Month: January 2021

“Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.”” Daniel‬ ‭5:12‬ ‭

Hello, and glad to come your way again. Thought good and hard for a minute on what to write on, and settled on this which was suggested over a year ago by my brother in law.

This is a Bible story on Daniel who was a slave under Babylonian captivity. The preceding chapters documents his ascent. He became a ruler over Babylon, chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon and “sat in the gate of the king”. The gate of the king in the East was a post of chief honor and dignity as a counselor of the king. Many factors play in Daniel’s success, but among one was an excellent spirit.

What is it? This text was written in Hebrew Aramaic and the word excellent is an adjective denoting preeminent, surpassing, extreme, extraordinary. So excellence in this passage means you go an extra step above the ordinary which makes you extraordinary. So from this meaning alone, I could say, Daniel had a great work ethic. No lazy person can be excellent.

What made him excellent? We can glean from his story which can be applicable to our lives.

1. He brought solution to a problem- if you read the first eleven verses of chapter 5, you will get a better context of the text quoted. The king, his lords, wives and concubines were feasting and drinking. In the middle of that, the king saw a hand write on the wall of his palace (which calls for alarm). The king became worried and wanted an interpretation of the writing. His astrologers, magicians and soothsayers couldn’t interpret the writing. This was where Daniel came in, hence the description of him. He interpreted the writing which spelt the future of the king. An excellent spirit brings solutions where there are puzzles. May this quality reflect among our work colleagues, friends, family and the like.

“Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.” ‭‭Daniel‬ ‭6:3‬ ‭

2. He was eminent at his work– the success at what he does was clear on one factor: an excellent spirit. You go above average and give out your very best. There are too many average employees at work who are just interested in having a paycheck. They will also complain about lack of opportunities and why they are overlooked when it comes to promotion. An excellent employee will not get to work at the start of his shift at 7am. No, he will be there ten minutes earlier. You have a fifteen minute break and you still need your supervisor to tell you break is over. The sad thing is, he has been telling you this for the past five years. That is not being excellent. Excellence also means you need little or no supervision to do the things that are required of you. You can’t be extraordinary when you are so used to ordinary things. It comes at a price of overextending yourself to break every ceiling and lift every lid over your life. What we see from this verse too is, excellence will get you noticed and promoted. It is IMPOSSIBLE to live in obscurity when you are excellent.

“So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him.” ‭‭Daniel‬ ‭6:4‬ ‭

3. Excellent people are faithful- they are not perfect; they are just responsible. Living a life of excellence brings a lot of hate and envy at times. You might have just few friends. I have realized with time that excellent people will value doing the right thing over the good thing. Sometimes, right and good things are mutually exclusive, think about it. Excellence breeds faithfulness. Faithfulness means you carry your assigned tasks to the letter. It will be difficult to lay a charge on you. People easily make themselves dispensable at work through their attitude and average results on their tasks. These things make the higher-ups easily find a fault. I pray as I write that may we truly be excellent, especially at our work.

May we move from average, and may we not settle at good. May we pay every price necessary to attain excellence.

Thank you for reading.

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Till I come your way again…

Peace & Love

“After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel.” Joshua‬ ‭1:1-2‬ ‭

Hello, and glad to come your way again. Hardly does a year go by without us experiencing some sort of scar. Such is life! Every year is unique because of its peculiar challenges.

A scar oftentimes serves as a reminder- it either empowers you to move forward after learning from your mistakes, or cripple you in fear to bring you to a standstill. I don’t know how each of us processed this past year, but I hope after reading this today, may we be inspired to make a move.

This scripture starts off with the death of Moses, who lead the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years. At the threshold of entering the Promised Land in Canaan, the unexpected happens: Moses is dead. Now the Israelites are at a crossroads wondering, who will lead them. A leadership gap caused them to standstill and also cower in fear. This mirrors some of us as we have entered into the New Year. The grim and harsh memories of the past year have caused many to standstill and not even dream again because of the fear of the unknown- possibly evil.

From this scripture, we can deduce some things which will help us as we navigate the uncharted path of this year.

1. Be assured of God’s presence

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭

This scripture is very personal to me, because I took solace in that upon hearing on the unexpected passing of my father. Some never feel God’s presence, but He is as real as the person next to you. God is not a mystery! He has ALWAYS desired fellowship with man. The relationship starts by receiving Jesus into your life as Savior and Lord. The next is reading the Bible to get an accurate picture of who God is. As a result of continually building this relationship, you will sense Him. Things that are unseen are as real as the seen. Never seen airwaves before, but I know it exists because of wireless and many related things.

2. Be bold!

“Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” Joshua‬ ‭1:6‬ ‭

The result of strength and courage is boldness. Don’t let the sting of the past rob you of living boldly. It is much work living in fear and cowardice. One of the sources of strength is prayer. Commit to prayer and see the aftereffects of boldness rub off on you. Boldness is not the absence of fear, but rather moving in the face of fear. There is nothing like a perfect time to rid yourself of all fears before you move. You will wait forever! Take a bold step this year to TRY IT AGAIN. What ever that IT is, don’t give up just yet. I pray for every reader to be strengthened with God’s power today that results in living boldly.

“strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power…” Colossians‬ ‭1:11‬ ‭

3. Meditation

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” ‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭

I am aware of different kinds of meditation, but I am looking at this from a Christian context. Meditation is when you fill your mind with the Word of God and ponder on it till it sinks in your heart. The ability to memorize a Bible verse by the heart is meditation. Meditation means now you operate the Bible from your heart which is the seat of your conviction, than just giving mental assent. Anything you believe, you will do! Walking by the Bible too makes one’s way prosperous and experience success.

Basically, today’s three points centers on building a relationship with God and getting to know Him through prayer and the Bible. That will be your safest bet on staying afloat in this year and the years to come.

Hope this spoke to you? Let me know. Will love to read your comments.

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Till I come your way again…

Peace & Love

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians‬ ‭2:5-8‬ ‭

Glad to come your way and write my first post of the year. I trust we all had a great Christmas holiday?

As a professing Christian, my personal goal this year is to be more of Christ, my Lord and savior, in word, deed and practice. My understanding of Christianity is to assume His likeness in our daily walk. The question is, how do I reflect Christ’s ideals and virtues, if I don’t look at his mindset?

This Bible passage goes into detail the mind of Christ and how He was able to affect humanity at large. As of writing today, Christianity is known to be the largest of the world’s major and practiced religions with more than two billion followers. So it goes to say, Jesus Christ has been quite influential.

I deduce three things when I read this text, and sharing these will hopefully make us better humans this year and the years beyond. One of the best investments is in yourself- striving to be a better you as the days go by. You become a better you in hope of becoming a better servant leader to your world. It makes life meaningful and purposeful. With that said, let us dive in.

1. “…but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men…”

The first lesson I learn here is empathy. My personal definition is the ability to step into one’s shoes to understand how he feels, thinks and acts. From this read, Jesus didn’t know what it meant to be a servant and a man, but for Him to relate well on this earth, “He made himself of no reputation”. When you look at this phrase in the Greek, it means He emptied Himself of His divine attributes that made Him equal with God, so that He could be a man. The lesson is, you can’t fit in until you pay the price of emptying something. This year, we can relate well with people, if we are a bit more empathetic. It comes at a price though.

2. “…And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself…”

The second thing I learn here is humility. Humility and being docile are not in the same bracket. When you think of humility, don’t think of weakness, rather meekness. It is the ability to be modest or behave in an unassuming manner. That to me, is the height of super confidence. As I write, this quality reminds me exactly of my pastor. I consider him a great leader and one I learn from because he embodies this quality well which has extended his influence greatly. It takes great strength not to boast in yourself. It takes real power not to abuse people with your privileges. You are very secured in who you are if you don’t get that seat at the high table. Not rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty doesn’t define you, so you don’t boot lick your way into their company. People who are humble don’t hold grudges and can easily forgive. One aspect of humility shows in how you relate with authority. Rebellion is a sign of cowardice, fearing you will be taken advantage of. Sometimes, it is just an illusion. Humility is a great virtue indeed!

3. “… and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

I love the Greek definition of this word obedient which means “give ear by attentively listening”. So in this definition, I see that obedience requires great attention to detail. You can’t do that if you are not focused. Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ captures this quality succinctly. In it, you will see a man who was meted out the harshest of inhumane treatment and that didn’t stop him from carrying His cross to be crucified. Such intensity of focus was born out of obedience. What assignment have you tasked yourself with or been given? Give ear by attentively listening with the intent of executing that task.

May we be better this year. I hope at the end of the year, you can chart at least one significant step upward in the growth of who you are becoming.

Let me know your thoughts on today’s piece by commenting. Look forward to reading and replying.

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Till I come your way again…

Peace & Love