Creating the Change You Seek

The power of the spoken word is one of life’s greatest mysteries. All that you will ever be or accomplish hinges on how you choose to govern what comes out of your mouth. By what you allow to occupy your mind and mouth, you can either lift your life to great heights of success or send it plummeting into realms of failure, sadness, and discontentment. This is why Proverbs 23:7 tells us “for as he thinks in his heart, so is he” and urges us in Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life”. Matt 12:34-35 even says more using these words: “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What occupies your mind determines what you predominantly end up saying. 

Because the law of cause and effect is continually at work, there is always an inner cause for every outer effect. Your outer world is a direct result of your inner world. Every circumstance in life is a result of a words and choices—and every choice is the result of a thought. All those things that fill your mind affect, shape and determine what happens in your life. Your thoughts provide the fuel for your words, and your words provide the fuel for your world. It is therefore imperative that you understand and be conscious of the nature of what you are saying. Are you saying anything you feel like, simply because you feel like saying it or you want to “say your mind”? Or are you carefully picking out what you say, knowing that what you say becomes what you see in your life? We would do well to heed the advice of Epictetus, an ancient Stoic philosopher, who once said: “First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak” and that of Hosea, the prophetic sage of old, who said “For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” (Hosea 8:7). 

Hello there! You must take responsibility for what you experience in life. Our lives are the sum total of every word we ever spoke, every choice we’ve ever made, and the things we let happen. If you do not like where you are, you are only one thought, one word, one choice and once action away from turning toward the life you desire. It starts with becoming a master of your thoughts. Watch what you think and sift your thought; filter out anything that you do not want to show up in your future, and focus only on thinking what you truly desire. God wired your thoughts to be powerful so you would be equipped to overcome every obstacle. He fashioned you to create, innovate, strategize, and succeed—and just to be sure, He put His own divine thoughts and nature within you. Put away those negative thoughts and random statements you’re so used to making. Take responsibility for the change you so desire by making sure your thoughts, words, choices and actions align only with the good things you desire which God has already made provision for in his word. Have a lovely weekend. 

Written by Grace Olayinka 

 Grace Olayinka aka "Kharis" is a wonderful woman with a bubbly personality. A lover of God, she's also has an M.A in English and Literary studies. She has a passion for kids and for reaching the ends of the earth with the word of God.

By Their Fruits, You Shall Know Them

Actions speak louder than words; you’ll perceive in actions what you couldn’t perceive in words.

In case you haven’t yet noticed, humans are actors by nature (and I mean all human beings including yours truly). We may feel something but act in a totally different manner. We say things we don’t really mean for reasons know to us and even make empty exaggerated promises. Wouldn’t it be a lot easier if we all acted the way we truly felt and said what we truly meant? Sorry to burst your bubble…it wouldn’t be any easier or why do you think people do things just to “fulfill all righteousness” or to “let peace reign”?

Some folks call ladies “gullible” because they say we believe what we hear blindly, especially in matters of relationship. As derogatory as that sounds, I guess what they mean is that we sometimes believe what we hear and see without reading between the lines (watching out for unspoken gestures and reflex actions). Anyone can say anything, make promises or even swear to you by God. Anyone can fake words and even actions sometimes but you’ll never go wrong watching their spontaneous, unplanned, reflex actions and non-verbal communicative gestures.

What Do I Mean By Fruits?

The title of this blogpost is actually the bible (actually Matthew 7:16). “Fruits” in this context mean unplanned words, actions and reactions and even gestures. If you understand how fruits grow on trees, fruits don’t show up immediately, they show up after a period of time. The fruits of a tree tell us two things:

• The identity of the tree

• How fruitful the tree is

What does this mean? If you’re not going to end up “gullible”, “deceived” and “hood winked”, then you need to watch of for the fruits of the people you interact with. This in turn will help you know:

• Who they really are and not who they say they are.

• How they respond and act in different situations.

• If they keep their words and promises can be trusted, and you can view them as men or women of their words.

You Need the Gift of Time

Time is such a gift; time proves all things. If only you would give it more time to be sure who they are and if they can be trusted, then you’ll be saving yourself a lot of trouble and heartache. What am I saying? I’m not saying you shouldn’t give people the benefit of the doubt, by all means do. But while you listen to what they say, allow the gift of time reveal things about them that are carefully hidden. 

Everyone puts their best foot forward in the early stages, but time reveals the other not so good foot. Don’t be in haste; and just like a rotten fish that has no hiding place, you’ll get to discover the true colour with time. To be in a haste to give all your trust without checking the trustworthiness of who you’re dealing with is to be in a haste to be deceived, hurt, and heartbroken. Matt 10:16 says…”be wise as serpents and gentle as doves…”  Hello!!! You gotta watch out for the fruits always in everything you do; before you make decisions, before you call that person “friend”, before you call him “my man”.

You Need to Use Your Intuition

Ladies are naturally gifted with an accurate intuition. The problem is, we hardly listen to it. Have you ever felt somehow about something or someone and dismissed your feelings as unreal only to discover after all that you were right from the beginning? You actually disregarded your intuition. Pay attention to how your intuition works over time and learn to trust it. It may be a feeling, a knowing or a feeling of repulsiveness…whatever it is, watch it and learn to trust it. However, your intuition may sometimes be coloured by feelings of fear, jealousy, suspicion and past experiences. Make sure to question where what you feel is coming from to make sure it is not affected by any of these.

The Holy Spirit is Higher than Your Intuition

In the game of life and knowing people by their fruits, if intuition is effective, the Holy Spirit is much mooooooore effective than the sharpest intuition. He is a revealer of secrets; even the most carefully hidden secret masked by skillful acting. Get to know him, follow his subtle promptings, and trust him even more than you trust your intuitions. For more help on not falling prey to deceitful actions, click here to read “Before you reveal that secret” and here to read “Man Check: Is he who you think he is”.

P:S Have an awesome weekend. On the 17^th of June, Yours Truly will be a year older. Can’t wait to pop the poppables on that day for the gift of life. Birthday countdown loading…

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