One thing in life we cannot change is change. Change is constant, no matter how much we try, change must occur. Look back at how you were 10 years ago, I bet you have changed intellectually, physically, emotionally and in your perception of life, I have. Pause and imagine for a moment, if you were exactly the same as you were 10 years ago, how would it be?
Despite the fact that change is inevitable, we must strive to create changes (and I mean good ones) in our lives and environment. Success in life largely depends on how well we change and adapt to the demands life throws at us. The almighty God creator of the heavens and earth was subject to change. God realized that the instructions he gave to Moses was producing little result, therefore he decided to send his begotten son Jesus Christ to bring about the change he so desires. If God can change, then so can you. All you may need to improve your situation could be just a little change in your appearance, character, thinking, habits, priorities and so on especially as a new year beckons.
Henry Ford learnt about change the hard way. In early 1900s, his manager William Cannuzi advised him that his model T car was getting out dated. Henry ford so cherished his model T that he sacked his manager and refused to change a bolt on it. William Cannuzi joined General Motors (GM) and helped build a better car than Ford's model T. General motors began to make more sales than Ford motors. Henry Ford realised this and made another model called Model A. It was however too late, General Motors had taken over the market. Ford motors was never able to recover even up till today.
The key to change is wisdom, wisdom is the result of the knowledge and understanding we have about a particular subject. Wisdom can only be gotten through continuous learning. In other words change is directly proportional to the amount of learning. The more we learn, the more the ability to change. It is high time we take learning more seriously. The best cellist Pablo Casals was asked on his 95th birthday why he still practiced 6 hours a day, he said, "because I think I am making progress".
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| Oswald J. Smith |
A great revivalist Oswald J Smith learnt French and Spanish at 70 and ministered in french and Spanish until his death. What area of your life are you changing as you enter 2014?
I realize that dreams come to us in the form of pictures, though a little bit unclear, its capable of taking root in our subconscious minds. The content of your subconscious mind determines how successful you will be in life. This is the reason you should always ensure you hold a favourable picture (which I call a dream) in your minds.
God knew this when he started by planting a dream in the mind of Abraham, he said " i will give this land to your offspring" Gen 12:7. The dream of attaining leadership was also planted in Joseph, in no time at all, these men started living their dreams.
How To Create A Dream
Only few people have the privilege of been given a dream (or vision) directly by God. It is therefore our responsibility to create one by ourselves, after all, bible says "ye are gods", gods are meant to be creative and infinite. The whole world is at your beck and call, its all yours, you have a "blank cheque" to become whatever you want, by;
1. Carrying out a self appraisal, look into yourself, identify your likes, preferences and strength. Funnily enough you could consciously develop love for something and turn it into a dream.
2. Start developing, first by writing it out, thinking about it and start doing things that will bring about improvements in line with the attainment of your dreams.
At this stage you have a dream in your hands which should dictate how you live the remainder of your life. In fact if I see you misbehaving, I conclude that you don't have a dream or you simply have a bad dream. At the early stages, dreams are fragile, they are like soap bubbles floating towards jagged rocks on a windy day.
Start living your dreams, always ask yourself this question, "what the are the things I need to achieve my dream?" The more frequently you ask yourself this question, the more your dream take root in your mind and the more efficiently you will be pursuing your dream.
Thomas Edison dreamed of producing light from electricity, he invented the incandescent lamp. John F. Kennedy dreamed of having a man on the moon, 8 years later Apollo II was launched and landed Neil Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr and Michael Allen Collins on the moon. Martin Luther King Jr dreamed of racial equality in America, this dream is believed to be fully achieved when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States.
Start dreaming early, start dreaming now, you never know, you in a short while you might be living your dream if you don't give in, a dream will provide you with the power to be the best you can be. This is Gods plan for you.
Tony wakes up suddenly, sweating profusely, his heart thumping away violently in his thoracic cavity, his pupils dilated, he reaches for the lamp, its just 3:30am he blurts. His wife complains, "whats wrong darling"? I had a nightmare, he says. Oh, its only a dream dear, lets go back to sleep. I am sure you have once experienced something similar to what Tony experienced.
The dream I am talking about isn't those we see when we sleep but those we make when fully awake. (of course I don't mean day dreaming). Dreams arise as a result of activities taking place in our subconscious minds. The workings of the subconscious mind is very complex and processes billions of information sent to it via the sense gates (i.e the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and skin). These activities usually are what result into the dreams we see when we sleep.
However, we are talking about a dream created, crafted and designed by you which is able to sail you from where you are right now to where God wants you to be. God's desire for us is to be prosperous. The Hebrew word translated as prosperous "Tsalach Tsaleach" means to push forward. We are expected to push forward in our business, academics, marriages and so on. God said, "I know the thoughts I have towards you, thought of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end". Having an idea of what is ahead gives us energy to continue pushing forward.
God will likely not appear to you and tell you what to do, he has already done his own part of the deal, the bible says " he has given us all things that pertains to life and godliness". This means you have all the raw materials needed to build yourself a great and impartful life here on earth. That is success. you cannot begin to achieve success except to begin to achieve one internally. This internal success begins with creating a dream by and for yourself. If you don't design your own dream, you will likely end up working yourself in someone's own dream.
Last night I was scrolling through the news feeds on my facebook page when i stumbled on a post by a good friend of mine which states " REST IN PEACE MADIBA AFRICAN GREAT LEADER". I felt a cold chill run up my spine as I thought, oh! at last this man has finally left us.
Personally, I have been facinated by the life of this great enigma. The life he lived, his leadership qualities all helped to make Africa and the world a much better place. I would like to use this medium to share some of the leadership qualities of this great man.
1. He sacrificed all: The life of Nelson Mandela was a life of sacrifice for the people of South Africa. He laid down his life, education, family to ensure a better life for his people. He refused to accept offers from the Apartheid government during the early days of the struggle, instead he preferred the Robben Island prison than to sit in luxury and watch the people suffer. He must have the heart of the greatest leader of all, Jesus who sacrificed himself for humanity to reconcile us to God. Jesus taught us something profound when he said "no one who has left home or wife or brother or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to recieve many times as much in this age and in the age to come eternal life". The sacrifice of Madiba virtual bought him the world, he was begged to become president, a position people would gladly kill and destroy to get.
2. He had a Large Heart; Madiba was a man with an incredibly large heart. He was loving, forgiving, humble and always ready to listen to ideas. He could have come out of prison and turned himself into an emperor or dictator, but not this man. I remember watching him soon after his release going round to visit and reconcile himself with those who worked hard to ensure his life was a living hell, especially the attorney who laboured to ensure Mandela was hanged during his trials. you could feel the genuiness of his smile, hugs and disposition.
when he became president, he dropped some of the "ignorant" policies of the ANC which could have spelt disaster to the economy of South Africa, thanks to his wide consultations and learning he had undergone after he was released.
There is too much to say about this man, he is an inspiration of hope to me and millions alike. I pray the youth of my country Nigeria learn something from the life of Nelson Mandela. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace.
