Love yourself

Lev. 19:18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of yourpeople, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD. NIV 

Most people think that anyone who loves himself is selfish. But this is not always true. God gave us the standard for loving our neighbour. We must love our neighbour as we love ourselves. We might say that loving ourselves sounds selfish, but we can love ourselves in a way that will not be selfish. Until we learn to love ourselves the right way, we cannot love others well. We give what, to us, is very good and pleasant. If our standard of good for ourselves is low, we will not offer more than that without grumbling.

Whitney Houston in one of her very popular songs, “The Greatest Love of All” said, “Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.” Those who treat themselves badly find it hard to treat others kindly.

We must understand that if there is any special treatment we must give, the first person to receive such is treatment is us. Even in sacrificing ourselves, the worth of the sacrifice is related to how much we value ourselves. God wants the best, and the best should be of great value. The sacrifice Christ made of Himself is of high value because He loves himself, He, being the firstborn of God, and loved by God.

As we through life, we must have it on our minds that we deserve the best; and if no one will grant us the best, we must do so ourselves.

It starts from the mind

Romans 12: 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. NIV

The mind is one part of the human system that controls the rest of the person. Whatever we achieve, in the true sense of achievement, starts from our minds. And if we fail in anything, we must know that that failure started in our minds. That is why we must take control of our minds.

Whatever your mind says is possible, you can achieve it if you don’t give on the way. You may encounter difficulties but you will find solutions to the problems that come up. 

If you want to change something around you, change it in your mind. We do things that our minds tell us are good. If you change your perception about anything, you will start reacting to that thing differently. This happens to us most of the time unconsciously. For example, we refuse to eat certain foods we liked in the past when we hear about how dangerous that food could be to our health.

We can take control of our mind by consciously telling ourselves what we want to do. If you have a tough task to perform, tell yourself it is easy. Your mind will find easy ways of accomplishing the task. But if you continue thinking about how difficult it is, you will never achieve anything.

Take control of your mind and you will succeed.

Honesty: Your Best Policy

Mat 5:37 But let your word be, Yes, yes; No, no. For whatever is more than these comes from evil. NKJV

It is easier these days to tell a lie than say the truth. The consequences of saying the truth are more pleasant and therefore more desirable than speaking the truth. Sometimes you must resist pressure from colleagues in order to say the truth. But the consequences of not being frank are long lasting, even though they are negative.

If you say ‘YES’ today, instead of ‘NO’, you must be ready to keep saying ‘YES’ when that particular question comes up. The day you say ‘NO’, you should be ready to provide explanations which make you unreliable. Once you obtain that attribute of unreliability, even those who encouraged you to lie will doubt you the next time you speak.

The world is looking for honest people to do business with. It is better to say NO and be free than to say you will do something and fail when you know you can’t do it. It is better to refuse a job with tight deadline than to take it and disappointed the client.

Let your yes be YES, and those who hate you today will praise you years later for being honest. But if you try to be nice, those you are trying to please today will be the first to condemn you.

Let your yes be a big YES, and when you must say no, fear not. Let your no be NO.

Your Weekly Inspiration: Don’t be too gullible

Your Weekly Inspiration: Don’t be too gullible: Judges 6:39 And Gideon said to God, Let not Your anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. I pray You, let me test but this ...

Don’t be too gullible

Judges 6:39 And Gideon said to God, Let not Your anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. I pray You, let me test but this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. NKJV

In normal ‘faith talk’ we must believe whatever we hear and not doubt. This in most cases is taken to me swallowing hook line and sinker without question what you are told. Well, sometimes that is what takes the fish to the grill or to the frying pan. There are times, and most of the time you have to question what you hear.

For the today’s Christian, Gideon stands to be strongly condemned for demanding proof from God; not once, but twice. How come a man questions God in a face to face encounter about what God wants him to do? The answer is he wants to be sure before he moves.

There is so much deceit in the world and a lot of people playing either holy or expert. Many people have fallen victim because they take whatever they hear at face value and are cheated and duped.  This realisation comes only in the last moment.

That is why we must ask questions before accepting whatever we are being offered. If something is too good to be true, then know that you must believe it only after opening it up. Questions are what open such boxes. The juiciest baits hide the most vicious hooks.

If Gideon could test God in order to be sure, then there is no mistake if you question any human beings idea, offer or proposal. The fish that jumps at the bait end up being a game.

If You Believe, You Can Fly

Isaiah 7:9b  If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. NIV

Whenever you decide to do something new, you will come against a lot of resistance, from people and situations. Discouragement is one thing that prevents us from taking the first step into innovation or revolution. The people around us, and even we ourselves will come out with so many reasons why our plan or project will fail. Much of the reason we find are realistic and rational. However, those who have succeeded in changing systems and replacing old institutions with new ones did not achieve such feats based simply on rationality.

Faith plays a strong role in ground breaking success. Faith is that strong urge to take a step into uncertainty, disbelieving what is rationally obvious and trusting what is rationally a risk. One of the greatest sayings about faith (I believe) is from Archbishop Desmond Tutu: “Faith is a risk, but one I can’t risk living without.” If you fear risk, you can live at all. The only way we overcome the fear of risk is to stand firm in our faith.

Instead of brooding over the ninety-nine reasons why your project will fail, hold on to the one good reason that tells you it will succeed. Just like a drowning man will hang on to a little piece of wood with the hope of being washed ashore with it, believe that you will certainly make it. 

Had James Woodward believed with the rest of the world that electric bulbs were impossible at his time, our nights will have been darker than it is today. Had Bill Gates believed that computers could be made easy to use by clicking icons instead of learning difficult command languages, you will not be reading this post today.

Stand firm in your faith, take the first step and you will change uncertainty to certainty.

Persistence: The Key to Your Success

Exo 17:11 – 12 And it happened when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.  But Moses' hands became heavy. And they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going of the sun.

Success is a battle you cannot you cannot afford to lose. Even in moments when it seems you are losing you must persist. In the text above, the Israelites won the battle due to the persistence of one man – Moses. He chose not to give up even when his was worn out.

Persist in your struggle to succeed so long as you know that you are fighting the right battle. In moments when you realize you can fight alone don’t hesitate to call for support. Moses had help from Aaron and Hur and his hand remained up till the end.

Until you see the result you want, let your hands be up. Never let your hand down.

Provocation Must Bring the Best out of you

1Samuel 1:6 – 7.  And her foe also provoked her grievously, in order to make her tremble, because Jehovah had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of Jehovah, so she provoked her. And she wept and did not eat. NKJV

It is easy to lose control and break down when you are provoked as happened in the life of Hannah. That is the reason for all provocations. It is intended to make you focus on the worse side of yourself. Provocation points to your failures and tries to define you by them.

But surely, you are not defined by your failures unless you choose to. You can change provocation to motivation. This is because failure is not final. Failure only shows you how not to succeed. Once that lesson is learnt, you can move on to find the way to achieve your aim.

The provoker is happy when you break down and cry. His aim is achieved. But when you ignore the taunts and focus on achieving your aim, the provoker is defeated. Hannah was provoked for years by her rival until she decided to seek the right solution in the temple. That day was the beginning of the end her barrenness. When you are provoked, take it as a challenge. 

A young man who once worked as a cleaner in a university told a story about how he was insulted by a university student because this young man was a school dropout. This young man took the insult calmly. He enrolled in remedial school and now has university degree. He said that insult motivated him to seek education.

Thank God for those who provoke you. They are those who encourage you the most.

YOU CAN STILL MAKE IT

Take Authority

Luke 10: 19. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

Every one of us has authority. We must make use of our authority in order to bring change in our work environment, our homes, our communities and society. When we refuse to take authority, snakes and scorpions take over and cause havoc and destruction.

Snakes and scorpions are those individuals and situations that creep in without permission, hide and bite. Such bites are deadly. The only way you can prevent them from causing harm is when you take your authority and begin stamping it. Yes you must stamp your authority.

Don’t say you don’t have any authority because you have. Supposing you are the gateman who must open the door for those who want to enter, you must know that you have the authority to open or close that door. No one can enter or come in unless you open that door. Stamp that authority. Wherever you find yourself, you have some legal authority.

You have moral authority. When it comes to what is wrong and what is right, it doesn’t matter whether you are the boss or not. Stand for what is right. Reject what is wrong. Whenever you have the opportunity to choose between right and wrong, stamp your moral authority and choose right.

You have spiritual authority that goes beyond the physical. Whatever happens in the spirit affects the physical. Take and stamp your spiritual authority. Pray about the situation that is beyond your physical or moral control.

The snakes cannot harm you if you take authority. You can make a difference.

Opposition: Another thing you don’t want to meet on the road to success

Gen 26:21  And they dug another well, and they strove for that also. And he called the name of it Opposition. MKJV

In the previous post we talked about disputes as one of the things we must deal with when moving towards success. It is easier handling disputes when compared to opposition. Disputes are like floods you wade through; opposition is like a wall. Once you hit that wall there are only three things you can do: take a U-turn which means giving up, change course to see if you can get past the wall, or break through the wall advance.

Isaac moved from the well known as disputes only to meet with opposition after digging another well. That is what happens in our quest for success. There are some people who will oppose us for various reasons.

Don’t be surprise that people oppose you because you are about to succeed. Your success is someone’s defeat. No matter what, life is a competition. Someone must be first to reach the finish line. Some people will always want to pull others back thinking that will give them the opportunity to succeed.

Others oppose out of envy. Your success exposes someone else’s slothfulness and they will oppose you just to preserve their integrity. 

Now no matter how the opposition is, no matter how thick the wall, you must find a way of moving on. You might decide to change direction, move along the wall until you find a way past it. No matter how long the wall of opposition, it has an end. But changing direction calls for a lot of patience.

You might decide to break through the wall. In this case you need to be strong and resolute. You need strong faith. No wall of opposition can resist the power of faith.

But there is one option you must not choose if you want to succeed: going back. You are destined to succeed. NEVER GIVE UP.

Things You Don’t Want to Meet on the Road of Success: Disputes

Genesis 26: 19 - 20 Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek because they disputed with him. NIV

When we are thinking of how to succeed and making plans to that effect, we hardly think about certain difficulties we have to face. Disputes are one kind of such challenges. We hardly imagine having to get into certain disputes in our march forward. This is what happened to Isaac. He was determined to succeed. He made all his investments to ensure there is water supply for his farm. Then all of a sudden, the people of Gerar came around and quarreled with him.

Disputes are bound to happen but how they are handled is what matters most. You should be ready to engage in healthy disputes as you move ahead. But if you see that the dispute will draw you back, then move on. There is no need to stay where you are quarreling to the detriment of achieving your aim. And that is what Isaac did.

When there is too much dispute about a move we are making, it could be pointing to us that there is something wrong with the project we are doing. This is not about the rightness or wrongness of the project, but might be related to where and how it is being done.

You must be ready to take a transfer to a different territory, region, town, department or branch if there is too much trouble where you are now. You don’t necessarily have to quit the job.What matters most are your goals. Don’t fear. Make a move away from disputes.

Still! Be Still….

Psalm 46: 10. He says, "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

When you are at a loss not knowing what to do in difficult situations, slow down, be still and see how God arranges your life for you. But, it is not easy to refuse to act in such critical moments as that could spell doom. That is the message we get from our natural inclinations. So how can we be still in such situation? Here is what we can do to remain still.

Prayer
We can in prayer hand over the situation to God. Most of the time, we find ourselves in such situations because we are in control, or want to be in control of things. So long as we are in control, things will be difficult. That is why we must surrender the situation to God. When we pray about any situation, we tell God that we know he is in control.

Thank God
In such confused moments, we might say there is nothing to thank God for. But the challenges and the opportunities they bring are worth thanking God for. No matter what happens, you will never be the same again. As you thank God, you begin to see things more clearly. You experience some peace in your inner being.

Praise
Can you sing, can you say a psalm of praise, raise your voice and say something good to God. Prayer opens doors but it takes praise to stay in. There are many stories in the Bible that point to this. Battles were worn, nations were saved, nations delivered, and confusions removed when praise was offered.
Be still and see what God can do.

Slow Down, Be Still….

Psalm 46:10. Be still, and know that I am God! I will be praised among the nations, I will be praised in the earth. MKJV

We are living in a very fast world. We cannot help but run along because we risk falling behind and never being able to catch up. As the days go by, the speed gets even faster. Although we are able to follow the rhythm most of the time, its gets to a certain time we are totally overwhelmed by happenings around us.

It gets to a time we must make decisions and choices between options that we are not clear about; and these choices must be made quickly or we lose everything. This is the time to slow down, if possible come to a halt. Yes, come to a stop.

It is only at this time that you see a Divine hand at work in your affairs. Although we claim a lot of successes in life, we are not the ones who actually make things happen. It takes the hand of God to arrange the details of our lives. The big events are just like roofs on a foundations long laid by God.

I learnt this fact from fishermen at the beach. A drowning man who struggles with the tides gets carried away and dies. But the one who lets go and frees himself is thrown out and is saved. That is how life is. When the storms and the waves get out of control, let go. Be still and see what God can do.

First Things First 2

1Cor 6:12 "I have the right to do anything," you say—but not everything is beneficial. "I have the right to do anything"—but I will not be mastered by anything.

Freedom is good. But there cannot be absolute freedom. There are times no one puts any impediments in your way to act. But you yourself must refrain from certain acts if you want to succeed. The mark of adulthood is to be able to take decisions with the future in perspective. This again will depend on your priorities.

There are a lot of things that we can do legally. No one will punish us for such actions, but we may be harming ourselves with such actions. Before you jump to action, you need to know the effect of the particular action on the rest of your life.

Food is good, but eating certain foods will be dangerous for you. This is not just about dangerous foods and good food. The food could be good in all sense of it. But eating it could lead to a lot of problems for you.

Those who are focused on achieving their goals know when to do certain things. They are not swayed by the immediate thrills offered by such things. The future and their goals are more important to them than the momentary happiness.

Be wise today. Choose well what you do. Self discipline is the best kind of discipline. If you discipline yourself, no one will discipline you. You must be ready to give up certain pleasures today for greater benefits in the future.

You are blessed.

First Things First

Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

The above verse is usually interpreted in relation to the kingdom of God. And most of us are fully aware of the need to put God first in whatever we do. That is what will guarantee our success. However, I want us to look at it in a different way which might be a bit removed from religious talk.

We need to set our priorities right in order to succeed in our endeavours. There are certain things that are basic for us to succeed; others only add glamour to the success. We must set our priorities well so that we are seen doing more of the basic things. Then the glamour that is associated with it comes by itself.

In a football tournament, every team plays to win the cup. The moment a team does this, there is a lot of excitement. But that excitement is the result of scoring goals. A team whose members spend a lot of time on the field dreaming about how they are going to lift the cup certainly ends up at the losing side.

Another example is about scoring a goal in a football game. What is necessary is the ball crossing the goal line within the post from a non offside position. Whether it was beautiful or not, a goal is a goal.

You are on the playing field. You must do what you have to do – play hard, really hard; score goals, and lots of them. Your priority should be the basic things that make you score the goals. That means if you have a task to perform, choose the simplest legal means of achieving your target.

What is necessary should be done first. What is not necessary can wait for the right time.

HAVE A NICE WEEK

Be Smart, and Not Necessarily Fast

Ecclesiastes 9:11 I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.

Every day of our lives we have to make decisions which affect the rest of our lives. The choices we make determine how successful our future will be. That is why we must be smart in these choices.

Now, being smart has nothing to do with being fast. You can be fast and yet unwise. For example, when a fish sees a bit of food in the water around, it only wants to get it as fast as possible. But that bit of food might well turn out to be bait. The race is not for the swift. It is about making the best choice.

There is no need rushing to take a decision whose consequences you can’t tell. It is smarter to pause for a second to consider the pros and cons of that decision before jumping. Let’s consider this example.

There are two offers, one worth $1000 for one month and the other $200 a week for six months. The fast person will go for the $1000 because $200 a week makes 800 a month. But the smart person will go for the $200 a week because he will be making a total of $4800. There is no guarantee that you will the $1000 offer will continue.

Let us consider the decisions we make on a daily basis very well. Patience is a virtue. When opportunities come, we must look at the carefully before making the choices. The race is not for the swift. Watch out for the opportunity that is yours.

Fear Not

I Sam 17: 8 – 11 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

There is nothing more fearful that fear. When you are afraid, you cannot do what even a child can do. But if you are courageous, you will overcome even the fiercest of the enemies. In the story of David and Goliath, the tactics the enemy (Goliath) used was fear. His appearance alone was so fearful to scare the king away. All the men of Israel took to their heels when they heard Goliath speak.

It was so surprising that they could not see that Goliath, because of the sheer weight of his armory was more vulnerable than any person around. Goliath was just a moving mass of iron, as useless as the word. Yet his appearance frightened kings.

It took a teenage boy to see what others did not see. This teenage boy, David, used the simplest of weapons and old huge Goliath died like a miserable bird.

That is how your challenges are. You don’t need sophisticated weapons to overcome them. All you need is a simple strategy. Tackle the problem from where it is easiest to do. David hit Goliath on the forehead which was not covered. That was the easiest spot.

Have the faith and courage of David as you face the challenges. No matter how big they are, there is an easy spot. Focus on this spot and begin from there. You will overcome.

Take Up Your Challenge

2Co 12:7 - 9 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

There is no glory without a cross; there is no success without a challenge. Every position we occupy in life comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. Accepting the advantages will mean accepting the inconveniences as well. Refusing to accept the challenges will mean denying the opportunities and the benefits.

That is why you must always accept to face the challenges that come your way. There are certain challenges that will not go away as we will want it. You can only manage them. That is what the thorn in the flesh mean.

These kinds of challenges are there to make us humble in the successes we make. Without them, there will be no meaning to life. Success in itself creates negative pride which leads to destruction. The challenges that come with success are guard rails that hold us in check so that we don’t go overboard.

Every leader has his own Judas Iscariot, in one way or the other. If you discover your Judas, then know that you really are in leadership. Just as Jesus did not throw out his Judas, but kept him in the fold even though he (Jesus) knew very well that Judas is the one going to betray him, you must also accept your challenges and move along with them.

Don’t lose hope

Romans 8: 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

There is a place for disappointment in our lives. Disappointments are not pleasant for anyone. No one will ever wish to be disappointed in any way, but disappointments (whether we like it or not) come.

What we need to know is that disappointments are ways through which God directs us to new grounds and fields we might not have thought about. We all have planned our ways to go in certain directions, but we hit the wall and are forced to go in a new way.

There are a lot of us doing jobs we didn’t consider in our school days. And we realized that despite everything, the jobs we do now are the best for us. Another aspect of our lives where disappointments are greatly felt is in terms of relationships. We put our hopes in certain people as the only ones who would guarantee our future happiness. But it was when such people left that we found the right persons.

That is what Romans 8: 28 is saying. All things, especially unpleasant ones contribute to making our lives better. Success makes us excited only to make serious mistakes later. Disappointments make us sober leading to better decisions in our next endeavours.

Have you had any disappointments in the past weeks, take advantage of them and make this week better.

Have a blessed week.

You Are the Head and Not the Tail

Deuteronomy 28:13 And Jehovah shall make you the head, and not the tail. And you shall be always above, and you shall not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you today, to observe and to do them

You are born to make a difference. You are a leader whether you know it or not, whether you like it or not. There are a lot of people who look up to you for direction. This is a special blessing from God. He says you will be the head and not the tail. Let us take a look at some of the functions of the head.

Reason
The head is able to analyse situations very well and make the right decision. All the decisions the head makes affect the rest of the body. There is no other part that decides for the head. If you truly must be the head you are, you should be able to critically examine situations so that you can make the best choice.

Vision

Apart from touch, all the other senses of the human body are on the head. The eyes that give sight, the ears that hear sound, the nose that smells scents, the tongue that tastes flavours are all on the head. In the same way, you being the head must be able to see far beyond what everyone sees, listen more than all others, investigate things thoroughly, and examine what comes to you. A leader must have vision.

Direction

The head points to where the body goes. You must all the time provide a positive direction to all those who follow you. Whether they are following you by their own accord or they are compelled by circumstances, you must provide a good direction. People follow others basically for direction. They want to follow footsteps that lead to success. Examine the direction you are pointing to as head.

A head is not a sign post; sign posts provide the direction but they never move from where they stand. The head provides the direction and gets there with the rest of the body. If you are truly the head, you will get to the destination with your followers.

Finally, being the head does not necessarily mean being first. It is about function, being above the rest in positive influence. Function as the head at all times.

You are not a tail, you are the head.