TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1. CHAPTER ONE: You can’t get everything until you give

everything

2. CHAPTER TWO: The power of knowledge

3. CHAPTER THREE: Failures are those who fail themselves.

4. CHAPTER FOUR: The only way to prove that you are wise is

to learn more.

5. CHAPTER FIVE: A clay in the hands of the potter

6. CHAPTER SIX: The blessings of God are like rain that falls 24

hours daily; only those with open heart receive it.

7. CHAPTER SEVEN: Who is a believer?

8. CHAPTER EIGHT: With humility you are like the soil where

any seed can grow.

9. CHAPTER NINE: Wisdom, motivational, and inspirational

quotes

10. CHAPTER TEN: Proverbs and old sayings

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INTRODUCTION

Many motivational speakers have often advised that people will perform

better if they exploit their God-given talents as opposed to doing those

things they are not good at. There have been several cases of individuals

who changed their jobs and career paths to embrace their talents. They

came out better. Even though our innate gifts manifest in the physical,

there is always a spiritual backing to them. For us to manifest our

potentials, a lot of motivation is required to be able to overcome

challenges.

Motivating people to manifest their potentials only through physical

means often yielded little results. However, applying spiritual

motivational means on the other hand produced better outcome. People

go through a lot of challenges and troubles in life because of their failure

to unleash their potentials. The high rate of unemployment can also be

traced to our inability to utilize our talents to do those things that will

make life easier instead of depending on government to provide jobs that

are not available. However, our inability to utilize our potentials could be

traceable to our failure to embrace the Holy Spirit and revelations from

God on what our callings are.

Blessings and honor be unto God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the

Messiah) who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the

heavenly realm. I always prayed to God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the

Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation

(insight into mysteries and secrets) in the deep, and intimate knowledge

of Him and purpose for your life by having the eyes of your heart flooded 2

with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He

has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints.

(Ephesians 1:17-18) (Amplified).

Jesus is the head of the church and we are the body. Then if we are the

body, which part of the body are we? This is where we need the wisdom

of God and revelation to get an insight into the mysteries and secrets of

His purpose for our lives through Christ Jesus. The unfolding of God’s

words give light and understanding (discernment and comprehension) to

the simple. (Psalm 119:130) (Amplified).

The cemetery is considered the richest place on earth because of those

buried therein who never had the opportunity of utilizing their God-given

potentials while alive. This is possible if such people didn’t have Christ in

them and thus the unfolding light of God was not available to them for

His purpose for their lives.

Anyone who wants to discover God’s purpose for his life must first get

connected to the body of Christ through faith and recognize Him as the

Lord and personal savior. Then the unfolding light of Jesus which reveals

the truth about our callings will unfold the truth. Many people

misconstrue their callings in darkness because the unfolding light of Jesus

Christ was not available to them.

God did not create man to fail; to do so will be unrighteousness on His

part. And as long as the heaven and earth remains, God can never be

unrighteous. The governments of this world can produce several

graduates without employment opportunities, but God Almighty did not

create any man without potentials. He did not just give us our individual

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potentials, but also gave us the unfolding light who is Jesus Christ to

reveal the truth to us by being in Him.

CHAPTER ONE

YOU CAN’T GET EVERYTHING UNTIL YOU GIVE EVERYTHING

Jesus said unto the young man, “If you want to be perfect, go and

sell all your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor and

you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me”.

(Mathew 19 v 21) (NLT)

This is a case of testing the heart of man. Jesus was putting man to test

to know where his heart laid, whether it is in material things or not. The

result is clear. Where a man’s treasure is, that is where his heart will be.

When we talk of giving all we have, our mind often went to pecuniary or

material things.

Money is part and the least of what we can give to God. The best gift we

can give to God is our heart. It is when we give our heart to God that we

can give selfless service and worship Him in truth and in spirit. The last

statement in the bible passage says “Then come, follow me”. This means

our heart should lean towards God.

The Lord said to Abraham, “Because you have obeyed me and have not

withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will

certainly bless you; I will multiply your descendants beyond number like

the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore; your descendants will

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conquer the cities of their enemies and through them all the nations of

the earth will be blessed. (Genesis 22 v 16 – 18) (NLT).

God has respect for humanity. He will be unrighteous to take Abraham’s

only son. This was another case of testing the heart of man.

Abraham gave everything he had. And God said you cannot get

everything until you give every thing. The stars in the sky and the

sand on the seashore represent everything that God gave Abraham

in Mathew 19 v 21 – 22. The young man who Jesus told to give

everything gave nothing and went away sad. And we never heard of

him again. But Abraham did the opposite and today the gospel is not

complete without the story of Abraham.

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how people put money into

the treasury box. And many who were rich put in much; then one poor

widow came and threw in two mites. He called his disciples to himself and

said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor window has put in

more than those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of

their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her

whole livelihood [Mark 12: 41 – 44] (NKJV)

Quote: “The best you can give to God is your heart”

In the old church, there was a treasurer in charge of the treasury box,

who knew how people gave what they gave. Jesus sat opposite the

treasury watching how people cast money into the treasury, what they

gave and how they gave; that is the state of their state of their heart. He

called His disciples to himself and interceded for the poor widow that

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gave all she had. It is only those who give God their heart that can give

everything even in their poverty. In heaven, Jesus is permanently

interceding for us based on what and how we give out what we have like

the poor widow. That is why we receive things we did not pray for, favour

that we do not merit, blessings we do not deserve because Jesus

intercedes for us based on the state of our heart and credits our account

from heaven based on our account balance.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth

and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up

for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust

destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal for where

your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mathew 6: 19 –

21) (NKJV)

My experience in school will help us to have a deep understanding of the

Bible chapter and verses above. In my days on campus, I often made sure

I did not use up all my pocket money as I tried to secure my daily

requirements. Something unexpectedly happened one day and I was

forced to use up all the money left with me. It was then that I

remembered that I had some provisions from God I could fall back on.

Quote: “Your treasure in heaven is an assurance of supernatural

provisions”

The lesson here is that it was not the money in my pocket that

guaranteed my provision, but my treasure in heaven which was credited.

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Our treasure in heaven provides divine and supernatural provisions for

us. Sometimes we get things from God without asking, praying or

fasting. They are given to us because we are stakeholders of the treasure

in heaven. We shall not lack good things because there is an auto-

transfer, auto-credit mechanism from heaven to our account. Anyone can

be a stake holder of the treasures in heaven based on the transparency

of the heart, obedience to God’s word and holiness.

“The promise granted through faith; for the promise that He

would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed,

but through the righteousness of faith” (Romans 4: 13) (NLT)

This is a reference passage that tells us more about who are as the

stakeholders of the treasure in heaven. Abraham and his seed did not

become shareholder of the treasure in heaven according to law, culture

or tradition, but by being stakeholders through the righteousness of their

faith.

“The Lord will open to you his good treasure, the heaven, to give

the rain (blessings) to your land in its season, and to bless all the

works of your hand, and you shall lend to many nations, but you

shall not borrow” (Deuteronomy 28: 12) (NKJV)

In every nation or organization, there is a treasure or special account set

aside to solve economic or social problems regarded as very important to

the organization. In oil rich nations there are excess crude oil accounts

which are regarded as national treasure and can be used to solve

economic problems during emergency periods. This is also applicable to

the organization of heaven. However, in this case, economic problems do

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not need to occur before heaven credits our account from the treasures

of heaven. We must understand that heaven will not credit our account

without the works of our hands as said in Deuteronomy 28:12. “The work

of our hand is a channel in which God can credit our account from the

treasure of heaven”. Today people work like elephants and eat like ants

because they have no treasure in heaven;and there is nothing to credit

their account with.

“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and

establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of

our hands” (Psalm 90:17) [NKJV]

If God does not bless a man, no man will; and if God does not establish a

man, no man can establish him. The establishment of a man is a function

of the accreditation of heavenly treasure. You can’t have access to

heavenly treasure until you give your heart to God.

Those who give everything are those who give God their heart, those who

have everything are those who have treasures in heaven; those who have

treasures in heaven are those who gave their hearts to God and are true

worshippers. True worshippers render selfless service. Those who render

selfless service to God lay up their treasures in heaven; those who lay up

their treasure in heaven never lack any assurance of good things as in

Mathew 6:vs.19-20. Jesus in a parable told us to lay up treasures in

heaven where there is assurance of supernatural provisions.

“Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor

gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feeds them; are you

not of more value than they” [Mathew 6:26] (NKJV)

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The birds of the air can provide for their offspring, can afford more

than three meals a day. It is just a question of flying few meters from her

nest. Yet, we are more important than birds. Statistics show us figures of

people who are hungry in every part of the world. They are not hungry

because they refused to work, but are hungry because they lacked

heavenly treasure. With heavenly treasure, little work triggers

abundance.

“For after all these things the gentiles seek for; your heavenly

Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the

kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall

be added to you” (Mathew 6v32-33 (NKJV)

There is nothing you want that God does not have or knows about. Based

on the law of sowing and reaping, which is a law of nature, you cannot

reap where you did not sow. God is telling you to deposit your heart first

in his kingdom by rendering selfless service, loving one another,

forgiving, faithful, being humble, give brotherly love, be merciful,

hospitality and so on. Every of those acts increase our treasure box in

heaven which results to our supernatural provision on earth. With our

treasure box in heaven, our divine provision is not by law, but by right.

With our heavenly treasure, we don’t need to ask. When we think of

anything according to the will of God, it will be given to us.

Quote: “Every of your righteous act increases your heavenly treasure”

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With our heavenly treasure, good things will happen to us in their own

accord; the promise that God will grant our heart’s desire is based on our

heavenly treasure. Heavenly treasure is a covenant that guarantees our

provision on earth.

Some times wealth could disappear because of lack of heavenly

treasure that guarantees everlasting provision on earth. We should enter

into a covenant of supernatural provision by giving our heart to God just

like Abraham and David did in the bible. These are some of the people

who gave their hearts and God established a covenant with them.

Mathew 6:19-21 tells us not to lay up our treasure on earth, where

moth and rust destroys and where thieves break in and steal, but we

should lay up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys.

When you lay up your treasure in heaven, there is a covenant the seals it

up which is the best form of security. That is why Jesus said “do not lay

up your treasure on earth where there is no covenant or divine security;

but lay up your treasure in heaven where there is an everlasting

guarantee of divine provision. For those who lay up their treasure on

earth, there is no guarantee of everlasting provision. In fact, the expiring

date of their wealth is known because there is no divine security from

above.

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in

my temple. If you do, says the Lord of heavenly armies, “I will open the

windows of heaven for you; I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t

have enough room to take it in. Try it; put me to the test” [Malachi 3:10]

(NLT)

Bringing all the tithes takes us back to our chapter title that say’s you

cannot get everything until you give everything. Now the truth is, many

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of us believe that ten percent of our income is our entire tithe. No, it is

only a part of it. All our tithes comprise of tithing your strength, your

time, your knowledge, your talent and so on.

As an accountant in an organization, you tithe your experience by helping

the church in the accounting department. Twenty four hours a day, we

are expected to tithe some percentage of our time in praising or worship

God. These and others make up all the tithes. When we have done this,

we have given everything to God and God also gives us everything. He

says, “I will open the windows of heaven to give everything because you

have given everything, which is your entire tithe”.

“But this I say; he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,

and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” [2

Corinthians 9 V 6] (NKJV)

Those who sow sparingly are those who do not give their complete tithe.

Complete tithe in this case is not ten percent of your total income, it also

entails physical offering, offering your acquired skill and so on. Those who

give financially only sow sparingly, but those who give financially as well

as themselves have sown bountifully. Money is the least of what we can

give to God. God is not man who takes material things as the best offer.

The best we can give to God is our heart.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field,

which a man found and hid again; he goes to sell all that he has

and buys that field” [Mathew 13:14] (NASB)

This is a parable of a cheerful giver; a parable of a man who is willing to

give everything to access the treasure in heaven. Remember the story of

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a young rich man in [Mathew 19:21] who Jesus told to sell all his

possessions and give the money to the poor to access heavenly treasure.

We should also remember the story of Abraham in [Genesis 22: 16-18]

who gave his only son to access heavenly treasure. We know the rest of

the story. This explanation will help us to interpret the story of this man

who joyfully sold all he had to buy up the field. Now the field represents

green pasture; the green pasture represents divine provision; the field

represents heavenly treasure; the man who sold all that he has and buys

that field, meant giving all his heart in selfless service to buy the heart of

God to access heavenly treasure. This is why I said heavenly treasure is

like a strategy which only those who can understand it, survive. There are

people who are doing better than you and you begin to ask God why this

is so. It is because they know the strategy you don’t know; the sacrificial

strategy, a strategy of sowing bountifully.

CHAPTER TWO

THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge stands for you

Ignorance stands against you

Knowledge pays for you

You pay for ignorance

Knowledge is a shield

Ignorance is like a conflict

That can make you a refugee

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Even in your fatherland.

Apart from our respective discipline, we need to seek the knowledge of

God. Our collective knowledge is not complete without the knowledge of

God. Lack of knowledge generally gets us into trouble, knowledge about

what is happening around us, knowledge about God’s purpose for our life.

This and other necessary knowledge are what we need to acquire.

Ignorance is not an excuse in the secular world. Even as children of God,

we must be knowledgeable because God is a God of knowledge.

“Come and listen to my counsel; I’ll share my heart with you and

make you wise” [proverb 1 V 23] (NLT)

This is a call for you to acquire knowledge, through revelation, through

the word of God. It says, come and listens to my counsel; I will share my

heart, my knowledge with you and make you wise, about the knowledge

of God, about God’s purpose for your life. God supplies series of

knowledge through different channels. Knowledge is like a mustard seed.

No matter how small it is, when planted, it becomes a big tree. It is also

applicable to knowledge, especially the knowledge of God. When we take

heed and dwell in it, it will help us grow like a mustard seed that grows

into a bigger tree; a tree that can bear fruits and become blessings to

others. Knowledge is a light that makes you shine in the dark, and make

people look for you for help. Ignorance is like darkness in which you must

look up to people for help.

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Quote: “It is better to be a student for one day than to be an illiterate

forever”

Ordinarily, a man needs help even though he can provide everything for

himself. Sometimes ignorance can make us look out for what we already

have. Ignorance can also waste our time, or move ahead of time which

can be dangerous. Knowledge about God’s purpose for our lives is very

important. God has prepared a table before us, but sometimes because of

our lack of knowledge, we destroy it.

“And there was famine in the land, other than the famine that

was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to

Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the Lord appeared to him

and said, do not down to Egypt; live in the land of which I will tell

you. Dwell temporarily in this Land, and I will be with you and

favor you with blessing; for to you and to your descendants I will

perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I

will make your descendants to multiply as the stars of the

heavens, and will give to you posterity of all these lands

(Kingdom); and by your offspring shall all the nations of the

earth be blessed,” [Genesis 26: 1 -4] (AMP)

What would have made Isaac plan to go to Egypt during famine period

(economic meltdown)? Possibly to look for greener pasture and Isaac is

the heir of Abraham’s promise. We must have the knowledge that our

provision is not in abroad, but from above. Lack of knowledge makes us

to look for what we already have. We should also have the knowledge

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that any land we step our foot on is ours as an heir of Abraham’s

promise. Traveling from one country to another for greener pasture is not

necessary as an heir of Abraham’s promise.

“Then Isaac sowed seed in that land and received in the same

year a hundred times as much as he had planted and God

favored him with blessings. And the man became great and

gained more and more until he became very wealthy and

distinguished” [Genesis 26: 12 – 13] (AMP)

This brings us to the fact that we can prosper anywhere. If Isaac had gone

to Egypt, he would possibly have become a refugee, [Proverb 1 V 23).

God said come and listen to my counsel; I will share my heart with you; I

will tell you what to do; where to sow; where to invest and I will make you

rich. It is very important we let God hold our hands and lead us to the

promise land. God told Isaac “dwell temporarily in this land”, not

permanently in the land. We should let the instruction of God be the air

we breathe in so that we can survive because He knows the beginning

from the end.

Then Abilmelech went to him (Isaac) from Gerar with Ahuzzah, one of his

friends, and Phicoh, his army’s commander. And Isaac said to them, “why

have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away

from you”. They said, we saw that the Lord was certainly with you; so we

said, “let there be now an oath between us [carrying a curse with it to

befall the one who breaks it] even between you and us, and let us make

between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you” [Genesis 26:

28]

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A rich man has many friends, but a poor man is hated by even his

neighbor. The difference between a poor and a rich man is

information, knowledge especially the knowledge of God.

In [Genesis 26 V 1], Isaac went to see Abimelech, King of the Philistines

possibly to seek for favor. Sometimes the lack of knowledge makes up

run from pillar to post. Until you discover God’s purpose for your life, you

will remain a slave to your oppressor or a refugee. Like I said earlier,

ignorance is like a conflict that can make a man a refugee in his own land

while knowledge will make you to be in the right place for God blessings.

Isaac acknowledged the fact that he does not need to go to Egypt to

become what he wanted to become. We must acknowledge the fact that

the Lord is a good shepherd that can lead him to a greener pasture. And

we must be a good sheep who listen to instructions to follow the way

directed by the shepherd to get to a greener pasture.

Knowledge is a light that makes us shine in the dark in the face of

economic meltdown. When lights shine in the dark, people come to it. In

[Genesis 26 V 28] even King Abilech and his army’s commander saw the

light shining through the life of Isaac.

Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my

hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my

counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at

your calamity, I will mock when your terror comes like a storm,

and your destruction comes like a whirlwind; when distress and

anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not

answer, they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

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Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the

Lord [Proverb 1: 24-29] (NKJV)

God gave Isaac instructions, he did not refuse; God stretched out His

helping hand to Isaac, and he gave God his hand to lead him. Isaac did

not disdain the knowledge of God; he did not go down to Egypt as

instructed by God. If Isaac did not follow God’s instruction, he would have

been out of God’s plan for his life. Knowledge about God’s purpose for our

life is the master key for success. Lack of knowledge of God’s purpose for

our life is a fast lane to calamity. God gives out instructions through

different media. The question is, do we listen and follow this instruction

like Isaac? The reason why God sometimes don’t answer our prayers is

because we don’t follow His instructions when we are in the wrong place.

The wealthiest people on earth are those who trade on knowledge (Sam

Adeyemi).

People who made wealth in the stock market did so not because they

traded in stock, but because they traded on the knowledge of what the

market will be. Isaac did not become wealthy because of his strength,

but because he traded on the knowledge of God.

Investment in knowledge always pays the best interest (Benjamin

Franklin). Even in the business world, knowledge is one of the things

that can give you competitive advantage over your competitors. It also a

means to make strategic decisions, effective management, risk

management; it also helps in managing opportunities and so on.

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Quote: “A man’s major problem can be traced to the potentials he did

not unleash”

With knowledge, a journey of a hundred years can be a journey of one

day. Isaac was about to emback on a long journey to Egypt, but the

knowledge of God made his journey short. Ignorance will make us to

embark on a long and fruitless journey. Knowledge is needed in every

area of our life as in business, marriage, relationships and so on. Anything

we do in life we need to wait; and if we must wait, we should have the

knowledge of God while waiting to succeed. Furthermore, if we must walk

or run in life, we must have the knowledge of the distance. For us to fly in

life, we need to have knowledge about the direction. When he brought his

sheep outside, he walked on before them, and the sheep followed him

because they knew his voice [John 10 V 4] (AMP).

God is always there before us to direct us. If we listen to his instruction,

the voice of God will speak knowledge. Then you will know the truth, and

the truth will set you free. [John 8:32] (NIV).

Being knowledgeable is freedom, and lack of it is captivity. Your

knowledge does not only set you free, but also sets others free. God has

prepared our table before us, but because of our ignorance ,we destroyed

it. The word of God is the truth, the knowledge that guides us in life. For

us to succeed in life, the knowledge of God should be the air we breathe.

The only material to lay a sound foundation is to seek the knowledge of

God.

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MAN WILL CONTINUE TO WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW UNTIL HE

UNLEASHES HIS POTENTIALS

“Then you should invest my money with the bankers, and at my

coming I would have received what was my own interest…..and

through the good–for-nothing servant into the outer darkness,

where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” [Mathew

25:27 & 30] (AMP).

A man who unleashes his potentials is like a man who has a river at his

back yard. Each time he needed water, he went there to fetch from it. A

man who unleashes his potentials has no cause to worry about tomorrow.

If a bird can leave its nest and spread its winds, the sky is its stepping

stone. We are more valuable to God than birds. The servant who did not

trade with his talents was good-for-nothing for not trying at all. When you

make attempt, there is grace to excel while the Master will always be

there to assist you. Jesus assisted those who traded with their talents by

adding extra talent to the ones they already had. God is the God of

increase. He multiplies your seed sown. When the seed you sow is

multiplied, you have no cause to worry about the future. The master of

the servant even complained of not making an attempt of saving his

money in the bank. At least he would have done something. Rather, the

servant kept on procrastinating and did nothing.

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CHAPTER THREE

FAILURES ARE THOSE WHO FAIL THEMSELVES

There are millions of people in the world today who have lost hope and

regard themselves as failures. The question is, “Why have they failed?”

They might have failed not because of the inadequacies of government or

because the economic system failed them. They probably failed because

they chose to fail. Another question could be, “Who are those who have

failed themselves?” They are those people who have failed to develop

their potentials and God-given talents may be due to several challenges

of life.

Quote:”Everything around you can fail you, but your potential can never

fail you if you develop it”

God did not create any man to fail, but most failed because of their

inability to develop their innate talents. God created man to succeed. He

created man and labeled him with success. Any man created in the image

and likeness of God is created to succeed because God is a God of

success. God given potentials come with challenges. And those

challenges are made to purify us, to build and develop our potentials. Let

us examine some individuals who used their challenges to build and

develop their God given potentials. Their stories teach us how they were

able to surmount numerous obstacles which forced them to work harder

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with much determination. Keep them in mind and remind yourself that

sometimes failure could just be the first step towards success. These

people and the companies the founded or the organizations they

managed are today known around the world. As these stories have

shown, their beginnings weren’t always smooth.

HENRY FORD: While Henry Ford is today known for his innovative

assembly lines and American-made cars, he wasn’t an instant success. In

fact his early businesses failed which left him broke five times before he

founded the successful Ford Motor Company .

R. H. MACY: Most people are familiar with this large departmental store

chain. But Macy didn’t always have it easy. She started seven failed

businesses before finally hitting it big with his stores in New York City.

SOICHIRO HONDA: The billion-dollar business that is Honda began with

a series of failures and fortunate turns of luck. Honda was turned down by

Toyota Motor Corporation for a job as an engineer and was jobless for

quite some time. He started making scooters of his own at home.

Spurred on by his neighbors he finally started his own business.

AKIO MORITA: You may not have heard of Morita, but you have

undoubtedly heard of his company. Sony’s first product was a rice cooker

that unfortunately didn’t cook rice so much as burn it and sold far less

those 100 units. The first setback didn’t stop Morita and is partners as

they pushed forward to create a multi-billion dollar company.

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BILL GATES: Gates didn’t seem like a shoe-in for success after dropping

out of Harvard University and stated a failed business with Microsoft co-

founder Paul Allen called Trap-o-Data. While this early idea didn’t work,

Gate’s later efforts did work creating the global empire that is Microsoft.

Quote: “The world is like a market place where every man has goods

and services to sell”

HARLAND DAVID SANDERS: Perhaps better known as Colonel Sanders

of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. Sanders had a hard time selling his

chicken at first. In fact, his famous secret chicken recipe was rejected

1,009 times before a restaurant accepted it.

WALT DISNEY: Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies

and theme parks. He had a bit of a rough start. He was fired by a

newspaper editor because, “he lacked imagination and had no good

ideas”. After that, Disney stared a number of businesses that didn’t last

too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept trudging along.

However, he eventually found a recipe for success that worked.

SCEINTISTS AND THINKERS

These people are often regarded as some of the greatest minds of our

time, but they often had to face great obstacles, the ridicule of their

peers and the animosity of society.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Most of us take Einstein’s name as synonymous with

genius, but didn’t always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until

he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and

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parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti social.

Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admission to

the Zurich Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but

most people would agree that he caught on pretty well in the end,

winning the Nobel Prize and changing the face of modern physics

CHARLES DARWIN: In his early years, Darwin gave up on having a

medical career and was often chastised by his father for being lazy and

too dreamy. Darwin himself wrote, “I was considered by all my masters

and by my father a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard

of intellect”. Perhaps they judged too soon, as Darwin today is well-known

for his scientific studies

ROBERT GODDARD: Goddard today is hailed for his research and

experiment with liquid-fueled rockets. But during his lifetime, his ideas

were often rejected and mocked by his scientific peers who thought they

were outrageous and impossible. Today, rockets and space travel don’t

seem far-fetched at all due largely in part to the work of this scientist who

worked against the feeling of the time.

ISAAC NEWTON: Newton was undoubtedly a genius when it came to

mathematics, but he had some failings early on. He never did particularly

well in school and when put in charge of running the family farm, he

failed miserably and so poorly such that an uncle took charge and sent

him off to Cambridge where he finally blossomed into the scholar we

know today.

ROBERT STERNBERY: This big name in Psychology received a “C” in his

first college Introductory Psychology class with his teacher telling him,

“there was already a famous Sternberg in Psychology and it was obvious

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there would not be another”. Sternbery showed him, however, graduating

from Stanford with exceptional distinction in Psychology summa cum

laude, and Phi Beta Kappa and eventually becoming the President of the

American Psychology Association.

INVENTORS

These inventors changed the face of the modern world, but not without a

few failed prototypes along the way.

THOMAS EDISON: In his early years, teachers told Edison he was “too

stupid to learn anything”. Work was no better, as he was fired from his

first two jobs for not being productive enough. Even as an inventor,

Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. Of

course, all those unsuccessfully attempts finally resulted in the design

that worked.

ORVILLE AND WILBUR WRIGHT: These brothers battled depression

and family illness before starting the bicycle shop that would lead them

to experimenting with flight. After numerous attempts at creating a flying

machine, several years of hard work, and tons of failed prototypes, the

brothers finally created a plane that could get airborne and stayed there.

PUBLIC FIGURES

From politicians to talk show hosts, these figures had a few failures

before they came out on top.

WINSTON CHURCHILL: This Nobel Prize-winning, twice-elected Prime

Minister of the United Kingdom wasn’t always as well regarded as he is

today. Churchill struggled in school. He faced many years of political

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failures, as he was defeated in every election for public office until he

finally became the Prime Minister at the ripe old age of 62.

Quote: “You have no selling point until you have unleashed your

potentials”

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: While today he is remembered as one of the

greatest leaders of America, Lincoln’s life wasn’t so easy. In his youth, he

went to war as captain and returned a private. (If you are not familiar

with military ranks, just know that a private is as low as it sounds).

However, Lincoln didn’t stop failing. He had numerous failed attempts for

public office.

OPRAH WINFREY: Most people know Oprah as one of the most iconic

faces on TV as well as one of the richest and most successful women in

the world. Oprah faced a hard road to get to that position; however,

enduring a rough and often abusive childhood as well as numerous

careers setbacks including being fired from her job as a television

reporter because she was “unfit for TV”.

DICK CHENEY: This recent Vice President and businessman made his

way to the White House, but to flunk out of Yale University, not once, but

twice. Former President George W. Bush joked with Cheney about this

fact, saying, “So now we know, if you graduate from Yale, you become

President; if you drop out, you get to be Vice President”.

HOLLYWOOD STARS

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Their faces ought to be familiar from the big screen, but these actors,

actresses and directors saw their fair share of rejection and failure before

they made it big.

JERRY SEINFELD: Just about everybody knows who Seinfeld is, but the

first time the young American comedian walked on stage at a comedy

club, he looked out at the audience, froze and was eventually jeered and

booed off the stage. Seinfeld knew he could do it, so he went back the

next night, completed his set to laughter and applause, and the rest is

history.

FRED ASTAIRE: In his screen test, the director of MGM noted that

Astaire could not act, could not sing, slightly bald, but could dance a little.

Astaire went on to become an incredibly successful actor, singer and

dancer and kept that note in his Beverly Hills home to remind him of

where he came from.

SIDNEY POITIER. After his first audition, Poitier was told by the casting

director, “Why don’t you stop wasting people’s time and go out and

become a dishwasher or something?” Poitier vowed to show him that he

could make it, went on to win an Oscar and became one of the most well

regarded actors in the business.

JEANN MOREAU: As a young actress just starting out, this French

actress was told by a casting director that she was simply not pretty

enough to make it in films. He couldn’t have been more wrong as Moreau

went on to star in nearly 100 films and won numerous awards for her

performances.

CHARLIE CHAPLIN: It’s hard to imagine films without the iconic Charlie

Chaplin, but his act was initially rejected by Hollywood Studio chiefs

because they felt he was a little too nonsensical to ever sell.

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LUCILLE BALL: During her career, Ball had thirteen Emmy nominations

and four wins and also earning the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Kennedy Center Honors. Before starring in I love Lucy, Ball was widely

regarded as a failed actress and a ‘B’ movie star. Even her drama

instructors did not feel she could make it, telling her to try another

profession. She of course, proved them all wrong.

HARRISON FORD: In his first film, Ford was told by the movie execs that

he simply didn’t have what it takes to be a star. Today with numerous

hits under his belt, iconic portrayals of characters like Han Solo and

Indiana Jones, and a career that stretched decades, Ford can proudly

show that he does in fact have what it takes.

OLIVER STONE: This Oscar – wining filmmaker began his first novel

while at Yale, a project that eventually caused him to fall out of school.

This would turn out to be a poor decision as his text was rejected by

publishers and was not well received. After dropping of school, Stone

moved to Vietnam to teach English, later enlisting in the army and

fighting in the war which earned him two Purple Hearts and helped him

find the inspiration for his later work that often centered on wars.

WRITERS AND ARTISTS

JACK LONDON: This well-known American author wasn’t always such a

success. While he would go on to publish popular novels like White Fang

and the Call of the wild, his first story received six hundred rejection slips

before finally being accepted.

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MONET: Today Monet’s work sells for millions of dollars and hangs in

some of the most prestigious institutions in the world. Yet during his own

time, he was mocked and rejected by the artistic elite in the Paris salon.

Monet kept at his impressionist style which caught on and in many ways

was a starting point for some major changes to art that ushered in the

modern era.

THEODOR SEUSS GIESEL: Today nearly every child has read the Cat in

the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham, yet 27 different publishers rejected Dr

Seuss’ first book to think that saw it on Mulberry Street.

STEPHEN KING: The first book by this author, the iconic thriller Carrie

received thirty rejections which finally caused King to give up and threw it

in the trash. His wife fished it out and encouraged him to resubmit it, and

the rest is history with King now having hundreds of book published and

the distinction of being one of the best – selling authors of all time.

ZONE GREY: Incredibly popular in the early 20th century, this adventure

book writer began his career as a dentist, a profession he began to hate

over time. So, he began to write only to see rejection after rejection for

his works. Being a writer, he would have given up. It took him years, but

at 40 years of age, Zone finally got his first work published, leaving him

with almost 90 books to his name and selling over 50 millions copies

worldwide.

CHARLES SCHULTZ: Schultz’s peanuts comic strips has enduring fame,

yet this cartoonist had every cartoon he submitted rejected by his high

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school yearbook staff. Even after high school, Schultz didn’t have it easy,

applying and being rejected for a position to work with Walt Disney.

Quote: “The world without a mustard seed is like a world without our

collective potentials”

STEVEN SPIELBERG: While today Spielberg’s name is synonymous with

big budget, he was rejected by the University of Southern California

School of Theater, Film and Television three times. He eventually

attended school at another location; only to drop out to become a

director before finishing. Thirty-five years after starting his degree,

Spielberg returned to school to finally complete his work and earned his

bachelor’s degree.

MUSICIANS

While their music are some of the best selling albums, best loved and

most popular around the world today, these musicians showed that it

takes a whole lot of determination to achieve success.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: In his formative years, young Beethoven

was incredibly awkward on the violin and was often so busy working on

his own compositions that he neglected to practice. Despite his love of

composing, his teachers felt he was hopeless at it and would never

succeed with the violin or in composing. Beethoven kept plunging along,

however, and composed some of the best-loved symphonies of all time;

five of them while he was completely deaf.

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ELVIS PRESLEY: As one of the best-selling artists of all time, Elvis has

become a household name even years after of his death. But back in

1954, Elvis was still a nobody, and Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand

Ole Opry fired Elvis Presley after just one performance telling him, “you

aren’t going nowhere son; you ought to go back to driving a truck”

THE BEATLES: Few people can deny the lasting power of this super

group, still popular with people around the world today. Yet when they

were just starting out, they were told by a recording company “we don’t

like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out”, two things the rest

of the world couldn’t have disagreed with.

ATHLETES

While some athletes rocked to fame, others endured a path fraught with

a little more adversity, like those listed here.

MICHAEL JORDAN: Most people wouldn’t believe that a man often

lauded as the best basketball player of all time was actually cut from his

high school basketball team. Luckily, Jordan didn’t let this set back stop

him from playing the game and he stated, “I have missed more than

9,000 shots in my career, I have lost almost 300 games; on 26 occasions,

I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I

have failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”.

STAN SMITH: This tennis player was rejected from even being a lowly

ball boy for a Davis Cup tennis match because event organizers felt he

was to clumsy and uncoordinated. Smith went on to prove them wrong,

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showcasing he is not so clumsy by winning the Wimbledon, U.S. Open

and eight Davis Cups.

BABE RUTH: You probably know Babe Ruth because of his home run

record (714 during his career), but along with all those home runs came a

pretty hefty amount of strikeouts as well (1,330 in all). In fact, for

decades, he held the record for strikeouts. When asked about this, he

simply said, “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run”

This brings us back to the quote that says failures are those people who

approve of it. Despite their challenges, frustrations, series of failures in

their attempts, persistence was their watch word. People are not created

to fail in their respective endeavours.

Your potential is like a mustard seed which when unleashed

grows into a big tree to serve many purposes

Mustard seeds and mustard greens are used for a variety of purposes; to

spice up sandwiches, salad and other meals, to preserve pickles and so

on. Mustard seeds are used for producing oil, which is known for its

excellent warming properties and can be used for massages. In addition,

mustard seeds have high nutritional value, being a source of many

important microelements and nutrients, one of the healthiest and the

least caloric spices. Mustard seeds are used in almost every world’s

cuisines and are among the world’s most demanded spices, which is

specially loved in India, Canada and the United States.

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Mustard seeds benefits include anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory

properties. Being a great source of selenium and magnesium, mustard

seeds can decrease inflammation, and reduce the symptoms of such

disease as rheumatoid arthritis or asthma. The seeds also contain

Isothiocyanates known for their anti-cancer effects. Other useful elements

and nutrients which can be found in mustard seeds and mustard greens

are calcium, iron, manganese, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, dietary fibers and

very valuable omega 3 fatty acids, which can lower cholesterol levels and

protect us from having heart disease.

Mustard products have been used also to speed up metabolism to

improve the functioning of the digestive system. One of the most

important health benefits of mustard seeds is being helpful in reducing

the frequency of migraines. Mustard and mustard oils have been

effectively used for centuries for lowering high blood pressure and

preventing sclerosis.

Massaging your scalp with mustard oil will help you to substantially

improve your hair quality and prevent hair loss. Another interesting

property of mustard seed is in improving appetite. Finally, mustard seeds

are considered to be a great source of power and bioenergy. The

products of mustard seeds can also help to improve immunity and assist

in fighting against insomnia, as well to treat such problems as anxiety,

psychological disorders, the effects of stress and depression, bronchitis,

sexual dysfunctions, the symptoms of menopause, and many others.

I have taken time to list out the importance of mustard seed and

mustard green for you to know how important your potential is to the

world. Your potential can bring unlimited solutions when unleashed.

Imagine a world without Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb or

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Orville and Wilbur Wright brothers who created a flight machine and

others. The problem the world is facing today is because somebody

somewhere has not unleashed his or her potentials. God is a God of

programmes. He has programmed our potentials to solve various

problems. The fact that we have millions of unemployed people around

the world today means there are millions of people who have not

unleashed their potentials.

Since ancient times, purgative properties were considered the best

mustard seed benefits, but nowadays this herbal remedy is valued also

for its antifungal and antiseptic effects. This wonderful story tells us that

no matter what has been invented today cannot be compared to what will

be invented tomorrow. If we unleash our respective potentials we will still

be fruitful at old age. For example, a footballer who may no longer play

could serve as a coach or an adviser to a football team. A musician who

can no longer sing can be a judge in a musical contest. When you unleash

you potential, the sky will be your steeping stone.

A good government should provide jobs for its university graduates. In

the same vein, God has created us with respective potentials which

provide a selling point for us. The world is a market place where every

man has what to give. God will be unrighteous if He created man without

potentials. It is left to you to exploit those God-given potentials to

become what God has created you to be.

Quote: “The world market is not complete without your product”

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Our God is a God of programmes and has programmed our collective

potentials to solve various problems. Many people have not unleashed

their potentials probably because of certain challenges attached to it. The

giver of potentials has given us respective talents according to our ability.

He did not just give us our talents, but He is also willing to assist us.

When we make attempts to unleash our potentials and multiply our

seeds, the rest is left to us to make the best use of the situation.

It is like the man about to take a long journey who called his servants

together and entrusted with them with his property. To one he gave five

talents [probably about 5,000]; to another two, to another one; to each in

proportion of his own ability. Then he departed and left the country. He

who had received five talents went at once and traded with them, and he

gained five more talents. And likewise he who had received the two

talents, he also gained two talents more. But he who had received the

one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s

money. Now after a long time, the master returned and settled his

account with them. And he who received the five talents came and

brought him five more, saying ‘master, you entrusted to me five talents,

see here, I have gained five talents more’. His master said to him, ‘well

done you upright honorable, admirable and faithful servant; you have

been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of

much. Enter into my house and share the joy (the delight, the

blessedness) which your master enjoys’. And he also who was given two

talents came forward, saying, ‘master, you entrusted two talents to me;

here I have gained two talents more’. His master said to him, ‘well done,

you upright, honorable, admirable and faithful servant; you have been

34

faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of men. Enter

into my house and share the joy, the delight, the blessedness which your

master enjoys’. He who received one talent also came forward saying,

‘master, I knew you to be a harsh and hard man, reaping where you did

not sow, and gathering where you had not winnowed (grains). I was

afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what

is your own’. But his master answered him, ‘you wicked, lazy and idle

servant, did you indeed know that I reap where I have not sowed and

gather (grains) where I have not winnowed? Then you should have

invested my money with the bankers and at my coming, I would have

received what was my own with interest. So take the talent away from

him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For to everyone who

has will more be given, and he will be furnished richly so that he will have

an abundance, but from the one who does not have, even what he does

have will be taken away’ [Mathew 25:14 V 29] (AMP)

The question is what is so important about this one talent? The master

did not just ask for it, it was collected from the man who did not trade

with the talent, and then it was given to the servant who made effective

use of the ten talents he had. That was why I said the market place is not

complete without your talent. When the master came to tidy up the

assignment given to the servants, he discovered that the equation was

not balanced. May be people who were supposed to be free from

depression or sickness were not freed and the servant who had the one

talent was responsible for that specific task. That is why the master did

not take away the talent, but he gave it out for effective use. Our God is a

God of programmes. He has programmed each and every servant to

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perform a specific function, and if that servant does not effectively use

his talent, there will be mal-functions in the system.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE ONLY WAY TO PROVE THAT YOU ARE WISE IS TO LEARN

MORE

As a student in an examination hall, you may think you have answered all

questions correctly, but could be disappointed when results are released.

You performed woefully! This could be as a result of nervousness before

the exam, or because of ill preparation for the examination.

For you to make the best of your life, see yourself as an empty tape

because the memory you are carrying about may have been corrupted. It

is wise to update and upgrade so that you don’t remain outdated. There

is wisdom in asking and wanting to know more. How can this be done?

We can do so by learning more in our respective disciplines and about

what is happening around us.

One of the best places to learn more is in the word of God. He who

knows, and wants to know more about the word of God is like a man who

builds his house on the rock. He who does not do so is like a man who

builds on sandy soil, and when erosions come, it washes the house away.

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Like newborn babies, you should crave (thirst for, earnestly

desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you

may be nurtured and grow unto [completed] salvation

[1 Peter 2:2] (AMP)

Quote:” The word of God is like a pencil; it gives us the opportunity to

write, make mistakes, take corrections and improve”

One of the attribute of a child is the ability to ask several questions due

to their inquisitiveness. They want to know more. A child never stops

asking questions wanting to know and learn more. A child who does not

ask questions will not learn; and a child who refuses milk, spiritual or

physical, will lack nutrients required to grow into maturity. For newborn

babies, milk contains essential vitamins for growth and to fight against

diseases. The milk contains spiritual nutrients that heal our heart from

depression and builds up our spiritual body to carry the cross of salvation.

The value of this spiritual nutrient is unlimited. The only way we can

acquire it to build our mind, body and soul is to desire the spiritual milk.

That is, by hearing and doing the word of God.

“Anyone who hears these worlds of mine and acts upon them

[obeying them] will be like a sensible [prudent, practical, wise]

man who builds his house upon the rock. And the rain fell and

the beat against the house, yet it did not fall because it had been

founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of

mine and does not do them will be like stupid (foolish) man who

builds his house upon the sand. And the rain fell and the floods

came and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it

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fell… and great and complete was the fall of it”. [Mathew 7: 24 –

27] (AMP).

The only way to prove to be wise is to seek diligently the word of

God and obey it. This is like building a house on the rock. To build a

house, good materials are needed. Obedience, faithfulness… make us like

clay in the hands of God. It assists God to build us better and lay a solid

foundation for us.

“Give instructions to a wise man and he will be wiser; teach a

just man and he will increase in learning”. (Proverb 9:9] (NKJV)

The only way to prove that we are wise is to empty ourselves and be like

a little child. The most vital learning material in the hand of a child is a

pencil because it gives the child opportunity to write, make mistakes,

take corrections, and improve. So also is the word of God to us. Every

scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for

instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of errors and

discipline in obedience (and) for training in righteousness (in holy living),

in conformity to God’s will, thought, purpose and action. (2Timothy 3: 16)

AMP). As a pencil is the best material for a child to learn perfectly, the

word of God is the perfect material to learn, so that we can face the

challenges life.

Let no person deceive himself; if any one among you purpose

that

he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [let him discard his

worldly

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discernment and recognize himself as dull, stupid, and foolish

without true learning and scholarship], that he may become

(really) wise. (1 Corinthians3:18) (AMP).

The summary of bible passages is the only way to prove that to be wise

is to learn (learning more of the word of God, because the word of God

makes us wiser.)

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not on your

own understanding; in all you ways acknowledge Him, and He

shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the

Lord and depart from evil’ (Proverb 3:5 (NKJV)

In anything we engage in apart from our respective disciplines, we should

seek the face of God for direction. There are some certain decisions we

may have taken and we thought we didn’t need God’s direction. We need

God’s direction in every area of our lives; the word of God is always with

us for direction, correction and reproof, because God does not want us to

run into problems.

‘Because I have called and you refuse (to answer), have

stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it. And you

treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my

reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when the

thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic (Proverb 1:24 –

26) (AMP)

Before we take any step, we are supposed to ask God for direction and

follow His instructions. Even when we make mistakes, the word is there

for correction. Our ability to learn and grow should be the ultimate goal.

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Our problems start when we want to be wise in our own understanding.

God has laid down his wise counsel for reproof, trying to be wise in our

own understanding is an element of pride or foolishness. We know God

resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. We also know that

ignorance (foolishness) is not an excuse, God is a wise God; we the

children of God must be wise also in seeking diligently the commandment

of God for direction in all our decisions.

Quote: ”When pride comes, the knowledge of God stops flowing”

This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom

and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. But God

chooses what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. He chooses

what the world considers weak to shame the strong, and He chooses

what the world considers to be low-class or low-life, that is what is

considered to be nothing to something [1 Corinthians 1: 25, 27-28] (CEB)

‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways

higher than your ways; and my thoughts higher than your

thoughts’. (Isaiah 55:9) (NASB)

This is a call to trade on God’s wisdom. We have traded on our worldly

knowledge and it resulted to a lot of problems such as in politics,

marriages, government and in other areas of our lives. I am not

condemning social knowledge because they are profitable to mankind.

The point is, do not let the knowledge you have acquired overrule the

wisdom of God, because God is the beginning of all knowledge.

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Immediately we think we know everything, we cut short the wisdom of

God that is profitable to all. God has given us a call to wisdom.

Quote: “Even when you know a colour is red, still ask; it may not be as

red as you think”

Do not be wise in your own understanding; in all you do ask for guidance,

the path you want to follow, He created the road before you were born,

you may see the road and not know the real path to follow because the

foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and as the heaven is

higher that the earth, His way is higher than our ways. We should desire

the sincere milk (the wisdom) of God. Newly born babies are very

sensitive to their parents; we should also be sensitive to the word

(knowledge) of God. We should also follow new born babies’ kind of

obedience when they abide by the instruction of their parents. We should

also follow God’s instructions and obey His commandments so that we

don’t go astray.

CHAPTER FIVE

CLAY IN THE HANDS OF THE POTTER

“O lord, you are our Father (Master); we are the clay, and you

are the potter, and we all are the work of your hands” (Isaiah

68:8) Amp

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A couple went to a supermarket for shopping. As they were moving

around, the lady saw a beautiful tea cup which she admired. She said to

her husband, “Look at this beautiful tea cup, let us purchase it”. As she

stretched her hand to pick up the tea cup, the cup said, “wait a minute, I

am beautiful and admirable for purchase today; yesterday I was a raw

clay (material) in the hands of God (master). God mixed me with water

(word of God) and made me pass through fire (long suffering), to become

a beautiful product that you admire today for purchase. This product you

admire today is a product of humility, long suffering, patience and

perseverance.

“When you pass through waters, I will be with you; when you

walk (pass) through fire, you shall not be burned” (Isaiah 43 vs.

2)

(USCCB).

Remember what the tea cup told the lady in the supermarket. ‘I was in a

neutral state before God mixed me with water (word of God) and passed

through fire (high degree of heat; long suffering). That is why you can

stretch your hands to me to say ‘I preferred this tea cup’.

“My brethren count it all for joy when you fall into various trials,

(degrees of heat), knowing that the testing of your faith

produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that

you may be perfect (preferred) and complete, lacking nothing”

(James 1:2- 4) [NKJV]

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This scripture can manifest in our lives as we become vessels of honor (a

carrier of God’s glory), if we are like clay (being humble) in the hands of

the potter (God).

You may be in a situation of the clay that might make you to ask God

series of questions like: “God when will all this struggle end; why did you

create me in the first place”? But 1st Peter 4: 12 – 13) (CEB) says. “Dear

friends, don’t be surprised about the fiery trial that have come along you

to test you.

Quote:” Humility makes a better material (clay) in the hands of God”

These are not strange happenings. Instead, rejoice as you share Christ’s

suffering. You share his suffering now so that you may also have

overwhelming joy when His glory is revealed”.

The lady in the supermarket did not just develop interest in the tea cup.

The glory of God must have shone on it. One powerful thing about the

glory of God is that it attracts, and makes you the preferred one, and

makes you a vessel of honor.

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also

utensils of wood and earthen ware; some for honorable and noble use

while others could be used for menial and ignoble use. So whoever

cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates

himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will

be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes,

consecrated and profitable to the master, fit and ready for any good

work.

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In that supermarket, there were varieties of tea cups, but this lady

preferred a particular type for use. This is because of the process the

product had passed through.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “ See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri,

the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the

spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds crafts

to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to

cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of

craftsmanship, moreover I have appointed Oholiab son of

Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan to help him. Also I have given skill

to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you”.

[Exodus 31: 1 -11]

Among the different tribes, God decide to choose particular persons, just

like the woman in the supermarket. God chose them because they were

vessels of honor since they were good materials (clay) in the hands of

God, by humbling themselves, patient, long suffering, obedient and

believed.

Act 9:15-16 say’s ‘But the Lord said to him’, “Go, for he is a

chosen instrument of mine, to bear my name before the Gentiles

and the sons of Israel, And I myself will show him all that he

must suffer for my sake”.

In this case Saul was a vessel, but was not good enough for the Master’s

use. God broke and re-branded Saul to be a vessel of honor and

instrument for use. The last sentence says, ‘I will show him all that he

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must suffer for my sake’. This is the process that Saul must pass through

in the course of re-branding him for the Master’s use.

“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will

come out as pure as gold [Job 23:10] [NLT]

Job understood he was clay in the hands of the potter; he knew how he

was tested and became as pure as gold. Romans 8:28 says “all things

work together for good to those who love God, and to those who

are called according to his purpose”.

Two things are involved here. One, all things work together for those that

love God. When you love God, you humble yourself, and when you

humble yourself, you become a good material (clay) for God to mold into

admirable product and vessel of honor. Two, all things work together for

those that are called according to His purpose. Now, what is this call

according to His purpose? This is for us to become a good material (clay)

in His hand for Him to mold us and become admirable, like that tea cup in

the supermarket for us to become a vessel of honor and instrument for

His use. In 2nd Corinthians 4 vs. 7 (NIV), Apostle Paul referred to our

bodies as “jars of clay,” the carrier of God’s glory, “a vessel of

honor”

TURNING POINT

“You hands fashioned me, made me altogether, and would you

destroy me? Remember now, that you have made me as clay.

Would you turn me into dust again”? [Job 10 vs. 10-19] (NASB)

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Before Job was refined as pure gold in Job 23 vs. 10, he went through

series of pressure, some degree of fire, and as clay in the hand of God.

Quote: “Humility makes you a better material in the hands of the potter;

patience makes you a better product”

When we pass through such, God is transforming us into the image of

Christ (vessel of honor) to be a partaker of His glory (Romans 8:29).

God Almighty wants to use what we pass through today as tools to shape

and mold us into the image of Christ. He wants to deepen our faith, to

develop within us the quality of perseverance, and to make us a

watertight container of his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and self

control (Galatians 5:22-23)

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CHAPTER: SIX

THE BLESSINGS OF GOD ARE LIKE RAIN THAT FALLS 24 HOURS

DAILY; ONLY THOSE WITH OPEN HEART RECEIVE IT

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up

his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive

blessings from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his

salvation (Psalm 24:2-5) (NKJV)

Our emphasis is on a pure heart (open heart). An open heart is a heart

that forgives easily, a heart willing to do the will of God, a heart that

obeys the world of God; such a heart is like an opening that can receive

God’s blessings anytime, any day. The blessing was given to Abraham

based on the size of his heart. It is also applicable to every one of us

willing to trust and obey the word of God. Take time to search the bible

for a list of men of God who served the Lord with their whole might, soul

and spirit and see how God blessed them. Even in the world today, the

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size of your heart determines the size of blessings God gives us. People

find it difficult to understand why some people succeed abundantly while

others remain poor. The truth is that our success depends on the size of

our heart.

And He said, “By myself I have sown, says the Lord, because

you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your

only son, blessings I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply

your descendents as the stars of the heaven and as the sand

which is on the seashore and your descendants shall possess the

gate of their enemies in your seed (Christ); all the nations of the

earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice”

[Genesis22:16-18] (NKJV)

The whole world is not too big for God to give to one man; it all depends

on the size of the man’s heart. Abraham is a typical example of a man

who enlarged his heart by obeying God’s commandments and gave him

the whole world. We all know the story of how Abraham waited for a long

time for a child.

Quote:”The size of our heart determines the size of your blessing”

This promise is not limited to Abraham and his descendents alone, but

for those who will obey the commandment of God. Abraham is an

example of the blessings that will come unto us if we diligently observe

and obey the word of God. A simple act of obedience and forgiveness can

make God’s blessings to go with us, go after us, and go before us.

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“That the blessings of Abraham might come upon the gentiles in

Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the spirit

through faith”. [Galatians 3:14](NKJV)

The angel of God called unto Abraham from heaven a second time

saying:

“I make an oath by my own name that I will richly bless you

because you did this and not keep back your only son from me; l

promise that I will give you as many descendents as there are

stars in the sky or grain of sand along the seashore; your

descendants will conquer their enemies. All the nations will ask

me to bless them as I have blessed your descendents all because

you obeyed my command” (Genesis 22:15-18) (GNT)

God is not particular about those who will receive His blessings; neither

Jews nor Gentiles. The people we classify as unbelievers sometimes are

better than us when it comes to receiving blessings of God. God has

blessed them because they obeyed the commands of God just as

Abraham did. The lord showed himself to Isaac, and said, “Do not go to

Egypt, stay in the land I will tell you about; live in this land and I

will be with you and bring good to you; for I will give all these

land to you and your children; I will keep the promise I made to

your father Abraham, I will make your children and all your

children’s children as many as the stars of heaven, I will give

these land to them for Abraham obeyed me, he did what I told

him to do; he kept my word and my law“ (Genesis 26:2-5](NLV)

God in His business of blessing people always present to us business

proposals because He wants to bless us so that we will become a blessing

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to the world. There are no losses in business with God because He is a

righteous God, and not selfish.

Quote: “God gave Abraham the whole world based on the size of his

heart”

God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son. At the end of the day,

Abraham never lost Isaac; instead God multiplied his seed as the stars of

heaven, and his descendents as the sand of the seashore. Abraham

gained everlasting covenant.

God also presented a proposal to Isaac, saying, “Do not go to Egypt,

stay in the land I will tell you about; live in that land and I will be

with you and bring good to you; I will keep the promise I made to

your father Abraham” .

God gave Isaac a condition of remaining in the covenant (business) that

He had with his father Abraham. God is a business man who does

business with every generation. He did business with Abraham, He did it

with Isaac, and He is also extending the business proposal to me and you

today.

In [Deuteronomy 7:12-15] , He said, “And if you hearken to these

precepts and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with

you the covenant and the steadfast love which he swore to your

fathers . And he will love you; bless you, and multiple you. He

will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your hand,

your grain, your new wine and your oil; the increase of your

cattle and the young of your flock in the land which he swore to

your father to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples.

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There shall not be male or female barren among you, or among

your cattle. And the lord will take away from you all sickness,

and none of the evil diseases of Egypt which you knew will he

who put upon you, but will lay them upon all who hate you”

God is presenting the same proposal He presented to Abraham and

Isaac to us today. He is ever ready in the business of blessing us by

establishing the covenant which He swore to our fathers. The questions

is, is our heart open to receive those promises, are we willing to hearken

unto the commandments and law of God which He has given us? The

word of God (the blessings of God) can never fail to fall like rain, but our

heart can fail to receive them (not open to receive those promises).

“Now if you really obey the Lord your God by carefully keeping all His

commandments that I am giving you right now, then the Lord your God

will set you high above all nations of the earth. All these blessings will

come upon you and find you if you obey the Lord your God’s voice: ‘you

will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field, your fertility,

your soil’s produce, and your livestock’s offspring – the young of

both cattle and flocks- will be blessed; you will be blessed when

you go out and bless you when you come back; the lord will

defeat any enemies who attack you; they will come against you

from one direction, but will run for their lives away from you in

seven different direction. The lord will command the blessing to

be with you- in your barns and on all the work you do-and He will

bless you on the land the Lord your God is giving you. The lord

will establish you as His own, a holy nation just as He swore to

you, if you keep the Lord your God’s commandments and walk in

His ways. All the earths people will see that you are called by

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the Lord’s name and they will be in awe of you; the Lord will

make good things abound for you whether the fertility of your

womb, your livestock’s offspring, or your fertile soil’s produce-

on the very land that the lord swore to your ancestors to give to

you the lord will open up for you his own well-stock storehouse,

the heavens, providing your land with rain at just the right time

and blessing all your work. You will lend to many nations.”

(Deuteronomy 28: 1 12) (CEB)

Anything a man needs to succeed is packaged in God’s promise. Before

God created man, He knew from the beginning that human needs

are endless, and He also packaged endless promises for those who

will obey His laws and commands. There are no scarcities of

resources to those who fear Him and seek Him diligently. One of the

major problems we have in the word today is that we operate only

with the world economic principles.

Quote: “No business is as profitable as obeying the word of God”

In a parable Jesus described God’s kingdom economic principle by saying.

“Do not lay up treasure on earth, where moth and rust

destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for

your selves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust

destroys; where thieves do not break in and steal it”.

This is not about not saving and investing physically; this principle

is not telling us not to buy insurance policies; far from it. Jesus is

telling us that heaven’s economy controls the earthy economy, any

man that does layup treasure for himself by giving sacrificially

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cannot operate this world’s economic system simply because the

spiritual controls the physical. Every of your sacrificial gift is like

laying up your treasure in heaven. No investment is as profitable as

sacrificial giving.

CHAPTER SEVEN

WHO IS A BELIEVER?

The question of who a believer is, is an important one that requires

fundamental answer. There are no Christians or Muslims in heaven.

Heaven is not a religious place but a righteous place. Those in heaven are

righteous people who are believers. Now, who is a believer? If you ask a

Christian who an unbeliever is, he could point his finger to a Muslim; and

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if you ask a Muslim who an unbeliever is; he could also point his finger to

a Christian. A parable of Jesus will throw more light to who a believer is.

Then Jesus answered and said, “a certain man went down from

Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of

his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

By chance, a certain priest came down that road. And when he

saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levi; when

he arrived at the place came and looked and passed by on the

other side. But a certain Samaritan, as journeyed, came where he

was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to

him and bounded his wounds, pouring on oil and he set him on

his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him. On

the next day when he departed, he took out two Denair, gave

them to the innkeeper, and said to him, take care of him, and

whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you”.

(Luke 10:30-35) (NKJV)

This parable of Jesus gives an insight of who a believer is. A priest

came to the scene of the attack and passed by; a priest who the whole

world would describe as a believer, possibly he was going to preach the

gospel of loving our neighbors as ourselves, and a certain Samaritan

came where he was and had compassion when he saw him.

Quote:”Whoever helps his neighbor in the name of God is a

believer”

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This whole parable tells us who a believer is. The whole world must have

described the Samaritan as an unbeliever based on our worldly judgment.

A believer helps anyone irrespective of the color, tribe or religion. A major

example of a believer is God Almighty who loves us equally in respective

of our color, tribe and religion. If we understand this collectively, there

will not be religious problems. The Samaritan was not interested on

whom the victim was; he was particular about humanity. He did it for the

love of God; he did all he could to save a life. This is a clear picture of

whom a believer is. The promise to Abraham or his posterity that he will

inherit the earth did not come through observing the commands of the

law, but through the righteousness of faith. [Romans 4:13](AMP)

The promise to Abraham and his generation did not just come through

confessing the commandments of God, the same law is applicable to

whom a believer should be. The daily confession of that priest might be,

‘love your neighbor as yourself’; but when it came to the practical aspect

of it, he failed to act the faith he believed in.

‘For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only

son, so that everyone who believed in Him will not perish, but

have eternal life.’ (John 3:16) (NLT)

God has so much love and respect for humanity; that is why He sent His

only son to save humanity so that we will not perish, but have eternal life.

One of the attributes of God is that God is the God of humanity. For us to

claim we are children of God, we must value humanity. Any crime

committed against humanity is a crime against God because we were

created in the image and likeness of God.

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Quote:” God never looks at our ugly past, but at our beauty and

greatness”

Any society that commits crime against humanity can never make

progress. For example western nations’ progress today depends on their

love for humanity despite their scarce natural resources. Despite the

abundance of natural resources in Africa, it is still a continent that lacks

so much as a result of crime against humanity such as idolatry, poverty

of the mind and so on. If God does not bless a man, community or

society, no man can bless them.

ANYONE WHO ENGAGES IN PRACTICAL GOSPEL IS A BELIEVER

And then a certain lawyer arose to try (test, tempt) Him saying,

“Teacher, what am I to do to inherit everlasting life (that is, to

partake of eternal salvation in the messiah’s kingdom)?”

Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?

And he replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your

heart and with your soul and with all your strength and with your

entire mind, and your neighbor as yourself”. And Jesus said to

him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live

[enjoy active, blessed, endless life in the kingdom of God]”. And

he, determined to quit himself of reproach said to Jesus, “And who is

my neighbor… (The story of the Good Samaritan in Luke10:30-35).

Jesus asked the lawyer, “Which of these three do you think proved

himself a neighbor (a believer) to him who fell among the

robbers”? He told Jesus it is the man who showed pity and mercy to him,

and Jesus said “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:25-29, 36, 37) (AMP)

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What Jesus was telling this lawyer is for us to love the Lord with all our

heart and with all our soul, with all our strength and our entire mind, and

as well love our neighbors as ourselves. This is the theory of the gospel. If

we engage in practical gospel like the Good Samaritan, then we will be a

partaker of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s Kingdom. The Good

Samaritan did not just confess it, our love for our neighbor determines if

we are believers or not.

WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOUR?

Your response to your neighbor’s problem means a lot to God and defines

your faith. “Whatsoever you give to your neighbor is what you give

to God and what God gives back to you. Whatever you do when

nobody sees you determines if you are a believer or not. Be

careful not to be righteous in the mist of people to be seen by

them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in

heaven”. (Mathew 6:1) (NIV).

This is the teaching of Jesus on who a true believer should be; that is

someone who does good things when nobody sees him. We must not

engage in eye-service because it brings pride and self praise. With eye-

service you cannot receive God’s glory because it attracts self praise, and

self praise shares God’s glory. Eye service is idolatry and not the true way

to worship God.

“You shall not share other gods with me (my glory and your

worship). Gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for

your selves.” (Exodus 20:23)(AMP)

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A believer gives all Glory to God and worships God in truth and in spirit.

Those who worship God in truth and in spirit don’t give glory to

themselves as all their works ought to give glory to God, through their

selfless worship.

‘Now the multitudes of those who believe were of one heart and

one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he

possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.’ [Act

4:32] (NKJV)

This bible passage is teaching us the true character of a believer. Selfless

sharing what we have with our neighbors willingly, irrespective of what it

may cost us just like the Good Samaritan helped the man that was

attacked by robbers. If your sacrifice does not really cost you any thing,

it’s not a true sacrifice.

… But as for me and my house hold, we will serve the Lord

(Joshua24:15) (NIV).

This is a heart of a believer by not putting yourself first. To do that will be

a selfish act which is not an attribute of a believer. As a believer, we

should use our talent, skill and experience for the glory of God, not for

selfish ambition.

‘Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility

of mind; regard one another as more important than yourselves;

do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also

for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which

was also in Christ Jesus, who although existed in the form of God

did not regard equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the

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form of a servant and made in the likeness of men’ (Philippians

2:3-7) (NASB)

As a believer, humility should be your watch word. Jesus came to give us

a blue print of what a true believer should be. He is God the Son, the

Master of the universe. He came in the form of man as a servant to

humanity. A believer does not demonstrate power, but displays humility.

Jesus had the power and authority to command us from heaven to serve

Him, but he came to relate with man. He was not selfish, He was not

thinking of His own life, but our life first. Jesus left this blue print so that

we can measure our faith on a daily basis. In decision making in your

family or at work, do you really consider others first? This is not about

displeasing your self, but following the blue print of Jesus as a believer.

“Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of

one family] giving precedence and showing honor to one

another” (Romans 12:10) (AMP)

Seeing people the way God sees them is a major attribute of a

believer. God saw us, valued us and sent His only Son to redeem us from

destruction. He never condemned nor looked down on us. He did not pay

a higher price for some and lower price for others. He demonstrated

equal love for us all. We ought to practice this same unconditional love of

God as believers.

Loving and relating with people the way God relates with us makes us a

believer.

Birds of the same feather flock together, they say. We are not of the

same level with God, but He wants to fill the gap to be at the same level

with Him. He sacrificed His only Son on our behalf that we might be

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reconciled to Him and enter into His presence. He broke the gap of being

a lowly man and openly invites us to come unto Him.

“Look I am standing on the door and knocking. If any hear

my voice and opens the door, I will come in to be with them, and

will have dinner with them, and they will have dinner with me”.

(Revelation 3:20) (CEB)

God does not want us to have a master-servant relationship, but Father-

Son relationship. He wants us to flock together; He wants to dine with us

as intimate friends, irrespective of the gap between us. God is not also

particular of the kind of people He wants to love and relate with.

He said, “Behold I stand at the door and knocking, if any one

hears my voice and opens, I will come in and dine with me”.

How we relate and love the people we are bigger than at home or in the

office defines if we are believers or not.

“What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man

that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the

angels. And you crowned him with glory and honor; you have

made him to have dominion over the works of your hands”.

(Psalm) (NKJV)

This is King David, who God related with in love and kindness. He knows

that God values and honor man which He created, the same way and

manner we value the people we are higher than. This shows if we are a

believer or not. It takes two friendly people to make a relationship work.

Quote:” Your love and respect for humanity makes you a believer”

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As God is friendly with us, we must also extend a hand of friendship to

others in the same manner. God cannot open the door if we do not do the

same to others. How then can we really make God our friend? This is by

opening the door of our heart and allows His word to come in and dwell in

us.

“You are my friends if you keep on doing the things which I

command you to do. I do not call you servant (slaves) any

longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing

(working out), but I have called you my friends because I have

made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.

(I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from

Him)” (John 14-15) (AMP)

In other to extend a hand of friendship to God, we must obey His

commandments. The friendship of God is what we must not take for

granted. King David knows the gap between the two beings and advised

that we should take our relationship with God as a treasure.

SEEING PEOPLE THE WAY GOD SEES THEM MAKES US A

BELIEVER

“Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty

of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk

not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the

spirit [Romans 8:1] (Amp)

God sees us with His eyes of righteousness, the eyes that does not focus

on our weakness, but our strength and greatness. Some organizations 61

select and decide who to work with, relate with and employ based on

their qualifications or on their biography or culture. In the world, people

are grouped into classes depending on their background, but in the

kingdom of God, He never sees or groups us the way the world sees us.

Quote:” Man wants to see the best in you, but God wants to bring out

the best in you”

God never condemns those who come to Him through Christ Jesus. In

Him, we are discharged and acquitted of all our wrong doings irrespective

of our sins. In Him, there is no discrimination.

“Let us reason together says, the Lord. Though your sin are like

scarlet, they are shall be as white as snow; though they are red

like crimson, they shall be like wool” [Isaiah 1:18] (Amp)

Beyond our sins which are red like scarlet, His righteous eyes still

penetrates the redness. God sees beyond our weaknesses and sees the

greatness in us. The big question is, ‘how do we see people or rate people

as a believer; do we see them the way God sees them, or the way we see

them?’ We make wrong choices in marriage especially because we see

people with our human eyes; not the way God sees them. When you view

people with your human eyes, you may reject them, but they could be

your Moses. One of the signs of a believer is seeing people the way God

sees them.

Judging people with mercy the way God does makes us a

believer

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“If you, O Lord kept a record of sins , O Lord who could stand;

the Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to anger and filled

with unfailing love” (Psalm 130:3,8) (NIV)(NLT)

If we judge ourselves in the closet, we will acknowledge that we are not

worthy of His mercy. God is the chief judge who judges us with

righteousness. If God should judge us based on our wrong doings, no man

can stand. As believers, how do we judge people? The way we judge

people shows if we are believers or not; and that is how God will also

judge us [James 2:13] (NIV) because judgment without mercy will show

that we are not merciful.

Quote:”Mercy is the constitution God uses in judging us; His court is the

high court of grace; His jurisdiction is based on love; He is the chief judge

of righteousness”

Mercy triumphs over judgment. As a believer, in judging people who have

offended us, mercy should always triumph. Jesus showed us an example

in Luke 23:34 when He said “Father forgive them, for they do know

what they are doing.” God judges us with mercy, and His court is a

court of grace. Jesus was interceding for our transgression because they

were actions done out of ignorance. Jesus did not ask his Father to judge

them according to their sins, but according to His mercy. Jesus forgave

them and asked for God’s mercy on their behalf.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

WITH HUMILITY YOU ARE LIKE SOIL WHERE ANY SEED CAN GROW

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God

(commandment), that he may exalt you in due time” (Peter 5:6)

(NKJV)

“If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments and to

do them, I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall

yield her increase and the trees of the field their fruit and your

threshing (time) shall reach to the vintage and the vintage (time)

shall reach to the sowing time, and you shall eat your bread to

the full and dwell in your land security.”

(Leviticus 26:3-5] (AMP)

The word of God “commandment” is a seed, and our heart is the soil.

When we receive the commandment of God with humility and obedience,

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the seed will grow and bear fruits for us and for the people around us.

You will be blessed and become a blessing. Man was not created to be

unfruitful. That we shall be fruitful or not depends on our humility and

obedience; the bible says both the poor and the rich are the creations of

God. It did not say God created some to be poor and others to be rich.

Every of our fruitfulness and unfruitfulness can be traced to the type of

our soil; of unbelief, disobedience, pride or of humility, obedience, and

faithfulness.

Quote:” Your fruitfulness or unfruitfulness is a product of your soul”

Anyone in this life must prepare his heart to receive the word of God and

practicalize them to be the hearer and the doer of God’s word.

He told them many things in parables (stories by way of illustration and

comparison), saying, “A sower went out to sow and as he sowed,

some seed fell by the roadside and the birds came and ate them

up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much

soil, and at once they sprang up because they had no depth of

soil. But when sun rose, they were scorched, and because they

had no root, they dried up and withered away. Other seeds fell

among thorns, grew up and were choked out. Other seeds fell on

good soil, and yielded grains, some a hundred times as mush as

sown, some sixty times as much, and some thirty. He who has

ears [to hear], let him listen and let him [a] consider and [b]

perceive and comprehend by hearing [Mathew 13:3] (AMP)

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Pay attention then to the meaning of the parable of the sower. When

anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not grasp and

comprehend it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in

his heart. This was sown along the roadside. As for what was sown on the

rocky soil, this is he who hears the word and at once welcomes and

accepts it with joy, yet it has no real root in him, but is temporary

(inconstant, lasts but a little while), and when affliction or trouble or

persecution comes on account of the word, at once he is caused to

stumble [he is repelled and begins to distrust and desert him whom he

ought to trust and [obey] and he falls away. As for what was sown among

thorns, the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour

and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the word, and it yields no

fruit. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word

and grasps and comprehends it; he indeed bears fruit and yields in one

case a hundred times as much, and in another thirty (Mathew 13:18-23)

(Amp).

Quote:” A hundred per cent of our problems in the world today is

traceable to our disobedience to the laws of God”

The word of God is the seed and our heart is the soil. With humility and

obedience, we let the word to germinate as seed in our heart. If we leave

a plot of land for a long time without cultivating it, the seed germinates

and the root gains ground. Cultivation could be unbelief, lack of faith or

pride. Cultivation could lead to deforestation, and deforestation can lead

to scarce of resources. As forestation provides resources for its inhabitant

and non-inhabitants, let us go back to the story of the seed and the soil

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they fell into. The seed fell into four different soils. The seed that fell on a

good soil, germinates and bear fruits, but he who received seeds on the

good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, which indeed

bears fruit and produces, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty:

[Mathew 13:23]( NKJV).

It takes humility to take heed of the word of God to bear fruit, which

brings us back to a chapter in the Bible. With humility we are like a soil

where any seed can grow, the parable also tells us about the four types

of soil the seed fell into and why they did not yield fruits due to

disobedience, lack of trust, pride and unbelief and so on.

“But if you disobey the lord your God and do not faithfully keep

all his command and laws I am giving you today, all these evil

things will happen to you; the Lord will curse your towns and

your fields, the Lord will curse your grain crops and the food you

prepare from them. The lord will curse you by giving you only a

few children, poor crops, and few cattle and sheep. If you do evil

and reject the Lord, he will bring on you disaster, confusion, and

trouble in everything you do” (Deuteronomy 28:15-68)(GNT)

If you read (Deuteronomy 28:15-68), you will acknowledge the fact most

of the problems in the world originated from disobeying the laws of God.

The Lord is our Shepherd, without obeying the Shepherd; we cannot get

access to the green pasture.

Many problems we face today range from lack, to sickness and poverty.

God gave us opportunities to choose between life and death; a life that

will make us to live abundantly. Living abundantly comes from obeying

the laws and commandments of God, and all our problems come from 67

disobeying the commandments in the Bible from generation to

generation.

There is no record of any man who obeyed the commandments of God

and lacked anything, because everything we need is in God’s promise

and the key to God’s promise is obedience and humility. In the bible,

since the beginning of the world till date, there is no record of any man

who disobeyed the word of God and ever prospered. A large percentage

of the problems in the world today are associated with the disobedience

of man. The choice is therefore in our finger tips.

For a seed to grow in the spiritual and physical, it passes through some

processes. Some elements need to be mixed together for formation,

maturity and growth of the seed. For example the process of

photosynthesis is in the physical. In the spiritual, that is God’s kingdom,

there is what we can also describe as photosynthesis in the development

of our seed. Photosynthesis is the progress of capturing light energy and

converting it to sugar energy, in the presence of chlorophyll using carbon

dioxide and water. In photosynthesis, the plant uses water and nutrients

from the soil and carbon dioxide from the air with the energy to start off

the process. Humility is the process of capturing the word of God, bearing

fruit in the present of obedience, faith, belief and so on.

The unfolding of your words gives light. It impart understanding

to the simple

(Psalm 119:130) (ESV)

Jesus said to him, “I am the (light) way and truth in the light; no

one comes to the Father except by (through) me” (John 14:16

(AMP)

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“Blessed (happy, fruitful, fortunate prosperous, and enviable) is

the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly

(following their advice, their plans and purpose) nor stands

(submissive and inactive) in the path where sinners walk, nor sits

down (to relax and rest) where the scornful (and the mockers)

gather. But his delight and desire are in the laws of the Lord, and

on his law (the precepts, the instructions, the teaching of God)

he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by

night. And he shall be like a tree firmly planted (and tended) by

the stream of water, ready to bring forth it’s fruit in it’s season,

it’s also shall not fade or wither and everything he does shall

prosper [and come to maturity”.(Psalm 1:1-3)(Amp)

Let us go back to the parable of the man who sowed seeds (the

word of God) on different soils (our heart). The seed that fell on the

roadside are those who heard the word and does not grasp and

comprehend it; the evil one comes and snatches it away. The seed

that fell on (rocky) soil is he who hears the word and at once

welcomes and accepts it with joy; yet it has no real root in him, but

is temporary, inconstant, lasts but a little while and when affliction

or trouble or persecution comes on account of the word (trials), at

once he is caused to stumble in unbelief and distrust. The seed sown

among thorns is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world

and pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches

chokes and suffocates the word and it yields no fruit. The seed that

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was sown on good soil (heart) was planted by the stream of water,

faith, righteousness, obedience and humility…, willing to bring forth

fruits.

Quote:” You cannot be like a tree planted by the rivers of water by

prophecy; but by the act of righteousness”

That you shall be like tree planted by the steam of water is like a

verbal agreement and a verbal agreement is not valid. A written

agreement is being a hearer and doer of the word of God. That is

hearing the word of God, trusting, obeying, believing, and

meditating on it day and night. Your righteousness is a written

agreement (faith) witnessed by all parties; (God the father, God the

son God the Holy Spirit), documented in heaven, having right and

access to it (legally). What I am saying in a nut shell is, with your

righteousness, nothing can deny you of your faithfulness (a tree

planted by the streams of water that bring forth fruits every season)

and righteousness are your collective right to prosper to fruitfulness.

Bringing forth fruits depends on time and seasons. We will always

miss our time and season if we are not connected to heaven through

the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit we engage in wrong timing

and miss it all.

And He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you

became a believer? (Act. 19:2)

Apostle Paul in Ephesus asked believers if they received the Holy

Spirit because he knew the importance of it. A believer without the

Holy Spirit is like an empty container that will float on water and

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cannot sink. The Holy Spirit confirms which word of God leads us to

the part of righteousness. Without the Holy Spirit, you cannot get

access to the deep things of God (Revelation of the deep things of

God). The Holy Spirit helps us to get insight of the future and

reminds us of the past things and helps us to know a false doctrine.

This is why a believer without the Holy Spirit is like a container

without content which will always floats on water and cannot sink.

Different types of soil in the world and in God’s kingdom

In general, most plants grow by absorbing nutrients from the soil. Their

ability to do so depends on the nature of the soil. Depending on its

location, a soil contains some combination of sand, silt, clay and organic

matter. The make up of a soil (soil texture) and its acidity (PH) determine

the extent to which nutrients are available to plant. Soil texture affects

how well nutrients and water are retained in the soil. Clays and organic

soil hold nutrients and water much better than sandy soils as water will

drain from sandy soil. It often carries nutrients along with it. Silt soil

retains water well, but may drain slowly depending on the exact clay-silt-

sand ratio. Silt soil is much better than sandy soil when it comes to

retaining nutrients. Chalky soil is very alkaline in nature and consists of a

large number of stones. The fertility of this kind of soil depends on the

depth of soil. This kind of soil is prone to dryness and in summers it is a

poor choice for plantation as the plants would need much more watering

and fertilizing than on any other types of soil.

We also have these types of soil in God’s kingdom (Mathew 13:18-

23). Good soil (humility) holds nutrients and water much better than

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sandy soil (faith, obedience, belief…). The good soil is he who hears the

word and grasps and comprehends it; he indeed bears fruits and yields in

one case a hundred times as much as was a sown, in another sixty times

as much, and in another thirty. The fruitfulness of a good soil is unlimited.

Organic soil is the best form of soil because it contains plant and animal

matters. When a soil absorbs it, it becomes fertile for seed to grow and

bears fruits. When you humble yourself as a believer to receive and

absorb the word of God, your land will become fertile, and yield fruits.

Rocky soil is a chalky soil that consists of large numbers of stone

which fertility depends on the depth of the soil. This kind of soil is prone

to dryness and in summers, it is a poor choice of plantation. This are

those who hears the word and at once welcomes and accepts it with joy,

yet has no real root in him, but is temporary (inconstant, lasts but a little

while) and when affliction or trouble or persecution comes on account of

the word, at once he is caused to stumble (he is deserted and begins to

distrust and desert him whom he ought to trust and obey] and he falls.

Sandy Soil. As water drains from sandy soil, it often carries nutrients

along with it like the seed sown by the roadside. Any one hearing the

word of the kingdom and does not grasp and comprehend it, the evil one

comes and snatches it away.

With your fruitfulness you can become world food basket

(Becoming a blessing to the world).

“As for what was sown on a good soil, this is he who hears the

word and grasps and comprehends it. He indeed bears fruits and

yields in one case a hundred times as much as was a sown; in

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another sixty times as much, and in another thirty” [Mathew

13:23)(Amp)

When a farmer farms on a fertile land, the productivity will encourage the

farmer to multiply the seed, and when, the farmer multiplies the seed to

sow, the land could become a world food basket. In [Mathew 25:14-29] is

a story of a man who was about to travel and gave three of his servants

different talents. The one who he gave five talents traded with it and

gained more five talents, and the master said ‘you have been faithful,

trustworthy, humble, productive over a little, I will put you in charge of

much’. The servant who received two talents came forward to the master

and said, ‘you entrusted two talents into my hand, and I have gained two

more talents’; the master said to him ‘well done, you faithful, trustworthy,

humble and productive servant; enter into blessedness and rest of your

master’. The servant who received one talent also came saying , ‘master

I knew you to be a harsh and hard hearted man reaping where you did

not sow; I was afraid, and I went to bury your talent in the ground’; and

the master answered him, ‘you wicked, lazy, unfaithful, unproductive

and idle servant, you know that I reap where I did not sow, you should

have invested my money in the bank, and at my coming I would have

received what was my own with interest; so take the talent from him

and gave it to the servant who has ten talents; and he said, for everyone

who has, more will be given (for every land that is productive, I will sow

more seed); he will be furnished richly so that he will have more

abundance.’

A man’s problem can be traced back to his talents which he failed to

unleash. The master cast the servant outside in the darkness, where he

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will cry and gnash his teeth. Our Lord is not a wicked Master that will give

His servant a talent he cannot manage. When He gives a talent, He also

gives us the ability to manage it. It all depends on us, but if our heart

[land] is unyielding, if the foundation is destroyed, what can the righteous

(unyielding) do?

‘When the very bottom of things falls out, what can a righteous

person possibly accomplish’? (11:3) (CEB)

The business God has with the righteous is to bless them, so that they

will become blessings to the world, but when our heart (land) is unfruitful

like the servant who refused to be productive, not even for the world, but

for himself, in (Mark 6:5-6).

Jesus was unable to perform much miracle in His hometown because of

over-familiarity. Because of over familiarity, sometimes we take God’s

grace for granted like the servant who did not trade with his talents. He

said, ‘I knew you to be a greedy man reaping where you did not sow’.

Pride and laziness is another factor why we fail to unleash our potentials.

When God wants us to start from level one, because of social stigma or

fear, we back out.

‘In the same way, I urge the youths to accept the authority of the

elders. Everyone, clothe yourselves with humility toward each

other. God stands against the pride, but God He gives favor to

the humble’. [1 Peter 5:5] (CEB)

God gives grace to the humble and humility comes before grace. We

grow in God’s grace. Grace is like fertilizer to a land; God’s grace brings

fruitfulness. Proverbs 18:18, says ‘Pride goes before destruction and

haughtiness before a fall’. A haughty spirit marches on and ruin comes

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after. Sometimes we think we know everything and reject the word of

God. Anyone who rejects the word of God is like a faulty foundation and

pride is a thorn to a seed. With humility, we are like a land where any

seed can grow. Humility brings God grace which propels our fruitfulness.

The origin of our unfruitfulness started from pride, disobedience, unbelief

and laziness.

God said “I stand against the proud and give grace to the humble;

blessed are those that believe, I will bless the works of your

hands”. All these attributes make our land unfruitful.

“If my people who are called by my name will humble

themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their

wicked ways (Pride, unbelief, disobedience), then I will hear

from heaven, and forgive their sins and heal their land (and

make them fruitful)”. (2Chrorintians 7: 14) (NKJV)

Anyone who hears the word of the Lord is called. The word of God is a

seed in our heart and its growth depends on how we nurture it with

humility faith, obedience. The word of God is a healer which heals us from

any disease that can make our land unfruitful. Pride, unbelief,

disobedience…, are diseases that can make our land unyielding.

Practicing Christ’s humility as believers

Jesus, knowing (fully aware) that the Father had put everything into His

hands and that He had come from God and was (now) returning to God,

got up from the supper, took off his garments, and taking a [servant’s]

towel, He fastened it around His waist, then poured water into the wash

basin and began to wash the disciple’s feet and wiped them with the

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[servants] towel with which He was girded. When He came to Simon

Peter, [Peter] said to him, “Lord, are my feet to be washed by you?

Is it for you to wash my feet”? Jesus said to him, “You do not

understand now what I am doing, but will understand later on”.

Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet”. Jesus answered

him, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with (in) me”. (You

have no share in companionship with me). Simon Peter said to him,

“Lord, wash not only my feet, but my hands and my head too”.

Jesus said to him, “Anyone who has bathed needs only to wash his

feet, but is clean, all over. And you [my disciples] are clean, but

not all of you”. He knew the reason why he said, not all of them were

clean. So when He had finished washing their feet and had put on His

garment and had sat down again, He said to them, “Do you

understand what I have done to you, you call me the teacher

(Master) and the Lord, and you are right in doing so for that is

what I am. If I then your Lord and teacher (Master) have washed

your feet, you ought (it is your duty, you are under obligation,

you owe it) to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you as

an example so that you should do (in your turn) what I have done

to you. I assure you, (most solemnly I tell you), a servant is not

greater than his master, and no one who is sent is superior to

the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed and

happy (fruitful) and to be envied are you if you practice them (if

you act accordingly and really do them)” (John 13: 3-17) (AMP)

Jesus got up, and took off His (Royal) garment, garment of a University

degree, garment of financial success, garment of political

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achievement…., and took a servant’s towel and fastened it around His

waist (taking responsibility to serve). It is our duty and we are under

obligation to serve one another as the Lord Jesus has set example for us.

A servant is not greater than his master, and no one who is sent is

superior to the one who sent him.

Quote:”Humility is like a fertile land for a seed; pride is like a thorn to a

seed”

That statement is all about humility. In the final statement, Jesus told His

disciples, “if you know those things, blessed, fruitful, happy and to be

envied are you if you practice them. With humility you are like a soil

where seeds grow.

“For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to

serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark NIV) 10:

45)

Jesus came to render selfless service and not for profit making, but based

on humility. It takes humility to render selfless service. Jesus bought us

with a price no man can pay, meaning that His motive was not a selfish

one, but for humanity. The best way to imitate Christ’s humility is to do

nothing for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better

than you. Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch

out for what is better for others and to adopt the attitude that was in

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Christ Jesus. Though He was in the form of God, He did not consider

himself to be God.

“I gave you a new commandment that you should love one

another just as I have loved you, so you too should love one

another. By this all (men) know that you are my disciples, if you

love one another (if you keep on showing love among

yourselves”) (John 13:34-35) (AMP)

Jesus is the ultimate example of love and humility. He loved and

respected His followers in humility; He took the garment of a servant and

washed the disciples’ foot thereby leaving a blue print of humility for His

disciples. Love and humility is a proof that any man has had an

encounter with Jesus. In (Mathew 5: 16) (NIV), “In the same way, let

your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds

and praise your Father in heaven”.

The son is the image of the invisible God, the one who is first over all

creation, because all things were created by Him; both in heaven and on

the earth, the things that are visible and the things that are invisible,

whether they are thrones or powers, or rulers or authorities, all things

were created through Him and for Him. He existed before all things and

all things are held together in Him. Despite His personality, Jesus

displayed the highest form of humility. We may not be able to do

likewise, but we can at least imitate His kind of humility.

“He is the head of the body of the church, which is the

beginning, the one who is firstborn from among the dead that He

might occupy the first place in everything because all the

fullness of God was pleased to live in Him” (Colossians 1:15 -19)

(CEB).

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The personally and spirituality of Jesus is unthinkable. He occupies the

highest position in heaven and on the earth. Jesus could have come to

the earth and demanded that everyone worshipped Him all day and

night. He could have being the wealthiest man on earth with riches

beyond imagination. The Bible teaches us that He came to be a servant

(Mathew 20: 28). He became poor for us to be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9)

(NLT). You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he

was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that by his poverty He

could make you rich. In His humility, Jesus Christ was willing to give up

His rights in order to obey God and serve people. Like Christ, we should

have a servant’s attitude, serving out of love for God and for others.

Every day we are expected to serve. Jesus is God, He is unique. Even so

as Christians, we are called by God to have His attitude of self –

sacrificing humility and love for others (Philippians 2: 8) (NLD).

Jesus humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on

a cross to fulfill the will of God. Jesus did it all not for self ambition, but for

humanity Philippians 2:4. Each of you should look not only to your own

interests, but also to the interest of others. In seeking to imitate Christ’s

humility, we should have a genuine concern for the interest of others.

Looking at your interests is good; we should have an equal concern for

the interests of others. Instead of being selfish, we need to be selfless.

Quote:” A true friend gives sacrificially, Jesus is our true friend”

Selfless people are concerned with the lives of others. We become

involved in their interests by sharing with them in the good times

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(successes, blessings) and being there for them in the bad times (failures,

disappointments, sickness, death, poverty). Jesus was always there for

His disciples in teaching them, correcting and helping them to grow in

faith. We should also do the same in imitating Christ’s humility,

(Philippians 2:5) “Your attitude should be the same as that of

Christ Jesus”

We should always remember the day we chose humility over pride; that

is the only way God’s grace and love comes upon us and gives us the

ability and desire to serve others to the glory of God.

The summary of the whole chapters are that, if you so humble yourself

under the mighty power of God at the right time He will lift you up in

honor. The best person to advertise a product is the person that has

consumed the product.

Peter had tested the humility of Jesus Christ and witnessed how God

exalted him. And he is now advising us to do the same.

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CHAPTER NINE

Wisdom, inspirational and motivational quotes

Short time thinkers don’t solve long time problems

Mathew Ashimilowo

A man’s fight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge

U.S Air Force

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends

who listen to us are the ones we move towards. When we are listened

to , it creates us, make us, unfolds and expands

Shel Silverstein

I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better

Abraham Lincoln

The wealthiest people on earth are those who trade on

knowledge

Sam Adeyemi

Never walk away from failure; on the contrary, study it carefully

and imaginatively for its hidden assets.

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Michael Korda

It is better we fail doing something than excel in doing nothing

John Mason

The sun will stand as your best man. And whistle. When you have

found the courage to marry forgiveness; When you found the

courage to marry love Hafiz of Persia

A goal is a dream with a deadline

Napoleon Hill

The freedom to fail is vital if you are going to succeed; most successful

people fail from time to time, and it is a measure of their strength

that failure merely propels them into some new attempt at

success

Michael Korda

Pain is not wrong. Reacting to pain as wrong initiates the trance of

unworthiness. The moment we believe something is wrong, our

world shrinks and we lose ourselves in the effort to combat the pain

Tara Brach

It is better to be a lion one day than be a goat forever.

Elizabeth Hill

God loves you because of who you are, but He blesses you because

of what you do.

Mike Murdock

Hope is like the sun, which as we journey toward it, casts the

shadow of our burden behind us.

Samuel Smiles

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking

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William B. Sprague

Fortune favors the brave

Publius Terrence

Believe with all of your heart that you will do what you were made to

do.

Orison Swett Marden

Knowing is not enough, we must apply; willing is not enough, we

must do.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

When you wait, don’t just wait

When you, do you waste

When you walk, don’t just walk

When you do, you will go astray

When you run, don’t just run

When you do, you will stumble

In all you do acknowledge the instruction of God.

Iyodan Peter

To find what you seek in the road of life, the best proverb of all is

that which says, leave no stone unturned.

Edward Bulwer Lytton

If you would create something, you must be something

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can

accomplish.

Sam Walton

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Give the world your best and you will get the best from the world

Abraham Lincoln

You can’t dominate the world until you are dominated by God

Bishop David Oyedepo

A person, who is specializing in buying stolen goods, will one day

buy goods stolen from his own house.

Wole Soyinka

When you become a slave to righteousness, every other thing

becomes slave to you.

Iyodan Peter

Until you choose knowledge, the struggle continues

Apostle Gbenga Igbafen

The defense knowledge gives is stronger than the one the greatest

forces on earth can give

Iyodan Peter

It is better we fail in doing something than excel in doing nothing.

John Mason

Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy and wise

(Benjamin Franklin)

It is better to be a student for one day, than to be an illiterate

forever.

Iyodan Peter

Investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

Benjamin Franklin

Always remember that God never sees any of us as failure, He only

see us as learners

John Mason84

The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is

capable of receiving.

Albert Einstein

Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that

you want.

Jim Rohn

Always bear in mind that your own revolution to success is more

important than any other thing.

Abraham Lincoln

The most dangerous man on earth is the man who knows whom he

is.

Pastor Christ Oyakhilome

Transformation is a product of applied knowledge.

Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what

it takes to sit down and listen.

(Winston Churchill)

Excellence is to do a common thing in on uncommon way

Booker T. Washington

It is a great thing to do little thing well

Anonymous

The fact that you are born is a proof that you have something to

offer the world.

Pastor Success

Those who do nothing today, end up being nothing tomorrow.

You are born naked, but not empty

Socrates85

A man is a hero, not because he is braver than anyone, but because

he is brave for ten minute longer.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mercy is the constitution God uses in judging us; His court is the

high court of grace, His judgment is based on love, He is the chief

judge of righteousness.

Iyodan Peter

Heavenly treasure is a strategy; those who understand it survive.

Iyodan Peter

A room without books is like a body without a soul

Marcus Tullius Cicero)

If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything

Malcolm X

Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a

few drop on yourself.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which

difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.

John Quincy Adams

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because

we stop playing.

George Bernard Shaw

You know you are getting old when the candles cost more than the

cake.

Bob Hope

The greatest discovery of all time is that person can change his

future by merely changing his attitude

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Oprah Winfrey

With humility, you are like a soil where any seed can grow.

Iyodan Peter

Knowledge is a shield, but ignorance is like a conflict that can make

a man become a refugee even in his fatherland.

Iyodan Peter

Trying to succeed without setting a goal is like playing a football

match without a goal post.

Pastor Sam Adeyemi

The only mistake is the one from which we learn nothing

John Power

The blessings of God is like rain that falls 24 hours; those who have

open heart receive it

Iyodan Peter

Righteousness is the foundation of every sustainable wealth

{Money, good health, job, peace…}

Iyodan Peter

A good tool improves the way you work; a great tool improves the

way you think

Jeff Duntemann

Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they

become actions. Watch your words, they become actions; watch

your actions they become habits Watch your habits, they become

character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny

Lao Tze87

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they

have exhausted all other alternatives

Abba Eban

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s

character, give him power.

Abraham Lincoln

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.

Albert Einstein

People cannot discover new lands until they have the courage to

lose sight of the shore

Andre Gide

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big

enough to take it all away

Thomas Jefferson

Better to write for yourself and have no public than to write for the

public and have no self

Cyril Connolly

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, it is the illusion

of knowledge

Daniel J. Boorstin

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing;

action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates

action

Frank Tibolt

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If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of

yourself; what isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us

Hermann Hesse

Science is organized knowledge; wisdom is organized life

Immanuel Kant

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

Isaac Newton

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Lao Tzu

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of

changing himself

Leo Tolstoy

The highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without

abusing it

Lord Macaulay

Love thy neighbour as yourself, but choose your neighborhood

Louise Beal

It is more important to know where you are going than to get there

quickly

Mabel Newcomer

An eye for eye only ends up making the whole blind

Gandhi

I can accept failure, but I can’t accept not trying

Michael Jordan

Doing the best of this moment puts you in the best place for the

next moment 89

John Mason

If you don’t know where you are going in this life, people we lead

you to where they are going

Ac cab

You can’t know grow until you learn what you don’t know

Rev. Dn. Obi

If you want to get to the top, you must be awake when others are

asleep

Ken Saro Wiwa

Life is a teacher, the more we live, the more we learn

Anonymous

A big head with an empty brain is a load to the neck

Arch Bishop Ben Idahosa

If you focus on result, you will never change, but if you focus on

change, you will get result

Jack Dixon

The dept of your maturity determines the height of your marriage

Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo

Do not marry beauty that fades away; instead marry a friend, a

sister and a mother that faded not.

Iyodan Peter

What you hear determines what you think; how you behave

determines what you will become.

David Oyedepo

A believer without the Holy spirit is like a container without its

content, it will always float and cannot sink in the word of God

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Iyodan Peter

As human wants are unlimited, so also God’s promises are

unlimited

Iyodan Peter

Knowledge is a fork lift that can lift a load ten times of its size; ignorance

is vise visa Knowledge mounts up our wings like the eagle; ignorance is

vise visa

Iyodan Peter

What you don’t know (your ignorance) is your greatest enemy

Iyodan Peter

Blessings we enjoy daily; and for the most of them, because they are so

common, most men forget to pay heir praises.

Izaak Walton

Get the pattern of your life from God, then go about your work and be

yourself.

Phillips Brooks

If there were not God, there would be no atheists.

G. K. Chesterton

91

If you believe in the Lord, He will do half the work- but the last half.

He helps those who help themselves.

Cyrus. H. K. Curtis

Try first thyself,

And after call in God;

For the worker

God Himself lends aid.

Euripides

Heaven and earth stands for those who stand for righteousness

Peter Iyodan

The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers

Deepak Chopra

When you are in a bright light, everyone follows you; but when you

are in darkness, even your shadow will not follow you.

Anonymous

Wilderness of life becomes a permanent space where there is no truth,

the unfolding light of the word of God; where there is no shepherd to lead

the way.92

Peter Iyodan

We are like a written book; God is the author, we are the editor.

Peter Iyodan

We become a vessel of honor (carrier of God’s glory) if we are like clay

(being humble) in the hands of the potter.

Peter Iyodan

CHAPTER TEN

PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

BIBLICAL PROVERBS

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes; there is more hope

for a fool than him

Don’t run too far, you will have to return the same distance.

Even a fool, when he holds his peace, he is counted wise

Great men are not always wise

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He that walks with wise men shall not be destroyed. (Proverbs

13:20)

It is more blessed to give than to receive

He who ignores discipline despises himself , but whoever heeds

correction gains understanding (proverbs15:32)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don’t rely on your own

intelligence, know Him in all your paths, and He will keep your

ways straight [proverb 3:5-6](CEB)

Better to be patient than being powerful; better to have self control

than to conquer a city [proverbs 16:32](nlt)

Where there no vision the people get out of control , but whoever

obeys instructions is happy [proverbs 29:18(CEB)

The fear of the Lord [is] the beginning of knowledge[ but] fools

despise wisdom and instructions [ proverb 1:7]

HEBREW PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

A rich man has no need of character

Physician, heal thyself

He that eats till he is sick must fast till he is well

Time heals old pains, while it create new ones

Mary for money, my little sonny, a rich man’s joke is always funny

Poverty is a wonderful thing, it sticks to a man after all his friends

have forsaken him

The court is most merciful when the accused is most rich

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GERMAN PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

Begin to weave and God will give you the thread

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is

Monday is the key day of the week

To advice is easier than to help

God gives the nuts, but He does not crack them

The greatest step is out the door

Even the lion has to defend himself against flies

To change and change for the better are two different things

Charity sees the need not the cause

No answer is also an answer

Envy eats nothing but it’s own heart

Forever is a long bargain

It is better to trust the eyes rather than the ears

Who has never tasted what is better does not know what is sweet

In the morning of life, work, in the mid day give counsel, in the

evening pray

One must either be the hammer or the anvil

Fair flowers are not left standing along the wayside

Office without pay makes thieves

Always something now, seldom something good

What little Jack does not learn, big John will never

Towards evening the lazy person begins to get busy

A man trying to sell a blind horse always praises it feet

Prudent men woo thrifty women

An old error is always more popular than a new truth

Today must not borrow from tomorrow

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To aim is not enough, you must hit

When fortune knocks open the door

The wise person has long ears and a short tongue

GREEK PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

Think with the wise, but talk with the vulgar

Painless poverty is better than embittered wealth.

A miser and a liar bargain quickly

A truth spoken before its time is dangerous

A heart that loves is always young

Kindness begets kindness

Gray hair is a sign of age, not of wisdom

Who ceases to be a friend never was one

The beginning is the half of every act

Act quickly, think slowly

AFRICAN PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

However long the night, the dawn will break

A dog knows the place he is thrown food.

Blind belief is dangerous. Luyia, Western Kenya

Bad dancing does not break an engagement. Luyia, western Kenya

A dog that steals sells its body. Luyia Western Kenya

The pillar of the world is hope. Kanuri proverb ,Nigeria

A tree that is not taller than an ant cannot shade you. Kanuri

proverb, Nigeria

When your mouth stumbles, it is worse than the feet. Oji proverb

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Hold a true friend with both hands. Kanuri proverb, Nigeria

Rising early makes the road short. Wolof proverb, Senegal;

Do not follow a person who is running away. Kalenjin (Kenya)

There is no bad patience. Knapper, Swahili

A donkey knows no gratitude. Knappert, Swahili

The orphan does not rejoice after a heavy breakfast. Cape Coast,

Ghana

People know each other better on a journey. Plaatje

Do not tell the man carrying you that he stinks. Sierra Leone

You suffer from smoke produced by the fire wood you fetched

yourself. Luhya

Be on the alert like the red ant that moves its claw wide open.

Uganda

The elephant never gets tired of carrying its tusks. Vai, Liberia

By coming and going, a bird weaves its nest. Ashanti, Ghana

Nobody tells a child who the mother is.

Luck fetches fine wood for those who have no axe.

CHINESE PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

If you what happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness

for a month, get married. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a

fortune; if you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.

To believe in one’s dreams is to spend all one’s life asleep

Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend’s forehead.

With true friends … even water drunk together is sweet enough.

There is only pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.

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A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

One generation plants the trees another get the shade.

One joy scatters a hundred griefs.

An ant may well destroy a whole dam.

A book holds a house of gold.

A dog won’t for sake his master because of his poverty; a son never

deserts his mother for her homely appearance.

Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it.

Dream different dreams while on the same bed.

A fall into a ditch makes you wiser.

Fight a wolf with a flex stalk.

Flies never visit an egg that has no crack.

Have a mouth as sharp as a dagger, but a heart as soft as tofu.

Kill a chicken before a monkey.

Lift stone only to drop it on your own feet.

A bird in your hand is worth more then 100 in the forest.

Different flower look good to different people.

To cultivate a tree, you need ten years; to cultivate people, you

need one hundred years.

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will

come.

Giving your son a skill is better than giving him one thousand pieces

of gold. He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not

ask remains a fool forever.

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FRENCH PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

A father is a banker provided by nature.

Love makes time pass; time makes love pass.

When we cannot get what we love, we must love what is within our

reach.

Men count up the fault of those who keep them waiting.

Nothing is as burdensome as a secret.

Patience is better but its fruit is sweet.

Wait until it is night before saying it is has been a fine day.

Write injuries in sand, kindness in marble.

A bad bush is better than an open field.

An old rat is a brave rat.

Who spits against the wind spits on his own face

Who is angry must be pleased again.

Don’t bark if you can’t bite.

A dry cough is the trumpeter of death.

The eye of the master does more than both hands.

He who never climbs, never falls?

There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience.

A healthy man is a successful man.

JAPANESE PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

Deceive the rich and powerful if you will, but don’ insult them.

The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.

One kind word can warm three winter months.

A man in love mistakes a pimple for a dimple.

Who travels for love finds a thousand miles not longer than one.

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Fall seven times and stand up eight times.

Vision without action is a day dream; action without vision is a

nightmare

AMERICAN PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

Count your losses and let your profits run.

Don’t change your horse while crossing a stream.

All is fair in love and golf.

Those who sleep with dogs get up with fleas.

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

The secret of life is not to do what you like, but to like what you do.

No matter how bad a child is, he is still good for a tax deduction.

The love of money is the root of all evil.

The early bird gets the worm.

Some will, some don’t, so what.

From small beginnings come great things.

ITALIAN PROVERBS AND OLD SAYINGS

Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same

box.

He who is not impatient is not in love.

There is no robber worse than a bad book.

Beware of one who has nothing to lose.

100

He that flatters you more than you desire either has deceived you or

wishes to deceive.

Often he who does too much does too little.

He who knows little quickly tells it.

The right man comes at the right time.

The buyer needs a hundred eyes; the seller but one.

The best way to get praise is to die.

If the wife sins, the husband is not innocent.

Moderate profits fill the purse.

Where gold speaks, every tongue is silent.

Voice of one, voice of none.

The rich never have to seek out their relatives

After the ship has sunk, everyone knows how she might have been

saved.

He who knows little knows enough if he knows how to hold its

tongue.

BUDDHIST PROVERBS

* Storms make oaks to take root

* He who hesitates is lost

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear

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