How To Take Control Of Your Life In 2013 (7)

Published on January 28, 2013 by pmnews   ·   No Comments

This is the seventh and final piece  in my series on How to Take Control of Your Life in 2013. I am very excited about the level of interest already generated by the previous six articles. A large number of perceptive readers of this column from different parts of the country have  also responded to call for feedback and have requested for my promise to unveil on how we can work together in 2013. All those will come in the bonus part of this series which will start to run from next week. I don’t want you to miss any of the articles in the series. They only make sense when they are read together as a whole. We are on a journey together. Stay tuned as I share the last tip on this series with you.

The one I am about to share with you should actually be the first even though it is trailing the other six tips. Unless you are able to grasp the message in this article, none of the insight you might have gained from the previous articles would make sense. May I suggest that you read it very slowly several times and take time to digest the juice in it?

I had used the greater part of my over two decades of post graduation years chasing the shadow. After graduating from university, my greatest ambition was to work in a media house and progressively get to the top. Once that was achieved , I thought that it would be a complimentary achievement to set up my own newspaper. When that was achieved, I switched my attention to collection of awards. But having collected a few local and international awards, I thought the next logical ambition should be to pursue fame and personal branding.

I was on my meditation couch one morning when the Holy Spirit ministered to me that nothing I would ever achieve, no matter how great and valued, would replace Him in my life. It is only in His presence that there is joy and in his right hands, pleasure forever more. To drive home the point that there would never be a point in the life of any human being where God would not be relevant. At a point in my career and business when I had thought I had it made, He permitted a series of events to happen that literally forced the heavens to close on me. Everywhere I turned to became dead ends, the business relationships I had relied upon for steady flow of cash suddenly fizzled; suddenly I found myself owing staff salaries and was unable to service the debts from our suppliers. Without being told, I had to come to the painful reality: I shut down the business and took time off to seek His face. And this has yielded great dividends. My hope as you read the rest of this article is that you would discover a higher purpose for your life beyond chasing after instruments of pleasure, which in reality only offer temporary happiness

We Are All Stewards of God’s Wealth

My next visit to my mentor’s  place was on a Sunday. Before I got to his house that afternoon as agreed, he had left an instruction that I should meet him in his Wisdom Room (a special room where my mentor meditates and feed his soul). The setting in the Wisdom Room   and my Mentor’s dressing that day surprised me. The room was arranged to look like a church environment with about ten chairs and a wooden structure that looked like a pulpit. My Mentor was dressed in full spiritual regalia. I was wondering what was going on. A few moments later he  walked in,  went straight to the wooden structure with two fairly big diaries in his hand. There were few other people (some of his other protégés) on seat.

There is nothing you have that God did not arrange for you. “Good afternoon everybody.  Today’s topic is special and I have titled it: ‘We are all stewards of God’s Wealth’,” my mentor said as he cleared his throat and started his message.

“First of all, let me say that God wants all his children to prosper. He wants us to be wealthy. Many people have incorrectly interpreted God’s purpose for money. I have heard many people say the love of money is the root of all evil. Nothing can be farther from the truth. God never said that and He couldn’t have said that. God is only warning us not to allow money to be a god to us. He doesn’t want us to go after acquiring money for the sake of it.

“The purpose of accumulating wealth is more important than the wealth. God wants to bless for only one reason: so that we can all be blessings to others. God wants us to glorify Him with our possessions. If we have money and the people around us, our church, our community and our country cannot feel the impact of our money, then, we are not using our wealth to glorify God. We are all stewards of God’s money. We didn’t come to this world with any material possession and surely we are not going to leave with anything”.

“God is the source of good wealth and He is always looking for people He can trust to distribute his wealth. I feel very sad any time I see how Nigerians rush to accumulate wealth solely for the purpose of intimidating and oppressing others. That is an ungodly wealth-acquisition mentality. We don’t own anything. All gold belongs to God and when God sees that you use your money persistently for the wrong reasons, he will organise a way of escape for the money. Remember I told you that money is a spiritual thing, it has wings and can fly away from you”.

“Look around you, don’t you see individuals who were stupendously rich some years ago, but can hardly make ends meet today? You can acquire billions of dollars if you like. But if you don’t use the wealth correctly, everything will vanish. A single sickness can clear all your life savings in a few weeks”.

Wealth shared expands speedily.

“When you wake up every morning, always ask yourself one question: In what way can I glorify God with my wealth today? Which human being can I assist with God’s blessing in my life? That is the only relevant question actually. True wealth really is measured by the number of individuals who can trace their successes to you. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Christian or a Muslim by religion”.

“As you step up your journey towards wealth acquisition, trust absolutely in God, put your finances at His disposal, you will never go wrong and he will not allow you to take stupid decisions. God does not deal with what we say we are going to do with our money. He takes interest in what we actually do with it and He will surely bless or curse our efforts according to what we do with our wealth”.

“God doesn’t give money back for the money you sowed into His kingdom or into other people’s lives. When you bless God with your material possessions, in return, He gives you divine ideas. One divine idea correctly pursued and executed can give you a life-time income. It can cause blessings to flow in your direction permanently”.

God sees what we cannot see.

“Let me also share this with you: God is a master investment strategist. Your professional money management skills can fail you. You may take wrong investment decisions, but with God guiding you, you can never go wrong”.

“When we place hope on physical things, we are bound to face disappointments and disillusionment. But when our gaze and attention are on the Higher Power, the creative force that shapes the affairs of man, we experience continuous flow of joy, satisfaction and pleasures that cannot be described by words”.

So what are you chasing?  It would be tragic for you to get to the end of your life only to discover that you have been trying to hold the wind all the while-it is an exercise in futility. You can retrace your step today and focus on the richness of His Glory”.

“Enough for today,” my Mentor said and stopped abruptly. Moving in measured steps to my seat he gently tapped me and said: “You are in the right direction, don’t falter and God will always bless your efforts.” I was moved by the sobering sermon. I thanked him and bade him goodbye, still reflecting on the import of his message.

Yours in search of lasting wealth

NUGGET

• Take a look at the way you do things and ask this question: what is at the center: pursuit of money or pursuit of God? Recalibrate everything and start all over again, correctly.

• Watch out for my next article (an addendum to the series) titled: The Most Important Advice You Would Ever Get From Me

• All is well with you.

PS: I will round off this series next week. I want to unveil how both of us can work together profitably in 2013. Don’t miss it for anything!  Review all the past six articles and take all the necessary actions as recommended.

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Posted by pmnews 2 hours, 38 minutes ago on January 28, 2013, 4:04 pm. Filed under Milionaires Capsules by Ayo Arowolo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.