The Scarlet Cord

“Mamma look!” the little boy cried out

As Mary looked up to where Johnny was pointing to

She noticed all the houses in the town had a scarlet cord tied to the window facing the road.

What's with the scarlet thread? She asked a woman in the market place.

“It's a symbolic representation of faith the people in this town follow

For God's mercy and kindness to fall on their loved ones.

As Rahab the prostitute did to save her family when Jericho was about to be captured by Joshua and his men as it is written in the book of Joshua 2:18 CJB”, the woman replied.

18 when we enter the land, you tie this piece of scarlet cord in the window you let us down from; and you gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and your father’s entire household. 19 If anyone goes out the doors of your house into the street, he will be responsible for his own blood, and we will be guiltless. But everyone who stays with you in the house — we will be responsible for his blood if anyone lays a hand on him. 20 However, if you say a word about this business of ours, then we will be free of your oath that you made us swear.” 21 “According to your words, so be it,” she said, and sent them away. As they departed, she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

As per the promise to Rahab Joshua told his men Joshua 6:22-23 CJB

22 Y’hoshua said to the two men who had reconnoitered the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring the woman out with all that she has, as you swore to her.” 23 The young men, the spies, went in and brought out Rachav with her father, mother, brothers and all she had; they brought out all her relatives and put them safely outside the camp of Isra’el.

Oh! How nice! Mary replied with marvel in her eyes.

She felt a tug on her dress, Johnny shouted excitedly.

“Mamma, shall we put one up too?”

“Yes,” she nodded in the affirmative.

“We want everyone in our family to be saved too.”

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Taking it all back

 Looking at the little girl

Playing blissfully across the street.

Martha closed her eyes and recollected her own sweet childhood.

Each day was so joyful.

How she wished she could live like that again.

Now 25 years later

She was in and out of the doctor’s office.

In and out of jobs.

In and out of relationships.

She was suffering from insomnia, depression and obesity.

From a happy little girl to a severely depressed adult.

How did this happen?

“There are strongholds in your life which needs to be broken Martha”, her church friend had once told her.

“It’s about time I did”, Martha thought to herself that day.

She declared and decreed loudly for the devil to hear.

"I am taking back what the enemy stole,

With the power of the Holy Ghost.

I am breaking every strong hold in my life with the blood of Jesus Christ.

I am taking it all back what the locusts stole.

I decree and declare every torn part of me will get whole."

She then  renewed her commitment to follow Adonai like King Josiah did in the bible

The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

2 Kings 23:3 CJB

And a new promise she clung on from that day.

You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season. Joel 5: 26 NIV

And true to that promise she got better and better each day.

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The Last Days

Old Silas always sat in his garden.

Reading his bible like he did every morning.

He always had an empty chair besides him

As he opened his heart in prayer.

"What's with the empty chair”? he was often asked.

“Oh! That’s for Jesus, he would reply.

He is my best friend.

After talking to him each morning 

I feel so cheerful to start the day.

“Today, you seem so downcast, Mr Silas and your eyes has a glimmer of tears”. Ana the housekeeper asked who had come to serve him some tea.

"The Lord told me to warn my loved ones of his soon return but no one wants to listen to me."

“Oh yes! I know that one!, Ana laughed .

“Wars, rumours of wars, earthquakes and not to forget the rapture!”

“Ana, don’t laugh”!

He clearly showed me we are in the days of

Psalms 83 that means Ezekiel 38 is not too far away.

If I don’t cry for them, who will, they are after all my family.

Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood.

No one should be left behind! No one, he spoke emphatically

Not even you! “Pointing his finger to Ana’s forehead

He turned and slowly walked away.

 

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The Lord is my Shepherd ; I shall not want

It was just a month before the wedding 

And Anna went about 

Looking around so nervously.

The groom was so rich and everything about him so fancy.

It's going to be so embarrassing especially when a thousand eyes will be watching   me.

Clutching her hands to face she tried to push the negative thoughts away.

Doing the only thing she knew to do

She started to pray.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalms 23:1 KJV

She repeated the verse over and over again.

Suddenly to her surprise her house was flooded

With friends and family.

Bringing her in the form of gifts all she needed on her wedding day.

“This is amazing grace”, her brother said

“It’s surely the hand of God”!  Mother exclaimed. Wiping tears of joy from her face.

The bride to be nodded in agreement,

Giving thanks to her God for saving her from disgrace.

The wedding day arrived. 

Shocked out of her wits was she,

The wedding was made for Cinderella

“Oh God, I am she”! To herself she exclaimed.

The wedding was like a fairy tale

It was the talk of the town for days.

Blessed, blessed in abundance

She fell that night on her knee.

“I didn’t have a father to lean on,

But God oh god!

I have thee.

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Pushing Past the Darkness

 ”Mum, you seriously believe I can crack this exam?

Do you know who I am competing with?

The brightest kids in the city!

There is just two, hundred percent scholarship seats available at the university and you expect the average me to get one!” 

Mark stormed out of the room, shaking his head and throwing up his hands muttering "ridiculous"! Under his breath.

He came back shouting. 

“There are creditors knocking on the door every minute. 

There is no more provisions in the house and you expect me to concentrate!

There is barely any light in the house and my pen started running out of ink 

My stomach is rumbling all the time.

What is worse is when I see you getting humiliated by the money lenders

I can't do this anymore. Forget about my dreams of getting a college degree.

We will be on the streets soon and I will become the laughing stock of the neighbourhood!

“Cool down, Mark!” Mary reached out to pat him.

“We need to push past the darkness, stop believing the lies of Satin.

“Oh God here we go again!” Mark replied, slapping his hand on his head.

“Talking some religious stuff is not going to get you anywhere mum, money will.

Let me get a job and help you pay off the loans.”

“No way! Don’t get blinded by this darkness which is upon us. Push past it you will see the light.

My friends in church  pooled in the money and other resources to help me make a hundred dresses for the village festival.

Today was the first day and every one of them got sold out!

I made enough profit for us to come out of debt!!

I already got an order for a hundred more before the weekend. Looks like I am in business!

Mark looked stupefied.

Go and study the scriptures son before you write your test. Your destiny was already written before you were born. Don’t let the darkness put off the light within you.

John 12:46 CJB

46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who trusts in me might not remain in the dark.

Psalms 139: 13-18 CJB

For you fashioned my inmost being,
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I thank you because I am awesomely made,
wonderfully; your works are wonders —
I know this very well.
¹⁵ My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes could see me as an embryo,
but in your book all my days were already written;
my days had been shaped
before any of them existed.
¹⁷ God, how I prize your thoughts!
How many of them there are!
¹⁸ If I count them, there are more than grains of sand;
if I finish the count, I am still with you.

“Our God is there with us, to penetrate through the darkness and bring us to the light again.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden . . . let your light shine before all men . . .” (Matthew 5: 14 – 16 NIV).

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Under Fire!

 "Ben, Ben it’s your turn 

The judge is calling you.”

Ben lifted his tear stained face which was buried in his hands and saw his friend urgently shaking him

“All that I have left are my memories that too they want to take it away from me,” Ben mumbled under his breath as he made his way to the front.

“Benjamin Job, what proof do you have this property marked by the government to construct a highway belongs to you.”?

“I don’t. I left at the age of sixteen to fight in the king's army up in the north.

It’s been twenty long years since I left home. I have now returned to find everyone and everything which belonged to my family charred to the ground.

The tears streamed down his face as he spoke.

All I have left are my memories please don’t take that away from me too.” He cried.

“Gather again after two months. Let’s wait and see what the king has to say.”

“What are you doing Ben,”? His friend asked .Seeing Ben walking around the boundary of his land with his arms lifted in praise and worship as he walked around the block.

I am doing what Joshua did to save my land.

Joshua 6:2-3 CJB

 ² Adonai said to Y’hoshua, “I have handed Yericho over to you, including its king and his warriors. ³ You are to encircle the city with all your soldiers and march around it once. Do this for six days.

Let me join you. Soon the entire community started walking behind Ben praising the Lord as he went around his land early morning each day.

The time came to gather in front of the judge again.

The king has decided to give you double of what you owe in the uptown area of our nation.

The land is very fertile there you can farm and live of it for the  generations to come. The judge said.

No, Ben spoke vehemently. I want the land gifted to me by my ancestors.

But it’s useless, nothing will grow no one will buy it from you.

It’s priceless to me .I will bask in the memories of the ones who have gone before me.

The lord my god who gives life to dead bones will raise this dead land too

Haven’t you read in the scriptures? “

Ezekial 37: 12-14 CJB

12 Therefore prophesy; say to them that Adonai Elohim says, ‘My people! I will open your graves and make you get up out of your graves, and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am Adonai — when I have opened your graves and made you get up out of your graves, my people! 14 I will put my Spirit in you; and you will be alive. Then I will place you in your own land; and you will know that I, Adonai, have spoken, and that I have done it,’ says Adonai.”

"Alright, with the powers granted to me I give you back you land.” The judge declared,

A hurrah shout was heard all over the land .The people rejoiced for Ben’s victory.

Five years later the king took a survey that had the best grape orchard in the country.

Guess who land was picked out.

Ben’s of course ."What’s your secret", they asked...Seeing him and his land blooming.

"When your life, land and your destiny is in the hand of the God of Israel

You will automatically thrive even if you are “under fire “He beamed and replied.

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Over and over again

Over and over, again and again,

 I come to you lord.

To refix all that which is broken in me.

 

Over and over, again and again,

I come to you lord

For you are my strength the strong tower I lean on.

 

Over and over, again and again,

I say the same prayer

For all my loved ones to be saved and realize heaven is their home for eternity.

 

Over and over, again and again,

I seek your guidance.

In all that I set out to do , so I don’t land up on my face with the 100 mistakes that I might make...

Psalms 59:10 CJB

9) My Strength, I will watch for you,

for God is my fortress.

11 (10) God, who gives me grace, will come to me;

God will let me gaze in triumph at my foes.

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It won't work!

Sitting at the doctor’s clinic

Kozbi was scanning through his report which he had just collected.

He felt his anger  flare up 

He quickly crumpled his medical report,  

Grabbed his walking stick

And slowly lifted himself from the chair .

He closed his eyes to shut the intense pain which engulfed him

And he shuffled his way out of the door.

Walking dejectedly he slowly made his way to the park close by 

He plonked himself on an empty bench

And absentmindedly he gazed across the green meadow.

This is the sixth time this year his leg was causing him so much pain

Just when he thought he could start his normal life again

It would start troubling him all over again.

His finances also was hit because of it and he sat fuming till

His knuckles turned red with exertion.

He kept searching his mind for an answer.

“I am in perfect health and with no broken bones where did this recurring pain come from?” he kept asking himself.

A realization just struck him.

“I am under attack!” He exclaimed out loud.

And he turned his head side to side

He muttered under his breath

“It won't work! It won't work!”

“Devil!” he said out aloud to no one in particular

“It won’t work.”

No weapon formed against me will prosper!

He decreed and declared.

Isaiah 54:17

King James Version

¹⁷ No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

“No weapon formed against my leg or finances will prosper! “.He spoke out fiercely.

Gently pulling himself up

He walked back home dragging his aching foot forward.

Found the key to his shop and slowly made his way down the road.

He then proceeded to open the shop that was shut for the past six months.

He started dusting and cleaning hopping on one leg

Seeing the shop finally open after being shut for such a long time 

 His neighbors and friends started trickling in.

Seeing the intense pain on his pale face every time he moved

“Mr. Kozbi! You haven’t recovered at all!” they exclaimed.

He nodded “Yes, I am not going to succumb to the enemy's attack anymore.

I am going to stand up to him even if it’s on one leg!” He stated emphatically.

He immediately winced in pain, when his injured foot accidently hit the leg of a table.

The dumbstruck neighbors suddenly realized what was going on.

“Don’t worry Mr. Kozbi, they said.

You just sit and let us help you.

You can treat us as your unpaid employees 

We will work for you till your leg gets better again.”

Kozbi relaxed on hearing that and gave them a beaming smile.

“You are not going to defeat me devil I am going to win each and every time.” he thought to himself.

He then proceeded to sit down on his chair and watch his helpful neighbors clean up the place.

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Unbelievably True!

Nothing could cheer her up that day

So overwhelmed she felt.

A battle was raging in her mind against God

"Lord, it’s not fair! Hannah complained

There is no end in sight

Neither are there any benefits

Yet you never let me leave this difficult environment

Day in and day out over the years

Though I have cried, yelled, pleaded and even stood on my head."

 Just then a message was delivered to her

She leaned nonchalantly to read it.

She almost jumped to her feet

"What!

Where did you say I ‘m going?  

On a sponsored trip overseas!

Why me, why should I even be included on something totally unrelated to me”! She exclaimed.

Unbelievable! But true!

God did you have something to do with it

I have just been talking to you.

Psalm 139

Complete Jewish Bible

139 ⁽⁰⁾ For the leader. A psalm of David:

⁽¹⁾ Adonai, you have probed me, and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I stand up,
you discern my inclinations from afar,
³ you scrutinize my daily activities.
You are so familiar with all my ways
⁴ that before I speak even a word, Adonai,
you know all about it already.
⁵ You have hemmed me in both behind and in front
and laid your hand on me.
⁶ Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me,
far too high for me to reach.

⁷ Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
if I lie down in Sh’ol, you are there.
⁹ If I fly away with the wings of the dawn
and land beyond the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Let darkness surround me,
let the light around me be night,”
¹² even darkness like this
is not too dark for you;
rather, night is as clear as day,
darkness and light are the same.

¹³ For you fashioned my inmost being,
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I thank you because I am awesomely made,
wonderfully; your works are wonders —
I know this very well.
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes could see me as an embryo,
but in your book all my days were already written;
my days had been shaped
before any of them existed.
¹⁷ God, how I prize your thoughts!
How many of them there are!
¹⁸ If I count them, there are more than grains of sand;
if I finish the count, I am still with you.

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Grace and mercy

Grace gave me what I didn't deserve.

Mercy restored all that was lost and stolen.

Favor advanced me forward.

Deliverance rescued me from my enemies

Honor blessed me abundantly.

Prayer kept me going.

Praise strengthened me.

Miracles happened before me.

Dry bones came to life.

Homeless got back their home.

The prodigal became a dutiful son.

Impossible dreams became accomplishments.

Scarce became abundance.

I have no great credentials, name or fame.

But in my lifetime I have seen the son of god be true to his name.

Joshua 23:14

Complete Jewish Bible

14 “Today I am going the way of all the earth. Therefore consider in all your heart and being that not one of all the good things Adonai your God said concerning you has failed to happen; it has all come to pass; nothing of it has failed.

Psalm 23

King James Version

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

2 Samuel 24:14

Complete Jewish Bible

14 David said to Gad, “This is very hard for me. Let us fall into the hand of Adonai, because his mercies are great, rather than have me fall into the hand of man.”

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Your promises are Yes and Amen

From the pits of darkness

I saw the light.

It was Jesus and he is life.

 

In his presence there is healing.

There is deliverance.

There is restoration.

There is hope.

 

Decreeing and declaring your Promises.

From the ashes I steadily rose.

From the pits of despair

I rose praising your holy name and my life turned around.

 

From the clutches of the enemy

I broke lose every time unscathed in total victory.

From the wilderness where I get lost now and then

I find myself in your word  and the breadth from heaven fills my soul again.

 

From worrying.

I march on in confidence.

Your promises are a yes and amen.

 

2 Corinthians 1:20 Amplified Bible

²⁰ For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are [all answered] “Yes.” So through Him we say our “Amen” to the glory of God.

 

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What the enemy meant for evil God turned it for our good

The enemy sent a terminal disease

But God turned it into a revival.

 

The enemy sent storms to disrupt travels

But God reunited families long disconnected during this season.

 

The enemy complicated a pregnancy

But God brought forth a sweet child through normal delivery.

 

What was supposed to be a season of mourning?

But God turned it into days of dancing and celebrating.

 

What was aimed to discredit a business?

God opened new doors and brought about an enhancement.

 

Psalm 30:11 King James Version

 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;