Psalm 23-In Arabic

 اَلرَّبُّ رَاعِيَّ فَلاَ يُعْوِزُنِي شَيْءٌ. 2 فِي مَرَاعٍ خُضْرٍ يُرْبِضُنِي. إِلَى مِيَاهِ الرَّاحَةِ يُورِدُنِي. 3 يَرُدُّ نَفْسِي. يَهْدِينِي إِلَى سُبُلِ الْبِرِّ مِنْ أَجْلِ اسْمِهِ. 4 أَيْضاً إِذَا سِرْتُ فِي وَادِي ظِلِّ الْمَوْتِ لاَ أَخَافُ شَرّاً لأَنَّكَ أَنْتَ مَعِي. عَصَاكَ وَعُكَّازُكَ هُمَا يُعَزِّيَانِنِي. 5 تُرَتِّبُ قُدَّامِي مَائِدَةً تُجَاهَ مُضَايِقِيَّ. مَسَحْتَ بِالدُّهْنِ رَأْسِي. كَأْسِي رَيَّا. 6 إِنَّمَا خَيْرٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ يَتْبَعَانِنِي كُلَّ أَيَّامِ حَيَاتِي وَأَسْكُنُ فِي بَيْتِ الرَّبِّ إِلَى مَدَى الأَيَّامِ. 

مزامير 23 

http://www.copticchurch.net/cgibin/bible/index.php?r=psalms+23&version=SVD&btn=View&showVN=1 

I'm doing a presentation in my Arabic class about the 3 religious texts and me toca presentar sobre la biblia  (injeel--which literally means the Gospel). I'm excited to read it, but I have to pray for clarity because sometimes I stumble when I read in public, but will do perfectly when I'm reading by myself. 

Anyway, it's a good day and I thank God for the weather even though my allergies are acting up. Oh well. I'll just look extra high. Nbd. 

Until next time,

Ife 'Quipayan' S. 

Love: Unfailing

Well, good morning partner. Howdy there?

At 45 degrees the next morning, the snow was all gone. No trace.

         The snow fell to the Earth quite heavily the other day and after running into CC, we concluded that this was perfect weather for sledding. We borrowed some food trays from our favorite cafeteria on the North Side and hurriedly made our way to the slopes. We fell, tumbled, face planted, rolled and got back up many times that evening. And on our way out, a young woman, fully covered with appropriate snow gear, walks by and says "Howdy?" At least that's what I thought she said. In all actuality, she was inquiring of our experience: "How was it?" Though my response was "Hi!", it made sense to me when two of my friends respond with a "It was great!". I caught the mistake later.


             It seems that there are many times in our lives that we  hear the wrong things and this in turn affects our actions and what we do/say. After reading Psalm 13:1-6, I realized I haven't been fully comprehending what God wants from me. He says "Love me." I love and love and love until I pass out and can't get out of bed for the morning church service. The feelings of guilt start to pile up even further as I spend less and less time with Him in regular devotion in the morning. I shake my head and let it hang in embarrassment at my lack of dedication.

           Although God deeply desires that I love Him with ALL that I have, He knows that there is no way that I'll ever love Him fully and perfectly. "But I trust in your unfailing love..." That word 'unfailing' can only be applied to Him.

He says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matt 22:37) I heard "If you can't love me perfectly, you are a failure."

        But what He's really say is "There is no on righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10) but "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9) In my imperfect ways, God is perfect.

In my unfaithful ways, God is faithful. He never fails. 

        So, the more I listen to God, the more I realize, sometimes I just miss what He's saying and that makes all the difference. Now, I don't have to beat myself up when I don't do things perfectly, but simply trust in Him to get me to where He wants be to be and know that He's still working on me and will continue to until the end of time. That is my forever (unfailing) Love. <--A great song!

Until next time with much love, peace and unfailing grease,


Ife 'Quipayan' S.

Me, myself and I

"I........." How many times a day do we start our sentences with 'I' or construct strings of sentences with the word 'I' in it? It's hard to avoid it, I know. It's important that we use 'I' for several reasons such as giving someone your point of view or sharing the most riveting experience of something that happened to you. Then there are situations when we insert the 'I' unnecessarily. Someone is talking about their day (because you asked) and they pause for two seconds and you pick up where they left off. Observe:

You: Hey, Julie! How are you?
Julie: Great, fam. I just ran into my ex-boyfriend and he's not angry with me anymore. I was going to uh (pause)
You: Wait. What?! He said what? If I were you, I would have walked away right there. You know it wasn't your fault, so why does he think he has to forgive you?!Who does he think he is? I wish my ex-boyfriend would come up to me and say he's not mad. Let him be mad. I don't care!
Julie: (pause)......it's not about you.

This situation happened to me once. Really humbling and kinda awkward. My friend was right. It wasn't about me. Nor did he ask for my input. He was simply telling me a story that all I needed to do was listen.

(See how many times 'I' has been used by me?)

I'm trying to learn to think less of myself. Especially as a Christian. 2 Corinthians 2: 1-5 touches on the fact that what we have to say does not compare with what God has to say. The more we think that we are providing the greatest information or even good information, we should check ourselves. What is God saying? Seriously...

"When I came to you, brothers, I didn't no come with eloquence or superiors wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God." vs. 1 --Paul is saying that what he brought to the table, is nothing. He had to eloquence or superior wisdom. But what he testified to was what made the difference. When we start testifying about ourselves and looking inwardly, we can truly bring the Kingdom and look outwardly.

Take a step back. Read 1Cor. 2 for yourself. Recognize it's not about 'I'. Speak words that testify to God's person. 


Much love, peace, and outward-looking grease,
           Ife 'Quipayan' S. 


P.S. It's reading week and exams officially start on Thursday, but I have one everyday this week. Great. Only God can take me through....I should really stop focusing on what I can do and look to what God is capable of doing. Looking outward.

Livin' life to its fullest

Ya'll sin is no joke.

Read Ephesians 5: 1-10.

I know I've made light of sin before saying "It's my weakness" or "That's my thorn." But that is killing me.

Do you know who you are? As kids of the Heavenly Father, we are taken away from the darkness and placed into the light. The darkness is an indicator of the wrongs we've committed that separate us from true love and the light is how we are made whole again, how we are brought back to life.

John 1:4 "In him was life and this life was the light of men."

John 8:12 "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Livin' life!

Basically what the Words of God are saying is that there is no one we can say we are receiving our life from God if we are not in the light, if we are not separating ourselves from the darkness, if we are continuing with the wrong doings that are stripping us of life.

John 10: 10 " The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full"

The only way we can have life to the fullest, is if we are in the light. The Bible clearly lays it out, but I have to be reminded that life comes from being in the wonderful light that only Jesus provides, otherwise, I'm just walking around in the darkness. Blindly.

So, go. Live life to its fullest. Be in the Light.

Much love, peace and livin' grease,

     Ife 'Quipayan' S.

P.S. It's 9:36am and I have Arabic class in 24 minutes. Gotta bounce! Ma'Salama!

Reconcile

There are some things in life that are simply difficult:

• Learning how to ride a bike
• Losing a friend/family member
• Being BROKE!
• Waiting
• Being sincere about asking for forgiveness

The latter is what this passage (Genesis 32:1-5) focuses on. These 5 verses outline how Jacob went about reconciling with his brosky. The thing is that he was in the wrrrrong! Like, the farthest point from right. That's where Jacob was. 

(Some history: Jacob and Esau are brothers. Esau is older. Jacob is a thief. Jacob stole Esau's birthright and the blessing that is reserved for the firstborn. Jacob is a con man. He tricked his own daddy into thinking that he was Esau so he could get all this. Jacob is in the wrong.

Ladies and Gents...this is HUGE. Imagine having a relative falsify their identity to be you and then take ALL the $$ that was left for you!!! How would you feel? Precisely. Esau swore to kill his brother. Jacob is a coward. He ran away to live with his uncle for 20 years, who is also a con man; it runs in the family obviously.)

Back to the story: So God tells Jacob, enough is enough. He has got to reconcile with his brother...20 years later. He could have simply forgotten about the who ordeal and kept living his life...far, far, far away from his brother. BUT....that's not the way things turned out. He:

1. Traveled long miles to his brother's hood--initiated the process
2. Sent a message calling his brother 'my master' and himself 'your servant'--he humbled himself
3. He expressed that he hoped to "find favor in your [Esau's] eyes"--he sincerely asked for forgiveness

Honestly, I have a hard time with asking for forgiveness, especially after such a long time. I like to think time heals, but the steps Jacob took led him to having a great relationship with his brother and expresses what God wants for us in our relationships. God heals.

There are people I've never asked forgiveness from (though I really don't think it was ALL my fault) and probably should; who are those people for you? Take some time to think about it and what steps do you need to take to reconcile.

Much love, peace, and reconciliation grease,

       Ife 'Quipayan' S.

P.S.I'm all moved in here at school. But I feel like I've been here forever (I got in two days ago). I have sooo much to do before Tuesday (classes begin!). Yikes. Pray for me!

DIY

I've wasted so much time this morning.

Yo (it's 9:09am and I've been up for an hour! That is only Jesus. I haven't done a whole lot, but I've been up.)

Basically what I gained from my devotions this morning was that when God calls me to do something or to go on a mission (ooh so serious), He provides me with all the necessary tools and gadgets I need. Ain't that something?

The passage is from Mark 6: 30-44. Jesus Feeds the 500 with just 5 loaves and 3 fishes.

Scenario: The disciples were kickin' it with Jesus, listening to His stories and all the knowledge He was dropping. But, clearly, that knowledge was just so fly that others got wind of it and started gathering to hear too (share the wealth)! The disciples and Jesus decided that, after some time, it was time to go. So, they left....to rest and debrief maybe?
    But, the people still followed! Tough.

    Nevertheless, Jesus was not going to turn them away. They followed Him to this remote area of the city and there was no turning back. It had gotten late and dinner was OVA'. They missed it. All 500 of them so that they could hear J.C. talk. :Tummy rumbles: Yep, someone was hungry and one of the intelligent disciples suggested, "Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

"FEED THEM" Jesus said.

"Jesus say what?" the disciples responded.

Jesus wasn't trying to play jokes. He really wanted the disciples, those that noticed the need, to fill it. Do it yourself. The disciples found out that there were 5 loaves of bread and 3 fish (es). The need could be filled.

There was a need. Jesus wants me to fill it. He provides the things I need to fill it.Then He does His stuff. In this scenario, it was the multiplication of those 8 items into thousands of items.....and then some.

The mission (oo so serious) He calls me for is never unorganized, ill-prepared or a spur of the moment. If I need a gun, He provides it (J.C. does not endorse violence of evil nature). If I need a map, it's there. But He is asking me to go on that mission (oo so serious) and be His hands and feet when He calls me to Do it myself.

So, go on a mission (oo so...never mind). Fill those needs and be sure to know that Jesus will provide all you need. Just do it (not endorsed by Nike)!

Much love, peace and mission grease,

     Ife 'Quipayan' S.

P.S. School is around the corner and I've gotta get ready for work. Yesterday, Tofe turned 17 and there were more boys in my house than I have seen in a while! Ooh. I need to go back to schoooool!



All I Do Is Win

Isaiah 41:17-20 Read this. Then read the blog.

Good day, mates! Welcome, again, to LIGHTING THE PATH! :applause: As you may know, I like to write, but am not that good. You may also know that I have work at 10:30am and it is now 8:44am...so, I unfortunately will make this quick. Rapid writing and less-than writing don't make for a great combination, but I have a secret weapon...I'm writing about the Bible! What?!?! Yes. La Biblia. Check it.


So, I read that quick passage (it's a shortie, so read it if you haven't).First thought: God is definitely flexing His muscles in this one. It reminded me of magicians that say things that we all think to be impossible: "I will make this deck of cards disappear!" Crowd is normally half skeptical and half trying to figure out how IN THE WORLD will he do it. At least, that's the way I think.

But, unlike magicians, there is no trick factor with God. There is no 'here's how I do it' segment. He just does it. Time after time. Day after day. And in this passage, He says "I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs." (Are you skeptic? How does He do it?!)

This is God winning. How? Because He does it all the time and when He does, it makes people realize His greatness. When this happens, some sort of understanding takes place that what God is doing is definitely not a human thing; it must be a God thing. And that's the beginning of a great relationship. #winning.

When you decide that winning is what you want to do, take time to read this passage if you haven't already and converse with God about how you can start winning, winning through His strength. It's a God thing.

*All I Do Is Win*

Alright, mates. Chao for now.

Much love, peace and #winning grease,

      Ife 'Quipayan' S.

P.S. School starts in two weeks. GET HYPE!

In Christ Alone

Yo, homies and homettes (is that even a word?)!

I'm writing you today to talk about my relationship...with Jesus.
Through reading 2 Corinthians 5:21, which says...

         God made Him who had no sin, be sin for us so that in Him we might become  the righteousness of God.


...and I thought it was super powerful because it emphasizes the fact that my righteousness is only through Christ. All of what I may have tried to build my life upon is solely based on the decision that God made to sacrifice His only Son so that I might be blameless before His sight.

God will not stand sin...and neither should I, but I do this because of the person of Jesus Christ; for in Him alone my hope is found.

Lighting the Path-It's famous!

Just kidding.

It's not famous, but today's devotion comes from Psalm 119:105, the verse that gave birth to this blog.

So, here's the link. Enjoy and you'll see why this verse is quite important and relates to life: I don't know much about my future, but with God's word as a means to 'light my path' I can trust it and depend on it to show me what I need to know in this life. One day at a time.

Thanks for readddddinnnng!

You rock my socks!

Ife S.

P.S. My laptop mouse pad is on the fritz. Not fun.