A successful person is one who takes the cold water dumped on his or her plans, heats it up with enthusiasm, and manufactures the steam that helps him/her push ahead.
– John C. Maxwell
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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT NUGGET
IN TIMES OF CHANGE, LEARNERS INHERIT THE EARTH, WHILE THE LEARNED FIND THEMSELVES BEAUTIFULLY EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH A WORLD THAT NO LONGER EXISTS! – Eric Hoffer, a social thinker/writer of the twentieth century.
THIS IS WHO I AM!
It is said that when you see a turtle on a fence post, it sure had help getting there. That’s me! I’ve had help from God and from His people.
When I look at my life I see a picture of grace – favor unmerited both from God and man. I am a Christ – i.a.n! Without Christ, I Am Nothing! Outside of His precious grace I’m an empty shell devoid of any meaningful substance, but in Him I am complete; graced, empowered, and enabled to succeed. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I am also the workmanship of God in Christ Jesus. I am created unto good works which Christ has before ordained that I should walk therein. When you look at me and like what you see, don’t hate me or loathe me. It’s not my fault, it’s just my God!
I’m totally a picture of grace. Saved by grace. Justified by mercy. Enveloped by favor. Called unto glory. Positioned for success. That is who I am!
So, I sing with Sinach:
I’m walking in power
I walk in miracles
I live a life of favor
I know who I am!
Do you?
“IMPOSSIBLE” IS JUST AN EXCUSE!
I welcome you dear friends to the second half of 2014. My prayer is that it would be for you a better and more fulfilling half. You will end the year 2014 well! You will finish strong, in Jesus name!
My encouragement to you today comes from a book I’ve been reading the past few days. It is written by a very good friend of mine, Gbenga Sesan and it is titled In My Own Words.
“1 minus 2 is impossible until you know the answer. In my elementary school, we were told that it was impossible to subtract a higher number from a lower one. The unanimous answer, in the rare moments the questions was asked, was a loud “impossible!” But a few years later, in secondary school, I was taught that if a higher number is subtracted from a lower number, I will have a negative number. It was no longer deemed impossible simply because we knew better than when we were in primary school. How many times in life are we almost tempted to call certain things impossible? If you could just learn more about the problem, you will soon come to terms with the fact that “impossible” is just an excuse we give when we do not have enough knowledge to tackle a problem. The answer may be strange, but every problem has a solution…. 1 minus 2 is not “impossible”; you only need to gain enough knowledge to know the answer.”
What do you call “impossible”? Go ahead, acquire enough knowledge and tackle the problem. Impossible is nothing! And with God on your side, nothing shall be impossible unto you! I do hope you find this encouraging and motivating as I have, as we enter the final half of the year. You will succeed!
Food for Thought: GAIN IS NOT GODLINESS!
Gone are those days when we thought that godliness had no earthly benefit. Those were the days when being born-again meant being the scum of the earth. Popular choruses were “Take the whole world and give me Jesus…” Believers were so heavenly conscious that they were of no earthly relevance. But those days are gone! Now we know better. We are godly and we are successful. And, our songs have changed. “Give me the whole world and give me Jesus…” seems more like what we sing nowadays. We are more easily to be charged with being earthly good but of not much eternal consequence! We have gone from one extreme end to the other.
Before you start thinking otherwise, I’m not advocating that poverty is synonymous with piety. One can be rich and righteous. Yet another can be poor and be sinful. If righteousness were equal to prosperity, then the most righteous men on earth would be the top dogs on the Forbes rich list. And thus the likes of Carlos Slim, William Henry Gates III, Folorunsho Alakija, Oprah Winfrey, Aliko Dangote etc., would be the most holy men and women on earth!
God does bless his people! You can be righteous and prosper! And you can be godly and broke too. Yeah! Remember the story Jesus told in Luke 16:19-31 about the rich man and Lazarus. That is sufficient an illustration.
An error has gone forth in the church: “If you do not have money, you must have missed God somewhere. Conversely, if you’re wealthy, then you must be in sync with God.” I say, no! You cannot worship God and mammon!
This is the whole counsel of God as revealed in 1Timothy 6:5-10:
“They think religion is a way to make a fast buck. A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough. But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.”(Message)
Aren’t we guilty of “using” God to achieve our selfish ends? Are we not fast slipping into this error of equating godliness with gain? A heart search is pertinent here, before we slip so far away from the kingdom of God than when we were infidels. This is not to knock any valid truth of God’s word no matter how much it’s been bastardized but to restore believers back to the straight and narrow. Bottom line: Gain is not godliness. However, godliness is great gain. You will still hear me on this matter. YOU WILL SUCCEED!
Yomi Olufiade 