God Makes All Things New

GOD MAKES ALL THINGS NEW

I don't know what is holding you down or holding you back. I have come to remind someone today that God IS AT WORK. As a young man, a few years ago, my mum would drop me at Nakawa, there after I would have to head to Kyambogo College School, But that wouldn't be the case, I would wait for her to drive off and then go meet up with my peeps in Luzira and just hang out the whole day playing pool, drinking a few sachets with the pocket money and puffing some cigars. 

The thorns of PEER Pressure had pricked so deep that it took sometime to pull them out. I wanted to STOP but just did not have the STRENGTH to. But the prayers of my mum and other saints went up before the Lord and at his OPPORTUNE TIME, he brought me back under the fold of Grace and Truth.

Sometimes we give up on people or even or our selves but I know that God always MAKES A WAY and does a NEW THING, Indeed he says we shall know of it as it springs forth. Have you prayed for too long and it seems like its taking forever, hang in there, GOD HEARS PRAYER, he will make a way, you don't have to know how but he will do a new thing. I have been a enjoying life in the Kingdom of Light since my S.6 Vacation and there is no way I can be convinced that life in the kingdom of God is boring, my life is more meaningful than those times I wasted [it was my learning ground]. I have a life of Purpose, Impact & Transformation.

GOD WAITED FOR ME, JUST FOR ME

Be blessed by this song, it ministers to me.

About Friendships & Their Impact

LOOK BACK, EXAMINE THOSE FRIENDSHIPS & SEE WHETHER YOU HAVE GONE FAR OR ARE STILL STAGNANT

Relationships can take you far or destroy you, bad company indeed corrupts, Good company adds value, examine your friendships by seeing how far you have come with those friends. 

If you have friends who have no vision, you will have no vision as well, if you have friends who keep complaining and doing nothing, you won't be any different, if you have friends who are pessimistic instead of optimistic, that's the same image you will carry.

I attribute many of the great things I have learned and continue to grow through just because of the people who are in my life, my wife is my friend, I have good friends from the church and their contribution continues to be immense.

Are you the kind of person people would love to hang out with because you will add value to them, take it as a plus, are you the type people will keep saying keep a distance from such a person because their influence isn't good, yeah relationships are great things but we need to know which type of relationships are the best.

For us to make it in this life, we need to know that people matter and that they are important in every journey, know who should be in your life and in what season, know when to leave certain groups because your time could be up, don't get dragged by those who don't want to see you move, those who don't want to impact society, those who don't want to be role models. It is really in your heart to decide who can come in and who can go out. Make meaningful relationships that are God-honoring.

Don't Stop In Your Journey, Take A Rest But Keep Moving

When I started out my life after CAMPUS, I happened to get an opportunity to do Internship at one of the Good Working places in Uganda.

First of all, I wasn't supposed to be given internship since I had already finished University but I told the people I had gone to ask an opportunity, "All I Want To Do Is LEARN". After one week, I was called to go and start my internship.

As I started growing and learning so many things, I became eligible to get a mini contract to be able to work full time. While such an opportunity kept presenting itself, I got involved in lunch hour prayers at work and this would be done promptly within the stipulated time of lunch which was indeed an hour.

Then some day I was told by a few people within the HR department, that the Director HR did not like me because of MY FAITH in Christ Jesus [I hope its not true till today], However I was already getting even more popular because God had opened the door for me to share about the Kingdom at the work place.

So the mini-contract I was meant to get did not materialize because someone thought otherwise. It hurt me a lot but I had to keep trusting God for other opportunities, Nothing came easy after I left that place of work.

When I left, I searched and searched for other places to intern or train but nothing came, I dropped CVs in the places as I walked within town with the hope that one day they would call me but still that did not happen. It so happened that things did not come as fast as expected, I also learnt that having good results doesn't automatically guarantee you a place, skills are very important for a market place as those were some of the questions they kept on asking me, do you know this or that, it made me realize that I had to add on to my degree knowledge certain practical skills to be relevant in the market place.

I decided I would do anything even if it wasn't in line with my career because I just wanted to learn and understand the Market place. I worked in store where we sorted imported books with my friend Isiagi Moses Ish, I also eventually worked in a fumigation company with Isiagi and Fabian. Those were growth points for me because I happened to volunteer as a Bible study teacher there after in FOCUS Uganda for almost 5 months until I got another opportunity to do something in line with my career. 

You will be denied in some places not because you don't qualify but just because you don't have the required skills, keep improving, keep learning because so much keeps changing day by day.

Currently I work in a very Challenging Place [Makerere University] and it seems like everyday is a new chapter, as long as we are still alive there so much to do that God has deposited within us. Let God be glorified in your work, be excellent even if you have to do the least thing, just be excellent.

Be BLESSED.

There Is Value In "RUBBISH"

If someone looks at you and says you are rubbish, look at yourself and say this rubbish has value and make something good come out of it.

It was some years ago when I was training at a certain government office. It was a good place with great opportunity for growth and exposure. My fellow trainees and I faced the wrath of an HR everyday as he called us names and no-bodys. Too bad I did not know Luganda very well but some of the things they would translate to me were just too much to comprehend that it would bring tears down our eyes. One day he said, "You will never amount to anything, you guys are a bunch of useless people, you don't even deserve to be here".

Such words pained us so bad that we did not ever want to cross his path as if we had denied him something and probably that was the only way he could get back to us by threatening that he will send us away (FIRE) or refusing us to get a little stipend. We indeed reported such an issue to our Manager that eventually reached the top guns who settled the DUST and said these young men and women shouldn't be disturbed and that we should receive our allowances.

We resolved not to fear but to do our work and keep learning. One of my favorite songs at that point in life was HE's ABLE by Dettrick Haddon. I kept playing that song and singing it out aloud to my colleagues and as three months passed, it became a year and and 6 months. We started getting our little pay per week and continued learning more everyday. We chose not to look down on ourselves but to look at those who encouraged us and believed in us.

To cut the long story short, eventually a time came for me to move, as I was encouraged by the manager then, these were his words to me. Arthur, "If you want to grow more in your career, you have to leave this place". It was a hard pill to swallow because I had gotten quite comfortable but I hearkened to his words and took the challenge of applying for a job where i would have a properly recognized appointment letter and God indeed opened doors.

I learnt that I should not let the opinions of of others about me stop me from growing and rising in my life. I also learnt that such obstacles come in life but the way you maneuver them can determine how you can get through them, but be sure you will feel low and be bumped here and there. I also learnt that you don't need many people to believe in you, just one person is enough.

Fast forward, I meet this HR person somewhere in our walks of life and the person couldn't believe that the young man he once yelled at is a some body today. There were shades of guilt because he really humbled himself while talking to me... My response towards him was gracious and as we kept meeting, I kept doing good. He even encouraged me to do my MASTERS, what a mighty God we serve, this time instead of getting a point blank attitude, it was one of encouragement.

Life is hustle, the people you ignore on your way up, could be the same people you find on your way down, treat people right and value them as your own, do good to them and push them to achieve their dreams just like you were pushed to achieve yours. That's a chapter in life we have to go through to enable us grow.

Psalm 139:14 NLT Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Some Jobs Are Not Attractive But They Are Gold Mines

While coming to work. This track was a head of me and I saw a young man sit in there. I know his job is to collect cabbage and he is paid for it by KCCA.

Every two weeks at home where my family and I stay. There is a young man with a family that used to come with a bicycle to pick rubbish. He did this for 3 families in our 6 rental units. However he would come when he has already picked rubbish from other places as well.

One day my wife and I were shocked to see a bike (boda boda) packed at our gate and we asked him whose bike it was and he said, "It is mine". This young man had upgraded from a bicycle to a motor bike and I was impressed.

From having more engagements with him. We also found out that the rubbish he collects he takes it to a place where he sells it in Butabika especially to those people who are in the business of making bricks because they use the rubbish to fill the areas that have been dug. So you can imagine. He comes picks rubbish and he is paid 2000 ugx for everyone he has picked from and then he sells what looks like rubbish to us yet to him it is a gold mine and he is paid for it. This is quite impressive.

We still found out that he rares pigs and from this story, I seem to understand that attitude towards work is key and that you and I can turn what seems to look bad into something good and we also have to be determined to grow.

I leave us with the scripture about DOING "WORKING". We need to think of GOOD even from some of these opportunities that don't present themselves with the white collar element.

Scripture Reference. Galatians 6:9 NLT "So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up"

Do You Have Plans - It Is Important To Commit To God, Think Through And Implement Them

Hello good people, been thinking about the different plans my family had and also some of the achievements my wife and I realized in 2016. I realized that in planning, it takes just a step of faith to begin or start whatever God has put in your heart. But until you step out you will not know that it can be done.

When we look back at some of the goals we had set out, we realized at least 50% was done. And resolution for 2017 is to keep going, keep building on the progress we had already made and to keep committing the Plans in progress and the new plans set so that God can establish them.

I have come to realize that God has given us so much potential, dominion and power and we can use these for success or failure. We are a choice away from making it or just being stagnant or failing. We forget there are lessons to learn from the mistakes made, we forget that failure is not our last name because we aren't less than what we ought to be. We have the power to choose what can come out of our lives. When the University was closed for 2 months, In that time I used the opportunity to explore UBER and I started driving clients around and I can tell you, if you have a bad attitude towards work then you will keep complaining about everything and everyone saying they don't care yet it really starts with you. That money paid our bills, that money did so much that I can't name none the less God used that opportunity to give us confidence, to open our minds to know that we can depend on him and that he can guide and give us wisdom and tell us what to do - He created us to do good works and to also work and not sit back thinking manna will fall from heaven yet actually. We continued to sell yellow york eggs made on order to our clients and these have kept us going up until now.

Some of the grit I have comes from the volunteering experience I had with FOCUS Uganda, instead of sitting home, My friend Omunyoro Damon K Wamara encouraged me to go volunteer and such experiences are humbling and they give you the right attitude in life, Am forever grateful to him.

Our plans couldn't stop because of a delay or because of a change in circumstance we had to keep looking up and only re-strategize and keep believing in God to see us through. God indeed has the final say but he works with what you have in your hand. Set Goals but don't leave them on paper.

Scripture Reference: Proverbs 16:3 NLT Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.

NB. Will be sharing some of the testimonies of God's faithfulness in due time.

But Divide Your Investments Among Many Places

BUT DIVIDE YOUR INVESTMENTS AMONG MANY PLACES,for you don't know what risks may lie ahead.

Life is full of so many ups and downs, highs and lows. Imagine yourself having no salaried job in the next days or months, some people live life fully guaranteed with job security yet tragedy can happen any time.

I don't wake up late or sleep whole day - that is total disaster to my life and to the legacy I want my children to have. I wake up and do work - work is a gift and it isn't necessarily a job (even within a job you work just that it is defined for you). I use the skills I have at hand to earn from them and God is being faithful. 

Do you know that your driving permit can take you places, Do you know that the way you teach from the different things God has taught you or done can open doors for you and you are gifted with monies you don't even expect. Do you know that your integrity can grant you favor before people and today or tomorrow your getting a call and someone says they felt like getting you this and that, but you also can't just live from miracle to miracle, remember a little sleep, a little slumber, a litter folding of the arms - poverty knocks at your door. Do you know that you get called because of recommendations from friends and family because of the wonderful example you have set and how you have lived out your life - it is all a testimony. Do you know that those many cars you have parked and aren't being used, can earn you money instead of them being wasted away to luxury or that computer that seems old but just put way in the hip at the garage or that space behind your house that can enable you plant home grown foods. Instead of worrying, get up and put to task what you have been learning everyday.

Here are few key principles from the bible that can prepare you for hard times and in such hard times you can be prosperous just like ISAAC in the bible when they were struck by famine see Genesis 26:1-22

I like vs 22 .. this is what it says

Genesis 1:22 Abandoning that one, Isaac moved on and dug another well. This time there was no dispute over it, so Isaac named the place Rehoboth (which means “open space”), for he said, “At last the Lord has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.”

In hard times, when you don't give up, you will often find that open space, but the question is what do you do?, don't sit down waiting for someone to come and dig a well for you, someone to come and wake you up to think or start something to generate income or even volunteer. God has given us many open spaces or opportunities, we just don't want to use what is in our hands. In hard times purpose is born and passion is fueled, you basically have no limits and no time to cry and say this or that.

Take these lessons from Ecclesiastes 11

1 Send your grain across the seas,

and in time, profits will flow back to you.[a]

ENGAGE IN TRADE - You can always EARN through selling and buying (it could be a service, product, skill etc)

2 But divide your investments among many places,[b]

for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.

MAKE INVESTMENTS - investing itself is a risk but there is nothing that is so clear in life, you have to have faith, even starting a business is a risk but you have to spread your investment not just in one place but in many. The parable of the TALENTS explains this as well.

3 When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.

Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.

IT CAN RAIN any moment - how prepared are you.

4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.

If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

NEVER WAIT FOR PERFECT CONDITIONS, JUST IMPROVE YOURSELF IN THE HARD MOMENTS

5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,[c] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

EVENTUALLY GOD DOES ALL THINGS - remember commit your plans (Whatever they are ) to the Lord he has the final say at-least give him what to work with not just an empty hand and mind.

6 Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

PLANT, KEEP BUSY, PROFIT CAN COME FROM ANY ACTIVITY OR ALL.