Ps. Adomah Kwasi Solomon is a young minister of the Lord in the Brong Ahafo Region whose conviction is the restoration of the people of the Brong Ahafo. Even though, he is not ethnocentric about his passion and belief. He does push this vision in the light of the preaching of the gospel of Christ. His passion is to raise the next group of people who will take the leadership mantle of Africa.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY
TODAY AT LA MISSION PENNIEL, THE POWER OF GOD WAS SO STRONG THAT THE PEOPLE DID NOT WANT TO STOP HEARING THE WORD OF GOD. ABIDJAN IS HUNGRY FOR THE WORD OF GOD. I RECOMMEND THAT EVERY MAN OF GOD WHO READS THIS POST SHOULD PRAY FOR THE CHURCH THERE.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Sunday, November 13, 2011
THE MINISTRY OF THE PROPHETS
WE ARE IN THE TIME OF THE PROPHETS.FOR MORE DETAIL CONTACT IMPACT INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MINISTRY.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
THE FORCE OF HOLINESS
Holiness is the most preached sermon of our time, but there are no examples to follow. I personally believe that, God is about to raise group of people who will stand for him no matter what is going on in the church. The church of God needs to be cleanse from filth and sin. Sin seems to be ruling among Christians than any other thing. Man has been a slave to sin for many years without a way out. It seems the death of Christ is a waste. No wonder bad names are attached to the church of God so much.
Holiness is relegated to the background of our lives. No body wants to be holy. I hear people say every now and then that, it is not possible for human beings to be perfect. People are going about preaching the message that; we are seeds of Adam, because of that we are sinners. If you ask them they do not have any basis except their own failure to life pure.
But the bible say says we the seeds of the second Adam who is Jesus Christ.
In as much as sin entered the world through one man; Adam, so as righteousness entered the world through one man; the second Adam who is Jesus Christ.
In this message, I want to establish the point that, holiness is the standard of God for every believer. Perfection is in man. Man is the only entity that can live perfect life. This is because; all the creatures of the earth do not have the nature of God. That is why he called on the father of faith to be perfect in his ways of doing things after many years of following God’s voice.
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
Genesis 17:1- 2
I wander what Abram was doing with his life all those years. You may be hundred years in the Lord, if you are not perfect; you are not in right position with God to covenant him. So the standard is that, I AM HOLY SO BE HOLY.
Why did God call on Abram to be perfect? It comes down to emphasis the point that, holiness is the only standard that man must come to before he can enter into covenant with God.
Holiness is a force. This is because; it is the booster of power. Holiness is a force because is the only antidotes to sin and a stop to the devil. Sin kills, destroys and resists the destiny of great men and women. Sin will bring you low more than you intend to end. It will take you far more than you intended to go.
Sin can never be defeated without the force of holiness, just as the force of gravity can not be overcome except aero dynamic force. This is because sin is also a force that compels people to do what they naturally do not want to do. This is the force that was at war with Apostle Paul when he said;
For I know in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would; I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members
Romans 7:18-19, 21-23
There is a law of sin. A law is a force. The law of sin is a force, it has control. Any time you find yourself in a situation where what you don’t want to do is what you do, it is the indication that, the law of sin has some kind of control over your life.
HOW DOES SIN GET CONTROL OVER MAN
Man was naturally made and created. Man was made by the group of angels, and God in the spirit world. Afterwards, man was created by God on earth.
And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion… so God created man in his own image.
Genesis 1:26-27
This means that man is spirit; man has a soul and lives in the body. In the creation of man and making of man, he is supposed to own the earth. The earth belongs to man. That is why every thing on earth is only beneficial to humans. There is nothing on earth that spirits can benefit from.
It also means that, it is illegal for spirits to operate on earth without human bodies. That is why when God wanted to bring the world back to himself he had to wrap himself in the body of Christ.
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto him self, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:19
God himself needed human body to dwell in before He could settle the issue of sin, so the devil needs human body. Note that; it is illegal for spirits to operate here on earth without human bodies. This is what the devil then does to get human body; he introduces you to sin so that he gains mastership over you.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil
1 John 3:8
The penalty here is that, he that sins belong to the devil. So sin is an act of trading yourself to the devil. The Bible says; that person is FOR the devil. The scripture can never be broken. As a result of Adam and Eve’s sin, the devil became the master or the god of this world.
He used legal tactics to gain access to the earth realm when he introduced Adam and Eve to disobey God. One of the sad things is that, whoever introduces you to something does so to gain mastership over you. If I learn carpentry work from some body, the person teaches me to gain mastership over me. And so I call him master. In the same way, the devil introduced man to sin to gain mastership over man in the flesh. The Bible says any one who sin is of the devil because he first sinned. So the devil introduced Adam and Eve to sin hence he became master over them. Right from there, he became the god of this world.
In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believeth not.
2 Corinthians 4:4
This is the reason why the devil could tell Jesus to bow and serve him so that he gives the whole world to him. He was not lying to Jesus; he was exercising his highest authority to overcome Jesus.
On the other side of the story, if Adam and Eve had not given in to the devil, there wouldn’t have been a single thing written about Satan in human race- he would have been useless and powerless.
This is what happens to every one that sins. The Bible says that, the wages of sin is death, and the soul that sins shall die. The Lord also told Adam and earth that the day that they will eat of the fruit, they shall die. This kind of death is not physical death. In the actual fact, the meaning of death according to the Bible is separation of the spirit from the body. The devil can never destroy you unless he has killed you first.
The thief cometh not; but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy
John 10:10
You could see from the Bible that the devil always kills people before he destroys. He kills people by introducing them to sin so that their spirit component which gives life will be separated from them. When that happens the sin that lead you to sin takes the place of your spirit and puts your life into perpetual darkness and bondage. When the spirit of that sin enters you, it begins to control your body to where it wants it to go. No body can over come or resist this control unless another force which is higher that the force of sin is in him.
SOME EXAMPLES OF SIN AND HOW THEY CONTROL MAN
IMMORALITY
When Israel left Egypt to the Promised Land, the highest number that was killed came by sexual immorality. Paul told us that 23,000 men fell in one day, for fornication.
Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day, three and twenty thousand.
1 Corinthians 10:8
One of the dangerous things about sin of immorality is that; it leads to what we called soul tie. This is because the Bible teaches that any time you have sexual relationship with somebody, you become one flesh with the person. Your soul undergoes a covenant with the soul of the person that you went in for.
For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Matthew 19:5
Sex is meant for two fleshes to become one flesh. How can a person who is not married be the flesh of a man? That is the mystery of sexual relationship
Jesus said if you look at a woman and lust after her, you have committed fornication with her. And anytime two people have sexual affair, spiritually, they enter into covenant of becoming one flesh. So you can imagine somebody who have had sexual affair with many men or women, and the number of souls he or she has covenanted. This is what we call soul tie. You may break up with the person but you may be connected to the person’s soul hence you are not single.
Faith A. Oyedepo said in one of her books that,
Marriage is a covenant, and sex is the seal of the covenant. The breaking of the hymen by one’s husband is crucial and has a lot of spiritual significance. Covenants are sealed by the shedding of blood, so that they can not easily be broken. On the wedding night, as the marriage is consummated, God expects to see the hymen break and blood flow, to seal the covenant of marriage between husband and wife.
Making marriage work
FINANCIAL PERVERSION
This kind of sin is claiming the second highest number of lives. Three thousand men died, holding on to their gold. Exodus 32:26-28.
Do you remember the story of Gehazi the servant of Elisha? His financial corruption made him carry the leprosy of Naaman. [2 Kings 5:20-22, 25-27]
Financial corruption has caused nations so much. It is also something that the Lord detests. If you are going to be a man or woman that God can use in our time, there is the need for you to be pure when it comes to handling money. No matter the amount be faithful.
One of the commonest ways of seeing this sin is when people take money from others to do some thing and decide to use it for their personal gain.
REBELLION
This is another sin that has claimed the third largest number of souls in the church. Rebellion is when you deliberately react against order, targeted at leadership at all levels in the church of God. Any church or establishment you find yourself in and you have doubts about the leadership, it is not a place where you can be blessed. So check out of the place, before you are cast out. Your thinking ill against any leadership set over you is tearing down your own heritage. And if you have accepted leadership over you in the in your office or school, then stop playing with fire rejecting God’s order in the Church or in the family.
One of the ways rebellion spirit is seen in ones life is when the person operates with independent spirit. When the leaderships say, we are doing this, they also plan something contrary to what the church has plan. The trade mark for such people who rebel is pride. They always feel they are better than others. They feel like doing everything any time, with the ideal that they are the only people who can do it well. It is rebellion.
WHY THE BATTLE AGAINST SIN
The devil strives to keep us in sin for three major reasons.
• He wants to keep you in the outer court perpetually, where you will never have access to revelations.[Hebrews 9:2-4]
• He wants to rob you off divine presence of God. Jesus could do all that he did because he carried the presence of God(God was with Him every where he went- John 3:2)
• He wants to disconnect you eternally from God(Revelation 21:7-8)
HOW TO OVECOME THE POWER OF SIN
You can destroy sin completely from your life. The root of every human calamity is sin. Until the root is destroyed the tree will keep bearing fruits. But to every human question has an absolute answer with Him. When you locate that answer, you step into your freedom. In the race for rightful living, man is the determining factor, not the devil.
• New birth
• Sit down and think
• Exercise yourself
• The word answer
• Go for light
• Listen to your conscience
• The power of choice
• Take Strength in the inner man
• Disconnect/separation
• Engage the blood weapon
I trust that God will give you the power to stand no matter what happens. Do not be available to the devil any more. Put a pass word on your life. I advice that, if there is something bad you are doing today which you will stop tomorrow, stop it NOW. This is the right time to disarm sin and have authority. Do not look at the pressure now and sell your future to any body. Remember that, any time you bow down your head to pray for forgiveness of sin, the sin that is repeated everyday in your prayer is the sin that is taking you to hell. This is the right time to put an end to it.
I love you and I want to help you know Jesus. If you want to accept Jesus Christ as your savior, call now: 0543658152 or 0201145678.In case you can’t call now, you may say this prayer from your heart
Lord Jesus, I accept today that I am a sinner. I have lived in sin for many years. But today I confess to you that, I am no more going to live for my sins again. Please come into my heart and create in me a new heart. I promise to serve you with all my spirit, soul and body. I will love my neighbor as my self forever and ever. AMEN
Holiness is relegated to the background of our lives. No body wants to be holy. I hear people say every now and then that, it is not possible for human beings to be perfect. People are going about preaching the message that; we are seeds of Adam, because of that we are sinners. If you ask them they do not have any basis except their own failure to life pure.
But the bible say says we the seeds of the second Adam who is Jesus Christ.
In as much as sin entered the world through one man; Adam, so as righteousness entered the world through one man; the second Adam who is Jesus Christ.
In this message, I want to establish the point that, holiness is the standard of God for every believer. Perfection is in man. Man is the only entity that can live perfect life. This is because; all the creatures of the earth do not have the nature of God. That is why he called on the father of faith to be perfect in his ways of doing things after many years of following God’s voice.
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
Genesis 17:1- 2
I wander what Abram was doing with his life all those years. You may be hundred years in the Lord, if you are not perfect; you are not in right position with God to covenant him. So the standard is that, I AM HOLY SO BE HOLY.
Why did God call on Abram to be perfect? It comes down to emphasis the point that, holiness is the only standard that man must come to before he can enter into covenant with God.
Holiness is a force. This is because; it is the booster of power. Holiness is a force because is the only antidotes to sin and a stop to the devil. Sin kills, destroys and resists the destiny of great men and women. Sin will bring you low more than you intend to end. It will take you far more than you intended to go.
Sin can never be defeated without the force of holiness, just as the force of gravity can not be overcome except aero dynamic force. This is because sin is also a force that compels people to do what they naturally do not want to do. This is the force that was at war with Apostle Paul when he said;
For I know in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would; I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members
Romans 7:18-19, 21-23
There is a law of sin. A law is a force. The law of sin is a force, it has control. Any time you find yourself in a situation where what you don’t want to do is what you do, it is the indication that, the law of sin has some kind of control over your life.
HOW DOES SIN GET CONTROL OVER MAN
Man was naturally made and created. Man was made by the group of angels, and God in the spirit world. Afterwards, man was created by God on earth.
And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion… so God created man in his own image.
Genesis 1:26-27
This means that man is spirit; man has a soul and lives in the body. In the creation of man and making of man, he is supposed to own the earth. The earth belongs to man. That is why every thing on earth is only beneficial to humans. There is nothing on earth that spirits can benefit from.
It also means that, it is illegal for spirits to operate on earth without human bodies. That is why when God wanted to bring the world back to himself he had to wrap himself in the body of Christ.
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto him self, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:19
God himself needed human body to dwell in before He could settle the issue of sin, so the devil needs human body. Note that; it is illegal for spirits to operate here on earth without human bodies. This is what the devil then does to get human body; he introduces you to sin so that he gains mastership over you.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil
1 John 3:8
The penalty here is that, he that sins belong to the devil. So sin is an act of trading yourself to the devil. The Bible says; that person is FOR the devil. The scripture can never be broken. As a result of Adam and Eve’s sin, the devil became the master or the god of this world.
He used legal tactics to gain access to the earth realm when he introduced Adam and Eve to disobey God. One of the sad things is that, whoever introduces you to something does so to gain mastership over you. If I learn carpentry work from some body, the person teaches me to gain mastership over me. And so I call him master. In the same way, the devil introduced man to sin to gain mastership over man in the flesh. The Bible says any one who sin is of the devil because he first sinned. So the devil introduced Adam and Eve to sin hence he became master over them. Right from there, he became the god of this world.
In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believeth not.
2 Corinthians 4:4
This is the reason why the devil could tell Jesus to bow and serve him so that he gives the whole world to him. He was not lying to Jesus; he was exercising his highest authority to overcome Jesus.
On the other side of the story, if Adam and Eve had not given in to the devil, there wouldn’t have been a single thing written about Satan in human race- he would have been useless and powerless.
This is what happens to every one that sins. The Bible says that, the wages of sin is death, and the soul that sins shall die. The Lord also told Adam and earth that the day that they will eat of the fruit, they shall die. This kind of death is not physical death. In the actual fact, the meaning of death according to the Bible is separation of the spirit from the body. The devil can never destroy you unless he has killed you first.
The thief cometh not; but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy
John 10:10
You could see from the Bible that the devil always kills people before he destroys. He kills people by introducing them to sin so that their spirit component which gives life will be separated from them. When that happens the sin that lead you to sin takes the place of your spirit and puts your life into perpetual darkness and bondage. When the spirit of that sin enters you, it begins to control your body to where it wants it to go. No body can over come or resist this control unless another force which is higher that the force of sin is in him.
SOME EXAMPLES OF SIN AND HOW THEY CONTROL MAN
IMMORALITY
When Israel left Egypt to the Promised Land, the highest number that was killed came by sexual immorality. Paul told us that 23,000 men fell in one day, for fornication.
Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day, three and twenty thousand.
1 Corinthians 10:8
One of the dangerous things about sin of immorality is that; it leads to what we called soul tie. This is because the Bible teaches that any time you have sexual relationship with somebody, you become one flesh with the person. Your soul undergoes a covenant with the soul of the person that you went in for.
For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Matthew 19:5
Sex is meant for two fleshes to become one flesh. How can a person who is not married be the flesh of a man? That is the mystery of sexual relationship
Jesus said if you look at a woman and lust after her, you have committed fornication with her. And anytime two people have sexual affair, spiritually, they enter into covenant of becoming one flesh. So you can imagine somebody who have had sexual affair with many men or women, and the number of souls he or she has covenanted. This is what we call soul tie. You may break up with the person but you may be connected to the person’s soul hence you are not single.
Faith A. Oyedepo said in one of her books that,
Marriage is a covenant, and sex is the seal of the covenant. The breaking of the hymen by one’s husband is crucial and has a lot of spiritual significance. Covenants are sealed by the shedding of blood, so that they can not easily be broken. On the wedding night, as the marriage is consummated, God expects to see the hymen break and blood flow, to seal the covenant of marriage between husband and wife.
Making marriage work
FINANCIAL PERVERSION
This kind of sin is claiming the second highest number of lives. Three thousand men died, holding on to their gold. Exodus 32:26-28.
Do you remember the story of Gehazi the servant of Elisha? His financial corruption made him carry the leprosy of Naaman. [2 Kings 5:20-22, 25-27]
Financial corruption has caused nations so much. It is also something that the Lord detests. If you are going to be a man or woman that God can use in our time, there is the need for you to be pure when it comes to handling money. No matter the amount be faithful.
One of the commonest ways of seeing this sin is when people take money from others to do some thing and decide to use it for their personal gain.
REBELLION
This is another sin that has claimed the third largest number of souls in the church. Rebellion is when you deliberately react against order, targeted at leadership at all levels in the church of God. Any church or establishment you find yourself in and you have doubts about the leadership, it is not a place where you can be blessed. So check out of the place, before you are cast out. Your thinking ill against any leadership set over you is tearing down your own heritage. And if you have accepted leadership over you in the in your office or school, then stop playing with fire rejecting God’s order in the Church or in the family.
One of the ways rebellion spirit is seen in ones life is when the person operates with independent spirit. When the leaderships say, we are doing this, they also plan something contrary to what the church has plan. The trade mark for such people who rebel is pride. They always feel they are better than others. They feel like doing everything any time, with the ideal that they are the only people who can do it well. It is rebellion.
WHY THE BATTLE AGAINST SIN
The devil strives to keep us in sin for three major reasons.
• He wants to keep you in the outer court perpetually, where you will never have access to revelations.[Hebrews 9:2-4]
• He wants to rob you off divine presence of God. Jesus could do all that he did because he carried the presence of God(God was with Him every where he went- John 3:2)
• He wants to disconnect you eternally from God(Revelation 21:7-8)
HOW TO OVECOME THE POWER OF SIN
You can destroy sin completely from your life. The root of every human calamity is sin. Until the root is destroyed the tree will keep bearing fruits. But to every human question has an absolute answer with Him. When you locate that answer, you step into your freedom. In the race for rightful living, man is the determining factor, not the devil.
• New birth
• Sit down and think
• Exercise yourself
• The word answer
• Go for light
• Listen to your conscience
• The power of choice
• Take Strength in the inner man
• Disconnect/separation
• Engage the blood weapon
I trust that God will give you the power to stand no matter what happens. Do not be available to the devil any more. Put a pass word on your life. I advice that, if there is something bad you are doing today which you will stop tomorrow, stop it NOW. This is the right time to disarm sin and have authority. Do not look at the pressure now and sell your future to any body. Remember that, any time you bow down your head to pray for forgiveness of sin, the sin that is repeated everyday in your prayer is the sin that is taking you to hell. This is the right time to put an end to it.
I love you and I want to help you know Jesus. If you want to accept Jesus Christ as your savior, call now: 0543658152 or 0201145678.In case you can’t call now, you may say this prayer from your heart
Lord Jesus, I accept today that I am a sinner. I have lived in sin for many years. But today I confess to you that, I am no more going to live for my sins again. Please come into my heart and create in me a new heart. I promise to serve you with all my spirit, soul and body. I will love my neighbor as my self forever and ever. AMEN
Saturday, October 8, 2011
THE FUTURE IS ON SALE: BUY IT
THE FUTURE IS ON SALE: BUY IT
INTRODUCTION
Life is very complex in nature. People who make impact are those who live a sim0ple but principled life. It takes some one with strong conviction and adequate knowledge to make a head way in life. We have lived in a lie for such a long time. As a nation, we can not change our story if the individual who make the nation does not change their way of living and thinking, there is nothing that can work for us if we can not build capacity, character and facility.
In this message, I want to share with you things that will help you build capacity and character for future. This is what I call, THE FUTURE IS ON SALE: BUY IT.
As in introductory thought, I want to ask this question: why do we do what we? Or why are we where we are as individuals, institution or a nation?
I want to help you to answer the first question. That is why do we do what we do?
We do what we do because of
1. Environment
2. Knowledge
3. Belief
4. Values
5. Actions
Now we can attempt to answer the next question; why are we where we are?
There is a reason or a cause for where we are as a group, institution and individuals.
As a continent, statistics shows that four of the poorest nations of the world is in Africa. And West Africa is the poorest region in Africa. Why is it so? Why should a country with precious raw materials be poor? Why should the continent with the most fertile land lack food? Why is it that a continent whose people are doing the most difficult works in the world wide are the poorest? Why? Why? And Why?
Some people believe that we are where we are because of the following:
1. We are where we are because of what we are- heredity, blood patterns, or biology.
2. We are where we are because of where we are- the environment and what it has made us. That is location.
3. The last group also says we are where we are because of how we have been treated- history (our past afflictions)
I personally believe that we are where we are not because of biology, location or history, but we are where we because of what we BELIEF and DO or PRACTICE (choices)
It is one thing to belief and it is another thing to do what we belief. This reminds me of a story that was told of a rope walker and his audience;
He one afternoon attracted so many audience that, he did a lot of his display on his rope. After many displays on the rope, he took a table and carried it to walk on the rope.
The people were amazed and applauded for the man. He took a wheel barrow and used it to walk on the rope from one end to the other end. Every body was surprised and applauded for the man. The rope walker then turned to the cloud and asked them, “Do you belief that I can carry human being at my back and walk on this rope? The audience shouted “YES”. The rope walker then requested “give me one man so that I carry him at my back and walk on this rope” the place was absolutely quiet.
The rope walker asked again, “Do you belief I can do that?” the cloud shouted again YES!
The rope walker asked the audience, if you belief that I can do that, then why are you not ready to give me one man to do the display?
This is the situation of many of us. We have good beliefs, but wrong actions. We can not do what we belief. This is what has kept us where we are as people and a nation at large.
Now let us go to our topic for today: THE FUTURE IS ON SALE: BUY IT
When I talk about future, I am referring to the seconds before present time. It can be viewed in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.
The smallest unit of future is seconds. Do you know that, “Today was called tomorrow yesterday”. So future is what we walk in everyday of our lives. Unfortunately, many people think that future is a far away- type- of- days- to- come.
Future also means tomorrow. In other words, tomorrow is on sale buy: buy it. There is something you can do to buy your tomorrow before your tomorrow buys you. This is all that I want to share with you so that you can buy your tomorrow instead of your tomorrow buying you.
We will be looking at the fundamental things that govern the buying of future and selling of future so that you can choose from now either you will buy or sale the future.
I want us to read something form the first book of Moses
And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said; Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
Gen 25:20-26:1
The passage we have just read talks about two characters called, Jacob and Esau and how they will live their lives on earth.
Many people think that Jacob was a cheat and or crook and so he stole his brother’s birth right. On the contrary, God never saw Jacob a cheat or crook. In fact God said that he love Jacob and hate Esau. (Romans 9:13)
This story introduces the reader to four major distinguishing factors that governed these two people’s life.
THE FOUR DISTINGUISHING FACTORS THAT GOVERNED JACOB AND ESAU
1. Prophetic positioning of Jacob and Esau
2. Productive system of Jacob and Esau
3. Purpose and values of Jacob and Esau
4. Impact on their destinies.
Prophetic positioning of Jacob and Esau
Rebecca inquired of the Lord why there was such a struggle in her womb. The answer the Lord gave to her has prophetic undertones.
Prophetically the Lord said;
1. There are two kinds of nations
2. There are two manners of people
3. The younger shall be stronger than the older
4. The older shall serve the younger
You can see that, God never invoked a curse here. This is because the Bible says there is no curse without a cause.
INTRODUCTION
Life is very complex in nature. People who make impact are those who live a sim0ple but principled life. It takes some one with strong conviction and adequate knowledge to make a head way in life. We have lived in a lie for such a long time. As a nation, we can not change our story if the individual who make the nation does not change their way of living and thinking, there is nothing that can work for us if we can not build capacity, character and facility.
In this message, I want to share with you things that will help you build capacity and character for future. This is what I call, THE FUTURE IS ON SALE: BUY IT.
As in introductory thought, I want to ask this question: why do we do what we? Or why are we where we are as individuals, institution or a nation?
I want to help you to answer the first question. That is why do we do what we do?
We do what we do because of
1. Environment
2. Knowledge
3. Belief
4. Values
5. Actions
Now we can attempt to answer the next question; why are we where we are?
There is a reason or a cause for where we are as a group, institution and individuals.
As a continent, statistics shows that four of the poorest nations of the world is in Africa. And West Africa is the poorest region in Africa. Why is it so? Why should a country with precious raw materials be poor? Why should the continent with the most fertile land lack food? Why is it that a continent whose people are doing the most difficult works in the world wide are the poorest? Why? Why? And Why?
Some people believe that we are where we are because of the following:
1. We are where we are because of what we are- heredity, blood patterns, or biology.
2. We are where we are because of where we are- the environment and what it has made us. That is location.
3. The last group also says we are where we are because of how we have been treated- history (our past afflictions)
I personally believe that we are where we are not because of biology, location or history, but we are where we because of what we BELIEF and DO or PRACTICE (choices)
It is one thing to belief and it is another thing to do what we belief. This reminds me of a story that was told of a rope walker and his audience;
He one afternoon attracted so many audience that, he did a lot of his display on his rope. After many displays on the rope, he took a table and carried it to walk on the rope.
The people were amazed and applauded for the man. He took a wheel barrow and used it to walk on the rope from one end to the other end. Every body was surprised and applauded for the man. The rope walker then turned to the cloud and asked them, “Do you belief that I can carry human being at my back and walk on this rope? The audience shouted “YES”. The rope walker then requested “give me one man so that I carry him at my back and walk on this rope” the place was absolutely quiet.
The rope walker asked again, “Do you belief I can do that?” the cloud shouted again YES!
The rope walker asked the audience, if you belief that I can do that, then why are you not ready to give me one man to do the display?
This is the situation of many of us. We have good beliefs, but wrong actions. We can not do what we belief. This is what has kept us where we are as people and a nation at large.
Now let us go to our topic for today: THE FUTURE IS ON SALE: BUY IT
When I talk about future, I am referring to the seconds before present time. It can be viewed in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.
The smallest unit of future is seconds. Do you know that, “Today was called tomorrow yesterday”. So future is what we walk in everyday of our lives. Unfortunately, many people think that future is a far away- type- of- days- to- come.
Future also means tomorrow. In other words, tomorrow is on sale buy: buy it. There is something you can do to buy your tomorrow before your tomorrow buys you. This is all that I want to share with you so that you can buy your tomorrow instead of your tomorrow buying you.
We will be looking at the fundamental things that govern the buying of future and selling of future so that you can choose from now either you will buy or sale the future.
I want us to read something form the first book of Moses
And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan-aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said; Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
Gen 25:20-26:1
The passage we have just read talks about two characters called, Jacob and Esau and how they will live their lives on earth.
Many people think that Jacob was a cheat and or crook and so he stole his brother’s birth right. On the contrary, God never saw Jacob a cheat or crook. In fact God said that he love Jacob and hate Esau. (Romans 9:13)
This story introduces the reader to four major distinguishing factors that governed these two people’s life.
THE FOUR DISTINGUISHING FACTORS THAT GOVERNED JACOB AND ESAU
1. Prophetic positioning of Jacob and Esau
2. Productive system of Jacob and Esau
3. Purpose and values of Jacob and Esau
4. Impact on their destinies.
Prophetic positioning of Jacob and Esau
Rebecca inquired of the Lord why there was such a struggle in her womb. The answer the Lord gave to her has prophetic undertones.
Prophetically the Lord said;
1. There are two kinds of nations
2. There are two manners of people
3. The younger shall be stronger than the older
4. The older shall serve the younger
You can see that, God never invoked a curse here. This is because the Bible says there is no curse without a cause.
In God We Trust… Everyone Else We Monitor
In God We Trust… Everyone Else We Monitor
Personal Lessons from Post 9/11 Era
By Albert Okran
Last night the nightingale woke me,
Last night, when all was still.
It sang in the golden moonlight,
From out the woodland hill.
- Christian Winther
Ten years ago, I was sitting in my MBA class in GIMPA getting ready for lectures when my friend Coby Asmah walked in. As soon as he settled into his usual seat next to me he turned to me with a bewildered look and said “two planes just crashed into the World Trade Centre.” I turned to him in disbelief and said “How possible?” And that was my introduction to the events on September 11, 2001 or 9/11 as they call it. Over three thousand lives were lost as terrorists seized four planes and sent them plunging into sensitive American installations.
Those incidents in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania were to change the course of history. The eyes of the world were forcibly opened to the reality of our own vulnerability and the destructive potential of person(s) committed to killing the innocent and willing to take their own lives in the process. The war on terror was launched, internal security strengthened across several nations and American installations on foreign soil reinforced to reduce the attendant risk. How does that affect you thousands of miles away in Accra, Sydney, Tokyo, Beijing or California?
“Trust is like a vase.. once it's broken, though you can fix it the vase will never be same again.”
In reality, you might be paying for it in ways you may never have considered. In his book, The Speed of Trust, Stephen M. R. Covey establishes a correlation between trust, speed and cost. He suggests that trust is positively related to speed and inversely related to the cost of getting things done. As a result, where trust is high, things get done faster and at a lower cost. On the other hand, in low trust situations, things proceed slowly with all manner of checks and naturally higher costs. He contrasts air travel before and after September 11 to buttress his point. Today, travellers require longer periods to go through all the immigration and security checks. You may therefore need to check in at least three hours prior to an international flight instead of an hour as was the case previously. Today, when you approach a security point, foreign mission or airport dressed in a particular way you can almost guarantee that you will be given "special treatment." Interestingly, in addition to the time wasting, there are extra costs borne by the traveller as a result of these changes.
Can anyone blame governments and nations for being extra careful? Obviously not!!! Since 9/11, similar incidents in Madrid, London, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and a number of unsuccessful attempts or plots give cause for concern. There is a Ghanaian proverb that literally translates as “The person who has been bitten by a snake gets terrified at the sight of a millipede.” While some measures may seem highhanded and stiff, families of victims of 9/11 might probably have wished there had been even more in place. The words “NEVER AGAIN!!!” became the universal mantra after the attacks.
Have you experienced your own personal 9/11? Have you had your business ‘terrorised’ by trusted employees while you were looking the other way? Has your faith been shattered by someone you trusted who took away everything you had toiled so long for? Have you invested in a home and other assets with your spouse only to lose it all in a divorce? Have you learnt any lessons? Are there measures in place to prevent a recurrence? Are the ‘terrorists’ who raped organisations still prowling around unobserved and ready to pounce again?
Careful monitoring is an integral aspect of responsible leadership at all levels. Management expert Brian Tracy says “Inspect what you expect.” In a discussion on ‘Effective Supervision’ with one of my mentors, Rev. Agnes Philips, she used the phrase “In God we trust… Everyone else we monitor.” The import of that thought-provoking statement has since remained with me.
When we act naively and fail to safeguard our businesses, assets or relationships, we behave like the nightingale and run the risk of losing everything God has blessed us with. In our book, The Lord, Madiba and The Eagle, Comfort & I describe nightingales as beautiful birds that are also naïve and gullible. They typically sit on a perch and sing until a hunter strikes them down. “Nightingales” in business take things at face value. They trust easily and enter into transactions without duly signed agreements. A nightingale will hurriedly enter a relationship without thoroughly checking on their partner’s background. Nightingales do not consider a broad range of factors in making important decisions and easily come unstuck. Sadly, even after being defrauded, people with a nightingale mentality keep repeating the same mistakes.
You may have suffered setbacks in one area of your life or another. The pain of the past might still be fresh in your heart. However, the most important key is to learn the lessons and avoid a recurrence in future. As we remember 9/11 a decade after, it offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the “security installations” of our lives and their compliance with the complicated challenges of the present. It’s time to say “NEVER AGAIN!!!”
Personal Lessons from Post 9/11 Era
By Albert Okran
Last night the nightingale woke me,
Last night, when all was still.
It sang in the golden moonlight,
From out the woodland hill.
- Christian Winther
Ten years ago, I was sitting in my MBA class in GIMPA getting ready for lectures when my friend Coby Asmah walked in. As soon as he settled into his usual seat next to me he turned to me with a bewildered look and said “two planes just crashed into the World Trade Centre.” I turned to him in disbelief and said “How possible?” And that was my introduction to the events on September 11, 2001 or 9/11 as they call it. Over three thousand lives were lost as terrorists seized four planes and sent them plunging into sensitive American installations.
Those incidents in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania were to change the course of history. The eyes of the world were forcibly opened to the reality of our own vulnerability and the destructive potential of person(s) committed to killing the innocent and willing to take their own lives in the process. The war on terror was launched, internal security strengthened across several nations and American installations on foreign soil reinforced to reduce the attendant risk. How does that affect you thousands of miles away in Accra, Sydney, Tokyo, Beijing or California?
“Trust is like a vase.. once it's broken, though you can fix it the vase will never be same again.”
In reality, you might be paying for it in ways you may never have considered. In his book, The Speed of Trust, Stephen M. R. Covey establishes a correlation between trust, speed and cost. He suggests that trust is positively related to speed and inversely related to the cost of getting things done. As a result, where trust is high, things get done faster and at a lower cost. On the other hand, in low trust situations, things proceed slowly with all manner of checks and naturally higher costs. He contrasts air travel before and after September 11 to buttress his point. Today, travellers require longer periods to go through all the immigration and security checks. You may therefore need to check in at least three hours prior to an international flight instead of an hour as was the case previously. Today, when you approach a security point, foreign mission or airport dressed in a particular way you can almost guarantee that you will be given "special treatment." Interestingly, in addition to the time wasting, there are extra costs borne by the traveller as a result of these changes.
Can anyone blame governments and nations for being extra careful? Obviously not!!! Since 9/11, similar incidents in Madrid, London, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and a number of unsuccessful attempts or plots give cause for concern. There is a Ghanaian proverb that literally translates as “The person who has been bitten by a snake gets terrified at the sight of a millipede.” While some measures may seem highhanded and stiff, families of victims of 9/11 might probably have wished there had been even more in place. The words “NEVER AGAIN!!!” became the universal mantra after the attacks.
Have you experienced your own personal 9/11? Have you had your business ‘terrorised’ by trusted employees while you were looking the other way? Has your faith been shattered by someone you trusted who took away everything you had toiled so long for? Have you invested in a home and other assets with your spouse only to lose it all in a divorce? Have you learnt any lessons? Are there measures in place to prevent a recurrence? Are the ‘terrorists’ who raped organisations still prowling around unobserved and ready to pounce again?
Careful monitoring is an integral aspect of responsible leadership at all levels. Management expert Brian Tracy says “Inspect what you expect.” In a discussion on ‘Effective Supervision’ with one of my mentors, Rev. Agnes Philips, she used the phrase “In God we trust… Everyone else we monitor.” The import of that thought-provoking statement has since remained with me.
When we act naively and fail to safeguard our businesses, assets or relationships, we behave like the nightingale and run the risk of losing everything God has blessed us with. In our book, The Lord, Madiba and The Eagle, Comfort & I describe nightingales as beautiful birds that are also naïve and gullible. They typically sit on a perch and sing until a hunter strikes them down. “Nightingales” in business take things at face value. They trust easily and enter into transactions without duly signed agreements. A nightingale will hurriedly enter a relationship without thoroughly checking on their partner’s background. Nightingales do not consider a broad range of factors in making important decisions and easily come unstuck. Sadly, even after being defrauded, people with a nightingale mentality keep repeating the same mistakes.
You may have suffered setbacks in one area of your life or another. The pain of the past might still be fresh in your heart. However, the most important key is to learn the lessons and avoid a recurrence in future. As we remember 9/11 a decade after, it offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the “security installations” of our lives and their compliance with the complicated challenges of the present. It’s time to say “NEVER AGAIN!!!”
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