Why the Jews prosper......and any tribe or nation can too.

There are a lot of reasons the Jews prosper ranging from values for education, critical thinking skills, philanthropy amongst themselves. A whole lot of them but we would focus on one today.

To the Jew, the old testament is an ancient book of history and moral precepts. They follow most of this principles as procedures for life and most  have been known to prosper tremendously.

My findings from the book, The Jewish phenomenon by Stephen Silbiger indicates there is a huge similarity between the researches made in the book and the commands of the old testament.

One principle caught my attention during my bible study one day.

Deut 15:12-14 (pls note that the whole of deut 15 are still commands on how to treat fellow Jews but I chose the 3 verses for the purpose of the write up )

 12 If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free.

13 And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed.

14 Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you.

15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.

If a relative is serving a person, he would be released after the 6th year with the relative opening a branch of the business for the servant and sometimes paying for his one or 2 years rent for his accommodation.

The igbo's call it "settlement ". "Oga m essettle go m", as some would say then.

You would see someone with little education and not much chances in life doing big things. Building houses in the city he decides to settle because someone gave him a chance in life.

And the cycle continues as the released servant takes another "nwa boy" to serve him.

Jews have the ability to organise and utilise economic power which has been their strength in any nation they find themselves in. They know themselves and people that need help and mentorship and the funds are used for these. They practically practice a principle still in  Deut 15,"there  should be no poor amongst you".

Have we stopped being Jews by ceasing to practice some of these principles. Have we refused to "settle" people as they deserve or have the younger ones refused to serve anyone.

Whatever  the case maybe, we should get back to the practice and build a strong community.

Jews take  care of their own, so should we all.

You are much more powerful than you ever know!

The most important times in every ones  life is the day they were born and the day they die.

God looked at the imperfect world and sought a solution and created you. Yes! You!

Oh you think you are worth nothing? C’mon, you think God would waste His genius on a ‘nothing’ and spend His time making your finger prints to be unique out of the 7 billion people on earth. Think again!

You are worth every single time He spent on you because He looked at a particular problem and created a solution. You!

You are here for something, something greater than you. Something you need God’s help to accomplish.

So whatever you find yourself to do, take pride in it because your job doesn’t define you, you give meaning to the job. A solution provides a solution anywhere.

Next time you get to work,  find some meaning there.

Are you an accountant in a construction company, you are not just ading and removing numbers, you are part of a team that are making our highways fit for commuting. You are reducing the risk of deaths on our roads.

Are you a mechanic, you literally have people’s lives in your hands.

A customer service person has the capacity to turn around someone’s day or even business by the solutions they proffer on  a daily basis with the right attitude.

What would our world be without janitors to keep the environment clean. Maybe most of us may never have had courage to visit Calabar as a tourist town.

A make up artist can make someone win a life changing bid because of the self confident she builds in her clients.

What is it that you are doing, take pride in it, do it with everything you ve got and find meaning in it. Let the meaning you put in it motivate you each day to get going.

My motivation……….my main motivation to try again after facing terrible failures is because I want to be able to tell young people my success story. If I gave up who would be their role model.

I have 4 other main motivating factors. I hope one day I will be able to share them with you.

Discover your purpose and vision, find your motivation for today and give what you do now everything you ve got. Be the best you can be because you are THE BEST.

I love you……always

ChiNenyem

#motivationchallenge  #youareworthitall #myJune17thmessage #inspiredbyGod #beblessed

What if you had a choice to marry someone who understands all your weaknesses. .....and you do!

What if you had a choice to marry someone who understands all your weaknesses. .....and He is patient with you. He feels what you feel and believes that his patience will allow you time to pick yourself up and correct yourself. What a beautiful marriage it would be!! And that choice is available. .....

My 2nd baby is short sighted so we started the process of her eye treatments. One of the requirements was that she uses one particular eye drop 3 times in a day for 3 days, then she'd still use it on the morning of the fourth day which is our appointment.

She would cry and scream whenever we want to use the eye drop on her. I kept telling her to relax that eye drops generally are not painful...We always resorted to force.

On the evening of the 2nd day I decided to use the eye drop on myself. I needed to understand why she would be crying that much just to use an eye drop and I discovered 2 things;

1. The drop is actually a bit painful...For at least 2 seconds. This forces you to close your eyes for that duration
2. I couldn't see nothing. I tried washing my eyes, opened it wide and rubbed vigorously but nothing worked. So I couldn't drive for a few days or read any books or text messages.

Almost immediately my attitude changed. I will hold her, rock her, back her, whatever it is to make her happy before and after using the eye drops.

I called the school to instruct them not to bother her with writing if she isn't responding as usual. They should allow her play and this should go on until the effects clears and this is for about 1 month.

I could understand her pains and I could understand why she behaves the way she does for that period. Why she would cry uncontrollably and tries to beat the eye drop off your hands (she would even hit the person administering the drops). These were behaviours that ordinarily we would not condone but now it's different....I understand WHY she would behave like that.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin Heb 4:15.

Jesus understands your struggles. He understands why you act the way you do. He has been tempted in every way you have been, even to deny the Lordship of God....in every single way you have been....yet He came out without sin.

He understands that's why He's patient with you. He is not slow in fulfilling His promises, as some count slowness, but He is patient with you (to turn to Him) not wanting anyone to perish 2nd Pet 3:9

Jesus loves you. Stop running from Him because of the things you have done. Come to Him because He is the only one that can feel your pain. He will show you a way out!! Become His bride today

Would you accept Him now?

Be repentant in your heart and tell Him that He is your Lord. It's that simple.

#amazinggrace

For more info, write chiukwunenyem@gmail.com

She died but her hubby had to pay with his own blood!

Susan tries to hug her husband, Daniel and kiss him. He just shoved her aside gently while he went to do something absolutely not necessary. He wouldnt eat her food neither receive or return her hugs. It's been a difficult season for her.

As she stepped into the kitchen to clear up after dinner, she started speaking to her Father about the whole event. "God, it has not been so easy living with your son (my husband), he is one of the most difficult people I know. Forgiveness doesn't come easy to him, I have apologised a million times. As it were, he's hurt me more than words can explain but yet most times he acts like I am the devil. I don't know how much I can hold on but please help me."

Her Father speaks to her and she returns to her husband, in her mind she kept speaking the truth of the scriptures, "my husband loves me as Christ loves the church and gave Himself up for her". Though she had no desire any more to say those Words, but faith kept urging her on. So she will still hold Dan ' s hands as he comes back, still serve the food he would not eat, and still let him know in several different ways that she's available to him. All to know avail.

She got tired of trying, got tired of serving him. "Well, I still love him but I can't force myself on him". When he's ready he will come back to me.

So off she goes having a time out with friends, trying hard not to bother about the challenges at home. Not having any idea how to kick strife out of her home.

She left her friends tired and exasperated, sad and frustrated,

she sat, thinking and trying to mutter some words to her Father when He said,"you have prayed for long and confessed your husbands love for you, and I have answered. But you don't act like you have received, you don't  act like one who is loved.

It was the aha moment for her. She braced herself again for his return, eagerly waiting. She excitedly jumped as he enters the house, hugging, chatting , setting the dishes.

Dan was confused and tried hard not to show. Susan is a good woman and patient........but never with this much zeal. He watched to see if she would quit but she kept on loving, happy, ignoring.


At last, he came and held her for so long she thought her breathe will cease. He started talking how his day has been and the visions of his heart.

He hasn't become all Susan wanted but he has been a huge progress.

The story has not ended

Susan is Jesus, Daniel is us all.

Susan is full of grace and truth. She keeps coming and loving, while Daniel knowing that Susan will always come running to him or maybe even ignorant of her love, kept taking her grace for granted.

Do not reject the grace of God. If you accept grace, you will enjoy the fullness of life here on earth and when we depart (ofcourse enduring hardship as a good soldier of Christ (2Tim2:3-5) is part of the privilege we have as sons of God but we glory in these things,  we glory in the tribulations (Romans 5:3).  Oh how confused the world is about this joy we have). If you do not, you will pay with your own blood....and your blood is not enough to pay.

How long will Jesus keep knocking, how long will you keep pushing him away. He will not force Himself on you against your will but He will keep loving in patience, waiting for you.

Do not take the grace of God for granted... Because a time will come when it will not be available again. When Jesus CANNOT wait any longer for you to come around, when time would have really gone

Grace is available today. Embrace him....Accept Christ today and make maximum use of grace to live a life pleasing to God!

For more information on how to give your life to Christ and grow in Him email chiukwunenyem@gmail.com

Recipe for success

The major recipe for success is meditating on Gods Word and walking in obedience.

Joshua 1:8 says this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth but thou shall meditate in it day and night, that thou may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then thou shall make your ways prosperous and then thou shall have good suceess.

Also, Psalm 1:1-3 clearly stated that we will be blessed because we do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of the scornful BUT our delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law we meditate day and night.  We shall be as trees planted by the rivers of water,  our leaves shall never wither and whatsoever we doeth,  prospers.

Sometimes, we as christians pride ourselves in the fact that we do not have close friends that "incurably crazy", our role models are not these kinds of people that the scripture mentioned. However, are there other friends we keep unconsciously that may deter us from enjoying a full life and being all we can be.

Generally, there are basic 3 gates through which information enters into our system that helps to form us.

Our eyes, Ears, Mouth

What friends do we make with our ears and our eyes especially.

Let's look at this together:

Eyes
What kind of things do we read and watch. Reading any misleading articles, whether porn or freedom seekers or anything  that lures us away from the truth isn't healthy.

Ears
What kind of messages or musics do we listen to. Anything that doesn't build you spiritually or improves your emotional intelligence or teaches you to usurp authority is already out to destroy you. For kings are in power to punish those who err (Romans 13).

Mouth
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. By the time your ears and eyes have filled your mind and heart, it comes out through the mouth.

Therefore be careful. We may not keep physical friends or companies that are misleading but these are equally destructive.

Your life counts.....Make it so today

Can we ever understand this love?

Trying to break down God's love for us as much as God enables me. Our lives are so valuable that I will NEVER be able to understand the killings going on in Nigeria. The North, listen, the East listen,  South and West please listen.

When we know that we are valued, perhaps, we can have a change of heart.  Perhaps, we will be able to truly value the life of another. Perhaps....We will listen and come to Christ, the One only in whom we can truly love...and be loved. Perhaps......

#TheGoodNews #God #Love

I could have died but for Him

Achan and all his household were burned because of disobedience. Now, though we do not deserve less than Achan, we did not receive the same as him because of the price Jesus paid on the cross.

He has received the punishment for all the sins I had committed or all the mistakes I will ever do, that is why I'm free to live a righteous life.  A life free of sin. God's grace does not give me permission to live in sin but it frees me to do right.

I will try to illustrate this a bit. As an entrepreneur, sometimes I put in extra efforts so that I can pay salaries and bills. What if someone invests in the business, part of the funding will be used to take care of the salaries and these recurrent bills thereby freeing me to chart the course for the future of the business. I am free to plan, strategize,  cast the vision and lead my people to success.

It will be irresponsible of me to leave my strategic duties  and not take necessary risks after i have received funding because I'm still afraid that it will be difficult to pay bills. It will be irresponsibleof me to continue in sin after I have received the grace of God.

As He died on the cross, I too died. So in Him, the full recompense of my disobedience is paid for. I now sit in glory, with Jesus in the heavenly places,  far above all principalities and power.

Do not take grace for granted, maximise it for good use.

Can you read the word on my top?

We are all correct..."Rock your swag"...but it wasn't the original letters. The top came with  ""FU" not "RO".

I was in a hurry, the picture looked like a cartoon and the fabric is great. ..I bought it. I got home and set my kit out only to see the letters for the first time. "I thought I read it", I screamed. But it didnt matter anymore, either I wear something else and return it later or I do something about it and still wear it. I chose the later.

My first thought was to crotchet wool across all the letters on top and leave only the swag showing. That was going to take a lot of time but I didn't mind because I could see the end result in my mind. The first crotchet hook step i took got the hook boring a big hole on my shirt.

My Nanny looked at me and said,"Aunty if you want to crotchet the wool on it, you have to first do a cross stich round the letters then crotchet on the Stictches and  not directly on the cloth. That made  a lot of sense, but it would still take a lot of time.

As we were about starting she said, "Aunty it's almost getting late, we can convert the letters to something else with needle and thread. And I was like, ermm that's a good idea too, let's check what letters.

Now, at this point, I appreciated her help but being more educated I just felt she may not be able to help me any further since its "word - creation" time. I started with trying to think of all the words I know that ends with"ck". It wasn't working and then out of the blues she said, let's turn the F to R and  the U to O. That did it, the O wouldn't come out well but it was a huge milestone.

I didn't know when I said,"this "girl' you think so well"! I knew then that without her help, I may have spent a couple of hours that night doing the crotchet the way I want it but I had to just spend like 10 mins to draw the correct letters then sew round it.

DONT TAKE ANY BODY GOD BRINGS YOUR WAY FOR GRANTED.

1. If I had treated her in a particular way, she may not have had the boldness to always speak up as she does, thereby saving me a lot of stress when the opportunity arises. SHOW RESPECT TO PEOPLE

2. She came with some skills but I also made sure she learnt other skills from me. INVEST IN PEOPLE .

3. If I shushed her when she wanted to correct or chose to take my own idea to service my ego, it might have cost me longer time than it eventually did. BE HUMBLE

4.  She is not that educated but she has a brain and common sense. GIVE PEOPLE A BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT.

Take this inspiration today, don't look down on anybody,  the janitor or gardener can bring you great relief. Respect and invest, and give the lower cadre people around you a benefit of the doubt, you never can tell what could come out of it. Even if nothing gets to you,  you have sent a seasoned person out to relate with other people.

God bless you.

How protected are you?

Joshua 11:4-6

They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots -a huge army, as numerous as the the Sand of the seashore. All the kings joined forces and made camp together at the waters of Merom

,  to fight against Israel.
6a. The Lord said to Joshua,"Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow,  I will hand all over them over to Israel, slain.

Powerful enemies encamped around Israel but the Lord promised them safety and He, indeed gave thesee nations to Israel,  SLAIN! In several occasions the scripture recorded that the Lord fought for Israel and this is because they have a covenant with God through Abraham. Even though this covenant is sealed with the blood of animals, He still gave nations as ransom for them.

Now, we have a better covenant with God through Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus as ransom for you. How much do you think God wants to protect and prosper you. Because of the cross, you are God's own and He protects His own. He guards over us with jealousy.

Get in the covenant, my friend and walk in the covenant.

Accept Christ today and live in Him.

For more information on how to accept Christ, email chiukwunenyem@gmail.com. Thank you. 

Why am I getting married?

A lot of people get married for different reasons; love, financial security, emotional security and the list goes on. For some, they do not even have the slightest idea why they want to be married...They are of age, some people will convince again.

Personally, I think marriage are two people using their strengths as one, serving the Lord with everything they have and in every area of their lives. In their businesses, home, raising kids, career etc.

They should work as one unit with unified mind and heart. That's why and how "2 people become one". Two are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Ecclesiastics 4:9-12 NLT

So why would you want to be married and yet live in isolation? You choose the things to tell your spouse and the ones not to tell them. Who else should know your visions, your joys and your pains.

We devise every means to make up with friends we deem important when we err them (even sometimes when they err us) and you are willing to give your spouse the silent treatment for as long as it lasts. Rearrange your priorities, men lead where you need to and women follow where you need to.

If you are not ready to share your life with another person you may consider waiting for a little more while and ask God for more wisdom and direction.

And seriously if you haven't found your place in God and what exactly He needs you to do (at least the first steps), that's a good starting point in planning to get married.

First step to receiving God's promises in 2016

The land on which your feet have walked shall be an inheritance to you and your children always, BECAUSE you have wholly followed the Lord my God. This is a recount of Moses' blessing to Caleb in Joshua 14:9

God's promises will be perfected in your life because of your obedience. However,  what will you obey when you have not received any instructions.

Yes, there are certain instructions we have already been given. God has commanded us to love one another and not let the sun go down on our anger.
Some people have inferred that men and women respond in different ways when they are hurt but God's commands are clear; men should love their wives and women should respect their husbands. We should forgive, we should speak the truth in love. These are instructions but some times we need wisdom to act or speak for some specific circumstances.

For example, how would you hear when you are supposed to be at a place at a particular time. How would you know which houses to buy and the ones not to buy, or which schools to enroll your kids or where to invest or how to reach a particular group to Christ or not to go to a certain place because of impending danger and so on.

Clear your heart of every weight, seek the Lord. Let your heart be truly a dwelling place for the Lord, free from all gabbage. Set it towards him alone and get set to recieve instructions for a victorious 2016.

May you be led of the Lord this year and beyond. Amen.