Samson & The Spirit Of Might

I am a fan of combat sports, especially boxing.
I like watching kickboxing, karate, more recently mixed martial arts (MMA) and all sorts of combat sports.

I grew up watching wrestling, martial arts movies, Indian films now popularly called Bollywood movies, and of course action movies from Hollywood.
It's the characters or heroes that drive the sale of the movies & the fascination of the fans with their 'power', their skillful fighting abilities or extraordinary strength that keeps us glued to the screen.

Kickboxing as a sport was more popular in the 80"s for some reason, though it's been around with its own heroes, tournaments and titles. It's global appeal just gradually declined. It's champions and personalities that drive every sport. I guess kickboxing didn't have interesting and appealing personalities enough to drive it into global visibility like Jean-Claude Vandamme did for the sport through kickboxing films & action movies. He is a real life martial artist with a kick boxing background, Vandamme is getting on in age now.

We've not had any inspiring professional kickboxer who draws a global attention to the sport in recent years.

We might have found one in Rico Verhoeven.

Boxing has always benefitted from interesting fighters with personalities that have kept their fans glued to the screen right through time. MMA and wrestling have benefitted from that too. A promoter called Dana Whyte saved MMA and brought recognition to the sport through his UFC platform.

The Martial arts has enjoyed popularity through characters like the legendary Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, Steven Seagal, and Jet Lee, they helped take marital arts to global visibility through movies. Vandamme was the one predominantly upholding kickboxing, since his silence the sport has not been that visible. I think the kickboxer Rico Verhoeven's move to boxing and his excelling at it through his fight over the last weekend is helping the sport of kickboxing, like Vandamme he is also doing so through movies.

Human nature is fascinated by the extraordinary, we love extraordinary strength, fighting skill or power.
It entertains us.

There was a man called Samson, a Biblical Christian character, a great guy whose story reads like a comic superhero.
Samson was a strong man in a physical sense, raised up by the Lord to be a judge of his people & a deliverer.
The Spirit of might was a dimension of the Lord's Spirit at work in Samson.
Samson was a legend & more, come to think of it!

Let's visualize Samson living in our day.
He would probably pursue a career in combat sports.
It's only natural, that's where he'll get the most visibility and be able to use his superhuman strength effectively.
He may not be needed in the armed forces as such, physical strength is not needed as much as it was needed in ancient times when Samson was born.
We have the use of ammunition and nuclear weapons now.

Samson once killed 1,000 men with the dry jawbone of a donkey.
Let that thought sink in for a second!
These were not ordinary Philistine men, these were trained, skillful warriors. Samson killed a thousand of them in one day!
The Philistine nation were believed to be a nation that's a descendant of giants. They were tall huge men.
Samson killed 1000 of them and piled up their bodies in a heap!
Today our combat sports fighters retire after defeating anything between 40 to sixty men max.
Its very rare to see a combat sports fighter who defeats up to 70 men in his professional career.
More so, the average boxer fights about once a year or twice at the maximum these days.
None of them can defeat the quality of fighters the Philistines warriors were that Samson killed, and their fight records are not up to a tenth of the amount of Philistine warriors Samson killed in one day!

If Samson lived in our day, he would be a wonder, a living legend.

There would be no wrestler, no boxer, no kick boxer, no mixed martial artist or any combat sport legend or guru that would be a match for him.

No human combat sport athlete, soldier, navy seal, or armed force official, no matter how well trained would be able to withstand Samson, no matter how well trained or skillful he may be. The reason is, Samson's strength and might was supernatural.

Samson's might was from the Spirit of the Lord.

It came as a result of the Spirit of God stirring him into power and might.

That dimension of the Spirit is available to us today.

It can still serve us and help us achieve God's purposes on earth today

It was the type of might Samson needed for the day and time he was born in.

Samson was born at a time the people of God used to fight wars, he was born at a time God's judgement was due upon the Philistines.

 Samson was born and raised up by God to take out the Philistines.

He was born to be a great judge of God's people and a one man army against the Philistines.

This was a man who tore a lion on it's prime apart with his bare hands!

Do you know any man or woman who can tear a lion that's in its prime apart with his/her bare hands?

Might was the distinction God put upon Samson.

Samson's might was not in his muscles, going to the gymnasium, or exercising.

Samson's peak condition was not exactly in the quality of food he was eating.

Samson's source was supernatural, Samson's source was God.

The Philistines were curious to know the source of Samson's strength and might.

If Samson was a fitness and gymn freak they would have assumed that's where he got his strength from.

If Samson was muscular and heavily build, it would have been assumed his strength was in his muscles, I have reasons to believe Samson was probably averagely built and not massive in size.

If Samson was part of an army, his enemies would have assumed his elite military training is the source of his capacity.

Samson was a mystery to his Philistine enemies.

Seeing he was becoming a folk hero and a living legend, the scheme to find out his secret and bring him down started.

As long as Samson stayed true to the covenant instruction he had been given from the Lord, he would operate in uncommon and supernatural might.

The Lord was faithful to uphold His side of the covenant with Samson.

There is a lot we can learn from the life and the gift of Samson.

Through Samson's life we see God is the source, He is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

From Samson's life we gather that we are not any better off without following God's instructions. 

Supernatural might remained with Samson as long as long as he obeyed the terms of his covenant.

We see from Samson's life that the Lord has a unique covenant with each of His people.

We have general covenants and we have individual covenants.

Do you have God's covenant individual instructions for your own life?

Assessing Samson's life shows us that human might cannot match divine might.

That which is human and carnal cannot match that which is divine and supernatural.

No one could match the supernatural might of Samson with human strength. Samson's strength was Spirit not human!

Spirits are naturally stronger than human beings.

Samson's might could not be generated by the strength of the flesh.

That which is from the Lord is always superior to that which is of the flesh or of darkness.

Samson's might was superior to the strength of one thousand Philistine men just as the rod of Moses which turned into a serpent was superior to the rod of the Magicians of Egypt which also turned into serpents.

Whatever is of the Lord's Spirit will swallow up whatever is of darkness, magic and evil.

From Ordinary To Extraordinary !

 

There is a philosophy attributed to former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson that captures an excellent truth, the truth that our 'extra' when applied where it matters produces the extraordinary.

It is the idiom "the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary is the little extra" informs us that our 'little' and our 'extra' has a certain power in it.

They have a certain potency.

It has since become an inspired and motivational quote used to build teams, inspire individuals and motivate people.

It is a philosophy we can apply to every aspect of our lives and specific goals we are working on.

The words little and extra are worth emphasizing.

Excellence doesn't always require massive, revolutionary input but our "little extra" goes a long way in creating excellence and impact.

Our little is much and goes further to create excellence and positive change when applied accordingly, as needed.

Little is much when applied rightly.

Your extra creativity, the extra care, the extra attention to detail can make a massive difference.

Little things can bring  effective results.

Little keys often times open big doors.

Little investments have yielded great increase.

Little advise have saved lives and given perspective.

Seemingly short, sincere and 'little' prayers have wrought salvation.

Little can be much when God is in it!

Going the extra mile sets us apart, creating a distinction about us.

Our consistency and little push to go further and do more creates a compounding interest over time.

We can apply the 'extra' to our thinking, creating a mindset shift.

It has the capacity to radically alter our lives!

You may have been born ordinarily like most people were, you may have attended schools like most people do, you may eat and drink like everyone does but it doesn't mean you are like everyone else because there there is a call on your life to be distinct since you are created unique.

You have been chosen to be more than ordinary.

You have been selected to move from ordinary to extraordinary.

Your little extra is a great key.

Start using it.

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a step.

Start the Start Up business, start the ministry, write the book, create the design, make the business work, make the most of the relationship, birth the child, be the parent who puts in the little extra in love, care, understanding and emotional support.

Through your little extra you will be extraordinary!

Your little extra obedience is about to manifest great results.

That little extra bit of resilience, patience, gratitude, fortitude, confidence, effort, trust, kindness, diligence, and willingness to try is about to pay off in a big way!

I see your little extra turning the tide in your favor!

Productive Failure

 Many times, success has been born out of failure.

Inventors have often made discoveries out of what was called their failures.

Fortunately they didn't give up, today we enjoy what their hard work and right perspectives have produced on the earth.

We enjoy the impact of their contributions in the field of medicine, science, technology, product design and business.

We need to see clearer, better and have the right perspective to what we call failure.

Failure does not have to be what many people dread it to be or have the stigma associated with it if we have the right perspective to failure.

If you can find the gem in your failure, if you can learn the lessons from your failure, and glean wisdom from your failure, then you have not failed.

The failure becomes a learning curve and discovery on your way to your success destination, it is not the end of the road.

It's Winston Churchill who said "failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue trying that counts."

Face life courageously, keep going, keep learning, keep trying and whatever you do don't give up!

Productive failure is what I call failing forward.

It is the type of failure that comes with a benefit in it, it is failure that benefits you and helps you progress.

Many success stories today were birthed from failing forward, such inspirational characters failed productively.

If you are going to fail at anything make sure you fail forward.

Have the right perspective, learn to see life, issues and failure with a new set of eyes, an optimistic vision.

An optimistic perspective will make you see your failures as growth experiences.

We learn more from failure than we do from success.

The Scottish author Samuel Smiles put it this way "we learn wisdom from failure much more than from success."

There is learning and wisdom in failure.

People need to recognize this.

Mistakes help us and force us to analyze flaws and grow.

The wise dissect their mistakes, analyze their failures and evolve from it into better people with better ideas and winning strategies.

Failures teach us humility, they show our humanity, they can develop our empathy, help our emotional intelligence, and help us see new and better ways to accomplish our goals.

Edgar A. Guest in his classic motivational poem "Don't Quit" said "success is failure turned inside out."

"Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit—
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit."

Vince Lombardi the legendary American football coach is attributed with perhaps the most famous quote ever on the subject of success and failure, the idiom "quitters never win, and winners never quit"

How true!

The purpose of failure is not to make us quit.

The goal of success is not to never fail.

While we shouldn't go all out trying to be failures, we should understand our failures can be springboards to our success.

Through failure many have been rightly directed in life and gone further than they would have gone if they has succeeded without any failure along the way.

I recently discovered James Dyson, the British inventor built 5,126 failed prototypes over 15 years before successfully creating his bagless vacuum.

Talk about perseverance!

How many times have you tried, and how many times have you failed?

It would seem that men who rise to the greatest heights in life do so on the highest heaps of failure.

Dyson has noted that success can make you stop wondering why things work, but failure forces you to ask why they went wrong.

Whatever you do don't give up now!

You might be one more attempt away from success.

You may be one email, one phone call, one prayer away from success.

You're closer than you think.

You have come this far, and you haven't come this far to give up now.

You may be one last push, one more strike away from your breakthrough.

It is Thomas Alva Edison, credited for being the inventor of the light bulb who said "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with a step, you may have failed along the way, you may have made mistakes but you are not where you used to be.

You've made progress, you've improved, you've learned, you've acquired knowledge and you're hopefully wiser.

Keep building, keep going, keep using the blocks of past failures to build a mighty edifice of sterling success!

It is in our nature as people to want to succeed, and we should.

It is a natural innate desire to want to succeed.

However, the path to success can have the bumps of failure in the way.

The great Physicist and mathematician Albert Einstein said "failure is success in progress."

Don't be fatigued because of the failures along your way, don't be defeated by the pressures failure can cause.

Success according to the great Winston Churchill is going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm.

Keep your head high, your hopes up and your faith intact.

Your Star & Your Stock

Your stock on earth is linked to your star.

Every human being is born with a star.

Like Jesus you have a heavenly presence/body.

Your star is your heavenly presence, your heavenly body, your astral and spiritual presence.

When your star rises in the heavens, your stock goes up on earth.

When your star shines in the heavens, your stock gains influence on earth.
Your star is heavenly, your stock is earthly.
Your star is spiritual, your stock is physical.

"On earth as it is in heaven" is what the scriptures say
As the heavens control the earth, so does your star control your stock!
There has always been a link between heaven and earth just as there has always been a link between the spiritual and the physical.
The heavens control the earth, the spiritual controls the physical.
Your star determines your stock!

Your stock is the work of your hands and the Lord promises to bless it.
May God bless the work of our hands and may our stock increase!
This is the Lord's will for you!

In the kingdom of God we have stars and have been made stars.
In the kingdom of God's dear Son our stars shine!
Our stars shine after the order of Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ is the bright & morning Star, He is the Day Star who shines by day and night!
In His kingdom we shine after His order!
No wonder the stock of Job went up!
He flourished, he increased. To the point that the enemy took a note of him and his stock.

We talk about the star of David.

We have earthly diagrams that try to depict the star of David.

It is a fact that David was a great star on the earth.

No wonder his stock went up!

Your star has the blessing! 

Your star the identity, the image and the likeness of God which is you!
You are a star in God's presence!
Sons of God are stars.
Angels are called stars and sons of God.
Our connection to God makes us stars.

Stardom increases stock.
The stock of every star is worth a lot.
The ministry, and works of Jesus (His stock) has had so much impact the world will never get over it even throughout eternity!
Abraham is the father of faith and we are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Abraham paid a price for his spiritual and physical descendants to come into what is known as the Abrahamic covenant of blessing!

The Abrahamic covenant of blessing has a lot of stock that manifests through it.
Abraham was blessed in all things- men & women servants, gold & silver, wells (business), sheep, oxen & a covenant relationship with God.
The man's stock when up as his star went up through a covenant relationship with God.

So should yours.

Our covenant relationship with God enhances us, makes us better, and makes our star shine.

When your star rises and shines, your stock will go up on the earth.

I see it happening in good time.

The Open Door

Open doors, open heavens, open gates and windows are not strange words in the scriptures.

They are portals.

They are spiritual portals that have an earthly impact.

They are spiritual portals that have an impact on individuals, lives, nations, and destinies,

They are life changing, transformative; in very positive ways.

An open door can start a positive new chapter in a human life.

An open window can release blessings into a live beyond human imagination.

Open gates can lead to greatness and liftings.

An open heaven is a spiritual breakthrough and it produces physical breakthrough.

There was a man chosen by God, a man who didn't know God but God raised him up for a purpose. A great man called Cyrus.

Cyrus, popularly known as Cyrus the great was a political leader, conqueror, military leader and the founder of the Persian empire.

Cyrus laid the blue print for what is now commonly known as constitutions in countries.

The Cyrus cylinder is a 2,500 year old cylinder document with inscriptions by Cyrus which is perhaps history's earliest document on human rights.

I've seen this artifact before, I saw it at the British Museum.

Cyrus the great became legendary because God gave him an open gate, God opened the two leaved gates unto Cyrus.

The open gates led to military dominion, leadership greatness and a place in history for Cyrus.

An open door was granted unto the church in Philadelphia as a reward.

The church of Philadelphia was rewarded for their strength, their resilience in standing for the Lord against all odds and not denying His Name.

They were rewarded with an open door which no man can shut!

There are doors men can shut against us.

Doors men have opened for us through our scheming, compromising, and rebellion can be shut against us by the man or men who opened them unto us.

If the kingdom of darkness opens doors for a man, they can shut the doors on that man at anytime and at any point. The enemy doesn't keep doors open for people for nothing.

It has a price, he takes his sacrifices.

There's a promise of an open heaven over tithers. 

Tithing is the one-tenth principle.

It is the giving of one-tenth of our profit or income to the Lord.

There is a lot of controversy about tithing in the body of Christ these days.

The reason for it is because there are so many schools of thought in the body of Christ.

So many different voices, so many different levels of understanding of the scriptures, bad teachers of the word, and other spirits working in people who teach the word which is not the Spirit of God.

Tithing is something that must be done in faith, with endurance, and consistently.

It's one of the ways we prove we love the Lord and money doesn't have any control over us.

It attracts the blessing of an open heaven.

The church of Philadelphia was seen by the Lord.

The Lord saw their little strength.

Their little strength may have been their little influence, size, resilience and fervency.

God see us, and He is the One who rewards.

An open door no man scan shut is a great reward from God to receive.

God is the God of the open door and He rewards those who are able to persist in prayer.

He rewards those who persist in a lifestyle of worship.

He rewards those who are able to keep on with Him against all odds.

An open door represents opportunity.

It represents a God given platform to make something happen for you, for your benefit.

Open doors bring ease where things have been difficult.

An open door is a divine chance.

An open door from God happens in God's time.

An open door means God's time to make a specific thing happen for you according to God's purpose has come.

The uniqueness of an open door is that it is not for everyone, and it is not open to everyone.

Open doors, open gates, open windows and open heavens are all from the same 'family'.

Open doors are for those who have persisted and endured.

Your prayers can open doors for you!

Every door is opened by a key or some kind of key whether it is a forb, code, or a proximity card.

Prayer is like a key, forb or proximity card that opens doors unto us.

Every country, city, town, village or building has an entrance point.

The entrance point to a building is its door, the entrance point to a country or city is her airport, and your travel documents are your keys to accessing that country.

In the same manner your destiny has an entrance point, a door you walk through into your destiny, your inheritance, that which God has prepared for you.

May you find the door to your destiny and inheritance in God and walk through it.

The kingdom of God has an entrance point, a door that is open in this period of grace.

Jesus Christ is the Door!

He is the door to God's kingdom,

Repentance is the key, the code, the proximity card, or forb that opens the Door for you to access the kingdom!

Walk through the open door today!

 

Open My Eyes

 There are chances we will not take, opportunities we will not seize, paths we will not walk in and levels we will not rise to, not because we are cowardly its because we did not recognize them.

You cannot walk through an open door you did not see, you cannot seize opportunities you did not recognize and you cannot get to heights you didn't know the stairways to them exist.

A very long time ago, a lady called Hagar and her son had ran out of supplies- food and water. 

The ground was dry, the sun was scorching and there seemed to be no oasis in sight.

It was an arid environment.

She lay her thirteen year old son on the ground, it was the only bit of shade she could find, away from the intensity of the sun. He was crying, his name is Ishmael.

Ishmael is the first born son of Abraham the Patriarch of faith, his mother Hagar was the maid of Sarah the wife of Abraham.

By a twist of fate, Hagar would be considered a secondary wife of Abraham through conception and her being given to Abraham by Sarah her boss. Sarah, unfortunately had suffered barrenness.

Hagar, a much younger and fertile female than Sarah conceived easily, this cemented her place in the household and in time she became conceited.

Sarah would have her own son in the fullness of time by nothing short of a miraculous conception and birth, Isaac was born, the son of promise.

Hagar's overrating herself in the household by despising her mistress was a step too far.

It cost her.

Her mistress would not have it. 

She and her son had to leave, her son was also taunting Isaac like older siblings tend to do to their younger siblings.

Sarah was dissatisfied.

So Hagar and her son left.

She and her son were sent off with food and drink by Abraham, it was a tough decision.

With time, their food and drink ran out and Hagar found herself right where I described.

Ishmael her son was crying 

God heard the cry of the boy for Abraham's sake.

Abraham is a chosen one and a man who was in covenant with God,  The blessing of God spread to his children Ishmael and Isaac

So, the Lord opened the eyes of Hagar and she saw a well not far from her!

If the Lord did not open her eyes she would not have seen it!

The well was her breakthrough, the well was her ticket to survive, the well was God having mercy on her and her son.

Hagar survived, Ishmael survived, and they didn't die because the Lord opened her eyes.

Some people didn't make it in life because they didn't recognize what was set before them, they failed to see the blessing, the opportunity, the open door presented to them.

They couldn't see and seize the opportunity around them.

We don't have to be like that.

Ishmael grew up to become a mighty hunter, a fine man who made his mother proud.

He had twelve sons who became twelve sheiks.

Ishmael is the father of the Islamic/Arabic lineage.

It is important the eyes of our understanding is opened.

Its important important our eyes are opened to opportunities, God given opportunities.

May the eyes of our understanding be opened.

It is great if our spiritual eyes are opened too, even unto discernment.

It is worth praying that God should open our eyes to see what He wants us to see.

Not all opportunities come in lovely packages.

Some opportunities around us are not seen for what they are because they are disguised as hard work, challenges or battles.

Some opportunities will come as ideas that are not common, as ridiculous instructions that go against logic and as open doors many are not walking through.

Some people miss opportunities because they don't want to be different.

They want to do what everyone else is doing, they want to go where everyone else is going, they want their life to follow the path and pattern everyone else's is following .

They do not want to follow a new path, they want to be copycats not originals.

Making the most of life will require seizing opportunities.

It will also require courage.

It takes courage to stand, to follow unpopular paths and do what God wants us to do.

It takes courage to live different. It takes courage to trust, it takes courage to go in an opposite direction and it takes courage to do what is right or invest in things others are not seeing.

God opening our eyes can be God opening our eyes to physical provision, spiritual truths, and heavenly realities.

"Then God opened Hagar’s eyes, and she saw a well full of water. She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink."

Genesis 21:19

The Lord opened the eyes of Balaam the misguided prophet to avoid being killed by the angel of the Lord right in front of him with a drawn sword which his donkey saw but he didn't see initially.

God opened the eyes of Gehazi the servant of Elisha to see the heavenly army around him and his master during a time of danger.

The natural and spiritual eyes of Saul of Tarsus of was opened after going blind for three days as a result of his encounter with the light of Jesus Christ which is brighter than the sun on the Damascus road.

Opened eyes gives us a new dawn, a new season, a new reality, a new identity, new opportunities and new encounters!

Ascend

 To ascend is to rise upward.

It is an upward movement or vertical climb.

It is a progressive vertical movement to higher heights.

Some effort will be needed to ascend, some help might be required too.

An upward movement will require a good degree of resilience, be resilient because there are forces that try to stop people from ascending.

Ascend to your mountain top.

Ascend to your higher ground.

Ascend to your height of glory.

Ascend to the heights of achievement.

Ascend to the heavenly places of reality, truth, holiness, righteousness and freedom!

Ascend through your spirit, your spirit man.

Ascend through your soul- your imagination, visualization, thoughts and desires.

Ascend on the wings of the Spirit, even the Holy Spirit.

Ascend on the wings of the promises, the exceeding great and precious promises in the scriptures.

Ascend through the word, the decreeing, the speaking, the confessions and professions of the inspired word of the Lord!

Ascend in the place of prayer.

Ascend on the wings of praise.

Ascend through your winning ideas.

Ascend by your God given inspired wisdom.

Ascend with your renewed strength.

Ascend, because you are created to ascend.

Ascend, because your are a 'star' and upward, high above is where stars belong!

Ascend, because it is what you are designed for.

Ascend, because it is the Creator's plan for you.

Ascend, because it is in the grand design of your destiny!

Ascend, because your potential is asking for it.

Ascend because humanity and creation wants to see and benefit from the real you.

Ascend, its part of your new reality.

Ascend, there is more room at the top, more space for your manifestation.

Ascend, your new identity demands it, it's eager for your ascension.

Ascend, you've been at the same level for too long.

Ascend, you will eat better at the top.

Ascend, you owe it to yourself.

Ascend because there is more in store for you at the top.

Ascend, you owe it to those rooting for you.

Ascend, your fulfillment beckons.

Ascend, there is a greater purpose you will know and experience.

Ascend, you're an eagle not a chicken.

Ascend because there is something better for you at the top.

Ascend, your critics, mockers, detractors and back-stabbers must be put to shame.

Ascend, leave the pettiness behind. You are better than that.

Ascend, like an eagle to your highest height. A better view awaits you up there.

Ascend, you will will be glad you did.

Ascend, leave behind the sickness, shame, sin and Satan.

Ascend into your place of fulfilled dreams, manifestations and results.

Ascend, your rise will benefit many.

It is time to "come up higher."