Say With Me...

He showed me,
It’s a beautiful place that lies ahead,
He  said I could and I can get there,
I’ve seen me at that point,
But-
But how do I get there?
It’s huge, it’s massive…, it’s amazing,
But as beautiful as that point looks,
As amazing as it is,
It’s path is rough,
It’s really daring to get there,
It’s path isn’t safe,
Neither is it politic nor popular,
It’s just …… right.
But when I get to a point when it seems like I’m left alone…,
What then? What happens?
Will I keep going or will I turn back?
Couldn’t someone else do it?
But why I do I feel like if I don’t do it, I’ve failed?
Is this the essence?
Was this why I was made?

Okay, I’ll try.
Oooh, but the test is much…
The stones are piercing…
My feet are hurting…
It’s dry, I’m feeling faint already.
How can I make it there?
Who do I need?
What else can I get?
Wait a minute!!!
I just saw the White Dragon bush,
Just perfect for making tea…
Right on time.
Oh no! oh no! oh no!
It’s the White Jade Bush,
It’s the poisonous plant..
Many things appearing good but just deceptive,
Is this what I’ll have to live through?
Look, get someone else.

The weary traveler, faced with difficulties and deception, kept thinking… just about letting go; just about to pack his bags and work away.

But a thought came…
The one whom they call ‘Christ Jesus’ did it.
He didn’t have to, but he did
He would have asked someone else in his place,
Yeah…but he didn’t.
He was tempted.., He cried…,
He was spat on,
He was beaten by his own creation,
He was also thristy..,
And He even died,
But what a glory the day He rose,
He conquered,
He won.
And hey, He went through all that not for Himself,
But some creature made of dust they call ‘man’,
What a guy!..

But the path He threaded wasn’t less tough, it’s even more,
And If he went through it,
Then I can go through mine.
The Supreme one told me that He would be with me,
He even said, “He lives in me”.
Greater is He that is in me, than anything out there.
I know I can trust him,
So, I say “Amen” to this task.
Not my will, but His…
I don’t understand it, but “Amen”,
I don’t know how to get there…but “Amen”,
In the good times…”Amen”,
In the bad times…”Amen”.
Are there others saying “Amen” to theirs as well?

You might have fallen off several times,
But hey!...you can do this,
Don’t throw in the towel,
Let’s run,
Run not in your power nor might,
But by God’s spirit, and Grace.
Please say “Amen".

NIGERIA

I speak life; you’re going to live

I speak life; you’re the head

You will prevail

Don’t give up the fight; fight for your life

I speak life to you- NIGERIA

You shall live

Despite the upheavals; despite the crisis; despite the fights and the killings; despite the corruption; despite immorality and insanity… Nigeria… I’ll always pray for you.

I know you’ll live through these…, I know you’re strong; you can fight this.

If Europeans’ scramble for you didn’t kill you; if colonialism/slavery wasn’t able to finish you; if the civil war couldn’t pull you down; if so many riots and crisis and division couldn’t bury you…then, I believe you will stand.

So many have tired shutting you up; so many have tried breaking you; so many have tried leading you astray; so many have cursed you. They’ve tried so hard using kidnappings, bomb blasts, ill-leadership, so many unimaginable measures…, but I know you’ll stand strong. I know you fight through this.

Nigeria, you have a reason not to give up; so many of your youths still believe in you and are ready to fight with you. Some fight with spoken words, some written words, some with music, some with their positions…they are all fighting. Introducing to you a prolific song writer; he is Aellay. He is advocating for a peaceful Nigeria. He’s recent work is titled “Make Naija Peaceful”; I read the lyrics of this song, and I’m urging us all to keep praying and fighting for Nigeria (in the right way of course) with whatever we have been endowed with.

 I also want to urge us to get his song via www.hulkshare.com/medaiyese. You can also follow him via twitter: @aellay25 and facebook: Babajide IAellay. Lets encourage everyone fighting for the good of Nigeria.

And most importantly, follow God via J.E.S.U.S; He alone can bring healing to your life and healing to Nigeria.

Live Nigeria, Live…                                         

Father and Child

 

CHILD: Dear Lord, are You there listening to my little prayer? I don't know exactly what to say.
I've been told that You love me, that you will hear when I call and would help me when I fall, that I should let You have Your way.
Father, what I guess I'm trying to say is that I need You in my life because I know I'm tired of living in the past.
I would like to take a chance on a change down deep inside. I believe that Yours is one that's going to last.
So here's my heart Father; it's been broken, It's been wounded, but I'll give it all to You if You would love me. And here's my life, if You want it, You can have it. I will give it all to You because You love me. Your love is everything I need. 
 
FATHER: Dear Child, I'm right here. Through your worries, through your fears. I've been waiting for you to call My name. You know that I'll hear you if you turn to Me, and trust my word, it's true you will never be the same.
I'm standing here to say that you need Me in your life because I know that you can't make it on your own. If you would take that chance, let Me change you deep inside, I promise you will never be alone. My love is everything you need.

You can turn to me and know that I am always standing by. I gave it all for you, so you could have this gentle peace inside.
 
CHILD: I will follow you cause I believe in everything you are.
 
FATHER: I am your father 

CHILD: You are my Savior
 
FATHER: And in the matters of the heart, I am taking yours and you are taking mine.

CHILD: And in the matters of the heart, I am taking yours and you are taking mine.

This is a piece i got from a music I've always enjoyed listening to (Out Of Eden- Here is my heart). For me, its simply an amazing prayer that gives me a glimpse of how much God loves me. why don't you pour out your heart to God in prayer today...trust me, you'll find peace for your soul. Love you.

God’s Mercy and Your Responsibility

Hmmm…..how God uses minute things and situations to teach us big things.

I’m still learning how to drive a vehicle, but I’m an illegal learner; with an expired learner’s permit and no learner sign (“L” sign), and I’m not learning under a driving school, I’m been taught by my Uncle. So, because my learning process is not a legal and proper one, I’m only allowed to drive within the estate (rules made by my Mom). If I have anything to do outside the estate I either park at the gate or I allow my Uncle finish the driving.

Few weeks ago, I needed to get Suya for my younger brother from a garden just opposite the estate. I took my Mom’s car, and my Uncle joined me. Despite instructions I had received, I really wanted to dare (you know just like motivational speakers will say “dare to be great”, “dare to stand out”, “dare break the rules”…etc; this was exactly my mind set) break the rules and take the risk. So, I told my Uncle I’ll drive outside and I’ll even drive into the garden. He agreed but that was on the basis that I’ll simply follow instructions. Now, that moment I never saw coming; I tried turning into the garden, but I made an excess turn and unknowing my foot went straight for the accelerator and then *gboooom*, I brought down some bricks that were used to protect some flowers.  Fortunately, Mom’s car was in good shape, but the management had asked me to pay for damages or get someone to fix it. I got someone to fix it for #1,500, but it was late to work so he promised to get it done the next day, but the management needed to be sure I wasn’t been fraudulent, so my phone spent the night in their care. What an evening it was for me. And been a Sunday evening, I had spent the little cash I had on me during the weekend, so I asked my Mom to lend me the money I was to use to pay the man who had worked, she gave me but on the condition that I was to return her money with an interest of 33%. This she did not because she didn’t have the money to give but I needed to be responsible for my decision.

You might be wondering and feeling like my Mom was been harsh and not caring but this, I believe God used to teach me how He walks with us. We’ll have to be responsible for whatever decision or actions we make. You probably failed as a result of the fact that you neglected reading when you ought to have and you sit back wondering why God let you down or why God let you fail, and you ask questions like “God are you there”? Or you got involved in some kind of “wrong” acts and you ended up with an illness or something else, and you go thinking that God didn’t keep watch over you or God has brought shame upon you. Can you see God’s mercies in the midst of all these?

My Mom gave me her car; I didn’t pay for the ware and tare, neither did I pay for the fuel, neither did I pay for the meal I ate that night after all the damage I had done. That is mercy (it seems small right?). besides, she instructed me as regards what to do since my method was illegal; assuming I had my learner’s permit or even my learner’s sign on the car, the management of the garden, would have fixed the damage themselves (that’s the law), but I chose to “dare”, and situations “dared” me too, and I was ignorant of this fact, there I was thinking that my Mom didn’t want me to take a risk. That’s how it works with God. In one’s walk with God; He stays close by to feed you and He tells you things that pleases Him and He shows you how best it is to enjoy Him in every ramification. Now, the moment you decide to “dare” something else, He ain’t going watch you bare the total grunt but you’ll still have to be responsible for that act. You didn’t die in the process of doing wrong; you didn’t lose any part of your body while in that act; you were not rusticated because you failed, or even if you were rusticated, you probably got another admission. That’s God’s mercy; He’ll still be there to shield you, but you need to learn from your wrong. You might be thinking God is caging you or doesn’t want you to “enjoy” life and doesn’t want you exploring the world, but hey! what life is as beautiful as life spent with and in God? Remember David? He enjoyed God’s mercy, but when he goofed, he had to learn and take responsibility for what he chose, and in the midst of this, he still saw God. Remember Samson? Remember Jonah?... a whole bunch of others.

Now, let us review our lives, in the midst of certain challenges or some crisis we drew to ourselves (unconsciously), surely we have discovered some happy incidences refreshing to ourselves and glorifying God. Surely, there has been deliverance; we have passed through fires unharmed; hath He not listened to you and answered your prayers? Why not exalt His name for been so merciful rather than magnify the fires around you? David, who had bore the pain of this decision to commit adultery, still said in Ps. 103:2, “With all my heart I praise the LORD! I will never forget how kind he has been.”  In same Ps. 103:8-10, he said, “The LORD is merciful! He is kind and patient, and his love never fails. The LORD won't always be angry and point out our sins; He doesn't punish us as our sins deserve.”(CEV)

Surely, the Lord has been merciful despite our wrongs. “Forget not all His benefits”.

  

The Message

I was thinking through things few days back, particularly the messages and teachings I have heard and I’ve been taught, and I realized that without God’s spirit many might be (and many have been) left confused, as many of these teachings contradict, rather than complement, the other. If things keep going at this pace, how then can one discern if what one hears is right or wrong without the spirit of God? I can’t even imagine the level of confusion I would have been in.

The Gospel is simple- rather than teach people how to act, or how to think, or how to talk, lets simply teach Christ- Christ Jesus will do the rest. Via the relationship between Christ and man, He will transform their deeds, words, and actions. When we keep at telling people what we “feel” Christians should be or look like, we make His death on the cross meaningless, but when we show them Jesus…,then it’s settled. Morals is never a substitute for salvation.

The Disciples of Christ Jesus were called Christians because they learnt from Christ how to be like Him; their relationship with Christ made them better, and Christ transformed their lives. It is for God to renew the hearts of men through their walk with Him, while it is the duty of men to simply share the gospel (Mark 16:15), and the gospel is Christ Jesus. Scriptures didn’t say if they believe in “the Christian acts” but rather “in Christ Jesus” they will be saved. The psalmist realized the fact that no one could better teach God’s ways other than God himself…Psalm 25:12 “When people choose to follow the LORD, he shows them the best way to live”. Note: its not man who teaches the best way to live.

It is not our duty to teach people to be Christians, it is simply our duty to preach Christ Jesus.

Have you ever had, or met, or heard, of a Lover who can die for His Lady? its strange right? Well, meet my LOVER- His name is Jesus. He die for me, and guess what…, He die for you too long before you heard or read about Him. His heart is large enough to contain us all. And He has been calling out for you…, dear, give Him a chance, try out a walk with Him…, I can assure you, you’ll never regret it. And don’t be scared, I am not selfish or jealous, we can have the same Lover. Welcome on board; its good to have you in this race. We will finish strong.