DISCIPLINE AND DILIGENCE- KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP PART 3

 DISCIPLINE AND DILIGENCE, KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP PART 3

-CONSEQUENCES OF NOT POSSESSING THESE TWO TRAITS.

In life, there are two sides to every matter; you either get a reward for doing or you get the consequences for not doing. We have looked into understanding vital keys to a successful leadership and the benefits of possessing these two traits - Discipline and Diligence. But in the place of not possessing, what is the outcome.

✓ Indiscipline :  If a leader will not love discipline, then he will love indiscipline. The trait of indiscipline is such that it prevents leaders from listening to corrections, pride sets in and a loose life is being lived. These things tend to affect leadership and may be the "norm" approach and could destroy  everything especially the church. A leader who cannot discipline his mouth, his eyes, even his want for certain things will only end up treading the path of destruction, and drag even others with him.

✓Laziness (non- diligence). The opposite of Hard work is Laziness. A lazy person can never get things done. He or she has excuses for every action. A leader who posseses this attribute will never be successful in that which he doeth.

When you are in a bad situation; with continual weariness, leaders tend to lose primary focus, be ineffective and most dangerously, become a stumbling block to others. We as leaders definitely wouldn't be able to function as He called us, nor will  be able to worship and serve God effectively. 

Proverbs 24: 30-34, Matthew 25: 1-13, Mark 14:32-42)

✓Failure in Leadership: We must understand that everything falls and rises under Leadership. A leader without discipline and diligence will not successfully rise no matter how he tries. As a leader, these two keys will enhance your growth as a leader. As a leader we must imbibe these gift, if we truly want to emerge true leaders. 

✓Broken character: A leader without a disciplined lifestyle will soon lose his character, Capacity is what brings every man to Leadership while character is what sustains him, so without character, the leadership will never be sustained. Diligence deals with capacity while discipline deals with Character. Character is the real you when nobody is watching you. For instance, Joseph had the two traits and he was able to sustain his Leadership at Egypt but Samson only possessed diligence not discipline that was why he never ended well.

✓Abuse of power: A leader that lacks either or none of the gifts will eventually abuse the power of leadership. A man once said "to know the true character of a leader, give him money and power". Power reveals the true character of a man. When power is misused, a leader will turn into a manipulator, therefore it becomes very important as leader to possess these two traits.

✓A people scattered: Hosea 4:6 "my people are destroyed because they lack knowledge". A leader is expected to build up certain virtues in his followers. When he lacks these truths, he cannot teach them. Having no understanding of these, the people are easily swayed. Ecclesiastes 10:16 "Woe unto thee oh land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning". As leaders, whatever we do do, we must understand there are lives attached to ours and we will be accountable for how we led them.

If a leader is good, it will show in his followers; a leader is bad, it will also show in his followers. They are a proof of your leadership. If you lead them right, they are right; bit if you lead them wrong, they will only be a source of concern to you and the world at large.

Thank you for following through the series. God bless you all

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DISCIPLINE AND DILIGENCE - KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP PART 2

 DISCIPLINE AND DILIGENCE - KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP PART 2

-WHY POSSESS THE TWO CHARACTERS?

Earlier this week, we started out on understanding Discipline and Diligence as two very important keys to a successful leadership. Today, we will look into why they are both necessary for us as leaders.

01. Discipline: As defined, discipline means controlled behaviour. A leader must be able to control  himself, to bring himself  into core values, visions or missions. A man who can't control himself ( Discipline) won't be a template for others to learn from. We ooze only out what we carry. Besides, Leadership is continuous and it is not something that is done for a day and dropped. It is continuous therefore there has to be a consistency in controlling self ALWAYS. Until we have disciplined ourselves in certain things, we might not be able to find fulfillment in the path we have chosen.

As kingdom leaders, there are disciplines that we need to cultivate,  some of which include;

✓Prayer : A leader should  always communicate with his father (God) the husbandman and vine in order to communicate with others i.e bearing fruits.

✓Fasting : These helps us in focus and relieves us from distractions and noises.

✓ Meditation/ Quiet time : A leader must have a quiet time; where it's only him and his thoughts; thinking on how best to affect his world; how to effect changes in his environment. Great men are great thinkers, they say. Deep and positive thinking i.e. meditation must be cultivated in us as leaders.

✓Obedience: Leaders must always obey the master leader (God) and that is the way to show that we love him (John 15:10)

✓Submission : Who we submit to determines who submits to us, the same way what we submit to determines what submits to us.

Proverbs 22:6; 1 Corinthians 14:26-28, 1 Corinthians 7:8-10

 02. Diligence 

The second very vital tool is Diligence.

Most leaders are rich and prosperous because they are ahead of everyone they lead (Proverbs 12:24). Diligence is the personal trait that makes a person have ideas that leads to abundance (Proverbs 21:5 ) Diligence is a personal trait that leads to promotion (Proverbs 22:29).Kingdom leaders are not complacent, kingdom leaders do not settle for less, kingdom leaders know where they are going and they continue to move in that direction. A diligent leader never agrees with the negative, he or she is consistently looking for a headway and this is what makes us truly successful leaders. Kingdom leaders move and only get better. As we have said, they don't settle with the less. A diligent leader is never tossed here and there by situations that come his path; at every point, he rises above them.

Diligence helps facilitate us to develop a good attitude as well as confidence, patience, forgiveness, values, loyalty and integrity 

(Proverbs 6:6-11; Ruth 2:1-13, Mark 13: 32-36, Acts 9:36-39).

TO BE CONTINUED...

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DISCIPLINE AND DILIGENCE - KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP PART 1

DISCIPLINE AND DILIGENCE -KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP PART 1

Leadership as have been rightly defined is the ability to rally men and women to a common goal and purpose, building in the place of character and capacity. A leader on the other hand is a person who has discovered purpose or a course and has set out to achieve it. From a well defined purpose comes a vision which means seeing the end of a Purpose from its beginning. This is where Leadership journey starts. This week we will be looking at two vital leadership characteristics which I have so named the Defining D's - Discipline and Diligence. These are two very important characters every leaders should possess. Lacking in the life of a leader, such a person can not lead effectively and efficiently.

There is a need to always set the foundation before a building is constructed hence, the need to lay out certain foundational knowledge as we go on in this series.

First, what is Discipline?

According to dictionary, Discipline means having a controlled behaviour or self control. Discipline can also be defined as a state of order based on submission to authority. The ability to discipline oneself is one proof of wisdom. Pproverbs 12:23 "A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness". Prudence also means Discipline. 

As true leaders, we can never do without the wisdom of God to lead effectively. God is the greatest leader that exists and if we must lead as He did, we cannot afford to make wisdom void. A wise man is one that van discipline himself and only a leader that can control himself can control those under him. No man can give what he does not have.  Many  failed relationships today were in one way results of lack of self discipline whether on the part of one party or both parties.

Discipline simply means doing what is commanded and not what is convenient. The ability to steer forward even in the presence of seemingly overcoming waves. To successfully fulfill any vision there are laid down requirements and none is ever convenient. Therefore, as leaders who want to fulfill Purpose  we must discipline ourselves in achieving them especially in the aspect of the eyes and vision. 

We must also understand that we were created to lead and that is why God gave us the most powerful weapon in actualizing our Purpose which is the power of Vision. Vision is the function of the heart and not only the sight. A leader who wants to really fulfill purpose must not walk in all by sight. The "eye" looks at  what is now while "vision" sees what could be. The former deals with now; while the latter deals with the future, For example, Samson had a great vision but his eyes destroyed him, If you cannot discipline your eyes, your vision may become blurred and in the process become blind. This was the case of Samson. 

We must discipline our eyes in other for us to fulfill our vision.

What is DILIGENCE? 

According to the dictionary, DILIGENCE means being steadfast, earnest, persistent, consistent, hardworking. It can also mean conscientiousness, determination, and Perseverance. It is a long-term effort not a short-term investment. Diligence is the personal trait that makes a person able to lead well.

Diligence simply means Hard work. A man once said Hard work never kills, it is wrong work that kills. As leaders, we have to recognize our purpose already which can also be likened to our work or the right work. We must put all our efforts in order to fulfill our purpose.  Passion is what fuels vision and DILIGENCE is what births desire. Desire without diligence is disaster. Many visionary Leaders are where they are today because of lack of diligence, all they will be acclaiming is God will do. God gives the vision, man pursues the Vision. God gives Grace to pursue the vision while man runs the race to fulfill the vision. So as visionary Leaders, we must take responsibility.

To be continued

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CREATIVITY IN ACADEMICS - PART 1

 CREATIVITY IN ACADEMICS -PART 1

This week we will be looking at something different. This is a concept that has not been so much talked about. We will look at what it means to be creative and how through creativity, one can better one's odds in academics.

Creativity in relation with Academia are two correlatable concepts. Creativity as have been defined by several authors, can be said to literally mean "create", "creation"  or "creative force" and "power to create new works". It is the ability to make or bring something new into existence. This "new" could either be in the aspect of solving a problem, finding a method, etc. The concept "Creativity" is of value to every discipline. It cuts across the Academia, business system, finance system and so many others. One thing also about Creativity is this, it is never afraid of trying something new hence its ability to bring newer results every time given the chance. Creativity has been said to mean innovations. A process of becoming sensitive to problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowledge, missing elements and disharmonies as well as identifying, searching for solutions, making guesses or formulation of hypotheses, and possibly modifying and restating them, and experimenting to find results and finally communicating the results.(Penick 1992).

{You can go over this definition again.} It cuts across every aspect of what Creativity entails.

Despite how important Creativity is in order to foster good academic achievements, it is poorly understood even in our schools today. We are all expected to possess abilities to recognize, memorize and be able to produce those information same way it is given to us. But this is often times not the case with the students. A school is made up of different individuals with different capabilities and these should be clearly understood. Many times the difference between a poor performance and good performance is Ability. The Ability of A to do is different from B; A's approach could be totally different from B but if B's does not tally with custom and tradition, it is regarded as low-class; and this in the long run affects such individuals.

Academic Creativity is a way of thinking about, learning and producing information in subjects taught in schools in such a way that it is specific to different individuals and brings a special excitement along with it. 

You ever wonder why growing up, children tend to be excited once they discover new things; for instance they build new toy cars, houses,etc. The joy they experience at that moment. This is the excitement that comes with creativity; that comes when we build our own paths and not follow strictly what is the norm.

Look carefully at the illustrations below:

1. In what year did Nigeria become amalgamated? (The answer 1914, requires recognizing and memorizing information.)

2. How are the Northern and Southern states both similar and different? (The answer requires more than memorization and understanding; it requires students to think about what they know.)

3. Suppose Nigeria had not been amalgamated. How would our lives and history have been different? (The answer requires many creative thinking skills including imagining, experimenting, discovering, elaborating, testing solutions, and communicating discoveries.) Creative thinking enhances fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. It is a natural and healthy  human process as opposed to learning by Authority. 

Creativity is fundamental to self - reliance. The more self - reliant a person becomes, the better the quality of his or her life, family, community and society at large. Being creative enables us to get the most out of life experiences and resources. 

Inasmuch as, we see its usefulness, its however delicate i.e. it is dependent on so many factors and these in the long run can exert positive or negative effects on Creativity. One of such factors is the environment. The environment where a child finds himself or herself could foster or inhibit creativity. Though an individual may have the innate or genetic ability for creativity, yet parents and teachers have roles to play to enhance and foster these creative traits.  Others which include, family support, availability of learning materials and social pressures have also been postulated. It is clear that if teaching, assessment and social environment support creative thinking, the innate tendency is continued, but if not, reverse is the case.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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A PREDESTINED LIFE - PART 3

 A PREDESTINED LIFE - PART 3

Knowledge is very vital on the way to our Glorious destiny(Hosea 4:6). Without Knowledge, you cannot know the path to your destiny neither can you understand how to walk the path. Hence,  we will be considering today some required knowledge that will help take you to your destination.

Knowing your God helps you to see your destiny. Having a glorious destiny begins with you having the understanding that it is God who has prepared your destiny. In order to now fulfill that destiny, you must grow deeper in your knowledge of God. Until you have understood the Creator's purpose for your existence, there is a tendency that you may abuse the product. One way we can know our God and His plans concerning our Glorious destiny is through reading your Bible - daily and continued reading. The Bible is God's wisdom in print. The wisdom for his creation is resident in the Bible and since we are all creations of His, it is important that we study the Scriptures. It is God's manual for our triumphant, glorious and victorious living.

Also reading spiritual books from Anointed Men of God, praying to God for direction, all these are ways through which we can access this needed Knowledge.  Doing this, it becomes easier for you to fulfill your destiny.

It is also very essential to note that Knowing your Destiny enhances your Vision. One of the most powerful weapon God gave to humanity in order to fulfill their destiny is the power of vision: not sight. It makes you to see the end from the very beginning and that will produce a passion to keep you going so as to get to your destination. Once your vision is already clear, then you begin to walk in line of fulfilling it.

Knowing your vision also helps to choose Destiny friends. The truth is the journey of destiny cannot be journeyed by only you, you need destiny friends that will help you get to your destination. Look at the story of David and Jonathan. Such friends have to be in your life for you to maximize your God ordained glorious destiny. You cannot run it alone, you need people that are oriented in that line as you are to help motivate and also run with the vision. A Destiny friend is simply someone that God has appointed to help you get to your destination. Jesus Christ himself did not fulfill His destiny only by Himself. The most Anointed son of God still needed the company of the 12 disciples.

Knowing and identifying this set of right company brings you to your destination and that will result to your Glorification. When you have selected your destiny friends, then the journey to your destiny becomes smooth as did David's. Why is this so? They become committed to helping you fulfil it in every manner and way. The end of every fulfilled destiny is GLORY(Romans 8:30).

May we all end well and end fulfilled in Jesus mighty name. AMEN

Thank you for following all through this series..

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A PREDESTINED LIFE - PART 2

 A PREDESTINED LIFE - PART 2

Earlier this week, we began exploring the nature of a Predestined life. We must understand that a predestined life is one already ordained by God and prepared for man to manifest. Let's look at Jeremiah's account in the book of Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations".

Just like Jeremiah, there is a prepared destiny for every man on the platform Earth which God has before hand engrafted in us to fulfil.

Every human being created by God was created for more regardless what they have achieved. There's a lot that God has deposited in every human being; our Destiny is to be like the end of his dear son, because that is whom we have been conformed to be (2Corinthians 3:18). However, it is possible for man not to identify what has been deposited in him nor understand how to make the most of it.  

What does it mean to live a fulfilled life? Fulfilment in life is a state of absolute or total completeness in your assignments. Jesus Christ when be was here on Earth lived a fulfilled life; this was why at the cross, he could say the words IT IS FINISHED. This statement is a proof of completed assignment. The last statement of a thoroughly finished man should be just those 3 words "It is finished" but it's quite unfortunate that many don't get to this end. 

God has chosen your destiny but you decide the fulfilment. Fulfilment of destiny is not a function of how long we lived but how well we have lived on Earth. Jesus Christ died at the age of 33 years, and he fulfilled his destiny as a result of prompt response to the voice of the Father. Jesus is our true model, one we should all emulate in other to have a good end. In order to fulfil one's destiny, there is a part we ourselves have to play in running with all that's been deposited in us. This was what Jesus Christ did, never for once did He stop racing after destiny.

In the journey to our destination ( pre - destined end), we must understand that there is a place of seasons. A season is a time defined by particular circumstances or features. According to Merriam  Webster dictionary, Time is a piece of eternity. When God created every individual and prepared our Destiny, He put us in time, so that we can have a beginning and an end (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2). God does not live in time, He is not bound by time, He exists  in eternity. We must understand that there are certain times for certain occurrences in our lives. On the path to our glorious destiny, Time is one vital tool that we must exploit. God gave us time so we can be reminded of how we are to live. From the Scripture, we understand that there are different times and seasons; to sow, to reap, a time to get, a time to lose, a time to labour, a time to enjoy, and so on. We are to operate via these to fulfil our destiny.

We must understand that God never said everything will be fine but he promised us that if we can hold on to him, then we will become victorious. God's love is longsuffering (Num 14:18); God's love is not forever suffering. It may be long but not forever suffering. On your journey towards your destiny, it is expedient we build our Faith. In this context, Faith is the driving force that pulls us toward destiny. Faith draws Grace from above to finish till the end. We will all end well In Jesus mighty Name. Amen 

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A PREDESTINED LIFE - PART 1

 A PREDESTINED LIFE - PART 1

Romans 8:29-30

29 For whom he did foreknew, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he  also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

This week, we will be dealing with a topic that will enable us to understand life and its essence. Life is truly good if we truly understand what it is in its right state. Understanding is vital to make the most of every journey in life. You have understanding, you have life. The Bible in the book of Psalm 119:144 "Give me understanding, that I may live". This is to emphasize the necessity for Understanding in our everyday walk. From scriptures, we see in the beginning,  God created the Heaven and the Earth (Genesis 1). The first place God created was a habitat. The heaven and the Earth. These two habitat are where life exist but in different forms. He didn't first create the man before He created the Earth; He didn't create the birds of the air before he did the Heavens. This to tell us that all God made, He had a reason for their existence and an importance to how they existed. This is Predestination. 

From the scriptures, we see only Spirit beings live in Heaven while Spirit in the body live on Earth. When God created the earth, He breathe the spirit in the body in other for life to begin on Earth. God and His Angels occupied Heaven, while man was to occupy the Earth. The Heavens was to be dominated by heavenly bodies as we have today and the Earth by men. This was God's original intent - his preformed plan.

"Predestined" is an English word that has a prefix -pre which means 'before'. Predestined simply means a Prepared destiny . According to Merriam Webster dictionary, it means to fore-ordain to an earthly or eternal lot or destiny by Divine decree. A predestined life is a life God has prepared the end and inserted it into human spirit enveloped in the body. Therefore,  this means the end of every human is known by God, but he has to start his end from the beginning and get to what is God's plan for his life; because God has an already made planned for your life - Predestination. Even though God has a plan for our lives, we have been given the power of choice. It is either to accept his way or path or not. For an instance, you were asked to come down to Lagos but you don’t know Lagos talk less of knowing how to get there. The person asking you to come knows everything about your destination, your course and everything. If he sends you the address, you can decide to follow or not and if you don’t follow, you already know where you are going to end. This is likened also to our God. He knows all about where we are going, how we will get there, the hurdles we have to cross; we on the other hand are the ones invited on the journey - you and I. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

A manufacturer or Creator always gives a direction for use to its product in other for it to have a good end. When God created Adam and Eve he told him what has been predestined for him.  He said in Genesis 1:28 "have dominion, subdue, multiply and be fruitful".  These are what God planned in Adam and God gave him the direction for use; but Adam went against God's will and lost this right when he disregarded God's instruction. When God referred to death in that passage, He was referring to the loss of connection between God and man, a spiritual death. A tree that has lost connection with its root will wither away; a river that has lost connection with its source, will dry up quick; the same way it is here.  If we have lost contact with the spirit, then the flesh will start controlling the spirit.The flesh does not have the capacity to fulfill your destiny, it is only a spirit that is connected to God that can fulfill destiny. 

Every human being created by God is made for more regardless what you have achieved today. There is always the best even if you have attained the better, there is the excellent if you have attained the best and there is the perfect if you have attained the excellent. 

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THE FRUITS OF HOLINESS PART 2

 THE FRUITS OF HOLINESS - PART 2

BIBLICAL PROOFS OF HOLINESS

Earlier this week, we started out on understanding Holiness; what it means to be Holy and how possible this is in our contemporary world today. One thing I have come to understand is that for every effective accomplishment of any task, you don't just delve in without knowledge. You go in search of that knowledge from sources that possess them and you use them to better your odds. There is a wise saying which goes thus; "if I have seen far than others, it's because I have stood on the shoulders of giants before me". The same goes in the kingdom; for us to live a life of Holiness, there must be persons whose path we follow; such ones as with proofs to what living holy is all about. 

In our preceding article, we have looked at the Trinity- God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as the primary source of Holiness. Our God is a Holy God and if we follow after Him and do as His word commands, it becomes easy for us to live like Him.  But today, we will look at men like us from the scriptures as reference to what Holy or Godly living is. Hebrews 12:1 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses...". 

We shall be looking at the lives of such witnesses as we have from the Scriptures.

The first is a man called NOAH. We all remember his story in the book of Genesis; how God used him to save procreation and how he procured a trans-generational blessing for mankind. The Bible makes us understand that God had searched all through. In verse 5 of chapter 6, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth". For this reason he had vowed to destroy the earth, but as He is a just and righteous God, he found another. Verse   9 tells us about the character of this man Noah - a JUST man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 

Here we see all this holy attributes in a single man. For this reason verse 8 says he found grace in the eyes of the LORD. One touching part as I have always seen in the account of godly men from scriptures, they walked with God. According to the law of physics, it is said that unlike poles attract and like poles repel; this is not the case with God. You must be like Him to live like Him.  Genesis Chapter 9; God then made a covenant with Him which still speaks today, just on the platform of a man's righteousness. Verse 1 of this same chapter, we see God avert the curses he had placed on man from the fall of Adam. This is what a life of Holiness can do.

The second proof is our Father, ABRAHAM. Another thing I have come to understand is that God calls us as individuals, he doesn't call in groups. So if you are indulging in sin because of what others will think of you, then you are really missing it. A life of Holiness is personalized. You walk with God on an individual level and it reflects even in your other relationships. From the Scriptures, little was said about Abraham's beginning, but according to the scriptures, Abraham demonstrated all fruits of righteousness. In him was found OBEDIENCE (Genesis 12:1-9), in him was found FAITH (Galatians 3:6), in him was found TRUST IN GOD (Genesis 22:1-12), in him was found LOVE (Genesis 14:12-16), in him was found PERSEVERANCE and LONGSUFFERING (Genesis 21:1-5 he had received the promise at 75 but was fulfilled at 100 still he against all hope believed in hope). When we study the life of our patriarchs, they are always a motivation. At the time of Abraham, the Holy Spirit had not been given to man, but we see him show forth the fruits (Galatians 5). Abraham was a righteous man and in His righteousness, He was pleasant before God. Once the ways of a man are pleasant before God, he is granted access to all secrets. Abraham was even referred to as a friend of God. All on the platform of walking and living right with God.

The third proof is a man, JOB. The Bible makes us understand in Job 1:1 "and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil". See another set of qualification in another man. These are all attributes of a Holy living. He FEARed God, was PERFECT, UPRIGHT. To eschew evil is to hate evil that is, he loved righteousness. Hence, God could boast of him. We saw the early life of Job, how he was blessed and the greatest of all men in the East. This is what a life of Holiness can procure for us. Job 29 gives us an account of Job's living "as I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; when the Almighty was yet with me...on and on". Still when he was afflicted, he chose not to listen to the voice of hatred towards God and he steadfastly maintained his ways before Him. Such is a life of Holiness; and we see God restore back unto Job all that He had lost. His latter end was recorded much greater than his beginnings.

There are so many biblical accounts of Holiness as a lifestyle and so many attributes; MEEKness, JOY, LOVE, PEACE, FAITH, OBEDIENCE, PERSEVERANCE, RIGHTEOUSness, LONGSUFFERING, so many... 

For a man who is Holy, he is always in the heart of God. Such a man is guaranteed of the blessings in righteousness. 

Proverbs 16:7 "When the ways of a man pleases God, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with Him".

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THE FRUITS OF HOLINESS - PART 1

 THE FRUITS OF HOLINESS - PART 1

1Peter 1:15-16 "But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy".

The Bible in the above passage makes us understand that HOLINESS is in fact a commandment from God. Every Father who is successful will always want his successors to be also. We serve a God who is holy and as his seeds, we are admonished also to live a life of Holiness. Psalm 92:15 "Our God is upright and there is no unrighteousness in Him". The Bible makes us understand that this HOLINESS is an attribute of God the Father. Revelations 4:8 "Holy,Holy, Holy, LORD God Almighty which was and is to come". God is holy, Christ is holy (Romans 1:4 "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead'); We also must have these fruits in us. 

HOLINESS is rather the most vital tool to draw the presence of God. The Bible makes us know that our God hates sin but loves righteousness; and for a lover of righteousness, He will always hear the call of His own. Psalm 87:2 " The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob". Why is this so! The Bible states clearly that mount Zion is a place of His Holiness. Every man that moved the hand of God in the scriptures moved it on the platform of showing forth the fruits of Holiness. Galatians 5:22 talks about the fruits of the Spirit, but none of this is ever derived on the platform of sin and impurity - is it love, peace, joy, longsuffering, gentleness... These are fruits sown in Holiness, sown in righteousness. And for us to possess them, we must possess a pure and clean heart.

HOLINESS is not an art learnt or a skill you build upon over time or something you have to buy off the market, it is a character of God, which has been handed freely to every man who receives and believes the ministry of his son Jesus Christ. HOLINESS is just like genetic traits, they are passed down from one generation to another. God the Father possessed it, Jesus Christ did and the same also we do.  The Bible declares in  John 1:12 "as many as received, to them gave he power to be called the sons of God". This power is Holiness. This power is Purity. 2Peter 1:2-3 "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue".An Holy Father will beget an Holy Son. For every believing child of God, this is meant to be our nature too.

HOLINESS is a state of being holy. In the anchor verse, we must be holy in all things- with ourselves and with others; in all we do, we do in Holiness. It is a state of being like God. In our God is no unrighteousness. Holiness is the absence of iniquity. A holy man is never found on the side of sin whether it be little or grave. In all things, He is minded of who He is and how He is supposed to approach every situation.

HOLINESS is a state of perfection. God talking to Abraham in Genesis 17:1, "walk before me and be thou blameless". To be blameless is to be perfect. God himself knew it was possible for man to live perfectly, hence his admonition, but we must understand that this is never possible for a natural man. There must be a transition into the realm of the Supernatural before you can exhibit these fruits. 1 Corinthians 2:14 "For the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned".  It is only through unshaken faith and trust in God that this nature can be handed unto us.

HOLINESS is a state of purity. We can never deviate from the fact that it is the Father who makes Holy. Malachi 3:3 "And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify all the sons of Levi...". Purification stems from the Father of all purity himself. It takes Holiness in a man to rid himself of all vices in the world today. Everything in the world today is against the preaching of Holiness. So many have even derailed from this path; it is never possible to be holy or to live holy, they say. But I tell you it is possible; Christ's death on the cross procured many things for us, one of which is Salvation. Salvation leads to HOLINESS. Until you are truly saved in Christ Jesus, then you cannot exercise these fruits and this is certainly why it may never be possible unto you. Genuine salvation will lead us in the path of Holiness and Righteousness. Remember this is God's word; it has never changed and will never change.

James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning".

TO BE CONTINUED...

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