Approaching The New Year 🎉✨

…. A little to consider

It’s very important you hear from God to know what He has in store for you each year. Many are the plans of a man but at the end of the day, it is God’s plans that are premium. 

What the year has in-store for you is as important as how horses are prepared for battle while God brings the victory.

The euphoria and the ecstasy that comes with approaching the new year is great but it is often wise when we take time to prayerfully consider a thing or two.

Of course it’s always a transition from one jolly season to another. As much as we are to enjoy that period, let’s not ignorantly major on the minors and minor on the majors.

Surely there is always one thing that is needful for such a time, and that is to seek His Will.

Then I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God–[to fulfill] what is written of Me in the volume of the Book. (Hebrews 10:7 AMP)
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I delight to fulfill your will, my God, for your living words are written upon the pages of my heart.(Psalms 40:8 TPT)

Understand that, a new year does not necessarily mean “a new you with a new life” as we always term it. I believe approaching a new year is an important opportunity to truly evaluate the closing year.

To know what went wrong, what could have been avoided, what could have been added, what could have been learnt and what you can possibly look forward to.

The course of your destiny is on your tongue. What you say is what you see , what you enforce is what you get and there are no two ways about that. Even what you fear magnitizes towards you.

Mind you, a new year beginning does not mean all previous projects and plans God started with you are going to come to a halt or get aborted. It does not also mean God has ended with you (Philippians 1:6). Hold on!

There are two sides to life and that is pain and pleasure. The pain of going through the disciplines of life in other to obtain mastery or to say have a better life (pleasure) is always a wiser decision compared to choosing pleasure such as living casually over disciplines (pain), which may likely cost you.

Often times we do not outrightly choose which side of life we want to be on, but our daily decisions concludes it for us. Understand, in your time of ignorance, experience will teach you but in your time of experience, knowledge might scar you.

My message for you is clear, and that is even as we approach the new year, give God a seat whiles you have a candid heartfelt conversation with Him concerning the coming new year.

The interesting thing about God is that, He always tells us ahead of time His plans but sometimes we neglect His instructions and are taken by surprise how things play out.

This privilege is available to everyone and not to a special group of people.

In Psalms 65:11, David wrote, “Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; And thy paths drop fatness”

This is The Lord’s desire for us, but are we beginning the year with The One who will crown our years with goodness or we are just excited about the mere fact that it is a new year.

This is to remind you that even as we approach the new year, begin with God.

Take some time out of your busy schedule, get a very serene place where you can be away from the noise of this world and have a nice retreat with The Lord and I know for sure, you will have a nice time.

God bless you for reading and happy new year in advance 🎊❤️

THE FATHER’S HEART (Fear Of The Lord)

He must increase, but I must decrease. [He must grow more prominent; I must grow less so.]
John 3:30 AMPC

We are in an unbelieving and perverse generation where the love of men has waxed cold, hearts of men hardened and the eyes of men are as dry as the desert.

It’s often sad to hear people justify themselves as to why they act the way they do. But if you look closely, you would realize it is indeed the spirit of the age and that is about selfish pleasures.

Many do not care about how our actions affect others as The Body of Christ. We seek first our interest rather than the interest of others. It has become a norm that the world gives it the name “self love”. But even with that, does it cross our minds often to truly know what is on The Father’s heart.

One of the beautiful things about Fatherhood is the ability to see your child feel vulnerable around you without any fear inrespective of the mistakes he may likely and obviously project, yet being able to scorn him in love(Proverbs 22:15 AMP)

The matter of discussion is soo important because for a moment it looks like we are loosing touch of our Fathers Heart which is to have that reverential fear towards Him, that eventually serves as a guide to our actions and a guard over hearts

Inasmuch as our Father is loving, it is to our utmost benefit if we walk in fear of Him. It shows who is priority in our hearts. As Proverbs makes us understand and I reiterate, the Fear of God is the beginning of Knowledge. Other versions such as the passion translation explains it as – We cross the threshold of true knowledge when we live in obedient devotion to God.
Proverbs 1:7a TPT

Meaning that, in reverential fear lies obedience and devotion to God. If you love The Lord, you will automatically obey Him. Obedience stems from the place of love. And today, The Father is calling us back to Himself. But are we responding to Him?

To be honest, we are encumbered with so many unnecessary things that is making it hard for us to focus on our First Love and what really matters to His heart. When you are not in love with Him, anything easily takes away His attention from you.

The Father’s heartbeat should be our heartbeat. It should be that which we pant after. Of a certainty it is in Him we move, live and have our being, selah.

Think about this, why would you choose to move out of the very solace place originally designed for you to dwell but instead, devote yourself to a fleeting failing world that has nothing to offer you.

Our devotion must be redirected to God and it first starts by responding to His “love call” and through that we receive the grace to have that reverential fear towards Him. As we behold, we become. The Fear of God is not the type that has terror, vanquish or a negative emotion but the kind of fear that produces more love for The Father.

I want us to say a sincere prayer; Dear Father, we are sorry and tired of the games and the pretense. Please rid our hearts of anything that is not of You. Baptize us with the Spirit of the Fear of The Lord and that reverential awe towards You. We know our hearts are hardened but have mercy on us and create in us, a clean and a right spirit. Tonight we surrender and ask that You bid us to come up hither one more time. In Jesus name we have prayed, Amen!

Other Scripture References:

He died for all so that those who live should no longer live self-absorbed lives but lives that are poured out for him—the one who died for us and now lives again. 
2 Corinthians 5:15 TPT


My people have walked out on me, their God, turned their backs on The Holy of Israel, walked off and never looked back.
Isaiah 1:4b MSG

Inasmuch as our Father is loving, it is to our utmost benefit if we walk in fear of Him. It shows who is priority in our hearts

Beauty for Ashes

But joy comes in the morning

Because of the joy that was set before Him, He endured the Cross. Jesus did not feel like going to the Cross, but He resisted against operating by His feelings. He subjected His emotions to His heavenly Father.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus went through agony of soul in His efforts to resist the temptation to do what He felt like doing rather than what He knew was God’s will for Him.

Many of us find ourselves in places where it seems as though we have reached the end of our strength. A point where our will is constrained by reason of deciding to acknowledge and honor God with our lives. But life doesn’t end there!

It was late afternoon when I felt the urge to write. The first thing I could hear in my spirit was beauty for ashes. I started contemplating what that phrase literally meant, as I had not really taken the time to understand it even though I had read it a couple of times.

I quickly went online to search for the meaning of beauty for ashes. Isaiah 61:3 popped up, and as I started reading , I realized the verse meant more than just writing out my thoughts but rather pointing to the fact that Jesus became our Beauty when He died on the Cross for our sins(ashes)

Before I probe further into our theme, I believe that as life happens, it’s most important to put The love of God before ourselves. The reason I make this statement is because, when life happens, it is so easy to begin to address how we are feeling, complain, and murmur without first embracing the love of God, which has enough strength to carry us through.

I am not trying to sound as though it is easy; I understand we all have a certain threshold when it comes to pain, and not everybody can go through what another is going through. Yet, It is all by the Grace of God. To every darkness comes the glory (Isaiah 60:2)

Looking at Jesus, He did not give up on His call even though it was a difficult cross road. Becoming alien to righteousness and native to sin was because He put the love of God, His Father before Him to do what was important to Him.

Bringing it to real life issues, you might be confused about your situation and are tempted to give up because you have been waiting for the day to be clear. Well, it is going to be!

But maybe the main deal is you are not responding to The love of God as much thus it is making you think God is punishing you. Be excited! as I quote My Pastor.

Jesus counted it all joy, so you too do same. Oh joy comes in the morning and you have to believe for it. I am going to encourage you as I always do, that God is going to bring you consolation.

If today, Jesus is seated at the right hand of The Father because He endured the Cross, then let us do same. There is nothing that God cannot do and you will not be disgraced forever because you have decided to trust Him (Romans 10:11).

I declare to you, that you have a goodly heritage and the lines are falling in pleasant places for you in Jesus name!

Shalom ♥️

PS: One thing we truly need to understand is that, no situation is permanent. But we determine its manifestation. What we do in our season of drought and pain is as important as how prepared we are for the next level.

Joseph’s Pit

…. Egypt is the place we all don’t want to be, but God uses it as a stage to set us up for the spectacular

What comes into your mind with this statement? There is a’lot to deduce from this preamble. It could be what led him into the pit or what the pit led him into.

Today I want us to focus on what the pit led him into. Many of us find ourselves in places that we never thought we will end up in. But one of the amazing statements that still resonates with me said by a great man of God is that “you are the architect of your own life”

You may ask; so what of the unfortunate situations that happened to me without any iorta of reasoning? Well there is a’lot to justify it by, but at the end, God only knows best.

Joseph went into the pit because of what He carried and what God was going to do through him. Even though he didn’t not choose to be there, God used that opportunity to show His glory in a man He has marked for wonders in his time.

I must say, if Joseph knew the depth and width of the blessings God was bringing him, he would have changed his association immediately in the name of “destiny destroyers”.

But nevertheless God protected and favored him. His steps had to be ordered by The Lord, despite the disappointment and the betrayal coming from his brothers and of course, his destiny not looking clear.

God always means what He says and says what He means and all He requires from you is to respond in faith. Joseph had a great destiny to fulfill. And to every great destiny comes greater responsibilities, greater trials (1 Corinthians 10:13) and greater power.

What you carry is a like a beautiful flower, it attracts a’lot of nectar sucking insects that come to draw from you but until you are protected, you might go wasted.

For where God is taking you and for the great destiny you carry, you may have to be thrown into Egypt. Egypt is the place we all don’t want to be found. It is the dungeon that refines our character and builds us up for the higher stage.

-Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
Psalms 105:19 NLT

To you that is still reading, brace up yourself, go through the process, pass the test, keep adding value to yourself and never stop sowing seeds of joy and thanksgiving.

At the right time God will show Himself faithful(Psalm 30:5)-You are designed and destined for the spectacular always remember that.

Never stop speaking words of life to yourself. A closed mouth is a closed destiny. Don’t end your life by your words. You actually have the power to change the trajectory of your life just by your words, so be careful and don’t stop.

Love you, always
~Afie

Don’t Hide Your Light

Arise and shine 💡

“You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.(Matthew 5:14‭-‬15 AMP)

Anyone who does not utilize their light usually lacks understanding and hasn’t identified his purpose. Why is that we who have been endued with the greater power are always held back but those with the little power advance very much? And my discovery was fear. Fear has always been our limitation as light bearers.

We carry a greater dimension of power, love, and above all The Holy Spirit who is our greatest help to accomplish everything required of us. Yet, still we are cowered.

I have come to understand that the purpose to which we possess this light is a means to lead someone to The Light (John 8:12). We shine not for ourselves but for others and most importantly to bring honor to God.

To be the light of the world speaks of dominance, position and influence. And our default state as light bearers is to evolve and be relevant, putting us in a position where many are looking up to us irrespective of where we find ourselves.

There is no doubt that the world is fading day-by-day. Systems are failing, the government cannot be trusted, nations are fighting against each other and there is so much strife and tension in the air.

But we need to arise and understand that our focus is not about being in a competition; but about completing and complimenting each other. We all need to take our place so we can function properly. Lives are dependent on us and a’lot of change can come through us only if we will arise.

Jesus remains our ultimate source thus it is expected of us not to abandon our fellowship with Him but to remain connected so that through Him, we can effectively become the channel of light we ought to be to others.

If we are not ignorant, then we are informed today. Necessity is laid on us daily and it is time we begin to avail ourselves. It is really my prayer that we won’t hide our light or be afraid of being who God has called us to be.

We will be spurred on to tap into the potentials God has placed on the inside of us and deliberately use it for the fulfillment and the advancement of His purpose here on earth.

Truly, God wants us to turn on our light. He wants us to shine forth. He wants us to radiate His light on earth. So, wherever you are in the world, arise and shine. This is our command and someone needs your light. Shalom.

The Bigger Picture

We ought to have the bigger picture in mind

To see ahead, is wisdom but to know the end from the beginning, is to be in the domain of God. We serve a God who sees beyond our limited minds. Yet when He was made manifest in the flesh, revealed to us how possible it has become to walk in the supernatural?

The Bigger Picture has always been about God’s Kingdom and His Agenda. Everything God created was carefully curated to suit His purpose and His agenda and that explains why He is identified as The All Knowing because He knows the end from the beginning.

The bigger picture in today’s world can be likened to breaking the limitation we have forced ourselves to settle with as a result of not looking beyond. Humans are self-preservative and always love to keep what is immediate to us so we can feel secure. However, today, I am challenging us to break away from the status quo.

Are we not tired of always thinking of how things will go our way rather than thinking about the interest of others? We have presented ourselves first and even leaned into the fact that life is about what we can attach to ourselves.

To be great is to serve and to serve is to be selfless. Jesus did not think Himself equal with God because there was a bigger picture with a bigger agenda. Neither did God withhold His only begotten Son, because He saw the need to save a hopeless and a dreadful generation.

We all have a society, a nation and a generation to impact, and it is time we began to measure up our actions by the lens of gravity and foresight. We can ask questions like to what benefit will this action bring to our generation, our society, even our unborn children. 

We need to begin to think more globally, more economically, more widely and above all more eternally. The Bigger Picture beckons us and demands that we take up our positions in the fulfillment of His Agenda and His Kingdom here on earth. And it must begin now! 

Be reminded that as believers, we are the first point of contact in the revealing of the bigger picture to unbelievers. Thus, we need not relent nor be slothful when it comes to this mandate. We must be up and always conscious that there isn’t much time to waste.

The amazing thing about choices is that, in as much as you are not coerced to choose, you will definitely face the consequences of it. Today I pray you choose to see from God’s perspective. And even us we decide to embrace this mindset , we will not try to match with the world but rather think of leaving a good legacy for our next generation to follow. Shalom

BLOCKAGES

Sometimes the reason we don’t experience ease in our lives is not because we are not doing anything but at times it is because we are surrounded by things that are not necessary and good for the ease in our lives. I call them both physical and spiritual blockages because they make it difficult for us to be who we are supposed to be in Christ.

When I talk about blockages , I’m talking about the things that contaminate and destroy our spirit and soul which eventually affects everything around us. Some of these blockages could be pride, our indiscipline, laziness and comparison with other people . These end up being hindrances in our lives unknowingly, and they tend to clog us up because we all know blockages cause stagnation and we must always get rid of them.

We can never get rid of them with all of our strength because the more we do so , the more we become helpless. Thus, one of the pure ways of dealing with this is approaching God through His Word. Allow The Word of God to clear all of those things that have clogged us up so we can make room for Him. We surely need to make room for Jesus because He deserves it.

Today I want you to do an introspection on yourself with the help of The Spirit and ask Him to reveal the junk you have allowed in yourself that is choking you and causing you to be stagnant to be removed. Ask Him to reveal it , if you are not aware of it. And Him being The Truth will guide you into all truth. Shalom

The Journey of Faith

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:2‬ ‭AMP‬‬

It is so easy to question yourself as to where you are going, what’s next for me, what plans will be laid up for me when I get there and so on and so fourth. But the journey of faith looks at the brighter side of every step in-spite of how mundane circumstances maybe at the moment. The journey of faith always looks at the desired outcome. The path of the righteous shines brighter and brighter unto a perfect day and we are the righteousness of God. I believe this scripture is telling us not only how our journey is going to be but how we should make sure we are better than our yesterday.

Our faith should be stronger than yesterday’s, our ideas should be better than yesterday’s, our dreams and expectations should look more achieving than before. Today I have come to bring you to an understanding that today’s faith may not be enough for tomorrow’s journey but we always have Jesus, THE ONE who is the author and the finisher of our faith. Who is able to lead us through ways where the was no way through them, doors that looked shut but He opened them just for us to walk through them and because He has assured us in His Word that He will never leave us nor forsake us, He will surely do a new thing and it will spring fourth.

I therefore encourage you with one of my favorite scriptures. “Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.”Ephesians 3:20 TPT. Amen and God richly bless you for reading. Shalom🕊🙏🏼

Identifying Gifts for Use

Everyone was born with a gift inside of them. Because you are a seed with seeds(gifts) inside of you. Never look down upon yourself thinking you are worth nothing. Thinking nothing good can come out of you. Jeremiah 1:5 says before I formed you, I knew thee I called you as a prophet to the nations. There is a purpose to why you are here on earth for a specific people and a specific assignment and what you have to do is identify what you do and flourish in easily. Is it music, is it writing, is it reading, is it art. What comes to you easily?

I believe every gift inside of us, is for the purpose of God in our lives to be ultimately be fulfilled and established. But one thing is each person is dependent on another. However you believe it, that is the truth. You may be the ear to someone, so is someone an eye to you. What I truly want to say is to use what you have in your hands despite how you appreciate it or not. Because it is there to benefit others and for God to be glorified. Imagine being the only person here on earth with all of the gifts you can think of lying inside of you.

Yes more responsibilities, but how fulfilled and purposeful would you be, looking at that fact all that you are is all for you. Imagine being a fruit that bears fruits, but no one plucks you out. Everything you produce will just die out eventually, that is why it is more blessed to give than to receive according to your specific season( timing). Don’t miss out on the timing of God in your life. Don’t miss out on the moments when your faith rises, that could be the time God is empowering you. If you feel you have missed out, ask for His mercy for His mercies are new every morning.

Tonight my prayer is simple; God please help us to identify that which you have placed inside of us and please help us be faithful servants to Your Glory. Amen!

You are worthy, you carry God. You are the best you are not the worst. Above all things, you are His and He is yours.

As human as we are it is so easy to focus on our weaknesses than our strengths. Because our fallen nature has a mind that has been wired in such a way that we quickly embrace the negative before the positive. But that shouldn’t be the case. Because as long as you are born again in Christ your old man no longer exist , you are now a new creation basking and manifesting His Glory. You now walk with a consciousness that Christ lives inside of you and it is in Him you move and have your being period. If Christ lives inside of you, are you not worthy enough, are you not enjoying the best because you are on His side?

Today my main deal is to tell you to stop focusing on your shortcomings and your inadequacy. Just so you know your adequacy is only in God not to talk of your weaknesses.

Paul encourages us here. “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” II Corinthians 12:9 NKJV. This scripture might look very controversial but rather than pondering and worrying about how imperfect you are, choose to thank God for making His sufficiency sufficient in us. Thank God His strength has made us perfect and His power rests upon us.

Whenever you start feeling less of a person or think you are not worthy enough to be used by God run back into the loving arms of our dear Father with all earnestness and let Him lavish you with His love. You are gracefully broken. In spite of your flaws keep running back to Jesus. Don’t cower. You are God’s very best. He loves you the way you are and you are the best candidate for His assignment. Shalom🕊🔥🙏🏼