I did not think my original note needed a sequel but a call from a friend got me thinking. My friend did not quite agree with my piece so I reasoned an explanation was in order which I mailed to my friend about an hour after our conversation. Somehow I woke up really early Sunday morning – 6am (which is weird as I am not an early bird and I love my sleep which I believe is a gift, you know,” He gives His beloved REST”), pondering on my note and my conversation with my friend. The initial note was not something I gave much thought to, I just wrote it because I have to write something for a friend every week as a way to improve my writing. I was not in the “inspired writing mood”, that was just my way of sulking at the time. Anyway, this is what I thought of that early Sunday morning…
Every action is preceeded by words spoken or unspoken (thoughts) and your reflex action (you know the one where someone suddenly slaps you and just as you feel the hot air that preceeds the sting, your reflexes, on your behalf return the favour with lightening speed and did I mention with both hands so much so that the sender receives a double portion of his message before his is even delivered, Lord have mercy!), yes your reflex action is a reflection of who you really are.
Let’s take a walk through history….
In the beginning the earth was without form and void, God made everything by speaking, calling them forth with words.
Then God thought ‘let us make man in our own image and likeness’ and voila! Man first and right behind him, Woman (trust us, to ensure peace God made sure we were the most specially made – words, dust, Man’s rib and God’s breath!)
Everything was fine until the serpent said to Eve ‘you will not surely die; God knows that when you eat of the fruit, your eyes will be opened and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil’. Immediately, light bulb came on in Eve’s head; she ate and who was Adam to say no.
Wait a minute; let’s go back to the serpent (Satan). Now he was not always evil because everything God created is good and beautiful including Satan. Satan was created as an angel by God, God forbid? That is the truth! In fact, he was the most beautiful of the angels, the music director of heaven. So why are 90% of our prayers binding him to the bottomless pit? Because he thought ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… I will be like the most high’ that’s all it took to go from Lucifer to Satan.
The seed ‘God respects Abel’s offering and despises mine’ was sown in Cain; it yielded sadness, envy, anger, then the ultimate fruit – murder.
The woman with the issue of blood thought ‘if I could but touch the hem of his garment, I will be whole’, the result? Twelve years of bleeding dried up instantly!
When Satan was to tempt Jesus, he understood that words are life and life is a battle of words. So he tempted Jesus with words and Jesus resisted and won with words. When Satan foolishly reasoned that crucifying Christ would thwart God’s plan to redeem man, he accomplished that mission with a single seed – ’this man blasphemes against God! Saying he is the son of God and will pull down the temple and rebuild it in 3 days!’ which he planted in the Pharisees.
Words (good or bad) are arrows fired at a target; the strength of your shield and your alertness determine how badly you will be hit because like in every battle, you could be caught off guard.
Words spoken to and by you determine who are and who you will become. Often times we are oblivious to who we really are or maybe we have a faint idea but live in denial until the unexpected happens! We are caught off guard and our reflex is activated! This reflex sometimes surprises, scares, even impresses us but it always confirms who we really are.
So who are you? You are who you believe and accept you are.
What forms your belief and acceptance?
The subtle words you proclaim with your mouth –‘anybody can just die anyhow’, so a drunken driver veers of the road and hits only you, even the driver survives; ‘I am finished’ – so in a day you lose your job and your house burns down; ‘I must be cursed because nothing I do prospers’ – I think that is self explanatory; ‘I am beautiful’ – the whole world is wondering how you landed yourself the finest bloke; ‘ I will lend to nations’ – enemies naturally start to spread rumours about you when Forbes names you the richest in the world; ‘my children are blessed and will serve the Lord’ – your friends can’t understand how all your children turned out right even though theirs were more privileged.
And
The words spoken by others that you accept – ‘it is well with you’ or ‘May you never know peace’; ‘I love you’ or ‘I hate you’; ‘You have no future’ or ‘your future is promising’.
This battle of words and of life is not about physical strength, speed or skill. It’s about decision and choice. God has given all men equal weapons –our mouth and the power to choose. You choose either to serve God or Satan (you can’t be in between); you choose either to shield or shoot yourself (words you proclaim with your mouth); you choose either to fortify yourself so even when you are caught unaware you are still unharmed or go into war without your armour and be hit by even the impact of the enemy’s grenade to another (sharpening your reflexes, who you really are).
It’s all up to you, the question is, what do you choose – life or death?
With love, mayo-chop dressing and a brand new 4*4.
junechild 