Attitude... A Daily Decision

Every morning, for as long as I can remember, upon rising, the first thing I say is “This is the day the Lord has made, and I, Remi will rejoice and be glad in it”. I say this without giving it much thought and go ahead to start my day, that was until I read Psalm 118 and more especially verse 24 with renewed understanding.

Amplified version reads: “This is the day which the Lord has brought about; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

Message Bible reads: "This is the very day God acted— let's celebrate and be festive!"

Contemporary English reads: "This day belongs to the LORD! Let's celebrate and be glad today"

I learnt that this verse is really about us making a decision to start each day with the right and positive attitude.

It is telling us that at the start of each day we should make a choice “to be glad and rejoice in it, afterall it is God that made the day and everything he makes is good” To have an “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” attitude.

To be glad means to: show or cause joy and pleasure; especially made happy

To rejoice means to: feel joyful; to be delighted

“Our attitude determines our altitude”

If we embrace a good attitude at start of each day, it’s safe to say that even if we don't accomplish that which we set out to, we would have gained altitude. We will be one stop closer to accomplishment than the previous day thus, one less failure to worry about.

For example, James Dyson, an English industrial designer had 5,127 failure attempts before he succeeded in creating the number one hoover in the world - the Dyson hoover. I envisage him waking up each day and saying "today, regardless of my failure of yesterday, I try again to make this creation work".

Developing a positive attitude and approach to life can be tough especially when things seem to go wrong all the time, but Proverbs 24: 16 encourages us that "Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up. But when trouble strikes the wicked, hat's the end of them"

Through that verse, I also learnt that to develop a good and positive attitude we should:

• Reform our thoughts: Proverbs 23: 7 reads "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee". Are we always thinking it can’t be done? Then surely it won’t be. Are we always thinking, even though I fail, it can be done? Then guess what? It will be done. We should always put on a positive aura when we open our eyes to the beauty of a new morning.


• Know and visualise God's will: We should talk to God so that we understand his will for us and then take active steps as he directs, to walk in the confident assurance of it. In doing so, it will give us a positive outlook and take on life.


• Believe in our abilities: My daily charge to myself is “there are in impossibilities within my realities” What is yours? If You don’t have one, develop a positive and effective slogan that works for you. As children of God, we must confidently know and understand that, indeed, nothing is impossible.

• Be responsible: We must take personal responsibility for our life destiny. We cannot control people’s approach or response to situations but we can control ours. Decide and determine to have the right attitude to any situation or circumstance we find yourself in. For example if someone is confronting you about a certain issue and shouting rudely at you, you don’t have to respond the same way. Respond with an attitude that says "I will be calm and manage this situation positively and intelligently". We don’t need to look silly or dysfunctional as the next person that emits a bad attitude.

So, here I am today, encouraging us all to embrace a good and positive attitude as we wake up to unravel the gift of each day. We must embrace a good and positive attitude as we come to the conclusion of this year of new beginnings. Embrace a good and positive attitude in readiness to step into the New Year 2009; not forgetting to make God famous along your way.

Much Love
Remi Banjo

***Pictures by Photobucket & daily attitude.com***

Pick Up Your Dreams...

As we approach the final month of this New Beginning year, it is likely that most of us will reflect back and think about all the things we hoped to have achieved by this moment, but alas the reality is not so. Why? Because life got in the way. We have stored the dream on the top shelf and promised to get back to it when “things get better” .

Today, even though the year is closing in, I encourage you to reach up to that shelf, pick up, and start running with your dream again. One day is enough for God to still bring forth into manifestation that which needs to be accomplished this year, as long as we let him.

What is a dream? The dictionary defines a dream as thus:

• to see or imagine in sleep or in a vision or
• a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep

Dreams are the intention of God, planted in the heart of man.

God has planted a dream in the heart of every single one of his children. Why? This is because he has a plan, a purpose, a destiny and good intentions for us. This we see in Jeremiah 29:11, which reads "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

This plan God has for us, he communicates to us by planting a dream within our heart, writing it upon the canvas of our spirit and making our soul a witness to it. This is why every dream of every individual is of equal importance and relative to God's kingdom. One person's dream is not bigger or better than the next. The dream God has given each of us is the seed to our future and the experience (manifestation) is the harvest (living the reality) . Selah.

The devil knows this and it is the reason he throws obstacles our way, which takes away our focus from working on and protecting the seed to our future (the dream). He knows that it is easier to attack and destroy a seed than it is to destroy a harvest. Selah. This means that we have a responsibility to protect and preserve the seed; to keep it alive, to feed it, nurture it, work on it, make sure it has sufficient light, has sufficient water, that the soil is in the right condition to help it grow, flourish and become a beautiful tree, a beautiful harvest.

We must do all we can do to keep our dreams alive, nurture it, feed it, work on it, pray on it and much more; to bring it into manifestation.

A while ago, I learnt that to keep my dreams in focus, alive and work it into manifestation, I must actively do the following:

• Write Down Your dreams: as we are commanded in Habakkuk 2:2- 3; Then the LORD told me: "I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance. 3At the time I have decided, my words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting-- it will happen! Pick that dream right up, write it down and make it plain. To make something plain means to "make it clear, simple and distinct to the eye." Making it clear to helps us know the actions that are required to set the dream in motion.
  


• Speak your dream: There is creative power in the words we speak. Our tongue has a hand and when we speak, we send forth this hand to get that which we have spoken. (To learn more about this read one of my previous posts - Your Vocabulary). However, we must apply wisdom to who we speak to. We must speak our dreams to helpers of destiny. These are people that will attract resources and be of help bring the dream to manifestation. We must speak our dreams to God. In so doing we are expressing agreement to the dream. We must speak our dreams to ourselves. Sounds silly, but yes, we must do this to encourage ourselves and express our spoken faith.
  


• Sow into the dream of others: What we sow is what we will reap as we are taught in Galatians 6: 7 - 9. Therefore, we must do our best to find others who are doing what we are doing or want to do and then sow a seed into their dream. We can sow prayers, time, finance, help, support or much more. Seeds will produce after its own kind.
  


• Call in your harvest: When we have sown the seed, we must not forget to call in our harvest. Imagine this; "no farmer goes into the fields, sows and does not go back to collect the harvest." This means that we must go back and collect the harvest to the seeds we have planted. We must remember to refer back to it, bring it before God and claim the harvest. We must make a demand on our investment. "As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night." - Genesis 8:22.
  


• Discover God's purpose for the dream: The purposes behind the dream God gives us is way bigger and more profound than we could ever imagine. Our dreams have consequences that will outlive us. This is why we CANNOT afford to give up on our dreams!. We see a glimpse of this in Acts 26:16 when Saul met with God on a mission to Damascus. It reads "Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. You are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future" I encourage you to draw on the power, strength and courage from the purpose of your dream.
  


• And finally, I was taught to guard my heart. If our hearts are defiled, then our dreams will be corrupted and life will move in the direction of our most dominant thought, hence making it our reality. We must take hold of our thoughts, imagination and steer them towards God's purpose for our lives.

So, today, I encourage us all to be a true dreamer, taking lessons from Joseph and start moving in the direction of our dreams.

Unless God has told us to wait, the next move is ours.

Lets start where we are. With our five loaves of bread and two fishes, with our small jar of oil, or with our dingy fishing boat. Everything does not have to be perfect before we set the ball rolling, we have to and must give God something to work with.

Do you need to go on that training course, to learn that language, write up that business plan, spend more time serving, or reading? Whatever it is, raise up, pick up the dream you placed on the top shelf a while ago and get moving. Give God something to work with and trust him to do the rest. A flicker of his fingers is all he needs to make it happen, thus, even with less than 2 months to go before this year is a wrap for good, God cans still bring forth that dream to manifestation for you.

"We must remember lives, souls, destinies in this and the next generations are dependant on the manifestation of our dreams and the testimonies that arise from them. "

Have an awesome time re-discovering your purpose, picking up your dream, setting it in motion and giving God something to work with to bring it into manifestation… whilst making him famous along the way.

Much Love

Remi Banjo

***Pictures by photobucket & coloriaart***

Lessons From Wall Climbing...

Well, I have acquired a new fitness obsession – Indoor wall climbing!!! Yes, I have discovered I'm an adrenalin junkie... I know I scare myself too!

It’s a pretty cool activity, requires concentration and lots of body strength and discipline to say the least! I went through training and thereafter really got into the act of climbing. I teamed up with a friend of mine and he challenged me to get to the top of the wall. You see to get to the top means you get to leave your mark there, almost like saying "I came, I saw, I conquered"; but getting to the top was no small feat!

I was there for over two hours every other day just trying to get to the top of the wall! I experienced lots of falling over, getting half way, having to get up and start all over again and exhaustion! However, whilst trying repeatedly to get to the top, I learnt that:

I had to make sure I was firmly harnessed in. No harness, no climbing; well unless I wanted to break a few bones.

This reminds me that whatever we do, whatever move we make in this life, we must make sure we are firmly harnessed and anchored in God, anchored in his will. That we are To move without being secured in God, means we are without his coverage and direction, which means the fuits of our labour will mean nothing. This we are though in John 15:5-6 "5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned" Are you anchored in him?

I found out the nature and distribution of my body strength. I realised that I had more lower body than upper body strength. This meant that my strength was in my lower body and my weakness was my upper body. I learnt that if I concentrated on my strength and used it to my advantage, I could scale up the wall quickly and almost effortlessly! Awesome.

This tells me that each and everyone of us is unique in our make up, we all have specific strengths and weaknesses, which means we all have specific gifts and abilities which we must use to our advantage and to the advancement of the kingdom of God. This we are taugh in Romans 12:6-8, which reads "6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly." Do you know your strengths and weaknesses and are you managing them wisely?

I learnt that in as much as I wanted to get to the top of the wall on the first try, sometimes this is not possible; not because I did not believe I could do it, but more because I had to learn the best way for ME to get there; the best route for ME to take, the best combination of strength and skills for ME to embrace.

This tells me that our walk in life is personal, that God has a path marked out for each and every one of us, and the combination of cross roads, of trials and tribulations, of success and failures we must go through or face is different for each person. When we learn what our individual path in life is, learn it, we will eventually get to where God wants us to get to and what God has already ordained us to be. Are you walking in tune to God's will for YOU?

I also found out that I had to have a certain frame of mind before and whilst on the wall. I had to approach eaach ascend and indeed desend determination and a "can do - I can reach the top this time" attitude; a mindset that tells me even though I failed the last seven or so times, this time I can and will get to the top.

This reminds me that in life having the right attitude and frame of mind is very important. "Our attitude determines our altitude". To have a good and positive attitude means that we embrace the nature of Christ as we are taught in Philippians 2:5 which reads "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had." What is the shape and nature of your attitude?

I found out that sometimes, I simply had to go back to the begining. Sometimes, when I get stuck on the wall and don't know how to navigate my way further up, I simply have to let go, and drop back to the ground, review my position and start all over again.

This reminds me that along the way, sometimes we will find ourselves in a rut due to variuos reasons. When this happens we must learn to pause and put ourselves through a "spiritual health check" as Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians 13:5 5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 6 As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority. We must review our stance, go back to our source and re-align ourselves if need be, then start back on the journey ahead of us. Sometimes we simply have no option but to go back to the begining and start all over again, no matter how painful this might seem.

Finally, I learnt that climbing is quite good fun, but extremely hard work. This is because it uses all the muscle groups in the body, even the brain... imagine that!. And that the next day, the ache is nothing compared to all my gym or fitness activities to date, but it eases out with time.

This tells me that when we are living within the realms of God's will, we will experience extreme joy and fulfilment, but also, there will be times when we face trials and tribulations and we will need to use all the tools God has given us (prayer, fasting, meditating on the word, and much more) to get us through. There will be times when trials and tribulations will surely give us physical and spiritual ache, but we must be assured that this will ease in time as long as we hold on to faith and hope just like Moses did as we are taught in Romans 12:12 which reads "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer"

Besides, God works everything together for good, so pain or not, it will surely all come together in the end.

And that was the lessons I learnt from my new spot indoor, Wall Climbing. Oh and by the way I did get to the top - eventually.

Have a great day climbing your way to victory, on the way to becoming who God has already ordained you to be; keeping your faith and hope alive, whilst making him famous along way with every ascend and descend you embrace.

Much Love

Remi Banjo

***pictures by google***

Welcome the 44th President - BARACK OBAMA

Congratulation to the 44th president of the United States of America

Mr Barack Obama

I pray that God uses you for his glory and that he continues to be your strength and shield and gives you wisdom, understanding and insight to rule as you should and to bring about change that is needed in America and indeed around the world.

This is the day the Lord has made we will rejoice, be glad with what God has done for us in it!!!

It is the day that will

go down in the history books

that will be talked about forever

that will be taught to our children's children

that we will surely never forget

that represents new beginnings

that represents the onset of change

that represents new meanings

A day that propels us into a new season!

Congratulations

Let change begin

YES WE CAN!!!!

Much Love
Remi Banjo

They Love Adayingodswill...Yipeee

A big thanks to simeone for giving adayingodswill the "I love your blog" award.

Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting. I thank God that you have been blessed by the words the Holy Spirit gives me to write. I pray that as long as I have breathe I continue to write and you continue to be blessed by it.

Right, I am supposed to pass it on to others, well, if it was possible I would nominate all my readers, but I have to nominate a listed number... so here goes, I hereby nominate the "I love you blog" award to the following fellow bloggers:

• Deboo
• Ladyguide
• Solomonsydelle
• shubbydoo
• dunspoken
• Africansunrise
• disgodkidd

These are the rules that come and go with the award.

• The nominated is allowed to put the picture on their blogs.
• Link to the person who awarded you.
• Nominate seven other people and link to them.
• Leave a message on those people's blog to make them aware that they're nominated.

Once again, thank you for this award Simeone, God bless you and may we have many more blogging years ahead of us, to affect this and the next generation to come.

Much Love

Remi Banjo