Loyal To The End - NEW BLOG POST

LOYALTY is defined as "the state or quality of being faithful to commitments and obligation".   It is also seen as having faithful adherence to a sovereign leader or cause. 

As we move towards the end of yet another year, it is easy to give up that which we started in January or years before, because we have not seen the manifestation of the results we have hoped for.  

It is easy for hope to turn into despair and disappointment. However, like a farmer who works for the precious fruits of the earth to manifest, we must be actively loyal to plant, water and tender the seeds of the work that God has called us to do, in the garden He has placed us in. 

Feeling like this year is a lost cause and want to throw in the towel and give up?  I encourage you not not.  

For more encouragement and to be uplifted and inspired, 

please visit the new website:

www.adayingodswill.com  

BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE TRANSLATION ALSO AVAILABLE

Remain a partisan an be loyal to the end, God is faithful and will come through for you. 

Much love, 

Remi

REFOCUSING YOU... !

The Lord has given you trouble and sorrow as your

food and drink. But now you will again see the Lord,

your teacher, and he will guide you. Whether you turn to

the right or to the left, you will hear a voice saying,

"This is the road! Now follow it." 

Isaiah 30:20-21 

  

God's desire is for us to have the best of Him and He is committed to helping us follow specific road maps leading us to it.  He has designed a specific pathway for each and every one of us and along the way, specific things for us to do. 

However, the truth is that we are sometimes as stubborn as the children of Israel that we don't see, hear or sense His leading, or teaching, not to talk of following His instructions.  Now because God's will for our lives is bigger than us and the fact that other lives are dependant on its manifestation, God will sometimes introduce certain situations to get our attention and bring us back on the right path. 

God will use the appropriate circumstance or event (pleasant or painful) to get our attention, and bring us back into the realms of His will.

Here are some ways He may use to get our attention:

• A Restless Spirit: Sometimes we will find ourselves restless from deep within.  It is feeling we mostly cannot understand or identify why it is there.  We can't focus, eat, sleep or think straight, we are just restless for no reason, it seems. The best thing to do at this time is to pray and ask God what He is trying to teach or show us.  Usually when this happens, He is trying to move our attention towards something. We will do well and save ourselves a lot of sleepless nights when we pay attention to a restless spirit within us.

• Unanswered Prayers: I can testify to this one and I am sure most of you reading this can. Think about it, you fast, pray, roll on the floor, shout, jump, scream, quote and support it with scripture, yet, the prayers are not answered. Yes, it can be extremely confusing and frustrating right? Everybody who takes God and prayer seriously must deal, sooner or later with the problem of unanswered prayer.  This is a hard one, however God is sovereign and every unanswered prayer situation is different and He helps us accordingly.  Some of my thoughts and how God has helped me with these are: I was praying for selfish reasons as explained in James 4:3, which reads "You ask and do not receive, because you ask(A) wrongly, to spend it on your passions.", I prayed, yet did not have absolute faith that I received what I prayed for.  There was the nagging feeling of "what if and buts and maybe", just as explained in Matthew 21:22, which reads "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”. I had iniquity in my heart which I either knew or did not know about as explained in Isaiah 59:2, which reads "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear."   It could be also be other things such as praying for something genuine, but at the wrong time. When we pray it is important to ask God to help us understand how the answer or non answer fits into the greater scheme of things, the live of others and His Kingdom.

• A Spoken (audible) Word: God sometimes uses the words like He gave a messages to Samuel and to Eli the priest as we read in 1 Samuel 3:4-18.  A good way to know that God is speaking through other is when quite a few people, within a short space of time are saying the same thing which connects to a burden or a prayer in your heart. 

• Unusual Blessings:  God sometimes blesses us in unusual ways  which is meant to turn us towards Him. He shows us kindness love, even when we least expect it. It should encourage us to praise and thank Him and use it for His glory. Romans 2:4 explains it so well, it reads "You surely don't think much of God's wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don't you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you to turn to him?"

• Disappointments: Is that a sigh I heard ripple through blogsville?.  Yes, we can all relate to this one right?  Just like He did with the children of Israel many years ago, God uses disappointments to bring some of us back to repentance, and back into the fold of His will.  Setbacks are meant to keep us from walking into a future we have mapped out for ourselves, as opposed to God's.  An example we find in the bible was when the children of Israel refused to follow God's command to take possession of the promised land. God judged them through disappointment for their unbelief and disobedience, to bring them to repentance and turn back to Him.  This we read Numbers 14:27-32 and the reaction of Israel when they realised their wrong is recorded in Numbers 14:39-40,  (please read for completion). They became remorseful, repented and turned to God in obedience.

• Financial Troubles: In Judges 6-17, we see how God brought judgement to the children of Israel through the Midianites. It was only when God took away all their material belongings, did they cry out to Him.  You see, they were dependent on and trusted in the riches they had and had no regard for God. What are we dependent on and trust in?  Our 'things' or God?.  When our trust is invested in the blessings of God (cars, houses, fame ) rather than the one who blesses - God , to refocus our priorities, He might take them all away.

• Tragedy, Sickness and Affliction:  I have learnt that in this life, tragedies will come, whether we like it or not. However, I have also learnt to regard them as a reason and opportunity to get even closer to God.  Romans 8:28,"We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose...". Tragedy, sickness and affliction, when we endure, we realise that God will eventually worked it out for our good and for His glory and it brings us closer to Him.

God will use the above and more if required to get our attention and bring us back on the right path if we have strayed.  God knows exactly where we are in our journey of faith. He knows when we start straying away from the path, and He will do whatever is required to put us on the right path.

God is such a good God that even the adversity He might allow is limited, just like He did with Job.  God allowed Satan to persecute Job, but limited him not to hurt or kill him. Job 1:12 and Job 2:6 - (please read for completion).   All He does is for our own good.

I encourage you to stay strong, and be assured that whatever you might be going through, God is right there with you. Stay focused and alert. If you notice any of these things patterns (or others),  happening to you time and time again, pause and ask "Lord what are you trying to tell, show or teach me at this time".  He wants to tell and show you all the good things in store for you.   

He wants to see His will come alive in you; He wants to make a beautiful and glorious testimony out of the very makings of you. 


Much Love , Remi

***pictures by photobucket***

BSL (BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE TRANSLATION)

(PRESS PLAY)

TANGIBLE FRIENDSHIPS

Even my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted

(relied on and was confident), who ate of my bread,

has lifted up his heel against me.

Psalm 41:9

Tangible is defined as: capable of being touched or felt; having real substance

If we are honest, most of us would have experienced the reality of the opening verse. When we found ourselves in trouble, we look around and we see no one, but air. Your friends friends or thought you could at least rely on, seemed to have emigrated from the planet, just when you needed them the most.

I have learnt that adversity often brings us face-to face with the need to question our circle of influence, those around us.  It will cause us to associate with a different people, from all works of life, people that we might never have met or given the time of the day.  This is always a good thing.  It will also move us to severe ties with those who we have unwise associations with - it could be a friend, an employer, an employee or partner. Inevitably there will be times when adversity will force us to really look at the peope we relate to within our world and to look within to see if we make frienship easy.  Are we a friendly people?

However, in the Bible, through the relationship between David and Jonathan, we see a good model of true friendship. 

When we read 1 Samuel 20, we see that Jonathan was moved to do tremendous things for his friend David. This was because of the love and loyalty towards him. Jonathan did the following:

• He warned David of possible danger from his father Saul. Read 1 Samuel 19:1-3 for completion
• He spoke well of David, even to those who thought David was an enemy. Read 1 Samuel 19:4 for completion
• He went the extra mile to do what David needed him to do.  He saw the situation David was in and asked what he could do to help him.  He did not have to wait for David to beg or plead. Willingly he requested and did what David asked Him. Read 1 Samuel 20:4-20 for completion
• He risked his very life by defending David to his father. I mean Saul nearly nailed him to the wall with a spear! Now that is bravery for a friend. Read 1 Samuel 20:32 - 33
• He helped David to escape Death by his father Saul.  Read 1 Samuel 20: 35 - 41

Now after reading the above, I thought to myself, I really must brush up on some of my friendship skills! Yikes!!  It makes me ask questions such as - how many of us will put our lives in danger to help a friend?

Taking into consideration the current economic climate of this world, some of our friends might be going through a rough patch, finding it a difficult to keep their heads above water, day after day, so I ask:

• How many of us will forgo that holiday to pay a friend's mortgage, bills or save them from going completely under?
• How many of us will take a friend and their family to the shops and buy thier montly grocery?
• How many of us will take our eyes off ourselves for a minute, see out and take the time to ask a friend how they are doing; without having to wait for that friend to come and ask or beg for help; knowing fully well that they need it. 
• How many of us like Jonathan, is willing to lay down his/her life for a friend, if we have to? Selah...

"An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city.

Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars".

Proverbs 18:19

 
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul describes what should be the ingridients of true friendship; to Christians and non- Christians alike. Some of what Paul advices for us to have is: politeness, selflessness, positive, free from petty resentfulness or vindictiveness, roted in truth.  It is also hopeful, supported, sees the best in people and endures till the end.  Please read 1 Corinthians 13 for completeness.

Friendship starts within us, we must first learn to be a friendly person as we are taught in Proverbs 18:24, which reads "A man who has friends must himself be friendly...".

Yes, it might be a bit difficult with all the things we have to juggle on a daily basis, but we must make time to make friends and nurture friendship. It does not have to cost much either. Thank God for technology, we can send emails, chat and call for free on Skye and much more.  I encourage us all to do what we can to establish and keep the friendship connection flowing. Remeber, God created us to be Relational beings.

My hope is that especially in the times we are living in, that the essence and example from Jonathan and David's friendship will be eminent in our lives.  I encourage us to submit to the Holy Spirit and He will help bring to attention areas within  us that may require a little work to help us build stringer and effective relationships.   I sure know I need some help, how about you?

If you don't have a lot of close friends, don't be too hard on yourself.  Remember, true friendships are a rare treasures. Besides, they take time to establish, build up and it requires a lot of wisdom, patience and commitment.   So start with developing or nuturing one meaningful frienship, taking it one day at a time and go from there.

Establishing healthy relationships and friends is a process, which when we rely on God to help us, makes us become more like Jesus Christ.

Have a wonderful weekend filled with love, laughter and the richness only true friendship can bring.

Friends will come

friends will go

A true friend, your hand 

they will always hold

Friends will come

friends will go 

A true friend heart delights 

in watching you prosper and grow

Much Love, Remi
***pictures by google***

BSL TRANSLATION OF POST

(PRESS PLAY)

.

God's Schedule --- Same As Yours?

"you saw my body as it was formed.

All the days planned for me

were written in your book

before I was one day old"

Psalm 139:16 (NCV)

Yesterday was our local area prayer meeting gathering, and it was awesome. God is good and a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. We spoke and prayed about the need to always check our standing in God's will, to make sure we have not deviated off track and gone our own way.

During the discussion, a couple of individuals asked questions around what to do when God is silent and what to do when we have desires that we seem to be praying about over and over again, but nothing seems to be happening - well that we cannot see. This inspired me to put this post up.

Sometimes when we think or feel that things are not going the way we planned (that is our prayers are seemingly going unanswered), we start to fret. We have prayed, even embarked on a 3, 7, 21 or 30 day dry fast and still no outcome. At this point in time it might feel like God has completely abandoned us. However, I would like to suggest that maybe, just maybe God is working on completely different schedule and agenda for our live than we are at that particular point in time, and it might be that we align our will and desires to His? Selah.

God's master plan for our lives is not to satisfy us with a list of wants or shopping list - the house, the car, the business, the job and much more. His master plan is to develop a loving and personal relationship with us individually. It is through and of this relationship that He blesses us with the desires of our hearts, and that everything else comes as an addition to us - the house, the car, the husband, wife and much more.

Yes, whilst we are developing a relationship with God, getting to know and trust Him more, life will often bring its share of pain and suffering. However, we should be confident in the knowledge that God works everything (trials, tribulation and all) for our good, as confirmed in Romans 8:28.


You might read that and say, "but I know what I want and I want it now, for time is slipping away and I seem to be tagging along others through this journey called life". Hands up me, for I have said the exact same things a million times before.

By the grace of God, I have come to understand that a life placed completely in God's hands and guided by His Holy Spirit means that His timing takes precedence. To only way to live through life at the pace God has set for each of us is to live according to trust and live according to God's schedule. We must trust God that He knows what He is doing.


A few reasons why we should trust God's schedules for our lives are:

• GOD IS ALL KNOWING:  The opening verse of this post, Psalm 129:16, confirms that God has already written the book, with all the pages of our lives, which includes all the things that must happen - including your very act of reading this post. This means He knows our end from the beginning. The reality of this knowledge, when we start to fret should encourage us to pray as such "Lord let my today, and everyday, including my wants, needs and desires, unfold as it is already written in the pages of your book for my life - trials, tribulations, abundance and all". We must learn to COMMIT OUR PLANS TO GOD (click on link to read further), and let His Holy Spirit guide us. From experience, I promise that you will experience peace, rest and assurance beyond comprehension. For more on trusting in God, please read click on and read the "TRUSTING IN GOD KEY" post I wrote a while back.

• GOD IS ALL WISE:   It is foolishness to think that any human being can know the absolute best thing to do or say in any situation. We can try to do things to the best of our ability, but even then we will often make mistakes. Why? This is because we mostly make decisions based on an imperfect perception, of the present or future. God's wisdom is infinite and perfect. God takes His time to teach us all we know through His Holy Spirit, if we let Him. All wisdom comes from Him as declared in Proverbs 2:6, which reads "For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding".

• GOD IS ALL LOVING:   God loves us. His schedule and plans for our lives revolves around the fact that He wants the BEST for us. Our problem usually arise because think we know what 'best' looks like and when it is not happening, we get discouraged. God's thoughts towards us are precious as described in Psalm 139:17. Time is one of the tools God uses to teach the weighty lessons of patience. It opens us up further to have a deeper and closer relationship with Him. It is also prepares us for the good things He already wants to give us.

These are just a few reasons why we should embrace God's timing about everything for our lives. Yes, we have desires, because we have been given the power of imagination and we are meant to use these to conjure up dreams and visions and possibilities that in the natural will seem utterly impossible. However, all these needs to be in line with His will for our lives and once they are, has to happen in His own time.

The rewards of trusting in God are
endless as the blue sky on a summers day
countless as the stars in night sky
never-ending, much deeper than the deepest ocean
and the joy it brings more vibrant than a
million fireworks on display at the grandest celebration

As you live out the reality of each day, I encourage you to align yourself with God's schedule for your desires, hopes and dreams. Get close to Him in prayer, willingness and obedience.

I encourage you to trust God completely, knowing that the very essence of your life is in perfect hands.

Be patient and trust that the pages of the book He has already written about your life, will unfold more beautiful than you could ever dream or think; making Him famous along the way.

Much Love, Remi

Picture by ***google***

THE 'TRUSTING IN GOD' KEY

Trust in the LORD forever,

for the LORD, the LORD,

is the Rock eternal

Isaiah 26:4

• To trust means to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something


• Rock is defined as a firm foundation or support


• Eternal is defined as without beginning or end; lasting forever; always existing

With the above definitions it is safe to say that trusting God with our desires hopes and dreams, means we are sure that what He stands for and what He has promised, will be manifested in our lives.

To explain further, here is the opening verse in a combination of Bible translations: “Trust in the Lord forever, commit yourself to Him and lean on Him, Hope confidently in him. Depend on Him and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing” Makes it just that much clearer doesn't it?

To trust in God is a good thing, but it is one of the hardest things for a believer to do. Even though we believe that God is able and faithful, it is still a tremendous journey to get to the point of absolute dependency on and in God.

I did a bit of research and according to wikipedia and google, in the bible, TRUST is mentioned 147 times. It is mentioned 134 times in the old testament and 13 times a new testament.

This tells us that 'TRUST' is a very important aspect of our spiritual lives, but at most times our faith is weak in this area.

To trust in God means to exercise faith in who He is and in His proven abilities. It means to continuously depend on Him until the thing which He has challenged us to believe in, is manifested.

God can and will do tremendous things to and for us, if we simply place our trust in Him. We will experience more of Him, physically and spiritually by trusting Him.

I believe trusting is sometimes difficult because we don't see the result of that which we are hoping for, manifested straight away. When this happens, discouragement and doubt sets in.

We must remember that God does not always meet our needs or give us our desires when we want them or in the way we think or dream it to be delivered. The life of Joseph in the bible (Genesis 37-50), gives a good example of this. During his lifetime, Joseph had various desperate needs, amongst them are: to be released from a Deep Pit, to be release from a Dark Prison, and even to be remembered and rescued whilst he was in prison. Yet, despite all the delay and naturally looking bleak future, He still trusted in God, doing what he was created to do, using His gifts and abilities still.

For some of us, our needs are not that great, yet despair has or is threatening to set in. Remember God has proven time and time again that He is able.

Sometimes God delays the manifestation of our prayers because He wants a greater purpose to be accomplished when He does. In the case of Joseph, the greater need was to meet the needs of the Joseph’s family and secure the future generation.

Proverbs 3: 5-10 tells us to trust God with all our heart. The very essence of our trusting in God will help us find God’s best for our lives.

To place our trust in God, we declaring that:

• We rely on Him only, and not our own wisdom or understanding. We rely on Him to make our path straight. To guide us and make our lives easier. This does not mean we won’t have obstacles, rather it means that God will either remove them or enable us to overcome them.

• We respect Him as our God. We respect His wisdom and authority. We fear Him as he is the only one who has authority over every area of our lives.

• We are rejecting evil. God will not necessarily eliminate temptations or trials, but our trust in Him will help us free from evil.

• Giving Him room to bless us. You see we think we have a problem of not being blessed. However, the problem is that most times in our dis-obedience and lack of trust in God, we are actually hindering God to bless us.

As you step into a new week by God's grace, I encourage you to be purposeful in your 'TRUSTING' in God. Trust Him with every fibre of your being. Trust Him with every area of your live. When you feel like you have established your trust in Him, trust HIM SOME MORE. Don't simply trust Him for the most simple things, the mundane things, but also trust Him with the ‘seemingly’ impossible things!/

Trust Him for that home you desire to have, but don’t have money for it. Trust Him for that new position you want, but don’t have the right connections or qualifications for it. Trust Him for that child you long to hold in your arms, but the medical reports are telling you otherwise. Trust Him for a year that you will experience the true manifestation of Ephesians 3:20.

Think about it for a moment: Our God is the same one who created the heavens and the earth, who parted the red sea, and made them like walls, on each sides, so that the children of Israel can walk through, who feed the 5,000 with two loaves of bread and 5 fishes, who healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind and whose FAITHFULNESS has been tested through time.

This is the same God who can do more than anything you could ever conjure up, BUT the key is to ‘CHOOSE'... 'TO TRUST IN HIM COMPLETELY’

Have a great week of living out the realities of your trust in the only one who is able and faithful; and in so doing letting your faith make Him famous along your way.

Much love, Remi

***pictures by Photobucket***

Further reading - Poem - Will To Trust

In Pursuit Of Your Foundation

"Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to

bring him back to life again. And in a sense,

Abraham did receive his son back from the dead".

Hebrews 11:19

Reasoning is defined as "the basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction".

From this definition, it is safe to say that the basis can also be called the FOUNDATION for an action, decision or conviction.

The verse above shows that through reasoning, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son. From His actions we see that Abraham reasoned within His mind that if He sacrificed his son, God will definitely raise Him up.

1 Peter 3:15 - gives us more proof that Faith is a reasoning process, for we have to be have thought it out so that we can explain the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. It reads "but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear".

Faith engages our thinking to establish the foundation for our believing in God. For instance, if there is sickness in the body, the basis for the hope and belief that God will heal, can be found in His word, in verses such as in Jeremiah 30:17a, which reads "For I will restore health to you And heal you of your wounds..."

The Greek translation of Faith defines it as the "substantiating of substance, the action that brings that substance into reality".

Now, with the understanding that faith engages our thinking to establish the very solid foundation of our belief in God, guess what the devil does with this same knowledge? Yes, you got it, he attacks that very foundation; the trust, hope and faith we have in God's word, When we go through trials, what we must realise is that enemy is not after our home, car, kids, family or wealth, he is after the foundation of our faith - the belief in God and who He is.

He is not after our joy, for the loss of joy is the outward manifestation that we have already lost faith. For if we have faith, then we have joy, but if we have no joy, then faith has left the building! When the joy comes from the assured faith we have in God's word. This is why we declare from Romans 4:21 "He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises."

So how does the devil attack our foundation, I hear you ask? He does this through the following ways:

• Doubt: He makes us question God's word and His goodness. I mean all you have to do is speak to someone on the street about the happenings in the world and you will hear " if God is love and if He is good, why is there war, why are people dying all over the place?" What they are doing is doubting God's goodness. But as believers we declare that God is good all the time. The world reason's their belief in God based upon what they see, but we reason our belief in God based on His word and His experience in our life.
  


• Discouragement: The devil tries to make us focus solely on our problems rather than God. When we do this, like Peter in Matthew 14, we start to sink and problems begin to look bigger than they are. The key is to keep our eyes on God. This can be achieved by reading His word, fellowship with other believers, hearing His word, meditating on His word, declaring His word and implementing His word.
  


• Diversion: He makes the wrong things or situations seem attractive. This is so that we would want them even more than the right ones. That very thing or situation that we thought was not right for us, suddenly looks good. It suddenly will be "good for food, pleasant to our eyes and have the desire to make us wise"!!. However, when we embrace this notion, lust manifests itself. Lust will encourage us to reason that we really need them. Lust does not, work along for along with it comes pride, who will engage us in reasoning to say that we not only need it, but we deserve it!. Reminds me of the advert "...just because you are worth it"! To avoid being diverted from God's will and promises, we must keep our eyes on God's word, with hope and expectation.
  


• Defeat: He makes us feel like a failure. For we might have tried a few times in what God has told us to do and we have failed. When we admit defeat, we stop trying. We stop trying to work on our careers, spiritual growth or discipline, marriages, relationships, ministry and much more.
  


• Delay: The devil makes us impatient towards God's timing. God's word says every word will be fulfilled as declared in Matthew 24:35. When we are impatient, we end up with an Ishmael, even though God promised us an Isaac as He did with Abraham. However, God is a good God, for we eventually end up with an Isaac. The only problem is that the Ishmael that we got ourselves and the Isaac God gives us now enter into conflict, making the journey into our purpose harder than it should have been!. We must remember that 'delay is not denial'. When promises are delayed, it works patience in us as Paul explains inJames 1:2-4. This patience also protects us from deception, for when we are desperate, we are most likely sin and stop the hand of God working things out the way He wants to.

Just as Jesus Christ prayed for Peter, that his faith will not fail him, Jesus is sitted at the right hand of the father, praying and interceding for us that our faith will not fail us as confirmed in Hebrews 1:3. This means we are already winners, but the key is to focus on God's word, constantly.

So I encourage us all to remember that whatever we might be going through, not to forget, that the sole thing the enemy is after is the foundation of our faith. Everything else He takes from us is just a bi-product or a bonus for him.

It is the foundation of our faith that we use to obtain blessings and favour from God, and it is the same that we use to sustain it.

I encourage everyone to focus on God's word and His promises for your life, as you start a new week under His grace. I encourage you to hold on to the very promises and plans He has for you. In so doing, you will be increasing the solidity of your foundation in God, whilst declaring His faithfulness and goodness along your way.

Much Love
Remi

***pictures by photobucket***

Pink Jelly Shoes

And then today... I revisited my childhood days, I wore pink Jelly shoes.

Okay, all those who grew up in Africa or Nigeria to be specific, show your hands!!lol...

Do you remember Jelly shoes? I'm pretty sure you do. Oh my, I had them in all colours; red, white, green, pink and black.
I had to wear them as they were the only shoes that did not give my mother a "near heart attack".
You see ,when I was a little girl, I was somewhat of a tomboy, which meant, shoes and clothes never lasted much.
But jelly shoes were the king! You could never outwear them! :-)) and my mother caught on to this real quick and bought all the colours available (to keep me interested in wearing them!)

So as I sat down in the train this morning, grinning and starring at my jelly shoes, I reminisced over my colourful childhood. I remembered the simplicity of my childhood.

I remembered:
When all things were pure and simple and very colourful.
When we didn't have much, but made do with the little we had.
If only we embraced this principle in today's society, there will be less debt and greed around that we see.

I remembered:
When I ate 101, 001 or 100 (now that's some of you down memory lane right?)
To the non-Africans / Nigerians, this is an acronym for eating patterns and it means:

101 = eat breakfast, no lunch, eat dinner
001 = No breakfast, no lunch, eat dinner
100 = eat breakfast, no lunch and no dinner

I remember they were hard times, but more importantly, I remember my mother making it fun. She used this means to teach us how to fast and make us appreciate the food when it arrived. Thank you mama.

In today's society, if only we can come to the understanding that food is meant for the body's nourishment and not to replace, needs, wants and desires; there might just be less gluttony and obesity in the world today.

It also reminds me that, whatever situation we find ourselves, we should really make the most of it, because the lessons we learn therein, most times, helps us to fight much bigger battles that await us in the future.

More importantly, it will help us live according to the examples set by Paul in Philippians 4:12 12 which reads "I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little."

I also remembered when:
My imagination took me on journeys to far away places, even though I never set foot out of my own city.

I was thankful for the rainy season, even though it caused so much havoc!!!
In its ferrocious simplicity, I understood its importance – we would have no fruits such as mango, agbalumo, banana and the rest, if this same rain did not come in its due season.

This reminds me that today, we should be encouraged to embrace the notion that every thing that happens in the circle of God's plan for us, happens in its due time and season as we are taught in Ecclesiastes 3: 1 - 8, which reads " 1 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. 2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4 A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. 5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. 6 A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7 A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. 8 A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace."

And we know the plans God has for us, everything in its season, works together for good as we are taught in Romans 8:28, which reads "28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose"

Crops comes forth as a result of rain in it's due season; growing stronger and wiser, seeking the face of God, and drawing closer to him, comes forth a result of trials and tribulations we go through in it's right season.

As I journeyed along, I realised that everything in my daily reality should remain pure, simple and very colourful, just as it was in my childhood! And why I hear you ask?



Well, as children of the most high God, the one who takes away all our troubles and strives, if I concentrate on his plan and will for my life, my life indeed will be simple! I won't have to worry about all the burdens of this world, for it's already been taken care off! His yoke is easy and his burden is light! Ha! This we are taught in Matthew 11: 28 – 30 "28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Also, my immediate reality should be colourful as I serve a very colourful God! In Genesis 1:3 "He said let there be light" - Light, compared to dark, is colour!

Further more, in Ephesians 1:17 – 19a we read " “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe……”

Enlighten means to illuminate, and to illuminate means to display lights, to supply or brighten up with lights, as in decorations.

When I read that verse, it reminds me that in giving us the Spirit of wisdom and the revelation, God is enlightening our hearts, our minds and souls so that we can see the very true and real colourful richness of who he is. Now can you simply imagine the colour fountain that will represent!?

As I got off the train, at my stop, to make the short journey to work, I thanked God for my colourful childhood, but more importantly made a vow to fill my reality with the simplicity of concentrating on who he is and filling my daily reality with the beautiful colours of God's love and grace.

And all these, from wearing pink jelly shoes :-)))) Thank you Jesus!

Have a wonderful day basking in the beauty of the colourful nature of God's love, whilst making him famous along the way.

Much love
Remi Banjo
***pictures by photobucket***

And then I read Psalm 37....

It's all about trusting the one who put us here for a purpose, for a reason and for this very season... That's what I pondered on and declared when I read Psalm 37: vrs 3 - 5 and vs 7

Psalm 37:3 reads: Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. This verse encourages us to simply place our trust in the Lord and keep on doing good.

The dictionary defines TRUST as thus:

reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence and the

confident expectation of something; hope.

Now HOPE is defined as: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.

Imagine that..!!! We are not only encouraged to trust in the Lord, but to have and place our hope for our future in him as well. And why? Well, everything will simply turn out for the best!!! What a promise!!!

It is one thing to understand what trust and hope means, but it's quite something else to fully embrace it's notion. Daily as we battle our way through the reality of God's will, it can be somewhat difficult to embrace the simplicity of trusting the Lord, especially when we find ourselves in some mystifying situations or at various crossroads in life, or trudging through the valley, trying to get to and over our next horizon! Somehow, somewhere along the line, we forget, push aside, ignore or erase from memory that very encouraging instruction.

As I read this verse, it reminded me that my daily struggle will NOT be a struggle, if I simply actively embrace the meaning of Trusting the Lord. For me to get out of the valley, to and over my next horizon, I should stop stressing and simply live in the reality of Trusting the Lord! Nothing like a timely reminder when you need one huh?

And then I read further, verse 4 states: "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires."

Now firstly, we are encouraged to trust (vs3), and then, we are taught that when we trust in the Lord, we will find delight in Him and He will surely give us our heart's desires. This means that everything we hope for, He will give to us.

Now I don't know about you, but all the things and the future that I hope for, if placed on top of one another is most definately wider than the biggest ocean...! As I read this verse, I figured, well I simply have no choice but to trust in the Lord, solidly have hope in Him so that my desires will come forth like the break of dawn! How about you? What do you hope and dream for? Do you dream of one day, it all coming to past, it being a magnificent testimony? If so, why not reach out and firmly place your trust and hope in the one who owns the heavens and earth and all in between?

And I read even further, and verse 5 reads: "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you."

Ah.. that word, commit! Now I believe that when we trust and and have hope in something or someone, we are free and willing to commit / surrender to that thing or that person.

Commit or commitment is defined as: "To put in trust or charge". It is safe to say that people in our lives, whom we trust, we are able to commit things to them for safe keeping.

Same can be likened to when we put our trust in God. When we do, we able to commit to Him freely; our will, our desires, our hopes, our dreams and much more.

Now I'm not saying that we leave it to God, sit back and fold our hands and wait for Him to perform some miracle (and yes He still is a miracle working God); we commit our will to His doing such things as asking for wisdom, understanding and insight in every situation. By seeking His face, His approval before we commence on our action plans, and not inviting Him half-way through the mess we create.

And then finally, I got to verse 7, which seems to cap it all up! It reads: " Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes."

Now, how about that! First we trust, and put our hope in God, and then we commit our will to His, and then finally, we wait PATIENTLY for Him to act on our behalf!

We wait Patiently for His approval, we wait patiently for Him to bring our desires, our hope and our future to pass, we wait patiently for Him to propel us to be all that we are destined to be.

Isn't that awesome?

So today I encourage us all to revisit the meaning and essence of putting our Trust and hope in God; and committing EVERYTHING into His capable hands. It truly is for our own benefit if we actively live out the reality of these verses.

To do so will mean that we have confidence that the very future we dream, hope and pray for, will definitely come to pass and be established through Him.

Have a wonderful day committing everything to the Lord, the one who never sleeps, who watches over you from dusk to dawn.

Much Love

Remi Banjo

All pictures by photobucket***

Unspoken...

In the midst of calmness
chaos reigns within the realms her soul
she hungers for His presence to heal
and simply make her whole...



A forlorn look resides on the edge of her face
as she stares into the defined emptiness of space;
teardrops rolling down the soft hills of her cheeks,
she presents a picture in dire need of a warm embrace

There she sits, on a cold winter afternoon
so many things envisaged broken, yet
ringing in her ears are words patiently
waiting to disperse healing to her very soul.
Words perched on soft lips,
quietly abandoned and left unspoken

©Remi Banjo March 2008
***Picture by Photobucket***


Philippians 4:6-7 "6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Go on, speak to God, tell Him about that heaviness that keeps pressing down on your soul, the very one that threatens to swallow you whole...

He is always near,
He always listens,
His presence will chase
away the fears, whilst
catching every single tear

Much Love
Remi Banjo