THE SWORD OF GOLIATH

The  story of  David  and  Goliath  has  always  been  a  captivating  story. It's  symbolic  in  many  ways  and  has  many  intrigues  to  it.
 It's  a  story  that's  symbolic  of  the  victory  of  light  over  darkness, good  over  evil  and  how  God  uses  the  seemingly  foolish  things  of   the  world  to  confound  the  wise,  the  base  things  to confound  the  mighty.
 Personally  I  like  that  story  because  I am  a  writer  and  I draw  inspiration  from  it  and  a  number  of  life  lessons.
 My  third  book  'SWORD OF GOLIATH'  has it's  inspiration  from  it. It  will be  out  by  year  ending  and  it  promises  to  be  a  fictional, historical  and action  adventure  treat! A  must  read  for  all you  lovers  of fiction  and  action. I will be  out  in  about 4 to 5 months  time. My  fourth  book 'KEEPERS  OF  THE  KEYS' will be  out  early  next  year, also  published  by  Author house publishers.
 You will be  able  to  get  copies  through http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.amazon.co.uk/ and a host of other online retailers.
I look forward to your views about it.
Olutosin Ogunkolade

The Serpent.

The serpent is an animal usually associated with negativity, satanism and evil. The serpent is a reptile that is often associated with fear when thought about.
 Even scripturally the serpent is often synonymous with the devil, after all the devil chose the image of the serpent when he wanted to tempt Eve, the first woman ever created.
 There is a side to the serpent very few people see or understand. The serpent is a wise animal. The Word acknowledges this - " be wise as serpents, harmless as doves". This is something positive we can glean and learn from the serpent.
 The serpent is a symbol of wisdom. That's why Pharaohs used to wear hats (a Pharaoh's crown) that have the image of serpents in front of them. Pharaoh's understood the importance of wisdom and promoted men who have such a quality. They surrounded themselves with psychics, astrologers, counselors and magicians, men they believed could give their reign some sort of superior advantage.
 Jesus is the wisdom of God, and He hung on a cross. He said " as the bronze serpent of Moses was lifted up, so will He be lifted up. I will not be wrong to say the bronze serpent is symbolically a representation of Jesus.
 "Everything the Lord has created is good" There is good in everything the Lord has created. There is good in the serpent if you choose to see it.

"MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE"

I remember when I was a kid many years ago I used to enjoy watching the Transformers cartoons. 

'Transformers' and 'Masters of the Universe' (He-Man) were my favorite cartoons.

 I liked the concept of cars, vehicles, and planes changing into two legged man like forms known as decepticons and autobots.
There was the starting song that goes ''Transformers more than meets the eye, transformers robots in disguise. Autobots still battle to destroy the evil forces of, of the decepticons''
It's a song I liked and used to look forward to hearing when my favorite cartoon starts.

 But looking back there is more meaning and truth in that song than I realized.
There is a truth in the song that good and evil battle, just the same way it is in real life, light and darkness oppose one another. 

The part that caught my attention more about that song is that statement "more than meets the eye"

That statement is deeper than I have time to explain in this article. 

Things are not always what it seems, and there is usually always more than meets the eye.

There is more to us as people, what we see on the outside is a facade of us, for there is a spirit within. Many of the challenges we face are not ordinary too, and have their roots in sources deeper than we think.
The world we live in is not all there is for there is a realm where all we see originates from. Within our outward countenances there are systems, so many different systems working within our bodies.
There is more than meets the eye to the food we eat. Irrespective of what your food looks like, its broken down and converted  into another form and within it are nutritional values that are beneficial for your body.
Our electronic devices and appliances are also composed of little components which are not seen but our covered up by its outer casing which we see just the same way the human body covers up the hormones, enzymes, chemical reactions, and organs within us.

It's time our perspective changes, its time we learn not to take issues at face value anymore.

IN PURSUIT OF PURPOSE.

The times we are in are times the individual need to know his/her purpose. We live in times when it's very easy to be disillusioned, times where even very established individuals are struggling and and established institutions have gone bankrupt.
It was just yesterday I heard on the news that employment is at an all time high, especially among the youths.
Over one million youths between the ages of 16 to 24 are unemployed in the Uk. And I put it to you that they do not feel needed, they very likely feel unappreciated and lack a sense of purpose. It's not a good thing to be jobless, particularly at that age where young people tend to be restless, when their creativity is at an all time high and they are eager to express it.
When young people feel a sense of purposelessness and idleness it can result in all sorts of vice, vandalism and chaos.
It's the responsibility of every government to see to it that there are programmes, jobs and plat forms in place for young people to express themselves and make a living.
But beyond the responsibility of the government, the youths also have a responsibility to see to it that they don't loose hope, that they conduct themselves properly and seek to make the most of the opportunity life presents to them.
Apart from the government and individual there is also the God factor. God has a plan for us all. He has a purpose for our existence for He is a God who does and creates all things for a reason. We (humans) are His creation and our existence is for a purpose.
That purpose is hidden in Him. It's found through prayer, meditation, self appraisals, being responsibly adventurous and making the most of life's opportunities.

Hope Beyond Hope!

To hope is a good thing.
Having hope is a sign that it's not over until it's over.

When an individuals hope is still intact it's a sign that that individuals challenges have not had the final word.
I'm a student of the Bible. I read it and respect it as God's Holy Word. Abraham was a character who 'hoped against hope'
There are times our hope is not enough.  There are those who have hoped, and died hoping. For dreams to manifest we have to do more than merely hope.
They say 'desperate situations deman desperate measures'. Abraham is an example of someone who was in a situation that was critical. It looked as if the odds were stacked against his dream. Merely hoping would not and could not deliver his dream to him. He needed a miracle. He had to go deeper!
Thank God he did. Abraham hoped against hope by trusting in God. To hope against hope is to hope beyond hope. It's a supernatural kind of hope that makes not ashamed. It's the kind of hope God has called us to. It's the kind of hope that manifests dreams and helps make people endure to the end. It's the kind of hope that comes from God, and we should have.
To hope against hope is to still be expectant against all odds that God will come through for you.
To hope against hope is to understand that God is seldom early, but He is never late.

The Benefits Of Challenges.

It's a pattern of life that things come and things go.
In life certain things are common to man and challenges are part of them. I haven't  come across any man  who walked the face of this earth and never encountered any challenge whatsoever. If such a 'character' exists, he must be a fictional creation.
Our challenges are meant to test us and make us, not break us. Challenges come to 'see' what we are made of, they come to test us and qualify us for the next phase of our life, they come to examine if we are ready for our next promotion.
Challenges are the examinations of life, much like academic exams where students are tested by their schools to know if they are competent for the next class. We are also tested by life to check if we are ready to go a step higher, and that is why it's important to have a positive attitude to life.
I agree with Zig Ziglar who said 'your attitude determines your altitude'. When we see challenges for what they really are, we will approach them with the right attitude.
When our attitude to challenges are right, we will pass this test of life.

It's time to give thanks!

I may not be an old man, but I'm not a kid either. I am mature enough to know there is a God somewhere, infact He is in me and He loves me.
As I think about my life, I can't but remain eternally grateful to my creator. I know where I am from and what I have been through, I know I am a miracle of God and have seen His favour in great ways.
God has been merciful this year, He has provided, He has given acceleration and He has completed! Daily I feel His love, see His goodness and see manifestations of His promises. I'm alive! I breath, eat, sleep every night, I have an appetite and my sense organs function perfectly. These are daily miracles people take for granted.
Friends, lets not take God for granted. There are still great things in store the remaining two months of this year for all of us.
Be blessed!