WISDOM PAYS ITS OWNER (with Sis. Tomilola Kemi-Olaitan)

According to John 3:14-18, there is Godly wisdom and ungodly wisdom. Ungodly wisdom is the wisdom of the serpent. Being cunning, the devil knows how to get what he wants. Out there, there are many serpents ready to deceive unsuspecting people. However the wisdom from above is what God expects His children to operate on. Some leaders who claim to be led of God, still operate under serpentine wisdom. Proverbs 4:7 says God’s wisdom is the principal thing. Ecclesiastes 7:12 calls it a means of defence. Great nations of the world are what they are today based on wisdom. Israel though small in size is a regional power. Ecclesiastes 9:6 says wisdom is better than strength while Ecclesiastes 9:8 says wisdom is far better than weapons of wars. There are some battles that can only be won through the application of wisdom not by might. Also deploying wisdom in a time of war or in an event can lead to saving resources and time. Many battles are avoidable. If you apply wisdom you will prevent so many avoidable battles. If you employ wisdom in your speech it will be difficult for you to say what can trigger strife. Many fire that are kindled by the tongue according to James 3:5,6, can be avoided if wisdom is employed. If there is one thing you should ask God it is wisdom. Ecclesiastes 10:10 says wisdom is profitable to direct if you cannot give your children anything, give them education. The only one who controls wisdom is the owner of wisdom. Daniel 2:20 says wisdom belongs to God. If you think you’re wise, be extremely careful because 1 Corinthians 1:19, 20 says God can turn wisdom into foolishness. Ahithophel the great counsellor was a victim of this. 1 Corinthians 1:27, says, God can use foolish things to confound the wise. John 12:17, says, God leads counsellors and turn judges into fools. If you’re an earthly judge you must fear the Almighty God because He can make you to take some very foolish decision or err in your judgements to such an extent that it will be glaring to all that you are foolish. To maintain your wisdom you have to constantly feed on God’s word and submit to the counsel of the greatest counsellor. Ask for more of His wisdom in your life on a daily basis and avoid everything the Bible classifies as foolishness.

EFFECTS OF SECRETS IN FAMILIES (with Tobi Delly)

Secret is a pre-causal agent to the causes of trouble in Christian families. What is called irrelevancy often end up to affect someone in a family that looks healthy already. When a woman gives birth to a female child at her teen age and by the time the kid grew up, she also had a child of her that exact age, it is a function of secret. What you mostly keep away from children or tell them to abstain from is what they mostly do. That’s because parents don’t take the time to explain the reasons for their acts for the kids to understand and make a decision in line to that. A man of God narrated a story where he told her daughter about the importance of staying up as a virgin till marriage. The young girl later asked him, “Dad, was mom a virgin when you met her?” the man was taken aback, he then answered and said, “No, she wasn’t, I wasn’t too. But we didn’t have anybody to teach us the importance or virtues of it. Now, you have the opportunity to do the right thing because we your parents now know the right thing. That’s why we holding you to a standard.” The young girl was quite happy with the answer, and thanked her dad for telling her the truth, promising she’d keep it safe because of that. Look at it the other way round, if the man had presented the mom as a saint, the daughter won’t want to be a saint. And before you know it, she might be thinking, just because mom did, doesn’t mean I should.

Psychologists specialising in family secrets like Evan Imber-Black, a Psychotherapist, has discovered that secrets in family life can lead to murder, abuse, suicide, and other damages. It is so common with Nigerian families, the parents hide somewhere in the house discussing family matters while the kids are somewhere wondering what exactly are they talking about. Some families make sure when you’re at the dining you eat, not talk. No explanation, nothing. You talk, you get beaten. In another family, it might be when the Dad calls you once and you didn’t answer, you’re doomed for the day. The present family troubles can all be traced back to a family secret in the line of generation. It might be the mother was abused as a kid, might be the Dad was a cultist in his university days. A perfect family knows when to discuss these things with each other, with the kids and everyone. It helps push off mistakes that would’ve been made. And it’ll also help communication between the families. A family with no secrets or less secrets has a better communication than a family with more secrets.

I once heard a speaker saying at a conference, ‘my parents sent me to school, just saying, remember whose son thou art. That was all, no sex education, no peer pressure education, just remember whose son thou art. And with that I found myself in a very confusing world.’ According to his explanation, he came from a family where the father calls the mother by name, ‘Tade, Deji, Tunde, etc.’ and vice-versa for the mom too. The parents show no affection for each other, they don’t even touch themselves, all of a sudden the mother will just pregnant, and he will be wondering, what’s happening? How did it happen? Where did it happen? So that before starting his family, he made sure he recounts his life from A-Z. His own family background and the effects it had on him, in that way he and his wife were able to plan on how to educate the kids in a better way.

Whether you like it or not, Christian or no Christian, secret will shape the life of your family, even when you’re dead, it might even destroy the lot. Secrets are dynamic, and they move from person to person. The mother can tell the daughter closest to her. While she keeps it away from the others. This will later produce a rigid boundary in the family. It can isolate someone in a family, who thinks he or she is carrying a burden. It then kills either the person or eats away the relationship. A husband who discovers he is HIV positive and the wife is negative, or a wife who is in debt with her business and couldn’t tell the rest of the family. There are lots of concealing in families today but the knots are unknots, the better any relationship and families will be. If you’re one of those held in the captivity of secrets, apply wisdom, start by discussing it with someone, preferably your Pastor, if you believe in him. And then you can start including some people, one by one in the family and before you know it, you’re in the clear, happy and having fun with your life not looking back if someone has discovered what you’ve done in the past or else, the past will continue to haunt your present and can alter the future.

Shalom!

UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE (with Tobi Delly)

In a picture in one of my Chemistry textbooks, show Albert Einstein, seating with Rutherford, Neils Bohr, de Broglie, and other notable scientist discussing new research. Have you ever thought who Aliko Dangote’s friends are? A friend either pulls you up or drags you down with him. It is life’s natural law that you’re either moving forward in life or you’re going backward, there’s no standing still. So also your friends won’t hold you down. (i.e. pause) they either drag you to bankruptcy or lever you up to greatness. If you have a friend that is a joker, who doesn’t understand that life is a business and not a play fair you might end up where you don’t like with him if you can’t put a stop to that friendship. In my Primary school, throughout my school days, I was friends with only the set of people who have vision and constancy of purpose for their lives. When I started business, I had new set of friends with the same entrepreneurship mindset. We all attended Business School together, hopped from one business conference to another. When I started to write my first book, I made friends with others who already are Authors. I attended Association of Nigerian Authors meeting to get to the right set of people. The people you surround yourself with matters in your personal development growth, in your being successful or becoming a failure. There’s a law called ‘The law of five’. The law of five states that ‘You are the average of the five people you spend most of your time with.’ This means if you spend time mostly with five people who are on level 3 and 4, you’ll be the average of this level. That is, you don’t even get to be on level 4. You’ll be dragged down to 3 point something. I explained this to a friend in this way, if you’re on level 5 and you have a level-3 friend. Your level-3 friend will drag you down from your level-5. So that before you know what’s happening, you’re coming down to his level. But if you’re on level-5 with a friend on level-8, definitely, he’ll pull you up. You’ll start going up from your level-5. A most shocking aspect of Social Intelligence in Daniel Goleman’s research is that our brain communicates. When you have a friend, and your communicating becomes intense, brains begin to wire and thoughts begin to transfer from one brain to another. Now, you want to check who your brain is communicating with, ain’t that right? I’d want to if you ask me.

It took me a while to realise my mentor doesn’t have friends coming and going out of his house. I have discovered the damage just one friend can do. One bad apple can destroy the whole pack. So watch out, know your friends. If he is a fan (like the over 80, 000 fans watching a football match), then fan him out. Stick only with the players, (like the 22 players active on the field). When you’re socially intelligent, you communicate better with others and make them feel better off. You create a network of friends who have a purpose for living. I get my kicks from writing books. My five close friends get their kicks from Computer education, Writing, Consulting and Public speaking, Deals, Internet innovation respectively. And they’re doing so well with their various fields. When you’re visionless you become friends with those who likewise don’t have vision. If you don’t have direction, you become friends with those who don’t have direction for their lives. A farmer knows exactly when to plant, when to cultivate and when to harvest. A good farmer utilises this seasons. A lazy farmer ignores it. But it is he who soweth who is justified to harvest. If am not with the right set of people, I read books, listen to audio programs instead. When I feel I’m not working at the pace I should, I call friends to ask them the projects they’re  working on, I know I’ll get inspired to put more effort in mine. But how do you move forward if the person you’re friends with doesn’t care about moving forward or not. Understand social intelligence today, and know the right set of people to be friends with.

Shalom!

GIVE GOD THANKS ESPECIALLY IN TIMES OF TROUBLE (with Pastor Femi Oladapo)

It is very easy to give thanks to God when all is well. Psalm 103:1-6, but extremely difficult when in sorrow. Psalm 120:1, "In my distress I cried unto the Lord....” There’s always a brain call when anyone is in distress, sickness, accident, debt, crisis, chaos, etc. when anything bad is happening, people begin to call on God, ‘Oh, please God, I promise, I’ll be a better person this time. Oh lord, if you can just provide good health for me right now, I’ll serve you till I die. Some don’t even involve themselves in anything like praising God, only petition. Petition in the morning, mid-morning, afternoon, evening, night, and in the mid-night, you’re eating, instead of giving thanks for the food you’re still thinking, God provide a better food. Let there be meat; beef, snail, chicken, fish; fresh and smoked. Amen. However, the Bible commands us to give thanks in all things, 1Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Ephesians 5:20 "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"

 

The Bible is right because God's word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89. The word of God cannot be faulted for it is the truth, John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth." What you give gratitude about is what you get mostly. You must understand that by default you’re either giving been grateful to God or you’re been ungrateful. If you think you’re not complaining, you’re already complaining, and been ungrateful, and what will you get? Things that’ll make you more ungrateful. But when you sing his language, ‘Halleluyah’, you get even more blessings that’ll make you continue your halleluyah. Two major reasons why you and I should give thanks to God even in times of trouble are;

 

1. God is our place of security and safety. All else may forsake you in trouble but God will not. All else may collapse, but God won’t. Psalm 46:1-5, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. No matter how the earth turns, the mountain shakes or water roars or trouble, God is in the midst of her. He is unshakable, unmovable, and unchangeable. Anything He says stand, Psalm 33:9 "For He spake, and it was done, He commanded, and it stood fast.

 

2. God is watching your reaction to that problem before He reacts, James 4:8, 1 Samuel 2:2 "Talk no more so exceeding proudly, let not arrogance come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed" Galatians 6:7 Your reaction matters, i.e. what you do to answer your troubles. There are two reactions basically aligned to human emotions.

 

a. Murmuring and complaining: This is the opposite of thanksgiving and it is a sin to God. Yet this is what many Christians do in time of trouble. It is the expression of unhappiness, dissatisfaction or discontent. Christians are full of complaining of either someone or something. It has become the way of life for many. Please not that all complaining and murmuring is a sin against God and He is displeased with it. Numbers 17:1. Murmuring and complaining has been detestable habit since time immemorial in our earthly world talkless of when it comes to God. Murmuring and complaining is a wrong act and must be avoided at all cost. Why?

 

1. It denies God's sovereignty, Genesis 17:1, Deuteronomy 32:39-40 "See now that I even I, am He and there is no god with me; I kill, and I make alive, I wound, and I heal, neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand; for I lift up my hand to heaven and say, I live forever"

 

2. It is an expression of unbelief. Proverb .24:10 "If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small" Romans 8:28

 

3. It robs you of your blessings and denies you of operating in your destinies. Israelites, Numbers 14:21-22, Moses and Aaron, Numbers 20:12.

 

4. It discredits your testimony, Philippians 2:14-15 "Do all things without murmuring and disputing; that Ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom Ye shine as lights in the world"

 

b. Praise and thanksgiving; This is the best meal God require because;

 

1. It shows that we realize and acknowledge that God knows what's best for us, the problems we face notwithstanding. Job 23:10 "But He knoweth the way that I take, when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold"

 

2. It shows a strong faith in God. Philippians 4:13

 

3. It preserves and multiplies your blessings/destinies, Job 42:10, 12:1 Samuel 2:21

 

4. Believers who praise and give thanks to God never focus on their problems but on God.

 

Little wonder they are always victorious. Habakkuk 3:17-19 No doubt, each of us has been blessed in numerous ways. The more we think about how we have been blessed, the more we will be thankful. Praise and giving thanks to God are the best solution to complaining and murmuring. Therefore when you are passing through any problem it's the best time to praise God and He will show up in that trouble. All trouble comes with its wrapping of blessing, and the only it can be turned into blessing is by giving thanks. Complaints will only blindfold you. David said in Psalm 146:1-2 "Praise Ye the Lord, Praise the Lord o my soul; while I live will I praise the Lord; I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being "What about you?

October thanksgiving (Who says you can't baraje for Jesus)

Halleluyah!!!

Some of September thanksgiving Pictures

PRAISE GOD FOR A BETTER SEASON HAS COME (with Pastor Femi Oladapo)

In the last nine months like King David, you were down, you were sick and you were in danger, but the Lord had lifted you up. He has healed you and kept you alive. Real-time statistics has shown more than 20, 000 people die in Africa every day. There’s been plane crash around, terrorism terrorizes everywhere, market pace is slowing down, economies are dying, the public sector are on strike, those who are not are threatening to, but still you have something to be thankful about. Still we Nigerians are celebrating our 53rd Independence anniversary. Here, in the presence of the Lord, we are dancing, rejoicing and glorifying His name. In Lamentations 3:22-23, “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” No matter what might have happened to you in the last nine months. You might have wept throughout that period but now you must praise Him for your Joy cometh. Psalm 30:5. You might have gone through nights of sorrow, praise Him for your morning of Joy has come. Don’t make a mistake to assume that weeping has come to stay and joy is forever gone. Believe God and His word. Psalm 126:1-5, Isaiah 25:8. He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord will wipe away tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it. I know you have passed through some troubles and tough times. But like David, if you can extol God, a better season is here. Habakkuk 3:17-19.When you rejoice and praise God in your troubles, He will make your feet like hinds’ feet, and you will walk upon high places. God is not so worried about the circumstance of our life but He is concerned with how we respond to it. Job 1:21, 2 Kings 4:20-26, 35-36. If you can respond with worship and praise, God has all the power to change your situation for better. When trouble comes, the devil tries to get us to look at our flesh and give up. But God tries to get us to look at Him and praise up. Job 2:9-10. He has all power in His hand. He sees us now and has brought a better second half of the year. Provided you can trust, obey and praise Him you will laugh last. Job 13:15. “Though he slays me, yet will I trust in Him, but I will maintain mine own ways before Him” Job 23:10. “But he knoweth the way that I take; when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” Job 42:10. “And the LORD turned the captivity of job, when he prayed for his friends; also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.”