GOD IS EVER FAITHFUL

When God's Power is perfect

God got my attention with a bible passage that I came across 3 times within 24 hours, and it was an eye opener because I never knew that, certain thoughts about myself was making me to loose focus on who God is. Flagellating myself about my weaknesses had become a daily habit, but God who knows my secret, innermost thoughts decided that enough was enough and He spoke to me so vividly through his word.

"But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Since then, I have made it a daily habit to pray that God's grace will be sufficient for me, that his power should be made perfect through my weaknesses, and that his power will rest on me. Furthermore, I pray that like Paul, I will take delight in weaknesses, hardships, insults, and difficulties. The word 'delight' paints a picture of a young kid who is in the process of getting a promised treat and with a huge grin  is hopping from one foot to the other, hands held out to receive. 

 God's promise is that his power is perfected in that difficult situation, or hardship or weakness and knowing that helps me to wait in expectation for the manifestation of God's power.

God's Love Story:

                                                               GOD IS EVER FAITHFUL

                                                               

                                                                                                   By: Mrs. Akinyemi-Adigun, K. A.

I had a dream and saw my son being tormented by some group of people. Afterwards, I prayed a simple prayer because I know the God that I believe and serve will not suffer me to the hands of my foes.

Some days later, I began to experience strange feelings towards my son. This grew stronger and it dawned  on my spirit that he was going to fall victim of an accident in his factory. So, I prayed and reminded GOD of His past mercies and faithfulness to my family.

Eventually, the accident occurred! All glory to God Almighty, He made a way of escape. My son was spared, the hand of God caused him to move away from where he stood and just immediately the hot heavy barrel of his machine gave way, fell right to the very point where he had moved from.

My God is ever faithful!!!


Advent Season

It's the season to remember, rejoice and be thankful for the most wonderful gift we have ever received. The song below is a rendition of the song: Little drummer boy by Pentatonix. Enjoy!

Strange Works of God in my Business

Tale of two 'Believe'

It's very easy to believe in the power of God and his word  because we know God cannot lie, the promises of God are 'yes' and 'amen'. But on the other hand, I find it difficult to trust and believe the words of prophets, because history has shown that prophecies can be true or false. Because of this reason, the word of God gave guidelines that helps in determining whether a word of prophecy is true or not. (1 John 4:1; Deuteronomy 18:22 ; Jeremiah 28:9)

Despite my reticence on the above, I had cause to believe certain words of prophecy generally spoken by men of God within the last four months. One was in September and two this month, each of these prophecies has come to pass in my life and I have prospered forthwith from them. So I encourage you to hold onto words of prophecy spoken directly over your life or those sown as seeds by men of God. Activate your faith, declare the words over your life, situation and challenges and believe!

God's Love Story:

What does spit, clay and a pool have in common? They are carriers or vessels of God's glory used by Jesus to work miracles. In Acts of Apostles, the sick were laid on the streets so that they can be overshadowed by Paul's shadow. The testimony or story shared today belongs to the category of such manifestation of God's power through one of his creations.

                                            STRANGE WORK OF GOD IN FAMILY BUSINESS
                                                                        By: Ifeoluwa

I want to thank God Almighty for his strange works in my family and business. A few months ago, God gave us a new business idea that we worked on and started. Since the inception of the business, we had few sales, and it has been so stormy .We have been working so hard to make the business stand and also for us to get customers and orders but there was little or no progress.

Recently, the man of God came around to visit the place of our business,  and he prayed on our goods and also prayed on water by divine instruction.  He asked us to use the water to spray our goods and every part of our shop. We obeyed God and believed the prophet by doing exactly as we have been instructed.  To the glory of God, within 6 hours things started turning around for us. Within a day, we had so many orders that we could not cope with. In fact since that day, we have been stylishly rejecting or delaying  orders because we have so much than we can handle now. As it is , our workers will work all night within the next 2 weeks for us to meet up with orders.  We give God the glory for the strange turn around in our business.  Indeed we serve a God of sudden turnarounds.

Prayer:
Our Lord and God, we thank you for your faithfulness and mercies. We thank you for this testimony of your power at work in strange ways. We ask that according to your word, you will rise up and do your work, your strange work in our lives. The tasks that you have planned to carry out, in order that our lives reflect your glory, do it O Lord. We believe in You and we believe your words, may we be established and may we prosper as we believe the words of faith spoken by your servants. We receive with thanks in Jesus name. Amen

Last notes:
In this season of Advent, as we remember what the birth of Jesus has accomplished in our lives, I want to encourage us to start a new Christmas tradition. If you do put up Christmas tree in your house, ask each member of your family to either create an ornament or get something that is representative of something great God did this year in their lives. You can also write out a few words about it and either glue it o the back of the ornament or stuff it inside. That way, each year as the family keeps adding on such representations of God's faithfulness, our trees becomes much more meaningful and can really rejoice on what God has done over the years.

IN GOD'S HOUSE OF MIRRORS

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." Isaiah 43:2

Embracing the Fire:

One of bravest group of people that I know are Firefighters, they run towards burning buildings instead of away from it. They rely on their clothing and equipment to fight fires, but what can make a believer to run towards the fire of affliction or trials and then embrace it? I have a healthy dose of fear of fires and can quite remember one or two incidences of kerosene stove explosion in my childhood, my reactions was anything but cool headed.😨

A very literal example of embracing the fire was that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they knew that the consequences of disobeying the King's edict was being thrown in the fire but they decided to obey the King of kings instead. The fire was no threat to them, but was a messenger to proclaim the greatness of God. Sometimes, we see the troubles coming well ahead of time and sometimes, they come upon us suddenly, no matter how they come, our reaction should be 'YES', I want God's name to be glorified through this! Like a firefighter,  let's put on our armor, stand in the fire and be confident that God is with us.

As the year ends, I encourage us to reflect on the challenges we have faced this year and also consider what our reaction was to each one, Then look forward to next year with confidence, hope ad trust in God Almighty.

God's Love Story:

IN GOD'S HOUSE OF MIRRORS

                                                                                                      By: Ronald Cox

I could tell you all about when I was young and what happened to me, but that’s not really my testimony.

I could tell you about how much I lost because of my sin, but that too is not my testimony.

I could tell you I was in the bottom of the pit of hell, but that’s not my testimony either.

I do want to tell you that when I was eight years old I gave my life to Christ, and they told me then that Jesus would never leave me nor forsake me.

When the gavel dropped and the judge said, “Guilty” … I thought my life was over.  And I felt forsaken.

While I was sitting in my holding cell at Oakland County, Michigan – feeling sorry for myself and thinking life was over for me as I knew it – a man came to me and asked me if I knew who Jesus was. 

I thought to myself:  This is all I need right now.  A jail house preacher!

So as sarcastically as I could, I said, “Yes! – I know Jesus.”

He answered back excitedly, “Wow!  I have been looking all over trying to find someone who knew Jesus.  Would you please tell me about Him?!”

I was so shocked I didn’t know what to say. 

So I just started to tell him about Jesus.  It was like God had me instantly plugged in to Him again.

I told him about Jesus and how much He loved him – that He died for just such a time as this – so His blood could wash him clean of his sins and qualify him for heaven.

God started speaking to me in that my life wasn’t over.  It was just beginning!

And we both said the sinner’s prayer that day!

God told me afterwards that He sent that man to lead me back to Him. I thought I was helping to save his soul.  But God sent him to save MY soul.

They shipped me to Jackson, Michigan.  There in my cell I just couldn’t get enough of Jesus.  I just kept reading the Bible (His Word) over and over and over.

Everyone told me that I wouldn’t stay in my district because of my age.  Thus I found myself on a bus to go up across the bridge separating southern Michigan and northern Michigan.  That was the best place for me because my wife had started to divorce me.

When the time came for her to go before the judge to sign the papers to end the marriage … she couldn’t sign them.

The judge suggested to her a legal separation -- it would give her more time to think.

In my first year in prison God started dealing with me in a big way.  He told me I was in a house of mirrors and I was to watch and learn.  In those mirrors I saw:  Pride - arrogance – lack of self-control – blaming others – rebellion to authority.  Boy - that was me!  

While God was working on me there, He was also working on my wife.  He was showing her the godly man that was inside me that was being formed. 

“It was like God was telling me to wait,” she said.  So she did.

One day my brother and his wife drove eight hours to come see me.  Low and behold … who do you think was with them?  My wife! 

They stayed two days and then on the way back, my brother told me later that he told my wife, “You don’t drive hours one way to see someone you don’t still care for.”

Things started to change big time after that. 

As I grew in faith, her faith grew strong also, but now we were in the same garden being watered by the same Master. 

I know I haven’t said anything about what brought me to prison.  That’s because that’s not my testimony.  My past is not my future.  It’s my past, forgiven by God.  My testimony is not about me and what I’ve done and now forgiven for.  It’s what GOD has done for me!

Jesus wanted to birth obedience in my life.  Too many times I said, “What you see is what you get.”  That is because I didn’t want to change.  But Jesus tells us – “Whoever has My commandments and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me.” (John: 14:21)

There is always a connection in the scriptures between love and obedience.  “If you love me you will keep My commandments.”  (John 14:15)

I now understand that if we say we truly love God we will show it by our obedience to His Word. 

The standard we need to follow is the relationship Jesus has with the Father. 

We need to make sure what we say is what we do.

I have to remember that God without Ron is still God, but Ron without God is nothing and condemned to spend eternity in hell.

Now that I look back on how I was when my sins sent me to prison, I can truly say it is well with my soul.  When they took all my clothes and made me look like everyone else in prison – when they took all my rights away and gave them to the state – all of that too is well with my soul. 

Satan hits me daily because he wants to try to keep control, just like with all Christians.  He likes to remind me frequently that I put myself here because I wouldn’t listen to God and what He was telling me in His Word to do.  Though he’s right, I can’t change all that, and I have to remind myself my past is washed in the shed blood of Jesus … but it is well with my soul.

Why?  Because I cried out to my Lord.  I cried with a broken heart and with a repentant soul.  Jesus came into my life and forgave me of my sins.  God came in and brought peace beyond my understanding.  He brought love back into my life.  He brought back things I thought were gone forever.  He took me in a way I had never been before.  He brought me by the way of unconditional love.  When you need this kind of love, that’s when He can teach you how to give.  I will never walk alone again and that is truly well with my soul. 

Only when you have God’s peace in you can you give it to others.  Who are you to say that life is over when you fall into sin?  I feel so in love with my Savior that nothing is impossible in Him.  Yes, even though I’m still in prison (2012), and still held away from my family, it is well with my soul. 

My “old man” is dead and I’m a new creation in Christ. The “new man” God has created in me is the person that matters now.  I was left with my dreams torn apart and a broken heart, but God has given me new dreams.  He’s given me a new heart.  Not a mended heart, but a brand new heart!

I’m free - free to dream again.  I’m free to have the love of my wife again.  I’m free to have the love of my family again.  I free to be who God truly created me to be.  No – I’ll never walk alone again. 

YES … it is well with my soul.

JESUS DID IT!

My God 'Moment'

Life Choices

I choose to believe, I choose to trust, I choose to love and so many others. Life is all about making choices. Are you familiar with the typewriter and the noise it generates when in use? On Monday of last week, my thoughts were sounding exactly that way, the pace of negative thoughts was so fast that I had to take a deep breathe and make a decision not to allow free rein to such thoughts. Taking that decision led me to start declaring the things I choose.

 I choose to be content with all that I have even when the pantry is empty and there is no money in the bank account. I choose to believe that am God's masterpiece even when my body is being ravaged by sicknesses and diseases. I choose to be patient as God is working everything out for my good. I choose to believe that even when things are not going my way, God is on my way. I choose to trust that God's plan for my life is taking me to a very good end. I choose life, the life abundant that the Lord Jesus Christ has given me. Furthermore, I choose peace, to be happy, to rejoice in the midst of trials and sorrows. I choose to sing aloud when doubts crowd my mind and dance stamping the enemy under my feet. I choose Jesus. 

Song of the week:

There are few musicians that I have really connected to and also connect to their music. Don Moen has been a favorite for many years and recently can't stop listening to songs written and sang by Sinach Joseph. One of those is below titled "Rejoice"

Lyric video: https://youtu.be/u9o6EJYHIUg

God's Love Story:

My God "Moment"

This is a recent story about something that may seem mundane and ordinary to some people but it was an answer to a heartfelt prayer and that which showed the faithfulness of God.

Am not a gym buff and not a fan of exercises but I do love taking walks because I get to see and observe things like nature, take pictures and have quiet moments in my spirit with God. One of such days was Thursday, November 17th., I was on a walk, listening to music via my phone and was about 35mins away from my house when I observed a changing skyline. It was a generally cloudy day, not too cold but with brisk winds. The change in the skyline was one that signified rain and then I remembered there was a forecast of 5% chance of rain.  Here I was, a long way from home without rain coat or umbrella, I had initial thoughts of turning back but knew that will not help me so I made a decision to pray and I prayed as follows:

"Lord, I pray that all the elements in the heavens and earth that brings about rain should hold still and let it not rain until I have gotten back home I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen  "

Then, as an afterthought I added "and let the sun shine amen".

I continued to my mid point, which I had previously determined to turn back and head home. On getting there, I made a step to turn back and my eyes saw something it has never seen before. It was a moment of awe for me and could not resist taking a picture of it.

Ray of Hope

 

It was the sun shining out of the dark heavy clouds, with it's rays visible to the naked eyes shining down to the earth. What was more awe inspiring for me was that, the rays of the sun was right around the place I was when I prayed my simple prayer. I was 40 minutes away from my house and God showed his love towards me, He is ever faithful, never failing. On my walk back, I thought to my self ' This is a GOD moment ', when He shows that his ears are ever attentive to our prayers even on the mundane issues of our lives. As that thought was passing, another came and that was ' every moment is God's moment because His presence is always with us, by our side and in us. Whether we are able to feel it or not, or see the physical manifestation of His presence, He is always with us.

My heart was filled with joy and I was skipping and swinging my hands till I got back home. The dark heavy clouds rolled away, the sun eventually came out and I was able to experience a minute portion of what God is able to do when we pray. All praise and glory be to his name. I titled my picture 'Ray of Hope' because no matter the darkness around us, God's light shines through. Hallelujah

 

Last week's blog post 

After publishing my post of last week, I decided to catch up on my emails before getting ready for church service. One of the emails was daily devotional from faith gateway and it was on the theme of what you see. I have learned that there are no coincidences, when God wants to reiterate a point, He brings it to one's notice more than once. If you desire to read more go to: http://www.faithgateway.com/surprised-god-everywhere/#.WDIpOZXrvIU

 

 

The Prodigal Daughter

I See:

My Father, the Great and Mighty One, the Almighty, the I Am who is everything to me, my Maker, Molder and Lover of my soul. I see His greatness, His mighty hand and outstretched arms. He is the one who sees all, knows all and create ways in impossible locations like in the desert and seas. I see His glory in the rising sun, His majesty in rainbows and the brilliance of His countenance in the moon and stars. His faithfulness and unfailingly love drizzles down like constant rain.

I see Him who out of His fullness gave me grace after grace,  spiritual blessings upon spiritual blessings, favor upon favor and gift upon gift. He is my redeemer, my advocate and comforter. The one who reveals to me who my Father is, and He who requires faith like a grain of mustard seed. He gives a lot on a little from me, though that little is my all.

Because I see Him, like Paul  can say: " pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed." 1

And like Habakkuk, say: "Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds' feet, And makes me walk on my high places." 2

And I stand and declare that nothing can separate me from the love of Christ.

Quote: "To see the glory of God is to know his Goodness" 3

 

                                                      All I see is You: By Sinach Joseph

God's Love Story:

The Prodigal Daughter

                                                                                                        By: Christina Martin

 In the book ‘Vanishing Acts’ by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors, the protagonist says, “Whether it is conscious or not, you eventually make the decision to divide your life in half – before and after – with loss being that tight bubble in the middle.”

Four years ago, my world came crashing down on me. A “family crisis”, if you will. Or a “trial”, if you want to put a Christian tag on it. It was a horrible experience all the same. Now due to the personal nature of the issue, I am afraid I cannot reveal details about that storm. Why write about it then, you ask? Well, because the story isn’t about the storm, it is about the aftermath – the drowning and the survival.
For about the first two months, even though I felt very hurt, upset and angry, I held on to God. I couldn’t understand how God could possibly bring any good out of it but I forced myself to believe Romans 8:28. Gradually, however, I lost hope. I was angry because God was silent. The questions that some classmates/friends threw at me when we debated religion became my questions. “How can a God who is all good allow evil?”, “How can He just sit up there and silently watch His people suffer?”, and the most pressing one: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Obviously I didn’t get answers to my questions; God was still silent; and I drifted from my faith. I stopped reading the Bible, and I stopped praying as well. I only went to church because my family went. And at church, although I loved hymns, I forced myself to keep silent. It wasn’t arrogance, it was just all the hurt talking. I even thought of God as a sadist because I did not understand His silence while I was hurting.

At the time I was 18 and still in college. I enjoyed sharing Christ with others but now during my final year things were different. I avoided religion talk as much as possible. I remember when at a college fest a friend and I were casually talking about life, the topic slid to God and he asked me a question and I conveniently skirted around it. And as months passed by, I concluded that God did not exist, or at least forced myself to believe so, because surely if God existed, He would not allow horrible things to happen to His people, especially people who did not deserve it. A handful of people tried to help me at different points in this journey but none of their words really comforted me. In hindsight, I don’t blame them because it wasn’t a regular problem off the shelf, and they didn’t really know what to say. Sometimes I didn’t even want ‘help’; I wanted to keep myself busy in an attempt to become numb to reality.
After about two and a half years, my parents felt led by God to switch churches. Things needed to start afresh, they thought, and I agreed with them on this one. This in fact remains one of the best decisions we’ve made as a family. But I’m getting ahead of myself now. In November 2014, we began a new journey. At the age of 21, for the first time, I saw what true and genuine Christianity looked like. It intrigued me and made me think. I eventually conceded that God exists. He always did and I knew that; I was just angry with Him. But I still could not get myself to believe that He was good all the time so I made a deal with God. I decided that the day I realize why He allowed that experience in my life or the moment I see the ‘good’ from it, I would get back to Him. My parents told me that the deal wouldn’t work because God doesn’t work that way but I was stubborn and unwilling to let go.

Then one Sunday the congregation sang a song about how we need God every hour, how we cannot live life without Him, and that broke me. Realization struck me like never before: I was terribly stupid to run away from God, the Creator of this universe. After church, I walked up to my pastor and confessed that I was struggling to believe in God’s goodness. No, he did not sit me down and drown me in scripture. All he said was that I should get back to reading the Bible and praying. “Concentrate on what you believe, and God will slowly answer your doubts in His time,” he said. Now you may not agree with this advice but I think it was brilliant. I didn’t need to put off God until I understood Him completely. Who understands Him completely anyway? Our finite minds will never be able to do that.
In August 2015, I rededicated my life to God. No, everything didn’t turn beautiful (or normal) in one magical moment. It was a process. I firstly acknowledged that He did exist, even though I forced myself to deny it before. Then one particular night, I just wrote pages after pages to Him because my thoughts work better on paper (you’d understand if you’re an introvert yourself). Guilt overwhelmed me and I wondered if God would ever take me back. I had made so many spiteful remarks about God and Christians, I had caused hurt to my family (when they had their own measure of pain to deal with), I had put the Lord’s testimony at stake when I avoided religion talk, I had… I had done so much more. Long story short, I was a hopeless sinner far from God. And now here I was, overridden with guilt, wanting to get my act together, and get back to Him.
You know how the father in the parable of the prodigal son takes him back? While the son was still at a distance, the father saw him, had compassion upon him, ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him. Still at a distance. This shows us God’s reaction when we return from being lost in sin. He doesn’t belittle us by reminding us of what we have done. He doesn’t take us back reluctantly; in fact, I was going back reluctantly. But like the father in the parable, He takes us back joyously and eagerly while we are still at a distance – unsure and ashamed. It took me a while to understand that God had forgiven me the moment I had confessed. I just hadn’t forgiven myself. After I finally did, I had to make a conscious effort to turn a deaf ear to the devil each time he reminded me of my past. Even as I write this, I have to do that, and remind myself that even if a reader is going to judge me, it doesn’t matter because the God of this universe has justified me.

Now this is my ‘after’…

Even though I was pretty well-versed with parts of the Bible and certain doctrines, I came to God as a new Christian. Sometimes I think you just have to turn over a new leaf, start anew. I wanted to fall in love with Him all over again. I wanted to understand Him from scratch, like a child in a beginners class at Sunday school. From November 2015, I set aside time for God every day. Regular quiet time/devotion after nearly three years! I started with the book of Hosea because just like the nation of Israel, I also was unfaithful to God. I also committed spiritual adultery and I wanted to learn how God took Israel back. This book helped me understand that God is such a perfect, holy, patient, and jealous God, and that He will do whatever it takes to bring His straying children back to Him. Hosea 11:8 says, “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel?” That’s the kind of love He had for Israel; a love beyond measure. He is the same God today and He loves us too.


Story credit:http://2praisegod.com/the-prodigal-daughter/

 Bible verses:

1) 2 Corinthians  4:8-9

2) Habakkuk 3:17  

3) Exodus 33: 18-19

Passing through Troubled Waters

" Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes!"

Still not Stagnant

God has spoken before and he is still speaking today "Stand Still or Be Still!, you don't have to be afraid or fret yourself because your victory is at hand. You may need to ask yourself ' how do I stand still? ', or 'what does standing still involve?' Before saying what I think it involves, I want to bring to light that the word 'still' ' is a synonym for 'stagnant'.

Stagnant is a word that refers to (of a body of water or the atmosphere of a confined space) having no current or flow and often having an unpleasant smell as a consequence: oxford dictionary.
So if you are standing still, care must be taken not to become stagnant. We can become stagnant when we:

- Stop believing that God has good plans and everything will work out for our good. Jeremiah 29:11
- Stop looking to Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith Hebrews 12:2
- Start murmuring and grumbling, never seeing the blessings inherent in our trials 1 Corinthians 10:10
- Start seeking our own ways and solutions because we are impatient to see God at work Jeremiah 18:12
- Start comparing ourselves to others in similar situations. Galatians 6:4-5

On the other hand to be still is to:

 - Believe God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Romans 4:17
 - Against all hope, believe in hope Romans 4:18
 - Be fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform Romans 4:21
 - Allow the current of thanksgiving and joy be part of our being 1 Thessalonians 5:18
 - To know and believe God is with you Isaiah 41:10

The first time I heard the song 'Soar' by Meredith Andrews, I could literally feel myself fly in the air, faith rose up within me and I was able to pray like I should pray.

 Testimony:

PASSING THROUGH TROUBLED WATERS

By: Josephine Fitzgerald

It is truly overwhelming what the Lord has done for me. On one occasion the children were playing in the yard. It was way past suppertime, but I let them continue playing. All I had in the house was a box of corn flakes. I was ironing and talking to the Lord. I remember saying, "Lord, even if you send in food, I am too tired to cook it." After awhile my neighbor, Wilma, came over. Her children were playing with mine. She said, "I made some ice cream. If you come over, I will give you some." I told her I was so tired and just did not know if I could walk over there. She told me, "Well, I am not bringing it over to you, because the last time I gave you some, you gave yours away." We talked and after awhile I said, "Well, I believe I will walk over for a few minutes; maybe I'll feel better." So, I gathered the children and went over.

When we arrived, her supper was still on the table. She said, "Oh, have you all eaten supper yet?" I replied, "No." So she put clean plates out and we sat down to one of the nicest meals I had eaten in a long time. We had ham, green beans, potatoes, sliced tomatoes, tall glasses of ice tea, and dessert of ice cream and cake. Afterwards, we sat on the porch and talked. I went home really renewed. Twenty years later, I shared with her how much that meal meant to us. She had no idea that we had no groceries at that time. The Lord is precious and He looks after His own. Praise His name!

Another day when I was working in the garden I became very discouraged. It was our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. My husband had said nothing, which was not unusual, because he always said that was one day he wanted to forget. I was having a pity-party, feeling sorry for myself, when one of the children ran down with a package for me. When I opened it, there was a lovely set of silverware, the prettiest set I had ever owned. Betty, my daughter, and her husband, Norbert, had gotten it for me even though they did not have a set for themselves and were still in college on a tight budget.

When I'm at my lowest point

It seems that when I am at my lowest point, the Lord moves someone to do something like that. We have a wonderful Lord! It is true that accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior means a new birth. As the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us, we are born anew. By God's grace we are given a new spiritual life, an eternal life to be lived in fellowship with our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, His Son. But the new birth is just the beginning. It is God's intention that we grow as Christians.

It is God's desire that we yield our lives to Him. Service to God is not a burden -- but a glorious privilege. As Proverbs 3:5-6 says:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.

We are to trust the Lord with ALL our heart, and we are to acknowledge Him in ALL our ways. When we do this, God promises that He will direct our paths.

Shortly after I joined Immanuel Baptist Church, my Sunday school teacher asked me if I would give my testimony. I told her I would. Already, I was forming in my mind that I would use this verse:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

However, in the middle of the night, the Lord woke me and said:

"That is not your testimony. Your testimony is: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble." (Psalms 46:1)

As I shared my testimony, I told them how the Lord had led to that church. He placed me in that church because He knew what I needed for my spiritual growth. When there was something I could not understand, I would pray to the Lord. Wonderfully, the next Sunday, the preacher would say, "The Lord won't let me preach the sermon I prepared, but I must preach on this, so pray for me." The Lord then used the sermon to open my eyes and answer my questions. As I shared my testimony, the preacher was listening. I was perfectly calm while I was talking, but when I got back to my seat, I was shaking all over. I think it is important for a Christian to share his testimony. Satan is the one who puts fear in our heart, and if we give in to that fear it becomes harder and harder to speak openly of our faith.

One day, I heard a missionary tell about the time that they were taking the gospel to some people. As they spoke, the people began to stone them and run them out of the village. A lady in the congregation spoke up and asked her if the stoning hurt her very much. She said, "You know, it should have, because we were bleeding, but it was just like the Lord held a pillow between me and the hurt." In my heart was the desire to experience the same protection from the Lord.

Years later ... when I had a car accident, I really experienced that same kind of protection. God was with me all through the 14 hours I was pinned in the car and in the hospital. I am so thankful for His comfort in the midst of pain.

We have a wonderful Lord! He does not take away the hard things but He goes through them with us. Just like the quiet in the eye of a hurricane, things can be all wrong all around us, but He keeps us in perfect peace.

As Christians we need have no fear of death. We can be sure of our salvation in Jesus Christ. What a wonderful miracle God works within us. Because of our faith in Christ we can be sure.

God's Word says:

And this is the record that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (I John 5:11-13).

I cannot tell all of the times that the Lord has answered my prayers, but I can tell you that the Lord cares about all of our needs. There is nothing too little, nor too big, for the Lord. There are no limits to God's love and care. He tells us to commit all of our cares to Him:

Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ.

Jesus Did It!

 Testimony initially shared on www.precious-testimony.com

I Craved the Love of my Father

Heart of God:

One of the things I remember about my childhood is the voice of my mother singing hymns early in the morning, she keeps on singing even when driving us to school. I have never asked her why she was doing that, but her actions then, made me to love hymns and most of the ones I know, I learned from her. That's one of her legacy to me.

For the past few weeks, one of the issues at the forefront of my mind is: what kind of example am I to my kids with respect to the things of God? Is there anything that they will have fond memories of? Not of vacations or holiday trips but something that draws them to God. The issue of generations  is at the heart of God, as he instructed the children of Israel several times, the importance of teaching or telling their children what they have seen God do. Deuteronomy 6:7

"You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."

So, I encourage us to look for teaching moments with our kids, our friends and neighbors. Recently, I saw a Facebook post that made me smile.

 

Courtesy of Humor from Pentecostal Pew

I think the picture is a subtle way of letting neighbors know what you believe. Personally I don't believe in marking or celebrating Halloween and am trying to teach my kids why by going to the scriptures, but I plan on playing this music all through this week. If you are curious to know the music, click on the link below:

Dance in the Holy Ghost: https://youtu.be/I63xA8Mu1d0 

Testimony:

Am sharing a bit of myself today and have mentioned a little of the impact my mum had on my life, but what I want to share relates to my earthly father. When I was around 8 years old, I lost something of immense value that eventually shaped my life for many years. I was crazy in love with my father and I knew he loved me, but an incidence in my family put a crack in that relationship that never healed until Father's day 2 years ago, when I was finally able to lay it all upon the altar of God. Growing up, I felt betrayed, abandoned and unloved by my father. I was bitter towards him and hated him with everything in me. The relationship was so bad that he put a curse on me then, (but for the grace of God, Jesus nailed those curses to the cross and am free from them, Hallelujah), however many years later on, he physically reversed the curses and prayed for me. The wonder of it was that I came to know my heavenly father and his love for me when the relationship with my earthly father was broken. God, his word and promises sustained me, He also provided me with mentors who I looked upon as fathers.  Despite this, I still had a broken relationship with my father till he passed on about 6 years ago. One of the regrets I had was not making better efforts to fully reconcile with him but like I mentioned earlier, God took away my regrets and bitterness 2 years ago.

Throughout yesterday, as I was praying and meditating on what to write, what testimony to share, I drew blank until around 11pm. That's when I wrote the introduction above but no testimony and I eventually gave up around 2am and decided to go to bed. But God, who always has plans and works everything out made a way as I was about to sleep, my phone beeped, and I got an email from Faithgateway. I read the email and it was about a book written by Lee Stroble . It included an except that has some similarities with my own story.  Here it is:

The Search for Grace: My father and My Father by Lee Stroble from The Case for Grace

[God] waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain. — A. W. Tozer He was leaning back in his leather recliner in the wood-paneled den, his eyes darting back and forth between the television set and me, as if he didn’t deign to devote his full attention to our confrontation. In staccato bursts, he would lecture and scold and shout, but his eyes never met mine. It was the evening before my high school graduation, and my dad had caught me lying to him — big-time. Finally, he snapped his chair forward and shifted to look fully into my face, his eyes angry slits behind his glasses. He held up his left hand, waving his pinky like a taunt as he pounded each and every word: “I don’t have enough love for you to fill my little finger.” He paused as the words smoldered. He was probably expecting me to fight back, to defend myself, to blubber or apologize or give in — at least to react in some way. But all I could do was to glare at him, my face flushed. Then after a few tense moments he sighed deeply, reclined again in his chair, and resumed watching TV. That’s when I turned my back on my father and strode toward the door. I didn’t need him. I was brash, I was driven and ambitious — I would slice my way through the world without his help. After all, I was about to make almost a hundred dollars a week at a summer job as a reporter for a rural newspaper in Woodstock, Illinois, and live on my own at a boarding house. A plan formulated in my mind as I slammed the back door and began the trek toward the train station, lugging the duffel bag I had hurriedly packed. I would ask the newspaper to keep me on after the summer. Lots of reporters have succeeded without college, so why not me? Soon I’d make a name for myself. I’d impress the editors at the Chicago papers and eventually break into the big city. I’d ask my girlfriend to move in with me. I was determined to make it on my own — and never to go back home. Someday, there would be payback. The day would come when my father would unfold the Chicago Tribune and his eye would catch my byline on a front-page exclusive. That would show him. I was on a mission — and it was fueled by rage. But what I didn’t realize as I marched down the gravel shoulder of the highway on that sultry June evening was that I was actually launching a far different quest than what I had supposed. It was a journey that I couldn’t understand back then — and which would one day reshape my life in ways I never could have imagined. That day I embarked on a lifelong pursuit of grace Grace Withheld, Grace Extended See to it that no one misses the grace of God. — Hebrews 12:15 Ü I always wondered: Would I cry when my father died? After the confrontation in which my dad declared he didn’t have enough love for me to fill his little finger, I stormed out of the house, determined never to return. I lived for two months in a small apartment nearly forty miles away as I worked as a reporter for a small daily newspaper. The publisher agreed to hire me beyond the summer. My future seemed set. I never heard from my father, but my mother kept urging me to return. She would call and write to tell me my dad certainly couldn’t have meant what he said. Finally, I did come home briefly, but my father and I never discussed the incident that prompted me to leave. I never broached it, and neither did he. We maintained a civil but distant relationship through the years. He paid for my college tuition, for which I never thanked him. He never wrote, visited, or came to my graduation. When I got married after my sophomore year at the University of Missouri, my parents hosted the reception, but my dad and I never had a heart-to-heart talk. Fresh from Missouri’s journalism school, I was hired as a general assignment reporter at the Chicago Tribune, later developing an interest in law. I took a leave of absence to study at Yale Law School, planning to return to the Tribune as legal editor. A few days before my graduation, I settled into a cubicle in the law school’s gothic library and unfolded the New York Times for a leisurely morning of reading. I was already prepared for my final exams and was getting excited about returning to Chicago. Then my friend Howard appeared. I folded the newspaper and greeted him; he stared at me as if he had something urgent to say but couldn’t find the right words. “What’s wrong?” I asked. He didn’t answer, but somehow I knew. “My father died, right?” He nodded, then led me to the privacy of a small alcove, where I sobbed inconsolably.

Read more here:

Prayer for Today:

Thank you Almighty father for loving us. We thank you for your grace poured out upon our lives. We ask that in your mercies you heal our broken hearts, help us to know how deep, how wide your love is. Help us to be good examples to those around us. May people see the love of Christ in us and may we continue to have fellowship with you Amen.