You are the light of the world.

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 
 John 9:5(KJV).

Jesus was the one who made that declaration when He was still here in the earth. But today where is he? The bible says in Romans 8:34 that Jesus is “even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”   Now that Jesus is at the right hand of God, who is the light of the world today? It is you and I. Praise God.

In Matthew 5:14, Jesus said to His disciples, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” Then in verse 16 of Matthew 5 Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

So if darkness is prevailing in our world today, who are we to blame? You are responsible for what is happening in Nigeria. You may want to argue and say, “No Pastor it is not me, I don't hold a political office.” You don't have to hold a political office. Have you prayed for Nigeria today? You can change things through prayer. Pray for the nation everyday instead of complaining. That is where you must begin because the state of a nation is a reflection of the prayer life of the Church. When you pray for the nation, pray with all your heart, and expect to see that which you have asked manifested in our nation.

After you have prayed for the nation, keep your confessions in line with your prayer. And then begin to practice and live out the change you want to see in the nation. Live your life with integrity and truth and let the change begin with you.

Nigeria is made up of individuals. The state of the nation is the sum of the collective behaviours of the individuals in every nation. If you want change, then let it start with you.

In Ephesians 5:8-11(CEV) the bible says, “You used to be like people living in the dark, but now you are people of the light because you belong to the Lord. So act like people of the light and make your light shine. Be good and honest and truthful, as you try to please the Lord. Don't take part in doing those worthless things that are done in the dark. Instead, show how wrong they are.”

PRAYER
Thank you Father for making me the light of the world. I ask that as this light shines in the darkness through my character, my works for you and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, may every form of darkness in this world be overcome by the light in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and may every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

For further study read: 
Isaiah 42:6, Isaiah 49:6, Isaiah 60:1-3, Matthew 4:16,
John 1:4-9, John 3:19-21, John 8:12, Acts 26:18, Romans 2:19, 2 Corinthians 6:14, Ephesians 5:8-14, Philippians 2:15,
1 Thessalonians 5:5.

DOING THE WORD
Please pray and prophesy what you want to see in Nigeria.

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Faith overcomes this world.

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 
1 John 5:4(KJV)

From our opening scripture, we can see that we already have in us the ability to succeed. There is no more failure in us. To overcome the world means, 'to get the victory over the world.' So, as children of God, we are already victorious over the world.

To overcome the world also means, 'to subdue the world.' That means you can subdue your world as a child of God. When you look at the negative situation in the country, in your state or even in your street. You make your declaration as a world overcomer and say, “I am going to change this.” Someone else may hear you say that and then ask, “What change can you bring?” They do not understand that leadership begins with a sense of responsibility. Leaders initiate change.

So, how can you bring a change. First by praying. When you hear a negative report, your first reaction should be to pray. Secondly, live honestly and expose the deeds of evil around you. Don't be a party to corruption and wickedness. If you are not born again, get born again; make Jesus your Lord and personal savior. And if you were born again and you have been living in sin and darkness, it is time to repent. Romans 13:12(DRB) says, “The night is passed And the day is at hand. Let us, therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Then Romans 13:13-14(ISV) says, “Let us behave decently, as people who live in the light of day. No wild
parties, drunkenness, sexual immorality, promiscuity, rivalry, or jealousy! Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not obey your flesh and its desires.”

Thirdly, preach the gospel. Pass this message to those out there who have not heard it. Let them know that God loves them and He is willing to accept them unconditionally if only they will come to Him for salvation. He will save them and make them champions of positive change in our world today. Fourthly, join us as we continue to preach the gospel through every available means, until every sphere of society reflects the character of the kingdom of God.

PRAYER
Dear Father today I repent and forsake every form of compromise in my life. I choose the way of the Lord and to walk according to the gospel of Jesus Christ and His will in Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read: 
1 John 5:5, 1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 4:4, Romans 8:35-37.

DOING THE WORD
Stop compromising your faith, but continue doing the will of God.

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Adequate leadership.

“And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.” 
Acts 6:1 (KJV).

Whenever there is the problem of neglect in any organization, it is because of the absence of adequate leadership, just as we see the Grecian widows been neglected in the daily ministration from our opening scripture. Therefore, we must continue to raise leaders who will take care of the areas of neglect and reach out to those who feel neglected. For instance, we must raise leaders to reach out to those who feel neglected in the Church, so that these neglected individuals can then be adequately fed with the Word of God and be well brought up spiritually.

This also applies to your work place or business. Delegate whatever seems to be neglected by you. More so, delegate whatever has become a distraction from your primary assignment.

In our opening scripture, we also see that murmurings and neglect surfaced in the church because there was a multiplication in the number of disciples. This reveals to us that whenever your influence increases, there will always arise the need for more leaders.
One of the keys to success as a leader and even as an individual is understanding and defining your priorities. The apostles said in verse 2 of Acts chapter 6; “… It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.”
The apostles had to redefine their priorities in other for them to increase their effectiveness. By so doing, they were able to raise more leaders. Why is it important for us to define our priorities?
It is because, without defining your priorities, you cannot make good leadership decisions that will increase your effectiveness.

This is because your priorities are the yardstick you use in making decisions. This is clearly evident in the lives of the apostles as we see in Acts 6:1-2. The moment they defined their priorities, they were able to make decisions that solved the problem of murmurings and neglect.

PRAYER
Dear Father, open my heart to be able to understand my true priorities, and areas in my leadership that needs more attention, so that there will be no area of neglect in my life. In Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read: 
Exodus 18:17-26.

DOING THE WORD
Take out some time to define your priorities. Write out the most important things in your life that will determine your choices.

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Cultivate excellence.

“It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.” 
Daniel 6:1-3(KJV).

One of the essence of delegation is to minimize stress. This was why Darius the King in our opening scripture, delegated to an hundred and twenty princes, to be over his kingdom. And he set three presidents over the princes, of whom Daniel was the head because an excellent Spirit was found in him.

Whenever you want to increase your influence, you must increase your standard of excellence. Therefore, the onus is on you as an individual to improve and increase your standard of excellence if you are going to have increased influence. Daniel had influence over all the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was found in him.

Therefore, I will like to encourage you to work on yourself as an individual, so that as God is picking people for this next phase of His work upon the earth, He will find you worthy. It is also important to know that doing or executing your present assignment with excellence is the key to promotion.

Excellence is doing the best with what you have, wherever you are at any given moment. By so doing, you will be a blessing to your employer and not a burden.
So, even for those of us that God has made leaders in His household, one of our responsibilities is to ensure that the work suffers no loss. This is why we must consistently pray for laborers, and for people to rise with a sincere heart to serve in God's house. As a leader, don't just think about you, but also be concerned about those who God has made you leader over, so that the work suffers no loss.

PRAYER
Dear Father, I ask for a release of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. I ask that the seven spirits of God outlined in Isaiah 11:2, will function in my life in their fullness today causing me to walk in excellence in all that have been committed to my trust and in every area of my life. In Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read:
Genesis 41:38-41, Daniel 5:12, Proverbs 17:27,
Proverbs 22:29.

DOING THE WORD
Be diligent in what you do, that is; be constant in your effort to accomplish what is committed to you. Be assiduous, attentive, frugal and industrious in your business.

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Prepare for your future.

“Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.”     
Proverbs 24:27(KJV).

You get what you prepare for. You can never rise above the level of your preparation. The proof that you value your future is revealed by how much you prepare for that future.

Preparation is proof of self value. People who value themselves prepare. You prepare in whatever way you have to prepare. It may be by reading, planning or by praying. For instance, there were times I took days to fast and pray for the future because I had such a strong passion to change my world. Today, I am doing it, impacting the world with our message. And we are also preparing to reach more people around the world with our message. I have been preparing for these things many years ago. It has been said that great men don't prepare for an event, they prepare for life.

What about you, what are you going to do with your life? Remember that you have only one chance at life, and what you make of it is what you are going to live with for all of eternity. Your decisions are what determine your outcome in life. Your decisions decide your destiny. That is why I made up my mind early to start preparing. Why? It was because I knew that the quality of my preparation decides the quality of my future.
The essence of learning is not the accumulation of facts, but for intelligent decisions and actions. The bible says, “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. This means that if you are not changing by your knowledge, you are not growing. This is because the evidence of growth is change.

So, the things you will learn in this devotional this month use them to make better decisions, and act wisely.

PRAYER
Dear Father, I thank you for enabling me to make good use of the wisdom and knowledge you have given to me to prepare correctly for my future. In Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read: 
Luke 14:28-30.

DOING THE WORD
Write out the plan for your life, then write out goals that will help you to fulfill the plan.

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Don't waste your life.

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” 
Psalm 90:12(KJV).

There are three phases of your life. 0-30 is your learning years. 30-60 are your giving years and 60-90 are your rewarding years.

When I found out that from 0-30 are my learning years, I started reading. And one day, while I was in the library reading, the librarian came and asked me a question saying, “What is your name?” I told him my name. Then he asked another question, “Why are you always reading?” Then I said, I want to be able to leave so much information for generations to come. He looked at me and said, “What are you talking about?” I replied, “I have one life to live and it must not be wasted.”

You have just one life to live, don't waste it. For instance, someone may say that his goal in life is to build the largest house in Yenagoa. Twenty years from now, that house which he has built as his life goal would not be among the first forty best houses. How do you think he will feel when his life goal has become insignificant?  This reminds me of the story of the man who built one of the first best houses in Benin City many years ago. He will stand in front of his house waving to everybody that passed by, because he had the best house in the city at that time. But today, that house is not remembered.

So, what legacy are you going to live behind, that even in an hundred years to come, you will be remembered for that thing.
For instance, Martin Luther King died on the 4th of April 1968, but he is still been celebrated today by both whites and blacks in America because of the significance of his life. He lived for a vision and that vision inspired follower-ship.

Therefore, live your life with a vision far greater than all selfish human ambition. Martin Luther King said, “the man that has nothing to die for, is not fit to live.” Even Jesus Himself said, “… If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” This shows us that the road to timeless significance demands selfless sacrifice.

PRAYER
Dear Father, I ask that you reveal to me in clear terms your vision for my life. I receive grace from you to help me number my days and apply my heart to your wisdom always in Jesus Name. Amen.

For further study read: 
Psalm 39:4, Deuteronomy 32:29, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Proverbs 23:12, Proverbs 23:23.

DOING THE WORD
Commit yourself to God's vision for your life and lay aside all selfish ambitions.

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What is Leadership?

“People who were oppressed or in debt or dissatisfied went to him about four hundred men in all, and he became their leader.”

1samuel 22:2 (GNB).

Leadership is the ability to inspire and influence others towards a positive course of action. Secondly leadership is influence

If leadership is influence then you are a leader to some extent because there is somebody you are influencing. Everyone is a steward of influence, because one way or the other you are influencing someone either positively or negatively. Also, the measure of your influence is what decides the extent of your leadership ability.

Leadership is not a title. Leadership is not an office. Leadership is an ability that comes through grace or character. When you are leading without character, people will not agree to follow you. People follow leaders they admire. That is why four hundred men gathered themselves willingly unto David in 1 Samuel 22:2, because they admire him and wanted him to become their leader.

So, how do you become a leader that others will admire? You would have to develop yourself someone more by investing in yourself and developing your potential

One way you can develop yourself as a leader is by getting more knowledge through the study of good leadership materials, like books, etc. Another way you can increase your leadership influence is by becoming more caring, because, we influence those who know we love them or those who believe we love them. Therefore, begin today to develop and learn skill and principles that will make you a person of positive influence.

PRAYER

Dear father, I thank you for you will help me to develop the right skills and principle that will help me become a person of positive influence, even as I take up the responsibility of leadership within my sphere of influence. In Jesus Name.

For further study read:

I Samuel 9:16, 1 Samuel  18:16, Deuteronomy 28:13, Luke 22:26, Titus 1:7-9

DOING THE WORD

I recommend that you read a chapter in the book of Proverbs every day.

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