¨There are times when I feel so dry and far from God¨ - My God and I with Bolaji Deborah

FH: About Myself:

            I’m Bolaji Deborah Oluwafunmilayo, also known as Jakin Boaz.
I’m a Christian and just graduated this year from LAUTECH and should be
going for service this November. I am a Project Manager, presently into
skill acquisition and professional training programmes.

            I gave my life to Christ December, 2008 a month after I got
admitted into Lautech.






FH: The events that led to making the decision:

            Though I followed my parents to church and knew the importance
of prayer and fasting, I didn’t know God until I got admitted into Lautech.
As usual on getting to school, I started attending a Baptist church with my
roommate Dolapo. I was opportuned to meet young men and ladies that were so
vibrant and loved God and they were also living a purposeful life. All of
these made me to have a rethink and also encouraged me  to give my life to
Christ.
FH: Challenges I have experienced in my work with God:*

            I have experienced many but will talk on two major ones.
a)      *The need to become a better person*: being the fact I am a
choleric (a born leader), wherever I get to, it only takes a while for me
to have to take up leadership responsibilities. On getting to Lautech and
giving my life to Christ, I became the prayer coordinator of my church in
school in 200L. I was used to talking to people rudely, ordering people
around and getting things done my own way. Before I gave my life to Christ,
I didn’t see anything wrong in these things but as I began my journey with
God, I realized there was a need for a change. I didn’t know how to be
patient, I didn’t know how to love in God’s way, I couldn’t tolerate
people, I saw myself as perfect and not lacking anything and hated when
people give excuses for not getting their work done. Before I knew it I was
having so many issues with my roommate, hostel mates, church members and
people around. I had the challenge of learning to deal and lead people with
my heart and not my head.
b)      *Secondly, challenges with my health*: I have allergy for harsh
weather condition which resulted in consistent cold and catarrh and most
times leads to malaria. My department in school was so demanding, the
leadership responsibility upon me in church was much. I had to study and do
a lot of school assignments and I also had to spend quality time in the
place of prayer, studying my bible and fasting. It was so challenging
because I was always sneezing, having runny nose, had to take cold and
catarrh drugs which required me to rest a lot. Before I knew it, I was
lagging behind in school and also started having spiritual attacks because
as a prayer warrior you stand at the war front for the church. It got to a
stage I knew I was a walking corpse.
FH: Practical steps I took to deal with the challenges:

1)      Concerning the issue of character, I had to take off my garment of
pride, apologized to my roommate and everyone I could apologize to. I also
spoke with my Pastor (Eruke Tauna) and some Christian folks about it. They
encouraged me not to give up, that I could be better if I was willing to
submit totally to the Holy Spirit. I must say that those periods were not
easy at all, I had to walk up to people to talk about it, I cried, took the
blame and apologized. Though not all the relationships were restored
especially with my roommate. I must say that I am not yet there but am
getting better by the day.

2)      Concerning my health, I prayed to God to heal me and the word He
gave me was “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect
in (your) weakness” 2 Corinthians 12:9. I struggled with my health
throughout my stay in school and am still believing God for His healing.
But I honestly don’t know how I made it through in school, how I was among
the best 10 students out of about 200 students that graduated from my
department this year, It was a Miracle, how I was never rushed home because
I was sick was indeed a Miracle. I remember I was telling a friend of mine
(Dami) when we were about to graduate that I was sick and tired of my
health and she said even me that is perfectly okay could not achieve all
you have achieved in your stay in Lautech, I have all the reasons to bless
God.
FH: Times in my walk with God when I don’t exactly feel top notch:

      There are so many times I can’t even count when I feel so dry, so far
away from God like there is no fuel in my tank. No Christian can actually
avoid that moment(s), even David went through such (Psalm 42), this is
needed for growth.

What I do in such times is to be sincere with myself and check to know what
could be wrong.

I go over my favorite bible chapters (Psalm 27, 91, Isaiah 41 and so on). I
also speak to my spiritual friends such as Deborah, Ay, Tope, Dami etc, I
also seek for counsel from my Pastor (Pst. Sina) and my Spiritual father
(Pst Lakin). I spend time in the place of prayer and at times I go for
personal retreats.
FH: My take on sin and how I think we can overcome sin:

      There is no how one continues in sin and expects to grow spiritually.
There are so many things we see, hear and watch these days that are killing
our spirit. You can’t block your ears and eyes because whether you like it
or not, you will come across these things daily on tv, radio, internet,
neighbourhood and even at home.

One thing I will say is that we should know and be sincere with ourselves.
If you know you have problem of lust, you should screen the movies you
watch, the sites you browse when online, what you say with your friends,
what you think and meditate on. Likewise, anyone having issues with hatred
should stay away from drawing conclusions on people’s behavior, be
contended with whatever you have, learn to tolerate people and many others.

Getting an accountability patner will also help a lot. Speak to your
someone (it could be your Christian friend, your pastor or your mentor,
just make sure that the person has got your back) about the sin you are
struggling with, ask for their advice, tell them the steps you will be
taking, tell them to check on you at intervals to see if you are doing well
and also tell them to join you in prayer.

      One must not forget that the flesh does not have power over sin, only
the spirit does. Always make sure you feed your spirit daily by studying
and meditating on the word of God and also praying and fasting.
FH: Most Remarkable time/season of my life:*

      That was when I was led by the Holy Spirit to stay back in Ogbomoso
for my IT, left to me I wanted to come to Lagos. It wasn’t easy for me
because the pay was so small. During that period, I had time to really
speak to God and I discovered so many things I didn’t know about myself. I
got a clear understanding of God’s purpose for my life and God also gave me
a new name “JAKIN BOAZ” which means security and stability (2 Chronicles
3:15-17 Message bible).

FH: My relationship with God today:

      I am really learning a lot daily, I have come to realize that without
Him, I am nothing. I hear God say to me always that He has not brought me
this far and leave me.
FH: Words of encouragement to people in whatever phase they are right now:

 I will say to everyone out there to draw near to their Creator, He
knows everything about you, your weakness and strength. He will not and
never leave you nor abandon you. You are a work in progress, your life
might not look like the vision God showed you but He is not through with
you.

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VLOG: What I am learning!!

Sooooooo!!! I did a VLOG!!
buuuut...

The audio is SOOOO CRAPPY!! I bounced it off someone and she convinced me post it. You can tell that I have stalled as I did it about a weekend ago.

x_x

No, Really the audio is sooo crappy.

If you notice I had my camera set-up in the background but I thought about the fact that I didn't have a laptop to work on the video, and I really really wanted to do the video. so, I picked up my phone.

If you do make it to the end though, you really love me! Too much talk, enjoy some of the lessons I am learning in this phase of my life.

Hope you did learn something? By Gods grace, I will do better. Thanks for listening laidat.

Have you come to an end of yourself? Have you come to a point where nothing else seems to be working out and you've tried all you could? Click to meet GRACE

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20 Random facts about me

I had initially done this on Instagram but it seems like blogsville caught the bug too, so why not? ;) 

Here 20 facts about me;

0.5 Jesus is my love language 
1. I prefer being called my first name 
2. Morounfoluwa, call me that :) 
3. I have a spelling problem. I have to double check spelling or ask my personal encyclopedia +Akib
4. I'm the geek in rubber flat shoes 
5. Forget all the writing oh, I know nada about written English. This one is God!
 6. I work well under pressure 
7. I recently developed short attention span. I have to struggle to finish reading blog articles 
8. I've not been in a bookstore in over 3 months = I've not bought a new book != I've not read a new book, iborrow 
9. I hate ebooks 
10. I have a HUGE CRUSH on @tybello it's not just the hair or the photography, it's the soul.. jeez. I'm sounding creepy already (PLEASE INTRODUCE US) 
11. YEEEE!! Ted dekker! Tyler perry!! It is called intellectual crush for these ones 
12. I talk to myself Waaaay too much 
13. I've day dreamed and had pretend conversations for everything and all scenarios. *pauses for coffee* 
14. Speaking of coffee, I still dont get the point of decaf. Issh 
15. I must write down before I type before it can make any sense to me 
16. I've used only red and black pen since college. 
17. After drinking and over dosing on Garri for as long as I can remember, I recently developed an allergy. Now the garri gives me heart burn. I still drink sha, like a real G. 
18. I love photography. 
19. I enjooy kfc cone ice cream... for the oddest reason x_x 
20. I went through a phase where I didn't wear trousers, use earrings or use alot of make-up. 

Have you come to an end of yourself? Have you come to a point where nothing else seems to be working out and you've tried all you could? Click to meet GRACE

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#ThankfulThursday: "Know Better, Do Better"

Hello Everyone, 

How are is your week going? October is a month of growth and a month of doing better not just knowing, but knowing to do better and this has kicked off well. I am absolutely grateful to God for everything he is doing.

Here are some more things I am Thankful for this week.

SOPE and our bond; He called me yesterday and all he had to say was "Are you where you can shout?" and I knew exactly what he was talking about then screamed my head off!!!!! God is goooooooood!!!! 

Skies, sunset, boat ride and a phone to capture the moment; 

Everytime I go to Ikorodu, the skies are different there... the other parts of Lagos una don chop the beautiful sky. Issh! 

The master Artist!!!

Promise kept and new books; I FINALLY got my own copy of when heaven weeps  and now add Frank peretti to the list. I have not gotten the chance to dig into these - I must finish the ones I am reading - buuut just looking at them looking at me makes me glad.

What new book is on your shelf? Or what are you currently reading?

See that? Need I say more?

Uber: Okay, So there is this new cab thingy going on in Lagos called Uber that a friend told me about, so I decided to try it out and boy, I was impressed!! Not just that the app was so cool but also that it was on time and see the ride? :) 

Just download the app here, sign-up with 'mobtomi' you get 3,000 and enjoy your ride. Thank me later. 

See the ride that came to pick me up? ;) 

My fav pair of Jeans; Fits perfectly and ever faithful. Please, say you have that one fav pair -__-

These and more I am grateful for. What are you grateful for?


Have you come to an end of yourself? Have you come to a point where nothing else seems to be working out and you've tried all you could? Click to meet GRACE

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"One challenge was exposure to the sin of pornography" My God & I with Tommy

FH: Tell us about you.

I’ll limit this to the three things I’d love to be known most for and/or by: I’m Tommy Michael, I’m a Christian, and I’m a (gospel) pencil artist.

FH: When did you give your life to Christ?

I gave my life to Christ while still a kid. This makes it a bit difficult for me to settle on a date. Even though I somewhat made a rededication in 2010.

FH: What were the events that led up to making the decision?

I can’t exactly remember now, though I can easily assume it must have been one of my mum’s incessant talks on the rapture, heaven, hell or something like that.

FH: What challenges have you experienced in your walk with God?

One, not having as much faith as I would love to have in Him. Two, I learnt my Christianity in not so easy a way. Three, and chief of them, seeing how much God hates sin and sinfulness, was my (incidental) exposure to the sin of pornography.

FH: What practical steps did you take to deal with them?

As much as I felt like puking – literally – in my first real encounter with the earlier mentioned sin, it had held on to me and was going to engage me in a struggle for years. And of course my prayer for forgiveness couldn’t lead me out of it. How I overcame?

1. As a Christian lad, I’d been made to understand God’s infinite intolerance for sin (by anyone: saved or unsaved). This I easily accepted (and still accept).
2. As much as my knowledge of truth was shallow, deep down I knew I couldn’t do this by my effort.
3. When I found myself unwilling to let go, I prayed God to make me willing to let go. When I say prayed, what I mean is cried. I ‘held on to His leg’. It was heartfelt. In the end there was a readiness to let go.
4. When one prayer didn’t do it, I persisted until I got freed.
5. The necessary action followed. I freed my pc of most of my movies. If there was a multipurpose website where occasionally a wrong image would pop up, I resolved to not visit it or do so less. I knew a little mistake could suck me right back in, which I occasionally experienced. Not anymore.

FH: There are times in our walk where we don’t exactly feel top notch, what keeps you going in those times?

What keeps me going is my decision not to feel, but to act on what I know and believe in His word, and to pray. I realized my feelings often to be misleading. Prayer helps a great deal in such situations.

FH: A lot of Christians out there have the major challenge dealing with Sin. What’s your take on this? And how do you think we can overcome sin?

I can’t speak extensively on this right now, but here’s a part of what I believe constitutes our challenge with sin: a Christian’s challenge with dealing with sin has a whole lot to do with his or her understanding and utilization of grace. I’ll explain.

One man is taught and describes grace thus: “I’m once saved, and forever saved. Whatever I do hereafter: good or bad, matters little or nothing”. Such will have challenge with sin.

Another thinks of grace thus: “Yes I’m saved, but whenever I’m faced with temptation or trial, and I fall, God understands and will forgive when I ask Him to”. Such will have no power over sin.

Here’s how I interpret grace: that at salvation, you receive the Spirit of God Who enables you to stand in the day of temptation, that you have the word of God to teach, warn and renew you daily, that you have Jesus always interceding for you, that Christ died not just for your salvation but for you sanctification, that He has given you exceeding great and precious promises by which you can possess His nature(2 Peter 1:4), that you can PRAY to Him and rest in His victory over the chief tempter, that He has promised to make a way out of every temptation (I Cor 10:13); all this, is grace for me and renders us inexcusable if we find ourselves living still bound to sin.

There’s a lot more though.

FH: Can you share the most remarkable time/season in your walk with God?

To anyone reading this, wait till you (really) receive the infilling of the Holy Ghost, then you’ll understand the most remarkable season in my walk with God ☺

FH: What is your relationship with God like today?

Right now, Jesus is at the centre of my goals, passions, ambitions, life; not ‘cause I made it so. No, He did. I just let Him. Yet is there an infinite degree to Him that I’m yet to experience ☹

FH:

Words of encouragement that you have for people in whatever phase they are in right now.

Whenever I find opportunity to thank God often I say: “Thank You Father, because you never left me alone”. Whatever you’re passing through, always remember, God never leaves us alone and no prayer of His child’s goes unheard.

Tommy blogs at http://walkwithmee.wordpress.com/ (Do visit and go through his art - Awesome stuff)

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#ThankfulThursday: The Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award

Hello Everyone, 

I hope you all are enjoying the My God & I series so far? 

Yaaay!! 

I knowwww Fredilia this is late and I trieed to post it earlier but...... I even still owe This favoured Woman a liebstar response. But one step at a time right? Pardon me? pretty please?

Thank you. 

Here is my accepting the Award and doing the needful.

The Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award is an award passed from sister blogger to sister blogger, and there are just 5 conditions to be met when you accept the award:

1.Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site

2.Put the awards logo on your blog

3.Answer their ten questions

4.Make up 10 new questions for your nominees

5.Nominate 10 bloggers

Thank you Fredilia for the Award! I appreciate it so much. :)

But I got just one question:

"Tell us about a part of you that you struggled with (e.g. a habit, nose, shape, leg) and how you overcame the fear."

My Response: 

I know this is mostly about physical appearance but honestly, I didn't struggle with any of those. so, here is something else I struggled with. 

Failure. 

“To repeat grade 11”

clearly written on the dotted lines of my yearly academic report. My parents didn’t hide their disappointment in anyway and I lost the battle with tears letting it flow freely. I spent the holiday pinching myself hoping I would wake up from the bad dream only this dream didn’t seem to end.

The look I got from my mother haunted me to better grade the coming year. They weren’t convinced. I had ruined it once and it felt like they expected a repeat performance. They got a surprise till I graduated high school.

When i entered into the University it became a campaign to get my parents approval and get affirmations for a job well done, so I put in more efforts to get even better grades and as every year went by with better grade that were some not “good enough”, resentment grew.

A year before I graduated university, my mother pulled up a chair next to me, she told me how much growth she noticed in my academics and how wrong she was about me and for the first time in years she acknowledged my efforts.

I wrote once about my unsung heroes and how one guy (Joseph) just by taking out time to ask one 100L girl about her results and advising her to not relax but take her books seriously changed me and helped me have better grades till I graduated.

“I will give you beauty for ashes” says the Lord, and I also learned to forgive and let go of deep hurts regardless of the circumstances that caused them. I stopped seeking affirmations and saw the beauty in every battle not because I won or lost in the individual context but for every battle there was a degree of preparation for the next battle but I didn’t realise till I looked back.

This I am grateful for!! 

Happy New October people!! 

Have you come to an end of yourself? Have you come to a point where nothing else seems to be working out and you've tried all you could? Click to meet GRACE

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¨I gave my life to Christ when I was 9¨ God and I with Tolani

FH: Tell us about you

`My name is Ajala Tolani, i really don’t have a nickname. I am a graduate of physiology, a very sensitive person in nature that is why I don’t get close to people easily but when I do you’ll never regret it (never a dull moment with tOLaRr).

FH: When did you give your life to Christ?

I gave my life to Christ when I was 9 years old and I rededicated my life to Christ 2007.

FH: What were the events that led up to making the decision?

I was saved at a very tender age, joined the choir to the extent I sometimes share my bible class teachings with my friends. I didn’t know much then but I just wanted to serve God. After a while I backslided.

In 2007, a lot of things happened in my life that left me helpless, fearful, devastated, a lot of sleepless night which made thirsty for a change. I had no option but to retrace my steps back to the potter.

FH: What challenges have you experienced in your walk with God?

Whao, Challenges!!! Have had so many but there was just this one thing then, which was hearing and believing from the basis of God’s word. Concerning every issue of my life I wanted to hear from God through His word (fine, I listened to messages, read books). On every issue I just wanted to know the mind of God.

FH: What practical steps did you take?

Be anxious for nothing …….. (I’ll put my name here), but by prayer with thanksgiving allow your request (no matter how small it is, what to wear, what you need, how to go about something) be made known unto God. Ephesians 1:16-18 was also one of the scriptures I used.

FH: There are times in our walk where don’t exactly feel top notch, what keeps you going in those times?

What kept me going in times like that is fellowshipping with fellow brethren that is why church programs are called service just like the way we service our cars. I made sure I avail myself for paryer meetings and bible study, iron sharpens iron. It wasn’t that easy but it really helped.

FH: A lot of Christians out there have the major challenge of dealing with sin, what’s your take on this and how do you think we can overcome sin?

Sin is man's old nature and our perfection is in Christ. Therefore to overcome sin, one has to admit that something is wrong. Don’t ever appreciate sin instead focus more on the solution even when you’re still in the act. Put the sin aside and focus more on being a better person especially in that area. Focus on the price and not the problem.

FH: Can you share the most remarkable time or season in your walk with God?

The day I rededicated myself back to Christ, since then I have never experienced a better last year because He daily loaded me with benefits.

FH: What is your relationship with God like today?

Superawesome

FH: Words of encouragements

God is always speaking to us through the Holy Spirit. Concerning that situation, look unto God because His plan for your life is in His book. No matter what you are going through always give thanks, its not always that easy but just obey 1Timothy 4:4

PS: Happy Independence to Nigeria!!! I pray that the coming election will be according to the plans and dictates to the most high, His express will be done in this nation and we will grow in peace and unity!! In Jesus name! Amen!!!

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