TWO SIDES TO EVERY COIN

A coin is a piece of hard material used primarily as a means of exchange or legal tender. There are also two sides to every coin; these two sides are known as head and tail. Any mutilation on either side of the coin renders the coin invalid and as such not fit any longer to serve as a means of exchange or legal tender. Coins have varied value and the values of most coins in use today are usually inscribed on any of the sides of the coin. So every coin has value and two sides to it.
As every coin has two sides, so life has two sides as well. Life at any point in time will present choices and the choice we make defines the value we have. This is a slight variation to the analogue of the value of the coin; the value is fixed and whatever side does not have effect on the value of the coin.
We make the most of life when we make the most of the opportunity that life present to us at any point in time. People have equal opportunities but varied result because of the decision they made when life presented an opportunity to them. So life is the choice we make.
Two persons by the side of Jesus were given equal opportunity but they made opposing choices and ended in opposite end; one ended in paradise by his choice and the other ended in hell by his choice as well.

39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ,[j] save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord,[k] remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” LUKE 23:39-43

One chose blasphemy and ended in hell but the other chose honor and acknowledgement that Jesus is the Lord and gained himself a place in paradise. Till today there are still these two sides – blasphemy and acknowledgement of the Lordship of Christ.
The easiest way to blasphemy is by talking with authority what you do not have good information about. It is a show of ignorance and lack of good understanding. Wisdom is saying what you know and refraining from what you are not too sure about; the wise will always make the best of choices.

How to Be Tactful

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Tactful

Isaac Newton once said, "Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy." Being tactful is just that — having the ability to clearly communicate your message while being sensitive to those around you and not unintentionally offending anyone. Being tactful does not mean hiding what you really feel; it just means presenting your ideas in a way that would make them the most appealing and inoffensive. If you want to know how to be tactful, then you should see Step 1 to get started.
1
Think before you speak. Allow yourself a pause to consider how your words could be perceived, and to prevent yourself from making hasty comments. You may have an immediate gut reaction to something your boss or friend is saying, but take a moment to gather your thoughts before you come right out and say what you want to say. Ask yourself if it's the best time to present your ideas, if you should spend some time finding a better way to say what you want to say, and if people will be receptive to your comments right then.
• Though speaking with your gut can lead to a lot of interesting ideas, it can also help to take a few minutes to formulate your thoughts first. If you instantly disagree with something your boss says, for example, you're better off thinking of concrete examples for why you disagree instead of just blurting out that you think it's a bad idea.
• Notice the people around you. You may want to make a comment about how excited you are for your wedding, when one of the people there is going through a bitter divorce. Though you don't have to hide your enthusiasm forever, you may be better off finding a better time to make your comment.

2
Deflect negative comments. If people are making negative comments around you, you should avoid getting wrapped up in them if you want to be tactful. This is especially true if you're in the workplace and don't want to be part of the office politics.


3
Start with a positive comment before giving negative feedback. If you have to give negative feedback to someone, whether it's a coworker or your best friend, you should couch it in a way that makes the person the most receptive. This doesn't mean you should lie to the person if things aren't going well, but that you should start off with something positive so the person sees that you care about him or her.
4
Choose your words carefully. When it comes to being tactful, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that you should be aware of the words you use to express your ideas. You can still say what you want to say without offending people or coming off mean or like a know-it-all. When you're getting ready to state an opinion, ask yourself if the words you're using are biased, hurtful, patronizing, or just all wrong for the occasion. Then, find the words that will help further your ideas without offending anyone.
5
Choose your timing carefully. When it comes to being tactful, having great timing is half the battle. You may have something perfectly nice to say, which can ruin a social situation if you say it at the wrong time, and can lead to hurt feelings without you meaning to do any harm. Before you make a comment, ask yourself if this is the best time to make the comment, and if everyone there will be receptive to it. Ask yourself if it would be better to wait to get a more positive response, even if you're dying to say what you want to say.
6
Decline invitations politely. If someone asks you to do something, you should find a way to politely decline it, even if your gut is screaming, "Heck no!" Whether you're being asked to attend the baby shower of a person you barely know or to stay late at work on a Friday night, instead of immediately saying no and looking angry or upset about it, you should take the time to say how much you would like to do it and then give a brief explanation or apology about not being able to do it. This will still get the same message across, but you won't offend anyone in the process.
7
Don't reveal too much personal information to people you don't know very well. Another thing that people who lack tact tend to do is to go about announcing their business to every person on the street. If you want to have tact, then you can't go around telling anyone within earshot about your latest breakup, your new rash, or all of your personal problems. Telling people you don't know well all your business will only make them uncomfortable and won't lead to any new friendships; have tact and be aware of when people would like to hear more and when enough is enough.
8
Make sure your body language reflects your words. It's great if your words are sending a friendly and polite message, but if your body is telling people something different, then they'll quickly get a different picture. If you're telling someone something important in a delicate way, then you should make eye contact, face the person, and not hunch over or look at the floor. Give the person your attention and show that you actually care. It'll be hard for them to take you seriously if you're telling the person that he or she is doing great at work while you're looking in the other direction.
• Actions really can speak louder than words, so make sure that your body isn't sending a different message from your mouth.

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TACT

Tact is a keen sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations with others or avoid offense. An acute sensitivity to what is proper and appropriate in dealing with others, including the ability to speak or act without offending. It is a skillful application of wisdom in handling difficult and delicate situation so as to achieve a win-win outcome in a face of obvious opposition or controversy. Other words synonymous to tact are diplomacy, discretion, wisdom, and discernment.
A man of tact is skillful and choosy in his language, such one would not say what every other people would say nor react the way others would. They are quick to learn but not quickly to speak; they are great listeners.
Tact is a virtue and tact can be developed. It is not what you are born with but any one that cares can develop this virtue. In all diplomatic relation, tact is indispensable. Wars and diplomatic shut downs have been avoided in the past because of tact and there is a local adage in my language that says “a man of tact is stronger than a man of war”. I believe the world will be a more peaceful place when our leaders become people of tact or rather tactful in their handling of matters.
Jesus is a great example of tact and I will reference two accounts to bush through this argument that He Jesus is a great example of tact. One account is when He was asked about the lawfulness of paying taxes to Caesar and the second is the account of the woman cut in the act. In the two accounts the answer of Jesus humbled His audience and they confessed to Jesus’ tact.

Mark 12:13-17.
13 Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. 14 When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”
But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” 16 So they brought it.
And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
17 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
And they marveled at Him.

John 8:2-11
2 Now early[a] in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught[b] in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded[c] us that such should be stoned.[d] But what do You say?”[e] 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.[f]
7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up[g] and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,[h] went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her,[i] “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?[j] Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and[k] sin no more.”

The Power of Focus PT2

Focus is about staying on one thing until result is gotten, being a person of one thing per time. A settled stone gathers a lot of sand but a rolling stone gathers no sand. Possessing the staying power and ability is focus but so much people lack this ability and would chose to be involved in things than a thing.
Someone once said “If you stay on an assignment for ten years, giving that assignment your all; that by the end of the ten years you would find yourself at the peak of that assignment”. From observation, it is difficult to have people focus on a thing for so long, some may for long and not for so long; but focus is about so long for long is not long enough.
What then are in focus that makes it deliver results?
1. Precision: focus breeds precision, you can’t be focused and lack precision. Being exact on what to do and how to get that done.
2. Defines the flow of energy: focus will make one to channel energy to what is most important.
3. Fuels dream: keeping your eye on the expected end result stirs up an inner energy which is the fuel that keeps the engine going. A man of focus is keeping his eye on nothing but the anticipated outcome and as such becomes blinded to distractions.
4. Effectiveness and efficiency: this is a measure of expanded energy and generated result, with focus there is high efficiency.
5. Conserves energy: there are too much to be done with our energy but focus defines what best the energy is to be expanded on. You do not go about doing plenty things that will not add up.
6. Filter friendship: it is a waste keeping company with people who are going nowhere. The company one keeps defines the result possible

Mutual exclusion

In computer science, mutual exclusion refers to the requirement of ensuring that no two concurrent processes or event are in their critical section at the same time; it is a basic requirement in concurrency control, to prevent race conditions. Here, a critical section refers to a period when the process accesses a shared resource, such as shared memory. Two propositions (or events) are mutually exclusive or disjoint if they cannot both be true (occur). A clear example is the set of outcomes of a single coin toss, which can result in either heads or tails, but not both.
In the coin-tossing example, both outcomes are, in theory, jointly exhaustive, which means that at least one of the outcomes must happen, so these two possibilities together exhaust all the possibilities.[1] However, not all mutually exclusive events are collectively exhaustive. For example, the outcomes 1 and 4 of a single roll of a six-sided die are mutually exclusive (both cannot happen at the same time) but not collectively exhaustive (there are other possible outcomes; 2,3,5,6). So in essence when you have two options, they are always jointly or collectively exhaustive.
Life presents us with choices and these choices are both mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. It is collectively exhaustive in the sense that we must take decision and make our choices, you can’t excuse yourself but the very choice we have made excludes the other possible choice as both cannot be true (outcome).
In essence you make your choice and the choice you have made makes you; this is the true situation we find ourselves daily. But I have a concern, my concern is that we see people who are very careless with opportunities that have to take decision and they go about it as if nothing is at stake. They make choices and still want to determine what the choice they have made brings to them; this is impossible. Each time you have an opportunity to make a choice which presents itself daily, do that with a sense of high responsibility because no one eats his cake and still have it.

The Tower of Babel

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:1-9.

There is great and awesome power in unity, be it unity among people or unity within an individual (body, soul, and spirit). Nothing is practically impossible in an atmosphere of unity of mind and purpose. This unity is a sense of agreement and mutual consent among person(s) and this explains the question in Amos 3:3 – Can two walk together unless they be agree.
In atmosphere of unity, the impossible becomes cheaply possible, the unattainable easily attained and the unimaginable made real. Having one language is an evidence of unity and this tells to a great deal the place of effective communication in relationship. Effective communication is a lubricant for the engine of profitable relationship. You have no relationship with someone unless you can speak same language with such one; by language here I do not mean tongue.
With one language, no proposal is unattainable. When members of a team have and speaks one language, the best possible naturally becomes the experience of that team. Likewise when husband and wife have and speak one language, their home becomes the ideal home where love flows naturally. You do not struggle in a relationship where there is one language for understanding comes by default.
Building a city and tower whose head will get to heaven was a very difficult task, yet for one language it became a pleasurable one for the people. The expertise, skill, and technology required came so easily to the people; even the resources were readily available and nothing was able to stop them until God Himself did.
Why did God stop the building of the tower, was He against the peoples’ expression of their prowess? Not at all, it was the people that were against the plan and purpose of God for their creation. God made them and a vast expanse of land to inhabit but in the contrary they prefer to dwell in clusters and thereby violet the mind of God in creation. Spreading was God’s plan and the best for them but this they resisted and preferred to build a cluster for a dwelling. They preferred a little space to a wide space.
When men resisted spreading, they were scattered because at all times the plans and purpose of God must stand at all time and in all ages. What dream has God given you and you are building clusters instead of spreading the dreams and vision to have a wider reach. This is a question I would want you to ask yourself and give a reasonable answer to.

The song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb

And they [a]sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and wonderful and awe-inspiring are Your works [in judgment],
O Lord God, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all];
Righteous and true are Your ways,
O King of the [b]nations! Revelation 15:3

The Lamb here is our Lord Jesus Christ; the ministry of the Lord Jesus and that of Moses are very similar in a number of ways and so the song of Moses and the song of the Lord is a similar song. It is a song of deliverance and salvation.

The song of Moses is a song of deliverance and salvation for Israel but the song of the Lamb is a song of deliverance and salvation for the whole world; all mankind, tongue and race notwithstanding because He is the Lamb that was slain and purchased men unto God

And they sang a new song [of glorious redemption], saying,
“Worthy and deserving are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelation 5:9

The song of Moses is a shadow of things to come but the song of the Lamb is the real image of the thing that has already come. The song of Moses sings of salvation and deliverance from slavery of Egypt but the song of the Lamb sings of salvation and deliverance from slavery of sin and Satan.

The blood of calf and bulls were the seal for the song of Moses but the Blood of the Lamb without blame sealed the song of the lamb. There is an eternal and once for all sacrifice by the Lamb but a continuous yet imperfect sacrifice for the song of Moses. The song of Moses pacifies the wrath of God but the song of the Lamb wipes away God’s wrath.

ORDER YOUR WORDS ARIGHT Pt. 2

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18

When we call God our Father, this reminds Him of His obligations to us as His family members and triggers His provision in our direction. It is essential to note that new birth among other things makes one a member of God’s household and it is fatherhood responsibility to provide for his household. Any failure in this respect makes such one worse than an infidel (unbeliever) and has denied the faith.

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1Timothy 5:8

It is important to approach prayer altar with the following mindset:
God is my Father,
He asked me to come to reason with Him,
and I have an assurance of an answer from Him otherwise He is denying the faith but God cannot deny the faith.
There are some ways to reason with God, prayer is one of such ways and searching out from the book of the Lord (reading the bible) is another way.

“Search from the book of the LORD, and read:
Not one of these shall fail;
Not one shall lack her mate.
For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them. Isaiah 34:16

Searching the book is revealing, this opens one up to all that is available for us to enjoy in Christ. There are things that come with new birth which ignorance has every potential to rob any that care not to search the book. As long as the book is closed, blessings are denied and destinies are closed and frustrated; also the prayer endeavor is an effort in futility. You must know and understand what is provisioned in the book to be able to order your words aright. The only proper way to reason with God is to reason with Him on the basis of His word for He cannot deny His word; God is bounded by His word but one must know the word to reason aright. Reasoning aright means praying aright. You bring forth your strong reasons, only reasoning that has word base is strong enough to win God attention.

“Present your case,” says the LORD.
“Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. Isaiah 41:21

It is not crying and shouting that moves God but your strong reasons. You do not win a case in law court on the basis of your familiarity with the judge but on the strength of the case you have made before the court. Your strong cases based on defined laws and previous judgments.
Jehoshaphat made a reference to a previous case when he told God you are the one that gave this land to Abraham your friend for inheritance forever

7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? 8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, 9 ‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ 10 And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir— whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them 2 Chronicles 20:7-10

Also he reminded God of His word that if they pray to Him from the sanctuary they built for Him in the land that He will answer them. So these two strong reasons God could not but intervene and fought on their behalf. What a joy, we are the temple of the Living God and He lives and dwells in us -

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16

Please make some comment, it will serve as a feedback to us.

ORDER YOUR WORD ARIGHT

5 Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6 and said: “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? 7 Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? 8 And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, 9 ‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ 2 Chronicles 20:5-9

One of the uniqueness of belief in the God of the bible is the privilege of having the Almighty God as a Father. There exist a family tie relationship between us and God; for He is not just our creator and maker but our Father.
An understanding of this unique privilege offers a defining moment in our prayer life and dealing with God. Being a responsible Father for that He commits to taking proper care of all that do put their trust in Him; He takes joy in answering the prayers of His children.
But there is a way to make our prayers to gain God attention. You remember the disciples of Jesus asked Him to teach them how to prayer. Certain protocols are to be followed otherwise one is simply pretending to be praying; until you have followed the protocol, you have not ordered your word aright and as such have not prayed at all.
God would want you to acknowledge His Fatherhood in your prayer; this acknowledgement is vital to gaining His attention, it activates the father-child tie which is responsibility and care provision ties.

“I will clothe him with your robe And strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem And to the house of Judah - Isaiah 22:21”.

So fatherhood is synonymous to responsibility and as such you do well to affirm this in your prayers.
Also give God adoration by acknowledging His great doings and deeds. This defines the basis for His intervention, answer, and commits Him to answer you; you simply put God above the challenges in adoration. His revered place is emphasized and His ability to create and make thing good projected. All these proves the trust and dependency on Him, for He will do it when you make Him know that only Him can do it.

MORE THAN YOUR BARGAIN

LUKE 15:
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

Ephesian 3:20 - Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

God has the ability and capacity to make you something far more than what you asked me. It is a nature of Him and an attribute that makes him God; He will at all times beat your thinking and imagination, so no need to put a limit to His ability.
All that came to Him, asking Him to make them were made something incomparable to what they asked for; the prodigal son is a case in point. He wasted the resources handed down to him by his father and began to lack. But grace found him and he took a decision to return to his father to request that he be made one of the hired servants; that was his bargain but he got more than he bargained for. He was received and made a son instead of a hired servant.
Elisha was recruited as a servant to Elijah and was faithfully doing this. His description was Elisha that poured water on the hands of Elijah. Never sought to be a prophet but was having a great time serving Elijah though was a successful commercial farmer and farming was one of the best of jobs in their time. But from pouring water on the hand of Elijah, Elisha was made a prophet of repute because God will always make of anyone that serves faithfully something far more than what he bargain for.
David was a shepherd boy and a player of string instrument, never imagined of being a king. But when God saw his sincerity in service, He made him a king with an everlasting dynasty.
So be committed to faithful service and God will make of you something far more than what you bargained for.

GIVE BIRTH TO THEM LEGALLY

Home and family is the foremost institution, in home and family life are brought forth and built up by inculcating values which then form characters. God has a processes and procedures for bring life (children) into being; these processes are marriage – family – home; in the order stated and a break in this order gives rise to illegality.
There is a trend that is becoming much common in our society and this trend is prominent among people of great influence; the class the society view as superstars or celebrities. This trend is baby mama and baby daddy syndrome. Many want baby but they are not interested in the legal process that should precede bringing forth of babies. Someone has said, “If you love children bring them into the world legally. This is the way to show honor to these children”.
Why will someone who has a means not be willing to do things right and legal? Is a question I have always asked; why choose to have baby mama when you have a great option and means to have a wife and why baby daddy when you can have a husband. I have come to the realization that irresponsibility is the explanation for this ugly trend.
Responsible people will want it legal but irresponsible illegal and shameful. Responsible people will prefer having a husband or wife before having a baby but irresponsible people will never care. But the fact remains that children are designed to be brought up in homes and family, so if a child must have character then there must be a family where this can be made possible. Only marriage can beget family/home and family begets character (value).
We will have nothing but dysfunctional children as long as this irresponsibility is allowed to thrive. A very popular star who is a baby daddy once said that his baby mama is using their baby as a bet to get money from him, how can a balanced training happen in such an environment. Judge it yourself.

The Gospel

REPROBATE MIND PT5

Once one is given over to a reprobate mind, the acts and actions of such one becomes unimaginably wrong and absurd because it is the mind that defines our values and values inform our actions and behaviors. A corrupted mind begets a corrupted action, a debased mind a debased action, a deprived mind a deprived and defective actions.
But is there hope for such ones? Yes there is, Jesus through His life, death, and resurrection has wrought a way of escape for all. Whoever accepts Christ receives the empowerment to be freed from this snare and trap of the devil John 3:16-17

16 “[L For] God loved the world so much that he gave his •one and only [only; unique only begotten; 1:14, 18] Son so that whoever believes in him may not •be lost [T perish], but have eternal life. 17 [L For; Indeed] God did not send his Son into the world to •judge the world guilty [condemn the world], but to save the world through him.

There is a flow of grace for all that care to embrace His grace. This grace has appeared unto all men and it teaches us to deny ungodliness but unfortunately many are refusing the offer that this grace is making. Jesus Christ is the only recovery plan and it is a show of great wisdom to accept Him and foolishness to refuse His grace. He releases power to live above sin to whoever that receives Him and renewal of mind to a reprobate mind that comes to Him.

REPROBATE MIND PT4

4 [L For] Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us •patience [endurance] and encouragement so that we can have hope. Romans 15:4 (EXB)
11 The things that happened to those people are examples. They were written down to •teach [instruct; warn] us •who live in the final days of this age [L for whom the end/climax/culmination of the ages has come]. 1 Corinthians 10:11 (EXB)

It is important to understand that the God of the Bible is not just our creator and maker, but our Father. He introduced Himself as such and Jesus in teaching His followers how to pray, addressed God as a Father. If you are a father or are blessed to have a good father, you will not struggle to understand who God is as a father.
No father will give instruction and expect his children to go against the instruction so that he will punish them; fathers do not set rules as a trap for their children to fall into them and be injured. Instead fathers expect their children to keep rules and this is not different from God’s expectation of us. He sets the rules to be obeyed and not to be violated.
All through the scripture are examples for us to follow and also experiences were recorded for us to learn from and avoid making certain errors or mistakes. It is only fools that learn only from their own experiences, the wise learn from examples or the experiences of others.
The things written are written for our example; the experience of Sodom was written for the learning of our generation so we could avoid their mistakes and errors and then punishment meted to them. But what then was the offense of the people of Sodom? 2 Peter 2:6 -

And God also •destroyed [condemned] the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them until they were ashes [Gen. 19; Jude 7]. He made those cities an example •of what will happen to [or for future generations of] •those who are against God [L the ungodly; Jude 7].

The people did evil and became an evil city and what was the evil of Sodom? Jude 1:7 -

Also remember the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah [C destroyed by God for their evil; Gen. 19; 2 Pet. 2:6] and the other towns around them. In the same way they were full of sexual sin and people who •desired sexual relations that God does not allow [pursued sexual perversion; L departed after different flesh]. They suffer the punishment of eternal fire, as an •example [warning] for all to see.

Their evil was that they were involved in sexual sin and sexual relations that God does not allow. Romans 1:24-28 has it on record that they earned themselves a reprobate (debased, deprived, corrupted) mind by this very act.
A relationship that God does not allow, what can that be? – Genesis 19: 4-5

4 Before •bedtime [L they lay down], men both young and old and from every part of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can •have sexual relations with [L know] them”.

And God till today has not allowed sexual orientation towards same sex which was the Sodom’s act that God said is evil.
We must be careful in approving what God said is evil, what God said is evil must remain so else we are heading for a great disaster for His standard has not changed and will never changes. Same punishment awaits both the people that involve in the act and those that approve those engaging in the act – Romans 1:32 32

They know God’s •law says [righteous decree; just requirement] that those who live like this should die. But they themselves not only continue to do these evil things, they •applaud [approve of; encourage] others who do them.

Our responsibility is to help these people recover from such an abnormality and not to approve and explain their abnormal behavior.

REPROBATE MIND PT3

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. And let them •rule [T have dominion] over the fish in the sea and the birds in the •sky [heavens], over the •tame animals [beasts; livestock], over all the earth, and over all the small crawling animals on the earth.”
27 So God created [1:1] •human beings [T man; C the Hebrew Adam can mean human beings, humankind, person, man, or the proper name Adam] in his image [C reflecting God’s nature/character and representing him in the world]. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. 28 God blessed them and said [L to them], “•Have many children and grow in number [T Be fruitful and multiply]. •Fill […and fill] the earth and •be its master [subdue it]. •Rule [T Have dominion] over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the •sky [heavens] and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 (Expanded Bible Version).

26 Because people did those things, God •abandoned them to [allowed them to pursue; gave them over to] •shameful [dishonorable; degrading] •lusts [passions]. [L Their]Women •stopped having natural sex and started having sex with other women [L exchanged natural (heterosexual) relations for unnatural ones]. 27 In the same way, men •stopped having [abandoned] natural •sex [L relations with women] and •began wanting [L were inflamed in their lust for] each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and in •their bodies [L themselves] they received the •punishment [recompense; due penalty] for •those wrongs [their error]. Romans 1:26-27 (Expanded Bible version).

It is natural and scientific for like to repel and opposite to attract. There is yet no technology that I know of that can make same magnetic poles to attract each other, same/like poles will always repel and this is one of the ways that nature has used to maintain order. At any point in time that like/same begins to attract each other, it becomes an abnormality. Every abnormality is seeking for one thing; and that is a correction of the abnormality and not compromise or accommodation. I think same should be the case for sexual orientation towards same gender.
From the account of creation, it is vividly clear that man was created male and female; God created gender and this was for a purpose, for man to have children and grow in number (be fruitful and multiply). Till date science has not given an alternative to egg (from female) and sperm (from male) to achieve fertilization and as such God’s creation of gender still subsists.
There has been a lot of argument that those that have sexual orientation to their same gender were created so, but in all fairness this is very much untrue as no abnormality is natural (nature is normal). It is denial of the fact and self-deceit to believe that abnormality is natural; every abnormality has a trigger(s) or cause(s) and seeks nothing else but correction. You don’t seek to accommodate your automobile when it develops fault, instead you make efforts to repair or correct the fault to have it continue to serve.
But why are some people having sexual orientation towards same gender is a question that continues to beg for an answer; truly the answer is found in the creation manual – the Bible (Romans 1:21-32 please read that passage). These people have been given out to reprobate mind – a corrupted, debased, defective, and deprived mind and thinking because of their rejection of God; when men chose to reject God their Maker, He rejects them as well. Though they know God and what His instructions were but they instead chose to live in pretense, denial, and disobedience to known instructions. This is the simply explanation to this abnormality – same sex orientation.

REPROBATE MIND PT2

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient" (Romans 1:28)
"Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith." (2Timothy 3:8)
"They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." (Titus 1:16)

A Reprobate Mind is a defective, debased, corrupted, depraved, unapproved, or rejected mind. Mind that has lost a sense of value and worth, lack character because of its rejection of common sense and reasoning.
One becomes reprobate when knowing the truth, willfully goes against the very truth. Their lack the will to live by the truth and live in denial of what they have tested and proven to be true; because there is nothing one can tell them that they do not know already, they are given to a reprobate mind.
The consequences of this state is that they do things that are unnatural and unthinkable, they resist the way of God or natural laws, they spend a their life time explaining why the wrongs they kept living in is right (justifying their ungodly life), they are debased in their reasoning, and renounce the way they once know and believed to be the right way. Because their reasoning is corrupted already, their views about the word of God leave everyone in surprises.

REPROBATE (corrupted) MIND

Romans 1:21-32 (Expanded Bible Version)
21 They knew God, but they did not give glory to God or thank him. Their thinking became •useless [futile; pointless]. Their foolish [ignorant; uncomprehending] •minds [L hearts] were •filled with darkness [darkened].22 They claimed to be wise, but they became fools. 23 They •traded [exchanged] the glory of •God who lives forever [the immortal/imperishable God] for the worship of •idols [images] made to look like •earthly [mortal; perishable] people, birds, animals, and reptiles.
24 Because they did these things, God •abandoned them to [allowed them to pursue; gave them over to] •their sinful desires [L the desires of their hearts], resulting in •sexual impurity [L uncleanness; impurity] and the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. 25 They •traded [exchanged] the truth of God for •a lie [or the lie; see Gen. 3:4–5] and worshiped and served •the creation [or the creature; or created things] instead of the Creator, who •should be praised [or is blessed] forever. Amen.
26 Because people did those things, God •abandoned them to [allowed them to pursue; gave them over to] •shameful [dishonorable; degrading] •lusts [passions]. [L Their]Women •stopped having natural sex and started having sex with other women [L exchanged natural (heterosexual) relations for unnatural ones]. 27 In the same way, men •stopped having [abandoned] natural •sex [L relations with women] and •began wanting [L were inflamed in their lust for] each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and in •their bodies [L themselves] they received the •punishment [recompense; due penalty] for •those wrongs [their error].
28 [L And since/just as] People did not •think it was important [consider it worthwhile; see fit] to •have a true knowledge of [or acknowledge] God. So God •abandoned them to [allowed them to pursue; gave them over to] •their own worthless thinking [a depraved/corrupted mind] to do things they should not do. 29 They are filled with every kind of •sin [unrighteousness; injustice], •evil [wickedness], •selfishness [greed], and •hatred [evil; malice; depravity]. They are full of •jealousy [envy], murder, •fighting [strife; quarreling], •lying [deceit; treachery], and •thinking the worst about each other[spite; maliciousness]. They are gossips 30 and •say evil things about each other [slanderers; backstabbers]. They hate God. They are •rude [insolent; haughty] and •conceited [proud; arrogant] and •brag about themselves [boastful]. They invent ways of doing evil. They do not •obey [respect] their parents. 31 They are .foolish [senseless; undiscerning], they •do not keep their promises [or are covenant-breakers], and they show no •kindness [love; affection] or •mercy [pity] to others. 32 They know God’s •law says [righteous decree; just requirement] that those who live like this should die. But they themselves not only continue to do these evil things, they •applaud [approve of; encourage] others who do them.

Welcome to Nelson Nwegbo's Blog: FOUR PILLARS OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Welcome to Nelson Nwegbo's Blog: FOUR PILLARS OF ACCOUNTABILITY: Every standing structure has a pillar upon which it is standing; nothing stands on itself without a base or support system in place. The pi...

10 Ways To Love

PUT UP A FIGHT

I have heard often times of people making a statement that life is not fair to them. But my response had always remained that life will never be fair. What is fairness then? It is simply free from bias or injustice; consistent with rules.
So fairness do not just happen, it is enforced; rules are not kept by, they are as well enforced and that explains why we have the law court, the judiciary system, and the law enforcement agencies. Fairness are truly fought for and so the need to put up a fight to make life fair to you.
There are two basic ways to put up this fight and they are enforcement and sowing a seed of fairness.
ENFORCEMENT: It is said that life will not give anyone what is deserved but what is demanded. In enforcement, you make a demand of what you want, weathering all the storms and refusing to let go until your desire delivers. Be ready to fight it out.
SOW A SEED OF FAIRNESS. ”he that comes to equity must come with a clean hand”. It is difficult to have justice when you are a reason for injustice to others; so putting up a fight entails being fair to others.

GREAT THINGS START LITTLE

Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase. Job 8:7

It is in the nature of God to start great things in a very small way. This most times is contrary to the quick fix culture of our age. Nothing great today actually started big but in a little form; the account of creation and every day experience attests to this.
In God’s dream to fill the whole earth with man who is to subdue and replenish the earth, created only a man – Adam and much later a woman – Eve; He did not create all the nations, tribes, race, and languages in a day. God chose to make only one man in His image and likeness and out of him created all nations, tribes, race, and languages.
A seed is a very small part of a tree, but inside that tiny seed is not just a tree but trees. When the seed is sown, it do not turn to a tree overnight but goes through a process of time to transform to a tree and then a forest.
Even the human life, it starts little in fertilization, pregnancy and then birth; but the birth is in form of a little fragile and tiny life which grows over a process of time to become adult.
A small beginning has a promised greatness but the lesson of patience must be learned, for the city of Rome was not built in a day. Whatever is not started cannot become great; this should be a learning point for procrastinators.

EXPERIENCE BEGETS SUCCESS

Life is a great teacher; it teaches through the experiences that it brings our way as we daily live our lives. Those that shy away from life experiences, unknowingly denies themselves the opportunity to learn. The things you went through leave lasting impressions that cannot be easily erased and to a large extinct form your character and skill.

It is natural for like to beget like; so successful people should have successful children or protégé but the contrary had almost always been the case -The children of the most successful people end up being the failures of all time. The question had always been why? Why this aberrations? What’s the disconnect?

The simply explanation to that is that most successful people shield their children from the things that made them successful and great – their experiences; the things they went through in life. So common we hear parents say I suffered so much and as such would not want my children to suffer. Words like these are only excusing such children from being great and successful.

In my days in the university, I went to the students’ affairs office for an inquiry and I saw a wall poster that got me thinking, and what was it in this poster: a picture of a very tall old man and a small child with the writing “your grandfather may be the tallest man but you need to grow yourself”. But how does one grow? It is by eating the right diets.

Until one gets the right experiences and information, it’s very impossible to truly be a success; your success do not translate to automatic success for your children but like the little boy in the write up they need their own growth to become the tall adult they have the potential to become. So each time you shield them from having the required experience for their development you are actually starving them of the food needful for their growth.

Wealth can be transferred, riches can be willed out but none can transfer or will out experiences. Instead each one build up his/her wealth of experience by what they have gone through in life over time. Before you share your wealth to your children, share your life and your experiences with them. How much of your story do your children have access to or have you forgotten that the success of men are in their story.

BENEFITS OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCES IN LIFE

1. PATIENCE is having hope of a better tomorrow, showing love to humanity, and having faith in God. Experience has a way of building our patience.
2. CHARACTER is a show of sound behavior and discipline. I have not seen someone lacking character becoming a success; if for any reason they become one, give it little time the success will be told as story. Durable success rides on the wheel of character.
3. SKILL AND EXPERTISE. Today’s failure immune you to tomorrow’s failure.

Please make comment, let's know how this have inspired you.

Understanding Patience

5 Ways to Stay Focused on Your Most Important Goals

By Obaro E Aziza

The essence of setting goals is to help us live our lives properly and achieve the things we desire in life. There are different areas of our lives we need to set goals like our finances, relationships, career and others. Setting goals is important but more important is our ability to maintain our focus until we achieve these goals.

In this article I will expose you to some very vital tips on how you can stay focused on your goals until you have achieved them. I strongly advice that you digest this article several times and share it with people you know who have a challenge staying focused on their goals.

The simple ways you can stay focused on your goals include:

1. Be clear about your goals
Are you very clear on the things you want to achieve in your life? Are your goals clear of are they vague? The very first step in staying focused on your goals is to ensure that you are clear about what you want to achieve. You must define the expected outcomes that you desire, precision is very important in this step. The major reason you need clarity when setting your goals is because being clear about your goals makes you remember them easily. The clearer your goals are the easier it is for you to stay focused on them.

2. Document your goals
Are you in the habit of writing down your goals and plans? Can you easily reach you goals when you need to remind yourself of them? Documenting your goals is very important, make sure you write them down or type if you prefer to use an electronic device, and store them in places where you can easily reach them. You need to document your goals is so that you can easily review them when the need arises, you also need to constantly check them to keep yourself aware.

3. Continuously review your goals
How often do you review your goals? Do you just write them somewhere and never go back to check them? You need to continuously review your goals to know how well you are doing and identify the areas where you need improvement. Reviewing your goals regularly makes them stick in your mind, cultivate the habit of reviewing your goals as often as you can.

4. Have accountability partners
Do you have people you trust and you can share your goals with? Accountability partners help to make you responsible for your goals, they help to keep you in check. They help you to stay committed to your goals by constantly checking on your progress. They also help you to be disciplined. Ensure that your accountability partners are people who can tell you the truth and who have your interest at heart.

5. Ensure your environment supports your goals
Do you work in an organization or role that is aligned with your personal goals? Do you have friends and acquaintances who share like passions and who are moving in the same direction as you? If you are in an environment that doesn't support your goals, you may find it very difficult to achieve your goals. If you move with people who do not support your goals, it may be very challenging for you to achieve them. Therefore, be careful before you choose jobs and watch the kind of people you surround yourself with.

To achieve your best in life, you must learn to keep your eye on the target. This article has highlighted five simple steps you can take to stay focused on your most important goals in life.

I hope you found this article useful? Please share with your friends and anyone you know who may need to read this.

I would love to read your comments and suggestions on this article, please leave your comment(s) below.

4 Simple Ways to Maximize Your Day

By Obaro E Aziza
Our lives are an aggregation of the things we do daily. It is therefore very important that you deliberately spend your time on the most productive activities. The most productive people are those who have been able to identify those activities that give them great results and spend most of their time on such activities.

In this article, I have written on ways you can make the best use of your time daily. These tips will help you become a more effective person and get results faster. Some effective ways to maximize your day include:

1. Start with a plan

Before you step out of your house in the morning, make sure you have a to-do list for that day. The major reason a lot of people feel they have wasted their time during the day is because most of them did not have a plan for that day. You must have your daily goals written down and stored where you can retrieve easily during the day.
You can write your plans on a notepad, dairy or use your computer or other mobile devices. Plans give you a sense of direction during the day, you need to put them down for easy recall. Never live a day without a plan.

2. Make every minute count

You must discipline yourself to ensure that every minute of your day counts. This is not to say you must be working every time, of course there would be times when you have to take breaks, attend to the needs or requests of others, however you must ensure that such activities do not disturb your plan adversely. Making every minute count means that you must have allotted time for every activity on your to-do list. You should also make provision for disturbances and distractions in your plans, unless you live in a totally controlled environment. Make the best use of every minute you have. Remember that time lost can never be regained.

3. Learn something new every day

There is no better way to make the best your day than to learn something you do not already know. Imagine if you were committed to this kind of daily learning, how much better would you be by now? There are several areas in everyone's life where they need one form of improvement or another. Be dedicated to a life of daily improvement and you will be amazed at the kind of person you will become in a short while.
You know those areas of your life where you need improvement, include personal development activities in your daily plans. You don't have to spend hours, a few minutes well spent is good enough. Just ensure that you are consistent.

4. Do a review at the end of the day

Spend the last minutes before you go to bed reflecting on the activities of the day, review your plans for the day and see how well you managed your time. The essence of the review is to help you identify the areas you need to improve, the activities you need to do more or less of. Take time daily before you go to bed to reflect and work on your observations.

To achieve greatness in life you must be a good time manager and you must constantly improve yourself. If you practice the ideas shared in this article daily, you are on the right track to achieving great things in life.
If you found this article helpful, please share with your friends, family, colleagues and anyone you know who may need to read it.

BE ABOVE BOARD

5 Things To Do Instead of Blaming Others

It is impossible to be left out with no option on what to do; life is always fair enough to leave us with alternatives. But the challenge had always been that we often treat the alternatives with contempt and pretend to have no option.
Naturally, the flow is in the direction of least resistance and passing the bulk is easier thing to do than taking ownership and responsibility; we blame everyone and everything thereby show how immature we are. For a few, they put themselves in the list of who to blame but blame do not in any way help.
It is very likely to blame others and even yourself when ones interest is to get off the hook and not to address the matter; when you only think of escape route rather than a perpetual solution or the intention is to create an impression rather than make an impact.
What alternatives do I have other than blaming other?
1. Admit your wrongs. Admitting your wrongs do not in any way make you less human rather it makes you the real human you are. It is a hard thing to do but very noble when done. We all make mistakes, denial and blaming others are the reaction of children to their mistakes but admittance is adults’ response to mistakes and errors. You may look stupid at point of admission but latter your strength of character shows.
2. Accept the consequences. This shows how responsible you are.
3. Seek another opportunity to do better and promise yourself I will do better.
4. Talk less, stay calm and hold your peace. Resist every urge to advise others, you may end up telling them what they failed to do that made you do what you have done that you ought to have done. It is not your time to offer advice.
5. Take it as a learning point. Ask yourself relevant questions as you analyze the situation.

How to Stop the Blame Game

One major reason we live is to have opportunities to have experiences and learn from them; once we learn we move on to the next one. However, if we fail to learn, we keep finding opportunities to learn it again and again; it is an endless cycle of adventure.
Many people fail in life because the experiences that came their way end up being an event because no lesson was learnt from them. They blame everyone but themselves for these events and so become much blinded to the lesson the experiences have presented to them. No wonder they never cease to have repeat of similar experiences.
Life will continue to throw at us the same lessons until we learn from them for there are no shortcut to life and more so no carryover. Here are some ways to start learning from life experiences, you must push a stop button to blame game to able to make progress in life.
1. Look out for a lesson to learn from whatever experience you pass through especially the negative experiences.
2. Make a personal commitment to asking the question “what lesson is this experience presenting to me?”
3. Take a personal responsibility and admit that the challenge may be my creation. Don’t think of who to blame.
4. Take a personal root cause analysis to certain what happened and how you may have contributed to what happened. Ask question like what should I have done differently?
5. Make a promise to yourself that the past errors will not be repeated.
6. Detach yourself from the experience. Failure is an event not your identity, so don’t nurse your wound longer than needful.
7. Assure yourself there will be another opportunity to get it right and prepare for it.

5 Areas for a Healthy Relationship

5 Major Ways You Can Cook Beans To Avoid Farting After Eating.

Before talking or explaining the methods that you can use to cook beans to prevent farting after, you should first understand what causes this flatulence. Beans contain a class of carbohydrates called Oligosaccharides (e.g. raffinose and stachyose), some of which cannot be processed by our digestive system.

When we eat beans and they get to our intestine, the Oligosaccharides remain there as we do not have the enzymes or any other thing whatsoever to digest them. After the Oligosaccharides pass into our large intestine, the bacteria present there start to break them down. During this process, the bacteria release several different types of gases, mainly hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. About 33% of these bacteria also end up producing methane and this is the one that smells.

Methods for Cooking Beans To Prevent Farting

1. Soaking your Beans in Water
Scientists and even pro chefs have recommended soaking your beans in water for hours before cooking will remove most of these Oligosaccharides before you cook them. Many people said this works but I know not many people have the patience to soak beans before cooking. But it sure works! More so soaking your beans in water increases the amounts of vitamins, especially B vitamins.
2. Adding Mound to the Beans
The reason why we have problems digesting beans is that we lack the alpha-galactosidase enzyme in our digestive tract. There is a mound called Aspergillums Niger that contains the Alpha-Galactosidase enzyme. After gently sprinkling this on your food, it works by breaking down Oligosaccharides and preventing your large intestinal bacteria from creating gases. It is now being sold as a product and people that use it said they usually by from Amazon online under the brand name Beano.
3. Soaking Beans with Baking Soda
This baking soda has many uses that will be listed soon. One of them is what it does to help reduce or eliminate flatulence after eating beans. Adding baking soda to the soak water of dried beans before cooking (about 1/16 teaspoon per quart) significantly decreases the content of the raffinose and other Oligosaccharide family members.
4. Changing the boiled water
This method has worked with great success. It’s simple, what do you do? Cook your beans with a lot of water for about 15 minutes, then throw away the water and add fresh boiling water. In this first boiling, do not add any cooking ingredients yet, because it’ll cause it to wash away. It is believed that most of these saccharides must have been removed by the first boiling although there’s no scientific backing for this.
5. Don’t Consume Beans Late At Night
This is not part of the cooking process, but it was always going to come in. Now we are done listing the methods to consider during preparation. We should also remember how to consume after cooking. Beans require longer time to digest so eat early enough so that the digest progresses long before you retire to sleep. Sleep slows down digesting process.

Start doing it yourself

The Love They See

The Love They See -By Bob Perks

You can't pretend to love.
You can't even fake a smile.
The things you think they don't notice,
they have been watching all the while.

Be aware that they are seeing
everything you do.
If you want your children to know love
then it's really up to you.

For love isn't just a play time.
Love isn't a TV show.
If you love them unconditionally
then love will be what they know.

It's not what you want them to remember
it's what they will choose to see.
If you loved one another always
then loving is what they will be.

GOOD LEADER; ARE YOU ONE?

45 LIFE LESSONS

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short not to enjoy it.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.
5. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it but don't be offended in God He may not take that.
9. Save for things that matter.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye… But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words, ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose Life.
28. Forgive but don’t forget.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give Time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d
grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you think you need.
42. The best is yet to come…
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

Opportunities

Instructions

Made to last for eternity

Find purpose

Loving the unlovable

Make your life to count

The choice we make the child we have

CHARACTER BUILDING

Building good character demands conscious and careful effort. No one is born with good character; good characters are developed and below are some essentials to building a good character.
1. Commitment to right attitude – your attitude defines your character and it demands a commitment to right attitude to have a good character.
2. Consciously work on your emotion – what you see yourself do when you are emotional is your real character; so build a capacity to manage your emotion such that it does not misrepresent you. At best be mindful of what you do when emotionally unstable.
3. Avoid creating wrong impression – you do not have a second chance to make the first impression. When you pass a wrong impression of yourself, people define you with that wrong impression; so make every effort to avoid wrong impression.
4. Have people you hold yourself accountable to. You do not have your life to live because we live in community, make sure you are accountable to someone.
5. Hold others in high esteem. Have a great respect and regard for others.
6. Live your size per time. This will help you to deal with covetousness and greed which is major killer of character.
7. Show decorum and courtesy in relating with people.

CHARACTER

Character is the mental and moral quality distinctive to an individual. It is the real identity of an individual or group of people; who you are when you are face to face with pressures and difficulties of life, or even when this are rosy. It is the way someone feel, think, and behave in the unguided moment.
Six Pillars of Character
Trustworthiness Be honest • Don’t deceive, cheat, or steal • Be reliable — do what you say you’ll do • Have the courage to do the right thing • Build a good reputation • Be loyal — stand by your family, friends, and country
Respect Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule • Be tolerant and accepting of differences • Use good manners, not bad language • Be considerate of the feelings of others • Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone • Deal peacefully with anger, insults, and disagreements
Responsibility Do what you are supposed to do • Plan ahead • Persevere: keep on trying! • Always do your best • Use self-control • Be self-disciplined • Think before you act — consider the consequences • Be accountable for your words, actions, and attitudes • Set a good example for others
Fairness Play by the rules • Take turns and share • Be open-minded; listen to others • Don’t take advantage of others • Don’t blame others carelessly • Treat all people fairly
Caring Be kind • Be compassionate and show you care • Express gratitude • Forgive others • Help people in need
Citizenship Do your share to make your school and community better • Cooperate • Get involved in community affairs • Stay informed; vote • Be a good neighbor • Obey laws and rules • Respect authority • Protect the environment • Volunteer

Water Is Good For Your Health

Do You Agree With This?

LOOK WITHIN YOU

At moment of challenges and difficulties in life, it is easier for people to look for help from people around them; friends, relations; colleagues, and even strangers. There is a mindset that the way forward will come from without and not from within; but if only one will look within, he would have gotten help earlier and easier than anticipated because what you need is within you. A Spider will never need anything without to build its web, all it takes a Spider to build its web comes from within the Spider and so all you need is within you; but you must be able to look within to discover this.
At creation, God made the first man Adam with Eve his wife within him and at the right time she was taken away from Adam. The need of a help meet for Adam made God to look within Adam and made Eve while Adam was in a deep sleep; Adam said she is the bone of my bone and the flesh of my flesh. She was taken from me and called her woman – a man that was inside me. So help Adam needed was all the while within Adam and yet Adam was not aware of this.
A widow of one of the sons of the prophets had a debt burden on her and for which her son was to be taken away from her but she never know she had the means to pay up the debt within her. She was looking without while the means was lying within her home. The prophet came her way and knowing the mind of God, asked her what do you have woman? Her response was revealing, your maid has nothing but a can of oil, but from this can of oil the woman paid her debt and had enough to live on with her son. The prophet made her look within and her visitation came. If only you will look within from today.

Learn like the wise

Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 1 Corinthians 10:11

The secret to success

Practical techniques you can adopt are:

1. Learn to cope with stress

2. Develop self-esteem (confidence)

3. Develop effective strategies to cope with conflict

4. Develop a positive attitude

5. Learn to be patient

6. Re-appraise your situation

7. Learn from feedback

8. Maintain a healthy lifestyle

9. Manage your time better

Self Management Skills

12 Things Successful People Do Differently

You Are Of More Value

Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Matthew 6:26 TLB

YOU CAN START NOW

Even the Kings could learn from Animals

There was a King, he had 10 wild Dogs and he used them to torture and eats all ministers who made mistakes. So one of the ministers once gave an opinion which was wrong, and which the king didn’t like at all; so he ordered that the minister to be thrown to the Dogs. So the minister said I served you 10 years and you do this to me? Please give me 10 days before you throw me in with the dogs so the King agreed
In those 10 day the minister went to the guard that was guarding the Dogs and told him he wants to serve the Dogs for the next 10 days ; the guard was baffled but he agreed, so the minister started feeding the Dogs, cleaning for them, washing them and providing a sort of care and comfort for them;
And so 10 days were off and the king ordered that the minister be thrown to the Dogs for his punishment.
The minister was thrown in but everybody was amazed by what they saw and said “what happened to the dogs”? Then the minister said to the King “I served the dogs for only 10 days and they didn’t forget my service, yet I served you for 10 years and you forgot all at my first mistake”.
So the king realized his mistake.

11 Things You Should Leave in the Past

You might not be proud of all the things you’ve done in the past, but that’s okay. The past is not today.
Here are 11 things to leave behind and grow beyond:

1. Letting other people write your life’s story. – You could spend your whole life worrying about what other people think of you, or what they want for you, but it won’t get you very far. If you don’t take charge and design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? NOT MUCH! Read The Last Lecture .
2. The fear of making mistakes. – Past mistakes should teach you to create a wonderful future; not cause you to be afraid of it. Be less afraid of making a mess out of your life. For oftentimes, our greatest achievements and our most beautiful creations ascend from the emotions we live, the lessons we learn, and the messes we make along the way. Just ask a poet, an artist, a songwriter, a lover, or a parent; in the long-run things rarely turn out as planned, just better than you ever imagined.
3. The belief that ‘perfect’ means the same thing to everyone. – Perfect people have scars on their faces and perfect complexions. Perfect people have long brown hair at 60 and short grey hair at 35. Perfect people wear wigs. Perfect people have sex with men, women, both, or none at all. Perfect people can barely see over the grocery store counter, and sometimes bump their heads at the top of doorways. Perfect people have waistlines that are infinite in size and geometry. Perfect people have skin tones as light as vanilla ice-cream and as rich dark chocolate. Perfect people come from every corner of this beautiful planet and can be seen everywhere – even in the mirror. Yeah! That’s right! Perfect is the way we are born. Perfect is the way we are now. Perfect is exclusively unique. We are all perfect just the way we are.
4. Negative thinking. – If there is one thing I am certain of, it’s that our thinking can get in the way of our happiness. It is our thoughts that really dictate the way we feel, so why not choose thoughts that make you feel amazing? The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. You can choose to make the rest of your life the best of your life.
5. Doing something just because others are. – Give yourself permission to immediately walk away from anything that gives you bad vibes. There is no need to explain or make sense of it. Just trust what you feel. Don’t make a decision based solely on popularity. Just because other people are doing it doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for you. Read The Art of Non-Conformity .
6. Not following your intuition. – One day your life will flash before your eyes; make sure it’s worth watching. Stop and think about it. Really think about it. What is it that you really want to do with your life? Forget what you think you should do. What excites you? What feels impossible? Be honest with yourself. Your answers don’t need to make an impression on anyone but you.
7. Procrastinating on your goals and passions. – The difference between who you are and who you want to be, is what you do. Yes, it will hurt. It will take time. It will require dedication. It will require willpower. You will need to make healthy decisions. It will require sacrifice. You will need to push your mind and body to its max. There will be temptation. But, I promise you, when you reach your goal, it will be worth it. And remember, nothing you have passion for is ever a waste of time, no matter how it turns out.
8. The belief that failure is the opposite of success. – Failure is not the opposite of success, it is part of success. Failure becomes success when we learn from it. If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Instead of looking at what’s missing, and how far you still have to go, focus on what’s present, and how far you have come. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People .
9. Showing a lack of respect. – Sometimes you have to respect another person’s feelings even if they don’t mean anything to you, because your gesture could mean everything to them. And remember, what goes around comes around in the world. You get respect when you give respect. So treat everyone with kindness and respect, even those who are rude to you – not because they are nice, but because you are.
10. People who want you to be someone else. – Sometimes we grow strong when someone sets us free, and sometimes we grow even stronger when we let someone go. Remember, you are too fabulous to fit in. It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not. Never change who you are. Be yourself. People will love you for it, and if they don’t, let them go.
11. People who are already gone. – There are no failed relationships, because every person in your life has a lesson to teach. Sometimes you simply outgrow people. Don’t try to fix the unfixable, just accept it and move on. When someone leaves you, it’s important to emotionally release them. And know it’s not an ending – it’s a new beginning. It just means that their part in your story is over. Your story will go on.

POST WRITTEN BY: MARC CHERNOFF