Don't Shut Yourself in the Cupboard, the Word of God Works

By Rose Kimani

Do you want to succeed in life?
Do you want health in your body?
It is not what others think about you that makes you fail or succeed, but what you think of yourself. You are what you think. As a man thinks in his heart, so he is.
I spent many years of my life focusing on obstacles instead of focusing on opportunities. I didnt know that I was creating more problems for myself, because what you focus on expands. My life has changed after knowing who I am in Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Feb 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781499094329

Rose Kimani

This is my story (Rose Kimani). I am a mother currently working within the health and social care industry and have accumulated ten years of experience. During my work, I have the pleasure of supporting individuals at their own homes in the United Kingdom. As I was growing up in Kenya as a teenager, I didn’t know life would lead me to such a place. I was working for K-Hydroelectric Company as a secretary in the administration department. With all the challenges that I faced whilst growing up, they led me closer to God, as I found answers in the Word of God.

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Primary School

I was very happy and excited about life, right from a very young age. Being the fifth born in the family and having my other elder step-siblings, I looked up to them because they were doing very well. I was so determined that I would do well in my education as well.

I started primary school when I was seven years old, because the school was very far away from our home. There was no means of transport; therefore, children in our neighbourhood could not start school in their early years, but they had to wait until they were a bit older, because walking to and from school was difficult.

I had very high expectations, even at a very young age. I had goals and dreams which I was looking forward to achieve. I learnt a lot of things from my mum and my elder brothers and sisters, and I was very happy with my education.

Life in primary school was very exciting for me; our school was very far away from our home. We would usually walk almost one and a half hours from our house to school. Despite our school being away from our home, I really enjoyed going to school. I would not miss school at all, even at those times when I was ill. I would still insist and tell my mum I was going to school.

When I think about it now, I just don’t know how we managed to walk all that distance, but I think it is because we were young and we were many children in the same neighbourhood. Therefore, walking to and from school was fun. I had goals and dreams even from an early age; I wanted to do well in my education and looked forward to my future. I wanted to do well, so that after my education, I would get a good job.

I made a lot of friends when I was in primary school, and from time to time, I used to visit them in their houses and they used to come to our house as well. Whenever I visited some of my friends, I would really admire their families and their lifestyle; some of the parents seemed very loving and kind. I guess I noticed these things because I hadn’t had a chance to spend a lot of time with my dad.

Looking back now, I have an understanding of how children feel who have one or both of their parents separated or living away due to work or any other commitments. I didn’t have enough courage to approach my dad when I was young. If I needed something, I had to go through my mum to ask my dad, and all this was because I didn’t spend much time with him.

Parents sometimes can have work commitments which might make them spend less time with their families. I know parents have to do all that they can to provide for their families, but the fact is children do not understand these things sometimes, especially if they are young. Therefore, I think the only way to solve this kind of problem is to try to balance the two.

Final Year in Primary School

In 1978, it was my final year in primary school, and I was working hard to pass my exams, because my desire was to go to a good boarding school. I was looking forward to high school education, but there was something which was bothering me. I was concerned about my school fees, because my dad’s business was not doing very well.

I sat for my exams at the end of that year, and I was excited to acquire a pass. I was considered for one of the secondary schools near our home town. When I went to discuss this with my dad and brought up my school fees and the money I needed to do my shopping, I was shocked to realise that my dad was suggesting that instead of going to high school, I should do a course of my choice, because there was not enough money to pay for my school fees.

I was devastated with the whole thing, because I had high hopes of continuing with my education, and at the same time, I had worked hard. I didn’t know what to do, but I was hoping that my dad would get money to pay for my school fees. Then afterwards, by God’s grace, my dad managed to get money, enough to do my shopping and pay for the school fees.

Now it was time for me to go to high school, and I was very excited, because I was going to a boarding school, and on the other side, I knew it would be difficult to be away from my family, because it was my first time.

In high school, I started to attend Christian Union meetings, and also, I started to go to church service every Sunday with other students. I started to pray for my family and especially for my dad, because I still felt that there was a gap between me and him. This was something I didn’t have enough courage to speak to him about.

I was not born-again at that time, and I didn’t have an understanding of the meaning of being born-again, but I needed God to intervene in my situation. In the Christian Union meetings, I would hear the Word of God being preached, altar calls would be made, but I actually didn’t know the true meaning of someone giving their lives to Christ or being born-again.

I know the reason why I didn’t react to the Word of God, which was being preached at that time; it was because I didn’t have a clear understanding of what it meant at all. At that time, I was thinking that there was no difference between a born-again Christian and a Christian. To me, it was the same, and therefore, it didn’t matter whether I was born-again or not.

Relationship with God

It is amazing to know that we don’t worship God or have a relationship with Him so that we can get something in return. This was my mentality years back. In fact, I used to think when I go to church or do something for God, I was doing Him a favour, and therefore, I thought He would do something for me.

This is one of the major reasons why in all those years, I didn’t see my expected results, because I was praying with the wrong mentality, and do you know what? All that time, I didn’t know that I was doing something wrong. I was actually getting very frustrated and wondered how could I do this and that for God and why He doesn’t answer my prayers?

I was getting very frustrated thinking that all the prayers which I was praying for my family, asking God to intervene, and yet nothing was happening; I felt it was pointless. Now I know that it is not about us doing favours to God, but it is actually the other way round. God has highly favoured us. The Bible says that we are highly favoured.

I have also come to know that the quality of my life will depend on the kind of the relationship which I have with God. We read of many men and women in the Bible who had a very good relationship with God. David was one of them; his relationship with God was very good. God related with our spirits because He is a Spirit. The Bible says that those who worship God should worship Him in the spirit and truth.

How many times do we struggle to do the Will of God? I cannot say I am my body because my body is not me. My body was given to me by God as a house (tent). I was given this body to function here on earth. We are always at war within our members; that is the reason why we struggle to do the things of God. The spirit wants to do the things of God, but our bodies wants to do something different.

As Christians, we have become dead to the law by the body of Christ. We know that the law is spiritual and sometimes I can be carnal, sold to sin. If I want to do well and find that I keep on doing that thing I don’t want to do, it means it is not me who do it, but the sin that dwells in me (Rom. 7–14).

I delight in the law of God according to the inward man; then in the next verse, it says that I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.

When we put our trust in God, we can overcome all things. He says that we should not let our adornment be merely outward, but rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quite spirit, which is precious in His Spirit.

There is an inward man and that is the only one who counts. In order for us to recognise God, it has to be by the spirit, and by the spirit, and because God is a Spirit, we have to worship him in spirit and truth.

Eyes of the Spirit

The eyes of the Spirit sees victory; there is nothing like defeat when you see with the eyes of the Spirit. The spirit is the inner man or inner person in you. God used dust to create the body of Adam; He breathed His breath on him so that he could have life. That is why the body is called a tent, and the breath of God is the life and forms the inner man.

Therefore, our bodies are tents, and the inner man dwells or lives in the tent (body), so the tent is not long-lasting, but the inner man will last forever. The body is the tent and is visible; we can see and touch it, but we cannot see the inner man. He is the man who has the eyes which sees in the spirit realm, because he himself is spirit. He sees the things of the spirit and believes in the promises and faithfulness of God.

A time will come when this tent (body), where the inner man lives, will be destroyed; the inner man the (breath of life) will go back to where he came from, and the tent (body) will return where it came from, to the dust.

Eyes of the Body

The eyes of the body sees material things, things which will not last forever, perishable things. The Bible says that heaven and earth shall pass away, but the Word of God will remain forever. Our bodily eyes see defeat, impossibility, sickness, lack, poverty. What we see with our bodily eyes is not eternal but temporal.

Understand the Spiritual Realities

A man named Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher and you come from God.’ He continued to talk and said to Jesus that no one could do those miracles which Jesus was doing, unless God was with Him.

Jesus answered Nicodemus and said that except a man is born again, he could not see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus was shocked to hear that a man cannot see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.

He then asked Jesus, ‘How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born again?’

At this time, Jesus answered and explained to Nicodemus that except a man is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter into God’s Kingdom.

Jesus then spoke and told him that which is born of spirit is spirit, and that which was born of flesh is flesh. Jesus was trying to make Nicodemus understand who He was. Jesus went ahead and quoted John 3: 4, which says as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, the same way, the Son of Man was to be lifted up.

Jesus also explained to Nicodemus that the reason for His Crucifixion was so that those who believe in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, God has given them power to be called the sons of God. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? God sees you as alive and not dead, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believed in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3: 16).

God did not send Jesus to condemn the world, but so that the world should be saved through Him. Those who believe in Him were not condemned, but those who did not believe in Him (Jesus) were condemned already.

This man, Nicodemus, didn’t know the truth, and that’s why he decided to come to Jesus at night. We read in the Bible that as many as received Him to them, power was given to them to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in His name (John 1: 12).

The people who have not received Jesus, they don’t have the power to become the sons of God, because they did not believe also in His name. Sometimes people fail to understand the reason why they read the Bible and cannot understand.

We know that God is Spirit and those who worship Him should worship in spirit and truth. It is hard to understand spiritual realities with our own senses; we would need the Holy Spirit to guide us in knowing these spiritual truths.

Now the question comes in, can anybody know these realities if they have not received Jesus? The answer would be no, because when somebody receives Jesus, they become sons of God, and if they are sons, then the Holy Spirit would reveal to them the things of God and His Word.

I know there are Christians who don’t teach that Christians should give their lives to Christ. I don’t know how that works, and I would not want to be judgemental, but based on my own experience, I have seen a lot of difference between now when I am born-again and more committed to the word of God and before I had given my life to Christ.

I have seen total transformation in my whole life, and this is just by knowing who I am in God’s kingdom and standing my ground in faith and claiming what is mine. I would say to every Christian who has not yet considered to receive Jesus in their lives to do so, because when you give your life to Christ and act on God’s Word, that’s when things start to happen. It is at this point you start to see the benefits of being a Christian.

Remember all those who doubted the words and teachings of Jesus Christ when He was here on earth? They never experienced the power of God in their lives. All those who believed their lives were changed forever. We don’t base our faith on any denomination, but on the truth of the Word of God.

I think the most import thing as a Christian is to have that inner peace, especially at these times when we are having a lot of things happening around the world. We know what the Word of God says about us and about the world. When we face challenges, we can be comforted by Jesus’s words, which say: ‘In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer because I have overcome the world.’

As children of God, the Bible warns us that we should not be hearers of the Word only deceiving ourselves, but we should be doers also. Then it says if we are only hearers of the Word and not doers, we are like a man observing his face in a mirror and immediately forgets what he looks like (Jas. 1: 22).

It is amazing to know that the Word of God works all the time. Actually hearing and doing God’s Word is for our benefit. The reason why I am saying this is because if a Christian just reads his or her Bible or listen to God’s Word being preached and choose not to do what that Word says, then they would not see any results. Their lives would not be any different from the lives of non-believers.

When people pray and do not get the expected results, they doubt and fail to understand why their prayers are not answered. Some Christians have gone to the extent of thinking that God is upset with them. God says in His word that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He says also that the Word which He has spoken would not return to Him void, but it would be accomplished in your life.

Now if this is what God says, then it is our responsibility to find that Word. When challenges come, instead of complaining, find that Word which He has spoken about you concerning those challenges. And when you find it, hold it in your spirit and confess it with your mouth, because that is where your victory is.

Teenage Years

My teenage years were very exciting and I looked forward to the future, but there were a lot of things going on in my life and my emotions were up and down most of the time. I am a parent now and I have raised teenagers. I understand more about the challenges facing teenagers, especially when their emotions are changing.

This is the stage where they feel they want their independence; therefore, to do this, they separate themselves. Teenagers like to spend time by themselves; parents worry sometimes when they see these things because they are not sure why their child is behaving like this. A lot of times, they would challenge the authority of their parents, because they feel they are big enough to start making decisions for themselves.

This is the time when it becomes more challenging for a parent, because as a parent, you are trying to speak to your child and make him or her understand that they are still young and not old enough to make some decisions in their lives without parental guidance.

I know that we are human beings and nobody is perfect, but being good role models to our children is very important. Therefore, demonstrating the character of Jesus Christ to our children and showing them love would really have a big impact in their lives.

Remembering my teenage years now, I can see that I really needed to know the truth of the Word of God. I didn’t understand myself back then, and also, even though I was facing a lot of challenges, I think as a teenager, my emotions were also contributing to my actions most of the time.

On the other hand, I think it was difficult for me as a teenager, because I had grown up without the proper attachments to my dad, due to his business. Having a dad whom I was not able to express myself to made me feel as if our relationship was not going well. I felt that my expectations were not met,