Vantage Point

 

There is a certain vantage point from which you can only recognise opportunities; there are certain dispositions you must have before you can utilise opportunities.

– Babatunde Oladele

It’s All About Perspectives

It’s All About Perspectives

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: “I am blind, please help.” There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were.

The boy recognised his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”

The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way. “I wrote: ‘Today is a beautiful day; but I cannot see it.‘”

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign reminded people how fortunate they were to have their sight.

Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

When life gives you 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile.

Face your past without regret.

Handle your present with confidence.

Prepare for the future without fear.

Keep the faith and drop the fear.

It’s a beautiful thing to see a person smiling. But even more beautiful is knowing that you are the reason for the smile!

Faith is not about everything turning out OK. Faith is about being OK no matter how things turn out.

– Author Unknown

Meditation: And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! – Mark 6:2

You will succeed in Jesus Name!

We will Never Serve Your God!

We will Never Serve Your God!

At her father’s funeral, the pastor’s daughter (who was a prostitute) watched and listened as church members described all the wonderful deeds done by the pastor of 10,000 capacity church with worldwide television ministry.

They spoke about his care, love, generosity, miracles, signs and wonders and tenderness when he was alive. After the funeral, the daughter of the late pastor asked her siblings and her mother, “Who was that man those people were talking about at the funeral? Is he the same man that raised us? They must be telling lies!”

All the children, including Jack (a drug addict), agreed that the people were telling lies. But their mother said they were not lying.

“Your father was a good pastor, but a bad husband and bad father. He groomed and grew the church but left his family groaning. Fire was in his bone to work for God, but love, affection and intimacy were not in his mind for his family.

“I was his wife, the church was his mistress. He loved the mistress and abandoned his wife. He won the church but lost his family. What a shame!”

The children later wrote and placed on his tomb:

Dad, you pastored and nurtured them but abandoned us.

Dad, you did a lot of revival programmes, but your family is never revived.

Dad, you counseled them, but we lived without counsel.

Dad, you were a shepherd, but we lived without a pasture; you showed them love, but we lived in the desert of affection.

Dad, you were a successful pastor, counselor, but a total failure as a husband and father.

Dad, we hardly know that you are dead, because you were never there for us.

This one thing we promise you, we will never serve your God!

— Author Unknown

Meditation: But if anyone does not provide [love, affection, counsel, guidance, discipline, intimacy, mentorship, etc] for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. – 1 Timothy 5:8

You will succeed because Jesus loves You!

Passing the Buck

 

Inasmuch as it is fitting not to pass the buck, there are legitimate occasions when the buck must be passed for corporate good and whoever it is passed to must accept it in good faith in the spirit of collective responsibility and move on

Life Without God

Life Without God

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.”

– Author Unknown

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!

The Best Service You Can Do Yourself

It appears the best service anyone can do him/herself is to be aligned to the Almighty God. No matter the struggles to live up to His high ideals and in spite of the mistakes we make in the course of daily living, we are best served serving God.

 

Legacy of Success

There was a certain wealthy man who lived in a certain town. He had just a son; when the boy grew up, he wanted to take over the father’s estate.

His father gave him a condition he must fulfil before he can hand over his multibillion-dollar business to him. The condition: Earn 10,000 dollars and show me the money.

The son sought help from his mother and brought the money to his father claiming he worked for it. His father collected the cash and threw it into the oven. The two watched until the whole money was burnt to ashes.

He admonished his son to go on and work for the money and bring it to him. The mother again gave him another $10,000 and told the boy to wait for some time, disguise and look worn out before seeing his father.

When he eventually met his father with the money, the old man was at the same spot close to the oven. The man took the cash and again threw it into the oven. The two men again watched the $10,000 burnt to ashes. Again, the man said, “Son, go work to save $10000 and show me. Only then will my inheritance will be yours.”

The boy was furious knowing that his father was determined on the condition of working and saving up $10,000 before he could have access to his inheritance.

Again, he met his mother for advice, as she was thinking of another option they could use to outsmart the old man, he suddenly told his mother not to worry, that he would go out and work to save the money for his father.

The boy travelled to another town where he could get employment, as no one believed him enough to hire him in their locality, the only son of a wealthy man doing a commoner’s job! He spent years denying himself of food, pleasure, good accommodation, designer wears and every comfort he was accustomed to as a rich man’s child just to save up the money for his father.

When he eventually came back home his mother could hardly recognise him. He has emaciated and looked ragged. Without much ado, he quickly went to present the money to his father who incidentally was seating at the very place close to the dollar-burning oven.

He presented his father the money he has saved with pains and hunger. The old man took the money again and threw it into the oven. But immediately, the boy dived headlong into the fire and rescued the money. He exclaimed, “Father! You can’t burn my sweat!”

The father replied, “You absolutely worked for this very one, son. Nobody will stand looking to see his effort being burnt to ashes, as you have done at the previous times your mother helped you.”

The old man, now satisfied with his son, willed all his wealth to him.

Morals:

1. People put value on things that cost them most.
2. Wealth gotten through easy ways will soon end up in the oven.
3. Before handing over your business to your child, first hand wisdom to him or her.
4. Like most of us with poor background, sometimes we denied our children valuable experiences they need to succeed in life by too much pampering, saying ‘I don’t want them to experience what I experienced’ forgetting that such conditions added up to make you what you are. Sometimes create artificial scarcity.
5. Don’t forget to share your story with your family. Your children will need it someday to solve life challenges
6. Wisdom and good name are the best inheritance you can give to your children.
7. The billion dollar wealth handed over to your children without character and morals will end up in the hands of your servants and maids that possess them.
8. Success is not taught in schools, but through hard work, dedication, courage, focus, perseverance, character, etc.

— Author Unknown

Meditation: Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, But he who gathers by labor will increase. – Proverbs 13:11

You will succeed in Jesus Name!