Tag Archives: destiny

Real Live Thoughts

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Monday 25.02.13

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by MARSHA BURNS:

Regardless of your circumstances or the attacks that have caused you to feel insecure or unstable, I am still the Rock of your spiritual foundation, says the Lord.  Come to Me in times of crisis and uncertainty, and I will establish you again in truth and wisdom.  

 1 Peter 5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

 What a reminder.

IMG_20130125_075533A couple of days ago I was at the bank when one of the customer care staff called me aside to let me know that one of them had passed away the night before. Her name is Susan and I realised in that moment that I have loved her as a sister for a while now yet never realised or said it. When I was tired of the bank and wanted to move because of bad experiences at my branch she convinced me not to and to give them one last chance. So I gave them one last chance and she made a world of difference. She found a way to open my account in the names I wanted despite repeated claims that it was not possible. She found ways to cool me down when I was mad at them yet never promised the impossible. When I was told she was gone I came face to face with my mortality once again.

 

You see, Susan is my age mate. She has a son about the same age as my son. She has a husband who loves her. She has family and friends who love her. There were tears in Lydia’s eyes when she told me about Susan’s passing. Her voice broke and she had to stop and take a breath before finishing the story. In that moment I realised that despite her sudden departure Susan is deeply loved. She will be dearly missed. Her absence will be closely felt. I must admit that someone will be hired to replace her. Someone will sit at her desk. However, I will always remember her smile, her warmth of heart, her genuine concern. In this day and age where many are too engrossed in work, she found time to get to know my whole family as we all bank there. She was concerned if my son’s birthday card did not get sent on time. She did more than just her job, she cared for us and her care kept us there and enabled her employer stay afloat. She played her part and so in her memory I will too.

 

That day has made me ask some really hard questions about my life; am I loved by anyone that deeply? Would my colleagues cry for me for more than being the provider for income? Will my clients miss me? How much longer do I have on this earth? Will I have lived to the fullest and had the greatest experience every by the time I leave this earth? Do I give my all with everyone I meet? Am I a positive influence on all I meet? Do I help everyone who comes my way? Do I share what I have selflessly? Am I living up to my calling and reaching the target God set out for me?

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So I lived the day in a haze and went about the business of life wondering and pondering what my life has been about and what I continue to live for. I choose this day to live with a clear view of heaven and the reality that I am not here forever and have impact and a difference I need to make while I am here.

 

Join me to live our lives to the fullest expression of Papa and with the greatest joy, love and peace. Be a blessing and life changer everyday.

 

Redefining our thoughts – 2

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  • Proverbs 32:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” KJV.
  • Matthew 12:34 “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
  • 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “…We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

These are all the scriptures I mentioned in the past that actually provide the basis for our discussion. You see, when we move along with these verses, it becomes clear that we are the one  and only thing that stands between us and our destiny. We determine where we go and what we achieve. Even if God has great plans for us he cannot force us to reach the fulfilment of the same because He gives us free will and a mind to process and align with him.

So often we life around us has standards expectations and these are based on what has happened in the past and what others have determined is the truth and is reliable. Think about it, when we were young weren’t we told that if we did not do well in school we would not be able to get good jobs and hence be unable to become anything in life. REALLY? Have you ever stopped to wonder if that is the whole truth? What of Albert Einstein, Richard Branson, Winston Churchill? How many people who have made it in life have done different things? Think of your locality and find people who reached great heights even when they had very little…they had to do something different to make the change and difference.

On the other hand there are people who we believed would the best in life because they were at the top of the class yet today they are in their graves too early or wallowing in a lost way. There has to be more to life than just where I was born, my education, my connections and past experience.

The ability to move away from the normal and into the realm of different must have another trigger and I would put it forward here that it is a matter of “my thought process.” I become my thoughts and I am bound by my thoughts. I had never thought of it this way but my thoughts are either wings or chains. They can make me fly or tie me to the ground. Think about it again…you become what you think or better still, “What you focus on expands.” I’ll say that again, “What you focus on expands.” That last statement was said by Dr. Cindy Trimm this last weekend and it has not left me since…”What you focus on expands.”

I have always given this a lot less weight than I really needed to give it. It also bears witness in my heart that focus is conscious and subconscious. Even when I am not actively pondering things, they are brewing and brooding in the back of my mind or in the depths of my heart. This means that the day I meet that one person who hurt me deeply once in my life, I feel my guard going up and I brace for the fight or the barb I am expecting from them. How can I react this way unless I am somehow and sometime thinking about it? Isn’t there a place deep inside me that is processing, brooding and holding onto the pain and hurt? Why can’t I let it go?

I realised that there are things I need to stop focusing on to ensure that I stay on the right track and keep moving from one level to another. It means that I must reassess my life, feelings and how my mind works. I must desire to find out how my mind works and processes data. I must then recognise the road I am destined to follow and measure progress against the revelation I receive daily. When I find that I am not on the right track I must take myself to lie at the foot of the cross and ask Papa to “Transform me by the renewing of my mind…” Rom 12:2.

Renewing my mind is really not rocket science. It is shifting focus from the things that have held me captive to something new. The new focus must be something that is bigger, greater and more powerful than me. The best way to find this place is found in Philippians 4:8…Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Remember that what we focus on expands so we must be sure that we are focusing on the right things and growing in strength and grace every step.

Dear Papa, help me to find you and walk in your ways always. Renew my mind and allow me to be all you desire for me and then some. For when you created me you said I was good. Today I decree and declare that I am good, I am blessed, I am able to be transformed in my mind, I am child of the Most High God, I will become all Papa set out for me to become.

In Christ’s name I pray AMEN.

Amazing ways

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When was the last time you really thought through the circumstances in your life? Have you been in places that seem impossible and then out of the blue everything works out? When did it last happen to you that something you had been working on seemingly resolved itself in minutes?

This week has been one of those for me. We are in the middle of a project and for a while things have not been working. Well, at least in the physical it was not working. So here we were wondering and making streaks in the carpet pacing and worrying and still nothing seemed to be working out. So after a few hours of quiet contemplation it dawned on me that the success lies not in the hands of a man but in the hands of God. There is a place for work and it is mandatory for us to put in elbow grease in everything we do. However, there is also a big place for Papa to check in and make things work in the way that he so desires.

So sitting at my desk we begun to get resolution and commitment after commitment came through. So my colleague and I wondered what had triggered the sudden influx and we were reminded… ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:6

So what is it that has been said that must happen? Where do you need to go but see nothing but darkness? Where is the opposition? Where is the challenge? Who is standing in the way? What is holding you back? Remember you are more than just a statistic. There is a purpose and plan for each of our lives and when we check into it great things happen. It is not about who you know or can be connected to. It is more about your destiny and God’s divine plan for your life. Some of us will be kings, others priests, others business leaders and still others care givers. The reality is that we need to connect to our divine destiny and flow in it.

Take time to sit at the feet of God today and find out the road you need to travel. Take that road even when it seems lonely and farfetched. Make time to follow your dreams. Follow the call in your heart. Be the difference you desire in your community.

Remember, it is not about your personal possessions rather it is about your personal legacy. Leave a good one.

 

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That experience was utterly out of our league of expectation but then God was in control so what did we expect? It was a mind-blowing two weeks with work like I hadn’t seen in a while. We needed to do a lot of compilation and the people we had interviewed and earmarked for help has to cancel at the 11th hour.

I must admit that I was actually getting stressed about it but realized that stressing would not change the fact that work needed to be done all the same. So I sat back and asked God to take charge and remind me that He is the one in charge and it is His will that I was out to do and I had peace in a sec. There were still challenges but we had a great experience and a lot of learning.

My greatest lesson though was that I have to allow Him to select the team He wants me to work with because He is the one who begun my business anyway and if I try to change the game plan it will all blow up in my face.

There were times during the week where He reminded me that I was operating outside my area of blessing for the week and that I needed to step back and allow my team to be effective as He appointed for them to be. When I stepped back I would realize that at that particular moment I was the hindrance to the smooth operations and if I even went and sat in another room all would work better than if I was there micromanaging people. The inability to allow people to be independent had somehow crept back and I was goofing God’s plan.

Recently in a fellowship it all became clear…1 Cor 12 talks about us being one body in Christ and how we are many parts with different roles and each role is important where it is. Some parts are hidden from view because of modesty and others are exposed otherwise they cannot be fully functional. I realized that if I wanted to be in front and do everything I was trying to be all body parts yet my place is one of leadership and encouragement. How then can I be hand, brain, mouth, feet and eyes all in one? Utterly impossible!

Trying to be everything in that situation made me ineffective and affected the ability of my team to deliver a good product albeit for the few moments it was like that. So I got thinking, how often is it that I stand in the way of what God wants to do in and around me because of my perception of what I need to do and how I need to be perceived. Even as I stepped back and allowed my team to be all they could be my client did not forget my existence but realized that we are a true team and loved the experience even more.

I learnt two critical things here:

a. I must know my place in the heart of God and realize that he loves me no matter what then I will be free to be me and achieve even more than I ever anticipated.

b. I must know and accept my place in the body of Christ and at my place of work then I will be effective and attain the destiny that sent me here on earth.

I know there are others who have been or are where I was at and I know that there is still a lot to learn. The thing I carry with me at this point is that if I try to do things I am not meant to be doing they will back fire on me and cause problems for those around me. I must learn to be all I can be and attain the marks set out for me and the next level of growth and responsibility will come. Knowing Him more will bring me to the right view of life and position and increase my level of excellence in all I do.

Stay on task and on track and the rewards will be amazing.