how free must you be to be free?

Exams, tests, modules quizzes, pathetic circadian rhythm; its de-rigueur for the kind of life i'm living presently. all so i can tell myself i mattered, probably put a smile on a little kids face or that of their mother what could be better?
I was in church on Sunday and the question of freedom arose in the course of the sermon and two responses caught my attention the first person who i think is a cynic in the making said in a rather heartfelt way that freedom as a state, was impossible to attain as long as responsibilities existed and one had several social conventions to conform to. the other person said freedom was achievable and claimed to have achieved it as it comprised the liberty to do all that one wanted what is most significant about these two definitions or outlooks of freedom is that the people that gave them are essentially in the same age bracket and economic status so it bring into discussion that freedom, is as it appears or as a friend of mine says; freedom is as freedom does.
 It now calls into question what exactly is freedom? what does one do so as to be described as free? to a slave freedom is the  liberty to determine what he does each day, a caged bird defines it as the breaking of the bars and the ability to find out how far the sky goes, to a teenager it is the transfer of prerogative from his parents to him/her self and the free rein to choose what he would do, basically to live a life bereft of "interference", control, restrictions and advice. for some others it could mean the ability to do something they have always wanted to do for example to a housewife it could mean being able to just take a long overdue sleep or just be rid of all the responsibility that she has for one day. it really depends on who is speaking.
Be that as it may the thread that runs through all of these definitions is the word or concept choice; the ability to see the options available to one, and the levity to go after that which enables the person to achieve his/her aims or dreams.
 If its as simple as choice,  why are the views so different? the answer is simple; we all want different things but we all want to able to say this is what i want and i have taken it.
In my opinion freedom is the liberty to pursue ones aims within his available means and maximizing what means he has within sensible restrictions and to understand the responsibilities that come with it. "sensible" is in it self ambiguous enough to elicit another argument of relativity. but i absolutely believe that freedom as an aim cannot be fully appreciated within certain restrictions.

A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.
Bob Dylan

 freedom without any restrictions is slavery of another sort one more insidious that other forms of slavery, as it places the "freed" person in a bondage to  the things he wants or thinks he wants. let me use this analogy to press home my point.
Look at these two insects the butterfly and the bee. ever wondered why despite all the flowers that the butterfly flits from it leaves nothing to enjoy apart from it beauty? the butterfly is the typical example of freedom the liberty to pursue all pleasures a hedonistic lifestyle is if you please. essentially, the butterfly just goes about "loving" this flower and then that one, spends its night thinking of all the other flowers it expects to explore tomorrow and before it knows it, it life time is over and there is nothing to show for it except its beauty and another young butterfly. At the other end of this spectrum in the honey bee which most of us are grateful to for the gift of honey. it lives in a hive and has a rigid hierarchy each bee has a specific task  which it sticks to. you could argue that it is in a bondage of sorts but i will argue that it is not because, it has the liberty to be the best of its kind and contribute ultimately to the production of honey that most of us love. picture this; same environment, probably same flower, clearly not the same aesthetic quality, different amounts of "freedom" but at the end of the day the disparity in end product is beyond question.

As Christians what does the bible have to say about freedom or even choice, it is important to note that man was created as a being with free choice at liberty to do "all"  and have dominion over everything that God created after enjoying the freedom of choice with the restriction of the tree in the center of the garden, when the choose to push his boundaries, the lost everything although you could argue that he possessed the freedom that information or knowledge provided him with, his life wasn't particularly better. this is the bible's perspective on freedom;

Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. Thisb is the key to your life. Deut 30vs 19 New Living Translation

again Jesus emphasizes the place of "restrictions" ;

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)

Place my yoke over your shoulders, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble. Then you will find rest for yourselves

God gives us freedom, however its a unique kind that can only be found in him we can achieve all our dreams within him because he is all sufficient.

New International Version (©1984)

'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

 another case in point is the prodigal son in Luke 15vs11 is parable of Jesus that poignantly elucidates that freedom isn't really all that it is made out to be. from all of the above, the question of the need to be free goes without saying, but when we ask how much freedom do we really need is one that brings out all sorts of questions and opinions. these are essentially my opinion's based on my search of the scriptures and personal experience. let me know what you think on the subject of freedom.
have a nice week y'all.




PS.don't forget to let me know what you think i 'll really appreciate it.

excerpts on healing

Another week has passed (two to be exact) the last spent downing all the flu meds i could get my hands on.(it was downright scary truth be told). well we are in another week and 'm feeling much better i can look at the screen of my laptop without feeling the need to down panadol tablets at one point my friend said i actually looked stoned (like she knows what a stoned person looks like). i was thinking on the subject of healing when i stumbled on what i will show you in the next few paragraphs

In her book, A Place of Healing, Joni Eareckson Tada based on her extensive personal study and personal experience provides the answers to several questions frequently asked by those who suffer physical illness.  Does God still heal people miraculously today?  If so, does He want to heal all or just some?  And what am I to think if my prayers for healing go unanswered? She draws four conclusions for us to ponder.

 First, Jesus is just as concerned about our health and healing today as He was when He walked this earth.  She quotes Henry Frost who wrote the following. Christ is the eternal Son of God, and He is in His divine attributes the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).  If therefore He loved in the days of His flesh, He loves now; if He cared then, He cares now; if He healed then, He heals now.  It does not necessarily follow that He will do now all that He did then, or that He will do what He does now in the same way as He did then, for His purposes in some things are different at present from what they were in the past.  Nevertheless, Christ is changeless in character, and we may be sure that He is infinitely interested in us and concerned about us.

 Second, yes, we are healed by His wounds—but not necessarily immediately.  All life, all healing, and all atonement flow from that fountain who is our Lord Jesus Christ.  Where else would it come from?  Joni quotes theologian Richard Mayhue: “Isaiah 53 primarily deals with the spiritual being of man.  Its major emphasis is on sin, not sickness.  It focuses on the moral cause of sickness, which is sin, and not on the immediate removal of one of sin’s results—sickness.”  We should be quick to add that not every sickness is the result of specific personal sin of the one afflicted.

 Third, our Lord Jesus has varied purposes of His own.  In His mercy and in His purposes He will heal immediately.  But at other times His healing will go on at a deeper level in the innermost parts of our being and not be fully realized in our bodies until we step into our new bodies upon our arrival in our Father’s house.  Yes, He has redeemed those who believe in Christ, but He is also continuing that redemptive process in our lives right up until we draw our last breath.  

When the resurrected Christ told Peter how he was going to die to glorify the Lord, Peter looked over his shoulder at John and said, “Lord, what about him?”  Jesus patiently replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?  You must follow me?”(John 21:22)  In other words, Jesus has His own purpose for each of us.  And what-ever situation He gives us in life, we are to follow Him in faith and trust.

God has different purposes for His own, and He shows Himself strong and gains glory in different ways throughout each of our life-times.  And if He allows suffering in our lives, He does for very specific, very important reasons, and he does not do so lightly!

 Again she quotes Henry Frost:

Christ has many things to think of in planning for a saint; He must have in mind what is best for the individual; what is the greatest profit in respect to His testimony; what is required in his relationship to many other saints; and what is to make most for God’s present and eternal glory; and He will hold resolutely, in answering prayer, to that course which will combine in bringing the largest and most enduring good to pass.

 Fourth, as with other crucial issues, Satan will seek to push us into nonbiblical extremes on this issue of miraculous healing.  Joni writes, there is one thing that seems to be a common element in those who take extreme positions on divine healing, a lack of humility.

 She continues writing “on the one hand you have people telling God what He must do, and on the other hand you have people telling God what He can’t do.  As clay pots who are we to dictate terms to the master potter and tell Him that he Has to heal me right now?  Who are we to tell God what He can or can’t do in today’s world?  He can do as He likes.  He is God.  As He declares in the book of Isaiah, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please’ (46:10).  As Job asserts, ‘He stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases’ (23:13).”

Joni concludes, “At times He is willing to heal immediately—and He will perform a miracle that modern medicine can’t begin to explain.  At other times, however—and for reasons we can’t always fathom—He is not willing to heal a particular illness, reverse the course of a disease, or cancel a particular disability.  As with the apostle Paul, who had his request for healing denied, the Lord Jesus will give an extra measure of His presence and grace instead.”  

Indeed, we may say with paul, “your grace is sufficient for us, for your strength is made perfect in our weakness.”(2 Corinthians 12:9)

So in  times of sickness and in fact anytime we particularly need the father to come through for us we can be confident that he will never leave us nor forsake us. This week however, i'm looking forward to the return of the SMURF (yeah i said it!) who I've not missed and i will be writing a couple of rather interesting exams this week if you would pray for me it wouldn't be so bad. have a wonderful week. 

HAPPY WOMENS DAY!!! to all the women and moms every where, moms are the mosdef the best.

 love you mom.

  

Another week has passed and while it was not particularly stressful it has been full of reasons to be thankful. for there are friendships that you have that so important that when you have a little glitch in them things seem to get out of sync in your life (i had such an episode this week lol), there are friends that do not need constant attention to sustain; friends you don't see for years, meet then a couple a years down the line and be like; next page! a friend of mine said something very  profound and i just assumed was one of those cliche's that people read in a book and quote he said;

friends ; is Gods way of taking care of us, making sure that we are not alone

At the time that i first heard this quote, i didn't really fully appreciate the profundity of this statement as i have grown older and seen more Christmases i have come to have a new understanding how much friends contribute (literarily) to our sanity and success. there are friends who cry with us,pray with us, sing with us, stand with us, walk with us, believe with us and maybe be even more importantly believe in us. strange isn't it how we can take flack from just about anybody but crumble when we get even a watered down version of it from those that are close to us.case in point; In Shakespeare's Julius Cesare, we remember the line "...even you Brutus..." i don't think Cesare was hurt by the swords that were mercilessly plunging into his flesh he knew what he was up against in the senate,but to have his closet friend lay one into him probably took the stuffing out of him, at the other end of the friendship line is the biblical story of David and Jonathan, that expresses it depth in the lament of David when he found out about the death of his beloved friend in II Samuel 1vs 25. the friendship survived long after the death of Jonathan revealed in II Samuel 9 vs 1 where he asks if there was anyone who he could show kindness to in loyalty to the love of his friend Jonathan.

looking at all of this,  the question arises; what makes for a good friend?  how do i become a good friend to my own friends? what qualities do people look for in a friend?

A quick survey will reveal that most people consider shared interests and compatibility as boxes that must be ticked, similar social status also is a thing that counts for something in some friendships, a shared world view makes for understanding among peers. from my observation and in my experience, i think the most important quality in a friendship is loyalty and understanding. With both of these qualities in attendance , the aforementioned ones pale into insignificance or rather are placed on the back burner.

Marriage vows have these lines; "...for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health..."  in my opinion, the four of them cover everything that life will throw at you. to have someone who will stick with you or stand by you in either extreme is in itself a blessing of inestimable value. we expects our friends to be there for us in our time of tears, to believe in us in our time of trial, to stand by us through our storms, to root or cheer of us when everyone around us thinks we've lost our marbles. strangely though, although its not something we all admit at first we expect our friends to be able to tell us the truth as hard and hurting as it can turn out to be (with love of course). nothing hurts more than being surrounded by a bunch of sycophants who have no sort of criticism and make huge errors. We would be most deluded if we actively sought out people who would do this for us(check out the kind of people that dictators have around  them). A friend is the one person who will drag you into the mens room and tell you off but come out with his/her hands around you shoulders. thinking about this a line from a movie comes to mind ... this is a totaly stupid idea but if you are sure it'll make you happy i'm with you 100%... it just about sums what a friends position should be. if you have such a friend or are such a friend you are blessed.

 the point i'm trying to make is; we rise and fall based on who our friends are how far we go to a large extent depends on who we have running with us. There are several examples in the scriptures that make clear to us  how we can rise or fall by our associates of friends i'll give a few examples;

I kings21 vs 25 speaks of how king Ahab was urged to evil by his wife

II Samuel 13 tell of how Davids son Ammon lost his life after rather interesting advice from his friend

I kings 12 tells of how the heir to the most financially buoyant kingdom in the worlds history threw it all away

because of his friends

I Samuel 20 tells of how Davids throne was secured because of his friendship with Jonathan.

there are several stories in both the bible and the world we live in today about the triumphs and disasters that have been brought about my friendships, they go a long way to let us know that, friendship is a make or break issue in our lives. let us strive to be better friends to those to whom we are friends. time will fail me to talk about the strength that having a confidant gives us, that is for another blog

I've got a good feeling about this week. lets go out there and give it our best shot.

have fun y'all

Choices or choices?

it's been a rather largely sedate week. There haven't been a cataclysmic challenges although it has not been entirely smooth sailing, the lord has ensured that i haven't been pushed beyond my strength. Its surprising how easy it is for for people to accept that they have no options in a particular situation.
 This week we had a new teacher that had a certain reputation and for the first time in a long time my classmates were completely bereft of words in the class. The normally boisterous lot were strangely if atypically subdued. This was not unconnected with the reputation the said lecturer had, well the lecture started and voila! the lady in question was nothing like we or should i say they expected her to be. On the contrary, she was quite affable and the lesson went on smoothly as against our expectations. well the football team that i support Arsenal FC was in the news for the wrong reasons; they threw away a first half 4:0 lead to draw at the end(it was that kind of week). I forgot to say in my last blog that i started taking piano lessons from a rather talented teacher who plays at the opera here in Odessa; that is widely acclaimed as one of the best in Europe  the man is pretty good he knows his subject (you don't play in the opera just because you know the difference between a violin and a viola. lol smurf when you read this) but boy is it expensive!. below are some pics of the opera house

anyway speaking about peoples ease of acceptance of "facts" it all boils down to the word; choice. My freiend arkady  will always say;

"...God will never let you get into a situation where the only option left to you is sin..."

when people say; "...i had no choice..." it brings into question, did they really have no choice? or did they do the most convenient thing or take the first bus out of an unpleasant option?
In the course of this week i was drawn to two not so dissimilar situations involving two bible heroes in the book of Genesis 39 vs 1-21 and II Samuel 11vs 1-27 we see two very interesting choices made by these two heroes.
In my opinion the power choice is the only difference between man and the rest of creation the animals that we know as animals have their very natures thrust upon them a cat will do what cats do a lion will do what a lions does and you will expect nothing else from them (that is why circuses are such a big attraction because by systematic training men have been able to make animals go against their very nature and this is of great interest to the rest of us) so when the circus lion decides to "taste" the head thrust in to its mouth by one of the clowns, people say the lion went mad,i just think the lion went lion! i digress.
Humans are the only part of creation that have the ability to go against whatever nature is thrust upon them and " choose" to do anything one way or another. this perhaps is why we refer to people who do certain generally unacceptable things as animals!
Back to our heroes, Joseph in genesis chose not to do simple albeit pleasurable thing and David in  Samuel chose to do the arguably more difficult but equally pleasurable thing. on the basis of this suffice it to say that choices made are not exclusively a function of ease or convenience, but a product of desires and the ambitions that from them arise.for as the bible says

james 1vs13When someone is tempted, he shouldn't say that God is tempting him. God can't be tempted by evil, and God doesn't tempt anyone. 14Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him. 15Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin. When sin grows up, it gives birth to death. 16My dear brothers and sisters, don't be fooled.17Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn't change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moonGOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)

 if we however, have our eyes on God he has promised as he always has;

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995) 1corinthians 10:13
There isn't any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who faithfully keeps his promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. But when you are tempted, he will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape

 It doesn't get any easier with time or any or those Clichés  that we are so eager to fall back on, but if we keep our  eyes on him he will always come through for us. It's back to the mines Monday, lets go dig up some real good gems because our steps are ordered by the one who loves us.
keep ur head up!

a work in progress

The last week has been really interesting in several ways first the weather has been ...well the weather. typical up today and down the next day; first i thought we were in for a spell of rather favorable weather but just on Saturday it snowed like crazy all night and the weather since then has been just under-10 making the small holidays we've had to be largely spent indoors (not that I'm ungrateful for the break).
The big lesson in this holiday is that mental exhaustion beats physical exhaustion hands down don't ever let your self get mentally down. the most fatal errors come not from an exhausted body, but from an exhausted mind. ever gotten to the point where you cant stand the sight of the thing that normally constitutes your livelihood? i bet at that point you wake up chronically tired every day except the weekends. although sometimes you can push through the exhaustion barrier with effort, you should be able to know when your productivity has been hit  hard. when you get there, just take a break. believe me, you'll do both yourself and those around you a huge favor by taking a break watch a movie in you are into that sorta stuff. Travel, a change of environment does wonders for the exhausted mind (now taking a vacation has new meaning? lol), as much as you can, sing unto the lord it has the effect of causing you to burst into smiles (at least it has that effect on me) and giving you the lift you need;

 New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright. Psalm 33 vs 1

At this point i know I'm rested and ready to face the new semester
There is sooo much in you that the world needs to see in you, there are things that come to you easier than others, certain things that you find very much pleasure in, and really don't care care whether you are appreciated doing them or not. the bible says

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Do you see a person who is efficient in his work? He will serve kings. He will not serve unknown people. prov 22 vs 29.

its back to the trenches Monday. wake up each day as if on purpose. Make it count!
lots of love