KEEP YOUR SENSE OF GRATITUDE

Author Philip Yancey writes, ‘On my first visit to Yellowstone National Park flocks of tourists surrounded the geyser, Old Faithful, cameras trained like weapons, while a big digital clock predicted the next eruption. We were in the dining room of the inn overlooking the geyser when the clock showed one minute to go. So along with every other diner, we rushed to the window to see the big event. We ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ and clicked our cameras; some even applauded. But glancing back I noticed that not a single waiter or busboy even bothered to look up. Old Faithful had become so familiar that it had lost its power to impress them.’ So here’s the question: Why do we lose our sense of gratitude and begin to overlook God’s goodness? For three reasons:

(1) Problems. If you close one eye and hold a penny close enough to your other eye, you can actually block out the light of the sun. Getting the point?

(2) Pressures. Sometimes the perks we thought would bring us pleasure end up wearing us down.

(3) People. When they disappoint us we turn sour and forget all that God has done for us. What’s the solution?

‘The [unfailing] love of the Lord never ends…Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning’ God’s mercies begin each morning, and your gratitude should too. Indeed, your days should be saturated in it. Continual gratitude comes from looking beyond your blessings to their unfailing source, the Lord. His love, His faithfulness and His mercy are already at work when your eyes open each day.

ASSOCIATION!

 A scorpion being a very poor swimmer asked a turtle to carry Him on his back across a river.

Are you crazy exclaimed the turtle! “You’ll sting me while I’m swimming and I’ll drown”

My dear turtle, laughed the scorpion, “if I were to sting you, you would drown and I would go down with you and now where is the logic in that? You are right!” cried the turtle.

 Hop on, the scorpion climbed aboard and halfway across the river gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they both sank to the bottom the turtle resignedly said, do you mind if I ask you something? You said there would be no logic in you stinging me? Then why did you do it? “It has nothing to do with logic, the drowning scorpion sadly replied. It’s just my character to sting!

 The wisdom from this classic this Monday morning is simply, be careful whom you share your life with. They are either adding or taking away from you. You must carefully lean towards those who add value to your life rather than those who sting with their toxic attitudes. Life is too short for an experiment in bad company. Whoever walks with the wise will become wise but a company of fools heads for self-destructions. So this week go not in the way of a mischievous man so you won’t become infected with his toxins.

SPIDER!!!!

Believe while others doubt.
Plan while others are playing.
Study while others are sleeping.
Decide while others are delaying.
Begin while others are procrastinating.
Work while others are wishing.
Save while others are wasting.
Smile while others are frowning.
Commend while others are criticizing. 
 

Spiders skilfully grasp with their hands and are found in king’s palaces. Here is the wisdom from the spider. Everything the spider needs for survival God has put within it. Swipe it with a broom before it hits the ground, it reaches inside releases another protein-filled silk-like thread, slides down to a safe place then comes back stronger to build a new web. In the same breath everything you need in life God has placed within you! ‘His divine power has given us everything we need for life. He has also given us very great and precious promises so through them we may participate of His divine nature’. Life may have knocked you down, but it will never knock you out. Stand on God’s Word, draw on your faith, hold on, and when the smoke clears, rise up and announce, “By the grace of God, I’m back!” You say this morning, “But I’ve lost so much.” As long as you still have what God put within you, there is always a New Beginning for you!!!

 

BIANCA’S TRIBUTE TO OJUKWU

Dear readers,

I stumbled on this piece on my friend’s wall. Osasu was carried away by the words of this tribute and she smiled all through till the end, I’m sure it makes interesting reading. For all of us, I would like to ask this question…. when your candle goes dim, how many people would honour you with words that they mean…how many lives would you have touched positively than otherwise? how much smile would you give other people? let’s assess ourselves and answer the question.

Enjoy……..

Tribute To My Husband By Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, Widow of Late Dim Chukwuemka Odumegwu-Ojukwu: How do I sum up 23 years in one page? I don’t know. How do I describe you? I cannot. Not in any depth. Not for anybody else – you were my husband, my brother, my friend, my child. I was your queen, and it was an honour to have served you. You were the lion of my history books, the leader of my nation when we faced extinction, the larger-than-life history come to my life – living, breathing legend. But unlike the history books, you defied all preconceptions. You made me cry from laughter with your jokes, many irreverent. You awed me with your wisdom. You melted my heart with your kindness. Your impeccable manners made Prince Charming a living reality.

Your fearlessness made you the man I dreamt of all my life and your total lack of seeking public approval before speaking your mind separated you from mere mortals. Every year that I spent with you was an adventure – no two days were the same. With you, I was finally able to soar on wings wider than the ocean. With you I was blessed with the best children God in heaven had to give. With you, I learnt to face the world without fear and learnt daily the things that matter most. Your disdain for money was novel – sometimes funny, other times quite alarming. It mattered not a whit to you. Your total dedication to your people – Ndi-Igbo – was so absolute that really, very little else mattered. You never craved anybody’s praise as long as you believed that you were doing right and even in the face of utmost danger, you never relented from speaking truth to power – to you, what after all, was power? It was not that conferred by the gun, nor that stolen from the ballot box. No. You understood that power transcended all that. Power is the freedom to be true to yourself and to God, no matter the cost. It is freedom from fear. It is freedom from bondage. It is freedom to seek the wellbeing of your people just because you love them. It is the ability to move a whole nation without a penny as inducement nor a gun to force them.