Check the fruit

Check the fruit                                                                              010411

                When we plant fruit trees we do it for the fruit that they bear. A person who plants a mango tree expects mangoes after some time. There is usually a problem if the tree fails to produce mangoes. This is the reason why Jesus cursed one tree when He did not find fruit in its expected season.

                There are many things that are happening these days that make it necessary for you to be very careful. There are individuals whose lives are producing fruit, alright, but it is not clear whether the fruit is genuine or not. Some of the fruit they promise is exactly what you need at this time in your life. But there is danger if you just pluck from the tree and eat without checking first. This is because, unlike trees, humans can produce different kinds of fruit. They may claim to produce sweet fruit when actually it is bitter; or to produce oranges when it is actually lemons. You only get to know after you have tasted the fruit. The problem is that some of the ‘trees’ produce poisonous fruit. When people eventually realize this it will be too late.

                Most people cannot identify a fruit tree by looking at its leaves. There is a chance of deception as well when the trees are similar as is the case with citrus trees like lemon and orange trees. You only get to know which is which when they bear fruit. Some people, however, seem to be deceived easily and pay for a whole batch of the fruit produced by a certain tree before they ascertain whether it is capable of producing fruit or not. Even if it bears fruit, they cannot tell whether it is bitter or sweet. This is dangerous in that there is usually no time to recover after you realise that the product is not what you bargained for.

                It does not matter how much the tree promises you, wait until it produces fruit for a couple of seasons before you are satisfied that it is a good tree. Its fruit may look juicy and healthy but make sure it is not poisonous before you take a bite. There is wisdom in waiting. Sometimes the poison is slow acting. You take a big bite and wait for a reaction and nothing happens in a week and you are convinced the fruit is good for you but only to find out later that it is poisonous when the effects eventually catch up with you a month or a year down the line.

                Jesus warned His disciples sternly about people who claim to be His followers. He told them not to trust quickly but to wait until they started producing fruit. His argument was that a good tree is not capable of producing bad fruit, and a bad one will not produce good fruit either. It does not matter how long the bad tree tries to convince everyone that its fruit is good for them; soon it will be discovered for what it is. There are a number of things that you can check to make sure the tree you are dealing with is genuine or fake.

1. Check the speech.

The Bible says that even a fool is considered a wise man if he keeps his mouth shut. Only when he begins to speak does he show his foolishness. It is so with all people. If you listen careful to what they say both in public and in private you will discover who they really are. From the abundance of their heart their mouth will soon speak. No matter how much someone tries to hide his/her character, he/she will eventually show it in speech one day. It is important, therefore, that you watch as much as you can that the individual says before you take everything they offer. If you decide to skip this vital step you will find that as time goes on you will find it difficult to believe anything negative that other people will tell you about the individual. It is your responsibility to check that the individual’s speech is consistent with who they say they are.

2. Check the works.

There are many people who are good at pretending to be who they are not. For some time they get to make everyone believe they are saints. But as time goes on what they do in the dark finds itself in the light. This is because people cannot hide their true behavior for long. If an individual claims to be holy, check their actions especially in private. They can claim to be one thing but they cannot sustain it for ever. Sooner than later, they usually find themselves behaving in a different way to the picture they want to portray. Do not rush to believe every individual who portrays him/herself as good. Give them time to prove it and with time their speech or actions will tell the true story.

3. Check response when there is a mistake.

When a man makes a mistake he either apologises or blames someone else. The man who takes the blame and genuinely apologise is probably genuine. If the individual keeps making mistakes and blaming everyone except themselves then you have a deceiver. One who keeps making mistakes and apologizing is not good either. Make sure it is not in them to make mistakes daily. Otherwise you will have serious problems. The fruit is the best indicator when it comes to the type of person an individual is.

The power of three

The power of three                                                                          270311

The triangle is the strongest shape in that when one side is compressed the other two help to carry the burden by undergoing tension. Somehow the force that is applied on a triangle gets distributed and the shape can take greater forces than any other, or any combination of shapes. It is for this reason that the girders that make up roof structures or bridges are made using triangles. It is the strength found in triangles that make tall tower or pylon construction possible. It is no coincidence that there are three states of matter; solid liquid and gas; or that man is divided into soul, spirit and body. There is stability and strength in the number three.

When the enemy comes, according to John 10 vs. 10, he is not done until he steals; kills and eventually destroys you. When He steals he just takes away some things that are useful to you and you do not get the privilege of using them. This is the first and easiest part of the devil’s destruction business. Things that are stolen are easily replaced if you realize that they are missing. After stealing he wants to kill some things in your life. Dead things are not productive and all he wants when he kills is to render you as unproductive as possible. Dead things cannot live again and at this advanced stage of attack he makes you ineffective. Once the killing has happened, his next mission will be to destroy. Destroyed things cannot be used again. If a plant is dead you can use the wood for furniture or firewood. There are many things that can be used when they are dead but when destruction is complete the things so destroyed cannot fulfill their purposes again. That is the plan of the enemy; to steal, to kill and to destroy. If all three happen in any individual, the individual will be useless indeed, unless restoration from the giver of life occurs.

There are three things that have been sighted as the destroyers of men; wine, women and wealth. A man who indulges in one or two of these things is probably safe but he who is obsessed with all three is bound to be destroyed thoroughly in the end. If you look at the number of great men who failed to fulfill their mandate you will find that most were destroyed by women. Samson was the strongest man who ever lived. He was so strong that he could carry the gate of a city up the hill and leave it there. This is not like the sliding gate at the entrance to a house or a business premises. It was the gate to the city. He, however, did not last long because he had a love for women that eventually led him to his death. The men who indulge in alcohol find themselves making crucial decisions in their drunken stupor, which usually backfires. In the end they cannot perform to their best potential. Alcohol abusers who also like women are in danger of contracting S.T.I.s and the HIV virus. The lovers of money can do anything to gain wealth. Some have killed just to get more money. If lovers of money also drink, then they gain courage to do anything to get money. This usually leaves them in more danger than ever. The wisest man who ever lived says that, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a babbler. He who indulges in them is not wise.

There are three things that remain; faith, hope and love. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Without hope there can be no faith. Hope is needed for faith to be effective. Love is also needed for where there is no faith there is fear. But there is no fear in love, meaning that there is faith in love. We have faith that those we love will come back safely from the journeys they travel. When you have one of these and not the other two you will not get the full benefit of the three things that remain after all else is gone. In the same way, the destroyers cannot fully destroy you if you do not have the full set.

In all areas of life there are three things that you can look at and get benefit from. If the three are destroyers do not let any of them into your life to be safe. Any three that are beneficial you make sure you acquire at all cost. When you have the full set you are assured of blessings without measure. It is your homework to look for other things that operate in threes and make sure you shun them or you take them into your life depending on whether they are helpful or destructive.

Why I Choose To Be an Optimist

Why I Choose To Be an Optimist                                                                200311

                A pessimist thinks that things are going to come out bad and is surprised when they come out good. An optimist, on the other hand, expects things to be good and they do most of the time. There are many people who are pessimists and proud of it; I choose to be an optimist instead, and here are three reasons why.

1.       Research has shown that ninety percent of the things we worry about never happen.

I can spend my whole life worrying that something bad is going to happen to me, but I have a ten percent chance of success. Most people do not put their money where the chances of success are as low as twenty-five percent but still worry themselves to death because of things that are more likely not to happen.

I have said that if you left the clothes on the line and delay going home for some reason. You can choose to worry about some thief coming to take the clothes or to enjoy yourself until you get home to find out if they are still on the line. If there is no way of telling someone to take them off the line then the thief will come and steal whether you are worried or not. If he/she does not realize there are clothes on the line, then you will find the clothes on the line. It is not worrying that will keep them there or cause them to be stolen. These are independent events. Worrying will not change the results. I choose to be optimistic in such situations because there are greater chances of me being right.

2.       Optimists make life easy for everyone.

If you have lived with a pessimist you know how the atmosphere in the house is always negative. Pessimists are always looking for something to go wrong and when eventually something goes wrong they say they knew it would be so. All the time you learn to look forward to some imaginary disaster. This may take time to come and meanwhile everyone is miserable. When it eventually turns up the ‘confirmation’ makes everyone look forward to the next disaster, never mind it may come in three months. This is a miserable way of living.

An optimist, on the other hand, looks forward to something great happening. Many great things happen everyday and they look forward to seeing more. Their mood is always good and they share it with everyone. These are the people who are pleasant to meet. Every time you call them they leave you feeling great. I want to be such a person but there is no hope of succeeding if I am a pessimist.

3.       Pessimists bring a lot of health problems upon themselves

It is no secret that those who worry a lot end up with health problems like ulcers and hypertension. The pessimist is always thinking about something bad that is on the way and in the end he/she develop a health condition. The health condition becomes another area which causes worrying and soon all things deteriorate. There is a better way to live. It is called optimism. It does not mean you sit down and wish nothing bad happens. You expect the best from every situation and refuse to worry about things until they become reality. If the bad things happen, then you think about what you can do to correct them. You only worry about them as long as they are around not before.  That way you do not burden yourself with things that you may never experience.

Optimism is a choice. You have to decide to be positive about things that happen. It takes work, however. Pessimism is easy. Anyone can see the bad side of things. But then, anyone who focuses on the bad side ends up in hospital with more things to worry about and a continually deteriorating situation. Why not choose to be an optimist beginning today. You owe it to yourself. I choose to be an optimist instead of a pessimist.

Keep Checking Your Compass                                                                130311

 

            Those who sail know that there is need to constantly check their compass since this instrument tells them whether they are in the right direction or not. This is the reason why every sailor has to learn how to use a compass before they can go out to sea. Ability to use this instrument makes a difference between life and death for the sailor and all with him.

The difference between sea travel and road travel is that in road travel there are landmarks that you can constantly refer to when travelling and these can be used to tell the current position in relationship to the desired destination making it easy to progress in the required direction. Not so with sea travelling; there are no trees or mountains to direct you. Even if you are making no effort to move, you may find yourself drifting away due to the wind that often blows. What with storms that sometimes cover the sun; you may never know whether you are headed east or north.

            Life is like travelling at sea in more respects than one. Those that have travelled ahead may not leave landmarks for us to see. Even if we do exactly what they did, we may never get to the same destination. It is this lack of pointers that brings the need for us to constantly check our compass to determine where we are and in which direction we are going.

            When a storm strikes at sea, the ship is usually  forced to go off the course that the sailor wants it to follow, hence the need to sit down and use his/her experience to check the position of the ship and from there, mark out a course to where he/she wants to go. It is often in life that the pressures of the day make us unaware that we are drifting away from the direction that we are supposed to go.

            The reason why it is important to keep checking whether you are in the right direction is that if by any chance you drift off 10 degrees from the right direction, you will, as time goes on, find yourself going farther and farther away from the place you want to go. If you keep travelling in a straight line for a thousand kilometres you will find yourself about one hundred and eighty kilometres off the mark. This is a long distance but at the start it does not seem to make a big difference. The danger of being a small angle off the route is that you may never get to notice you are getting lost. For some distance you will still be able to see those in the right course. When you eventually realise you are lost, you may be in a position that makes it difficult to find the correct direction and if you are at sea, remember, there are no landmarks to direct you.

            As young people, we have to quickly learn the art of constantly checking the direction on the compass because it will be more vital as time goes on when we take over the reins and go sailing on our own. As young children we may have had chances to make choices but generally it was the adults who had the responsibility of directing the ship. As we grow old we will slowly be asked to take care of directing the ship until the responsibility eventually lies squarely on our shoulders when we go out of the 'nest' and become independent adults, looking after our own families.

            There are a number of questions that I believe can help us to check our direction effectively:

            Who Am I? This is a very important question because when it is effectively answered it will guide us on what we should do at that particular time. The answer to this question changes constantly as we do our daily duties. One moment you are a child the next you are a brother or sister or a student or an employee, depending on where you are or with whom you are. If at every time you choose to quickly determine who you are then the next set of questions become easy to answer.

            Where Am I? This is an important question in that it gives you the bearings of your current position, a prerequisite if you will be able to chart your way to the desired destination. Again this depends on the answer to the first question. You will definitely be in different positions as far as your relationships with different people are concerned. If you know your position then you are ready to answer the next question.

            Where Am I Going? As an individual there are different destinations that you are striving to reach in your various positions that you occupy in life. As a student you may be aiming for a distinction while as a child you are aiming to please your parents by being an obedient child. You have to know where you are going if you will get there. Someone said that if the ship is going to no particular harbour, it will end up at some other harbour anyway. If you are not planning to go somewhere you will still find yourself in another place, usually an undesirable one. If you are drifting in any direction that life wants to take you then no wind is the right wind. Have a clear picture of where you want to go so that you can make the necessary effort to get there.

            How Am I Going to Get There? You just have to map a strategy to get to your destination if you will eventually get there. There are many among us who have lofty goals in their minds but these do not often materialise because of lack of a plan. The sailor uses maps and a compass to make sure that the ship reaches its destination. This is important because the storms that come along the way will not hinder you if you have a picture of where you want to go and how to get there.

            When Am I Planning to Reach My Destination? This is a critical question to ask because it gives you a sense of urgency in accomplishing what needs to be done. It would be frustrating if you were sailing to a faraway country to ask the captain when you are going to reach the place and only be told that he does not know. When a ship leaves the harbour, the captain has a rough estimate of arrival dates. These may change due to difficult or favourable weather patterns but a day will be there when the captain intends to arrive at his/her destination. As individuals we need to have time frames in which to accomplish what we need to achieve or become.

            If you answer these questions effectively it becomes easy to remain within the right track. For example, if you are an employee who is at the lowest rung in the leadership of the company and hope to rise to the top, you may consider hard work and faithfulness as the way to achieve your goal in the next five years. Working hard on improving your academic qualifications may improve your chances of reaching your goal. If you do this in every area of your life then you have a great chance of success since a sailor who constantly checks his/her compass will never get lost.

There is no substitute for experience

There is no substitute for experience                                                           060311

 

                If you look at job advertisements in the paper you will find that most of them require the applicants to have experience in the relevant field. The interesting thing is that there is no school of experience where you can enroll and spend time acquiring this experience. You have to find it in another place. This tells us that those who get the jobs are most probably people who are doing something at the time of applying.

                Many young people refuse to do anything that is not related to the degree or diploma that they acquired because they think it is a waste of time. They feel degraded if they have to do a manual job after graduating with a first class degree. The important thing to remember, however, is that to get the job that you trained for you need to have experience, and that experience is difficult to find because the first job you look for is looking for experience even though your degree is weeks old.

                Most companies that offer graduate traineeship courses take the raw graduates and let them go through every department in the company to make sure they are acquainted with the happenings of the company before they let them do what they trained for. Most of these trainees express their frustrations everyday to their superiors because they keep doing everything else except what they trained for. This is because they do not understand an important principle in the work environment.

                A manager who only knows the managing principles without knowing the system he is managing is an ineffective one. The decisions he/she makes at the top affects everyone in the system and it is better if he/she understands what that decision means to everyone. If the manager has worked with the cleaners and the accountants and every other department in the company, he/she will make decisions understanding their impact at every stage. That is why, even though you are an engineer they take you to work in the accounts department for some times because the company system is one even though it has many parts. The experience you gain from working in a field that is not your area of specialization will eventually work to your advantage. You can only be experienced when you are doing something.

                There are many people who enter big companies doing the least job but end up in managerial positions because they appreciate that the end of a matter is more important than the beginning. What is important is to be in the system in the first place. Companies usually advertise for posts internally and only advertise outside if there is no one internally qualified enough to take the post. If you are waiting outside hoping to get a break into the company while you have no experience you will be disappointed because the break may never come. You have to get experience first.

                If there is a company you want to work for that does not have the post you are dying for at the moment, consider offering to work in any other department in that company. The only openings may be for cleaners. If you take that up and do your best there, someone will soon notice and your promotion may come sooner than you expect. I know people who have applied for jobs using their O’ level certificate only to produce their degrees when posts were advertised internally. Of course the management is surprised at such antics but if you were humble enough to work hard in a job that you are overqualified for, they will think you will be a good candidate in the field where you are qualified. If you become effective again in that area then you will rise through the ladder of the company quickly. It is only for those who do not mind getting experience in a field which they did not train for.

                Experience will be asked for when you look for the job of your dreams. If you are wise you will take up every available job and use it as a stepping stone to your next better job. That experience at a higher post can be used to secure even higher positions. All this is possible because without experience you are unemployable.

                Consider finding for yourself a job that does not need experience. These are the least jobs in most institutions. Work hard like your life depends on it. It is difficult for company directors not to notice someone who works hard. Soon they will be looking for openings in other areas where they can give you more responsibilities. Your promotion comes easier if you work hard in an unpleasant job.

                The reason why companies insist on experienced applicants is that they can always get a reference from your previous place of employment. If you work hard at whatever you do, no matter how insignificant it seems, you will be in a position to get a better job than the one you ave right now. If you are not yet employed, you can get the best job by starting at the bottom of the ladder. Work hard there and soon you will be at the top. It may take time but there is no rising to the top if you do not have experience, and there is no school of experience around here.

Understand the season you are in

Understand the season you are in                                                            270211

                “Seasons come and seasons go”. These are the words of a song we used to sing when we were young. Every time a new season comes and before a new one comes and takes over. In its turn it goes and another takes its place. The cycle repeats itself as time progresses. These seasons are very important, if only to break the monotony that would result if all year round we were to have only one season.

                It is important to know what season is prevailing at any given time if you are going to be relevant and effective. If, for example you were to plant your tomatoes just before winter in an area prone to frost, you would most likely experience disappointment because tomatoes are easily destroyed by frost. If you planted peas at the same time, however, you would experience a good harvest because they grow well in winter. The crop’s development is, therefore, not dependent only on the fertility of the soil in which it is planted but on the season in which it is planted.

                If you are in business, selling clothes, you have to buy clothes that are relevant for the season. It is true that some people buy clothes for the next season, but these are in the minority. Most people buy winter clothes in winter and summer ones in summer. It is, therefore, foolishness to order, and fill your clothes shop with sting tops and vests in winter because most people will be looking for jerseys and jackets. You can have them in stock for the few who buy out of season clothes but at any time you have to stock the clothes that are relevant for the season.

                In everything you do, you have to bear in mind the season you are in. If it is winter you must do what is profitable in winter. Some tree species appreciate that there are times when water is plenty and they grow leaves then and make as much food as they can in this season. When winter approaches, where there are limited supplies of water, they shed all the leaves as a way of conserving water. During this time, they use the food that they will have made in good times, since they cannot make any food without their leaves. This ability to do what is relevant for the season makes it possible for these plants to survive even the worst winters.

                Some animals hibernate in winter as a way of conserving energy. During this time they only move when necessary but they are asleep most of the time. Ants store food in summer for the cold season when moving around may be impossible. They, somehow, understand seasons and their consequences. If plants and animals appreciate the changes in seasons and prepare adequately for each season, we have to do better than them.

                Some seasons are planting seasons where all you have to do is work, work, and work. There is usually very little to show for all the work that you do. It does not mean, however, that things will remain the same. Soon you will get to the harvest season where you will enjoy the fruit of your labour with very little work. If you choose to relax during the planting season, however, you will find yourself starving when harvest time comes because you cannot reap without sowing.

                It is important to check every time for the prevailing season since seasons change so rapidly, so that you do what is relevant at the time. If you do not check you may find yourself doing what was profitable yesterday but not today due to changing seasons. It is also important to note that your financial life may be in a different season to your social life. The fact that you are multi-faceted means you have to look at each area separately and do what helps you be effective in that area. The drought in one area should not be allowed to affect other areas that are in a season of plenty. If all is going well in your studies you have to keep it this way. If you allow the bad things happening in your relationships to affect your studies then you will have serious problems. Treat the different areas as separately as possible except, of course, if you want to be encouraged by the good happening in another area.

                Seasons come and seasons go. There are certain things that you can only do in certain seasons. If you do not notice the arrival of these seasons you will fail to do what can only be done in these passing seasons. This means if you do not constantly check what season you are in you will end up missing on crucial opportunities. Always check what season you are in. Find out what you have to do to get the greatest benefits from the prevailing season. If you are constantly aware of the season at hand you will always be productive in your life.

Be A Good Source of Light

Be A Good Source of Light                                                                    200211

The moon is very useful to us in that it provides light when the sun is not available to do so. It is important to appreciate that the moon does not produce any light; it just positions itself in such a way that all the light it receives from the sun is reflected in our direction. How much of the light we receive depends on the position of the moon relative to the sun. If it is the same side as the sun, we can only see a little of the moon, hence we receive a little light; but if it is the opposite side, we receive more light.

The moon does not have to produce light to be a good supplier of light. In fact there are a number of bodies that produce light of their own that cannot make the night as bright as the moon does. Stars are actually bigger than the moon but they are so far away from us that a million of them cannot produce as much light as a half moon. It is usually not a question of whether you are the source of light or not. You have to supply sufficient light where it is needed either by being the source or by reflecting enough.

There are many places where light is needed. There are places where you can be the source of light and supply enough to meet the need there. Other times you have to be content being only a reflector of light. There are a number of conditions that have to be fulfilled if you are going to be a good supply of light.

1.       Supply enough light where you are the source

If you call yourself a source of light, you have to supply enough. If you are not supplying enough then you are irrelevant. It does not matter that you are the only source of light that is available. If you do not meet the needs of those around you, you are as good as not there.

To supply enough light a source of light has to be either very big or very close to the area that needs to be supplied. What makes a big star not to supply enough light on earth is its large distance from us. If stars were closer they would supply more light than the moon can. You can only be effective and relevant in people’s lives if you are close enough to them to make an impact. The amount of light you produce at any given time may take time to change but your distance can easily be adjusted. Invest time in getting closer to the people you want to influence for the best.

2.       Be a good reflector

A mirror shows the reflection of your face better than a compact disc because of its smoothness. There are many glasses around but they will not reflect as much light because they are not as smooth as a mirror. Any material can be used to reflect light if it can be polished enough. There are a number of materials that cannot be polished by nature of their make up. But I have seen clay products that are polished so smoothly that they shine. Anyone can be smooth enough to shine some light onto others.

If your life has cracks and defects, I am sorry you cannot be a good supply of light. You may position yourself as well as you like but you will not make an impact in people’s lives. You will absorb most of the light if you are not ‘smooth’.

3.       Be visible to the source of light

A mirror may be a good reflector but you will not see your face if you do not look in it. The face and the mirror have to be positioned in such a way that your eyes see the reflection. The moon will only provide light if it is in the sun’s light. If it is hidden from this light, as happens when there is a lunar eclipse, it will not be a source of light at all. If you want to be a source of academic light, be seen in a place where academic work is happening. Be studying something so you can be illuminated before you can share some of the light with those who need it. If you want to be a source of spiritual enlightenment then be in a relationship with the God you represent. If you are not in His light you cannot reflect any of it to anyone.

4.       Make sure light is needed in that area

There are times when the moon is at its brightest but no one realizes its presence because it is day time. When the sun is out, no one needs the moon. It is in the darkest night that people appreciate the presence of the moon. If you realize that there are brighter light sources where you are, you can position yourself that you supply the light to where it is not available or wait till that place is in darkness; otherwise your light will appear irrelevant.

 Light is needed in different amounts in different areas. You can be a good source of light in your area by choosing to position yourself in such a way that you are visible to the source and be polished enough to reflect as much light as possible.