Trying to be the Best Me

Is anyone else out there finding it difficult to be the best they can be? I am.

I used to be this young, free, positive, optimistic and sure individual but lately I’m really struggling. I’m struggling to find meaning from the different parts of my life.

I’m a Mum and a wife with a career and a business and someone who seeks to worship God with all my heart and all my strength. I used to pride myself on being wise and being strong but lately I’ve been feeling so unsure and untethered. I am not being the best me in any of the different areas of my life. I could be doing more and doing things so much better.

I feel that every area is  suffering neglect in one way or another due to other areas needing attention. I don’t think I am doing a great job of juggling it all.

I’ve suffered a few knock backs recently that have made me question myself a lot. I keep asking why things don’t work out as I hoped sometimes and I wonder why I am so tired in body and mind all  the time? Why can’t I just snap out of this  mental recession?  I’m weary and I worry.

I pray to God frequently but even my prayer life is suffering. I wake up early and find it difficult to pray. I talk to God in snatches and sometimes desperate pleas. “Help me, heal me, renew me, kick me up the backside. You are God, why can’t You just flip a switch and make me right again”. These are my thoughts and prayers.  Other times,  I pray for family and friends; feverently asking for their safety and happiness.

What has happened to me? I just want to be free again.  Has fear eclipsed my faith? Has life and it’s ups and downs robbed me of my joy? Isn’t that exactly what God said would happen and why wasn’t I spiritually ready with my shield to ward away those fiery darts? Why do I feel that I know the answers but I can’t muster the motivation to just get out of this funk?  Why am I leaning on myself instead of God even when I desperately want Him to prop me and propel me back to me? What am I getting wrong?

Why can’t I be the best I can be and feel so much joy again like I used to?

I know God has the answers. I’ll continue to cling to Him; albeit fleetingly at times.

I am bent but not broken and I know only He can take the ashes of my self worth and convert it to beauty.

Pray for me.

I pray that the knowledge and assurance that God’s grace and blessings can never be taken away from us would never leave us.

Lots of love,

Omo

 

 

Scorned and Shunned By Your Own

John 6:42

They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

This verse which shows how people found it difficult to believe in Jesus reminds me a little of a certain circumstance in my life. In this verse, the people are flabbergasted by Jesus’s claims that He is the bread of life because they know His father is Joseph the carpenter. They are unable to understand why He insists on calling Himself the Son of God when they see Him as the sin of Joseph, their kinsman, neighbour, friend, acquaintance and so on.

In my personal experience as a wedding dress designer, I used to be simply shocked when close friends or family refused to patronise our business; quoting various and sometimes seemingly spurious and elaborate excuses. It used to hurt so badly and once I tearfully said to my husband “if your own people don’t trust you, what message are they giving others”.

This scripture and Jesus’s response to the disbelief and the disregard of His own people really helps me to put things in perspective.  It’s not that they have anything against me or my business. It’s more that, because I have a background which may have been similar to theirs and which they deem as unremarkable, they find it hard to believe that an unremarkable me is able to design these wedding dresses and they are afraid to trust me with the most important dress of their lives. They would rather go to someone they know nothing about and who they can judge on current status.

While this continues to hurt whenever it happens,  I do continue to respond in the same way Jesus did which is to say “It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe in me, it doesn’t change the truth of who I am”. The truth is I am who God says I am and my talents come from him and not from my own intelligence or wisdom.  So in all honesty, whether or not my design skills are remarkable depends on how remarkable God and I’m sure we all know the answer to that great puzzle.

Whenever, our clients exclaim on how amazing the service is or beautiful the dresses are, I count myself lucky and blessed that God is really working through me in that way and bride’s are benefiting from this everyday.

Have you ever been in a situation where people you love or know did not act like they believed in you?  Tell me about your experience too.

God bless you!

Lots of love,

Omo

12 Effective Ways to Market Your Business for Free

There once was a very poor man who made very beautiful garments and then kept them in a box under his bed.  He told no one about them and hoped one day someone will open the box and see his beautiful garments. No one ever did and so he died with all his beautiful garments still intact in the box.  After he died, they were found and sold off for millions.  He could have been so rich when he was alive if only he had told people about his beautiful garments.

No one lights a lamp and hides it under a bowl (Luke 11:33). So also if you offer a product or service, you should have an effective marketing strategy to attract your target audience. Today, I will be sharing 12 great tips on marketing your business for free that have worked for me in my business. Please take some notes or bookmark this page.

1. Utilise Your Smart Phone Profile Image and Updates –  Most people now have the Blackberry App or Whatsapp and other similar phone applications. An entrepreneur friend of mine updates her Profile picture and Profile message constantly with pictures of her products, their prices and what quantity she has left.  You can do the same and don’t forget also to always add your contact details.  Your profile updates are also a really good way to share real time information with clients and potential customers on the go.  Encourage friends and family members to share some of your updates on their profiles and this will help you reach an even wider audience. This really works for me in my business because I am not bugging anyone by asking them to buy my product or service but I am providing them with useful information that they might one day want to take advantage of!  Let me know if you need any help in using your profile updates to reach out to old, new and potential clients.
2. Create a Newsletter Email Marketing Strategy –  We use Mailchimp which is a free Email Newsletter tool to send out weekly emails to clients and potential clients.  Make sure when anyone buys anything from you, you get their email details.  Also, when you meet anyone who you have spoken to about your business, ask for their email address and tell them that you will add them to your mailing list.  On a periodic basis e.g. weekly, you can send them news, updates and useful information about you product or service via your email newsletter.  Be careful not to send information too many times as this may be considered Spamming and people do not like to be disturbed in that way. Also, don’t send information to anyone who you have not told previously that you will be sending information to.  This is also frowned upon and may get you blacklisted. Let me know if you need any help setting up a Mailchimp account.
3. Offer a Free Demo Session –    If you have a product or service that you can demonstrate to clients, its benefits, then you may want to arrange a free demo session for potential customers.  At the end of every year, we have a Fashion Show event to show off the wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses in our new bridal collections to potential customers.  From that show, we get lots of interest on our products and customers feel like you have given them a real treat! For example, a make up artists may decide to hold a free make up lesson session for women who want to know how to apply make up more effectively and then sell some of the make up products to them.  This is just an idea.  If you would like to brainstorm with me on ways you can offer a free demo, let me know and I’ll be glad to help.
4. Hand out Your Business Card to Everyone –  When you meet anyone who you have spoken to for more than 10 minutes, find out what they do and talk about what you do.  Make sure to hand out your business card to them and invite them to have an experience of your product or service or to tell someone who may be interested in what you have to offer.  I have the made the most amazing connections from randomly speaking to people who I have never met before about my business and giving them a business card so they don’t forget me!
5. Introduce a Referral Programme –  When a customer is happy with your product or service, they will happily recommend you to someone else.  You can make sure this happens every time by giving them a discount or voucher every time they make a referral that benefits your business.  This means not only will you get the new business, you will also have that customer coming back to patronise you more and more each time. Let me know if you need any help coming up with an effective referral strategy.
6. Hold a Contest or Competition –   This has been the most successful strategy for us by far.  People love free stuff and every business has something or some items or services that they are able to offer at little or no cost to them.  Run a competition for your customers and new customers and offer something free of charge.  This will build lots of buzz around your business and also holds a lot of goodwill.  Customers will be excited about the prospect of winning something and you will take the opportunity to sell more to them when you have their attention through the competition. Let me know if you need any help putting together a competition.
7. Set up a Free Website –  There are now so many websites that allow you to set up a free website.  A website makes your business look more serious no matter how small you are.  In fact, I have been to some businesses and I just could not believe how small their operations were because of how good their websites looked.  I set up the first few websites we used in my company using a website called Webs.  You have to think of so many things to set up your website but some of these websites make it a very easy and enjoyable process. Let me know if you need any help setting up your free website.
8. Set up Your Social Media Pages –  Every business should ideally now have a Facebook Page, Google+ Page, Instagram Page and a Twitter Page.  These are very easy ways of updating your clients and potential customers about what you offer.  It is very important that you keep your business pages professional and also that you try not to have too many selling posts on your Social Media pages.  It is better for you to just update pictures of your products or work and other interesting and motivational posts that will keep people interested and coming back for more. I recommend posting on your Social media pages at least twice a day and posting direct marketing posts only once a week or so.
9. Update Google Places with Your Business Details –  Google now offers a free business directory for all businesses in most parts of the world through Google Places.  This is one of the most important steps you can take for your business as most people search for things on Google before they go anywhere else. When you have a Google Place profile, your business will be featured as one to visit in the area when people search for your product or service.  This will leave you better off than your competition who may not know of this little secret yet! If you need any help setting up a Google Place page, please let me know.
10. Get Listed in Free Business Directories –   Most countries now have business directories that allow you to update your business details and many of them for free. Google ranks entries in business directories highly in searches and so in addition to your Google Places page, you will also come up via your Business Directory listing and this makes your business look even more serious and established to your clients and potential customers. To find business directories for your country or nationality just search on Google.  For example, if you are based in England, enter this into the search box ‘Business Directories in England’ and look for the ones that allow you to list your company for free.  Be very careful not to pay large amounts of money to business directories that you are not sure of.  I prefer the free ones.  Let me know if you need any help setting up your business details on business directories.
11. Offer an at Home Service to Clients –  If you offer a product or service where you are able to serve customers in their own home, then you may be onto something that will put you ahead of your competition.  My hairdresser comes to my home to fix my hair and my daughter’s hair and save me the hassle of travelling to her weekly.  This means I will always choose her over any other hairdresser that is not able to do so.  This may not work for every business and may indeed not be practical for every one but think about other ways that you may be able to introduce a value added service on top of your product or service offering and customers will be delighted to call you every time. For example, if you run a restaurant, you may want to introduce a home delivery service or if you have a clothing store, you may want to set out a day a week when you will visit customers in their homes and sell to them there for their convenience.
12. Cross Promote and Partner with other Businesses –  This is a really great way of helping other businesses and drumming up more business for yourself. Try to promote other people’s businesses and ask them to do the same for you.  In my bridal studio, we display fliers for other related businesses that brides can pick up and then contact those wedding suppliers.  Also, we ask brides what else they need to complete their wedding planning and then we make recommendations of other local wedding suppliers that they should speak to and get quotes from.  This builds a network of supporters and brings you the type of business that you want.  In addition to that, because you have come from a referral, the clients already believe that you are trustworthy!

Marketing is not something that you can decide to do or not do. It is important for the ongoing growth and progress of your business.  You need to let customers know about what you offer and then you need to build their trust and make sure you offer what you have promised.  Don’t promise the world and then give them a suboptimal service.  People do not take very lightly to that.  Most importantly, let God be your Guide.  Pray about everything and ask for His direction in your business and activities.  Ask Him to show you what will work best for you and wait for Him to provide the answers.

Do you have any other free marketing tips that you will like to contribute?  Please do so or if you have any specific marketing questions you would like me to address, do please ask and I will provide answers based on my opinions and experiences. May God bless the works of our hands and all our endeavours towards success.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach

Omo

No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light (Luke 11:33)

10 Powerful Scriptural Prayers for Our Children

Our children are the most important blessings that God has given us and we are also blessed with the responsibility of making sure that they grow up to be God fearing and ready to face the world.

A friend of mine shared 10 powerful prayers found on ReviveNations+ and I believe we should all pray these prayers for our children.

1. In the name of Jesus, I declare that my children are saved and serving the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)
2. I thank you Lord for as my child grows, he becomes strong in spirit; he is filled with wisdom: and the grace of God is upon him. (Luke 2:40)
3. Thank you Lord for my children will be taught of you and great will be their peace. (Isaiah 54:13)
4. In the name of Jesus I declare that my children will live a life worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of the Lord. (Colossians 1:9-10)
5. Thank you lord for my children will not be conformed to this world’s system, but they will be transformed by the renewing of their mind, that they might know what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God for their lives. (Romans 12:2)
6. I declare that my children will be blessed and they will be mighty in the land. (Psalm 112:2)
7. My children increase in every area of life – spirit, soul and body. ( Psalm 115:14, Luke 2:52)
8. I declare that my children will make the Lord their refuge, and so no evil shall befall them, nor shall any plague come near their dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways. (Psalm 91:9-11)
9. My children will flee youthful lusts; and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.  They will remember their Creator in the days of their youth. (2 Timothy 2:22, Ecclesiastes 12:1)
10. My children honor their father and mother, so it will be well with them and they will live long on the earth. (Ephesians 6:2-3)

God bless you as you bring up your children in the way of the Lord.

Much love

Omo

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward (Psalm 127:3)

From Employee to Entrepreneur: The God Way

Making the move from employee to entrepreneur can be really hard. For me, it was a decision I took very spontaneously on the day I decided to hand my notice in but one that I had been thinking about for a very long time.  I had discussed it with my husband and prayed about it for so very long and one day, I was having a really bad day at work and I just decided ‘enough is enough’.

You may have a dream or something you really love to do and you are just not sure that this is the time to take that plunge. For me, all the messages I was getting from God was in essence telling me to take a leap of faith and God will meet me there.  Being an entrepreneur requires certain characteristics of the person that could either be natural or acquired to help you along the arduous and sometimes rocky journey.  Think of the following and if you can answer positively, then don’t tarry for too long. Remember that there is never a perfect time and in the words of Ecclesiastes 11:4 ‘Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.’  Here are my 5 key characteristics

1. Ability to Identify Your Passion:  What are you passionate about?  Is there anything that you find you easily do and enjoy doing.  In fact, when you find yourself engaged in that activity, you feel that time flies by and you don’t feel like it is a task or burden.  God has blessed each of us with gifts and talents according to our ability (See Matthew 25: 14-30).  In our lifetimes, He expects us to sow the talents he has given us wisely so that we can reap bountifully and bring Him glory. The reason why something becomes a passion is that it is what God has blessed us with as a talent and so we are naturally predisposed to enjoy that activity and therefore, flourish in that activity. Try to identify that activity that gives you great personal satisfaction and ask God to guide you in the best pathway for a business venture (Pray with Proverbs 3: 5-6).  More than anything else, pray that God will reveal to you how you can make money from that activity and if it is worth even considering.  Not every passion should ever become a business or would ever succeed as a business.
2. Ability to Plan Effectively:  An entrepreneur is one who is very adept at planning. So you have successfully identified your passion and now while you are still an employee, you are thinking of the wisest way to transition to entrepreneur.  For me, I worked for a long time while running my business part time before I finally took the leap to full time entrepreneur.  This helped in various ways.  I was still able to earn an income while building up my business and my clientèle. I was able to learn from my job, various professional attitudes that have come to serve me well as an entrepreneur. Planning is key right from your start-up stage and in your everyday operations.  If you start too early, you may find yourself dealing with lots of problems; chief of which are typically financial and if you start too late, you loose the opportunities that may have come your way and your idea or dream may then be started successfully by someone else(See Proverbs 21: 5).
3. Having Faith and Perseverance: Running a business will not be easy and if you intend to run a business that will be successful, then be ready for the ups and downs. Like anything in life, being an entrepreneur is fraught with uncertainties that will make you anxious at times and crazy at other times.  Forget about your regular salary or income that you received when you were an employee and forget about paid holidays and fixed working hours.  You will not have a boss to motivate you or plan your days and activities for you and you will not have performance appraisals or pats on the back when things go right.  You need to rely on God for all these things. I have come to realise the hard way, that every time I make God my manager, CEO, Managing director and Project head, things go better for me than I ever expected.  It is futile to cower in fear of what the future holds or give up too early when we have a God that tells us that our faith can make mountains move.If you are unable to have faith in God and persevere through the tough times and cloudy days, then you will not achieve success as a business person (See Hebrews 11:1, Philippians 4:6, Isaiah 41:10 and 2 Timothy 1:7)
4. Ability to be Resourceful:  Entrepreneurs are known for being able to find solutions through various means.  If one thing does not work as they hope, rather than cry over spilt milk, they quickly start to think of another way to make things work.  Do you see yourself as this type of person?  Are you the one who people at work come to for problem solving?  Do your friends always come to you for help, advice? Do you find that you’re always in the know about this, that and the other?  If yes, then you may be a natural entrepreneur. You must be able to network with the right people effectively and use your limited assets especially at the start of your business to get things done.  I used to tell everyone that I became more of an expert DIYer when I started my business.  Right at the beginning, I set up my own website, did my own accounts and even carried out lots of sewing and alterations work on customer’s dresses myself when I had no choice and then God sent lots of help my way.  You have to be able to make very little stretch to ensure that your targets are met and your business continues to thrive. Always turn to God even before you feel that you are struggling and you do not have the resources to succeed.  He has promised to give wisdom to anyone who asks for it and wisdom is the key to being resourceful in business (See Ecclesiastes 7:12 and James 1: 5-6)
5. Having a Spongelike Nature:  Entrepreneurs must never stop learning. You must be able to soak up everything around you that could affect your business positively.  With the advent of the world wide web, there is just so much knowledge out there to help you along the way. One of the best ways of ensuring business success, is to seek out a business mentor in your field or in a similar field who can advise you and by telling you their mistakes, you can avoid the pitfalls of your industry and trade (See Proverb 20:18 and Proverbs 15:22).  Read and learn as much as you can on the internet, libraries and anywhere else you can get news and information relevant to your business and see how you can implement these to ensure your success.  You can never learn too much and the more you learn the better off you will be.  I caution you though, not to spend too much of your time learning and reading and not enough time executing what you have learnt and earning money from your acquired knowledge (See Proverbs 1:5).

While there may be thousands of characteristics that you may need to be a successful entrepreneur, these are the five that stood our for me. I wish you all the best as you start and run your business and I really hope that things work out for you as you hope and pray.

Are you an entrepreneur or wishing to be one? Let me know of your story or even how I can help you from my own experience and what I have learnt so far.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach.

With much love,

Omo

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance” Proverbs 1:5

I Can’t Wait for My Kids to Wake Up!

Most mornings, I wake up before my children. As all parents know, sometimes,  they start the night in their beds and somewhere along the way, they end up in yours. In the morning when I wake up,  I look at their angelic sleeping faces and I listen to their gentle breathing and I  get emotional. After a short while waiting for them to wake up,  I start to get a bit impatient.

You see, most mornings when my 5 year old son and almost 2 year old daughter wake up, they give me hugs kisses and start talking to me about this that and the other. I really really really love this special time we have together before the daily routine starts. This Sunday morning as I lay there literally  waiting for them to wake up,  a thought came to me ‘this is exactly how God waits for me to wake up too’. That thought made me both happy and sad.

I have a really very busy schedule work wise running my own business and also being a Mum, wife and everything else life constantly demands. Most mornings, I rush through bible reading; if at all and I pray really hurried prayers just to touch base with God and then I’m off to make the most of the day. Sometimes, I may wake up slightly later than I do  normally and out goes prayer or bible time.  This morning, I had a visual image in my head which showed me my kids waking up and saying a quick ‘good morning Mummy’ and then rushing away to get ready for the day without asking for my help, not speaking to me even when I spoke to them, not saying thank you when I helped them do anything and in fact, asking me to leave them alone when I tried to show them a better way to get through the day.  My kids do not do this to me but I do this to God and someone out there may understand what I am saying.

As I lay there thinking,  my thoughts started to evolve as thoughts do and I just imagined my kids telling me not to take them to school and when I went back to pick them up,  I am told that they have left already. I can imagine how crazy that would make me because I’d be thinking ‘do they not realise how dangerous and unsafe the world could be for them without me being the buffer’. I believe this is exactly what God thinks when I  go through my daily life and I cut Him out of my big moves and big decisions. It must be hard for Him to watch me falter and flail as I precariously lean over the rocky edge of life even as He tries to whisper into my ears that help is available if I would just let Him.

I finally imagined our bed time routine in our home,  where we would sometimes have story time or I would just lie in bed with my 5 year old and he would say to me ‘all I need is a cuddle Mummy ‘. It makes me so happy to be loved and needed by these two amazing children.  I actually get more joy from it than they could ever imagine they are imparting.  Then we say goodnight and I feel so blessed that we started the day together and ended the day with love and communication.  Don’t get me wrong; though, sometimes  when bed is not looking very attractive, bedtime is not as zen as I have just described.  It’s more like a war zone where we may find ourselves running around the house trying to catch two very quick youngsters. The important thing is that we spend that time together.  This made me think about my bedtime routine with my heavenly Father which I will shamefully admit is non-existent. He gets no cuddles, He gets no ‘good night’ and every now and again when I have had a particularly good day I will say ‘thank you Lord for today’ and then drift off to sleep.

God does not need my attention or devotion.  The bible says He will raise the stones on the earth to praise Him if we do not but He loves it when we spend time in His presence. This is something I know and now I pray to God that He will bless me with the grace and wisdom to make special time in my daily schedule for Him. Also, I pray that throughout my day, I will remember to consult with Him and connect with Him in everything I encounter.

May God bless us all with a renewed and right spirit in Jesus name.

With much love,

Omo

Why I Stopped Going to Church

Are You a Child of God?

When you know the child of whom you are, then its easy to understand how God’s grace and accepting salvation through Christ is all we need for a fulfilled life.

My little son is so assured of my love for him and he knows with certainty,  that I will feed him, buy nice clothes for him or at the very least the best I can afford, pick him up from school,  nurse him tenderly when he is unwell,  hold him close when he is hurt or injured just to make him feel better, lay my own life down for him if it ever came to it.

In the same way, many times, when I am trying to understand God’s love for me or figure out how God will react to some of my actions,  I think of how much I love my children and how I react to their actions.  Through this, I understand that what I feel for my wee ones is but a fraction of what God feels for His children and again I am assured that our Father loves us indescribably, unconditionally, completely and utterly.

1 John 3: 1

See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children—and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him.

Do we really know the children of whom we are? Consider these scripture verses when you think of how God feels about us and the promises He has made to us.

1. Children of God do not fear 

1 John 4: 4

You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

2. Children of God are not proud or ever need to try to prove anything to anyone

James 4: 6

But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.”

3. Children of God freely give their time and their resources to make someone else’s life, easier, happier or more fulfilled. 

Luke 6: 38

Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive.

4. Children of God find it easy to believe in Him and hope on Him

Romans 15: 13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

5. Children of God love

1 John 4:16

And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.

6. You stand strong in the face of adversity

Ephesians 6: 13

For this reason, take up the full armour of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.

7. Children of God know they will be provided for

Luke 11: 13 

¹³ If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

8. Children of God know they will be protected 

Psalm 91: 9-11

⁹ For you have taken refuge in the Lord,
my shelter, the sovereign One.
¹⁰ No harm will overtake you;
no illness will come near your home.
¹¹ For he will order his angels
to protect you in all you do.

9. Children of God know whatever turn their lives take, as long as it is the Father’s will, then it will end in praise

Romans 8: 28

And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose

---

Do share any promises that you stand on when you encounter different experiences in life as a child of God.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach

Lots of Love and Many blessings,

Omo

But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name—he has given the right to become God’s children John 1: 12

 

How Can I Be Like Jesus

I want to be like Jesus but I don’t know what to do

I wake up in the morning and l find I cannot pray

So how can I be like Jesus when I don’t know what to say

I know I am struggling and fear the Spirit is fading

I keep crying out to Jesus “Lord, please show me the way”

Why is it so hard to forgive and even harder to give

Why am I unable to praise my God, the ancient of days

No doubt in Him I believe, His grace I have received

So why can’t I be like Jesus

Why is it so hard to achieve

For my needs,  He has provided and my heart, He’s daily guided

But still I fall when I am tempted and my brother,  I have resented

But I crave to be like Jesus and so everyday, I have repented

Sometimes, I’m so delighted and I feel my world is righted

But soon, I feel that I am falling

I hate myself, I am appalling

Still I have to be like Jesus and so I will never ever stop trying

 

---

When I started to compose this little poem,  it was just an outpouring of my heart of some of my deepest daily struggles with my faith. I wasn’t sure where it was going or what I was trying to achieve. I felt there had to be a lesson or an inspirational message at the end of the poem but nothing came to me.

As I kept adding more lines,  I realised that the harder I tried to think of rhymes, the harder I found it to write the poem. On the contrary, every time I stepped away from it and recited The Lord’s Prayer in my heart, the words came to me.

I now know what the moral of this poem is and I am learning this just as much as many other Christians out there. It is the simple fact that we take for granted the journey on the narrow path to eternal life.  We dismiss it as easy and foolishly rely upon our own strengths to make it through. My eureka moment!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3: 5-6)

Just like my experience with writing this poem, we may not always have all the answers at the beginning or know the reasons for how things pan out in our lives,  but God does. He knows the path back home to Him is crooked and narrow, terribly uncomfortable and sometimes downright dangerous.

He knows, sees, cares,  provides,  guides,  protects, listens, loves and saves His children. He sees our struggling and our suffering. He cares when we cry out in pain or desperation.  He heals and He comforts. He provides for our every need that is within His will for us. He guides us along the best pathway for our lives. He protects us daily from danger and from the wiles and machinations of the enemy. He listens to us when we speak to Him in prayer and delights in our need for Him.  He loves us more than we could ever know or believe and gives freely of Himself daily to help us win this race and get the ultimate prize which is our eternal salvation. The more we trust Him,  the more of Him we’re able to experience and the less confusing our spiritual lives will be.

Now I believe it’s time for me to heed this counsel that our God has very kindly offered to me.  I pray that you will too if you have been having a similar experience to me. God be with us all and bless us with success at the end of our earthly race through Jesus Christ,  our Lord and Saviour.

Do you have any words of encouragement or support?  Please don’t be afraid to share them. As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens his friend (Proverbs 27:17).

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach

Lots of love and many blessings,

Omo

The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life John 6:63

Are We Serving Only to Be Rewarded By God?

Matthew 25: 35 – 40

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

---

 

One morning last week,  three of my daily devotionals had the same message for me- ‘I need to serve others more and help people who need help’. I believe God has a sense of humour and I also believe that He speaks to us in different ways. When you get the same message three times in one morning worded in different ways,  then surely it’s time for you to say ‘here I am Lord, send me’.

I have always been one of those people who desire to do more and help others as much as I can but there has always been a problem with this. Every time I try to do more or reach out to people,  a cruel voice in my head says to me ‘who do you think you are trying to play Jesus when you know you’re only doing it to get rewards from Him’. For this reason, every effort I put in is clouded by my own doubts about whether or not I am serving Christ by helping others just to be rewarded and not because I really want to.

God has decided enough is enough of the devil playing havoc with my mind.  The message came to me from three different sources stating in a nutshell that ‘To help others is to show them God’s love and to allow Jesus to use you to be His kind eyes,  hug giving arms and, food giver, shelter offerer and help provider to those who need it. He rewards you. Yes and there is no doubt about that but the greater focus should be on the fact that He is using you to show the world that He is a loving God.

I laughed to myself as I thought that’s such a great plan. It will be downright scary if Jesus or the angels just appeared themselves to people every time someone cried out for help. Therefore,  He uses us, who know and have experienced His love and pure awesomeness to show those who don’t know Him what they are missing and how fulfilled their lives could be in Him.

Now, I’m just revving to go and longing to help with the renewed wisdom that it is not for rewards but to show that I love God and he is a loving God.

Do you have any tips or hints on how a person can serve God by helping others.  How about you? Have you struggled with the issue of sincerity in your service?  I would love to hear from you.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach.

Lots of love and many blessings,

Omo

 

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? (1 John 3:17)

God’s Truth As I Understand It

Psalm 25:5

Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation;
on You I wait all the day

---

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the events of my life that I miss opportunities that God presents to make me a better servant, a more loving child, a truly saved soul and an heir of His kingdom. The way the world is now, many of us are so busy being busy that we are unable to make time to properly reverence He Who has made it possible for us to be alive to have the ability and opportunity to live our busy lives. What a convoluted existence! In my specific circumstance, many times, when I do try to come to the presence of God or place Him at the centre of my world, I find that my own self condemnation and guilt for neglecting worship and dedication to Him, makes it impossible for me to truly draw the strength of my life and the power of my salvation from Him. I find myself in a position where I feel ashamed and afraid to reach out to Him. The enemy is very clever but I find that I am able to overcome my doubts and confusion by focusing on the truth of the gospel and my salvation. These are some of God’s Truths that keep me grounded and get me back onto the straight and narrow:

1. The Precious Holy Spirit Will Help Us

Ephesians 1:13-14

And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory

God’s truth makes clear to us the reality of the salvation of our souls for which Christ died on the cross. When Jesus left the earth, He presented the Holy Spirit as a gift to believers. The Holy Spirit has been provided to us as a guide and guard to lead us along the intricacies and confusions of our earthly lives to help us successfully get back home to God and our saviour Jesus. The best part is that the Holy Spirit will always be on hand to counsel us and convict us when things go awry or we start to drift away. He advocates for us, teaches us and constantly reminds us of the promises Jesus made to us (John 14:26)

2. We Do Not Need Validation for our Existence by Anyone Other than God

1 John 2: 15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever.

On another level, God’s truth frees us from the wiles of the devil and his continuous attempt to make us wallow in the murk of our pre-saved existence. I remember wanting everything the world has to offer just for the sake of looking good and appearing successful. It led me down a scary path of greed, envy and sometimes sheer desperation. At a point in my life, I was so depressed because everyone else seemed to have the things I dreamt of. I couldn’t be happy for anyone. A friend of mine advised me to pray hard and ask God to help me view the world and my life as He does. I started to see what I was already worth as a child of God without a single material possession or qualification. I do not have to keep up with the Joneses anymore. The sad thing about trying to satisfy the world is that you can never do enough. More and more will be demanded of you and you will find it hard to live a content and happy life. God’s truth has set us free from subscribing to worldly preoccupations and desires and gives us true joy derived from the things that really matter.

3. Our Sins are Forgiven

1 John 1:8

If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

God’s truth makes it clear that though we were born sinners, Christ has paid the price for our sins, past, present and future and for this reason, we are free to live happy and unencumbered in Him and through Him. It is inevitable that we will sin but God has provided a way out. We just need to remember that we are saved and God graciously forgives a truly repentant heart.

4. God Knows Us Through and True

Psalm 139: 23-24

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

God’s truth emphasises that as His children, the easiest way to let the devil in is to live in a way that allows for falsehood, dishonesty, unrighteousness, lack of integrity and foolishness. The important thing here is for us to remember that God knows who we truly are and who we become when no one else can see us. He sees the innermost part of our hearts, knows all our secrets and what we are capable of. There is no hiding from Him or lying to Him. That will be completely pointless. He is; however, committed to ensuring that we don’t have to lean on our own abilities to become better people (Proverbs 3:5). His spirit in us will be our guide and guard and will supply us with the strength, courage and wisdom to speak and live the truth at all times.

Praise the Lord, our God.

A prayer for God’s Truth

Father, help me. Have mercy on my soul. Help me live in You and exist in You. Help me gird my loins with Your Truth so that I can resist the attempts of the devil to drag me back to a life of sin and senselessness. Through your Son, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

---

What is your understanding of God’s truth? Do you agree with my perception of it? What advice or experience can you add?

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach.

Many blessings,

Omo

“Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth” John 17:17

Formula for a Happy and Healthy You

My mother in law sent this to me this morning and I love it. I just had to share. Unfortunately, I don’t know who to credit it to as it did not include that information. If you know who wrote this great piece,  do leave a comment.  Here goes:

 

💞Handbook 2015💞

 

👉HEALTH👈

 

🔹Drink plenty of water.☑

 

🔹Eat Breakfast like a king,

Lunch like a prince &

Dinner like a beggar.☑

 

🔹Live with the 3 E’s–

Energy,

Enthusiasm &

Empathy.☑

 

🔹Make time to pray.☑

 

🔹Play more games.☑

 

🔹Read more books than you did

in 2014.☑

 

🔹Sit in silence for at least 10

minutes each day.☑

 

🔹Sleep for 7 hours.☑

 

🔹Take a 10-30 minutes walk

daily And while you walk,

Smile.☑

 

➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰

 

👉PERSONALITY👈

🔹Don’t over do. Keep your

limits.☑

 

🔹Don’t take urself so seriously.

No one else does.☑

 

🔹Don’t waste your precious

energy on gossip.☑

 

🔹Dream more while you are

awake.☑

 

🔹Envy is a waste of time. You

already have all you need.☑

 

🔹Forget issues of the past.

Don’t remind your partner with

his/her mistakes of the past.

That will ruin your present

Happiness.☑

 

🔹Life is too short to waste time

hating anyone. Don’t hate

others.☑

 

🔹Make peace with your past so

it won’t spoil the present.☑

 

🔹No one is in charge of your

happiness except you.☑

 

🔹Smile and laugh more.☑

 

🔹You don’t have to win every

argument,Agree to disagree.☑

 

➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰

 

 

👉SOCIETY👈

 

🔹Call your family often.☑

 

🔹Each day give something good

to others.☑

 

🔹Forgive everyone for

everything.☑

 

🔹Spend time with people over

the age of 70 & under the age

of 6.☑

 

🔹Try to make at least three

people smile each day.☑

 

🔹What other people think of you

is none of your business.☑

 

➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰

 

👉LIFE👈

 

🔹Do the right thing!☑

 

🔹GOD heals everything.☑

 

🔹However good or bad a

situation is, it will  change.☑

 

🔹No matter how you feel,

Get up,

Dress up and

Show up. The best is yet to

come.☑

 

🔹When awake in the morning

thank GOD for it.☑

 

🔹Your Inner most is always

happy. So, be happy. ☑

 

➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰➰

 

➰LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST➰

 

Please Forward

This To

Everyone

Whom You Care about

I Just Did

God’s Gentle Guidance

Isaiah 40: 11

“He shall feed His flock like a shepherd;
    He shall gather the lambs with His arm,
and carry them in His bosom,
    and shall gently lead those that are with young.”

---

Have you have ever been in a car with a satellite navigation system and taken a wrong turn despite its directions? You may have noticed how it quickly re-routes to get you back on the right track until you reach your destination. Won’t it be hilariously alarming if you took a wrong turn and it shouted ‘why won’t you listen to me and do as I say’.

There are two divine lessons I have learnt from using a satellite navigation system:

1. God’s Graceful Guidance like Your Sat Nav is Very Gentle.

He carefully leads us along the best pathway for our lives when we ask him to (Psalm 32:8) and every time we go the wrong way, He finds a way to gently guide us back unto the right path until we reach the destination that He set for us from the start. Sometimes, I would think my Sat Nav is completely bonkers because its leading me along a path that I believe is incorrect and I ignore it until I get to a dead end and then I feel a bit silly. Other times, I determine to follow its directions despite every reservation and I feel pleasantly surprised when I arrive at my destination. As children of God, we must try our hardest to listen. Sometimes God shouts but mostly He whispers. The Holy Spirit is that little voice in our heads that provides us with counsel and conviction as and when necessary (John 16:13). I have been trying to listen to this voice more and more.

2. God Gentle Guidance Teaches Me to Guide my Brood with Wisdom

When we are in a position where we are responsible for other people, we must endeavour to lead them with wisdom. The bible tells us to ask for wisdom and it will be given to us (James 1:5, Proverbs 2:6) Let us ask God to give us the spirit of gentleness in all we do and in all our ways.  With God’s wisdom , I now try to guide my children and other people who rely on my leadership in a way that is considerate and would fill them with confidence and comfort and get them back unto the right path without creating feelings of hatred or resentment in them.

I hope this blesses someone out there as God continues to bless us with knowledge and understanding of His ways and His words.  I am by no means an authority on being righteous but I will continue to depend on His grace.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach.

Many blessings

Omo

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” Psalm 119:105″

Self-Righteousness – A Deadly Force!

Recently, I was chatting with a friend who was telling me about ongoing problems she had been having with a family member.  I found myself launching into a whole tirade of advice on how she had to be the bigger person and just overlook what that person had done to her and still love them nonetheless.  I also found myself thinking to myself  ‘as a Christian, surely I would not behave in this way and feel the way she is feeling. I must be a better person than she is’.  At that point, the Holy Spirit did exactly one of the things we so love Him for and that was to convict my spirit (John 16: 8).  You see, I also have a few people in my life who I have battled for years within myself not to resent for various reasons.  Typically, it would have been due to an altercation or misunderstanding with them in the past which must have affected me greatly and I am just unable to move on.  When this thought was brought to my heart,  I quickly backtracked and said to my friend that I understand how she feels and I prayed for both of us that God should help us overcome the shackles of being unable to forgive others and being resentful towards them.

 

Beloved, there is an evil force stronger than our zeal for Christ and that force is our own self-righteousness. The enemy has made us proud, pure in our own eyes, vindictive and unfair judges against each other. Instead of giving a brother a helping hand or a word of prayer when they are down or have what we consider to be a questionable situation, we crucify them mercilessly both in our hearts and sometimes visibly. Who has not been guilty of this at one point or another, who can cast the first stone? (John 8: 7).

 

I believe that the sin of being self-righteous implies many awful things as a consequence (Proverbs 30: 12).  It creates hypocrites of us and makes us extremely proud and lofty. We are so busy removing the speck in our brothers eyes that we forget that we may have a log in ours (Matthew 7: 3).   For you to correct someone of a wrong, you truly believe that you are above such.  Typically however, you find that the log in our own eyes which may be of a different nature but much worse than what we hold against others makes us great hypocrites.  This in turn leads to a situation of discord among believers as nobody likes to be chastised or criticised for too long; especially from someone who they may perceive as unqualified to do so. Therefore, instead of Christians coming together to agree and pray about a given situation until God gives the person who has the problem peace and a good resolution, they are divided by discord and terrible blame game that leaves us all open to attacks from the evil one.

 

Amazing things happen in the spiritual realm when we open our mouths to pray and especially if we pray together. The prayer of saints can move mountains.The bible says that whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will also be loosed in heaven (Matthew 18: 18).  The enemy is subdued and confounded when we collectively call on our heavenly Father to help us. The Lord’s name is glorified and exalted when we deal with each other with love and our angels fight valiantly to protect us from the machinations of the devil.

 

Any type of sin prevents us from praying and un-repented sin is like a cancer that eats away at the Christian until he wastes away to nothing. One of the deadliest sins because it is not even recognised as a sin by the perpetrator is self-righteousness. It makes you feel like a warrior for Christ; like you are standing up for Him; when instead you are letting Him and your fellow-man down. Let us try not to judge others in our attempt to prove that we are zealous or righteous.  Let us all hold each other up and fight the good fight together as we are blessed with our salvation in Christ Jesus.

 

Do you have any advice on how to lovingly correct another person or do you have any stories about how you have overcome the desire to boast of your own righteousness?

 

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach,

 

Omo

 

a

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7: 1-2)

Do Not Worry about Money and Possessions

Recently, my husband and I were discussing about our plans and dreams for the future and how much time, effort, finances and other resources would be required to make them. We talked about buying a big house one day and buying another car and sending our children to private secondary schools and not the free schools in the UK.  As many other people do, we have our hopes and dreams and things we would love to achieve while we are on this earth. Expectedly, our conversation soon drifted to the futility of life and vanity of man and we asked ourselves how many of these things we want to own or do can contribute to our attaining our salvation. We mused over the proverbial rat race for wealth and riches that the whole world finds itself subjected to and we remembered the words of Jesus in the bible stating that a man will be a fool to gather and store up earthly wealth and property and not have a good relationship with God (Parable of The Rich Fool – Luke 12:13-21).

 
This topic is very significant for me because for a long time, I have had to pray a lot to God to help me work hard to earn an income without the desire for wealth taking over my life. I have struggled with the concept of not having every single thing that my heart desires and the worldly premise that I have to work harder, try harder, push harder and strive harder all on my own to achieve my goals sometimes prevails. I have had to seriously caution myself to realise that the state of being wealthy will not make me a better person than the next and would indeed not see me to heaven.

 
Jesus said you cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6: 24) and indeed my experiences have revealed to me that if you try to, one would inevitably take priority over the other. Unfortunately; however, for many people, the love of money supersedes true worship and dedication to God.  This is because money is seen as tangible and can seemingly solve many of life’s problems. In comparison, God is unseen and seemingly answers as He wills and not always to our expectations. This perception in itself is a great lie of the enemy which he introduces into our lives in various subtle ways. It is expressed when we have a big project for which we need funding and we don’t know how or where to get it from; we are reminded of it when the rent or kids school fees are due and we do not have enough money to cover them or when we wake up at night and find ourselves gripped with fear of the future in light of our meagre finances, or when we buy lottery tickets every week, telling ourselves that as children of God, we deserve a big win. Sometimes, we despair at God and remind Him that if He makes us rich, then we’ll give so much back to the poor and the needy. Other times, we neglect our devotion period because we have an important work related assignment or we fail to give our tithes and offering at church because we’re sure even God Himself expects us to take care of all our most important needs first. Worst of all, its when we feel that it is by our own wisdom, or by our power or might that wealth will come our way.  All lies, deceptions and schemes of the enemy to keep us serving money because he realises that to serve God truly is to have everything we ever need to keep us happy and content while we sojourn on this earth.

 

 
Consider this carefully, God has said He will provide all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Further more, He says we should not worry about what we would eat or drink. Instead we should seek first His kingdom and its righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto us (Matthew 6: 25-34).  He is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 23:19); therefore, if  He has said it, I believe it and that settles it.

 
Please don’t get me wrong. I do believe that people should work hard and earn and live a happy and fulfilled life but please pay heed to Jesus words which say it is not wrong to work hard or be wealthy but it is wrong to be rich with earthly possessions and not rich in our relationship with God. Let us store up our treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy them (Matthew 6: 19-21). Let us serve God and not money. God has the ability to give us all the money and success we would ever need and He will give according to His will for us.

 

Do you disagree with this post or do you have suggestions for how Christians can pursue wealth without compromising their faith in or worship of God?

 

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach.

 

Omo

 

Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own. (Luke 12:15)

 

Business Scriptures to Encourage and Empower the Christian Entrepreneur

There’s no part of our lives and our businesses that God does not want to be involved in. Therefore, draw wisdom, strength and encouragement from the following scriptures to help you in your business and career. I pray that God in his infinite mercy will bless every endeavour of your heart and meet you at every point of need in Jesus name. Amen.

• Deuteronomy 8: 18 –  “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today“.  Your skills and your talents that you need for your business to be successful come from God therefore, we must be grateful to Him for our successes and continue to trust that He will be our be our constant help to achieve our goals and targets.
• Romans 12: 2 – “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…“.Even though the main premise of this scripture refers to our spiritual lives in relation to the world, from a business sense, it challenges us to be different and go against the grain.   Define your USP and figure out a way to make it special and different from what has been seen or done before. Through this, you will attract a niche audience who will appreciate your being innovative and creative.
• 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-19 – “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit”. We know there will be ups and downs in the running of your business but to give up is to demonstrate that we do not trust our God and Saviour. In fact, God’s will for us is to rejoice through any and every circumstance. This shows great faith in Him and the acknowledgement of His promise that He will never leave nor forsake us.
• Proverbs 16: 18 – “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall“.  No one likes a know it all and in fact, except for God, there is no single human being on earth who knows the answer to every single question or mystery. Therefore, we must not be too proud to learn and listen; not only to people who we consider wiser than we are but to everyone. Knowledge is power and we can never have too much knowledge in the enhancing of our businesses and the achievement of our business objectives.
• 2 Corinthians 9: 8 – “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” One of my personal favourites. God does and will pull it out of the bag for us.  This has happened to us in our business time and again and has probably happened to you at some point in your life as well. A great testimony we have is how every month, God provides us with the income we need to pay all our overheads even when there were some points during the month when we were worried about cash flow. People describe it as divine intervention. I wholeheartedly agree!
• 2 Timothy 1: 7 – “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” – Fear is the biggest enemy of progress and success. It is the opposite of faith. God has blessed us with a spirit that can and should take risks because He has also blessed us with the assurance that a risk we take in Him will always be a calculated risk. Try Him today! What is that step or decision you are finding so hard to make. Take it to the Lord in prayer and trust in Him.
• Hebrews 12: 11 – “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” – Very hardly would you come across a successful person who claims that no hard work was involved in the achievement of their success. We need to set goals and targets and we need to focus on the achievements of these goals and targets by setting tasks and deadlines and exercising great amounts of discipline in executing those tasks.
• 1 Corinthians 9: 24 – “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize“.  Being a Christian does not mean that we cannot be competitive in our businesses or careers. You won’t go for a job interview and say to the panel ’employ the other candidate over me because I am a generous and loving Christian’.  That being said, you must make sure that your competitiveness is with complete integrity. Do not employ underhand tactics to get one up over the competition. The success and glory you may experience may well be short-lived and so not worth it at the end of the day.
• Mark 5: 36 – “Overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe” What more can I say! Even if no one else believes in you, do not be afraid. Your heavenly Father knows the potential He has bestowed upon you and the promising future He has blessed you with. Therefore, if you feel a divine conviction in your heart about a decision or an opportunity, then don’t be afraid, just believe!
• Ecclesiastes 11: 4 – “Whoever watches the wind will not plant;  whoever looks at the clouds will not reap“.  There will never be a perfect time for you to take that leap of faith so if you are waiting for the exact right conditions or circumstances, then you may be waiting forever. Don’t procrastinate or waste valuable time in making key decisions. Some opportunities will only come your way once so take the plunge. You may not be successful at all things you try but one day, one thing will click and you’ll be on your way. As long as God is willing, He is more than able.
• Proverbs 11: 14– “For lack of guidance a nation falls,  but victory is won through many advisors“. – Get yourself a mentor who has been there and done that and surround yourself with an amazing team that believe in what you believe in and buy into the future that you are striving to achieve.
• Philippians 4: 13 – “I can do all this through him who gives me strength“. This scripture is great for boosting our self-confidence especially at those moments when it all gets too much and you find yourself starting to wallow in self-doubt and self-pity.

Some other great scriptures that would undoubtedly help you as you journey in your business and career are as follows. Proverbs 16: 3, Proverbs 3: 5-7, James 1: 2, Jeremiah 29: 11, 2 Corinthians 2: 14, Romans 8: 38-39, 1 Corinthians 15: 57, Deuteronomy 30: 16, Philippians 4: 19, Ephesians 1: 3, Ephesians 3: 11-12, Titus 3: 8, 14, Jeremiah 19: 11-13, Psalms 37: 5, Psalms 127: 1, Joshua 1: 8, Exodus 35: 35, Romans 8: 18, Proverbs 15: 14,27, Proverbs 17: 7

I hope these scriptures have and are inspiring you to achieve more and trust God more in your business and career. Can you think of any more that I have not included here?  I would love to see what you have.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach.

Omo

Not I, But Christ

Read

Jeremiah 9: 24

Proverbs 11: 2

 

I was at a wedding fair in Central Milton Keynes recently exhibiting some of our beautiful wedding dresses and other bridal wear.  I met another lady who makes the most amazing cakes and we got into conversation. She was in awe of our dresses and the business in general and she kept saying ‘well done’ and ‘I’m proud of you’. I felt happy that someone appreciated our work and what we have achieved so far but I also found myself overtly basking in her praises and starting to fluff my imaginary feathers. You know the proverbial swollen head :).

 

As she was speaking, my heart whispered to me ‘Do not forget to give the glory to He, whom it is due!’.   At that point, I was very quick to let her know that while I was happy with the success the business had enjoyed so far and grateful for her commendations, I could not possibly take the glory. It all belongs to the Lord.  Being a Christian herself, she completely understood and said she felt the same way about her business and achievements also.

 

The sin of pride steals upon us in various ways. It could be in the form of vanity and materialism or it could be haughtiness and a superiority complex born of an over inflated ego. Such people are sometimes called snobs. It could also be cleverly disguised as false modesty or a misplaced belief in our own power to change or influence our circumstances beyond what God has planned for us. One of the worst forms of pride and most deadly is the pride in our own self-righteousness. We consider everyone who is not saved doomed and look down on them. There are just so many ways pride reveals itself in our daily lives.

 

Pride does come before a fall (Proverbs 16: 18) but the big problem the world faces today is that pride is actively promoted as self-confidence, self-determination, joy in your achievements and taking control of your life and future. Now, please don’t get me wrong. None of these qualities are wrong  but I strongly believe that when we recognise Jesus at the centre of all our achievements and successes, we will remember to always give the glory to Him.  The Lord is the one who giveth and He can also take it all away (Job 1: 21) and the bible states that the only things to be proud of are the undeserved grace that God bestows upon us daily (genuinely) and that Christ has awarded all humans (who believe in Him) eternal life. The battle does not belong to the strong nor the race to the swift (Ecclesiastes 9: 11) but to whom the Lord chooses.  Consider this profound poem and remember that your achievements are ultimately not by your power or might but by the spirit of the Lord.

 

“Not I, but Christ be honoured, loved, exalted,

Not I, but Christ be seen, be known and heard;

Not I, but Christ in every look and action,

Not I, but Christ in every thought and word.

Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,

Oh, to be lost in Thee,

Oh, that it may be no more I,

But Christ that lives in me.”

Mrs Ada A. Whidington (1891)

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/591#ixzz30oecIE6K

 

I pray that the good Lord will bless us all with the grace to be truly humble and to always give Him the glory for the beautiful milestones we experience in our lives and wonderful things He blesses us with.

Do you have an achievement or success story you feel proud of and thankful to God for?   Share it with us and we will also thank God for you and with you.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach.

Omo

 

Pride comes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall (Proverbs 16: 18)

In Your Anger, Do Not Sin!

Read

Ephesians 4: 26 – 29

James 1: 19

A friend of a friend once came to us to design her wedding dress and oh my goodness, did this woman have a speciality for being most disagreeable. I felt that she argued about anything and everything and haggled disdainfully because of the friend connection. I may have been wrong but I still did all I could to resist lashing out at her. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I have battled a quick temper for years and for this reason, whenever a situation arises where I feel I am losing control, I step away from it and say a quick word of prayer. Of course, I then vent my spleen to my dear husband who God has not surprisingly blessed with the most patient and amicable disposition. My husband would typically very quickly help me see that whatever the situation, it does not warrant me losing my hair.

Anyway, back to this lady. Her wedding dress had been designed and created and she loved it. We hugged on the last day when she picked it up and I gave a very huge sigh of relief. A couple of weeks later, just a short while before the wedding, she sent me what I considered a very sarcastic email about an admin request she felt we had not responded to quickly enough for her. Oh how I lost it, I am ashamed to admit. I said to myself ‘I have had enough of this woman’s bad behaviour and its time I tell her what I really think of her’. An angry voice in my head said to me ‘why can’t she be polite and decent like all your other brides who you have such great relationships with, deal with her now!’. Believe me, I am not crazy but I also heard a small voice say to me ‘wait and speak to your husband and compose an email to her together’. I very quickly ignored the smaller voice. Indignantly, I sent her a very short reply stating my disappointment at her email. As soon as my email was sent, I felt so low; I thought to myself you have just let your God down. The tempter must have been delighted at how easy that was for him to win. Needless to say, she sent me another email in minutes laced with anger and more sarcasm. At that point, I prayed and told God to take control.   I am writing this post regarding anger because very significantly, one of the topics of my daily devotional the very next morning was on avoiding anger and strife.   Again, God sent me a direct message through that devotional. The situation could have been avoided if only I had surrendered my anger to Him in prayer and supplication before I gave in to my anger. I know better now that anger is the foothold of the devil and I must continue to resist the temptation to give in to my anger when my temper rises.

As Christians, we grow and evolve everyday to be more like Christ. From this one episode, I have learnt a few things I’ll like to share with you:

• When a negative occurrence arises in your life, do not let prayer be a lender of last resort. God should not be your plan Z. He should be the first point of call and not just called upon to clear whatever mess we have created by giving in to our human nature.
• Sometimes God allows certain situations to unfold in our lives because He desires that we learn life lessons from them. In this case, even though the daily devotional I read (which convicted me) had been written long before this episode occured, I believe in a master planning God who knew the future and sent that message at exactly the time it would be most meaningful. It has now helped me learn from a situation that made me ashamed of my actions
• Anger is a very destructive emotion. I can say that again and again and again. The bible says that a gentle word turns away wrath (Proverbs 15: 1). Practice responding to a negative address from someone with positivity and watch how much effect this would have on the perpetrator.  Let us live and learn everyday and continue to ask for God’s help with all the areas where we are weak.
• We battle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6: 12). Even though this situation looked very small in the physical realm, there was also a battle in the spiritual realm at that point in time when I was debating whether or not to send that email. In the future, I will endeavour to remember to clothe myself with the full armour of God and so I can stand against the schemes of the Devil (Ephesians 6:11).
• I will remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and wait 70 times 7 (Matthew 18: 22)  before I respond to a situation that arouses my anger. Furthermore, if someone slaps me on one cheek (Luke 6: 29), I will turn the other one while praying in my heart for God to bless me with all the patience I need to get through the situation.

I truly hope this post helps someone out there like me who struggles sometimes to keep their own counsel and do nothing when they feel they have been disrespected or humiliated.

Do you think you have an anger problem or do you think you will look stupid if you allow people to trample all over you? I would love to hear how you feel about dealing with people who upset you.  Also, if you have any advice that can help me and other people who are dealing with anger issues, please also drop a note.

 

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach

 

With so much love,

 

Omo

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;  do not fret – it leads only to evil. (Psalm 37: 8)

Dealing with Fussy Feeders

Its dinner time and again I’m dreading the drama that is about to unfold in my house.  My son is one of the most fussy eaters I know.  I would go so far as to say his case has a touch of OCD which makes it even worse. You see, he would only eat foods that are white in colour or otherwise very pale in colour.  His best foods are rice, pasta, noodles, corn flakes and chicken nuggets. Even with these so-called ‘favourites’, sometimes meal times take up to two hours of convincing, threatening and sometimes begging before we can get through a small bowl.  He has his good days and extremely bad days and I would describe him as your quintessential fussy eater.  Can anyone identify with my plight?

I have sought the advice of family members and friends and scoured the internet endlessly to get ideas on how I can convince him to be more adventurous with his food and this is all to no avail.  He would literally gag and throw up any food he does not like.  He is very conscious of textures and smells and even when we have disguised some white coloured foods like fish or chicken fillet in his fave foods, we have very often been caught by this very observant child. I remember one awful episode once with rice and some blended chicken fillet. I had taken all the time to prepare this fabulously nutritious meal and felt so proud of myself that I had successfully hidden the chicken in his rice.  He took one spoon and proceeded to projectile vomit my beautiful concoction all over me.  That taught me!  We have finally reached an uneasy truce where every 2 weeks or so he tries something new. This very often goes pear-shaped and so we mostly stick to the old reliable.

Other advice I have been given and have found online say the following:

• Introduce some animation during meal times. Think of a cartoon character he likes and take on the persona of that character during meal times to get him interested and involved in the exercise.  This should distract him from thinking about what he doesn’t like about the food.
• Give him lots of encouragement and praises while he is eating.  Endorse the act of eating as very good behaviour.  Some Mums even have a reward system where they give a little gift each time their little one finishes a meal in entirety.
• Make sure everyone in the family eats at the same time so we can lead him by example. Kids like to emulate their parents
• Encourage him to eat around other children. The logic here is that kids like to be competitive and do what other kids around them are doing
• Relax during meal times and don’t threaten him if he doesn’t want to eat as he would associate meal times with negative emotions
• Put the food down in his plate and ignore him. The logic is that he would soon get curious and approach the food all by himself
• Don’t feed him until he asks for food and then only give him foods that are not on his list of fave foods. In other words, when he is hungry, he’ll eat.  As a Mum, I find this the hardest and I always crack when he refuses to ask for food at points when I know he should be eating.

Some Mums have sworn by these techniques and give many testimonies of the effectiveness of some of these tips.  If you have a fussy eater, feel free to try some of the tips above and please let me know how you get on.  As for me, I must admit that my little one is so wily that every time I try something new, I can almost swear that he has this really cheeky grin on his face silently stating ‘when will you give up Mum?’.

I most certainly do not intend to give up!  I n fact, I am soliciting some more reinforcement; which is why I have posted this.  Please Mums, let me know how you convince your fussy feeders to eat and eat healthy. What has worked and what hasn’t? I look forward to getting some advice.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach

With much love,

Omo

---

 

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. (Psalm 127:3)

From Tears to Songs of Joy – I Believe You Will Be Successful!

Read Psalm 126: 5-6

The bible passage for this post makes me feel like God Himself is standing before me and speaking to me. Since we started to run our bridal wear design business, there have been so many highs and a number of lows. Some of the highs have been when we got the required funding to set up in our bridal design studio and when we found the amazing space we now work from; which everyone who sees raves about. Some of the lows have been the stress of looking for good staff and suppliers, making enough sales to cover overhead costs and having to spend so much time away from our beautiful children while building up the business. There have been tears; I tell you. There have been arguments and there has been a lot of shaking fists at God. I often think ‘Dear God, You know the exact help we need with this business so why won’t You help’. You see, through our tears, we sometimes cannot see and think clearly. I personally have failed many times (as many of us are prone to do) to count the actual blessings God has manifested in my life and in our business. I sometimes fail to take out the time and effort required to thank Him properly and instead wallow in self pity about the things that are not going the way I hoped.

 

But you see God loves us even more than we love ourselves and remains faithful even when we are unfaithful because He cannot disown himself (2 Timothy 2:13). He wants to see us happy and successful in every venture and endeavour we undertake. The plans He has for us are to prosper us and not to harm us and to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29: 11). He works all things together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8: 28) and that is why this morning, I believe He helped me find this profound bible passage.  I believe it is His divine answer to some of our concerns regarding the success of our businesses. He says ‘After the tears (hard work, low blows, sacrifices, mental and physical exertion) you have shed over your business, there will be songs of joy (more sales, great staff, amazing suppliers, committed customers, successful marketing of the service or product you provide). Indeed joy cometh in the morning (Psalms 30: 5).

 

A few things have worked for me at my lowest moments when I have worried greatly about our business. They may work for you too but do try them out and see how you get on.

 

1. I tell myself He has done it before and He will do it again – God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23: 19). He doesn’t have to raise a finger to help us but He loves to and so He does. He is our Father and Jesus very rightly stated ‘if you who are evil (human and blemished) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your heavenly Father…’ (Luke 11: 13) and He also asked ‘how many of you have given your children a stone instead of bread or a snake instead of a fish?’ (Matthew 7: 9- 10). Do not let your fear diminish your faith and rob you of the peace of mind that trusting the Lord brings. He will come through for you and your family, business or career.

2. I pray instead of protest– Oh the times I have spent complaining about this, that and the other. Every time things don’t go my way, my first reaction is to complain to the highest heavens. I ask myself ‘how could this happen when I have asked God to take control of this matter’. I quake in my boots and worry to no end.  Indeed, I have now come to the realisation that because I have always asked God to always instruct and teach me in the right way to go (Psalm 32: 8), when things go wrong, instead of complaining, I say a quick word of prayer.  For example ‘Father, I believe your thoughts towards me are of good and every success or victory of our lives and our business is to your glory. Please let your name be glorified concerning this issue affecting our peace. Help us to see or learn what you desire we do from this situation and bless us with peace over this matter’. Many times, when the whole issue fully unravels, I am then able to see what God’s amazing intentions were and I am so grateful for His intervention.

3. Joy comes in the morning – When you read biographies about truly successful business people, they always tell you how hard they had to work, many sacrifices they had to make, dreadful mistakes they thought would break them or financial difficulties they never imagined they could rise from and so much more. From a physical perspective, when you try to do something not many people have the courage to do, then you will have experiences not many people will ever experience; both good and bad. Starting a business is a very brave thing to do and there will be lots to discourage you along the way. From a spiritual perspective, the enemy can see how bright and beautiful the future looks for you and your business and that it is God’s name that will be glorified in your success and the enemy finds this unbearable. Therefore, you will be the target of attacks; both subtle and serious. I tell you what though, if God be for you, no one and nothing can stand against you (Romans 8: 31) or stand in your way but first you must be for Him also. Don’t worry yourself to a stupor about your basic needs but instead ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you’ (Matthew 6:33). This passage has been tried, tested and continues to triumph in my life and our business.

After your tears, will come shouts of joy if you hold on to your faith and to your ambitions for your business. God is still in the business of answering prayers. Make a daily date with Him to spend time praying about your business and of course your life in general and wait to see tremendous testimonies unfold in your life.

An Exercise for you – Have a notepad handy throughout the day where you can quickly jot down issues affecting your peace as they arise and then pray about them each day until you have peace concerning that matter. I’ve started to do this and as I write down these prayer points each time, I have this feeling that I am telling my problems to a Divine Father who will deal with them shortly!

---

 

Do you have any trials or triumphs regarding your business or personal life you would like to share or get help with? Or do you have any tips for coping with problems you come up against in your life or business? We would love to hear from you and learn from you.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach.

Bible, Babies, Business and Busy

“Hello world, This is me!!”

Does that sound familiar?  Have you ever wanted to say that before?  Have you felt like you had something to say every single day and just wished there would be someone to say it to?  I’ve felt that way for a long time.  I have written down my thoughts and understanding of passages and verses I have read in the bible and I have always wished there was someone I could share these with.  For a long time, I have been discouraged from doing so for various reasons.  A voice in my head whispers to me ‘No one would be interested in what you have to say’ or ‘It’s another commitment and something else to take your time’ or ‘Do you really want people knowing that you’re a Christian, how would that affect your business?’, and the worst one is ‘If you declare publicly that you’re a Christian, you would be a laughing-stock if you missed heaven’. But today, I have resolved to ignore the voices.  I asked God to bless me with the strength that I need to start this blog and well, here I am 🙂

I live, as many people do, a very busy life; juggling my duties as a wife, Mum and home-maker with running my business – a bridal wear design house – with my dedication to God.  It’s nothing fancy and I can only say that I am so grateful that I have these things to juggle.  It’s a privilege and an honour for which I am grateful each day.  I decided to start this weblog; not because I’m crazy and thrive on being constantly on the go but because I would like to learn from other Mums and share my experiences as a Mum to bring up children that will make us proud.  I would like to share my knowledge acquired of business so far and more importantly learn from other business people.  Finally and most importantly, I would also like to learn from other Christian women and men and share my thoughts and understanding of passages I read in the bible everyday.  Plus, I would like to relate scriptures I read to the other important parts of my life as a Wife, Mum and an entrepreneur!

Follow me on this journey and let’s see where it takes us. In all of it, may the name of the Lord and our saviour Jesus Christ be constantly glorified through all the upcoming posts and your hopeful responses and contributions.

God bless you as you read, learn, share and teach.

With much love,

Omo

1 John 4: 7 “Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God…”

Why Grace Is Amazing To Me: In Short