Transcription
And stop them. And in number three, that we are ready to pay the price required to achieve their set goal. They were ready to pay the price. They mobilized people, they mobilized materials. And that would also imply that, you know, other things they used to give attention and resources to some of those things. They had to carry out some reallocation. Some people had to be moved from selling things they were doing before to attend to that project. Money, resources had to be committed to that project that ordinarily would have been used for other things. So they were ready to pay the price.
And the fourth takeaway is that the plan and steps they were taking towards achieving the goal were effective. Yes, they were effective. We should not just keep on doing, using a strategy and approach to achieve a particular goal, and we are not seeing results, and we don't carry out, you know, a revaluation of our current strategy. The strategy was effective and given the desired result at every stage of their plan for the project until God himself had to stop them.
You know, we, we would need going forward, we need to always create a balance in our teachings, especially to tourists in the church. For instance, in when it has to do with finances, when we teach and share and meditate on the correct biblical principle of sowing and reaping, we must balance it with the biblical principle of hard work. We must balance it with a biblical principle of diligence and creativity. For example, was a very godly man, Joseph, in the scriptures. If we put this aside, then we'll be raising or making ourselves, you know, a bunch of lazy Christians that are expected manna to fall from heaven. So we must balance our spirituality and our faith with the same biblical principles of hard work, diligence, and creativity.
When we also study and preach about the principle of transfer of the Gentiles world, we must balance it with the teaching of solid business planning, fiscal discipline, developing a competitive edge within your business rim or industry. And then we must also have in mind the importance of detail and proper planning. Jesus himself said as much in Luke chapter 18, verse 28 to 30, that which of you intending to build a house would not first of all sit down and plan? So when we also teach that God will prosper us, prosper people, we must also balance it with the understanding that God will bless the work of our hands. He will multiply what we are currently doing or currently offering. You must have a product, you must have a service, you must operate, you must be adding value to attract money, perhaps as an agent connecting buyers and sellers of a particular thing.
In the same way, when we begin to talk about and teach and meditate on God's promises on health, we must also balance it with the biblical principle of healthy living. So we're done just overlook things, time to rest, we ignore it, the time to also engage in some form of physical exercise, we put it aside, and we are just claiming only the grace of God for help, for a healthy life. When it also comes to academic excellence, we shouldn't just claim God's promises, but there must be a balance. We shouldn't just expect that God is going to release an anointing for distinction, for excellent results, without proper study and time of withdrawal from social activities and personal distractions to concentrate on studies towards that exam.
When we also want to, we look forward to God's promises concerning getting married, we must also remember that we can't just pray for marital breakthrough, pray for eligible singles, and then the eligible singles were not also put other things in place like packaging yourself, packaging yourself, and then also, you know, making yourself more friendly and also accessible to godly single men or godly single women. And then, we must also have the right attitude, the right attitude that would not turn off potential partners in marriage.
Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 15. Now there was found in the city a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom, by his wisdom, delivered the city, yet no man remembered that poor man.
Easy to read fashion. Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 15. But there was a wise man in that town. He was poor, but he used his wisdom to save his town. After everything was finished, the people forgot about the poor man. Living Bible: There was in the city a wise man, very poor, and he knew what to do to save the city. I have about 12 versions here, but I believe the Living Bible captures it best. Verse 15 said, there was in the city a wise man, very poor, and he knew what to do to save the city.
Missing sometimes the best approach may not be known to you, even though you are very, very intelligent. And that is why it's good to sometimes rub minds with people, rub minds with the right people, depending on what needs to be done. So rub minds with people who are in a position to offer, you know, something useful in that discussion. They were warriors in that city, and there were leaders of the warriors in the city. There were strategies among the warriors, but none of them could think of a way out of the siege from that great army and great king that had besieged the city. It was a very desperate situation. And thank God that they put away pride. They put away pride. What is that? What does this poor man got to, got to say? Very poor, what has he got to say? They didn't look down on a man, but he had a track record. This man was very poor, but he was very cerebral in his thinking and his strategic thinking. The people observed that in any area of life, any issue of life, when he rubbed minds with him, he, you know, strangely, was able to come up with some effective way out. And they said, why don't we go and approach him? And they went to him, and to the glory of God, the Bible says he knew what to do to save the city. They consulted him, and he showed them the way forward. I pray for someone listening to me right now, that whoever is currently the answer to your question, whoever knows the way out to your current challenge, may the Lord connect you with that source right now. Let your image connect with heaven in the name of Jesus.
And so the Bible says he knew what to do to save the city, and so it was saved. The city was saved. The city was saved. Is it a read version we read earlier said, after everything was finished? That means they implemented the strategy he gave them. After everything was finished, they were not referring to the text, step implementation. They implemented what he told them to do. You know, one of the reasons why we have not also reached our peak potentials in some areas of life, we have heard, we are hearing right keys, but we have not used the keys we have received. The right keys, but we are yet to apply those keys. There are some of us, we don't need to hear anything new, because whatever will take you to that next level, you have already been taught, you have already been told. But when the special comes, then I believe such persons will begin to do the needful.
So that brings us to the issue, the topic of wisdom. That is the center of step two to success. Wisdom is the center of that step. What is wisdom? Wisdom is knowing what best to do to achieve a desired goal and getting it done within the right time. Knowing what best to do to achieve a desired goal and getting it done within the right time. So that you can break the definition of wisdom into three steps. The first step is knowing what best to do to achieve the goal, to meet the target, to solve the problem, to overcome that hustle, to excel in that exam. Knowing what best to do.
And the second step is doing it or getting it done. Doing it or getting it done. Sometimes you can delegate, sometimes you can pay someone to get it done. And there are times where you are the only one that can get that thing done. And then the third step is timing. Getting it done within the right time. Within the right time. There are times where if you delay for too long, even though you now subsequently apply the strategy, you won't get a result. It will be too late. You know, there was already a king waiting to crush the city. Now, if they had delayed for too long before applying the strategy of this poor wise man, the king that was already around, surrounding the city, would have moved in and crushed it. But thank God that they implemented his advice very quickly.
We also see this in Matthew chapter 25, in the story of the ten virgins. It had to do with timing. They had the resources to buy oil, but they bought it at the wrong time. And when they finally went to buy, the door of opportunity was opened and closed and shut before they came back. And I pray this morning, standing with you in the spirit, to pray that you will not miss any opportunity this year, 2020. Because every year, there will be big opportunities for some people. Every year, some people will have the opportunity that will come once in a lifetime. Every year, a few people will always have a lifetime opportunity. And this year could be yours. Ahead of you is a lifetime opportunity. I pray one more time that every major opportunity ahead of you in 2020, by the mercy of God, you will take hold of it in the name of Jesus, and it will be a blessing and benefit to you and your loved ones, until you are your generation, in the name of Jesus. Praise ye the Lord.
So step one of wisdom is knowing what best to do. And that talks of approach, strategy, the best process of procedure. Mark 9:29, Jesus said, this kind cannot go except by prayer and fasting. Sometimes it could be the order of things, which once confessed, if you are able to take them in the right order, then you will, you will get it right. But if you do the right thing at the wrong time, the goal will not be achieved. Then sometimes it has to do with frequency of doing it, frequency of doing it. There are some things if we just do it for a short while, we won't break through. But if we do it long enough, there will be a breakthrough. And then sometimes we could also be the duration of time for doing it. So these are all elements in the realm of wisdom.
Then on the wisdom, we'll start looking at attributes of proper planning. Proper planning means mapping out ahead of time everything that needs to be done, mapping out ahead of time everything that needs to be done in order to achieve a desired goal. I'll take it again. Proper planning means mapping out ahead of time everything that needs to be done in order to achieve a desired goal. Mapping out ahead of time everything that needs to be done to achieve, in order to achieve a desired goal.
Luke 14:28-30. Jesus speaking, but don't begin until you count the cost. For who will begin construction of a building? New Living Translation: Without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it. Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money. At this point, I speak to everyone here involved with some kind of project right now. May the mercy, by the mercy and favor of God, the Lord open the door for provision, divine provision. The Lord bless your streams of income. The Lord bless the works of your hands in the name of Jesus. There shall be enough provision for your projects in the name of Jesus.
So we need to find out the cost of realizing it, find out the requirements, find out the procedure, find out the rules, find out the terms and conditions, find out the hurdles to cross, find out the time involved. We need to be very thorough in our planning. And thorough planning involves going into specific details of every step that needs to be taken. You begin to write and answer certain questions: What exactly needs to be done? What exactly needs to be started? What exactly needs to be completed this year? And to when exactly should it be done? The date, the duration, the take-off time, how often? And then the deadline. Then where exactly should it be done? Where? Number four, how? How exactly should it be done? Five, who? Who exactly should get each of the various things done? You must choose the right persons. What specific roles should each person play? And then number six, budget. How much will it cost? What will each aspect of the plan cost? You'll need to state it, write it down. And number seven, how do we raise the required financial resources? This is always a major issue. How do we raise the required financial resources? When will the funds be available? They're going to be instrumental or is it going to be monthly? I, for instance, monthly, weekly? It needs to be specified in your planning.
And then under the next item, you must consider is proper time management. John 9:4. I must work the works of him that has sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work. There are certain things we must do ahead of time for our goals and commitments to be realized. There are certain things we must do at the right time or at a particular time for the desired goal to be realized. Matthew 25:10, still talking about the story of the five wise and five unwise virgins.
So in the realm of proper time management, we would need to: one, plan ahead of time. Two, budget our time. Three, time our goals and commitments. And then four, implement different stages on time. So we must do things at the right time. We must do things on time. We must do things at the best time. These are different dimensions of time. The right time could be slightly different from doing something on time. That's why we give the example of Matthew chapter 25, verse 10. Then doing things at the best time. Proverbs 22:6. Teach a child the way that he should go, and when he is old, he would not depart. There is the best time to get that thing done. If you do it at some other time, the less chance is that the goal will be achieved. There's a right time to buy, there's a right time to sell, best time of the day, best time of the week, best time of the month, best time of the quarter, best time of the year.
4:17. Stupid. Or we must do things at the proper time. Proverbs 29:11. At the proper time, we must also do things ahead of time. Genesis 41, Joseph speaking. He said, let us also gather from this first seven years of great harvest ahead of the seven years of famine that is certainly going to come. And we must do certain things within the best duration of time for it to be done well. And finally, we must do certain things in the right order of time, in the right order of time. For example, in Genesis 1, verses 6 to 8 and 22, 21, you will notice how water was first made available before God created the fish. Water was first made available before God created the fish. There is a right order of time for different things to be put in place. The best order of events, what should come after each other, take-off time, closing time, the frequency of certain things that would need to be done. And then in the actual strategy, I will close by just giving you three keys that you must use in proper strategizing.
One is the 80/20 principle. We preached on this over and over again, but if the most important takeaway from it is that it will show you, it tells you that a small number of causes or factors are responsible for a large percentage of the effect or impact or result of most things that happen. So there is an uneven distribution in the relevance, importance, and effectiveness of most things and people. The 80/20 rule states that most people have an unequal distribution in terms of performance, trait, effect, value, relevance, effectiveness, impact, contribution, influence, or productivity. So most times, just 20% on average of about 20% would actually be the major factors, the key players. That 20% will actually determine 80% of the impact of the results. So whatever constitutes a 20%, they are key. If there are people, then those people are key. It means when you get those key people, then you are possibly going to have at least achieve at least 80% of the desired result. So you need to find them out and get them involved in the particular roles that they will so much effectiveness or influence.
And some finally on the 80/20 principle, the key areas you should always review and evaluate is your current approach, your current method, the current process, strategy, the time factor, how you are spending your time. Are you giving your time in the right measure based on the importance of these, of these things? Then the particular location you are using, you also need to consider that for your business, for your sales, for your outreach. Then the people you are in close relationship with or the people who play key roles around your business, you need to look at it very, very well. If a change is necessary, the beneficiaries of your budget, what percentage do they take? Do you need to carry out a reshuffling? And then of course, your habits, your daily habits, is everything what it is? Your weekly habits, your monthly habits, how beneficial are they?
And then the second key point you I want you to have in mind is that your strategy must be realistic. It's not just about strategy, but how realistic is it? So we must find out various effective ways of doing it that are realistic. Choose the most realistic of the various options based on your strengths, your time, resources, dependable support, your limitations. These are things you have in mind when strategizing. And then also, you must have, you must have a plan B. You must have a plan B. In setting goals and resolutions, making a choice, it's also wise to have a plan B, an alternative, a second choice to the particular thing you want to achieve. You need to have an alternative plan in case something just goes wrong. That is supposed to be the role of a generator in an ideal situation, but in our own circumstances, it's the public path. So apply that is on standby, why the generator is the plan A. Praise ye the Lord. And everyone with generators, you need to have an alternative generator, or else something can go wrong. And if you don't have an alternative generator of equal capacity, then you're not able to function the way you would have preferred.
And then lastly, you must choose the right people. You must choose the right people. The human factor is a key factor in the realm of excellence and success. One of the reasons why things are not working is because of the wrong choice of people. One of the main reasons why things are not really working well is because of the wrong positioning of people on that platform. You have the right people, but they are in the wrong position. So we need to ensure that we have the right persons for each of these roles and and then put them in their proper positions. For instance, the power of star players. There are star players. Let's not, we will pray to humility, but we need to acknowledge the reality of things. They are star players. It's the same, it's the same understanding from the 80/20 principle. One man can deliver a state in elections. One man can deliver a state. They are star players. We have seen when a particular player comes into a team, and the result changes completely from the moment he or she comes in. So sometimes it's going to cost you a lot to bring in the star player. And some of the current players you have, we might have the kind of resources that will be used to procure the star player, but the truth is that even if you double or triple the current package of your current players, they cannot give you the result that you will have when this star player joins your team. So sometimes we need to bring in a star player. Sometimes what will be the game changer is a star coach, a star trainer, a star teacher, a star mentor, a star manager, a five-star manager. When they come in, things will change. When they come in, things will change. And one of the ways you will really know that these people are exceptional is when you give them an average, an average team to manage, and you see how they are able to turn around, you know, an average team to a much better result within the given point at a point in time. And then of course, there are experts, and then there are top-notch consultants. This also comes with a great price, but these people are game changers. For entrepreneurs, you may be looking at costs, looking at costs, looking at costs, but sometimes what is going to take your business to another level is when you connect with one of such persons, even if you have to get them on part-time, on part-time. You just bring them in on part-time. You can't afford them on full-time, but they are going to add so much value. They will see what you cannot see. They will see what your current staff cannot see, and they are going to prefer certain solutions that if applied would take you to a much better result in the new season. So we should have this in mind. And I believe that by the grace of God, as we apply all of these insights with head, then we'll be ready for the third and final step of success, which is diligent implementation. And by God's grace, in the coming week, we would share on that tenth and final step. I hope and believe you have had something useful this morning. And I believe that God Almighty will load you with superior wisdom. And as we have learned today, that God, one of the ways God will bless you is to connect you with wisdom. Sometimes the wisdom will come online, sometimes it will come in the physical realm, sometimes it's going to come through someone, sometimes you will have to pay serious money to go and learn on that someone somewhere. That certainly will load you with superior wisdom that you need for the double portion that God has ordained for 2020. Lift up your hands, stand on your feet in the presence of the Lord. This year, by the special grace of God, you will break records. Whatever has been the limit and the best results so far over the over time, this year 2020, by the double portion of the grace of God, of the ability of God, you will break such limits in the name of Jesus. You will surpass your best results of the past in the name of Jesus. [Applause]
There was in that city a poor wise man. And what was happening in that city? The city was under tension. The city was about to be crushed by a great army led by a great king. But it was in that small city, a poor wise man. In any area of life where you are currently or seemingly under siege, you are in some form of captivity, by the mercies of the Lord, the Lord by his wisdom, bring you out in the name of Jesus. The Living Bible says this poor man knew what to do to save the city. I have good news for you this morning. There is a way out of your problem. There is a way out of that challenge. There is a solution to that issue. There is a solution to that issue. Your target can be achieved. Your big dream can be achieved. And whatever is that winning strategy that is applied whenever you achieve this great goal, complete this project on time, solve this problem once and for all, but the message of the Lord will not connect you with this winning strategy in the name of Jesus. [Music]
Wherever that man currently is, the answer to your question is. Wherever that woman is, wherever that platform is, by the mercies of God, receive a divine connection to them. Receive divine connection. You hear something you have never had before, that vital information that will add value and change the order of things positively. God will give you access to it now. You will entitle it now in the name of Jesus. And when they apply this strategy, the problem was solved. Yet the Word of God this morning, this year, the problem will be solved. This year, the hurdle will be overcome. This year, you will pass out with outstanding results in the name of Jesus. You will surpass your targets in the name of Jesus. Whatever will help you arrive at this winning point, victory point, the Lord Almighty give you access to them. And so shall it be in Jesus name we pray. [Music] [Applause] [Music]