‘My truth’ is a popular phrase that’s becoming acceptable in
culture. But as I ponder more and more on scriptures, I come to the conclusion
that this is a deception from the pit of hell!
There is only one truth!
‘My truth’ appears harmless on the surface but it only seeks
to erode our foundation of God’s word as the TRUTH.
Upon closer examination of Psalm 91: 4, I see it clearly;
His(God’s) truth is my shield and buckler.
King James Bible
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings
shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
International
Standard Version
With his feathers he will cover you, under his wings you
will find safety. His truth is your shield and armor.
Aramaic Bible in
Plain English
In his feathers he shall deliver you and under his wings you
shall have refuge; his truth shall surround you as a supply of armor.
Ever wondered why there are so many wounded and unstable folks all around? It’s because they have left the truth of God’s word and are holding on to ‘my truth’ so they have been and are being pierced with the many arrows that life throws on a daily basis.
Circumstances and situations in life change from day to day;
this is clearly evident in the happenings of this year 2020. From when the
screams of happy new year rent the air till date when conspiracy theories on
COVID 19 and conflicting facts fill the airwaves. So many events have taken
place world over that would surely cause ‘my truth’ to change from day to day.
All these bring to mind Romans 3:4a
GOD’S WORD®
Translation
That would be unthinkable! God is honest, and everyone else
is a liar
New International
Version
Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar
New Living
Translation
Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true
So based on the foregoing, I have caught this revelation and
settled in on it; God’s word is true while every man, situation or circumstance
is a lie. God’s truth is my shield and buckler! Halleluiah!
This is God’s truth concerning me for this season:
Psalm 91: 5-10 – (
The Message Translation)
Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day, Not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right
and left, no harm will even graze you.
You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance, watch
the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because God’s your refuge, the High God your very own home, Evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door.
Here’s my submission:-
His truth; not culture
His truth; not medicine
His truth; not science
His truth; not conspiracy theories
His truth; not myths
His Truth; Definitely Not My Truth!!!!!!
His truth and nothing but his truth is my shield and
buckler!
So apply God’s truth to every area of your life. His truth would
save you from heartache and heartbreaks. His truth would save you from mental
and emotional turmoil. His truth would deliver you from all harm and keep you
protected from all the arrows that life is sure to keep throwing at you.
Bring your truth under submission to HIS truth and know
peace!
You are one of a kind; there’s no other person that has the
exact same DNA or fingerprint as you do. I know we’ve heard this over and over
again but it bears repetition. Stop trying to be like another person; own your
story, focus on your life and be the best you that there can be! (Bible reference – 2nd Corinthians
10:12)
2nd Corinthians 10:12 English Standard Version
Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some
of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one
another and compare themselves with one another, they are without
understanding.
2 Corinthians 10:18
For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved,
but the one whom the Lord commends.
Develop A Heart Of Contentment and Gratitude
Always wake up every day with a grateful heart; you could
have been long dead and gone. So every day you wake up is a blessing from God.
You may not have everything you ever wanted (and no one does by the way; no
matter how wealthy you think they are) but you have something (you identify
what it is).
1 Timothy 6:6-11 New Living Translation (NLT)
6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great
wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world,
and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough
food and clothing, let us be content.
9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and
are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and
destruction. 10 For the love of
money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have
wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (Side
note: it is the love of money and not money itself; money takes on the
character of the possessor)
Always see your cup as half full and acknowledge that it could have been worse. Once you have conquered the ‘demon’ of comparison and are always content and grateful about what you have and where you are at this point in your life, you are well on your way to getting out of the rat race.
Grateful heart. Photo Credit: pixabay.com
Adopt A Minimalist Lifestyle
So many of us can do without some of the things that we
think are essential to our happiness. Through the last 5 years of my life, I
have been going through a journey of minimalism. I have had to move from a
relatively ‘bigger’ house to a smaller one. I’ve had to give out more than half
of my belongings and I’ve had to do without a lot of things that had become
part of my daily life.
And here’s my submission; I have less things to stress me
out and less bills to pay. And on a lighter note; I get dressed and ready to go
out faster because of less choices of cloths and accessories (lol).
Your children can get a solid education at a regular school
and not necessarily the most expensive or Bourgie School around. They can live
in a smaller house, with fewer toys and still grow up well rounded and happy.
Your wife can make do without the diamonds and expensive gifts(hopefully) as
long as you are around more often.
I could go on and on…
you know what is keeping you in the rat race; trust me, you can do without it.
Always Take A Day Off
Do not work yourself to death! There are 7 days in a week
and something we call ‘weekend’. This connotes the end of a working week. So
many upwardly mobile men and women take pride in being busy.
They bring work home on weekdays and clock in to work on
weekends. In most of our cosmopolitan cities, children are being raised by
domestic staff and we wonder the decline in social values?
There is limit to the discipline that a domestic staff can
mete out to a child; a domestic staff cannot love your child as much as you do.
In some appalling cases, children are left to their own devices or handed over
to schools to do what parents are supposed to do.
Marriages are failing by the seconds and young adults are
developing diseases that used to be associated with old age. Things are falling
apart and the center seems not to hold.
For the sake of your health, family and society, please take
a day off! Bond with your loved ones, sleep in; have a day when you are not
awaken by an alarm clock.
Create Loving Memories With Your Family and Loved Ones
Whether you are married, with or without kids or single,
there are people that constitute family to you.
Make out time to create loving memories with your family. Let your kids
have something nostalgic to look back on when they come of age. Let there be memories that would make them
want to come see you when you are old.
Make it difficult for them to stick you in a nursing home when
you are old! Do not be one those folks
who people would have to think real hard for something nice to say at your
funeral just because ‘you should never speak ill of the dead’
Make an unforgettable impact on the lives of those that matter to you ( and it doesn’t always take money to do so!).
Happy family. Photo Credit :pxhere.com
Let God Set The Pace Of Your Life
We started out this segment on how to get out of the rat
race by saying that we should quit the comparison game. And that we can only do so by acknowledging
that we are unique and there’s no one else like us on this planet.
If you believe that, then you need to take it a step further
and trust God with all the affairs of your life. Take out a little time to
study the parable of the talents ( Matthew 25:14-30) with emphasis on verse
15. Everyone was given something based
on their ability.
Remember that it is God that made you and he knows how he
wired you. He knows the limit to what you can take. Some people are 5 talent
folks, others are 2 while some are 1. Never, ever despise what God has given
you. Do not make the mistake of leaving God out of the equation of your life.
There is an African proverb that says that ‘ he that runs
faster than his destiny runs into destruction’
Let the person who knows the end from the beginning direct
your path and set the pace of your life. If you are a 5 talent person, God
would give you the grace to balance all you have to do with the things that
matter most in life (family and health in my opinion).
But if you are a 1 talent person who because of comparison
and greed or ignorance gets into the 5 talent lane, you would definitely run
into trouble.
So in conclusion of this point, I would say, get in touch
with your manufacturer (God) and find out your purpose and path in life. Always
consult your user manual (the bible) it would show you how to operate.
Finally, if you do not have a relationship with your maker,
that might be the reason why you are still in the rat race. Fill that God-size
vacuum in your life with the right piece (God). Make Jesus the lord of your
life today and watch him lead in you in the path of fulfilment. You can ask
Jesus to come into your heart wherever you are now. Just a simple prayer and
your new life would begin.
Say this prayer – Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that my life is
nothing without you and that I was born a sinner. I acknowledge that you died
for my sin so I accept what you did on the cross for me. I ask you to come into
my life to be my lord and saviour. I confess that Jesus is my saviour and that
having accepted him; I am now a child of God.
If you made the above prayer and need counselling and
further help you can reach us with the information in the bio. You can also
reach out to any bible believing church around you for further help and
counselling.
The Good Shepherd. Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org
A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless
pursuit. The phrase equates humans to rats attempting to earn a reward such as
cheese, in vain. It may also refer to a competitive struggle to get ahead
financially or routinely – Wikipedia
Rat Race is a term used to describe a frustrating, hard-to-break financial lifestyle. It is a lifestyle that is lived by countless people, oblivious to the very nature of it, to a degree that even when called upon, vehemently deny it. – Urban Dictionary
Never ending cycle
One would assume that as we enter the 40s and look forward
to our twilight years we should have gotten a better understanding of what life
is all about. But sadly that’s not so.
Many folks have been on the grind since they left college,
some even before they did. I would want to assume that by now we would have
understood that there’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But the sad
truth is that, the reverse is the case. Many of us are still in the rat race.
Looking at our society today, we find that people are
consumed with self; they have taken the phrase ‘self-love’ to a whole new
level. Everyone is hustling and bustling to make it; you hear goals such as ‘ I
want to retire at 40 or 50’ ‘I want my
kids to attend the best school in the neighbourhood’ ‘I want my family to have
the best life has to offer’ , I want… I want… I want…! (bible reference 2nd Timothy 3:1-5)
2 Timothy 3:1-4 New Living Translation (NLT)
The Dangers of the Last Days
3 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
The list goes on and
on. This drive and ambition is made worse by social media that has turned the
world into a global village. I can stay in my house and peep into the life of
someone in another part of the globe (or so I think). So I now I not only have
the ‘Joneses’ to contend with but the whole world.
This leads a lot of people to work themselves to death;
literally! For others, they get all
their ‘wants’ and come back to an empty house, kids who hate their guts,
wives/husbands who are only with them for the money, fame, inheritance and a
meaningless life.
That’s how come we see and hear of famous and rich people
committing suicide. But we just saw their instagram post last week and they
looked so fly, happy and fulfilled? They even granted an interview and I was
wishing my life was half like theirs? So what happened?
What they showed the world was a façade; no one knew what
was going on inside of them. No one ever posts an instagram picture or Facebook
post of the ‘nasties’ in their lives; even when they say they do, trust me, it
has been doctored for publicity purposes.
If you believe everything you see on social or news media,
then you need to realign your vision and sight. You might say that you are not
affected by any external influence but hmmm! Think again. Take a second look at
the urban dictionary definition of Rat Race.
Some folks chase their ambitions, dreams and aspirations to
the exclusion of all else. They provide their family with everything that money
can buy but deny them of their love, presence and fellowship.
Others in a bid to climb the corporate ladder step on all toes
that try to put a foot in their way; thereby making life-long enemies. Another
group climb to the end of a ‘success’ ladder only to find to their utter
disappointment that it is the wrong ladder. Oops!
I’ve said all the above just to jolt our minds and bring the
issue of the futility of what we’ve been doing most of our adult lives, up,
front and center!
So how do we get out of the rat race? I’ll share some of the things that the Holy Spirit has awakened in me and others that some years of observation and hours of research has taught me in my next post. Stay tuned…