WHILST AT WORK...

Whatever may be your task, work at it

heartily (from the soul), as [something done]

for the Lord and not for men.

Colossians 3:23 (AMP)

Everyday, one of our aim and desire should be to continuously live in the presence of God; at home, play and more especially at work.

Work is where most of us spend the best part of our day, week, month, year and indeed life.
To put this into perspective, lets look at it from an average working week of 40 hours. Working such hours in a week will equate to 1,960 hours per year (taking away holidays). This means that we spend 22.4% of our lives (not including overtime) working. I know, mind boggling!

To picture it another way, imagine an individual starts their working life at the age of 21, and retires at the age of 65. This means at the time of retirement, they would have worked 44 years out of 65 years of life, which equates to over 91,250 hours, (all based on a 40 hour week).

With this, you will agree with me that this is a tremendous amount of time in a life, spent working. Also, bearing in mind that from numerous researches and data (through google), states that the average life expectancy in developed nations is just 78 years old.


This tells me that such long hours and dedication to work should really be of good benefit to us. Which leads me to think that, if we spend so much time doing this work, for us to reap the benefits, we MUST learn to do it the right way and with the right attitude. We must learn to get the most out of our time at work.

A few things we can do to help us work the right way and in the right attitude, thus getting the most out of work is:

• Visualise ourselves as a servant: Just like Jesus Christ, we must embrace the spirit of servant hood. Jesus Christ came to earth not to be served, but to serve. According to Mathew 20:25-28 (please click on the verse to read), He encourages us to adopt the same attitude. Furthermore, Paul challenges us in colossians 3:22 to work from the heart, for our real master, God and to do so in reverent fear of Him. It reads " Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. " The fear of the Lord gives courage and mobilizes (moves, empowers, energises) us to act in accordance to His word and character of Jesus Christ.



• Acknowledge that we work for the Lord Himself: Yes, physically, we work within an organisation, our own business, with supervisors, shareholders and all the rest. However, the employer only exercises physical authority over us, but Jesus Christ is our Lord, and we work for HIM. This brings to life the meaning of the opening verse Colossians 3:23 ... "working onto God, and not unto men". In our workplace, Jesus Christ is the big Boss. He is the Boss that watches us from afar, but is also with you in the thick of it. With this understanding, we must be diligent to work for the full day's pay we are claiming or being paid. It is a common notion to separate a life as thus: Monday to Sunday - work (no Jesus Christ present), Saturday (play, no Jesus Christ present), Sunday (church and worship). God did not order our lives to be segregated as such. He wants and should be involved in every part of our lives including whilst we are at work. When we embrace and live out this notion, I believe we will start and continue to make profound differences in and to our places of work. Our places of employment SHOULD NEVER be the same, because WE work there.
  


• Realise that our pay comes NOW and in ETERNITY: Nobody pays like God. In Colossians 3:24, Paul encourages by reminding us that our reward comes from God. Yes we must get paid here on eart, because we need to look after our affairs (expenses, the family), but even when we do our very best, no employer can really pay us our full due, except God. He is the one who owns the heavens and earth.

So, as you make your way through a brand new day and new week, I encourage you to embrace the spirit, and attitude of servant hood. Learning from some of our ancestors like Joseph. He was a slave (worker) in Egypt but eventually, through his diligence became the Head of Portiphar's household and then eventually the Prime minister of Egypt.

And how about Daniel? He who served in a non-believer's environment (workplace). Then, he served a king who put his people into exile. However, The Bible says in Daniel 1, that he, Daniel had the ability to serve a king who was cruel, immoral, wicket, and a pagan. He eventually rose to the top position in the land.

And finally, our ultimate example Jesus Christ, who did not come to be served, but came serve and save us.

I encourage you to work diligently as working onto the Lord, doing the best you can do at your work. The Holy Spirit who is always present will equip and energise you.

The attitude you embrace will be rewarded by man and handsomely by God. The impact you make will bring change to your environment, making God famous along your way.


Much love, Remi
***pictures by photobucket***

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE...!!!

God speaks in different ways, and

we don't always recognize his voice.

Job 33:14

A whistle down the street, gets the attention of quite a few people within earshot because it is intended to call, direct or send a signal to someone. It arrests the intended and those around to stop, and find out the intentions of the whistle.

Using that scenario, it is safe to say that all throughout our life, God is whistling to us. God is speaking to us constantly trying to get us to stop; striving to get our attention.


God speaks to us in ways we often overlook. He has many ways of speaking and He does not always speak to us in the way we expect Him to. This usually is the reason why most don't recognise His voice, hear Him or why our attention is not turned towards Him.

More often than not, we get caught up in HOW God will speak to us, rather than recognising Him through WHATEVER means He chooses.


Learning how to recognise God's voice takes time and devotion which can only be developed by spending time in His presence, in His word. The more we read His word and seek Him, the more easy it will be to recognise His voice as we are meant to. We will hear Him speak clearly, giving us counsel and obey Him as confirmed in John10:27, which reads "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."


In the time of Noah, God used preaching of righteousness and building an ark. However, the people did not take heed of the message. So God sent the flood, delivering Noah and his family.


Samuel 3:1-10, shows us how God gets the attention of Samuel. He calls to Samuel. Samuel hears and runs to Eli whom he thinks is calling. Samuel did not act like most would, which would be to still stay in bed acting like we did not hear Eli calling. Afterall, we are sleeping!.

This happens twice more and each time Samuel’s response is the same. Think of this, to respond to Eli, Samuel would have had to get up from bed, walk over to Eli's room - imagine it to have been a cold, freezing winter night, in the middle of December. Would you get up and respond? Selah.

The key is that Samuel was listening and ready to respond, even thought he thought it was Eli. We must always be open, ready to listen and respond to God. He must have our full attention all the time, not some of the time.

God communicated with people in the olden days through what obvious and around them. He does the same with us.

How does God get your attention?

Today, God has given us His WORD, the Bible, to get our attention. It is NOT to be ignored. This gives us a message of the blessings and curses of God. When we pay attention to it and obey, it will lead us through a life of peace, joy and hope and towards eternal life.

Some other ways God speaks to us to get our attention are:

• UNANSWERED PRAYERS: He sometimes allows our prayers to remain unanswered so that we focus on Him, rather than the thing we are seeking.   In doing so, He helps us to further understand the reasons why we seek what we seek and His timings for manifestion.  

• SAYING 'NO': The word we usually don't like to hear, especially from God. However, God sometimes says No to encourage us to look at the God that answers the prayer, rather than the prayer itself. He wants us not to just look in his direction but at Him in the face.

• TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS: We must remember that NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT GOD'S PERMISSION, which I wrote about HERE. Thus, sometimes God will allow us to go through testing events so that we face and focus on Him.

• BLESSINGS: God sometimes blesses us in unusual ways to get our attention as we see in Romans 2:4 which reads "Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?"

Whatever means God chooses to speak to get our attention, it is meant to turn you TOWARDS Him.

Will a restless spirit make you seek out godly counsel? When you are blessed, do you ask God how He wants you to use the blessings? When you are going through trials, do you ask God what lessons you are meant to learn from them?

The events of our lives both good and bad are to prompt us to seek and ask " Lord are you asking for my attention"? . It is meant to get us to reply like Samuel and announce “Speak, your servant is listening.”
So, as you start out a new week by God's grace and power, I encourage you to pause and listen to that soft and still voice of God; in your circumstances, in your situations, in your trials and tribulations, in your peace and in your blessings and ask "Lord are you asking for my attention"?

Don't let the events of your life this week, turn you away from God. Let it turn you towards and closer to Him. Give Him your full attention in whatever you do; at work or at play. Do not miss what the Lord wants to tell you, it might just cut your work and stress in half, erase it all together or save your very life.

Allow yourself to give Him your full attention in whatever you do; and watch the manifested results suprise you, whilst making Him famous along your way.

Much Love, Remi Banjo

***pictures by photobucket***

Ps, I run a book club, called - A PAGE A DAY.
I am looking for contributions of book topics around "Making and impacting your environment and world through influence" at work, home or play. Books that you might have read that has impacted your life, in a profound way. If you have read or know of any such book, please send me an email (right hand side of blog). I look forward to hearing frm you. Thank You.

Call Him Father...

And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’

for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father

Mathew 23:9

When you hear, say or think of the word 'Father' what comes to mind? Do you think of a man who gave you love and support or does the word stir up negative memories you would rather forget.?

The dictionary defines Father as "a man who exercises paternal care over other persons; paternal protector or provider".

A good father provides, comforts, protects, disciplines, and loves his child beyond what we can imagine. Regardless comes to our minds when we think of the word 'Father', the truth is God is waiting to teach and show us what and who a godly father is.
God is more than willing to help make up for the wrong representations and experiences we might have had of an earthly father. The most wonderful aspect of being a Christian is that we all have a unique relationship with God and the Father of Jesus Christ. This can only be attained by those who call and seek Him and seek His face as declared in Acts 17:24:31.

God as our father, we experience Him as:

• The Father to the fatherless: He can and will fulfil the father role in the lives of those who don't have a one as declared in Psalm 68:5 which reads "A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation." His desire is never to leave or abandon any of his children.

• The Provider: He provides even the most basic of our needs; clothing, food, comfort, friends and family. The fact that He cares for the birds of the air as described in Matthew 6:26, which reads "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" means that He will care for you, even more then these. Whatever you need, be rest assured that your father will provide it for you; according to His will and purpose for your life.

• The Comforter and Protector: David the Psalmist explains this much better than I could ever do. He does this in Psalm 32:7 which reads "You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance." and then again in Psalm 94:18-19, which reads "If I say, 'My foot slips,' your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul." He is the great comforter. Do you need comfort for the pains you are going through, then let your father comfort you, like only He could. Do you need protection from the harshness of this world, then let your father's mighty hand strengthen you, like only it could.

• A disciplinarian: Just as an earthly father would discipline his children, in and with love, to correct them when they do wrong, so will God. When an earthly father disciplines his child it is because of the love he has for that child and not wanting to see them grow up without knowing right from wrong. God also disciplines us when we do wrong, this helps to establish spiritual maturity in us and help us to be more responsible. God disciplines us because He loves us as declared in Proverbs 3:11-12, which reads "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights."

• A loving Father: Romans 8:38-39, says it all. The love that God has for us is so deep, so strong, so pure and so true that nothing can separate us from it. It reads "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities not powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height not depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Is it not comforting to know that we have a loving Father who is with us always?. One who wants to love and help us regardless?

As you start a new week by God's grace, I encourage you all to remember that you have a Father who is looking over you. You have a father who is a great provider, comforter, protector, disciplinarian and and an awesome friend. He is the representation of what it means to be, to have and experience a father.

As you make a great week, working, walking and striving to be all that God has created you to be, remember that all you need to do is keep a steadfast relationship with your father; making Him famous along your way.



Much Love, Remi
***pictures by photobucket***

The Size... of A 'Mustard Seed'

“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them.

“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as

a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain,

‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move.

Nothing would be impossible"

Mathew 17:20

A mustard seed is about 1/20th of an inch in size. It is one of the smallest seeds in the world. A mustard seed is very, very tiny. (as shown in the picture above), however, once planted, it grows into a plant large enough to provide food and shelter for animals.

Take a look the clutter of mustard seeds in the picture above, imagine picking one from the cluster. That seed in your hands, will be so tiny that you can barely feel it.
Another way to envisage the size of a mustard seed is to look at the end of a Biro pen, yup that's about the size of it.
Now, imagine what a mountain looks like, or google the word mountain and see the pictures that come up. Massive isn't it? Now compare this to the mustard seed. In the natural, the size of a mustard seed, can never move a chair not to talk of a mountain, BUT God assures us that if we have faith the size of this mustard seed, we can do and move anything, even things the size of mountains.

For us to exercise the faith of a mustard seed, we must act according to Mark 9:23 we must believe, it reads "And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes".


How can you develop your faith you might ask? Here are a few things to we can do:

• Listen to the Word of God: This we must do as much and as often as possible as commanded in Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God". Constant attention to the Word of God produces faith, more so if we embrace it with an open heart and mind. Proverbs 4:20-22 encourages us to keep the word of God constant in our hearts, it reads "My child, pay attention to what I say.Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body".

• Develop the measure of faith given: According to Romans 12:3 we have all been given a measure of faith, however it is our job to develop them. Like muscles are developed in the gym, we must work on them by putting them into action. we can start with the smallest things and progress from there.

• Speak the WORD: Our faith is a spoken faith. We must learn to say the words of God with our mouth to workout and build our faith. We must constantly confess God's word over our lives and in prayer. Jeremiah 23:28-29 reads "Let these false prophets tell their dreams,but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a difference between straw and grain! Does not my word burn like fire?” says the Lord.“Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces"? Selah

• Keep company with like faith: We must learn to spend time with people of faith, so that we can be encouraged and do the same for others, as taught in Proverbs 13:20 which reads "Walk with the wise and become wise;associate with fools and get in trouble" .

• Obey God: We cannot have 'living faith' without taking practical steps of obedience to God's instructions. Romans 1:5 explains that "Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name..." God will not show or reveal more things to us until we are faithful in the things He is revealing to and telling us to do NOW.

Now we know some of the things we can do help develop our faith, how do we then use it when we pray? We can do so through the following ways:

• Trust in God: Trust in Him that He watches over His word to perform it. So all we must do is declare His word in faith.

• Develop our measure of faith: God gives everyone a measure of faith as explained in Romans 12:3 ..."as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.,". However, like muscle is built through regular workouts in the gym, we must give our faith a regular workouts by acting and declaring God's word. We can start with the smallest of things, such as believing God for that special job, or promotion to the bigger things such as healing the sick. We must also build our faith up according to Romans 10:17, which reads "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"

• Continuous Relationship with God: We must develop, and keep a constant relationship with God and Have faith in Him. This is the beginning of faith. We must have faith in God and His word and have not an ounce of doubt that His word is able. We should strive to have a relationship with God such a David did and be able to declare as he did in Psalm 16:8 that "I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me".

• Remember Mark 11:23-24: This teaches us to have faith in God and what He says and have no doubt at all, then ask and believe and we you will receive. Mark 11:23-24 reads "I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours".

• Remember Love is before faith: We must continuously develop, walk and work in love: in ourselves and with others. 1 Corinthians 13:2 tells us that faith has to be proceeded by love, it reads "If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing".

As you start a new week by God's grace, I ask you once again to look at the size of the mustard seed in the picture above. Remind yourself that "this is the size and amount of faith I am required to have and use to move mountains" (... and that by the way is just the starting point of what faith can do!).


So to that problem at work, at home, with your health, family, finance or whatever the devil might be trying to hold you down with; exercise, work and walk your faith all over it.
Use your faith, without doubting and see Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit work in and through you, moving away all obstacles; whilst making God the Father famous along your way.


Much Love, Remi
***picture by photobucket***
Click on  66 BAGS OF SEEDS to read the POEM FOR THE WEEK

Seek Guidance

Teach me how to live, O Lord.

Lead me along the right path,

for my enemies are waiting for me

Psalm 27:11

• To teach means: to impart knowledge or skill
• Guidance means: to give advice or counseling
  

From the moment we arise from sleep we are presented with opportunities to make choices; from "should I get out out of bed, or sleep a bit more" to "should I approach the day with a positive attitude or a negative one".

Life is full of choices. If we want to make the right choice that will please God, we have to ask for His help. The only way we will know if our choices is in line with God's will and therefore pleasing to Him is to seek His guidance and the counsel of the Holy Spirit.

We can find and embrace God's help and guidance in all our choices through the following ways:

• Cleansing our hearts: firstly we must make sure that we are right with God. We should ask ourselves "is there anything in my life that is or will hinder me from hearing you Lord"? We must remember that sin cuts us away from God as confirmed in Isaiah 59:2, which reads "It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore"

• Surrender to God: We must yield ourselves to God's will in confidence that He knows what is best for us. We can do this by not following the customs and behaviour of this world as encouraged in Romans 12:2, which reads "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect".

• Ask from God: It is amazing that sometimes, we can talk about all our problems and the burden of choices we have to make, but forget to ask God for guidance on what to do. However, we must remember that God promises that when we ask Him anything, according to His will, He hears us and because He has heard, He has answered as declared in 1John 5: 14 - 15, which reads "14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for."
  

• Meditate on the Word: The Psalmist knew the importance on meditating on God's word. We see this in Psalm 119: 15-16. He reasoned that if he continously thinks about God's words, their meanings and their importance, it deter him from sinning against God (verse 11), hand the result of pondering on God's word will bring clarity and be a light to his journey through life - choices and all.

• Waiting on God: This word and position seems to be the most difficult for us all. We have prayed and spoken to God about all our problems, but there seems to be no answer forthcoming - well none that we can see yet. A show of hands from those who know what I am talking about!!!. To wait on God is a choice we have to make, even when in the most difficult of situations or cross roads. However, before we run off and try to do all things in our own strength and wisdom, we must remember that God has promised to act on our behalf when we wait on Him as confirmed in Isaiah 64:4, It reads "For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!" I encourage you to wait on God for the answer you are seeking.
  

• Receive from God: It is one thing to ask for advice and it is another thing to be open and ready to accept the advice given; no matter how difficult the answer. If you are like me, sometimes I have to remind myself that 'NO' is also an answer!. To receive God's wisdom we must tune our ears to it as advised in Proverbs 2:2, which reads " Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding". When we do, God will give us guidance in all things, knowing right from wrong as confirmed in Proverbs 2:9 which reads "Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go"

Theses are just some things we can do to seek and obtain God's guidance every step of our way. When we embrace these and more we will have peace from knowing that we are making daily choices in life based on God's guidance. This in turn will help to keep us firmly in His will.

When God guides you, the choices that you make might not make sense to those around you, however, what matters is that you have heard from the one who really matters the most - God.

So, as you make a start to a new day, a new week and indeed a new month, I encourage you to seek God's counsel, guidance and help in everything you do. From the rising of the sun till the going down of the same, meditate on God's word and ask for His counsel.

Apart from saving you from a whole lot of unnecessary stress and trouble, walking in tune with God will give peace and rest.

I encourage you to seek God's guidance to inform your choices and actions; making Him famous along your way.

Much Love, Remi

***pictures by Photobucket***

Further Reading - POEM - WISDOM CALLING