PRAISING GOD FOR DELIVERANCE

Good morning guys... It's 4am in the morning in England just now and today is officially my birthday. Thank God for the many blessings He's blessed me with and the wonderful people He's placed in my life. I just finished watching a video on Facebook of a 22 yr old recent graduate known as lauralee patrika who escaped an accident today on the motorway in America and gave a testimony of how God delivered her when her tyres had span around and her car was facing the opposite direction on the motorway so that she found herself directly facing big trucks when suddenly she said to God, "Lord  help me please" and her car, without touching the steering moved straight away from the road unto the side in safety.

This reminded me of a few weeks back in January when my friend, sister and I were heading for church in our friend's brand new car and I was telling her about a car accident that occurred when I was driving with my cousin to the shopping centre to get groceries on the 30th of December 2013. Whiles explaining the incident our car started overspeeding. I began to think the driver (my friend) should slow down but before I realised the car had gone so fast in a bid to enter the roundabout that it nearly spun off the bridge we were on... I sat there quietly for a few mins reminiscing on the many  ways this could have turned out fatal and praying to God and thanking him for deliverance from this very clear and fatal accident that it could have been had it not been for Him who had delivered us that day. 

God has spared my life and your life but many at times we forget and moan to God about the things that we don't have, but if we are dead, what does it matter then if we have everything... Like the bible says, what shall it profit a man if he gains the WHOLE world and LOSES his soul?...Mark 8:36- Clearly NOTHING...

Let us start being more thankful for our lives and for what God has given us. The girl in the video was on her way to choir practice when it happened and she stated how she had praised God right after and  was going to praise God like never before when she went to church on Sunday and no one would stop her. This reminded me of a video I was watching of Bruno Mars at the Super Bowl  yesterday, and I thought to myself, "look how these people are just jumping with ALL their strength and are so excited for mere songs that a mere man has sang yet when we go to church, we find ourselves being so diplomatic and not praising God with all our might like David did. Imagine if we had the same attitude as these people at the Super Bowl but in the presence of God. What a terribly mighty breakthrough we would experience just because we praised. And so henceforth, let us all including myself practice an attitude of thanksgiving and praise to God because He sure does deserve more than many including myself give Him

Adios!!!

LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF FEARS

Yesterday I faced my fear. The best thing I did all day. My fear grew bigger the more I heared people speak of it. So I spent almost a year avoiding something so little which had become so great in my mind. Yet I sang, throughout that time that The Lord was my shepherd and so I would fear no evil.... The irony of the matter was that I was afraid.

I read an update from Pastor Mensah Otabil saying, "This week, put a smile on someone's face, HELP SOMEBODY TO STAND. SPEAK THOUGHTFULLY. BE GENTLE. Surprise someone with a random act of kindness. BE A BLESSING THIS WEEK. What you do for others, God will do for you." 

A day before facing my fear, I had gone to speak to one of my managers at my work concerning not working in a particular area of my workplace. She asked me the reason why and I let her know that it was partly because of the stories I had heard which had resulted in my hesitation to take the plunge. She was very familiar with this because many others had avoided this particular area because of a similar reason so she spoke kindly to me concerning this issue, encouraged me to take the step and get it done and also provided contact details of other members of staff who were available mainly for this kind of issue. She stated that she would review in a month's time where I was concerning this issue. I left the office feeling positive and very encouraged by what she had said as she had thrown a new and different light concerning this issue. 

After work, I went home, discovered Mensah Otabil's update and thought, "oh wow this is what the manager did for me at work today"- by helping me to stand up against my fear through speaking gently and thoughtfully to me- and so I took the plunge and booked a shift in that area. I prayed about my fears and encouraged myself with bible verses talking about trust in The Lord in times of fear 

Psalm 56:3- "WHEN I AM AFRAID, I PUT MY TRUST IN YOU"

This helped me a lot and after prayer I said to myself that I would not meditate on this issue again because the more I thought about it, the more daunting it seemed. 

I woke up on the day feeling ready to face whatever it was that everyone was talking about. At work, there were one or two glitches and that was about it concerning all the horror stories I had heared. In fact, I thought to myself, I have faced a few worse than this, but I guess maybe I haven't spent as much time there so I cannot completely draw a conclusion. But the long and short of the story is that, sometimes we tend to exaggerate fears in our minds which cause us to me stagnant. 

God has not put in us a spirit of fear but of love, of power and of a sound mind. Hence, it is important that we recognise that where there is fear, there is the absence of love and where there is love there is the absence of fear. 

After work I was glad I had worked in that area and I thought to myself... "Thank you God for how it went today".

In all I'm glad I took the plunge and my conclusion is that I should let love govern my steps not fear for as the bible says, love covers a multitude of sins, in my case, it covers a multitude of fears. 

ADIOS. 

THEN I SAT AND WORRIED INSTEAD OF PRAY

Who around here is familiar with my title for today? Well if none of you will admit it, I will.
Today, my sister has gone out to run a few errands as she does on fridays, the one day she genuinely gets to chill at home these days. So I lie in bed after an early shift to get some rest and I decide to check my facebook as well as my other websites (i.e facebook, blogger, yahoo then back to facebook, then I start all over again plus the ocassional tumblr; I haven't checked that one yet but I will do in a second lol).

I put on some Ghanaian spirit tunes on youtube and start to pray a little. But then one negative thought just pops into my head and I think, "i'll just brush it off". My mini prayer stops for a second then I go back on my facebook, then my blogger lol.

I check a few statuses and one says, "God is shifting your season. The drought is over! The famine has ended and now it's harvest time". As soon as I finish reading, I hear that little negative voice say something along the lines of "That's what they usually say, but it never really changes" But then I remember that God has given me the job I have now and God has done so much, I just don't pause to recollect them in that instant.

Then another moment of mini prayer ensues and after that I find myself beginning to sink back into worry as I have noticed myself doing these days when I'm alone. There is a saying that goes, "the devil has work for idle hands". Not that I am completely idle because I have deliberately laid down to rest and soak myself with my music but I've noticed that whenever I am alone these days, that is when I get overwhelmingly bombarded.

One time I allowed negative thoughts to overwhelm me so much so that the things I said I'm definitely sure did not sound pleasant in God's ears but He has forgiven me still so I move on. I know it is completely bad so today as soon as I found myself beginning to do this, I decided to write and pray about it instead.

I nearly shed a tear some minutes ago and I thought why not put it in words on here. I seem to be beating about the bush with this and now I've almost forgotten the reason for my topic

Oh yeah I just remembered. I mean to say that in times when we are being bombarded by thoughts from the enemy, let us not sink into worry like I have done many times, but rather make it a point to pray and tell God all our worries. He cares more than you and especially I know, yet for some reason I seem to think otherwise when I have asked sometimes and the answer has not yet come.
God is in charge of my life and everything works together for my good. 

So in conclusion, let's start to pray instead of sit and worry.... lol like you did not see that coming.

Adios amigos!!!!

WAITING UPON THE LORD

Patience brings endurance to run the race. It is a manifestation of our faith in God!

Patience is a virtue which is more than many treasures when developed. Just recently, my friend got married and I learnt a few things in the process. One of them is the spirit of patience. When we were young it was the norm for people to get married before having children. But as I grew up, I realised that this had changed. It seemed even more normal to have kids before marriage, hence break once virginity.

It was not on my agenda to get married before having my own children but all I knew was that I wanted to have kids roughly in my mid to late twenties as at some point, my "biological clock" might start ticking.

But then things changed when I went to university and I found out that there were another group of young people who were planning on keeping themselves till marriage. This became the norm for me and my ideas changed. I'm glad they did yet I'm also aware that sometimes it is a bit challenging in this present day.

My reason for first mentioning my friend is that, she's one of those young people at university who waited before marriage.

I haven't had the chance to ask her but when I do, I'm sure she'll say that it was worth the wait. All those times when she was faced with compromising the standards in God which she believed to be sure and true and yet did not give up but stood her ground in God's word and decided to wait have become fruitful.

I recently read the book of proverbs (The message bible) and each time, "righteousness" showed up, the word "uncompromisingly" was written before it.

AMP version says in Psalm 92:12 that "The uncompromisingly righteous shall flourish like the palm tree [be long-lived, stately, upright, useful and fruitful]; They shall grow like a cedar in lebanon [ majestic, stable, durable and incorruptible]

Therefore if this promise has been made regarding the standards in God which we decide to keep in the process of dating, then I'm sure it is a blessing

Regarding adulthood and relationships, sometimes when things are not going the way we planned them as little children, we tend to get frustrated and if not careful we rush into things that set us back and make our journeys to our destinations even longer- This has been my feeling for sometime now but God help me. For instance, certain people assume that at a specific age, they are supposed to at least own a car, be in a relationship and have good jobs (Myself included). But sometimes it happens differently. What should we then do if we find that the plans which we made for ourselves are not coming out the way we wanted them to? This is when we need to develop a patient spirit. For in doing so, we will come to find that things will fall into place as they ought to.

I learnt from one of our fellowships at university that patience involves "waiting, trusting and holding tight" with anticipation. God expects us to be alert as we wait in patience. It involves expectation based on knowledge and trust and sometimes not waiting is a sign of arrogance. We should not go ahead of God but rather allow Him to lead us. One of the final things we need to participate in in our process of waiting is to spend time with God in prayer, be still and build our relationship with Him. God will always show up at the right time and give us that which we need. Let us not be bitter as it sometimes happens when the issues in our lives have not been attended to by God. Neither should we give God time to do things but rather wait upon Him because at the time when we are tired and seeking alternatives to Him, it is our own issues that are before Him which He is sorting out.

Psalm 145:15 says "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season"

Psalm 130:5-6 also says "I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth on the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning"

You might ask after such a long essay that why should you wait. Well a few reasons would be because of who God is, who we are and what we are not capable of doing.

Here's another favourite verse of mine in the bible on waiting.

Isaiah 40:30-31

"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." 

Stay focused on the destination as you run the race of endurance and STAY BLESSED AS YOU LEARN TO WAIT UPON THE LORD IN THIS NEW YEAR!!!

Adios!

AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

A week ago, I visited my sister and a friend after going to town to sort out a couple of things. The previous day, I had been reading a book on starting a new business. One of the topics in the book talked about facing one's fears and so the book requested that we list the things that we are afraid of and what we thought would happen if we attempted them. I listed quite a few and put up the positive things that could happen if I decided to take a chance on them. The following morning, I realised that for some reason I was getting a bit unhappy with my circumstance. I was getting worried about the things I was looking forward to and didn't seem to be happening. I felt a tad bit sad and I think I shed a few tears when some results I was waiting for returned and they weren't the ones I was hoping for. Mind you, they were the wrong results which I was given ( I found out the following day) but because worry had overshadowed me, it added salt to injury.

So I decided to go and see my friend and sister and when I got there, we were having random conversations and the topic of "worrying" popped up. My sister stated that she had noticed that I had lost weight and my friend commented on the fact that I looked worried and asked if I was worrying too much. She spoke about the things that she had gone through at certain points in her life and how she had tried to keep her head held high and have the right attitude in those circumstances

Today, I watched one of Creflo dollars' messages entitiled "The attitude of affection" and he placed an emphasis on the fact that as Christians we need to have the right attitude towards God in every circumstance. That our attitude in life determines our altitude (i.e. how high we go).One phrase that stuck out to me was "You will arrive at the place of your attitude". This was evident in my case when I began to worry because, I forgot about all the brilliant things occurring in my life for a second and decided to direct my focus on those that had not happened as well as worry about the "potential wrongs" that could happen essentially causing me to be overwhelmed and depressed.

The other few things I learnt were that 

1. My attitude determines whether things will work out

2. With an attitude of Gratitude, I should serve God

3. My position of affection towards God will determine my success in everything I do in line with God's word

To emphasise on no. 2, I'm gradually learning that my service to God does not only include me working for God in church but also the way I react in various circumstances.

So e.g. If I find that I have no money and I continuously murmur and complain about it, that is indirectly a "disservice" to God. In exodus 15 and 16, the Israelites had been set free from captivity in Egypt and God had provided so much for them yet when they wanted something else and had not received it, they murmured against Moses and essentially against God and God heard these murmurings.

Numbers 11:1

"And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in uttermost parts of the camp"

From this verse, it is clear that God is not cool with murmurings and complains. Therefore it is important that we have the right attitude towards Him in all circumstances and that our position in those circumstances include being APPRECIATIVE, GRATEFUL, THANKFUL and HONOURABLE as in the end these will create a FRUITFUL disposition. But a contrary attitude will cause us to serve LACK as written in Deuteronomy 28:47

"Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee"

So I guess all I'm saying is that I should learn to be more thankful in my circumstances as this is God's will for my Life [1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In everything, give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you"]

Gracias a Dios por esta palabras- Thank you God for this word

"Marriage- Faith & Forgiveness"

1. Marriage is a journey of Faith.
2. To err is human, but to forgive is divine

I recently attended my friend's (kea) wedding and during the service, the pastor quoted "Marriage is a journey of faith"- This touched me because it made me realise that even though people get married mostly because they love each other, none of them know what they will face along the journey. Neither do they know the outcome. All they dwell on is the "love" they have for each other in that moment as well as "hope" that all things will work for good in their marriage. Hence indirectly they are exercising Faith- (A substance of things "hoped" for and the evidence of things unseen"....Hebrews 11: 1) in their journey together as a couple.

The second lesson I learnt was "To err is human but to forgive is divine".
I had heard this quote many times yet did not really understand it until the preacher set an example in the case of married couples who because of the amount of time they spend together are bound to offend each other. In certain cases, the offence would be so much (Jesus says, blessed is he who shall not be offended in me... Matthew 11:6) so that, the foundations of the marriage could be shaken and if this happens, a marriage that has been built on a strong foundation with its entirety entrenched in Christ would find that the only thing they can do is to go back to the founder and ask for strength and this would be the definition of the divinity in forgiveness.
You see, when we are offended, we don't forgive because we are perfect and it's so easy rather we forgive because, we were once sinners deemed to perish except for the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus

Therefore as humans we are bound to err, but when we offend others, their ability to forgive us is only due to the fact that, they themselves have been forgiven hence they are able to do the same to others i.e. divine forgiveness. God alone can help us to forgive. We cannot give what we do not have. We can only forgive because we have received forgiveness from God. Hence he has shown us an example and is only asking that we do the same with others.

May God help us all to practice forgiveness in our relationships and allow us to abide in faith and love in our marriages in Jesus name Amen.

FREEDOM!

 Let go of the constant need for people's approval. Once you do, you realise that you are able to experience the complete freedom which God intends for you to have.
Christ has come to set the captives free. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Freedom: "The power or right to speak, act or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint"

INTERNAL PRAYER

"The Art of the internal prayer to God can keep us on track when opportunity opens itself"

Nehemiah 2: 4-5 "The King asked, "well how can I help you?" With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, "If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried"

Nehemiah has been praying to God about a particular issue but when the opportunity comes that it be answered through the King, he does not in haste reply but rather says a prayer first!.

-Daily Bible Verse-

Happy Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!
I hope you are feeling blessed...May Jesus continue to be the reason for the season in each of your lives and may you find in the coming year that you relate to Him more than ever...God replenish and sustain your strength this upcoming year and may you come out as courageous overcomers by the blood of the lamb in Jesus Name Amen...God inspire you...
stay blessed!

Matthew 1:21 "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins

vs 23 "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us"

Isaiah 9:6 it says "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be wonderful counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace"