Christianity

Dear blogfam,

Happy new month to you! I know you will agree with me that this year seems to have gathered pace. May the Lord help us to truly live for His greater honor and glory in the remaining days of the year 2013. Amen

I came across this video and decided to share it with you. I think Jefferson Bethke expressed the truth about being a Christian. Please watch and share your thoughts.

My Testimony

Happy new month to you all.

I wanted to blog about something completely different this weekend but I felt led to share my testimony. 

Exactly one year ago, I had what I tagged "the worst birthday ever", it didn't matter how hard my family tried to make it a happy one for me, they even surprised me with a birthday cake, managed to get me out of bed and we took some fun pictures, but I knew deep down in me that I was sad. I had so many reasons to be happy and thankful but somehow, I chose the opposite. I read sometime ago that "You are the only one who can make you happy – everyone else is just a bonus" and I agree completely.   

Always and Forever

Has there ever been a time when you felt God did not love you anymore, probably because of something you did or did not do? I have felt that way too, I bet we all have at some point in our lives. Recently, some things happened that got me thinking that maybe God loved me less than I wished He did. I kept asking Him to forgive me if it was as a result of the sins I, or someone I am connected to might have committed. All I desired was to feel that He loved me dearly.

The great thing about this Mighty God that we serve is that He always shows up when we need Him. He reminded me through sermons in Church, blog posts, random Bible verses and even Ebony Magazine that His love for me is unconditional. For some reason, Romans 8: 38 - 39 kept popping up for several days. The Lord just wanted to convince me "that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord". This is definitely something to be excited about. 

Exhausted patience?

Just the other day, I was speaking with my sister and she mentioned how God really does answer prayers, she cited the example of how a prophecy that was said of my parents many years ago had come to pass, funny how my brother mentioned that same prophecy the very next day, I knew God was speaking to me. Just as if He really wanted to drive home His point, I read some of my old blog posts (Read it here) and (here) and God reminded me of how His plans are not work-in-progress. These words of Paul David Tripp also ministered to me “It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for ourselves. It really is a good thing that he will not be satisfied until he has gotten us exactly where he created us and re-created us to be. Most of us would have been satisfied to stay at home, and many of us would have quit the journey long before it was completed. But our heavenly Father won't give up until each one of his children has completed the journey.”

Fear

Happy new month People,

I pray the month ushers us into our "miracle territory" as we let go of our fears and trust God completely. Amen.

Don't do it without me!

It's almost unbelievable that the month of August is almost gone and that we are fast approaching the end of the year. What more can we say except that God has been faithful even when we were unfaithful?

Like you most likely know by now, I like to learn new things because no knowledge is wasted. So, I was reading about the months of the year and I learned some interesting things about the month of September. Did you know that "September begins on the same day of the week as December every year, because there are 91 days separating September and December, which is a multiple of seven (the number of days in the week). No other month ends on the same day of the week as September in any year"?. (Source: Wikipedia)

This too shall pass!!!

Things happen in life that makes us think and say that "life is very unfair". We've heard people's stories that made us wonder and ask that familiar question that a lot of other people ask, why do bad things happen to good people? But wait a minute, is it not written in the Bible to "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything". James 1: 2 - 4

Doing good?

Yet again, I have to apologize for my unauthorized absence (UA) from the blog for nearly a month now. I kept telling myself I will blog but the days go by so fast. Please accept my sincere apologies. And I must also thank my encouragers who kept telling me to keep at blogging because they've been blessed/are still blessed by the messages. Thank you for helping me summon the courage to carry on with the ministry.

I must confess, procrastination has been the main reason why you have not read any post on this blog in a while. Although, lots of things have kept me busy lately, I could have created time out of my busy schedule. I kept telling myself that it wasn't that bad since I was obviously doing some other good deeds that God would be proud of. This was supported with the Bible verse that says "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up". Galatians 6:9. But as God would have it, I was preaching to someone last weekend and told him about a prayer my sister mentioned to me "that God should deliver me from the lies I tell myself". Later that day, while checking my Facebook page, I read something interesting which was posted by me months back that "Sometimes doing good keeps us from doing the best". Then it struck me, I have been lying to myself, because sometimes, doing good is not enough especially when you have the ability to do great things.   

Financial prosperity

So, this is a topic that some people avoid discussing about. I bet we are all aware that some preachers have even been tagged "prosperity preachers" because they tell us that God wants us to be rich and we should work and pray towards acquiring the best things that the world has to offer. Just the other day, I blogged about profit in labor (Read it here) and someone commented that s/he is confused about how to serve God when rich. That comment got me thinking and I have been studying both the Bible and some write-ups about Christianity and financial prosperity.

I once read that "We have the amazing ability to overestimate how happy we’re going to be with a person, an event, or a possession" and I am in agreement with this statement. We human beings are of the mindset that when we have more money, things will get better and that our lives will turn out the exact way we dream and so we work endlessly, acquiring material possessions and the circle just never ends till we are laid to rest. 

Be nice!!!

Dear blogfam,

I am so sorry for going AWOL yet again, I got swamped with quite a number of things but I must confess, I don't like it when I leave the blog for long without posting. 

Just the other day, I was listening to "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera and the song reminded me of how powerful our words can be. I remembered how at a program held for ladies at my church, we had a very interesting exercise. We were told to put down (pictures or words) things that we did not want to remember from our pasts. I must tell you, I was surprised to find that almost everyone of us had things to say about how we always try to forget about the times of our lives when we were made jest of, called funny names and things like that. Some of us were able to get over those names but there was one particular lady, who to me and many others, is a very beautiful lady. She could not stop the tears from flowing because she thought she had gotten over those names but talking about it brought back memories, the kinds that you intentionally avoid remembering.    

My Write-up for Femme Lounge

I am very excited to share this with you all. My write-up got published on Femme Lounge, an online women's magazine that helps readers understand themselves and the people around them better. It provides alternative viewpoints on topics we love to debate and questions we are not sure should be asked.

Read my post "How did Helpmates Become Servants?" Here

I'm so honored and humbled.Please show some support by visiting, reading and commenting.

Let's rub minds.

Profit in Labor

So, the last time, our discussion was about laziness, today’s message is the concluding part and I have put together 25 of my favorite Bible verses on the subject matter. I hope these verses bless you as much as they have been blessing me and helped transform me.

Proverbs 14: 23 “In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty”. (NASB)

Proverbs 22: 29 “If u do your job well, you will work for a ruler and never be a slave”. (CEV)

Proverbs 21: 5 “If you plan and work hard, you will have plenty”. (CEV)

Proverbs 12: 24 “Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave”. (NLT)

Don't be lazy

Laziness can vary in meaning for different people. What you consider laziness might not necessarily be same for me. However, I always say that it is only a lazy person that will let go of a means to labor profitably. Even the Bible addresses this issue extensively and we cannot run out of verses in the Bible where laziness is condemned. In fact, the book of Proverbs is my go to part of the Bible whenever I am discussing about laziness and the profits of labor.  

Quite a number of people ask me if I ever get tired, a friend of mine even calls me “the merry maid” because he feels I work endlessly. I must confess though, that I have not always been this way, some years back, I bet nobody would have called me hardworking although I wasn’t very lazy. But all that has changed now, I can proudly say of myself that I am a diligent individual who works with enthusiasm.

Court of Law?

One thing that I have found common in we human beings is our penchant to judge others whenever they "fall short" of our expectations and this is not peculiar to any group, age or race, we all are guilty of playing the “judge”. I however find it disturbing that we Christians tend to do more of the judging when our Lord and Savior clearly said “Do not judge, or you too will be judged". Matthew 7: 1. Is it that we keep forgetting this? Why do we decide to turn the church into a court of law?

The funny thing is, not only do we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions; we also choose to see the wrong in others while we remain conveniently blind to our otherwise glaring faults. In my Christian walk, I have had the opportunity to associate with all sorts of “Christians” and I must say some of those relationships were not as pleasant as I expected them to be. Just like the Pharisees in the Bible, we are hypocritical in nature, condemning others for things that we approve in ourselves.

You are not the boss of me!

Few days ago, I was watching the TV when I heard my little sweetheart tell her elder brother "you are not the boss of me", surprised, I turned to get a better picture of the story and of course, from his reaction, I knew just like all of us, the big boy was not so pleased to get such a response from his sister for trying to help her out. I got in the conversation and had her apologize for her rudeness. The good thing is, just as I curled back in the sofa, the Holy Spirit ministered to me.

I realized that often times, not only do I try to boss God around, I also tell Him He is not the boss of me. Despite the fact that He is my Lord, I find myself trying to control Him, most times unknowingly. 

Blessed by the best, with the best

Happy Easter to you all,

To me, this is the most important celebration for we Christians because Christ's death and resurrection is the basis of Christianity. Paul said while he was preaching that "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is our faith" and also that "If Christ has not been raised, the Christian faith is futile; we are still in our sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ had indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep". 1 Corinthians 15: 14, 17 - 20. 

I must confess, since I started this blog, I have become aware more than ever of how blessed I am. A sister of mine told me a few years back, when I had it really rough to "stop focusing on my problems and ask God to help me bless other people", she told me that in doing that, I would realize how much blessings God bestows on me. Truth is, it wasn't so easy to do that but, since I surrendered to God and started this 'little ministry', it has been nothing but blessings. Just knowing that people do actually get blessed (read a few of the messages I've received from readers here) by reading my posts gives me great joy. 

Gratitude: A Key to Happiness 2

One thing I have noticed in many people including myself is that often times, we wait for special occasions to show appreciation, we even wait till thanksgiving to say thank you to the Lord who counts us worthy to see each day. Instead of being grateful for the undeserved blessings that we enjoy, we adapt the consumer-oriented approach by laying emphasis on the things we want but do not have. In my opinion, that is not the best approach to get anyone to do things for you. If instead of thanking me each time I go out of my way to give you something, especially one that you didn't earn, the only thing you do is tell me about the ones I am yet to do, I would be reluctant or better yet, not go further in giving you any other thing.

Gratitude: A key to Happiness 1

First, I would like to say thank you for taking time to read my post despite the fact that I have been MIA for a while now. I am indeed very grateful :-)

Our discussion for today is gratitude. Have you ever noticed that when you show gratitude to someone, not only does it make the person feel good, you also feel good? In essence, that means gratitude produces win-win situations, as Dr. Shrand, a Harvard Psychiatrist put it in his book Manage Your Stress: Overcoming Stress in the Modern World, "In our hearts of hearts, we just want to be valued by another person" he also said that "Being valued is the essence of gratitude". So you see, gratitude is a key to happiness because when you feel valued, you will be happy.

Decency at last!!!

I was so happy when I read about the "wardrobe warning"  issued by CBS for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards the other day. I said to myself, "finally, someone seems to notice the rate at which these celebrities expose their bodies to the whole world" but then, I went on to read people's comments on the news and my heart sank. In a bid to convince myself that things can't be that bad, I went on to search the internet, just to read what people had to say about the warning. Your guess is as good as mine, by the time I was done reading different analysis and comments as regards the warning, I was completely lost for words.

If you remember, not too long ago, I wrote about the way people act as if their dress sense is more important than their character (Read it here if your missed it), the way a lot of people reacted over the internet as regards the CBS warning proved the point that quite a lot of people really do think that "indecent dressing" is not a burning issue that needs to be addressed. Someone even interpreted the warning to mean that CBS wanted the celebrities to dress as nuns.  I know we all are entitled to our opinions but isn't the Grammy Awards meant for the recognition of musical achievements? Why does it have to be a celebration of near nudity?

God does exist

I had the intention of blogging about something entirely different this weekend but as the Bible says "A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps". Proverbs 16 :9. So here we are, with todays post.

 

Like you probably know by now, I relate things that happen around me to my walk with Christ. The blizzard weather condition that has been on the news for a few days got me wondering once again and I asked myself the same question that I can't seem to get an answer to; how can any one say there is no God?

I Love You

It's the last day in January already and I'm still asking myself "where did the month go?". 2013 is running rather fast! We thank God for bringing us thus far, knowing that He won't forsake us for His love endures forever.

As we approach February, "the month of love", God laid it in my heart to share this with you. 

I have decided not to take little things for granted anymore and this has helped me in my relationship with God. I have learnt to appreciate God better for all those "simple" things that we humans take for granted.

Nothing but Faith and Hope

A lot of times in life, we have to take some risks and make tough decisions but the normal human reaction to change is resistance; we would rather have things the way we are used to, I mean, change can be very scary. The devil uses inertia to ruin a lot of projects, you don't want to know how many people die with their dreams simply because they didn't have courage enough to step out of their comfort zones and give it a trial. 

I came across a very nice motivational quote recently. It goes thus: "It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power." -Alan Cohen. I know you would agree with me that this quote is true. I have actually had moments when I didn't feel courageous and instead of facing my fears, I would make excuses and procastinate. With God's help, recently, I have become more courageous, I have learnt to procastinate less, focus my mind more on the things I want and less on the things I fear. By so doing, I have become a happier person.

Do not be afraid

Happy new year to you all.

Our message for today is one thing that affects everybody, young or old, rich or poor. Fear does not respect any status. We all have experienced it and will still do once in a while ranging from the fear of the future, our family getting it right, not losing our jobs and even little fears such as meeting a new person.

Fear is one of the greatest tools the devil uses to manipulate people. He knows that we will not achieve anything once fear sets in. But we thank God who has made us conquerors by giving us the spirit of love, power and self-discipline instead of fear and timidity. 2 Timothy 1:7