About the Book:
We are all connected in our ways. The lives we live are an example to the world. No life is born, lives and dies in vain. The time given to us is enough to fulfil our life mission. This is the challenge finding out what our mission is and making a difference in the world using only that which we are given - the power of emotion and talent and the ability to dream and see those dreams fulfilled through the
choices we make, lead us to our destiny.
About the Author
“As I go through life with all its challenges I find that my philosophies are not too far off from the masters that preach the highest ideals and my philosophies are:
Love all people, regardless of what they do or do not do. Give an ear to all people; everyone has something to say and something to teach. I am here for a bigger purpose than me and everything that happens is a lesson for my soul. Never judge it is not my place. Whenever an opportunity comes, deposit into life by helping people where you can (all people). When I am done, with this life; people will remember that I gave and I gave fairly without asking for anything in return.”
- Brandley M. M. Ngcobo
I find it safe to say that had it not been my meeting Brandley Ngcobo on Facebook in January 2011, and reading his book titled “What’s your story” I would not be where I am in my life right now. Now, I have read a number of motivational books in my time. And yes, they have in some way or another touched my life. But never have I been touched and have my life changed by reading a book like I was by reading Brandley Ngcobo’s book “What’s your story”. I believe its timing was right and that made all the difference. It was what I needed, when it was needed. in my life. I do believe that the fact that the book is written by an ordinary man, just like me who was given a revelation to share his life story with the hope that it will make a difference in someone’s life, made it easy for me to identify with. Though our journeys were not the same, I found meaning in this book. Reading it made me look deep within me and it sparked a burning desire in me to search for my purpose, my God given purpose. Being a Christian woman, I knew that I was born for a purpose but have always had this thought that it will all just come to me and fall into place. But I learned that one needs to consciously seek and search for their purpose in order to find it. And in finding my purpose I would also find myself. For me, finding my purpose meant finding God. It meant seeking His heart and His mind and plans about my life. It meant taking a journey in His memory lane, with Him holding me by the hand.
“Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. “~ Jeremiah 29:13
When I received the book on the 24 January 2011, it was just four days after I have had just gone through one of the worst, hardest and most painful experiences of my life which led to me having to do what was the hardest decision of my life. To either give up my God given dream or put an end to a 6 year relationship and marriage. You see, I was diagnosed with HIV in 2001 since then, because of how God had kept me strong. I wanted to help people who were struggling with HIV, but my husband was against this. And in obedience and wanting to keep my family together, I let it go. So here I was, torn between embracing something that I knew would make me happy, something that would give me the fulfilment that I needed. Something that would give my life meaning and something that came from God Himself, His plan and purpose for my life, and something that was once the source of my joy but turned to being the source of sorrow. It seems like an obvious and easy choice, but it wasn’t. Although it was clear that things were getting from bad to worse in my marriage, that it was many moments of fighting and crying than love and joy I still found it to be safer than chasing a dream that I didn’t know where it would take me or how I was to pursue it.
I remember a day I was chatting to Mr Ngcobo about life and choices and ones that I had to make (I like picking his brain and he’s always available to listen). His response to me was “Choose life no matter what the odds”. So what was life for me? Was it my failing marriage or was it my God chosen destiny?
So shall it be that out of the same life comes, joy, pain, happiness, sorrow, fulfilment, suffering, foolishness and wisdom embodied in one body. It is a choice after all.
~ Brandley M.M. Ngcobo
“While you live and live with meaning and purpose, opportunities will present themselves, oceans will carry you to worlds unseen (more opportunities) and towards the end; your life will gather speed like a steam train rolling downstream with no breaks.”
~ Brandley M.M. Ngcobo
Knowing in my heart that there was a higher purpose for my birth was not enough to activate my faith enough to seek and call forth my God given destiny. God had planted a dream in my heart. A dream so big that I thought that I had no way of realising. I knew that I had to tap into the deeper part of God and seek His mind, His wisdom in order for me to even take the first small step towards realising this dream. So many times I have seen and read the scripture in James 1: 5“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts, is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” But I never knew what it meant for me. It’s true that it is not every word that is preached that is meant to touch your life at the time it is preached. There comes a time when the word of God will be sent to you, not necessarily through a preacher or Pastor. Sometimes it is through a lay person just like you and me. And this is what happened to me. This is when I started to seek the wisdom of God, to carry out that which I believed He had planted in my life.
“The power of dreams is a God given trait of every being that dwells the world and man, as we know Him, has mastered the power of converting dreams into action and yet; so many, so many of us die in futility of not having realised the power of dreams come true and nor having taken action in pursuit of those goals and dreams.” – Brandley M.M. Ngcobo
As I read through Ngcobo's book, I felt a connection. Not so much as me knowing him but it was more like he knew me. He knew what I was going through; it was like he knew who I was and what I wanted to do. It was like he knew what my struggles were at the time. It truly felt like he was sent by God to me. So many times when people do good things for us we would respond with “you’re a God sent”. This time, I did not know this man. I had just seen him on Facebook and I had no idea that he was a writer, let alone an author of a great book and one that would change my life. But really, when God creates a person, He creates them with a plan of His own. He knows what they will go through and the people they will meet and people who will touch their lives and how. God plans and grooms our helpers as we go along with life. He positions them at the points and times of our needs. And this is what I believed happened with Ngcobo. When he started writing the book in 2007, it was the beginning of the ordeal that led to the state I was in when I first read his book. The time between writing and publishing the book was the time when I was struggling to accept what had become of my life. I was still willing and open to any offered remedy to my problems. When all along my answers were lying in God's heart. So to me, this was God making a way for me to come out of my ordeal a better person who trusted Him more. God was shining His light and imparting His wisdom on Ngcobo because He knew that His precious Pumza needed to hear and experience what He had planted in his heart. When he published the book in 2009, my problems had reached the climax. I knew what I had to do but I was too scared to take that leap of faith. I was too scared to leave what I knew for something I didn't. God knew that in 2011 I will be in position where I will need this courage and wisdom that He imparted in this man. He gave him this talent, this dream and obedience so that today, I may proudly say that I am living the purpose that God created me for. My faith was activated beyond measure. Not only did I find the courage to end a marriage that was more detrimental not only to my health but to my spiritual well being and the people around me. But I also found my physical healing. I was not only freed from my emotional burdens but also from my physical burdens. All because I dared to believe that God had a bigger and better plan for my life. And that it was worth living and letting go of everything I found to be safe for something that I didn't know but only hoped would be better. This is the time that I found the meaning of faith.
Lessons learnt
- “No life is born, lives and dies in vain.” ~ Brandley M.M. Ngcobo
▪ Jeremiah 29:10 “I know the plans I have for you”
◦ I am here to serve a purpose, God's purpose.
- “Choose life no matter what the odds.” ~ Brandley M.M. Ngcobo
▪ John 4:16 “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
◦ Life is meant to be lived and experienced. And this is what I intend to do with my walk with Christ, to experience Him fully in my journey through life.
- “Nothing moves until you do something. Belief alone is not going to achieve anything for you. It must be followed up with concrete action. ~ Brandley M.M. Ngcobo
▪ James 2:24 “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so is faith apart from works”
◦ As much as faith pleases God, faith alone will not get me to where I need to be. Faith has to be followed by obedience, action, by praying and speaking the things I want into being.
- “The dawning day of success is within your reach; tell your story today while you have the time. Live for your ideals and pursue the truth, seek knowledge and wisdom at every corner, give your share to the world and hope that it will make the world a better place.” ~ Brandley M.M. Ngcobo
▪ Revelations 12:11 “They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.'
◦ It is by me telling my own story and testifying to the world that I will be able to make the difference I am created to make and live the purpose that I'm created for. And this is the only time that I will overcome the enemy that is out to destroy God's plan for the world.
- “You become your actions. Your thoughts become your actions. Your life is judged by your actions. Your story is told through that which you do while you are alive and when you die it is cast and it echoes in eternity.”~ Brandley M.M. Ngcobo
▪ Proverbs 23:7 “ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he”
◦ Whatever I feed my mind and believe, that is who I am and that is who will manifest and that is the story my life will tell. It is up to me to decide what my story will be. And I choose to have a positive story.
As I write this article. I am busy writing my own book sharing, my story. With the help of Brandley Ngcobo. He has titled my book “Finding God” hence the title of this article.
Brandley Mduduzi Mbongiseni Ngcobo
Words cannot begin to explain or describe how grateful I am for your life. I have not met you but it feels like I have. I have been on a search for something that I didn't know but knew would complete me. Connecting with your heart and mind made me seek and connect with my inner self. You set me on a road to finding God and in finding God I found Pumza. Because you lived, I am now living. Not only am I living life but also living my God given purpose. Hay mtshana... Amazwi okubonga andinawo. May God richly bless you always.
My friend
Your name aroused my curiosity
Your words caught my mind
Your picture caught my eye and your heart captured my heart
Never imagined a friendship with you
A stranger from the net, one I may never see
A stranger that became a great friend
A friend is one who listens
Who sometimes speaks without saying a word
A friend inspires
and lives to make a difference
Friendships have become materialistic
You be there for me and me for you
You scratch my back and I scratch yours
What you give is what you get
But you, you gave more than you received
You gave me a true friendship… in spirit
A valuable friendship in words and a lasting friendship in character
Your words became bricks in building the new me
Your kindness became a soothing balm to my broken heart
Your experiences became a footpath for my lost soul
Your wisdom became light through my darkish world
I wonder if you know that,
You are the best friend I’ve ever had
In spirit, you have touched and changed my life
And for that… me loves you to bits
I thank God that our paths crossed
I thank you for living your life
I thank you for chasing your dreams
I thank you for being a good friend
Thank you for being an inspiration
Thank you for being my friend…
Thank you for being you
Much Love and Respect
P
To order the book, see:
http://www.newvoices.co.za/
www.wix.com/bngcobo/brands
http://www.kalahari.net/
http://www.amazon.com/
or email brandley@webmail.co.za
What’s your Story?
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