects’ to prison, lol! Instead, He does a beautiful, life-changing work in them that liberates them to live to please God all their lives! Huh…there is a famous account of a man named Saul (Acts 9:1-31) who got arrested on his way to Damascus and had to make a U-Turn! His name later became Paul (Acts 13:9).

I prefer to use these phrases, “I got convicted by the Holy Spirit,” “was touched by the Holy Spirit,” “the Holy Spirit brought me to repentance” and lately “the Holy Spirit wooed me to Christ.”

So I did get ‘arrested’ sometime ago, lol! Have you been arrested before?

God bless ya,
Akofa.

No title but deep stuff

Occasional loneliness is actually not such a bad thing if we know where and who to turn to when we find ourselves friendless and abandoned. Should we look into ourselves into depths that confound us, we lose sight of what’s true. But if loneliness drives us to seek the True God then that’s a good thing because we have found a Friend. And what blessedness it is to find Him! Or better still, when God powerfully and lovingly reveals Himself to us- YOU!

Oftentimes, we try all possible means to avoid being lonely but it is only at such times that you recognize your need for something more, for Someone Divine.

And without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6

I lift up my eyes to the hills-
where does my help come from?
My help comes form the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2

God bless ya,
Lady Akofa.

God Dey!

My personal translation of Psalm 139:7-12 is this:

Heeey... where you gonna go that God no dey, that God no see, that God no know?

Don't you think my next publishing project should be a new bible called, "God dey Bible" or something like that?

God bless ya,
Lady Akofa.

*** "God dey" means God is there or God exists.

The Ultimate Woo-er

At a group bible study yesterday, I was reminded of God’s commitment to love us and humanity’s incapability to love the way He does. A lady was confounded by her own inability to love God with complete abundance and felt her love for God was inadequate. Her concern portrayed a desire to go deeper in her walk with the LORD.

♥♥♥

God reminded me of 1 John 4:10-11, which I shared with the lady. The gist is this: we are incapable of love because of sin in our hearts. God loved us first by extending His mercy through His Son, Jesus Christ. As we feed on the love He lavishes on us, we in turn love Him and this love overflows to others without inhibition.

♥♥♥

Yes, we love, but only as human beings do which basically is to love those who love us. However, the love of God extends even to our ‘enemies,’ and strangers and that’s only possible with the help of the Holy Spirit.

♥♥♥

Another precious sister explained it further this way: God is the suitor just like any young man seeking to court a lady. Until a young man comes a lady’s way, the lady is not capable of loving him because she doesn’t know him. But as he pursues and the lady chooses to be receptive to the attention and the expressed desire, a love relationship begins and they get to know each other.

♥♥♥

Oftentimes, if all things goes well, there is a desire to commit for life in a marital agreement. In marriage, the journey of knowing each other and loving each other continues. I’ve heard older married couples say that they loved each other when they were young but now that they are old, they love each much more than they did in the past.

♥♥♥

So when you’re stuck and unsatisfied with your ‘level’ of love for God don’t be alarmed. God is not seeking perfect love from you. He is aware that you’re not fully capable of that just yet but you’ll grow in love as you CHOOSE to spend time getting to know Him. All He asks for is your desire. Are you desirous for authenticity and depth? Can the desire translate into a daily choice of pursuit and receptiveness?

♥♥♥

God is in the business of wooing us into a deeper love relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, His Son. Jesus Christ is the Groom and You are His Bride. Allow Him to woo you. Allow Him to pour out precious jewels of love into your heart. Delight in His love like the beautiful, blushing bride you are! :-)

♥♥♥

Basking in His love,
Lady Akofa.

His Mercy

I've been thinking about God's mercy lately and how undeserving I am of His goodness. Yet He freely gives it... ABUNDANTLY.

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ---Titus 3:4-7 (NIV)

Because of His Mercy I've received His free gift of salvation.

My so-called 'righteousness' couldn't have earned His mercy... in fact, I couldn't have done anything to merit it because I was just incapable of living to please Him. I'm grateful.

Mercy

In deep thoughts lately,
Lady Akofa.

In the News!

I don’t know whether it is because Ghana now has a Domestic Violence Act/ Law thus more people are reporting gender based violence than before or whether it seems we have a few insightful journalists or it’s just an increase in gender based violence in general but about 3 weeks ago I was going through December ‘09 and January ‘10 newspapers for work related purposes and was heartbroken over the reports. Too many gender-based violence reports.

There was a woman seeking justice for having been falsely accused of witchcraft- what her husband's family put her through is quite unimaginable. I dare not repeat the horrific things the report claims this woman went through.

Stories of jealous husbands/boyfriends who had allegedly killed their wives/girlfriends on suspicion of being unfaithful. Some in turn committed suicide… Romeo and Juliet saga, you’d say.

There was a story of a depressed woman who was alleged to have poisoned and killed all her 5 kids. She committed suicide a few days later. In response to the report, an elderly colleague was aghast, “There are many women looking for just one child to claim as their own! Look at this woman, she killed all her five kids like chickens!” The woman was alleged to have left a journal chronicling her sad thoughts.

And of a 9 year old girl raped by a much older man who could be her grandfather.

What did the 9 year old girl do to merits such unspeakable treatment? It is not the old man’s unbridled sexual desire and evil intent that caused this girl’s innocence to be taken rather rudely? If not because of lack of trust, unbridled anger and jealousy, why would a man choose to end the life of the one he claims to love? If only that depressed woman had known that God is the lifter of our heads and could deliver her from the pit then perhaps, at least those innocent 5 kids would have been alive today.

Interestingly, my dad had stopped by my office to look for a specific article in one of the newspapers and as he was going through them, he made a comment, “Look at these” he pointed to several pages in an issue, “there are a lot of rape stories in the papers these days.” He independently made the same observation that I’d made a few days earlier!

This is just Ghana. I know there are all kinds of things happening the world over. And it's depressing to get to read or hear about them. Yet there are many more untold stories that don’t make it to the newspapers, radio, television or the internet. Maybe you have an untold story of a similar nature.

Despite the doom and gloom of such news reports... I do know this: There is HOPE. Where you say? In JESUS CHRIST. That’s the only person I know who offers hope. He can redeem us from self and sin that manifest in such ugly acts and incidents.

While sin and Satan's plans lead to destruction, God's business through Jesus Christ is restoration and life. His business is salvation. His business is complete deliverance and healing. His business is freedom from sin and Satan so that one can live an abundant, Christ-glorifying life. And most of all, his business is making victorious survivors of victims and even perpetrators of such rather unfortunate incidents. (Every italicized word, phrase in this paragraph is a Hope-FULL link, for your encouragement, so check the links out! :-))

As you read the newspapers or listen to the news from now on, see them as tidbits, as it were, for prayer for the people involved and for God to redeem the situation. It doesn’t have to be a big thing as Haiti’s earthquake in January or celebrity gossip that we often hear about. Even if the details of the reports are fuzzy, even so, pray for the people involved so that the Truth will stand out.

Yes, food for thought! Pray for somebody's soul!

God bless ya,
Lady Akofa.

On Service...

So.... last year, I was collecting quotes on "service" for my church news magazine and found these online. When we were ready to send our articles to the press I just couldn't find them, lol! Anyway... it's not too late to share on a different forum, right? I share!

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.- Albert Einstein

Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us daily.- Sally Koch

Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time. – Marian Wright Edelman

There is incredible value in being of service to others. I think if many of the people in therapy offices were dragged out to put their finger in a dike, take up their place in a working line, they would be relieved of terrible burdens.- Elizabeth Berg

The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. - Leo Tolstoy

Start where you are. Distant field always look greener, but opportunity lies where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service. – Robert Collier

God bless ya,
Lady Akofa.

The enemy

Below is a profound thought, a quote by yours truly, if you will, that has consumed my thoughts today and I'm completely awed! I just had to share.

"The stuck reality that sin, not Satan, is my greatest enemy of all time and the comforting and assuring TRUTH that sin can be overcome in
JESUS CHRIST."
--- Lady Akofa---

And I'm incredibly floored by the realization that God had already provided for the redemption from my greatest enemy (sin) through Jesus Christ even before I knew I needed Him. What a good and loving God!

So who do you say is your greatest enemy? Just think about it.

Glod bless ya,
Lady Akofa.

****Note: Still not sure whether to blog regularly or not, hehehe! Like I said earlier, please bear with me!
:)

To Blog or not to Blog?

Happy New Year!

I think I’m back to publicly sharing my thoughts and experiences on this blog… or maybe not. Wait and see whether I’m able to publish any substantial stuff within the next quarter then you can decide to completely abandon me, lol!

May 2010 be an AWSOME year for you.

God bless ya,
Lady Akofa.