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

KEEP HOPE ALIVE

Keep trusting in the Lord and do what is right in his eyes. Fix your heart on the promises of God and you will be secure, feasting on his faithfulness. Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life, and he will provide for you what you desire the most. Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust him along the way you’ll find he pulled it off perfectly!

Psalms 37:3‭-‬5 TPT

https://bible.com/bible/1849/psa.37.3-5.TPT

As a follow up on the previous post about depression and dark times...how about we fight our dark clouds with praise? Easier said than done right? As is pretty much everything else in life. The deal is you only have to make an attempt. Make up your mind that you will choose trust over fear and praise over despair. 

It all starts with a decision. And no, you won't get it right immediately. You'll probably be too angry the first couple of times to carry on. Notwithstanding, I repeat....Make up your mind and make an attempt; let the holyspirit handle the rest. 

Now, please refer to our anchor scripture again. May the Holyspirit expound these words in our hearts in Jesus name.

In that valley of darkness, God is with you

His goodness and mercy follow you

So let your weapons of warfare be praise and thanksgiving 

It may look like you are surrounded 

But you are surrounded by GOD!!

Sound pick : Surrounded (Fight my battles) - Upper room

DARK CLOUDS

Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts.  He strengthens those who are weak and tired.  Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted.  But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.
Isaiah 40:28‭-‬31 GNT
https://bible.com/bible/68/isa.40.28-31.GNT

What more can I say. We as humans, sometimes grow weary. Like weak to the bones!! For those times we have prayed, fasted, waited.....and nothing manifested in the physical...so we repeated the cycle again. But it just seems like the wait is endless!

Through the highs and lows, when it seems like God is far away. Or He has forgotten about you. Through the days you have to struggle to stay afloat and not give in to depression.

When it simply feels like God isn't seeing you or can't hear your prayers. For those moments that the devil goes all out to dampen your spirit  and tear down every wall of joy you have up. When he begins to magnify the lowpoints of your life and lay emphasis on your unanswered prayers. When he tries all in his power to envelope you in his dark clouds of fear and depression. Stop!! Just stop.

No doubt these moments will come every once in a while. The key is to not let these moments turn into hours, days or months!! In times like this, I implore you to call on the name of Jesus to snatch you from the devil's claws. Yes. Just call on the name of Jesus wherever you are and He'll answer.

His name makes the darkness tremble
His name silences fear
His name is a light, shadows can't deny
His name cannot be overcome!!

Sound pick: Tremble + our father - upperroom

BUILD YOUR TRUST

Trust, according to the English dictionary has been defined as reliance on the integrity, strength, surety etc of a person or thing. It has also been simply defined as Confidence.

We'll all agree that trust is a very difficult thing to do. Like, I can't just up and trust someone I met 5minutes ago (If you can, good for you and I wish you all the best). Trust grows. The more you get to know a person, the more you realize if you can trust them or not and then eventually trust this person, depending on the result of your realization.

To the crux of the matter, the aim of this piece is to implore us all to trust in the Lord with all out hearts!!! It's okay to trust Him. The blind kind of trust. He wants you to not lean on your understanding. Don't try to use your logic to explore your trust in Him. You'll never ever be able to fully comprehend His ways.

He asks that you trust Him and acknowledge Him in all your ways (Prov. 3 v 6). Would you look at that! So even if you are going against His will....knowingly or unknowingly; so long as you have acknowledged Him. He'll take care of you and that situation. He'll sort you out.

You know how the Google map takes you on one route and then you think you know a better route trying to form James Bond but end up realizing you just messed up?  Do you take note of what Google map does here? It reroutes you. It might end up being a longer or traffic ridden route but it'll find a way to reconnect you and put you back on track.

That's man made Google map; that even gets you lost sometimes. Imagine what our Almighty God can do. So remember, when he doesn't give you that thing you so desire.....Trust Him; When He doesn't move the mountains you need Him to move; When He doesn't part the waters, you wish you could walk through; When He doesn't give the answers as you cry out to Him......TRUST HIM.

Still in doubt? An online study gives 3 steps on how to build trust. One, it says "do what you say"; two, "honor your promises" and three, "be consistent". Boom! The end. Be all these things and I'll trust you. Easy peasy!!

Now, see below why you should trust God with reckless abandon!!

 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?
Numbers 23:19 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/num.23.19.NLT

He ticks all the boxes and even more!! Glory!! Trust Him. No matter how badly you think you have messed up! No matter how bleak the future looks....trust that He is working things out for your good. 

 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.28.NLT

Trust Him, Trust His word, Acknowledge His existence, His supremacy, His love for you. Actively involve Him in your life. He's able and willing to sort you out. He wants to blow your mind!! Trust Him!

 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Ephesians 3:20 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/eph.3.20.KJV

P.s. Love they say, is synonymous to trust. You can't truly love someone without getting to them and you'll never know if you can truly trust until you try...let your guards down a bit. Choose faith in the God you trust over what makes sense; ditch Logic for Grace and thank me later. :)

 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7‭-‬8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jer.17.7-8.NLT

Cheers to a Confidence - filled week.

Sound pick: Trust in you by Lauren Diagle

BULLETPROOF

I was totally going to do a melancholy piece today. It would have been a sore come back, don't you think? Anyhoo, I'm backkkkkkk!!!! Whoop! Whoop!! And No! Depression doesn't live here!!

So today I'm going to talk about how loving our father in heaven is. He knows you and I better than we know ourselves. He knows how we think we want stuff right away but will end up regretting it.....so no matter how hard we pray, He'll just hold back on that particular request and love us in other ways.

He never gets tired of us. He is a low maintenance friend!! You might not reach out to Him in days or months....but when you do, there's no judgement and you hit it right off because He never left your side....He's in on all that's been going on.

See, words cannot express how high, deep or wide His love for us is!! Remember the story of Hosea and the prostitute, Gomer, who later became his wife? It's upsetting how she goes back to her old life after all the love showered on her by her husband. And then he had to pay to get her back....His Wife!!! Gosh!! Imagine the trouble he would have gone through to fix her badly damaged self. Over and over again, he had to rescue her from herself. I'm pained every time I read that story. But guess What? That's how our relationship with God is. For every time we go rogue on God....thats us pulling the Gomer card!! She didn't deserve a tiny bit of Hosea' s love! Neither do we deserve a bit of God's love!

I know it's cliche, but God literally sacrificed His only son for us. (John. 3 v 16) To redeem us from our sinful nature but no......sometimes, a lot of times actually, we allow our sinful nature reign over us. We are all GOMERS, fam!! As sad as it is to admit! But it is what it is. And it doesn't change a thing with God! He knew us before we were formed in our mothers' wombs....He sent His son down in flesh to be able to understand us better and empathize with us..... He knows all of our struggles.... yet we take Him for granted....all the time!! Still He loves us So!! And nothing can separate us from His love. His love is bullet proof. He made it so!! Wow! It's still hard for me to fathom as I write this.

So I'll just stop here and put it to you that our good good father God, the son and the Holyspirit deserves some accolades!!!!

Cheers to a fabulous week.

Sound pick : KNOWN - Tauren Wells