In the Beginning was the Word

• Written for unbelievers and believers alike. As believers, we are to abide in the vine. Believers in Jesus must go on believing.
• The book of John is an eyewitness account.
• It is Divinely inspired.
• "The Word" refers to Jesus Christ.
• John calls Jesus the Word because he had come to see the words of Jesus as the truth of God and the person of Jesus as the truth of God in such a unified way that He is the final and decisive Message of God.
• What God had to say to us was not only or mainly what Jesus said, but who Jesus was and what He did.

Spending Time Alone

• Spend time alone THINKING. Thinking precedes achievement (John Maxwell). The greater your thinking, the greater your achievement. Henry Ford: Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably why few engage in it.
• Peter Daniels had a thinking day.
• Einstein had a thinking chair.
• Be still and know that I am God.
• My sheep know my voice.
• Successful people spend time alone thinking.
• 
  

5 Things by Terri

Success begins the moment you start achieving goals in your life in your day to day living.

Success is something you attract by the person you become. ~ John Rohn.

1. Pray
2. Listen to a faith building message. Faith comes by hearing...
3. Read: leaders are readers. For me, do at least 30 minutes every day.
4. Review dreams and goals.
5. Exercise: there is a direct relationship between physical health and emotional health.

It is not up for debate. I may not feel like doing it but I must rise above emotions. Be committed. Stay the course. Do it day after day over a long period of time.

5 Things Successful People Do Every Day Before 8 a.m.~ Forbes

The morning is the most perfect time to start developing habits in your life because that is when you have the most control over your schedule.

1. Exercise: most people that work out every day, do so in the morning.
2. Map out your plan for the day: the most successful people have a plan for the day. Successful people live on purpose.
3. Eat a healthy breakfast:
4. Visualization: take time to pray, meditate, listen to God.
5. Tackle the most important (possibly most difficult) things.

• To form a habit, commit yourself to it for 21 days. 

• Focus on me. Don't compare with others. You're called to greatness.

Buy the Future

Genesis 25/Hebrews 12

• There are Jacob people and there are Esau people.
• Esaus are comfortable because the odds are stacked in their favor, but Jacobs are not intimidated by the Esaus.
• Success in life is not based on who started first. Seniority is not the ticket to success in life.

The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; 

but time and chance happen to them all.

• Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.
• Esau is a producer of raw material. Jacob is a developer of what has been developed. 
• Esau nations produce much, but are hungry. The Jacob nations do not produce but are satisfied. 
• God says one will be stronger than the other. The Jacob system is always stronger than the Esau system.
• The Esau nations use raw physical energy. The Jacob nations use refined methods.
• Hard work is not equivalent to success. 
• Activity is not to be confused for productivity.
• The Esaus negotiate when they are hungry. The Jacobs negotiate on full stomachs.
• Never negotiate when you are hungry. 
• Nations that negotiate while in crisis only end up in deeper crisis.
• Even when you negotiate on an empty stomach, be dignified about your hunger. Be dignified about your need. Be dignified about your poverty. Don't appear poor...
• Esaus don't think of the future. Jacobs buy the future.
• The future is potential that is yet to be revealed. As such, it has no much value today.
•  What I am today does not reflect what I will be tomorrow. Abraham was told he would be the father of the nations yet his present condition was that he was childless. Your present look can contradict your future. Therefore, do not be too concerned about who you are today that you forget about your future.
• I AM NOT ALL THAT I AM SEEING. This is not my last stop. I am in transition. I am moving. Don't act like you've come to a standstill, you are moving on.
• Esau despised his birthright.
• The people who make progress in this life have a Jacob attitude. They are always aware of the future. 
• The people who make it in life make decisions TODAY that will make their FUTURE better.
• The people who fail to make it in life make decisions TODAY that destroy their FUTURE.
• Don't sell your future for present pleasure. The Esaus of this life are deceived by the pleasure and comfort of today. In that deception, they destroy what they will become in future.
• God is not mocked; whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.
• WHO I AM TODAY IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS WHO I WILL BECOME TOMORROW.
• MY FUTURE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY PRESENT.
• The Esau people, though perhaps initially bestowed with much, end up weak and have to serve the Jacob people (a people with so little but who make good choices with their future in mind.)
• Every choice Jacob made had the future in mind.
• Esau's treasure is far away. Jacob's treasure is very close by.
• At the time you need your treasure, where is it? Is it out in the field, or near the tent?
• The world is moving to the place where smart work is better than hard work.
• The more you use your brains, the better you are.
• The more you use your physical body to work, the worse for you.
• The Jacobs may not have much to start with but they end up successful.
• Your present crisis cannot be compared to your future glory. No matter how low you have fallen, it cannot be compared to how high you are going to get.
• Let not your present need obscure your future. 
• Trust God. He holds the future in His hands. He will open doors. He will provide for the vision He gives. He will make it possible. Don't sell your future. Buy the Future.

RONKE ADESOKAN feat. NATHANIEL BASSEY - YAHWEH

Blessed Assurance

Worship vs Idolatry

• Whatever you value more than God is idolatry.  When more worth  is placed on the means than on the End, then that means becomes an idol. Any other worship than God is idolatry.
• God detests idolatry.

Psalm 78:58-59

They angered him with their high places; they aroused their jealousy with their idols.

Isaiah 44:9

All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless.

• Worship is determined by worth. You can never worship what is not of worth to you.
• The source is more important than the resource.
• You cannot worship beyond your knowledge. You cannot worship beyond what you know.
• God takes me through experiences to introduce Himself to me, to give me more material, to give Him more worth. The bigger the situation God brings me through, the bigger the value I put on Him. 
• Worship has to be an encounter. You cannot call God Deliverer if you never needed deliverance.
• The problem with worshipers is that they forget the benefits of the Lord.

Psalm 103:1-5

Praise the Lord, o my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy Name.

Praise the Lord, o my soul; and forget not all His benefits - 

Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Deuteronomy 8:10-18

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws and His decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and water-less land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

Watch Video