Renew Your Vocabulary

Job 22:28 reads: "You shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light [of God's favor] shall shine upon your ways. (Amplified bible translation).

"You'll decide what you want and it will happen; your life will be bathed in light" (Message bible translation).

"You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you." (Living bible translation)

"Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways" (NKJ version)

From the passage above, we can say that for God's will to be done and for his kingdom to come in our lives, we need to:

• Firstly, make a decision. We have to decide to desire our lives to be in line with God's will and want his kingdom to come. To decide is to make a choice.
• Secondly, we have to Decree on what we have decided. The dictionary explains decree as thus “to command, ordain, or decide by decree.” And as “one of the eternal purposes of God, by which events are foreordained.”
• Thirdly, when we decide, and decree, God establishes it. To establish means to “bring into being on a firm or stable basis. It means to bring about order” Do you want order in some areas of your life? Then decide, say something - decree it and God will gladly establish it!
• Finally, after God has established it, he blesses us with the manifestation and we walk in it's reality. The NKJ above says - "and the light shall shine upon thy ways." To walk in favour means “ to bestow a privilege upon” This means on establishment of what he has decreed, he goes one further and gives us the privilege to walk in it's reality. Isn't that awesome?

"Our Christian faith is a spoken faith". All throughout the bible, we read the emphasis of this spoken faith. From Genesis to revelation, we read “God said”, “the Lord said” or “Jesus Said”. Starting from the beginning, God spoke creation into existence. He spoke the heavens, the earth and all in-between into manifestation. Genesis 1:3 reads “God said (that phrase again) “let there be light” and there was light. What do you want to manifest or come into existence in your life?

Also in Romans 10:9, we see the basis of our spoken faith, it reads "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

The emphasis is SPEAK. We have to say something, which in turn gives God something to work with, giving him something to establish and therefore something to favour us with. God cannot establish something until we decree it, and we need to keep decreeing it until God establishes it. I envisage some of us saying "God come on, please do something" and God is saying "Come on my child, say something"

As God can establish that which we declare, so can the devil. So if we speak prophetic words and promises according to God's will, then it will be established. On the other hand, if we speak negative and idle words into our lives, the devil is just as happy to grab hold of it and establish it, making us walk in it's reality. Makes one think huh?

“Our words create our worlds" The question I have for us today is thus “what words are you speaking into your life or into that of someone else (your friends, family, husband, children and the like).

Some truths about words:

• Words are powerful: We read in James 3: 3 – 6 (message bible translation reads)
  "It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell" Yikes... dosen’t that just send shivers down your spine?!


• Words are Piercing: The dictionary defines piercing as “to penetrate into or run through (something), as a sharp, pointed dagger, object, or instrument does.”
  The words we speak borrows deep into the lives of those it's directed at, like the roots of a palm tree, which burrows itself way down into the centre of the earth, making the tree almost indestructible.


• Words are perpetual: The dictionary describes perpetual as “continuing or enduring forever; everlasting” and “Flowering throughout the growing season.” Imagine that, for ever and everlasting!! Words travel from our past to present and to the future and it keeps on going.

Just for a minute, picture the scene. A mother tells her son to complete a task, unfortunately he gets is slightly wrong (after all he is only human). The mother gets upset and in anger she makes this statement “you are so useless, you will never amount to anything, just like your father"! . Now imagine this to be a repetitive occurence, various times of the week, month or year.

Now imagine those words creating a spark, a fire, burning the flames of worthlessness and inability within the boy. Imagine the words springing forth roots, burrowing deep into his soul, attacking his identity, distorting the view and notion of who he is or who he can become; the doubt encouraging him to embrace the lie that maybe, just maybe, he is as useless as his mother keeps telling him. Now, this boy armed with this distorted view of himself, goes through life, childhood and adulthood; whilst in college, whilst establishing a career or even in marriage!

What damage a simple, careless statement can cause... and to imagine that this can go on forever and ever! Thank God for his mercies and grace and for deliverance!

Just like a small rudder stirs and controls a big ship, our words control and stirs our life. The choice is our s to make; speak life and give God something to work with, or speak death and give the devil something to run wild with.

Here are a few positive words that should be the makings of our vocabulary.

I am...

Abraham’s seed
Blessed and highly favoured
Covenant Child
Distributor of God’s blessings
Elevated child of God
Flourishing
Gracious
Humble
Irreplaceable
Justified in Christ Jesus
Knowledgeable
Lovable
Made in God’s image
New season planted
Obedient
Precious
Qualified for God’s kingdom
Redeemed from the curse of the law
Saved in Jesus Christ
Triumphant
Upright
Victorious
Wise
Xtra special
Youthful
Zealous

Have a wonderful day declaring God’s will for your life; he will establish it and grant you the privilege of walking in it's favour.

Much love

Remi Banjo

***Pictures by photobucket***

Are You An Ant?

It was 4:00am in the morning, when most will be turning over in their beds, ready to catch a few more hours of sleep. But not Raoul, he was on a mission, besides the 'family' depended on him. It was his turn to go out into the nearby fields to find and gather the resources required for the day. On his list was some food, woods to cover up some gaping holes in the wall of the home and some rags to keep the floor warm for the winter months to come.

He didn't mind the journey, he loved to work and bring back good news of his findings. He loved the fact that through his and other workers' diligence, the family got to survive on a daily basis and more importantly harsh winter conditions (and well too, if he is to be honest), which keeps the queen happy and stress free!

He got to the field's gate, excitement rising up through his veins. He was happy because as always, he knew he would be lucky. The owners of this particular field were very wasteful indeed. They throw out perfectly useful resources. Savaging around this field is like walking through a gold mine. Along with all the possible finds, comes the danger too. It is a very high risk job being a worker for the family, for there was danger of being killed by any means whatever! Getting squashed (which was the most horrible of them all), poisoned or burned. Yet, he was extremely happy to be a worker and the 2 hour journey, to and fro from the field is always worth more than it's weight in gold!

He walks around and spots a few things that will most definitely be needed at home, he makes a list and then makes the dash back home - ninja style (leaving a trail of bread crumbs he found under a shoe in the field) to inform and organise the rest of the workers. Work for the day is truly about to begin.

No, this is not an epic Enid Blyton story or Ninja movie. This is what I envisage a day to be like in the Ants Colony.

"The Ants, they are a colony of resourceful and diligent wokers"

The dictionary explains a worker as thus "a person who acts and gets things done; "he's a principal actor in this affair"; "when you want something done get a doer"; "

Diligent is explained as thus: "quietly and steadily persevering especially in detail or exactness; "a diligent (or patient) worker"; "with persevering (or patient) industry she revived the failing business"

In the Ants Colony, I envisage the workers having a meeting every evening, where they go through a roll call, which results in a forager (hunter, gatherer, shopper) being chosen daily. This forager is then given the tasks of gathering the requirements the colony needs for the next day.

I also envisage that, not only does the selected ant get excited and jumps with glee at the prospect of being the forager for the day, it probably starts planning how it will do it's job to it's best ability. Why will the ant get excited about being selected as the forager for the day you wonder, more so as no easy task.

The job of the forager is to go outside the safety of colony and look for food and other resources. Studies have been shown that the forager will go as far as 1 - 8 miles from the colony to find food, but wait, they will (along with other ants), make about 200 trips to get all the food they have spotted back to the colony.

Now for a split second, imagine making 200 trips a day to work and back! Or creating that report 200 times in a day, or updating that annoying spreadsheet 200 times a day. Or writing at least 200 words or pages a day in pursuit of your writing career!

The reason the ant might be excited is because it is wise enough to know that it works, not only for itself but for the sustenance of the whole colony. Imagine that.

Now here is my question: "Do we work for ourselves or for the sustenance of our family, our community, our church or our country?"

The ant has a selfless work ethic, for it knows; that no work equates to no food, not just for itself, but for the whole colony. No work means that there will be no peace in the colony, the queen will be worried about a whole host of things; producing new babies and simply being happy, and in modern terms; taxes, building expenses, security and survival of the colony and all that.

Another question raises in my mind: "Do we understand the ramifications of the work we have been blessed to do? Be it a writer, an accountant, a motivational speaker, a doctor or a teacher. Do we understand that it is for the sustenance and support of our home, the church, the community or the country? Furthermore, are we willing to go that one step further to make it all worthwhile, for our immediate generation and for those to come?"

Proverbs 6: 6 - 8 (Amplified version reads)"6Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise! 7Which, having no chief, overseer, or ruler, 8Provides her food in the summer and gathers her supplies in the harvest.

And the message bible brings it home, it reads" 6-11 You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions.So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed?A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!"

In the passage above, Solomon was explaining to us the lifestyle of the worker ants in order to teach us very practical, useful and viable lessons in diligence. To be successful spiritually and socially and to experience New Beginnings of this year, laziness cannot be in the equation. God will do his part, he will honour his covenant with us, but the question remains... "are we working and being diligent on our own part of the covenant?"

Sometimes that miracle or manifestation that we want God to display is actually waiting on us to DO something, and not just engage in the act of doing, but be diligent whilst doing it.

And how do we learn how to be diligent I hear you ask? Well, for starters, we can take a leaf from the simple, yet magnificent creatures - The Ant.

So, lets get to work. Lets be diligent whilst we are 'doing' the work. Let it not be said of us that our work is sloppy and equated to vandalism as described in Proverbs 18:9, which reads "Slack habits and sloppy work are as bad as vandalism." That surely makes me cringe!

Also, as explained in proverbs 10:4, diligent workers never grow hungry and diligent people succeed both socially and spiritually. It reads "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth."

Have a great day being diligent in that which you find yourself doing, whilst making God famous along the way

Much Love

Remi Banjo

***Pictures by Photobucket***

Display The Essence of Praise...

Has the Lord been good to you?
Then, sing of His praises

Whilst gathered in the assembly of the living

On a bus, train, work or at a station
Praise him in his mighty heaven, and

see what more he's got in store for you

On orchestrated waves, the seas,

they make known their praises
The trees, they rustle their leaves and

shower the Lord of Hosts with their praises

The birds, from dawn to dusk,

sing to him a beautiful melody

expressing their thankfulness through

continuous, yet daily song compositions

So... has the Lord been good to you?

Why not conjure up and display the essence of praise

Hands, feet, hips, voices, tongues and lips

Let them proclaim, and dance to the beauty

of the master's name!

Wherever, whenever, however,

simply portay the intricacies of praise;

whilst journeying through the assembly of the living

©Remi Banjo, revised July 2008

***Pictures by photobucket***

Live The Season...

Live between the rhythms
and lyrics of freedom,
making sure impaction
is seen and heard
throughout the earth,
expressing the father's
will through each breath you take

Display the father's godliness through boldness,
embrace and portray untold possibilities
within desired realities

Embrace the Spirit's teachings,
take heed of noble elders' reasoning's

Live it's purpose and it's reasons
Live the essence of the season you are in

©Remi Banjo, July 2008
***Pictures by photobucket***

Expectation

The clouds, they give way
to reveal a sea of eager faces
Faces, impregnated with hope and expectation,
lifted up towards heaven, awaiting
a swing from God's fountain of blessings
Hearts, tapered and carefully laid out
on a bed of assurance; of whispered,
promised and declared manifestations

Psalm 62:5-8

5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. 7 My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. 8 O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.

Steadfastly, she fasted and prayed
untold seeds and sacrifices
she sowed and made. Yet, she
awaits at yet another crossroad,
waiting for direction on which way to turn.

She waits, not in panicked anticipation,
but with joyful expectation; for she
knows when she prayed, he heard and
answered even before a sound she made

At the crossroad she waits, she waits for
her angels to ferry forth words of
wisdom and direction, promising herself
not to say "what took you so long?
I've been waiting on you since the break of dawn"

She awaits on words, from the one who holds the
heavens and earth in the palm of his hands
The one who has magnified his word, above his very name

She waits for the master to manifest that which he spoke and
promised to her in secret and to make perfect that
which he has already started within the depths of her

Like one would for train on a deserted station's platform,
so she waits to board the train of words and wisdom,
which is to ferry her to the next appointed destination
©Remi Banjo, July 2008

Much Love
Remi Banjo
***pictures by photobucket***

LOVE...

The essence of love can be found

in a quiet murmur

over telephone lines

The intricacies of love

lies within the discovery of

its open, yet, sacred secret

The purpose of love is

encapsulated in it's very reason

The courage of love

embraces the unknown,

propelled by the assurance of

it's inner strength and

unmeasurable confidence

Love gives the ability to

face the unknown,

embrace the intangible

visualise the invisible and
believe in the absolute impossible

©Remi Banjo, July 2008

***Pictures by photobucket***

The greatest lessons in love is not the soul's ability to receive and soak up the essence of love; it's simply how much it can freely give in order to become whole.

Have a great day basking in the beauty and meaning of love, whilst making God, the defination of love famous along the way.

Much Love

Remi Banjo

In God's Image

In the gym this evening, panting and puffing away on the StairMaster, at the same time grinning and feeling quite cool and pleased with myself; I looked up from the machine's computerised screen and saw a girl walk past, towards the treadmills. She was small, looked fresh and elegant in her gym wear, even the way she walked was elegant and poised.

I took in a deep breath, looked at myself in the mirror opposite the machine I was on, and for a few minutes, asked myself the following questions: why can't I look that good in gym wear? Why can't I look that elegant whilst I walk around the gym floor? Why do I have to stomp around and trip on everything in site! Why can't I look like that, with all the curves in the right places? Why can't I be like her.

This went on for a few minutes and thankfully the holy spirit woke me up to myself! What am I doing? What am I wishing for? And then I thought, oh no you don't...

MADE IN HIS IMAGE

Genesis 1:27 reads "... So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it..."

Now after remembering that I thought, "what business do I have wishing and hoping to be like another human being?" I should not aspire to be like anyone, I should aspire to revel in God's image that I have been created. Yup I want to be fit and healthy, but then I should aspire to simply be a better improved version of Me and not someone else!

So yes, much to my dear mother's annoyance; I stomp around like an elephant, even though I am only 5ft tall! I am so Afrocentric in my dressing, it's not even funny! My friends see outfits and say, "Remi that's so you!" I would choose the chunky shoes and wedges over 10inch shoes - I figured I love comfort, and more especially my toes. I don't want bunions! :-) . I would happily walk around with no make up on, but lip gloss - to my friends' amazement! Yet, still with all these quarks, traits and all, I have been made in God's image. I guess it's all about embracing and being at peace with my God given complexity!

We must remember that God has made us the way we are for a reason.

• We can aspire and work on improving ourselves on the inside, building and shaping our minds, spirits and souls
• We can also aspire to work on the outside: keeping ourselves fit, health, and clean and pleasing to the eye.

We cannot change who God has made us to be, we cannot be someone else, both on the inside and on the outside. When we try, the result will be a constant battle with the true self and that will most definitely lead to a life of misery and unattainable expectations.

So, today, I encourage us to embrace our God given image, be it elegant, stumpy or simply carefree. Remember that we have been made in God's image; beautiful, with love and for a purpose; not forgetting to make him famous along the way, as we aspire to be who he has made us to be.

Much Love

Remi Banjo

***Pictures by photobucket***

Walk into your Season of Harvest... Payday is Here!!!

Ezekiel 12: 21 - 28 reads "21And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 22Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days drag on and every vision comes to nothing and is not fulfilled? 23Tell them therefore, Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall use it no more as a proverb in Israel. But say to them, The days are at hand and the fulfillment of every vision. 24For there shall be no more any false, empty, and fruitless vision or flattering divination in the house of Israel. 25For I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed (come to pass); it shall be no more delayed or prolonged, for in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and will perform it, says the Lord God. 26Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 27Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that [Ezekiel] sees is for many days to come, and he prophesies of the times that are far off. 28Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: There shall none of My words be deferred any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be performed, says the Lord God.

PAYDAY IS HERE

Let the righteous rejoice
Children of Zion, give praise to the Lord
For it is a new season, a brand new day

The wait is over,everything ever prayed
and hoped for, is finally coming your way

In diligence and in faith
you have laboured and prayed,
all through the father's grace
Now, the wait is over, the
harvest starts manifesting today

It is a new season in God's will
to show off his glory and
proclaim him as the faithful king
His words never go back to him unfulfilled
Every prayer uttered is about to be fulfilled

It's a new season, it's a new day
Stake your claim, on it, write your name,
It's time to get paid
the glorious father's way

©Remi Banjo, July 2008
****pictures by photobucket and Google***

Welcome to your season of harvest, a season of manifestation, a season of making God incredibly famous and attractive. We his children, who are called by his wonderful name are about to experience the manifestation of God's faithfulness in the richness of his blessings.

Do not forget to ask the holy spirit for wisdom, understanding and insight; to understand the reason for the season, the meanings that lay therein, proclaiming it all for God's glory.

Much Love
Remi Banjo