CONVICTED OR CONDEMNED

The summary of what you are about to read is that God loves you so much whether you love Him in return by words or by deed. Continue reading if you want to hear more about the Love of God. 

God Wants You To Prosper

One of the ways the devil has robbed us of our benefits as a disciple of Jesus is that until we become poor we cannot be righteous, holy or bring pleasure to God. Someone once said affirmatively that there are people that are like Christ living in this world (yes I agree) but they are only found in the villages where there is no civilization and they live in penury (I disagree).

You can live in the city and be righteous. You can be rich and be holy. You can be wealthy and be like Jesus. 

THE EXEMPLARY YOUTH

For the cycle of man's fleeting life, like the cycle of the revolving year, has its succession of seasons -- its springtime of childhood, its summer of youth, its autumn of maturity, and its winter of old age. The season of youth is a very glad and glorious time. It has all the freshness of spring and all the fertility of summer. Yet it is a season of great and frequent perils (Bible Illustrator NT).

Youthfulness is accompanied by vigor and vision which is an attractive tool for the enemy (devil). For this reason we fight battles with the devil that we cannot afford to lose because at the old age when we would realize that all is vanity, we would no longer have the strength neither the vision(Acts 2:17).

FRIENDS

We are influenced by our friends, even more than our families, probably because we spend more time with friends than with family as we grow up. I assume this is why an adage says “Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are”, and not “show me your family”. Our lifestyle is defined by the company we keep. Therefore it is paramount that we chose our friends wisely. Our friends don’t choose us but we chose them. It is our choice to

REPENTANCE

I was just wandering why I kept doing the things I had never wanted to do again because after doing those things, I feel unattractive to the Grace of God.

I have been thought that determination will not do the magic but only Grace could set me free from this ‘thing’ that easily entangles me. Only Grace could set me free from self righteousness. Only Grace could take me to the everlasting realm I longed to live through holiness and refined righteousness.

So I began to consciously look out for Grace. I thought that Grace was a knowledge I needed to attain. I tried to apply the principle of Grace. I forgot that Grace is a function of the Spirit and not of the flesh. I tried to apply Grace to my human reasoning but I ended up becoming my own grace. The inevitable result was that I got more entangled.

If you have ever felt this way, you are not an alien.

If All Men were like Joseph

Joseph, the husband of Mary.

It sometimes seems like Joseph gets swept aside in the story of the Nativity. Mary and Jesus are the main characters, and Joseph seems to have gotten the supporting role. Yet, as I have studied Mary this last year, and Jesus Christ's interactions with women, the more my appreciation for Joseph has grown. He exemplifies every good trait that you could want in a husband, a father, and in a man. I know so many good, good men who are a lot of like Joseph, but I also know that there are so many women in the world who suffer because of the bad choices of men. So as I've thought about Joseph I've found myself wishing that ALL men were like him and here is why.

A Secret to Marriage for Life

We didn't talk for two days after I wrote about him. Them. It wasn't because he wouldn't but because he couldn't.

"I know it's all true because I've lived it," he quivers, "but it's still hard to believe when you see it in writing." My words are a mirror to their lives, an undistorted reflection of what I've observed for over 30 years.

At 75, he and his bride still hold hands. At times I've seen them look at each other, with grins telling secrets, eyes sizzling. Their son ignored it because — gross — but I thought it was amazing.

Marriage is a hard thing, and untended, it will cool.

I want heat.

Even the most blistering of fires will eventually dwindle to ash if not fed. 

Give me flames.

When I wrote about my father-in-law, apparently I poked a bear. Not a mean grumpy grizzly, but more along the lines of Pooh — not exactly a willy, nilly, silly old bear, but sweet nevertheless. With all manner of deference, he suggested a different title (his, based on a poem he penned 25 years ago, is better) and that I might want to rethink my choice of words in one spot (because I "might present myself better"), so I did.

How To Choose The Right Life Partner

The most puzzling question for most singles is "Who should I marry?" especially when you have lists to chose from. It is only at such time that most of us suddenly become spiritual just to be able to hear the voice of God say "Tola…lagbaja is your husband" #LOL.

It really doesn't work that way.

Would you leave your job to promote Christ?...A Woman did just that in the US

Linda Barnette has issued marriage licenses in Grenada County, Missisipi for 24yrs. On Tuesday June 30th, she resigned rather than issue gay marriage licenses, writing in her letter of resignation;

Jesus will travel any road to find you...

Michelle McKinney Hammond shared on her IG an extract from book 'The Shack'.

The Shack is a Christian novel by Canadian author William P. Young, a former office manager and hotel night clerk, published in 2007.

What are you missing?

A few summers ago, my son, Mark, was working at a family camp. While the mountains were breathtaking, the friends were plentiful, and the food was every teenager's dream, he missed home. Not horribly — but just enough to tug on the vulnerable places of his heart.

I knew he needed some sweet comfort from home. So, I packaged up some things he needed and a few things I knew would make him happy and sent my gift of love.

After a few days, I kept wondering when I'd get a text message from him with smiles and thank you's and "Wow! You're the best mom ever." A girl can dream right?

But no text message came.

Sometimes it can be morally necessary for parents to separate - Pope Francis

Pope Francis says it may be "morally necessary" for some troubled families to split up so that the weaker partner or the children can be protected. He said this today June 24th while addressing Catholic faithfuls ahead of a global meeting on family life in October. He said;

Happy Christian Women's Week!!!

Dear Christian Women,

JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT IT IS CHRISTIAN WOMEN WEEK AND YOU SHOULD SHARE THIS WITH ALL BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN WOMEN.

'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ  that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'

When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that 'I am clean living. I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

Always Look for the Light

When I was a young single woman searching for a job, Kentucky wasn't even on my radar. I figured it was mostly rural. Horse farms. Fried chicken in a red-and-white bucket. Hillbillies.

Clearly I didn't know the Bluegrass State, and I definitely didn't know the Lord. But He knew me. Knew where I needed to be, knew what was best for me.

    "The Lord knows those who are His." {2 Timothy 2:19}

When a job offer came, I moved to Kentucky in the darkness of winter, figuring I'd be there six months, tops. Even as I unpacked boxes, I plotted my exit. Big City Miss Ruth Ann wasn't about to call the rolling hills and hollers of Kentucky home.

Then spring came.

DID I MARRY THE RIGHT PERSON?

I received this and thought to share...

During one of our seminars, a woman asked a common question. She said,  "How do I know if I married the right person?" I noticed that there was a large man sitting next to her so I said, "It depends. Is that your husband?" In all seriousness, she answered "How do you know?"Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it's weighing on your mind.Here's the answer. EVERY relationship has a cycle. In the beginning, you fell in love with your spouse. You anticipated their call, wanted their touch, and liked their idiosyncrasies. Falling in love with your spouse wasn't hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love... Because it's happening TO YOU.

5year old boy touched 11 people's lives through the love of Christ.

How heartwarming is this? 5 year old Josiah Duncan (pictured with his mum) brought brought a group of Waffle House diners to tears when he asked his mother to buy dinner for a homeless man he saw outside - and then sang a blessing with him at the table.

Ava Faulk said her son wouldn't stop asking her questions when he spotted a disheveled man holding a bag with his bike outside the restaurant in Prattville. When Faulk explained the man was homeless, little Josiah asked 'What does that mean?'  Faulk told Josiah that it meant he didn't have a home, to which her son responded, 'Where is his house? Where is his family? Where does he keep his groceries?'

3 Excuses Keeping You from Making a Difference

Apart from an active faith in God's sovereignty and grace, it's easy to throw up our hands and adopt a "What's the use?" mentality. If it's going to be so hard to make really significant improvements, what does it matter if things deteriorate a little further?

This sort of faithless attitude could apply to the "house" that is our life, or the "house" that's the regular environment in which we live and work. We could all come up with lots of good reasons to remain passive. The problems seem too numerous, and many seem too large. You see yourself as one little person, in one little place, at one little moment in time, and it just doesn't seem logical that you could make any difference at all. To be specific, let me propose three arguments that we all tend to make at one time or another that keep us passive and uninvolved.

Teen revived after 20 minutes with no pulse said he saw Jesus

A 17-year-old Texas high school student claims he saw Jesus after he collapsed in gym class and was without a heartbeat for 20 minutes. Zack Clements suffered sudden cardiac arrest at Victory Life Academy on May 5 and was unresponsive. But just as doctors were about to declare him dead after 20 minutes, he revived.

How To Deal With The Past

Case study

A young lady got pregnant mistakenly for a friend of hers who was engaged to be married. They both were just friends until they got drunk at a mutual friend's party and did it.
She definitely could not afford to keep the baby because the guys fiancee is more or less a sister to her. So, she had an abortion.

She met a young man who proposed marriage to her. She loves him so much that she's afraid to lose him. But she's confused because she does not know if she should tell him about her past or not.

I shared the above scenerio online and it sparked an interesting conversation with Gbenga Tade. Read an extract from his response below.

30 Golden Rules for a Godly Woman

I could not resist to share this with you. I saw it somewhere.

1). Never raise your voice for any reason to your husband. Its a sign of disrespect.(Prov 15v1)

2). Don't expose your husband's weaknesses to your family and friends. You are each others keeper.(Eph 5v12)

3). Never use attitudes and moods to communicate to your husband, you never know how your husband will interpret them.(Prov 15v13)

4). Never compare your husband to other men, you've no idea what their life is all about.

5).  Never ill treat your husband's friends because you don't like them, the person who's supposed to get rid of them is your husband.(Prov 11v22)

When People Leave Your Church… and It’s Okay

When is it okay for a member or attender of your church to leave?

First, let's state the obvious. It's never just "okay." When someone leaves by choice to go to another church in your community, it's a dagger through the heart. If someone says differently, they're lying. Few things are taken more personally by church leaders, and the community left behind, than someone leaving. It feels like rejection, abandonment, even betrayal.

But that doesn't mean that sometimes a departure can't be a good thing.

For example:

WELCOME TO MAY!!

I welcome you all to this new month with a word from Prophet T.D. Jakes as shared on IG.

So live like no man's business but all God's business. Stay blessed.

Indonesia Executes 8 People, Convicts Praise God before Death

Eight men who were executed in Indonesia this week reportedly prayed the Lord's Prayer just before they were killed.

According to Christian Today, Pastor Karina de Vega was counseling Nigerian prisoner Okwudili Oyatanze and heard the prisoners singing "Bless the Lord O My Soul" and "Amazing Grace" as they were lined up for execution by firing squad.

The eight men refused to wear blindfolds.

"They were praising their God," Vega told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It was breath-taking. This was the first time I witnessed someone so excited to meet their God."

What Should the Church Say to Bruce Jenner?

Nearly 17 million people watched Olympic champion Bruce Jenner tell ABC's Diane Sawyer, "for all intents and purposes, I'm a woman."  Time magazine has called the transgender movement he represents, "America's next civil-rights frontier."

What should the church say to Bruce Jenner?  Let's consider medical perspective on gender confusion (called "gender dysphoria"), then seek theological wisdom.

Paul McHugh is the former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where sex-reassignment surgery was first performed in the 1960s.  He writes in The Wall Street Journal: "policy makers and the media are doing no favors either to the public or the transgendered by treating their confusions as a right in need of defending rather than as a mental disorder that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention."

Word!!!

A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big airport. As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book to spend her time and also bought a packet of cookies, then sat down in an armchair, in the VIP room of the airport, to rest and read in peace.

Beside the armchair where the packet of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading. When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt irritated but said nothing. She just thought "What a nerve! If I was in the mood I would punch him for daring!" For each cookie she took, the man took one too.

The Power of "Me Too"

Thank God it's Friday. I believe we have been enjoying the goodness of God in our life. I got this mail from in(courage) and I just feel this is meant for someone out there and it will be so selfish of me to keep it to myself. You won't regret the read at all. Enjoy this article by Mary Carver...

She heard me say that I lose my patience and my temper much too often — and that my daughter knows the words to more pop songs than I'd like, and that I know which fast food restaurants have the best toys. She heard me admit those things and her response, unspoken at first, was palpable.

She was relieved.

I don't know if this new friend struggles with her temper or cooking dinner Every Single Night, but I know she's real. I know she's not perfect, that she's human — just like me. I know because I saw it on her face, but more importantly, I know because she told me.

She said, "Me, too."

Whatever He says do it...

I really want you to read this message by Kenneth Copland and I assure you it's not a waste of time. Read Below...

Good Morning... by Bishop T.D. Jakes

This is a message for you by our father and mentor in the Lord, Bishop T.D. Jakes on Instagram. Read below.

Good morning, this is your year for a SHIFT! God knows where you are, He knows what's going on in your circumstances and He has a strategic plan. You better look behind you, something's about to run you down and overtake you!
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle,  the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. (Deut 28:2-6).
GET READY! God has Divine Arrangements in store for you!

Welcome to another beautiful day

There is power in your tongue. Use it wisely today communicating with your father.

You could be biblical but not gospel...

The meaning of the word "gospel" is Good News. And the Good News is the birth and death of Jesus Christ. Until you share in what the apostle John testified about in 1 John 1:1...They heard...They saw... They looked at... They touched... The Word of Life... even if you know the entire bible from page to page... you might still not know the gospel.

Struggle To Relevance by Bishop Jakes

Bishop T.D. Jakes shared on Instagram the importance of struggle for relevance.
Enjoy...

Welcome Back and Happy One Year Anniversary

I am ecstatic to be back. I really miss you and i am forever grateful for your support and consistent view this while. 

It will interest you to know that OptimisticOmoTee Christian Network is a year old this month. It is a milestone for this network because if we can survive for a year, then we can survive for many more years.

This New Year will be better and consistent with lots of interesting features by the special grace of God.

May the awesome God we serve grant us good health and long life to fulfill purpose on earth as the light He has called us to be.

Endeavor to invite someone at all times and you can share whatever the Lord is laying on your heart for the children of God or an Over-comer's Testimony to boost someone's faith today by sending a mail to aboloye.omotola@gmail.com for publishing.

Together we can make a life impact HERE.

DO YOU HAVE A ONE-WAY MARRIAGE?

I saw this and decided to share...

Many people cannot conceive of enduring hardship as I have. But I have been convinced that God has wanted me to keep the vows I made before Him. Here are five essentials for surviving and thriving when you are the only one trying to build your marriage.

Tributes on Social Media by Fans as Modern Gospel Legend Andrae Crouch dies at 72

 

Andrae Crouch, often described as the “father of modern gospel music,” died Thursday in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack last week, according to news reports. Crouch has been hospitalized in recent years for a variety of health issues, including diabetes and cancer.

Crouch won seven Grammy awards during his career and is credited with blending traditional black gospel music with R&B, pop and Christian music. Crouch led choirs that appeared on massive pop hits such as Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and Madonna’s “Like A Prayer.” He received an Academy Award nomination for his compositions for “The Color Purple,” and his music can be heard in “The Lion King” musical, too.

Full Of Faith

If you are anything like me, the word faith is tad bit overwhelming. It’s one of those concepts in Christianity that is often abstract. It’s not concrete and tangible. So it can be hard to grasp sometimes.

I like the things that I can touch and see. But that’s not what faith is.

Hebrews 11:1 tells us:

Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

To have faith in God, His promises, and His Word means that we stand confident and assured that they exist — whether or not we see Him at work. To have this kind of faith is easier said than done, but it is possible.

When I was thinking about my one word for 2015, a few words came to mind. But the Lord really highlighted one of them for me. FAITH. For some time now, He has been calling me to greater faith, deeper faith. This is difficult for me because I’ve walked through countless seasons, that I call “Job Seasons.” I’ve walked through extreme lack, hurt, loss, and pain.

3 Ways To Know He Fits You Right...

If it's not a wedding picture, it's a baby picture. Everyone around me seem to be getting married all of a sudden and it got me thinking...I need to take this 'relationship' thing serious cos I'm not getting any younger.

 

I've gone for a couple of blind dates, meet a couple of guys online, make friends easily, active in church *you know I might just be located there* wink* endeavor to smile and seem sweet as often as possible.

 

Not until I met this guy that seem to be 'THE ONE' considering some easily noticeable reasons but  my whole heart is not welcoming him totally. Then it hit me.

THE WORD FROM ABOVE FOR 2015

I am delighted to welcome you to Year 2015.

 

A year of Change, Success, Abundance, Prosperity, Greatness and New Annointing.

 

This year will indeed be one that we will never forget for good. The Joy of the Lord will continually be ours from January to December.

 

By the special Grace of God, we will grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

To begin this year on this blog, I will like to share with you what was laid in my heart for this year;