True Greatness

God made you great — incredibly great, far greater than you yet comprehend. I’m not saying this to pander to your self-esteem. I’m stating a fact — a fact that you, unless you’re the rare exception, vastly underappreciate because you’re so conditioned to value the wrong kind of greatness.

The greatness we’re conditioned to value is hardly great at all. In fact, much of it is smoke and mirrors. And when there is a trace of greatness, it is pathetically small.

Jesus came to deliver us from the blinding and impoverishing power of counterfeit or tiny greatness, and to restore to us both our true God-like greatness and our expansive capacities to enjoy it with God-like, gargantuan humility.

Towering Greatness

You barely have a clue what an absolutely astounding creature you are. That thing inside your skull allowing you to read and contemplate what I’m saying is the most complex, mysterious thing in the known material universe. Your brain, as defective as it might be, is simply breathtaking — more amazing than any star or galaxy.

Your capacities to reason abstractly; solve complex problems through deduction, induction, and invention; organize disorder; plan for the future; understand verbal, written, gestured, and tactile languages; appreciate the subtleties of irony; find discontinuity humorous; and enjoy the manifold beauties of harmony and dissonance, symmetry and asymmetry, color and pattern combinations are nothing short of marvelous genius.

Your capacities for visual, auditory, olfactory, somatosensory (touch, feel, pressure, warmth), and emotional memory are so wonderful we lack adequate superlatives.

And your emotional capacities to love and hate, to worship and despise, to cherish and grieve, to create and destroy, and for joy and sorrow are so far beyond any other known material species that to say, as a human, you are in a league of your own is an astronomical understatement.

You are truly God-like. You, just as you are, possess a greatness so rare and astonishing that could you see yourself for what you really are, most of your chronic battles with inadequacy would disappear.

Tiny Greatness

And yet it’s likely this description of your greatness, of which I’ve barely scratched the surface, does not impress you much. Why? Because you and I have been deceived about what greatness is. We’ve become conditioned to admire tiny greatness.

Tiny greatness is relative greatness — greatness defined and measured by comparison with other people. It’s not enough to possess God-given greatness; we must be greater than other great people or it doesn’t really matter.

Our sin nature is pathologically selfish and replaces God with the self as the standard of greatness measure. It calculates the value of everyone and everything else in relation to the self — how we rank in comparison and how they increase or decrease our perceived relative standing.

This is tiny greatness at best, and counterfeit greatness at worst, because it despises the immense, inherent, God-given worth of people and things and instead bases its evaluation on the minuscule differential range of talent and circumstance that result in public admiration, what we call "fame."

When we're enthralled with tiny greatness, we value or devalue ourselves (derive our self-esteem) based on where we think we rank in our preferred or accessible social context, and value or devalue others based on how they enhance or detract from our perceived rank, our relative greatness.

The great, tragic irony of a selfish preoccupation with tiny greatness is that truly great things appear small to us, priceless things appear worthless, magnificent things appear boring, and God appears of marginal importance.

A Portrait of Tiny Greatness

The Bible gives us a portrait of the blinding and impoverishing power of tiny greatness in Acts 8.

Simon was a local celebrity in his Samaritan town. A magician of sorts, he had mesmerized the locals with his arts, and they had given him a title: The Great Power of God (Acts 8:10). Simon loved his great reputation and fed off the public’s admiration.

Then one day Philip showed up in town. He preached the gospel and the Holy Spirit came with power, granting Philip signs and wonders beyond anything Simon had performed. Large numbers of Samaritans professed faith in Christ and were baptized, including Simon.

Soon Peter and John arrived and joined in to help with this revival. Simon watched in awe as the apostles prayed and Samaritans were filled with the Holy Spirit. The crowds got bigger. Everyone was talking about the great power of God.

But they weren’t talking about Simon anymore. His star had been eclipsed. And like many who have experienced the euphoric drug of other people’s admiration, Simon wanted that rush again.

So, at a discreet moment, he offered Peter and John a small fortune if they would deal him a fix of the tiny-greatness drug of the Holy Spirit. Peter, who knew from personal experience the great danger of worshiping the idol of tiny greatness (Luke 9:46–48; 22:24–27), mercifully spared Simon no words:

“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” (Acts 8:20–23)

Source

CAN YOU MARRY YOU?

Writing this message from the depth of my heart, trusting the Holy Spirit to chisel us and polish us into the full stature of Christ.

I can never forget the day the Holy Spirit asked me that question. It was after my graduation from the University. I was single. I mean not even in any relationship at the time.

I daily bombarded the heavens with my cry for marital settlement.

One day, I heard in my spirit *Esther can you marry you?*
I have never heard nor read anything like that before.

*Can you marry you?*

I just laughed at my thoughts.

After reflecting for a short while I got the understanding.

In simpler form, it means *If you are a man, Can you marry a typical woman like yourself? Are you marriageable?
Wow! That took me a lot of time to reflect on.

I got the message the Holy Spirit was trying to communicate to me.

With great joy, I listed out all the wonderful things about my personality and character.
At the end I smiled, feeling very beautiful.

*Look beyond your good sides* I was prompted.

My mood changed immediately.
Most of us hate to give our dark side some attention.

I noted my bad attitudes...
I do yell at my siblings when I am angry, which I don't do to annoying-outsiders,
I can be full of my ways sometimes,
I am stubborn. I will do what I choose to do when I feel like it.

This is the part of me I never took to heart until that day.

"Imagine you get married to someone who yell at you when he's angry, he doesn't listen to your advice and very stubborn husband; how would your marriage turn out"

"It won't work" I admitted.

That was how I started learning not to yell at people who infuriates me. I just take a walk away or pray for self-control under my breath. Sometimes I cried instead of shouting at someone who yell at me especially elderly people.

While preparing for my Youth service, my mentor Pastor Muyiwa Olufemi had a conversation with me. After celebrating all my good qualities, he said;
"...You are a strong willed person. This trait is a strength and could be a weakness. I advise you to work on it. This trait is not totally bad if only you don't allow the negative side of it take you over..."

It hurt me deeply.

But I wasn't surprised.

Being a strong-willed person helped me overcome peer-pressure while growing up. It helped me to stand through thorns without compromising my values. It helped me fit into the position my father"s demise left for me to assume.

Being the first born, my mom treats me like her little sister and partner. She groomed me to lead, tutor and be a disciplinarian for my siblings. Being a strong-willed person was a strength to me. I could exert my authority.
I am a very determined and focused woman. Distractions don't appeal to me.

The bad sad of this strength is what I call *unbending* *unyielding*

I kept praying that the Lord should break me and mould me.

Looking back now, I can remember all the stubborn set of people God threw my way to *bend* me.

I dislike them. I refused to bend to the stubbornness in them. I acted like I am up to the task till someone bows eventually.

When they prove stubborn with me, I shut down without giving in.

I didn't understand the workings of the Holy Spirit in me on time until later.

During my youth Service, the Lord made me go through some unpalatable circumstances. I was cheated, humiliated, yet the Holy Spirit told me to either *endure by keeping quiet or make peace even when I am not at fault*

That was hard!

Thank God for that season of moulding.

Fast forward to few Months into my courtship, I and my husband had a misunderstanding on the phone. I was angry and yelled at him on the phone telling him not to call my phone.

He called me the next day, I ignored.
The second day, I refused to pick.
The third day, I was expecting his calls but he stopped calling.

I got troubled in my heart. Chai!
I have overstepped my boundary.
I have over-reacted.
The right thing would have been for me to call him but I couldn't.
I was ashamed of myself. How could I overreact like that! I thought I am MADE!
I kept checking my phone at short intervals hoping he would call.
I got tired. Yet I didn't want to be the one calling him to make peace.
I thought this stubbornness is done with. I reasoned and turned sober.
In the evening he called me and we settled.
I was so happy yet I felt very bad and angry with myself. What exactly is that *thing* in me that makes me unyielding?
My husband was more of disappointed in me than annoyed.
"Unbending and unyielding is a sign of UNBROKENNESS" He said
It was the first and the last during our courtship.

EveryOne Needs Somebody

Everyone needs Somebody

Man (male and female inclusive) was created to be a social being. That is, he has the ability to be interactive with his environment and the people in it. It was the resultant effect of Adam’s loneliness and need for a companion that brought about the need for a companion and the social behavior of man.

No man in life has ever achieved anything independently without the need or input of other people no matter the knowledge of that person. No general can single-handedly go to war without the support of other soldiers. There can’t be a government without the people and so on. So the existence of one person is needful for the companionship of the other person.

 No matter how successful a person thinks that he or she has attained in life and needs no one’s contribution, such a one is heading for doom’s day. Success without a successor as it is been said amounts to total failure,  therefore everyone needs somebody.

Don’t get mad at people when they tell you they feel so lonely and depressed, not really their fault because it’s just an expression of that social being in them seeking for attention, seeking for a companion to fill the gap that has engulfed such a one.

Life has lots of pains and frustration, filled with failures and disappointments and most times requires the companionship of a fellow to help one get out of frustration.

It’s in an effort for a man to socialize and deal with loneliness that brought about the invention of social media. A platform where people can interact with each other, get to meet new people, let go unprofitable companionship and look for people who can really fill that loneliness in them. If you get to ask some people what their hobbies are, you get to see kinds of stuff like meeting new friends, traveling, chatting and a whole lot more. In a way, it could be seen as hubbies but in its real sense it’s sense, it’s just an expression of the social need of man and the ways to fill that vacuum.

Therefore, we can strongly agree that each one of us needs a person who can listen, give attention and really wants to know at each point in time how we are feeling. No man is an island

People complain that attention is not given to them or that they are been neglected

At some point in time, we are on the verge of giving up on life, don’t give up my friend, a companion is all you need to sparkle up the greatness in you.

It may look as though, life and everyone is against you. It could be at times frustrating that there is no one to speak to his or her hearing. At times, you are so desperate to speak to someone about your problems, you just needed the heart to hear you out of your pains and probably tell you

Everyone needs a shoulder to lean on.
Everyone needs a heart that could comprehend his or her torments.
Everyone needs a listening ear that can hear him or her out of their life’s issues.
Try as much as possible to be that individual whom, if individuals share their torments with you, they get calmed and find reasons to be alive!
Be that shoulder that individuals can incline toward and discover trust.
Be that listening ear that is prepared to listen to individuals of their disappointments.
Be that heart that can be effortlessly broken at the plight of individuals. 

Learn to be concerned about others and not been so concerned about yourself alone

Poverty Is Not Just About Money

poverty is not just about cash. Oxford University in Britain says destitution additionally implies not having enough sustenance, training, social insurance and haven.

Recently, Oxford University discharged its most recent measure of destitution. It is known as the Multidimensional Poverty Index, or MPI. Scientists assembled data from 108 nations, where 78 percent of the total populace lives. Oxford says in regards to 1.6 billion of those individuals are what it calls "multi-dimensionally poor." It says most live in country ranges.

Sabina Alkire is the leader of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. She portrays multidimensional destitution.

"I mean a man who has distinctive things turning out badly in the meantime. They won't not have numerous advantages and they may have hunger. What's more, they won't not have over five years of tutoring. In this way, a few things are turning out badly in their life in the meantime. That is being multi-dimensionally poor. It's not only one."

The MPI found that in almost 50 creating nations, half of the needy individuals ought to be called "down and out" - as it were, having an outrageous absence of fundamental expectations for everyday comforts.