Do You Know the 'Real' You?

All our lives we live

Thinking we know ourselves.

Imagine the surprise

When you realize

That everything you believed

About yourself

Is a figment

Of someone else’s imagination.



Yes, there are many narratives for a story

The person who lived that story

Knows the whole truth about it,

Or is it really so?

Sometimes the person who lived it

Has also been told a lie

By someone else

For their own selfish interests.



What would it feel like

To realize you are not the centre

The main protagonist

Of your own story?

To learn that you were so naive

You believed a lie

And lived a half life

All your life...



It would feel like betrayal

Wouldn’t it?

To realize that you trusted the liars

More than you trusted yourself

And to realize the truth

That you barely know yourself

That you are miles away

From self-knowledge.



Then you scramble

To pick up the pieces

Of the you, you remembered

Yourself to be.

You step away from the world

Find a comfy corner

Where you can hear

Your own heart beat.



You shun the ones

Who lied to you

And embrace your one true self

Still yet unknown

For you realise

This bond with yourself

Is lifelong

And will last until your last breath.



You allow tears

To run down your face

And look and relook

At every detail

Every memory

In a bid to see beyond

The false narratives

The lies.



When you learn

They made themselves

The hero of your story

And hid you under the carpet

Every time you did

Something good

You feel the anger,

The grief hit you.



You realize your feelings

Were held back

Each and every time

So much that you felt life was shallow

And now you understand

Why you felt

The way you felt

You were not allowed to be you.



It is time to take back

What is yours!

It is time to shun the lies

And embrace the truth

Time to let those feelings flow

And for the liars to know

They cannot have you

They have no right over your life.



At last it feels good

To know the real ‘You’

Finally you know

You are a person

You have the right to be heard

To be counted

To speak for yourself

To live for yourself.



Henrietta Decruz

Embrace the Lesson – Prepare for a New Season

 

"If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." Proverbs 24:10

2020 came with a lot of promise and brought a lot of disappointment and unexpected adversity with it. It was a time that tested everyone’s faith. Those who kept their eyes on the Lord overcame the adversity and learned some lessons that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Some even finished their race on earth during this time and met their heavenly Father.

Though we faced something unexpected, the Sovereign Lord God knew what He was doing. Nothing in this universe happens without His knowledge or permission. Job 37:7 says, “God seals up (stops, brings to a standstill by severe weather) the hand of every man [and now under His seal their hands are forced to inactivity], that all men whom He has made may know His doings (His sovereign power and their subjection to it).”

At a time when most of mankind had turned to a godless lifestyle, many were looking at celebrities and individuals as ‘gods’ due to their fame, fortune, wealth or power, the Lord God decided to intervene and allow a ‘stop’ so we could ‘rethink’ things for ourselves. Rethink we all did, our priorities, our values and our future plans. National leaders had to rethink about their governance and change their plans to include providing food and supplies to the poor, needy and those in difficult situations, something they hadn’t done in decades.

What have we learned?

Being in lockdown gave us the opportunity to look at our lives and search for where we truly stand with God. Many of us had to trust God for provision as the dependable means of income fell apart and became undependable.

Most of us had to trust God every single day to be safe from the Covid virus. Some even had to pray for recovery from the virus. The fact that we are all alive and around to see another year is a definite blessing from God. He ordained that we should live another day, another month, another year. Many yearned and dreamed of it but couldn’t see the end of 2020.

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How are you feeling after 2020?

Should We Be Warned?

Ecclesiastes 12:6,7 in the Bible says, "[Remember your Creator earnestly now] before the silver cord [of life] is snapped apart, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern [and the whole circulatory system of the blood ceases to function]; Then shall the dust [out of which God made man’s body] return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God Who gave it." [Amplified Bible]

Man made out of dust

What remains after this life?

Only dust!

We are but dust, God shaped us put His breath in us and gave us life. He formed us and gave us our personality! Everything that we take pride in originates and is because He gave it to us.

Our very breath is in His hands. We need to always remember this. One blow from Him and our story is over!

Where do we stand with God? Are we doing what is right in His sight?

The world has changed the standards of good - bad and right - wrong but God hasn't! Seek God and correct yourself... He is a great Forgiver and His blessings are for those who will obey Him with a sincere heart! ?

King Belshazzar receives a warning from God:

King Belshazzar sees the writing on the wall

King Belshazzar wanted to know the interpretation of what the 'Finger' had written on the wall. It was inscribed MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN and none of his wise men could tell him the interpretation of these words.

Daniel came and told the king that he had been defiant against "the God in Whose hand your breath is and Whose are all your ways you have not honored and glorified [but have dishonored and disgraced]."

Then Daniel went on to share the interpretation of what was written, "And this is the inscription that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN—numbered, numbered, weighed, divisions. This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingship and brought them to an end; TEKEL, You are weighed in the balances and are found wanting; Peres, Your kingdom and your kingship are divided and given to the Medes and Persians." Daniel 5: 25-27 [Amplified Bible]

The Bible records, "During that night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was slain," Daniel 5:30. Belshazzar didn't think that his end would be like this but he could do nothing to change it. His power, position, status and possessions could not save him from what God had decreed for him.

Hebrews 10:31 says, "It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God!"

Now matter how great you think you are, no matter what your accomplishments and achievements... the fact remains your breath is not in your hands... but in the hands of the God who made you! Rethink your life and your priorities... It may be far more valuable than you think!