Wired for Success

Bible Texts

Genesis 1:27 say, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Therefore, I am created in God’s image. Psalm 75:6-7 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge...

Introduction

When a child in born people will begin to pray prayers like, a di irun a di igba, a ni owo rere lehin, your child would grow to fulfil destiny… It is not like those praying these prayers can foresee but they are wishing the child and parents’ success which means everyone expects that there is something inherent, inborn that positions the average human being to succeed despite the challenges that may want us to believe otherwise. These prayers and wishes are proclaimed regardless of the status of the parents of the child. This is not out of place because we have a creator who made success of creation. He was successful within a record time and he had time to rest after putting forth a master plan.

Today we are going to explore the theme wired for success. That we have a brain and are blessed with all the beautiful qualities like seeing, talking, walking means we have already been wired for success, depending on your own physical or mental challenges we could say that wiring is 100% or 50% but everyone has been wired or pre-programmed by default to succeed that explains why many children would sit by 6 months, crawl by 8 months and walk by their first birthday. The Bible said before I formed thee, I knew thee. You are wonderfully and beautifully made. Even if you are blind, you are wonderfully and beautifully made.

Wired for success. To different people, success means different things but first let us look at what many consider “unfortunate birth” which could be a precursor to a life people may consider not wired for success – if you are born in the village to poor parents, it is like double jeopardy and many would not expect you to amount to something. But Adeboye was born in a village and into poverty. Is he successful? Another consideration for labelling someone unfortunate is when one is born with one disability or the other. Cobhams Asuquo was born blind, is he successful? Nick Nujicic (pronouced VOO-YI-CHICH) was born without limbs but today he has become a global sensation. What else do we by human standard consider an unfortunate wiring, perhaps when someone’s breadwinner dies. In one minute, mention a situation considered unfortunate or whom you consider programmed for failure to your neighbour. Thanks for sharing. Go ahead to ask for the person’s name and phone number.

Wired for Success. The desire to succeed, like the desire to worship, is part of our inborn internal wiring. But as we go through life, it has become a norm to accept certain limitations based on your circumstance. We build boundaries around us to secure the accepted limits of success. Only rich people travel abroad, my parents are not rich, therefore I cannot travel abroad.

You have tried and may have failed to succeed because of 3 salient reasons:

1.     You minimise your divine wiring for success

2.     You maximise your limiting circumstance

3.     You undermine the power of potential, purpose, passion, perseverance and positioning

Those are like glass ceilings. Except you deliberately break them, you CANNOT succeed. To succeed, you must first have the belief that you are programmed for success and will succeed the right way. With the right divination, devotion, direction, drive, discipline, determination and diligence you WILL succeed in Jesus name.

Keys to Success

I have already given you the 7 master keys namely divination, devotion, direction, drive, discipline, determination and diligence. But there are others that we can call necessary spare keys. I love the letter C because it stands for Christ, which means The Anointed One. It can be applied to Anti-Christ and Jesus Christ depending on your choice.

Oprah Winfrey, the story making rounds has it, picked interest in a young boy and adopted him informally in the 90s. She put him in the best school and did everything to help him succeed but Calvin kept dropping out of school because the belief that he could never succeed was wired in him. She tried again but the fact that this guy had maximised his earthly circumstance made it difficult for him to grab and wire success in himself. He claimed to have been homesick but I strongly believe destiny deflators used that to create an outage in his wiring fro success! Despite earning the tag of Winfrey’s adopted son, he is today a failure and Oprah recently denied him. He made efforts to re-link up with her and she was willing to take him back but just before the meeting, she discovered it was a scam by him to get a media and marketing deal! She was disappointed and went on to deny and finally close the door of opportunity that had been open to Calvin Mitchell for years. Today he is a 35-year old truck driver!

Think for a moment, if you had an opportunity to be Oprah’s child, even for just one year, what would you have achieved with it. Tell your neighbour. I can hear you say, “Omo, ma ti lo succeed ju!” But my dear brothers and sisters, if you do not wire success in yourself, if you minimise your divine wiring for success, if you maximise your limiting circumstances, if you undermine the power of purpose, passion and positioning, if you do not recognise the potential God has stored up in you, if you are not willing to persevere, may very well fail like this young man.

The 70 C’s of success are my spare keys. Read about them in Wired for Success: 77 Keys to Prosperity by Omolola Omoteso. The 70 C’s will help you wire success in you. Yes we are wired to succeed by God but to really succeed here on earth, despite the limitations; you must wire success in yourself. 

Dr. Omolola Omoteso-Famuyiwa is a minister who is passionate about sharing God's Word for the healing of souls.

Are You Waiting or Wasting?

When I stepped into God’s call to minister to mature singles in 2009, I wonder how I would transition from working with young people to working with mature singles. These special groups were different in many aspects. After prayerfully considering both groups, I realised that God was not calling me to choose but to expand my scope in working with those on the life bridge or crossroad called waiting.

During an interview in 2012, I was asked, “Why have you chosen to combine the mentoring of young people with the counselling of mature singles?” I answered thus: 

I was led to start both by God and honestly I am only just seeing the link. Teenagers and young adults are at a crossroad in their lives where they need guidance and mentoring. Mature singles are also at a crossroad where they feel the need for family life. Being able to connect the teens to mature singles that have time to devote to them creates a very purposeful symbiotic relationship. The added advantage is that the relationship serves to impact the young person and positively affects the esteem of the mature single whose need for family life is met by the commitment towards the young person.

Waiting in God's waiting room, as I have assured many over and over again, is not a punishment but a phase to prepare you and test your capability and capacity for the blessing ahead. Are you waiting or wasting? Adeleke Aladekoba, a mentee of mine, waited for many years to get into higher institution. When my God who is never late arrived with his admission package, it was to Covenant University with a scholarship. I waited 10 years after my bachelor’s degree to receive a master’s degree but one of the ingredients (Willows Magazine) that delivered my admission and degree to me happened 7 years into my wait. I know a widow with three children who is today married to a single man. I also know an unmarried mother of two who insisted she wanted a single man and God sent one her way in His time. Maami attended the wedding of her principal's daughter in 2012. The bride was 52 years; never being married. On October 13, 2010 we heard of the wedding of Esther Folashade Aduke Blaize to William Folorunso Kumuyi. What many may not know is that at 65, this was her first marriage. She was one of the founding members of the Deeper Life Bible Church.

No matter the bus stop you believe you are stranded at, stay out of the elements - sun, rain or wind, then walk tall to impact lives. Carol Akpala, a former junior colleague of mine shared an inspiring story of how after waiting for a while at the bus stop she discovered a little blind boy who has been waiting longer just to be helped to cross the street. Her wait was a solution to the boy’s wait. While you are waiting be sensitive to your environment and do whatever positive things your hands find to do. When your celebration bus arrives, what matters would be how you spent - wisely or foolishly, your waiting period. Remember the story of the maidens and the lamps? God always arrives but will you be there, will you be ready?

‎"If only I am educated", now you are a graduate; "If only I am employed", now you have a job; "If only I have a car", now you have a ride; "If only I have a place to call home", now you own an apartment, "If only there is light…" Instead of waiting for NEPA, get off the whining wagon and grab a torch to see how blessed you are that you can read, earn, own and see. The word contentment means consciously accepting, appreciating, enjoying and making the best use of the allocation in your location and finding peace in the knowledge that God knows your frame and would increase your supply in due season ~ 1 Timothy 6:6.

There are two different ways to wait: ACTIVE and PASSIVE.

When you wait actively, you are wise. When you wait passively you are foolish. Passive wait should actually be called wasting! All you are doing is wasting your period of preparation.

A man of God once shared about a lady who told anyone that cared to listen that she can only be successful abroad. She claimed to have received enough revelation that made her believe this fact; she implored everyone to avail her of information and opportunities to travel abroad. One day, her pastor landed a perfect opportunity and immediately sent for her. When she arrived, he excitedly narrated the opportunity and how she can leave in one week to live her dream of living abroad. He ended the narration with a question: “Can you get your passport to me asap so we can process the visa and get the ticket?” Her response will weaken your limbs, “I don’t have a passport.”

I can here you say, “How on earth could anyone be waiting for travel and not have a passport!” But isn’t that what you are doing, if you are waiting for marriage and do not have a job, waiting to study abroad and do not know how to use a computer, waiting to become a leader and do not understand the principle of followership, waiting to step into a career or call and do not want to develop yourself in the field?

Many of us are at the 'wasting close' where there is no way out except back to the 'waiting boulevard' where you can pray and prepare. A man talked about his brother who was very fervent in the Lord. He was waiting for employment. While this seemingly God-less sibling prepare and leave home for work daily, this God-filled brother will lock himself indoor and pray. One day, the sibling returned to pick something during lunch and found the brother still praying, then he asked, “Have you ever applied for a job or cold-called or even browse the internet or newspaper for jobs?” His shocking response was, “No, my God will do it!” That is worse than passive waiting because you have jumpstarted the principle of waiting by trusting in God but your applicability is lame. The Bible says, “Faith without work is dead”.

Except you are willing to settle for the cleaner, carpenter or plumber who comes to fix things around the house, if you are waiting for a man or woman, you must activate your wait by acting. Abraham activated his wait by blessing strangers. Though Abraham seem to have been waiting aimlessly after flying the wrong kite with Hagar but it wasn’t a blind passive wait because he positioned himself to see and bless the angels. Rebecca activated her wait by going to the well and by blessing a stranger.

Quickly let’s look at the master keys in active waiting:

1.  Rewire your mind to the junction where you believe that waiting is not a punishment. God does not punish His Own; in fact he says in His Word that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6). All the way, through your wait or challenge, know and believe that God is there. Accept that as a God-loving person, all things will work together for your good (Romans 8:28).

2.   Worship and pray to The One who knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). Communicate your desire to God.

3.     Listen attentively (Proverbs 4:20). If all you know to do during your wait is to sit and look, at least position your ears away from noise but closer to what God is saying. If he says, go and visit so and so, don’t question or query Him, just go. The word I received in 2004 was a barely audible whisper “Go”. That 2-letter word delivered a trip through which I landed a study abroad with scholarship! 

4.     Act on the prompts. God may speak through the still small voice, He may send someone to you etc. If you are so stubborn and just buried in non-profitable ventures, He may even break your rib to bring you to your wits end and get your attention! When you meet a man your Spirit clearly tells you, “That’s your helper”, don’t let him go without at least striking a conversation, “Hello”, “May I have your number”; acting promptly may be the difference between waiting for one more month or one more year.

5.     Learn the rudiments of your expectation. If what you are waiting for is a wife, wait expectantly by learning how to treat women nicely, communicate well with women, create conducive atmosphere for a relationship etc.

6.     Prepare for your miracle. If a job is what you are waiting for buy office shirts and shoes. If a child is what you are waiting for, minister to children or ensure your home is child-ready. A couple trusting God for a child furnished their home with all-white leather chairs. It took a minister of The Word to let them see that their home was not child-ready.

7.     Trust The One who says, “All things will work together for those that love God and are called according to his purpose”. Trusting God means leaning on His understanding and everlasting arms.

8.     Be open. If Abraham was close minded, He would not have been nice to strangers. At times those bearing our gifts are clad in rags yet we must trust that if God brought them then they have a message to deliver. A mad man saw Pastor Adeboye and was steered to greet him, after he acknowledged his greeting, the mad man cleared traffic to lead G.O.'s vehicle out of traffic jam! 

9.   Read the amazing stories of patriarchs and matriarchs who waited and were not disappointed by God. The Bible is filled with beautiful testimonies. You can also speak to those whose testimonies are closer home than those in the days of the Bible. Spend time to read the Bible and the stories of those who know the God of the Bible. 

10. This key should be titled play but you may end up playing away your blessing if you take playing too seriously. So I'll tag this key; relax and refresh. When we are too uptight about finding the right man or woman, we end up interpreting and misinterpreting every sign. Similarly when we are too uptight about getting the right job or even having a child, we end up using ungodly means. Relax and find refreshing in knowing that God is in control of the reins of your life. Find time to laugh, socialise, mix with the right crowd, go to the beach, visit a resort centre. Don't put your life on hold because you are waiting for a puzzle piece. Don't merely exist, inhale and exhale; live!

David in Psalm 62:1 say, "Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation". Salvation here of course also means being saved from the trauma, grief or stress of waiting.

To wait is to sit in active silence and listen to God’s voice and words, watch for His revelations, hear His command and obey His directives. The Bible in Isaiah 40:31 say, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Simply put those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their energy by empowering themselves to fly. After they have been empowered to fly, they will fly and will ensure no challenge keeps them from going higher. When a plane wants to fly, it will taxi before take off. When an eagle wants to soar, it positions itself to gather momentum before take off. Mother eagles prepare baby eagles by flying with them then they graduate to throwing and catching them until their wings are strong enough to fly on their own.

Do you remember Noah? Noah could have waited passively or aimlessly by just telling people about his revelation but instead he acted and by so doing preserved creation for posterity.

Why, when, where, what you are waiting for should be the driving factor for how you wait. 

Are you waiting or wasting?

Dr. Omolola Omoteso-Famuyiwa is a minister who is passionate about sharing God's words for the healing of others.

You may contact her for one on one counsel on your marital journey or calling as a leader.

Pastor Adeboye’s Marital Nuggets

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Pastor Adeboye’s Marital Nuggets

Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, the General Overseer of RCCG (Redeemed Christian Church Of God) in a 2012 live broadcast on Dove TV revealed powerful marriage secretsto singles – men and women. Here we share excerpts. Be blessed.

WHY RCCG WEDS WITH BIBLE INSTEAD OF RING

Romans 8:31: The reason RCCG weds with the bible instead of a ring is because the Bible can never change, the Word of God stands forever but a ring can be removed at anytime!

Those who will reach the top must be peculiar! There is always room at the top but only few will get there.

Those of you who go to your pastor to pray for you and tell you who to marry, if care is not taken, you will become victim of lies. You are simply lazy. No pastor or prophet should tell you who to marry. They are to pray along with you, counsel and guide you using the Word of God. If you fail to pay the price to hear from God on that matter, you may be deceived. God can use your pastor or a genuine prophet of God to confirm what He had already told you.

Many homes have been established on falsehood and that is why things are falling apart and the centre can no longer hold. Some pastors are seriously into matchmaking. They have taken over from the Holy Spirit. Matchmaking remains God’s prerogative and He has not delegated it to any pastor.

Mrs. Omolola Omoteso-Famuyiwa is a minister who is passionate about sharing God's words for the healing of others.

GOD'S ASSURANCE OF GOOD HEALTH AND WEALTH

Many quote 3 John 1:2 as God’s assurance to us of good health and wealth but I was as shocked as you when I discovered how so far from the truth this claim is. What you have in this verse is a prayer said as a greeting to a Christian brother; not a direct statement or commandment attributed to Jesus or disciple under the direction of the Holy Spirit

Of course God wants us to be in good health and to have wealth as spelled out in Deuteronomy 8:18 and the very popular Deuteronomy 28 verse 11-12. But like all other promises, it requires effort on our part to tap into such assurance. Verse 8 has a caveat “But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God… that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day." There is a doing required of you. Yes God made the covenant to Fathers of Faith but to tap into it, we MUST remember God. You cannot take God, His words and His statutes with levity and expect prosperity. 

The caveat for the assurance in Deuteronomy 28:11-12 is clearly stated in verse 1, 13 and 14:

“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day… And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.” 

Christians must believe in God and His commandments to sign into the assurance of wellness and prosperity. Simply put, to sign into the covenant of good health and wealth you MUST remain in God’s Word and not consider other gods or serve them! Christians must believe in God and His commandments to sign into the assurance of wellness and prosperity. 

Jeremiah 33:3 say, Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. It is only after we trust in his overflowing grace that God will begin to open to us His good treasures through the Holy Spirit. To tap into this assurance, you must be prepared to do it God’s way. He said that we should give (Luke 6:38) and only then will good measure, pressed down and shaken together be given to us in the measure we gave! 

Are you prepared to follow his manual for prosperity? The Bible say, bring your tithe (Malachi 3:10) so that the windows of heaven can be open to pour you out immeasurable blessings. Do you want to be in good health? How well have you followed His direction not to gossip, begrudge, back bite or harbour anger? You want to be prosperous? How well do you give? Are you constantly looking at your own need and so refraining from meeting the needs of others? Do you agree that all good gifts come from God and so refuse every offer of being prosperous through illegal means like changing your date of birth to get a job, or travelling abroad under someone else’s identity. Are you dreams only as big as what you can afford or is your vision motivated by The Creator of the Universe? 

With God, prosperity and good health is possible for Christian. Only trust, obey and believe. It is okay to pray for God to show you how to attain good health (dieting, cutting off junk food, going organic etc.) or prosperity (prudence, diligence, integrity, giving etc.) but prayers alone won’t make the assurance available to you because obedience, which is better than sacrifice, is required. Colossians 2:2 records another prayer that even as we focus on God, our hearts will be encouraged and we can work together with others who know the living God to attain all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God. The Bible enjoins us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Solomon’s prosperity is linked to obeying this directive. We can activate God’s word for prosperity and good health by applying our hearts unto the wisdom of God.

Even after doing all that is required of you, the devil constantly contends with you to cause you to stumble. So ultimately, it is the grace of The One who rules in the affairs of men that is able to keep you in good health and wealth (Isaiah 60:5).

Dr. Omolola Omoteso is a minister who is passionate about sharing God's words for the healing of others.

The Ministry of Impossibility

In Ezekiel 37:1-14 Ezekiel was faced with an impossible situation. Delay, distress, discouragement may have been turned on to make your marital breakthrough appear impossible…

When you face an impossible situation or what seem as such, what are you expected to do? Leave it in the hands of the Specialist! Refuse to calculate. Refuse to doubt. Refuse to work it out by yourself. Refuse to worry. Revert the situation to your Maker. Say to God the creator; I cannot handle this. It's impossible to me, but you said in Luke 18:27 that the things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

If you buy an essential oil diffuser that won’t work, you don’t sit around and fiddle with it, you return it to the manufacturer! Unfortunately what we do to God is that we try every other thing and when they fail, we now send our mess to God and plead for His mercy. What should have been our first call becomes our last point of call. We dump our mess on our Maker; The One who owns the manual of our lives.

Pastor Charles Swindoll, an evangelical Christian preacher and educator who is waxing strong in the Lord at 80, is quoted as saying “Don’t let your self-confidence prevent God from doing what He specialises in.”

We are so confident in our Adamic nature, which is sinful and our righteousness, which is like a filthy rag, that we try to fix what is broken instead of calling The One who made us and said I will give you the desires of your heart. My thoughts for you are thoughts of good and above all, I wish that you prosper and be in good health!

Don’t try to fix, what is broken or impossible, return it to the God of impossibilities

Matthew 13:15 (KJV) gives us insight into what God expects of us, “For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”

In essence what are we supposed to do in impossible situations? Fix ourselves! Fix our sense of sight (eyes), fix our sense of sound (ears), fix our heart of understanding. Revert to our original identity in God. With that, we switch on the healing mode.

Matthew 6:25-34 asks us not to be worriers but worshippers. The last two verses read: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Tommy Walker in the song below reminds you of God’s assurance:

I have a Maker

He formed my heart

Before even time began

My life was in his hands

[Chorus]

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And He hears me when I call

I have a Father

He calls me His own

He'll never leave me

No matter where I go

There are so many things God has done that you aren’t thanking Him for. Like Ezekiel, we are seeing the present dry bones not the fact that God was in the journey to Babylon which was caused by Israel’s sinfulness. Ezekiel was not seeing the deliverance of Hanania, Mishael and Azaria (whose slave names were Shedrach, Mesach and Abednego) from the fiery furnace and the fact that God’s glory fell and His name became honoured because of the miracle in the land of captivity.

Ezekiel gave a doubtful response, “Thou Knowest”. Short of saying in Pidgin English parlance, “Na you sabi.” This was the same Ezekiel whose name mean, “May God strengthen him", and was born into a priesthood lineage. This was the same Ezekiel that had a glimpse of God and Cherubim. The same one that prophesied; witnessed the fulfillment of his prophecies concerning Jerusalem and went on to serve as a prophet for over 20 years. What happened?

Discouragement. Dejection. Dismay. He was in captivity having been exiled by Babylonian armies along with 3000 Jews on the orders of Nebuchadnezzar II who deposed King Jehoiachin of Judah in 597 BC and had lost his wife 9 years into exile.

His response in the valley of dry bones may very well be your own response. But the God who knows your name understands your discouragement. Instead of saying to Ezekiel, if you don’t believe after all the time you’ve spent with me then forget it. Rather what did the loving God say? See verse 4: Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

God saw beyond Ezekiel’s words and gave him directions; divine directions. Ask God to divinely direct you. Imagine the gymnastics Ezekiel would have gone through to prove his mettle as a prophet if it was totally dependent on him to make the bones live!

Nick Vujicic, of the “No arms, no legs, no worries” fame, getting married was an impossible situation. A woman without a womb having a child was impossible. Not only is Nick married with 2 children, last year, God through medical science made it possible for a woman who lost her womb due to cancer treatment to have a child via the transplanting of her own mother’s womb into her! I have seen the lame walk, I have seen sickle cell patients live beyond the 21 years traditional lifespan…

What impossible situation are you in?

Even if like the Israelites you brought this upon yourself… Dry bones of what used to be a great army in a valley signify the army made a wrong judgement. Soldiers stay in elevated places to fight their enemy. For this army to have been ambushed and killed in a valley shows that someone somewhere made a wrong strategy decision and they all paid with their lives. Yet, God said in Isaiah 49:25

“… Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.”

Perhaps your delay is caused by your own error in judgement despite being a Christian; you may have a closet filled with dry bones yet you are like Ezekiel. Today, turn it over to God. Your God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think. Reach out to him. Speak to him. Turn over your brokenness and impossibilities to the one who makes a way in the wilderness and rivers in dessert (Isaiah 43:19), the one who said in Matthew 19:26 With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. 

Different versions with the same title was first preached by Pastor 'Yemi Osinbajo in April 

and by Deacon Bola Omoteso in August. Dr. Omolola Omoteso is a minister 

who is passionate about sharing God's words for the healing of souls.