One Good Reason to Hang on (1)

I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.
– Jeremiah 29:11 (New Century Version)

The pressures of life can be overwhelming at times that you wonder if you will ever get out of this, or will it ever end. You might even have considered calling it quit on life altogether so as to be relieved of all the stress. It can be that bad; but it does not have to get to that point.

Perhaps the vicissitudes of life have boxed you into such a state that you are discouraged from doing anything or taking any further step for fear of aggravating an already bad situation or being misinterpreted. It can be that tough; but you don’t have to let it get the better of you. You cannot afford to stop praying and trying, taking guided steps and making calculated attempts.

Whatever your own issue may be at the moment, be it finance, marriage, family, business, career, health, or other forms of social pressure, it is always good to adopt a long term perspective and see yourself vis-à-vis the challenge in a couple of years time; will it become bigger than you or you would have outgrown it? You can also borrow a leaf from Robert Schuller’s classic that “tough times don’t last; only tough people do.”

Another perspective that can help you to cope with the storms of life is the fact that challenges are part of living; they are not peculiar to you alone. The fact that you are in the midst of storm does not mean that God does not reckon with you or that He loves you lesser than someone who seems to be enjoying all the fortunes of life. God cares for all His children, even the recalcitrant ones. He is a loving Father. He does not scheme and He is not driven by the thoughts of how He might undo you. He says that the thoughts (note the plural) He has toward you are for peace, not evil; to give you a hope and a future.’ Amplified Bible says His plan is “to give you hope in your final outcome.”

This is God Himself assuring you that of all the thoughts He thinks about you, none is to hurt, undo or afflict you. On the contrary, even with your present issues in mind, His thoughts are to give you hope in your final outcome. Now that is one good reason for you to hang on.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

What Can Love Do?

This happened in Japan.

In order to renovate a house, someone tore open the walls. Japanese houses normally have a hollow space between the wooden walls. When tearing down the walls, he found that there was a lizard stuck there because a nail from outside was hammered into one of its feet. He saw this, felt pity, and at the same time he was curious.

When he checked the nail, it turned out it was nailed about 10 years ago when the house was first built. What happened? The lizard had survived in such a position for 10 years! In a dark wall partition for 10 years without moving; it is impossible and mind boggling. He wondered how this lizard survived for 10 years without moving a single step, since its foot was nailed! So he stopped his work and observed the lizard, what it had been doing, and what and how it had been eating.

Not long afterward, not knowing where it came, there appeared another lizard with food in its mouth. The man was stunned and at the same time deeply touched. Another lizard had been feeding the stuck one for the past 10 years!

Such beautiful love was demonstrated by this tiny creature! What can love do? It can do wonders! Love can do miracles!

Meditation: My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. – 1 John 3:18

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Where Do You Seek Help?

Challenges and trials are part of life, only the dead and inanimate don’t have them. We face various life situations that test our faith, maturity, endurance, skills, and expertise. But when the storms of life come billowing, do you fight or take a flight? When the vicissitudes of life become overwhelming, where do you turn for help?

Our answers to these questions are critical to how we fare in life: if you are the type that analyses a challenge and then tackles it headlong, rather than avoiding or running away from it, each encounter will certainly build up your maturity, spirituality, dignity, fortitude, and confidence; whereas, each time you take a flight and avoid a challenge constitutes a debit from your confidence and self-esteem. So, the best course to take is to fight it out. But, ensure you take the time to first analyse the situation, know how best to confront it, when to take it on, and what resources you need to realistically achieve your aim.

In the event where you are overwhelmed by the vicissitudes of life, such that you are feeling drowned, it is always good to look beyond yourself and reach out for help. While it is advisable to seek help from experts in the area of your challenge or from an enlightened significant other, you should not discountenance also seeking the help of God. In the case of humans, you can only be helped to the extent of the resources available to the person you run to. But God has unlimited resources and He has monopoly of solutions. He had solved innumerable challenges since humans started becoming conscious of them; and He hasn’t stopped. So you get the advantage of experience, expertise and formidability when you run to God. Nothing fazes Him; everything thaws in His presence. He is just a prayer away; why not tell Him about the issue now?

Meditation: Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. –Psalm 61:1-2

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

How to Fix Your Life

Author Unknown

A pastor was struggling to prepare his sermon and didn’t want to be disturbed by his five- year-old daughter, so he removed a map of the world from his study, tore it into pieces and gave it to the girl to assemble with the promise that he would answer all her questions and play with her when she was done.

He knew she would never be able to fix it.

To his amazement, in less than five minutes she returned to him in his study with the map in perfect shape, every continent and every country in its place!

The surprised father asked, ”Honey, you don’t know anything about geography, so how did you fix the world so easily and quickly?”

The five-year-old girl smiled sweetly and replied, ”The picture of Jesus was at the back of the map. And I knew that if I have Jesus in the right place, the whole world would be in perfect shape.”

That was just the right inspiration the pastor needed for his sermon.

He thanked his daughter and prepared a powerful sermon on the subject – ‘Fix your world by placing Jesus at the right place’.

Just place Jesus in his rightful place and your life will be in order. Do you really understand this?

Spread it to the world, let them know that their world cannot be fixed without Jesus. We all need Jesus!

You’ve been given this as a gift…pay it forward!

Meditation: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” – John 12:32

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Miracle of a Song

Her parents and doctors were ready to give up, but her brother wanted to sing a song…

Like any good mother, when Kate found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her three-year-old son, Victor, prepare for a new sibling.

They found out that the new baby was going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Victor sang to his little sister in Mommy’s tummy. He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Kate.

In time, the labour pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Kate found herself in hours of labour.

Would a C-section be required? Finally, after a long struggle, Victor’s little sister was born. But she was in a very serious condition.

She might not make it alive!

With a siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushed the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee.

The days inched by. The little girl got worse. The paediatric specialist regretfully had to tell the parents, “There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst.”

Kate and her husband contacted a local cemetery about a burial plot. They had fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby, but now they found themselves having to plan for a funeral.

Victor, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. “I want to sing to her,” he kept saying.

Week two in intensive care looked as if a funeral would come before the week was over. Victor kept nagging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in the Intensive Care Unit.

Kate made up her mind, though. She would take Victor whether they liked it or not! If he didn’t see his sister right then, he may never see her alive.

She dressed him in an oversized scrub suit and marched him into ICU. He looked like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognised him as a child and bellowed, “Get that kid our of here, now! NO children are allowed.”

The mother rose up strong in Kate, and the usually mild-mannered lady glared steel-eyed right into the head nurse’s face, her lips a firm line. “Victor is not leaving until he sings to his sister.”

The head nurse obliged Kate.

Karen towed Victor to his sister’s bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. After a moment, he began to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a three-year-old, Victor sang:

“You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray…”

Instantly the baby girl seemed to respond. Her pulse rate began to calm down and become steady. “Keep on singing Victor,” Kate encouraged with tears in her eyes.

Victor continued singing:

“You’ll never know, dear,

How much I love you.

Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

As Victor sang to his sister, the baby’s ragged, strained breathing became as smooth as a kitten’s purr.

“Keep on singing, sweetheart!” Kate cried.

“The other night, dear,

As I lay sleeping,

I dreamed I held you in my hands…”

Victor’s little sister began to relax and rest. A healing rest seemed to sweep over her.

“Keep on singing, Victor”

Tears had now conquered the face of the bossy head nurse.

Kate glowed.

“You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are grey

You’ll never know, dear,

How much I love you.

Please don’t take my sunshine away…”

The next day, the little girl was well enough to go home!

It was a miracle, God used Victor.

Meditation: I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. – Psalm 69:30

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Power of Gratitude

Author Unknown

There was a bird that lived in the desert; very sick, no feathers, nothing to eat and drink, no shelter to live and kept it on cursing its life day and night.

One day, an Angel was crossing that desert, the bird stopped the Angel and inquired “Where are you going?” Angel replied “I am going to meet God.”

So bird asked angel, “Please ask God when my suffering will come to an end.” Angel said “Sure, I will” and bid goodbye to bird.

Angel reached God’s place and shared the message of bird to Him. Angel told Him how pathetic the condition of bird was and asked to know when the suffering of the bird would end. God replied, “For the next seven lifetimes, the bird has to suffer like this, no happiness till then.”

Angel said when bird hears this, it will get disheartened. “Could you suggest any solution for this?”

God replied: Tell bird to recite this, “Thank you God for everything.” Angel met the bird again and delivered the message of God to it.

After seven days, the Angel passed the same path again and saw that bird was so happy; feathers had grown on its body, a small plant grew up in the desert area, a small pond of water was also there, the bird was singing and dancing cheerfully. Angel was astonished as to how this happened, “God said for seven lifetimes, there is no happiness for the bird…” With this question in mind, he went to visit God.

Angel asked his question, then God replied: “Yes, it was written there will be no happiness for the bird for seven lifetimes, but because the bird was reciting the mantra, “Thank you God for everything” in every situation. When bird fell down on the hot sand, it said, “Thank you God for everything”, when it could not fly it said, “Thank you God for everything”, so whatever the situation, the bird kept on repeating, “Thank you God for everything” and, therefore, the seven lifetimes’ karma got dissolved in seven days!”

When I heard this story, it landed me in a different energy zone. I felt a tremendous shift in my way of feeling, thinking, accepting and viewing life. I adopted this watchword in my life. Whatever the situation, I faced, I started saying, “THANK YOU GOD FOR EVERYTHING’. It helped me to shift my view from what I did not have to what I have in my life.

Similarly, I started using this in my relationship, finance, love life, social life, business, with friends, maids, colleagues and everything with which I can relate. I shared this story with my spouse and children too, and it brought a great shift in their behaviour.

This really had a deep impact in my life, I started feeling how blessed I am, how happy I am, how good life is. The purpose of sharing this message is to make all of us aware how powerful is the power of gratitude is. It can reshape our lives.

A simple word, a simple thought, which teaches us to be grateful for everything we have in our lives has the power to dissolve the baggage we are carrying. Be grateful, and see the change in your attitude. Be humble, and you will never stumble.

Meditation: In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Focus on the Most Important Part of You

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

– James 1:21

The soul is, perhaps, the most important part of humans. It is what scholars usually call ‘the real man,’ ‘the hidden man,’ or ‘the inner man.’

The body is essentially a cover for the soul. The soul is to the body, what the CPU is to a computer; it is the part of man that conditions behaviour, ideals, attitudes, performance, spirituality, etc. The physical demonstrations of these are only seen through the carriage of the body or other parts of it. That is why, after death, the body will decompose away, whereas the soul will move on to face divine judgement, which will land it either in heaven or the lake of fire; hence, the ageless questions, 

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

(Matthew 16:26)

It is a popular saying that regaining the souls of men is the heartbeat of God. God so much craves for fellowship with our souls every time, every day. The primary assignment of Jesus on earth was to reconcile the souls of humans to God. Most church teachings are geared towards refining the souls of the faithful, so that they can be amenable for connection with God.

Recent breakthroughs in surgery have shown that human parts can be transplanted. But not the soul, it can neither be seen nor transferred. But it is what defines each individual.

Therefore, considering the transcending importance of the soul, we are charged in the scripture above to be receptive to the word of God because, more than anything else, it is able to save our souls from undesirable consequences.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!