7 WAYS YOU CAN PROTECT YOUR DREAM FROM BEING STOLEN FROM YOU

Have you ever heard of dreamstealers?

These are people who try to talk you out of pursuing your dream.

And they can be found everywhere…

Some of them are your most well-meaning friends and family. Sometimes they are only trying to protect you from their own fears and self-limiting perspective. So, you need to be on your guard.

Here are some hints on how you can protect your dream from being stolen from you:

1.        Don't tell your dream to anyone

Sometimes it pays to acts as if you have nothing going.  It saves you a lot of time and energy. Also, you excuse yourself less and thrush yourself forward more.

2.        Choose the right people to tell your dream

Not everyone needs to hear your dream.  Only those that will give you direction, guidance you and sound advice need to hear your dream, especially when it's still just an idea.

3.        Be able to distinguish between genuine advice and mere discouragement

Sometimes your dreams are mere fantasies. You may need someone to tell you but it has to be handled properly.

4.        Always be on your guard
You may have been a bad judge of character and shared your dream to the wrong person.  Create for yourself a mechanism by which you are able to distinguish between genuine advice and mere discouragement

5.        Know yourself

Do you really see yourself accomplishing your dream? Or it is a mere fantasy that you have?

6.        Know God

Are you sure your dream is from God?

7.        Look up to God

Regardless of what everyone else might say, know that your dream is going to pass because God is involved in your dream.

Be Inspired

And the Lord was with Joseph: What God ’s hand can still do for you in times of affliction

Joseph is one of my favourite characters in the Bible.  Each time I read his story I discover a new truth about life with God.  Today I am going to share with you some of the truths that I came to discover as I read about Joseph's stay in Potiphar's house and in the royal dungeon.  These truths show us how God can bring help to us in out times of affliction.

Joseph's stay in Potiphar's house and in the royal dungeon was a time of affliction that he was forced to endure during his lifetime.  For Joseph to ensure the pain of enslavement and imprisonment for so long, he must have had a supernatural source of strength. I believe that this supernatural source of strength was the Lord's hand that rested upon his life.  But the Lord's hand did not just rest upon Joseph's life; the Lord's rested upon Joseph life and also brought to him some of the benefits that are associated with the Lord's hand.

So what are some of these benefits that are associated with the Lord's hand?  What are these benefits that can still accrue to us even in times of affliction?
 
FAVOR AND BLESSING

God does not stop blessing Joseph during his times of affliction.  If anything, I would reckon He added more blessings to his life. The blessing that was be upon Joseph's life attracted for him the favour of men and the favour of God.  Like in Joseph's case, God's hand can bring comfort to you in times of affliction by bringing favour and blessing upon your life.

PROMOTION
It is interesting to note that Joseph was promoted to a place of leadership both in Potiphar's house and in the royal dungeon.  This teaches us that God can still bring promotion to you even in times of affliction.
 
FLOW
The last thing I would like you to take note of today is that because God's hand was upon Joseph's life things ran smoothly for him both in Potiphar's house and in the royal dungeon.  Apart from the fact that he smoothly ran the affairs Potiphar's house and in the royal dungeon, he was at liberty while he was doing it – we can safely say that his life ran smoothly when we compare it with that of an ordinary person who may have found himself faced with the same predicament.  You too can expect to have a things running smoothly for you in times of affliction.

God's hand is at work in our lives all the time. Not only when things are good, but also when they get bad. So, do not despair. God is for you all the days of your life, even in your times of affliction.

Going through what Mama went through …

… is what it is going to take to make your life count.


Really, I mean it…


Going through what Mama went through is what it is going to take to make your life count: her life models the path to greatness that many of us dream of.


To justify my point, let's have a look at what Mama went through.


She was wooed by a man
A man saw her and became interested in her.  He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her so he set about wooing her to himself.  Likewise, God is interested in spending eternity with you so He is constantly wooing you to Himself.


She had an intimate relationship with her man
When the man had wooed her to himself and she had fallen for him they began to get to know each other in a much deeper and intimate way.  Likewise, God woos you to himself so that you enter into an intimate relationship with Him.  Through this, He creates an opportunity for you to get to know Him; He knows you already.


She became pregnant for her man and gave birth to a baby
As she pursued an intimate relationship with her man, she became pregnant for him and gave birth to a baby. Likewise, as you pursue an intimate relationship with God, He is going to impregnate you with and cause you to give birth to His vision.


She natured her baby until it grew up
When the baby was born, she rearranged her entire life so that she could nature baby until it grew up to maturity. Likewise, you are to nature the vision that God gives you and see to it that it does not die but live to impact this generation and the generations to come.


This coming Sunday is Mothers' Day.  As we celebrate our mothers, let us take the time to reflect upon these thoughts.


Be Inspired.        

Go for what you WANT without reservation

I first tried goal setting in 2003.  Up till 2006, I kept everything simple, dwelling more on pressing needs and 'obligations' (expectations imposed on me by other people).  This model of goal setting somehow worked quite well for me: I knew exactly what I was supposed to do, how to get it done and how to measure my success at my goals. But, it had one setback; it did not give me what I really wanted in my life.

Sometime towards the end of 2006, I sat down to draw up my goal achievement plan for 2007.  Unlike in the preceding four years, I chose to ignore the pressing needs and obligations but instead wrote down all the things that I had always wanted to do but had been sidelining in favour of pressing needs and obligations. To doing this, I asked myself the question: If I had all the time and money in the world what would I like to do this year?

The list of goals that I came up with saw me creating opportunity to visit four different countries for the first time, including Israel and Jordan; started work on my next book; get myself a car; spend over US$10 000.00 cash in one year; and started work on my website.

Some of the things that I have stated above may seem minor to you but if the truth be told there are some among us that have not created the opportunity to do some of these things.  Our lives circle around pressing needs and obligations.  We never get to do what we really want. We live a life of quiet desperation, so to say.

Goal setting can be a drudge.  It can also be a fun-filled exhilarating experience.  The difference comes from whether you do it to super impose pressing needs and 'obligations' or whether you make it your opportunity to chart your way closer to your hopes and dreams.  I'd suggest you make it the latter.   Go for what you WANT without reservation. Sometimes it just begins by asking yourself the question: If I had all the time and money in the world what would I like to do this year?

Be Inspired.        

101 Powerful Testimonies That You Can Share and Lead Someone to Jesus!

I know you have one of them!  Your salvation, your healing, your deliverance and how much God has blessed you are all testimonies that, if told, can lead people to Jesus.

I never thought of that, now you say?

I also had to make the same confession at certain point in time but I also went a little further to ask myself why I had not told others of my testimony.

Many Christians, me and you included, in many a case, do not share their testimonies not because they do not find the appropriate occasion to nor do they usually have no reason to but usually the case is that they are always ready with reasons not to.

That is too embarrassing an event for me to share with everyone; I am undressing myself by doing this;  It will only expose my weaknesses; I really do not want anyone to know about my past are just a couple of the arguments we have to fight against before we give or refrain from giving your testimony?

Did you really meet Jesus?

Then, I want you to know that your testimony of any of your encounters with Him can lead someone to Jesus.

Let's take Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman, for instance [John 4:1-30]. She was a prostitute – 'one big secret' Jesus blew to her face.  28,29 'Then the woman left her waterpot beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone, "Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did!  Can this be the Messiah?" [John 4:28-29]  Do you not suppose that some of the people asked for the details before they believed the 'story' before they started they 'streamed from the village to see him [Jesus]?'

I cannot but imagine the shame of a woman telling all her neighbours that she is a prostitute. How were they supposed to react?  I guess this did not matter much to this woman. She had met Jesus.  Everyone had to know this. Everyone had to believe this.  That was more important to her than trying to hide her shameful past.  

Did her testimony yield any results? Of course it did.  The bible says 'the people came streaming from the village to see him [Jesus].'[John 4:30]

The people only started looking for Jesus after hearing this woman's testimony; a testimony that led to the exposure of this woman's immorality.

Fear of shame is only one of the reasons why Christians do not testify.  If we can deal with this hindrance to our ability to testify of our encounters with Jesus, imagine how many people we can direct to Jesus.

Do not let anyone lie to you.  You have a powerful testimony.  It can direct someone to Jesus.  Do not be afraid to testify - 'the Holy Spirit, God's gift, does not want you to be afraid of people…' [2 Tim 1:7].   God has taken away your shame and clothed you with righteousness.

Share your testimony!

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Time Out

April 1st marked April Fools' Day, but more importantly it marked the end and beginning of the first and second quarters of 2008.  As a goal setter, I thought this was a great time for me to review the progress that I had made towards the achievement of my goals.  As I did that, I came up with a simple goal review system that I want to introduce to you today.

This goal review system consists of eight simple steps and helps you review all your goals, one goal at a time.  Do not worry if you do not have a lot of time in your hands, the whole process is simply answering the question asked under each step.

Step #1: State your original goal

What is it that you set out to do in the first place?

Be as precisely as you can.  Writing it down:  You need to always look back and say, 'When I set this goal, this is what I am/was aiming for.'

Step #2: Measure the progress that you have made on your goal

What are the things that you have done and you believe have moved you a step closer to the achievement of that which you set out to do?

If you are writing a book, out of the number of chapters that you expect to write, how many chapters have you written so far?  In whatever it is that you are doing or are supposed to have done, how far have you gone?

Step #3: State your current position

What's your position in relation to what you should have accomplished by now?

You can either be on target, off target or above target.  Knowing your current position will help you decide what you need to do next.

Step#4: Outline the obstacles that have been keeping you from your goal

What are the things that have held you back from the pursuit and achievement of that which you set out to do?

List all the things that you believe would make the pursuit of your goal easier if you had these things. These may be the lack of certain material possessions, the lack of emotional support of your peers or anything that comes to mind.

Step #5: Outline the things that have been driving you closer to your goals

What are the things that have propelled you forward towards the pursuit and achievement of that which you set out to do?

Likewise, list all the things that you believe have made the pursuit of your goal easier or less impossible.

Step #6: State the strategy that you are going to take towards your goals

In the light of the obstacles that you have faced and the things that have propelled you forward what is your action plan?

Come up with an action plan. Carefully consider the things that are to your advantage and decide what you are going to do to see to it that you achieve your goal. While you are at it, keep in mind the obstacles that you have to overcome as this will help you keep it real. However, if there's nothing to your advantage in relation to any particular goal of yours do not hesitate to drop that goal.  

Step #7: Restate your goal or set a new goal

From this point forth, what are you setting out to do?

What is your goal?  Is it still the one you set at the beginning of the year or you have made some changes to cater for the things that have either been holding you back or propelling you forward?

Step #8: State and date the outcomes that you want to see

What do you expect to see and [by] when?

Mark down all the milestones and achievements that you want to see as you pursue your goal.  These can also be used as signposts to your progress at every step of your journey to doing whatever it is that you set out to do.

Be inspired.

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Hold On

(A poem from my book, Poems for life)

Someone without
Someone with doubt
The stomach rambles
The begging humbles
Will life go on?
Faith calls hold on
Someone without
Someone with doubt

Someone worn out
Someone in doubt
A toil so long
Stand firm and keep strong
Will life go on?
Faith calls hold on
Someone worn out
Someone in doubt

Someone in pain
Someone in strain
Gone is health
Gone is wealth
Will life go on?
Faith calls hold on
Someone in pain
Someone in strain

Someone in moaning
Some sees no morning
Thoughts clouded with sorrow
Better is the morrow?
Will life go on?
Faith calls hold on
Someone in moaning
Someone sees no morning

Be Inspired