#RyanTalks 'Obeying God's Voice Part 4 - Trust and Faith

"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
When you have faith in something, you instantly believe in it, even though you haven't seen it yet but you know it's going to happen. So, due to your faith you then begin to trust in the knowledge that it shall be delivered. 

Let's now break this down. When promised something, you begin to put your trust and belief that what you have wanted will be delivered i.e. a new phone. Once you are told it's on its way, you get excited and happy, you begin to plan out what you can do with it. Even though you haven't seen this new phone but you have faith it's going to be the best thing right now. 

One of the main problems society has today is the ability to put their faith and trust in someone or something. They want to see it before they trust and put their faith in them, they don't like to wait and see it being done. 

In the bible, we see so many great men of God who had everlasting faith and they were rewarded for it. Let's have a look at Abraham. Abraham's Faith was severely tested (Genesis 22 v 1 - 24), God told him that he had to go and offer his son as a sacrifice on the mountains, which God will show him. Abraham, got up and done as commanded, he didn't what was going to happen but he obeyed and followed command. He took his son and two of his servants up to where to God had told him to go. After days of traveling, on the third day, Abraham saw the place and told his men to wait there, he told his servants to wait with the donkey and he and his son, Isaac would go and worship on the mountains. Isaac asked his father where the lamb was for the burnt offering, Abraham replied and said that God would provide. 
So, they reached the place where God told him to go, once they arrived Abraham took his only son and prepared to sacrifice him. As he got ready. An Angel of the Lord told him to stop what he was doing. They now know that Abraham feared the Lord, so they provided him with a Lamb to offer a burnt offering. From that day, that place is known as Jehovah-Jireh: "in the mount of the lord it shall be seen"

The Angel of the Lord then called Abraham for a 2nd time and said to him that due to his obedience and his faith in God, he will now be blessed and he will be made a father of many nations. 

So, here was a man, who acted upon God's word. He trusted God even though he never knew what God had planned for him or where he wanted him to go. Hebrews 11 v 8 states that "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went"

Due to Abraham and his everlasting faith, he was rewarded for it. All through his life, he obeyed and did what the Lord had commanded. 

Let's now take a look at Moses and see what happens when he don't have faith. Moses was commanded that he would go to Pharoah and demand that the Children of Israel be let go. At that point, Moses wasn't confident that this would happen, he had so many questions which indicated his unbelief. All throughout the journey, Moses would continue to doubt God which then resulted in him being removed from leading the children into the Promise Land. Joshua and Caleb were rewarded because they were the only ones who had faith that they could enter the Promise Land and dispossess the enemies.  

So with Moses, we can see that he didn't believe nor did he have faith so he was punished. Moses was told what would took place but because he couldn't see it, he didn't believe but it's only when he saw the Promise Land, he soon regretted not believing or trusting God. 

When you truly know God, you will put your trust and faith in him, even though you haven't seen the end result, you know it's going to happen. 

So, lets start trusting God and putting our faith in him. What God had said he will do and what he will do he has said. Put your faith in him and you shall be greatly rewarded

#RyanSays - Why Are You Running

"You can Run, but you can't hide"

Why are You Running, where actually are you running to. If you're going to run, you'll have to be fast because you will soon eventually be caught and returned to where you came from.
When we run away from God, it doesn't matter how far away we run to or how fast we are, God will always find us.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam knew he did something wrong so he ran. He began to hide but eventually God saw what he did and started looking for him. "Adam, Where Art Thou"
Adam had to make a decision, carry on running with all that Guilt or come back to God. Adam eventually returned to God and made peace but there was consequences.

When life gets tough or when things get on top of you, when you know you have done wrong, you flee the scene, you try and cover your tracks, you become afraid. Nevertheless, it doesn't work and you have to return and try and fix your mess.

Let's look at this logically. Intelligence Units are very clever in stopping attacks or foiling plots, they know what is going to happen and who is going to do it. When you think you have been let off, we are mistaken. They put out a surveillance watch out on you and to track your every move. It could take them years to catch you, but they will. Even if you left the country, they will still catch you and bring you to justice.

So, If that's what the Intelligence Units can do, what makes us think we can run away from God? When we do wrong or we think that God doesn't want to talk to us or he is angry with us, we start to run. This is what Jonah did, he ran away from God's presence. (Jonah 1 and 2)

Jonah was given a task, he was told to go to Nineveh and cry against it, because that city was wicked. Jonah didn't fulfill it, he ran away to a place called Tarshish and found a place called Joppa. He jumped on a ship which was heading to Tarshish. On the way, The Lord sent out a mighty storm which eventually broke the ship into pieces. The Lord then sent a huge whale to come and swallow Jonah for three days and three nights. For Jonah, it was like being captured, no where to go, he couldn't anymore. So, he broke down and cried unto God to deliver him, upon hearing Jonah's request, the whale delivered Jonah unto the dry land.

That period in the belly of the whale, really humbled Jonah to the point that he recognised he couldn't run away anymore. No matter, what he did, where he ran to, God captured him. For God to capture, he sends things your way to completely humble you to the point of no return, the place that you realise you can't carry on without God. Jonah might have trekked for days, running away from God. He initially thought the responsibility was too much to bear so he took a chance and ran.

In our days, we don't have our ships broken etc but we do have prayer warriors, outreach teams looking out for us, praying for our safe return. Sometimes they will invade the territory in order to find you. So, stop running and go back to God.

Close your eyes and imagine someone running, where could they go? Who would they run to?
There's only so much running a person can do before they stop and decide to go Back. The place they ran to was a dead end but fortunately, God provides a way out, a way to get back to shore. A way to come back into his presence.

Stop Running to nowhere, turn around and run back to God. It's where you belong, It's where your meant to be.

#MondayMotivation - One Step Forward

'All it Takes is one Step and the rest will follow'

I Remember when I was growing up, I was told this 'Stop Thinking about It and Try It'. I had so many questions, questions like 'What if I don't like it' or 'What If it doesn't work'
Generally when people tell us to do something new or do something we haven't done before, we will have reservations but sometimes we just have to take One Step Forward.

For us to get somewhere in Life, we have to take steps to get where we need to be. How will we ever get anywhere, if we don't take One Step Forward in the right direction.
You might want to start a business, start a blog, start a ministry, open a venue/building, the world is your oyster, the sky is the limit but all it requires you to take One Step Forward

Look at it through the world of a little child. They've just learnt to stand by themselves but they need to walk. It make them someone holding their hand to do it, but they take One Step Forward and the rest will follow. Nothing comes to us unless we go to it, we must activate our plans and set goals and then take that crucial step.

So, what could that crucial step be? What do you have planned which requires you to take One Step Forward. It might be deciding on a name for your business, writing your first piece for your blog, recording your very first vlog or deciding to have that first meeting with an estate agent about a venue or you might have decided to put on a huge event but first you need to put a plan together.

In our world, we believe in encouraging people to pursue what they love. For you to do that, you must get rid of the negative voices and thoughts that you have in your mind. Replace them with positive thoughts, voice and people. People that will keep you in line and ask you questions relating to your dream. It worked for us and we would love it to work for you?

Don't be afraid to Step Out and take One Step Forward. That One Step Forward will be all you need to get things going. The Rest Will Follow, The Contracts will be signed, The Views will start building up. You can't, however, achieve what you want by standing still, you will never get anywhere. Up to this date, we haven't witnessed anyone every achieve anything by standing still, they had to take that first step forward.

Set the standard for your generation and take that One Step Forward. Don't Stand Still. I challenge you from you today till the end of 2014, take One Step Forward and the rest will follow.

If you need help finding out what it is or how to do it, leave a message or contact us. We will be glad to help.

'All it Takes is one Step and the rest will follow'

#RyanSays - Jesus at the Centre of It All

Put Jesus the Centre of it All and everything will work out perfectly. It may take time, but it will happen. You will see the full manifestation.

Let's look at in the reality of our world today. When deciding how to word it, Jesus showed me a map. He then said he represents access to the Father. He directs our path and our every move.

So, what do we use maps for? We use maps for directions, finding things and location certain places. When we use a map and follow it correctly, we will arrive where need to be. It might take a while, but we will get there. When we don't use a map, we will eventually get lost
Some people declare that they don't need a map and that they know how to get there because they've been to a certain place before. Knowing this, they follow the directions of this person but it turns out the route they once took is not available anymore.
You are now lost in the middle of nowhere, but the person who has the map comes to your rescue. They give it to you and then you finally get to the place way after you were supposed to arrive.

So this teaches us that not many people know the right directions, if we believe their word, we will eventually get lost.

Let's now put it in a heavenly perspective. When we don't follow Jesus, we get lost. When we don't put Jesus at the centre of our universe, our world becomes confused, we don't know what to do, we become tangled up in so many things. We then try to figure out what exactly took place which results in us not going anywhere fast.

So, Let's put Jesus at the Centre of our universe. We will then find our way to where we need to be. Our lives will become clearer and then we will be more confident about ourselves. Our world doesn't move without Jesus at the Centre.

Now, Let's take a look at it from another perspective.

I have devised the #trafficlightsystem to help us

Red - Stop
Amber - Get Ready
Green - Go

In our lives, sometimes we have to wait or stop before moving on to a new place or a new job. Once we are close, we need to get ready, get our engines revved up so when we get the Green Light, we are able to go.

If we cross Red, we are most likely going to crash or enter another traffic jam which might delay our journey to where we need to be. We might even have to pay a penalty for crossing Red.
Once it gets to Amber, we need to get ready, be at the right gear, put our foot on the accelerator and be alert. Once you get the Green Light, you are free to go, free to pursue what you need.

Now Jesus, is like a Traffic Light System. There will be times where he will need us to stop and don't go any further. It's because ahead of us there will be things ahead of us which will cause us to crash. Once that is clear, he will tell us to get ready, get into gear and be be alert for when he gives us the Green light.

If we don't pay attention to his voice or be alert to what he wants from us, we then get left behind because we wasn't ready.

So, Let's Put Jesus at the Centre of it All. Nobody else but Jesus

#RyanSays - Do What You Love, Love what You Do

'Do What you Love, Love What you Do'

For many years, since I started my working life, the first thing I was taught was to do actually that. Do something I loved.

Lately, we now see people not doing what they love. Everyday is like a struggle, they can't motivate themselves to head into work with a long day ahead of them. Everyday, they do something that they know is making them unhappy but because they are trapped in a cycle they can't bring themselves to leave. It's one of the biggest things that has crippled our society for years. It's what we called 'Purpose without Passion' Doing something without Passion, loving something without Passion. So it could be that your tasks become repetitive, it seems like you are forced to do it and seeing it as a burden rather than doing it with excitement.
Another reason why is that people are scared to leave a job what they've done for years in the fear that people will think they are silly. They've got a stable job, great money + benefits but in reality it's not what they love doing. They instead have to satisfy the universe and be involved in something which they don't have the heart for.

Looking at this from a heavenly perspective, It is because of their disobedience and lack of belief that they have ended up like this. There is no courage to pursue what they really want because they are scared of what people might say. It could be something like 'Oh, you don't want to do that, it won't benefit you' or 'Why do you want to leave, how you going to afford things'

So before I carry on, ask yourself this - Why Do I Do What I am doing now? What are your motivations behind it?

For some people, the desire to make a change for themselves and for some other people could be behind their decisions. Maybe it could be there is a particular need for people like them. But other people they make their decisions based on everyday life i.e. How Will I pay the Bills or How will I afford to go out etc, it might even be the fear that they won't be the able to find another job.

Leaving a Job can be tough, the prospects of the month ahead might look bleak but If you trust In God and believe what he says to you, you really can do What you Love and still meet the never-ending demands of society.
When we ask God to deliver our perfect Job, he will show us how to get there, what route to take, what doors to open and where to go but instead of waiting and listening to him, we go with the first option. It might of looked attractive but it's not really meant for you, the prospects might look excellent but in reality, it just doesn't suit you. God might even tell you to do certain side Jobs, just to gain experience and then when it's time, you move on. Unfortunately, people don't listen and stay somewhere when they're not supposed to.
Imagine staying in a house for a few months and then all of a sudden, your dream house appears. It's time to move but because you are trapped, you can't move. When you do get out, it's gone. Back to square one and Back in that Cycle.

If you don't love where you are, Get out of it and move on. People might miss you but you need to do what is right for you. They might not instantly understand but they will in time to come. Staying somewhere which isn't for you will cause to become unproductive, lazy and you then lose focus and then you struggle to see what's next. This Is why when at work sometimes, when the boss sees you not concentrating or targets aren't being met, they send you home and won't let you return sometime.
To avoid this, stop exactly what is is, Get Up and Get Out, Stop trying to attract something what you don't love

When you leave or you miss Jobs, it could be because we lost communication with God but the ultimate reason is that he something greater in store for us.

When looking for A Job, I try and apply for Jobs which I could imagine doing for a lifetime, I then ask God for guidance, direction, wisdom and knowledge so when the opportunity arises I will get up and take it.
If you apply these principles, I believe you will be able to be free and pursue what you have always wanted to do. It might take some time, you might have to take a few routes, exit a few places but you will eventually get to where you need to be.

When God is not consulted or he is not at the Centre, you can become distracted, you lose direction and then you get trapped. 

Let's Consult God on every decision, Let God be the centre of it all and you will truly do what you love. Put him at the heart of every move and see if it matches up with his plan for your life.

I am now doing what I Love which is watching football, writing about football and also providing inspiration and motivation in the form of #RyansWorld
I put God at the centre and let him direct my every move and now I am seeing him go great wonders in my life, people who I need to help me get to the next level are now being attracted to me. There are certain people in my life who I love dearly, They have helped me see things from a different perspective. It's only because I gave it to God and let him direct it.

Let this Inspire you and help you in your next career move. Focus On God, let him lead and you will enter your the thing that you love. You will start to attract people that you love, things that you love and into places where they will love you and will love them.

'Do What you Love, Love What you Do'

#RyanTalks - 'Obeying God's Voice' Part 3 - Accountability

At the very beginning of time when God created Adam, we saw that Adam was told not to eat the apple from the forbidden tree. Now,his wife Eve, ate from the Apple tree. She believed the Serpent over God. Eve then gave the Apple to Adam, he knew clearly that God told him to not the Apple. He went ahead which then caused God to punish both Adam and Eve, just because they disobeyed God and for their lack of belief. So we see that this disobedience and lack of belief mentality started with Adam and Eve and then carried on. 

Carrying on with the theme of 'Obeying God's Voice', we saw that The Children of Israel perished in the wilderness due to their lack of belief and disobedience. You could say that they were held accountable for their actions.
Now, we never saw anything mentioned about Moses reaching the Promise Land. Why could this be? Well, due to Moses disobeying and also doubting himself and God, he too was held accountable for his actions.

Understandably, Moses would have questions. Before you start something, get that out the way before you accept. There's no point accepting and after you start asking questions i.e. What If I say the wrong thing or What If they don't believe me etc.
At the beginning of the task, God spoke to Moses at the Burning Bush. The Instructions were clear but Moses doubted himself which itself was very dangerous. For every excuse, God provided him with an answer. During this Journey we see that because Moses doubted himself, the Children of Israel doubted his every word. How can you lead a community when you doubt yourself, it didn't give them the confidence. 
When we don't feel confident about ourselves, other people will not be confident in us which could cause us to lose our position. 

So, Lets look at what the term Accountable and Accountability means.
Accountable - required or expected to justify actions or decisions, responsible
 - able to be explained or understood

Accountability - the state of being accountable, liable, or answerable

Lets look at why Moses never reached the Promise Land. In Deuteronomy 32, we see that God talked to Moses. Think of it like being hauled into the director's office and now having to explain your actions. This is what God told Moses.

Deuteronomy 32 v 51 - 52
"Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
Yet thou shalt see the land before thee but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel"

So, Moses actually saw the Promise Land, he could see it from the distance. God allowed him to see it from where he was but he was not allowed to enter. Imagine having your dream or vision in front of you snatched away at the last minute. I'd imagine you'd be upset, angry with yourself, wondering what you did to deserve it.
Moses didn't obey what had God told him and in turn he was held accountable for his actions. Now, lets take an actual look at what went down which caused Moses to miss the Promise Land

Numbers 20 v 7 - 12
⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” ⁹ So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.
¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
¹² Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

Just before that, the Children of Israel had complained to Moses and Aaron that was no water, so they in turn went to the Lord and asked for a solution. The Lord clearly told Moses directly to speak to the rock and water will come out but Moses had other plans. Instead, he struck the rock twice, it still brought out water but not the way the Lord told him to do it. So, with that, The Lord confronted them and basically said that because they didn't believe him, they were not to enter the Promise Land. 
There were yet more reasons which given which caused Moses to miss the Promise Land. 
1 - Moses disobeyed a direct command from God
2 - Moses took all the credit for bringing out the water, rather than credit it to God
3 - Moses did this act in front of the Israelites, such public disobedience could not be allowed 

So, before being told he would not be allowed to lead the Israelites into the Promise Land, I wonder if Moses attempted to explain his actions. So, we can clearly see that because Moses did not believe in God, he was punished and was held accountable. 

Let's look at this in a more simpler term:
You are a Project Manager, the Project is to successfully transition your team from one area of the country to another area. A lot needs to be done, you are given a partner to help you. You have now left the area and are now hitched up halfway. You then doubt then you will be able to carry out the job, so to make life easier, you do things your own way. 
It brings a result but now you have embarrassed the directors, you are displaying you have no faith in their ways even though it has worked for many years. As a result, you are called in. They say that you can see the finished work but you can not lead the project and as result you must leave. Your reputation is now ruined and if you apply for other jobs, the chances look bleak because you lack belief and obedience.
Personally, I would be upset but I can't blame anyone but myself. As a result, I am now being held accountable for my actions.

Let's learn from Moses, when given a task or a project, we should clearly follow the set guidelines and work with it. Even if you have your own ideas, save that for your own project. For now, prove that you are the man for the job and you will find favor on other projects.
If you can get an Accountable Partner, make sure they won't let you slip or fall away. They should be able to keep you on the correct path.

God gave Moses a direct command, he disobeyed and now he had to face the penalty - not leading the Children of Israel and not entering the Promised Land.

We are Accountable for our own Actions, no one else but us. Let's make right decisions, head down the right path, start listening and more importantly let's finish the job. 

#RyanTalks - 'Obeying God's Voice' Part 2

'I will believe it when I see it'
This has become one of the many phrases that has been used by today's society. Lets admit, we have all said this or thought about it once in a while.
Society these days don't generally like to wait and see the finished article. They want everything now, without it being ready or without it being tangible, they refused to believe what people say. No matter what anyone says or what they see, without it being tangible there is no way they will believe.

We also live in an age where we love to complain about everything. When things don't go our own way, we tend to look at our problems and become disheartened rather than trust in God and obey his word and follow him.

In the books of Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua, we see the journey that the Children of Israel took on the way towards the Promise Land. They were bound in slavery by the Egyptians, the pain and anguish was too much that they cried to God begging for their release. God heard their cry and sent Moses and Aaron to rescue them. Now, you would think they would of been grateful. They expected to be released straight away but when it didn't happen, they complained to Moses and Aaron. They didn't believe that what God had told Moses and Aaron would come to pass. Eventually, they did escape but Pharaoh and his army were determined to take them back but God rescued them, he parted the Red Sea and they reached the other side, Pharaoh and his army were destroyed. The Children of Israel danced and partied but still they didn't believe God's word that they could dispossess the enemies in the Promise Land and take control.

We then see that they were now in the Wilderness, it took them forty years to reach the Promised Land. Before that, in the wilderness, they complained and complained. They even gathered together and put together a plan to return to Egypt. Moses sent forth Joshua and Caleb a few other guys to go and spy on a land and to see everything about it and what they will need to destroy the enemy. On return, Joshua and Caleb said that it was very possible for them to take control of the Promise Land but the 10 other guys claimed that it was impossible, they were giants bigger than them and that they would be crushed. On hearing that, the Children of Israel complained and their faith and belief diminished even further. The people who delivered that bad report then perished in the Wilderness, the children of Israel who failed to believe in God's word also perished but Joshua and Caleb, the faithful servants who believed in God's word, were allowed to enter the Promise Land and inherit it along with their future generations.

Due to the unbelief and their lack of faith, The Children of Israel perished in the wilderness. After all the signs and wonders, the miracles they had seen before their own eyes, all the words that had been spoken they still didn't believe. As a result, they never got to reach the Promise Land which the God had promised their forefathers. A Whole Generation never got to see the Land due to their lack of unbelief.

So, what we have seen here is a nation that were promised a great promise. They had heard but they hadn't seen, they couldn't comprehend that they were finally going to escape Pharaoh and enter the Promise Land. So, we can see that if we disobey God's word, we ourselves might not enter the Promise Land. Our dreams, hopes could die as a result of our unbelief. When we hear the saying 'This will separate the men from the boys', it is basically that. Your period in the wilderness will either make or break you, it will determine whether you will make it to other side and you just stay in the wilderness and live a lonely life.

For such a long time, we hear plans and God tells what he has planned for us but so many people have abandoned their calling in favor of a quick solution. What once looked attractive has now turned into a hostile situation.
We, as a Generation, are suffering for what our forefathers did. We may not have contributed directly but as a result of their actions, we are now suffering.  It could generally cost us our own life.
It's something that we as a Generation have to deal with, the next Generation is in our hands. Our disobedience could cost them, their access to their land could be denied if we don't act now. Maybe God has already told you about the future, even though you haven't seen it, do you believe it?

Disobeying God's Word can cause a lot of tangled webs that you cannot escape without fervent prayer or even repenting and turning your back on the ways set by your forefathers.I believe that we have grown up in a society where we struggle to believe things which people tells us due to our lack of unbelief. This is the reason why we see broken families, children living a life of unseen potential, marriage breakdowns, generational illnesses / curses. It's real

Remember this - 'One man's actions can affect a whole nation'

Right now, we can either believe and enter the Promise Land or disobey and enter perish in the Wilderness.

Let us start obeying and securing Future Generations. It's Now or Never