A Heart full of Gratitude

If you are reading this, just know I appreciate our friendship.  A few days ago I was asked if I would share in a devotion of a team that had a meeting.  I can’t tell you how grateful I was; for sure I was humbled by the invitation, meditated about it and God used me to prepare a message which I think was a great encouragement. When the time came for sharing, I shared and had to continue with my day’s Schedule.

Yesterday I received a card and was wondering who could have sent it. On opening it, I realized that it came from the group I shared with.  The words on the front cover of the card went like this; “As you serve the Lord, our greatest blessing is to receive God’s Love; our greatest privilege is to give it away to others”. What a great message this is. I pondered on it for a while before opening the card to see what would be inside. I was greatly humbled by the comments saying they are thanking the Lord for me and the faithful way I show his Love.

I felt encouraged to model Christ’s Love in all that I do. The encouragement and words of appreciation from the card motivated me to serve God diligently. I got to ask myself of how many times I have said thank you to people around me. I remembered the words of my Mum that “Thank you is a lovely word even to the son of God”.

How often do you say thank you?  Colossians’ 3:17 one of my greatest memory verses says “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him”.

In 1 Corinthians 1:4; Apostle Paul expressed how grateful he was to the Church of Corinth.  In Ephesians 1:16 Paul again said” I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers”.
It’s my desire that we will count it a great privilege to give away God’s Love to others in all that we do. Remember Love is an act and a package of a heart of gratitude may be that one needed act to show it. Blessings to you all as you serve in the Lord’s vineyard.

Passion for ministry

Over a year ago, I had a friend resign from his former Job and got another Job in another ministry organization. As soon as he left; his former boss rushed to say “he had no passion for ministry after all”.

This got me to start wondering about what the word “Ministry” really means.  This put me into a serious time of thinking and meditation.

Allow me share with you my realizations of what ministry is:-

It’s about what you are willing to sacrifice. (Mark 12:43-44; calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”)

It’s not only about what others will comment about it but about the Joy and happiness that it will leave on your heart.

It’s not about how much you gain from it but about the impact your small contribution can make to the great commission.

It’s not about pleasing your boss or superior. It’s about pleasing God to whom Glory, honor and majesty belongs. To note is that if your actions please God, God will make your subordinates and superiors be grateful and thankful to have you on their team. (Mark 12:41-42, ⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents).

It’s not being selfish egocentric but it’s about valuing the contributions of those whom you share a cause; call it your partners in the ministry.

It’s not about the adverts, connections or number of people who know you. It’s about who can testify about the impact of your work and ministry and God’s endorsement upon it.  

It’s not being judgmental and self-righteous but it’s about recognizing that with our Christ you are full of filthy rags.

It’s not about complaining but about having a heart full of gratitude and positive thoughts. (Psalm 50:14, Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High).

It’s not about your net worth but rather about working towards your eternal reward and prize.

It’s not about the type of car or gadget you hold today, it’s about walking towards God’s crown.

Does one need to be in a particular organization to be a minister of God? I guess not, we are all called to be ministers of God 24/7(Mathew 28:19). Do we need to compete each other in ministry? My answer to this is also a no; we should rather complement each other and walk worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians chapter 4).

As I conclude as honorable ministers in God’s kingdom we are called to be the salt and light of the world. We should be oaks of righteousness; a planting of the LORD to display his splendor (Isaiah 61:3).

 

What if all Christians behaved like Jesus

I will begin my write up today with the population percentage of Christians in a few selected countries according to different research findings. We have 88% in Uganda, 73% in USA, 95.6% in DRC, 92% in Mexico, 92.4% in the Philippines, 70.3% in Russia, 92.7 in Argentine and 95.7% in Poland. A Christian ought to mean Christ likeness.

Most of the people call themselves Christians because they attend a particular church. Others say they are Christians because they work with a Christian organization or because they adhere to a particular church tradition or culture.

There are higher chances that some of the evil we see in our communities are done by “Christians”. Uganda for example with an 88% population of Christians is known for corruption and embezzlement. I mean why is there so much evil and sin in communities with Christians? God as Christians we have fallen short of your Glory. May you cleanse the world and restore it to order.

Should a Christian be without concern for others and remain selfish? Have you pondered on how the world would be if all the Christians were like Jesus Christ? If all Christians get to be like Christ, it would simply mean walking in broad day light. None of us would be found with any spot on the day of his return.

We should thus see God as much bigger than our tiny views. As Christians we are supposed to be followers of God and Christ invokes us to be "fishers of men (Mathew 4:19). Luke 10:2 says, “He told them; the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field”. We have to allow to be used of God to bring harvest as his workmanship.

It’s my prayer that all of us Christians would mirror the Christ in us and that we shall be a salt and light to the world. That we will show God’s love to each other in all that we do and above all work in unity. That we will speak of God’s truth instead of speaking against any other Christian denomination. That we will focus on God’s word not prosperity messages. That we will trust in God and lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). That we will aim at pleasing him alone in all that we do. In Jesus’ Name I pray.

Stewardship of our Responsibilities

In my community most of the people give birth to so many children saying God is the provider and carer. Yes God is a provider but I think at times we have too much belief in God to the extent that we tend to ignore our responsibilities.


That's why we have so many irresponsible parents.It pierces my heart to see this repeating its self. If we are to end poverty apart from giving handouts can we train our beneficiaries to observe their responsibilities.


To my friends and age mates who are getting married in my community can we work on producing those we can care about. That way we will reduce the poverty levels. We have to care about others and their well being but the responsibility starts from us as individuals and and as a family. I would love to see my community transformed.


I would love to hear parents giving birth to those they can care for not giving birth to children who later be branded "Children of that Charity organization" because it has offered to support them. Together we can end Poverty.God teach us how to observe our responsibilities. In Jesus' Name I pray.

Travel and Adventure

On the 02/22/2016 I set off for the most adventure of my life -the journey to Obama land. I got to Entebbe International Airport three hours before the departure time because I did not want to risk being left by the plane. We had just finished an election in Uganda that was rather a waste of time and resources and so I had so many reasons to get to Entebbe earlier. Even after checking in; the village in my head had not yet comprehended that my dream of going to the USA was a ...reality. For my countrymen you know how hard it is to get an American Visa. I must confess it was pretty easy for me to get a visa for only one reason; the favor of God. I saw the hand of God throughout the entire visa application process. Even when I still had doubt, the voice of truth would ringer in my mind and tell me, Gilbert you are going to USA at this particular time. Oh how I love to hear the Voice of God. So when does one know that his decision to move to particular place or task is not about him but the kingdom of God? The answer is very simple; it’s when your heart is at peace with your actions. It does not matter what people around you (Name them; Employers, peers….List is endless) say or think about after your move. What matters is what God says and thinks about you according to his plan and will.

At exactly 7:15pm the plane departed from Entebbe to Ethiopia. We had a small stop over and again set off for a long flight that would take 16 hours. We landed at Washington DC and got a connecting flight that would take 4 hours. We set off at 12:00 pm and we were to land at 14:00 hours. Now I was having a closer look to my clock all the way long. So it reached 14:00 hours and the plane was not landing. I thought; the pilot had forgotten to land!!!!. Little did I know that USA has different time zones. We still had more two hours to finally get to Denver/Colorado my final destination. Thankfully, we had safe travels.
Tuesday this week, I will be making a week here and I must confess; I have so far had an incredibly good time. To my family here, friends and coworkers; thank you for making my transition smooth. I say Ebenezer, that’s far the Lord has brought me
In the coming days I will be sharing my experiences with you and am sure you will be encouraged to believe God for better things with in you or through you.

First Sermon in USA at the Rocky Mountain Calvary.

On 28th/ March 2016 I joined my host family in going to a church called the Rocky Mountain Calvary. Oh how I enjoyed the praise and worship. Am planning to have it as my local church during my stay here. When it came to sharing the word, I got encouraged and I do not want to keep the encouragement to myself. The sharing was from 2 Corinthians 4. Allow me share the insights I noted down.
You do not need to lose heart; you’ve got to stay strong. We are in a world filled by real people facing real challenges and living life.
You have to get the passion in your heart as Paul did. He was encouraged by the ministry. Serving Jesus is a blessed privilege. Ministry just means to serve. It may be at your Job or at home; basically in everything you do. We have to keep serving others, raising generations
The text goes ahead to say that we received mercy. Simply put we received what we did not deserve. We deserved death. You may be in something that God wants you out. Just know Jesus is calling you to repent or get out of it.
You have to change the way you see your ministry. Think about it in terms of what you love and cherish. It’s your perspective that will make you persevere and not to give up. The ministry is going to be hard and if you do not have the right perspective it will be harder. If it’s a marriage that’s not working out; Divorce is not a solution. Jesus will bring to pass whatever you are going through. He is faithful to bring it to accomplishment. Just trust him!!!!. God is always faithful to provide. Wherever you are in life he will bring it to pass. God equips the called. Because of the mercies of God we do not quit.
You have to be ready to be hurt like you have never been before. Follow what God has called you to do no matter what the confusing voices of those around you. With divine calling comes divine enablement. You’ve got to keep your trust in God alone (Psalm 37:5). You have to have a sense that you belong to God and that you can go anywhere for him. You must wait for God's call and step out in faith. God sees us through the lens of Grace. Jesus is the end of righteousness to all who believe.
Do not be taken advantage of by those who use the bible deceitfully. Learn how to hear from God in his word the Bible. Always contextualize his word; if it’s a verse, read what is before it and what is after it. You will know why it was written the way it was written. We also have to make sure that we have the right meanings of the words in the bible. We should not change them to suite our own desires. We’ve got to be mindful of the grammar in the scriptures and be keen to read it according the historic background. We have to take the bible as a whole as the bible never contradicts itself.
Remember we are seeing Jesus face to face someday. He is either coming or we are going. The inward man should be renewed every day. God brings the church together and sends them out in the cities, homes and Communities to serve him. Just know you have to serve God every day in whatever you do. May the Lord strengthen you in his service. Blessings.

Organizational Hierarchy and Teamwork.

If there are places where I have been a number of times; it’s in the taxis. For my friends out of Uganda, taxi’s here are licensed to carry 14 passengers plus a driver and a conductor making sixteen human beings in a taxi. Speaking of a conductor, I remember the time I was in Namibia last year on a bus to Lusaka Zambia and the Driver said we have no conductors. He said “we’ve got Transport officers”. (!!!I wish I could write the statement the way he uttered it out). It was said in a way of appreciating the usefulness of the Conductor (Transport officer) to him.

I board a taxi on my way to and from work every day and am always amazed at the way the conductor and the driver exercise their roles effectively without compromising their responsibilities. To be concise and precise about this, they appreciate each other’s roles and work together as a team. It’s rare to find a driver telling a conductor that he does not need him. If you have ever entered a taxi whose conductor was absent you could give a brief story of your experience that day. As we all know if there is no conductor, the driver will have to park the taxi and Jump to the right to open the door for the passengers to get in or out and then he closes the door. To note is that, time is always wasted and no passenger ever gets happy about this.

So what lessons do we uphold from this?

1.      It’s good to have different authorities with different individuals in these respective positions but respect of each other’s presence should always be a crucial issue. You do not need to remind your subordinates and colleagues that you are their up line or down line. As in the case above, the conductor (Transport officer) does respect the contributions of the driver and accords him the due respect that he deserves and the reverse is always true.

2.      Whenever am in a taxi I get to appreciate the value of communication among the people you are always with. Much as we are always 14 passengers in the taxi, it’s always a fond act for the Conductor and the Driver to initiate a conversation of which the passengers later join. I admire the way they freely share without fear of who is in higher authority. Often times the driver advises the Conductor on what to do especially on which customer he has to take. As well noted the Conductor is the one who communicates to the driver on where to stop. Each passenger reports to the Conductor (Transport officer) who in turn asks the driver to have a stopover. Even when a passenger is seated with the driver in the front seat; a shout out to the conductor saying Maas'awo!! (Luganda phrase meaning stop right in front there...) is always heard.

3.      Besides our responsibilities at work we should endeavor to have a cordial relationship with our workmates. Work may unite us but what if it takes a short time? And or what if we get a career/Job/Location change? It’s the love and care we had for each other that can sustain our touch and social being. We should be mindful of the fact that even besides the work we do there is a life to live and appreciate the essence of needing each other. Even if you are a supervisor, do not make your superiors timid whenever they are to talk with you.

4.      Do not make the current position status quo at work to be like it will be like that forever. I have seen supervisors getting demoted and their former superiors becoming their bosses. Makes me get to have a moral lesson that we should do unto others what we would love them do for us. That way we will live a life of no regrets. This reminds me of a conversation with my Dad stressing it out that I can be what he didn’t become. I guess he must be proud of me now where he is!!!!!

In conclusion organizational hierarchy is key for any organizations’ growth but if there is no teamwork among the employees the actual growth of the organization may remain a dream. It’s just as important as having good concepts on paper with no or little implementation. Employees should be motivated by their employers if efficiency and effectiveness at their work is to be realized. May the Lord’s Guidance be with us all as we do what he set us to do (Mathew 28:19)