Abimbola Writes: January 2020

Creating out time for God amidst our daily life is something that can be quite challenging especially when you have a lot of things on your plate per day and just creating time to talk to God looks like a lot of work.

Most times, regardless of how much we just want to create out time for God, we just find out that we just still can't.

There are days you feel that the hours you have in a day isn't even sufficient anymore, how much more creating out time to talk to God.

So, how then can you still be productive while not neglecting our relationship with God?

- Utilize Any Spare Time You Have

While we can't just depend on our spare time to commune with our Father, but if we want to be sincere with ourselves, rather than stabbing devotion everyday of the week while giving the excuse that we do not have time, we can choose to use every idle time of ours to report back to base.

It's worthy to note that just like a drop of water makes a mighty ocean so also it is when we decide to come before him, 10 minutes today, 20 minutes of undivided attention tommorow, another 15 minutes the day after, all this time when used to to commune with God can mean a lot.

Some of our life are as chocked up as it can be with diverse things seeking our attention, but we have to make out time for the lover of our soul.

- Take Prayer Breaks

It might be every three hours interval within the day, set your alarm let's say from six when you wake up, you say a prayer for about five minutes, by the time your alarm goes off by 9am reminding you of your prayer appointment you pray again, and you continue till 9pm, if you consistently do this over a period of time, very soon you won't need an alarm to remind you.

Do this and watch your life improve.

During your normal routine at work, as you move from one department to another, talk to God!

- Value Your Weekends

If you do a 9-5 from Monday - Friday, due to the stress of the day, it's possible not to spend enough time in the study of the word and prayer, but then we have the gift of Weekends.

It is not every weekend that is meant for party or hanging out with friends, those things have their place but schedule time to spend great time with God on weekends just loving up on Him unlike during the week when you have an appointment to keep, or when a colleague calls you there is terrible traffic on your way to work and you have to hurry out of the house.

- Utilize Your Bus Time

Often time than not, we get to those places (either work or school) via transport, and depending on the mode, either you're driving yourself or you're being driven, there are some things we can still make good use of that time.

Are you driving? then you can try this

Listen to a sermon or podcast

Pray either in understanding or in the holy Ghost

Listen to an audio bible

Listen to uplifting songs

Are you on a public bus or someone is driving? then you can try this

Same as someone who is driving, but now you get to

Read your bible

Read a christian book and higlight with a marker or even make notes.

- Belong To A Community Of Passionate People

A community of passionate people is simply a tribe of people who are as devoted to God as you are.

On this journey, there are times when you won't feel like it, but this community/tribe are people who will strengthen you on weak days.

Your community does not necessarily have to be thirty or forty peole, it can just be you and someone and then getting to three or four, just find that tribe, friends that can bear you up in your down days, and people you can do same for.

This journey although a personal race can also be effective when you have people spuring you on this faith walk, people who are as committed to God as you are or who are even on another level higher than yours.

Meetings with such people either online or on-the-site can be what you need to re-ignite that fire in your heart for God.

Yours might be a monthly breakfast meeting your church has every month, yours might be an online group, but in all you do, don't be void of people who are chasing after God as you are or even more.

It's so possible to make out time for God irrespective of our busy schedule.

Do you have other ways you stay connected with God amidst your busy life? We'll love to read from you.

January 30, 2020 No comments

There was a time I battled with unforgiveness, which prior to that time I had told others about forgiveness, taught how God wanted us His children to forgive people who err against us, how it was good for our mental health and so on and then I was dropped right in the, middle of a serious misunderstanding between my friend and I which led to me being deeply hurt.

I remember crying on some days, and not been able to eat well on other days because of the burden in my heart and coupled with the fact that the person who wronged me was someone I saw almost on a daily basis didn’t make the matter any better for me at all.

That phase of my life helped me learn some vital lessons, permit me to share some with you.

1. Accept That You Had Been Hurt

The mistake we often make is to live in the denial of what is going on, and while this is not telling us to only live our life by sight alone neglecting faith, but there are times when we just have to accept a fact.

Being hurt is just like being burnt with an iron on the hand, if I decide to live in denial that I never burnt myself on the hand, I wouldn’t give the hand the attention it needs and I would not see any reason why I should get it treated either, and this can cause a lot of damage to my hand than I ever intended. This also applies to the acceptance that something wrong happened.

It is almost impossible to forgive when you don’t acknowledge the hurt, I know it’s quite easy to just keep sweeping everything under the carpet and putting up a demeanor that shows that nothing is wrong, but the challenge with this way is that by the time it will bring forth fruit, you’ll realize bitterness has had a root in your heart against that person or those people involved.

2. Talk to God About It

This stage looks so easy on paper but it is quite difficult to do.

It becomes even more difficult if the person who hurt you is a Christian too, it takes a lot of grace to be finally able to tell God how much you hurt and how he can help soothe the ache in your heart.

The enemy most times want you to see how Christianity is just so not worth it, at least if a fellow Christian can hurt you in this way, then the whole Christianity thing is a scam. But that is just a lie of the devil, that a Christian hurt you does not mean that is how God is too, it doesn’t validate the fact that God is not to be trusted. It is just like saying a certain child of a family wrongs you and then you conclude that every member of that family is nothing to write home about.

If it were so, so those who had a disagreement with you too should just think that there is nothing good about your family too, and I’m sure you would not want that. The reason why a member God’s family did something to wrong you does not mean he is a bastard; it might just be one of those times he didn’t yield to the Sprit’s cautioning and yielded to the flesh.

Don’t allow the devil take you away from God or from other members of his family because of the wrongdoing of one person.

3. Differentiate The Offence From The Offender

T This is a phase we often times don't consider.

Sumbo your best friend of twenty-three hurts you in a very deep way, you see no reason why you should continue been friends with her and decide to call it quit while throwing twenty-three years of friendship away. If only you can sit down and consider the offence things in the right light, you'll discover that although what she did to you was wrong, but you have taken things a little out of proportion.

I It's accepted that she wronged you, but that doesn't mean she has no good in her anymore. Differentiating the offence from the offender will help in no small way to put things in their right perceptive and help you see things in a better light.

4. Talk To A Trusted Person About It

During the time I was battling with unforgiveness, I talked to some people about it.

I realized I was in a situation where I couldn’t help myself and so I needed to be borne on the wings of others. I discovered that trying to keep it to myself was just going to help me keep seeing how much they hurt me and how I was never going to forgive, at least not on this side of eternity (who says I am going to get to heaven with unforgiveness lurking in my heart?)

It was a situation that really shook me to my core, but once I was finally able to get it out of my chest by telling some trusted people, it was the beginning of my healing process.

A note of caution: Make sure the people you’ll be talking to are those you trust who wouldn’t make your personal life the next gist in town, and who will be able to advice you in the right way.

5. Ask God For Grace And Decide To Let Go

Some offences are more easier to forgive than others, but with how great the offence is, we are still obligated to still forgive.

After doing all that you need to do, the ultimate decision to let go still remains with you, you can decide to hold on to the hurt and let it escalate to the point of hatred and bitterness, or you can choose to let it go from your heart.

Forgiveness isn’t something you do for others, but it is something you do first for yourself.

Unforgiveness has the capacity to keep one stuck in a particular position without any significant proof because the energy that ought to be used doing other things is being used trapping oneself in the cage while you’re thinking you have the other person trapped.

Ask God for the grace you need to be able to forgive them from your heart, and then watch how God will uproot that seed of discord from within you.

Some Scriptures You Can Mediate On

Colossians 3:13

Be tolerant of one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, you also should forgive.

Matthew 18:21-22

Then Peter came to Jesus and said, “Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him, up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I tell you, not seven times but seventy times seven!

Mark 11:25

And when you stand and pray, forgive anything you may have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive the wrongs you have done.”

Ephesians 4:26-27

Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set while you are still angry, and do not give the Devil an opportunity to work.

Matthew 6:14-15

For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.

1 John 4:20-21

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

And one thing you should bear in mind, never assume anything, talk it out with the person first!

Forgiveness isn't easy, but when you finally let go, it will be worth it.

Did you ever had any battle with unforgiveness, please share how you were able to overcome it, I look forward to reading your comments.

January 23, 2020 No comments

January 16, 2020 No comments

This is one topic most people never want to talk about especially in church.

The issues concerning sex has always been seen as a dreaded topic that should only be talked about in the corner of a place and not in public, and this obscurity really allowed sin thrive as people were suffering but they were silent about it.

After deciding this is a particular person I would want to marry, one of the things that should be put in place is a structure that will see to it that you don’t defile the body until when you are finally given the license in church to go all the way.

I have read and seen firsthand outstanding testimonies of people who got married without kissing and undue touching of each other’s body but who waited until the pronouncement from the altar. I once heard a woman who alongside her husband never kissed, never touched unduly, never had sex, it was actually on their way the reception after the church wedding did they finally start learning how to kiss so that they won’t embarrass themselves, but they finally ended up embarrassing themselves! But with the years she had been married, she has finally mastered art and need not embarrass her husband by being clumsy while kissing and all the other matters.

Love is a beautiful thing, it is capable of making a no-nonsense sister suddenly become a soft lady or a fire brand brother who speaks in capital tongues suddenly become so cool.

There was this term we had in the NCCF secretariat where I served, they call the people the engaged corpers were engaged to as shaky which means the person whose voice has the ability to make you shake.

It’s true that the temptation to get the hands over each other’s body is real for those in a relationship, it usually looks sometimes like you are drunk and if we don’t set some boundaries and structures in place, and we might open our eyes one day and realize that the deed has been done.

While some people do not see anything wrong in kissing and touching their partners body inappropriately, but these are all part of the sexual art itself.

The first day I read how God set boundaries for the waters and telling it how far it can go, that verse changed something about me. If God could set boundaries for the seas and oceans telling them this is how far they can come, how much more I who was created in His image.

So, how do you keep your hands off your partner’s body?

1. MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH SOMEONE OF THE SAME MINDSET

It’s a little easier when you and your partner both believe in sexual abstinence as against when it’s just one of the party who believes that the bed should be kept undefiled while the other feels indifferent about it. That both parties believe in sexual abstinence does not mean that the relationship will not have its share of temptations, but it serves as good ground knowing that you are both on the same page about honoring God with your bodies.

That resolve which is a personal resolve for both of you will serve as a good instrument in the hand of God on the day one of you is weak, the other person will be able to be strong and lift the other up until you’re both standing.

2. KNOW WHAT YOUR TEMPTATIONS AND DISCUSS IT WITH THE PURPOSE OF WORKING AROUND IT

I mentioned it the post about things you should do in your single years, know what your sexual triggers are.

As a lady, are you more vulnerable when a man touches a particular part of your body?

As a lady, do you tend to feel more sexually aroused when it’s your time of the month?

As a man, does a lady’s hug seem natural to you, or is your body literally set on fire when you hug a lady?

Know these things.

When you start a relationship, discuss it with your partner not just for the purpose of talking but for ways through which you can both navigate through it and honor God with your bodies.

3. HAVE A PERSON(S) YOU ARE BOTH ACCOUNTABLE TO

We don’t have to always have to live alone.

The lord has given us the gift of people both fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers who have gone ahead of this stage we are in and so can help us. Don’t think you can just keep sexually pure by yourselves, knowing in a part of your heart that your spiritual father/mother or a friend somewhere will ask you questions can be the saving grace in a seemingly compromising situation.

Having a father/mother over the relationship won’t achieve its purpose if you are not going to be true to them and you’ll hide some things. Purpose in your heart that you won’t hide anything that you should reveal to him/her. They can only help as much as they know.

4. AGREE ON WHAT IS TOO FAR IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP

One reason some people in relationship cross the line and find out that they just committed fornication is that they didn’t beforehand determine what will be considered too far in the relationship.

Will chatting about the color of each other’s underwear be allowed?

Are you allowed to hug each other fully?

What places will you not touch deliberately in each other’s body?

Draw the line now, before emotions begins to fly over.

5. CUT COMMUNICATION FOR A WHILE

If you both keep seeing that you can’t seem to keep hands off each other’s bodies when you see or that the hands just seems to have its own mind when you meet, then you might have to abstain from seeing each other for some time until you have a grasp on yourself and your emotion.

There is nothing wrong with the both of you when you are sexually attracted to your partner, in fact a deliverance session might need to be organized if you both have never wanted to go all the way with each other, but the challenge comes when you want to go overboard with it without being married first.

6. DEPEND ON GOD

Yes, you’ll be in a relationship with another God’s daughter or God’s son, you’ll know your temptations, discuss it and avoid it like a plague, you’ll have someone you are both accountable and you’ll be sincere and let them be in the know as things unfold in the relationship, and you’ll also agree on what is too far in your relationship, but with all these things, there is still a place for total dependence on God knowing full well that he has your best interest at heart and that he is committed to making sure that you and your partner present yourselves to him as a holy and living sacrifice to him.

In the face of temptations with emotions flying in the air, you might just have Ten seconds to just whisper a word of prayer to God for help and watch him diffuse the sexual temptation in the atmosphere.

Your depending on God does not mean you’ll stay behind closed doors and begin to pray, not at all, it means you’ll stay within the confines where his grace can reach without tempting the Lord your God by yourself.

Premarital sex looks great, but it has the capacity of wrecking a lot of havoc;

You lose the presence of God and become overcome with guilt

You are at risk of becoming pregnant or becoming a father without planning to

You suddenly have to start telling several lie to cover up your mistake

You lose boldness to come to God in prayer with the devil constantly reminding of your fault

You lose the testimony you could have the privilege of sharing to other children of God.

There is so much at stake, so you can’t afford to lose, and with God’s help, the odds are in our favor.

The temptation is real, but God is more real, so instead of just allowing emotions get the better part of us, we put under subjection knowing full well that by the time we stand before our individual families and God on that glorious day, there will be no guilt eating us up and we finally be able to indulge in the very art we have restrained ourselves from. It will now be done with no fear and no condemnation. What a glorious atmosphere!

So let’s keep abstaining, let’s choose to honor God with our bodies.

P.S

Sexual purity is not only meant for people who are virgins, it is a tall order for everyone whose Lord is Christ. And although, there are times when non-virgins think there is nothing worth keeping anymore , at least the hymen has been broken, so why the abstinence?

This shouldn’t be so, once you have given your life to Christ, all your past errors have become a thing of the past (and if you’re having a hard time believing this, it’s high time you started believing and living in that consciousness). You no longer have any obligation to your old master or old way of life, you have been translated out of darkness to the kingdom of life now.

That some things happened then does not mean that you have to continue now, you can decide to live in a way pleasing to God from now going forward.

So, irrespective of the situation, we'll keep standing by His grace.

January 09, 2020 No comments

Oh My!

Another year is upon us. It feels just like yesterday when the year 2019 it started and it has rolled away joining the previous years before it, and against all odds we are still here.

There are a lot of people who would have written down their New Year resolutions and some of these resolutions are going to be broken between few days or few weeks into the year. They will be broken not only because the people involved won’t do their best but because there are some things that they are still not getting right.

I’ll explain

For some years now, I have always written down a particular amount of money to save up. At the beginning of the year, I’d write it, but because I didn't have the proper understanding of what it entails and how I could achieve it, at the end of the year, I’d only have a fraction of what I proposed to have. This year was quite different, I even exceeded my financial goal for the year, while this is not spite others who didn't attain their financial goal, or to declare myself as a millionaire, but it goes a long way to show the power when we seek to first become before we do, and when we finally understand the how, things just flows almost effortlessly.

If one of your goals for several years is to maintain an unbroken relationship with God, you might end up flunking your daily devotion two weeks into the new year (I know how this feels, I was a regular customer too), but if rather than striving in the flesh to always want to do the devotions and then we can move to trusting God to quicken our mortal bodies, or we build structures around our lives that ensures that we also communicate with God every single day of our life, and then we build a great relationship with God where His voice is the loudest in our spirit and our souls does not find rest until it rests in him. In that kind of realm, not doing devotion will not be the problem, we will have a new set of challenge which will be that of losing track of time once we are in his presence. I once read of a lady who had to do her devotion in the night, and couldn't afford to do her devotions in the morning, due to the fact that once she starts communing with God, she becomes lost in His presence and can’t seem to track the time. What a good problem to have! It doesnt start in a day. And although there will days when the body when our body just wants to rest, but we will always keep working hard to follow Him.

So, let’s dive into the things you can do differently to make this year to make it your best year yet.

- SET GOALS

Except you have been told otherwise by God not to have anything planned out but just see where he is ready to take you, I believe everyone should set goals for their life and beyond the setting of goals, adequate plans should be put in place to see those goals come to pass.

For the men, I’m sure there will be nothing interesting about football if 22 men are just running over the field with no goal post, the goal post is what measures the achievements and if a team is either winning or losing.

Writing down goals goes a long way to measure progress in one’s life. Although some of our plans might not come to be, but that should not be an excuse to fold hands and just watch our lives ebb away.

These are some areas you might want to set your goals and some questions to guide you;

Spiritual Life

How do you intend seeking God more this year?

What will you stop doing, reduce in doing or do more in the year as you seek God?

How many sermons from God’s servants will you be listening to per month?

How many programs will you be attending?

How often will you be fasting per month?

How many times will you be going on a personal retreat this year?

Mental Development

How many books will you be reading per month?

How much will you choose a great program on TV over home videos?

What kind of programs will you be watching?

Assignment/Purpose

What is God calling you to do?

What can you begin to do now in those areas of your calling?

What are the major distractions on your way and how do you minimize them as you go through the year?

Will you need to connect to other people with similar calling as God leads?

Health

How many hours sleep will you always give your body per day?

How much calories are you allowed to take into God’s temple; your body?

What is your definition of junks and how do you intend cutting down on junks and begin to eat healthy?

How often will you go for medical check-up during the year?

Finance

Will you always pay your tithe (10% of your income) or are you permitted to stab it in case of pending personal projects?

What percent of your monthly income will you always save per month?

How do you intend to invest your saving, will it be government bonds, real estate e.t.c?

What other stream of income will you be having as the year goes by?

Have you come to the understanding that you do not have to prove a point to anyone and so your spending is not from a competing stance?

How much will be giving out to different individuals as a means of God’s blessing them?

Career

How do you intend bringing excellence into your job?

What certifications related to your career path do you intend getting as the year rolls by?

Will you be going for your next level of degree?

Setting Goals makes sure we do not just keep boxing into the air, but that we are deliberate in all that we do, and we should also bear in heart that the Lord of our life might interrupt some of the things we have set as plans for ourselves all for the glory of His name.

- TAKE STOCK AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN

This is a term mostly used in the store or where things are kept to be able to know what has been exhausted over a period of time and what needs to be refilled.

And although a lot of people make this stocktaking a one-year event which is usually towards the end of the year but it should not be so. We have 12 months in a year, you can choose to reflect upon your progress at the end of every month. Yours might be towards the end of each quarter, we have four quarters in the year; January, February and March is a quarter, April, May and June is another quarter, July, August and September is another quarter while October, November and December signifies the last quarter. You can chose the last day of the last month of every quarter.

Review time should be a time when you ask yourself deep questions, questions such as;

Am I as devoted to God as I said I would in this year?

Am I giving as much as I said u would?

Am I saving as much as I said I would?

What professional courses out of what I said I would do am I doing?

Have I started work on that business idea or am I still stalling on it?

The time of stock taking/Review is a time to be sincere with yourself and God.

Taking stock or reviewing your life at those intervals helps you look back at the beginning of the year at those things you said you would do and if you’re really doing them, it helps you stay on course or if you have to re-strategize or just completely quit doing a particular thing. Doing this helps you feel the same or something near the adrenaline rush you felt while crossing into the New Year.

Most great firms and organizations take time out of their busy schedule to do this, it is so important that it has the capacity to steer your life in a great path.

- KEEP A JOURNAL

While some of us are good at putting our thoughts on a paper, there are some who struggle to do that, but either you are a writer or not, endeavor to keep a journal, by keeping a journal I don’t mean all these ten pages souvenir we are given at parties but something with a thick cover pack that can serve you for the next 365 days. You don’t necessarily have to write into your journal every day or every week, but it should serve as a book of reference that can still be looked into years from now.

It is meant to be your personal file where you document happenings, instructions you are getting per season and what God is communicating to you.

My pastor was saying something the other day about the importance of keeping a journal, he said, if you are trusting God concerning a thing and it seems He is silent, you might just take time off, bring out all your parchment (journal over the years) that you document the instructions he gives to you, there is almost a great certainty that the answer you seek at present lies in the instruction that has been communicated years back, now imagine if you didn't use a good journal or didn't even journal at all. The temptation to throw a book with few pages into the thrash is real, or you might just misplace it.

So keep a good journal!

If for previous years you have used party soveniurs in lieu of a hard cover diary, now is a great to invest in one, it will definitely be worth every naira spent on it.

One of the reason some people don’t keep a journal is because they don’t know what they’ll be writing inside for the year, try to buy a diary and watch how the pages gets filled. You might turn a particular section to a place where you write out things that are going right in your life as they unfold (a gratitude list), this will serve as a place to start thanking God from as you review the quarter or at the end of the year. Another section might also be dedicated to writing down the people you want to pray for or your various prayer requests, you can see the pages are all getting gradually filled now.

Remember, you are not keeping a journal to compete with people, but it’s first about God, you and your life.

-CREATE STRUCTURES

Structures are plans put in place that guarantees the sure outcome of a thing or a purpose.

If all the previous year you have always wanted to grow in your career and it keeps looking like a mirage, there is no point in deceiving yourself that you are moving forward when your life is stagnant, it might to be sincere with yourself and do something different.

As a singer, if one of the goals you wrote for the year is to launch an album, the album won’t just automatically launch itself.

The structures to put in place might go along this line;

· How long are you going to stay in God’s presence and allow him brood over the song(s) so that it won’t be just like any other song ( Your seeking God should not only be when you want to release an album but a lifestyle)

· How many minutes/hours will you set aside every day to training your voice and scoring different genres of song

· How much of your monthly income would you set aside to be able to achieve this so that funds won’t pose as a problem when you are finally ready?

Structures can be put in place in almost every aspect of life, and the success that will be recorded will only be a matter of time.

-ACKNOWLEDGE THE LORD IN ALL YOUR WAYS

With all the principles you’ll be putting at work in this year, and with all the results we’ll be getting, never let it seem it only by power and might did you achieve the things you achieved in the year.

As much as we will be getting results by God’s grace in our endeavors, keep acknowledging God, watch over your heart that you get puffed up with pride.

It’s easy to begin to get puffed up with pride as the lord increases you, but you can consistently guard against it by acknowledging the lord not just in your heart but even in your words, let everyone around you know that although you obey several principles and you’re a very disciplined person, but with all, only the Lord makes the difference and so he is the only one who deserves all the glory.

Don’t be like that rich man when after he has eaten his heart fill, he looked around and said now I can build another barn and merry, he did all this without acknowledging God, his life was required from him that night!

Make sure that no matter what God blesses you with, that he still remains the Lord of your life, and make it obvious to all.

Happy New Year, Have A Great one!

Cheers To More Great Posts This Year As The Lord Helps…

January 02, 2020 1 comments

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