yielded

I’ve often struggled to celebrate my own achievements. No matter how hard I work or how significant the accomplishment, I tend to brush it off like it’s nothing. I could pass a difficult exam and barely acknowledge it, but the moment something goes wrong, I’m the first to criticise myself.Now, don’t get me wrong I’m deeply grateful to God for everything. My issue isn’t a lack of gratitude; it’s a lack of self-appreciation. l will tell you why it’s important to celebrate yourself . Keep reading!

Low self-esteem often stems from two sources: what others have told you and what you’ve told yourself. It’s shaped by external standards and internal expectations what people define as success and what we believe is enough.

David declared, “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). His praise was in place, but the real challenge for many of us isn’t praising God it’s believing what He says about us. If I struggle to see myself as fearfully and wonderfully made, then even in my gratitude, I may still undermine my worth.

When you look at your accomplishments and dismiss them as insignificant, you’re not just being “humble” , you’re downplaying God’s hand in your life. Every victory, every completed task, is evidence of His grace and strength in you. So, take a moment. What did you accomplish this week? What task did you complete? Say this with me: “I praise You, Lord, because I managed to accomplish this! I am a star!”

If we truly saw ourselves the way God sees us, depression wouldn’t stand a chance. It wouldn’t even get the chance to knock on your door. So why do you constantly diminish yourself? Why do you believe there’s nothing beautiful about you? Who told you that you were naked? I want you to pause and reflect on this past week. What have you accomplished? What have you pushed through? Now, I want you to praise God for it and I want you to celebrate yourself.

It’s not wrong to treat yourself. My niece taught me this: loving and spoiling yourself is okay. Don’t feel guilty for enjoying a caramel ice cream after a long day (caramel is my favourite, by the way!). Don’t feel bad about buying yourself those shoes just maybe not every week, because, well, wisdom.

And for the love of God, stop rejecting compliments! If someone tells you, “You’re beautiful!” don’t respond with, “Ah really? Haha, that’s not true. A monkey like me?” If I catch you saying that…!

Remember, your confidence is only as strong as your perception of yourself. And no, I’m not talking about pride. Some people think rejecting compliments makes them humble , not so, my lord! (lol). You’ve just gotten used to rejecting good things, and somehow, you believe that’s the right thing to do. But it’s not.

“But I didn’t do anything this week!”

Yes, you did. You lived. You pushed through. You didn’t give up. There’s always something worth acknowledging. Anyway, I’m currently thinking about caramel ice cream, so I have nothing else to write. See you on Monday.

🩷🌸And hey, you’re beautiful! You’re handsome! 🌸🩷

How much do you love God? Love is not stagnant or stunted , it grows. So does hate. Every feeling, every emotion, has the potential to grow. Even lust can increase. The human heart has an incredible capacity to hold and nurture emotions, no matter how vast they may be.

You might think, “Surely, God doesn’t care whether I love Him or not.” But that is incorrect and inconsistent with scripture. God deeply cares. He longs to know not only if you love Him but also how much.

Many of you are mature and have experienced romantic relationships. One thing I know for certain is that love seeks affirmation. People in relationships want to know they are loved. In fact, for some, missing an “I love you” before bed can feel like the start of World War 37. Love is a loud emotion not noisy, but loud. It demands to be known. It reveals itself.

John 3:16 doesn’t just tell us that God loved us; it gives us the full measure of His love: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” It wasn’t just love, it was the depth of that love and what it compelled Him to do. It was love in action, love to the greatest extent. So, I ask you again: How much do you love God? Not just “I love Him.” That’s not the question. How much?

It’s Worship Wednesday!

When you love someone, you take pleasure in pleasing them. You don’t just feel it you express it. You say it. You show it. You delight in telling them sweet things. So, if we claim to love God but do not worship Him if we don’t even understand what true worship is, can that love be real?

I ask you for the third time: How much do you love God? Jesus once asked Simon Peter a question: “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” (John 21:16). Today, He asks the same of you. Give Him a befitting answer, one that matches the depth of your love for Him. Worship is an act of love. Here’s a song suggestion for today

Do you ever find yourself going back? I remember when I moved to a new place, I told my niece, “One day, I’ll forget we’ve moved and end up at the old house, only realizing at the door that I don’t live there anymore.” I was so sure it would happen. But guess what? It never did.

I pass by the old house, but I never feel the urge to stop, nor have I ever absentmindedly found myself standing at that familiar door. Something in me has moved on where my body has gone, my mind has followed, and vice versa. Do you ever return to the past, even by mistake?

I often talk about Lot’s wife at least five times a year, lol. The Bible says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” But why? Because her body and mind were in conflict. Her body was leaving, but her mind wanted to return. And guess what? The mind won. The body follows where the mind goes always.

If I decide in my mind to write, my brain sends that command to my body, and my hands will pick up the device and start typing. That’s how it works. We keep returning to old, familiar doors because when we left, we never trained our minds to detach and move on. The body only follows the direction the mind has already chosen.

You’re only ever allowed to make a U-turn at specific points. You can’t just turn around on any road some roads forbid it because it would be dangerous. You could hurt yourself, other drivers, and even pedestrians.But isn’t that exactly what some of us have done? We’ve made turns where we had no business turning, and we ended up in accidents spiritually, emotionally, even physically. If only we had kept moving forward, things might have turned out differently. Imagine if Abraham had returned home after God told him to leave. “I’ll just go back. God can still use me from there!” Esquuuueze me! That’s not how obedience works! That’s not how it works AT ALL.

So, I told you that I moved to a new place, and one of the first things I got was a new set of keys. These keys don’t open the old door no matter how many times I try. Even if I attempted 20 times, the result would be the same. Eventually, the key would break, and I’d lose access to both the old and the new.

The old door has its own set of keys, and so does the new place. I can’t open the new with the old, and I can’t open the old with the new. If I return to the old place and try to use my new keys, I’m either trying to be a magician… or I’m just clowning. And here’s the thing, that old place is now occupied by new tenants. I can’t go back. It doesn’t belong to me anymore.(Leave your ex alone.)

The size 28 you wore last year doesn’t fit anymore. The shoes you wore at 7 don’t fit. So why keep going back to what was, no matter how good it was? Don’t return to Ur of the Chaldeans, Abraham. The One who called you out is leading you somewhere new. Keep following. The future is always ahead of us, never in the past. Do not return. And when you leave, leave with your body, soul, and mind. Leave altogether lol! Don’t return to that chat. Don’t return the call. See you tomorrow!❤️

Welcome to a new week my Yielded people!

Have you ever found yourself in a season of such overwhelming occurrences that you began to question not God’s existence, but His presence in your life? You know, without a doubt, that God is real but you wonder, Is He truly with me? I’ve walked through those seasons. I know what it means to stagger under the weight of trials, even though Abraham is praised for not staggering at God’s promises through unbelief. And I’m reminded of a man in Scripture who once asked, “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?”

“The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

Gideon looked around at Israel, at his own life, at the state of his people. He measured what he saw against what he had heard about God, and questions began to rise within him. Is God really with us? Where were the miracles their ancestors spoke of? Were they only stories from the past? If God was truly with them, why hadn’t He done those mighty works for them too? Why was there so much loss? And with all these unanswered questions, Gideon came to a conclusion: The Lord is no longer with us.

I’ve shared with you the story of how my dad passed away while I was on my knees, praying on the altar. Ehhh I prayyyyeeeed! That moment shook me. It made me wrestle with the very meaning of the name Emmanuel— God with us. Because if He is truly Emmanuel, then why did this happen? Maybe you’ve asked similar questions. I pray, I fast, I seek Him so if God sees me, why am I still without a job? Dear Gideon, dear weary heart God is with you! He has not abandoned you.

Gideon speaks of abandonment. And don’t we feel like that too sometimes? “God has abandoned me.” Or, “God is blessing others, not me. Maybe He has favorites.” I once read a comment from a guy on Instagram who said, “I don’t pray anymore because I feel like God has His favorites.” But you know that’s a lie, right? Scripture tells us that God shows no favoritism (Romans 2:11).

What really happened in that situation is that he grew weary. He took his eyes off God and fixed them on his circumstances. And in doing so, he felt abandoned. Gideon had the same struggle: If the Lord delivered Israel from Pharaoh, then why are we still oppressed by the Midianites?

Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
‭‭Judges‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s amazing ! Gideon had strength he never even knew about. He was waiting for God to do a miracle, but God’s response was, The miracle is in you. The key to unlocking breakthrough was already within him. Deliverance was coming, but it was coming through him! We often think we have no strength, but it’s there. Maybe only 30%, maybe 50%, but it’s there. And here’s the truth, Gideon not only is God with you, but He has also equipped you with strength!

Stop entertaining the thought that the Lord has abandoned you. I’ve heard people who are grieving say, God does not exist. Grief is heavy, and losing a loved one is incredibly painful. But no matter how deep the pain, we must never allow any situation to convince us that God is not with us.

While I was praying at the Singles Meet Wives event, God gave me a word. He said, EMMANUEL.

And I want to say this to you, the one asking, “If God is truly Sovereign , then why has all this happened?”

EMMANUEL.

God is with you. Even in the questions, even in the pain, even in the waiting, He is with you.

Blessed Assurance, Emmanuel.