Dreams do come true!

You know when God decides to get you on your knees and pour out buckets of blessings on your head it can be a very unreal experience. It feels like you are dreaming and every now and then you pinch yourself to see if you are really awake.

God recently pulverised my life with a barrage of blessings. Though it was something I had longed for desperately for the past 3 or 4 months, when it came, I honestly felt it was too good to be true. Each morning I would wake up and look around expecting to see that I was back to square one.

In fact, I at times found myself repeatedly asking God to bless me as though He had not already done it. The truth is that I somehow felt I didn't deserve to be so blessed.I had often felt that you had to be a saint to get God to answer your prayers. I sure haven't been one.
When God gives you your heart's desire exactly as you requested for it, it's an amazing experience.

Looking back, I realize it was a journey of faith...a good fight of faith, as Apostle Paul would put it. 6 months ago it was merely a wish. Three months later it became a desperate desire. At times I would be so sonfident in the faith I had, and I would visualize it happening and draw inspiration from it. But most times I would be shaken by doubt and descend into despair.

My dear Sokoto friend was a great encouragement. She provided a listening ear and a few other things, to make me feel that I could cope with the present situation. I must confess it wasn't easy.

Now I drive around my new environment and sit in my new office, and whenever I remember where I was driving and sitting barely a month ago...a wide smile creeps onto my heart and spills over on to my face....haa

God is indeed good and kind and merciful.

THINK POSITIVELY!!

Sometimes this life aint easy, but I got a word to encourage us:

“I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider your mighty deeds" Psalm77vs11, 12

Take a minute & ask yourself this question-“What have I been thinking about lately?” What memories have been filling your mind? Are you preoccupied with the negative circumstances of the present? Are you worrying about how you’re gonna pay your rent; or reminiscing on the broken relationships of the past? Are u thinking about the emptiness of your pocket; or remembering the nasty things that have been said about you?
Are you thinking about how frustrating yesterday was? Are you worrying about your future, wondering if you’re gonna make that admission list or get that job at Shell Petroleum? Maybe your worry is whether you made the right choice of a life partner, or afraid you’ll never get married at all.
Your anxiety may be your agonizing battle against sinful habits, discouraged that you haven’t been able to resist the temptation to sin. Or you’re just depressed thinking about all those gloomy reports on CNN and in the news papers.
Well we all think these thoughts every now and then, some of us more often than others. We are bombarded with sights and sounds of both the present and past that threaten our peace of mind and discourage us. But here and now I want to encourage u to close your eyes to what you are seeing now; borrow the wings of imagination & fly back to the past. Now choose to remember the mighty works of God instead of all those pessimistic thoughts. After all you do have the power of choice. Let me help you...
Think of that glorious day the waters of the Red sea saw God & convulsed! ‘Remember’how they ran away from His feet & formed walls on either side as He led His people through. He passed before them yet His footprints were not seen (psalm 77, 78)
‘See’ how He split the rocks in the desert. Hard granite stone became a reservoir of pure gushing water, purer than the Blue Mist “pure" water I buy every day. He led His people by a pillar of cloud by day & a pillar of fire by night.
Cast your mind to more recent times; how He saved you from accidents& from the hospital bed: how He supplied your needs. Think of how merciful He has been, forgiving your many sins. Psalm 103 is a good psalm to read when you find it hard to count your blessings.
Dear friend, 1000 pages would never be enough to list all the works of God. Therefore I encourage you to help me out in turn by listing all the mighty works of God that you can remember; and let your heart be encouraged by the Truth- God is a great God. He's greater than your problems. Take heart and be encouraged!

CF ‘93

IT'S ALL UNDER CONTROL!

Sometimes things happen to us that are completely out of our control. You are in a hurry cos you have to be in the bank to withdraw money before closing time at 4 pm. But you cant find your passbook. Or you alight from a taxi and later find out that you left your cell phone in the car. You are just about to start typing a job application letter which you must submit tomorrow morning at 8 am. The time is 12 midnight. Then NEPA strikes and there's a total blackout that lasts 2 days. Or you have an important meeting to attend today at 11 am but you wake up with a running stomach that keeps running the whole day through.You feel me?



We've all been through trying times. And am sure you know it can be pretty frustrating. But I’ll tell you something: though our circumstances seem sometimes to be out of control, they can never be beyond God's control.
God sees and knows everything that happens on earth.And He cares about you in particular.So much that He knows every detail of your life. Guess why He's able to do that? Because He’s God. Period!Your creator. Not only is He in control but He's able to change, correct, restore, create. He's able to do anything. Nothing's too hard for Him.

He shut the mouths of the lions when Daniel fell in. I'm sure they were just staring at him like a bunch of dummies, trying to figure out why their roars were sounding like 'meows'. He cooled the flames of the fiery furnace. I bet they were burning bright at 'zero' degrees centigrade! He parted the red sea and air-dried it faster than you can say wow. He made Elijah the fastest sprinter the world has ever known when he ran faster than King Ahab's chariot. (lst kings18:46)

King Jehosaphat was to fight three mighty kings all by himself, a situation totally out of his control because in 2nd Chron 20:12, he actually said ”Lord we don't know what to do". Know what God did? He first of all made two of the three kings gang up against and defeat the other. Then they turned and destroyed each other. All this happened before Jehosaphat even got there. Amazing! But true.

So friend be not discouraged. When the circumstances of life appear to be out of control remember, God's got it all in check. Don't be moved by what you see. Romans 8:28: He will make all things work out for your good. He's a God who brings beauty out of ashes. Just believe. For Jesus said "ALL things are possible to him that believes"(Mark9:23). And He doesn't lie. So dont worry, be strong.

It's all under control.

Cf

The Resurrection of Cognito Files!

I was going through my yahoo mail archives today. Saw a lot of stuff that brought back memories of my past days in school. A lot of 'not-so-good memories', a couple of 'bring-a-smile-to-my-face' memories, and a few 'in-between' memories.

I saw letters I had sent out under the Cognito File Magazine thing I was doing back then. Cognito Files was a small publication I was producing back then with a couple of friends. It consisted mostly of gopsel messages and words of encouragement, you know, Bible-based, church stuff. At one point, I started sending articles online via email to my readers. It was fun then cos I loved writing, loved encouraging folks etcetera

When I saw those letters, I smiled because a lot of things have changed since then. I have changed, friends have changed, and life has changed. But you know what? As I read through the articles, I was so tripped because I found them both encouraging and engaging. I marvelled that I was such a good writer then (hey, pardon my vanity. lol)

I then began to remember the passion and zeal that tormented me then, way back in '03. A passion to write and be read. A zeal to produce the best Christian or Gospel Magazine of our times. A passion that has since dwindled, almost snuffed out(remember what i said about changes?)

But I realized from the responses I got then, and from the way I felt after reading a few of the articles, that I had a good thing going on then, in spite of my naivety and ignorance about lifes issues etc (long story and we haven't got all day). So I decided to dig open the grave and bring out the vision of Cognito Files once again, which is to encourage people to face life WITH GOD! Encouragement that we all need.

I'm not as 'churchy' as I used to be (like a lot of us am sure), but let's face it, no matter how far we have drifted from God, we still need Him in our lives (that is as long as you believe He exists. I do). So this blog is an attempt to bring back to life the vision that was a source of inspiration to a number of friends back then, hoping that from the pages of this blog, both you my readers, and the blogger himself, will find inspiration and motivation to cast aside the flesh with all its carnality and weakness, and FACE LIFE WITH GOD!

Happy following!