LISTEN TO Linda Ikeji young girls!!!

I HAVE NEVER…NEVER EVER IN MY LIFE SLEPT WITH A MAN FOR MONEY, Linda Ikeji writes young girls

My name is Linda Ikeji. I’m a blogger. I’m 35 years old and I have never…never ever in my life slept with a man for money. Not only have I never done it, I have never even consider it…and here I am with a house that cost me over half a billion naira.

Listen, you are beautiful and you are stronger than you know. There’s absolutely nothing you can’t achieve if you set your mind to it, put her heart and soul into it. Up until five years ago, I was a struggling entrepreneur. I can’t tell you how many offices in this Lagos I sat in for hours waiting to see people who could support my business…but most times, I never passed the reception area. But I never gave up and I never stopped believing and here I am today.

You too can be this..you can be better than this. No dream is too big, no dream is too small, no mountain is too high…it’s all in your mind. It’s all up to you. If you believe in you, in your God who is guiding you, then the sky is your starting point.

Please stop waiting around for a man to give to you…to put food on your table and put clothes on your back. I promise you, you can do it for yourself. Start thinking big, believe in yourself, be creative and start working. Realize that your dreams are valid…and nobody will make your dreams come true except you. Find what you are good at. Find something that you are passionate about. Work hard at it. Be consistent. Be patient. Start young. Even if you’re not young, it’s never too late!

I have been hustling since I left secondary school..started modeling before I entered university in 1998. Was running a modeling agency even while I was a student and made it a full time business after I left university. I never doubted that I would succeed one day, because I was determined. And please do not think this happened over night. I’ve been blogging since 2006…November this year will make it exactly 9 years. God, consistency and hard work brought me here today.

Unfortunately, a lot of our young girls aren’t patient and some are lazy, they want it quick and fast but it doesn’t work like that. Success takes time – takes hard work – takes passion – takes consistency – but more than anything else, it takes the Grace of God.

I was a 30 year old broke woman and on my birthday, a very sad and depressed me turned to God and begged him. I told Him you promised me, when will You fulfill Your promise? Am I not Your child? Have I not lived according to Your teachings? When will You bless me? Please God help me…and with tears in my eyes, I begged Him. I cried and I begged and I begged and I begged. A few months later my life changed. Never underestimate God’s love for you and the power of prayer.

And never stop working. Listen, I make enough money to hire so many people to work on this blog while I go do other things and enjoy myself…but I don’t do that. I’m up while some of you are sleeping, and already blogging before some of you wake up. I don’t take this for granted. I know to stay on top, I have to constantly work and nobody will be as dedicated as I am because this is not their own thing. It’s mine and I have to keep feeding it. So I’m constantly here!

Young ladies, I promise you…you too can do this. You don’t need to spread your legs for any bladdy man – because of how much? N200k? That’s how much my shoes cost – so why you should give up your body for that? Your sacred body? God’s temple? 200k that you can make in a week or even in a day if you pursue your dreams and still have your dignity intact? You think people don’t see that you’re messing around with all dem old married men and talking about it? Think ladies, think! When next a man propositions you…tell him to get lost, that you will get yours yourself! Abi, aren’t you a woman? You know what they say about women? “A woman is like a tea bag, you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.”. You are so strong, you don’t even know!

Also, if you want God to bless you, you have to have a clean heart. All these backbiting, hating on others, trying to bring people down with hateful words, action etc – God doesn’t like ugly. He has over 6 billion people to look after and you think he will pay extra attention to you if your heart is ugly? Wish people well, help people when you can. Be good to others. But more than anything else be good to yourself. Believe in yourself. It’s very easy to give in to feelings of self-doubt and back down when things get tough, but you have to know that God will not give you anything you can’t handle.

I swear to you, you are underestimating yourself. If you know the power that you have inside. If you know the things that you are capable of. If you know how far you can go…how high you can reach but you are holding yourself back because you’re afraid of failing, because you don’t think you have it in you. If only you know that you’re stronger than you think. You are so powerful, you don’t even know it. I’m not more special than you are. I don’t have two heads. We serve the same God. Why can’t you succeed? Think ladies, think.

Like Barack Obama’s sister said, poverty is not an excuse! I used to sell/market beer at Sheraton hotel, Lagos when I was in university for N1,000 a day. I once lived on ‘puff puff’ and garri for weeks in UNILAG and I was supposedly a top model but nobody knew what I was going through. Trust me, I know poverty. Did you know I lived in Idi-oro, Mushin for 15 years? Up until when I was 25? Did you live in Mushin? Eh, so what’s your excuse? I can’t even say some things here for my family’s privacy but here I am today because I never doubted myself and I never allowed all the doubters to distract me. I was focused. I was determined. I worked hard and I knew the God I served won’t let me down. The road was long, sometimes very frustrating and painful but look at me now. God did it because he saw that I was willing!

“Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, “She doesn’t have what it takes.” They will say, “Women don’t have what it takes.”

Please believe in yourself and watch God use you to set as an example for others.

May all your dreams come true!

Kisses.

Oh by the way (addressing the argument I read online this weekend) I don’t do anything else. I blog from 4am till midnight, where do I have time to do anything else? When God wants to bless you, He will bless you…even if you’re selling toothpick.

Cheers!

SELFLESSNESS

selflessness is not a word we hear everday but it's a quality we need in all we do. Can I just say SELF-LESS-NESS means think LESS of  SELF and more of the NESS (next) person.  It is a quality of unselfish but concern for the welfare of others. It means to be selfless. Think more about the needs, happiness, joy and suffering of other than about one's own. Is like saying your pain in my heart and I will do something about it. Selflessness entails giving all that you have for the wellbeing of others; even if you don't have material things to give , you can give out your time because your time is an important asset. To give it to someone means you are important to me. Still, if you have extra cash, selflessness demands that you can help someone less fortunate.
Being truly selfless is to be kind and good to everybody, including "YOUR SELF" and your family etc. That is true selflessness. It means being truly in love, practising in all sincerity the AGAPE LOVE. It means the person you love is of greater personal importance to you and to your life. And that you will not only love he/her, but pray for the person and giving out oneself for the joy of the other person. It means seeing you happy makes me happy. Can you say that about you?  It is all about " SACRIFICE" and UNDERSTANDING.  Do you feels sad when other people pass through pains in life, and in sympathy  you makes serious effort to help?
This selflessness is a quality of a good leader.when a leader is selfless, good things happens to the people and growth is inevitable . Good leaders sacrifices their wealth, time, comfort and even their freedom for the welfare of their people. They made themselves poor for the people to be rich. And their selfless disposition, they unify and reconcile the people.
Only a life lived for other is a life worth living! "And a good deed is one that brings a smile of joy to the face of another" selflessness is great quality you must add to your life. Remember " it is not how much one achieves, but how much one LOVES". Selflessness indeed is one quality you need in life. Thinking about the good of others makes the world a better place for you and me....

FAITH IS A LAW

Faith is a law and without faith you can not please God. Roman 4:13-25. It's never too late with God. He makes alive the dead. It makes no difference what could be dead in your life. To raise the dead means He perform miracle,  that means He is a miracle God, again He call those things which be not as though they were, which means God is a faith God!. Call what you want into being not what is there as though it's not. Example you want a child call it in to being. What do you want to make real? bring it into being by the voice of faith. Against hope Abraham believed in hope! To take a hold of that which was promised. Weak faith consider circumstances. refuse to consider the things around you that says otherwise. 2nd weak faith staggered.  When you are strong in faith you give glory to God and testify. Not being persuaded is unbelieve, you got to be fully persuaded by the word of God that nothing can change you mind about what God says concerning what you are persuaded about. Heb 11:1 to end. By faith you can frame your world, don't let things just happen to you or your world. Whatsoever a man sow that he shall reap! You are responsible to what happens to you. You can through faith subdue kingdoms, companies, anything at all. Use your faith fill word. Remember without faith you can not please God.

Question: "What are some of the signs of genuine saving faith?"

Answer: This is one of the most important questions in the Christian life. Many believers doubt their salvation because they don’t see signs of genuine faith in their lives. There are those who say we should never doubt our decision to follow Christ, but the Bible encourages us to examine ourselves to see if we are truly “in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Thankfully, God has given us ample instruction for how we can know for sure that we have eternal life. The first epistle of John was actually written for that purpose, as it states in 1 John 5:13, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

There is a series of tests in 1 John that we can use to examine ourselves and our faith. As we look at them, remember that no one will perfectly fulfill all of them all the time, but they should reveal a consistent trend that characterizes our lives as we grow in grace.

1. Do you enjoy having fellowship with Christ and His redeemed people? (1 John 1:3)
2. Would people say you walk in the light, or walk in the darkness? (1 John 1:6-7)
3. Do you admit and confess your sin? (1 John 1:8)
4. Are you obedient to God's Word? (1 John 2:3-5)
5. Does your life indicate you love God rather than the world? (1 John 2:15)
6. Is your life characterized by "doing what is right"? (1 John 2:29)
7. Do you seek to maintain a pure life? (1 John 3:3)
8. Do you see a decreasing pattern of sin in your life? (1 John 3:5-6) [Note: this refers to not continuing in sin as a way of life, not a total absence of sin.]
9. Do you demonstrate love for other Christians? (1 John 3:14)
10. Do you "walk the walk," versus just "talking the talk"? (1 John 3:18-19)
11. Do you maintain a clear conscience? (1 John 3:21)
12. Do you experience victory in your Christian walk? (1 John 5:4)

If you are able to truthfully answer "Yes" to these questions (or a majority of them, and are working on the others), then your life is bearing the fruit of true salvation. Jesus said that it is by our fruits that we are known as His disciples (Matthew 7:20). Fruitless branches—professing believers who do not display the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are cut off and thrown into the fire (John 15:7). A genuine faith is one that not only believes in God (the devils themselves do that - James 2:19), but leads to open confession of sin and obedience to Christ's commands. Remember, we are saved by grace through faith, not by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9), but our works should display the reality of our salvation (James 2:17-18). Genuine saving faith will always produce works; a faith that is perpetually without works is no faith at all and saves no one.

In addition to these confirmations, we need to remember God's promises and the reality of the war we are in. Satan is just as real as Jesus Christ, and he is a formidable enemy of our souls. When we turn to Christ, Satan will look for every opportunity to deceive and defeat us. He will try to convince us that we are unworthy failures or that God has given up on us. When we are in Christ, we have the assurance that we are kept by Him. Jesus Himself prayed for us in John 17:11 that the Father would "protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one." Again in verse 15, He prayed, "keep them from the evil one."

In John 10:27-29, Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand." If you hear and obey the voice of Jesus, then you are one of His sheep, and He will never let you go. Jesus gave a wonderful word picture here of Christians securely held within His loving hands and the Father's almighty hands wrapping themselves around His, giving us a double assurance of eternal security.

BAD OR GOOD MARRIAGE

After salvation, the most important choice you will
need to make is who to marry. This choice is so
important that if you miss it, you will suffer for
long, if you get it right then you will enjoy forever.
A bad marriage can affect every other area of your
life.
This subject is so important, so many married
people are hoping to be single again so as to
make the right choice. If you are single please
don't just be in a hurry to get married, you have
the best opportunity to prepare for it.
For two people to come together to live in peace
and harmony, they must agree spiritually, mentally
and physically. Just like an elephant cannot marry
an ant so also a believer cannot marry an
unbeliever. If an elephant marries an ant how
would they live, if a goat marries a fish where
would they meet? You must look for a Godly man
or a Godly woman to marry, nothing can beat this.
The devil's primary target is the family. He knows
that everyone belongs to a family and if he can
make two wrong people meet then he has
succeeded affecting the community and nations
negatively. Ignore your age and the pressure for a
moment, the pressure in a wrong marriage is far
worse. God has somebody for you but you must
set your priorities right. What do you need in a
woman? What do you need in a man?
Marriage is not about what you want, it is about
who you need, that will make you better while you
make him better. It is about destiny. That is why
you must know your purpose before you get
married. Genesis 2:18.
You must pray before you choose. God knows the
best person for you, it is only wise to seek His will.
It is very easy to know God's will when sex is not
involved. The moment sex is involved and you
want to know His will then He will blank you out.
Why? Because you have broken His first Law of NO
SEX before marriage.
If you have had sex in the past then you need to
repent totally and stay away from each other for
sometime then you can seek the face of God.
Your marriage will not be hell on earth. Your
marriage will be honorable in the name of Jesus
Christ.
Don't marry for sex, don't marry because you are
of age, don't marry because you are getting old,
don't marry because you are lonely, don't marry
because you need someone to support you
financially, don't marry because you mistakenly got
pregnant, don't marry because you don't want to
lose the person, don't marry because of family
pressures, don't marry because you like the idea of
marriage and admire every wedding gown you see,
don't marry because all your friends are getting
married.
But get married because you want to fulfill destiny.
Get married because you want to be a help mate.
As a man, get married because you want to fulfill
your purpose. God will help you in choosing, please
let His will be done. Amen!

LETTER TO MY SINGLE AND MARRIED FRIENDS.

At this point I write to my single and married friends. We are what we are today because of information we got yesterday and the truth remains we will be somewhere else tomorrow still because of information will are getting today.
I thought it wise to share this simple facts of life. Life is a gift from God and love is a gift we received from God to share (give) both to ourselves and others in the right way for a better future,  for the purpose of our joy and happiness. If all these are not done properly, life becomes a living hall. In that case, relationships wouldn't work out the way planned for and marriages became questions God need to ask and give reason why things are the way they are!

To my  single friends:
If you are serious about changing your circumstances. Of course , it all begins with renewing the mind. There are right reasons and wrong reasons for desiring marriage. This brings to light the fact that you must have sense of your own personal value before you can expect someone else to recognise it. First, God will never allow another person to be your affirmation and completion. This is a job He has reserved for Himself, if someone was able to complete you, there would be no need for Him. This is something He will not stand.  The person who could add all that you're looking for to your life is also looking for someone who can add something to his life. Another person who has nothing to  bring to the party but her need validation will not be an attractive package. Therefore, your only choice would be someone who is as needy as yourself. Could it be that buying the lie that marriage is the end all, be all and the completion of all things worth mentioning has caused us to erect false idols that keep us in bondage to unfulfilled and unhappiness?  Life does not consist of those who makes  me feel that I count. It consists of how much value I add to the life of others".
Your worth will never be measured by whom you attract, but rather by whom you affect and how you affect them. Whether someone chooses you or not does not determine your worth. Your value can never be estimated based on how others feel about you. Dare to break your pattern. Do something different or unusual. Life is a party you created; don't wait to be invited to one. Never put your life on hold! The only thing that should be reserved for marriage is sex. Otherwise, it's time to let the games begin. Until that blessed additional to your life shows up to claim you, get a life . Get one that will make you interesting and intriguing to others. It will draw other exciting people to you.

Tips :
Select an activities that interest you or pull you out of your comfort zone and stretch you. If you choose things that really interest you, chances are there will be other people there with the same interests, the more things two people have in common, the greater their chances are of having a lasting relationship.

Now to my married friends:

I believe in marriage.
I believe in marriage that works.
I believe every marriage needs some mutual interest share by both partner to make it work.
I believe in love and it's true.

I noticed something in this life, no one can do everything he or she would like in life  completely once you are married.  There's just not enough time. Every person's recreational time amount to making choices that will leave out other opportunities. Why not select those activities you can  share as husband and wife. The person with whom you share your most enjoyable moments will build the love home in you. If you want a fulfilling marriage  that person must be your spouse. You should be each other best friend not best roommate. Your mate should know you better than another person in the world even your parents. That includes your good and bad feelings, frustrations, your challenges and fears etc. Remember it is two becoming one!
Your children are visitors in your home and someday they will leave. Why  make them your priority in place of your spouse?
Your parents gave birth to you and helped in making you. They are part of your success story but why make them your priority instead of your spouse.  Sorry to say it. Your parents helped you build a past or a history but your spouse is  building a future with you. So that makes him or her your priority. Remember "greater is the end of thing than the beginning thereof".

Please,  both husband and wife should feel and know that they are the each other's highest priority. When either you or your spouse feel that anything has become a higher priority, take a break and think it over. There is nothing out there that's more important than your relationship, and your success in life will ultimately depends on  it. If your friends, relatives, career, finance, children, or anything else takes a higher priority than the feeling of your spouse,  you are somehow kissing your marriage goodbye.

Tips:
Every husband and wife need to sit down and meditate on this though. ..my partner married me because she or he though the pleasing things I was doing during our courtship would continue for the rest of our lives. Am I holding up my end of bargain?