Equipping young women professionals with young families to find fulfillment, contentment and joy as mothers and home makers without losing sight of who they are as women.

Volume 08, Issue 10; Treat Losses Like Triumphs

A few weeks ago, I watched a movie based on a true story about a young woman who one day was doing fine in high school and enjoying competitive ice skating, and then out of nowhere was diagnosed with a rare case of throat cancer.

This story reminded me that life may be very upsetting for people, beyond the usual, and so we should bear with them and be sensitive to their plight as they manage through their struggles. This young lady made up her mind to go through her struggle smiling. If you have observed a cancer patient, you would know that it’s no mean feat. People who go through such seasons with a positive attitude are a great inspiration.

Your struggle could be business failure, loss of a job, financial distress, loss of a relationship. Whatever your struggle, you keep going back to the boxing ring, seeking new business opportunities, applying for jobs, taking the prescribed treatment for your medical condition. Sometimes no matter how hard to you try, nothing seems to improve. What do you do?

It’s not about what happens when you’re in the box, but how many times you’re in it. It’s about how many times you keep putting yourself out there for marks. Keep coming back no matter what the results are. This young lady eventually died within two or three short years but she left a legacy of triumph. Though the cancer took her life, she was not a victim.

She said to treat losses like triumphs. What does that mean? It means that life is full of moments in which you can choose to smile or not smile. This young woman refused to believe that the cancer inside of her was a killer. Refuse to believe your challenge is the end of you. That doesn’t mean it’s nice, but we all get to make a choice when going through a difficult time. What will your choice be?

The Bible says to rejoice, and then rejoice some more. The believers apostle Paul was addressing this message to had problems just like us, yet Paul exhorted them to rejoice in the Lord always. Since things are not always good, this exhortation implies that we don’t choose to be happy only when things are good, we find a reason to be rejoice even during hard times.

“I choose to smile. That’s my triumph”, the young woman said. “Depending on how you treat your challenge, you get to leave your mark. Always find a reason to be happy. And if you can’t, smile anyway”. Treat losses like triumphs. Smile through your losses. After all, a gloomy countenance doesn’t make it any easier, neither does it possess a magical power to take away your challenge. So, smile anyway.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 08, Issue 09; Maintain Your Investments

This morning at the gym a friend of mine who I admire because she works so hard told me once again that she can’t wait to lose weight so she can stop coming to the gym and do just aerobics. She said she likes how I work out because I do so little and spend only a few minutes at the gym. Well, it’s not that little but my time at the fitness centre is very limited, and I have been doing this for a long time. I walk into the aerobics class when it’s been going for at least half an hour because after walking, I drop my children to school. After aerobics, I sneak into the gym for 15 to 20 minutes, 30 if I am lucky, because then I have to get back home to get ready for work.

I like that my friend has in mind to continue with aerobics after she loses weight. There are people who don’t want to continue exercising after they lose weight. I don’t think that’s very wise. It’s not enough to lose weight and gain health, we need to maintain it. And maintenance is much easier and fun than trying to lose weight at the start or all over again. Maintenance is like prevention, which we know is better than cure.

I remember some years back another good friend of mine who was overweight at the time was working out hard and losing weight. But she kept saying she eats whatever she wants because she works out. It didn’t take long before she realized she was shooting herself in the foot. When she finally combined exercise with good nutrition, she achieved so much more, and has never stopped. She is an awesome example to me of a disciplined mind.

Why work so hard to attain something only to trash it with wrong follow on actions or lack of maintenance? Like many valuable things, a healthy and fit body is an investment. We invest discipline, time and energy to attain it. Its only wise that we maintain it, so that our investment doesn’t turn out to have been in vain.

When people see fit looking people at the gym or out running regularly, they wonder what they are looking for. We see trim and healthy-looking people watching what they eat, picking healthy options and we wonder why they need to do that. Those are wise people. They are maintaining their investments.

When I see run-down properties, it reminds me of my dad. My dad wasn’t a wealthy man but he invested in maintenance. He regularly maintained our rented house with repairs and fresh paint works. He made sure clothes were ironed with precision, and shoes polished meticulously. I don't remember how many pairs of shoes I had growing up, but just because it’s the only shoe you have doesn’t mean it has to look sorry.

We see some very dilapidated looking cars driven around. They are few, but they are there. Just because its old doesn’t mean its alright for it to be neglected. I drive an old car but I like to keep it looking good, mechanically sound, no dents or scratches, and given a fresh coat of paint whenever the paint looks tired. By doing so, I am maintaining my investment.

What have you invested in? Salvation, a marriage, children, a career, health, property? Are you maintaining your investments? Are you spending regular time with God to keep growing and vibrant? Are you making time to give undivided attention to your spouse regularly? I keep pushing my husband to stick to our date night even when it’s hard. Life is busy, and wise couples understand the importance of regularly getting away from the busyness of life to focus on each other. Are you too busy or lazy to spend quality time with your growing children and pass on values to them? You had better wake up before it’s too late for you to be a voice of influence in their lives. Are you doing your best at work, diligently pushing yourself to deliver better results consistently? Do you care to maintain that house God has blessed you with, regardless of whether you are a tenant or home owner? Protect and maintain your investments, and you will enjoy them for a long time.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 08, Issue 08; He Throws You a Party

Have you ever stopped to think that God not only looks after you, but that He also throws you a party? I saw this again today in Psalm 91, and I was thrilled when I remembered the many times God has thrown a party for me.

What do you call the times when God rescues you out of trouble and turns your sorrow into joy, your mourning into dancing? That is God throwing a party for you. What do you call the times when God has your enemies shake your hand? How about the times when he sets a table before you in the presence of your enemies? What do you call the times when God promotes you and then qualifies you for the promotion, and people you deem way superior to you come to you for advice, confide in you? What do you call the times when you find yourself at a table with high ranking people, not knowing how you got there? That is God making you dine with great men.

What do you call the times when God turns things around for you? What do you call the times when God makes things work together for your good? What do you call the times when God leads you to places or people or things just when you need it? What do you call the times when you find the things that are perfect for you when you could have easily missed them? What do you call the times when God opens doors for you that you never dreamed of ever entering?

God rescues and throws parties for us. He is our refuge. We trust in Him and we’re safe. He rescues us from hidden traps, shields us from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect us. Under them we are perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm.

With God on our side, we have no reason to fear – not wild wolves in the night, nor flying arrows in the day. Not disease that prowls through the darkness, nor disaster that erupts at high noon. Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even gaze us.

If you make God's presence the pursuit of your life, He becomes your refuge. If you make the High God your very own home, evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door. God orders His angels to guard you wherever you go. If you stumble, they’ll catch you. You will walk unharmed in the midst of dangerous circumstances.

If you’ll hold on to God for dear life, He promises to;

- keep you out of trouble

- give you the best of care

If you’ll only get to know and trust Him, God promises to;

- Answer when you call

- Be at your side in bad times

- Rescue you, then throw you a party

- Give you a long life

- Give you a long drink of salvation

That’s right. God throws you a party. And He is not talking about when we go to heaven. These parties are happening right here on this side of eternity. Reminisce the occasions God has thrown you a party and acknowledge Him. Happy Easter!

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 08, Issue 07; His Love is Radical

God’s unstoppable love for human kind goes way back. Looking at the history of the children of Israel awhile ago left me amazed by God’s love. God doesn’t exist in time. He sees all that will happen before it happens. He knew the children of Israel were going to rebel and reject him even as he made the first step to rescue them from Egypt. He chose to love them and rescue them even knowing that they would turn away from him.

After leaving Egypt, the children of Israel took God’s wonders for granted, forgot his great and wonderful love. They were barely beyond the Red Sea when they defiled the Most High God. At the very place he saved them, the place he revealed his amazing power.

He rebuked the Red Sea so that it dried up on the spot and paraded them right though, no one so much as got wet feet. He saved them from a life of oppression, pried them loose from the grip of their enemy. Then the waters flowed back on their oppressors; there wasn’t a single survivor. At this, they believed his words were true and broke out in songs of praise.

But it wasn’t long before they forgot the whole thing, wouldn’t wait to be told what to do. They only cared about pleasing themselves in that desert, provoked God with their insistent demands. He gave them exactly what they asked for – but along with it they got an empty heart.

They cast in metal a bull calf at Horeb and worshiped the statute they had made. They traded the Glory for a cheap piece of sculpture; a grass-chewing bull! They forgot God, their very own Saviour, who turned things around for them in Egypt, who created a world of wonders and gave that stunning performance at the Red Sea.

Fed up, God decided to get rid of them – except for Moses, his chosen one. But Moses stood in the gap and deflected God’s anger, preventing it from destroying them utterly.

They went on to reject the blessed land, didn’t believe a word of what God promised. They found fault with the life they had and turned a deaf ear to God’s voice. Exasperated, God swore that he’d lay them low in the dessert.

Then they linked up with Baal Peor, attending funeral banquets and eating idol food. That made God so angry that a plaque spread among their ranks; Phinehas stood up and pled their case and the plaque was stopped.

They angered God again at Meribah Springs; this time Moses got mixed up in their evil; Because they defiled God yet again, Moses exploded and lost his temper.

To top it all, they didn’t wipe out those godless cultures as ordered by God. Instead they intermarried with the heathen, and in time became just like them. They worshiped their idols, were caught in the trap of idols.

They sacrificed their sons and daughters at the altars of demon gods. They slit the throats of their babies, murdered their infant girls and boys. They offered their babies to Canaan’s gods; the blood of their babies stained the land. Their way of life stank to high heaven.

And God was furious – a wildfire anger; he couldn’t stand even to look at his people. He turned them over to the heathen so that the people who hated them ruled them. Their enemies made life hard for them; they were tyrannized under that rule. Over and over God rescued them, but they never learned, until finally their sins destroyed them.

Still, when God saw the trouble they were in and heard their cries for help, he remembered his covenant with them, and, immense with love, took them by the hand. He poured out his mercy on them while their captors looked on, amazed.

What radical love! And in the same breadth God chose to have the penalty for our rebellion paid. God is not confined to time. He saw each day of our lives before we were born. Jesus chose to travail on the cross for us, knowing that just like the children of Israel, there would be days when we would reject him. He could have walked away from the cross, but he chose to go all the way, even seeing the days when we would trash his sacrifice.

God pursues us, with power and glory, unstoppable love that never ends. He is unrelenting with passion and mercy, unstoppable love that never ends – Kim Walker Smith. God's love never fails, his love never runs out. Even though we still experience all the limitations of sin, we experience life on God’s terms.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi

Volume 08, Issue 06; What a Love

Easter holiday for me is a great reminder of God’s love. The cross is not something we think of seriously but it means everything. I know this first hand. It’s because of the cross that our sins are forgiven, our diseases are healed, curses are broken, blessings are established. You see, the cross is very personal. The victorious life I enjoy as a Christian today is because of appropriating Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross for me. And that goes for you too. We get to experience life on God's terms because of the cross.

If it weren’t for the cross, I wouldn’t triumph over all the troubles that come my way. It if weren’t for the cross, I wouldn’t go through trouble, I would live in trouble. If it weren’t for the cross, I would remain heartbroken from the heart breaks I encounter. If it weren’t for the cross, I wouldn’t have the guarantee of health and wholeness. If it weren’t for the cross, I wouldn’t be free from the curses inherited from my forefathers’ idolatry. If it weren’t for the cross, I would be wallowing in poverty and shame. If it weren’t for the cross, I would be afraid, ashamed, unworthy, unfavoured, rejected, dismissed, broken, despised, without hope. I am grateful for the cross. What does Jesus sacrifice and triumph on the cross mean to you?

Most of us go through life out of touch with what Jesus did for us. We make it seem we were just fine without His sacrifice. No, we were not just fine. The first time I listened to the “Unstoppable Love” song by Kim Walker Smith of Jesus Culture two years ago left me overwhelmed. Easter is about God’s love for human kind. There’s one place where love has been richly offered yet not everyone receives it. God has poured out his love, invited us to receive and experience it. What Jesus did on the cross for us was final. His love was freely poured out for us. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

As heartily expressed by Kim in the song, God pursues us with power and glory, unstoppable love that never ends. He is unrelenting with passion and mercy, unstoppable love that never ends. God deemed us worthy of His love, and nothing we do or encounter can stop God’s love. No sin, no shame, no past, no pain can separate us from God’s love. No height, no depth, no fear, no death can separate us from God’s love. There’s no end to God’s love, it goes on forever.

Many of us know Jesus personally but not passionately. We don’t really know how much He loves us. This Easter, may God empower us with inner strength and power to understand the extent of His Love. I pray for an encounter with God’s amazing love this Easter, that God would give us a passion for His presence and set our hearts on pursuing him with all we are.

I am not satisfied with knowing God loves me just because the Bible tells me He does. I am pressing in to know this love for myself, making His presence the primary pursuit of my life. May our desire be to fall radically in love with Jesus, so in love with Him to not be able to go one moment in our day without Him, without His presence, without yielding our hearts to Him.

God pursues us with power and glory, unstoppable love that never ends. He is unrelenting with passion and mercy, unstoppable love that never ends. You can never be the same when those words register in your soul.

For His Glory,

Lillian Chebosi