DAY 2 – Understanding the Holy Spirit

Welcome to Day 2 of this prayer Challenge.

Yesterday, we established that the Holy Spirit is a person. In fact, the third person in the God-Head.

He is not a thing so we don’t address Him as ‘it.’ He is not just a feeling or a force like in the science fiction movies; or a wind or a power behind a wand. HE IS GOD HIMSELF.

Even though, he is not often spoken about in many circles, understanding who He is and the role He plays in our individual lives is vital to becoming Chrislike (Galatians 5:16). While we are accustomed with the evident works of God the Father as Creator, and God the Son, Jesus as Saviour; God the Holy Spirit is more like the “behind the scene guy” who helps everyone shine in their repective roles. Even more now, He helps the believer shine forth the Light of God.

He is Jesus in us and God everywhere.

He was the one at creation – Genesis 1:2
He was the one at Jesus’ baptism at Jordan – Mark 1:9-11
He was the one at the Pentecost – Acts 2:1-4
Prophets in the Old testament of the Bible spoke on behalf of God through the Holy Spirit – Ezekiel 2:2-3, Micah 3:8, Isaiah 11:1-2
He inspired Holy men to write Scriptures – 2 Timothy 3:16
He is our flesh’s greatest opponent – Galatians 5:17
He is the one that helps us pray effectively – Romans 8:26-27
He is the one that helps us understand the bible – 1 Corinthians 2:10
He teaches us about God – John 16:12-15
He is the one that helps us live Christlike in this world – Galatians 5:22-23

Prayers

“I will not leave you all alone like orphans. I will come back to you.” – John 14:18

Thank you Lord for the gift of your Holy Spirit. Thank you for this Helper you gave me. Thank you for not leaving me alone to figure it all out. Oh how much I would have struggled. Thank you for ensuring that I am not stranded on this journey.

So I tell you, live the way the Spirit leads you. Then you will not do the evil things your sinful self wants. The sinful self wants what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against the sinful self. They are always fighting against each other, so that you don’t do what you really want to do. But if you let the Spirit lead you, you are not under law. – Galatians 5:16-18

Lord, help me to live everyday of my life in the consciousness of your Holy Spirit within me.

Today Lord, I give you complete access to all of me. I surrender to you all of me. Let me be the light that shines forth your glory in this world and most especially in my home and in my circle.

But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words. He will speak only what he hears and will tell you what will happen in the future. The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me by telling you what he receives from me. All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will tell you what he receives from me. – John 16:13-15

Holy Spirit of God, illuminate the word of God to me. You who inspired men to write, open my eyes to see and my heart to understand and help live by the instruction of God written in the Holy Scriptures.

But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things. – Galatians 5:22-23

Which among the the list above do you need to see a manifestation of in your life? Go ahead and ask the Lord for a manifestation.
What is that fleshly desire that you know is not of God and by your strength you can’t seem to get rid of it? Ask the Lord to help you.
Last but not the least, have there been instances where the Holy Spirit of God has been speaking to you and because you didn’t understand, you simply just ignored? It’s alright. Now that you understand who He is, make a committment to God today to be attentive to His leading in your life.

Reflection

Are you wondering if you have the Holy Spirit within you? Are you even wondering if you are really saved from sin? It’s okay. I understand because I have been there. Just tell it to God and surrender completely to Him.

Thank you for joining in today. I am sure it has been a worthy 15minutes. See you on day three.

Beautiful Blessings.

DAY 1 – The Holy Spirit

Who is the Holy Spirit? – This question is one I hope you answered honestly and based on your understanding of who He is. No judgement whatsoever.

The Holy Spirit is a Person

Yes, He is. He is the third person in the God head. He is our promised Friend and Helper by Jesus and sent from God to us. The Holy Spirit as a person has feelings. He loves, teaches, prays, guides, can be sad, can be angry, can be insulted, can be grieved and does feel just like us.

The beautiful thing I want to tell you today is that, when you become a believer, the Holy Spirit begins to live in you. He comes in union with your spirit and He is the one that helps you live a godly life. He helps you tell others about Jesus, He empowers you to do what God wants you to do. He convicts your heart of those little things you allowed that is not of God.

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you. – John 14:16-17 GNT

Now that you know who the Holy Spirit is, do you have Him and negelected Him? Or are you here and you are yet to receive the Lord Jesus as savior? The Holy Spirit is just waiting to take residence in you. Receive Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit.

Prayers

And Peter said to them, “Repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways, accept and follow Jesus as the Messiah] and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ because of the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. – Acts 2:38

If you want to accept Jesus in your heart, please say this prayer with me.

Dear Lord, I confess [mention all you can remember]. I accept that I have been living life my own way and I cannot go on living this way anymore. I believe you died on the cross for me, and your blood washes every sin in my life. Today I drop all my baggages of sin at the cross and I receive a new life and a new identity in you. Thank you Jesus for saving me. Amen.

But you are not ruled by your sinful selves. You are ruled by the Spirit, if that Spirit of God really lives in you. But whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9

If for some reason, you have been saved but never acknowledged the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, now is the time to.

Dear God, I am sorry for thinking that everyday I went through, victorious over sin and enjoying your leadings in my life, was simply by my own strength. I am so sorry for neglecting your Holy Spirit within me. I am sorry for thinking that I could live this Christian life by my own power. From today, I begin to live my life in total surrender to your Holy Spirit within me. Holy Spirit of God, you have total control of my life. Amen.

Now aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, let us make right all the wrongs we have done along the way.

Let us unashamedly ask the Lord for mercy for all the times we were convicted of that sin and we didn’t pay attention.
Let us also seek forgiveness from the Lord for the manytimes, we have insulted, grieved and angered the Spirit of God within us.
What do you want from God during this challenge? Go on to ask God for all you expect and desire for.
Do you expect to receive the gifts of the Spirit during this challenge? Scripture encourages us to covet the best ones so go on to ask God for the best ones you want.
Lastly, you want to tell God that you want to be a different person at the end of this challenge than you were when you started.

But the Holy Spirit will come on you and give you power. You will be my witnesses. You will tell people everywhere about me—in Jerusalem, in the rest of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.

Thank you for being a part of day one. See you on day two.

Beautiful Blessings

Beautiful Wife Prayer Challenge 2021 (Edition 6.0)

Hello friends, it’s Beautiful Wife Prayer Challenge 6.0!

With gratitude in our hearts to God and our mouths filled with praise; we are so excited to host you in this year’s challenge.

It’s been 6 years of praying and I am grateful to God for all the testimonies that I receive. It is to God alone that all the glory belongs. I must say a big thank you for sticking with us on this challenge every year since 2016. I am also blessed that you would come here and find reasons to pray during these challenges every year.

This year is quite different because God wants to do something different in the lives of wives. The Holy Spirit of God is ready to usher many wives into a deeper understanding and relationship with God.

We are praying to be wives surrendered to and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Wives who are led by the Spirit of God in everything.
Wives on fire.
Wives bringing about the presence of God to their homes, place of work and church.
Wives who hear God clearly.
Wives who speak God’s mind to His people.

Oh there’s a lot the Holy Spirit wants to do in us, with us and through us. Now is the time. As we go through these 12 days of this challenge, I’ll love you to seek God truly and from a place of total surrender.

I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you.

John 16:16,26 The Message

Please feel free to invite as many wives and share this with them.

Beautiful Blessings.

THE DECAYING ‘TOOTH’!

Kike was a young lady who enjoyed chewing gums. So right from her undergraduate days, till when she graduated, and even started working, she was used to this act. Her colleagues were ALWAYS assured of finding gums in her handbag as she stored them there and had so much to even give out to anyone who desired it.

To her, that was the best way to prevent stale breath, especially after long hours of lectures and while at work; unknown to her that she was also damaging her tooth! This Kike did for many years.

Suddenly, Kike began to have some pains in one of her molars on her upper jaw. At first, she felt it was just a normal pain, that would wade off with time; alas this wasn’t the case, as this pain was ‘here to stay’. Little did she know that a hole had already been formed in that tooth.

As the pain persisted in Kike’s tooth, instead of rushing to a dentist, she kept enduring it. She got some pills to relieve her of the pains; but after a little relief, the pain always grew worse. The pain aggravated that it prevented her from chewing/eating with that side of her teeth! But, IT STILL DIDN’T STOP HER FROM CHEWING GUMS; she was addicted to them!

While Kike kept ‘pushing’ and managing this pain for over a year, the hole kept getting bigger as the decaying process continued!!! This began to cause mouth odour. At this stage, was Kike not supposed to rush to a dentist? But NO, SHE DIDN’T, instead Kike switched to using one of the expensive tooth paste in town as at then, just to subdue this odour, and started brushing thrice daily!

This she did for another one year!!!

(But Kike, WHY???)

Anyway, by the end of the second year, she couldn’t endure it any further; as the odour also could not be suppressed anymore and the pains grew worse, with a big hole already formed in her tooth!

At this stage, she said to herself: “I can’t bear this anymore. I’d rather visit a dentist”. So, the next day, she decided to visit a dental clinic.

The dentist on examining her tooth, with so much odour oozing out, blamed her for taking this long before coming. He said, if she had come earlier when the hole was still small, it would have been cleaned, treated and probably just filled; but at this stage, the solution is to undergo a minor surgery and get the decayed tooth removed so as to prevent further damage!

Kike felt really sorry for herself, as she had no other choice, than to undergo the surgery! It was a very painful experience for her despite the anaesthesia given. After one week of the so-called ‘surgery’, she began to feel another ‘degree’ of pain in that same area.

Without wasting time, she ran to a bigger dental clinic. On getting there, it was discovered that there were still remnants of the tooth left unremoved…The first dentist only removed the upper part and left the root!!! As the dentist broke the news to her, Kike wept!!!

“Why do I have to go through all these….It wouldn’t have been this worse only if I’d acted fast initially”, Kike said, amidst tears. The dentist really felt sympathy for her, as he consoled her and blamed the first dentist for not doing a thorough job!

She had to undergo a second surgery!!! OH NO, KIKE WENT THROUGH ‘HELL’! She cried and vowed never to have anything to do with gums and ‘others’! Finally, the debris of the decayed tooth was removed, this time, it was done perfectly. At the end of it, she was given some medications and went home!

After a week, yes ONE WEEK, Kike felt really better. Pain, odour all gone in just one week. Although, she has to leave the rest of her life with a ‘gap’ in her tooth! (Only if she decides to fill it in the future, but presently, even after six years, the gap is still there, which serves as a reminder to her!).

That painful experience made her wiser! She grew hatred for any form of ‘sweetener’ or gum, and stayed away from them. She switched to brushing her teeth twice daily, taking lots of water at work and during the day, eating carrots and cucumber to keep her mouth busy and breath fresh while at work, or any other fruit she can snack on.

She automatically became a counselor to those addicted to these ‘sweet things’ to please stop. She said: “It’s better imagined than experienced!”

(END OF STORY…BASED ON SOMEONE’S TRUE LIFE EXPERIENCE).

ARE YOU ALSO NOT LIKE KIKE?

What is the state of your spiritual life? Decaying??? Lost your zeal for God, lost your passion for studying the Word of God and for prayers? Now more interested in watching movies and idle talks that add no value to your spirit man?

What is the state of the divine assignment God placed in your hands? Left it idle and thrown away your ‘tools’ for gleaning the harvest field, lost the gifts and grace?

Married woman, what is the state of your marriage? How much time do you spend praying for your home? Or you now enjoy spending time with other women talking ill about your husband, and opening the door of your home indirectly to strange women? How much time do you give to parenting your children in the way of the Lord? How much effort do you put into building the bond, love of God and romance between you and your spouse? WHY WATCH THINGS ‘DIE’???

Singles, you know about the ‘decay’ but you have resolved to patch things up, instead of getting rid of it? Still enjoying those ‘sweet things’; the ‘small lie, little sexual touch, little pride, little wearing of worldly attires/indecent clothes (gradually exposing the sensitive parts and you now feel it doesn’t matter anymore?).

Do you feel since you are still ‘bouncing’ in the Lord, since you still officiate in the church, since you still pray and answers come, since there is no ‘odour’ oozing out of that ‘decaying tooth’ despite the ‘pains’; you are okay and still on ‘fire’?

NO! Don’t be deceived! Even when you turn off a ceiling fan, it still keeps spinning for a while; but definitely spinning to a halt!!!

Please don’t wait till it becomes too late before you attend to this DECAYED STATE OF YOURS!!!
Don’t wait till the ‘hole’ that’s been formed leaks away all your gifts, glory, power, grace, divine opportunities; ACT NOW, ACT FAST!!!

“Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done [any work of yours] meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight”. So remember and take to heart the lessons you have received and heard. Keep and obey them, and repent [change your sinful way of thinking, and demonstrate your repentance with new behavior that proves a conscious decision to turn away from sin]. So then, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
Revelation 3:2,3 (AMPC&AMP)

Beloved, RUN NOW TO THE DIVINE DENTIST, He is waiting for you The devil most times, wait to get a once-vibrant believer, to a state of spiritual weakness, so as to strike! This way, the devil has succeeded in bringing down many once mighty believers and even many godly homes today!!!

Don’t be like Kike, ACT FAST! Even if you have to undergo a DIVINE SURGERY, make some GODLY DECSIONS that may cause you some ‘pains’ or little inconvenience for a short while, it is better than being LOST FOREVER!!!

Be determined to PRESS IN DEEPER, and scale HIGHER HEIGHTS with JESUS this time. It is not too late to begin AFRESH with God. Pursue that DIVINE PURPOSE. Tend your MARITAL GARDEN. Seek Him Now, you will find Him!!!

God bless you. Praying with you. You will RISE AGAIN!!!

Funmibi Cares but GOD CARES MORE!

If this has blessed you, please do make sure you share. Invite your friends to subscribe and let’s all live the beautiful life together.

Beautiful blessings.

WHOSE LENS?

There is a popular story about a young, successful couple who moved into their dream home. Shortly after moving, the wife started to complain to her husband each time he returned from work, that their neighbor always hung dirty laundry on the clothesline. It got to a point that she was so irritated and said, ‘Someone needs to teach that lady how to wash her clothes!’

One Saturday morning, while the couple ate breakfast, the wife looked up and saw her neighbor hanging laundry. But this time, they looked so clean.

‘Wow, someone must have taught her how to wash clothes!‘ She exclaimed.
Without raising his head from his plate, the husband responded, ‘Actually, I got up early this morning and cleaned our window.‘

Do you know that everything and everyone may just take on a new personality because you changed your perspective?

Do you know that your challenges can turn to stepping stones because you looked through a different lens?

Do you know that your friend/spouse/colleague may appear vulnerable and in need of a hug, a kind word or a smile because you threw away the lens of judgement and looked through the lens of love?

Do you know that you can begin to truly heal from all hurt because you have adjusted your lens from the degree of despair to the coordinates of hope?

In addition, social media is a global city where there is no Waste Management Agency. The good, bad, and ugly are created and dumped in the same market square. As your fingers and eyes convey you to social media “city”, let your mind control your route so that you do not return home as a garbage bag full of depressing news, comments of trolls, ungodly ideas and migraine.

Finally, there is a perspective that supersedes that which life has forced you to undergo. That is the perspective of the One who sees you as you should be and not as you are. Choose to see through God’s lens for it is ALWAYS squeaky-clean.

GNT: Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.
KJV: Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
NIV: Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
RSV: Keep your heart with all vigilance; for from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23

If this has blessed you, please do make sure you share. Invite your friends to subscribe and let’s all live the beautiful life together.

Beautiful blessings.

Are You Exhausted Too?

The Holy Spirit showed me a new twist on discouragement and exhaustion. Often we all experience fatigue in a way that reflects in our activities, hindering us from focusing, targeting, or achieving. This feeling is valid, but there’s more to it. I got to understand that exhaustion and discouragement can come cloaked, seeping gradually into every fabric of our being, eating at every corner till all that is left is an empty hole and a smoking altar.

Discouragement and exhaustion sometimes begin with a bit of subtraction from your regular prayer time. Looks subtle? Yes… But it is determined. So it goes on to exchanging Bible study time with the premiere of a new series or your favorite show. These things in themselves aren’t the problem, so let’s get to the root of the problem.

If it all ended at the replacements and chipped away time with God, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but it always takes a step further. It responds to those mid-day prayer promptings in your Spirit with ‘Later.’ And the later it gets, the quieter the promptings are, slipping away into the avalanche of activities piled up on it.

It’s almost unnoticeable because you’re still praying, just not as much and as focused as before, still reading scriptures, well, only when you can spare some time. So, you go on with your goals, set even bigger daring plans than before, fill the void created with more activities so you don’t feel empty. This is where it gets really bad.

But wait!! Before you step out, Happy and clean, reflect, where did it all begin, were you exhausted from always praying or discouraged from not seeing an immediate result despite ardent devotion??

Discouragement is real, so is exhaustion, but it can be replaced with a garment of praise, the Spirit of prayer, and supplication. It’s not over yet! So, Don’t stop praying!

If this has blessed you, please do make sure you share. Invite your friends to subscribe and let’s all live the beautiful life together.

Beautiful blessings.

Our batteries charge differently

As an Architect and Designer and generally someone who spends a lot of time on the computer, music is my biggest companion. If I wasn’t married or had children, the introverted me will just sit here, music in ears, coffee on the side and design away.

I have two types of ear pieces that help me enjoy my music uninterrupted. But with these devices, I needed to put them in my ears.

While I love the apple AirPod for it’s noise cancellation feature, I get tired of something staying in my ear for that long.

Very fed-up at this point, I decided to look for headsets and I also wasn’t ready to spend so much on that (Call me Ijebu and you are not far from the truth. I have Ijebu blood flowing in me. Haha). I went on to look for something great and I found one. I was so excited when it arrived – though, those 6 days it took to ship were like the longest.

Now received and opened, as with every new device one buys, there is a part where you have to charge first before use. Based on reviews I read online (sometimes, don’t trust what you see online) the longest it charged for was 4hours and I was like, “oh that’s okay, I can do four hours”. 4 hours came, then 5, then 6, then 7. I told my sister, “I am sure something is wrong somewhere“. She just laughed at me and told me to wait. Well I did and it ended up charging for almost 9hours. Talk of a spoiler situation.

Now please read on…

Let’s talk about life as a Christian (Christ Follower) and the need to charge up sometimes for minutes, hours or even days (reading of the bible and praying). Pushing to get a proper refill of your tank will determine how far you will go on your journey.

“But we will [continue to] devote ourselves [steadfastly] to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Acts 6:4 AMP

How many of us as Christians have taken time out for a personal retreat to just charge up for the journey ahead in this beautiful world?

How many of us as professionals have taken time to develop ourselves, learn about the new trend, take a certification – charging ourselves up to remain professionally relevant in our fields?

How many of us as parents have taken time to study our kids, read up a book on parenting, agree on our method of parenting, partner with the Holy Spirit for this journey – to be better parents in this present age?

That headset needed to get fully charged to be able to serve me and I needed to be patient to allow it charge.

How patient are you while reading the Bible to soak up all the promises within or while praying to tender all your cases. Or most importantly after praying to hear from God?

How patient are you to go through the hard courses and researches to become an expert in that area of study?

How patient are you in understanding your child’s uniqueness, thereby guiding them on the part to harness what God has deposited inside of them that makes them special?

In life, we all need to charge for some time before our ‘first use’ and also charge consistently.

Now, know that charging times will differ. You may charge for long and others for longer or lesser. Be patient with your own time and mind your charging.

Leave those who can’t wait to be fully charged alone. Your journeys aren’t the same. Allow those who charge for long to charge in peace, their journey is not yours.

Face your own and be fully charged for the journey ahead.

If this has blessed you, please do make sure you share. Invite your friends to subscribe and let’s all live the beautiful life together.

Beautiful blessings.

Childlike not Childish

The ABCs to keeping a child's smile healthy - SE Calgary | Canyon Dental — Source: Google

I recall a photograph I took as a kid during one of my birthdays, I posed with a computer. It is not like I knew how to use a computer at that age, but seeing my dad always using one and having a number of computers around me, I began to imitate my dad and picked up more than a thing or two from him.

Children are known to imitate grownups (seeing them as a guide to follow) around them either positively or negatively. As believers, we are also to imitate the HOLY ONE who made us in His image. It was not meant for us to have a planned out Christian life and execute it. When we surrender our all to Christ, we become a version of Him (Christians), an exact replica of Him here on Earth. For us to grow in every sphere of life and be the exact replica of Christ, we must become childlike and this means being teachable, trusting, humble and forgiving.

“Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable like a little child , you will never be able to enter in.
Matthew 18:3 (TPT)

“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3 (AMP)

Becoming childlike requires us having a change in our mindset. When I say ‘trusting’, I do not mean trusting man (man is prone to disappoint), I mean trusting God completely to direct and guide us in all we do. When we put our trust in God, we will not be disappointed.

If this has blessed you, please do make sure you share. Invite your friends to subscribe and let’s all live the beautiful life together.

Beautiful blessings.