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BE INSPIRED BY
UNSHACKLED
John 10:10
LIVING THE LIFE I WAS DESTINED FOR
About Unshackled
AN INSPIRATIONAL PRACTICAL GUIDE TO LIVING THE LIFE YOU WERE DESTINED FOR
Are you trapped and shackled, caught in life's headlights with nowhere to turn? Do you constantly question the choices you make, whether or not they are good ones and do you believe your life is now out of control?
Are big lies shackling you to your past?
Is there a way out and what is your next move?
In Unshackled, author Basil Sparks investigates how it is possible to live the life for which you were destined. How to live free. It draws you into a world of people who have walked before you and it provides a guiding light that can help you discover freedom and joy; nudging you to slowly step up and take hold of God to go where He leads.
What to expect
The book features
This is a book marked by authenticity. Its pages are not filled with trite solutions, but by discoveries made in the trenches of daily life. It challenges, encourages and inspires, causing one to ask: "Can my life be better?"
CHAPTERS 1 to 16: Unshackled, the Book
View a summary by the Author of all the chapters here
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FUN WITH UNSHACKLED CONTENT 1
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Equip yourself to start living the life you were intended to live. You are more than you have become. Your destiny awaits you.
Free Extract 2
CHAPTER 1 First Crawl, Then Stand Do Not Let Your Restraints Hold You Back, You Can Do It
Ben’s sister dropped a bombshell! A secret! Except now it no longer was. She started, ‘When you were sixteen ...’ Ben’s mind raced back forty years. What could have happened? Forty years felt like a lifetime. ‘You were struggling at school,’ she went on, ‘and Mom wanted to get to the bottom of it.’ Ben’s mind came to rest on that time of his life. He knew nothing of his mother’s intention to get involved. His sister explained his mother was concerned about his grades, so approached the student counsellor to find solutions before it was too late and before Ben could fall too far behind. Not only had he been struggling with Maths and Science, but was also failing languages. There had to be an intervention.
His mom made the appointment with the counsellor and on arriving, began discussing what Ben’s next step should be. She expected and hoped that they could put a plan together for Ben that would help him grow and even flourish academically. Yet, that was not to be. Ben’s mother was outraged by the student counsellor’s recommended solution.
Ben’s sister quoted her response: ‘Do not be too concerned about Ben’s results. Do not push him to do better. He has a low Intelligence Quotient, so he is never going to be a top achiever.’ Ben’s mother could not believe what she was hearing and expressed as much to the counsellor. In one swift sentence the one person who could have instilled hope, had spoken death over Ben’s academic future.
It was an unbelievably irresponsible thing to say. Looking at Ben’s more recent results, however, his mother could quite easily have been tempted to agree with her, that Ben would never amount to much. But that day she decided that she would never tell Ben. This would be her secret. She would keep believing in him and see what would happen.
Truth is, Ben came close to failing his final year at school. His parents encouraged him to do another year, but he was not interested. He had managed to scrape his way through and on previous results, got into college to study Engineering. It would have been tempting for Ben’s mother to see this step as a disaster waiting to happen. Who, in any case and in their right mind, nearly fails school and then heads off to study Engineering? But Ben was persistent, and the day came that he packed his bags and headed off to college.
The first two tests he wrote proved the trajectory that his student counsellor had predicted he would be on. But then Ben got help, learning new and efficient methods to study, techniques that would help him cope with the workload whilst grasping concepts that were critical to his Engineering diploma. With this help, the following couple of exams went well, launching Ben on to an entirely different path. He started achieving extraordinary results. He could now understand concepts where previously he could make no sense of the work. The concepts became easy to grasp and he started developing traction with his respective subjects.
In his third year, Ben soared. So much so that his mother and father were part of the ceremony to congratulate him for achieving top marks at the end of the year. Ben was on his way to academic excellence. He completed his National Higher Diploma and began working as an engineer on construction sites.
A couple of years on, Ben changed direction and started studying again. This time he completed two further degrees before moving on to complete a master’s degree. Today Ben leads in a variety of contexts, speaking in front of people all the time. Imagine if he had heard and taken to heart the words of his student counsellor? Imagine if his mother had agreed with her and decided that because Ben would not amount to much, she would not believe in him. Would that have changed anything for Ben? Or would it have spurred him on to prove both his mother and student counsellor wrong? No one can really know for sure. What we do know is this his mother chose to believe in him. And forty years on in the story, Ben has proved his student counsellor wrong. Her words have fallen like dust to the ground, ineffective at claiming a young man’s confidence to make something of his life. Because a mother refused to speak death over her son’s life, Ben was able to accept the opportunities and challenges that came his way.
If you sat with Ben today, he would tell you that God has been his help and confidence. And because God is his confidence, he has developed a wonderful curiosity for learning new and diverse things. Irresponsible words have not held him back. They could have but they did not.
~~~
Words matter! Words spoken to children can influence their lives irreversibly. Adults have a God-given responsibility to choose their words carefully, especially if they hold a position of influence in a child’s life. My father tells the story of how a Grade One teacher negatively impacted his life by robbing him of confidence at a critical point in his life. He relates with crystal clarity how one cruel and unnecessary sentence dented his self-confidence for a lifetime. My dad, now ninety-one, still speaks about this as a defining moment in life. Using careless words does matter.
It is true that people have restraints. They may not necessarily be able to do everything, but they need never allow these restraints to hold them back and stop them from trying. With God’s help, people can apply, to their own lives, a willingness to try and categorically refuse the ‘I cannot do it’ attitude. I am reminded of the African proverb that, ‘By crawling, a child learns to stand’. This simply means everyone starts somewhere. Many people pass by their dreams because something or someone has convinced them that they are wasting their time, energy, and money. They will never be able to do it. What a terrible lie to believe. But others take hold of an attitude that says, ‘If I don’t try, I will not know’. William Carey, who was a missionary to India, is helpful when he reminds followers of Christ that they can ‘Attempt great things for God and expect great things from Him.’
If not, why not? Imagine the doors that could open, experiences that could be enjoyed, challenges faced, and lives influenced if faith, not fear, moved people forward into the unknown, sometimes rough but thrilling, waters of personal growth. What could be achieved?
Recently there was an inspiring article in Times Live (05 May 2021) titled, ‘From Cleaner to PhD graduate: Mervyn Coetzee overcame mockery and poverty’. The article reads: ‘From being a pool cleaner to obtaining a PhD, Mervyn Coetzee, who graduates on Wednesday at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), said it will be a celebration of the Coetzee family and their resilience. Coetzee says, "I want to go and share with the world the power of saying yes." Coetzee grew up in poverty in communities where gangs operated all around him, yet he overcame these and other restraints that could have held him back. His story is inspirational. He recalls being so poor that he had to wait outside fish and chips shops for scraps at the end of each day. What he gathered he used to help feed his family. A further difficulty he had to overcome is that he was born with two thumbs on each hand which often led to him being the source of ridicule and mocking, whilst growing up. He felt the weight of insecurity and humiliation, being teased for his appearance. However, as he progressed and success came his way, this humiliation helped him to identify with the fears and insecurities that others experienced, using this as the premise for some of his later studies. His pain became his opportunity.’
There is an enormous benefit in being able to say ‘YES’ and ‘IF NOT THEN WHY NOT?’ Understandably people may raise a red flag as a reminder that saying yes in many cases is unwise...
End of Free Extracts
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Table of Contents
Preface
CHAPTER 1 : First Crawl, Then Stand
CHAPTER 2 : Crooked Wood
CHAPTER 3 : Crocodiles And Hens
CHAPTER 4 : Even With Your Dirt
CHAPTER 5 : A Burning Library
CHAPTER 6 : A Different Dance
CHAPTER 7 : Confident Feet
CHAPTER 8 : Plant For A Lifetime
CHAPTER 9 : A Night With A Mosquito
CHAPTER 10 : Shady Trees
CHAPTER 11 : Look Where You Slipped
CHAPTER 12 : The Dawn Will Break
CHAPTER 13 : Only Fools
CHAPTER 14 : You Have A Song
CHAPTER 15 : End The Quarrel
CHAPTER 16 : Be The Mountain
Conclusion – Receive It
FREE EXTRACT 1
UNSHACKLED
Living the Life I was Destined For
Basil Sparks
Copyright © 2022 Basil Sparks
Published by Reach Publishers
First edition 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.
The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.
Published by Basil Sparks using Reach Publishers’ services, P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631
Edited by Sue Taylor for Reach Publishers Cover designed by Reach Publishers Website: www.reachpublishers.org E-mail: reach@reachpublish.co.za
Reach Publishers
Basil Sparks revbas@durbanvillebaptist.co.za
DEDICATED TO
Perhaps your experience is that every time you have picked up a book and flipped to the dedication, the author has dedicated their book to someone other than you. This one is for you! Without readers there would be no books. And a world without books would be like trying to imagine a world without thoughts. I am grateful you have decided to open Unshackled.
Table of Contents
Preface
CHAPTER 1 : First Crawl, Then Stand
CHAPTER 2 : Crooked Wood
CHAPTER 3 : Crocodiles And Hens
CHAPTER 4 : Even With Your Dirt
CHAPTER 5 : A Burning Library
CHAPTER 6 : A Different Dance
CHAPTER 7 : Confident Feet
CHAPTER 8 : Plant For A Lifetime
CHAPTER 9 : A Night With A Mosquito
CHAPTER 10 : Shady Trees
CHAPTER 11 : Look Where You Slipped
CHAPTER 12 : The Dawn Will Break
CHAPTER 13 : Only Fools
CHAPTER 14 : You Have A Song
CHAPTER 15 : End The Quarrel
CHAPTER 16 : Be The Mountain
Conclusion – Receive It
PREFACE
Man, Know Thyself (African Proverb)
Several years ago, I was invited to speak at a Christian conference. The theme was ‘Boundary Lines’. The organisers highlighted a Bible verse as the main text for the conference. The Bible passage was Psalm 16, and the phrase was, ‘The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.’ As I prepared, I realised I would have to address several very personal matters, all topics that I had not spoken about before. I dug deep to access painful moments in my life and then considered how God had used them to transform me, bringing me to the place where I could say, ‘Indeed I have a beautiful inheritance. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.’
The day came. I related moments of hurt, drawing attention to times of insecurity and times when I doubted my gifts and abilities. I shared how I had broken through and how God continues to work in me. I spoke from my heart, reflecting on my personal experiences. There was a surprising and almost overwhelming response. I realised that I am not alone and that the questions I have asked myself and God over a lifetime, were also being asked by others.
Towards the beginning of 2021, I was with a small group of friends discussing their struggles. As we spoke of the challenges they faced, many of the same thoughts I had been having were raised by others. As friends related their stories, I again realised that the big, life questions I was asking were more widely encompassing than I had originally thought. True, the journey is mine, but I came to understand that others encounter similar paths and challenges.
I had been thinking of writing another book. As I listened to this conversation, I realised that this was it. So, soon after the meeting, I picked up my pen and started writing notes. Line after line came to me relating to the big thoughts that had shaped my life over a span of fifty-six years.
Initially, my response on seeing them written down on paper was that they were hedonistic in nature and that I could not write about them and remain true to my faith in Jesus Christ. But the more I looked, I realised the impact that Jesus Christ had made in every arena of what I had scribbled down and that this was not a journey to self-fulfilment or self-aggrandisement, but rather a journey in understanding who I am in Christ.
How exciting to be able to apply my mind to these thoughts and to try and understand God’s heart for each of them and how they, over time, have shaped my life. God has been so good to me, and I was reminded again of Psalm 16 and of the beautiful and glorious nature of the life that God has chosen for me.
I started spending more time in Psalm 16, a glorious Psalm reflecting on God who is with us, who is for us, and who preserves our lives. How utterly amazing to realise I have a God who delights in me, who counsels me, and who instructs me. I rejoice and am glad that my soul is secure, and that God will not abandon me. I am strengthened knowing that God makes known to me the path of life and that in his presence there is fullness of joy, pleasures forevermore:
You Will Not Abandon My Soul
A Miktam of David.
16 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”
³ As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.
⁴ The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
⁵ The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
⁷ I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. ⁸ I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.¹⁰ For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
¹¹ You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
As I turn to these thoughts, I will do my best to show you how God influenced and shaped every idea, and how they can never stand independently of Him. My life is His, He paints over the canvas of the years, erasing the blotches or colours that are not pleasing to His eyes, but bringing beauty from the masterpiece He is working on. I can say with the Psalmist, the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, and I have a delightful inheritance.
The pages that follow are filled with stories. Often you will know the story is mine. On other occasions, I hide in the narrative. Other instances will be someone else’s experiences. But they are real and easy to identify with, useful for understanding the significant thoughts that have defined who I am today. I trust you have as much fun reading as I have had writing.
The title Unshackled found me rather than me finding it. The title space stood open throughout the process of writing. My hope was that a name would be born from the pages of my manuscript. As a family, we threw a couple of ideas around, but nothing seemed to capture the heart of what I was trying to say. That is, until Unshackled. Every chapter’s intent is to help people live the life they were destined for. And every chapter is an attempt to break down lies that often keep God’s people trapped, shackled, and defeated.
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Copyright 2022 Basil Sparks