WHO CONVERTED TOYOTA CORONAs TO COVID CORONA???

Hello everyone,

Today’s post is a bit long, but you’ll see why...

I’m sure most of us have been having random conversations going on in their head concerning what is happening in the country, and the world really. Clearly, mine have been a bit weird as you can see in the title; and even though one may try to be quiet about them and let them stay in the head, there are those friends who are just curious to know, “Ehe! Yve, what do you think about this thing? What are you doing about it?” … Is there really anything much one can do other than pray and sanitize and… you know. Weell, maybe?

We were supposed to do part 2 of the previous post, but a friend suggested we first try talking about what has been going on in the country, from a GOD’S ArTWORK point of view. This felt like a really tricky task because, one, some of us got tired of watching news when all there was to watch was bad news, and though the situation has slightly improved, it has been difficult to come back. Two, it’s been even harder these past few weeks to follow the news because of working on the school project. But no worries, we are not here to discuss the news again, but more of, what the news we have received so far mean to us, God’s Artworks😊.

 

So, a lot of information has been circulating concerning the Corona virus also known by its scientific name as, COVID 19. In fact, my data usage app showed me that I used 582mbs of my data looking at Corona related material! That’s not so bad right😊… Memes and videos have been shared, with my favorite being the guy who asks: “Who pissed off 2020!?”🤣🤣  I however don’t agree with him about going back to 2019. My cry instead is, “Give me the 2020, they told me about!” 

I have not been able to track down when exactly the talk of this virus became a thing in Kenya but a friend told me that it started a few days after a certain 3-day conference we had attended beginning of February: Supernatural Increase Conference with Dr. Jerry Savelle. In that conference, powerful words were spoken over us and even over the nation of Kenya about supernatural increase, favour, blessing, waxing great… good things generally. And then a few days later, we started seeing news about the virus and how every nation was at risk. Honestly, I didn’t think it was that serious so during this whole time, I was in my own zone… (working on my projects and spending time with God). Until I saw memes that look like this: 

 

That is when I got curious to see how serious this thing was. And even before I began my research, I saw in the news that there was one reported case in the country… 

Last week on Thursday, I attended a fellowship in Uganda, just like I do every Thursday (don’t ask me how), but you can access the message on YouTube. The message was entitled: The Glory of Elevated Vision (Phaneroo 279). It was one of the most impactful messages I have ever heard especially in this season of me thinking about my life after campus. So, on Friday as I was watched the news on TV, I could hear my spirit praying, “God, give me elevated vision concerning this matter. What do you want me to see?” I didn’t exactly get something deep or earth shaking (or maybe it is 😉), but I felt led to check the dictionary definitions of that word corona. 

A little fun fact about me: If I find I don’t like the definition or use of a certain word, I usually look up whether there are other better definitions of the word so that I begin to associate that word with those definitions. If I find there isn’t, I create my own or I just avoid the use of that word altogether. So, it was not a shock when I felt the urge to check that definition.

I already knew the word was a feature in architecture, flowers and stars. But looking at the dictionary gave me clarity and even a deeper understanding of why the virus was given such a beautiful name 😓 As I looked at the meanings, I also remembered there was once a car called Toyota Corona… As a child I used to feel like it was an ugly version of Toyota Corolla (Please forgive me if you owned or still own one). But now when I look at the images in google, I don’t know what made me feel that…

So, these are the definitions I found of that word Corona...

💡History and etymology:

Borrowed from Latin which refers to “garland worn on the head as a mark of honour or emblem of majesty.”

~ Merriam Webster💡

💡Definitions:

  1.    Crown: A crown or garland bestowed among the Romans as a reward for distinguished services.

2.      Astronomy: The luminous plasma atmosphere of the sun or other star, most easily seen as a halo during a solar eclipse. 
3.      Biology: Any crown-like appendage of a plant or animal e.g. In flowers 
4.      Architecture: The large flat, projecting member of a cornice which crowns the entablature 
5.      Anatomy: The upper surface of certain parts of the body e.g. crown of teeth

~ Wiktionary and Merriam Webster💡

Of Toyota Coronas

Just like many people, the only thing that interests me about cars is their physical appearance: their body shape and all. If it looks nice, it’s a good car; and I have even determined my dream car(s) based on that. So, if you notice a lot of ignorance in this part of the post, please judge not and thou shalt not be judged 😜. We are only looking at cars from a, sort of artistic view. 

I tried looking for statistical data about Kenya and cars, but didn’t get something solid. However, I was able to gather that, between the years 2006 and 2019, Kenya has been importing 20,000 - 30,000 cars a year; most of them being Toyota. So somehow that message we see at the back of Land Rovers is almost true: 

 

I was brought up in a family where very few people owned cars. However, I was fortunate enough to have father-figures from Church who own cars. So, as far as I remember, most of my primary school life, I went to Church in a Toyota Corolla driven by one of them who lived nearest. Aha! Now I remember why I didn’t like Coronas… 

So, I guess that is what led me to a few days ago, to do research on the difference between a Toyota Corolla and Toyota Corona. This is what I found out (I used Wikipedia because it had the easiest car language😊)

💡The names corolla and corona are part of Toyota’s naming tradition of using names derived from Toyota Crown for their Sedans.

•   Toyota Crown: The first in the series and it’s the biggest. Its design has evolved though and become more aesthetic.
•   Toyota Corona: Smaller sibling to the Crown. The name Corona was derived from a Latin word meaning “crown”. It was referred to as a Toyota’s “tiara” at some point.
• Toyota Corolla: It was the smallest and most compact hence more aesthetic. Its name was derived from a Latin word meaning “small crown”.💡

I hope that has helped you see the difference between those cars. Before we go into lessons learnt from those definitions… Do you ever wonder why to date Kenya has not stopped importing cars? I mean, wouldn’t it be great if we utilized the skills of all those engineering students who graduate from campuses every year… Instead of making them bankers… anyway… Artwork…

Of Crowns

As you can see from all these definitions, they point to one thing: crowns. And we know crowns speak of rulers and also kingdoms. Does all this remind you of the many verses in the Bible that talk about crowns, as it did me? I got so excited as I looked at them, but for now let us look at just 2 or 3 of them:

John 19:1-3 TPT

Then Pilate ordered Jesus to be brutally beaten with a whip of leather straps embedded with metal.

And the soldiers also wove thorn-branches into a crown and set it on his head and placed a purple robe over his shoulders.

Then, one by one, they came in front of him to mock him by saying, “Hail, to the king of the Jews!” And one after the other, they repeatedly punched him in the face.

And when you continue on to read the next verses the story ends with Him dying on the cross then Him resurrecting on the 3^rd Day. And that is how we Christians came to be… Now let’s see something else that Paul tells us as he is praying for the Ephesian Church:

Ephesians 1:19-22 TPT

I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!

And now he is exalted as first above every ruler, authority, government, and realm of power in existence! He is gloriously enthroned over every name that is ever praised, not only in this age, but in the age that is coming!

And he alone is the leader and source of everything needed in the church. God has put everything beneath the authority of Jesus Christ and has given him the highest rank above all others. And now we, his church, are his body on the earth and that which fills him who is being filled by it!

I feel like saying, “That’s self-explanatory” but let us quickly look at the various points coming up:

1.        The greatness of God’s power has been made available to us THROUGH FAITH, and it is for us to continually experience it.

2.       God desires that our lives be an advertisement of that immense power as it works through us.

3.       Though in the previous read we saw Jesus beaten, mocked and killed, we now see he was raised and is now seated at the right hand of the Father: the highest and most honourable place.

4.       That means, that any other ruler, ‘crown’ or realm of power, ANYTHING WITH A NAME, is under him, forever! God has put ALL things under his feet.

5.       Even more exciting is that, the power that did all that, is in you and is at work through you!!…

6.       And finally, we (the Church) are his body, so assuming you are the one who is the feet, guess where every other ‘crown’ is? Under you! Exactly!

 

This is the reason why we cannot fear Corona (the virus) or be ruled by Corona (the car: material wealth), even if it has come wearing or looking like a crown 😉 Because we are one with the Crown of crowns 😉😉.  In Ephesians 2:6 it even tells us that we were raised up together with Christ and are now seated with Him in the heavenly places. 🤔Think about that!

Of Luminous Plasma: Surrounded

Another verse that comes to mind when you look at those definitions is the story of Elijah and Gehazi when they were surrounded by the Syrian Army. 

So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

2 Kings 6:16-17 (read the whole chapter 🔥🎇)

If you look closely at the image of our definition number 2, an eclipse is trying to make a star look dark but the light that surrounds it cannot be hid. That is what attacks try to do. They try to come between us and God or to magnify themselves, or to make us look surrounded but, we ought not to forget that we are surrounded by God. I believe that is what inspired the song Surrounded by Micheal W. Smith.

 

Psalm 91 TPT reminds us: When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of God Most High… shielded from harm… how then can evil prevail against us or disease infect us? God sends angels with special powers to protect us wherever we go…

Please click this link to read the whole chapter.

Of Toyota Coronas turning into Covid Corona

Many people have been saying that the virus has come as a judgement/punishment because of sins people have committed: bloodshed, the love of Toyota Coronas (wealth) or so many other things.

In another post we will talk about God’s judgements. But for now, my view on judgments is that the judgements of God are of grace. And I don’t see how making people sick is a way of teaching people a lesson. I mean, everything we are learning on this post could have been learnt in another way, in the absence of the virus outbreak… I believe all this is just a consequence of people’s actions (result of playing with fire), and those who are not under the shadow of the almighty will find themselves suffer along with them. 

I know, there is a place for us to ask for forgiveness and repent of sins done. But also how is this being done, so that we don’t keep having cycles of peace – disaster – ‘repent’ – peace – disaster 2 …? Also, where is the place of verses like come boldly to the throne of Grace…?

Looks like we may need a part 2… But in the meantime, let us focus on the goodness of God. How he has made us kings and given us authority over every other ‘crown’ through his Son Jesus…

The good-side

 

•   Self Quarantine

I saw these on people’s statuses and though the first one may have been taken slightly out of context🤣🤣, looking at the whole chapter will minister to you a lot: Look at for example these verses:

Vs 1

A day is coming when this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“The city is a stronghold for us!
    The Lord’s salvation, like inner and outer walls, makes it secure…

 Vs 3

Perfect, absolute peace surrounds those

whose imaginations are consumed with you;

they confidently trust in you.

 

So, even if the microscopic king🙂 is forcing us to stay indoors and distance ourselves from others, this is the time for us to draw close to God. Oh, my! Imagine if Eeeveryone did that for a day! 

So, what to do during this time behind those shut doors:
-         Spend more time with God,
-          Read that book,
-         Finish that project (God Knows I really needed this extra time),
-         Comment on this post and share it

• Sanitize, drink lots of warm ginger water:
  You’ll be shocked how not only are these preventive measures, but they also come with certain body transformations!

💡Did you know that some types of acne are caused by touching your face with the germs that have been collecting on your steering wheel, phone, door knob or pillowcase? 
Did you know that drinking lots of warm water alone can help loose weight? Imagine adding ginger to it😆?💡

Final thoughts

I remember asking a few people this past weekend, “If you were the president of this country, how would you have handled this situation?” Many suggested they would have prayed a national prayer, given an encouraging speech even as they give the necessary directions concerning the issue and many other ideas. As I thought about their responses on my own, I began to hear this speech in my head:

“If I was the President of Kenya, I would guide my fellow citizens into Elevated Vision. I would encourage them to put their focus on magnifying the King of kings(us) and the King over kings(principalities); instead of magnifying a tiny little, microscopic king called COVID 19. I would encourage Kenyans to guard their minds, hearts and speech because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks and it’s not what enters the mouth but what comes out of it (words) that defile a man. 

I would encourage them to post memes that bring hope and joy, that lead to innovations: even if it’s a car called Kenya-ta Korona. I would ask, or even pay, the local media stations to offer Kenyans entertaining material or material that builds hope and not bring fear… All other physical precautions would come secondary, and only for the sake of those ones who won’t get my thinking, those who will still go on YouTube and spend hours feeding themselves with material that brings fear...

 Yeah, I would emphasize that fear is our current greatest enemy because Job said in Job 3:25 - the thing that I feared the most has come upon me.

I would remind them to have faith in God because fear is confidence in what the devil can do…

Have faith Kenyans. Have faith in God. The God who will not go against the things He spoke over this nation. He told us we are a spring board of revival, a sheep nation and not a goat nation, an economic hub… Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good report... think on… meditate on these things.

I have a dream that one day we shall be exporting our own cars and maybe they will have messages on them that say, “The car in front of yours is always a 'Kenya-ta'😜; but in the meantime, could we just stick to importing Toyota Coronas and not Covid Corona…”

It was a great joy when a few days later I woke up to see a message circulating that the President has called for a National prayer day! Maybe those many conversations in our heads had reached his head too, but I know God speaks to him in his own way too. But above all our prayers are beginning to be answered…

I don’t know whether this is Elevated Vision or it’s the craziness of an artist trying to analyze biological, political and statistical information as artwork… But I hope it has given us the courage to do what our hearts have been yearning to do: To have a reset focus; a mind which is stayed on God and what He is doing…

Until The next post I leave you with is meme:

 

   

🤣🤣🤣 Stay vigilant and remember, you are God’s Artwork and He is at Work for you, in you and through you.