BANANAS SPOKE TO ME

Life is hard but through God’s eyes it’s easy. I love this line. I heard it first in a rap on a song by Jeremiah Gyang. Okay, so let me get right to the point of this post. 

I went to the market with my sister on this day. We were done with all we needed to buy, but as my sister is a banana junkie, she was bent on getting banana by all means even after her customer’s stall was blocked by a car and we couldn’t stop to buy. We were headed home already with my sister complaining bitterly about how the woman shouldn’t have allowed a car park in front of her stall. “They are spoiling business for her, see, we couldn’t park now to buy banana. Mtcheeeeww”. I just listened and laughed in my mind, because really, I couldn’t be bothered. 

She stopped at another stall on our way but unfortunately the “mummy” of the “market” was not around and she didn’t tell her maybe 12 year old daughter the price of the bananas available.  Too bad for my sis. No banana again. 

At this point, I guess she couldn’t take it anymore. She looked at me and said “you are not in a hurry abi?” In my head I’m like, we are in quarantine season, time is all we have. I was only tired because going to the market makes me so. So I responded, “No I’m not, I’m just tired”. The look of desperation in her eyes at this point was incredibly funny. So I added “Let’s just turn around and go back to your customer who has the nicest bananas”. She turned around in a twinkle of an eye and as we were approaching this customer famous for the nicest bananas’ stall, the car was still parked in front of it. My sister went off again, “They are following this woman from her village, how can she allow this person to park here, she doesn’t want to sell o”. I looked at the woman seller who was on her phone oblivious to my sister’s struggle and then back at my sister who had now found a spot to park and was getting out of the car. Yaaay her. She was finally getting her banana. Or so I thought. 

A full 5minutes later, I see my sister walking past the car and I’m wondering what’s  going on.  Apparently, our famous banana seller was not in the mood to sell today. She was hell bent on a certain price my sister couldn’t imagine paying for the bananas she had. Might I add here that this came as a shock to me because my sister does not haggle over prices. Like who doesn’t haggle over prices? MY SISTER! I hassle her all the time about this. 

Anyways, my sister finally comes back to the car bearing very beautiful and healthy looking bananas. A lot more than I expected her to buy. And she explained to me how yes, bananas are now expensive and it’s not her customer’s fault but her customer was probably in a foul mood today and she was having none of it. So she walked away and found another seller. Whose attitude was so welcoming and warm. This seller explained how yes, bananas are now expensive but she made the mistake of putting all the bananas she got from the market in a sack and they all ripened at the same time. So she had no choice but to sell them off fast. Woohoo! My sister got a lot of lovely looking bananas at the same price her customer requested for just a bunch. Would you look at that! 

The Holy Spirit immediately dropped the moral of the story in my heart. Never be afraid to walk away! You have no idea what God has in store for you. When you hear “walk away”. Please by all means just do it. Best believe this; greater things lie ahead. No kidding. And this is the end of my banana story. HEHE

What else did you learn from this story?

•When you want something, go for it?!!! Lol

Share your thoughts please.

Enjoy this beautiful song by Naomi Raine ft. Dante Bowe - The blood

LET US PRAY

“Abraham said, “Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak only once more. What if only ten are found?” He said, “I will not destroy it if there are ten.””

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭18:32‬ ‭GNT‬‬

https://www.bible.com/68/gen.18.32.gnt

My heart is heavy. So, a popular pastor took his own life a couple of days ago. I don’t know him. But I felt it. He struggled with depression and was vocal about it. He spoke about it; he knew Jesus too; so what happened? I have so many questions. The christendom feels like its under a siege. People are denouncing Christ and their faith. 

On this issue of depression; Let me paint you a scenario; imagine friend A calling friend B up now and saying she is depressed. At first; friend B might ask A to pray about it and pray with her as well (This is totally okay). But what happens when friend A is still depressed several months after even after praying. Sometimes we can be insensitive (myself inclusive) and berate others unknowingly for not tapping into the grace made available by God to overcome certain struggles. In this instance friend B could begin to hammer that friend A is not doing enough or making enough use of her faith and grace to overcome depression. In friend B’s mind she is motivating friend A. But depression won’t make friend A see it as motivation. 

The fact is; there is so much about depression and suicide that can’t be understood! It’s okay to seek professional help. Sisters, it is okay to advise a friend to seek professional help and you do your part by constantly checking up on your friend and interceding on their behalf. It’s pretty much all you can do; tbh. Depression is a bastard and I curse it with everything I have in me! Amen

The message today is a heart cry for intercessors. I know; we all have our struggles; we need people to pray for us too. But please let us make time to pray for the church. Let us pray for men and women of God; their families too. These people have struggles. Struggles as legit as ours! But more often than not; they have no one to share it with. People might not understand. They would wonder how a pastor whom they have been led to believe should always have his act together can be depressed or have struggles and worse still show it. This is the reality.

When a popular man of God in Nigeria had the sexual abuse scandal not too long ago; I bet we all felt the heat. How dare he; a man of God. Horrible; evil yada yada. I am not defending his actions or how he responded to the allegation. I’m just saying the church and appointed shepherds need prayers. They have demons they battle with. We need to bring down the men of God around us from the pedestal we have put them. We need to pray for these ministers of God! Ministry is not easy fam! Pastor’s children; stand up! I’m sure you feel this more than any of us non preacher’s kids would.

My point is; these people are humans like you and I. They are not supernatural beings. Their faith gets tested every day like you and I. They get depressed too!

I know we all have our struggles but please let us add churches and preachers to our prayer list. You can start with the ones you know and use them as a point of contact to others across the globe.

Let us pray that the Lord would give them peaceful homes; blissful marriages; destiny helping spouses; glorious children. 

Let us pray that the Lord will meet them at the point of their needs; financial; emotional; and so on

Let us pray that the evil wind of depression would see them and their families and pass over 

Let us pray that God would not allow them do anything that would make you and I and the church in general embarrassed to associate with them

Let us pray!!

IT’S YOUR PREROGATIVE

“Guard my life, for I’m your faithful friend, your loyal servant for life. I turn to you in faith, my God, my hero; come and rescue me! Lord God, hear my constant cry for help; show me your favor and bring me to your fountain of grace!

Send me a miraculous sign to show me how much you love me, so that those who hate me will see it and be ashamed. Don’t they know that you, Lord, are my comforter, the one who comes to help me?”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭86:2-3, 17‬ ‭TPT‬‬

https://bible.com/1849/psa.86.2-3,17.tpt

Life in itself is a puzzle. No one can fully comprehend why some things happen the way they do or why they happen at all. No one can fully comprehend Life in its essence. 

Life can be hard! Oh boy! It can be really tough sometimes; And believers are not left out of this hardship. As I type this, I’m laughing at my use of the word hardship. 🤣🤣it’s not that deep. But, you get me though. 

There are requests that have been on my prayer list for a long enough time to question my faith. There are seasons when it appears as though everything is on a standstill. Like, the heavens are closed and God isn’t listening.  Times when everything is dry. 

When it feels like one is just there. You don’t think you are making progress and it’s hard for anyone to convince you that you are not regressing. It feels like you are borderline depressed. I can go on and on. But I’m sure we all get the picture I’m trying to paint.

Only a lying believer will tell me he or she hasn’t ever felt this way. The good news however, is that you are not alone. The greater news is that it’s just a season. The greatest news is that through every season God remains God and never leaves your side!!

The main aim of this piece is to suggest a way to get through this kind of season. It’s pretty simple though. It’s this: FIX YOUR FOCUS aka MAKE A CHOICE.

It’s either you decide to wallow in self pity and allow the 

devil torment you however he likes by magnifying the 

challenges, unanswered prayers, delays or what have you. You can choose to throw a pity party! “Oh Lord, why me? After all my fasting and praying; Who have I offended in this life?” Yada yada. You can decide to just internalize the season, constantly compare yourself to others and hate the world; cutting everybody out because you don’t want a reminder of how behind it appears that you are in life. It’s you and your troubles against the world because no one understands!! Boo hoo hoo 😩😩😭

As christians, we need to strive everyday to know God and His Power more. In dry seasons; as opposed to the attitude seen above, I suggest constant confession of God’s word and promises. It’s something we hear all the time and take for granted. But best believe, it works! When the devil is plaguing your brain with nagging thoughts of ineptness and making you over analyze the unanswered prayers; respond with God’s promises! When he comes at you with comparison, tell the devil out loud if you can, that you choose to focus on God and His existence. Choose to thank God for who He is and what He can do in the twinkle of an eye. Thank Him for being a God that can change your season overnight. As in, 24hrs is too much for Him to blow your mind.

The next time the devil comes and tries to make you see everything that is going wrong; tell him to get thee behind you! Because even though things appear as they do now, even though things are rough and dry and answered prayers are taking longer to manifest in the physical; you have made up your mind to focus on the One who never leaves your side through it all. The one who flipping resurrected from the dead! The All powerful, oh so merciful God. Say to him “Devil; I have a choice! And I choose to focus on how GREAT my GOD is! I choose to believe that all His promises are ye and Amen. I choose to believe that everything, even in this horrid season is going to work out for my good because He loves me so! I choose to trust him because He is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent, has he said, shall he not do it, has he spoken shall he not make it good!! (Num. 23 v 19) Devil back off! You are not bringing me down this time!!”

Wake up everyday believing it is the day you are changing seasons and if perhaps you are still going to bed in that same season, ask the Lord to show you what it is you need to learn in the season and wake up the following day with renewed hope that it is the day!! Keep at it! Laugh at yourself sometimes if you find your dogged hope ridiculous! Cry sometimes if you get frustrated but as you wipe the tears, chin up and declare again how you still believe in the one who can change your season in less than a second and go to bed again with believe that the following day is the day for your season of harvest to begin. Keep on keeping on and eventually you’ll get used to this lifestyle and it’ll all make sense.

P. s. You can also block those nagging thoughts with great music! Sing along too! Block the devils voice out!! Drown his foolish voice in worship. There are some really powerful lyrics outchea!! I recommend two songs for a season such as this and I’m sure you can guess one already! 😁

1. Seasons - Hillsong worship
2. My Hallelujah- Bryan and Katie Torwalt
3. Add yours in the comment section😊

Happy Resurrection season!!

THE BROKEN GLASSES

On Thursday, I was at the clinic for some reason. While I was there waiting to take some tests, a young lady was wheeled in from an ambulance. As I was sitting there wondering what could have happened to this lady, she was wheeled right to my side. They were trying to move her onto another bed that would fit into the scanning room, I watched as she was left for a few minutes while the attendant went to get something to clean the slab/bed or whatever and her husband or brother or relative was cleaning her nose and mouth while she was mumbling something in her dialect to him. He was trying to get her as comfortable as possible. At this point I said to the person beside me, "do you know what these few minutes of waiting can cost this lady and her family?" We went on to talk about our  beloved country and how we need to do better yada yada. While we were at it, I heard an attendant furiously asking why the lady wasn't accompanied by a nurse in the ambulance. He went on to ask what test he was supposed to run and the relative frantically ran across the hall to get the slip which he had left in the ambulance. The other relative that accompanied the lady as well was quietly saying "MRI" "MRI".

I don't know what happened to this lady. She had a neck brace, a swollen hand, an incision in her throat where doctors had possibly used machines to help her breathe through. Her hair, she had braids, packed in a scattered bun. She was probably a mother, sister, friend, wife, daughter. She looked like she was in a lot of pain but she wasn't ready to go yet.

After the scan I was waiting outside the clinic, before my next test and I saw the two men and the lady, they were done with the scan, I presumed. It was time for her to go back to the hospital from where she came. The nurses were setting up her oxygen and it looked as if this time around, she would be accompanied by a nurse.

But yet again, right in front of me, I noticed a change in scenery, I could swear that I heard her breathe her last as the doctors kept trying to revive her, pumping her chest, getting extra help. I sat there watching the whole thing, I even said a word of prayer. But then, I saw the faces of the two men that came with her and I can't explain how I felt. One was barely able to hold himself as he kept "screaming in hushed tones" "hay oh" "hay oh". The other one, was pacing, he looked like he was praying and then suddenly he removed his glasses from his face and threw it on the floor in defeat. They spent good money on the scan, I'm  sure, one they can never get back.

It was time to go in for my next test. I walked past the bereaved and the ambulance trying not to stare, hoping that a miracle would happen and she will be revived. I finished my test and asked one of the clinic staff whom I saw at the scene and had been attending to me as well, if a miracle happened with the lady. He shook his head and as I exited the clinic building, the ambulance was no longer within sight. I saw the relatives at a corner still and as I walked past the broken glasses on the floor, I couldn't help but wonder why I witnessed this whole thing. May the Lord comfort the family of the bereaved and anyone out there who has lost someone dear. I'm sending comfort and strenght from God your way.

When you wake up healthy tomorrow, before you complain about unanswered prayers, think about the dead, the sick and choose to be happy. Choose to live!! Worship like no one is watching, live like your testimonies are already here, smile at random people because it might be the one thing they need. Help in whatever capacity you can. I challenge you to do something everyday this year that will make you smile. Something that will make God smile. What are we alive for anyway, but to worship him. Live for God! P.s. He wants you to be happy!! 1Thes 5 v 16 - 18.

No matter the situation, always remember, where there is life, there is hope!! This phrase resonated with me on Thursday and days after.

Sound pick: Raise a hallelujah - Bethel  music

THE ALMIGHTY AND HIS SENSE OF HUMOR

And before her twin sons were born, God spoke to Rebekah and said: “The oldest will serve the younger.” God spoke these words before the sons had done anything good or bad, which proves that God calls people not on the basis of their good or bad works, but according to his divine purpose. For in the words of Scripture: “Jacob I have chosen, but Esau I have rejected.” He had every right to say to Moses: “I will be merciful to whomever I choose and I will show compassion to whomever I wish.” Again, this proves that God’s choice doesn’t depend on how badly someone wants it or tries to earn it, but it depends on God’s kindness and mercy.
Romans 9:11‭-‬13‭, ‬15‭-‬16 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/rom.9.11-16.TPT

Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.
Romans 9:14‭-‬16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.9.14-16.NLT

I don't know if you sometimes feel like you could have tried harder at something. You could have gone the extra mile, gotten that extra degree, certification, woken up earlier, acted a certain way or what have you.

You basically feel as if there is something you could have done better to earn better. Now, this is in no way a sponsored ad for laziness/laxity. However, I just need you to realize that when you have done your best. As in, you have done all in your human power (including praying and fasting) to achieve something and it doesn't work out; it doesn't mean you have a problem. There is no need to berate yourself or beat yourself up.

We really shouldnt be comparing ourselves in the first place; But the sad reality is that we do. And the truth is, there will always be people out there who won't put in as much effort as you and achieve the exact same thing as you or even more. Sometimes; you will be this person and some other times not.

The good news is that in the end, everything will work out for your good. Every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose. ( Romans 8:28 TPT )

Listen, life is funny and I guess that's part of what makes it fun! God has a sense of humour and no one can tell me otherwise.

Don't over think it. God's got you!

Sound pick: Here now - Hillsong United

THOU SHALT REMEMBER TO REJOICE

So celebrate the goodness of God! He shows this kindness to everyone who is his. Go ahead—shout for joy, all you upright ones who want to please him!
Psalms 32:11 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/psa.32.11.TPT


It's the last month of the year and its only normal for us in our human obsessive nature to take stock of everything that occured in our lives from the beginning of the year till date.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I just want to use this medium to entreat us to take stock the right way. As you go about assessing this year, remember to rejoice......it's okay to delete the scenes that didn't make you happy and project the ones that did. Evaluating the year is like a movie playing in our heads/minds. You are the producer, editor and director. You determine the final cut! The final cut is when the director selects which scenes go on the big screen for public consumption!! Choose only the scenes that will make you rejoice.

Maybe this year, you were mostly in a season that sucked!! It's just a season. Remember that and don't get stuck in resentment; thinking. ..."oh, I prayed more this year, fasted more, praised more, sowed more, but what do I have to show for it?" Look at it this way, you planted, watered and nurtured. Thus, the coming year is the time to harvest big time!

In evaluating the year, let's release all our frustrations, anger, worry, anxiety, pain etc and let's put only the happy and encouraging moments on the big screen. There's always, always something to be grateful for. Don't let the devil make you believe otherwise.

Happy New month people!! It's the most wonderful time of the year!!


Sound pick: I still believe - Jeremy camp

REFUSE TO BE TENSIONED!! BREATHE!!

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/heb.11.1.NKJV

To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:1 GNT

https://bible.com/bible/68/heb.11.1.GNT

It's that time of the year again. The time when we look back on the past couple of months and more often than not, the devil exaggerates all the things we attempted that didn't work out and all the things we planned to achieve that from the look of things now are not even feasible in the coming year.

Well..let me encourage you and myself alike to keep hope alive. To hold on to Faith. Faith isn't going to take away the pain or anxiety. It's not medicine that will make you feel better immediately. Faith doesn't mean you should deny how you are feeling about the situation or pretend like everything is okay. It doesn't mean you should downplay your disappointment. It's very okay to be disappointed. What Faith does is help you not be defined by this disappointment. This is the true essence of Faith. 

After all, faith will be useless if we had evidence of those things we've been praying for all year round. Don't you think? All in all, no matter how bleak the future of those desires look now or how impossible it seems for your testimony to manifest this year, don't give up. Even the father of Faith, Abraham had to wait on God. Praise Him even when you don't feel like. Exercise your Faith in God. He'll come through for you!! Best believe...las las, all of we go dey alright (in the end we'll all be fine).

Sound pick: Do it again - Elevation worship