GIVING IS AN HONOURABLE THING

Giving is not obligatory, but when you feel compelled to give, do it with excellence. Remember, you're helping fellow human beings, not canines. It's wonderful to be a blessing and offer assistance to others. However, if you choose to give, don't offer them shabby or unworthy items. 

When you help the less fortunate, it's like lending to God, and He promises to repay you. But some people's giving methods or gifts are downright awful. Even animals wouldn't receive such poor treatment. If God were to repay your loan (what you gave to those in need) in the same manner or with the same quality, would you be satisfied?

Giving is not just about the object you give, but also about the manner in which you give it. Some people give with insults, wrong motives, to show off, or by merely tossing the gift at the needy and considering it done. Oops. Yes, it's your money, your clothes, your food, and so on. But if you choose to give them to those in need, don't do it with disdain in your eyes. Give with honour and respect. 

Giving is an honorable act, but don't let the way you give or the quality of your gift be dishonourable. It's not about showcasing on social media. It should be done in secret. That's why it's called "giving" and not "showing off.  God only rewards or repays what you give in secret. 

Every time you assist the poor, it's like granting a loan to the Lord. Don't worry—you'll be fully repaid for all the good you've done. Proverbs 19:17 TPT

Whoever has compassion for the needy lends to the Lord, and He will repay them for their deed. Proverbs 19:17 NKJV

But when you help the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may remain a secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:3-4 NIV

I am JUST THINKING

Open Doors

Doors are opened every day, whether you're going out or coming in. But open doors can symbolize opportunities. People receive opportunities in various ways and from different sources. One of those sources is God. When God opens a door, it's for a reason and purpose. However, there are a few things you need to understand.

According to Revelation 3:7-8 NKJV, it says, "To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 'These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens: I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. "

In the scripture above, it's mentioned that when God opens something, no one can shut it, and when He shuts something, no one can open it. Hmm, physical doors are meant to be opened and closed, but the doors that God opens are not physical and cannot be shut. This means that the opportunities God opens for you cannot be closed by anyone. However, you should expect the following:

According to 1 Corinthians 16:9 NKJV, it says, "For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

The scripture above states that a great and effective door has been opened, but there are adversaries. It shows that any door God opens is great, effective, and worthwhile. But there will be adversaries, opposition, and distractions. Just because God is the one opening doors and giving you opportunities doesn't mean that opposition and adversaries won't come. They will surely come.

However, those adversaries or opposition cannot shut the doors that God opens. So, don't be afraid when faced with challenges or opposition, even if it's God who sent you. They will try to distract and discourage you, but the door cannot be shut by any person. When God opens a door, no one can shut it. But you have to stay on the path He called you to walk on.

Singing The Lord's Song In A Strange Land

 

Psalms 137:4 NKJV says, "How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a foreign land?"

The people of Babylon, the mighty nation that laid siege to Jerusalem, overtook the city, and led tens of thousands captive. One of those captives was a musician who wrote the 137th Psalm.

The Israelites did not only weep, they reached out to hang up their lyre on the branch of a willow tree somewhere along the Tigris or Euphrates River. The Babylonians, their captors, wanted to hear them sing a song of Zion. But the Israelites could not bring themselves to comply.

Symbolically, the strange land could be a place, a situation, mourning a loved one, grieving, a challenge, a strange place, an unfamiliar territory or position, etc. Many of us don't pray, sing and praise God when we are in a strange land. We give up so easily in that strange land or situation. We also ask, "How can I sing the lord's song in a/this strange land or situation?"

Did you know that Daniel and his friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego), Esther, Nehemiah and Ezra all sang the lord's song in a foreign Land? Daniel was told not to worship a man and any "god" but the king for thirty days. But he chose to worship the lord for that period as he did always. His friends, the three Hebrew boys refused to bow down to the gold statue of the king in that foreign or strange Land.

When they sang the lord's song in that strange land or situation (They chose to worship and believe in the one and only true God), God showed up. They were rescued from the claws and teeth of the lions and burning fiery furnace. God was exalted and recognized by the King because of them. 

Esther said, "If I perish, I perish" in a strange land. So, when you are in a strange land, situation, circumstances, it is another good time to sing the lord's song. It was the loss of those Israelites who decided not to sing the lord's song in a strange land. As for you, you should not throw in the towel like the Israelites did.

However, it is difficult to sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land. But singing the Lord's song at all times and in every situation should be our calling and disposition. 

HALLELUJAH

GO BACK AND SUBMIT YOURSELF

 

When you have a very hard, difficult and callous boss, colleague, neighbour, landlord and so on, what do you do?

Many times, most of us withdraw, give up, resign, become defensive, regret it, run away and so on. Although most of us will do that and that is not the best option. If that is not the best option, then what should one do?

Genesis 16:6-9 NKJV

So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”

Hagar ran away or fled because her madam dealt with her harshly, cruelly, caused trouble for her, mistreated her. But an Angel met her on the way and asked her what she was doing there, and she said she ran away because of what her madam meted out to her. Then the angel said, "go back and summit to her Authority or summit yourself under her hand".

The above gives us an insight into what we need to do when we have a very difficult boss. I have heard of people who ran away like house helps who could not bear the iron hand of their madams, boss and so on.

We are to remain or stay there, in that position, in that job, in that house, in that neighbourhood and so on and summit to the hand of Authority in that place no matter what.

It is painful when you are treated badly by a superior but staying back and summitting to them is the solution. You need the training, the discipline and so on to become better. If you run away, you may miss out on what you need to learn in that place. And how are you sure you will not meet a much difficult person when you move on to another person(s) or to another place.

The problem here is the problem of submission. People tend to summit when things are rosy and comfortable or when they have a very good, understanding and easy boss. But they find it difficult to submit to the so called "wicked, heartless and cruel boss, parents and leaders." 

We are to submit to leadership no matter who the person is, the age, the nature and experience of the person.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ORGANIZED

A disorganized house makes a big house or space look small, irritating and unbearable. While an organized house makes a small house and space look big and attractive creating more space to receive more.

If you are not organized, small tasks become so big, annoying and difficult. But when you are organized, both small and big tasks become easy, attractive and enjoyable.

People who live in a disorganized house are not always excited going home. They hardly have friends over because they don't want people to see the mess, they live in. But people are who live in an organized home always look forward to getting home, eating, resting on that particular sofa, inviting friends over and so on.

When you are organized, you become attractive. You plan your work and get it done seamlessly. You see other aspects of the task at hand that you didn't see originally. It affects creativity, productivity, your relationships, your resources, your soft skills, your health and so on. It makes you look like a super star whereas the secret is that you are just organized.

Being organized helps you spend less time and resources. So, take that step today and become an organized person. By the way, there are people and great tools that can help you become an organized person.

Have you been to a party that there was so much food but the food didn't go round eventually? The reason for it is because of greed, favourism, LACK OF ORGANIZATION and so on.  

Mark 6: 38 - 44 says,

^"38 But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” 

39Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 

⁴⁰ So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. 

⁴¹ And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 

⁴² So they all ate and were filled. 

⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 

⁴⁴ Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

This reminds me of Jesus. When He got the Five loaves of bread and two fish, he told the disciples to tell the people to sit in an organized way."

So being organized helps you in a lot of ways. 

THE UBER DRIVER

JUST THINKING

Femi decided to go into business long before he graduated from the university. He told himself several times that he would not work for anyone. So, he started with a business center back in school. He was able to fend for himself and even helped others while he was in school.

After graduation, he was offered a job by the university but he turned it down. Femi was the second overall best in his set.  His parents and friends persuaded him and encouraged him to accept the job and other job offers but his mind was made up.

He started off with a computer and internet business centre but the problems of electricity, pilferage by his staff and his inexperience cost him the business. He closed down the business and he decided to start off a whole and retail recharge card business. With time, he walked away from it. He made more losses than he did in his previous businesses.

He tried other businesses and failed until he eventually decided to join the Uber business. He bought the Corolla Toyota from his savings and registered with Uber. He started off by kicking the ball rolling from the very first day he started. He had a plan and he also set a target for himself. He also  had time to do other things as well. However, the Uber business favoured him more.

He met and carried a lot of people. The rich, the poor, professionals, call girls, clubbers, and so on. At times, he worked round the clock because of the target he had set for himself. He also had good and bad experiences while on the job. Some customers paid and also tipped him. While some could not pay the complete fare and a few refused to pay. In all, he never fought any of those bad customers. He felt customers were always right, he wanted to have a good record and also be a professional hence he allowed them go.

There was a time a lady's wallet dropped from her bag. She was the last customer he picked up that day. He did not notice it until the following day. When he saw the wallet and opened it, he saw a good amount of Naira and Dollars notes in it. He was tempted. The thought of, "God has rewarded me for all the sufferings and bad customers I have had", came to his mind but he shook the thoughts off and returned the wallet intact. 

The lady worked with shell and she was the Head of Human Resources in the organization. She was amazed by his sincerity and integrity. They had a chat that day and she realized that he was from the same state with her, that is, Ogun State, in Nigeria. She was willing to offer him a job either in shell or one of it's subsidiaries when she discovered he was a graduate but he declined. He was stubborn with his decisions to work for himself. They exchanged contacts before he left and he promised to get in touch. He never did. She tried but he didn't pick her calls.

Then one day, he just dropped off a lady at Victoria Island in Lagos and when he turned around to move away, he saw people running and heard gunshots. He quickly accelerated but he was stopped by four guys with automatic guns. He wanted to run them over but one of them shot at the pessenger's seat and he had to halt. Then, the guys entered the car and their leader hit his head with the boot of his gun for wanting to run them over and his head started bleeding. His clothes became wet with blood but the thieves shouted at him, "Move", if you don't want us to waste your life. Then, he started driving.

They screamed at him to drive fast and he being a good Uber driver and someone who knew the routes very well was able to manouver his way out of the traffic on Adeola Odeku, Victoria island, Lagos. Then there was a chase. The thieves had robbed a bank but their get away car was stuck in the traffic hence they stopped Femi. 

The police chased them with their vans and a helicopter. It was also televised life on television by the Arise Tv News through their sophisticated live helicopter.

When they got to Lagos toll gate by seven up, there was a heavy traffic. Then, one of the thieves came out and started shooting sporadically into the air. People ran and this led to a serious accident. A car ran over three people who wanted to cross to the other side of the road and they died on the spot. Then, there was a confrontation between the police and the thieves. Some police officers and three of the thieves were killed in the gun fire. Their leader was shot in the leg and a bullet hit Femi on his left side while in the car. The leader and Femi were arrested later arrested. 

But first, they were taken to the hospital. After they recuperated, they were arraigned in court. The press tagged it, "The Failed Heist". It became a national issue. The two of them were interrogated but Femi stood his ground. They tried forcing him to spill but he insisted that he was just a Uber driver. People recognized him when the court case started because it was televised live on national televisions. 

The last customer (the lady he dropped before the incident), went to the police station to give evidence and speak in Femi's favour when she saw Femi on television but to no avail. As a result of that, she started off a petition of which many people whom Femi had helped and carried signed it off. Bisola, the lady who worked with Shell contacted that lady. They made contacts with Arise Tv and they were invited for a live interview on the case. Then and there many people realized who Femi was. Bisola spoke about her experience with him and how he returned her wallet. 

The Presidency had no choice but to order for a proper investigation because of the news about Femi. It was then, a video from a CCTV came out where Femi dropped the lady in front of her office before the incident. The police also went to Uber head office in Lagos to confirm if Femi was a registered driver with them. Uber had their records of him and so far so go, he had good ratings from most of his clients. All of those evidences led to his release. But the leader of the gang was sentenced to death.

Bisola was a single mother from a failed relationship twelve (12) years ago. And since then, she had not been in a relationship. But she had started thinking of going into one before her experience with Femi. She actually fell in Love with him after the experience but when Femi was not forth coming, not picking her calls and responding to her whatsApp messages, she gave up on him until the day she saw him on live TV as a criminal. 

While in prison, Bisola was always checking up on him. Then when he was released, they became closer. Femi eventually fell in love with her and they got married six months' later. With her help and connections, Femi started his own online car business which he named, FEMLA and the slogan of the company was "WE MOVE".

THE THREE

 JUST THINKING

Peter: Hey, Dominic!!! How was your day?

Dominic: It was great. Just that I am in a fix right now. That Edo babe I told you about is coming today and Theresa called like five minutes ago that she would be spending the weekend. Mehn, I don't know what to do.

Alex: I have told you guys most especially you, Dominic, that you should just stick to your one and only, Theresa. 

Peter: Ooh, you have come again. Let Dominic enjoy himself "joor". Besides, every one cannot be boring like you. 

Desmond: Peter, take it easy on Alex. 

That was the weekend that changed the lives of the "THE THREE" as they were known. THE THREE grew up together. They were great guys and buddies. But they had Peculiar nature and paths.

Alex was the owner of the house they lived in. He had a car and was doing great. He was also doing very well career wise but no girl wants to date him. He was an awkward kind of person that does not know what to say and when to say things. He lacked sense if humour. His dress sense was zero.

Dominic was working as a contract staff in a bank earning N65000 monthly. But he was always with different women. He was every lady's guy and he dressed well. He was a cool and smooth talker who has eyes for beautiful women.

While, Peter was just a jobless guy who lived as if he was the owner of the house. He was a chronic pretender and a liar. He did not want to work though he came out with a second class upper in computer engineering. He said his life was not meant for Nigeria. So, he was doing everything to travel abroad and was always on the internet in the nights. He did not have a stable girl friend.

The amazing thing of it was that Dominic wished he was Alex. He admired him and his lifestyle. Alex wished and envied both Dominic and Peter. He longed for ladies to be throwing themselves at him. But the reverse is the case. While  Peter envied both of them secretly and he had been admiring and wishing that he could snatch Theresa from Dominic.

Dominic came up with a plan that they should play along when his babe, Theresa came around. When Theresa came, Dominic told her that they were going to church for a vigil and Theresa was impressed. So, she left and the Edo girl came in five minutes after she left.

The girl was tall and looking hot. Alex and Peter were stunned by her beauty. She was really a beauty to behold. Then, not quiet long that she came, Dominic's mum called. She was worried because for the last three days, she had had similar dreams of death and police case concerning her son. She had prayed but she needed to call him.

She told him about the dream but it fell on deaf ears. He quickly told her that nothing would happen and that he would be okay just because the Edo girl. He had a great night that night with her.

It was a scream of Dominic that woke up the his friends the following day. When they ran into his room, they saw him crying over the Edo girl. She had died in her sleep. This became a serious "gbege" for them.

They had to call Theresa because she was a Medical Doctor and because they had no choice. By the way, she was a very good girl with a good job and her dad was the Pastor where three of them worshipped. She wanted to surprise Dominic that was why she wanted to spend the weekend with him. It was the first time in their one year relationship she would spend a weekend with him. She believed in no sex until marriage.

Then when she came, they explained everything to her. She was angry and wanted to leave but they begged her to confirm properly and if there was anything that she could do medically to resuscitate the Edo girl. She confirmed that the Edo girl was dead. Then she said they should call the police and the estate security which they did because it was the normal thing to do when there is a situation like this as long as there was no fowl play.

When the police came, they said they would arrest the three of them. They searched the house to see if they could get any incriminating evidence but to no avail. But when they searched the Edo girl's bag, they saw some drugs, her ID cards and some papers. When Theresa saw the drugs, she became curious. So, she took permission from the police to check the drugs and her suspicion was confirmed. It was HIV drugs and when she opened the papers, it was her medical report. She had just been diagnosed with HIV and the drugs were given to her at the hospital the previous day.

Then the Edo girl's phone rang. One of the police officers picked it up and spoke with the caller. It was her father who was also the commissioner of police in the state. Immediately he was told about his daughter's death, he ordered them to arrest everyone of them that they must have killed his daughter.

They took them with their laptops and phones to the police station after taking the corpse to the morgue. When they got to the police, THE THREE were locked up. Three days later after there investigation, they realized the Edo girl had taken some drugs and Dominic confirmed that she did before they slept after having sex. 

The police also asked who was the owner of a particular laptop, and Peter said it was his. For the first time, they saw Peter shaking while talking because he was always bold. The police said that after some forensic investigations, they realized that the owner of the laptop was one of the most wanted "yahoo yahoo" boys in the country. Dominic and Alex were shocked. They now realized why Peter was always on his laptop every night. Peter was very very rich through yahoo yahoo but he never allowed his friends to know about it. He was actually planning to leave Alex's house for his own house at Lekki Phase one in December.

When  Peter was interrogated, he said that three of them were doing it together. He roped them in. He felt he would not go down alone  The case now moved from being a murder case  to a murder and fraud case. 

The commissioner of police vowed that THE THREE would be killed for the death of his daughter and he would ensure that that happened.

Eventually, Peter confessed when they were arraigned  in court that he was the only one involved in the Yahoo yahoo scam and he proved it. He had a change of heart after he realized that he had been a bad friend to Alex and Dominic. 

When Peter was asked why he implicated his friends in his earlier statements, he said he was jealous of both of them. He wanted Dominic's babe, Theresa to be his and he had wished he was Alex because of his descent life, his career, his house and his value system.

Through the influence and manipulation of the Commissioner of police, Dominic was sentenced to death, Alex was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, while Peter was life in prison. But after an appeal by their families in court, Dominic was later sentenced to five years. The judge did it just to appease the commissioner of police. Alex was set free because he was found not guilty of murder and fraud. But Peter's judgement still held, that is, life in prison. He had duped many both within and outside the country. Dominic later did a test and he was diagnosed with HIV.

After the whole experience, Alex realized that it was bad to be envious of others and there was nothing wrong with him. Though others did not like him because he was not an outgoing person, there was someone out there for him. He was doing great but he allowed people to make him think he was inferior to them. He has moved on since then but the pain and stigma is still there.

I Corinthians 15:33 NKJV says, "Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits.”