GODLY CHARACTER

Character is the mental or moral qualities that make a person, group, nation, etc different from others. Your character is your total description. Character itself is the accumulation of behaviors / attitudes that have become part of one over the years. It defines who you are and what you do. Whatever you are in this world, whatever might be your achievement, if you don’t have good character, you have nothing.

Character goes a long way to determine one’s influence on those around, whether positive or negative. Joshua as a case study. The life style/character of Joshua was a basic element that informed his ability to elicit obedience from his followers and fellow Jews.

We first heard of him when he helped Moses during the Exodus, when he was sent by Moses to fight against the Amalekites; a battle which he won gallantly, bringing glory to God and victory to His people (Exodus17:8-15). To have been chosen by such a friend of God for such an onerous task goes a long way to tell us how faithfully committed he would have been to the course of God. Character!!!

His positive stance along with Caleb when they were both sent with ten others to spy the land of Cannan (Num.13:8,16; 14:6-9) projected him as a man with unwavering faith in Yahweh and a visionary motivator who could spur others up to follow God’s unfailing leading. No wonder himself and Caleb were the only ones who saw the Promised Land of their age mates that left Egypt.

 

Little wonder then that he became the trusted lieutenant of Moses the great man of God so much that he eventually stepped into the shoes of the latter after the latter’s translation (Num.27:12-23; 34:17; Josh.1:1-2). God saw in Joshua a man who could lead His people to follow Him in the actualisation of His eternal programme for them. Can God say that of you? Does your antecedent show you as one who is faithfully committed to doing God’s will so much that you can motivate others to do the same?

In his adventures as the military leader of the people, we see him exhuming real confidence that is based on nothing but the impeccability of the Jehovah Elshadai.

In his exploits, we see his total commitment to obeying God’s directives. He explicitly followed God’s instructions in cases such as the battle against Jericho, Ai and other people. He even divided the land according to Divine directives. The victory that greeted the way he led the people to follow God’s directives coupled with the deceit they suffered from the Hivites of Gibeon when they failed to ask direction from God (Joshua 9:14-27) would have taught the people that continued obedience to God’s Word was the only secret of their continued victory and continued possession of the Promised Land.

His declaration in his old age, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15b) is a summary of what Joshua stood for in his life time. He saw God as the only one worthy of his worship and service.

When Joshua was exhibiting the exemplary character, he did not know to what extent he would go. He did all he could to assist his master, Moses in carrying out the divine assignment. He honour God with everything. He obeyed God to letter. He meditates day and night in God’s Word. At the end of it all he became a Master.  Are you entrusted with one position or the other? Do everything within your ability to be faithful and successful in line with the Word of God. Character can mar or make you; check your character. You didn’t make yourself to be what you are, therefore respect others.

The importance of Time

Time is the greatest asset man ever had. Time as an asset is distributed equally among humanity, the only question is, how are you spending your time? The rich, the poor, the knowledgeable, the nonentity, the young, the old, the master, the slave, etc. all have the same proportion of time. There is a saying that "time is money". I can't agree less.

According to The Bible, time is one of the first things that God created. Having the same proportion of time mentioned above has limitation. The only limitation known for now is talking about the life-span of individual. Aside this assertion, I believed we all have sixty seconds in a Minute, sixty minutes in an hour, Twenty-four hours in a day, seven days in a week and fifty-two weeks in a year. As it is in Africa, so it is in Asia, Europe, America and Australia.

Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can't make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time. It is not enough to just say relationships are important;
we must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are worthless. "My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action." Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is "T-I-M-E.

Purpose of life (1)

Purpose is an intention, an aim or a function of something. The requirements of a particular situation. Meaning or satisfaction. Purpose is the reason for existence of something in question, subject matter. Studies had shown that everything in the World are existing for different purposes. The animals, grasses, trees, sun, moon, stars etc. Biogeography, through one of its courses, EcoSystem, made it clear that the existence of one organism depends on the existence of other. In a nutshell, if an organism seizes to exist, the ripple effect might lead to total distruction of others. From the begining till now, every other creature are living for the purpose they were made.

Most of the men and women today, do not know the reason for their existence. They are living a purposeless life, no plan, no pursuit, no projection, no target, no aim. The first step of discovery is to know that you are not here on your own. Definately, somebody predetermined where you are to be. That Supreme being took some decision without your conscence or permission.
When you are to be born.
Where you are to be born.
How you are to be born.
Why you are to be born.
By whom you are to be born.

Having considered the factors above, the best person to know everything about you is your Creator. He has given you power of choice and ability to redesign your life, either in line with his purpose for your life or against it. Having done all he did, he gave you some other responsibility to cary out,
1. Find out why you were born
2. How you were born
3. When you were born
4. By whom you were born, parent.
5. Who Created you, who took those important decisions without your conceipt

From the outlines above, I belived the first step to take is to discover who the CREATOR is and get yourself acquited with him in other to be guided aright. There is no two ways about it, almost every religion in the World agreed that there is a Supreme being somewhere that is responsible for everything in the World. Without 'beating about the bush', God is responsible for your existence.
Therefore it is the wise thing for you to acknowledge him and allow him to take the Driver's seat of your life.

Ever before you were created he had you in his mind, and it is not for fun but for a purpose. Many people came in to this World, lived a purposeeful lives and exit, their memories linger till today in the mind of many people. Likewise unknowingly, they have assisted others to live purposeful lives. Jesus Christ was in this World for a purpose, he lived a purposeful life. A Scientist said, life is a stage, where everybody has to play his role and live.

How would you discover your purpose in life? When you buy a product, the only guide for you to know it usefulness is to read, understand and apply the instructions in the manufacturer manual.
Now look for your manufacturer manual. Your manufacturer manual is The Bible. Meditate on the content every now and then. Joshua was told that the secreet of success was to meditate in the Bible, day and night and apply what you read to your daily living. Jesus was successful because he lived by every word from the mouth of God, The Manufacturer.

Watchout for Part 2.

How to be Successful

HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." Albert Schweitzer.

"Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something." Morihei Ueshiba.

The first step to success is to believe oneself. Believe you can make it.
You are important
You are not a mistake, you were created for a purpose.
Now you might not be recognised.
Don't be discouraged, you are on the way to become what you are destined to become.
You must have confidence in yourself; an important key to self-confidence is preparation.
"Focused, hard work is the real key to success. Keep your eyes on the goal, and just keep taking the next step towards completing it. If you aren't sure which way to do something, do it both ways and see which works better." John Carmack.
Education is one of the important keys to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.

Discover your area of strenght, dwell on the area and develop it the more.
Find a mentor in your area of interest.
Read books about your area of interest.
Pray always about your area of interest.
Swami Vivekananda said, "Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life-
Think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body,
Be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success."

Be yourself, don't pretend to be what you are not.
If you are trying to become another person,
You are not original, but a duplicate of the original you are trying to immitate.
God created you to be the original, not duplicate, photocopy or immitation.
You are original and unique, not a photocopy.
Nobody can be exactly like you, you are unique.
Where there is will, there is way.
Think IT, pursue IT, believe IT and you will become IT.
Never should you allow fear to stop you.
FEAR is a dream killer.

It is the accronym of
F: Fake
E: Evidence
A: Appearing
R: Real

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure". Bill Cosby.

Those things that seem to be barriers are stepping stones to greatness.
Oppositions might come along the way, they are to energize you for  success.
Wake up the giant in you for great exploit.
But for the Goliath that came on the way of David, he might died a Shepherd.
But for the conspiracy of Joseph's brothers, he might be a spoilt and pampered child in his father's house.
But for the conspiracy against Daniel, he might not be favoured.
But for conspiracy against the three Hebrews, they might not be freed to serve their God.
What you are experiencing now that seems to be odd, will soon be forgotten. Every problem has it expiring date.

YOU ARE PROGRAMMED FOR GREATNESS!!!