GOD'S RELATIONSHIP WITH US THROUGH THE EARTHLY LIFE'S JOURNEY, SUCCESS AND FAILURE BY ROGERS NSUBUGA

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SPIRITUAL INSPIRATIONS

God’s relationship with us through the earthly life’s Journey, success and failure Mr. Rogers Nsubuga (55), is a graduate of Social Sciences of Makerere University, Kampala – Uganda (1991-1994). He majored in Political Science, Sociology and Psychology. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in Public Administration and Management from the same University (1994-1996). He is a former student of the Bannakaroli Brothers for 17 years. He attended AMECEA (Gaba) Pastoral Institute Eldoret, Kenya in 1985 where he earned a Diploma in Religious Education and Patoral Studies. In 1987-1989 he attended the then Plater College, Pullens Lane, Oxford, in the United Kingdom, where he attained a Diploma in Theology and Social Studies. He is married and God has blessed him with three children: a boy and two girls. His background in Catholic Social Teaching and in a Religious Community has developed his interest in helping the vulnerable and the social outcasts. He is currently serving in one of the Justice, Law and Order Sectors (JLOS) in Uganda at the level of Principal Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Officer a position he has held since 1996 to date.

He can be contacted on email: nsubugarogers@yahoo.co.uk Cell Phone: +256772438666

ROGERS NSUBUGA 9 789 970 93 940 930 4 5

DEDICATION To my wife Frank Mbamanya and Children: Richard Mutebi, Agnes Namubiru, Ann Namutebi.

------------------------------------------------------Be firm in Faith.

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Cover Picture:

The Road symbolizes our spiritual journey on earth which we are traveling towards Heaven. The Sun ahead stands for our hope which connects us to God Our Father who is in Heaven.

God’s relationship with us through the earthly life’s Journey, success and failure

ROGERS NSUBUGA

Š 2014 Rogers Nsubuga All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means- electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other – except for brief quotations in reviews or articles, without the prior permission of the author. (Copyright Act 2006, Uganda) ISBN No: 978-9970-9394-0-4 ii

CONTENTS

PG

Preamble by the Author

IV

Foreword by Rev. Brother Leadro Mutebi

VI

Introduction

7

CHAPTER 1

10

WHO ARE YOU? CHAPTER 2

14

WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM? CHAPTER 3

18

WHERE ARE YOU NOW? CHAPTER 4

23

WHERE ARE YOU GOING? cHAPTER 5

27

COULD YOUR BEST FRIENDS BE YOUR WORST ENEMIES? CHAPTER 6

34

LEARN TO BELIEVE IN YOURSELF CHAPTER 7

40

BE PATIENT AND HOPEFUL CHAPTER 8

45

GOD’S KINDNESS AND MERCY LIFE iii

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PREAMBLE

BY THE AUTHOR I am grateful to the Almighty God for His kindness which has enabled me to write this inspirational and reflectional book on God’s relationship With Us Through the Earthly Life’s Journey, Success and Failure which all of us are travelling on earth.

While at home during my annual leave in November 2014, I felt a voice internally invoking me to write up something like a book which can be of some help to the many who are troubled and have lost hope. I am not claiming in any way that this was a revelation, but I know that somehow somewhere God had a hand in this project.

Thereafter, I went to my children’s bedrooms where I picked a free counter book and started writing as I was being inspired by the inner voice.

Topics came by as I started writing until the last Chapter. I started with the Introduction in which our life’s journey as we travel to heaven is seen as a pilgrimage whereby we need thorough preparation before embarking on it. I also encourage the reader to appreciate the gift of life which we seldom acknowledge or give thanks to God. Although life is a gift from God, it is not a right but a privilege. It is never free from ups and downs, joys and sorrows, challenges and opportunities, success and failure. As we travel this earthly life’s journey we are confronted on the way by many temptations which divert us from our spiritual journey. But with the help of God we continue despite the appalling conditions we find ourselves in as we travel with our fellow travellers. Sometimes we are abandoned or let down by the very people we called friends, relatives and fellow countrymen.

This Book challenges us in the following chapters: Who are you? iv

Where are you coming from? Where are you now? Where are you going? Could your best friends be your worst enemies? Learn to believe in yourself; Be patient and hopeful; God’s kindness and Mercy.

Readers are cautioned that our life is not useless. God has a purpose for creating us despite man’s ungratefulness. Therefore, our suffering, joy, frustrations, stress and disappointments should have a meaning to us because they make us who we are.

We are encouraged to trust in God, have a few trusted friends, be patient and hopeful that things will change for the better as long as our relationship with God is alive. God will always open doors for which no person has ever opened in order to rescue us like the children of Israel who were rescued from Egypt as long as we are able to call upon His Name in faith and sincerity.

Finally we should always endeavor to reciprocate God’s love, mercy and kindness by helping His people in need so that His love, kindness and mercy will be reflected in us and those we help.

Rogers Nsubuga

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FOREWORD

BY SUPERIOR GENERAL EMIRITUS OF THE BANNAKAROLI BROTHERS

The work which Rogers Nsubuga has done reflects very well his background as a former Student of the Bannakaroli Brothers. I am proud of him though he has challenged me as his former teacher, mentor and Religious Superior.

I am not surprised that Rogers requested me to write the Foreword for this Book. He has always been interested in writing. Those who can remember he used to contribute articles to the then Musizi Catholic Magazine in Luganda and to Leadership in English as early as 1980. I have ever seen also some of his articles and letters in various Newspapers like The New Vision and The Daily Monitor just to mention but a few.

Rogers’ Book: “God’s Relationship With Us Through the Earthly Life’s Journey, Success and Failure” is a clear manifestation of God’s purpose for us on earth as we travel towards the Promised Land. This book has simplified our Catechism in a simple and basic manner yet rich in the Theological interpretation of who we are; where we are coming from; where we are going; knowing our friends and enemies; learning to believe in ourselves; being patient and hopeful in God’s kindness and mercy. These help us to understand our creation, purpose on earth, personal relationship with God and fellow human beings.

Finally, the reader is reminded that as long as we enjoy God’s gift of life, love and kindness we should reciprocate the same love towards those who are less privileged, so that those who have lost hope and patience may see light at the end of the tunnel which will bring them salvation and an end to their suffering like the people of Israel from Egypt.

I wish you all who will read this book a fruitful reflection as you meditate on the word of God in the verses quoted from the Scriptures.

REV. BROTHER LEANDRO MUTEBI vi

Introduction Life is full of trials. It has never been easy. Those who have been successful in life or made it have endured a lot of things to be where they are today.

Scholars, business people, the rich, sportsmen and women sacrifice a lot in order to be where they are. Their success and victory is the crown they get. Those who give up early or relax fail to achieve anything in life. But there are also those who have had all their achievements in life go down the drain because they never persisted. Saints sacrificed a lot to be where they are today.

Life is a journey which all of us travel like pilgrims on a mission.

Pilgrims prepare for their pilgrimages. They must ensure that physically, psychologically, financially and spiritually they are fit otherwise they may never make it as it were to the Promised Land.

All of us at whichever stage, level, point and space in time we need to stop and reflect on our life’s earthly journey. This is the purpose of this little inspirational book.Jeremiah states that God knew us even before we were born in chapter one, verse 4-5: “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

The ups and downs we face in life are many. They represent themselves to us as challenges and opportunities. Many times these ups and downs appear to us as success, failures, suffering, pleasures, wealth and poverty.

Many of these ups and downs are caused partly by ourselves that is from within or by others from outside that is from 7

without. Failure to abide by the rules and the inner voice from within us lead into irreversible situations and everlasting mistakes. But this does not mean that we should not or never try to live and be successful in life. In every situation there is always a learning experience. Failure and success, trying and not trying something all are life’s best learning experiences to those who see us. Not trying could be a push and a pull factor for others to try up something or not to try since they may be having the potential to succeed where we may have failed.

The gift of life is one of the generators which propel innovators and explorers to continue with the journey of life, and to find meaning where there was none, and to bring hope where there was despair. A dead body in the Physical world is helpless and it depends on the mercy and support of the living persons, while in the spiritual world our lives depend on God. This book has come in to fill and bridge this gap and to put meaning to our stressful lives. It is intended to encourage you and others starting with me to carry on with the life’s joys, trials and tribulations so that one day we shall be able to be crowned with the crown of victory.

No person can compete for a race and expect victory without consulting his / her inner voice. This inner voice leads us to discover who we are, where we have come from and where we are going. It is this inner voice which discerns your true friends and enemies and how much you should trust them.

When you are able to know these things then you will be able to believe in yourself and to call on God for assistance when your potentials and so called friends have failed you.

Human beings are unreliable and very unpredictable. It is only God who can keep our secrets. He can be trusted and 8

entrusted with your entire life for good or for worse. Call on him. He is listening and he will always answer you when least expected for an effective divine answer and solution to your predicaments. This answer will always change things and will lead you amidst the valley of tears and the roaring lions seeking for a person to devour. (Psalms 22:12-13).

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Chapter One WHO ARE YOU? This question is easy but hard and difficult to answer. Several people would prefer to answer it by mentioning their name, tribe, age, qualifications and so forth. I am called so and so, aged …., a citizen of……… and a national of……, and so on.

The Baganda have a unique way of introducing themselves in a manner that takes you back to their clans and ancestral origins in order to prove to you that the person is a son or a daughter of the soil and a real tribesmate. It is well recorded that even the Jews used the same generational and ancestral lineage to introduce themselves. Mathew 1:1-2:23 gave the world a real witness of genealogy of Jesus.

There are many ways in which you can tell people of who you are. But are you the person you think you are introducing yourself? Ask yourself. Who am I? In order to explain to others of who you are, you need to understand yourself initially.

Before you tell people who you are you need to know what other people are to you. Are they human beings or beasts to you? God created us in his image. But some of us have distorted that image. The way we live and treat others doesn’t define us as human beings. Some of us are worse off than animals and live like real brutes and beasts.

If you are able to introduce yourself as a human being created in God’s image then you are in the right path of defining who you are.

We should know that we were created in the image of God. It 10

doesn’t matter whether God is a Father or a Mother to you.

This is because some people are more influenced by mothers than fathers. And they derive mercy and kindness from their mothers than their fathers. You know some fathers are so inhuman that God cannot be compared to them. For other people who have derived mercy from their mothers the story is different. These can call or refer to God as their Mother because of the kindness and mercy majority of our mothers have demonstrated. This is in no way demeaning the teachings of the theological dogmas of the Church and nature of God the FATHER and the Holy Trinity.

Therefore, you as a creature of God created in his image how do you behave and treat others? Are you going through earthly life’s journey witnessing to that fact of being a son and daughter of GOD? Many people think that their curriculum vitae (C.V) is enough to define who they are. (A Curriculum vitae (C.V) gives an overview of a person’s experience and other qualifications. In some countries, a C.V is typically the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview, employment).

Mentioning your sex, tribe, nationality, age, qualifications, religion, marital status, number of children, language spoken, driving license, Passport number, etc; doesn’t tell, define or reveal who you are. What defines and tells us a lot about who you are remains inside you and is connected to your life’s journey here on earth.

Your life experiences tell us a lot about you and who you are. Experience doesn’t mean successful stories only but even those failures, falls and shameful moments in life mean a lot.

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What you experience with your success and failure tells a lot about who you are. When we fall we should stand up again.

That is life. Those who fail to stand up or fail to continue and stubbornly refuse to try cannot define who they are.

Knowing who you are demands that you know who created you and why you were created.

The Catholic Catechism starts with the Question: Why did God make you?

Answer: God made me to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.

Without understanding ourselves clearly there’s no way we can tell others who we are.

More than often we hate our employers and workmates leading to the disliking of ourselves and the work we are doing. Sometimes we find that we don’t get all the things we had hoped for in life. Therefore we become bitter, depressed, frustrated, discontented, discouraged and hateful. If not helped this can lead to suicidal tendencies like Judas of Iscariot.“Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.” Matthew 27:5 The same phenomenon above applies in our relationships as well. We blame every one including God except ourselves.

We say that others are well off, selfish, corrupt, promiscuous, thieves, rapists, and murderers. None is honest with us except pretense and selfishness.

After having disagreements from within and without, we join communities or religious groups whose leaders promise us prosperity without hardships and all sorts of things creating 12

heaven on earth after which none of the utopian promises are given to us. After these unfulfilled commitments and promises we get more miserable because we don’t know who we are.

The whole dilemma often starts from the fact that we don’t really know why we are alive at all, who we are, where we are coming from and where we are going from here.

Before you know others endeavor to know yourself first.

When you grasp this you will know yourself better, where you are coming from, where you are and where you are destined to go after here.

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Chapter Two WHERE ARE YOU COMING FROM? Human beings were endowed with intelligence and free will.

They know where they are coming from and can determine where they will go next in the life’s earthly journey through their relationship with God. As human beings our lives are complex unlike that of beasts.

In Chapter one we saw that what defines who we are has a lot to do with our experiences than what we have amassed or accumulated in life. It makes no meaning to own the entire universe when you are unable to define yourself who you are.

“For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?” Luke 9:25 The same applies to lack of knowledge of where you are coming from. Without knowing where you are coming from it may be difficult to know where you are going. You are most likely to be stagnated. A criminal may never know that his or her actions could lead to imprisonment.

Have you ever asked this question why of all the children who were born on the same day with you, you may be among the few who are still alive? On the day you were born many children died but God has preserved you up to this day. Did you pay anything to God? At some point and time in history a man and woman fell in love which led to my birth and yours.

The Psalmist on recognizing this mystery of his life said, “Yes, you are the one who brought me out from the womb and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts. I have been dependent on you since birth; from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God”. Psalms 22:9-10.

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We don’t know why we were born a male or a female, a boy or a girl. We did not choose our physical appearance, color, tribe, nationality, sex, continent, country and parents. We found ourselves alive on this planet called earth. Some people were born with silver spoons in their mouth filthy rich and others poor as the legend of the church mouse.

Many children who were like you with more loving parents and wealthy means were unable to make it to this day but those children born in hardships made it. “Even if my father and mother abandoned me, the LORD would take me in”.Psalms 27:10.

Very often we enjoy chicken without thinking much of the hen which produced the eggs that turned into the chicken we enjoy in our homes, restaurants, functions and bars.

After knowing where you are coming from you begin to appreciate who you are and to be grateful to the almighty God who takes care of us the good and the bad.

Once upon a time all of us were like tinny eggs in our mother’s wombs. God knew of us before we were created or formed in our mothers’ wombs. God knew us before we were created and born. He knew each one of us by name, sex, nationality, color, height, abilities, talents and the purpose of our creation.

Luke 2:21 The story of where we are coming from doesn’t take volumes of paper to write. It is not the well written autobiographies and how many years we have lived which make us know where we are coming from. People who see you must be able to tell that you originated from God’s love. Where we are coming from is reflected in our appreciation and starts from an acknowledgement of God’s love towards us through 15

creation. You may leave a long lasting history as a useless legacy but as long as it lacks an acknowledgement of God for who you are and what He has done for you it is like praising the vehicle and a driver without recognizing its manufacturer/ maker. In this case God is the manufacturer and driver of our life. When he stops the vehicle our lives stop and our earthly journey ends there. It does not matter how powerful we are.

Wherever you are and whoever you are, you must always remember and confirm that if it were not for God’s kindness and mercy you would have been nothing. It is not your family, your religion, your priest, your pastor, your tribe, your clan, your education, your god father or mother, your wealth or curses, but God’s grace, kindness and mercy.

Have you ever thought of an answer as to why in many wealthy families more than often there’s always a black sheep of some sort? Or why a successful person emerges from a poor family? Why a Priest and Pastor could end up in hell and a public sinner ends up in heaven? Why the educated person is poor and the illiterate is filthy rich? You don’t need to strain yourself. Judas Iscariot the traitor and the thief on the cross, who was appreciated by Jesus? It was the good thief on the cross who knew where he had come from and where he was going. He acknowledged God’s mercy and kindness and Jesus promised him heaven straight away. “One of the criminals who was hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23 39:43).

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No matter where you are at present, God can still use you for a better purpose than what you have never dreamt or thought of. I am not talking of fake miracles by imposters but God’s mercy which reaches to all humanity without segregating them in any way. In God’s eyes there are no CHILDREN in capital cases and children in small cases. God makes ways where there’s no way. We are all His CHILDREN in capital letters.

Your coming from a poor family background and infamous history can be changed once you acknowledge God and recognize who you are and where you are coming from. Many people have the tendency of denying their past. They paint a rosy picture of whom they are and where they are coming from. This is Lucific pride.

Please don’t be like them. Be humble to acknowledge that you came from nothing. God our Creator is a source of your origin. Coming from God places us at a higher level and market value than those who don’t owe their origin to Him. Because we are from God and fashioned in his image we are hated by the evil one. We are hated and tested by many things in our life which damage our relationship with God in this life’s earthly journey.

Before we move to our various destinations where we want to be, we should always call on GOD for guidance because He is the source of our being as we wander in our life’s earthly journey.

You know life is indeed a journey.

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Chapter Three WHERE ARE YOU NOW? This Chapter takes us back to where we started from. Having known who we are and where we are coming from, we need to know where each one of us is with his or her God. In our spiritual and physical earthly journey we make many plans of what we want to do, where we want to go, and where we want to be at a given time and space. Some people call this a personal strategic investment plan (SIP). To some people this is like their vision.

All people with sound mind program themselves in order to ensure that after some time they take stock of their projects.

This is the accountability. We monitor and evaluate (M&E), our performance and progress basing on our set targets, deliverables and personal appraisal.

For example young persons who graduated in 1994 from the University set targets to achieve goals like: a Master’s Degree, marriage, a family, build a house, buy a car and start a business.

But after some years down the road since graduation some may have achieved all those goals and others some of those goals. It is also true that the rest have never achieved anything of what they had targeted to achieve. And among those who achieved their set targets might have degenerated on some of the goals they had achieved.

There are also those who have died ever since. Some people might have bought their dream car, built a house, got married, etc. You may find that the house and the cars were sold or stolen, those married divorced long time ago. It is also possible that others ended up in prison after failing to live within their 18

means. Vehicles or houses were sold off or confiscated by the money lenders and banks in order to pay debts and to recover loans.

Those who have achieved their targets and whose dreams have come true are seen by the world as successful. Those who have not performed well, society looks at them as failures, and they look at themselves as the cursed ones and the poor of Yahweh, (the Anawim of Yahweh). But God doesn’t appraise us like that.

The question of ‘where are you?’ is not interested in your academic achievements, what wealth you have amassed or accumulated. It doesn’t need to know whether you are married or divorced. The question is not interested in your big job with a big organization or company.

In this life’s journey we learn to encounter many challenges and problems which divert us from the true source of our origin and purpose of our existence. The world we live in tends to praise the minority corrupt rich, the strong and mighty ones leaving out the majority honest and poor, the weak and wretched of the earth. The dictators are praised than the peaceful democratic leaders. That’s life.

Transitory things are adored and praised at the expense of the transcendent things. Primitive and corrupt accumulation of wealth is praised and adored at the expense of honest poor persons who earn wealth through just and fair means.

So when you are asked where are you at the moment, you need to examine first of all your relationship with God our Creator. Can you talk to God? Does God still talk to you?

God is a loving Father or Mother whatever the case maybe.

God has chosen and picked each one of us from nothingness 19

and nowhere to somewhere and somebody.

Yes we may have not or never achieved all that the worldly people call success but God has continued taking care of us every day, every night, every week, every month and every year. He has continued sustaining our lives and taking care of our spiritual, social, political and economic needs.

The gift of life many of us are taking for granted is a miracle being wrought in our lives day and night. Sleeping, waking up, breathing, eating, walking and the oxygen we breathe all of these are God’s daily miracles in our lives. This is all God’s mercy, love and kindness for us human beings. Of course animals and other creatures are beneficiaries of the same love of God. Although animals enjoy many of the things mentioned above, they lack intelligence and free will. Animals don’t have the time to ask who they are; where they are going or where they are coming from in time and space. The day they will learn that they are loaded on trucks to be taken to the abattoir to be slaughtered it will be chaotic and catastrophic.

Human beings question and have the intelligence to ask who they are, where they are coming from, where they are at present and where they are going. When human beings learnt that they were being taken into slavery things were never the same again.

Whoever is reading or listening to this text might be wondering what is going on? Our relationship with God goes beyond that of a lover, spouse and a neighbor. Our God is a kind and jealous lover. Therefore, we need always to monitor and evaluate our relationships with Him. Thus the question: where are you in your relationship with God? Many people have given up in life 20

and on God. They have sought for other lovers (gods). Are you still entrusting your life and origin in God? Now you can know and tell where your relationship with God is by testing yourself. How do you feel when things don’t work out as you had expected or wanted them to be? How do you feel when other people regarded to be bad are more successful than you who is upright?

A student who reads hard and is well focused fails exams at the expense of a corrupt teacher, lecturer and a demon worshiping student who passes with distinctions. How do you feel when you are told such stories of people who have minted wealth out of corrupt means and demonic loyalties?

God knows all our needs and it will be a matter of time to materialize our heart’s desire. You may ask God for a new car, a bicycle, wealth, but you get nothing. Instead you may be given patience and blessed with hope. God knows well exactly when he will deliver. God knows that you don’t need that car, that wealth, that husband or wife, etc.; at this particular time.

You may not get what you want to get at the moment because God knows that there are many temptations waiting for you once you get that job, that car, that promotion, etc,. God knows that too much money or wealth may lead you to forget him and abandon his mercy, kindness and love. In poverty and wealth praise God and be with Him at all times.

So the answer to our above question should always be that: I am with God. Do you remember how God asked Adam and Eve?: “Where are you” And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where are you? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Gen 3:9-10.

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They were hiding because they were naked after they had eaten of the forbidden fruit. Are you always ready to answer God rightly that: here I am. Or you may fear? Many people these days tell lies on phone misreporting where they are.

But with God nothing is hidden from Him. His network is everywhere.

My brothers and sisters. despite of all the trials and tribulations in this valley of tears, are you still with God or you are hiding away from Him? Are you still with God despite being famous, educated, jobless, poor and childless, no promotion, orphaned, no wife, no husband, no social respect, and no home? Are you still with God despite the sickness, death of a loved one, being in prison, rich, being successful with a good well-paying job?

The answer should come from you.

All of us are somewhere in our life’s earthly journeys and relationship with God. We need to renew this relationship with God daily without ceasing so that we can be able to see where we are going.

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Chapter Four WHERE ARE YOU GOING? Knowing your destination and the name of the place where you are going are quite different. One may know the name of the place he or she is going to without having visited that place before. The use of the internet is one way of knowing where we are going without necessarily having gone there physically.

We can also know the place from the people who might have visited the place we want to visit or go to.

The Bible tells us how heaven looks like. Jesus has also illustrated to us how heaven looks like and how to reach there. “No one has gone to heaven except the Son of Man, who came from heaven.” John 3:13. “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.…” John 14:1-3.

Very few people walk aimlessly. Such people may never know where they are coming from and where they are going. You feel sorry for them.

Many mad people simply walk without knowing where they are going, and may never tell you where they are coming from.

Animals may move aimlessly without knowing where they are going except through animal instinct. They may be looking for a safe haven in case of enemies, insecurity, bush fires or fodder. Instinct at times land animals where they can access their home, water and food. Human beings move by reasoning unless one has lost it like the mentally sick. Animals don’t 23

know the name of their respective destinations as they walk and graze. But by their instinct they may know what to expect where they are going. It could be looking for security,peace, water and food.

During winter many animals and birds migrate to places which are warmer than the winter in their original places. Some birds which were tagged and monitored electronically from Moldova, Eastern Europe were traced in Uganda.

When travelling by air the captain keeps on informing passengers about destinations and countries where they have reached so that passengers may know where they have reached and where they are going.

Intelligent normal people travel or walk with a purpose.

They are either tourists, visitors, workers, students going for meetings, conferences, functions, migrating, medical treatment, evangelism, missions, pilgrims, etc.

Sometime people simply move involuntarily. For instance fighters who find themselves on an important military mission against their own will but obeying orders. These do not need to know where they are proceeding as long as their Commanders know of where they are going and the purpose why they are doing this. In the army you simply obey orders.

Your reason here may never help you much.

We need to recall that life is a journey with different stages on the way which you may call bus stops. As we travel, some people arrive at their respective destinations or bus stops.

Others have not yet arrived or reached. These are still moving on in this life’s bus. On this bus there are also passengers without any given particular destination but just enjoying the ride. They could be on an unofficial sight-seeing or they are 24

homeless passing time.

We have also been told in the previous chapters that we were created for a purpose with intelligence and free will and that our life is a gift from GOD. It is this free will, intelligence and purpose which will determine where you are going unlike animals which are being driven by instinct. Our life originated from God. Therefore it must be directed towards Him as we travel on this planet earth.

A student who will pass exams behaves differently from the one who has not set targets in life. A believer who is working and walking to heaven is focused and behaves differently from the one who has no focus for his life’s final destination. As we travel towards our final destination to meet with our Heavenly King, the source of life and goodness, we need to be focused.

However the road to Heaven is not all that smooth. It is a narrow path. “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Matt7:13-14.

Meanwhile as we are traveling in this earthly life’s journey we encounter many crosses, challenges, blessings, curses and distractions on the way. There are also accidents, wars, and road barriers which may delay or prevent us from reaching our final destination.

We need to be attentive to the captain of our life’s ship so that we are not diverted from reaching our destination. It is always good to read the sign posts especially if one is walking, traveling by car, train or ship, and also be able to interpret the signs of the times. There’s constant need to listen to the 25

captain’s announcements if you are traveling by air. If one doesn’t know how to read, fellow travellers nearby should help him or her so that one is not lost.

In the spiritual world like in the earthly world there are sign posts to Heaven. These sign posts are found in the Holy Books and God’s set Commandments. These also can serve as your passport and ticket to Heaven the Promised Land. The Cross is a sign of our victory, patience and hope.

With the Holy Books and God’s Commandments you can bravely tell the world where you are going from here. There are also guides who can assist you not to get lost on the way.

These are your Religious Leaders and guiding stars. “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” Mathew 2: 9-12.

Obey and trust your guardian Angels and Religious Leaders, because they guide us on the way in the journey of life as the Magi were guided by the star that led them to Jesus.

Always trust in God and you will find your way to the desired destination to Heaven.

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Chapter Five COULD YOUR BEST FRIENDS BE YOUR WORST ENEMIES?

It is unbelievable to imagine that your best friends could be your worst enemies. Jesus was betrayed by his best and close friend Judas Iscariot. “Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread called the Passover was approaching and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.” Luke 22: 1-6.

Judas was one of Jesus’ Twelve Apostles. Many of us over time have had friends who have ended up being our worst enemies.

Politicians believe that there are no permanent friends nor enemies in Politics. Your best friend today could be your worst enemy tomorrow and vice versa. This means that your friends today can turn against you. Again your worst enemy could also be your best friend tomorrow. That’s the world in which we travel.

The whole essence here is all about the friendships we make over time in life as we journey towards the Promised Land.

How do you choose or select your friends? What do people see in you which attract them to you as your friends? If you can know what your friends are looking for in you as a friend then you can as well predict how far your friendship will have to go. Political Leaders have many friends when they are holding power and the keys to the resources. But when the keys are withdrawn from them their friends also dwindle and disappear into oblivion.

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When both of you are benefitting in a friendship, your relationship may be in existence for long. But when there are conditions and strings attached, the friendship soon turns sour. Who benefits in your friendship? Is it you, your friends or both of you benefit equally? Is it a give and take or receiving only and not giving?

In friendship there must be sacrifices to be made on behalf of our friends. If one makes a sacrifice for the friend, the friend must also be willing and ready to make a similar sacrifice or go beyond limits. This is what hurts friends who make sacrifices for their friends when these sacrifices are not reciprocated.

This is what hurts our God most. After sacrificing His Son on the Cross for us we failed to reciprocate with the same love.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13. This is why St. Paul urges us in Romans; “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is true worship.” Romans 12:1.

Genuine unconditional friendship looks towards the holistic wellbeing of friends equally. Friendships which are envious of the friend’s success are false, meaningless and very hypocritical.

If you are in such a friendship or relationship you need to quit as soon as possible (ASAP).

Many people wish to see their friends at the same footing and level. The moment one of their friends goes a bit higher than them, it marks an end of their friendship.

Some friends come to help you as a pretext yet they actually don’t want to help. Although they come to help you they also gossip about you later. That is why people should confide their problems in God and not human beings. Friends attend burials and weddings just to compare notes and backbite others.

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Men and women have been hurt after discovering that their so called best friends have turned out to be their worst enemies.

A man who helped a friend to live with him in his home got a shock of his life when he caught the visitor friend red handed having a close intimate affair with his wife.

And in another incidence a matron stole the husband of the bride. The people we trust as our best friends have turned out to be people spying on us, stealing from us and exploiting us.

There are people who have complained that their best friends were envious of them. Judas might have felt jealousy of Jesus’ popularity, miracles and fame that is why he betrayed him so that he could get rid of him. God knows?

Your achievements and success stories could be a source of envy, jealousy and hatred by your best friends, relatives and the so called neighbors. Never trust a friend 101%. This doesn’t mean that you have to be an Island in the community.

No. The crux of the matter is that you can have many friends but confide and TRUST in a few.

There is nothing disgusting, stressing and frustrating than having confided in a so called trusted friend who later on betrays your trust and confidence. Lives have been shattered and completely destroyed by friends who turned out to be the worst enemies.

In this earthly life’s journey of ours, there are friends who have turned out forsaking their friends like Cain who said that he was not his brother’s keeper. “Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it. Now Cain said to his brother Abel, Let’s go out to the 29

field. While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4: 6-12: Many friends these days are behaving like Cain. They are no longer their friends’ keepers when it comes to critical situations. Lovers who are not friends in a relationship can easily demonstrate this kind of egoistic behavior and scenario.

A true genuine friend accepts you as you are. This is the reason why Jesus loves us unconditionally except sin.

When some people become successful in life’s journey, they associate only with those who happen to be of their class.

The same thing has happened in families, at work and some places of worship. The rich sit alone and the poor on their own. The rich are recognized and the poor are left out. The distinction between the poor and the rich has disunited and segregated people into classes and castes.The Radicals claim that these classes have always been there and they will be there until time immemorial. Your previous interaction with those you cherished as friends has become history. It doesn’t matter whether you studied and grew up together it makes no more sense now. What matters is status. It is this status which widens the gap between the good old friends, the haves and have nots.

One should always honor and respect the good old friends who have not changed whatever the circumstances because 30

of status and positioning. Some people remember their old friends when they fall short of grace and start grassing with them. When there is suffering then the old friends are remembered as people or former school mates, village mates, class mates and the exploited. We need always to recall that there is time for everything. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:� Ecclesiastes 3:1.

There is time for ascending and time for descending.

I am not saying that friends should preoccupy our time all the time. No. We cannot get rid of the so called administrative distance which checks on the prevention of too much familiarity. That is understandable. But a friend will always reserve some time for his/her friends. This may be outside working hours. Friends also should have self-control so that they don’t waste too much time in endless conversations and unconstructive gossiping when their friends are preoccupied with work. Time is money. A good friend does not lead you into wasting time, crime and immorality.

Despite being good friends with others, there is need to remember that you as an individual are a unique person. You were created differently from other people. Therefore there are things which must only be known by you.

There are personal things within you which must not be for public knowledge or consumption. These are your secrets, secrets which make you different and unique from other people. The moment you pre-empty all your secrets to friends, you will remain like an empty transparent bottle or box. Your desires, ambitions, weakness, childish wishful thinking and dreams are part of your personal secrets which make your personality.

Therefore it is good to understand that when we talk of secrets 31

we don’t mean vices which lead us into sin, disobedience, crime, sexual promiscuity, illegal plans and funny feelings towards others. I am talking of things which make you to be yourself different from your friends and enemies. This involves boasting and blowing your own trumpet.

Friends need NOT to be proud. They need to be humble, helpful, simple and down to earth. Jesus was born in a kraal; while they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her first born, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.� Lk 2:6-12 Jesus lived among the simple and illiterate people. He assisted those in need free of charge and without boasting. He healed the sick: (Matt 8:16, Mark 1:32, Luke 4:40), resurrected the dead: (Luke 7:11-17), and fed the hungry people as well (Matthew 14:16-21, Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:514). He set spiritual and demonic prisoners free, wiped the tears of the down trodden (Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30).

Jesus never boasted the way our friends boast when they have helped us.

The friends we confide in our secrets might use them to betray our trust and confidence. It is therefore imperative to take note of the fact that when your friends abandon you, 32

you will always remain your own best trusted friend. Your other best friend to rely on before you rely on yourself and others is your GOD. God is always sincere, faithful and keeps His promises from time immemorial. “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s Will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” Hebrew 10:35-36.

God’s promises with you are near my brother and sister. It is a matter of time. With God 1000 years look like one day. “You turn man back into dust and say, “Return, O children of men.”

For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night. You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.… Psalms 90:3-5. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends, with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8.

Yes. It’s indeed true that your friends might have received their promises before you. But remember you were created alone, unique and different from them. Start declaring blessings and God’s promises on your life as you travel towards the Promised Land. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”Rev. 21:4.

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Chapter Six LEARN TO BELIEVE IN YOURSELF The greatest fear in human beings is not caused by fear of the unknown but the fear of losing faith and confidence in ourselves.

The moment you stop believing in yourself you betray your personality, and you may even lose your confidence.

Those who trust a lot in friends or other people think that nothing can come their way without being given a helping hand. Some people call this influence.

Let’s recall what we saw in the previous chapter. Friends have their own limitations which they don’t always share with you due to the theory of secrecy. Your friends may fear to disclose to you because they are afraid of losing your confidence and trust.

There are many changes brought about through struggles which have resulted into revolutions because leaders believed in themselves. You can never bring change in your life’s journey when you are a coward. You must believe in yourself and be your best friend.

Believing in ourselves in particular can bring about a lot of change. The belief that you can do something for yourself can bring a fundamental change and a revolution in your life and the lives of other people who are admiring you.

When you believe in yourself you can make miracles. When you doubt yourself people see that you can’t be a source of inspiration to them. Leadership is all about believing in oneself.

When you believe in yourself you have hope and confidence in God who created you for a purpose. The moment you doubt and lose trust or confidence in yourself you will be finished.

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Believing not in yourself makes you think that other people will have to spoon-feed you in everything including finding you employment, passing interviews and exams.

Little known to people is that the people you call friends can let you down in many things because they know you in and out. The prior knowledge about you by your so called friend who is requested to be your referee can work against your attaining what you wanted to get, say a big national job or an International one.

It is unbelievable to imagine that your trusted friend and referee can write out a negative recommendation against your application behind your back because he or she knows your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT).

He or she knows all your secrets, challenges, likes, dislikes and the other dirty parts of you.

The only person to save your face is yourself. Since you have GOD on your side you have the potential, skills and all that it takes to get what your heart desires. “If God is for us, who can be against us?� Romans 8:31 More than often we sit and wait for friends, relatives, politicians, god fathers and god mothers to give us a push up onto the top of the ladder. Unfortunately, we have been disappointed and let down many times. It is everyman for himself, God for us all.

Many people have studied expecting so and so to push them up, give them a job, find them Mr and Miss right; unfortunately nothing has come out so far and there is no hope being promised. Years have passed by and that wedding, that job, that home, that house and that car of yours is not forthcoming.

When you don’t believe in God and yourself you will always be faced with stagnation problems and difficulties. Why? Because 35

most of the time you trusted more in people than in God. Therefore, “Commit your future to the LORD! Trust in Him, and He will act on your behalf.” Psalms 37:5.

Some people have not been able to do what they are supposed to have done because they believed and trusted much in their friends and confidants. If you believe in yourself you can have the inspiration to do other things. You can have a house, a home, a family and a better future here and in the life to come.

People who believe in themselves are real and genuine people.

You can hardly find hypocrisy in them. People who refuse to believe in themselves seem to be superficial. A person who pretends to be like other people fails to appreciate the gifts, color and complexion which God gave him/her.

A person who believes in himself or herself is always very simple, informal and without clout. There is nothing to hide.

Believing in yourself leads you to believe and trust in God our Creator. “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” Revelation 4:11.

It is a sign of humility and gratitude that we always acknowledge everything we have as a gift from our source of being who is God. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

If you cannot believe in yourself you will be unable to believe in God either. Proud people believe in their achievements without acknowledging God. An individual who believes in God as his/her Creator will always call on Him. “The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and 36

saves them. The LORD watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.� Psalm 145:18-20 The proud people who refuse to acknowledge God abuse Him by trusting and worshiping satan. But those who believe in God acknowledge that He created us in His own image.

This resemblance with God gives us preferential leverage to call God Abba our Father and to ask for special favors and miracles. Miracles we can see with our own naked eyes and those ones we cannot see without the spiritual lenses.

Believing is having Faith and hope in what God has promised us. Therefore, believing in ourselves should never divert us or make us proud to abandon our God. God is the beginning and end. He is the Alpha and Omega.

When we believe in ourselves we don’t become demi-gods although we may be in position to go to the moon, invent vaccines and formulate policies that guide the entire United Nations General Assembly, we remain God’s Creatures. There is need always to call on God to be in our plans, proposals, decisions and above all in our daily lives.

Several people no longer believe in God and themselves.

They believe and TRUST in their money, their intelligence, their science, their army, superiority, clans, kingdoms, their ammunitions and fame. Money has become their small god, friend, source of happiness and security. Unfortunately money cannot solve everything. Billionaires and the filthy wealthy people are still dying of HIV/AIDS, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, old age, stress and desperation despite the amount of money they have amassed.

We have witnessed people the world over who had invested enormously in their personal security and protection because 37

they didn’t believe in themselves or put their trust in God. They forgot that: “Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.” Psalms 127:1. And where are those Leaders today? They have disappeared into the abyss of history.

When all the things we relied on have let us down or abandoned us we remain with GOD during the day and night.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Psalms 23:4 God is a loving and merciful Father. He wants us to believe in ourselves so that we are able to know, love, serve and adore Him all the days of our life. To praise Him here and after in Heaven. Without believing in ourselves and acknowledging the God who created us in His image there’s no way we can believe in others as creatures of God. As a person believing in yourself you ought to remember that God created you in His own image with a Free will and Intelligence.One door leads to life and another leads to death and eternal condemnation.

God reminds us almost every day: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 Since we have intelligence and a Free will we are free to choose between right and wrong. If individuals decide to abandon God or leave Him out of their lives, that will be their fault.

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Our intelligence gives us the power and knowledge to believe in ourselves and God gives us also the free will to determine our destination after our life’s earthly journey.

“Open my eyes so I can truly see the marvelous things in your law!

“Psalms 119:18 Let’s call on God to show us the right way and to increase our Faith.

The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.

The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘may you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!” Lk 17:5-6.

Let’s remember Jesus’ miracles when he walked on water.

Jesus believed in his Father and in himself, that is why he was able to walk on the sea without sinking, while Peter who doubted almost drowned to death. Thank God Jesus was watching like a mother watching the first steps of a child.

“When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!” Mathew 14:26-32.

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Chapter Seven BE PATIENT AND HOPEFUL Once upon a time a friend told us stories that in Public Service people live on hope. Employees hope that tomorrow things could be better. Salaries and promotions may increase; Government may secure you a scholarship, etc. Generally life should be given a positive picture that it will become better than it is today. They also hope that their working conditions and service could be improved.

Unfortunately years pass by until some people retire without having achieved or realized any of their dreams. No promotion, no conducive working environment, and no change in status.

But what keeps employees alive in their aspirations is the strong belief in themselves. Look at the teachers who have taught almost all the people who matter. Patience and hope have kept them brave and strong. Those who have not lived on such a hope left for early retirement, resigned, changed jobs or simply absented themselves without official leave (AWOL).

But life has continued for those who have been patient and hopeful like the faithful civil servants.

Dear friend, life is like that. We have to be patient and hopeful if we have to reach our heavenly destination. One has to believe in himself/herself persistently in order to be successful as we travel on this earthly journey. Those who have persisted have defeated all odds to be where they are being admired by people today.

Many people are impatient especially when things don’t work out to our expectations or as we had expected. The plans and goals we set seem to have been unachievable and unrealistic thus making us impatient and to lose hope completely. More 40

than often we have been disappointed when we don’t get express automatic results to our dreams and expectations.

We are happy when we jump the line to be served first and fast. Courtesy and patience is called stupidity and foolishness.

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”1Corinthians 1:18-31. To the people of Corinth, the preaching of the cross was foolishness, nonsense, recalled world renowned evangelist Billy Graham in his Easter message of 2007.

God in His Mighty greatness created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh day. He should have created it in one day or less than a day. But he wanted to teach us patience. When you are patient you can live a hundred years as one day. But because we are impatient and think that this is impossible, we end our earthly life by throwing away our crosses unsatisfied and grumbling without having achieved anything in all the plans we had made.

“All things are wearisome, too wearisome for words. The eye is not satisfied by seeing nor has the ear enough of hearing. What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun! Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us. There is no remembrance of past generations; nor will future generations be remembered by those who come after them.” Ecclesiastes1:8-11 A newly born baby cannot walk immediately he/she is born.

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It is an incremental gradual process. The child has to crawl, stand and begin walking slowly. Step by step. If a child is born today and starts talking, walking and running immediately it would be a monster creature.

Unfortunately in our case we want to achieve the whole world just in one day. One needs a car, a job, a wife, a husband, a scholarship and money in one second. We have seen many people who were impatient getting almost everything they wanted in life at once while others were starving, but who lost it all at once like Job. Job 1: 13-22.

Many people and students who have been impatient have ended up in meaningless relationships leading to the abandonment of their studies leaving them with indelible scars and irreversible regrets.

Marriages have collapsed because people were impatient.

Once you have lost patience you cannot have hope. These are inseparable. “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:25. God said through Prophet Jeremiah that: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11). The Psalmist had this to say: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.” Psalm 37:7-9 Life is a journey which all of us are involved in. Any disturbance on this journey diverts our attention and expectations. If one is not careful, he/she might drop out of the journey. Students who drop-out of school due to being impatient or distracted 42

are called drop-outs, and in the Forces these are called deserters. They are drop outs because of various reasons some of which could have been beyond their control. Some might have lost interest and hope in the routine and hardships encountered during school time. Life is also full of drop outs.

When you lose vision in the future it means that you have lost faith in God, in the past, the present, in yourself and hope. A hopeless person is impatient and lacks a decent and meaningful future. This is why St Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) had this to say: “The passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience.”

Jesus would have lost patience and hope in redeeming us through his suffering and dying on the CROSS. But he never lost hope and patience. “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, my Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Luke 22:39.

“My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” Luke 22:42 Jesus died on the cross because he had a Mission and Vision to save humankind. What would have happened supposing Jesus had lost patience and hope in the father’s love? We would not have been saved.

Our daily crosses are many and different. The weight of our various crosses depend on our ability to cope with our lives.

God does not give us crosses beyond our strengths. The suffering you are going through is your cross. Carrying that cross needs patience and hope like Jesus.

Please note that at the end of your struggles, poverty, imprisnoment, depression, embarrassments, stress, frustration and betrayal by friends there is victory. Not many of us are 43

patient enough. We usually give up when we see no light at the end of the tunnel.

God will reward us according to our patience and the trust we put in Him. Patience empowers us with spiritual strength to carry on with the earthly burdens of life as we travel to our promised heavenly home. If Jesus had lost faith in His Father he wouldn’t have had the reason to trust Him and to believe in himself. Failure to redeem us would have put our salvation into uncertainty. When we believe and trust in the salvific plan and power of the Cross, our patience and hope are strengthened, renewed and made real.

A patient person does not complain easily because of the challenges and difficulties he/she encounters in the earthly life’s journey. Complaining and nagging does not help in solving issues, when you complain a lot to people instead of God, it reduces your chances and opportunities of being crowned a victorious crown of the CROSS. Without our daily crosses we remain imprisoned in problems, poverty, pride, hunger, insecurity, lust, corruption, unemployment, misery, sickness and alcoholism. Patience and hope bring victory.

We need to set ourselves free from the things that imprison us in pathetic circumstances. We can achieve this by investing our energy in patience, hope and love which comes to us through the life, death, and the victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3 God will always remember us and set us F R E E. We shall overcome someday. “Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.” Psalms 27:14.

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Chapter Eight GOD’S KINDNESS AND MERCY ”Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalms 23: 4-6 God created us in His own image. But after some time we defaced and deformed that image. After our fore fathers had eaten of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, humanity lost that beautiful image of God. We became ugly after disappointing God and lost the Angelic beauty. Our God became disappointed the way our best friends disappoint us after we have poured all our love and inner secrets to them.

After man had disappointed God, He never abandoned us or lost hope in us like human beings. God wanted mankind to be brought closer to His nature but man behaved like a goat being taken where there is grass yet it resists being taken to the green pastures. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.” Psalms 23:1-3.

When the goat resists being taken for grazing, its owner does not give up. He or she persists with the pulling of the rope.

God does the same to us as Psalms 23 has pointed out above.

God never stopped on the way in saving and redeeming us from our disfigured and deformed image despite our continued 45

stubbornness and disobedience, but he went on with His plan of raising us from the dung-hill to the heavenly banquet with His Son. Although we behaved like the prodigal son He always waited on us. (Luke 15:11-32).

The gesture of love clearly demonstrates to us the kindness and mercy of our God which leads us to salvation. Many times when we are disappointed, let down by friends and abandoned by fellow human beings, we become frustrated. We make resolutions not to associate ourselves or see eye to eye with those people who have disappointed us.

God never did what we do. He wanted us to resemble Him like the good Angels. But because of pride, man disobeyed his Creator due to his intelligence and free will. Instead man uses these two unique gifts for sinning against the Creator. Man is using intelligence and the free will to commit sins endlessly.

Men have used their intelligence and free will to innovate arms to kill and destroy fellow human beings, the environment and nature in general.

In order to encourage silent promiscuity, condoms were invented to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. That was then. These days they are manufactured under the pretext of HIV/AIDS prevention and control. So people can still break the rules. Intelligence has made man to invent sex machines and sex toys to destroy morality. Talk of the Internet.

The free will has led many people astray. People say that they are free to choose and change their sex orientation. Men have become women and women have become men, children have become adults. They call this human rights.

We forget that we don’t use our free will to do abusive things 46

against fellow human beings and GOD our Creator the Most merciful. We should use our intelligence and free will to alleviate suffering while assisting humankind towards knowing God’s love, kindness and mercy.

But because we have abandoned God’s kindness and mercy, the evil one satan (lucifer), has convinced us to do things which the world has never heard of before. The results have been sheer madness.

Diseases without any known cure or treatment have attacked us from all corners of the world because of disobedience to God’s commandments and loss of trust in His presence, love, kindness and mercy. “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace we have been saved),…” Ephesians 2:3-5.

Our God is a loving and forgiving God. It does not matter where we are He will always come to rescue us when we call upon Him. Haven’t you ever heard of how He rescued and saved the people of Israel?

“God’s instructions to Moses: stop praying and start doing. And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his 47

horsemen.” Exodus 14: (15-18) “But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.” Exodus 14:2931.

In a similar manner God sent Jesus His Son as the new Moses to redeem man. Jesus who is God the Son was born in a kraal like a poor person. Jesus left his Father’s Heavenly Kingdom, Palace and Mansions to rescue us from satan, sin and disobedience like the people of Israel who were saved from bondage and enslavement in Egypt.

Despite mankind’s ungratefulness to the Almighty God, God continues taking care of us like a good shepherd (Psalms 23).

Even when we sin He waits on us to repent. God doesn’t divorce or disown us the way we do it in our daily lives. Like a father of the prodigal son, God awaits on us anxiously and patiently until we feel sorry and show up again.

Our bad situations and circumstances are not God sent but demonically manipulated by satan the lucifer. The evil one does not enjoy seeing human beings in good relationship with God. The devil uses our bad and appalling situations to take us away from God. Satan makes the scenario impossible to recover from without his intervention. But God does not force us to enter into Noah’s Ark (Genesis 5:32-10). If we have decided to follow Lucifer’s kingdom that is our own choice not His wish.

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When Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 day’s fasting and praying, he was tempted by satan to abandon his Father’s salvific plan for man. Satan promised a false kingdom that he would give to Jesus if he knelt down and worship him.

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus answered him, “It is also written, Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Then the devil left him, and angels came and tended him.” Mathew 4:1-11 More than often satan comes to us with seemingly real solutions to our predicaments but in the end turns out to be fake, unrealistic and short lived.

After some time we realize that satan conned us! We regret why we made the decisions we made after being enticed by satan the tempter. Please, take note that all of us have regrets at a certain point or the other in life.

Because of poverty, sicknesses, unhealthy competitions 49

unemployment, debts, loans and high cost of living, the devil presents himself to us as a loving and helpful friend wishing us prosperity. He advises us to commit sins with financial promises. But afterwards he or she abandons us in a mess.

Consider a person who goes to the underground world where he enters into a covenant with Lucifer in order to become rich. He or she must sacrifice one of the loved ones in the family. The person sacrifices his/her own child. But thereafter no money comes to the family except sorrow and regret haunting the entire family.

Unlike satan, God is always with us. He never abandons us although we abandon Him under flimsy circumstances. God is merciful and kind to us. He forgives us our trespasses once we repent of them in faith and sincerity after renouncing all satan’s ways.

We are where we are because of God’s mercy and kindness. All of us should be grateful to God for the gift of life which many of us abuse and take for granted. With God our life is not a human right but a privilege. We are privileged to be alive. It doesn’t matter whether we are in intensive care, at the front line, death penalty in prison or at the brim of death. God remains kind, loving and merciful. What we need to know is that we have always to trust in God’s kindness and mercy since there is no spare life.

God turns our tears and sadness into joy. He opens for us doors and opportunities which no one has ever opened. He makes ways where there’s no way. God’s kindness and mercy goes beyond what man and woman can comprehend.

My brothers and sisters, God knows us. He knows you in particular. He is aware of your challenges, skills, weaknesses and strengths in life. Soon God’s kindness and mercy will 50

come down to you like manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16), to save you out of all your difficulties. Please call upon Him. Wait on Him and always seek refuge in His love, kindness and mercy.

God sees things differently from us human beings. Our ways are not God’s ways. We are reminded by the Prophet Isaiah: “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.…”Isaiah 55:7-9 7.

God gives Abraham a son and requests him to sacrifice him in Genesis 22, “Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

“Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love— Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.

As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the 51

lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide.

And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba.

And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.” Exodus 22:1-19.

Majority of human beings would feel that revenge to those who have annoyed or provoked us is normal, since a tooth for a tooth. “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.…” Matthew 5:38.

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God wants us to forgive and to love our enemies, help them when they need help because revenge should be left to Him. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Never take your own revenge, be loved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD...”

Romans 12:18-20 Your present state or situation may be a lesson and a benchmark for many others who are struggling like you in this life’s journey to the Promised Land. The world we are travelling in and living in praises those who have accumulated wealth. But God says: “A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold. The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the maker of them all. The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naive go on, and are punished for it.…” Proverbs 22: 1-3: and Mark 10:24-26: “The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?”…

It is only those who use their suffering and wealth to give assistance to those in need and extending God’s kindness and mercy that will be saved. Those will be given even more. Does this mean that God dislikes rich people? No. God doesn’t dislike or hate rich people. The message He passes on is that we must always be merciful to the needy and attentive to their needs, sharing with them what God has given to us.

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Every day endeavor to extend God’s kindness, love and mercy when least expected to those in need. When we give to the less privileged vulnerable persons we extend God’s love, mercy and kindness. We become God’s hands, caretakers and stewards of His resources. He will always remember and reward us accordingly.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?

When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 25: 31-46.

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Doing what God wants us to do rightly we shall be sure of our destiny after this earthly life’s journey. This is the politics and economics of God. “On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with your entire mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live?” Luke 10:25-28.

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Let’s Pray Lord God I thank you for all the people who have been blessed by reading this Book. I pray to you dear Lord that they should not remain the same. Kindly Father, answer all their prayers and those of their dear and loved ones so that they may get answers to their prayers, needs and requests here on earth and in the World to come. In your promises I put all my trust.

Amen 55

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SPIRITUAL INSPIRATIONS

God’s relationship with us through the earthly life’s Journey, success and failure Mr. Rogers Nsubuga (55), is a graduate of Social Sciences of Makerere University, Kampala – Uganda (1991-1994). He majored in Political Science, Sociology and Psychology. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in Public Administration and Management from the same University (1994-1996). He is a former student of the Bannakaroli Brothers for 17 years. He attended AMECEA (Gaba) Pastoral Institute Eldoret, Kenya in 1985 where he earned a Diploma in Religious Education and Patoral Studies. In 1987-1989 he attended the then Plater College, Pullens Lane, Oxford, in the United Kingdom, where he attained a Diploma in Theology and Social Studies. He is married and God has blessed him with three children: a boy and two girls. His background in Catholic Social Teaching and in a Religious Community has developed his interest in helping the vulnerable and the social outcasts. He is currently serving in one of the Justice, Law and Order Sectors (JLOS) in Uganda at the level of Principal Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Officer a position he has held since 1996 to date.

He can be contacted on email: nsubugarogers@yahoo.co.uk Cell Phone: +256772438666

ROGERS NSUBUGA 9 789 970 93 940 930 4 5