Desires, lust and stuff!

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

1 Peter 2:11

The other day I was reading this verse and it just occurred to me how bad sinful desires can be. In this day and age sinful desires like lust are being promoted and are just seen as innocent. But notice it says in this passage that it wages war against our souls!

I think of all these things and its true the more I engage in sinful desires here and there the more distant I feel from God no matter how innocent the world calls it it wages war against my soul and yours too, especially desire for sinful things. So how can we protect our souls? the verses that comes to mind are Ephesians 6:11-18.

We need to be serious about prayer and I need to too because prayer is our communication with God it is what keeps us going and provides us with what we need to stay focused and continue the journey its our ammo. If we pray according to God's will our prayers will be given what we ask for --- yes that's true read it here in 1 John 5:14-15. Our will needs to become God's will else we cannot fully commit to Him or be sure of our salvation.

Jesus loves you and He will be delighted for you to intentionally spend time with Him and give all that you have.

Don't worry trust God he has a plan for you not just everyone else!

Be encouraged

In Christ 

Jaleen :)

Don't get distracted but endure

12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12

As believers we must be continuing in our faith so that we may grow and mature in it (see my blog on maturing here). To continue in our faith we must endure temptation which means we may suffer and it may be long suffering but whatever it is we must endure, we must not get distracted by the temptation, we must not give into the temptation but we must endure it. It may be hard but there is a reward for enduring the temptation which surpasses the hardship of the endurance. This reward is the crown of life and it is promised to those who love him.

As believers who love Christ this verse can be helpful in times of suffering which requires endurance - just imagine receiving the crown of life promised by the Lord to you because you love him and endured temptation for His name's sake. Let us pray the to the Lord that we will not fall into temptation but rather we would endure it for His name's sake. Take time out to understand this prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and then when you're ready pray it to God who will hear you in Heaven do not pray it as a repetition but pray it out of a genuine heart to do His will.

God bless you,

Jaleen :)

P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more

Good news: yes, YOU can be saved too!

THE FALL (sin separates man from God)

1. Adam was the first human being and together with his wife Eve they sinned against God by going against God's command and we all were born into sin from this point. (see Genesis 3:6)

2. We are all sinners and we all willingly sinned we loved it (see John 3:19)

3. Our sin separates us from the loving God (Romans 3:23)

            

 THE GOSPEL (the good news)

1. God because He is full of love gave his only begotten Son who payed the price for every sin that we ever committed and will ever commit.

2. If you repent (turn away from pursuing sin and start pursuing Jesus) and believe in Jesus by faith you will be saved. (see John 3:16)

3. And to them who receive Him, Jesus gave you the right to become sons of God! (see John 1:12)

There was no other way for us to be saved no way and God did not have to provide a way rather out of his love and his abundant grace and mercy gave His own son for us.You have been given a free ticket to life will you accept it or reject it?

The choice is yours.

God bless you,

Jaleen :)

The storm of life

24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. Luke 8:22-25

In Luke 8:22-25 the disciples encounter a storm, despite the fact that some of them were  fishermen which means they had been at sea many times, the disciples were described as being in jeopardy. (see Luke 8:23) See it doesn't matter how experienced we are at things sometimes experience doesn't cut it. We cannot control the waves and turn of every point of our lives as much as we think we can or as experienced as we think we are we will always fall short. For example, if you have an athlete who is competing in a sport lets say racing, they are experienced in this area, they train, they eat well, they get enough sleep and then the big day comes it only takes one unfortunate event such as an injury to destroy all their efforts and the situation becomes a disaster. You see no-one can plan the direction of their life. No one can eliminate all their weaknesses likewise no-one can control the storms of life only Jesus can, its not about us controlling the storm our way no matter how much we know or think we know by experience (i.e. to remove the injury) Jesus brings calm in a completely different way and by a different approach and that is by faith in Him not what we see and it is only Jesus who is capable of producing a great calm from a raging storm. (Luke 8:24)

When we trust Jesus through whatever we are going through (life) by faith and give Him our all, He will produce a great calm even if the way does not seem most favorable, remember as believers we live by faith and not sight. (see 2 Corinthians 5:7)

God bless you

Jaleen :) 

P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more

Day 4 - Thanksgiving

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's 

will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

This letter in which this verse was given was for believers and gave them instruction on how to live and these believers were warned by Paul that the day of the Lord was coming but he tells them that it should not take them by surprise. Later on he tells the believers what God's will is for those in Christ Jesus which is shown in the verse above notice he tells us to rejoice always and to pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances this can be hard sometimes and we have rough days where we are genuinely feeling discouraged and these commands that seem simple when everything is going well in our eyes but become so hard to apply in the midst of trials, big decisions or non christian environments. So how can we do these things in these hard times? If we look at the following verses we need to fix our eyes on Jesus (see Hebrews 12: 1-2) when we fix our eyes on Jesus we begin to see people in a new perspective and when we submit to God we will find it easier to rejoice and be thankful and pray. We also need to be fixing our eyes on those things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable which is everything that God is (see Phillipians 4:8) and often in hard times we are focusing on the opposite of these things when we take our eyes off God and to the world and our focus becomes on those things which are false, ignoble, wrong, impure and horrible thoughts. When we fix our eyes upon God and realize our dependence on Him we truly can pray continually even by frequent small prayers throughout the day.

Disclaimer I really do recommend reading these verses in context to get the overall view and not just an out of context verse because these verses are aimed at specific people and situations sometimes and I really want you to understand what God is saying to you as you read each mini devotion.

Be encouraged

Jaleen x

Day 2 - The worries of tomorrow

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34 (NIV)

At times throughout the day I find myself getting so caught up in daily life that I miss out on my quiet time with God and I'm running on the fumes of God's word. Its so easy to worry about all the things that need doing in daily lives and Jesus understands this, He understands how easy it is for us to get caught up in worrying about what we will eat and how much to eat and what it is best to eat and drink and everything that we must do tomorrow and in our human lives and he tells us in Matthew 6:25-34 not to worry. He tells us not to worry about these things because they are not very important and your salvation doesn't depend on what we eat or how healthy or unhealthy we are in what we eat or drink there are more deeper things we should be avoiding like sexual immorality see 1 Corinthians 6:13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. You may be thinking but how do I stop worrying its easier said than done! 

The answer is in Phillipians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

The way to experience the peace of God is to pray to him he told us to present our requests to him. God is a loving God, he cares about us, he wants us to remain in contact with him which is why he tells us to pray in every situation. Let us therefore draw near to his throne with our prayers and requests not forgetting however to come with thanksgiving for all that He is and has already provided by his amazing grace for us in Christ Jesus. 

Be encouraged, 

Jaleen

P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more

My Testimony

I was bought up in a Christian household from the age of six. I never really worried about the way I looked until I started high school. As the oldest of six children I was the first to experience high school and I went to a high school in which i didn't know any people that came from my primary school so I had to make new friends. High school was a lot different from primary school and I felt like I had been thrown in at the deep end I didn't like high school at all. It started at 13 I started to worry about my appearance and noticed that I was different to most other girls my age and I became insecure as I compared myself to others I remember people would tease me for my height or other things and I wasn't like everyone else to make things worse I wanted so desperately to fit in. I was always quiet but this was different I became insecure and had low self esteem. I would always cover up the fact hat this made me miserable. Covering up became a habit and as time went on it started to develop into other things such as people pleasing. I tried to change myself but I couldn't ever find satisfaction in myself because I new how I really was and the emotions and worry I had. And the insecurity began to develop and ruin other areas of my life and I felt as though there was no hope and that no one cared about my life I felt worthless and hated myself and I just wanted to die. No one ever noticed this and probably would least expect this to be me because I always put on a front as if everything was fine when it wasn't.
I became dependent on people's approval to make me feel secure. This made me feel guilty and I began to try to seek God but I was still pleasing people and their approval and it gets to the point where you have to choose between the two. I felt as if I was divided between the two. Even though I would say I was a Christian there was no real relationship with God. At this time I remember I felt ashamed to tell people about God and was uncomfortable with people associating me with Jesus, looking back I think it was clear to say that I wanted to fit in with the crowd so I was putting people above God, I was afraid to be different.
As time progressed, I felt as if God had not given up on me and that there was hope and I really wanted to seek God for good this time and I think this was the start of God calling me to him I was reading God's word and praying frequently and I wasn't ashamed to. However, one thing that was wrong was that I was depending on my works to make me right with God and when I messed up I felt as if I was detached from God and I wasn't certain of my salvation and I was still trying to please people but just in a different way. It took a while but God in His grace enabled me to understand that Jesus had died for all my sins past, present and future. HE DIED FOR EVERY SIN AND HE DIED FOR ALL and yes that includes me and you who are reading this (See 1 John 2:2 and 2 Corinthians 5:15)  One verse that God revealed to me was Romans 6:14 "For sin shall no longer be your master for you are not under the Law, but under grace." this does not mean that we continually try to sin (see Romans 6:15) but God will enable us and only with God's help and through prayer to free us from bondage to sin. I learnt that Christ's death did not just involve the physical pain of crucifixion but he had to endure mine and the world's sin! How could I then depend on myself instead of the sinless Savior who paid it all? If I was trying to get right with God with my own words I was saying that Jesus' death is not sufficient for me. I learnt that I needed to get whole before God and pour my heart out before him. I repented (turned away from my sin) and turn back to God through prayer acknowledging that I was helpless without him. I turned from self to a loving Savior who was patiently waiting for me to come to him all along.
I came as I was with all my fear, insecurity, helplessness and flaws to God who restored me to himself through Jesus his son which is not my own work but the gift of God called His grace (Ephesians 2:8) for which I am eternally grateful and I am not sharing this to say that I have become perfect because I still battle with sin daily but God helps me to overcome sin by remaining in him, it shows that if Christ can heal and restore a broken sinner like me to a right relationship with him and he can certainly do the same with YOU if YOU let him. And Christ's blood washes me and He will continue to work in me until I meet him face to face. (Phil. 1:6)

I hope this encourages someone
God bless you,
Jaleen 

Feel free to e-mail me about anything at j.obilaso@gmail.com :)
P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more

Weaknesses

Recently God has really been guiding me to this verse lately so I thought i would share it with you:

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 

When you take time to think about this verse and what it means it truly is amazing. God is saying that His power is made PERFECT in WEAKNESS. Not in strength, not in satisfaction, but he says in weakness. Its so easy to look at ourselves and pick out all our flaws and weaknesses and by doing that you can grow to hate yourself but that is not the purpose of our weaknesses. We have to look at the bigger picture. Our weaknesses are set up to reveal God's power but for this to happen we need to turn away from trying to overcome weaknesses and rely completely on God with them. In 2 Corinthians 12:8 Paul PLEADS with God THREE times to take away a physical weakness which we are not told what it is but we are told that it was a thorn in the flesh so a physical weakness which may have hindered his ministry yet God directed him to verse 9.  Often when we have strengths in areas it can cause us to get tempted to depend on ourselves which hinders our walk with Christ resulting in it being ineffective because we are making ourselves our own foundation when we need it to be about God and not us. If you have a physical weakness in your Chrsitian walk its not given to hinder you but that it can be used by God to reveal his power and to keep your eyes on him and not ourselves which I have also been learning through the reading and studying of these verses.
God bless you all, Jaleen :)
P.S please check out this post if you want to become a Christian or know more