Overfamiliarity breeds trust

Every Believer at one point or another has struggled with hearing from God. I hear things like "Am I sure that was from God?", "I thought I heard from Him but I guess I heard wrong", "I don't know when it is God and when it is me", "God doesn't speak to me". 

Many struggle to identify God's voice or impressions especially at times when they need to hear from Him the most because they are not used to His voice.

There is only one formula - to be used to someone, you have to spend time with them. 

By spending so much time in God's presence, you become familiar and used to Him. You know when it is Him and when you are not yet sure. You know when to move and when to just wait, you know when it is a 'yes' or it is a 'not right now' or a 'no'. You also know when God is silent and you trust His silence! There is just some kind of trust you have and so you are hardly ever deterred or anxious about things or about the future.

That is where God wants all of us to be in terms of communion and fellowship with Him. Being millenials however, we want things right here right now or else we bounce. God is not like that. He is looking for a long-term relationship, pretty much a marriage with us i.e. for the long haul, forever and eternal. 

He is also the same God who appeared to many people in the Bible each in a unique way. See some examples:

The Old Testament

*Abraham - He visited Abraham together with two angels to tell him His plans (Genesis 18:1)

*Isaac - He appeared to Him to tell him not to go to Egypt even though going sounded like the rational thing to do (Genesis26:2)

*Jacob - He physically wrestled with Jacob and then blessed Him (Genesis 32:24)

*Moses - He appeared to Moses (showing him His back only) to reveal Himself and His attributes (Exodus 34:6)

One common thing about those God appeared to was that they had a consistent and growing relationship with Him. He desires this and you would be surprised at how your life would transform if you imbibe such a rhythm. One of communion and fellowshiping with Him, as well as putting Him first, that is, saying to Him "What would You have me do?", "What is your kingdom agenda for me Lord?", "It is not about me but about You."

God also sends His angels and speaks to us through visions, dreams, words of prophecy and knowledge. 

Here are some examples of people He sent angels to in 

The New Testament:

*Joseph - An angel was sent by God in a dream to tell him Mary would bear Jesus Christ (Luke 2:9)

*Zechariah - An angel physically appeared to tell him Elizabeth would bear John the Baptist (Luke 1:11)

*Peter - An angel physically appeared to him to release him from prison (Acts 12:7)

*Cornelius - An angel appeared to him in a vision to tell him to locate Simon Peter (Acts 10:3)

Even in the New Testament, God was still sending His angels to people - both young and old; so why do you think He also cannot appear to or speak to you in a unique way?  (For other appearances of God and His angels to people in the bible,  see here.)

It is time to get back to making God our everything and putting Him first in our lives. We need to spend more time studying His Word. We tend to be getting lazier in our generation but that is truly the secret - The Word. Today, there are tonnes of resources online to help us navigate the Bible in an easier way so we should leverage them and not miss out on so much goodness that awaits us even in this lifetime!

May God bless us all as we do! Amen

This Week's Listening:

Everything by Israel Houghton

Surely this can't be normal...

...were the words that came to my mind when I got yet another tragic piece of news recently. I wondered, why me? Why now? Why after all the challenges I have been through in life? Shouldn't God at least pardon the fact that I have been through stuff so I deserve some level of immunity? But no.....yet another trial.  Rather than mope like I did shortly after I lost my mum, this time I had a different resolve - God cannot leave me hanging this way. He will show up for me, whenever, however - it's fine by me. This is the cross I will bear, for whatever reason.

Then another thought came to my mind - who am I to say "why should this happen to me?" After all, a lot of unfair things happened to Jesus Christ - He was lied against, spat upon, beaten, bruised, whipped and even killed, true story! It is funny how we forget and regard ourselves so highly that we think going through trials is something that should not happen to people like us, but again I guess it is our human nature.

The scripture James 1:2 really did my head in on several occasions, it goes as thus - Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 

Whenever I read this passage, I thought, okay.... so how about those who don't go through such trials of many kinds? How come they get to just bask and enjoy their lives while some of us have to consider 'pain' as 'joy'? I could never connect with the passage and it became so cliché that I would quickly flip past it whenever I came across it during my study. However the word of God is the ultimate truth and the thing that gives God the sweetest smelling glory is when we rejoice in our pain and suffering. In fact it drives the devil mad. It is as though - "why is he/she not down where we want him/her to be after that sudden blow, why is he/she rejoicing?" It doesn't add up - and the truth is it SHOULDN'T add up for satan. Whatever pain or difficulty or trial or challenge or mountainous situation you are going through, you MUST find a way to rejoice in God our father, and genuine rejoicing too. Our primary purpose for being on this earth is to give God worship ALL the time; even before our earthly matters such as family, work and other life considerations. 

My pastor, Godman Akinlabi always uses this saying - "Don't waste your pain" and then he decided to preach about it. That single sermon changed my life forever. Do you know you can use the challenges you are going through to expand God's kingdom? Lol - super bizarre but God's ways are not our ways. Check out this verse:

2 Corinthians 1:4 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows

This is truly amazing, how else can I help or minister to someone in a situation if I have not been through it myself? Does it surprise you how the most unusual guest preacher who comes to preach at your church, who has no accolades to his name and had what some might refer to as a very 'undignified life' before he got saved, always wins more souls at the end of service, more than the PhD, English speaking, renowned pastor? If you haven't noticed, try and observe it next time. Human beings connect more with reality, with people who have been through real life situations because if God could bring the person ministering to them out of that mess, then they believe that God can do it for them too.

So your pain should not be some soundtrack on repeat in your heart and mind, rather use it for God. You don't have to stand at a podium to minister to people - you can give of your time, share encouragement and the Word at work, write or blog :), you could  share someone's burden or do something unconventional for God. Don't waste your pain.

If you believe you will break through according to God's will i.e. you have faith, then you will! However, focus less on how the breakthrough will come and use the time you have to really expand God's kingdom. He needs you, even in the situation you are in now.

If you have never had a relationship with Jesus Christ and you want to take a bold decision to accept Him, leave a comment so I can connect and pray with you. (Comments are not posted without moderation so your privacy will be kept) 

A song for your listening pleasure: Even when it hurts (Praise Song) by Hillsong United

God bless you,

Aramide

Mind Games

If only many people realised that Satan's primary target for attack is their mind, they would focus more on that and not on prayers for health, wealth, protection, etc. Of course the aforementioned prayers are very important, but if we ignore our hearts and minds, and healing prosperity and other blessings come, we will not be able to receive them because our hearts and minds are not right.

The devil attacks our minds daily, it is his easiest playground and we are most ignorant of it. He tried to attack Jesus Christ in the same way (Matthew 4:1-11) but Jesus had something many of us don't (which I will come to) and so He could very easily extinguish those thoughts.

The way the enemy attacks our minds is to plant all sorts of negative thinking in there. Let us look at some scenarios:

#1 You started the new year extremely motivated about all your goals, things you want to achieve, how much closer you want to be with God but then in Week 3, those funny thoughts started coming: 

"why should this year be any different from last year?" 

"better give up now you know you are never consistent"

"look at the economy, hmmm you really have high hopes", 

"you can write these things down like you normally do but you know they will never be possible, look at all the journals you have written in with no outcome, just forget it"

#2 You are in a job which at the start was fun but a lot of work! Along the way you have realised how stressful and hectic it is, you are never happy, no longer learning, have a non-existent prayer life and overall being treated unfairly by the organisation in terms of benefits, etc. You are being headhunted for another opportunity to have a more impactful position in a different industry, has an amazing work-life balance, great package and you will learn a lot, however you have only been in your current role for 9 months and moreover you have little experience for the new role you are considering. Then the funny thoughts come: 

"what makes you think they will take somebody like you with no experience?" 

"9 months in one job and then to another, your CV will make you look unserious and no one will hire you"

"what direction are you taking in life,  do you even know?"

#3 You have been waiting on God for a life partner, or at least a boyfriend/girlfriend, someone to date, but it has been a long dry spell with no one in the picture. You have received all kinds of prophecies from left to right about how your time for breakthrough has come, this is your year, bla bla but you have not seen anyone and are getting tired, then the funny thoughts come:

"Does God even love me?"

"Maybe I don't deserve to be happy after everything I've done"

"There must be something about me repelling people away"

"I will probably be single forever which is the scary truth"

If we look at all of these cases, one consistent thing you can find is that for every funny thought (Joyce Meyer calls this Stinking Thinking), there is a counter thought. Yes - you can counter all those arguments not just with a difference in your opinion but with The Word a.k.a The Bible. There are tried and tested scriptures and promises for every thought and situation you are going through. But I find that I cannot use The Word if I don't know the Word or have faith in the Word.

Jesus, when He was tempted in the wilderness, leveraged the same Word and fought off every evil thought. Apart from using the Word as a weapon, He had faith - He trusted in the Word He was using. Faith comes when you continually spend time in God's Word. From doing so, you become used to God, have an unusual kind of peace in any situation and are able to recount His promises even from heart, like Jesus Christ when the funny thoughts come.

So:

Funny Thought: Maybe I don't deserve to be happy after everything I've done

Counter Thought (from The Word): There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)

Funny Thought: What direction are you taking in life?

Counter Thought (From The Word): For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Funny Thought: Look at the economy you really have high hopes

Counter Thought (From The Word): There was a famine in the land (Genesis 26:1) ....But Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold and the Lord blessed him (Genesis 26:12) 

I do not have counter-thoughts for all of my funny thoughts just yet, I am a work in progress, learning to know God more and spend more time in The Word. 

You Should defintely do the same and your thoughts will turnaround, you will begin to inspire others (yes, you!) and most importantly your life will never be the same.

To conclude, the way we can extinguish all the flaming arrows (different attacks but mainly, attacks to our mind) from the evil one is by taking up the shield of faith. But you cannot have faith if you do not know the Word. So each day, ask God for His help and to give you a Word. Study the Word and build up your faith.

Memory Verses:

As a man thinketh, so is He (Proverbs 23:7)

Guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23)

Watch: Stinking Thinking

[Also check out Power Thoughts - Joyce Meyer on YouTube]

Read: Battlefield of the mind

Reflection: Build up your faith - Can you find a counter thought in the Word for any negative thought in your mind right now?