Made for More

In Jeremiah 33:3, God tells Jeremiah ‘Call unto me and I will answer you and I will show you great and mighty things you didn’t even know existed’.

Have you done all you know to do without tangible results? Have you gone through many options with little success?

If you’re on the verge of settling for less or totally giving up, I’ll tell you the same thing God told Jeremiah – ‘All you know is not all there is to know’.

There are dimensions where effort is multiplied and errors are minimised. There are certain keys that unlock certain doors.

Will you give the All-knowing, All-seeing Game Changer a chance? I call Him the God who sees in the dark and hears behind closed doors.

He is willing to show you hidden solutions and concealed treasures, as long as you are willing to give Him your full attention. You have to gaze on Him for your face to be made radiant. Prove your dissatisfaction with the ordinary and the doors of the extraordinary will be flung open to you.

He is the only basket where you can safely place all your eggs.

He says ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened unto you – Matthew 7:7.

Look closely; these statements are not probabilities. They are certainties. Cause and effect. When you take take certain steps, certain things happen.

Lean on God.

Lean on Him fully.

You can have more. You can be more.

#madeformore💖
#graceuntold

There’s More Ahead

God’s grace is greater than that sin. You thought the problem was your calendar, your marriage, your job. In reality, it’s this unresolved guilt. Don’t indulge it. Don’t drown in the bilge of your own condemnation. What you did was not good. But your God is good, and he will forgive you. He is ready to write a new chapter in your life. Say with Paul, “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us” (Philippians 3:13-14 TLB).

Your salvation has nothing to do with your work and everything to do with the finished work of Christ on the cross. Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy.

Entrust It to God

If anyone had a reason to be anxious it was the apostle Paul. Envision an old man as he gazes out the window of a Roman prison. Half-blind, squinting just to read. Awaiting trial before the Roman emperor. His future is as gloomy as his jail cell.

Yet to read his words, you’d think he’d just arrived at a Jamaican beach hotel. His letter to the Philippians bears not a word of fear or complaint. Not one! Instead, he lifts his thanks to God and calls on his readers to do the same. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4)

Paul’s challenge is a decision deeply rooted in the confidence that God exists, that he is in control, and that he is good. Rejoice in the Lord—always! You can’t run the world, but you can entrust it to God.

Open the Storehouse

Someone you know is under attack. Your neighbor is depressed, your sibling is off track, your child is facing an uphill challenge. You may not know what to say. You may not have resources to help. But you have this: you have prayer. According to this promise, your prayers prompt the response of God in the lives of those you love. James 5:16: “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

When we pray for one another we enter God’s workshop, we pick up a hammer, and we help him accomplish his purposes. Our prayers unlock the storehouses of heaven. The link between God’s goodness and your friends is your prayers. When you pray, when you speak for the ones who need help to the One who can give it, something wonderful happens—this is how happiness happens.

Everyone Needs a Cheerleader

Every person needs to hear someone call them “wonderful.” Here’s why: companies spend billions of dollars to convince us that we are too fat, too skinny, smelly, ugly, and uncool. Inadequacy indwells a billion hearts. How about you distribute encouragement? Will you make some happiness happen? Will you remind humanity that we are made in God’s image? That we are chosen and destined and loved?

Start by listening intently. Ask someone to tell you his or her story. Give the rarest of gifts: your full attention. Praise abundantly. Biblical encouragement is no casual kind word, but rather a premeditated resolve to lift the spirit of another person.

Think about David and his mighty army. How did he make a great army out of a group of angry, bitter, rejected men? Encouragement. David gave them something that their environments could not.

Everyone needs a cheerleader. Give the gift that God loves to give: the gift of encouragement. This is how happiness happens.

He Wants the Bad Bits Too

God not only wants the mistakes we’ve made, he wants the ones we’re making. Are you drinking too much? Are you cheating at work or cheating at marriage? Mismanaging your life? Don’t pretend nothing’s wrong. The first step after a stumble must be in the direction of the cross. 1 John 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.”

So start with your bad moments. And while you’re there, give God your mad moments. There’s a story about a man bitten by a dog, and when he learned the dog had rabies he began a list. The doctor said, “There’s no need for you to make a will—you’ll be fine.” “Oh I’m not making a will,” he said. “I’m making a list of all the people I want to bite.” God wants that list; He wants the bad bits too. Leave them at the cross.

Weaver

Changing direction in life is not tragic, but losing passion in life is. Something happens along the way. Convictions to change the world downgrade to commitments to pay the bills. Rather than make a difference, we make a salary. Rather than look outward, we look inward. And we don’t like what we see.

But God is not finished with you yet. Well you may think he is. You may think you’ve peaked. You may think he’s got someone else to do the job. If so, think again! The Bible says that “God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again” (Philippians 1:6). Did you see what God is doing? A good work in you. Did you see when he’ll be finished? When Jesus Christ comes again.

May I spell out the message? God ain’t finished with you yet!

Love lavishly. Let God Save

Love lavishly. Leave the saving to God.

Our charge is to love all men, not to save them. People may not always reciprocate the love they receive, but there’s no doubt that they recognise it. 

So love lavishly; your friends, family, coworkers, clients, waiters and all those you come across. There’s power in love. Leave the saving to God.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. – 1 Cor 3:7 NIV

The Ark of Safety

I wrote this piece about a week ago,  just after I’d heard the disheartening news of the Gwarzo Boy’s Secondary School  scandal in Kano state, Nigeria. I pondered on how acts of wickedness had suddenly become so rampant, and even somewhat acceptable to some. I was so livid at the dissimpassioned, flippant attitude of the school authorities to the reports, bearing in mind that most of the victims were young JSS1 boys.
Two days ago, I’d just arrived from Nigeria and walked into the living room. The “breaking news” banner flashed across the screen. As I set my trolley aside, I was anxious to read what it said “…hostage situation in Paris”, “…about eleven feared dead”. By the next morning, that number had sky-rocketed far passed what I could have ever imagined. I was saddened, but I was not surprised.

End time perils are scriptural, and cannot be prayed or wished away. In these last days, we will hear of many terrible things. Evil and perversion will multiply. But in the midst of this, a set of people will soar far above these dangers. The  children of the Most High God won’t only be exempt, they will prosper exceedingly- Malachi 4:2. GOD’s gift of salvation does not eradicate evil and wickedness from the world, but it guarantees exemption from, and victory in every one of the manifestations of the powers of darkness.

However, we must be careful not to wish our way into this protection, we must consciously make a decision to get under the covering of Jesus. Joining this ark of safety has always been easy, there is no waiting list, no admittance fee -accept JESUS into your heart, as your Lord and personal Saviour, renouncing and repenting of your sins. He loves you so much and He is ready to receive you with open arms. Living without Jesus in this age is comparable to walking into a raging war-zone unarmed and unprotected -anything can happen. So we must seek Him while He can still be found… for the night time cometh when no man can work- Jn 9: 4; Ecl 9: 10

Yes there is great wickedness. It may seem like pain and suffering is the inevitable fate of all -but there is a greater power. Power that delivers prey out of the clutches of the mighty predator. There is an ark of safety, for all who want to celebrate a ‘lifting up’ while the world laments of a ‘casting down’. There is safety in the name of the great Man of Galilee, JESUS. Brethren, do not let the evil of the day keep you from living a glorious, purposeful life. Neither you nor I can stop it, we can only be exempted from it. Financial markets are crashing and recessions are looming. The world might have changed, but God remains the same. The earth is STILL the Lord’s and He still keeps in perfect peace all who keep their eyes stayed on Him. So lift up your head and rejoice, for your redemption is close. Lift up your head and rejoice for our God is on the throne!

Recharge and Pull Through

Hello everyone! we’re in the last quarter of the year and I’m delighted because God loves to save His best for last. I know we all have projects and plans we’ve been working on. Some of us may be tired and exhausted, but I just want to share a quick word to encourage anyone who may be feeling worn-out from the challenges so far. I stand in prayer with you, and I know God will renew your strength, and engrace you to finish well! 

Blessings!

-Paschalene

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How do you handle your tough times? When you are tired of trying, tired of forgiving, tired of tough weeks or hard-headed people—how do you manage your dark days? With a bottle of pills? Alcohol? A day at the spa? Many opt for such treatments. So often, we assume they re-energize the sad life. But do they? They may numb the pain, but do they really remove it? We, like sheep follow each other over the edge, falling headlong into bars, binges and beds. Is there a solution to this?

Indeed there is.

Be quick to pray. It is at times when we life makes us feel furthest away from the love of God, that we must speak to Him as though He were in front of us. Talk to Christ who invites: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out? Come to Me (Matthew 11:28-30). God is never downcast, He never tires of hearing about your down days! Let Jesus be the friend you need. When I talk to Him, I spare no details. I tell him my fear and describe my dread.  You will always have a friend for life in Jesus Christ. What could be better than that?