Success
Sorry guys, I've been away for a while now, was away from my computer and the internet for sometime (okay it wasn't that long, but ....... anyways, the important thing is that I'm back ;-) and that's what matters!)This message was sent in by a lovely young lady (Oma Okwara) whom the Lord is using for HIS wonderful work (It's good to know such wonderful people ;-), and I would like to use this medium to say if you have any thoughts, comments, contributions that you think will help someone, somewhere, someday, please feel free to send me a mail and I'll gladly post it up. Enjoy!SuccessGenerally, The world in general measures a man's success by how wealthy he is, number of kids he has, how good his marriage is, etc... But it might be very surprising to know that one can achieve all these things and still be unsuccessful.
" A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15
A pen may serve as a pointer. It may also serve as a ruler while drawing lines (err.... I think that applies only to Bic and Eleganza?), but no matter how perfect it is in these other functions, (as long as the ink is still there) the manufacturer still considers it underutilized, until it is used as a pen. There's a purpose for your creation and the realization of that purpose is what determines your success. Take some time out and find out who you are 'cos there's something beyond what you see in a mirror. The well being of the real you is the purpose of God for you.
"All the families on earth will be blessed through you." Gen 12:3
"And Lot, who went with Abram also had flocks and herds and tents." Gen. 13:5
"If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham." John 8:3
The above quotations imply that as seeds of Abraham, your greatness and achievements can only be reckoned as success when you are a blessing to others. Blessing may not only be financially, you can be a blessing by saying a little prayer for someone in your closet. Even a smile freely given, or a hand stretched out in help can be all the miracle your neighbour needs. Be a river and not a reservoir. Flow into lives, change things, make impact. Stretch yourself to the limit. A rubber band is useless until it is streched, release all you have on the inside while you live. As long as people are there for you to bless, your blessing continues to flow.
Everyone that is born of God has the potential to suceed. Just as salt is not valued by how white or how smooth it is but by how much taste it can provide, so also, your success is not measured by what you have, but by what you become to others or make others become. Go on and succeed, you have it in you.
Let Go, It's over
Your future is designed by the words of your mouth, what you say today, affects what will happen tomorrow. Having said that, what happened yesterday should not determine what will happen tomorrow, ok, so you failed the exam last time, that doesn't mean that you will fail tomorrow, so you fell into sin last week, that doesn't mean that your life will not continue, you made the mistake, yes, get on with it, life doesn't stop for anyone, it's in constant motion until the day you die!
A lot of people are going about living thier lives based on what happened yesterday! It's not over until God says it's over, you haven't lost the battle until you give up, ..... you were abused as a child, that was terrible and it caused you so much pain, but you are all grown up now, don't let that experience determine the course of your life, Jesus paid the ultimate price just to give you everything .... peace, hope, a future, a life!! actually not just a life, but life everlasting (more abundantly too!) Oh how I wish you could see the beautiful plan God has in store for you, if only you'll trust in Him, He promised to forgive you and forget your sins, and God does not lie (actually, He cannot lie) but you have to forgive yourself..... (Now that is very hard for some of us to do!!), learn to see yourself the way God sees you,
Righteous.....
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins (Romans 3:23-24),
Holy ......
God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin (1 Corinthians 1:30),
Blameless.......
Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault (Colossians 1:22), yes you are..... yes you!
Let go of your past mistakes, they happened yesterday, don't repeat them today, don't dwell on it. I'll let you in on a little secret, your sins can't change God, all they actually do is hurt you and the people around you, making your life more difficult than it should actually be, similarly, all your good works don't mean much to God, your good works affect those around you and makes thier lives a little better! God is moved only by faith in Him, so all your self pity and self beating about what you did yesterday won't do you any good, just beleive what God said about you, and trust that He means what he says.
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. (Romans 5:1-2)For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)God has forgiven you and forgotten the issue, shouldn't you?! it's over, let it go,
Who do you trust
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. (Psalm 28:7)
I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? (Psalm 56:11)
Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me (Jesus). (John 14:1)
Who do you trust?
All that matters
Today has been a really long day, It's been a terribly hectic night, I wanted to put up a long post, but all I could think of was Jesus is LORD! That's what really matters, Jesus is LORD! again I say Jesus is LORD!
This amazing picture was painted by an extremely gifted vessel of God, she's only 12 and my goodness, what talent she has, I'm so lost for words to describe what i feel, check it out for yourself at
http://www.artakiane.com/
The Watchman
The Watchman's business is to warn sinners of their misery and danger. He must warn the wicked to turn from their way, that they may live. If souls perish through his neglect of duty, he brings guilt upon himself. (Mathew Henry's Bible commentary)
"When I say to the wicked, `O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. "But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life. (Ezekiel 33:8-9)Dear friends, How many of us know loved ones, neighbours, co-workers, etc who are not living right? (ourselves included!), when was the last time we warned them of the danger of their present lifestyle? For everyone you come across, you have been given a special duty by God to let them know about his love and his available mercy before it's too late.
God's will is not that men should perish, but that all may come to know him and partake in his gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
....."Say to them, `As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, `I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, ...........' (Ezekiel 33:11)....."So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish (Matthew 18:14)...."The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.(2 Peter3:9)Do this now! warn your loved ones!!! You are a watchman .......
Relieve that Stress
This Email was sent to me and I thought to share........
Stress
(Author unknown)
A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised aglass of water and asked "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.
"He continued," And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. " "As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden." "So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."
So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while. Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
1. Go to God .....
..."Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
2. Hand the burden/worry/care over to Him .........
...Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you (1 Peter 5:7)
...Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved (Psalm 55:22)
..."Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)
3. Beleive that God cares for you and will take care of it ......
...When the cares of my heart are many, thy consolations cheer my soul. (Psalm 94:19)
...It has been testified somewhere, "What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou carest for him? (Heb 2:6)
Work of Art
Art means different things to different people. Art could come in the form of music, sculpture, paintings, photos (National Geographic here I come!) and a host of other things. Every thing we see in the natural world is a work of art, and the appreciation varies with each individual, I guess it all depends on who the designer is. An Orange tree is a work of art, designed by the grand designer, the Most High God, who sculpted the heavens and the earth, who molded us and designed us just the way we are. We are all wonderfully made, carefuly crafted and expertly finished.
While growing up, I asked a couple of questions, why are some people born with "defects" , blind, lame, deaf etc..... why are some black and some white, I thought we all came from one man and woman? (
Adam was black and Eve was white, Cain, Abel and Seth were half-caste ....... that's my own theory :-) I cannot say that I have all the answers to those questions, but one thing I know is that God is good, and nothing HE does is evil. I will make reference to a simple answer Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him about a man who was born blind,
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. "Rabbi", his disciples asked him, "why was this man born blind? Was is because of his own sins or his parents sins?" "It was not because of his sins or his parents sins," Jesus answered, "This happened so that the power of God could be seen in him" (John 9:1 - 3)
And Jesus proceeded to heal the man
Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man's eyes. He told him, "Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam" (Siloam means "sent"). So the man went and washed and came back seeing! (John 9:6-7)
This passage proves to me that God has his reasons for allowing things to happen, and shows us his goodness and his will for us as humans, that we might be whole, complete, a beauty to behold, just the way he originally designed us to be. (Adam and Eve were definitely not blind or deaf or lame etc, the evil all happened after the exit of man from the garden of eden, but that's another day's story.
When you create a work of art for example a painting, and you truly love your work, what would you do if it got damaged, stained, torn, worn etc? ....... This is what God says about his work of art;
Say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you." And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy! ......... (Isaiah 35:4-6)
Take a look again in the mirror (or pool of water ;-) and say to yourself,
" I am God's creation, and I am HIS work of Art, He came to save me and restore me to my original state" I leave you with this thought. -- You are God's greatest work of art, a reflection of Him, just as if God was looking at a mirror while painting --
All in a seed
What you sow, you shall reap ...... very popular statement, and very natural too. If you plant tomato seeds, you shall get a tomato fruit. (Now is tomato a vegetable or a fruit? that one has always eluded me!! If you know, please tell me so that I can solve that puzzle once and for all), if you plant corn/maize, you will get corn. Now there are many lessons one can learn from this natural law, for example what you put in the ground is what you'll get out of it, another lesson is that you will always get more than what you put in the ground, In the tomato (fruit or vegetable ..... okay i won't dwell on this anymore), you'll get a lot of seeds, same with the corn, or any other seed you plant.
This principle applies also to everyday human interactions, have you ever had a little child smile at you? What was your response? I can bet that you smiled back. That is called "the seed of a smile", the little child sowed a smile and got it right back and most likely got more in the form of being carried or asked how are you? what is your name? etc ...
My question to you today is "What are you sowing?" in your daily interactions with people, whether at work or in school, wherever, what are you giving out? What does your smile (or lack of it) say? What responses are you getting? if you don't like what you are receiving, try changing what you're giving. Give a smile today, a word of praise, a word of encouragement, show kindness, care, and love, and i can assure you that you will get all that and more because it's all in a seed.
Don't worry, I won't talk about money, because that is another story for another day, but I just want you to remember one thing, the principle applies to every area of our lives. The perfect example of a seed from the perfect sower is Jesus, God gave his best, his only son because of his great love, he loves us so much that he sent his son Jesus to die for our sins and to reconcile us to him,
- John 3:16 - "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not be lost but should have eternal life", and by that seed, he has gotten more than one son back. God now has many sons, and as many as are willing to acknowledge and receive Jesus's sacrifice, they also become God's sons. I can't tell you how awesome it is to be the son of God, you will have to experience it for yourself, and as I plant this seed of these words in your heart, I know that it will grow into an understanding of God's love and goodness and sacrifice.
Have a wonderful day y'all and remember if you want something, give it!!
