TheCable

Perhaps, one of the finest pieces of advice for this time and dispensation, is JESUS’ warning in Luke 8:18, “Therefore TAKE HEED HOW YOU HEAR. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.” Take Heed How You Hear!

You will hear GOD better, and men too, if you would learn to read, study, and meditate on the WRITTEN WORD – THE BIBLE. Men can say, preach or teach what they like, need, feel or want per time, but, the BIBLE is GOD’S UNBENDING/UNCHANGING WORD. Read it to live, to overcome, and to fulfil GOD’S WILL for your life.

Be careful how you hear! If your Pastor says, “I have not been to the hospital nor taken any medicine in the last ten years.” If you use that as your ‘watchword or benchmark’, and refuse to treat yourself when ill, you might just suffer needlessly, and even die, only to find out that your Pastor was rich enough to bring the hospital and consultant doctors to his house. So, while it may be true that he’s not been to the hospital, the hospital has been to him at home. Be careful how you hear!

Young Ministers, be very careful how you hear your ‘fathers in the lord.’ If you hear your Pastor or mentor say, “I don’t go anywhere looking for opportunities to minister!” That may not be the whole truth O! Your Pastor may be one of those ‘big’ Men of GOD, who instruct their PAs or secretaries, to write Ministries within and outside NIGERIA, stating, “The Man of GOD, our G.O., will be coming to your city, country or continent, and he’ll be there for this long……… He’ll be done with his assignment there by so-so date, and he’ll be ‘open’ to be a blessing to you and your congregation, if your schedule/calendar permits. GOD bless you.”
If that’s not soliciting for ‘where to minister’, what is it?
Be careful how you hear!

In April 2009, just few days after my mother passed on, I had to be in Port Harcourt to train the staff of an IT firm that was stationed in AGIP premises. Knowing that my training was over the weekend, I called a friend, who, at the time, was an Associate Pastor in one of the parishes of RCCG. I told him, “If you would ask your Pastor, I’d be glad to speak to your congregation on the POWER OF FOCUS.” I was given the opportunity to speak in the Church that Sunday. The senior pastor and the entire congregation were so blessed and impressed that they invited me back for their Youth Convention in June/July of the same year. The following year, they flew me and my wife to the same Convention. And, thus began a beautiful relationship that has birthed other relationships with other Pastors and Ministries, over the years.

I did the same thing recently. Knowing I would be in Ilorin for a wedding over the past weekend, I got in touch with a Pastor friend in the city, an in-law actually, and said, “I’ll be in Ilorin at so so time. Is there anything we can do for the Church?” He was too glad to have me address the leaders and workers in the parish, at a 7am to 8am session on Sunday. We had a memorable time.
Hallelujah!

Tie your life, family, work, business, journey, future, etc, to GOD, His WORD and GRACE, and HE’ll never let you down. Shun pride and boastful talks. We’re all what we are by the GRACE, MERCY and FAVOUR of GOD.
Be careful how you hear!
Be careful how you read!
Be careful what you see!
Guard diligently what goes into your heart, mind and soul. Stop opening all those useless videos that are making rounds on social media! Stop reading gossips, hearsays, and utter falsehoods.
Stop it! Take heed how you hear, read, and see! Feed on the WORD OF GOD. MEDITATE ON IT DAILY!
Selah!

WHEN THE TRUTH HURTS!
I’ve been blessed with a good life. GOD has given me a healthy, athletic body; a sound, intelligent mind; a fine boy’s face; and several other attributes, talents and favours, that I can’t even begin to talk about here. Did you notice that I didn’t mention money, gold, and other earthly possessions? I consider such, and they truly are, among the least of blessings. By the GRACE of GOD, my needs are met in HIS OWN UNIQUE WAYS. I call HIM, “My SAVIOUR, SOURCE, STRENGTH and SUSTAINER”, and not the physical things I do.
Hallelujah!

I had it quite smooth, educationally, and could have bagged a first class at the University of Ibadan, if I had known better, and worked towards it. But, I got distracted by movies/films, and other mundane activities, but still managed to graduate as one of the best in my class of ’95. So, because I had it smooth, academically, I assumed that life would be smooth sailing, generally. Hmm, was I wrong!

I got a job immediately after Service Year – a job that some people would have grabbed with both arms, and be thankful for, but I had my mind on bigger things: the Oil companies, banks, etc (there were no Telcos then). So, against the advice of my parents, I left the job after 6 months, thinking I was going to get another job soon. ‘Soon’ became 18 months of idling away at home, running errands for my mom’s plastic business, etc. I became miserable, and depressed, and thought of taking my life. I had always had it smooth and easy, and didn’t know how to handle the rough times. I had excelled at the University of Ibadan, but was failing in the University of HardKnocks (Life)!

That was when my mother stepped in with A COUNSEL I’ll never forget. She said to me, “You did very well in secondary school, and you cleared your JAMB once. Do you remember that your elder brother wrote that exam thrice before he got his University admission? You got a job immediately, while many of friends were still looking for one, but you left it. Now, because another one is not coming as quickly as you had thought, you are thinking of doing yourself in! You’re a Christian, and you know where you will go if you kill yourself. My son, life is not a bed of roses! You can’t expect things to keep going smoothly for you all through life. People like that don’t last O, Dele!”

Those were hard, but TRUTHFUL words. I wept when she was done straightening me up. That was the RESET I needed! I was never the same after that HEART to HEART conversation with the woman who loved me the most, in the whole world, then. Abimbola, notice, I added ‘then’ O. ‘Mio fe wahala O – Omoge mi, oni birthday ano!’
I say it with a lot of gratitude and joy, that the lessons I learned then, and thereafter, have become very profitable for me in Life: Ministry and Business, today.
Hallelujah!

The Greatest Teacher of all time, JESUS CHRIST, said, “And you shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall make you free.” – John 8:32.
Many times, the TRUTH will first ‘hurt’ you, before it heals, or makes you free. I’m a living testimony, and the works I’m known for today, bear witness to this TRUTH. But, several people out there can’t live with, nor bear to hear the TRUTH. They won’t even contemplate it! Thus, they remain shackled and oppressed for long, if not forever! LORD, have MERCY!

Like JESUS CHRIST, and Apostle Paul, I’m well persuaded that my write-ups never leave people indifferent. They either make you GLAD, sad or mad. I’d like to write things that GLADDEN the hearts of my readers always, but I wouldn’t be doing Isaiah 50:4&5 as HE instructed me. I’m called to speak/write A WORD IN SEASON (AWIS), and, if it makes you GLAD, sad or mad, PRAISE the LORD!

Whatever my articles, or any sermon, does to you, ask yourself, “IS IT THE TRUTH?” If your answer is no, discard it, and move on. You may pay dearly for it afterwards, if you are wrong! When the TRUTH hurts, take it, ask GOD for GRACE, and make the necessary CHANGES. That’s what I did, and I THANK GOD for my mom, and every other person, whom the LORD has used to point certain TRUTHS to me over the years. ‘Eseun gidigan!’
Let somebody shout HALLELUJAH!