Your Greatest Treasure!

 Treasures are beautiful findings, discoveries and precious items that bring us great joy and add great value to our lives.

Whether its a human being  we value so much that we take as a treasure, an expensive new car we've bought, a property we just purchased or built, a dream that came to pass, or a scientific or technological discovery, a treasure is valuable, beneficial and enhancing to the person who owns or found it.

An individual who discovers a great treasure has come into great wealth or a financial windfall.

A treasure is a valuable item or wealth, it is a store or collection of precious metals, gems, money, or artifacts such as buried gold or ancient relics.

From childhood we visualize, imagine, and even role play going on treasure hunts when we are at fields, parks, or at school with our peers.

There are many children's programs and movies about treasures, that involve going on great adventures or going off to distant lands in search of treasures.

We see content about pirates and treasures.

As we grow older we use our imagination less, visualize less, and think less about treasures.

We are told to be realistic by guardians, parents and the society when we use our imagination and verbalize our creative mental stories.

Our societies program us to leave behind childish thoughts such as day dreams of finding treasures, we are expected to grow up, learn a skill, get an education, get a job and work for someone or an organization and pay our bills.

In doing so, many people have lost themselves, they've lost their ability to dream, imagine and visualize. They're now limited by themselves to a world of routine, just to fit in and because society expects that of them.

It is interesting Jesus Christ said we must be like little children.

He expects us to be like little children in our innocence, we should be innocent when it comes to doing evil.

"Be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves"

He wants us being like little children in terms of our belief and having faith.

Small children believe everything you tell them, they don't doubt, they haven't been programmed by the world or what we call reality, so they don't doubt yet.

In the same manner, the Lord wants us believing anything He tells us no matter how impossible it may seem.

"Do not fear, only believe"

Another remarkable quality of little children is their creative ability to imagine!

In the 'world' of children all things are possible, including find treasures in their back garden, finding a genie's lamp one day, and becoming rich somehow without working hard, having a plan, scheming  or a strategy.

The Lord wants us being like that in a sense.

He doesn't want us growing up to the point where we lose our ability to believe that miracles happen, and wonderful things can happen to us, even in our adult life of daily routines, goals and targets.

Miracles still happen, wonders still manifest and positive life changing events still take place especially with the Lord on our side.

" For with men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible"

Jesus Christ had a very vibrant teaching ministry when He was here on earth.

He had a very creative mind, a deep mind, a mind that pays attention to detail, He had a great imagination and it reflects in the parables He told.

He was wise, full of faith, mature, and had the innocence and purity of a child at the same time!

And He spoke about treasures!

Jesus spoke about treasures in about thirteen references in the gospels.

He also spoke about the kingdom of God an equal amount of times.

The link between treasures and the kingdom of God is clear.

Jesus is letting us know the kingdom of God is the greatest treasure offered to humanity.

He made it clear our treasures were better off stored in the kingdom of God, that our hearts should be inclined to the kingdom of God and our riches are safe there as no moth can get there to destroy our treasure and no thief can break in there and steal our treasures!

The kingdom of God is the treasure that will keep enriching us throughout eternity!

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

In Christ Jesus, that treasure is now in you.

"....nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

The greatest treasure is within you if Jesus is in you, for wherever Jesus is; His kingdom is.

Now, be like a child, start imagining the kingdom, visualizing the kingdom, and thinking about the kingdom of God.

 It is treasure within you!

In the spirit of Black History Month

We are still in the season of black history being celebrated.

In the U.K, Ireland and the Netherlands black history Month is celebrated this Month,  the Month of October.

It is celebrated in different Months at different parts of the world, in America and Canada it is celebrated in the Month of February.

Some other countries celebrate it in July, August, and November.

It is a celebration worth having, for in every sector of life blacks have contributed to the development of humanity- sports, entertainment, business, innovation, technology, healthcare, charity, spirituality, and all forms of entrepreneurship.

The civilization many developed countries enjoy today has the labor and input of the black community.

You can be black and proud!

You can be black and appreciative of who you are, you are from a blessed and vibrant continent which all black people hail from.

Africa is a continent rich in natural resources, agriculture and fertile grounds.

Africa has the blessing of nature.

Africa has fascinating tourist attractions, good weather and and a variety of food.

Blessed with a rich landscape, including a spiritual, cultural and traditional heritage.

 There is a lot in the history, myths and legends of the black race.

Africa has its role in the story of Jesus Christ and his heritage and history.

Perhaps you didn't know.

Jesus was helped with the carrying of the cross by an African, a man called Simon of Cyrene. He helped Jesus carry his cross to Golgotha.

Cyrene is modern day Libya.

 Jesus stayed in Egypt when he was a baby till he grew into a young boy, and David the king; who is one of the earthly fathers of Jesus Christ has black blood in him too!

Rahab who married an Israelite  was a Canaanite woman who had African/Canaanite connections. She was saved by the Israelites for showing them mercy by hiding them from Canaanite solders sent by the authorities when they came to spy the promised land.

Through the Israelites, God showed mercy to her and she was speared from death despite her previous lifestyle.

Many inspirational political figures like Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Obafemi Awolowo of Nigeria, Ahmed Sékou Touré of Guinea Conakry, Thomas Sankara of Burkina faso have made an impact on the continent and their legend lives on.

Blacks have played roles in space travel, computing, medicine, and human development.

Africa is believed to be the cradle of civilization, the continent civilization started from.

We see the role Africa has played in embalming, architecture, art, spirituality, education and social and community development.

The contributions of the black community remains impressive in every society till today.

God loves blacks as much as He loves every other race.

Be black and proud!

We have a place at the table of the Lord too.

Indeed, people from every race, tribe, nationality and tongue will gather at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Your Golden Path

Through divine direction, and divine guidance we walk on our golden path.

There are golden paths to the place of destiny your Creator will have you access.

The Lord has a beautiful golden path for you, uniquely for your life.

From the standpoint of heaven it is beautiful and it is golden!

That's why the scriptures tell us the feet of those who bear good tidings (the righteous/the faithful) are beautiful.

We are also informed that the streets of heaven are made of gold.

These streets are prepared for the faithful to walk on.

"The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass." 

Revelation 21 vs 21

The golden streets in heaven are symbolic of your golden walk on earth too.

Gold is a beautiful color and metal.

Gold as a substance is associated with royalty, dignity, establishment, wealth, heaven, quality and rank.

Gold the substance, shines.

It has a bright yellow-like glow about it.

That is the part of the beauty of gold.

Gold is both the color and substance used to describe the streets of heaven prepared for the faithful, for the believer to walk on.

Streets refers to paths and highways.

The Creator knows the golden paths and highways, He prepared them.

These paths and highways are not only in heaven, in the vastness of eternity; there is a golden path for you here on earth!

"For the path of the righteous is as a shinning light that shines brighter and brighter until the perfect day."

So the righteous have a bright path, a glowing path and the glow and brightness of that path keeps increasing!

The color of the path of the righteous is golden.

You need feet to walk on streets.

You need feet to move on the highways and the paths.

We are led in peace in line with the word of God, we are directed and guided unto our golden path which leads us into destiny and into God!

"and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;"

The path to our golden streets, the path to a right eternity, an eternity with God, the path to God's inheritance, purpose, will and assignment is one of peace.

The Lord leads us forth in peace.

He directs and guides us in peace.

"He leads us beside the still waters"

Still waters refers to peace.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path"

God's word has the golden glow.

This golden glow is the yellowish light that emanates from kerosine lamps, the ancient lamps used in Biblical times.

These kind of hand lamps were the kind of lamps described in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins told by Jesus Christ.

There were no fluorescent light lamps back in those days.

So, when the scriptures inform us that the word of God is lamp to our feet and a light to our path, it is telling us that the golden glow does not only shine on our feet but it lights up our path too.

There is a lit golden path that has been lighted with the golden glow just for you.

The golden glow of the word which is represented as a lamp brightens and beautifies our feet and our path!

We have beautiful feet and a beautiful path, shiny feet and a shiny path, golden feet (foundations in Christ) and golden paths to walk on.

Our streets of gold has started here on earth.

When we walk with the Lord and according to His light which is the word, we are walking on streets of gold.

We are walking in the light, the light of the Lord, we walk with a glow, with a golden heavenly glow, even a golden glow from here on into eternity!

 "Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance."

Psalm 89 vs 15

Spiritual Metamorphosis

 Nature speaks to us.

Through nature we learn about life, understand creation, increase our knowledge,  and shape our understanding of our planet.

There are lessons in nature, life and health benefits in nature, and spiritual parallels in nature.

In his teachings and parables, Jesus Christ used quite a number of agricultural and nature references- farming, sowing and reaping, plants and trees, birds, grass, looking at the skies to determine the times and weather, and natural disasters, 

He used things of nature to communicate wisdom and spiritual truth.

Transformation is a common spiritual theme, to be transformed is not something strange to the spiritually mature and spiritual minded.

Transformation refers to a total change, its about a conversion from one shape or form to something totally different, it refers to a drastic change from one state to another.

Newness is also a common word and theme in the scriptures for our Lord is the one who makes all things new.

Transformation makes things new.

God transforms the old into the new.

He changes our nature.

Our old nature is is put under while we put on a new man or nature in Christ Jesus!

The kind of transformation the good Book talks about for individuals in the faith is one of "from glory to glory"

It means it is in phases, and each stage or phase is an advancement in glory.

The 'finished' work or outcome will be totally glorious!

The creature in nature whose life phases is appropriate as an example is the life stages of a butterfly.

The butterfly has four life stages it goes through to transform into a butterfly.

The butterfly is the adult or grown stage.

Its metamorphosis starts as an egg , which develops into a larva or caterpillar,  the larva evolves into a pupa, and out of the pupa comes a glorious butterfly.

There is a type of transformation that comes only from the Lord. 

It's a type of change that's total, and makes new.
It's not a transformation man can put together for men do not have the power to make new.
The Lord is the One who makes new, and has the power to make ALL things new!

The caterpillar is an insect associated with transformation. 

It goes through an internal change at it's pupa or cocoon stage. 

Within it's cocoon it's cells rebuild the tissue of the caterpillar into an adult insect.
In it's adult form it emerges from it's cocoon a totally different looking creature with new beauty and ability to what it was before it went into it's cocoon.

What was once a caterpillar has now evolved into a creature with wings, no longer is it a creeping creature but its now a flying figure!
What a transformation!
May God give you 'wings'!

The caterpillar stage of a butterfly was not its finished version. 

The butterfly crawled for a while as a caterpillar.
You would be mistaken to despise a caterpillar if you thought that's all there is to the caterpillar.
Don't let anyone despise you because of your youth.
Don't allow anyone look down on you because of the stage of life you are in.
Don't let anyone undermine you during your transformative stage.

Your critics, enemies and detractors don't have any foresight.
They can't see what you're evolving into.
They are focused on where they think you are or what they knew of you without seeing where you're going and what you are becoming.
You are on a journey of transformation , it does not yet appear what you will be.

You are emerging into a totally new creature, a new creation!
You are wrapped in the cocoon of Jesus's blood which infused new life, a different kind of life, even eternal life into you. Like the caterpillar who developed wings, you are being given wings. You are rising with the wings of the Spirit.
You are emerging a new creature, a new creation, full of beauty and possibilities!
You emerge in your adult version a different being to who you used to be & who you were known as.

The blood of Jesus Christ is the Cocoon of the believer where transformation takes place in us and upon us, it is what and where we are infused with eternal life.

Eternal life is what gives us the beauty, the possibilities and the abilities of the Lord.

The blood of Jesus is so important to our spiritual metamorphosis.

As spiritual adults we are as He is spiritually, evolving and growing into His image and likeness.

The Manifestation Of A Dream

 There is nothing more exciting than getting what you want after 'fighting', waiting, persevering, and working hard for what you want.

It a wonderful thing when a dream comes to pass, when a hope is fulfilled, and when a vision becomes a tangible experience, tangible product or tangible reality.

God given dreams can become reality, they are meant to manifest.

There are stages to the fulfilment of every dream, there are challenges to the manifestation of every genuine dream, and there are things every dream carrier must know to see their dreams come to pass.

In my book The Dreamers Journey To The Dream I touched on these matters, published through FeedARead.com you can get yourself a copy if you can. It will be worth your read.

Every dream comes about by an inspiration.

The inspiration becomes a thought, the thought becomes a more coherent mental picture, it's at this stage we see possibilities and develop strong convictions about what has now become a vision for us.

This conviction becomes a passionate desire which drives us to take action towards its manifestation.

Some have lost their God given chance because they did nothing about the dream God put in their heart which started as a thought seed.

Some thoughts and ideas are not ordinary, don't despise what you've been given.

Work on that idea, do something about that inspired thought.

Write it down, document it, pray about it, explore how you can fulfill it.

Ask the Lord for the grace to manifest your dreams, there is a grace and place for dream manifestation.

Write that business plan.

Put that thought to paper!

It is the first step to taking your dream from the intangible ethereal realm to the physical material realm.

Take a pen and put your plans, dreams and goals to paper, when you do so you have succeeded in making them more than a mere thought or idea.

On the road to the manifestation of your dream(s) protect yourself from dream killers.

Dream killers are not only enemies, they may be sincere friends, relatives and acquaintances who don't see how the dream will come to pass.

Such people have no help, support or encouragement to give you for the fulfillment of your dream, not to mention aiding you with their resources.

You have to be sensible and discerning regarding the dream in your heart, not everyone needs to know about it or hear it.

Work out who you choose to share your dream or vision with, preferably share it with people who will cheer you on and encourage its fulfillment.

Not everyone has a right to hear your dream or speak into your life, not everyone's opinion matters to where you're going.

Your dream should be guarded and protected while you're still trying to bring it to manifestation.

Mentors- people or a person guiding you towards its fulfilment are qualified to know your dream.

A mentor is someone who is where you want to be. he's someone who has achieved what you would like to achieve or something similar and knows the way there.

Not everyone is positive minded.

A lot of people are more negative minded than positive, so you owe it to yourself and whatever benefit your dream will be to your family and humanity not to share it with dream killers.

Share your dream, plans and goals with secure people, people who are secure in themselves; not insecure people who will feel threatened by your dream and hope for it's being aborted or who would want to see you fail.

Joseph in scriptures is known as the dreamer and a beautiful example of a man whose hope and dream was fulfilled.

He made what seemed like the mistake of sharing his dream with his brothers who envied him for his dreams, they were insecure instead of cheering their own brother Joseph on.

They were not happy for Joseph.

Don't share your dreams with people who are not happy for you.

David the shepherd boy faced resistance from King Saul because Saul was jealous of David, Saul had the kingdom (he was still in power).

You should wonder why the king who seemed to have everything would be jealous of a young man who has a background of being a shepherd.

Power, wealth and position are not the only things people can envy about you.

There are some blessings money cannot buy, and people who have money, power and position cannot buy qualities like genuine love, favor, charisma or innate gifts .

King Saul had the political authority and the power but he was still jealous of David.

He knew David had something he didn't have- the presence of God!

King Saul had lost the Lord's presence and David had it.

Money cannot buy God's presence, peace, true joy , wisdom or contentment.

Whatever you do, whatever it is you may want to achieve, no matter how big or grand it may be; make sure you have God's presence with you.

The person who will win is the person who has the Lord's presence.

You need God's presence and grace for the fulfillment of your dreams and destiny.

When you have God on your side, whatever your enemies and detractors do can only play into the plan of God for your life.

Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave and he was taken far away from the comfort of his father and all he knew, his brothers didn't know they were playing into the plan of God for the fulfillment of the dream God had given Joseph.

May your dreams manifest!

The Pilgrim, The Navigator

We journey through life, our life here on earth doesn't last forever.

We are on a journey; a pilgrimage.

We are pilgrims.

A pilgrim is a traveler, a traveler on a long journey, usually to a holy place or a sacred place for spiritual or religious reasons.

We are pilgrims in life journeying to our place of sacred duty, spiritual assignment, and God.

As travelers, all pilgrims do the job of navigating.

It comes with the territory of being on a journey.

Travelers navigate territories that are not familiar, they navigate danger, they take risks if necessary and do risk assessments often on the terrain they are on and intend to cross.

Their lives could depend on it, their well being demands they do so, and getting to their destination requires the skill of navigation.

You cannot separate the pilgrim from navigation and you cannot separate having to navigate from the pilgrim.

It goes to show that life requires navigating and our path is something we have to find and navigate.

This is the reason why guidance, direction and being led is so important in life!

The wise navigator seeks direction, values guidance and appreciates being properly led.

Pilgrims often have a compass, which is a small device that gives them a sense of direction, shows them their coordinates and gives them confidence they are on the right track.

The modern equivalent of the compass is our satellite navigation systems we use in our cars, google maps on our phones, our global positioning systems (GPS).

Life is a spiritual journey we are on which requires us figuring out and working out many things and issues as we journey and progress.

In life, divine direction, divine guidance and divine leading is essential; they come in handy for us as the spiritual pilgrims we are.

The Spirit of the Lord, which is the Spirit of Jesus Christ not only leads, guides and directs like a compass or satellite navigating system does. He also divinely orchestrates our life and path making everything work together for our good and the benefit of the many who come in contact with us on our way.

Salvation is part of the experience of this spiritual journey.

We have been instructed "to work out our salvation with fear and trembling."

As we journey and look into our salvation, we are working it out by navigating it.

We navigate error, deception, spiritual traps, vain philosophies, fear, spiritual warfare and doubt that the enemy would use to defeat us.

We navigate human wisdom, demonic wisdom, and spiritual manipulation.

We navigate darkness and come to light, we navigate folly and find heavenly wisdom, we navigate the counterfeit and embrace the original, we navigate past that which is false, to discover and discern that which is authentic.

We navigate past the things that would entangle to come into the perfect liberty of the Lord.

We navigate past lack to come into surplus, that we may know how to "abase and abound"

This way, on this spiritual journey we call life we learn how to stay strong both during hard times and times of great success.

This helps us discover our strengths, our inner strength that is both mental and spirit for we become forged with strength in our inner man.

We navigate sorrow, challenges, setbacks, and disappointment to encounter and experience solutions, miracles, good news even as we develop strong faith.

We navigate loneliness, for the path of every pilgrim is unique, there will be days and moments we feel all alone and perhaps misunderstood but we are never alone for the one who ordained our journey never leaves us nor forsakes us and will be with us till the end of the age (the end of our journey).

We navigate fatigue, laziness, procrastination to learn there is diligence, discipline and determination.

We navigate the dry seasons of life to explore and experience seasons of fruitfulness and flourishing.

The path of the pilgrim is a path of discovery, adventure, and learning.

The path of the pilgrim is a road of life changing experiences, seemingly natural encounters and spiritual wonders.

Guidance, leading and direction are key to our working out our salvation.

When those three forces of guidance, leading and direction are involved in our journey we come into joy, and we can say we "draw water out of the well of salvation."

An Audience With The King!

 For many people, going into the presence of a monarch is a special thing, event, day, or moment.

On such a day they are likely to take pictures to capture the moment, shoot videos, and short video clips as evidence of such a special privilege meeting the queen or king.

People love to be appreciated, its part of human nature to desire being celebrated, recognized, or honored for our contribution, the good we do, the work of our hands.

It's even more special to most people when the honor is coming from dignitaries and royalty.

It is a great thing when the royals of the land recognize you, invite you over and honor you.

It is in line with the scriptures promise - "do you see a man diligent in his work/skill/craft,  he will stand before kings and not mean men."

We see characters in the scriptures in who this promise was fulfilled.

Queen Esther is one of them.

An orphan and a Jewish girl, she was brought up by her uncle Mordecai.

Esther and her uncle lived in Persia, as did many other jews at the time..

Esther found favor with the most powerful monarch on earth at that time- King Ahasuerus after he ditched his first wife Vashti because she disrespected him at his public celebration.

A beauty pageant was conducted where all the beautiful single ladies of Persia were presented before the king for him to pick a wife from and Esther was picked to be queen out of the many.

Favor distinguishes us out of many people.

There may be many others, competition and rivals who are as diligent, skillful and wise as we are, as smart as we are or smarter; but favor distinguishes us out of the many.

There are times diligence may not be enough, however we have to be diligent.

Diligence with the Lord's favor will take us further than running on the quality of diligence alone.

Esther was diligent in her preparations for the kings presence, as well as the many other young ladies who were hoping to be chosen by the king.

The ladies were beautiful, hopeful and prepared, but beauty, diligence and preparation alone didn't cut it, the lady with something extra won the pageant.

Favor won Esther the position and the day.

Favor is that something extra the Lord gives to us, which ensures our efforts get rewarded and things work out for us.

Favor opens doors to blessings for us that others struggle to get to.

Favor can give you an audience with the king and give you the kings favor.

Joseph got an audience with the king (Pharoah) and the kings favor created a position for him in Egypt that didn't exist previously, a job offer as a ruler and prime minister of the land.

The kings favor is a great benefit to those who are beneficiaries of it.

David the shepherd found favor with king Saul, he got an audience with the king and eventually became king.

Daniel got an audience with the king, king Nebuchadenezzer.

His favor with king Nebuchadenezzer which comes from the Lord, and due to Daniel's exceptional abilities made him a great man who served at the highest positions under four kings in Babylon.

"When a king's face brightens or smiles, there is life, and his favor is like a spring rain cloud."

The favor of a king refreshes us.

God is the King!

His favor refreshes us!

The Lord is the Monarch over all monarchs.

His favor blesses us.

May He favor us.

And He does through Jesus the Christ.

We can have an audience with the King!

Prepare for your audience with the King of kings.

Get ready for your audience before the Father of all Spirits, the true authority and monarch!

Get ready to be presented before the blessed and only potentate.

Come before Him with a song, a melody in your heart.

Come rejoicing, come excited, come knowing the Lord is granting you an audience.

The Name has been given, the blood has been shed, the audience is granted.

The veil has been torn, the access granted, and the resurrection has happened!

Now we have access to the Monarch over all monarchs, the king of kings and Lord of lords.

An audience with the King, the true king.

An audience with the King, the life giver, the sustainer, the helper, the One who empowers!

Lets access His presence, lets make the most of it!

You're invited, He's expectant, you have an audience with the King!