Rescue Me from Myself: (Bringing the Best out of You)

By Dr. Ojo Joseph Bamidele

Who am I? What can I know? What ought I do? We needed to work through the most important spiritual lessons which all of us must learn: passion, betrayal and forgiveness. There is always a wilderness in us. It's a very necessary, crucial and divine detour to bring us home to ourselves after a lifetime of running away. Many of us always want to fast track our lives journey. Just because you failed at a relationship doesn't mean you are a failure.
We have to pass through the wilderness before getting to the promise land. There are many stumbling objects on the path. Wilderness is a bleak, numbing word that instantly calls to mind a feeling of hopelessness, nothingness, barrenness and most of all, a sense of powerlessness. There's a reason that the biblical expression "the voice of the one crying in the wilderness" has come to mean abject abandonment.
You can wail and gnash your teeth all you want, but in the Wilderness no one hears your heart tearing asunder except God, who presumably sent you there. Ironically, according to ancient legend, the word Wilderness didn't conjure up a place of punishment, but rather a place of learning, spiritual growth, understanding, healing and accomplishment. It referred to a wellspring of Divine energy in the guise of despair, hardship and pain; your experience in the Wilderness was designed to prepare or propel you toward your destiny. Or pry you loose from whatever was keeping you from it.
Still, one does not enthusiastically sign up for the Wilderness cure the way we might for a restorative spell at Mount Everest or a confidence-building week in a retreat camp. Instead, we are usually thrust into the Wilderness by horrific circumstances that not only try our souls but seriously call into question our belief in God.
In life, the smarter you are, the more things can scare you but to fear is one thing and to let fear grab you around the tail and swing you around is another. What difference does it make if the things you're scared of are real or not? You need to navigate your way through fear to achieve your big dream.
The Israelites of the Old Testament were lucky. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Most of us stumble through trial, terror and triumphs of life's terrain a lot longer, usually until we're ready, willing and able to come face-to-face with the truth about ourselves. But we don't know we're worthy of success until we set out in search of the Promise Land.
In this book, you will also get the insight to: “Know when to say no”; “Live to fight another day”; “Success is progress”; “Dream big”; “Go the extra mile”; “Who is your role model”; “The down fall of a man”; “Life is a risk”; “Give me another chance”; “Don't give up”; “Pride Goes before a fall”; "Courage to excel"; “Dwelling in Possibilities”; Making a difference in a chaotic World and many more. Get your copy now; you will be glad you did.

• There are moments that have made a difference in the trajectory of your life: the successes and failure that have define you; the loves and hates, gains and losses, promises and pain that have bound you; the risks and ruins, tumults and triumphs that set you free. This is a unique book indeed - Starlight Organization
• Hon. George Adioni Sinclair says; learn how to say ‘I am sorry’ even if you are right. If this message offends you in one way or the other, I am sorry. My apologies. – Reverend George-Blessing

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664121829

Dr. Ojo Joseph Bamidele

Dr. Ojo Joseph B. (BSc, MSc, MPhil, PhD) is a Natural Therapy specialist, Integrated Pest and diseases management (IP&DM) scientist, former University lecturer, a minister and the coordinator of Christian Help Ministry (CHM) program in Africa and the United States of America. He is a Christian Counselor and a motivational speaker; musician, composer and artist producer. Bamidele is the author of the popular natural health solution book “Natural Therapy Miracle” and of a number of books.

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1     Desire

Chapter 2     Happiness, Holiness and Joy

Chapter 3     Self Worth

Chapter 4     Friend and Friendship

Chapter 5     Show Me Your Friends

Chapter 6     Human Lust

Chapter 7     Character and Virtue

Chapter 8     Popular Culture

Chapter 9     Fruit of the Flesh

Chapter 10   Fruit of the Spirit

Chapter 11   Thirst for the Truth

Chapter 12   Love the Greatest

Chapter 13   Flee and Resist Evil

Chapter 14   Choose Your Friends Wisely

Chapter 15   Courage to Excel

Chapter 16   Know When to Say No

Chapter 17   Live To Fight another Day

Chapter 18   Conflict Resolution

Chapter 19   Success Is Progress

Chapter 20   Dream Big

Chapter 21   Go the Extra Mile

Chapter 22   Who Is Your Role Model

Chapter 23   The Down Fall of a Man

Chapter 24   Life Is a Risk

Chapter 25   Give Me another Chance

Chapter 26   Don’t Give Up

Chapter 27   Pride goes before a fall

Chapter 28   Moral Values and Ethics

Chapter 29   Free Will and Choice

Chapter 30   Sexual Habits

Chapter 31   You Are What You Eat (Good Meal)

Chapter 32   Concepts for a Purposeful Life

Chapter 33   One Day at a Time

Chapter 34   Treasure of the Heart

Chapter 35   To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

Chapter 36   David in the Mind of God

Chapter 37   Moderation and Extremism

Chapter 38   John the Baptist in You

Chapter 39   Humility and Self Sacrifice

Chapter 40   Appreciation of Life Duality (Good and Bad)

Chapter 41   Gratitude and Supplication

Chapter 42   Job, A Role Model of Perseverance

Chapter 43   Purpose of Creation

Chapter 44   The Notion of God and Creation

Chapter 45   Dwelling in Possibilities

The Power of I am sorry

Rescue The Perishing, Care for the Dying

Shakespeare said

Author’s Curriculum Vitae

Glossary

Bibliographies

Index

This book is a good reference tool for Sunday school

teachers, Pastors, Ministers, Universities and Colleges

lecturers in psychology, philosophy, social studies and

humanities worldwide. Everybody in the secular and

temporal world will also gain some life challenging

information from reading Rescue Me from myself.

There are exercises/questions for brain

storming at the end of each chapter.

Acknowledgements

I give God the glory and honor and majesty for giving me the courage for this noble course.

I thank Mr. Edward Mbayoh for the tireless help of voluntarily gathering all the necessary information, literatures and reference books I needed for the writing of this book. I also thank Bro. Carl Martens, Bro. Lee Beam and others for their valuable suggestions in the compilation of the material, and their careful and painstaking help in the preparation of the manuscript of Rescue Me from myself.

My debt of gratitude will not be complete without mentioning my Bosses and Mentors: Dr. H. Herren my Director of program and Dr. Gasser my Director of Training for giving me the fellowship and scholarship for my post graduate studies. Finally, I thank my direct Boss Dr. John Steve Yaninek for giving me the opportunity to work with him. This privilege helped to expose me to the international community and the world.

Finally and most important I appreciate my beautiful wife Folasayo and our baby girl Testimony (Prophetess Deborah) for the love and prayers that has taken us this far. The Lord is good all the time.

Dedication

To the Christian martyrs who have paid the supreme price with their lives for the sake of Jesus Christ gospel.

Foreword

It is precious to explore the frontier of the mind; for those who does become the magi of their time. I like to ponder about life and its attributes. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth but my life ambition had always been; aiming for the star. I wanted to become a music super star etc. I was only fortunate to acquire good education. My early life was full of struggles but I was determined to become a successful person. My definition of success then was to build my own house, buy a good car, marry a beautiful woman and raise my children!

But as time pass by, I discovered that it wasn’t as easy as I thought. Everything was falling apart from unsettled home to chattered dreams. I persevered and later my faith altered my life’s attributes to neither riches nor poverty(Proverbs 30:7-9). As time pass by, I realized that I needed some comfort to be able to focus on my life’s ambition. I got a good paying job but I was entangled in what I will describe as misplaced priorities.

Somehow, fate relocated me to America (God’s own country) and before long I realized that I have to start all over again despite my acquisition of a doctorate degree (PhD) before coming to the USA. I worked hard and before long, I bought a good SUV, acquired a house and business was doing great. I started thinking of buying a bigger and more expensive car and to build more houses. I am always thinking of something more. Deep down in my heart, I wasn’t happy. I was lost in my desire. I faltered in my thoughts; though within my reach, many of my life ambitions seem elusive.

Age had already caught up with me. I wanted to continue to work hard but my aging body will not allow me. Then I looked back and reviewed my life; I realized I’ve acquired what it takes to live a good life. But I was entangled in what I will describe as illusion.

While I was basking in my thought; the news headline reads Tornado across the Mid-west. There was tornado across the Midwest; 25 people killed and several houses destroyed. The next one was hurricane Mathew from the Caribbean which ripped through Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica and headed towards the east coast of Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina. Moving at 150 miles per hour the hurricane killed several hundreds of people especially in Haiti and billions of dollars properties including houses were destroyed.

The Governor of Florida issued an evacuation order and over 2 million people rushed out of the danger zone. Despite the warning, over 30 people were killed and properties worth billions of dollars were destroyed.

This showed how fragile life can be. I realized that I wasn’t better than those that were killed in this natural disaster. Neither was I better than those that lost everything in the disaster but were fortunate to be alive. Many of them were old and will not have the opportunity to rebuild or to start all over again.

Then I thought of what life really was! I asked myself; what is life? I remembered the orphan girl from Sudan that I met several years back. She happened to be a middle class school friend to the daughter of a widow family friend of ours. This young girl came as a refugee to the United States with no family. Her whole family was wiped out during the Sudan war orchestrated by the Janjawid militia. She was raped and abused but lucky to be alive. She lived like somebody that had no tomorrow. She lived a care free life and put up with lawless people.

Unfortunately, the daughter of our widowed family friend became her best friend and imitated all the wayward lifestyle of this Sudanese girl. Before long both of them started mixing with the wrong people. You can’t give what you don’t have; the both of them succumbed to negative peer pressure. My widow family friend teenage daughter became pregnant and her life was negatively altered forever.

I also met a young afro-American man several years back that was moving around with slavery mentality (this was according to him). He had no father figure to look onto. The mother was a prostitute; he was not able to get a job due to bad record. His past was hunting him with felony and other criminal charges. Drug addiction, pimps and prostitution became the way of life. No role model for him.

Similarly, I remembered a young lady I met with her son sitting by the road side late in the night. I asked what her mission was; she needed some money to take care of her son. I gave her some money for that night. The next day I saw her standing by the road side again and she ignored me this time around. I stopped and asked her what the problem was? She complained about money again; this time for toiletries and other things for the son. I took her to the store bought those things for her and dropped her off.

She continued to do the same thing with the excuse that the father of her son abandoned her and hence she resorted to prostitution. I counseled her to stop the self destructive way of life. Before long, she was picked up by the security operatives and I never saw her again. The son started his own life on the wrong foundation.

There are millions of men and women in the prison and many more roaming aimlessly around the country because of felony and other criminal charges against them. They were not able to secure a job because of their criminal past. They have become nuisance to their community and are becoming serious threat to peace and order in our community.

Then I looked around me and I saw life in its natural state with all the luscious fascination; tantalizing mankind. We lust after and tempted by natural beauty because we forgot that subjective beauty distract mankind from the reality of our destiny.

Human fallibility being what it is; always distract us from our life’s journey. We got trap by bad habits that we cannot shake off at different times. These are the cross-roads of our lives. Bad habits destroy us both physically and spiritually. We got lost in the physical because we disconnected our souls from the source of our lives.

I thought of some of the greatest men of our time; despite their achievements; they faltered because they are humans. The most important is learning how to control our senses and emotions (sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing).

You have only one life; you will either live it or destroy it. The choice is yours! Do you want to live a purposeful life or live like a faceless cog in the machinery of time? Do you want to live your own authentic life or other people’s life? It is up to you. The sky is enough for the birds to fly; the sea is enough for the fishes to swim. Don’t dwell on what might have been or the lonely nights that lies between. Don’t dwell on the chances you have missed or the several times that people have said no. There is time enough to live; time enough to start again.

Introduction

Mortal life thrives within individual’s experience and conception in the milieu of cosmic tide. We are at the mercy of free will and choice. Free will is freedom of decision or of choice between alternatives. Free will is one of God’s greatest gifts to humanity. Choice is unrestricted freedom to choose. Life is choices. Choice is destiny’s soul mate. Every day you make hundreds of choices. Our choices may seem inconsequential but one choice builds on another and defines who we become.

Choice, chance and luck are inter-twine. Chance is an unpredictable event or accidental happening. Chance is taking risk. Luck is one of the results of chance (good luck or bad luck). In our mind, it is a leap in the dark but all still depends on reason and conscience.

Reason is the capacity for logical, rational and analytic thought. Conscience is the inner voice that encourages you to do well and avoid evil. Reason and conscience work together to help you distinguish good actions from bad ones. The two help you to discover the ideal way to live.

We have this one life; we didn’t ask for it and yet we couldn’t have rejected it. We keep on asking what life is. Men and women resign themselves to the influences of their environment. Humans allow themselves drawn into or impelled along this causeway of life. They role like balls of snow at a furious rate of speed down the side of a great mountain. One moment, they enjoy freedom, out in the open, encountering few or no obstacles possessing no concerns. The next moment, they collide with unanticipated events and happenings. Mankind cannot avoid these conditions or to rise above them.

Thus Humans travel through the years, sometimes wondering if the vicissitudes of life, the bitterness, the pains, worthy of the price, worthy of the occasional pleasures and snatches of peace of mind which come our way. We are bouncing across the stage of life in a herky-jerky manner, living out the story of our lives according to a will that is not our own. We continue to stretch our imagination; we were confronted with new illumination that indicates that our norms proved to be abnormal.

Human life’s journey has brought us to the sacred site of our soul. Melancholy fragments of unrequited events stretch from our cradles to our graves. Regrets not necessarily caused by mistakes, so much as by recollections of the things we love once but learned to live without.

There are moments that have made a difference in the trajectory of your life: the successes and failure that have define you; the loves and hates, gains and losses, promises and pain that have bound you; the risks and ruins, tumults and triumphs that set you free. There are perfectly reasonable choices that derailed your dreams and the half-truths that have haunted you for all these years.

We loathe our human frailties, flaws and foibles in a world that only approves perfection; we loathe our oddities, eccentricities and ugly habits; loathe our inability to avoid insidious comparisons; loathe our buying into the illusion that good people would save us because that would be easier than striving to save ourselves or believing that we could.

We loathe ourselves for constantly capitulating to the needs of others by disavowing our own; for ignoring the careless cruelties of loved ones in order to keep the peace; for struggling to live up to the expectations of people we don’t even care about; for denying the validity of our own unrequited desires. We fail to defend that which we know is true. We loathe ourselves for living and lying everyday in little ways that devalue and dishonor us.

To shape our future we have to excavate our past but it won’t always be easy. This book will help you to navigate the frontiers of your mind. The misery of your desire will come to the lime light. What we choose to emphasize in this complex world will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroyed our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places and there are so many where people have behaved magnificently, this will give us the energy to act. And at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of the world in a different direction.

Are you being manipulated today by an unseen force that you don’t understand but feel continually? Do you feel trapped in some ways from experiencing total freedom? How would you react to the knowledge that your ideologies were incorrect and illogical?

Do you want to experience true happiness and joy?

Do you want to savor true love?

Do you want to balance your life’s priorities?

Do you want to be successful?

Do you want the ideal relationship? If so, this book is for you. You will discover the real you and how to bring the best out of you.

1

Desire

Desire is the thought to acquire. Craving, longing, yearning, suggest feelings that impel one to the attainment or possession of something. It is a strong feeling, worthy or unworthy. It is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. Desire to be comfortable; desire to get rich; desire to be the best etc. All of us desire