Category: Inspiration

Never Stop Moving Forward

The bigger your dreams the more colossal the challenges. Life will throw hits at you in direct proportion to what you are aiming to get out of it, the measure of success you are able to garner from life therefore, is a function of the chunk of challenges and obstacles you are able to conquer. Take the hits now and celebrate later or……

You may seem static at the moment but don’t stop believing, don’t stop pushing, don’t lose faith, and don’t give up. For it is with patience, perseverance, and trust that the biggest goals are attained.

Do you have a concrete process in place? Trust the process!

Have you earmarked your journey? Keep Moving!

Do you have doubters around you? Trust your guts!

Are you afraid? Trust God!

Are you tempted to quit? Remember why you started!

Are things not going in the right direction? Well ask yourself this…”have I done all that I can do to make this work for me?

Remember to review your strategy and effect necessary changes but NEVER STOP MOVING FORWARD.

Thanks For Reading!

Bibobra

 

 

A Short Story About Human Value

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In a room of 200, he asked,

“Who would like this $20 bill?”

Hands started going up.

He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill.

He then asked, “Who still wants it?”

Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he replied, “What if I do this?”

And he dropped it on the ground. And started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

“Now, who still wants it?”

Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.

No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it Because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, But by WHO WE ARE.

“You are special – Don’t EVER forget it.”

Thanks for reading!

Bibobra

10 Perseverance And Endurance Quotes

  1. “Nothing reflects so much honor on a workman as a trial of his work and its endurance of it. So it is with God. It honors Him when His saints preserve their integrity.” – Charles Spurgeon
  2. “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison
  3. “Whatever is good to know is difficult to learn.” – Greek Proverb
  4. “Heroism is endurance for one moment more.” – George F. Kennan
  5. “This too shall pass.”
  6. “Fall seven times and stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
  7. “Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.” – Plutarch
  8. “I think what endurance sports teach you is to stay dedicated, stay focused, and also to understand you’re going to have ups and downs, but you need to keep running right through them.” – Kyrsten Sinema
  9. “He who cannot bear misfortune is truly unfortunate.” – Greek Proverb
  10. “Life is short, the art long.” – Hippocrates

A Tale of Three Kings: Insights to Inspire Personal Growth in You

In my previous article… A Tale of Three Kings: Two Lessons to Inspire Growth in You, I highlighted two major lessons that inspired me. This is the last in this series and I hope that as you read and apply these lessons to your life you would grow and mature in your character and relationships.

Before you read further I would encourage you to read the first article and if you can afford it, buy the book. It will challenge your thought process and change your life in a good way.

Here are some of the key things I took away from the concluding part of the book:

  1. David refused to cause harm to King Saul or even cause division in the kingdom. It is very easy for us to take the route of vengeance especially if we are innocent and the person in question is caught in our trap. When David and his men saw King Saul sleeping, his men saw the opportunity as a sign from God. We are quick to make assertions such as…”I have been patient with him/her and even been running away to avoid any kind of trouble but now God has delivered my enemy into my hands…thank you God, now is my turn to serve him/her the bitter pills.” David had the chance to end King Saul’s life but he chose to allow God to do it His own way, he said if God has anointed me king over Israel then at the right time He will enthrone me, I will not hasten the process. You too can imitate this noble act of David. Resist the temptation to be exactly like your adversary, refuse to be influenced negatively by those who chose to repay you evil for the good you did for them.
  2. How can you remain faithful between the promise and the payoff? One funny thing about David’s life was that he was very peaceful and relatively happy before Samuel the prophet anointed him king. With the anointing came envy from King Saul and that was followed by torments, trials, and troubles seeking to kill him. What did God do? Nothing! what did David do? Nothing! David believed and trusted God one hundred percent that he would be enthroned at the appointed time even if he had to spend the entire waiting period in caves and running away. My take away from this point is that, you did not asked to be born, hence, you are here for a purpose and if you believe this, then continue to do the best you can and believe that at the right time you will be enthroned. Destiny can be delayed but it cannot be denied. Maintain a positive attitude while you wait to reap the fruits of your labor.
  3. Are you willing to live through pain, or do you avoid it? This is an important question because it says a lot about your character. In my previous article 10 Character Building Quotes I highlighted some of the quotes I thought would help you to build your character, you should check it out. One of my favorite in that list is number 6: “A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” – Seneca. David persevered through trials and difficult times. And it was times and difficulties like these that prepared him for the tasks ahead and as it is highlighted in the book, he had to draw from these experiences to handle Absalom’s rebellion. If you are going to achieve something great then expect great trials and difficulties in proportion to the size of your greatness, embrace them, learn from them, grow and mature.
  4. What needs to happen to make you change your good character? At his old age, David’s son Absalom rebelled against him and divided the kingdom. He spoke about his father’s inadequacies, the injustices in the kingdom and how he would make a better king. David was once again caught up in the middle of a battle but this time, with his own son. His men saw this as an insurrection and Just as they advised him in his youth to kill King Saul, he was given the same counsel. The line was drawn between his character and to hold on to power. He had the choice to become Saul and kill Absalom and cling to power or choose his character… “raise no hand” and allow God to decide the matter as he did in the past. David’s character was impeccable, he considered the throne to be God’s, not his own to have, to take, to protect, nor to keep.  He explicitly asserted his desire for God’s will more than His blessings. When Absalom declared himself king, David did nothing…typical of David. He relinquished everything and left the palace but as always God came through and proved Himself mightily to the whole of Israel. If you wish to know how this epic story ended read the book of first and second Samuel.

So what needs to happen to make you change your good character?

How would you respond if similar things were to happen to you?

What needs to happen to put your own inner Saul to death?

Do you agree with David’s commitment to “raise no hand,” or do you find this course too passive?

When can you know when God wants you to take action and when he wants you to accept action taken against you?

Thank you for reading!

Bibobra

 

 

A Tale of Three Kings: Two Lessons To Inspire Growth in You

Personally I have been working on an area of my life that needs growth, and that is my heart. You might ask: what does the heart have to do with personal growth? I would say everything! Why? Because if I don’t examine my heart toward God, me, and others I will never be able to understand and love God, myself and others more than I am currently doing.

Over the years, I have had really good people who have brought the best out of me and others who have been really annoying. You would say such is life, right? But I always wondered why some people made me happy and others, sad!

Most people would recommend for me to stay away from those who made me sad and cling to those who made me happy. Why? Because life is too short.

But I wanted to know why someone has the power to annoy me and make me really sad. Is it something in me or in them that brings this awkward emotion? Is there something that I am missing? Could I be blind toward certain areas of my life that someone else sees? Are they helping me outgrow some negative vibes am unaware of ? Is there something in my life that is stopping me from achieving my true potential that needs to be cutoff? Were they divinely positioned by God to help me grow? Were they sent to purify and prepare me for my destiny? These and many more questions raced through my mind and in the quest to find answers, a friend and a disciple of Christ recommended a book titled “A Tale of Three Kings”. This book is about three kings: Saul, David, and Absalom. I have not finished reading the book but it has being very impactful and I thought that I should share some of the insights that I have found very helpful to my cause.

  1. The author highlighted three things David learned that prevented him from been hit by Saul’s spear.

    One, never learn anything about the fashionable, easily mastered art of spear throwing. Two, stay out of the company of all spear throwers. And three, keep your mouth tightly closed.

    I think that these three points are so true if you don’t want to be like your adversary but your best self. If you choose to revenge or do to your enemies what they have done to you then you are just like them, David not desiring to be like Saul, chose the hardest way out…he walked away without saying a word!

  2. As time passes, the behavior of your adversary reveals a great deal about him/her. And the passing of time, and the way you react to him/her reveals a great deal about you.

I found the latter part very interesting because it is true. Our reactions are a revelation of our true selves. Do I like my reactions to those who annoy me?

Looking at the story of Saul and David, I believe that God put Saul in his life to help him see how not to be a king in the order of Saul. God used Saul to purge David of any Saulness in him lol.

In conclusion, God might have put certain people in our lives to help us become who we were born to be rather than be influenced by them and become like them. I am now focusing on what has been said and not on the one who said it, if there is any truth in it, I simply change my ways and grow up. If I see a bad attitude and/or attribute in someone, I check myself and if I find that same thing in me I cut it off.

Change takes place in a split second, it is the decision to change that takes forever.

Take a look at all your tormentors and adversaries and ask yourself this simple question: what is God trying to teach me?

I will come back with lessons from the concluding part. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

Bibobra.