Sanctified For The Master’s Use

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

As it can be seen in our opening verses, there’re different qualities of vessels in God’s house: vessels of silver and gold, and vessels of wood and of earth. Being born again, we’re all vessels in the house of God, made for honouring Him.

None of us was made "unto dishonour"; each one of us has been raised for His glory, but you can decide if you’re going to be a vessel of honour, or a vessel of dishonour. That’s what Paul meant when he said, "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use…." To be "sanctified" means to be separated or set apart unto God for His sacred use, while to be "meet" means to be qualified.

Pray With Understanding

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 18:19).

There’s such a thing as praying with understanding, just as we can praise God with understanding. Now this is different from praying or praising with “the” understanding. Praying with “the” understanding is praying to God through your mind, in the language that you can understand. In other words, you’re not praying in tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:14 says, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.”

On the other hand, praying with understanding means, you understand the principles of that particular prayer; you’re praying according to God’s Word, and your prayer has a definite direction; you know the reason for praying as well as the result! You’re praying, knowing who you are: a joint heir with Christ and also knowing the one to whom you’re praying: the Monarch of the Universe.

Making Sound Financial Decisions (Part 3) by Dr. Strive Masiyiwa.

There is a story told, about a young entrepreneur, who had been working on an amazing new idea. After sealing a major contract, he and his friends decided to go and celebrate at a local restaurant. They ate and drank until very late. Finally when it was time to close, they called for the bill; it was a shocking amount, and much more than they could afford!

Ever the entrepreneur, the young man asked to see the owner, and told him about his business venture, and how he believed that it would one day, make him billions. So he offered the old man, some shares, for the large bill he had ran up that evening. The old man, who owned the business, refused completely, and demanded payment. Humiliated, the young man pledged his car, and went off to find the money.

Many years later, the young man, returned to the restaurant driving, a gleaming Ferrari. He asked to see the owner of the business, who immediately remembered him. He told

Give Honour And Relevance To What You Do

For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office (Romans 11:13).

The Apostle Paul made the statement above because the Gentiles were considered Heathens, by the Jews. The Jews were the ones chosen of God; hence, they saw the rest of the world as unclean. When the Lord Jesus came, He came as a Jew and picked His apostles from among the Jews. After He left, and sent out these apostles as ministers, they ministered only to the Jews, the chosen people of God.

Subsequently, God opened the door for the Gentiles to receive the Gospel and sent Peter to the house of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion. Peter ministered the Gospel to Cornelius and his household, and the Holy Ghost came on all of them, to the astonishment of the Jewish believers that accompanied Peter.

Reprogramming Your Mind For Success

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2).

As one who’s born again, you’re not supposed to live like the rest of the world; don’t conform to their ways of doing things. For example, you might be in a place where people generally cheat or are dishonest; don’t imitate them. Don’t say, "But everybody is doing it"; that everybody is doing it doesn’t make it okay. Besides, you’re not "everybody;" you’re a new creation; you’re special; you’re one of a kind.

Our opening verse doesn’t just tell us not to conform to this world, it also informs us on what to do to stand out and live the life of righteousness. It says,

Making Sound Financial Decisions (Part 2).

Whether you are in business or not; whether you have a job or are unemployed; even if you are still a student. You might even be a social entrepreneur, a doctor or a teacher:
You still live in a world, in which everyday, you have to make sound financial decisions. You also live in a world, in which others around you, including local and national leaders, as well as business leaders, must have the capacity to make sound financial decisions, for the well being of all. Ultimately, how sound your financial decision making is, will be seen in the results.

"Time will tell, as they say", whether our two young heirs, (whom I spoke about, in my earlier post), would make sound financial decisions. One is not born, with a capacity to make sound financial decisions, it comes through education, reading the right material, and also training.

‎7 things to know about Pastor Chris Oyakhilome‬

Before you can talk about my Pastor,you must have done the following:

1. Publish a daily devotional of 423 languages circulated in 352 countries and territories and price is #150 since a decade.

2. Train and develop leaders and Pastors who are capable to do what you do.

3. Hold a crusade which gathered over 2.5 million people in just one night.

The Mind Part 2

OUR COMMUNICATION

Let’s go back to the questions asked at the beginning of this study. But this time, we’ll be looking inward on how we communicate, as though we were in the position to make these statements, and not necessarily having them made to us.

You get it right most of the time.
You mess it up every once in a while.
In life we have to make decisions as to what we want to be like, and how we want to communicate. Do you want to be a good communicator or a bad one? Remember something; communication really is the expression of your personality. How would you want to see things; this would be dependent on what results you want to get.

Let’s take an example here: you have a guy who has been doing whatever he’s been doing for a while, no matter how long that has been, and then he makes a mistake, and probably makes this mistake every once in a while. Now, I can see it this way – he makes this mistake every once in a while; meaning, just once in a while, he blows it.  Therefore, I can decide to say to him, every once in a while you mess things up. If I decide to say this,

The Mind Part 1

A Short Exercise:
If someone were to make a statement to you, for example, about your performance: which of these two statements would you prefer?

You get it right most of the time
You mess it up every once in a while.
These two statements are intended for the same purpose, except you think otherwise.

From the statements above, it’s clear that the first one is more positive and emphasizes the achievements of the individual, while the second tends to highlight his/her errors, which only occur once in a while. We would look further into this, later in our study.

What is the Mind?

Pastor Chris Oyakhilome Ph.D Speaks

While conducting the September edition of the global communion service which held on 7th September 2014, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome Ph.D addressed his congregation thus.

"I understand that some media houses particularly in Nigeria and maybe in South Africa have been writing some real stupid things... real stupid things, an errrrhh... frivolous charges... that's crazy. 

A man of God... you have to understand something about a Man of God. A man of God is not just someone who worships God or who preaches God. A man of God is handpicked by God, set on course by God. If you study the scriptures you will not find one Man of God going against God, sinning against God, the only thing you might find may be a Man of God, maybe...in two different things