DIGGING DEEP

JUST THINKING:

The way man digs into the earth for crude oil,  gold,  diamond,  coal,  and other valuable items is the way everyone should dig into himself to unearth those treasures in him because the treasures have been deposited in earthlings or earthy vessels or you.
Have you ever wondered what inspires people to write beautiful songs,  poems,  scripts and even come out with great ideas? The truth is they dug in and it is as a result of continuous digging into their mind. What you do with your mind affects what comes out of it.  If you exercise it daily positively, positive thoughts, ideas, fruits and so on will come out of it and vice versa.
Proverbs 20 : 5 says, "Counsel in the heart of man is  like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out".
There are wisdom, ideas, visions,  and so on, on the inside of you,  but you need to dig inside you and draw them out. Telephone,  airplanes, cars were all conceived and brooded over by people and those thoughts brought about those great necessities that we all use today.  If you have conceived and brought forth anything,  there is more on the inside of you.  Don't stop there,  keep bringing out those great ideas and inventions.  
If you think you have not brought anything out of you, now is the time for you to start bringing them out. The more you bring out, the deeper and better you will become because there is a gold mine hidden in every life. God never made a failure. Every man has success hidden away in his soul. No one else can find it but himself.

THE BLESSINGS ON YOUR LIFE ARE IRREVERSIBLE

JUST THINKING:

We are called the children of Abraham by faith because we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and personal Saviour. There are many blessings we benefit from as his children because of the covenant God had with him. 

God spoke to him in Genesis 12: 2 & 3 NKJV that, " I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed".

As the seed of Abraham through faith,  you are blessed. You have become a blessing or a source of blessings to the world. And no curse from anyone will have effects on you. Instead, anyone who curses you, pronounces curses, makes incantation against and swells at you is only doing those things against himself. So, you should not listen to anyone and even bother about the curses they pronounce on you. Instead, God will fight for you and He will curse that person on your behalf.The person's curses will not stand because you have God. You should also have it at the back of your mind that as a Christian, the blessings upon your life are irreversible and irrevocable. 

Joshua 24:9‭-‬10 CEV says, "King Balak decided that his nation Moab would go to war against you, so he asked Balaam to come and put a curse on you. But I wouldn't LISTEN to Balaam, and I rescued you by making him bless you instead of curse you".

The above scriptures explain it in a more deeper way. God does not listen and certify the curses made on you by anyone. They may curse you but it falls on deaf ears because God is the only Supreme Being who can listen to and approve a blessing and a curse. So, He being your father will not listen to any curse from anyone and any quarters against you. He will make those who curse you to bless you instead and He will turn their curses to blessings upon your life. 

Numbers 23:23 NKJV says, "He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, And the shout of a King is among them. “For there  is no sorcery against Jacob, Nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘Oh, what God has done!'".

Balaam was contacted by Balak to curse the Israelites but he couldn't. Instead he ended up blessing them. He said, "I have received a command to bless and God has blessed and I cannot reverse." But you have stay away from sin, iniquities and wickedness. So, anyone who is blessed by God is blessed and no one can curse him.  Hallelujah 

DO NOT BEG TO BE LOVED

JUST THINKING:

There are people who just hate you the moment or the first time they meet you. Also, there are people who just hate you for no reason and they cannot explain why they hate you. They hate your guts, charisma, personality, fashion sense, comments and so on. Any thing you do irritates them and when they see you, anger wells up within them for no reason. You have asked yourself and other people why that particular person(s) hates you but you cannot place a finger on it.  

It could have been what you said, did, what someone else told that person about you or what you did and it could be a wrong impression the person has of you. Many times, people judge you from afar due to one incident or the other. No one should judge you or anyone based on the mistake(s) you have made because everyone makes mistakes. They may not know what you are going through and your frame of mind at the time of the mistake. 

Of no fault of yours, the person may hate you because of something that happened. Other times, it could be your attitude and it could also be that the person has an attitude or complex problem. My advice to you is that you should not try to please them or do anything that will make them like you. The truth is that the more you do things to please them, the more you make more mistakes and do more annoying things that will make them hate you the more. 

In the cause of doing things to get their attention to like you, you will end up bringing yourself down and those people will use it as an opportunity to trample you down. Everyone cannot be your friend and you should also realize that everyone may not like you but there are people who will certainly love you for who you are.

Luke 6:26 MSG says, “There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular".

You should also realize that those people may like and admire you but they are so full of themselves with complex issues that they would prefer to use reverse psychology on you. Just don't worry about it because someday or sometime in the future, something will happen that will change their minds and their impression about you. At this point, they will see you the way you are and in a different light.  

For this reason, please, do not beg anyone to love or like you because you are a complete and perfect being made in the image of God. Your worth is not the impression people have of you but it is that you were fearfully and wonderfully made by God. The designer's original and a complete being is what you are. The approval or disapproval of men of you does change who you are.

THE POWER OF ''DISCIPLINE''.

JUST THINKING:

To achieve anything in life, one needs discipline. Being a father, a mother, a child, a student, a professional and so on requires discipline to achieve your goal, desire and even play your role in life. It makes you achieve a lot but it also sharpens your life.
By the way, a discipline is a form of training that helps one to obey rules and code of behaviour. It is the training that makes you build muscles, capacity, gain knowledge, understand process flow, ask questions, obey rules and do the right things at all times. When one becomes trained by discipline, his thinking pattern, mentality and the way he sees things changes.
Without discipline, things will not be done orderly, there will be half-baked professionals, goals set may not be achieved and there will be chaos in the society. Discipline is a process which helps you learn new things and makes you unlearn the wrong things. When you have a vision and a goal, discipline will help you achieve it.
Joshua 6: 10 NKJV says, ‘’Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.”
In the above scripture from the book of Joshua chapter 6, we can see the power of discipline and what it can do. Joshua through the command of God told the Israelites that they should go round Jericho once every day for six days and on the seventh day, they should go round it without shouting, making a noise with their voice and without a word coming out of their mouth. In other words, they should not speak to each other and say anything in the cause of carrying out the command. I will say that that was the height of discipline.
Imagine having a jester, a comedian and a loquacious person amongst them for the whole time they carried out the command. Imagine if any one was tired or hungry, he could not say it out. Also, if one had his brother or maybe wife or child with him, the child or person must not say a word to his father or brother. I can’t imagine a people going to war without saying a word to each other or walking around a city for a long time and doing it every day without saying a word to the person(s) around them the whole time. But guess what, the Israelites did it and the rest is history.
The truth is that apart from the power of God, what actually made the wall of Jericho come down was the discipline on the parts of the Israelites who refused to speak to each other because of the command of the lord and because of their goal. This shows that if you set or have a goal, discipline is one of the major factors that can help you achieve it. You can only become discipline through daily training and with time, that thing you do daily will become a part of your lifestyle.

ENEMIES ON THE ROAD

JUST THINKING 

People get robbed at home, on the road, in offices and so on from time to time. Some get killed, maimed and even kidnapped. There are people who live on other people's sweat by robbing others of what they have and stealing their ideas, money and personality.
Ezra 8:22 NKJV says, "For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the ENEMY ON THE ROAD, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are  against all those who forsake Him".
One of the statements made in the above scripture is "ENEMY ON THE ROAD". It shows that there is an enemy or enemies on the road. They could be armed robbers, kidnappers, pickpockets, and so on. These people set traps for others, some prey on the ignorance of others, and others capitalize on the greed of others.
Also, you can be and  your friends can be the "Enemy on the road". When you start doing things that  rob you of your purpose, visions and so on,  you become your own enemy on the road. The enemies on the road steal, kill and even destroy people and properties. 
We all are on our way to one place or the other. Some are traveling, some are moving from one organization to other, some are relocating, and others moving up the ladder in their careers. Consequently, people in your office, family members, neighbours can also be the enemies on the road.
Wherever you are going, I would like you to know that they are enemies on the road. These people take lives,  steal money, your properties, your health, talents, visions, ideas and so on. Remember, thieves only rob and steal from people with valuables.
In Ezra 8 (read Ezra 8:15 -36), the Israelites were going from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed. They left with gold, silver, bronze and others items in large quantities needed to build the temple. Their leader Ezra, called for a fast and prayers. They prayed for directions, protection, leading and guidance so that they would get to their destination intact and in peace because of the Enemy on the road. It shows that we all need to pray as long as we are on our way going somewhere.
Did you know that drunk drivers, bad driving and bad roads  who cause accidents could be the Enemy on the road? Death, sin, our words, wrong association and other things could be the enemies on the road as well. So, you need to pray to God to direct your steps, lead, guide and protect you, your family and properties. In other words, they depended on God and not their numbers, their connections with the king of Babylon, their weapons and so on. Your journey to your destination and safe arrival is first of all depended on the mercies of God.
Furthermore, the Israelites planned and prepared for their trip by allocating the items they took to rebuild the temple to specific people that is, twelve Priests. You should not embark on any journey without planning and preparing for it.
Lastly, they looked for men of understanding. In life, you need understanding of where you are going to. It can come from God and you can get it by seeking information about the place you are going to.