The Value of hardwork

#wealthseries #wealthwednesday The other day I read Matthew 17:27 which says "Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money;[a] take that and give it to them for Me and you.” When I read this I pondered. I thought Lord, how come you didn't just give Peter money or tell him to pick money from the floor or from a tree? Why did you tell him to go to the sea? Why didn't money just appear in your hand for you to give him?  I believe The Lord revealed the following. Money is man made. Money comes from work. Money comes from hard work. Peter was a fisherman so Jesus sent him to work to get money.Peter literally had to get his boat, go to sea and then put down his net to fish.  Jesus showed Him the SOURCE of money which is the work/fish. I believe God has called all of us to work. Let us pray that He reveals the source of money I.e. The type of work we should be doing. Many of us are working in an area that God has not sent us. Let us ask for His direction. Let us also embrace the work He has given us and do it well. Let us not despise HARD WORK for that is the source of money. There are no quick fixes. The problem with our generation is that we want it now. We haven't been taught the value of hard work. We are called the micro wave generation. The Bibke says the wicked spring up like grass but the righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar in Lebanon. Grass grows fast but it is also cut and discarded very early in its life cycle. However a palm tree grows slowly but lives for hundreds of years and continues to bear fruit. The same with the cedar tree from Lebanon. If you are working hard but haven't seen the fruit of your labour yet, don't despair, don't give up. Your time is coming. #beinspired #beencouraged #wealth #money #success #hardwork

TESTIMONY: JEHOVAH JIREH, OUR PROVIDER

This morning, I received an email from someone who had written to me initially on the 31st of May, 2015. Ordinarily I wouldn't share this, as confidentiality is key,  but she asked me to share this to encourage someone. I'm sharing it also to encourage someone out there to continue to pray and believe. The first time I received Rose's (FAKE NAME) email, I replied her and said I will pray with her. Now sometimes we say things like this without actually making the effort to consistently pray but this time, the Holy Spirit nudged me to be consistent. So for the first time ever, I set an alarm to pray for Rose, at 11am every morning. Sometimes when the alarm goes off all I'll say is Lord please bless her, other times I'll pray longer.
There is power in prayer and I hope this testimony encourages you to keep praying and believing God. He is never late. He is always on time. Suddenly your life will change forever. I'll copy and paste all our emails starting from the first one she sent.

EMAIL FROM ROSE ON THE 31st OF MAY, 2015.

Dear Omilola, 

First of all, big congrats to you on the birth of your cute baby boy, I read your testimony following up to his birth and I was reminded that there is a God who loves his own. 

Please forgive me for taking this long to email you, truth is I am a very discreet person, the story is long and I debated if I should confide in you as you are very encouraging and all I really need is a constant reminder that God will answer me and someone to join their faith with mine for my expectations. I don't like pity at all, thus the debate and delay in emailing you. 

Like I stated earlier, the story is long but I won't bore you with unnecessary details, I will just give you the basics. I am 28years and I have had a very very rough life for as long as I can remember. Now,  I am the first of three kids of a struggling family. 10 years ago , my dad struggled to send me to Canada for my undergrad, a year to the end of my degree, I got expelled for plagiarism(which in retrospect I was guilty of), now I know better. As you can imagine, my world was turned upside down. After being disowned by my dad, I decided to move to UK to start over, I was determined to be a graduate. Anyway, it was tough. Took an army of people to help convince my daddy to struggle to sponsor me, by that time, things were very challenging,financially. To cut long story short, I started my law degree in UK and it was hell. For months, I had no job and no place of my own. I was squating with everyone who could allow me sleep over one night at a time, I experienced reproach, hunger, depression, sexual and verbal abuse, you name it. There were times I would sleep over in toilet cubicles in westfield mall. I was determined. 

Fast forward to last year my final year, I almost got deported for owing balance of my tuition because things were challenging back home but God in his mercies used the VC of my uni, to make an exception for me alone. It was like film trick. They allowed me to write my exams but insisted that I would not have my certificate till I pay up. Last year my visa expired and my fiance didn't send me ticket till about four hours till my flight, I won't bore you with how much he struggled to raise the cash. It was stressful, Omilola. I came back home with nothing but my life to show for all my years abroad, I was devastated. It took me 10 years to get a degree....

I studied Law by the way and as I speak,    I have missed out on law school for this year for obvious reasons. But since I have a passion to cook, I have been cooking for people for a fee, so I am not wasting away. I pray things get better and God enlarges my coast.

 See, I have a fiance who led me back to God. Because when the whole unfortunate expulsion happened I made up my mind that God didn't love me. I lived in pain and anger till we started dating. Almost 2 years now and he has helped me retrace my steps back to God. He has also been through his hell,still is, but I won't divulge without his consent. Bottomline is, he lost everything about five years ago and now both of us are just solely dependent on God for every single thing. It is our heart desire to be man and wife this year but let me just say that it will take the type of the miracle of parting of red sea to make it happen. My mom has been very anxious that my fiance hasn't come to ask for a date, he is honestly waiting for the manifestation of God's lifting before he does. It is a known fact that women from my father's side don't marry but I know that curse is broken over my life. We walk by faith and not sight, right? 

Bottomline of my reaching out to you again, is just so you can encourage me, pray with me and believe God with me that God will turn me and my fiance's tears to laughter. I sometimes forget that God's timing is not ours and I need a reminder. My fiance is always encouraging me and telling me God will come through but I like to hear it from someone like you, who has had countless testimonies. I pray that I share a huge testimony with you soon, Omilola. God bless you and yours, always. 

OMILOLA'S REPLY ON THE 11th OF JUNE, 2015.

Thank you for writing to me. I apologise for the delay in responding. I needed time before responding.

Wow just reading your story again and I see you have been through so much. I also see that Gods hand is upon you as He has kept you this far. In all things we give thanks and you have so much to be thankful for. We give thanks for your life for when you have life you have hope. We thank God for health, for health is true wealth. See I read something the other day which is a declaration that says "I am grateful for all the things that could have been prayer points in my life but that aren't." We thank God that you are not in hospital or running around looking for money to help a sick family member. There is so much to be thankful. 

A lot of things happen to us in life and we wonder why but we rest in the fact that as the Bible says all things work out for good for those who love Him. I have a lot of testimonies because I too have gone through many tests and trials, for there is no testimony without a test and no triumph without a trial. What keeps me going through all those tests is Gods love. Sometimes I get angry and sad and feel that why me Lord but the good thing that I'm learning is to always voice my feelings to God like you would do to your friend or fiancé. Tell Him exactly how you feel and He will speak to you, comfort you and uplift you. Just today I was feeling quite down but before the end of the day, He had sent me words of encouragements. There is no great person on this earth that hasn't passed through many trials. Just look at the likes of Oprah, Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King and even people from the Bible like Joseph, David, Moses etc. So we count it all joy. 

I'm glad that you are finding something to do to make ends meet like cooking. Maybe this is the path God wants for you. Sometimes we want the big professional titles but sometimes the blessings come in the little things. Make the best of what you have now and where you are. Focus on being the best cook ever. Develop your potential. There is a lady on Instagram I follow her name is Yetunde Shorters. She is a cook and also a PR person. The other day I was chatting with someone and we agreed that it is now a trend and it's fashionable to be a chef in Nigeria. This is the right time to be in the food business. 

With regards to marriage, I believe God gives a vision and the provision. The mistake a lot of people make is that they are waiting for provision before running with the vision. So they won't marry until there is a financial break through however God seldom works that way.

If God has given you and your fiancé a vision to get married, then you must take the step of faith, believing Him to take make a way where there is no way. 

You know sometimes God withholds certain things from us so we can depend on Him daily. If He gave us everything we needed we won't need Him.

Also we are redeemed from the curse through Christ's finished work on the cross. So no family curse can come over you. You need to believe in His finished work and not any curse. The bible says as a man thinketh so is He. We must make sure our beliefs are in line with Gods will for our life. Fear is to the devil what faith is to God. What you fear will come to pass, just as what you have faith for will come to pass. So which would you rather have. 

Please don't lose hope. God is on the throne and He will surely come through for you if you believe. He loves you so so much. Just keep seeking Him and all things would be added to you.

I hope you feel encouraged. I'll keep you in my prayers and I sure can't wait for you to share your testimony because I know you will surely do.

Take care and Godbless you

Omilola.

P.s. Please stay in touch .

ROSE's TESTIMONY ON 26th OF SEPTEMBER, 2015.

Dear Omilola, 

I trust you and the family are well.

I felt so down the last time I emailed you but God has started oh!

Last Friday, my fiance was made a director of a big corportation. It happened so fast, it all happened within a month. The basic salary package, Bonus, insurance, perks are just directly from God as compensation. Here is someone who has hardly made any money in the last five years.

I mean the job comes with business class tickets for himself and me. Handsome contribution towards our unborn kids' school fees,shopping allowance ooooooo !!!!  Influencial people he lost contact with are already calling and want to do business. 

I have been so numb with thanksgiving since Friday, I am so stunned. This time last month, we both had less than 10,000 naira combined. 

I promised I will share any testimony with you and here it is oh. By all means encourage someone with this not to give up, but please I'd like to remain anonymous. 

Thank you for encouraging me when you did, it helped me not give up. I pray God continues to ignite your fire so you can continue to be a blessing. 

NB: Can you imagine we are now actually projecting next year to marry? This time last month we had no clue! God is something else. 

Warmest Regards

Ten Commandments of Social Media

On Sunday, the teens at church were asked to write down 10 things, Jesus won't do on Social Media. When I heard what they wrote I was like WOW and this is coming from the younger teens as the older ones are back in school. I though got to share because I thought what they wrote was actually very profound and we can all learn from it. I think they missed one though (Thou shalt not boast) lol. Enjoy: This is what they wrote:

1) He won't spend 24hours on Social Media,He would have a life.
2) He won't snap back or retailiate when people post negative comments
3) He will do a Phil 4v8 check on everything he posts ,likes or follows.
4) He wont swear or use obscenities or entertain anyone who does
5) He wont be judgemental or hypocritical
6) He wont take nude selfies or follow anyone who does. (They actually mentioned names)
7) He won't like any page or follow anyone who promotes things that grieves His daddy or is negative.
8) He would use his page not just for fun stuff but also to spread the gospel.
9) His goal will not be mere popularity but to affect lives positively
10 ) He will remember that he represents his father and his social media pages should reflect that as well.

The Symbiotic Relationship between the Flower and the Bee

"The flower doesn't dream about the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes" - Omilola 

The relationship between the  flower and the bee is a very interesting one. It is called symbiosis.

Flowers produce nectar which bees use to produce honey. When a bee comes to a flower to collect nectar, it delves deep down where the nectar is and their bodies become covered with dry pollen which is produced by flowers. When the bee moves to another flower in search of nectar, they take the pollens with them and the pollens fall off and are deposited in the other flower.

Flowers are dependent on this process called cross pollination in order to produce fruit to continue their lifecycle. Without the bees, the flowers would not be fruitful.

"Research reveals that bees rely on an array of visual and sensory clues such as humidity level, shape, pattern and color to discern whether flowers have something to offer. In fact, bees are known to have three times the colour recognition ability of humans" -Mercola

THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP IN BUSINESS 

A lot can be learned from the symbiotic relationship between the bees and the flowers and we can apply this in our lives and businesses.

The flowers need the bees to reproduce. This is the same way in business, we need our customers, we need money etc.

A flower knows it is a flower and it focuses on being the best flower. In fact in order to attract the bees it has to blossom and make sure it is full of nectar. This can be applied to business. 

A business owner should be focused on Excellence. The business owner should be focused on adopting the Spirit of Excellence in its business endeavours. As you focus on excellence, all that you need will come your way. 

A flower is not worried that it won't find any bee to come to it. As long it is blossoming and it is full of nectar, the bees will come. 

As long as a business is excellent in the service it provides or the products it produces, clients will come, money will come. Unfortunately a lot of people neglect what is important and focus on getting customers or looking for or making money at all costs but what happens is that when the customer comes, the customer or client is put of with the substandard service or over priced product and they never return. 

This can also be applied as an employee. The best way to get a pay rise is by being excellent in what you do. In fact what worked for me as an employee was not just to do my job very well but to take on extra responsibilities. In all the places I worked in I always did more than was required. I always went the extra mile and sooner or later, my employers had no other choice but to increase my pay because of the value I was creating. 

A very good example is in the case of Daniel in the Bible. Daniel was appointed to work with the King. The book of Daniel Chapter 6 verse 3 says "Daniel was promoted to one of the 120 governors over Babylon: “Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other presidents and satraps, because an EXCELLENT spirit was in him.  And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

The key word here is excellence. 

Let us look at the definition of Excellence.

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF EXCELLENCE?

Wikipedia defines Excellence as a talent or quality which is unusually good and so surpasses ordinary standards. 

Another definition by the Free dictionary is the state, quality, or condition of excelling; superiority.

Synonyms include Synonyms: arete, class, distinction, eminence, excellency, fineness, goodness, greatness, high quality, merit, perfection, preeminence, purity, quality, superbness, supremacy, transcendence, virtue, worth, éclat.

As you focus on being excellent in your business, money will come. Customers will come, more business will come. 

A lot of people are going around hustling, looking for money and customers. Imagine if the flower forgets about beautiful beautiful, colorful and producing nectar and is going about hustling for bees. Imagine if a flower decides it also wants to be a tree or an animal?

I love this quote by Dekola "God gave man work in the garden of Eden by it turned into hustle when man sinned".  

God expects us to work and be excellent in the work He has given us. It is His priority to send the bees. 

I have outlined 7 tips you can adopt to enable you to be excellent but let me first of all talk about a woman and her purpose. 

BE A WOMAN OF PURPOSE

This can also be applied to a woman looking for a man for marriage. The Bible says a man finds a wife and a woman chooses. Unfortunately we don't adhere to this and women are going about looking for spouses. 

 Focus on your purpose

A woman should be focused on her purpose and it is in her place of purpose that the man that is meant for her will come and find her. 

This is what happened in one of the greatest love stories in History. Ruth and Orpah lost their husbands who were brothers. Their mother-in-law Naomi told them to return to their families and home land so they could remarry. Orpah left but Ruth decided to stay and take are of the woman who was now her mother. She followed Naomi back to her homeland and went to the fields to work so that she could earn a living for her and Naomi. It was while she was working that the owner of the field Boaz, a man of integrity found her. They got married after that. Ruth had faith that she would be fine as long as she was doing what she was supposed to be doing and God sent her a great man.

Like a flower a woman should focus on purpose. In her single years, she should discover her purpose and adopt the spirit of excellence. As she blossoms, like in the case of the flower where the bees are attracted to the flower with discount Colour, pattern, shape and level of nectar, her husband would find her.

7 TIPS TO BEING EXCELLENT

I have outlined 5 tips that would help you imbibe Excellence in all your endeavours

1. Desire the spirit of excellence

2. Believe you can achieve it

2. Benchmark against the best 

3. Read up and gain knowledge on being excellent

4.Set goals on how you would achieve this 

5. Develop a plan 

6. Work Hard

7. PRAY for the Spirit of Excellence and ask the Holy Spirit to help you (MOST IMPORTANT TIP). 

I hope you are encouraged to imbibe the spirit of excellence in your business, in your relationships, in your work, in your finances, and most especially your relationship with God. As you do so, all that you desire will come your way. 

So what area of your life do you desire to be Excellent in?

(c) Omilola

A Flower Bed or an Oak Tree

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Little by little, precept upon precept.           

An oak tree is considered one of the biggest trees in the world and is considered the King of the forest. Oak trees grows very slowly and can grow up to 40 meters high. Oak trees typically start blooming and producing acorns when it is about 40 years of age. There are some trees that have to wait till 50 years to start producing acorns. As the tree continues to grow, they start producing even more flowers and acorns until they are about 80 years old.  Oak trees produce the most flowers and acorns between the ages of 50 and 80. In a good year, one tree can produce thousands of acorns. The usual lifespan of an oak is about 200 years, but some live over 1,000 years. Oak trees are valued for their wood, appearance, fruit and importance to wild life( they host many species of insects and are a source of food to many animals and birds). In the past its leaves were used for healing dies ease such as kidney stones etc. Before the production of wheat flour, acorn was used to create flour which used to be used in baking.

 On the other hand a flower bed is very pretty and sprouts up very quickly and often dies quickly typically after one season. A flower bed is also used for fewer uses typically only for its appearance and scent.

We can learn a lot from an oak tree  in business and in all aspects of our lives.

I love this quote "it took 10 years for me to be an overnight success". Great things take time. Just because someone's business sprouts up over night through a lot of noise doesn't mean the business would survive. That business may very well be just a flower. It takes longer to build a skyscraper than bungalow. When constructing a building, you first have to work on the foundation. The taller the building the deeper the foundation.  The rule of thumb is 1:5 i.e. One part foundation for five part building. Do the maths. This is a micro wave generation we want everything quickly and fast. However God is a God of process. Even God took 7 days to create the earth. It didn't take him 1 day but 7 days. The Bible says. A day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day to God. So imagine what 7 days is like to God. The Bible also says a "For a dream comes with business and painful effort". It takes time.

 I hope you are encouraged to keep building your business, your brand, your marriage, your family, your life and even your walk with God. Don't look at what other people are doing, don't compare your business or brand to the next persons business. Just because they are more visible does not mean they will survive or outlive. They may just be a flower bed. A lot of people may also feel discouraged at the fact that they are in their late 30s, 40s or 50s, 60s or 70s and they haven't achieved much in life. Don't be discouraged the acorn only starts producing fruit at 40 and its produces the most fruit between age 50 and 80.

Take your time and build your sky scraper. Take your time and grow and just like the oak tree what you build will last for centuries and generations to come. Are you building an oak tree or a flower bed? Which would you rather be, an oak tree or a flower? #beinspired #beencouraged

The beauty of the Sunflower

Recently, the Lord has drawn my attention to the sunflower and I felt led to do some research on this beautiful plant. I was expecting to learn something new about God because the Bible says in Psalm 19 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge" however I didn't expect to learn something so PHENOMENAL.

The sunflower is a beautiful plant. It looks like the sun. It is often given as a gift to cheer someone up. It is regarded as the happiest plant. It is also regarded as a loyal plant. The sunflower has so many uses. Its seeds are eaten as a tasty snack. The seeds also produce sunflower oil which can be used for cooking, margarine or salads. You can also make flour from sunflower seeds which can be used to bake. Sunflower oil can also be used to make cosmetic products like shampoo, lip balm, lotion etc. Sunflower seeds is also eaten by animals and birds as food. The sunflower is also a bees delight as it produces a lot of honey. The stalk of a sunflower can also be used to make paper etc. 

Now these are wonderful features however what makes the sunflower so special is what I'm about to share.

When a sunflower is at the growth stage the sunflower follows the sun and its stalk grows toward light. It tilts during the day to face the sun. When it reaches maturity i.e. the flowers are in full bloom it stops tilting towards the sun and faces East permanently.  

I wondered why it stopped tracking the sun when it's mature and also why it's faces East. So I did some more research and realised that the sun rises from the East and sets in the West. So when it is mature instead of tracking the sun, it decides to face where the sun rises from permanently. 

This is quite deep and we can learn a lot from this loyal plant called the Sunflower. 

As human beings, as we grow and spend our lives on earth we ought to follow the SON. We ought to look to the SON for sustenance and for growth. Without the SON we would wither and die and never reach full potential. We would never bloom. However as we follow the SON, we would reach our full potential. We would grow, we would blossom. By the time we reach full maturity and we are blooming, we already know the SON based on our relationship in our growth years and so like the sunflower does when it reaches maturity by facing East where the sun rises, we must face the SON permanently and rest in His presence. Once morning comes because we are in alignment with the SON, we are immediately immersed in His presence and when we die we continue in HIs presence in eternity.

The SON I'm referring to is the LORD Jesus Christ. The Son of God, who is God himself. Without Him we are nothing. Without Him we can't have a fulfilled life. Without Him we won't reach our full potential. Without Him we would wither and die. With Him we would live a fulfilled life. With Him we would bear fruit just like the Sunflower bears fruit. With Him we would bring joy to all who come in contact with us. We would bring light. With Him we would deepen our relationship and grow to love Him and we would remain in His presence in this life and the next. 

Also like the sunflower, night comes and  there are moments in our life where there is darkness however the Sunflower in maturity knows that morning will definitely come. It is  just a matter of time and so it waits and faces East permanently. The same way we must have hope that Morning will come and God will be there. We must sit and wait for Him. We must sit in His presence.

I hope you are encouraged to turn towards the SON. To spend your life in pursuit of HIM. That way you would have a fulfilled life and would be prosperous in every aspect of your life. You will live the abundant life. You would bear fruit and be a blessing to the world and you will remain with Him in eternity when you leave this temporary place. 

God bless you.