Jesus is risen

Do not worry

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Matthew 6:31 KJV

Do not live your daily life worrying about what to eat, drink or wear. Yes, do not worry about these basic things of life because God knows you need them and has made provisions for you. Some will ask, how can I not worry about them when I  don't have them? If you worry about these things you can hardly have significant impact or achievement in life. What does this mean? God does not want us to live a rat race and has made provisions for financial freedom and abundance.

When your mind is set on the kingdom purpose then you begin to seek God's kingdom and righteousness because you are not living for just survival. Someone who has to worry about eating, drinking and what to wear has no space for any other thing beyond these things. You however are not to live such basic life. Set your mind on God's kingdom purpose for mankind and God will provide resources to take care of your daily life. The kingdom requires setting your mind on the things above, serving others first regardless of your financial status.

This year and in this decade, change the way you think and do things to develop yourself spiritually, mentally, socially, financially and emotionally. Have goals beyond just eating, drinking and slaying.

God will fight for you

When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.  For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Deuteronomy 20:1, 4 KJV

Happy New Year
It's great to be alive and be part of the innovations going on around the world. We love to live in peace without enemies or battles. There are battles that must be fought even when we do not feel like fighting. The good news is that when you see horses and chariots and an army of enemies do not fear. Fear is not of God but the tactic of the enemy. Remember God is with you and he is fighting for you. He will come and save you.

This year you will not be afraid even when you work through the valley of the shadow of death. The Lord will comfort you with his rod and staff. You need not be afraid. He brought you out of Egypt and he will bring you out of this. Stay with God to enjoy victory. Never for once think the Lord has left you to fight all alone. One thing is sure God keeps his promises concerning us.

Law, Grace and Truth

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

John 1:17 KJV

Moses and Jesus Christ were both mediators between men and God but there was a difference. Moses brought the law from God but Jesus brought grace and truth. Jesus did not abolish the law but came to fulfill it with grace and truth. Man cannot fulfill the demands of the law no matter how hard we try. We will always fall short in one way or another and that is why we need a deep relationship with Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Walking with Jesus is walking in the light and we shall not stumble and because we are in the light, we will have spiritual revelation of what is going on around us here in the physical. We all have this privilege to understand spiritual revelations but some choose to ignore this.

Grace and truth does not protect us from the consequences of our actions but help us to understand the very nature of God and how he reconciles us with himself despite our sinful nature and shortcomings. We do not going on sinning so that grace may abound instead we come to Jesus to help us overcome the deeds of the flesh and walk in the spirit. The truth may hurt but it will also heal. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and Life.

Rich vs Poor

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Proverbs 22:7 KJV

This does not sound good when one is poor but do you really want to remain poor and have abundant life? So many times Christians have been held back by religious myth that to be rich is a sin and not of God. I have once had people who told me that poverty is good and that God did not call us to be rich. Yet the same people are trying to be financially free. Poverty is not God’s instrument of dealing with us because if it were true then there is no freedom at all. The poor will always be slaves to the rich as long as the saying that the rich rule over the poor is true. You can’t argue otherwise and win. Some Christians have been misled to think that the moment they are rich then God is not with them or that they are not holy. Money or riches do not change who you are instead it reveals who you truly are.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. (Ephesians 3:20 KJV) tells us that God wants us to live in abundance.

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 KJV) also speaks of God’s promise of abundance to his people.

Abundance is good and it is God’s blessing to his people. You simply have to embrace the abundant mindset with which the rich operate and leave the scarcity mindset with which the poor have held themselves bondage to the rich.

If you are a borrower, you will always live in bondage to the lender. Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love. If you owe find ways to quickly
offset your debt and become a lender if possible. You need a balanced view of life which means you have to learn to be content at all times and not allow greed to overtake you. For the love of money is the root of all evil. If you are poor accept your position at that time and keep working to get out of poverty because no condition is permanent.

To be continued…

Pa Sydney Elton

Pa Elton, as he was affectionately called, left his native country, England, to come to Nigeria in March 1937, in response to a divine call to be a missionary to Ilesha. Since that time right up to his home call 50 years later, Pa Elton was always at the centre of revival, playing one key role or the other. He discipled a lot of the men who led and still lead the Pentecostal revival in Nigeria. He was part of the on-going revival at Ilesha (Spearheaded by Apostle Joseph Babalola). In the 60's he provided a platform for international evangelists like Gordon Lindsay, T.L. Osborne and others seeking to carry out evangelistic work in Nigeria.

In the 70's, he became the father of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement that emerged in the nation's campuses; in the 80's up to his passage in Jan. 13, 1987, he concentrated on teaching prophetic truths about the Kingdom of God and the emergence of the end-time overcomer company.

Pa Elton's only child, Mama Ruth Elton following the footsteps of her parents, remains in Nigeria, as a missionary among the middle region of the nation. She’s standing on behalf of her father for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the ECU Reunion Conference 2011.

The ECU is an acronym for the Evangelical Christian Union, one of the foremost and oldest campus fellowships at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. It is a fellowship reputed in it’s almost fifty (50) years of existence to have produced leaders in almost every sphere of human endeavor – ministry, business, education, corporate and public governance, technology, ICT etc.

Pa S. G. Elton influenced those who shaped that fellowship in her early years. He lived a few kilometers away in Ilesha from the Ile-Ife campus where the fellowship is located. And now, he is being honored even in death, because his legacy endures!

Indeed, “The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.” (Proverbs 10:7) FAME without a NAME is LAME. It does not endure! Solomon, ancient king of Israel put it this way, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold.” (Proverbs 22:1)

As leaders, we must not get it wrong! Our mandate is to build an enduring legacy. And the surest way to do that is by pouring our lives in service into other men. Monuments will fall and crumble, wealth and riches will fade but he that lives on in the hearts of other men truly lives! I agree with Edwin Markham, American clergyman of the 19th Century who in effect said that nothing really is worth the making if it does not make the man.

Investing in people is a costly and risky business; in fact it’s plain hard work. But that’s where the real joy and fulfilment in leadership comes from. In the long run, no one will remember you for the number of cars you had or the kind of automobile you drove. They will care less how many countries you visited or the size of your business organization or ministry. Only your deposit in people’s lives is what will endure after all is said and done.

See, “One of the outstanding ironies of history is the utter disregard of ranks and titles in the final judgement men pass on each other,” Samuel Logan Brengle (1860 – 1939) said. “The final estimate of men shows that history cares not an iota for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only the quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart,” he concluded.

S. G. Elton had followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Paul, the Apostle from Tarsus and many others like them who though may be dead yet their legacies live on through the lives they have touched. They are my heroes and I say, “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!” (Numbers 23:10)


Source: http://olawalefrank.blogspot.com/2017/02/life-biography-of-pa-s-g-elton.html

A mind to work

So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
Nehemiah 4:6 KJV

Building anything that is worthwhile requires determination and teamwork. Building house, business, family, nation and so on require unity of all those involved in the work without which nothing can ever be built. There will be times some don’t feel like working and there will be opposition from team members and non-team members. They built the wall half-way despite the opposition from people like Sanballat and Tobias. If you keep listening to haters like them who criticize and condemn your work you will never build anything. You go ahead and finish the work all the same.

Get your team to understand the meaning and purpose of the project and you will not need to force them to work until completion. Good leadership is always required in team management. Tap into the capacity of each team member to maximize team strength. Get the team to have a mind to work. A high performing team will get the work done difficult circumstance. Get to work!