Break the Ceiling of Self Imposed Limitations

Written by Uyoyou Charles-Iyoha

Self imposed limitations are the limitations a person, a family, institution, community or nations imposes on themselves to limit them from progressing to God’s very best plans and purposes for their lives. Moses for instance tried to place limits on himself when God called him at the burning bush. First, he gave the excuse of being an inconsequential person to stand before Pharaoh; not only to demand the release of the children of Israel from Egypt but also to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. When eventually God assured Moses that He would be with him, Moses gave yet another excuse of being a person of a slow tongue. God also reassured him that He would be with his mouth in addition to teaching him what to say. Beloved, is Moses not forgetting something here? Was the God Who created him and Who chose him and promised to be with him not capable of addressing whatever issues he had with his mouth? Just like the rest of us, Moses displayed his human frailties by showcasing his weakness, thereby imposing personal limitations on himself with the excuses he gave. God however overwrote the limitations and excuses and still made Moses go to Egypt and accomplish the task of standing before Pharaoh as well as bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt.

How did Moses come about the limitations? He was looking at his fleshly capacities and not the power of God that was fully behind him and was with him all the way. Why was he afraid to stand before Pharaoh? After all, he was raised in the palace of Egypt as royalty and had stood before Pharaoh before! Why was he suddenly conscious of the fact that he stammered? The circumstances of life that Moses had experienced were responsible for the limitations he imposed on himself. He was a fugitive running from justice in Egypt – he killed a man and could be tried for murder and that had significantly impacted his status as he lacked the princely power and robe to stand before Pharaoh. So as far as Moses was concerned, he was an insignificant person before Pharaoh. But unknown to Moses, God had made him a great man before Pharaoh and he could literally bring Pharaoh to his knees if only he knew that God was with him over and above Pharaoh and everyone else that appeared to matter in Egypt. Please read Exodus Chapter 3 verses 1 to 2, please note verses 11 to 12, 4 verses 1 to 17, note verses 10 to 15.

Gideon also tried to impose limitations on himself by highlighting his origin – he was the least in his father’s house and was from the weakest clan in Manasseh. But God overwrote the excuses and told Gideon that He was with him and would always be with him. This implies that Gideon’s lineage and genealogy did not really matter. What mattered was the Presence of God in the life of Gideon. Please read Judges Chapter 6. In like manner, Moses’ past and disabilities were inconsequential to the plans and purposes of God for his life. What was consequential, important and relevant and significant was the Presence of God in his life, the life of Gideon and anyone God calls to implement and accomplish divine purpose. Background, etc which could constitute personal limitations are inconsequential. The Presence of God is what matters.

The prophet Jeremiah was afraid of God’s call upon his life and gave the excuse of being a youth; a self imposed limitation based on cultural practices and prejudices. Who was a mere youth to speak to the nations as a prophet of God. God overwrote the personal limitation Jeremiah placed on himself on account of cultural prejudices. God promised to be with Jeremiah. Beloved, please note that the emphasis is on the Presence of God, not a great age, not who knows you or your family as being from the largest or strongest ethnic group in the land or the biggest, strongest or richest nation in the world. Please read Jeremiah Chapter 1 verses 1 to 10, 1^st Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 25 to 29.

The Mindset of the Wealthy

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The wealthy always strategize on earning, investing and reinvesting the profits in other profitable ventures and even when they spend money, it is on investment pieces; pieces which would earn additional income beyond the purchase value and price in the future. They could be great works of art, unique and beautiful jewelry, great clothing, shoes, bags, houses and homes, quality décor, quality silver ware, you name it. King Solomon is a classic example. Please read 1^st Kings Chapter 10 verses 1 to 29. Though he enjoyed great peace all through his reign and received tributes from the nations his father had conquered and who were subject to him, the Bible records that King Solomon was a prudent business man. He was always investing and trading gold, horses, spices and whatever fetched good money in his days. He owned a fleet of trading ships at sea, controlled horses and chariot trade along Israel’s border; in point of fact, he had a monopoly of the trade – he bought horses and chariots from Egypt and sold to all their neighbours such as the Arameans and the Hittites. Additionally, King Solomon earned income from his God given wisdom as the people who came to see him in order to hear his wisdom brought quality gifts such as gold, silver, clothing. These further enriched King Solomon. Please read 1^st Kings Chapter 4 verses 29 to 34.

King Solomon’s Wisdom

What Solomon did with his God given wisdom.

He spoke three thousand proverbs, a great feat if you ask me. This is because he was mentally busy in a positive way. Additionally these proverbs ere written down and passed on as wisdom to several peoples and nationalities as well as generations beyond King Solomon’s immediate generation. This was what people came to hear. Significantly, Solomon did not keep the wisdom to his chest. He shared the wisdom with people through speaking about in well organized speaking sessions. Beloved, this implies that you can share whatever wisdom God endowed you with at speaking events such conferences and training, seminars, on YouTube, GodTube, Television and as podcasts. Additionally, you can write down the wisdom and publish as books in any of the publishing formats. Dramatize the wisdom as films and documentaries. Do not for any reason keep the wisdom to your chest or hide it in the ground like the wicked lazy servant or share it among people who cannot reward you like the poor man whose wisdom saved the city from a very strong king who besieged the city yet the poor man was despised because he did not have financial muscles. Beloved, ideally and in about all the biblical examples I know of; the divine deposit of God’s wisdom in the life of his children always brings about untold wealth and honor. Please read 1^st Kings Chapters 4 verse 32; 10 verses 14 to 29 and 2^nd Chronicles Chapter 9 verses 13 to 28.

Process the Divine Ideas

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Ideas are treasures especially when they are the types of cutting edge ideas such as the ones King Solomon, Joseph and Daniel had. Please see 1^st Kings Chapter 5 verses 29 to 34 as well as Proverbs Chapter 21 verse 220, Psalm 119 verse 130.

While it is great to birth he divine ideas, it is greater and wonderful, actually inspirational to process the divine ideas. This is because processed ideas are treasures which become tangible assets. But when ideas are not processed, they die off just like seedlings and babies that are not properly cared for die off. While processing may be tasking, it is worth all the resources at your disposal because ideas properly processed and harnessed rule the world.

Ideas are usually intangible assets at conception but they take on flesh to become tangible assets as they are thoughtfully processed. Ideas, particularly positive ideas are blessings from God. Please see Deuteronomy Chapters 8 verse 18, 14 verses 22 to 29, 15 verses 4 to 6, Malachi Chapter 3 verse 10. The Holy Spirit is the Author of divine ideas. Please see Isaiah Chapter 11 verse 2, Exodus Chapters 31 verses 1 to 6, 34 verses 25 to 26, 30 to 35; 36 verses 1 to 4, 8; 38 verse 22, 39 verse 43, Daniel Chapters 1 verses 17 to 20, 4 verses 9 and 18; 5 verses 11 to 17; 6 verses 1 to 3; 1^st Kings Chapters 3 verses 5 to 14, 26; 5 verses 29 to 34; 2^nd Chronicles Chapter 9 verse 23, 1 to 8.

Empire building does not happen in an instant. Ideas which become empires do not happen in an instant. They are progressively processed to become empires. When you receive a divine idea from God, you can start processing the idea by first thanking God Who in His great love and mercy to you gave you the divine idea. Thereafter, reflect on the idea and explore the diverse ways in which the divine idea can become a blessing to you, humanity as well as serve the divine purposes of God for your life.

That explains why you should give the idea form/shape and light. The divine events of creation in Genesis Chapter 1 are great examples to learn from. As you give it form and light, the shapes begin to appear and if you do not like the shapes or they are not perfect, you can then commence perfecting the shapes. Life is about evolving and it takes understanding from and by the Holy Spirit to process divine ideas to profit.

Delegate Your Way to Wealth

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Delegation, the task of assigning tasks and responsibilities to other people is major task that everyone in leadership should master and do at all times. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of someone always delegated tasks to his disciples. They went to buy food while He spent quality time with the woman at the well. That time spent with the woman at the well resulted in the great revival in the city of Samaria that saw their people surrendering to Christ. The Apostle Paul, Moses and Joshua also delegated.

Moses learnt about the principles of delegation in leadership from his father in-law, Jethro, who taught him the principles of delegation. Prior to learning from Jethro, Moses spent hours on end judging the people of Israel in the wilderness. It was a time consuming process which drained both Moses and the people physically, spiritually, emotionally and who knows, maybe spiritually. It also took time away from other profitable activities that could have been carried out within that time frame as both Moses and the people had to spend several hours; perhaps on a daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. Jethro observed this cumbersome and tiresome process and counseled Moses aright on the principle of delegation he had learnt and applied successfully as the Priest of Midian. Jethro served as priest and so communed with the deity served by the people of Midian before interacting with the people of Midian. From his counsel to Moses, it is apparent that Jethro had intermediaries he delegated to who interacted with the people directly. Fortunately for Moses, he listened, learnt and internalized as well as implemented the principles. That singular action freed Moses and gave him ample time to invest in quality fellowship with God. He spent forty days alone with God, and repeated another forty. This is aside of other times he spent alone with God. These sessions with God gave him the success blueprints he used in leading the children of Israel out of Egypt and the wilderness.

When you delegate, you free up quality time to invest in high value tasks. This is not to say that the tasks you delegate are low value tasks. Rather, you are assigning tasks to competent people who are likely to spend less time in implementing and completing the tasks as well as raising leaders. This also explains why you as a leader are saddled with the responsibility of giving direction and letting your people do the rest. If you immerse yourself in the work, you will not be able to give direction and if you do not give direction, you will not be able to raise leaders who will assist you in the work. Can you imagine what would have happened if Moses alone built tabernacle; or Bezalel and Oholiab alone worked on the tabernacle! It would have taken forever to accomplish the task. That explains why God empowered Bezalel and Oholiab to also teach other artisans what to do. That way, they would both raise more artisans not only to speed up the work but to also lighten the workload for all concerned. That was exactly what Jethro was saying to Moses in Exodus Chapter 18.