Exercise Dominion in Your Sector

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

If there is anyone that should succeed in any business, it should be you because Genesis Chapter 1 verse 26 says so. It is the will of God for you. This means that as a believer, you should be at the top because dominion is your DNA. You are made in the image of God.

There is no best business, place or profession or field. Every business has its successes and failures as well as the secrets that make certain people exercise dominion certain sectors and why some people do a sprint away from certain sectors. Your sector is your sphere of influence; an area where you authority rules. However, you require great skills and expertise to exercise dominion in your sector. If you do not have the skills and expertise, you either learn them or hire them as consultants. But most importantly, always apply the wisdom of God in whatever you do. It is the wisdom of God that will always give you the edge you need to exercise dominion in your sector. The wisdom of God is all yours for the asking if you care to – James Chapter

Additionally, and quite instructive is the need to apply yourself. While skills and expertise are great assets; skills and expertise without a corresponding grace to complete assigned tasks especially as directed will not place you at the top. If you do not complete tasks assigned to you, how then do you exercise dominion? An uncompleted building, art work or dress is never a master piece and cannot be showcased in any competition. Only completed buildings, works of art, dresses et al can be showcased and categorized as master pieces. Huram had the grace to finish tasks as directed. So also were Bezalel, Oholiab and the team of gifted artisans who worked with them – Exodus Chapter 38 verses 22 to 23, 39 verses 42 to 43.

Enhance Your Brand 3

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Grooming, cleanliness, personal hygiene, dressence, beauty enhancements, are also components of enhancing your brand. To be clean, to smell good and look good are all processes that lead up to brand enhancement. Cleanliness and dressing up are therefore critical to brand enhancement.

Esther is described as lovely and beautiful - having a good figure and beautiful face (Esther Chapter 7 verse 9) yet when she entered for the search for a queen contest, she also partook of the prescribed beauty treatments for twelve months – six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women (Esther Chapter 2 verses 3, 9 to 12, 15).

Ruth was Naomi’s daughter in-law. She came with Naomi from Moab and was gleaning to feed herself and her mother in-law. Naomi was concerned about the future of Ruth and decided to take advantage of a Jewish custom that benefited widows so Ruth could remarry within the family. So she advised Ruth on what to do.

All the while Ruth had been gleaning in the fields of Boaz, she was not properly groomed and dressed to attract the attention of Boaz in the way a potential bride should be. Therefore, Naomi instructed Ruth to shower and to be clean and free of grime, oils and sweat and dirt smells which cling and throw off  foul unpleasant smells that drive people away; apply cream that is oils to soften her skin and make her skin glow, attractive and appealing and people will want to touch and feel it; apply perfume for a more pleasant smell that will screen off any possible sweat smell after her walk to the threshing floor. Ruth was also advised to put on her best gown; dress well, dress up. Why? To enhance her brand as the best bride that Boaz could have. Already, Boaz was impressed by her devotion to Naomi as well as her care for Naomi. The additional beauty touches would be additional pleasant seasonings to an already delicious pudding.

Enhance Your Brand 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The widow of the indebted son of the prophet was a very humble person. She acknowledged their family financial situation - it was very bad, they were in debt that was long overdue for repayment and the creditor had no intention of showing mercy. He would show up at any moment to take her two sons away for debt bondage. Recognizing that such an action would further compound her situation – widowhood and losing her two sons to the creditor she acted. She cried out to God, by going to the spokesperson of God, Elisha the prophet. She told him the truth, the whole truth. She was not economical with the truth. She did not color the truth. Elisha then advised her on what to do. Again, she humbled herself and went to all her neighbors and borrowed empty vessels. She despised the shame and borrowed empty vessels in large quantities as instructed by the prophet. Thereafter, she processed and packaged the seemingly little oil for sale and that ended and destroyed the yoke of poverty in their lives.

Humility enhanced the brand of this woman, her two sons and their family from that of an indebted family to an abundantly supplied family with more than enough financial resources to live on after paying off their debts.

Please, permit me to emphasize the significance of empty vessels. The prophet Elisha instructed the widow to borrow empty vessels in large numbers after she informed the prophet that all she had was a jar of oil. The question is why empty vessels in large numbers? The empty vessels would ensure a continuous flow of the oil – expanding and multiplying the oil. In like manner, institutionalization of the grace of God in your life will always ensure a steady flow of the grace, expanding and multiplying the unction of God in your life; creating further opportunities and platforms for expansion in your life.

Enhance Your Brand 1

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

A brand is the sum total of your true worth, capabilities and influence.  This includes your contacts – all the people you know that can support your brand. Your brand is wealth worth billions if only you know what to do with the brand.

The Presence of God is what you need to enhance your brand. To start with, you did not create your brand. God created you and your brand and He alone knows how you can enhance your brand. That is why you need His Presence in your life to enhance the brand. Besides, He designed that brand in you for a purpose and therefore knows best what you need to enhance that brand to suit the divine purpose for which He created that brand in you.

Jeremiah for instance was divinely designed as a prophet unto the nations and within the makeup of a prophet unto the nations are special characteristics required to function effectively in that brand. Jeremiah obviously had to develop and perfect those characteristics over time in order to be effective in that brand. To achieve this, Jeremiah had to depend on God completely to develop and perfect the characteristics that would enhance his brand as a prophet unto the nations.

Run Away from Strife and Contention

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Contentions start with words, snowball into the strife of tongues and escalate to fisticuffs and who knows what next – sorcery as in the case of Moab, murder as in the case Cain and Abel, Joseph and his brothers, Daniel and the satraps, Haman and Mordecai.

Strife and contention are akin to thorns and weeds in a farm that pierce the plants, compete for nourishment and space for growth. Strife and contention is the same as thorns piercing the plants – daily strife and contention can erode confidence, faith and determination as well as courage, the same function thorns perform to choke out life from plants. Strife and contention can wear out your resolve to excel which explains why the best solution to strife and contention is to always walk away from the strife and contention. Like weeds, they also contend for space in your mental processes - introducing bile such as anger, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness that if not wisely and instantly thrown out can block out productive, fruitful, spiritually, physically, mentally and financially rewarding mental processes. So rather than pay attention to your field, you expend energies fighting battles you should not be fighting because you are paying attention to strife and contention.

Isaac avoided contentions. Rather than contend with the Philistines who closed up the wells dug by his father, he dug new wells and when the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen over the new wells, Isaac and his herdsmen dug other wells and when there was no more contention over the new well, Isaac named the new well ‘Rehoboth’ meaning God has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

Mind Your Business

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Know your sheep by name: carefully attend to your flocks; (Don’t take them for granted; possessions don’t last forever, you know) and then, when the crops are in and the harvest is stored in the barns, you can knit sweaters from lamb’s wool, and sell your goats for a profit; there will be plenty of milk and meat to last your family through the winter. Proverbs Chapter 27 verses 23 to 27, Message Translation

Pay attention to your fields, which is MIND YOUR BUSINESS. It is not the fields of other people that you pay attention to that will yield their strength to you. It is your fields that you mind and pay attention to that will yield their strength to you. Therefore, do not leave your fields fallow and unattended to while you mind the fields of other people. Mind your fields and pay attention to the details of your fields.  You can actually enhance your brand by minding your fields and paying attention to the details of your fields.

In Proverbs Chapter 12 verse 11, the Bible refers to the person who follows frivolity as a person devoid of understanding while a person who tills his or her land will have plenty of bread. This is further reiterated in Proverbs Chapter 28 verse 19 (plenty of bread for land tillers and poverty for those who follow frivolity).

Prepare for Tomorrow

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Everything God created exists in time and everything God created has a purpose and a season (the time frame for the implementation of that purpose). The season is the time for improvement and the time to move your life forward. When a season is missed, there is usually a problem with change. There is a correlation between time and purpose. God in His infinite wisdom gives the exact amount of time to fulfill a purpose. When the time expires, it is assumed that the purpose is fulfilled but when the purpose is not fulfilled, a person becomes a victim of change and carries over a purpose. The issue of how time is used is therefore very critical. If you are caught up in a new season with carried over purpose, it means that you mismanaged time and when time is mismanaged, purpose and destiny is mismanaged.

Time is an equal opportunity employer. Some people use it wisely while others fritter it. Unfortunately, time cannot be managed, recouped, saved or created. Rather it is our lives that can be managed to achieve divine purpose and success. People who achieve much in life are likely to be those who make efficient use of their time. Conversely is the case with those who waste time. Effective use of time correlates with purpose. What separates successful disciples of Jesus Christ is the way they use their time.

Time, a rather limited resource is a resource given for the actualization of purpose, a resource to create value and wealth. Time is effectively used when time is used to achieve divine purpose. It is therefore a colossal waste of time to pursue things contrary to divine purpose. Man lives by purpose and not instinct. Purpose is the precursor of success. What then is the value of all the ever busy you if the ever busy you is not achieving divine purpose and success.  The model of Jesus Christ teaches on how to manage time effectively.  When it came to spending time, Jesus was conscious of His purpose. Jesus used time to achieve divine purpose and that purpose guided what He did, who He spent time with and what He spent time on. Please see John Chapters 12 verse 27, 9 verse 4, 4 verse 34 and 17 verse 4. He glorified God by finishing the work He was assigned to do on earth.