Words4Wonder Blog

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18   “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you i n Christ Jesus”   God’s love for us i s unconditional. Through our mistakes time and time again , he accepts us with open arms. Even when we reject him, he still calls us his own. But why is it when things don’t go our way, our relationship with God is the first thing that crumbles ? God tells us his plans for our lives is to not harm us (Jerimiah 29: 11), but do we authentically believe and live through those words ? If we do hold on to these words, why does our circumstance affect the stability of our faith?   This isn’t me trying to judge you because I’m ver y much guilty of this as well. Throughout this year, I pictured certain things happening for me : whether it was certain relationships, job opportunities, or certain grades, and consistently when those things didn’t go the way I wanted , I pulled away from God.   Looking back...

Galatians 5:1   “For freedom Christ has set us free, stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery”   One thing culturally that is really corrupting us is the belief that Christianity is a restriction. We see worldly pleasures and hold them into our heart as repressed desires.  I’ve fallen victim to this belief and for a long time, I saw God’s commandments as a way of missing out. I read things the bible told me not to do, and I would see my peers doing those same things and it isolated me. But let me tell you something, we only feel isolated when the people around us contradict the character we want to pursue. When we isolate ourselves with those people, we become less isolated. In simplicity, we need to surround ourselves with people who share the same fire for God, because when our lights run dim, and we feel restricted, there presence will ignite our path with God again. True, ...

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”  Fear is a universal emotion we all feel.  It comes in different formats, affects different people differently and is an unavoidable aspect of life.  For me, as I’ve progressed in my relationship with God, fear has been the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with.  Whether it was certain dreams, visions or the enemy trying to play with my mind: they were all spiritual attacks.  You may not deal with spiritual attacks, and maybe your fear is embedded of people’s perception of you.  Maybe you have fear of rejection, or fear of failure, nevertheless we should all identify our fear, but let us not make it our identity.  Don’t hold your fear hostage, set it free by allowing Jesus to use his keys of comfort.  Looking at the verse, once we have given our lives to Jesus and have accepted him as our lord and saviour, w...

1 John 3:15   “Dear Children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth”   One thing I’ve really struggled with this year is trying not to sound “preachy ”. What I mean is that, once we ’ve taken the step to be intentional with our relationship with God, we kind of expect the same with everyone else around us . At least for me, when I see people doing things that they shouldn’t , the first response in my heart is to condemn, and if we are close, I feel inclined to corre ct them. There is nothing wrong with correcting, in fact, we all should hold each other accountable, but sometimes our words are not always the best way to help someone.   Communication isn’t limited to words. I believe you can speak to someone without having to say anything. Have you ever heard of the phrase “actions speak louder than words”? Well, I think we should adopt that mindset when it comes to evangelism. We shouldn’t neglect spreading the gospel verbally, but let’s...

1 Corinthians 12: 25-27  “So that there should be no division in the body, but that it’s parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it”  One thing about me is that I have fluctuated through feelings of loneliness. Sometimes it was self-inflicted, other times a situation occurred. Loneliness is an unescapable feeling. Whether you have felt it before, whether you are feeling it now, it’s a common thing we all go through. The key thing to remember when you are going through this feeling is that it is simply just a feeling. I’m not saying to ignore your emotions, but just because you feel lonely, doesn’t mean you have to attach it to your reality.   When I look back at all the times, I have felt lonely, I realise that there was always someone to lean on: it might be your Mum or Dad, a sibling, or even a friend, there is always someone. If you find yourself not having anyone to go to, trust that God will always be there, and he...

James 4:17 “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them”  One belief that is really corrupting our generation is that one sin is greater than the other.  We compare our sins with other people and believe that because we don’t behave the same way as others, we are more righteous,  neglecting that Jesus’s resurrection makes us righteous in the eyes of the Lord.  This isn’t me excusing righteous judgement, but as a culture we need to self-examine where our judgement is stemming from.  We need to stop conditioning our minds to the belief that if we commit that sin instead of that other sin, that somehow, we escape the consequences.  The truth is that all sin leads to a consequence, and in order to understand why we shouldn’t place a sin above another, we must first know what sin is, how does it affect us and God,  and what are the consequences.  Apart from blaspheming t...

Genisis 1:27   “ So God created mankind in his own image , in the image of God he created them”   If you asked me this question when I was younger , I probably would have assumed you were talking about the ph ysical attributes of God. I envision God to have white hair, a white beard and all the other facial featu res of a man. Without context, i t’ s ea sy to make this association, but if we look at the root of the word “image ” , we get other words like “nature” and “likeness ” . Ch ronologically, God made us in his image (Genisis 1:27) before he formed us (Genisis 2:7): clearly showing that our likeness and nature are more important than the formation of our body (in other words flesh)   So, in simplicity, being made in his image means we share the same characteristics of God, not physical, but internal. But still, what does that mean?   We can’t truly understand our nature and likeness, if we don’t understand God’s nature and likeness. Luckily for us, ...