Set Religion Aside

I think that we all need to go back to the drawing board. I believe it is very important that we look at the origin of the name CHRISTIAN so that we can be worthy bearers of that name.

Christians got their name from their association with the Lord Jesus Christ (see Acts 11: 19-26). The people must have seen things in the lives of these disciples that made it evident that they were "little christs". The Bible  makes us understand that we are gods; sons of the Most High. A Christian is no longer a slave but a child of God. If then we are sons (and daughters),  our character traits must support that claim. Our spiritual DNA determines our physical characteristics. Now that we have been joined with Christ, we are new creatures. We no longer want to sin but seek to please our Father and Master. Jesus Christ went about doing good and so did the disciples.

The believers in Antioch got a very large dose of God's Words that they got saturated with The Lord and there was no two-way about it- Christ was oozing out from their systems so much so that the world saw what was coming from them. And it was nothing other than Christ.

A Christian is a spiritual person (here I am talking about the real Christian and not someone who has chosen Christianity as his/her religion). This is why it is not possible to live like Christ in the flesh. No matter how hard you try to be like Him in the flesh, you will be labouring in vain. It is not by works of righteousness but by His grace alone. This implies that any attempt to do anything outside the help of the Holy Spirit makes you simply a religious person. You will not even understand what the Spirit is saying. Thus the reason many people are doggedly following the way of the flesh. The Word keeps going forth from various channels but yields no positive results.  They do not understand the rationale behind God’s instructions to us hence the difficulty to act it out. The Spirit gives life to your spirit and makes it possible to live like the Lord Jesus thus qualifying you to be called by the name CHRISTIAN.

Check this out:
For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. (Romans 2:28-29 NLT)

Enough of playing religion friends. That is not what we have been called for. Christianiy is not something you inherit from your parents. It is the product of a personal encounter with the Lord.

We must allow the Holy Spirit work on our hearts and cause the fusion between us and Christ Jesus. When this happens, we graduate from the place of religion to the place of true worship. We were made for the worship of the Almighty. We can however only worship Him in spirit and truth which further reiterates the fact that it is truly not by power or might but by the Spirit of the Lord. When we worship Him, He continues to rub off on us; making us more like Him.

At this point, we shift towards perfection. This transformation turns us into doers of His Words and not hearers alone.

Now, that’s a Christian.

A Christian obeys God’s instructions to him/her. This instructions are clearly stated in the Bible. He/she does not seek to make the words in the Bible suit his/her desires. Instead he/she seeks to have his/her life conform to the template of God's Words.

 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4:16 NLT)

Rely on the Holy Spirit to help you to become transformed into the person God wants you to be. A Christian that He is proud of. Someone Jesus is pleased to have you share His name.

Selah

~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola
© 2015

Exceptions Always Exist

There is this habit of people making generalised statements. You hear things like

"All men cheat"
"All women are materialistic"
"Women cannot be trusted"
"No one stays a virgin till marriage"
"Marriage is a necessary evil"
"Indigenes of Oyo are not trustworthy"

The list goes on and on.

Some people have become biased in their  judgement of people around them because of these twisted beliefs. Many are victims of these absurd claims. They have lost the opportunity to build healthy relationships with their loved ones. They totally close their minds against the one that they could have enjoyed a very beautiful fellowship with all in the name of 'preparing for the worst' like people would advice. They choose to believe the negativity and refuse to see the good in others. They have been blinded by their ignorance.

Some others live short of God's best for their lives because they have allowed their belief systems to be infected by the negative claims of the world. They have relaxed their personal standards. They have assumed the wrong stance. They say to themselves, "Everyone is doing it. Why can't I? "

My mind goes to Prophet Elijah who became sore afraid for his life that he confronted God with the claim that he was the only God fearing person left in the land but awakened to the amazing truth from the mouth of God. (see story in 1Kings 19)

Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” . . . Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!” (1 Kings 19:10, 18 NLT)

I am usually amazed at the fact that as many as 7000 upright people were still in Israel while Prophet Elijah thought he was the only one left.

The truth about this matter is that no matter how bad some people are, there will ALWAYS be good people. No matter how many people have traded their virtues for whatever pleasures of life that they have chosen, there will still be people who are upright. And God preserves the upright.

There will always be exceptions. If you look well enough, you'll find them. There wouldn't be 100% bad people.

There are still many virgins out there- you can be one too.
There are many successful marriages- you can have one too.
There are many faithful men- you can be one too.
There are many trustworthy women- you can marry one too.
There are still many fervent Christians- you can be one too.

You can be part of the good population. Your loved ones too could be part of the good population.

Go for gold. Be gold.

~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola
© 2015

Dig Out the Debris From Your Well

In marital relationships, we find that couples could begin to get tired of each other, they may not be so attracted to each other as time passes in their marriage, or they begin to loose the enthusiasm they had for their relationship if care is not taken.

I don't know if that is the case with your marriage right now. Maybe you are not as excited about your marriage like you were before you got married or when you were newly married. I however, have come to you with a message of hope today. There is hope for your marriage. This message also applies to those whose marriages are still vibrant but wouldn't want to find themselves in a dying marriage. Your marriage does not need to loose it's zest. It is possible for your marriage to get better with age instead of going stale.

The focal Scripture for this post is not talking about marriage but it is what was laid on my heart when the title was given me:


He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham’s death. Isaac also restored the names Abraham had given them. (Genesis 26:18 NLT)

This chapter is about Isaac. The enemy had filled the wells that Abraham his father had dug with dirt. Just like the righteous leaves an inheritance for his offspring, we could liken the wells to gifts that Abraham had left for his son.

Marriage is God's gift and His idea. When God gives this gift to us, the enemy is not happy with that so he tries everything possible to make you harbour the bad in your marriage instead of the good. An accumulation of the dirts that the enemy dumps in your hearts gradually seal up your chance of having a beautiful marriage like God intended for you. Like Jesus told His disciples, "While men slept the enemy came and sowed tares".

When we relax about working at our marriages, the enemy creeps in unawares and sows evil in our hearts and marriage. If we refuse to wake up, uproot the weeds from our vineyard and destroy them immediately, they gradually choke life out of our marriage until one day we find out that the marriage is actually dead.

It really does not matter for how long your well has been redundant and you have last been able to draw out fresh water from it. All that matters is for you to be willing to cooperate with God to make your marriage what He wants it to be. Your love can be revived. Your marriage can recover it's vigor. You can enjoy a romantic relationship with your spouse all over again.

It is time to begin to dig out every refuse that has been dumped in your marriage in the form of unforgiveness, insensitivity, selfishness, pride, unresolved issues, laziness, refusal to invest in your marriage,. . .

There must be water in your well.  Not just any kind of water but clean refreshing water. You must not give up until your well of love yields fresh water. You cannot be satisfied with less than the best. It is the same person that you are married to but you can constantly have the newly improved version of yourself and your spouse. Your marriage needs a new name. You need to have a wonderful testimony about your marriage- A sincerely wonderful testimony. The beautiful names you had attached for your spouse needs to be restored too. Seek sincere  change and pursue it. Instead of calling her Iya Sade, how about you go back to calling her sweetie like you did when your love was sizzling hot.

No water should be forceful enough to quench the fire of your love. Don't allow it.


Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife. (Proverbs 5:15)

Go on and begin to enjoy your spouse. Invite God into your marriage afresh. Ask Him to be the head of your home. You will notice that it was after Abraham had died that the wells got filled with dirt. Leaving God out of your marriage is the gravest error you could commit. Go back to where you left God.

Your destination is a wealthy place. God wants you to enjoy your marriage and not to endure it.

It can happen for you if you will be willing and obedient.

It will happen for you in Jesus' name!

~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola
©2015

Believe the Best Before You Assume the Worst

One factor that destroys relationships is making assumptions. For instance, a wife calls her husband who didn't answer his phone. She assumes that he must have been with another woman hence his refusal to answer her call. A husband too may start problems where they are nonexistent because he chooses to mind read his wife. He thinks and probably voices her 'unspoken thoughts'. Now the probability is that there is actually nothing to worry about (as much as there could be something to worry about).

Someone will say that there is no smoke without a fire. Well, for your information, sometimes there is actually no fire at all. That thing you are calling smoke is actually fog. It is an environmental issue and it's blurring your vision- and you have refused to see past it.

We must remember that our Heavenly Father believes the best about us. He loves us that much. Even when we didn't deserve that love, He loves us still. He believes some good could still come out our rottenness. He could have just let us perish but He didn't.

If our relationships must thrive, we must learn to believe the best about our partners. That is what love does. Give him/her the benefit of the doubt. Being overly suspicious of one's partner can spell doom for the relationship. That may stem from your own insecurities and mere paranoia.

Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (1 Corinthians 13:7 AMP)

It is however possible that God is helping you see the hidden things about your partner. This is to say that I am not saying you should go blind to the bad characters being exhibited by your partner. What you need is the help of The Holy Spirit to discern when there is truly a smell of trouble and when there is none.

Overall, choose to believe the best about your friends or spouse. Don't allow the devil sow the seed of discord in your relationship through your negative thoughts. Don't create fires of war where there was none before. The experiences people share, movies we watch etc carry with them truck loads of negativities that if care is not taken, precious relationships will keep being destroyed. Seive the information that comes your way. Test every spirit, action, motive,  . . .and choose that which is the truth.

Preserve your relationships. Believe the best before you assume the worst.

Guard your heart with all diligence.

May the love of God be shed abroad in your hearts and mine!

~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola
© 2015

Positivity After Negativity

I was not even sure what the title of this post would be. . .

 Anyway, I had to travel last weekend for an event decoration and I'll like to share with you something that was ministered to me on that journey.

The road that led to the town where the event was to hold was really rough. The road was pothole laden. We even had to pass over a 1920s bridge that could only allow a vehicle to pass per time. I was just getting tired of the journey when suddenly we got to a well tarred express road. I heaved a sigh of relief at that point.

It was at that point that I got the message for today.

Sometimes, the road we travel on in life would be very rough. Sometimes we experience so much dryness like we were in a desert land. Sometimes darkness overshadows us so much so that we could almost hold it in our hands.

But God has promised that He will turn things around for His own. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Begin to smile at the storms raging against the ship of your life because Jesus is there with you. God is in the business of renewing things. He has done it before and He will do it again. His Words are yea and Amen! This too shall pass.

He will turn your morning into dancing.
He will give you beauty for ashes.
He will give you strength in place of fear.
He will replace darkness with light.

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19 NLT)

. . . And this is going to happen suddenly.

Hear this:

Long ago I told you what was going to happen. Then suddenly I took action, and all my predictions came true. (Isaiah 48:3 NLT)

When the Lord makes it happen for you, you will be like a dreamer and The Lord alone will be glorified.

Get ready my friends for the change you desire from the Lord. You shall soon testify.

March into your victory!

~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola
© 2015

There is sharing in love

Yes, I meant exactly what I just wrote. Today is boxing day and I don't know if we all know why the boxing day exists. It's supposed to be a day for giving presents out. A day of love sharing, especially to the less privileged.

It's always very easy to say "I love you!" To others but do we in the real sense of the word? For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God Gave because He Loved. It's of note that God's giving was borne out of love. His love was unconditional.

That's the way our love too should be expressed as children of God. The product of love's pregnancy is giving. Sharing is embedded in the womb of love. Sharing is inside love. You can give without loving the person. However, when you love, you will give. You can't love without giving. Love does not seek to take from, it seeks to give. It doesn't give reluctantly or with compulsion. It gives cheerfully and willingly. Love and giving are inseparable twins. Love being the older one, because it comes first. It reaches/calls out to giving.

It's also emphasized that we give God cheerfully. He loves a cheerful giver. A cheerful giver is one who loves God. I wonder how much you have spent on gifts this season. Were they borne out of love?

~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola 

Your Spouse Deserves Your Best Not Your Leftover

The common thing nowadays is that many people give their best to their jobs, friends, . . . while their spouses get the crumbs that fall from the table. Let's face the fact. When you leave home by 5.30 am and don't return until 10 or 11 pm totally exhausted, what's left to give to your loved one? The odds are that your spouse is rehearsing his/her sleeping moves by the time you get home and that you are so tired that all you have strength left for is to sleep. You do this Mondays to Fridays and sometimes during weekends.

Before you shutdown and say that Omolola does not understand. . . I do understand very well that we need to make money to meet the needs of the family. You would say that all you are doing is solely for the family and that If you don't invest your energy into the job you may loose it you say and your family will no longer be able to enjoy the luxury they are enjoying now.  It is a good thing to be diligent and i applaude you for seeking to give your family a life of convenience. However, Life is more than working like a jackal in order to meet your material needs.

You see, I keep thinking about the reason for the recent increase in the number of couples with marriage problems. I perceive that one major reason is the dynamic nature of our work. The husband is completely engrossed in his work and the wife buries herself in her business. Husbands and wives get caught up in their busy schedules that they forget to nurture the most important human relationship they now have.

Of course, your most productive hours are during the day. And you spend them at work. Because your body is still agile during work hours, you talk politely to your colleagues at work. By the time you get home and your spouse asks you a question or two, you begin to answer through your nose because you are now totally exhausted. You manage to eat dinner and your eyes begin to revolt against staying awake. Your spouse is talking to you in your living room right here in Nigeria but you are far away in Jamaica.

The communication lines get broken down gradually. And you know that saying about little drops accumulating into a mighty ocean? In no time you two become strangers. Your colleagues at work almost know you better than your spouse does. You no longer enjoy the companionship which is one major thing God set marriage up for. Your sex life also goes dormant. The walls of your marriage are being broken down bit by bit. The husband feels that he has found a friend in a female colleague at work and the wife also thinks that her boss understands her better than her husband does.

Do you smell trouble? I do. But it did not start in one day. The trouble had been trickling down in little doses and now it has accumulated into a clog in the pipe of your marriage. If care is not taken my dear married people, that pipe is going to get totally blocked.

Before you exonerate yourself dear woman, I'm coming for you too. . . You spend all your energy tending to your kids so much that by the time your husband gets home from work, you have nothing to offer him as a friend. He tried talking to you about what happened at work the other day and you slept off on him. Do you also remember the other night 4 months ago that he tried touching you and you asked him to wait till later in the week and he is still waiting. . .

Okay let's leave it at that for now.

The major problem really is the refusal to apply wisdom to our individual situations. It takes wisdom to build a marriage. A wise woman and a wise man build their own marriage.

Building is an intentional act. We must be deliberate with our efforts to make our marriages be what they should be.

Call your spouse during the day. Let him / her know that you are thinking about them. In the midst of your hectic business and the busyness of your day, deliberately do things that will communicate love to your spouse. Let every action of yours pass across the important message of your spouse being the most important human in your life. . . And make sure it's a continuous action.

I am going to give you one  formula that won't fail- Ask The Holy Spirit to inspire you. He can NEVER go wrong.

Be thoughtful. Decide to relocate your spouse to the top of your priority list today.

Give your spouse your best. That is the way it should be.

And I know that God will be proud of you.

~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola
© 2015

The One Reason You Should Abstain From Sex Outside Marriage

I know you might say to yourself that there are several reasons why one should not engage in fornication or adultery but here today, I am pointing out only one reason. And it is reason enough to run away from having sexual relations with someone that is not your husband or wife.

I have heard people give advice to youths about reasons they should abstain from sex outside wedlock. They almost always put the limelight on the possibility of getting infected with sexually transmitted diseases and getting pregnant. As much as these are good reasons, there's an even more important reason to flee sexual sins.

The fear of HIV is not the perfect reason to abstain.
Neither is the fear of getting pregnant (or of getting a lady not your wife pregnant).

It is the fear of The Lord that should motivate your decision to abstain from sex outside marriage. The fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Abstain from sexual relations outside marriage because you fear God.

Joseph is a perfect example of a youth who fled from sexual sins. He knew that any woman that was not his wife was a no-go-area for him. He did not indulge in fornication because he could not come to terms with making God displeased with him. His reason was not that he could get his master's wife pregnant or that he could get caught and loose His job. The fear of God screwed tyres firmly to his feet and made him flee the temptation to disappoint His God.

Joseph said,

". . . How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”
(Genesis 39:9 NLT)

Condoms and other contraceptives may protect you from pregnancy and STIs but they will not protect you from the wrath of God that awaits fornicators  and adulterers.

Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept undishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste [all guilty of sexual vice] and adulterous. (Hebrews 13:4 AMP)

Fear God and there will be no need to fear pregnancy or STIs.

Or why would you fear things that can basically have negative effects on just your body more than someone that can destroy both your body and soul?

Decide to steer clear of any form of sexual sins from today. It is your decision to make.

Or what wisdom is there in a man or woman to seek to satisfy his or her sexual urges which only has temporal effect and lose his/her soul forever?

Fear God and depart from evil. Then it shall be well with you!

~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola
© 2015

¤ Sweetened Scones ¤

Get creative. . .

¤Peanut-Banana combo¤

My daughter won't eat bananas ordinarily until I came up with this idea.

It's a nutritious way of serving the banana as a snack.

You can serve this to adults too.

No one's left out!



Ingredients
*Roasted Peanut (1/2 cup)
*Bananas (4 or more)

Mary's Method
- Grind peanut into a free flowing flour in the dry cup of your blender.

- Wash and peel your bananas. Cut into small pieces (about 1.5cm long)

-Gently roll the banana cuts in the ground peanut.

C'est fini

Enjoy!

~MARY's Kitchen