Lifetime Experience
Dear Patheos Friends, Like a blink we came into 2024 and the first quarter of the year has been spent! It’s a joy getting to serve you via this space. Thank you for all the shout outs and feedback on that spectacular eclipse we experienced together last month. That’s an experience that will stay with us for a lifetime.
It’s The Month of May
Welcome to the month of May! A special month for many reasons- this is the month we gather together to pray out loud for our nation and our leaders with the National Day of Prayer. Here in Texas, May is the month when we hold our local elections. This is also National Fitness Day, putting a focus on physical exercise. Next is our celebration of Cinco de Mayo and National Teachers Day (this is a full week celebration of our amazing teachers). Mother’s Day is a highlight of this month. Next is Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day. Last but not least, May is my birthday month and I get to celebrate all month 🙂
God Has Elected You!
Recently at a gathering with some dear friends, I was catching up with one of the faithful prayer warriors that covered my family and I in prayer during my run for state office in 2018. One of the best things from that 2018 run for public office are the supporters that became dear friends. In particular, is a sweet lady that sent me a message (the title of this post), hand written: “Dearest Feyi, you may not have been elected as the SBOE candidate heading to the 2018 November election, but there is something better that you have. God elected you and His desire is that you continue to serve Him everywhere He places you!” She signed the message with John 3:16. It has been six years and each time I open my Bible and the note falls out, I am reminded of her love, support and prayers that bless me all over again.
God’s Word Is Always Relevant
Being an election year, the message is relevant to us all. God’s Word is powerful in bringing people together, in healing and in transforming humans and communities. Irrespective of left or right, donkey or elephant and blue or red, God’s Word is bread for the human spirit, soul and mind. Just after the primary elections last month, I sent the exact message from that sweet lady to two friends on both sides who had not been elected in their runs during the primaries (you guessed right- one was running on the blue ticket and the other on the red ticket). Each reached out with an appreciation that the message was encouraging. It was then that I shared where the message came from. Six years later and the message was still as powerful as it was when I received it in 2018.
The Beauty of Unity
We hear a lot about unity and how important it is in our world. For many people the idea or concept of unity means, everyone thinks the same, everyone acts the same, everyone likes the same things, or looks the same and the list goes on. However, that is not unity, that is conformity. God intended unity that is why He created humans and things that carry out His heart of unity. Unity is meant to celebrate the uniqueness of each one coming together for a common mission or good. Our strength and beauty in any community is found in different people, perspectives etc all coming together for a common good. And for the people of God, Jesus Christ and His kingdom is the unity that binds us together for the greater good, which is the glory of God.
Extraordinary Life in Christ
In a time that divisions and dissensions are rampant, God is calling His people to an extraordinary life that is founded on His truth. Each human has already been elected by God through the sacrifice of His Son-Jesus Christ. To make God’s election count, each human has a part to accept that special gift of eternal life John 3:16 talks about. It is not an automatic activation, it requires faith in God. This is what jump-starts the God kind of love, that has the power to love everyone: people that may disagree or hate us. Yet we love and bless them.
Parents’ Responsibility
Parents, the culture experts are saying this year is like none other (this is every year- each one is unique in its own way). This means parents have an increased responsibility to impart God’s unconditional love to their children. What children see modeled will go a long way in shaping them into loving, caring and compassionate adults. It is only God’s kind of love that can overcome hatred or dissensions. Even the world is tapping into the healing balm of God’s love (agape) to solve many of the ills of our world today. Let’s spread God’s love and see the ripple effect even beyond an election year.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16, NIV
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