Do Not Lose Your Identity 2

                                      Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Daniel was a very young man when he was conscripted into the court of King Nebuchadnezzar first as a trainee and later as a very important member of the court. Though Daniel outlived Nebuchadnezzar and other kings after Nebuchadnezzar such as BelShazzar, Darius the Mede and Cyrus, Daniel did not lose his identity as an Israelite. He refused to partake of the defiling delicacies of the King’s table and refused to stop praying to God even when a death sentence was issued against anyone who prayed to another god within thirty days. Daniel knew that Jehovah was and will always be God over all gods. So he ignored their threats and maintained his normal routine of communion with God. Though Daniel was eventually thrown into the den of lions, the Bible records that he was unscathed as the lions did not touch him. But when the conspirators were thrown into that same den of lions, they were immediately devoured by the lions. Please read Daniel Chapter 6. Daniel could have chosen to blend in with the people he interacted with; the people he was compelled to learn their language, culture and religion while he was in training for three years and most importantly while he was in service so he could probably be promoted. But Daniel chose to be Daniel, an obedient child of God and because he did not lose his identity, he prospered and was honored. But most importantly, Daniel’s refusal to lose his identity in obedience to God helped to entrench the worship of God in the kingdoms he served.

Do Not Lose Your Identity

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

 “Issachar is no better than a donkey   That lies stretched out between its saddlebags.  But he sees that the resting place is good And that the land is delightful. So he bends his back to carry the load and is forced to work as a slave.    Good News Translation

 “Issachar is a rawboned^[f] donkey lying down among the sheep pens.  When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor. NIV

 “Issachar is a strong donkey,    crouching between the sheepfolds.  He saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor. English Standard Version (ESV)

 Issachar is a strong donkey,lying down between the sheepfolds. He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant.… Berean Study Bible

The Bible records in Genesis Chapter 49 verse 14 that Issachar lost his identity and mission in life to a pleasant land and the supposedly rest that the pleasant land provided. Unfortunately, Issachar became a band of slaves over a period of time. Issachar who was divinely designed to provide leadership direction and influence (2^nd Chronicles Chapter 12 verse 32) sold himself and his generation to slavery. Fortunately, God showed them mercy and restored their leadership role in Israel.

The Consequences of Ignorance

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The consequences of ignorance are better not imagined. While education is said to be expensive, ignorance is even more expensive considering the unpleasant consequences of ignorance. Some of them are:

Captivity which occurs because an ignorant person or persons lack direction and lack of direction leads to captivity as in the case of the Israelites described in Isaiah Chapter 5 verse 13. They had no idea where to go and even if they had an idea of where to go, they had absolutely no idea how to get there and they ended up in captivity.

Hunger – even the honorable men amongst them who ideally should have had abundance suffered hunger because there was no food for them. Beloved, can you imagine what the commoners would suffer if their honorable men suffered hunger? Famine! This is to say that famine can be occasioned by ignorance.

Wisdom Promotes

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The God advantage is enough for you to overtake. All you need is the combination of divine wisdom, knowledge and understanding. There is a link between wisdom, knowledge and understanding (the difference between right and wrong) that helps one to make right choices); knowledge to drive out ignorance.

Wisdom is having a keen insight into life and the ways of dealing with life’s issues; an understanding of practical skills of life. It is also conduct that is orderly and morally upright. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore devote time to acquiring wisdom. The blessings of wisdom include promotion; that is being lifted above your contemporaries; honor which translates into respect; favor which translates into goodwill and preferential treatment; glory which births radiance and beauty. The pursuit of wisdom is therefore critical.

There are two kinds of wisdom, earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom (James Chapter 3 verses 13 to 18, Matthew Chapter 11 verse 19). Earthly wisdom is the natural way of doing things. One of its key attributes is that it is self seeking, envious and jealously competitive, and does not celebrate the talents and victories of others. It is always creating confusion and disorderliness. It cannot stand order. It is boastful and seeks to be recognized.

Heavenly wisdom is not dubious, has no hidden agenda and can be trusted. It is peaceable – live at peace with all men, gentle in disposition, tolerant, merciful, produces good fruits and results. It is sincere, no hypocrisy or lies.

Wisdom brings promotion that is not dependent on age, education, expertise, experience. Rather, it is dependent on God. Daniel was ten times better because he operated with the wisdom of God that God blessed him with. He received astronomical promotion.

Build and Enhance Your Capacity for Success

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Success does not fall on anyone like a bag of cherries. It is also not a catch phrase to be thrown around. Success comes by being engaged in divine purposes that are built,  enhanced and consolidated over a period of time.

Every vision or idea is a function of capacity. That is to say that capacity precedes the implementation of every idea or vision. For every assignment, there must be relevant capacity from heaven to carry out the task. This is because visions are driven on the basis of capacity and not passion. Passion is not a substitute for capacity as a lack of capacity will show up in capacity gaps as you implement your ideas or vision without adequate capacity.

A person’s capacity acquired or received is a measure of a person’s gifted ability to perform a task or assignment. Therefore, always evaluate your capacity to midwife a vision or assignment to a successful end. Have sufficient capacity before embarking on implementation. If you discover that you lack capacity, or your capacity requires strengthening then be willing to put your vision on hold until you have sufficient capacity to midwife the vision. It is a misconception to think that capacity comes with the vision. The vision comes and then you receive the capacity to implement the vision by beginning a process of capacity acquisition through capacity building and strengthening activities based on your capacity evaluation. Please see Luke Chapter 14 verse 28.