UNGUARDED MOMENTS: THE ADVARSARY'S TARGETED TIME TO STEAL YOUR DREAMS

David was anointed king during Saul's reign over Israel. But he did not go to the throne immediately. He was anointed at seventeen, but he was not appointed until he was about thirty. As David's thirtieth birthday approached, the clock was ticking and none of God's promises had come to fruition in his life. How can God say one thing, but the circumstances of your life say otherwise? Often, before you reach your dream, you will experience the opposite of what you want. Abraham was dreaming for Isaac, the promised child; but first he experienced Ishmael, the problem child. The children of Israel were dreaming for a land flowing with milk and honey, but first they experienced the desert with no food or water, and they will be like "we have no water and food and stocked in a wasteland. Then how feasible is the milk and honey land?" Jacob dreamed of a beautiful bride named Rachel, but first he was tricked into marrying Leah. Miles away from where you are to your dreams are heavy adversity, challenges...... circumstances testing you worthy of that dream and to examine how far you can stretch, checking how much you will be able to surrender to God denying yourself that God may take prominence. From the point where David was to his dream crown was Nabal who would've felt his wrath and he would have watched his promised goals and throne elude him. How many of us can relate to this? Endless loads of thankless laundry, screaming children, unsympathetic bosses, people taking you for granted and then somebody cuts you off in traffic and i hear you want to scream, "i can't take it anymore!" you've reached the breaking point! you're having an unguarded moment. You are living in a ghetto filled with filth and men tempting you to err, laying accusations on you and in your bittered mind you are thinking "i have to show these guys/ladies that am not a fool. you are in your unguarded moment. you are a youth, a graduate with good grades yet no jobs, you've toured the roads of Lagos, Portharcourt, Accra, New York, Suncity, Phils and it seems there is nothing for you and friends came up with offers like "Internet frauds or scams, sugar mommies or daddies, aristoles, private harlotry" and you've started considering them. You are in the realm of unguarded moment. you never know when your dreams will come to pass; you've played your role, you've kept the faith, you've carried your cross and yet here is one person from nowhere pulling your strings. Human emotion is unpredictable. And Christians are certainly not exempt from those times when life's pressure brings out our rawest, deepest emotions. We all have limits, yes, but when you've exhausted your limit let God continue from where you stopped. All it takes is that one unguarded moment and you can lose your reputation, your testimony, and even your ministry. It takes one faint to reach the finish line. keep up the fight, God measures your strength from the inside out and not otherwise. Don't stop believing. one of the miracles of being human is our reflex action and our disease show us some respect, they show us symptoms as signs of warning. you don't need to believe me.

WHAT A COUNTRY

There is a country docked away in the western African region where it takes nothing to invent a "Time Machine" that back dates time, in this country this machine does wonders on birth certificates. With this machine an eighty year old is sixty planning to retire next five years when she\he is not even sure if they would survive the next six months. There, they die in office but before they die, they are sure to have a replacement at any cost. In this country, government created corruption which the civil service is working so hard to sustain. the eighty year old woman is collecting her great grand daughter's salary since she's one. Our Public university lecturers go on strike when there salary is jeopardized but fail to strike when the student's welfare, equipments, instruments and lecture material are not in good working condition. we suffer to learn and graduate half baked. in this country Civil servants go on strike when their request are not met, but fail to fight for the pensioners, when their pension are delayed or even to lobby the government to create more employment for the unemployed youths. This country is where "no job orientation" is being sounded on NYSC camp ground by men old enough to be my grand father who fail to retire. They call the millions my parents spent and the four, five, six year I spend till my graduation a waste. So am encouraged to learn and start trade as a correct Igbo man with no capital. Maybe thats why crime and tourism sky rocketed high! Nigeria is just fine when you've designed an ATM on public fund, you simply call for rallies and protest when it stopped paying with the guise of fighting for the unemployed youths and ill favored ethnic group. Due to poverty the unemployed youth do respond quick to manipulation only to be used as tools. As long as Abia State remains in family hands, it is on safe hands. why complain of lack of growth and development when you ceded it to them for "keke-napep", #200 and Mitsibushi bus on the election day, after all a leader is the direct product of the people............ I hear some people say its only those of us who didn't get our own share complain the most. What a country. Our government impose austerity measures on us, now we are paying for an ineffective and inefficient personnel's inability to forecast, plan and strategize. This is a country where most of our Pastors and men of god are among the richest in the world. Our corrupt civil servants pay huge tithe to sustain blessings and the poor masses are encouraged to "sow seeds of faith" for miracle favor. we are often told not to complain but pretend and say "it is well." no wonder Karl Max categorically stated that "Religion is the opium of the masses" we are surviving, since there is no safe heaven to run to, am still proud of this country though, and daring for #change..... starting with myself.

CODE X: CODES TO FILL THE INTIMACY GAP IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP.

To unlock intimacy, to unsnap the fountain of love, to reconnect the life wire in your marriage is like raising the dead back to live. You may have seen "what not to do" and "what to do"- as modeled from friends, colleagues, and, yes, even your parents. Yet the hollow in the gap still becomes large. Left with no healthy models, you're now more or less stumped. What do you do? ) Find Your Bearing Asking questions like "what do I really want for the relationship," this helps us see and fellow our North Star to win back the intimacy between our spouse. Despite the fact that we may be tempted to take the wrong path, these stars keep us focus on our goal, re-commit us to the relationship and juices up our brain in a way that helps us keep focus. 2) Refuse The Sucker's Choice: When you figure out what you want. Watch to see if you're telling yourself that you must choose between I can and I can't, break the ice and keep mute, between winning and losing. Break free of these suckers choice; they are devils advocates trying to use the spirit of doubt to stop you from doing the right thing. Whenever they say you can't, just take the "T" off. 3). ME First: When we lost what we cherish in our relationship most of us are quick to blame the other person. More often than not, we do contribute to the problems we're experiencing. As much as others may need to change, or we may want them to change, the only person we can continually inspire, prod, and shape-- with any degree or in any degree of success is the person in the mirror. “Our actions are like boomerangs, no matter what, they’ll always come back to us, in one way or another. Act wisely," said Andres Lara 4). Start With the Heart: Begin with the right motives, desire a change, want to win back what you have lost in the relationship, remember the love, the romance, the oath in the aisle; this is not the time to remember his bad; keep it positive, keep it right; begin with the right motive. You can't win back the intimacy without being moved in the heart. If it is worth it, it isn't going to be an option. 5). Forgiveness: Before intimacy is being locked out someone some time, somewhere was treated unjustly and he or she decided to lock-up and not to give their best any more, some how the other person without the knowledge of the particular offense committed got fade of trying to please the spouse and both went cold. One person must break the ice and it must be you. An Apology can do miracles, forgive yourself and the your spouse. Give it a shot. 6). Put the Other Person First: Selfishness is a sole killer of marriages. Women crave emotional intimacy in the same way that men crave physical intimacy. You should know this and satisfy your spouse needs. Consequently, just as men are vulnerable to unfaithfulness in the absence of sex, women are vulnerable to unfaithfulness in the absence of emotional connection. Put her/ him first and the intimacy will be revived. 7). Undying Love: Look for a way to show the love, be caring, communicate and maintain bodily contact with your spouse to keep winning his love. And wives keep making your man feel important and expect God's goodness in your home. 8). Fill The Emotional Bank Account: Men tend to give sex to get love without observing that to get that sex you need to deposit quality time, touch and gift wrapped with thoughtfulness and nice words. Where women are stimulated by what they hear, Men are stimulated by what they see, dress cute and give him some "good good loving". Think of the word intimacy as "into-me-see." It is both physical and emotional. 9). Patience: Some marital experts would agree with me that the reason for high percentage extramarital affair is because most husbands fail to fill the emotional hunger their wives are yearning for and wives feel to satisfy their physical needs. Yet you need some time to allow your words and efforts to win back the intimacy to have an effect in your spouse as you keep up the good work. 1). Prayers: Here is a precious secret I've learned: prayer invites angels into the war zone of your experience..... Let God know and let him get to work wonders to get your intimacy back. That's the reason its the number one thing.