Exclusive With Pastor Linda

Do not allow the pressures of the moment to deter you from pursuing your dreams.

Ex clusive

Pastor. Justice Linda

Good day Mr. Justice Linda, what’s your secret to this amazing personality and a clear transparent example of excellency and distinction? Good day to you Christine, I will consider that as a compliment but trust me I have my own struggles that I pray that God may help me with and I am believing that as I grow, I keep changing for the better. However , I believe that staying with God is the best secret that anyone and everyone needs. You cannot change the world ,unless you are willing to be changed, and God is an expert in that .

As a role model to many young people out there, how do you manage to keep up with those mentored under you? Once again thank you, honestly being a role model to someone places an enormous amount of pressure on you. In actual fact, mentoring at its best, is and should be by example more than word of mouth. Hence to keep up with those who see me as their mentor, I have to keep moving ,even in the most difficult of circumstances, so that from observing how I stand and I have stood during difficult times of life, they too can learn how to stand.

Being a Pastor and a father to many people, how do you manage everything without making the world interfere with your personal life? Do you have any family times, when you just become a normal dad to your kids? Balance is key ,Christine ! It is possible to find balance between performance and normalcy . It requires prioritizing and diarizing. One of the greatest heartbreaks ,is to find out that as you are building and performing at a high level ,your family is falling apart. It is not truly success when you are celebrated away and not share the success at home. Balance is key! As much as I am a man of God, I am a father and husband as well.

Life isn’t rosses every time, where do you derive your motivation when you begin to feel like quitting? Do you ever feel low faith wise or you’re always at your best? It is true life isn’t always a bed of roses, there are difficult times in life. In actual fact the greater the assignment, the more the challenges you have to deal with. I have had my own moments where quitting was the only option left because things weren’t working. However I have derived life and strength in God. He has given me strength during difficult times .Also I think , keeping in view , the things that matter has been of great help to me. You can not allow the challenges of the day to rob you of the joy of the future. The hope of a better and greater future has kept me going.

You boosted a lot of people’s lives through your soul touching Live Broadcasts, are you planning on doing it again consistently? Definitely I am actually planning on continuing with them and even grow them.

Pastor, were you always active in Christ or there was a time you didn’t know Christ and how old were you when you became a pastor? Thank you for the question. I was 15 when I discovered that God was calling me, I was in High School then, and apparently at 18 , I got the opportunity to serve as a pastor, even though I was not trained then, finally I went to bible school at 23 and that is when the journey began.

If you had the chance to turn the hands of time, what advise would you give to your 20-year-old self? Obviously when I look back at the younger me ,there a lot of things that I would change. The first thing that I would say to that young man is do not allow the pressures of the moment to deter you from pursuing your dreams. Secondly I would tell that young man to that never to look down on himself but to believe in who he is , what he is ,what he can do and ultimately in the One who created and called Him to serve. The other thing I would say is; In pursuit of your vision ,find as many people who inspire you as you can and follow their example. The last thing I would tell my 20 year old self is that life is not only about getting but giving not only what you have but yourself as well.

Becoming The Best You

In becoming what God intends for you life there are many laws and things that come into play. One of the most critical laws is the law of relationships. What this means is that ,you need other people for you to become what you intend to be. God sends people for a number of reasons, however the coming of people into your life is the bedrock on which most betrayals are built on. You should never underestimate what people can do. They can either build you up or bring you down. However and whatever the case maybe , you will still need people around you. I want you to consider this: Each time you open a door for someone to come into your space, you heighten the chances of betrayal. In other words, betrayal does not exist until access is given. The foundation of all betrayals is access and unfulfilled expectation, the kind of access that is born out of the need to belong and to be part of a people or someone’s life. That is why betrayal by a friend is more hurtful than betrayal by stranger. In fact, it hurts more to be betrayed by a loved one that someone you barely know. The point is you must expect anything from people. As you grow, the need for people around you increases, it is however regrettable to let you know that, in many cases you will be at the mercy of those around you. In interacting with many great people, I have noticed how narrow the door into their space is. The reason being that they have seen more betrayals on their way up. As careful as they try to be , they have never truly been able to immunize themselves against betrayal. In actual fact there is no amount of vaccination that will preserve you against betrayal, you can only manage and minimize it. God himself was betrayed, David the great king was betrayed, Jesus was betrayed and you are not an exception. Jesus said, in Luke 17 v 1 ‘…. He said to his disciples, “Offenses will certainly come, but woe to the one through whom they come!’ In order to handle betrayal well ,you must have a large heart. The kind of heart that expects anything and is prepared to accept anything from people. A number of years I confided in someone in my most vulnerable moments of life, apparently the person took my words verbatim and spread them around. I was stunned, I was gutted, but I had to move on, I had to recover and move on. From this experience I realized that the person who does not trust at all will suffer the same fate as the person who trusts the wrong person. However , even after betrayal, you still to need to trust again, you still need to love again. One of the most dangerous things a person can do, when betrayed is to change who they are to suit the negativities that have been thrown at them. Remember the need to perform will always be placed on your shoulders, whether you are hurting or bleeding, you still have to be productive and still perform. The point is even if you are hurting from the betrayal you still have to be a mother, to your child. You still have to be a father, you still have to be the CEO, whether hurting or not. As much as you are human and emotional , you can not afford to be an emotional wreck, otherwise you will find yourself in the junkyard of life. Failure to forgive betrayal leads to bitterness. Bitterness is a dangerous state of the heart that results from unforgiveness. When bitterness takes over your heart, it affects the way you see. It affects the way you think, it affects your mental processes and thinking patterns, it affects your judgement. In other words it alters you completely. It also affects the way you act, respond and react. Over the past few years, I have noticed significant changes in people. I have seen the hurt, the anger, the aggressiveness that people harbor on the inside of them. Most of those actions are a result of underlying fears ,that have been triggered by bitterness. In all cases, bitterness will eventually destroy the bearer. The best way to deal with bitterness is to be willing to forgive and let go. Forgiving is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. It is only the mature who make the decision to forgive and let go. In all cases the one who choose to forgive and find terms of peace becomes the better one. In other words, vengeful people become weaker and weaker and eventually banish themselves to oblivion, irrelevance and destruction. The most liberating decision you will ever make is to forgive. The pain of the hurt may remain with you but that does not mean you haven’t forgiven. For example you may have a wound, when the wound is healed, you may remain with a scar. Such is the case with forgiveness, the emotional wound may remain even after you have forgiven. This is mainly because forgiveness is not an emotion but a decision and a choice. As I conclude ,I want you to understand that no one in his won ability possesses the power to forgive. You can try as much as you can but all will be in vain , until you enlist the help of the Lord. You may probably be dealing with issues that have caused you bitterness, I encourage you to enlist the help of God, because you can not do it alone. You can not afford to abort your God- given destiny at the altar of unforgiveness, you have a higher cause to live for.

PASTOR JUSTICE LINDA