Hey!
Welcome back to A Breath Of Fresh Air.
If this is your first time here, welcome! If you’ve been here before, welcome back! I appreciate your presence.
I marked a major milestone yesterday. It was exactly 4 years since I gave my life to Christ, and I’m just in awe, thankful and grateful for where I am today, it’s all God. Even me, writing this post right now, with this blog, I could never have thought up of something like this off of my own intelligence. So, all glory to Him!
I remember the day I gave my life to Christ so vividly, and someday soon, I’ll create a post sharing in detail of how it all happened, for today, I just want to share with you some of the things I have learnt along the way and I hope they can help you, whether you’ve already given your life to Him or are thinking about it.
Abundant Living
In John 10:10, Jesus says,
The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.
Ever since I began walking with the Lord, despite it being just 4 years, I feel like it’s been a lifetime. There are definitely those slow and silent seasons, whereby not much is happening, but, despite that, there’s a lot that has happened, and life has felt abundant. It’s definitely an adventure, walking with God. You’ll learn so much about yourself, people and life in general. As you get accustomed to hearing His voice, He will lead you to places you’ve never been before, and you’ll be amazed by what He empowers and equips you to do, you’re going to grow like crazy! Increase in wisdom, make mistakes, learn from them, experience victories, face failures, but pick yourself up and keep going. Life with God is NOT BORING AT ALL.
Salvation is Personal
Very personal. In fact, nobody can experience God for you. Not your parent, pastor, teacher or leader in Church, nobody. It’s important that You, as an individual have that personal relationship with the Lord, and trust that You can hear and experience Him for yourself, such that you won’t be easily swayed by what others say (more on this in a bit).
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:27
Trials are a part of Salvation
Anybody who tells you that once you give your life to Christ, everything is nice and perfect is lying to you. There are also many passages in the bible that talk about trials, tribulations, persecutions and suffering being part of the Christian life. e.g;
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
James 1:2
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
1 Peter 5:10
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5
I remember being in seasons, especially 2019, whereby I was being bombarded with trials front, right and center. I felt like Paul, when He said,
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
2 Corinthians 4:8
And contrary to what this passage says, I felt crushed, perplexed and in despair lol.
I even remember telling God at some point, that if this is what means being a Christian, then I don’t want it! For real. It was hard.
And at times that’s how it is. At times you’ll have bad days, at times you won’t want to get out of bed, at times you’ll cry yourself to sleep. But the same word that says that we will face trials, is the same that tells us to take heart, cause Jesus has overcome the world, to count it all joy even when we face various trials, that God will restore all that we have lost and joy comes in the morning.
There’s nothing that we will ever go through that doesn’t have a purpose. Trials make us stronger. They make us trust and lean more to God, than ourselves. They humble us and free us from pride in ourselves, to depend on God. They breathe a sense of purpose in us, later on we can get to share our stories with others and help them navigate through their trials because we know what it feels like.
So, if you are in a wilderness season currently, please don’t give up, keep going. Don’t give up on God. It won’t last forever, and all things are working for your good.
God is Faithful
At times, take a breath, take a moment and think about your life’s journey. Think about where you were a year ago compared to now, and you might realize that you are right in the middle of your answered prayer(s).
God is always faithful to answer our prayers and requests, even when we ourselves forget them. That’s why I love journaling and writing down what’s currently going on in my life, and even prayers. It’s amazing looking back and tracking and seeing how God has been working all through, even when it was behind the scenes.
God is Faithful, The word He speaks never returns to Him void, and His promises are Yes and Amen.
Whatever it is that you are trusting Him for, as long as it is in His will for you, you will have it. Trust Him, be at rest and trust His timing, because it’s always perfect.
We may not always like God’s will, but He always has your back
At times, God will tear everything down to rebuild. He might uproot you from a certain context or place to grow you, He might even cause a relationship in your life to not work out, to protect your heart and mind.
I feel like this happened to so many of us last year. Well for me, a certain context I was in, that I thought was permanentish in my life, was suddenly brought down. It was so sudden, I didn’t even know the reason why it happened, I didn’t even ask because I was still in shock. Many months down the line, when the entire truth of what happened came out. It was way deeper and way more devastating than I thought it was. Inasmuch as the truth was hard to hear, it gave me closure, I was able to close that chapter in my life and move on to other things with zeal, it also made me appreciate God for protecting and preserving me from things I never knew He was actually protecting me and preserving me from.
So, even when things don’t work out in your life, don’t be so quick to complain. It’s ok to grieve closed doors, but God ALWAYS has your back. Maybe you didn’t get that job, or you were late to school. What if He’s protecting you from a terrible boss, what If He’s protecting you from getting involved in an accident, in the respective scenarios? Think about that.
On a random note, these days whenever I find myself running late somewhere, only if I did all I could to be on time, if it’s my fault I take responsibility! Lol! But yea, I choose not to get angry or complain, there’s probably a reason why that is so.
And isn’t getting out of the house and coming back safe at the end of the day such an underrated blessing! Literally anything could happen in these streets.
Lastly, take responsibility for your spiritual life
This ties with the point on nobody can experience God for you. Here I mean, take that personal initiative, develop the discipline and be diligent in prayer and reading your bible.
Why read your bible? Well, once you give your life to Christ, you become a new creation.
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
2 Corinthians 5:17
You have a new identity, and with a new identity, comes with new cultures, In this case, reading your bible, cause this is the your guideline for life, this is one of the ways you hear from God, this is how you can know what God’s will is for you, this is the book that guides you on how to live, and understand God and be more established in your identity. This is one of your weapons of warfare against the enemy, God’s word is food for your spirit.
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’'
Matthew 4:4
Read it cover to cover, read it as many times as possible, research and understand what the scriptures mean, and always ask the Holy Spirit to guide, teach and counsel you.
Why pray? Many people wonder what the importance of prayer is, like if God is sovereign, and whether I pray or not, won’t His will be accomplished on earth, so what’s the point?
The way I see it, prayer is for us. Prayer conditions our hearts to accept God’s will, whatever that may be. You can’t arm-twist God to do what you want Him to do, but when you pray, you surrender your will for His own, you acknowledge His sovereignty, you lay your flesh down, you cast your burdens and whatever is weighing you down on Him, and in exchange for peace that surpasses all understanding. Who wouldn’t want that?
Whenever you miss a day or days in prayer and in the Word, don’t beat yourself up with guilt and shame, just come back and do it, God will welcome you with open arms, and you always have the Holy Spirit who is your ever present help, to empower you to spend time in the word and prayer consistently.
I created a part 1 and 2 regarding quiet time with God, why and how. Click the links to get there, if you'd like to read them. :)
Lastly for real, as a parting shot.
The reason why you should always take responsibility for your own walk with God, is, it's a way to value your spiritual atmosphere.
It usually grieves my heart, whenever I see Christians (me included) being misled and deceived by others, like preachers, teachers or leaders, whose teachings are not based on the word of God. As you listen to any preacher, even as you read my posts about God, check with the Word, is what is being said aligning with God’s word?
The same way you care for your body, feed it good food, when it’s cold you wear warm clothes, if you’re sick you go to the doctor or take medicine. It’s the same diligence that should be applied to your Spirit. Feed your spirit with God’s word and sound doctrine. Take care of your spiritual ground. Trust God to bring spiritually sound teachers of the word around you, use discernment and test every spirit.
Also, be patient with yourself. For the times you were misled, maybe cause you were still young in the faith, extend some grace to yourself, and now that you know better, you can do better. If you use your platforms to spread the gospel, always ask God to guide you, read and know the Word, if you make a mistake, own up to it, extend grace to yourself and correct it. We are all in process and are learning along the way. :)
That’s all for me this week. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post.
It’s never too late nor is it too early to give your life to Christ. The gift of salvation is free, the debt of your sin has been paid.
Life with Jesus is abundant and full of adventure, and is probably the best decision you will ever make. :)
I'll see you all on here next week, meanwhile, kindly like and share this post if you would like to. If you haven't subscribed to my bi-monthly newsletter, feel free to leave your e-mail down in the section below.
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Okay, that's all for me. see you next time!
xoxo.
BK.
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