John ESENE

 

    When you recognize God and make yourself available to him, join together with God in His plan for you and the impossible will become possible! He will make you walk on water like Peter in Mt. 14:28-29 and made the fisherman a fisher of men much later to fulfill God’s plan for Peter! Do you know God’s plan for you? Here below are some people who religiously fulfilled God’s dreams for them.

      “When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!’ They pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus” Luke. 5: 8, 11. When Simon Peter’s eyes were opened after Jesus made him to catch fish beyond his expectations, he left everything including his father and followed Jesus.

      Feel His presence as Moses did in the holy land when he met God one-on-one. Exodus 3:3-6. That was the beginning of Moses’ beginning. Moses while leading the Israelites in the wilderness would take time off to pray quietly Ex. 33-34.  You too can do same and be glad to know and hear His voice and recognize it. “My sheep listens to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” Jn 10:27.

 

     When Abraham prayed, he became very close to God and knew God’s will for him and things never remain the same again. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” Gen 12:1. Today, you sing Abraham’s blessings are mine while you are hesitating to walk in his steps. What is God’s will for you? To be in God’s will and not in his way is the purpose for your meditation every day. We are happier when we realize that we are doing what we should be doing.

 

      When Joseph’s brothers threw him into the pit, he did not revolt: he put his trust in God who changed the situation and he was brought out again. Then, they sold him as a slave! Yet, he did not curse them nor say, “Where is my God?” Nothing hurts more than being disappointed by those you thought would never hurt you.  All this while, Joseph felt God was with him. You need a lot of faith where God is taking you. If He does not pull you out of fire, know that it is because He is with you in the fire.

     Obama had a father from continental Africa: his late father is of the dual ethnic group from Kenya. Obama was raised by his grandmother in Hawaii when his father abandoned him and his mother in the US and returned to Kenya. Obama went to Harvard University. He started his family and political career in Chicago. Barack Obama was 56 when he became the 44th President of the United States, the first Black President in over 200 years of American Presidential History. “Only in America is my story even possible.” says Obama. Unfortunately, his father died before he became the President of United State. He visited Kenya much later and wrote fondly about the emotional visit in his popular memoirs, Dream from My Father.

     God who made David the Shepherd boy a king made Obama, the first Black to lead the most powerful nation of our time. Faith is the bedrock of Obama’s success story. And painfully, his African father did not live to see his son set a record for us and the children yet unborn. “I am the son of a Black man from Kenya ….” He declared in his speech on race, titled, “A More Perfect Union” at the Constitution Centre in Philadelphia on March 18, 2008, in the middle of the presidential primaries, which launched him to the White House. 

     Nelson Mandela was born into Madiba Clan in Mvezo on July 18, 1918. He lost his father at the age of 12. From then on, he had it rough but never gave up the struggle to take his people to their promised land.  While he was a student of University College of Fort Hare he was expelled because of his participation in the student protest. He eventually completed his degree program at the University of South Africa and graduated at 25 in 1943.

     Mandela thereafter was jailed for 25 years while fighting for the country’s independence. When Mandela eventually became the President of South Africa through fair election, he led his country without oppressing his people. Mandela dedicated 67 of his 95 years on earth struggling against apartheid. Mt 15, 28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”

     Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and hope.” Do you know God’s plan for you? Why not compare your journey so far with God’s plan for you and make amendment where possible during this Lent? Walking outside God’s plan is not the best for you.

     Lent has afforded us the opportunity to retreat, fast and pray to ascertain whether or not we are walking along the path God planned for us. Oftentimes, Jesus would withdraw from the crowd and go to a quiet place to meditate and commune with His Father, Our Father. He is the Way, the Truth and Life: let’s imitate Him as we observe this year’s Lent and avoid all distractions as possible.

    If you are on the right track it means you are walking with God which requires total obedience or submission to Him. Jesus laid unbeatable example for us: in obedience to the Father He laid down His life for our salvation. In Mark 14:36 Jesus said, “Father, My Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.” It is compulsory for you to know God’s dream for you and work on it!