A voice in different accents

When I newly moved to the United States from Nigeria in 10th grade, it didn't take me or anyone else long to recognize that I had a different accent. Sometimes, when I would speak in class, my fellow students would laugh at my accent. I would fight back by reading longer passages, talking more, or just being defensive... it started to wear me out and I got tired. The day my only friend was moving, I decided "I'm just going to stop talking". That evening I casually told my younger sister Chioma, and the words she spoke to me literally poured life back into me; that was God's answer to the prayer I didn't know how to pray. It changed my life. It gave me back my voice.

God's rescue to me that night: Chioma

I finished high school, and now in college, everyone (well, as far as I know) loves to hear me speak. That doesn't matter though, what matters is that I spoke regardless of people's "opinions" of my voice. Each and every one of us is God's voice in a different accent, we are a unique expression of God, we are God's handiwork, His masterpiece, created to do good works which He has prepared for us in Christ Jesus before time. The talents, the desires, passions and personality He has put in us are intentional, purposeful. However, people will "laugh" at your accent, (if you haven't experienced it, expect it). People will misunderstand, and maybe even mock you, who God has created you to be, but if God is for you, and the Bible says that no one can stand against you, then be rest-assured that no one will succeed against you. This is God we're talking about!

Maybe you decided to shut up, to stop being who God is calling you to be. Maybe you've suppressed the workings of the Holy Spirit through you. How will God reveal Himself and His love for the people around you, if you refuse to let Him use you? I mean, that's your purpose, that's why He made you in the first place. Let me play my sister's role to you today and encourage you, who you are is completely beautiful because of He who made you. You are a masterpiece; think of any world-known artist, although human and imperfect, all their artwork is usually excellent, intentional, beautiful, now think that you are God's artwork... Let the world around you hear that beautiful voice that has been placed in you. Please let us see that picture.

Work in me

God's been doing so much and teaching me so much, I can't wait to share in future blogs! He has been setting me free in so many ways, and showing how to fully enjoy life. My heart's cry to my lover and Maker at the moment:

Work in me, I want the beauty that comes from your art.

Move in me, let the winds of your love shape who I am. 

Please be patient as I learn to let go, give me your hand as I grapple around. 

Wrap me in your arms that I depend on your love more and more. 

Let your Presence wash through me until there’s nothing left that you did not give.

From the depths of my heart or the top of my head, with all my desire or in spite of it, I ask You to work in me.

Be Still

       I found recently that compared to how happy I was while at school, I was quite depressed at home. My sister even asked what happened to me, she said that I used to glow, and that now my glow had faded. My default face mood was a frown when it used to be a smile, my default sounds were complaining and grumbling instead of the before thanks to Jesus for how good He is. My default mindset was always on the next thing I needed to fix, on the problems I wanted solved, the things that were going wrong, instead of on Jesus, the sweetness of the Holy Spirit, the might and power of God, instead of on things above. My mind was not being controlled by the Spirit, but by my emotions, which were led by the next wrong thing someone did, so no, my mind experienced neither life nor peace. Oh by my word, I let my mind be troubled, I wasn’t trusting either Jesus or God. I thought I could handle it all; hoped I could fix it, if only I said this or did that…

     … Well, I found that the burdens I was taking on; the worrying, the strategizing, the complaining, they clouded my light. I was unable to love, couldn’t focus on God as much. In a bid to handle things my way, I wasn’t doing the things I wanted to the most, and I wasn’t even fixing the problems. I was hurting myself and people around me, getting in the way of God’s work, frustrating everything, and to make matters worse, I felt guilty for it all. How do you handle the situations that come your way? Do you talk to God FIRST about it and see what He has to say (He might tell you how to handle it or not tell you what to do (i.e leave it to Him)). I know that in Psalms 46:10, God says Be still and know that I am God… but sometimes, I fear that if I stay still, everything will fall apart. How silly! How can I handle anything better than the God without whom nothing would exist? I love the translation that says “cease striving”. I need to learn to stop trying to do things, even good things on my own, I should learn to stop trying to fix people and just focus on loving them (can’t do both). I should learn to trust that whatever the Holy Spirit is leading me to do is going to be enough. Finally, I should learn to just sit back and watch God be God, and I know I’ll see some amazing things, because the end of that verse says “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

    

You Belong.

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptised by^[c] one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ And so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.

-1 Corinthians 12: 12-26

As a human being, God designed you purposely, He carefully crafted you with specific abilities, talents, passions, personality, and especially as a child of God, He has a specific place(s), specific roles that He has fashioned you specially to do. You are a crucial puzzle piece in God’s big picture and it won’t look the same without you. You are a specific body part in the body of Christ, and without you, we would be lacking an ability that is necessary to our function. You are very important in God’s eyes, you've been fashioned for a specific purpose, intentionally. Let’s look at it this way, God knew that there would be a problem in the world and as a solution to that/those problem(s), He made you. He endowed you with resources from Heaven, abilities from Him, strength, way of seeing things, everything. You are a special package sent from Heaven to us on Earth! To the body of Christ, we need you! Because you are the only you, there is a lock into which you are the only key that can fit. 

Picture from Google

In other words, you belong in the body of Christ. After all, that is what you were made for!

Total Submission, complete obedience.

I cannot stress enough how important total submission to God is. To you, to your relationship with Him, to His process of making you into who He wants you to be, to your enjoyment of life and to your victory over the devil. It is simply indispensable.

The other day, my sister and I had this heated quarrel that could have been avoided had I been more patient. Sparks (not the good kind) were flying, hurtful words were flying, and in the midst of it all, the Holy Spirit told me to shut up. I did (against my natural will). As the dust was settling, He reminded me of my Bible study that morning. That morning, He had specifically pointed out to me that quarreling was worldly and not spiritual- 1 Corinthians 3:3. “Nmeli, this is not who I am molding you to be, you were not being led by the Spirit in that, you were being worldly”… and as I was about to voice my excuses... “even if she was wrong, you could have reacted in love.” So I surrendered, apologized to the Holy Spirit, and at that moment, He replaced all my anger and pride with love and remorse. I got a pen and wrote her an apology letter, presented it to my sister and verbally told her that I was sorry. I sat with her and we talked, and I enjoyed my sister’s love again. I liked it so much better than quarreling. 

         
With the help of the Holy Spirit, I burnt the bridge that the devil had been using to climb into that relationship, by my submission to God's Word despite my way. James 4:7 says first to submit to God, then resist the devil and he will flee from you. See? You can't have victory over the devil until you submit to God. I recognized that I was not the boss of me, God is (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and if I am going to be everything He has planned for me to be, and have everything He has planned for me to have, which is so much better that anything He is asking me to leave behind, then I have to submit. I have to say even in tough cases, “Lord, not my will but let Your will be done.” When God sends you a word and you accept it, His Holy Spirit empowers you to obey it, you're not doing it on your own, you have help.

Personally, I would rather have kept this whole quarrel story to myself, because “what impression does it give people of me?”, but that is my own submission test this afternoon. God knows why He told me to share it, and what He is doing with it in my life… I have chosen to submit because I know that what HE has for me is so much better than the flawless reputation that I have held on to for so long. 

You?
     

How big? ... really

I was watching interviews of today’s famous people, especially singers, and I saw how they made so much money by making songs and in ways that don’t necessarily go according to God’s Word and way of doing things. Suddenly, God seemed to me this small impotent deity that was not really necessary in this situation (of making money). The lie I was beginning to believe was that maybe God is not enough; maybe He is not big enough or mighty enough to handle issues as serious as money. In my mind, He suddenly became like this child that is shooed into his room when serious adult issues are about to be discussed. My peace suddenly left, and anxiety set in; what can I do to attain this kind of wealth? I suddenly felt as though I had not been doing enough, as if I would never be able to do enough and now (since I had to accomplish this on my own), I felt discouraged, a crawling infant faced with a mountain and the task to climb it…

In that split second, the Holy Spirit pointed it out, I was still in distress, and immediately, I shut down my computer and opened my Bible. My Bible opened to Isaiah, those chapters (40-45) that talk about how great and mighty and high above everything God is. Suddenly, that tiny deity vanished and God, through His Word showed me that He is the mighty God. God cannot fit into my little box, because, see, the entire earth is His footstool. He is not the child to be shooed; He is the center of the discussion and the only reason why that discussion makes any sense. God is not a poor wretch, all the gold and silver belongs to Him (Haggai 2:8), and nothing is more relevant in any issue of life and beyond than His Word. God started working on my heart, showing me the true picture of reality, refocusing my mind on the truth… He is the greatest. God is faithful, loving and good.

Many times in life, we get distracted from the truth, a lie slips into our minds and we start believing it, first, these lies tell you that God is small, impotent and just not enough for you or what you need in life (because this is the only way to cripple you). It comes up in what we think about relationships, family issues, worldviews, money issues and just as easily, any issue of life. The lies tell you that your God is not sufficient in this situation, that His ways and points of view are old-fashioned, and no longer relevant… those are lies! God is supreme, He is sufficient. He is the most relevant today and forever. God is God, and nothing else can take His place. The truth is there spelled out in God's Word (the Bible), read it.

The devil will try to deceive you into thinking otherwise, but nothing and no one can take God’s place and I pray that by the help of the Holy Spirit, You see and keep it that way in your heart, mind and in your life.

He spoke the world into existence.

Some songs about God's love for you

In the last blog entry, we explored a little of how in love God is with us, here are some songs to help you. Enjoy...