The Secret Place – Part 2

He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall find protection; His faithfulness shall be your shield and wall. Psalms 91:4 MEV

“His faithfulness shall be your shield and wall.”

A shield and a wall are both forms of protection. Protection is needed when and only when there is a chance of harm or being put in danger.

In Biblical times a shield or a buckler was a small round shield that was held by a handle at arms length, which were used specifically to protect one from blows. In Biblical times you would often find cities that were surrounded by walls. These walls were built thick and strong, as a form of protection against enemy invasion.

Faithfulness is a quality. Gods faithfulness is able to protect me as the above verse states, because it is declaring that a quality of God is that He is faithful. In other words He cannot fail. It’s impossible for God to not fulfil His promises in the lives of His servants.

Therefore this quality protects us. And how does this apply to The Secret Place? In our difficulties and intimate moments with Him we make way for this quality that God possesses to become a reality.

But yet why do some experience Gods faithfulness and others don’t? Why do some see the hands of God and promises of God fulfilled in their lives and others never do? Because there is a lack of those intimate moments with God.

God can only be faithful to those who are His, and those who are His are those He knows … personally. And for God to know you personally it requires visiting The Secret Place. A place in which we unveil who we are to God with absolutely no reserve. Where we uncover even the ugliest things and allow Him to work in us to change us.

No one sees this process, no one knows when you’re truly visiting The Secret Place. Anyone can pray, everyone goes through the desert but not everyone has the courage to go to The Secret Place.

If you ever wonder why some people can go through the worst situations and come out a million times better? Or how some people just always bounce back? It’s because they’ve placed themselves in a position where Gods quality of being undeniably faithful can protect them. In the desert God has a plan to strengthen us but Satan also has a plan to confuse and disorientate us (like the children of Israel), but when you are someone who visits The Secret Place His faithfulness protects you from all attacks of the devil. From all plans of Satan. You only blossom and grow.

I was watching Nothing To Lose on Netflix (an excellent film I recommend you watch) and when you see the struggles Bishop Edir Macedo faced you literally see the embodiment of this verse. Gods faithfulness was his protection.

Doing It Like a Queen – Discernment

She had great wisdom to know how to handle any situation.
When I initially read this statement, a few things came to mind. We could easily speak about the way we deal with people… but as I thought deeper though all these things are equally important one thing did come to mind.

Knowing when to fight and when to wait .

Thinking deeply about Queen Esther and the decision she made she knew exactly how to do this. A bit of context on her story – Queen Esther found herself in a situation where she was physically speaking the only one who could save her people, and with this she took a massive step. She placed herself not only in a difficult situation, but the decision she made to confront the King about the planned massacre, if rejected would cost her her life (Read Esther).

We may never face a situation such as that of Queen Esther, but we too have our own battles and we must know how to judge each situation. When it is the time to go before God in purpose and fight for what we want, and when it’s a moment of humility and we must trust in our God.

Each situation brings about different requirements of how it should be dealt with, and we have to have wisdom to know what each situation is demanding from us.

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is fight and do purposes of faith, to try to gain what we want with our own strength in hope that we will successfully “shake Gods throne” and make sense of what we are being faced with. At times it’s easier to recite Bible verses, and believe that “this fight is the Lords…” when in truth the situation requires an act of faith.

“Okay, I get it Peniel, but how do I know what to do?” Simple, seek Gods guidance. Ask Him what He would have you do in that situation. If necessary He will inspire you with a purpose of faith, or He will encourage you to invest in other things and persevere in faith or He may even be silent. Baring in mind His silence isn’t a free pass for us to just do what we think is best. In those moments of silence continue to seek, and He will guide your every step – How? Through His Word of course. What has He been saying to you recently? What is the Word He has been allowing to play in your mind? That’s what He wants you to focus on.

You must understand that If now is a moment to allow God to act, this does not mean you are not in faith or even not revolted. It just means that that is what God requires from you in this moment. It’s so important we get this right, because getting this wrong can lead to frustration, anxiety and even malice towards God.

One of the hardest things to do when you’re far from God is to posses the ability to discern – to truly understand what He wants you to do. There will be times in life where you will need to distance yourself from everything and everyone, cancel out everyone’s opinions and stop to listen to what God is saying. That separation from everything that distracts you, and takes away from what God is showing you is at times necessary. The only way to be able to discern what God expects of us in different situations is when we are close to Him. The closer we are, the clearer His voice is and the more we discern when He is speaking.

Seek for Gods direction in everything, and He will show you what you must do in every moment in your life. You’ll hear Him loud and clear. Until next time …

Wait In Faith (2.0). Part 6

When I started this blog series it was mainly about an answer I wanted from God, something I thought I needed. But as the months progressed I realised that this year wasn’t about that, nor was this series. It was about me, and how God intended and intends to work within me.

To ‘Wait in Faith’ it’s more than just waiting for an answer or to receive a particular blessing, it’s a character building process… one in which you’ll be surprised that many don’t finish.

It’s uncomfortable, sacrificial and forces you to follow God blindly. It makes you feel vulnerable, and clueless, and at times even powerless. Thoughts fly in and out of your mind, you find yourself questioning God and if He has really just left you to “figure this one out alone.” And more often than not your heart speaks and speaks, making you feel to just give up.

And like I said many do, but today I was thinking despite having a few moments of my own like that… why am I still here? Why not just throw in the towel? And loud and clear I heard myself respond;

“…because I want to see what happens when I don’t give up!”

I’ve seen many give up, and I can get a gist of what life would be like for me if I did too. I know exactly what happens if I do give up. But I keep going because I want to see what happens if I don’t. If I believe. If I fight. If I go against myself, my inclinations and every part of me that doesn’t want me to believe. If I take Gods Word and truly make it my own – I want to see what happens.

All in all, your journey is more than the answer, solution or blessing your after. It’s more than the results you want to see. Your journey is the hard-pressing character-building moments where God is free to work. The achievement isn’t when you see your dream materialised, the achievement is when you look back to see how much you’ve grown. When you look back and can affirm that you are not the same.

 

Wait in faith. Part 4

Caleb waited.

45 years had passed but his spirit was still the same, he still had the same hunger, drive and determination to serve God. And mind you he didn’t serve God anyhow… he did so wholeheartedly.

His focus was not on the time it had taken for the promise to be fulfilled, he looked at the positives. He was still alive, therefore the promise would still be fulfilled.

I came into this year with goals, but all my goals were based off of 3 underlying ones, one of which being ‘to understand God better’ (I wanted to understand Him better the same way I would make the effort to understand a person). And today He is reminding me that as each day and week passes, I am (maybe just not in the way I expected to *sighs* lol). God is not a god of patterns, nor is He limited by our time. He doesn’t always “feel” the need to explain Himself, and when He doesn’t it doesn’t matter how much you ask, beg or complain…. He wont.

What God needs are real people, as in people who are truly for Him. Moments like this (as we see in Caleb’s example) are when He truly sees who’s in it for Him first or for themselves above all. What I’m trying to say, is right now whatever stage you are at in life is the moment where you need to trust, in fact you must (as its imperative if you want to get anywhere) that God is truly for you.

Ignore the voice of doubt, and act your faith the best way you can – in faith. You want to call Gods attention? Put Him in a position where He has to bless you?? Nothing better than to express this through your faith! There is no other way to send a 1st class message straight to heaven, than by using our faith.

You’ve just got to trust that this seemingly “long” way of doing things will turn out to have been the best way, that although you are ready to dive in and receive the clarity you need… waiting will have been the best decision you ever made!

God is not a giver, He’s a rewarder and I promise you if you wait in faith what you will receive will be greater than anything  you could of ever perceived.

26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Luke 2:26 NKJV

13 But I really believe that I will see the Lord’s goodness before I die. Psalm 27:13

Growth Like Natural Hair…

Someone once told that growth is like transitioning to natural hair.

To begin with it doesn’t look so pretty, you’ve got natural roots and straight ends, not to mention this causes your hair to break if you don’t give it the attention and care it needs. Plus regular trims, not forgetting what seems like truck loads of money you have to spend on products for transitioning hair, but when you start to see real growth and your natural curl pattern coming through it proves to be worth it.

2016 isn’t just the year my hair went completely natural but its also the year I learnt a lot about myself and God. I came face to face with some of my biggest fears, and learnt that I have traits that feed them to be bigger and stronger than they are. But I also learnt that in Matthew 28:20 (one of my favourite verses), when God said He would be with me until the end of age… He meant that. At a point in my life where I felt like I was losing myself, and instead of seeking the guidance of the only One who could help I relied on myself. I would of understood if He left me aside, but He never stopped speaking to me and trying to work in me. And the moment I allowed Him to open my eyes to where I was headed He swooped in and did In 21 days what I had struggled to do for 5 months.

This year hands down should have been the worst year of my life, but how could I say that with what He has managed to do in me? It wouldn’t be fair.

I entered the year and 2016 was full of promise, but more than once I questioned why it seemed like 2016 and  2015 had met up and made a bet on which would be the more challenging year (lol)! I spent most of this year purifying a damaged faith, and rebuilding self-belief. I spent most of this year fighting demons I never even knew I was up against and preserving my salvation like it was all I had left in this world.

2016 was full of goals and breakthroughs when I first planned it, but as I draw to the end of the year I’m glad things turned out the way they did.

1. I know myself more than ever before – my strengths and (I’m happy to say) my weaknesses.
2. This year has been my year of preparation, we’ve all got to go through the darkness before we get to the light!
3. My relationship with God and MYSELF is like nothing it’s ever been before.

So much like transitioning to natural hair, this year I had to do some transitioning of my own. I had to rebuild my confidence in my faith and and the same way I had to trim my hair a couple of times I had to cut somethings out of my life. It’s taken a lot of my focus, attention and a load of care but I started to see growth. But, I want more … I guess the same way I’ll be focusing on regrowing my edges in 2017, spiritually speaking I’ll be establishing everything I have learnt this year! 2017 I know for a fact won’t be any easier… but I also know I’ve grown stronger and with God in control 2017 is my year of Everything, a year of Greatness and Sacrifice! 🙂

 

My hair after transitioning for just over a year

Doing It Like a Queen

1. She accepted what she believed in no matter what the consequences.
2. She knew when to ask for help
3. She made sure her physical appearance was good
4. She knew how to submit to authority
5. She trusted in the authority of others
6. She had great wisdom to know how to handle any situation
7. She gave credit where credit was due
8. When she asked for something, it had great purpose
9. She was wise enough to understand the whole matter before responding
10. She realized God’s timing
11. She knew God’s warning even when it came out of the mouth of someone else
12. She had courage
13. She required those closest to her to be just like her – she wasn’t friends with just anyone!
14. Everything she did was for God to show his power
15. She knew how to wait for the right moment to speak
16. She chose her words wisely
17. Her reward was great but she did not mind passing on her blessing
18. She knew kept going and kept pushing for what she wanted!
19. She knew how to speak sweet words to her husband to make him feel like a king
20. She knew that after you have done all you can do then the Lord will handle the rest
21. She fought for what she believed in

Remember this series?? Well its back from where we left off! Esther is a prime example of the great plans God has in store for every single one of us! However, for God to use her, Esther had to become the Queen she was not just with what met the eyes, but with her character. Join me on this journey of being molded and prepared for greatness with Him – our Lord.

P.s.I previously highlighted the ones that stood out for me the most, I can’t wait to get to them. 

 

Never let TIME get the best of you , time works for YOU.

Quick Note Step One I accidentally posted on my personal blog which is http://kehindeadeogun.wordpress.com/ my apologies so please go check it out !

Step 2 : Never let time get the best of you, time works for YOU

 When chasing your goal, whether it is to lose weight, to get a job, get a pay rise and so on the only way you are going to be that perfect size 10, the only way you are going to become employed, the only way you will get that pay rise is if time is under YOUR control! YES you read right, time has to be under your control!

 YOU are in control of your time. I don’t think y’all realise how deep this is let’s break it down. We have 86,400 seconds in a day that is a total of 60,4800 seconds a week. Are you really going to tell me you don’t have time?

You don’t have time or you don’t want to make the time. , when you think about it you make time for what is important for you , for example you make time to watch tv , eat food! , go out with friends and yet you don’t make time to update your CV , time to do an extra hour of revision and etc.

How many times on average do you need to do something and rather than doing at that specific moment and time you say to yourself “I’ll do it later”

I want you all to do something for me I want you to eliminate the saying “I’ll do it later” from your vocabulary, done it? Great from! From now on I’m telling you if you have done this and truly eliminated it you will realise that you get a lot more done! (I’m speaking from experience here too)

I can guarantee you 122% that if you truly do things the moment you have to do them your to do list will decrease dramatically. For example one way this has worked for me would be since starting writing the blog , I am the type of person that loves , loves , loves planning and organisation so even before Thursday’s ( the day’s I post on) I have already got a drafted version of what it is that I am going to post and have probably re-drafted it like X2 times ( or more lool I am a perfectionist )

Alright people I don’t want to bore you so I am going to end on the point that if time works for you , whatever you want to see you will see.

How bad do you want it ?

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How bad do you want it? 

 

Let me just put it out there , if there are 365 days in a year YOUR SUCCESS is dependent upon what you are doing each day!

– if you are procrastinating daily you don’t want it! Lets be real here , everyday is an opportunity to be great. 

– if there are 24 hours in a day – your success is dependent upon how spend those 24 hours!

I don’t think you are getting it! It is that deep how many people ‘say’ they want to be successful – and how many people actually ‘GO’ and be successful?

– Research has proven if you were to be placed in a room with no windows . no external influences such as sun light , birds and etc you day can shift to a 25 HOUR DAY CYCLE! I don’t think you are getting it you don’t only have 24 hours in a day , you have the amount of hours you decide to use!

Person A : Has the mentality of the great is if I wake up at 3am I will have a 4 hour jump on the world so I can get more done

whereas Person B’s  mentality is that of an average person is to wake up a couple mintues earlier such as 5:50am.

Clearly Person A wants it BAD hence why they are SACRIFICING – when you want to succeed as bad as you want to believe then you will be successful.

 

Its your time to blow . stop saying you don’t have enough time, stop saying tired , STOP MAKING EXCUSES  when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe then you WILL be successful.

 

Until next time keep safe and go be PHENOMENAL!