Bibilamour04

How to be disciplined in the Christian walk by Toyosi Adegunle Happy New Month! May the month of March bring to you so many blessings that your Barnhouse will be unable to contain it all.🎉 Amen?  Let me gist you a little. In 2013, I got admitted into the University and in less than 5 weeks of resumption, for anyone familiar with Redeemed Christian Fellowship (RCF) terminologies, I joined the believers’ class and immediately started my workers-in-training. This process took about 2-3 months to complete before I officially became a worker. It was rigorous, uncomfortable, and hard in every sense. A lot of people opted out because it was hard, it wasn't convenient, and many other reasons.  I’ve always believed that anything you put your heart to with discipline, always comes out better. Discipline has a huge role to play in the process of learning the way and word of God, living the true Christian lifestyle, and generally, your life as a believer.  ‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭9:27‬ (‭...

3 ways to deal with the end of year stress (believers edition) by Toyosi Adegunle Hey, fam! Another heart-to-heart o’clock. I’ve been extremely sad in the last one month. For more than two weeks, I couldn’t exactly figure out why I felt so sad and that is worse in itself than being extremely sad. In the last one month, I’ve done a lot of overthinking - I thought about the many 2020 plans I had for my life, and career especially, and how 95% of it seemed not to be seeing the light of the universe, I also had fears of some of my current plans not working out, I thought about the many toxic work relationships I've been in this year.  Simply put, I thought deeply about all the unpleasant situations and experiences I've had and been in this year, what for? Reflection? Boredom? Fear? Whatever reason you can label to this phase, you are probably right. Self-imposed end of year pressure is real. It’s a different case when it’s your family, friends, or social environment putting pressur...

Hard work versus working from rest  by Toyosi Adegunle Hey there! It’s heart-to-heart o’clock! Back story, growing up, I used to think that plenty of work, lots of activities and engagement means productivity, success, and many achievements too. I liked the sound and thought of it. I wanted to be that person that could come through for anybody at any time and this mostly happens at the expense of my emotional, mental and spiritual stability. I wanted to put in a lot of work, more like investing so much work in a space to the extent that I believed more in the work and my effort than I trusted in God.  “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, But deliverance is of the LORD.”-   Proverbs 21:31 NKJV This is my word, and maybe yours too. I do a lot and I end up subconsciously believing that my work and efforts will pay off. This is not to negate the place of hard work, focus and consistency, but I’m here to tell you that, while you work so hard, ensure three things...

Jesus, the lover of your soul by Toyosi Adegunle Let's do a quick English exercise, you may want to check your dictionary for the meaning of FRAIL. Here's what I found when I checked - frail means easily broken, fragile, quick to fall. Whewww! This meaning put perspective on the state of the soul of man. I sincerely wonder why we are always quick to forget good deeds, forget the sermon, and don't take actions, forget to do the right things.  Have you wondered too?  I had always heard people recite this verse in church and other places:  “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬. Every time I hear it, I ask myself why David had to tell his soul to bless the Lord at all times and not forget his benefits; must-have been that he probably forgets to honour God, he forgets to obey God, he forgets to give thanks, he forgets to do the right thing, right?  Do you sometimes forget to act on the word of God? Do you forget to thank G...

Why should Christians fast? by Toyosi Adegunle A lot of people have a wrong perception of fasting, how and why it's done. For some, it is just a ritual, and many other reasons deduced based on background and upbringing. Irrespective of our preconceptions about fasting, Jesus remains the perfect example for anything and everything, including fasting.  Luke 4:1-2 , “Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry”.  After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, he was full of the power of the Holy Spirit. This tells you that when you fast with your heart in tune with God and truthfully, your spirit, soul and body will be connected and you will be able to focus better and pray better.  Our spirits, souls, and bodies are intimately connected. Fasting is a spiritual habit that involves learning to discipline y...

Is God really good? by Bibi Babatunde-Ikotun Hi everyone, welcome back to www.bibilamour04.com, I'm so glad you clicked this link. Your being here makes me feel really good especially because we're approaching two years of weekly content. Can you believe it? Wow, God is wonderful!  So we all know the saying that almost every Christian knows: Call : God is good Response : All the time Call : All the time Response : God is good I want to probe you a bit about the goodness of God. Do you genuinely believe God is good? I want to you remove the thoughts of your answered prayers, blessings, salvation and the likes. Ask yourself, "Do I really believe God is good?" I ask this because there are many things we say in the faith that we necessarily don't believe. For example, we may believe that we've been justified but still think it will cost us something to be eternally saved.  When we call Him the "unchangeable God", do we really believe that He is unchangin...

How to overcome jealousy as a Christian by Bibi Babatunde-Ikotun Hi everyone, welcome back to my blog. I hope you're doing well, I really hope so. Anyways this topic was inspired by a conversation with some of my friends and I felt a bit off. I personally admitted that I sometimes catch myself having jealous feelings and I really wished more people would have validated this feeling of mine than making me feel like the devil reincarnate, I'm just kidding. But you get the gist, my unvalidated feelings. If you're here and you find yourself feeling some sort of jealousy occasionally, I validate you. Jealousy is a normal "human" emotion but what is done with that feeling is what matters the most. If you're also reading this and can't relate, that's completely okay! I celebrate you because you've hacked something many people in the world still deal with! I'm proud of you!  If you ever catch yourself feeling jealous, maybe because a friend is rubbing ...

Benefits of having the Holy Spirit By Oluwatoyosi Adegunle and Bibi Babatunde-ikotun Growing up, whenever I got inspiration from an external source that evokes spiritual actions in me, I called it ‘Something” – something told me to take another route, to not eat till 5 pm, to not speak to this particular person, to not be at a certain gathering.  For the most part, I have confused the Holy Spirit for intuition, and that’s how best I could explain what it was then. I think my confusion and misconceptions were valid because I was not a believer, although I attend church very frequently. I grew up in churches where it seemed only the Pastor had access to God, people would drop 2-3 names of prospective partners and ask Pastors to help them ask God for who to choose, where to live, when to travel, basically everything, and that seemed like the norm to me. I don’t mean you can’t consult your Pastors for things that matter to you, it’s your choice. Until I became super conscious of salvat...

Let's talk; Sexual assault and racial injustice (prayers included) by Bibi Babtunde-Ikotun Hi everyone, I hope we're doing well. I know this has been one of the most intense weeks in this decade. With everything going on in the world, it's okay to feel overwhelmed. I mean from racial injustice issues coming up from the United States and Canada (#JusticeforGeorgeFloyd and #JusticeforRegis) to sexual assault and rape issues in Nigeria (#JusticeforTina, #JusticeforUwa #JusticeforJennifer) it's overwhelming!  Today, we're going to be praying for healing for everyone that has experienced sexual assault and racial injustice. In times like this, we have to focus on Christ! There's nothing wrong with engaging in peaceful protests and advocacy but we must understand that life is extremely spiritual. Man is a Spirit that has a soul and lives in a body, everything that we see in the physical has a spiritual aspect to it.  For every woman, man or child that has experienced ...

Let’s talk: Red flags and Deal breakers by Ogor Ben-Iweagwu  Hi everyone, I trust we’re doing well. I am so excited for today’s blog entry, it is by one wonderful woman I love and respect deeply. She is Christ-centered and Holy Spirit-filled. Each time I talk to her, I just have to take notes because she drops gems constantly. If you watched #TSPRecap last Saturday on my Instagram live you definitely know what I’m talking about. So, this post is primarily targeted to my sisters in Christ but I believe it applies to single men as well. Sorry, I’m not biased, I promise.  Anyways, please read and be blessed!  On relationships and red flags,  There should be a baseline of the type of man you must allow yourself to invest your emotions in. It is not every type of man (even within the body of Christ) you should invest your emotions in. Being single is a gift (Bibi has talked about this here ). You get to choose who you need to invest in.  Here is something we need to ...

Why I thought the gospel wasn't the "Too good to be true news". by Bibi Babatunde-Ikotun Hi everyone, I trust we're doing well and not getting overwhelmed by the current global situation. It's not God's will for us to be overwhelmed because Jesus already overcame the world on the cross. We're partakers of His death, burial and resurrection hence we're victorious on every side. Don't worry or be anxious, everything will end in praise. In fact, the first Sunday after this is over shall be a jubilation service where we shall count and no one will be missing or incomplete to the glory of God! Stay strong, stay encouraged. Guard your eyes and your eye gates, focus on what the WORD is saying not what the WORLD is saying. We are overcomers in Christ Jesus! Glory! Hallelujah! Amen! Today, I'll be sharing something a bit personal. So I was born into a Christian home. My parents made sure we're raised in the way of the Lord, we only watched Christian...

Rising Above Fear & Disease  by - Dr. Ogor Ben-Iweagwu " The prayer of faith is the prayer based on what Christ has done. " - Bishop Wale Ajayi I will add to the quote above, not based on what Corona has done or what we are scared it will do.  We are  in Christ, first, before we are in a location, or under the plague of COVID 19. It means that Christ is our location, first, before Abuja or New York or Sydney or Toronto. It means that, because we were purchased with the blood of Jesus, it is actually his blood that literally flows in our veins. Please, take the Bible and the word of God LITERALLY in this season. Don’t try to reason it out, don’t try to make logical sense of it. The word of God is not something that is to be brought to a conversation or some logical conclusion; the word of God is infallible . We are believers , and we are called to be strong AND courageous , not to cower in fear. Colossians 1...