PERMITTED ABORTION 2

Last week I talked about how the devil can obtain our permission to abort our God given glorious destinies. I thought that was the end until the early hours of this morning when an equally shocking revelation began to dawn on me. Do you know that on our own we could be permitting the abortion of our destinies without the interference of the devil? This piece is to show you how this happens and how to avoid you being the sole cause of your own problems.

Achieving the glorious destinies assigned for us is a function of our taking some decisive steps and actions. Below is a list of some of the steps we need to take:

1) We must determine what we are destined to achieve on earth.

2) We must also determine of the requirements of achieving our glorious destiny.

3) Create a definite plan that would help you obtain the requirements and go on to achieve your glorious destiny.

4) Having done that much, we need to take the most important step of all, which is ACTION. This is what gives essence to whatever planning and strategizing you have been doing for ages. (The world applauds a well executed plan not a well thought out one). Failure to take the necessary steps would amount to permitting the abortion of our destinies (seeth thou a man diligent in his works, he shall sit before Kings and princes and not mere men). I pray that would not be our portion in Jesus name. Permitting abortion of destinies through this means is in stages. Some people take the first step and stop there. Others move a little up the ladder and stop there. This is a pity because in the school of life, fail in one is fail in all (he that endures until the end wears the crown). At what level of the success steps ladder are you on ‘sabbatical leave?’ You need to ‘resume’ your leave immediately to prevent the abortion of your glorious destiny. Go back to the drawing board to evaluate your present state and perfect the strategy that would move forward.

Another way we permit the abortion of our glorious destinies is a direct off shoot of the first way. Some people follow through all the steps stated above but fail to add MASTERY to that which they are destined to achieve. Mastery of the abilities needed to achieve your destiny is when you are among the top 4% in whatever you do. Some people get it wrong here when they concentrate more on other things apart from becoming masters at what they do. They pray, fast, wail, and cry to God without realizing that without being the best at what they do, all that effort would amount to a waste of time. Ask yourself, would I patronize the technician who destroyed the first gadget I gave to him for repairs even if he is a born again child of God? The answer for me is an emphatic NO because I seriously do not want to waste my money. To conclude this point, you would wait forever if you were waiting to suddenly become a master at whatever you do so get up and do something about your present status.

In conclusion, preventing all the things stated above is not possible with our human strength (by strength shall no man prevail). Therefore it is necessary for us turn to our source of inexhaustible strength which is Jesus (for he is the one who gives power to get wealth). Luckily, he is willing to give out this power in abundance. All it requires is for you to make him your friend, associate and senior partner. I am sure he would grant you the kind of divine speed that would frighten you. Until next time, I decree and declare you shall not permit anyone to abort your glorious destiny in Jesus name.

I AM A MAD PERSON

When I tell people I am a “MAD” person, they immediately begin to look for the nearest escape route. What they do not realize is that every good thing in life they have access to is because of my kind of “MADNESS.” Before you start reciting Quranic verses or pleading the blood of Jesus, take time to read further and see for yourself.

The Oxford dictionary describes a mad person as any of the following; insane, wildly foolish, frenzied to mention a few. In other words, a mad person is some who is not understood by the people around him. He is often ostracized, alienated, and sometimes lynched for daring to sprout the thoughts that occupy his mind. By now, am sure you are thinking, “This guy is surely insane.” Patiently follow me and am sure that by the end of this piece you would love to be as ‘MAD’ if not “MADDER” than me.

One interesting thing I have discovered is that this state of mind is often used to describe someone whose mind sees things that are not already in existence and as such deemed impossible. Not necessarily because the products of their minds are unachievable, but because the minds of their hearers are too shallow to conceive, comprehend and believe the possibility. For instance, imagine what the response of people in the 17^th century would be if they were told that just three centuries to come, it would be possible to access just any information needed through a device called the World Wide Web. Alternatively, imagine the reaction of people in the days of Galileo Galilee when he said the world was spherical and not flat (he was stoned to death). I am sure Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers and other numerous examples available were also termed “MAD” when they started working on the notable inventions that make them notable people today and their different madness has brought us better life today.

The interesting thing is that the people who labeled these innovative people “MAD” would turn round to applaud them when their dreams finally become reality. I then realized that everything useful to humanity today started out as “MAD” ideas some years back. This makes it highly unfortunate to abandon your ideas because somebody somewhere declared it impossible and called you “MAD” for conceiving them. Rather you should count it all joy for you are experiencing the thing that precedes the kind of worldwide recognition that great people achieve. This way you would be able to see yourself through the process of transforming your MADNESS to a highly celebrated achievement.

In conclusion, their kind of “MADNESS” is no doubt a pre requisite to outstanding success. Imagine the world without the kind of “MADNESS” that produced the computer, telephone, oil, electricity, the light bulb, the internet and other notable inventions. As for me, I would embrace their kind of “MADNESS” with open arms and you are welcome to join me if you are not too refined to be proud when you are called a “MAD” person. However, note that if your idea does not attract negative statements from people, they would hardly notice your achievements. Nigeria needs more “MAD” people who would question convention, broaden their horizons, read widest and never rest until they contribute positively to the development of their father land. “WOULD YOU BE ONE OF THEM”

Calming The Storm Of Discouragement

Have you ever known someone like this? "A person who knows how to start well, but finds it difficult to keep going"? A person whose successes are dependent on the quality of someone else's encouragement and motivation? Someone who consistently lets discouragement get the better of him? Ever found yourself like that? There's hope, read on.

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Yeah right! How many times have you wished you could bit slap somebody for saying that at the moment you least needed it? I know I have a bunch. The problem is, most of the time you're in a moment of discouragement when that is said. So, those words come across as being insensitive and cold blooded.

Our first reaction is to lash out at the person who said it, to give them a piece of our mind. And, sometimes we even tell them to stay out of our life and mind their own business. Of course, we really don't mean it; we're just reacting to the discouragement that has pounced upon us.

But, have you ever considered this? The other person doesn't really feel your discouragement. Oh! Really, you say: Yeah, big revelation. Be nice to me now. Seriously, if they did, and especially if it was a loved one, they would never say words that would rattle your cage. But, the discouragement at hand makes us want to take out our saber and cut off their right ear.

Then what happens is, the other person, who at the moment was probably feeling pretty chipper and happy, suddenly feels the fury of your wrath so they take out their boxing gloves and then we got a full scale war on our hands. It all started because one person felt discouraged and now we got two people pi**ed off worse than a couple of fire breathing dragons.

Makes Your Hair Stand On End!

At a moment when you are really in your groove those words just roll off like water off a duck's back. But, discouragement can change the whole face of the situation. It can cause us to even sabotage our own best efforts. It can take the best laid plans of mice and men and turn them into mush.

Do not underestimate the potential effects of discouragement. It is like a virus; it spreads and can become so contagious that it acts like a permanent personality trait. Make no bones about it; it can make your dream not worth the powder to blow it up. When the roots get that deep, it takes military strength anecdotes to rid it.

A Thief In The Night!

Discouragement has probably caused as many business failures as lack of capital, because it is first to show up. The discouragement shows up long before the money runs out. Then the day by day emotional warfare begins and the potential to self-sabotage everything we are trying to accomplish. At that point; the money runs out!

At the end, we blame it on the lack of money, our spouse, our next door neighbor, our cat, or anything that makes us look not at fault and out of our control. After all, if we could have stopped it, we would have. But, what we really did was try to stop the effects of the failure before trying to stop the discouragement that was fueling it.

Consider this: take a forest fire out of control; it is much easier to cut off the fuel than to drown it. Just clear areas outside the fire and it'll burn itself out. If the fuel line to the engine is not cut off, then it's pretty safe to bet our efforts to stop the failure will not succeed. Succeeding at any task in life is hard enough without allowing discouragement to hamper our efforts. A mind filled with discouragement will never have the motivation to keep going.

A Force To Be Reckoned With!

It will cause the person affected by it to become jealous and resentful of others success. It can cause a woe-is-me attitude that will hang around like stink on a skunk. Discouragement will paralyze the strongest of dreams, which is the reason many people affected by it start well but can't keep going.

Many people try to cover it up. Some are able to do it pretty effectively. But, underneath there is an undeniable and unmistaken pain and hurt that saps the person's motivation and causes depression to set in many cases.

With such a wide spread problem is there anything that we can easily do to combat discouragement? Remember, discouragement needs fuel to spread and grow. The fuel is our thoughts but, just telling ourselves to, "don't worry, be happy," does no more good than it did when our friend said it to us.

Do This Bright And Early!

Just as soon as you tell yourself not to worry the pressure will become a storm. It's almost like waving a red flag in front of a bull. He is going charge it and discouragement is going pound your thoughts till you "forcibly" take action to run them out. Once discouragement has set in the situation calls for serious action. It's time to sit down with a good book.

At this point in time you need some help so don't try to be the honcho moncho and go it by yourself. You need for your eyes to feed on words that will help. I'm a firm believer in self-suggestion and auto-suggestion; these techniques have helped me immensely through the years. But discouragement is dangerous and you don't want to play footsy with it.

Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover!

Whatever book you read, do it quickly. I keep a handy Bible around me for moments like these. I get into the Psalms and Proverbs. My favorite is the ninety first Psalm. And, it is amazing how quickly discouragement takes a hike. I'm just as human as any one else and discouragement tests me like everyone. But, one thing I do is run for the Book when it comes. The Book anecdote never fails.

If you don't read the Bible then I would suggest you find some good motivational book to feed your eyes on. There are a lot of them. And, don't leave that book till you feel the pressure subsiding. It will, sometimes ten minutes, sometimes thirty minutes. But, that is a small price to pay for peace and calmness of mind.

This is the only method I have ever tried that works one hundred percent of the time combating discouragement. As many of you know I'm a big believer in, "you possess what you confess". The art of affirmation has brought me through in more cases than I can count. It's not "hocus pocus", it's not "blab it and grab it;" but it is a universal and spiritual truth that all can take advantage of and will greatly help anyone.

Don't Cut Off Your Nose To Spite Your Face!

So, don't try to re-invent the wheel and spend possibly years trying to discover some hot dog brand new strategy that no one has ever heard of and test it against your most dangerous enemy. Go to the Book, it'll never fail you.

ODE TO UNDERSTANDING

As I woke this morning, I felt a pop in my left ear. That is not an unusual feeling for me- I have had hearing problems since I was a kid. However, this time was different. My hearing became much poorer than it had ever been before. I realized immediately that it was hard to tell what was going on around me. Losing the ability to hear is frightening to anyone. But it is especially so to me as a musician, who spends a great deal of time playing the piano, singing and composing music.

But I am not going completely deaf, and this recent problem is likely temporary. What would a musician do if he lost all his hearing? How could someone practice an art form based on hearing without the ability to hear?

In other words, what did Ludwig Van Beethoven do? As he completed his second symphony, Beethoven - perhaps the most famous of all composers- began to loose his hearing. By the time he was 50, the master of symphony was completely deaf. Yet, he continued to compose, even though he could not hear his own compositions. One of his famous compositions ever was his ninth symphony (Ode to joy) and he never heard a note of it, along with hundreds of his other compositions deemed masterpieces today.

Life was not easy for Beethoven. Infact, he even considered taking his life, even going so far as to write a suicide note to his brothers.

No one would have blamed him for giving up on his music. On the surface, it might seem ridiculous for a deaf man to compose at all. He might very well have felt that way himself. Still being able to hear the music in his mind, he was able to compose many great works. Had he given up on his dreams, the shape of music history would never have been the same today.

History makes mention shining examples like Beethoven-painters who lost their eyesight, runners who lost their leg and many others. What would stop you from following through with your goals? What obstacles would cause you to say,” this is too hard” and abandon your ambitions. The things you must do in order to succeed in life are not always easy. They require perseverance. Sometimes, this means sticking with it through a difficult test, like Beethoven did. When things got tough, he plunged himself into his work.

You also face tests and trials- how do you react. Do you continue to pursue you goals, determined to achieve them no matter what opposes you? It is easy to give in to what seems like an insurmountable problem. It can be difficult to learn and develop the skills we need to develop in life. Yet, this is what each of us is called to do. Curiously, Beethoven’s life work is of little benefit to those like him, those who cannot hear. But the example he set is useful to anyone - whether deaf, blind, or unimpaired. What priceless lesson- a fantastic showing of drive, determination, perseverance, and highly developed skill. This man could hear nothing composed some of the most innovative, exciting music of his day- music that is still heard and performed everyday allover the earth.

So ask yourself: what can I accomplish