A Prayer in this time of global distress 🙏🏾

May the Lord answer us in this time of global distress;

May the name of the God of Jacob protect us.

May He send us help from the sanctuary and grant us support from Zion.

May His banner of love cover us and keep us safe from every plague.

May He remember all our sacrifices
and accept our burnt offerings.

May He give us the desires of our heart and make all our collective efforts succeed.

Surely, we will shout for joy and offer praise when we are victorious, and will lift up our banners in the name of our God!

May the Lord grant all our humble requests in our time of distress.

AMEN and AMEN!!!!

Fearing the Devil more than trusting in God’s Power

The Devil’s desire is for God’s people to constantly live in fear of him and to keep the blessings of God in their life locked up and hidden so nobody can see that God is indeed a good God that blesses His Children with both spiritual and material wealth. Somehow, we have been conditioned to believe that all worldly blessings and any display of it is connected with the Devil and God is connected with only spiritual blessings.

But we must forever declare the goodness of the Lord in our lives. We must keep projecting the blessings of God in our lives and our unwavering faith in His ability to protect and save from every wiles of the enemy.

We, today’s Christians (especially in Africa), are too consumed by the fear of the Devil and that some “evil” is constantly after our lives that we keep hiding God’s glory in our life. How else then will the world know that the God we serve is a good God and one that really saves? Why should we be saved and still be in constant fear of our “family demons”? How will the world believe in the power of God and his ability to lavishly bless His children if we have nothing to show to the world.

When the Devil and his agents are busily showing forth their “sakawa” or blood monies and ill-gotten “blessings” with which they constantly lure many, we the people of God are constantly being myopic in our minds and keep hiding God’s blessings in our lives because we solidly believe letting the world see the things God has blessed us with attracts bad omen or puts us on the radar of the Devil.

Somehow, we Christians tend to believe more in the Devil’s ability to hurt us than in God’s ability to save us. We hide our marriages, our children, our businesses, our riches, our successes, etc., in fear of the “demons in our families” killing us when they see how blessed we are. Our fear of “African witches” overshadows our faith and belief in God’s saving power.

Oh, how I used to think worldly people are more blessed than Christians because all the Christians I saw around me kept acting so poor yet claiming God holds all the riches in the world. I could never see the “riches in Christ Jesus” they preach about materialize or evident in their lives as many downplayed the physical earthly riches aspect and made it more of a spiritual concept.

Why are we always “rich” in spirit and never physically? I have always wondered.

©Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2019

You’re just different…not abnormal!

Truth is we are all created differently and we will all live vastly different lives. If the life that I live and the choices that I make does not look anything like yours…you don’t have to be too quick to question that. 

God is so wise that He’s given us all different destinies, different callings in life, different ambitions, different passions, different careers, different backgrounds, different life experiences, different everything. In fact, even our physiques are different. 

As long as we are within the will of God, you’ve got to let us alone sometimes and give us some room to breathe! 

But of course, if we’re outside the will of God, you’ve got to correct us and we have to be humble enough to accept correction…at least God will want that for us. 

Alright, so cheers to breaking free from all the labels! You’ve got to…trust me! 😂🙏
©Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2018

Marriage & Personal Development Author 

Marriage is a blessing

God has given you a great blessing in your spouse and in your marriage. God speaks highly of marriage because it is one of His blessings to mankind. 

Focus then on the good in your spouse and marriage, and celebrate. Always celebrate each other! Always! 

At the same time, realize that your marriage is bigger than you and your spouse. So, allow your relationship to also be a blessing to other couples (or even singles if you like). You don’t have to be a marriage “expert” to do this. You can help somebody from your unique experiences in marriage.

Finally, always bear in mind: 

“what’s taken for granted will eventually be taken away; then you end up missing most what you least appreciated”

©Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2017

God, Sex and Marriage

I subscribe to marriage devotionals always. That’s because I always do not like a day to end without reading something on marriage…just anything, as long as it’s related to marriage. I find Christian devotionals on marriage the best choice. 

This is what I’m currently subscribed to; and today’s reading was quite interesting that I felt I should share. 

So here it goes:

Title: God Has An Opinion About Sex

Everyone has an opinion about sex. But did you know that God also has an opinion… a definite, distinct perspective? Unfortunately, many Christians have confused the voice of Christian leaders for the opinion of God. When it comes to sex, Christian leaders throughout the ages have had differing opinions on the topic. Here’s a brief sample…

Nothing is so much to be shunned as sexual relations. ~~St. Augustine.

The Holy Spirit leaves the room when a married couple has sex, even if they do it without passion. ~~Peter Lombard, respected 12th century theologian.

Intercourse is never without sin. ~~Martin Luther.

If anyone says that sex itself is bad, Christianity contradicts him at once. ~~C.S. Lewis.

A married couple gives a severe blow to the head of that ancient serpent when they aim to give as much sexual satisfaction to each other as possible. ~~John Piper.

No wonder Christians are confused. Who speaks for God? 

Ultimately, God speaks for Himself through His inspired Word. If you want to know God’s opinion, look no further than the Bible. It may surprise you that the Bible has quite a bit to say on the topic. Some of it you’ll love and some of it is difficult to accept. 

When a person like you or me has an opinion, it’s just that – an opinion. When God has an opinion, we call it something else – the truth. Truth is the one opinion against which every other opinion is measured. 

We all have thoughts and beliefs about sex that are not based on truth. Perhaps your misinformation about sex even came from Christian sources. However, if you truly want to see the gift of sexuality as it was created to be experienced, you must be willing to expose the lies you’ve believed as measured by the truth of God’s Word. 

Questions to Ponder: What are the primary sources that formed your opinion on sex? Can you identify any lies you believe about sex?

The End

(PS: Hope you found it interesting too? Let me know what you think. Share your thoughts with us)  
© Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2017

Marriage & Personal Development Author

Being in a place of hope: my testimony

​Past times tell of how far we’ve come…whenever discouraged, we look back. 

Yesterday I was very troubled in mind, body, soul and spirit. I was because for sometime now I’ve not been too enthused about my life because I feel one aspect of my life isn’t working well the way I want it to. I am a very organized person, constantly making plans for my life, and putting things in order because I hate being in a situation where I’m caught off guard and have to just cling on hope. I want to always have a grip on my life and I feel I work so hard on myself to keep things that way.

 

But for some months now, life has kept me clinging on hope and I do hate it so much. I hate to be in a place where I can’t figure things out, have solutions to things and just have to hope it works out, hope I sail through, hope I survive. I hate to HOPE! I want to KNOW! 
I don’t like to hope I get to a certain destination in life, I want to know based on my plans for the journey, that I will surely get there. I always want to know and plan how my next one year will be like, how the house will run the next one year, how much should be put into savings or investments, etc. You know, that kind of thing.

But lately God has been scattering all my plans, or so it felt. And He allows certain situations to keep triggering that feeling of helplessness that makes you cling on hope.
Yes, so yesterday I couldn’t sleep. And I didn’t know what to do as I left the bedroom to just be in the hall all by myself at around midnight. Then after sitting for a while, something (I guess God) made me take my laptop, go grab my external drive and just go through the photo database I’ve created on it. Maybe that was just my way of passing the time, but then, God started whispering to me in my mind as I watched many pictures from as far back as I could to the present, that OUR PAST TIMES TELL OF HOW FAR WE’VE COME. 
I saw so many past blessings including the fact that I could afford my own flight ticket and we could afford my wife’s flight tickets every year all through her masters degree on a bursary that did not cover cost of flights. We could afford a descent accommodation and in fact, change accommodation 3 times in 2 years without exhausting all the rent period in the previous two and not even getting refunded. We’ve sacrificed to help many in times of their needs, amongst many other blessings. 

And the rhema God finally left me as I went back to bed around 3:30am, prayed till 4am, and then got up around 5:30am for work was that, WHENEVER I’M DISCOURAGED, I SHOULD LOOK BACK ON MY PAST. He categorically said I SHOULD NEVER FORGET MY PAST; I SHOULD NEVER FORGET WHERE MY BLESSINGS COME FROM. 
He said Son, don’t worry, I trained you that way to always be sure of what’s coming, but even when it looks like all you have is hope, I’VE GOT IT ALL UNDER CONTROL. 

With that assurance, I don’t know if my problem is solved, whether I won’t worry again the next time things are not moving on well according to my plans, but I learned it’s OK to be in A PLACE OF HOPE. 

©Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2017

Love making…

Again, here’s something interesting I want to share from the marriage devotional I’m currently subscribed to that I mentioned in my earlier post God, Sex and Marriage.

Here it goes…

What Kind Of Love Are You Making?

No, God didn’t make a mistake! Imagine that you and your spouse lived in sexual utopia. You always want to have sex at exactly the same time and the same way. Every initiation is met with an eager response. There is never any conflict about foreplay, being too tired, giving each other pleasure or trying something new in bed because your desires are always exactly the same.  How fantastic would that be? It would be almost like the sex portrayed in movies–what a great love life!

God, the creative Creator certainly could have made sex that way. He could have created man and woman to be exactly the same sexually. But He didn’t. In fact, He intentionally made us vastly different.

Did God make a mistake? Did He “mess up” the master design of sex by making a husband and wife so diverse? Does He sit up in heaven and laugh that we can’t seem to please each other?

Remember that even before sin entered the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had primary sexual differences in the way God created them. God declared His creation of man and woman “very good” and this very good included your sexual differences.

God’s design for sex is NOT just for immediate exquisite pleasure (although He is all for that). But God has a much more beautiful gift of intimacy for you and your spouse to open than what the world says sex is about. Here’s the catch. It requires a different kind of love.

Sex is designed to be more than an expression of love between a husband and wife. It is also the refining fire of love. It tests and teaches a willing man and woman to reach beyond their natural desires and learn what servant love really is.

The world knows only of a love that feels good. We are born with the natural response to “love” those who meet our physical and emotional needs. This kind of natural love is essentially self-love. It really says, “I love the way you make me feel.”

The differences between you and your spouse will ultimately ask you a question: am I a servant lover or a selfish lover? God is very concerned about what kind of love you are making!

Action Step: Ask your spouse, with an open heart, how can I be a servant lover to you?

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did? Share your thoughts with me in the comment box. Cheers! 

Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2017

Marriage & Personal Development Author

Birthday Musings…🎊

Somehow, the night before every birthday of mine as it has been for a long time now, I am unable to get a good night sleep. And it’s been a blessing somehow because right about midnight I begin to pray silently and thank God for my life and ask for divine blessings to last another year or a lifetime. I do a bit of reflection on my life and many times I shed a few “happy tears” when it dawns on me (and it always does), that had it not been God always on my side, ……. Because when I remember the “stories of my birth” as Mum of blessed memory used to say to me, I know I wouldn’t have been alive to be celebrating birthdays. 

OK. So I’m “29 on 29”. That means I’m 29 years on 29th of my birth month. Funny as it is, somehow that felt special for me because it will not come again! And although I’m not a fan of birthdays like the way people always “mean” their birthdays such that they can even die should that day never come, I couldn’t help but post this thoughts…especially when I couldn’t even get any sleep. Neither I’m I a fan of revealing my “very young age” but “how for do now”? 

But I can’t believe I’m growing yet still not hitting 30! Somehow I’ve a weird perception that once you hit 30, you hit the “Boss Age” phase of your life. Lol. I know it can be funny and I don’t even know where in the world I got that idea from. It’s as weird as the fact that yesterday evening when I got back from work, I was fooling with my wife at every twist and turn with the retort “hey you, have you been 30 before?” to which she will respond “but you kora, are you 30?” 😂 😂 

Well, thing is at 30 and upwards, I feel you must start living like a Boss! Beginning from 30, you must begin to feel a deep sense of maturity and responsibility in a way you have never felt before. That’s not to demean or discredit the twenties and teen years. We so love being in the twenties and feeling so young and with so much energy and zest for life and wanting to experience everything. But at 30 and beyond you can’t afford to not feel the sense of urgency and maturity to begin to order your steps aright in much better ways than you did in your twenties or earlier years. 

It’s so exciting to watch oneself grow from the little toddlers we were in what seems like just few years ago and becoming very responsible adults with a serious sense of duty and outlook on life.

 As we grow, we begin to see life differently, in a whole new dimension and you begin to attach a new meaning to life. You begin to experience more of life and that shapes you better. That’s why no matter how exciting my twenties have been and with so many fond memories, I can’t wait to leave that age bracket. And I have quite a long time to wait; a whole year before I embrace my thirties, my “Boss Age” period. 

I have so much to be grateful to God for, so much I have achieved in this young life, so much I am proud of and not regretted. 

I’ve seen pain, I’ve seen sorrow; I’ve known hardship, I’ve known want. I’ve fought hard many times to stay strong and silenced the urge to quit in the face of adversity and great loss. I’ve spent myself on others and watched them in silence break my heart and act ungrateful; I’ve watched loved ones turn their back on me. I’ve experienced rejection first hand and from quarters I least expected; I’ve had people make me feel no longer accepted and worthless and I’ve also had people standing by and with me, seeing my mess sometimes and overlooking it. I’ve witnessed a broken and shattered family and God’s transforming power; I’ve seen God work miracles when we give Him the wheels and let things work out on their own. I’ve had a good mother and good home training and have been brought up to embrace and live with every situation, making the best out of every situation and circumstance for life does not always give us what we want, need, deserve or even work for. 

But I’ve also seen a lot of good in life to make me want to still live on till my dying years (whenever that is, with no regrets). As I live out the rest of my twenties, I do not know what life holds for me but I do know every experience will define who I am or turn out to be (for good or for bad, only God knows…but I will strive to choose good). And I do know, they that are meant to stay in my life will, and we will enjoy the journey together, in gratitude for all that life has to offer us. 

To all the amazing people I have encountered on this journey, I am eternally grateful!
©Mark Gadogbe (McApple), 2017

I speak LIFE…

​Today I feel led to speak LIFE over you:

I command every dead thing in your life to come back to life!

May your business, finances, marriage, relationship, education, etc witness a glorious facelift!

I declare that your joy is returning and out of your belly shall flow springs of living waters!

I see God writing your story anew and I see the windows of heaven open over you!

You shall not die before your time but you shall live to be celebrated!

I silence every voice of accusation against you!

You are delivered from the grave!

The hand of the devil is lifted off your business, marriage, family, children, etc!

Today onwards your destiny is secured and God’s pillar of fire is separating your camp and that of your enemies…!

No evil shall befall you and no plague shall come near your dwelling!

You are blessed, an oak of righteousness, a planting of the Lord!

Many shall come to enjoy your fruits, to drink of your waters….!

You are victorious in life and nothing can change that!

For He that has promised is faithful and He shall perform it!!!

Amen and Amen!!
It’s a prayer to be claimed…so if you believe it, shout a big AMEN to receive it.

Mark Gadogbe (McApple)

Life does not always give what we want

​We all have had our share of ups and downs.

A million unanswered prayers, constant failures, unmet dreams, plans falling apart, feeling depressed and feeling not good enough for people, sicknesses that will never leave and you know it’s just a matter of time and you will say goodbye, people causing us pain, people treating you like garbage, having a smile on your face but with a broken heart inside…just losing it and not having a grip on life

You feel God’s being unfair, totally silent and unresponsive. You can’t help but to blame God… what kind of a Father sees a child’s pain and doesn’t act?

But then, can a loving father always save his child from every shit? Can you always be there for your child? No matter how much you wish to, can you always save your child from the grips of the Law? 

Why trust an Omnipotent God who can’t save you from every shit? 

Maybe same way we will fail to meet our own child’s every need no matter how much we try…Maybe same way the Omnipotent is unresponsive sometimes?

Maybe it’s because the Examiner is always silent during the test! And no matter how hard the test is, you have to figure out the answers yourself! 

Maybe there are some things He leaves to us to battle on our own and claim our own victories over. 

Maybe the strength and wisdom to carry on He will supply… But the battle we must fight ourselves till our last breathe. 

Giving up is not an option God desires for you, but your choice to give up is not a guarantee that He will step in. 

If you chose to hang yourself over a problem, He will not always come running to cut off the ropes. 

Life is hard, so many things will not go well and would have nothing to do with God not loving you or cursing you. We just have to keep at it, keep pushing, keep fighting and keep getting up if we get knocked down…if we are are gonna win! 

As for self-pity in the face of trials, it never gets us anywhere. 

May it be well with our soul! 
(c) Mark Gadogbe (McApple)