A NEW BEGINNING IN 2016

Walk up to the mirror or any reflector big enough to show you to you; block every other thought coming into your mind right now and just ask yourself this question loudly as though you are talking to the person in from of you; call your own name and say, “What did you accomplish in 2015 (from the beginning till the end?)” Did you get an answer? Did you smile at the answer? Are you confident that all through the just passed year you have been on the right course towards your destiny?

Often time I hear people say “life is just a game!” but I totally disagree with that. Life is not and will never be a game. You must come to the very point of your life where you need to ask the BIG question; WHERE AM I HEADED? Life they say is a race; you should be running to somewhere. Others say it is a journey; you should be traveling to somewhere too. Where are you heading to? If at this point you are unable to answer this question satisfactorily for yourself, probably because of the lack of focus, diligence, purposefulness, etc. no problem; you need a new beginning. There is still arrangement for A NEW BEGINNING in 2016.

There is nothing wrong in trying to begin afresh (if you think you have missed it). There is everything wrong in not starting again when you find yourself on the wrong path of life. look around you. Everything begins again and again. the day turns to night and night brings about a new day. the sun goes down and the sun rises again. the lilies in the morning fade and the next another beautiful one appears. Everything appeals to a fresh start. You too can.

The year 2015 AD has come to a close. A new year is few days out and still burning off like candle; little by little. You just should not live the 2016 the same way you did last year. I like for you to make a swerve to a new lane; maybe a better course for your life. You deserve something better than the job you are doing now; the relationship you are into now, the house you are living in now; and the friends you are keeping now. If they are not helping, you have to make that change now. Start something for your life.

HOW TO BEGIN A NEW BEGINNING

It is just simple! You would be doing things just the same way you used to but with a little seriousness, consciousness and vigor, with the fact in front of your mind that every day of 2016 counts for you to get to the next level.

First, write out the things you want to achieve that would move you forward in progress in life. Rearrange them in order of preference. Then write out how you would ensure that your daily activities would bring about the success of these things you have listed. You see; it is as simple as that.

But remember, you have need of patience, diligence, discipline, determination, dedication, focus, and doggedness, to achieve whatever you have purposed in your heart.

Please note that Prayer must be your first port of call to God for divine assistance.

I wish you a very wonderful New year in advance…. HAPPY 2016 AD!

FAITH DARES

OK, I traveled with my family from Warri to Lagos last week and returned this week. And the news is that I drove all by myself to and fro the journey. I have been driving for a few years now but this sure was my first time of driving all by myself to Lagos. I have never attempted a journey this long before but I never had any problem thinking I could drive myself to Lagos. So added to my driving resume, is this booster – I DROVE TO LAGOS AND BACK, for the very first time, BY MYSELF.

Considering the time spent, and miles covered, I’d say that it was such a wonderful feat for me to accomplish.

All those who heard of it, including those I told; all they could say was

“Hmm, you get heart O!”

Till this moment I kept on wondering why they all said that. They even said they would never try it if they were in my shoes. This was because for them, driving down to Lagos is very RISKY, DANGEROUS, and DARING.

Though,

They say danger, I didn’t.

They say risk, I didn’t.

They envisaged car breakdown, I didn’t.

They thought it too far to attempt, I didn’t.

All I saw was me cruising to Lagos and returning safely – no matter what.

 So I thought to myself…

What’s so special, or so risky in driving to and fro Lagos? After all, people ply the road every day.

So…

What’s the BIG deal?

But again I realized that all those who never thought of trying it were far older than I was. So I understood why they would not dare such a thing.

Why, you may ask…

“DARING is for the YOUNG.” – Mark Emmanuel

NOW, the reason I brought up this story was to explain to you the DARING dimension of faith.

Among many things:

Faith speaks but it’s for all

Faith works but it’s for all.

Faith moves but it’s for all.

Moreover,

FAITH DARES…but this is only for the young.

I like you to know that in this young state of ours, now, our dreams, ambitions, visions, passions, have bigger wings to fly everywhere and anywhere. There is a higher tendency of possibility to everything we could imagine to do now. This is because at this present state, we can dare (or RISK) most things. But there will come a time when we would not have the HEART to dare. Then we would only wish we did it, or could do it. But never would we have the heart to try it out, because then, it would appear too risky.

Now I understand King Solomon’s advice to youths in Eccl 11:9 when he said;

    

“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes…”

The youthful age for Solomon is the period of taking insurmountable steps. He only warns that “for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.”

Faith DARES! But note that DARING, with the help of the HOLY SPIRIT, IS FOR THE YOUNG.

All they that dared the undoable in the bible days were very young people. Consider Caleb and Joshua’s report, young David and Goliath, the three Hebrew boys – Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego and the firy furnace, Peter walking on water.

Then think of Mark Emmanuel driving to Lagos…lol. I am sure now you get the picture.

For all of you who are youths, young at heart, I want you to know that you can conquer anything that you have the power to dream now. As you grow older, the possibility of that desire coming to pass diminishes.

Never mind what the people around you would have to say about that thing. They may think they are helping or saving you by discouraging you, but if you are sure and determined to do it – be sure it is a right thing sha – go ahead.

And at the end, after you must have accomplished your feat, all they would say to you is exactly what they said to me, and I believe what they said to them of bible days as well –

YOU GET HEART (FAITH) O!

Let me conclude this with my new quote:

Faith is not in SIZE

It is in EXERCISE

-          Mark Emmanuel

THE FOUR PEDESTALS OF PERSONALITY

THE FOUR PEDESTALS OF PERSONALITY
-check to see your aspiration-

ONE - THE POOR
These are they WHICH ARE on the lowest pedestal (level). They take the largest population of the whole- particularly 90%.

These category of personality think only about how to get money. And they eventually do not know what to do thereafter - so they remain poor and always living for today.

What do you do to be poor - NOTHING!
How long does it take to attain poverty - ONE DAY - (YESTERDAY).
Long term duration plan of the poor - ONE DAY - TODAY
The portion of the poor - CRUMBS!

TWO - THE RICH
These are they WHICH ARE on the SECOND level. They rich are about 7.5% of any population.

This category of personality think about thing - commodities they are not much bothered about how to get money as they are on how to get commodities to sell. So they only remain rich and living for a few years.

What do you do to be rich - INVEST ON THING -to sell!
How long does it take to attain richness - 3 - 5 years minimum.

Long term duration plan of the rich - 2years - afterwhich they try to maintain the status quo and spend the rest on luxury

The portion of the rich - BREAD

THREE - THE WEALTHY
These are they WHICH ARE on the THIRD level of personality. The wealthy are about 1.5% of any population.

This category of personality think about ideas - inventions and innovations and innovations. They are mostly concerned about a better, faster ways of doing things. So they only remain wealthy and living for long years.

What do you do to be wealthy - INVEST ON IDEAS - How to make business transactions faster and easier to carry out!

How long does it take to attain wealth - 15 - 20 years minimum.

Long term duration plan of the wealthy - 18 - 25 years - after which they try to raise up the ladder and device more solutions.

The portion of the wealthy - BREAD BAKERS

FOUR - THE GREAT
These are they WHICH ARE on the HIGHEST level of personality. However, not so many even know this level exists. The GREAT are only about 0.5% of any population.

This category of personality are PEOPLE ORIENTED - aspiring to make the best out of people through their life impact and impartation. They are mostly concerned about the world becoming a better place for mutual coexistence. So they are ever GREAT, HAVING WEALTH also; and living for ever - generations to come still benefit from their impact long after they are gone..

What do you do to be GREAT - INVEST ON PEOPLE - BRING THE BEST OUT OF THEM - NEVER LEAVE ANYONE THE SAME WAY YOU MET THEM, show good examples for others to follow!

How long does it take to attain GREATNESS - YOUR WHOLE LIFE minimum, MAXIMUM - YOUR DEATH.

Long term duration plan of the great - ONE LIFETIME - after which they leave a legacy for others to build.

The portion of the GREAT - MAKERS OF BREAD BAKERS

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE?

CHANGE BEGINS WITH YOU!

 YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

It is so amazing how God made the world, HIS wonders are unsearchable. God builded and established the earth and caused it to operate ONLY on the platform of PRINCIPLES. Not to discriminate, favour, but to obey. Irrespective of you are, once you apply the fundamental principles of the earth it will answer for you.

For instance, the principle guiding gravity says “whatever goes up must come down” so if you throw a stone here in Nigeria, or over there in Hiroshima, it will come down. In the same vein, another principle of the earth says “SEED time and HARVEST” shall not cease. This means that if you plant any seed in the ground here in Nigeria, China, or America, it will germinate and bring fruits of its kind.

One basic principle that a lot of us undermine is that “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!”

If you eat meat, you become fleshy; when you eat bones your bones become stronger. When you drink enough water, your body sustains adequate fluidity; when you take vitamin, you body gets more vitamins. If you’ve never known this before or better put; never believed this, then you must come to know it now. You are not different from what you eat. It is what you eat that makes you, you. Think about this; when someone lacks protein in his system, they do not tell the person to pray for protein to enter the body because it does not answer to prayers. All they say is “eat anything protein”. So also, when the person lacks vitamin, water, fat, carbohydrate, etc. all they do is to expose the individual to the required nutrient and that’s it.

Now, if you have found this statement to be true that means you must begin to WATCH WHAT YOU EAT! This is because what you eat can make or mar you. The materials you consume, the quantity you consume, and the time you consume it is very important to making you healthy.

God knew all these – because HE made it so – that was why HE said that “man will die if he eats bread alone” – Deuteronomy 8:3. Bread alone cannot give man healthy, wealthy, and abundant life. But the moment man begins to eat the WORD, abundant and eternal life will begin to surge into him.

I want you to know therefore, that there is a difference between reading God’s Word, and EATING God’s Word. Reading or studying God’s Word is good, no doubt. When you read it you become a show – 2Timothy 2:15. But when you EAT God’s Word, you come alive – Proverbs 4:20-22.

HOW TO EAT GOD’S WORD
Jeremiah 15:16 says; “Thy Words were found, and I did EAT them… So God’s word can be eaten. Eating God’s Word does not really mean tearing pages of the bible and chewing it to belly-full, or dipping it in a cup of tea to drink. No! You eat God’s Word first through;

RIGOROUS STUDY AND SEARCH
There is a level of time consuming search, and research you engage in God’s Word daily; with commensurate proof of such search, you can be said to have gone beyond just reading, to the level of eating the Word. There is an obvious difference between the one that reads the word and he that eats the word. They never enjoy the same status. Why? Their roots and fruits are varied. Their level of understanding is usually disparate; irrespective of the fact that they are reading from the same bible – Matthew 23:13. Only those who eat the Word get a hundred fold fruit as results. Another way to eat God’s Word is through;

THE COMMUNION
Remember that the Word of God is Jesus Christ Himself – John 1:1, 14. Jesus has instructed that if we must have a part with HIM, we must ensure we eat HIS flesh, and drink HIS blood – john 6:51 – 56. When we partake of the physical activity of the communion, we set our bodies to be conformed to that of Christ. And what happens when we do that? Our eyes become opened – receiving unusual REVELATION into God’s Word – Luke 24:30-31.

IN CONCLUSION…
It is high time you ate that which will give divine health to your body, wealthy to your mind and spirit, and eternal life in general. If you are what you eat, then eat God’s Word to become god.

God bless.

THIS MUST NOT GET TO THE NEXT GENERATION

Scent Of Water Nigeria
THIS MUST NOT GET TO THE NEXT GENERATION!

Please read this, and read this clearly… A lot is going on right now around the country; we hear them daily in the news, read them in papers and on the net, watch them on television; we are even directly feeling it now – it’s all around us and growing bigger each passing day.

But I like you to know that IT DID NOT START TODAY, not even YESTERDAY, it was not even last year. No, not even the year before. Though we did a pseudo-celebration for Nigeria’s centenary, it did not even start 100 years ago.

These bombings, these fuel price hikes, these billions of Naira and Dollars misappropriations, unaccounted budgetary, these poor public infrastructural services, and many more, all these problems we hear on the news are only ‘explosions’ of a ‘TIME-BOMB’ set several years ago. And more will come if...

I make to let us know that the whole issue we hear on the news today began over 500 hundred years ago. THIS IS NOT A JOKE. I have read books, articles, and done researches to discover all these. 500 years is not 5 years. This is why we have been finding it difficult to proffer solutions to Nigeria’s predicament, talk little of eradicating it.

As much as I want to share the ACTUAL problem of Nigeria and the solution with you, I cannot successfully do that with this write up. The looming predicament of over 500 years cannot be told in one piece as this. But this is what I want you to know;

The problem of Nigeria has been handed down by our predecessors, like inheritance, from generations through generations, even to this present generation. We did not directly cause it; we inherited it.

BUT… WE MUST NOT LET IT GET TO THE NEXT GENERATION! IT MUST END HERE.

We must together join hands, give in our time, resources to ensure that this issue ends with us.

I have written about what we are going through, how we encountered it, and how we can get out of it absolutely, in a book titled ‘ARISE O COMPATRIOT!’ - It is sold for just N250.

But the challenge I have with this present generation is that we don’t want to read. You will not be as much as interested to know in detail what is going on in this nation, but you wouldn’t mind wasting time on the internet discussing the ills for fruitless outcomes.

This book is not to make money. It is to allow this generation know what has happened in the past and understand what will happen in the future, and take steps to put an end to the situation.

This was someone’s testimony of the book after reading it; ‘I believe that someday, this book will be the most sort after in Nigeria because it carries, in clear terms, what we need to get out of our predicaments.

IN CONCLUSION
I am not marketing my book. I am not begging you to buy my book. I can give it for free to those who will read and run with the solutions stated in it. I just want you to get knowledge and be transformed. This is because the transformation we clamour for is not in view without this information.

Finally I must say this again, DO NOT LET THIS ISSUE GET TO THE NEXT GENERATION!

If you are tired of what is happening, and you believe in Change for Nigeria, share this; spread this message to as many persons as you can. Who knows, you might just get someone interested to get the book as well.

CHANGE BEGINS WITH YOU

QUESTIONS

Questions are very essential to a profitable living here on earth. Man was predesigned to ask questions. There are so many things he sees, hears, feels, smells, and tastes; that he has little or no knowledge about. He must need to ask questions (either thoughtfully or orally) to enable him have more knowledge on those things.

Man does not just need to ask questions, he must ask the right questions that should catapult him to height commonly unattained. So to delve into a world of success, greatness, and HAPPINESS, like preparing a meal; these questions must need be asked:

1. WHAT CAN I DO?
Like preparing a meal, you first want to know what you want to eat. Every one born to this earth has what he/she is predestined to do. You are here for a reason. You did not get here by mistake as some may suppose. Irrespective of how you came - probably they said you were not planned for, you were born out of wedlock, and so on, you have a purpose here on earth. There is ONE MAIN THING you came to this earth to fulfill. So you need to ask yourself what you are born to do. So like preparing a meal, having known what you want to eat, that leads to the next question - what do you need to prepare what you want to eat?

2. WHAT DO I NEED TO DO WHAT I WANT TO DO?
Every item, gadget, instrument, product, machine, etc. has components. Things were put together to make it what it is. In the same way, you need so many things to do what you want to do. Getting the right things for what you want to do is very important. Pulling resources together is very vital to accomplishing a task. such resources will ease your activity over what you want to do. Now a good way to understand this is to ask what you need to prepare a wonderful delicacy like Jollof rice. If you have the wrong ingredient, you would prepare something completely wrong. A lot of people have succeeded in answering the first question but have done nothing about the second question. having known what you need to do what you want to do, you should then move on to asking yourself the third question - this is the most important of all.

3. WHEN DO I START DOING WHAT I CAN DO
To everything there is a time and a season for every purpose under heaven. Starting too early or too late poses some challenges detrimental to what you want to do. Starting at the right time is most essential to any given task. having known what you can do; what you need to do what you can do; you must know when you need to start doing what you can do. By the time you are abreast with the perfect timing of what you can do; you see you soaring as eagles. Remember that time waits for no one, and also that there is no need to make haste. Try not to be in a hurry to start, and also not to be too late to start. When you must start must be determined by the time you wish to end. hence, you must have the end point in mind before starting out in the first place.

Questions are very essential to greatness, happiness and life in general. Ask the right questions and it shall be well with you.

My good friend JUDE will always end his writings with "BE WISE"

CHANGE BEGINS WITH YOU!

ARISE, O Compatriot!

ARISE, O Compatriot!

This is the title of MY NEW BOOK (THE FIRST EVER PUBLISHED ACTUALLY)

This book is written for the purpose of those who are not happy with the way things are going in Nigeria and Africa at large; and wish to make a change to the status quo. We hav complained enough, we have cried and talked too much about the situation for too long... nothing will be done for however long we fold our arms to discuss this problem, unless we sit up or stand up or better still, ARISE.

Please read an excerpt from my new book.

 I was putting together an article on FACEBOOK some time ago and I asked a general question to get the response of my friends. The question was; “if you were to ask Nigeria one question, what would it be?” the response were not much but surprising. Amongst other responses, one person said she would ask Nigeria if it was under a curse. I had cause to think on this line at one time too. I mean, looking at the facts stated above, it is not illogical for one to assume that this nation is under a curse. But this is not true. Nigeria is not under any curse or plague. We only need to ask ourselves what is wrong. Why are things the way they seem? A lot of citizens have given up hope and accepted the predicaments of this country as a thing of fate; drawing scriptures from the bible that supports our insubordination to British colonization. We have made ourselves believe that we are under a curse, a plague, or a sealed misfortune. But hardly has anyone bothered to consider that something might just be wrong somewhere that has called for all this in the first.

At a certain point in time I had cause to think about it. After several brooding on the issue I came to the understanding according to the bible that “…the curse causeless shall not come.” Proverbs 26:2. Then I said to myself that there must be a root cause for all these predicaments plaguing our dear nation. It is not enough to talk about it as so many people do, I choose to take conscious steps to finding out what exactly went wrong and proffer a lasting solution to the problem.

I wanted to know what the PROBLEMS truly were. So, I understudied the other problems afore mentioned and understood that they were not the actual problem; if they were, why was it that all the solutions proffered in Nigeria’s situation, which have worked elsewhere, did not work in Nigeria. This is because the assumed problems of Nigeria are simply consequences of the root cause. It is just as though a doctor is administering drugs for Malaria on a body sick of cancer. That would rather exacerbate the condition. The book of John 8:32 say, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” If we do not know the truth we would not make any difference in our pursuit of development and change. Rather, we would aggravate the situations in the country.

In the attempt to know, I, Mark Emmanuel Amechi, understood by books and articles addressing the uncommon situation of Nigeria, that a lot of people have attempted remedying the situation of Nigeria, which is good. But they have not succeeded because they proffered certain foreign remedies that are not peculiar to the Nigerian case. Every nation’s problem is unique in itself and requires a unique approach to it. Most importantly, they are not taking into account, certain procedures that are of top priority to problem solving. One of such procedures is running a trace of past events in history. We have completely isolated the events in history from the problem analysis.

My friend, have you ever wondered that our challenges as a nation today could have been based on certain events that took place a long time ago? I mean a very long time ago, I am talking about a very very long time ago. Think upon this; WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN AFRICA/ NIGERIA BEFORE INDEPENDENCE?! Have you any idea? Well if you do not, it is high time you knew your history.

In an attempt to personally find out the true and major cause of Nigeria’s predicament, I understood by books that we need to go back in time to some epochs in history that affected the course of the people of Nigeria and Africa at large. Confucius, a Chinese philosopher stated that we must study the past if we must divine the future. Nelson Mandela of South Africa, in one of his quotes, stated that the past is a rich resource on which we can draw in order to make decisions for the future. He went further to say that we should look back at the past and select what is good and leave behind what is bad. Lyndon Baines Johnson, a onetime U.S. president stated that “a nation like a person, not conscious of its own past is adrift without purpose against the contending forces of dissolution.” Another German politician noted that “a people not prepared to face its own history cannot manage to face its own future.”

You see, from the above statements, you will agree with me that it is quite important that Nigeria must look at the past critically to understand her present situation. Africa and Nigeria in particular did not just get to where they are now by mere chance or fate or whatever you would call it. Nigeria is not underdeveloped because the leaders are bad. We are not suffering because we do not know what it takes to survive. In the course of history, something happened that altered the entire development process in the whole of Africa. Now let us go back in time and ascertain what took place in Africa. 

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