Yenga's Corner

Hebrews 10:24 When you hear the phrase "stir up" what comes to mind? If you are like me, you are probably on the edge, your reflexes engaged and your auto defense on. Why? Because stir up tells us trouble is coming. But here we are encouraged to do the opposite. To stir one another towards love and good deeds.

Have you heard of the phrase this one first then you? It's never fun being put second. Jesus told this woman, "Let the children be filled first. For it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to little dogs". This woman recognized Jesus being Lord and she sought grace not entitlement/due that the children of Israel seemed to have. Even though she knew she was not deserving to sit at the table, she was happy to have the fallen crumbs under the table.

Women we are multi taskers, so asking us to be still is like asking a 5year old boy to stay put for a while.

Bondage or prison can be in different ways, but the captive or the prisoner's ultimate dream is freedom or liberty from their captor or bondage. Jesus comes and breaks the bondage of sickness that held this woman captive for 18years. No wonder she leapt in joy glorifying God. What bondage are you under currently?

Priority setting is a daily exercise as we are faced constantly with competing priorities. Women are masters at juggling but there comes a time when you have to choose only one good thing you need to focus your attention on. What is that good thing and how do you do it without letting others areas suffer?

Menses, Aunt flo, the curse, that time of the month, all these are creative ways of describing every woman's monthly pain of menstruation. Even though it comes for a couple of days a month, no woman enjoys this part of womanhood. Imagine enduring this for years non stop. Here is a woman who suffered under the pangs of menstruation for 12years and she was determined to get healing from Jesus no matter what the cost.

Everyone has or had an accuser at one point in their life. Accusers take pride in showcasing other people's flaws, weakness and if possible shame them. In this episode a woman fell in the hands of her accusers and they had tangible proof as she had been caught in the act of adultery. But Jesus's response is contrary to what these accusers expected...

Hope is a feeling of expectation and a desire for something (good) to happen. Everyone has once in their lifetime hoped for something, whether it happened or not is another story. Hope sometimes acts like our lifeline when we're faced with difficulties. It reassures us that there is a rainbow or a light at the end of the tunnel. But what if there is nothing to hope for anymore-when a situation is hopeless and there is nothing one can do or say to spark hope in us. Here is a woman who was at that point. But Jesus came and gave her hope out of her hopelessness. Jesus is our hope not only in this temporal life on earth but for the eternal life.

Have you ever been thirsty on a hot sunny summer day to a point of having your throat sticking to the roof of your mouth? Unquenched thirst can drain every ounce of energy from our bodies. But here is a woman who had a different kind of thirst. A spiritual thirst that she attempted to quench over the years but in vain, until she met the giver of living water. 

In the old Jewish custom, women were considered almost like second class citizens. But we see Jesus breaking these boundaries and man-made norms. In this series we'll see Jesus' encounters with various women and the impact He left on them.

Nicknames can sometimes take over our real names. They can be cute, fuzzy or just mean. Unfortunately sometimes we have no choice once we are labelled with one. But imagine being called  'Sinner' and that being your identity henceforth due to your reputation. It was the case for this woman with an alabaster box who is unnamed, until she met Jesus who gave her a new life. A chance to start over on a blank page.