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How To Create Your Own “Luck”

How To Create Your Own Luck

The year was 2015.

In my place of work at the time, I was part of about 20 people selected to undergo a training that would equip me with the skills needed to be part of a medical outreach team for 5 days. I was going to be paid for partaking in the training and also for being a part of the outreach.

Well, the script did not actually pan out that way.

First, due to a blackout in my neighborhood, I was unable to charge my phone. This meant that I was clueless about the venue of the training. Of course, this led to me missing the training – as well as the payment that came with it. And because I didn’t take part in the training, I was unqualified to be a part of the outreach.

Then, to add insult to the injury, the coordinator of the medical outreach was totally inflexible. His stone heart did everything in his power to ensure that I would not be a part of the outreach. Boy, did he succeed!

As I headed back home that day, with my arms drooping like the dried fronds of a palm tree, different thoughts raced through the contours in my brain:

What kind of head do I have?

Why was I the only one that didn’t get the venue for the training?

Why did my phone decide to die at such a crucial period?

Why do I always have ‘bad luck’?

It’s funny how the mind has the uncanny ability to turn the minutest of things into a hot-air ballon. My isolated incidence of ‘bad luck’, was already starting to be perceived as a reoccurring incidence by that soft, white lump of tissue between my ears. Little did I know that being rejected from that medical outreach team was probably the best thing that could happen to me at the time. Within the space of about 2 days, I got a part-time offer with a far better remuneration that lasted nearly two years.

And here’s the funniest thing: I would have missed this opportunity if I had been allowed to be a part of the medical outreach!

Do you think I still felt I had bad luck?

It’s funny how the narrative changes when the facts are changed!

There may be a couple of you thinking the whole world is set up to work against you. You might be asking yourself questions such as:

Why me?

Why always me?

Which kind of ‘bad luck’ do I have?

Well, I’ve got good news for you: You CAN create your own ‘luck’. In the next few paragraphs, I will be sharing THREE ways you can do just that.

 

Acknowledge The Truth About You

acknowledge the truth

I know I probably sound like a broken gramophone record now, but it bears repeating: You need to see yourself the way God sees you!

If you are totally blind to what you have within you, it will be impossible to walk in the fullness of your powers. This, in turn, will make you feel as though the odds are stacked against you, and ultimately, you’d lead a mediocre life. All you need for a successful life is not outside you. It’s within you. The sooner you recognize this, the faster you will create your own ‘luck’.

Let me share a little insight with you from Genesis 2:7,

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Some years ago, I did a study on the original Hebrew words that were used to express the phrase I boldened above. The original Hebrew word that is translated as “breathed” literally means “to inflate”. In other words, Jehovah God Himself inflated you like a balloon with His breath.

And it even gets better.

The term translated as “breath of life” literally means “raw, strong, and fresh Divine Inspiration”. By implication, this means that within you, you’ve got the raw, strong and fresh Divine Inspiration from God Himself. The only reason you’re a living soul is that God has put in you a part of the very Essence that makes Him God!

You are carrying God within you and you have no need to fear.

You are carrying God within you and you should be afraid of nothing.

You are carrying God within you and you are not permitted to be a victim of circumstance.

You are carrying God within you and you should be able to step into any situation and dictate how things should proceed.

The more conscious you are of the Truth about you, the more easily you should be able to write and create your own luck!

 

Do What You Hate

do what you hate

 

In motivational circles, the talk eventually winds up to the point where the speaker challenges his captive audience to do what they love and follow their passions. While I am all for that, in my humble opinion, I believe the better advice would be to tell people to do what they hate!

I will explain.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote the following statement on my Facebook wall:

“The quality of your life will to an extent be determined by the number of uncomfortable discussions you are willing to have”.

I wrote this because the most common things that people easily shy away from are uncomfortable conversations

Take a look at the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32 and you’d find a person that was willing to have uncomfortable conversations.

The Prodigal Son was able to ask his father for the portion of his inheritance in the first place because of his attitude concerining uncomfortable conversations. (Disclaimer: Now, I’m not advocating for riotous living or rebellion against constituted authorities! Rather, I’m pointing you to the kind of attitude that the Prodigal Son had). It didn’t end there. After he had spent all his money and was already languishing in drought and poverty, he was again willing to have that uncomfortable discussion with his Father.

Contrast the Prodigal Son’s attitude with that of the Older Brother in verses 29 and 30.

“And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.”

Clearly, the Older Brother had a problem of entitlement. There was nothing stopping him from walking up to his Father and asking for a goat that he could cook and share with his friends. His Father said that much in verse 31. “And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.” In essence, all I have left had always been yours!

The Older Brother strikes me as someone who might have had these lines of thought concerning his younger brother:

Lucky bastard, he always gets what he wants! [When the Prodigal Son asked for his share of the inheritance]

Lucky bastard, Daddy has accepted him back again, after everything he has done! [When the Prodigal Son came back home]

Anytime you do what you hate, especially through the uncomfortable conversations you are willing to have, you increase options for yourself. And the more options you have, the more luck you create!

The guy who is overworked and underpaid may do two things. He may decide to have that uncomfortable conversation with his boss or potential employers, or he may stay put in the same place and hope –  like the Older Brother –  that his patience would pay off. If he does the first and his salary is reviewed or he’s employed elsewhere, the rave reviews will start flowing in about how lucky he is. And if he chooses to play safe and goes with the second option, he will continue to lament about the hard hands that life has dealt him.

The more uncomfortable conversations you have, the more options you have; the more options you have, the more luck you create!

 

The Law Of Large Numbers

the law of large numbers

“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” (Proverbs 24:16)

If you want to create your luck, you must be ready to fail numerous times.

The Bible says a just man will fall seven times and then he will rise up again. Numerous people are unwilling to fall once, let alone seven times. Yet, they want to have the results of the just man. It is impossible to have the same results if you disobey the principle behind the result!

Some months ago, I took a course in Statistics and one of the Laws that struck me right across the face was The Law Of Large Numbers.

In simple terms, the law states that the number of successes increases as the number of experiments increases.

Here’s an example that explains how it works:

Suppose you were told to flip a coin. For the purpose of this analogy, let’s assume that ‘Head’ means ‘Win’ and ‘Tail‘ means ‘Lose’.

To make it even more interesting, let’s assume that the first time you flipped the coin, you got ‘Tail’.

Does this mean you are a failure?

Does this mean you are unlucky?

You are probably going to feel apathetic because deep down within you, you know that every coin flip has two outcomes – ‘Head’ or ‘Tail’.

Let’s go a step further with this.

What if I told you that flipping ‘Head’ will fetch you one million…dollars?! And you have TEN chances to flip ‘Head’ in order to win the one million dollars.

Would you keep on flipping the coin? Or would you just toss the coin once, get ‘Tail’ and then blame yourself for having bad luck?

The truth is that the more you flip the coin, the better your chances of getting a ‘Head’!

We actually did the calculations in class and we found that if you flip a coin just once, you have a 50% chance of getting a ‘Head’; but if you flip the coin 10 times, the probability of getting a ‘Head’ increases to a whopping 99.4%!!!

Here’s the thing: Failing doesn’t mean that you are a failure or that you have bad luck. It only means you have figured out an aspect of your action plan that is not working.

Get back up on your feet, dust yourself and keep on flipping!

 

God did not create you to be a dud. He did not design you for bad luck. In fact, He has already given you ALL you need to pen down and create your own luck.

Today, start acknowledging the truth about what God has loaded you with.

Today, take a step of faith and endeavor to have that uncomfortable conversation that would make your palms all sweaty.

Today, keep on flipping the coin and let the law of Large Numbers work in your favor.

God bless you!

 

P.S:

You can get my latest book You Too Can Be Free here

Don’t forget to Share this post with your family and friends.

See you at the top.

 

The Secret Of Success

I remember the first day I came across the video of The Secret.

I was preparing my final year project and I did not have a laptop. Fortunately, a good friend borrowed me his and that was how I stumbled on The Secret – right there on his desktop.

When I clicked the play button, I remember seeing a blonde lady checking through the annals of history, searching and researching for the elusive secret to all-round success in life. She consulted the fields of psychology, philosophy, and even physics.

Yes, you read that right…Physics!!!

And not just any kind of Physics, but Quantum Physics!

YIKES!

Image result for the secret rhonda byrne video

What amazed me the most was that she actually found answers.

She found the secret to accumulating money.

She found the secret to successful relationships.

She found the secret to good health.

Back then, I remember feeling so excited because I thought that this woman had it all together.

I mean, her tenacity and focus had paid off and she had figured out the secret to the world and the secret to life itself – all on her own!

Or had she?

 

Available Response, Wrong Answers

Image result for wrong answer meme

The central theme of The Secret is that everything operates under the Law Of Attraction.

In essence, you are poor because you attracted poverty into your life.

You are sick because you attracted it into your life.

You experience misfortunes because you attracted it into your life through your words, your thoughts, and action.

And if you want to have any chance of changing your life, you have to start attracting what you want.

To an extent, this is true.

After all, even the Bible says that one’s expectations will not be cut short (Proverbs 23:18).

But here’s the thing: God has ordained the whole world to operate on Principles.

Just as there are physical laws that govern our existence on this side of eternity, there are spiritual laws that govern the spiritual realm. Curiously, as much as we claim to know about our earth and the wealth of materials that are available to us, a lot of people are still in the dark concerning the realities of the spiritual realm.

We live in a generation of knowledge where our schools teach us about the physical laws of the universe, such as the laws of gravity or Newton’s laws of motion.

Yet, our institution for spiritual knowledge – the church – has clearly not caught up.

The truth remains that people are tired of the status quo and they are asking questions. Hard questions that the church is not giving answers to.

People are tired of hearing that God killed their children!

People are tired of hearing that God inflicted them with sickness to humiliate them and teach them obedience!

People are tired of hearing that money is the root of all evils! 

And because there is a void that needs to be filled, some have crept in to fill up that highly marketable void – providing responses to these harsh questions.

It’s a classic case of when the available becomes desirable!

 

New Age Prevarications

Image result for but why did you lie meme

If you have ever read or watched The Secret, you would find out a very nauseating worldview that every contributor seems more than happy to force down our throats. Every single entrepreneur, physicist, businessman, philosopher, psychologist involved with The Secret had the same devil-inspired, New Age idea.

The idea is this: There is no God!

They are comfortable to referring to vague terms like Divine Intelligence, The Infinite Mind or even…The Universe!

The Universe? What does that even mean?!

There is always going to be a clear delineation between the Creator and the created!

How can anyone with his right mind claim to talk about the secret of Success without the Originator of Success?

Little wonder Psalms 14:1 says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”

The Secret then goes on to explain how you can get success with positive confessions, creative imagination of the reality you desire, as well as practicing gratitude.

If you practice these things, would you be able to have cash flow and lead the life of your dreams?

Maybe.

Why?

Simple.

God has ordained the world to be governed by Principles. And because His name is Faithful, if you key into the principles, you would get great results – regardless of your religious background, your personality or your beliefs.

Unfortunately, the New Age movement is relentless in its singular purpose of unseating God as the center of our lives and enthroning the flesh instead!

They tell you that you are God – outside Christ!

They tell you that you have power – outside the power of Christ!

They tell you that you are the creator – outside the context of The Creator God!

The New Age movement does not want to acknowledge God in any way.

In fact, they go as far as bending and twisting scientific findings to suit and fit in with their diabolical purposes.

 

Why Is This Important To You?

Image result for listen up gif

 

What New Age practitioners would not tell you is that in the spiritual realm, there are evil spirits, as well as angels of light.

When you attempt to access the realm of the spirit without the covering of the Blood of Jesus, you make yourself an easy target for the enemy.

In Christ, this is impossible though, because the Bible says we, as believers, are complete in Christ, who is untouchable in a position of authority over the devil and his goons (Colossians 2:10). That is awesome!

This is why so many of the people who try to get success outside God and His Word end up afflicted one way or the other in other aspects of their lives – broken homes, disillusion with success, drug and alcohol addictions, among many others.

On the other hand, Proverbs 10:22 says,“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

Am I saying that positive confessions, creative imagination, and gratitude are all wrong?

Of course not. God approves of all these things and if we want to be sincere, all these things have a richer meaning in Christ Jesus.

 

The Real Secret of Success

Joshua 1:8 says, ” This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

Notice how the last phrase of the verse says “good success”.

The fact that there is good success implies that there is bad success.

Listen, God has your best interests at heart and He is deliberate about your life and situation.

He has given you all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) and that secret that seems to be eluding you is wrapped up in The Word!

You are going to profit with the Word – if only you would take the time to plant it into your heart and let it bring forth its fruit in its thirties, and sixties, and hundreds!!!

Believers & Self-Image

In Christian circles, the term ‘self-image’ is often used with great caution. You might even be tempted to think that it’s a taboo word.

It’s understandable that Christians feel a bit weird about the topic, since the Word of God clearly condemns placing all our attention and focus on ‘Self’

As Jesus said, ‘…if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me’ (Matthew 16:24)

Unfortunately, a lot of people misunderstand what Jesus said, and as a result, they go the other extreme.

Christianity is not a religion, but a lifestyle.It’s not a doing, but a being. And believe me sincerely, you’d find it very difficult to BE a Christian if you have poor self-image!
Your self-image is simply how you see yourself. Depending on your choice, it could be positive, or negative, or somewhere caught up in the middle.

When Jesus was teaching His disciples about denying themselves, He wasn’t even talking about denying your self-image!

How could He? Jesus Himself had a self-image!

For heavens’ sake, Jesus Christ referred to Himself as the Son of God numerous times because that’s how He saw Himself!

When Jesus was talking about denying yourself, He was not referring to your self-image – He was referring to your sinful human nature!

That’s why Apostle Paul would later say in Colossians 3:5 that you should ‘…mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth…’

Paul wasn’t saying that we should cut off the parts of our bodies. Rather, he was telling us to deal with our sinful human natures!

The sinful human nature has absolutely nothing to do with your self-image!

As I’ve said before, your self-image simply has to do with how you see ourselves.

When the right self-image is in place, you’d realize that you need to choose to love yourself for who you are!

You need to choose to eliminate fear!

You need to destroy self-doubt!

You need to change your self-talk!

You need to choose your association wisely!

None of these things are evil, and it’s hard to understand why believers would prefer give the impression of piety and somberness by beating themselves up and allow self-condemnation to keep them in bondage to an ordinary, mediocre life.

If I was an unbeliever and you came to introduce Christ to me with your poor, beaten-up self-image, I would most definitely not accept Him into my life.

As an unbeliever, I would be thinking thoughts like, ‘Why should I accept Jesus into my life when He can’t even take care of you’ or ‘I’d rather remain where I am than join you and become like you’

Little would I have thought that Jesus didn’t make you mediocre…your choices and ignorance did!

Christianity is an awesome and fun way to live in such a time as this.

Unfortunately, many unbelievers would never get to know this because of the poor self-image of many Christians.

Reality check: If you had a chance of preaching the gospel to a wealthy aristocrat or a beggar that sleeps in a dump, who are you most likely going to preach to?

I can bet that the majority of you reading this would go for the poor guy because you do not think you’re good enough to talk to the rich guy.

Am I saying that the rich guy’s soul is more expensive and valuable than his poor counterpart?

No! All I’m saying is that if your self-image is in the right place, it won’t matter to you at all if you had to talk to the wealthy or to the poor. All you’d be interested in would be in sharing the gospel. Period!

As a Christian, you have a mandate from God to be a bright and shining light in this evil world full of evil and darkness.

However, you would not be able to fulfill that mandate if you have no idea about your Self-image.

If unbelievers can harness the powers of a positive self-image and have powerful results in their lives, you can imagine what would happen when a Christian can understand his self-image and use it to his advantage.

Sky would be the very beginning!

Wanna Receive From God? Here’s How (Part 3)

Do you remember the story involving Jesus and Lazarus’ sisters in John 11?

In the previous installments of this particular topic, I remember sharing with you how having an understanding of God’s love for you, and taking God’s Word as your ultimate reality could go a long way in positioning you for receiving from God.

Let’s revisit the story to see what more we can glean from it.

John 11:6 says,

‘…He abode two days still in the same place where He was’

That may look like an ordinary verse…but it contains the very heart of what I’m trying to communicate to you.

When you consider the fact that the original Greek manuscript, in which the New Testament was first written in, had no commas…look at what one comma would do to that verse….

So, instead of having: He abode two days still in the same place He was….

We now have: He abode two days STILL, in the same place He was….

That verse is telling us more than the mere fact that Jesus continued to stay in the same place He was for two days.

No, what that verse is saying is that Jesus stayed STILL for two days.

STILL…as in, calm in His Mind!

Hmmn…I see a lot of folks rolling their eyes!

You see, while He was on earth, Jesus was 100% Divine and 100% Human.

He was in every sense like us.

He slept, cried, got tired, got hungry, got thirsty, and so on!

Because of this, it’s my belief that Jesus must have felt strong emotions for the sick Lazarus and his sisters. Furthermore, I believe He must have been very eager to go down to Bethany and get Lazarus healed.

I think that’s the whole significance of John 11:5 which tell us that Jesus deeply loved Martha and her siblings.

However, if Jesus had made a move to get to Bethany instantly, it would have been a merely impulsive emotional response, rather than the leading of the Spirit!

Does this mean that emotions are evil?

No. They aren’t.

In fact, like your imagination, your emotions can be a tool that could glorify God…when used appropriately.

Jesus Himself was often moved with compassion before He ministered healing, provision and deliverance (Matthew 9:36, Mark 5:19, Luke 7:13 are a few examples).

The problem is just that when your emotions become your life’s driving force, you are at risk of totally missing out on God!

That, my friend, is not good enough.

I believe Jesus had to stay two days in the same place, so that He’d be solely led by the Spirit.

Another thing I should add here is that the fact that Jesus stayed still (calm) in the same place did not mean that He disconnected Himself from all that was going on around Him. It doesn’t mean that Jesus became a monk or hermit.

Rather, it simply means that Jesus didn’t allow His emotions drive Him around. I believe He chose to be Spirit-led and Spirit-conscious, even as He was interacting with His disciples and associates for two whole days.

You might be wondering how all these applies to you.

It’s simple: Don’t be dominated by your emotions!

God has empowered you to be in charge of your emotions.

You have to bring your emotions under your control.

Before you met Christ, your emotions reigned over your entire conduct.

But once you gave your life to Christ, you became a new creation! The old has passed away, and now you can rein your emotions by the power that’s at work within you.

Isaiah 26:3 says, ‘You will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee’.

When your mind (will, emotions and intellect) is totally established on God and subject to the Spirit, you will find it easier to let the perfect peace of God position you to receive from Him.

It’s that simple.

It’s A New Year: Get Understanding

It’s with great pleasure that I welcome you to this brand new year. Indeed God has been faithful to us and we give Him all the glory for what He has done, what He is doing, and what He is set to do in our lives, both collectively and individually.

As we embark on the journey into the new year, I’ve come to realize that understanding would be a key for the uplifting of many this year.

What then is understanding?

Understanding is a supernatural discernment and perception of reality from God’s point of view. It is the experience of knowing and identifying whatever, whoever and wherever God’s Presence has vetted per time.

The truth is that by understanding, you cannot be confounded, depressed, confused or at a loss this year. Why? You have the benefit of a supernaturally elevated perception – one that is backed by the very breath of God.

By understanding, you are tuned into the dynamics of the spirit and your comprehension of actions, events and intentions becomes razor-sharp.

To me, the most outstanding feature of understanding is that it is applicable to EVERY aspect of your life. That includes your physical well-being, career, social life, relationships, spiritual walk with God, emotional intelligence, financial health and so on.

Proverbs 8:9 says, ‘They are ALL plain to him that understandeth’

Understanding makes all things plain to an individual.

Understanding is all-encompassing.

When it’s in full manifestation in your life, you understand the ways and timings of God, you undestand people, and you understand things.

Therefore, this year:

1. Apply your heart to understanding (Proverbs 2:2)

Your heart is the core of your being, as an individual. It’s where your values, principles and worldview are developed. That core is the seat of understanding. By applying your heart, you are attached to understanding – to the point of spiritual and emotional involvement. The truth is that you cannot and will not grasp understanding, if your heart is not involved. The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart. No heart involvement, no understanding! The goodnews is that the more you apply your heart, the more you experience a phenomenon called ‘largeness of heart’ (1 Kings 4:29) which means that your capacity for understanding is even stretched more.

2. Lift up your voice for understanding (Proverbs 2:3)

This year, you cannot afford to be ‘gentlemanly’ in matters concerning understanding. You must not be ashamed of your need to get understanding. Shout for it. Cling to God in desperation for the manifestation in your life.

3. Bow your ear to understanding (Proverbs 5:1)

Ears that are submissive to the dynamics of understanding are key for its manifestation. The truth is that the hearts of many are hardened, and as a result, their ears cannot be sensitive to understanding. However, if your heart is in the right place, your ears would be sensitive to understanding. And if your ears are sensitive, you’d always hear and understand what others do not! That’s what distinguishes the extraordinary ones from the ordinary.

It’s my heartfelt prayer for you this year that you would not only possess understanding – understanding would also possess you!

Happy New Year.

Wanna Receive From God? Here’s How. (Part 2)

In the last post, I wrote about how love was one of the key ways you can receive from God.

Before I go on to the next point, I need to emphasize on the fact that these keys I’m writing are not to be taken as a ‘3 steps to reach God fast’ or ‘7 ways to make God do as you say’!

Religion preaches laws and rules; God desires relationship. Yet, we are always eager to ‘do’ something to merit receiving from God.

The Father says,
“I want to enjoy you”

We respond,
“I know, so what must I do?”

The thing is, Are there 3 steps you have to take to talk to your earthly dad? Of course not!

What there is, however, is a mindset and disposition that you need to have before you meet him, right?

That’s simply my goal with this post.

The truth is that all 3 keys I’d be sharing are all intertwined within each other. For any one you decide to pick, the other two keys automatically join up by default.

So, without wasting time, let’s move to the second key to receiving from God:

See God’s Word as your utmost reality!

That sounds so simple. Yet, so many of miss it.

In John 11:4, look at what Jesus said regarding Lazarus’ sickness,

“This sickness is not unto death…”

Well, if you’re familiar with the story, you’d find out that Lazarus ACTUALLY died!

So, does that make Jesus a liar?

No!

The thing is that the Word of God is the REAL reality!

See, Jesus had said that Lazarus’ sickness would not lead to death. And that was an unchangeable truth.

Even after Lazarus had physically died, as far as Jesus was concerned, the man was not dead.

Even when Lazarus had been wrapped and placed in the tomb, as far as Jesus was concerned, the man was not dead.

Even when Lazarus was in the tomb for 4 days and 4 nights and had started decaying, as far as Jesus was concerned, Lazarus was not dead!

Here’s why:

Hebrews 1:3 says,

“…and upholding all things by the Word of His Power”

This implies that God holds up the whole created universe by His Word. Meaning that EVERYTHING – man, animals, planets, sun, moon, stars, galaxies – is sustained by the integrity and veracity of God’s Word.

Wow! That’s profound. I really hope you get this.

The whole creation was implemented by the veracity and truthfulness of God’s Word. The reason creation could successfully occur in the first place is because God’s Words are TRUE!

Get this:

The day God lies, all His Creation would self-destruct!

That’s why God cannot lie! (Titus 1:3)

That’s why God does not joke with His Word.

If He has spoken it, it is already a reality!

So, when Jesus said, ‘This sickness is not unto death….’, sincerely speaking, it was not unto death!

Despite the fact that the prevalent circumstances were looking contrary to what Jesus had said, it still was not the real Reality.

Jesus’ Words were!

The truth remains that until you get to the place where you can see God’s Word as your ultimate reality, you’d find it hard to receive from God!

Sincerely.

Unless you start seeing God’s Word as your ultimate reality, you’d remain stuck in your current predicament.

Unless you start seeing God’s Word as your reality, you’d be tossed and swayed to and fro by anything that the devil and your circumstances throw at you!

Now, am I saying that you should live in denial because you want to see God’s Word as reality?

No! Of course not!

Denial is a refusing to acknowledge that the devil or your current circumstances exist.

Denial is living a lie.

Denial is a carnal and philosophical fantasy. It’s not scriptural, because the devil does exist, and we live in a corrupted world, where circumstances and challenges would arise.

On the other hand, seeing God’s Word as your reality means that you choose to focus on the scheme of things FROM GOD’S VIEWPOINT.

That’s very important!

You’re not denying the fact that there are needs to be met, or problems and circumstances to tackle. However, because you are seeing the reality from God’s viewpoint, you can also see the superabundance of provisions available to cater for all your needs.

Consider Genesis 39:2,

“And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man…”

Now if you read the text, you’d find out that Joseph had just been sold to Potiphar by the Ishmaelites.

He had no mother.

No father to rescue him.

Jealous brothers who hated him.

He was probably without any clothes, because slaves were sold naked back then.

Yet, God’s word concerning Joseph was that he was a prosperous man.

Joseph saw himself from God’s viewpoint, regardless of his current challenges or the ones that lay ahead of him.

Joseph was secure in the reality of God’s Word for him…and he ended up becoming the Egyptian Prime Minister.

So, are you in a dire need for change, freedom, relief, provision?

Yes?

Then you really need to stop magnifying your current circumstances or the devil!

Instead, get into God’s Word to see reality from God’s viewpoint.

It’s that simple!

Receive From God: Here’s How (Part One)

It seems like many of us would be willing to do ANYTHING to be able to receive from God on a consistent basis. Whether it is guidance you need for that life-defining decision you’re planning to make or it’s provision you desire for that pressing need in your family, I’ve got good news for you….

God is ALWAYS more than eager to meet you at the point of your need. But the question remains this: Are you able to receive?

As time goes on, I’d be sharing some of the principles (or keys, if you like) that would place you in a position where you can easily receive from ANYTHING from God.

So, let’s start.

The very first key that would place you in a position where you can receive from God is this:

Be assured in your mind that God LOVES you!

That’s simple. Yet, it’s very, very profound.

The truth is that you will never be able to make any demands from your Heavenly Father if you are not secure and assured in His Love!

If you keep seeing the Father as One Who is always watching out for your shortcomings, flaws and faults, you’d never be able to approach His Throne of mercy to obtain grace and mercy.

Is that God’s fault?

Of course not!

It’s my belief that generations of exposure to dead, routine religion has totally blinded us to the fact that God delights in us and desires to have a Father-to-child relationship with us.

Listen, if you can just grasp this point now, you’re already receiving from God!

Consider the message that Lazarus’ sisters sent to Jesus in John 11:3,

“…Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick”

As innocent as that statement may sound, it contains the totality of all I’d be saying in this post.

Note that the message to Jesus was not…

“…Lord, behold, if You had loved him, he would not have been sick”

You know why?

Simple.

Lazarus’ sisters were fullly assured in the deepest core of their being that Jesus loved them!

Did you get the gist?

They were already secure in the Love of Jesus, and that was the reason they were in the perfect position to receive from Jesus.

Note again that Mary and Martha did not tell Jesus…

“…Lord, behold, he who loves you is sick”

They did not put any effort to try and impress Jesus about the warm heart that Lazarus had towards the gospel and the kingdom of God.

Sounds blunt, eh?

But it’s true.

Personally, I think all Christians could learn from this.

We now live in an age where the focus is on what we can ‘do’ for the Lord. We go about impressing people with our zeal and zest for the things of God. We put up such a good performance and pat ourselves on the back on how we are showing our love for God. We even try to hold God to ransom, telling Him things like,

“God, you know I’ve done many things for your Name and Kingdom, so, You have to move in my life NOW”

Please note that I’m not against a display of energy and passion for
the things of God! God forbid.

I just want you to pay attention to your motivation for doing these things. As far as some people are concerned, their public display is a mere selfish bid to earn points with God.

Mary and Martha’s message to Jesus did not contain any of that!

They were totally focused on the love they knew Jesus had for them!

That love did not have anything to do with Lazarus’ presence or absence of requited Love.

That love did not have anything to do with whether or not Mary had put a good religious performance or not.

That love had nothing to do with Mary’s, Martha’s or Lazarus’ input towards Christ’s ministry.

That love was God-initiated and God-inspired!

Little wonder Romans 5:8 says,

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”

What manner of human love can ever attempt to trump that?

My advice? Don’t even try to trump it. Just follow Mary and Martha’s example and secure yourself in God’s love for you.

Rest in God’s love for you! Don’t even attempt to deserve or earn it, because you can’t!

The thing is that until you get to the point in your heart that you are convinced that the Almighty Creator of the Heavens and the Earth is interested in you, you’d continually find it hard to receive from Him.

Rest and enjoy His Love and see yourself finding it extremely easier to receive all you need from the Father!

That’s not all. Watch out for Part Two of this series.

Grace and Peace.

Will The Real Lights Please Stand Up?

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven”

(Matthew 5:14-16)

So many times, we read from this passage and it means absolutely nothing to us as a result of our overfamiliarity with it.

Yes, it is true that we are the lights of the world.

It is also very true that our lights should not be hidden but rather should shine so brightly so that men would see our good works and glorify God.

However, the truth of the matter is that so many people know that they should be lights of the world, but they do not know how to be lights of the world.

The good news is that the Bible shows us how exactly to be lights of the world.

Genesis 1:14-18 says,

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good”

In the passage, we notice that God creates everything for a purpose and a reason. From Genesis 1:14, we understand that God spoke these lights into being for these three reasons,

One, to divide the day from the night,

Two, to serve as signs, as well as season-, day-, and year-markers

Three, to give light upon the earth

The manifestation of those creative Words of God came this way,

One, to give light to the earth

Two, to rule over the day and night

Three, to divide the light from the darkness

Now, let’s examine the first function of light that God spoke and its subsequent manifestation:

God created the lights to shine upon the earth.

Why? Because in the dispensation in which we are living in right now, the earth is in gross darkness (Isaiah 60:2). You see, the funny thing about darkness is that it causes confusion. Now, take a look around you:

In the economic sector?

What about the health sector?

What of worldwide politics?

The thing is that the international policy makers and top government officials are all at their wit’s end.

Why? Because conventional human wisdom cannot cater for the challenges that the whole world is facing right now.

The problems of the world just cannot be solved by the people of the world

Why? Because their minds have been blinded by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4)

So what happens as a result? The best they can provide are temporary fixes that cover up the deep systemic flaws.

On the other hand, as believers – as Christians –, God has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:6). Into where? Into the gross darkness that is in the world out there.

You see, the thing about the light of the glory of God is that it doesn’t struggle with the darkness of ignorance and confusion. The universal and irrevocable truth is that once light steps into a situation, darkness flees. Darkness simply cannot understand or comprehend the light (John 1:5). And as lights, God has mandated us and consequently expects us to put an end to the crises and confusion that is in the earth today.

The second function of light that God spoke and its attendant manifestation is to serve as a sign.

Now if you notice, the funny thing about this function is that there is a kind of discrepancy between God’s command and the manifestation of the command. However, inasmuch as we recognize that the entire world is held together by the integrity of God’s Word and His Word would not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11), so we know that God’s released word actually came into fruition.

It’s interesting to note that despite the fact that God gave the command that the light should serve as signs, the manifestation was that light should rule over the day and night!

This is very, very profound!

The sign to the world that you are a light is to rule and have dominion. God created you to be a sign. He created you to be a wonder (Isaiah 8:18). You are not an ordinary individual. You are not created to be just a part of the general statistics. You were not created to blend and be a part of the background. No! God created you to rule in your sphere of influence. If you are in the gathering of believers, God created you to stand out in your own area of calling. See, the truth is that every believer is a light. And because you are a light, you have your area of calling. Let’s check out Genesis 1:16 again,

“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also”

As a church on the whole, we were made to be the very reflection of the Sun of Righteousness – Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Malachi 4:2), in the same way that the moon does not produce any light on its own, but rather reflects the light produced by the sun. Furthermore, note that the stars were also part of the heavenly bodies that God spoke into being. We all seem to forget that point at times!

The truth is that we have been made to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6) just the same way the stars are found in the firmament of the heavens. See, you were specifically made to stand out with your own outstanding brilliance unique to you. Beloved, the individual brilliance of each star in the firmament of the heavens does not hinder the brilliance of other stars.

God created you to be a sign and that sign is to rule over the day, in the midst of other believers also shining their own individual lights in their own areas of calling. Furthermore, He made you to rule over the night, in the areas where there are no believers.

And that is the scheme of things in the kingdom of God.

The third function of light that God spoke and its attendant manifestation is to divide the light of the day from the darkness of the night.

 

Now, the truth is that we have been translated from the kingdom and power of darkness into the domain and kingdom of light (Colossians 3:13). Furthermore, as believers, we are a chosen generation that has been called to tell others about the night-and-day difference that Christ and His kingdom made for us – transforming us from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted (1 Peter 2:9-10). We have been called to divide the light from the darkness. We have been called to divide the day from the night. By our lives, we have been called to show the world how Christ – the Living Word of God – has divided through our entire spirit, soul and body. We are to show the world how Christ – the Word of God – has totally permeated everything that concerns us. We have been called to be living, walking and breathing epistles of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:3), that other people can read through and be converted into God’s kingdom.

You are the light of the world. Stand up, arise and shine like you should!!!

Overcoming Temptation

Temptations are normal experiences that every believer would face at one point in time or the other. However, there is no need to be afraid of them for the following reasons:

First of all, God’s faithful not to allow us to be tempted above the level of grace we are conscious of at the moment. 1 Corinthians 10:13 explains it further,

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it”

Furthermore, we Jesus as our High Priest who can associate with our temptations since He was tempted in every way, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15 tells us,

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”

In addition to that, the tempter (the devil) is NOT wise. He does not possess a bag of limitless tricks. In fact, the summary of every temptation that we would ever face as believers can be found in 1 John 2:16,

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (Emphasis mine)

The truth is that every form of temptation we would ever face in our lives would either be in the form of pride or lust!!!

This is very profound.

Check out the nature of Eve’s temptation in the Garden of Eden,

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6 Emphasis mine)

If you look carefully at the text, you’d find striking similarities between 1 John 2:16 and Genesis 3:6,

Lust of the flesh (1 John 2:16) = Good for food (Genesis 3:6)
Lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16) = Pleasant to the eyes (Genesis 3:6)
Pride of life (1 John 2:16) = Desired to make one wise (Genesis 3:6)

And if that is not enough proof, check out Luke’s account of the temptation of Jesus Christ,

“And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve
And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Luke 4:3-12)

Again, we find the same trend in the manner in which the devil tempts,

Lust of the flesh (1 John 2:16) = Command this stone that it be made bread (Luke 4:3)
Lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16) = Shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time (Luke 4:5)
Pride of life (1 John 2:16) = Cast thyself down from hence (Luke 4:8)

So, it is very apparent that the devil is always going to try to deal with you in the area of lust and pride. It is simply non-negotiable. He did it with the first Adam, he did it with the last Adam and would in the same way try to make you fall into sin with these weapons.

Now, in order to know how to overcome temptation, it is expedient for us to know the mechanism through which temptations work. Knowing this would make us better prepared in dealing with temptation.

A portion of the Bible that deals with the mechanism of temptations can be found in Acts 5:3-4,

“But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God”

Here Peter asks Ananias two main questions:
The first was pertaining to why Ananias allowed the devil to fill his heart to lie.
On the other hand, the second was why Ananias himself conceived the idea in his heart.
These questions, as innocent as they may look, contain the mechanism through which temptations lead to sin.

In Biology, we are taught that a man fills his wife with the seed of copulation before the wife eventually conceives and gets pregnant. Although, it is not every time a man fills his wife with his seed that she conceives and gets pregnant, we were taught that every time a man meets with his wife, there is always a chance of the wife conceiving and getting pregnant.

The funny thing is that the same principle happens in the course of a temptation!!!

The devil continually tries to fill our minds with evil thoughts. There are times we are able to consciously ward these thoughts away. But the truth remains that if we continually put ourselves in a vulnerable position where the devil can continue to bombard our minds with these evil thoughts, we increase the chances of an evil conception occurring in our minds that would eventually lead us to committing sins.

James 1:15 says,

“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death”

So, the million dollar question now is this: How do we overcome temptations???

And the answer is very, very straightforward:

Continually fill your heart and mind with the engrafted, quick, alive and powerful Word of God which is able to save your soul.

The truth is that you can only be tempted with you think about.

James 1:14 says that one is tempted when he or she is drawn by what he or she lusts after. So, if you continually fill your mind with the Word of God, it would be totally impossible for the devil to suggest evil thoughts because your heart and mind is already filled with the Word of God.

Little wonder 1 John 3:9 tells us this:

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God”

Whoever is born of God does not commit sin because of the Seed of God (the undiluted Word of God) is in him/her and such individual cannot (is totally unable to) sin, since he is born of God.

This is God’s plan for every believer!!!

HALLELUYAH.