Checkpoint

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

It is obvious from the above scripture that the onus of probing and searching ourselves lies with us. Although it admonishes us to examine ourselves in relation to our walk and relationship with the Lord Jesus, self-examination, on a broader scale, applies to other areas of our lives as well. It was Socrates who said, “an unexamined life is not worth living”. Call it whatever you wish to call it; self-examination, self-evaluation, stock taking or self-audit, the truth is, no man ever makes progress in life without a habit of periodically evaluating his life. Highly successful people do this as often as possible either daily, weekly, monthly or yearly as the case may be.Even companies and organizations know the importance of this hence they hold periodic meetings and carry out audits to review progress and ascertain the health or otherwise of their firms.

When you fail to examine or evaluate your life/activities, even nature and circumstances have a way of compelling you to. Some have been forced to re-examine their diets and eating habits after some bouts of health challenges. There are also those who were offered the opportunity to re-examine their activities within the “comfort” of police cells. Activities they never spared a thought about until it landed them behind bars. It reminds me of the case of the prodigal son in Luke 16 who at a point in his life, the Bible said, "came to himself" and did some thorough evaluation of his life. His decision at that point was the beginning of his restoration. Thanks to the consequences of his wayward and promiscuous lifestyle or else he would have continued headlong in them to his eternal destruction. Friends, there comes a time (or times) in a man’s life when he needs to be alone and reflect on his life and activities. Such times are what I call personal checkpoints. If you don't have or observe them, you are done for. Do this regularly; don’t wait until crisis forces you to do it. It will help you plot a graph of your life and measure your progress. Before you start pointing fingers at imaginary enemies as being responsible for your stunted growth, do a self-examination first to be sure yours case is not self-inflicted. Most times we (our habits and activities) are our greatest enemies.

Apart from helping you know your bearing per time, self-evaluation is the first step to personal development. Even failure could be a blessing if we would re-evaluate and take stock. Whenever you sincerely engage in this, you tell yourself some home truths about your life vis-à-vis the issue under review- be it spiritual, financial, marital, business, academic etc. It helps you come to terms with your strength and weaknesses. In other words, self-examination helps you carry out a personal SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis. Some far reaching personal decisions are often taken during such exercise. Doing this also helps you pray effectively and intelligently about the issue. The often you do this, the greater your chances for progress and development.

What are your goals this year? How often do you evaluate your life and activities in relation to these goals? If a graph of your activities so far this year is plotted, will it show movement towards or away from these goals? Do you have checkpoints: pointers that alert you whenever you are drifting off your plan for achieving your goals? If you do a self-audit of your life, it may stun you to discover that you have not really made progress towards your goals this year, your tight schedule of activities notwithstanding. 

What kind of relationship and associations do you keep? How healthy are they? If “an unexamined life”, according to Socrates, “is not worth living”, I dare say, an unexamined relationship is as meaningless and purposeless as an unexamined life. Don’t let crisis force you to have a rethink on that relationship, 'cos the experience may leave a sour taste in your mouth. Be wise!

How is your relationship with God? Take an audit of your work and walk with HIM. Or are you so busy that you don’t find time out to do some spiritual stock taking? Are there worrisome signs and signals that suggest that all may not be well with you spiritually? Will I be right in saying there was a time you prayed more, studied more, evangelized more and love more than you do now? The Lord Jesus told us in Revelation 2:5 to “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent”. But to do this, calls for self-examination or else we won’t know from when we fell. Do it now! The Bible says if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Let’s not fool ourselves; if there wasn’t a possibility of derailing, there wouldn’t have been any need for the call to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he falls” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Selah!

Thanks for your time and pls, remember to drop your comments.

Don't Take Grace for Granted.

"And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him"- I Samuel 17: 38-39.

One scripture we have often misquoted or, at best, quoted out of context is Philipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." I don't intend to take anything away from it, but truth is, you cannot do what you have not learn to do. No matter how often you quote and claim this scripture even with a faith as high as mountain Everest, you cannot fly an aeroplane if you are not a pilot. Neither can you operate on a patient if you are not a surgeon no matter how anointed you are. These are basic facts of life, we don't pray them into being. We learn and master them! The good new is that, going by that same scripture, we can learn to do whatever we desire to learn. Failure to learn, breeds mediocrity even in the Church. When you expect "grace" to do for you what you should do for yourself, you set yourself up for mediocrity or outright failure. That's taking grace for granted. Please, don't! Don't get me wrong, anointing, prayers, faith and grace have their places, but there is also the place of learning, mastery and development of whether a skill, a profession, a trade or a talent. The Church is littered with folks who have refused to sit down and learn before embarking on the voyage of destiny/ministry. This is has not been the practice in Bible days, even The Lord Jesus spent years preparing for a 3 1/2-year ministry.

In our opening text, we read about what transpired at the battle front. David said, "I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them". In other words, he was like saying "I've not used them before, I'm not skilled in their usage, therefore I don't know how effective they are". "Let me use what I've mastered over time while I trust God for victory", I imagine him saying. We know the outcome of it- a resounding victory. Pls don't tell me that God directed the stone to Goliath's forehead. While this MAY be the case, I believe David's mastery of the use of slings played no small rule. David understood that no man learns to use a weapon at the battle front. The best time to do that is in training. When Abraham set out to rescue Lot, the Bible said he armed  his TRAINED servant, three hundred and eighteen of them (Genesis 14:14). When you arm a man who has not been trained, you set him up for failure. Whether you arm him with position, money, people, or opportunity, if he is not prepared or trained, forget it! No wonder Paul cautioned about ordaining novices as Bishops in the Church. The rod with which Moses lead the Israelites (and parted the Red Sea) was not picked up by the road side, rather it has been his rod right form his days in exile. He however, surrendered it to the Lord, and it was later referred to as "the rod of God". That's what happened when we yield our ability (skills, talents etc) to God. They become HIS and you can imagine what happens when God takes over our abilities, skills, talents etc. Under such arrangement, you can expect the Holy Ghost to teach you things never before known by man. You can expect HIM to amplify the effect; that was how a David could kill a Goliath with a sling. 

In Matthew 25:15 on the parable of the talents, the Bible said, the lord of the servants gave talents "to every man according to his several ability". It was not their lord's responsibility to develop or use these talents for them even though he was the one who employed them for the task. That's my point! What are those deposits of grace (gifts, talents) in you begging for development. God won't develop them for you, that's your responsibility. There are challenges and opportunities lurking in the corner, they don't need your permission to present themselves. And when they present themselves, what you make of them is a function of your level of preparedness. How many times have we messed up opportunities simply because we were not prepared for them?May this not be the case with us this year in Jesus' name! Amen!!

What assignment has God given you, what task has He called you to do? Develop and master the use of that "rod" or "sling" in your hand. Go for the necessary training. Failure to do this will not be an excuse at the end of the day if you failed in this assignment or task. What have you set as goals this year for which you are currently fasting and praying, believing God for? Whatever you are asking for will not drop from the skies, they more often come as opportunities. But are you prepared for them? Are you a student? Study as if it all depends on studying. Don't take grace for granted, God is not a magician! Are you in ministry, in business, or a career person? Don't be a jack of all trade and master of none. Let people know you for your expertise and skills. When you do your part, coupled with the grace and anointing of God not even satan can stop you. #Selah!

Thank you for your time!

What Seest Thou?

 

"Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what Seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the LORD unto me, Thou has well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it".- Jeremiah 1:11.

Let me begin with the conventional thing to do by wishing you a Happy and Prosperous New Year! Wait a minute. Is the year still new, being already 10days old? Of course, it is. But make no mistake, it is fast becoming old because at the last count, I haven't met anyone today for the first time this year.  Meaning, we may soon stop using the phrase, "Happy New Year!". Well, until then, Happy New Year once again.

I have had a few "competing" topics to blog about but have been highly constraint by time. However, I think this particular one won being, in my opinion, the most appropriate for this time of the year. 

In the scripture above, The LORD asked the Prophet Jeremiah what he saw and after the Prophet had answered, The LORD told him he had well seen and as a result, HE would hasten HIS word to perform it. The average Nigerian Christian, whether protestant or orthodox, has had a full dose of new year prophetic declarations concerning 2013. However, if we must have these declarations come through in our lives, there are a few things we must know and do, one of which, is the subject of this blog. 

In the game of life, what you see is what you get. Hope you know that life is a game? O yes, it is! Mind you, when I say 'game', it doesn't mean its a game of luck. Every game has rules and even if there are atoms of luck, it responds to the right and skilful application of the rules and principles governing that game. In fact someone defined LUCK as "Labouring Under Correct Knowledge". Life is a game of principles and strategies. And you must play by these principles if you must win in the game of life. One of such principles is the principle of vision (or visualizing)

If you must win this year, you must consistently visualize your expectations. That is, your imagination and thoughts must align with your expectations and goals.
This is important for a number of reasons, some of which are:

What you see is what you possess. When God told Abraham that HE would make him a father of nations, it was pertinent for Abraham to begin to see himself as such even when he was yet childless. This was why God brought him out one night and asked him to look up into the sky and count the stars. In another place he was asked to lift up his eyes that as far as he could see would be given to him for a possession. (See Genesis 13:14-16; 15:5-6). Prior to that point, in Chapter 12, God had given him the promise but his faith, as it were, seemed shaky. But after God had had him visualize the promise in 15:5, in vs 6, the scripture recorded that Abraham believed God. If you can't see it, you can't believe it. And if you can't believe it, you can't possess it. No wonder Yongi Cho said, "seeing his possessing". True faith sees. In Hebrews 11, most of the heroes of faith acted on the basis of what they saw. Are you finding it difficult grasping the promises of God? Spend time visualizing and meditating on the them. You have to move from the realm of hearing to seeing.

How far you go in life is a function of how far you can see. There is something about seeing your expectation or goal that energies you and makes you never wanting to give up no matter what. The Bible says The Lord Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame because He had His eyes fixed on the joy that was set before him, Moses forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of Pharaoh because he saw Him who is invisible, and 2 Corinthians 4:16 -18 declares "for which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day...while we LOOK not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen (Our rewards in the heavens)" (emphasis mine). Quitters don't see and seers don't quit. Those who give up in life are those who lost sight of their goals. If you see a glorious future and hold unto it, no amount of failure can deter you from pursuing it.

Your life flows in the direction of  what you see. Put another way, your vision defines your direction. Here's a simple practical example. If you were to move from your present location (where you are now) to a new one, say from your office to the car park, you don;t just move about aimlessly. As you move, your eyes go first, then your body follows. You don't set your eyes in the opposite direction to the car park and expect to have a smooth movement down there. You may not have thought of this, but truth is, your life consciously or subconsciously flows in the direction of what you consistently visualize in your mind. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he"- Proverbs 23:7. Let me share this experience with you. I started praying for job when I was in third or final year in the university (that's some 12 or 11 years ago now). Guess what? I had a picture of a job of 15k in mind and when I later shared it with a brother, He screamed, "What! What is 15,000? When you should be thinking of 70K and above". Even though I started praying for such mega job, I subconsciously held unto the 15k kind of job. You know what? My first job after service was on a salary of 15k. Here's another one: I recently stumbled on my 2005 new year list of expectations and one of the points was (a new) job on a particular salary level (in fact the exact amount was stated in it). I was surprised to discover that my present salary is just that amount. It was a surprise 'cos I had forgotten about it. I didn't just get a new job, I got the salary I had expected as well even though when I first started it was on a salary lower than that.
Without vision, your life will have not direction. Spend time visualizing the attainment of  your goals and expectation before setting out in pursuit of them. Remember your life flows in the direction of your vision.

Your transformation begins with what you see. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord"- 2 Corinthians 3:18. It is what you behold (see, visualize) that you are transformed into. "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind"- Romans 12:2. If you can't see it, you can't become it. Some Christians have difficulty living above sin because they have not imagined (visualized, conceived) the possibility of a life without sin; the same holds true for prosperity and success. You can never be prosperous or successful with a consistent image (or picture) of poverty or failure in your imagination. What's your perception of your yourself? How do you do see yourself? You are not limited by your location or background. You are limited by your vision. If you can't see it, no amount of physical effort can make you become or achieve it. One of the important battles you will have to win is that of guarding your imagination and thought life- the battle of the mind. This explains why Proverbs 4:24 admonishes us to "keep (our) heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life". Why? Because what you see consistently in your imagination will definitely manifest in your life.

Looking into the glass of 2013, what beholds thou? This year won't be any different for you if you still hold on to the failures and disappointments of 2012. If that's all you still see, I'm afraid you will be setting yourself up for a repeat of them this year.
But I'm sure you see opportunities, greatness and success this year? If these are what you see, hold on to them 'cos what you see is what you get.
Selah!

7 VALUES FOR YOUNG PREACHERS

 

If you are a minister or preacher, I'm sure this would bless your life. Enjoy!

1. Value Calling over Vocation

No other occupation, job, or profession is like the ministry.  It stands in a class by itself. It is more than a career—it is a holy calling. The man of God does not simply prefer to be a preacher rather than a plumber, carpenter, doctor, teacher, or farmer. Ministry is not a job preference, it is an unquenchable yearning that shouts, “Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” People do not appoint you, elect you, or select you to be a man of God—it is a holy and sacred conviction. Ministry must be an anointed calling. You have to be a little brainsick to sign up for this job otherwise.

2. Value Sacrifice over Shortcuts

We are living in a copy and paste world. It is now common for preachers to replace hearing from God with a quick Google search. Don’t have time to dig out a sermon?  No problem – there are millions of them online. It is great to find inspiration from various sources, but shortcutting your way to anointed preaching will produce little fruit.  

Nothing can replace study, prayer, and sacrifice. Many want the ministry that others have, but are not willing to pay the price. The ones that God uses the greatest usually have suffered greatly. Being called into the ministry is a high honor that brings abundant blessings. Yet ministry is not for attention grabbing self-promoters; it is a call to servanthood. A preacher must give up to go up. 

Building a church, developing character, and growing a ministry takes time and a lot of hard work. Warren Wiersbe, in his book God Isn’t In A Hurry, said, “If you are interested in the praise of men, then use the shortcuts and publicize your statistics. But if you are interested in the glory of God, stick with God’s methods – the Word, prayer, witnessing, sacrifice, and suffering – and leave the results with him. After all, it is ‘God who gives the increase’ (1 Corinthians 3:7).” 

3. Value Righteous Ambition over Unrealistic Expectations

No ministry will accomplish much without holy ambition. Righteous zeal and passion are essential ingredients for ministry. I question the calling of someone who has no passion for growth.  

Everyone wants to matter. But how we strive to matter can make us or break us. Nothing wrong with ambition. Nothing wrong with wanting to better oneself. The problem arises when unrealistic expectations supersedes righteous ambition. 

Many preachers have fallen prey to the delusion of unreal expectations. I recently heard a preacher essentially say, “I am a good preacher, when will it be my turn to preach at conference?” Proverbs 18:16 says, “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” A man’s gift will create opportunities.  Work on your gift, hone you skill through study and prayer, then go find a way to humbly use your gift as the doors open. 

Paul charged young Timothy to be instant in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2). Being instant comes from two Greek words meaning “at the position of” and “to bid to stand by.” Being instant literally means “stand by at your position.” Man of God stand ready to preach the Word. Ministry is a process, be patient. 

4. Value Discipleship over Merely Counting Numbers

God’s plan for ministry is to win souls and train disciples. Too often we focus most of our attention on the number of people who were saved, over the need for discipleship. Counting those who are baptized and filled with the Spirit is certainly vital, but discipleship must be considered our primary purpose for evangelism. The Lord added to the church the ones that were saved (Acts 2:47).  ”Added to” means to “proceed to, a marker of an immediately following event” and “add to an existing quantity.” Real addition is discipleship. The church must be evangelistic, but we must also train disciples.

5. Value Honoring Authority over Seeking Position 

God’s power works through a prescribed principle of authority. No one of us is “in” authority, but we all must be “under” authority. Talents, gifts, money, influence, and ability are not the criteria for authority. Accountability and leadership that is solely based on gifts will lead people into rebellion. Every ministry needs a close relationship of accountability. No ministry gets too big, too successful, or too anointed that it doesn’t need accountability. A position without proper submission to authority can lead to a spirit of entitlement. 

Advancement in the Kingdom of God is not only related to submitting to proper authority, but to honoring authority. Honor in the Biblical context means assigning high value. It is more than being polite or respectful. We put “stuff” in boxes and store them in the garage, but the things we value have a place of prominence. It is imperative that young ministers place high value on their elders, especially their fathers in the faith.

6. Value Anointing over Marketing and Technology

Living in a world of escalating technology brings a mixed bag of blessings and curses. Technology provides an abundance of tools that have a huge visual impact in ministry. Lights, videos, and cool graphics help connect this visual generation to ministry. Technology also enhances marketing and branding. 

Personally I love technology. I don’t miss typing my sermons on an old typewriter (yes I’m that old). Yet having a plethora of techno stuff can be dangerous. Technology can never take the place of the tried and true anointing of the Holy Ghost. Many generations before us had mighty revivals without an iPad. It is the anointing that breaks the yoke, not fog and lights. It the anointing that will bring deliverance, not cool videos. Again, technology is here to stay and it has a place in ministry, but it must never supersede the anointing! 

7. Value Purity over Popularity 

The greatest asset to a young man of God is his character. Gifts and talents may make one popular, but purity is essential to stand before the presence of God. The holiness of a man begins with having a pure heart.

Acts 8 tells of a sorcerer called Simon who believed, was baptized, and continued with Philip (Acts 8:13). Simon was no fly-by-night person, he was a professional. He had the entire city under his spell. He was shrewd. He was sharp. He was popular. When he saw the mighty move of the Holy Spirit he was impressed. He told Peter, “Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost” (8:19)

Simon seemingly wanted the power to advance his popularity.  His greatest offense wasn’t his quest for power. His greatest sin was not his love of money. His greatest wrongdoing was not that he tried to buy Apostolic ministry. Simon’s greatest problem was that his heart was not right with God. 

 Value your purity above preaching. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). 

Author: Pastor Tim Gill
http://www.advancingministries.net/?p=1079

Keep That Dream Alive- part 2

Welcome to the concluding part of the this post and I hope you did enjoy the part 1 of it. In this post we shall take a look at the other two things you have to do so as to keep that dream alive viz: seeing and pursuing. My original message on these has been updated. Enjoy!

2) See it:
What you see is what you become. Your life flows in the direction of your vision. You must see your dream and continue to see it until you see it because you become what you see. In II Corinthians 3: 18, the scripture declares that "we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory..." God ask Jeremiah, "what seest thou?" You see, God understands the principle of seeing. He used it on Abraham and still uses it today. He gave Abraham a sure word of promise but when it seems that Abraham was finding it hard grasp it, He applied the principle of seeing. He asked Abraham to look into the sky and count the stars thereby, associating what Abraham saw with the promise. He further declare that as far as Abraham's eyes could see, would be given him for a possession. Seeing is becoming! Seeing is possessing! This was the same principle Jacob used on Laban's cattle to get them speckled and ringstreaked. Don't you ever lose sight of your dream because seers don't quit and quitters don't see. Keep seeing it, don't stop seeing it until you see it. That is focus! The more you see it the more you fire up your desire for it. And the clearer the picture, the stronger the desire. Let the picture of your dream be your sleeping and waking thought. Let it excite you. Put replicas of it on your wall, in phone either as screen saver or ring tone. Associate with things and people that provoke thoughts of your dream. Live your dream in your imagination. You must hold a clear mental picture of your dream in your imagination. Remember seeing is possessing. So, until you see it, you can't seize it. This principle runs through the entire scriptures. Hebrews tells us to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross despising the shame. In another chapter, talking about the patriarchs, Hebrews tells us that they "all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them and embraced them..." Make no mistake, they didn't see the promises in the flesh because they (the promises) were dispensational in nature. And hope you know they still partook in them in the spirit for Abraham, Jesus said, rejoiced to see His day (that's a topic for another day).

Seeing is possessing- Dr. Yongi Cho
Seers don't quit and quitters don't see- Prince

3) Pursue it:
"Pursue it" is a call to action. Let me say that the pursuit of any worthy dream begins and ends in (or with) God. If the dream is such that you can not conveniently bring it before God and discus it with Him in the place of prayer, then it is not worth it. Pursuing your dream is where the men are separated from the boys. Hope you are aware that Martin Luther King Jnr. was not the only one with such dream at the time? Of course, yes! The issue he confronted was such that was not peculiar to him alone but to every black at the time but he knew that any dream that does not lead to action is nothing but day dreaming, it is nothing but fantasies and wishful thinking. So, he was willing not just to talk the talk but to walk the walk as well. What you don't pursue, you don't possess. Make no mistake. Seeing is possessing but this will only be true if your life flows in the direction of what you see.
In pursuing your dream you must be weary of dream killers.
One of them is pride. The Bible says pride goes before a fall. You must be humble enough to ask those who are in the know how they do it. There are things that God has packaged in the person next door and it takes humility and respect to access them. Be humble enough to acknowledge your shortcomings and work to update yourself.
Ignorance is another dream killer. For the labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them for he knoweth not the way to go to the city (Ecclessiastes 10:15). Invest in your dream. Go for information, it makes your journey easier and shorter. It is one thing to know where you are going and quite another thing to know how to get there. Attend seminars, read books. Be selective about what you spend your money on. I don't expect you (I was referring specifically to the convener of the youth seminar) to go buy a balckberry phone when you need a projector or even a mini website to give you an online international presence.
Mentor-ship and Networking are indispensable tools in the pursuit of your dream. There are people you don't compete or rub shoulders with. Whatever you want to be today, someone has been even before you were born and many more are, today. Look for them and learn from them. As they move up the ladder, you naturally fill up the vacuum they create below. I am talking about mentors. There are opportunities that may never fall on your laps except by the recommendation of your mentors. The world has been so reduced that you can be mentored by someone miles way from you. Buy their books, visit their sites, send them emails and try to establish contact with them. Let them know that someone somewhere is been impacted by their lives and works. There are also individuals within your locality that have what it takes to mentor you. Don't be ashamed to ask them for such favours. Networking is another MUST if your dream must kept alive. No matter how visionary Joseph was, he needed someone to mention him before Pharaoh. When Ziklag was invaded, and David after having prayed and assured by God to pursue and recover, he needed the help of a famished fellow to get to the enemies camp. He gave the fellow what he needed and got the information he needed in return. That is the power of networking. Let me warn that you need to be very selective in choosing mentors and those to network with. There are dream killers as well as dream parasites. Everybody can be your acquaintance but not everybody is qualified to be a confidant or partner including your blood relations. A times you need to adopt the "david-attitude". When he was confronted and chided by Eliab his elder brother at the battle front, he quickly turned away from him and turned to others asking the same question- "what shall be done to the man who kills Goliath?". Your brothers or sisters (relations and friends) may brand you names and mistake you for what you are not. Never mind! Don't let them run you down! You dream is your identity. There are many youths with same physical features as we all have but what stands you out is the dream you birth, the things you are able to accomplish. Let's go to God in prayers!

Any dream that does not result into action is day-dream-Anonymous

Happy weekend holiday!

Keep That Dream Alive

I was with some youths over the weekend to speak to them on the topic "Keep the Dream alive" and below is my message. Enjoy!

The problem with most of us is not that we don't dream, it is not that we don't have visions, goals or aspirations. The problem is that most of us have turned ourselves into human prisons, cold rooms or cemeteries. Locked up and buried within a lot of us are lofty dreams and visions that hold the key to our destinies and fulfillment. Don't be a prison where dreams are locked up, don't be a cold room where dreams are frozen or a cemetery where they are buried. Hope you know the world does not recognize or celebrate you for what you carry on your inside. No! nobody cares, nobody gives a damn! The world celebrate you for what you were able to give birth to. Yes! the world does not celebrate pregnancy, it celebrate delivery. Dreams, just like life, have phases. It has the conception, the incubation period (pregnancy), the delivery, the infancy, childhood and maturity. A dream, just like the human life, can die at any phase. Even if it has attained maturity, there is still the challenge of continuity. Have you not heard of companies or churches that went under after the death of their founders? Every dream leaves you with responsibilities. Wisdom demands that you know what stage your dream is at the moment. President Jonathan didn't fall from heaven a president. He was once a seed in a woman's womb. Even at birth, he was not born a president.

Until your become a servant to your dream, you can not attain it-Prince

Your first responsibility is to know what stage your dream is at the moment. Is it at its conception? That period when it is still an idea that's yet to take root. Still formless and shapeless in the womb of your imagination (or mind). Many a youth has been talked out of their dreams because they were too eager to discuss it at conception. Conception is not the best period to discuss your dream with others. It is easier to be convinced by others at this stage and by so, abort the dream. At conception, you need to spend time in meditation, prayers and waiting on the Lord until the dream crystallizes and takes root within you. You need to incubate that ''seed''! Do your home work first. Research it, get the requisite knowledge and information about it and let your soul be set aglow with it then you can go and discuss it with men of like passion. At this point, whoever does not speak the language of your dream, you easily turn away from him 'cos you have been sold out to it already. It is clear and well rooted in you!
Your next responsibility is to know how to keep it alive and nature it to the next phase.
Let me at this juncture declare that until you are willing to be a servant to your dream attaining it may be impossible. The Lord Jesus told us that it is enough that the servant be as his master. Are you willing to take instructions from your dreams? I know am talking to christian youths so, i don't expect our dreams to be such that runs at variance with the word of God. Let this statement sink into your head because everything you need to do to keep your dream alive is hinged on it: That until you become a servant to your dream, until you become a slave to it, until you are addicted and sold out to your dream, forget it! It will die! Addiction in itself is not bad and i have discovered that every great man is an addict. He has something he is sold out to, something for which he is willing to sacrifice anything for, something he is willing to die for. For what things were gain unto him, he counted but dung for the excellency of attaining his life's pursuit. Don't let that dream die. If it dies, you are dead even while you are still alive. It is important that you know what stage your dream is at the moment. Ask a mother. She monitors her baby right from conception until delivery and beyond. She knows that each stage comes with its challenges, demands and peculiarities. Her life is dictated by the stages, kind of. The way she behaves at the sixth month of her pregnancy is different from the way shes does at conception. Likewise, her behaviour at the ninth month is different from that at the sixth month. The way she also behaves when her date is due is also quite different and so on, even after delivery. Her life is dictated by the baby in the womb and she must comply if she intends to successfully bring forth. It dictates to her the kind of clothes and even shoes to wear. The kind of food to eat and a times even the places to go. She sacrifices her personal likes or preference in response to the demands of what she carries on her inside. Beloved, the same holds true, in principle, for your dreams if it must be kept alive. It will dictate what and how you spend you money, time and resources etc. Are you willing to adjust?

There are things to do to keep that dream alive and I have crystallize them into three: Desire, See and Pursue. Desire it, See it, and Pursue it.

1) Desire it:
Desire is the fuel that powers the engine of your dream. You must have a strong desire to see your dream come true. Without a strong desire, fulfilling your dream becomes a burden. Nothing great has ever been achieved without a strong desire. I don't mean wish. I am talking about passion. I am talking about that inner drive that keeps you undaunted in the face of challenges. That inner force that pushes you on no matter how many times you may have failed. Instead of discouragement in the face of failures, what you get is a renewed vigor urging you never to give up, telling you it is possible. I read of the story of a lady called Mme who, in pursuit of her passion for music, enrolled for a course in music. Her music instructor after listening to her, advised her to go buy a sewing machine and pursue a career in fashion designing 'cos she wasn't going to make a good singer. The story had it that this lady in spite of this "professional" advise from a man in the know, went ahead to become a renowned singer. Another story was told of a trainee keyboardist whose instructor told him to forget about mastering the keys because he lacked the right size of fingers. Hmm! It was like telling the man that God didn't intend him to master the keyboard or like we would say, "it is not his calling". But this guy, fueled by passion, ignored this advise and went ahead to become a master of the art. You must have a desire that is strong enough to sustain your dream because when the road gets tougher, it is your passion that will drive you on. We often hear things like determination, persistence or resilience. But the truth is, these qualities are products of a strong desire for something. Many a youth gives up easily because their desire isn't strong enough. In fact most them either are pursuing their parents' desire for them or mistake wish for desire. Desire is obsessional! Most times, its natural but can be fired up. The Bible in Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled". This is a principle and if you substitute your dream for righteousness, the result will be the same-you will have it. What you strongly desire, you attract. You must learn to feed your desire.

To be continued....

The Law of Compensation

On my way to church one evening while reflecting on a number of things, I heard the words "The Law of Compensation" ringing in my mind. Actually, I was meditating on this statement, "Your problem is not what you don't have. You problem is what you have but have refused to use''. It was as I tried to reason it out, that these words- The Law of Compensation- dropped in. My mind was turned lose as I tried to ascertain the existence of such law and to my pleasant surprise, I discovered that there is indeed such a law at work in the universe- it is at work in man, it is at work in animals, it is at work in nature. Have you noticed that some animals have certain senses well developed in them in comparison to others. Some animals who may not be a fast as a cheetah more often than not have their sense of sight or smell well developed in them than in the cheetah to compensate for their slow pace. Some of them even develop (or acquire) special organs that compensates for the lack of pace. The same applies to man, at least in principle. I once told the youths of my church that everybody has something about them that should make them bold as well something that should also make them shy. For some, their height is their source of pride and they use it to their advantage whether you like their faces or not (i mean they may be ugly by your standard). I have also seen short guys who command attention with their oratory prowess whenever they stand to speak. So interesting, such guys would always have "something" to say at any meeting they are. For some it is their complexion while for others, it is their beauty. The examples are countless!

I strongly believe that this law is the basis for the popular statement, "there is ability in disability". There is this general believe (of course with examples to back it up) that if a physically challenged person esp a cripple holds you in his grip, you are done for except he chooses to let you off. So long as your sight is intact, your mind or your senses of touch can never be developed to the point of mastering certain musical instruments. But when your system equilibrium is disturbed, the system adjusts to re-establish a new equilibrium. We know the story of John Foppe, a man born without arms, whose lower limb muscles have been so developed to compensate for his seeming "disability". They now do for him what the arms do for us. That's why they say, there is ability in disability. The problem is that we don't look deeply inward to discover it.

Your problem is not what you don't have but what you have and don't use- Anonymous

"What have you in your house?" was the question Elisha asked the poor widow whose late husband's creditors were after her two sons. It was with what she had that her needed miracle emerged from. Stop lamenting your "have nots" and start maximizing your "haves". When the disciples of Jesus met him to complain about how to feed the multitude, it was from what they had amongst them that what they needed to feed the thousands came from. Adam didn't have a wife but he had a rib from which a wife was formed for him. Blind Bartimeaus didn't have sight, but he used what he had, a voice, to get what he needed, sight. Identify and maximise what you have today and watch God use it (or them) to make you the man or woman He created you to be.
Like the mathematicians would say, "start from the known (your haves) to the unknown (your have nots). The Law of Compensation is activated when we effectively use what we have. If we do this, it has a way of either creating, attracting or transforming into, the "have nots" that are indispensable in our journey to greatness. The Lord Jesus said, "those that have shall be given (because they effectively maximize that which they have) while those that have not, that which they have shall be taken from them (because they refused to make use it)". Emphasis mine. This is a both a natural and a supernatural law. What you don't use you lose, the Law of Atrophy states. And until you effectively use what you have, you are not entitled to more.

The Law of Compensation states that what you don't have has been compensated for, one way or another either naturally or supernaturally, in what you have

What you have has the potential of creating, attracting or transforming into the things you need but don't have at the moment if you effectively deploy and utilize them.
Folks, for your information nobody is born empty! God has packaged everything you need within and around you. The English alphabet are twenty six in number but through permutation and combination, the words we can create with them are innumerable. The same with numbers, we have natural numbers ranging from 0 to 9 (hope am correct?) from which every other number imaginable is derived from. All truth are parallel and the above is true even in life. The message is that you can with the resources you have within and around you, recreate your world. Do you have potentials, talents, ideas, gifts, money, or people? Which ever you have can be utilized and harnessed to attract (or create) that which you lack but need to be successful in life.

Selah!

In Pursuit of Excellence 2

I am sure we all had an exciting and thrilling Easter holiday. In keeping with my promise, I will be concluding this series today and I hope it won't need a part 3. I sincerely hope so. I recommend you read "In Pursuit of Excellence 1" if you are new to this series. In part 1 we saw a few things about the first "H" which is the Heart and how it comes to play in our pursuit of excellence. Statements like "follow your heart" or "follow your passion" goes to show how important it is in our pursuit of excellence because therein lies the secret of true success. Now lets move on to the other Hs-head and hands.

2) Head
The Head speaks of the Mind - the intellect, the imagination, the reasoning and thinking faculties.
It is one thing to know what you want and be passionate about it and quite another thing to know how to get it. This is where the head comes in. The heart may be fully in it but it takes the head to fine tune and refine the process. Your passion and desire fuels you but your head provides the road map. To be passionate about a cause and yet refuse to learn the nitty gritty or rudiments of it is actually to practice folly. In fact true passion makes you hungry to know more. It is passion (desire) that drives your quest for knowledge. Proverbs 18:1 "Through desire a man, having separated himself seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom". There is a better way of doing that thing you do currently, seek it out. For "...I show unto you a more excellent way" I Corinthians 12:31b. Go for knowledge, go for information. Knowledge makes your journey shorter. Get educated, enlightened and informed about that stuff for which you pursue excellence. A story was told of Soichiro Honda, founder of Honda Motor co. He has been passionate about automobiles right from childhood and actually set out in pursuit of his passion. The story had it that he had great difficulties making marketable pistons. He lacked the requisite knowledge to do this and his competitors were not willing to oblige him either. Fueled by passion, he went back to school and took up a course in production. He attended only classes that deal with production and as a result his academic performance was very poor. Worried by his poor performance, the coordinator of the college called him to find out what the problem was. You know what Honda told him? Honda tried to explain to the coordinator that he was not there for the certificate but for the knowledge of production. He was eventually kicked out of school but he went home armed with the knowledge of how to make marketable pistons. That is when passion meets knowledge.

The heart may be fully in it but it takes the head to fine tune and refine the process.

Another aspect of the head that must be involved in your pursuit of excellence is the imagination. Romans 12: 2b admonishes us "...to be transformed by the renewing of our minds". There are those who are prisoners of their (negative) imaginations. Imaginations are deep rooted thoughts, mental images/pictures in the subconscious mind. They often influence and dictate the thought patterns of the conscious mind. Take it or leave it, your transformation has a lot to do with the quality of your imaginations (thought life). "For as a man thinketh so is he", the Bible tells us. You can't hold a picture of mediocrity in your head and expects excellence. Negative imaginations are strongholds and the scriptures in II Corinthians 10: 4 enjoins us to cast down every imagination that exalts themselves above the knowledge of God. Positively engage your imagination with thoughts, images and pictures of excellence. That's meditation! Let them saturate you on the inside and failure will be far from you. This practice is not a piece of cake, I must confess. The ability to hold a mental image or picture of that which you desire no matter the happenings around you is no mean task. But thank God we walk by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7).

Excellence is not for the mentally lazy. Engage your reasoning and thinking faculties in your pursuit of excellence. Sit down, and thoughtfully plan your ways. Fine, you know what you want but have you a plan of actions which if followed will deliver? That things ain't working out as expected, have you sat down to think it through?. I don't mean worrying about a problem. Rather be creative and innovative in your thinking. Do you know there are those who are paid to think through problems? Oyedepo once said that God gave us brains so He could have some rest. Use your head no be curse. Hope you know your hands (activities, works) can not be wiser than your head. What your hands do is a function of how intelligent you are upstairs.

Your hands can not be wiser than your head.

There is a lot to say on the head but time and space won't permit.

3) Hands
The hands speak of work and physical activities. Your work is your portrait and signature, so you better be serious about yours. Excellence does not respond to mere wishes but to hard work. Pay attention to your work-the finished product. Be sure of the quality before it goes on display. It's no crime to have an internal quality control system in place. Let men know you for something.
Be skillful and diligent about it. For the Bible warns in Proverbs 10:4 that "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the the hand of the diligent maketh rich".
"Seesth thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men" Proverbs 22:29

The Bible say in Proverbs 13: 4, "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing". Don't let that idea die in your head! Translate it into work with your hands. God promised to bless the works of our hands. It means we take delivery of HIS blessings through the works of our hands. So get to work!
Put your heart and head into your work. That is, while you are passionate about what you do, you are also creative and innovative in how you do it.

Your work is your portrait and signature

When God gives you a promise, He expects that you fully engage your 3-Hs in corporation with HIM: your heart MUST believe, your head MUST agree and your hands MUST labour.
If you know these things, blessed are you when you do them.

Selah!

In Pursuit of Excellence- 1

May i seize this opportunity to say Happy Easter to ya all. It is your season of resurrection! If the depth of the grave or the size of the stone or even the fierceness of the soldiers couldn't stop the King of Glory from rising from the dead, then nothing can stop your rising in Jesus Name! Jesus rose after three days and Easter comes up in April after three months and on the fourth day after three days in the month of April. This is symbolic! I have never thought of it on this manner until Monday this week while leading prayers somewhere. I declared unto them that we have moved into the season of resurrection and without premeditation, my eyes were opened to these facts and I immediately expounded it unto them. Whatever has been dead in our lives shall live again by the resurrection power of God in Jesus name! Lets get to the main dish for today: In Pursuit of Excellence.

Why is it that so many desire excellence in whatever they do but only a few actually attain it. Excellence is what stands a man out from the crowd and puts him high on the pecking order. Others many scramble for recognition, or opportunities but excellence commands it. Excellence recommends. No matter your location, when the spirit of excellence is at work in your life, you will be recommended. Joseph was recommended before Pharaoh and when the king heard him, he exclaimed "can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?". What about Daniel, a man in whom the Bible says an excellent spirit resides? He was found ten times better than his peers. By excellence, he was recommended before kings in his days. Who doesn't want to be distinguished?
If you desire excellence, then your entire being-heart, head and hands- must be involved in its pursuit. Excellence does not come by accident neither does it respond to mere wishes. Until your 3H (heart, head and hands) are in it, excellence may remain a mirage. I call it the 3-H factor in pursuit of excellence. Any thing short of it will not and can not deliver excellence. Have you looked at this scripture in Luke 10:27: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind;" closely? A close look at it speaks of these factors which we will see in details. To the above verse, Jesus added in verse28, "...this do and thou shalt live". The same holds true in pursuit of excellence: our heart, (spirit and soul), and head (mind) and strength (hands) must be in it. Excellence comes with a price and one of the greatest price you will have to pay is the ability to put your whole heart, head and hands in your chosen field of interest. Nobody has ever excelled without a good combination of his/her 3-H. No matter how much you try to drag God into it by prayers, and positive confessions, excellence is not in sight until these factors are fully at work. Remember, "a threefold cord is not easily broken", Ecclesiastes tells us.

We already know what these Hs are but lets look at them in details and how they come to play in our pursuit of excellence.

Until your 3-H (heart, head and hands) are in it, excellence will remain a mirage

1) Heart
The heart speaks of your spirit and soul and it encompasses our emotions- love, faith, desire, hope, zeal, enthusiasm etc. There are others but I have carefully selected these ones for the purpose of this discus and may use some of them interchangeably. I call them emotions but they are, in reality, forces. No man has ever excelled in any venture for which he is not passionate or zealous about. It is not enough having vision beacuse vision without desire will evaporate with time. R.W. Emerson once said, "nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm". Every great man is an addict! They always have their hearts in something for which they are willing to give up anything for. Do you have a heart for what you do? Some of us go about our business and work as though we forgot our hearts at home- no zeal, no passion, no enthusiasm, no drive. A lot of folks fail because they give up and many of them give up because they lack passion. If you are in a business you don't truly love, a business you are not passionate or zealous about, you will only be existing and not living. There are potentials and abilities in us that may never be discovered or expressed while in such ventures. Everything bows to passion. A story was told of a keyboardist whose instructor once told him to forget it, that he doesn't have the right sized fingers to really master the keys. Hmm! It was like telling a man that God didn't intend him to be a keyboardist. Yea! he may not have the right sized fingers but he had passion in excess. He ignored that "professional" counsel and went on to become a renowned keyboardist. That is the power of passion. Another story was told of a lady who enrolled for music class but was advised by her instructor to go and buy a sewing machine instead and pursue a career in fashion designing because she was never going to make a good singer. She thanked him but ignored his advise and went to become a celebrated singer. They prevailed because they were sold out and their consuming passion paid off. Even seeming disabilities have a way of bowing to the demands of passion. When you hear of ability in disability, it is often the stories of those whose passion and desire wouldn't let go. Passion makes your pursuit of excellence a pleasure. Without it, the journey is bound to get boring and frustrating when the going gets tough.
No man has ever stumbled on excellence by accident. No man attains excellence without first a desire for it backed with a passionate pursuit. The first step is knowing what constitutes excellence in your chosen field or career and giving yourself wholely in its pursuit. Do you know what constitutes excellence in your chosen field? Take a moment to ask yourself that question and try to find answers to it.

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm-- Ralph Emerson

To be continued!

The True Essence of Knowledge

So much has been said and written about knowledge. Every motivational speaker and writer would want to drum it into his audience that knowledge is all they need and that if anyone thinks otherwise, he should go and try ignorance. And in fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, knowledge has greatly increased in this later days. The result is that man's quest for knowledge has been on the increase. The average child today knows more than his parents knew when they were his age. There are a thousand and one books on virtually every field of human endeavour and existence. Is it marriage, finance, spirituality, relationship, you name it. Almost every home today has a copy of the Bible. Knowledge is so accessible today that ignorance can no longer be excused. Even if you can't read, at least you can hear and there are speakers (tapes, and CDs) in whatever is your area of interest. The importance of knowledge can not be over emphasized. Bishop Oyedepo once said that every exploit in life is a product of knowledge.

Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge- Bishop D. O .Oyedepo

But there is an evil I have seen under the sun, our lives do not match up with the level of knowledge we wield. With the volumes of knowledge available to us today, can we boldly say that the level and quality of lives we live is a true reflection of how knowledgeable or versed we are? Is your financial status a true reflection of how versed you are upstairs in financial matters? The world has seen the marriages of those who taught others how to build healthy relationships hit the rock. The Church has seen believers, theologians and scholars alike whose lives and what they profess or teach are worlds apart though, knowledgeable and versed in scriptures. Hope you know there are professors in the sciences today who comparatively know more in their fields than did the likes of Edison back then but who have no invention/discoveries to their credit? The list is endless! We know so much upstairs but with so little to show for it. These things ought not to be.

The essence of knowledge is action, not information. It is not to make you a walking dictionary or encyclopedia but to enrich your life. The true essence of knowledge is change, and not information. And such change can only come through action. This is where we often get it wrong. Hear the words of the Lord Jesus in John 13:17, "if ye know these things, happy (blessed) are ye if ye do them" It is the "doing" that brings the blessing and not just the "knowing".

The aim of knowledge is action, and its true essence is change, not information-Prince

Knowledge does not equal change neither does it equal results. In fact having the knowledge does not always automatically translates into results. How many people today know that Jesus saves from sin? How many more know that prosperity is God's will for them? Quite a good number of course! But only a minute fraction of them are actually saved or prosperous. "knowing" is not always "being" and the bridge between them is "doing". Many of us have the same attitude as that young rich fellow who came to Jesus to ask him what he will do to inherit eternal life who when he was eventually told, walked out on the Lord. We attend seminar, read books, ask questions with an attitude of "what must I do to get..." but unfortunately, that is how far we go. No commitment, no action therefore, no change!

Knowing what God has promised you is information, and knowing what to do to make it yours is revelation-Bishop Oyedepo

Something instructive played out in I Kings 17:9-15 when God informed Elijah that He (God) has commanded a widow at Zarephath to sustain (or be feeding) him. Armed with this information, Elijah set out for Zarephath. Surprisingly, when he got there, he didn't meet a widow eagerly waiting with a sumptuous meal to feed him. Rather he met a resistant "poor" widow. It took Elijah a little persistence to prevail on the widow to do what God has said. Many of us would have backed off after the initial resistance. Knowing what God has promised you is information, and knowing what to do to take delivery of it is revelation. "Knowing" is not always "possessing" and "revelation-based actions" is the bridge between them. There is the word of faith, there is also the action of faith. Faith most times is justified by actions (James 2). Knowing is not always possessing! Knowing the importance of stock and how to buy them doesn't make you a shareholder in any firm. Having a knowledge of the presence of crude oil underneath your house won't make you a millionaire. Got that? No knowledge is automatic, you must believe and act on it. It has often been said that "knowledge is power" but i beg to differ. It can only be power when used or acted upon or else, knowledge is potential. Active knowledge (i.e. knowledge applied or acted upon) is power whereas dormant knowledge (i.e. knowledge yet to be applied or acted upon) is potential.
Francis Beacon said, "knowledge is light". What this means is that it lightens our path and shows us the way to go but we have to walk the walk.

What shall it profit a man if he acquires the whole knowledge and uses it not?-Prince

I will end this piece with an exposition on John 8:32, "ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (KJV). Note He didn't say, "ye shall be free for knowing the truth". There are two clauses in His statement connected by a conjunction. Although the second is a function of the first.
The First: "ye shall know the truth"- that is knowledge
The second: "the truth shall make you free"- that is knowledge at work (or putting knowledge to work)
A lot of folks stop at the first without progressing to the second.
"I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth" the Bible says. Knowing this is good but do you know how to activate this acknowledge to work for you? The essence of knowledge is change and until knowledge goes to work in your life or situation, there won't be any change.
Yes! Knowledge is a key but it will not, and can not, on its own open any door until you specifically put it to such a use.


Selah!