It is true that it is not always in the power of man to choose his circumstances, but it is up to him to choose how he should react to them. Happiness is a choice. Make it a habit to be happy every time. Choose to be happy. You can set your sail for joy regardless of how the wind blows. What happens to us is not as important as what happens in us. Find a way of having fun in everything that happens if you want to remain healthy. RELAX, REJOICE AND REFRESH.
Nothing is evil until one accepts it as evil. The way you see the problem is your problem. Be a wise man who knows the interpretation of things. Our forefathers knew that problems are inherent in the structure of the universe. That is the way it is made. This we should know and inculcate same in our grand children. Take pleasure and wisdom from each experience along the way of life. Condemning yourself after making a mistake is making another mistake. If life were only moments of victory it would be very short indeed. Learn to enjoy the journey.
Circumstances seldom generate joy. Joy comes to those who determine to pursue it in-spite of their circumstances. The happiest people are rarely the rich, or the most beautiful or even the most talented or educated. It is not even the religious. Happy people do not depend on excitement and fun supplied by externals. They enjoy the fundamentals, often very simple things of life. Their happiness is always cheap. Just as more money never made anyone generous, and more talent never made anyone grateful, more of anything never made anyone joyful. Happiness comes mostly from being good and not from having more goods. One can have everything in life and yet not happy. It often happens that a man feels a desire for something and pursues it eagerly; but once he achieved it, he begins to feel quite differently about it. He never feels a lasting interest in anything but is always driven on from one thing to another.
Satisfaction does not come from getting more but from wanting less. Covetous men, though may have enough to sink them, yet they never have enough to satisfy them. We are not truly made rich by what is in our pockets but by what is in our hearts. You can create your own happiness. At times those who live in castles built in the air are happier than those living in the real castles. Let your imagination enrich you. If you want to feel truly rich, just count the things you have that money cannot buy. Some have food but cannot eat. Some can eat but have no food. You have food and you can eat, give thanks to the Most High. Do you count your blessings or think that your blessings don’t count? To enjoy the things you have, you must stop worrying over the things you don’t have. No matter how poor your house is, being there is better than being in the best hospital. If you are discontented with what you have, you may lose it without gaining something better. It is better to have divine protection and don’t get sick, than to get sick and have divine healing. Protection is better than cure. We often hear, “thank You Father for healing me”, and seldom hear, “thank you Father for keeping me from sickness”.
Obey the laws of health and keep sickness out of your body. Nature’s laws are not to be resisted but obeyed. There are conditions to be observed by all those who would preserve health. All should learn what these conditions are. Our Creator wants us to be workers together with him for the restoration of health to the body as well as to the soul. We must police rigidly what we allow to enter our mouths and minds. Your body is your only authorization to be and operate on earth; take care of it. Health is not everything but without health everything is nothing. Many people bring disease upon themselves by their self-indulgence. Overeating is the sin of this age. It burdens the stomach and the liver, and a burdened stomach produces a diseased condition of the brain.
Respect paid to the proper treatment of the stomach will be rewarded in clearness of thought and strength of mind. Eat wisely. Adam failed through eating, and Noah failed through drinking. Our Heavenly Father wants us to go back to His original design. In grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts are to be found all the food elements that we need. Meat eating should be minimized as much as possible. Its influence is to excite and strengthen the lower passions, and has a tendency to deaden the moral powers. It also inhibits long life. So also is dipsomania. Dipsomaniacs are vulnerable to opprobrium. Moderation is optimum for physical and spiritual health. And do not forget to eat enough of the BREAD that came down from heaven – THE LIVING WORD. Make time to read the Creator’s book. There is a vast difference between the books that men make and the book that makes men. It is an ancient book for modern life. It has practical advice for everyday living. It has remedy for every disease of the soul. It is life’s manual. Always start the day by washing the face of your soul with the water of life. Let into your heart the Prince of peace, the Son of the Highest; the Saviour of mankind. The Gift of Heaven. Divinity that took humanity. He was treated as we deserved, that we might be treated as he deserved. He was condemned for our sins in which he had no share, that we might be justified by his righteousness in which we had no share. He took our place and suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was his. What a goodnews. Because of the fall in the garden of Eden, a vacuum was created in man which only Creator can fill. Man will always feel this void in himself until his Maker takes His rightful place in his life.
Our world is full of endless ant-hill activities. A man’s life from birth to death is a series of transition rites which brings him nearer to his ancestors. Think well, eat well, sleep well and be healthy. Make time to rest. Muddy water left to stand, becomes clear. Those who don’t rest are laid to rest by those who rest. Elastic rope loses it’s elasticity if often over stretched. Even friendship that is often used does not last. If you spend your health for wealth, you must eventually spend your wealth for health. He who eats until he is sick, will fast until he is well. Worry can cost you your sleep. Sleep is a therapeutical agent. A person who cannot sleep can never get well.
Avoid resentment, the better you feel, the better life gets. If anyone could tell you the shortest, surest way to all happiness and all perfection, he must tell you to make it a rule to thank and praise our Heavenly Father for everything that happens to you. You can always enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Praise and thanksgiving open the door. Those who wish to sing always find a song. When you get something, no matter how little it is, be grateful. Don’t forget the one who gave you water and only remember the one who refused you water when you were thirsty There is healing power in gratitude. Whatever you are grateful for, multiplies. Gratitude is a multiplier. To get what you want, be thankful for what you have.
Every heavenly provision is manna. Let us not be like the Israelites, who complained after ating manna, instead of giving thanks. The fact is, the more you complain, the less you will obtain. When you imagine that everything is lost, you are often on the point of acquiring great merit. Everything is not lost just because something has gone wrong. There is no one that has it his way all the time. When things go wrong as they sometimes should, whenever life is proving difficult for whatever reason, don’t loose hope and behave as if things would never improve. No night however dark it will be, can stay longer than it should. It was when the caterpillar thought that the world was going to end that it turned into a beautiful butterfly. When the earth disappoints you, it is a sign that Heaven has something better for you. Sometimes the better comes after the worst. Sometimes it takes a really dark storm to make you realize that no matter how difficult it is, you will always survive. A piece of land may be dry without any sign of life. But as soon as it hears smell of rain, plants and grasses will spring up in it. Even so, the Father of all mercies will cause his rain to fall upon your life, that beautiful things will grow in it that will glorify his name and bless humanity. He, who breaks the earth for the cotyledon, will make you to fly without wings. It is good for a man to “wait until his change comes”. For surely it will come. And “they that wait shall renew their strength, and shall never be ashamed”. Don’t let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life. Life has many chapters for us. One bad chapter does not mean the end of the book.
There is no greater security than knowing that the Most High is always with us. When calamity approaches, deliverance is not far. The refiner cannot be far from the crucible when his gold is in the fire. You have a Saviour. Don’t you? The Shepherd will keep His sheep. Fear in the time of danger reveals unbelief. He who believes is strong, he who doubts is weak. We who believe do enter into rest. “Divine Will,” will never take you to a place where divine grace will not reach you. It is certain that whatever calamity that happens to you, if you thank and praise the Sovereign One, for it, you turn it into a blessing. Always aim at complete harmony of thought, word and deed. Aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well. In quietness shall your strength be. Let us leave fear for those who have no Father and no Saviour. It is always weakness to fret and worry, questioning and mistrusting. What can we do if we wear ourselves to skin and bone? By fearing and fuming we unfit ourselves for action and hinder our minds from wise decisions. Even when the unexpected happens, life still goes on. Serenity under the rush and roar of unexpected evil is a precious gift of divine love. Though you weep in the night, I urge you to wipe the tears off your eyes in anticipation of a bright morning. Put on your garment of praise.
Everything goes wrong when you are wrong. You have to be happy first, and give happiness to receive happy things. Thoughts cannot be kept secret, it will soon or later crystallize into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstances or things. As the plants from, and could not be without the seed, so every circumstance of a man springs from the hidden seeds of his thought. If you smile at the future, it will smile back at you. It is with the mind that one can see what is right. What is essential is invisible to the eyes. What you see with the eyes of your heart is more real than what you see with your physical eyes. We look with our eyes but we see with our minds. All things when recognized by us as part of the Divine will, must work for our good. Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us. There is advantage in every disadvantage. There is gain in every loss. Everyone’s death simplifies life for someone. Everyday may not be good but there is something good in everyday. Whatever you lose comes back to you in a different form. The Ruler of the Universe at times provides opportunities for battle in order that we may experience victory. He puts us into the deep water not to drown us but to teach us how to swim. If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change. Some problems are solved by no more seeing them as problems. Any situation without remedy should be treated without concern. If you call something something, it will become something for you.
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. Attitude is more important than fact. Any difficult situation, even a seemingly hopeless one, can be overcome by maintaining a confident and optimistic thought pattern. At times it is easy to get confused when things are not right and nothing is left. How you think about a situation is more important than the situation itself. How you think about a situation determines your failure or success. Try optimism. The much detested failure may be gateway to a greater success ahead. We are not glorifying failure, but the truth remains, that often the only ones who break through to a higher level do so through some drastic failures in life. These find the rainbow through their tears. Search the pages of history. Troubles flocked to them but they didn’t recognize them as troubles – they thought them opportunities and used them to raise themselves up.
It matters not how dark the darkness before you may be. Go out into the darkness and put your hands into the hand of the Almighty One. That shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way. When the tempests of temptations gather, and the fierce lightening flash, and the waves sweep over us; we should not battle with the storm alone, forgetting that there is ONE who can help us. Living faith in our Saviour will smoothen the sea of life and deliver us from all dangers. Whatever happens, remain cool, calm and collected. If something does not happen, something will not happen. Something happens for something to happen. Life is very interesting, most of your bitterest experiences today become your greatest strength tomorrow. The things that make you cry today will become your testimony tomorrow. Adversity is a good teacher. It has much advantage especially when well managed. One never learns anything new about the Creator except through adversity. So, don’t waste your sorrow. It is a raw material in the divine alchemy. There are some who without much pain or suffering can come to a beautiful, simple, yet valid understanding of the deep truths of the Holy One, while others must pass through the very valley of the shadow of death before they can say with certainty, “My head is anointed. My cup runs over”.
The Great Potter uses only those He has beaten into shape. Through pain and suffering one learns he cannot control his Maker – he can only submit to him. As the refiner refines his silver ore in the white heat, so must those chosen for special kingdom work by their Maker be refined. The fire burns and purges the dross until only the pure metal is left. Only when the Refiner looks into the crucible and sees the reflection of His own face (Divine nature) is the heat turned down and the pure metal poured into the form which blesses humanity and honours the Eternal Glory. Even as the Captain of our salvation (the Prince of Glory), was made perfect through suffering. Suffering at times might serve a wholesome pedagogic purpose of restrain upon lascivious humanity. All is right which seems most wrong if it works out His will in us. Knowing this is maturity. All things, evil as well as good, under divine supervision and overruling, are working together for the accomplishment of His will. In the old law, no Israelite should receive more than thirty nine strokes of cane as punishment. This ensured careful counting and limited suffering. So it is with each chastised member of the household of faith. Our King said, “I will correct you in measure”. In the family of grace there is discipline severe enough to make it a bitter thing to sin. The punishment for sin is everlasting, but the Fatherly chastisement of it in his child is only for a season, that he should not be destroyed with the wicked. As it is written: “you only have I known of all the families of earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins”. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten…” Sometime things fall apart to make things better. Difficult periods may not mean that something is wrong with you; they implicate that something better is waiting for you, to take your life to the next level.
There is a new work of the Spirit going on to bring us to a place of absolute imprisonment to the direct guidance and will of the Creator. What a glorious confinement. Just to know that I am bound up in His divine purpose, regardless of what He chooses to do to me and with me. It is a difficult and torturous path at times, until we recognize who our Jailer really is. We fret and worry when we think that we are bound by our circumstances, or enemies. If we will but realize that our Maker controls our destiny, we can come into rest and submit to His workings and dealings in our lives. Stop trying to break loose from the loving grip of One who holds you for your protection. That you may be a partaker of His holiness, yielding peaceable fruit of righteousness. He wants to keep you within His sacred precincts. To resist one’s cross is to make it heavier. An ambition in conflict with divine will, will cause sorrow and confusion in life. Peace of oneness with the Father’s will is a great treasure. Nothing intrinsically evil can happen to the righteous. There is no possible way to explain why things at times happen the way they do. One possible answer is that we are still wearing our “sackcloth”. But we can take solace in the sympathy of heaven, knowing that all things happen for our good. Some questions about the real issues of life are not easy to answer. No man can ask “why” more than Job, but no answers were given to him. WHY ASK WHY? No real answer is given to the question of why the righteous suffer. There are times in the face of suffering when silence is the best we can offer a friend, like when he looses a beloved one. At such a time, we are more likely to be helpful with economy of words. We should be careful to say not just what is right but what is helpful.
I have learned over the years that when one door seems closed, another door opens, but often we mourn so long about the closed door that we don’t see the one that is open for us. Every exit is an entry somewhere. No sun set, no sun rise. The end of every event is the beginning of another. Birth and death are two great beginnings; death has been described as the beginning of the greater journey to the other side. The times we are in are very plastic. A lot of phony things happen. Protect your peace. Have I not told you, be strong and of a good courage. Do not pray for task equal to your power, pray for power equal to your task. His burden is light. Life’s heaviest burden is to have nothing to carry. The man who has no more problems to solve is out of the game. There is no one who does not have where it pains, for even in laughter the heart aches. When a fire is alight, the flames leap up but there is often smoke as well. Every fulfillment is a burden because it exposes us to another. Life at best is a lingering death. Death is an appointment which no man can escape. The date of everyone’s death has been fixed; and until that day comes, he escapes all dangers and survives every sickness. But when that day comes, even cobweb can strangle him.
The mark of a man who is growing is his understanding that things go wrong to make us more right. There is no gain except by loss; there is no life except by death. Just as light came out of darkness; life comes out of death. Our Creator never breaks a man down with problems except to build him up. Life is war and victory is sweet. But no strong man can successfully fight and kill a lion without one or two wounds on his body. In nature nothing is given – all things are sold. Pay the price of the thing and you will have the thing. Failure is the only one thing you can achieve in life without risks, efforts and mistakes. Condemning yourself after a mistake is making another mistake. People learn from their mistakes only when they are not busy denying and defending them. No man ever became great or good except through many and great mistakes. Wisdom keeps you from making mistakes, but it comes from having made plenty of them. Nothing good comes easy. When you go in search of honey, you must be ready to be stung by bees. If you bury yourself in a cloister because of a failed purpose, premature old age will greet you, and you will be a confirmed failure. You may encounter many defeats, but you must refuse to be defeated. Satan’s attacks cannot destroy a child of our heavenly Father. Job and the devil both found that out. Every attack of the enemy is there only to be overcome. “It came to pass’’! Calumny brightens a true saint. That you have the Messiah in your boat does not mean that you will never face any storm; it means that no storm can sink your boat. The good Physician who is the Captain of our salvation knows how to heal any of His soldiers who is wounded in battle. “After this Job lived……” It is not the evil but the good that have the promise of tribulation in his life.
Anxiety is interest paid on troubles before it is due. Stop trying to cross the bridge before you get to it. We lend reality to evils through our thoughts. Many people have nothing wrong with them except their thoughts. Having diagnosed this, I make this prescription for them: “be you transformed by the renewing of your mind”. Relax, you are getting closer to the dinning table. Your expected date of delivery (EDD) is in sight. Yesterday ended last night. Today is a new bright day. Halleluyah!
Worry kills faster than alcohol or cigarette. It is a grave digger that has no sympathy. Worry, fear and torment form trinity, if you have one, you have others. This is your urgent need:- A POSITIVE MIND-SET, if you must live a happy life since the pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. If we spend our time in the regrets of yesterday and in the fears of tomorrow, we will have no today to live in. Many people don’t live their today. They are completely consumed with the future and yet it is how we live today that creates our future. Anxiety is excess future, depression is excess past and stress is excess today. Resist them. He was, He is, and He will be. Umbrella cannot stop the rain, but it can make you stand safe in the rain. Confidence may not bring success but it gives us power to face any challenge in life.
Rest of mind does not come with much wealth or lack of problems. But you can have rest even in the midst of burning fire. The ability to enjoy life is a divine gift. Let Him, who was “sent to heal the broken hearted” minister His “peace that passes human understanding” to you. It is not what you have or what you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy, it is what you think about it. There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so. Happiness depends on happenings, joy depends on spiritual freedom. There is nothing better than a joyful attitude when you face the challenges that life throws at us. It is not the load that breaks you down, it is the way you carry it. If you spend all your time in the regrets of yesterday and in the fears of tomorrow, you will have no today to enjoy. Yesterday is the womb; tomorrow is the tomb, today is really your life. Now is all we have. Anything that has ever happened or that is ever going to happen is just a thought. One old man said that the things that robbed him of his precious joy in life were the things that never happened. The greatest fear of man is fear of the unknown. We suffer more in imagination than in reality. Resist presentment, it steals joy. Your happiness depends on the wholesomeness of your thoughts. We live from inside out. Our bigger problem is not what we are eating, but what is eating us. Why worry! WHAT WILL BE WILL BE. Someone had correctly said that, thinking is the greatest business of this life. If the thought is wrong everything goes wrong. Wrong thinking can make a little problem to appear as a gordian knot, and a rat like a lion. But if the thought is right, all becomes right. If you brood over your troubles, it will hatch. Think what you want. If you focus your thoughts on what you want, the universe will move people, circumstances and events to deliver it to you. Expect the things you want. Expectation is a powerful force of attraction. If you don’t want it, don’t think it.
Remember that, if you pray to the Almighty Father, but keep your attention on your problems, you will still have them. Fix your attention upon Him – His goodness, love, His power to remedy any ill or adjust any unfavorable condition. Think of good and you will have it. Expecting good is an antidote to worry and anxiety. Faith knows that: the darker the night the nearer the dawn.
Worry is a route that leads from somewhere to nowhere, never let it direct your life. The best way to display your faith in our Heavenly Father is to be happy in the face of your problems. For the Great Provider will surely provide the lamb for the sacrifice. In every life there are troubles; if you worry, you make them double. Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles, it only takes away today’s peace. Apostles Paul and Silas will tell you that praises are sweeter and more effective when you are in chains in prison, and in the midst of darkness. Take all things to Him in prayer. Prayer may not change all things for you but it surely changes you for all things. Say not “our Father” during prayer and live as an orphan after that. Relax in His care. If you take life too seriously, you will never get out of it alive. Be patient. Like stars in the vast circuit of their appointed path, divine purposes know no haste and no delay. In heaven’s council, your hour had been determined. When the great clock of time points to that hour, at the fullness of time your healing will come. The veil will tear and be removed out of the way. In divine program, there is no zero probability. The probability is always at one. Patience is the price you must pay for what you want. If you don’t apply patience, you may become a patient. People who hurry through life, get to the end of it quicker. You can reach anywhere in this world if you are willing to take enough little steps. Slow and steady still wins the race. Success is a sum total of many little efforts. Do not neglect little things. Patience is the force that makes faith productive. Learn to wait. Don’t be like the little boy who rings the door bell, but then runs away before the door is opened. Patience is developed in situations in which we are forced to wait, even when it appears dangerous to do so. Endurance develops every time you reject a temptation to give up. Growing strong is better than growing fast. Gradual progress is a divine process. There is no shortcut to maturity. Slow success builds character, fast success builds ego. The long time Joseph spent in prison did not cancel the dream that the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed to him. Abraham, after he had patiently endured, obtained the promise. There is nothing you can do to make our Father do for you toady what he has planned to do tomorrow. We are born into a “now, now generation”. A generation which cannot wait. We are always in a hurry. Wait; your day is already breaking. I can hear the cock crow. “That which had been determined” must be done.
The place of prayer is where we can alter the decrees of men and change the course of things in the world. It is the place where all matters are resolved before encountering them. He who kneels before the Almighty can stand in any situation. Your time in the SECRET PLACE will determine your strength in the public place. The prayer closet is the arena which produces the overcomer. Always remember that life is a race, fools depend on their feet while the wise depend on their knees and win the race conveniently. The greatest obstacle to gaining comfort is your slowness in turning to prayer. Men always ought to pray. Pray about everything. Pray as often as possible. The best habit is prayer habit. You will never regret praying. And after you have prayed, begin to live as though your prayers are already answered. If our Father answers your prayer, he is increasing your faith. If he delays, he is increasing your patience. And if he does not answer, he has something better for you. Be happy. Prayer should not be seen as a last resort. Outside the Creator, there is no effective help, no reliable counsel and no lasting remedy. Always look up. Learn to fight from heaven. Only that which is bound in heaven can be bounds on earth. Only a battle won spiritually can be won physically. Don’t depend on any man in this world; Even your own shadow leaves you when you are in darkness. All men are shadow. Stop talking about the mountain before you, talk to it.
The best church workers are those who graduate from the “University of suffering” – “Department of Prayerology”. Graduation for divine service takes place in the secret place of prayer.
Note that in prayer, the thoughts of our heart is more important than the words of our mouth, for the Most High does not listen to our words in prayer except when Himself utters them through our lips. By the Spirit every sincere prayer is composed and only such prayer is acceptable to our Father in Heaven. Call it phonation, elocution, articulation, fluency etc, it does not contribute to answered prayer. The Hidden One listens only to the hidden man of the heart. He listens to our heart, not our brain. But be sure that prayer is a business between you and your Maker. And it should be made as secret as possible. But note that; prayer is the first necessary step but not all. You should not do more than pray until you have prayed, but you must do more than pray after you have prayed. Arise and work. Do not deceive yourself. Prayer cannot replace work. All prayer and no work makes a saint a poor man. And the trouble of being poor is that poverty takes all your time; it keeps you ever working. Praying to our Heavenly Father to do for you what you should do by yourself is to waste your prayer. His part, you cannot play. But your work you must do. There is human element in every miracle. Hope for miracle but don’t rely on it; work. Always know that divine favour is the flavour of life. Pray as if everything depends on the Creator and work as if everything depends on your efforts. All the fruits of tomorrow are in the seeds of today. We do the planting and He gives the increase. Labour enough but hope on favour. It is not labour versus favour, they often go together. But always bear in mind that the job you are doing is only an avenue for you to learn responsibility, discipline and contribution, not means of livelihood; your Creator is that. He is your Source; people and your job are mere channels.
If the head and body must be well, you must begin by curing the mind. A merry heart causes good healing. It is a panacea. To be healthy, make peace within yourself, within your thoughts. Laugh a little; sing a little, dance a little if you can. If you take the first step with a good thought, the second with a good word and the third with a good deed, you will enter paradise. Sometimes it is best to leave things as they are. A small mistake is often worse and more visible when you pay much attention to it. If you call something something it will become something for you. Some problem are solved by neglecting them. By acknowledging a petty problem, you give it existence and credibility. Paying attention to an enemy makes him stronger. Show contempt for anything you want but cannot have it, and you shall find rest unto your soul. Let not your happiness depend on people’s opinion about you. Men estimate character by that which they themselves are capable of appreciating. Sometimes others may show appreciation for your good efforts, but that is a bonus; for the major satisfaction comes from within. Appreciate yourself. The Creator was alone when He did his work of creation. There was none to praise Him, so he praised himself, saying: “it is good”. Expecting praise from the sons of Adam paves way for discouragement. Most people don’t notice what you do until you stop doing it. Work for a cause not applause. Don’t be deceived by praise or weakened with criticisms. No runner has ever won a medal by looking sideways. Instead of worrying about what people are saying of you, why not spend the time trying to achieve something that they will admire? There are many who are ever ready to point an accusing finger, but never willing to extend a helping hand. From such turn away. If you care what people think about you, you will always be their prisoner. Satisfaction is a business of the mind. The Monkey may not be fine but the mother likes it. Everybody is a success, but if you judge a monkey by his ability to swim, it will seem to be a failure. No one has it all and no one lacks it all. Surely you have succeeded in many things. Congratulations!
Learn to live in the practical world with its problems – the avoidable and the unavoidable; the soluble and the insoluble. Be practical. The difference between theory and practice is a spacious one, especially when it comes to grappling with human pressures and sufferings. Intellectually we may have some powerful theories, but when the pressure is on us, our theories may seem to provide us with rickety and almost useless defenses.
Learn to live with your pressures in the present, while borrowing light from the past and hope from the future. Do not deny in the dark what has been revealed to you in the light. You cure some pressures by surviving them. This is maturity. When you cannot solve a problem, manage it; and keep on managing it until you become a successful and joyful manager. A mature person is not one without pressure, but rather the person who knows how to live with the push and pull of opposite pressures in his life. Any situation without remedy should be treated without concern. Some problems are solved by neglecting them. A saint who is suffering should be careful to maintain his faith, for that maybe the purpose of the attack; to destroy his precious faith. The roaring fake lion is seeking whom to devour. A saint may suffer skin and flesh wounds but no great harm shall be done to him; not a bone of his shall be broken. Let him lose neither faith, hope nor love. Let no bone of his character be broken, rather let them gain more strength and energy through knowledge, experience, patience and stability brought by the trial. The promise is: “He keeps all his bones; not one of them shall be broken”.
Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the wind and storms of the soul to obey him. Change of diet will never help a man who will not change his thoughts. For men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood, so long as they propagate unclean thoughts. The most important house to clean is your house. Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and clean body. The outward appearance of a man is but the in-working of his mind. Avoid stress, it weakens the immune system
Do not allow your troubles to make you bitter but better. When you put a smile on another’s face you are bound to have it on your own. The man who gives a little with a smile gives more than the one who gives much with a frown. Your smile is the messenger of your good will. A sullen countenance may hide the beauty of the man inside. A smile, although it may last for a moment, but its effect stays with us. Its value is immense but nobody is so poor that he cannot share it or so rich that he does not need it. The most wasted day is the one in which we did not laugh. The first and greatest gift you can give to your visitor is a smiling face. You can at least fake it. You can never have a second chance for a good first impression. Diplomacy is the highlight of wisdom. A smile is the best make-up yet without a cost. It makes even a Chimpanzee to look beautiful. Do not refuse to give someone a smile just because he frowned, for nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none to give. Suffering can make one to lose his risibility. Our greatest victory is to deliver those who are in the enemy’s captivity. Life sometimes erodes the goodness of men, and the stress of events brings decay. Why is it that some people in the world can live all their days full of ease and security, while someone else dies in penury and bitterness? Righteous Father, forgive us if we ask why; but why is it so? What a world of inequality, a world of hills and valleys.
Peace of mind is your most precious possession. Sorrow is a heavy weight, never carry it. It is not the water under or around the ship that sinks it, but the one that get into it. So guard your heart. Discard anything that burdens you and robs you of your inner peace. The most effective sleeping pill is rest of mind. Sorrow looks back, fear looks around but faith looks up. You have a Father who is ever near and willing to help. He is at work. He is in full control. He is in the midst of whatever has happened, is happening, and will ever happen. It is the fire of testing that gives life its nobility, utility and strength. A vessel may be perfectly molded in the hand of the Potter, but it is of no practical value until it has passed through the kiln (Furnace of fire). There is an honour that could only be reached through suffering and humiliation. Whenever the Creator brings us into trial, He has a purpose to accomplish for our good. Learn to see the divine purpose in every opportunity, appointment or disappointment that comes your way in this life.
The fact that we are called upon to endure trials shows that our Maker sees in us something precious which he desires to develop. If He saw in us nothing whereby He might glorify His name, He would not spend time in refining us. He does not cast worthless stones into His furnace. The best tools receive their temper from fire, and their edge from grinding. Human tools are no exception. Problems have disciplinary value in the development of a person. By putting up strong resistance to hardships, obstacles and sufferings, he grows strong mentally and spiritually. Life is like photograph, we use the negatives to develop it. If there is no test, there will be no testimony; no trial, not triumph. There was never a birth without pain. It is better to laugh after crying than to cry after laughing. It is better to be like Job of UZ than to be like Judas Iscariot. Only those who are tested will testify. Why ask why? Whenever there is a pain you do not understand, just give thanks. No nurse stops the circumcision process because the child is crying. Don’t desire to be like another person. Anyone who attended a coronation and wished he was the king. And attended a wedding ceremony, and wished he was the bride. If he attends a burial ceremony, let him also wish he is the corpse.
Your glorious future is hidden behind a painful and problematic past. What we call disaster maybe a divine re-direction. When crisis occurs, whether you will sorrow unto death or laugh your way through into victory depends on your interpretation of it. Be careful how you handle your difficult seasons, they are working out your destiny. How you will get to where you are going from where you are now is a mystery. Ruth can behind the veil of her problematic circumstances come into the holy and glorious lineage of the King of kings. Your present affliction is a process, not your destination. This sickness is not unto death; it will turn out for you as an occasion of testimony. Don’t allow your ugly past to embarrass you about your future. The devil has no power to hold your past against your future. Your ugly yesterday cannot stop your beautiful tomorrow. Your success will be an enigma. Keep your passion for success. Be not of those who draw back unto perdition. You have seen what was, and what is; but what is to come will be marvelous. Just now clouds are plenty enough, but we are not afraid that we will be destroyed by a deluge. We see the rainbow often enough to prevent our having any such fear. Faith always sees the bow of covenant promises whenever senses see the cloud of affliction. It is a bow of many colours expressing joy and delight, not a bow black with anger. All things when recognized by us as divine must work for our good.
It is better to receive the bitter from the Creator than to receive the sweet from man. Much has been given to us that we should not complain about what has been denied us. You are blessed indeed. Even if like Jacob of old, you have stones for a pillow, you can still have sweet dreams that have eternal value; And wake up to realize that you had been blessed, but you knew it not. Understand that car, house, money etc are not the blessing but the result of it. The blessing of the Holy Father upon your life is an unseen power or force that causes good things to happen to you and through you. We have the fruits of all the trees in the garden to enjoy but one. Let us be grateful instead of asking for another plateful. Get down on your knees and thank the Almighty Father you are on your feet; Many are lying in hospital, others, in the grave. The child Moses cried that he was uncomfortable in the basket by the river side, not knowing that his mates had it worse: they have all been killed. Moses did not know like the patriarch Joseph that: it is well, even in the well. The Almighty One has the whole world in His hand, expect nothing but GOOD. Healing has begun. “It shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light”. To the righteous the sun rises when it is almost night. In the worst time a lot of good things can happen. EXPECT GOOD
MAKE A SMILE NOW!!!
Let this be the song of your heart.
I surrender……….I surrender all) X2
All to Thee my blessed Savior
I surrender……………I surrender all.
Anyone who is not grateful is great-fool.
-BKC YAHKA
