'Only asleep'

Matt 9: 23-24

"When Jesus arrived at the official's home, he noticed the noisy crowds and heard the funeral music. He said "Go away, for the girl isn't dead: she's only asleep." But the crowd laughed at him."

Someone called Alex* dead when his father died and he couldn't afford to pay his fees.
Someone called Joy* dead after five years of marriage and no child.
Someone called Precious* dead after years of having her heart broken, and not finding the right man.

Someone may call you dead because you have been facing a particular problem or challenge for years now. Someone may call you dead because you are struggling. To be declared 'Dead' means to be trapped in a situation or circumstance, unable to get out.

However.........

Those who think you are 'dead' should hear what Jesus says concerning your situation "This Child isn't dead, he/she is only sleeping."

You are coming out of that situation a winner, God is giving you a story that men will marvel at!!!
He saves!


Prayer:

I thank you father because by your power and in the name of Jesus you are turning things around in my life. Every dry bone will live again. I will praise you and declare your marvelous works in my life in the land of the living in Jesus name.Amen.

His peace. My love.
Chichi

MAMA

I thank God for my mother, a woman so full of wisdom and counsel. A woman who is just a phone call away, she knows when I just need a listening ear, she knows when I need to be encouraged or reminded of God's promises. She is someone I can speak my heart to, cryptically or bluntly and God constantly heals the bruises of my heart and spirit with her words.

I Love you mama, my bestfriend :)

Thoughts in my head....

Life happens, and if you do not take note it passes you by really quickly. It is good to just sit in the moment or second and savour peace, joy, balance, silence, love, hope. I think we get over our good moments too quickly and we stay down lots longer. Life passes through us, it changes us affects us, influences us, breaks us and makes us but seldom do we pass through life. We live for our seleves and forget about the others, those who have not what we take for granted or deem as common. My level of grace won’t permit me to sit with a mentally unstable person because I have a sound mind but it will permit me to serve or make myself available in another form, perhaps cheer someone up who feels discouraged. Joy is about focusing on God, not things not people because things come and go, people come and go…. But my dear, God is always.

Life is something even movies do not communicate no matter how hard they try. Life is unexpected, it happens so fast. Good moments give way to the bad and the bad bows again to the good times. Like the sun and moon they switch, each serving its purpose in our lives, each showing us how great our God is as a helper and a deliverer. Jackie Kennedy Onasis said ‘life is a mixture of the good and bad, you can’t have one without the other.’ Dwell longer on moments of victories, consider the battles won in life before because good times will give way to the difficult times… but both seasons point us to our God.

His peace. My love

Chi chi

Its not you its HIM

Gal 1: 15, Paul says something that hit me so hard in my heart "... He called me through (his) grace."

Sometimes we forget that it has nothing to do with us, not really. I am not saved because I have an amazing voice that gives people a glimpse of heaven whenever I sing. I am not loved by God because I am perfect, and get it right every second of every moment. God did not call me because I was 'right'.... even the bible says while I was yet in SIN, he died (loved) for me.

Today lets remember this, God loves us not because of us but in spite of us, and he has called us to be his through grace... nothing else. Its all about GRACE people.... its always about GRACE.

Keep surviving on his grace.

INTERLUDE

Interlude

"She stands on the shore awaiting her ship,
she has been stranded on this island for so long; it is time for a journey to continue but in a lot of ways begin.

She can hardly breathe as she sees her ship in sight, the end is near,she whispers to herself 'the end is near'

With a trembling heart and eager hands, with moist eyes and a multitude of emotions washing over her...

She watches as her ship gets closer, "It will be beautiful to begin again..."

"Give me the faith to walk in freedom and victory"

When the Soul Bleeds

Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth
"Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6b NIV).

Friend to Friend
When we read the story of Jesus healing the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, it is hard for us twenty-first century women to imagine such a condition lasting for so long. Medical science has progressed far beyond the rudimentary knowledge of Jesus' day. It is simply unthinkable today.

But I suggest there are still many women with chronic bleeding of a different sort. We bleed from the heart.

From the time Sarah was six-years-old, her father crept into her bedroom in the dark of night and violated her little body. Now, as an adult, her heart bleeds.

When Beth was walking to her dorm room from the college library, a man jumped from behind the bushes, and dragged her to a nearby shed and raped her at knife-point. Now, ten years later, her heart bleeds.

After twenty-years of marriage, Lucy accidentally stumbled upon an in-town hotel receipt in her husband's wallet. Suspecting the worse, she uncovered past e-mails, supposed meetings that never occurred and a trail of deceit. When presented with the evidence, her husband admitted having a three-year long affair. And her heart bleeds.

Margaret's routine physical reveals that she has AIDS. She had only been with one man her entire life - her husband. And her heart bleeds.

Laura was laid off from her job and her mother's words re-emerge like sewage leakage from an underground septic tank. "You're no good. You'll never amount to anything. You're a loser just like your father." And because of the lies, her heart bleeds.


Melissa holds her newborn little girl in her arms and coos her to sleep. Interrupting the sweetness of the wee hours of the morning, she hears her aborted child crying from the grave. Guilt presses down as the ever-present weight deflates her joy. And her heart bleeds.

Women - hoping the pain will go away; awakening each day with a memory that cuts a fresh wound. Women - longing to hear the words "Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

The woman with the issue of blood was no different from you and me. While her apparent illness was physical, her inward suffering ruled her life. But in one radical moment, with one momentous decision, she reached out to Jesus and grabbed hold of her healing.

Mark used specific words to describe our friend with the issue of blood. She "suffered greatly" and she was "afflicted." These are the same words that were used of Jesus during his last days on earth (Mark 8:32, 9:12). The same words Isaiah spoke when he prophesied of Jesus' death (Isaiah 53:7). Jesus understood her suffering more than she knew. As the blood flowed from her body and rendered her unclean, Jesus knew the blood that would soon flow from his body to cleanse us all.

He wants to set us free from our suffering, but he will not push us out of the cell. He unlocks the jail cell, but we must walk out the door. We can choose to bleed. We can choose to remain in our suffering and pick at the scabs of the past, but hear me dear friend - it is a choice. Jesus said, "I have come that they might have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10). That's what he wants for each of us. But we have to embrace the truth and, like the woman with the twelve-year-bleeding, reach for our healing.

In John, chapter five, Jesus encounters a lame man sitting by a pool of water where the paralyzed, blind, and afflicted gathered. They believed that when the waters were stirred by supposed angels, the first one in the pool would be healed. For thirty-eight years this man sat in his sickness.

Then Jesus walked up to him and asked a strange question, "Do you want to get well?" (John 5:6b).

Perhaps it was not such a strange question after all. Many times we get used to being sick and wear it like a shroud. motionally we are the walking wounded - victims who pick as scabs - not allowing them to heal.

Jesus said to the woman, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." That is the same healing he offers to you and to me.

Let's Pray
Dear God, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I reach forward today, touch the hem of Your garment, and receive my healing. Yes, I want to get well. Give me the faith to walk in freedom and victory.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen.

The Slum-dog Millionaire Effect

Romans 8:28 (NLT): "And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.

Don't scream in shock but I watched the infamous Slum-dog Millionaire movie for the first time early this year! I asked you not to scream now :)
The narrative of the film is so moving, I was close to tears at some point; it is a powerful film to say the least. What I found particularly interesting was how all the horrible experiences the protagonist had gone through aided him in answeing all the questions and winning the game show Who wants to be Millionaire. If you have seen this movie you will understand what I have just said, if you haven't seen this movie, what I am about to say will still make sense.

The Bible verse quoted above is a famous one, a christian favorite. It is a verse that brings comfort in the midst of trouble, and brings peace in the midst of chaotic events; the assurance that things will work out eventually births within us peace even if it is just for a moment.
Why do bad things happen to good people? this is a question I have pondered on so many occasions, many times I was referring to someone else, other times I was referring to myself.
Why this? Why that?
The verse above says if we love God, and we are walking in line with his plan for our lives (seeking his will) then ALL things that happen to us will turn out for our good. The temptation is to ask How?

Back to the movie Slum-dog Millionaire How for example was the death of the protagonist mother going to give him an answer to a question on the game show?

You and I don't know how God is going to do turn that pain into laughter, turn that difficulty into a testimony, but his word says if we love him we can be sure that such alterations are possible.
So let us strengthen our faith, let us pray for God's kind of peace to fill our hearts because God's word to us is that 'The pain has a purpose'. It is all coming together.

His peace my love.

Dear Daddy,

I am thinking of you today,
Missing you, feeling like I have been away.
There was a song this morning that brought tears to my eye, it was Kurt Carr’s ‘I Almost Let Go’
Every time I listen to that song something deep within me is affected because Lord, I know, and I know you know what we have been through, you know the truth that if not for you I won’t be here, ‘I’m here because of God’s mercy’ that was one of the lines in the song, and I know it to be true.
I am thinking of you today, missing you, feeling like I have been away,
Just want to remind you that I love you, and thank you for another day where I am reminded of just how significant you are to my life.

Love
Chichi

When your heart needs a father

The Living Room:
When Your Heart Needs a Father

by Max Lucado
"Our Father who is in heaven …” With these words Jesus escorts us into the Great House of God. Shall we follow him? There is so much to see. Every room reveals his heart, every stop will soothe your soul. And no room is as essential as this one we enter first. Walk behind him as he leads us into God’s living room.
Sit in the chair that was made for you and warm your hands by the fire which never fades. Take time to look at the framed photos and find yours. Be sure to pick up the scrapbook and find the story of your life. But please, before any of that, stand at the mantle and study the painting which hangs above it.
Your Father treasures the portrait. He has hung it where all can see.
Stand before it a thousand times and each gaze is as fresh as the first. Let a million look at the canvas and each one will see himself. And each will be right.
Captured in the portrait is a tender scene of a father and a son. Behind them is a great house on a hill. Beneath their feet is a narrow path. Down from the house the father has run. Up the trail the son has trudged. The two have met, here, at the gate.
We can’t see the face of the son; it’s buried in the chest of his father. No, we can’t see his face, but we can see his tattered robe and stringy hair. We can see the mud on the back of his legs, the filth on his shoulders and the empty purse on the ground. At one time the purse was full of money. At one time the boy was full of pride. But that was a dozen taverns ago. Now both the purse and the pride are depleted. The prodigal offers no gift or explanation. All he offers is the smell of pigs and a rehearsed apology: “Father, I have sinned against God and done wrong to you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21).
He feels unworthy of his birthright. “Demote me. Punish me. Take my name off the mailbox and my initials off the family tree. I am willing to give up my place at your table.” The boy is content to be a hired hand. There is only one problem. Though the boy is willing to stop being a son, the father is not willing to stop being a father.
Though we can’t see the boy’s face in the painting, we can’t miss the father’s. Look at the tears glistening on the leathered cheeks, the smile shining through the silver beard. One arm holds the boy up so he won’t fall, the other holds the boy close so he won’t doubt.
“Hurry!” he shouts. “Bring the best clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get our fat calf and kill it so we can have a feast and celebrate. My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost but now he is found!” (Luke 15:22–24).
How these words must have stunned the young man, “My son was dead …” He thought he’d lost his place in the home. After all, didn’t he abandon his father? Didn’t he waste his inheritance? The boy assumed he had forfeited his privilege to sonship. The father, however, doesn’t give up that easily. In his mind, his son is still a son. The child may have been out of the house, but he was never out of his father’s heart. He may have left the table, but he never left the family. Don’t miss the message here. You may be willing to stop being God’s child. But God is not willing to stop being your Father.

Faithfully

I remember a song now by a gospel group Katinas (hope i spelt that right) called Faithfully, as you guessed it is a song singing about God's faithfulness and how he shows up every time. I remember the song now as I have just finished reading Daniel chapter 6. for those who need their memories refreshed, it is the chapter where Daniel is thrown into the lions den because he prayed to God and not to the King as the decree had demanded. it is ironic how we get into trouble for doing the right things. how making the right decision can look like we made a colossal mistake, how saying the right thing turns you into public enemy. We have heard how the wrong things can get us into trouble, but dare I say even the right things do too.

God did not turn up when Daniel was reported to the King, God did not show up when Daniel was being dragged to the lions den. God did not show up when a stone was rolled over the den to prevent anyone from rescuing him (vs17). If I was Daniel I would be worried, I would wonder 'where is God? can't he see me again!!'
What am I saying, I do get that way with God. one disappointment after the other, one trial after the other, one pain after the other. and I wonder, where is God? can't he see me again? why am I going through all this if he loves me.

in Daniel's story, we don't get to read how the angel did shut the lions mouth. we don't get to see what happened but like the King we are elated to see that God came through!! God will go anywhere you are. Just as we don't see what happened with the angel and the lions, we don't always get to see what God is working on behind close doors. You don't know how close you are to receiving your miracle.

my mother said to me somedays ago 'things aren't always as they seem my dear.'

And I tell you the same thing, it may look like you have fallen off God's radar, it may look like he can't hear you or worse he has stopped listening. But things aren't always as they seem.

listen to what King Darius said about Daniel's God:
vs 27" He rescues and saves his people; he performs miraculous signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth."

Guess what, that is your God too, the God of Daniel is your God too!!
things aren't always as they seem, he sees you, he loves you and he is coming to get you out and set you up!!
This year resolve in your heart to believe and trust in him 100%


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

He spoke to me then...

When the dark cloud closes in
HAVE FAITH
When all around you speaks a loss not a win
HAVE FAITH
When your tears ever flow before his throne
HAVE FAITH
When you feel abandoned like he's left you on your own
HAVE FAITH
When questions abound more than answers
HAVE FAITH
When others are celebrating and you're still waiting it out
HAVE FAITH
When all he tells you is what you can't do
HAVE FAITH
....
Remember the grave and the Resurrection?
SO JUST HAVE FAITH.

Giving Thanks:

For God has said: 'I will never, never, fail you or forsake you'
Hebrews 13:5

Heavenly father I thank you for this promise, for being a God who would never fail me. For being a God I can rely on. I thank you Daddy because your word says that even in my unfaithfulness you remain faithful. I thank you for loving me with an unconditional love, david said he would 'Hope in your unfailing love'.

Father Today I hope in your unfailing love, it is because you love me that I would not be consumed, it because you love me that you will supply all my needs according to your riches in glory. it is because you love me that anything I ask in your name you will do for me in accordance with your will for my life.
daddy thank you for having a plan for my life. a plan that is of good and not evil. thank you for my end is greater than my beginning! yes, Lord thank you for the interest you have in my well being.

I thank you Lord for who you are, for it is because of who you are that I am victorious and I have hope for more victories.
Accept my heartfelt thanks in Jesus name.
Amen.

What are YOU thankful for?

My Psalm

Your Love For Me dey KOKOROKO.

THANK YOU JESUS.

DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT THANK YOU!

The Story of a Screwdriver and my chair

Ahem... once upon a time, :)

My room in school has so many things 'wrong', first its smaller compared to others, the carpet is a dark blue so it does not take long before it is screaming for a vacuum cleaner. that's my room, I love it though.

My Chair is a different story, this is the chair I sit on when I am working on my reading table. the problem with this wonderful chair is there is a particular screw that keeps coming undone every other day. The downside is that when this screw comes undone, a two arm-chair becomes a one arm chair. Now this used to upset me especially because I did not have a screw driver, so whenever the screw began to come undone I would worry, panic be totally peeved. One of my flat mates even laughed at me one day when she saw my now one-arm chair, then something happened and this is the something that God spoke to me about that I want to remember.

One day the same flat mate that laughed at me gave me a screw-driver, I needed it after-all. Before I would use a knife to get the screw back in its place, but now I had a screwdriver the perfect tool. would you believe that even though I have used the screw driver the screw still comes undone every now again. But the difference is when it comes undone I do not worry, I just reach out for the screw driver and screw it back in!!

Even though You and I have accepted Jesus into our lives, we still have off days, maybe I am the only one who has those kind of days when I wonder if I am saved at all. But even when we fall short, come undone just like the screw driver, You and I do not need to worry or panic, all we need do is go to Jesus and he will get us back on the right track, set us straight if you will.

I heard God say in my heart a second ago as i was working on my chair agin with the screw driver. He said:
"whenever the screw of this chair comes undone, you do not panic because you have the screw driver to help fix it, so why do you panic when you come undone when you have Jesus."

Jesus can fix whatever 'screw' has come undone in my life, and in yours.

His peace my Love
ChiChi

The Truth 2

When you look at your life
Comparing it to No one's
You will find that
You're truly blest:
You're satisfied.

The Evolution

Swimming against the current;
Loving when I should Despise,
Giving when I should Withhold
Being there when I should be absent
Forgiving even before being asked to.
Embracing Integrity even when it would cost me.

Swimming against the current of my Humanness
Swimming against the current of my Unrefined Self
This is what it means to grow,
when one swims against the current that wrestles with their Soul.

T.M (C)

The Truth

I pondered on a thought that lead to this personal realization, to my truth:

I do not pursue a relationship with God because I am perfect,

I seek Him because I am in need of Perfecting.

After all those who are well have no need for the Physician.
Matt9:12

Selah

"So don't be afraid little flock. For it gives your Father

GREAT HAPPINESS

to give you the Kingdom."

Luke 12:32

You won't be hungry for much longer...

Love Is in the Little Things TOO:

Apostle Paul said this: "If I gave everything I have to poor people, and if I were burned alive for preaching the Gospel but didn't love others it would be of no value whatever." 1 cor 13:3

A lot of us are familiar with the grand gestures of LOVE, but what of the little things, a smile, a listening ear... the little things do matter.
I read the message below and I was truly inspired and blest, I HOPE you are too:


Your Kindness Quotient

by Max Lucado
How kind are you? What is your kindness quotient? When was the last time you did something kind for someone in your family—e.g., got a blanket, cleaned off the table, prepared the coffee—without being asked?
Think about your school or workplace. Which person is the most overlooked or avoided? A shy student? A grumpy employee? Maybe he doesn’t speak the language. Maybe she doesn’t fit in. Are you kind to this person?
Kind hearts are quietly kind. They let the car cut into traffic and the young mom with three kids move up in the checkout line. They pick up the neighbor’s trash can that rolled into the street. And they are especially kind at church. They understand that perhaps the neediest person they’ll meet all week is the one standing in the foyer or sitting on the row behind them in worship. Paul writes: “When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers” (Gal. 6:10).
And, here is a challenge—what about your enemies? With the boss who fired you or the wife who left you. Suppose you surprised them with kindness? Not easy? No, it’s not. But mercy is the deepest gesture of kindness. Paul equates the two. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32 NKJV). Jesus said:
Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you.… If you love only the people who love you, what praise should you get? … [L]ove your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without hoping to get anything back. Then you will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God, because he is kind even to people who are ungrateful and full of sin. Show mercy, just as your Father shows mercy. (Luke 6:27–28, 32, 35–36)
Kindness at home. Kindness in public. Kindness at church and kindness with your enemies. Pretty well covers the gamut, don’t you think? Almost. Someone else needs your kindness. Who could that be? You.
Since he is so kind to us, can’t we be a little kinder to ourselves? Oh, but you don’t know me, Max. You don’t know my faults and my thoughts. You don’t know the gripes I grumble and the complaints I mumble. No, I don’t, but he does. He knows everything about you, yet he doesn’t hold back his kindness toward you. Has he, knowing all your secrets, retracted one promise or reclaimed one gift?
No, he is kind to you. Why don’t you be kind to yourself? He forgives your faults. Why don’t you do the same? He thinks tomorrow is worth living. Why don’t you agree? He believes in you enough to call you his ambassador, his follower, even his child. Why not take his cue and believe in yourself?
Be kind to yourself. God thinks you’re worth his kindness. And he’s a good judge of character.

Epilogue

Thank God for everything; I am here again by the grace of God, I keep taking long breaks whenever I go to NIgeria its about time someone asked me 'whats up with that?' anyway God willing no disappearing act, and by his grace messages that would inspire and bless ME.. and then you. Me first because I too need to be taught, be feed by him, and it is what he graciously gives me that i can share.

Summer was a testimony, hiccups here and there, but God was faithful and gracious none the less. I am in my final year @ Uni!! thank you Lord, never thought it would come so soon, so much to be done... His grace is sufficient.

Anyway hope y'all have been well,

Believer I don't know when my first post would be, but hopefully a word comes soon.
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"This was God's plan which he had made long ago; he knew all this would happen." Acts 2:23

Ever wondered 'why is this happening to me?'; ever asked "God if you knew I will face this why did you let it?' sometimes these BIG questions get a silence from God, not that he has ignored you or that he has not heard your query, or your tears, but because There is a Plan. There is a Plan. The book of Jeremiah 29:11 says God has a plan for you and I; a plan for GOOD and not for EVIL.
The plan may not have been for things to get to tangled up and murky but the murky and the tangled up must surrender to the plan of God.

I am never prepared for a lot of the 'all that happen', but Acts 2:23 says "He knew...'
I am not prepared for this battle, this mountain, but God not only knew there would be this challenge, he knew I would not be ready for it because there was no way of me seeing it before hand.
No one likes to be taken unawares, someone drops by to visit without informing you they were coming or that they had no intention of leaving your home that day, such little things get most of us all worked up and bothered, How much more the BIG things, when life happens, when people leave, when you come face to face with your imperfection or fallibleness, what do we do when the unexpected happens? what do I do? I cry and agonize, and query God... and take a large dose of self-pity.
But;

what CAN I do when the unexpected happens? what CAN you do?
we can claim the Peace of God, claim his strength and divine ability.

we can remind ourselves that it is not about us, never, but it is about God, the devil won't bother with you if you didn't have God on your side, that is why God said the 'Battle is His.'

when we are faced with the unexpected, Act 2:23 encourages us to relax, God is prepared to see us through it, one day at a time, one step at a time.
His peace.

Chichi