12/10/2017 0 Comments Day 16 - On a deadline, so I copiedFrom a post on GOD's Children Group on Facebook (posted June 10, 2017):
But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. Ecclesiastes 8:12 So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun. Ecclesiastes 8:15 It is hard work to live and work the works of the FATHER. John 9:4, 16:33 But with that work, done from a genuine heart, comes joy and unspeakable blessings. In essence, fun comes from living out your purpose on earth (doing GOD's work.) Couldn't have said it better myself. 😉
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12/9/2017 1 Comment Day 15 - Cow dung on the other sideEver wished you were someone else?
Yeah, you and everyone else. One of the lessons my first Economics teacher drilled into my head was that human wants are insatiable. The grass always seems to be greener on the other side, doesn’t it? Careful though, there might be cow dung… 😊 Recently, I have been following a particular celebrity's life more closely than I have the time to. So you know...stalking her. And she just seems to have it all together, ya know? Money, beauty, talent, a good head on her shoulders, loving family, you name it... It'd be so easy to want her life. To want to be her. I have already thought about it more than once. But each time I do, the Lord reminds me that if her life was the best thing for me at this time, it’d be where I’d be. But it’s not. With intention and purpose, the Lord has brought me where I am. And I disregard His work when I wish for something else. Something that I think is better, but God knows it’s not. 12/8/2017 0 Comments Day 14 - Only Eight MinutesHappy Friday, everyone.
I have less than 10 minutes for this blog post to count as December 8th, so I just wanted to say: No matter what, God is faithful. His faithfulness is not a function of how faithful and obedient you are. No, it's a fundamental truth. Like gravity. God is faithful, just like everything that goes up comes down. 12/7/2017 0 Comments Day 13 - The Softened-Tone VersionWhen I got home this evening after an experience that left me feeling like loving Jesus was something to be ashamed of, I pulled out my laptop and pounded away at the keyboard with (un?)righteous indignation.
But the Lord was not having it.* Hours later, as I edit the blog post, the Lord tells me I need to soften my tone. I can’t attack just because I feel attacked. Fine, Dad. So here’s the softened-tone version, as ordered by Jesus: ***************************** I love Jesus, and I don’t want to apologize for it. If I had replaced Jesus in the above sentence with any other noun, possibly any other noun in the English Language, I would be applauded for my bravery in standing up for what I believe in. But … the name Jesus just does not seem to educe that kind of ovation. It’s just…not fair. And I know. I know that Jesus said this would happen. I know that He said I would feel like this, that I would be persecuted for loving Him.** It still breaks my heart, though. Jesus is just so amazing and kind-hearted and loving. And the fact that He’d be treated as a persona non-grata among those He loves so much is heart-breaking. Seriously, the foreword above is a perfect example of His perfect love. I don’t know. I don’t want to apologize for believing in what I do. I don’t want to politically correct the truth into a lie. I just want to love and live Jesus. And I pray that all who visit this website will be led to love and live Jesus forever. That’s all. Onaa Nyin.*** *Matthew 5:44 **John 15:18-19 ***I think it means that’s all. If it doesn’t, blame Kingzkid. 😊 12/6/2017 0 Comments Day 12 - Apparently, it's Day 12It's 40 degrees Fahrenheit in my neck of the woods, and I am so cold.
I love the Lord, and I know that fall and winter have their indispensable purposes. I just wish it wasn't so cold. Ugh, my Nigerian blood can't bear it. I thought I'd write something fun and light today. So let's talk about books! And the crowd goes wild...😂 I love reading! As a child, I read any written material I could lay my hands on. Yes, I sat at the dining table one evening and read the label on a packaged product so I could read something while I ate. It really happened. 😊 I still read now. I have less time on my hands, of course, but I still try to make time to read. So what do I read? Fantasy. Science Fiction. Romance. The list goes on. * Here’s what you really want to know, though: do I still read Harlequin Romance novels? I do not. It just kind of became not a thing. (That was Jesus at work, I realize now.) I try not to read books that contain sex scenes, graphic language, questionable lessons and actions I generally won’t condone in real life. Keyword in sentence above: try Every story is different. And everyone is different. As a cutie trying to be for Jesus, here’s what God’s got for you tonight: stop trying. Just let Him lead you out of you and your pleasures and into Him and His desires. So run your book choice by Jesus, and obey in faith.** Just don’t run Fifty Shades of Grey by Jesus, okay? 🙄 *I actually finished Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine earlier today. **Romans 14:23 12/5/2017 1 Comment Day 11 - Round and RoundThe wheels on the bus - I hear they go round and round.
Seems like they've been at it for millennia. Even when they'd rather not. One of the few things (and I do mean, few) that I have learnt since crossing that gulf between childhood and adulthood is that play is over. Paul said it best: when we were kids, we thought, spoke, played like kids** and it was okay. Now, we are adults. According to a meme I saw on Instagram the other day, come 2018, all the kids born in the 90's would officially be adults (over eighteen years of age). And every single one of us is supposed to have life, or at least some part of it, figured out. Okay, to be more specific, everyone is waiting with bated breath to hear what you want to spend the rest of your life doing. Doctor? Lawyer? Not-doctor?* Not-Lawyer?????* See how Doctor and Lawyer were the first two professions I wrote? That's how you can tell I'm Nigerian. I can't tell you what to spend the rest of your life doing. Here's where some people might say it's your decision. Even though you will be technically making the conscious choice to go one way over the other, don't let it be your way. Let it be God's. For your sake. Because He knows. You might think dancing is your passion and that you want to spend the rest of your life doing it. But will you really dance when you have no music? Will you dance when you don't have the right clothes on? Will you dance when you are sick and every muscle in your body is screaming in pain? Will you really dance even when you don't want to? So don't pick because you think it's what you'll want. Let God pick. He knows what you'll want. He knows what He created you to do. You'll love it (if you don't already do) and He will, too. Two birds. One stone. *I jest. **I Corinthians 13:11 I forgot this feeling.
The feeling that I get when I am about to write and brain and heart begin to struggle. It's not exactly a pleasant feeling, but I think I missed it... Weird, right? As my fingers hovered over the keyboard a few minutes ago, a myriad of ideas for today's blog came to mind. As I dismissed idea after idea one for various reasons, I felt it. That slightly panicky, guilty feeling like maybe I was doing something wrong. Was I being too concerned about what people thought? Was I being too superficial about my choices? Was I picking this idea for Jesus or for the readers? You know...the usual Maybe you are like me. Maybe you're not. There would always be pressure from the world: to fit in, to say the culturally appropriate thing, to use the politically correct term, to write a universal greeting in the stead of the word "Christmas." Sometimes you give in. Sometimes you don't. The only thing that matters, the only that is needful is that God be the first and foremost for you.* If He is, you can never go wrong. *In essence, be a cutie. But for Jesus. In my walk with God, during different seasons, I have found myself using a particular adjective to describe Him over and over.
During that period, that's what He is to me, and no other word adequately describes Him. One time, it was Amazing. And day after day during that time, I was stupefied with just how ...amazing He was. In this season, this Christmas season, a word rattles around in my head as I think about Jesus. And it is not what you think. The word is ...crazy. Yeah, I know. I feel uncomfortable even thinking this, much less writing it. But the Lord seems to be okay with it, so here goes: God is...crazy. I say that with the utmost respect. YOU know that, Lord. I don't know. The Lord just blows my mind. So much so that I have no words. Sorry...I take that back. There are just simply no words, except maybe crazy. Recently, I have been studying the book of Esther. And goodness gracious me, the Lord be doing some crazy, crazy stuff in there. If you get like 20 minutes (I know...it's a lot to ask for *- but I promise, it's worth every second), read Esther 3 (from verse 8) to the end of Esther 7. You can read the whole book if ya want too. It's not long. Here's a little backstory:
When I think about how the Lord orchestrated every single event in Esther's story, especially in those two days from Esther 5 -7, I am blown away. And to think that He is doing that in my life, too? I think my brain will implode when I see the culmination of all the work He's doing. Ha! Little wonder we'd be getting imperishable bodies.** With how awed we'd feel, we'd need all the help we can get to keep it together. 😊 *I'm being sarcastic as heck. 😊 The read is worth every second, though. **1 Corinthians 15:53 12/2/2017 0 Comments Day 8 - A Little BehindOf my many faults, the one that seems to be the most explicitly debilitating is my tendency to worry.
My name is Ronke, and I am a worrywart. Often times, my worries are illogical, and have no basis in reality - in the reality that Jesus has created for me, that is. And often times, when I begin to worry, I hear the Lord telling me not to. That He has everything under control. With sky-high financial responsibilities, job duties, and family duties hanging over my head, it's easy to forget what the Lord has said - multiple times. I know you know what I mean. Here's what the Lord has for us tonight: we forget and we worry because we have flesh. On the other hand, to completely overcome these faults of ours, we would need to be devoid of flesh. In the meanwhile though, while we still have flesh, we can be a little behind. Instead of making plans and then struggling to execute those plans, we can follow behind Jesus. We can do what He says, when He says. Trusting and knowing that there's no reason to worry because Jesus has thought about it all. And He's got it all figured out. 12/1/2017 0 Comments Day 7 - T.G.I.FIt's Friday, y'all!
Praise to the King of Kings. Because only He could have gotten me through this week. Throughout the day, I thought about what I would write about tonight. Some thoughts came to mind, but one in particular stood out. It still does, so here goes: Before I became a Christian, I didn't want to. See - becoming a Christian, in the true sense of the word, held no appeal for me. Oh, don't get me wrong: I was a Nigerian child growing up in a God-believing household, so I went to church every Sunday. I even attended a Catholic school for three years where I had mass every single morning! Thinking back on those years now, I realize how unbelievably cool the Lord was as I stumbled through life. It also makes me realize just how much the devil has blinded the eyes of the world. In every church service for about six years, I went through the motions - knelt when I was supposed to, stood when I was supposed to, prayed when I was supposed to. Sometimes I even went the extra mile and slept when I was not supposed to! 😀 It wasn't that I didn't believe that Jesus was real and that He died for me. It was that I was not willing to give up what I loved doing for a life in Christ. A life that I thought, from all indications, would be unbearably boring. How was I to survive without my Harlequin Romance novels and my T.V Shows? Was I supposed to substitute them for books like "A Purpose Driven Life ," and Mount Zion movies? I was not interested. Needless to say, the change happened. Jesus found me, and for the first time, I let Him. It will always be the best thing to happen to me. I'm writing this tonight to let y'all know - being in Jesus is not being in bondage. It is freedom. It is freedom to be who He has made you to be, without being held down by the weight that is sin.* I wish I could cut open my heart somehow to show you the love and peace that live there now because Jesus lives in there now. And as I type this, I tear up a little. Because I'm free. I don't have to read a novel to feel love, or watch a movie to escape my reality.** No, I can just be. Because Daddy is here with me. Oh, T.G.I.F because, for one, I get to share this story with y'all. *Hebrews 12:1-2 **I still read and watch movies/shows...a lot. I just don't need to, anymore. For the most part - that is.....ugh, blog for another day. Good night, y'all. |
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