How to Fulfil Your Dreams, Be Happy, and Overcome Your Fears

June 25, 2018 Live Today With FaithLeave a comment

fear

I would like to start with a quote from Marianne Williamson.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Although this quote has always inspired me it’s the first part that can be confusing. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

Most people tend to believe that they fear not being adequate, that they fear not being good enough, that they fear failure, that they fear not measuring up to others.

When in actual fact there real fear is that they fear their magnificence.

They fear that they could change the world. They fear that they really do have the power to create a life of real meaning. They are afraid to experience their power to create a life of such impact. So they hide behind a false fear… a fear that they are inadequate and they don’t even try to create a life that they enjoy.

The amount of times that I have asked myself who am I to step forward and say this or do that. Who am I to approach that person? Who am I to inspire others to their greatness?

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Consider how often have you asked yourself these type of questions?

How often have you not done what you wanted to do, to “fit in? To be accepted? To be liked?

Your doing this didn’t serve anyone, least of all yourself.

The funny thing is that when you stop fearing your greatness… when you embrace your God given power, and courageously and boldly step forward into the world declaring your life with confidence (shining your light) you will bring forth the divine power that lives within you.

It is within us all.

When you embrace the fact that you are a child of God with a unique purpose, you will receive a power so great and achieve much more than you ever dreamed of!

And when you embrace your POWER, unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. You inspire others to their greatness! This power is our true fear … and living it is our purpose.

Have a good week.

Rev J Martin

Heal The People In Your Life

April 23, 2018April 23, 2018 Live Today With Faith2 Comments

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Did you know that the words you speak can bring healing to people’s lives?

When you speak words of love, comfort, or encouragement, those words have the power to affect the person hearing them in such a positive way, that the result is health in their body.

For those of you who are parents, your words can impart valuable knowledge to your children, which results in their good health:

Not only do our words have the power to heal, but unfortunately they also have the power to hurt, which can result in sickness.

Careless words can make people feel insecure which can lead to them feeling depressed. The greatest sickness of the 21st century.

As Proverbs 12:18 states: “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts..” – and swords kill or cripple people!

When we get into a conflict or argument, our words can diffuse the situation, or make it worse.

Most people are lazy with there words; they fail to understand or appreciate the power they possess. So, they use them unwisely. Saying negative things like, I can’t, I will never, that’s impossible.

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Each of us needs to take responsibility. Responsibility for the words that we use. When you change I can’t to I can; healing energy will flow into your life.

If you have a problem in your relationship, you have two choices, you can be stubborn, or you can choose to sit down with a loved one and admit that you’re in the wrong, even if you’re not. You will often find that when you make the first move the other person will apologise also.

In my new book, The Healing Power of Words I write about the healing power that our words contain.

How they can mend relationships and friendships that have fallen apart.

How negative self-talk can hold you back.

How to create habits that are healthy, not only mentally but also emotionally.

Learn to heal people where ever you go. Control your tongue. Strengthen your family bonds, and nourish the ones you love.

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Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

These are healing words. These are words that instil faith that can restore a person’s life. Like Jesus, we too must speak healing, encouraging, and inspirational words over our lives and the lives of others.

Words that build people up not tear them down. Words that motivate inspire and push people towards their destiny.

The Healing Power of Words is currently on free promotion on Amazon. Get your copy now!

Click the link – Free eBook

Thank you.
Rev J Martin

5 Common Habits of Unhappy People

April 10, 2018 Live Today With FaithLeave a comment

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Most of our un-happiness comes from our own thinking, behaviour and habits. Today I would like to share 5 of the most destructive habits that can create un-happiness in your life.

After each habit I will go over some ways that can help you overcome some of the habits and live a better life.

Negative Friends

If you are surrounded with people that have little or no faith this will start to affect you in the long-term. Who we socialize with, what we read, watch and listen to, has a massive effect on how we feel and think.

It becomes a lot harder to be happier if you let yourself be influenced by negative voices. Voices that tell you that life will always be the way it is, that its better you learn to be happy where you are. Voices that watch life from a negative limited perspective.

How to overcome this habit:

Replace those negative voices with more positive ones. Surround yourself with new people to see the difference it can make. All your old friends will be exactly where you leave them if you ever want to return. This alone can be like a whole new world opening up.

Spend time with positive people, listen to inspiring music and read motivational books, watch movies and TV-shows that make you laugh and think about life in a new way.

What I found very helpful was starting out small. For example, listen to an inspiring audiobook on YouTube while eating breakfast in the morning, rather than listening to the news that is filled with negativity.

Getting Stuck in the Past and Future

Spending much of your time in the past, reliving old painful memories, conflicts, missed opportunities can hurt a lot. Spending your time in the future and imagining how things could go wrong at work, in your relationships and with your health can lead to a lot of un-happiness. Life is about living in the present.

How to overcome this habit:

It is pretty much impossible not to think about the past or the future. And it is of course important to plan for tomorrow and next year and to try to learn from your past, but to dwell on those things rarely helps.

What I found to be very helpful is to focus on what I can do today. I do out a timetable each day of all the things that I need to do. Constantly working towards my bigger longterm goals. If I do find myself thinking of the past or future too much I recite a short prayer to centre my thoughts.

Worry and doubt all stem from dwelling on the past or thinking about the future.

What I find very helpful is going for a walk in nature, or changing my surroundings by visiting a friend or relative. Being at home is the worst place to be if there is something troubling you.

Comparing Yourself To Others

One very common and destructive habit is to compare yourself to other people. People compare cars, houses, jobs, relationships, social popularity and so on. The list can be endless. All this does is create a lot of negative feelings.

How to overcome this habit:

Compare yourself to yourself. Instead of comparing yourself to other people create the habit of comparing yourself to yourself.

See how much you have grown, what you have achieved and what progress you have made towards your goals. Doing this has the benefit of creating gratitude, appreciation and kindness towards yourself as you observe what you have achieved, the obstacles you have overcome and the good stuff you have done.

When we judge ourselves we tend to judge others also. Luke 6:37 “do not judge, and you will not be judged.” Try to only focus on the positives in yourself and those around you. When we judge it’s usually because we have unrealistic expectations of others and ourselves.

By letting this all go and just accepting who you are faults and all, you will be instantly happier and have better relationships with others.

Focusing on the Negative Details in Life

Most people focus on the dark clouds rather than the silver lining. When you look at the negative aspects of a situation that is a sure way to make yourself unhappy. You can even drag down the mood for everyone around you.

How to overcome this habit:

Overcoming this habit can be difficult. Something that has worked for me is to look for the good in the situation, it can be hard to see but it is always there. If things didn’t work out for you, maybe its not the right time, or a better opportunity is around the corner.

What can easily happen if your not careful is you can be so buried in self-pity that you miss out on the reason that you had the setback. For example, you attend an interview and don’t get the job. You take the rejection personally, thinking you haven’t got what it takes and don’t even look for another job when the perfect one is waiting for you.

Overcomplicating Life

Life at times can be complicated but more often than not we can be the ones that make it so. This ultimately creates stress and unhappiness. The world is becoming more complex but that doesn’t stop us from making some new habits to make it easier.

How to overcome this habit:

Splitting your focus and having your attention all over the place is certain to lead to unhappiness. Concentrate on one thing at a time. Have a to-do-list of 4-5 important things that need completed throughout the day.

Work on the first until it is complete then move on to the next. This simple strategy saves time, and will triple your productivity. Plus, at the end of the day you will feel happy.

Another thing that can overcomplicate life is having too much stuff. A solution can be to ask yourself: have I used this in the past year? If not then give it away. This can create so much space within your home. A cluttered living space reflects a cluttered mind.

Relationships can be the most complicated thing in life. What has helped me greatly in this department is communication. Reading minds is impossible. Minimise unnecessary conflicts, misunderstandings and negativity.

When stressed, worried or lost in a problem, breathe with your belly for two minutes and just focus on the air going in and out. This will calm your body and mind.

Then you can start focusing on doing what is most important for you again.

Thanks for reading. Have a good week.
Rev J Martin

How Your Phone Can Increase Your Faith

March 8, 2018March 9, 2018 Live Today With FaithLeave a comment

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Try for one day to keep track of every time you pick up your phone. With some research showing that we pick up and put down our phones 150 times a day, just logging it may become a challenge.

Now, I’m not asking you actually to take a note, but for one day try to do a mental one. You will quickly get a sense of how much time you are focused on activities and how much time you are being distracted.

So why am I talking about this today?

Well, as the saying goes, ‘replace a negative with a positive.’ So if you have negative habits replace them with positive ones.

Of course, some people will say I need my phone for my job, etc. that’s not negative. But even I go to my phone to check for an important email and find myself replying to a text message or scrolling through Facebook.

Sometimes forgetting all about the reason I picked the phone up in the first place.

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What I started to do is, I have a 30-second lock on my phone so when I set it down it locks within 30 seconds. And to unlock it I have to put in a password.

Now, I changed this password to the word ‘prayer.’

So every time I open my phone I am reminded to say the short prayer. “Jesus I surrender to your will.” When I started to do this, I was instantly connected to God more each day.

If you’re going through hurt, worry or doubt it can help you detach from it, even if it’s only for a brief moment.

When we get into a state of worry, doubt or anxiety we can lose ourselves for days, weeks, or even months as we are completely absorbed by what is going on in our lives.

It could be a serious situation, and I don’t want to make light of that, it could be something within your family or with a friend or in your community.

But if we lose ourselves in these events and let worry doubt or fear consume our spirits, our faith can weaken as we can question everything.

Certain events can even test our faith, pulling us down, separating us from God.

We can go through a period where we even give up on Him.

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If you find yourself lost in this place, it’s important not to beat yourself up about it. We all have to deal with a certain situation in the best way we know how.

If you tend to use your phone a lot, screens can be locked; screen savers can be put in place, helping us to keep focused on the only thing that matters. Our creator.

You can change your passwords to meaningful positive, motivating words or phrases that help you throughout the day. Each day you are regularly programming your mind with faith.

Just for that split second when you pick up your phone, it can break a negative thought cycle that you may be going through, by connecting you to God. Adding peace to your day

And, when we are more connected, we are more relaxed, we are more centred, we are more at peace.

Whenever you read scripture, prayers or motivational literature, it calms you, and you realise that everything is going to work out.

When you are in the peaceful calm state which prayer brings, you can think level-headedly. You no longer feel from a place of worry, doubt, stress, depression or anxiety, but from a place of faith.

You are coming from a grounded, centred place, and when you come from that place you can see, no matter what is going on in your life, from a new perspective, a fresh perspective, a view you can mirror to the past.

And, in the past, everything worked out, so you know it will work out this time as well.

I wish your self, family and friends a beautiful weekend and may God bless you all, in a 1000 ways.

Thank you for reading
Rev J Martin

Is Free Will The Ultimate Power?

February 20, 2018February 20, 2018 Live Today With Faith2 Comments

free will

When God created us, He gave us free will, without free will, we would be robots. Predictable, boring, with no room to grow.

The major decision we have to make is to live in faith or live in fear.

Let’s just say Tommy has an interview, Tommy might initially feel overjoyed, rushing to share the news on social media.

But when the buzz has worn off, Tommy begins to doubt if he is good enough for the job, so he calls a friend, explaining how he feels. Jason encourages him, not by some magic trick but simply by telling him what he already knows deep down.

That he is awesome and will ace the interview.

Tommy puts down the phone in good spirits, pumped up for the interview. If only he could walk in right now. His energy alone would win him the job.

After a few hours, Tommy’s doubt returns.

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Before long, he’s back where he started, and to make matters worse Tommy has an argument with his girlfriend, and they break up. Becky tells him how useless he is, telling him attending the interview would be a waste of time, for a loser.

Tommy decides not to attend the interview.

A friend on the morning of the interview calls Tommy to wish him good luck; he tells his friend what happened. Again, his friend builds him up not by some magic trick but by telling him what he knows deep down within.

That he’s better off without a girl that doesn’t believe in him. That the job will help him grow as a person; that he will be doing a job he loves.

Tommy gets in his car and goes straight to the interview. Fired up, he walks in with confidence, energy, and style. He instantly connects with the people taking the interview, so much so they are memorized. Tommy gets the job.

What has happened here?

Tommy’s free will took him on a rollercoaster that almost when off the rails. We all have the choice to doubt or to have faith in each moment.

Free will is like the pendulum on a grandfather clock; it’s what makes the clock tick. It is what creates the ups and downs of life.

The thing that we need to know is that we are not the pendulum, we are the battery that powers the clock, but unlike conventional batteries our power comes from God and His power never runs out.

So for the rest of this week, when you come up against hard times that has your mood all over the place. Remember that you are not the pendulum but the battery that is separate from it all.

Have an amazing faith filled week
Rev J Martin

Eliminate Your Fear And Live the Life You Want

May 9, 2017May 9, 2017 Live Today With FaithLeave a comment

Recently I seen a movie called, Joe and the Volcano. It starred Tom Hanks very early in his career. For those of you that have not seen the film, Tom plays the character, Joe.

Joe does not enjoy his life; he does the same old thing every day in a dead end job; he is miserable, and sees no way out. He had lost all faith in himself and life.

Joe knew he was capable of doing more, but he had given up on himself. We can all identify with this in some way. As he was miserable with his life, he was constantly sick with different ailments he would create for himself to get out of work.

One day he took the morning off to go for an appointment; the doctor seeing the pattern thought he would trick Joe. So he told him he was suffering from a new illness called a brain cloud and had only six months to live.

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Joe believed the doctor.

It worked out that there was a reason the doctor told him this, on a nearby island there was a volcano which was going to erupt soon, but if someone jumped into the volcano and sacrificed their life; all would be ok.

Joe, believing that he only had six months to live was easily convinced that he was the man to save the island.

He was given unlimited credit cards and told to enjoy himself first then he would have to sacrifice himself to the volcano. He was told to live like a king, and die like a man.

Joe’s life now had a purpose; he wanted to do it.

When people have no meaning or purpose to their lives, they will throw themselves into anything. Drink, drugs; a job that doesn’t add any value to their life; a relationship that they know is bad but they stay there anyway because they don’t value themselves enough to walk away.

Well, when the doctor told Joe that he was going to die from this brain cloud, Joe decided to live his life; all fear left him, he didn’t care anymore.

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It got me thinking about my own life; did I have to be told that I was going to die to do all the things that I wanted to? It’s so easy to put things off, to say, l will visit my friends abroad next year.

We can so easily take life for granted, not realizing that each day is a gift that we must treasure.

When Joe was told, he was going to die his whole world transformed. He went straight from the doctors to work and quit. Then on the way out, he asked the girl that he had fancied for years out for dinner. He wasn’t worried about rejection or what people might say.

When Joe eventually jumped into the volcano with the girl that he fell in love with, he was thrown back out.

For me, the volcano was a symbol of fear. When Joe jumped into his fear, there was nothing there. That’s the way fear is; it looks big, but when you have the courage to turn and face it you will realize that there is nothing much to it.

Joe went from working a dead end job to travelling the world on a magical quest, simply because the fear was removed from his life when he found he had a short time to live.

If you had six months to live what would you do differently?

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Would you stay in the same job? Would you be worried about the things that you are worried about right now? Would you have the same people in your life?

This film reminded me of a book my friend lend me a couple of years ago, in that book it asked, what would you do if you had three months to live?

My answer was, I would love to write down my thoughts and inspire and motivate others.

On the next page, I got a shock, it said, you could die today, so whatever you wrote on the last page start spending as much time doing that today. So I did.

So what would you do? Well, whatever it may be, decide from today you are going to delegate your life to it.

The main reason Joe stayed in the same job as long as he did, he feared change, most people fear change. A lot of people stay in jobs that make them miserable or relationships that make them unhappy.

Sometimes to see the beauty of life, you have to be willing to change; change cities, change jobs, change relationships, change friends.

We were created to bring so much to life, not to do a job that has no meaning for us for 40 years. God created you to achieve great things, to bring love happiness and joy into the world.

If your life is not the way you want it to be; if you are not living the way that you want to live; if you are not experiencing what you want to experience, you have to ask yourself why?

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In the film when Joe quits his job he says to his boss, I sold my soul to you for $300 a week. He is not alone. Many people work jobs where it’s no longer healthy for them to be there, but because they don’t have faith in themselves and their abilities, they stay there.

They remain there as victims, volunteer victims, because no one is making them do it, they volunteer. They willingly do it.

They volunteer to hide in fear; they volunteer to believe that God gave others unlimited resources, and not them.

Our Heavenly Father asks one thing of us; that we have faith.

Having faith means to go for what you want in life. My grandmother used to say, do what makes you happy, if it means living under an old cart. The older and wiser I get the more I understand the wisdom in those words.

One day of happiness is like 1000 days in misery.

John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

The thing about the truth is; people don’t want to hear the truth. People don’t want to hear that if they are not happy, they must change. People don’t want that sense of responsibility.

Don’t be held back in fear, rise up in faith and begin to live the life that you have always wanted to live.

I love to fly, but I also know that some of them planes are coming down quicker than they are going up. It’s dangerous for that plane to fly. You see some ships leave the harbour and sink; it’s dangerous for the ship to be on the ocean. You read about people leasing their homes, and the people that rent the house tear it up; it’s dangerous to let somebody move into your home.

Yet, the engineers will tell you that it is more dangerous for them planes to stay on the ground, that it will rust out faster than it will up in the heavens.

They say that ships will collect more barnacles in the harbour and become unseaworthy faster than they will sailing the high seas, and they say that if that house stays empty, it will deteriorate faster than if you have someone living there.

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Just like a plane was built for flying, and a ship was built for sailing, and houses were built for living in; we too were created for a purpose. We were built for accomplishment; we were engineered for success, we have been graced with the seeds of greatness that we must share with others to see the fruits of life.

The greatest danger we have as human beings is doing nothing at all.

Stop 100 young people on the street and ask them if they are happy at their work, only 5% will say they are. Follow these people until they are 65 and of those that are still living, studies have shown that only 5% will be happy with their lives.

Let today be the day that you decide to be part of that 5%.

Let today be the day that you start to plan your future, start to use the gifts and talents that God has graced you with. Do something that you have always wanted to do but have been putting off.

I wish you, your family and friends happiness health and love.

Thank you for your time.
Rev J Martin

Free eBook to rekindle Faith

April 3, 2017April 4, 2017 Live Today With FaithLeave a comment

Firstly I would like to thank you for following me, I truly appreciate your time, and I want you to know I pray for you each day.

I firmly believe that we all have been given a divine destiny; a special gift that is unique to us. Happiness and fulfilment come when we use that gift to help others; which results in making this world a better place.

Too often we step back in fear, with the attitude that we are not worthy of the new relationship, the new job, the new career. I would like you to know that you are worthy; you have a light within you that you must allow to shine into the world.

If you feel held back in fear at this present moment, my book Power of Choice – Choose faith not fear can help you rekindle your faith. It is free on Amazon until Thursday 11.59pm.

My main aim as an author is to inspire change in the lives of my readers, one verse, one story, one sentence, can be all it takes to open the door to the next level of your destiny. This is one of my daily prayers.

We all work on our fitness; doing the best that we can to keep healthy. Faith is no different, it needs constant work and maintenance.

When you see someone that never seems to get into difficulty or never seems to be stressed, this is not by chance. This person has very little fear in his or her life.

Enjoy the book; may it bring you happiness.

Link – Power Of Choice – Choose Faith Not Fear

Rev J Martin