Clearly Hearing God's Voice.

Hi people! How's your month been? Mine's been pretty awesome to be honest. I'm sorry though, i haven't made out enough time to post here on a regular but i will put in more effort --- promise. :)
This is an old mail i got awhile ago from my Dad (the earthly one i mean, #wink) and i just thought, since truth never gets old, that it might prove useful for someone out there. So please read with an open heart and i pray it is as much of a blessing to you as it was (and is) to me.
^_^

The Five-Fold Secret To Clearly Hearing God's Voice One of the questions I consistently get from Believers whether they are newly born-again or have been in the Body of Christ for years, is, "How do you know God's voice?" There is a five-fold secret to clearly hearing God's voice. For the ministers and lay Christians who do not know this crucial secret, hearing the Lord's voice becomes a perpetual struggle. Let's go to the Word of God to learn this five-fold secret.. by Gillis Triplett Who Are You Really Listening To? Over the past sixteen years, I've watched Christians make decisions that have produced alarming self-inflicted wounds. In each case, they did what they did because they firmly believed God was the one who called, led or inspired them to do so. But in the end, they married the wrong person, bought a car that turned out to be a lemon, bought a house they could not afford and started ministries and businesses that were doomed for failure from the onset. I've watched people claim God told them to quit their jobs to do the work of the ministry. But it wasn't long before their cars were repossessed and they were begging for money to pay their bills, and finally had to file bankruptcy. Write this law down and don't ever forget: When You Follow The Lord's Voice - The Vision Always Comes To Pass! The Lord is never going to lead you to bankruptcy or divorce court, ministry or business failure, or into a bad consumer deal! Under no circumstances will He lead you into marital turmoil, financial shame or ministry embarrassment, (See Psalm 23). If you find yourself trapped in one of those traumatic moments in time, just know that the voice of the Holy Spirit DID NOT lead you there! You got there because you listened to or followed the wrong voice, or you made a bad decision. Do You Know The Five Voices? In every decision that you are called to make and in every situation that you are faced with, there is always going to be five different voices speaking to you. (1)   The voice of God  (2)   The voice of your conscience  (3)   The voice of your reasoning  (4)   The voice of your flesh, and  (5)   The voice of the devil In most cases, each voice is going to lead you in the opposite direction of the voice of God. The sincere Christians who consistently miss God's voice, either: (a) don't know about all of these five voices, or (b) they have not learned how to discern which voice is speaking. Each voice has a distinct sound and is easily discernable once you know what to listen for. I very rarely listen to the radio, but when I turn it on, there are certain voices that I detect immediately. Voices like: Smokey Robinson, Ron Kenoly and Stevie Wonder, to name a few. Each of their voices has a distinct sound pitch. In the realm of the spirit, the five voices I named are the same way! They each have a distinctive sound pitch. We're going to examine each of these five voices and get to know their sound pitch from the Written Word of God. After this teaching, you'll be on track to clearly hearing God's voice. We'll start at the bottom of the list and work our way to the top, saving the best for last! The Voice of The Devil - (Psalm 55:1-3) This is how the voice of the devil sounds. When he speaks, his voice comes to: Deceive you, (Revelation 20:7-8) Cause oppression, (Acts 10:38)  Discourage you, (Numbers 32:6-10)        Cause you to be bitter, (Colossians 3:19)    Cause confusion, (Acts 19:32)  Cause you to rationalize sin, (Isaiah 5:20)   Blind your mind, (II Corinthians 4:4)     Cause you to lie, (I John 2:4) Cause you to doubt God's Word, (Hebrews 3:12) Cause division in your family, church, business, (Mark 3:25) Cause you to disobey the Word of God, (Joshua 5:6) Inspire rage, anger and malice, (Ephesians 4:31) Bring you fear, (Mark 4:40) Torment you, (Matthew 8:6) Cause you to lose hope, (Job 7:1-15) Cause you to lose hope, (Job 7:1-15)   Cause you to be dismayed, (Joshua 1:9) Cause you to seek revenge, (Ezekiel 25:15) Cause you to curse God, (Job 2:9) Stir up unforgiveness, (Matthew 6:15) Cause you to be ashamed of the gospel, (Mark 8:38) Cause you not to hear God’s voice, (John 10:5) If you hear: fear, confusion, torment, doubt, justification of sin, etc., you don't have to pray about it or seek counseling. You are listening to the voice of the devil! The Voice of Your Flesh - (Galatians 5:16-21) Your flesh has a voice! It speaks to you in a commanding and authoritative sound pitch. It doesn't matter if you are an apostle, prophet, pastor, CEO, Governor, Police Chief or an average citizen. Your flesh speaks to you constantly. Any time you follow the voice of your flesh, the net result will always be negative. You can never follow the voice of your flesh and things turn out, "ok!" The fifth chapter of the book of Galatians reveals the sound pitch of your flesh. You know you are listening to and being led by the voice of your flesh when you engage in: (1)    Adultery - unlawful sexual relations between a man and a woman (2)    Fornication - pornography, harlotry, incest (3)    Uncleanness - homosexuality, lesbianism, pedophilia, sexual perversion (4)    Lasciviousness - undisciplined, lewd, overeater, lazy, shiftless (5)    Idolatry - worship sports stars, movie stars, music icons, preachers, money, etc. (6)    Witchcraft - includes drug use, spells, luck charms, horoscopes, zodiac signs (7)    Hatred - hold grudges and malice and be angry at someone (8)    Variance - to quarrel with words, stir up strife and incite debates (9)    Emulations - the spirit of jealousy, rivalry spirit (10)     Wrath - creating domestic and civic turmoil (11)     Strife - getting pay back for a wrong, angry contentions (12)     Seditions - stirring up strife in the church, government, home, etc. (13)     Heresies - causing discord, unrighteous indignation (14)     Envying - to wish ill will toward a person, organization or group of people (15)     Murder - to spoil or mar the happiness of others, to kill (16)     Drunkenness - public or private intoxication, alcoholic, addicted to (17)     Revellings - clubs, house parties, carousing, obscene music The voice of your flesh will never inspire you to do the will of God. It will only talk you into committing adultery, fornication, listening to obscene music and engaging in any of the other seventeen destructive behaviors you just read. You are to never listen to the voice of your flesh! What you do to the voice of your flesh is bring it into subjection to the Written Word of God, (See I Corinthians 9:27). The Voice of Your Reasoning - (Acts 28:1-6 and Mark 2:6-8) The Lord God has given us the ability to reason. We have that ability so that we may rationally consider all options, blessings and curses, obstacles, situations, consequences, advantages versus disadvantages and profits versus losses. You can always tell when you are listening to the voice of your reasoning because you will weigh the things you see and hear in the natural. You will deliberate and think things through, and afterwards, make your decision. Caution: if the answer of your mind contradicts the Written Word, or contradicts what God has said to you, then you must abandon the voice of your reasoning, (See Numbers 13:26-33). The Voice of Your Conscience  - (Acts 24:16 and Hebrews 10:22) Your conscience is the place where you recognize the difference between what is right versus what is wrong. It is the place where you establish morals and values, or where you reject good morals and values and become reprobate in your mind. Your conscience is going to fall into one of the four categories: (a)    A good conscience, (I Timothy 1:5 and Acts 24:16) (b)    A weak conscience, (I Corinthians 8:7) (c)     A seared conscience, (I Timothy 4:2) (d)    A evil conscience, (Hebrews 10:22) This next point should be obvious. The voice of your conscience is good to listen to as long as you have a good conscience, but when a person has a weak, seared or evil conscience, it would be unadvisable for them to follow the voice of their conscience. The Voice of God - (I Samuel 3:1-10 and John10:1-5) You know you are hearing the voice of God when you hear these sounds. ·Instruction in righteousness, (II Tim 3:16) ·Correction in righteousness, (II Timothy 3:16, Proverbs 3:11-12) ·Causes you to profit in Christ, (II Timothy 3:16, John 15:16) ·Brings to your remembrance the Word of God, (John 14:26) ·Guides you into Truth, (John 16:13) ·Exhorts you, (Jude 3, Romans 12:1) ·Comforts you, (John 14:16, Psalm 23:4) ·Rebukes and reproves you, (Titus 1:13, II Timothy 4:2) ·Convicts you of sin, (Romans 6:1-23) ·Leads you to salvation, (Romans 10:9-10, II Timothy 3:15) ·Assures you of the Heavenly Father's love toward you, (I John 3:1, Jeremiah 31:3) ·Admonishes and warns you, (Ephesians 6:4, Acts 21:4,10-14) ·Edifies you, (Ephesians 4:12) ·Increases our faith, (Romans 10:17) ·Cause you to triumph in life through Christ, (II Corinthians 2:14) The Seven Elements To Clearly Hearing God's Voice Now that you know the five voices, and how they sound, there are the seven elements that must be in place in your life, if you are going to properly discern which voice is speaking. You must study the Word of God for yourself, (See II Timothy 2:15) You must meditate (see dictionary meaning) on the Word of God day and night, (Joshua 1:8) You must spend time praying, (Mark 1:35) You must spend time communing with the Holy Spirit, (II Corinthians 13:14) You must be planted in a good church home, (See 92:13) You must rationally consider all options, (Luke 14:28-30) You must seek counsel from wise counselors, (See Proverbs 11:14) If you follow those instructions, you will come to the place, where you quickly recognize which voice is speaking to you. That is an awesome feeling to know that you know that you know -the voice of the Holy Spirit! _____________________________________________________________ This article really REALLY helped me put things into better perspective. I'm sure if we'd apply the truths here it'll go a pretty long way. :) P.s; i added the emphasis on meditate in #2 of the 'Elements to Clearly Hearing God's Voice' because many at times, folks misinterpret meditating on God's word as merely reading it and it sometimes misguides people. Well, hope you enjoyed it. See you all in February! ^_^ xxx, Kwiksie~

Something Really Small...

 

 Hi people! Here are a few really old shots..(haven't edited more recent ones, sorry). ^_^
Feel free to comment on 'em...or, like me, just stare in appreciative speechlessness. Hehe..

xxx, Kwiksie.

 

 

~A Year For The STRONG~

This is just to wish all my amazing readers a fabulous New Year!!! ^_^

Amidst all the new year resolutions (which i'm not much of a believer in) and celebrating and well-wishes, let's keep in mind that there are many who would have loved to see 2014...but who didn't make it.
We are privileged, blessed and mighty favored to have been given the opportunity to step into 2014. We now have another year and a million more opportunities to correct past mistakes, and avoid future ones. We can improve on our good choices, better express our love to those who deserve it (and those we think do not), give wounds time to heal and help heal the wounds of others. It's another year to make the most out of.

No matter what life may have thrown, we've managed to make it this far. Not by any marvellous skill or intelligence of our's mind you, but solely by God's grace and mercy. Believe it or not, He has helped us overcome all the challenges, jump all the hurdles and has kept us going strong.
 

2014 is a year for the strong. Anyone who's made it here, IS strong. Remember that.

Happy New Year!
xxx, Kwiksie~

Celebration of Christs' Birth...not 'X'.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!!!!!!!! :)

Congratulations to each and every person who has successfully witnessed and joined in the celebration of the selfless saviour's birth!! You, my friend, are one loved and highly favore person. Just so you know. :)

I'm excited to be here, thankful more like. God's been exceedingly faithful and merciful and i'll all but shout it from the rooftop(s)! :D
It's been a wonderful year. Every incident, experience or challenge, encounter or attack, memory and adventure, smile or scowl, laugh or tear, EVERYTHING! has in some way contributed to the uniqueness of 2013 and llike it or not, they have all added to the changes in you. They've had a mighty hand in making sure the person you were 361 days ago, isn't the person you are now.Innit grand? I think it is too.

Christmas is wonderful. I appreciate the amazing love expressed to us by God almighty in His letting His beloved son come to earth to undergo agonizing pain and suffering just so we get to dodge His mega wrath. I appreciate the truth and reality of this each day i take in oxygen. It's truly beautiful that we get to have Christmas-a day that ought to serve as the global reminder- so the entire world can take out one day in the year to collectively revel in such irrational love.

Unfortunately, way too many are ignorant to or have just gradually forgotten Christmas day's essence. Well let's make it simple;
No Jesus, No Christmas.

Jesus Christ is the center of attraction. He is all that is worth celebrating. He is worth all the joy and excitement and thanksgiving. HE is the REASON for the SEASON.
Not 'X', not 'Santa Claus', not Presents, not stockings, not trees, cookies, milk and chicken, not Mistletoe and Romance, not some warped definition(s) of love, not great holidays, great food and gift hampers.
It's Jesus, Jesus, JESUS! It's not going to change. Christmas celebrates HIM! Enough with the sad hype of Santa Claus and food and parties, presents, clothes, vacations and what have you. If all the festive fun we have is not centered on Christ and not expressed for reason of our love, absolute surrender and gratitude to Him...it might as well be any other day.

Oh and one more thing; there is no such thing as Xmas. Nobody celebrates the birth of X, X never died for nor saved anyone. X is a plain old letter that has nothing to do with anything as concerns CHRIST.
Let's QUIT IT, alright? I am not an 'X'tian celebrating 'X'mas.
I'm a Christian, honored and privileged to know Christ and to have had a whooping great CHRISTmas!

Merry Christmas all. :)
xxx, kwiksie.

A 'Thank You' note.

Hello people! It's finally come to the end of the awesome month of November. Awesome in so many different and yet equally beautiful ways. For starters;

-My birthday was on it's very first day. ^_^

-I wrote the very best exams within it's duration.

-I've gotten repeated confirmation of just how 'big-a-deal' I am to my father God. 

And tons more events which completely made my heart dance after skipping for a while. :)

Well, the semester's over and most have gone home to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with loved ones and family. My semester had it's fair share of ups and downs, temptations and overwhelming situations, individuals who'd give anything just to see you hurt and unhappy as well as the exact opposites of such phonies and despite all that, the only constant that kept me going and held mind and heart together through it all, was my assurance in the love God has for me and the fellowship I'm privileged to enjoy with Him.

So this post is more of a thank you note. To Him (God); for being who He is and choosing not to abandon us to our pathetic nature, no matter how much we deserve it.

And to you; for taking the time to read all the stuff i post, (despite the high tendency i have to bombard my readers with  random 'Tales from the life of Kwiksie.') and those of you who actually are encouraged in whatever way by my posts and have given me feedback---you've no idea how happy that makes me.

It's just kind of nice to know there are people who actually do give a hoot about what you have to say sometimes. ;)

Anyways, i'll be sharing some more recent pictures of mine real soon; I just can't seem to get over nature's beauty these days. #shrug

Stay blessed all!

xxx, Kwiksie.

Without You

Hi there. What's going on with you? This has been one loooong October though, i've got to be honest(but God has steady been making it every bit as awesome as it has been long for me sha. ^_^).

I hope you've all been doing great. I just thought i'd share this one poem. It's a pretty old piece i was inspired to write early this year....

See sometimes yeah, i tend to complain. A lot.

I know, it might look like not-so-big-a-deal but if it's a really inconvenient 'little-deal' situation, and i've been having numerous instances of such 'situations' in close proximity, then yeah, I'll whine. I go running to God with a variety of 'why's' just jumping off my tongue and the funny thing is, i ought to KNOW better. Right?

Yet half the time i'm simply AMAZED at how it's almost like the easiest thing on earth to pin point each and every annoying disruption to my anticipated 'smooth' day and relay them to every ear that cares to listen (and even the ones that do not).

It's rather disgusting.

Even I don't feel so proud when i'm done more than half the time. But you know what's really sad? The way we (because i'm pretty sure i'm not a one-man band in this act)so easily let one or two petty situations (or even an avalanche of depressing circumstances) COMPLETELY take our focuses off all of the many wonderful things there are to 'wipe that frown off' over. SO FRIGGIN' MANY! o_0

Sometimes i catch myself (more like the Holy Spirit quacks me though) and ponder on just how big a mess every one of us would be in if God didn't bother to intervene in our lives on a per-second basis. Just imagine. Try.

I mean, sure i'm allowed to get irritated and upset about some things, i'm pretty sure i'm even allowed to share what's hurting me with someone, run to my heavenly dad and cry out to Him; all that is cool! Where the problem lies is in the dwelling on the source of anger/annoyance/frustration/irritation/vexation...(you get the message). It never, EVER helps telling folks over and over and over what who did and how it's really got you in a rage and blah blah blah; then we come with the pretty much empty threats or the 'if-onlies' we know won't be happening anytime soon, etc.

Sound familiar anyone? Well I should know. I was guilty of all this only yesterday. And no it is NOT a braggin' point. -_-

That's kind of why it's so fresh in my memory and i thought of the poem because I can tell you one thing with all certainty, when I managed to get my big mouth shut and just asked God to calm me and put all that was bugging me totally in his care, GBAM! That was it (plus one or two really deep breaths and a heavy meal. #wink). But really though, i think the biggest problem lies in the way we over emphasize the problem and simply keep yakking about it like that ever got anything fixed. I mean really!

Fact remains, bad things may happen to us, around us and all, but there are people living who've gone through much worse. People who are still living despite the greater nightmares they've had to face in their lifetime. None of that comes to mind when we're feeling sorry for ourselves---but it should. So that we learn to stay grateful. And keep things in their proper perspective.

If there were no God, if Jesus NEVER came, if there wasn't salvation and redemption and all the wonderful mercies we enjoy now as a result of God's unlimited grace and eternal sacrifice...all the stuff that happens and seems really tragic, would be nothing more than a walk in the park compared to what it could be...

Let's just remember that.
Here's the poem:

Without You

 It’s the bruised heart, the fear filled eyes

The trembling fingers and shattered self-pride.

It’s the loneliness and desolation, the hunger that’s feeding a whole nation.

The cries of the aged one, the silence of the still born.

It’s the pain and the bitterness; it’s the scars that are hidden.

The tolerance of hate and the incessant fighting.

It’s the wrong and the cruel, the folly obedient mule.

It’s the welcome of bedlam and the art of being inhuman.

 

It’s the rape of the truth and discernment’s absence.

The distortion of what’s honest, the diversion of the relevant.

It’s the sound of death and they who live in it.

The weighty emptiness, the feeling of numbness.

It’s the worst thing imaginable, what we have brought upon us

Because we mete out irreverence to you in whom love we can trust.

It’s what our temporary dwelling and its inhabitants go through,

But this is the Good News…there will Always be you.

There'll always be pain.
There'll always be suffering.
And there'll always be Jesus. 

Stay blessed all!

xxx, kwiksie.

New found LURVVV!!! :)

Greetings! I'd like to quickly share something with you all. It's this hobby of mine; photography. ^_^

Now, i don't want to call it a 'new' hobby because that would be a tad dishonest, considering i've always loved being behind and infront of a camera. (Hehe) However, of recent i seem to have just fallen in love with the sky though. Really! I'm sure it can't be only me who notices how gorgeous the sky can be sometimes- the clouds,their ever changing patterns, the sunlight, the way it's rays shoot through them trees, leaves, etc. The thousands of shades and hues at just one sunset--c'mon, you know what i mean.

Now it's not as if i'm just noticing them, but the difference is i didn't always have a way of storing those really beautiful moments and sceneries (except in my minds' eye); but now.

I SURE DO! :D

I enjoy taking people, plants, insects, wareva! But so far, nothing leaves me breathless as the way God paints masterpieces on the vast canvas of the sky millisecond after millisecond. It's just awe-inspiring! And so i've decided to share some shots i really love with you all.(I'll probably make this a habit now or soemthing).

Please note, the picture quality of an ipod...isn't the most fantastic. But it gets the job done and that's good enough for me though! ^_^ Enjoy!!! :)

19th August's Sunset 

In front of the Hall of Mary. ;)

A moth i saw in CDS...it had the most artistic wings though!

                                                             THIS IS MY FAVORITE SKY PAINTING! (so far).

When fruits are ripe...but still inedible. lol

   Random moth i saw on Friday.

Pretty gathering. 

Well say hello to a new day! ^_^

I know it might not be the most exciting past-time...but they make me smile so...#shrug. :)

Thanks for viewing!

xxx, kwiksie~

Happy New Month!!!

Hi people! Yes, yes, it's great to write to you as well!! ^_^ How was September?
Mine was pretty busy, i must confess (i've had to squeeze in time to post this) but  i can hardly bear the thought of not communicating with all you amazing individuals out there for over ONE WHOLE MONTH!!! Naw men, it's too hard. ;)
I do apologize for not getting anything across to you for the whole of last month though...i sincerely will try to make sure that doesn't happen again. School's just been tremendously hectic! There's been at least a million and seven things happening at a time and at some point they all threatened to overwhelm me-but i've come out okay (Thank God!).

I don't have too much to say though. Happy New Month!!! for starters. :D It's great to be here innit? Yes, yes, it might not seem so for some of us but still, no matter what's happened in September, before September and etcetera-- hey! you're alive! You're sane, you can still think and operate a laptop or ipod or iphone or blackberry, or whatever. Soooo, liven up a little! (Trust me, that's partially a note-to-self.)

One thing i know i'm going to be working on this month and onward is the way i use my tongue (in regards to speaking and all) because the topic never gets old and it's too important to be ignored.
I need to be constantly on guard because many times, even with the best of intentions, correcting and helping and scolding and advising can suddenly slide down the interpretation slope and become NagGing.

Webster defines nagging as scolding or finding fault with REPEATEDLY, to cause annoyance by scolding or repetition.

Interestingly, a nag is also an inferior or aged horse. HA!

The best remedy (as i was able to derive from my devotional: "Girlfriends in God") to being a nagging person is to becoming a praying person. (Look up: 1 Peter 5:7 and Psalms 55:22). It something i consider quite relevant though because, believe it or not, wrong communication or misinterpreted/misrepresented behavior can ruin the most valuable relationships and opportunities in our lives! Especially since too many people seem to just LOOOOVE to take offence at the slightest thing! Wearing them down with the same broken record drone of how faulty they are and how you know just how to fix them cus they've missed it big time (and you never have??)is not going to work. Even i get a bit 'correction' deaf when i think i'm only hearing too much judgementalism and self-righteousness being espoused from the lips of someone claiming to care about me, imagine when it keeps coming over and over and over again---from someone you might not even be so close to!

Yup. i don't think anyone would really dig that.
Let's try and work on it (for those of us who are guilty of 'nag syndrome') and for those of us who aren't----i hope you stay that way by God's grace. :)

I'll be with you all soon enough. Stay blessed.
xxx, Kwiksie~