Monday, September 29, 2008

Widom: - The Vital Key

By Adenuga S Joseph

Perhaps the most important aspect of maintaining your success is the need for wisdom, sound wisdom is very essential if anyone will attain to any degree of success in life. In the same vein, wisdom is highly needed to maintain and improve upon the success attained. The Bile is very clear on the need for wisdom, hear God speak to you from Proverbs 3: 13-16

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.

She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. The above passage taught us that happy is the man that finds wisdom, you can be that man; and if you are not happy now it may be an indication that you do not have wisdom. Notice that he said, “that finds wisdom”. This implies that wisdom does not fall on people, you go for it, you search it out until you find it. Nobody gets wisdom by accident or chance, its not gotten ones and for all, getting wisdom is an ongoing process, you continue to find it, to discover more and more of it. The mystery of wisdom is that the more of it you find or discover, the more eager you become to find out more. This is true, the more wisdom you have, the more you will want to learn about it. Wisdom is better than money, if you have money and lack wisdom, you will soon go back to square one to begin again.

Have you ever noticed that it was wisdom that helped David to maintain his success? From the record of the Bible, David started making public success the day he killed Goliath. His success was so outstanding that the of Israel sang the song, “Saul killed his thousands, David his ten thousands”. This great success stirred up jealousy in the heart of Saul, but 1Samuel 18:5 says

And David went whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

David through the grace of God attained to a high level of success by winning a very crucial battle/war for his country, Israel, he was able to maintain this success only through wisdom. This wisdom was so conspicuous that he was accepted in the sight of all the people of Israel and all the servants of Saul (his competitors). We read also in 1samuel 18:14-15

And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him. Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

Through wisdom, Saul was afraid of David. If you are wise and behave yourself very wisely, even your boss will be afraid of you especially when such boss have something against you. Wisdom breeds respect, wisdom brings acceptability and love. In verse 30 of the above passage we read,

...That David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by.

To David as for all successful people all over the world in all ages, wisdom was the principal thing that brought honour, acceptance and good name. You will find out that David was growing and increasing in wisdom with the passing of each day because the above passage stated that,
David behaved himself more wisely... This implies that the wisdom he later displayed was more than the previous ones. Meaning that he truly grew in wisdom, and understanding – oh what a grace. No wonder, the Bible revealed that he was a man after God's heart: No wonder, he fought more battles than many other kings of Israel yet never lost in any battle or war: No wonder, he was so rich that he gave more money towards the building of God's temple than any other man in his lifetime.

Wisdom not only helps you to become successful, it makes you to be able to maintain your treasured success. I am glad to tell you that you too can have this type of wisdom. How can you contact this type of wisdom that David displayed? Let's see a passage in 1Corinthians 1:24
But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.
God has made Jesus to be wisdom unto us, you have wisdom if Christ is in you. Colossians 2:3 says,

In whom (Christ) are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

That is the way God has done it, that in Christ Jesus should be hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in heaven and on earth. In fact verse 9 of Colossians 2 shows us that,
In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
This means that Jesus Christ is the Carrier of all of God's wisdom and understanding; all the fullness of the Godhead is residing in Him. The amazing thing about it is that this is to the pleasure of God the Father. Colossians 1: 19 states it clearly that,

For it pleased the Father that in Him (Christ) should all fullness dwell.

If you have accepted Christ into your life as your Lord and Saviour, then you have the wisdom of God on the inside of you. The Bible says, “He that have the Son have life...” If you do not have Christ, and you are not born-again, then you do not have this wisdom – what a shame; what a waste of destiny. The result is clear, that the principal instruments with which to maintain your success will be lacking, that is if you are able to attain success in the first place. To rectify the situation, you need to give your life to Jesus Christ today as your Lord and Saviour for tomorrow may be too late. Confess to him that you are a sinner by nature and can by no means save yourself and you want Him alone to be your Lord. We are taught in John 1:12 that,

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

All He wants from you is to believe and receive Jesus Christ into your life. You will be born of God through His Holy Spirit. Your human Spirit will receive the LIFE OF GOD from the Spirit of God to make you born again into the family of God. That is why we read in the very passage of scriptures above that,
“which are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
It is not a process of been born into humanity but into divinity. Not of blood, so it is not passed down through heredity. That is the reason Jesus did not have a wife nor a biological son, He passed the nature of divinity down to us through the ages with only one condition for qualification which is faith in Him. The fact that I am born again does not cover my children who have attained the age of accountability. They must have their own personal touch with Him. Do you understand the point I am trying to make here? If you do and you decide to give your life to Jesus in exchange for the very life of God, then pray the following prayer out loud.

Dear Father in heaven, I come to you today in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Your word says that anyone that comes to you , you will in no wise cast him out. I know and confess that I am a sinner by birth and by nature; I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and I confess with my mouth that He died but God raised Him from the dead for my justification. Thank you my Father God for giving your Son to die for me, I accept Jesus Christ today as my Lord and Saviour and His sacrificial work for me on the cross of calvary. Thank you one's again for saving me, I am now born-again into your kingdom and happy family because I am now in Christ Jesus.

If you make that decision today for the first time please do not hesitate to email me now for further encouragement at successdimensionchurch@gmail.com. Or phone any of my number below
+2348054041462
+2348038853821.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Maintaining Your Success

By Adenuga S Joseph

Perhaps the most difficult and challenging task on earth is to know how to go about maintaining an attained success. By experience and also by observation of successful men and women that lived on earth, attaining to a life of top success is not as difficult as maintaining such life of success till death. There are so many examples of people in the Bible who attained to top success but were not able to maintaining the flow (of success). Saul, the first anointed king of Israel who was anointed by one of the best prophets that ever lived on earth, Samuel, could not maintain his success but died a most shameful death with his sons on the same day. Even his daughter Michal who was given to David died childless, the only woman ever recorded to have died childless in the Bible. If we study it well, we shall soon find out that disobedience, lack of patience and refusing to carry out instructions to the last details were the characters that spelled Saul's waterloo.

In other words, to maintain an attained success, you must be obedient to the WORD of God and His commandments. His words as recorded in the Bible must be your law, these words must be considered the core of your life. Patience is very important to maintain your success: waiting patiently is a virtue that can heal all wounds (physical, spiritual or emotional). You must also be a man or woman that gives much attention to details in everything and especially every commandments of God. These are qualities that was lacking in the life of king Saul of Israel that led to his fall from grace to grass. May that never be your own portion in life in Jesus name.

Nebuchadnezzar was a king that also attained to a high success as a result of hard work and determination, he became so successful that during his own time, Babylon became the greatest nation on earth. Many kings of other nations considered him their own leaders, so he was a type of the king of kings. Nobody could doubt his success and affluence and he knew it and allowed it to get into his head. As a result of this, PRIDE came into his heart and lets see what happened to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniels 4:30-33
The king spake and said, Is this not Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird's claws.

He attained a very uncommon and unusual level of success because God had mercy on him. The sad thing is that, unknown to him, all his success was released unto him by God, so he became proud, and this undo him and humiliated him. The Bible says in John 3:27 that
...A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
As Nebuchadnezzar began to boast and to proclaim that, "I have built... by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty". God had to show him how to be humble so that you and I can learn from his mistake. Humility helps you to maintain the success. See what Nebuchadnezzar said after his humbling experience, that is after he had learnt to give God alone all the glory with humility of heart. It is written in Daniel 4: 34-37
And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High God and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase. Pride is a major hindrance to maintaining a life of success, you have to discover through Nebuchadnezzar's experience that pride will lead to your fall. The truth is this, no matter how high you have attained, you will fall to the ground if you are too proud and will not give glory to God.

Pride is a major hindrance to maintaining a life of success, you have discovered through Nebuchadnezzar's experience that pride will lead to your fall. The truth is this, no matter how high you have attained, you will fall to the ground if you are too proud and will not give glory to God. In fact, the higher you've gone. The more catastrophic the fall and the more shame you will get at the end. So dear reader, watch it, and be humble, give the glory to God for all things that you think you have (even through hard work), for all was given to you by God. Everything you have by any means was given to you by the Almighty God see 1Corinthians 4: 7.
Who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
Glorify God for your success, thank Him for every increase, appreciate Him for every lifting and I bet you will be promoted all the more. The more you humble yourself before the Almighty God through praise and positive appreciation , the more you will enjoy your success and your wealth. (See 1Peter 5: 6,7)

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.
Samson was another man who attained a very high sounding success militarily but could not maintain the success for a long time because of his insatiable urge or drive for sex. Dear reader, sexual perversion can lead to falling from your successful position to the ground floor, which is a most shameful failure. I have seen or heard about many successful people whose doom were sealed by an act of illicit sexual relationship. To maintain your success, you have to keep yourself pure and holy- discipline is the watchword.

SUCCESS - WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

By Anne-Marie Ronsen


Success is more than economic gains, titles, and degrees. Planning for success is about mapping out all the aspects of your life. Similar to a map, you need to define the following details: origin, destination, vehicle, backpack, landmarks, and route.

Origin: Who you are

A map has a starting point. Your origin is who you are right now. Most people when asked to introduce themselves would say, "Hi, I'm Jean and I am a 17-year old, senior highschool student." It does not tell you about who Jean is; it only tells you her present preoccupation. To gain insights about yourself, you need to look closely at your beliefs, values, and principles aside from your economic, professional, cultural, and civil status. Moreover, you can also reflect on your experiences to give you insights on your good and not-so-good traits, skills, knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses. Upon introspection, Jean realized that she was highly motivated, generous, service-oriented, but impatient. Her inclination was in the biological-medical field. Furthermore, she believed that life must serve a purpose, and that wars were destructive to human dignity.

Destination: A vision of who you want to be

"Who do want to be?" this is your vision. Now it is important that you know yourself so that you would have a clearer idea of who you want to be; and the things you want to change whether they are attitudes, habits, or points of view. If you hardly know yourself, then your vision and targets for the future would also be unclear. Your destination should cover all the aspects of your being: the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Continuing Jean's story, after she defined her beliefs, values, and principles in life, she decided that she wanted to have a life dedicated in serving her fellowmen.

Vehicle: Your Mission

A vehicle is the means by which you can reach your destination. It can be analogized to your mission or vocation in life. To a great extent, your mission would depend on what you know about yourself. Bases on Jean's self-assessment, she decided that she was suited to become a doctor, and that she wanted to become one. Her chosen vocation was a medical doctor. Describing her vision-mission fully: it was to live a life dedicated to serving her fellowmen as a doctor in conflict-areas.

Travel Bag: Your knowledge, skills, and attitude

Food, drinks, medicines, and other travelling necessities are contained in a bag. Applying this concept to your life map, you also bring with you certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These determine your competence and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there is a need for you to assess what knowledge, skills, and attitudes you have at present and what you need to gain along the way. This two-fold assessment will give you insights on your landmarks or measures of success. Jean realized that she needed to gain professional knowledge and skills on medicine so that she could become a doctor. She knew that she was a bit impatient with people so she realized that this was something she wanted to change.

Landmarks and Route: S.M.A.R.T. objectives

Landmarks confirm if you are on the right track while the route determines the travel time. Thus, in planning out your life, you also need to have landmarks and a route. These landmarks are your measures of success. These measures must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. Thus you cannot set two major landmarks such as earning a master's degree and a doctorate degree within a period of three years, since the minimum number of years to complete a master's degree is two years. Going back to Jean as an example, she identified the following landmarks in her life map: completing a bachelor's degree in biology by the age of 21; completing medicine by the age of 27; earning her specialization in infectious diseases by the age of 30; getting deployed in local public hospitals of their town by the age of 32; and serving as doctor in war-torn areas by the age of 35.

Anticipate Turns, Detours, and Potholes

The purpose of your life map is to minimize hasty and spur-of-the-moment decisions that can make you lose your way. But oftentimes our plans are modified along the way due to some inconveniences, delays, and other situations beyond our control. Like in any path, there are turns, detours, and potholes thus; we must anticipate them and adjust accordingly.
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Friday, September 26, 2008

Rule Your World Part 2

If you are a Nigerian or you've visited Nigeria of late you cannot but notice the bold slogan of Glo Communication Network which reads "RULE YOUR WORLD". I love it, this leaves no one in doubt as to who is in charge in your own world. You are the one in charge, not your enemy, or the devil himself, but YOU. When God created man in His own image the first thing He told man was not a commandment to be holy or good; it is not even a commandment that we should serve Him faithfully; it is a blessing. We read this in Genesis 1:26

And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

God's first word to man was a blessing, a prayer of goodwill. God want you to have dominion over all the earth: to have dominion in your world. To rule your world you must be a man of wisdom. Nobody can rule anything well without wisdom. The ability to rule your world is in deeper knowledge and understanding. Wisdom and understanding are one of the greatest treasures anybody can purchase in this present world.

As you read this I want you to always remember that power without wisdon is like tea without sugar. Wisdom is power that no force on earth can overcome; when you are full of wisdom you are full of God.

Rule Your World Part 1

By Adenuga Sunday Joseph

Your world is your area of influence, it is your domain, where your territory of influence begins and end. In real life this includes your body, soul and spirit; it includes your plans for your own future; your home; your wife or husband; your children; your business or job; even up till your spiritual environment.

In this write up, my intension is to motivate you and provoke you to the level where you want to take control of your life and not just leave things to chance or luck.You need to realise that when God created man, He gave him power to be
(1) fruitful
(2) multiply
(3) replenish the earth
(4) subdue the earthand
(5) to have dominion over all the other creatures:- whatever they may be, fish, birds, creaping things and all animals.

This is clearly telling us that it is the will of God for man to have success, power and self improvement. The Bible says in IIIJohn2 that God wish ABOVE ALL things that you and I prosper and be in health. Anything that goes contrary to that is not of God. The responsibility lies on us, you and I, to develop ourselves, to increase our power and become more successful to rule your world you have a lot of responsibilities, most things we think are up to God are really up to us. If you do not act God will not act, if you move, heaven will move with you. Heaven helps those who help themselves. You are in charge of your life, that is your world.

Please note this and note it well, you are in charge, not the devil, not your boss, not your country or your president. You are the one who rules: whatever happens to you is an effect of a course which you have initialised. By creation every human being have the power to rule his word according to the word of God. So my friend, take action, RULE YOUR WORLD. To be continued...

My Own Definition Of Success

By Adenuga Sunday Joseph

There are many definitions of Success as there are many people on the face of the earth. The idea that I am trying to sell to you in this article is summarized as follows, "You too can become as successful as you ever desired."Success is the ability to set a goal and accomplish it in record time.
The synonyms of success are achievement, accomplishment, victory, triumph, hit the target, winner, sensation, and so on. The opposite of it is failure. What one considers a success, another may see as nothing meaningful or important. For example, a man that set out to climb Mount Everest is going to consider himself a success only after climbing the highest mountain on planet earth.Failure to accomplish this feat will point out to our man that he has not succeeded yet. Though presently, he may be a millionaire, but something is lacking, a goal yet to be fulfilled, this will cause a lot of heartache until that mountain is subdued, he doesn’t see himself as a success. As long as he has not climbed the great mountain, he continues to battle, plan and preplan so that he can eventually succeed. To me, climbing Mount Everest is nothing of value to me (because my interest is in something else), but it means a lot to our man who has set a goal to conquer the greatest mountain on earth.Success therefore is the accomplishment of a purpose (or goal) that brings fulfillment, joy and satisfaction to a man. We must remember also that what a man consider a success, another man may see as a child’s play.

When I was growing up (as a youth in the secondary school), I use to consider as unserious those other students whose goal in life was to excel and become stars in the field of sports. Every time they went out for practice was wasted as far as I was concerned then. Little did I know that with each practice, they were getting nearer to their life’s purpose and goal; they were getting nearer to their success; they were accomplishing their life’s vision as they went out early in the morning. I remember that I always pitied them and their parents for such waste of time, now I know better.Success is not just accumulating a lot of money (although many people consider those who are rich as successful): Many strikingly rich people actually died lonely and unfulfilled in life. Many of them have been further destroyed because of large volume of money they do not know how to manage due to lack of vision. Success brings true joy (it is not money that brings joy), I have seen many people who are not so rich who have a lot of sense of accomplishment in life. I know that a truly successful person cannot remain poor in life, but I also know that money is not the only yardstick to measure how successful any person is in this life.

Success is not a destination but an adventure that continues to get better each day as you discover more secrets of how to better achieve your set goals with ease.Success is not luck or winning large amount of money in a lottery. Many lucky winners of such lotteries have ended up really broke and some have died most miserable and shameful death because of their inability to maintain such life of affluence that they got from winning lotteries. Friend, sudden wealth has led more people to early grave than poverty. Poverty has helped more people to be wiser and better in life than sudden wealth. In fact, sudden wealth is very dangerous and should not be sought after. Go for real success that comes out of hard work and careful planning.Success is not just becoming the leader of a group, organization or nation. Many leaders are not truly successful; we’ve had leaders like Adolf Hitler in this world that killed about two million Jews, his end was shrouded in mystery.

Success is not popularity or acceptability of an individual in the society, although true success always attracts many people; most of them are ready to idolize the successful one. Such successful people always know how to manage the praise of men without allowing it to get to their head.

Success is discovering God’s goal and purpose for your life and pursuing the same until you have accomplished it to the maximum, and make a mark in that God’s chosen purpose for your life.

Success is the ability to exhaust your entire God given talents and gifts to make this world a better place than you met it. We are talking here about the real meaning of success, it is the ability to put smiles on the faces of those whose lives touch yours; it is the ability to make men (and women) better than you met them. No matter how rich you are, if you make people bitter instead of better than you met them, then with all your money, you are a big failure. A successful life is that which leaves others with a desire to do something worthwhile with their own lives too. I assert again that success is beyond the accumulation of wealth; it is the ability to raise up many other successful men. It is the ability to produce many other millionaires. The success of Moses became established as he was able to produce a Joshua (a successor), Elijah produced an Elisha. Jesus, the greatest success that ever happened to mankind has raised us up as successful disciples of His. We are destined by His word to tread upon serpents and scorpions; we are the ones that will put the devil to shame in these last days. Jesus Christ is alive through us in this generation; we are the miracle workers; and we are called to do those things that He Himself had done when He was here on the earth. See John 14: 12

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do: because I go to my father."

A success without a successor is a failure in disguise. Are you surprised at that statement? If you succeed beyond measure, and have billions of dollars, when you die, except you have a good successor, all those wealth will be squandered and wasted. If you want to know how successful Jesus was, look around you, every Christian you see is a testimony to the success of Jesus. What? Jesus who neither bought a land, nor build a house, nor own a car. He didn’t even own a donkey not to talk of owning a fast horse, yet he is the greatest man that ever lived. Why is this so? Because he has millions of successors, those who carry on His God given purpose on earth. The purpose of destroying the works of the devil in the lives of innocent people who are bound by the forces of evil. This wonderful Jesus did not get married, produced no biological children, yet have turned many sons of men to become sons of God. We are changed from ordinary mortal to supernatural beings, we are giving to have the very life of God, we are translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God and now the kingdom of God is within us. What a great success Jesus is.To be the president of U.S or Nigeria is a success, but you see that is just the beginning of the show of success. Performing your duties in such a way that many people’s lives will be better because you are president is the REAL SUCCESS that we are talking about in this article.

In other words, if your success is a selfish ambition, a selfish wish for millions of dollars so that you can have something with which to oppress others, then you are not on the real road to the good success the Bible talks about. In Joshua 1:8, the last clause says, "…and then, thou shall have good success." This implies that God do not consider some successes as good. God had to qualify the type of success Joshua should go for, not the selfish, ‘me alone’ success, but the God’s type of success called the good success that will make other people better.Any ambition that does not consider the well being of other people may be considered by people as success, but it is not a good success in God’s eyes.

From years of experience as a pastor as well as an observer of nature, I have found out that people who became extremely rich did not start out to accumulate such large sums, most of them started out by helping to meet human need. Most of them started with a consuming passion in their heart to help produce things that will alleviate the suffering of people. While been faithful to this honorable passion, they have made millions (and some of them) even billions for themselves.Consider your life and your way, if you don’t have the welfare of others in mind in your quest to become rich, though you may hit it and become rich, you may not enjoy the money and if you do, it may not last long. Bill Gates was said to be obsessed with the idea of wanting every home to have a personal computer, the result is his stupendous wealth.

Success becomes so sweet when you see others thriving and doing well as a result of your own personal input. Such success brings a sense of accomplishment, a satisfaction of a job well done, and an inner joy that glows, sometimes inexplicable. When you see a successful man or woman, you’ll know that there is something about him/her that you cannot explain; you know its not his money; not his properties; not his physical attraction; there is a magnet around him. You are sure its there, but you may not be able to lay your hands on what it is.

What I am passing across goes beyond having a fat bank account, it gets to the mountain top of joy and satisfaction; it is the level of perfect peace that comes with a knowledge that your life counts. Not only that; you are also contributing positively to building other peoples lives, and the satisfaction of a job well done.Good success is always concerned about the good welfare of other people, while selfish success (that does not last) always concern itself about how to get other people’s money at all cost without giving anything of value in return.

Good success is talking about what to contribute to make this life a better place than I met it; it is thinking of what to do to make others happy. Good news, you can be that person, you can be successful too. You have what it takes to climb to the top and come out successfully. There are no two ‘YOU’ on earth, you are the one and only you, and God has a purpose for bringing you on board (the earth) at this point in time.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The Free Blessings Of God

By Adenuga Sunday Joseph

One of the tricks the devil pulls is to make you ignorant of divine truth and that is why ‘my people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge’
At a certain point in my life, things got so bad that I was totally confused. At that time, everything I was doing seems to be going wrong. There was problem at home, my business was falling, valuable relationships began to develop problems and on every side, I was faced with failure. I had lost a lot of money in some business deals (more than 3.5 million Naira), one land which I purchased long time ago and I was developing; the plot came up under serious litigation. The people who sold the land were part owners of the land, but not the only ones who have right on the land. The other co-owners took the matter to court and won, meaning that I had lost the right of ownership, though they (the winners) pitied me, yet they took over the land. It was not my fault, I was a victim of the covetous sellers of land who refused to pay back my money; all the money expended in buying blocks, gravel and building to window level, and to develop the plot of land went down the drain. Everything was happening fast and one would have thought that God was partial and uncaring. One day a friend of mine invited me to see a prophet who would pray for me and tell me the secrets of my problem and what I could do to get out of the mess. When we got to the prophet, he told me some deep things most of which were actual facts of my life, I was moved, and I wept. The solution was spiritual, he would do certain rituals which he explained and that he would do it on my behalf, but I must pay him the sum of twenty five thousand Naira. For God’s sake, I was broke – very broke. Ordinarily, that amount of money was not a big deal, but at that particular point in time, it was to me a very big Herculean task. Borrowing money to do such ritual was unthinkable for I hardly go for any type of loan. I went back to my house.

In the morning of the seventh day, which was the deadline or else according to the prophet, my enemies will pull the last trigger and that means they would succeed in killing me. I was troubled and disturbed; I paced back and forth in my office thinking. Without money, the prophet wouldn’t commence the ritual (I call it ritual but they call it prophetic work). As I was walking from one end of my office to another, I got to where my Bible was placed. (I had not read the Bible in three months), on a special impulse, I took the Bible and guess what I? I opened to Isaiah 55, I read the first three verses, I stood still and the Holy Spirit spoke out from the inside of me, trust only in my word and you shall live, for the word works. Let’s see Isaiah 55:1-3.

"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath not money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, ad let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you …”


I read those words again and again. The Holy Spirit now began to help me to understand this scripture. I soon knew that my opening to this passage unconsciously was pre-arranged by the Holy Spirit. I was thirsty for a change for better in my life but had no money; here the Holy Spirit was speaking to me through the bible that I should come – without money and without price. I was so convinced that God was speaking directly to me from heaven; this was more authentic to me than the words of any prophet. God was saying to me (and now to you, my beloved reader), come and buy freely, buy wine and milk, buy bread and water, it’s free, because He said, ‘without money and without price’.

As I was meditating on these three verses, the light of God began to shine on the inside of me. If I should buy wine and milk (which I believe represent my solution) freely, why did I then still need to buy it? Why did God not say come and take it freely? Why did He say come and buy it freely and not take it freely? The Spirit enlightened me and said ‘buying activity is a business and serious activity’. The issue off taking it freely makes it less valuable than buying it freely. The act of buying demands a lot of things from you apart from your money, buying activity not only takes your money, it takes your being. You have to go to the market, locate what you want to buy, before then, you already had made up your mind on the product you desired to buy, then you negotiate after you are satisfied with the product. Payment is the last transaction after which you become the rightful owner.

You Can’t Get Something for Nothing

Like the great man Napoleon Hill said, “there is no such reality as something for nothing”; this statement is a universal truth. That is why the spirit said come and buy your wine and milk (this is your joy); your water and bread (which is your life and success), somebody must pay for it. It’s like a multi-millionaire business man telling you to go and buy as much thing as you need without (your own) money, going to buy all those things you desire on his account will cost you nothing; but it cost him (the business man) a lot depending on your purchase. You do the buying and you enjoy the product freely but the businessman had paid for the products.
Why do I need to look for a sum of twenty five thousand Naira to give to a prophet who will not give me permanent solution? That afternoon, I began to pray to God, the outcome of my personal encounter with the Holy Spirit gave birth to a lot of blessings from God into my life, freely, without money and without price. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ paid the prize. Please note that whatever you will ever need is available, you need no money whatsoever to buy it (them). Jesus has already paid the prize, so go and buy, go for it, the blessings of life is already yours. Thank God, I am alive today and though the prophet warned that my enemies would send the spirit of death on that day, it’s now many years ago, the word works, believe the word. Go and buy your wine and oil, the price had been paid on Calvary. Note: Do not let anyone deceive you; you can buy your blessing freely even today.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Smith Wigglesworth On Power Of The Word

You have all heard me talk about Smith Wigglesworth. He had a major healing ministry in the early to mid 1900's. In my opinion, he was one of the greatest eagles to have ever walked this earth. If God has a hall of fame, this man will definitely be in it. The only book he had ever read was the Bible.

One of the main secrets to his incredible healing ministry was his high level of faith. On a scale of 1-10, he had a perfect 10 - and that is why there were so many mighty miracles in his ministry. He was called the "APOSTLE OF FAITH" because of his high level of faith. He believed everything he read in the Bible and was not afraid to push the envelope with God. One of his favorite sayings was: "If the Spirit doesn’t move me, I’ll move Him."

I recently was reading one of my books on his life when I came upon a message he gave to some younger people. As soon as I read it, I felt it was a word from the Lord. I do not know if he himself was aware of it, but I believe he received a prophetic flow from the Holy Spirit on this message.
He is giving a message on the POWER of the word of God. I’m going to type this out for you because I would consider this a "classic statement" on how powerful the Bible and the individual Scripture verses really are. Here was the message.

The Message

"Fill your head and your heart with the Scriptures. Memorize passages from the Word, with the name of the book, the chapter, and the verse, so that you can quote the Scripture correctly in addresses or in open-air meetings.
As you do this, you are sowing in your heart seeds, which the Spirit of God can germinate. He can bring to your remembrance from time to time that which you have once memorized. You must be so soaked with the Word of God, you must be filled with it, that you yourself are a living epistle, known and read of all men.Believers are strong only as the Word of God abides in them. The Word of God is spirit and life to those who receive it in simple faith, and it is a verifier of all who own its sway. Know your Book, live it, believe it, and obey it. Hide God’s word in your heart. It will save your soul, quicken your body, illumine your mind. The Word of God is full and final, infallible, reliable, and up-to-date, and our attitude towards it must be one of unquestioned obedience. If a thing is in the Bible, it is so; it is not even to be prayed about; it is to be received and acted upon. Inactivity of faith is a robber, which steals blessing. Increase comes by action, by using what we have and what we know. Your life must be one of going from faith to faith."

Conclusion

He had 3 other "pet sayings" which I feel are really catchy. These are true words of knowledge and wisdom.
"Great faith is the product of great fights."
"Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests."
"Great triumphs can only come out of great trials."
The Bible is referred to as the seed of God. Like he says, when you read the Bible, the individual Scripture verses are going into you like seeds. The Holy Spirit will then take the knowledge that is in those verses (seeds) and start what he calls the germination process.
In other words, the Holy Spirit will start to produce fruit and Godly change into your personality and life. But the Holy Spirit always needs knowledge to work with and the individual Scripture verses give Him the knowledge in which He can start the molding and transforming process within you. It’s the Word and the Spirit working together that will start the transformation and sanctification process within each person.

For those who would like to read a good book on this man, there is a small 157 page paperback book titled "Smith Wigglesworth - Apostle of Faith." The author is Stanley Howard Frodsham. You can click on the link and order it from Parable.com Christian bookstore online. It talks about all of his "secrets" and a lot of the unbelievable healings that he had in his ministry.
In addition to the healing ministry that he had, he also was a powerful evangelist and won many souls to the Kingdom of God. He traveled throughout most of Europe and the United States.
In all my research this man, in my opinion, may have been one of the greatest eagles to have ever walked this earth. He truly tapped into the real power of God and God used him mightily in getting people saved, healed and delivered.

The funny thing about him is that most Christians have never heard of him. He was non-denominational. He did not belong to any one Church or denomination and he went wherever the Holy Spirit would lead him. He perfectly followed the leadings he received from the Holy Spirit on a daily basis as to where he should go, what he should do, who he should see, etc.
They say his second secret, besides his high level of faith that was responsible for all of his success, was his ability to mesh with and follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis - and that is what being a real eagle for God is all about. Eagles have to learn to fly on strong wind thermals in order to be able to fly to heights that no other bird can - and Eagles of God have to be able to mesh with and follow the leadings and directions of the Holy Spirit if they want to accomplish great things for God. That is why I call this man a True Eagle of God - because he was able to master the skill of being able to read and move with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis.
Notes - "Smith Wigglesworth - Apostle of Faith" by Stanley Frodsham, Page 111.
Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bible Knowledge, articles, commentary and teaching. Smith Wigglesworth on the Power of the Word of God can be printed out on their website

The Power Of Prayer

By Adenuga Sunday Joseph


The major key to opening the door of the supernatural is prayer. Prayer means communicating with God, that is, you speak with God. Notice that it is one thing to speak with God and yet another thing to speak to God. In prayers, you speak; you listen to hear from Him. This tells you that prayer is a purely spiritual and a supernatural means of contacting God. You cannot be connected with God if you do not have a purposeful prayer life. Prayer connects you to the heavens. It’s liken to a telephone conversation.

Prayer is not just shouting and talking to the air. Prayer is more than just kneeling down to express your grief and earnest expectation. Prayer is not just reading a prayer book, or following a particular laid down rules of talking.
When you pray, the earlier you understand it as a business the better for you, it is something that is done here (in physical) but then it touches the spiritual.
I can be bold to say that there are some things God will not do if people do not pray. There are some promises that will not be fulfilled except you pray through.
“Thus says the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them…” Ezek. 36:37
If you don’t ask, you cannot receive, Matt 7:7
“Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you”

If you want to flow in the supernatural then ask for it, if you want to operate in the miraculous, ask for it, nothing shall be impossible unto you, if you believe. Let me tell you more about prayers, any time you kneel down to pray to the lord, as a child of God, the host of heaven is already present with you. When you call God, God the father will direct His attention to you and your entire request will be taken to the throne of grace. You need to pray in faith, because without faith it is impossible to please God.

You also need to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you call the name of Jesus, every knee will of a necessity bow. When you say “in the name of Jesus”, hosts of hell will all pay attention to you with fear and trembling, ready to carry out any order that follows the name.
When you mention the name of Jesus, even the Angels will be interested in the matter; they will come on the scene (where you are praying). The reason for their presence is very numerous; I will give you two important ones. Firstly, the Angels will be around to carry out any order or assignment that follows the name. Any order in the name must be forcefully (or otherwise) carried out and obeyed. Secondly, Angels will be around anywhere the name is mentioned in other to bow down, to do obeisance to the mighty name. Apart from the presence of Angels, the Holy Spirit will begin to strengthen and encourage the one doing the actual praying.
Not only will the Holy Spirit be present where the name is mentioned, Jesus Christ Himself will be there. He said in John’s Gospel “if you ask anything in my name I will do it”. So Jesus Christ will be there to supervise the Angels in carrying out the assignment.

Hebrews 12:22-24.
“But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of Angels. To the general assembly and the church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirit of just men made perfect. And to the Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than the blood of Abel.”

Any time you come to the presence of God in prayers (either in group or as an individual), the scriptures above gives you the picture of the heavenly beings that will be around to fellowship with you. You are never alone even though you maybe the only one praying physically.
When you pray therefore, you call upon the name of the Lord, you must be conscious of the presence of heavenly beings. Your thoughts and imagination must rise to the realm of the spirit.
That means from now on, the next time you pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, you must know that even if you had prayed alone, you were not alone. Be expectant of the answers; allow your confidence to rise up. Be bold in the presence of the Lord, you need to show this boldness and confidence because as I have told you above, not only are the host of heaven all around you in the room where you are praying, devil and its hosts are also there. Although, they all bow at the name of Jesus yet will they try to stop you from moving forward in your prayers. They may bring evil thoughts, catalogue of the things you need to attend to urgently. They will always try to hurry you so that you can stop the prayers immediately, since your prayer is done in the name of Jesus, it disturbs the devil from operating in your life and in the lives of your loved ones. So when you pray the devil is not happy, he may bring a bad vision, a frightening vision, or make something like a ghost to appear to inject fear into you. You don’t need to fear at all, please know that as the devil is around, greater hosts of heaven are around and you do not need to be afraid of any of Satan’s deice. Be bold; if any ‘spirit’, or ‘an angel’, appears to you; and you doubt it’s authenticity, call the name of Jesus. If you call the name the devil will flee from you.
Do not hesitate to e-mail me if you have any questions in your mind concerning these things.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

By Jeff Coble

What is "power"?

There are many definitions of power. It is the combination of strength and speed. It is the authority to act. It is the product of voltage and current. It is energy per time unit. It is influence or persuasiveness. It is the rate at which work is performed. It is the eleventh album by the rock band Kansas.

Do you know that believers have access to God's power? Yes, the same God who created the universe. Yes, the same power He used to raise Jesus from the grave. The Bible tells us we do (Romans 8:11, Ephesians 3:20, 2 Timothy 1:7, 2 Peter 1:3). If we have access to so much holy power, then why do we so rarely utilize it?

God has given us all we need, not only for life, but for abundant life. There are usually two reasons we do not experience God's eternal power regularly: 1) either we're not properly "plugged in" to the power source, or 2) we're plugged in, but there is a short in our wires somewhere. We have access to God's power all the time, the problem is we neglect to access it.
The power God gives us is difficult to define, but I think it is simply the ability to become more like Christ. This is impossible in us alone. That is why it requires God's power working in us. This power causes us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). This power gives us the ability to serve others. It gives us the ability to overcome sin. It gives us the ability to have self-control. It gives us the ability to persevere.

God's power displayed in mere humans is awesome. If we could experience it in fullness, I think we would want to experience it regularly. So how do we get there? Let's use the word "POWER" as an acrostic to help us remember five disciplines or actions that are crucial to us experiencing God's power: Pray, Obey, Worship, Expect, Remain. If you apply these five actions in increasing measure, you will see God's power manifested in your life.

PRAY

Famous evangelist Billy Sunday is quoted as saying, "If you are strangers to prayer you are strangers to power." We cannot utilize the full power of God if we're not praying. We cannot grow in Christ if we are not praying. If Jesus needed to pray (Mark 1:5, Mark 6:47, Luke 5:16, Luke 6:12), then how much more do you think we need to pray? E.M. Bounds, a great student of and writer on prayer, said, "Prayer is faith taking possession of its unlimited inheritance."
Prayer is powerful (Romans 8:11, Mark, 11:24, Acts 1:14). Prayer doesn't so much change God's mind as it changes our mind toward God. Praying prepares us to see the power of God by getting us ready for God to act (11 Chronicles 20:1-30). Prayer admits our own limitations. This is when God reveals himself to us.

Prayer is commanded (Matthew 26:41, Luke 18:1, Ephesians 6:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is commanded because it requires humility. Humility is key to God allowing us in his presence. Prayer is also relational, and if we're going to have fellowship with God and others, we need this type of communication. Thus, prayer is a spiritual discipline that our obedience demands.
Prayer has conditions (John 15:7). We must be obedient. We cannot harbor secret sins. We must not be indifferent to the needs of others, but we must show mercy. Self-indulgence will cause failure in prayer. Failure is also caused by our stubbornness and disdain for God's commands.
Prayer is answered (1 Kings 18:37-38, Acts 4:31). Prayer is not always answered the way we would like, but it is answered. You have probably heard the ways God answers prayers: "Yes," "No," or "Wait awhile." The last answer is probably the hardest for us to take, because it requires patience and complete trust.

OBEY

Obedience is how we show our love for God and Jesus (John 14:15-23, 1 John 5:3). This is contrary to the world's way of thinking, but critical to the believer's way. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). Our attitude towards obedience should not be "I have to do this," but rather "I get to do this." Because we know God loves us, we know he only has our best interests at heart. What he commands is for our own good. It may not be the most fun or easiest way, but it is the best way.
Disobedience is one of the sins that prevent God from hearing our prayers. If our prayers are hindered, we cannot fully experience God's power. Obedience is a choice. In the Old Testament, God gave the children of Israel a choice of blessings or curses. They usually chose curses and "reaped the whirlwind." If we have a choice and we know that choice will benefit us greatly, why not choose it?
God will reward our obedience (Ephesians 6:8), though we may not immediately see the reward. In fact, we will not see many of the Bible's promised rewards until eternity. But we will get rewarded, and these rewards are in addition to our salvation. Our hope in a future blessing should help motivate us to obedience.
We struggle with obedience because we have the wrong attitude about it. We obey more out of fear or obligation than out of love. The world and our flesh tell us that obedience is for the lowly, scared, and timid. They say obedience is for animals and is degrading for a human. However, if we change our thought process to understanding obedience is simply an expression of our love, then we will want to be obedient. And as we are more obedient, we will experience more of God's power.

WORSHIP

Worship comes from the word "worthship" which means that we worship that which is worthy (Revelation 4:11). God is the only one worthy of worship. Worship is not for us. We insult God when we act as if worship is to entertain or please us. God should always be the object of our worship and we are the subjects. We relinquish control of our lives and give ourselves to God as an offering. We worship Him because of who he is and what He does.
Worship is basically communion with God where we interact with Him and other believers. It is devotion focused on Him and shared with others. There should be elements of remembering (looking back), expecting (looking forward), and honoring (in the present looking up). Paul D. Adams says worship is the "free and spontaneous response that delights in glorious revelation of God ultimately shown to us in the crucified and risen Christ."
Like prayer and obedience, worship is one of those spiritual disciplines that is not optional. In fact, it is essential. Dwight Bradley put it this way, "When a person worships God, it is as a thirsty land crying out for rain." Worship is a hungry heart seeking love. It is a soul searching for its counterpart.

Worship starts with inward attitude that is often expressed outwardly through praising, singing, etc. (Colossians 3:16). True worship is a balance of the heart and the head (Romans 12:1-2). We worship in "spirit and truth" (John 4:21-24). John Ortberg tells us to "pursue worship that links well-ordered minds with overflowing hearts."
Though worship regularly occurs in church where we come as God's people to respond to him and go to reveal him, location does not really matter in worship. We should have a worshipful spirit all the time. Our service and ministry stem from our worship. Every task, every moment should be an opportunity to worship God. We should do nothing less than worship the source and foundation of our power.

EXPECT

According to Webster's Dictionary, expect means "to look for as likely to occur or appear." It implies a considerable degree of confidence that a particular event will happen. Words in the Bible that are synonymous with expect are faith and hope (Ephesians 6:16, Philippians 1:19-20, Hebrews 11:1).
Having an expectant attitude is a discipline that needs to be developed. Our attitude has such a profound affect on our lives that we need to work to develop a positive one. One of the ways we can do this is by being ever hopeful in all things, even more so in time of struggle or turmoil. James said "consider it joy when you encounter various trials, know that the testing of your faith produces endurance..." (James 1:2).
Satan cannot steal our salvation (heart), so he attacks the mind. His aim is to make us ineffective in our Christian walk. He wants to short-circuit our power outlet by planting seeds of doubt and causing us to become undisciplined. Cynicism, discouragement, bitterness, and anger are the attitudes he would like us to have. As difficult as it is, we must force negative thoughts out of our mind. Negative thinking leads to a sour spirit.
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). Positive Christian thinking is critical (Philippians 4:8). What we think about is what we bring about in our lives. People will not be attracted to the gospel of Christ if it is brought by a bunch of grumpy, gripey people. Let's keep expecting the Lord to do His work in us and keep looking for his eminent return. An expectant heart is a hopeful, happy, powerful heart.

REMAIN

Jesus is the source of all the good things we have through God, including His power. Jesus tells in John 15:4-11 that we have to remain in Him in order to be fruitful. Producing fruit is the evidence of remaining in Him. Jesus also gives us the consequences of not remaining in Him, which are in drastic opposition to remaining in Him (hint: removal, fire, burning).
The Greek word translated "remain" in the NIV is from the word meno. This word is also translated "abide," "continue," "stay," and "dwell." It implies some decision to stay or continue in. It is a choice we make to persevere in our walk with Christ. When we remain or abide in something, we are loyal to it even to death. We keep doing what needs to be done even when it is hard and requires great effort. We do not quit in the midst of the struggle.
Our Christianity is not just a "Sunday thing," but an every day thing. It is not a one-time surrendering but more of an ongoing conversion to the image of Christ. If we are to become like Jesus and bear fruit for Him, we need to remain, stay, abide in Him. We need to "continue in" his word and in the things we have been taught (1 John 2:24, 2 Timothy 3:14). Remaining is a discipline we should choose to do daily if we want to see God's power manifested in us.
It is crucial that we keep our dependence on Jesus and our communion with him. Our dependence on him needs to become habitual. Remaining in him is necessary for producing what is pleasing to God and profitable to us. When our pride tells us we can "go it alone" is when the branch starts to die. There will be no power for godly living if we do not regularly maintain the connection to our power source. Our branch must stay attached to the Vine.
As you review the five disciplines, you may have noticed that all are related. You may have noticed a common thread running through each. The common thread is relationship. A relationship is a connection. These disciplines require a connection to the source of our power. Our power was embodied in and exemplified by Jesus Christ. In Him was all the fullness of the Father, and in Him we come to know and have access to the Father. Maximum spiritual power comes from maximally maintaining our connection (relationship) with God through Christ. All we have to do is choose to do so. Choose POWER.

About the Author
Jeff Coble is an teacher and runner who desires to help others run with perseverance. He has been a Christian over 35 years. He's active in his community through his church, his children's schools, sports, and Boy Scouts. He's been married 18 years and has three sons (ages 14,12,10). For more info, visit his website at www.runwithperseverance.com.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Overcoming Your Difficulties

By Adenuga S Joseph

Are you going through serious problems and solution seems far from coming to you? Maybe you’ve tried and failed, Doctors have given up on you, the job is not forthcoming, the desired spouse seems far away and you are dying as a single (unmarried) person? Whatever you are going through is designed for your breaking through. The bible says in Rom. 8: 28 that ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them according to His purpose’

All things work together for good. This means all things including your problems, trials, tribulations, weakness and failures. By experience, I know this to be true. Jesus did not promise us a smooth journey but a smooth landing. He told the disciples (after compelling them to get into the boat) to go to the other side. In obedience they were crossing to the other side when this great storm came upon them in the middle of the sea. The fact that God has assigned you to do that thing does not mean you will not encounter trials along the way. Jesus told us in John 16:33

‘… In the world ye shall have tribulations; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world’

In Psalm 34:19, the bible says

‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivereth him out of them all'

The truth is, no life is problem free. There is a proverb that says that ‘the rich also cry’, why do they cry if not because of problem. Even God in the beginning had problems and challenges. Read Gen. 1:1,2

‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth; and the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

We gather form here that there was emptiness (void), formlessness and darkness, this suggest hopelessness and this is a very discouraging situation. But our God was not discouraged. God was not moved. Darkness was all over the place yet God was not perturbed. In that chaotic state, God spoke and said, “let there be light” and true to the word, there was light.

Is your life is full of darkness? Speak light into it. Maybe yours is empty of all blessings, speak forth your blessing, like somebody said speak your way to the peak.
In concluding this article, I want you to know that you are not the first person to have problems; you will not be the last. God is not partial; the problem has been permitted not to break you but to make you. That is the reason the bible says in Eph. 6: 10-12

“Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against …”

The bible says we are wrestling; we are fighting yet many do not know it, some know it, but do not understand it. That is why Paul said, “fight the good fight of faith”. God is good, He is on your side but you must be STRONG not in yourself but in the Lord.

If you have any questions concerning your spiritual life do not hesitate to email me immediately, my email address is successdimensionchurch@gmail.com.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Wonders of Words

By Adenuga Sunday Joseph

Words are a very essential aspect of life, we are told in the scriptures that this whole wide world was made by the word of God. I believe this to be true. We humans are made in the image and likeness of God with the same ability to use words to our own advantage.
Be very careful of the words that you speak out with your mouth, never utter any word you dont want to happen in your life.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

ENJOYING GOD'S PRESENCE

By Adenuga Sunday Joseph.

God is a spirit. He operates in the spirit realm. The Spirit realm is what I refer to here as the realms of the supernatural. He wants people (and especially you) to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John. 4:23). He desires constant fellowship with you, constant, communion, and constant praying in the spirit. Let’s examine the ministry of Moses. Exodus 20:21.
“And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was”. You need to stay in God’s presence, people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to where God was. Remember Peter in Mark 14:54
“And Peter followed Him (Jesus) afar off …”. You need to follow Him intimately and closely. You need to enter into His presence and just forget about time, enjoy His presence.

I remember a time, I was praying in the spirit after I had received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I was just there (in my room, where I was praying) speaking in an unknown language, I had lost the sense of time and my heart was totally enjoying the presence of Jesus. Suddenly, I began to sense the presence of heavenly beings in my room (even though I was no longer conscious of my surroundings) I began to sense the Holy presence of Jesus Christ (I mean physical presence). You know, I felt somewhat afraid at a point, and then I quickly opened my eyes. On the inside of me, I heard the Holy Spirit saying “You are in my presence, so do not be afraid”. I became overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord. In His presence, you don’t hurry, you don’t rush, and you focus on Him alone. You forget every appointment or date you may be having with any mortal, because you are in the most important appointment.
You forget every other thing and allow the Holy Spirit to communicate with you. I know in the beginning, it might not be easy, your mind might wonder from coast to coast. Do not be discouraged, focus your mind on his word while you are in His presence and you shall receive mighty visitation from heaven.

I can understand the reason why the people (of Israel) stood afar off in the scripture (Exodus. 20:21). Sin will cause you not to be free to move closely with Him, you also read the case of Peter. Sin is the only impediment that will make you to follow the Lord afar off. When an angel suddenly appears to you, you can be afraid because he is holy and you’re not. Hence Moses drew nearer to God, he went into the thick darkness where God was.

The people ran away from God’s presence thinking they would die but Moses was not satisfied with seeing periphery manifestation of God’s spirit, he wanted to get deep into God. He wanted to get to the higher realm.

From today onwards, decide to have a time in the day when you consciously walk into the presence of God. Have a fun filled day.

Biographies of Great Men II

THOMAS EDISON

Folks, today is another day to learn from another person called THOMAS EDISON who invent the first light bulb. He is a great man indeed. Pals let bend low & learn from an higher source of life.Early LifeThomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, and was raised in Port Huron, Michigan. He was the seventh and last child of Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. (1804–1896) (born in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia, Canada) and Nancy Matthews Edison nee Elliott (1810–1871). His family was of Dutch origin.[1]
In school, the young Edison's mind often wandered, and his teacher, the Reverend Engle, was overheard calling him "addled." This ended Edison's three months of official schooling. He recalled later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." His mother then home schooled him.[2]

Much of his education came from reading R.G. Parker's School of Natural Philosophy and The Cooper Union.Edison developed hearing problems at an early age. The cause of Edison's deafness has been attributed to a bout of scarlet fever during childhood and recurring untreated middle ear infections. Around the middle of his career Edison attributed the hearing loss to being struck on the ears by a train conductor when his chemical lab in a boxcar caught fire, and was thrown off the train in Smiths Creek, Michigan, along with his apparatus and chemicals. In his later years he modified the story to say the injury occurred when the conductor, in helping him onto a moving train, lifted him by the ears.[3][4]Edison's family was forced to move to Port Huron, Michigan, when the railroad bypassed Milan in 1854,[5] but his life there was bittersweet.

He sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit, as well as vegetables that he sold to supplement his income. This began Edison's long streak of entrepreneurial ventures as he discovered his talents as a businessman. These talents would eventually lead him to found General Electric, which is still a publicly traded company, and 13 other companies.Edison became a telegraph operator after he saved three-year-old Jimmie MacKenzie from being struck by a runaway train. Jimmie's father, station agent J.U. MacKenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan, was so grateful that he trained Edison as a telegraph operator. Edison's first telegraphy job away from Port Huron was at Stratford Junction, Ontario, on the Grand Trunk Railway.[6] In 1866, at the age of 19, Thomas Edison moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where as an employee of Western Union he worked the Associated Press bureau news wire. Edison requested the night shift at work which allowed him plenty of time to spend at his two favorite pastimes -- reading and experimenting. Eventually, the latter pre-occupation cost him his job. One night in 1867, he was working with a battery when he spilled sulphuric acid onto the floor. It ran between the floorboards and onto his boss' desk below. The next morning he was fired.[7]One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named Franklin Leonard Pope, who allowed the impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey, home.Some of Edison's earliest inventions were related to telegraphy, including a stock ticker. His first patent was for the electric vote recorder, (U. S. Patent 90,646),[8] which was granted on June 1, 1869.[9]

MARRAIGE & CHILDREN

On December 25, 1871, at the age of 24, Edison married 16-year-old Mary Stilwell, whom he had met two months earlier. They had three children:Marion Estelle Edison (1873–1965), nicknamed "Dot"Thomas Alva Edison Jr. (1876–1935), nicknamed "Dash"William Leslie Edison (1878–1937)[10]Mary Edison died on August 9, 1884.On February 24, 1886, at the age of 39, Edison married 20-year-old Mina Miller in Akron, Ohio.[11] She was the daughter of inventor Lewis Miller, co-founder of the Chautauqua Institution and a benefactor of Methodist charities. They also had three children:Madeleine Edison (1888–1979), who married John Eyre Sloane[12][13]Charles Edison (1890–1969), who took over the company upon his father's death and who later was elected Governor of New Jersey[14] He is buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Orange, New Jersey.Theodore Miller Edison (1898–1992).[15]Mina outlived Thomas Edison, dying on August 24, 1947.[16][17Beginning his careerPhotograph of Edison with his phonograph, taken by Mathew Brady in 1877.Thomas Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention which first gained him fame was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey, where he lived. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil around a grooved cylinder and had poor sound quality. The tinfoil recordings could only be replayed a few times. In the 1880s, a redesigned model using wax-coated cardboard cylinders was produced by Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, and Charles Tainter. This was one reason that Thomas Edison continued work on his own "Perfected Phonograph."Mary Had a Little LambThomas Edison saying "Mary Had a Little Lamb"=OggProblems playing the files? See media help.Menlo ParkEdison's Menlo Park Laboratory, removed to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. (Note the organ against the back wall)Thomas Edison's first successful light bulb model, used in public demonstration at Menlo Park, December 1879.U.S. Patent #223898 Electric LampEdison's major innovation was the first industrial research lab, which was built in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was the first institution set up with the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison was legally attributed with most of the inventions produced there, though many employees carried out research and development work under his direction. His staff was generally told to carry out his directions in conducting research, and he drove them hard to produce results.
The large research group, which included engineers and other workers, based much of their research on work done by others before them.William J. Hammer, a consulting electrical engineer, began his duties as a laboratory assistant to Edison in December 1879. He assisted in experiments on the telephone, phonograph, electric railway, iron ore separator, electric lighting, and other developing inventions. However, Hammer worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880, he was appointed chief engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In his first year, the plant under General Manager Francis Robbins Upton turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of incandescent electric lighting."Nearly all of Edison's patents were utility patents, which were protected for a 17 year period and included inventions or processes that are electrical, mechanical, or chemical in nature. About a dozen were design patents, which protect an ornamental design for up to a 14 year period. Like most patents, the inventions he described were improvements over prior art. The phonograph patent, on the other hand, was unprecedented as the first device to record and reproduce sounds.[18] Edison did not invent the first electric light bulb, but instead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light. Several designs had already been developed by earlier inventors including the patent he purchased from Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans, Moses G. Farmer,[19] Joseph Swan, James Bowman Lindsay, William E. Sawyer, Sir Humphry Davy, and Heinrich Göbel. Some of these early bulbs had such flaws as extremely short life, high expense to produce, and high current draw, making them difficult to apply on a large scale commercially.

In 1878, Edison applied the term filament to the element of glowing wire carrying the current, although English inventor Joseph Swan had used the term prior to this. Edison took the features of these earlier designs and set his workers to the task of creating longer-lasting bulbs. By 1879, he had produced a new concept: a high resistance lamp in a very high vacuum, which would burn for hundreds of hours. While the earlier inventors had produced electric lighting in laboratory conditions, dating back to a demonstration of a glowing wire by Alessandro Volta in 1800, Edison concentrated on commercial application, and was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing relatively long-lasting light bulbs and creating a complete system for the generation and distribution of electricity.The Menlo Park research lab was made possible by the sale of the quadruplex telegraph that Edison invented in 1874, which could send four simultaneous telegraph signals over the same wire. When Edison asked Western Union to make an offer, he was shocked at the unexpectedly large amount that Western Union offered; the patent rights were sold for $10,000. The quadruplex telegraph was Edison's first big financial success.In just over a decade Edison's Menlo Park laboratory had expanded to consume two city blocks. Edison said he wanted the lab to have "a stock of almost every conceivable material." A newspaper article printed in 1887 reveals the seriousness of his claim, stating the lab contained "eight thousand kinds of chemicals, every kind of screw made, every size of needle, every kind of cord or wire, hair of humans, horses, hogs, cows, rabbits, goats, minx, camels...silk in every texture, cocoons, various kinds of hoofs, shark's teeth, deer horns, tortoise shell...cork, resin, varnish and oil, ostrich feathers, a peacock's tail, jet, amber, rubber, all ores..." and the list goes on.[20]Over his desk, Edison displayed a placard with Sir Joshua Reynolds' famous quote: "There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking."[21] This slogan was reputedly posted at several other locations throughout the facility.With Menlo Park, Edison had created the first industrial laboratory concerned with creating knowledge and then controlling its application.Carbon telephone transmitterIn 1877-1878, Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone used in all telephones along with the Bell receiver until the 1980s. After protracted patent litigation, in 1892 a federal court ruled that Edison -- and not Emile Berliner -- was the inventor of the carbon microphone. (Josephson, p146). The carbon microphone was also used in radio broadcasting and public address work through the 1920s.Electric lightMain article: History of the light bulbAfter many experiments with platinum and other metal filaments, Edison returned to a carbon filament. The first successful test was on October 22, 1879;[22] and lasted 13.5 hours. Edison continued to improve this design and by November 4, 1879, filed for U.S. patent 223,898 (granted on January 27, 1880) for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires."[23] Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways,"[23] it was not until several months after the patent was granted that Edison and his team discovered a carbonized bamboo filament could last over 1200 hours.Edison bought light bulb U.S. patent 181,613 of Henry Woodward that was issued August 29, 1876 and obtained an exclusive license to Woodward's Canadian patent. These patents covered a carbon filament in a rarefied gas bulb.[citation needed]Edison in 1878In 1878, Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including J. P. Morgan and the members of the Vanderbilt family. Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. It was during this time that he said, "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles."[24]George Westinghouse's company bought Philip Diehl's competing induction lamp patent rights (1882) for $25,000, forcing the holders of the Edison patent to charge a more reasonable rate for the use of the Edison patent rights and lowering the price of the electric lamp.[25]On October 8, 1883, the U.S. patent office ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of William Sawyer and was therefore invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years, until October 6, 1889, when a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid. To avoid a possible court battle with Joseph Swan, whose British patent had been awarded a year before Edison's, he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to manufacture and market the invention in Britain.The Mahen Theatre in Brno in what is now the Czech Republic, was the first public building in the world to use Edison's electric lamps, with the installation supervised by Edison's assistant in the invention of the lamp, Francis Jehl. [26]Thomas Edison died At 9 P.M. On Oct. 18th, 1931 in New Jersey. He was 84 years of age. Shortly before passing away, he awoke from a coma and quietly whispered to his very religious and faithful wife Mina, who had been keeping a vigil all night by his side: "It is very beautiful over there..."


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