I present some nuggets from Illuminare in 2018. Enjoy!
1. In order to succeed in life you need discipline. You need to apply yourself. Without discipline you won’t achieve.
2. A very talented individual without discipline will accomplish less than a less talented person with discipline. The facts of life bear that out. You can’t be lazy if you want to succeed.
3. You didn’t come into the world tabula rasa. John 1:9. You came loaded with information and capacitation. You’re already potentiated in the natural. You’re the one holding you back.
4. The difference between failure and success is faith, application and discipline. It starts with self-belief.
5. Business success does not depend on spirituality. That’s what the Bible teaches in the Parable of Talents. Matthew 25:14-30. That’s not saying a businessman should not be spiritual. It’s just not the basis of business success, though it can help.
6. There are three things you must pay attention to as a businessman or woman: a. Planning b. Common-sense c. Facts. Proverbs 24:3-4 TLB.
7. This is a general principle – whatever you want to do sit down and plan. Think through scenarios, examine different angles, and present a logical flow. Do cost analysis. If there are issues, come up with creative solutions.
8. If you want to succeed you need to: a) Know your natural potential, acquire potential through studies b) Progress your potential. c) Get rid of cultural and religious baggages.
9. An unthinking, unquestioning and unenquiring generation of Christians is a danger to the faith and a danger to their nation. An intellectually developed generation guarantees the future of their nation.
10. There’s quantitative numbers and there’s qualitative numbers. The church needs qualitative numbers – people on fire for God, people who will dare, people who will go, people who will accomplish, against all odds.
11. Numbers don’t mean a thing without effectiveness. It’s not how big the church is, it’s the size of impact on society that matters.
12. In God’s conception of the church the pastor is a talent development agent, a human resource trainer. The pastor is supposed to train us to do the work of the ministry. Ephesians 4:11-12.
13. Caring for orphans, widows and the less privileged is an individual mandate. Doesn’t mean the church can’t run a benevolence program but God expects the individual believer to take care of the socially disadvantaged. James 1:27 NLT.
14. The casting out of demons, the healing of the sick by the laying on of hands, the preaching of the good news of salvation… These are individual mandates not pastoral mandates. Mark 16:15-18.
15. The real work is outside the church not in the church. We can’t go INTO ALL the world to preach the gospel if we stay locked up in church. The picture is that of a penetrating system that goes into the crevices, nooks and corners of society. We permeate.
16. Every Christian ought to preach the gospel. He that wins souls is wise! Proverbs 11:30.
17. The vision of God for Christianity is not a people living on the fringe of society but a people fully integrated into society, salting the nooks and crevices.
18. We’re not to separate ourselves from society, we’re to function within society as Christians and yet maintain our identity. James 1:27.
19. When we evacuate our personality in pursuit of a false definition of holiness we become hollow, lacking in confidence. Such an adventure over time drums down intelligence.
20. There’s the wrong-headed belief pastors are the only anointed, hence the popular retort, “Touch not my anointed.” 1 Chronicles 16:22, Psalm 105:15. Incidentally that phrase was used in reference to the whole of Israel. Every Christian is anointed.
21. Every Christian is supposed to preach the gospel. Every Christian can lay hands on the sick and the sick will recover. Every Christian can cast out demons. Every Christian can baptise in the Holy Spirit. Mark 16:17-18.
22. Christianity interacts with its context, solves local problems. If a miracle is needed so be it. If a hospital is needed all well and good. The Bible says medicine is good. Proverbs 17:22.
23. Christians can’t be uninterested in politics. It defeats the purport of the gospel. The gospel is about people, their material and spiritual wellbeing.
24. The inability of the church to make use of her intellectual assets has hampered the effectiveness of the church in Nigeria. The church needs to interface with government to solve the problem of poverty.
25. Righteousness is a legal and constitutional principle defining the rights of God and the essence of God. It devolved into a bill of rights as well as legal standing for us in the New Testament.
26. You’re never ever going to be good enough to qualify for salvation. The definition of sin is so thorough it encompasses sinful thoughts. It’s why salvation is a free gift. Ephesians 2:8. You’re in an impossible situation otherwise.
27. When Christians abdicate political responsibility over their nation the usurper, Satan steps in. There can be no power vacuum in a political sphere.
28. There’s a lot politicians can glean from the political template of Jesus – a tireless dedication to the lot of the people, non-self-aggrandisement, a definitive agenda, a fanatical focus on solutions. Isaiah 42.
29. God cares about the lot of the poor. He’s their defender. Psalm 140:12.
30. Education is the means by which God lifts the mass of the people out of poverty. No nation can progress without attention to health and human capacity development.
31. Faith is proprietary. You cannot contest my facts with me because they are internal to me and proprietary to me.
32. The resources of the earth belong to God. He’s the one who can bless, he’s the one who prospers, the one to approach for material prosperity. “I made Earth” he declared matter-of-factly in Isaiah 45:12.
33. Sometimes we think our inspiration in a service will come from the sermon. But then it comes from the words of a simple song.
34. Our confidence must come from God. The confidence of God must rub off on us. Exodus 3:16-18. That’s faith. In quietness and confidence lies your strength. Isaiah 30:15.
35. God allows us to define him. God will be to you what you imagine him to be. Your definition of God is determined by your personal knowledge, expectations and experience.
36. God permeates all dimensions and spheres. He is able to access the data in man’s inner recesses. There are those unspoken prayers he must answer.
37. The word of God is laser. “God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word.” Hebrews 4:12-13 MSG.
38. God abides by human convention, operates through them, uses them. He doesn’t discountenance them. Till today he abides by man’s economic system, monetary policies and trade conventions.
39. Inspiration is what turned the Bible into God’s intellectual property though written by several humans. It’s also what gives it power. That power is convertible. It can energise human situations.
40. Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. Proverbs 4:23 GNT.
41. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way. Proverbs 3:5-6 GNT.
42. Intelligence wins respect, but those who can’t be trusted are on the road to ruin. Proverbs 13:15 GNT.
43. Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. Proverbs 21:5 NLT.
44. God values trust. It means a lot to him for someone to trust him. It’s affirming for him. He rises to his creative best when there’s trust.
45. Faith is simply about trust – being able to trust God in everyday situations. God values that highly. Blind trust, no second-guessing.
46. The synergy between faith-based organisations and government for capacity development of youths has a humongous potential for Nigeria’s economy.
47. God wants us to learn the mechanics of faith. It’s quite simple actually. For faith to function you must ignore the evidence in front of you. It’s an alternative reality thing.
48. The generic tendency of mankind towards evil lends credence to the Biblical narrative of a single source code for humanity.
49. The question of the sinful STATE of mankind was what Jesus came to solve. We sin because of that sinful psychological state. Our sins progress from our nature. It’s why we struggle with sin. It’s why we’re all sinners. Our nature is the problem.
50. A strong church is one capable of negotiating from a position of strength with extant power blocks, and able to determine executive and political outcomes.
51. What we ordinarily call Bible prophecy is God creating future history.
52. Faith is some sort of certificate of occupancy, only virtual. It says you already own the asset in some alternative dimension. All you’re waiting for is manifestation in space-time. It’s time dimension that slows down manifestation.
53. Christians have two natures. There’s the nature of the first Adam and the nature of the Last Adam, Christ. The story of our lives is the titanic struggle of these two natures.
54. There’s one dimension of man we’re totally clueless about. It’s the virtual or spiritual dimension of man. Most of the ignorance about God is from the huge knowledge gap in this area. God’s connectivity with us is largely virtual.
55. The basic currency in all interactions is life. Everything we do, everything we get is traded with the currency of our life. We trade with our life all the time. We call it time. Everything we do requires time. As we spend time our life credit is depleted.
56. Our visible reality has a shelf life but invisible reality has no expiry date. There’s no time dimension. 2 Corinthians 4:18 AMP.
57. Creation is not magic it’s science. It’s why we can access and decode nature through study of science.
58. Scriptures contain layers of understanding. Each scripture contains packets of understanding. And so there are different levels of access, as well as different shades of understanding.
59. Jesus referred to himself as light. He’s the light of the world. John 8:12 KJV. That’s because he’s God’s visible spectrum – that sliver of God’s electromagnetic spectrum.
60. This is my last #Illuminare for 2018. I’ll be going on vacation with my family. I hope you have a nice holiday. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance!
The difference between failure and success is faith, application and discipline. It starts with self-belief. Click To Tweet