EPISODE FIVE, SELF-DISCIPLINE AND PERSONAL EXCELLENCE

 EPISODE FIVE,

 SELF-DISCIPLINE AND PERSONAL EXCELLENCE.

 

"we are what we repeatedly do; excellence then is not an act but a habit"--Aristotle-

Personal excellence involves one's motives,  core values and standards.

From (European Academy for Executive Education,eurac, 2012-2014), personal excellence is the ability to create solutions in difficult situations to enable you overcome these challenges successfully. And now,  it takes self-discipline to achieve personal excellence and so is the reason for today's topic: self-discipline and personal excellence.

• Your life, your potential, and your possibilities are your most valuable asset. Therefore, your great  goal in life should be to fulfill that potential and become everything you are capable of becoming.  
• Excellence comes by continuous practice and working. One needs to protect his or her "working or earning ability" .In other words, your ability to work and earn some income must be appreciating and not depreciating. 

• This means, whichever knowledge and skills which helped you to achieve 'A 'today, may not necessarily help you to achieve 'B' tomorrow. This is due to the fact that the knowledge and skills you have may become obsolete. Therefore, for continues success to personal excellence, one needs to grow continually. 
• Your potential has NO LIMITS. Excellence is not by accident but requires a definite decision and longlife commitment. You must stay focused. 

Note : extraordinary achievements were attained by ordinary men. It's all about making the decision for excellence , continue to learn and grow. Learn from the best people in your field, and do what they do and

 https://www.shutterstock.com/search/go+the+extra+mile.

Go the extra mile. 

The Seven Proposed Steps To The Top. 

1. Arise two hours before your first appointment. 

This simply means that if your day begins at 7:00am, you need to arise from sleep 5:00am.

Invest the first hour in yourself by reading something educational, motivational, or spiritual. I recommend devotion and reading of the Bible- it contains all knowledge for life on earth and beyond (2Pet 1:3,8). This habit will always help you  to be more positive, creative, alert and productive. Especially reading in your field will expose you to many things in your field thereby increase your knowledge in your field.   

2.  Rewrite your goals everyday. 

Rewrite your major  goals in present tense every morning before you start out, without looking back at what you wrote the previous day. This is the means of programming instructions into the guidance mechanism of your mind. The more you keep rewriting your goals each day, it will remind you to be focused and making you look for ways and opportunities to achieve them. 

3. Plan your day in advance.

Make a to-do- list and set priorities on your work before you start off. Your ability to choose what do  first according to the order of importance will help you to be organized and to be able to manage your time.This will in turn increase your productivity. 

4. Discipline yourself to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing.

Being able to focus on one thing at a time and working to achieve 100% of it is the best. You don't need to be doing two or three things when you know you can't finish them. 

5. Listen to educational audio programmes. 

Since one does not  necessary have to go to class to get such information, listening to them in your car, office, at your free time is helpful. According to Brian Tracy, when you do it so well, 'you will get equivalent of two full -time university semesters.'

6. Ask at least two self-analysis questions after every event or activity. Ask yourself, what did I do right? What would I do differently? You are reviewing your performance by thinking about what you did right and what you would do differently, and you psyche yourself to do better next time. 

7. Treat every person you meet like a very important person. 

The one you work with at home, office or school,  treat him or her as though she or he is the most important person in the world. They would like to be associated with you. Never miss an opportunity to treat people well. 

These seven steps if taken into action will bring astonishing improvements that can carry you onward and upward for the rest of your life.   

     I’m pressing on the upward way,

New heights I’m gaining every day.......it's the language of one disciplining himself for personal excellence. 

    

The  End.   

References :

1.The Power of Self -Discipline by Brian Trac(2014).  Chap. 5, p. 79-104.

                                                              2.https://www.shutterstock.com.

3.http://www.eurac.com/en/Unsere_Ausbildungsprogramme.aspx?id=194

   

SELF-DISCIPLINE AND GOALS(SETTING) EPISODE FOUR

SELF-DISCIPLINE AND GOALS(SETTING)
EPISODE FOUR 
"you can't hit a target that you can't see"
"if you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. "
You have probably heard these statements above, but to what do you relate them, if not setting of goals?
Your ability to discipline yourself to set clear goals for yourself and then to work toward them every day will do more to guarantee your success than other single factor........... Said by Brian Tracy

From countless of researches, it is concluded that people who set goals are more successful than those who do not.
For instance, the 3% percent adults who have written goals and plans perform more than the 97%  (who do not) put together.

But the bad news is that,  most of us think we already have goals but they are just hopes and wishes.
Goals that are not written down usually are just like wishes or hopes.

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced a goal:  America would put a
person safely on the Moon before the end of the decade. Many thought this was
impossible. To people’s amazement, Kennedy’s ambitious goal was achieved on July 20,
1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon's surface. In this context, JFK’s initial
goal setting guided and motivated Neil Armstrong’s giant step for mankind. Goals are not
only in the domain of leaders, though. They are part of our everyday lives.

WHAT AT ALL IS GOAL SETTING?
Goal setting is the process of establishing an outcome to serve as the aim of one's actions.
 SOME IMPORTANCE OF GOALS SETTING
1. Goal setting increases achievement : in that those have the habit of setting goals usually have laid down plans or strategies which guide them as to how to go about that particular thing they want to achieve.
2. It increases motivation : if one has a goal, he or she is naturally motivated to achieve that goal. Motivation and goals are closely linked.
3. Goals multiply your chances of success. And counting...
The first step is to attain;
THE DISCIPLINE OF WRITING
From the experience of many notable successful people in the past, the disciplined act of writing out  goals, making plans for accomplishing them, and then working on those goals daily increases the likelihood of achieving your goals by ten times.
Meaning if you are community where writing is a even problem for many people, it tells you that there would be lack of reasonable  goal setting skills.
However,  this does not mean that writing out your goals guarantees success a,  but rather that it increases the  probability of success. 
TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE
We as humans are  purpose driven as Aristotle put it that we are teleological organisms.
You actually see yourself as the purpose driven person, when you have clear goals and working on them.
........you may not need to know how to get there,  but you just need to know and be clear about  what you want to accomplish.There is a goal-striving mechanism in your brain which will guide you to your destination.

SELF EXPLANATORY SEVEN -STEP METHOD TO ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS
1. Decide exactly what you want. Be specific.
2. Write it down. If it's written down, you can see, touch, read, and modify.
3. Set a deadline for your goal. Pick a reasonable time period and write down the date when you want to achieve it. You can also St subdeadlines. This a forcing system in your brain that helps you to get the work more done just as when you are under pressure.
When you don't achieve the goal before the deadline, set a new deadline. This is due to some external circumstances that may interfere with the time you need to accomplish that goal.
4. Make a list of everything you can think of that you could possibly do to achieve your goal. Including obstacles and difficulties, and knowledge, skills and people.
5. Organize the list by sequence and priority. It will help you to know what is to be done  first, second or later.
6. Take action on your plan immediately. Don't delay, get going.
Remember procrastination is not only the thief of time; it is the thief of life.
7.Do something everyday that moves you in the direction of your major goal.
Apply all these steps to  a single goal and make  plans and achieve it. Then another.
One at a time method.

EVERYONE AS WELL AS  STUDENTS,
need to learn how to set goals.
 While instructors can set course­level learning goals to help structure their content, you
can also set your own goals. It will improve your learning and motivation.
Goal setting will make you take responsibility and ownership of your own goals, giving some internal motivation and make you take proactive actions.

It's specially helpful to students with low achievement motivation.
Also, Students who invest in their goals also demonstrate greater persistence, creativity, and
risk­taking in their achievement of those goals. (Dewett, 2007; Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett,1973)
It will also help the student to self-regulated.

IN CONCLUSION,  goal setting ability is not limited to only some people everyone can learn it and make good use of it. If you don't like writing your goals down it is easy to forget. Write it down.
And whatever you think about your goal is definitely what you will achieve.Napoleon Hill, author of 'think and grow rich'(1939) put it this way "whatever the mind of man can conceive, and believe, it can achieve "

You can't leave God out of the equation.
Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established. Prov16:3
At the conception of a goal, thank God and commit it to Him.


References
1.The power of self -discipline, by Brian Tracy, Chap 4.pages 64-78
2.http://vpal.harvard.edu/publications/setting-goals-who-why-how

FOR CHRIST AND THE CHURCH, LET OUR VOICES RING (PART ONE)

FOR CHRIST AND THE CHURCH, LET OUR VOICES RING (PART ONE)
'Weeping may endured for night,
But joy comes in the morning.' Psalm 30:5
The joy of the gift of life to do a Golden deed.

My reflection:
 Materialism is driving our ambitious minds, denominational doctrines are finding their feet through our doors, Satan is using persecution from within the church strategy now and so we are blind to many of the adulterations in the pure teaching (sound doctrine of the Church) 1st Tim 6:3
One of the things I heard recently is about organisational structure issue of the Church.
Let me state emphatically  that, NO AUTHORITY HAS BEEN HAS GIVEN TO ANY MAN, BODY OF MEN, OR ECCLESIASTICAL BODY TO CHANGE ANY OF THE FEATURES OF THE CHURCH WHICH INCLUDES THE ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE. Have we forgotten so soon, To Whom has all Authority been given? Matt 28:18, JESUS both in heaven and on earth.
Every congregation is free from ecclesiastical council or body which the denominational world refer to in different ways like parish, diocese, district, headquarters etc
So the moment you try creating such, then you should know that you have tempered with the organisational structure. For anyone who would like to speak as the Oracles of God 1st Pet 4:11 knows that there is no such in the New Testament regarding God's Church. The local Church has the right to follow the organisational structure which the Lord gave:Titus 1:5, Phil 1:1, 1st Pet 5:1-2,  Acts 14:23, 15:4, this leads us to what is biblically implied as 'autonomy' 
The authority of the local Church is rested in the plurality of elders. No district church organisations . Each Church was self governing...... Autonomy. God made it so. If you do not agree to the teaching on the authonomy of the Church, please question God. But do not change it. Rev 22:18-19

 So now to the issue of 'Church cooperation' among certain churches of Christ which i am aware of, which is in its incubation period must be examined to see whether it is Biblical or not
You will realise that brethren are using the word ' cooperation' to mean 'help' or maybe unity' forgetting the word cooperation goes beyond what they think. Brethren with the cooperation idea see it as working together for one purpose, evangelism, helping of weaker congregations etc.
 From Median Webster dictionary, cooperation is defined;
1. as the action of someone who is being helpful by doing what is wanted or asked for.
2. Association of persons for a common benefit. Compared to other dictionary is the same definition. There cannot be such a cooperation without
1.A certain controlling office (head office)
2. A set of  clearly defined rules guarding the cooperation(constitution)
3.The individuals of that cooperation do not have full rights or independence for the must agree to what the board of the cooperation says.
4.There must be a common fund.
In fact I cannot spell it all out here. This alone is enough for you to know that it is against the teaching of the apostles who are the foundation of the Church. Eph 2:20

Be reminded that this cooperation thing is of maybe good intensions but it doesn't warrant it Biblical acceptance. There is a way that seem right to man...... Prov 14:12, 16:25
So as many mistakes came by good intensions so apostasy of the church once came by good intensions: trying to unite christians under the Roman empire, bringing in the state and the emperor, setting up ecumenical councils, synods, making one elder a bishop etc.
All these were not biblical, so it sent the Church into apostasy.

Note we can still do evangelism and help weaker congregations without this church cooperation thing.It happened in the Bible, where individuals or brethren  received help from different congregations aside their local congregations, however there was no separate organisations, councils and districts. It was also just a temporary help.2Cor8:16-24, 1Cor16:1, Acts 11:22-26
* The headquarters of the Church is in heaven, that is where the head is. Who is the head col 1:18
* There is no any other constitution. Which is our constitution? 2 Tim3:16
* Do not compromise autonomy, the church locally is autonomous-self governed. There is no regional or district office anywhere. Titus1:5 Acts 15:4
* And since the Church locally is autonomous, your giving (offering/collection) is managed by you locally. It is not sent into any common fund or whatsoever.
If a congregation is blessed by God ,they should give weaker congregations, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Leaders do not be deceived with your so much comparison with denominations, do not think of carnal things , let us not try to be like any other Church. The truth is simple. In fact it will make you free John 8:32. Brethren, do not allow the mistake of blind leading the blind 
Matt 15:14
Otherwise you will stand on Jordan's stormy banks and cast a wishful eye to Canaan's fair and happy land...

CONTEND EARNESTLY FOR THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE FOR ALL DELIVERED TO YOU... Jude1:3 so that we will rest in the fair and happy land by and by just across the evergreen shore, singing the song of the lamb by and by and dwell with Jesus evermore.

SELF-DISCIPLINE AND RESPONSIBILITY EPISODE THREE

SELF-DISCIPLINE AND RESPONSIBILITY
EPISODE THREE

Introduction: Your ability and willingness to discipline yourself to accept personal RESPONSIBILITY for your life is essential to happiness, health, success, achievement, and personal leadership. Accepting responsibility is one of the hardest of all disciplines, but without it, no success is possible.
Respinsibility is simply defined as your Response' ability.In other words, your ability to respond to what happens to you. You may not be responsible for all the things that happen to you; but you are responsible for the way you act when they do happen.

FROM CHILDHOOD TO MATURITY CONDITIONING.
When you are growing up, from an early age you become conditioned to see yourself as not responsible for your life. Your parents are in charge when you are a child. They make all your decisions.They decide what food you will eat, what clothes you will wear, what toys you will play with, what home you will live in, what school you will attend, and what activities you will engage in during your free time. Because you are young, innocent, and unknowing, you do what they want you to do.
You have little choice or control.As you grow up, however, you begin to make more and more of your own decisions in each of these areas. BUT BECAUSE OF YOUR EARLY PROGRAMMING, you're conditioned unconsciously to feel that someone else is still responsible for your life, that there is still someone else out there can or should take care of you. Most people grow up believing that if something goes wrong, someone else is responsible. Someone else is to blame. As a result, most people make more excuses for the things in their lives, past and present, that make them unhappy.

Get over the Mistakes your parents made
The criticism, and being beaten out of anger, punishing you emotionally and physically, or withholding punishment from you making you feel guilty. All these negative feelings could then intersect to make you feel like a victim, inferior. And the next thing is to ask who is to blame?.
AN ATTITUDE OF IRRESPONSIBILITY
Courts today are full of people demanding redress and payment for something that went wrong in their lives being backed by ambitious plaintiff lawyers, people go to court demanding compensation. PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY. People are attempting to escape responsibility for their own behaviours by blaming someone else, making excuses, and then demanding compensation.
Eliminate negative emotions, like envy, jealousy, anger, fear, resentment, which leads to blaming others. You develop the attitude of irresponsibility when you always blame others for such negative emotions.

AN ANTIDOTE TO IRRESPONSIBILITY
1.Learn to say and accept the statement, I am responsible
After saying you are responsible, then look into the situation to find the reasons why you are responsible for what has happened or what is going on. Your car may be damaged in the parking lot while you are at work, you may not be legally at fault for the accident. But you are still responsible for your responses, for how behave as a result of what happened.
2. Never complain.
3. Never explain.
The moment you begin to complain or to explain, then know that you are on the road to refusing to accept complete responsibility for the situation.
4. Do not allow your emotions to control you; control your emotions. You take charge if your emotions by accepting 100% responsibility for yourself and your responses to everything that happens to you. Refuse to make excuses, complain, criticize, or blame other people for anything.
Take action! Work on accepting personal responsibility for your life, taking complete control of your thoughts and feelings. By so doing, you become a much more effective, happy, and positive person in everything you do.

ADDENDUM:
It is the lack of the 'sense of responsibility'  that is killing us as Africans and as Ghanaians. Thus, in every situation, we keep blaming the witches and wizards in our family and hometown. We are not responsible enough for our finances, we are not responsible enough towards our work and acadamics, marriages, family relationships, etc, and when things go wrong we are even more irresponsible towards accepting our failure. We are always quick to point fingers at people that they are responsible for our mistakes, suffering and unhappiness.
Interestingly, some cunning individuals have identified our problem of irresponsibility and decided to make money out of it. They are not helping us to solve it. Never!
These people call themselves pastors, prophets, prophetess, bishops, angels and so on . They always make us understand that the headache we have is a message from our hometown witches; The financial crisis is not a matter of management but the work of the devil; The marriage that is not working is the doing of your wizard grandpa. In fact every problem in our life is caused by someone, and not us. We do not sit down to analyse our lives to see the mistakes we are making ,or the progress we are making in order to take full control of our lives.

Citizens blame government for not doing certain things for them. The Government is to be blamed all the time(which is not true anyway). Government also blames the political party in opposition for not doing A or B. The opposition party also blames the party in power....and that is the climax of the blame game.

 It is very natural and part of humans to play the blame game like did Adam and Eve, the first of the human race as recorded on the pages of the Holy writ.Gen 3:12-13. However, it is not cool to do that. Our maker accepts responsibility.
Take responsibility, and stop giving excuses.

MORE ABOUT JESUS

MORE ABOUT JESUSJESUS
It is the most abused name on earth. It is abused in both when and how it is mentioned, yet it is the sweetest name on earth. I will not talk about how the name is being abused now but the need to know more about that name. The name is JESUS. For, "neither is there salvation in any other; for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby, we must be saved.Acts 4:12. Phil2:9-11.

At these times that every thing is becoming too personal. We are always thinking how to win that business contract, how to make that great amount,how to buy that expensive car, how to get that promotion, how to win that lady's heart, how to get that and that, the list goes on. But i wonder how many of us are eager to know about Jesus? I would be happy to meet that disciple who will say:
More about Jesus would i know,More of His grace to others show; More of His saving fullness see, More of His love who died for me. 

At these times that all we think is more of material things. More of money, more of food, more of customers, more of businesses, more of children, more of followers, more of healings, more of power, more of miracles, and more of every good thing.But there is nothing better than knowing more about Jesus. Let's say:

More about Jesus let me learn, More of His holy will discern; Spirit of God, my teacher be, Showing the things of Christ to me.

At these times that we only want go wherewhere our itching ears will be tickled, to hear what we want to, Turning our ears away from TRUTH, and turn aside to myths. We are only interested in; you will buy that, you will get that visa, your bank account will be full, you are free to do whatever you feel like doing, etc, let's remember to desire;
More about Jesus in His Word, Holding communion with my Lord;Hearing His voice in every line, Making each faithful saying mine.

Am I saying at these times, it is wrong to ask for physical needs. Of course not. I am saying"But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matt 6:33 For the pagan world run after all such things,.....Luke 12:14, 29-34
Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
Do not seem to worship God yet chasing after the wind. Think about it today. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power ,are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
Then know that Christ died for the sins of  you and i,he was buried and on the third day, he resurrected according to the scriptures, believe this and believe on Him as the only begotten son of God, our Saviour, repent of your sinful life, confess him as Christ and give yourself to him through baptism for the remission of your sins and be added by God to His Church which he purchased with his own blood:  Rom 10:17, Mark 16:15-16,John3:16, Matt 28:18-20,Acts 17:30,31 Rom10:9, Acts 2:38 1st Pet 3:21
Then join me sing:
More about Jesus on His throne, Riches in glory all His own; More of His Kingdom's sure increase; More of His coming, Prince of Peace.
More, more about Jesus,
more, more about Jesus
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.

RAPTURE? WILL THERE BE RAPTURE? WHEN?

RAPTURE? RAPTURE? WILL THERE BE RAPTURE? WHEN?
Some folks say," I believe in Jesus so what does it really matter what I think about the Bible?"But it does matter says the Bible 2nd Tim3:16. It matters greatly what you believe about the Bible! Jesus himself will not let you make false distinction between his person and his word. He often quoted the Scriptures as originating with God the Father (Matt 19:4-5). When the Pharisees tried to replace God's commandment in the Law of Moses with their own tradition, he accused them of making void the word of God (Mark 7:13)

Now listen to Jesus' strongest statement about the complete trustworthiness of the Bible"THE SCRIPTURE CANNOT BE BROKEN" John 10:35. Since Scripture cannot be broken, an appeal to Scriptures is final; it cannot be challenged or disproved or denied.
So what does the Scripture says about RAPTURE?
AIM OF STUDY:To refute the false teachings on Rapture.
INTRODUCTION: Some religious groups have many false propositions on these concept, but Biblical teachings on Eschatology differ from their teachings.
What is rapture?
Rapture is defined as the secret taking of the saints before the second coming of Christ.
Many believe that the saints will be taken up in to heaven SECRETLY, and come back with Christ and rule on earth with Christ for thousand years (1,000).
During this period the battle of Armageddon would be fought, a second repentance would be given. Actually, there are so many extensions of this concept of rapture among it teachers and believers

Rapture did not occur at all in the Bible;KJV,NKJV,NIV and other modern translation of the Bible.Historically, it was not in existence until 1500A.D ,came to stand for the SECRET snatching up to heaven. Many have been too foolish to set dates and time for it occurrence and were found liars. Prov 30:6

The teaching on rapture comes from the misunderstanding of 1st Thess 4:13-18,(which talks about the second coming of the lord Jesus), Matthew 24, Mark 13,Luke 21(which discuss the destruction of Jerusalem).The latter point will  be discussed into details in another article. However, you should know that the prophecy on the destruction of Jerusalem does not endorse rapture.
BIBLICAL TEACHINGS ON THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
know that all the events regarding the second coming of Christ will be fulfilled in one Day
1.According to 1 Thess 4:13-18, there will be no rapture or secret taking of the saints.
2.Christ second coming will be audible 1 Thess 4:16.
The resurrection and the judgement will take place simultaneously John 5:28-29.
3. There will be no second chance Heb 9:27
4.It is not now that some special Antichrist will be coming but Antichrist has been the world since the time John wrote.1John2:18-20, 4:1-3
5. The battle of Armageddon is not physical or nuclear war Rev 16:16-22
6.Christ's kingdom has existed since A.D 33 (col1:13)
7.The earth will melt with fervent heat 1 pet 3:9-12
8.Christ will not set His foot on this earth again not to talk of coming to rule on this earth for 1'000 years.1Thess 4:17.
On this note I urge you to resolve from this error and be free John 8:32.
God is not the author of confusion 1 cor14:33
You can be simply a Christian. Of such blessed fellowship of the Lord's Church is the reason why I will not hesitate to invite you to give yourself to Christ through baptism after you have heard ,believed the gospel of Christ, repented and confessing Jesus, calling up the name of the Lord in the Church. The Churches of Christ salute you.ROM 16:16.

SELF-DISCIPLINE AND CHARACTER EPISODE TWO

SELF-DISCIPLINE AND CHARACTER
EPISODE TWO
"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity your self. Be a hard master to yourself and be lenient to everyone else"-Henry Ward Beecher,nineteenth-century clergyman.

The development of character is a great task of life. Your ability to establish a reputation as a person of character and honour is the highest achievement of social and business life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote,"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear a word that you say."

The person you are today, your innermost character, is the sum total of all your choices and decisions in life up to this date. Each time you have chosen rightly and acted consistently with the very best that you know, you have strengthened your character and become a better person. The reverse is also character

To be a person of character you have to possess these virtues or values;
1.courage
2.compassion
3.generosity
4.temperance
5.persistence
6,friendliness and among others
Truth is the core of your character.
But INTEGRITY guarantees all these virtues.
When your character is being tested,or when you are under pressure, make sure you do not compromise-for that is when you demonstrate your true character. Guard your integrity.
In development of character,
1.study the values you admire
2.emulate the people you most admire
3.practice the values you respect.
It also involves the orderly coordination among;
1Your self-ideal- the values you aspire to possess in yourself.
2.Your self-image: your inner mirror. This the way we see and think of ourselves
When you see yourself as calm, positive, truthful, and possessed of high character, you behave with greater strength and personal power.
3. Your self-esteem: how much you like yourself. How you feel about yourself. Your emotional core.
Note
Whenever you act in a way that is consistent with your values, you feel good about yourself. And whenever you compromise your values for any reason you feel bad about yourself. It means when you compromise your values your self-confidence and self-esteem go down.ALWAYS BEHAVE CONSISTENTLY(POSITIVE)
Do the right thing.What you dwell upon grows. The good values you admire will be placed deep in your subconscious until they begin to operate automatically only if you concentrate on them.
To be continued

WILL ONLY THE 144,000 GO TO HEAVEN?
Aim Of Study :To refute the false teachings of the teachers of this concept, especially the Jehovah Witnesses and any other religious group on this FIGURATIVE NUMBER, 144,000.
INTRODUCTION:
Isn't it a heartrending story, to hear that all that the faithful child of God has been promised concerning heaven is a fairytale, but a renovated earth awaits him in eternity? In other words heaven is not for everyone but for some special people and for that matter the saved will not received anything more than a renovated earth. The Jehovah Witnesses predominantly  teach that only 144,000 saints will go to heaven and the great multitude will live on a renovated earth. They falsely use Rev 7:1-17 and 14:1-ff
But what does the Bible say about this topic.
THE BIBLICAL EXPOSITION ON THE TWO PASSAGES.
1.According to the context, an angel was restrained to stop destruction, until the sealing of the servants of God. Rev7:3. So the angel sealed 144,000 from the tribe of Israel.
2.The great multitude that was shown to John was from all nations and was before the throne of God or in heaven. (Rev 7:14-17) ACCORDING TO CHRIST, THE THRONE OF GOD IS HEAVEN (Matt 5:33-34)
3.Later in the vision, John sees them standing with the lamb on Mount Zion, having been redeemed from the earth. Rev14:3 According to the Hebrew writer Mount Zion also refers to heaven (Heb 12:22-24) We can therefore conclude that both the 144,000 and the great multitude were in heaven.

In a comparative study of the qualifications of the 144,000, the great multitude and that of Christians, you will without doubt acknowledge that all have the same yen qualifications. In summation, we can establish the fact that the number 144,000 is figuratively representing the redeemed who shall be in heaven with God, Christ and the angels.
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE 144,000 TO CHRISTIANS
 BIBLICAL REFERENCE.       144,000.                                   CHRISTIANS
1.Rev 7:4                              They were sealed.                    Christians are sealed(Eph 1:13)
2.Rev 7:9.                             From all nations           Christians are from all nations (mark16:15)
3.Rev 7:10                            They were saved.                            Christians are saved (Acts2:47)
4. Rev 7:14.        Came out of great tribulations.     Christians came out of same (Acts 14:22)
5.Rev 7:15.    They were before God's throne.  We are one before God's throne heb12:22-24
6.Rev 7:17.         Christ is in their midst.                     He's in our midst (matt 18:20)
7.Rev 7:17.         God shall wipe away their tears      God will do same for Christians Rev21:4-
8.Rev 14:3 They were redeemed.                                   We are redeemed (1Pet 1:18)
9.Rev 14:4    They were undefiled and virgins.  Christians are undefiled and virgins 2cor11:2
10.Rev14:4.  They follow the lamb.                   We follow Christ,the lamb of God Jn10:27,1:29

According to the comparative study, the 144,000 are not the only LITERAL occupants of heaven but it's a figurative number represents the total number of saints.
Note.that the number 144,000 is from 12*12*1000
12-standing for God's religious number
1000-standing ultimate completeness
 144,000 and the great multitude refers to the same group of people spoken of in different instances.refers to the redeemed or Christians that would be saved.

If that is the case ,why were they spoken of as if already saved?
The writer employed a literary device called prolepsis which speaks of future event as if were already existing or achieved.
Let us be assured that if we are faithful to the end we will receive the crown of glory Rev 2:10.
Are you in Christ's sheepfold? The Church he purchased with His blood?
ROM 16:16The Churches of Christ salute you.

Reference: Bro.Daniel Kyereh-Mensah,preacher
Annual Youth Camp ,Sunyani Technical University.

                           

MY SUMMARY 
THE POWER OF SELF- DISCIPLINE (NO EXCUSES) ....BY BRIAN TRACY
EPISODE ONE
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Discipline (training+behaving in a controlled way) is one of the core values every individual needs to be truly successful.
It is usually easy to discipline anyone at all but it is more difficult to discipline oneself. While discipline is good for every person,SELF-DISCIPLINE is inseparable from the things that lead to success.

Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do things you know you should do even when you do not want to........ Cambridge dict.

Self-discipline is what makes the difference between successful people and failures
Mastering others is great but mastering yourself is power.

Bigstock blog.
He wants to be the best singer in the world, yet he has no discipline to practice often and long
She usually makes new year resolutions....... Saying I will never do this thing again,........and it will not take much long to find her doing that same thing
Or
I will always do this and that,......and it will not take  years or even months to find her discontinuing with what she has begun
The solution is SELF-DISCIPLINE and that will take away all excuses. No excuses.
"The first and best victory is to conquer yourself"

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1.Know what you want(your ideal life)
And do your own thing. Do not do something because others are doing it.
2.Strive to be in the top 20% in your chosen career.
3.Accept the fact that you are starting with nothing and almost everyone starts out the same in life-with little or nothing.
You just need to work harder.
4.Hard work is the key
Overcome the natural tendency to cut corners and take easy way.
5.Appreciate and apply the great law of cause and effect.
If you do what other successful people do,over and over again, nothing can stop you from eventually enjoying the same rewards they do. Nature does not take sides.It is about the law of cause and effects.
To be continued.......

"will they not say that you are out of your mind? ??? 1 Cor 14:23

"will they not say that you are out of your mind? ??? 1 Cor 14:23

Isaiah 59:13-14  In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God...... conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.....
and for truth is fallen in the street....this can also be said of today's 'religious groups'.

So said the Prophet Jeremiah also,
Jeremiah 9:3  And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

Any Christian who who loves God will surely consider prayer to be a most essential evidence of love for God and right relationship with God. Since there are many abuses of Prayer one may pray and still not have assurance that God hears and accepts his or her petitions.

*How blessed we are*,
Christ has not left us to struggle in this *pool of confusion* surrounding prayers.

Prayer is one of the important subject Jesus Himself taught in the scriptures both in His sayings and Actions
Matthew 6:5-15  And when thou prayest, *thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are*: *for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets*, *that they may be seen of men*. *Verily I say unto you, They have their reward*.
*But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet,* *and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret;* *and thy Father which seeth in secret* *shall reward thee openly*.
*But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions,* *as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard* *for their much speaking*.
*Be not ye therefore like unto them*: *for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of*, *before ye ask him*.
*After this manner therefore pray ye*: .......read to verse15
It is for us to model that prayer not to repeat it like our daily greetings

With his life, He also showed us how important prayer is. Usually he separated himself from his disciples and went to solitary place to pray

Luke 6:12, Matt14:23 matt26:36
All these examples show how important prayer is to the life of a christian and more to that how christians are to pray.
*Our prayers must follow the Biblical pattern, nothing less and nothing more*
*Be it your own private prayer or congregational prayer, it must follow the Biblical pattern*

If prayer is a communication between we and God, and it is, then we will consider how we approach God when praying-in humility and with reverence Heb 12:28

Some religious groups have succeeded in teaching others falsely, as if one must be in a certain mood when praying :one must be emotionally and physically enthusiastic, a lot of bodily activities, jumping, stomping, clapping, shouting, moving up and down...charismatic

We see this most often on our television stations how some claim to be praying: a whole lot of noise, clapping, stomping of foot, babbling(1st Cor 14:7-19) claiming to be speaking in tongues.
Nearer to us, we hear of such uproar in our neighbourhoods where such groups do not even allow people to rest in their homes, priding themselves in what is deceitfully called"prayer warriors"

Others abominably pray through Mary and some so called priests or prophets.

And you call that prayer?
I am  not against prayer but i am against the *dramatic performance of prayer*

God doesn't answer our prayers for how charismatic one must be,
By shouting, jumping, drumming, speaking in tongues(which has ceased actually), lying on the floor etc
Such are just hypocritical ways of praying. Jesus indicated matt6:5-8

Some also think to stand against the wiles of the devil, they must engage in this vigorous bodily activities forgetting that since we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, our prayer should  also not be about clapping and making noise. Jesus never taught that.
Ephe 6:12-18
Shows us that it takes, truth, breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, shield of faith,helmet of salvation, the sword of truth..

Making noise, and shouting and clapping and moving up and down as if God could not hear is the 'baalian' way where the prophets of baal cry aloud even to the point of cutting themselves with knives and lances, chanting... 1st Kings 18:22-37

You see to get your prayers answered or to stand against the wiles of the devil, is not about how vigorous you pray. It is about faith, sincerity with God, truth,  humility, love for one another, being forgiving (Gal 5:22-23)
2nd Chron. 7:14 makes it crystal clear" if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and healed their land"

Our faith is what counts James 1:6-10
Now to those who claim to pray in tongues, it is unfortunate how you missed the point
*the definition*-what and how tongues speaking is
*the delivery*-how one get to speak in tongues
*the design*-the purpose of tongues speaking
*the duration*-the period for it existence, all keeps the facts straight that tongues speaking has ceased and is no more as we now have the complete revelation of God's word (1stCor 13:8-13)
Please stop deceiving yourselves and pray intelligibly so that even when unbelievers come into your midst, they will not say 'you are out of your mind..'1stCor14:23