How do you react in the moments when you don't feel loved?

It's easy for the devil to limit our understanding of God's love to physical manifestations. When we don't see these manifestations, we doubt God's love. Our reality seems different from what we feel God's love should be. We search for proof, something to confirm His love.

While listening to the choir sing during worship, I had an experience. The next day after my birthday, I woke up feeling exhausted and joyless. The enemy whispered, "You see, God doesn't love you." Instead of shutting out the voice, I went to church feeling unhappy.

During praise the praise session, I just couldn't make myself to celebrate God's faithfulness but when the worship session began the choir sang, "You are good, you are kind, I have never seen your type, I am devoted to your praise, and forever you are mine." These words brought me back to reality – the reality of God's unwavering love. The words "I love you" felt fresh, as if poured into my heart again. I felt his love in those very moment. 

The love spoken about became clearer to me. It is not based on any physical possessions maybe: a good marriage, a good home, great kids, great jobs, peaceful existence or what have you. 

 He doesn't love us more or less depending on our situation. His love is constant, and He cares for us, keeping us safe. He promises not to fail us.

Remember, whether you feel loved now or are in a season where God's love seems hidden, insist that God loves you. Say to yourself, "God loves me, and I'm glad He thinks about me." All things, good and bad, work together for your good.

This we can truly say: 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28 (NIV)

Stay Revived!

By Guest writer.

How do we Manifest?

Some weeks ago, while sleeping, the Holy Spirit spoke these words to my heart:

"Who has been living, is it you or the scriptures? What has been breathing successfully in you? Because I have sent you to be living epistles, that is to come in the volume of the books that have been written about you. To be this living epistle, that is when you have come alive, the very moment I have come alive in you, living, breathing, and working in you. Be my living epistle."

I knew I had to write it down, or I'd forget once I got busy. Later, while preparing for my birthday, I stumbled upon these words again. I wanted a unique experience, so I decided to go on a three-day fast before my birthday. The Holy Spirit asked me to extend it to five days.

As I sought God for a brighter 28th year, He said, "Happy birthday" with these words:

"I want to do more than provide for your daily needs, give you excellent children, business, or career. I want to live, breathe, and move in you."

If we carry His breath, there's more He wants to do with the breath of life He's deposited in us. It's easy to focus on daily needs, but God wants us to be living epistles.

He's saying, "I need a container that doesn't just house My breath but also My presence, and together we can change a contradictory reality."

It's easy to say "God loves us," but it takes conviction to accept that God loves us truly, regardless of our love for Him or what we can give Him.

God loves you, friend, and wants to manifest in us. The most beautiful experience is to know that God is manifesting in you.

In those moments, we can truly say, "In Him we live, in Him we move, in Him I breathe, and in Him I have my being." (Acts 17:8)

Stay Revived!

By Guest writer.

A Call to Examine Ourselves.

Some time ago, I got a job as a secondary class tutor. One certain day, I disciplined a student who always brings back his assignment undone. A few days later, the child’s mom came to see me. she was upset that I had disciplined her child. As I thought about how parents are quick to come to their children's aid this story came to mind.

We humans often come to the aid of our friends and families when help is needed. Parents are a solid rock to their children. This made me wonder—what was God actually thinking when He decided to give His only begotten Son? What was running through His mind?

He knew He wanted us, and to show how much He loved us, He gave His only begotten Son. This means there was no "only" after Him. Very often, we focus more on the birth of Jesus because it marks the coming of joy to the earth. This birth had been spoken of by many prophets even before He was born, but when He came, only a few acknowledged that He was the one they had been waiting for.

It is not God’s will that anyone should perish, but that everyone should come to repentance. If He wanted us to continue living in sin, bound by the enemy, He would not have sent His Son. There is a place for us to come to repentance, where we accept the Lord. We should not ask if we deserve His forgiveness and love because, when the Lord forgives us, He remembers our sins no more. As it says in the book: “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him, and in whose spirit, there is no deceit.”

When we give ourselves to Christ, we are made fresh before Him, but we must be honest with Him.

Friend, there is so much the Lord has in store for those who love Him, but we must first seek Him while He can be found. We must call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his ways and the evil man his thoughts. When we do this, He comes to our aid. This is a call to examine ourselves.

We are often quick to claim that we are pure and holy, but being sanctified is a question we will answer before the Lord. Yes, many serve Him, and many are in His household, but yet He knows each and every one of us by name. It is time to come boldly before the Lord and seek forgiveness where needed.

Revelation 22:17 says:

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” (NIV)

It’s time for us to examine ourselves and see if we are in faith. May the Lord help us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Stay revived!

From Oversized to Perfect Fit

As a child, I loved new clothes and shoes, but my mom often bought me oversized items. Nigerian mothers believe children will grow into them. Imagine receiving a new dress in primary school, only for it to fit perfectly in your final year of tertiary education.

Reflecting on this, I am reminded that we often ask God for things we're not yet ready to handle. We request so much, yet fail to manage the blessings He's already entrusted to us.

Luke 12:48 (NIV) says, "For everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." God knows our capacity and doesn’t give us more than we can handle. What He has given, He knows we can manage.

Many times, we haven’t received the blessings we desire because we’ve refused to grow. Too often, we get too comfortable and expect things to come to us, believing we deserve them without working towards them.

Yes, Christianity is free, but to experience its fullness, we must work it out with fear and trembling. God is looking for men and women He can trust with His power—those who are prepared to bear the burdens in His heart. It burdens him that we are not living the way He wants us to, but he cannot come from heaven to do our part for us, we have to be intentional about our spiritual and mental growth.

God withholds certain blessings not because He doesn't want to give them to us, but because He understands we are not yet ready to handle them. He patiently waits for us to grow into the person who can manage those blessings. We must be intentional about our spiritual growth before God can trust us with such responsibility. We cannot simply wish for it to happen. It’s important to recognize that what differentiates you from others is the time you've spent at your prayer altar, investing in your spiritual growth.

So, friend wake up and be intentional about your growth, but these blessings may not manifest until we are spiritually and mentally prepared for them. God wants us to understand that we must grow into the fullness He has for us.

Stay revived!