I want to at this point add that the bright side of the process is not a place or a point in a geographic map per se, it is a state of mind. It is believing that you will be all that God has said you will be, even though it does not look like you are making a headway based on what the physical eyes can see. It is believing that despite what you are going through, it takes God nothing to turn your situation around.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” Psalm 23:4a (KJVL).

It therefore means that you can only locate the bright side through faith.

I really am not about to query or investigate what you know about faith, but I want to dare you to exercise it.

“For we live by faith, not by sight” 2 Cor. 5:7 (ISV)

To get to the bright side, you need to see beyond what your physical eyes are showing you and see through the eyes of faith. What I am trying to say is that when problems are staring you in the face, see solutions and let it determine your response to life issues. When fear looms, quell it with faith.

From the next episode, we will look at some of the processes God takes us through. This journey is getting better, Halleluyah!     

#THE PROCESS

Please share with others and let it bless them as it blessed you

Stay blessed.       
  

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES
(Transforming the World through the Word)
http://www.transformingwordseries.wordpress.com

This is going to be a long read but I beseech you to read every word of this. I am trusting God to make it worth every second you spend reading it.

Recently, my pastor preached a message titled “WAKE UP”. He used Matt. 13:24-30 as his text but chose to focus on verse 25. As usual, I listened keenly with rapt attention. He dealt with a very serious issue affecting the Church today. I was challenged by the message such that I had to revisit that text again before I slept that night. I was trusting God to consolidate in my heart, the powerful message I had heard earlier in the day, which was why I was particularly going over that passage again. But to my utmost shock and awe, the Holy Spirit took me from where my pastor dealt with to a totally different dimension of that passage from what my pastor had earlier preached.

As I went through this journey with the Holy Spirit, a lot of questions popped up in my heart. One of them was: WHY DID THE ENEMY SOW TARES AFTER THE MAN HAD SOWN GOOD SEEDS? WHY DID HE NOT JUST KILL THE SEEDS SINCE HE HAD ACCESS TO THE FIELD? (They were actually two questions in one)

As I sought answers to these questions, the Holy Spirit dropped a statement in my heart: The success or failure of our endeavours requires our involvement. It is facile to blame the devil for our mishaps, and shy away from taking responsibility. My friend, just leave the devil and deal with yourself? I’ll leave that alone, I am actually going somewhere with this. Hmmm… an enemy had access to a man’s field, instead of destroying his seeds, he planted fake seeds instead.

Another interesting question was this: HOW DID THE SERVANTS KNOW THAT TARES HAD BEEN SOWN? To further understand why I asked this question, I’ll let you in on a little knowledge about tares. Tares are fake wheat. When they are sown alongside wheat, it is difficult to differentiate them, even as they grow. You only know tares among wheat when the harvest is due. Tares will either not bear seeds at all or bear thorny and bitter seeds. Well, I am still searching for an answer to that. If you have one, feel free to share with me.

Closing in on the crux of the matter I am dealing with, I could not help but query the rationale behind the proposed cause of action of the servants in this passage. As common, natural, normal and mundane as their proposed course of action was, we can relate to it. It may not be far from what you and I would have wanted to do. The truth is that our emotional disposition has a way of affecting our choices and decision. I can imagine how they felt when the master declared “an enemy had done this”. Their response was more about exterminating what the enemy had done than securing the future of the seed.  It is the same thing most of us do when “an enemy” sows tares among our wheat.

Now to what I really want to bring to the fore. I closely brooded on the master’s response and I it was interesting what the Holy Spirit showed me. I struggled with it, but I had to allow it flow as God was showing me something I had not seen from that passage before.

I saw the master as a man who had been able to put his emotions under control that it did not affect his decision making. This was a sharp contrast to the approach of the servants. The master was able to control himself not to make decisions that will help the enemy achieve his goal.

Now tying it to the question I started with, the enemy’s plans may have been to put the man in a situation where in reacting to the issue, he will destroy his seed by himself. Have you not noticed that the devil will not stay in hell and destroy your future, he will rather incite you to destroy your own destiny? All he needs to do is to sow tares of emotional imbalance and watch you react to the point of self-destruction.

But God desires that you be ahead of the game, which is the only way to beat the devil to his own game. Do not fall for his pranks and get so emotionally unbalanced that you take actions that will jeopardize your future. One way to be ahead of the game is to put your emotions under control and do not let them determine your course of action.

God bless you

#SelfControl
#Inspire

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES
http://www.transformingwordseries.wordpress.com

I have come to realize that most often than not, we do more of complaining. The most comfortable and convenient thing to do, when we are going through life issues, is complain. When we lose loved ones, we complain. When we lose our jobs, we complain. When we go through rejection, we complain. When we seem to be encumbered, the easiest thing to do at those times my friends is to complain.

One of my discoveries about complaining is that it creates a negative atmosphere for bad situations to thrive. The more you talk about a bad situation, the more they are magnified. Sometimes we go so far that we even miss the path to the solution.

I have also realized that we complain to get sympathy. We try to make people believe it was not our fault that we are going through what we are going through. At some of those times, the people we complain to seem not to care. It really may not be that they do not want to show care, but they also have things they are dealing with. Not to sound mean, but just know that people do not owe you to care. So when you complain and it is as though no one cares, do not get distraught, just know they do not owe you to care.

When life throws darts and arrows at you, do not resort to complaining, just locate the bright side. I have emphasized on this series that the things we go through are not meant to destroy us (except we let them), but they are designed to make us better. One key to coming out better after the process is to look on the bright side. This helps you draw positive energy to go through the process. Rather than complain, look on the bright side.  

#THE PROCESS

Please share with others and let it bless them as it blessed you

Stay blessed.       
   and a happy new month to you!

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES
(Transforming the World through the Word)
http://www.transformingwordseries.wordpress.com

My father is a clergyman. As a consequence, we lived mostly in parsonages. Even if I wanted to, I could not evade religious activities. I grew up getting acquainted with religious activities, to the point where I became bored and wanted to try out something new. I found a way out, or so I thought. I did exceptionally well in the Federal Entrance Examination for a chance to be admitted into any of the Federal Government Colleges in Nigeria. We (myself and a few other classmates of mine who also succeeded in the entrance examination) were given orientation on how tough and rough life can be there, but we did not mind. I particularly did not let the orientation border me because I needed a life devoid of religious activities.

My hopes of a break out was short-lived when my father told me I was to seat for the entrance examination for a seminary school owned by my maiden church. I wrote, passed and was admitted with scholarship for the first academic session. It was nothing that I desired, but God was taking me through a process. I may not be able to tell what would have become of me had I refused to forgo my chance of a break out to attend a seminary, but I can tell you now that my life did not turn out worse. I may not be there yet, but I am grateful God took me through the process that made me who I am today.

Friends, when God takes you through a process, it’s all for your good. The process does not have any guarantee for luxury, but it will surely make you better. The process will not destroy you, but it will distinguish you. There is always a story attached to every glory. Do not give up on God, stay on, it will end in glory.

“During this time now, we have troubles and pain. But I am sure that these troubles are not really very important. They are not really very important because God has prepared much, much better things for us. He is keeping these great and good things for us. And when we think about these great things, our troubles now do not seem important” Rom. 8:18 (EEV).

#THE PROCESS

Please share with others and let it bless them as it blessed you

Stay blessed.       
  
HAPPY EASTER CELEBRATION TO YOU

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES
(Transforming the World through the Word)
http://www.transformingwordseries.wordpress.com