A Message of Hope

                 

      A Saturday morning it was, birds singing, the smell of coffee and roses fill the air and a smile for everyone that passes by…priceless! Draped in the finest couture to attend an all too important event…yes it was the wedding of the year for me and I was not supposed to be late, but you know how we do it! *wink*

     Though I took no responsibility for doing anything or playing any significant role that day, I had already done all the work that lead to a cascade of events leading to this big day, I played cupid, match maker and my work has blossomed.

     A drive down to the hall and what was supposed to be my glamorous entrance turned into a scene from a horror story. It was not supposed to look like this. Everybody that was invited to the wedding was there but people were dressed in black and not in any wedding outfit including the couple. Instead I saw an open coffin right in front. At that moment, cold chills ran down my spine and life was taken from my legs and I needed to have a sit. I scrambled to an empty seat all the way at the back and just watched the strange happenings.

   I watched as everybody came to pay their respects to the person that was dead, shedding tears and sobbing bitterly. But what I thought was odd was every person who came over to pay their last respect dropped what looked like a gift and walked away.

    I did not feel any remorse, in fact I was getting bored and wondered how important this person was to get so much attention, almost felt jealous of a dead person. I wanted to leave, I thought to myself I came for a wedding and not a funeral. But as I got up to leave, there was a man kneeling by the coffin, crying and muttering some things to himself, words that even those around him could not hear but as far from him as I was, I could hear everything he said in my heart.

    He called out my name and I almost answered out loud. So for a moment, I paused and just listened. “I loved you” he said. “I came from heaven, left my glory, and came down to earth. I did so many wondrous things, left my words for you to know how you could learn of me and know how to reach me. I died for you, took your place in death to show you the highest love anyone could ever show. My hands and feet were pierced for you. My body beaten so you would not have yours broken. You tried but learn of me but you did not love me enough to be fully committed to me. You didn’t love me enough to commit to our relationship. But anyone or anything was strong enough to take your heart and focus away from me. If only your eyes could see the gifts around you that were supposed to be yours but you kept on missing them because you never did things the way I told you to. Now look at my love, you lie wasted in this box never to know what could have been”

     My heart was shed into pieces at every word I heard, I wanted to run away as far as I could but my feet would not let me. I took a look back to the people and they were even in a worse state then before, they had become lifeless, glassy white eyes with shrivelled up skin almost like zombies. All of them pointing to the front wanting me to go and have a look at who was in the coffin and as I took each step, I could feel the piercing of each stare. I finally got to the foot of the coffin and saw who was in it. She was dressed in white, with a face of an angel and a kiss of death on her lips. It was me. But how could this be? I turned to look at everybody and this time they had become angels with sad faces and broken hearts.

   Then I saw the man who was talking and in a strange way I knew him. I had seen him before but did not know him enough to give any detailed information. His hands and feet had these holes in them and there were tears in his eyes. For the first time, I felt hurt and pain. I told him to explain it all to me.

He said to me “my love, my heart, the apple of my eyes, all I ever want is for you to love me back.” “Every time you go against me and continue in it, a part of you dies and is buried, you miss what is supposed to be yours and those are the gifts you see”

“How can I make it right?” I asked. “A simple prayer” he said and “repeat after me”. “Lord Jesus I confess I am a sinner, come into my life. Forgive my sins, wash me clean and make me whole. I confess you as my personal Lord and saviour from now henceforth. Amen”

   After I said that little prayer, I was lighter and happy from within. A look into the coffin and it was empty. “You are alive in me now no more dead.” This time his eyes were brighter than a thousand suns with a breath taking smile and a transformed group of angels singing praises to God. It was a priceless moment for me.

  “Its time to wake up” he said. “What?” I was still trying to understand what I was to wake up from; “the wedding!!!” “You don’t want to be late.” Like a bolt of electricity went through my body and I woke up from sleep with so much force I almost snapped my neck, looked around and saw I had just 30 minutes to get ready for the wedding. For a moment I paused and reflected on what I had just experienced. It was more than a dream and more like a message not just for me but to the whole world. A message of hope, freedom and love.

    I do hope you enjoyed reading. Happy week ahead and let Jesus Christ be the Lord of your life, it is a lot safer. Bless 

What Say You?

      

    If you say “I love God” and worry about everything, then you are a liar and do not understand what love is. Worrying, not necessarily in words but in thoughts. For to worry is to tell God He is not good enough to handle what you are going through.

   Granted, sometimes the shock can be daunting, the emotions explosive and the reasoning in one’s, mind endless, there is however much wisdom is taking a time out. A ‘Sabbath’ in you, a time , a moment where one is needed to be still and reflect not on the circumstance or situation but on who God is, not forgetting you made it this far because He carried you there.                                    

    The Lord Jesus did most of his healings on the Sabbath day. A day of rest from all the demands and activities of life and work and a day used to honour God. To worry, takes work and it is exhausting and leaves one even in a worse state than the beginning. A Sabbath was a mandatory day of rest, no work, rest! So in dealing with life and confronted with situations….take series of Sabbaths to seize from work; mental work and analysing everything and focus all your attention on God. We are naturally programmed to focus on situations forgetting that focusing on those things takes our attention from the very place help will come.

       

       OF NECESSITY: ‘I LIFT UP MY EYES TO THE HILLS’

QUESTION: “WHERE DOES MY HELP COME FROM?”

OF A TRUTH/ANSWER: MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD, THE MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

    God through His words says “fear not, for I am with you.” He knew that there will be times when situations may look very unfavourable but He gave an assurance before hand.

          Do you consider the night sky, the stars the moon and the marvellous creations of His mighty hands? The One that did all those things said “I am with you” “For I have not given you the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Instead of letting the spirit of fear dwell with you in hard times, why don’t you try the spirit of power, the spirit of love and the spirit of a sound mind?

      Worrying takes your focus from God who is the Almighty and focuses it on a phase that would not last forever and exalt it beyond its borders, give it the power to toy with you as it pleases and leaves you a state of perpetual mental, emotional and physical mess.

       The job of the enemy is to introduce those thoughts continually into your mind, when he sees you are shaken he knocks you out but when he realizes you subject those thoughts to the standard of God’s word, he lets go. Do not give the devil a leg up over you; you are too defended to be tossed like the waves of the ocean.

      I have heard it say when it feels lie heaven is shut over you and silent to your calls, it is not that you haven’t been noticed but great faith to those who wait the longest because in the place of waiting, you are been transformed. The Redeemer is able to save and ready to save so at the end of it all, you can boldly say “I know my Redeemer lives and He lives for evermore.”

        

      Isaiah 43:2-3

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you

And when you pass through the rivers,

They will not sweep you,

When you walk through the fire,

You will not be burned;

The flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord your God,

The Holy one of Israel, your saviour.

  

     Notice it is ‘when’ and not ‘if’ therefore as long as we are alive on this earth, situations are going to come up against us but we must not fear. Also, it may be waters, rivers or fire, our challenges may be different but it is common to man. In all of these, God is there and He is mighty to save.

    Ponder on this, when the devil brings those thoughts into your mind to elicit fear, tell him of his own future, tell him how he is a defeated foe and how chains of torment have been reserved for him in eternal darkness but you are the apple of God’s eye. Tell him those scriptures that promises you a glorious outcome and future and he will leave. “Resist the devil and he shall flee”

   It is too early to give up!

Enjoy and have a blessed week!

The Mountain Mover

                               

          All I knew was I was given an assignment to complete and there was a price at the end of the journey.

    A price that couldn’t be bought with gold, silver, the rarest jade, no amount of money or the world itself but no one ever told me of the twists and turns, of the highs and lows and of course the mountains…oh !those mountains!

      Those mountains scared me, made be cower and sometimes I was forced to look for alternate routes which always ended me up in more twists and turns. Then I will remember the instruction “Go on straight, do not deviate from this path, and continue till the end”.

      How do I go on when mountains blocked the way? Oh those mountains! They were as tall as mighty oak tress staked on top of each other, as wide as a river with edges as sharp as swords.

So many times I got discouraged that I would sit down and focus on the mountains, wondering how I will ever get to the end. Tempted to turn back and walk back to the beginning and throw my hands up in the air in defeat.

     But what I did not realize sooner was that the One who sent me on the journey in the first place was the Mountain mover himself and He told me all I had to do when I see a big scary mountain was to get on my knees and pray and have faith in Him as small as a mustard seed.

     Then I arose to my feet, I saw a clear path, my Mountain Mover had worked. All I could say “was thank you Mountain mover.” Then I continued onward, many times I saw even bigger mountains worse than the first but I always remembered what my Mountain Mover told me and anytime I got on my knees to pray, before I rose up the mountains were no longer there.

     Then one day, as I was walking unaware of what will happen next then a big ol’ mountain popped up directly from the earth beneath me. In my heart I was scared, I prayed but the mountain would not go away. Then I heard a voice say to my heart “do not be afraid, you carry me on the inside now” then I looked at the mountain with eyes and heart full of courage and said “go away” and like an obedient slave it disappeared. Oh happy day!!!

     I continued till the very end knowing my mountain mover was ever with me. At the end of the journey, I saw my Mountain Mover waiting for me and He said “welcome home my very own”

Jeremiah 23:29 Is my word not like as a fire?saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

Mark11:23 For verily I  say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

     Friends, we have all it takes to deal with the mountains of this life. Let us begin to focus on the power of our God instead of the limitation of our own strength.  Zechariah 4:7

Reporting For Duty!

      Hello world, its been quite a while. I took some time off for some personal reflections, to review the journey so far. I must admit, I got some answers but not all of them but one thing I can boldly declare is that God speaks, He speaks to His children and He wants to lead us in every direction of life no matter how insignificant it may look to us. However the great task at hand is to be able to listen to His voice and not just listening, obey His every command to lead the best of lives He has intended for us to live.

   I will like to begin this journey once again from a piece from my favourite Bible devotional stories, do enjoy.

                                                                INSIDE OUT

       Like many women each morning, perhaps you wake up, pour yourself a cup of caffeine, take a shower and then get ready to meet the world. you pick out an outfit (Preferably one that makes you look five to ten pounds lighter), do your hair and put on make-up. finally, you add jewellery, a belt and maybe a purse. voila! you are ready to meet the day.

    The care involved in our routines begs the question: How much time do we spend getting ready spiritually every morning? Do we take any time at all to ask God to guide us during our day? Do we read Scriptures, meditate or pray so that we can be more patient, kind and loving with our spouse and children? Or do we worry more about getting out the door than about the condition of our hearts.

    Caring for our outward appearance is not wrong... as long as do not  neglect focusing on our inner thoughts and attitudes too. The prophet Jeremiah noted that women were unlikely to forget their accessories, but God's people were prone to forget him. If we are honest, we will admit that we are much like the Israelites. In the mist of our busy lives, God often gets pushed to the bottom of our to-do lists. But spiritual growth happens from the inside out.

      Try this: tomorrow as you shower, praise God for the cleansing that Jesus' forgiveness provides. As you are getting dressed, thank God for clothing you with Christ's righteousness. When you put on your moisturiser, ask God to soften your hearts to His leading throughout the day. As you apply your make up, thank Him for being the foundation of your life. When you put in your contacts, ask God to give you eyes to see His workings in the world. And as you put on your earrings, thank Him for beautifying your life with the fruits of the spirit.

       Who knows? after talking to God throughout the morning, you might not even need caffeine!

Surulere

Surulere in the Yoruba language in Nigeria is used to describe a phrase “patience is a virtue”. There was also a period; this became the new slang in town. At every little instant, any opportunity for the slang to be used wasn't missed at all. Even to the point, people will crop and merge photos of themselves when they were kids and when they are all grown up now with the caption “surulere”. It was funny and was trendy and slowly its dying down and another slang waits to be created either by a music artist or some other celebrity then the craze starts all over again.

       “Patience”(or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can take before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast. (Wikipedia)

     In the Hebrew Torah, patience is referred to in several proverbs, such as "The patient man shows much good sense, but the quick-tempered man displays folly at its height" (Proverbs 14:29, NAB); "An ill-tempered man stirs up strife, but a patient man allays discord." (Proverbs 15:18, NAB); and "A patient man is better than a warrior, and he who rules his temper, than he who takes a city." (Proverbs 16:32). The emotion is also discussed in other sections, such as Ecclesiastes: "Better is the patient spirit than the lofty spirit. Do not in spirit become quickly discontented, for discontent lodges in the bosom of a fool." (Ecclesiastes 7:8-9, NAB). (Wikipedia)

In the Christian Bible, patience is referred to in several sections. The Book of Proverbs notes that "through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone" (Proverbs 25:14-16, NIV); Ecclesiastes points out that the "end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride" (Ecclesiastes 7:7-9, NIV); and 1 Thessalonians states that we should "be patient with all. See that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is good for each other and for all" (1 Thessalonians 5:14-15, NAB). In the Epistle of James, the Bible urges Christians to be patient, and "see how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,...until it receives the early and the late rains." (James 5:7-11, NAB). In Galatians, patience is listed as part of the "fruit of the Spirit": "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law". (Galatians 5:21-23, NIV). In Timothy, the Bible states that "Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life".(1 Timothy 1:15-17, NIV). (Wikipedia)

     Being patient in this jet age world where almost everything happens at the push of a button and a swipe of a touch screen is almost very difficult. We find ourselves being transformed and conforming ourselves to behave like gadgets on a daily basis. We want everything done at the push of a button. We forget, we need time to just take a moment and reflect on ourselves so far.

     When we are born into this world a race and a battle began, some had excellent starting platforms, others good, some manageable and some none at all. But what we make of our race will depend on how much we were able to stand in the mist of the so many trials of life and trust me, they do come as waves.

And one of the ways we stand in the mist of trials is through patience and being patient. For example, imagine you want to bake a cake, every thing is ready and set, you must understand that there are certain conditions that are supposed to be met of a necessity so that it doesn't come out the way it was put in the oven in the same place and one of the major conditions is heat.

     When you are faced with the heat of life what do you do? That’s a question we need to take time out and ask ourselves. Do we become depressed, defeated, blame others even God, pity ourselves or stand and hold your head up high?

     We must understand that in every challenge we find ourselves, there is a starting point and also an end the only difference is time. You are strong enough what matters is keeping a positive attitude and having a belief and trust that everything will be okay even if it means waking up everyday, walking up to your mirror and tell yourself “its going to be okay and you are going to make it and come out stronger”  

     “Surely there is an end and thy expectation shall not be cut off”

                                                                       Bless  

Keep On Keeping On!

    Hello World! 
      Be it daily struggles, sudden life challenges, we often wonder when its all going to end. We feel we are almost overwhelmed, constantly thinking and analysing possible outcomes and many what ifs'. I think as humans, we are not called to figure out the journey of life before or during the process. God already has done that, all we have to do is go close  to Him and He reveals, directs and strengthens for the road ahead.
      Remember, what ever it may be someone else has gone, going through or going to go through that challenge you might be facing and they survived, surviving, going to survive with heads held high, don't be the one to give up!



                                                Enduring, Endearing Love

 “DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER” ---at least that’s what the jewellery industry hopes enamoured couples everywhere will believe. One advertiser boasted, “Since diamonds lasts forever, a diamond engagement ring tells to your sweetheart that your love for her will be unwavering on into eternity.” Unfortunately, a diamond often outlasts the marriage it was meant to symbolize. Human love is not flawless.

     So where can you find flawless and eternal love? Psalm 136 asserts repeatedly that God’s love “endures forever.” This antiphonal song served as an anthem or pledge of mutual love between God and his people. Old Testament priests sang the first phrase in these verses while the congregation answered with the refrain. “His love endures forever.” It is much like an exchange of wedding vows between God and his bride, the nation of Israel (see Isaiah 62:5).

     God desires the closeness of such relationship with each of us for eternity. And his love lasts beyond a lifetime. Not only does God offer us enduring love, He also extends endearing love., a strong affection that lifts one higher or increases the value of the one beloved. Enduring speaks of the quantity of God’s love while endearing portrays the quality. The psalmist says that God is  “the one who remembered us in our low estate” (verse 23). We are nothing. But God loved us before we were lovely. We are His diamonds in the rough.

     In the rough, a diamond looks like a common pebble. The stone must undergo a finishing process to bring out its full radiance. It is then held against a large grinding wheel to cut and polish the stone. Many meticulous hours are spent perfecting it.

     Like the nation of Israel, God has lifted you out of the rubble of a worthless life. He is polishing and chiseling you into a jewel of great beauty. You are His diamond. You are like a bride being prepared for the bridegroom. And His love endures forever.

                                                   Culled from the New Women Devotional Bible

Happy New May!!!!!!!

 Hello World!

     May the month of May be a month of new miracles for you!
   
    Its not an unusual thing any more when we are faced with trials or struggles in this life but one thing we are sure of is God is with us every step of the way. He is faithful to see us through.
    One of the ways however to find encouragement in the mist of the storm is finding strength through gospel songs. I must confess, I am a beneficiary from songs sent at the right time that helped in building up faith and trust in God.
     I really like the Hillsong group, I think they have been anointed to sing with heavenly messages. These are some song titles I feel will be a blessing to your soul;

Still
Anchor
I surrender
Yaweh
Here I am (The Father's love)
Healer
Mighty to save

I also found Paul Wilbur's album The Watchman a tremendous blessing. He also has recorded some nice worship songs.

    As children of God, we should minister to God in songs and psalms. Using scriptures from the Bible talking about the majesty and sovereign power of God helps. We see those in chapters in Psalms and I also found thrilling was in the last chapters of Job, when God answered his so many questions.
   May God give us the grace to understand and unveil the mysteries of praise and worship of His name.

 And finally, it is the beginning of a new week, go and dominate your world! You are more than a conquer through Christ Jesus who strengthens you. God is on your side, Jesus is on your side, the Holy Spirit is on your side, nothing can resist the power!