Best Weight Loss Program EVER...2 simple steps

1. Eat less

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What's the one thing He's asking?

I have spectacular news for you! It will bring a grin to your face, probably because it'll catch you off guard. But it is the truth. And it's good news. Many guys I speak to are very circumspect when they hear my answer to their probing question "If God was real, what's the one thing He'd say or ask me?" Haha! What a question? The answer have caught many okes off guard and are like "No way man, God would have a lot more sterner things to talk to ME about!!". Their whole concept of who God is has been so dramatically altered by the false propoganda that's been 'preached' by churches, media and Hollywood, that the truth is actually "too good to be true" to these guys. 

If God had to rock up at your door tonight, knock and wait for you to answer, He'd have one question for you...with a smile on His face and an open hand, He'd invite you to His table and ask "You wanna eat with me?" And this ain't a table of '20-Questions' or an invite to an interrogation. On the contrary, the invite is to literally sit down at His supper table, eat whatever's on it and share each other's stories, tell one another jokes and laugh together. Shame, guilt and condemnation aren't served at this table. 

What you probably don't know is that this invitation to eat with God at His table holds some significance to the way He feels about you. Let me explain (this is where it really gets exciting!): 

According to the Hebrew language, the word for table is "shulchan". "Shulchan" also means reconcile. And this was common practice within Jewish customs. If someone you knew had a grievance with you and they invited you for a meal, they were taking it upon themselves to make the first step towards reconciliation. By you accepting the invite and sitting down at their table, the symbolism was whatever it was you were carrying i.e. Offense, hurt, etc. was then laid down on the table so you didn't have to carry it any more. You were laying it down. The initiator would then feed you, sit with you, enjoy the meal with you as a symbol that the past is the past and we're now reconciling with one another. And it was done with much joy! 

You find this throughout the Bible. The reconciliatory meal is all over the place; Old Testament and the New. But let me highlight two of them for you: 

1. Peter had denied Jesus three times. It broke Peter. He was confident that He was a tough bloke who wouldn't fear a thing. Well, until that night. The cock crowed and he broke. Three days later, he returned to his old life of fishing when Jesus came to the river looking for Him. And what did Jesus do? He cooked him a fish breakfast, shouted to Peter on the boat and invited him to come and eat with Him. Jesus didn't scold him. Jesus invited him back to a place of reconciliation and forgiveness. Shulchan. 

2. Jesus hung out with many non-chalant sort of folks. You know, the drug dealers, the hookers, the fraudsters, the drunkards, the foul-mouthed...and they in fact enjoyed hanging with Him. He didn't just hand out some gospel tracts to them either. He sat with them, He ate and drank with them. He shared meals with them. He attended their dinner parties and weddings. The religious asked his church-going deacons about this, and over hearing Jesus made it quite clear "I haven't come for the healthy, but the sick." Jesus had come to eat with those whom the "God-people" wouldn't. Those who were supposed to be representing the heart of God were far away. They wouldn't be caught dead having a Beer with a hooker, let alone a three course meal. But this was Jesus' mission the whole time. He came to show people that the God of the universe wants to eat with them, laugh with them, He wants fellowship with them! Shulchan.

And the next time you wondering what God would say to you. And you wondering how much He's going to nail you for the bad stuff you've done in your life, remember the table. Remember his invitation. It's for me and it's certainly for you. He's asking one question, "You wanna come eat with me?".

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. - Revelation 3:20

Why some aren't healed?

I've heard this question asked in many ways. But probably the most unhelpful way to ask it is "Why God doesn't heal?". The reason I say 'unhelpful' is because it implies that God still has to do something and that either He WILL or He WON'T. And many have put forward elaborate theological ideas as to why God Will or why God Won't. 

The bad news is that the reasons for either the Will or the Won't lies in what the recipient has done or hasn't done in order for God to DO. It's theologically argued that we have a say on whether God chooses to or not; and that is down to whether we have done something or not. It boils down to the person. 

So, from the outset, I'm drawing a line in the sand and saying that I believe that God has done everything He needed to do in order to make healing possible for everyone who believes. His work is finished. He is SEATED. He is done. Asking why God doesn't heal is actually the wrong question (to those on my side of the line in the sand). The question is "If God has made it possible for all to be healed, then why are some not?" And I will endeavor to answer that question!

My theological stance from the outset is that God has made healing possible for all believers as He has forgiveness of sins. Healing was included in the atonement. As JESUS paid the price for the forgiveness of sins, so He also made a payment for healing of our bodies and souls. Healing is one of the benefits on this side of Heaven. Without going into detail, the summarized version of this position is:

1. Salvation doesn't just include forgiveness of sins. "Sozo" includes forgiveness of sins, healing of body, freedom in the soul, peace in the mind, etc. Christians have had a limited view of what salvation (sozo) means. It's MUCH MORE than just forgiveness of sins. It includes healing. And we have received salvation as a gift. Do the word study for yourself, but it's used 101 times in the NT alone and used when describing JESUS saving people from their sins or/and healing their bodies. And salvation is given as a gift to a believer. Get mind around what exactly that includes!

2. JESUS made the payment for our healing as detailed in Isaiah 53. Healing encompasses deliverance and healing of our souls as well as healing for our bodies. The whole package was included in Jesus' death. He paid for it all. As the Psalmist said "Forget not all his benefits. He forgives ALL your sins and he heals ALL your diseases." 

3. Jesus healed them all. Jesus was the exact representation of Father. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And He healed everyone. I believe (on this side of the line in the sand) that Jesus came to show His WILL towards sickness. He doesn't like it one bit. He desires healing for all the oppressed. And that WILL has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. 

So, if God desires healing and His will is to heal all, and Jesus paid the price for healing for all, then why aren't all healed? Fair question. In attempting to answer this, I want to make it clear that I believe that we must never lower scripture to match the experiential. Our experiences must always line up with scripture. (Big deal!) So my position on this point is to do this very thing...how do we lift our experiences when we encounter sickness so that it lines up with the truth of the scriptures.

So here we go....(drum roll...)

1. I DONT KNOW

Although that doesn't sound very 'Eureka!' we as Christians have got to come to a place of satisfaction in learning to embrace the mystery of "I don't know". There remains a mystery as to why some are healed and why some aren't. Bill Johnson recounts a story about this point. Bethel was experiencing the most amazing breakthrough in the healing of sickness and disease. They were seeing extraordinary miracles taking place: the blind were seeing, the deaf were hearing, blood diseases were being healed; you name it and they were seeing it. They reached a point where cancers were getting healed; lover, colon, lung; cancers of all kinds. People were sharing amazing testimonies. This was happening for a few years and it was becoming normal that every Sunday, three to four testimonies of healing were being shared. 

Then one day, Bill received a call at home. His personal secretary had come home from the doctor. He had diagnosed her with stage four cancer. It was big news. But it wasn't something they hadn't seen God heal in the past few years. If He had healed members and visitors, then why not one of the daughters of the house? She died a few months later. They had prayed, they had fasted, they had decreed, they had proclaimed, they had done everything they had done on every other person who had been prayed for with cancer, and yet nothing. Did she have faith? Of course. Till the day she died. Did the leadership have faith? Absolutely! So why wasn't she healed. The elders said in unison "We don't know. But we will not stop believing God to heal people with cancer."

In one of Oral Roberts' tent crusades, a mother brought her twin boys for prayer. They were young. And they were blind. Oral prayed for the first boy and immediately his eyes opened and place erupted with praise. The place went berserk. The crowd, full of faith, they had just seen an incredible miracle, now watched as Oral prayed for the next twin boy. For more than an hour Oral prayed and prayed and asked and prayed. He went home blind that night. Did God love one more than the other? Did the one have more faith than the other? Both are "NO" answers. So why? 

Believers have to settle this issue in their heart. Like other things we go through in this life, at times we just have to embrace the "I don't know" while still resting in the truth that God is good. And it's not a "I don't know" that's cast in unbelief but rather in faith; a full confidence that even though we don't understand, we will still trust the Lord in the midst of our finite understanding.

2. AN IGNORANCE ABOUT GRACE

The more I've received revelation about grace and truly had my mind renewed to the Gospel, the more I've seen (and I don't mean this in a derogatory way) how many are ignorant as to what JESUS HAS ACTUALLY DONE FOR THEM. I have been gobsmacked at the continued unraveling of the truth of the grace of God over the past 5 years and it's made me realize how many believers have no idea at how much God loves them, how much JESUS has done for them, that their sins - past, present and future - have actually been removed from His memory and will never be brought up again, how we are included in CHRIST, how He has set us free from sin and death, how we have been brought into perfect union with God himself, how proud He is of them, how He accepts them with out conditions and totally and utterly qualifies them. I believe that if we truly understood (having our minds renewed) and believed what our minds were renewed too, we would see far more healing in the church. Guilt, condemnation and shame hinders people from receiving their healing. They still don't think they are good enough or have done enough for God to heal them or to see themselves worthy of receiving their healing. They don't KNOW that they are the righteousness of God, they haven't been established in righteousness and because of this ignorance, they haven't received the abundance of grace that is available!! 

For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. - Romans 5:17

What is the abundance of grace in this verse? Its SOZO! Its forgiveness of sins. It's healing. It's deliverance. It's freedom. It's all by grace. It's freely given by our God who has qualified us in His Son. Many are still ignorant of what they have been given and what they have access too. They are like the older brother who didn't know that all of what belonged to His Dad actually belonged to him as well. He was still trying to earn it. He was still trying to work for it. He had no idea that he had access to all the fattened calves on the farm and could have thrown a party with his friends every day if he liked. However...he was ignorant. Many sons still are.

3. WE DONT REALIZE HOW GOOD OUR GOD IS

"Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live." And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.  - Mark 5:22-24

Jesus gets to the other side of the lake and Jarius comes to him and asks for help. Jesus says "OK" and goes with him. While he goes a woman with an issue of blood stops him, He stops and deals with her. Do you know that JESUS never said "No". He went to wherever He was welcomed. When someone asked for help, He went. And you know what...Jesus was the exact representation of Father. They are one. Full of grace. Abounding in mercy. Overflowing in love. 

The sad reality is that the devil has done a really good job at distorting how good our Father is through false propaganda, incorrect understanding of theology, messed up depictions of Him in the media and misguided teaching. Christians still think of Father being at odds with Jesus. They read the Old Testament and the New Testament, and can't reconcile how they could be one. 

A right knowledge of who Father is comes by understanding grace and it comes by encountering Him experientially. Reading the Bible should lead us, make us hungry, to meet with Him and encounter Him for ourselves. And when we do...WHOAA!!!

"...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him..." - Ephesians 1:17

Other translations say "...revelation so that you may know Him better..." When we receive a revelation of Grace, we are receiving a revelation of HIM...our eyes are being opened to HOW GOOD OUR FATHER IS. 

Revelation renews our minds. Once our minds are renewed to the truth of the Gospel, we are then transformed!! (ROMANS 12:1-2) Transformed believers are believers who have had their minds renewed by truth. 

When we see Him as the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son and have our mind renewed to what He has done for us (as he did for the son who was found), we are on the start of the journey to discovering how good He is and how much grace He has lavished on us.

SUMMARY

Yes, I believe Jesus has paid the price for healing on this side of the cross. Asking "Why God doesn't heal?" isnt the right question. Healing, like the forgiveness of sins, is by grace through faith because of CHRIST. Faith is agreement in what JESUS has already purchased for us. Healing comes because of grace. Not because we have DONE anything, including hyped up enough faith. The correct question we need to be asking is "If JESUS has paid the price then why are some not healed?" 

I believe it all centers around the revelation of the Gospel. A revelation of His goodness. The free goodness that God has given to all who would believe. Jesus has done His part and He is seated in his finished work. We have received His abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness; and when our minds are renewed to this, we will discover HIS AMAZING GRACE. Jesus has done it all. 

My Mighty Men 2015

Let me confess right from the beginning of this post that the Mighty Men Conferences (MCC) have never appealed to me. And for only one reason: privacy. And some of you are already nodding, knowing exactly what I'm talking about. I hated PT at school for the same reason. Bearing my naked bum in front of a whole lot of other dudes is not my idea of a good time. And at Mighty Men, there are designated shower times, so imagine 25,000 guys filing into the shower areas, 20 dudes at a time, like sardines. My nakedness would be exposed to these strange okes! And I don't particularly want to be exposed to their junk either. And let me not even get started on the long drops (aka toilets). 

So when the invitation was given, I dismissed it with a polite "Maybe next year" and carried on with my business. Then the inviter mentioned in passing that he had his own separate shower. I was like "Ahhh...sorry, but what did you say? Private....what?" And at that, I was in. I'm so glad that I did.

I've also never been one for camping. My idea of camping is a Cintsa cottage with a fridge and microwave. Tents, gas bottles, dust, sleeping bags...no thanks. But heck, I think I've discovered a new hobby. The idea of taking my wife and boys camping with a real tent, etc. is something I'm actually relishing now. Thanks Mark!!

My highlights:

The worship. Under the stars, below the mountain range, with 25,000 voices in unison is something special. It's the biggest worship service I've ever been apart of and my word, was it awesome! Friday night and Saturday morning was cool. But Saturday night was on a different level altogether. There was  a 20 minute period, where we sang "We exalt thee", and I honestly can't remember when last I felt such a heavy presence of Heaven all around me. I was in awe. It was...like Heaven. Or how I'd imagine Heaven to be. Retief and Joe were very good too.

New friends. I camped with 12 other guys. I took a friend from work and met up with another guy that I know from PE who reserved a spot for us. And that was it. By the time I left on Sunday, I felt like I had made another 10 solid friends. And that was special. Meeting the boys, braaing together, sharing stories and laughs, was terrific. Sharing parts of my story with some of them and hearing theirs...always a good thing. 

Hope. It's something our country really needs right now. And I got it back over the weekend. God filled me with hope again for South Africa. With all the negative propoganda, the terrible news we hear daily of what's wrong in our country, I find it easy to become cynical. And if I don't change that, I become a slave to it. And I had. But God showed me what He saw when He looks at our beautiful land. I saw a land of peace. I saw a people who got on together. I saw a people who cared about others rather than themselves. I saw a people who serve Jesus and serve each other. I saw a land abounding in job creation, creativity and bursting with entrepreneurship! I caught a glimpse and my hope in what JESUS can do in our country has been restored.

If you've never been to a MCC I encourage you to give it a go. Besides the spiritual aspect of the weekend, it's just really good fun. Oh, and the thing I didn't tell you...they have pancakes, hamburgers and curry & rice stalls. From 9am to 6pm. All the time. Lekker ne!! I klapped a few pancakes on Friday and Saturday, and jinne, they were good. But ja, it was a great weekend. I became a more experienced camper and made some good friends at the same time. If you keen to come, I'll be going next year, and you welcome to come camp with me. 

Ongelooflik!!

Fuel to the Fire

While praying this evening the Lord showed me a burning fire. It wasn't a particularly big fire, it was quite small actually. But it never used to be. It used to be a big fire; but it had shrunk and had kind of stayed at the current, average burn. And then suddenly, out of no where, without warning, a gigantic bottle of petrol was poured onto this fire and it suddenly lit up and blazed like never before. What was an average smallish fire, in an instant, became a mighty blazing wild fire, capable of burning down a city!!

Immediately the interpretation came from the Lord. He said many hearts in His church have stopped burning at the intensity it used too for the supernatural. Many a heart, sometime ago, was crossing the chicken line, risking in faith and looking for God to confirm His word with signs and wonders. But for whatever reason, the fire in those hearts had died down and were merely existing. They still burned, but not like they used too. But GOD is coming to throw fuel on those hearts. He is releasing the faith to believe for the supernatural again. He knows those hearts are still longing to see, longing to experience, longing to be part of what He wants to do in the earth. Those hearts are yearning to blaze in faith again and they want to see Jesus move mightily in their cities and their nation!!

"'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." - Acts 2:17-18


The goodness of the Gospel is that Jesus is the one who does the stuff. The bride's mandate is to step aside and see what the bridegroom will do. Jesus heals. Jesus saves. Jesus rescues. The bride gets to join with her husband and be part of what He is doing. But it's not her power. It's not her ability to make it happen. It's His. The bride doesn't even have the ability to put the fuel on her on own fire. Even Jesus provides the fuel for the fire. And He is. He is pouring fuel on many fires in many hearts in His church; and awakening their faith to what HE CAN DO in the earth.


Lord, we open our hearts. Pour out your fuel, Lord. Blaze in our hearts, Oh God, let us see what you can do. Let's dream about you saving our cities, healing our nation and rescuing a lost people. Your Beloved longs to see the power of the bridegroom! May our hearts believe for the supernatural. May our hearts be filled with faith to step out of the boat of our comfort zones and believe you to confirm your gospel message through signs, wonders and miracles in our city! We want to see the hand of our God move in our nation.

Be You.

What you do, does not determine who you are. Who you are, determines what you do. Just because I fix my flat tyre, doesn't make me a qualified mechanic. But a qualified mechanic fixes a lot more than flat tyres. Who are you? That will determine what you do. An actor acts. A singer sings. I don't act so that I can be an actor. I don't sing so that I can become a singer. A person must be what they are. 

Paul said the following to the believers in the book of Collosians:

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive and above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

I broke some rules of Bible quoting, but I did it to make a point. I pulled these out of the text of Chapter 3. But it makes the point so well. This is who you are - God's chosen ones, His Holy ones, His Beloved. NOW...be who you are, do what God's chosen, holy and beloved ones do...

So many believers are trying to do THIS or THAT in order to prove WHO they are. We need to rest in WHO WE ARE and who CHRIST has made us; and from there, allow who He has made you to be to flow from there. An apple tree will bear apples. It doesn't have to try not make oranges. It just produces fruit. And the fruit it produces is apples, because that is what it is. An apple tree!

So who are you?? Yes, you a believer. But what has He made you to be? Leaders lead, salesmen sell, singers sing, actors act, preachers preach, teachers teach, mechanics fix, businessmen do business and mothers mother. Don't try and be who He hasn't made you to be. Be who He has made you. 

Being who Jesus has made you, using the talents He has given you to love and serve others, will be rewarded. You doing Kingdom stuff when you release the giftings, the graces and the talents He has put in you. The will of God for your life is not miserable, heavy or unexciting. The call of God for you brings much joy, you have that EUREKA!! feeling when you doing it. Just be who He has made you. Use your gift to serve others. You don't have to be like anyone else. Be you. It brings Him much pleasure!

Be who He's made you!!

I used to believe that there was a massive divide between the sacred and the secular. I didn't think I was fulfilling God's call for my life or advancing the Kingdom if I wasn't doing something in the local church i.e. leading a Bible study, attending a prayer meeting or praying with someone at a service. I was so frustrated that I was working in the "world" and not able to do "full time" ministry. In my mind, my work from Monday to Friday was secular and my "here and there" involvement with church stuff was sacred. Boy, I could not wait to be "promoted" to full time ministry where I could serve the Lord, do Kingdom stuff, all the time. Until then, frustration. I want my life to count for something. If it means selling everything and starting an orphanage in India, then so be it! But surely not stuck here, in East London, doing what I'm doing. Surely!!??

The truth, I'm beginning to discover, is totally different. The Kingdom of God is not the local church and doing His will and fulfilling His call for my life isn't just restricted to the four walls of the church every now and then. In fact, if I'm being who God  has made me and using my 'talents' to benefit others, then I am indeed advancing His Kingdom and doing His will. Sacred and secular?? No such thing. 

What are the things that I love to do, the things that I'm good at, the things that make me shout "Eureka!" on the inside when I do them? The call of God, the will of God, his good deeds planned for me to do and fulfill while here on earth are not miserable, boring or heavy. On the contrary, they are satisfying, bring joy and they are there to enrich the lives of everyone around me. It's extremely fulfilling and satisfying. And they bring Him pleasure!

Holy Spirit is teaching me and showing me that his purposes for my life aren't coming in the future. They here. They now. I'm doing them. And if I'm not, why not? Go for it. Hit it for a 6. Go wild. Be who I am. Be who He created me to be; and be loud while doing it. Don't hold back. He wants me to blaze paths for others to follow. The most unexpected people will follow. The character, the personality he has given me; the market place environment that He has placed me in, is no accident. I will blaze my path. Just be. Stop trying to mold and change into what I think I need to be in order to be used, in order to be effective. Just be. Just be who I am. He likes me. He likes who He has made me to be. BE!! Just be.

Paul had the following to say to the Colossian Christians:

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

He spent the first few chapters telling them who they were. And from their identity, came their responsibility. It's out of our identity hat we get purpose. And then from there he said the most profound statement:

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." 

Do know what "whatever" means in Greek?? It means "whatever". 

HOW TO MAKE THAT TOUGH DECISION

A friend of mine recently asked me to give him some advice on how to know for sure what God's will was for a big decision he needed to make. He is seriously thinking of immigrating overseas but with the success stories, he's also heard the bad ones. And he wants to make sure that this decision isn't going to be a bad one. Wise man. And what makes him even wiser is that he wants to make sure this is what God wants for him and his family. Very wise man.

I think there are some very key points one should consider before making that big decision: immigrating overseas, buying the right house in the right neighborhood, marrying the right person, taking that job in another city, etc. Feel free to add to the list below, but from what I've experienced I would consider these some very key indicators in helping you make the right choice.

1. NEVER RUSH. No big decision needs to be made in haste. If someone is pressurizing you to make that decision in 24 hours or else you'll miss out...rather miss out; if you have to rush to make the decision, more often that not, it's not the right direction for you.

2. GOD OPENS THE DOOR. Most big things that happen in life just happen. They come to you. I've found that if I want that Joburg job so bad, that I've got to phone around, I've got to set up interviews, I've got to go against the grain to MAKE it happen, it's not God. Speak to people who've had big decisions to make; they testify that things just feel into place, things just flowed...If you are one having to force things to happen and convince people why they should, etc. it's not the right thing. When God opens the door, He keeps it open. 

3. HOLY SPIRIT LEADS WITH PEACE. Peace is the key to all big decisions. Holy Spirit leads with peace. If there isn't peace, it's not God. I'm not saying there won't be some anxiety or maybe even some fear; that's where courage will carry you...but peace within the storm, peace that surpasses understanding is what you looking for. 

4. NEVER MAKE YOUR DECISION BECAUSE OF MONEY. Just don't. Unwise.

5. SHARE WITH A CHRISTIAN FRIEND. And I'm not talking about a "yes" friend. I'm talking about a friend who'll ask you the hard questions, who will test your motives and come along side you in prayer. 

So if you faced to make a decision that has presented itself to you, my advice would be to let it sit on the shelf for some time. Don't rush. Don't be in a hurry. Pray. And wait. Ask yourself "Is God opening the doors? Is He presenting this before me or have I tried to manufacture this result?" Speak to your friend, ask them to pray with you and allow them to ask the hard questions; and accept their advice. Let peace in your soul be the voice of the Holy Spirit. 

Make a wise decision.