Happiness!

One of the great attitudes we all need to have in order to achieve success is Happiness. Happiness does not happen by accident but is a choice each one of us makes. If you are not a happy person, it is by choice. 

You have full control over your life and the decisions you make. For example, some people think money is happiness. However, they’re absolutely miserable with what they do on a daily basis to make money. The question then is, would you rather be a wealthy miserable man/woman or a happy man/woman. Not that I did not say happy poor man/woman. This is because I believe you cannot be happy and be poor at the same time.

Most of us look at people and think they have everything we have always wanted in life, and that is why they are happy and so we strive to be like them.  These things may be wealth, possessions, status, or even a position at work.  What we fail to realize though is that these things don’t create happiness.  Happiness is a choice.

If you watch the news, it will not be too long before you find out that there are many people who have wealth and high status who are completely miserable.  They’re lonely, divorced, on drugs etc.  This is because happiness comes from within and not from possessions.

I have heard many wealthy people, one of them being Oprah, who have said that wealth does not make you happy. Never the less, most people feel that they should first be given the money so they can make that conclusion themselves. Why should one want to re-invent the wheel when they can learn from those that have gone before them?

My encouragement to you is that you start developing an attitude of happiness. It will do you more good in the end.  

Stay blessed and keep the faith!

Moses Kangave

In 1996, minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new sessions of the Kansas Senate with prayer and this was how he prayed.

Enjoy!

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good,,” but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We confess:

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the Name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In six short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church subsequently received international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on “The Rest of the Story” on the radio and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

Lets look at James 1:2-8

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Before we look at what we need to do, it is important to make note that trials and temptations don’t come from God. The word says,  “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” (James 1:13). There is nothing in the verses above that shows that divers temptations come from God. Just because it is an opportunity for your faith to be developed doesn’t mean God has sent the temptation. With that settled, Lets see what we need to do.

The first thing we need to do is, have the right attitude.

The only way you can “count it joy when you fall in divers temptations” is if you know why you are faced with trials and temptations. James says, “knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience” Our faith is always tried, but for a reason. In this case, James tells us that,  it is to work our patience and that our patience may be perfect. When you get an understanding and attitude that the trials you face are meant to make you better and not to destroy you, you will be well equiped in going through them. Always remember that God is with you and for you regardless of what you go through.

Isaiah 43:1-2 says, But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

The other thing we need is to ask for wisdom.

In Proverbs 4:7, the bible says , Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

When we are going through trials, sometimes we tend to be discouraged, get into worry and fear, because we are over whelmed and have no idea on what to do. James gives us the answer here by telling us that if you lack wisdom regarding the trial you are going through and want to know what to do, ask God for wisdom. It is important to know though that wisdom is the right application of knowledge. You need to have knowledge of God’s word in order to receive wisdom from him. That is why it is very important that we store the word of God in our hearts. It is through his word that God will give us wisdom.

The other thing we need is faith.

 When we choose to ask God for wisdom, we should believe that he is going to give it to us and that we are going to have to rely on him alone, and not on our own understanding or the world’s system. Remember that, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” In other words, you cannot profess to be trusting in God and man, yourself or the world at the same time. When we ask God for wisdom, we need to fully believe and wait on him for the answer.

I hope this encourages you and helps you face trials with confidence, knowing that God is with you and for you, and that trials are opportunities disguised as trials.

Stay blessed and keep the faith.

Moses Kangave

Let me ask you a question. Do you know the devil’s devices or does he take advantage of you?

One thing we must realize is that the devil is very skillful and experienced in what he does. He has been here longer than we all have and has been doing what he does since Adam and Eve were here.

I’m writing this post as an encouragement to someone out there.

If God has spoken to you or promised you something, he is committed to do it. God cannot lie. The only reason people don’t get what they were promised is because they fall for the devil’s lies and start doubting God.

How does this happen?

God deals with the heart not the mind.

When God speaks to you, don’t try to reason things out. Just believe! Believing is done with the heart not the mind. Any time you get into the mind realm, you have just got yourself into the devil’s realm. He is good at using the mind to get you to reason yourself out of God’s promise to you. That is how he was able to bring mankind  to fall into sin and that is the way he is still doing it.

In Proverbs 3:5, the bible says, (NLT) Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. In other words, trust is of the heart but your understanding is of the mind. Don’t try to lean on your mind (understanding). The next verse says, seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

As children of God we need to settle it in our hearts that whether we understand how God does things or not, He is not a liar (Numbers 23:19). Knowing this helps us resist every temptation to doubt his word.

Every time God speaks to you, the wise thing to do is to put it in writing because when the devil comes crowding your mind with reasoning and lies, you want to go back to what God told you and read it. Writing it is important because sometimes if you are not careful, you may forget what God spoke to you. I’m sure this has happened to you before.

Also, get into the habit of loudly speaking out what God has spoken to you. As you speak, you will interrupt the reasoning mind, thereby putting your attention on God’s promise. This will help train your mind to agree with your heart. Remember, we are in the promise of renewing our minds. Your mind may try to complain that what you are telling it doesn’t make sense but you need to let it know that it doesn’t have to make sense of everything.

To some people, this may sound crazy but if you really want to have the spirit be in control of your mind, you need to be aggressive about bringing your mind into subjection by training it to agree with God’s word.

Don’t Let the devil talk you out of your promise. To trust God, we use our heart not your mind.

Stay blessed and keep the faith!

Moses Kangave.

To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (NIV)

Notice how this verse is set up. In the first portion of the verse, it is written that when you please God, He gives you wisdom, knowledge and happiness (Not money). This should let us know that wisdom, knowledge and happiness are of more value than money.

Another way you may put it is, God is not going to give a “sad fool” wealth.

It’s amazing how christians who have no idea on how to handle or manage money, or even a vision of what they would use the money for, will believe God to give them the wealth of sinners. Some people will confess scriptures just because it sounds good but have no clue on what their responsibility is. When they fail to see the fruit of their confession, they start to blame God or say things like “that confession stuff doesn’t work.”

Looking at this verse, the last part says, 

“…but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God…”

Again notice that the wealth of the sinner is handed over to “…the one who please God…”

But we saw that the first thing that God gives to the one who pleases him is, wisdom, knowledge and happiness. Why is this important? Because when God gives you wealth, its for a purpose. He wants to make sure you know the purpose and are excited/happy/cheerful about the purpose. Look at these two verses:

But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is he that gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.Deut. 8:18

“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” 2 Corinthians 9:7.

Deut. 8:18 talks about the purpose of the wealth and 2 cor. 9:7 talks about the attitude the person with the wealth should have. This then means that, it is important to God that he first gives you wisdom, knowledge and happiness before he transfers the wealth of the sinner to you because this is when it will be used rightly.

Do you think this is one of the reasons the wealth transfer has not yet made it into your hands? 

I encourage you to take time to meditate on this verse and see what the Holy Spirit will reveal to you.

I hope this blesses you as much as it is blessing me. I’m still meditating on it so that I can do it. The word says that we should meditate on the word so that we can do it, then we will make our way prosperous (Joshua 1:8)

Stay blessed and keep the faith!

Moses Kangave

I will begin with what I have eliminated (or I’m eliminating) from my diet:

As I mentioned in change your diet, although I still eat “junk food” once in a while, I really have almost cut it out of my diet (compared to how much of it I used to eat). For example, I only have pizza like once in months, I may eat a burger from one of the chain stores like once a year (I used to eat about three in a week).

I used to drink a lot of soda too. You know how you super-size it with the fast food meals? I had to let that go too. Once in a while (like twice a year), you might find me  taking down a few sips of sprite or pepsi.

I have shifted from eating white rice to brown rice. This was hard for me in the beginning because brown rice tasted awful to me, but believe it or not, white rice now doesn’t taste good to me because I’m used to eating brown rice.

I’m still struggling with sugar because I love drinking hot beverages like coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, etc. What I have done though, is substitute the white bleached sugar for brown natural sugar. I can not stand the alternatives like stevia that are recommended, for now. Notice that I said “for now”. This is because all the changes I’ve made are changes I thought I would never make. If you really want to do something, YOU CAN. The only reason we fail to make changes is because we don’t want to. (At Least I’m taking responsibility for my excuses). I have also reduced the amount of sugar I used to put in my beverages by half (or more).

I have reduced the frequency of eating meat. I used to eat a lot of beef and pork (almost everyday). Infact, if I did not have some kind of meat with a meal, it did not count as a whole meal.

Foods I added to my diet:

I’m not good at drinking water but I’m trying as hard as I can because I know how important this is. Its also the reason I have made it no. 1 in the foods you need to add to your diet. I tend to drink hot stuff to quench my thirst.

I never thought I would be telling anyone to eat oatmeal. My mother tried to encourage me to eat oatmeal as a child and I just did not like it. Because of the benefits I read about eating oatmeal, I decided to start trying it. I started by mixing it with cereal that I like so that it could taste better. Now, I enjoy it without having to add anything but milk and a little sugar.

Remember I told you that I love drinking hot beverages?

Well, I drink them with milk. I started changing my milk from whole milk to 2% ,then 1%, then fat free and made the big step from diary to soy milk. Recently, I heard a doctor (I think it was on Benny Hinn’s programs) say that it has been proven that soy milk is bad for men because it has hormones that are meant to be for women. I’m not sure if I heard him right because I was busy and didn’t watch the program. I’m praying this is not true because it was a big step for me to shift from diary milk to soy milk. It was an accomplishment I don’t want to lose. I will make some more study on soy milk and let you know what I find. If any of you has any knowledge about this, email me at moses@christiam-motivation.com and fill me in.

Vegetables are another addition to my diet. I used to think I was eating a balanced diet since I had a leaf of  lettuce, onions, picos and tomatoes (which i referred to as a serving of vegetables) on my hamburger from the fast food joints. Well, that has changed. I now cook my own at home. For vegetables, I love eating green beans, spinach, lettuce, carrots, celery, avocado and cabbage.

I have substituted beef and pork (not completely) to chicken, turkey and fish. When it comes to meats though, I really think most of the problems we face now with meats are to do with how they are produced. Mass production of our food is the greatest problem we face. Even in the endeavour we are making to eat right, we still have somethings working against us. So, if you can afford to buy natural meats, and by that I mean meats that are not mass produced. I don’t mean just believing what the packaging tell you, then go for it. Instead, you may want to go more towards eating things like beans.

Fruits and nuts like almonds, are another addition to my diet. Nuts make a good snack for me as I drink my hot beverages and also help in hunger control.

Oh, I almost forgot. I also changed from eating white bread to 100% whole wheat and whole grain bread and have been substituting regular butter for 100% natural peanut butter whenever possible.

Ever since I decided to make changes to my life style through watching what I eat and exercising, not only have I seen  results, but have got alot of compliments from those who know me, especially those who had not seen me in a long time.

We all have one life to live here on this earth until our Lord comes back for us. We have a choice to live it as we want but let us make wise choices.

Stay blessed and keep the faith!

Moses Kangave

God has given me a priviledge in helping to raise a teenager. First of all, I give this young man credit. If you were to compare him with other teenagers, he is exceptional and I don’t think they get any better than this. He is really a great boy. But, as all teenagers, he just thinks he is the wisest creation that has ever made it to planet earth. Taking advise just doesn’t seem to be his thing because “he knows it all!”

The blessing I get from him though, is that my relationship with him has helped me see things in my relationship with God that I probably would never have seen. One of those is the ability to learn from other people’s life experiences. Just like I try to give this young man some advise based on some of the life experiences I have had, God has given me some examples I can learn from. There is really no reason why we should go through the “school of hard knocks” if we don’t have to.

If there was a better way and a shorter path to reach your goals faster, wouldn’t you want to use that way and path? Well, thank God there is.

In 1 cor. 10:11, the bible tells us that, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” In his wisdom, God gave us a variety of examples we can learn from. You can also look at Romans 15:4 and 2 Timothy 3:16

There are 2 ways we can learn from people’s lives.

1. Examples – learn what is good – what we should do

2. Warnings – Learn what is bad – what we should not do.

As we read the bible, we can know what made some people successful and why others failed. As we read these examples and apply them in our lives, not only does it help us avoid pitfalls, but also helps us achieve success faster than we would have done without these people’s life lessons. John Salisbury said, “We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours.”

The other way you can learn from other people’s life experiences is through reading biographies and finding a mentor.

When we learn to use other people’s experiences to our advantage, we can achieve our goals and get to our destinations faster.

I encourage you to develop the habit of learning from other people’s experiences.

You can find some of the resources I found to help you in this by going to the resources page.

Stay blessed and keep the faith!

Moses Kangave

Most of us may be living lives we feel we did not sign up for. So who do we blame? Can we say that someone else is responsible for the way our lives turned out? Can we blame the man or woman that divorced us, the boss that fired us, the friend that betrayed us…? May be we should all blame Adam, who blamed Eve, who blamed the serpent. You see where it goes….

At least looking at history, we know that this blame game doesn’t work. So who then is responsible for how our lives turn out?

We are!

Our lives are a product of  the various choices and decisions we have made over the years. Every time you look at any area of your life that you don’t want, you must realise that you have been making the wrong decisions in that area. Until you come to this understanding and are ready to take responsibility in changing your choices and decisions, you will never have the life you desire.

What makes the human species different from all other living creatures is the ability to make choices. Animals use instinct. Although humans have instinct (I hear it’s mostly in women), they also have the ability to make choices. It is one of the greatest ability and gift that God gave us. It is so important that even God himself, our creator, respects and honors it. He will never make choices for us and will always respect our choices. This does not mean he agrees with every choice we make but, he has fully given us this ability and it is ours to use as we like.

Every one of us must realize though that the choices and decisions we make are really divided into two categories.

LIFE and DEATH (Deut. 30:19).

Everything  falls under these two categories. Things like God, blessings, success, good, wealth, health, happiness, peace, etc fall under LIFE, just as satan, bad, failure, sickness, poverty, turmoil, etc fall under DEATH. 
 
It’s important to know that the decisions you make, come from the choices you make, which come from the information available to you. I hope I’m not confusing you. Let me try to explain what I’m saying by first giving you the definitions of choice and decision.

According to The Oxford Essential Dictionary,

Choice can be defined as, 1. Range from which to choose.    2. Power or opportunity to choose.

Decision can be defined as, conclusion or resolution reached after considering.

So, with the two words defined, let me try to explain how choices and decisions are made.

As we go through  life, knowingly or unknowingly, we pick up information (or revelation) from different sources. We then turn around and make choices and decisions. This can be consciously or unconsciously. Just because you make a decision unconsciously doesn’t mean you are not responsible for that particular decision. By the way, if you remember, we said, that the decisions and choices you make are either ministering LIFE or DEATH.

So, what would be the best way to make the choices that bring LIFE (success, health, wealth, peace,  joy, etc)?

Controlling the information you take in. You have the power to control the information you consume.

Did you know that  the movies you watch, commercials on tv, bill boards, the books you read, the people  you associate with, the church you go to, etc are all sources from which you get your information that influences the choices and decisions you make?

As children of God, the best source of information can be derived from the Bible. Psalms 1 refers to a person that meditates on the Word as a blessed man (woman), one that brings forth fruit in his/her season and one that prospers in all that he/she does.

I encourage you to develop a HABIT of spending time in the word if you want to make choices and decisions that tend to LIFE.

Remember that you are what you are and you are where you are in life because of the decisions you make.

Stay blessed and keep the faith!

Moses Kangave

If you’re really serious about losing weight, it is inevitable that you watch the kind of foods you eat.  This does not mean that you have to eat nothing but vegetables as some have told us, but that you learn to pass up on most of those foods we enjoy picking up at the windows without leaving the comfort of our cars. You know the ones I’m talking about? Those we even buy our children just because they come with toys?

These foods may be good tasting but are not healthy for you because they are usually high in fat and sugar.  They end up giving you lots of useless calories and weight that is had to take off. If you want to lose weight, you should consider giving a break to fast foods, cookies, candy and other sweets, canned foods and products marked low fat or diet.

Giving up these foods may seem to be a challenge at first but if you keep your eyes on the desired results, you will win the battle. I’m talking out of experience. For a long time I never gave thought to what I ate and it showed through my body. When I chose to watch what I was eating, I found it a little had to give up some foods. I did not give them up all at once, but slowly took them out of my diet and I’m still working on it.

It’s also important that I mention that once in a while, I will treat myself to a fast food or “junk food” that I like. This helps to let my brain know that I have the power (self control). You see people tend to do things they know they shouldn’t be doing. It’s the sin nature we all have. That is why Paul said that he was struggling with doing the things he did not want to do and not doing the things he wanted to do. So when you know you can do it but are just exercising self-control, it makes you feel good about yourself.

I remember one time while checking out at one of the grocery store, a clerk made an observation that I must be someone who eats healthy because all the foods I had bought were healthy choices. I felt so proud of myself because that was a change for me. I had never really paid attention to what I ate and had always just bought the “good tasting” stuff only. But now, even people who didn’t know me could tell the change.

One of the ways that can help you in changing your eating habits is making home made meals rather than buying already cooked food. This also gives you control over what you put in your food and helps you also get better at cooking.

If you want to lose some weight, start paying attention to what you eat. Chances are, you know which foods you must be taking out of your diet but you are just always coming up with excuses like, I don’t have the time to cook, I love Pizza, It’s my genes, I just can’t lose weight, etc

If you stop making excuses and start changing your diet slowly not abruptly, you will look back a year from now and realize that even your taste buds have changed.

I will let you know which foods you can add to your diet in the next post I write on diet, so check back soon.

But for now,

Stay blessed and keep the faith!

Moses Kangave

1. Wisdom or Money? __________
2. Time or Money?      __________

I ask the question just to help you see the kind of choices we make in life. Like in the post I wrote about how to design your life, how we think determines the kind of results we get out of life.

Many people struggle with their finances because they tend to look at money than looking at resources like wisdom and time that are more important than money. If you are an employee, do you know why your employer pays you? Your employer basically pays you for two things.

1. What he/she thinks you are worth
2. For your time.

So here is the question you can ask yourself. “Can I increase my worth?” Yes you can. “Can I increase my time?” Yes and no. Yes you can increase the number of hours you work but no you can’t increase the number of hours in a day.

If you can’t increase the number of hours in a day, why is it that some people work fewer hours but are able to earn much more than others who work lots of hours? It’s because of their Value/worth.

So the question you should be asking yourself is,

How do I increase my value/worth?

How do I make my time more valuable?

In Proverbs, we are encouraged to search for wisdom as we would for silver and hidden treasures. According to the bible, wisdom is the principle thing and is better than gold and silver. So why do we seek after money rather than seeking after wisdom? Because the world has told us so.

As children of God, Its time we start going back to the word of God and act on what it tells us. The bible tells us to search for wisdom not money. There is no reason why we should give our time to employers instead of being with the brethren in church on Sundays just because we are going to be paid $16/hr to do a job we even don’t like. I’m not saying this to condemn any one. Its just because the more I study the word of God, the more I realize that we are destined for greater things as the body of Christ and are not living them. I’m writing this as a way to inspire and encourage you to start working on being who God has made you to be.

Wisdom is applied knowledge. To increase your wisdom, you start by increasing your knowledge and knowing how to apply the knowledge you find. Instead of using your time to work a second job that might not make a big difference in your finances, use that time as an investment in making yourself knowledgeable and asking God for revelation on how to be all He has created you to be. Instead of watching TV, educate yourself on who you are in Christ. The word tells us to meditate in the word day and night if we are to be prosperous. Don’t spend your time. Invest it.

I encourage you to start increasing your worth by searching after wisdom. When you increase your worth, money will come after you and your time will be worth more.

More money will mean more time for you to do the things God has called you to do and the things you enjoy doing!

More money means you can be a blessing to someone else!

More money means more influence!

Stay blessed and keep the faith!

Moses Kangave