OUR BEGINNING

DIVINE RETRIBUTION
During the time I was observing the one year mandatory service to my father land as a Nigerian graduate, I was made to open an account with a bank through which I got my monthly allowance from the government. It was a bank I would not patronize if I were to make the choice by myself. So, when I completed the scheme, after one year, I abandoned the bank account since then. It’s over a decade now but surprisingly, the bank still sends monthly alerts to me. First, they will credit my account with some kobo (cent) and immediately take back from the same account with a debit alert.

MAXWELL ON INFLUENCE (1)
One of my favourite and respected authors is John C. Maxwell. In his book – The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, he wrote on ‘the law of influence’ (chapter 2). What actually makes people become men and women of influence? I will be expounding on two out of the factors in this first part of the series.

#1 WHO THEY ARE
The first thing that stands out about people of influence is the depth of their character. This is about the inner life of the person that radiates for all to see. In a world where integrity and uprightness, sincerity of purpose and genuine love for people are scarce, what draws more and more people to you are these virtues.

THOUGHTS ARE POWERFUL!
The story was told of a man on a journey who suddenly found himself at paradise. He sat down under the ‘desire tree’ (a kind of tree in paradise that gets your desires immediately fulfilled. When you sit under it, all you need to do is to think about it). He thought: “I am hungry, so it would be nice to have a bite right now.” Just before the thought flipped past his mind, a table dressed with different dishes appeared right before him.
Wow! – The man was surprised, – “but it can’t be!” He thought so, and the table with dishes disappeared immediately. “It would be nice to get it back” – the dishes appeared again.

OVERCOMING SECRET SINFUL HABITS (Part 4)
Charles Spurgeon used this parable to illustrate the bondage of sin. He said, “There was once a tyrant who summoned one of his subjects into his presence and ordered him to make a chain. The poor blacksmith—that was his occupation—had to go to work and forge the chain. When it was done, he brought it into the presence of the tyrant and was ordered to take it away and make it twice the length. He brought it again to the tyrant, and again he was ordered to double it. He came back when he had obeyed the order, and the tyrant looked at it then commanded the servants to bind the man hand and foot with the chain he had made and cast him into prison.”

OVERCOMING SECRET SINFUL HABITS (Part 3)
Someone once told us a story of how he found himself in one serious situation that had defied all solutions. It got to a point that he had to write a letter to a notable man of God in America to seek for help. In the end, he got his liberation from Proverbs 18:24 which says “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” That was the verse that broke his chain!

The focus of this third edition on the series is God’s provisions for overcoming secret sinful habits that have plagued your life. No matter how long you have been in that stronghold, the revelation of God’s word will liberate you. This is possible when God opens your eyes to a verse or passage of the scripture that has been written to address your peculiar problem.

OVERCOMING SECRET SINFUL HABITS (Part 2)
During my undergraduate days in the University, a fellow once opened up about his addiction to masturbation, and the Pastor put together a small group to organize a special prayer session for him. I was part of that small group that prayed for this particular person. I can remember how fervently we prayed and conducted a sort of deliverance for him that night at the University sports centre. It appears as if his struggle had ended, only to discover that the young man was far from being free.

Before I address God’s provisions for your deliverance in part 3 from the yoke of any form of terrible sin, give me your ears first.