We’re going into the world… Into the very world. Grace seeks men out. Men do not find grace, grace finds men
-Enonche K. Enonche
QUICK QUOTEs
The gospel(goodnews) of God was promised of by the prophets and it solely concerns Jesus Christ.
-Romans 1:1-3
#EVERYDAYJESUS’ Kingdom is here!
His Rest is a place, His kingdom is a place too. His Rest is The Secret Place where Jesus reigns. The Rest is the kingdom where the rested entered by Faith in Jesus’ NAME. This Rest, which is the Kingdom is our Goshen- it is ‘the safe place’. The Rest is our Canaan, the place of abundance and peace. Shalom reigns in the Kingdom- the peace that surpasses human understanding.
Jesus spent most of His ministry days introducing this place, the Kingdom of God. All the parables and stories that He ever told was to illustrate how things work in that place, the Kingdom which is His Rest and which also represents His secret place.
The kingdom, the Rest of God has come and we lay hold of it by faith in Jesus’ Name.
There is no heavy burden in the Kingdom. The rested are not burdened by the same burdens that burden the unrested.
“Do not be equally yoked together with the unbeliever” the Bible recommends. We have an easy yoke, and that yoke is to just believe. In the Kingdom, the rested just rest in the Secret Place of the Most High, in the place where Immanuel remains with them forever!
Only the rested can live in Eden, the land of utopia because only the rested see it. The Kingdom is Eden, Canaan, and Goshen, the Old Testament pictures of that which was to come, that which has come. “The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is’, or There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”- Luke 17: 21 (NIV). It is just a function of seeing it. So how do we see it?
“In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see The Kingdom of God unless He is born again”- John 3: 3 (NIV). Mutant John, also said in the 12th and 13th verse of the first chapter of the Gospel he wrote as inspired by the Holy spirit, that for as many as they are that Received Him( Jesus) that believed in His Name, He ( the Father), gave the right to become children of God. Children born, not of the will of man but children born of God (The SPIRIT). It is a genetic thing. In John 3, Jesus told Nicodemus that that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit. In other words, a child of a goat is a goat, and the child of God is a God. It is a genetic thing. Therefore if I were to translate John 3: 3 I’d translate it thus : In reply Jesus declared, “ I tell you the truth, no one can see The Kingdom( the Rest, the Secret place, The Eden, the Canaan, The Goshen) of God unless He is a mutant ( genetically changed by the Spirit of God), God’s own Gene.
The kingdom is God’s family. The members of this family are the Jesus clones because they were created and predestined to be like Him. Paul wrote to mutants in Rome and said…for those who God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers, and those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified –Romans 8: 28-30 (NIV).
Kingdom people are LIGHTS because The Kingdom is that of LIGHT…. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us to The Kingdom of the Son He loves. Colossians 1: 13
In the kingdom we the mutants are not wrestling but resting.
In the Kingdom, mutants are brides and Jesus is the Groom. Therefore they obtain their demands in the Name of The Groom because they have received the Name of Jesus, the Groom. Their demands are as powerful as His. The Name of Jesus is a mutant License because His Name is LEGAL! – Even King David who was no mutant knew that. Yesterday, He demanded Goliath’s head from him in the name of God. Today, the Name is more excellent and more specific, Jesus! EVERYDAY JESUS RULES IN THE KINGDOM!
#EVERYDAYJESUS provides!
Sometimes when we are just too frugal and “economical”, we often think that we are being wise spenders or may be reserving something for the rainy day. The real truth here may be that we are not seeing Jesus every day.
Pour exemplum, if I have just one sachet of tomato paste and four cups of rice, and I know that in every way, two cups of rice is just enough for the day for me, and that one sachet of tomato paste is just sufficient to give me a decent pot of jollof rice for dinner, if I decide to divide that one sachet of tomato paste into two equal halves because I want to reserve a half for the remaining two cups for a “tomorrow”, such that my pot of rice of today becomes what my mother calls ‘win the war’ ( food for survival), then I have simply denied my trust in Jesus as my constant supply.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He encouraged them to ask for their daily bread. He was simply trying to teach us to trust God, Abba Daddy for a one day at a time life.
In the Old Testament, God was called Jehovah Jireh because on the mountain He provided. This is to say that Jehovah Jireh knows how to provide just when we need it. Today, He has not changed His nature but He just changed the relationship with us that makes Him provide. Yesterday, the children of Israel found it difficult to learn that character of God, which their father Abraham learned. They always saved some Manna as a reserve for the next day against Jehovah Jireh’s instructions. They had trust issues and that was very repulsive to Him.
Today, He has become Abba Father, our Daddy. Jesus taught that if corrupt human daddies do well at giving, then our Father should do best. He supplies our needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. In fact Jesus taught that food, clothes and the like should not be part of what we should ask for because Daddy knows that we need them, we should bother about seeking His kingdom and His righteousness because all the other survival necessities would follow. Today, Jesus is asking us to trust God our Father and His father for supply and abundance every day.
Nevertheless, Jesus does not encourage waste or gluttony (remember the gathering after feeding the 5000 to their full). He wants us to enjoy every day, if we have a natural reserve, we may keep them naturally for the next day, or we could share if necessary, but we must not pass ourselves through a miserly miserable life in the name of being wise- even if that is wisdom, then it must be the wisdom of the world.
Every day Jesus provides just as we need it!
Sometimes when we are just too frugal and “economical”, we often think that we are being wise spenders or may be reserving something for the rainy day. The real truth here may be that we are not seeing Jesus every day.
Pour exemplum, if I have just one sachet of tomato paste and four cups of rice, and I know that in every way, two cups of rice is just enough for the day for me, and that one sachet of tomato paste is just sufficient to give me a decent pot of jollof rice for dinner, if I decide to divide that one sachet of tomato paste into two equal halves because I want to reserve a half for the remaining two cups for a “tomorrow”, such that my pot of rice of today becomes what my mother calls ‘win the war’ ( food for survival), then I have simply denied my trust in Jesus as my constant supply.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He encouraged them to ask for their daily bread. He was simply trying to teach us to trust God, Abba Daddy for a one day at a time life.
In the Old Testament, God was called Jehovah Jireh because on the mountain He provided. This is to say that Jehovah Jireh knows how to provide just when we need it. Today, He has not changed His nature but He just changed the relationship with us that makes Him provide. Yesterday, the children of Israel found it difficult to learn that character of God, which their father Abraham learned. They always saved some Manna as a reserve for the next day against Jehovah Jireh’s instructions. They had trust issues and that was very repulsive to Him.
Today, He has become Abba Father, our Daddy. Jesus taught that if corrupt human daddies do well at giving, then our Father should do best. He supplies our needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. In fact Jesus taught that food, clothes and the like should not be part of what we should ask for because Daddy knows that we need them, we should bother about seeking His kingdom and His righteousness because all the other survival necessities would follow. Today, Jesus is asking us to trust God our Father and His father for supply and abundance every day.
Nevertheless, Jesus does not encourage waste or gluttony (remember the gathering after feeding the 5000 to their full). He wants us to enjoy every day, if we have a natural reserve, we may keep them naturally for the next day, or we could share if necessary, but we must not pass ourselves through a miserly miserable life in the name of being wise- even if that is wisdom, then it must be the wisdom of the world.
Every day Jesus provides just as we need it!
#EVERYDAYJESUS wants me to mean it!
This morning I and rummies got ready to leave for lectures-we all had a long day ahead. We wanted to look the best that we could, you know most girls like to look good. Lipsticks were busy, eyeliners popped eyes, mirrors had many things to say, shadows, fragrances, talcum, rouges, were taking turns to make their contributions. And of course wardrobes were either functioning or malfunctioning as all the dresses pleaded for a chance to get picked for the day’s outing.
Soon the activities were dying down because we started leaving the room for lectures one after the other. I and one of my rummies were left and she had been talking with the mirror over and over again- I did not listen to their conversation anyways. It was almost immediately that I heard her say “Favor, tell me that I look nice”. Without thinking I replied “you look nice”. Then came the accusation “you never meant to say that, you just told me that I looked nice because I asked you to”. Without thinking again, I told her I did as she told me to and that I did not expect her to complain. I was shocked when she said “I AM HURT”. I was taken aback. I learned a lesson.
Jesus is a lot like us, or like her. He is totally man yet totally God. He hurts when we do things simply because we think the Bible demands them from us rather than because we were dying to do them. Pour exemplum, if I read my Bible and pray just because it is a Christian rule or duty, then Jesus would hurt because I don’t really enjoy the ‘us’ time. I was merely doing what was necessary. On the other hand, if I take out good time to study the Bible for myself and talk with Him because I really love to learn from Him and because in fact, I just can’t get enough of Him, then do I believe that He like any man, would feel loved and wanted. Jesus is just too gentle to demand things like studying the bible, and praying from us. Doing those things does not make Him love us more but in doing them we avail ourselves the opportunity of seeing things the way He sees them. Jesus wants us to do things when we are ready to, and because we really love to- that is love!
I wouldn’t be happy if my spouse struggles to spend some time with me simply because ‘they’ say he has to. I would just feel like I am a really boring person to be with. Jesus is not too far from being like me- he is still the Son of Man. Every day, Jesus wants me to mean it!
“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 14: 15 (NIV)
QUICK QUOTEs
Forsaking what you know in your spirit to be true, for what you know in your head to be facts is deception.
St. Davnique
Official Christapoet Team Poet
Email to Wole; Five nights ago
Wole,
I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you immediately after the counseling session. A follow up was necessary. Do you still remember the story I told you during the counseling? And do you still remember I told you I wrote the whole incidence in my diary and that I’d email it to you? Well this is the excerpt from my diary. I hope you find it useful.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
The night turned to day and then it was night again, today’s night, so much like the others. A hazy feeling of shame lurked my mind. The same usual feeling. Will it continue like all the other nights? I was still laid on the bed, my fingers pulling through the short hairs on my head, hot tears rolling down my face, sniffing back the phlegm that was running down my nose. I had given up all I spent eighteen years building. Eighteen fruitful years of my life had come crashing just like that, in a night, five nights ago.
It had always been my tradition to keep bad company at arm’s length. I still hear daddy’s voice very clearly, when he’d quote the bible and say, “bad company corrupts good manners’’. He had also taken time, so much time to sit me down and talk to me before I left for the university. He had warned me to avoid bad boys and girls, and had always promised to support me and make sure I lack nothing. This promise he kept even till now.
As I wriggle on the bed even now, I am so much filled with shame and dismay. The memories of last Friday refrain from leaving my mind. I still see Joke, lying beside me with nothing but my black polo covering her body. The smiles, the red lips, the made-up face I now find scary, the long nails. Why didn’t I see all these all along? Why didn’t I see what they symbolised? I probably was blinded by lust. In a moment, I had lost consciousness and forgotten everything I knew, my identity as a child of God, my background, my eighteen years of sweet fellowship with God, my life.
It started on a Sunday morning at church. The brightly fair slender lady, who led praise and worship that Sunday, was not the usual girl we were accustomed to every Sunday. Hers was a peculiar style of singing. The way she blended her Yoruba accent into her high pitched soprano voice was dazzling. I knew there was something more to her. At least at the moment I was content with the fact that she was beautiful and a good singer with a mellifluous voice. Those were dazzling and unusual qualities.
After service that Sunday, I had proceeded to go and shake hands with her and of course tell her how wonderful her voice was. She called me by name to my amazement, and told me my department. In fact she called the names of two of my classmates. We got along well and it seemed we were friends even before we met. I think I walked her back to her hostel that day.
Joke was determined to be my friend because I remember, after that Sunday I never really made efforts at keeping the friendship, but she did. She was the one who saw me later that week at the bible study and requested for my phone number. She was the one who called every night to say good bye to a “just a special friend”, it was she who remembered that last Friday, was Val’s day, and all of those things. Of course, I’m not blaming her, not at all. It was she who introduced the goodbye hugs. And it was I who saw nothing wrong in any of these. Let me take my own portion of the blame.
Last Friday, the Val’s day, Joke insisted she’d come visit me in my room. To me, it was okay, after all we were friends, from church, and we’ve been friends for some time. And it’s okay, come on, what are friends for? So I cleaned my room, laid a cleaner bedspread on the bed (the very one I’ve now stained with tears and mucous), got drinks in the fridge and made everywhere comfortable.
The Joke of Friday evening was not the Joke I’ve known. She wore a black gown, heavy make-ups, long nails, and….and yes, the gown was very tight and cleavage revealing. I didn’t seem to hate that. So I welcomed her, we spoke for long, laughed, stared at each other and exchanged smiles. Somewhere along the line, she pushed the window and the darkness was revealed into the room. The day had crept silently into the night and it was way into the night. Joke suddenly realised that she had to get back to her hostel, then she realised again that the hostels would be locked already, and then again she realised that the porter on duty that day was Mrs Ali. Of course, all of us who had female friends knew Mrs Ali. She was one of the porters in charge of Bello hostel. She was mean, rude and crude. All the boys who went for Belloship had once or twice encountered her. She was well known.
That night, Joke resorted to passing the night at my place, this was five nights ago.
As the night went on and we kept talking, Joke began to feel uneasy in her gown and demanded she needed to change, but to what?
“Ah, what’s there?” was the reply. “You can easily give me one of those your big polo shirts, or long sleeved shirt, as long as it’s big. But I prefer a polo shirt; I’d be freer in it. And then you can go out while I change. I won’t take long.”
The ease with which she sounded should have suggested to me that she was used to sleeping over at guys’ houses, but I wasn’t thinking. How else did she know that big polo shirts would do, and several other things. I gave her a black polo top and made for the door.
“You don’t even have to go if you don’t want to, let it not be that I’m asking you out of your room, making you uncomfortable. Lol.”
“You don’t mind if I stay?” I asked. “Seriously I don’t, is it not your house, I should be the one going out not you.” She replied. I went out all the same as soon as she started undressing.
A voice called out to me few minutes later telling me she was done. I went into the room to see her sitting on the bed thighs fully exposed. My body at this time had understood the full gist and was already reacting. The urge to resist Joke was not there. Perhaps I’d wanted it too. Like a lamb to the slaughter I went to the bed, so easily.
It is five days past now but I’ve not been myself since then. I’m crying and praying but it was real, it happened, it was not a dream. I had sex with Joke, five nights ago on this same bed. I fornicated.
The feelings of shame have not left me since then although I’m remorseful and have prayed for forgiveness. I’m writing and I’m crying because I know that things are not the same any more. For the Bible, I’ve become like a piece of bread. I’ve lost my life to nothingness in vain short-lived pleasure. I don’t know about Joke but she’s gone and I haven’t heard from her since Saturday morning when she left the house.
…………………………………………………………………………………………
Here is the truth about what really happened to me. That very Sunday when I first met Joke in the church, my heart began to lust after her. I’d thought everyone was holy, at least in church. But there was I, looking at a lady leading the worship and lusting after her. I think the real truth about it was the moment I began to look at porn pictures in Gbenga’s phone gallery. And then maybe those moments when I downloaded them myself, deleted and re-downloaded again. But somehow, it didn’t start in church, that Sunday.
So as time passed and I and Joke got to spend more time with each other, I’d always come back thinking over the hugs and then the words she said and wishing I really got more than the hugs. I was really giving the devil a foothold in my heart and in my life. Those days when every SMS she sent meant the whole world to me and I’d spend hours reading and rereading all built up momentum for that Friday night. No wonder it was so easy for me to give in.
So Wole, your story is not too different from mine and may the Lord help you to overcome like I’ve done. I am praying for you and will call you in due time. Remember you are now a new creation; old things have passed away even Vera.
Cheers!
Kunle.
BUILD CAPACITY
I did a little study on the dynamics of child birth and I postulate that pregnant women fall into four different categories during delivery. The first category includes those who experience seamless delivery. These women can almost not feel the pain during delivery, not for the absence of it, but it becomes insignificant to them. The second category includes those who feel excruciating pains during delivery but somehow manage to push through to delivery. The third category includes those who feel excruciating pains but do not have enough strength to push through to delivery, but enough to stay alive to probably conceive again. The fourth category includes those who cannot bear the pain of delivery and hence throw in the towel.
Two things find commonality among these groups; Ability to conceive and Birth pains. For you to get to your PUSH point, you must have conceived and by consequence anticipate delivery pains. What determines the category you fall in is the capacity you have built during your pregnancy period. What you do during your pregnancy period plays a key role in your delivery period.
If you must have a safe and sound delivery of the greatness that is inside of you, you have to build capacity. Your pregnancy season should be a season of capacity building. I know you hope to be on the big stage tomorrow, build the capacity you need today. Don’t just loaf around and wait for the big stage, make use of the little ones you see now to build the capacity you need for the big stage. Without capacity, the big stage will swallow you. Capacity gives you strength to PUSH through to delivery.
I know your big stage is yet to come. I know you have those big ideas growing in your mind and yearning for expression. But I want to challenge you today to invest in capacity building. Study, read books, attend seminars and workshops, listen to people who will help you expand your ability to think, and strive to acquire relevant skills. Go for knowledge and information that will equip you for the big stage. Delivery becomes seamless for the man who has built enough capacity.
“If you faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small” Prov. 24:10 (KJV).
#THE PROCESS
Please share with others and let it bless them as it blessed you
Stay blessed.
©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES
(Transforming the World through the Word)
http://www.transformingwordseries.wordpress.com
Christ a poet 