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EIGHT LAWS OF GREATNESS

D A V I D

O W A B O Y E

EIGHT LAWS OF GREATNESS

Copyright 2010 by David Owaboye ISBN All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be used without the express written consent of the publisher with the exception of brief excerpts in magazines, articles, reviews.

For further information or permission address: RESTORATION OF DOMINION CHURCH WORLDWIDE 16/18, Nuru Oninwo Street, Aguda, Surulere, P.O. Box 6612 Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria. Tel: 07029266607; 08033252129

Or reach us on the internet: Website: www.restorationofdomonionchurch.org E-mail: info@restorationofdominionchurch.org davidowaboye@yahoo.com

THE COMMISSION
I want you to be in partnership with me through the preaching of the word of faith to restore man to my original plans and purpose for his life, that is absolute dominion in all spheres of life as it was in the Garden of Eden, heaven on earth order of life

TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE THE LAW OF SERVICE CHAPTER TWO THE LAW OF IDENTITY CHAPTER THREE THE LAW OF GROWTH CHAPTER FOUR THE LAW OF INSPIRATION CHAPTER FIVE THE LAWS OF FAITH AND PATIENCE CHAPTER SIX THE LAW OF PASSION CHAPTER SEVEN THE LAW OF EXCELLENCE CHAPTER EIGHT THE LAW OF BRAVERY 6 7

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DEDICATION

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO BISHOP DAVID OYEDEPO, the President of Living Faith Church Worldwide. By divine instruction I sat under your ministry (as a church member, from 1996 2008) before I answered this calling, unarguably God has used you to give my destiny shape and colour. I love and honour you sir!

INTRODUCTION
Every child born into the world is goal oriented. The struggles to crawl, walk, explore have been in him from the very beginning. The problem is that the kicks and the knocks of life drive the desire for success out of him. In other words, the desire for success is inbred in every child. You did not come into this world bent toward failure. You may have had a lot of disadvantages. The tough and difficult times come. Welcome to human race. The difference is that some people give up and some do not. Todays mighty oak is just yesterdays nut that held its ground. Dont quit, dont give in. We need to paralyze resistance with persistence - Bill Newman Greatness in life is not an exclusive right of just few people, neither does anybody has a copyright to it. Everyone that is born of God already has a seed of greatness planted in him by the Creator. Whether or not we are aware of that seed is a different matter. We are all born potentially great. Life, a wise man once said, is like a house full of treasure but under lock and key. Without the right keys you cannot have access to the treasure house, yet you are invited to take as much of the treasure as you want. That is what this book is all about. It has placed in your hands life changing keys that will introduce in your life the house full of treasure of greatness. You need keys to gain access to the greatness Heaven has destined for you on the earth.

Ignorance of this timeless truth has kept many extra-ordinary people away from this treasure house of greatness and made them to just live and get by in this market place of life. Application of these Eight Laws of Greatness will grant you unlimited access to the world of greatness in the pursuit of your life. Though things may not change immediately, but if you are determined to paralyze resistance with persistent application of these laws, things will definitely change in your life in no distant time. Satan does not have a defense against the truth. The knowledge of the truth according to the laws of the Spirit must decidedly set you free, no matter the resistance the adversary wants to put up against it. My heart goes out to people that have been destined to be blessings to multitude of people all over the world but who are living from hands to mouth today. My heart also goes out to people who had it been their potentials have been fully realized would have become a global point of reference today but have been reduced to messengers

and hewers of word, in one obscure corner of life. One thing we must understand is that life will never give us what we deserve except what we forcefully demand from it. Ignorance of these laws of greatness will keep greatness far away from you just as heaven is far away from the earth. That is why I want you to be awake right away and begin to contend with every spirit of sihon that has been resisting your efforts to gain your inheritance of greatness. Many people have allowed the enemy to box them into oblivion in life simply by mistaking their circumstances as their destinies. You are not what circumstance of life say you are, you are not what your enemies say you are. Rather, you are who God says you are. This is the point you must get to know in order to disable your defeat from overcoming you. The truth is that, just like Eleanor Roosevelt once said: No man can make you feel inferior without your permission. Yes, it may be the permission you gave out of ignorance but your permission is required before the devil can ever have a final say in your destiny. In 2 Corinthians 5:7, the Lord instructs us to walk by faith and not by sight. I make bold to declare that your situations and circumstances are temporal, they will definitely change as you commit yourself to practising these life changing laws of greatness. Always remember that the mighty oak is just yesterdays seed that held its ground. Stand and keep on standing on these laws and your long awaited testimony will inevitably manifest! DAVID OWABOYE MARCH, 2010

CHAPTER 1 THE LAW OF SERVICE

INTRODUCTION Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called and whom He called them He also justified and whom He justified, and them He also glorified Romans 8:30. On the 28th of December, 2008, the Lord commanded us to begin a school called the school of greatness. The Master made a promise to make anyone who cares to apply these laws walk in practical dominion in life adventure. So for everyone that desires to experience greatness in every sphere of human endearvour, these are the laws that God has designed for them to cause the seed of greatness planted in them to grow and become manifest. THE SOURCE OF GREATNESS Everyone that is genuinely born again has a heritage of greatness in the Lord Jesus Christ. Angel Gabriel speaking to Mary about the destiny of the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 1:32 said that Jesus shall be great . According to the Scripture, anyone that is born again, who has accepted Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Saviour has been reborn by a great God. The law of nature simply says that likes beget likes. Plant will always and has always been reproducing according to the land in which it was planted. The same thing is true of the animal kingdom; animals always produce according to their kind. In the same vain, when a man is born of God (1 John 5:4), that is when he/she accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Saviour. He/she becomes potentially a great person. The seed of greatness is wired into our system. This is validated in Revelation 5:6, which says that Christ has made us unto our God as kings and priests and our destiny is to reign on the earth. To reign means to command influence, to set the pace for others to follow. So we are redeemed into greatness. Our DNA as sons and daughters of the Most High God is that of greatness. See what the psalmist says in Psalms 91:14: If anyone is a lover of God, there is a promise hanging over his or her life to be set on high. This means that the person would be made great by God. So the plan of God for man from the beginning of the world is to make him walk in dominion (Gen. 1:28). God wants every man He created in His very nature to be walking in greatness; God wants him to be in control, to be a leader, to be incharge in every sphere of life. We were saved to become glorified and exalted according to Romans 8:30. We were not saved to be defeated and live a lower life. Rather heaven wants us to live a higher life.

By virtue of the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been initiated into the Abrahamic covenant of greatness (Galatians 3:14). God establishing His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:6 says that the offspring of Abraham shall be kings and queens not people that will just try and go by on earth. The seeds of Abraham, born again children of God have been destined to command influence in business, different careers and professions and whatever field of life they find themselves. That is the programme of God. That is why all the seeds of Abraham that embraced Abrahams covenant of greatness also became great. The devil tried to abort their destinies but a covenant is a covenant and cannot be broken, it will always prevail. That explains why in spite of what the philistine did to stop the covenant from bearing fruits in the life of Isaac in Genesis 26:12-22, they did not succeed. The Bible says that Isaac became great in spite of attacks from the devil through the philistine. In Genesis 26:13, Isaac waxed great and went forward and grew until he became very great. Galatians 4:28 says, as Isaac was so are we children of promise. We stand in the same place today like the biological children of Abraham. All we need to do is to embrace the integrity of the covenant of greatness, like the children of Abraham did to make our greatness manifest. No force, no matter how powerful it may be can destroy the validity of our covenant of greatness. It does not matter what obstacles are set against a covenant child of God, as long as he holds unto the integrity of the covenant, he must assuredly end up at the upmost part of life. The end time church of Jesus Christ is a company of great men and women. Heaven has designed the church to be the strongest and wealthiest company of the people on earth. Isaiah 2:1-3 says that in the last days (which we are now) THE MOUNTAIN OF THE Lords house (the church) shall be on the mountain top and all nations shall flow into it. The captains of multinational companies, first class international leaders, geniuses will all emerge from the church in this end time. The church of Jesus Christ is the light and salt of the earth, no more, no less. That is the plan of God for all His children. It does not matter what the circumstances look like. The Scripture cannot be broken, if the church will position herself correctly, though our beginning may be small our future will definitely be a glorious one. The good news is that for everyone that will listen to what the Spirit is saying, the church has entered her season of glorification. We have entered the season of the manifestation of our greatness. John 12:23 [Amp] and Jesus answered them saying that the time has come for the son of man to be glorified and exalted. I pity those that are not born again because gross darkness or evil shall cover the whole earth (Isaiah 60:2). It is the arrogant people who will not humble themselves by surrendering their lives to Christ that will be victims of that darkness. Darkness stands for a life of shame, oppression, frustration, pain, a life riddled with all kinds of sicknesses and diseases, premature death, stagnation and poverty.
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It is dangerous not to be saved in this end time. So if you are not born again, the best decision you can ever make in your life now is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. By so doing you will be on board the flight of GREATNESS. Your actual life does not really start until you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. The seed, which means, the beginning, the nucleus, the fountain, the source of greatness can only be planted in our lives when we have accepted Jesus Christ, the originator of authentic and enduring greatness as our Lord and Saviour. May I advise you to stop playing games with your life. The scripture says that it is appointed unto a man to die once. Therefore, no man will ever have the opportunity of coming into this world twice. So once you waste this very life you are living now, it is gone forever. The next thing you will face is judgement. GREATNESS DEFINED When we talk of greatness, we are talking of being large; being big; abundant; being important, colossal; being celebrated; distinguished; being eminent; being exalted; being highly regarded; an excellent personality; something larger in size than others of the same kind; a powerful thing; an influential thing; something remarkable and outstanding in degree and extent; something superior in quality and character; something out of ordinary in degree and magnitude. SERVICE MASTER KEY TO GREATNESS There is no gain saying the fact that as believers, we have a heritage of greatness in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. But we need to quickly understand that there is a place we need to stand; there is what we need to be doing if our greatness must become a reality. If you are a lawyer, the programme of God for you is to be the lawyer in your country; if you are a business man, heaven wants you to be the businessman; if you are a teacher, God wants you to be a role model for all other teachers in your country. Whichever field of life endeavour you are, God wants you to stand out amongst others. He is not glorified when you are lost in the crowd. Wonderful as that heavenly agenda is, it will only remain a mere day-dream if you do not know how to gain access to it. Job said: As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle. (Job 29:4). So God has secrets, which you can only access if you position yourself correctly in Him. To be dreaming of greatness in life without making effort to find out what to do to make it a reality is playing a game without knowing for what purpose. You have an enviable potential/destiny in Jesus Christ. It will only become a reality when you find out what God wants you to do to become great and you begin to do them accordingly. Once you can fulfill your part, God will not fail on His own part. We are assured of His ever abiding faithfulness all the time. The master key to experiencing greatness is revealed in the story of the Israelites and Rehoboam. After the death of Solomon, all the Israelites went to Rehoboam in 1Kings 12:4 to lighten the hard labour and the heavy yoke of his father,
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Solomon put on them. Rehoboam consulted with the elders who served his father on how he should answer the people, they replied: If today you will be a servant to this people and save them and give them a favourable answer, they will always be your servants (1Kings 12:7). Listen to what the spirit of God is saying, just like the Israelites confessed that they have a heavy yoke on them, so it is in every generation, people have genuine needs from time to time in every generation, great people always emerge when those needs are identified and are instructed by God to rise up and begin to meet the needs of the people. So, here is the key: The elders of Israel offered excellent advice to Rehoboam as a matter of fact: their advice is what can be termed as the golden rule of greatness. The journey to greatness does not start until you locate where your promised land is. I mean that you have to have a revelation from God on which areas of life God wants you to serve humanity. Nobody can become truly great by having a motive to acquire influence just to be directing, ruling and controlling others. Every seed genuine dream of vision of greatness must and will always have service of humanity and God as its focus. Greatness from Gods perspective is not so much success, or the cars, the wealth etc. we have acquired but rather it is in values and contributions and those things that have improved the life of others. Remember the story of a young rich man the Bible described as a rich fool. He had money which he used for a wrong purpose, just to satisfy his selfish desires. That is why the Bible did not give us his name. He was not a great man and had no name. This is the truth I want you to appreciate; it is not a sin to want to be great in life. Apostle Paul wrote about an ambition to become a leader. To aspire to a leadership position is an honourable ambition. (1Timothy 3:1 NED] as we have pointed out, greatness is our heritage in Jesus Christ, but the ladder to that greatness is to desire to serve God by serving others first. God does not define a great man the way satan and the world look at greatness. The world think a great man is the one everyone must serve but see what Jesus has to say on this subject in Matthew 20:26-27, Whoever wants to be great amongst you, let him be your servant. Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Therefore, the journey to greatness begins when we have found an area of life where we are really ready and willing to serve the people first. Any business or venture you begin with the aim of just making money from people will not amount to much. But if you start same on the platform of true desire to put a smile on somebodys face, deflating the pressures and yokes that is in the lives of the people, then you are on your way to leaving your footprint on the sands of time. Many of us need to ask ourselves why we are in the business we are into now. Why are we pursuing the career we are in? Is it just to make a living? Those who live for self alone cannot make a mark on earth. It is those whose selfless lives are aimed at solving a particular problem in their generation that the Lord will eventually help to become great. Jesus,
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the King of Kings served humanity to a point of death. He died and shed his blood, went through a lot of pains and agonies not for any selfish ambition but for the sake of man, so God had to exalt Him and after the pains He suffered. He is seated at the most exalted position, at right hand of God. Let us start thinking about the welfare of others. Lets start thinking of how we can make life better for others. Let us start imagining what we can do to solve the unemployment problems, strengthen the weak, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and feed the poor in our generation! It is then we will be on our way up. If truly we are sincere about it, not for the sake of what we are out to get but for making life better for others, heaven is taking us up. 2Thessalonians 5:24 says that faithful is He that calleth thee, who will also do it. When you discover your path in Gods agenda for the end of time church, then you commit Him to back you up. Your dream and vision will become His dream and vision and you will just become a co-labourer with God - 1 Corinthians 3:9. Enough of living unto ourselves!! It will only continue to make slaves out of us. It is high time we started living for the sake of others. Look at what Joseph said to his brothers: God preserved me for your sake. So his dream of greatness was not about himself but for others. Gideon could not stand the molestation of the Midianites, God raised him. Moses was all out to serve the people; he turned down the pleasure of Pharaohs house in order to serve the people. You have not truly found a genuine dream to live for until you have found one that is adding value to others. In Acts 20:35, the Bible says that it is more of a blessing to give than to receive. May I challenge all of us, what contribution is our life making to our society, state, nation and the world at large? Our so-called success is of no consequence to heaven if its not adding value to our generation. We need to stop and take an inventory of our life-styles and make an amendment where necessary. We cannot afford to waste an entire life-time. Power and authority are given by God to great people to serve others, to use them for the benefit of mankind and not to abuse same and build selfish empires for ourselves. I read of Abraham Lincoln, who saw slaves in New Orleans; he was grieved by the horrible picture of indecent treatment of human beings like him that he saw. He decided to prepare himself for an opportunity to set slaves free in America. He was so sure the opportunity will come, and so God made it happen. You know till date he is still one of the best Presidents America has ever had. LOOK WITHIN AND UP so you can start right now, right now in your heart to look around you, you will see one hundred problems in our society. Thereafter, look up to heaven and start praying for the particular problem that is your own promised land. You know the prophet says in Jeremiah 29:11, I know the thought/plan that I think towards you, saith the Lord. So God already has a specific plan for you, He has a
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programme for you on the specific area you will make contributions in your generation; but you need to call upon Him and He will show you that plan. When God reveals that plan to you, then you have a certified seed/dream of greatness in your hand. So dont just step out, for you need to also step out aright. Seek divine direction and heaven will show you what you need to do. See you on top in Jesus name!

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CHAPTER 2 THE LAW OF IDENTITY

Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23. The journey to greatness begins when we understand how things work in the realm of the spirit. Lack of understanding of how God operates in making people great on earth will lead to eternal frustration. The issue of identity is the foundation of any glorious life. If we do not understand who God says we are, there is no way in the first instance we can even ever attempt to become such a person. We need to understand that, the quality of our life can never be better than the state of our heart. When we attempt to become in practical life what we have not become in the inside and what our heart does not have capacity to accommodate, we always end up being frustrated. That is why the Scripture enjoins us to keep our heart with all diligence. We need to be hardworking to be able to do it, because that is the foundation of our real greatness, and if the foundation is destroyed what can the righteous do? Once the foundation of a building is faulty, all attempts to build on it are a wasted exercise. It does not matter how much millions of dollars we spent in constructing on a faulty foundation, it all amounts to a bundle of wasted efforts and resources. So when the issues of law of identity have not been properly resolved, all our efforts to be great in life adventures result in wasted exercise. The number of years spent notwithstanding, such a life cannot end up being great, its heading to failure from the start. THE NATURE OF GOD At new birth, the nature of God is infused into our life. 2Peter 1:4 says that we become partakers in Gods nature of greatness. God is a great God and by the law of nature which states that likes begets likes, His children are automatically born great. You see, this is what the spirit of the Lord is saying to the body of Christ, the real man is not the outward physical body we look at, but his spirit that we cannot see with our physical eyes. Peter described the real man as the hidden man in the heart. (1 Peter 3:4). While Apostle Paul calls him the inward man. That inward man has eyes, ears and so on, he is the one Solomon says we need to keep with all diligence in Ecclesiastes. 4:23. Why? That inward man or if you like, the spirit of man is actually what represents the hundred percent personality of mans nature. Whatever your spirit does not have the capacity to handle or become, your body will never be able to dare. Even if your body attempts to become that because you see others becoming such, your body will fail you. Your nature or the state of your heart is what puts limit on what you can ever become.

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So this is a major fundamental secret of greatness: in order to become great, that inward man is what must first become great, endowed with the capacity to become great, then becoming great outwardly becomes not very much an issue. Its a law in the realm of the spirit that the way we see ourselves in the inside of us has a great deal to do with whether we are going to become great or not. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 12:33, either make a good tree and its fruit good or make it bad and its fruit bad. In other words, once you become great first in the inside of your spirit by feeding it with biblical principles, you will automatically produce fruits of greatness, while the revise is the case. So to become wealthy, we need to first internalize the principles of prosperity in the Bible like tithing, as contained in Malachi 3:10, giving in Luke 6:38, and so on. When our spirit man has been properly fed with the bread of life, the word of God, we would have built within ourselves the capacity to be prosperous and it will be only a matter of time before our prosperity will manifest for everyone to see it. Everyone that is born again is born great, but for that greatness to manifest, we must have a proper understanding of the nature of God in us. Genesis 1:26 says, we are created in Gods image. So at new birth, we are not supposed to be struggling to become great or successful in life, we are born that way. The great God cannot give birth to an ordinary being. No! We already have Gods nature, the DNA of greatness. The problem of man is that he does not know who he is. That is why he is dying like an ordinary being, a being oppressed by what God has already given him; the capacity to overcome. Psalms 82:5-6 says, They know not, neither will they understand, they walk on in darkness all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said ye are gods and all of you are children of the most high. This Scripture captures the graphic illustration of the problem of man. There is no short cut to becoming great in Gods way, except we understand that we are not ordinary human beings but supernaturals in the order of our God. We must believe that we are capable of operating like God by bringing about the miraculous at will. As a matter of fact, Isaiah 8:18 says that we are for signs and wonders. So when devil confronts you, dont attempt to prevail as a human being or ask what can I do? He will defeat you that way because he has six thousand head start ahead of you, you will not be any match for him as a human being but rather ask, how will or did Christ respond when confronted by the devil while here on the earth? 1John 4:17 says that as Jesus Christ is so we are in this world. Even Christ Himself said in John 17:22 that the glory God has given to Him, He has equally given to us. John 20:21 reveals that as God has sent Jesus, even so has He sent us. The programme of God is that we should do greater works than our Lord Jesus Christ did. It is high time we started seeing ourselves the way heaven sees us. The reason Jesus was able to carry out the exploit He did is that, He knew who He was. He never separated Himself from the power, ability, and strength of God. You often hear Him say in John 10:30, I and my father are one. At this time, He said whosoever has seen Him has seen the Father. He knew who He was, hence He could not be stopped by any gate of hell built against His ministry. We too need to get to that point where we can see ourselves as one with God, having His strength.

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Psalms 27:1 says that we have the strength of God, having His mind. 1Corinthians 2:16 says that we have the mind of Christ, having His life/zoe. 1John 3:16 says that we have eternal life, the very spirit of God. And even believe that our physical body is an anointed body immuned and insulated from diseases. Hebrews 10:5 says that Christ has a divinely prepared body, that is why sickness and disease could not attach themselves to His body. They attempted but did not succeed. Jesus said the prince of this world came to me and found nothing; devil did not have anything to work with when he attempted to attack Jesus with sickness and disease. 1Corinthians 6:20 says we were bought with a price and we should glorify God in our body. 1Corinthians 12:27 says, now we are the body of Christ. This should not just be in name but in experience. We should see ourselves as one with God, because we are actually one with Him. 1Corinthians 6:17 but he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Philippians 3:20 says, our citizenship is in heaven, so we are just representing His interest here on earth. We are Gods ambassadors. 1Corinthians 5:20 says, we are in this world but not of this world. So when the world is facing economic crisis, we are covered and secure because we are under a different kingdom. Our case is different. We are the light of the world, (Matthew. 5:14). Our light must shine in the midst of financial darkness that has covered this world. When the world is saying there is a cast down, we should say there is a lifting up. The present global recession is an opportunity for the light of this world to shine in the midst of darkness. We should not say confederacy or fear what the people of this world are afraid of or say confederacy to. We are under a different government, the government of our Lord Jesus Christ, the government of peace, divine health, liberty, joy and prosperity. (Colossians 1:13). This is who we are. We are here to reign (Romans 5:17) and not to suffer what the world is suffering. Our case is different. Revelation 22:16 describes Jesus as the Bright and Morning star. And that same Jesus, the Bible says is dwelling in us through His Spirit (Colossians 1:27). So as Christians, we are stars on the earth. In whatever field we find ourselves, we shall stand out. We shall be the head and not the tail. This is who we are. We are born stars. KEEP WATCH OVER YOUR IMMAGINATION Proverbs 4:23 says, we should keep our heart, what we see with our inner eyes, the mental picture of who God says we are with all diligence. Why this admonition? There is an enemy that is out to corrupt and destroy that positive imagination. Proverbs. 23:7 says that as we think in our heart, so we are. In other words, you are the way you see yourself. If you see yourself or imagine yourself as ordinary person you will die as an ordinary person. That is why Jesus said that for God to make you great in life, you must first become in the inside the kind of person you want to become on the outside. God will not put a new wine make you great in an old bottle someone whose state of heart is ordinary. We are told in the Scripture not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewal of our mind. (Romans 12:1-). So when we change the state of our mental picture or imagination, then our life will move in that same direction.

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Our lives as human being are designed to conform to the structure of our mind set. That is why our mind is actually where the real battle is and for our battle to prevail, we must not live it to chances rather we must be diligent in keeping watch over it. The enemy of our soul knows that it is our mental picture, the way we see ourselves that will actually determine our future. So he is all out to sow tares in our minds. He keeps peddling thoughts of doubts, painting negative pictures about our destiny in our dreams and at any given opportunity. Many glorious destiny have been destroyed because they are ignorant of this fact. They allow the devil to dump all sorts of evil thoughts seeds and imaginations in their hearts where the inner man is. Whatever enters your heart where the inner man, the Spirit resides has entered your life and if it is evil, and its not dealt with, its only a matter of time before the person will be consumed by the evil seeds. Thoughts are seeds, so also negative imaginations are seeds. When they are allowed inside us, seeds have been planted either negative or positive. There are two doors to our destiny: the door of the inner eyes and ears. What we look at with our physical set of eyes can gain entrance into our destiny through our inner or spiritual ears. That is why we need to be watchful of the kind of picture we look at and the kind of sound we listen to. If it is bad news, we can hear it with our physical ears but should not receive it with our spirit. Listen to what the Spirit of God is saying because the devil will deliberately sow tares, smuggle negative seeds, thoughts and imagination into your life through what he shows you and what he says or suggests to you. That is why 1Coinrthians 10:5 says, we must keep casting down those negative imaginations and bring those thoughts captives to the obedience of Christ. If we fail in this area, our greatness will always remain a mirage. The goal of the enemy is to make us disbelief who God says we are. That is why he will attempt to come up with negative thoughts and imaginations. You must not entertain or give your attention to any of such evil, they are destiny destroyers. DONT DEFINE YOUR GREATNESS BY YOUR PERFORMANCE OR YOUR ACHIEVEMENT The devil works through the five senses: what we hear, see, feel, perceive and taste. But the Bible says we do not walk by sight but by faith. 2Corinthians. 5:7 faith is believing what God says regardless of what you see, hear or feel. That is the point we need to get to know in our quest to be great in life. We must believe those principles of greatness so much so that we are not moved by what we see, hear or feel; then when we believe this way, we are headed straight for greatness. We would have furnished the Holy Spirit with enough materials to work with in our bid to make our greatness manifest. There is the difference between failures as an event and failure as a person. For example, a student that failed an examination in school is not necessarily a failure, that is just failure in an event. The first examination that I sat for in H.S.C., I only scored five points, so I could not realize my dream of studying law in the university. But I sat for the same examination and came out as the best student in my school then with twelve points out of fifteen points.

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What the devil does to many people in life is that he makes us to assess the understanding of who we are according to our performance and achievement. If I did not try the second time as I resat for that same examination, I would have transferred failure as an event to failure as a person. But the truth is this: even the first time I wrote the examination and scored five points out of fifteen points, I was still who God says I am, the head and not the tail, according to Deuteronomy. 28:13. Visions limit behaviour; the image, mental pictures we carry in our hearts will always affect what we can do. That is why the devil works so hard to convince us to judge and assess our lives based on circumstances that he himself creates around us. But if we refuse to succumb to his antics, we give him nothing to work with; he will be stranded in his attempts on our lives. We must fight to keep positive biblical pictures the way we fight for natural things that belong to us on earth; that is the only way we can remain victorious. We must not make the mistake of leaving the issues of our thoughts and imaginations to chances. If we do, we will be making the works of the devil to steal, kill and destroy very simple. In order to help Abraham out of his situation, God had to change his mind set and imagination. (Genesis 13:14-16). We are seeds of Abraham and according to Galatians 3:14, we must follow the Abrahamic faith. We must deliberately programme ourselves for greatness. We should invest our time in visiting places, countries that will boost our mental imagination. We must be practising how great people operate, dress, talk, where they visit even though our temporary condition may be the exact opposite of such things. But because we believe we are who God says we are, we must refuse to be swayed on the inside about situations that will soon fizzle out, rather we should hold on to the integrity of the Word. We stick doggedly to the syllabus of the thoughts of our life according to Philippians 4:8. By so doing, we are headed straightway for greatness and the result is the inevitable manifestation of the truth which of course is that we are kings and priests.

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CHAPTER 3 THE LAW OF GROWTH

Luke 1:80 says: And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the desert till the day of his showing unto Israel. Luke 1:40 also said, And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. Greatness in life demands growth in whatever field of life we find ourselves. There is an old saying that Champions dont become Champions in the ring, they are merely recognized there. So what a person does on a disciplined, consistent basis prepares him for greatness, no matter what the goal is in his life. Our God is a God of process. He is a God of order. So in order to make our greatness manifest, we must be like God and follow His pattern of operation. Jesus, the greatest man that ever lived on this planet had to obey this law of growth. In Luke 1:40, we are told, He grew and waxed strong in spirit; filled with wisdom and the grace of God He needed for His greatness to manifest and come upon Him. Benjamin Disreali once said: The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time when it comes. This is absolutely true. There is no shortcut to becoming great in life; we must obey the law of growth. John the Baptist in Luke 1:80 had to also obey this law before God showed him to his world. Isaac, the biological son of Abraham could not avoid this basic truth of life. In Genesis 26:13 we are told that he grew up. It is preparation that will always precede greatness in any form; be it in sports, academics, business, career and so on. To wax strong means to build up, strengthen ones inner capacity, to increase in knowledge and wisdom of God. Anyone that is not willing to obey this law is also not ready for greatness. God is excited when we grow up, because our growth makes His desire to reveal us to our world easy. 1 Peter 2:9 discloses how God showed forth the greatness of Jesus and John the Baptist only when they developed enough spiritual capacity to sustain and maintain the weight of glory upon their lives. I am in total agreement with what John Maxwell said: See what a person is doing everyday, day after day and you will know who that person is and what he or she is becoming. So to become great in life we need to start paying the price now! GREAT DESTINY IN CHRIST; It is interesting to know that God is not preparing great blessings for anybody, He already prepared them for us before the foundation of the world. His only desire is to prepare us to be able to receive this glorious destiny.1Corinthians 2:10 says that eyes have not seen, neither have ears heard that which God has prepared for those that love Him. So the issue is not whether the greatness is available or attainable in any field of life endeavour.

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The issue is that whoever has grown up in the Lord will be able to manifest that greatness. Revelation 5:10 says that Jesus has already made us kings and priests unto God, so we have a royal destiny in Jesus Christ. According to 2Corinthians 8:9, we have a prosperous destiny in our Lord Jesus Christ. He has already given us the power to get wealth. On the authority of Matthew 5:14, we have a mountain top destiny in Christ, an enviable and marvelous destiny. God created us to show us forth to our world. All these are our heritage in the Lord Jesus Christ, but we can only manifest them when we grow up in the ways of God. 2 Peter 1:3 reveals that according to His divine power God hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. The phrase through the knowledge is the condition that determines whether we will enjoy those inheritance or not. Once the knowledge of the Word is gained in any area of life, corresponding spiritual capacity has been built unto us to enjoy manifestation in that area. IT IS CAPACITY BEFORE CONTENT: 1Corinthians 16:19 says that a great and effectual door has opened but that there are many adversaries. This is the major reason why we need to grow up. Whether we are aware of it or not, whether we are ready to fight or not, there is an adversary an enemy assigned by the devil to paralyze the greatness of the people of God. (Deuteronomy 2:24). Bishop Oyedepo once said that predestination is an act of God but fulfillment of our glorious destiny is our responsibility. If you will not contend for your glorious destiny by building up adequate spiritual capacity to match, you will be helpless in the battle of life. The cheapest way to disarm the opposition is to grow up in the spirit. 1John 1:5 says that in God there is light, there is no darkness at all. So the more the light of the word of God we receive the easier it is for us to be able to manifest our sonship and glorious destiny. Our problem as it were is not the devil; our major problem is that we are not growing up the way God wants us to grow up. Galatians 4:1-2 says that as long a child is called an heir he is not better than a servant. We are joint heirs with Jesus, but it will take spiritual growth to be able to possess our possession. Many Christians today are living like slaves, servants because they have not developed enough spiritual muscle and strength to subdue the opposition. Improvement is impossible in a life without a change. When we change, things will begin to change for the better. God is not glorified by all of the business failures, stagnations, going about in circles, failure at the edge of breakthrough and demonic oppression that is plaguing the church today. The solution is in accepting responsibility to grow up. That is the only way we can become providers of solution to our generation and become a vessel of honour in the hand of God to add value to our generation.

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GROWING UP IN THE LORD In Luke 2:52, the Bible says Jesus increased in wisdom. The word of God is the wisdom of God, so when we gain insight or revelation into it, the capacity of our wisdom automatically increases. Growth in our spirit occurs when feeding on the word of God. Just like in the natural, we grow by the kind of food we eat. In the same vein we grow up by feeding on the word of God. Acts 20:32 describes the Word as builder of our spiritual capacity. So the more of the revelation of the word of God we receive, the more we grow. And the more we grow, the more of the inheritance we have in Christ Jesus will be released. The word of God according to John 6:63 contains His spirit and life. So when we are feeding on the Word we are building Gods power, dominion, authority and life into our spirit. This energizes our spirit man to be able to stand against the enemy. In Ezekiel 2:2, the prophet says that the spirit of God intered into him as God was speaking into his life and he was able to receive strength to stand up against satanic installation. In Luke 4:17-20 after Jesus had a revelational knowledge about what was written concerning His destiny, He began to command the attention of the people around him as they began to fasten their eyes on Him. He became a spectacle to His world simply by feeding and discovering what was written concerning Him. Our greatness in all walks of life; be it sports, business, family, and so on, will not manifest any other way. Whatever God shows you in His Word, the manual of life will show you forth to your world; whatever is revealed in the word of God will reveal you to your world. So this generation needs to settle down and begin to grow in the Word of God by spending qualitative time with it every day. By so doing, we can grow from feeding on milk dimension as in 1Peter 2:2 to bread level as in Matthew 4:4 and as we accept more responsibilities through listening to tapes, attending seminars, personal devotions, we can grow higher by operating on strong meat (Hebrew 5:14) and ultimately the honey level of the word of God. (Proverbs 24:13-14). At the honey level, it will look as if the devil does not even exist at all because of the sweetness of the word of God you are operating with. GROWING UP IN THE ANOINTING: In Luke 4:10, Jesus waxed stronger in the spirit. To wax strong in the spirit means to grow up in anointing. Psalms 66:3 says that, it is through the greatness of Gods power that the enemy submits. So when we grow up in the anointing, our greatness will manifest because we will effortlessly subdue all obstacles planted on our way to greatness.In Luke 4:32, the Bible says that the people were astonished at the teachings of Jesus because His word was with power. It was while He was able to cast out demons with ease by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that His great ministry began to manifest. This is the pattern from heaven. After Paul returned from Arabia where he went to build himself up in the spirit, people began to say these people that have turned the world upside down are here. They began to cause waves, to take the world by storm and left their foot prints on the sands of time.

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GROWING UP IN SPEECH 1Corinthians 13:11 says that we should talk like spiritually mature Christians. One area our spiritual growth impacts upon others is in our speech. The Bible says we should not let any corrupt words proceed from our mouth. One way of growing up in the Spirit is to make a decision to always say what God says in every area of ones life. Hebrew 11:3 says that through faith the world was framed by the word of God. In the beginning (Genesis 1:1) God created the world. And according to Genesis 1:26-28 we are created in the image of God, so we are co-creator with God. God did not describe His condition, circumstance, that is, darkness, but He called things that be not as if they were. (Romans 4:17). We can frame our own world too by the word of God by always saying continually what God has said concerning our glorious destiny. By so doing the circumstances of our life will change and align to the integrity of what Gods word has revealed. DEVELOP YOUR MANAGERIAL CAPACITY: In the parable of the talent, the master gave to everyone according to their various capacities. One servant received five, the other two and the other one. So if we want God to commit greatness into our life, we need to improve in our managerial capacity. We need to become effective managers of time. David Yongi Cho said, When we utilize even the smallest segment of time for self improvement, we will find ourselves much better off in the future. That is true, our desire should always be to become a better person by the day, to build on the previous days progress. So every tiny minutes, ten, five minutes must be important to us. We must have value for time management. We should not be time spenders but investors in time. THE PLACE OF DESIRE In Isaiah 44:1-3, the ancient prophet says that it is by the spirit of God that God will pour water on the soul that is thirsty. For us to grow in the Word and in the anointing, we need to thirst for it. 1Peter 2:2 reveals that as new born babes desire the sincere milk So without a desire and or thirst for the Word of God we cannot grow in the spirit. We however give expression to our thirst and desire by prayer and fasting and how we invest our time? John 3:30 shows that when we begin to decrease, by fasting with our meal in exchange for spiritual treasures, revelation and anointing, God will increase in our lives and our light will break forth like morning. (Isaiah 58:8).

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CHAPTER 4 THE LAW OF INSPIRATION

Isaiah 43:19 says Behold I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. In the School of greatness, operating in the new order of things is very fundamental. And the Lord Jesus Christ is a God of new things. He desires all His followers to always make progress in all walks of life. Gods hope for His children is to move from one level of glory to another level of glory in our business, family, ministry, career and so on. God is not delighted when we are stocked with problems of life. 2 Corinthians 3:18 promises that every believer will embrace change and or improvement in their endeavour and promotion galore from one height to another. The psalmist validates this truth in Psalm 84:7 when he says: they move from strength to strength those that appear before the Lord in Zion. Listen to me, where you are today is only good for today, if you dont move with the cloud of glory, those people behind you will catch up with you and overtake you. We need to keep pushing in all our different fields in order to walk with God. Our path must be shinning as light more and more unto a perfect day if our life must bring glory to our God according to Solomon in Proverbs 4:18. Nothing else will give our God delight than a better today, tomorrow, week and new year. God does not move people backward in life, rather His desire is for us to keep moving from exploit to exploit as we walk with Him. No matter the height we have attained now in our career, family, business, studies, there is still a place that is better than where we are today; this is where our Master wants us to be. There is always a better way of doing whatever we are doing in order to get a better result; this is thrust of the law of inspiration in the school of greatness. THE WORD NEW DEFINED The word NEW means three basic things First, it means something that has never happened before in time in bible history. In Luke 1:1-80, God did something new through a virgin called Mary; she brought forth our Lord Jesus Christ without meeting a man. Incredible you say! God still desires today that we do new things in our business world that have never happened before in time. Secondly, the word NEW also means something that has happened in somebodys life that has never happened at all before in the persons life. The Scripture makes us to understand that all things are ours as they are for everyone else. Paul by the Holy Ghost says in the book of Roman 2:11 that there is no respect of person with God. So there is nothing God has done for or through somebody that He cannot do again and again through and for another person. That is why there is no need to be envious or jealous of any human being.

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Finally, the word NEW also means something good that has happened in your life before that is now beginning to happen in a new way. When we come to Christ and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, our mind is not expected to be removed but rather to be renewed. Romans 12:2 says that we should be transformed by the renewal of our mind. So our mind and brain are not suspended at redemption but rather upgraded. DONT LIVE IN YESTERDAY We must constantly bear in mind that there are certain things that happen in life that we do not have control over. For instance, nobody has control of the family he or she will be born into or the date he will be born. Similarly, we should refuse to be dwelling on our negative past that will not add any value to us but would rather draw us backward. We should allow negative past to go with the past and always move forward in life. In 2 Samuel 12:16-24, David prayed and fasted to save the life of his baby that came through illicit affair with Bathesheba, eventually the baby died, thereafter he washed, anointed himself and changed his apparel. David went forward, met with Bathesheba and had another son called Solomon who later succeeded him as a king. It is not tragic to fail in life, the only tragedy is to fail and never rise up again. You may have failed in your business endeavour, career, marriage, dust yourself and stand up again. It is not yet over until it is over. The tragedy of living in the past is that even when God wants to do a new thing that will make up for what you have lost, you cannot pick divine signal as such you are left in your situation for a longer time than is necessary. God desires to put an end to an old chapter in your business, marriage, career and life and usher you into a new season, new day, new life, and change in order of event; new dimension, new open doors, fresh starts, new opportunities and enlargements. The only way you can tap into what God is doing is to let the past be buried forever, otherwise you may pass with it if care is not taken. All you need to do about the past is to learn from your past failure so that you will not keep making the same mistake over and over again. That is the only good thing about failures in life. We can learn from our past mistakes. So many people hate their past mistake so much that they cannot learn from them and before they say Jack Robinson, they have fallen again into the same kind of mistake they fell into in the past. We dont learn from history, that is why history keeps repeating itself. PROVOKING A NEW BEGINNING Isaiah 42:9-10 says: Behold, the former things are come to pass and new things do I declare before they spring forth I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song and His praises from the end of the earth ye that go down to the sea and all that is therein, the isles and the inhabitants thereof. One vital and potent way of experiencing inspiration from God is through praises. The Bible says, with joy will believers draw water from the well of salvation, so when we are singing the praises of God, His glorious voice will come through to us.

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Isaiah 30:29-31 says: And as the voice of the Lord sounds, all the problems that the devil has assigned will be paralyzed. Every problem of life, be it in business, marriage, career, will bow to the revelation from God. Joy provokes inspiration from the Lord. In order to experience a change in the order of event in our lives, we need new ideas from the Lord on how to get better results in our different fields; that new ideas will only come when we start fellowshipping with Holy Spirit through hearty praises. Ephesians 5:17-20 enjoins us to be full of hearty praises unto God in order to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Understand that Holy Spirit is the custodian of new ideas, and every kind of inspiration you can talk about. If we want to experience a new beginning, we must be people who dream. I mean, we must be people who have been sanctified by Bible based Holy Ghost inspired dream. This world does not belong to people who exert physical strength but to dreamers. This generation must seek passionate relationship with the third Person of the Trinity, the blessed Holy Spirit and this world will be the best place to live in. In John 16:13, Jesus speaking about Holy Spirit said: He will teach us all things, how to run our business, how to keep moving from glory to glory in our career, marriage and so on. The new step you need to take for that marriage to blossom; prosper in that business and career will be revealed to you when you befriend the Holy Spirit. You must always remember that without him you can do nothing. Even Jesus had to hear clearly and draw inspiration from God before He could succeed in His ministry, how much more you and I. When we draw inspiration from God, and our struggle in life will come to an end. Let the joy of the Lord become the strength of your life and your life will take on a new meaning. Start looking away from the situations and conditions that devil has designed to deceive you and start praising God for His word. Psalm 56:10-11 says, In God will I praise His word: in the Lord will I praise His word. In God have I put my trust. I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. If only you will take God for His word and start praising Him for it, you will no longer lack inspiration and new ideas on how to run the race of life. Let the word of the Lord, every revelation you have discovered become the rejoicing of your soul and transformation will begin to take place in your life. RENEW YOUR MIND: In 2Kings 7:4-5, four lepers renewed their minds and entered into a new season of life. These lepers had previously accepted their situations as their destiny until one day they experienced a paradigm shift and had a new perspective about life. They were living outside the gate of the city. Hear what they said in the midst of famine and utter darkness that had enveloped the whole nation of Samaria for Benhadad the king of Syria had besieged the City:

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If we say we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city and we shall die there and if we sit here we die also, Now therefore come and let us fall unto the host of Syrians, if they save us alive, we shall live and if they kill us, we shall but die. 2 Kings 7: 4-5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians and when they were come to the uttermost part of the Camp of Syria behold, there was no man there. In order to receive inspiration for a new beginning we must always renew our mind with the word of God. Romans 12:2 says, we should not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of our mind. When we renew our mind, every toxic thought that the devil has planted to poison our lives will be drained and paralyzed. The adversary, the devil places limitations on our lives by sowing tares of wrong thoughts, and imaginations in our minds. The devil knows that there is no way the Holy Spirit can work with us with an impossibility mindset. It is only people who believe that all things are possible with God that God can work with. Once we say certain things are not achievable, we have disabled the Lord from working with us in our lifes endeavour. Luke 1:37 says with God all things are possible. There is no impossibility in the dictionary of the Holy Spirit. So that new height in marriage, career, business, family is possible if we will renew our mind with the word of God. We need to clean and detoxicate our minds from thoughts of the darkness that the devil delights in planting on the soil of our hearts, day and night. Those evil thoughts are like spiritual poison, orchestrated from the satanic world to destroy our lives. We should not play , pamper or nurse any negative thoughts and imaginations, otherwise, we will make the work of the devil to kill, steal and destroy very easy. We need to take heed of the new things God wants to do through and for us in our different fields. Those new things will not come on their own, we must put up an effort to co-operate with God all the time through the process of renewal of our mindset. The day you make up your mind is the day your destiny is made up. Make up your mind today and you will step into the certainty of a glorious future, and new dimension. TAKE ACTION BASED ON YOUR NEW MIND SET The word of God must not just form our thought pattern; it must also form the basis of our action. In 2Kings 7:4-5, the lepers did not only change their minds, they also took action based on their own mindset. When they took steps, they got to the camp of the Syria and found nobody there. When God saw their actions, He provoked a terrible noise that drove away the Syrian army. As we make the word of God the basis of our thoughts, life and actions, a new dawn will be inevitable in our life. These lepers were not delivered from leprosy yet, they started taking action, not because there was light around them but because there was light inside them. This is what brought them into fortune. If you will not take steps based on your discoveries, God will not be able to help you. Heaven helps those who always take sides with Gods word.

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Those who will keep on practising the word regardless of how tough the challenges of life the enemy may have orchestrated around them is. Always remember this truth, there is no alternative to the word of God except failure and defeat. The word of God is the answer to all the situations of our life, eat it, digest it, and practise it. Let it be your vitamin, water, tonic and the strength of your life and you will find yourself flying all of the time. When our steps on earth align with the steps in heaven, positive result is inevitable. This is one sure way of experiencing a new season of life. RELATE WITH LIKE MINDS The Scripture declares that iron sharpeneth iron. It is note worthy that in 2Kings 7:4-5, there was no dissenting voice amongst the four lepers. All of them agreed that they needed to take action about their ugly condition and they did. Here is what the Spirit of God is saying to the church: we need to look for people that are going somewhere in life and consciously develop a relationship with them. By so doing we will not just get inspired but will in due time be like those that have achieved greatness already. We need to start relating with the people that will encourage us and support us in our quest for greatness in life. There is no self-made person in life, but only self-made slaves. Everyone that desires to be great must of necessity have a mentor. Jesus said to the disciples, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. As they began to follow Jesus foot steps, the disciples practically duplicated the multifaceted graces of God upon Jesus. Elisahs greatness was answered and produced after the order of Elijah in a greater dimension because of his obedience to this law of association. Joshuas greatness produced after the order of Moses because he took heed of this all important truth of developing and cultivating a relationship that will help in fulfilling his destiny. Relationship, good ones are much more valued than revenues, T.D. Jakes declares, I think that is absolutely correct. Many people keep pursuing just revenue and losing sight completely of relationship. Relationship will produce revenue when it is well nurtured.

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CHAPTER 5 THE LAWS OF FAITH & PATIENCE

Hebrews 6:12 says That ye be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promise. INTRODUCTION Attainment of greatness in any field of life is impossible without the application of the forces of faith and patience. The road to greatness is always full of obstacles, hiderances and oppositions that will appear in form of fiery burning furnace as in the case of Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego. (Daniel 3:28). But for the active faith of these young men, their great destiny would have been wasted in the fiery burning furnace. Daniel also had a glorious destiny but devil had entered into a king called Nebuchadnezzar to stop him, if not for Daniels application of the forces of faith and patience; his flesh would have been eaten up in the den of lions. In Daniel 6:16, 23, the Bible says that Daniel was taken up out of the den of lions and no manner of hurt was found upon him because he believed in his God. So it was the active faith of Daniel in God that caused his great destiny to be preserved; devil would have eaten him up as a pepper soup. These are no issues of luck; these are serious issues of life that call for serious attention for every one that has a glorious destiny to pursue. The adversary is not joking with us at all, he is roaring like a lion looking for ignorant people to destroy and waste; he has wasted quiet a number of lives and he is still hunting for more precious destinies to destroy and he will have his way if you let him. Devil does not know what mercy is, neither does he play fair in anyway. God is determined that you are not going to fall victim, that is why he has brought this message your way so that you can jack up your level of faith. The issues of faith are not what you live to chance, rather you must be intentional about it. I mean you must consciously develop and work on your faith everyday. This is the only way the fiery burning furnace and lions that the devil has assigned against your life will not waste your great destiny. In Ephesians 6: 16, Paul by the help of Holy Spirit was admonishing the Church in Ephesus to take up the shield of faith with which they will quench all the fiery darts of the enemy. The beautiful thing that is as long as your faith is in place, the devil is helpless concerning the fulfillment of your great destiny.

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THE VALUE OF FAITH Vision is the unfolding of Gods plan for your life. So vision defines where you are heading to in life, but that vision will be crippled without the application of the force of faith. Many people have great goals or dreams in life, but now many of those goals and dreams are fulfilled? No vision or dream can be fulfilled without operating in faith. Jesus said in Mathew 9:29 that it is unto everyone according to his or her faith and not dreams or goals in life. So it is by faith that we are empowered to fulfill our great destiny in life. How? Faith is the link between visionaries and God. Faith provokes partnership between God and man. So it is by faith that Gods involvement in our goals or dreams are ensured. We can only accomplish great feat in life through Jesus Christ that strengthens us. Philippians 4:13 says that it is only those that believeth, that put their trust in God and the word of God that all things are possible for. But for mere men, those who are not in the stronghold of faith, many things cannot and will not be possible for them. Mark 10:27 says with men it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible ( Mark 9:23).The race of life is not to the strong or swift but to those who are operating by the grace of God. We dont prevail and succeed in life by our strength but just by the grace of God which is made possible by our active faith in His word. This is the thought echoed by Jesus in John 6:23, when they ask Him how can one do the work of God. The Master responded that the work of God, every God-giving assignment can only be accomplished by believing, that is by faith. Let me draw your attention to the same revelation in the Old Testament. In Habakkuk 2:4, it is revealed that the just is to live by their faith. Yes, you have received the vision, and it is very plain, but the Prophet is saying that it is only by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that such vision can be driven and be accomplished by faith. So it is faith that gives value to any dream we are pursuing in life. Hebrew 2:4 says that God upholds all things by the power of his Word. So for all of our vision to be fulfilled, we must locate the appropriate word and or receive revelation from God on what we must be doing in order for that vision to be upheld. In John 2:5, Mary, the Mother of Jesus preached the greatest message of all time, when she said during marriage at Cana in Galilee, when the couple ran out of wine and she went to Jesus: whatsoever He tells you to do, do it Destiny or greatness in life in any field becomes an easy task when we choose the path of simple obedience to the written word of God and instructions the spirit of God is revealing in our heart.

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Every divine project or dream no matter how big it is or how impossible it may appear is accomplishable when we choose the path of trusting in the word of God. Faith is believing the word of God regardless of what we see, hear or feel. In otherwords, faith is refusing to believe in the efficacy of the circumstances of life that weigh us down. This means that, when we are walking in the stronghold of faith, we are refusing to go by what is happening in the natural which may be contrary to what God has said. Rather, we are choosing to keep walking by the word of God. A good result is inevitable. THE FORCE OF PATIENCE A wise man once said that life is in phases while men are in sizes. So we must understand that our greatness will not manifest in a day, every great thing will always be produced in phases. Many people are easily discouraged when they do not see the manifestation of their glorious destiny on time. Friend, dont throw away that vision, or dream inside you, it is your glory, colour and beauty but you need the force of patience to enter into your glorious destiny. In Genesis 17, God gave Abraham a vision that He has made him the father of many nation, when he did not even have a child at the age of seventy-five, but it took his active faith in the word of God, the promise God made to him and another twenty-five years before the vision could come to reality. That is why Hebrew 6:12 enjoins us to also guard our faith with the virtue of patience in order to allow it to produce. By patience, we mean, to constantly resist evil; to stand on the word of God all the time; to be like Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever; to the promises God has made to you regardless of your present circumstances or situations. There is nothing like overnight greatness in any field of life. In the parable of the sower, the seed which is the word of God had to produce in phases, first the blade, then the leaves, then the fruit and the full corn. Luke 8:15 says the seed that fell on the good ground are those who having heard the word with a noble good heart, kept it and bore fruit with patience. We must keep cultivating the seed of greatness, that is the vision, and revelation we have received from the Lord until it produces its full corn. Job had to hold on to God in spite of the troubles he went through until the word produced fruit in his life. In Job 14:14 it was said that if a man dies he shall live again. All the days of my appointment time will I wait, till my change comes. Yes, the revelation is great, you know it is from the Lord, but there is also the waiting period of life which this generation is always trying to avoid.

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But the Scripture cannot be broken. In Genesis 8:22, we are instructed in the Manual of life that it is time (waiting or if you like patience) that will always follow planting thereafter harvest will now follow. Harvest does not always follow the planting of seeds immediately; it is the waiting time or time of being patience that will always follow it. We must understand the ways of God if we must receive from Him. Listen to me, that great destiny will be aborted by the devices of the enemy without your understanding of this truth. Every glorious destiny will face opposition, circumstances of life orchestrated by the demons, rulers of darkness in high places and principalities to deceive you into giving up before your dreams are fulfilled. The solution is the application of the force of patience. Just keep resisting all those evils and keep standing on the truth and your triumph will be guaranteed. The ancient Prophet, Isaiah captured this thought graphically when he questioned the inspiration of Holy Spirit in Isaiah 66.8: who hath heard such a thing? For as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children? The travailing process is what is called the application of the forces of faith and patience. It was easy for Isaac to get a wife, but took twenty years of rigorous waiting before he could have children. So friend, it is not that you are out of Gods plan, as the vision seems to be taking time to produce, it is just that you need to apply the virtue of patience. Listen to me, if you have acted on any Word in faith, it will produce in due time. The Lord revealed to me that the Words of the Lord do not die. Nothing can make the word of God to be of no effect until you quit believing and give up. Isaiah 40:8 says that grass may wither, flower may fade, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Notice the word forever. So keep digging around that vision, keep up the confession of faith, keep thinking and imagining the word, it shall stand forever. I Peter 1:25 says the word of the Lord endureth forever. If you are operating in the word by faith, the process may appear slow to you, but the Bible says God is not slow. 2 Peter 3:9 also reveals that the seed is only developing a very solid tap root that will sustain the height of the tree tomorrow. The depth of foundation of a three bedroom bungalow cannot and will never be the same thing as that of twenty-four storey building, otherwise what you will have is not a twenty-four storey building but a death trap; it will collapse any moment because the depth and height of a bungalow cannot carry the weight of a twenty-four storey building. You have a mountain top destiny in Christ, but God wants the depth of your foundation to be deep enough to carry the weight of your glory tomorrow. Some Bible Scholars said that Noah built the ark for forty years, while some said it took one hundred and twenty years before the flood came. Whether forty or one hundred and twenty years, which one is easy? It takes perseverance of faith to achieve anything worthwhile.

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That means, for either forty or one hundred and twenty years that man kept believing without seeing any result and he kept at it; he kept acting, you can imagine the reproach he must have endured, but one day faith and patience produced fruit. Yours is the next one in Jesus precious name. BE GRATEFUL In Psalm 56: 4 the Psalmist revealed one of his secrets of winning when he said, In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. While you are waiting for your harvest, you need to keep praising God for His word as evidence of your trust and faith in His promises to you. The quality of our waiting is enhanced by an attitude of praise which we must develop. It is those who celebrate their marvelous tomorrow based on the revelation that God has given to them in His Word that really enter into it. In Romans 4:20, though Abraham waited for twenty-five years before this vision came to pass, he was giving God glory during that period of waiting. He maintained an attitude of praise and thanksgiving to sustain and nourish his faith. Otherwise, those twenty-five years could have just been fifty years or more. The earlier we learnt the principle of being grateful to God in all things the more speed we gained in life. Hebrews 13:15 says, By him therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. The praise is called sacrifice because it is not convenient, there seems to be nothing on ground in the physical to celebrate apart from the word of God, which you have taken as evidence of the reality of your dream. Just anybody can celebrate when there is a result, that is natural faith. That will not see you through for faith is not experienced by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, we walk by faith and not by sight. So look away from those circumstances so that you can go away and enter into the fulfilment of what God has promised you. BE PERSISTENT We should not be tempted to surrender our dream of greatness to situations and circumstances. If we do, we would have played into the hands of the enemy because that is one of the reasons he organized such situations and circumstances in the first place. In Luke18:1, Jesus narrated a parable of a woman who had been cheated by someone. The woman went to a judge who never feared God or man to ask for justice but the judge will not accede to her request. She went the first time, second time and third time without any positive result. But at last, the difficult judge said, although I neither fear God nor man, yet I will avenge this womans enemy lest she weary me by her continued coming. So we need this kind of perseverance in order to fulfill our great destiny in life. We need to keep on praying and not faint or give up because if we quit praying, we will give up and faint. I love one translation of what Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8, it says, keep on asking and you will receive, keep on seeking and you will find, keep on knocking and the door will be opened unto you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and everyone who keeps on seeking finds, and everyone who keeps on knocking will have the door opened unto him.

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You need to be like a postage stamp, stick to the pursuit of your goal until you get there. You may have failed a few times before; you must know that you are not yet a failure until you fail to try. Micah 7:8 says, rejoice not against me O mine enemy when I fail, I shall arise when I seat in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. So keep on at it, and you will win. Robert Schuller once said: Tough times never last, but tough people do. It takes spiritual toughness to achieve anything worthwhile here on the earth. Those who dont want to go through something will never and can never become something. Rev. Sam Adeyemi once said that: With persistence you will succeed at everything. Because your persistence will make up for all your deficiencies. I think that is absolutely true. Our problem is that we give up too soon and we always think that because we are Christians, we are exempted from the challenges of life. As long as we are in this world, the challenges of life will not stop coming, but like Job we dare to believe God to cause our gold to come forth out of all of them. Job 23:10 reveals that God knoweth the way that we take, when He hath tried us, we shall come forth as gold. John L. Mason puts it this way, You are like a tea bag. Not worth much but till you are in hot water! Trying times are not the time to quit trying. You can start from the scratch and keep on scratching. Just like its always firing pot for silver and furnace for gold, your beauty is coming out after every temptation in Jesus name. I love the thoughts expressed by Harold W. Ruoff who said that, In the presence of trouble some people grow wings, others buy crutches. Please dont go to purchase crutches in the face of what you are passing through today. Let this situation train you on how to pray, grow in faith, in deeper fellowship with God, and strong character and you will become a better person.

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CHAPTER 6 THE LAW OF PASSION

Most assuredly, I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me let him follow me and where I am there my servant will be also, if anyone serves me, him my father will honour. John 12:24 INTRODUCTION One thing is to be a great dreamer and another thing is to see the dream come true and be fulfilled. The vision of God for your life can be likened to a seed and until a seed is planted it is not of much use. The law of dedication is the process of planting the seed. It is planting of the seed that will make its destiny be fulfilled. The quality of the seed of your vision does not matter until it is planted, because it cannot bear any fruit until it is planted. One of the fundamental truths of greatness in any field of life is dedication. Jesus said that it is when one becomes dedicated to God and his assignment in life, that his life will produce much fruit. The much fruit order of life refers to a fulfilled life, a spectacularly outstanding result in our lifes endeavour. The way to that order of life is to be ready to obey the law of passion. Every great destiny is always at the mercy of passion. Mensa Otabil defines passion as intense devotion to someone or something which drives us beyond what might be considered reasonable behaviour. Merriam-Webster Online dictionary, 2008 defines passion as an intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction. When you are passionate about something, you are so to say ready to die in order to experience its fulfillment. The law of passion is the secret of every champion. There is no one that has ever gotten to the stage of fulfillment in life and remains there without obeying the law of passion. You can only go as far as you are dedicated to any given assignment on earth. This is where many people miss it in the school of greatness. They assume that once they have a dream, they are through in life. No! Your dream is just the mental picture of where you are heading to in life. It is the level of dedication or passion you show that will empower you to see to its fulfillment. Just like a seed runs the risk of being destroyed, so does our dream if we lack the required passion to see it through. DEDICATION TO GOD The ancient prophet, Isaiah by the help of Holy Spirit described human being as trees of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3).
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In order for us to become fruitful in our lifes endeavours, we must remain connected to God and the advancement of His kingdom. That is only when our glory will burst forth. Jesus himself said that He is the vine while we are the branches (John 15:2). In the natural, once a branch is cut off from the main tree, it dries up. That is exactly the way it is with every human being who cuts off him or herself from God. For the wisdom, blessing, life and strength of God to keep flowing to and through us, we must remain dedicated to God and the advancement of His Kingdom on earth. We must be like our role model: our Lord Jesus who came to show us how to become great in life. In John 2:17, the Bible says that the zeal for the Lords house, welfare and the advancement of Gods kingdom ate Jesus up completely. He himself instructed us in Matthew 6:33 that we should seek first the kingdom of God and all other things will be added unto us, including greatness in life. Listen to this: you must realize that you cannot receive from God on your own terms; it has to be on Gods terms. Seeking the blessing of God without first of all making a commitment to actually give Him your heart is like pouring water in a basket. You know the result. God is seeking for worshippers, kingdom addicts, people that will be there for Him come rain, come sunshine, not just people that will only be there for what they can receive from Him. That is why He said in Proverbs 23:26: son give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe thy ways. We need to realize that once we actually give our lives to Christ, it is no longer our own. Our problem is that, we only say we have given our life to Christ whereas our actions betray what we are saying. That may explain why many lose their lives anyhow, that may explain why life does not answer us the way it should. We ask Jesus to come and drive the car of my life, and in another second we are dragging the steering with Him. I love the admonition of Rick Warren, who said, Put Jesus Christ in the drivers seat of your life and take your hands off the steering wheel. Dont be afraid. Nothing under His control can ever be out of control. If we want to be able to say like Apostle Paul that we can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth us (Philippians 4:13), we must yield our lives completely to Jesus. Discipleship demands renounciation. See what Jesus said in Luke 9:23 (N.I.V), If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing to give up their lives daily to follow me. Paul says, I die daily. That is a passionate man talking. To remain dedicated therefore, we need to work at it on daily basis. We must be interested in the welfare of Gods kingdom and be practically committed to it through the investment of our time, energy, talents and resources. Our lives cannot be transformed until we are planted in the earth of Gods kingdom. See what Jesus said in John 12:26, If anyone serves me, him will my father honour. You are not a candidate of exaltation on earth, until you become a servant in Gods kingdom. As a servant, you must become an advertiser of Gods kingdom. Some are ashamed to go for evangelism, that is why Jesus is also ashamed of them. Have you not heard that it is only those people who honour God that God will honour in return.

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All your lukewarm attitude to Jesus and His kingdom is the reason you have prayed and prayed and have not received an answer to your prayer. You are seeking the gift of the Master without being proud to be identified with Him. We need to get down to the basics and stop playing games with Jesus. Tell me, what kind of prayer will a seed ever be praying to become a tree, if it first refuses to be planted. You are fearfully and wonderfully made; you are loaded with treasures; you may not realize that there is something heaven has deposited inside you that will make you to turn this world upside down like Paul did. You are a first class international citizen; you will add value to this entire world but you need to first of all be a living sacrifice; be sold out to Jesus. Plant your life as a seed and you will start bringing forth fruitful results in phases in this life adventure. Everybody knew Daniel and the three Hebrew boys with God. They were not ashamed of Him neither were they intimidated. They announce their stand for God at the expense of losing their lives. In Genesis 1:28, where God is saying: go and multiply this life I have given to you, add value to somebody elses life; be a channel through which people will be coming to my kingdom. How can you say you love Jesus but you have never witness to anyone that He loves them and has great plans for their lives, let alone leading anyone to Him? This is one of the undoings of this generation. There is lack of commitment to God and His kingdom. People come to church anytime, they handle His work carelessly, and its frightening that this generation is claiming of getting familiar to God but hardly reverence Him anymore. We run the risk of being taken captive at will by the devil if we dont change fast. We need to start practising the ways of Christ consciously. Jesus is watching us and He is testing us all the time. The Bible says that God withdrew from Hezekiah to test what was in his heart. It is time for everyone to know us with Jesus, be stewards in His house, be His worthy representatives in our thoughts, utterances and conducts. We need to put on Christ-like character in our dealings with fellow human being. This is how we can be transformed. A tree will never be transformed into a tree, let alone bringing forth fruit until it is first of all planted. So it is concerning your life and mine. DEDICATION TO YOUR ASSIGNMENT Once we are emotionally, mentally and physically sold out to Jesus and his cause on earth, we can handle anything. We will be like Paul that says, I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me, that is, I am self-sufficient in Christs sufficiency (Philippians 4:13 (N.I.V). The seed of greatness in life is vision, but once we are ready to pay the price of dedication for the fulfillment of that vision, spectacularly outstanding results will be the outcome. My friend, that kiosk can become a supermarket, that company can become a multi-national company, that dream that looks ordinary today can become a global centre of attraction in future if you are ready to be dedicated in the application of all the laws of greatness the Master has thought us in this book.
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OPPOSITION In Deuteronomy 2:24, God said, I have giving you Sihon the king of Amonites but begin to contend with Him in battle. This is exactly one of the major reasons you need to stay dedicated to the fulfillment of your dream. There is nothing God has shown you that the enemy will not contest. It takes an attitude of commitment that is akin with if I perish I perish, adopted by Esther and the three Hebrew boys before you can experience fulfillment of any worthwhile dream. The pathway to greatness is full of obstacles, oppositions and hindrances orchestrated by the demonic world. That is why you need to sit up on your job, be diligent about it otherwise the world will call you a liar and start looking down on you. As you maintain dogged commitment to the pursuit of your dream, the seed of greatness in you will emerge for the world to see. You need tireless pursuit of your dream like Isaac before you can ever arrive at your Rehoboth. The devil did all he could to abort his destiny of greatness through the Philistines that kept on pouring sand into the well he dug, but he knew the rule of the game, he kept at it until he tired out the opposition. Nothing can ever stand successfully on the way of a passionate dreamer. I was thrilled and greatly inspired when I read about Theodore Roosevelt, one of the toughest leaders that this world has ever produced. Shortly after his presidency, while Roosevelt was trying to deliver a speech in Mikwaukwee, he was shot by a would-be assassin. With a broken rib and a bullet in his chest, he insisted in delivering his one hour speech before allowing himself to be taken to the hospital. A French ambassador once visited Roosevelt in the White House; so he accompanied the president in a walk through the woods. When the two men came to the bank of a stream that was too deep to cross by foot, guess what happened: President Roosevelt pulled up his clothes and expected the French ambassador to do the same so that they could swim to the other side. You need this kind of enthusiasm if need be in the pursuit of your dream, to see to its realization. Many who fail in life are victims of diffused and weak commitment. Many are more passionate about fun and issues not relevant to fulfillment of their God-given dream than anything else. Show me what somebody does on a daily basis, then I can predict where he is heading to in life. In 1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul said, I die daily. The commitment that will produce is not one we have once in a while or when things are going on smoothly, it is a daily affair. You need to get to a point of conviction about your dream that dead or alive you are going to stay on until you reach your Rehoboth. You must be determined to see that dream through, otherwise the devil will just orchestrate situations or circumstances contrary to your dream and you will just give up to the enemy. Dont do it.

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VALUES OF PASSION Passion will enable you to overcome all the oppositions on your way to the realization of your dream. Passion will fire you up to keep seeking for relevant knowledge to the pursuit of your dream. Ignorance is the strength of oppression. But with adequate passion, there can be no room for ignorance. Isaiah 33:6 says wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your time. We live in an ever changing world. It is passion that will empower us to keep updating our knowledge. We need knowledge/information to stabilize our dream in life. Bishop Oyedepo says that information is the vehicle with which we drive every vision. I think that is absolutely true, but that information is only available to those who will seek for it. For it is only those who seek that findeth, (Matthew 7:7). But it is passion that gives us the drive to go for the relevant information. PASSION IS A CHOICE In Deuteronomy 30:19 Joshua said, Choose this day whom you will serve. Passion or commitment to God or your dream is not a gift, it is a choice. All you need to do is to make a decision to be sold out to God and the realization of your dream. There is nothing you are passionate or committed to that is in accordance with the will of God that can ever be aborted by the devil. Psalm 145:16 says that God will satisfy the desire of His people. Remember, Jesus said those who thirst or who are passionate after righteousness shall be filled with same. Passion or zeal or enthusiasm or conviction, is the catalyst to the fulfilment of every dream. Whatever you are thirsting for, you shall be filled with it. That is why you need to thirst after the right things in life. HAVING GREAT DESIRE TO BE LIKE PASSIONATE PEOPLE Passion is infectious. So if you desire to be an enthusiastic person, befriend those who show enthusiasm in life. Read their books and listen to their tapes. We become like the people we admire. See how Roosevelt cultivated his passionate attitude: he wrote in one of his books that: As a child I was nervous and timid. Yet from reading of the people I admiredI had great admiration for men who were fearless and who could hold their own in the world and I had a great desire to be like them. This is how a champion emerged out of a once nervous and timid child. A wise man once said that God will not tell you what is convenient, He will tell you what is required and when you do what is required, you are sure of getting what is desired.

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CHAPTER 7 THE LAW OF EXCELLENCE

Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before unknown men. (NKV) Proverbs 22:29: Work alone cannot and will not make one great in life. It is work with skill, wisdom and innovation that makes for greatness in any field of life. Our God is a God of excellence. In Psalm 8:1 David says, How excellent is thy name Oh Lord in all the earth. So our God is an excellent God and because we are created in His very image, heaven expects that we must be excellent in everything we do. Mediocrity and the spirit of average are enemies of greatness. I have never met an average person or mediocre who excelled at anything in life, be it in the field of sports, medicine, business, teaching and so on. So, walking in the spirit of excellence is not optional if your desire is to manifest the seed of greatness that God has deposited inside everyone of us. THE VALUE OF EXCELLENCE I love Dr. Mensa Otabils definition of excellence, he said to excel means to reach beyond the mark, to deliver services of superior quality, to produce work of distinction and to constantly upgrade and refine. I think this is absolutely correct. According to Proverbs 22:29, when you choose the pathway of excellence in your career, your crowd will change. You will not be associating with mediocres but kings, the cream of the society. One of the cheapest ways to be promoted in life is to be an excellent worker. Listen to me, friend, excellence will move you from the street corner of life and make you a world figure regardless of what you are doing. It is not the kind of work you are doing that will make you excel, it is your attitude to excellence that will make you to excel in your field. That you are a lawyer, medical doctor, career man or woman does not automatically mean you will attain greatness in life. There are many in the above professions that are just managing to get by in life. Whereas there are barbers, tailors if you like fashion designers, footballers that have attained not just national but international prominence. One of the key factors that makes the difference is ones attitude to excellence. David was not just a Psalmist, he was a skillful Psalmist. Little wonder he was recommended to King Saul to be playing for him. In 1 Samuel 16:17, :Saul said to his servants, provide me now a man who can play well and bring him to me. I want you to take note of the word well in this passage. Just knowing how to do your job will not take you to the palace, it is knowing how to do it well. In other words it is services of superior quality, going beyond the ordinary and constantly upgrading and refining your success that will grant you access to the palace.
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In verse 18 of the same chapter, the Bible says, then one of the servants answered and said, look, I have seen one of the sons of Jesse, the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valour, a man of war, prudent in speech and handsome person and the Lord is with him. I believe that many people who dont do well in the life adventure lack these all important principles of greatness. There is no one that will constantly be upgrading and refining whatever he or she is doing in life that will not be distinguished in it. It is not possible because the Scripture cannot be broken. This may be the little change you need to add to the pursuit of that vision, business or career before everything will dramatically turn around. So stop saying, it does not matter, all I must do is to just do what they have asked me to do. That is a spirit of mediocrity at work. Dont just be satisfied with doing your job, but always assess your services, whether you can even improve on its quality. Be determined not to deliver any services unless it is of superior quality. Then you will be on your way to the top. Excellent people are in high demand all over the world; choose to be one of them. Look at Daniel, a captive in Babylon, the spirit of excellence was operating in his life and he ended up becoming a president in the land of his captivity. That is a miracle! Isnt it? ( Daniel 5:12). We can choose to be excellent in every area of our live: the way we dress, the way we relate or talk to people, and our manners of approach. The Bible says that Daniel was prudent in speech, he was not talking anyhow, he had manner of approach. In 1 Samuel 16:12, the Bible says that David was good looking. We must dress unto the beauty and glory of God all the time. We must realize and walk in the consciousness of the fact that we are kings and ambassadors of the Almighty God. Human beings by nature are always attracted to physical beauty. Look at Samuel, as anointed as he was in 1 Samuel 16:6-7, he was almost deceived by the physical fitness of Eliab, when he was sent to anoint a king in Jesses family. So when you dress for where you are going in life and not for where you are today, make your environment and office very beautiful, you will not lack men. Favour will pursue you and overtake you in your career. Our talent and strength must not be used in a mediocre manner. We must always look for a never ending way of improving ourselves in our various fields of life. Zik Ziglar once said, To be doing something the way we used to do and be expecting a different result is another definition of insanity. 2Corinthians 6:18 reveals that when we change our approach and attitude to life things will also change for us. Excellence required that we exhibit our strength in an innovative way and go beyond the ordinary. We must always remember that whatever exists today is already becoming old. To maintain relevance in business, we must think ahead with the passing of time. ( Haggai 2:9). In Matthew 5:41, Jesus says that if someone asks you to go one mile, go another mile with him. In other words, the Master is saying, if we are given a job description, we should not just do what is expected of us by the authority but should go out of our way and beyond what is expected of us.
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To be able to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way successfully, we need to have the right perspective to work. We should not be like people who just work to collect salary but rather like people who work to earn the respect of others. We need to take the pursuit of excellence very serious because it is the customers that keep us in business. So customer satisfaction must be the priority of every business man and woman. The provision of quality service is the determining factor to pleasing every customer. It is a costly mistake to ignore the people who keep you in business, they can fire you anytime. Besides, we live in an ever changing world where to stay relevant, we must constantly upgrade and refine what we do. The moment you are satisfied with where you are, you will start going down because life itself is dynamic. So we need to open ourselves up for ideas that will make us improve in our services. Finally, the law of nature states that likes begets likes. The quality of what we do determines the quality of people we will attract. So if you want your crowd and status to change, it begins with your making a change first. As ambassadors of the most high God, we must be conscious of ably representing our Father in everything we do and not otherwise. Mediocrity is not and cannot be the identity of our heavenly Father. No, the street of heaven, the Bible says is paved with gold and not bronze. So heaven wants us to reflect excellence in everything we do. HOW TO CULTIVATE THE SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE Seek Knowledge Hosea 3:6 says that people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Every destiny is limited by the quality of ones knowledge. Shame and stagnation are inevitable without relevant knowledge. You cannot be ignorant and be excellent at the same time. The more knowledge and understanding we acquire in life the more excellent we are likely to be. We need to expose ourselves to excellent environments. We need to be deliberate about this, because what we see affect the way we think. So we should visit excellent organizations, institutions and model after excellent people. If everything around you is mediocrity, mediocrity will be your exposure. Being ready to learn by observation is the key word here. PURSUE PROFESSIONALISM 2 Timothy 2:5 says that if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. In order to become great in life, always adhere to the rules of your chosen profession. For every occupation, there are expectations of behaviour and standards of performance, we need to adhere to them. For instance, lawyers are expected to keep all confidential information from their client as confidential as possible. Footballers or sports men are expected to keep away from using performance-enhancing drugs and so on. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:40, that we must do all things decently and in an orderly manner.
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HINDERANCES TO PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE Depressive Mood The Bible makes us to understand that whatever our hands find to do, we should do it well. The way we solve problems or go about our assignments matters in life. Most people walk by feeling. When they feel high, they handle their job with skill and dexterity but when they are depressed they can hardly attend to anybody very well. They let their mood control what they do and how they do it, instead of them controlling their moods. Watch people that are always cheerful and optimistic, they are the candidates for excellence any day, anytime. There is no depressive person that can attain any kind of excellence in any form. If you dont control your feelings, it can sabotage your performance. 2 Corinthians 5:7 is one of my favourite scriptures: it says we are to walk by faith and not by sight. In order words, we need to get to a place where we dont allow the devil to programme us on how we handle our assignments. Whether we feel like working today or not, we should work with skill and dexterity. We should attend to all our clients and the people we need to attend to with skill. It is that kind of attitude that gets the job done. LACK OF DISCIPLINE We must be a disciplined people if we want to pursue excellence in all life endeavour. We must realize that greatness is very, very demanding and we cannot operate the way we like and ever become great in our assignment. We must cultivate the culture of discipline in our assignments. Our office must be a place of work and not a place of relaxation. There are some fellows who drink beer, welcome just anybody to their place of work, including those that have just come to while away their time in an office. To be receiving unofficial phone calls, be gossiping or backbiting in an office are all marks of indiscipline and will eventually lead us to mediocrity. If anybody calls us while we are at work, we can politely answer the caller that we will call him back. When an unexpected friend just drops by our office, we should politely tell them we will visit them after office hours. I was at British Council sometime, and as I was about to enter the gate, the security man asked me to switch off my phone. I had to ask him whether, this place is also a banking hall, and he responded that it is more than a bank. Besides, the chair at the reception does not have any back rest at all. I think this is the way things ought to be. When we go to work, we must actually go there to work and not to just while away time. Time is one of the greatest resources God has given to us, and the earlier we start investing our time on productive things the better for us.

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CHAPTER 8 THE LAW OF BRAVERY

Makes it known that every place the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you as I said unto Moses Be strong and of a good courage for unto this people shall thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee, turn not from it to the right hand or to the left that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest.. Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:3,6-7,9. INTRODUCTION The journey to greatness is full of obstacles, challenges, temptations and trials. That is why everyone who desires to be great in his or her endeavour in life must heed to this admonition: be strong and of a good courage. Yes, Joshua had authority and dominion from God Almighty to take over the mantle of leadership from Moses, yet the Lord instructed him of the need to be brave otherwise, he will not experience the fulfillment of greatness. The same thing is true of you and me today. It does not matter how dramatic the encounter we have had with the Lord concerning our ASSIGNMENT in life is, the law of bravery must be obeyed to enable us experience fulfillment of our ambition. Every great destiny must be prepared to face great opposition, otherwise the devil will take advantage of us. Here is an interesting passage (Deuteronomy 2:24) : Rise up, take your journey and pass over the river arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon, the Amorite king of Hesbon and his land, begin to possess it and contend with him in battle. This sounds like a paradox, isnt it? God has given this man Sihon and his land yet before he would enjoy the fulfillment of what God has promised him, he must still contend with Sihon in a battle. One would have thought that since it is God Himself that has handed over this king, there would not be any need for a battle. After all Psalms 33:9 says, He spake and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast. Yes, God is not a man that He should lie, neither is He a son of man that He should repent. Whatsoever word that has proceeded from His mouth will not return back to Him void. But we just must understand how things function in life. Many great destinies have been ruined by the enemy because they do not understand the rule of the game.
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Listen to me, there is nothing God has promised you, neither is there any vision God has revealed to you that the enemy will not contest. Every believers destiny is always seriously being resisted by the devil, he will orchestrate situations and circumstances with the intention of diverting your attention from pursuing your God given dream. There are giants waiting for businessmen and women, career men and women in their Canaan land. It is not maybe or may be not. When you anticipate crisis and you are prepared to handle it, you will always have victory in life. Many great destinies never tested greatness because they did not anticipate crisis. Most Christians think that since they are now in Christ Jesus, they are immuned from the challenges of life. This is the major reason they keep losing every now and then. There are many stars in the kingdom that would have been shinning today if they understood this law. Everyone that has ever become anything in life has this law as one of his/her secrets. This is Gods command to every great man and woman: Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10). There will never be anything like accidental greatness in life. Every greatness must be prepared for in any field of life: be it sports, business, ministry and so on. You must be ready to fight the good fight of faith if you want to experience eternal life. JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING The Bible says, weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning. Therefore the agendum of God for you and me is that it is victory that should follow every test and trial that the enemy may throw our way in life adventure. We can take advantage of the storms and move to the next phase of our lives. We can ride on the challenges of life to the next level. One thing we need to understand is that every challenge that comes our way is not unique. It is common, and if we allow God to move in our darkest hours, we will soon discover that it is true that just like it is a glorious dawn that always follow the night season, so will divine exaltation follow every trouble of life. You may be passing through a long night now in the pursuit of that heavenly vision. It is even possible you are on the verge of quitting in the race of life, the message of the Lord to you is that you should not do it. You must be like Jesus, who endured shame and reproach on the cross and ended up being promoted by God to sit at His right hand now. Friend, after every crucifixion comes exaltation. The sun will rise again in Jesus name. You need the brave attitude of the likes of Esther in the pursuit of your dream before you can see it come to pass. Esther was told by Mordecai, her uncle to intercede on behalf of her people, otherwise they would all die. So Esther summoned up courage and went to see the king who was against the law. See what the brave woman said in Esther 4:15-16, Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan and fast for me, neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day, my maid and I will go to the king, which is against the law and if I perish I perish.
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You see now, this is the company of people that will ever get great things done on the earth. If I perish I perish company of people. Dont cast away your confidence for it has great recompense of rewards. Bravery will take you to greater heights in life, it will make you to ride on the high places of life. The truth is, life is tougher than the present psychological and mental state of many Christians. You must be brave to confront the Goliaths of your life before you can ascend your throne. David had to do that before he could ascend the throne. You and I must be ready to do the same if we must ascend our throne. PERSONAL TESTIMONY As a young man dreaming of greatness in life, sincerely I do not know how to explain it. But I just know that deep inside me that somehow I carry a glorious and great destiny. After I was called to the Nigeria Bar as legal practitioner, I decided to take a plunge into private practice. Life was answering favourably to me at the early stage of my career. Within my one year of practice I had published a book in honour of a retired Justice of the Supreme Court. The presentation of the book was so successful that it attracted who is who in Nigeria. I was living in a well furnished three bedroom apartment with a solid private car. Shortly after I got married, within our three month of marriage, my wife, a mechanical engineer working at THE SHELL PETROLEUM COMPANY NIG. PLC. got pregnant. Things were just working out well. Little did I know that, when God has a glorious and great agenda for His children, the devil has his own plans and programmes too for them. So when we went to the hospital for the delivery of our first child, the enemy struck: the one year old marriage was abruptly put to an end by the wicked hand of death. Only the baby survived but the mother was no more. One week to the demise of the mother of our first baby, I had travelled to Warri to attend the burial ceremony of my father-in-law. Hell broke loose, left right and center. The spiritual attacks on my life were so much that one day I was praying to God to please just let me make heaven because I thought I was going to die that very day when the devil bombarded my health. One day I was on admission in the hospital in one room, while our first baby was also on admission taking blood transfusion in another room. Devil meant to wipe off every trace of me on the surface of the earth. The enemy does not have mercy at all. After I recovered from attacks on my health, I decided to put my life together again. Yet the devil was not yet done. As life was about to become better for me again and in my business, the enemy struck again. This time around in my business. The first one million I made in my life was lost to satanic agents. Despite all these, God was and is still faithful. The God we serve is a specialist in making all things work together for the good of His children. One of the things God used to bail me out was bravery. That is why I am sharing my personal testimony with you. God gave me an inner strength during those trying times, that you could hardly notice I was passing through hell. If you want to leave your foot print on the sands of time, we must be daring and brave.
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Those who quit at the slightest persecution are not going to amount to much in life. Honestly, I am resolutely determined to see the counsel of the Lord fulfilled in my life. One of my slogans is no retreat no surrender. I am not going to quit living or surrender any of my Godgiven dreams to the devil. Friend, challenges of life are not the end of life itself. What you need is what Jerry Savel calls the right mental attitude to experience fulfillment of your Godgiven dream. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego will not surrender or compromise, God saw them through. God will also see you through. Praise the Lord, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, this Gods servant the devil wanted to eliminate by all means has since remarried and the marriage is already blessed with a baby boy. Till date, by the help of the Holy Spirit, I have written four amazing Christian literature books and two books are at present awaiting publication. Our ministry is blessing and transforming the lives of people. I also testify to the glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that though the devil stole the first million I made, God has restored it back a multiple fold. Weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the morning. It doesnt matter what the enemy is orchestrating in your life right now. Like Morris Cerullo use to say, that does not mean anything, what means something is what the Lord says. It is the counsel of the Lord that will stand ultimately in your life if you will engage and apply this law of bravery. Just like the Word of the Lord that came to me at the wake keeping of my late wife through the officiating Pastor when he declared that, It shall turn to you for a testimony, your eyes will not see evil again and affliction will not rise up the second time. That will be your testimony too in Jesus name. HOW TO BE COURAGEOUS The Place of Knowledge The knowledge of the greatness of God and the required facts in your chosen career infuses an inner strength in you and consequently makes you courageous. That is why Daniel 11:32 says that people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits. When you have knowledge of the revelation of the greatness of your God, that gives you the assignment you are pursuing; you automatically become bold and courageous. Nothing strengthens ones inner man more than the required knowledge. Solomon, the wisest man in the Old Testament declared in Proverbs 24:5 that a wise man is strong, a man of knowledge increaseth strength. You can hardly come across any great man in life that does not have value for knowledge. When you know what to do to overcome adversity, you will choose not to faint when you are confronted. Friend, fainting in the days of adversity itself is a choice, you dont have to choose to surrender at all. The Bible declares in Proverbs 24:10 that if you faint in the days of adversity, your strength is small. Which means everybody has a choice to either confront the adversity or give in to it.
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But the truth is, it will take the knowledge of the superiority of your God, the one backing you up in order not to surrender to the troubles of life. That is why the more knowledge you acquire, the more exploits you will be able to accomplish in life adventure. Knowledge of the word of God will impart faith in your heart and when faith is in place, you will be empowered to quench all the fiery darts the enemy is throwing at you to stop you. Ephesians 6:16 says, above all, take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. But you wont be able to take what you dont know is yours when confronted. That is why it is the knowledge of the truth that sets you free in the time conflicts of life. Knowledge automatically paralyses fear once it is in place. THE PLACE OF ABIDING PRESENCE OF GOD One day I was meditating and raised my head up, looking at the sky, I thought to myself: God will be somewhere up there now. Then I heard the voice of the spirit say to me: son, dont look for God from above, for He is right there inside of you. That statement infused into me a kind of confidence I have never experienced in life. It is a great spiritual breakthrough when you have the knowledge of greatness of God and that you are His dwelling place. The solution to every confusion, the answer to all lifes questions, is right there living inside of you. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? See what the Spirit of God is saying, most of the time man does not know what he carries within him, that is why he runs helter skelter when trouble comes. You wont be like a reed that is shaken by wind of adversity any longer when you have revelational knowledge, that the stiller of the storms of life is right there dwelling inside you. In Colossians 1:27, we are told that Christ is dwelling inside us. We are His address. Christians today are the dwelling place of the presence of God. The day Jesus said it is finished on the cross of Calvary, the presence of God walked out of the Ark that was made by man, and is now dwelling in every believer. Friend, the one inside you is greater than the enemy and just like He promised Joshua in Joshua 1:16, He is with you wherever you go. In Hebrews 13:5, God himself promised every believer that He will never leave us nor forsake us. No matter the thickness of darkness, once light comes in, that darkness will check out. The key is to walk in consciousness of God in the race of life, it will fortify your confidence. SIN WILL PUT GOD OFF You must know however that it is only the righteous that is as bold as the lion and not the crooked. Living a sinful lifestyle will bring fear into your spirit. So in order to enjoy the ever abiding presence of God, you must be a lover of righteousness.
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He said, Be ye holy for I am holy. There is no crooked businessman or woman, or career man or woman that can walk in consciousness of the abiding presence of God, no it is the abiding presence of the devil that the fellow will have. And you know since the devil is the distributor of fear itself, if you are devil conscious instead of being God conscious, you wont be able to make a mark in any area of your life. So the key word is: always live a life of complete obedience to our Heavenly Father. It will solve most of the problems of your life.

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PRAYER FOR SALVATION ARE YOU SAVED?

You are likely to say you are. But wait a minute, have you been born again? Was there a day you prayed the sinners prayer to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, renouncing the devil and your sinful ways? If not, do it now because tomorrow may be too late. Say the prayer below and you will be saved now. Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. Your Word says: whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21) I am calling on you. I pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord over my life - According to Romans 10:9-10, If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation Ido that now. I confess that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. I am now reborn! I am a Christian, a child of the Almighty God! I am save! You are now born again. You have now entered into a relationship that will definitely bring the best out of you. Congratulations! I would like to hear from you: Please send a mail to: davidowaboye@yahoo.com Call or send a text to: 08033252129, 01-4007516

Learn More About RESTORATION OF DOMINION CHURCH WORLDWIDE By visiting our website @: www.restorationofdominionchurch.org
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BOOKS BY DAVID OWABOYE

Walking on Higher Ground Secrets of endless possibilities Walking in Greater Glory Principles of Answered Prayer Eight Laws of Greatness

FORTH COMING PUBLICATIONS

The Rules Of Success Gods System Of Finance

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Eight Laws of Greatness offers timeless principles that lead to greatness in any field of lifes endeavour. The insights shared on the pages of this well researched book are fresh from the Throne of Grace and will surely make anyone who cares to apply them great. David Owaboye declares that as you apply these timeless principles, things may not change immediately but as you stand and keep on standing on the Word, you will inevitably paralyze resistance with persistence and enter into your inheritance of greatness. You will be amazed to discover that greatness in any field of life is not an exclusive right of just a few people, neither does anyone has a copyright to it. You will be great!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Owaboye is the founding Pastor of RESTORATION OF DOMINION CHURCH WORLDWIDE, a Word based ministry with its headquarter in Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria. He is a legal practitioner by training, but by destiny has a mandate from God to restore humanity to the original purpose for their lives, that is, absolute dominion in all spheres of life, heaven on earth orders of life through the preaching of the word of faith. He pastors RESTORATION OF DOMINION CHURCH with his wife Funmi and they are blessed with two children Joyce and Tobi.