Dear Temi

Happy Independence! Welcome to adulthood! You’re on your final lap, you should finish school very soon. Happy birthday to you Temitayo, my 10 years younger self.

It’s been a very hectic year for you, you barely slept in the room you were assigned. You shuffled between class, library, Akintunde Ojo library and fellowship. You were keen on making your parents proud – believe me, you made them proud and you still make them proud.

It’s your birthday and you have no clue about what’s next in life. You want that cool job in KPMG, Mckenzie, PWC, you resent banking. Ironically, your 10 years older self is a bank worker. You are about to begin this awesome journey of self-discovery that’s going to change the way you process things, scary – yes, but worth it at the end. By the way, I am still on that journey.

All the talent you have right now is singing, loud unapologetic sounds of praise to God. You have more to offer Temitayo, you were made for more. Let me add, while you are excited about your final year project, 10 years from now, you wouldn’t be actively working with your treasured Economics degree. Like I said, you were made for more.

Ask yourself, why you serve God. Is it because of the fear of hell, is it because it’s what the good daughter should do? What have you done with the precious gift of the HolySpirit? Are you having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof?

Temi, don’t be scared of tomorrow, it will take care of itself in the most beautiful way, always remember Matthew 6:34 MSG:

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Hold fast to this scripture, you will need it next year- 2009.

Temitayo, you will soon find out how much God loves you, you will rekindle your love for the HolySpirit and discover the evangelist in you through a new gift. Once you find it, never lose it. You are too major to God to feel minor and act anyhow. Temitayo, you are worth more than rubies, you are loved by the creator you are Invaluable.

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I had time to talk to my closest friends and reflect on my life, where I am and where I was a decade ago, fresh into my final year and I have God to thank. Taking a verse from one of my best Jonathan Butler song – Falling in love with Jesus was the best thing I’ve ever done.

I am far from perfect, I could be really lazy (physically and spiritually), I may have my unguarded down times of how I am still single, I may be spiritually frustrated that I still don’t have the gift of dreams but there’s one thing that keeps me going…it’s the realisation that God loves me!

It took me decades to understand this truth, I want you to accept this truth with a childlike simplicity – your God, your Father, your Comforter, Odin din Lion of the tribe of Judah, loves you and that love is unending.

My life lesson in this one year is to let go and let God.

Happy birthday to me, happy new year people and thanks for reading.

 

The One who came back!

Hey it’s my birth month! Yipeeeeee! *now doing the slide dance*

A special happy birthday shout out to all November 3 celebrants, yeah we are special like that.

My mum’s birthday was October 31, some call it Halloween, I just call it a special day for a special woman. This year, I had time to reflect on how important she means to me – I am definitely thankful for all she’s done for me and her being in my life playing the role she is playing. This inspired me to dust my blog (I have to admit, I have been infrequent with my post this year) to write what has been playing in my head for a while.

Luke 17: 11- 19 (MSG):

It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

^14–16  Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”

They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan.

^17–19  Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”

When you read this story, two questions could pop (at last two did for me)

•          What was going on in the mind of the thankful leper

•          Why didn’t the other nine just think to thank God?

It is easier to think, rather, cast stones on the 9 thank-less lepers. You could be thinking, didn’t it cross their minds that God did this! They can finally show themselves to the priest and regain all that was lost, the least they can do is to thank the one who healed them.  We should note that like any other person or any other Christian, they prayed an got answers to their prayer – Our praying however needs to be preened and pursued with an energy that never ends, a persistency which will not be denied and a courage which never fails. (They got this bit right).

We often go through life without having time to reflect on past events; most times we are always focused on the future, we want to have done this and that by this time T, we want to become this person in this certain future. We don’t have time to see the colours in our lives, well; I am charging you to do that today. The tone of the passage didn’t reflect that Jesus was ecstatic that at least one came back, infact it seemed like he was just waiting for THAT practical example to teach us the oh so important lessons on thanksgiving.  We go through life and get answers to our prayers, we see a miracle done and we say a nonchalant thank you…nah, that won’t work anymore. The purpose of visiting a priest after a cure (Luke 5:14; Leviticus 13:49; 14:2) was so the cured person could officially resume his place in society. The nine lepers, presumably Jewish, had their minds on the future, on resuming the life they had left behind with the onset of illness. Their minds were full of scenes of reunion with wives, children, with re-entry into market and synagogue.  There is no indication that their goals and future actions were anything but respectable and legal. How many times are we guilty of the things mentioned? I need you to drop the *on to the next one* attitude and be that one leper that comes to really thank God…the bible said: “…Shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He couldn’t thank him enough” it takes a reflective heart to do that.

Yes we do thank God, we are grateful, but make sure your thankfulness leads to action and not words of the lips as sometimes we have turned our murmur of thanks giving as routine (check-In and check-out kind of thing)

I decided to act the journey back to the priest scene of the 10 lepers from the thankful one’s point of view in my head and it went thus:

The Realisation:

^14–16  Taking a good look at them, Jesus said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” They went, and while still on their way, became clean.

The thankful one: *spots and blisters clearing* (He stops in his tracks and thinks out loud) Oh! Wow! See! The spots are clearing! I remember when I was diagnosed with leprosy, all the humiliation I felt when I had to be excommunicated, oh how the Lord has shown me mercy, me a Samaritan, let me thank him, I just can’t contain myself, what if I don’t have the opportunity to see him again…

One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. – make sure your thankfulness leads to action

Did you know that the highest level of faith is thanksgiving? You think not?

Look at all the faith-shaking miracles that Jesus performed: Raising Lazarus from the dead – He thanked God; Making sandwich (bread and fish) to feed 5000 men (not counting children and women) – he gave thanks and there are others as well.

Ramona C Carooll said: Faith is putting all your eggs in God’s basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch –When you pray, rather let your heart be without words than your words be without heart. I totally agree with that.

When you thank God, you move God to break protocols just for you, the one leper came back just to thank God for the healing, he didn’t even know he needed anything further, however he got a surprise package: “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”

Romans 10: 9: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The who came back to thank God, was “made well,” (sozo- “to be healed of spiritual disease and death”) whereas the nine were merely “cleansed” or “healed” (tharizo- “to be made clean or healed of a disease”). 

Don’t take God’s blessings for granted, dare to be different and give thanks at all things and in all times, it is the act of worship. 

Do you need …? Try God and His Righteousness

Hi,

I have decided to stop saying/typing happy new month, I have come to realize that I don’t get to publish something new till the middle of the month, so this is me just greeting you, with a breath of fresh air…..sighs.

Happy birthday to those July celebrants I didn’t have time to greet, happy birthday to wonderful August celebrants, so spiritually, I am merging perfection and new beginings, so happy PERFECT BEGINING.

There is a virus going about that reminds me of the plague that the people of Israel in the bible had, that Moses, directed by the Lord, told them to look up and get healed, the virus’ name (the one that reminds me of the Israelite’s plague) is Ebola; here are some facts that needs to be known and understood, to avoid further panic as well as to be informed:

• Human to human transmission is only achieved by physical contact with a person who is acutely and gravely ill from the Ebola virus or their body fluids.
• Transmission among humans is almost exclusively among caregiver family members or health care workers tending to the very ill.
• The virus is easily killed by contact with soap, bleach, sunlight, or drying. A washing machine will kill the virus in clothing saturated with infected body fluids.
• A person can incubate the virus without symptoms for 2-21 days, the average being 5-8 days before becoming ill. THEY ARE NOT CONTAGIOUS until they are acutely ill.
• Only when ill does the viral load express itself first in the blood and then in other bodily fluids (to include vomit, feces, urine, breast milk, semen and sweat).

Please consider the following hygiene tips: 

• Ensure the toilet is properly flushed when used and the toilet pan is clean
•  Wash hands thoroughly to avoid spread of germs and infectious diseases
• Remember to turn taps off when not in use
• Wash hands thoroughly to avoid spread of germs and infectious diseases, frequent use of hand sanitizers is advised
• Avoid unprotected intercourse.
• Avoid  consumption of bush meat and contact  with wild animals

Remember: share the information and not the fear!

This month, i want to talk about something that cuts across everything, it stems from the bible, Matthew : 33 and 34 (as usual the message translations)

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

³⁴ “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

 

I have come to realize that we tend to get carried away with little things, we tend to get upset over things not worth getting upset over, we seem to be getting used to getting to our desired destination through long routes disguised as short-cuts. Sometimes I think, we Christians don’t patiently read the bible, Oh Yes! we skimp through the bible, sometimes we tell others how a particular scripture affects their lives, but do we live the scripture? When the Lord said “cast your burdens on me for i care”, did you believe? When you were broke and needed to settle some bills or needed funds to do some things, who was your first thought for help directed to, hills (men) or God? When you needed reassurance on who loves you, did you think to ask God or did you go ahead to read blogs on the signs to know (not that i am against blogs)?

Hebrews 4:2 has his to say: “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did, but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

When looking for all things, start at the begining, the bible wasn’t written just for writing sake….when the scripture says you should steep your life in God-reality, God-initiatives and God-provision and your daily needs would be met, my advice to you is please do. God knows what you need, he knows you need to get rid of some belly fat, he knows you want to build some houses and pay school fees, he knows that you want that pay check or that NEED so bad, the truth is, the solution has been embedded in the God-reality you are avoiding.

Real Knowledge, like everything else of value is not to be obtained easily, it must be worked for, studied for and more than all, must be prayed -Thomas Arnold

Ever wondered what help line works, it’s the prayer line, pray today, whatever the situation is, seek God first, in prayer and in righteousness, nothing better could be well prioritised. I recently practised putting God and His righteousness first, after loosing touch and getting frustrated with my lack of achieving my set goals, the peace that comes (to me as a holding response) is unrivaled, then the answers start coming, the urges starts dying and you are left wondering, “why didn’t i do this first and save time?”

Enjoy the rest of the month, hopefully see you in September, stay Healthy and keep putting God and His Righteousness First!!!

Working through September!!!!!!

I went to covenant christian centre on the third Sunday in June, it was my first time in that church and it was during praise/worship session I entered with my friends. I sang wholeheartedly to the songs and was worshiping in tongues when we got to the part where I didn’t know the lyrics, we got to a point where we were just worshiping in two letters “HA” that two-letter word covered all your thoughts on God when you are speechless. I went to several churches in my three months absence from this blog and I learnt several ways to worship God.

I really want to sincerely apologize for my silence over the past months, let’s just say I was passing through some things that could have either broken me or made me stronger and to be sincere it did both to me. I learnt to write a poem in one of the classes I took (I will post it also)

 I have a list of Happy birthdays to dish out piling up from the month of May through to September, so, happy birthday Chisom Chris-Nwoji (my always passionately loving friend), Dayo Ibironke, Tope Tedela, Olukayode Aluko, Kolawole Odumade, Oladipo Oladebo, Olanrewaju .M. Kassim (one of my confidants), Jide Olatunbode, Adeniyi Olumoto, Odiogor Omelebele, Kayode Jacobs, Segun Adekanmbi, Oludayo Odunfa (my very own personal person), Ayomide Abu,  Omolara Akingbulu, Yinka Awobiyi, Boluwatife Odumade (my sweet brother) and my wonderful Dad.

A special HAPPY BIRTHDAY greeting to my constant reader and my paddy paddy’s girlfriend OLANIKE  AJEIGBE (13-09-2012) you encourage me every step of the way!!!!!!

I remember that the last entry was about Jesus and how loving and caring he is, that hasn’t changed one bit, infact I have been exposed to his grace and how amazing he is. I have been going through some classes and have had series of self discoveries, I have so much potential that even the cemetery will be jealous, I have an edge though, I am learning how to unlock these potentials, believe me, God is so gracious he deposited in us some things we have no idea is in us in us.

“when you start to see things in shades of grey instead of black and white, then know that the end is very near” – Casting Crowns.

I have one question though: why do you love who you love? 

I have several other questions that I could stem out of this question but I am choosing to be quiet about!!! I love Ayodele Akingbulu for several reasons I won’t bother saying on this blog . I am not here to write about love for my boyfriend, no, I think I will reserve it to the appropriate season (rubbing pals together mischievously). My point is “WHY DO YOU LOVE GOD THE WAY YOU CLAIM YOU DO?”

Over the past months I have been receiving broadcast upon broadcast on rapture and sincerely I must confess that it could be scary the way people send this messages, I have to admit that those are creative ways to instill fear and I’m like is that how God wants us to advertise for him? I read my bible and I haven’t seen any part where the disciples or even the apostles boxed people into accepting Christ, infact to me that sounds like what the Pharisees or Sadducees would do. Christians these days are ruled by fear rather than by faith and I am wondering why they are Christians in the first place. I do not forward any message no matter how creative it is telling me to give my life to Christ because of judgment day, isssh!!!

Why would I want to buy/get a bank’s product (hypothetically) if all I’m hearing from the bank’s ambassadors are “get this product or else….”?  I mean, I will run as far from the product as possible. I must see reason to invest my money and time on the product, but if I see the reasonability of the product you don’t need to waste too much time, I will seek you out and buy the product.

 I guess my point is that you can’t attract new converts by making being a Christian a thing of torture, I am a Christian and I am not being tortured, it hurts that we Christians are being laughed out because we seem to be lacking in the ability to advertise God through our lifestyle (and that’s how we got our name in the first place o). I believe and pray that my life should be an advertisement of Christ anywhere I go, and the events of my life should continually reflect God’s love for me and my growing love for him.

Let’s look at it this way: if I need something from someone, I like or pretend to like the person; I act like I like the person for the things that is obtainable from the person. However, if I love someone, I try as much as possible to do what pleases the person; I am interested in not hurting the person.

Most Christians these days; like God when they ought to love God, that is why they are all jittery when it comes to rapture and judgment day messages. I want to encourage you to seek God for who he is and not what you are getting or hope to get from him. Nobody can buy into fake enthusiasm; let us make Christianity and a relationship with Christ more real to the unbelievers.

My dear friends yes, Christ is coming back but he loves you a whole lot more than for you to accept him and salvation like it’s a fast food, your relationship is worth nurturing, don’t take your relationship with God like an affair, a sleazy one at that, he is the groom remember; the ideal husbandman *winks* I am very happy and blessed with who and what God has done and is doing with me.

See you in October!!!!!