Prayers wrapped in Thanksgiving and Praise

It's the 30th day of November! I am giddy with excitement!!! One month to go before we wave 2007, good-bye, cio, segobe, odabo forever!!! Never to be seen, walked in or experienced again! 2007 will be done and dusted.

The seeds we have sown this year, I pray we will see and walk in the testimony of their rewards in 2008.

Through the journey this year, I'm pretty sure that we; individually, as a country, a nation, and as children of God have gone through different forms of wilderness, hills and valleys, but by His grace we have come through it all !

His presence has been comforting, providing direction, dispensing wisdom, giving encouragement, strength and lifting us up to a Higher plain! That we are alive today, is enough to give Him praise like the Psalmist in Psalm 138 1 -3:

"1 I will give you thanks with all my heart; I will sing praises to You before the gods. 2 I will bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving kindness and Your truth; For you have magnified Your word according to all Your name. 3 On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul."

And yes He has given us strength to gain the victory in 2007!

There are a million and one reasons why we should be thanking our father, I mean the list is endless! A few reasons why I have to thank God is because I AM:

Alive and Able

Blessed and Beautiful

Comforted by the most High father

Dead in Christ and risen with Him

Equipped by the power of His word

Fathered by the most high God

God's daughter

Highly favoured

Imitating my father

Joyful in a seasons

Kingdom bound

Mighty

Nicely created

Overflowing with goodness

Purified by the blood of Jesus

Quality, not quantity

Redeemed

Special

Triumphant

Unique

Victorious in battle

Wealthy

Xciting

Yielding

Zealous for my soon coming King!

Thus, for all that I am, for all His goodness, never-ending love and mercy towards me; I dedicate the next '31 days December 2007 countdown' to the Almighty one! I quench not my spirit and give Him thanks, as we are taught in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16- 18 and it reads:

"16Rejoice evermore.
17Pray without ceasing.
18In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
19Quench not the Spirit. "

On these pages, I pray that our praises, prayers and thanksgiving raises up to the heavens and arrives in His presence as sweet smelling sacrifices and that He is glorified through them all.

So how does this work you ask?

Every day, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will aim to write a piece on these pages, and I will send you an email inviting you to present your thanksgiving of the day to the father!

Note: If you don't have a blogger account, you CAN STILL leave your contribution:

Click on the leave a comment link, use the text box to write your piece, signing your name at the end, and then click the anonymous button and press post comments! It's as simple as that!

So, blessed people, get ready to rock the web with your praises and thanksgiving, backed with prayer and fasting; exiting 2007 on a high note, whilst setting the scene and getting ready for the road trip that awaits us in 2008!

To God be the glory!!!

Have a wonderful day, getting ready your sacrifices of praise, thanksgiving and prayers to the one who truly matters; not forgetting to make Him famous along the way.

Much love

Remi Banjo

I leave you with this piece to warm us all up!

With one accord

Children of Zion
Coming together with one accord
Giving praises to the Lord

Embracing the essence of who You are
The wonder of your ways, a beauty to behold
The mysteries of your love for us
A marvel, since the days of old

Children of Zion
Coming together with one accord
Entertaining your majesty
With much praises, thanksgiving and dancing

Giving honour to your name
Our wonderful God!

©Remi Banjo, November 2007

Obedience... a choice

Deut 10:12-13 reads: "12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. 13 And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. "

The dictionary describes being obedient as thus: obeying or willing to obey; complying with or submissive to authority: an obedient son.

The decision to be obedient to God or even to man, is a choice we all have to make; every second, minute, hour, day, week, month and year! As children of God, a decision to be obedient to God means we are willing to; comply with His ways, His words, and His Authority. That we are ready to embrace His will and His kingdom in our lives right?

Imagine a father teaching his son defined moral standards; it is the child's choice to either heed to the voices and lessons of his father, or simply go off and do his own thing!

Joshua 24:15 explains the free will and power of choices, it reads: "15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD".

God has indeed given us the power of free will, the power to choose between life and death, and we are encouraged to choose life!

By choosing life, it means we choose God. It means we choose to obey His will, His ways, His commandments; which leads to blessings. Not choosing God means we choose the opposite, curses and death!

The daily decisions we make, evenutally, become our reality, it becomes our way of life, our habit.

It is to our advantage to choose life and submit in obedience to God! Why? Well, the Bible teaches us that God is pleased whenwe obey Him, so much so that He rewards us for simply being obedient! Really? That's right! Below are 5 ways (there are loads more) that God can use to reward and bless us, when we choose to obey Him:

• God is a friend to those who obey Him. John 15:14 confirms this "14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you".
• God honours those who obey him with Promotion, He elevates and raises us up. Psalm 45:7 "7Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."
• God honours with answered prayers: John 15:7 explains this perfectly "7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."
• God rewards and blesses with earthly inheritance : Deut 11: 8 - 9 "Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. 9 If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey!" Imagine that, a flowing with Milk and Honey, plus long life! wonderful!
• God honours with heavenly blessings : Deut 11:13 - 14 " 13 “If you carefully obey all the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and soul, 14 then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil."
well it couldn't possibly any better or more attractive than that!!

And as for disobedience, well the weight of the curses far outweighs the blessings of the Lord, as explained in Deut 28: 15 - 64 - too many to mention!!!

So the question for us today is thus; "what choices in obedience will we be making this very day?"

To lean towards the ways of the Lord, or be captivated by the smells and the makings of this world?

Have a wonderful day in obedience, getting to know the father and enjoying the blessings and rewards, He bestows upon those who love Him, choose to obey Him and call Him Abba Father. Not forgetting to make Him even more famous today than yesterday.

My choice... His will

Here for a reason

a purposed season

Choices revolving to embrace His will

praying attitudes and actions

bring honour to Him

Choices wrapped in the essece of obedience

Striving to live the gift of life

to it's possible best

Remi Banjo
©November 2007
Copyright 2005

Much Love

Remi Banjo

The reasons why...

Mark 16:15 "And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."



The reasons why I can't stop telling of His goodness, of His greatness, of His mercies, and the completeness that can be found in Him! I envisage a people, hungry and thirsty, for that which is absolutely free!
The knowledge of freedom eludes the majority....

Such as the man with the face of many lives...

On the bus he sat, face etched with deep weighty lines,
each indentation, filled with stories of past and
present life situations,

which he displays through arrays of expressions

The look of sadness, wistfulness, sometimes,

lightened by the occasional happy memory
His mind, deep in thought...
Sitting on the bus he was
I, hanging on to the rails, hoping not to fall off

I wondered; did he know there is someone
that can make everything all right, that his life

can be smoother than this bumpy bus ride?

Does he know of the one that gives the gift of free smiles?

Sitting on the bumpy bus ride he was,

I, wondering if he knew about the saviour, Jesus Christ

If, he knew that only He can bring light into those seemingly tired, sad eyes.

©Remi Banjo, Nov, 2007

A New Day

On waking up this morning, I thought, wow......it's the middle of November, and that is fast coming to an end! The end of the year is nearly upon us!

You know what that means right? As in usual fashion, we have to start the December 31 days count down! (Deboo, get ready oh! lol)

But that aside, I thought, it's truly a blessing, a privilege and honour to be alive and well, this very day; all the way from far, far January to present November! Won't you agree?

That alone requires giving God the utmost praise, and really thanking Him as we are encouraged in Psalm 30: 12 "that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever"

It indeed is a blessing!!

"TODAY" is a brand new day, and we should be thankful for the priviledge to live out the intricacies of His Will and His Kingdom in our lives this very day. We should be excited, because every day, presents new challenges, new resolutions, new meanings, new blessings, and new understanding and meaning of who our God is. Yeah, He's just awesome like that.

Last night we went to sleep, and we did not have any control of what could have happened to us whilst in slumber land! It's only for His grace that we are alive and well today.

Which leads me to write:

whilst asleep

in the midst of the storm

help you sent my way

you kept me safe

out of harm's way

Whilst asleep

in the midst of the storm

on my behalf

the victory was won!

You kept me safe

under your grace

till the break of a new dawn!

©Remi Banjo, Nov, 2007

So here is me encouraging us all to appreciae the gift of this day, as long as it's called "TODAY."

Have an awesome day experiencing God's Will and His Kingdom, whilst making God even more famous along the way.

I leave you with this piece....

A new day....
How shall I describe thee?

The invasion of brightness
by sparkling rays of morning dust
captivated in smells of morning dew

An invasion to last night
resulting in mornings first light
Yielding delight to embrace life with all my might

An anticipation of the green beneath my feet
beyond my very own front door
walking forth to the master's heart beat

An anticipation of lights, smells
that will be evident
in today's life experience

Looking out beyond the mornings' edge
reaching across to live today
to the full and its very best

©Remi Banjo, Nov, 2007

AN EXPOSÉ ON LOVE

The other night I was chatting with a friend of mine on the phone; you know, general talk, how was your day, the excitement of the year end and all that. At the end of the conversation, I was like okay time to go to bed, and we exchanged our usual goodbyes… I love you... I love you too, followed by... don't forget to tell Jesus you Love Him before you close your eyes and all that. Yeah I am mushy like that… ! After putting down my telephone handset, I mused over the end of our converstaion and over that favourite word we all utter at a drop of a hat and the same word that we are eager to hear others say to us.... The word "LOVE" .

I thought, it's quite a unique word, for we use it in different contexts, in different situations and scenarios! We say "I love you" to our friends, our husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, brother & sisters, even to the strangers on the street!!!

And thus, a question comes forth. "Do we really know the meaning or the origin or the intricacies of this same LOVE that we speak off"? Now that's got your attention hasn't it?
Well those were my thoughts then, and then a few mornings afterwards, I opened the good ole book, the Bible, and found myself in 1 John 4:16 "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him".

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
Now, look at part b of that passage - It says "God is Love"!! So, I'm thinking the definition of Love is God and God is the definition of Love! So I'm thinking even more... when we say we Love someone, we mean we love them with "God's love" right? You with me so far?

Now a step further… what are the characteristics of God's love? According to 1 Corinthians 13: 4 - 7, the characteristics of God's love is as follows:

Love is patient and Kind
Love is not Jealous, boastful, proud or rude
Love does not demand it's own way
It is not irritable
Love keeps no record of being wronged
Love does not rejoice about injustice
Love NEVER gives up
Love NEVER loses faith
Love is ALWAYS hopeful and
Love endures through every circumstance

What a revelation huh? As our God is beautiful, and so are the ingredients of His Love.But then I guess they are bound to be beautiful, for He is Love afterall!! So then, if we, as a people truly understood the meaning and weight of that word "LOVE", I believe we would not throw it around in such an idle manner! It would not pass our lips, like a kiss in the wind! It is too precious to be treated as such!

I also believe that if we truly embrace all that love entails, we will take hold and realise that when we utter words such as " I LOVE YOU", it means we are saying and confirming all the beautiful things that love is about. Oh yes! There will be people who will do their best to display or convey other emotions and call it or brand it love. But it is important to remember that love is pure and clean, it does not harbour any nastiness and there is no darkness in it's aura!

On that note, here is me encouraging us, to embrace the meanings, realities and blessings, that the beautiful gift of love represents.

Today, tell someone you love them , with assurance that you know and understand the meaning behind that very word - LOVE. Have a great day loving one another, whilst making God famous along the way.

Much love..
Remi

Echoes of Love

The essence of love…
can be found
in a quiet rumour
over the phone lines

The intricacies of love…
is the discovery
of a sacred open secret

The purpose of love…
is its very reason

The courage of love…
is embracing the unknown
propelled the assurance
of its silent coverage

Remi Banjo
©January 2007

What do you call your God

I was listening to CeCe Winans (Alabaster Box) this morning, and as she was calling out the names of what God means to her, it got me thinking.

Our God is truly awesome! We call upon Him in every single situation we can think of and He answers and is always there to save us! During our daily walk, we have and will call Him different names, such as Saviour, Provider, Peace giver or Healer!! But guess what? He has and continue to answer to each and every one of those names! Isn't that amazing?

I started to reflect on my life and realised that whilst going through and spending time in variouis trenches, hills and valleys and all sorts of vast wilderness, even lush gardens; I have called God so many different names! But the amazing thing is that He answered to each and every name I gave Him, and He became that name to me, during that time that I needed Him to be! He truly is the answer to each and every one of our prayers, if we only just call upon hinm!!!
To God be the glory!!!

This is part of the reasons why;
I will love Him Forever,
I will sing of His praises forever,
I will always declare that He is God.
The perfect one... the "I AM"
The one who reigns forever!!!

It's safe to say that whatever season in life we are in, we should be rest assured that whatever we need God to be for us in that season, He will be, we just have to call upon Him.

So beautiful peopple, "what are the favorite names you call or have called God in those times of need, satisfaction or just reflecting and praising His name?"

Here is a list of names I have and Call my God. I await to read yours

THE NAMES I CALL MY GOD

HEALER Psalm 103:3
LOVE 1 John 4:16
LORD OF PEACE 2 Thessalonians 3:16
DELIVERER Psalm 70:5
RESTORER Psalm 23:3
BREAD OF LIFE John 6:35
RESTING PLACE Jeremiah 50:6
MY STRENGTH Psalm 43:2
FRIEND John 15:15
STRONG TOWER Proverbs 18:10
REDEEMER Isaiah 59:20
HOPE Psalm 71:5
MYSHIELD Psalm 144:2, Psalm 7:10
HIDING PLACE Psalm 32:7
ETERNAL LIFE 1 John 4:10
HELPER Hebrews 13:6
ADVOCATE 1 John 2:1
REFUGE Isaiah 25:4
SHEPHARD Psalm 23:1

On that note, I leave you with the piece below...

Have a wonderful day, calling all the names of your God and living in the reality that He will be each and every thing you want and need Him to be. Not forgetting to make Him famous today, even more than yesterday.

Much Luv
Remi

To Know God
To know God is to...
experience perfect stillness
surrounded by deep rooted excitement and expectation
To know God is to
experience Love personified
Afterall, our names are written
on the palm, of His right hand!
To know God is
to realise that absolute completeness and peace
can only be found in Him
That in a gift in itself indeed
To know God, is simply tobe complete in Him

© Remi Banjo,
May 2007

His Covering

Isn't it amazing when you read some passages in the Bible, you realise, with more understanding, how good and wonderful our God really and truly is. !!!

How much He loves us, how much he does for us, and how much he covers us!

I was reading the good book the other day and in Psalms 23: 1, it reads: The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need! Wonderful!!!Everything I need! okay I know this already, so why does it feel like a brand new revelation?!
Now for, for but a moment, pause and reflect on this:

He is our shepherd: that means we are under His protection right? I believe that to be 24hour protection! Wow! Now having had this insight, which feels like a new revelation, even though I somehow knew this already, my Imagination started to take another dimension!

Now, imagine that there is someone, holding a huge, massive, and beautiful umbrella in his hand, and this individual always has this umbrella over your heads; constantly, all day long, never letting you an inch out of under the shade of that umbrella!!!!

I mean from the moment you step out of bed, till the minute you climb back into that very bed at night, that individual has held that umbrella in his hand and has covered you with it... Constantly! Now isn't that amazing!

That's just a beautiful feeling to know that as God's children, He has covered us with the umbrella of His grace! He really has got the whole world in His hands hasn't He?

But wait… it gets better, I kept reading and in Psalms 27:1, it reads:

The Lord is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid. !!!!
And why should we be afraid of anything!!! Everything we need is in Him!

So not only are we covered by His grace, when we can't seem to find our way in our daily walk, He becomes our the light that lights our paths!!! Our God is an awesome God!

It's one thing to be covered by His grace, but it's another for us to seek His face daily and ask Him to reveal to us, what it really means to be covered by His Grace!

I believe the covering of His grace:

• helps and guides us to walk in the right path, that He has chosen for each and every one of us


• It protects us from harm that is very evident in the world around us


• encourages us to keep in Him, that is to read His word, have conversations with Him and aspire to be more like Him.

Here is me encouraging us all, that as our "Today" unravels itself, we should not forget to go back to our source, our maker, the anointer of our heads and the lover of soul; and thank Him, I mean really thank Him, for His covering, His Grace and His love.

We should also learn to seek wisdom and understanding to fully Understand and appreciate the meaning and depth of what it means to be under the Lord's full covering.

Have a great day living out the realities of today, under the Umbrella of God's grace and His Love, whilst making Him famous along the way.

Much love
Remi Banjo

Wisdom, Understanding... Garnished with Insight

Recently read Proverbs and in chapter 4: vs 5-7 it says:

5Get wisdom; develop good judgment. Don't forget my words or turn away from them.6 Don't turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you.7 Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment

Hmmm... interesting isn't it? Yup and that got me thinking how smooth sailing my life would be if only at certain points on my day, I always remember to ask for Wisdom and understanding. I mean for starters, I would have less hair raising situations when it comes to paying my bills!!!

All this thinking made me categorise my actions when faced by an issue or situation. Do I ?:

1. Look at the problem and attack it head one! Tooth and nails, with all my own natural, limited strength and understanding

2. Do I look at the problem, sit back and pray for God to come down and resolve the problem Himself - you know, manner from heaven! I mean with just a wave of His finger, it go all go away! Then I won't to disturb a brain cell or lift a finger ( yeah, its amazing the contents of some of our prayers!)

3. Or do I pray to God and ask for Wisdom and Understanding and insight, to enable me tackle the problem, in the right manner and from the right angle!!

Now I know most of us have been guilty of points 1 & 2! But really, I think we ought to be embracing point 3 ! After all everything we ever need to lead successful, enriching lives according to God's will resides within us! I think we just need to understand the power we hold and use it wisely!

As it says in the Proverbs 4 above, getting wisdom is the wisest thing we can ever do! and then on top of that we should get good judgement! ? Why? Well, when we are blessed with wisdom, I believe we don't end up fire fighting, daily!
In our lives, we will begin to see a plan with God's imprints on it. Our lives take meaningful shape and form, and well we battle against the principalities with godly wisdom and not with our own understanding.! ha.. that got you didn't it?

Also, as we should be walking & living in the spirit realm, when we ask for Wisdom and good judgement, it takes us back to the source of all things, of who we are.

This means we consult God each and every step of our "TODAY" and not just when we have exhausted our own physical abilities, or when we have tried every which way, and then we have the 'aha' moment and remember, oh actually let me consult God!

Nope, we need to be consulting Him, each and every step of the our daily walk! As long as it is today, we need his help to get through the day!

We really do give ourselves a unecessary work sometimes though! I mean God knows the end from the begining! He knows everything in between! He is the owner of our daily road map! yet we forget to consult him when we get stuck, when we don't know whether to turn left or right?! crazy isn't it? !

We must understand and realise that our own natural abilities will only get us so far, which is not really far at all. But the gift of wisdom, knowledge and understanding that comes from God, has no boundaries, no limitations and can get us as far as God wants us to go! Praise God!

So today, I encourage us all, as we live out the realities of our today, lets go back to our source and ask for:

Wisdom
Understanding
Insight
topped off and garnished with
Good judgement...

This I believe, will assist us in making sure our daily steps are truly ordered and choreographed by our maker as it should be.

Have a great day basking in Wisdom and understanding, whilst making God famous along the way.

Much love
Remi Banjo
11:48 Add a comment Send a message