I have this ideology that someone is always praying for me. And yes, it’s so true. I remember during family alters, after praying for ourselves, we pray for other people sometimes mentioning names and other times just in general.
Today’s gift is to pray for FOUR people. Not in general now, but in particular. They don’t need to know you are praying for them. But one thing I can promise you is that you will smile when you see God’s work in their life. When they are happy, you are happy and the thing about this gift is that God meets your own needs.
Back in the days, people wrote letters to friends and families far away just to check up on them or make a request. With the birth of technology, we have phones and progressed all the more to even have mobile ones that we take everywhere with us. Thank God that if not all of us, majority of us have one or two mobile phones that are functioning properly.
Today, the gift card I removed from the box of LOVE is “CALL SOMEONE”. Not just anyone, not family members that we see everyday and hear from everyday. We are also not calling friends who we chat with every other day. We are also not texting or emailing or asking someone about someone, we are calling that someone. That person that you haven’t heard from in say 6 months, 1 year? Yes that very one.
I am just as guilty as anyone in this area. I find out that it’s when I need something I call someone I haven’t heard from in a long while and honestly I always feel awkward trying to make my request. Funny enough, the person kind of knows we need something so that they go ahead and ask, “what do you want because I am sure you need something that’s why you remembered me today?”
Pick up your phone, scroll through all your contacts and dial that number. It’s not time to catch up on old times, it’s for you to know how he/she is faring. That phone call is all about that person. If the person you have in mind isn’t picking up, dial another. I am sure we have a lot of such contacts on our phones.
Disclaimer: This article is not to praise anyone neither is it aimed at hurting anyone. Everything written here was by an imperfect human who believes in a perfect God. You can learn from what I share on this blog but let God direct you and give you true wisdom.
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Compliment is a polite expression of praise or admiration. People who know me very well can tell you that sometimes I could be very naughty and make some very funny comments about my friends or even close acquaintances.
Before now, I could be this very blunt fellow who tells you how I feel about you or a situation without bothering for a second how you feel. I have learnt over time to turn a new leaf on this matter.
On this second day of sharing love, I invite you all to only open your mouth to make positive compliments. If what you have to say is not a compliment but a critical comment, please don’t say anything at all.
This morning as I woke up from sleep, My boyfriend (I like to call my husband so, it makes us feel young) was all set for a meeting and I told him how smashing he looked. He was so happy and one way or the other I boosted his confidence. Telling that lady how gorgeous she looks or that gentleman how beautiful his shoes are are all some people need to hear.
Open up your box of LOVE and go about today with compliments on your lips.
Disclaimer: This article is not to praise anyone neither is it aimed at hurting anyone. Everything written here was by an imperfect human who believes in a perfect God. You can learn from what I share on this blog but let God direct you and give you true wisdom.
Find us on Facebook as “BLArticles”. On Instagram as “@BLArticles”. On Twitter as “@fibeepens”
Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. I’ve sincerely missed posting here. I clearly remember all the struggles not to post till today. There is so much I want to share with you my family, so so much. To everyone that called, texted, emailed asking what happened to BLArticles, your concerns meant so so much and I am most grateful.
BLArticles is back!!! If you haven’t bookmarked us, do. Also do well to like our page on Facebook as that would be where you can read from me on Facebook. We have also opened a Twitter account, kindly follow us. For the Instagram lovers, we are there as well. The link will be below. Invite your friends, family and loved ones to join the ride.
It’s a beautiful month we are in. Some call it the last month of the year, others the Christmas month and many the holiday month. I call it December!!! As a child we always sang the 12 days of Christmas song, it was so much fun and there was plenty laughter as sometimes we get the days all mixed up. I’ve decided that I would share from my box of LOVE 12 beautiful gifts.
Day 1 – GOOD AND HEALTHY WORDS
Almost everyone around us will be saying this phrase; “Happy New Month”. And our response will either be, “I wish you the same” or “thank you”. But today like every other day, can come with its own hassles and discomforts. People will step on our toes, hurt us with their actions or words and do unspeakable things to us.
I encourage you to open your box of LOVE and on this first day, your gift to all and sundry should be Good and Healthy words. Let someone leave our presence happy and smiling. Let someone say, “despite what I did to him/her, he/she was still so good to me. It’s the day of giving my lovelies, irrespective of what you get, give back only the best.
“Good words are like honey to the soul, it heals and soothes the deepest pain”
“Hello, is there anything I can help you with?” This was a phrase I heard whenever I entered into any store. While I’m going through all their items, looking for what I want to get or even just feeding eyes, another would walk up and say, “are you al-right or is there anything I can help you with?” When all these questions are being asked, they are done with broad smiles such that I have no choice but to smile back while responding even when my cheeks hurts from too much smiling.
I asked my husband, is it that all these people were trained in the same place with the same lines? We just laughed over the question while appreciating their service. Even when all you came to do is look, look, size and look again, they keep smiling. All these are done because they want you to come back again or even go the extra mile to recommend a friend.
The fact is that every serious minded business person would forego his/her pride and come down to the level of the least to treat every potential customer with respect. Who wants to keep shopping in a store where they have rude and arrogant staff who are always pissed off when you touch an item? No one wants to receive that kind of service. No matter who they are, we don’t care, we need the best service combined with a good attitude. Analyzing from the worse case scenario, after looking through and buying, all in your head is “I’ll never come back here again, never.” If someone even mentions going to that store, you would tell them not to.
Everyone of our lives can be likened to a store; people come in, look through, pick something, pay for it and leave. Do they want to comeback? Can they recommend you to someone else? Note that a store has to be good enough to a person for such a one to recommend it to another. Are we recommendable? Do people want to come back and get those good stuffs from us, or they want to be out of our store as fast as possible and never comeback not to talk of recommending.
You know yourselves better, we know you as well by how you treat us or someone else. We watch, we listen, we observe. Just as we all don’t like any store with terrible customer service, let’s work on our store so it’s not what we don’t want.
You get to live once, how will you be remembered? How will you be judged?
The Wright brothers invented the first airplane, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, phonograph and the motion picture. Henry Ford invented the Model T Ford, the first mass produced car, Leonardo Da Vinci was an inventor and artist from the renaissance, Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
The list goes on about those who have created and invented things in this world.
I was reading through the story of creation once again. I’ve read this story as a child, as a teenager and even as a young adult. The story is the same every time I read it. There was nothing, absolutely nothing on earth when it was created. Day after day Earth started to get into form and after each day’s creation, the Creator certified it not just okay but GOOD.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was barren with no form of life …God looked at what he had done and it was good… God made every one of them. Then he looked at what he had done, and it was good. Genesis 1:1-25 (CEV)
Buildings, lively and lovely landscapes are the major attributes of a beautiful city or community. When a Town Planner is called to plan a city, the architects to design and the builders to build, everyone sees him/herself as a creator in one way or the other. Oh the joy that floods our hearts when people look on what we’ve been able to create out of nothing and certifies it good or beautiful.
Pic Credit: success.com
Everyone of us are creators and inventors in one way or the other. God creates a new day for us, and we do the rest. We create that beautiful breakfast, the to-do list, the sumptuous lunch, a new relationship with that colleague, a new bank account, a new hairstyle, a new word, a new design, a new software, a new product and then a refreshing supper. After all the wonderful work of creation done, can we look back and call them good and beautiful? Can people call it good? All that God created, we call good till tomorrow. The daylight is good, the moon to light the night is good, the horizons, the sea, the animals are so good that we keep some as pets. If we were to keep what we created as pets, will we be happy to or will we regret that we created such?
What do you create?
Discord or accord?
Causes for hatred or reasons to love?
Encouraging words or despicable statements?
Friends or enemies?
Separation or unity among estranged persons?
Peace or war?
Most of the inventors earlier mentioned failed at first attempt, and they had second and third and fourth chances. We do as well, create something you and I can look back and say “THIS IS GOOD AND ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.” Such that we drift off to sleep happy and fulfilled, looking forward to another day to call Good.
How many of us have been so carried away in our anger that we end up doing things that have great consequences and we get affected by these?
Going through life, at one point or the other, there were times when someone or some people have stepped so hard on our toes and caused us so much pain. We’ve had someone or people say bad things about us, tell false stories about us, not appreciate what we have done, shout at us and what have you. On the other hand we may even be the one who has done all these. We’ve carelessly hurt people with our words. We’ve said things that we are not hundred percent sure of about someone and in the process spread falsehood about such a one.
Very many years ago, there was a man who was leading a group of people from their former abode of bondage to their new abode of plenty. They had to go through a lot to get to this new city. During that time, there were no cars or planes, so they had to walk. They travelled days and nights for months and years. God did a lot of things for them along the way but all that was soon forgotten and thrown away. You would expect that the place ahead where everything was available would encourage them to keep going and not to complain at all. This wasn’t the case as when they became thirsty, their attitude changed all together. They became so ungrateful, insensitive, unbelieving and great complainers. They ranted words to their leader and this made him so angry. In the state of his anger, he did what he wasn’t asked to do and that caused him his leadership position and his refusal on entry into the city of plenty. He made just one mistake that caused him all.
Credit: google.com
There was not enough water for the people at that place. So the people met together to complain against Moses and Aaron. The people argued with Moses and said, “Maybe we should have died in front of the Lord like our brothers did. Why did you bring the Lord’s people into this desert? Do you want us and our animals to die here? Why did you bring us from Egypt? Why did you bring us to this bad place? There is no grain. There are no figs, grapes, or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” So Moses and Aaron left the crowd of people and went to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. They bowed down to the ground, and the Glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “Get the special walking stick. Take your brother Aaron and the crowd of people and go to that rock. Speak to the rock in front of the people. Then water will flow from the rock, and you can give that water to the people and to their animals.” The walking stick was in the Holy Tent, in front of the Lord. Moses took the walking stick as the Lord said. Moses and Aaron told the people to meet together in front of the rock. Then Moses said, “You people are always complaining. Now listen to me. I will cause water to flow from this rock.” Moses lifted his arm and hit the rock twice. Water began flowing from the rock, and the people and their animals drank that water. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “You did not trust me enough to honor me and show the people that I am holy. You did not show the Israelites that the power to make the water came from me. So you will not lead the people into the land that I have given them.” Numbers 20:2-12 (ERV)
There are two things we have to learn from this story to enjoy the beautiful life.
When things doesn’t seem to go as it was before or better still, they don’t go your way any more. Be careful with your words, they can put you in a bad position. Think of all the good things that has been and how things had been going your way and let the peace from that flood your hearts and control your thoughts and your mouth as well. Don’t be the reason someone is upset, don’t be the reason someone is unhappy, don’t be the cause of all offences. Remember there is WOE on anyone through whom offences come. Don’t bring a WOE on yourself for unnecessary lack of control of YOUR OWN MOUTH.
When you are pushed so hard to the wall, be careful not to make a costly mistake. When you hear about all those bad comments, gossips and what have you, it can be difficult not to be angry and retaliate. Sometimes you have to play the fool’s part to remain on track. This doesn’t mean you are a fool, but it means that you would rather be insulted than make a mistake that cost you all. Your action will cost you something. Let it be a pleasant one.
Moses only had the opportunity of seeing the promise land – Canaan. He never entered there.
Don’t allow anyone deprive you of entering your promised blessings by what they say. I am not promising you a smooth journey, but I am promising you blessings if you remain on track.
In every company or organisation, we have what is called “the management”. This refers to the personscontrollinganddirectingthe company or organisation. Their singular collective goal is to work towards the forward progress of that company or organisation. Many a-times, these bosses don’t just take decisions, they seek the opinion of others. If they are going for a meeting, they go with some management staff who can defend the success of the company even in situations where the boss himself is lost for words.
There was a man who was leading a large group of people, as they progressed in their journey, they had to fight their enemies. He instructed his commander to lead the soldiers to fight their enemies while he and two other management staff went up the hill to see how things were going. Any time this man lifted his hands, the soldiers under him defeated the enemies, but anytime he dropped his arms, it was the other way round. He loved his people so much so he lifted his hand and the soldiers kept winning. Along the line, his hand got weary and it was so painful to keep them up, more so he was an old man at the time. When the two management staff who were with him on the hill saw that their boss was weary, they got a stone for him to sit on and they held his hands up, one on each side. This way the soldiers who were fighting were able to defeat their enemies and victory was won.
Credit: google.com
Amalek came and fought Israel at Rephidim. Moses ordered Joshua: “Select some men for us and go out and fight Amalek. Tomorrow I will take my stand on top of the hill holding God’s staff.” Joshua did what Moses ordered in order to fight Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses’ hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle. Exodus 17:8-13 (MSG)
Who are those with you in this life journey that are ready to help you even in your frailty and weakness get the victory?
Have you been chosen to be on the hill or are you among the management of your company? Don’t say, I know it better, therefore, I won’t contribute or provide that information that would move the company forward. Hey!!! If you don’t provide it and the company is out of deals and on the verge of collapse. There will be a downsizing exercise and you are most likely going to be among those that would be let go. Which is better – To be let go with all the knowledge you have or to give all you have and be rewarded accordingly?
In the home, is it your spouse facing a challenge which is likely to affect the family’s sustenance or your child passing through a hard time at school? Do you prefer to sit and watch it all go down or you go up the hill with your management staff – Jesus and the Holy Spirit? I’ll advise the latter.
WELCOME TO DECEMBER!!!
Beautiful Life Corner 