31 Days Thanksgiving & Praise - DAY 26

Let your roots grow down into him, and let

your lives be built on him. Then your faith

will grow strong in the truth you were taught,

and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Colossian 2:7

I thank you Father for another day to give you the glory, honor and praise. I thank you for another day to be all that I can be for your glory. I thank you for another day to grow in the knowledge of you.


Dear Papa, I say A BIG THANK YOU for GROWTH; SPIRITUALLY & in CHARACTER. By your grace and power and through the help of the wonderful teacher - the Holy Spirit, I have come a long way from living a life that is "all about me" to a living a life that is "all about you and your kingdom" . Praise be to you my Father.

I thank you for increase of my knowledge and understanding of the intricacies of your word.
I thank you for the decrease of sinful nature in my life.
I thank you for the increase in my practice of Christ-like qualities that you are building in me.
I thank you for the increase in faith and trust in you, in all things.

I thank you Papa for giving me the desire to continually live my life to imitate Jesus Christ as commanded in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ."



I thank you for continually building in me the Love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control, as explained in Galatians 5:22 -23, "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"



So today Papa, I thank you for continually growing me in your word, in the knowledge of you and in living my life to emulate Jesus Christ. I thank you for developing the fruit of the Holy Spirit within me. I thank you for continually making me the person you want me to be.

Father, I pray that my basket of thanksgiving for growth is sweet smelling and acceptable in your presence today. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ I praise, Thanks and pray. Amen,

CHILDREN OF GOD, WHAT ARE YOU

THANKFUL TO GOD FOR THIS VERY DAY?

Much Love, Remi

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31 Days Thanksgiving & Praise - DAY 25

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”-
Isaiah 9:6

I thank you father for another day to give you the glory honor and praise. I thank you for another day to be all that I can be for your glory. I thank you for another day to experience the beauty of what you did for me, through the birth of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Dear Papa, today I am thankful for the opportunity to celebrate the meaning of the birth and reign of my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

I am thankful for the birth of Jesus Christ, because His birth means He has come to dwell with us, as declared in Matthew 1:23, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us."

I am thankful for Jesus Christ because He is the

WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR

MIGHTY GOD

EVERLASTING FATHER

PRINCE OF PEACE

I am thankful because with Jesus Christ being all of this, my Lord and master, there is nothing man can do to me, and there is NOTHING I should ever worry about!

I am thankful because I am reminded that Jesus Christ is the light of this world and to live I must follow him as declared in John 8:12, "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

So today, Papa, Thanking you for sending your ONE AND ONLY SON, to us. Thank you for sending your son to redeem us. I THANK YOU PRECIOUS JESUS FOR COMING!!!

REDEEMED PEOPLE, WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL TO GOD FOR TODAY?



HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATING
THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST AND ITS MEANING TO ALL MANKIND

Much Love, Remi

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The Salt Of Your Environment

  You are the salt of the earth.

But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour?

Can you make it salty again?

It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

Mathew 5:13

  

The dictionary defines salt as: An element that gives flavor or zest. A sharp lively wit

The usage of salt in the Biblical times:  

• As a symbol of covenants and good will. Salt used as a symbol of covenant is described in Numbers 18:19 ... a covenant of salt forever before the Lord with you and your descendants with you. It's usage in covenant with God is also shown in Leviticus 2:13b, it reads ”Season all your grain offerings with salt to remind you of God’s eternal covenant. Never forget to add salt to your grain offerings". In Colossians 4:6, salt is used as a symbol of good will, and it reads "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one".

• Adding flavour to food: This we see in job describing in Job 6:6, it reads "Don’t people complain about unsalted food? Does anyone want the tasteless white of an egg"?. 

• As a disinfectant: Salt was used to protect wounds from being infected. Ezekiel 16:4 explains this and it reads “On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth". It is also used to disinfect or heal the land of evil as we read in 2 Kings 2:20-21. which reads "20 Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl with salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, “This is what the Lord says: I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or infertility.

The usage of salt in the New Testament:

• The main usage of salt according to the New Testament is to influence (make sweet, enrich, heal or make right), its immediate environment. Jesus explains this in Luke 14:34, which it reads "Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavour, how do you make it salty again?" In Mathew 5:13, Jesus call us 'The Salt of the Earth'. Mathew 5:13 reads "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless".

From all these, what does it mean to be 'The salt of the earth, I hear you ask?'.   This means as salt we are meant to impart the characteristics of salt to our immediate environment, such as love, healing, sweetness, solutions, compassion and direction.  

As salt, we are to make have a positive effect to our environment; to infuse the flavor of God's living word into its very centre.   As salt we are to add the intricate flavor of God's word into homes, schools, work places, businesses, youth centres, hospitals and on the streets.

As salt, we are to transform our cities, countries and continents; healing the land from sickness, disease barrenness and strongholds.

With all these in mind, my question to today is thus: 

Are we the salt of the earth that Jesus confirmed us to be?
Are we living out the intricacies of the salt, or are we the opposite, a pollutant to our environments?

Do you arrive on the scene, and mood swings, bitterness, complaints and unfriendliness trail in after you, or does relief, peace and love, displays the presence of God in you?

Salts of the earth are solution implementers

Today, I encourage you all, that wherever you find yourself in life; on the bus, train, home, work or a station, let the characteristics of the 'Salt of the earth that you are' be evident for all to see. Live it out and let the benefits be manifested in that environment. Do all you can to stay in God's presence and will, thus, not loosing your flavour, but living to dispel out its realities; whilst making God famous along the way.

Much Love

Remi Banjo 

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HEARTFUL ENCOURAGEMENT

Worry weighs a person down; an

encouraging word cheers a person up

Proverbs 12:25

Encourage is to stimulate by assistance, inspire hope and confidence

Inspire is to fill or affect with a specified feeling or thought

In today's downcast global economic climate, it is not difficult to find someone who is need of a kind word or action. All we need to do is look around us, at our neighbours, the lone man walking along with his head hanging low. The woman you see every morning, whose shoulders seemed weighed down with the heavy load of striving to exist, from day to day.

In life, we all will go through the good, bad and ugly times. With the good times, we are usually okay. When the bad and ugly times come, it is encouragement from God's words and others that will keep us going.

When we have tried everything we know how to and we are on the brink of yet another failure or giving up, it is encouragement that will keep us moving forward, and keep us in the game. When we are too tired to put one foot in front of another, it is the act of compassion which comes from encouragement, that will gives us new strength.

God knew there would come a time in our lives, when we would need doses of encouragement, like we need the air we breath. This is what the opening verse is explaining to us and encouraging us to do for ourselves and for others.

However, in His goodness, God also provides encouragement for us in His word, such as in Isaiah 35:3. This and such verses are for instances when we are almost horizontal on the floor, close to giving up hope. God gives us a boost of strength through the encouragement that lies within the good news of His word. It reads "With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees". How about that? Isn't He just awesome?

So, are you going through a rough patch? Have you tried everything you know how to do and yet nothing is working in your favour? Are you about to throw up your hands up in the air, in defeat, giving up all hope of your visions and dreams being manifested? Well, if you are where I am right now, solely dependant on God's promises, I encourage you NOT TO GIVE UP. I encourage you to hold on to the very solid foundation of your hope and expectation in God and His word. He will renew your body, spirit, mind and soul with Strength.

I encourage you to keep pressing forward in purpose, consistency and perseverance, for God will work everything together for your good as He has declared in Romans 8:28, including the failures, denials and chaos that might be going on.

On the other hand, everything might be going okay for you. However, do you know someone that is in need of words of encouragement and acts of compassion? Your neighbour, your friends, that man or woman you see looking so sad on the train, as you journey to work every morning? Looking around you, who can you encourage to keep going, not to give up on their hopes and dreams? Present them with the gift of 'words of encouragement', backed up with acts of compassion.

Those words and actions can go a long way to alter the stance of the intended and enable them to rise up and overcome their problems.

Today, be encouraged in God's word, and in return encourage somebody; displaying the compassionate nature of God, making Him famous along your way.

Much Love

Remi

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