Someone once said that “no one would have remembered the Good Samaritan if he had no money”. He made history because he had the resources to carry out his good intentions.
As Christians, our responsibility is enormous and we require matching resources to actualize them. The bible puts it this way “….that you always having ALL SUFFICIENCY IN ALL THINGS MAY ABOUND TO EVERY GOOD WORK” The Greek translated abound means super abound, superfluous and having enough and to spare. Beloved we have been prepared for good works and we require all sufficiency in all things to meet this responsibility. Therefore it is laid on us by necessity to “work out” resources to carry out our responsibility.
This is not the time to plan small or be financially passive. Look all around and see the poor, hear their cry and feel their pains. They require just a little to live a better life. YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO HAVE JUST ENOUGH. You require all sufficiency in all things. It is our responsibility to desire and work out the resources to meet our responsibility. Refuse to plan for your self alone. Go higher than your household. Men are waiting for us, they depend on us, destinies are tied to us. Friends I tell you, many will listen more attentively to our gospel if the pains of hunger subside and will listen longer if they are fed again. That’s why we must strive for all sufficiency. Rockefeller and others of matching minds generated resources to give them away.
Don’t let lack of resources make mockery of your ministry and the ministry. Jesus made divine provisions available to carry out his responsibility. He got a colt and multiplied bread and fishes. He fed men that came to hear him. Paul worked with his hands that he might burden no one and have resources to preach the gospel without cost. Job had a heart for the poor and resource to carry out his heart.
We have not done well if we celebrated the last festivities alone (you and your family). We have a mandate to remember the poor amongst us. Are you pained when you see a need and you can’t meet it? One child cries, another dies and another is amputated or loses vital education just because we lack resources to carry out our responsibility, to abound to every good work! If you feel guilty when you are moved in pity and can do nothing because you lack resources, you must give heed and change that. If it pains you to see whole generations perish and live in spiritual darkness because we lack resources to “send” missionaries you also must work out your all sufficiency.
And like brother James puts it “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstandingye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” we need resources to meet our responsibilities and our resources must flow in that direction.
Pay attention. The cry of my heart is that we all have all sufficient resources to meet the needs and responsibility divinely assigned to us.
– emmanuel aladenusi
The economic picture out there is pretty depressing. I’ve recently had time to take a look at the global economy and I had to stop because what I read was driving faith from me.
Economic conditions are terrible. From stock market/exchanges recording daily unprecedented losses to major firms going bankrupt it couldn’t be worse. Major firms and employers of labour are either closing up or declaring large job cuts. Estimates put job losses in the US at about 1.2million between January and October 2008. the UK isn’t doing better as major companies have announced job cuts recently. From the IT industry to pharmaceutical, banking and motor car companies the picture is not good.
Government of nations are struggling to deal with the problem but they are clearly overwhelmed. Britain announced a cut in interest rate in Feb to about 5.25% in a desperate bid to stimulate economic activities. They recently (November 2008) reduced it to a further 3% and friends the economy has still refused to respond. Even as the world celebrates Obama, he makes bold to declare that they are facing the greatest economic crunch of their time.
I have over the last month’s watched whole portfolio most especially stocks lose so much value. Stocks worth millions have been reduced to a few thousand in the last couple of months.
How do we as Christians respond to all this? Do we get scared and careful too? Do we loose faith and refuse to invest? Do we become stingy and begin to hoard some against the unknown day? Friends this is our testimony as Christians whose supply is not controlled by world/global economies but according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus:
Phil 4:11-13 …….for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am. I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]. Hallelujah.
That means we are not disquieted by the state of the economy, but we posses the peace of one who knows that his providence is of God. We know how to conduct ourselves during economic downturns in other to extract the good in those situations.
Yes!!! Good in economic recessions. Friends, all things work together (are orchestrated together) for our good. There might be cast downs all around but we are still being lifted. Therefore take advantage of the recession.
Friends in these situations don’t hold back. Keep on investing rightly. Eccl 11 4, 6(paraphrased) ‘…… he that observes, studies or is moved by economic conditions will not invest. So in the morning sow thy seed (when it is good) and IN THE EVENING WITHOLD NOT THY HAND (when it is bad and unclear and the natural inclination is to hold back).
Glory to God! Even as the world goes through difficult times, don’t withhold your hand. Because God’s faithfulness ensures we always have to sow and to eat (he ministers both seed and bread and multiplies our SEED SOWN….2Cor9:10) keep giving, and keep investing. Don’t observe the wind. Observe the Spirit. You’ll come out on top.
– emmanuel aladenusi
I tell you, wisdom is better than strength. It is one thing to make money and another to know how to keep it. A very big difference between the rich and the poor is in their money flows. A rich man watches his inflow very carefully and watches his outflow even more. Most poor people are careless about their money outflows. They are more concerned about making money and pay little attention to what happens to the money they have made. You must not pour water into a basket and you must be concerned if your water jar has a leak in it. That’s why you must watch the banks.
In the last decade of economic downturn and depression banks have kept on year after year declaring what many describe as ‘JUMBO’ and ‘MEGA’ profits. You just can’t stop them; everything seems to be working for them. The good news is that you contribute a lot to their MEGA profits. Friends, wisdom is the principal thing and I challenge you, most especially business men and women to learn how the banks operate. The banks are richer because many lack understanding of its operations. I see business people pay avoidable charges and interest every day. I see the low income earners pay a good percentage of their meager income back to banks just because they can’t take the pains to understand how an account operates and should be operated.
Banks operates within the ambits of the law and will normally only take charges permitted by law. So you must take the pains to understand why and when they charge what they charge. You must understand the difference between various kinds of accounts. A good understanding of a savings account and a current account will save you a fortune. Further understanding of different money transfer options will save you another.
Stop paying charges three ways. Why pay money into one charged account and transfer it into another charged account before making a transfer to your client. Why have a fixed deposit of 1million earning interest at 10% and simultaneously be servicing a loan of 1million at an interest rate of 22%. Why leave an overdrawn position on your account and allow interest to accumulate when you could easily have paid it off? Why feel lazy to offset that overdraft just because you can’t get to the bank. Why keep cash in your house for weeks when it could earn you something in your own account. Why take a cheque from your client for cash to be transferred immediately to another client and still pass it through your current account. Are you really sure that allowing the bank to finance that asset acquisition for 6months is really a wise choice? Is the perceived comfort of “easy repayment” not costing you a fortune? What loan options are available to you?
If you use the banks for one reason/purpose or the other, take time to understand how they operate. You will be wise if you did.
God bless you.
emmanuel aladenusi
Life is full of choices. We make them every second. Conscious choices and unconscious ones. Good or bad, those choices affect and reflect our lives. Every choice we make is multidimensional. That means it affects us in more than one way. The choice we make affects us and those we did not make also affects us positively or negatively. However, considering the choice we are not making is very important in establishing a right decision.
There is always an “alternative forgone” whenever a decision is made. It is called “opportunity cost”. Opportunity cost is important in making financial decisions. Onegood way of making sound financial decisions and creating long term wealth is to always consider the alternative we forgo when we spend money or borrow money. The virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 is said to “…consider a field and buys it”. She weighs her options, various alternatives before she makes a decision. I like that.
Let’s take two scenarios to illustrate. First, when we spend money and Secondly, when we loan money. If you decide to spend just one minute less on phone calls every day and we assume the monetary value of that one minute is 1(currency). You forgo one minute and you gain 1(yen, dollar, naira etc). If you do that daily and invest it for 30years at an average of 10%, you will be worth over 1.5million. Wow! For each “just a minute please” you spend on the phone you forgo 1.5million in thirty years. Imagine if you decide to reduce your call expenses by 1/4 –you might be worth 10million in 10years. So considering the opportunity cost of making a call might make all the difference in your life.
Also if you decide to loan money to buy a car today, you get comfort, mobility, prestige and so on. But what do you forgo: You forgo the compounded interest on the principal, the compounded interest on the interest you pay the bank and also the compounded interest on the interest both principal and interest would have earned. So while you lose all these at the end of the loan period you have nothing but a seriously depreciated vehicle. Two zero in my opinion. Considering the opportunity cost, the alternative you forgo sure makes a difference.
Please don’t lose the message; it is not meant to stop you from making relevant calls or buying new cars. It’s just a reminder that before we make any financial decision, we should ask ourselves “WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY COST”.
– emmanuel aladenusi
When I was growing up, I was made to believe that it was God that provided money for people. And that you had to pray hard enough so that he will decide to bless you. So men prayed earnestly for years. Prayers like “open the windows of heaven” and songs of ‘showers of blessing” were very regular in church. When I however grew up and was taught of God I was surprised to realize I was already blessed and all I had to do was appropriate and “lay up treasures” by my seeds of faith and wait for the showers/harvest that was sure to follow. The scriptures cannot be broken. If you must receive you must give. If you want treasures that will endure and surpass every season you must lay it up.
So this is how we lay up our treasures
- GIVE TO THE CAUSE OF THE GOSPEL: our number one task on earth is to be ministers of reconciliation, to take the gospel to the uttermost part of the world. That cause is capital intensive. But a wise man will give to the gospel and receive a hundred fold blessing in return. Whether it’s in offerings, support to missionaries etc you must just ensure your money goes directly into the propagation of the gospel. When you give to support the gospel in whatever form you are paying directly into your heavenly purse and that purse does not fail or wax old. To crown it all up the interest it pays cannot be mathematically explained.
Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for God’s sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive a hundred fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
- GIVE TO THE POOR: the ministry to the poor is very important and very good investment ground. Understand from today that it is very wrong not to have a budget for the poor. “And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God” (Lev 19:10 KJV). Always leave something for the poor. Job’s treasures failed not because he understood this well. Job 29:12-20 revealed that he was blessed, his roots spread out by the waters, his GLORY WAS FRESH and his bow was renewed because he gave to the poor. So if you haven’t found a safe investment yet, I recommend one to you. The poor will always be with us so we have every opportunity to lay up treasures for ourselves. Remember Jesus told the man in Mk.10:21 to sell whatever he had and give to the poor AND HE SHALL HAVE TREASURES IN HEAVEN. Why not put a smile on the face of a poor one today. They don’t need much. They only need the little you take for granted and the many things you no longer have need for.
- GIVE TO MINISTERS OF GOD: there is such a thing as a prophet’s reward. (Mat 10:41). When the disciples were sent out to preach the gospel in Matthew 10, they were told not to take anything along. Men were expected to bless them and in return they were to leave prosperity behind. “And when ye come into a house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace (prosperity) come upon it: but if it be not, worthy, let your peace (prosperity) return to you.’ (Mat 10:12-13 KJV)When you give to ministers you receive their blessings. Friends it is a little thing for someone who ministers things of eternal value to you to partake of your carnal possessions. “Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1Co 9:14 KJV) There is a portion that should always be set aside for the ministers. And those that labor in the teaching of God’s word deserve a double portion. When the flock of God is fed, ministers must eat of the milk the flock produces.
ENJOY.
– emmanuel aladenusi
In recent weeks I have been continuously flooded with calls and enquiries about money. Various groups have requested to be taught how to either get money or access loans. To them the most important thing was just to get money. The truth however remains that even though we always prioritize money, spiritual understanding and wisdom is key to abundance and they must be taught FIRST.
In Luke 12. Jesus was surrounded by two groups. His disciples on one side and an innumerable multitude on the other. He however turned to His disciples FIRST OF ALL and began to teach spiritual lessons. The crowd had patience for sometime before a man interrupted. (Luke 12:13) “And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me”. Let’s draw 3 lessons from this man:
- THE NATURE OF THE HUMAN HEART. It has always amazed me that Jesus was talking deep spiritual truths to his disciples and was even just saying that “the HOLYGHOST shall teach………..” but that was of no importance to the man. What he wanted was a way to acquire wealth and not all the “spirit talk”. That’s true of many today. We are bored by spiritual truths and excited by money talks.
- THE LESSON FOR THE MULTITUDE. Jesus however corrected that; i. Beware! Your life quality is not a function of what you have and what you have physically does not qualify or disqualify you. ii a man that is not FIRST RICH TOWARDS GOD is foolish.
- THE LESSON FOR THE DISCIPLES. And Jesus turned back and addressed his disciples saying “I warn you not to think and act like this. Your life is much more than money! Money!
Money! I take care of things that are by far inferior to you. How much more you. I understand perfectly well that you need money to acquire those things the multitude worry about constantly. But Fear not, it is the Fathers GOOD pleasure to give you those things. BUT THE KEY IS HAVING TREASURES IN HEAVEN THAT FAILETH NOT.
Treasures that fail not. Eternal and continuous flow of resources. How do you get that?
You lay it up. 1 Tim. 6:19 “laying up in store for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they might lay hold of eternal (continuous) life”. Luke 12:33. “…Provide For Yourselves bags which wax not old…treasures in the heavens that faileth not” You don’t stumble on wealth, you don’t go about looking or asking for it, you lay it up for yourself. And you must lay it up in heaven. How do you lay up treasures in heaven?
To be continued …
– emmanuel aladenusi
Our lives move in the direction of our most dominant thoughts. So if you have been a reader/hearer and doer of the principles of investments and money management, I am sure you must have been alarmed by the many options. You will notice some Investments that give steady but somewhat slow returns and others that promise mouth watering returns.
While it is expedient that money be put into where it produces more, it is necessary to warn against letting greed propel your investment or business decisions. Promises of mouth watering returns might leave you bitter. If an investment/business sounds too good to be true it is probably too good to be true.
Many investments/businesses give amazing returns in the long run. But if that is what is promised in the very short term you might have to reconsider. Quick rich schemes have left many households troubled and in trouble. Pro 15:27 He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house”.
The time tested way to enduring wealth is as recorded in scriptures: “Heb 6:12 that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through1 faith and patienceinherit the promises.
Through faith and fortitude!
Various media are filled with various options that promises fast returns – “Make 100,000 daily from your home … no initial amount required”, and many that sound like it.
Don’t get carried away. Don’t try to double that gratuity in 3 months. You might be putting your house in trouble. Plants have various gestation/growth periods. But those that take longer to grow endure longer. If it comes quickly it will leave as quickly as it came. If it doesn’t require a seed then it cannot produce any fruits. If it is not planted there can be no harvest.
Be imitators of them who through faith and patience become.
Love.
– emmanuel aladenusi
| Life is becoming increasingly ever more competitive and dynamic. The different ventures open to men to trade has increased alarmingly. There was a time when you were either a farmer or hunter. Choosing a business then will be a simple choice.
Today, things are different. Businesses of different forms and concepts spring up daily. The different investment options open to us is definitely mind boggling. Population increase has also had its impact. More and more people are struggling to make it on limited ground and opportunity. Millions strive to make millions from the same business. The result is a fierce competition and one that is keenly contested.
People have therefore resulted to different means to make profit or make the most profit. They try to kill competition using various means from outright murder to industrial espionage and blackmail. However some take profit through superior understanding of the business and employing a blessed approach.
You belong to this class. We make profit and succeed because “the lord our God teaches us to profit and leads us in the way we should go”. Is 48:17. Hallelujah. Child of God, understand that we don’t compete with the world and we don’t struggle with it either. We dominate by reason of greater insight and superior leading.
End time business empires will be built by Christians; Christians who have been taught by God to profit. They will make amazing business decisions and men will wonder with what wisdom they acted. They will take full advantage of the mind of Christ they possess. They won’t require charts or graphs of any kind to make decisions. They will know the outcomes before they begin.
That’s the class we belong to. Let God teach you to profit. Listen to Him before you decide, hear His voice and change that business.
Learn from Peter’s experience. Years of experience and wisdom of this age won’t give you the edge. It won’t turn the business around. But one word from the master will give you a catch of a life time. You have toiled all night, done all you know but you can’t break even, don’t give up. Listen for his command. Dust up that business plan; take a look at your business again-but this time do so through the eyes of the spirit.
– emmanuel aladenusi
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Each time I travel through villages or poor communities I notice so many things. Chief amongst them is the fact that you find many people especially young ones sitting under trees or various shades either doing nothing or playing games when they ought to be going about various businesses.
The result is pretty obvious. Poverty everywhere. Why is it that the whole communities are poverty stricken, robbery is is on the increase, few or no professionals for many professions, economic downturns and unsustainable growth in real income? Lack of diligence
Diligence is defined as STEADY EFFORT AND CAREFUL HARDWORK. To have real wealth you must apply steady effort and careful hard work in the affairs of life. Those that are rewarded with kingdom prosperity are those that apply themselves diligently to the task at hand irrespective of the nature of the task.
We live in a world where many are slothful. You cannot afford to be one of them
Rom 12:11 ‘Not slothful in business’. Don’t handle your business or work with a slack hand. Be serious about it. Exert yourself in no small measure.
Pro 22:29 says ‘Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men’.
Diligence will differentiate you from the floor and set you on the high table. It does not matter what you are doing, what matters is how you are doing it. The most mundane of tasks when properly done will bring you to the court of the king. Bible says the spider is in king palaces because it ‘taketh hold with her hands”. The spider applies steady effort and careful hard work and it is seen in palaces.
It is not enough to desire wealth; you must work your desire to reality.
Pro 21:25 the desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labor”.
Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it well and heartily. If your job does not reward your effort work harder any way. Zig said something I love so much, “if you do what you are not paid for one day you will be paid for what you don’t do”
In church, school or work God expects us to be diligent workers. He expects our CONSISTENT BEST. Don’t be slothful; do something. Let your hand find something to do. Proverbs 31 tells why many women today are bread winners; they work diligently with their hands at even the most menial tasks. They don’t give up, they keep trying. They perform tasks that most men find demeaning and grow them into a thriving enterprise. While men wait for good jobs women do little jobs diligently and receive great rewards.
Be the student every school will love to have; be the employee that is the pride of his employer and fellow employees alike. Let it be consistently said of you that you apply yourself diligently to every task. The sure reward is wealth and a place with kings and not mere men.
– emmanuel aladenusi
| Every day is a brand new day. What ever happened last year, last month or yesterday is in the past. Yesterdays successes and failures don’t count much. This is the day that God has made. So do good to forget about your financial gains and failures and concentrate on today and tomorrow. A great man succeeds because he does one thing…. “Forgetting those things that are behind, I press forward’.
Press forward. Take knowledgeable decisions about your finances. It’s important to diversify your investments. By diversification we simply mean you have different portfolio mix. It means you put your money in different places. Ecc 11:1. Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Ecc 11:2. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowestnot what evil shall be upon the earth. Ecc 11:4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth theclouds shall not reap. Ecc 11:5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bonesdo grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowestnot the works of God who maketh all. Ecc 11:6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thinehand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, eitherthis or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Learn the following from the above scripture.
When I read this scripture years back, God showed me why it is different for a SON that is led by the spirit. While scriptures instructs that we diversify, it also affirms that with the leading of the spirit we can always diversify to take advantage of different rate of returns while avoiding loses for the spirit teaches ALL things. While we invest we must avoid having only one form of investment. We must take advantage of the resultant synergy that comes into play when we are much diversified. It’s always wrong for any person or thing to be alone for there is no one to bring up when one falls.
So as Christians how do we diversify? ‘Trust in the lord with all thy heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In All your ways acknowledge God and he will direct you”
Because we are led, we diversify correctly. We see where others don’t see and go where others are fearful to go. By His grace I am yet to make a personal wrong investment decision so far. I have bought stocks that have not recorded profit in seven years and watch them have alarming increases. Why? I have always bought by the spirit.
Take advantage of that too. Diversify by the spirit. -emmanuel aladenusi |