Invest in People 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Jesus Christ for instance spent years, deploying a multi mix of methods to invest in His disciples. They faithfully and successfully pioneered the early Church when Jesus Christ departed planet earth. The Apostle Paul also invested in both his mentees and the many disciples God used him to raise as he planted Churches in Europe and Asia. These mentees became a great blessing to him when he became a very old man. They helped to carry on the work and also labored faithfully in the vineyard when Paul was in prison. The implication of investing in other people is that you are actually investing in yourself. When Ruth chose to invest in Naomi, little did she know that Naomi would also invest in her and she would become the wife of Boaz and when she became the wife of Boaz and mother of Obed. She also further invested in Naomi by bringing Naomi the untold joy of being a grandmother, so to speak.

Beloved, invest in yourself by investing in people around you.

Mordecai invested in his cousin Esther. Though a gateman at the palace; and in a low income bracket, Mordecai chose to raise his orphaned cousin – he provided for her, housed her, and schooled her in the ways of the Lord. And so Esther had a home and a godly older cousin to look up to for protection and provision in a male dominated world. And when suddenly the position of queen became vacant in the land, Mordecai instructed Esther to apply. Accustomed to obeying her older cousin, Esther participated in the national search for a queen contest and won. Because Mordecai had cautioned her not to make known her nationality, no one knew she was related to Mordecai; one of the gatemen at Shushan palace.

Invest in People

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Why?

People are assets, referred to in corporations as either human resources or human capital. Great corporations, families, communities and nations spend fortunes to invest in their human capital. Investing in human capital development is wisdom, the strength of any family, community, nation and corporation is the quality of human capital in it.

People are assets, in point of fact the greatest assets you can think of after your salvation by faith in Christ Jesus. This is because the people you invest in today are the ones who will be there for you tomorrow. Ruth for instance chose to invest in Naomi even when Naomi had nothing to offer in return. Naomi had no sons that would marry her; Naomi had no financial resources to meet their very basic of needs yet Ruth chose Naomi over Moab, her homeland which appeared to offer many pleasant opportunities; she could live in her family home if she chose not to remarry; there were men there who knew her and could ask for her hand in marriage considering that she was a young widow. Her choice then to go with Naomi who in the face of every physical appearance had nothing was like sentencing herself to a life of penury in addition to being an old maid. But as future events played out; it turned out that Ruth saw into the future and tapped into it or she was just following the leading of the God she chose to serve by associating with Naomi.

Ruth and Naomi arrived in Bethlehem at harvest time and considering that they were not there at planting season, they had nothing of their own to harvest so they resorted to gleaning, a law which allowed strangers and the vulnerable as well as the poor to up sheaves left on purpose by farm owners and harvesters for such people. Naomi was apparently not strong enough for much physical labor; so Ruth went into the fields on a daily basis to glean for the food they required.

Again, directed and guided by the unseen hand of God, she chose to glean in the fields of Boaz, a man she did not even know was their close relative. Ruth gleaned on a daily basis, harvesting what they required for food so that they did not lack bread. But unknown to Ruth and even Naomi at that point in time, Ruth was not just directed to Boaz’ farm for bread alone. Her steps were divinely directed to Boaz’ farm for divine purposes well beyond bread. Fortunately all of that unfolded when Naomi suddenly realized that she could repay the kindness generosity of Ruth by tapping into the law of near kinsman ship which made it mandatory for near kinsmen to marry the widows of their late kinsmen. So Naomi schooled Ruth in the process (Ruth Chapter 3 verses 1 to 18) and Ruth went to work. Needless to say, Ruth became the wife of Boaz and joint owner of the fields she gleaned in to put bread on the table for her and Naomi. Significantly, she also became the mother of Obed, the father of Jesse who gave birth to David, the ancestor of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Mindset of the Wealthy 3

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

The unnamed virtuous woman of Proverbs Chapter 31 verses 10 to 31 was a successful wife, as well as a mother no doubt. Besides, her husband was a man of substance considering that he sat with the elders at the city gate. That should have been any woman’s pride in her days. After all, she owned a home provided for by her husband yet the Bible records that she was not an idle woman. Economically and socially, and even spiritually, she was profitably busy. In today’s world, she would be described as a fashion designer, and a very successful one at that. But her success as a fashion designer did not get to her head that she had peaked. Rather, the success she experienced as a fashion designer who supplied sashes to merchants did not get to her head and make her complacent. Rather, it made her more diligent and committed to investing in other areas of the economy. She took profits from her fashion business into purchasing a field to grow a vineyard – a source of raw materials for wine production. What an amazing woman, with the great mindset of the wealthy, the people who truly understand the difference between bread and seed. A typical bread eater would happily fritter the profits from the fashion business in to bread eating (physical bread, entertainment, additional clothes and accessories that are not even needed) but the seed sower that she was, she ploughed the profits into a different sector of the economy thereby multiplying her income streams as well as sheltering her financial resources by investing in different sectors of the economy. That is the mindset of the wealthy, invest, reinvest, diversify investments, multiply income streams and associate with like minded people and not bread eaters.

Isaac was the heir of Abraham, a very wealthy man. Please read Genesis Chapters 13 and 24 yet Isaac did not become complacent despite inheriting so much wealth from his father. Isaac kept working to accumulate more wealth (Genesis Chapter 26) until he became very wealthy and even when he was already very wealthy, he did not stop investing. He dug up more wells despite the contention by the Philistines over the wells his servants dug.

The Mindset of the Wealthy 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

God also endowed Solomon with great descriptive powers so that he could describe plant life, including plants and trees which were not even native to Israel. He had great descriptive powers coupled with vast knowledge which kept his very attentive audience spell bound; willing to come back again and again to hear him speak. Additionally, this same audience spread the word about Solomon’s great wisdom, vast knowledge base and understanding like wildfire. Any wonder his fame spread.

King Solomon topped these up with the divine ability to teach – transfer knowledge and wisdom resources to other people. Please read Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 verses 9 to 13. He was a great communicator. Solomon was indeed endowed with the tongue of the learned – Isaiah Chapter 50 verses 4 to 5; an instructed tongue, clearly instructed by God to speak peace, life, comfort, healing, deliverance, knowledge to take away ignorance from the lives of people held captive by ignorance (Isaiah Chapter 9 verse 2), understanding to people whose lack of understanding made life difficult to understand; and wisdom to the foolish so they could become wise, truly functional and successful.

King Solomon also knew how to take advantage of divine opportunities and platform. The people who came from all nations to hear his wisdom alongside his own people whom he ruled were great assets. So he invested his wisdom in them; and also partnered with them to do business. Hiram, his most trusted and respected ally was one of his greatest business partners. Together, they ruled the sea with their trading fleet of ships alongside their seasoned sailors who knew and understood the sea and sea routes as well as where to find gold, silver, choice spices and other great articles of trade. This way, King Solomon made money every second, minute, hour, day, week, month and year. Are you still surprised that he was the richest man of his days!

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.