Focus on Solutions 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Beloved, you can request help of God to overcome whatever challenges you if only you will focus on solutions rather than on stewing over whatever assails you. Are you sick and in need of healing? God still heals and will gladly heal you if you ask Him to do so. King Hezekiah of Judah cried to God for help when he was sick unto death. God not only healed him; He also gave him additional years to live on planet earth. It is also quite instructive that King Hezekiah was advised on what medications to use and he used them. This implies that God’s healing come in diverse ways; sometimes with His word and the ailment disappears as in a number of cases in the Bible, sometimes with medications as in the case of Hezekiah, the blind man Jesus ministered to with sand and other materials; sometimes by anointing with oil after prayers by the elders of the Church as instructed in the Bible in the book of James. Beloved, God is new every day and will direct you on how to get healed if you focus on receiving healing from Him rather than on the ailment and its pain.

Are you in debt? Take your focus away from the huge amount of debt and ask God to show you how to earn great income with which you can pay off the debts. Worrying about the debts and the consequent actions of servitude that will be taken by your creditor will not solve the problem. What will solve the problem is, you turning to God for solutions. Please quickly do so now if this is the challenge you are experiencing. You will be pleasantly surprised to discover that God will not only help you pay off the debts, He will also empower you to become a lender to nations. The case of the indebted widow of the prophet in 2^nd Kings Chapter 4 verses 1 to 7 is instructive and faith inspiring.

Break with Tradition 3

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Severally, Jesus Christ broke tradition. He healed a number of sick people such as the bent over woman (Luke Chapter 13 verses 10 to 16); the man with palsy (Luke Chapter 14 verses 1 to 6) on the Sabbath day. He also requested drink from a woman of Samaria; what was not acceptable to the Jews and the Samaritans. The fact that this request culminated in the salvation of the residents and indigenes of a whole city speaks to the benefits of sometimes breaking with tradition. Please see John Chapter 4 verses 1 to 42 for details.

The ten lepers cried to Jesus to ask for mercy. They expected to be healed immediately but Jesus did not pronounce the word of healing. Rather, Jesus asked them to go and present themselves to the priests. Fortunately, they were wise enough to obey Jesus. The Bible records that as they proceeded to the priests abode or temple; they were cleansed. Their obedience to the instruction of God through Jesus Christ gave them complete healing. They could have argued that there was no point going to the priests since they were not yet cleansed. They could have refused to obey. After all they asked to be cleansed, a prerequisite to showing themselves to the priests. And rather than heal them, Jesus sent them to the priests – to be humiliated or driven away from decent society? But as they obeyed, journeying to the priest, they received their healing and could confidently show themselves to the priests. In point of fact, one of them returned to give thanks to Jesus when he noticed that they were cleansed on their way to the priests.

Break with Tradition 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

General Naaman was obviously stuck to tradition. That explains why he took the bilateral diplomatic approach to seeing the Prophet Elisha. Rather than go to Elisha directly as advised by the Israelite servant girl to his wife; Naaman went to see the King of Syria. Also rather than send for Elisha or instruct Naaman to go see Elisha directly; the King of Syria sent a diplomatic letter to the King of Israel asking him to cure Naaman of his leprosy. Unfortunately, that letter caused quite a stir in the court of the King of Israel after the letter was read.

The Bible records that the King of Israel tore his robe and lamented as to why the King of Syria chose to take advantage of the issue of Naaman’s leprosy to pick a quarrel with him. To start with, the King of Israel was not God who can always heal, kill or make alive. Why then would the King of Syria saddle the King of Israel with the responsibility and task of curing Naaman? Fortunately for the King of Israel, Prophet Elisha heard about the travails of the King and quickly sent a message to the King to send Naaman to him.

The Principle of Twelve Baskets - Be a Blessing

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

A person’s life does not consist in the abundance of what he has but what he gives. The essence of living is giving, no matter how small it may appear to be. Giving is one of the divine keys to prosperity, breakthrough, healing, you name it. Beloved, you can give yourself out of lack, begging and borrowing. Therefore, give out your pain and insufficiency to sufficiency and abundance so that you will no longer experience financial struggles in Jesus mighty name.  And the catch is that you can never out give God. God alone owns resources and us. Therefore, our lives and resources should be committed to serving Him.

There is power in giving especially giving to what is relevant. Giving to a good cause brings rewards. The hand that gives is always on top and has power. On the other hand, the hand that receives is always below the hand that gives. To be on top, you should be a giver. There are some challenges that you are going through today that can disappear because of your giving.

When people come to seek you because of the gift of God in you, meet both their spiritual and physical needs. Do not send them away empty handed no matter how small your resources are. For all you care, that may be all they require for their needs to be met. All the disciples of Jesus Christ had were five loaves of bread and two fishes; yet because they laid it on the altar for all to benefit from, the loaves of bread and fish multiplied and compounded; and fed five thousand men, excluding women and children. Additionally, there were twelve baskets left over. Please see Luke Chapter 9 verses 10 to 17.

Wisdom for Seed Planting 4

 Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Before embarking on the journey of seed planting it will be worth your while to make a distinction between good ground and thorns. This is because a ground may be good to plant on but if it is full of thorns, what happens to the crops planted on that good ground? The plants will definitely grow but the thorns will always choke them and who knows what will happen. Is it then wise to sow among thorns? Please see Matthew Chapter 13 verses 7, 22.

Both wayside ground and rock could not provide what the seeds required to thrive – earth to protect the seeds from being trampled down and devoured; and moisture for the nourishment of the seeds. On the other hand, the ground with thorns provided both security and moisture yet had self destructive properties which ensured that the young plants did not grow beyond a certain level.

The wayside ground seeds were afflicted by external factors, people walking along the way and birds flying over the wayside whose sharp eyes spotted the seeds though trampled and devoured them. The rock lacked water and moisture; also external factors as rocks neither manufacture water nor retain water.

But the ground with thorns had an internal self destructive mechanism – the thorns which had no room and zero tolerance for anything that would benefit humanity. Thorns do not benefit humanity and one would have expected them to be pleased to have plants which would benefit humanity grow beside them. No way as they choked the life out of the plants. Thorns have no good intention towards anyone or anything and do not benefit anyone in any way. They are destructive and would always destroy as they always bring about destruction. A thorn infested ground no matter how fertile is not good ground.

Partner with Sound Minds 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Sound minds delegate. It is strength to delegate when you should. Jesus Christ delegated to His disciples. He sent them to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead. The Apostle Paul delegated to his mentees. Delegation speeds up processes and saves time, a much limited resource. Additionally, you can achieve so much through delegation.

A sound mind knows when and how to initiate processes that move an organization; or businesses forward. The Bible describes Abigail as a woman of good understanding. She had the God given wisdom to manage Nabal and all of his character flaws; including his great love of wine and feasting. She could tell when he was drunk and always refrained from discussions with him (1^st Samuel Chapter 25 verses 36 to 37). She was indeed a wise woman who did not allow Nabal’s foolishness to affect her and impact her life negatively. Abigail knew how and when to speak to him.

This is clearly demonstrated in her response to the servant who reported the incident between Nabal and the servants of David. Rather than complain or moan or wait for Nabal to arrive, the Bible records that she made haste to appease David and his men in order to save Nabal, herself and the entire household. The depth of her good understanding is revealed when she meets with David. First she bows to the ground in greeting David and then takes responsibility for Nabal’s offense. She apologizes and thanks David in advance for not avenging himself. She also tells David that God would avenge his enemies. She then presented her gift. She also begs David to remember her when God has avenged all his enemies. David was overwhelmed. What sane man would continue on the journey to annihilate Nabal and his household after Abigail’s great performance? None I believe but perhaps a Nabal.

So David thanked Abigail for her advice and received the gifts. By kind words and actions, Abigail saved her entire household from destruction.

Swim Against the Tide 1

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Is it possible to swim against the tide and what exactly is the tide? The tide referred to here is the tide of the floodwaters of financial challenges no matter the format in which they present.

God had long intervened in your finances and released financial abundance to you. But the enemy has been blockading your access to the financial abundance, resisting and opposing you spiritually, physically, mentally and in so many ways that you are probably beginning to doubt if God wants you to have any personal finances. Beloved, God did not create you to be poor, in lack, in debt and borrowing to live. He created you to prosper, be wealthy and to be happy. Whatever then limits you from prospering is not of God, is satanic and should be destroyed completely in Jesus mighty name.

The prince of Persia opposed the angel bringing God’s answer of healing and restoration to Daniel’s intercession, confession of sins and repentance in prayer accompanied by prayer and fasting by blocking the angel from reaching and accessing Daniel. The prince of Persia succeeded for twenty one days until archangel Michael came to the rescue and the angel was free to reach Daniel as Michael held forth and successfully so. The prince of Persia was not alone in the blockade and barricade of the angel’s access to Daniel (Daniel Chapter 10 verse 13). He came with the kings of Persia – though the number is not specified, kings stand for plural meaning they were more than one. Secondly, they were opposed to the angel’s visit to Daniel and therefore withstood him from accessing Daniel with God’s answer of peace. In like manner, the devil and his cohorts oppose, resist, fight the grace and goodness of God in our lives. They do this using different methodologies which the Bible refers to as wiles in Ephesians Chapter 6 verses 11 to 12; strongholds, arguments and high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. Through these, they attempt to pollute the people of God to contaminate them and bring them into judgment so that the wrath of God rather than the mercy of God rests upon them.

Strategize Your Way to Wealth

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Sometimes, a great mental paradigm shift is required for anyone desiring wealth to get wealth. This is because certain mindsets that are contrary to wealth production have to be discarded so that the mindsets that allow for wealth production are internalized and utilized for wealth production.

For instance, if you are blessed with the gift of strategic thinking that enables you to think, think through issues, analyze them to come up with solutions, then you are a strategist who should be productively engaged in strategizing issues. This is more like operating the gift of wisdom; a problem solving skill which is a gift from God that you are blessed with. Your task, job and responsibility is to strategize the solutions and not necessarily immerse yourself in the tasks. Joseph supervised the work of collecting and storing up the abundant harvests. He did not plant the crop, work the land, harvests the grains, bag the grains, transport the grains, and build the storehouses. Other people carried out these tasks taking instructions from Joseph. Joseph did not swamp himself in activities that would clog his mental processes, major tools he required for strategizing. He delegated the non strategizing processes to other people and concentrated on developing strategies - thinking and analyzing and in the process expanded the development plan to include the government land use act, sale of food to other nationalities to generate additional income for Pharaoh.

A strategist who does not delegate non strategizing processes is headed for oblivion. That was why Jethro advised Moses not to wear himself out in judging the people alone as he could actually delegate those processes to other competent people in the community.

The prophet Elisha never engaged in non strategizing processes. He always delegated, issuing instructions that only total and prompt obedience to provided solutions to those who needed the solutions. He instructed the widow of the indebted son of the prophet to go package oil - albeit in borrowed vessels. She obeyed and the long term siege of financial challenges that was fast becoming a trans-generational problem was solved.