A time to make New Year Resolutions 2

I’m sharing some articles this area. I’m not necessarily using all these ideas but depending on where you are in your walk with God or what you want God to do in your life... it may trigger something, bring clarity to your situation or lead you to consider new things. I really hope that this post blesses you in some way, even if it’s teeny-tiny, lol!

1. Annual resolutions and our daily habits seem not be aligned, no wonder we struggle with carrying them out! Check the Boundless article here.

2. Another article on Boundless on Goal Setting.

3. Here is a third article from Boundless. Can’t you see that I ♥ Boundless? Mwaah!

4. So you are busy. I understand. So what are you busy about anyway? Are they of value? No, I’m not talking to you, I’m talking to myself.

I’ve had this PDF file since last year... I downloaded it because I knew I needed to read it. I never got round to applying the recommend principles because I never finished reading it... because... you know... because... : - ) Sheepish smile. The title tells you why: Personal Productivity. I so, so, so need to finish reading it. From what I did read, I highly recommend it.

5. Five-a-month plan.... If you think the whole yearly thing is too long thus prefer monthly goals, maybe this will work. Plan to accomplish 5 major things (it could be more) per a month and report back to yourself or your accountability partner(s).

6. In her article, “Resolution Solution,” Joan Esherick gives pointers as to how to work through and streamline the goals you set. It’s not as simple as, “I want to be more patient in 2011.” That’s a lofty dream that is bound to fail.

7. You might want to try the challenge of reading the Bible in 90 days (3 months) if the short term thrill fascinates you. I did the 90 day challenge twice (in a little more than 90 days) & each experience was thrilling. Of course, the reading the bible in the year or in 6 months can be considered. But you definitely need make time for your readings each day. See the first article.

8. Or perhaps quantity is not your focus this year but quality in your bible reading. A motivation to chew the cud, meditate more can be found here. Get the plan in PDF here.

9. Carolyn McCulley has an interesting perspective on New Year Resolutions... our plans and well meaning efforts at self-control will not work unless we consider that Holiness of God and His Spirit’s enablement. I agree.

10. Your To-Do-List will never get done, CJ Mahaney asserts. Just so you don’t get smug about achieving all your daily goals if you manage to do so... hey, there will be more things to accomplish tomorrow. Or if you do get discouraged because you didn’t accomplish one of your daily goals, please know that we only live by the grace of God, step by step and day by day - only God does EVERYTHING He plans to do... that’s why He IS God.

11. Ralph Wilson buttresses the point about relying on the grace of God.

12. Crown Financial Ministries is a great resource for ideas on financial goals... Budgeting, Saving, Investing, Tithing (yes!), Giving (that too!), etc. You really have to check out their website to see.

13. While we set goals, we need to be mindful of the different life seasons we are in and special situations that God has allowed in our lives. Some goals may just not be useful or profitable for a mom with toddlers or for an empty nester. However, there are some goals that would be timely for younger people, for example saving towards a property purchase or acquiring a new skill. Even then, who says senior citizens are exempted from learning new things?! This blog article is specifically addressed to women but, men... you’ll get the point, when you read it.

14. Humour! This clock is heaven bent on waking you up! If you have goals that include waking up early in the morning or if ’re addicted to hitting your snooze button several times every morning, like I do, you need a wake up call, lol! Yes, it’s expensive. So either you wake up quickly at the first alarm, which is free BTW or you consider this pricey alternative, lol!

15. If all this stuff about goals and planning seem to be mumbo-jumbo to you, then try the “One Word” approach by Grit and Glory blogger. Just focus and meditate on the one word God gives you throughout the year. Let it permeate all your thoughts and activities.

Okey dokey, that’s a lot for now. More soon.

God bless ya!
Lady Akofa.

A time to make New Year Resolutions 1

“Tis the season to be jolly” is over for most of us around the world who celebrate Christmas and go by the Georgian calendar. Now is the season to be sober, to reflect and make resolutions, lol! For those still in the “New Year resolution mood,” this post is for you.

So last year, I said I wouldn’t make any resolutions. I didn’t and kept on with this life of mine. And then, mid-year 2010, I received an e-newsletter from a life-coach that I subscribe to asking how far I was getting along in my plans and resolutions for the year. I looked back over the previous 6-7 months and I saw that I wasn’t consciously pursuing any personal goals or spiritual goals thus I had nothing to show for it. It seemed that I was only helping to pursue other people’s goals, mostly work related and church related. I hit a state of panic... What about my personal growth? There seems to be neither significant change nor any indication of gradual progress in any specific area of my life! I’ve not really been working at anything! What a Bummer!

Lessons learnt:

1. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Duh!

2. You reap what you sow. The sober warning is that I cannot escape this truth, otherwise I will only be living in deception if I think so. Galatians 5: 7-9

3. If you don’t plant anything, what do you expect to harvest? Nada! At best, wind! Selah.

And since I hadn’t planned to sow much, there was little harvest in my life. To everyone else, it appeared life was going on smoothly but I knew that inner growth was lacking.

So since the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011, I have really been thinking about resolutions, goals and planning for the year. Not just these but actually acting on what I plan to do. There is a difference between planning and carrying out plans, you know. I’m recruiting an accountability partner to keep me in check in this area. I’ve been prayerfully skimming the Bible, e-articles and the like for ideas and motivation, for me.

It’s not so much the concept of ‘setting goals’ and ‘achieving goals’ so that I’ll have something to show for at the end of 2011. The point is to:

1. Lay these plans before God so that He directs my path. There have been times in the past that God has had to re-direct me to do something else or to simply wait, (Proverbs 3: 5-6 and Psalm 37: 5-7) This should be both a seasonal and daily activity of laying my plans before Him, who knows all things and controls everything.

2. So that I live a productive and fruitful life for Him.

You might want to consider these questions, “Why are you setting goals for the year, that is, if you are? Are you setting goals because ‘everybody is doing it’ or there is a stronger motivation for it? Who are you living for as you plan and make schedules? Or are you making goals to impress people?”

Selah.

Wrestling with these questions too,
Lady Akofa.

To be continued....

Bonne année!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My new year message is this... click here!

I do pray that you will meditate on Him and know that God is with you.

Blessings,
Lady Akofa.

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.