PERSISTENCE IN TIME

As persistence is though a vital and relevant key to unlock some of God's mysteries, Time has got quite a great influence in its strength.

In this brief study, I'll share two case studies on how they utilized time even in their persistence...

Luke 18:2-5, Here we have the story of a persistent widow who went to seek justice from a judge "who neither feared God nor cared what people thought".

v4. "For some TIME he refused.... v5. yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice,......

The starting point was the encounter with the judge, the endpoint was that she got the justice she requested.. But in the midst of these points, there were certain activities that wasn't recorded, which the judge termed as "bothering"...

Our next case study has her own bothering technic expatiated.

Matthew 15:21-28, Here we have a Canaanite woman who wanted Jesus to heal her daughter.
Some things captured my attention in that passage.
She spoke in v22. "...'Lord, Son of David, have mercy upon me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly'..."
The next verse will thrill you, v23. "Jesus did not answer a word...".

It was then I asked myself, what would I have done in such situation if not to turn back and go, knowing that hitherto, this man had always done miracles just right at the encounter of him.
Now hearing a third party say, "...'send her away, for she keeps crying out after us'..." (v23), that's so embarrassing you know. Aside the fact that she didn't make that request once and for all, she consistently cried out to Jesus, who didn't respond and have a third party utter such statement? Really, I'm so done with the request.
Then, Finally, Jesus spoke, not even to her, but the third party, saying, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel"... What a statement! Highly discouraging!....
But she requested again... It was at this point He spoke to her, saying, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs" (v26).
I asked myself, putting myself in the woman's shoes, "Me??? Dog???, that's it for that day, He can keep the miracle"
But she agreed with the statement and requested for crumbs... Oh! My!!!!

The situation and conditions of your nearest environ will definitely negate some past revelations you've had. But what happens when the going gets tough?
Circumstances will arise that will strongly stand as a cause for you to turn back, but how do you face them?

Surely there is an end, but the timing between the revelation and its manifestation matters a lot. What do you do IN TIME?

Habakkuk 2:3, "For the revelation await an appointed time...."
God has set the timing, but your level of persistence CONSIDERS the time(manifestation). That's why the rest of the passage says, "...though it lingers, wait for it, and it will certainly come and will not delay"

It will not delay if only you WAIT for it.. The process of waiting is always contained with some preparatory activities. Waiting time is preparation time.
It is what you do in this waiting time that bothers God to implement your fore-told revelation.
The waiting time is the time of persistence.... Persistence deals with the hope of your expectation, a deep focus.
"The Lord is good to those who WAIT for him" -(Lamentations 3:25)

CONCLUSIONS AND CONVICTIONS

You can't be going up and down and be forming a "baddo" Christian. 

Two things you need to perceive, they are: Convictions & Conclusions. 

 You need to be extremely, extremely, extremely convinced that you're on the right path. You can't afford to be confused or have doubts alongside your faith. The 21st century will throw many philosophical questions and issues at us, if you are not totally and completely sure of where you stand, you'll will be tossed around. 

 There need to be a very strict conviction inside of you. It is via this conviction that your actions are driven.

 God's intended revival is indeed coming, but God is not going to release his mysteries into minds that are not convinced, into minds that do not still believe, minds that are doubtful. Your intense conviction will keep you with God even when things aren't going well. 

Good or bad situations, rich or poor, I still choose the way of the Lord.
 It is time to be convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that there is a God and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

 As these convictions come with strength, there then need to be conclusions; because the conclusions on your discretion is with respect to your conviction.
We can't be the Army that God is interested in, if our minds are not completely shut off from the things of the world. 

 We have to take the deliberate decision to conclude on the direction of our lives and shout from the rooftops that 'Lord, I'm all yours'; TOTAL SUBMISSION. 

Conclusions are final. No more alterations in my hearty decisions. I am no longer deliberating if I'll still serve God when I'm not around my church people, I'm not confused about if I'll still be a Christian when I get admission and go to the university or when I graduate from the university ...No!. I have concluded. I am convinced. 

©Akintayo Adeola

A LITTLE TIP ON FATHERHOOD

FATHERHOOD; A POST OF RESPONSIBILITY

The post of Fatherhood is as though a Pastoral Office amidst the five fold ministry stated in Eph. 4:11.
It has to do with the proper management of the lifestyle of the young ones through positive influence.
Many blame their mismanagement on the way they were brought up, many also blame it on the dilapidated society, why some don't find faults in their wrongs at all, stating that they're just being strict as Fathers.

Why do most men see Fatherhood as though having a Child???

Is Fatherhood not responsibility???
I know someone will quickly say YES!, paying the Child's bills and so on, neglecting the main aim of Fatherhood, "Living a lifestyle pattern that the Child can imitate". Now, that's the real Responsibility. Children are prone to adapt to the environment they are brought up in, and they simply just manifest greater dimensions of the character of the Father/Mother.
Don't blame the waywardness of your child on the society, rather be responsible for their Character development. If we have Fathers in such a society as this Nigerian One, Nigeria would be  better.
The definition of "Home Training" is inscribed in the way of Life of the Father&Mother. It is the influence of their character on the Child.

Only true Sons attain the post of Fatherhood. Build yourself, train yourself to take responsibilities first for your actions and words, then you can be responsible for others.
Fatherhood isn't Age-wise, Fatherhood isn't just Child bearing, Fatherhood is being courageous enough to take responsibility.
Help your potential Children by being responsible.
Don't wait until you have them before you start learning Responsibility.

SNIPPET...

TAKE HEED!
Yes, Take Heed!. You can NEVER operate in an anointing that you envy. If He has got it, and you haven't, please Honour Him.
Heb. 7:7; "And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better".
If you ride on to find faults in Him, just to castigate him and make Him seem bad before others, You would be the one to lose.
"We do not have an high priest, who knows not the feeling of our infirmity", God is aware of the fact that we could sometime do out of His intention, that's why His mercy is everlasting.
Never write off a preacher or even any believer based on some actions of His that you presume.
Remember these words, PERSPECTIVE; PERSEPTION (selah).
Matthew 23:1-3; Jesus wasn't asking us not to follow their actions because they are all wrong, He simply obligated us not to follow their actions because He understands that sometimes our ignorance interpret the believer's (those in the place of authority) action even beyond their good intentions.
You don't know the real content of their intentions, and you don't know the true motive behind their actions, JUDGE NOT!
The REAL standard of livelihood is found in Jesus, Hebrews 12:2.
WHAT YOU LOOK AT, DETERMINES WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE!.
A believer with good intentions gets it right with God, by castigation, you're only helping him to press on for perfection.
Nevertheless, do not be a prey of God's wrath.
If you by any chance see a believer doing something you can't give a full detail about, confront him, and inquire.
A little quest of inquiry develops your knowledge.
Judging him via your ignorance could be dangerous.
No one is beyond confrontation.
TAKE HEED!

THE FOXES..

"CATCH FOR US THE FOXES; THE LITTLE FOXES THAT SPOILS THE VINE" - Songs of Solomon 2:15.

Haven't you wondered why sometimes it seems like God is not even around, like you don't even feel him at all?, the times when you would have to strive so hard and pray so hard, spend so much time in worship just to feel him again?. Yes!, these times come, but amongst all other things, the little foxes originates this time in most lives.
"I'm a believer, I yield to the Lord's will, I endeavour to follow every bit of His commands, I perform with diligence, every bit of the Christian duties", Hmmm.. well, that's enough sacrifice that could be pleasing to God, but would you then believe that there are some minute things that erupt in our lives that we seem not to take cognicanse of??, YEAH!, some times it could be with respect to our discretions, some times could be some little actions, and so on, while these little things count before God, we tend not to even give any attention to them.
A little fresh tomato kept in a bag for too long could rotten and produce an odour that spoils the whole bag.
"Be Careful... Be on guard.. Be mindful.. Be watchful.." The devil is striving hard and not taking things easy with Christians, so you had better not crave an easy life too.
Allow God in all your discretions, follow his leading for all your actions, that you may be mindful of the little foxes.
"Of your wisdom and strength you can't be made perfect"

The Little Credits

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:..." Rev. 4:11.

The illumination of one's light is to the glory of God. He particularly designed all things to reveal His mightiness, that is why it is so important to Praise Him. (Matthew 5:16)
It's only a mere privilege for one to be a source of the illumination of God's light.
The beginning of the downfall of a Man is when He tries to share in the Glory of God or rather want the glory to be awarded to Him instead of God.
Every gifts or talents embedded in Man is mainly for enablement of the Man's effectiveness in the body of Christ, for the perfecting of the saints (Eph. 4:12)
Honoring God with all the credits of your achievement opens an access to greater achievements.
A hearty appreciation is a source of increase/multiplication (John 6:9-13).
Upon every activities or spiritual operations you've been involved in, who is the Glory being awarded to??
You need to be careful of this thing that seem so little, sometimes we do it unconsciously, and it's one of the little foxes that spoils our vine(Songs of Songs 2:15), but be reminded, or rather remind yourself always, "God owns all the Glory", and He isn't willing to share it with any man (Isaih 42:8).
Every good things comes from God(James 1:17), and even a man receives nothing except He is given from Heaven (John 3:27).
God is the source, so all credits should go straight to the source and not the avenue of expression.

My Passion, My Profession

Many do say that today Job opportunities are so scarce and almost all our graduates are still sitting at their various homes doing nothing.

Well, everyone should have a profession, but not everyone realizes it. Many of our graduates are in search of white collar jobs, while inside of them, there are ideas that will create job opportunities.

People today crave to be employees, meanwhile few resources do they just need to put together to become employers.

A Graduate of Mechanical Engineering will say He has no profession due to so many reasons, but in this piece I’ll mention two.

1.       It wasn’t His desire from the on-set to be an engineer.

2.       He is being blindfolded by ignorance (that’s if He has so much passion for Engineering).

Every man has treasures that will make fortunes on the inside of Him. But many have placed so much dependence on others.

Imagine this; every natural resources that make any Nation’s wealth is being found below the earth crust, and religiously speaking, even Man was formed from the earth crust. Don’t you think every man also has natural resources inside Him that can make Him wealthy? Yes, but many are so ignorant of this. They blow away their passion in pursuit of the progress of another man’s passion.

Your passion lies in talking, but people’s opinion says you are loquacious. Your passion lies in sewing, but people’s opinion says tailors are not always successful.

Do you live your life based on people’s opinion?

Fela Durotoye talks, and He’s a successful Public Speaker today.

Makun Olorunyomi [Yomi Casual] is a tailor, and He’s also successful in it.

You can make it only if you set your mind on it. BE Creative, USE your initiative, Make your passion your profession. If you do what you Love, then you’ll love what you do.

The reason why Job opportunities are scarce is  because many of us have given up on creating them.

Discover your passion and create a job opportunity.

#Make_your_passion_your_profession