2015 HIGHLIGHTS: HIGHS/LOWS/LESSONS LEARNT ETC

Blame game.

Have you often found yourself in sticky situations and you refuse to absolutely take responsibility of it? You did everything right and it’s not your fault. Right?

And then you start to look for who to blame. A lot of the time, we turn this blame to Jesus.

That’s right. It’s easy to blame a God you cannot ‘see’ or ‘hear’. You think XYZ happened because “God wasn’t there”. Or the all popular one, we blame all our “enemies in the village plotting our downfall.”

It’s 2.43am on a Friday night and I have stumbled on this verse that seems to so perfectly describe us (me, at least) a lot of the time:

1 Pet 4:12 MSG
Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. 

It’s easy to blame God for a lot of our problems. Consciously or not, we think the reasons we are in our circumstances are because God allowed it to happen.
 I have often heard that phrase the most when death comes around. Nevertheless, it exists even more in our everyday lives - so much so, that we don’t even realise it. Yes nothing passes this earth without God’s knowledge but please, please don’t forget that Satan is the ruler of this earth. 2 Cor 4:4 NLT
We get a bad grade and we think “but God, I prayed so long and hard this morning. How could you have let this happen?!” We offer our services to God and people laugh at us and call us names.
Sometimes, we actually think that maybe, just maybe, God isn’t “on the job”. We think He might be too busy for us or He’s not really with us as He says He is.
Yes we read the bible and see all the promises. Yes we’ve seen some miracles around us, even in our own lives every now and again but it just seems like a facade.
We don’t expect God to do the impossible. It’s all fun and nice to read and talk about it in our bible study group, but when it comes to us and our own lives, it looks like mission impossible. In fact, dare I say, we have even hidden aspects of our lives because we think - again, subconsciously or not - that God can’t do it. Or He won’t do it.
We think that because we face trials and challenges, God isn’t as good to us anymore.
Think about it. You have moments when everything is going great and you’re oh so full of joy. You think “God must be feeling good to be blessing me like this. He is soooo good!”
Then something hits - a loss, a bad grade, some depressing thoughts - and all of a sudden you’re not praying as much anymore or spending time with God. All of a sudden your perfect world isn’t so perfect anymore. And then the thoughts creep in “But God, what did I do? Why are you letting all this happen to me? It’s not fair.”
It’s almost as though you are blaming God for being in that situation. Imagine! The same God that was so good to you yesterday doesn’t seem so good to you anymore? As though God is like a man that changes his ways and feelings.

In the words of Peter, I urge us all to take a moment to consider that verse: Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job.
Why? Because He is God. Simple. And if you know God, you know that He is ALWAYS on the job. God is good and God is God. His ways are not our ways, His thoughts as far as the heavens are from the earth, to ours.
V13 Peter urges us, instead of blaming God and thinking He’s not on the job, “be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.”
How refreshing! How wonderful and comforting to think that all I ever go through is for spiritual refinement. It’s so that I can grow and be more like Christ. Isn’t that our goal? Isn’t that what our lives are built on? that we may know Him?
“Weeping may endure for the night, but Joy comes in the morning."
Peter ends like this in V19, “So if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust Him. He knows what He’s doing and He’ll keep doing it.”
Next time when things don’t go according to plan, don’t be so quick to think that God was ‘against' you. God is always for us and can never be against us. Romans 8:31

Peace and love,
Thea xo

New Year, New ... ?

Hey guys, happy new year!

Been a while ey? I've been out doing some soul searching concerning my blog, while trying to come to terms with the fact that I've been having commitment issues with it. (hides face)

But alas, my soul has been found and I am dealing with these "commitment issues" with Abba. 

I've got a great year planned for my blog and by God's grace, I'd be seeing all of them through. So to start with, I wrote this post a couple weeks before the year ended while thinking about my year gone past and the one ahead. I hope you enjoy it and please do leave me suggestions if you have anything you'd like me to share on! 

God bless you. 

Do you ever wonder what your future looks like? Won’t it be so cool if we had foresight into it and so we could tweak our actions, some decisions and maybe ditch a couple of people in our lives because they don’t actually end up helping us. 

So what if you could actually gain foresight into your future, how much are you willing to change your present to align it with your future?

Before you think I’m talking about magic, which I’m not because I don’t believe in it, can I tell you first hand that I can and have seen into my future?

How? 

Well isn’t it interesting to know, and it really doesn’t take much to realise, that the oldest book yet the most current, had and has all the past, present and future answers. 

For example, about my past, present and future sins the book says "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

About choosing friends, it says "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”

About planning events and making decisions, “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.”

About finding wisdom, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

And so much more answers to the questions we spend days, months and years trying to figure out. 

We complain and get upset over our friends and associates but we wouldn’t have had to if we looked at the book to see our future. To see that if we walk with wise people, we too will become wise but all the pain our ‘friends’ cause us, is because we are with a ‘companion of fools’.

We get frustrated with our failures not realising that if only we ask God for wisdom, we will receive. We fight battles already won and get worn out. For what?

Today, I challenge you. 

What questions about your 2016 are you looking for? 

Is it fighting a battle? Is it being close to God? Is it knowing how to be the head and not the tail and succeed in everything you do? The answers, both what you were looking for, and especially what you weren’t expecting, are found in the only book that’s never outdated yet the oldest book. It knows your name and your story, back to back. It also has people similar to you that have gone through what you’re going through so you can learn from them. So stop wasting time making silly mistakes and blaming your past. Your future was written before you were born so before you panic about what it’s going to be, calm down and discover it in this book. It’s the Bible and I urge you to get more of a grip on it and begin to find solutions to your current, past and any future problems. It is, indeed the book of life and will become your life once you find it.  

Living good, Feeling better

Matthew 6:33-34 NLT 

33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. 

34 So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Haa! There are so many ways to break these verses down and analyse them. SO much knowledge just from the revelation of them. But I'll just say two:

Firstly, you can get everything you need. (That's right- that house, that car, that dream job, those grades- everything!) on TWO conditions.

1. above all else (above your will, your desires, what people say, what your bank account says, what your teachers say etc) you SEEK GOD FIRST. The amplified version of this verse says to seek means to "aim at and strive after". Strive to know God, so you can be like Him. 

2. You must also live righteously, which means "His way of doing and being right". i.e DOING THINGS GOD'S WAY. Not your way, not the way your lecturer told you, or your parents or friends told you, HIS WAY. Not taking the bible and rewording it for your own good, but taking it at face value- His way of doing and being right. Not what you think is right, not what makes sense to be right, not the world's version of right, but God's way of being right. 

It's one thing to be right, its another thing to be right by God's standards. 

Secondly. STOP WORRYING ABOUT TOMORROW. Sheesh! We worry about everythingggg- what we're having for dinner tomorrow, what our test result will say, what we're going to do, who is going to call us tomorrow, what exam we will have etc. God is telling us the absolute truth right here- today's trouble is literally enough for today, don't worry about tomorrow! You've got enough on your plate for one day; don't start piling it up with tomorrow's meal. Take everyday as it comes, or as my mum says it "when you get to that bridge, you'll find a way to cross it." but FOR NOW, (i.e for TODAY) , let tomorrow worry about itself. 

Take a moment to read between the lines of what I've just said and ponder upon them for a minute. I urge you to try out at least one of them (or all) and make the changes you need to, and watch your life take a toll for the better. 

Till next time,

Peace & love,

Thea xx

Jonathan McReynolds - No Gray (UNPLUGGED)

This song has such a powerful message and probably describes how some of us Christians have felt at some point or the other in our walk with Christ.

Verse 2 really got to me -

"Lord see I've realized
when it comes to sin
You just don't compromise
It's a matter of death and life
Be weak and do wrong
Or be strong and do right
And I don't wanna keep going to church
Singing all about how much You're worth
And then continue doing my dirt
Living as if I didn't care if You're hurt..."

Listen and be blessed.

Till next time,

Peace & love,
Thea xx

Are you an accessory?

Are you an accessory?

All too often we are, and we don’t even realise it.

We keep quiet when people are bullied, we don’t interject with the truth even when a lie is swimming in our midst, we don’t fight against things we don’t believe in, we don’t voice our opinion in matters that concern us.

Are you an accessory? Why of course you are! I am too. 

And it takes being on the outside looking in to realise. 

It takes some serious faith and grace action to come to terms with yourself. Yes, to come to terms with the fact that you could be so much more, do so much more, achieve so much more. 

We are accomplices of things we don’t witness to. 

You see something completely disgusting happening right next to you, and you keep quiet because “it’s not in my place to say anything”.  

We’re too embedded and engrossed in ourselves to notice others. “That’s not true, I notice everything. I’m a very observant person” I can almost hear someone saying. Yes, observant and quiet. 

It was not until recently I noticed this flaw within myself and drew the line against it. I was an accessory to crimes I didn’t commit! Crimes such as poverty, lowliness, weakness, anger, hatred and it were happening to people I knew and I didn’t do anything about it. I offered words of encouragement, I sat by them through the tears, even held their hair up whilst all chicken and bacon burger they had for dinner came crashing down into the toilet. Yuck, I know.

What am I getting at? We need to rise up, stand up. It’s not about rioting or rebelling or any of that. It’s having a voice. Taking a stand when something is being said that you don’t like. This is not “stop it, I like it”. No, your stop it means STOP. Your no means no and when you’re not in, you are NOT IN. 

Stop giving up your faith, stop agreeing to things that you don’t approve of. Yes, stop being “okay” with them and take a stand. Decide today that you refuse to be an accessory; you are so much more than that. You’re a whole outfit; don’t let anyone make you any less ;)

Till next time, 

Peace & love

Thea xx

18 things I've learnt at 18 - Part 2

#UniGoals

I remember my first year so vividly. I remember the first day, when I moved in. Such high expectations and a smile that was so wide you’d have thought I couldn’t actually close my mouth. I remember writing everything I wanted to do when I got my offer- circling all the bits around campus I wanted to see, all the clubs and societies I wanted to join and all the other cool things I had read about. I wanted to join cheerleading, play tennis, be part of the fashion society, be the ACS (afri-cultural society) president and be a member of every food society. You could say I had dreams. I’d say I had goals- goals I had set for myself carefully and strategically. Do you have goals? Not dreams (though they are pretty similar), but goals that you want to achieve?

Not so long into uni, I had registered into at least 2 clubs, 4 societies and I was already envisioning myself as the ACS president. Uni was fun! Better than what I had heard and thought it would be. Or at least that’s what I thought.

There was only one thing missing and I couldn’t place my hand on it. Have you ever had that feeling? Annoying isn’t it? Something keeps bugging you, it’s in your head somewhere but you don’t know how to say it or get it out, it’s just there.

It took me the whole of first year and then some, to find it and get it out of my head. It was God. 

For over a year I was dilly-dallying in my relationship with God. It was something I knew I wanted; I just didn’t think I wanted it yet. Better still, needed it. But when I got to my second year, I didn’t just want or need God. I desired God. I craved His presence and when I felt it - the blissful, awesome, majestic, holy presence of God - I knew there was nothing in this life compared to that. I literally - in the full sense of the word - hit the jackpot.

I thought uni was fun then. When I met God was when I knew what fun was. You see, people get it wrong - they look for ‘fun’ in all the wrong places and think they know what life is. I know this because I went through it. But here’s the plot twist. Ever heard the phrase ‘It’s only fun till someone gets hurt’? That’s what happened to me; I was hurt and I didn’t even know it. I was hurting my heart, hurting my spirit, but most of all, I hurt God. You’d think a God so sovereign couldn’t be ‘hurt’ by some actions, but that’s where I missed it. God was hurt, deeply. All He wanted from the beginning was for me to realise that He was all I needed. Without realising it, I was looking for ‘God’ in all the wrong places. I knew I wanted something more out of life, but I didn’t know where it was, so I searched. In the clubs and the pubs, but never in the most oblivious place - within me. It wasn’t till I got worn out of partying and I had gone too many times in the same circle that I realised ‘This couldn’t be all there is to life.” I wanted more, and in that ‘more’ was when I quieted everyone else’s voice to listen to mine. A quote I read said ‘You don’t know the value of an anchor, till you’re in the storm.” Another phrase by a ‘Mama Maggie’ says - 

‘Silence is the secret. Silence your heart to listen to your spirit. Silence your spirit to listen to His Spirit. In silence you leave many and be with the One…'

Could you believe that was all it took?

I’d love to share more with you but I think you get the message. And so, I leave you with these parting words and I can only plead that you hold on to them. No matter where you are on your walk with Christ, this is applicable.

• Find God early. I know how much of a difference my life would be if I found God in my first year. (& No, I’m not talking about ‘I-was-born-in-a-Christian-home so I know God) I mean find Him. Search within and find Him. Jer 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Once you get God, you get everything. Matt 6:33 

• Create a friendship with Him. Okay, you’ve found God now what? Start talking to Him about everything. Offload your problems to Him; He is the friend that is ever present and cares deeply about you. He will not betray you and He will never forsake you. 1 Peter 5:7 says Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ; Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

• Now you’ve found God and have Him as a friend, what next? Find or build a community of believers. Too often we see Christians easily backsliding into their old ways. To avoid this, (and this is something I’m especially striving towards) mind your associations. You might think you don’t have to do away with your old friends, (and I’m not saying you do). But you do have to know where to draw the line.  You are in the world but not of the world. You might have to give up something to get something but hey, that’s how God works. 

In conclusion, I can’t promise it’ll be easy but I can assure you it’ll be worth it. I wish you a glorious and blissful God-filled year ahead.

Peace & Love,

Thea xx

18 things I've learnt at 18 ; Part 1

Hey everyone ! Welcome to Finding Thea again. 

I just turned 19 and I thought to look over the past 1 year and share some of the things I have learnt. I hope you like it and find it useful. 

Please like, comment & share. 

NEW VIDEOS OUT EVERY WEEK SO SUBSCRIBE TO STAY UPDATED!

And I'd love to hear what you've learnt over the past one year too, no matter how old you are! 

Find me & Connect with me :-)

Twitter - @BukiieSmart

Facebook - Bukiie Smart

How to make the most of your summer

When it comes to summer, no one's really thinking ahead. All we're thinking of is having fun and sleeping in. It's a bummer when at the end of summer, you look back only to realise you didn't do all those really cool things you said you would when you got the time.
No worries, that's where I come in!
I've come up with 7 steps to make the most of your summer and I do hope you find it useful.
If you do, leave a comment or/and share it!


1. Have a plan.
What do you want to do this summer? What project do you want to work on? What skills/talents do you want to sharpen?

2. Write it down and place it somewhere you'd always see it.

3. List out the steps you'd need to achieve that/those goal(s).
i.e planning an end of summer party
- make a list of who you want to invite
- see what dates works best with most/every one
- choose a venue. your house? your friends'?
- make a list of what you'll need.
- set a budget
etc

4. Be accountable.
Share this with someone you can confide in.

5. Give yourself a timeline.

6. Start saving!!

7. It's summer, still have fun! But make sure you're keeping a close eye on that/those goal(s).

Till next time,
Peace & Love

Thea xx

Live a life worth living

A lot of the time, people go through life rather than grow through life.

Over the years, I have come to embrace life as a friend as such; I treat my life as I would my friend. I take most or all of the corrections from her. Although I get mad at her sometimes and I don't always understand her actions, I still love her the same.
Nothing gets past her and she's one hell of a tough cookie. We’ve had our share of ups and downs but I’m grateful for every experience.

Life.

She’s taught me so much. Like how to always put God first in everything because He is my source. Matt 6:33
How to do things on my own and be great at it.
That I can do anything I set my mind to do, through Christ that strengthens me. Phil 4:13

Life has taught me it’s exactly how I lay my bed that I’ll lay on it.

She’s also a real pusher! She keeps pushing me forward and onward reminding me that my journey ahead is still far so I cant give up.

Life.

Seems so simple yet so complex she is. But she has helped me figure out, or is helping me figure out myself, and who I really am. For that, I’ll always be grateful that God gave me the most precious gift of all- my life.

Faith

Hebrews 11:1 

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Remember the trust game? Where you were asked to be blindfolded and your friend was going to lead you on a journey; or the one where you had your eyes closed and had to fall back into the arms of a friend?

I remember it so vividly in a leadership programme I attended. It was my turn to be blindfolded and I was already shaking within. I didn’t like not knowing what was happening next or what my next step was. I was lost; in the dark. but I felt a familiar hand grasping mine, reminding me that she was there and promising not to let me fall. 

I smiled and relaxed. this was someone I could trust.

faith.

We all have it within us- that sense of confidence, reliance, trust. 

Faith. So great inside of us that we boldly reassure our family, loved ones and friends that we’ll see them later. yet so small to move us to make decisions, take the next step or even fall backwards with the assurance that we won’t fall. We recoil, hesitate, stop.

"what if I fall?” 

Hunny, but what if you fly? What are your chances that your fall is your starting point from that flight that makes you soar high, higher than you could ever imagine.

Faith is that little voice in your head always telling you "hang on, I got you, you can do this.” It makes you fearless, giving you a little sense of pride. power, if you may. It’s not in some of us, its in all of us. You ignite the fire, and you leave it to do its work. Shine- bright. Bright enough to put out the darkness. To make you see that clear path ahead of you. To give you hope and that giddy feeling that everything is going well, or would be at least. 

Someone out there is looking for some faith, let yours motivate theirs.

Till next time, 

Peace & love,

Thea xx