February 15, 2014 · 8:38 pm

Tales from The Amazon – A love Affair with AD Santarem

I had the privilege of visiting the Amazon a few weeks ago during a missions trip to Brazil. The missions trip took our small team of three to Santarem, a large city of approximately 250,000 people located in the Amazon region of Brazil. A few hours after arriving, I met with Rhonaltt Araujo – the pastor of AD Santarem.

Pastor Rhonaltt is an awesome man of God! He is the sort of man you would never know was the pastor of a church unless he declared it to you. I mean this in the most positive of ways in that he is a very humble and unassuming man. He has a gentle spirit and a heart of gold! I sense that he is a father and friend to many in his congregation. Indeed, I am glad to call him friend as well!

You can see the influence of his servant style leadership on the church. The atmosphere of love and togetherness pervaded the church. I felt so comfortable at the church that I instantly adopted them into my heart. In truth, there was an instant love connection between the heart of the church, the pastor, and my heart because love (God) was at the center of it all.

So here is my tribute to AD Santarem: I came to be a blessing to you but you were a much bigger blessing to me. You say I added much to you but I get the sense I took more than I gave! Your family is filled with people who are destined for greatness. The zeal that you have within you will cover you as a cloak (Isaiah 59:17) so that your enemy (Satan) will not even be able to recognize you. May the love of God continue to be your driving force! May your heart continue to reflect the heart of God! May your family members become mighty. Never look to the right or to the left. In times of confusion, choose love! In times of uncertainty, choose destiny! I would say that I miss you but how can I miss what is so close to my heart? You are surrendered to purpose, so you are destined for greatness!

Submit your life to love, and love will take you to places that you have not dreamed about!

I will be sharing a little bit more my experience in the Amazon with you in the common weeks. Hope you enjoy!

Food for Thought: God loves me because of who He is; not because of what I have done, can do, or ever do!

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January 27, 2014 · 8:25 am

Comfirmation is good, but never become a junkie

Today, many people seeks signs to confirm what God has told them. It is not uncommon to hear ‘I need a confirmation from the Lord’ or “I will go for prophesy to confirm what the Lord has told me’. I find this quite interesting and ponder-worthy. Have you ever asked yourself why we would need to confirm what the Lord has spoken to us? The two reasons I can think of are these: (1) We do not really know if the Lord has spoken to us (2) We doubt what the Lord has spoken to us.

Babies R Us

That we do not know if the Lord has spoken to us  reveals that we are still babes in Christ. All of us have to go through this stage in our walk with the Lord. As babes, we lack in-depth knowledge and understanding of the word, therefore our level of discernment is low. Note: The correlation between knowledge of the word of God and discernment can be found in Hebrews 4:12.

As babes, it is easy for the devil to take passages of scripture out of context and try to pass it off as truth. Remember how Satan tried to fool Jesus in the wilderness by quoting scripture out of the context? This is why we need confirmation at this stage!

There is nothing wrong with admitting that you are babe in Christ. Even the great Prophet Samuel started off as a babe in Christ. He did not know that God was calling out to him at night, so He kept on going to Eli. After the third time, Eli realized that it was God calling out to Samuel and so told Samuel to answer (1 Samuel 3:1-10). In essence, Eli confirmed to Samuel that it was the Lord.

It is okay to be a confirmation junkie in the baby stage of our walk with God

But what if Samuel did not grow to know the Lord and know His voice? What if He always needed someone else to confirm the word of God? He wouldn’t have been chosen to be the next great Prophet, for he would have led the people astray. In other words, He would have missed out on fulfilling his calling.

Think about this: What if Moses waited for confirmation and so never moved to mark the door posts for protection before the Angel of death descended down into Egypt? That would have been the end of the story of Israel!

Jesus says that my sheep know my voice. Do you know the voice of Jesus or do you think you know it?  In truth, we cannot follow Jesus closely if we do not know His voice. This is why babes in Christ tend to stray. To remain a confirmation junkie is to remain a babe in Christ!

The reason only a few are chosen out of a great multitude that are called is because too many of us choose to remain babes!

‘Sign’ Me Up

There is no doubt in my mind that doubt has caused too many of us to spend hours in prayer in search of confirmation instead of actually doing what God has called us to do. As we do this, the blessing that the Lord wished to bestow upon us walks right by as we keep our heads buried in our pillows. Then we turn around and wonder why it is that we miss out on God’s blessings. For example, we say to God, ‘that guy that you told me was my husband, how come he married someone else?’. The answer may very well be that you never said a word to him as God commanded you!

Please do not misunderstand what I am saying here. It is always a great idea to pray when in doubt. But the whole point of praying when in doubt is to receive the guidance of the Lord. Once we have received the guidance of the Lord, the next step is to obey the Lord. In the context of which I am speaking, doubt causes us to pray for confirmation instead of simply believing God and moving on with what He wants us to do. Like Gideon, we look for a sign before we make a move.

Gideon was a babe and so needed confirmation –  and so it was granted. Once we move from being babes, any sign seeking reveals unbelief! 

The Pharisees were no babes in having knowledge of the word of God, yet they sought a sign time and again. Here is what Jesus thought of their sign seeking ways:

 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah – Matthew 12:38-39

Ouch! Jesus called then evil and adulterous! He called them this because their asking for confirmation showed that they were filled with doubt and unbelief. Doubt and unbelief is the opposite of trust and faith. Doubt and unbelief is the result of hardening our heart to the truth; it is the result of tolerating fear; fear toleration is from the evil one. Moreover, Satan is also very good at signs and wonders! Hence, it is easy to be led astray if we are looking for signs.

Many of us seek confirmation through prophetic words because we secretly doubt our ability to hear from God or doubt what the Lord has spoken to us. So we would rather base our life on what someone has prophesied – at times still not realizing we have to take action. Instead of hearing from God, we want to hear from God through a 3rd party, and we want that word to be a word of exaltation! Hmm, I suppose we would not like Prophet Jeremiah too much if he was here today!

The best type of prophesy is confirmation of what God has spoken to you; not instruction of what God wants you to do!

Food for Thought: If all prophesy is instruction to me, then it is a ‘sign’ that my walk with the Lord is weak! If I do not hear from God, it is confirmation that I am a babe in Christ.

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January 11, 2014 · 11:07 pm

Faith, Fear and Money: Is your lack of faith stealing your financial freedom?

I am sure some of you clicked on this blog out of curiosity while some of you have clicked on it to crucify me since you have a problem with anyone connecting faith and money! If this is you, then I apologize for my lack of sensitivity for I could have titled this blog faith and blessings. But when I considered that the bible tells us that the blessing of the Lord makes one rich (Proverbs 10:22), I thought it best to avoid wording games. I do submit though that a better title may have been faith and riches or faith and wealth.

But doesn’t the bible say that money is the root of all evil? No, it does not say that! It says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Hence, money becomes evil only when we love it. There are generally two ways to love money:

  1. We can love money so much that it consumes all of our thinking and drives our behavior. When this happens, money ceases to be the vehicle to do good works but becomes the goal itself. When money becomes the goal is when morals, ethics, law, and good judgment go out of the window. This is why God says that we cannot serve two masters – we cannot serve money and God. This love of money is what pushes men people to engage in human trafficking and pushes parents to sell their children into sex slavery.
  2. On the other side, we can love money so much that we do not want to part from it. So we hold it, horde it, and being a miser…instead of investing it so it can be put to greater good for our communities. This love of money is why God was so angry with the servant who hid his money in the ground instead of placing it in a vehicle that could earn interest.

But when we love God, we are obedient to Him. Obedience in turn will always bring blessings…including riches. The question is do we trust and believe God enough to obey his plans and his ways: Work hard and smart, invest hard, and give back hard! Do we have faith to do all He wants us to do?

10 Spies Sent to Canaan

The answer to that question was NO for 10 of the 12 spies sent to Canaan. They saw a land flowing with milk and honey; a land with grape clusters so huge two that people had to carry it on their shoulders. But they did not focus on that; they filled their minds with the size of the people in the land.

Instead of seeing the good future their present could create by faith, they concentrated on the bad of their present circumstance. Instead of seeing the opportunities, they saw the challenges. Instead of focusing on the reward of their march into Canaan, they focused on the cost of the investment. As a result, they ended up staying in the wilderness 40 years longer than what was originally planned. Their lack of faith (trust and believe) cost them the life that God had in store for them. Instead of milk and honey, they died on manna (which no longer had the taste of honey) and water!

Light-bulb moment: We must not be as the 10 spies who wanted the take the less costly trip back to Egypt to continue to live as slaves instead of taking the more costly trip into Canaan to rule the land!

See, we can either focus on what God has asked us to do or we can focus on the obstacles in front of us?

Light-bulb moment: Fear will always focus on the cost of an investment while faith will always look at the return on investment.

Fear causes too many people to park their money in the bank to earn 0.25% interest while paying the same bank 3.5% interest to finance a house! Faith on the other hand gives us boldness and courage to use the same money to start an income generating business in real estate or other avenues that can have a 25% or higher return on investment…if we would only develop our faith!

Light-bulb moment: Fear will always play it safe, but faith always plays it risky according to the world’s standard. To play it safe is to play it scared!

Think about this: God had to have faith in Jesus that He would actually accomplish that task He was given. If He did not have faith in Him, He would never have sent Him! But He had faith in Him and sent Him.

This illustrates that everything worth doing involves a measure of risk. If we truly love, then we will risk it all – just as God did with Jesus for us. If you love your family and your household, then you will take the journey to develop your faith so that you can be bold and courageous to do all God as called you to do.

If you do not like risk, neither do I! Yet, we can rest assured in the truth that there is no risk in God! God defies all statistics and He has never failed! So, the way to eliminate risk is to do all that God tells us to do.

Light-bulb moment: God has already blessed us. It is our job to take hold of the riches of those blessing by faith

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December 24, 2013 · 11:55 am

How Can I Get Doors of Opportunity to Open for Me?

Called and Chosen to Execute – Bezalel

For a minute imagine that you are an architect. What a great honor it would be if the pope asked you to build the next great cathedral or the Queen of England asked you to build her a castle! It would not only be a great honor but it would the opportunity of a lifetime. Your name would be immediately stamped in history and people would read about you and get to know your works long after you were gone. Moreover, you would not have to worry about finding work anymore, and financial worries would be a thing of the past.

This is exactly what happened to Bezalel. Once day, Moses called out to him and told him that God had selected him to build His (God’s) house.

I bet the other skilled architects must have wondered within themselves, why Bezalel and not us; we are just as highly skilled as he is! Not finding a suitable answer to this question, it would not surprise me if many of them simply put it down to luck. But luck had nothing to do with it.

Luck hardly ever has anything to do with being chosen. What may look like luck is usually the hand of God in action.

I reckon many of them were called to be great architects. I would wager that many were filled with the spirit of wisdom, ability, knowledge, understanding, and intelligence in all works of craftsmanship. Yet, only one was called by name (chosen).

If you have been filled with the Spirit of God, then you have been filled with the spirit of wisdom, ability, knowledge, understanding, and intelligence to prosper you in everything you do. It means you have the ability to be called by name just as Bezalel was called by name. Even so, to be chosen you must not just have the ability of Bezalel but you must have the character of Bezalel.

To have ability is to have potential; to be chosen to fulfill potential requires character

Bezalel’s Character

Honesty and Integrity: Large sums of gold, silver, bronze, and clothing were required to build God’s house. Bezalel knew how much of each material was needed to build the house to specifications based on his skill. When the people started to bring more material than was required, he promptly told Moses to tell the people to stop the collection (Exodus 36:5-7).

Bezalel could have stashed away some of the superfluous material for himself. He could have colluded with the other artisans to make a profit. But he did not do this. He did not allow his eyes to become greedy nor did he covet the gold and silver. His thinking did not become selfish. He did not say: what am I getting paid to do this work? He did not convince himself that it was his right to take of some of the collected material. He did not want to defraud the people of their belongings by continuing to collect unneeded supplies.

Would you have done the same if you were Bezalel?

Patience  and Obedience: Moses looked at the work Bezalel did and saw that he had done it just as God commanded, therefore Moses blessed him (Exodus 39:43). Since we know that the children came to the wilderness of Sinai in the 3rd month after the start of the journey out of Egypt (Exodus 19:1) but the tabernacle was not raised until the 2nd year of the exodus (Exodus 40:17), we see that it took a while for Bezalel to be paid for his work. He did not know he was to be paid and was only paid after the work was completed. Thus the honor of doing the work in obedience to the will of God was enough for him.

Can you say the same? Are you focused on what you have been called to do or are you focused on the blessing?

Moreover, he did not doubt the instruction that Moses gave him. He could have said to himself, I know a better way to do this work, let me change this and change that. No! He let God be God, forgot about his own opinion, and did exactly what God commanded through Moses. He would have missed out on his blessing if he had not obeyed without adding or subtracting a thing.

Is this you or do you mix your own way with God’s way?

Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it – Deuteronomy 12:32

Good Steward: Moses only saw what Bezalel made when he brought it to him (Exodus 39:43). Thus the only way Moses knew how much gold and silver was used (Exodus 38:25) is because Bezalel was a good steward of all materials used. Bezalel was an overseer of the work that was being done and ensured that nothing was wasted.

Are you a good steward of everything God as given you? Are you a good steward over your time and resource? Are you disciplined enough in your stewardship?

The way we answer these questions will ultimately determine whether we reach our full potential or if our lives will be summed up by could have, should have, and would have!

Food for Thought: Dedicate yourself to honesty, integrity, patience, unwavering obedience to God, and good stewardship and you will see great doors of opportunity swing wide open for you.

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December 15, 2013 · 9:56 am

Three Questions You Should Ask Before Marriage

I had the privilege of witnessing a friend’s engagement atop the Sugarloaf Mountain. It was a cool and comfortable night. The spectacular city of Rio de Janeiro offered a breath-taking view.  The large statue of Christ was lit in its full glory. The night sky was in its full splendor as it wowed visitors with a wonderful lightning display in the sky.  For my friend, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect!

There was a healthy number of people with us on the mountain that night who witnessed his girlfriend’s excitement as she said ‘Yes’ to the man of her dreams.  After a longing look and loving embrace, the unbridled joy etched on the faces of the newly engaged couple was so undeniable evident that it could only be missed if perhaps aliens invaded the city!

We cheered, we laughed, and we sang.

When I returned to Baton Rouge, I was met with the grim reality of the experience of marriage for many. A casual friend I had not seen for a while walked up to me at the end of service with heavy tear-laden eyes. Hardly able to get the words out, he stuttered and whispered his way to telling me that he and his wife were getting a divorce after almost seven years of matrimony.

I could not help but think of the contrasting scene and news in the space of a few days. One, a happy beginning and the other, a sad end.

That roughly 50% of all marriages end in separation is a warning of how quickly dreams can turn into nightmares! Since no one starts with the intention of turning their dream into a nightmare, the divorce statistic is proof that something is amiss in marriages.  While the answer to the conundrum of failing marriages in not clear cut, there are some questions everyone about to enter into marriage should ask and answer honestly to see if they have a good shot at winning in the game of love.

Am I in love?

The word in love suggests that one can be out of love. And truly, many people say they have fallen out of love or are no longer in love with their partner.

The kind of love that one can fall in and out of is that which is based on feelings (emotions), sentiment, and fondness. In the Greek language, it is called phileo love. This kind of love is based on what your partner adds to you. While it may not necessarily be selfish, it has a tendency to be self-centered.

This kind of love is often dismissed in some circles because it can be fleeting, is many times based on circumstances, and is self-centered. But I will not do that here.  If you do not ask yourself if you are in love is to deny that you have needs and wants from a relationship. To avoid this question is to lie to yourself!

It is okay to ask if you have feelings for the person, if you are fond of the person you are with, and if you look at your partner with affection. Here is the crucial part: You must not stop at if but you must ask yourself why.

Why points to the heart of the matter. How you answer the why says a lot about your partner but says a lot more about you. It reveals whether you love yourself or are simply operating out of fear! No one is ever truly fond of a person who mistreats them unless they themselves have been disturbed by something in life or they have no way to escape. If you are fond of the person only for what they can do for you, then you have become selfish!

Fearfulness (lack of trust) and selfishness (unwillingness to compromise or yield) will always ruin a relationship.

When you ask yourself why, look at the content of your partner’s character! Look at who they are and what their life shows you. You can gather a lot of this information by listening to the person’s words, and looking at how they spend their time and their resources. This is because often repeated words, time, and resources always reflect priority and heart.

Having phileo love seldom guarantees the success of a marriage union. There is the need for agapeo love

Do I love My Partner?

The question, do I love my partner is different from am I in love with my partner. While one can fall in and out of phileo love, we either agapeo love or we do not. It is that simple! While phileo love is based on feelings, sentiment, and fondness, agapeo love is all about commitment and dedication and does not consider circumstances!

A rock solid agapeo love is needed to ride the waves of life and the roller-coaster of phileo love. Unfortunately, too many people spend their lives building and developing phileo love – through emotion charged compliments, flowers, gifts – and spend very little time developing agapeo love.  The reason commitment never seems to last these days is because the commitment is based on feelings, sentiment, and fondness (phileo love).

Agapeo love is based on who you are versus who the person is. It is about what you add to the person versus what the person adds to you. This kind of love which is unconditional is always willing to reconcile, forgive, and work at issues unto restoration.

It does not confuse weakness and wickedness in a person. Since it does not seek its own, it does not seek perfection. It recognizes the journey of love and is willing to suffer.

The question agapeo love asks is this: A person will disappoint and hurt me, so who I am willing to suffer for? Jesus (who had agapeo) love for humanity thought is worthwhile and worthy to suffer for humanity though we did not deserve it.

If you are not willing to go through hard times, willing to hurt, willing to suffer, willing to forgive, willing to lay down your life, then you do not love your partner. You only love what your partner can do for you (phileo)!

The question, do I love my partner can only be answered Yes if you truly have love for mankind in your heart.

How Do I See My Partner?

A different way of asking this question is who is my partner to me? Do you see your partner as friend, lover, leader (spiritual and otherwise), powerful, royal, helper, anchor, and asset? Or do you see them as timid, fearful, abdicator, scattered, and double-minded?

It is important to be honest with yourself as your answer will determine whether you can (1) respect your partner (2) whether you will follow your partner’s leadership (3) whether you will be comfortable in yielding.

Your answer will determine if your household with be peaceful, whether there will be secret resentment in your heart, if there will be insecurity in your relationship, and whether the union is more of a battle than it is a partnership.

In the bible, Peter saw Jesus as his Messiah – Lord and Savior – and so was able to stand in relationship and fellowship with him until the end. Judas on the other hand only saw Jesus as a potential king and so betrayed him and left him alone when Jesus would not do what Judas thought He should have done!

So, how do you see your partner?  

Conclusion

Jesus asked Peter the three questions above: Do you phileo love me (John 21:16)? Do you agapeo love me (John 21:17), who do you say I am (Mark 8:29). Being Jesus, he already knew the answers!  

Do you know the answer to these questions? If not, then you are wise to ask yourself about the one who is to become a rock in your life. Your answer may very well determine the future. Do you agree?

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December 7, 2013 · 6:57 pm

Two Very Good Reasons to STOP Reaping All That You Sow

Everybody wants to reap love but nobody wants to sow it; it is easier to reap than it is to sow!

As I pondered this statement, it came to mind that one of the reasons it is seems easier to reap than it is to sow is because reaping is the realization of the reward that sowing promises. Sowing is done in hope while reaping is done in faith – since faith is the evidence or realization of things hoped for (Heb. 11:1).

Light-bulb moment:  The end result of sowing in hope and watering the seed of hope with the word of God is a harvest of faith.

As I continued to ponder, I realized that just as the process of developing faith is not easy, the process of reaping is not easy. As an example, the process of reaping wheat is just as laborious as sowing it. It involves putting the sickle to work, gathering the wheat harvest, threshing the wheat on threshing floor, and separating the wheat from the chaff.

But just as the difficulty of reaping yields a tangible reward, the difficulty of developing faith results in triumph and victory in our lives (see 1 John 5:4). Moreover, the faith we attain is meant to help produce victory in other people’s life as well – just as the 5000 men on the side of the mountain ate from the fruit of the faith Jesus had in God.

Light-bulb moment: The seed of hope we plant is not just meant to produce victory in our lives but victory in the people around us.

In other words, people around us should be able to reap where they have not sown! That other people should be able to reap from the produce of our land is not my opinion but has biblical roots, Here is how God puts it:

And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corners of your field when you reap, neither shall you gather any gleaning of your harvest: you shall leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God – Leviticus 23:22

This passage (along with many others) reveals God’s heart for the stranger (anybody not related to us) as well as the poor. Indeed, He has commanded us to take care of our fellow man out of a heart of love.

As if love for our fellow man was not a strong enough incentive to obey this commandment, God also makes it worth our while when we do it. Here are two reasons it is good for us to stop reaping all that we sow!

God prospers and promotes us

God has promised to bless the work of the hands of those who have a generous heart and to bless all that they involved in (Deut. 14:29; Deut. 15:10). In other words, He will make all you invest in profitable, He will get you a raise at your job, and He will prosper your business.

God is saying that you should give of your time and your resources of the things that reflect His heart instead of trying to maneuver your way at work, play politics, and kiss up to the boss.

Boaz (in the book of Ruth in the bible) was a man who followed the commandment to leave gleanings in the field for the stranger and the poor. The bible tells us that he was a man of great wealth (Ruth 2:1)!

Light-bulb moment: If you want to become wealthy, develop a heart of generosity in love and stop reaping all you sow. Do not wait to become wealthy before you become generous.

It opens up doors of opportunity

The only reason Boaz was able to come across Ruth is because he left some gleaning in the field. If he had not, Ruth would simply have passed through his field. But Boaz was a generous man who left a lot to the stranger and the poor. He had so much left over grain in his field that Ruth spent the entire day there (Ruth 2:7)! This in turn allowed Boaz to inquire about Ruth – which in turn led to him taking her as a wife.

See, Boaz’s generosity and desire to please God in whom he delighted opened the door of opportunity for him to meet his wife. He gave what he did not need (barley) and he got what he wanted (a wife)!

If you are not meeting the right people, it may very well be that the right people (those who have a good heart) have no reason to stop by your place.

Light-bulb moment: A good reason to stop reaping all you sow is so that you may get those things you desire in your heart. 

Food for Thought: I open the door of opportunity to blessings tomorrow when I leave a little bit of my harvest for the stranger today.

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November 17, 2013 · 10:15 pm

Success Secret from Jesus – Day 9 – Courage

COURAGE

And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the table —John 2:14–15

Jesus was indignant when he discovered that the temple had been turned into a business office. Even so, he did not allow his anger to turn into blind rage but was able to control his anger – as evidenced by him taking his time first to make a whip of cords. His anger served to accomplish a righteous purpose – return the temple back to its purpose as a place of worship. Thus in purging the temple of traders, Jesus shows us the following:

Righteous (good-breathed) anger can be an effective tool when used in a controlled manner in appropriate situations (as determined by the Holy Spirit) for the purpose of correcting a wrong.

If we shift our focus away from anger, we see that Jesus acted courageously and in a godly manner. Whereas others may have felt that the temple was no place for merchandising, Jesus was the only one who was courageous enough to stand up to the money changers. Although he had no direct authority over those he chased away, he did not allow that to stop him from doing what was right. He took a bold stand and acted courageously while leaving the consequences to God. And so he righted a wrong.

COURAGE UNDER PRESSURE

Being believers, we ought to be filled with courage, for we know that God is for us. We should not allow our fear of the unknown to keep us from moving courageously toward the vision God has given us. Rather than focus on our obstacles, our niggling doubt, and the persistent whispers of naysayers, we must exhibit courage and press on toward our goal.

As evidenced by Rosa Parks, the African American civil right activist who has been touted as ‘the mother of the freedom movement,’ a single act of courage at the right time can change the course of history.

GODLINESS

It would have been easy for Jesus the “nice guy” to rationalize and justify the traders’ activity in the temple. He could have convinced himself that the oxen and sheep made it easy for the populace to give their burnt offerings; that the doves made it convenient for anyone to purchase them; and that the money changers made it easy for everyone to pay their tithes in the correct currency. No! Jesus the “godly guy” showed up. He did not condone bad behavior, but instead, he put an end to it.

While a nice person may enable bad behavior through inaction (often to his or her own detriment), a godly person always focuses on what is good and allows the chips to fall where they may.

Choosing godliness is not always popular. It does, however, command people’s respect and promote their confidence in you because of your adherence to high moral standards. Furthermore, godly people tend to attract other godly people who operate in the highest levels of integrity. So stand your ground today and walk in godly courage.

Check out Looking to Superman – The secret to success in life on superchampinc for more practical tips the experience of Jesus teaches us on being successful.

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November 9, 2013 · 5:02 pm

The Person God Allows You to Throw into the Sea

Your life is a ship! You are not the owner of your ship – for the owner decides the destination – you are the captain. As the captain, you decide which route to take on your way to your set destination. Though you may not have had a say concerning who boarded the ship, once on the ship, you have the authority to decide who stays on the ship and who to cast off at every port on the way to your destination.

As captains, there are some people that we need to cast of our ship! In fact, God clues us into whom we can cast of our ship in the story of Jonah. God gives us permission to cast off those that are willfully and deliberately walking in disobedience and out of the will of God. Before you click away in anger, consider this:  God allows us to throw people overboard for our own good as well as for the good of the person who is stubbornly and willfully walking in disobedience. Remember that in the story of Jonah, Jonah did not perish in the sea but was rescued by a whale. Likewise the traders did not perish due to Jonah’s disobedience. Instead, their lives and livelihood were preserved.

Here are 2 good reasons to get rid of willfully disobedient people in your life

You save yourself from unnecessary trouble

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up – Jonah 1:3-4

The tempest or trouble that the traders experienced was because of the presence of Jonah on the ship. Similarly, trouble and unnecessary heartache is the result of having willfully disobedient people in your life, the end of which is a broken up life.

Reevaluate the company you are keeping if your life is less of cruise and more like a roller-coaster

You keep the fruit of your hard work

Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep – Jonah 1:5

The traders on the ship had to throw off the cargo they had accumulated to survive. They had no clue that the cargo weighing them down was Jonah.

Let no one fool you, disobedience is costly. Disobedience will always drain your resources on its way to claiming your life. Many parents know too well the cost of living with willfully disobedient children. It is mentally and spiritually draining and puts undue stress on marriage. Although extremely difficult, be brave to throw the person at the mercy of Jesus rather than allow the person to cause you to perish. Why allow you and the person you are protecting to perish when both you and the person can be delivered?

It is also interesting that Jonah was sleeping during the storm. He knew he was the cause of the storm and so he did not want to call out to God. Instead of helping out or taking responsibility, all he did was go to a quiet corner out of the way and fall asleep! Thankfully, the captain had the good judgement to wake him up and challenge him to do something!

Do not be surprised if the person causing the ruckus in your life is at peace while you are stressing out. As captains of our lives, we must tell the willfully disobedient person in our life to shape up or ship out.

So there it is! It is okay to throw the willfully disobedient person off the ship of your life (after much prayer and deliberation) just like the traders did with Jonah. God loves the person you have thrown overboard and will provide a whale to save them. Stop trying to play God in the person’s life and save them…remember that you cannot not even save yourself. We all need the help of God.

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October 28, 2013 · 7:05 am

Success Secret From Jesus – Day 8 – Excellence

Check out Looking to Superman – The secret to success in life on superchampinc for more practical tips the experience of Jesus teaches us on being successful.

EXCELLENCE

And He said to Him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now.”
—John 2:10

The first miracle Jesus ever performed was to turn water into wine.  For this series, we will not focus on the significance of turning water into wine. Instead, we will focus on the excellence behind the very first work that Jesus. This first miraculous work set the stage for the quality of the subsequent work Jesus would perform. Jesus started excellently and finished excellently.

The water that Jesus turned into wine was so good that the master of the feast could not help but call the bridegroom to congratulate him on its quality. He said: “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now.”

The wonderful thing about this portion of the story is that the bridegroom had indeed served his best wine first; yet the best wine he could find paled in comparison to the wine that had been produced from mere water. You see, the best that the bridegroom could offer paled in comparison to the best that Jesus offered.

Light-bulb moment: Excellence is found by allowing Jesus to have his way with us and work through us.

Let Your Excellence Speak for You
The quality of what we do must be excellent. The same Jesus who raised the bar when he turned water into wine is more than able to do an excellent work through us, because he lives in us. Thus, to be like Jesus, we have to make sure that our work output is excellent. If we do this, we find out that we are recognized in all we do just as the bridegroom was recognized for the wine that Jesus produced for him.

Its brilliant for us really. Jesus does the work, and we receive the plaudits for it. It not our work but Jesus working through us. Therefore, we must always give God the credit. We must avoid becoming puffed up by thinking that our success and fame is due to our own powers and abilities. It is only through the power of Christ in us that we are able to achieve anything

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October 24, 2013 · 9:01 pm

Success Secret From Jesus – Day 7 – Respect and Honor

RESPECT AND HONOR

And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no more wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?…” Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.”
—John 2:3–4, 7

The passage of scripture above suggests that Jesus did not care for wine for he was not the least bit concerned that the host of the wedding party he was attending had run out of it. If he wanted wine, he was more than able with the powers he possessed to keep the drinks flowing and the party rocking without the prompting of his mother.But he did not do this. Instead he asked his mother why he should be bothered that the wine was finished.

Even though he was not bothered that the wine had run out, he knew that his mother cared; otherwise, she would not have mentioned it to him. He knew his mother likely wanted to spare the host the embarrassment of running out of wine and so he took action to honor her.

Light-bulb moment: The first miracle Jesus ever performed was done to honor his mother because he loved her and respect her

Show Respect and Honor

Just as Jesus respected and honored his mother because He loved her, love will always lead us to respect and honor others as well – especially our parents.

Light-bulb moment: Respect and honor is the end of actions driven by love

Since Jesus did not dishonor God while honoring his mother, we have to ensure that we are not concerned about honoring man more than we are about honoring God. Any action that honors man but dishonors is not born of love but born of self-seeking. Any action that is self-seeking will tend to sacrifice honesty and integrity; it will tend to look for ways to do crooked things in the name of gain! Anything gained out of crookedness is not succeeding, it is stealing and is wickedness!

The way to keep out crookedness is to cultivate a heart of love that seeks to respect and honor!

How do we honor God? We honor God through our love-based and heartfelt obedience to His voice. When we honor and respect God and each other, we are not only following the example of Jesus, but we are also building up favor and goodwill with man – something we will need to succeed.

Light-bulb moment: Respect and honor reveal an attitude of humility. While pride comes before a fall, humility endears us to people and ultimately leads to honor, riches, and life.

Check out Looking to Superman – The secret to success in life on superchampinc for more practical tips the experience of Jesus teaches us on being successful.

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