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Writer's pictureHelen Yemane
Jul 313 min read

Life with and without Christ



Some will mock and ridicule us because of our faith. They find the idea of us having a saviour absurd and hilarious. The thought of us having to believe in a man and dedicate our lives to him. What sort of entrapment is that? Where is the freedom? Those are the same individuals that need to burn their lungs with smoking to relive stress or drown their liver with alcohol in order to feel alive? They’re tied to a lifestyle that circulates depression. Bound to a life of sleeping with this one, fighting that one, gambling here, partying there. If this is what you need in order to live life, where is the freedom in that?

 

They laugh at us because they think we are forced to live a certain lifestyle. They don’t understand to submit to our King is a choice, nobody can force faith. He is our saviour because he has saved us from all that mess they call “fun.” What we call sin is what they call happiness. Needing this to feel alive. Little do they know with Jesus we’ve been set free. We don’t need to feel alive because we are alive! We are born again in Christ, a new creation who finds peace & joy without the need of substances.  A new creation that finds purpose without the need of millions of pounds. A new creation that finds true relationship in God without the need of momentary friendships. A new creation that submits to what’s true and not fake idols.

 

Our God sits upon his throne with grace, love and forgiveness.

Their master restlessly attempts to destroy souls. He craves pain, heartache, stress, misery and everything un Godly.  

 

The bible warned us we will be ridiculed. It warned us of a life without him. But because we have free will it is a choice to choose who to surrender to. This depleting world or his everlasting Kingdom.



 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.

 

Matthew 5:11-12

 God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.

12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

 

 

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

Proverbs 20:1

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

 

Luke 23:36

The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine

 

Psalm 1:1-6

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

 

2 Peter 3:3

Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

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Writer's pictureHelen Yemane
Jul 163 min read

Prayer without praise



Lets' admit it, our prayer life is mostly made up of us asking for things, praying for miracles and prayers of healing. Here and there it might include a sprinkle of repentance and dash of thanksgiving. But where is the praise? Where is the selfless devotion? A time where all we do is give God praise. The praise that he deserves for what he has done, is doing and will do. The praise for not just in the ups but also in the down. The praise not when we've just received our answer but also when we're unsure. We love to give people praise and receive praise for mediocore acts. How much more does our God deserve praise. Not only for the extravagant but also for the miniscule, not only for the supernatural but also for the natural. Give him praise for it all. Give him praise because he is the alpha and omega and without him we are nothing.


To give praise means to give glory.


Hebrews 13:15

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name



Isaiah 25:1

LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.



Daniel 4

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.



Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,

47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.



For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.



Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.



Psalm 28:7

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.



Pslam 34:1

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.



Psalm 42:11

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.



Psalm 63:3-4

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.



I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.



Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds ; rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.



Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.



My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I whom you have delivered.



Psalm 100:4

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.



Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.



I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.



The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.



I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.



Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.



Psalm 134 - A song of ascents.



Psalm 136 - A Hymn of Thanksgiving



Psalm 145- A Psalm of Praise of David



Psalm 146 - In Praise of God the Savior



Psalm 147 - In Praise of God the Almighty



Psalm 148 - A Call for the Universe to Praise God



Psalm 149 - A Hymn of Praise



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Writer's pictureHelen Yemane
Jul 73 min read

The dangers of a routine

Updated: Jul 8



We all know having a routine is good for us. We allocate time in our day to workout, to do chores, a time to sleep and so on. We even try to do the same in our walk of faith. We set a time to fellowship, to bible study and so on. All this is great but there’s also a downside to having a routine.


When it comes to our daily devotion, we squeeze this in somewhere in our day. Your routine may be to read your bible first thing in the morning and have your prayer time just before bed. Others may choose to read on their commute to work and pray on their lunch break. That is how most of us operate. We dedicate a specific part of our day to Christ. So, what’s the problem? I’m reading and praying, that’s a good thing right? Praise God that you are, but what happens when your prayer time is in the morning but you've woken up late for work and are now in a rush? Are you able to fit your normal prayer time in, or do you find yourself caught up in a hurry putting prayer on hold and most likely forgetting. Another example, your reading time is just before bed but you've had a long day and fallen asleep on the sofa. What happens then? Well you end up missing out on quality time with God because life has gotten in the way.


Routines are a great way to stay on top of things, get yourself organised and make sure your day/life runs smoothly. However, God shouldn’t fall in our routine. He should be our lifestyle. Regardless of how busy your day has been, just as we don’t go without fleshly necessities we shouldn’t go without Christ. This means that throughout the day we should be able to pray, throughout the day we should be able to look at our bibles, throughout the day we should have Christ on our mind. A constant hunger to spend some time with the Lord in worship and devotion. If we choose to plug God in at a certain time of the day, at some point we're going to choose to unplug him. Not because it's intentional but because there is always going to be a distraction.


Jesus is who we face and aspire to be like. His time on earth did not consist of a routine, his life was devoted to his Father, his ministry, his people. Nothing got in the way.



Pray without ceasing,



Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.



Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.



In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.



And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.



Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.



About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,



This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.



Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

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