I could have died but for Him

Achan and all his household were burned because of disobedience. Now, though we do not deserve less than Achan, we did not receive the same as him because of the price Jesus paid on the cross.

He has received the punishment for all the sins I had committed or all the mistakes I will ever do, that is why I'm free to live a righteous life.  A life free of sin. God's grace does not give me permission to live in sin but it frees me to do right.

I will try to illustrate this a bit. As an entrepreneur, sometimes I put in extra efforts so that I can pay salaries and bills. What if someone invests in the business, part of the funding will be used to take care of the salaries and these recurrent bills thereby freeing me to chart the course for the future of the business. I am free to plan, strategize,  cast the vision and lead my people to success.

It will be irresponsible of me to leave my strategic duties  and not take necessary risks after i have received funding because I'm still afraid that it will be difficult to pay bills. It will be irresponsibleof me to continue in sin after I have received the grace of God.

As He died on the cross, I too died. So in Him, the full recompense of my disobedience is paid for. I now sit in glory, with Jesus in the heavenly places,  far above all principalities and power.

Do not take grace for granted, maximise it for good use.

Can you read the word on my top?

We are all correct..."Rock your swag"...but it wasn't the original letters. The top came with  ""FU" not "RO".

I was in a hurry, the picture looked like a cartoon and the fabric is great. ..I bought it. I got home and set my kit out only to see the letters for the first time. "I thought I read it", I screamed. But it didnt matter anymore, either I wear something else and return it later or I do something about it and still wear it. I chose the later.

My first thought was to crotchet wool across all the letters on top and leave only the swag showing. That was going to take a lot of time but I didn't mind because I could see the end result in my mind. The first crotchet hook step i took got the hook boring a big hole on my shirt.

My Nanny looked at me and said,"Aunty if you want to crotchet the wool on it, you have to first do a cross stich round the letters then crotchet on the Stictches and  not directly on the cloth. That made  a lot of sense, but it would still take a lot of time.

As we were about starting she said, "Aunty it's almost getting late, we can convert the letters to something else with needle and thread. And I was like, ermm that's a good idea too, let's check what letters.

Now, at this point, I appreciated her help but being more educated I just felt she may not be able to help me any further since its "word - creation" time. I started with trying to think of all the words I know that ends with"ck". It wasn't working and then out of the blues she said, let's turn the F to R and  the U to O. That did it, the O wouldn't come out well but it was a huge milestone.

I didn't know when I said,"this "girl' you think so well"! I knew then that without her help, I may have spent a couple of hours that night doing the crotchet the way I want it but I had to just spend like 10 mins to draw the correct letters then sew round it.

DONT TAKE ANY BODY GOD BRINGS YOUR WAY FOR GRANTED.

1. If I had treated her in a particular way, she may not have had the boldness to always speak up as she does, thereby saving me a lot of stress when the opportunity arises. SHOW RESPECT TO PEOPLE

2. She came with some skills but I also made sure she learnt other skills from me. INVEST IN PEOPLE .

3. If I shushed her when she wanted to correct or chose to take my own idea to service my ego, it might have cost me longer time than it eventually did. BE HUMBLE

4.  She is not that educated but she has a brain and common sense. GIVE PEOPLE A BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT.

Take this inspiration today, don't look down on anybody,  the janitor or gardener can bring you great relief. Respect and invest, and give the lower cadre people around you a benefit of the doubt, you never can tell what could come out of it. Even if nothing gets to you,  you have sent a seasoned person out to relate with other people.

God bless you.

How protected are you?

Joshua 11:4-6

They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots -a huge army, as numerous as the the Sand of the seashore. All the kings joined forces and made camp together at the waters of Merom

,  to fight against Israel.
6a. The Lord said to Joshua,"Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow,  I will hand all over them over to Israel, slain.

Powerful enemies encamped around Israel but the Lord promised them safety and He, indeed gave thesee nations to Israel,  SLAIN! In several occasions the scripture recorded that the Lord fought for Israel and this is because they have a covenant with God through Abraham. Even though this covenant is sealed with the blood of animals, He still gave nations as ransom for them.

Now, we have a better covenant with God through Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus as ransom for you. How much do you think God wants to protect and prosper you. Because of the cross, you are God's own and He protects His own. He guards over us with jealousy.

Get in the covenant, my friend and walk in the covenant.

Accept Christ today and live in Him.

For more information on how to accept Christ, email chiukwunenyem@gmail.com. Thank you. 

Why am I getting married?

A lot of people get married for different reasons; love, financial security, emotional security and the list goes on. For some, they do not even have the slightest idea why they want to be married...They are of age, some people will convince again.

Personally, I think marriage are two people using their strengths as one, serving the Lord with everything they have and in every area of their lives. In their businesses, home, raising kids, career etc.

They should work as one unit with unified mind and heart. That's why and how "2 people become one". Two are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Ecclesiastics 4:9-12 NLT

So why would you want to be married and yet live in isolation? You choose the things to tell your spouse and the ones not to tell them. Who else should know your visions, your joys and your pains.

We devise every means to make up with friends we deem important when we err them (even sometimes when they err us) and you are willing to give your spouse the silent treatment for as long as it lasts. Rearrange your priorities, men lead where you need to and women follow where you need to.

If you are not ready to share your life with another person you may consider waiting for a little more while and ask God for more wisdom and direction.

And seriously if you haven't found your place in God and what exactly He needs you to do (at least the first steps), that's a good starting point in planning to get married.

First step to receiving God's promises in 2016

The land on which your feet have walked shall be an inheritance to you and your children always, BECAUSE you have wholly followed the Lord my God. This is a recount of Moses' blessing to Caleb in Joshua 14:9

God's promises will be perfected in your life because of your obedience. However,  what will you obey when you have not received any instructions.

Yes, there are certain instructions we have already been given. God has commanded us to love one another and not let the sun go down on our anger.
Some people have inferred that men and women respond in different ways when they are hurt but God's commands are clear; men should love their wives and women should respect their husbands. We should forgive, we should speak the truth in love. These are instructions but some times we need wisdom to act or speak for some specific circumstances.

For example, how would you hear when you are supposed to be at a place at a particular time. How would you know which houses to buy and the ones not to buy, or which schools to enroll your kids or where to invest or how to reach a particular group to Christ or not to go to a certain place because of impending danger and so on.

Clear your heart of every weight, seek the Lord. Let your heart be truly a dwelling place for the Lord, free from all gabbage. Set it towards him alone and get set to recieve instructions for a victorious 2016.

May you be led of the Lord this year and beyond. Amen.

Don't enter the New year without knowing this!

In Joshua 7:1-13

• The Lord was angry- a hedge was broken in Israel 
• Joshua, the leader, wasn't aware
• The Lord permitted the people of AI defeat Israel
• Joshua did not accept defeat
• He knew something was wrong
• He tore his clothes
• Refused to eat
• He layed face own before the ark of the Lord
• He sought God's face, asked questions and  got answers
• He carried out instructions.....problems solved!

Some Christians today

• A hedge is broken 
• Trouble comes into he man's house
• He starts running helter skelter, from church to church, person to person 
• He gets tired tired and trouble bears root
• He cries from time to time, excuses the trouble at other times
• Confesses it is well and does nothing
• The devil feasts on his ignorance 
• He lives wondering if God is angry with him
• He starts believing that the sickness or trouble is there to teach him a lesson
• All the while never seeking God's face and never addressing the issue   

When we have Jesus?

Joshua and all the prophets of the old testament did not have the covenant we have now. They were not called sons, yet they operated in the kind of divinity that most of us shy away from today.

In Jesus, we have the FULLNESS of life. We have everythibg under our feet. He who created the whole world is our Father and He said we are joint heirs with Jesus.

Make up your mind to operate at the level of Christ's authority in 2016. Decide to seek God's face, decide to walk with God, know him more and you will be amazed at how your life will pan out.

Enter 2016 in style. Happy New Year!!

Little victories; joy of big victories

As a young girl I struggled with crushes.  There were a whole lot of them. I had my first kiss at 13....yeah...I know...too early. Six months later I was wondering what I was thinking. Like seriously...was I blind? I had moved to a new crush. However, this time I wasn't excited I was scared. I was agitated because I knew my age and I knew it wasn't going to be anything less than 11 years for me to be ready for marriage.  I had hoped that my first crush would be my everlasting love...oh how wrong I was.

I reasoned that if I continued at that rate I would have dated 24 men before I clocked 25 if my average crush rate is 6months. That was horrifying. I didn't want that to be part of my biography.
I knew I had to do something quickly and I called myself to order.

It took me a while for the butterflies to stop flying in my tommy with the first crush but it did stop, I would have to find a way to deal with subsequent ones. Yeah I would have a crush, I would pretend I didn't have one,  and I was going to watch the feelings leave me. I would definitely sit the next ones out!

I may not have sat out up to 24 crushes but I'm sure there must have been a number. I didnt just give them enough thoughts anymore. I learnt that lesson well!!

Fast forward 12 years later and one year into my marriage as I was still trying to figure out a lot of things about myself, I met someone. It was nothing, I needed a helping hand and he offered. That was what i could do for anyone but it opened up an unnecessary door for communication. Trust me, I didn't see it coming, I was that naive, I didn't believe it was possible for someone to cheat on their spouse. He was married with kids anyways. I was wrong!

After a while I knew it was no longer a joke. He persisted. But it was kind of easy...yet a bit difficult but I deployed my well learnt strategy of not giving things that have no futuristic value in my life a second thought. I quickly also realised one thing; the 'demons' you fought at a stage in your life are not the same demons you deal with at a later stage.....you matured, so did they! But one thing is sure, if you learnt to win them, you would win them anytime, as long as you keep improving and adapting your strategies.

What am I saying? Master the discipline of dealing with issues in your life and being accountable when no one is watching and when you do not have much to loose. That may be your saving grace when you encounter issues when the stakes are higher and you have much to loose.

Conquer those little demons now...They may not always be little.

#keepstrong