THINKING CORNER

Do you ever think about the implication of your actions the last time you were angry? How good are you in controlling temper? How do you always feel when you see children suffering on the street? This is a good place for you to think about how the world would have been without the future leaders(Youth)?.

The success of the nation lies in how prepared the youth are and how motivated they are. I purposely create this site to motivate them and to plead with you to have the same mindset of motivating them through any means that you know will help them become good leaders.

TROUBLESHOOTING(IS THE ONLY TIME YOU DO ANY DEEP PRAYING WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A HOLE):

If God is your father, please call home. Corrie ten Boom said, “The devil smiles when we make plans. He laughs when we get too busy. But he trembles when we pray.” “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand” (Phil. 4:6-7, TLB). When you feel swept off your feet, it’s time to go back on your knees.

“Time spent in communion with God is never lost,” says Gordon Lindsay. The highest purpose of faith or prayer is not to change your circumstances but to change you. Pray to do the will of God in every situation; nothing else is worth praying for.

James Hudson Taylor put it this way: “do not have your concert and tune your instruments afterwards. Begin the day with God. “Martin Luther once said, “I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Prayer may not change all things for you, but it sure changes you for all things. He’s waiting to hear from you.

RENEW THE BLUES (HAS FAILURE GONE TO YOUR HEAD?)

What is the difference between champions and average person? Tom Hopkins says, “The single most important difference between champion achievers and average people is their ability to handle rejection and failure.” You can’t travel the road to success without a puncture or two.

Mistakes are often the best teachers. The book of Ecclesiastes advises, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider.” Oswald Avery advises, “Whenever you fall, pick something up.” The man who the eraser had the human race pretty well figures out. David McNally mused, “The mistake riddled life is much richer, more interesting, and more stimulating than the life that has never risked or taken a stand on anything.”

Known for his success not his failures Thomas Edison reflected, “people are not remembered by how few times they failed, but by how often they succeed.” Louis Boone said, “Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things,. The saddest summary of live contains three descriptions, could have, might have, and should have.” Robert Schuller wrote, “Look at what you have left, never look at what you have lost.”

FENCING (ARE YOU A PERSON WHO SAYS “MY DECISION IS MAYBE – AND THAT’S FINAL”)

Is this you? Have you ever noticed that some of the most miserable people in the world are those who can never make a decision? Being decisive is an absolute key to a successful life. Every accomplishment, great or small, starts with a decision. Nothing great was ever done without a decision.

If you commit yourself to being indecisive, what kind of life will you live? James Hightower says, “There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.” The truth is that the most dangerous place to be is in the middle of the road.

Do you lack opportunities? Make some decisions. The moment you definitely decide, all sorts of things happen to help you that never would have otherwise occurred. There is no question that you create opportunities by being decisive.

The book of James says, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Too many people go through life not knowing what they want, but feeling sure they don’t have it. Remain indecisive and you will never grow. To move from where you are, you must decide where you would rather be.

WALK TALL (WOULD THE BOY YOU WERE BE PROUD OF THE MAN YOU ARE)

Character is the real foundation of all worthwhile success. A good question to ask yourself is, “What kind of advice do I give others that I need to follow myself?” “Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habit decide character; and character fixes our destiny,” said Tryon Edwards. Proverbs asserts, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.”

Would your reputation recognize your character if they met in the dark? Desire what Psalms declared, “Create in me a pure heart, oh Lord, and renew in me a right spirit.” To change your character, you must begin at the control centre-the heart.

Consider what Woodrow Wilson said: “If you think about what you ought to do for people, your character will take care of itself.” The world’s best sermon is preached by the traffic sign: “keep right”.

DELIVER THE GOODS (IN WHAT AREAS DO YOU CLAIM FAITH, BUT YOUR ACTIONS SAY UNBELIEF?)

None of the secrets of success will work unless you do. The Bible, a book of faith, talks about work over 500 times. Often, the simple answer to your problem is: “go to work.”

“Be doers of the word not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” When you hear and don’t do you allow deception and inaccuracy to come into your life. That’s why you know people, who read good books, go to church, listen to tapes and are still a mess. They don’t put into practice what they have learned. A famous old saying says it best: “Laziness travels so slowly, poverty soon overtakes it.” The world is divided into people who do things and people who talk about doing things. Belong to the first group-there is far less competition.

There is a man in the world who never gets turned down, wherever he chances to stray; He gets the glad hand in the populous town, or out where the farmers make hay; He is greeted with pleasure on deserts of sand, and deep in the isles of the woods; Wherever he goes there is a welcoming hand – he’s the man who deliver the goods. (Walt Whitman)

SUNNY SMILES(ARE YOU HAVING FUN YET)

There is a facelift you can perform on yourself that is guaranteed to improve your appearance. It’s called a smile. Laughter is like changing a baby’s diaper – it solves a problem and makes things more acceptable for awhile.

I believe that every time you smile, and even much more so when you laugh, you add something to your life. A smile is a curve that helps us see things straight. Janet Layne said, “Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.” Proverbs says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” A good laugh is the best medicine, whether you are sick or not.

The wheels of progress are not turned by cranks. Tom Walsh says, “Every minute your mouth is turned down you lose 60 seconds of happiness.” Paul Bourge wrote, “Unhappiness indicates wrong thinking, just as ill health indicates a bad regime.” It’s impossible to smile on the outside without feeling better on the inside. If you can laugh at it, you can live with it. Smile, it adds to your face value.

It was only a sunny smile,

But it scattered the night,

Thus little it cost in giving,

It made the day worth living. (Anonymous)

THE GOOD HABIT(DOES GOD SEEM FAR AWAY? IF SO GUESS WHO MOVED.)

Oswald Chambers advises us: “Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day; but swing the door wide open and pray to your father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God.” When God is all you have, then he is all you need.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you”(James 4:8). The Bible also says that “God inhabits the praises of his people.” Good news! God is never more than a prayer or a praise away. Tommy Barnett reflected, “The dipper I dig, the deeper he digs.” To increase value, get to know God. Our prayer to God should be: “I want to be in your will, not in your way.”

Our heartfelt cry to God can be the same as Isaiha’s cry: “Here I am, send me” (Isaiha 6:8). Consider the words of W. H. Atken when he said, “Lord take my lips and speak through them; take my mind and think through it; take my heart and set it on fire.” We must not only give what we have, we must also give all of what we are to God.

FEAR FIGHTER(DO YOU LOOK AT THE HORIZON AND SEE AN OPPORTUNITY OR DO YOU LOOK INTO THE DISTANCE AND FEAR A PROBLEM?)

Fear is a poor chisel to carve out your tomorrows. If you are looking at your future from a position of fear, I want to let you know that view is inaccurate and distorted. It’s never safe to look into the future with the eyes of fear. The worst liars in the world are your own fears. One of the great discoveries you can make is to find that you can do what you were afraid you couldn’t do. William Ward showed the difference between faith and worry: “Worry is faith in the negative, trust in the unpleasant, assurance of disaster and belief in defeat. Worry is a magnet that attacks negative conditions. Faith is a more powerful force that creates positive circumstances…Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.”

Dale Carnegie wrote, “An old man was asked what had robbed him of joy in his life. His reply was, “Things that never happened.”’ Fear wants you to run from things that aren’t after you. Here’s what I do. I follow this famous advice: “At night, I give all my worries and fears to God. He’s going to be up all night anyway.” 1peter 5:7 put it this way: “Let him have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.”  

BIG GAME(DO YOU GO WHERE OPPORTUNITY IS OR WHERE OPPORTUNITY IS GOING)

Go farther than you can see. Don’t just look at the present. Think unthinkable thoughts, see where no one is looking and take action before it’s obvious. Wayne Gretsky is, arguably, the greatest hockey player in history. Asked about his secret for continuing to lead the national hockey league in goals year after year, Gretksy replied, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Isak Dineson said, “God made the world round so that we will never be able to see too far down the road.” Significant achievements have never been obtained by taking small risks on unimportant issues. “If you’re hunting rabbits in tiger country, you must keep your eye peeled for tigers, but when you are hunting tigers you can ignore the rabbits.” (Henry Stern). Don’t be distracted by the rabbits. Set your sights on “big game”

You have reached stagnation when all you ever exercise is caution. Too many people expect little, ask for little, receive little and are content with little. Having a dream is not trying to believe something regardless of the evidence; dreaming is daring to do something regardless of the consequences. Let your faith run ahead of your mind.

 

ROOM FOR SELF –IMPROVEMENT(HOW OLD IS YOUR ATTITUDE)

Have you ever noticed how many people you know who are literally at the same place today as they were five years ago? They still have the same dreams, the same problems, the same alibis, the same opportunities. They-are standing still in life.

It’s as if people unplug their clock at a certain point in time and stay at that fixed moment the rest of their lives. You are destined to grow, learn and improve. Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and life more abundantly.” The biggest room in our lives is always the room for self-improvement.

I try to learn from everyone. From one I may learn what not to do, while from another, I learn what to do. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself. You can learn more from a wise man when he is wrong than a fool who is right.

The person who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning. Only hungry minds can grow. It’s true what W. Fussellman said, “Today a reader. Tomorrow a leader.” It’s fun to keep learning. Learning brings life to your life. In this world of learning, only the learners shall inherit the earth.

STRETCHING EXERCISE (DOES YOUR REACH EXCEED YOUR GRASP)

Several years ago, I was awakened in the middle of the night with this thought, “Don’t live within your means.” Even though it was 4:30am, I was so excited about this idea that I awoke my wife and began to “preach” to her about it for several minutes. (She said that the idea was great, but she really needed her sleep.) What do I mean when I say, Don’t live within your means?” I believe we should act bigger, believe larger and associate higher. Your outlook determines your outcome. So, make your plans BIG.

I’m not encouraging you to go wild, to have no boundaries or be reckless. Certainly we should spend within our means-but not live there. Talk with people smarter than you. Listen to those more spiritual than you. Ask questions of those more successful than you. Lend a hand to those less fortunate than you. Don’t stay where you are.

If the shoe fits, don’t wear it. You’re not allowing room for growth. Webster knew all about the ineffectiveness of “living within your means.” When you look up the word “means” in his dictionary, it tells you to see the word “average.” When you decide to live within your means, you are deciding to live an average life. Do this: know your limits-then ignore them!

PROPER PUNCTUATION (DO YOU PUT A QUESTION MARK WHERE GOD HAS PUT A PERIOD)

“God never made a promise that was too good to be true,” said D. L. Moody. “In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success” (Proverbs 3:6, TLB). One of the great things about believing God is found in Luke 18:27: “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” When you join together with Him in His plan, things that were impossible now become possible. The superior man seeks success in God. The small man seeks success in himself or others.

You may trust the Lord too little, but you can never trust him too much. With God’s strength behind you, His love with you and his arms underneath you, together you can face the days ahead of you. “God is on our side,” Abraham Lincoln wrote, “But it is more important to know that we are on God’s side.”

All great things have God involved in them. Dare to go with God farther than you can see. If something is beneficial for you, God will put it within your reach. “No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). A small man stands on others. A great man stands on God.

YIELD SIGNS(HOW MUCH OF YOU DOES GOD HAVE?)

“If a man stands with his right foot on a hot stove and his left foot in a freezer, some statisticians would assert that, on the average, he is comfortable” (Oral Hygiene). Nothing could be further from the truth. God doesn’t want us to live our lives with one foot in heaven and one foot in the world. He wants all of us. There is something significant that happens when we become wholly yielded to Him. “for the eyes of the lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose heart are perfect toward Him, so that He can show His great power in helping them” (2Chronicles 16:9, TLB).

D.L. Moody said: “it does not take long to tell where a man’s treasure is. In fifteen minutes of conversation with men, you can tell whether their treasures are on earth or in heaven.” As a young man, Billy Graham prayed, “God, let me do something-anything-for you. “Look at the results of that simple prayer. When you have nothing left but God, then for the first time you become aware God is enough. The world has rarely seen what God can do with, for and through a man who is completely yielded to Him. Martin Luther sums up being fully yielded this way: “God created the world out of nothing, and as long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.”

DREAM FETCHER (THE LAST TIME SOMEONE ASKED, “WHAT’S NEW?” WHAT WAS YOUR ANSWER)

Get caught dreaming. It’s never too late for you to start thinking more creatively. Often it is just a lack of imagination that keeps a person from his potential. Thinking of new ideas is like shaving: if you don’t do it every day, you’re a bum. Ask God to give you a floe of new, exciting and powerful ideas in your life.

Constantly frustrate tradition with your creativity and imagination. “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen” (Anonymous). You’ll get more out of every part of your life if you stay incurably curious. “I’m a big fan of dreams. Unfortunately, dreams are the first casualty in life-people seem to give them up quicker than anything for a ‘reality”’ (Kevin Costner). “The important thing is to not stop questioning. Never lose a holy curiosity (A. Einstein).

“Since it doesn’t cost a dime, to dream, you’ll never short-change yourself when you stretch your imagination” (Robert Schuller). I believe God left us in an unfinished world so we might share in the joys and satisfaction of creation. Creativity is built into every one of us; it’s part of our design. Each of us lives less of the life intended for us when we choose not to use the creative powers we possess.