2016 Endnote: We Always Win!

So, today is the day where I get back to blogging and into it for real! It's been long time coming.

Merry Christmas everyone! It's been an interesting 2016 with a lot of shaking, but thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in His name. There is no loss for the believer--we ALWAYS win. How do I know that? Scripture tells me that all things work together for my good (not in the end, but right now in the process of it all).

And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. ROM 8:28 AMP 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28 NIV 

The interpretation to that is this: even the devil is working FOR you--FOR your good.

Realizing this truth has changed my mindset and outlook to life. I no longer see the need to complain about a bad situation but instead I thank God for the good that's coming forth out of the situation, reminding myself that God's plans for me are always good (the best plans possible). It takes some conditioning, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

And one more thing: if I'm assured that my life will go according to God's plan, then I need to be in the know of the plan so I can put it before my eyes and constantly dwell on them. This is where my fellowship with God in prayer, reading/medication/study of the word, in singing, dancing, and laughter comes in. I've come to realise that with God, the more you press in, the more He reveals Himself and His plans for you to you. When you know, then you can speak the right words and create the reality God's planned out for you. If you don't know, you'll find yourself accepting whatever comes and calling it God's will when in reality it isn't.

Mind you, this isn't "positivity", or "hopeful believing". It's simply the product of you understanding that Christ--the anointed One and His anointing--is in you and He is your hope of glory. As long as Christ lives in you, your now and future are and will be what He says they are and will be. There is no loss to the believer! No disadvantage to the believer!

This post started out with me intending to narrate my interesting Christmas to you, but for some reason, I just can't leave this current flow and get into my intended story. Do you yourself a merry grand Christmas knowing that Christ was born that He might come dwell in you and give you hope!

I love you guys! Stay blessed.

PS: If you haven't given your life to Christ, say this prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for your finished work of salvation. I confess to you that I am a sinner and ask you to come be Lord over my life. I surrender my life to you. Thank you for saving me. I am now alive in you. Amen.

My Windows Phone Key Points

Good day everyone. Today I've decided to share a bit of mobile technology info with you guys. I love the Windows Mobile platform. I explain a few of my reasons in this post. Enjoy!

How Important is the Bible to You

It’s interesting, really, how we live our lives. Growing up as a Christian, I was accustomed to this song: “read your bible, pray every day...if you want to grow”. I don’t know if you read your bible while you were young, but you’d agree that My Book of Bible Stories and Sunday School in children formed many of the basics of the moral life we try to live now.

Then, when we were younger, we listened earnestly to stories of the bible. Now that we’re much older, we are so much in a hurry that we don’t even have time to open John 3:16 to read or even to just recite it. What I’ve noticed in all these are these:

1. We never complained about not growing well in Christ when we were much younger. It could be because we actually were growing, or because we just didn’t know what it was not to grow.
2. We now complain about how dissatisfied we are with our lives—how we don’t seem to grow [well] in faith, how our lives are filled with daily troubles, how we find ourselves easily compromising in situations we used to be unbending in.

What changed between then and now? Overfamiliarity. “Overfamiliarity?” you may ask. Yep. The word ‘overfamiliar’, in simple terms, means to take undue liberties. It connotes a sense of confidence that permits you to take things for granted (you know something exists but then you don’t acknowledge its existence or its power). It is way different from ‘familiarity’ which means close or warm friendship, intimacy, closeness. To put in context, it’s overfamiliarity that’d make you believe there’d still be power (light) for you to iron your clothes for work the next day when you’re done watching that TV show. Whereas, familiarity makes you iron now, knowing what NEPA is capable of doing, in Nigeria that is. *winks* You get the gist, right? We loved the closeness to the bible when we were younger, but now we’re either so close or too distant to the bible that we don’t see it clearly anymore and we don’t recognize its power.

Throughout last year, I struggled a lot with reading my bible. My reason? Very legit, in today’s world! I was just so busy that I couldn’t make time for it. Did God still bless me? Yep. But every Sunday, church reminded me that I needed to grow, I was stagnant, falling for the same temptations over and over again. I prayed about it and for a long while, I had this strong desire to just read my bible, whether I understood what I was reading or not. Many times we wait for a problem/reason to arise before we pick up our bibles. I had gotten tired of that and really wanted to come out of it. I made a plan to start with the gospels and finish it in one week. Did it work? You be the judge and jury: I was able to read 6 chapters of the book of Matthew alone in 2 months. Looking back, my real challenge was, reading the bible was still optional and not compulsory. Sunday before crossover service last year, my pastor mentioned how he and his friends, while on campus, read the bible just for the fun and desire to read it. Fast forward to now, they are beginning to reap the benefits of their actions—the number one benefit being knowing the mind of Christ. We may exclaim, “Jesus, what should I do?” “It’s all in the bible!” God’s ways are high and are documented in the Scriptures such that there’s no way you’d read the bible and not think like Christ. It’s inevitable. Hearing that story moved something in me and I had this feeling of God saying, “Shebi I’ve been calling you to this and you’ve not been serious?” At this point, I knew I just had to change.

I’ve resumed reading the gospels. What I have learnt is this: it takes a lot of conscious effort to make things work, especially relationships. The bible grants you access to depths in God that you would otherwise have no access to. So, it’s a relationship. Healing can be prayed on you, but a deep relationship with God can’t be prayed. You practically have to work at it—with the word and with prayer. I’ve realized that with reading the bible comes a passion/desire to pray and as long as you keep your word meter up, you’d find yourself praying more because Jesus (who the bible glorifies) prioritized prayer. The bible says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where is your treasure, your delight? In the law of the Lord (the bible), or in the many responsibilities that you have? The bible reveals to you the power/wealth you have access to. Prayer activates those revelations! It’s that simple (really basic). Think of plugging your phone to an electric socket as reading the word, and turning on the switch to charge your phone as prayer. Both work hand-in-hand—you can’t turn on the socket without plugging in, neither can you plug in without turning on the socket.

You have a responsibility to know God through His word. How well you know Him and interact with Him through His word determines your quality of living! You can have a wonderful new year. The question is, “Will you tarry in His presence in the word and in prayer?” Think about it, count the cost, plan, and act! The problems you face won’t go away in an instant, but you’ll find peace, His peace that fills the emptiness in your soul. It’s worth giving a try.

God bless you as you seek Him this year. And remember, “Read your bible, pray every day...” 

And if you haven’t accepted Christ, all you have to do is say, “Jesus, come be my friend, saviour, and master. I surrender my will to You.”

Lessons from 2015

It’s a new year. Getting to know the really important things in our lives is paramount to making the right decisions that will help us in getting to where we want to be—the future. I have had a whole 365 days of life experience in this just concluded year and I’m really grateful for some of the lessons I had to learn. Some I had to learn the hard way, some I discovered while solving a problem, others while listening...but none while doing nothing. Every lesson I had learnt was in the place of activity (even sleep dreaming is an activity you can learn lessons from *smiles*).

I'd share some of the lessons with you in this post and other ones on other days.

4 Years and Counting

First of all, I must say happy new year to you. (As this is my first official post of the year, I apologise. I just haven't found how to balance writing and prepping for exams yet. Anyways, would be done with exams soon.) Great year ahead. I welcome you to 2015; be all the #more you can be (more beautiful, more diligent, more graceful, more studious, more reliable, more truthful, more positive, more loving... You get the gist)

My VIPs of 2014

Well! Good day everyone. I suppose we're all getting ready for the New Year. Some of us are already planning and praying for the direction to head next year. Some others I suppose are just using the moment to relax and cool off and just want to get into the New Year. Some are in between these 2 groups and some are entirely out of this range. No matter the part of the Venn diagram you're in, I still greet you.

It's Almost the New Year

It's about that time of the year when we get to look back and appraise ourselves: how well have we fared this year? What have we learnt? What habits have reduced?

Meet Oluwadara "Dara Davids"

This is Oluwadara Davids. I am final year student of the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos pursuing an MB;BS degree. I have biases for music, computers, mobile phone technology, graphics design.