Are you holding yourself back? - Free Yourself

The first half of 2013 has come and gone and the second half of the year is before us. Hmm! How has the year been for you?  For me, it’s been awesome I mean A W E S O M E… aside the privilege of being alive, God has done so much for me, with me and through me.

Now enough of me…. Let’s talk about you! Yes you. How has your year been?

Do you remember all the resolutions you made beginning of the year? You said you were going to work on your character, build an intimate relationship with God, pursue that degree, relocate, start that new project, get a new job, and get married and a whole lot more?

You remember don’t you? How far with all those plans? Are you living the life you said you are going to live? Are you pursing those dreams or are you holding yourself back from pursing them! The last thing you want to do is live a life full of incomplete dreams.

Six months have come and gone and I want you to EVALUATE yourself. Use the next SIX months to build on all your successes and where you haven’t done so well, do all you can to make the most of what’s left of the year.

One of the ironies of life is that many times, we hold ourselves back from living a passion filled, purposeful life without even knowing it. And usually it is over petty issues that very illogical to reason.
Do you give everything you do in life your all? Or are you holing yourself back in some way, in some aspect of life, without even knowing it?

The truth is, we all have fears but then, we must make sure we don’t allow our fears hold us back from living a passion-filled, purposeful life.

Many things hold us back from doing the things we want to do and becoming the person we want to become and I will just hit on a few of them randomly so here is where we begin...

They won’t like me!
Its human nature to want acceptance; nobody likes being rejected but when the fear of being rejected causes you to hold yourself back at key moments in life you might want to ask yourself which is important? “Being accepted or living your life for you?”  

It’s cynical to think you need other people to validate you, your thoughts, or actions before you live your God ordained life. Never allow people manipulate you through their misguided expectations of who they think you ought to be. Be who Christ want you to be, do what you know is right and enjoy your life. You don’t live to please people.

Procrastination!

Another thing that holds many back is procrastination. For me, overcoming procrastination is one of the biggest miracles of my life and if I could do it, you too can do it. The point is this: if something is not helping you then most likely, it is hurting you and procrastination we know has messed many (if not all of us) up.

The key to overcoming this cancer (procrastination) is DISCIPLINE. And what I mean by discipline is “doing what you are supposed to do, when you are supposed to do it whether you feel like doing it or not.” Trust me it is that simple.

What procrastination does is that it makes easy things hard and hard things harder. You need to realize that there is no substitute for doing the right things. Don’t allow procrastination cause you to hold yourself back.

Un-forgiveness!

 Un-forgiveness is one deep topic I cannot discuss in one single note but I’m going to run through it.

Forgiveness is not an option in life. It is a MUST. Why? Because in life, PEOPLE (even the ones you never thought would) are going to wrong/hurt you. It happens all the time. But you see forgiveness is not for the other person(s) per say it is for YOU.

There is absolutely no way, you are going to live a free and a healthy live without forgiveness. Un- forgiveness is you being in prison without being behind physical bars. Why would you want that?

It time you stop letting situations, what someone did or didn’t do, past guilt and mistake hold you back. Forgive yourself, free yourself and forgive them even if not for anything, so that GOD can forgive you. "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt 6:14-15).

My last thought on forgiveness is, just because you forgave someone doesn't mean you need to keep having dealings with them. There are some people you have to love and deal with from afar!

I talked extensively on “reaching forgiveness” in a different note. See it here http://sureboy.blogspot.com/2011/04/reaching-forgiveness.html

Sin!

When I mention sin as something that holds an individual back, I am not trying to be overly religious. I know some people may not agree with me on this but then, this isn’t public opinion. This is purely my thought and I know what I am saying.

Sin is an anomaly. It is a package deal that brings momentary satisfaction but has eternal consequences. And one of its consequences is that it holds you back. Do you know that God cannot bless sin? Read Psalms 1:1-3.

I do not intend to scare you with my preaching. As a matter of fact, I bring you hope. I need you to know that there is NO condemnation in Christ Jesus so never allow your past sins stop you from going to God. God is waiting for you with arms wide open. Just ask for forgiveness, and go to Him. When you ask God to forgive you, not only will He do it, but He will remember it NO MORE.

I can go on and on with this piece but I’m just going to round up here by saying stop making excuses, stop procrastinating, stop dwelling on squandered opportunities, forgive freely, run away from sin and live out your God ordained life.

God has not forgotten about the dreams He placed in your heart. He can change your entire life in a moment. He can make the rest part of this year the best part of the year for you. Rest in HIM.

So are you holding yourself back? – free yourself.

 Just Sharing My Thoughts

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Above all else, guard your heart!

All through the scriptures, there is a lot of emphasis on the heart as it ought to be because the heart is the singular most important part in the human body and when the bible talks about the heart, it talks about both our physical heart and our spiritual heart.

The heart is the central point of our lives. If the natural heart ceases to beat, the body dies. The same goes for our spiritual heart. Our spiritual heart is where our will, our emotions, our thoughts and our personalities are formed.

Everything starts from the heart. Our hearts are truly who we are. We love from our hearts. We hold treasures there. We also hold grudges and bitterness there. Every action and reaction comes from our hearts.

The heart is also very important to God so much that in Proverbs 4:23, He tells us “Above all else, guard your heart [mind, inner being], for it is the wellspring of life”. Why? Because He searches the heart – Jeremiah 17:10, and only the pure in heart, will see Him - Mathew 5:8.

The bitter truth however is that many of us are not guarding our hearts. We have become careless with our hearts. We allow our heart wonder here and there. We feed our hearts things that don’t edify us, we allow people into our heart who don’t deserve to be there.

Can I ask you an honest question? What is the state of your heart? Who and what are you allowing into your heart that is messing you up? When God looks at your heart, what does He see? Have you brought your heart before God for cleansing?

We tend guard and take care of every other thing we treasure except for our hearts; we will lock the door to our homes to guard our lives and our valuables, we will guard our positions at work by doing everything possible to insure a lasting position however, we fail to guard what is considered to be the most important- our hearts!

The purpose of this note if for us to really examine ours hearts. What matters most is not what’s happening on the outside of us but what’s happening on our inside- our heart.

The state of our heart is never hidden. It is seen in our attitude, it is seen in our dressing, and it is seen in our character, it is seen in our words. "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” - Matthew 12:34

What is the majority of your words saying? Do you talk about money most of the time? Is it power and position, it is career, it is appearance, or it is possessions? Are you constantly arguing, gossiping, worrying or stressing over something? Do you have a hard time saying positive things?

All these are symptoms of an unguarded heart. And it's no secret that an unguarded heart is a breeding ground for sin. Sin in not just expressed in the act alone it is first committed in the heart.

You see, if someone wants to pollute water, he pollutes it at its source. If he wants to purify water, he purifies it at its source. The content of our hearts form the core of our lives- either godliness or ungodliness. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7

Who have you allowed into your heart? Who do you spend time with? Why are you surprised that you think and act the way you do when your friendships are full of people who don’t push you toward Christ?

Truth is, you will never know the reality of your heart until you bring it before God.

We must start guarding this precious commodity by bringing it before God for a "check-up" and thereafter guarding it. And if you don’t already have a relationship with God, then you need to first surrender your heart to Christ before you even talk of guarding it.

We need to stop opening our hearts up to things that perverts our heart. Cut out every distraction, turn off those stupid music, switch off those mindless TV shows, refuse any lustful conversations, do away with lies, turn away from gossip, flee any sexual temptation that's around you and don’t put up with people who disobey God and make excuses for sin.

The need for us to guard our hearts cannot be over emphasized so bring your heart before the Creator and allow Him to do a little surgery on it. Trust me; the surgery process is not even painful. He is an expert at fixing faulty, broken, and messed up hearts- a healer in every sense of the word.

When your heart is completely surrendered to Christ you will be conscious about guarding it.

It is my sincere prayer that God will give us the needed grace to adequately guard our hearts the way we ought to…

Above all else, guard your heart!

Just Sharing My Thought

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Who has your heart? – Heart Check, Life Check

 

For a while now, GOD has been dealing with me on a whole range of issues. And one question that keeps lingering on my heart is does GOD still have our hearts?

JESUS in Matthew 15:8 spoke about a people. He said “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.” Now I’m wondering if that in anyway describe you!

We live in world that in growing increasing godless and many of us (Christians) have wandered away from GOD. Our hearts have practically left God. We are no longer “falling into sin" but actively pursuing it.

We no longer admit our premeditated sinful actions and repent of them rather we’ve redefined sin to be “silly mistakes” we make every now and then… our hearts are so far from GOD and I wonder what happened!

Let's be real people. How many of us can say I (so and so) truly love GOD with the whole of my heart/life? Oh! You think attending church makes you a righteous person? The bible says a tree is identified by it FRUIT.

Although we confess CHRIST as our Savior; our Life demonstrates that our heart belongs to Satan.

I know you may not agree with that but then it’s the truth… we like Satan’s music. We date his sons, we date his daughters, we like his hate, we like his UN-forgiveness, we like his pornography, we like his clothes, we like his gossip,we like his greed, we like his lust we like his sex outside of marriage(fornication/adultery) and more.

We may not readily admit we like all these stuffs than we desire to please GOD but the way we prioritize our day and live our lives show what is important to us and what is not. It shows in whom/what we place our value. It shows what we are thinking about for the most part of the day.

It shows we no longer desire GOD instead we desire to listen to music that doesn’t edify us, watch mindless TV shows, gossip, have our boyfriend/girlfriend rub our back, build silly unhealthy relationships and more! It shows that we have replaced GOD with stuffs.

Why is it that though we claim we love GOD we HE no longer has first place in our lives? How come we don't talk to HIM, don't spend time with Him and aren't intentional about having a deeper relationship with HIM?

We only what to serve GOD when it is convenient for us and remember HIM only when everything else begins to fall apart- why? We need to realize that whatever we are chasing, if it is not GOD's will even when we catch/grab/get it, we still won't be satisfied.

Friends, we cannot hide from GOD. We need to STOP running from HIM. HE sees us and knows our thoughts even before we start thinking them. We don't have to continue living our lives feeling lost, broken,and ashamed.

This is an open rebuke and a wake-up call to us all. This isn’t a time to run from GOD but a time for us to run to GOD. We cannot continue to turn our hearts away from HIM. He is READY to take us back into His ever loving arms.

I encourage you to check yourself and see who/what has your heart! If there is something you need to repent of hastily do so. The spirit of GOD always convicts us of sin but if we fail to listen and repent, we won’t escape sins consequences.

In order for us to truly experience GOD we MUST seek after Him with ALL of our heart!!! He MUST be the ONE THING that drives us…Seeking Him must CONSUME our lives so get RID of anything that is hindering you; let go of whoever is pushing you around. Let go of the distractions. Let go of whatever is causing you to STUMBLE.

Forgive whoever has hurt you, HATE SIN, take time off facebook, twitter, and social media and bury your head in your BIBLE. Intentionally PURSUE CHRIST and seek a relationship with HIM.

Don’t look at where you have been or how much of a mess you have gotten yourself involved in and start looking unto CHRIST. You may not feel like it but when it comes to living for God, we cannot wait to feel like doing so before we do so.

Christ coming is imminent. Please don't miss out on RAPTURE for anything in this world. Scripture in Mark 8:37 ask this all important question! "What can a man/woman give in exchange for his/her soul?" I don’t know about you but I don’t want to go through HELL here on earth and end up in HELL. God forbid!

My concluding thought is; if God doesn’t have your heart; you better give it to Him right now! I urge you to fully embrace CHRIST with the whole of your heart and intentionally pursue HIM daily!!!

Just Sharing My Thought

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Its May Eleven and Dazzle's Birthday!

Today is indeed a blessed and a special day for me because on this day twenty something years ago my friend - Miss Blessing Oluwaseun Bolaji aka Dazzle was born.

 

Her birthday is as much a celebration for me as it is for her and maybe more! On this her special occasion, I choose to express how special she (my friend) really is to me…

From the first time I heard your voice to the first time we met and even till this day, my happiness have known no bounds. Our friendship has blossomed, like a rose and we have become very close.

You came into my life when I really needed a friend. And no! It wasn’t a mere coincidence that we met. It was destiny… Getting to know you has been an awesome joy! The fun we have talking to each other, the confession sessions we share together, the laugh, and every moment spent with you I will forever treasure.

You and I are different and in many ways the same. The more I get to know you, the more I get to know myself better. You have so much blessed my life that whenever I count my blessings, I count you twice.

You possess qualities that represent the qualities of the woman described in Proverbs 31 and I have no doubt in my heart that you will indeed be a virtuous woman. You are already on that path.

You are an embodiment of wisdom, your great sense of humor, your godly heart and your strong desire to be a godly woman stands you out. God bless the man that gets your hand in marriage (I hope ……*some text missing*……)

You have given me so much-- supported me, encouraged me, cared for me and prayed for me. You are a gem of a person; a rare diamond to find. If I could make this day any special for her, believe me, I would.

I don’t only hope, I know all your dreams will come true so close your eyes and wish for all that you desire. God will grant you whatever you want and GIVE YOU REASONS TO SMILE ALL YEAR LONG.

Perhaps I haven’t told you this before and even if I have, let me reiterate that whenever you need me I will always be there standing by your side... your friendship is very important to me and I wouldn’t want to lose it for anything.

Dazzle with Julie - Her bestie! 

May each birthday of yours be better than the last! You will achieve success and prosperity in every phase of your life. Your days will be filled with happiness, joy and pleasant surprises and may your nights be filled with comforting dreams…

As you celebrate this special day of yours, my three wishes are that you will be as happy as you have made me, we will remain friends forever and you know the third!

I celebrate you Miss. Blessing Oluwaseun Bolaji. Do have a blessed and a happy birthday dear… 

Love and care loads!!!