Invest in Value

                                          Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Value is the intrinsic worth of a person, an object, a place; a unique attribute which sets the person, the family, object or place apart from other people, objects and places.  When you understand value and invest in value, the full dividends of value accrue to you without you even requesting for the dividends.

King Solomon for instance truly understood the value of an intimate and fervent relationship with God that would foster his total dependence on God. So he worshiped God with all his heart as instructed by his father, David. Please read 1^st Chronicles Chapter 28 and 2^nd Chronicles Chapter 1. Solomon was subsequently blessed by God with divine wisdom which placed him several steps ahead of his contemporaries. Significantly, that great wisdom also translated into great and abundant wealth.

King David not only loved and feared God; he also invested in a personal relationship with God because he understood the value of an intimate and fervent relationship with God. Please read Psalms 16 verse 7, 27 verse 4 and 25 verses 12 to 14.

David chose God above silver and gold and God rewarded him with abundant blessings. He had many children, great wealth and ruled Israel for a long time; won several wars without being hurt; survived several evil plots and attempts against his life simply because he understood the value of an intrinsic relationship with God.

Give Yourself Mileage

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Seest thou a man diligent in his work, he shall stand before kings and not mean men – Proverbs Chapter 22 verse 29.

Ideally, everyone’s divine gift should create room for greatness and abundance for him or her if deployed in the right environment and before the right persons who would give the person mileage.

Therefore, always ask yourself if a relationship, task or utterance would take you to the divine purpose and plans of God for your life before investing quality time and resources in such relationships, task and utterances.

David was a skilful musician yet he did not play just before anybody. He played musical instruments before Saul and made the King happy. Though Saul became envious and attempted to kill David while he was playing the instrument for him; the point being made is that David played before kings and not insignificant people who would not give him mileage.

David also took on Goliath not only to deal with Goliath for insulting the army of God but also for the attendant benefits. Please read 1^st Samuel Chapter 17. David did not challenge a mere street fighter, an inconsequential person to a street fight. It was a fight for national honors on both sides where the winner was to become a national hero, as well as a beneficiary of many things from the King including becoming a son in-law of the King. Fortunately, David won the fight against Goliath and earned great mileage – a national hero as well as many other perks.

Joseph interpreted the dreams of the servants of Pharaoh but was also careful to remind the butler to remember him and recommend him to Pharaoh. Though the butler forgot, he was forced to remember Joseph when the divine opportunity and timing for Joseph to be celebrated came. Please read Genesis Chapters 41 for details.

Bridle Your Desires and Emotions

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Desires and emotions sometimes run amok and when they do, they carry with them consequences which are sometimes severe. That is why every child of God should ask help of the Holy Spirit in bridling their desires and emotions.

Shechem and his family were destroyed because Shechem could not wait to make Dinah his wife before defiling her.  Dinah’s angry brothers wiped him and his family out of the land of the living. Please read Genesis Chapter 34.

Simeon and Levi, the enraged brothers of Dinah killed an entire family and clan. They could not control their anger. Please read Genesis Chapter 34 verse 25. Much later, their father Jacob placed a curse on them.

Amnon was foolish and listened to foolish counsel. He raped his half-sister, Tamar and was consequently killed by Tamar’s brother, Absalom. Please read 2^nd Samuel Chapter 13 for details and caution in receiving and taking advice.

Samson was the most powerful person of his time. He did not have to carry weapons when about to engage hundreds of men in a fight as anything he touched automatically became a weapon with which he killed hundreds of men. Unfortunately, this powerful man lost all that power to a woman because he could not control his unbridled desire for Delilah. Consequently, he lost the great unction of God upon his life and died young. Please read Judges Chapter 16.

Ahab was condemned for coveting after Naboth’s vineyard and assenting to the negative methods Jezebel deployed in stealing the vineyard from Naboth. Please read 1^st Kings Chapter 21. Covetousness for instance is sin, sin against God because it shows lack of appreciation for your God given gifts, person and blessings; lack of contentment and satisfaction for the blessings of God upon your life; uncontrolled greed for what does not belong to you; you want to own what belongs to someone else and like Ahab, you would do anything to get what does not belong to you. You sulk and you are unhappy over what belongs to someone else which you greedily lust after all day.

It is Time to Emerge

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to meet.” And he said, “Go.” 2^nd Kings Chapter 6 verses 1 to 2.

It is time to emerge as a globally accepted and flourishing brand standing before kings and great people. God says He is willing to make you a thousand times better than you are now. But you must sit up and seek new heights, set new targets and milestones in 2020 and beyond. You must widen your tents. Please read Genesis Chapter 13 verses 14 to 15.

Beloved, it is time to enlarge your tents. Do not be too self-satisfied for you can actually become bigger than what you are now.  You therefore need to be dissatisfied with your present position. That dissatisfaction is the catalyst you require to emerge out of complacency into God’s enlargement plans for you in 2020 and beyond.  That dissatisfaction is what will make you realize that you are presently operating under capacity, that you are not getting value for your time and expertise as well as the realization that you are more than what you are now, that you are wasting away, and not utilizing your divine deposits as you should. This is capacity underutilization which does not take anyone to God’s desired heights for them in life. Therefore, do not be satisfied with the present levels of income and achievements.

It is time to seek God for new directives and new focus. Think beyond the current mold you are operating on. Embrace a new vision, a vision that defines the possibilities God has divinely placed before you which you are not seeing now because you are narrow minded. There are many things that you are divinely wired to do and achieve. Begin to do them and move forward. Begin to think outside the box. Reflect on greater possibilities for your life, such as what to do to increase beyond your present position in life. Reflect on new lines of businesses, new branches. It is time to position yourself for spiritual and business war; real work and not fantasies and day dreams. You have dwelt too long on that mountain. It is time to get out of it as fast as you should and not even as you can.

Move to Rehoboth NOW

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Rehoboth is the place of great fruitfulness; increase, refreshing still waters and opportunities. Rehoboth is the land of divine opportunities patiently waiting for you. Your Rehoboth is a city set on a hill which cannot be hidden. Your Rehoboth is where global visibility, significance and relevance awaits you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Global visibility and fame is for the purpose of feeding the lambs of God, tending the sheep of God and feeding the sheep of God. It is not to celebrate you but the great grace of God upon your life.

Significantly, your Rehoboth is a place free of limitations,, spite, ill will, hatred, envy and wickedness so that you can expand and make progress as God would have you progress. The Philistines clogged the wells in order to spite Isaac. If they had a need for the wells, they would not have clogged them with dirt and debris. Rather, they would have used the water for profitable agricultural and even nonagricultural activities.

Spite is a tool of the enemy used by his human agents to avert or slow down the plans and purposes of God for a believer’s life. There are quite a number of instances of such in the Bible. Spite is used by the enemy to wound a person’s spirit through humiliation whether in public or private. The intent is to incapacitate the person from moving forward.

Peninah for instance already had children and enjoyed her husband’s wealth and therefore had no business mocking Hannah who had none then. Yet, Peninah consistently used spite against Hannah by ridiculing and mocking Hannah daily simply because Hannah had not had children then. Though Peninah succeeded and made Hannah’s life miserable, it was only for a while because one day, God opened the eyes of Hannah to who she – a daughter of Zion. Thereafter, Hannah dried her tears and took her case to the God of all creation Who said that none would be barren in His house. Hannah became the mother of children named in Elkanah’s genealogy. Significantly, not one of the many children of Peninah were mentioned in the genealogy of Elkanah.

Move Up Higher 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

You carry sunshine – in the love, enthusiasm, optimism, joy of the Holy Spirit, comfort, encouragement as well as the unshakeable faith in God to always come through for His own which you share. Do not allow anyone or circumstances to cloud your vision and dampen your enthusiasm and love for the people of God.

Sunshine brings joy, warmth and happiness to lives and people. Continue to radiate that sunshine. Continue to share the love, enthusiasm, optimism, joy of the Holy Spirit, comfort, encouragement, faith in God. Continue to strengthen the people of God by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Continue to carry your sunshine and let go of rain clouds and thunderstorms and lightning strikes. You do not need the rain clouds and thunderstorms. You need your sunshine.

Significantly, you are the only one who can make other people place a high value on you. You are also the only one who can make people look down on you. Therefore, surround yourself with people who have a revelation of you; that is people who know and understand the divine deposits of God in you; who appreciate those deposits and value them. They are the ones who will truly appreciate you and remunerate you accordingly. Pharaoh and his court had a revelation of who Joseph was. They wasted no time in making him the Prime Minister of the land despite the fact that Joseph was a foreigner who was hastily brought out of prison to stand before Pharaoh that morning. Nebuchadnezzar had the right revelation of Daniel and his three friends. He rewarded them accordingly. Significantly, your intrinsic value in Christ Jesus should define your self-worth, value judgments and relationships.

Move Up Higher

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

When God called Abraham, God blessed Abraham alongside his wife Sarah and blessed him and increased him. He became the father of many nations and increased on all sides, spiritually, physically, mentally, materially and financially. Please read Genesis Chapters 12 verses 1 to 9, 13 verses 1 to 4, 24 verses 34 to 35, 12 verses 10 to 16 and 20 verses 1 to 8.

Divine enlargement is progressive – Proverbs Chapter 4 verse 18, Genesis Chapter 26 verses 12 to 14; righteous life, patience, diligence (smart and hard work), Genesis Chapter 29 verses 15 to end, 30 verses 1 to 31, 32, 33. See also Psalm 115 verses 12 to 14, 80 verses 9 to 11. Increase, progressive increase is of God. The will of God is for you to grow from one level of grace, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, parenting, marital relations, and financial, spiritual, physical, mental and material increase to another. That is why the word of God says that the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former. Please read Haggai Chapter 2 verse 9; and that the path of the righteous is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day (Proverbs Chapter 4 verse 18).

Beloved, you have not seen your best days yet. The glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former. Please see Haggai Chapter 2 verse 9. Therefore, do not relax on your oars. Get moving towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Please see Philippians Chapter 3 verses 12 to 14. Move up higher, beyond what you think is the core of success but which is actually just the beginning of success, in point of fact, baby steps to success.

This is just the beginning. You have not seen your best days yet, your great victories yet. There is so much more to come. Real success is ahead, waiting patiently for you. But you must be willing to move beyond the present successes you are dancing around so that you can get to the pinnacle of success. No seasoned fisherman who fishes for sharks goes fishing in a lake just as no seeker of diamonds looks for them in a cassava farm. Stop looking for diamonds where you are presently. Seek diamonds where they can be found. Therefore, take the required leap of faith which you urgently require to move higher into the plans and purposes of God for your life.

Paint the Future

 Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The future is not an unnamed date; set far away from you by billions and zillions of seconds and minutes. It is not in hundreds, thousands and millions of days which appear far away from you; probably hiding in the stratosphere. Beloved, the future is TODAY, in point of fact, NOW.

The future is therefore what you draw or paint into the beautiful canvass which is either sitting or standing in front of your right now. The future is NOW; THE THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS AS WELL AS RELATIONSHIPS WHICH YOU PLANT INTO IT NOW; and not tomorrow or a later date which you assume or hope will not show up soon.

The future is NOW; asking you to take a quality decision, act positively in the light of the truth of the word of God which you know. Please read Jeremiah Chapter 29 verse 11. The future is NOW; asking you to seek knowledge to break down and destroy the mountains of ignorance holding you down.

The future is NOW; asking you to forget an unproductive past which is weighing you down spiritually, mentally and to an extent physically so that you can focus on the great and new things which God wants to do in your life. Please read Isaiah Chapter 43 verse 19.

The future is NOW; asking you to kill procrastination, and laziness as well as giving of excuses so that you can be productive; to fruit and multiply into abundance.

Get Up

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The word of God energizes a person to act in tandem with the will of God to achieve desired results to bring about transformation, healing, positive economic results, and abundance as in some of these biblical examples.

Peter’s fishing exploits in Luke Chapter 5 verses 1 to 11, John Chapter 21 verses 1 to 13.

The lame man at the pool in Bethsaida who was physically and to some extent spiritually and mentally incapacitated and immobilized to a spot for thirty eight years – in essence, the man stagnated to retrogression and for thirty eight years, he did nothing but lay on his sick bed and watched other people (this is real pathetic) receive healings and miracles as well as leave Bethsaida for good, to live a life, away from the great multitude of sick and incapacitated people at the pool in Bethsaida.

Those who were likely to leave healed and restored were those who had people to put them in the pool when the water was stirred by an angel. The lame man however had no one to put him in the pool and his physical condition was also a limitation. So daily, he watched others succeed while he stayed helpless, incapacitated and immobilized to a spot.

Beloved, pause and ponder a while what the mental processes and even spiritual condition of the lame man at the pool was. But all that hopelessness and watching the world go by came to an end when Jesus, the Word of God; Who always fights with the sword of the Spirit (Revelation Chapter 19 verses 13 to 16) intervened and released the prophetic word – Get Up!, pick up your mat and walk. Suddenly, the hopelessness, the incapacitation and immobilization of thirty eight years was gone. It disappeared at the instance of the Word of God and the man who had possibly been written off to a life of watch others succeed and had come to despair at his own inability to succeed was completely healed, restored and transformed to live a life of unending success victory, hope and freedom in Christ.

Look Around You/Within You 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Beloved, I pray that God in His infinite mercy and compassion as well as love and great grace will open your eyes of understanding to see what you have to see either around you or within you so that you can speedily and effortlessly move to your next level in Christ Jesus in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

The disciples of Jesus Christ were looking too far for the food resources required to feed the multitudes.  While they worried about where to source such resources at such a time of the day in the location they were at; they were unaware that Jesus Who was with them is also the God Who always multiplies and compounds resources for His own. Unknown to them, the seemingly little bread and fish available to them where they were; were more than enough food resources to feed the multitude. The disciples did not have the revelation of Jesus Christ as the One Who always multiplies and compounds resources for His own. The left over baskets opened their eyes of understanding to the immense resources and capacities at their disposal.

Peter probably understood this well when he had to source for the tax money from the mouth of a fish and not from anyone. It was from his regular trade and significantly from the mouth of a fish. He did not even have to take the trouble of looking for a buyer for caught fish. The money he required was patiently waiting for him in the mouth of a fish. All he had to do was catch the fish - make the effort to go where the fish was and get it out.

The four lepers who attempted to surrender to the Syrian army who besieged Samaria is a classic example of people who knew where to go seek the resources they were after. What they wanted was just around them and rather than starve to death, they chose the option of surrendering to the Syrian army. Fortunately for the lepers, the army of Syria had fled the scene of occupation and were no longer a threat to both the people of Samaria and the lepers.  Rather, their bountiful supplies which were targeted for a long siege were now the property of the people of Samaria and the four lepers.

Look Around You/Within You

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

God will never position beyond your reach what you need to succeed. That is to say that God positions your needs within your reach so that you can easily access them with ease. That way, you do not go searching in the stratosphere for what you need that is lying within your easy reach either inside of you or within you.

Hagar was in dire need of water for her son Ishmael who was about dying of thirst. But it appeared as if there was no water anywhere particularly so when they were in the desert, specifically the desert of Beersheba. So, Hagar decided to look away from her supposedly dying son. Just then God intervened and opened Hagar’s eyes; not to a skin of water, jars of water, but a well of water, more than enough water to last them for a life time so that they would no longer have to worry about the need for water to sustain them and keep them alive. God is certainly faithful as He supplies the needs, every need of His children according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Please read Genesis Chapter 21 verses 8 to 21.

The widow of the indebted prophet alongside her husband and her two sons lived in a land where other people made money and their bills. But the indebted prophet and his family never seemed to access money for their basic needs except by borrowing and unfortunately, they had come to the nadir of borrowing with the death of their father and husband. The seemingly unsympathetic creditor had an accurate record of their debts and knowing that the supposedly breadwinner who lived a life of indebtedness was gone; and so also the supposedly means of paying off the debts; the creditor sent word to Mrs. Widow that he was coming to collect her two sons for debt slavery.

Alarmed, the widow cried to Elisha for help. What financial assistance could Elisha possibly give to the widow considering that he was a prophet; and neither a farmer or business person! But Elisha had a great divine idea that would transform her life and those of her two sons. Though they had lived in that land all their lives and they had never made money, Elisha’s divine idea was about to show them how to make money, more than enough money to pay off their debts as well as own more than enough money to live on for the rest of their lives.

Master Your Emotions

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Drop dead weights. You do not need them.

People who are blessed with problem solving skills should master their emotions. They should endeavor to be in perfect control of their emotions. That is to say that their emotions should be totally handed over to God for safekeeping so that their emotions do not get in the way of service to God and humanity. That way they can and will always function effectively in the deployment of their problem solving skills to humanity.  Jesus Christ is the classic example. The Apostle Paul is also a good example. So also is Joseph. Despite the hurts from people they loved served, they continued to bless humanity by deploying their gifts for the service of humanity.

Beloved, drop dead weights. You do not need them. This is because they will either slow you down or immobilize you, especially emotional dead weights which always have an unusual capacity to ground people completely. Some emotional dead weights include resentment, envy, bitterness, hatred, jealousy, vindictiveness. You do not need any of these. Aside from blocking and hindering the free flow of the Holy Spirit in your life, they also stifle creativity by dampening your enthusiasm for life, productivity and what have you. They make you an unhappy negative person who always spews perversion; a person that people want to avoid because almost all of your utterances are loaded with sarcasm, invectives, ill will and negative utterances including curses. You will be an unpleasant person that nobody wants to stay around.

Build Bridges - The Power of Relationships

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Bridges connect communities separated by water bodies to one another and as they connect, a lot happens. Commerce blossoms, social relationships and networks are formed and sometimes, members of such communities come to depend on one another.

Beloved, you need bridges to connect. No single individual is a self sustaining island. At different points in time in life, you will always need the support of other people be they family members, friends, colleagues, neighbours, community members, citizens of your country and global citizens considering that the world has become a global village.

Unfortunately, some people do not know how to build and sustain bridges. The building of bridges may be easy especially the bridges that are easy to construct. But such bridges usually do not last as they are not durable. The durable bridges take longer time to construct and are also expensive to maintain.  To build a durable bridge that will help to sustain the numerous other bridges you will require in life, you may need to urgently reverse the present order you have been working with especially if the bridges.

How, you may ask? As simple as reciting ABC! Spend quality time with God before spending time with other people. No one is as important as God to you. Connect to and with God before connecting to other people. When you do this, you are saying that you recognize God as your helper and God is indeed your helper.

Beloved, your help comes from God and not man. Though God sometimes uses humans as channels of His divine visitation to help you, God is your helper and not humans. Joseph was helped by God and not necessarily the butler. God orchestrated the events that made Pharaoh troubled enough to seek for someone who could interpret the dreams. The wise men of Pharaoh’s court were unable to interpret the dreams. But Joseph did and effortlessly. Additionally, Joseph proffered the solution to the problems posed by the interpretation of the dreams. To start with, Joseph’s gift of interpreting dreams (finding solutions to challenges was a gift from God (Genesis Chapter 40 verse 8, 41 verse 16) and because Joseph always gave the glory of the gift to God and always used it for divine purposes, God brought Joseph before great people (Proverbs Chapters 18 verse 16; 22 verse 29, Psalm 75 verses 6 to 7. Please see also Psalms 20, 121, 124 verse 8; 2^nd Kings Chapter 6 verses 26 to 27.

Pathways to Global Influence and Impact

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Influence flows from impact while impact flows from adding value to the lives of people. Adding value to the lives of people flows from serving the purpose of God for your life because it is in serving the purpose of God for your life that you enrich the lives of the people you are called to serve. Actually, your life is also enriched as you enrich the lives of other people which explain why to a very large extent, the quality of your life is the positive impact you make on humanity.

The Biblical Joseph for instance could dream, great big dreams. But until he started interpreting dreams, he was a dreamer who was sold into slavery, a servant of Potiphar and much later a prisoner. But it was the ability to interpret dreams that took him out of prison to the palace. If Joseph had refused to speak up, to care about his fellow prisoners and refused to interpret the dreams of the baker and the butler, he would have probably died in prison, unknown and unsung. But because he deployed his gift to enhance the quality of lives of his fellow prisoners, the value of the gift was enhanced and qualified him to stand before Pharaoh so the gift could be deployed for the service of the global community of his day. Joseph ensured food security for more than seven years and became a global brand and household name.

Beloved, it is instructive that continuous deployment of your gift to serve humanity actually enhances the value of your gift. Therefore, take a quality decision today to deploy your gift for the improvement of the quality of lives of other people and be a blessing with high value gifts which qualify you to stand before kings and not mere people.