Life Lessons From The Woodcutter: Pt1

The year has just begun and hopefully we have all set our goals and are working towards them. If you haven’t, you are losing precious time, do it now!
As I was saying, hopefully our goals are set and so are we. As we embark on the glorious journey of life this year, we need to get a few tips from the woodcutters that will help us succeed.We will look at:

1. Sharpen your tools

2. Be accurate. Set goals and focus on them

3. Power does not equal progress. More skill = less effort, time and resources 

4. Follow the crack/ choose your target wisely 
Let’s get started!

1. SHARPEN YOUR TOOLS

Every woodcutter knows the importance of keeping their axe sharp. This is why sharpening is a regular exercise.  

Ecclesiastes 10:10

If the ax is dull

and its edge unsharpened,

more strength is needed,

but skill will bring success.

A dull axe requires more labour and wastes precious time. To succeed in life we need to sharpen our tools, and the most important tool you need to keep sharpened is yourself.

Proverbs 27:17

As iron sharpens iron,

so one person sharpens another.

We all need sharpening to succeed in life. If you are not sharpened, you will work harder and produce less results. You will waste energy and time.

So, how do I sharpen myself?

1. Read self improvement books. Sharpen your character, personality and habits. Reading is a way of learning from someone you would in most cases not be able to meet. I have 2 great reads that will be of great help to you here.
2. Remove. When an axe is sharpened, some of the steel in the axe head has to be removed. Remove everything that is not productive in your life; to use a borrowed term, unclutter your life. Evaluate your life. What is it that you can live without yet is a part of your life. There are some people in our lives that we need to get rid off in order to sharpen ourselves; painful but it must be done. Anything that wastes time, energy, resources or is emotionally draining must be removed.
3. Renovate your life. Bring in fresh productive habits like sticking to time, budget and plans. What can you add to yourself to make yourself more productive? Maybe you need to add an extra hour in your normal day by waking up earlier and doing something productive.
4. Revise. When an axe is being sharpened, it undergoes a lot of checking, or revision, to see if it’s sharp. Constantly ‘revise’ your life. Constantly check if is going in the direction you want it to go. Check for excess baggage you need to get rid of. Always check, check, check! Never allow your life to be on auto pilot, be the one to direct the course of your life.
5. Reward yourself. Once in a while, reward yourself for the progress you have made. Other people are too busy with their own lives to see the progress you have made with yourself and hence there will be few or no pats on the back. Don’t feel guilty about rewarding yourself.

1 Samuel 30:6

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

Life is full of battles and challenges and sometimes it seems we are all alone. This is when we need to be like David and encourage ourselves. Conversely, in times of personal victory, there usually will be no-one to pat our backs and celebrate our achievements. This is why you need to reward yourself. Spoil yourself as an encouragement to keep on going forward and win more victories.
Next time as we continue with our lessons from the woodcutter, we will look at being ‘Accurate’ in life. Don’t miss it for anything! This will be a great year for!!!

4 Time Management Hacks To Get Your Life Back On Track NOW!

Last time we talked about procrastination, the thief of time. Today I would like to share some tips and hacks on catching that thief. These are not all the tips you need, consider it a starter kit.
1. BE JEALOUS WITH YOUR TIME

This means don’t give everyone your time. It’s too valuable.

I know the word “jealous” has some negative connotations but it can also be positive.

Deuteronomy 4:24

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Positive jealousy causes us to cherish and protect the important things in life, like time. Many people have no sense of value for time and thus success is just a dream to them.
Time is important. Let me say that again, TIME IS VERY IMPORTANT. Everything in life hinges on time, hence the cliche, time is money.
 Time is actually a measure of life! 

When you spend 5 minutes with someone, you have just given them a part of your life. If you work an 8 hour a day job, you give your employer 1/3 of your life in a day. 

This is why we should all strive to be our own employer  at some point in time. We should be tending our own garden like Adam. For more on this, download my book “Kingdom Finance Dynamics“. 

Time is a measure of life, never forget that. Guard it jealously. This is why God instructs us to give Him our tithes, it’s not really a money issue. Your tithe is a token of your life.
2. SPEND IT WISELY 

Time is the most important commodity you have, spend it wisely. The way you budget for your hard earned money is the way you should budget your God given gift of time.

1 Corinthians 6:12

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

• “All things are lawful…”. There are so many “good” things vying for our time. So many good friends to chat to. So many things to do, so little time.

• “But all things are not helpful….“. This is the key to success in life. Seperating the helpful from the unhelpful. Seperating the things that need to be done from those that want to be done. Always spend your time on things that are helpful, things that are productive.

• “I will not be brought under the power of any.” Don’t allow anything or anyone to to have power over your time. Many people are caught in this trap. They do whatever comes up at that moment. They run off with the first person who passes by. They don’t control their use of time. Take charge of your time, take charge of your life. Remember, time is a measure of your life.

I like a tweet from Joel Osteen, “There are a thousand good things to spend your time on. Be disciplined to stay focused on what’s best for you.” Spend your time wisely. Time well spent is a life well lived.

3. Clarity of vision

Clear vision reduces procrastination.

Habakkuk 2:2

Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision

And make it plain on tablets,

That he may run who reads it.

Have a clear vision of your life and write it down. Break down that vision into small manageable goals. Write the goals down. These goals help you to know what should be done and when in your quest to fulfill your vision.

When the vision is clear, the goal becomes clear. When you know what ought to be done it’s easier to keep procrastination at bay.
4. Focus

Don’t allow distractions in your life. That is HOW procrastination sneaks in. Every distraction you allow procrastinates the important things. Keep your mind, energy and time focused on what needs to be done. If it has to be done, do it now!

Procrastination, gotcha!!!
With these few tips I believe your are well equipped to spend your life well in 2017.
Enjoy a fruitful and successful 2017!!

FLY HIGH!!

Prepare to fly high in the coming year, for it is your year of greatness. Build up your expectations, spread your wings and fly high.

As with everything that gets airbone, there are a few factors to be considered for your flight to be successful and these will be our main focus in the posts ahead. 
Fasten your seatbelt and prepare for a glorious ride!!!

​The main challenge in flight is to overcome downward forces like gravity and drag by applying the forces of lift and thrust. We will deal with the downward forces first so that we may gain the freedom we need to fly.

FEAR
This is the force of gravity itself! Fear will always hold you down and cripple your wings.

In the classic story of David and Goliath, we learn some interesting facts about fear.
1) Fear stifles creativity

Non of the Israelite soldiers thought of rushing Goliath at once. Non of them thought of alternative methods or weapons to bring down Goliath. Their creativity was stifled.

 David on the other hand was creative, he used unconvental weapons; a slingshot and a stone! Boy was Goliath surprised!!!!!

Don’t let fear stifle your creativity. It takes a creative mind to fly high.
2) Fear halts progress

For 40 days they did nothing but wait in fear. Waiting for Goliath to go away!! This is exactly how many people live. They bury their heads in the sand like an ostrich and hope their problems go away. Sorry, but it won’t!
Your Goliath will not go away on it’s own, you have to be proactive like David and face it head on. It may look invincible but it’s not.

1 Samuel 17:48

So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

David didn’t wait for Goliath, he ran toward him. Don’t wait for your problem or challenge to run it’s course, run toward it and face it head on. Take the proverbial bull by it’s horns.
3) Fear exaggerates the situation

Come on guys, he is not as big as he looks! You can take him!
Fear always exaggerates the situation, and if you don’t deal with it, you will even see things that don’t exist!

Numbers  13:31—33

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The land devours it’s inhabitants? Really?? That was the foolish talk of fear. “We were like grasshoppers…..”. That is the extent to which fear can exaggerate. Fear will make you belittle yourself. It will make you underrate yourself.
ARE YOU SURE THAT INSURMOUNTABLE PROBLEM IS REALLY INSURMOUNTABLE? Or has fear exaggerated it.
4) Fear traps you in a world of impossibilities.

Numbers 13:31
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

“We are not able…”. Fear will always show you want you can’t do, it traps you in ” it’s impossible ” mode.

Despite the handsome reward offered for Goliaths head, fear had trapped the Israelite army in it can’t mode. No one even dared give it a try!
Every Goliath has a good reward for his head, go get them!!!!

Mark 9:23

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

 Get rid of fear, all things are possible. You just have to believe. Believe in God and believe in yourself. You are not a grasshopper, you have greatness in you! You are well able to defeat Goliath, or whatever your challenge is called.

Get rid of fear and you will fly high!!
My gift to you is still available for a limited time. Grab your FREE BOOKS here and fly high in 2017.
Much love

SEED FAITH PART 2

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After repairing the altar Elijah dug a trench around the altar, why? He was making room for a special offering. A seed he was going to sow in faith for what he was expecting from God. 
On top of the usual offering of a cow Elijah sowed a seed of water; priceless, precious water. Elijah was applying the principle of seed faith. He was sowing an above normal offering of water; the most precious commodity at that time. What are you believing God to do in your life? Dig a trench; make room for a seed offering. Go beyond the usual offering and sow a seed for what you are believing God for.
After rebuilding the altar and sowing a special seed offering Elijah prayed and God answered by fire. God never ignores prayer that is preceded by a seed offering. Faith is incomplete without a seed and incomplete faith is ineffective. 
Learn to sow seeds in faith for what you are believing God for. Seeds that move God to answer by fire. 
Another example of the principle of seed faith is that of faithful Abraham. 

Genesis 22:1-3

And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son  Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and cleaved the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

Abraham had waited twenty five years for the fulfillment of God’s promise to him: “you will be a father of many nations”. Finally things were moving, he was now a father and the promised son was growing well. But God being a God of principle knew that He needed Abraham’s partnership to make the promise a reality, and so He came down to ask Abraham for a seed. God asked Abraham for the most precious thing in his hands; his beloved son. I like Abraham; he truly was a man of faith. He believed that whatever he put in the hands of God, God would give it back multiplied.
Hebrews 11:17-19

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 

   Everyone who receives a promise from God must be prepared to sow a seed; prepared to release something precious from their hands. 
Even though God promises, the release of the promise is triggered by an offering. Is this buying or bribing God? No, this is how God determines those who are really serious. It is how He makes sure His children do not get robbed of their heritage but receive what He has in store for them. Seed sowing is a key God has given His children so they can access the treasures of the Kingdom.
“From whence also he received him in a figure”, this means Abraham realized that Isaac was born out of the deadness of his situation, the deadness of his and Sarah’s bodies. He knew that He who had caused life to come out of a dead situation was able to do it again. 
Abraham understood that Isaac was a seed and for a seed to germinate it must die first. This is where many fall short. They can never sacrifice the little they have in their hands for a greater blessing. They do not believe that He who gave them that little can multiply it if they put it in His hands. If you want something to come down from heaven, something must go up from your hands first.

If the seed does not leave, the harvest will not come.
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SEED FAITH PART 1

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1 Kings 18:2

And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

The land of Samaria was experiencing a terrible famine. Life was so unbearable even the king himself was forced to become a shepherd looking for green pastures for his livestock. Water and food were scarce. So scarce they had become as precious as gold itself. 

Life can become as unbearable for us as it was for these people but thank God we have a key that they did not have. A breakthrough key that opens heavens. 
1 Kings 18:30-38

And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.

And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:

And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.

Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 

Elijah wanted to prove to the people that the God they had abandoned was the true God and he was going to do this by becoming a rain maker. Elijah understood that for anything to come down from heaven, something must first go up. 
For you to receive anything from heaven you must practice the principle of seed faith; sowing for what you are believing God for. 
The first thing Elijah did was to rebuild the broken down altar. The people were so backslidden they had neglected the altar of the Lord; the source of their heavenly blessings. 

Never neglect the altar of offerings. Do not despise the giving covenant we have with God, for neglecting it will result in the heavens being shut above you. Repair the broken altars in your life.
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USE THAT MOUTH!!!

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Jeremiah 1:11-12

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

Once again, faith is not just about hearing the word of God, faith goes beyond that. Faith is an active process that requires you among other things to see (actively meditate) your desired outcome, and after seeing you have to make the effort to speak out in faith your desired outcome. When you see well, go on to speak well. Speak the word that He has put in your mouth and He will definitely hasten to perform it. 
Joel 3:10

Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

“Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’” The problem with many is that they speak their weaknesses. They speak the problems they see with their eyes and not the solution they see in the word of God. As long as you speak out the problem you give it power and enforcing it to torment you forever. 

At this point we need to understand the difference between truth and fact, for it is lack of this understanding that causes many to fail to speak well.
John 8:32

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

We need to know the truth, for it is truth that sets us free from our troubles. Let us take poverty for example. It may be a fact that I have nothing to my name; no money, no food, sleeping under a bridge and rags on my back for clothes. It may well be a fact, but it is not the truth. 

Fact is not truth, for facts can change but truth is eternally immutable. 

The truth is that by His grace He came to this earth poor so that I through His poverty can be rich. 
When I see that truth and speak it out in faith, I change the fact of my poverty into the truth of His prosperity. So you see dear friend, the world you are living in is framed by the words you are constantly speaking. If you are not happy with your world of poverty, sickness, failure, depression, failing marriage; change it with your mouth. Do not just sit there wallowing in pity, rise up and do what it takes to change your circumstances. You may not be able to change the past but you are definitely the architect of your future. See your future the way you want it to be and then speak it into being.
Proverbs 18:20

A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.

Your belly is not satisfied with food because food alone does not constitute a fulfilled life. This may look like an oxymoron, but it is a principle that runs the world; a man’s belly is filled by what comes out of his mouth. And I always thought it is the other way round. I thought my belly is filled by what I put in my mouth! The truth of the matter is that it is what comes out of your mouth that produces the life you enjoy.

 Your life is shaped by the words you speak, never forget that!

 You are where you are in life today because of the words you spoke yesterday.

Proverbs 18:21

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

What are you speaking? Are you speaking death to your life, health, money, marriage and family? Or are you speaking life? 

Those that love life speak well of themselves. They speak life to every good thing in their lives and death to all curses, sicknesses, poverty and whatever problems are dogging them.

 So many times we expect God to work by Himself in turning our lives around yet He will be waiting on us to do our part as well. He is waiting for you to USE THAT MOUTH!!!

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