JOY OF THE NEW WEEK!🤩

HELLO! And How are You? How was Your Weekend? Mine was spent in the presence of God.

Let me remind you something about God For the week, and the reminder is in a song.

"Grace Alone, Which God supplies,

Strength Unknown, He will provide,

Christ in Us, Our cornerstone,

We will go Forth, in Grace Alone."

This song reminds us in a way to take a deep breath, and remember that by strength shall no man prevail. Maybe you have a deadline to meet, or things that are compulsory for you to do. Well, remember that God Alone can give you the strength, Grace and Accuracy required for what you do.

Remember that this week, All your goings and comings should be under the Grace of God Alone. Walk with the Knowledge that you are never alone, since you met Christ. He walks with you whenever and wherever.

He carries you.

Psalmist said in an excerpt from the bible "I shall not fear what man can do unto me". Maybe you have a Strict boss, or Co workers who love to think the worst of you. Let them.

Do not fear, or work to change their opinion. Focus on your reason for being where you are, and The God of Peace will Exalt you.

Happy New Week,

MaryA.

BELLA WILSON 2!!! 💅

Three days after the funeral of Rose Wilson.

Mrs Wilson knocked on the door of her house and it opened to  a complete stranger to her. The person she was staring at had pink dyed hair, long acrylic coloured fingernails and was dressed scantily in a crop top and crazy ripped jean trouser loudly chewing a gum. The bags she was holding fell from her hands as she stood frozen by the doorway in shock. Her husband came up behind her a while after and also couldn't believe his eyes. 

"Hi" Bella says raising one hand in greeting after which she turned around to walk back to her room.

"Bella?" Her mother croaked, struggling to reconcile what she was seeing with her daughter.

" In the flesh Mama" Bella replied popping the gum she blew out.

"What...are...is...Oh God" Her mother exclaimed, finding it increasingly difficult to form a coherent sentence.

"How have you been? Fantastic. Have you been going for church services? No. Why didn't you call your father and I? Didn't feel like it. That's all you'll have asked for well I helped you out and on that note, see ya later mama" Bella announced and walked out of the room.

Mrs Wilson felt like she was in a bad dream. She had left the crusade early because she couldn't bear the sympathetic faces and the solemn whispers of everyone around her nor their condolences, not to mention the criticism of her friends who felt it's their job to inform her that " real parents attends their daughter's burial". She knew Rose's death would be harder on Bella, but this wasn't what she expected. never in a million years would she had seen this coming. 

Tyler had also refused to stay a second longer after the burial despite Mrs Wilson pleading for him to stay back for Bella. He must have needed an escape from the memories that would haunt him had he stayed back. Bella on the other hand has stopped bothering to picked up or return her mother's call. This went on until Mrs Wilson couldn't bear not knowing how her daughter was faring all alone back home. 

There was this underlying fear that she would lose her only surviving daughter too. The fear drove her to pester her husband who agreed with her and they had taken the next flight home.

Mrs Wilson didn't even know where things could've started to go wrong. She knew the effect of Rose's death would be traumatizing for her baby, but this was not the way she had assumed bella would grieve. Mostly, because it does not represent anything she and Rose stood for when the later was alive. A conversation she had with Rose when she was alive bubbled to the surface.

" Mum do you ever wonder what would happen to Bella if none of us was around when she needs us. You know she loves attention a lot. I wonder if she'll be alright by herself" Rose had said smiling as the two were making dinner in the kitchen that day.

"I think she'll do just fine. She's stronger than you think" Mrs Wilson had replied

Now she tearfully found her way to a sofa and sank into it.

"She's not fine on her own Rose your sister is not fine" She whispered through her quivering lips.

Mrs Wilson had always thought Bella was wiser and strong beyond her age and had treated her as such too. Bella never whined about anything nor did she ever tell when she's going through something. She always smiled and tell her "Mama I love you" "Mama I got this" "Mama I'll finish this". But, Bella was still just a child, and no child should have to be strong on their own for too long. At least, not her children, Not her Bella.

   Mrs Wilson had always thought Bella had it all together. Bella never asked for anything but she had begged ceaselessly for her and her husband not to leave but they didn't think much of it and left. Now Mrs Wilson knew Bella was about to loose it and she had needed them to help keep her in check but they have failed her. Mrs Wilson dropped to the floor hands joined together telling God to teach her what to do because she had failed as a mother.

With Love,

Grazie.

 

YOU AND YOUR WORTH!😌

Unknown to us, our level of self esteem has started since we were kids. Without our permission, our parents helped to develop or tear down our self esteem, our class mates, our teachers, and our neighbors.

What is self esteem exactly? It is the level of confidence you might have in yourself, how you measure your self Worth.

Step into this corner with me for a thorough examination. Being confident does not mean you can talk in public. It is just one aspect of confidence. The bible says the righteous shall be as bold as a lion. As a psychologist, I try to wonder how that fits into all your life experience that has torn you down and broken your level of self- worth.

(A little unprofessional advice from me , Psychology can manage you and help you, God does not manage it, he conquers it. Choose your help wisely)

The bible says irrespective of your background, and how others have torn you down, it is saying you could still retrieve your self Worth , but how?

The kind of insight we get into our own lives is illuminated by the spirit of Christ. Most people who struggle with their self worth have trouble accepting who they are and understanding their experiences. They have so many daydreams where things could be better, but it never happens. 

Psychology will try to analyze your past and childhood experiences and say this is the cause, avoid this and that. They would recommend things to do.

God would give you insight into why those things happen, and link it to your sense of purpose. Suddenly it all makes sense, and you want to brag and show the world your "battle scar". Until you allow God to connect the endless and meaningless dots In your life, you might continue to fight a battle you should never have been fighting on your own.

So go to God's Therapy room now, and ask him for help. Let him illuminate you.

Love,

MaryA.

THE RADIO SYNDROME!📻

There is something we can all learn to do. The Act of talking to God. And waiting for him to talk back. Most of us are great talkers but terrible listeners.

Yesterday, I and my friend were talking to an elderly man about our plans, and then he asked us if we had prayed and heard God's opinion about it. We both laughed and said yes, but our case was the same. God has been silent. He hasn't been saying anything.

The man laughed and said, or you weren't listening. Immediately, I realized I had talked to God, but I'd also assumed some oppurtunities will close while the only one God wants for me will remain opened. I had been playing games with God. I hadn't sat still to listen. To say God what do you think about this and let him talk.

Some of us even lie against God. We go through the ritual of telling God things pretending we actually care about his opinion and decisions when in reality, we have made up our minds about what we would do, then we go out and tell others "God said....." but God has not spoken.

A warning for you, if you are this kind of person, and you mislead others because of your selfish, then there is a curse on you. 

Daily, we interact, Daily we chat on our phones with our friends, we talk to and greet our neighbors. But daily we hardly talk to God. It would be hard for your neighbor to want to continually see you if you only talk without letting them respond. In fact, I am sure they would avoid you or snap at you.

So why do that to God?.

This is what I call the Radio Syndrome.

Talking endlessly without a response.

God is tired of radios. He wants reality shows with you.

Love,

MaryA.

TO ERR OR FORGIVE!! 🥴

To Err is human, To forgive is divine.

There is an abandoned relationship in between this statement. The relationship of being human in the divine. This proverb is accurate, but the human mind has found a loop hole in this and made it a badge of honor.

We make it seem like it is impossible to forgive some hurt and wrong.However, the only impossibility lies In the way you think.

We now brag in our failures to forgive our fellow erring human, but we hope to be forgiven when we err. We are like that wicked servant the bible talked about whom after his master forgave his debts went to throw is fellow debtor in prison for something smaller.

God will not forgive on your behalf, you have to do the forgiveness yourself through help from God.

There is a popular Christian movie titled Abbatoir...The main character lives in a world of unforgiveness, and his life turned out to be a nightmare. He had woven his own prison of despair in his vengeful mind.

We all have friends who secretly think like the are better than us, and occasionally act like it, some come from divided family, or unhappy family, some are still struggling to find acceptance in the world. We've all been hurt one way or the other, and then our thoughts carry so much vengeance that it is all we think about when we sleep.

The bible says as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. What does that make you?

To forgive is divine, but in you. Divine in me. In the sense that you hurt me badly, or I hurt you badly. Yes! It hurts so much It feels like your blood is boiling. Yet in the midst of what you are feeling, you forgive by faith. You tell God to take the pain away from you.

Love,

MaryA.

DREAMER! DREAM ON!! 😴🌛

Happy New Week!!!

I trust your week began well.

It is the Last week for the Month of January, and I have a free advice for us all.

Often times, we set yearly goals, and then promptly forget about them until the year is almost over.

A month is nearly gone out of twelve. And before you know it, half the year has gone.

My advice is to take your yearly goal, and assign months to them too. when you want them to take off.

Having a yearly goal is good, but it in not specific enough.

For instance, I am a writer, and I want to complete a novel this year. There will be good and productive distractions along the way, like church programs, seminars, Jobs and activities. 

However, I must also consider extraneous factors like writer's block? or maybe technical issues with the laptop?

Which means that every free time I have should go into making such goals productive.

  The bible says, do you have a vision/goal? Write it down (in your planner/journal) that he may run that reads it. (This means once you have written it down, you don't close it and assume you are done planning. It means you go back to it over and over again, This motivates you more because you have planned and organized and reading it again will make you almost taste the achievement of said Goal)

Do not be a dreamer! Be a dreamer!!!!

There are two common sets of Dreamers, The ones that dream like Nebuchadnezzar, pharaoh, the men in the prison with Joseph. Some of this men had good dreams. Yet the dream was useless for them because they lacked the ability to interprete it. They knew the dream was significant, it could make a change in their destiny, yet they didn't know about the writing it down and planning and making it plain . 

The second sets of Dreamers are the Joseph Kind.... They start out at first without understanding how great their dream. is, and they end up talking about it to the enemy who ensures their dream dies with them or tries to make their dream die with them. They are Unwise dreamers, but they learn from their mistakes. Sadly, Not everyone has the chance to learn from their mistakes.

There is the third set of Uncommon dreamers. The kind like Daniel. This one's have the midas touch in the sense that even while dreaming it, they can make things happen in the dream stage. Whatever they do will decidedly prosper. You hardly find this set of Dreamers in a talkative group. They are at every productive gathering that has a goal. Leading it!!!!

The difference between this dreamers are...

1) The first set of Dreamers lack divine wisdom. "By strength shall no man prevail." They know that verse, but they don't understand it, and they don't really try. Throughout, they depend on someone to interpret for them. 

2) The second set of Dreamers have a good heart. Yes! Their heart is in the right place, but they are ruled by emotions. Joseph couldn't keep the good news to himself. Emotions as we know it cannot be trusted. It is a destructive leader. The serpent appealed to Eve's emotion in Eden "don't you want to be wise as God?" David looked up and saw Beersheba, his heart jumped in his chest and he killed his friend. Saul's emotions ruled the throne of Israel and he ended up rejected of God. If Mary had let her emotions rule, Jesus wouldn't have died for our sins. This people have to get a rein on their emotions. You rule your emotions, It doesn't rule you.

3) The Daniels of this world are all round dependable. They are the sisters you can count on for sound support. The children that don't give their parents hypertension. They are responsible people, not by the world's standard, but by heavens standard. They love God desperately. 

Which one are you? You can always change your post.

Love,

MaryA.

MEET BELLA WILSON.👩‍💼

Bella shut her Bible in frustration and resisted the urge to hiss loudly. She had gone to a revival hour the previous night and rededicated her life to Christ promising to do all that has been commanded of everyone in the Bible but here she was trying to read and meditate on the word of God but the argument going on downststairs would not let her. 

         

     Her parent were at it again and the music her elder brother was blasting through the speaker from the room across hers wasn't helping either. She wondered why it seems she was the only one who was touched by last night revival session in church while the rest of her family seems to be unaffected. What was worse is her dad happen to be one of the respected pastor of the church and her mom is the one everyone referred to as "the virtuous woman" perfect model. People looked up to her parents a lot and she and her siblings were often treated by others in that regard. Now and then she often wished people knew how her parents really were but then again they haven't always been that way. 

     Bella Wilson is a 16 years old girl she is the last born of the family making her the third child. Bella growing up was looked after and doted on by everyone. She was brought up with love which made her a caring, kind , loving and God fearing girl whom everyone loved and whom several parents took as the perfect role model for their children. Bella was very active in church she always helped out in anyway she could and she was a chorister as well. She was very close to her elder sister Rose. She looked up to Rose as her mentor. Rose and Bella did everything together and people were often jealous of the strong bond they shared as sisters. Her sister Rose was also a very God fearing girl who loved to help people in need and was very active in church also. She was very talented and was a fashion designer who made dresses freely for people. Bella loved to wear only clothes made by her sister and sometimes matched dresses with her also.

 

   However, things changed back when Bella was 14 years old and Rose was 16. The two sisters had gone out to deliver dresses Rose had made for the children in the orphanage not far from their home. The two sisters went out talking and singing in Bella's car which she was driving and after giving out the dresses made, they headed back home facetiming their brother Tyler who was 18 years old and was in college away from home. The trio were catching up with eachother when suddenly a car came headfirst with no control heading towards them. Bella looked up and knew the full impact would be on her side, she closed her eyes waiting for it to come but it never came.

 Few hours later, she woke up in a bed, she was in the hospital. She had fainted from the shock. Wondering how could she be alive she remembered she never fully felt the impact of the car all she had heard was just the sound of the crash. She opened her eyes tearingly looking up to see her parent and brother at her side and she knew without question Rose was gone. Her sister had swerved the car around at the last minute to take the full impact of the crash in place of her and had died on spot. Bella stood up shakingly and moved to get out of the hospital. Her parent, doctor and brother went after her telling her to take it easy. Few hours later she was discharged and went home. She still couldn't believe her sister was gone. Her parents had to leave for a 6 days crusade few days later and that meant they would miss Rose's burial. Bella pleaded for them to stay back for the burial but her dad said if God tells them to go who are they to say No? They left the following day and on Roses burial day the ceremony went without her parents. The next day Bella visited Rose grave and saw that some pictures had been put there. 

  Looking at them, she saw a framed picture of Rose with their parent smiling. She felt a sudden anger thinking of how her parents weren't there when Rose died and how they chose to leave for a crusade instead of paying their last respect to their own child. Bella took the frame and broke it to pieces on the floor, took the picture out and tore her parents out of it leaving only a smiling Rose behind. She then pocketed that picture of her sister and walked away leaving all her good personalities and love for God behind. After that Bella became a complete different person.

Signed 

Grazie.

MaryAs Note - Grieve has made an atheist out of so many christians who were once willing to lay down their lives for the gospels sake.

I don't know about you, but I feel Bella's pain. I'm rooting for her. 

YOU AND CONFIDENCE!!!😌

There is something I'd like to discuss that a lot of us deal with as individuals. Growing up I know some of us believed in befriending girls or guys that we believed to be prettier or more handsome than we are. This are people we call "The Lookers", who dictated the status quo.

 Some of you became slaves to this set of people, indulging their every whims and bowing to their demands. The underlying factor is that you subconsciously believed that with time you'd become relevant due to the kind of company you kept. 

Your parasitic relationship with these people (The Lookers) fed their already inflated ego and you helped them unknowingly to crush your already low self-esteem. You have patterned your life after their blueprint hoping to become like them , which unfortunately has ended up badly for you now.

   Low Self esteem is a disease which affects it's victim a lot in all areas of life be it physically, financially, emotionally, productively and so on. Till date a lot of individual still deal with this troubling issue and while there are a lot of contributing factors, a renowned one is body weight.

Its no news that people are often body shamed about their sizes which i find disgusting and downright cruel. It's not only food that contributes to body weight, it could be a drug a person has to take occasionally , heredity or some kind of sickness. Which is why we have to keep our judgement and opinion to ourselves. Why do we even feel the need to say what we think about our fellow's body sizes?

 We all are created in the perfect image of God and we all are fearfully and wonderfully made and if we obey the most important commandment which says to love our neighbours(everyone) as ourselves then we wouldn't dare to hurt someone's feelings.

You would be surprised by just how much damage low self esteem can do to an individual. Take for example those children who called Elisha a bald man mocking him not only provoked him to anger but also got themselves killed brutally which goes to show you that nothing good can ever come from putting other people down. Instead of talking ill about someones weight, be the one to make them feel good about themselves.

 Remind them that they're royalty which means they've got everything abundantly including beauty and perfection in who they are. A lot of people have commited sucide because of low self esteem. They feel like they are unworthy no matter what they do. Speak gently and kindly to everyone, make people around you feel loved and important just like Jesus deemed fishermen worthy of being disciples. Spread love, happiness and kindness and in so doing we show others how to treat others becoming good examples for all to follow. Put a smile on someones face today. Make the world a better place.

With Love,

Grazie.

ON YOUR SIDE!!!!🌝

Firstly, I want to announce that tomorrow is our first Reality Thursday!!!!

And Friday is Our first Fiction Friday!!!!.

We hope to continue this way unless God tells us otherwise.

Today, we just want to encourage you and let you know that God loves you.

There is a need to remember that God wants to be your best friend. He wants to be your number one cheerleader like he was for job. He wants to be proud of you. He is rooting for you. He has faith that the good in you will overcome your many flaws.

However, you need to make a choice. Will you continually decide to say..." well, I still have to enjoy life." 

The enjoyment you know puts you in spiritual bondages untold. You need to let your heart and mind be focused on things above, and not things below. Where your heart is, your treasure is there too.

You cannot focus on God and "Life's enjoyment" at the same time. You focus on Enjoying God, and the God of peace will preserve you from all evil.

Love,

MaryA.

DRAMATIC EMOTIONS!!!😜

You don't have to worry

and don't you be afraid

joy comes in the morning

troubles they don't last always

for there's a friend in Jesus

who will wipe your tears away

and if your heart is broken

just lift your hands and say

I know that I can make it

I know that I can stand

no matter what may come my way

my life is in your hands.

Say you are at the edge of desperation, and everything looks decidedly bleak for you. You begin to question the usefulness of God in your life, and why he said you should ask him what you want when he knows he's not gonna give you.

Remember that you see things with the eyes of a man, and that emotions are not to be trusted. They make terrible decisions for you. Just ask Sarah, whose feeling of barrenness led her to give Hagar to Abraham.

You just have to look inside of yourself and remember who you are, and you would begin to slowly understand that you can and will in fact make it through that situation, that God is actually nearer than you had imagined, because when you have cleared the cobwebs of your dramatic emotions, you'd realised that God has given you all you need. They all waiting "for the right time."

So repeat with me. 

"I know that I can make it

I know that I can stand

No matter what may come my way

Jesus, my life is in your hands."

Breath in and then slowly breath out and release yourself to him in surrender.

Love,

MaryA.

NEW WEEK, NEW TROUBLE!!🙃

The steadfast love of the lord never ceases. His mercy never Comes to an end. The song writer says, they are new every morning. I say every moment.

Great is thy faithfulness, dear father.

I trust our weekend was great.

Fear not. God wants you to relax and be reassured of his love for you. In this weekend gone by, many have sinned, and many have made drastic decisions after being lured and seduced by the devil. I had my own moment, but God grounded me in the truth.

Take a moment to breath in. That air you breath for free without stress or strain, is God showing love to you. He is around you. Do not let the devil drive a wedge between you and God.

Come boldly before the throne of Grace that you may obtain mercy in your time of need. Talk to the father the way you know how. He can handle your anger, frustration, disappointment in yourself. 

 He can handle it all. It is a new week, and whatever you did wrong, God has forgiven you the moment you asked, Do not let the devil place on you the load of guilt and shame.

Have Confidence in Jesus.

We will say a little prayer together of you don't mind.

Dear father, Thank you for your love that cannot be contained. Thank you for being a father to me especially when I am undeserving. This is a new week lord, and I want it to be different. I want to sense your presence wrapped around me, I want to eschew evil. I want to do things differently than I used to. Most importantly, I want to walk in Godly counsel. 

I have doubts in my own strength, and I am reassured it's not by power or by might, but by your spirit. Let your spirit be mighty upon me.

I give myself up to you. For your glory.

May your name be praised forever.

Love,

MaryA.

OLUWA IS INVOLVED 👼

NOTICE!!!!!

FICTION FRIDAY, will officially commence next week. 

Have a lovely weekend, we resume on Monday again.

 

Did you think that you were meant to walk this life alone? That's funny if you think so, because from day one, no one has ever survived on their own.

From your taking your first step, to your saying your first words, there's a greater someone who has always been involved. GOD. All this things seem trivial or too petty, for God to be involved in, but it is not.

That is why from the clothes you wear, to where you are going to buy your wares to the friends you want to make, Oluwa has to be involved. That way, you save yourself a lot of wasted time. You invest your time in the right activities at the right time and early in life you attain the result.

It's so sad to see a lot of adults struggling to make something out of their lives. This one's are fighting in their own strength, trying to figure out the right thing to do at it's right time, but they never can tell unless they involve God. So let's save each other some sweats and put all our eggs in God's basket, that's the only place where it is safe.

After all, we walk by faith and not by sight.

Love,

MaryA.

DEAD OR ALIVE.💀😇

Good news for our Amiable Readers.

We are introducing Fiction Friday to y'all

Coming Tomorrow.

In the mean Time, settle down and listen to this Testimony of mine. I promised to share it this year.

So on December 15th, it was our Christmas party at my PPA in Abeokuta Ogun state.

We had prepared for weeks to make the party memorable for the students and we attended.

We corp members are 5 in number, 4 ladies and one guy. One of us arrived and told us her brother had a baby somewhere around obada area, and she wanted to go for the naming and celebrate. Immediately, Yoyo suggested we go with her as well wishers. (No real name is used). I didn't really like the idea, neither did Bee, as we exchanged glances, but I figured

 Rejoice with those who rejoice right???

So after a while, we piled into an Uber and arrived at our destination in a short period of time. By the time the celebration ended, I was feeling quite uncomfortable in my spirit. So I went ahead of the ladies while they were busy chattering behind me. I began to check myself for sins, and began to pray for forgiveness In case I had sinned.

We got to the bus stop, and it was getting really dark. Our school was on the outskirt of town, which meant we needed to get moving ASAP.

We stopped two bike men, since we were four.

However, Yoyo complained that she could not take bike because of her eyelash. she had fixed her eyelashes that day.

I was a little bit irritated, because it was getting darker, and time was going, but luckily for us, a Keke napep passed at that exact moment, and it was in fact very empty.

Perfect for four ladies about to be stranded.

Bee went first, and for some reasons she sat in the front. Naturally, the last person to enter sits in front because its uncomfortable, and I was the last person , but I found seat at the back to the right.

As we were going, the ladies engaged in some lewd banter with the Driver and I found myself distracted once again in my spirit, so I began to pray in tongues quietly. I started doubting in my spirit because I had read at devotional that some people's tongues is mere noise before the devil. Somehow, I figured I couldn't waste time doubting , so I tried to switch to English became Yoruba doesn't come smoothly as I'd like. However, I found that I could pray in Yoruba, and I was saying... "Oluwa, gbe ija mi." 

meaning. "God, be my defender."

It didn't make an ounce of sense to me to be praying that prayer in a Keke napep, but I didn't have time to figure it out because suddenly the vehicle jerked forward and then the napep began to spiral out of control.

I watched the driver struggle and fail to gain control, I watched as we went to hit a strong iron railings that divided the road in two, the strength of the iron sent us spinning back into the road, which by some miracle was free.

However, unknown to me, who was silently calling on the only sure name I know "Jesus."... With the earlier impact, the driver had fallen out of the napep.

So it remained Four clueless ladies in a moving tricycle, heading towards a Fork in the road. Vehicles were coming from left and right and even in front. It was a tricky junction.

Then God came over Bee who was sitting in front, and she gathered courage to grab the steering and she wheeled us strongly towards the side of the road, where a car was parked and two bike men without passengers.

We hit the vehicle and bike men's who came down with a crash. The napep came to a halt, and we all climbed out unhurt except for bee who was shaken probably from adrenaline draining out of her body.

We were worried for the bike men, but in closer inspection, we realised they were the bike men we had stopped earlier to convey us to this very location.

What would have happened if we had taken the bike? We would never know.

Sometimes God uses artificial eyelashes to save his people. He would use anything to come to your rescue.

We would realize later that God gave each of us a role. He used all of us for each other.

I am alive, and breathing, so are my other corp members. 

Something's, only God can Explain.

Love,

MaryA.

FOOLISH FAITH. 🙃

Without Faith, it is impossible to please God - Equation 1

The Just shall live by faith - Equation 2

conclusion - Your life

With this above equation, it is safe to say your life could be a right or wrong conclusion for said equation. Right?

We live in a world where faith is equal to foolishness. No? 

Then I daresay christians are called to be consistently foolish in the world for their lives to please God. Every thing a heaven bound man does, he does by faith. Forgiveness is by faith, strength is by faith, ability is by faith. Talking is by faith. You name it.

With the second Equation, How just are you? There is no scale for being just. it is either you are Just, or you are Unjust. Where do you fall? Do you live your life constantly asking for forgiveness, or is it when you step into the church or wake up in the morning for your quiet time that you remember that you are a Christian again?

There is a life you are expected to live, a life in the eyes of the world, below it, but to heaven above the world. A life of Faith. This simple words is the summary of the Christian life, pregnant with many possibilities, as to how and when you exercise such faith.

Faith is irrational, I must tell you, but it achieves great results. You cannot use your brain as a factor to determine your level of faith. Your level of faith is determined by the amount of God's word that lives in your heart, and how much of it you believe.

Trust.

Hope.

Have Faith.

Love,

MaryA.

WHO ASKED YOU?⁉️❓❓❓❓

Who asked for your opinion on the matter? 

I think sometimes we ought to ask ourselves that question. I am sure you have seen some "strong" men of God run their mouth in public places and you have been shocked.

Well, I am not talking about those men of God, who probably went home and prayed for forgiveness. I am concerned about you and how you easily pick apart people's character. So she dresses like an harlot....Isn't that a bit harsh? Remember we are all created by the same maker. Do you have to judge someone because they are not of the same conviction as you?

Someone you do not know from Adam, whom you should look upon with compassion, you look on them with contempt instead, and in the depths of your heart you actually believe that you are better than them.

How interesting. Mr/Miss Self-righteous.

It is hight time we concentrated on things that actually matters. Listen to this admonition from God.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

So in reality, you are supposed to meditate on the good side of others, learn from them. Be like Mary, who watched her own child Jesus and "kept all his sayings in her heart"..Mary kept them and thought about them.

The kingdom has no room for the proud. You have to become like little children, so whenever you catch yourself looking on someone in a judging manner. Ask yourself, who asked for you opinion. You might be surprised to trace it back to the devil.

Of course, he has a chieftaincy title known as "accuser of the brethren." and he does it well. Do not be one of his many instruments.

Vividly recall that the bible says "Judge not."

The two most important commandments spoke about love...Love God, love your neighbors....And then the bible said above such, there is no law. 

Imagine.

Selectively seive what goes through your mind, thoughts and what dictates your action.

Love,

MaryA.

IMPACT.🔥🔥🔥

Low-key, we are all struggling to be relevant, to reach a position of success, but I find myself asking various questions lately.

  In a few months, some will forget what it felt like to sit in that hall and listen to motivational speeches and revelatory verses of the bible that illuminated their minds to discover that all they need to make an impact is embedded in who they are and where they are right now.

To make an impact, one has to distinguish between Success and Fame, Money and Value. This things are never the same. In the name of chasing relevance and purpose, majority have directed their chase towards a platform that will make their name known and will attract admiring and envying gazes.

Your purpose Doen not necessarily make you popular, it is God that becomes popular, not you.

Most renowned men of God in their various fields, are known international because God has chosen to honor them, not because they had a platform for popularity. We know people like Adeboye, Kumuyi, Oyedepo, Bonnke, Graham, and Hagin because their lives Glorified God. In hindsight, you realize it is God in them that is popular, and not they themselves.

Money and Value are almost lost in themselves this days that when you ask the layman what value is, he immediately thinks money. Money has no value assigned to it, but that which you give to it.

Value however lies within You, an untapped well of potential trapped in a cage of ignorance with a solid unyielding lock called money.

Yes, money is the trap for value this days. it has mislead many and lured them into a whole different path that God hadn't destined for them.

What you need Is diligence, be diligent at what you do.

I have heard this saying several time, but the day it was spoken to me directly, it took on a deeper meaning.

"Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well."

So review your mindset today. Do not be deluded into thinking you are making and impact if your goal is money and Fame...

money will come....

The answer lies in

Seeking first the kingdom of God.

Love,

MaryA.

SIT ON THE FLOOR.😉

You have been strong for too long, and suddenly one day you needed someone else to be strong while you catch your breath.

This is the way a lot of christians live their lives. They go day to day passionate about everything, immersed in activities, from evangelism to alms giving, to visitation, and to defending the word of truth before mockers.

They hardly have the time to catch their breath.

One of the things I want to point out, is that you will definitely get tired, because you have become Martha..."Thou art cumbered with many things, but Mary has chosen the needful, which shall not be taken from her."

What is the needful? Is it fasting and prayer and marking attendance at every church service? Those are expedient, but what is needful, is a moment of sitting on the floor!!! At Jesus' feet.

Do you know what it means to sit on the floor and gaze up at someone? It means worship and adoration, and it means eagerness to listen to them because they are the wisest person you know. It means eagerness to do whatever they want you to do.

Now you are thinking, well, I have been doing just that. God wants me to evangelize and such...It is God that.......blah blah blah... 

Ask yourself a few questions? I'll give you one, you can think of a few to ask yourself.

Has it not become mere tradition? You sitting at Jesus' feet? Because 30 minutes later, you cannot remember what you read. You do your part and hardly wait for Jesus to speak back to you because you have other things to do...

My dear, you will be tired. Because you have been going by your own strength too long. Bible said they shall run and shall never be weary. Why? Because day and night, whether they sleep or walk, they do so in the strength of God.

So do not focus on an hour of meaningless quiet time and a day full of activities. Focus on a few golden minutes of listening to God, and you shall not be weary.

Love,

MaryA.

STAMMERING CHILDREN.👼👯

Firstly, I want to apologize on behalf of those who make it seem as if the level of your spiritual insight has to be the level of English you can speak. They want you to sound "photosynthesis".

If you have been measuring your spirituality by such standard, I have good news for you. From personal experience with God, no matter how complex a verse may look, God ends up bringing it back to the simple things.

Take faith for example. It looks big and insurmountable. it is hard for someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, holding the slip in his hands to look in the mirror and say "that doctor doesn't know what he's saying, God says I'm healed and That's final."

We all know that man will pray and go to crusades and miracle services and begin treatment while at it.

Yet Jesus reduces faith to having the heart of a child. Simply trusting...with the word "simply" emphasized...

The bible tells us that if we want to get to heaven, we have to be like little children. 

So if heaven is our aim, we have to revert to being children.

However, knowledgeable children. I think that is where the works come in. The knowledge that is supposed to shed light on the human situation has now become man's enemy.

We expound on the word that is written and deem ourselves smarter than the holy spirit. 

On occasions when God reveals a bit about myself to me, I have never failed to think... "o wretched man that I am... because in the eyes of my spirit, I see all the collection of rags that disguise themselves as wisdom "photosynthetic wisdom"

I write with a fire in my heart, that we would dig into the word because we starve, and not showcase our English proficiency which simpletons will mistake as anointing.

The day such men will be put to shame is the day a man of God will minister in baby language and souls will be saved.

There is however an exception, which I would not want you to focus on. There are people whose vocabulary consists of big words.. (I've been known to drop a few, ) but I am sure in their deepest of hearts, they wish they could break the word down to you and feed you bite after bite, because to such, the fire in their heart burns bright, so that they are passionate about the souls under their care, than the efficiency with which the word leaves their mouth.

God once used a stammerer, one who did wonders and whom God buried himself out of honor.

My dear, it is time to focus together, let's eat dainty bites and remind ourselves to be children before God.

Souls are waiting for the word of life in any language, pidgin, Yoruba or basic English, or big grammar.

Emphasis is on the word. Which is Christ.

Don't lose focus.

God bless.

MaryA.

POP SOCKS AND HARMATTAN😬🥶

Yesterday afternoon, I was going to visit a friend I hadn't seen in a while. We all know how it is harmattan season and because this is Nigeria, we also know better than to wear white on a dusty road, go out without nose mask or properly creaming your skin.

Oh, don't look at me like that, I did cream my skin....with oil!!!!

(I know)

You know what else I did? I wore a white top and even took a white handkerchief to serve as my nose mask.

(you can laugh at at me now)

You know what else? I was passing a very dusty road, and as I reached mid way, I realised my error. Oil and sand are like long lost friends, they want to hug each other.

Each time I reach a cemented ground, I'd stump my foot add on the floor to get rid of the dust, but you see.....I was fighting a lost cause, this friends have refused to let anything put them asunder.

By the time I got to my friend, who was waiting outside the gate, my leg already looked like I was wearing brown pop socks...

let me rephrase..."Bright brown pop socks."

Then I had to use my white handkerchief to wipe down a bit...just to look presentable (sad) . 

Thankfully, my Friend isn't judgemental or anal  about this kind of thing.

Me with my white top and stained everything else came home to wash off, and started to think how I wasn't fully prepared for the weather.

A properly thought out or well laid out plan could have saved me the trouble of looking like an half way albino.

That is how we often rush out before God gives us the go ahead for his plan.

So God told you, so and so is your wife, and you went ahead and hinted her and succeeded in scaring her away...Good luck o, or God told you that Your ministry is to be a deliverance minister, and you rushed ahead before God could impact you.

A few minutes of "waiting" would have made a difference before I rushed out.

How about you? Where is that place you are rushing to?

Often times, those rushing do not realize they are in a hurry, because they have been deceived to Believe that they are zealous for God...Zealous does not equal being impatient. Remember the fruit of the spirit is patience too.

Zealous does not mean you are on top of every activity that has God's name on it, it simply means you are doing that one work that God has assigned you to do, after receiving impartation from him... otherwise, you will burn out fast like a candle.

I pray we will wait for the right time.

God bless.

MaryA. 

HAPPY NEW YAY! 🎉🥳

 Happy New Yay!!!!

I will tell you something, so I clocked into the new year a little angry. 

(I know!!)

I had this undertone of anger that stemmed from some people provoking me. 

I didn't even feel the celebration as I attended an "adults" church for the cross over service.

You know what I mean by adult church? It meant the singing was extra slow, and there was more Yoruba than I could wrap my head around, I just couldn't keep up. There was zero tingly feeling that we had crossed over into the new year, and to top it up, I didn't get to share my amazing testimony...which is mostly my fault. I got cold feet.

Anyway...It was like everyone was smiling and happy to have clocked into the new year, I was secretly grateful, but I couldn't find room to express that joy, so I kept my face carefully blank . In fact, I found myself careful not to grit my teeth at other peoples happiness.

In the corner of my mind, there was the voice that said "the way you start your new year is the way you will end it." (I have enter yawa niyen o)

And then there were the fireworks.

I saw so many on my way home and it didn't budge me, but then there was one I could see from the window of my room once I got home, and it was so fascinating that I could feel my excitement build, and i found myself talking about the new year, then came the strange sense of calm.

And I realized, Girl you got nothing to worry about. I'm done letting the enemy write it's superstitious notification on my timeline. If I am angry in the new year, God knows about it, and he's gonna send me fireworks, and if I'm worried about the new year, he's gonna send me music, and if I am happy, he's gonna send me a party.

So one word for this new year.

YAY! (input your meaning)

Yes Adonai Yes!

Love,

MaryA.