Bliss

At home

I woke up feeling this kind of joy within, maybe because I was going to church for the first time in a long time and I was going to see Greg and J.J_Roland had ironed the dress he picked out for me like he said he would, not giving me a chance to change my mind, I went to take a shower and got ready. When I stepped out Roland was still in his room, I went to make some coffee and waited for him in the parlour.

"Vivy, I'm ready now_my oh my...what?...God is good!...oh yes he is...wow...Roland, what is it?...don't act like you don't know, the dress, I mean you look great...oh ok_thank you...and she blusheth...oh so we're going King James now huh...yes I have to...hahaha, you're looking really beautiful...thank you...you're welcome, why are you quiet all of a sudden?...thank you so much Roland for being here with me when I need you...you know I'll always be here for you, now enough of the sadness. I'm sure Greg won't be able to take his eyes off you...why?...do you still have to ask...wait_did you hear that?...yes, looks like the famous Greg is here...let me check"

I went outside to check who it was and saw Greg "You're here...yes ma'am, you ready?...yes please...you look amazing...thank you_can my cousin come with us, I know I didn't inform you beforehand, he'll be staying with me for awhile and wanted to go to church with us...oh yes sure...okay, let me call him".
I called Roland out and we set off for church, I was sitting in front with Greg while Roland sat behind with J.J.

"So Greg, meet Roland, my cousin and Roland, meet Greg...nice to meet you bro... same here Greg, I've heard so much about you...oh really, good things I hope...Vivian cannot say any bad things about you...that's a relief... hahaha yeah and I hope you'll take good care of her when I'm not around...Roly, we agreed on something...Viv please allow him...oh I see, when I'm trying to defend you...he doesn't need defending...I rest my case" I kept quiet since the two men decided to be best of friends all of a sudden

"Hey...hi..." he was talking to me in whispers "come on Viv, don't tell me you're upset...oh no I'm not, since you both decided to gang up against me, I will be quiet...hahaha, I'm sorry, now what did you want to discuss with me?...I said we'll talk after church... can't you just give me a hint, I'm curious...okay, I'll tell you one of them...I'm all ears...so I decided to be fully committed to God from now onwards...oh wow, I'm so glad to hear that...and I also decided to fellowship at your church... that's great but why not at your parent's?...I want to have a fresh start and my parent's place reminds me of my daughter, so many memories I would like to put behind me and I felt more 'at home' at your church the last time I visited...I understand and I'm happy you'll be joining our wonderful family in church, you won't regret it at all...I know and I look forward to having a great time fellowshipping there...you will, what else did you want to tell me?...I'll tell you after church...yes please".

We got to church and I knew immediately that that was where I belonged. They had the opening prayer and the choir sung beautifully as well. The Pastor preached about "Joy in the Holy Ghost", interesting right, I mean I had been wanting to know how to live a life devoid of sadness since my little girl left and I now knew why God brought me to this church.

"You don't have to be sad and depressed because of a situation you may find yourself in, your being born again should be enough to make you full of joy always because when you were born again, you moved locations in the spirit even though physically you still live where you are, spiritually you were catapulted to a place called Christ. You not only received Christ to live in you but you were moved to live in him so if you're sad, it only means you came out of the location_what are you looking for outside?...thank you Sir!" someone screamed from among the congregation "Yes you're listening. The word says in Proverbs 17:22 that (a merry heart doeth good like medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones). There's a difference between happiness and joy; happiness is as a result of happenings around you but joy is a fruit of the recreated human spirit. Do you want me to show it to you in the Bible?...yes Pastor..." the congregation responded, I was listening with rapt attention because these words were new to me and I liked the fact that joy everyday was possible.

"Turn your bibles to Galatians 5:22_are you there?...yes Sir...good, it says (But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,) did you see happiness there?...No!!!... the preceding verses talks about the works of the flesh which are adultery, fornication, hatred, wrath, envy and all but when you walk in the spirit, the result is love, joy, peace etc. I mean you don't have the time to even harbour hatred or bitterness in your heart towards someone no matter how they've hurt you. A christian is supposed to carry his/her own atmosphere, a fixed climate, not sometimes joyful and sometimes sad. Your joy should be independent of happenings, that means no matter what goes on around you; yes you're hurt, yes you lost a loved one, yes you lost that business opportunity, yes you lost your job but even in all these you should be full of joy regardless, being joyful is what will produce the testimony or change that you require in that situation. If you're not joyful always then it means you don't have faith and the Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Let me explain; you're going through a tough challenge, naturally, that should make you sad or weigh you down but God's word says you should be joyful. How can you be joyful when you just lost your only child or your parents, that's when faith in God's word comes in, so when at that moment that men expect you to be all gloomy and sad, you are bubbly and joyful; why? because you know that a testimony is on it's way because challenges come to promote us at every stage of our lives. I mean your Christianity looses a certain kind of flavour when there are no adventures. Your christian life can't be dull like that, you watch action movies, don't you?...yes Sir...and you always see the protagonist crossing and overcoming every hurdle or challenge put in his way and he/she never looses at the end of the movie, that makes the movie somewhat exciting right...yes Sir...in the same way, your life should be an exciting journey in Christ, that when exams of life comes, you know for sure that you can only come out as a winner. This is applying your faith_faith is acting on God's word and his word says you should be joyful and he knows it is not humanly possible but that's why the Holy Spirit is in you to help your recreated human spirit that came as a result of being born again to produce that joy, that love, that peace which surpasses human understanding. Faith is not denying the fact but it is denying the fact, the ability to control you, so yes you lost that loved one, that's a fact but that should not determine your mood. There are some of you here who hardly smile so when you even smile which is once in a blue moon, you feel guilty, why because the devil brings thoughts to you like 'why are you smiling, when Iris just broke up with you', does that define you? And tell me how far the sadness has helped you solve the problem. Invest your joy in heavenly things not on earthly things because you'll get the returns. Are you hearing me?...yes Pastor...you invested your joy in that guy and when he went in for another lady you are depressed and want to kill yourself..." everyone was reeling with laughter, I bet they could relate with what the Pastor was saying

"Come on say I'm full of joy...I'M FULL OF JOY...I refuse to be sad...I REFUSE TO BE SAD... Depression has no place in me... DEPRESSION HAS NO PLACE IN ME...now lift up your hands and begin to thank God for the word that has come to you_ hallelujah... PRAISE THE LORD!...I hope you'll make the necessary changes where it concerns you from what you've heard...YES SIR".

Hello lovely people, I sincerely apologise for being away for too long, but I'm back with more inspiring updates, trust me, your christian life would take a whole new turn if you would give attention to the teachings and not only read the book like a story book. The aim is to impact your spirit. Remember to share, comment, vote...I love you loads😘😘😘.