John N N Ng’ang’a Meditation of February 10th, 2025 Avoid living a lie.
Day 1
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘‘Who is the Lord?’’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of my God.
Purity refers to a life lived according to God’s instructions. The opposite is living a lie. I am sure that initially, nobody wants to live a lie. Turn with me to the book of Ephesians 4:17:
- 17. ...insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23. to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24. and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25. Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one body. 26. ‘In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27. and do not give the devil a foothold. 28. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. 29. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you."
Instead of talking about living a lie, we look at it from a positive angle: the joy of purity. Some time ago, I did not consider it possible that we would be talking to a group of Christians on the issue of sexual purity. But today, it is a big issue.
Day 2
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’’ seat. SoSo, you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
Some time back, I was invited to a rural church that had a crusade, and there were two other speakers. Both speakers gave stories as they preached from different angles that were rather interesting.
One of the speakers explained about a funeral he attended for a church Elder who had been an Elder for well over forty years. In other words, that village knew that the church was associated with that man. When he died, the entire village came together to participate in the funeral meeting. There were all kinds of Pastors from all over the ridges involved in the planning of the funeral service. On the program, they had listed those who would give tributes, but they left out a lady who thought she should be on the list.
So, she went to these leaders and said she had been touched by the life of this man and thought she should be given a chance to speak about it. She was added to the program. When the day came, the Pastor introduced her, saying that although she had not been in the original program, she would speak now. Not many associated her with the church because she was running the local beer hall in the village. Thus, they were not sure about her speaking at the funeral of this man who was a well-known church Elder.
When she finally came to speak, she said, "I know you do not consider me as one of you, neither do you consider me someone who should be speaking at the funeral of this man. But I want to tell you what a great pain the loss of this man has been to me. He was actually my husband." Everything went quiet. It felt like you could actually ‘cut’ the silence. She went on to say that the particular beer hall she was running was actually owned by her late husband.
"He was very considerate of me because when he married me in secret, he gave me a business. Each evening when the bar was closed, he would secretly come to the back room, and I would hand over all the money, and he would give me some. What a considerate man he was, for I never lacked." She wanted to go on, but an Elder took away the microphone, and she was guided away from the meeting.
Unfortunately, the truth was out, and the whole funeral was spoiled. Later, the facts were researched, and it was found that the story was true. The man had found that one wife was not enough. But given that he was a leader in the church, he could not move around openly. After all, in that particular church, if you dared get a concubine, and it was known by other people, you would obviously lose the church position. So, he decided to organize it secretly, and for many years, nobody knew that was exactly what was happening.
Day 3
Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.
That was one speaker, and as I said, there was a second speaker. We were still talking about people who were living lies. This particular one is more recent. He was in a new parish. The speaker talked about what took place before he arrived at the new parish.
He talked about a woman whose husband died, and she was in some mother’s fraternity. She was active even after her husband passed away. But lo and behold, several years later, she was found to be pregnant. So, the people of the mother’s fraternity called her outside and said that she was embarrassing the fraternity. They asked her to explain how it could happen when she had no husband. But she refused to talk, and they said they would throw her out of fellowship. She said, "You try, and you will see the consequences." She continued attending the mother’s fraternity regularly and did not leave. Finally, they decided to take her to the Pastor and church Elders to discuss the matter.
So, the day came when the prosecution (women leaders) and the defence (the pregnant widow) would appear before the Elder’s court. Some Elders were there, the Pastor was there, and the women fraternity leaders were there. The lady was asked, "Tell us, how did this happen? How could you bring ridicule to the church of God?" She replied that she was sorry, but it happened in the church. The Elders were even more embarrassed. "What do you mean it happened in the church?" they asked. "It just happened when I was around here," she said. They insisted that she explain further.
So, she said, "Not only did it happen in the church, but it was also in this vestry." Obviously, it was hitting close to home. Again, they asked her, "What are you really saying?" She said, "If you really want to know, ask him," and she pointed to the Pastor of the Parish. "I am not telling a fable; this is true."
The Pastor found it very difficult to explain what happened. He said, "It is true it happened in the vestry. After you lock up the vestry door when you are counselling a beautiful but sorrowful widow, what cannot happen?"
It is terrible to sin, but to sin in the church office? I do not know what word to use. The people I have described in both stories are not people who do not know about God. They are people who give testimonies and have made a commitment to God, yet these are the kinds of things that are happening.
Day 4
“Therefore, I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.
Several decades ago, I read about a Pastor in America who had a similar experience. I would really like to recommend this book to you, The Myth of Green Pastures. Here was a Pastor who had a wonderful ministry in the United States. The Lord was blessing him in many ways. This was until one day a lady in the church got sick. He decided, as all Pastors are supposed to do, to visit her in the hospital. When he went to the room, the lady told him, "I have been looking for an opportunity to have a private audience with you. Each time you preach, I am so blessed. What a wonderful opportunity the Lord has provided for us now. I can appreciate you. I have wanted to tell you for a long time that you are a great blessing, and my love for you is overflowing. I love you so much, and I am so grateful that you have come here to see me."
The Pastor sat there just nodding. He had hoped that his wife would say the same things, but she had not. Here was a lady not just pouring it in kilograms but in tons. The Pastor was so pleased he kept visiting the hospital regularly to hear more. He really wanted the lady to be sick for a little longer. Each time he went, she shared even more about what a gift from God he was. When the lady was finally released from the hospital, he ensured that he was doing enough house-to-house visitation. It had to be done regularly so that he could hear just a bit more of the appreciation. Initially, there were no bad intentions on his side.
But after some time, it became an affair. He was still running this church as he continued the affair, and both seemed to be very successful. Although initially he felt very guilty and felt like he could not stand before the people of God, when he stood up the first time after sleeping with her, God still used him, and the people were blessed. The church was still growing.
After some time, rumours began, but not a single Elder dared question him. When the stories began that he was going to that single woman’s house rather often, the next Sunday the man of God would come and hammer the gospel, and people would be slain in the spirit. Wait a minute, even if you are a daring Elder, how could you dare, when the Lord is using the man of God so mightily?
The affair went on for a while until it reached a time when the matter came up undeniably. The Spirit of God gave him a conviction, and he was really crying before God for the rotten life he had led as a man of God while still ministering in the church.
According to the story, somebody saw the Pastor very low and crying in the church. It was the pianist practicing in the middle of the week. She had never seen the Pastor looking so disturbed, so she decided to see what was wrong and find out what could be getting the Pastor so worked up. What could cause the Pastor to cry? The Pastor began sharing, and this lady who had been so blessed by the Pastor decided to comfort him in his sorrow. The Pastor cried on the shoulder of this young lady, and she encouraged him until another affair began.
Day 5
Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
But do you get the impression that it only happens out there? but recently a number of my Christian friends have shared similar stories. I will not give details because it is too close to home, and it would not be fair.
At first, I used to think it was mid-life crisis, which surprised me for and I thought it was something that only happened to westerners, wazungus. I had never seen my mother or father go through it, so I knew from what I read in the books that it happened only out there. It was their cultural issue.
That was Until recently a brother came to me after work, when we were in our mid-forties, and he began to share. He said it is good that I have found you alone, and I wondered why. He was a brother in the Lord, that I had known for many years, and we had preached together in many places. He said it is good that I have found you alone. So, I asked why, and he said it is because I need your prayers alone. And he said, you know I have fallen into sin. I looked at him, at our age we had not been practicing confessing to one another. But he went on and said, you know I have actually slept with a young lady. I have fallen into sexual sin and I am seeking your prayers.
And the first thing I asked is have you told your wife because there were people who were saved from before marriage. I could not imagine how my sister was taking it. He said yes, he had told her. How was she taking it, not? Not very well, he says. I told him you need prayers yes, but your wife needs even more prayers.
And as my wife and I took time to pray for that couple we realized mid-life crisis is real. After some time, we realized that we could not pray for a long distance, and so we met together and prayed and had counselling sessions with them. And I asked myself, how could this have happened.
Unfortunately, a short-while later, another friend to my wife came to her and said, you know, my husband does not know am telling you this but we really must do something about our marriage. The husband had also fallen in sexual sin.
Now I realize that although mid-life crisis may have been only an American problem, it is now here with us. People who may have known the Lord for 10 years, 20 years, we know them well ..saved since our teens and we went all over this country preaching but now we are behaving like we never knew the Lord.
And so, we must begin to talk about purity to the whole church. I have realized that it is not a story that you can give as a cultural problem. The one who does it out there is called the devil, the one who does it in your village is still referred by the same title. Obviously, he may use a different strategy in different cultures, but he achieves the same thing, of bringing you to where you believe you are a Christian yet you are living a lie.
Obviously, my prayer is as we discuss this, you get to the level where we cannot call you a Christian and you still live a lie.
Day 6
1 Corinthians 1
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
Let us quickly flip backwards to the book of 1 Corinthians. I just want us to see how the book begins, and the introduction that Paul gives.
In verse one, he introduces himself, then he goes on to describe those to whom he is writing. When you call yourself a Christian, who are you, who is it that he is addressing. Paul writing to the Corinthians says, he is writing to
"To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-their Lord and ours:"
Let us just look at what he is saying in this verse. He is saying that the people he is writing to in Corinth are the property of God. He says he is writing to the church of God. You cannot call yourself a Christian until you cease to be your own property and become the property of God. One of the ways of knowing that you are a Christian is where the ‘I’ is surrendered. You walk with the Lord, you reach a point where I say go one way, and the Lord says you go another way, and you realize that you have to make a choice. You deny I it’s wish
Day 7
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
What is carrying the cross of Jesus? It is where I is crossed by the will of God. That is the cross. I have said before that the cross is not this piece of wood that some churches carry. The cross is where you know with your walk with the Lord, there are decisions that you have to make at the office not the way that would benefit you but what pleases the Lord. Decisions that you have to make at home, and you realize that spirit of God is telling you to go one way, and your own person wants to go another way. The choice you make will be the choice as to whether you take your cross or you do not. And the Bible is telling us, you cannot call yourself a part of the church of God until you can say that you are the property of God.
It was the church of God at Corinth, the property of God located at Corinth. You look at yourself and call yourself a Christian, but do you still run your own life or is your life being run by Jesus Christ? Christianity begins at the point where you hand over your life to Jesus Christ fully.
I have said here that the best way of explaining what Christianity is, is explained by for you to own a brand-new car. The one you have always wanted to own and enter into it. Then someone you invite for a drive tells you that he wants to drive you. And you say wait a minute, it has taken me years to own and drive this car, how could you tell me, my own car that I become a passenger? I feel that I may be wanting to go to Mombasa, but at the Uhuru roundabout, you turn to Kisumu. You are then in trouble Bwana. You may own the car, but you will go where the driver goes. Unless of course you want to commit suicide, you will have to go where he is going because he is the driver.
Becoming a Christian is at the point where you say, this is me. I have always called myself the driver of my life, but I am now making the choice to become a passenger in my own life. And you hand it over to Christ and from then onwards, Jesus drives you wherever he will.
There will be a desire for that side chick or Ndogo Ndogo. She is rather attractive and anyway it will be only once, you will never repeat again, but the voice of God says no. You have to make the choice. Do you go his direction as a Christian? To become a Christian means that you cannot do the thing that you desire the most, you cannot go the direction of your desire, you must go the direction of God, because you have become God’s property located in Nakuru, or wherever you live. I mean you are simply his property.
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