My Acronym Find Sat, 14th December, 2024
As I was praying last week and I quoted a super familiar scripture to back up my request, immediately the Holy Spirit flashed an acronym contained in that scripture, in front of my eyes. I had never seen it before, which is quite interesting, as I’m sure it’s not novel at all, especially in this age ‘where knowledge abounds’ but please bear with me and my new find, ha!😁
The Lord had shown me some good stuff in the same scripture years back but I didn’t see this acronym then.
It’s the acronym A.S.K.
Ask, and it shall be given you
Seek, and you will find
Knock, and it will be opened to you
Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV
[7] "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
There’s a whole wealth of goodies from the Lord contained in these two verses. That day, He said to me, “This is how you pant after Me. It’s a process and it’s in levels and phases - asking, seeking and knocking”.
1/ Asking - praying (maintain your prayer altar, never allow the fire to die off on this altar)
2/ Seeking - read, study and search My word for revelation, for Rhema (ministry of the word of God must be held dear to your heart)
3/ Knocking - apply the revelation you have received from My word to open closed or locked doors (unveiling of spiritual mysteries for your benefit, allow Me to lead you to worlds unknown)
Psalm 42:1 NKJV
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God.
Matthew 5:6 NKJV
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
I hope my new find excites you as much as it excites me!😄
God bless you!🙏🏾
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Version 2.0 Fri, 22nd November, 2024
“Can I drive your car please?”
So, that request came from my then 13-year-old son. Obviously, I chuckled at his request but it became even more amusing when I realised he was serious with his ask. Lol, children can be very funny indeed.😏😁
Some of our prayer requests to God may be that ‘amusing’ to Him, as some of our ask may require a spiritually more mature version of us, as a prerequisite to having these answers from Him, to mitigate the obvious risk of self-harm. The trustworthiness of His Fatherhood has to remain unquestionable. Just like my son thought because he ‘drove’ cars on his PS4 or at go-carts, he was experienced enough to handle a real car and wondered why I was being ‘stingy’ with my car, same goes sometimes when we are wondering why answers to our prayers seem not to be coming through for us. The unfavourable outcome for the Bible prodigal son comes to mind (Luke 15:11-32).
Proverbs 30:8b-9 NKJV
[8b] Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me;
[9] Lest I be full and deny You, and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.
Technology iteration rate is such common knowledge that spins the head, with update prompts appearing enough times on our devices to become annoying, at least to me.😏 Refusal to adhere to these cues, renders the app or device inefficient in the long run. Even with prompt updates, some devices are still deemed obsolete after a couple of years.🙄😏
As much as prayer is a relationship and a request platform, it’s also a journey that matures us, as we consistently and continuously fellowship truthfully with the Lord, reading and studying His word. Patiently walking the walk with Him produces eye-watering fruits!
What version of you are you?😊😊
2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
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Pray, And Pray, Then Pray Still Sat, 09th November, 2024
When the heart is swaying to the music of joy
Pray, and pray, then pray still.
When the journey seems so, so long
Pray, and pray, then pray still.
When heaven seems to have taken an oath of silence
Pray, and pray, then pray still.
When answers seem detained from heart’s deep yearnings
Pray, and pray, then pray still.
When the terrain undulates frighteningly under the feet
Pray, and pray, then pray still.
When opposition seems to have all the backing
Pray, and pray, then pray still.
When the battle seems to go on and on and on
Pray, and pray, then pray still.
Dear friend,
Night can only last for so long
Your resoluteness will watch night melt away
As dawn announces the arrival of 'day'
Of a surety, day prevails unfailingly over 'night'
The sun will advance from behind the clouds
Robed up in all its brilliance and glory
Hold on, dear friend, hold on.
God’s got you!
1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV
Pray without ceasing.
Luke 18:1 KJV
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
Ephesians 6:18 NKJV
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints
Romans 12:12 NKJV
Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer
Colossians 4:2 KJV
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving
Psalm 30:5 NKJV - weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning
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Adam, Where Are You? Sat, 02nd November, 2024
I was prepping this post on Adam and parked it for a bit, as I needed to think. Completely unrelatedly, I then stumbled on a short clip of someone who said, “Your purpose is the reason for which you were created and, at which you must succeed otherwise nothing you succeed at would count. So, your career is not your purpose or destiny but may be a tool to fulfil purpose and destiny”.
It was uncannily related to this post!
Genesis 1:27-28 NKJV
[27] So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
[28] Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
This was Adam’s God-given purpose - fill the earth and subdue it by dominion. Earth was God’s gift to man.
Genesis 2:15 NKJV
Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
The information in this verse is a torchlight to how God was going to get Adam to kickstart fulfilling his purpose and destiny. He was not meant to ultimately be only good at gardening but tilling and keeping Eden was to help him on his journey to purpose and destiny.
(There’s absolutely nothing ignoble in being a gardener, by the way.)
Then bang, this beautiful imagery had a 180-degree turnaround…
Genesis 3:9 NKJV
Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
God walked into Eden and Adam was not found ‘tilling and keeping’. This question had nothing to do with Adam’s whereabouts, as God is Omniscient, Omnipresent and knew exactly where Adam was hiding. The question had to do with Adam being missing in his God-given purpose. Adam, where are you?
A whole lot of things went south in Eden when Eve was deceived, and Adam disobeyed. We got handed down some mean stuff man. Creation after Adam has since been missing in their God-given purpose and destiny pathway. Thankfully, receiving Christ into our lives puts us back on course but even then our purpose is usually not immediately very clear.
1 Chronicles 4:9-10 NKJV
[9] Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain."
[10] And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested.
You need to place a call.
I need to place a call.
We must all place this call.
A call to the Most High God, in prayer.
Jabez did not leave his destiny to what he got handed down, he took matters into his own hands and changed it by placing that needed call.
Ephesians 2:10 NKJV
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Take your place in life and destiny. Don’t live another person’s script. Live yours.
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My Thoughts, His Thoughts Sun, 27th October, 2024
The imagination of a writer can be quite colourful, to put it mildly, the world of quietness, meditation and creativity, where dreams are conceived. It’s a conundrum that can be tricky to unpack.
So, as I prepared to go into the office last week, I ‘looked forward’ to the ‘joys’ of commuting.😏 In a flash my mind went on the Southeastern Trains flagship journey ahead of time and saw the possibly late and fully packed train, with no sitting space for a 51-minute commute. Ok, I accept, I need to do more exercise, fine, but I paid for a seat!🤷🏾♀️
Anyway, I said a silent prayer to the Lord before I left home and asked Him to make my commute a happy one, no late trains with ample sitting places, in Jesus’ name. Amen!😁
As I got to the platform, I was warmly welcomed by the announcer’s, ‘we are sorry that the such and such train is running 30 minutes late’. Like seriously?! 🤨 Then, adding salt to injury, the automatic voice went on, ‘..it’s 8 coaches’. It should be 12, which meant the possibility of my getting a seat has just got super slim.
At this point, I remembered that I had prayed before I left home, and the thoughts of why was my prayer unanswered was met with, “Are you sure I haven’t answered your prayer”.
My destination train finally pulled to the platform and I got on. As we pulled away from the station, God asked me, “Did I answer your prayer?” My sheepish reply was, “Yes Papa, you did, thank You”.😌😌
Guess what? The train that pulled into the station was the train that was meant to arrive 30 minutes earlier but it pulled in just a minute after my own train was meant to have arrived and I got a seat.😊😊
Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV
[8] "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD
[9] "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Our Almighty God refuses to be cooped up in our manmade box. He is God, not our errand boy. He may not necessarily provide answers to our requests in our own way but one thing I KNOW and I am SURE of is that He loves us immeasurably and His faithfulness is sure! Child of God, trust Him, trust His process.
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A Tale Of Two Kings Fri, 11th October, 2024
This short but true narrative revolves around two rulers who lived a few centuries ago.
King J faced a very dire situation and he was subsequently presented with an opportunity to switch it around into a flagship success.
Decades earlier, a rare opportunity was offered to another monarch, King S, which could potentially turn his entire destiny around.
Unbeknown to these two kings, the outcomes for both situations were gingerly hinged on how much they understood and applied the rules of engagement.
When King Joash of Israel went to ask prophet Elisha for help, part of the instruction to King Joash was…:
2 Kings 13:18-19 NKJV
[18] Then he said, "Take the arrows"; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground"; so he struck three times, and stopped.
[19] And the man of God was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times."
(Read 2 Kings 13:14-25 for context)
Similarly, a question was posed to King Solomon of Israel:
1 Kings 3:5,9-10 NKJV
[5] At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?"
[9] Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?"
[10] The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
(Read 1 Kings 3: 4-15 for context)
So, the outcomes for both kings differed on the basis of how they engaged.
Hence, one thing is certain, there is always the possibility that…
James 4:3a NKJV
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss…
Romans 8:26b NKJV
…For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought…
How do we solve this dilemma?
We need to always ask the Holy Spirit
What should I pray and
How should I pray?
The ‘how’ is equally as important as the ‘what’. Perhaps when king Joash asked prophet Elisha for help and was told to hit the ground, he should have asked, ‘man of God, how many times?’
Don’t pray amiss.
May the Lord give us wisdom to know what to ask.
May the Lord give us wisdom to know how to ask.
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Come Again!🙏🏾 Sat, 05th October, 2024
As a very young Christian, I was invited to a prayer meeting and one of the prayer points was, “Come, Lord Jesus, come”. It was a very odd one to me at the time, on many levels.
I mean, why should I be the one to invite Jesus physically back to the earth? I’m not sure He has forgotten that quickly the unimaginable trauma of His first visit! Ok, He’s coming back as the Triumphant King, but even then…🤷🏾♀️
When were we politely informed, that we had gone through all the lists of things God needs to do for us first? Man, I’ve got quite a horde of unaccomplished stuff on my bucket list, I’ll like enough time to tick those off please, thank you very much!
What height of selfishness, right? Yes, very self-centred indeed. When that episode of my thought train flashed through my mind recently, the very self-absorbed flack of it made me ’blush’ under my ebony skin.😒
I’m now acutely aware that there’s a deep cry that we must mature to in prayers and that cry is ‘Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus, Come!
This cry will mirror our Father’s heart
This cry will mirror that of the Saviour’s passion
This cry will reveal us as true partners with the Holy Spirit.
This cry will place on us the gravity of true personal consecration in the Lord.
This cry will urge us on in the compulsion required to share the gospel with the lost.
This cry is a deep cry from the heart of the true Bride of Christ.
This cry is one of the last requests in the Bible.
Maranatha, Come O! Lord Jesus Come!🙇🏾♀️🙇🏾♀️
May this be our hearts’ cry too in Jesus’ name. Amen.🙏🏾🙏🏾
1 Corinthians 16:22-23 KJV
[22] If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
[23] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
1 Corinthians 16:22-23 NKJV
[22] If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!
[23] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Revelation 22:7,12-13,16-17,20-21 NKJV
[7] "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
[12] "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
[13] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."
[16] "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star."
[17] And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
[20] He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
[21] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
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Truth Revealed Sat, 28th September, 2024
Back in my secondary school days, at the instance of a little tiff, so-called 'bosom friends' would spill each other’s ‘secrets’ into the open, with the resulting pain of betrayal on display for all to see. It used to be quite a spectacle to be honest, particularly cringeworthy.
Proverbs 18:24b NKJV
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Jesus.
I knew enough about my husband when I married him, to want to spend the rest of my life with him, by the grace of God. However, what I knew about him then is nothing compared to the depth of what I know now - deliberate deep fellowship with each other has its results.
A lot of things around us and even in our lives are shrouded in mysteries, which undoubtedly trigger a lot of why’s in our questioning minds. We need answers to make a sense of what’s going on.
Matthew 13:11 NKJV
He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
I don’t want to be one of the ‘them’s’ who wouldn’t access answers to destiny-defining puzzles because we know that knowledge is power. We need to get hold of the secret or mystery surrounding some stuff we are dealing with. We all deal with stuff. This information will only be given to those who pay the price.
I can admire Buckingham Palace from the outside for ‘forever and a day’, but unless I’m taken on a tour of the rooms inside, I may not truly appreciate the opulence of the royal residence.
Psalm 91:1 NKJV
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
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How do we dwell in God’s secret place? We lean on His bosom in fellowship, in prayer, in the word, in obedience to His instructions etc.
Truth is in stages, it’s in levels, it’s in layers. We don’t get to peel them all off in one day. It’s a journey.
Apostle John (who was notably lying on the bosom of Jesus at the time) and perhaps Apostle Peter were the only disciples who were privy to the identity of the disciple who would put the proverbial knife in the back of their Master before the betrayal actually took place. Why? John was close enough to Jesus to ask and he got an indicative response. Read the book of John, chapter 13. The other disciples thought Jesus told Judas to go do grocery shopping when He said to Judas, ‘do it quickly’.😏 Note, that they were all Jesus’ disciples, all going to heaven, except one of course, but only possibly two of them had this insight.
Are we close enough to God to get answers to the mysteries shrouding how to progress, or issues in our lives, in the church and in our world? Are we? There's a clarion call for a deeper walk with God.
Deuteronomy 29:29 NKJV
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Psalm 103:7 NKJV
He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel.
John 15:15 NKJV
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Let us continue to hunger and thirst for a closer and deeper walk with the Lord. It must never cease. The Lord will help us all in Jesus’ name. Amen.🙏🏾
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Attention Catching Sat, 21st September, 2024
I walked into a job interview room a couple of decades ago and immediately saw that the interviewer’s jaw had difficulty hanging up, having dropped a few centimetres, he obviously could not hide his apparent surprise. I didn’t need a prophet telling me the reason behind his startled countenance - the name did not match the person who walked in. At the time, his expression did nothing to settle the interview butterflies fluttering around in my belly, now I find the whole episode quite comical.😁
When a particular string of letters is called or written, my attention is piqued, whether consciously or otherwise.
That is my name.
Joyce Da’Costa.
In Africa, a name represents a whole suite of significant meanings.
The same rings true for most parts of the world.
There's a name!
At the mention of the name of Jesus!
Jehovah’s attention is caught
The whole cosmos stands at attention.
John 16:23 NKJV
"And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you”.
Philippians 2:10 NKJV
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth.
JESUS, what a beautiful name!🙌🏾
The name of Jesus is not a rubber stamp, but we need a full conviction of what His name represents - God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s grace.
Pray with this awareness, always.🙏🏾
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Operator Sly Fri, 13th September, 2024
Once upon a time,
I struggled,
I struggled with spotting the stain and spread of offence,
And didn’t realise it at the time.
Offence is a sly operator.
The spectrum of its operation is wide in its expanse.
Offence may sometimes hide behind just one small incidence and hence obscure its damaging effect, leaving its bearer unaware and misguidedly unperturbed.
Or it may be voracious in its activities, cutting across various rattling incidents, as such having a field day of havoc-wrecking in ‘broad daylight’, and its porter struggling with all sorts of warring emotions.
Or it could be operating somewhere in between these two extremes.
Pinpoint its platform and allow the Lord to work with you to deal with it.
Whatever it is, it needs to be checked.
It’s a two-way check:
1. Do not be offended
Matthew 11:6 NKJV
And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.
Acts 24:16 KJV
This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.
2. Do not cause offence
1 Corinthians 10:32 KJV
Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God.
Dealing with offence
Matthew 5:29 KJV
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Ooh, how brutal is that?!!
Yes, you deal with the source of offence brutally, no emotions attached. It does not warrant your caresses.
Offence festers rapidly and reproduces deep-rooted anger, resentment and unforgiveness.
-Pray for mercy, grace and love from God to deal with it
-If it doesn’t go away, talk to the person about it in sincere love
-Never leave it unchecked
Matthew 13:57-58 NKJV
57 So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”
58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Exercising faith, and having answered prayers, both have a common enemy, it’s called offence
Without faith, it is impossible to please God
Regarding unbelief, “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord”.
May the Lord look on us in mercy, engrace us to live without offence and answer our prayers in Jesus’ name. Amen.🙏🏾
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The Crucifixion Fri, 30th August, 2024
Learning about Jesus at Sunday School lends a perspective of innocence to the events of the Bible. As growth and maturity begin to peel away the layers of innocence and reveal the realities of the events that took place, these events unfold and morph from mere stories into realities. Their impact may hit in unexpected ways. The day I realised how traumatic and barbaric the crucifixion of Jesus was, I bawled so hard and never remained the same in my indebtedness and gratitude to Him.😢😭
1 Corinthians 13:11 NKJV
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
As we journey with God, another crucifixion must take place.
The lust of my flesh.
If indeed God will use me effectively, then the lust of my flesh must die on the cross.
The lust of the flesh dies in the presence of the Lord in praise, worship, prayers and ministry of the word.
I saw ‘me’ getting to the end of myself.
Hopelessness and helplessness were unsympathetic as they stared down and hard at me.
All my physical and spiritual efforts had no effect to change the desperate situation that was before me.
Lying prostrate in worship and prayers before the Lord, I saw the boast of flesh being stripped off me, leaving me appallingly bereft.
Suddenly, Mercy began to take determined steps towards me
Mercy touched me
Mercy lifted me up
Mercy covered me
Mercy said, ‘I paid for it all, that all your boast would be in Me and in Me alone’.
Self-boast should find no platform for expression in me.
My boast is in Christ crucified and resurrected!
O! Lord may I have no boast of myself or in your gifts to me, whatsoever!🙏🏾🙏🏾
Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
[9] not of works, lest anyone should boast.
For God to use me, He needs to take me on a journey where I am emptied of all of my boast, completely.
The subtlety of self-praise is indeed cunning in its expression, so in our self-check exercises, awareness of its elusiveness helps to identify it!
God and self-boast are never good cohabitants, we must check one of them out.
I encourage us to make the right choice.
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Who Did This? Sat, 24th August, 2024
Flashback.
When I was young, my mum would come into any living space in our home and her riveting eyes would instantly fish out something that was out of synch, no matter how much we tried to hide it.
“Who did this?” would be her ever-predictable question.
She was always met unfailingly with a deafening silence. After a mum-type rant, she may get, ‘I don’t know’ from each five of us, at best.
I just couldn’t understand why she always asked this same question; she never got the response she wanted.🤷🏾♀️😏😊
Even if you knew who ‘done it’, woe betide you if you broke the unspoken sibling pact of silence!🤨
Payback sometimes pokes its head round the door when you least expect it. The best answer I ever got from my children was, “not me”, and my typical, frustrated response was, ‘so a ghost did it, huh?!’ Still would be met with a very irritating but strangely familiar silence.😒
Sometimes my mum could tell which of us ‘done it’. I used to wonder how she knew and concluded in my little child’s mind then, that she must have mystical powers. I know now that those ‘powers’ are bestowed the moment your baby is placed in your arms! Lol!😁
Matthew 13:28a NKJV
He said to them, An enemy has done this.
John 10:10a NKJV
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
Similarly, if anything smells of stealing, stinks of killing or reeks of destroying anything good, then it has the devil’s signature scrawled all over it. You don’t leave it ’as is’. Please don’t sit back and take it. Fight! Child of the Most High God, fight!
One of the ways we fight is through persistent prayers. Don’t give up! Fight!
Ephesians 6:12 KJV
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 KJV
[3] For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
[4] (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds).
Jehovah has promised us victory. Go for it mate, fight! He’s got your back.
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The Esther Orchestration Sat, 17th August, 2024
When G. F. Handel’s ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ is performed by a laudable choir, especially if backed by a seasoned orchestra, its impact on the audience or listeners can be so surreal indeed, leaving goosebumps and profound emotion in its wake. As you listen to its rendition, you can almost practically partake of the glorious experience of Jesus welcoming into eternal home the triumphant saint!
Classical music enthusiasts would be the first to appreciate the beauty of a good orchestra, as the different musical instruments, melodies, harmonies, and rhythms interplay, to create an ebb and flow of music that is incredible in its experience.
With all that said and done, I can only imagine how disastrous the performance would be without the orchestra conductor being present to direct.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
[5] Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
[6] In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
So grateful, that we have an ever-present Great Conductor in our lives as children of God.
As I recently read through the book of Esther in the bible, I could see a divine hand moving the “chess pieces” on the board in her favour and that of Mordecai and the Israelites. Phenomenal doesn’t quite describe it enough -
“That night”, slumber played the game of ‘hide and seek’ with the king
That same night king’s idea of a lullaby was to read himself to sleep.
That same night the king read of no one else but of Mordecai’s unrewarded patriotic deed
That same night the king asked who was in the palace court and it had to be Haman, the Israelites’ enemy.
That same night Haman made the greatest mistake of his life and described rewards worthy of a Prince.
Haman was then made to take Mordecai around the whole city in a glamorous parade.
Haman fell on Esther’s couch at the same time the king came back into the room, to his demise
Haman was impaled on the same gallows he had arrogantly erected for Mordecai
Haman’s wealth was transferred to Esther
Mordecai took Haman’s place in the palace
Ok, tell me, who makes this up?!! However, this series of incidents began to unfold after a particular action was taken.
A fast.
Esther and every Israelite fasted and prayed for 3 days.
Fasting added to prayers provides access to unravelling the mystery of our destinies.
Matthew 17:21 NKJV
“However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."
Sometimes it would take a fast.* Perhaps you need to add fasting to your prayers regarding that issue. Why not try it?
*Make sure to fast with wisdom, knowledge and understanding.
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Grateful! Fri, 09th August, 2024
For love, joy, peace divine
I’m grateful Lord
For grub on my table 🥘
I’m grateful Lord
For garments on my back
I’m grateful Lord
For roof over my head
I’m grateful Lord
For headway, forward and upward
I’m grateful Lord
For rescue from the enemy’s gallows
I’m grateful Lord
For family, natural and spiritual
I’m grateful Lord
For all answered pleas🙏🏾
I’m grateful Lord
For everything You are to me,
For everything You’ve done for me,
For everything You will ever be to me from now and into eternity,
No currency of ‘grateful’ matches my immeasurable indebtedness to You,
my Redeemer,
my Lord,
my King,
my Father.
Ephesians 5:20 NKJV
Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV
In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Chronicles 29:13 NKJV
Now therefore, our God, We thank You And praise Your glorious name.
Mirrors your heart as well?😉😊
Please tell Him 🙏🏾🙌🏾🙇🏾♂️👏🏾
.
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Let Heaven Come To Earth Fri, 02nd August, 2024
Unfiltered is my deep passion for praise and worship of God. Pure adoration for the One who holds everything together gets me any time.
So, we had church last Sunday. It was glorious, and yeah it was worship Sunday! One of the songs the worship team ministered, wouldn’t go away for a while into the week. A giveaway is the title of this post - ‘Let Heaven Come’ (Our Father) by Bethel Music.
I played the song.
I sang the song.
I prayed the song.
Over and over.
“Let your inner eyes see further”, God said to me quietly. “Pray this prayer for the unsaved. Let heaven come into their lives too!”
I called each of them by name and prayed, like I do. Let heaven come!
“Apply the same passion with which you pray for your most pressing needs in praying for them, that’s where My heart is”, He continued.
“Someone prayed for you to be saved, that’s why you are basking in My glory today”.
“My heart bleeds continuously for the lost, let yours bleed too”, God said to me.
If I know heaven is unbelievably glorious and real, if I know hell is unimaginably horrific and real, then I will pray passionately for the lost.
Cruelly selfish would I be, not to pray.
Compassionate pleas for the lost should make it to the top of our prayer lists. Already done it? Kudos.😉😊
The Lord help us all in Jesus’ name. Amen.🙏🏾
Psalm 2:8 NKJV
"Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession".
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Don’t Do A ‘Samson’ (A Poem) Fri, 26th July, 2024
Hey Samson,
Marriage to a gentile?!
Very foundation of the Nazarene vow snubbed.
Child of God,
Your destiny beckons devotion,
Pray,
Don’t do a ‘Samson’.
Hey Samson,
Devouring honey from the bowels of the dead?!
What happened to “ditching anything unclean”?
Child of God,
Your destiny beckons consecration,
Without ceasing, pray,
Don’t do a ‘Samson’.
Hey Samson,
Laps of Delilah for a solace nap?!
Your hair locks demised! Where, o! where is the hallow of your calling?
Child of God,
Your destiny beckons dedication,
Without fainting, pray,
Don’t do a ‘Samson’.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV
Pray without ceasing.
Luke 18:1 KJV
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
Matthew 26:41 NKJV
“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Sparing The Rod Fri, 19th July, 2024
Growing up, I quickly knew that there were consequences for deliberate disobedience or rebellion, and I never liked the sight of the ’rod’. Who does, eh?😉 So, in the event that I had been naughty and for some reason I was spared the 'rod', there was such a wave of relief in me!😌
Hebrews 4:16 NKJV
"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need".
I used to find this verse slightly odd. Hear me out!😁 I would have thought that the verse would read more like this:
‘Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain answers to our needs’.
But nah. When there’s a particular need in our lives, for instance the need for a new job, it is actually a flag that we are in need of God’s mercy and grace. So, when we go to God in prayers about that need, what we are really asking God for is His mercy and grace, because it’s His heart of mercy that will initiate the release of the answer to our prayers.
James 2:13 NLT
"There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you".
The food for thought here is, have we shown mercy when we had the capacity to show mercy to someone else? Remember, mercy is not deserved.
May the cover of God’s mercy and grace never be removed from over our lives and all our loved ones in Jesus’ name. Amen 🙏🏾
The Faith Metre Fri, 12th July, 2024
I love to dance, and no, I’ve never taken my dance floor antics to competition levels. I’d rather spare myself the embarrassment of being told that my ‘rhythmical’ moves are painful to watch.
Honestly, music notes flirt with my ears no matter where I am, automatically transcribing into accompanying body movements in my mind or for real, in which case, many a time, had caused embarrassment for my children in their younger years, but not without a quiet and curt, “Mum, please don’t!”😁
James 1:6-7 NKJV
[6] But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
[7] For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Mark 9:24 NKJV
"Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"
The stealth thief called doubt always attempts to steal our joy and our reward of answered prayers. Newsflash! We are not the first of God’s people to fight doubts.
Abraham doubted.
Peter doubted.
However, Abraham is called the father of faith, imagine!
Peter was the leading Apostle of Christ.
What you do with doubt when it rears its sneaky head, is what matters. Dance away your doubts. It’s one of the tools for getting rid of unbelief. Boot out doubt with intentional praise and dance. It will increase the level of your faith metre reading.
In the privacy of your home/room, pick your favourite praise song(s) from your playlist, have it on permanent repeat or loop, and then dance like crazy from your heart. Faith is crazy but you will feel faith rise within you as you do this. In situations like these, you don’t praise God because you feel like it, you praise Him regardless! You praise your way out of doubt and despair, just like king David and king Jehoshaphat did.
Child of God, engage this mystery of God and raise your faith metre reading with intentional praise and dance!
My palate and mustard cream are on a war path, they don’t have a cordial relationship at all. The first trial of the eye-catching, yellow-coloured, hot dog companion, brought such disappointment to my taste buds, that my face would have had a ‘tell-it-all’ expression. The experience never changed even after giving it another try several months later. That was it, ‘scarred’ for life.😏
Somewhere in my subconscious, as silly as it may sound, I expected the ‘heroic’ mustard to treat my sense of taste better than that because I mean, the Lord Jesus Himself used it as an allegory of faith in the Bible, didn’t he? Lol. Don’t mind me.😁
Matthew 13:31-32 NKJV
[31] Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,
[32] which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."
Luke 17:6 NKJV
So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
I had always wondered what exactly a ‘mustard seed-faith’ really implies.
When I meditated, I realised that a child of God would have something they absolutely trust about God regardless of what may be happening around them. Anytime you need to exercise your faith, especially so in prayers, start from that point, and hold on to that. That is your mustard seed-faith.
For instance, you may be very sure in your heart, without an iota of doubt, that God is good and there’s no unrighteousness in Him. That is your mustard seed-faith.
You may not have enough faith to tell the wheelchair occupant to stand up and walk. It’s okay, start from where you are at with your mustard seed-faith, hold on to that even in the face of life’s storms and absolutely refuse to let it go.
You will get to the other side in Jesus’ name. Amen.🙏🏾
This may be a familiar phrase, hinged on the mode of a child’s arrival into the world, but it has beckoned to itself a deep dichotomy of opinions.
Some believe a woman has the right to choose either natural birth or caesarean section to welcome her baby, depending on how she feels.
Another school of thought believes that if a woman is supported appropriately, she would be able to receive her baby into the world via natural birth, and caesarean sectioning should be a last option, as in the case of medical complications.
Regardless of the option chosen, either way, there would be a serious risk to the child’s and mother’s lives, if the mother stops pushing in the middle of the birth of her child or the doctor stops bang in the middle of the C-section operation and starts chatting away nonstop on the phone.
Daniel 10:12-14 NKJV
[12] Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.
[13] But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
[14] Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come."
Daniel’s answer made its way to him from heaven, right from the very first day he began to pray, however there was an unplanned delay in getting it to him, delayed for 20 days. What if he had stopped praying after day 19? (read Daniel chapter10)
In the spirit realm, we cannot afford to be too posh to push. A well-known acronym for PUSH is ‘pray until something happens’.
We cannot stop praying, as the answer to our prayer is on its way to us. Don’t abort it now! Persevere dear child of God.
May His unending grace and strength be available to you, as you journey on, in Jesus’ name. Amen. 🙏🏾
I was commuting back home from the office last week, and I began to ruminate on what I would eat for dinner when I got home. I suddenly had this desire to take ‘ogi’ and ‘moimoi’*. It was an unusual craving for me but I felt that I didn’t want to eat anything heavy that evening. My thought-train continued… The ogi can happen because I have this wonderful ogi powder at home (you can ask me about the brand and source later😉) but the moimoi part would not happen because I didn’t have the moimoi in my fridge or anywhere in my house for that matter. Case closed. So I tried to think of alternative meals to my lovely indigenous porridge meal.
As I unlocked the door to our home, my wonderful husband said, “I brought moimoi for you from work.” I was speechless. The odds of that happening were seriously way off!
Ephesians 3:20 KJV
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."
God answered my thoughts! I didn’t even ‘pray’ them, I just ‘thought’ them. Is He awesome or what?!
“Tell my people that I still answer prayers”.
May He bring answers even to your silent thoughts in Jesus’ name. Amen.🙏🏾
*West African corn porridge and steamed beans cake.
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