MEN & SUCCESS

Psalm 112:1 Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds GREAT DELIGHT in his commands.

Every man on the face of the earth wants or desires to be successful. And while..its right to desire to be successful, there are only two ways to get there. SUCCESS can either by FEAR-DRIVEN or FAITH-DRIVEN.

FEAR-DRIVEN SUCCESS says:

Blessed is the man who wakes up early and stays up late; the man who has a life insurance; the man who has savings for a rainy day; the man who exercises and eat health; the man who knows the rules of the game etc.

Psalm 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat_ for he grants sleep to those he loves.

But…something goes missing for this man….HIS HEART! No matter how sure or secure he is at his present or perceived future….HIS HEART IS ALWAYS FEARFUL. Why? Because he has no fear of the Lord in his heart.

On the other hand…the man who has the fear of the Lord in his heart walks securely. His present or future is sure…as he walks by faith.

FAITH-DRIVEN SUCCESS says:

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY…all year round!!!!

You are called a FATHER because you have a CHILD or CHILDREN. They might be your natural seed, adopted or spiritual children. But whatever the case, ONCE A FATHER, ALWAYS A FATHER. Fathers have their God-given role to raise up children into responsible adults. But the GODLY FATHER has a defined task to raise up children into a GODLY OFFSPRING… which in turn makes up a GODLY GENERATION. Throughout the history of the children of Israel, when the FATHERS failed in their role to raise up GODLY OFFSPRING, the next generation became godless and began worshiping foreign god.

Today, you as a GODLY FATHER… as you celebrate your first or more years of being a father…remember, your role has not changed. God desires for you to continue in the following:

FATAL ATTRACTION

2 Samuel 13:15 Then Amnon hated her with INTENSE HATRED. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, ‘Get up and get out!’

The stories in the bible are not always what we would like them to be. Of all things, we hate to read the possibility of RAPE or INCEST among those who were chosen of God. But…truth be told. The bible stories are the very same stories we read in our modern newspapers or watch in our television screens in the safety of our homes. Everyone…wants to be loved and appreciated for the right reasons, and by the right person in different ways. No-one wants to be loved by a brother…not as a sister but as a lover! NO-ONE. Absolutely, no-one. But that’s exactly what happened to Tamar, King David’s daughter. David had several wives…hence, Tamar and Amnon had different mothers, but the same father. So in reality, they shared the same blood.

But that fact did not stop Amnon from falling in love with his half-sister, Tamar. Moreover, long before this, God has issued instructions about how to behave towards blood relatives in the book of Leviticus of which Amnon was fully aware.

Leviticus 18:6, 9 ‘No-one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.
‘Do not have sexual relations with your SISTER, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same house or elsewhere.

However, Amnon was too much in love…to think rationally. He was so much into HIS FEELINGS… that he never once stopped to consider the consequences of following after his own heart. Yes…that’s what FATAL ATTRACTION

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

Last week was a trying one for my family…because our daughter was down with a bad cough…and ear infection. She is still here with me today…missing another week of preschool. And because of that…I feel she needs my attention more at the moment. For this whole week, I am therefore going on a sabbatical and hopefully will resume my normal post on 31st May, 2010. Meanwhile I leave you with a vision of where I will be as I HANG OUT with MY SHEPHERD!

THE DEBT OF LOVE

Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing DEBT TO LOVE one another, for he who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law.

By nature right from birth, the human baby has the desire to love and to be loved! The family home, i.e mother and father…and in other cases, siblings are the first contact where the baby begins to understand and function in love. In receiving and giving love, the child develops an emotional bond with the family which gives the child a sense of security and being needed!

Well, as a child, I never had that complete sense of security…because my parents divorced when I was hardly 3 years old. My mother remarried soon after that…and my stepfather substituted the place of my biological father. Over the years, even though I didn’t know it…I held back my love. THE LOVE THAT WAS DUE TO MY NATURAL FATHER. My relationship with my stepfather was more of a formal kind with no particular emotional bond, while I was too much emotionally attached to my mother. But something else was also missing. As a teenage and in my early adulthood, I didn’t care much about men. And even when I got into a relationship…I never came close to surrendering my heart to any man. There was always a safe emotional distance between us.

SHATTERED DREAMS: DEALING WITH DISAPPOINTMENT

2 Samuel 12:19-20 David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realised that the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, ‘HE IS DEAD.” Then David got up from the ground. After he has washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and WORSHIPPED. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

SHATTERED DREAMS: How do you deal with the disappointment? Truth be told. There is no easy way to deal with the disappointment of broken dreams? But there is always a way…THE WAY! Every time I go back to read about David’s encounter in 2 Samuel 12, my heart is deeply stirred. Why? Because I see an attitude which is so rare today…yet is badly needed especially when all hope seems lost! Let me give you a little background on King David’s encounter. We all know about David’s extramarital affair with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. A baby is conceived…and a husband who has no idea about it…gets killed on the front-line to cover up for the King’s sin. But God cannot be mocked. He sends Nathan the Prophet to David…and uncovers his sin…and with it, the consequences which includes the death of that child conceived in an act of adultery. Of course, it would have been worse. But God spared King David’s life in exchange for his baby’s.

For seven full days and nights…David touched no food as He PLEADS with God to spare his son’s life to no avail. His whole household is also deeply affected by the unfolding events in the King’s house. On the seventh day, his child dies.

ARE YOU BEEN INSTRUCTED?

Job 22:21-22 Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. ACCEPT INSTRUCTION FROM HIS MOUTH and lay up his words in your heart.

Are you been instructed? In our modern world, we have learned not to take TIME to be instructed but instead, we want the shortcuts to our destination. But truth be told, as long as you are here on earth, there will always be some area in your life where you are less conversant with, and therefore you will need INSTRUCTIONS. So the question still goes out to you. ARE YOU BEEN INSTRUCTED?

If you are a Christian, then you ought to know this. The Bible is GOD’S BOOK OF INSTRUCTIONS. But why do we need instructions? Of what good are instructions for the believer? First of all, let’s have a look at a book in the Bible which specializes as a manual of instructions for the children of Israel. After 400 years in slavery, and 40 years in the desert, God gave the children of Israel instructions from the book of LEVITICUS on how they should live and conduct their daily life affairs.

From the book of Leviticus we have the RULES OF LIVING which range from worship, the office of priesthood, sexual relationships, food laws, feasts unto the Lord among others. It was the mandatory obligation of the head of the family, that is, the father to instruct their children about these rules of living at every turn of the corner.

POLAND: GOD’S WAY IS PERFECT

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 There is a TIME for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven:
a time to WEEP and a time to laugh, a time to MOURN and a time to dance,..

My country, POLAND is WEEPING. We are in the season of MOURNING!

The tragedy that hit our country on Saturday has not left anyone indifferent. Why because suddenly, our lives were put on hold…as we remembered, contemplated, reflected and reviewed what was but now wasn’t. I don’t remember ever experiencing such kind of emotions at any given time in my entire life. All at once, as the faces of familiar people in Politics, the financial world, entertainment and public services passed through the TV screen, my heart refused to take all these facts in. It wasn’t only about the loss of our president and his dear wife, but the loss of active members of parliament and senators, all the heads of the country’s defence system, the governor of the Central bank, the governor of the National Archive, the head of the Human Rights Organizations, all the ministers in the office of the president, an archbishop and a number of priest, two presidential candidatures from opposing parties, the president of the Olympic Committee, among others. In a sense, every important government institution was affected one way or another by this tragedy.

But beyond their public functions, these people were fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends of people among us. Yet….as I see the country ask so many questions which at most go unanswered, the Lord reminded me these words:

HONORING MARY FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS

Luke 1:46-48 And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me BLESSED,

First of all, what does it mean to HONOR someone? HONOR can be defined as: personal integrity; allegiance to moral principles; GREAT RESPECT, ESTEEM; a woman’s chastity; out of respect; to hold in respect: TO CONFER A DISTINCTION UPON etc.

Hence…that said. Is it right for the believer to hold Mary, the mother of Jesus in esteem? If yes. Why do you think we should? If not. Why do you disagree? I would love to hear your thoughts on this one! As for me, I personally hold Mary in great esteem and these are my reasons:

HE KNOWS WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU

Isaiah 48:17 This is what the Lord says_ your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord, your God, who teaches you WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU, who directs you in the way you should go.

A NICHE is defined as: a position particularly suitable for the person occupying it; relating to or aimed at a small specialized group or market; the status of a plant or animal within its community which determines its activities, relationships with other organisms etc.

Of late, I have been thinking and wondering a lot. Why? Because...I AM LOOKING FOR MY NICHE. That place which goes beyond just bare existence or survival…into the place of REST and FULFILLMENT. Over five years ago, when God called me to write, I didn’t think much about it. I took a pen and slowly, began penning down the first sentence which, five years later has become a book…or rather a manuscript waiting for its time at the publishers. And while, deep down in my heart, I know God’s plans for me are interwoven in the pages of this yet-to published book, at times…I sit back and wonder. I wonder because like every one of you, at times, there seems to be no clear direction for me. What next? I asked the Lord this morning. Maybe, I should look for