Learn More About Angels | Should You Worship Them?

Do you believe in angels? Literally, everyone has heard of angels including children. Some movies and children's programmes have angels as part of their characters. Isn't it interesting that movies are sometimes centred around supernatural things but without any strong biblical basis?

Question 1

Do you know that worshipping angels equates to idol worship, and it diminishes the message of Jesus Christ? Our requests are to go directly to God. We cannot draw any power or protection from angels. 

Question 2

Who are angels? Are we to worship them? 

The Word of God says that angels are:

"Spirits who serve God and are sent by him to help those who are to receive salvation."  ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭1:13-14‬ ‭GNT‬‬.

John in the bible said: "I, John, have heard and seen all these things. And when I finished hearing and seeing them, I fell down at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things, and I was about to worship him. But the angel said to me, "Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all those who obey the words in this book. Worship God!"" ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22:8-9‬ ‭GNT‬‬.

Colossians 2:18 says that we should not allow ourselves to be condemned by anyone who claims to be superior because of special visions and who insists on false humility and the worship of angels. For no reason at all, such people are all puffed up by their human way of thinking.

Angels' purpose 

Angels’ primary purpose and ministry are to assist human beings toward reaching their final deliverance over their spiritual enemies. This includes protecting and strengthening believers, as well as delivering messages from God. 

Question 3

Is Jesus Christ greater than angels? 

**Hebrews 1:4-8 GNT version says:---"The Son was made greater than the angels, just as the name that God gave him is greater than theirs. For God never said to any of his angels, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." 

Nor did God say about any angel, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son." 

But when God was about to send his first-born Son into the world, he said, "All of God's angels must worship him." But about the angels, God said, "God makes his angels winds and his servants' flames of fire." 

About the Son, however, God said: “Your kingdom, O God, will last forever and ever! You rule over your people with justice.”

God never said to any of his angels: “Sit here at my right side until I put your enemies as a footstool under your feet.

Conclusion

I can conclude that Jesus Christ is superior to angels and from scriptures quoted above, we should only worship Jesus Christ only. Angels are also to worship Jesus Christ. 

Still Rolling Stones

"A rolling stone gathers no moss" - Publilius Syrus

The above proverb simply means that people who are always moving, with no roots in one place or another, avoid responsibilities and cares. This interpretation is however not fit for this write-up. The inspiration for this post and the interpretation is gotten from the amazing song by Lauren Daigle titled Still rolling stones! It’s an amazing song I heard during the choir ministration at Lakewood Church.

Every once in a while, you hear a song ministration so powerful it causes a paradigm shift in your life. This is that song and as I listened to the lyrics, the proverb came to mind. One line of the song talks about how we often feel that we’re too far gone, acknowledging that despite the fact that we tend to dig the graves we fall into, God is still calling out for us. This brought to mind the grace of God that covers us from all sin (Rom. 8:1) and the fact that no matter how far gone we are, God is still calling out for us, He still wants to be our father, He still loves us!

Love so great that the Apostle Paul tried to understand the logic (Rom. 5:7-8). Love so great that He sent His son to die for us (John 3:16)

You are not too far gone for God to love you. There is absolutely nothing that can take the love of God away from you. He is calling out for you, all you have to do is answer and when you answer, like a rolling stone, no moss (sin or condemnation) can stick on you. Keep rolling my dear Stoney friend and never forget, there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.

When the devil tries to remind you of your sins tell him you are a rolling stone and there is no moss (condemnation, sin, shame, you name it!) on you. When the devil cries out shame, cry out grace! (Rom. 5:20).

The charge is simple, answer His call and whenever you need grace, approach His throne of grace boldly and ask … Heb. 4:16.

Stay blessed and remember a rolling stone gathers no moss.

- Sage

Photo Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_rolling_stone_gathers_no_moss

Jesus Christ HEALS IMMEDIATELY

Hello Readers & Followers!

Have you ever wondered what the word of God says about healing that occurred through Jesus Christ or when the name of Jesus Christ was mentioned? The word of God says that whenever Jesus Christ healed or His name was mentioned, the healing was instant, it was an immediate miracle, there was an immediate turnaround. The word of God also says the name of Jesus and the presence of Jesus Christ can bring immediate healing. God would like you to be confident in the healing power of Jesus Christ as He is still performing instant miracles.

Are you sick in your body or do you know anyone that requires the healing hand of God? Boldly speak with authority by calling on the name of Jesus; the name that heals, the name that delivers, the name that causes demons to tremble, the name that is full of anointing, the name that sets us free. The name of Jesus is higher, more powerful and mightier than any other name. It is the only name that has the power to heal freely. I have experienced Jesus' instant healing power in my life and was mind-blowing.

Let me share 6 examples of healing that occurred immediately when Jesus Christ was present or His name was mentioned:

The Word of God says:

1. Then Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “Go your way; your faith (confident trust in My power) has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road (Mark 10:52). You can read Mark 10:47-52 to understand the account better.

The Word of God says:

2. There he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed.” Then he arose immediately. So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord (Acts 9:33-35).

The Word of God says:

3. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him (Matthew 20:30-34).

The Word of God says:

4. But when Peter saw the strong wind, he became frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, rescue me!”

Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him, saying, “You man of weak faith! Why did you begin to have doubts?” When they got into the boat, the wind settled down (Matthew 14:30-32).

The Word of God says:

5. And behold, a leper came and worshipped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matthew 8:2-4).

The Word of God says:

6. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any,  came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.

And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?”

When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”

But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.

And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:43-48).

The charge for this week is for you to pray for anyone that you know that is sick and declare the healing power of God concerning their life.

Have a lovely week! 

- Mysses Lafunky

Jesus Christ is saying: I want to be your Best Friend

This week's post is about evaluating your relationship with Jesus Christ. How would you describe your relationship with Jesus Christ? What do you know about Jesus Christ?

The Holy Spirit would like me to remind you that He would like to have a best friend relationship with you. How amazing is that? Jesus Christ said in His Word that: 

"I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father" (John 15:15 Good News Translation Version)

What does it mean for someone to be one's best friend? 

A best friend should ideally be your closest friend; a special friend that loves you. Your best friend should be the person that you always reach out to. Your best friend should know your likes and dislikes, you should also know your best friend's likes and dislikes. In addition, your best friend will always have your best interests at heart. You will also not want to do anything that will offend or upset your best friend.

Best Friend Relationship with Jesus Christ

Maybe you became a Christian a long time ago and you are not sure whether you have a very close relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe you have heard about Jesus Christ or you are new to the Christian faith, Jesus Christ is speaking to you right now, He is saying: "Look! I stand at the door of your heart and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends" (Revelations 3:20 New Living Translation Version Paraphrased).

Jesus Christ would like you:

• To know Him more than you currently do; He wants you to connect with Him more through the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible will reveal who Jesus Christ is to you. The Holy Bible will give you supernatural strength and godly wisdom. The Holy Bible will teach you all things that will help you to overcome temptations. The Holy Bible will keep your hope in Christ alive.

• To call upon Him at all times - In good times, in bad times, in times of trouble, Jesus would like you to call upon Him to tell Him everything.

• To show that you love Him by behaving in ways that you know that He finds acceptable.

• To feed your mind with things that will draw you to Him and not draw you away from Him - By ensuring your music, TV shows, things that you read, places that you go, things that you do, relationships that you have - all draw you close to Jesus Christ.

• To keep telling people about Him - When last did you share the Good News of Jesus Christ? When last did you show the love of Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ is standing at the door of your heart, He wants your relationship with Him to be intimate. He wants to be your best friend, He wants to show you more of Him. Are you ready to be Jesus' Best Friend?

Say this Prayer:
Jesus, I invite you into my life and ask that you will be my best friend and companion through my journey in this world.

Have a lovely week!

- Mysses Lafunky

Candy Crush

Welcome to a new week people! Tomorrow, the 21st of August makes it a year to the day when I got the manifestation of a miracle I had prayed about for months. Thank God for being faithful to His word (Isa. 40:8). Last week, I mentioned how we get inspiration from God from the weirdest things. Well so it proved this week, while playing Candy Crush!

Being the "OG" that I am, I’ve always been prejudiced against people that played the game and dismissed it as a waste of time, until I downloaded it and played it. I’m still an "OG!" While playing the game, I began to understand the addiction behind the game. When you look beyond the surface, it's a game that teaches you about faith. Strange right? Well the essence of the game is for you to crush the candy but at the same time, I began to learn about not giving up, no matter the obstacle. Also, about holding on till the end because victory awaits those who do not give up!

"But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!"

II Chronicles‬ 15:7‬ NKJV‬‬. ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

In order not to give up, you need to be a person of faith. Knowing that regardless of the circumstance, we will be victorious but until the manifestation of what we're praying for, you must hold on. You must be strong (Joshua 1:9). You must faith till the end. Remember, without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). 

As we go into this new week, live a life of faith (Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38). Regardless of the circumstance, declare that you are an overcomer! Search God’s word for a promise concerning your situation, meditate on it and remind Him of His promise to you. The bible says that His promises are yes and amen (2Cor. 1:20) and He is faithful to His word. 

Stay blessed! 

Sage

P.S. I’m on Level 117 of Candy Crush, played it multiple times to no avail but I shall overcome. I will faith till I overcome!!!

P.P.S. I’ve passed Level 117!! After multiple attempts for the last one week. Time for my victory speech: At this point, I’d like to thank God for always being there. My mama for believing in me when no one did. Love you mama! I had to edit the post to include this lol!

P.P.S. Listen to this awesome song by Travis Greene titled ‘while I’m waiting’: 

Happy Birthday Myssess Lafunky

May this new year open new doors of blessings, joy, peace, favour and good health for you in Jesus' name. Have a fabulous birthday!


The Editor

Who are You?

There is a popular saying among Christians: "God works in mysterious ways." I just found out that it’s actually not a verse in the bible, shocker 😱. Anyways, God works in mysterious ways and speaks to us in different ways; we just need to be attentive.

So I took my car for servicing recently and while the car was jacked up, I saw how dirty the underside of my car was and in the midst of my shock, I got the inspiration. II Tim. 3:16-17 says that all scripture is inspired by God. So while looking underneath my car and observing how dirty it was, I couldn’t help but compare and contrast it with the outside of my car and how I constantly got compliments on how neat it was, if only they knew how dirty it was underneath. I couldn’t help but think, how many of us look so beautiful and clean on the outside but dirty on the inside?

The Outside of my Car

The Underside of my Car

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” I Samuel‬ 16:7‬ NKJV‬‬. 

There’s a reason why God looks at the inside of our hearts and not the outside. We can make up our outward appearance in order to pretend to the world but we can’t pretend to ourselves and that is who God really wants to see and who He wants the world to see. The person that we see when we look at ourselves, not the image we portray to the world. In doing so, we can then reflect God’s glory to the world 

As we go into this week, ask yourself, who are you really? See what Matt. 23:25-28 says. Are you the same person on the inside and outside or are they different people? If you’re living two separate lives, reconcile yourself with God and ask Him to cleanse you and He'll do it (John 3:16). If you don’t know what to say or how to pray, just read Matt. 6:9-13.

Stay blessed. 

Sage

P.S. Football is back!!!

When Christians Pray: Great Things Happen

Hello Readers & Followers,

It's another Monday! Are you excited to start this new week or are you feeling weary? My prayer for you this morning is that the Lord will grant you divine strength for this new week in Jesus' name.

This week's post is an opportunity for you to reflect on why you pray to God.

Recently, God told me that one of the prayers that I had prayed to Him was prayed out of my normal Christian routine. God told me that my prayer was not from a heart that wanted an answer. Isn't God amazing? The fact that God knows the depth of our hearts and the purpose of why we do every single thing that we do. 

God reminded me that it was crucial for me to pray to Him with a mindset that He will answer my prayers. God's word says that: when a Christian prays, the prayer of a Christian can produce wonderful results (James 5:16 Paraphrased).

Back to you readers, I have a couple of questions to ask you.

Is praying to God part of your daily Christian routine? Do you sometimes pray to God without thinking whether God will answer you or not? or have you just proposed in your heart that as a Christian, you must pray?

David in Psalm 5:3 told God that: "In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”

Check out how David ended his prayer?- "Wait in expectation". David prayed with a mindset that God heard Him and he waited in eager expectation for the manifestation of his requests. 

Peter's Miraculous Escape From Prison

There's a story in the bible in which church folks had gathered to pray for a man named Peter to be released from prison, whilst they were still praying, God had answered their prayers. God had sent an angel to rescue Peter from the prison. After Peter was rescued by the angel, he immediately went to visit his church folks, upon his arrival, a girl named Rhoda met him at the gate, she was in awe when she saw Peter, she ran in and announced that Peter was by the gate. 

Guess what? 
----The church folks didn't believe, in fact they said it was Peter's angel that Rhoda must have seen. This story is a reminder that there were believers from the time of Jesus Christ that did not always have immediate expectations of God answering their prayers (Acts 12:5-17).

The Charge For This Week

When you pray and you can't fathom how God will answer your prayers instantly, believe God and expects to see results as when a Christian prays, great things happen. 

Let's talk, I'd like to know your thoughts about these two questions:

1. Do you normally pray the same prayers until you see physical manifestations?
2. Or do you wait in expectation for the answer without repeating the prayer points?

Enjoy your new week! See you next Monday. 

- Mysses Lafunky

Acrimony: A Review

Be warned, there are spoilers!

The movie starts with a powerful song by Nina Simone that draws you into the first scene. The protagonist and the antagonist of the movie in a court setting with specific focus on the angry and hateful look on the face of the protagonist. Two minutes into the movie, she’s sentenced to attend anger management sessions with Nina Simone’s soulful voice in the background. If you’ve ever been in a relationship, you’ll know it takes no effort to go from love to hate. From happiness to anger and suddenly the person that brought butterflies to your stomach becomes the object of your anger, so the movie goes.

Our protagonist is now in an anger management class and so begins the narration of the movie and how it all unfolded. A story of an innocent young girl and how she met a guy. They fall in love, one things leads to another, everything is perfect (like it always tends to be at the beginning) then they get to the middle of the relationship. You know that part? When things settle into a routine, you begin to notice the person’s fault and all that stuff. So they’re right there in the middle and they start to notice each other’s flaws. One thing about this movie is how polarising it has been. Opinions and reactions tend to be divided across gender lines, so I’ll try to keep mine balanced.

A simple search on twitter will show you all the available reactions to the movie. Two of the most interesting analysis I’ve seen conclude with two things:

1. The guy didn’t fight hard enough. 
2. He shouldn’t have moved on with his life and fought for his marriage even though she’d divorced him.

My question to this then is this: who determines what is hard enough before it becomes stalker behaviour or some other term if this had actually happened in real life? Should you really wait for someone that’s ended their relationship with you and done their best to show you that they no longer want you and would rather tear you down when you try? At what point do you say ok, let me think about me and pick up the broken pieces? So here are my thoughts:

• They built their marriage on a poor foundation. How do I know this? Not one mention was made about their spiritual life or having God as the focus of their relationship before marriage and in marriage, they were never seen praying or even at the least, going to church. Matt. 7:24-27, Jesus gave a parable of a house that was built on a rock and another that was built on sand. Of course, their marriage crashed because it was built on sand. One of the most important things in any relationship is the foundation. Food for thought: Ps. 11:3.

• They lacked counselling. Proverbs is one of my favourite books in the bible and three times(that I know of), it mentions the importance of counsel: Prov. 11:14, 15:22, 24:6. Now you may say Mel got counsel from her sisters but I’ll say to you, never take decisions based on counsel from someone who hasn’t heard from the two people involved and put in the effort to bring you both into one place to discuss whatever the issue is (I’m guilty of this mistake). No matter who they are to you. Family member, best friend, youth pastor, whoever. 

• Offences were never discussed in-depth or attempts made to work at forgiving and forgetting. One constant theme, you’d hear while watching the movie are all the things she did for him and all the ways he hurt her. As human beings, it is very easy for us to get offended and to be honest, there’s nothing wrong in getting offended but what is wrong and dangerous, is to allow that offence take root in your heart, germinate and begin to bear fruits. Before long, those tiny offences build big fences around your heart and close out the person you love. The scary part? The person may not even know until the fences have been built solid and you take the decision to close them out. Study Eph. 4:26-27 and listen to the link I’ll share below. Practice forgiveness every moment of every day. 

• Wisdom and understanding was not consistently applied. The movie is littered with too many situations in which this was the case. Wisdom is the principal thing, then understanding (Prov. 4:7). Study: Prov. 3 :19, 24 :3.

Before you proceed to break a relationship or marriage for that matter, sit down and think. Is it the person or is it the situation? More often than not, it’s the situations and if you can get your partner to sit down in one place, have a heart to heart frequently and also have regular prayer sessions together, strictly for your relationship.
The devil will always fight relationships. It’s never about our differences but about what we choose to focus on and the moment we choose to focus on the negatives or the offences, the devil begins his victory dance. Your focus determines your perspective.

The charge for the week
The charge as we go into the week is to examine our relationships/marriage and try to apply the four steps above among others.

Sage

P.S. Please listen to what’s hurting your relationship by Steven Furtick:
https://youtu.be/q5vffxSQibk

Also listen to this podcast titled Stay Focused:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/elevation-with-steven-furtick/id216015753?mt=2&i=1000415081048 

P.P.S. One of my mainest guys got married over the weekend. I wish you a happy married life bro. 

Photo credit: Acrimony Movie twitter handle @AcrimonyMovie

Common Sense vs Uncommon Sense?

Hello Readers & Followers,

It's another week! Do you feel ready for this new week? Or would you like a longer weekend? If I could choose, I'd want every single day to be a weekend; if only we can get our wishes come through. This week's post is about our thought processes and some common sense saying that we say or think. Are they really common sense? or uncommon sense? What does God think of our common sense?

Common Sense 🆚 God's Word

• Common sense questions: why are some world leaders so horrible?
• God says: Trust me, I haven't lost control, I can turn the leader's heart in any direction I choose (Proverbs 21:1).

• Common sense says: I need to work this much so that I can live very comfortable.
• God says: Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be smart enough to stop making yourself uncomfortable, depend on God for wealth that you can enjoy and be comfortable with (Proverbs 23:4, Ecclesiastes 5:19 & 1 Timothy 6:17).

• Common sense says: My own money is not enough, so why should I give to people that are poor?

• God says: Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who ignores the poor receives many curses (Proverbs 28:27).

• Common sense says: When I am angry, I let it out as it is difficult to hold it in.

• God says: A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise person controls what he or she says (Proverbs 29:11).

• Common sense says: It's best to visit my neighbour/friend every time.
• God says: Do not visit your neighbour's house too often otherwise, your neighbour or friend may see too much of you and hate you (Proverbs 25:17).


• Common sense says: It's not easy to rely on anyone's word as people are not reliable.
• God says: Come to me, rely on me, I am reliable, my word is always true and it has proven to be true (Proverbs 30:5)


• Common sense says: No one knows what I have done wrong and nobody needs to know.
• God says: You need to tell me everything that you have done wrong and you need to abandon those things ( Proverbs 28:13).


• Common sense says: It's okay to get away with things that God says are wrong as God is very old school.

• God says: Consequences are certain for doing things that are against my Word (Romans 6:23).


• Common sense says: The more you accumulate money, the more you get richer.
• God says: Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything (Proverbs 11:24).

Final Words

The charge for this week is for you to know that common sense is not God's sense. In other words, you can't always follow common sense in fulfilling God's purpose.

Have a lovely week. See you next week Monday for another post.

- Mysses Lafunky

Ride or Die?

Ever watched The Fast and the Furious? It is one of the greatest movie franchises of all times, one theme that runs through them all is family and commitment. The relationship between Dominic Toretto and Letty is the stuff of fantasies; the length they went through for each other across countries and continents. Imagine having someone like that supporting you, someone that you know that no matter what happens, they’ll always be there for you. As human beings, we want to have such a person on our side.

Hence the desire for relationships, for family, for community. People that will always have your back and no matter what comes our way, they will always be there for you. In spite of this desire, due to our human nature, commitments are easier said than done. Commitments are broken when our flaws come to the surface and more often than not, those flaws come to the surface when we’ve either gotten used to the person we’re with or the environment we find ourselves in.

God's word encourages us not to feel dismayed as there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24b). God's word also says that He as a God will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).  In actual fact, God is the only friend that you can trust without a shadow of a doubt that even when the very worst of our flaws show themselves, God will always be there; loving you, never forsaking you, committed to you always and forever; even before we loved Him, He loved us (Romans. 5:8). 

He didn’t just use words to tell us that He loved us but He backed it up with actions by giving his only precious son to die for you and I.  Therefore, if you ever want a ride or die person, look to God; He is the only person that you can truly count on to ride or die with you, in fact, He already died for you. To use the phrase from The Originals: always and forever. That’s the pledge God said when describing His commitment to us. To love us always and forever. Let us all aim to this kind of commitment, this kind of love as described in 1 Corinthians. 13:4-8. 

As we go into this new week, the charge is simple, be that friend that someone desperately needs.  If you are unable to be that friend, pray to God to send special friends to people that you are unable to be there for.  Stay blessed and have a great week ahead. 

P.S. The World Cup was awesome 😊

Sage

Lashing Out

Are you stupid?! What sort of nonsense is this? You’re useless! Ever heard these words? As a child growing up, you may have either grown up in a home where these reactions were the first, second and third reactions from your parents; the shoot first, ask questions later policy. If you were fortunate not to grow up in such an environment, you may know someone that did.  Even though it’s a common occurrence, lashing out is a terrible trait.  Why? Because by the time you’re done, you regret what you did or said and would have damaged the person you did or said it to. 

I recently had to sit down and re-evaluate life and I found out that whenever I lashed out, it always hurt those closest to me and even when things got better, the damage from those lashings still existed even though I had forgotten about them (like I always say, it is the person that gets hit that always remembers the accident). It was then it hit me, lashing out can cause you to lose relationships and even opportunities.

James 3:6 refers to the tongue as a little flame and if you track back to vs. 5 of James 3, it talks about how a great forest is kindled by a small fire. That’s exactly what the tongue does when we lash out. It burns down all the great plans that you’ve built and no fire service can quench the fire.

While it may be hard to do, the Bible has a bit of very simple advice, God said:

“Careful words make for a careful life; careless talk may ruin everything.” Proverbs 13:3 MSG

Be careful with your words. No matter how provoked you are, be careful with your words because once they come out, they can’t be taken back in (James 3:9-12). 

Picture your teeth and your lips as the gate that guards your tongue. You never open your gate down due to security reasons. Don’t leave the gate of your tongue open.

As you go into this week, the charge is simple, be careful with the words you speak and go back to anyone you’ve ever lashed out, seek for their forgiveness and make a commitment to treat them better (if you’re fortunate to still have that opportunity).

Before you speak, consult your security guard (your mind) on whether or not the gate (your teeth and lips) need to be opened. I’ve had to lose so much to learn my lesson, trust me I’ve learnt it. Don’t wait till you lose as much as I’ve lost before you learn it.

P.S: Words are important, treat them like gold. Pass it through the fire to purify it and weigh it carefully before you let it out. 

P.P.S: Study James 3:1-12

Have a lovely week. See you next Monday.

- Sage

Photo Credit: Youversion.

Last Night I Died

Last night I died. My heart broke and yet it was still beating. My pride was shattered yet I tried to stand tall. I tried to stand tall as I watched my home and comfort zone reject me but inside I was on the floor crying my eyes out.  My home was destroyed yet I sat in it trying to sleep, I couldn’t imagine that I would once again feel a part of me die but I have died before, yes I know, but it hurts most when you finally know what it feels like to be alive. 

It hurts even more when you realise you were the cause and you could have done better.  It hurts so much when you see the door shut on you. I knelt down, I pleaded, I cried but it changed nothing and my only option was to die. So I went back to the home that was no longer home because the warmth was gone. The light was out and there was nothing but darkness and a hollow sound as I tried to talk over the phone. 

A friend said, fill your time with activities, I turned to DSTV to no avail. I turned to the internet, to no avail. Then a voice whispered, search for porn, it’ll help you calm your nerves and take your mind off it. Then I remembered that porn only provided a temporary solution and I couldn’t handle the guilt that would come with engaging in it. Mix in depression and the pot of stew would be complete. So I resisted and turned back to DSTV. Fortunately, I found Tom & Jerry but it wasn’t as funny as the ones I watched growing up, so I zoned out.

Then I remembered oh wait, you need to back up your phone, so I did, then I remembered how Eminem always spoke to the pain in my heart growing up as a teenager in a broken home, wondering why I saw my mum cry at a young age, wondering why several times before my teenage years, I took a knife and pointed it at my tummy, seeking for the strength to just plunge it into my soft belly and give up on life. It dawned on me, get a knife, end it all. Life isn’t worth living when everything around you is failing. 

So I stood up, got a knife, came back to the living room while I played with the pointy edge seeking the strength to do what I couldn’t do at the age of 8. Alas, I still didn’t have the strength, despite over two decades of heartbreak, so I got up, returned the knife to the kitchen and remembered I had a post to write. Yes, I wrote this while listening to Eminem’s ‘when I’m gone.

But guess what?

I want to live. I want to love and be loved. I want to prove that I can be a better man than my father. I want to prove that I can have a happy and loving home than the one I grew up in. I want to prove that suicide isn’t an option when there’s so much to live for. So I’ll live, if but for a day, I’ll live.

If but for a moment, I’ll live. I’ll live just to see the sunrise and to say the one I love: good morning baby, even though she may not reply. I’ll live just so I can message my mother to say hi and call her motherly. I’ll live just so I can see the smile on the faces of my colleagues when I walk in and debate politics. I want to live, one day at a time.

Tupac said sometimes it’s hard to wake up in the morning when your mind is full of demons, got you heartbroken. Yes, I played it too but still, I want to live. Finally! A friend replied another reason to live. Then Eminem said ‘there will never be another me and no matter what they do, there’ll never be another you. As I heard it, I knew I had to live. Why? There is just one me and that one me has a purpose on earth (Jeremiah. 1:5---God said that "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations".

So while I wish I could die a man, with my love and pride intact, I choose to live. Broken but alive. Sad but alive. Alive with the hope that one day, all will be well. One day, I will be happy. One day, I will look back at this moment and say thank God I returned the knife to the kitchen.

I don’t know if I’ll ever share this post for publishing but if I do, know that I’m alive! With life comes another chance. If you’re going through this, know that you’re not the only one. We are plenty in it. The charge for this week is a very simple one, choose life (I’m crying in my heart as I type this, so trust me, I’m typing from experience). 

With life comes opportunities. With life comes a new day in the sun created by God. Suicide is not an option. In the words of Logic, I finally wanna be alive!! Joshua 1:9, 1 Peter 5:8-9.

Now I can call this post, I wanna be alive!

Inspired by the life and the song titled 1-800-273-8255 by Logic.

- Sage 

Photo Credit: https://goo.gl/images/B5KQTK[O1] and myblackmatters.com

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Musa Keeps Super Eagles' World Cup dreams alive: Who is Keeping Your Hope Alive?

Hi everyone, it’s been a long time, like 4 months! We sincerely apologise for the break. We are back! Please, watch out for our blog post every Monday.

A lot has happened in that time, can’t begin to count but most importantly, the World Cup is here and with it a chance to see the Super Eagles in action. For the avid football lover, I’m sure you feel the excitement. Oh what a feeling when Ahmed Musa scored that first goal. 

Suddenly the entire team felt re-invigorated, the entire country began to hope silently that maybe, just maybe, the Super Eagles would claim their first 3-points at the 2018 World Cup. Suddenly a whole country began to believe, the doubters silenced, the believers energised at the possibility of a victory that eluded a much better team than ours.

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Is. 40:31, KJV).

As children of God, we have the unenviable task to learn to wait, not just to wait but to wait patiently, hoping for the best, believing that sooner than later, our breakthrough shall arrive; that sooner than later, we shall overcome; that sooner than later, the light at the end of the tunnel will overcome the darkness. Despite the difficulty of this, the bible assures us that if we wait on the Lord all the things listed in the verse shall happen. That is the essence of the analogy at the beginning of this text. Just as we waited on that first goal, we should wait on the Lord, never losing hope because our father in heaven has assured us that our strength shall be renewed!

Go into this week waiting on God, never losing hope, believing and trusting in the Lord God Almighty. Remember, while you're waiting on God, God is working! His plans for you are the best! His plans for you are better than your own plans for yourself.

Let's Talk...

-What keeps you going when you are waiting on the Lord? Any tips to share with our Lafunkites' readers and followers?

Have a great week ahead. Stay blessed.  We look forward to reading from you. See you next week Monday for another post from Mysses' Lafunky's blogspot.

- Sage

Photo Credit: https://deccanchronicle.com/sports/football/230618/ahmed-musas-brace-in-nigeria-victory.html

Becoming like Jesus Christ In Character

Hello Readers & Followers,

How was your weekend? Hope you had a lovely weekend and hope it wasn't too tiring? Last week was quite interesting for me actually as my character in Christ was tested immensely due to how someone related with me. 

As you read this excerpt of a sermon by my husband, I'd like you to take time to reflect on your character and honestly ask yourself, is it really like Christ's character? If it is not, this is an opportunity to become like Jesus Christ in character and also to ask the Holy Spirit to help you. 

It is to be noted that my husband and I are still becoming like Jesus Christ in character. We do not want you to think that we are perfect but we are on a journey to perfection. We know that there had been times that we fell short and there had also been times that we knew that God was pleased with our characters. We would not want to dwell on past achievements but rather, we want to focus on where we are now and where God is taking us.

Here goes this week's post...

Becoming Like Jesus Christ In Character

When you reflect something, you are exhibiting its likeness. You are displaying its characteristics. Like a mirror, the Bible tells us that we should reflect the character and likeness of Jesus Christ. We should have the same attitude as Jesus Christ. See Philippians 2:5-8. 

4 major qualities that Jesus possessed that we ought to copy and practice are:

1) Prayer: Matthew 26:36-41 Jesus prayed in Gethsemane and told the disciples to watch and pray so they will not enter into temptation. Not just any kind of prayer, there was emphasis on aligning our prayers in line with God's purpose and plan for us. Therefore, it is good to pray for the will of God. Matthew 23:14. Christ could have prayed that the cup of crucifixion be taken away from Him, but He didn't. He could have prayed that the day of crucifixion be moved further but He didn't instead He prayed for God's will to be done.

The book of John chapter 17 tells us about staying connected to the source of our power. Jesus prayed as many times as He could; Jesus never wanted to be separated from His father so He prayed at all times to maintain that channel of communication. Not just willing to pray but putting aside all busy schedules and praying.

2) Humility: The bible says that Jesus Christ humbled Himself and became obedient even to the point of death. Sometimes, when we pray and ask God to help us develop the spirit of patience that's when people come specially to provoke you just to test how much that patience is worth to you. Our human nature does not want us to be humble. Jesus washed the disciples feet with love thereby teaching us humility to even those we have authority over. 

In Mathew 17:24-28, Jesus humbled Himself to the authority that was in Government and He did not wield His power around aimlessly just to prove that He was the son of God. Instead He commanded Peter to go fishing and for him to bring the money he finds in the mouth of the fish to pay tax. 

The book of Romans 13:1-2 reminds us that all leaders and people in the authorities that exists are placed by God for a purpose, therefore we should obey them by doing our bit.

3) The Way Jesus Spoke: The bible describes the tongue as a powerful tool though small but directs life. See the book of James 3:5, Proverbs 18:21. Therefore Jesus Christ spoke positive words to the people. Mathew 9:23-26 made us to understand that when Jesus Christ said the girl is not dead but asleep the people ridiculed Jesus but this did not deter him from waking the girl up. 

"Always give thoughts to your words before they are spoken because your word is life and once spoken, it is difficult to reverse" - Mysses Lafunky's husband.

4) Forgiveness: Mathew 18:21-22 states that Jesus Christ commands us to forgive our neighbours up to 70 x 7. Forgiveness is not for the other person alone because if we don't forgive then we are also at the risk of not being forgiven.

Let's Talk...

• What character of Jesus Christ do you already exhibit? (keep it up! :))
• Do you have any recent experience that you did not reflect the characters of Jesus Christ? A) What happened? B) How did you handle it? C) And how would you handle, if a similar incident was to occur in the future? 

Prayer for Today

Merciful Lord, help me to become more like You. May I live a life that is more like You always. Lord Jesus, even when my character is being tested, help me to react like the way you will react in Jesus name. 
Merciful Lord, please forgive me for different ways that I had displayed characters (both in the open and secret) that did not reflect who you are.

Have a lovely week! Remember to interact with us by answering our "Let's Talk" questions.