To Divinity In Motion - Part 1

 Sunday 6th March 2022

Hello, I hope you have been well. Happy New Month!

I just finished re-watching Julie and The Phantoms and it was amazing, even more so the second time I watched it.

I'm really not a fan of musicals much however some things are just an exception.

You may have noticed that I have started posting less. When I first started this website, I had to admit that I was a lot more consistent. 

I guess that's because I didn't have university back then - so I had more free time. Now I have decided to post every two weeks, or as the spirit leads.

I won't always post every two weeks. Unforeseen circumstances might happen. I'll post two weeks if they don't.

So let's get into this.

You might be confused about the Title, which is this:

To Divinity In Motion

To Divinity in motion

God's majestic like the ocean!

I just made that up, but you might be thinking To divinity in motion? What does that mean?

And how did I come up with the title?

Let me tell you something. I actually didn't -- I think it's the title of a Michael Jackson song. 

I love Michael Jackson. I wouldn't say I'm a fan though - after all you can like a celebrity without necessarily be a fan of them. I feel like being a fan of a celebrity is on a greater level than liking.

I don't listen to the song, or if I did, I don't think I liked it. But I liked the title, so I decided to use it.

Some of my posts are even titled after his songs -- remember the Wanna Be Startin' Somethin and the They Don't Really Care About Us posts? 

The former was about how you shouldn't spread rumours, the latter was about how you will be persecuted as a Christian, and why that is okay.

 I might do another post about his Earth Song -- the beginning lyrics say what have we done to the world? Look what we've done... It will be about how you can overcome the world. 

I did a post on why you shouldn't love it, but I don't think I did one on how you can overcome it.

To Divinity in Motion can also link to Christianity. I can break it down by saying divinity means Heaven, or something being divine. Heaven is divine. Jesus is divine. God is divine - and then some. 

Motion means walking or moving.

So in this case, today's title actually means how you can make it to Heaven, by doing things for God. I wanted to be creative with the Title - and sometimes I guess you just need to read between the lines 😉😇

I genuinely didn't know how to make it to Heaven without researching, so therefore I got everything from another website. I got everything from this website here:

https://pursuitbible.com/how-to-get-to-heaven-according-to-the-bible/

And this one: https://www.allaboutgod.com/how-to-get-to-heaven.htm

Scriptures were mentioned in both websites of course, I will just be elaborating on them. I also won't be mentioning everything that they have to say.

Also, I just decided to make this series in parts. So I'll probably use the websites more in future parts. I don't know how many parts there will be exactly.

Here is an excerpt from the first website:

//
It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and not think about what happens when this life is over. 

 But sometimes, things can happen that make you pause to ask the important questions ...The Bible has clear answers and guidance that has brought peace to many people.

Ellipses were used because that wasn't everything they said. I wanted to take some irrelevant bits out.

How to get to heaven according to the Bible?

 
According to the Bible, you get to heaven by putting your trust in Jesus Christ and following Him.

Although we might ask about how to go to heaven, the Bible doesn’t actually use the phrase “go to heaven.” That’s more of a modern-day way to talk about it. Rather, the Bible talks about having “eternal life” or being “saved.”

 
In Acts 16:30-31, someone asks how he can be saved. The answer is: “Believe in the Lord Jesus.”

//

The ESV version of Acts 16 verse 30-32 was used, however I normally use the NIRV version instead. Here is the verse below:

30 Then he brought them out. He asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus. Then you and everyone living in your house will be saved.” 

32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him. They also spoke to all the others in his house.

I've decided that it would be easier for me to talk about those that will not enter Heaven first, so you know what to avoid.

I can't lie, when I thought of these series, I only really thought about the title 😅😆 I didn't really think about what I was going to say until like 5 seconds before I started writing.  But I knew I wanted to post today. God led me to anyway. 

I was almost running out of time.

That doesn't normally happen, I always have a topic in mind beforehand. 

I was listening to a playlist by Bishop Dag Heward Mills, who is the founder of First Love Church, aka the church I go to in university. I attend two different churches.

First Love is for university only (I can't lie - unless there is a Zoom meeting and I'm at home) and I have another one for when I'm at home, but not my university home. 

This is my family church (RCCG Victory Centre). I have been attending this church before university so it wouldn't be right to leave. Especially how my family attends it.

Bishop Dag did a series in 2006 I think called Finish what you started. He first mentioned people in the Bible who didn't finish what they had started, finishing the series with people that did.

I'm going to do the same, slightly. First I'm going to mention characteristics that prevents you from going to Heaven, then I will mention characteristics that will make you enter Heaven.

So I guess today's title is To Divinity in Motion - reversed. But I'm not really going to call it that so I just put part 1 instead.

Before I forget what I am going to say, let me mention the subheadings for today.

Proud, Evil, Sinful, Unbelievers, Rich, Being A Bad/Good Person

These are characteristics that ultimately prevents someone from entering Heaven. 

But please be aware that when I say rich, I'm not saying that all rich people can't enter Heaven. I'll go in depth on it later. And not all good people enter Heaven either (I got that from one of the websites I credited today).

Because I have to go to bed in an hour (I have placement tomorrow), I definitely can't get through everything today. I will therefore do what I think are the easiest subheadings today (Rich, Sinful and Proud) and the rest later.

If time allows me to go through three subheadings today, I will. If not, then only two.

Next time, I will finish it off, and I will talk about what Heaven isn't -- followed by how you can enter it. Not sure if they'll all be in the same post.

These posts will essentially be about how you can enter divinity, in motion :)

I hope you enter divinity amen!

So without further ado, let's begin!

People that won't enter Heaven, or have a slim chance of getting there

#1 The Rich

Have you read Matthew 19:24?

If you haven't, let me quickly reference it. Even if you have read it, you might not remember what it says. Don't worry - I am a kind person. You can find it below.

"Again I tell you, it is hard for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. But it is even harder for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

In fact, let me mention why Jesus had said that. I'm now referencing Matthew 19:16-24 

16  "Just then, a man came up to Jesus. He asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to receive eternal life?”

17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only one who is good. If you want to enter the kingdom, obey the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” the man asked.

Jesus said, “ ‘Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not be a false witness. 19 Honor your father and mother.’ (Exodus 20:12–16; Deuteronomy 5:16–20) And ‘love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ” (Leviticus 19:18)

20 “I have obeyed all those commandments,” the young man said. “What else do I need to do?”

21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have. Give the money to those who are poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad. He was very rich.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “What I’m about to tell you is true. It is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

 24 Again I tell you, it is hard for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. But it is even harder for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

The young man was devastated in verse 22 because he had to give money to those who were poor. This was because he was very rich.

I'm not sure about you, but that to me makes the rich man seem a bit conceited. He has all this money but he doesn't want to share it? Unfortunately, a lot of people are like that in society today.

So many people who are rich don't like giving people money. I'd understand if they were poor. But even then -- is it not good to give?

After all, the Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) and if you give, it shall be given unto you. (Luke 6:38)

If God tells you to give money to someone, do it straight away. Do not ask questions. Just do it - God can always be trusted.

I feel like God will never tell you to give an extreme amount of money to someone. Sometimes, he might. Other times, you might need to double check if you are actually hearing from God or someone else - the devil perhaps.

God won't give you more than what you can handle (1 Cor. 10:13).

I mentioned that I have placement tomorrow. I do every Monday for 10 weeks. It's been 6.

For security reasons, I can't say where I am going for Placement, however where I go - there is a theme each week. The children have like a book and they do activities based on the book until the end of the week.

I'm going to talk about a book they did this week, which actually links to what I am currently talking about.

I don't want you thinking why is a 19 year old girl talking about a book for little children? No, trust me, I know where I am going with this.

So the theme for this week in Placement was The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. It was about a rainbow fish that was the prettiest fish in town and everyone had admired him.

He had shiny iridescent, beautiful scales, everything other fish had wanted but couldn't really have. 

Whilst the other fish in the sea didn't envy him, they did admire him, asking him if they could have shared his scales with them. But the rainbow fish was proud. He didn't want to share, so he said no.

The fish had stopped speaking to him throughout time due to his pride, and one  small one surreptitiously followed him.

One day, the rainbow fish had realised that people weren't speaking to him but he couldn't quite figure out why. Chale, he was depressed but he wasn't sure on the main cause of it. 

So he had talked to a starfish. He had asked the starfish why he was so unhappy, especially how he was the most beautiful fish in all of the sea. 

The starfish candidly told the rainbow fish that whilst they couldn't answer his question, a wise octopus in a cave could.

Long story short, con muchas otras cosas pasando ("with many other things happening" in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish but it's a very beautiful language), the rainbow fish went to the octopus.

The octopus told him that he was depressed because he wouldn't share his shimmering scales with anyone. If he had given each scale to every fish until he had run out of shiny scales, he would have been happy.

The rainbow fish was kinda hesitant to do so, considering how his shiny scales were his most prized possession. But he had listened. He had decided to share his scales with every fish, starting with the small fish that had followed him as they had seen each other first.

The rainbow fish didn't have his most prized possession anymore but he was a lot happier. The moral of the story is that sharing is caring and sometimes you just need to give up your most prized possession in order to be happier.

Possessions won't make you happy. They might, but not fully. Only God can truly satisfy you (Isaiah 58:11 - my favourite verse now), nothing else can.

The rich man's prized possession were his riches, but like the rainbow fish, he didn't want to give that up. I'm not sure if he did after, as the Bible didn't explicitly mention this, although I hope he did.

Whilst the rainbow fish couldn't physically have been rich, he was rich vicariously through his scales. He was very proud. He didn't initially want to share with anyone, kind of like the rich man in Luke 16:19-31.

Luke 16:19-31 is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man had it all on Earth, but after death, he had made it to Hell. He had made fun of Lazarus, who had made it to Heaven.

The love of money is the root of all evil (2 Tim 6:10), so just make sure that you don't put money above the Lord. That's why rich people have a slim chance of entering Heaven.

A lot of rich people use their money for the Lord, which is a good thing, especially if God tells them to do so. 

So not all rich people don't make it to Heaven after death. It's just rare for them to do so.

Who knew a little children's story would have such a deep moral? I was pretty moved by it.

I didn't even plan to use it today, but I just noticed that it has links to this subheading.

Some children's stories and nursery rhymes have hidden meanings, but sadly not all of them are good. For example, I know the hidden meaning of Ring a Ring a Roses. It's pretty dark. 

But let me not spoil your childhood.

See I told you I wasn’t just rambling on about a random children’s story I had only first found out about this week. 

Hopefully you understand how it links to what I’m saying though. 

On to the next point! 

#2 The sinful

The previous subheading took longer time to talk about than I thought, so unfortunately I will have to cut it to just two subheadings today. I only have half an hour left.

When I say the sinful, I don't mean those that have sinned. That's basically everyone. There isn't anyone on this Earth that hasn't sinned, even if some people actually seem perfect.

The problem is when you condemn others for their mistakes. 

Some people do that very easily. Someone makes a mistake and suddenly they're the worst person in the world. It's not right. If you want to point fingers, make sure your hands are clean.

Or even better, just don't point them at all.

This happened in John 8 vs 1-11.

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At sunrise he arrived again in the temple courtyard. All the people gathered around him there. He sat down to teach them. 

3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman. She had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of the group. 

4 They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who was not her husband. 

5 In the Law, Moses commanded us to kill such women by throwing stones at them. Now what do you say?” 

6 They were trying to trap Jesus with that question. They wanted to have a reason to bring charges against him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 

7 They kept asking him questions. So he stood up and said to them, “Has any one of you not sinned? Then you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

8 He bent down again and wrote on the ground.

9 Those who heard what he had said began to go away. They left one at a time, the older ones first. Soon only Jesus was left. The woman was still standing there. 

10 Jesus stood up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Hasn’t anyone found you guilty?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then I don’t find you guilty either,” Jesus said. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

In verse 6, the people wanted dirt on Jesus. They knew he was perfect, so they were trying to see him sin so that they could have used that against him. 

People will do that to you in society. They want to see you fail. Don't give them to satisfaction.

If people want to see you fail, give them the opposite thing. Let them see you succeed.

Sinful people will not enter Heaven. 

I'm talking about sinning on purpose, which links to unbelievers not entering Heaven, but that's another story for another day.

I have numerous Scriptures on no one being perfect and everyone sinning (1 John 1:8, Romans 3:23, Romans 3:10, and then some), but let me quickly reference Romans 6:23 because I seriously need to go to bed.

When you sin, the pay you get is death. But God gives you the gift of eternal life. That’s because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.

I always get Romans 6:23 and 3:23 mixed up, but essentially what this verse is saying is that people die mainly because of sin.

Sometimes people die because their life was or is going to be very sinful. And because God doesn't want them to suffer, he therefore decided to end their life.

If you want to enter divinity in motion, you have to sin as little as you can! I can't say not at all, that's not possible.

When you do sin, make sure to repent and never do the same sin again. 

You might by accident, although I mean intentionally. However, try to avoid doing the same sin by accident too.

Not all good people enter Heaven either, but again, that is another story for another day. I do have to get going now, and I hope you were blessed by this post.

So now you know two characteristics you need to avoid if you want to enter divinity in motion.  

I guess that's a new euphemism or synonym for the process of entering Heaven - to divinity in motion. But seriously. I'm not saying avoid being rich, just ensure your riches are not taking over your love for God.

Did God not give you the riches? 😁

Anytime God gives you something, thank him. What God gives you is actually his that he gave to you, it's technically not yours.

Isaiah 42:8 moreover says:

“I am the Lord. That is my name!
I will not let any other god share my glory.
I will not let statues of gods share my praise."

Hence why the rich man couldn't really enjoy his riches in Luke 12:15-21. Because had given glory to himself.

If you can, you should also give something up for Lent. It's a time of fasting, or giving something up for God. Maybe a  habit you don't like, or a habit you just want to lessen. Verses linked to Lent can be Romans 12:1, 1 Peter 5:6, and then some.

Romans 12:1 - Brothers and sisters, God has shown you his mercy. So I am asking you to offer up your bodies to him while you are still alive. Your bodies are a holy sacrifice that is pleasing to God. When you offer your bodies to God, you are worshiping him in the right way.

1 Peter 5:6 - So make yourselves humble. Put yourselves under God’s mighty hand. Then he will honour you at the right time.

It's for 40 days. It started March 2 and finishes April 14.

Time will not allow me to say more. That's all for now, and I might add on to this later (but I've worked too hard and am pretty impatient not to publish this post the day I wrote it). 

See you next time! 

Lola

Inner Beauty Matters More

 Sunday 13th February 2022

Hey, what's up? I hope you have been well. I know I have.

As indicated in the previous post just over 2 weeks ago now:

(Click to enlarge)

This post will be about why outer beauty matters less than inner beauty - but it still matters. I'm not saying that you shouldn't look fashionable and just dress anyhow. 

That's far off from the truth right now. Long story short, this post will be about why your looks aren't everything. 

I also said that I will post in due time back then - and it's due time now.

God wanted me to post today and I did too actually, but I didn't realise until just a few minutes ago that God wanted me to post today for a specific reason. I just realised that today is the eight months anniversary of Supernatural Superstar. 

I started this website June 13th 2021 and today is February 13th 2022. It's almost been a year! We are 75% of the way there! Time actually flies sometimes.

On to today's topic, which is inner beauty mattering more than outer beauty.

 I will also make some references to some other topics as well when indispensable, such as how you shouldn't judge others based on the way they look.

The reason I decided to do this topic today is because we either like someone or don't like someone mainly based on the way they look, assuming that we don't actually know said person. 

This inevitably isn't true for everyone, as in, not everyone judges someone based on the way they look. Unfortunately, I do sometimes, but not in that way. 

Back in the past, I sparingly used to think that attractive people were perfect and had no problems. So therefore, I would always wish to be more attractive. I think we have all wished that at some points in our lives. 

You might not know or remember what I look like. Here is a collage. It's also at the top, which I just decided to add now.

I need to stop making videos at the top, it's getting too much. 

Sides? Yeah, maybe. But top, no.

This collage took forever to make. I'm not even going to lie. I just thought it would be combining 11 photos together with music. 

But my phone decided to lag a few times when I was doing it and I got frustrated so I had to transfer everything to my laptop last minute. I'm a patient person but sometimes I guess I just can't be. 🤷

When I typed this, I forgot that there are pictures of me everywhere, but here is a collage anyway because why not?

(Song: Been There by 21:03, this gospel group I like)

Am I the prettiest girl out there? Of course not.

Do I want to be?

No, I don't actually. 

Because I wouldn't really know who likes me for me and not based on the way I look. I may not have the prettiest face but I am trying to have the prettiest heart.

Which is working, a lot of people have told me I am a sweet person.

There is nothing wrong with being attractive by the way, of course there isn't. The problem lies though when you use the way you look in vain, as in to manipulate or gaslight other people for example. 

Gaslighting is questioning someone's sanity through manipulative methods and it happens more constantly than you think.

Here is what the Bible has said about judging other people, which you can find in Matthew 7:1, which says:

Do not judge other people. Then you will not be judged.

I don't really like confessing things although sometimes I have to.  Especially if it links to what I am talking about.

I don't want anyone thinking that none of these posts apply to me and they only apply to you guys. That's not true. Occasionally they can apply to me as well.

What I'm about to confess?

I mean - it's not like seriously serious, but it does link to today's topic.

At times when I was younger, I have thought some people were rude because they "looked" rude.

Had I actually talked to said people before? No I hadn't.

I had just assumed that they were rude based on the way they had looked. Then I met them and they had turned out to be the nicest people ever. 

That's why you really shouldn't judge someone based on the way they look.

Some people are beautiful but when they speak - it's the completely opposite thing. Some attractive people are so rude that you can't even find attractiveness in them anymore.

Unfortunately, society has some beauty standards and those who have it are considered attractive. But let me quickly mention 1 Samuel 16:7, which says this:

"But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider how handsome or tall he is. I have not chosen him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outside of a person. But the Lord looks at what is in the heart.”

God does not focus on your looks. And you need to stop thinking that he does or you aren't worth anything because of the way you look. 

We are our own harshest critic sometimes and honestly I do wish at times that we could all see ourselves through someone else's eyes. What you hate or dislike about yourself in terms of appearances, other people might not even notice.

Cases in point? I have two:

So I was watching this Dove advert towards the end of 2021, which is pretty long to describe so let me just add the video here, sorry:

This video is not just about women, it's about everyone, regardless of gender.

Since I'm not lazy and I am a kind person, I can do a summary of the video.

So basically, there was an artist who had to draw someone describing themselves to them. But he couldn't see them. He had drawn them on one side. 

On the other side, a stranger had to describe how they had seen one of the other people that the artist had drawn except from them.

Then everyone had seen both pictures. How they had described themselves and how someone else had described them.

I'm not always the best at explaining things so I hope I described it well.

The second one which I just remembered I had forgot to mention was this video of three or so people looking in a mirror separately and saying what they didn't like about themselves.

They didn't realise that behind the mirror were other people who had listened to them talk about what they might not have liked about themselves. 

They had said nice things about them which was recorded and they had heard everything after.

Recently, I have been thinking that I have small eyes. There was this specific eye type I wanted which I can't really describe but I didn't have it.

But that was just the devil speaking to me. When I was playing back the collage that was uploaded earlier in this post: I was thinking Wow. That is me. I am beautiful, regardless of what other people say.

We are all beautiful. You can also make links to Psalms 139:14, which says the following:

How you made me is amazing and wonderful.
    I praise you for that.
What you have done is wonderful.
    I know that very well.

Some people think that they look amazing in photos and videos that they take of themselves, but if someone else was to do the same thing, they don't look as good.

That's why I am going to start focusing on photos and videos that I take of myself because I know I look better in that. How others see you is not important, how you see yourself is everything.

This doesn't mean that you should just disregard every single opinion about you. Yeah, opinions are not facts, but even then, if people are constantly telling you a negative trait about you, then I'm 100% certain you need that to work on that.

So whilst you shouldn't care about what other people think of you (as if you do, you're not really being yourself and you're just being what other people want you to be), I guess at times you do need to.

So if a lot of people said to you that you're too impatient for example in the sense that you jump to conclusions too quickly, you don't just yell out:

Screw you! Who cares what you think?!!

No, you take time to try and become more patient as well as jump to conclusions less.

I can't remember where I read it exactly but I read somewhere that one of the biggest regrets of the dying or those on their deathbed is not living for themselves and living the way others had expected them to instead.

However, that's another story for another day.

One of my favourite verses in the Bible (about inner beauty) is Jeremiah 17:10, which says the following:

The Lord says, “I look deep down inside human hearts.
    I see what is in people’s minds.
I reward each person in keeping with their conduct.
    I bless them based on what they have done.”

You might feel underappreciated or some type of negative emotion if you are a kind person but because of the way you look, people aren't really attracted to you or interested in you like that.

Don't worry if this is the case. Because as the verse says, God sees your heart and he will reward you based on what your actions deserve.

Later on in this post, I am going to mention reasons as to why outer beauty doesn't matter as much as inner beauty does (however it is still important).

So with your looks, what I am trying to say here is whilst they are significant, you should really be focusing more on what's inside. Work on improving yourself most especially how you are going to be you for the rest of your life.

You're not you and then when you turn, I don't know, 30, you become someone else. I actually wouldn't like that. And I am sure you wouldn't either.

I have tried to work on improving myself, and it has really paid off. The other day, someone online said to me:

"You know, sometimes I wish I could be like you"

There is this app I have where I post about God a lot. I think they were really inspired by me and by that, specifically how on the app, no one really posts or talks about God as vehemently as I do.

If you know me, you know I'm not really a social media person. I only have Whatsapp and this reading and writing app (combined) but I'm not revealing my username on that. 

I have nothing against social media. And I used to have it; I just deleted it.

When they told me that they had wished they could be like me, I was just laughing in a joking way.

I also did unseriously think who would want to be me 🤣🤣? But you'd be surprised at who'd want to trade positions with you if they could. I definitely was.

I love my life and myself but I never would have thought anyone would have wanted to be like me in any way. This was sometime in 2021 but I can't remember what month.

And even if someone doesn't explicitly tell you that they wish they were like you in some aspects, they could be thinking it. You never know how many people you could secretly inspire.

Or how many people look up to you.

Before I close today, I did say I would mention some reasons as to why inner beauty is more important than outer beauty. I am going to mention three.

The reasons were all made by me.

#Because looks fade

How many people do you know or know of that were attractive when they were younger but aren't anymore?

I know a few, mainly celebrities though, or ex celebrities. No one I know personally.

Proverbs 31:30 says:

Charm can fool you. Beauty fades.
    But a woman who has respect for the Lord should be praised.

The verse does not say an attractive woman should be praised. It says someone who has respect for the Lord should be instead.

Let me tell you something.

The longest marriage ever was between Karam and Kartari Chand. They're both dead now and they were married for 90 years.

I'm not sure if they were legitimately married for 90 years as in their culture, I think people naturally married young so I'm not sure if it actually counts as anything.

But either way, they did live and marry each other for a long time. They both inevitably saw their 100th birthday.

Their marriage was long not because of the way the other person looked but because they had loved each other. It's the same thing for God.

Those in Heaven right now or will get to Heaven when they have died don't necessarily have to be the most attractive people. They just had to serve the Lord. And repented.

#Because the Bible says so

I've already mentioned some Bible verses about this so I might keep this one short. 

However -- you know the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21?

If you don't, let me just quickly reference it:

16 Then Jesus told them a story. He said, “A certain rich man’s land produced a very large crop. 

17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have any place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. I will store my extra grain in them. 

19 I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain stored away for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and have a good time.” ’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You foolish man! Tonight I will take your life away from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “That is how it will be for whoever stores things away for themselves but is not rich in the sight of God.”

God wanted to take his life away from him because of his Heart. The Jeremiah 17:10 scripture I mentioned above said that God will reward you or punish you based on what your actions deserve.

It doesn't matter if you are the most attractive person on the planet -- if your Heart isn't in the right place, something bad can happen to you. 

And I certainly don't wish that for anyone.

#Because our spirit goes to Heaven or Hell, not our body

I learnt this month actually, or maybe the last one that we are actually a spirit, we were just given a body.

The outer beauty, or the body turns to dust after we die, but the inner beauty, or our spirit, either goes to Heaven or Hell depending on how you lived your life.

Your looks don't determine where you end up after you die. No, it's your spirit and your inner beauty.

And if someone ever criticises you or says something nasty about your looks, just tell them that the Lord focuses on what's inside and not what's outside.

Unfortunately, my time is up and this is all I have to say for today. Just remember that you are beautiful inside and out, and make sure that you are more beautiful on the inside than outside.

Or something along those lines.

One more reason as to why looks aren't more important than inner beauty which I had just thought of now is because it doesn't guarantee happiness.

A very pretty girl on Instagram that I heard about without necessarily having the app killed herself in August 2020 I believe. 

One would have thought that because of the way she looked, she had it all, but she didn't.

Not just that. This very pretty model took her own life recently too. I know both of their names but for confidentiality reasons, I'm not going to reveal them.

So many pretty people have ended their lives deliberately or have abused their body. Only God can keep you satisfied, and also remember that your body is a temple so don't abuse it (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Nothing else really can satisfy you except the Lord at all times.

 This is in my favourite Bible verse of all time now: Isaiah 58:11.

I will always guide you.
    I will satisfy your needs in a land baked by the sun.
    I will make you stronger.
You will be like a garden that has plenty of water.
    You will be like a spring whose water never runs dry.

I hope that all of this happens to you, amen!

See you next time!

Lola xxx

Use Your Talent(s) For God

 Thursday 27th January 2022

What's up?

I'll be honest, I wasn't planning on posting today. 

I mean I had a topic in mind as always, and I even have a topic for the next time I post on this page (which I'm not going to reveal right now hehehe) but God wanted me to post today and who am I to disobey him?

It's been exactly 15 days since I've posted on this page last so that's probably why God wants me to post. I don't mind posting today, even if my next one wasn't really planned until February.

As you can see, today's topic is called:

Use Your Talent(s) For God

There's a specific reason as to why I have decided to choose this topic today.

Except from it being God inspired like every other topic, I feel like this one is also coming personally from the Heart.

All my posts are from the Heart, but I have a feeling I can relate to this one the most. And I hope you guys are blessed as I speak to y'all today amen.

This post might be a little bit different in the sense that I'm going to be talking quite a lot about myself, which isn't something I really do on here, or like doing much in real life.

So if you don't know really who I am, or if you do but not fully, I suppose in this post you get to find out more about me. 

So why have I decided to choose this topic?

♫ In fact

Me I don’t know where to start
Me I no fit solve the maths
E dey blow my mind dey go o ♫

(Nosa - Why You Love Me)

I'll start from here. Have you guys ever really thought about why I have decided to start this website?

Yes, it was an instruction from God. 

But God wouldn't have just told me to start it for no reason, or if I wasn't capable of handling or doing it. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, God says that he will never give us more than what we can handle. He knew I could handle it.

God wanted me to start it because he wanted me to bless you guys reading. Also he knows I have a talent / hobby in writing. 

So I am using my talent to tell you guys to use your talent. A chain of events 😁

Let's begin!

What is a talent?

A talent is something you are good at, although it should be differentiated from a hobby because a hobby and a talent are two different things. I mentioned this on here last year, so let me just quickly copy and paste what I said. 

It's in a different colour so you know I got it from somewhere else.

//

Making a nursery is my purpose in life. You ultimately need to discover what yours is.

But let me tell you something.

Just because you are good at something does not mean that you have to pursue it as a career. Likewise, there is a difference between a talent and a hobby.

Let me use myself as an example.

Playing the keyboard is most definitely one of my talents. Maybe my only one for now, along with looking after babies, if you could count that as a talent anyway.

Would I ever consider a piano career though?

Probably not. Because I'm very introverted, depending on who I'm with, I only really play the piano at home. Never in public - maybe because I'm afraid of screwing up.

Plus A Level Music was apparently not what I thought it was when I said I wanted to do it. So I heard that it's not really about music. More so the history of music.

I love music but not history.

Drawing, dancing and writing stories / updating this website - those are all my hobbies. I guess I'm talented at them, minus dancing although I see them more as hobbies. 

And that brings me to the difference between a talent and a hobby.

The difference between hobby and talent - from this website

Never referred to a link as this website before but there's a first time for everything!

A “hobby” is an activity that one enjoys doing in one’s spare time and “talent” is a marked natural ability or skill. 

Some things can be both, don't get me wrong. They're not mutually exclusive events.

 For example, my piano talent I was talking about.

Just because something is for someone else doesn't mean it's for you. ie like I've been saying all this time. I could never be an actress, but someone else, maybe someone more extroverted and is more comfortable being on TV can.

The same thing can be reversed too - someone out there could hate looking after babies, probably because they may cry too much or because it's too much work but like I said, I love them.

That's why you shouldn't compare yourself to others. Everyone's journey is different.

Also, just because you're moving slower than your friends doesn't mean that you're failing. Besides, slow progress is still progress, even if it doesn't seem that way.

From my post This Is Your Life

//

The post I just referenced was about finding your purpose in life. Talents and hobbies came up by coincidence and I'm glad it did otherwise I wouldn't have been able to copy and paste.

No one is good at everything, but everyone is good at something.

Proverbs 22:29 says Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.

I used that verse there and I'm using it here.

So I just told you guys what I'm good at. Now let me tell you what I'm not so good at instead. 

But inevitably, as this post is about talents, I will be taking more about my strengths than my weaknesses, as I want (to hopefully encourage) you guys to use your strengths for the Lord. 

I even wanted to do Creative Writing at Nottingham as a replacement for Computer Science, until I found out that it has aspects of drama in it. I can't act to save my life.

What I'm not good at, I don't really mind not being good at as I may not even like it in the first place.

So I'm not good at science. Then again, I guess I don't really like it, especially Biology.

I'm not against those who like Biology. It's just not for me. Biology made me very unhappy.

I'm not good at Geography, History and Maths etc ... long story short, my strengths lie in a majority of the creative subjects. 

I can't say that I am good at all the creative subjects because I am not and I don't want to be. My destiny for my life might not even include all of my talents anyway. But it's certainly down that road.

What I'm good at, someone else might not be good at. Whereas what someone else is good at, I might not be good at. Either way, you should use your talents for God and for the greater good.

As Miklez would say:

Souls are perishing, do the work!

I used to think that what I was good at or liked doing wasn't of anything beneficial to me because I didn't really use it in my daily life. I mostly thought this at secondary school.

I didn't really use the piano for anything, and back then I didn't really use my writing hobby either. I wasn't good at dancing back then either. I didn't even dance in general.

Colossians 3:23-24 says 23 Work at everything you do with all your heart. Work as if you were working for the Lord, not for human masters. 24 Work because you know that you will finally receive as a reward what the Lord wants you to have. You are slaves of the Lord Christ.

Please be aware that when it says slaves, it just simply means that we work for God. God's work will never go unnoticed. You can even ask God to bring what you've done for him to remembrance.

You can find this in Isaiah 43:26

Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence.

This is God talking to you. God wants you to bring to remembrance what you have done for him. I mean, he already remembers, but it's simultaneously a way of you communicating to him. 

God wants to hear from you as much as he can - we just don't always do that.

I originally typed that God wants to hear from you 24/7, and whilst he does, I'm also aware that it might not always be possible for you to speak to God. 

Actually - now that I think about it, I don't think that there is any situation in life where you can't speak to God. Nevertheless, he does still want to hear from you as much as he can.

If anything, you speaking to God will definitely make things better.

It took me ages to find that verse. I was kind of panicking because I really wanted to use it. It's like one of those verse where you partially know what it says but you forget where it is from.

I said partially because I thought I knew what the verse said but I didn't really. Changing a couple of words of a verse you're trying to remember really makes a difference on the results you get.

Inevitably, I wouldn't be telling you guys to use your talent(s) for God if I haven't been doing so myself, and I have.

If you are blessed like me, you could have more than one talent or hobby.

When I was in Nottingham, I used to be an instrumentalist because of my piano talent. I also remember playing the piano in church coincidentally in front of everyone. It was a coincidence because I didn't intend for it to happen.

I actually didn't expect that to happen. I was so scared. I don't like playing in front of a lot of people. It was Sunday October 4th 2020.

However I guess I did like the experience.

I played Grade 9 Maple Leaf Rag which I don't remember much of anymore. If you're curious as to what it sounds like, I linked it here:

I don't use that talent much, but I genuinely did play the song. I would show evidence but like I said, I don't remember the whole song anymore. There are gaps in my knowledge. 

I'm definitely not Grade 9 piano. I'm self taught. I just learn what I want to learn.

I am now in Essex, where I am a Dancing Star, and occasionally Pulpit Star too. I was inspired by the Dancing Stars and I thought if they can do something for God, so can I.

Am I the best dancer there? Of course not.

Does it matter? No it doesn't.

I would never compare myself to any of the other dancers in Dancing Stars because I know that a majority of them have had years more experience than me. Even if we have all been dancing for the same amount of time - I still wouldn't compare because everyone dances differently.

As long as you put in energy and work hard for God, no one will know that you're not the best dancer there - or how much dance experience you've had.

I love dancing. It doesn't matter if you are the best at something, all you have to do is try your best.

If you know me, sometimes on Whatsapp I do post videos of me dancing (very rarely though), sometimes more than I do with Dancing Stars. 

WhatsApp is more or less the only social media I have that I use. I have another one where you write stories but that one is private and personal. I had Instagram and Snapchat but I deleted them both. 

I have decided to upload my favourite dance that I have uploaded on Whatsapp before below. I'll explain why it's my favourite later.

This was my favourite dance for a number of reasons:

1. My favourite Gospel song

2. First and only time I have used a prop. That notebook thing had to be done flawlessly. It was a lot harder than it looked, more so when I actually wanted to open it.

3. I like my braids 😍 which I didn't want at first but it really grew on me.

With these videos, I normally speed them up and make up the choreography myself. If I don't speed them up, they'd be too long and too slow. But when I dance with Dancing or Pulpit Stars, it's always normal speed.

I don't always dance to Gospel music, sometimes non Gospel music, inevitably careful of lyrics. 

I generally mix  it up.

I'm grateful because before I joined Dancing Stars, I would have never done something like that. 

I would have never really uploaded a video of me dancing. But due to me using my dancing hobby for God, I guess it soon turned into a talent.

When you use a hobby for God, goodness knows - it could turn into a talent.

I have another hobby which I don't really talk about or use. It's not a talent though - what I can do with the hobby is very limited.

I can draw. I drew this the other day.

I didn't say I could draw accurately. I just said I can draw 😅

I prefer piano / dancing to drawing so I'm not really fussed about not being too talented in this hobby. 

I can only draw with pen and pencil anyway. Anything else, not really. Also I can never really draw accurately. So I'm very limited.

I'd say I'm semi-talented at art.

That's enough about me, like I said I don't really like talking about myself unless I don't really have a choice.

Here are some scriptures on using your talents for God.

1 Peter 4:10-11

10 God’s gifts of grace come in many forms. Each of you has received a gift in order to serve others. You should use it faithfully. 

11 If anyone speaks, they should do it as one speaking God’s words. If anyone serves, they should do it with the strength God provides. Then in all things God will be praised through Jesus Christ. Glory and power belong to him for ever and ever. Amen.

Romans 12:6 

We all have gifts. They differ according to the grace God has given to each of us. Do you have the gift of prophecy? Then use it according to the faith you have.

Now you may feel as though you don't have a talent, or you can't really use it for the Lord because it "isn't big enough".

I mentioned this in the testimony I intermittently talk about on here. The one I did at church.

However, since it's kinda long for me to crop it and upload it here, I will just summarise what I said.

There's no gift or talent that is too small for the Lord. Don't think that there is.

Even if your gift isn't like dancing or singing or being an instrumentalist,  if you can do something like media then that's still something big for the Lord.

Besides, when using your talent for God, you don't necessarily have to be good at it straight away. You can always learn. 

For example, I'm learning to do media despite the fact that I'm in Dancing Stars.

If you want to join choir for instance but you can't sing to save your life (like me) - you can always learn!

I'm not too fazed about not being able to sing as I do prefer dancing. That said, I do love and respect people that can sing well, especially for God. And I'm obviously not against anyone that can sing. 

I think Gospel singers are wonderful.

 When I first joined Dancing Stars, I didn't really have any serious dancing experience.

And do you want to know what one of my favourite things about the Lord is?

It's the fact that he doesn't take back his gifts, which you can find in Romans 29:11.

God doesn't take back his gifts, but he can deal with the person that he gave the gift to. Assuming that they're using it incorrectly.

Matthew 6:5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Not just praying, anything in general. Including using your talents for the Lord.

Don't just use it for the Lord to impress others. Do it to serve and inspire others.

That's not what the scripture says, however my pastor from my home church did say that one day and I was just quoting them.

Everyone has a talent, even if you don't necessarily think that you do. You most likely haven't discovered it yet, and that's okay.

There's this quote I know that says there are two great days of your life: when you are born and when you discover why.

So for me, I'm born July 9th 2002, and my purpose in life is to serve God and to own an international nursery! 

Not be part of or work in, own! And I know with God, that will happen!

I didn't know what I wanted to do in the future for a long time, and it took me changing courses and universities to figure it out.

As I close today, I realise that I mentioned Romans 12 earlier. Here is what I wanted to say from there:

3 God’s grace has been given to me. So here is what I say to every one of you. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given to each of you. 

4 Each of us has one body with many parts. And the parts do not all have the same purpose. 5 So also we are many persons. But in Christ we are one body. And each part of the body belongs to all the other parts. 

6 We all have gifts. They differ according to the grace God has given to each of us. Do you have the gift of prophecy? Then use it according to the faith you have. 

7 If your gift is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. 

8 Is it encouraging others? Then encourage them. Is it giving to others? Then give freely. Is it being a leader? Then work hard at it. Is it showing mercy? Then do it cheerfully.

Encouraging others can also be a gift. 

So if you don't do this already, always use your gifts to serve the Lord, and if you already do that, keep doing it for the rest of your life or until you are old and can no longer do it anymore.

I certainly will.

That's a wrap for today - and because I am an extremely nice person, I have decided to give y'all a heads up about the next post on this page. Post of Encouragement and Underrated Bible Scriptures are on separate pages.

The next post in February will be all about how inner beauty is more important than outer. I have decided to do this because we live in a  society that places looks above personality.

And whilst I don't blame them as you can't fully see personality but you can with looks, I'm also not taking sides either. Either way, the Bible focuses on what's inside, not outside. 

But I'll go in more depth about it all in due time.

So I hope you were blessed today and I also hope that you learnt more about me! :)

Normally I'd use a GIF to say goodbye, but here is a picture of yours truly.

I took it on Christmas Eve. See you angels next time!

Lola xxx