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
Whether we know it or not, we have a clear edge in this world. We have been configured to run at a pace that others cannot match. We have been designed to exude a lifestyle of excellence that should effortlessly make us the cynosure of all eyes. The level God has called us to operate in this world is so magnanimous that we cannot settle for the identity of anonymous. We all should make a remarkable and outstanding difference in this world.
When men are cast down; the people of God should be saying ‘there is a lifting up’ (Job 22:29). But is this what we are experiencing today? Are we not caught up in the web of uncertainty and unfruitfulness like the people of this world? Are we not making the same complains like them? The reason is simple – many of us have left the orbit we were designed to revolve. We are like trains that have left the rail lines and want to attempt a cruise on the road. It cannot work!
We have to operate by some key principles that were designed for us. These simple principles effortlessly give us an edge in this world. What are these principles?
Join us as we discuss this topic in the 2009 World Outreach Convention, courtesy of Christ Lifeline Ministry.
Where – Multipurpose Hall, Sarah-Sam Hotels, 115 Ogudu-Ojota Road, Ogudu GRA, Lagos, Nigeria
When – Saturday, 10 January 2009 @ 2pm prompt
Enquiries – +234-8726126, +234-8082462670, info@christlifeline.org
It’s gonna be an unforgettable experience!
– tope aladenusi
| If there is a time to bring our problem-solving abilities to the table, it is now!
If there is a time Christians should demonstrate the power of God, it is now! If there is a time to walk according to the dictates of God’s Spirit in a way that will astound humanity, it is now! If there is a time we need to demonstrate the miraculous to the world, it is now!
The world is currently speaking one language. Global financial crisis; Stock market crash; Economic downturn; etc. They have gotten to a tipping point where their projections and calculations have failed. The companies with the best ratings are sinking. So what do we expect from the ones aspiring for those ratings? Companies are firing their staff every day. Investors are singing the “send down the rain” song. Men are beginning to come to an end in themselves. They can now appreciate the limitation of self. And this is a good time to dispense the ever present help in time of need.
Oh! I see this time as an opportunity to tell men that there is a God who ruleth in the affairs of men. The “you can do it” talk is ready to give way for the “I can do it according to God’s power at work in me” message. I see it as an opportunity to turn water to wine since the wine in many countries is going dry. I see it as an opportunity to get an idea from the Spirit that will make unbelievers come to us and say “no man can do these things except the Lord be with him”. And we will gladly reply – “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. I see it as an opportunity to walk in the Spirit and demonstrate the miraculous. Let’s face it. Natural ideas have failed. Supernatural insights can be best appreciated at this point. When a man who mistakenly slumps into a river starts struggling for survival, you may go under with him if you attempt to immediately rescue him. But when he has lost hope of survival, he becomes very light and can be easily pulled out of the river. The world has been struggling for long and rescue time is here.
It is also a time for Christians to get to the point where they cherish the word of God over the philosophies of men. In the past few years, there have been volumes of books on investment and becoming rich. Many believers esteemed these principles more than the ones in the bible. Some ministers even started preaching directly from such books. But if the guys who wrote the books are currently weeping, do we need an angel to tell us to repent and return to the bible. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “ … learn from me, and you will find rest”. If you have deviated before, it is time you found rest for your soul.
Oh! I cherish Christianity so much. We’ve got the solution to any problem in the world. It’s just a pity many of us do not know this. We are supernatural beings. When natural laws fail, we show the world a new order. “You are chosen people … You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God” I Peter 2:9. The world needs us now!
tope aladenusi |
| I work with a financial institution and I have come to discover that for most people savings with a bank is all they know or are content with when it comes to setting money aside. Most people have their seeds sitting in bank accounts earning not more than 3% per annum. So sad!
Letting money lie idle in the bank is according to the Master the least form of investment. In the parable of the talent, Jesus’ explained that the least the unfaithful servant could have done was to put the money in the bank so that on his return he would have collected it with usury (interest). Notice that is the LEAST. Money earns much more when put to work.
So here is a simple rule to follow. With our understanding of seeds we know that they multiply when planted. So money invested produces more money. The soil on which you invest matters. You must invest money where you earn far above the rate at which money looses value. So if prices of things are increasing at 10% per annum then you must invest where you get more than that.
What do you do with the proceeds of your investment? Spend it? No!!! Doing that deprives you of exploring the eight wonder of the world. Somebody put it simply. If you have two servants and they give birth to a third, you don’t give out the third. You put all three to work. The three will give birth to two more then you put all five to work. All five will give birth to three more then you out all eight to work. Let all eight go to work and give birth to 4 more then put all twelve to work. With time you will have a house full of servants. Money is a servant. It grows faster when compounded. By compounding we mean you re-invest the proceeds from the investment. Each time you do this you compound your investment and reduce the time it takes to reach your financial target.
If you invest 20,000 one time and don’t add to it and you reinvest (compound) the proceeds for lets say 47years at 10% above inflation then you will have nearly 2million. Now notice that is a one time investment. On the other hand if you save 20,000 in a bank and keep adding the same 20,000 yearly at the funny 3% returns it gives you will have less than a million after 47years. Now if you invest 20,000 and keep adding 20000 yearly for the same period at the same rate you will have over 17million.
That is the power of compound interest and Einstein called it THE EIGHT WONDER OF THE WORLD. Earn interest on your interest. You have no reason not to leave a fortune for that child. A one time investment for him will make him a millionaire before he even begins work.
Make an investment decision today. Compound your investment and enjoy the eight wonder of the world. –emmanuel aladenusi |