SPENDING TIME WITH GOD

Hi there, May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. It’s nearly Christmas and we have to bear in mind that Jesus is the only reason for the season. How was your week by the way? Mine was great and fruitful by the Grace of God. Here goes the Word for this week.

The Word for this weekend is titled, 'Spending time with God.' Someone will ask, 'how do you spend time with God?' I’ll simply say you can spend good and quality time with God by doing your Quiet Time. Well this weekend’s blog is inspired by a book I started reading earlier this week. It is called ‘Quiet Time’ by Bishop Dag Heward-Mills. A Quiet Time simply means being deliberate about spending time with God alone. From reading this book I’ve realised that having your Quiet Time is very important and it will help you to develop a closer relationship with God.

Mark 1:35 says that “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (NIV)
From this verse we can see that Jesus spent some time alone with God too so it is necessary to commit to doing our Quiet Time by setting time aside and spending some alone time with God.

The question is 'how do you do your quiet time?' It is very simple all you need is a willing heart, a suitable and quiet place, a bible, music, a note book and pen.
You can do your Quiet Time by praying to God, reading the Bible and meditating on the verses you have read as well listening to some worship songs and making notes of the revelations you get from your Quiet Time. During your Quiet Time, make sure you have a particular time that you just enjoy God’s presence and listen to what He has for you.

Having your Quiet Time daily is important because

• It helps us to draw closer to God and God closer to us.
• It helps to develop an intimate relationship with God.
• It enables us to feed our Spirit man
• It helps us to increase our knowledge of the scriptures                                                              

Matthew 6:6 Says, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (NIV)

Hope you have been blessed. What I’m going to leave you with today is that, make up your mind to start doing your Quiet Time if you’ve not been doing so already and you’ll see the difference it will make in your life. 

Remember to go in your closet and speak to your father in heaven. Enjoy the rest of the week and have a great week ahead. Don’t forget to share this with your loved ones. Stay blessed and have a blessed Christmas.

WHAT DO YOU TREASURE MOST?

Happy Saturday guys, hope you’re doing great and we made God the centre of our decisions throughout the week. The Word for this weekend is titled ‘What do you treasure most?’ and the verse is Matthew 6:21 which says "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (KJV)

So what does treasure mean? The word treasure is a verb that means to keep carefully, to cherish, to hold dear, to place great value on, to set great store by and to value greatly.

So basically this verse means that the things we value greatly or cherish in life is where our heart is. So there will be a different attitude towards what we treasure in our everyday lives because we become very passionate about these things.  In other words we can say that the things we spend more time on or the things we prioritise in life are the things we really treasure.

HOW CAN WE APPLY THIS VERSE IN OUR LIVES?

• We can apply this verse by reassessing and prioritising the things we hold dear to our hearts in our life.  When it comes to our Christian life we can do the following:
• We have to treasure the time we spend with God in our Quiet Time
•  We have to treasure our Prayer life
• We have to treasure the Word of God and the little things like fellowshipping with other Christians.
•  We have to treasure going to church
•  We treasure the upkeep of our various churches by joining a ministry in church to minister the love of God to others.
• We have to be available when it comes to outreaching and evangelism.

  And the list goes on and on….                             

Matthew 6:19-20 says that "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (NIV)

So ask yourself! What do you really treasure? Are you storing treasure for yourself in heaven or on earth? Think about this throughout the week ahead and aim to store treasures in heaven because your treasure in heaven will be untouchable as they cannot be stolen by thieves.

Feel free to leave a comment and share the post with your friends and loved ones.

Have a blessed week ahead and remember that Jesus is the real reason for this festive season. Thank you for reading this post.

MAKING GOD THE CENTRE OF OUR DECISIONS AND PLANS

Hello lovely readers and followers, how was your week? Hope it wasn’t too stressful. My week was good by the Grace of God. Wow!!! I can’t believe its December already. It’s nearly Christmas. Well, we serve a great and mighty God. It is amazing how this year has just flown by but then ask yourself, ‘could you have made it without God?’  My answer to that question is ‘No, Not at all.’ My dear reader, I want you to take a few minutes to thank God for His Grace upon your life. Indeed He deserves the highest praise.

Well, here goes the Word for this week. The Word for this week is taken from Psalms 127:1 and it states that “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards watch in vain.”(NIV)  I used the verse above for my quiet time on Thursday.  After reading the verse I was listening to a song called “This is your house” by Don Moen, then the Holy Spirit whispered to me and asked, ‘what is the point of you singing this song when you don’t even bother to invite God when it comes to making decision of this house?’

From Psalms 127:1 I’ve realised that it is very easy to get carried away and make decision without consulting or informing God about your plans. However the only reasons why the decisions we make work according to plan is because God had already planned for it happen. So just imagine involving God and making him the centre of our decision making. He would guide us and the plan will even work beyond expectations. My lesson from this verse is to make God the centre of my day to day decision making because I cannot do anything without His approval. For it is better to build with God than to build in vain. Proverbs 16:8 gives us an assurance that if you “Commit to the Lord in whatever you do, he will establish your plans.”(NIV)

So next time you want to make a decision about your job, relationship, friendship, university, and other important issues regarding your life, STOP and speak to the father. Ask Him to be the centre of your decision and ask Him to show you the right way and path.

God bless you for spending time to read this and remember that any questions or comments regarding this post are welcome. Just in case you want to listen to Don Moen's "This is your house", please click on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3CkDwZ0uv0

BEING BORN AGAIN

Happy Saturday to my dedicated readers and followers. Hope your week was as fruitful as mine. I had a very interesting conversation with my little cousin on Tuesday and I asked if he was born again. The answer he gave was, ‘Yes.’ So I then asked him what it means to be born again. He gave me a very interesting answer which is; ‘being confirmed into a church and going to church every Sunday.’ I just said to my cousin you’re not born again then, because having a confirmation and going to church every Sunday does not guarantee that an individual is born again. So I had to take time to explain to my cousin that being born again is a requirement to go to Heaven. John 3:3 says, ‘Jesus replied, very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (NIV).

So what does it mean to be born again then? Does it mean that you have to go back into your mother’s womb? No not at all. To become born again means to be produced or created again. Being born again means to know God intimately and draw closer and closer to him. It means that you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and personal Saviour and you invite him to come and live in your heart and take control over your life. Being born again means having the Holy Spirit as your advocate and friend.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (NKJV). From this verse we can see that when someone becomes born again they become a new creature so it doesn't matter what you have done in the past. The past goes with the old man and the new man is the new spirit that has been recreated in us. 

My dear reader, it is never too late to give your life to Christ. Like I said earlier, it doesn't matter what you have done in the past. Jesus Christ is a God of mercies and second chances. Revelation 3:20 says “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (NIV). Wow! What a blessing it would be to eat with Jesus. Jesus Christ is standing at door of your heart right now all you need to do is open the door and ask him to come in. 

Please say the prayer below if you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour. God bless you for reading this and don’t forget to share it and be a blessing to someone. Have a great weekend and a fruitful week ahead. Don’t forget to invite Jesus into your heart and don't forget to tell someone about the greater love of God.

                                                             PRAYER 

Heavenly father, I thank you for my life and the life of my loved ones. Father I know that I am a sinner and I am happy you died on the cross of Calvary to save me Oh Lord. I want to invite you into my life as my Lord and personal Saviour. Father please come and stay in my heart and guide my steps. Thank you Jesus for saving me. Amen!!!

REACHING OUT TO OTHERS

Hi there, hope you had a great week. The title for this week is reaching out to others. The main verse for this week is from Matthew 28:19. It says “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (NIV). Someone will ask why do I have to make disciples of all nations? Well, from the verse above we realise that it is a command from Jesus so we don’t have to take it lightly.

Sometimes we find it hard to outreach to people thinking about the negative what ifs. For instance we sometimes ask ourselves what if they’re not interested? Well, what if they actually listen to you and gain salvation through you? You never know what tomorrow brings so sometimes. It pays to take that big step but it is worth it.

Someone will ask that how can I preach to others?  I am going to share a few things we can to fulfill the great commission.

·         The first thing to do is to pray to God to give you a heart for people and also for the Holy Spirit to lead you.

·         We have live a life that is pleasing to God in order to show what we believe in and for it to serve as a good example to others

·         We can invite others to church.

·         We can pray for unbelievers before we outreach to them.

·         We can also send verses to our friends and explain to them how important it is to read the bible.

Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (NIV) From this verse I understand if the Holy Spirit comes onto us we will receive power to be able to reach out easily to our family, friends, neighbours and the new people we meet on a daily basis and tell them about the greater love of God.

What I’m going to leave you with today is that, just telling someone that God loves them can make a big difference in their life. Always pray and ask the Holy Spirit to direct you before, during and after every outreach you go. God bless you and don’t forget to share this with others. Have a blessed week ahead.

CRUCIFYING THE FLESH

Hello dear readers and followers, it’s the weekend again and I’m excited about what God has in store for us this weekend. How was your week?  Well my week was quite eventful and there is this verse that really stood out to me this week. It’s Romans 13: 13-14 and it says, Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.  Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh (NIV). It’ll be nice if you could meditate on this verse throughout the weekend.

Well, here goes the word for this week. In this day of age we tend to focus on the outward appearance than the spirit. It is easy for us to wake up without praying or doing our quiet time but focus on how nice we’re going to look all morning. For instance, a girl in today’s world will rather focus on getting her make-up and hair on point and ignore her prayer and quiet time. Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying in any way that doing your make up isn’t good. It is just an example I can relate to as a girl.

1 Samuel 16:7 says, But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”(NIV). So basically we’re missing a point here. Someone could look as dirty as thrush but if they have the fruits of the spirit which are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, goodness and faithfulness, they can inherit the kingdom of heaven. As my campus church elder said, “There’s nothing to a pretty face if the inner man is ugly”. This is very true.

Galatians 5:16-17 says, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want”(NIV). From this verse we realise that the body (flesh) is constantly fighting against the spirit. This is why we have to deny the flesh and feed the spirit man more and more. As mentioned last week, we can feed the spirit by praying, reading the word of God and fasting.

Galatians 5:24 says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”. We have to put to death the things that are of this world and focus on the things above. Colossians 3:5-10 says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator”(NIV).

Final words from me, always remember to deny the flesh and build the spirit man. Reckon the flesh is crucified and make no provision for it at all. Thanks ever so much for your time. Remember to share this post for there's love in sharing. If you have any questions regarding this post or any other post, feel free to leave your comment below. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a great week ahead.

FEEDING THE SPIRIT

Wow how time flies!!!! It's Saturday again, meaning it is time to share God's Word with you lovely people out there. The title for this week is Feeding the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."(KJV) From this Bible verse we can say that man is a spirit, has a soul and lives in a body. The same way we feed the body of man with food and water in order to grow and remain healthy, the Spirit man also needs food to grow. I'm going to share with you today three ways we can feed our Spirit Man.

• PRAY

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Says "Pray without ceasing"(KJV). As Christians, prayer is our only weapon for the battle ahead. The same way soldiers do not go to war without weapons we should not go a day without prayer. Praying serves as a source of communication between us and God. It helps to strengthen our relationship with God. Through prayer we can ask for forgiveness and cleanse our inner man from sin. James 5:16 says "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (NIV)

• READ THE WORD OF GOD DAILY

As Christians, we have to read the Word of God daily. This will help to build our understanding of God's work, give us wisdom and reveal the truth to us. The Word of God gives us guidelines and principles to help live according to God's will. In fact, the Word of God is living and active. Hebrews 4:13 says it all. It says, "For the Word of God is alive and  active. Sharper than the double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."(NIV) Reading God's word daily will help our spirit to develop more and more even Matthew 4;4 says "for Man shall not live by bread alone but on every word that comes out of the word of God."(NIV) The body can survive by bread alone but your spirit man needs the Word of God to stay alive too.

• FAST

Fasting is a spiritual discipline where people tend to use meal times for spending time with God by meditating, reading the bible and praying towards a certain goal. Fasting  helps to feed our inner man and helps it to grow. Matthew 6:15-18 gives guidelines on how to fast. It says, "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, Put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious  to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."(NIV) 

My dear reader, have you been focusing on building just your outer man (body) instead of your inner man (Spirit)? I will say it is never too late to start feeding your spirit. Pray to God and communicate with him. Remember that the prayer of a righteous person is very effective and the Word of God is alive and it's even sharper than a double-edged sword. Thanks for your time and please share this and be a blessing to someone. Have a great day and enjoy the week ahead. GOD BLESS YOU!!!

BEING THE SALT AND LIGHT IN OUR WORLD

Happy Saturday to my committed readers and followers!! Hope you all had a great and fruitful week. Well, here goes the word for this week. Please remember to share with as many people as you wish. The title for this week is, ‘Being the Salt and Light in our World.’ The verse for this week is taken from Matthew 5:13-16. It says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

From verse 14, we note that, we're expected to be the salt and light of our world. Someone may ask why salt and light and not something valuable like gold and silver?
Let's break it down. Salt might be one of the cheap things in the market you can think of but it has a lot of uses. For instance salt is used as a preservative, in other words it used to preserve food. So as believers it is fair to say we are the preservatives of this world and our job as preservatives is to preserve the people of our world from ungodly acts and behaviour by sharing the word of God with others.

In fact this is the great commission for us Christians.  Matthew 28:19 says, ‘Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.’ Someone may say but I'm not a pastor or a preacher. Believe me when I say you don't need a special title to tell others about God. As born again Christians we qualify to share the Word with others. All we need is a willing heart. Another use of salt is to give flavour and taste to food. As followers of Jesus we have to enhance the taste and flavour of life in a good way. We can do this by showing love to others including our enemies (Luke 6:35), by being peacemakers and by putting a smile on the faces of others.

That brings me to the second part of today's Word, which is being the Light of our world. Imagine this world without light at night. There will be total darkness. As Christians we have to let our light shine brighter in the world. We live in a world where people take pleasure in sinning but we can be the lights and live a righteous life. Also sharing the word of God with others will help to bring light to their darkened hearts. We can be a light in people's life by inspiring, motivating and encouraging them.

To my dear readers, thanks for taking time off your busy schedules to read this. God bless and please be a blessing to others by sharing this with them. Always remember to keep your Light shinning and be the Salt that will help preserve or give taste. Not forgetting about the Great Commission. Go out of your way (comfort zone) and share the word of God with your loved ones. It is the best gift you can ever give to someone. Keep shining and don't stop adding flavour to your world. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a great week ahead.

Being TENACIOUS in our christian life.

As Christians it is very important to have a personal relationship with God. As I was doing my my quiet time today, I felt it in my spirit to share a few steps on how to be tenacious in our christian life. Being a young christian comes with a lot of challenges but I'll say it's always great to focus on the goal and the goal is to live as Christ. Don't get me wrong I'm not suggesting I am Christ in anyway but I'm saying I strive to live according to his word and his purpose for my life.

Okay back to the title. Someone will ask what do you mean by being tenacious? Being tenacious simply means persevering, persisting, being purposeful and unshakable. In this context being tenacious in our christian life means persevering and striving to live according to God's purpose for your life.The question is how can we be tenacious? I am going to share with you 5 ways you can be tenacious  in your christian life.

• Set your belief system straight 

Setting your belief straight as a christian simply means knowing what you believe in.  As Christians you have to know that we believe in Christ through faith. Someone will simply ask why do you believe in something or someone you have never seen? I'll say its not always about what you see but rather its about what you believe in and the level of faith you have.                                                                                                  

• Work towards a goal and stay focused

We have to discipline ourselves so that we can work towards a specific goal in other to grow more and more in Christ.  For instance: if my goal is to win 10 souls for Christ everyday I  have to work towards this goal by going out of my way to tell people about Jesus. However if winning souls for Christ is my goal and I don't take any steps towards achieving this goal. It will never be achieved.

• Understand that you can face challenges

You have to understand that there will be times where you will face challenges as a Christian but always remember no situation is permanent in life and take everything to God in prayer. There will be times when your friends will think you're a weirdo just because you believe in a man you've never seen or you do things contrary to what people label as normal. But hey being odd is good sometimes, it means you're special in your own way.

• Don't forget to refuel yourself

Always refuel yourself. Prayer is the key for every christian. Prayer helps to draw us closer and nearer to God. You can also refuel by listening to messages that inspired you, reading the bible and praising God.

• Make friends with people who have the same goals as you

Making friends with like minded people will help you to stay focused. Friends you have the same goal with will always encourage you and help you on achieving your goals. Always remember that prayer is the key.

Thanks for reading this and thanks for your time. God bless you :)Please feel free to share this with friends and leave a comment.