Joel Kwesi Baidoo

 #BeInspiredToday 01-09-2022 Life is not Flashy One of the fallouts of social media is the false picture that there is an achievable flashy, problem-free, perfect-looking life out there. A life of instant success and back to back elevation of status. Aiming for such a life is like grasping the wind. The end result? Needless frustration. Don't mistake the selective celebration and projection of the upside of life to mean a perfect life that only a blessed few have the privilege to enjoy.  On the contrary, brace yourself for both the peaks and troughs of life. The reality is that everyone is being served their fair share of the vicissitudes of life.  God has not promised us a smooth journey but a glorious arrival. Our comfort is in the fact that no matter what comes our way, our God is with us till the end of the age. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Let your manner of living be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have. For He hath said, “I wil...

#BeInspiredToday 31-08-2022 Bold is Beautiful  For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7) Confidence is a beautiful thing. It is a sign of self acceptance, self respect, and inner strength.  Timidity coerces you to live other people's expectations instead of your own convictions. It goes on to stifle your potential by convincing you to belittle your abilities and ideas. When confidence takes over, you now feel you are good enough to express yourself freely. You no longer fear failure because you are ready to accept it and learn from it. You are suddenly able to resist whatever tries to intimidate you. Confidence doesn't just come. Below, I share three ways: knowledge, integrity, and prayer. There is a saying that "Authority flows from the man who knows." The more you know, the more your confidence grows. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly di...

#BeInspiredToday 30-08-2022 Take Care of Yourself "…You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39) More often, when the Scripture is quoted that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, the emphasis is on the neighbor. Today, I want to turn to the other equally important side of the equation. We have a responsibility to love ourselves. Taking care of ourselves is neither unspiritual nor sinful. Until we care enough to examine our own shortfalls and help ourselves out of them, we can hardly help our neighbor. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3) The Bible teaches that when someone is backsliding and you want to help such a person, you should do so without jeopardizing your own spirituality. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1) There was a time when the disciples were...

 #BeInspiredToday 29-08-2022 Everyone Can Give As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace. (1 Peter 4:10) Everyone of us has something to offer. All it takes to give is to have. And as stewards of God's grace, we each have a gift from God - a special ability to do something. Our charge is to serve one another with this gift. No one is 'giftless', therefore no one has nothing to give. The realization of this should make us look deep within and fetch out the good deposits of divinely bestowed potentials and serve our world with it. The more we give of ourselves, the more successful we become, and life becomes more meaningful. The benefit of giving ourselves may not come immediately but it surely will. Do not hold back. Neither doubt your ability to give because everyone can give. Remain inspired!

 #BeInspiredToday 26-08-2022 How Great Thou Art The Christian hymn 'How Great Thou Art' was originally written as a Swedish poem entitled, 'O Store Gud' (O Great God) by Carl Boberg in 1885. It was later translated into Russian, and British missionary Stuart Hine then translated the Russian version into English. May you be drawn in awesome wonder of our great God as you meditate on the lyrics of this hymn. 1. O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the works Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy pow’r thru-out the universe displayed! Chorus Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; How great Thou art, how great Thou art! 2. When thru the woods and forest glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees, When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze. 3. And when I think that God, His S...

 #BeInspiredToday 25-08-2022 Start With Why A TEDx conference happened in 2009, in an inconspicuous room in the Pacific Northwest that seated slightly more than a hundred people. The first speaker of the night was a no-name, law school dropout who’d gone into marketing. And his microphone didn’t even work properly until it was suddenly switched on mid-speech.  But listeners soon realized that there was something captivating about the guy. The room was so silent you could’ve heard a pin drop – the audience was that captivated. At one point, he drew three concentric circles on a whiteboard. In the middle, in big, fat letters, he wrote a single word: “why?” Then he uttered a sentence that he would go on to repeat endlessly throughout not only the talk but also the rest of his life: “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”  No one realized it at the time, but this would become the third most clicked-on TED talk of all time. The title: “Start with Why – How Grea...

 #BeInspiredToday 24-08-2022 Come and See People will always have their perception about you based on your background or status. This influences how they relate to you. It is up to you to either confirm or disprove this perception. It is always your responsibility to disprove every negative perception about you lest they become a tag on you forever. In Jesus' day, there was a prevailing perception about people from the town Nazareth. This perception was so negative that when Philip told Nathaniel that he had found Jesus of Nazareth whom he believed was the Messiah, Nathaniel doubted simply because Jesus was from Nazareth. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. (John 1:45-46) Philip's response of "Come and see" says a lot about what he had ...

 #BeInspiredToday 23-08-2022 Create Your Monopoly You don't need to be like everyone else to be successful. In fact, the urge to always fit in is a defeatist mentality that will rob you of your greatest potential. What I mean by 'create your monopoly' is to find your own niche and specialise in it. You are always the best in your own terrain. You begin to struggle when you start looking for acceptance in a terrain that is alien to you. In such an environment, your self confidence suffers and your strength is curtailed. David, when he was going to fight Goliath, refused to wear Saul's armour. He was used to using slings and stones. He decided to stick to his niche and that led to his success. Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not us...

#BeInspiredToday 22-08-2022 I'd Rather Be Reading What you think about reading says more about you than about the books. And the books you like says a lot about you. Reading is like eating. The food you eat may not immediately reflect in your height or size. Similarly, you may hardly see the immediate impact of reading but its cumulative effect transforms your life for the better. Dr. Swiss, an American children’s author once said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” “I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in,” said Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer, most noted for writing Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde). Napoléon Bonaparte, the French military and political leader, also said: “Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.” Have a reading habit because you are blessed if you read. "Blessed is...

 #BeInspiredToday 19-08-2022 Rock of Ages ‘Rock of Ages’ is a very well-known hymn that was written in 1763 by the Anglican cleric Augustus Toplady and published in 1775. There’s a rumour that Toplady came up with the idea for this hymn after he took shelter from a storm in Burrington Combe in the Mendips in England. It is comforting to know that God Himself is our rock who stands through all ages and seasons. Be blessed by this hymn. 1 Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee; let the water and the blood, from thy wounded side which flowed, be of sin the double cure; save from wrath and make me pure. 2 Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law's demands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone; thou must save, and thou alone. 3 Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling; naked, come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die. 4 While I dr...

 #BeInspiredToday 18-08-2022 I Am Not When people are puffed up with pride, they have a hard time admitting what they are not. In fact, they want to be known to have assumed heights above where they really are. The following statement in the book of Isaiah is attributed to the devil: You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:13-14) Now, contrast this to how John the baptist responded when he was asked whether he was the Messiah. Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ." (John 1:19-20) Humble people have nothing to prove and no one to impress; they are simply content with pleasing God. Proud...

 #BeInspiredToday 17-08-2022 The Lost Definition of Patience Patience means more than tolerating what upsets you. Patience actually means trusting the process when it is not yet complete. The difference is significant because the latter definition requires you to have faith in the object of your patience. To be patient with your spouse, for example, implies that you believe in their potential to become who they are meant to be. Therefore what you see as their frailties now is part of their transformation cycle which is not yet over. This faith element makes patience more active than passive. True patience will make us help people to unearth their true potential because we believe in them. When we are truly patient with people, we make them know how much we believe in them despite their present failures and imperfections. We spur them on even when they give up on themselves. Patience in action is therefore a combination of faith and love that refuses to give up on the weaknesses of ...

 #BeInspiredToday 16-08-2022 Forgiveness is a Choice Offences are bound to come our way as certainly as our shadows are bound to follow us. We are surrounded by imperfect human beings who will definitely rub us in the wrong way at certain points in time. The mark of a beautiful heart is the ability to forgive and move on. To forgive is to acknowledge the humanity of our offenders and to lower the standard of expectations we have placed on them. Forgiveness is a choice in that it is an act of love. We need not feel it. We need not postpone forgiveness until the memory of the hurt fades from our conscious thoughts. It is a decision to be taken - an act of the will. It is more blessed to forgive than to hold grudges because the latter leads to bitterness, and bitterness crushes the spirit.  The recipe for a healthy emotional life is to be anxious for nothing. Think about the things that build you up. Give thanks and be joyful. Always have positive thoughts no matter what comes yo...

 #BeInspiredToday 15-08-2022 It is my TIME and my TURN!!! The 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games was just held in Birmingham, England. The multi-sport event took place from 28th July to 8th August 2022. One of the athletes to set a new world record at the event was the Nigerian, Tobi Amusan. She smashed the record of 12.20 seconds in the women's 100-meter hurdles by finishing in 12.12 seconds. She said the following in a facbook post after the tournament. "It is my TIME and my TURN!!! I’m glad to have defended my Commonwealth Games title with Two Games Record in the process.  Never give up on yourself. Just stay focused on the Lord, on your craft and He will never fail you. I’m a testimony of His greatness." Tobi's testimony should remind us that time and chance have been fairly distributed to all of us. If we keep our heads up in diligent preparation, our time of shining will surely come. I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or t...

THE CURSED FIG TREE One day, while Jesus and His disciples were entering Jerusalem, he saw a fig tree which had grown leaves. Expecting to find some figs on it, He went closer only to be disappointed to find no fruits on the tree. Jesus cursed the fig tree. 'The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.' (Mark 11:12-14) The story of the cursed fig tree can be found in Matthew 21:18-22 and Mark 11:12-25. In both passages, the event took place just around the time Jesus rid the temple in Jerusalem of the traders. There have been several theological discussions as to the symbolism of this event. Many scholars have suggested that the cursing of the fig tree connotes God’s judgement aga...

 #BeInspiredToday 12-08-2022 What a Friend! Joseph Scriven wrote the hymn, "What a friend we have in Jesus" in 1855 after several moments of personal grief and trials. He had to abandon his ambition to enlist in the military due to his poor health. On top of that, his fiancee died in a drowning accident on the eve of their wedding day in 1844. His plans for marriage were dashed again when his new bride-to-be died after a short illness in 1855. No matter what comes our way, we can be assured that God will either deliver us from the storm or will keep us company through it all. Be blessed as you brood over the words of this hymn. 1 What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer! 2 Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord i...

 #BeInspiredToday 11-08-2022 The Sun Will Be Darkened Today is August 11. On this day in 1999, the world experienced what is thought to be one of the most viewed total solar eclipses in recorded history. The eclipse was visible from Europe, most of Asia and Africa, and in parts of North America. Since then, many more solar eclipses have occurred. The thought of solar eclipses should remind us of the signs of the imminent end of this world. “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.” (Luke 21:25) “Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened…” (Matthew 24:29) Eschatology, the study of the final events that are to unfold in the history of the world, is increasingly becoming a less discussed subject. This is understandable. The more people love the world, the less they expect its destruction. Whether we like it or not, this world has been destined to end soon. ...

 #BeInspiredToday 10-08-2022 Dare to Lead Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston whose work focuses on courage and empathy. Her TED talk, "The Power of Vulnerability," has over 30 million views and is one of the top-five most viewed TED talks of all time. In 2018, she published a book entitled Dare to Lead which explores how to find the inner courage to lead a great team. Drawing from her wealth of experience as a leadership coach, she shares the following tips as the way to harness one's emotions, quash the fear of failure, and become a daring leader in an increasingly competitive world. Firstly, lead with courage. The secret to great leadership is not about position or power. The key to great leadership is vulnerability, speaking your truth, being courageous and sticking to your values. Being vulnerable is an act of courage. It involves saying what's on your mind and being honest with yourself and your team. Courageous leaders carve out tim...