Hope

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
(Romans 5:1-5)

Happy Mother's Day

Oh, what a wonderful Sunday!

A good mother loves her family and provides an atmosphere where each member can find acceptance, security, and understanding. She is there when the children need a listening ear, a comforting word, a warm hug, or a loving touch on a fevered brow. And for the Christian mother, her greatest joy is in teaching her children to trust and to love Jesus as their Savior.

That kind of mother deserves to be honored—not just on one special day a year but every day. And that recognition should involve more than words; it ought to be shown in respect, thoughtfulness, and loving deeds.

Of all the earthly things God gives,
There’s one above all others:
It is the precious, priceless gift
Of loving Christian mothers.

And for the kids...

1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
(Ephesians 6:1-3)

Blessed Mother's Day
to all mothers
I Love You, Mum! *kiss*

Yes, I gave my mom a sweet kiss today:)

Drifting Away

Lord, help me to stay close to You

And trust You more each day,

So when the storms of life appear

I will not drift away.


I am with you always, even to the end of the age. — Matthew 28:20

To avoid drifting away from God, stay anchored to the Rock.

The Search For Peace

"And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 4:7)

Amen.

It's the peace of God that I really need in me now. Recently, lots of stuff have been playing around in my mind. Good and Bad. For the good, thank God! For the bad, Lord please help me :)

The world we live in cannot offer peace. It offers poor options. Pleasure, power, and possessions are no substitute for peace of heart and mind. Nothing in this world can satisfy our needs. Trust in the Lord and He'll provide you with your needs. And yes, this is the peace that I really need now. I'm not able to bear everything alone, I'll collapse without God. The world is in a big mess, how can we able to stay calm without Him.

Peace-real peace-is found only in your relationship with Jesus.
Have you received His peace?

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.
And the God of peace will be with you.

I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

(Philippians 4:4-12)

Why Worry?

"Don’t worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need,
and thank him for all he has done."
(Philippians 4:6)

As we all know school is starting soon and somehow I began to start worrying about some stuff. I began to worry about the decisions I've made because it would actually affect me throughout this year. This year I need to get serious with studies, at the same time with God. So yeah, many things going around in my head now.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today”
(Matthew 6:34)

But what do we get by worrying? By worrying, problems will not be solved. So I guess we shouldn't be worrying too much about our problems. Instead we should be spending more time praying rather than worrying. And yes, it is because God is interested in every detail of your life. Always thank God for everything and be grateful for the things He has done. Everything that happens is already planned by God.

The way we think will affect ourself, it determines the way we feel and the way we act. If our thinking is always on the negative side, I would say you'll have fun living a miserable life :)

When we no longer worry, when we pray about everything, when we give thanks, when we focus on the right things, the apostle Paul tells us the result is, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 )

Everlasting Friend

"So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God."

(Romans 5:11)

We all have friends, right? Some people have lots of friends while some might just have a little. Everyone in this world needs a friend, they will spend time together doing what they like and help each other when they're in need.

However, sometimes some of us feel left out or lonely because our friends are not with us. We always forget that we always have a true and everlasting friend with us all the time. He is God! Yes, it's hard to imagine a friend that you can't see. He wants to be our best friend and He is! This friendship with God is possible only because of the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus.

God loves us and we're all His best friends.

The question is... Do we acknowledge Him as our best friend? Often we seek other people first when we're in trouble and we seek God last.

"There is one God and Father of everything. He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything."
(Ephesians 4:6)

What can humans do with your problems?

Well, they can comfort us or maybe help us out. That applies if you're just having a minor problem, but what if you're in deep trouble? Let's say a life-death situation, a situation where no one is there or even when you're totally worn out. Will you still go for your friends? How much can they help you? In the end, the problems are still there. There is NO complete solution to your problems if you seek man. Never forget that even in the darkest moment of your life, when you're left out from the world, God will always be there.

"Come close to God, and God will come close to you."
(James 4:8)

Good friendship comes with you can share your life experience with each other, that applies to God too! It's not just attending church on Sunday or having daily devotional, but everything else you do daily. Everything you do can be 'spending time with God' if He is invited to be part of it and you stay aware of His presence. Choose to praise God every moment of your life. Share every problem with Him and have faith in Him. All things will be possible when you have faith.

"The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant."
(Psalm 25:14)

There is absolutely nothing more important than developing a friendship with God. It's a relationship that will last forever! Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege, and being known and loved is God's greatest pleasure.

Surrender

"...I surrender all to You
I surrender all to You
I am nothing without You
Jesus Christ, take my life
It’s all for You..."

(Planetshakers - Surrender)

Surrender. What's the first thing that comes to our mind? We often think surrender as something that is not good, giving up, losing and it's usually used in a negative view.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship."
(Romans 12:1)

In God's view, the heart of worship is surrender. Only true worship will bring pleasure to God and that only happens when you offer yourself to him, sacrificing yourself. It's the living sacrifice! There will always be a cost when you offer your life to Him. You need to sacrifice something in order to see the change in your life. It can be something valuable or even your interest.

"You can now see that we please God by what we do and not only by what we believe."
(James 2:24)

Surrendering can be demonstrated by obedience and trust. If God ask you to do something, lets say something which seems quite impossible for you. Often we will hesitate, thinking that will we be able to do it. Trusting God completely means having faith that he knows what is best for your life. If we hesitate, it means that we don't have the trust for Him. Therefore, we don't need an explanation when He asks us to do something. You will never get to understand commands until you obey them first. What God wants is instant obedience, it is the key to get closer to Him. Often we tend to offer delayed obedience or partial obedience. We only do it after having a long thought or we only choose to obey the ones we like. Yet, all these are disobedience and that will not please God.

"And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."
(Romans 6:13)

"The LORD is pleased only with those who worship him and trust his love." (Psalm 147:11)

Bringing Glory

"Everything comes from God alone.

Everything lives by his power,
and everything is for his glory."

Romans 11:36

The reason for everything - the glory of God. It's all for Him because without His glory, there would be nothing.


What is the glory of God?
It is who God is. It is the essence of His nature, the weight of His importance, the radiance of His splendor, the demonstration of His power, and the atmosphere of His presence. God's glory is the expression of His goodness and all His other intrinsic, eternal qualities.

All the wonderful things in the universe are His creation. From the smallest to the biggest thing that were created, reflects His glory. The beauty of nature, wonders of the world, all these reflects how awesome our Creator is.

Humans, as one of God's creation are created to bring glory to Him. That should be our ultimate goal. In everything we do, do it for Him, do it for His glory! Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when you do it for the praise, glory, and pleasure of God. As for me now, part of my responsibility is my studies. I'm doing it for Him, I surrender everything to Him, it's all for His glory. My plans are already in His hands.

"Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering."
(Romans 12:1)

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
(Colossians 3:23)


"Whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever!" (John 3:36)

Jesus, I believe in You and I receive You!
Amen.

Living Towards Eternity

"And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever."

(1 John 2:17)

The world will come to an end one day, also means that all of us will be wiped out one fine day. So we die and that's the end of it. But this statement is not true, we're supposed to be made to last forever. God will not create man to last for a short period of time, man was made for immortality. Our body dies but our souls live forever! Your identity is in eternity, and your homeland is heaven.

Eternity is indescribable. Some might ask what is eternity going to be like. No one has ever experience, as the Bible says “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Earth is not our final home, just a temporary place for us; we were created for something much better. The Bible says "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1).

---------------------------

The next thing is how do you view your life. Some people might say life is a roller coaster, merry-go-around, etc... How you see your life will determine will your life will be. Around last year, some people asked me about this question; all I answered was something is this 'Life is a game, play it to the fullest before it's game over.' LOL...now I laugh back about what I've said before. My life just about playing, enjoyment and no wonder I'm so playful.

But am I living a life that God wants it to be? Honestly, I don't think so but I'm trying to.
The Bible described: Life is a test, trust and temporary assignment. These are the 3 good example on your view of life. God constantly watches over you; He is always testing you, seeing how you can cope with the world. God gives you everything on earth, seeing how responsible you're over them.

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones..."
(Luke 16:10)

I did some thinking over the past few days and I realize that when I'm focus on God, things in the world become worthless to me. I shouldn't had spend too much time on them, they're just temporary. I soon felt that sometimes why some things we asked but yet we don't receive. Maybe it's because God is avoiding me from being too attached to the world. Slight dissatisfaction in life from God is for our own good. But it's alright, all these are just temporary, the true riches are still yet to come.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
(2 Corinthians 4:18)

God Bless

"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

(John 14:6)

Spiritually Dry

Yeah, it's happy to be 18 years old. It's always one of the happiest day of the year for me, who doesn't right? Thank God for His grace and mercy on me for 18 years.

A wonderful present from uncle Kayode.

Everyday seems to be a happy day for me, even after 18 years, everything is going on well...etc. But if you can look inside me, I'm actually spiritually dry. I just felt that I don't have a close relationship with God. Everything looks great all these while, but what if one day God decide to take it away from me? What is left for me?


So for today, I would say I received the best birthday 'present'. I believe God had sent this person to wake me up again. Around 7pm, one of my church elder, Uncle Kayode visited me to have some personal discussion with me. As usual, he just ask some basic questions about what I normally do daily, hows my relationship with God...etc. As the conversation goes on, I soon realise that I've not been doing what I'm supposed to do. I can spend so much time on other stuff, but I just couldn't spend some time with God.


As the eldest son of the family and the oldest in my youth cell group, I believe that the younger ones will look up on me as a leader, but the thing is, I don't think I've been setting a good example for them. I'm 18 now and it's time to get more serious in certain aspects.

Some verses I would like to share that really did a great impact on me tonight...

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
(Matthew 6:33)

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
(Joshua 1:8)

I'll always keep those verses in mind. I've been slacking with God's word all these while. Can't even think what I've done for these 18 years. Well, it's never too late to start. I'll get started!!!

So once again, today isn't a special day because of my birthday, but it's a special day that I've decided to start off with a new life. A day to remember...

God Bless!

Thinking About My Purpose

Sometimes, I do ask myself...

What's the purpose for me to live?
What's my purpose on earth?
Is it just a place to drop by and leave when the time comes?

I'm a person who doesn't like to read much but somehow today I've decided to take this book out, hoping to find answers in it.

Exactly! WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?

Until now, I still can't get a exact answer for this question. Could it be about achieving my goals, fulfilling my dreams? It's all just a guess, and I might be in the wrong path which leads me to a dead end.

"For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him."
(Collosians 1:16)

Without God, life makes no sense at all. This is a point that we all need to understand. And it's true, as you can see nowadays, people are doing all kinds of funny things such as self-suicide, drugs addiction, getting into trouble...etc. If they knew their purpose for living, do you think all these will happen?

YOU are made by God and for God. God should be the one who decides what you life is going to be. We're able to choose what we want to be, but you can't choose the purpose of your life. God has already planned for each of us. The purpose of our life is just far greater than anything else.

"Focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose."
It's not about me, it's about Him. We were born by His purpose and for His purpose. It's all started when you have a good relationship with Jesus Christ. Amen!

PS: And yeah, I'm turning 18 tomorrow. Hope it's still not too late to realise my purpose on earth. :)

God Bless!

Psalm 121

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Amen! He will never let you down even in the darkest moment of your life.

God does things in His own way and there's always be a reason. He gave us obstacles in our life so that we will think. We make mistakes so that we will learn and not to repeat.

When there is no one else, don't forget His presence will be always there.

Seek and you will receive!

Psalm 20

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

2 May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.

3 May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
Selah

4 May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.

5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.

6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.

9 O LORD, save the king!
Answer us when we call!