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Would You Pass The Job Test?

"Trust In The Lord!" This is a very common phrase in the house the Lord. 

                                I am sure you relate as much as I do. I have had many believers in Christ constantly saying these words. With this I refer to believers in all their categories and classifications. Whether it's a pastor or a prophet, a deacon or an evangelist, a singer or an intercessor, an usher or just an ordinary member of the congregation, the language is the same in theory. But can we really pass the test which Job went past?

                                The story of this great man's test is located in Job 1:12-19. This man's life one day took an unexpected turn, and he moved from a wealthy man to a poor man, from a family man with children and servants to having no one except his wife and the surviving servants who brought the bad news. Job did not know that God was putting him to a test. Having lost all livestock which was the major currency of the time, it means that he was so limited that he could not even have bought a cow for food at the burial of his children. Let alone buying one consolation cow to help him expect a new herd in a few years.

                              You may be asking yourself where I am going with this? That's true I would have wondered as well. Here is my point. Many people have come to be too successful to relate with poverty. Some of you have been so out of touch with the reality of poverty that the closest you have been to poverty is when you attend funerals or weddings when there has been plans made to accommodate you. I can safely bet that some of you would consider consuming poison to part with the living. Many people, if they were to find themselves in Job's situation, they would have been anxious, panicky and afraid. Some would have consulted sangomas, seers, fortune tellers, mediums, psychics, and in modern society, "prophets". Do you know why? This is because it is so easy to speak trusting God when you are in comfort especially when you have moved away from the poverty.

The following are some of the reasons at make people not to trust God

1. You may have used your own power/ energy to be where you are: Take a serious look at your life journey. Look at the things that you have or achieved, did you have to do something extra to get it. Did you have to a for someone's favour the process of gaining it? Was there money that you had to pay to activate your possession? Don't get me wrong here, I am not talking about whether you paid for your car or something like that. That's so obvious, If you own something, it must have been bought by the cash you have or loaned from the bank, that's not what I m talking about. I am talking about bribe. I am talking about having to show someone your thighs. I talking about having to offer sexual favours to someone who can press the buttons. I am talking about compromising your moral standing for a lifetime opportunity. I am talking about doing something that you would prefer to die before people know about it. I am talking about greasing someone's palms before getting something you have; a job, a business contract, etc. After such hard work, you would find it difficult to trust God because to you, God needs assistance. That is why you are preaching caution. The reason why you are cautious is because you know if you were to start from the scratch, you would not get back to where you are.

2. You are racing against time: I listen to may people when they are talking about the future, they speak with worry about whether there is still time or not. I believe there is always correlation between what you are destined to achieve with how long God is prepared to keep you on earth a believer. This is by no means encouragement for those who are lounging around as thought they don't have anything to live for. In Luke 12:21 (NLT) the scripture says; "Yes, a person I a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God." Don't race against time to amass physical wealth without fixing the relationship with God. The nature of earthly wealth is that when you stop breathing, that wealth becomes irrelevant and useless to you and only the relationship with God becomes the active one. It is with a strong relationship with God that you begin to trust Him. You cant trust someone you do not have a relationship with. It is the relationship with God that keeps you achieving things that you never thought of achieving. And these things are the ones that will make you live beyond your life on earth. A eat example set for us by our Lord Jesus who had only  disciples and a three year ministry which today, more than two thousand year later we are still talking about him. Don't race against time to accumulate possessions, fix this relationship so that you begin the process of walking the journey of trusting God. 3. You are operating outside of God's will: Proverbs 19:21 says; “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails”. You are left with no option but to understand that God, has a purpose for you. The God given purpose will always be accompanied by trusting the one who gave it. He is a faithful God who is true to His word. A person who is walking in God's will has no reason to panic. He is not afraid of any turbulence in what he is doing, because even if turbulence comes and he loses everything, the same will of God still prevail and that will establish him further again. Even the test like that of Job comes, he will still stand because it is the will of God that he is operating from. Operating in God's will makes room impartation to sustain the vision even in the absence of the vision bearer. Phillipians 2:12-13 “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” 

                                            Trusting God makes us to be peaceful when the turbulence of life threatens our comfort. It makes us to take decisions based on the whisper of the Holy Spirit. It does not need us to analyse the odd like we are in the stock market business. Trusting God makes be in true alignment with the Spirit of God. In his book, Mistakes leaders make, Dave Kraft identifies one of the mistakes as "prioritizing financial frugality over trusting God."

                                            It is not amazing that many churches and individuals are so worried about the times of church famine rather than being worried about the hunger of the poor right now while storing for what may not even happen in the next 10 years. Worst of all the church does not see anything wrong spending well over R100 000 on a one day church conference to sing and dance when some people are hungry within their proximity.

                                           As we move into 2018, it will do us good as believers to revisit our actions check if they really  in synch with our utterances. The three Hebrew young men Shadrack, Meshack  and Abednego trusted God when they were facing the Fury furnace (Daniel 3:25-27). Daniel trusted God for his deliverance when he refused to bow do to the statue of the king even after the law was passed for offenders to be thrown in the lion's den. .(Daniel 6:18-22). Stephen was spoke accused the Jewish leaders of persecuting the prophets like a mosquito in their ears. He spoke boldly when was aware that they had stones ready to take him out, but he trusted God, nevertheless. And they stoned him to death, for believing and trusting God. May God bless you as you ignite your zeal in Trusting God.  

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This is my first ever radio interview with my friend Joe Manciya from Channel Africa way back in 2014. Thanks Joe for listening to the Holy Spirit and allowing yourself to be used as a channel of goodwill by God Himself. Look at what your obedience has done!

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(Maano "MaanoSpeaks" Ramadwa) Conversation with Jacob Maanda Mamafha, Live and unplugged on The Revival Show

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(Maano "MaanoSpeaks" Ramadwa) Listen to the conversation I had with Bishop Abram Nelushi on the topic of the Church Focus.

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The Essence Of God's Time Part 2

When I was still working at a piggery farm in Hekpoort, there are lessons that I learnt about time. One of my responsibilities was to take case of three pens of soars which only came to during their final stages of maternity so they can give birth and later on be discharged back to their normal pens. This was a certain time period in the lives of those soars.

This specific time period normally would be followed by short rest, which included specific feeding regime and medication to get them ready for another season of mating. You will realize that we as employees of the farm on behalf of the owner, we decided when this time period should start. Of course these animals some would be taken through an artificial insemination while others would be taken to the boars for a much normal mating process. But all of them in the end will bear piglets which will e taken to the market or be raised for a specific purpose.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 tells is that: "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;" This means that God in his own wisdom, he had everything planned to happen at a specific time. Like we did with those animals, whose journeys were different, God planned it the same way. Some people will be born by young parents and others will be born by older people. Others will dies early while others will die young. Different farmers will plant at different times and they will also pluck at different times. It would be unfair for the farmer who planted a month ago to expect the harvest in the after a month or so.

Allow me to take you back to Exodus 13:17-18. Let me quote this verse so you can follow what I am talking about : "Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt."

I am positive that, if the children of Israel had known what God, The Father and The Creator of all was doing with them, many would not have died along the way. Many would have endured hopefully in anticipation of what they have heard from their ancestors. Unfortunately, they did not and they perished along the way.

God had a purpose for the children of Israel and he still has a purpose for you and me. You and I are fortunate because we have been let into the secret of God's training of patience by revealing the real essence of time for us. The suffering events of our lives would always result in the outcome that many including ourselves have never anticipated. It was God himself who said if He was to let the children of Israel through the Philistine land, they would have retreated back to Egypt because they were not yet ready for war. The same time periods happen in our lives day in and day out. Many succumb to the challenges and that is why we sit with lots  of suicides taking place in the world.

This impatience with life is as a result of one thing in particular which I have noted:

Undiscovered Purpose: undiscovered purpose is a THIEF. It is tool that the devil uses to steal your TIME. He knows that if you discover the real purpose of your life, you will not be worried about how long it takes to achieve. But if he keeps you blinded to that fact, you will wander around aimlessly and eventually you will give in and be like many who are wandering in the streets of our townships and villages. It is important to invest your time in the short term to discover your purpose for live so that the events of time will do the necessary to sharpen your patience and pruning period of your life so that your purpose can be presented to all humbly and Glorifying God.

Think about the man who was waiting at the pool of Bethesda. The bible tells us that this man had been sick for 38 years. We are also told that Jesus lived only for 33 years. Which means that this man had been sick for the entire lifetime of Jesus. Surely this man tried all means possible and necessary to get healing, to no avail. This man had to wait for the greatest physician before he was born. If God was to reveal to him that the doctor you are waiting for has not been born, this man would have died either of heart attack or by suicide. This would have been because of not understanding his purpose. There must have been something that kept this man standing with this sickness for 38 years. He knew what his purpose was and that is why he had the staying power.

Unfortunately the bible does not reveal to us what he did after he received his healing.

#When you know your purpose, you have something to live for.

#When know the essence of time, you know that there is a bigger picture of God for your life.

#When you know the essence of time, you know that even the pain you are suffering from today, will be heal at some point when God permits.

I know some of you may be looking at 2017 as one of those years you did not do well, academically businesswise just generally in life. Be encouraged, there is time for everything, and there is time for each of us. If you have not found your purpose yet, don't panic, utilize this time to search for it so that your waiting time will be focussed. If you have, take this time to rework you come back while developing your patience which will make you last longer depending on what God has planned for your journey.

May God bless you as you find locate yourself in your own time. Read this post together with part one posted a few days ago. Check out my website www.maanospeaks.co.za

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The Essence Of God's Time Part 1

There are two definitions of time which in their reference one points to the short term while the other points to long term.

The first refers to the point of time as measured in minutes, hours past midnight or noon. This time is for short term and every midnight signals the end of day and the beginning of the other. The other one refers to an indefinite continued progress of existence ad events in the past present and future which are regarded as a whole. Here we are taking about your schooling time which in most cases will range between twelve to sixteen years or beyond depending on how long you took to study.

All this two versions of time were created by God at different times. The first of the minutes and times was created in Genesis 1:14, while the other of events was created from Genesis 1:3 to 31 when He finished the creation.

These two times work together and complement each other to compose the bigger time which is called your lifespan. Your lifespan is a compilation of time periods when you lacked knowledge and when you were enlightened, when you thought you knew and when you really knew certain things, when you struggled and when you succeeded, when you failed and when you passed, when you walked and when you drove and many other scenarios similar.

Your lifespan time eventually testifies on the different time periods that you have gone through. For other people these time periods will be shorter while for the others these periods will be longer. The reasons for these variations have everything to do with the will of God in our lives. Yes, it has everything to do with he WILL of God in your life. It depends on what kind of lessons God wants you to learn and these lessons you must embrace and appreciate because they are the lessons of your life well connected with how God is going to use you to executer plan.

Don't fall into the trap of the evil one who will come and dangle a fruit in your eyes so you can take your focus away from God. Ecclesiastes 9:11 sheds more light to this "I returned and saw under the sun that”: The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favour to men of skill; But TIME and CHANCE happen to them all. The chance referred here is an opportunity, which happens to them all. The NLT of the same verse puts it like this in the last sentence; "It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

When you are in GOD and with GOD you are at the right place and surely the right time will come, don't despair and hand your life over to scoundrels and vultures who will shift you away from the right place so that you can miss the RIGHT TIME.   

In Daniel 2:20 -21 Daniel answered and said: Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.

Your TIME AND SEASON is upon you, because this is the essence of God's TIME. GOD BLESS YOU while you are waiting for Him (IN HIS PRESENCE) to move you to your next destination.

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You Will Rise Again

Ezekiel 37:3 - 6 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know... that I am the Lord.”

The bones were dry. In fact they were too dry that there seems no chance at all for them to live again. I like the response of the Prophet when God asked him if they could still live. He answered God and says you know. Ezekiel knew one thing, that there is nothing impossible with God. By saying to Him "You Know" he simply told God that he trusted Him.

His response to God was an indication that he has submitted his knowledge under God who is the creator of all things. This is why it was simple for God to come in and direct him what he can do. Ezekiel was acknowledging that there is nothing he could do except that which God has allowed. God who uses His children to do things gave him the word to speak for the bones to be alive.

It does not matter what kind of challenge you are sitting with. You may be sitting with the death of a dream you so wanted to achieve. You may be sitting with a challenge you desperately want to change. God is simply speaking to you this mornng that the solution is in your mouth. That word which you will utter for the challenge to move out of your way is in your mouth. All you need to do is speak that word. But look at this, it will need som patience from you. For the bones to live, sinews must first grow in order to connect the bones together and then the flesh must grow on them so that the process of life can be fully realized. Speak the WORD, Be PATIENT and watch GOD at play in our life.

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Two Things That Bring You Closer To God.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

I am sure you are familiar with the above verse. Many times during my talks I come across very intelligent people who seem to be very confused by simple things. You can hear from their speeches that these people are either educated or have some form of knowledge with regards to many worldly topics. But they seem very lost when it comes to the understanding of the themselves.

One who does not know himself, has not had an encounter with God. An encounter with God brings about a revelation of oneself which no amount of research and thesis work can produce. To know oneself, there is a great need of understanding that needs to be done. Many and at some point I was one of those, I thought I knew God and how he operates. Damn, how wrong I was!

There are two things that will make you know God. They look simple and yet they are profound. There are:

SUBMISSION: For many submission has been introduced as that between a husband and wife. It is more than that. Submission is the surrendering of oneself and one's consciousness of self in exchange of the other which may not be known at a particular moment. A case on point is on Mat 4:18-20 when Jesus called the brothers, Simon and Andrew. These fishermen who had their own business submitted their business, dreams, visions to the vision of Christ which could not be proven or authenticated at that time.  The brothers trusted one who was a stranger to them but who had something that sounded exciting compared to the tried and tested nets they were accustomed to.

In Christianity, submission is the trading of ONE'S WILL in acceptance of GOD'S WILL. Human nature always has its will which in most cases collides with God's will. Human will is influenced by many factors including personal gratification. This always manifests in our lives as material things and or human praise, among others. Without the general ability to submit to any human authority, in the home or in the workplace, it is difficult to submit to God. Many people miss opportunities in crusades and revivals to get connected to God because of this simple yet challenging issue of submission. They look at themselves and the pride sinks in and they easily let the opportunity pass them by.

Secondly, the issue of:

OBEDIENCE: In Genesis 12:1, God gives Abram an instruction to get out of his country and from his relatives to the land that He will show him. No details given of what the land looked like of how far it was. The only thing provided was a promise to a seventy five years old pensioner of being made a great nation. The pensioner Abram obeyed.  In John 9:7, a blind man's eyes were anointed with clay and was sent to the pool of Siloam to wash them. This was an act which resulted in his healing of the condition of blindness. This is very unconventional, It had never been done. Under normal circumstances, it would not make sense, but the blind man went to the pool and washed his eyes and came back seeing.

Many people want to be practical with God, and they miss opportunities because when God speaks to them it does not make sense. They want to see things in the way of the flesh for them to believe. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, we walk by faith, not by sight. FAITH triggers obedience, because with faith, you do not have to see it to believe it. You just have to trust Him in order for you to act. Many have failed this test because God spoke to them about things that did not make sense, yet it was in his will that it should happen in that way. But they opted to walk by sight and allowed that window of opportunity to close before them.

These two, are inter related and that is why they are the most powerful tools that any person can use to get closer to God and to access His supernatural provision. You can never be able to obey the instruction of one you do not submit to. Even children who want to be in good standing with their parents obey their instructions to show submission to their fatherhood.

What are you battling to do in your Christian life? If you introspect very well, you will realize that most of your challenges stem directly or indirectly from the two. Submit to the voice of God, and obey His instructions, and see the manifestation of 1 Corinthians 2:9 in your life. Stay blessed and keep looking out for the next article.

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THE SENSE OF A LIGHT BEARER

Years ago during my initiation back in the village, I came to be introduced to a concept which I grew to understand as Light Bearing. Light bearing is a leadership concept which needs to be understood by all leaders in small, medium and large organisations. Let me clarify this concept a little bit from those dry, cold and unbearable days. There was a young man who would be chosen from the royal family to carry a splint of fire which should not be allowed to burnout. Many said that it was a traditional ritual which was attached to ancestral belief. This is the part I do not need to take for now. That splint needed to be carried everywhere the initiates where going. Whether we were going hunting, he carried it, when we were at camp it will be kept burning on the main fire that was also not allowed to burn out also. In leadership, Light bearing is a daily process. A true leaders never forgets the responsibility that comes with leadership. Light bearing evokes the following attributes to a leader: A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY: A leader must always feel the sense of responsibility to the organisation he or she leads. This responsibility goes beyond just the responsibility of the employees. He indirectly becomes responsible for the wellbeing of the families of those he leads. If the employee is happy at home, he performs well his duties without any hindrances. A SENSE OF DEPENDABILITY: A light bearer must always know that the entire team depend on him for direction, guidance, and encouragement. In leadership there is no smooth sailing. Some of your trusted forces can go though difficult challenges which may hinder their work progress and performance. They depend on the light bearer to lift them up during the difficult and challenging times. Sometimes it may not be an issue of providing some tangible monetary assistance, it could be availing a listening ear. A SENSE OF AVAILABILITY : A light bearer’s availability would always provide us with comfort that we were not alone. If the rain was to start while in the jungle, we knew the light bearer will always be with us. Leaders should be available to walk the journey, however painful, with their subjects and teams to provide that sense of counsel. An available leaders will not be surprised by his people’s missing of deadlines, the state of burnout, or legging behind. An available leader will notice this immediately and because of his availability, he will be well placed to provide the necessary guidance. Leadership is vision. It is bearing the light of the direction that the organization takes. When carrying such vision, these traits become extremely important for the vision to be realized. A visionary leaders carries the burden of being responsible to those he leads. He avails all, for all to depend on his guidance and wisdom during their time of need.

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Dr. Joe Mabuela, Myself, Tshifhiwa Mutele and Pastor Herald Mutele after the interview of Tshifhiwa.

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Filling In Your Reservoir, Is Your Responsibility .

It has been said many times that you cant give what you do not have. The point in reference is that of love, I hear people say you cant give love when you don't know what love is. This This narrative is not only correct in Love matters. but in many areas of our lives.

One day I looked as children were sharing a bottle of water. One drank and left some for the others and the size of that bottle helped to quench the thirst of about four friends. The point I am making is that the more you have the more you share. The information you have on a specific area or field makes it easy for you to share with others. 

How can you fill this reservoir? Many people complain about not having money to pay for coaching or empowerment seminars. Knowledge and wisdom is expensive. If it means so much for you, it must be worth it for you to pay for. Lots of people want to live better lives, have more knowledge, but are not willing to pay the prize for it. The prize to pay is not always in monetary terms. Every single week there are free empowerment seminars in every city or town. The venues are empty while people are filling venues where they pay entrance fees and spend lots of money, when free seminars are going unattended.

The other day I was humbled by a young man who lives in the streets browsing  books at a bookshop. This young man told me that he always went to the bookshop to read a chapter of a book. Surely the wealth of knowledge that one acquires in any form will keep increasing with every single read that one takes.

The amount of self development materials on video, or on YouTube are freely available on the internet clustered in various categories. Radios, televisions and newspapers are still broadcasting more of that, making it impossible to blame one’s situation as a contributing factor towards lack of knowledge.

With all these information mediums overflowing with content, what reasons can you have for not having anything to give? Absolutely nothing. It is a manner of developing one’s habit to acquire knowledge so you can be able to give what you have. When it Is done by many, the community will benefit, so will the nation. 

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On The Revival Show

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Listen to Well of Wisdom Christian Radio on TuneIn #NowPlaying

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In leadership, when a system is broken, it’s better to fix the system than to fix the people. #leadershipconversations #Resuscitationleadership #restart #inspiration #leadership #maanospeaks #restart

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Ramadwa's Resuscitation Leadership model is comprised of the 5 R's. They are, Review, Respond, Relate, Recognized, and Reform. More on this teachable model, can be found from Maano Ramadwa on 0798269403.

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To resuscitate is to revive. That dream of yours which has been stalled by some nasty behaviour, bad choices and decisions, and your bad thoughts. Contact us so we can perform our CPR. The 5 R's of Resuscitation will get you unstuck, and unblocked. #maanospeaks @maanospeaks #restart #inspiration #motivation #leadership