Tag Archives: inspiration

Spirituality

Kingdom Focus

Leave a comment

Image Source: Reputation Today


The Longman dictionary states that focus is ‘to give special attention to a particular thing or concentrate on something important.’

Focus is one of the greatest channels of exerting our mental and physical energies properly.

According to the scriptures, Focus is the ability to channel your concentration on the work and desires of the kingdom.

“And all who focus their hope on him will always be purifying themselves, just as Jesus is pure.” 1 John 3:3.

The more we focus on the Kingdom and its desires, the more we increase in our productivity as Kingdom Agents.

To be focused on the kingdom is to make the kingdom the central point of your life. To be focused on the Kingdom is to be engrossed and immersed in the desires of the kingdom.

To be focused on the kingdom is to channel all your energy and strength into the work and the demands of the kingdom. Without focus, one tends to get distracted with the cares of this life.

It is saddening, that in this generation, there are believers whose focus is on the things below instead of the things above.

It is a pity how we set our eyes on things that will only give us temporal happiness and yet we become unfulfilled and we complain how God is not favoring us.

One can only find the path to one’s Destiny fulfilment in the pursuit of Kingdom demands.

“The eyes of your spirit allow revelation-light to enter into your being. If your heart is unclouded, the light floods in! 23 But if your eyes are focused on money, the light cannot penetrate and darkness takes its place. How profound will be the darkness within you if the light of truth cannot enter!” – Matthew 6:22-23.

Light cannot enter our spirits when our focus is not on the Kingdom. There are several bounties in the covenant of Grace we entered when we got born again. But focusing on the things of this Earth at the expense of that of the kingdom, will deny one a clear revelation of those bounties.

Whenever our focus is not on the kingdom, we make our minds to wallow in darkness. Hence, God’s Light finds no access through which it can shine upon us.

If your eyes can be focused on the kingdom, the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened, the rivers of revelation and the fountain of life would always spring out from within you, because you are focused on what produces light.

When your affection is not set in the Kingdom, you will lose relevance in God.

Many persons are worried about their hope for a better future. But one whose focus is set on Christ, has none of such worries; for he is confident that in beholding Christ, He beholds His future.

Therefore, as long he continues to commit himself to the kingdom, Christ is committed to giving him a better future.

Here’s The Passion Translation’s rendition of one of David’s verses;

“For I’ve kept my eyes focused on his righteous words and I’ve obeyed everything that he’s told me to do I’ve done my best to be blameless and to follow all his ways keeping my heart pure” Psalms 18:22-23

A man who is committed and focused on the kingdom will always follow after the words of Christ because those words are his guiding steps.

The words of Christ are what keeps the focus of a kingdom man, as long as he continually and consistently behold the Christ, the kingdom becomes available to him more and more.

Paul was so focused on the kingdom that he went about preaching the gospel from nations to nations.

Our focus enables us to do great things for the kingdom.

Many people are wishing to be Kingdom agents, to spark Revival in many nations of the world, yet, they are not focused on giving their best for the kingdom.

Such persons are usually interested in the material benefits that comes with God’s work and not the work itself.

They are not after kingdom advancement. They are not ready to sacrifice themselves for the master use.

Focus makes you go after the substance and not the shadow .


“So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly. Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.” Matthew 6:33 TPT.



Until we refuse to put our eyes on the material things that the kingdom gives and focus on what the kingdom will make of us, we will keep on making mistakes and then our journey ends in circles.

Refuse to worry about tommorow and take charge of today.

The scripture aforementioned admonishes to chase after, with all vigor, Kingdom demands.

Jesus said that in the Kingdom, ‘The violent takes it by force’.

The violence Jesus told us about, is not physical violence, but living a life of mental and Spiritual concentration on our Kingdom purpose.

It means that there is a consistent understanding you must acquire from the kingdom in order for your life to be productive.

Beloved, I admonish you this day, to realign your focus to your kingdom purpose.

It does not mean you should neglect your duties here on Earth. It rather means that you should be devoted to the purpose for which you were created and reborn.

God bless you.

GENERAL

Do not give up

Leave a comment

I was in my room one afternoon doing the bottle flip. I was not so good at it at that time, so it was kind of hard for me but I kept on doing it. Sometimes it would almost stand then fall and at other times, it would fall completely. 

After several failed attempts at getting the bottle to stand, I decided I had had enough of the failures. I wanted to quit. But a voice within encouraged me to try it out, one last time. I yielded to that voice, and it worked this time.

Many of us have found ourselves entangled in a particular sin or addiction. We might have been trying to get out of it. But it seems as if the more we try, the stronger the entanglement becomes. We keep making vows and at the same time keep breaking them and each time we break them, we cry asking God for help and liberation. We feel enslaved, hopeless and helpless. We want to give up already thinking we can’t be free from it, thinking it’s our fate and we must take it as it is. But I want to encourage you; don’t give up now!! 

Now is not the time to give up. Now is the time to increase your efforts.  Do not let the devil win this fight for you are more than conquerors through him who loved you (Romans 8:37)

God hears your cries, he sees those secret tears and he is ever ready to save you for his hands are not too short that he cannot save neither is his ear deaf that he can’t hear for he said, I will hear their cries and I will save them. 

God sees your sincerity, He knows you are truly tired of falling over and over again. So He’s saying, “Hang on in there, I’m coming and soon the fall will be completely over”. 
Don’t give up! Remember, when there’s life, there’s hope. 

We are not perfect but we are on a journey towards perfection. On this journey, when you fall, do not drift away from God. Pick yourself up, dust off the pain and move closer to him than ever before. Do not let the feeling of guilt and condemnation overcome you and blind your eyes from seeing God’s great love for you. No sin, No mistakes and No fall can ever take his Love away from us. 


Keep crying and running back to him than after every mistakes and soon, the light will shine down on you and your stance in Christ will be so firm. Firmer than you can ever imagine. 
Remember God said, “The Egyptians you see today, you shall see them no more”. Likewise, the problem and struggles you see today, you will see them no more. 

Written by Tolu-Taiwo Victor

GENERAL

Why you must be determined!

Leave a comment

Determination is defined as firmness of purpose. Determination is the ability to be persistent, resolute, certain, steadfast to your decision and choices.

Determination is an important value that a man must possess when he is in a pursuit of a great thing. Determination is the fuel of any passion and purpose. If there is no determination there will be no need to purse things of greater value.

Determination is the root of greatness, nobody is truly great, if he is not determined to think outside the box. Only determined people can change the their world. Life is tough by default. Fate pleases no man; fate gives no allowance for smugness. Only the determined becomes great; only the determined can take the pen of fate and write their own destiny, and fulfill that destiny as it written.

Determination requires understanding the sacrifice and the pains of a preferable future and deciding to go through the obstacles and with the mindset of coming out great. Determination is seeing your future and doing whatever it takes in right way to get that future.

Determination is making choices and decisions that will make your future accessible. Determination is a mental and a spiritual choice, it is what makes us stand out, it what makes our future or our target become more attainable.

Daniel 1:8
But Daniel determined that he would not defile himself by eating the king’s food or drinking his wine, so he asked the head of the palace staff to exempt him from the royal diet. (MSG)

The text above tells us about the story of one of the most successful Christian politicians in Bible history, Daniel. Daniel was taken captive into the land of Babylon. His parents were killed during an Babylon’s invasion of the Jewish country.

By divine providence, Daniel was selected with other Jews to be trained in the arts and science of the Babylonians, and to be fed with the King’s delicacies in order to have improvements in their mental well-being. This seemed attractive. Daniel would have probably accepted the King’s food but for the fact that it was prepared in a manner that was considered ‘defiled’ by Jewish culture.

When he observed this, we are told in scriptures, that he determined within himself not to accept the King’s food. He determined in heart not to defile himself with the king’s dainties.

His determination made God to favor him above the other Jews.

What decision have you determined to take?

It is wrong to live your life in laxity, without specific decisions and choices. It is wrong to make your choices to be dependent on the circumstances surrounding you, rather than the inner choice you have made.

Determination is that which is needed in tough times like these. Due to the pandemic, political chaos and economic hardship, one is tempted to become apathetic towards the future. One is tempted to lose hope about one’s dreams. Fate seems bleak; the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be imperceptible.

Now is the time, to determine in your heart, that no matter what happens, you are not going to give up on your dreams. You will become the person that God has destined you to be! Like Daniel, no matter how potent the temptation to defile yourself in this corrupt world might seem to be, stick your decision to stay pure.

You are not the first who has been in this kind of situation. Joseph was sold from his father’s house to Potiphar’s house. When it seemed as if he had gained stability in Potiphar’s house, he was lied against and sent into the Egyptian dungeon. The dungeon is usually a dark place. There is no illumination there. It is filled with dirt and the stench from the prisoners’ faeces.

This was the kind of condition Joseph found himself in. In the prison, one does not eat proper food. Joseph was locked up in the prison, the same way a lot of us have been locked up in our homes. But Joseph’s lockdown was what God was going to use to take him into the palace.

This is the reason you must be determined this season. Though it may not be visible, yet, be rest assured that God is doing a mighty thing in your life. He is making all things to work out for your good.

GreenHills Emmanuel

   Types of determination

Organic determination: This type of determination is an inborn determination in every man to fulfill his purpose on earth, this kind of determination is what pushes people to do the unthinkable and makes them  reach the height where men has not reached, it was such determination that led many scientist or men who brought innovations to the world, this kind of determination is in every man. This kind of determination must be trained and nutured and be brought to good use.

Inorganic determination: This is a kind of determination that is infused into us as maybe a speaking or we heard a word of motivation words or purposeful words spoken to us in order to help us realize our potential. Such determination helps us to set our daily goals and targets.

GENERAL

The Significance of Self-Esteem

2 Comments

An excerpt from John Maxwell’s ‘Invaluable Laws of Personal Growth’

So why do many people fail to grow and reach their potential? I’ve concluded that one of the main reasons is low self-esteem. Many people don’t believe in themselves.

They don’t see the possibilities that God put in them. They possess a hundred acres of possibilities, yet never cultivate them because they are convinced that they won’t be able to learn and grow and blossom into something wonderful.

That was the case of Johnnetta McSwain, whose story I recently learned about. For more than thirty years, she was someone who saw little value or potential in herself.

But to be honest, there were many legitimate reasons for her poor perception of herself. She was born to a single mother who didn’t want her and told her so.

She and her sister, Sonya, who was a year older, along with a cousin, spent the first five or six years of their lives being raised by their grandmother in Birmingham, Alabama.

But the house was also shared by three uncles, who abused all three of the children psychologically, physically, and sexually. Johnnetta was scarred both physically and emotionally.

“By the time I was five years old,” says Johnnetta, “I had already started to believe that I was not only inferior, but I was also a child abandoned by her own mamma. As a child, I had no place, no voice, and no worth at all.”

When Johnnetta and Sonya’s mother learned about the abuse, she moved the three girls to a new home. But the abuse continued, this time from the men her mother brought home.

Sonya ultimately responded by living on the streets and turning to crack cocaine. Johnnetta avoided drugs, but she spent much of her time on the streets and dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade.

She had her first child out of wedlock at age nineteen, then a second child in her midtwenties. For the most part, she lived in government-supported housing and on government assistance, and relied on her boyfriends for additional support.

To keep herself in designer clothes, she resorted to shoplifting.

Sonya’s perspective poignantly sums up the state they were in: “Everybody in my family been in jail, on drugs, didn’t finish high school, so what I got to live for? What I got to amount to? Nothing! What I got to accomplish?”

Johnnetta’s thirtieth birthday caused her to look in the mirror. She didn’t like what she saw.

She writes, ‘That day I woke up and realized I had absolutely nothing to celebrate—no money, no full-time job, no home, no husband, and no clue, not even the will to do better…. At last, I knew it was time to make some changes.’

She wasn’t happy with her life, and she realized that if she continued in the same direction she was going, her two sons would also be headed for trouble.

As far as she knew, not a single male member of her family had ever finished high school. Many died young or ended up in jail. She didn’t want that for her boys.

For Johnnetta, the process started with her working to get her GED. She took a twelve-week course to prepare and then took the test. She needed a score of 45 to pass. She received a 44.5.

But she was determined to make something of herself, so she scheduled a retake at her first opportunity. When she passed, she was excited to be chosen to speak at the graduation ceremony. No one from her family bothered to attend.

Johnnetta knew that if she was going to change, she needed to leave Birmingham and get a fresh start. And she wanted to do something no one in her family had ever done—go to college.

She decided to move to Atlanta, Georgia, and was motivated by a profound thought: “I get a chance to be anyone I want to be. ” 4 “I get a chance to be anyone I want to be.” — Johnnetta McSwain It took her almost three years to pull it off, but she made the move.

Soon afterward, she enrolled in Kennesaw State University, deciding to take more than a full load every semester. She was thirty-three years old when she started school. She was street smart, but not very book smart—at least not at first.

That intimidated her in the beginning.

But for the first time in her life, she was determined to better herself. And soon she realized she could do it. “I realized I didn’t have to be smart,” Johnnetta explains. “I just had to be determined, motivated, and focused. This came with a high price tag for me. I had to exchange my thinking.”

Not only did she study hard and stay focused, but she also sought out the smartest person in each of her classes and asked to study with her.

Soon she was studying and thinking like the best students in the school. She also maintained the vision she had for her future.

At the beginning of every semester, she went to the bookstore on campus and tried on a cap and gown, looking at herself in the mirror and imagining what it would be like to graduate.

One day when a classmate was talking to her, she had a realization. The classmate was saying, “I don’t love myself. I’m a nobody.”

Johnnetta responded, “You sure can love you if I love me.” And that’s when it hit her, maybe for the first time. “I realized I loved myself.” She had changed. She was turning into the person she wanted to be, that she was created to be.

Johnnetta completed the work for a bachelor’s degree in three years. Then she enrolled in graduate school, where she earned a master’s degree in social work.

Currently, she is working toward earning her doctorate. “I went for something that society told me, ‘You can’t do,’ ” says Johnnetta. “Oh, yes I can”

_________

Your background might be similar to that of Johnetta. You can be successful!

Success is not determined by background, but by consistent success habits and determination.

Go after your dreams!

GENERAL

DEALING WITH PAIN AND GRIEF

Leave a comment

If 2020 was to be classified as a movie, it would fall under the category of Horror and Tragedy. This year was definitely a hell of a year; full of ups and downs, pandemics, lockdown, deaths, inflation, hunger, loneliness and depression.

Many lost their loved ones. Some lost their businesses, their investments, their life savings.

Almost everyone lost something or someone precious this year.

Some have recovered, some are recovering, but there are those, who are still in grief, not because they enjoy grieving, but they just do not know how to come out of it.

As humans, our first impulse to the loss of a loved one is to cry bitterly, and experience pain and sorrow. Crying is good, and sometimes, healthy, but when it should only be a temporal reaction and not a permanent mood or temperament.

Many have lost hope of ever recovering from the grief they are experiencing presently; many have lost faith and the courage to move on, irrespective of the evils around them.

Maybe you fall into that category, or you know someone who falls into into that category, cherish this post, it will go a long way to helping you.

STEPS TO BREAKING OUT OF INNER HURT AND GRIEF

  1. IDENTIFY THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE GRIEF:

Sometimes, engaging in a self-evaluation goes a long way in helping us come out of the shell of grief. Why exactly are you grieving? Who are you grieving? What are you grieving? The loss of a loved one? Poverty? Loss of Business opportunities? Identify the root cause of your grief, identify the root cause of your pain.

2. LET GO!

This is where the real battle lies in. There are people who know why they are grieving; they know they’ve lost a loved one, but they just can’t let him go.

They keep holding on to past memories and experiences with the one who they have lost. They imagine living with the lost one still present.

Some even sleep every night, meditating on the image and person of the lost loved one. One of the common mistakes people make in grief is that they blame themselves for the loss.

“If only I was there on time”… ‘If only I had enough money…’ they blame themselves for the loss. It’s time to man up and stop acting in such childish manner. It is childish to blame yourself for things that were beyond your control in the name of grief.

Let go, and move on. No amount of tears would ever bring that person back; no amount of tears would bring that business back; no amount of imagining would bring the late back.

It would only give you a false and unreal experience with the imaginative figment of that person.

These are hard truths I allowed to sink into my heart when I found myself slipping into anguish and pain. You can never be liberated from pain until you let these hard truths break those chains.

Let go! Let go of that past memory! He has left you, to join the immortals in the world beyond this world, you should equally leave him, by moving on with life.

3. ENOUGH OF THE PITIES

This doesn’t mean you totally forget about him, it just means you are strong enough to live life meaningfully, with or without him.

Sympathy and consolation is very important at the initial stage of grieving a loss. When others sympathize with us, it has a way of making us feel we are not alone in the pain we bear.

It helps us understand we are not alone in the grief we are experiencing.

But you can’t keep getting sympathies and pities weeks and months after your loss! You cannot afford to allow this.

As innocent as they might be, when allowed for too long, they form a dark, moody temperament in us.

A temperament that expects only pity from people; a temperament that wishes to display pain and grief so as to earn the sympathies of onlookers; a temperament that only draws close to those who can show pity on it!

This temperament will obscure your vision, destroy your creativity and clog your potentials!

It is the temperament that will render you emotionally unstable and mentally imbalanced.

Change your atmosphere. Surround yourself with creative thinkers.

Read books that will stir up hope and clarity of vision, and not poems that make you more depressed.

Delete those songs of hurt from your mobile phone.

Get your gadget filled with bright songs of optimism and love; start seeing the world from a more optimistic view.

3. DEVELOP FRESH, HEALTHY HABITS

Eat well. Medical research has shown that one’s habits have a high influence on ones disposition, whether melancholic or cheerful.

Develop habits that are healthy to both your body, mind and soul. Eat well; go on a walk at sunrise.

Develop the habit of ever confessing positiveness. Develop the habit of hanging out with intelligent friends and engaging in sound discussions with them.

Lastly, I want you to know that you can do all these and still feel the tinges of grief.

They do not eliminate grief; they do not remove grief, but they remove you from the grief. Do them consistently, and turn your world turn colorful again.

Before wrapping this up, let me show you something from the Holy Bible which will definitely be helpful to you.

2 Samuel 12:15-20

16 David prayed to God for the baby. David fasted and went into his house and stayed there, lying on the ground all night. 

17 The elders of David’s family came to him and tried to pull him up from the ground, but he refused to get up or to eat food with them.

18 On the seventh day the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the baby was dead..

19 When David saw his servants whispering, he knew that the baby was dead. So he asked them, “Is the baby dead?” They answered, “Yes, he is dead.”

20 Then David got up from the floor, washed himself, put lotions on, and changed his clothes. Then he went into the Lord’s house to worship. After that, he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him some food, and he ate.

Bathsheba had put to birth, a lovely, bouncing baby boy for King David, a baby which came as a result of David’s mistake.

At birth, this baby boy was probably strong and energetic, full of so much potential, but days later, he became weak.

The little baby fell sick. The sickness was so serious, that David went on a fast to plead for mercy on the baby’s life.

Imagine how the King felt, seeing that baby, emaciating and slipping away from life daily. He must have loved that baby greatly, for him to have fasted and prayed fervently for the baby’s life. Yet, the baby died.

Despite the fasting, and the prayers, and the weeping in the church, crying to God to save his child, the child still died.

How do you think David should have felt? Depressed. Sad. Angry at God for taking his baby. Losing faith in prayers and fasting. The ordinary man would have felt these.

But not David; David was a man with a mighty inner strength to bear the greatest of disappointments.

As soon as he heard of the news of his child’s death, instead of lamenting and seeking sympathy, he washed his hands, worshiped the Lord and went to eat.

This is one of the greatest Bible paradoxes I have ever read. One thing we learn from it, is that in all things, we must give thanks to God. In pain and in pleasure, in the hills and in the valleys, in all things, we must give thanks to God!

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

Shalom!