FAITH DEMANDS AN OPTIMISTIC ZEAL

 


By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi 
Josh 14:11 KJV “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.”
        Caleb was promised a portion of land as a forty-five year old soldier and it took forty years for this to materialize .At age eighty five, he was willing and ready to engage the enemy in a battle to claim the promised land. What optimism! How long have you been waiting for the fulfillment of a promise in your life ?
        Following Jesus Christ requires walking by faith and this requires being optimistic. An optimist is a person with a positive outlook on life. He or she always looks out for the good in a situation no matter how bad it may seem;the opposite is a pessimist. Optimism is a mental attitude or perspective . A common idiom used to illustrate optimism against pessimism is a glass with water at the halfway point, where the optimist is said to see the glass as half full and the pessimist sees the glass as half empty.
   Life does not always come with guarantees, good things happens to bad people and bad things happens to the good. Eccl 9:11-12 TLB says “the swiftest person does not always win the race, nor the strongest man the battle, and that wise men are often poor, and skillful men are not necessarily famous; but it is all by chance, by happening to be at the right place at the right time. “ The fact that you failed in a marriage , business , academic or other endevour does not mean you are a bad person and therefore blame- worthy .Sometimes great footballers  fail to score in a penalty shootout. Great business models have been known to fail. Education, beauty and skill cannot guarantee success , that is why the just shall live by faith.  
     The scriptures speaks of the unpredictability of life in  James 4:13-16 NIV “Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."  As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil” Your best plans will often fall apart because disappointments are part of life. Some of the greatest scientific discoveries such as space technology were achieved after many disappointing expeditions but they were eventually accomplished through optimism    
       Therefore, optimists are never surprised or set back when things go wrong, they are persistent and quick to pick up the pieces and continue .They never feel sorry for themselves and take full responsibility for every situation in their chosen path. They never blame others for their shortcoming or make excuses. Optimists look for the reasons why they could not fulfill their responsibilities and improve on them. They always seek for the good in every situation that’s why they are always in control. Caleb had learnt a valuable lesson for 40 years: the importance of being at the right place at the right time with the right people and doing the thing: he was very sure that he will surmount the opposition and he did. Optimists are driven by the conviction that “…he is faithful that promised (Heb.10:23)” 
Prayer : Heavenly Father forgive me of my sins against you I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation I receive him as lord and saviour and receive the Holy ghost and power for stability ,hope and overflowing peace in the midst of crisis in Jesus name.
Prayer / counseling +2348035536911, +2348098536911(whatsapp) email:michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com
Pics credit: pixabay.  com .

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BREAK EVIL FAMILY PATTERNS

Image
 By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi  Titus 1:12 -14 "One of themselves,   even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians   are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.  This  witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply,  that they may be sound in the faith;  Not giving  heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of  men, that turn from the truth."       The church in Crete was in disarray and the apostle assigned Titus to go and put things in order . On investigation it was discovered the church suffered from a vicious cycle of evil family  patterns. They were not enjoying the fruits of the salvation experience . An example of evil family patterns is that of King David who defiled Uriah's wife ,murdered him and his son Absalom murdered his brother Amnon (2Sam13) dethroned him and defiled his concubines openly (2Samuel16). His son Amnon defiled his sister Tamar (2Sam.13) and so on yet David was the anointed of the Lord....
Read more

COMMON CAUSES OF DISUNITY.

Image
 By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi "Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following."Acts 20:30 NLT   "An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin." Proverbs 29:22 NLTBible        Disunity is defined as : disagreement and conflict within a group. It is the greatest hindrance to the promotion of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Disunity creates an avenue for Satan to promote sin.       The causes of disunity are not farfetched ,they include : Unhealthy Crave for power or self- promotion. Whenever there is an unhealthy pursuit of influence in a family or group it results in resistance. Self-promotion gives birth to unfair practices and injustices. In Numbers 12: 1-15  Moses' sister Miriam and Aaron rebelled against him desiring to rule by force and in Numbers 16 :1-35 Korah led an insurrection against Moses desiring to be part of leadership. In both cases ,God wa...
Read more

CONSEQUENCES OF LACK OF FAITH

Image
By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi " Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God." Hebrews 3:12 NLTBible  ' Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”John 20:27 NLTBible     Faith is the guarantee of the manifestation an unseen reality . It is the reason behind the hope we have in God and the fulfilment of his promises. It is the substance ( title deed) of things hoped for ,the evidence of things not seen (Hebrew 11:1) .The Bible warns against not having faith in God. Lack of faith is equal to calling God a liar and untrustworthy. This type of reasoning turns us into enemy's of God.    The gospel is so much under attack by the activities of faithless religionists . They plan to replace the holy scripture with humanistic dogma. The danger in this is the relative...
Read more