NO LIMITATIONS...

I swam away from the wall
I swam away from the wall
I swam away from the wall!!!

What is she on about you must be thinking?
Well, about a week and a half ago, I decided to learn how to swim!
Ah! Yes, I decided to make my peace with the water!

Now, this was not an easy decision for me to make, because I am absolutely terrified of water, due to an almost disastrous childhood incident. So you can imagine my anxiety. And finally, after four lessons, I managed to edge away from the wall, bearing in mind that up until now, the picture has been - 'wearing a float around my mid-section, wearing swimming flippers, holding 2 floats out in front, and somehow managing to hang onto the swimming pool side wall, for dear life.' Yes, the utter shame of it all!!!

During the month of July, I attended a week long conference at my sanctuary, and one of the messages was about "living a life with no limitations". The speaker explained that most of us place some sort of restrictions, limitations on ourselves and within our hemisphere. These limitations can be in various forms and shapes and sizes, but tends to affect all aspects of our lives - spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally. It affects us at work or at play.

The message made me think about all areas of my life where I might have placed limitations knowingly or otherwise. Well needless to say, there were a few barriers firmly lodged in place that needs to be lifted pronto, and one of them being swimming.

So, I made a list of all my self imposed limitations, the actions I need to take to lift them and timeliness. Yes, we must pray about them too, but physically doing what we have prayed for, is also required to bring about deliverance and breakthrough. It's like the story of the lepers that Jesus healed. They did not get healed when he spoke to them, but they got healed when they were engaged in the activity of going to (walking - doing something) show themselves to the priests. Luke 17: 11 - 14 11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”[a] And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.

At this point, I must ask; what barriers or limitations have you placed knowingly or unknowingly on yourself, in your life? Think about it, make a list, pray about it and write an action plan and go forth and conquer!

The dictionary explains Limitation as thus: "a restriction; a qualification; a restraining condition, defining circumstance, or qualifying conception; as, limitations of thought"

Further more, Restriction, or Restricting is defined as "the act of keeping something within specified bounds (by force if necessary); "the restriction of the infection to a focal area"

From the above definitions, it is safe to say that when we place limitations on ourselves, we are basically keeping ourselves confined or contained- our abilities, thinking, learning, growth and much more. This being the total opposite of what God wants for us and who God created us to be.

I truly believe God does not want us to live a limited life and embrace the "I can't do attitude or thinking" . This is very much evident, from the beginning of time. Lets go back to where it all began, Genesis.

Genesis 1:28 reads Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” Now if that is unlimited living, I don't know what else.

Here we see God commanding us to live freely. No where did he imply that "we should be fruitful or multiply to a point, or fill only the left or right side of the earth, or just reign over the fish, don't go near the animals on the land, that will be too much for you! Ah! No!

He gave this powerful and complete command in its fullness and it's entirely - no restrictions, no limitations; and after the fall of man, master Jesus Christ, came and reconciled us back to the father, so we still have that command working for us today.

So, yes, I swam away from the wall. I'm quite excited, it's a little step, but I'm trying to put the "no limitation" principle into practise, in all areas of my life. How about you, do you need to implement the 'no limitation' rule to certain areas in your life? Does a "can do" mindset" need to take hold, changing your vocabulary from "I can't" to "I can by God's grace"?

I believe a life of no limitations, means we are empowered to reach out, embrace and experience a rich and fulfilled life, according to God's will and purpose; making him even more attractive to those around us, and therefore drawing men unto him.

Have a great day of breaking free from all forms of limitations - spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally; whilst making the Almighty God famous along the way.


Much love
Remi Banjo
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The Creative Spark In You

I was having a conversation my little brother the other day, and I explained to him that I needed to come up with some creative arty stuff/ ideas, to wrap around some work I am currently involved in. I explained that everything I thought or was thinking off, somehow, did not seem to be the right fit, I needed some help. So, I promptly asked him to start thinking up some ideas, we could discuss. I was in need of some inspiration! He went quiet for a few minutes and then said,
"well I am not the creative, or arty type; I don't do arty stuff, I leave that all to you guys". I was like "come on, you should have some sort of idea, everyone has a creative dimension to their thinking, whether we think it's suitable or not is another question, come on, think of something". But alas, to my despair, my dear brother would not budge and that was the end of that conversation! Grrrrrr!!!

I forgot about the conversation, until yesterday, when I had to read up on some reference scriptures in the book of Genesis... and then I thought..., well according to who God is and according to who we are in Him, we all have a CREATIVE SPIRIT instilled within us!!! So here goes, this is what I thought, learnt and much more...

The dictionary defines creativity as "the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination: the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts"

This reveals to me that, as long as we have the power of imagination (which we all do), we can ignite that creative spark within us, we can embrace our creativeness. Also, it explains further that, creativity is not mainly art (which is what most of us seem to translate it as), but it can refer to anything such as speech (e.g he/she has a creative way of speaking, or addressing an audience), dressing (he/she has a creative way of putting clothe items together), even friendship (he/she has an original way or idea or ability of networking, making friends or developing relationships).

Now, lets look into the origin of creativity and it's usefulness.

Genesis 1:1 reads : "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" That statement in itself holds the key to all creativeness.

Try this, wake up early one the morning, camp on the inside or outside of your bedroom window or balcony, or porch and watch the day unfold. It's a marvellous sight to behold. The way the clouds move around in orchestrated rhythm, to take their place for the day; giving way to the mornings' first light, and the way the day unravels itself, taking shape and form, is simply and truly amazing. It's like a work of art in motion. But guess what, that's just a glimpse of God's creative ability, his creative power, his creative awesomeness.

He made the heavens and the earth. The heavens - the stars, the moon and the sun.... He made the earth - the waters the fish and the sea and much more.

Genesis 1:6 shows us more depth of God's creativeness, like a painter who draws a sketch and then starts to fill in the details to present a much more detailed picture. It reads " Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth." Imagine that!

When God made Adam, he gave him that same creative spirit. In Genesis 2: 6 - 7 God created Adam and breathed his living breath (which is part of him) into Adam. It reads "6 Instead, springs[b] came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person."

Adam, was made in God's image, which means he had all of God's nature, and that includes the essence of creativity. This we see Adam demonstrate in Genesis 2: 19 - 20, when he named all the living creatures God made. He didn't go to school to learn this, neither did God teach him, he already had God's creative spirit in him and simply expressed it. That passage reads " 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

Let's think about it for a minute; How did Adam know to name Giraffe (the name oh-so fits), and lion, tiger, ant and crocodile!!! Amazing isn't it.

Just like Adam and Bezalel, son of Uri in Exodus 31:1 - 4, I believe God's creative spirit resides in each and every one of us. Exodus 31: 1 -4 (for completeness) reads: 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. 4 He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. 5 He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!

We simply need and have to awaken our imagination and ignite that creative spirit within us, set it free and into motion. I believe our creativeness is to help us along, as we strive to accomplish our calling, our assignment and move towards our destiny.

So, here is me encouraging us all to be all we can be with our creative self, and have an awesome time doing and being it too! Conjure up creative ways to help that project, piece of work, or situation get off the ground; setting it into motion for breakthrough results.

Whatever you do, however you do it, don't forget to make God- the ultimate creative one, famous along the way.

To conclude the opening story, after telling my brother about this, he came up with quite a few GOOD suggestions!!!!! All coming from someone who "doesn't do arty stuff" :-))))

Much Love

Remi Banjo

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LECTIO DIVINA

The other day I came across an ancient Christian practice called "Lectio Divina" or "spiritual Reading", as it is sometimes referred to as.

Lectio Divina is described as "the slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the Word of God, to become a means of union with God"

To embrace the process of Lectio Divina, is to "give room" in our busy lives and "create a rhythm" whereby we can flow in the discovery of the "ability" and the "how to" of offering ourselves and "enhancing our relationship with" God through his word - the reading, speaking and hearing of it.

For the word of God to have meaning, impact and manifestation in our lives, we can take a leaf out of this ancient practice of the early church - Lectio Divina.

The process of Lectio Divina involves the following:

• Reading / Listening
• Thinking / Meditating
• Praying
• Living
  

Reading / Listening the word
Deuteronomy 11: 18 - 20 reads 18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates..."

How do we lay up the words of God in our heart and soul? This is by reading, not once, twice but constantly.

Also, God constantly speaks to us, thus, we should learn to recognise and listen to his voice. In
1 Kings 19:12, We see an example of God speaking and Elijah listening. It reads " 12And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice." This was the revelation of Elijah (It is important to read the whole chapter for completeness).


Thinking / Meditating the Word
After reading and listening to the word of God, the next step is to think about it. To meditate on it. Not just muse over what has been read, but to really, really, think about it. It sounds easy doesn't it? But in today's busy world, it's so easy to let our minds wander over verses, chapters and books, rather than simply focusing on their contents; what is God saying? How does this apply to me? What do I have to do about what I've read? What is God going to do?..... and much more.


It's like going on a sight-seeing holiday. You get to a beauty spot, to view some of the world's most beautiful landscapes, from the top of a hill. Most will take a fleeting glance and say "well that was beautiful, next sight please", but some will place a mat on that hill, sit down and "take in" the whole scenery, the landscape - where the hills stopped and where the valley began, the types of trees, animals, the feel in the air and all of that. Now, imagine that...same scenery, different experiences.

We can take an example from the Psalmist David in Psalm 119: 15, which reads "I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways."

Praying the word

After reading, listening, thinking and meditating on God's word, the next natural thing I believe, would be to have conversations with God about this word.

Imagine the start of your day, you wake up in the morning, have devotional time, and you read a passage in the bible that

strikes a cord in your heart. You get ready for work - thinking about this passage, on you way to work - you are thinking about this passage, whilst at work - you are thinking about this passage. There will come a point during your day that you will voice up and say something like "right God, this is really bugging me, what does this passage mean, what are you trying to tell or explain to me here" Hands up, those of us who have been there!

That "bugging" feeling is the conversation starter with God about his word. Going through all the points above leads us to have conversations with God. It leads us to pray about his word, and the prayer that results from this is not usually the normal "prayer list" of "I want", No. It could be prayers about what his word is simply saying about him, or about the country or city we live in.

Living the word

Finally, we have read, listened to, thought about and prayed the word, now we have to emulate it! Ah, this is the hardest part of the process. We should not only be readers, hearers, thinkers or prayers of the word, but also doers of the word as we are encouraged in James 1:22-25, which reads: 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

Furthermore, John 15: 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"

I believe for us to abide in God always, means to make the intricacies of his word a daily part of our reality; for our lives to represent its full meaning.

Here is me wishing you an awesome time in the constant presence of the Lord, whilst living out your today, not forgetting to make him famous along the way.

Much Love

Remi Banjo

***Pictures by Photobucket***

Kabiyesi Modupe

Eyes fluttering open to

the rising of the sun

My soul, it leaps with joy in realisation

that the Lord has blessed it

with the gift of another day

Excitement building up within

I whisper and say to Elohim

"Kabiyesi, Kabiyesi, Kabiyesi, modupe o"

Thanking the king of Kings for

the beauty of a new dawn

Leaping up and out from my resting place

I present to him an offering of praise

Hips, they wiggle gently to the left,

stirring up a dance to 'Olódùmarè'

Another wiggle emerges, this time

veering the hips to the right,

offering gratitude to 'Olórun Agbaye'

Last night, numerous souls that laid down to sleep

the beauty of this mornings light, they are no more to see
Yet, once again, the faithful 'baba', has kept me safe

'Oba awon oba' has really been good to me I mused,

as my soul catches up with the movement of my hips

rejoicing in tune to the King's faithfulness

Full dance now in swing
face heavenwards

proclaiming, I sing
Baba mi
Osuba re re o

Oba taori, tan'rise owo re

Èsé o, modupe, mojuba o

'Kebiyesi, Eledami'

May your Kingdom come
and your will be done today

From the rising of the sun
till the going down of the same
©Remi Banjo, July 2008
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