Y4G October Issue

Y4G ISSUE

OCT 2020

NO.

C H R I S T I A N M A G

PAGE 13

SERMON

CHOOSE TO BE CHASTE

PAGE 4

CHASTITY

The value of living a pure decent life.

PAGE 14

FAUTHFUL LIVING

Jesus is the real sight for sore eyes.

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CONTENTS 02 contents

& Contact Info

12 Fitness: Rest and Exercise

03Â Editor's note

13 Sermon: Personal Holiness

04-05 What does Chastity mean for a child of God?

14 Faithful living: A sight for sore eyes

06 Church Feature: Hill View Church

15-16 Reproductive Health: Fertility

07-08 Kingdom Shaker: Fortune Museke

17 Personal Health: The best exercise program for busy professionals

09-11 Fashion Column: O.Lep Clothing 18 Real Talk: Desperation has a sound

Youthfuls-(Y4G) Christian Magazine

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EDITOR'S NOTE We are almost done with 2020 and many are already asking in frustration “what’s next, what more can 2020 give out?”.

For me, I am grateful for 2020 because I have seen so many blessings in my life and learned to rely fully on God through it all. Trust in God during the lockdown and that I will be safe from this disease. I have discovered that all that God requires from us is to never quit or stop trying. Try while lumping but do not give up. We need to trust God with our doubts. God made the 10 commandments knowing very well that we will not follow them on our own but we are going to need him to make it through. God wants us to be pure but we can never be pure on our own. He wants to hold our hands and hearts through this.

We also need to understand that some battles you have overcome, does not mean that the next person has conquered the same battle. If you have overcome fornication, some else is fighting this demon. Help them. Do not judge them as sin has no categories. It is all bad.

Being pure means, you are sinless. JESUS is the only one who is sinless and we are trying to be pure. We are sinners that were redeemed by Jesus who is sinless. That is why every day we need to repent because we sin in many ways.

Allow this month's issue to bless and nurture you back to God. Reflect on your life and tell God your flaws because He cares about you. It would be nice to hear some feedback from you.

I love you but God loves you always!

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Feature Article

What does Chastity mean for a child of God?

C hastity can be referred to as the value of living a pure decent life. It is often thought of as an act of self-denial especially when it comes to issues of sexual immorality. What does it mean for both the young and the old in our societies? Does it differentiate by age or gender? Does the principle favor one over the other or consider status? 1st Corinthians 6:18-19, states thus, “flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God and you are not your own.” This scripture is teaching us that by denying the body of the desires of sexual pleasures as children of God we will be working towards upholding the respect given to the body as the temples of the Holy Spirit. The scripture does not refer to any certain group of people but refers to all humankind. This means that those who are not married should fight the desires of the flesh always in their efforts to pursue purity. That they must worship and honor the Lord with their bodies as it pleases God to do so.

To those who are married, the expectation is that they shall remain faithful to their spouses and only engage in sexual relations with their spouses, for this is the will of God upon us. In 1st Thessalonians 4:3-8, the word of God tells us that abstinence from sexual immorality pleases God and earns us sanctification from God. The word further encourages us to discern how to possess our vessels in sanctification and honor, that we should not be driven by passion of lust. In general this means that we must guard ourselves, mind, body and soul, chastity must first and foremost, be in our hearts because both the good and the bad start from the heart and it is upon us to choose good over evil.

"...they must worship and honor the Lord with their bodies as it pleases God to do so."

If we fail to control the inner person, if we are not able to control our feelings then it will do us no good to act all chaste in the outside while we are not clean on the inside. Our lives and behaviors during these hard and trying times leaves a lot to be desired, our lives are marred with all sorts of social ills happening all around us, in our homes, schools, offices as well as in our places of worship. Life is no longer like in the past where one could trust a fellow human being with their lives, we have become strangers to one another and only open up our hearts when there is something to gain, we have become self-centered that we have lost the sense of the Holy Spirit living in us. This is supported by the ever increasing numbers of gender-based violence in our societies, especially the sexual abuse cases, the majority of which end up in fatalities. This statement can be supported by 1st Timothy 5:1-2 which says thus, “do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity”.

If we could all retrace our steps and learn from history, we would all be one big happy family where the young respect the elderly and the elderly act as role models for the young. This would build stronger homes, societies and nations. Our relations would be those of respect and care for one another, especially care for life, respect for life and great honor for our bodies which are the temples of the Holy Spirit.

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As young Christians of the modern days, all these teachings may seem impossible, more like an old story but when we put all our hopes and trust in God, He shall take all our worries and make the journey much easier, He shall take each step of life with us, He will give us strength and power to overcome evil and sin and also give us the desire to endure all the hardship that will come with it.

During this month let us search our lives, take out all the bad habits that cause us to drift further away from our God, let us learn to observe the bad thoughts that keep playing in our minds and replace them with good and happy thoughts. Let us drive out of our hearts lust and harmful sexual desires which end up leading us astray. Instead, let us plant and nurture purity in our hearts and encourage those around us to also practice the same, let us develop and empower one another regularly with the word of God so that we may be found worthy to be the hosts of the Holy Spirit.

"He will give us strength and power to overcome evil and sin..."

Article by K.M. NTEBANG

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CHURCH FEATURE

CHURCH FEATURE Q1.What is the name of the Church and any significance to the name?

A: Hill View Church

Hill View Church, Gaborone Q2.When was it established? Its origin.

A: Hill View was founded in 2015 by O.J Mathiba.

We recently celebrated our 5th year anniversary.

The church is growing in leaps and bounds.

Worship Learn Network Grow

Q3.What is the vision of the church?

A: The vision: Expanding the Christ centered Kingdom.

Our mission: winning souls and preparing the saints for the coming of the Lord.

Q4.Where are you located?

A: Hill View Center is in Gaborone, Gwest Industrial, plot 14444, Kamushongo Road.

Q5.Services times?

A: On weekly basis we have several services: Fellows: Every Tuesday at 6pm.

Thursday: This is an online service which runs at 7pm on Facebook, YouTube and our online platform.

Q6.Anything you want to share about the church?

A: Hill View is an urban based, Cosmopolitan Pentecostal Church . Its vision is to reach the unsaved with the Christ centered message of the gospel. Hill View uses a contemporary approach to the preaching of the gospel an element which makes the church attractive and relevant to young people.

Friday: Youth service between 6 & 7pm.

Saturday: First weekend service which starts at 5.30 in the evening, only physical attendance here.

Sunday: Second weekend service which starts at 10 am, both physical and online.

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Shaker Kingdom Shaker

"Appreciating visible impact"

"God is literally my everything, I can't imagine life without Him."

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Shaker Kingdom Shaker Q1. Tell us about yourself A: My name is Fortune M. Museke, I was born in Kasane and I come from a relatively large family.

"Appreciating visible impact"

Q2. How was your childhood like?

A:My dad was a very strict person and had the highest level of moral standard. He firmly believed in education and he was the type that would be mad at you if you failed to get a good performance prize at a school prize giving day. I did not grow up in a Christian family.

Q4. What makes you a Kingdom Shaker?

Q3. Did you know you were going to be this influential?

A: I never really thought of that, I am an introvert and throughout my childhood I dreamt of being a scientist working quietly in a lab or perhaps a medical doctor but never as a public speaker or anything like that. I just wanted to be a simple guy living a simple life but right now I'm a pastor and it's been 6 years now, its something that was never in my wildest dreams!

Q7. What have you seen God do that blew your mind away, in terms of miracles?

A: My family was not a Christian one at one point and when I approached them and told them I was quitting my studies, my Science Bachelor's degree at UB to serve God on fulltime basis, they thought I was mad. My dad thought I was bewitched or something and losing it but I went through it and did a BA in Bible and Theology instead.

A: Well I've fully committed my life to God and serve on fulltime basis, its not an easy kind of life but worth it, its fulfilling.

Q5. What does God mean to you?

A: God is literally my everything, I can't imagine life without Him. He long knew me and planned out my life, what I'm trying to do on daily life is to discover His purpose for me and follow it through.

Q6. What is the biggest moment/event that tested your faith?

A: I have seen God do outrageous miracles in my walk with Him but one that really stood up for me was when I was still a student at UB, I had weekly visits at Marina Hospital to pray for the sick. I prayed for a man who was scheduled to do a procedure removing one of his kidneys because it was infected. The next day before the procedure the doctors checked him out after they realized his kidney was restored and functional again. It's not the biggest miracle I've seen but it was one of the first I've seen God work through me and it reassured me as a new believer that God is real and that He is all powerful.

Q8. Any message to fellow kingdom shakers?

A: Serving God is the biggest calling and great privilege ever. Let's serve God with all our hearts and hold tight to the hope we have in Him, He will never fail us.

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FASHION

O.Lep Clothing

C O L U M N

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FASHION COLUMN

ORIGINS It all started in primary school (2003/2004) when I started showing interest on brands. From an early age I started developing the love for urban culture with heavy influence from the kwaito culture, the dickies and the all stars. I was about that lifestyle. In 2005 I had already developed an eye for designing, subconsciously I would identify elements that makes garments appealing to the people; the details, stitches, pockets, prints, silhouettes.

And with that came the desire to experiment with garments. 2006 I was deconstructing old garments adding details to my clothes; Sewing patch pockets on my jeans Adding unique details on my school uniform and tees.

I also spent time sketching logo designs and casual clothing at the back of my notebooks.

I then came up with a brand name which really explained the kind of style that I was experimenting with: hand sawn applique techniques closely finished, with edges left to fray, abstract designs on tees. "Lejaja" was the brand. My peers were mostly the target market.

Looking back I really think Lejaja had a solid brand philosophy "acknowledging imperfections" and making it cool. 2007-2008 I was attempting to make clothes from scratch.

In Senior school I did Fashion and fabric then went to a technical college. During my college years I was already planning on coming up with a cleaner brand with a timeless name that would not go out of fashion. I came up with O.Lep an acronym of my name Oteng Lepere coz I felt a person's name is classic" future proof". At this point now I was making garments. I kept on honing my skills by participating in president's day competitions, fashion X, fashion without borders just to mention a few.

There is a point where I just lost interest in fashion shows because I felt most of them weren't the right platform for my brand. O. Lep clothing was about urban/Street wear from the onset but with some fashion shows the attention/ concept is mostly around "glitz and glamour", the couture type of fashion. Then I later took part in casual themed fashion shows such as Mobini fashion show, 45 minutes with Emmanuel Kayenda fashion show.

WHO WE ARE O.LEP CLOTHING is a creative style, fashion design label which designs ready to wear clothes.

We brainstorm, sketch and design our own pieces.

We are committed to designing perfect representation of who we are and not copy or follow trends. Our unique style of designing set us apart and make us different in our own way.

WHAT WE DO "NUANCE AN O.LEP WORLD" Everything we create is not always black or white but rather a subtle balance between the two. Our designs are mostly street/urban but with some elegance and smart sense to it. We pride ourselves with our unique designs and style made in Botswana by Batswana but looking to penetrate the fashion market locally and internationally as well. Paying attention to detail ,finishing, silhouette and craftsmanship is the cornerstone of our design pattern.

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FASHION COLUMN

OUR PRODUCTS

"We make every piece a masterpiece. Uniqueness and setting ourselves apart from everyone else is essential to our business. Let us be in your fashion style corner."

Casual wear Smart casual Work wear Sports wear We are located in Block 3 Gaborone, PLOT 28239

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FITNESS

FITNESS

By: Onneile Kealotswe Fitness Instructor (New Skills Academy)

Rest and exercise

I n the last article, we learnt that when we exercise, we put our muscles under stress creating micro tears, and during recovery, post workout, the muscles repair. Therefore, one of the most important component of a safe fitness journey is to incorporate rest between workouts. Rest allows muscle tissues to heal and grow resulting in stronger muscles.

During exercise, the extent of the damage to your muscles is determined by the intensity of the workout. Intensity can loosely be broken down into two: weight intensity and set intensity. Weight training intensity refers to how much weight you will be lifting and how heavy or light that weight is for you on a given exercise.

If you are using weight intensity training, you cause more damage to your muscles and therefore, would require a longer recovery period.

The recommended recovery period for weight training intensity is more than 48 hours.

On the other hand, set intensity is dependent on tempo and the rest period between sets and exercises.

Set intensity does not cause as much muscle damage as weight intensity and therefore does not require a longer rest period. The recommended recovery period for set intensity training can be a minimum of 24 hours. It is important to consider the above when determine how long to rest between the exercises to recover fully. Lack of rest can cause some of the following; It can negatively affect your performance and progress; It can affect the muscle’s ability to perform optimally; A muscle that is not fully recovered will cause supporting muscle groups to overcompensate leading to injury. For example, if you decide to do a bench press with a chest muscle that is not fully recovered, shoulders and triceps will carry the bulk of the weight and being secondary movers in the this particular exercise, they are prone to injury.

When you plan your workouts remember to incorporate rests period appropriate to the to your exercise regimen. #pumpthebrakes

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Personal

Holiness

Most of the time people see us from the outside, what we wear, how we look but cannot really know how we are inward (personal holiness). Most of the titles we are given in the world are based on how people perceive and think of us, but this is totally different to how God looks at us, He looks at the purity of our hearts.

In a world that has gone wrong, in the midst of the increasing moral degeneration in this world, one must make a choice of faith to maintain their moral purity. Choose to be chaste and not yield to the pressures and temptations of this world.

God’s will is for us to be Holy and stay away from sexual sin. (1 Thessalonians 4:3). If you truly believe that the Lord is your Creator and Savior, you will want to do His will at all times. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21; that it is not everyone who calls him Lord that will enter into the Kingdom of heaven but only those who do the Will of the Father. We live in an era where sexual sin seems to be tolerated; those who are married continue having sexual relationships outside marriage and those unmarried fornicate willingly.

If you are earnestly seeking to do God’s will, please keep clear of anything that will stir up sexual thought and feelings in you. Whenever temptation comes remember the words of 1 Thess: 4:7: “God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.”

"...keep clear of anything that will stir up sexual thought and feelings in you."

SERMON BY TUMELO LEPERE

"Choose to be chaste and not yield to the pressures and temptations of this world. " God has called us to live holy lives, in other words this is our calling. This is the same call as mentioned in Romans 8:30 “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

Everyone saved has received this call of God. It is a moment when you were made a new person, your attitudes to Jesus Christ changed, and you were irresistibly and inwardly called by the Holy Spirit out of darkness of sin and into God’s wonderful light. This is why we are told that it was a call unto holiness.

Purity must therefore be seen as part of your call to holiness, just as you have been saved not to keep sinning, so you have been called to be morally pure. This entails overcoming any temptation to lust or to indulge in any immoral activity. Temptation usually comes through the senses of: touch, sight and hearing. Whatever temptation you may face, be it through sight, sound or touch, make it a habit to ask yourself if it would cause you to go against your call – the divine call that you have received from God; the glorious call that brought you salvation in Christ; the call to be holy and pure.

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Faithful Living

|

A Monthly Devotional by Tony Kelesitse

A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES JOB 31:1 [I made a covenant with my eyes]

T ouch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. These are our 5 senses. For most people, these senses are fully functional and help them to interact with the world around them. Seeing a fresh bush of roses instantly prompts you to want to touch the prickly thorns and inhale the sensational smell. There is so much we have explored in our lives, owing to the full activity of our senses. Sometimes using our senses is just a passive exercise depending on how aware we are of our surroundings. Hearing cars zoom past the main road when taking a walk to the tuck shop, or indistinct chatter from a group of friends in a caucus. It is an endless list. There really isn't much to passive moments in the use of our senses. The real issue is when we actively engage our senses. Eavesdropping, stealing a taste of the not-yet-ready meal in the pot, suspiciously sniffing leftover food or even starring at a stranger whose outfit is a sight for sore eyes.

This month we are dealing with our senses and the need to have control over what we receive and transmit. Job talks about a covenant with his eyes.

I am more interested in picking a bone on the term covenant.

What does it mean to have one? My experience with this word is it usually refers to an unbreakable bond or contract or agreement to either do or not do something. Much different from a promise, but they grow from neighboring orchards. You might have heard a different or similar meaning of the word, feel free to check the dictionary and get a hang of what we are talking about. Borrowing from Job's own covenant with his eyes, not to look lustfully at a woman, there are several lessons for a young Christian. In the world today, the rate of divorce is growing at an exponential rate. Locally, 50% of marriages end in divorce. My guess is as good as yours that unfaithfulness and cheating are in the mix of causes of divorce. There is a silent story being told all around the world. Sexual immorality is skyrocketing. Cases of defilement, rape, sexual assault, molestation, masturbation, pornography and many others have consumed lives and caused destruction.

All these irksome moral issues started with a stare, a touch, a smack, a sniff or even a kiss. Some of these were not even material, just a person's thoughts which eventually morphed into a strong desire to act on them. Issues related to lust will only be remedied by a revolution of our mindsets.

A declaration of covenants with our bodies and our senses.

Claiming control over what you choose to hear, touch, smell, see and even taste is not an impossible feat.

All you need is a staff and a rod from God's own stash. Grab ahold of Jesus' garment and remain in the path he drags you towards. That path is a path of purity. Our bodies will always desire to fulfil lustful desires, but your have greater desires which have a strong spiritual outcome. It is not easy to be oblivious to what is around you, but you participate in making it harder by assuming your senses work by themselves. Get on the front seat of your own body. Control the gears to your fleshly desires and you will enjoy a life of purity which is in itself holiness. Devout Christians exist and you can be one of them. Start by understanding what God says about your body, your senses and what you can do to hold them on a leash. Jesus is the real sight for sore eyes. What he did for us is a marvel. Not like the super hero you see in movies. His battle is forever won. Don't drop the baton and passively let your fleshly desires win. Keep your eyes focused on the perfect one who knows your weaknesses and brings strength to them.

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Reproductive Health

FERTILITY

Fertility is a very sensitive topic and most people do not understand this because as soon as you reach a certain age or after you get married, people will start to ask you when are you getting pregnant (o tlhwatswa lesire leng?) or ask questions like are you not leaving an heir if you die (mojaboswa). After you have a child, they will ask you when is the sibling for the child coming? They claim that you cannot have one child. People never pause and consider to think that maybe you had complications in your delivery that you got scared and you still dealing with that or it is not safe for you to have another baby. There are so many reasons that we never think of but we will have the nerve to ask when you are having a baby.

Fertility is so serious because every woman at one point in their lives, they want to be able to bring an offspring into the world and that is what we were created for, to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). That is why, even when the father leaves the mother while pregnant or after the child is born or the father denies that it is not his child, the mother would raise the child alone and do the best she can. We are meant to have babies.

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Reproductive Health Society has made it a trophy moment when you can have babies but also shun women who cannot give birth or get pregnant. They will call them all sorts of names which does not show kindness or consideration that maybe just maybe something is not right. A lot of women struggle to get pregnant because of different reasons (medical or not). Some women have life-threatening conditions that would not allow them to go through the pregnancy when other women cannot get pregnant at all and other women can never make a full term in their pregnancy (miscarriage). Most of the time relationships and marriages end because the couple cannot get pregnant. In such instances mostly we blame women forgetting that men can also be infertile. The men involved in infertile relationships in the bible seemed to care more for their wives than any potential offspring. Abraham was apparently content with his wife Sarah but it was Sarah who pushed her handmaiden Hagar onto Abraham as a surrogate heir-bearer (Genesis 16). When Rebekah thought she was barren, Isaac did not seek out a second wife. Instead, he prayed that God would open his wife's womb (Genesis 25:21). Both Jacob (Genesis 29:30) and Elkanah, Samuel's father (1 Samuel 1:8), fiercely loved their wives despite troubles with infertility.

God used fertility to reward or comfort women (Genesis 29:31; 2 Kings 4:8-17) and there is nowhere God condemns a woman because of infertility. Mostly, infertility was cured with the birth of a significant character, including Isaac (Genesis 21:7), Esau, and Jacob (Genesis 25:21), Samson (Judges 13), Samuel the prophet (1 Samuel 1), and John the Baptist (Luke 1).

Can we celebrate each and every woman not because they have a child or not? Let us open our homes and hearts to the women that cannot give birth so they can also experience looking after our own children. Let us not give them a chance because they have not experienced it.

To the barren woman, if your womb has been closed, do not isolate yourself and have a problem with being around babies. There are so many relatives and friends that have babies that you can love in the meantime believing for your own. Seek medical help while in prayer. There is nothing wrong with this. If you can never carry the baby for a full time, seek God’s face as to what is the lesson in all this because every time after the miscarriage it brings more pain than finding out you are pregnant. When it rains look for rainbows and when it is dark look for stars.

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Personal Health THE BEST EXERCISE PROGRAM FOR BUSY PROFESSIONALS Many people have busy professions and cannot even afford an opportunity to go to the gym for a proper work-out. It is important to note that the modern professional faces many health challenges because of the sedentary lifestyle imposed on them by job they do. Some of these health challenges include poor posture caused by prolonged sitting, muscle fatigue and weakness, stress and poor eating habits leading to overweight.

Many professionals wonder about the best exercise program that would suit their busy lifestyles and still be effective. One of the most effective exercise programs is Pilates program. God used fertility to reward or comfort women (Genesis 29:31; 2 Kings 4:8-17) and there is nowhere God condemns a woman because of infertility. Mostly, infertility was cured with the birth of a significant character, including Isaac (Genesis 21:7), Esau, and Jacob (Genesis 25:21), Samson (Judges 13), Samuel the prophet (1 Samuel 1), and John the Baptist (Luke 1).

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REAL TALK |

"Striking issues while the iron is still hot"

DESPERATION HAS A SOUND S ometimes

we look at desperation as something bad or something that leads people to behave a certain way, which is a bad way. Desperation can be the fuel or courage that you need to take that step that you have been meaning to take but scared and questioning things. We have so many things in our lives that we are not satisfied with or we want so many things. We have prayed and now there seems to be no way to that thing that we want. We have even concluded that God is focusing on other people and not us. I mean, you have prayed and fasted but nothing gives way to God answering your prayers.

When God does not answer prayers, some people believe that they are not doing enough to please God, that is why He is not answering their prayers.I saw a post on Facebook, being asked what works for an individual, Is it traditional doctors, prayer, or what? Most people said prayer works for them. This one lady said she has been praying and nothing is changing, there is no hope. I started to wonder what the problem could be, I concluded that it is the desperation issue. There could be many more factors like faith, repentance, and so on. How bad do you want what you prayed for? How serious are you about God being the only way out? Are you only saying yes to the above questions because someone told you God can do this but you do believe He can? Could it be that because you have tried everything in your own strength and ability and made matters worse and now you have no way to go? Then it means you are desperate. You are desperate for God’s assistance and you are willing to do anything to get God’s attention.

There is no story in the bible that explains the desperation cry than the one in Mark 10:46-52 of the Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. Bartimaeus was aware of the healings that Jesus has performed.

The amazing thing is that he never saw them because he was blind but he heard about it. Sometimes we can have sight and not see what is right in front of us.

Hearing about the miracles that Jesus had made, that alone made him have faith in God to give him sight. Most of us find it difficult to believe that God can change our circumstance because we want to see first when the bible is full of miracles that Jesus performed you still do not believe He is able.

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REAL TALK | We have eyes but we cannot see the truth about Jesus.1 peter 1:8 (NIV) says that Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, Bartimaeus was desperate for his healing so he believed in something he has not seen but heard of.

Jesus was surrounded by large crowds and the environment was not calm or quite. Bartimaeus’s voice had to be louder than those of the crowd that was around or following Jesus. The environment was not concerned that he is blind so they will be quiet for him to be heard or give way to see Jesus. No that was not the case. He had to be in a place of desperation to speak up to get Jesus's attention. I am sure the crowd was going the other way and poor Bartimaeus was facing the opposite direction screaming because he was blind. (it is not there in the bible but could have been there). He was ready to act a fool before people.

"Striking issues while the iron is still hot"

WHAT DESPERATION DOES Desperation ignores detractors and distraction.

The people told Bartimaeus to keep quiet as Messiah is passing.

They did not understand what he was going through but because he was blind, they assumed he does not have a need that needs Jesus’s hand. His desperation did not care what the people were saying but the desperation moved passed the noise of the people following God and got Jesus's attention. The devil will always make sure that he takes you out of the presence of God, if it means keeping you so busy that you forget to spend time with God then be it. Have you realized that most of the time when you really trying to do something good, evil is forever present? Evil can be in a form of fear. When your only hope and belief in God, you do not care about obstacles on the way. Desperation makes you act a fool in people’s eyes We always do things without goals or purpose. When you do not have a goal or purpose, you cannot value or sacrifice enough based on your goal. Bartimaeus goal was to get sight from Jesus, so he shamelessly cried out for Jesus's attention. He was a beggar, people did not take him as any person who deserves Jesus’s attention. As Christian, we need to stop labeling people when they get to church and act a fool in our eyes because we do not know or understand what they are going through. Rather let us give them space and not give them funny looks. There is being desperate and being noisy. Fear, worry, complaining, doubt makes a sound and it is noisy. The noise gets the attention of people but a sound gets Jesus attention. The crowd did not understand that what Bartimaeus was screaming for was desperation sound and not noise, as most of them. The sound was accompanied by faith. It was not just noise; the moment faith comes in to play then a sound comes up. This takes me to my next point. Sound is accompanied by faith or expectancy. Most of the time we cry out to God for something and we do not believe that God can do it, or we believe that we can have that we ask of God. This is making noise and not making a sound that has expectancy to receive. Search your life and see if you are making noise or sound to God for all that you need help in. We need to understand that we need God’s attention only to any other person. We leave to impress Him and Him alone.

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ISSUE

NO.

Y4G

C H R I S T I A N M A G

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