yielded

Please note that these are the June dates for pvt prayer call and free counselling . Feel free to email and enquire if there’s any slots open.

Self-reflection is setting aside time to think deeply and evaluate your thoughts, attitudes, motivations, and desires. It’s examining your emotions and behaviors and then asking yourself, “Why do I feel and act this way?” Taking the time to reflect on life might sound like an overwhelming task. Yessssss, self-reflection is a personal process. You can’t self reflect for me – l can’t do it for you. This means that you need to be very honest with yourself. Many of us can’t face the truth so we lie to ourselves , running from the truth. You need to be very truthful with yourself otherwise the whole thing would be pointless.

Making this small change to your day-to-day can improve your well-being, strengthen your relationships, make you a better person and help you become better in your personal and professional development. “Why do l speak like that? Why don’t l like praying anymore? What’s causing me to dislike going to church? Why do people keep leaving me? Why do l hate correction? What can l change? Is my behaviour reflecting the character of Christ? If not, what should l change and what measures am l taking to change this?” All these and more are questions we should ask ourselves. It will help us to stop this thing of always blaming people even for things we did wrong.

Okay what about, “How much have l saved? Do l overspend? Why? It’s six months into the year , what have l achieved?” We hate those ones lol even l feel uncomfortable answering that – but we can’t keep running. Let me go deeper (go deeper papa) LOL, “Why do I attract the same kind of men or women? Why do my relationships break within such and such a time? What am l doing to become better as a spouse or a friend or do l expect people to accept me as l am even if I am rude? Why do I keep chasing after people who don’t love me or don’t reciprocate what I give? Am I broken? Am l too needy? Am I responding to life’s trauma by seeking validation from people all the time?” THE UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTIONS ALSO CULTIVATE US!

Putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) allows you to process feelings and reflect on past experiences from a safe emotional distance. You can also compare how far you’ve come by re-reading past entries to see what’s changed over time. You need to check how far you’ve come. Let’s do this ; get a journal for self reflection Fridays. All the questions asked here, we must make it a point that we answer them. Put a date on it and let’s check progress after every month! Things need to change but they won’t unless or until we change! Change is intentional. Become. You will not walk in childish ways and expect the world to keep embracing you and patting you on the back no! The world does not even care about how much you sulk – change!. People can give you a few months of tolerance for a particular behaviour , then they will start disconnecting from you. I’m glad God stays with us through the whole process!

As that butterfly – transformation comes from us actually wanting to become better. And there you’ll be , once a worm – now a beautiful butterfly. Going wherever your wings take you. That’s beautiful isn’t it? The process is not to harm you. There’s so much beauty on the other side. Let’s put in the work. I love you! God loves you! You’re special!! ❤️ (Look at that picture above again)

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.”
‭‭Haggai‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬

Happy chilled Thursday my loves! I woke up feeling like l really need a retreat. My ideal life honestly involves a LOT of writing ,serving God, counselling people, toiling is not even a part of it ! I feel like I’ve been toiling hey but it is good to work while it’s day.
How have you been? How’s your heart? I hope you’re kinder to yourself. Sometimes we’re not physically tired – we are emotionally tired from being unkind to ourselves. How so? By harbouring all sorts of evil in our hearts – we self harm. Let it go – chill.

If in this season you’re not locking in on the word , you will fall. If you’re not intentional about your prayer life – you will fall. I know we talk about these things as if they’re just nothing but many people were once great men and women of God but now they can’t even tell right from wrong. It’s not about how long you’ve been a Christian – the devil is still our enemy. It doesn’t get better – it gets worse – it intensifies. We need to keep reminding ourselves – the journey ahead requires that we have enough in our lunch tins. You must always have spiritual hunger. A healthy believer must always be hungry. It’s the opposite of the natural. Spiritual hunger is a sign of believer who will keep growing. You cannot have the “I have arrived mentality”.

That said : From today till Sunday even , lock in on a book of the bible and finish it. Don’t single out one verse after another. Read the whole book (eg Acts, Matthew, Genesis) If you’re currently reading a book by someone, even if it’s a Christian book, put it aside a bit and lock in on the Bible. Some of us know more of Vanessa’s quotes than the bible. More of an author than of the Author and Finisher of our faith. Don’t get me wrong please. I write but don’t exalt yielded more than you read the Bible. Yielded is secondary to the Bible. If you show up here more than you show up in the study of the Word you’re missing the point! Yielded takes from the Bible but it is not the Bible. Same as any other author. Read books but the Bible should be your number one.

Let me know what book you’re reading and what God has taught you on the comments. I’m on the book of Matthew and l found this ;

“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭15‬:‭32‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Study His Word. You will not be sent away hungry. Nobody spends time with God and leaves hungry. There may be no sign of food but the good Shepherd has seen your needs and He will meet them. Here’s a movie to watch ;

“For your tender mercies mean more to me than life itself. How I love and praise you, God!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭63‬:‭3‬ ‭TPT‬‬

A friend of mine said to me yesterday, “You are so strong for still showing up after what happened to you.” I started thinking about it. I stay on words people say to try to understand them or what they meant. So I thought about it. “Am l strong? Am l courageous? Is that what it is?” And honestly I think it’s something else. I’ve had quite a rough life, living in a land that is not so nice to foreigners , not being able to get the job for a long time and many other things I’ve been through that I can’t share now. My focus then was always ME. Why ME? Lord ME. The job for ME. The money for ME. I made myself the centre of it all and so when I was not able to get what I wanted or things went otherwise , it would make me crash. My feelings, my heart , my thoughts, everything would make me crumble. This is true for many people – you are affected and afflicted by the fact that you haven’t gotten what you want – the things that sponsor “ME” – that is why you are a seasonal worshipper.

We have tied our worship to things. If the job doesn’t come , I’m not showing up to serve. If something bad befalls me , I’m done with God. If I lose what/who I love – I’m no longer praying or praising. We have made it about US! The truth is many people have purposed in their hearts – unless God shows up – they’re not showing up. They gave God an ultimatum . They think they can threaten God. “Give me this or I will worship the devil” Silly behaviour. I’m wowed by the verse for the day – another version says – Your love is BETTER than life! What a statement!

For life without the love of God is nothing else than death: a man that has no share in the love of God is dead while he lives; all the enjoyments of life, health, riches, honour, friends, &c. are nothing without the love of God; the meanest temporal blessings. What fuels our worship? Is it the meaningless things that Solomon discovers about life or is it the love of God? Learning to seek God in the dry seasons of our lives shows that we are more than kingdom citizens – we are sons! The heart of worship is the heart of Job. Come what may, stay what may, leave who may, come who may , l will worship! Will you worship if the relationship doesn’t work out? Will you worship while you’re waiting for the contract to be signed? Okay , so what if it takes 5 years to get what you want – does that mean your worship has been suspended for 5 years? See? There is more to worship than “I worship you because you gave me a job!” There is moreeeeeee!

I thank God for growth. From who I used to be. Throwing tantrums, yelling at God (yes l have), angry at God, complaining everyday, refusing to see my life from His perspective, I’ve finally found out the true meaning of worship – it is EVEN SO. Even so – l will worship. To know that God is more concerned about my future more than I will ever be. He is more committed to my success than I will ever be. So why pause our intimacy with God because the world has given us a report that we don’t have enough. We have enough! GOD IS ENOUGH! We praise , we worship no matter what! Remember, prolonged sadness is a choice. Joy is also a choice. Don’t let situations determine your praise! Here’s some links to my current fave!

Worship

Praise

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭AMPC‬‬

The Holy Bible

There are lots of reasons to fear in our world today. In 2020 News updates about the COVID-19 pandemic, the wars happening right now, marriages worry and concern us, the pressures we face in our careers, education , finances, and health. The reason why faith then becomes the opposite of fear is because in reality, the natural man should be afraid. Adam and Eve fell, they became the natural man, they were afraid. The natural man has every reason to be afraid, the world is not looking good. Should there not be a difference between the natural man and the spiritual man who know there is a God in heaven to takes care of us? Why is the spiritual man also afraid? No faith.

What is fear? A spirit. What kind of spirit? What does it do? The AMPC version gives us a clearer idea of this ;

1. It is the spirit of timidity.
2. It is the spirit of cowardice
3. It is the spirit that makes you cringe

God is saying to us, the source of this is not Me. I have not given it to you. I am not the reason why you feel the way you feel or behave the way you behave. He is clearly telling us, if you are afraid, the spirit came from demons. The opposite of God is not Satan. God has no opposition. The devil is a minion who uses tricks to fool us. Adam and Eve , tricked from an unguarded conversation to eat a fruit thereafter they start to feel strange. FEAR.
It came when they had a conversation with the serpent. “Why told you you’re naked?” Did you know? Fear also stems from subconscious conversations with the devil in our thoughts ? He comes and says “You have a right to be afraid, you just had a bad dream!” And you respond “Yes, I’m afraid. I will be afraid everytime I sleep.” Depression, anxiety , all come from conversation because the devil has no right to make you feel that way unless you agree with him. Who told you you will die? Probably a conversation going on in your head with the enemy. Do not talk to the enemy.

If God says He has not given it to you , why take things from other sources? Why eat from the enemy’s plate? Think of it. “I have not given you” let that sink in. A fearful person is a weak person. A fearful person lives in terror , in the bushes instead of Eden. Why’re you so afraid? What are you so afraid of? Who told you it will happen to you? Why did you believe them? What is God saying about the situation? What does His word say? It’s amazing how when we sit down and ask such questions we realise – the problem can be fixed.

God says, “ l have given you another spirit of power, love and a sound mind.” Do you believe this? That the antidote to what you feel is receiving the Spirit of God that empowers. One of the ways He empowers us is through His love. Love is not only for you to marry a man and have three children. The love of God drives away fear. If I’m afraid of losing my spouse and they reassure me that they love me, will that fear not vanish? Love settles the score. Believing that God loves you! He loves you too much to let you die! To let the demons come and harass you! He loves you too much to give up on you! Love empowers us! It gives us a sound mind meaning whenever we’re afraid we don’t have a sound mind. Lol we’re a bit crazy because we believe lies. Yho but there is a Spirit in man! What Spirit? He is the breath of the Almighty! The breath of the Almighty is in you. Say it over and over again. There’s no way you can be a weakling unless you choose to. You choose to be a coward. You choose to be timid. You can also choose to believe GOD!

We have a lot to cover on this topic family. We will continue as we go. Next we will discuss the process of fear. How does it get to that state. What do we learn today ;

• Fear does not come from God
• The devil is responsible for how you feel
• You must agree with the devil to feel afraid . You have the power to say no. He can’t bully you
• Your antidote is Gods love
• A fearful person is a weakling . And a weakling is the devils playground
• Fear makes you a slave. The Spirit of God makes you powerful. Choose today who you will submit under .
• God loves you . His love is your shield. When the enemy tries to scare you – you tell yourself – GOD LOVES ME. Why?
• Because we don’t converse with the devil. We fill ourselves with the word and that word casts him out!
• Lastly, fear grows. From being afraid to sleep to being afraid to die. To being afraid to do anything.