In his book, Talent is never enough; John C. Maxwell highlighted five types of people you are likely to encounter:
Getting a helicopter view of your life entails examining the influential people in your life and ascertaining which category they fall into. This should determine how you would continue relating with them. Remember the popular saying – “you cannot fly with the eagles if you scratch with the chickens.” Some of us need to change the people in our inner circle; others need to refresh their pool of friends; and a few of us may just need to change our church if we are not growing there. You should also evaluate your relationship with your spouse to identify areas where you need to make profitable adjustments. Above all, you should evaluate your person. If your friends were to place you in any of these 5 categories, where would you fall? In addition, you should never forget that as a believer, you have the power that raised Christ from the dead dwelling in you and you can do all things. However, the person that is most powerful to hinder your progress is you. What are the internal changes you require to help you advance towards your purpose? D. L Moody once said, “I have never met a man who has given me much trouble as myself.” If you would look deep inside you, I believe you will also see many troubles you are giving yourself and I trust God to assist you in addressing them. Tope S. Aladenusi This write-up was culled from the article – The helicopter view of a leader’s life. Visit www.topealadenusi.com to read preceding parts of this article. |
I recall that when I first hired a driver, I did most of the driving even though my driver always sat in the driver’s seat. What do I mean? Well first, in some false sense of humility, I sat in the front seat beside the driver rather than behind – diagonally opposite the driver’s seat, popularly called the “owner’s corner”. Second, whenever we were on the road and he seemed to be getting too close to any car, I would notice myself slamming my imaginary brakes; in short, I was usually edgy and often either making imaginary turns, or honking my imaginary horn, or accelerating or braking. What’s more? I kept telling him how he should drive – almost every minute.
In a matter of weeks, I noticed I was too worked up whenever my driver drove the car, much more than I used to be when I drove myself. I had to make a decision to either drive the car myself or trust him enough to drive. I was done with trying to make him drive my way. From the day I decided to really let him drive the car, I noted that I had some peace of mind; I could read and work in the car, and at a time, I even dozed off while he drove. Hmm! He wasn’t a bad driver anyway, I later reassured myself.
Today, as I ponder on the way many Christians run their lives, this experience comes to mind. Many believers claim to have given their lives to Christ, but in reality, they do the “driving”. Christ says “let’s go left”; we say “I think right is better, after all, everyone that matters is going right”. Christ says, “My beloved, we need to go slowly right now because there is danger ahead”, but we tell him to move at 160km/h so we don’t seem left behind. Christ tells us to stop at a fuel station to get a refill and renewing with the Word; we respond – “let’s do it at another station, I’m so busy now and in too much of a hurry”. No wonder many believers get so worked up in life!
Beloved, is Jesus Christ really the driver of our lives? If he is, then we should be experiencing what the Bible calls the peace that passeth all understanding. The believer has been called into a place of rest, because Christ has given us all we would ever need for life (2 Peter 1:3).If we would truly let him lead our lives, we would start living life indeed. Jesus said – “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28 KJVA). Do you find Christianity easy and interesting? Do you experience this rest Jesus talked about? If your answer is No, could it be that you do not trust him enough to drive your life, like I did with my driver? Could it be that you are not learning of him?
– Tope S. Aladenusi
While growing up in my early days as a Christian, I always imagined what it would mean to have eternal life. The mystery that surrounded the never ending life would leave me in wonder. To live on and on and on was the common thought that went on in my mind. I must be frank there wasn’t so much attraction to it asides from the curiosity of wondering what we would be doing living on and on and on. As a kid, I knew I could get tired of playing basketball after a long while so you would understand my part interest. The other attraction to it; as it were, was that the idea of perishing or living a temporary life wasn’t so fanciful either.
Then, gradually I came to realise that eternal life meant the very life of God. This time the thought of being called to be a partaker of God’s life was too good to be true. But it was evidently written all over scriptures. I couldn’t wait to partake of this life. Like so many others, I couldn’t suffer in this life and suffer in the hereafter too. ‘Let me take all the suffering I can knowing that a glorious life awaits me’, I concluded.
The concept of heaven suddenly turned to an afterlife destination. I tried to make myself qualify for the race to make this destination known as heaven. I thought of how beautiful it would be to finally lay aside this life and put on the glorious life of God. I thought of the ‘other fellowship’ in heaven in this light in the various songs in praise to God.
Gradually, the reality of living in the reality of who we have been made came. The concept of heaven changed from a destination I would do all to get to. But rather to what I have been made to partake of in Christ Jesus. I tried to live out this life by every means possible till I realised I was helpless and really needed help. I kept becoming born again, again and again because I felt I needed a fresh start – a new beginning, a new slate.
But thank God for illumination by his word which brings me to our discourse today which is: living the reality of sonship today not tomorrow; on earth and not in heaven. Let me illustrate this a little by saying that I am yet to see a soldier at the war front who decides to save up ammunition so that he could have some to take back home. The home has no need for his ammunition. What was given to him is meant to be used and used urgently at that.
As Christians, Titus says how we are to live in this present world
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” Tit 2:11 – 12 NKJV.
We are saved to live out the glorious life we have received right now and not later. The world is meant to see the gradual unfolding of the Sons of God. Rapture shouldn’t be an escape route due to our being battered, shattered or frittered by just about anything on earth. It should be likened to the eager yearning of soldiers who have conquered and held the frontlines (and possibly even extended it).
Quite a number of times I have been drawn into waiting to get to heaven to finally live right as no act of goodness is possible here on earth. But friends, this is far from the truth. We are not called to live in desperation or frustration rather we are called to live in the victorious reality of all that Christ has obtained for us.
“But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three–sin, guilt, death–are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.” 1st Cor. 15: 57 – 58 MSG
Our salvation is now and the reality of all that we have become ought to be displayed now. We have been packed full and packed deep to be a sign and a wonder. We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
We were created a wondrous spectacle for the angelic hosts of heaven WHICH WE ARE!!! The question is ‘Are we living in the consciousness of this reality?’
“God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms.” Eph 3:10 GNB.
Someone said that no matter how terrible situation of things are, the lion never eats grass. I tend to think of that in line with the believer. We are not cockroaches or rats neither are we squirrels hiding in holes till an opportune time. Rapture is not what ought to distinguish me from the unbeliever but our distinction should be evident now.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (is a command that still reverberates even up till now). Matt 5: 16 KJV.
It is important to realise that these things do not fall on one like ripe cherries. There needs to be an expression of the reality that we have attained to in the inner man.
These find expression by engaging ourselves in exercises that would renew our mindset in line with the above.
I trust that you would find this out through a constant study of God’s word as it is clearly made plain for all to see.
Cheers.
-Dr. Bolaji Akanni
His dream
A great job that could pay for all life dreams, a beautiful wife who would equally be on top of her game and would be his best friend, lovely kids; courteous, intelligent, God fearing. A life of service to God!
His Reality
The dream job came and took away the time to serve God. Having devotion became a struggle because there was no time. The job took away time with God and replaced God with unbelieving friends. Then things started cracking with the wife because they spent less time together. Investments cracked and cash did not flow as planned. The job is no longer giving the satisfaction it once used to give.
The home front is not so pleasant any more, the life of service to God he once hoped for looks like a mirage. Is there any way out of this endless cycle?
I share with you again some true, basic Christian faith principle we often forget as life hits us.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Matt 6:33
Seek ye first the kingdom of God! God knows there are bills to be paid. He already said, ‘Let your life not be about what to wear, eat or drink, the Father knows you need these things’. Therefore the core of your existence cannot be around a Job but the Kingdom! The very few who get this right and appropriate it never fail! They might not have millions and billions stashed somewhere but they have everything they need!
Very important at this point to mention is that a need is different from want. Take time to examine your life and see if you have been chasing wants or needs!
We are under pressure because of the society’s expectation, what parents, family or friends think. This should not be so; our whole existence must be centred on giving God pleasure!
Depend on God’s Grace
I have a precious song I learnt many years ago that puts what I have to say on this into words.
On Christ the Lord I place my trust
To find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory let it be said of me
That my source of hope and my source of strength is Christ the Lord!
Depend on God for your every existence, by this I mean become God-dependent in all of your ways.
Jesus said in John 15, ‘Abide in me, when you abide in me you will bear much fruit. You cannot claim to
be a part of the vine and be disconnected from the vine’.
God wants you back right where you belong in Him!
Live by Galatians 2:20 which says “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me. ”
The world does not have the answer!
The world does not have answers to our questions, a lot of families are disintegrated because men and women have gone to the way of the world to find answers to their financial needs. Little wonder so many of us Christians were victims of WONDER BANKS and a lot of other fraudulent schemes.
God is able! There is so much wisdom God would want us to have to unearth the riches of this world if we can just stay at His feet.
God’s grace is not just a phenomenon, it is very practical and it has been made available to us in abundance through prudence and wisdom if only we are a little more conscious of God’s views concerning our life choices. There are lots of trendy things out there today that are not meant for us Children of God but we have put our hands into them because we are not paying attention to our action.
Again let’s do an audit of our lives. The decisions we make, are they motivated by the fear of the unknown or our faith in what God will have us do?
God is a God of Purpose and Process. He has a plan for our lives and He has a route He would want us to take, yet He gives us the power to choose the way we eventually want.
Today I leave a message to all men reading this piece; God wants us to love our wives like Christ loved the church. The Church was not a perfect one but Christ loved it to perfection! Please let’s love our wives first for who they are and show them the way to be the great woman they can be.
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. I Pet 3:7
This passage is loaded I could go on and on about it, but I will leave it here till next week, may the Lord help us all to reach out to the resources He has made available to us.
Shalom!
-Omolola Ezeifeoma
We want to have a marriage where the relationship is based on friendship, yet he wants to be KING and she wants to be QUEEN.
For a lot of my African readers, you will agree with me that the African culture tells the man he is superior. Some cultures emphasize the man’s Lordship more than ever others.
The man believes the wife should be submissive to him as the Bible demands, and the woman expects to be loved by her man.
What does this mean in practical terms and what price will be paid to attain?
Today we live in a world where man and woman work in partnership to get the home running. In some cases, the woman is as busy as the man or busier, yet the challenge of running the home lies on her. She is under so much pressure to deliver both at home and at work.
Sometime ago I was at a meeting organized for women, all the women in the group had one thing in common; STRESS! She gets up earlier, rushes to prepare the home for the day, gets to work and rushes back home to be there for the children, works till late in the night to prepare for the next day and the cycle continues. So the average woman needs so much make up to cover her stress or spoil herself so much to help her self-esteem and get herself to believe she is getting something for her labour.
The average woman believes she was not just meant to be a mother, so she wants to work and grow as fast as her male counterpart, have multiple streams of income, yet be the mother that holds it together and the wife that makes coming home the high point of the day for her husband.
This is a great dream with a very high PRICE, which is being ready to accept the challenges that come with this choice.
You need to be able to classify every matter as SOLID, LIQUID and GAS. SOLID relates to the essentials, LIQUID important yet not so essential and GAS what you can do without; the vanities of life.
I am like that woman and I know the price is very high. Sometimes the price is your spiritual or physical health, or being misunderstood by people around, even your spouse, or even your purpose for setting out into the this cycle in the first place. Being this hyper active woman might mean not being there for your children all the time, so you want to give quality to every time you spend with them. You want to stamp in them the fact that you love them even while apart, you need to review your VALUE system and say to yourself, what is that one thing I need this children to know even if I do not teach them anything and set out to achieving it.
Above all, to be treated as a Queen, you need to make your husband feel like a king. This is very difficult when you are so stressed all the time or you are not getting the right treatment from your spouse but then you need to realize that this is a SOLID part of the matter. You need to be at peace with your husband to function optimally even within the home. You need to evaluate the price of peaceful co-existence with your spouse and pay it. You may need a loan from the Holy Spirit to do this. Remember: a wise woman builds her home. She is wise because she does things at the right time and when she fails to, she can admit her mistakes and get better.
Finally, as Christian woman whatever takes us away from God is really not worth it. We need Christ at the centre of our being to get things really working. We cannot afford to be too busy for the kingdom.
The scripture remains the same yesterday, today and forever. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God …..Matt 6:33
As we seek him, my prayer is that we find Him and the Peace He promised us.
Have a week full of new discoveries of God’s Love, Peace and Joy!
-OmololaEzeifeoma
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost,
whether he has sufficient to finish it?
Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold itbegin
to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth
whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty
thousand?
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions
of peace.
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:28-33
As years pass by and I think more about this life, I come to realize that nothing just happens, we make things happen. Positive and negative things happen because of the choices we make or decide not to make. Our seeming inaction speaks of a choice we have made and they all come with their consequences.
This life principle also applies to our marriage. Dreams of a successful marriage don’t make a successful marriage, rather deliberate actions towards making our dream come to pass, does. After much dreaming should come costing. There is a cost for our dream home, as it applies to other aspects of life, nothing good comes cheap. Our salvation did not come cheap at all, neither does our remaining in faith cost less.
A lot of Christian marriages are in trouble today because of this. We dream big about the ideal home and won’t pay the price.
We start out as couples who want to serve God with all our might but take jobs that keep us too busy to serve God.
We are too busy individually to spend time even as a couple.
We want to have quality time with our children but we are caught up with the rat race to pay bills. We have bought the multiple streams idea and that is keeping us too busy. We are too busy to be our children’s first examples.
We want to build houses that will not remain after the coming of Christ, so much that the sacrifices for this are eternal things.
We have found ourselves in the life’s washing machine, and we keep spinning around.
It’s time to stop to ask ourselves the question,’what really is important’? This is a question I started asking myself after my father passed on. He worked so hard and left so suddenly. And it really got me thinking and revisiting my life principles.
What is important? How important will be my conflicts with my spouse if the final whistle is blown today? How important will be the things that keep me away from home so much? What is the eternal value of the things I invest my time in?
How would I have preferred to live my life? What is the cost of my preferred life pattern?
I will leave you with these thoughts for this week. Next week we will reason more along these lines in details.
God Bless!
-OmololaEzeifeoma
A few days ago, someone said to me – “wow! The year went by so fast, I can’t believe we’ve got just 3 weeks left!”
I find it interesting that early in the year, most people count how many days or months in the year have been ‘spent’. E.g. By the 1st of February, people say – one month of the year is gone. However, towards the end of the year, most people talk in terms of – how many days or months are left. Some begin to rush to get many things accomplished when it dawns on them that the “time left” is dwindling.
In life also, you may have noticed people’s disposition to the change in time frames from “time since birth” to “time left to live”. For most people, this change occurs around age 40. Let’s face it, most youth count from “time since birth” and they always think they have time. A man once narrated his plans for his retirement to me; he assumed he had a superb plan as he beamed with one of the best smiles I have ever seen when he told me how he would spend his “time left to live” mainly doing God’s work. I asked him these questions: What about your “time since birth”; whose work would you be majoring on during this period? Your work? You bet he didn’t like my questions.
My message for today is simple – you need to ensure you work with the calendar of God for your life. Don’t reserve the main thing you should be doing in life for your “time left to live”. Ephesians 5:16 says – redeeming the time because the days are evil. By age 30, Jesus’ steps were already treading towards the finish line of his purpose. How old are you? If you cannot walk with God today along purpose lane, don’t be too sure you will do so tomorrow. Whatever you are going to become tomorrow, you are already becoming today. A bird-like creature cannot be too sure to realize its dream to be a cock if it is not like a chick today. That mammal with four legs should not think it will be a lion at its “time left to live” when it is just a cat at its “time since birth”. If God wanted Jack and John to live 70 years, I don’t think in His wisdom that He would want 50 of those years to be wasted. Every day counts in the kingdom. Give your best shot for God daily. Make your life count by making every moment count … for God!
Tope Aladenusi
Startled by the new concept being introduced by the man he believed was sent from God, the curious Pharisee asked “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” The master’s answer in verses 5-8 of John Chapter 3 probably got the old Pharisee the more confused as he exclaimed “How can these things be?”
Like Nicodemus, many are confused and uncertain about what it means to be born again and how a man can be born again today. It is sad that some acclaimed Christians in which some are even ‘workers’ in their local assemblies, are not sure of their salvation. While some are ‘trying to’ be born again, others are ‘asking for the grace to’ make heaven.
But if we will clearly look into the Scriptures with an open mind and reason along with the written word, we will not have much trouble understanding the mind of God. This new concept of ‘getting born again’ introduced by our Lord Jesus Christ was also explained by Him as to what it is and how it can be attained.
“Verily verily I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit“. John 3:5-6. In other words, the master is saying that getting born again is a spiritual birth, not a physical one. That is the number one point.
Now, how can a sinner get born again? The master went on to explain it.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up (i.e. He will die for the sin of the world on the cross); that whosoever believes in Himshould not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life…He that believes on Him is not condemned. John 3:14-18.
Can you observe the repeated phrase in Jesus’ statement above? Whosoever believes in Him!!!
Let’s consider some other verses of the Scriptures where the issue of born again is discussed.
“He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even unto them that believe on His name…which were born of God (born again)”. John 1:11-13.
We can see clearly that to be born again is to be born of God (born of the Spirit). It is because we are born of God that we are called the sons of God, Halleluiah!
“Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” 1 John 5:1
This is a straight to the point statement by Apostle John.
When the keeper of the prison where Paul and Silas were kept wanted to make this necessary decision, he asked “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas answered him “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house.” Acts 16:30, 31.
Lastly, let’s consider Romans chapter 10. “That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (born again). Verse 9.
The new birth comes to anyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s only sacrifice for sin and confess (receive) Him to be the Lord of his life. For making such decision, a hitherto sinner receives a new spirit from God and as he submit to the Lordship (authority) of Jesus Christ through His word, he experiences a new life called Eternal life (Zoe)-The Life of God.
(Further Scriptural references: Hebrews 3:18-19, Heb. 4:2-3, 6, And 11).
– segun eshorun
I once saw a sticker in a friend’s room that read – ‘This year, it is my turn to shine’. So I asked him – ‘whose turn will it be next year?’ He said, ‘well, I may also shine, but it will be more evident this year’. He appeared to sure of this year, but not of the subsequent years. His words made me remember Proverbs 4:18 – “The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine” (MSG).
It’s not God’s intention that we flourish in turns just as birds don’t wait for one another before they can fly. There is enough room for all of us. Our ‘tomorrow’ should always be better than our ‘today’. When we say ‘the good old days’, it should be because we are experiencing ‘the better new days’.
Can a fish say – “this year, it is my turn to swim”? It doesn’t make sense right? We have to exercise care to ensure that we do not keep on treating the rule as the exception. The default makeup of a believer is that he would always shine. 2 Corinthians 2:14 makes us understand that we serve a God who always causes us to triumph in Christ.
However, there is a reason why we sometimes have rising and falling experiences. We were taught initially in school that the sun rises from the east and sets in the west. A further study revealed that the sun does not rise, but because the earth is constantly rotating, we have day and night depending on which part of the earth faces the sun. Such is the case with our experiences with God; all his resources have been made constantly available to all believers in immeasurable quantities, we are the ones who are always changing our principles, thought patterns and actions.
Beloved, the ball is in our court. As long as we are not meandering between conflicting principles and keep our eyes steadfast on Jesus plus his ways of doing things, we can be very sure that “the longer we live, the brighter we shine”.
tope aladenusi
Reverence for the LORD is an education in itself. You must be humble before you can ever receive honors. (Proverbs 1533)
Take God out of the equation and what you have left is chaos and disorderliness. Imagine a situation in this world where morals are relative to the individual’s knowledge and sense of what is good and evil. That is, what I regard as ‘sin’ may be ‘good’ for you. Someone has not had any food to eat for a whole day; therefore, he steals a bar of chocolate at the mall. Justifiable, right? You rationalize it thus- the guy probably doesn’t have a job else he would have had money to provide himself food, therefore, picking a chocolate bar out of thousands to satisfy his hunger isn’t wrong. Besides, the management of the mall makes exorbitant profits on a daily basis and this little bar of chocolates is less than ten pennies. When everyone becomes a law for himself there’s bound to be friction and infringement on the rights of other people because the nature of man is intrinsically selfish- self preservation is the name of the game!
However, God did not design us so; His plan for humanity right from Eden was for man to be dependent upon Him for the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. Adam & Eve’s desire in partaking of the fruit was to be able to have knowledge of what is good and what is evil by themselves without relying on God.
Having established that the responsibility for guarding the hearts of our children at the early formative stages of their lives is in the hands of the parents; I want to direct our hearts to the corner-stone for shaping the heart of your child.
If you miss this, the basis for your instruction, nurture and admonition will be warped and the results will not be desirable. Don’t just hand down instructions to your children which MUST be obeyed BECAUSE YOU SAID SO.
Rather, steer their hearts and young, impressionable minds towards the fear of the Lord as many versions put our key-verse for today. The fear of the Lord does not mean a morbid dread of punishment or trepidation at the mention of God, but a reverence for Him that is borne out of love and adoration for who God is and What He’s done for humanity.
Reverence for God is said to be an education in itself because, it is a well-spring from which good, godly attributes are generated. If you make reverence for God the cornerstone for your home, the task of shaping the future of your children becomes an easy one because they have a reason for their actions which goes beyond the unbreakable codes given by Dad, Mum or the fear of punishment.
To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the LORD. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn (Proverbs 17)
*Scripture quotations are from the Good News Bible
– Dr ifelayo ojo