Lover of my soul

Leave a comment

God is simple, very loving, and understanding. The generations of humans might have made God look hard, inconsiderate, and unloving, yet they can’t change who God is. He is a good God, Who cares for everything He created. He is a loving, caring, and very responsible heavenly Father Who planned the best right from the foundation of the world for His children, whom He made in His own image and after His own likeness. He is ever faithful and good. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. He gives good things always to His beloved children. Get to meet with this God for yourself.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 1:17

– Funmi P. Adebayo
(c) 2022

Download Funmi’s maiden e-book

DRIVEN

Leave a comment

Before I wrote this, I was watching a YouTube video. Was it the best use of time? Well, I’ll let you be the judge of that.

The subject of this particular video was Elon Musk and if you know much about this enigma of a man, you would understand the awe poured so lavishly into the language that was used.

However, one word jumped at me.

Driven

I have come across this word too many times in my short life and I do believe that it stirs up the same stereotype in most minds – the individual walking as though blind to the world around them. Consumed by passionate zeal, they pursue some goal almost to a fault. When they are successful, they lead humanity to a new frontier and when they are not successful, they become a cautionary tale.

Driven

However, what struck me in thought and compelled me to write this is the more literal iteration of the word.

To be driven in more literal terms assumes one very important thing – the loss of a will. 

It implies that something or someone else is in control. Thus, you are DRIVEN by a DRIVER. I believe this concept is not in any sense novel to most people because it is obvious, but I also believe it is so obvious that its essence is missed.

We attribute the word as a descriptor for high-achievers and purposeful people in our society without realizing that if success would be an ideal, then there is a compulsory need for one’s will to be so lost in someone or something that it dictates how their life will be lived.

Driven

I hope this should cost you a moment of conscious thought because most of us would agree that we wish to do something great with our lives. I want that for myself too and in considering this word, I remember that great things come at a cost no less than surrender.

The word “surrender” may feel like old English in this century but I believe it is quite the perfect synonym for “driven”.

To be driven is an act of surrender.

It might not seem obvious in our day because cars do not have a will. Thus, if living things are the only entities with a will, how can we operate as non-living so that we can attain goals that are otherwise unattainable?

At this point, I turn to words I have trusted for most of my life.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

I find the concept of a living sacrifice to be odd and I cannot claim to fully understand but it does help us, in this case, to give language to the idea of being driven despite having a functional will.

Basically, to be driven is to be alive but to live as though dead. The great thing though is the next verse presents us an action point to being living sacrifices (aka driven) and that is to be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Two things to note in this verse include the acknowledgment that this is a transformational process and that the solution is an ongoing activity. Put in perspective, the verse insinuates a need for a change and emphasizes that this change can only happen through repetitive and consistent action.

Driven

Armed with the knowledge that we are not born with the ability to be driven and the need to acquire this status by consistent action, one would assume that I can now go ahead and be the best I can be. The unfortunate reality though is that even though I can, I do not necessarily engage.

I think many would read this and understand how crippling this thought can be. Apostle Paul, who wrote the scripture above actually confessed to this same struggle just a few chapters before this one.

The vicious cycle of wanting to do your best and flaking out when the work comes thus leading to the need again is one that is familiar across time and place. It is why we look at the likes of Elon Musk and say with utmost certainty, something else must be in control.

Driven

We could go down that lane and discover some great gems, but I would like to infer something I think to be quite interesting. Remember that from the portion of scripture quoted above, we know that one has to engage the consistent action of “renewing the mind” to undergo the transformation necessary to become a living sacrifice (aka driven).

My inference is that some activities which we would consider as being driven are in fact how we can get to be driven. By this I mean, that “renewing the mind” can often look like the car (you) is already in motion (driven).

I think renewing the mind is necessary before you are driven, and it is how you stay driven. Let’s call it the fuel.

Driven

I would like to end this with what I believe “renewing the mind” looks like. Glory Aimufua, a dear friend of mine once communicated a concept that struck me as odd. In her words, she believed that to do anything well, one had to “brainwash” themselves by engaging consistently with it. I think this is similar to what I believe “renewing the mind” to be.

To undertake a proper brainwash, one would have to be disciplined enough to regularly have intentional contact with that concept or context. In essence, renewing the mind is providing your mind the opportunity to access the thing you desire to be driven by.

I like the terms “renewing” and “transformation” because it points to something very important and that is as you create these intentional instances of contact, you are in effect giving your mind a newness and/or a different form.

It then makes sense that after making a habit of renewing our mind, you seem to be a different human – one that is possessed by an all-consuming passion.

Driven

I hope you see that to be driven, much like a car there is a very important need to first build the momentum to at least start. I also hope that you are aware of the very real risk that whatever you do this with, will drive you.

This is a good thing because to make the journey to success you cannot drive yourself, you must be driven by something or someone else.

In summary, it is an illusion to imagine you are the driver. I am more inclined to say, you are the car, but you can decide what or who sits in the driver’s seat.

Driven.

– EZEONYEKA GODSWILL
(c) 2022

Book Review: The Shepherd, The Overseer, and The Soul

Leave a comment

Author: Funmi Adebayo
Pages: 150
Publisher: The Christ A Poet Concepts, Nigeria.
Reviewer: Adeleye Olaoye, Ubamara Ezenobi, Zoe Ziva, Ebubechi, Clement Victor

Funmi Adebayo, the author of this book, gives us this gem of a book through the light of the Spirit of God penetrating into 1 Peter 2:25 and Ezekiel 18:4. The Shepherd, Overseer and the Soul is a book aimed at building foundational knowledge on the role that the soul of a man plays in the life of a believer. The Author has broken this book down into 7 Chapters to help relate his message.

The author started by making clear that the human soul is eternal. It cannot be dissolved by death, unlike the human physical body. The soul is the representation of a man in the spirit realm. Therefore, what becomes of the soul of man is the reality of that man

He then further compared the mind as a signal analyzer. An example of a signal analyzer is an Oscilloscope,  it’s a device that analyzes signals of different forms and has a wide application in different fields and professions today. From the author’s analysis, the mind acts as the signal analyzer while the heart takes the final decision.

If man wasn’t already dead spiritually then God wouldn’t have bothered about giving him a new spirit and a new heart.

Funmi presents a compelling argument by clearly stating that it is not enough to just claim you believe in Jesus Christ. You must also prove that by obediently following Him. If you truly believe in Him, you will hear Him and do His sayings. God’s desire for His children to be tamable and coachable just like the sheep because hardly deviate from the path channeled by the shepherd and are much sensitive of intruders or strangers.

We are not of the world. Yet at the same, that does not mean we are not meant to be in charge. This is quite a salient point made in the book reminding us that we are the light of the world and while we remain here we are to be in charge by and for our Lord Jesus Christ and make known the manifold wisdom of God to the principalities and powers among the celestial ones.

Talking about God as Shepherd, Funmi posits that God is completely charismatic in his leadership; strong communicator, empathetic and relatable, confident, motivational. This in return gives us joy, loveliness and makes resources available. His final words were “As we have returned to the Shepherd of our soul, let us trust Him for the best in life. Remember He is the good Shepherd, Who gave His life, His soul, for us His sheep. (John 10:11.)”

Download the E-book for free

Gift

Leave a comment

Gross is the word for it
That pain accompanied by loss
Overwhelming the reality of it all
We would rather take a walk
Better still a break from the fall
The very point where life’s meaning got raked.
Then what?
Stay locked up in an abyss giving access to non

Pain
Loss
A drawn blind obstructing the reflection of dawn’s light
Howbeit take a life jacket
Never walk alone
Of a truth nothing would the eye see in total darkness but through the walls the hand can feel until the candle stand comes to sight.

Sure a stranger in a tunnel lying in the middle of nowhere
Call a friend
Though sanity be raped a million times divinity will come through and would you like a baby wrap with his blanket of love.

Ebube
© 2022

Let Me Judge

Leave a comment


Let me be your judge
Shhh…. don’t freak out
I’m not here to condemn
I want to reconcile

Two different time zones
In one space
This spaceship ain’t moving at all
Can’t you see?

It’s been a circus
A bit forward at a particular time frame
Then comes a reminder of how much today owes yesterday

Let me be your judge
Let me free you
Says the lamb that rejected not the abattoir
Why the tour?
Come closer
I mean much closer
For my yoke is easier

I know your past
Let me be the one to state if you stand condemned or not, let me be the judge.

Yesterday is in the past
What matters is today
Let me hug away that feeling that makes you think yesterday can stop today

Let me be your friend
Let me in
Let me be you
Be your all

Ebube
©2022

You don’t have to be lonely

Leave a comment


Hello, My name is Niel and these are the ChristaPoet Freestyle Sessions. This year, ChristaPoet wants to give you a special perspective to our freestyles. At first, some of these poems were published as stand-alone pieces. But in actuality, each poem is an untitled part of a freestyle session. Each freestyle session is given a topic for the poems to address.

In a workbook of God discussions, I revealed how I could be late with the release of the topic of the day. There are also days when I totally forget the significance of the day. That is to explain why we are here on the 21st of May, all the way from the 7th.

Nonso John came in at 9:20am with bleeding stone:


A bleeding stone.
A crying hair strand.
And a thousand other oddities.
All spectacles I’ve once beheld.
But, sitting cross-legged in this place,
Watching this stranger smile at me,
Ghoulish eyes, golden teeth.
Hairs on my skin began to crawl.
I never felt silence
Tickle me like a child.
I swear, I didn’t laugh.
Okay, maybe I laughed a lil bit
Before I started to cry.
I’m standing on the precipice again.
The desert sands, an eternity
Stretched from here on out.
The fear rattles something in my ribs.
But, I’m plodding right on alone.
I never felt silence
Pierce me like a ninja’s katana
I swear, it didn’t even hurt.
Okay, maybe it did a lil bit
Before I started to bleed.
I never felt silence
Slam me like a knock-out punch.
But this stranger is stranger no longer,
Ghoulish eyes and bad breath notwithstanding,
For, we became friends last night.
Now, I’m shooting for the heavens
And I’ll try and catch the rain.
So, hold your ticket, youngins
Daddy’s going to stop the train.
I never heard silence
Whisper sweet empties to me.
Nor felt this long lovely cuddle with her,
Hold each other oh-so-damn close,
Like I felt today.
I hate the conspiracy of silence.
Like him and her and they too
All of creation, and Creator too.
Collude to miss my every single call.
Courtesy herself wants no part of this.
For your sake, I pray.
I pray you never hear silence.
Or feel mute stupefaction.
When answers are all you seek.
Still, I never felt silence.
Love me like this one does.


And after that, there was an uncanny 2hour interval. Like, why did Ebube wait till exactly 10:20 to say this?


Subliminal is a minister, how many of you know her?
You see,
She is like a sister
inside Esther
her assistance to feet trapped like ants on the exposed tongue of a frog sways conclusion.

It’s only an illusion if you weren’t named feeble minded that very moment when you feel your foots scrambling up the stairs it creeps in, transmitting sensations like an ant working with even steps on a skin before it stings
Lark sings carelessly of what they think; one who is slack in his job is the brother to destruction…
Mild feelings of discomfort shouldn’t be your beast, ball rolls from the crowd giving no wave of warmth don’t be too serious rollick
You’re not obliged to hunting feelings of embarrassing you on a pedestal, rock pedestals are results of erosion you know.

If your subconscious erode intentions from a pinnacle belltower obstacles
When you see yourself working up the podium it shouldn’t be a mirage, the range within veins swaying like lightning can make you timid, as self reminds you of how bashful you are to say something too you weren’t given the spirit of fear but of sound mind and power.
It’s far better to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure.


Now, bear in mind that I had not yet said the topic. I didn’t say so nor was there any more freestyling till after 11am, at 11:06am. The Topic?

NEVER WALK ALONE

Before I say anything further, here is UC Truth at 11:10am; just four minutes after the topic was given:


Maybe God gave us two feet
just to teach us
that we should never walk alone


I know you were expecting a long one. Sometimes, there is not really much on a man’s mind.

Now, I was about to talk about the topic. I believe that either in God Sightings or What to pray about, I mentioned that I trust God for these topics. So sometimes, when they pop in my head, I’m like, “Lord, really?!”

At 11:35am, Captain Edet came through like (no, not like bang daraerang)… And he named his freestyle. This guy:


*Unashamed*
Let me some room
I have a speech to make,
Hear now, the words that I speak.
I’m a child of God and I’ve got no shame
I’m a saint of God because he calls me one
I will stand on the highest peak, shout at the top of my voice and make sure the world hears my words.

I’m unashamed of the gospel of Christ
The gospel that breaks chains
Sets the captives free
The gospel that brings victory
Makes the sick man whole
I’m unashamed to declare this day my love for the Father,
ByOh yes, that Mighty Man of war that rules the heavens and earth
The Supreme Commander of the host of heaven
He is my God.

I’m unashamed to proclaim my stand
My salvation and victory
I’m unashamed because I wasn’t given the spirit of fear, no
But that of love and of a sound mind.
Why should I feel shame when I was bought with blood, the blood that speaks better things than that of judgement–the blood of Abel
I’m not ashamed to be called a Christian, this is my identity, this is my reality.
I am who God says I am and I AM NOT ASHAMED.


And he didn’t stop…at 11:46 he dropped another at 11:46am:


I will not leave you nor forsake you,
In the thickest fog, I’ll be there.
When the storm rages and threatens the peace of the ocean, I’ll be there.
When the earth quakes, I’ll be there.
Do not be afraid for I have overcome the world, I’ll be with you always and you’ll never have to walk alone

And then, my people, I thought that the day would be full of poetry spurts like this…but UBA at 1:50pm was the last spurt. Turns out, the topic is Liverpool FC’s Motto or something…so Uba went straight for the neck, with football word associations:


All the arsenal I need, that’s the word
You cut me and forgiveness is all I bleed
Proud Liverpool fan
You know I never walk Alone
I live in HIS Cantonment
Military zone
Tell the Devil stay clear
Washed in his blood
Sin and I don’t stay near
Connect to my source like a charger head to a cord
Always a winner
My God is Mercy
The Devil can’t do me frodd
See, He’s the Way maker
Chain breaker
The owner of the field
Not just a plot but the entire acre
So no matter what life plays
My coach is the game changer
And when the whistle blow, that’s Rapture
It’s game over
So better have in in your corner
Make you no waka Alone


And that was it for freestyles that day. I wonder which month to go to next…

I believe that if you had read any of these poems on their own, you would get a part of the picture. Now you see them together, I think it’s a more wholesome picture. Tell us what you think, and see you next time


Authors:
Nonso John
Ebube
UC Truth
Edet
Uba