Falling in Love with God: Surest Way to Overcoming Sin

If you have never sinned then this post is not for you. Byeee you can leave. But since all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God and since if you say you have no sin you are not being truthful so please take a seat wai because this post is for you.

We have all struggled with sin before and even probably still struggling with it. We have tried different methods. They work for a couple of day, weeks, months and we fall back into the same old sin again. Sometimes we even give up and decide to remain in our sin till a preacher scares us with hell then we go to God and ask for forgiveness. But then it doesn't last. Soon the fear of hell vanishes and we go back to the same old sin again.  

But here is the thing: the reason why we keep on falling over and over into sin chronically is because we do not love God. Ouch that hurts our hearing. I am not the one saying it ooo.  Check the following verses.    
'If you love me, you will keep my commandments.' John 14: 15. 'If a man loves me, he will keep my words' John 14: 23
'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.’ Matthew 22:27

‘You must love the Lord your God and always obey his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands.’ Deuteronomy 11:1

There are many other verses like these. I am even tempted to say that anytime that God talked about obedience to His commandments, it was preceded with loving Him. But since I am not a Bible scholar I wouldn’t say that.

However, with these few verses, we clearly see that obedience to God rises and falls on our love for Him. Our ability to overcome sin is positively correlated with our love for God.


Why we are failing: We have stripped Christianity of love and have made it all about avoiding sin; preaching self-righteousness and muting grace and that is the exact reason why our efforts prove futile. We have gone back to the era of the law. We focus on sin instead of focusing on having a relationship with the God who will empower us to overcome it.

You want to overcome sin?  Here is the solution: Quit struggling with sin and fall in love with God.  


Let me illustrate this so you understand.

You have probably been in a relationship before. So there is this thing at the beginning of the relationship where one of the parties mostly the guy since they do most of the chasing asks the girl ‘what are your likes and dislikes?’ Mostly when I am asked that question, I go like why? (Yea I know I am not romantic at all) and the reply I mostly get is ‘I want to know you so I don't do things that will make you angry and hurt you’. Sometimes some people go to the extent of saying 'I promise to always make you happy. I will never hurt you. I will never make you cry. Blablablabla.' (This saying gives me headache).

So we see that we associate love with pleasure and happiness. When we love someone we want to do things to please the person and make them happy. We don't want to make them angry; we don't want to hurt them. And so the moment your partner repeatedly makes you sad, cry and hurts you, you quickly draw the conclusion that he/she doesn't love you.

Our love is expressed through our actions. 'He who does not love me does not keep my words.' John 14: 24.

The same works with God. When we love God, we want to do things that will please him (without faith it is...uh huh there is a link. I will come back to that point.) And avoid things that will make him sad.

So now you are convinced about the love thing? Yea. Now you probably asking yourself so how do I fall in love with God?

Again let us use Eros love to draw an analogy. After all Paul did the same between Christ and the church and the husband and the wife. Since I am a woman, I will take it from that angle. When you meet a man and he is able to show you beyond reasonable doubt that he loves you (even if he is faking it), there are some hormones bi that your brain releases. Me I don’t know. I didn’t like biology.

The more he shows he loves you, the more you are ready to love in return. The more you are ready to love, the more you start declaring it to him with the incessant I love you, I can't live without you (like seriously??? Were you not living before you met him) you are the best thing that ever happened to me, I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you blablablabla. The more you declare those ‘nansins’, the more you start behaving it.

So there are four things involved: accepting the love (grace), the willingness to love (faith), declaration of love (new birth/rededication), and demonstration of love (work of faith – goodness).  


We love God because He first loves us that even while we were still in our sins, he sent his son to die for us. You need to accept this. We can't do away with this or else we are going back to the law era. Because no man can save himself, Christ had to die for you and I to conquer death and give us victory over sin. You have surely heard this preaching a zillion times. And somehow Christians are seeing that as some kind a Deja vu. I have heard people in church go like 'dabiaa salvation. We want the preaching to change, it is becoming boring.' Really??? We take out that page in the Bible where Jesus is hanging on the cross and there is no Christianity. Reason why we are still struggling in this life is because we do not understand that his death is the foundation of Christianity. 

You want to overcome sin?  This is the solution: accept that Christ came to die for you. And he has paid the price for your sins. He has overcome it for you. This is grace. Accept God’s Grace. No more struggling!
It doesn’t sound that easy right. Don’t worry. It is not a big bang thing, it is a gradual process. Just as you do not fall in love with that guy/girl overnight, same it is with God. Accepting His love puts you on the right path and you can’t go wrong with that as long as you accept it.

The saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way. Over the years, I have come to believe this: if deep inside your heart, what you want most is that God wins the battle against the devil over your life that is what will eventually happen in the long run. It will be slow but sure.

God searches the heart. He knows when you are fed up of being tied up to sin or when you are actually enjoying sin. He knows when you wish to come out of it or when you wished it wasn’t a sin in the Bible. He knows the desires of your heart. So have faith in God. We are saved by grace through faith. He died for you so receive His salvation power to overcome sin. You might not feel like it, look like it, act like it but then that is why it is faith. It is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It is this faith that will trigger the transformation with grace as the bullet. ‘For without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’ Hebrews 11: 6
What we think in our hearts is what comes out from our mouths. On the way to new creation, we have to confess and declare. At my lowest state this made me a victor in Christ. Every day I declare God I am a sinner and I can’t do this without you. I have tried and tried and I am tired of trying. So God I surrender everything to you. I surrender my heart, I surrender my mind, I surrender my soul. Take control. I belong to you. I want to live for you alone. God I need you to guide me. Etc… Words are very powerful. With words God created the whole world. Life and death lies in the power of the tongue. The sinner’s prayer is not a one day thing. It is a without ceasing prayer. Constant and continuous declaration of our love and dependence on God even when the things we are doing at the moment is not Godlike takes us to a place of consciousness where we start feeling God all around us. He envelopes us with his love and calms us down. ‘Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.’ 2 Corinthians 12: 9
As we become conscious of God, we begin to see Him everywhere and in everything. We become aware that God is with us. He surrounds us with love. That is when you whisper calmly ‘God you are there right?’ Praying to God and reading his Word will no more be a burden. As a matter of fact, you enjoy doing it because it draws you closer to Him and you get to know more about Him.

You discover more about his love for you, it increases your faith, you declare it in your life, you start behaving it and the cycle goes on and on. Tell me, when you become so busy like this with God, how on earth are you going to get time to even sin.

Following God and serving God is intentional and a conscious thing. It is a decision that you take every morning when you wake up. That today I choose to follow Christ and do His Word. ‘Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.’ Galatians 5: 24

With that said as humans as we are, we sometimes find ourselves hurting the very people that we love. But when we realize what we have done, we do not try and justify our actions. Rather we show remorse, feel sorry and ask for forgiveness. We avoid situations that will make us offend them. When we love someone that loves us, we do not abuse their love for us. We do not do the same things that they do not like over and over again and come back each time apologizing.
To conclude, Don Moen sang ‘think about his love, this about his goodness, think about his grace that has brought us through. For as high as the heavens are above, great is the measure of our father’s love.’

Let everything you think of, everything you say, everything you do remind you of God and His love for you. This will fill your heart with gratitude and make you love him in return.

‘Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think on these things’. Philippians 4: 8

I end by stating categorically that I am not perfect, I am a work in progress. I am not a saint, I am a sinner. And I am grateful to God for what He has done for me. Whenever I look at how far He has brought me, I realize I am here on earth for a very specific reason and I cannot disappoint Him. So, the second I realize I am straying away, I rush back quick quick into His saving arms.

Jesus loves you and died for you. That shouldn’t be in vain. Abide in His love. Xox.

Yours Truly,

Akua Akeela AddMens

The Complete Woman

Aside Ruth that desperately went after a man probably because she was a foreigner and if she didn't 'make wild' Boaz would choose a native hebrew woman over her, the Bible is full of men desperately going after a woman not the other way round.

Adam was looking for Eve. Isaac was searching for Rebeccah. Jacob was seeking for Rachel. David was hunting for Bethseda. Solomon was after the Queen of Sheba.

I wonder what these women were doing until their husbands found them. They were most probably living their lives and going about their normal daily activities like it was the norm for Rebeccah to always go fetch water at the well.

But in our days today, now it is we women that are desperately looking for life partners while the men go about their daily lives. Women are made to feel that we have to be all about marriage.

But in the Bible it is the men who were rather made to feel that way. It is not good for a man to be alone. For that reason a man will leave his father and mother and cling to the wife and the two will become one flesh. He who finds a wife finds a good thing. The glory of man is his wife. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. A good wife is a precious gift from God. Etc...etc

Over and over again in the Bible, men were made to aspire for marriage. Now we teach women to aspire to marriage and don't teach men the same. Who are the women going to marry then? Their fellow women?

Time was even taken to explain the criteria of the right woman in Proverbs 31. No where in the Bible was the same done for the right man.

For me all this means one thing. A man has more to gain in marriage than a woman does. So why then are women made to feel what does it profit a woman to gain the whole world and not find a man?

Enough of the pressures!!! You want your daughters to get married? Then teach your sons the importance of marriage.

When we meet a 35 year old single man, it is cool and we ask no questions. But we meet a 35 year old single lady and we start asking why. Why why? Who should marry her when you have been telling men to look for money and the women will come? When you've taught men to place women on the same level as their degree, their job,  their car and their house?

Meanwhile the Bible says the wife will be the helper, she will grant him access to favor, be his glory and his satisfaction.

But will you blame the men that much? For Isaac, Rebecca was worth a journey to a far land. For Jacob,  Rachel was worth working 14 years. David felt Bethseba was worth killing for.

As women let us ask ourselves: can a man look at us and feel we are worth till death do us part?

I believe in the full package woman. As women, we need to be spiritually beautiful,  physically attractive,  mentally sexy, intellectually gorgeous, financially pretty, emotionally elegant, morally hot, socially cute. We have to be the complete package.

Many a times, a man meets a woman and admires an aspect of her that attracts him to her. Sometimes it is her beauty, her commitment to the things of God, how she talks, her perspective on life etc. He then approaches her to get to know her better only to realise whatever he liked about her was not a reflection of her entire life. He is disappointed and walks away.

I am not referring to perfection which is unattainable.  I am rather referring to being a balanced woman. Work on all aspects of your life. Do not single one out and leave the rest.

You can be the most prayerful woman in the whole wide world but if you do not know how to care for people around you and show concern, the man will come and go away.

The woman described in Proverbs 31 was the complete package. The verses described her spiritual, financial, mental, emotional, social, physical life and more.

Live your life and improve on yourself. Rebeccah learnt hospitality and for that a man travelled miles for her.

Be better today than who you were yesterday. Be better tomorrow than who you are today. And by doing so you will be worth it for your husband. For that he will aspire to be with you. Because of that he will travel miles for you.

Enjoy your complete package life!  Wink!

Return to your First Love

This post was inspired by my daily bread quiet time on 16th March 2016 taken from Jeremiah 15: 15-20 on the theme 'heart food'. But when I read the passage, I saw something else and that is what I share with you today.

God told Jeremiah at the beginning of his ministry that he had been set apart and appointed a Prophet to the nations. But in 15vs16-18 Jeremiah was whining and whining.  He was telling God how he had become an expert in God's word, how he was living an upright life and not the sinful life others were living but yet he was suffering. God's reply to him in vs 19 was shocking 'if you return to me I will restore you.' Wait! Had Jeremiah strayed away??? He must have been devastated to hear that.

And that is our story as Christians. We have become 'Bible Scholars' and indulged in self righteousness and become judgemental. We have adopted a 'holier than thou' attitude. We are very busy 'cooking in the kitchen' like Martha and don't have time to 'sit at the feet of Jesus' to listen to Him and 'wipe His feet with our hair and expensive perfume' like Mary did. We feel we are doing more for God than any other person and don't understand why we are suffering. But God is telling us the same thing whenever we complain about our circumstances 'if you will return to me'.

Because the truth is our service to God is zero if we have no relationship with Him. He delights in our relationship with him more than anything else so much He made John write a letter to the church of Ephesus in Revelations 2. He told them how He had seen all their hard work and endurance; how they don't tolerate evil people; how they examine all the claims of the apostles and have suffered patiently for Him. This is very similar to the life Jeremiah was living. But then Christ had one complaint against them:“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!  Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lamp stand from its place among the churches." This is more like an expanded version of what God told Jeremiah.

It will be very painful to know on judgement day that all this while that we were serving God we had actually strayed away from Him. This is not the time to do any self righteousness as you are reading this saying me dier I always do my devotion, I pray 2 hours each day.  Please! We lose nothing rather we gain everything. Let's just return to God our first love. Let's do that today; let's do that every day.  Because he who says has not sin is a liar, we are all guilty of straying and leaving our First Love including me the writer.

Let's therefore always go to God and say 'God I have strayed away from you. I have abandoned you My First Love. Today I turn back and return to You. Today I start afresh this journey with you.' You do not have to wait to go and commit fornication or kill someone before you come to God this way.

Jesus told the Ephesus clearly if they don't repent, He will remove their lampstand from among the churches;  in individual terms your name from the book of life. They were not stealing, they were not killing, they were not  committing sexual immorality but then they were going to miss heaven because they had left their first love though they were 'active christians'.

So then let us live 'careful' that we do not get to that point of 'comfort' in our Christian journey where we feel we have 'arrived' because for all you know we might have strayed away. Today therefore, let us arise and return no matter how far we have fallen like the prodigal son and our father will surely restore us.

God bless.

Faith Without Works

Having once been a member of a charismatic church for over ten years, I have seen people shout amen to every prophecy that came down from the altar with sooooo much vim and soooo much excitement that I was looking forward to see their lives change in the near future but niet - same old person. On the other hand, I saw those whose amen were only loud enough for themselves to hear bear so much fruit that we saw them the following month/year sharing an amazing testimony of how they held on to a prophecy from the altar and with faith worked with it to get their miracle.

After all these years, it has become a Deja vu for me whenever I see banners of program tagged come and receive this and that and so on and so forth. For me it is a waste of time to go to these events and shout amen at the top of your voice and still go back home to your old ways and expect to see a change in your life, my dear it ain’t happening.

What you need right now is not a laying of hands because I remember when the pastor called for girls who want to get married to come to the altar, there was this rush that could have even led to a stampede mpo. Well as I am writing this, 90% of the girls who went are still single. That was like three years ago.

The thing is God does miracle not magic. Go through your Bible and you realize that everyone that God blessed played a very important role in receiving those blessings. God deals with us on a covenant basis, you do your part and God does his part. And that is where we get it wrong. We want God to do His part but then we do not want to do our part.

Get this: faith without works is dead, yep dead. Actually it is the action that you will take that will demonstrate the faith that you have and move God to act in your life. The reason God is not doing anything is because you are also not doing anything.

Prayer is a very powerful weapon but there is one thing that it can never replace and that is Hard Work. No matter how hard you pray, your prayers cannot move the angels to do your part of the covenant. Mostly the answers to our prayers are conditioned on some actions that we need to take.

For example, after asking God for a job, it is time to write that resume and cover letter and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit send your application to the right company and then watch God do His Wonders. That is how it works.

Don’t misunderstand me or get me wrong. Prophecies, prayers, faith are very important because they build you spiritually and their use is to empower you to go out and do signs and wonders knowing you have God's backing and approval. After all, the world is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God. So what are you waiting for? Go on and let your light shine. Dassor!!!!

MY CFA EXPERIENCE

I wanted to wait till I pass the CFA level III exams before I write this. But then I remembered how when I was preparing for the level I exams, I knew no family member, friend who had written this exams before that I could go to for him/her to give me some tips.

So in this post, I will tell you some of the things you need to know before you go into the exams room to write the level I and II exams and some tips in preparing for them.

But first, my story:

When I was about completing my master’s degree, I came across CFA on the internet. After graduating, I registered for the level I exams. I wrote the exams on 5th December 2013; the results came out on 29th January 2014 and I failed with band 9. I do remember that I cried. But then I could not blame anyone because I underestimated CFA and did not study appropriately. The very next day I went back to studies with a different approach. I wrote level I again the day my elder brother got married on 7th June 2014. The results came out 29th July 2014 and I passed. I registered for level II immediately; sat for the exams on 6th June 2015 and again I passed. Currently, I am preparing for level III.

Now here are some of the things you need to know and some tips.

1.      CFA exams are different from any academic exams you have ever written. For me personally, university has been the easiest part of my educational life. I remember how I always started studying a week prior to exams by just going through my notes and recollecting the lecturers’ explanations. I graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.05. The only time I really felt I had put in a lot of effort during my university time was for my thesis in which I scored 85%. But then CFA isn’t like university. Well no one told me. I thought I could manage my way out as usual. But in most professional exams, it is either you know or you don’t know. If you are going to pass the exams, you need to read, understand what you read, practice and master it. No two ways about it.

2.      Do not underestimate the exams. This is a sequel to the first point. I thought it was manageable. I told myself no matter what, I will be able to answer correctly most of the questions until I tried my hands on the mock exams and realized I was doomed. I wasn’t even able to score 50% both in the morning and afternoon sessions of the mock exams. The exams questions are tough as nails. Do not expect to have easy questions. After writing the exams, I prayed for a miracle for me to pass the exams. But then nothing could be done.

3.      The fact that you are already working in an investment firm, does not mean you will automatically pass the exams. I know candidates in the investment industry who are having a tough time trying to pass the exams. You will agree with me today that lot of things are computerized. Most investment professionals have the formulas they use in software and just need to enter the data for it to be processed. But then you cannot go into the exam room with a laptop. You will need to know all those formulas off head and review all the concepts mostly the ones you are familiar with because that is the tricky part.

4.      Start studying on time. Do not postpone the time you are going to start studying. Do not procrastinate. Start now to avoid last minute pressure and not being able to finish the curriculum. I heard a CFA candidate saying a friend of his started studying a week prior to the level I exams and he passed. He did the same and he failed. It is only possible to pass the exams with a week preparation if you are a student or just graduated and the finance course was specially designed to prepare you for the level I exams. Some universities do that. And yes, the candidate was fast to add that the friend had just graduated then.

5.      You will need to be organized in order to pass the exams. You will need to be disciplined to stick to your study program. If there is something CFA exams has taught me, it is to be a disciplined person. If I want something, I need to work hard towards it and there are no two ways. If I fail, it is because I did not work hard enough. You will also have to be focused because that is actually what will keep you going. For the next how many years until you finally pass your level III, you will have to sacrifice your weekends. I missed my brother’s wedding because I was writing exams on that day. Some family members and friends might not understand you and might think you are over exaggerating the difficulty of the exams. You might end up with little to no encouragement. Therefore you will need to encourage yourself. If you are working and also a family person, then it makes it even harder for you trying to combine these three things. You will also have burn outs when you get to difficult topics and you are not able to understand what you are reading especially the formulas.

6.      Track your progress. Personally, I had a book in which I had written all the topics, the study sessions and readings. Whenever I finish a reading, I tick. When I finish a study session, I tick. When I finish a topic, I tick. I then calculate the percentage of completion. It motivated me and alerted me if I am behind time. CFA has an online study planner. You can try that.

7.      Do active learning not passive learning. Do not just read or listen or watch. Truth is you would have forgotten more than half of what you read on the exams day. Be interactive with your study material. Personally I read and then write down a summary of every paragraph by paraphrasing it in simpler words, using drawings in order to be sure that I have understood what I have read. Then on two weeks prior the exams I go through my summary. I also make sure I answer all the practice questions in the curriculum and do the mock exams; no matter how difficult the question is and even if it takes me an hour. It is better than to rush reading and go to the exams room to meet the same question with just a change in figures and then you are not able to answer because it is too difficult.

8.      The study material you use can make or break you. I cannot tell which study materials are good or bad. I can only share my experience and that of the people I know. A study guide can work for you and not work for me. I have used CFA curriculum throughout. Nothing more nothing less. According to CFA institute, every question in the exams will be in the curriculum. I know two CFA candidates who are both using other study materials. One passed the level I after three attempts. We wrote the level II together and he failed. Another wrote the level II for the third time in 2015 and he failed again. I have also read other candidates who never opened the CFA curriculum but have passed the exams. According to a CFA charter holder, other study guides are good for level I and II. But for level III it is very risky to not use the CFA curriculum and you should combine both by at least reading the LOS, working the questions in the examples and practice questions.

9.      Do not overlook topics. Don’t see a topic as your strong point so because of that you will not study it. Do not also think that because a topic carries a small weighting you will not study it. Finally do not also think because a topic is tough you will focus on the easy ones. Personally the most challenging topic for me in both level I and II has been quantitative methods. It is actually the last or last but one topic that I study. When I read it, I feel like I am reading Chinese. I do not understand what I am reading but then I write my summary and go through it a day or two before the exams. Even when I failed the first time, I got above 50% in it. When I passed level I and II, in both I got above 70% in quantitative methods. What am I driving at? The topic that I see as tough and do not place high hopes on scoring much in it, it ends up becoming one of my best performing topics. So do not overlook any topic. Your strongest topic can disappoint you just as your weakest topic can favor you.

10.   Ethics and Professional standards is the diciest topic. I advise it should be the last topic you cover. Why? Trust me if you start with that, you would have forgotten everything you learnt on the exams day. But if you do that like a couple of weeks prior to the exams, it will be fresh in the memory. Also it is the only topic that remains somehow the same across levels. Believe when I tell you this topic can make or unmake you. Lastly do not think that just because you are ethical, the answers are going to be intuitive.

11.   Alternate between relatively tough topics and relatively easy topics. If you go through all the easy topics before you go to the tough ones, you will have burnouts when you get to the tough ones and might even feel like giving up. If you also go through all the tough topics first, it might slow your progress. If you start a topic and it looks tough, go to the next one and come back to it later on. I remember for my level II, fixed income was the third topic I had planned to study. But then when I started it, it became confusing for me so I skipped it and went on to study corporate finance. It ended up becoming the last but three topics that I studied. I scored above 70%. The only time you should delay on a topic you do not understand is when you have covered every other topic and it is the only one left.

12.   Do not jump paragraphs. I remember how I jumped a paragraph, and on exams day, a question came that was based on that paragraph. I tried so hard to remember but since I didn’t read it, there was nothing to remember. I missed 3 points that I could have easily obtained.

13.   Reward yourself after you cover every topic. A night out with family/friends will do. The next topic you will be covering might be tougher than that which you are done with. So refreshing yourself before you move on will do you a lot of good. Also, if you are reading and it is like you are not understanding what you are reading because you have been reading for long, take a break and watch some movies to refresh before going back. Sometimes even walking around the house and coming back to study helps a lot. Browsing through your Facebook newsfeed also does some good. Personally, I usually have music or radio in the background. The idea is to refresh yourself so that you do not get bored.

14.   When you fail, change your study methods. Do not make the same mistakes you previously made. If you did not start on time, start on time. If you did passive learning, do active learning. If you did not use the right material, change it. Learn from your mistakes and never make them again. My supervisor said the only time you fail a professional exams is when you do not write it. Remember I said when I failed, I cried. But then I learnt from my mistakes and changed the methods.

15.   When you pass, celebrate it, because the next level will be tougher and it is how you felt when you passed the previous exams that will keep you going. If you passed level III, celebrate even more because getting finally the CFA charter designation is another journey because of the requirement.

16.   You will need 48 months of relevant working experience. Just having any job is not enough. Four years as a bank teller is irrelevant. As you are studying and working towards passing your exams, think also about getting the relevant experience. It can be frustrating having passed all the levels and you are not eligible to the charter designation.

17.   Passing the exams will not automatically land you a job. Therefore when writing your CV, cover letter or at an interview, avoid centering all your knowledge, competence, and achievement on the CFA. Even CFA says it is wrong for you to claim that because you have passed the CFA exams and/or have the CFA designation you are more competent than the other person who hasn’t. Therefore referring to your CFA candidacy/designation once in an interview/cover letter is more than enough. Let the knowledge you have acquired through the exams give you confidence to answer questions without over stressing on the CFA. You do not need to tell the interviewer, he/she will draw the conclusion him/herself.

The list of things to know and tips is definitely not exhaustive. I hope this short one helps you. Until the first Saturday, happy studying.

God is always on the move

God never ceases to amaze us. It is just that we have restricted the manifestation of God in our lives to 'big things' such as healing us, giving us a breakthrough and the likes of miracles.
                                                

But our God is a God that does miracles every day in our lives. And so as Christians we need to develop the habit of praying over everything even over the 'little silly things' that happen to us.
God is bent down on showing to us that just as He is not small for any situation same too He is not too big for any situation.

         

Is it that there is power outage and you need to iron your shirt to go for an important meeting or is that you forgot where you kept that precious jewellery of yours? God wants us to call on him even in the craziest and silliest situation in which we find ourselves.


And so develop the habit of praying for the leading of the Holy Spirit as you go through the day; for the angels of God to go ahead of you and secure your blessings, your breakthrough, your success, etc; for the presence of God to grant you favour in the eyes of men; for the power of God to make every crooked way straight and for the blood of Jesus to speak better things for you.
Some will call it mere coincidence, others will call it luck but as Christians our Bible tells us that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord.

God wants us to develop that daily relationship with Him. He does not want us to come rushing to him in panic when we are in trouble. He wants us to be in constant communication with Him through our thoughts. He does not want us to set  particular time for prayer as in morning when you wake up or evening before you sleep. He wants us to feel free with Him and know that He will always have time for us. Is He not our father?
When we recognize God's hand in our daily walks of lives, we will live a life of gratitude, rejoicing always in the Lord and as a man of God said 'if you thank God for His finger in your life, He will show you His hands.' Failure to acknowledge these doings of the Lord, belittling them, taking them for granted will push us to live a life of ingratitude and murmuring.

From now on live life knowing that God is always listening to us and waiting for us to call Him so don't defer the calling, call Him now, call Him always. Live knowing that He has placed angels to be in charge of us so that our feet shall not hit a stone and on judgment day these angels will be accountable to us and they are at our service. Live life as the child of God knowing Jesus is your elder brother.

To end let me narrate these amazing happenings.

A man was doing a small repair on his car when a small part of it fell in the grass. He and his elder son started looking for it but couldn't find. His younger son came home after playing with friends and asked them what they were doing. When told, the boy asked the father whether they had prayed first and the answer was no. So he said "dad let's pray." So the boy prayed asking God to help them find that small missing part. Immediately after the prayer, the man went down, put his hands in the grass and retrieved the part.

Two men were having a discussion. One of them was writing a letter but his pen was giving him a bit of a problem because the ink was not flowing properly. He bowed down his head and said a short prayer. The other man asked him what he did and he responded that he was praying about the pen because the letter he was writing was a very important one.

Now this is my personal experience. One Sunday, I left the house ten minutes to seven for the morning service that starts at seven. I walked towards the taxi rank to take a taxi. But as I approached the rank, I realized there was no taxi. Not just that no taxi passed by. I started praying saying "God please send me a taxi. The service is only ninety minutes. If I am late even for ten minutes I will miss so much of the service. God please send me a taxi." Walking to my church will take me about fifteen minutes and it was five minutes to seven. When I reached the taxi rank and was about to branch and start my foot journey to the church, the Spirit of the Lord told me to slow down. Am late, no taxi and I should slow down? Well I did slow down. The Spirit further directed me to look in a particular direction out of the six different roads that met at the junction I was standing and lo and behold I saw an empty taxi coming towards me. I stopped the taxi, told the driver where I was going and sat in it without negotiating the price. I got to church before the service started and the taxi driver charged me much lesser than other drivers did on other Sundays.

These testimonies of God answering a prayer is not about God healing someone, giving someone a job, blessing someone with the fruit of the womb; it is about God intervening in the daily little problems we face.
Everyday will be a testimony for you if you develop that attitude of prayer, praying over everything.
Be blessed in Jesus mighty name.