damiOluwatoyinbo.com

WORDS ARE EXTREMELY POWERFUL.

I say this with great conviction because I use words often and I’ve seen the significant impact they can and do make in people’s lives. I have seen men soar to the peak of their aspirations on the wings of words and I have seen “fat-headed, good for nothing” folks metamorphose into the finest and the most productive people because of few but carefully chosen words that were spoken to them by somebody or some people they deeply admired and respected.

I had the privilege of being part of a selection process on Saturday and I saw someone lose her chance to step into a place of prominence because she spoke the wrong words.

God’s word says “death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat it’s fruit.”

I wonder how many opportunities you have lost because you used the wrong set of words.

I wonder how many people you have hurt with your words.

Some years ago, someone who served on my team confessed that she was uncomfortable.

I was alarmed because I’m usually accommodating and friendly.I asked her what the matter was.

She told me that she felt I disliked her because of a statement I had made several months earlier.

I was shocked that such an “innocent” remark I made had a negative effect.

I apologised profusely and explained that I didn’t have anything against her.

I wonder how many times we have cut people into shreds with the sword-sharp words we speak ever so often.

The good thing is that we can use our words constructively.

Our words are either tools for construction or weapons of destruction

You have a choice to make.

I wonder what you are going to do with your words this month.

You may have heard this statement before or may be you haven’t.
If you have, let me remind you…if you haven’t, let me tell you-this too shall pass.

In several passages of the Bible, you read “and it came to pass…”

Just in case you are wondering what “it” is, let me shed a little light.

“It” could be a financial crises…
“It” could be spiritual dryness…
“It” could be pressure on your job…
“It” could be indescribable pain…
“It” could be fear of the future…
“It” could be low self esteem.
Whatever “it” is, it shall pass.

God is the only permanent factor in life.
Every other thing will fade away…except it is in God.

No condition is permanent until God makes it so.

Now, don’t get this wrong-people prolong some seasons in their lives through their actions and inactions but the idea I am passing across is that anything that can be seen, that is man-made can fade and will fade away.

The same thing applies to every challenge you are going through right now.

It makes no difference how tough life seems, keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith.He’ll see you through it.

Always remember that tests precede testimonies…examination comes just before prommotion.
Every test is an opprtunity for you to show how much you have learnt.
When you go through funny phases in life, don’t let those faces faze you.

Maintain your trust in God.He never fails.

The stars may lose their shine.

The flowers may fade.

Men grow old and dies.

God’s word will never lie.

This too shall pass.

I had the privilege of ministering at the chapel of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital on sunday.

It was a wonderful experience, I must confess. It was nice seeing a few folks I hadn’t seen in a while.

I enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of everyone I came in contact with but what gladdens my heart the most is the fact that God counted a little boy like me worthy of being a  blessing to so many people including professors, doctors, specialists, future leaders and other VIPs.

I started by announcing that one of our greatest needs as a nation is the fear of God.

I talked about the importance of fearing God and highlighted some qualities of a God-fearing person.

I gave an acronym…G.I.F.T.

That simply stands for Godliness, Insight, Faithfulness, Truthfulness

I want to add two more attributes of a God-fearing person.

Endurance

Discipline

So you understand what I mean when I say “Are you G.I.F.T.E.D?“

You would agree that these are virtues and values that we must all cultivate and exhibit consciously.

I’m not perfect, neither are you .

I’m a project in progress, so are you…and everyday is an opportunity for us to grow in God’s grace.

Today is a good day to start making a conscious effort to grow in godliness, insight, faithfulness, truthfulness, endurance and discipline.

Commit yourself and when next you are tempted to act out of character, remind yourself that you are G.I.F.T.E.D.

You are a gift to our generation.

I was privileged to speak to a group of passionate youths yesterday and the day before.

It was a camp meeting and to say the atmosphere was supercharged would be an understatement.

I want to share a part of what I spoke about with you.

You can call them keys to transformation.I pitched my presentation against the backdrop of the inspiring story of David’s victory over Goliath and the Philistine army.

1. Tools

You need the right tools to fulfill your purpose in life.

A doctor has no need of screw drivers.

A capenter needs no stethoscopes.

A barber needs to syringes.

David understood that he needed stones and a sling to defeat goliath so he took a station break by the brook to pick up five smooth stones.

David knew he didn’t need Saul’s armour to defeat goliath.

He knew he had the right tools.

Your tool might be your voice, your imagination, your intelligence or passion.

Find it and begin to use it.

2.Training

No matter how good your tools are, if you don’t have the right training, you’d still be ineffective.

Imagine a tractor-driver in the cockpit of a boeing 737.

Imagine a chef trying to operate on a patient in a medical theatre.Even if he has the best tools, he’ll leave the patient in a worse state.

David had been trained in the backside of the desert.

You have to train in obscurity so that you can be effective when you get your opportunity.

Whenever God lays a demand on you, remember He is training you not draining you.

3.Test

Every test is an opportunity for you to become your best.

You can never be the best if you stay in your nest.If you will be the best, you have to pass the test.

David told Saul that he couldn’t use Saul’s armour because David hadn’t tested it.God tests you before He uses you.Every test reveals your strengths and weaknesses.David had defeated the lion and the bear before so when He faced Goliath, he had the confidence to speak against him and defeat him.

The next time you face a test, don’t run away, pass it.

4.Timing

If you want to be effective in life, you can’t just do anything at any time.Y ou must understand timing.David couldn’t have defeated Goliath if he had released the stone at just any time.He had to release it at the right time for it to hit the exact spot on Goliath’s forehead.

5.Teamwork

I can spend a whole day writing about teamwork and I will definitely put up several posts on teamwork on this blog as time goes on but let me put in a few words now.

John Maxwell says “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

Great things are birthed through agreement.No matter how potent a man is, he can’t have a baby alone.He needs a woman to taem up with.David did not find any body to team up with, so he teamed up with God and got the victory.I know David didn’t win all by himself because when he released the stone into Goliath’s forehead, Goliath should have fallen on his back but he didn’t.He fell on his face.Someone must have pushed him from the back or what do you think?