BE STILL, BEHOLD.

BE STILL, BEHOLD.

    It is no more news that people are not experiencing the kind of life they would have wanted to lead. They carry out some irrational decisions and either regret their actions or live frustrated. Some people have jumped into the music industry, some movie, some fashion and many others one industry or the other. No wonder there is little professionalism in these industries as a lot of people are just following the band wagons.

   A lot of people have at the back of their minds that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, but it is interesting to know that a negative energy input is the devil’s humor. Now, which is better is the big question? Well, food for thought.

I am not trying to be religious here but I am would like to chip in one or two scenes from the bible to better buttress my argument, but before then, let me introduce this burning thought in my head.

           I belong to the school of thought that disagrees with the idiom – make hay while the sun shines. What if the sun is too scorching and would probably fry the hay you are trying to achieve. I also disagree with- opportunity comes but on once. The reason is that opportunity as far as I am concerned is always and rushing into a decision would only give you ample time to make a serious mistake. A lot of people do not think about what they do anymore and find it difficult to properly analyze and scrutinize things before they jump in, only for them to jump out filled with regrets, or stay in frustrated asking themselves; what will people think.

     A lot of people usually consider people’s views about their lives and end up living other people’s lives. They need to know people’s opinions and would be seemingly comfortable themselves if other’s were. How funny!

So back to where I came from- opportunity is always and hay could be made without sun. I mean all you need is heat and not necessarily sun’s heat.

I can remember very some times when Jesus always told his disciples” peace be still” he also on several occasions would tell them that the time is not right yet for them to perform some certain miracles and that when the time was right, they would be sent a helper. You see nothing has changed.

      So as I conclude, we don’t have to worry about the right time because we would always have help. So be still behold, as you carefully carry out operations and thoroughly think things through before you act. Depart from those that will tell you that you need to make mistakes and only then can you learn.

         I stand corrected, but until then be still behold.

UKADIKE IKECHUKWU

SHE WROTE WAEC WITH HER LEGS AND GOT 6 CREDITS

              There is a man in whom the Spirit of the Living God dwells, his name is Bishop David Oyedepo. I love this prophet of God and am very serious about this i love him just the same way i love my earthly father and even more. This year for all winners is tagged Double Portion and i could remember at crossover service of December 31st 2012, my father in the Lord Bishop Oyedepo said that this year for all winners is a year of Divine Surprises,i am always so excited about this prohpet's prophecy because i know He is God sent..Just when am about to encounter my own divine surprise, this testimony was share about this great lady that wrote waec with her leg because her arms were twisted and got 6 credits. An organization which heard of her feat has offered to sponsor her tertiary education and also pay for her accommodation. That is aside guaranteeing her a job after graduation.
     Bishop thoroughly confirmed this testimony before sharing it and he said that he has not seen this kind of testimony in his 44years in ministry. Glory to God. My God is A great God, He is greater than the greatest. Only Him perfometh wonders. Psalm 136:4.
.

“EXAMS ON MY MIND”

I was just in SS3 when we were informed that our last paper for final year examinations was going to be a blast. I wondered at what that meant but rumor had it that one of our teachers were going to help us cheat. It was Further Maths and nobody liked the course (at least none that I knew of) so what a joy it was for most students. I detested the idea so much and couldn’t imagine why it would excite anyone. Anyway, to cut the long story short. 15th April 2002 (the day of the exam) arrived and the tension in the examination hall didn’t help matters. I sweated as I glanced through the questions that had been put in front of me. I knew nothing, I was so blank. If paper could be created from blank brains, mine would be the whitest of them all. Thirty minutes into the exam, Mrs Obasa walked into the hall and began to narrate the answers like as if it was a normal thing. I tilted my head to look around when I noticed that the whole class was writing down what she said. I was confused. It was easy to join them and copy the answers to questions I knew nothing about but for some reason, I stopped myself. I remember thinking “How would God feel if he saw me joining them to cheat?”. At the end of the exam, I submitted a blank sheet in faith. Two (2) months later, the results were released and guess what! Out of over one thousand students, I was the only one that emerged with an “A”. Sincerely, I don’t know how or why that happened but I do know that they that know their God shall be strong and do exploits. Truth is this, Vain is the help of man and if you look up to man for help, you might as well get ready for disappointment.

Based on a true life story.

Powered by Exams on my mind.

SOURCE: astoldbytope.com

GIVE GOD ALL YOU HAVE

It was a bright sunny day at Zion of God Church. The pastor preached about giving and like the way most sermons on giving end, he stated “Today, you’re going to be giving God something remarkable”. “Chai” I muttered as I dipped my hand into my pocket to bring out all I had left. It was just one ten (10) naira note and a thousand (1000) naira note. I was torn in between giving #10 or #1000 for offering. It was like a battle in the mind for me. Just as I was about returning the #1000 into my pocket, the preacher shouted loudly “Don’t give God a miserable amount like #5 or #10 or #50 or even #100. God is worth more than that”. I was devastated. In fact, the picture above is the perfect description for the look I had on my face. With that, the ushers began to pass the bowl for offering. They were almost reaching me….my palms were sweating and I shook like as if I had a cold, I could even feel water coming out of my eyes……to cut the long story short, I gave the #1000 as offering. As soon as the offering bowl passed me, it was as if I should shout “Bring it back, that’s all the money I have”. But it was too late. After service, I simply stared into thin air as everybody left the sanctuary. When the hall was empty, I was in tears….I had no money to go home or even eat. I gave my all to God. I struggled to stand up as I pushed myself to the exit. Just then, an elderly woman walked up to me and stretched forth an envelope to me stating “God asked me to give you this”. I received the envelope and what I saw caused me to drop it on the ground. I stared in uttermost disbelief. I picked it up again then began to count the wad of #1000 notes which seemed uncountable. I looked up to appreciate the woman but she was gone.

Give and it shall be given unto you, good measures pressed down, shaken together, running over. When you give God your all, he gives you his all.

Glory Edozien: No Room for Mediocrity

Just like everyone else, I started the New Year with great hope and ambition. I wrote down all my goals and put down the strategy with which to achieve them. I cleared out all the extra junk in my room and even went as far as doing a mini redecorating effort, all to set the tone for newness in 2013.
I’m all about tangible activity, activity which produces quantifiable results. Too many people are doing too much in the world for me to sit back and not be part of the bigger picture, plugging in to shape my community and the world at large.

As I discussed my goals and ambitions with my friends conversation turned inevitably to our giant of a country and the quagmire which we find ourselves. Nigerians are possibly the most active people on earth. We are in a hurry to do everything and in the end nothing gets done. My generation is also possibly the biggest contributor to this achievement deficit. All talk and no action, all words and no practice. I have mentioned in a previous article, my general disappointment with what we see today as youth activism. Many of such proponents are themselves worse than the people we pretend to accuse, the only difference is we have the gift of the gab. We’ve been educated and blessed with the power to wield words as swords, blunt as they may be.

We only have to look at Twitter to see the amount of Twitter gods that have arisen over the years. Thousands of followers and sound bites made up with fancy sounding words but no real, tangible achievement to show for it.

Achievements have now taken on a virtual outlook. Why actually get involved in shaping your community when you can talk all day on Twitter. Stand up for what you believe in – only in the comfort of your living room. Normally, I am able to confine the meaningless dribble of these Twitter pundits to social media alone, until they started turning up as panelists on TV shows, presumably to talk more about what they already talk about….outstanding!

Like false prophets we are all clamoring to get attention, whoever makes the loudest noise and gets the most hits on YouTube – this is our value today. Even when we do take interest in meaningful social projects we ensure the press coverage is the equivalent of Obama’s inauguration. Of course the argument is always that such publicity encourages other to follow suit, never mind that the individual is an elected official whose job it is to implement such projects in the first place.

Next time, I meet the requirements of my job description, I’ll be sure to have an event and post the pictures in This Day Style, who knows maybe that may get me a promotion! We are a humorous people aren’t we? We feed the homeless once in 20 years, publish the pictures online and delight in the comments we receive. We build a new 3-kilometer road or put a borehole in a community and publish it in the papers. Hilarious! And the list could go on, but perhaps we aren’t to blame, maybe the yardstick for measuring achievements too have gone awry. After all if a known wife beater could be named as a UN Peace ambassador, it is reasonable to expect that the definition for peace in our generation has indeed changed. After all, I hear that Chris Brown will be opening a halfway house for battered girlfriends! If all I had to do was post a video giving pointless advice in more make up than required to become famous, why should I bother to do anything different. Why bother to do any real work when all I have to be is a ‘fine boy’ and ‘colour block’ correctly at every event. No need to develop any skill or contribute meaningfully to any worthwhile agenda when I can draft 160 character sentences about the ineptitude of my government.

Lets face it people, the sewers of our society are pouring out sewage and we think we are walking in a rose bush. Buried in our community are people doing marvelous work, putting aside hard earned money to send orphaned children to school, establishing drug rehabilitation and half way centers for ex commercial sex workers, teaching abandoned children vocational skills….again the list could go on. Why don’t we, at the very least, look for these people and celebrate them. Let us talk about them and send broadcast messages on their achievements. Let our magazines write interesting features on them. Let us celebrate the worthy and not just the available. Only then will these mediocre offenders actually start thinking.

Recently, as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper Community in Lagos, I submitted an application to attend the World Economic Forum on Africa summit 2013. The application process was simple, submit a video answering the following question in 2 minutes..”How are you impacting your world?” let the answers begin….

Do you want 5.0 this semester?

   There’s no doubt that God’s word is real and it (the word) is true and faithful. As we have heard many times, “God cannot lie”. We see that in Num23:19(KJV):”God is not a man; that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent . . .” If you didn’t know that before, know it from now. His word which is real says in Rev5:10 that “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on earth”. This tells us that our reigning in life is NOT a PROMISE, we are not waiting for it to happen; it is a RIGHT. He HAS MADE us; that says a lot. The simple truth although I found it hard to accept at first is that if we are not experiencing dominion in any area of our lives, we must be doing something wrong or not doing anything at all. God will not break His word to please you but rather you must align to access what he has said concerning you (Jhn10:35). With this understanding, I will be sharing with you with some keys that God has shown me and when I applied them, produced amazing results that could not be denied.

As a secondary school student, unsaved, lost, heard of Christ but not connected to Him, not understanding my place and my rights in Christ, was a mediocre and a failure. I failed a lot of subjects then that my dad’s mood towards me changed and I became a joke in my environment. A time came in the year 2008, and everything turned for the better when I got saved. The least I got was a grade ‘C’ since that time and that is since SSS2. God is faithful, He really is. He changed me wholly and fully when I encountered His word while searching for the secret to doing well in school and something struck me in 2Tim2:15:” Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”. He opened me up to that scripture and made me understand that if I study to His approval and not mine, I’ll never see shame. Friends, that changed my life forever and thank God every time for that encounter. Understand that Jesus died for you to become rich in all things and that includes your academics (2Cor8:9). He redeemed us from the curse of the law which entails failure and connected me to Abrahamic blessings (Gal3:13-14 paraphrased).  That goes to show that in God’s eyes, we can’t fail and we are not permitted to. There are certain things we should do to align ourselves with God’s word. I will be highlighting some with the help of God.

Firstly, you need to be connected to God to access this kind of academic excellence. You need to become a child of God first before you talk about having rights; we see in Jhn15:4 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me”. Secondly, find what His word says about your success and believe it with your HEART and not your HEAD. Keep on saying it until it enters your spirit. Thirdly, prove you believe by working and studying. This is a very delicate area because everybody wants success but very few are willing to pay the price. You want excellence in your tests, examinations, study. We see in 2Tim2:6:”The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits”.  Turn every stone, cover what is needed. The reason that unbeliever is topping you in class is because he/she is working more than you, so work! Fourthly, rely on the Holy Spirit for help and direction. He is the one that guides you to what is needed, strengthen you to do the required, and reminds you of what you have learnt. He has always given me ‘areas of concentration’ even few minutes before the examination begins. Talk to Him, inquire of Him and obey Him. Lastly, don’t rely on your own understanding; always put God first and acknowledge Him.

God wants you to reign in life and all He wants is for us to align with His word. All these keys are useless if they are not applied (Jas1:22; 2:17). Friends, it’s a lie from the devil when you think that you are not built for distinctions in your academics. I used to think I wasn’t meant to be at the top in class but was meant to be a footballer because I was good at that then but how wrong I was and He proved it in my life. The word of God says in Phil4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. I urge you to believe Him this forth coming examination and indeed every shame will be exchanged with a double portion.

EKEH KELECHI.C

CAREER OFFICER

SUCCESS WITHIN INTERNATIONAL

OKORO JOHN: YESTERDAY, I SPOKE WITH THE PRESIDENT

     

Yesterday, i stopped by a gas station to fill up my tank after a very long day. While waiting on the line, a young and nibble boy walked up to where i was parked with some oranges in his hands. Apparently he was about to market them to solicit for my purchasing power. I momentarily did the permutations and additions, and i discovered that the entire resources at his disposal was less than 500 naira. This means that even if he did all he was capable of doing, he could make no more that that ammount for that Night. I had to contain my tears to give justice to the plea of my reason and examine him socratically (via interrogation). To my greatest surprise, i discovered that this young boy had a very bright future and intelligent mind. To be told that he was the fifth in academic position in his class was no mean feat. And i was very touched that he has to go through a very tough path to get to his success. I felt deeply touched to help, even if it was just to bear a little of the burden of his academic quest...but my attempts were distal because there was no way i could communicate with him because no one in his immediate family had a mobile phone. It was amazing! I was left with only one option and that was to buy up all the stock he had left at an ostentatious ammount...and i did. I told him that i knew what it meant to go through his path. I told him about my life...the times i had to read with lantern to pass examinations...times i was a cleaner earning 400 Naira monthly....times i had to spend my last dime to purchase a priceless book...the times i worked as a brick layer for 500 naira perday (half of which i spent on drugs)...I could have avoided those times because my family was comfortable but i did them to feel the profit of pain and the benefit of a appreciating little things...Those were the moments that shaped me. Those are the moments that keep hunting me when i do not maximize my potential. Most of the thing i know now were learnt during those moments.... I made him know that his present situation was only temporary.

I know that that young man wil never forget the 5 minutes i spent with him because it will forever be a guide to his conscience, and it will be a momentum for his success.
Who knows, i could just have spoken to the future president of our great Nation. Greatness is not a respecter of lineage or backgound. 
I believe it is our responsibility to help when we can because who knows, you could have been that young boy.

OKORO JOHN