A Tip to maximise your Mid-Week Truth Turn Up …

Your Mid-Week Truth Turn Up is a 'meaty' devotional that can re-centre your heart on Jesus as you go along in your week. The devotional is slightly lengthier than a daily devotional and that is because I post them only once a week and they are meant to be your repeat meditation for the next 7 days till you receive the next Truth Turn Up.

My tip is therefore that as your week goes on, you visit and re-visit your Mid-Week Truth Turn up and meditate on the Bible Meditation passage, my write up as well as the Further Study at the bottom of the devotional. Take the whole week to meditate on it and get it into your spirit. Do not try to compress the whole devotional into one reading.

Enjoy (* wink *)

Coach Toyin 

Occupy The Whole Mansion (Part 1)

YOUR MID-WEEK TRUTH TURN UP (DEVOTIONAL) WITH COACH TOYIN

Meditate on this: Hebrews 7:20-28 (in the NIV)

Feature verse: “Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” Hebrews 7:25

“Save completely”? Hmmm … Child of God, do you feel “saved completely”? Has this ‘complete salvation’, or as other translations say, “saved to the uttermost”, has it manifested as a reality in your life?

Let me start this series by introducing myself to you. My name is Oluwatoyin Oladiran, a.k.a Coach Toyin. I was born into a Christian family and raised with a strong Christian heritage that plays an untold role in keeping me on a path with God. That notwithstanding, and though I made genuine life choices in those early years to follow Christ, so much about this life in Christ just did not add up for me. “One plus one did not add up to two” for me and I found myself experiencing much defeat and hopelessness. “Jesus saves to the uttermost”? I would often ask myself. “Really? It sure doesn’t feel like it.”

You see, I was taught that being a Christian meant that you would be free from sin, yet I struggled with sin like you would not believe. I was taught that Jesus loves and heals the broken-hearted, yet not only did my heart remain broken, my identity and lifestyle remained cracked and bruised by painful experiences of the past and present. I was taught that being a child of God meant that I could ask God for what I needed and if I had faith, He would meet my needs. Yet, more often than not, when I prayed, it felt like the words slobbered out my mouth, floated about in mid-air for a bit and fell like wet blobs to the floor.

I was taught that God loves me and that therefore, my relationship with Him would feel real, intimate, vibrant and interactive. Yet many times when I ‘talked’ to God or tried to worship, it felt like I was simply kidding myself; conjuring up a figment of my imagination. I was taught that God is more powerful than the forces of darkness, yet I often cried the name of Jesus when the devil afflicted me in my dreams, and my fear only intensified. I was taught that God has a great and unique purpose for my life, yet I had no idea how I was meant to discover, talk less of walk in this. I was taught that as a follower of Christ, I have power to work miracles like Jesus did; I have power to pray for my healing and that of others, I have power to change a nation, yet … oh my! Let me not even go there.

None of these so called ‘perks’ of being a Christian were real to me by any means. It was like I had  been given an unimaginable gift; a magnificent mansion, and it had even been registered in my name, but not only was I barricaded out of the mansion, I was not even allowed to set eyes on it for more than a few minutes a day!

Hmmm …

Our Bible meditation today tells us that Jesus Christ was the perfect High Priest to make atonement for our sins because not only is He sinless and undefiled by the brokenness of this world, He lives forever. Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus saves “completely” or “to the uttermost”. Hallelujah! Well guess what?! I’m so thrilled to tell you that as I have continued to grow more in the Lord, I can now safely testify from experience that Jesus does save completely!! Praise God! I’m getting goosebumps as I type this! All that abundance that I grew up believing that He makes available for those who follow Him? That supernatural life? That intimacy with God? That power over sin and brokenness? That purpose-driven living? It’s all real! So if you read any of the scenarios I gave earlier, and they were familiar to you, trust me, there is hope; THERE IS SO MUCH MORE!

I invite you to follow this series titled “Occupy The Whole Mansion” over the next few weeks. Join me to explore ‘the Christian Life’, or like I want to call it in this series, ‘this Magnificent Mansion’. Let us assess whether you have occupied the whole mansion, or whether you are still barricaded out of the mansion, or only able to access some of the rooms or floors. Our aim at the end of this series is to click RESET on your Christian life, so that you are planted neatly in your journey to occupying the whole mansion! You see, I’m taking my whole mansion! I don’t know about you but, I am not willing to accept a shoddy Christian experience. I’m sorry. I’m just not. Do you feel the same? I really hope so.

Let us pray

Lord Jesus, You came to give me LIFE and that ABUNDANTLY! Why then am I saddled with a fraction of the fullness of what You came to give me? I know You have so much more for me and I want to have it all. I want the intimate relationship with You. I want the power over sin and the healing from inner brokenness. I want the grasp of Your purpose for my life and the certainty that I can and am walking in it. I want to pray and know that You hear and are answering me. I want to change the world into what You intended it to look like. I want to operate in Your power and anointing to do great things for You in this life. I want it all. Lord, keep me on this journey and help me to lay hold on ‘that God-life’. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I am Coach Toyin, fully convicted by my own words and very much still under construction in the hands of the Father.