Tag: lent 2021

Lent 2021: Day 30

QueenJoy

For if the ministry that brings condemnation [the old covenant, the Law] has glory, how much more does glory overflow in the ministry that brings righteousness [the new covenant which declares believers free of guilt and sets them apart for God’s special purpose]!

2 Corinthians 3:9 (AMP)

It’s crazy to think Lent ends in just under 2 weeks, and for the first time since I started observing Lent in high school, I actually hope to carry on my Lenten practice beyond the season. I have been incredibly restored listening to various preachers teach about God, but without a doubt my favourite so far has been my sermon from today, by one of the most powerful preachers I know, Joseph Prince.

Without going into too much detail about my journey into my faith, I’ll say that Joseph Prince played a huge (though indirect) role in my understanding of my faith and me truly taking on my faith as my own, not just as something passed on to me by my family. I was around 15, and at that time my mothers (my mom and her sisters) had recently been introduced to Joseph Prince by the man who was soon to become my youth (& forever) pastor, Bishop Sam Dongo (maybe I’ll try have him as a guest on the poddy soon – he’s starting his own, The Sam D Podcast, so look out for that). Inspired by Joseph Prince, Bishie, as he is affectionately known by those around him, preached the gospel of grace, and let me tell you, that stuff will change your life!

Here’s the sermon I listened to today, and it revealed to me just how legalistic with myself I was starting to become, and brought me back to my 15-year-old self, and the God I knew when I chose the faith as my own. Pastor Prince talks about the ministry of the law, and the ministry of grace, and it’s incredible. And as we approach Easter, I think this is such an important message to listen to. I am reminded of Psalm 51:12 (NKJV) as I listen to the sermon:

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

I strongly recommend you watch/listen to this sermon, regardless of where you may be with your journey, even if it is non-existent. For Christians and non-Christians alike, this message is a lesson/reminder in what the message of Christ is!

I’ll keep this post short so you can actually go and watch this sermon. Of course you can watch/listen while you do something else, but like everything, to get the most out of it you need to fix your attention on it to get the most out of it. It’s a really wonderful message, and I hope it moves your heart as it moved mine!

xx

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QueenJoy

Lent 2021: Day 18 – Being right is overrated

QueenJoy

Whoa! I am so glad that God put this on my heart to be what I did for Lent. It has been such an incredible blessing to hear from God through his many men and women who preach and profess His name. My spiritual life over the last few months has been a bit rocky, riddles with so many questions, many of which I still hope to get answers to, but something has changed. Over the last 18 days as I have listened to various preachers teach on various topics, I have felt a certain sense of humility that has told me to view my questions differently, and to put God’s sovereignty above and before any and all of my questions. My questions about God, about His character and His heart, about what He says on certain topics, can be good, but they can also be bad. They are bad if I am asking them from a place of desiring to challenge God, almost saying “if You are really God, then why is this and this that way? Why can’t You make it this other way?” They can also become bad when I ask questions just for the sake of asking questions, without actively and genuinely seeking answers, and keeping my heart open to what the truth is, and not just what I want it to be. All these questions, no matter how great or consequential, they do not take away from the fact that God is God and He is all in all. These questions can be very good if asked from the angle of trying to know God better, to love Him more and to understand His heart, and I think God has been shifting the position of my heart to where it ought to be. Again, I still have a lot of questions that I hope to get answers to one day, but I also understand that I might never get answers to these questions and that’s okay, God remains the same either way.

My sermon today is by T. D. Jakes. It’s the first T. D. Jakes sermon I am listening to ever, and man… just listening to him preach inspires the awe of God. I feel like if I ever had the chance to sit and have a meal with him, I would just want him to speak on and on and share the beauty of God that he has known. A week or so ago I listened to my first Joel Osteen sermon, and that blew my mind. I was not expecting to enjoy the sermon. I had once tried listening to his daily podcast and I couldn’t get through 5 minutes of it, but for some reason watching the sermons made a world of a difference to me. His messages are so simple yet so powerful. He’s definitely the preacher I’ve been listening to the most. Here’s the first of his sermons I watched: Travel Steadily | Joel Osteen – such a wonderful message. The great thing was that when I watched it it lined up perfectly with where I was in my Bible reading!

Then there’s Joyce Meyer. I had a period in junior/senior year of college where I would listen to the Joyce Meyer podcast daily and I really loved that, and now watching her sermons is even more enjoyable. She is such a wise speaker, and I almost always feel challenged by something she says each time I listen. A few days ago, in the video I watched she was talking about being right, and about how to maintain peace and unity you sometimes just have to let it go. “Being right is overrated,” she said, and I tensed up, because that’s something that’s a real challenge for me – to concede when I know I am right. But then I have myself the question: what is the cost of being right here? I am losing more than I am gaining? What, if anything, am I actually gaining by being right?

well, this is just here because i really enjoy the office, lol

If you wanna listen to that gem of a sermon, it’s right here: The Sweetness of Unity | Joyce Meyer | Enjoying Everyday Life. She went on to say that even when you are convinced that you are right, you should be open to the possibility that you are wrong especially as you enter conversation.

Overall, I’ve just really been loving this experience. There are still areas that I am a little reluctant to watch sermons on simply because I know I am going to be extremely challenged and I don’t know if I’m ready for that, but as Joel Osteen says: travel steadily – faithfulness wins the race.

Alrighty… I think that’s all I have for today…

Hasta la proxima!

xx

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QueenJoy

Lent 2021: Day 1 – “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return”

QueenJoy

Happy Ash Wednesday to those of you who celebrate Lent, and ultimately Easter. For those who may not be aware, Lent is the 40-day period leading up to Easter where (some) Christians mourn the death of Christ by repenting from our sinful selves and setting our gaze on God, while also preparing to celebrate His resurrection.

For as long as I can remember my faith has been strong – I have walked through seasons where I felt God was distant, but my heart was steadfast. However, recently, I have felt like I have not been as steadfast. I have maintained my daily practice of reading the Bible, in fact, I have been going at it like I am on steroids for the last year or so, but somehow I feel like I have been slipping. My mind has been clouded with doubts, mostly around the character of God. I love God, I always have, but I guess the question I have been asking recently is whether I like God. I have also been burdened by the way many Christian communities particularly in the US, have presented themselves in this past election season. These are just a few of the things that have been on my mind.

Since I started observing Lent (a practice I was introduced to at my Anglican high school), I have always given something up for the season. I have given up desserts, meat, social media, etc. But this year, in light of my headspace, I have decided to pick something up. I have decided to watch/listen to one sermon of my choosing everyday until Easter. So today I quickly Googled “ash wednesday sermon” and came across this sermon. As it turns out, the preacher in this sermon (The Rev. Christopher Doering) was talking about feeling distant from God and I felt that God had led me to this particular sermon. The first of three reasons the preacher gave on why people fall away from/get distant from God is over-confidence, feeling that there is no way we could ever stumble in our faith, as Peter did when speaking with Christ, and I felt convicted by that. If you want to hear the story of my spiritual life, listen to the sermon from 06:20 to 07:53 (I laughed just cause of how true it was of me). I was always so confident that I could never slip, that when it started happening I did not even notice. And so this sermon just felt perfect for me. I am so excited to get to spend time with God in a way that I have not done before – consistently listening to sermons once a day for 46 days (40 excluding Sunday church sermons).

If you are observing Lent this year and would like to share your journey with me through these 46 days of repenting and turn back to God, I would love to hear from you.

A closing note on COVID-19: due to the pandemic, the usual practice where the priest smears ashes onto willing congregants on Ash Wednesday was altered so as to not create super-spreader events in churches across the world, and I must admit that I am disappointed that I could not be a part of the annual Lent “frat” this year.

Hasta la proxima!

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xx QueenJoy