Yasmin Ocansey @sassyojs-blog - Tumblr Blog

EVERY TIME I SEE THE ALPS

A YEAR BEFORE

I woke up from the dream with a rather puzzled expression on my face, and by reflex, recorded what I remembered from the dream. In this dream, I appeared to be in a church where there was an American pastor who was preaching about grace, His message was compelling enough but even more compelling to watch was the incredible view of the Alps that we had from our large windows, Even though I was fully dreaming, I happened to know it was the French Alps which obviously meant I was in France, I however quickly forgot about my dream and got caught up in doing life.

I was so itching to be upping and going with ministry and ‘getting things moving’ as soon as I was done with undergrad, My PAUL mode to go turn nations upside right for Jesus was fully on and a master was simply not in the near future in my scheme of affairs. My dad, on the contrary was anything but a happy camper with that decision, he was bent on getting me to do a master’s program in a French speaking country, At That time though, I was less than enthusiastic about that suggestion, ‘This man is cramping my style though’ I often thought and when he finally clamped down on me with an ultimatum (or ahem blackmail) depending on at the beginning of the new year(2014) I finally and reluctantly took my cue to begin a search for a good master’s program in Switzerland, Canada and France, Weeks went by, with my nose involuntarily wrinkling at one program after the other in the various countries, Then one rather hot afternoon, I came across a communication program offered by the University of Grenoble 3, that piqued my interest The more I read it, the more my heart connected with it I was suddenly so hyped up and ready to go but first i needed to find out where in France it even was lol! ‘Where is Grenoble though’?I quickly googled it to find out where it was just wanted to know everything about this school already!

THE ALPS

Man,That was the absolute first thing I noticed coming up from my Google search,The majestic alps in all it's glory, My mind quickly connected to the dream that I had had over a year ago, OH wow God had me good and well, To think I had thought that this program was going to be a hiccup to my plans when it was actually a launching pad to what God would have me do! My eyes welled up when the realization sunk in, This Master’s program was not just my Dad’s suggestion but part of THE MASTER’S PROGRAM!

Now What?

Everything was going to be easy peasy because God was definitely in it, ERM no, It actually does not always work out that way and that is what we need to understand, That just because God said something does not mean that there will be no opposition, Take Elijah for example God had specifically told him that he will send rain, but that did not mean that Elijah had to simply push a ‘Play’ button in the spiritual realms and voila ,there was rain, NOPIE,he had wrestle the prophecy through once or twice but by prayer, not once or twice but 7 times,7 in the bible represents wholeness, thoroughness, completion and perfectionto,Dude had his face between his knees for REAL!!!!!!

Boy speaking of opposition did I face opposition I think by now I should have about 20 different definitions for the word opposition (Such was its extent lol) In between my computer pulling a coma on me in the middle of my entrance examinations to barreling through tedious immigration among other variables I was so ready to bail out of everything at one point you know to peace up and A town, but ………

Here I am in Grenoble finally, and each day it becomes clearer why he brought me here and O how glad I am I stuck it out during the long haul!

My route to school gives me a perfect view of the Alps and every time I see those ALPS, I receive a fresh wave of certitude that, the Grand Weaver is still In control,

He has

not changed his word,

so don’t change your position,

Stand on that word and watch him ‘bust your mind’

because that’s simply how he rolls. �x��

Too touching .Jesus be praised

And your next stop is………

‘Ladies and gentlemen, as you might have noticed, we have failed at our first attempt at landing and we are now going to attempt our second landing, In the meantime we ask passengers to remain calm as we try our second attempt at landing………

I did not know then why I had been so nervous about that particular fIight but boy was I nervous. It had been such an eventful year I had had the privilege of flying to several countries, all without incident, but somehow with this particular flight which was going to be my last for a while I JUST could not seem to shake off this uneasiness.Everytime I thought about going to Ghana, My tummy felt like it had an army of caterpillars marching in it. This feeling decided to keep me company during my last week in New jersey till I decided that I needed spiritual reinforcement, I called my mum who was in Ghana and burst into tears Mummy(Yes I call my mum mummy),I don’t know why but I feel like I’m not going to make it home.’. Before I continued, she was already praying with me and we made some declarations and …..

Fast forward 3 Days

I was finally on my way to Accra Ghana…..

It had been such a calm flight so far, I smiled when the pilot announced ‘Cabin crew take your seats’

I am really here..I thought as I took a last look in my compact mirror: Make up Intact. I smiled, I was ready. Time to meet my family and friends.I felt the plane started to descend, I relaxed into my seat and waited for the first bump to indicate that we were finally on solid ground. It did not come. What?’ Are we going back up’? I asked the girls by me, The confusion on their faces was a confirmation, We were going back up!!But why? That’s when the emergency lights in the aisle came on and then the voice of the captain: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, as you might have noticed, we have failed at our first attempt at landing and we are now going to attempt our second attempt at landing, In the meantime we ask passengers to remain calm as we attempt our second landing’

I had no time to think ,I just grabbed the two girls by me not knowing whether they were Muslims or Buddhists said agree with this prayer, For the next 40 minutes petitioned with heaven for my life and the lives of those with me, God gave me a revelation of praise as a prayer weapon then by putting this song in my heart ‘I’ve had my share of ups and downs ……Times when there was no one around, God came and said to me, Praise will confuse the enemy ‘That song was so appropriate I mean here we literally having an up and down moment and really at this point God was the only one around ………..

We landed.Safely.Well I am here to tell my own story and I am grateful to God, In these times of all these aviation mysteries and tragedies you cannot take such incidents for granted and that is why I shared this story. The reality of what could have happened was not lost on me especially because when I was finally safe in my own house , my mother after we had had a moment of thanksgiving revealed to me ‘You know, when you called me crying about that feeling you could not shake off, it sounded the alarm for me, because the truth was I had been having the exact same feeling and your call confirmed the enemy was up to something ,I could see your sister back home but I somehow I just couldn’t see you back in Ghana’.(My sister had been with me but left on another flight that same day as I did) .

But now, you reading, Let’s edit my story bit ,Supposing you were on that plane as well and supposing that plane did completely fail in it's 2nd attempt nd at landing, I have a question for you,’ where will be your NEXT and LAST STOP’?

I hope this question causes you to squirm and be uncomfortable for a bit. It might ruin a bit of your day because nobody likes to think about death but at least it won’t ruin all of your eternity if it causes you to ask the right question and find the right answer. The times we are living in are pretty turbulent geez something as seemingly simple as watching the news takes a great deal of courage ;Aviation tragedies all over the place, Ebola fear , tension between super powers loaded with nuclear powers, economic crunches, disguised genocides…….not to mention your own personal trials and failures……Nobody needs to tell you the glaring truth: We need a saviour.True believers are not shaken by these things going on because they have a Saviour and they know the ‘Just shall live by faith’, They know that in him they live and move and have their being, So even when death comes(which is the number one fear of most), it really is not death because the the truth is that true believers are never separated from God but merely switch locations in him. The process of dying for the true believer is like going through a revolving door into another room in Him! How awesome is that?

Is that the revelation YOU have about death? Do YOU want to see life this way, More importantly do YOU want this to be your reality? Of course you do! And God wants this even more for you! Hear the word of God:I am the Living God, The Resurrection and the Life, whoever trusts in me even if he dies, he shall live’(John chapter 11 vs 25) How many times have we heard this :’For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that WHOSOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life? Of course God doesn’t want you to die just as you don’t want to die That is why he made provision for eternal Life!!These words are TRUTH and when you are accept truth and live by truth you become free from the bondage of fear.

Accepting Jesus is not simply about making an emotional decision and reciting a prayer, It’s a about genuinely being convicted of sin regardless of whatever form it takes and turning your heart and mind to the only one who can guarantee you eternal insurance and cause you to fulfill your purpose for your existence.

After accepting him, it just does not end there, we need to rely on the Holy Spirit he gives us to daily yield to him and submit to his will, grow in him and ultimately live our lives in a way that will glorify him.

Don’t let the fear of ending up in hell be what draws you to God but instead know that The non-fictional story of the one true God becoming man and dying for man in the most cruel way ever ,so that a sinless God took on sin of the entire mankind and by so doing created a way for man to have unlimited access and intimate fellowship with him God, to partake of his very nature and to spend the rest of forever with Him is the greatest love story ever, this story is still being told, cameras are still rolling, The full list of the cast is not yet out and I hear you have a part in this story, So …go find your spot and get into character..’Oh how he has been waiting!!!J

#plane #crash afterlife #saviour

ASS WHOOPING –If there ever was an awards ceremony to honour parents who have excelled in the art and variations of ass whooping, I have absolutely no doubt my mother would totally be what Lupita N’yongo has been at various Film awards. ‘The darling of the night.’She would sweep all the awards pronto, In fact I can almost hear her giving her speech..(lol)

When we were kids, my younger sister and I would go and rummage through stuff in the garage, store room, looking anywhere old things were kept for traces of evidence to figure out our real roots because we were convinced we were adopted.(We were mainly looking for our adoption papers.)Sometimes we would pack our yellow and black tweety backpacks with the intention of leaving to go look for our ‘real’ mother. It was ridiculous because we always did it in the presence of our mum and she would quietly watch us and by the time we get to the gate, the guy who used to do odd jobs in our house was calmly waiting there the ready to carry us back inside. The script never changed, you’d think we would have chosen a different methodology.

You may be wondering what we were trying to get away from: ‘ ASS WHOOPING ‘that’s what. Growing up,my mum was such a NO NONSENSE woman, For most offenses,ass whooping was the prescribed remedy and the most painful thing was the question she asked while our little bottoms were on fire; “Why am I beating you?” and then pitifully we’ll respond’because you love us’, she asked this question several times ,and at that moment ,when you feel the least loved, trust me, that’s the last question you want to hear.

But you know what, today I was reading Hebrews chapter 12 vs 5-7 which says’My child don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.For the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes each one he accepts as his child. As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children, Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

After reading this portion of scripture, my mind took a trip to my childhood ‘ass whooping days’, and I could definitely relate given our red bottomed childhood days............

In any case, years down the line,I did not turn out half bad, My mum’s discipline coupled with divine intervention takes the credit for the… ahem responsible young woman I am today.

If we were willing to yield to discipline metted out by our earthly parents, how much more should we be willing to submit to the sovereign Lord who even created them? We HEAR this all the time but do we actually LISTEN to it?

I have no idea what kind of discipline God is metting out to you and in which aspect of your life as I write this, ,I am getting my fair share of his tough love as but here’s a helpful reminder ;You are his product and he is the manufacturer, the Bible puts it this way , You are the clay ,He is the POTTER,he is making and YouJust like in pottery,The potter knows exactly what you need in the right measure to bring out the very best in you, There’s an intense amount of fire that is needed ,in order to increase your strength and set your shape ,but finally when the beautiful product emerges and is on display,all everyone talks about is the beautiful masterpiece on display and never about the process that culminated into that masterpiece.

The’ ass whooping’ I endured as a child was anything but enjoyable, trust me however if I get a dollar someone commends my mum for her wonderful upbringing, I’ll be so giving Bill Gates a run for his money by this time, By the grace of God, my siblings and I turned out the way we did because we had a mum who cared about us enough to practice ‘tough love’.

Same principle applies here, the bible puts it best in Hebrews 12 vs 11 and 12.”No discipline is enjoyable while it’s happening, it’s painful! But afterward, there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your feeble knees.”

nfordwor

“But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and make no provision for [indulging] the flesh” – Romans 13:14

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Colossians 3:12

Wake up each morning and put on these qualities; just as you would get dressed for the day, put on the very presence of Jesus Christ. This visual is simply amazing. The words “put on” and “clothe” suggest effort, an active decision. Each morning we must make a conscious decision to put on this nature. God showed me in quite humorous way, that it is not enough to merely put on (a focus on outward appearance.) The example is funny, but gets the point across clearly. God has an excellent sense of humor. Consider the scene at a child’s birthday party…a character; lets say Dora the Explorer, is invited to entertain the children. To the horror of the kids and parents, Dora is “fake,” an imposter. This character looks exactly like Dora, but acts like “Courage the Cowardly Dog” or the “Grinch.” Worse, at a point during the party, the Dora character takes of the head, and the children see a grumpy, mean old woman beneath. Some kids will cry, some will be terrified, disappointed, and others may be angry…traumatizing really.

andherfaith

so true! :)

sassyojs-blog

Love love this by my fellow Godchaser Nathalie!

How Sober I am this morning, Just had a conversation with my Dad about life, death and thereafter...His very good friend from England passed this Saturday and we are all still in shock really.My dad more than anyone else..My father spoke to his friend on Saturday morning at 7:53 am and Saturday 5:30pm he was found slumped behind his wheel:DEAD, after having appeared to have suffered a heart attack.He died at a traffic intersection, the traffic light turned green and while all the cars in front of him responded, he failed to.The drivers behind him blasted their horns to no avail, till some vendors went to investigate and discovered this man ,LIFELESS.He was on his way to have dinner with his friends,one of them had even planned a little surprise for him, but the only surprise that evening was this horrible news which qualifies for a SHOCK really..His friends waited and waited for him and they still waiting... My Dad lamented this morning"Oh we were now going to prepare his Ghana Will".This friend of my Dad was incredibly wealthy and has properties all over the world, he was due to return to England this Sunday , but at the moment his first class ticket lies idle and instead he is being transported as freight.. As my Dad described his body in the mortuary, he said "David was treated just like everyone else," with a white cloth covering him, he said 'at that point we are all equal'.and I thought to myself,Wow Death was not intimidated by this Man's wealth or stature, death came for him ANYWAY. ..and I understood better what scripture meant when it said to labour for the treasure that won't perish!Indeed All the things we see with our regular eyes are temporal , yet we have placed so much value on them,People are so driven by these things they lose sight of what has eternal value,Yes accomplishments are good, living comfortably no one has anything against but in all your getting, secure your place in heaven and make sure your priorities are straight!!!#Whatshallitprofitamanifhegainsthewholeworldandloseshissoul#eternityonmymind#sassy@officialJesusstalker

God cares about my purse....

I willed myself not to look into my purse for the umpteenth time.No matter how much I willed more money to show up in my purse in a typical Matilda fashion ,it did not lol, t’was still one brown note and one green note:12 ghana cedis exactly,(sigh) ,That was how much it was going to cost for my cab ride to and from work which meant no lunch ,plus how was I even getting to work the next day, with payday nowhere in sight? Before I even opened my mouth to talk to God, the Holy Spirit shut me up by telling me that if you take care of my business, I’ll take care of yours.. Oh right, Lord so what will you have me do today? He then led me to share what I had learnt that day with others, So I did a brief audio, exhorted and prayed and randomly sent this to my Whatsapp Contacts.. About 10 mins later, I’m scrolling through the various ‘thank you’s ,it was such a blessing” messages coming in , When one message stood out ;It was a messsage from an elderly man I had once met during an emceeing gig, the message just said ‘Kindly pass by my office today, and ask for the group chief’s secretary" so I am thinking,"This is probably another emceeing gig” and I sure could use the extra money so I decided to go… I get to his office…out of breath, and I think to myself,This better be good Lord’ because I barely have enough to even get me out of here…. I follow the instructions of the text message and ask for the group chief’s secretary …. A few minutes later I am 500 gh cedis(5 million old cedis) richer, This benevolent man apparently had been simply touched by what I had shared and wanted to bless me!Dazed with gratitude and shock, as I thanked GOD over and over again, and I could almost hear him re echo, Take care of my business and I’ll take care of yours.HOW INCREDIBLE is Our God?There were so many lessons God used that testimony to illustrate to me. 1.Don’t give in to SELF PITY!!Self pity is idolatry,the devil tries so hard to magnify our problems so that we become so immersed in them and in doing that we forget about everyone else, But we have called him out on that one!If like Job regardless of whatever problems we face, we decide to pray for others, we will be astonished by the testimony God leaves with us.Job 42 vs 10 says:”After Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.Next time you are feeling down, please do yourself a favour and encourage somebody. ?. 2.Money is a Reaction not a Miracle: Another thing the Holy Spirit ministered to me was that, he has already deposited in us the ability to make wealth!Sometimes we wander so far in seeking solution, when the answer IS already WITHIN us, Like Moses, God is asking you What do you have in your hand?All we have to do is surrender that gift to him and use it for His glory!Same situation with the little guy who had the fishes and loaves, God used what was available and multiplied it, I’m here to sound this memo to anyone who is worrying where their next meal is coming from…The answer is in you boo, God already gave us All that pertains unto life and godliness, You have been equipped to do life big!!!!!!So walk in that consciousness!!! 3.The 2 above points will not be valid without trust and faith in God, A trust that knows no borders, because that’s exactly what pleases and delights. him, he reminds us in his Word that Anyone who comes to him must first believe that HE IS and he’s the rewarder of them that diligently seek him,"He is" is just what God meant when he told Abraham that I Am. There is no singular definition for Him , For every worry, anxiety, problem , he remains I AM!!!!He is everything and anything we need him to be!!Gloooorayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!

From Junkyard to ShowRoom-Isn't it just amazing how God can create MASTERPIECES from scraps?Look at the car below, it was hauled in from a junkyard,Beatup, ugly ,probably and written off by everyone , it looks like a car that will be every eligible for the PIMP my ride show, What I loved about the crew on that show was that they were never unfazed by the ramshackle, shabby ,rickety decreipt or worn out state of the car, they thrived on the challenge and prided themselves on not only customizing and restoring the car but making it even better than it was before!By the time they are through, you the viewer knows its the same car but then again you know it's not!Today, the King of Kings is scouring the junkyards, wanting to restore, transform ,and showcase any beat ups just like in the image above, What do you have to lose?#Makeovertime#Handoveryourscraps#Absolutelyfree#Helongstoshowyouoff#sassy@officialJesusstalker

#helongstoshowyouoff #absolutelyfree #handoveryourscraps #sassy #makeovertime

WHEN GOD GOES TECHNOSAVVY ………

(He speaks your language)

Really. It should not have surprised me, he had pulled that number in the bible a couple of times but, well my case was slightly different. So here’s what happened

France 2011

It was an extremely dry period in my life and I was thirsty for God,it was my year abroad in France and yeah I had found a church, yeah the people were real sweet but honestly I was still hungry. Hungry for the life changing word of God and the manifestation of his power. I did not want to merely go through motions wanted the real deal and unfortunately there was no life there, well not the kind I was looking for anyway. I remember this one day my girls and I were late to church and we just decided: You know what, let’s have church by ourselves just the five of us. It was an awesome service, We preached, we worshipped and even had the offertory lol.But that day my prayer was desperate I remember my prayer so vividly ‘O Lord that I may experience you in another dimension,’ Little did I know heaven was planning a sophisticated response...

Fast forward…..One week later

I was in the middle of a SKYPE chat with a friend from Ghana whom we will call John and there was this nudge I kept getting to pray about this particular ‘issue’in my life that I had completely written off as hopeless, (You know how in your mind you can sometimes file your prayer requests into different categories?Yup,that’s exactly what I had done and and this particular issue was filed under ‘NOT POSSIBLE’ so I shrugged off that nudge urging me to pray and just settled in my mind ‘I’ll live with this guess this is how it will always be’;

Well just after having that internal dialogue, Skype went crazy on me, and just kept cutting courtesy of Ghanaian internet lol. A few minutes after that, my cell phone started to ring , I glanced at the Caller id, yup it was John, I figured he was calling to apologize about the internet answered the call expecting to hear John’s voice but it wasn’t John’s voice.

This voice was NOTHING like John’s voice, it was the voice of an elderly man, I’ll peg his age at 60, and as I Kept asking in confusion, ‘WHO IS THIS ‘the voice kept repeating the same thing WHAT IS YOUR PRAYER REQUEST? PRAY RIGHT NOW IN THE NAME OF JESUS, WHAT IS YOUR PRAYER REQUEST, PRAY RIGHT NOW IN THE NAME OF JESUS’, I almost peed on myself, I’m LIKE what on earth? There I was debating in my head whether or not I should actually bother submitting my prayer request to heaven and then thisss…….How did this man even know, Did the phone lines somehow cross but even if they did what were the odds….?;one question tumbled in my head one after the other.

So at this point I run to my friend Lady’s room to assure myself I was not losing my mind, Lady bless her soul assured me I wasn’t .A few minutes later, the phone rang again, same caller id: Was it John or another… I stared at it as though it had suddenly grown teeth; Apparently I still had some courage left so I picked up the phone and this time it was the REAL JOHN. ‘I hysterically ask him ‘who was that on the line’ He at this point is also very baffled and asks me ‘why did you keep asking me who was on the line, when you have my number? OMG was my only reaction, John continued to speak ‘I was calling to apologize about the internet situation at work and to tell you I was leaving to go home’, I on the other hand heard no such thing, and All I heard was ‘WHAT IS YOUR PRAYER REQUEST? PRAY RIGHT NOW IN THE NAME OF JESUS’

As the truth dawned on me when I was much calmer, I went from being hysterical to feeling soooooooooooooooooooooooo touched, and I just felt the love of God wrap me like thick fuzzy blanket assuring me his presence was a divine reality I learnt in that moment that God will come down to your level and speak to you in your own language, I had asked him to show himself to me and he did! He did it for Jacob; he appeared to him as a wrestler (Jacob had been wrestling all his life), he did it for Abraham (He appeared to him as a traveler because Abraham was a total Gulliver of his time) AND he did for for me SASSY, HE totally went techno savvy on me, Do you get the trend? You are next in line. Be expectant.

I want to remind you reading this today, Don’t you dare put God in a box, and he is the GOD OF NO LIMITS! YOUR GREATEST AND WILDEST DESIRE IS STILL TOO MINISCULE OR HIM.

Haahaha I almost forgot this bit, So I told my mum what happened, and you won’t believe this woman, She was giddy with excitement, to her, this offer was same as being told you can go for a free shopping spree in heaven. She wasted no time in giving me a long list of prayer requests to put in my ‘spiritual envelope’ on her behalf’ lol.

Anyhoo, so I did submit my issue to God and he totally dealt with it like the SHOWMAN he is.Please don’t hold out on him today, Go talk to your Daddy.

Don't know if you heard the latest from heaven dailies?Heaven is hiring and there's space for you!yup EVEN YOU with the questionable resume,,God is ready to use you and he's not even asking for references!Schucks you don't even need a Resume, plus payday is in 2 fold here on earth and the next life .Well,what are you waiting for?‪#‎heiswilling‬#hereIamLorduseme#Sassy@officialJesustalker

I came across an interview with some of the survivors from the South Korean ferry disaster, these girls overcome with a combination of grief, shock and gratitude all at once ,attempted to describe their ordeal,they had narrowly missed death and they were not unaware of it. As I listened to the report, tears welled up in my own eyes because for us believers , their story is totally relatable.We were all on sinking ships but Grace undaunted by the high tides, the murky waters and the darkness reached out and pulled us out . Overwhelmedwithgratitude #sassy@officialJesusstalker.

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Yasmin Ocansey