From Confusion to Open Door

"When I consider your heavens,🌌

the work of your fingers,

🌙the moon and the stars,✯

which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

👫human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

you put everything under their feet:"
Psalm 8:3-6

My Identity

Who am I? What is my purpose? Why was I created? These are some of the questions you might have asked yourself in times past or still asking today. All the questions relate to what is referred to as identity. I have asked these questions and got answers from the bible like Psalm 139:13, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."  Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." I love the New Living Translation that says "we are God's masterpiece".

It's quite easy to believe the above with our head but what of heart belief? Believing deep in our psyche that we are masterpieces created by God. From the beginning of this year, one lesson that God keeps bringing to my attention is who I am. He is opening my eyes to see myself as He sees me. In January, I wrote in my prayer journal the following as my confession.

" I, Titilola is God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance as my way of life. I am called by the name of God and have been created for God's glory. God formed me and made me (Isaiah 43:7). The Lord God chose me in Him before the foundation of the world to be Holy and blameless in His presence in love (Ephesians 1:4). I have been raised up with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6).
Because I am called  by the name of God, I am filled with the spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge and in all kinds of craftsmanship to make artistic designs in Jesus name (Exodus 31:3)"

The later part of the confession was made because that is my heart desire. I thought the question of my identity had been settled, but God in the past one month brought it to my attention once again. The week preceding my birthday was one in which no day passed without God drawing my attention to it through different devotionals, songs and word of revelations. So I am going on a journey, the journey of identity. One may wonder why it's important, it's because that is the bedrock on which we operate in this world as children of God. Jesus knew who he was and on that, He did walk the earth with power and authority doing good works. The apostles did likewise after the Pentecost. They understood their purpose and went about in the name of Jesus doing good works and making disciples. Knowing who they are, gave them unprecedented boldness to stand before crowds, rulers and kings.

Life Story

Last year, I had cause to make a quick trip to Nigeria to renew my visa. It sounds simple and straightforward but it was not. The circumstances in my family then made it dicey and could result in a denial of visa or re-entrance into the United States. Our family immigration attorney advised me to make the trip before a particular deadline was reached. I was fearful  and was scared that I will may never be able to come back and rejoin my family.

This fear made me open up to a pastor friend who prayed with me and encouraged me. I prayerfully prepared for the trip and in one of those prayer sessions was lead to Psalm 20:1-6. I began to thank God for granting me my heart desires. The trip down to Nigeria was okay and reuniting with one of my siblings and mother after 8 years was wonderful. My appointment at the US consulate was the following day and I began to use psalm 24 to make declarations as I entered  the consulate. There was a little hiccup with the passport photograph I took along and had to leave the consulate to get another set. I returned to the consulate with the new set and was allowed in.

When it was my turn to be interviewed by the consular officer, I submitted the necessary documents that I had with me, she asked a few questions to establish why I needed a visa, I responded with what I considered an appropriate answer. As she was checking my documentation, she became confused all of a sudden, and was asking me questions that did not pertain to my circumstances. I became confused also but after a minute or two began to pray in my mind, coming against every confusion and asking God to take over. Within a minute she looked at her system and said "your visa request has been approved". My heart was filled with joy and thanksgiving as I left the consulate with instructions on where to pick up my passport.

Two days after, I went to the DHL collection center to pick up my passport and on opening it, I saw the affixed visa. After a while, something prompted me to take a second look and my discovery brought confusion and fear. The visa issued was under a wrong category and I became perplexed as to what to do. I was given a visiting visa which will necessitate a return trip to renew the visa again before 6months was over. The visa I requested for was based on my spouse visa which would allow me stay in US as long as he was there. My initial joy turned to sadness and I spent the rest of the day thinking about what action to take. I was restless and unable to sleep, but my heart began to ask God for wisdom and direction. In the deep of the night around 3am, things became clear that I should return to the consulate.

As I woke up to the alarm at 6am,  my mother called me aside and said " you have to return to the consulate today". This confirmed the direction I got in the night. I sent an email to the consulate explaining the discrepancy and then set out. On reaching the consulate, I approached the security men and explained my purpose and was granted entrance. The frontline officers in the consulate were sympathetic and explained what I had to do because the email I sent was not enough. I should have attached my initial appointment letter, a copy of the visa on my passport and supporting document for the visa category I applied for. The officers also gave me a different and faster email address to use. They told me to wait for a response from the consulate but should come back after 2 hours with or without the acknowledgement letter from the consulate.

There was a business center close to the consulate and they helped me out with what I needed to do. They were quite fearful for me because of what they know has happened in similar circumstances and had tales to tell. They also told me that being Friday, the consulate closes much earlier at 1pm. The time then was after 10am. I refused to allow the stories to discourage me and once again began making declaration of God's favor upon the situation. After 2 hours, I went back into the consulate without the expected acknowledgement email from the consulate. One of the frontline officers I spoke with earlier, collected my documents and went inside the main building. After waiting for about 20mins, she came back and told me to go to the main building and that I will be called. Once I reached the interview room, my name was called and I approached the officer who told me consular visa services has closed and to come back for a new visa on Monday.

This was not a welcome news at all, my flight back to the US leaves on Monday morning, I went ahead and informed the officer about my return flight on Monday. She looked at me, looked at my documents and said "go and seat down". So I began to wait and wait, no one else apart from a security officer was in the interview room with me. After about an hour, a man came to the window handed me my passport and asked me to sign on a paper that I had received it. I walked out of the consulate floating on air because God did what people thought was not possible. The favor of God opened doors for me and made my case different. The business center operator who refused to close shop but was waiting to see the outcome of my situation was amazed at what God has done. That I was issued another visa despite the fact the consulate visa services had closed for the weekend was a big thing to her. That I was not asked to reapply afresh for the visa and pay another fee was a testimony to the goodness of God.

God opened the gates of US and I stepped in, return flight went well and was reunited with my family. To him be all the glory.

The Wisdom that Elevated to Wealth

God's Presence

Since the last posting, my interactions with God has been about the significance of God's presence. God's presence is so multi-faceted that one cannot take it all in at once, it's like electric shock being released in doses that jars, overwhelms and sends one spinning into a different direction. Biblical accounts of God's heavenly throne is always so vivid and complex with a lot of activities going on. It's simply power packed, but inherent in that, is the holiness of God, the awe at which those around his throne bows down and say Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD..

God's presence is still very much the same today and I have seen the demonstration of his power and glory like never before in the past few weeks. Miracles, healings, deliverances like never before are happening all over the world and beyond that, is the call to step out and step up. Stepping out of all that distracts our focus from God and stepping up to be a vessel that God can use to draw all men to him. The power of God has already being released since Pentecost and is very much available for anyone who wants to answer the call.

As I found myself deliberating on this call through last week and wondering if I can be that person who is willing to step out and step up, God confirmed his word  during last Sundays worship service when He took over once again. Before we knew it, the pastor had less than 10 mins to preach before the normal closing time. There were prophecies of a move of God all over the world and there was a call for those willing to be obedient and serve! A call for those ready to make use of the power of God for his kingdom and the Glory of his name.

The video below by Jesus Culture (Rooftops) is a song of consecration and surrender and I find it fitting for what all should be doing right now.

Life Story

This story was shared 3 weeks ago on Dunamis TV, I watched a live broadcast of a healing and deliverance service in which I was once again wowed with how God works and brings a turnaround in our lives. The story was shared by a young man ((I will refer to him as John), who was lifted from the dung hill and now seats among princes.

John in search of greener pastures relocated from his village in the Eastern part of Nigeria and went to Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. Due to financial difficulties, John was able to rent his own place, so had to scot with someone. After several months without a job or prospects someone  introduced him to Dunamis Church, and his journey of Christian growth began. He purchased books written by the pastor, Dr Paul Enenche,  started reading them and applying learnt lessons to his life. After awhile, John  had a breakthrough in a job contract that netted him a profit of 1.5million Naira. He went to church, gave thanks, paid his tithe and got his own place of accommodation. Life became easier for him but decided that he needs more knowledge on how to move forward in life.

John went ahead to purchase more books to read among which was '21 uncommon keys to financial overflow' by Dr Paul Enenche. He began to read and digest this book and had an encounter with God. One day,as he read, God made him to remember a key that led to breakthrough for him, it was on some mines in his village. The mines were being run and managed by some Chinese companies for some years. Most  of the land were held by families and the Chinese companies had use of the land for digging mines and extracting solid minerals. There was a particular family who had land that initial survey revealed abundance of solid minerals but negotiations  between them and the Chinese company broke down despite all efforts and promises made by representatives of the company.

He decided to place a call to his mother in the village in order to gather more information  on the current status of the land. John's mother told him nothing was done on the land as the owners had stringent requirements which interested parties fails to meet. This was good news to John and therefore sent his younger brother to meet with the family for negotiations. John sent a prayer request to Pastor Paul, who responded with a text message ' God has made a way'. The message boosted John's faith that with God all things are possible. After a few hours, John received a call from his brother that the representatives of the family wants to meet John face to face if possible the next day, but John declined to travel down to his village due to other business matters he was pursuing. He told his younger brother to enter negotiations with the land owners on his behalf and sent a text to his pastor to update him on what's been happening. Pastor Dr Paul Enenche responded again with God has made it possible.

After a few days, the land owners gave permission to John to use the land for the purpose of mining the solid minerals  without requiring a single payment in any form. John went ahead to broker a deal with a Chinese company who had the technical expertise to mine the land. He netted the sum of 200million Naira from the deal. Not only that, other 3 families called him and gave him use of their own land for mining. From the time John earned 1.5million naira to closing the deal on the initial mine, was exactly 30 days! John witnessed a dramatic turnaround all starting from a thirst for God and the wisdom to acquire knowledge.

Glory be to God in the highest.

When God Appeared!

Last Sunday was one fine day not because it was good weather wise, but it was a day when one of my heart desires was met by God. My experience that day marked the 3rd time in which I was part of the assembly of God's children and in which God appeared! The manifold presence of God came down and his Spirit took over the worship while the choir was singing "Praise the Lord". The glory of God filled the atmosphere and all bowed down to His Majesty.

The first of such experience for me was in the late 80's while in Secondary School. The power of God came down during the choir ministration of a song titled "Power in the Blood" and row upon row of students fell down under the anointing and power of God, even the choir was not left out. Mind you it was just a gathering of students between ages 10-18, no pastors or ministers! My second experience was about a year or two after the first one during a school vacation at home. During what we call praise and worship section, the Spirit of God came down upon the little kids in the church, my little sister was about 7years old then. They opened their mouth and began prophesying, there were words of knowledge and revelation, but above all, a call to repentance from sin and to be Holy as God is Holy.

The Holiness of God was paramount in last Sundays word of knowledge and revelation, the call was once again be Holy! There was a new refreshing of my spirit and I felt real blessed and it was like floating on air. God inhabits the praises of his people, so to continually be in God"s presence is to always sing the praises of our God. In these times, may there be many more manifestation of God's presence in our lives and communities in Jesus name, Amen.

Life Experience

 The excerpt below was published on bible gateway blog on April 26, 2018, It is a story of how God speaks to us in our everyday life,

Ding-Dong Ditch It, an Injured Bird, and the Voice of God

Guest Post

 
By Jennifer Fulwiler

Editor’s Note: This post, taken from Jennifer’s new book One Beautiful Dream, highlights a snapshot of Jennifer’s busy life as a mother working from home and raising six children, and what happens when her day gets unexpectedly interrupted by a group of mischievous neighbor girls.
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. – John 10:3-4

I went into try-harder battle mode, determined to minimize distraction and maximize productivity. I committed to getting out of bed as soon as my alarm went off to have more morning writing time. I got a noisier fan to put outside the bedrooms. It sounded like a Category 3 hurricane was perpetually hovering over the hallway, but I sure could make it downstairs without waking the kids. I pushed my hour of evening writing time to two hours, which meant less sleep but more progress.
The editor at the pamphlet company mentioned that if everything went well with this project, there would be more work in the future. I was typing away one afternoon, lost in the fun of taking a jumble of thoughts and channeling them into a clear stream of words, when a familiar noise exploded through the house:

DING-DONG-DING-DONG-DING-DONG-DING-DONG!
I scrambled to the window and threw back the curtains. For the first time, I got a look at the group, at least the backs of them. There were four of them, all girls. I pounded on the glass and shouted for them to cut it out, but they only glanced over their shoulders before running around the corner. Just as I lost sight of them, the sounds of crying floated down from upstairs. I stared at the spot on the sidewalk where I’d last seen them, wishing I had a superpower to shoot lasers from my eyes and zap people from afar.
My mind was ablaze with anger. And then, suddenly, it was cooled when a fresh, peaceful thought glided into my mind:
You should reach out to them.
It seemed to be one of those ideas inspired by God, since it definitely did not come from me. I tried to reject this bizarre message, but I couldn’t escape the sense that these kids might have been sent to my door for a reason other than testing my anger management abilities. I had a strange feeling that they would continue ringing my doorbell until I let them in, one way or another. So I disconnected the doorbell.
Whatever cosmic forces were sending these neighborhood miscreants my way, I would show them all by making this a non-issue. I gave now-wide-awake Donnell, Lane, and Lucy cookies to keep them happy for a few moments while I got to work. I stood on a stool, removed the plastic cover from the doorbell box on the wall, and carefully unwound the wire connected to the bell.
In the days that followed, it was with unadulterated joy that I listened to the scampering on the front porch, confused whispers, then the sound of retreating footsteps. I had taken my writing time back and defeated the neighborhood punks! It felt good to win at life again.

The next day, my kids were toddling around the front yard and had been given their five-minute warning that it was time go inside. I kept pulling my phone out of my pocket to glance at the time, making sure everything proceeded according to plan. Then Donnell’s voice cried, “Mommy, a bird! He’s hurt!”
I ran over to see a small bird who was flailing in the grass. I was trying to figure out what to do when Lucy crawled too close to Lane, and Lane tripped over her, which knocked them both into Donnell. Before I knew it, everyone was crying and I had no bandwidth to help this poor injured animal.
It was time for God and me to have a serious chat.
Listen, Lord, I said in my best we-need-to-talk voice. There is a lot of craziness in this house. We are not perfect people, in case you haven’t noticed. But please don’t let this be the kind of house where birds die on my lawn because I have my hands too full to take care of them.
And then I did something I always hated to do: I asked for help. I always wanted God to answer every prayer by beaming down the ability for me to conquer all adversity on my own, but it was pretty clear that that’s not what was going to happen here. So I ended the prayer by saying, I want to help this bird, but I can’t do this on my own. Please send help.

Almost immediately, the doorbell ringers appeared.
They were headed from one end of the street to the other, and their trajectory would take them right past my house. My gaze briefly met with theirs, but we all looked away. The bird flipped over as it struggled at my feet. They were getting close. I couldn’t do this alone. But every time I looked at them I could only think of all the afternoons they’d ruined for me.
They walked in front of the house, staying safely on the other side of the street, studiously avoiding looking my direction. It was about to be too late. Just before they drifted out of earshot, I gulped hard. I forced myself to shout, “Hey! Girls! I need help!” They paused and examined the situation with apprehension, perhaps assuming that this was a trap where I would finally enact my vengeance.
“There’s a bird here,” I explained. “He’s injured.”
Hesitantly, they approached my spot in the driveway. When they saw that there was indeed a small bird in front of me, they picked up speed. When they got to us, I saw that they were much younger than I’d guessed, one of them probably only eight years old.
“Aaaw, poor thing! What happened?” the youngest one asked. “I don’t know. It looks like its wing is injured.” Lucy and Lane were fighting again, but I shushed them so I could talk. “I’m Jennifer, by the way.”
“Hi, I’m Carmen. This is my sister, Megan.”
“I’m Riley.”
“I’m Sophia.”

An awkward silence filled the air as we all anticipated that the next statement would be to acknowledge that we already knew one another. I changed the subject. “So does anyone know how to help this bird? As you can see, I have my hands full.”
“We could take it back to our house and try to help it. Poor little guy!” Carmen said. “Do you have a box we could put him in?” I tried to set Lucy down so I could dig through the shelves in the garage, but she acted as if I were lowering her into molten lava. I froze in frustration, and then Megan appeared at my side.
“Hey there, you want to come with me?” her smile was so innocent and bright that Lucy happily went into her arms.
I emerged with a box a few minutes later, as well as gardening gloves to pick up the bird. When the animal was all set, Carmen ran off with it to see if her older brother could help with its care. I expected the others to leave too, but they stayed. We chatted about where they went to school and what classes they loved and hated. When I finally announced that I had to get back to work, they seemed reluctant to leave.
My writing schedule was demolished that day due to my work as bird rescuer. Part of me was silently screaming in frustration, but I admonished myself to chill out and make up for lost time tomorrow. When nap time rolled around the next day, my whole body tingled with excitement. When I took my place behind my desk I actually rubbed my hands together in anticipation, like a madman in a movie. I cracked my knuckles to prepare my hands for the awesomeness that was about to flow from my fingers, and then . . .
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

I looked out the office window to see the neighbor girls congregating on my porch, this time not hiding from my view. They could see me through a space in the curtains and were waving. They weren’t running. I stifled an exasperated sigh and went to greet them. I stood in the entryway with the door cracked as little as possible, displaying the same posture I used when the Jehovah’s Witnesses came by.
“Hi, girls, good to see you,” I said thinly.
“We wanted to update you on the bird!” Riley, the youngest one of the group, announced.
“He’s doing better,” Carmen said. “My mom says she thinks he’s going to make it.”
“Oh, that’s great. I’m happy to hear it.” I put my hand on the door in preparation for closing it.
They just stood there. There was a long silence while I waited for them to say goodbye, and they waited for . . . something else. When I couldn’t take the awkwardness any longer, I finally said what they were evidently hoping I would say: “Do you want to come in?”
They twittered excitedly. One of them did a little jump.
“Yes! Sure!” Megan said.
With my back to them as I led everyone into the kitchen, I checked the clock on the stove. On a good day, my kids might nap for two hours. If I could get these girls out in 30 minutes, I’d still have a solid chunk of time left for my work. I offered them seats at the table, moving Lucy’s high chair and pulling in my office chair so that everyone had a place.
“You want something to drink?” I asked. “I just bought this new orange tea.” They all responded with enthusiastic yeses, just as I realized that I had no clean mugs. The glass-fronted cabinet by the end of the table caught my eye. Our gleaming white wedding china sat there, never touched. We always said we’d get it out for “special occasions,” but we never seemed to find an occasion quite special enough. I looked from the cabinet to the girls, their faces open and giddy. I decided to go for it.

Each girl got a tea cup and saucer, the snow-white china lined with a simple silver pattern that was still shiny. I lifted a large serving bowl from its place in the display case and dumped in a family-sized bag of pretzels.
I set the bowl on the table in front of them. And then I didn’t know what to do.
There are lots of people in the world who naturally gravitate to kids, for whom having a gaggle of pre-teen
girls in their kitchen would be a normal activity. I was not one of those people. If I had found myself in a kitchen full of trained circus bears, I couldn’t have felt any less at ease. I stood awkwardly next to the sink, trying to think of what to say or what I could offer them next.
“Miss Jennifer, are you Catholic?” Carmen asked, looking at the Christ the Teacher icon above the couch. Which, now that I looked at it, had something—was that peanut butter?—smudged on the bottom of the frame.
“Yes,” I said, wondering why she asked. “Are you?”
“No, but my uncle knows some Catholics, and they kind of got him in trouble a while back.”
“Why?”
“Have you heard of the thing of burying a statue of St. Joseph in your yard if you want to sell your house?”
“Yes . . .” I said, not sure where she was going with this. It was an informal tradition that I’d seen a few Catholics do, usually while wrestling with whether or not they were being superstitious. Catholic bookstores sometimes sold tiny St. Joseph figurines for that purpose.
“Well, everyone told my uncle that it worked really well, but he’s not like Catholic or anything, so he didn’t know how to do it right. He found this big statue of Saint Joseph that was about as tall as I am, and he buried that in his yard one night. But the neighbors saw him doing it, and it looked like he was burying a body, so they called the cops on him.”

A laugh burst from my lungs that was so big and so unexpected that it shattered all the pent-up awkwardness within me. Still laughing, I moved to the table and eased into a seat. “Are you serious? He did what?”
The conversation was now cracked open, and waves of laughter and giggles rolled over the sounds of chatter and clinking china. The girls were so excited that they kept jumping up and raising their hands and exclaiming, “Miss Jennifer, pick me! Pick me!” When I learned that some of them had surprisingly serious stresses in their lives, I felt like pretty much the worst human being in the world for all the things I’d thought about them back when they were ringing the doorbell.
They eventually announced that they had to go. On the way out, Riley paused at the door. She turned back, her brown eyes meeting mine hopefully.
“Miss Jennifer, can we all be BFFs?” she asked.
“BFFs?” I’d heard the term but it didn’t register immediately.
“Best Friends Forever.”
My throat was so tight I could barely choke out a “yes.”
________
Adapted from One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both by Jennifer Fulwiler. Click here to learn more about this title. 

All He Did is Not in Vain

Happy Easter!

That was the joyful sound exchanged with friends and family last week, and saying it now sounds off or inappropriate but in my perspective, our celebration of what God accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus should be a daily celebration. Why? It brings glory to God, reminds us that we have been purchased with a price, the blood of Jesus and we now belong to the family of God. Where we were hopeless, we now have hope, where there was anxiety or worry, we have peace that we are more than conquerors. The three great events that took place between passover to pentecost showcased the power of God. This power brought salvation, deliverance, healing, raised the dead,  and a new beginiing for all those who have accepted Christ. This newness of life gives us the opportunity to become God's masterpiece created in Christ Jesus..... Ephesians 2:10

As we acknowledge and remember the work that was accomplished, we should remind ourselves that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be Holy and blameless in His presence. In love. Ephesians 1:4. To this end, we should employ what drives us to exercise daily, stick to diet plans to live a much more profitable lives by godly living. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 "......train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. "

Testimony

On a beautiful summer morning last year July, I woke up and prepared for church with the usual expectation in my heart. The expectation that am going to worship God and fellowship with other believers and that I would hear from God. This time period in my life and family was pretty chaotic but I was filled with hope that breakthrough was on the horizon.

My family got to church on time, sat in our usual spot and rose up with others to sing songs of worship. As I was singing with my mouth, my heart and eyes wandered around the congregation and it alighted on a family right in front of me. They had a young girl who wore very skimpy shorts or what some call bum shorts, and I felt really offended.  My focus wandered away from worshipping to wondering why a mother would allow such indecent dressing to church.  As my mind started remembering all the instances in which I have seen such dressing in the church,  how much it offends me and forming opinions about irresponsible parenting, I felt a nudge within me and I heard " Judge not, so that you will not be judged".

It was like a bucket of cold water was poured on me, I could no longer sing and felt so unclean in God's presence. Like a movie, all the instances in which I had played the judge in and outside the church flashed before me and I realized that having a judgmental spirit is something I need to work on. Whether or not the actions I was judging was right or wrong, I allowed the actions of others to remove my focus from God. I asked God to forgive me and create within me a clean heart.

God chastened me and I realized that truly God allows us to go through some trials in order to remold us, to work in us so that we can become holy.  A few months after that Sunday, another judgmental incident occurred and God gently reminded me that He is still working in me and fine tuning me. He is building me up into a spiritual house. Am not yet perfect but each time I fall into a rut, I remind myself that my sins are forgiven and God is working his good pleasure in me.

God's Way and Thoughts

The above bible verse describes my experiences over the past years, I cannot tell all He has done. God is many things to many people, but to me 'He is the I Am'.

It is usual to have expectation concerning certain issues or have desires on what we want God to do, believing that He will fulfill our heart's desires or that our expectations will not be cut off. That's absolutely true as written in Psalm 21:2 "You have given him his heart's desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips" Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

It's good to have plans or be exact in our prayers, for instance, a young lady or man looking for a life partner will have a list of qualities desired in such a partner or a young man having a list of the techs he wants in his first car. Sometimes we get exactly what we have desired, and sometimes we can receive less and most times it is much more. I don't' know about you but my desire is to get much more than I have asked for, because that ultimately is the best. 

To get much more, we have to surrender our thoughts, our ways and ask according to His will.

1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."

Testimony

Last year, my spouse got a job in another State and we began maintaining two households. To say it was easy is a lie, the stress physically, psychologically, and financially was great, so we made a painful decision to move the family. We were members of a wonderful and supportive church family, the kids loved their teachers and school, and the  move was to be in the middle of the school year, so this made the kids cranky, weepy and sad. Apart from dealing with the emotional upheaval of the move was also the physical. Packing up a house, and also looking for a new place all within a month was a challenge.

My Spouse and I made up a basic list of the type of rental accommodation we wanted, primary of which was an excellent and top rated school district, good commuting distance to work, certain type of house features and affordable monthly rent. Our search began in select areas we had researched upon, we immediately found one that was within our set parameters but the traffic getting anywhere was horrendous and lease agreement was not favorable. So we turned our search to another area of the city, all rentals we found was in the area that the elementary school had the lowest rating in an excellent school district and expected rent was higher than our benchmark and we turned our search to another area again.

By this time, we had two weeks left and we were beginning to wonder if we made the right decision to move. A friend asked me how far with the move and I told her about our challenges in finding a place to move to. I remember telling her of our past experiences that we usually get a house to move to at the last minute and that was not my desire this time around. During the 3rd week of our search, I came across a listing that was in a previously jettisoned area. This house was tailor made for our list, excellent schools, few minutes to work for my spouse, it had the required number of rooms and baths etc. An appointment was made and my spouse had a look through. The house was as listed but was situated in an exclusively business environment, no yard for kids to play in, no close by neighbors. Over that weekend, we looked at our options and decided to have a second walk through of the house, our thought was that if there was a washer/dryer connection in the basement (my spouse did not check the basement the first time), we will settle and take the house. After getting in touch with the realtor, we learnt, we will have to pay more if we want the use of the basement. This was unexpected and disappointing and the walk through revealed no connections.

 All through this period, we had always raised  the issue in prayer to God, we make mention of what we desired in the new house\area we are moving to. We trusted and believed that God will answer our prayers. So our inability to get a suitable place of accommodation was making us wonder and ask ourselves if we made the right decision.

Eight days to our move out day, I attended the Tuesday women's prayer meeting at the church, they asked about the move and I said " we don't have a place to move to yet but God will provide". We all laughed at my statement but these wonderful sisters joined their faith to mine and prayed with me. Overnight Wednesday, I could not sleep and I spent time praying to God requesting that He speak to me, direct us to the accommodation that has been prepared for us. I decided to wait quietly in his presence. Then I heard Isaiah 40 within me, I picked up my bible and read the whole chapter and my soul was comforted that God cares about me, He sees all I have passed through and that none is his equal as all power resides with him. While meditating on what was spoken, I was given another scripture Isaiah 55 which I read through. This chapter was a call to repentance, to surrender my expectations to God because his way is infinitely better than my own ways and his thoughts better than my thoughts. I was made to understand that God's way brings peace, joy and prosperity.

The next day, I shared what happened with my spouse, telling him what was spoken to my heart concerning our house search which was to tear up our list and trust in God's provision of his best for our family. We agreed to do so and that same day God moved! I went online to Google maps, and was looking through all the towns around my spouse place of work, my eyes went to one south of his work place. I felt a prompting within me and decided to check for rental listings in that area. When I checked, there was a new listing that same day, and I got in touch with the owner. We ended up talking on the phone for more than 30 minutes and it felt like we had known each other forever. I knew then, this is God's way in action.

This house was so much different from what we were looking for but still it was in an  excellent school district, good neighborhood and town, 12 minutes commute to work without any traffic. It was awesome! God went ahead to do more than we had thought of or asked, the rent was lower than our bench mark figure, the owner said we can pay the security deposit over 10 months instead of paying it in full immediately. This was a relief to us and made things more comfortable financially. We made the move at the right time, was welcomed by our landlord with hot pizza and drinks. The staff and students of the schools were very welcoming and the kids love their new  school much more than their previous one.

Overwhelmed and Overcoming

Many times, we become anxious because troubles, challenges or problems have dug in deep, that we are tired of them and just want an end. This anxiety overwhelms our soul, spirit and even our bodies. We become overwhelmed as a result of being powerless to change our present circumstances, move beyond the stagnant pool of our lives or dig ourselves out of the pit. Being overwhelmed is an emotion that will come over and over again and once we yield to it, we become discouraged, depressed and might even lose hope. So what do we do at such times? I will say get out of the house, look on the ground and pick up a grain of sand. What am I talking about? It's all about perspective. The key to getting out of the funk anxiety has driven us to is to look at the grain of sand and say to ourselves " if the whole world is like a grain of sand in God's hand, then my troubles are as minute as the unseen particles of air that blows around me.

 No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.

                                                                                                       Isaiah 40:15

Instead of being overwhelmed with our troubles , let's be overwhelmed with the greatness of God, His love for us, His power and majesty. None can be compared to him, no none is His equal. With him all things are possible. Nothing is hid from his sight.  He sees all our sorrows and pain and is asking us to let go of control and yield to him because he is more than able to take care of us.

"Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel,
         “My way is hidden from the LORD,
         And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”?

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
         The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
         Does not become weary or tired.
         His understanding is inscrutable.

 He gives strength to the weary,
         And to him who lacks might He increases power.

Though youths grow weary and tired,
         And vigorous young men stumble badly,      

Yet those who wait for the LORD
         Will gain new strength;
         They will mount up with wings like eagles,
         They will run and not get tired,
         They will walk and not become weary."

                                                                         Isaiah 40: 27-31

A change in perspective from being overwhelmed by problems to being overwhelmed by the greatness of God and his power  creates the attitude of the overcomer. As we think more about the ability of God to turn things around, do the impossible and meditate on His promises for our situation, we become energised and strenthened from our inner man. Our faith begins to grow or increase and we refuse to give more ground to the enemy. It's that attitude that says ' God got this and he is taking care of it for me'.  Because we are called by his name and belong to the family of God, we can stand and face the enemy, laugh and say  ' Satan you have been defeated by my Lord Jesus on the cross and I'm more than a conqueror.

The Journey so Far......

I have not posted or updated this page since first week of October, 2017 and before then it was sporadic, it was not deliberate neither was it planned. I had lost sight of the goal in which this page was created and that was to encourage one person on the love of God, the greatness of God and His power. I allowed myself to become discouraged and frustrated because no one wanted to tell their story and was struggling week after week to update this page. Since then, I have come to understand that the enemy does all he can to prevent that one person from knowing the love of God, His greatness and power. But it stops today!

Over the past year, I have been blessed in untold ways in seeing God move on behalf of his children and also in my life. As times moves on, I will share some of these stories. I once heard a pastor say this;

 "could your testimony be a ladder to someone that is drowning?"

So I leave you to answer that question.

Stay blessed!

Strength and Adversity

Adversity has no time limit, it either lasts for a very short time or span across years, likewise the scope of an adversity can have little effect or big effect on one's life. There is only one key to enduring such periods of life, and that key is strength.

It's also not strange that long or drawn out periods of adversity can create apathy. The apathy can be against God, against other people who are perceived as not being supportive or even against oneself. Once again, the key to avoiding apathy is strength.

The strength am referring to is that which can only be obtained by close fellowship with God, spending time with God on a daily basis gives us strength to shift focus from the big problems, troubles or adversity to the greatness of God and the ability of God to do the impossible.

We become joyful in the light of God's presence which becomes our strength. The more time we spend with God, the more strength we receive.

Nobody wants to fail in the face of trials and temptations, yet failure becomes inevitable when our strength is small. Proverbs 24:10 "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small"
Obtaining strength gives us the ability to wait on God, develop godly character and be able to endure trials. It gives us hope that our time of salvation is near even though we might not see any physical change and that is what faith is all about.

The story being shared today is all about adversity and the struggles we go through. It offers a fresh perspective that is illuminating. To me, it takes strength to admit such fears and limitations. The word of God is always true and each person must discover the truth in it as it applies to our situations.

To Do: Cast your mind back to characters in the bible and on how they received strength for their own journey. Examples are Joseph, Gideon, Elisha, Jesus.

Pushing through my season of suffering

By Andrea Logan White

Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
JOHN 19:30

I began to write Perfectly Unfinished while thrown into a season of suffering unlike any I had ever faced. David and I had unexpectedly lost two very precious loved ones within just a few months of the release of God’s Not Dead. Only four months before its release, David’s mother died suddenly. Then our beloved Pure Flix partner and mentor Russell Wolfe, producer of God’s Not Dead, succumbed to ALS at age fifty, just two months after the movie’s release. We had been so sure that God was going to heal him on earth, yet he took him to heaven instead. Heartrending. These sudden losses at a time when we were celebrating God’s surprise gift of such success stirred the still lingering grief over two others who had been taken in their prime just a few years before. David’s dad had died tragically seven years earlier, meaning that neither of his sweet parents who had served the Lord as Mennonite pastors ever got to witness the success of their son’s movie. And David’s cousin, only nineteen years old and very close to us, died tragically in his sleep a mere four years ago.
On top of the deep grief both David and I experienced, I’ve been suffering the past few years with relentless physical ailments and have been diagnosed with several frightening, vague, and elusive illnesses: fibromyalgia, acute migraines, chronic fatigue syndrome, a genetic disease called porphyria, Lyme disease, and a condition called POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), in which the resting heart rate is very high and blood pressure extremely low, causing one to faint. Housebound for three months with this condition when I started writing my book, I had fears of dying and leaving my precious children motherless. And though I’ve spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on mainstream medicine, chiropractors, herbalists, and endless other medical options, I’ve had adverse reactions to more treatments and medications than I can count.
In light of these overwhelming symptoms, I’ve been striving to find a healthy balance of rest, nutrition, physical care, stress care, therapies, medications, tests and more tests, research, and of first and foremost, the Word of God and prayer, only to have to confess I haven’t been able to find anything close to the healthy balance of such things. This has left me deeply discouraged.
In the year of writing my book, at times I’ve been too ill to drive, been unable to walk, lost vision in one eye temporarily, and even been completely bedridden at times. So I turned to some well-loved sermons from preachers of the gospel, but came up disappointed in my lack of faith. The apostle Paul writes, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV). But truth be told, when I literally could not walk, I was filled with panic, not faith.

Honesty and transparency start to get a little scary at this point, and I’m all too aware that this next confession is going to earn me some less than affirming mail from some, but the reality is that more than once, as I sat in the emergency room, Scripture did not comfort me at all. Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see,” but that wasn’t true of me, even though I wanted it to be. I didn’t have a sense of confidence or assurance at all. I had doubts of God’s love. I had heart-racing fear—and lots of it.
I often sat there completely alone (David was at home with the kids), and I did not have joy in the midst of suffering. I wanted to know why I was suffering so badly. I saw no signs of heavenly mercy.
Well, except for one thing. I met people there. People who were also in pain or fear or despair. I’m the kind of person who tends to strike up conversations. For instance, there was an older gentleman who just needed to have someone listen to his laundry list of medical issues. Making him laugh and finding a few things in common about our experiences relaxed him as he waited. And there was a young mom with her little boy in the ER one day. Her wide eyes and shaking voice told me her fear was powerful. Her little boy lay limp on her shoulder, hair plastered with sweat to his forehead. We talked about kids and how hard it is to watch them suffer. How frightened we get. We both felt less alone. And then there was a teenage girl in an office all by herself. I guessed why she was there alone and stepped in to be the calming adult for a few minutes while she waited to see a doctor.

I may be exposing myself as a little dense here, but it took me a few times (not that I recommend making the ER a habitual destination) before I caught on to the fact that I was seeing heavenly mercy at work in those conversations, but it didn’t look like the kind of mercy for which I’d been pleading. Our God is most unpredictable.
At least one of our children has been ill every single week for over seven months. Between them and me, we’ve been in and out of emergency rooms, doctors’ offices, and blood-drawing labs more times than I want to count. I’ve prayed the verse “by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5), yet have found myself disappointed that illness, rather than healing, seems to dominate our home. I’ve prayed, spoken the Word of God, repented, rebuked, and had others pray for us—yet the onslaught of illnesses continues.
I know full well that countless people are dealing with far worse, and they would gladly accept my little list of woes in exchange for their own devastating circumstances. Terminal illness. A marriage falling apart. A son or daughter maimed in combat. A loved one arrested. An injury suffered. Victimization by some violent act. The list goes on and on. The last thing any of us need is a “who’s got it worse” comparison, for there is always someone who does have it worse!

So here’s the challenge I’ve been facing. While working on my book, these struggles have seemed all-consuming to me. In recent months, faced with one painful circumstance after another, I’ve been genuinely surprised (and downright discouraged) to discover how often I feel just as lost, just as anxious, just as insecure, just as unqualified, and just as frustrated as I did at 2:00 a.m. one morning as I watched my son Everson’s temperature climb—hands shaking, heart pounding. But I kept hiding it all under the veneer of the “successful” Christian life, whatever that means. I admit it: I’ve been profoundly disappointed in my spiritual responses and lack of knowing or comfort from God in my travails of life.
I don’t know how this season of trial is going to end, or if it will end. Will it end in deliverance? Healing? Or more suffering? When I get to the end of this period, will I hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” reverberating over the loudspeaker? (That seems highly unlikely, given how I’ve been struggling. How could I deserve the words “well done”?) Or will I come up terribly short? (I feel like I already have!)
Will I be cut from the part I am playing in God’s story? (Isn’t that what I deserve?) Fired? Blacklisted? Surely there are far more qualified people to write a message—spiritual grown-ups—rather than the uncertain child I feel myself to be these days.
It’s not that I hadn’t expected more trials and difficulties. I get it that those are always a part of life on this earth. But I did not expect my responses to result in the same old struggles.
As I see it, feeling as confused and defeated as I have been, I had a choice to make about my book. Either I would choose not to write it, or I would push through it anyway and see where God took me. I’ve pushed through storm after storm ever since I’ve been saved. How do I stay close to God through such things? Where has this series of storms been coming from? Where will it lead?
I only know that quitting would ensure my defeat. Pushing through at least holds some possibility of my discovering the truth God wants me to know. So the book I’ve actually written is quite different from the one I’d planned to write. Because I’ve decided that rather than write from what I’ve already learned, I will write instead from what I’m struggling to discover. Rather than writing from victory, I’m writing from the battlefield, exposing where I’m defenseless.

Why? Because pretending I’m living in victory when I’m not will just lead me deeper into defeat. Life is hard, and I despise the veneer of faith-talk portraying that life is all good when much of it is quite bad. I can’t stand frauds, so sometimes I’m so real that I walk away from conversations, thinking, Hmm, why did I just share that? I’ve been told by some that I am way too transparent. But I believe, humbly, that not pretending and being honest are gifts God has given me to help others. We truly heal from each other’s stories. We can connect with each other when we confess our unanswered questions and weaknesses.
We are defenseless against our enemy if we are living a lie.
There is much I do not know, but of this I am sure: I cannot win this battle alone. I’ve done it alone—did it for years, in fact—to disastrous results.
I’m not going back to alone!
I’m going forward with Jesus.
And I will tell you why. Because at the risk of sounding like an old hymn, I once was lost. Wholly, desperately, devastatingly lost. I’d lived my life my way with no personal connection whatsoever to the God of the universe—the God who made me. And when finally, at the end of myself, I cried out in desperation, “God, if you’re really there, show yourself to me”—he did. Dramatically. Personally. On the spot.
And then he began to change me.

I take comfort in this: I know I’m not the only one on this battlefield. There are legions of us who are Christians, who love God, who follow Jesus, yet who, when brutally honest with ourselves, limp along and falter with our wounds and with the shortcomings and limits of our faith. But we try to hide it. We smile and say we are fine when we are anything but.
Simply put, even though I understand the principle that God is the finisher of my faith, I’m not as “finished” as I believe I “should be” by now.
So I decided to see what God has to say about being finished.

And since not knowing how the scene finally ends tends to cause us the most angst, I’m looking at the ultimate final scene. Jesus, hanging on the cross in the midst of an agonizing and torturous death, spoke three final words before he breathed his last: It is finished. Jesus finished his work. Speaking words so critically important that he chose to declare them as his final words from the cross.
We may not yet have a clear understanding of what “it is finished” means for us and our struggle. I don’t yet. But we do know that Jesus declared it to be so. So let’s agree that we will struggle together to discover the power these words can have in our lives today.

https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2017/09/pushing-through-my-season-of-suffering/

The above excerpt was published by Zondervan Nonfiction as free content.

 I Fly by Sinach Joseph

God Meeting Needs Through Praise

Garment as a Weapon

It started from a dream last Monday when I saw myself standing by a balcony looking out to a street. A man approached me and said " why are you dressed like that?", looking at what I had on, it was a traditional outfit from my country or place of birth. I initially felt the cloth I was wearing was okay but a second glance revealed that it was an out of date style, old and no longer fashionable. Later that morning, the phrase" garment of praise" from Isaiah 61 kept resounding in my mind and reasoned that I needed to ask God for a garment of praise.

Prior to Monday, I had been plagued with an unrelenting headache and heaviness for three days,  medication offered temporary relief and I could not even pray about it. Because of that dream and bible passage, I asked God to give me the garment of praise. To work out my faith, I went online to Youtube, selected a good danceable Christian music and proceeded to dance and praise God. For the next three hours, I danced out the headache and heaviness. Since then, I have been free from the headache and heaviness. God is faithful and good to me.

That day, God reinforced the lesson that I must always put on my garment of praise as it serves as a weapon against the fiery darts of the enemy. There are other garments that we must ask for or put on such as the whole armor of God, garment of righteousness. Mainly bible verses alludes to them.
Job 29:14; Isaiah 52:1; Isaiah 59:17; Romans 13:12; Colossians 3:12,; Ecclesiastes 9:8; Isaiah 61:10; Revelation 3:4.

As we take deliberate steps in planning our wardrobe or what to wear each day, we must also take deliberate actions to put on our garments each morning. Begin the day with the garment of praise, followed by putting on the armor of God, and then the garment of righteousness. The prayer below was in a devotional early this year.

Today's Love Story

God Provides: Like Manna in the Wilderness

-Erin Odom

"God is the Great Provider."

I’d known that since childhood, but I didn’t truly recognize His personal provision for our every need until I was in my early thirties, with two young children and another one on the way, a husband who worked several extra jobs on the side, and an income that still didn’t cover all our expenses.
It was a desert season. We were frustrated by trying to make our money stretch, I was depressed, and our marriage was stuck in neutral. The tunnel looked dark, and I couldn’t see a way out.
On paper we were poor, yet I can look back now and see how I richly experienced God’s presence during that time. With a burgeoning belly, one toddler on my hip, and another wrapped around my knees, it wasn’t uncommon for me to open my near- empty refrigerator and whisper prayers of petition wrapped in thanksgiving: God, You will meet our every need. You have never failed us. You are in control. It was a “this is it” season. This, I would tell myself, is when our faith is proven real.
 

It wasn’t the first period in my life when I’d been forced to depend on God alone. A key example is the day my friend Courtney died tragically in a car wreck. I’d known Jesus as my personal Savior for ten years at that point, but at just nineteen, my faith was still mostly untested and immature. I felt empty, alone, and abandoned by God. The day I lost Courtney is still clear in my memory. Stifling tear-filled screams as I clenched and unclenched my fists, I crumpled to my dorm room floor and clasped my hands over my heart. “Where are You, Jesus?” I asked audibly, as I nearly hyperventilated. “Where are You now? Why can’t I feel You? Are You even real?”
Through heavy-hearted days during which sleep evaded me, God slowly, gently began to heal my grief. He soothed me through 1 Peter 1:6-9:

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Jim and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
 
 

Fast forward more than a decade, and the circumstances of this season were certainly different from that heartbreaking day in 1999. But in this trial, too, God was building our faith. Just as I personally had learned to trust Him as I walked through a season of grief, our family would learn to trust God during a season of need. It had been easy to trust Him when we weren’t in want. Now that we were, God was cultivating in us a deeper faith, a stronger trust in His provision.
I started looking at and crediting each and every incident as God’s provision for our family. Like manna in the wilderness, the Lord provided again and again and again. As time passed, I saw it more clearly than ever, and looking back, I realize He provided all along.

The manna or “bread” from heaven in Exodus 16 wasn’t what the Israelites wanted, but it was what they needed. It wasn’t extravagant, and in their shortsightedness, forgetting the turmoil the Egyptians inflicted upon them, they grumbled against God’s provision. Still, it met their needs.
Born in the United States to a semi-affluent family, I’d never experienced true want. I’d lived in abundance, as most of us in this country do. But now that my family was in need, God proved that we truly lacked nothing. Perhaps we desired more, but just as the Lord had provided for the Israelites in the desert, He covered our needs.
Whether it was through a playhouse at a garbage dump or fruit from a stranger, God has consistently provided for our family’s needs. The ways He can do this for you too are unlimited.

Good deals, great finds, and unexpected gifts

Have you ever opened your mailbox to find a higher tax return than you anticipated, a rebate from an item you purchased, or an unexpected check? None of these are random, my friend. When we cultivate a spirit of gratitude for God’s provision, we’ll see clearly how He cares for us in tangible ways. (And I argue that He gives to us so we can, in turn, give back to others as well.)
When our firstborn was three, her pediatrician diagnosed her with gluten intolerance. At the time, we were struggling to buy basic groceries. How would we rise to the overwhelming challenge of fitting expensive gluten-free foods into our budget? Not long after her diagnosis, I was poring over my weekly meal plan when I heard a knock on our front door. It was one of Will’s coworkers, Kathy. Kathy has celiac disease, which had forced her to go gluten-free several years earlier. She knew how expensive gluten-free foods cost, and she knew how little money we had. She took it upon herself to purchase some extra gluten-free groceries that day. Among them were gluten-free animal crackers for our little girl.
I held back tears as we accepted this surprise gift. It was enough food for the next few days, and it helped me realize we could trust the Lord to meet our future needs because He showed over and over that He met our present ones.
Another time, my college roommate’s parents offered our little family an entire week at their beach house. Our marriage was stuck in survival mode, I was expecting our second daughter, and we hadn’t had a real vacation in years. The tiny town of Edisto, South Carolina, provided a much-needed respite during that week. We thanked my friend’s parents for their generosity and told them how they were testaments to us of God’s provision, not only for our physical needs but also for our hearts during a turbulent time in our lives.

I believe that God provides for all of our needs; nothing is coincidental. The wild blackberries we foraged from my parents’ back yard? Those were from God. The packages of organic rolled oats that showed up at Big Lots? They were from God. The gluten-free cake mix that landed on the clearance shelf for a fraction of the retail price? Yes, from God as well.
When we choose to believe events like these are simply coincidences or somehow our own doing, we fail to credit the One who has orchestrated our entire lives (Psalm 139:16), the One who has promised to provide for all our needs (Philippians 4:19), the One who deserves glory in everything (1 Corinthians 10:31) since the beginning of time. God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6), and sometimes His provision comes in the form of a Craigslist find or a great deal at the store.

Published by faithgateway devotional :
God Provides: Like Manna in the Wilderness - FaithGateway:

Daring to be an Oliver Twist

The Week of  'More'

I am thankful to God Almighty for receiving unexpected favors this past week, two different people went out of their way to favor me and my household without asking. It was a great blessing. Am also thankful that God desires more of me such that through the week (13th-20th), I was surrounded with the word 'more' through various means and medium. That has made me to desire to be an Oliver Twist in a way.

Who is Oliver Twist?

Oliver Twist was born and raised into a life of poverty and misfortune in a workhouse in an unnamed town (although when originally published in Bentley's Miscellany in 1837, the town was called Mudfog and said to be within 70 miles north of London – in reality, this is the location of the town of Northampton). Orphaned by his mother's death in childbirth and his father's mysterious absence, Oliver is meagrely provided for under the terms of the Poor Law and spends the first nine years of his life living at a baby farm in the 'care' of a woman named Mrs. Mann. Oliver is brought up with little food and few comforts. Around the time of Oliver's ninth birthday, Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle, removes Oliver from the baby farm and puts him to work picking and weaving oakum at the main workhouse. Oliver, who toils with very little food, remains in the workhouse within six months. One day, the desperately hungry boys decide to draw lots; while the loser must ask for another portion of gruel. The task falls to Oliver, who at the next meal tremblingly comes up forward, bowl in hand, and begs Mr. Bumble for gruel with his famous request: "Please, sir, I want some more".

          (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twist#Workhouse_years)

I am also asking for more, more of God and all the spiritual blessings found in Christ Jesus, more of his anointing, more of the power of the Holy Spirit, more boldness to be an ambassador for Christ, to be more loving, kind and generous. My focus will no longer be on things that don't satisfy, nor on things that temporarily fill up the void in my life but to seek more of Him, who made the heavens his throne and the earth his footstool. The One who the cattle on a thousand hills belongs to and who knows exactly the number of hairs on my head.

Sinach, a Nigerian musician sang this song a few years back and is descriptive of what I want henceforth.

                                                    More of You

Lyrics:
You make my life so beautiful
As You are, You have made me on earth
There's nothing greater than this
That is why I love You forever more

I want more of You
I want more of You, Jesus
The more I know You
The more I want to know you
Jesus more of You.

Meeting with God at the Airport

                                                                                                                  By Sara Haggerty

“Why this waste?”

 — Matthew 26:8

I’d been in a suit and heels since 5:00 a.m., and after a full morning, I was at the airport for an early afternoon flight home—home to a husband, but no children. It was a couple of years after my season at the boutique on North Barracks Road, but still a few years before the grief of infertility had settled into my soul.
I’d recently started to crave more. I wanted more from my sales support job. I wasn’t tired of doing it or even tired of the deskwork and the travel, but I was tired of working for little more than sales goals and a paycheck. I wanted more than productivity and success. I wanted brushes with God and meaning and almost anything that mattered but wasn’t easily measured.
My work for the day was done and I was tired, but my heart was hungry, and I was beginning to like heart hunger. So I prayed: God, I want to meet with You in this airport.

Meeting Him required quieting my insides enough to hear and respond. The kind of dialogue I was learning to have with God burgeoned when I saw it as an exchange—my mind for His thoughts, my fear for His assurance, my whispers for His response. As I made my way to a restaurant near my gate, I noticed an elderly gentleman who was being pushed in a wheelchair. I prayed for God to breathe life and strength into his frail body. I saw a man running as fast as my mind usually worked, and I prayed his racing heart would come to know Jesus. I saw a young woman with vacant eyes, and I prayed she would find the filling her heart most needed. I realized afresh that the people all around me weren’t merely interesting. They were God-created. I wanted to talk to Him about what He had made.

God, what do You see in the man who is late for his flight? And the one in the wheelchair—how do You see the heart buried underneath that broken body? Rather than looking at people as faces among the masses, I asked for His eyes for them and responded with minute-long prayers: God, I want to meet You in this airport.

No one knew this conversation I was having in my head with God. And I was starting to like these secret exchanges. At the restaurant, I grabbed the last available seat at the bar, which was full of day travelers with carry-ons. As I scooted up onto my stool and glanced at the laminated menu, I noticed the gentleman sitting next to me. He looked to be near retirement, but he was dressed for business. I was drawn to him in the way you’re drawn to someone who is not at all like you, but with whom you feel a strange connection.
Maybe I’m supposed to share the gospel with this man, I thought. I ordered my food and opened my book, trying to concentrate on reading while staying aware of what felt like a nudge from God.
Ten minutes later when the waitress brought out my order along with that of the man next to me, I noticed that we both had ordered the same meal. I awkwardly mumbled a comment about it, looking for a way to begin a conversation. But my voice, perhaps too quiet from nerves, got lost in a salvo of loudspeaker announcements. He hadn’t heard me. I went back to my book, resigned that I’d misread God’s cues.

The book I was reading explored the concept of abiding in the vine from John 15. The author used the notion of tree grafting to illustrate this abiding. After hours of client presentations on throbbing feet, my mind couldn’t absorb the words. I read and reread the same paragraph, but without comprehension. And then this prompt dropped into my mind: Ask the man sitting next to you to explain it.
Uh-oh, I thought.
As much as I wanted to hear from God, I knew that we humans sometimes mishear Him and mistake our mental wanderings for His voice. What should I do? Talk to the man and risk awkwardness and embarrassment? Or not talk to him and risk missing what might well be God’s answer to my prayer to meet with Him in this airport?
Well, at least I’ll never see this guy again, I thought. So I went for it.
“Sir, excuse me,” I said, much louder this time, almost shouting to compensate for my nerves.
He startled. “Yes?” he said, raising his eyebrows like the authoritative boss of a fresh college grad.
“Do you know anything about grafting?” I coughed out.
“What?” he asked.
Oh no. I had to say it again. This business exec didn’t even seem to know what the word meant.
“Grafting, sir. Do you know anything about grafting?”
My face was red hot.
“It’s funny you should ask,” he said. I noticed tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
My heart started racing.
“I majored in agriculture in college and I minored in grafting. I run a farm equipment business but have gotten away from what I once loved.” Now I was sure I could actually hear my heart, not just feel the pounding.
He stretched back on his stool, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. Then he enthusiastically explained the details of how the branch of one tree is grafted into another as if he were telling me a page-turning story. I showed him the paragraph in my book and asked him questions. He made it all so clear.
I’m not sure if I was more surprised that the prompt to talk to this man really was from God, or that God was personal enough to meet me at an airport barstool. Apparently, God was meeting this man too, right over his hamburger and French fries. He thanked me after our exchange as if he’d been reminded of his boyish love for trees and for grafting, a love that needed rediscovering.

Twelve years later, this conversation remains my most memorable business trip. Still. I can’t remember where I’d gone or even who I met with on that trip. I remember it only because I’d felt seen and heard by God.
God showed up when I was in my suit and heels, and He winked. We shared a secret. During those days of client presentations, excel spreadsheets, and conference calls, He was whispering, I want to meet with you, here. What I might once have considered a waste of time conversation with Him in the midst of a demanding day—became, instead, food for my hungry heart. It was a gift of hiddenness during a season when my work required me to be on during the workday.
God’s currency is communion—a relationship that grows, nearer still. A relationship that is cultivated when no one else is looking. A relationship accessed not just when we feel we need His help but at all the odd times that punctuate our agenda-driven days. A depth of relationship that feeds the recipient in the way that productivity and accomplishment just cannot.

What a waste. What a beautiful waste.

https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2017/08/meeting-with-god-in-the-airport/