The Dos and Don’ts of Seeds

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Seeds beget harvests only when they are planted. Bread begets waste. When seeds are not planted for any reason whatsoever ranging from greed, laziness, selfishness, disobedience and rebellion; seeds dry, rot and are wasted. They do not benefit anyone. They are wasted and God hates waste.

Seeds are divinely designed to be planted and not eaten or wasted on account of laziness. Please see Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 verses 1 to 6, Genesis Chapters 9 verse 22; 26 verses 12 to 14 and John Chapter 12 verse 24. Therefore, plant seeds when they should be planted and most importantly on the right soils.

Always separate seeds from bread. Every wise farmer does that. Please see Psalm 126 verses 5 to 6. Isaac planted in tears in Gerar. Why and how, you might ask? There was a famine in the land – a consequence of drought, unproductive soils yet God commanded Isaac to plant his precious seeds in that land. No wise farmer plants his seeds in a land or ground where there is drought, the ground id unproductive or has low yield. Yet, Isaac did because God commanded him to do so. The result of his obedience was overwhelming abundant harvests that made him richer than the indigenes of Gerar.

Do not despise the size of your seed as every seed has potential for greatness. Besides, the productivity of the seed does not depend on the size. A seed no matter how small always produces abundant harvest when planted. The mustard seed though small; grew into a large tree that not only accommodated the birds of the air but also produced mustards and seeds for the benefit of humanity. Please see Luke Chapter 13 verse 19. It is said that great things and achievements start with small beginnings. Please see Job Chapters 8 verse 7; 42 verse 12. The Bible also cautions against despising the day of small beginnings. Please see Zechariah Chapter 4 verses 6 to 10.

Divine Pathways to Fame 1

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of English defines fame, an uncountable noun as the state of being known and talked about by many people.

Fame comes by consistently doing the work God assigned you the way He wants you to do it, where He wants you to do it, where He wants you to do it, when He wants you to do it and for whom He wants you to do it. It is the work that is done, albeit the quality of the work that God uses to bring about the fame. It is not jumping or running around other people who are conscientiously and diligently doing their work; engaging in idle chatter and frittering time. It is investing time, God’s precious time in the work God calls you to and has taken ample time to equip you for through His divine deposits of your unique gifts, talents, skills, expertise and divine connections. It is the impact of your work that brings about transformation in the lives of people that ultimately dovetails into fame. It is true that God is the author of fame and blesses His children with fame. However, that fame comes about by doing exactly what God wants you to do. 

Fame and honor comes by doing what God requires of you in the way He wants it done, when and where He wants it done and to whom He wants it done for and not necessarily how you want it done, where and when you want it done and whom it should be done for. God is the Only One who has the capacity and capability to order your steps into fame, wealth, and honor as you walk in divine purposes and timing as you work for God, do your work as unto the Lord. Fame is a function of your total and prompt obedience to God.

Who could be more famous than Jesus Christ? Nobody. How did He become famous? By doing what God asked Him to do in the way and timing and specific places where God asked Him to do what had to be done and by reaching out to the specific people God wanted Him to reach out to. Jesus Christ did not set out to be famous – Philippians Chapter 2 verses 5 to 11. Rather, He always set out to do what God required of Him and in the process, fame and honor followed him – John Chapter 4, Mark Chapter 1 verse 28, John Chapter 9 verse 4.

Define Your Environment

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Joseph was born a five talent person - a dreamer of dreams, an interpreter of dreams and situations, blessed with the divine gift of solving problems and creating order out of chaos. Significantly, God was with him and he had divine favor.

Unfortunately for Joseph, he was born and raised in a one talent environment devoid of the nurturing processes and care to express and utilize his five talents for the actualization of divine purposes. Additionally, Joseph talked endlessly about his talents and future goals by sharing his dreams of global leadership with one talent people accustomed to one talent environments, consciousness and mentality. This attracted the envy of his brothers who did not understand then that the potentials for global leadership and greatness were not dependent on the biological position of seniority which the birthright of the first son automatically conferred on the first son as the leader of the pack of the sons. They were therefore very angry with Joseph, became very envious of him to the point of hating him and refusing to speak with him. In their one talent environment, mentality and consciousness, Joseph was cheeky and a threat to their leadership security. As time wore on and events unfolded, their hatred grew to the point where they wanted Joseph dead. But for the intervention of Reuben, Joseph would have been killed by his blood brothers simply because of their one talent mentality, consciousness and environment.  

Eventually Joseph was sold into slavery, still by his brothers. Yet Joseph never for once allowed his environment to define him. He refused to be subjected to a one talent person even in a one talent environment ruled by a one talent consciousness and mentality. Joseph treasured his five talents and allowed them to shine. In no time, Potiphar noticed and immediately acted. Joseph was promoted Chief of Staff above everyone he met in Potiphar’s house. But even then, Potiphar’s house was not the five talent environment God had for Joseph. Therefore challenges that would orchestrate his movement to the five talent environment showed up and Joseph was moved to prison. Was this promotion or demotion? Joseph again defined the environment. He did not allow prison and the unfortunate circumstances he found himself in to define him. Rather, he defined the environment, his five talents shone through and he enjoyed privileges in prison.

Do Not Excuse Your Destiny Away

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

People who give excuses at all times never admit their weaknesses; do not accept responsibility for their misdeeds and failures. Rather than acknowledge their misdeeds, sins and repent, they give excuses; play the blame game, blaming other people for their misdeeds, sins and failures.

Adam disobeyed God, ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and rather than acknowledge and accept his sin against God, he passed the blame to his wife who gave him the fruit to eat. The one billion dollar question is – could he not have said no to Eve because he did not want to disobey God? Eve on the other hand also played the blame game and passed on the blame to the serpent. Unfortunately, God does not condone blame games and refusal to acknowledge sin and acceptance for wrong behavior. He judged all three of them, Adam, Eve and the serpent. Please see Genesis Chapter 3 for details.

King Saul of Israel also attempted to play the blame game. Rather than acknowledge his sin and disobedience, he blamed his actions on pressures from the people. God judged him immediately. Please see 1^st Samuel Chapter 15 verses 1 to 30, 13 verses 1 to 14. Compared to David, Saul never acknowledged his sin and even when he did, he preferred the honor of his people to publicly repenting before God (1^st Samuel Chapter 15 verse 30). David on the other hand acknowledged his sins and asked for mercy and forgiveness from God. When confronted by Nathan, David acknowledged his sin and asked God for mercy. Please see 2^nd Samuel Chapter 12 verses 1 to 15. God forgave David when he acknowledged his sin and repented. Also, when David numbered the people of Israel against the will of God, God sent Gad to tell David what he had done and David acknowledged his sin, repented   and even begged God to heap the consequences of the sin on him and not the people (1^st Chronicles Chapter 21 verses 1 to 19).

Succeed Through God Created Opportunities

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

God designed every child of His for success and one of the ways through which God empowers His children to be successful is by creating divine opportunities for His children. Whenever God wants to bring about a change in your life, He brings about an opportunity which if utilized brings about a change in your life.  It is also significant to note that God is always creating opportunities for His children. However it is necessary to understand the types of opportunities that God brings to His children to effect changes in their lives.

Opportunity can be described as a favorable time, moment, location or set of circumstances. The purpose of opportunity is to function as an agent of change. God created opportunities on the other hand are divinely appointed times, moments, locations or set of circumstances designed to move you from point A to B in life. Significantly such moments often come disguised as challenges, appear inconsequential and if a person is not sensitive to the Spirit of God, chances are you will miss out on such opportunities. Martha, the sister of Mary missed a very significant opportunity of fellowshipping with the Lord Jesus Christ in her house because she paid attention to serving food rather than spending quality time with her Savior.