Assess yourself and then some...

So its my first blog post for the year 2014. Well, I deliberately decided to observe the month slowly roll along before writing my thoughts. I'm still trying to understand why January appears to be the longest/slowest month of the year. But that's a topic for another day. 

I hadn't posted anything hitherto because I spent these past weeks going over (in my head of course) what I hope to accomplish this year.

It has often been proclaimed that we cannot accurately plan for the future without looking at the past. The past is the best teacher we have. It schools us on what to do, what not to do, how best to do what we plan to do etc. From looking at the past, we are better equipped to make decisions today that will positively affect our tomorrow.

So what does all this have to do with my thoughts for the year 2014? Well, what I'm in plain terms trying to convey is that we cannot concretely strategize for this year without taking a realistic review of last year through the window of our actions, inactions, words, and thoughts.

Before you take those bold steps towards actualizing your month-by-month plans...do proper stock-taking of your achievements and setbacks from 2013. Try (as arduous as it may be) to do an unbiased self-appraisal of your life in order to have an objective report of your successes and yes! your failures. As much as we crave the opinions of others about ourselves, we need to form the habit of self-assessment. This will help us identify potential weaknesses or bad habits which can hamper our ability/capacity to make this year better and more fulfilling. After all is said and done, nobody can live out your life but you...so you must learn to be your number 1 appraiser.

Once you have taken an audit of 2013, you can begin to write down your plans and strategies for achieving success this year.

You can decide to do things differently.

For instance, if you need to work on your spiritual life...begin to do so, because the status of your relationship with God will affect everything else around you. If you need to mend broken fences with certain people who could be destiny helpers, then do so. Also desire to make the requisite financial changes when applicable. Good financial practices are determinant factors where attaining success is concerned.

I am merely scratching the surface as to how we can better position ourselves this year, to live more fruitful and successful in whatever field of endeavour we are in.

We will get to the nitty gritty as the days and weeks go by.

I pray we all achieve great things this year!

A love song for Jesus

My first blog post after several weeks. Its a love letter to Jesus...

Lover of my soul, sweet song in my heart;
Lover of my soul, the peace that never will depart.
Lover of my soul, the force that propels me;
Lover of my soul, your love so compels me.

You took my pains, you put away my shame;
You took my mess...removed all my brokenness.
For a death sentence, you gave me eternal life;
Instead of mourning...my heart remains rejoicing.

Lover of my soul...my greatest treasure;
The One who loves me beyond measure.
My heartbeat, my every breath;
My life, my very strength.

Lover of my soul...my unfailing rescuer;
Lover of my soul...my redeeming Saviour.

Not perfect...but graced!

I once stated in one of my posts that I don't like to get too personal on any social media. I value my privacy a lot...and I'm fully aware that once you put your personal business out there, it becomes every body's business. The few times I share personal life experiences, it is because such are relevant to whatever I may be blogging about at that precise moment.

This blog is not a diary of my personal life, neither is it an autobiography-type page. I started this blog as an outlet to share my views about faith in God, everyday life issues dealing with love and relationships and so much more.

However, inasmuch as I may write encouraging words, I have never claimed to be perfect, devoid of any weakness or short comings. For crying out loud, I am human...and therefore I am bound to err every now and then. I surely have made decisions I'm not too proud of. I have most certainly offended people along the way. There are people who may view me as their enemy...just like I view some as mine too. I've without a doubt hurt people I shouldn't have (knowingly or otherwise).

I have a past that is laden with messes and even mistakes...but we all have such, right?. The problem is that most times, we seem to think that some sins/weaknesses are better than others...therefore we have this prideful notion that some Christians are more "righteous" than others. There is no such thing. These are doctrines of men. My Bible tells me that all true believers are the righteousness of God in Christ. God declares us righteous by reason of our faith in His son Jesus, not because we are good. Also, God doesn't  categorize/qualify sin. Jesus Himself admonished us to remove the LOG in our own eye, before we can see clearly to take out the speck in our brother's eye (Matthew 7:3-5). Now tell me...a log or a speck...which is larger? When we point a finger at someone, three are pointing back at us. We all have faults, weaknesses and stuff we need God's help in overcoming. Hence, we all must repent before God every time the need arises, even as believers. This is a hard lesson God personally taught me quite recently; and I had to repent of stuff that I realized were unbecoming of me.

I can say boldly that although I'm a  born-again Christian, though my spirit has been renewed in Jesus, I still fall short sometimes, and I make mistakes. This is because my reborn spirit still resides in a mortal, corruptible flesh. I stumbled on a teaching from Bill Winston some days ago where he put it so clearly that as believers, we have to retrain our minds to think in accordance with the new nature of Christ we received. Paul said aptly that, we must die daily to our flesh (1Cor 15:31). We must kill its desires and learn to walk according to the leading of the Spirit of God. This is a mandate for all true Christians. I'm learning to do this in my personal journey with God too. We however can only do this with the aid of the perfect grace of God, the Holy Spirit and the word of God.

Having said all this, nothing takes away the fact that I am a child of God. I am redeemed by His perfect blood. Most importantly, in Him, I'm a new creature...old things have passed away. And this is not on account of my good works...I'm simply a product of God's gift of grace. I may not be where I should be, but I'm long gone from where I used to be. I may not be perfect, but I am graced! I'm learning to make such confessions to myself...whenever moments/thoughts of doubt creep in.

I'm so thankful for this grace, everyday of my life. I don't deserve it, God knows; no one does. But God is good and His mercy toward us endureth forever.

I'm sharing this to encourage any Christian who may be feeling defeated. Know that as far as you're in Christ, absolutely no one, and especially not the devil...has got anything on you. God's got you in His palm, and Jesus your great High Priest is always interceding for you. His death on the cross & resurrection wasn't to futility. Be assured that He loves you...don't ever doubt His love.

If we can keep our focus on Him, on that wondrous cross that saved us and on His word...He will help us be better everyday. That is the work of His unending grace.

Remember Proverbs 4:18 states that, "...the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day." That perfect day is when Jesus will come and take us to heaven!

The greatest is love...

"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love," 1Corinthians 13:13

The entirety of our Christian-walk is based on the three things mentioned above: faith, hope and love. We are Christians because of our faith in God, in Jesus as His son and in His finished works on the cross of Calvary. We also have faith that every promise God has made concerning us will come to pass. We have hope that the good things we expect (which we don't yet see) will be manifested because God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.

However, as I read through the entirety of 1 Corinthians 13, something began to dawn on me as I got to verse 13. Many of us are so caught up in maintaining our faith and hope for better things, that we overlook the most important precept of all...LOVE. Love is greater than faith and hope. At the beginning of the chapter, Paul wrote, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing," (1Cor 13:1-4)

We are nothing as Christians, if we do not have the love of God in us. Love is the very nature of God. And if we profess to be in Christ,then we have the nature of God...so we should express the love of God in our character and behavior. While Jesus walked this earth as the Son of man, He had love and compassion for everyone. As Christians, we ought to do same. It is of no consequence to have faith that can move mountains, if we lack the love of Christ in our hearts.

One of the reasons Jesus attacked the Pharisees as much as He did is because they didn't walk in love. Sadly, we find that this hypocrisy is very much alive in the body of Christ today. We even talk, and preach about God's love...but we do not practice it.
Everyday, many Christians pass up opportunities to do something good for someone else. Amazingly and ironically too, such are so full of expectation for good things to happen to them.

Truth is that we should not even profess to love God if we don't love others. Infact, the love we show others is proof that we love God. Love is the fulfillment of the law. As Christians we must love God will all our heart, soul, and might...and love our neighbors as our self (In order to know what God's definition of love is, read verses 4-7 of this same scripture). If we are not walking in love, how can we be a witness to unbelievers about Jesus?

As I end this piece, I urge you to take some moments of solitude and examine your heart. Is the love of God truly resident in you? Is this love evident in the way you behave towards others?

There's no need to despair if you have fallen short in this area. God Himself will help you fulfill this aspect of your Christian-walk. If you can truly surrender your shortcomings to God, because He does love you, He will help you be the Christian that you ought to be.

I'll definitely pray this prayer for myself too because...I do know I fall short, everyday.

A psalm after my heart.

Psalm 139 is undoubtedly one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible. From the first time I discovered this psalm of David, (which was quite a number of years ago) I fell in love with it. Whenever I read it, my heart gladdens with joy at the love that God has for me, yet it also marvels at the exceeding goodness of God.

Psalm 139 vs 1-3 reads, "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways." God knows all my ways and thoughts; whether good or bad...He knows them all. He knows the words I would speak before I even think of them.

Verse 16 states that: "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. " Hmmm. God knew everything I would do, even before I was born. He designed all my days before He even formed me. He knows my substance: what I can handle and what will break me down. No wonder He said He will never allow us be tempted beyond what we can bear. Furthermore, He knew the mistakes I would make, the bad decisions I'd take, and the sins I would commit. Still, He loves me. And this is because God knew that one day, I would make a choice to forsake my ways and follow Him. That is why He sent His son to die for me...for He sees farther than man sees. He's the beginning and the end, but He sees our end before our beginning.

Further still, this passage of scripture gives me peace because I know that God is always with me. Examine Verses 7-10: "Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me." Wow! What blessed assurance.  When things are good, and even when things are bad. Through the darkness, down times and moments of confusion, He is always with His loved ones and He will always bring us out.

Even as I write this, my heart warms up. God indeed loves me. God loves us all. He loved us before we were formed. He loved us before we were His. He loves us now that we're His and He will love us forever. No wonder the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:38-39, "nothing can separate us from the love of God." God is always with us.

In conclusion, I leave you to meditate on verses 17-18: "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand."

 

Humble Yourself!

I’m quite certain that every Christian who is familiar with the key men of God in the Bible knows that David is the only person who was described as “a man after God’s heart.”  We all know too well the story of David, how God called and anointed Him to be King when he was just a shepherd boy, and of course how he slew the Philistine giant Goliath with a mere pebble to the amazement of all. The book of Psalms written primarily by David, is one of the most widely read scriptures in the Bible.

For quite a number of months now, I’ve been pondering about this honorable man of God and have been trying to understand why He was so loved by God, so much that our Saviour Jesus Christ has His earthly heritage in the lineage of David. This is confirmed in the book of 2Samuel 7, where God makes a covenant with David, promising to establish his kingdom forever. David was not a perfect man, just like none of us (even those that are God’s righteous) are. He had his weaknesses, and he committed two notable sinful acts….adultery and murder.  But God’s love was continually upon this man after God’s heart all the days of his life. My thoughts on this issue compelled me to spend ample time reading about the life and times of David.  Its been months since I started, but it was today, as I read through 1Samuel 7 that it finally dawned on me one of the reasons why David touched the heart of God so much. He possessed a character trait that God expects from everyone who professes to love Him: humility.

David was a genuinely humble man. He always saw himself as nothing, as much as he was revered and loved by all of Israel.  For instance, Saul had spent years wanting to kill him but when David had the chance to retaliate, he spared Saul’s life. Because he still saw himself as a servant in Saul’s kingdom (since Saul was still King), he didn’t deem it right to avenge his master. In fact, I don’t think in his heart, David ever thought of Saul as an enemy. This act also portrayed that David had a forgiving heart…and true forgiveness requires humility. David even openly mourned when Saul died, proving that his loyalty to Saul was genuine.

As successful as David was as King of Israel, as many victories God gave him, as many cities as he conquered, he never let pride enter his heart. This is in complete contrast to Saul whose pride was ultimately his undoing. David’s humility also showed when he praised God and danced until his clothes fell off as the Ark of the Covenant  was being taken back to Jerusalem (2Samuel 6). David’s wife Michal even despised him for this, because she felt it was a show of shame for a king to behave that way in public. David’s response to her was, “it was the Lord who chose me…to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord, and I will be even more undignified than this and will be humble in my own sight” 2Samuel 6:21-22. David didn’t allow his position as King, affect how He expressed his praise and worship to God. Even when he sinned against God and was confronted by the prophet Nathan, he admitted his sin to Nathan, and God forgave him (see 2Samuel 12:1-15). I bet David must have felt ashamed when Nathan came to him; however, he did the right thing by confessing.

David may not have been a perfect man, but he sure had a perfect heart. His humility stands out for me because the word of God states that, if you humble yourself before God, He will lift you up (James 4:10). This explains why the glory of God was evident in his life. The scriptures also state that God detests the proud, but He gives more grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6). And we can clearly see the grace of God at work, even in that God forgave David for all his sins. It is evident by the words David used in writing the Psalms, that he never attributed his success and fame to his own effort, but rather to God’s favour, grace and love.

Pride is completely antagonistic to the nature of God and having examined closely the life of David, it is now my prayer and desire that pride remain as far away from my heart as possible. I know that if I can get my heart in the right place by God’s grace, then my actions will be right as well. May God help us all be men and women after His own heart.

A page from my walk with God

I always try not to get too personal in my blog posts mainly because I really value my privacy. However, I’ve decided to be sharing some of my personal experiences relating to my Christian walk. My desire is that by so doing, other believers may be encouraged in their own relationship with God.

I first accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour when I was about 13years old. Prior to this, I vividly remember my mum once asking me when I would get saved, and my response to her was, "when I understand what being saved is all about." I always wondered what thoughts went on in her mind as a result of my statement, but she recently told me she was quite satisfied with it. Well, I later responded to an altar call one Sunday in church after a sermon that moved me.

However, as I grew older and began to handle life on my own, I found it tasking keeping up with being born-again. The fact that after High School, I left the shores of Nigeria to the United States to pursue my University education, further compounded issues for me. The life I lived in America (being a student and working) hardly left much time for me to get engaged in church activities the way I'd wanted to. As years went by, I started to become lukewarm in the things of God. Not that I denounced my faith, but it took a backseat to everything else in my life.

A number of years down the road, certain events happened in my life which made me sit back and question everything I’d understood about salvation. By this time I was back home in Nigeria and had a family of my own. I found myself having to go through some unpleasant experiences which made me doubt my faith in God. I wondered if He really had been watching over me like His word says. I wondered why He didn't speak to me before I made certain decisions that led me to this moment. I was seemingly confused as to whether I was truly born-again. This was roughly four years ago.

What I want to share today is the fact that it was in the midst of this very turbulent storm that God began to reveal certain truths about salvation to me. It was then I got the understanding that in order for you to really embrace God, you have to get to the end of yourself. You have to come to a point where everything you know, fails you. I got the revelation that for you to be truly saved, you have to actually need salvation. You must come to a point where your only option is complete faith in God.

I have now understood that being a born-again Christian is about being sold-out to Jesus. It is about placing God first in your life, above everyone else. It is about dying to yourself (your needs, your wants, your feelings, your wisdom & knowledge), and living for Jesus. This is what Jesus meant when He said we must take up our cross and follow Him…we must sacrifice our lives on the altar of the cross and receive a new life which is totally yielded to His will and purpose.

Being saved is not just about reading your Bible once or twice a day, but it is about allowing the word of God to take residence in your heart. It is not about going to church once/twice a week. Yes, we must not forsake the gathering of the brethren. But fellowship with other believers and serving God should be done out of our love for Him, not as a legalistic ritual or religious routine. We should do these things; (pray, obey the word, and participate in church activities) because we want to please God. Even our giving of tithes and offerings should be done as an act worship and love for Him, not as a legalistic practice.

This is the first of a few posts I’ll be writing on yielding to God’s purpose. The truth is that until you surrender wholly to God, you will never really enjoy the salvation Jesus obtained for you by His death and resurrection.