Happy new year friends!

We shall start this year with something very basic, but pivotal to a life of success and victory. We shall start with BELIEFS.

Our beliefs influence how we respond to life and people. And different beliefs have varying influences on us. For instance, your beliefs about a particular person will affect the way you think and feel about that person, and even the meanings you attach to his or her behavior. But these specific beliefs may not affect your attitude towards other people.

You may also have beliefs about people generally. These beliefs will not only influence your relationships, but also your marriage, career, ministry, and every endeavor that has to do with people.

Your beliefs can either be empowering or disempowering. They may affect your values positively or negatively. And this will spill over into the quality of decisions you make.

Where did you get your beliefs from?
The opinions of people and authority figures in your life?
Your past experiences? These sources do not give us the truest picture of who we are or what we can do. No, they don’t.

The Bible tell us,
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.”
(John 5:4)

The only credible beliefs about people and life generally are those that are born of God. Beliefs that originate with God. These are world-conquering beliefs!

As you start this new year, it’s great wisdom to reexamine your beliefs. Are your beliefs about people making you more friendly and outgoing or unfriendly and secluded?

Which of your beliefs about you are making you shrink back into your shell, and holding you back from trying out something new?

You need yo hold a council with yourself. Take stock of your beliefs. Reinforce the positive ones. And drop the negative ones.

In our next post, I shall be discussing beliefs that form the core of our identity.

I spent some time on this Bible verse, and my eyes got opened to something I had not seen before. I was seeing, in a new light that, the greedy longing to have more and more, is rooted in an insecurity, which is born out of deception.
Let’s take a look at the Scripture.

“Speaking to the people, he went on, ” Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”
(Luke 12:15, MSG)

The New Living Translation renders it this way,
“…” Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” ”

Here is the insecurity: low self worth.
And the deception is this: “your self worth is equated to how much or little material possession you have. That, the more you have, the more you are.”
So this puts people on an endless chase for material things. They are trying to makeup for a deficit (self) account; filling up a personal deficiency, a flawed self. They’re on a quest to build their self worth with riches and possession.

This is a deception!
And the problem with this kind of thinking is this, you’re trying to meet a spiritual need with material things. You’re trying to meet a “being” problem through “having.” Material things don’t really satisfy. This is why you’re on an endless pursuit for more and more.

If you define who you are by what you have, then you will have to always try to get more and more, to keep your self worth from going down.

Another danger of this deception is that , your self worth will keep oscillating. Today it’s up; tomorrow it’s down, depending on how much you have.

God didn’t intend for us to derive our self worth from our net worth. No! He didn’t intend for us to define or evaluate our lives by what we have or don’t have. Our lives do not equate to riches, even if you have alot!

Your value as a person comes from who you are. And you are who you are because of what Christ has done for you. Your worth comes from the price He paid to have you. And Christ paid for you with His own precious blood. He paid for your life with His own life. Nothing less!

“For you know God paid a RANSOM to save you… And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver.
It was the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”
(1Peter1:18-19, NLT)

You’re worth everything, to the Father, the blood of Christ is. For His sacrifice for you completely established your worth as a person. So the next time you’re tempted to think that you’re how much you have, remind yourself that, that’s a lie. Your life wasn’t paid for with gold or silver. No! You were bought with the precious blood of the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. That’s how much you’re worth!

In a a previous post, we saw that the Creator had blessed each of us with a HEART OF COMPASSION. That’s a heart with the capacity to feel God’s deep feelings for the pains or sufferings of people, and the strong desire to alleviate them.

The heart is a spiritual sense organ just the same way we have physical sense organs. The physical sense organs make us aware of the physical environment. The heart is the organ of spiritual touch. God reaches us through our hearts. Through our heart, we become aware of what God’s heartbeat.

The heart has the capacity to sense, perceive, and hear the voice of God. And also communicate to and with Him.

However, this sensitivity is developed over time as we learn to daily yield to the voice or nudges of the Spirit of God. The more we yield to Him in obedience, the more tender and sensitive our heart becomes toward Him.

A heart that has become hardened towards God also becomes dull to His voice and leading. That’s not all; the heart also becomes past caring, insensitive to human plight, unkind, merciless. And even wicked towards others. This is what we save our hearts from each time we let God’s compassion find meaningful and creative ways to express itself through us.

On the other hand, when we refuse to follow God’s impressions on our heart, to show compassion, our heart – the organ of spiritual touch – becomes hardened towards Him, and dull to His voice. For instance, every time we yield to His compassion, and allow His love flow through us towards others, our hearts become more tender towards God. And it becomes easier for us to pick His signal and do what He wants us to do.

We were made to respond to the Father’s heart of compassion. We see how we were designed to operate in the way Christ operated. He was always MOVED WITH COMPASSION at the sight of human plight.
“And Jesus, MOVED with COMPASSION, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.”
(Mark 1:41)

We are engineered to be moved with compassion just like Jesus. That’s the way we were designed to function. Every time we resist this inner wiring, a very vital part of us dies. We become unreceptive and unresponsive to the voice of our Maker. Our hearts are hardened towards Him. We lose touch with the very essence of who we are.

A heart that’s not hardened, one that’s tender towards God is more sensitive and more easily influenced by God for good. That’s a heart God can use!

It’s my prayer that you will listen to and yield to your heart of compassion, and become more sensitive and tender towards God, and human needs.

To live authentically is to live life true to who you really are; to live from the centre or core of your being; to be in touch with and completely yield to your inner deep wiring.

Our hearts were designed for COMPASSION.
When the all-wise God was making you, He carefully placed within you something called BOWEL or a HEART of COMPASSION – the capacity to be able to enter into someone else’s world and feel what they are feeling.

COMPASSION is from the Greek sumpathos; meaning to share feelings and emotions.

COMPASSION is a deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with the will to help them or relieve it.
This is what makes us truly human. Without compassion, we are simply heartless!

When we go against our true selves, when we refuse to yield to our inner design for compassion, we tend to experience friction within us. Our very life revolts against us. We feel dis-comfort, dis-ease, un-rest. We are dis-heartened.

Can you remember a time when you saw a need that you could meet, but rather turned the other way?
How did you feel? Fantastic?
No!
We never feel great when we refuse to help others. We feel terrible.

COMPASSION is the doorway into the innermost parts of your being. It churns the very visceral parts of you. It turns on your love nature, impacts your emotions, judgment and reason.

Our God is a God, Who is merciful and full of compassion. And we are created in His image and likeness. We are natural lovers. We are born compassionate.

Compassion is the trademark of the child of God. Compassion is like the trigger that releases your abilities and graces.

The ability to feel what others are feeling and the inner drive to reach out and relieve them is what births miracles in a minister’s life and ministry. It’s the secret of true happiness.

The feeling of compassion is God (LOVE) at work within your heart, MOVING you to reach out and alleviate someone’s pain or sorrow, with the spiritual or material resources He has given you!

To shut off your BOWELS or HEART of COMPASSION is to refuse to yield to your true self. It’s to go against your God-given heartbeat. And to limit the expression of the love of God within you.

“But if anyone has this world’s goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his HEART of COMPASSION against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him?”
(1John 3:17, AMP)

To let loose your heart of compassion is, to let loose your real life. It is giving expression to the love of God and His abilities deep within you. It is to let loose your happiness and inner joy that never comes any other way else. It is called living authentically.

Identity a need and let your HEART of COMPASSION move you to meet it. That’s the secret to abundant overflowing joy.

We invest one more day looking at what it really means to be loved by God. And today we shall focus on His unconditional forgiveness.

Last week a brother of mine had some issues with his health. And when he got to a pharmacist, he was diagnosed of typhoid and malaria fever. He was given appropriate medication, and by the next day, the guy was on his feet again. Praise God!

However, the most interesting part of his story is that, when a certain pastor, who felt that the guy had disrespected her (even though the guy in question didn’t even know he had wronged her!) heard about his health challenge, she said that the young man was sick because he had disrespected her.

Have you ever had a challenge, and felt like that’s God getting even with you?
I used to be that way. That’s more because of the kinds of preachings I had received back then. I always interpreted problems as God trying to get back at me. But nothing could be farther from the truth!

That’s such a wrong misrepresentation of who God really is. God is intrinsically good. He is endlessly merciful; infinitely compassionate; eternally forgiving. And He never deals with us according to our wrongs. No, He doesn’t!
The Psalmist said,
“he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
(Psalm 103:10, NIV)

Rather, God treats us with infinite compassion. If He keeps a grudge against us or repays us according to our sins, He will be contradicting His nature and His Word.

His Word says,
“I, even I, am He Who blots out and cancels your transgressions, for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
(Isaiah 43:25, AMP)

God has forever forgiven you of your sins and He has absolved you from all your guilt, if you are in Christ. Hear what His Word says,

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
(Psalm 103:12, AMP)

Not only has God forgiven you, He has also, eternally separated you from your sins, never to be united ever again.
That’s a Hallelujah right there!

God never calls your sins to remembrance. No, He never does!
As powerful and as all-knowing as God is, He has chosen to forget all our wrongs once forgiven. He never keeps a record of what His mercy has forgiven. If you’re in Christ, this is your reality. Fear no more!

This is the truth about God. Study along these lines. Fill up your minds with these truth until they supplant every lie of the devil in your subconscious mind.

When God says I love you, He means that He has forever forgiven you, and will never keep a grudge against you.

When God says “I love you,” He meant that He has ACCEPTED YOU. So go right on ahead and accept yourself for who you are, irrespective of whether someone else accepts you or not.

We are all driven by the need for acceptance. It’s a God-given need built deep into everyone of us.

The world is more starved of unconditional love and acceptance than it is of food and safe drinking water. This famine isn’t only in the ghettoes of the world, but also in the palaces. It’s a plaque of both the rich and the poor; the young and the old; the weak and the strong alike; the civilized and the primitive.

God designed your soul to thrive and flourish in love and acceptance. Without these, the soul is diseased and infirmed. And can’t function effectively. We can see the effects of rejection in the soul in our relationships, marriages, careers, ministries, etc

When we don’t have meaningful acceptance, we feel rejection. This could come from our own parents, friends, colleagues, teachers or any other authority figure in our lives.

For instance, a child who is born into a family at a time it’s not wanted, for whatever reasons, may feel rejected. Or may be the child isn’t the sex the parents were expecting. Their disappointment communicates rejection to the child’s mind.

Rejection can result to all kinds of disorders, such as poor self-image, low self-worth, self-rejection, depression, lesbianism, etc

There are varying degrees of rejection. And this depends on the level of closeness or intimacy with the person that rejected you.

You may have been carrying rejection in your soul all your life, but there’s a good news. The good news is this: God have accepted you, and unconditionally too!

God’s love has no rejection. His love is patient with your weaknesses. His love is eternally bent on doing you the highest good. God’s love for you isn’t dependent on your goodness. Hence, your failures can never turn Him away.

God’s love never keeps a record of your wrongs. He had already forgiven them in Christ Jesus. And if you will only yield to His immeasurable love for you, you will lead such a triumphant life.

Live life loved of God and watch your soul prosper. Because your entire life is tied to the well-being of your soul.

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.”
(3John 2, AMP)

You’re only as prosperous as your soul. Nothing less. Nothing more. Your success at relationships, marriage, career, business depends a lot on whether or not your soul feels secure. Accepting Father God’s unconditional love, drives out rejection and the fear of it from our minds.

Receive the Father’s unconditional acceptance today and prosper in your soul!
Let His incredibly lavish love wash over your soul, cleansing and healing it from the wounds of rejection.

Have you ever felt like you can take it no more with some persons in your life?
Or maybe you have to put up with a nagging parent or an “impossible” employer, and you’re beginning to feel you have endured for so long and can’t go any further?
Or maybe you outrightly feel like you don’t have the energy to love.

Relationships demand and take alot from us – emotionally, mentally and physically. And for difficult ones, it can be really exhausting, taking every ounce of your emotional strength.

I have had to put up with some persons at certain times in my life, who were hellbent on ruining my reputation and discrediting the work of God in my life. They said all kinds of things against me. But I was not permitted (by God) to hit them back. ?

Rather, I was commanded to respond to them with love. With love? Yes, with love. This was a very difficult time in my life. The natural inclination was to hit back, good measure running over. But I had a strong restraint from within. That’s when I realized that it takes more energy loving than hating. Because hating comes natural, but loving takes such determination. Such energy.

What I needed was the energy to love those “undeserving” persons. The strength to bless those who were cursing me. The energy to pray FOR, and NOT AGAINST my persecutors. The ability to accommodate the “irritating.”

I saw something really powerful, that blesses me so much. It’s found in Colossians 1:11
Here was apostle Paul praying for the Colossians during a tough time in their lives. He prayed for them that they might “be INVIGORATED and STRENGTHENED with all power according to the might of his glory, [to exercise] every kind of ENDURANCE and PATIENCE (perseverance and forbearance) with JOY.” (MSG)

Wow, what a prayer!
Always remember this: there is energy for any difficult relationship. Your relationship can never become so difficult, that the ability of God will not be sufficient for you to handle it.

God wants to give you the ability to hang in there, without quitting or withdrawing your love. He wants to lift you above depression or gloom, and cause you to go through that ordeal with patience and exuberant joy. He wants to make your heart so strong, that you won’t be exhausted any longer, but be full of such JOY.
He wants to reinforce your heart with His ability, to keep loving that deviant child, that absentee father, that uncaring person, with all your heart while God works on their minds, to save them.

When faced with difficult people, never sink into depression nor give up. Rather, turn to God for the spiritual energy to love such people. Love ain’t weak; it’s invigorated by God Himself, to stand up to challenges, with joy!

When you feel weak or you don’t seem to have the energy to continue, turn to God for a recharge. Ask to be invigorated and strengthened, to exercise endurance and patience. But more, to be full of JOY!

We were wired for love. Yes, love. That’s why nothing gives you a sense of well-being as loving and being loved.

Oftentimes, we don’t live true to this wiring. We hold back from living the love life. We deny our true God-shaped selves the freedom to express ourselves – love and be loved. And when we do that, little do we realize that we are holding back from living authentically.

So what is stopping you from being authentic?
What’s stopping you from living your life the way you were designed to function?
For some it is fear. Fear of being left. Fear of losing their freedom. Fear of rejection. Fear of misconstruction. Fear of not being hot or good enough. Fear of the opinions of other people. The list goes on.

Yet for some, what’s standing between them and their real life is offenses. Bitterness. Hurt. Unforgiveness. They have been hurt so bad. So they have shut up their heart against kindness. Their bowels of compassion are closed. They have been betrayed. So they refuse to believe any more. They approach everyone with suspicion.

I have been hurt countless times. And for some occasions, I had decided to stay as far from those persons as possible. Yet, for others, I had told myself that I would never again listen to them if they came calling for help.

Yet deep within me, there’s this thing I still felt when I saw people going through something unpleasant. My heart always went out to them. I always wanted to reach out and help.
Not helping always felt like living against my design. And it was.
And holding back, say, greetings, would make me feel so unnatural. And it’s unnatural with us!

So I decided that nothing and no one would make me live against my wiring for love. I decided that I am going to live my life unrestrained. Unrestrained by hurt and offenses. Unrestrained by fears of any kind. Unrestrained by people’s opinions.

I have decided that I am going to trust like I’ve never been betrayed before; love like I’ve never been hurt before; give like I’ve never been denied before; and reach out and touch lives like I’ve never been misrepresented or misunderstood before.

God is love. And love is God in action. When you hold back love, you hold back God in your life and relationship. You limit His forgiveness and kindness. You hold back His power. You deny His compassion the freedom to find expression in and through you, to reach a hurting world.

A bird must fly; a fish must swim; a painter must paint, and a teacher must teach, if they will ever feel fulfilled.
In the same light, we must love, no matter what, if we will ultimately feel a sense of satisfaction or well-being.
For we are God-wired for love:

“For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].”
(Ephesians 2:10, AMP)

And until we yield to our design, we will not be at peace with ourselves.
So I have decided to live life unrestrained. Ain’t nobody gonna stop me! ?

I pray for you, that nobody will stop you from living your authentic God-wired life of love. In Jesus Name.

Have you ever been to a place in your life, where it seemed like God had turned His back on you?
Or the idea of His love didn’t make sense any longer?
I have been there.

The death of my father ripped such a deep wound in my heart. It wasn’t only in my heart, but in our home generally. It was such a tough time for us. And for me, especially, since I was beginning to experience a deep, meaningful relationship with my father. It happened at a time when I was pursuing my University admission. And worst still, he passed on right before my eyes, in a hospital. That’s so much for a seventeen year old.
The thought of having to face the future without my dad was simply terrifying. While I was doing my best to put myself together, like everyone expected me to, deep down my heart, I had troubling questions. Hard questions that demanded answers.
“If God really loved me, like I thought He did, why would He let that happen to me?”

“Would my father have lived, if I had prayed more?”

“How was I going to face life, feeling so weak and vulnerable?”

I really struggled with the idea of a loving Father, letting me go through such grief. However, in spite of all my struggles, somehow, God helped me to go through that difficult time of my life. And in spite of my questions, I noticed a quiet in my heart that I couldn’t explain.

The Psalmist tells us something pivotal about the true nature of God. He says,
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
(Psalm 136:1, ESV)

God is good. He is the superlative of goodness. He is no evil. God is light, and there’s not a trace of darkness in Him. God never sends evil our way. Neither does He punish us with evil. He is intrinsically good. And eternally bent on doing us good only. While we may not be able to always explain why bad things happen to us, whom God loves, we know for sure that He is not the author of evil. And His heart grieves when we hurt. Not only that, but He also helps us rise above the pains and the hurt. He comforts us, when we are afflicted. And builds His comfort within us, so that we can also comfort others who may be going through similar ordeals. Evil is never God-sent, however, when it befalls us, God forges it into a greater good for us. By His divine power, He turns things around for our good.

One of the things I noticed after I had healed from the loss of my father, was a deep feeling for those who lost their fathers. I could connect with their fears and concerns. And I noticed that I could easily talk to them. I feel compassion for them.

Life is lived on purpose. You don’t wait for life to happen to you. No, you plan for it. While we may not be able to always predict what may come our way tomorrow, to a large extent, we can determine what our responses should be. For instance, I have already determined in my heart that I shall live a life of prompt forgiveness, no matter what. I have decided, with God’s help, that I will never carry grudges in my mind. I understand that some hurt may be deeper, but I also know that I can always count on the Holy Spirit, to stay true to my resolve. A friend once offended me, and when he came apologizing, I told him, “I forgave you, even before you did what you did.” You needed to see the look on his face!

The decision to live an offense-free life is one of the most important decisions you will ever make today. The reason is that offenses will always come. So it’s wisdom to have a predisposition that will always put you over offenses.

Another tip is PROMPT FORGIVENESS.

Paul the apostle gives us this tip in Ephesians 4:26
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (AMP)

The battle for forgiveness is first lost or won in the mind. The speed with which you handle a wrong done against you matters a lot. The longer you keep your mind brooding over the offense, the deeper the hurt becomes and the stronger its control over your thoughts and emotions. And the longer you hold a grudge, the more room you allow the devil to come in, and influence your mind for evil.

Also, the longer you hold, nourish and nurse a hurt in a your mind, the more difficult forgiveness becomes. The quicker the easier.

MAKE ALLOWANCE FOR OFFENSES.
The Bible says,
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
(Colossians 3:13, NIV)

This phrase, “bearing with one another” carries the idea of making room or allowance in our minds for others. It’s being able to accommodate; being tolerant. I am thinking of expansion joints. These are put into a building, to make room for expansion due to heat. So that when the building comes under intense heat and it’s forced to expand, those expansion joints accommodate the increase, without any damage to the building.
So today, by the ability of God, begin to create expansion joints in your mind. So that you will not give way when offenses come. For they will surely come.

PRAYING FOR THE OFFENDER
I have found this to be very effective, especially when my mind struggles with the idea of letting go an offense. I have found that, after praying for, and not against, blessing and not cursing the person, my heart begins to become tender towards him/her. And whenever I persevere, in some cases, I even start feeling affection for them.

Apostle James admonishes us to pray for those who offend us. And the result? Healing in our thoughts and emotions.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
(James 5:16, NIV)
Jesus asked us to, not curse, but bless this who hurt us.

Prayer changes us.
While your prayers may not necessarily change the person who has hurt you, they have the power to change you for the better. They tenderize your mind, affect your disposition towards the offender. And makes letting go of the offenses easier.

In summary, forgiveness becomes a lot easier, if we decide in advance to live an offense-free life; forgive promptly; make some allowance in our minds for others; and pray for, but not against, the person who may have wronged us.

Wishing you an offense-free life!

With much love,

Prince Iorungwa Najime