Distinguished Family

 I began to grow. I took the extended periods of prayer and stayed in God's Word. I started learning so much. Then God just kept bringing good friends to me who kept teaching and teaching me. I met a sister (who would turn out to be my greatest friend and mentor) around this time too. This was around SS1 already. She introduced me to several men of God and their messages, mostly Apostle Joshua Selman and Reverend Moyo Akin- Ojo.   I had forgotten about pornography. But I was still very immature. I made many mistakes, especially with ladies( that's story for another time). From that time, I have made deliberate efforts to put God's Word in my heart and on my mouth. I have 'not let this book of the law depart from my mouth'. I have grown and still grow. Thank God for the gift of men. And thank God I made that decision to stay with God's word early. See, one of the ways to see God's Word work in your life is to decide before you even study it that whatsoe...

_So that was how everything finished. I stopped having the urges like that. I saw God loved me but hated my sin and I was not to continue in it. I became better as it were. But that was just the beginning. You know that thing they say about us not being able to save ourselves. We can do nothing of our own. Only Jesus can heal and save to the uttermost. I was really working hard. I tried all I could not to fall back, to just live God's will and be fine and never do wrong._ _We will not totally have victory over sin till we see our victory in Christ alone. Our works can do absolutely nothing. We must learn only to trust and believe on what Jesus has done. We must see ourselves therein. That is where our victory lies. We can never ever do anything by our own selves._ _My elder sister (you're right, the same mine mag one) was in a phase of her life where she needed to be instructed and taught. She didn't quite listen to the instruction and teaching when it came though. Yo...

There's not only one teenager struggling with sexual vices. The girl who seems to have her life on track,  the fresh guy who chants and the other one who sits in front during Sunday school...should I start counting? In this teenage issue, Sola speaks heart to heart with y'all -his guys and babes- and seeks to help you get by. Let's delve into today's episode shall we? When I was 6, my brother went to school and my sister went to stay with some relatives. I was home with mom and I barely saw her because she was always busy with one job or the other, trying to get everything working out. I didn't have the best of childhoods. I grew up in the slums of Ibadan because my parents were just trying to get by. Dad was a Muslim and wasn't around much. Mum was the one always around but she still wasn't around much 'cause of her job. My mom wasn't a believer then too so we didn't attend church.  Then we kids heard our adults speak about sex and really...

I grew up under the shades of gospel But the gospel my environment expressed It was like an aiding to my walking away I danced the court of perversion I walked the yard of damnation Before I got sealed in salvation I thought that would be the end And I expected the Devil to lose his clutch on me Yeah, he did. He got nothing on me. But little did I know, his patient dog was waiting Waiting to eat my fat bones. He got me messed up in the same mess The same mess I was before the old passed away I was meant to die to the old way Was still holding to the mess I have become Or I'd say the mess I had allowed in me He whispered, He's not going to forgive you. Is that what He would expect you to do? Brother, don't be a fool He'd not give your plead an hear. I wept and shied from His presence Where I could have been healed And my sins forgotten! I wished I had enough scripture then stored up Stored up in my spirit man Then I would know That there is...

SUBMITTING TO SPIRITUAL AUTHORITIES Hebrews 13:7 and 17 As Christians, we should know that there are some people God has placed over us as spiritual authorities and it's required of us to always submit to them in every affair of our lives. The Bible says that in the multitude of counsellors, there is safety (Proverbs 11:14). It’s not just enough to listen to our pastors/teachers from afar during ministrations on Sundays and some other times; but we must find grace to move close to them, relate with them and, much more, carry them along, especially when going through issues in life. It's possible some of our past mistakes wouldn't have occurred if we had involved our spiritual heads. Some people are still in some form of bondage today because they failed to inform a spiritual authority, especially  when the whole issue started. We must always remember that sin has more hold on us as long as we keep hiding it. We must always learn to expose our darkness (Jame...

The believer is never meant to be isolated. That is why fellowshipping with other believers, being in communion with other Christians is important for us. It helps us to see one another as a big family of God who should actually be there for one another. We should not pat acts of sin on the head and act okay with it, but we still should learn to carry out our correction in love. Ann found it very hard talking to someone because of the perceived shame she thought that she would get. She needed help and knew that she did but asking for it was tough enough. We all need one another to survive. Be that shoulder a fellow brother or sister can lean on. Let’s not always let our conversations be riddled with needless things that we do not notice subtle pleas for help. The Lord help us. Amen. If you missed part 1 of this story please click on the link below to read https://distinguishedteenagers.blogspot.com/2020/04/my-struggle-with-pornography-1.html I was going deeper into the sin. But ...

Growing up into adolescence can result in an unconscious accumulation of knowledge from various sources. And the human mind is GIGO Garbage In Garbage Out. Whatever it is fed on will ultimately influence what a person does or does not do. Now, for some of us, the desire to know and understand all occurrences around us have at some point or the other gotten our minds wrapped in various activities, both good and ungodly. This is the story of Ann and her adventure into the world of………… She is free now, of course. God be praised! As a younger girl, I was very inquisitive and I just wanted to know every single thing. I wanted answers to every single question that came across my mind. The passion and zeal to explore my world was burning in my blood. In the quest to find answers to some of my questions, I found God. Don't get me wrong. It was not that I didn't know God while growing up but I was this type of “mummy-and-daddy-are-going-to-church-let-me-too-go” you get? But a fatef...

Waow!!! So sad and painful to hear this. Still standing at the feet of regret having no knowledge of tomorrow. All this as a result of the mistakes of the past, and your stubborn heart beloved with the negligence to simple instructions you ought to have carried out . Indeed the burden is so heavy and has eaten deep into your heart, and soul leaving nothing for you to rely on. Is it really you who has been defined by the mouth of many as nothing yet left in the Jaws of the ones who you think you trust the most? I doubt if it was you I saw then when your own family said it to your face that you were never made for the top. Aouchhhh it really is painful. Still He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He knows those feelings. If it's the issue as regards admission, worry no more and genuinely take it to God in prayer.  Laugh out loud and journey with me for there is someone who sees the uniqueness buried in you crying out to see the light....

The holidays are of great importance to me especially now that I am an undergraduate student. It means rest from school work, breaking the routine of 5pm to 1 a.m., good quality food and most importantly, coming home. Coming home is important for me because from the very moment I get to the neighborhood and enter Ibadan, I start thinking about who I really am, where I am from and my main reason for leaving for Lagos and school in the first place. And when I leave, I leave more brazen and determined to do better with school and all. For a believer, home in this case is also important. There are a lot of things that seemingly constantly fight for our attention and care and present themselves as demanding. However, in the midst of all the cringle, we must always find our way home. Home here, is the  word of God . The word of God gives us identity. It is in the word that we are told of who we are and what He has made us. In spite of what seems to be going on and what we are being tol...

You can never be wrong when it comes to investing in new business ventures. This decade has come with a lot of opportunities and for a lot of us, it is the time we walk into that future we’ve been planning for. We however have a huge role to play in how that future will look like. This brings me to making investments. Making financial investments to be specific. Everyone is out to make money. Everyone has the goal to be rich and wealthy but these things don’t just happen by chance. You consciously make it happen by making the right financial choices. A lot of business opportunities have been unraveled in this season. From Forex trading to Crypto-currency, Digital marketing to Social media marketing, Programming to Data sciences and most importantly, Entrepreneurship. It is expedient to note that in this new decade what you studied in school is not always enough to keep you afloat in the growing economy. Companies are out not just for the best student but for the outstanding person...

“I woke up and carried up my Bible and looked again as the words “Devotion” ran through my head. Devotion, Devotion, Devotion… okay. “Good morning Father, I thank you for today and I thank you because I can move my body and live. Thank You Father, in Jesus name.” I opened the Bible to anywhere my hands could take me. And I saw one common one the youth pastor used to say, Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and an expected end”. Then I thanked God for the revealing of His Word and I said the Lord’s prayer, then the Grace. Afterward I carried my phone and went to check the messages there.” Is your devotion always like this every morning? Let’s gist. What exactly is devotion? Devotion is a code name for the time we spend with God. Yes, God surrounds us, yes He is all around us, but that doesn’t mean we spend time with Him. It is the time when we get to truly know God, when we get to strip a...

  THE SECOND. I am the second. What my name means, I would never know. What my destiny is, I would never perceive. I was born into a cursed tribe. A race doomed to destruction. My race was anathema. But it was never our faults. It wasn't the thing we did that brought about our fate. It was the inactions of our forefather; their refusal to give in to the truth. Their sins were running after us and they were about to catch up. The ones who were to destroy us were nearby. Our executors were very close. I had seen it. I sensed what was coming. I knew we would all soon die. But what could I do? I was but a harlot. To make ends meet, I had sold my body to kings, priests and even paupers. There was hardly a man in the city who hadn't used me. Even the worthless city drunk had slept with me. My life was such a mess. No one would listen to me. But one day, I put off my woes. Unashamed, I went out to tell them of what I saw. As expected, no one listened to me. My heart cried out ...

We started talking and he went to the issue of kissing but this time, he said he would not force me if I wasn't ready. I was deeply in love with him. (or so you thought) I closed all the windows so no one would see us and I said “Kiss me”. He kissed me and he said “let's have Sex”. {Insert mysterious tune here} I told him I was a Virgin and that there would be blood everywhere and he jokingly said, “how many tanks of blood do you have there?”. He told me there was a way he would do it and everything was going to be fine. I felt that I was ready and I was really going to have sex with him but I remembered something. My elder sisters got pregnant when they were teenagers and I was just 16 as at that time. I told him to stop that I wasn't ready. Then he stopped and told me he was leaving. That was the last time I saw him and the relationship ended. It has been 3 years since then and we haven’t been communicating. You can guess what my age is now, right. I am in my last l...

Before we plunge into another teen issue today, it’s imperative to note that these stories are true stories of teenagers like you and I. It is about their experiences which I am certain that many of us can relate to. Don’t just go “awwn” and “ooh” over this story, it is not fiction. Let us learn lessons from the lives of others and put them in our hearts as we go on.} In today’s world, dating is one of the most under defined words that actually weigh a lot on what we eventually do. If done at the right time, it can be as seamless as it should be. But what obtains nowadays is that the measures and conditions that go into the founding of such a relationship are usually done in such a way that the relations hip is doomed to fail even before it begins. And then theirs is the case of sexual purity, abstaining from sex till marriage and keeping the precious act of consummation solely to the place it was meant to take place, the marriage bed. Without further ado, lets meet Deola (not real ...

I told my pastor I was losing faith concerning my admission and he laughed and said he would remind me of what I said when I graduated. That year I made a vow to do a particular thing if I gained admission. UTME came again and as I was still wondering if it was still the same O'level result I was going to use, they announced that Post-Utme will commence again. So using that nonsense NECO result, I gained admission into the University of Lagos. UNILAG was the same school I kept choosing over and over, to the point that people asked if that was the only school available in Nigeria. At that point I thought okay, now that things were going well, my struggle was over.” You know how often they say with success comes greater responsibility? Yeah, they say with great power, blah blah. You should know that stepping stones to success are usually a call to greater responsibility which is one of the many reasons why you shouldn’t relax and forget all about God who helped you to a certain s...