How Do You Respond to Discouragement?

This is a story that teaches us some lessons about how to deal with discouragement at moments in our lives.

A man got dressed in the evening and set out on his way to God’s house. On his way to Church, the man fell and his clothes got dirty. He got up, brushed himself up and headed home.

At home, he changed his clothes and was again on his way to Church. Again, he fell at the same spot! He, again, got up, brushed off the dirt and headed home. At home, he once again changed his clothes and walked out heading to God’s house.

On his way, he met a man holding a lamp. He asked to know his identity and the man replied, “I saw you fall twice on your way, so I brought a lamp so I can light your way.”

The first man thanked him profusely and the two went on their way to the Church. Once at the Church, the first man asked the man with the lamp to come in, but he refused. He asked him a couple more times and, again, the answer was negative. The first man then asked him why he did not wish to come in and pray.

The man replied, “I am Satan.” The man was shocked at this reply.

Satan went on to explain,”I saw you on your way to the Church and it was I who made you fall. When you went home, cleaned yourself and went back on your way to the Church, God forgave all of your sins.

I made you fall a second time, and even that did not discourage you; rather, you went back on your way to Church. Because of that, God forgave all the sins of the people of your household.

I was afraid if I made you fall one more time, then God will forgive the sins of your nation, so I have to make sure you get to the Church safely.”

Do not put off the good you intended to do as you never know how much reward you might receive from the hardships you encounter while trying to achieve that good. Your righteousness can save your family and a whole nation.

– Author Unknown

Meditation: For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. – Hebrews 12:3

You will succeed because Jesus loves You!

What’s the Point?

– Author Unknown

In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favourite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honour. Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because of his struggles with Parkinson’s disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, ‘We don’t expect a major address. Just come and let us honour you.’ So Billy agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, “I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honoured by Time magazine as the Man of the Century.

Einstein was once travelling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn’t find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it.

The conductor said, ‘Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.’

Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor then continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, ‘Dr. Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are. No problem. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.’

Einstein looked at him and said, ‘Young man, I too know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.”

Having said that, Billy Graham continued: ‘See the suit I’m wearing? It’s a brand new suit. My children and my grandchildren are telling me I’ve gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried, but when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to remember the suit I’m wearing. What I want you to remember is this: I not only know who I am. I also know where I’m going.”

“Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil – it has no point.”

Meditation: And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. – 1 Corinthians 15:19 (NLT)

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!

The Sure Route to Self Development and Enhancement (Part 2)

So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to… give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified

– Acts 20:32

In contrast to self-help books, the Bible is not just able to build you up in whatever area you need to develop – mentally, physically, emotionally, socially, financially, academically, relationships, etc – it is also able to get you qualified for life after death as well as offer you an inheritance among the saints of God. No other book around can afford you such massive reward.

The more you study your Bible, the more acquainted you become with the thoughts, perspectives, practices and will of God. And, let’s not deceive ourselves, there is no one alive who has a higher standard or better taste than God. He is the ultimate. Therefore, knowing and applying His principles will help you become godlier with each application. And godliness

“has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8, NIV).

The Bible is your guide to godliness, among other things. Ensure you read it every day and apply its wisdom in your daily activities.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

The Sure Route to Self Development and Enhancement (Part 1)

The late Jim Rohn once wrote: ‘if you want to be wealthy and happy…learn to work harder on yourself than on your job…What you become is far more important than what you get. The important question to ask on the job is not, “What am I getting?” Instead, you should ask, “What am I becoming? “ Getting and becoming are like Siamese twins: what you have today you have attracted by becoming the person you are today….Income rarely exceeds personal development. Sometimes income takes a lucky jump, but unless you learn to handle the responsibilities that come with it, it will usually shrink back to the amount you can handle….It is hard to keep that which has not been obtained through personal development.’

This underlies the importance of developing oneself in the process of becoming a high flyer. The truth about birth is that it is two-fold: the one that happens through a biological process in the labour ward, and the one that each individual does to his/herself through a process of re-creation, not necessarily physically, but in covert realm of the mind, in the way of reasoning or looking at things, in change in attitude and behavioural patterns.

The second birth process is usually done consciously and with as equal, if not physical, pain as the first one. In the first mode, the woman in labour bears the pain physically; in the second, the person undergoing a process of rebirth experiences the inner pain of tearing off old habits and modes of doing things.

But the fact remains to be all that you can be in life, you have to take the painful decision of pursuing self development. It is to the extent that you master the self and steer it in noble directions that your greatness is manifested. It is all in the knowledge, analysis and management of the self.

From the passage above, the Bible is a blueprint you need to achieve self development. Following its various instructions, albeit how inconvenient they may seem, is a big step in disciplining yourself to make a better choice contrary to the dictates of your flesh, societal or peer pressures. Virtually all the self-help books around are expositions of Biblical tenets. Why not make it your own companion henceforth, so that it can build you up and make your life a worthy testimony for people to read?

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Naked Truth

Author Unknown

One day, a schoolteacher wrote the following equation on the board:

9×1=7

9×2=18

9×3=27

9×4=36

9×5=45

9×6=54

9×7=63

9×8=72

9×9=81

9×10=90

When he was done, he looked back at the students as they were all giggling because of the first equation which was wrong.

Then he said to them: “I wrote the first equation wrongly on purpose, because I wanted you to learn something important. This was for you to know how the world out there will treat you!

“You can see that I wrote the right thing nine times, but none of you congratulated me for those. But you all laughed and criticized me because of one wrong thing I did.

“The lesson here is: the world will never appreciate the good you do a million times, but will criticize the one wrong thing you do. So don’t get discouraged! Always rise above the laughter and criticism.

“Don’t look up to man; look up to God.”

Meditation: Do all things without complaining and disputing. – Philippians 2:14

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

Purpose: Anointed to Do Good

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
– Acts 10:38

There are two missions of Jesus captured above: doing good and healing those oppressed by the devil. Our meditation today will be focused on the first one.

No doubt, if one was to describe the life of Jesus Christ, based on all our meditations in the past few months about His purpose and mission on earth, benevolence is an apt word to sum up His personality and activities. The intensity of His engagements with people and the effects He had on their lives when He was physically present were phenomenal. Now 1,987 years after His physical departure from Earth, the impacts He has had in the lives of innumerable people across different ages and climes on a daily basis were even more mind-blowing.

The interesting thing about His good works is that they are not static or one-off. The Bible says He “went about doing” them. That means He did not discriminate where His benevolence would be focused; His acts of kindness were without bias and were extended to the Jews, the Samaritans, the Greeks, the Romans, the Syro-Phoenicians, and other nationalities. He taught them, healed them, delivered them, fed them, raised their dead, and restored their sights, among other things.

His good work was also not a one-off, as He continued to minister to people day and night even at personal inconveniences, such that when He was urged to eat at one time, He said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34).

The charge to do good is a universal calling. Jesus only came to show us how best to do it. Through His personal examples, He modelled to us the right spirit with which to do it as well as the commitment, the passion, the focus, the compassion, and the consistency needed to make an appreciable impact.

You will succeed in Jesus Name!