SMALL BEGINNINGS

We humans -if not all of us- want to impact lives one way or the other, We want to have territories under the control; we want to control the world of academics, agriculture, energy, finance, technology and so on. We all -though some have gotten over it- have dreams when we were small, but over time the knowledge that the predominant school of life (as I call it, LOL) presents have been accepted by many naturally. Unconsciously, everyone attends this school one way or the other but not all use up the knowledge gotten from it, not everyone is influenced by it, and not everyone lives according to its standard.


 You talk to some people and you get angry at the way their minds has been tuned (you know our mind is the neutral line between the spiritual and the physical, it’s the deciding component  of our being-Olatunji Ezekiel-,as Edmund Burke puts it “The human mind is often, and I think it is for the most part, in a state neither of pain nor pleasure, which I call a state of indifference.”) automatically to accept things the way they are –whether good or bad-  You will get to know that they have been influenced by their environment. You see children waiting to inherit their parent’s wealth, why?  They have automatically attended the predominant school of life and have absorbed the knowledge it presents. They don’t want to break out on their own, their mind has been corrupted-having a reprobate mind does not necessarily means a sinful mind, it is a mind that has been compromised by the environment?


Before anything can be achieved, it has to be conceived or birth by the mind of the individual (The empires of the future are the empires of the mind. Winston Churchill). We feel like impacting the world, Yes!, that’s who we are (that sounds great), as lights of the world, we cannot afford to hide. At this point, I will like to ask, hope your mind has not been corrupted by the school of life? funny name right?: school of life, LOL-. It might sound funny but it’s the truth. The Bible says “be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”. Examine yourself... as Jim Rohn puts it “I found that when you start thinking and saying what you really want then your mind automatically shifts and pulls you in that direction. And sometimes it can be that simple, just a little twist in vocabulary that illustrates your attitude and philosophy”.  With the right mindset, you are good to go. You hear it everywhere that you have to plan well before you start, yeah it is true, but I tell you that planning itself, sometimes, can be a form of procrastination, think about that...


Also, I will like to inform you that you have to start from where you are, no matter how small because the bible says “Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly”, Christ started small and his end was great, which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. That environment of yours is the best. OK?, God is perfect (Matt 5:48), He does not make mistakes and He will surely not start by placing you in the wrong environment because He is the same today, yesterday and forever (Heb 13:8).That environment was made for you, for the kind of future you have, those people good or bad- were placed there for your proper growth and adequate nourishment. You get trained in that environment you are. Those that infuriate your anger have been placed there so that you can grow one of the components of the fruit; Gentleness (Gal 5:22-23). Christ started from where He was, even when some people did not accept him- and later went about doing good in other countries(Acts 10:38),He even told the Apostles to start witnessing from where they are -their surroundings,Jerusalem, He was trained in his environment for thirty years before He began his ministry.


Yeah, it’s a very good thing to dream and think big, but know this that, what you are doing around you (in your environment) is what will be multiplied exponentially to give you your Big Picture of impacting the world. Ask yourself this question, how many lives have I impacted around me? , your answer will bring to your awareness where you are to start from (maybe your mind or environment)...I say to you “despise not the days of small beginnings”.

Thanks for reading.

Shalom

NEW YEAR RESOLUTION

Hello my friend, hope you have been enjoying each hour since the year began? People do say “New Year Resolution”, but really, what does this mean? It’s simply your motto for the year, just that? Yes, just that-. The validity of this resolution of yours is in your hands, just like a text picture I saw recently , it says that many people’s new year resolution will become useless by the end of the first week of the year ,and now some hours has gone –it will be such a relief if nothing has happened to yours,I once told a group of people that I do have my own year resolution on my birthday (November 3rd, in case you do not know, LOL) , because that day marks my own new year.

From a general viewpoint, People think this resolution is all about depending on God ‘s promises and not striving/working towards it and so they give it different tags like ,”My year of new beginnings” ,”My year of excellence” and so on...No!!!, because after a "willing", there is a "doing" and Yes!!! Because it includes depending on God’s promises, but there’s this part People miss –which is very important- it’s the part of reflecting on the previous year and years to come. Your resolution for the year is not complete if you have not reflected, because that is the point where you make conclusions which are "The Resolution" itself. These thought-provoking questions might help you;

1.   What are those things I could not achieve last year, that were part of my previous resolution?
2.   What other values-spiritual, financial, academic...-do I need to add to myself before this time next year?
3.   Concerning my future, what other gifts/potential/thing do I need to develop over time knowing the kind of person God is making me?
4.   Whose/what standards do I want to live by? God's or mine, and so on.

 After answering these questions that might help in making the conclusion. Set standards in line with those conclusions of yours. For instance, oh!!!, my day is not complete if I have not done this –might be praying for one hour, studying for six hours, being nicer, preach the gospel, give effectively even if it affects, done the most important task for the day, listen more, sleep at most 5 hours, engage in automobile university (mobile learning or learning on the go)...,also weekly – might be to fast at least once a week, write an article, at least one vigil per week, read at least a book, also monthly -might be to read at least three books, memorize twenty bible verses- and so on.

It’s not quite easy as humans to set standards for ourselves and keep them, because no higher authority is involved in enforcing it. This is where FOCUS comes in. You need to set your face like a flint, unshakable-Isaiah 50:7, because a double minded is unstable in his ways-James 1:8. Focus is different from determination- hope you know?, determination comes before focus, one must be determined to pursue a goal, before he or she can focus on that goal. Focus is concentrating your energy on something, Rick Warren said in one of his books that when you know your purpose , it will make you focus your energy. He compared focus to the pointed hill sole-permit me to use that- of the female shoe, it can break through something, that’s focus while the determination is what comes before focusing, it is making up your mind about something. Brian Tracy also, in one of his books said that, those who have their goals written down over the years have been observed to always achieve (at least 65% of their written goals) more than those that don’t write, as they become proper time managers, the percentage increases, I’m a living proof of that.

 

In conclusion, I’ll like to inform you that, with your old nature, that resolution can’t be carried out. A minister –Pastor Sam Adeyemi- once said that it is like a dog saying he won’t bark anymore, can it? No!!!, not with that nature it has!!!, It can’t change that, it is his nature , so also you can’t change some habits without having a change of nature...Jesus told Nicodemus “You must be born again”, Why??? Because you get your nature from the one who gave birth to you, you cannot have the nature of an eagle when a dog gave birth to you. Jesus had this Kingdom nature in him, that was why He could do supernatural things naturally. You need a change of nature to fulfill those plans of yours- you need God’s nature if you know within yourself that you do not have it-.

This is what I call New Year Resolution- like I said before now, though not all have been discussed here but I believe the knowledge passed across will be utilized by you, my friend.

I’ll like to know your new year resolution, you want to know mine? mail me or see me in person , LOL.

Thanks for reading,



Happy new year,

Shalom.