Telescope of Faith: The Results are Coming (3)

Welcome to part 3 of this article. One problem some people have in their “faith walk” is that they are so preoccupied with what the witches and wizards, enemies of progress and satan and his agents are doing that they have no time to reflect on what God is doing for them.

In their mind and in their confession, they underestimate the power, greatness and love of God. In their despondency, they keep asking themselves: “Where are the results of my efforts? Where are the answers to my prayers?” The danger of despondency is that it renders people blind and so they can’t see what God has been doing and is doing for them. In that situation, they become despondent the more.

The solution to the problem and indeed all problems is to put your trust in God. The Book of Success, the Bible says: “Thou wilt keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26;3). If your mind is completely stayed on God, you will never be troubled by what your enemies are doing to you.

You can stay in the midst of adversity without being troubled. The secret is surrendering yourself to God. Focus your mind on the greatness, goodness, mercy, love and power of God. God is doing a lot of things for you. The reason you can’t see what God is doing for you is that you have sunk yourself into the sea of negativity.

Negativity is so destructive that some people who claim to know that the Everlasting Father, the Creator of heaven and earth is Supreme and there is nothing that is impossible with Him, still find it difficult trusting Him in times of trouble.

This, I believe, is the handiwork of satan. The aim of satan is to keep people in bondage and destroy them in the end. He does this by disconnecting them from their Source. Satan knows that as long as you remain connected to God your maker, he can never defeat you. Therefore, he uses problems to distract people from worshipping God.

Instead of staying connected to God, you become too preoccupied with the problems satan places on you. And this is what is defeating you. If your mind is not focused on God, but on problems, you would not be thinking of worshipping and thanking Him for what is He is doing in your life.

Anything that will cause you to doubt the power, greatness and love of God is not of God but of the devil. It doesn’t matter who or where the distraction is coming from. You have to take a stand and RESIST the devil.

One great assignment we should take very seriously in times of trouble is that we should practice taking our eyes off our troubles and focusing our mind on God and what He is doing for us.

In all things, we should learn to always give thanks to God, for it is His perfect will concerning us. Many people find it difficult to believe that the trouble they are passing through is God’s perfect will for them. The reason for this may not be far-fetched.

Over the years, they might have been holding the belief that as children of God, they ought not to have problems at all, and that any problem that will come their way, God will take it away. When these people encounter some problems, they become despondent and frustrated.

Only the truth can set these people free. In the first place, God doesn’t promise any person a trouble-free life. Jesus, the only begotten son of God, wasn’t exempted from troubles. He encountered rejection, was in constant confrontation with the hypocritical religious leaders, was betrayed and crucified; but He rose up from the dead.

Again Jesus didn’t promise a trouble-free life. Jesus said: “These things I have spoken unto you, that ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

If you want to live a victorious life, you must jettison the erroneous belief that because you owe allegiance to God, you should not have a problem to contend with. Believe it or not, problem will come when it will come. “It is impossible that offence should not come.”

It is because there are problems that we are talking about victory over those problems. This is what CFVL (this blog) is preaching – VICTORY. If there are no problems, we would not be talking about victory. And victory is what God promises us: “For what soever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

If, instead of focusing on victory, you keep whining and complaining, you will be displeasing God. For every problem you are passing through, you have a thousand and one reasons to thank God. But if you don’t have strong faith in God, you are not likely going to focus on what God is doing for you or thank Him for those.

Dear reader, NEVER ALLOW THE DEVIL TO BRING YOU TO A SITUATION WHERE YOU CANNOT SEE REASONS TO THANK GOD. If you are praising God for what He is doing in your life, He will be committed to do much more for you.

If you lose contact with God, you make yourself vulnerable to satan. Always stay connected to God. If you remain connected to God, there is no battle that comes your way that you cannot overcome.

The storm will come. Distraction will come. Your enemies will attack you. The devil and his cohorts will do anything they can to frustrate you. But because you remain connected to the Everlasting Father, they will never prevail over you.

There are battles we would have won easily, but because we fail to focus on God and what He is doing for us, we get defeated. Thankfully, we still have the opportunity of putting everything right. Downfall of a man is not the end of his life. The results and answers to your prayers will not come if you quit. You have to be up and running.

Complaint and excuses will not deliver to you the results and answers to your prayers. The only thing I know that can grant you the results and answers to your prayers is FAITH. “THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMETH THE WORLD, EVEN OUR FAITH.”

There will come easy times and hard times, rain and sunshine, comfort and discomfort, pleasure and displeasure, but if you hold unto your faith, you will prevail in the end. Arm yourself with the shield of faith which you will use to quench all the fiery darts of the devil. 

There is victory for you. Get up and fight today. Take up your telescope of faith and look. Can you see the results and answers to your prayers? If you can see them, they shall be yours.

SUBMIT YOURSELF TO GOD NOW AND RESIST THE DEVIL. He will flee and you will be victorious now and ever! Till I come your way soon, go and live victoriously!

Think Outside the Box

The proverbial box is nothing but the limitations we place in our thinking. When we limit ourselves in our thinking, we limit our progress in life.

If you have concluded that you cannot go farther than certain level, you may never be able to advance beyond that level. If you say there is nothing else you can do concerning certain issue in your life, then, you are guilty of thinking “inside the box.”

Obviously, we live in a world of endless possibilities. Just when a person concludes that something is impossible, then you will find a positive-minded person that will get up and convince the doubting Thomas that it is possible.

In his book, The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale narrated a story which helped to encourage one to think outside the box all the time in order to achieve outstanding success.

In the story, a sky scrapper was built and they were considering installing elevator. But the engineers said this would mean extra cost as they have to pull down part of the building in order to install the elevator. They thought there was no other way they could go about it.

But a janitor, who heard the engineers discuss the issue, suggested that instead of incurring more expenses by destroying part of the building, it was better they installed the elevator outside the building. The idea struck the engineers!

Now, before then, no elevator had ever been installed outside buildings. The other engineers kicked against the idea of installing elevator outside the building. They said the idea went against the laws of engineering.

But after much deliberation and out of reluctance, they agreed to experiment with the janitor’s idea. They succeeded in doing that. That was the first time elevator was installed outside a building!

Dear reader, anytime any person or your mind tells you that something is impossible, don’t believe it. The fact that you cannot find a way of doing certain thing does not mean it is impossible. The fact that something has never been done in a particular way does not mean it cannot be done that way.

The problem with us most times is that we are too rigid in our thinking. When something has never been done in a particular way, we quickly conclude that it can never be done that way. Norman Vincent Peale called this type of thinking “grooved-in thinking.”

Noting is Impossible

We are living in a world of endless possibilities. Many things that people thought were impossible years ago have been made possible by those who thought outside the box and discovered ways of getting them done.

Travelling to the moon was thought to be impossible many years ago, but some people thought outside the box. They believed it was possible. They believed there must be ways of getting into the moon. After series of trials and errors, they discovered a way and eventually got into the moon.

WHEN YOU THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX ALL THE TIME, YOU WILL CERTAINLY DISCOVER WAYS OF ACCOMPLISHING THE GOAL YOU SET FOR YOURSELF. Don’t limit yourself in your thinking. Always believe thing are possible. You only need to find a way of doing them.

THE BASIC STEP TO THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX IS ESTABLISHING IN YOUR MIND THE FACT THAT NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. Then, think of ways of getting things done. It is when you start thinking of possible ways of doing a particular thing that you will start discovering the ways.

You Can Make It Possible

The fact that it has never been done anywhere does not mean it is impossible. Those things we say are “impossible” remain impossible because we fail to think outside the box.

Many years ago, Henry Ford told his team of engineers to produce a particular engine (V8) which had never been produced before. When the engineers saw the design, they quickly replied that it was impossible to produce it. Ford told them to go and produce it. They went and tried to produce it. After some time, they returned to Ford and told him they could not produce it.

Ford asked them to go back and keep working on it until they produced it. He gave them a deadline. They went back and worked to produce it. Surprisingly, within few weeks, the engine was successfully created!

Dear reader, those things you think are impossible are not really impossible. They may look impossible, but they are not. When you think outside the box by looking for ways of getting those things done, you will certainly find ways of doing them.

It may be that no one has ever done what you want to do. That does not mean it is impossible to do it. The fact that it has never been done does not mean that it cannot be done. Like Ford’s team of engineers, you have to force yourself to believe that it is possible.

WHEN YOU THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND GO BACK TO WORK, YOU WILL DISCOVER THAT THOSE THINGS YOU THOUGHT WERE IMPOSSIBLE ARE ACTUALLY POSSIBLE.

It Can Be Done

The fact that some have tried it and failed does not mean it cannot be done. We have seen or heard it many times, in the business world, of situations where some people failed and quit some businesses while others come into the same businesses and make them buoyant. What is the secret?

The secret is in the pattern of thinking of the operators of these businesses. While former operators thought there was no way they could take the businesses to greater height; the later thought they could achieve great success in the businesses. That thought gave them the staying power to remain in the businesses and turn them around for the better.

You can succeed where others have failed. You only need to change your way of thinking. Stop thinking inside the box. Stop limiting yourself in your thinking. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE WAYS OF GETTING THINGS DONE. REMEMBER: WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY.

For every goal you set for yourself, there is a way of achieving it. You only need to THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. Put on your thinking cap now and start thinking of ways of achieving the goal you have set for yourself.

Try Again

The fact that you have tried many times and did not succeed does not mean that you cannot succeed. More often than not, the problem we have is not with the method we adopt in achieving our goal. The method may be right. It is only our way of thinking that is wrong.

Often, when we try several times and don’t succeed we start thinking that it is all over, that we have failed; and then we quit. The story is told of a pike (a large FRESHWATER fish with very sharp teeth) that was kept in the aquarium. The aquarium had a glass partition which separated the pike from many other small fishes kept at the other side. The pike tried repeatedly to eat the small fishes, but each time it tried, it would be blocked by the glass partition.

Later, the glass partition was removed, but the pike never made any further effort at eating the fishes. More often, we suffer from this “pike syndrome.” The pain and frustration we experience from several futile efforts make us to stop putting in more efforts.

No wonder, someone said: “90% of those who failed didn’t fail; they quit.” Quitting should not be your portion. Don’t quickly pack off and quit when things are going wrong. IF YOU ARE SURE YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, AND THINGS ARE NOT GOING WELL AS YOU EXPECT, DON’T ALLOW FEELING OF FRUSTRATION TO GET YOU OFF THE TRACK.

Remain on the track. Keep trying. Give it more tries. You may be closer to success than you think. Why give up when only one more effort could be what you need make to achieve the goal you have set for yourself.

Finally, when you are in a fix, don’t conclude that it is impossible. No matter how difficult things may be, it is not impossible to achieve them. Believe you can achieve any goal you set for yourself. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX and begin to generate the ideas you need for achieving your set goal.

Until I come your way soon, go and live victoriously!         

Telescope of Faith: The Results are Coming (2)

Welcome to part 2 of this article. The fact of life is that results don’t come by worrying and fretting. Answers to prayers don’t come by getting discouraged and refusing to pray. Once in a while, every person may worry and fret. But real victors never continue to worry and fret.

This is the distinguishing factor between a victor and a victim. While a victim is perpetually despondent, a victor is perpetually focusing on the telescope of faith. For the victim, the consequence of his worries is that he becomes frustrated and despairs of life. For the victor, the consequence of using his telescope of faith is that he can see the results he is yearning for. He can see the answers to his prayers.

And because he can see everything he wants by faith, he is never bothered by the present unpleasant situation. The lifestyle of the victim is different. A victim sees things as they are. It is all the unpleasant things that his eyes can see that he focuses on and worries about. And because what he sees with his physical eyes is what he believes, he finds it difficult to see the great blessings God has packaged for him.

It is really pathetic meeting a victim of circumstances of life. The moment you meet a victim, you will quickly know. The bullets of negative confessions he shoots from his mouth will hit you, if you don’t dodge and escape.

The victim will tell you the sad story of how he has been under the oppression of witches and wizards over the years. He tells you the witches and wizards are responsible for his misfortunes. He tells you how some witch and wizard have told her that they would never allow him to prosper. Every time he opens his mouth, what you hear is negative confessions.

The person may claim to be a believer and would tell you that he prays and fasts regularly and goes to church regularly, yet the only beings he worships are witches and wizards, satan and his agents.

Then, you begin to ask yourself questions: is this person a true believer? Does he have faith in the creator of the heaven and earth? Does he know that he has power over those witches and wizards that he said are ruining his life? Does he know that he has authority over satan and his agents?

And this makes me to quickly draw some lessons from here. A man may claim to be a believer, he goes to church regularly, prays and fasts regularly, yet he does not have the faith that will make him an overcomer.

The Book of Success, the Bible says: “For what soever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

I have come to realize that there is no amount of religious practice you indulge in that will bring you victory, if you don’t have faith. I have come to realize that the fear of witches and wizards will not grant you victory over them, it is your faith that will earn you the victory.

I have come to realize that the fear of satan and his agents can never grant you victory over them, rather this fear will hold you in captivity. I have come to realize that God will not drive away the witches and wizards and satan and his agents that are troubling you, because He has already given you power over them. The Bible says, “Submit yourself therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Jesus, the centerpiece of our faith, has given us power over satan and his cohorts; “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

If you are a believer and you don’t know that you have power over satan and his cohorts, including the witches and wizards, you may remain at their mercy for a long time. It is your responsibility to resist the devil and his agents, including the witches and wizard. God may not do that for you since He has already given you the power to do so.

One big mistake some people used to make is that they think that by worrying, whining and complaining, God will rescue them. They think that by getting agitated about the results and answers to their prayers which are not forthcoming, the results and answers will come.

But they are wrong. God has laid down the principle for receiving from Him. The Master Jesus said, “Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24).

You may ask: “Is it possible to pray without having faith since it is faith that prompts a person to pray in the first place?” yes, it is possible to pray without having faith. Granted, the act of prayer by a person actually demonstrates some faith, but the person may not take the second step that he must take before he can receive from God, which is BELIEVING.

Act of prayer alone is not enough to grant answers to your petition. You must also believe that your prayers have been answered even though you cannot see the answers presently. If you keep praying and you keep worrying, “Where are the answers to my prayers? When will my prayers be answered?” Then it is an indication that you do not have the faith that brings the answers to your prayers. If you actually have the faith, you would realize that you don’t have to see the answers before you believe that God has answered your prayers.

If you actually have faith, you would realise that you don’t have to know when the answers to your prayers will come into manifestation. The job of the believer is to believe and keep believing that his prayers have been answered and then the answers will become a reality.

It is that “sustained faith” that is real faith. Everyone can pray, but it is those that have sustained faith that will obtain answers to their prayers. You should not stop praying and believing until you obtain answers to your prayers.

If you have been praying, endeavour to keep believing until you obtain answers to your prayers. If you are getting discouraged and you ask: “Where are the answers to my prayers” Supply the answer by yourself: “My prayers have been answered the first time I prayed. They are coming.”

Faith for Victorious Living

Faith is also the basis for our victory. We are not going to overcome our enemies if we keep pitying ourselves, worrying and confessing what they are doing to us. In fact, if your enemies know that you are pitying yourself and confessing negatively, they would be happy and even try to make you believe the lie that your destiny is in their hands.

The fact is, satan will keep you in despondency and defeat as long as he succeeds in making you to keep focusing on the negative things that are happening around you and in your life. If you are a believer and you think your destiny is in the hands of witches and wizards, then you need to examine yourself again.

If you are a believer and you are always preoccupied with what your enemies are doing to you rather than what God is doing for you, you may never be able to overcome your enemies.

If you cannot see and thank God for what He is doing for you and all you keep seeing and talking about is what your enemies are doing to you, I tell you: you may never be able to come out of despondency and defeat.

Be an Overcomer

The Book of Success, the Bible says: “For what soever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). If you are a believer, you are an overcomer and your faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

One problem I find with victims is that they get so immersed in negativity that even when you try and try to pull them out of the dungeon of negativity, they keep justifying themselves that what they are saying and passing through are real. But as miracle preacher, Benny Hinn said, “Faith doesn’t deny fact, it changes it.”

Granted, the powers of darkness are oppressing you and ruining your life. the fact is, you cannot overcome them by confessing and focusing on what they are doing to you. You don’t become an overcomer by confessing defeat, you become an overcomer by confessing VICTORY. The Bible says, “Let the weak say I am strong” (Joel 3:10).

If you are under the fire of affliction and you are confessing negatively, you may never be able to come out of that affliction. The way to come out of any affliction is to keep confessing victory all the time. This is the method the Bible prescribes for achieving victory. The Bible says “Let the weak say I am strong.”

You should not confess the negative things that are happening around you and in your life; you should always confess the positive things that you want to happen experience in your life.

Exercise Your Authority

When you muse: “Where are the results? My enemies have ruined me.” Then, you need to ask yourself: “Have I done my part in dealing with the powers of darkness? Have I exercised my authority over the witches and wizards?”

When it comes to power tussle, you need to understand that the battle goes beyond whining and complaining. You don’t win by whining, you win by wielding your authority over satan and his agents. You just have to give up the idea that you won’t fight to be victorious. It is not possible!

Think of it! Can you find a soldier sing victory song when there are no battles to fight and win? Or can a man say he has overcome when there is no battle that has been fought and won by him or on his behalf?

Dear reader, if you are a soldier of Christ, you need to know or remind yourself that there are battles to fight and win. We should rejoice in the fact that all we need to overcome has been given unto us. The Bible says: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4).

God has given you the weapons of the name of Jesus, blood of Jesus, the shield of faith, etc to pull down the stronghold of satan and his cohorts. If powers of darkness are afflicting you, instead of whining and complaining, get up and fight. You just need to do two things to remain victorious:

a.   Submit yourself to God; and

b.   Resist the devil.

The reason we can resist the devil and he will flee is that Jesus has given us power over satan and his cohorts: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

Will you believe the words of Jesus or will you believe the lies and negativity of satan? Believe the promise of Jesus today and start exercising your power by continuing to resist the devil and his cohorts. They will keep fleeing and you will remain victorious now and ever!

PS: Please watch out for part 3 of this article which shall be coming your way soon. Don’t miss it!