Fair Hearing in Parenting (1)

Fair Hearing in Parenting (1)

            Direct your children onto the right path,

and when they are older, they will not leave it

Fair Hearing in Parenting

Parenting is a cumbersome but at the same time an interesting assignment.  Training a child is particularly difficult unless God comes to parents’ aid. This is because children change according to the level of their development and exposure.  The rules that are effective in training children between the ages of 0 and 12 are far different from the ones that are applicable to teenagers and youths. 

And many different approaches are provided for by the Bible some of which are: ‘the rod’, advice, counseling, and so on.  Of all the instructions, the one that appeals to me most as a parent is the one that says “children obey your parents so that your days will be long in the land that the Lord has given to you” and “parents’ do not provoke your children’.

 These rules form the “equilibrium’ in the training scheme both for the children and their parents alike.  For instance, beating the children will not solve the problem if parents themselves provoke such children. 

Parents that lay bad examples for their children to follow and then beat them for committing the same offence are only provoking such children.  Parents who don’t provide for their children’s advancement in life and are blaming them for not doing well are only provoking such children.  Parents who do not give fair hearing to their children matters affecting them are not training but provoking such children.  

“They are both 17 years old so unguarded application of the ‘rod’ will surely harden rather than achieve the desired results.  So we decided to dialogue with them.  We reviewed the situations together and finally we asked them to write us essays on how they thought they could overcome their problems. In other words, we gave them fair hearing because we felt that unless we involved them in the process of resolving their issues, we cannot succeed in helping them..!”

I have noticed particularly in two of my children (one male the other female), that they have two major difficulties which are giving us parents concern. The male child had difficulties recording a breakthrough in his academics while the female has issues being slow in whatever she does such that it became worrisome to us as parents.  After thorough examinations, we observed that the two issues bordered upon time-management. The boy needs to know how to manage his time to attain effective studies that will give him academic breakthrough. The female needs to manage her time so that she will do things within reasonable time. 

They are both 17 years old so unguarded application of the ‘rod’ will surely harden rather than achieve the desired results in them.  So we decided to dialogue with them.  We reviewed the situations together and finally we asked them to write us essays on how they thought they could overcome their problems. In other words, we gave them fair hearing because we felt that unless we involved them in the process of resolving their issues, we cannot succeed in helping them! 

The two of them produced these two amazing, revealing and parent-inspiring  articles:

THE GIRL

Title: The Reasons Why a Child Should Keep to Time

There is a Yoruba adage that says’’Ilu ti ko so fin,ko si se’’ (meaning, where there’s no law, there’s no crime) .A girl-child  who is under her parents and claims to be a responsible Christian needs be wary in her ways. She should particularly be conscious of keeping to time in everything she does – time management.

She who does not keep to time leaves her parents with anxiety all the time, which is not good particularly when she calls herself a Christian. Her YES should be YES and her NO NO.  Her not keeping to time, particularly when she is sent on errand or she goes to school or church or wherever she goes gives room for dirty thoughts about her by her parents which can make  them doubt her integrity and this can create serious friction between her and her parents.

The Bible passage which says’ a bad child is of the mother, while a good child is of the father’ this implies that a bad or wayward child brings nothing but shame and disappointment to his or her parents. And as we all know’ a good name is better than silver or gold’. I as a person and a (parent to-be myself) will not like to have a child who doesn’t keep to time because it makes it hard for me as a parent to recommend such a child to any organization or anybody for that matter.

Finally, a child who is having difficulties in time keeping should be assisted by his or her parents to avoid future problems which will be accountable to the parents later in the future. I strongly believe such a child needs to be cautioned and backed up with prayers. No gender is left out in this discussion, we all need the consciousness and the Holy Spirit who the greatest teacher to teach us on time management and so help us God

I think with this little I have written, I have been able to list the little but few problems that bring about doubt and dishonesty between parents and their children. (to be continued tomorrow)

Playing Religion?

Playing Religion?

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of

 wisdom but fools despise it

Prov. 1:7

I am very conscious of the fact that among Daily Energiser readers are people of diverse faiths.  They may love the messages but if they could they would have asked me to quote less from the Bible and just make my statements and leave.   

I tried to do this at the inception of Daily Energiser.  However at a stage, I realised that  my writings are vastly influenced by what God has said on any topic. So I decided to acknowledge the Owner of the inspirations as well as His words which I think is what we do even in our secular intellectual property community.

However, this is not to say I am concerned only with my fellow Christians.  Far from it!.  My thinking is that those who are seeking after WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING based on the truth do not play religion.  Playing religion does not save anybody.  Rather, it breeds discrimination and vain arguments.  But the truth that one knows sets one free! 

Let’s be frank to ourselves.  It does not matter which religion one belongs, the fact remains that what God says concerning all issues of life has universal application to us all e.g. Prov. 6:32 says: “But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself.” This statement is a universal truth for all men as it does not matter which religion they belong.  Also the verse quoted on top of this document on the fear of the Lord is relevant to all.  Likewise God’s statement concerning the danger in engaging in alcoholism!  Therefore to apply play religion and reject these statements is to lose treasures that would have enhanced one’s life as a Wisdom and Knowledge seeker.

Even when I introduce readers to Jesus Christ in my write up, I do it for the sole purpose of love, not religion.  I am offering to them a product I have tasted, tested and found to be an effective antidote to the cure illnesses that may be plaguing them whether in their health, career, marriage, parenting, retirement and of course the only antidote against the fear of death even in old age and a guarantee for living an everlasting life after this world.  If I love my friends, I could not have come across such potent ‘drug’ and keep it to myself!  If not for Christ, who would have made my life which was pre-programmed to fail by Satan to succeed the way it is doing and who would have given me the heart of self-less service to fellow human beings?

I therefore humbly implore all readers of Daily Energiser world-wide, irrespective of their religious biases, never to play religion for the “Fear of the Lord” is of universal application as only those who fear the Lord can do what is right and just to their fellow men.  Good morning.

To Weed off Temptations, market this product

To Weed off Temptations, market this product

"My People Perish from lack of Knowledge"

Hosea 4:6

At any point in our lives we are prone to temptations!  Male children below the age of 12 years are particularly prone to telling lies, falling prey to peer pressure, petty stealling etc.  By the time they are in their teenage years, then such highly destructive temptations as fornication, stubbornness, laziness, and drug addiction, alochol, excessive anger, etc are added to their stock of temptations. In their schools, examination malpractice is added and it is at this stage also that running a rat race for money through get-rich-quick or looking for quick gains through all sorts of gamblings is added. 

As a result of the above and many other unlisted temptations, many young persons never get to tertiary institutions but even when some of them abandon Godliness and substitute it for cultism!  Some survive it some perish therein but the temptation is always there and only the ones that have their heads remain calm, consistent and succeed.

When we get to career levels, it's a different kettle of fish (or temptations) entirely.  Workers who have worked hard believe they are entitled to 'enjoy' their lives and there are many ways to do this.  This brings them to the temptation of going for luxury (e.g. womanising, alcoholism, peppersoup joints, nite clubs where girls pose nude, drug addiction, , etc)  at the expense of Godliness.  Some want to play the fast one by exploiting others financially or sexually. 

Some go straight for outright  emptying of their employer's treasury.  Some in pursuit of promotion must visit God-forbiding people as sorcerers, ritual killers, etc.  Some must, with their hands, hearts and minds destroy their fellow men in order to attain the promotions they desire. They  quote such powerful bibilical statements as "from the day of John the Baptist, the Kingdom of God suffereth violence and only the violent takes it by force", to justify their distatardly acts. Some are so greedy as to use their positions to cause pains to anyone who crosses their paths!

At marriage their marriage levels, the temptations are their for men to become unloving, arrogant, careless and women beater and aggressors.  The women are tempted to struggle leadership title with their husbands!  A couple may be tempted to cheat on one another yet they appear and profess to themselves as 'faithfuls'!  At this stage some women entrust their loyalties to their friends, sisters, parents, etc instead of their husbands.  Some men, are more attached to their parents, especially their mothers than their wives!  All these are temptations.

How we all avoid these temptations or at least reduce their pressures on us?  I have a product which I believe you need to purchase (if you have not), use and then market to others.  This product is particularly useful for all ilnesses or (TEMPTATIONS), irrespective your your stage in life.  A young girl-student who is being offered dangerous advances can sell this product to weaken and save the nuances of the dangerous 'bees' that surround her. The married man can apply this product to manage his home, career, children, attract true wealth, and so on.  A woman who purchases use, and market this product will have no diffculty suceeding in all fronts be it career, marriage, business, etc. 

What is this product?  It is JESUS CHRIST who has come to save us from all the temptations we are all facing.  An active knowledge of him and a dilligent propagation of his gospel is capable of saving  us from many temptations of our lives for Prov. 1:7 says "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; fools jettison it". 

Because the knowledge of Christ is the antidote for recognising, hating and warding off all sorts of temptations (unGodliness) that faces us all round, he will surely save "whoever comes to him".  For instance a young girl who knows Christ very well and is determined to sell  Him to wayword boys cannot be won by such wayward boys but she will use her beauty (blossoming appearance which is a bait for the infatuated boys and men alike)  to lure them into Christ or discourge them from destroying her destiny.  This way, she will save the boys and save herself. 

A man with the knowledge of Christ will know what the Bible says about the many luxuries of the world that stare him in the face and be more capable of avoiding rather than engaging himself in them.  This way he will save himself and his household.

I therefore recommend this precious product to you all, my readers.   Will you market Christ?   I urge you to do. Happy Easter!

Broken? Want to End it All? Don't!

Broken? Want to End it All? Don't!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son 

that whosoever believes Him should not perisih but have everlasting life"

Are you overwhelmed?  Whatever the cause, that should not be allowed to determine whether you will live or not.  You don't know how precious you are to God as a living soul!    God is not interested in your death.  He has paid that price on the cross of Calvary as explained in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son for whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life".  

This is the point at which God Almighty demonstrated the peak of His love for us all.  It caused God pains to redeem us.  Therefore when He sees you passing through a painful period, He is not happy because he is not interested in your 'rushing' back to Him.  Rather he wants you to live your life to the fullest, fulfilled and happy.  That is what glorifies Him and that is what delights Him for only a living soul can praise the Lord more so that He is not a God of the dead.

Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy.  First he will still your joy either by exposing you to something disgraceful. That is where you find a Pastor divorcing his wife, committing adultery, stealing church funds, engaging in homo-sexuality, etc. After doing that Satan would have succeeded in killing him spiritually first.  Then he will continue to misbehave until he is killed physically by either committing suicide or even committing murder so that there will be more than one deaths.  After doing these, then when the Pastor is out of existence, then all his good works, his promising destiny and the glory of God that had radiated around him are completely destroyed!

No situation in this world should be so bad as to cause you to ever give a thought to killing yourself!  If you do, it means you are far away from God whereas God is nearer to you than anyone else.  Are you a murderer, an adulterer, a prostitute, or are you born out of wedlock and is causing you shame?  Have you embezzled your organisation's money and are being chased about by EFCC, ICPC, etc.  Are you bankrupt?  Or you owe people here and there such that you can no longer walk tall in the streets in broad day light?   Are you a born-again student yet you are failing your examinations and is causing you shame?  Are you faithful to your husband and he is repaying you with beatings?  Is your wife causing you shame?  Is your husband a disgrace? Is your child so bad that you wish he is dead to cover your shame?   Have you had sexual relationship with more than one man, got impregnated and the two men denied paternity and is causing you shame?  Have you snatched your supposed friend's husband or wife and the shame is torturing you?  Is your case outside all these situations but all the same, more shameful?

I bet you, yes it may weary and break you down psychologically, yet  none of them is enough to terminate your life because Jesus has taken away all these sorrows.  And that is the essence of Easter in our lives.

Today, if only you will take a bold step, go to any Bible believing Church, confess your sins to JESUS (not to the Pastor!), accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Saviour, you will be completely out of the bondage. All the   

evil contemplation of 'ending everything' about your life will fizzle out and you will become a new person and your life will blossom again. Good morning. 

Quit Before You Are

Ordered to do So!

It’s so nice to be dependent! Everyone of us passed through that stage before we become independent. Fending for oneself is a major challenge. It means no work, no food, no clothing, no shelter, no marriage and so on.

When the time to quit comes, a child who is sought after by the parents to support him will suddenly discover that the parents bothers less about their welfare any longer. Indeed the parents will now expect the child to fend for himself. The child who is unprepared for this ‘promotion’ becomes psychologically disturbed, feels unloved, displays anger, and most often withdraws to himself.

It is a universal law that at one point in life everyone must account for his or her own sustenance. Therefore the earlier we begin to let our children realise it the better so that they will not fight us when the time comes. Indeed we can help them to smoothly transform to their new life if we have educated them well ahead of time before the time comes. Trying to prepare his children for this inevitable challenge, the writer had prepared his children’s minds to quit anytime from age 25! This is to enable them know that they are not going to be dependent for ever and that plan is fast working out now, even before they attained that age.

The benefit of this is simply that as they grow older, they become more and more conscious of the fact that sooner or later, they must become independent! So both children and parents are at peace with one another when it begun to happen.

When parents give their children the impression that they would continue to depend upon them, they have succeeded in making such children unprepared for the challenges ahead of them. Therefore it is important we let our children know their possible exit day well in advance so they can work towards being independent without tears.

This is also an opportunity to address those who are dependent upon others for every bit of their needs in the name of asking for a help. Help should be specific, time-driven and should have expiry date. Put yourself in the position of the person you depend upon and ask yourself if you would like to find yourself being dependent upon throughout your life-time. If the answer is no, it’s time you let the other person rest too by being on your own. Not only that you should not forget to promote yourself to the position of a helper too by singling out some people for help! By the way, don’t wait until you are asked to quit before you do so!

Good morning.

The Root Cause of Broken Marriages

The Root Cause of

Broken Marriages 

"And the Lord God said,

it is not good that the man should be ALONE: 

I will make him an help meet for him.". Gen. 2:18

Marriage should be for life. God instituted it for the fundamental purpose of giving the man companionship.  We are therefore social beings.  It is very difficult especially for a man to survive on his own without a woman companion. He will be idle and an idle man is the devil's workshop. 

No matter how we look at it, loneliness is the single most fundamental primary cause of broken marriages.  It was during the brief period of loneliness that Satan approached Eve, enticed her with something sweet and brought her low.  If Adam was around he would not have succeeded because the two together, would have been able to resist him.  Satan therefore capitalised on the 'softness of a woman's heart'.  We all influence ourselves of course.  No wonder it did not take time for Eve, being the closest person to Adam to bring him down thinking she was helping him. 

Sarah, in her private time, hatched an idea for Abraham to bring forth children from Haggai.  And Abraham brought forth Ishmael! 

Marriages that eventually break down do so usually within a period of a couple remaining incommunicado and gradually they separate themselves in the spirit and subsequently in the physical.  Then comes loneliness.  A man would begin to explore the alternatives in his privacy while the woman begins to feel insecured and  would seek counsel from the so-called 'confidants' on how to steer the sheep of her life.  Somewhere in between, both the man and the woman begin to see in more details some 'opposite-sex friends' either in their social or official lives and begin to give some thoughts to their emotional attachment.  The men may even stray into alcohol, smoking, etc to ward of some lonely moments. 

The longer they are apart, the wider the gulf and finally, they consider formal separation which will eventually accellerate the pace of their loneliness and inability to resist other temptations because a sudden 'freedom' has been gained.   A reasonable period of physical separation is one of the fundamental ingredients that the courts will consider in any divorce proceeding before granting it. So it has to be that there's clear evidence of a period of loneliness.

How can couples break the jinx of loneliness?  It is simple but most neglected. Closeness!  Couples ought to relate as babies who are always fund of themselves.  They ought to play together, talk together, eat together, walk together, pray together, wine together, dine together or glue together as children will.  More importantly, they ought to go move together as much as is humanly possible.

Moving together should however not be an instrument to monitor or police one another.  That is jealousy, another patently dangerous factor that tears rather than unite a couple.  However the benefit of a couple moving (or even travelling) together is that such closeness or presence before one another almost all the time helps to ward of either of them from being tempted.  And this is the most potent instrument for fostering cohesion between a husband and wife.  Because they are always close, there will be more understanding fostered through unending discussions, there will be prevention of 'straying eyes' common to men. 

Therefore for any marriage to succeed, the monster called LONELINESS must be totally banished from the family. Are you far from your husband or wife?  Beware! You may be courting divorce!  Beware!   Mike Murdock the Great Minister of God and Gospel Singer has this to say on a couple staying apart "Don't let it happen in your marriage. Stay together at all times.... you're defeating the whole purpose of marriage when you are apart!"  Good morning.

Vanity Upon Vanity!

All Is Vanity!

 "Everything is meaningless,”

says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”

Eccl. 12:8

If anybody doubts the contents of the Bible, then that person is off all people, most foolish!  If King Solomon experienced what he did and wrote what he wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes as far back as he did, then there's something in this Bible that makes it unique above all other books!  For instance all man's total existence dances around the provisions of this great book. 

For instance, if you so love luxuries of life eg. women, wealth, alcohol,  and so on, or you are tired of serving a living God and want to try other gods, King Solomon has a poser for you - to let you know that having dwelt in them all, it is all MEANINGLESS.  

The Bible roundly condemn such acts of indecency and moral bankcruptcy called "adultery".  From Genesis to beyond Revelation i.e. our own daily lives today, we all actively involve ourselves in it either physically or in our minds.  King Solomon did it intrinsically and extrinsically.  Before he physically took his 300 wives and 700 concubines to bed, he must have done so in his heart.  He must have taken some other thousands of women to bed in his heart outside the ones he was 'bold' enough (just as many of us - foolish people  - are today) even though we feel guilty in our hearts that we do it.  It is foolish.  It makes us feel guilty, yet we cannot resist it!

Then comes alcohol, Kings Solomon brewed the best of wine - my late mother would call it 'otin, otin' (undiluted, original wine right from its source!).  He came back to tell us he regretted it all. 

We want to serve God through lesser gods because the invisibility of the Omnipotent God tends to give us some elements of uncertainty.  Yet the Bible says, 'those who serve them are like them', "with eyes, but cannot see,  with legs but cannot walk, with mouths but cannot speak'.  Does that prevent us from worshipping them?  Another foolishness!

The Bible tells us to pursue one most important pursuit of life - the Kingdom of God - and that God will give us our hearts' desires as 'additionals'.  But today if you see a fluorishing church, majority of worshipers there have not come to serve God but go there to receive miraculous breakthroughs such as money, healing, prosperity, etc thereby playing down 'righteousness' and holiness that is most important to God.

The one that particularly is particulary tempting is the pursuit of money!  The Bible say's 'there's no end to pusuing money, but wise people knows where to stop'.  Yet we pursue it to the point that we forget God only to discover sometimes during our life times that it is meaningless because it doesn't particularly make us joyful even when possessed!

Why don't we all do a rethink of our ways?  We've tried pursuing money, wealth, etc but they've all given us pains instead of pleasure, thereby makingour lives meaningless!  Then why then don't for once, try God and make our lives meaningful!  Good morning.

Disclose It!

Disclose It!

Their mouths are full of lies;

they swear to tell the truth, but they lie instead..

Psalm 144:8

In order to gain more benefits, human beings are in the habit of never disclosing what they already possess, especially to those whom they expect to bless them. A debtor is more inclined to sing aloud to his creditor when his or her salary is not paid as a basis to appeal to the creditor to bear with them. But the moment they are paid, the creditor has to be the one to confront them with the fact to back up their demands for their money.

Children hide from their parents whatever gift is given to them so as not to reduce their allowances. Husbands feeling insecure in their wives’ hands hide their pay slips or income details from their wives. Some wives, in order to feel secured have amassed hidden wealth that their husbands must never know about.

Some lecturers who have deliberately marked down their target students will frown at such students calling for their scripts for the purposes of ascertaining their true performance.

Employers, wanting to maximise their profit, will rather amplify the areas of failures of business than the ones that will bring rewards to their employees who have done well or pay the right tax to Government.

Indeed experience has shown that in order for their black colleagues not to agitate for more pay, some reputable international organisations have developed separate reward systems and payrolls for their black as well as white employees!

For purposes of evading tax, some Churches that engage in profit-yielding ventures would still want to be seen as charitable or non-profit making bodies thereby failing to disclose the aspect of the church ventures that actually make profits that are liable to taxation.

Many desperate Governors who stole their ways into office would rather born the authentic ballot papers so that they will not nullify is stolen mandate at the Election Tribunal.

These are the typical examples of the true nature of man. He will do anything to protect his selfish interests. He’s not bothered whether the other man is hurt or not. That is why it is very difficult for many to become Christians they desire to be because they have something to hide.

Christianity demands that there is total transparency, honesty, equity and justice. But the world system demands ‘maximisation of personal gains’, whether at the detriment of others does not matter. That’s why a debtor who does not want to pay what he owes will rather engage a smart Lawyer to enforce the notorious six-month silence which makes his debt statute-barred! Equity and Christianity will not take that for a man who is owing must pay (even with interest!) unless the creditor voluntarily forgives him.

That is the dilemma with man. Dishonesty! That’s why nobody trusts the another. This ugly situation occurs simply because of the gains we stand to make. That’s why the world may truly know no peace because those cheated will always react when discovered, if only to assert their God-given rights!

Dear reader, check yourself. What are you hiding that should not be hidden? Disclose them today. Good morning.

Sensitivity to Other People’s Feelings

Sensitivity to Other 

People’s Feelings

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘….you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’* 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’* No other commandment is greater than these.”

Matt. 12:29-31

When the writer was very young – under the age of 10 years, he saw his home as the only home in the world i.e. best in everything, particularly as far as love is concerned. The next door’s neighbours, as far as he was concerned could not have been as nice as the people in his own home were.  The day he was asked for the first time in his primary school days to pair with a girl was a sad day for him simply because a very dark, robust and promising girl from an entirely different background had the misfortune of being paired with him.  He hated her to his bone marrows and the charcoal black complexion she wore only worsened the matter.  He had to sit dis-comfortably far away from the fine by God but ‘ugly’ by him promising and innocent girl.  He had to demarcate the internal locker so her books would not touch his!  When he looks back today he is full of apologies for the unlucky girl in absentia while asking God for forgiveness for he knew not what he was doing then.  He thanks God for that compulsory opportunity to ‘forcefully’ mix with other people, otherwise he probably would have continued with his negative belief that every other home is a strange place till his adulthood!  He was only sensitive to his immediate environment. Perhaps he wouldn’t have been happily married as he is today.  

Again, it was only after he had come of age, after he had interacted with other families as well as people from all walks of life especially fellow students in various schools, colleagues in the office, members of his spiritual family in the churches he had attended, members of professional and social clubs, etc or those he met in various parts of Nigeria and abroad, that he understood that there are many other families as loving as his. 

Even after surmounting the home front, be graduated to the ‘tribe’ setting where he felt it was only his own Tribe that was the best and no more.  Indeed as a result of this but for ‘let me give it a trial’ syndrome, he would have lost an opportunity to live with one of the persons who contributed immensely to his success in life.  Why?  Simply because his friend, as far as he was concerned, was a ‘foreigner’ so he did not believe that anything good could come from any other tribe other than his own!  (for full details of this: please click here (Chapter 17 – I meet Mr. ...Tombri”).  Thank God, he took ‘the risk’ and he discovered that there are other tribes that are as good as his.

Our lives would have been better if only we can think beyond ourselves by realising that other persons can be as good, kind and loving as we are and therefore socialise with them to tap the benefits that God had deposited in them while they too tap into the ones deposited in us for them.  Are you like this writer in his former nature or in his ‘born-again’ nature?  Consider the latter because that’s the only one that can benefit you.  Good morning

ATTITUDES TO LIFE

Our success in life is a function of our attitude towards it.  For instance there are only two paths to follow to attain one's destiny or thwart it.  One can follow the positive path which believes that all good things are attainable.  The other is the negative path which is sceptical about attaining any height in life.

Those who believe in the positive path are those who from when they were young believe that there is more to life than dining and wining.  They are the people who believe they must leave this world better than they have met it.  They are the people who would identify a particular beneficial cause in human endeavours and pursue it until their names ring bell to the entire world.  Barak Obama would have remained like many other blacks who were sceptical about the possibility of a black man becoming American President, therefore, would have never attained that office.  But, yes, sensitive to his skin, the positive force in him kept him going even when the possibility of attaining the height of a Senator talkless of a President logically appeared uncertain.  The same drive to make a difference fired him on even when there was no money to pursue his ambition.  Two major causes Obama identified as needing his contributions to the American populace are in the areas of health and finding alternative source to fuel supply in America and, maybe his third focus is that America was not smart enough by investing so much in fuel-uneconomical vehicles!

He drove these ideas through his thin and is now driving it in his thick days.  Only last week, he succeeded in pushing through his ambition to revolutionalize the health sector by signing into law the enabling law.  His positive attitude towards this goal did not come when he became a Senator or a President of America.  It was a dream he held when he was very poor and a no-body in the society but which he held on tenaciously to that time and chance might one day bring the fortune of pushing it through his way.  Today, skin colour nothwithstanding,  that time has come and he is pushing it and will eventually be remembered for it as a legacy he is giving to America. !

Those on the negative side are those who dream no dreams not have visions they are pursuing. They are quick at believing that nothing works. They believe that unless you know somebody somewhere, you cannot make progress forgetting that that somebody they looked up to drove their visions before the can be sought after. 

This is still very prevalent in Africa where nobody dies a natural death - someone (nay, visionless, jobless, people like their idle selves) somewhere or the invisibles like the  witches or wizards or all forms  of spiritual principalities,  must have killed him or her. They are quick at giving spiritual rather than scientific analysis to every issue and are very quick at sacrificing rational thinking to spiritual explanations.   

What is important on both sides of this coin is that our attitude dictates who we eventually are in life.  Those who develop negative attitudes will reap the fruit of negativity while those who develop positive attitude will equally reap the benefit of such.

What's your attitude to life?  You are sure to reap the reward attached to it! 

You Are The Head

"If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom." 

There are many promises in the Bible.  But Deut. 28:13 quoted above stands out.  When a student is scoring less than 'A' in all his subjects, he is living below the mark.  When a person's career is not prospering, that person is living below the mark.  When a couple is barren, that couple is living below the mark.  When parents and children do not see eye-to-eye, that family is living below the mark. When a worker at 60 years retires unhappily because his loans outweighs his final entitlements, that person has lived below the mark.  When a Pastor divorces his wife, he has lived below the mark. When the head of the family is handicapped financially, morally and intellectually to perform his expected roles in the family he's living below the mark.

When a businessman has to bribe before he gets a contract and bribe his way to get his invoice paid, that person is living below God's standard.  In all situations, the truth is that we are responsible for all the misfortunes that befall us!

How then does one hit the mark?   Wisdom!  We must apply wisdom in everything we do by realistically questioning our actions.   Let's take a student who is not doing well, he has to question how well he applies himself to his studies.  A man who retires at 60 whose entitlements were swallowed by loans has committed the serious error of mortgaging his future in his hey days.  A marriage that fails may have been founded upon a "incompatibility" or carelessness even where the couples are compatible.  Research has shown that many of the loans that led people to problems are taken for wasteful purposes such as socials or purchase of wasteful assets!

If those involved had questioned the essence of such loans, perhaps they would have succeeded in living below their means.

It therefore behoves on us that we should not take God's promises for granted.  If we foolishly handle them, they will not manifest the good intentions of God for us.

The Wet and The Dry Seasons of Life

Just as there are majorly the Wet and the Dry Seasons in every Calendar Year, so it is in our personal lives.  During the wet season of our lives, favour is abound, whatever we lay our hands upon flourishes, we are happy and at the same time joyful.  It would appear that nothing nothing in this world can shake us.   Everybody becomes our friend!

But when the dry season comes, favour is withdrawn.  Whatever one lays his or her hands upon resists.  Otherwise brilliant students surprisingly begin to fail their examinations; those who are working are threatened with uncertainties or even direct attack by their fellow senior colleagues who ought to encourage them.  Those in marital relationship lose their joy and face turbulence instead.  Children become disobedient to their parents; parents question God's existence.  A good example of a dry season in the investment world was the Financial Institutions Crash and the Stock Market Failures in the last 2 years or so, all of which turned experts to fools! Or when job, after many years of celebrating excellence suddenly became a failure and a confused man!

I don't know what season you are facing in your own life.  But one thing is this, even if the whole world rejects us, God is always with us both in the Wet and Dry Seasons. That is why whether you are in a dry or wet season, you must attach yourself to God.  He amply demonstrated this in the life of Job and is still doing it today. 

Struggling with God?

"Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.."  Eccl. 6:10

Life is such that unless we truly succumb to God's direction, it can be easily wasted.  Let's take an example, the moment a bird is caught and caged by the catcher, the destiny of that bird is in the hands of who has caught it.  For instance, he can feed or starve it to death, its movember is limited within the cage, the kind of food it eats is limited to the menu supplied by the catcher.  The bird loses total freedom and is confined within the cage.

So it is with us.  I have tried to think around the question:  WHO is man?  But the answer I find is that man is nothing except God makes him something. That's the whole truth.  For us to become something, then we must cling to that God.  Arguing or struggling with him is an effort in futility.



Therefore, no matter what you face today, the only way out for you is to cling to God for solution.  He owns you. He moulded you.  Therefore he holds the key to your destiny.

Apply Wisdom to Your spiritual Calling

Apply Wisdom to Your spiritual Calling

God can use anybody for His purpose.  Indeed the whole essence of our creation is for His purpose and pleasure.  Many people are called to serve God full time by becoming  full time Ministers or Pastors.  Many are called to serve on part time by concentrating upon their secular works and participating actively in spiritual matters on part-time basis while they earn their living.  Again, many people are called to serve God through their secular activities such  as their career, talents, etc.

In all these situations, God does not like lazy people.  No one can hide under the cloak of being called by God to serve Him on full-time basis and therefore jettison their secular callings.  Eli was a full time Minister who failed in the home front.   You can therefore not be so spiritual as to abandon your secular responsibilities to your family, community and indeed, the world at large.  I marvel when I see especially  young people saying that God has called them to serve Him on full time basis and who have in the process abandoned their schools or careers or professions and stayed glued in the church.  The end up becoming gossipers who will meddle in the affairs of others.  Why because in their private lives, they are idle. They will see false visions.  They will go from house to house soliciting to pray for people.  They will depend upon unwary  people to supply their needs.  Paul admonishes Christians to beware of them.  Hear him in 2 Thes. 3:11-12: 

 Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living.

So if God calls you to a full time ministry, apply wisdom, practice your profession on part-time basis.  If He calls you to a part-time Ministry, then practise your profession full time.  Either way, you must earn a living to feed yourself and your family and give to your community what is due them through you!   

If you notice people who want to hide under the cloak of full-time ministry in your church to depend on you for sustenance in the name of frequenting your house to pray for you or always seeing visions for you, don't give them anything.  Instead tell them to go and work. 

You can be hypnotised too!

"On my way home, the spirit of God started to reveal pieces of wisdom to me.  First, He referred me to the book of Mark:8.36 which says, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” (MKJV)  Then I recalled another Bible passage about the fact that it is only “God that blesses and adds no sorrow to it...”.

If you are without knowledge, you can be easily fooled without remedy.  But if you are knowledgeable, attempts will be made to fool you but your knowledge will set you free. Below is the writer's  personal experience in this regard :

"...About two years later, on my way from school one afternoon, I sighted Alhaji on the other side of  Bolade Bus Stop and hailed him. He was very glad to see me again and immediately invited me to his new house.  I obliged him and we arrived at a one-storied building in a street not far away from the point of our recent meeting.  We then climbed upstairs and he opened the door leading into the sitting room where he welcomed me.

       But it was not a normal sitting room because it was filled with some very voluminous Arabic Books, a mat, a huge bowl filled with beach sand, a row of assorted perfumes and all sorts of other things that conjured bizarre thoughts within me!

       I was indeed shocked but I kept quiet even in the realization that I was in for some trouble. Alhaji seemed to discern my uneasiness and tried to allay my growing fears.  He assured me that as a father, he would only want to help me.  He boasted of big names he had already helped to became rich in life.  He dropped such names as the Abiolas, the Dantatas and a host of other very prominent people in the society.

       Then he requested for some money to buy some perfumes with which he wanted to do something for me.  At this point, I was no longer myself.  I plaintively informed him that I was in fact looking for my school fees and that I had little or nothing on me.  However, I searched my pockets and found a little amount which was just enough to buy the perfumes. Painfully, I gave it to Alhaji. He opened one of his stock of perfumes and poured its contents into my palms.  He advised me to rub the liquid on my face, hands and body.  I did as he commanded willy nilly.

       Next, he took out one of the big Arabic books, tore off a piece of a plain sheet of paper, folded it and enclosed it between the pages of the book. He then asked me to kneel down and pray for whatever I wanted. I prayed my desires, albeit, in Jesus' name.  To him, the mode and language of the prayer did not matter.

       After my prayers, he opened the book and brought out the same plain sheet of paper he had inserted into the Arabic book in my presence.  Lo and behold, the paper replicated everything I had uttered in my silent prayers  in black and white!  It was in very beautiful scripting and in my actual words!  Besides, on the same page metamorphorsed a beautiful talismanic ring. A detail of the magical facsimile informed me that all I requested had been granted. The actual requests were spelt out.  I had no problem with that verisimilitude because I had prayed in Jesus' name.

But these disclosures were shackled with conditions and claims I must accept in my life thenceforth following God's favours I had apparently been granted. It was at this point that the knowledge of the word of God concerning temptations quickly came to my mind to rescue me!

       The first condition was that I should thereafter regard Alhaji as my god and that his words would be binding on me. I would worship his spirit too. 

       My immediate spiritual reaction was a silent recitation of the Bible passage in Exodus 20:3 which states: “You shall have no other gods before me”.  So I stood on the ground that the demand of this so-called spirit negated the will of God in Exodus 20.5, which says, “You shall not bow yourself down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God..”

       The next hurdle was the claim of the devil-writer that he was a spirit in the River Mississipi (USA).  My canceling reaction: the claim ran counter to Exo. 20:4 which says: “You shall not make to yourselves any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth, or that is in the water under the earth.”

Condition 3.  I was required to provide a ram for a sacrifice that would be carried out in the night at the Bar Beach, Lagos.

       My reaction:  Sacrifices belonged to the Old Testament times. Jesus Christ has completed every form of sacrifice we needed to perform with his blood. In the Book of Jn. 19:30, the Lord Jesus says, “it is finished!” (MKJV)

Condition 4.  The miracle ring that sprung out of the process would be released to me to wear protectively always.  This requirement was contrary to church practice where only marital rings were worn.  Besides, I was too visible as a member of the Choir to be seen suddenly to be wearing a peculiar ring. How would I explain it to my Pastor and fellow choristers?

       As I ruminated, the Alhaji was exhorting me to take advantage of the 'golden' opportunity, otherwise, I would risk sudden death.

Poverty Sets Me Free!

      

       For once, my enemy seemed to be in agreement with me!  This is because my escape route lay in the fact that I had no immediate financial capacity to carry out other concomitant requirements to fit into Alhaji's coven of converts, and I told him so.  But he urged me to go to wherever I could raise the money and assured me that, in no time, I would be able to repay it.

       As my self-assurance returned, I took the window of opportunity that this opened and agreed to go look for the required money, promising to return later to accomplish the final initiation!

       On my way home, the spirit of God started to reveal pieces of wisdom to me.  First, He referred me to the book of Mark:8.36 which says, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” (MKJV)  Then I recalled another Bible passage about the fact that it is only “God that blesses and adds no sorrow to it”.

       Then the Spirit reminded me of my past covenants with God (truly I had some, many of which were surprisingly also re-echoed in the magic letter!) and of how God had consistently helped me.  Why should I then suddenly turn against Him?  Besides, I should review the life of the Alhaji himself. If he was as capable as he then claimed, why was he unable to have babies from his first wife?

       With such resurgent thoughts, I was sure that I did not need Alhaji's help for what God wanted me to become in life.

       But the threat of sudden death, should I fail to go back to Alhaji, still nagged me!   Although I was then not conversant with Psa. 118:17 which says “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord” (MKJV), I resorted to Esther's courageous and defiant spirit: “if I perish, I perish” (Est. 4:16) (MKJV).  And I never went back to Alhaji,  the agent of the Devil!

       In the spirit and aftermath of the foregoing encounter, I wish to commend Jesus Christ to  my readers who are yet to accept Him as their personal Lord and saviour to do so because only He can see us through the temptations of life and lead us to fulfill our God-ordained destiny. To have a foreknowledge of the word is to be battle-ready at all times. 

Culled from "Better Tomorrow"  (Chapter 19) by Yemi Omogboyega

My Country, A Friend or A Foe?

There's nothing I laid my hands upon that Nigeria has not done everything within her capacity to frustrate, including the efforts at aimed regularly posting  this Daily Energiser to encourage fellow citizens of the world to be positive-minded. 

I am a Nigerian and am contented to be because God does not make mistakes in whatever He does.  

Nigeria is good, just as no single segment of planet world is itself bad because whatever God does is perfect.  From my younger years till now, going to 53 years of age, I still continue to wonder if Nigeria is not the biblical land of Canaan which flows with milk and honey. 

Every GOOD parent caters for their children at least so that the latter's lives can be better than the former.  Good parents realise that life should unnegotiably be better for their off springs.  So they endeavour to ensure that they take adequate care of them. by providing good food, shelter, education, medical care etc.  More importantly good parents create an atmosphere of love that make their off springs feel like achieving their goals in life. In return their children love them too. 

Like biological parents, every country is a parent to her citizens.  The level of care that the country takes of her children will determine the level of love her citizens will reciprocally give back to it.  

Many Nigerians are checking out of the country today not because they do not love their motherland but because their motherland has thrown them into the lion's den for the lions to feast upon.  And these other countries are do so without looking back.   

When I reflected about my own life, I surely know that God has continuously blessed me but Nigeria has treated me so callously that I sometimes feel that those who travelled abroad (even if to suffer) cannot be blamed.  There's nothing I laid my hands upon that Nigeria has not done everything within her capacity to frustrate, including the efforts at aimed regularly posting  this Daily Energiser to encourage fellow citizens of the world to be positive-minded.   For a few days now, even though I have been subscribing to IPNX, Multilinks, Zain, MTN, Glo, STARCOMMS, O'Net, DOPC, and name all the notable internet service providers in Nigeria, all of them (except IPNX whose coverage is still scanty and which at least if only through communication, has tried to be different from the rest) have  failed to deliver.  Whereas, when I had opportunity to travel outside of Nigeria to the United States of America, my laptop picked up internet signals FREE throughout my stay there.  While in the UK, I paid but for service rendered!  Each time I look at the various useless but very expensive modems that adore all corners of my home and office, I regret being a Nigerian.  Can I blame these companies? No  doubt there may be human lapses here and here, but the environment in which these 'humans' work will make it at least partially unfair for me to tag them all as 'sinners'.  If I had to power my tiny internet model with genset, how much more hardship do these service providers endure as they power their entire equipment throughout the country on the same generator!

Is it not a contradiction to say Nigeria is good and at the same time that it is bad?  That's the irony of it all and it depends upon the angle one looks at it.

Looking at the land mass and all her rich endowments, Nigeria is an excellent country. But looking at her leadership and their style, it is a curse, not only to be a Nigerian, but to live and attempt to excel in Nigeria.   Then how do I separate Nigeria from her visionless leaders since Nigeria is the mother that produces the bad children who are spoiling her reputation?  What is the benefit of a country with abundant endowments which only impact they  make upon her citizenry is POVERTY?  

Let's digress a bit. What is the benefit of Nigeria to me if I earn N100 and N90 out of it is wasted on generating sets, high school fees, fighting mosquitoes, fixing vehicles made rickety simply because I lost two tyres at a go in a single error of running into a deep 'drum-hole' somewhere at Ilesha-Akure 'expressway'?  And this happened beside the burial grounds of armed robbery victims a few years past!

Why do I need burglary in my house, in my street, and charms combined with the Bible+the Quran before I can move around and feel safe or close my eyes at night?   Why should my Doctors recommend expensive drugs such as Lexotan, mogadon, ibuprofane, panadol,  a daily dose of anti-bp tablets.  Why do I need the combination of local herbs with orthodox medicines to combat a ever-resistant malaria?  I think an average Nigeria consumes more of that 'toxin' or 'poison' called anti-biotics than they do multi-vitamins!   

Why would the cost of procuring documentation for landed properties be equal to if not more than the cost of erecting a building under which to lay one's head? Why would an average person have to purchase land from two land-lords e.g. the customary owner and the government.  Why would a government revoke a certificate of occupancy it genuinely issued by itself only to restore it at a fee?

The Bible says build your business first before building your home. What a wonderful revelation!  But every business ever contemplated upon by an average Nigerian is killed either by PHCN or Government direct regulations  that will make it impossible for it to run.  How does one build a home with the yield of a failed business?

One thing I have been praying and hoping for is not only to be alive when Nigeria becomes a good country to live in, but also to enjoy it.  I am looking forward to when Nigeria will turn from being a foe which she is today to a friend in need and in deed.  If only before I expire, I can witness and be part of their beneficiaries, then I would die happy!

=================

Want to Know the details of what Nigeria has contributed to my life?  Please go straight to Chapter 36 of my autobiography titled "Better Tomorrow"

Internet Disruption - Apologies

WE APOLOGISE FOR IRREGULARITY IN DAILY ENERGISER POSTING THESE DAYS, ESPECIALLY IN THE LAST FEW DAYS.  IT IS DUE TO POWER FAILURE AND INTERNET UNPREDICTABILITY.  WE ARE WORKING TO PERMANENTLY RESOLVE IT.


YEMI OMOGBOYEGA

Why do the Opposite?

 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.  2 Cor. 5:10

"Then she heard someone call her name. It was  a strange voice. She turned and saw the person calling her in a shop, looked at her familiarly... Kehinde became defensive, she asked him how he know her name....   As if he read her thoughts, he said "Don;t mind my drinking alcohol; I am a pastor .  I like you. ....   My mind was at peace, I did not think of anything negative.   He returned later and had changed what he was wearing before ... The pastor unmasked his true self.  He looked at Kehinde straight in the eyes and asked her to remove all her clothes...  "I then removed my skirt, followed by my camisole, my brassiere, then my tight shorts and my pant. "  He said I should open my legs but I refused.  The pastor said he would kill me if I don't shut up. and that he would just dump my corpse somewhere ... He was already o top of me.  The he started sucking my breasts and he penetrated..."  Sunday Punch March 2010 p. 9. 

Ladies and gentlemen,  whether the  above quoted biblical statement be real or not whereas it is true, what does it cost us to do good? Why do human being prefer to do evil instead of good?  We all know corruption of any form is bad and we all condemn it yet we all continue to say one thing and do another. We know stealing, sexual immorality, drunkenness, smoking are bad for our health and they waste our resources.  Yet we actively engage in them!  Why?  Why must we be persuaded to do good?    Why do we condemn corruption and when we commit one we justify our actions?  

Let's be frank to ourselves.  Let's do the will of God and life will be the better for us.

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