Your environment #growth

Growth takes place in stages. You can't go from being a small boy into being a man overnight, it doesn't work like that. If something is to grow, it has to be given time and also the right environment to grow in. 

On the church bus home, I was in conversation with a fellow brother about potential and why certain footballers don't progress from being just a 'potential talent'. If we are to look at the state of the footballing world, there are many footballers who no doubt have a lot of quality and the potential to become great. The only problem is that they will never go past potential if they don't manifest themselves and grow into who they can become. 

It is considered to be one of the greatest moments of someone's life when they are given a great opportunity but in front of you, there is a lot of people in the way who are pretty much more advanced that you and henceforth you can't grow at the expected rate. 

Now, I believe that as much into lies with the person alone to want to grow, to want to move past potential, it also lies with their environment. The reason why I say this is because there are some environments that will be not conducive to their growth, in fact it will stagnate their growth. It will grow but just not as it's expected rate. 

Having potential is not enough to live on, you need to be who you were created to be. There's no doubt that we all have a lot of potential but we must go from potential to manifesting who we really are. 

Be strong, go from 'You could be great' to 'I am great'

The testing phase

For a while, I hated doing tests in school. If anything I was scared of them.
The first time I took a test, I got the results back and  it showed me what I was good at and what I needed to work on. It was a blessing to me, I saw what I needed to work on and gave me targets.
Moving forward, I'm longer of tests or exams because I know it will highlight what I'm good at and what I need to work on. 'Everybody is strong until they get tested'
Consider a joy when you go through tests. Tests are there to make you stronger............. This morning, test yourself and check the results.
#tests #examseason #testyourself #strength #weakness #checkup #education #life

Tests also reveal what you need to work on and what you need to improve on. It may also detect how strong something is. Being tested is often seen as a bad thing and can sometimes feel like you are not liked but that really isn't true. It's so they can assess where you are and what you need to do going forward.

Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:3‭-‬4 NIV
http://bible.com/111/jas.1.3-4.NIV

When will it stop?

A mother cries out in pain
As the funeral procession goes the lane
A line of people dressed in black
Grieving over the latest attack
In the distance you can hear sirens
Sirens of help
Sirens of danger
Sirens of trouble
And then.........Bang............

When will it stop?
When will the pain end?
When will I see you again?
You've left a hole in my heart?

Love is better than hate
Life is better than death
Obedience is better than sacrifice

As I stand there
Looking on in despair
I hear a voice crying out
I hear the cry of a mother
A cry of a mother, a cry of pain
As the funeral procession goes down the lane

When will it stop?
When will the pain end?
When will I see you again?
You've left a hole in my heart?

When will it stop?

Sirens of help
Sirens of danger
Sirens of trouble
And then............Bang............
A life Screams as it takes its last breath
'I love you, mum' as silence fills the air

When will it stop?
When will it end?
When will I see you again?

When will it stop
When will it end?

Are you well?

Wellbeing is 'the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy'. It's a generic term for the condition where the social, financial, psychological, spiritual or medical state. This usually means that individual's condition is positive and very high.

When someone says, 'I am well' this could be an indication that they really are well but on the other hands, is it the actual truth?

Do you have perfect wellbeing? Can you honestly say that you are happy? Can you honestly say that you are in a good place right now?

Throughout your life, you will go through times where you may feel well physically but emotionally, you feel shipwrecked. There will be times where you will feel financially well but socially you're not well in that area. For one to really achieve positive wellbeing, all the different areas must be well balanced.

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at Wellbeing in several key areas. The first one is Physical............

If you have ever woke up in the morning and you feel tired, low of energy or no general interest in getting up, there could be a possibility that your body is not in a good condition. So, how can you ensure that your body is in a top condition? You can take up exercise, you can start a diet or you can just make changes to your lifestyle. There may also be a medical reason why you feel so burnt out at times so it's very wise to see your doctor so you can see if there any underlying causes.

There are different stages to attaining physical health, what's needed is maintaining regular exercise, maintaining a healthy diet and the most important part, relaxation. Relaxation is something that we fail to add as part of our lifestyle. If perfect wellbeing is to be realised, then we must learn to relax and have proper rest.

Our next part will be on Emotional wellbeing. Stay tuned

Behaviour - Is it learnt or are we born with it?

"Some behaviours have to be taught before you do them. These are learned behaviours. You aren't born knowing how to respond in a classroom when a teacher asks a question. Raising your hand and waiting to be called on is something you learn from your interaction with the world. Learned behaviours include things like speaking in a specific language (for example, English or Spanish) or how you should eat in a restaurant. If you weren't taught these things through your environment and experiences, you would not know how to do them." - Study.com

For some time now I've been thinking about behaviour and two concepts - Innate behaviour and learned behaviour.

When each of us was born, we were born with certain needs such as love, warmth, joy, happiness. But then what about speaking, eating, walking? All of this is done through what we see.

If we know that, when we see people acting like us, we should ask ourselves one key question - What type of example am I setting? The children of today have learnt everything from what they see and observe and I am sure that most of what we do, we have either picked it up from our parents or those that we hang around.

So, the next question is this - The behaviour that we have learnt, can we unlearn them? Beforehand, I thought that this wasn't possible but now my belief has changed. Behaviour can be learnt and unlearnt. The way we can unlearn certain behaviours is to change our environment and the people that we are associated with.

Everything we say or do is governed by what we see people do and what they say. In positions of leadership and management, we need to be careful of our actions and how we come across. People learn from us and this is why we need to ensure our behaviour influences them in a good way

Let's influence people in a positive way.

The spoken word #openthoughts

A few years ago when I was in secondary school, I set up my own events management company and every month we held our own events. As it was progressing nicely, there was something my associate said to me which was "If you always say that you are sick, you will become sick"

At that time, I didn't really pay attention to it until a few years later when I came across this scripture - Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

When a man think he is unwell, he is unwell. When a man thinks of evil in his heart, that evil spirit will manifest in his life. When a man thinks that he is an outcast and so on, you will find out that he will become an outcast.
Whenever you think of these things or you speak about these things, you are planting a seed into yourself or the person you speak it over.

A seed takes time to grow and when it grows it develops roots and then you will begin to see the manifestation of that seed.

Let's look at this a little deeper.

A few years back when I was 25, my doctor diagnosed with a condition called Hypogonadism. When my doctor gave me the news, I was knocked for six and that really set me back. I was going back and forth, taking medication and going to appointments. The more I believed I had the condition, the more I was in that cycle. It got worse because I was feeling tired, no energy and I started to become quite forgetful which led to me having a scan on my brain. The results came back negative, thank God.

As I was praying for healing, I was led to declare forth my healing and declare that I don't have that condition anymore. This went on for a matter of weeks and glory to God when I went back for my tests, it was revealed that I didn't have it anymore. The condition had dissolved itself.

Whenever the doctors would tell me something was wrong, I instantly rejected it and declared that I was healed and that I was free. It worked and today I can declare that I am free from sickness. No longer am I bound by the condition.

Let's bring it back and discover that words can have a lasting effect so it's vitally important that we reject anything that wants to come against what God has planned for our lives. There is a need for us to speak positive words over our lives. Speak positive things, Think positive things and you will see it manifest in your life.

Philippians 4:8 - For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].

Declare your healing today, Decree your healing today. You are free in the name of Jesus.

What words have you spoken over your life? What words have you spoken over other people's lives?What words have other people spoken over you?

The words we speak can either have a positive or negative effect. Think wisely before you speak.

I pray this has blessed someone today.  

A new Level #openthoughts

Lately, I've hated the idea of getting older and older *sighs* however that idea has now subsided and I am very much looking forward to what is going to happen next.
If you are like me, I always want to know what is happening next or what will take place so I can plan for it properly or put some contingency plan in place but lately I have just been resting in God and allowing him to take control.

I turned 29 on 1st April and I was quite excited because I had entered a new age and with that comes new opportunities but also it pushes me closer to the big age of 30.................and by this time you would expect that one would be married, have a nice house or at least be financially stable but sadly that's not the case. Pondering on that, I had a chat with God and he said that I need to trust him more and that I shouldn't worry about it too tough. With that, I am moving onto a new level and I am very excited at what God has in store.

The past year had been a year of trials, tribulations and a lot of challenges. It had it's up and downs, it had it's high and lows and there was a time I thought I wouldn't even make it to the end of 2016 but God turned it around. Those times where I couldn't see a way out, God would always make a way.

As I spent time thanking God for seeing me through another year this is the word he delivered to me

Get ready to move because I am getting ready to move to you a new level. I am getting ready to elevate you, to enlarge you, to stretch you, to challenge you and to give you new visions, ideas and dreams.

I am still celebrating my birthday however so If you would like to bless me lol God will bless you also.

Thank you for tuning in and I am looking forward to the opportunities that are going to come my way. Sooo, let's network and let's build together