DECEPTION

I was listening to a message being preached by a man of God I thoroughly respect and I got a new understanding of the deceptive nature of the devil.

In the Garden of Eden, the devil tempted Eve telling her if they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, they would become like God. That God prevented them from eating the fruit because He didn’t want them to become like Him. However, what they (Adam and Eve) failed to realize was that they were already like God as in Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion …”. It was a smart and well-played deception and they fell flat into it. He offered them the counterfeit of what they already had.

The devil is still at it today, telling Christians they are failures when we originated from God, Success Himself. The Bible says in John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”. So if you have accepted Christ as your Lord and believe in His name, you are a child of God and in God there is no failure, sickness, poverty, disappointments, depression... Everything produces after its kind: A goat’s child is a goat(kid), a lion’s child is a lion(cub) therefore, God’s child is a god (Ps 82:6). So in anyway the devil might be deceiving you based on the circumstances you may be facing today, rise up and tell him his game is over. You know who you are and will come to the full image of that in just a while.

I want you to go into today, this week, this year and whatever God has called you to do with confidence and full realization that you are a god and a child of the most high! As God cannot fail, you can’t fail. I once read something that goes thus: It all becomes beautiful in the end. If it’s not beautiful, then it’s not the end. So hang in there, my dear. God’s plan for you is to bring you to His expected end. Therefore, keep your joy up and give no place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27).

Why?

So, the other night my husband and I were reviewing a document in MS Word on his laptop. He kept using a particular shortcut that I didn't know. It made what he was doing a lot faster than the way I would have done it. So I asked him how and it happened to be the use of one of the 'function keys'. I've been using a laptop for years and working with MS Word for even longer but I had no idea such a shortcut exists. (I won't share the shortcut so I don't expose my ignorance #wink#. It's selfish, I know :D)

Also, I got to know of a particular button on the TV remote control that makes life easier when navigating back to the previous channel I was watching, thanks to my one-year old daughter who changes the channels at will. It's the "back" button! Just like the MS Word, I've been using this same control for quite some time and I had no idea such a button was on it talk more of knowing the function. This is largely cos I never read the manual! Before my husband showed me the button (yet again, I know... He's a smart man lol), I would always punch the number of the previous channel in order to get back to it and that was laborious cos I used to get the number wrong more often than not. The painful part is such a time could be the climax of a particular scene :( But now, I simply press the "back" button! Although the button was there all the while, I was ignorant of it's function.

Same applies to us as human beings. I am convinced that no one appeared on the scene here by mistake or just to add to the numbers. I believe God had a reason for sending you to planet earth. The question is "do you know the reason?" Normally, to know the use of a thing, you don't ask the thing, you'd ask the manufacturer and the intention of the manufacturer for creating the product/ instructions on how to maximise the product are spelt out in the MANUAL.


So if you haven't discovered why you appeared here, I invite you to ask your manufacturer - God! I'm sure when you ask, he will answer and you'll be pleasantly surprised. Dr. Myles Munroe says "where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable". Don't abnormally use (abuse) your life on things that don't count. Find your purpose in God. The beautiful thing is we have an advantage over inanimate products like my remote control. We can not only refer to the manual, which is the Holy Bible, we can ask the manufacturer Himself. For you to have the boldness to do that though, you need to be Born Again- believe in Jesus Christ and confess him as your Lord and Saviour AND also making up your mind to forsake your old ways. If you haven't done that, just talk to God now. You could choose to say the following prayer:

"Dear God, I come to you today. I believe Jesus died for my sins and I confess Him as my Lord and Saviour.  Forgive me my past sins and write my name in the book of Life. Thank you for I am Born-Again. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."

He's waiting...

Go on and fulfill destiny, champ!

God bless you.

Who is my Neighbour?

I remember from way back year 2000/1 when I signed up for the Accounting Technician Scheme classes in my Country. One of the modules I had to write was Business Law. And I can almost picture my lecturer standing in front of the class in his suit asking "who is my neighbour?". The definition he gave us was : Your neighbour is anyone affected by your actions. And may I add "your inaction"

These days, we are all so busy with our lives; jobs, businesses, children, husbands, academics, that we barely notice what is going on in the other person's life.  'Everyone is busy' is  mostly the excuse for our inaction and nonchalant attitude towards the next person. And that's a fact; everyone is busy but I think it's not too much to take a break from our busy lives once in a while to be a blessing to the next person. Most of us don't even say hello to our next-door neighbour. How would we know if something went terribly wrong with the person and we needed to call an ambulance to save his or her life if we cared less?

It's important to note that it's not only our actions that hurt; our refusal to act or negligence can equally hurt deeply. You can imagine a situation in which the response of a witness to a crime scene could either make or mar the life of the accused. A refusal of the witness to speak in that situation can have grave consequences on the defendant.

So I urge us today to act, to show love, to speak up! It is popularly said that "silence means consent". If you are silent about what you should have spoken against or people you should have spoken for, it means you agree to the situation. Of course, when dealing with such issues and people in general, wisdom is to be applied.

I'll leave you with the admonition of Jesus : Love your neighbour as yourself. Mark 12:31

Life Happens

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? When it seems like you are doing all you can but things aren’t going as planned. When lives throws dung at you. When you feel judgment in the tone of your so-called loved ones?

I’ve realized that life itself isn’t fair…you don’t get what you deserve, you claim what you deserve. You might think you’ve done all you could possibly do to change the situation but trust me, there’s still something out there that you can explore to effect a change.

What if it’s an emotional situation- you lost someone dear, your fiancée broke off your engagement, your son doesn’t want to see you or you are just depressed - nothing that was really your fault? Like I said, life doesn’t hand you what you deserve.

I would think the first thing I need to do is to accept the fact I need help. And as a Christian, my principal source of help is the Holy Spirit. No one makes it in this life by sheer muscle. The Holy Spirit is called The Helper. He will give me ideas as to what else to do to change my situation and feel better. He also comforts us – for those who lost someone or something dear.

I could also seek counsel from trusted friends who have overcome such situations. I could associate myself with people that can help me. Ask for tips, read books. Some of us are too proud to do this. The earlier we seek help, the better. No man is an island.

Another is changing one’s mindset. Some of us are of the opinion that nothing good happens to them. I remember one of my classmates who is of the mind that if something good was happening to others, before his turn, it’ll turn bad. If gifts are being shared, before his turn, it’ll finish. Change your mindset, change your thoughts and you’ll change your life! Have a can-do attitude. Have a success-prone mindset. Don’t accept that you can’t change something. If you don’t like a situation, change it. If you don’t like your weight, do something about it. If you are depressed, cheer up. If your business is failing, try another. Ensure you get the necessary training though.

It’s never too late to change a situation. As it is said “the only constant thing about life is Change”

I am changing…I hope you do too.

HOW WAS YOUR VAL'S DAY?

I'm can imagine that a number of us got mesmerised by our loved ones on that special day dedicated to love and lovers. I know this piece isn't on Valentine's day but hey, it's not too late to share our experiences. Let me share mine with you...

I had imagined the day being so romantic with prospects of a dinner with my husband and exchange of gifts. Although these somewhat happened, they did not go the way I expected at all. I just relocated to another country and my husband would rather I don't go out on my own considering the fact that I'm not yet mobile. So first of all, squeezing out time to get his gift was a challenge. Eventually, I had a window on Val's day and so when he came home for lunch break, I gave him the gift. He really appreciated it and said mine was on the way. Yay!!!

Later, I realised that the hope for a nice romantic dinner had been dashed by an official meeting fixed for Valentine's day evening! Who does that? :( It was only when he got back in the evening that I got to know the meeting was cancelled at the last minute (but was too late for us to go for the dinner) and that HE DIDN'T HAVE MY GIFT! Earlier in the day, we got to know that a mutual friend of ours took ill and was in the hospital for a medical operation! And guess what? My husband kept my gift at this friend's place so I don't find it in the house! So that was it! Neither dinner nor gift for me. I got a card though. How unexciting for our first Valentine's day as a married couple.

Later in the evening, I encouraged my partner that we go and check on the guy at the hospital. Coupled with the fact that we didn't know the way to the hospital, we didn't know which ward he was in. So we went about perambulating like 'aimless' people. The big size of the hospital didn't help matters. Eventually, we located our friend and was told the operation went well, thank God. We spent a considerable amount of time with him, chatting and making him smile. So as God would have it, on Valentine's day, we ended up showing love to a man who had neither family nor close friends in a strange land. It wasn't what you would call an ideal Valentine's day but it was so fulfilling. I personally had a realisation.

Actually, what is an ideal Val's day? Is it one in which we are carried away in our own little world of loving and giving to those that than can give us back or one in which we extend a loving hand to those that are less-privileged? This is a clarion call to everyone out there to look beyond your little circle to a wider one in which you can be a blessing to others and make them feel loved. Such people could range from motherless babies to those in prisons to that guy you pass by on the street every morning. Let's go back and think...Jesus said in Luke 14:12-14 paraphrasing ...when you have a banquet or dinner, don't just invite your friends and family and rich neighbours, people that can return the favour but invite people who never get invited to such things - the misfits from the wrong side of tracks. Then you'll be-and experience-a blessing. They can't repay you but God will at the resurrection of the righteous.

So good people, let's go around and show some love and not just on Valentine's day! By the way, at the end of the day, we had access to our friend's flat and was able to get my gift :) I gave then I received! And errrm...our dinner happened later in the week :)

Feeling drab :(

Right...so I woke up this morning feeling drab. Deep within me is the feeling that I need to do more with my life than I'm currently doing. I reckon there are people out there who can identify with this feeling. I have acquired some academic and professional qualifications which some will think commendable but I ask "where do all these come in?" How do they all roll into that beautiful life I had imagined? Surely not by feeling sorry for myself and wondering when it'll be my turn. So now is the time to practice what I preach. Remember the last post? I talked about praise, turning to praise when it seems all else has failed and things are not going the way you expected. It's difficult but that's what a 'sacrifice of praise' is all about. So I kicked into praise- started playing my favourite praise tracks and all...This (writing) is also one of my therapies :)

Thankfully I received a piece from a friend this morning encouraging me to mine the gold within. It's amazing how little things that are not working in our lives becloud us from appreciating the other big things that are working and we have taken for granted. The mole hills also prevent us from showcasing our rare talents. Can I advice that you make a list of things that are working and those not working on a sheet and compare? More often than not, the working stuffs rank higher. I got this idea from the movie ' Why did I get married?' I think it's the practical expression of the hymn 'Count your blessings'. Ok, so I'm off to do the same!

Ciao!

My 'swaggerlicious' ESIARP!

Hey people,

I think it's in order to say HAPPY NEW YEAR at this moment! It's the first post of the year and I believe they'll be more regular this year ;)

I'm sure a lot of us are back into the full swing of work, school or whatever our businesses are. Most of us started off the year enthusiastic like me but it's likely there are signs of things not going as we desired or planned already. No 1, it's pretty early to say that, there's still a lot of time to make up! and No 2, I've got a word for you - Keep the praise up! When all else fails, try praise.

I for one have learnt from personal experiences that praise attracts, delivers and preserves answers to prayers. One of my favourite songs is titled "I NEVER LOST MY PRAISE" and can be found on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOkwUKn_gfc . The song speaks volumes and I advice that in the midst of all, never let go of praise cos God inhabits it and if God is with you, then what's the thing that can stand in your way? NOTHING! So be encouraged, we've got a year ahead of us.

You may ask 'why are you sounding all spiritual?' Cos I love God and I guess it's ok to start off a year this way! So praise the Lord with me!

PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!