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Thursday, September 16, 2010

God Breaks Down Gates of Bronze

"This is what the LORD says to His anointed, 
       to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of 
       to subdue nations before him (Jessica) 
       and to strip kings of their armor, 
       to open doors before him (Jessica)
       so that gates will not be shut:
 I will go before you 
       and will level the mountains; 
       I will break down gates of bronze 
       and cut through bars of iron.
 I will give you the treasures of darkness, 
       riches stored in secret places, 
       so that you may know that I am the LORD, 
       the God of Israel, who summons you by name." 
(Isaiah 45:1-3)


It is amazing! After many years of so much moving, I kept some of my belongings at a Church. They were so kind my property was there for about 2 years or even more. At times  I would be so tired and so weak that my private documents were just left there for all to see! Just on Tuesday, September 13, 2010, the Church had emailed me the previous week that they needed the room in less than two weeks so I had to move my things or else they would be donated to the Salvation Army.I was so tired after working the graveyard - night shift for over a month. I had to act swiftly. I went and looked at some boxes that were open. I was amazed! There were so many folders that contained personal information from 2001 to 2002 in another state I had lived in. It was there for everyone who wanted to see or use it in a malicious way. Partly they had not been destroyed since I was moving so much. Whenever I had planned to take care of them, i would either be packing them again or too tired to look at them. That became a pattern for me for over five years.


Lesson here is that God cares so much about us to the littlest details. There had come a point in my life where I did not care who got hold of those documents. I had been beaten down so much that I had given up. I did not care about tomorrow. I was just living one day at a time. "Amazing love how can it be that Jesus would die for me and care so much for me! As I write this, I am just shedding tears of joy.
Like Israel Houghton, "I am a friend of God and He calls me friend."  "Is it true that You are thinking of me, how You love me, Its amazing!"


Looking through those papers, I have been shredding them in these two days. God know me so much and loves me so much that he knew that I did not want my stuff to just be in the public arena of trash bins. I am amazed that after all these years I have been able to shred them as I wished so.


God reminded me that he was breaking down the prison walls that the our Enemy, the Devil, Satan had kept me in.
 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)

My joy had been stolen, my blessings had been stolen, my dreams had been stolen, my career had been stolen. But Jesus is restoring everything by His power. And restoring them in a new way. For God says, 

"Can't you see, I am doing a new thing. Eyes have never seen. Ears have never heard!" (1 Corinthians 2:9)



Song: Amazing love, how can it be, that my Lord would die for me!....


God's restoration power is so amazing and He does it in his own way. Just keep your eyes open and ears.


Rev. Jessica

Friday, September 10, 2010

Repentance Has Cleansing Power Unlike A Sponge Or Stone

Confession of sin to God, Our Father, and repenting, we bathe in the blood of Jesus Christ. Have you ever spent two or more days without taking a shower or a bath? Say it is summer time and the heat wave is on? Think about it. That is how we are spiritually in the eyes of God. We become so dirty, so unholy that our spirit smells from a distance so that we cannot approach the Holy God. What is surprising, this unholiness, this spiritual dirt is not visible to the natural or naked eye! You may see a good looking man well dressed and well shaven with good smelling after shave, cologne, but deep inside, he may be smelly and rotting! Likewise you may see a beautiful woman and well dressed with perhaps the right make up, right hairstyle and even jewelry. But she may be smelly and rotting inside! That tells you and  that it is quite difficult to know a person's spiritual state just from seeing them. Sometimes you may talk to them and then find out their spiritual state from the language and words they use.

Sometimes it is so obvious for a person's dirt and it is visible to everyone. Dark spots settle on your body wherever there is a folding. Sometimes the stench that is coming from a man or woman is so much that everyone else gets as far away from them. I take buses everyday in Southern California, but there is a certain bus route that has smelly buses because of many homeless, dirty people and drunk people who get on it. Day in, day out, these buses are so smelly, you just have to hold your breath and pray for the end of the route - 25 - 30 minutes!

Sometime we may not even know that there is a smell coming off our bodies, until someone lets us know! my dear Grandmother, Manjeri Mwagale, would say sometimes in my teens that Jessica, today you have a bad smell coming from you. She would ask me to wash my body thoroughly. She recommended some herbs that purge away the smell when used as soap. Remember David in Psalm 51 asked God to purge him with hyssop (Ezov in Hebrew). Until one washes off the dirt with soap and water, perhaps and a sponge or a stone, then cleanliness sets in. While you are taking a bath or shower, you may see so much dirt off your body. I have often wondered about this. Why is this dirt not so visible many times? 

Confession and repentance is needed daily and as often as we realize sin. We wash our hands every time after the bathroom, after contamination, and every before a meal so that we are clean. 

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

It is only God, our Father, Most Holy who can show us the spiritual dirt that we cannot see in our lives. Since He is Holy, as we approach Him, our unholiness is magnified, and we can only get near to Him when we confess our sins, repent and ask for His forgiveness.

Luganda Hymn: Luyimba:
Nsanyuse, nsanyuse, Yesu yanaazako ebibi.
Yanjagaza byayagala.
ansanyusa ennaku zonna.
Nsanyuse, nsanyuse, Yesu yanazaako ebibi.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:17)

Mu musaayi, munaabe, ogubanazaako ebibi.

Rev. Jessica Nakawombe


hyssop family