FunmiObi

                  Once in a while, I would always come up with wonderful and well articulated ideas. I’d even gone on to calculate the potentials of such ideas and it was sometimes mind bubbling. They were truly wonderful ideas. But that’s what they always ended up as; IDEAS. They were never actualized and even when I tried and failed at the first trial, I’d just dump the whole thing. However, this is one of the most common problems we all face. We either come up with unrealistic ideas or lack commitment to ever bring the realistic ones to reality. And we then feel as though it has failed us but the truth is: We failed it. Some of these ideas are God-given and we are expected to work towards them as they can help unravel our purpose on Earth. It’s never God’s plan for us to be idle and stagnant. He wants us to be up and doing, prospering in our lives. Each and every one of us has been uniquely designed for a particular ...

Man is a social being as we all know. In isolation, he can only do as much as his strength avails him. He can’t go any further without the help of others. All that we see today wouldn’t be possible without the help of other people (joint effort). This is the same with our Christian faith. Without each other in fellowship, we can only do as much as our strength avails us. We actually need each other to unleash the full potentials of the power of God in our lives even though we still need to have our personal relationship with God in check. When we are together we strengthen and encourage each other(1 John 2:28). I bet you wouldn’t be as afraid of a single dog as you would be of a pack of them. That’s how the devil sees us when we are alone and when we are in fellowship. Alone, we’re easy bait but together, we’re really hard to get. As Christians in fellowship, we: -           Represent the unity which exists in the Holy ...

The search for true love has virtually been embedded in every one of us. From birth to death, this desire is very much present in us; from seeking attention or approval or praise from family members, friends or even strangers to sympathy from others in times in times of need. It’s like we’re ‘love-seekers. However, there has been a grand misconception of this very delicate issue. Many think true love is what is portrayed on the TV as ‘romance’. In fact, most assumptions are derived from what we see or get from the social media. So many think it’s a love letter, a romantic evening, holding hands, an accidental locking of the eyes or a truck load of gifts. Although, these can be expressions of what one feels, true love goes much deeper within. The greatest act of love captures the real meaning of love which is the gruesome crucifixion of Christ for us (John 3:16). There is actually no greater love than this (John 15:16).       ...

When I got the realization of this statement ‘I am Christ’s Ambassador’, I felt broken. All along I’d just say it as slang, so easily without any deep thinking. You know when you’re in a place that’s not your home, you don’t feel too comfortable and you gradually begin to long for home… You get HOMESICK. That’s the exact same way it is for us as we are here on Earth. It’s not our home and we aren’t meant to make it home. We were sent here on a temporary assignment and as such we are meant to come in as ambassadors to an enemy nation. Learn its language, customs, make known our objectives and complete our assignment. But when you fail your assignment; get comfortable, make here your home and forget your true identity. Well… It’s not something we don’t know the results of. Therefore, God makes us feel/experience things that make us dissatisfied, angry, stressed and we begin to question Him. Well, it’s all to remind us that we can’t afford to get comfortable as time ...

    For every organization, the sole aim is to make as much impact as possible and expand across the globe. This is why so much time and resources are spent on advertising and strategizing.                                                                                   They don’t want to be kept a secret! The same thing with Christ: He doesn’t want to be kept a secret. He wants us to make Him known to the whole world.                       He didn’t die for only the 12 ...

Every time we see a rat or a roach or some other creepy crawler in our homes or offices, we ask ourselves, ‘Where did that come from?’                 We search and when we do find their points of entry, we close it up immediately to avoid further ‘confrontations’.                 So it is with us. When we see ourselves doing things we never imagined we could do, the same question comes to mind… Where did that come from?                 The truth is that you’ve had it in you. Subtly, it came as a thought either from interaction or as mere imagination. No matter the means, it all started in the mind and over time we fed it until it came to manifestation.               ...

       Have you noticed that many of the greatest people in history were those who served the needs of the people? Great people like Moses, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Our Lord Jesus Christ and so many others.        It's actually the little things in life we sometimes do or overlook that has the biggest of impacts. This is synonymous to the case of the mustard seed which is the tiniest of seeds but grows into the biggest of garden trees.         I'd love to use this example of how a woman in our church was visited by a group of fellow workers of that same church. She was so touched that she couldn't hold back the tears because she had not had such a number or even a visitor in a really long time.         My pastor loves to say this and I believe it that you may be the only Bible someone will ever read. So lets get the thought out of our heads that...

        Even helping has its limits too just as the saying goes "Too much of everything is not good". I recently got to understand this sensitive issue from a senior friend of mine.                I told her that I'm in the habit of lending to people and hoping he or she repays as promised. But after a long while, I get no response and begin to notice that the person starts avoiding me. But where it hurts the most is when I'm in deep need of that item and the person is 'living large' and I still don't have the heart to ask or pester the person about it.       So I end up being hardened and refuse to help the next time to avoid getting disappointed. But here's what she said:  "Too much of that kind of help breeds malice and destroys friendships. So stop it! Its much better when you give what you know won't hurt when its not paid back. So give but gi...

     I can remember as far back as when I was in primary school and had to trek home with a group of friends. Even the joke we made up about bikers because we would look for a middle-aged man as we felt that those who were too young were reckless and those that were too old were about to die soon (and we didn't want to get involved, you know... Just being on the safe side).      Most of all, I think it was my near-death experience when I was 7 that registered the consciousness in my mind. I was trying to cross the road with my brothers when one thing led to another and I found myself under a bus which had lost control. I wasn't paying attention and was oblivious to the situation and fell while my brother was trying to pull me away to safety. Although there was no fatal or very serious injury, I had to stay at home to recover for 3months to recover fully.      So you see its necessary to be safety conscious in whatever y...

John 15:12 "Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you"       According to the Advanced English Learner’s Dictionary, appreciation is 'recognition with gratitude'. In other words, it’s a feeling accompanied by an action.       However, the problem with many of us is that we feel it but we don’t gratify or express it. Like someone I know would say ‘in my heart of hearts’. And I’m like ‘How do you expect us to know what’s going on in not just your heart but in your heart of hearts?’       " Nobody cares  how much  you know ,  until they know how much you care ."  (Theodore Roosevelt). So if you’re grateful to someone, please express it to that person. I never knew what it felt like for someone to be happy with I do until my friend told me ‘I’m proud of you’. Only Heaven knows the joy I experienced and I always strive to do better just to make someone proud of me.       Even ...

John 8:32 "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free"                 Most times in life we fail to realize the truth of the matter we’re faced with. For some, they know the truth but don’t want to accept it.          I may be diagnosed with a terminal disease and not want to accept it as the truth. But running away from the truth of the matter won’t change the test results either.        That’s the way it is in life. The truth may be bitter but hiding from it won’t falsify it. We've got to accept the truth and only then can we do something about it.        You can never accept Christ if you don’t acknowledge the truth that you’re a sinner and desperately need Him. When you run away from that truth, you’ll never be able to fully appreciate and accept the prize that Jesus paid on our behalf.        The...

Heb 4:13 (CEV) "...Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell Him the the truth."             While in a class in church, the instructor told us something that was quite shocking at first but very true. She said we can sin as we like. We can drink, smoke, sleep around and abort, steal and do anything we liked with anyone we wanted to.       I was amiss! How can a believer and moreover, my instructor be saying such? But then she added ‘Do all these where God can’t see you’. And I began to wonder, where that place could be.      We had to search through the Scripture until we found the answer: NOWHERE !      God sees all things and nothing is hidden from him. Even if you went to a dark corner or stayed underground or even ventured into outer space to get ‘high’, He’d still see you!      So why hide and pretend no one saw your ...

           Some days, you feel like you're the one doing all the talking. It's like you woke up and the lights just went off. Its like God's gone on vacation!      I've felt like that too and it can really be frustrating. But while reading The Purpose Driven Life, a powerful book by Rick Warren, I got to see that this is actually a very important phase in our lives.      Just like Job's experience in the Bible, God seemed distant and didn't speak until 38 chapters later. But God never abandoned him nor left him to die of his sufferings. And despite all that Job went through, he never gave up on God.      This time is usually a period of testing to see just how much you can hold on to God when He keeps silent in your life. He really wants to show the accuser just how faithful a child He has that won't give up no matter what.

James 5:7-8  “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”     Time after time, school goes on a really long break and I have to travel back home. I end up staying at for months and I'm always complaining of the same old thing that plagues most of us: BOREDOM!       I have nothing to do for fun, hardly any friends around and there's always a chore to do which all bores me to tears.      However, someone said something in a Church Class that caught my attention. He said "We're bored because we don't want to think and work. We can't complain of boredom when we're busy".

Gal. 6:9 "So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up."       Coming up with an idea isn't difficult. However, bringing it to reality is not such an easy task.       Searching for the right words to use, praying daily for inspiration and the effectiveness to light the fire again within someone, A lot of things I've had to go through before this 'dream-come-true' moment (as is the case with most of us).       But most of all, I think its the fear within of starting out that really posed the biggest obstacle. Just like the Casting Crowns song that says 'I am my own worst enemy'.       I do thank God for my father's advice which I held on to. Its really been helpful. He said ' let us not for the fear of failure not attempt the height life has given us'. This piece really gave me some measure of courage coupled with messages from church ...