Taonga Daniel Tembo

Dressing Modestly
I remember having a conversation with a lady and this conversation has been repeated many times with many others over the years about modest dressing and how it is important especially for a Christian and her response was that she was free to dress however she wants as God does not look at the outside appearance but that he looks at the heart......I then explained to her how that verse was taken out of context and provided scriptural and rational arguments as to why modest dressing was essential...she then brought up freedom of choice and summer as to why she dressed the way she did at times then in a clever twist, she asked me to define modest dressing and after composing myself I asked her how she would love to be addressed and what she would like to attract....she said she did not care as long as she was comfortable......then I asked her if she was aware of her responsibilities as a Christian.....her answer shocked me as she reasoned that men's lust was men's fault and it wasn't up to her to 'control' lustful men....finally in a bid to end the conversation I told her that she was right, people should defeat their lust and we can only do so much however causing others to sin is grave....and we must not make the battle hard for others if we are to be like Jesus.......of course we agreed to disagree but this issue of dressing is becoming more of a thing now.....May God help us

I have seen posts about touching the hem of the Lord's garment with people saying that if you are hanging on in life make sure you are hanging on to His garment.....this sounds very romantic and spiritual and the fact that it's encouraging and personal for most makes this submission a bit hard...........However even as these words are as beautiful as the scenario we must realize that in trying to uplift ourselves we must not forget who we are....the touching of the garment was the in the old covenant, in the new covenant He lives in us, we are His temples, let's not trade that power and authority for some uplifting words....His garment was divided amongst the soldiers yet His spirit lives in us!!!

ZAMBIAN TIME
A mentor of mine afforded me some timeless wisdom after I was tasked to set up and lead a program, he said, " One of the factors that gain a good program respect is that time is followed, be on time and start the program when it is supposed to be started, as the Spirit leads is not a call to disorder." As I attend various programs I find myself meditating on these words and wonder why 'Zambian time' is celebrated. This is not to say I follow the words to perfection which is a blemish on my own record that I wish to erase however we need to afford programs especially church programs their due respect by following time,time to carry them out which in itself is a gift from the Father! it's baffling how we are so comfortable being late on the pretext that that is the norm, or leaving preparations to the last minute. May this animal of 'Zambian time' never be heard of among believers as we honor our God by being on time.....if like me you have a bad history with time, well guess what, today is the present so let's open it, let's become disciplined and follow time 🤝

James 1:22 presents us with a simple yet sophisticated concept.."But be doers of the word not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
How far are you willing to go with your conviction? Are you only willing to do enough or does the fire burn hotter urging you to do more? We are well into the second half of the year and how are those resolutions coming up? Be a hearer yes, listen to reason and be guided, make programs, schedules, write resolutions but one idea executed is better than a billion ideas scribbled down! Hear but do not let it end there, act out what you have heard.....at times especially in the spiritual context it gets overwhelming as you do not know what to do, if like me this is your reality it helps to take one day at a time, act out whatever scripture you read (with guidance of the Holy spirit through prayer of course).....Be not only a hearer, be a doer!

What is your worth?

THE RETURN
In Matthew 12, Jesus tells us about what happens when a demon is cast out, how it goes out to look for seven demons more wicked than itself and comes back to make the state of the person far much worse......a thought occurred to me as I read this as this may also apply to certain people, not to say people are demons however there are certain aspects of your life that certain people should not have access to, the end of certain relationships is because God sees that they do not serve us well and and we need to have the wisdom, discernment and trust that God wants what is good for us!