How are you maximizing your potential?

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.2 Chronicles 7:14

Prior to the time of King Solomon’s reign, Israel had been slaves in Egypt, they were led by judges who came and died at the end of their time; the nation went through periods of trials in the land and the children of Israel cried unto God and He gave them judges who led them. Eventually they asked for a King which God gave them.

There is a formula for greatness just as we see in the bible verse above. There is a formula to make Nigeria Great, there is a formula to maximizing the potentials of Nigeria and of the people that make up the country called Nigeria. There is the need to be humble, to pray, to seek the face of God and to turn from our wicked ways. God Himself is asking this of us as a people and as a nation. After we have done these things He has promised to hear us from His throne in heaven, he will not only hear but will also forgive us as a people and heal our land.

There is nothing wrong with the land called Nigeria. Nigeria is not a mistake because it is a country that was brought together specially by God. 1 out of every 4 black person is a Nigerian. The state of Nigeria today is a reflection of the state of the people.

What do you need to have Nigeria maximize its potential? What do you need yourself as a person, a Nigerian, a citizen of the world to maximize your own potential? We must do all that we can to maximize our full potential. We must do all that we can to ensure that Nigeria as a nation fulfills its potential. We must do all that we can that we ensure that we make the best use of the talent that we have been blessed with.

1. People with knowledge, compassion and care for the nation and its people. People of faith, people with love for the nation and its people
2. Great leaders. Leaders that are self serving, truly love the nation and the citizens. Leaders that are conscious of the need of the land and works to bringing it to pass. Ezekiel 22: 29-30, Proverbs 29:2
3. Great partners; internal partners who will speak truth to power, establish industries, external partners who will be bring investment and funds to Nigeria
4. Knowledge, information and technology. Hosea 4: 6-7. 
5. Be ready to pray. Nehemiah prayed when he was re-building Jerusalem. He had prayer on one hand and the willingness to work on the other hand. 

God is looking for people. People who are ready to run with the vision of the country. He is looking for accountable people who would put his neighbour first, thinking first of his neighbour and what would benefit him.

As a people we must turn away from wickedness and from greed. We must begin to embrace contentment with what our hands and hard, smart work can do for you. A lot of us spend too much on earth that we forget that there is a heaven, therefore we don’t even work at getting there.

What is the foundation of your family?

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.bondage. Exodus 20: 1-2 KJV

A lot of people have been born into bondage. The grandchild of a slave is a slave. The children of Israel went into slavery by an invitation of their forefathers. They were not conquered in war but they walked into it. They went in to solve a problem that came from famine and ended up as slaves in a place where they went in as free men.

In a lot of homes, mostly African homes, have altars that generations are tied to. This altars serve as a covenant between generations to come and the initiators of the altar.

Isaiah tells about the foolishness of man. He talks about the how man makes images to worship from those same things we make use of. Wood that we use as fire, furniture; the same we use as graven images. A lot of us do not have graven images in our homes, but our jewelry, paintings and other things we hold dear have become our own altar and graven image. Such that things begin to go wrong because these things have more importance in our homes and our lives.

Without our knowledge we bring into our lives idols and things that will become a door for which the enemy enters into our lives. Even some of us have unknowingly become a part of idol worship by a reason of where we come from, where we go, who we move with, and those things we hold dear.

God does not take kindly to those people who give more importance to images, lust, material thing above Him. Sometimes we may not have contributed to this, but the effect of it affects us generations after. Why? Because our bloodline has the remnant effect that affects the generations to come after.

Due to this effect a lot fail at the edge of breakthrough, a lot are faced with alcoholism, a lot are faced with lust. Most of these are as a result of the works of our forefathers. Leviticus 26:38-39
A lot of people are wasting away as a result of the iniquity of their fathers, or father’s house. Almost any family is under one of the following or the other

1. A family covenant - an agreement with something or one of the other to do something for with and for them
2. Ancestral yolk - similar to a covenant but different in that it is an attachment to something we are tied to. Some families are tied to alcoholism, some are tied to their women not marrying, and so on
3. Family curse
4. Family inheritance

Some of us bring on ourselves and the life of our children a curse by wanting to buy our way out of laid down family principles.
The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.~ Winston Churchhill
To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

What are the remedies to repairing this fault in your foundation? And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. Acts 16:25-26 KJV

• First we have to have identify what the problem is
• The we need to pray and praise. This shakes the foundations and opens doors. God's presence comes down when we praise and combining it with praying without ceasing seals it
• Repentance from all wrong doings
• Restitution
• Accepting Christ as your Lord and Saviour (be born again into the the new life that Christ offers with open arms)
• Take God seriously, do all you can to do what God wants you to do.

Have you discovered your potential?

That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Psalm 67:1-7 KJV

Everyone has potential! The question this morning is.......….What is potential? Inherent value in something. Everybody has the ability to do something. Everyone has potential, no matter how you are born or where you are born. Potential is your unused strength (dormant strength) and untapped ability.

Can a nation have potential? Yes a nation can have potential. If this is true, then what is a nation? A group of people with a common vision, common goals, common mission, common purpose moving together towards a common direction. The most important thing about a nation is the commonality of purpose towards a given direction.

Is Nigeria a nation? Nigeria is not a nation because we did not willingly come together but was amalgamated to fulfill certain designs. Nigeria does not have a common purpose but we can be a nation. Everybody is moving in separate direction with their own common purpose. This is the basis of the Nigerian problem and if we don’t identify their and work with it we cannot become a nation. In spite of our diversity we can move in the same direction by having a common goal and purpose. Nigeria has the potential to become a great nation and develop its full potential.

How many of the people on earth achieve or fulfill their potential? Most likely less than 10% of people in the world fulfill their potential. But why is it that very few people are able to fulfill potential? How come only about 10% of the people alive will fulfill their potential? There is no self discovery. The richest places in the world is the grave yard! ~ Miles Monroe.

The word tells us this for a fact - Ye are gods_ and we have the capacity to function as gods. However a lot of us we die like mere men not using out ability as gods.
Your used strength , your hidden talent, untapped ability and dormant talent. Most people don’t even know how to use their ability and they limit themselves by themselves to the limitation of their immediate self.

One of the reason the world is struggling under a lot of pain is because a lot of people have not fulfilled their potential. What we need is inspiration, vision and aspiration to fulfill our potential. How do you know that we all have individual potential?

1. Before you were created God created you with potential Jeremiah 1:5. Therefore we know this for a fact, nobody is a mistake. We all have potential to do something great. 
2. You can be imparted with potential. People can impart you with potential. Mary spoke into the womb of Elizabeth, the baby leaped with joy. Luke 1:39-45
3. You can genetically induced or inherited potential. A lot of time we hear people say it runs in my family or this is how our family does things. 

The challenge is - have you discovered your potential

Training your child in this times Pt 3

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 KJV

The first problem is that we have misplaced values in the family. The candidate is a reflection of the majority in a nation. But the quality of the candidate is built from the foundation, which is the family. The goal of knowledge is transformation and not recall. We are supposed to be able to test how we apply for this is the essence of knowledge. Most parents want their children to be able to recall and so they groom them to excel in academics. They grow up not being able to question the life they live and the product of that life. Yet we complain that our children are not at par with their contemporaries all over the world.

Vision is the commitment of human being to alter the course of his life. Our children need authentic models, people who they can really trust, people that can help them get to where they are meant to be. Children need help and those to help them are called adults. A child that is 5 years today would be 35 in 30 years and what you build in his life today would determine who he would be at the age of 35 years. So many people are aging and not growing, and we do not want to train our children in this direction. We need to teach them how to grow so that at that time they look back would not be looking for aids or begging for money to pay bills.

There is no such thing as a stubborn child, there are only ignorant parents. Once a child is 18 he should be old enough and ready for responsibilities. We know that first in class is not first in life, children should not go to school to be the best in class, he goes to school for network which would help them for the future. As parents we need to change our standards, we need to change our goal. We need to change how we train our children and how we impact their life. Our children must be universal in their outlook and not local. They must be relevant on the global market.

This is the asset we must give to our children. Your children should not be like you; we need globally competitive children. A child is born with 4 natural quality, ignorance, fearlessness, spontaneity and curiosity. We as parents must nurture these 3 qualities in our children. Correct your child and not lose control by punishing them. Correction leaves the channel open that no matter what they do, they can come to you for love and understanding. That in spite of all that is happening anytime they come to you, they get solution. The most powerful word in the world is a word “NO”. Teach your child to say no. The second most powerful is “WHY”. They must be able to question the obvious, the status quo. If they dare to ask why they would be able to overcome a lot in life. You must also allow your children to say “NO” and “WHY” to you. From home they would be able to take it outside, because when they ask, you respect it and answer them, the confidence to ask outside would not be lacking.
don’t get so busy and delegate your responsibility to your children. Anything that doesn’t allow you to perform your duty to your child is a stronghold waiting to destroy the life of your child.

Train a child today so that when he is old he would yield great fruit. Your job as parent is to sow the seed, water the seed and continue sowing the seed. The job of God is the fruit and harvest. What really gets children off is the fear of the parents that they are doing something wrong and will go the wrong way. Do not let your fear control who your children would be.

Training your child in this times Pt 2

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 KJV

So many parents are training kids not in the wrong way but in the way that is not peculiar with the purpose of the child. At the end of the day we are surprised when the children don’t turn out right. We live in a very complex time, and the only way to respond to complexity is knowledge.
The African belief system is dram sensitive; it is impossible to exemplify a belief without infusing a form of drama into it. For over 50 years we still receive aid and beg, still we are still the poorest continent. Favour is not free and nothing is free in the world. We mistake the Favour we get in aid for good will, but what we lose with aid more than what we get. Helplessness is a thing of the mind and the colour of oppression is played in the mind. It is important for us to show strength in a new way when we relate with and train our children. The impact of principle is received and seen as oppression by most, if we are not careful we would be seen as an oppressor by our children and all. This is what we see in this world we live in now. Presently, the realities of many are upside down. This set would want to drag you into their own way of life.

God does not have love, He is love and in the presence of love He has not compromised His values. Therefore we need to begin to culture a new kind of discipline, one that shows the kind of people we are and will be. We need to exemplify this disciple and love with our children. These days parents out of love for their children will walk them to the edge of destruction. The fact that we love our children doesn’t mean we would watch them ruin their lives.

Our assets and material things we acquire is not the important part of life that gives the meaning of life. When we place the value of material things over life and people, children would see this. As they grow they would display or demonstrate these in their actions. Yet we wonder why children are turning our bad even though we have continually made installments of destruction in their lives.

When the curriculum in the home is faulty the effect on the community is devastating. Children are growing up to become handsome fools, beautiful fools. Who we are is intangible and invisible. The personality is not in the clothing or the makeup, but in the inner content of the person. We do not need formal training to be handsome, angry or foolish; it is just what makes a container. What we need for our children is the content, what makes up the man. What is needed in a man is the ability to sit in other people’s shoes, feel what they feel, take what he feels put that in his shoe before you begin to judge them. This is called empathy, if it is impossible to feel what others feel before we judge them them we are not fit to lead or train a child in the path he/she should follow.

Training your child in this times Pt 1

Every environment is not the right environment,in the same vein every time is not the right time. It is not that there is something wrong with the environment, or that there is something wrong with the time. This way we get to know that there are different environment and different times. Life recognizes this similarities and differences.

However, life does not recognize us for our similarity. We are rewarded for our differences. If we are going to succeed in life it would be because we have focused on our differences. Our differences are backed by the intangible and the potency of the intangibles in our life. When it comes to projects and the things we need to do in our life, we must focus on our differences. A child is complicated and must be dealt with focusing on the differences that makes the child a unique human being.

There are two things that we should allow control in relationships either as parent or part of any relationship. Emotion and quest for freedom. Emotion is not a factor of production. When emotion becomes the driving factor of the decision making a lot of errors would occur. At the same time, freedom is not an independent variable it is a dependent variable. We are in a time where freedom is receiving the best articulation support and push where ever. Too much of emotion is dealing with life and its challenges puts us on the road to nowhere; giving too much freedom to yourself and to the people around you is a recipe to things going upside down. What we need is education, not academics.
Education is superior to academics, it is the ability of the human spirit to experience his environment to question it deep enough to know the options that exist in it and to know the ones to embrace as a matter of supreme importance.

There is something higher than education and it is revelation. You don’t need to be born again for you to know how to lead a child and have a complete marriage. Give what belongs to Cesar what belongs to Cesar and to God what belongs to God. You don’t need God to do all things. When Jesus was at the tomb of Lazarus, he did what he could do and allowed people do what they could. He told them to roll away the stone and went close and called Lazarus out. But when it was time for him to rise from the dead he had to roll away the stone.

God has created us and created all those things just for us, however He would not do for us those things we are to do for ourselves. The economics of the home and the country is determined by man and the success of the economy is dependent on man. Even though God created it, he has handed it over to man. This is the same thing with our marriages and how we raise our children.

We Can Win The Battle Of Life!

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:10-11 KJV

Life is a battle! Whether you know it or not, whether you are aware of not, whether you are prepared or not. The battle of life will go on and we are all in the army of life, fighting the battles of life.
If somehow or the other we don’t seem to be winning or getting ahead, then there is either something not right with you or something not right with the battle you are fighting.

What at the things that makes a person a good soldier

1. Training
2. Good health
3. Preparation 
4. Discipline 

Why do they insist so much on discipline in the military?

1. Without discipline there cannot be any cohesion or moving in the same direction 
2. Lack of discipline can pull the whole army down Joshua 7:1-5
3. Discipline is a sign of obedience to law and rules 1 Samuel 15:22
4. To protect yourself so you are not kicked out

We have to be disciplined. If we are going to be a child of God, if we are going to win the battle we have to be disciplined/ When the battle is toughest been the right type of soldier will help us in going far.

When David was going to fight Goliath what did Saul tell David? That he was not a soldier and Goliath has been a soldier from young. The devil we fight with has been fighting battles even before we were born, before man was banished to the earth. He waged a war on Adam, on Abraham, on David and a lot of others.

The enemy has different battle strategies, they are not weary but keep coming. Many Christians do not like battles because we have become lazy. This laziness has affected the whole world. The enemy knew what and who we would be from where we were born and the major goal of their battle is that we do not become who we were created to become.

We are the greatest and best creation of God must not lose the battle! We just need to be more disciplined. What we need is a little more push to push it through. We need to take the battle more seriously for our own good.

How can we fight the battle? How can we win the battle? All that we need is as seen in Ephesians 6:13-18. This gives us a complete picture of what the soldiers of Christ need to win over the enemy and to fulfill purpose and reach our destined promised land.

• Taking unto yourself the whole armour of God
• Having your loins girt about with truth
• Having on the breastplate of righteousness 
• Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace 
• Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
• Take on the helmet of salvation
• The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
• Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit
• Watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

The Battle of Life

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 1 Sam 17:4,43,50 KJV

A lot of us have great potential and a lot more have great battle arrays. But we still are not able to win against the enemy and this is why we face so much difficulties in life. The enemy has someone who will always champion their fight. They are battle ready and are ready to fight with all they have.
Why does the enemy fight each one of us?

• The enemy wants to possess your land
• The enemy want to subdue you
• The enemy wants to make slaves of you; to enslave you
• The enemy does not want you to succeed and to fulfill your purpose

This is why we are working so hard each day and we do not see the fruit of our labour. For 430 years the Israelites were slaves in Egypt but the Egyptians were enjoying the fruit of their labour. In the same way, a lot of us work day and night, with hard labour but we do not enjoy the rewards of our hard labour. This is why we must fight to get our freedom. The world fights those who are not ready to fight.

The Philistines saw the start of Israel and were determined that they would not get there. They therefore used the bullying and intimidation that is common to the enemy -devil. He bullies you into thinking you can’t win. He begins by sending a champion, in the form of sin and vices. To take away your strength, then you begin to doubt yourself and you believe that he is right.

This strategy is to cover up their own weakness. Just like Goliath was not the strength of the Philistines, so also whatsoever the enemy is using to trick you is his weakness. All we need is to see it as what it is, the weakness of the enemy. This is because no matter how cunning or strong the enemy thinks he is, his strength can be overcome by the sling and stone of David.

What is this sling and stone? These are the word of God, fasting and prayer. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Matthew 17:21 KJV. Know God’s word for yourself, accept it for what and who it is (God’s word is God himself) and believe in the word. Live by it and pray His words, remind God of them through fasting and praying!

Why are Christians not on top of their game?

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: Deuteronomy 28:1 KJV

If you look around the world today, who are those people in position of authority? The richest men in the world, the ones in the corridors of power. The people serving as role models, teaching and inspiring people on being the best they can be..........these people at the top that youths of this day look up to are mostly not born again Christians. Some may even go to church but in all sense of the word are not followers of Christ. Why is it that Christians are not at the top of their game?

We don’t find serious born again Christians in commanding heights of the economy. Why is this? Why is it that no born again, spirit filled person is in a place of authority in the Nigerian government? This is due to a variety of things but in this particular part we will look at one of the major reason behind this. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6 KJV. The lack of knowledge of God and who we are in God has limited the growth of Christians and stopped us from getting to the top. We rely on what word comes from the pulpit and refuse to search the word for ourselves.

Our founding christian fathers didn’t have the right knowledge and taught us based on their own understanding, in most cases this is still happening. Some taught doctrines that is not in the bible or things that are just a part of the Bible and they leave others out to suit themselves. This lack of knowledge has sent people out of the fold and stopped some from coming in. As a creation of God who seek him, we have to do it right. Doing it right means seeking out the knowledge of God for yourself and to authenticate every word that comes from the pulpit using the Bible as the control and check.

It is the duty of the christian to read the Bible, hold on to it and live the Bible. It is our responsibility to seek knowledge for ourselves. Other things they (Christian leaders) teach us is that we are irrelevant to the world and heaven bound so we should focus on heaven only. The truth is that our purpose here on earth is linked to us making heaven. We are created to be a blessing to others. Make sure that our life has an impact on the life of others and makes their life better.
Nobody has the monopoly of anointing or Rhema from God. We are to know for ourselves what God says and wants of us, because it is in this knowing that we would be able to be who God wants us to be.

What do you need? Seek God for yourself! Seek out the secrets of God. Find out what you need to become, what make you who you are or should be. How can you as a person be a christian in truth and be influential in the government of the day? The knowledge of this would go a long way in bridging the gap for us and bringing people to God. The knowledge of who you are would open your eyes to truly see God and take you closer to Him.

Questions to ask yourself as you go about your day and week….

1. Who does God want you to be?
2. What do we do to be who God wants us to be?

LIFE! as we see it

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Ephesians 6:10-12 KJV

As we tend to get a bit more casual with Christianity the older we are I our faith. We become a bit more relaxed and get a bit lazy here and there; we tend to forget that we are in a battle for life and of life. The heat of the battle does not reduce the closer we are to the finish line, in fact the enemy fights harder to see that we don’t finish the race well.

Apostle Paul was telling them in the early church that life is not easy. He said that life is a wrestle; according to him our problems are not the people (not against flesh and blood) we see but against spiritual authorities. Your brother is not your enemy, not your mother, your husband, your children, or that member in church. Paul described this authorities as

1. Principalities
2. Powers
3. Rulers of darkness of this world
4. Spiritual wickedness in high places

So he says we should put on the whole amour of God so we can win over the wiles of the devil. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:13 KJV. He says the devil is not coming to you frontally. It is not just a boxing match but a wrestling match, an intimate (body to body contact) fight. This means that the enemy is closer to you than you think. It means that we must be attentive, watchful, prepared, we must be able to resist the wiles of the enemy. Why? Because we fight a no -holds-barred match with spiritual authorities which works through the people around us.

In fact their is a principality, power and rulers of darkness operating in the spiritual that is holding us down. The principles that helps us overcome in this wrestling match are

1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Obedience
4. Dwelling in the word

We are to bring every thought we have to the obedience of Christ. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you Phil 4:8-9 KJV. We need to fight our battles in our thoughts and begin to bring under submission and obedience to Christ every one of those thoughts that gives the enemy a leg in the door.

At the end of our journey here on earth our desires should be that after we have done all, we are able to stand before Christ and the father knowing that we have fought a good fight and finished our race.