Daily Devotional : Fear

I have always thought of fear as a feeling. Because you know, something goes wrong, or you face some uncertainty, and you feel afraid - right? Then I had an experience with fear that went above and beyond a feeling. You know how it is - you are thinking about the situation, worrying, worrying, you go to bed, worrying. You finally fall asleep. But then in the dead of the night, when all is quiet, this 'thing' wakes you up. Its not just worry - its raw undiluted fear. It starts to speak to your mind at that time, and oh, the things it says! Tells you what a miserable failure you are. Tells you how you will not make it, tells you how your situation is irredeemable. Tells you how insignificant you are, how worthless you are. Grinds your self worth and self esteem into the mud. Hmmmm! If ever you are able to go back to sleep, you are discouraged at best, at worst you are terrified! Then I understood - fear is a spirit. Its a devilish, insidious, dark, twisted spirit. And you have to deal with it, the only way you deal with spiritual things - by the word.

When you are being tormented by fear, worry, uncertainty, loss - the unknown, uncertain future, know that you are not alone. GOD is with you. And you have the tools to deal with that horrible spirit.

There are a few major tools to use:

I) Speak the word. There are a few bible verses to use. Shout them out to that spirit. It knows authority when it hears it. It will back off, it has no choice. Which verses?

I Tim 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind

That is the most common, and frankly effective one. Personalize it. claim it. Say it, believe it. I refuse to own this fear! It is not mine. It is not from GOD, so I reject it. GOD has not given me a spirit of fear!! Hallelujah!!

Instead of fear, go read some verses that remind you of the power and character of GOD Like

a) Psalm 27

and

b) Isaiah 43: 1-7

II) Music: I am a melancholic, a deep feeler - ( if you have no idea what that means, you need to check out the book spirit controlled temperament by Tim Lahaye). I identify really well with the biblical David, because dude knew how to encourage himself in the LORD (I Samuel 30: 6)

How did he do that? With psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Even on days when prayer is hard, there is nothing like a great song with uplifting lyrics to lift your spirits. Nothing at all.

SO try this:




or this:



or even this:



Yes, Whitney Houston. That song can only be a prayer! It has gotten me through many a hard day believe me!!

I am not going to lie, I have a catalog of "songs for the night" (Psalm 42:8), and one day I will share them with you - music so powerful that it literally lifts you up from the depths. Good music - its an amazing tool for spiritual strength!


III)Pray. Pray as much as you can - it can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. GOD always hears you. HE will never leave you, HE will never forsake you. HE will always love you.

As the word says:

Phillipians 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.

IV) Seek help:

Never be afraid or ashamed to seek GODly counsel. We were not made to walk this christian walk alone. Sometimes all you need is somebody to pray with you and you are able to see things from a christian perspective. Seek a GODly person to talk about your fears with and to pray with. Afterall, a problem shared is a problem solved!


Have a wonderful, fear free day.

GOD bless you.

Ladies Daily Devotional

Hi Folks!

Because of some stuff going on around me, I feel led to start a devotional on this blog. I mentor some young ladies, and the number one issue that has come up very often is "I don't know how to study the word" - or what to read, or where to start, etc, etc. There are many devotionals out there on all kinds of subject matters, but I am starting this one with my young ladies in mind. But please feel free to use it if it is a blessing to you. I am just laying the background in case anyone is wondering how come it is so touchy feely! LOL!! This will be challenging of course because I will have to do this regularly (as close to everyday as a possible), but GOD is asking me to do it, so I know HIS grace is sufficient.

Enjoy your day!

Ciao

Gospel Music Spotlight: Gabriel Eziashi

So its thanksgiving week in the USA. Time for family, friends and turkey right? Meeeh!
I actually think its an opportunity to praise GOD from the depth of our hearts for what who HE is and what HE has done. So, I will take the opportunity this week to highlight my very favorite praise and worship minstrels.

First up: Gabriel Eziashi. His bio from his church website says:

Pastor Gabriel Eziashi is the pastor of Milton Keynes Tabernacle in Milton Keynes. He is also a prolific song writer and recording artist and has as written songs like "Come On to Me", "Make My Life" and "Lord Most High", all found on his debut release album "Stand By Me". Originally from Jesus House For All Nations (a member of the RCCG), Gabriel Eziashi is committed to bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to people through the word of God as well as empowering worship experiences.

Gabriel Eziashi received the vision for Milton Keynes Tabernacle in 2005 whilst worshipping at Jesus House For All Nations. Over the years the ministry has experienced rapid growth.

As well as this church that he pastors, he is also a very much sought-after christian praise and worship leader as well as conference speaker. He is also known for his practical approach to the Bible and regularly encourages people to pursue a personal relationship with God through his son Jesus Christ. Gabriel Eziashi and his wife, Dayo, have 2 children and live in Milton Keynes.

I love his music. LOOOVES IT!! The song below, I play it almost everyday - I enjoy it that much! Check it out:



you can also watch him perform it live at Jesus House London, with powerful testimony preceding:



"I no get moni! You no want moni!!!" I tell you, one of my favorite praise songs ever!! EVER!! Always puts a smile on my face.

Okay, I wills stop gushing now. The album is called "Intimate moments" and it is available on itunes, and also on cdbaby here

Enjoy!!

The queen is dead!

I saw this video on Sahara reporters, and I was so disturbed. So disturbed!!

What kind of suffering is this? Why are we so wicked to the least among us?




Lord have mercy!!

Amazing technology, or just creepy?

This has nothing to do with the Africa or faith (not yet at least) but I could not resist.
So the Japanese, famous for marrying pillows and creating "personal" robots have outdone themselves this time. They have created a new pop star - in holograph form. Yup! See for yourself:



Is it a triumph for technology? Or is this something just strange and sinister? As if all the crazy pop princesses were not bad enough!!

Beached whale in Lagos

I do a little bit of research into food related matters in developing countries, and it is easy to think about food insecurity as an academic endeavor without really thinking about what it REALLY means.

Well here is what it really means: a dead whale ( I was going to say fish, but a whale is a sea mammal right?) washes up on a Lagos beach. What happens? Well, see for yourself:







That is poverty. That is food insecurity!! I am not an animal rights activist, so I am not up in arms about people eating a whale - please eat whatever will nourish your body. But a whole population happily consuming a decaying animal with unknown cause of death is a major cause for alarm. And where are the public health officials in this matter? What kind of government sits back and watches its citizens apply for diarrhea at best and at worst death? Because lets face it, we have no idea how this animal died.

It is so sad. Really.

Black people have a problem???

I know that I have not published for a while and I apologize most profusely to anyone who has been following my blog and dealing with my tardiness. I have been really, really busy, but I could not resist posting this. Gave me a huge chuckle this morning.
Tell me what you think of our dear Rev Manning. Is there some truth to his assertions? Something we are all thinking but afraid to say??

Say something black people!! Say something!! LOL!!





O jigbi jigbi!! Revd Manning will not kill me o. "You need to hear the truth, and I am gonna tell it!!"

LOL!!