The Outcome Searcher

Last week we had Precious’ powerful testimony and I hope everyone was inspired and I hope we saw how God never leaves us in times of trouble. Today, I’m here with a short message titled: 

THE OUTCOME SEARCHER 

To achieve a good outcome of something, you would have to change. “Change”. I know I’m not the only one that doesn’t like the word “change”. When I go to restaurants, I order the same thing I always order. I never change my order. Never. The same makeup brand I’ve been using 5 years ago is the same one I use now. Why? Because I just don’t like change. I always see it in this light: “I know the outcome of what I’m using now so why would I change it to something else?  What if something goes wrong?”. This is just because I haven’t used other products before and I clearly don’t know the outcome. 

So today’s message came from when I was about to go out the other day and I was doing my hair.

So there’s this specific glue that I use and I wouldn’t change it for anything. My sister also has a different one that she stands by and she won’t change it too. So I was about to go out and I couldn’t find my glue so I had to use my sister’s. The same glue that I’ve been saying was “useless”. So I used it and to be honest my wig stuck on my head better than when I use mine. At that point, this message hit me. I have always been stuck in my ways. If I don’t try something different, how would I know the outcome of it? 

Sometimes in life, change is good. The dictionary defines change as “the act through which something becomes different”. Change involves you leaving what you know and jumping into something you don’t know. It sounds scary, it sounds “long” but if you haven’t tried it how would you know? I personally think change equals faith because when you change something, you are basically just saying “Alright this change will bring me a positive result”. Let’s look at Abraham from the bible. He had faith. In Genesis 12:1-2 when God told him “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing”. He didn’t even question it. He moved. This is faith. He took this step without knowing the outcome. He just had “faith” that this will produce a good outcome. If that was me the first question I’d ask is “Seriously? You want me to leave everything and everyone? Are you playing with me God?”

Sometimes our faith is just as little as Peter’s. We just need to understand that God gave us the ability to be bold. The boldness to walk into a room and all eyes will be on us because we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The boldness to speak. The boldness to do literally “anything” but we just don’t realise it. We allow things that surrounds us to crowd that boldness. You know you want to change that behaviour but that negative voice in your head is telling you “Who are you kidding?”. You know you want to overcome that stress but that same voice is telling you “Forget it darling I’m stuck with you”. You know you want to change that low grades of yours but the negative voice is just saying “Give up. This is the best you can do”. Today, let’s take the boldness back and drive that negative voice out. Peter had faith he could walk on water but as soon as there was a wind his focused changed to “Yes I think I’m going to drown today, save me Lord” (Read Matthew 14:28-31). Don’t let the wind around you change your faith. 

You need to ask yourself: “What am I doing that isn’t going well?” Revision? Prayer? Work? Finding a spouse? Making friends? Once you get an answer for that, your next question should be “How am I going to change that?”. Always try, try, and try until you produce a good outcome. Some people will tweak stuff for the first time and everything will be on point. Others will tweak, tweak and tweak and nothing will change. But the key to a good outcome is “never giving up”. Keep changing, keep trying new things and you will see that your blessings were just along that road that you never thought of taking. Be the outcome searcher. Search for your outcome. Be willing to see where God will take you to once you are ready to change. With God by your side, your change will produce an amazing outcome. 

Prayer: Change is about trusting, having confidence and faith. Lord as I pray today, show me what I need to change if I don’t already know. If I know too, God give me that boldness to change it. Let me produce a good outcome. Help me to never give up. I know there’s nothing too hard for you. Take my situation and change it. I thank you, in Jesus name, Amen. 

Testimony: Tomorrow is that last day of September and I just want to thank God for all He has done for me this month. Without Him, where would I be? I just pray that next month will be filled with blessing and more testimonies. 

Song of the week: I Can Only Imagine- MercyMe

Only If You Knew

So when I started this blog I said I was going to do monthly dedication posts and today, Precious Serwaa-Kusi decided to share her story. Precious and I became friends on Snapchat when I got closer to God. The short time I’ve known her, we’ve done bible plans together, spoken about a lot of things and to be honest, I can’t stress how awesome this girl is. God set her on my mind for this month’s dedication post and I can see why. I hope you gain some inspiration from her testimony and I pray God speaks through her to you. 

She has titled her testimony: 

“ONLY IF YOU KNEW”

(Written by: Precious Serwaa- Kusi)

There are a lot of things you don’t know about me and it shows who’s there waiting for my downfall and who’s there ready in line to be catching me. Just want to give the most high Praises to God, it’s by the grace I’m able to share my own testimony to the world. Also want to appreciate my mum, my dad and my sister for always being by side, advising me and always wishing me the best. It’s by the grace of God, I’m here to share my testimony.

In 2013, I was diagnosed with scoliosis and that’s when the spine curves. I tried everything. I tried a back brace. I even took it to school, wore it from morning to evening “every single day”. I thought it would compress the spine and make it better, but I was wrong and it got worse. During the end of May, I was told I needed to have an operation done on my spine or else it could get worse. I was scared at first, but I decided to proceed with it.

It came to my operation day where everyone was gathered around me and constantly praying for me. At first, I had no clue what was going on because I didn’t know a lot of things about God or Jesus. My operation took 11hours and it was only supposed to take 2hours. It’s by the grace of God that I’m here to tell you my testimony. I began my operation by 8am and finished at 6pm. It’s God who held me down through it all and by the help of my family praying for me continuously. 

I am still ALIVE!

After the operation, I was in intensive care and didn’t open my eyes until the 4th day passed. The operation was on the 13th of June and I opened my eyes on the 17th of June. Imagine? Yep that was me, responsive, alive and breathing. God really kept me. I woke up on the 4th day and complained of not being able to move my leg and every time I ate, I would vomit it out. I felt hopeless. Guests came to visit me but honestly wasn’t up to it. I just wanted to get better. 

My surgeon didn’t understand what was happening to me, but my family continued to pray for me. After some time during intensive care unit, I went to the main ward. I was able to feel my stomach and eat again, but I still couldn’t feel my legs. We tried everything. Even physio. They wanted me in a wheelchair, but I said “no” and decided to take the long way to get better. One day as I went to shower, I said to myself “I shall walk on my own,” as I was walking, I felt my legs moving but it later gave up on me and I fainted.

I was placed on my bed. With my back laid on the bed, I cried out to Jesus. I said “Jesus heal me. I don’t know you that well, but I know you’re a miracle worker and a healer. You raised Lazareth from the dead and I know you shall raise me from the bed.” I slept on it and after a couple of days, I felt my legs tingling. I got off from the bed and placed my feet on the floor and whispered: “Thank you God.”

God has done so much in my life. If God wanted me gone, He would’ve pulled the plug the time they were cutting my back opened. But God held me down and said: “Daughter, you’re my child and you have a purpose in this world and I want you to accomplish it for me.” Ever since, I got baptised and became a born again Christian. I gave myself to the Lord. When you commit your works to the Lord, your plans shall be established, as it is stated in Proverbs 16:3. 

I felt so hopeless and all alone because nobody knew what I was going through. Even during secondary, I’d put on a fake smile, but honestly deep down in my heart I was never happy. Allow God to use you. When the Lord uses you, he will use you to the end of times. He has used me and I’m growing more and more and learning more and more new things about Christ. Turn to the Lord. Go on your knees and pray. This is the time to build a foundation and a relationship with the Lord.

Use your past as a determination to grow your faith in the Lord. I trusted the Lord and I was able to serve him, abundantly. Now I’m serving with joy and peace in my heart. I still go through tough issues with my back, but I know the Lord hears my heart especially when my lips cannot move for me. As it is stated in 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” The Lord loves you. 

Romans 1:16, Psalms 27:3, Psalms 27:7, Psalms 27:13-14

COME TO HIM CHILDREN OF THE LORD & LET YOUR REQUEST BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD! 

God will make a way, where there seems to be no way!

Well, that was Precious’ powerful testimony. I hope you were inspired. Always remember that God loves you and He will never forsake you. Always trust Him and He shall direct your path. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. We  thank you for your love and grace. We pray that you grant us with that love and grace you showed Precious. When we face anything, help us build our faith rather than lose it. Let us trust in you always. We bless you in Jesus name, Amen. 

Message to Precious: Thank you so much for sharing this and may God bless you and grant you all your heart desires. Whenever you are in pain just remember “By his stripes we are healed” Isaiah 53:5. I hope to have you back with more testimonies. 

Song of the day: Nothing like your presence- William McDowell ft. Travis Greene & Nathaniel Bassey

Her Snapchat is: Precious_kusi



Leave it, Move.

I just want to thank God for all our lives and for bringing us here today. I still can’t believe today is the 15th of September. It is like we entered 1st September and I blinked twice and it’s the 15th already. I also thank everyone that has been reading this blog. May God bless you all. 

So, I have spoken about giving myself to God and having faith...the two most important and common things I think every believer should know. I was coming back to talk about “faith” again but God said, “Sarah let’s put that on pause for now, let me tell you what to talk about this week. In fact, let me tell you what to talk about this week and next week”. So I’m here today, with this lovely title God gave me: 

LEAVE IT, MOVE. 

I have this bad habit that I didn’t realise I had until I got this message. So I don’t like throwing my clothes away. If they were from 10 years ago or 20 years ago, if it fits or not, I like to keep it. Half of my clothes don’t fit me anymore but I just like to keep them for memories (I know it sounds silly). I know my sister will read this right now and say “God I thank you for giving her this realisation” cause this habit annoys her a lot. Last year, I wore less than half of the stuff I took to university but at the end of the year, I packed all of them happily and put them back into storage for this year when I clearly know I’m not going to wear them again. I wanted to throw or give some away but I just can’t. But God told me, “I will put you in a tight position where you would have to let go in order to feel comfortable”. I thought “Alright I’m here for it”. Bear in mind, I didn’t even think God was talking about this habit. I just thought it was something He was saying to me. 

So before we paid for the house we are about to move in, I got this thought to “take the middle room”. That wasn’t a bad idea. Vanessah on my right, Mariam on my left, me in the middle, sweet stuff. So we went to see the house after paying for it and guess what? The middle room was small, I said “Erm, I don’t think that “take the middle room” thought was from God because why would He want me to have this tiny room?”. My friends and I started thinking, who will get this small room because the other two rooms looks very good and this one is just small and very plain. So I told them, “I’ll pray about it”. Last week I was doing my morning devotion when God said: “I’m putting in you that small room so you can get rid of your stuff, you don’t need it”. It was then that I realised “this is the tight position he wanted to put me in”. It’s weird how God can use anything to communicate with you. Well, God is saying to you today, that past you keep carrying around with you, leave it and move on. You don’t need all of that. You are trying to be a different person, a changed person, an important person, but that past you keep bringing with you is overcrowding your future. Just like how my unwanted clothes will overcrowd me if I don’t let go of it. 

You may think of yourself as unworthy before God because of your past or your present, because of the things that goes through your mind now,  because of your actions or attitude, but God still has a future for you. Apostle Paul from the bible used to talk against God and persecuted Christians even to the fact that he ordered for them to be killed. He even referred to himself in 1 Timothy 1:15 as “the worst of sinners”. He was forgiven by God and was used to do greatness. Even Paul, yeah the Christian killer. What have you done that you’re holding on to and you think God’s plans ain’t opened to you? God is saying, it’s about time we let that side go. Look at it this way, if you give up your clothes or throw them away, it is gone forever right? When you remember that top or shorts, you can’t go back to the bin man and say “Two months ago I threw my top away and I’m back to get it” or you can’t go to the charity shop and say “Yeah I brought my pink booty shorts here the other day and to be honest, I think I need it back”. It is impossible.

So when you are letting go of that past, as humans, it will always be at the back of your mind and you will always think about it but you gave it away, so don’t let it come back and overtake your life. The bible says in  Ephesians 4:22-24 that you should let go of your bad habits and be a new person. Isaiah 43:18-19 also says “But forget all that, it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new”. The bible said it not me. Are you not curious to know what that new thing is? Letting go sounds hard sometimes, but you would have to want to do it in order to actually do it. 

Letting go of your past helps you to focus on your future. If you open that wardrobe every day, it is spacious now, you can see everything clearly. If there was a lot of clothes in that small wardrobe, it gets crowded up.  What do you have to give away today in order to look into the future, in order to feel free, in order to see what God has planned for you? Leave the past, and step into the future. Let God use you. Let him move you to another level. He has a plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11 confirms it. 

If you can’t let go, ask God to help you. He will put you in that position where you will know that “okay, it’s time I let this go”. He will put you in that  position where you will learn that God wants to manifest His glories over your life.  Always ask yourself this “What does God have planned for me if I let this go?”. It may not be something huge, but it will be worth it. Let me end with 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day. I am here today to ask you to help me in letting go of some things. It may be my attitude, it may be my behaviour, it may be something I don’t even know of yet. Please help me and guide me through it. I thank you Lord, I bless you in Jesus name, Amen.

Testimony: I want to thank God for adding another year to my brother’s life. It is God’s protection and grace that has brought him this far. I also thank God for His glories and mercies upon my life. I pray for more testimonies and more blessings upon everyone’s life. 

Song of the day: Great are you Lord- Todd Galberth 

Cause I listened to this song today and I liked it I’m going to leave that below too. Have a lovely week everyone. 

Why me?

I was sitting there and thinking and I came into a conclusion that honestly, I don’t think God is real. God is not good cause why would people go through what they go through if God is real? Why does my education have to be so difficult if God is real? Seriously though let’s think about that. Why does that illness still exist if God is real or “God is great”. Yes, I know last week I was the same person that said all that I was saying about God and He is good and everything but here I am today saying otherwise. 

I know for a quick second you got that “Wait what?” feeling and you are confused or your heart probably skipped a beat thinking “am I reading the right thing?”. Yes, you are. I know these are the thoughts that actually goes through our minds. I know we doubt the fact that God is real because of our current situations and it is normal to have that doubt. We are all humans and it happens. But we forget the fact that “we are still breathing”. It is by His grace that we are still alive. God woke you up today and said “Hey, good morning my child, today is another chance for me to show you how great I am. Today, I’m giving you another chance for you to come to me. Today I want to show you that if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask anything and it shall be established. Today is another day for you to start walking in your purpose, my child”. People slept and didn’t wake up, some may have walked in their purpose and accomplished what God wanted them to accomplish, some didn’t get the opportunity to do so, so be grateful. You might not have the best car, the best work, the best life partner, but you have breath. 

WHY ME? 

After my first blog, I was thinking, “hmm what can I write about next” and I got the thought to write about “Reassurance”. I tried to write it by myself but it wasn’t great so I left it to God to help me write this. So today, God and I are here to reassure you. We all go through something in our lives, don’t we? And we all start to fall back and think “God if you are God, why this? Why me?”. Let me ask you this question. We know how every physical fight happens, don’t we? Have you ever seen someone stood there, hitting the air and saying “Yes I’m winning this fight?” If you have please check up on the person and see if they are “okay” because that isn’t normal. Fighting in my opinion is battling and when battling, you aim to be the winner. Yes, you might be battling with that illness, battling with that financial problem, battling with that 2,000 words essay, battling with family issues but God is here to tell you today “The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm” (Exodus 14:14). 

Just like that? Just as easy as that? Well, the bible says in Matthew 11:28 that “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” so my understanding is that if I go to God, He will take my burdens away from me. Yes, God knows everything that is happening to you but He wants you to personally come to him and ask Him for His help to prove to Him that “Yes you trust him and you believe He has the power to solve everything”. Asking God to help you doesn’t mean as soon as that “Amen” is said that everything will be done. Be patient, and don’t lose that faith. God told Abraham he will be a father, it took 25 years but it still happened. David waited 20 years after being chosen to be a king to finally be king. They waited that long and they were human. If they can do it you can too. 

I’m quite sure most of you know how rejection from a job can make you stressed. It was like they had a button next to them, as soon as I pressed “applied” the website was like “No boo boo, REJECT!”. That was me last year. I had to start paying my phone bills and for monthly bills for my house in university and I had no job so I was really stressed just thinking of it. On the day that I had to change my phone contract I was crying because when we called them, the prices they were saying was giving me heartburns. So I remember lying in the couch and I said “God, I leave this into your hands. Please help me”. So I decided to change carriers to see if they had cheaper contracts and I was on the phone to carphone warehouse when my twin called me to come, and that the people we called in the morning has called back saying “they will change my contract to unlimited everything even for cheaper”. I just stood there and said how can this happen like God actually knew how stressed I was and He came through when I prayed. The day after that my friend Mariam messaged me a job and told me to apply for. I was already thinking of “rejection”. So I applied for it then I went to bed. The next day I woke up to an interview email. I went to the interview and honestly, God was in control because I had no idea what the job was even about. The interviewer answered all the questions for me and all we did was just sit and talk about the famous argument: “how I thought Ghanaians were better than Nigerians” (cause he was Nigerian). 

On my way back home, I was asked to donate for like some children hospital from September to February and I told the man “I wish I could but I don’t know if I will be able to. But sign me up and I’ll see what I will do”. So I was thinking “now I have bills to pay for and this” but I wasn’t worried anymore because I had a feeling God was on my side. I woke up the next day to a call saying “Congratulations, you got the job”. I did not even know how to act. Later that day, my university also called me for a job I applied months ago and I went for that interview, also to find out I got that job too. From no job to two solid, well-paid jobs and now “I had the power to choose”. God is alive. If anyone told me the day before I got all these interviews that “Sarah, don’t be stressed. Two jobs are coming your way” I would have slapped them seriously. I know this might not be big for you but it was massive for me. If God can do this for me, He can definitely do more for you. Whenever you get any rejection, smile and say “God I know you’re bringing me something better. I trust you” and say that with “faith”. Whenever you are going through anything just remember Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know I am God”. Put God before everything and He won’t let you down because “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans‬ ‭8:31‬). ‬‬If God is our light and salvation, why should we be afraid? (Psalm 27:1). Put God first even in your toughest times and He will show you that, with Him, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). 

Prayer: God, please help us in our hardest times to still put you first. We know you will never disappoint us and you do everything for a reason so even if things do not go according to our plans, let our faith still remain. As we pray this prayer, we commit all our problems into your hands, take charge. And fill us with all the joy and peace as we trust you. We thank you in Jesus name, Amen.  

My testimony: I thank God for another day and another chance to get closer to Him and to walk in His purpose. And I thank God for the strength, His mercy, grace, knowledge and wisdom to write this. I thank God for the blessing and favour He showed Kelly, Ivy and I on Sunday. We pray for more blessing and more testimonies in Jesus name. 

Be still, in a quiet place and listen to the song below. Listen to the words and wait on Jesus. Don’t turn back now. He will never fail you because He loves you. Have a lovely rest of the week. 

Song of the day: John Dreher- Wait on you 

If you want to talk or discuss anything, you can message me on:

Snapchat: Spiritual_realm

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Recommendations 

Books:

- Relationship Goals: Pastor Mike Todd

- How to Make the Right Decision Every Time: Karen Jensen Salisbury 

- The Success Commandment: DeVon Franklin

-The Wait: DeVon Franklin and Meagan Good

Sermons:

-Relationship goals: Pastor Mike Todd 

-Marked: Pastor Mike Todd

-When it feels like God is doing nothing: Priscilla Shirer

Movie:

- War room

My Story/My Testimony

After months of thinking, I finally got the courage to start this and I would like to say “Thank you God” and “Thank you to all the people that supported and encouraged me into starting this” and “Thank you to Women in the Frontline (book) for pushing me”. 

My story: Being born and raised in a Christian family, I thought I was automatically a Christian. Growing up I knew I’d have to fight for my own salvation but “did that really matter?”. I was the type of person to say “I love God” but did my actions match my words? I remember once, I told someone I was a very strong Christian and they said: “Sure if you say so”. That actually kind of hurt my feelings because I was thinking “What makes you say this? I’m not doing anything wild so I don’t understand why you actually think this of me”. But looking back now, “was he wrong?”.

Lockdown made me sit down and evaluate my life. Don’t get me wrong, at the start of lockdown I knew about 7% of the bible. I knew most of the famous verses and almost all the bible stories (not all in detailed but I knew it). At least I knew the stories of Daniel, Esther, Samuel and Moses because my parents decided to give us biblical names, so what you have to do is basically live up to your name, and you needed to know the stories to live up to it. And these name occasionally comes up during every bible studies or sermons so it’s easy to know them. 

When I saw people saying “Lockdown is the time to get closer to God” to be honest I thought “Here we go again with people trying to get us to feel bad about ourselves” so I rolled my eyes each time I saw it and I totally ignored it. Until I watched Greenleaf, which kind of led me to read the bible. Yes, I know Greenleaf ain’t really the show to get you excited to know God but it did for me. Jacob Greenleaf, if you know him from the show, used to lie a lot so each time he said a verse, I had to open my bible to double-check he wasn’t lying. So one day I checked it, came off the bible app and when I went back on it again, somehow I ended up on the “Parable of the farmer scattering seeds (Mark 4:1-20)” so I read it. 

I liked what I read so I read more parables, and when I had problems really understanding some in-depth, google was my guy. I started praying when I read the bible which was, first thing when I woke up and the last thing before I went to bed. I tried to make that a thing because I could go a whole day then only pray before I go to bed or sometimes not. And in my prayers I always used to say “I’ll give you praise when I wake up” but I guess I never did. So I randomly got introduced to “Relationship goals by Mike Todd”, and I watched that too and I loved it so I started telling my friends and family about it. So my good cousin Ivy, being so loving, got me a book and in the middle of reading that book, I gave my life completely to God. I’ve always thought giving your life to God happened only in the church but now that I’m thinking of it, God is everywhere so why did I think that? Anyways, giving my life to God has been like the best thing I ever did. 

Believing in someone you can’t see could be difficult but it’s your faith that actually removes that difficulty. Believing that there always is someone there to catch you when you fall, to make you smile, to provide for you, and to push you beyond and above your limits, listen, if this isn’t sounding “sweet” to your ears I don’t know what will. I am not perfect, I am far from perfect but I am willing to let God take control of my life now. I am willing to change some unworthy ways even though there will be a bump here and there that will probably try and take my back but with God on my side, I am fighting to become who God has called me to be. I am fighting for my salvation. I am “trusting in the Lord with all my heart and leaning not on my own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). So I am here to ask you to join me in this journey. Let’s do this together. Let’s cry together, let’s rejoice together, let’s grow together. I know we can do this through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). Let our journey start today and here. 

My testimony: Women in the frontlines: A call to courage book (by Michal Ann Goll) says that every little thing is a testimony. So I just want to thank God for showing me this path in my life and I thank him for the people around me (friends and family). Never did I think I’d take God seriously but here I am. So God, keep showing me the way and be the lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I hope you give me more testimonies to share with the world. Amen. 

I know with our generation, God isn’t really our number one, but let’s try and give Him the change to show us that, with Him, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). If you want that, no pressure, but you can pray this prayer. If you think you need time, take some time but don’t take too long because you never know when God will actually come. The bible says in Revelation 3:20 “Look! I stand at the door, and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends”. God is knocking, let Him in. 

Prayer: Lord, I know I am a sinner but today, I give myself to you, have your way in me. Help me know about you and follow me wherever I go. You died for me and I don’t want your death to go in vain. This I ask in Jesus name, amen.

 

Song of the day: “I give myself away”.

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