SUNRISE BEFORE 5am

Many people are battling to deal with this norm that our rising or succeeding in life is likened to the breaking of a new day or sunrise which starts by 6am daily. This norm says that your sun doesn’t rise until you are going beyond 50years which is 5am.
This is not true. Your sunrise can be at 2am, 3am, and 4am and if you have slept beyond 4am and 5am, know too that the sun hasn’t set yet, it is still up.
Our sunrise takes place within us and we have all that it takes to get it up and rising. This is not general but personal to each of us. This is not time to listen to the weather forecast about how sunny or rainy the day may be, rather it is time to decide how sunny your life will be.
The weather forecast is happening out there, but your forecast is happening within you. I have seen the sun rise before 4am and I can also see the day breaking in your end.

Come with me let’s make a weather forecast of today, yes today and tomorrow.

God hasn’t changed His mind

I read a story about a young man who dreamed of playing professional football. In high school he was a star player and won all kinds of awards. He came from a very small town where everybody knee w him. All the children looked up to him, and wanted to be like him; a local hero. But most of the coaches thought he was too small to play in the college. All the major universities turned him down. He ended up at a junior college and took a job at a pizza restaurant. He quit playing football.

One night he was delivering a pizza and a ten year old boy answered the door. When this boy saw the young man, his eyes grew so big. The boy was star struck. He couldn't believe this was the same person he’d watched play at the local high school, the same athlete who had thrilled the crowd so many times. After a second or two, the boy’s father walked up and the young man gave the pizza the little boy was very confused. He looked up at his father. He looked at the young man and said very innocently, “what are you doing delivering pizzas?”

The words from a ten year old boy lit a new fire on the inside for the young man. After work that night he went to the gym and started training. The summer he trained harder than he had ever trained before. He gained seventy pounds, and became bigger, stronger, quicker and faster.

That fall, he tried out at a major university that had accepted him as a student. He’d always wanted to play there. He made the team and kept working until he also became their star player. After college, he was drafted in the first round to play professional football. Today, he is a star in the NFL living out his dream. But he said, “It would have never happened if that ten year old boy hadn't asked me, ‘What are you doing selling pizzas?’

My question for you today is: “What are you doing taking the easy way out?” have you settled somewhere way beneath what you know God has put in you? Have you given up on a dream, or let go of a promise, because it didn't happen the first time?

The good news is just because you gave up a dream doesn't mean God gave up. You may have changed your mind but God didn't

change His mind. He still has a victorious plan in front of you. Why don’t you get in agreement with Him.

You don’t have to quit where you are now in order to get to where you need to be, stay where you are, but prepare for where God has planned for you to be. Build your muscles, your mind, your spirit, your influence, you perseverance, your patience, your determination to live out your dream.

Excerpts from my latest book coming soon…

it does still happen: Miracles!

I heard about a story about a college professor who took a group of students to china for a field trip. Several days into the journey the professor experienced incredible stomach pain. He was hurting so badly, the professor asked a friend to call an ambulance. He was rushed to a local clinic.

They were way back in a small town with no big hospitals. The medical staffer in charge noticed that the professors’ appendix had ruptured. Poison was spreading throughout his body, but there were no surgeons around. There was little that could be done for the professor, his friend was told.

“I can give him some pain medication, maybe some sleeping pills, but my advice is that he should make peace with his family,” the clinic staffer told him.

The professor went into convulsion and passed in and out of consciousness.

Back at home in the states, the professor’s father, who is a pastor, began to feel an incredible burden for his son during a service at his church. The pastor tried to ignore the feeling but it just wouldn’t go away. Finally, he stopped the service and he said to the congregation, “we must pray for my son. Something is wrong.”

They dropped to their knees and prayed.

Back in china at the clinic it was two o’ clock in the morning when one of the country’s most well known surgeons walked in-the same surgeon who travels with the U.S president when he visits China. The clinic staff was amazed to see him.

“I’m here to take care of the American,” the surgeon said

The Chinese surgeon saved the life of the professor with an operation.

The next day the surgeon said to the recovering professor: “who were those two men that you sent into my office yesterday?”

That’s odd, because two men came in dressed in nice suits. They looked like they were government officials,” the surgeon said. “And they said you were a very important person and I needed to be here in the middle of the night to operate you.”

God knows how to make it all work out. Even seven thousand miles away God had people praying. That’s why you can live life in peace. God is in complete control. He knows the end from the beginning. God knows what you will need a week from now, a month from now, even ten years from now. And the good news is He’s already taking care of you.

An answer of peace for you!

…there is none that can interpret it. Genesis 41:15-16

Pharaoh had a disturbing dream, but there was nobody who could interpret it for him. The best in his kingdom could not. Put yourself in the picture, you also have a dream, you have an issue on your mind and it is bugging you. It could be about your home, you know all is not well. You are surrounded with pressure-you've sought for advice from parents, friends, brothers and sisters, yet you are not satisfied. You have asked yourself several questions, yet you have gotten more confused instead of answers.

Don’t be alarmed, Joseph said, “It’s not in me.” It’s not in you either, to solve the questions and issues bugging your mind. It’s not in you to give the answer and bring an interpretation. However, there is good news.

Joseph said, “God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” When God gives you an answer of peace, you will have peace that passes all understanding. When God gives you an answer of peace, things will change in your family. When God gives you an answer of peace, you will stop suffering. The answer of peace can take care of your challenges.

The answer of peace from God can take care of all kinds of peer pressure, and they will lose their power and influence in your life. There are habits you desperately want to stop; you have tried all you could, all to no avail. An answer of peace from God can help you overcome them.

The answer of peace is the voice of peace. Proverbs 18:24 says, “There’s a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” This friend is Jesus. He was with his friends at sea. They faced a storm and his friends became afraid. They were facing the same issue you are facing now. Jesus came and gave an answer of peace: ‘peace, be still.” Immediately there was calmness and peace. My friend, the same calmness is here for you to take this week and always.

It does not matter the storm you are going through right now, I bring you good news today. You are qualified to be peaceful. Peace is your portion, and you can have it. Isaiah 30:15 says, “…in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…”

HOW TO HAVE A GREAT 2014

Act 20:22 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not

Knowing the things that shall befall me there:

The scripture here points to us that Paul was heading to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the pinnacle of dreams at that time for the Jews. It was a place of fulfillment, the capital city of the nation of Israel. It was the confluence point of every citizen, the center that holds all Jewish cities together.

So, Paul was heading to the fulfillment of his dream, but he took an approach towards it, he said “I go bound in the spirit…”  This was like a promise God gave to him, a dream he has always expected to come to pass. Although he was already going there physically, he took a sure route-the route of the spirit.

Like God told Abraham in Genesis 13, to lift up his eyes and look around the land about to become his. Paul was doing the same thing here; he went in the spirit to Jerusalem. Friend, going in the spirit also means taking your pen and paper and putting down things about your future. What have you seen about the year 2014? Have you looked and maybe you haven’t seen anything? Probably because, what you want`, you haven’t seen any possible way it can happen.

Maybe what you have seen are all troubles, lack, failure. Don’t worry friend, Paul was also in the same shoe as you are now. He said, “I have gone in the spirit and still do not know the things that shall happen to me there, but what I see are bonds and afflictions.”

He made another statement in v.24 of Acts 20 “but none of these things move me…” But come to think of it, it is not only hardships that makes people moved or backslide. I have seen people rich and successful and they became moved forgetting God. In essence Paul was not only referring to bad things when he said, “bonds and afflictions” but also success. He is also saying, “I see also prosperity and success in every month of the year.

This shows us the importance of seeing ahead. But, knowing also that seeing ahead is not a guaranty that you will have what you saw. If so, Moses would have entered the Promised Land. It does not matter what you have seen about 2014, what interpretation are you giving it?

Paul said, “None of these things move me. What I have already conquered in my mind will not move me when it comes physically. When I get to my dream and face difficulties, I will not ask God why.” God wants you to have a mentality of victory against your adversaries. Whatever that comes your way in 2014, make up your mind that none of them will move you. You will be living in deception when you think failure, disappointment and loss will not come to you in 2014. Rather, when they come you have to move them out of the way.

Israel sent spies into Canaan to check out the land, just as Paul went in the spirit to Jerusalem. This is how you are also going to look into 2014 to spy it. But in the case of the Israelite

, 10 out of 12 brought a negative report. But the other 2 brought another report saying, Numbers 14:8 “if the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into the land and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.” There is a condition, “if.” So the big question is, “does God like me? Does He delight in me? Does He find pleasure in me?”

Psalm 149:4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people:

So, we see God likes you and that means he is going to bring you into 2014, and give it to you. You might choose like me to call the year 2014, according to the word of God, “the year of milk and honey.” But don’t forget, it’s only the mature cow that gives milk. success and prosperity doesn’t come overnight, it has to mature. For the honey part, you will have to face bee stings, and sometimes as well, you have to face a lion like Samson.

You will have to face bonds and afflictions. Fights, for you to get to your milk and honey, but Numbers 14:9 says; Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they [are] bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD [is] with us: fear them not.

The year is yours for the taking!

CURIOSITY

The tendency to learn about things by asking questions, investigating or exploring.

Inventors have always been curious people. Among all the world’s greatest inventors you will find very curious individuals, who always asked the question of why things work, or how does things work, and how they can make things better. Curiosity is asking the right questions that make us learn something new.

No matter the age every individual is always in a curious age because our brains can always take in new knowledge, researches have shown that our brains never really adapt to a particular line, show it something new at any time, I can always adjust.

Curiosity makes you ahead of others because you are always trying to know something new. Making up our mind to learn something  new every day spices us up. Fela Durotoye said it is a crime not to learn something new every fifteen minutes. Every knowledge is within our grasp these days of information technology. The internet can supply us of information anytime any day, we can Google up almost anything now and get an informative response. The vast knowledge of Wikipedia has at least a line to say about anything we seek to learn about.

Our young people these days have resorted to only be a consumer of other people’s brain child; they seldom ask questions on how things come about. We use almost anything called a social network and we seldom ask the question: of how is this done? and surprisingly we will find out or realize we could have actually done some of these things at some point in our lives if we have simply paid attention to the questions in our heart.

GOD created every individual and put questions in our heart and at the same time HE put the answers all around us. But we can never get answers without questions. Curiosity brings out these questions in our hearts to the point where they can produce tangible answers that are productive.

Curiosity is simply the secret behind the rising technology of the Chinese that is challenging America now. The Chinese simply adopted the technique in engineering called ‘reverse engineering’ this technique simply works on the principle of curiosity. They were driven with the question of finding out how things were produced and how they can do the same with the available resources that they have. Their curiosity drove them to ask how they can make a better, cheaper and more user friendly products than others.

In my place there is a saying that goes: “a person who asks questions about his route will never get to miss his way during the journey.” This holds true in all other areas. Curiosity can drive us to our divine destiny. Our level of operation in life is determined by the questions we ask. You know where a man is going by the quality of questions he asks.

Intelligent curiosity brings about intelligent knowledge and drive away ignorance. Let’s say no to ignorance, it will go a long way to save us a whole lot of unwarranted mistakes.

Try a little sarcastic curiosity today, it will do your heart a lot of merry!

OWNING YOUR NAME

In my previous post I promised to bring to us 21 days to a good name, while putting together the piece I discovered that life is not just about bulding a good reputation or name, like +John Wooden puts it “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” But about the person of quality we are.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.
+Warren Buffett

It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.
+Benjamin Franklin

No man will ever carry out of the Presidency the reputation which carried him into it.
+Thomas Jefferson

Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.
+William Shakespeare

A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity.
+Baltasar Gracian

Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.
+Thomas Paine

With these in mind lets see how we can work on a good name in 7days.

DAY1

• Hold your tongue and take three deep breaths before responding to comments and situations that make you feel angry, defensive or upset.

DAY 2

• Never talk badly about anyone. Never say anything negative about any person behind their back. If you have a problem with some else’s behaviour, talk to them privately and directly. When you talk negatively about someone in their absence, the person you are talking to feels you may do the same behind their back.

DAY 3

• Be respectful of other people and their opinions. There is never one way of doing things, and your way is not the only way, even if it feels like that at the time. Always keep your mind open and accept other people may have a different experience and a different opinion. Remember, you can disagree and still be respectful.

DAY 4

• Be truthful and honest. lying and deceit always finds its way out, and it’s never worth it. I always say “When in doubt, tell the truth”. Telling the truth is cleansing and liberating, no matter how small. If you are running late, don’t blame the traffic, say “I’ve miscalculated the travel time”, “I left too late”… whatever the case may be.

DAY 5

• Keep your promises. If you made a promise, keep it. It seems so simple, yet very few people can hold ALL their promises. If you can’t make it happen, do not promise. If you’ve promised, but can’t make it happen, tell the other person honestly. They will be flattered with your honesty.

DAY 6

• Accept responsibility for your actions and behaviours, and avoid blaming others.

DAY 7

• Do not judge other people or their behaviour. Do not jump to conclusions and label people in your mind or when talking to others.

Have a good day people.