music monday// overcomer

Life is a labyrinth of twists and turns. Things do not always turn out the way we hope they will. But that’s not the time to resign ourselves to disappointment and give up. nope. Jesus overcame the grave. And because of that, His Spirit living inside His followers gives us the same power to overcome whatever setback, tests and trials we face.

via

overcomer~ mandisa

Staring at a stop sign, watching people drive by

T mac on the radio.

Got so much on your mind,

Nothing’s really going right,

Looking for a ray of hope

Whatever it is you may be going through,

I know He’s not gonna let it get the best of you.

You’re an overcomer,

Stay in the fight ‘til the final round

You’re not going under

Cause God is holding you right now.

You might be down for a moment,

Feeling like it’s hopeless

That’s when He reminds you,

That you’re an overcomer, you’re an overcomer.

Everybody’s been down,

Hit the bottom, hit the ground

Ooh, you’re not alone

Just take a breath, don’t forget

Hang on to His promises

He wants you to know

The same Man, the Great I AM

The One who overcame death

He’s living inside of you

So just hold on tight, fix your eyes

On the One who holds your life

There’s nothing He can’t do

He’s telling you

Take a breath, don’t forget

Hang on to His promises

So don’t quit, don’t give in, you’re an overcomer.

“ ‘ I (Jesus) 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

“no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

“no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 corinthians 10:13

“God said to moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM…” exodus 3:14

  

“let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2-3

“for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 corinthians 4:17-18

“…and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:2-5

I know I am not alone in all I’m going through. He’s right here with me, living on the inside of me. my physical eyes may not see, but with the eyes of faith I believe He is here, with His angels concerning me hovering around me. you are not alone in the sickness, heartbreak, disappointment, financial need, the battle to shed off weight, the looooong waiting season…you are not alone. 

He said we will have trouble in this world, remember? But He also said in Him we will have peace, peace that surpasses all understanding in the midst of the affliction. I will keep seeking His face in prayer and confess His Word for a breakthrough. Surely, He will keep giving me the strength to carry on, I hope you seek Him too. Do not lose hope.

xoxo, gen delali.

A Special Person Called Mom

“No language can express the power, and beauty, and heroism, and majesty of a mother's love.  It shrinks not where man cowers, and grows stronger where man faints, and over wastes of worldly fortunes sends the radiance of its quenchless fidelity like a star.”  ~Edwin Hubbell Chapin

So today’s Mother’s day! Wooot wooot! How precious mothers are! I’m so very glad for God choosing for me to have an earthly mother who cares about me a whole awful lot. I wouldn’t know where I would be without my sweet mother. Well, we have our days but I’m thankful for her life and I appreciate her a lot.

It’s a beautiful thing to have a bond with your mother or a mother figure, you know. It’s a special thing. I mean who is there whenever you are sick and bombards your phone with a thousand calls just to check up on you? Who comforts you and tells you everything will be alright when you know at that point it’s far from the truth? Who sacrifices endlessly just to make sure you are comfortable and have everything you need? Who shows you such compassion and love that draws you nearer to God? Who’s cooking tastes way better than any other?...The person who comes to mind in all these is my one and only mother! 

“Let your mother be glad, let her who bore you rejoice.” Proverbs 23:25

One thing I really admire about my mother is her ability to be strong in the most heart breaking situations. Like seriously, she’s blessed with some extra ordinary strength. I think about it sometimes and I’m like Lord, please lemme be this strong for my children one day. It was my mom who made sure all the times I got ill as a child (which was very frequent) that I got the necessary treatment to get well...she still does this in the present. It’s my mom’s love for the unlovable which softens my heart to learn how to love. It’s my mom who showers me with prayers all the time.

We’ve come on such a long roller coaster ride. It’s been hard...splashes of happy, dashes of frustrations and sorrow but still I love my mommy! She gets to deal with my moods and sees my weaknesses...she knows my secret future plans. I can be a handful sometimes but she puts up with me. It’s my mom who really understands my need for my personal space, how I’m introverted and laid back...and doesn’t impose being social on me. She knows it’s a learning process for me. And I love, love that I can act all silly with her. LOL Her sacrifices for me are too much and I thank God for that. 

“Honor your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” Deuteronomy 5:16

I’m grateful that God chose my mom to be my earthly mother, that she made the choice to keep me in her womb all those nine months, nurtured me as a Christian, and still continues to take care of me. I couldn’t be more thankful. I pray that God blesses and keep her and bless me too so that I can love on her some more for the years ahead. I pray that God uses me to bring glory to her and to bring her all the happiness she deserves to experience, the happiness we’ve both missed out on so often...

So go on ahead and show your mom you appreciate her... Her sacrifices, her delicious cooking, her hugs and kisses, her words of encouragement and comfort, her much needed scolding. (Yeah, we need that too.) Let the mother figure in your life know that you appreciate her time with you. Let nothing come between you and your mother. Is it some past hurts or a present bone you have to pick with her? Please let it all slide. Fight hard to forgive and love her. She keeping you and deciding to give birth to you is reason enough to be thankful for her life. Be thankful that you are alive because God chose her to birth you to fulfil the purposes He has for you. Let’s not wait till mother’s day before we show our mothers how much we care. Appreciating our mothers should be a daily thing, a way of life. Go celebrate your mother!

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.  ~Honoré de Balzac 

So here’s to A Happy Mother’s Day!!! All mothers out there living it up according to God's Word and who are there for your children, God bless you, O so much! :D xoxo

Delali.

Being Thankful

The story about Jesus healing the ten lepers but only ONE coming back to thank Him really makes me think. Luke 17:11-19 Sometimes I’m sadly like the nine lepers who didn’t bother to thank Jesus for what He did for them. It’s sad because after He hears my cries for His help and fixes me, I tend to forget to say a nice, warm “thank You” to Him. I think this is because I get so carried away with excitement that my gratitude gets lost in the midst of it all. And when I remember, I get embarrassed and quickly apologize and tell God how I’m thankful for what He does for me. “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, thou art very great! Thou art clothed with honor and majesty.” Psalm 104:1

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him, bless His name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:4,5

God is so good that my ingratitude sometimes does not hold Him back from gracing me with more blessings. He overlooks my sins and still says “Child, I forgive you. Here are more blessings I want to bestow upon you. Today is a gift I freely choose to give you to try and get it right” I don’t have to be perfect to deserve His unlimited kindness. All He requires from me is to try my best, being fully dependent on His strength to walk in obedience.

**Remember that for the blessings to flow, you need to walk in obedience first. Also, the motives behind your requests to our dear Father should be in agreement with His Word.

 “O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm 107:1

 

“...Always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” Ephesians 5:20

Just imagine a dear friend of yours giving you a very precious gift. In the overwhelming happiness you feel because of the gift, you totally forget your friend and without much of a thank you, you gloat and gloat over your precious gift. How do you think your friend will feel? He/she will most likely feel like you value their gifts much more than you value the friendship they have with you. And that’s close to terrible. Your friend might even stop giving you gifts altogether, because you never show any appreciation. 

You should love the giver of the gifts, not just the gifts they give you. This is the same with God. We should love Him and show gratitude for what He does for us, even when those things don’t seem to be what we asked Him for. Sometimes we expect certain big gifts from God but we end up receiving something which we perceive to be less than. Other times He does not even give us what we want at all, and He seems to be quiet. Still, we have to learn how to say thank You. He knows what’s best for us always. So whether big or small blessings, I’m learning to say thank You, whether what I’ve been asking Him seems to tarry and it seems it’s never going to show up, still, I’ll say thank You. When I feel as if there’s nothing for me to be thankful for, I’ll remind myself that just being alive is a grand thing. So in the good and bad, I’ll give thanks. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

 “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17

Let us remember that the blessings of God are not just physical things but are spiritual gifts as well. So it’s not only when God helps you get a good job that you show gratitude. Think of His mercies, grace, forgiveness, faithfulness, joy, His Love. When you feel you don’t have anything to be thankful for, remember that Jesus dying to redeem you in itself is a very great blessing, if not the greatest gift of all. And also remind yourself of all that God has done for you. In doing this, you’ll begin to realize you have so much to be thankful for. Don’t wait for some day in the year before you display your thankfulness for all that you are and have. Being thankful should become a daily habit. Just opening your eyes to see a new day is a miracle deserving thanks and praise. Remember His mercies are new every single morning. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22,23

Lately I’ve been thinking about how I need to really acknowledge everything God gives me, even the very little ones. So I’ll be starting a series of thankful posts. This is a way of reminding myself of what my Father does for me and never taking any of it for granted. “O give thanks to the Lord, call on His name, make known His deeds among the peoples!” Psalm 105:1 

**I’m thankful for these verses/quotes I have on my wall right by my bed. They are great reminders of my identity in Christ and the awe-inspiring person God created me to be. And I like that I see them right when I wake up or when I’m just lying down.

**I’m thankful for my new leopard print mug which I find very cute!

**I’m thankful for this lovely notebook which I write some of my favorite quotes in. (The writer in me, ...keeping notebooks with me almost all the time. ;) ) And I wouldn’t lie, the butterfly on it was what attracted me. (There’s just something about butterflies that I love. :) )

**A couple of weeks ago I got the opportunity to attend The John A. Kufuor Foundation Global Development Lecture Series for 2013, and I’m thankful for that. I found it very educative and relevant to me because there’s a growing passion within me to have my career centered on global development. Besides that, it felt honoring to be in the same building with very notable people you don’t see on a normal day like the former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (who delivered the lecture on the topic “What Africa must do to claim the 21^st century”), Dr. Paul Acquah, Ewkow Spio-Garbrah and many others. 

“Remember the wonderful works that He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He uttered.” Psalm 105:5

Here’s one of my favorite songs by Laura Story, a song she wrote when she was going through a very difficult time and God’s blessings seemed far away... Sometimes bad things happen and like a wake-up call, they help us see reality for what it is, becoming aware of all that we already have been blessed with. "Blessings" is a great song for you if you're going through rough times and God's blessings seem to be miles and miles away. Some things are blessings in disguise, really. So nevertheless even through the disappointments, give thanks. :) I hope it encourages you to know that sometimes even in the midst of trials God’s blessings still abound. 

 “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6

“Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17

 So what are you thankful for lately?

 XOXO

Delali.