This Phase is over - Bye Blogger!

Hello Everyone,

How are you doing? It's been a while. This post is not going to be long. I have some news!

My Blog will be 5 in May!!! Whoooop! So, I have been blogging for 5 years... Wow!! It's definitely been an humbling experience, met alot of people, watched my growth etc. I am glad I decided to blog.

To celebrate my 5th year, I have decided to discontinue this blog x_x

Waaaaiiiittttt!!!

Doesn't mean I have stopped blogging or will shut down this one. This one will still be there but it won't be updated and you would be able to just access this via my old blogger address www.tomiakibo.blogspot.com but www.arikearts.com will have all of my content past and present.

Screenshot

Pleaaaseee... Head over and let me know what you think about my new space and also SUBSCRIBE!! x_x Iyam begging ni o.

It's so had to leave this behind, stats and all but I guess starting from ground zero isn't so bad after all.

SO..... Shall we? Follow me on this journey.... www.arikearts.com! See you there!

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His Perspective: Why do men cheat?

Earlier today, having a discussion with a good friend, she asked me: “Jay, why do men cheat?”. Out of the blue like that. Wow. Why indeed? This is the question we all seem to want an answer to, so that maybe, just maybe, we can find a solution and our men can keep their eyes inside, and not look to play outside matches.

I was prepared to answer this question, because earlier this week, I had another conversation with a good friend, (oh well, life’s all about conversations isn’t it?), and in her wisdom she told me: “We are all capable of every kind of thing, every good, every bad, no one is exempt. We are all a broken version of the original, the intent of the heart of man is desperately wicked, who can know it”…Indeed, who can?

And then tonight, I’m trying to study the Word, and I open to Proverbs 27:20, I’ll quote the Amplified version so you get a better idea of where my thoughts are leading: “ Sheol (the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the place of destruction) are never satisfied; SO (THE LUST OF) THE EYES OF MAN IS NEVER SATISFIED.” Ha! Yes you cheating son of a gun, you are likened to the Hell and Death! But hold on, just a minute. We all are. All of us.

Now, that verse seems like I’m absolving all men who cheat and will cheat of their sin, moreover the bible has already said their lust can’t be satisfied, right? Right??! It is a tempting thought trust me, but, well, not quite. You see, as going to hell and being dead (in a spiritual manner) is a form of choice and decision, so is the third party, the lust of the eyes of man, a choice and decision. You choose to lust or allow yourself lust over money, drink and women. You choose to forget that you have a beautiful, God-fearing and inspiring wife at home, and decide deep in your heart to run after “ayonge” that can give you 50 Shades of pleasure, YOU CHOOSE! Starting from your thoughts, you choose to allow them go and wander in dangerous territory, and then the seed is sown…the actions will automatically follow.

Ehen, and before we put all the cheating blame on men, lemmi stop you right there: Women cheat. Full stop. I’m not blaming anyone, but a lust for a fruit outside what God said was okay to eat is what put us in this position in the first place. So ALL of us can cheat, forget the societal stereotype that Men are the greatest cheats.

I have fallen prey to these lusts myself. And at the end of the day, I feel horrible, looking back, it was never a worthy choice. Never. I had something better, so why wasn’t it enough?? Because I choose to have a lust…and like all lusts, it can never be satisfied.

So, man or woman, here are my thoughts:

1. First things first, Biko flee from that lust, because if you don’t, it will NEVER be satisfied.

2. Philippians 4:8,  “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Think on that beautiful wife, think on the damage it may cause, think about your soul, think, think, think!

As I write to you, I’m thinking of this lovely woman who has caught my heart, who has forgiven me in spite of my mistakes, and I’m praying to God to take away my lust and for it to never resurface, because I want to do right by Him and by her also. I will think of her whenever this temptation wants to arise. Because I CHOOSE to think of her and place her over the lust.

3. Lastly, Romans 12:2 “…but be ye transformed by the renewal of our mind” Renew your mind daily through the Word.

I haven’t had peace all week, but finally my heart knows rest.

Yours,

Mo.

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He is a God of process

Sitting at the extreme right on the first row of the bus, was a lady with 3 kids as the 4th passenger on where was clearly supposed to sit just 3 people. The youngest child started crying as the bus was too hot, the continuous cry filled the almost silent bus.

"Give the baby what she wants or she won't stop crying" a man's voice from the back rang loudly. The mother ignored while trying to pat the baby on the back to shut her up but this baby wasn't having any of that, she cried even louder.

The male voice from behind said the same thing again but this time another woman echoed his thoughts in agreement, The mother then did the needful and the baby of course kept quiet.

As if to rub it in the mother's face "You see, she is now quiet. They don't want to know where you are, what they want is what they want that's how babies are" said the voice from behind

That struck a chord in me.

We are babies when we start this walk with God.
New world...
No knowledge...
Need guidance
Need growth...

In a way babies are 'spoilt' and as they grow parents start instilling the required discipline in them 'Kneel down to greet your elders' 
'No! you can't have biscuit at 11:00pm... You shouldn't even be awake at this time c'mon go to bed' and this is just earthly parents out of the Love that they have for them, put their children in check as they grow older.

How much more our heavenly father? When we are babies in Christ and we 'fuss'/'cry' going all give-me-give-me on GOD most of the time we get, but as our understanding grows by beholding him in a mirror we would be expected to start displaying it in our maturity in Christ.

Growth in Christ is a conscious decision that the individual makes, it says as we behold (2 cor 3:18)... It then means it's our responsibility to look in the direction and the comforting part is that no one is expecting us to be 6 months old babies today and 5 years old tomorrow...

Even God acknowledges process... We will be transformed from glory to glory. The question is are we looking in HIS direction?

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Through my lens || Love is Impossible

I am taking my photography alot more seriously this year and I have been going through a 52 weeks challenge (More on this soon) with a group of photographers this has made me just want to take pictures of everything and I am one of those people that cleans her ears every second (if possible) and I got this inspiration from my earbud container (obviously -_-) as it was the season of love, I took to Instagram to share some Lovey-dovey message, If you follow me there you'd have seen this. I must say, I am proud of myself for this idea. I think its rather creative (if I can say so myself)

This is my best shot

 It's the season of Love and the world will once again want to shove Its definition of LOVE down our throats... But we are not going to be defined by that anymore. 
Away from what the world thinks, I will be sharing about what I have learnt of Love from a Biblical standpoint.

What is Love?
How to Love?
Why to Love? 

God's view > World's view. lets dance ;) 

There are alot of definitions to the word Love. Today we would explore what Love is from a Biblical Standpoint. Love is not a tingling sensation or whatever it is defined as these days... Love is sacrificial... Love if giving...
Love puts the other before self - Meets needs.
Love does not discriminate...
Love gives ALL...
Love Forgives in advance...
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Long and short, Love is Impossible in our human nature, we have to rely on God. God is Love, his very nature is LOVE and guess what happens when we take on God's nature? 
We also flow in Love and express it as our nature... Love then becomes our way of life! [ 1Corinthians 13, John 15:13, John 3:16, 1John3:16, Matt 22:37, John 13:35, Romans 13:10, 1John4:7-10, 19-20]

How and why do we love?

By looking at the way God loves us we are getting a glimpse into how we should love. 
God first loved us. We should make the first move, do a good deed to someone, make the call, forgive first whatever it is you're doing do it first. 

We didn't deserve the Love given us, in that light we should love before 'they' deserve it. Your loved ones do some annoying things? Love anyways... Love serves, be willing to serve people. 
And remember, NOTHING ABSOLUTELY, NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THAT LOVE. 
Why do we Love? 
One of the reasons God loves us is because it's HIS nature to express love and HE is glorified in expressing Love. 
If we don't have God's nature inside, we can't give what we don't have, we can only express this kind of Love if we have accepted it.

At the end of the day, Its YOU. ME & GOD

What does love mean to you? What difference does it make with the way you relate with people?

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I Lost everything

Really, I just lost everything... I realised that I do not really own anything not even my life. Paul asks "What do you have that you do not receive?" I Cor 4:10
When you think about it critically, logically, physically, spiritually and every -ally you discover the truth in that.

Pause!

Let's think about all you 'have' and count the ones you didn't receive

5
4
3
2
1

*Insert video clip here*

"...I never esperredit but God gave it to me" -____- Even he realised that it was given...

Seriously, did you find anything?

All I am saying is this, we go on and on about ''My car"... "My Job"... "My Family"... "My...My...My..."

¨Except God watches the house he that builds labours in vain''... Psalm 127:1

Sadly, what the my-syndrome does is that it steals our peace of mind, joy and causes us to live a stressful life, knowingly or unknowingly.

Let me give an example, You have a boss, he sends you to a meeting to represent him with his car. On your way to the meeting the car breaks down what do you do? Depending on your relationship with the said boss you can either give him a call inform him and he handles the rest (call the mechanic etc) or you can take the initiative call the mechanic but keep your boss in the know and he refunds you right? right. OR

You own the car, same thing happens but this time no one is refunding you, you are left with the stress of making sure that the mechanic does the work right and you still have to make it in time for your meeting.

What I am saying is Thinking we are 'owners' instead of seeing yourself as a steward is alot more stressful.

¨The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof..¨ Psalm 24:1

What do we have that has not been given?

Children?
Wisdom?
Salvation?
cars?
Business?
Ideas?

When we look at it all in the light of being stewards we take the burden of the 'care' that comes with it and place it in God's hands - the real owner - Cast your cares upon him for he cares... His yoke is easy and his burden is light...

He worries about the 'how' all we have to do is acknowledge him in ALL our ways and he will direct us, give us instructions to implement. Isn't that less stressful?

Now, this is not a license to be irresponsible because like every steward we would give account of everything that has been put in our care. It's more of a call to consciously remind ourselves that we are care takers and it will help us to be more appreciative of all that has been put in our care and also be careful with the resources given to us.

Grace and Peace to you!

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Reality Or Realitrick?

lights
Camera
*click*
errmm... 

Shall we do this right please? 

lights
dslr camera
*click*


*Post picture on social media* #IwokeUpLikeThis #OOTD #YouCantsitWithUs #WCWForever abbl 

I think you are beginning to get my drift yeah? We would all agree that the world of social media is here to stay and it's use is growing at an alarming rate. Our generation is of the instant gratification and the pseudo-reality called the social network. I am of the opinion that social media is a powerful tool depending on how it is being used, although right now I think its causing more harm than good but I am not here to address that today.

I am going to pick on one that has since been bothering me for a while now and hopefully it is also bothering some other people out there (You know so I won't be alone).

It's the fact that people portray a pseudo-reality that is Instagram perfect, Pinterest worthy, Blogosphere acceptable and no one really cares about Facebook these days -___- As much as I have met really really amazing people online, I have also seen that most of their perfect lives do not even match up to their realities and this is not an exaggeration.

I know people naturally want to put their best foot forward, by doing that we try to come across as living the perfect, happy and all-fulfilling life when in reality perhaps things are not as rosy as they seem. It's rather unfortunate that the 'consumer' is somewhere in his/her real life day dreaming and comparing his/her self till he/she falls into some form of depression thinking he/she is 'missing' out on life

"Why am I not like this girl?''
"Gosh! her life is so perfect"
"She has it all together"
"OMG! Holiday in Dubai, me no holiday *rme*"

I know this is a real problem because I have been a victim and I've had people also testify to this. There is no guarantee that the next person will be real tomorrow or honest about their live but we owe it to ourselves to not let all of that rub off on us. 

I know it can be hard but we can also decide to not jump on the band wagon with the world but use social media in the positive light, no one is saying air your dirty linen, but we can encourage, network, build personal and business relationships and still be authentic as against painting a reality that is not, at the end of the day our motives matter alot. I think we should examine our motives before we post that tweet or post that picture or reply that comment to understand why we are doing what we are doing. Someone might say 'It's not that serious' but I know we can all agree that social media is no more child's play as we see people's life being transformed(for better or worse) through this platforms. Why not be part of the ones contributing to the better-community? 

And for some of us that are still swayed by the things we see/hear on social media - and this is not just about 'worldly' things - there are plenty so called motivational speakers, e-pastors etc that have principles that are not based on God's word but just look like it is and the Lord has warned us to beware of them and we 'blindly' taking in all forms of doctrines (1John 4:1). I encourage us;

• to be rooted and grounded in God's word so we are not easily swayed by anything and everything that we see on social media, 
• to guard our hearts with all diligence.
• to Surround your digital community with people that will build you up and not tear you down (Mentally, Spiritually, physically etc) not just anybody, You don't owe anyone an explanation if all they talk about doesn't suit you.
•  And if all else fails. log out, and immerse yourself in what will build you up till you learn to be guarded. Trust me, the world will not end and you will be better for it. 

I pray the Lord will help us to be positive influences with use of social media and to also be on the positive receiving end. 

What are your thoughts on the effects of social media? 

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God is not on the Hill

Hello People,

How are you doing? How is 2015 shaping out? I hope very well? 

My head is alil here and there this year but I hope to get a balance and get more connected here by the end of the Month. :) 

Psalm 121:1 has been my main 'Theme' for a while right after I changed from ''Rebirth of a Dramaqueen¨ well, only the people that have been here for a long while will know that name... Please, old things have passed away :p 

I got the name ''Foot of the Hill¨ from reading the Bible, it appealed to me but I didn't quiet find a Bible verse to anchor it to that made sense to what I was trying to portray, then I found ''I will lift up my eyes to the hill...¨ then I had an 'aha' moment at the time thinking, If David is lifiting up his eyes to the Hill then God is in the hill so guess who is at the foot of the hill? Yep, you got that right!! David then by extension now, me! Abi? Makes sense when you explain it like that, only God is NOT on the Hill atleast not in that way. 

A friend of mine said to me yesterday ¨When will you get up to the Hill¨ and my response was ¨Hopefully, Never¨ then I paused and remembered what was impressed on my heart about a month ago to go and revise this my ''Foot of the Hill¨ Thing and yes, I pushed back, I didn't want to admit that I was wrong so I brushed it over and in my mind 

¨Let me continue using it like that¨ 
¨It still makes perfect sense na¨
¨What will people think¨
¨Just change it quietly jor, you don't have to explain¨

These and more passed through my mind. So, yesterday I went back to studying it atleast to once again prove to myself that I wasn't wrong *Yimu* It was clear. Let's look at it together shall we? 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth¨ (NIV) 

¨I will lift up my eyes to the hills [around Jerusalem, to sacred Mount Zion and Mount Moriah]—From whence shall my help come?

My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth¨ (AMP) 

¨¨I look up to the hills,
    but where will my help really come from?
2 My help will come from the Lord,
    the Creator of heaven and earth¨ (ERV)

 ¨I look up to the mountains;
    does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
    who made heaven, and earth, and mountains¨. (MSG) 

In the AMP version there is a reference to Jer 3:23 

¨It was foolish to worship idols on the hills.
    All the loud parties on the mountains were wrong.
Surely the salvation of Israel
    comes from the Lord our God¨

You now see what I mean? It simply means Shall I depend upon the powers of the earth, upon the strength of the hills, upon princes and great men, who, like hills, fill the earth, and hold up their heads towards heaven? No; in vain is salvation hoped for from hills and mountains. I never expect help to come from them; my confidence is in God only.

But like me, many of us have gotten it right side up. Well, I admit I was wrong and based on this you know I am going to change my blog name bah? Okay! I am very sure now that I will choose something that will be timeless and anchored on God's word! 

Have you made any mistake recently that you didn't want to admit? Care to share? Would love to hear from you! 

See, you soon. 

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Will you keep quiet?

Let us pray for the change we need and also be available for service!!! 

She said to me ¨Where are you?¨
I simply replied ¨Hiding¨
Hiding in my ignorance.
This selective ignorance the shields me from her pain
Can you see her pain?
Can you feel the blood as they drip.
1 too many to continue to count.
1 by one she drops... pieces of her essence.
But NO MORE...
NO MORE, I scream.
NO MORE, I Scream..
again I Scream.
It's 2015 and its time for positive change.
It's time for me to wipe her tears, Its time for you to stop the pain.
Its time for us to stop the bloodshed.
Change is me.
Change is you.
Change is up.
Let your voice count!

#PrayForNigeria!!!!!!!!!!

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Vlog: Greetings!

Hello People,

How is the year going? I did a video on the 1st of Jan and magically forgot my memory card at home so I couldn't edit or do anything until yesterday. So, this video is coming abit late but it's better late than never right?

I tried my hands on some editing and I know it will get better with time... Without me talking too much, here is my less than one minute new year video.

Enjoy!

I also tried using my camera this time and although the quality is waaay better on my computer after all the edit this was what I was left with, but its better than my phone. I can totally live with that.

How is 2015 treating you?

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I want to be honest about #DailyExhortations

Hii,

Happy New Year!!

I know this is not exactly the post you would expect on the first day of 2015, but hey! Its critical. I can't exactly remember when I started #DailyExhortations but I am sure that it is over a year ago.

#DailyExhortations is where I send out Bible verse everyday to my contacts (bbm, whatsapp, facebook). Its exciting and I am humbled to do it.

BUT, lately errrmmm... *scratches head* Its been some sort of a chore x_x and I started getting overwhelming and something that used to be born out of a personal time with God and sharing what stood out for me started going out on auto-pilot... hmmm... and it goes back to me and I know that its me that needs working on.

I love love sharing the word and I just didn't like the fact that I was on auto-pilot on most days for the other half of the year and I prayerfully decided to do something about it. Now, this is something I have been wanting to do.

Expanding #DailyExhortations and since I don't like people springing things on me I decided to tell you all that get my messages first.

The idea is to not just send one Bible verse to also send an encouragement, word of prayer, study etc... the verse of the day will allow in addition to the Bible verse of the day. I am doing this by faith because I don't even know if I will be able to keep up but God has promised that he will fill my mouth and take the writing to the next level.

So, who is with me?

;)
And if you want to get my BCs you can add me on 797EC18A

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