Smell The Coffee

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Good morning DPR, I hope your week went well? Mine was pretty demanding but rewarding. So, I realised my last post rocked quite a number of boats, and that further buttressed to me, our collective responsibility to keep enlightening ourselves about this social menace eroding our sense of brotherly care. Today we continue on the CHARACTER Series as we consider the topic; Smell The Coffee. Usually that phrase is used as an idiomatic expression for waking up to reality. Quite frankly, these Character Series isn’t designed to pet or pamper, it’s poised at correcting and instructing. Like I said in one of my previous posts, it’s the devil that makes correction look like condemnation. Trust me, I’m an ardent preacher, teacher and “liver” of the Grace message, if you’ve read most of my posts or listened to any of my messages, it won’t take you too long to realise that, so I totally do not endorse condemnation or cynical criticism. Those are the devil’s tools for driving the human threshold for self tolerance to the edge thereby causing a lot of the social problems we see today. However, I believe a whole lot of mixture has gone into the Grace message. Before I go on, I would like to mention at this point that I in no way insinuate that I’ve got a monopoly of understanding in this very vast spiritual concept of Grace. I only seek to add my few bricks to the massive structure being built, even as we know that knowledge is indeed progressive.

I’ll be dealing with the issue of LAZINESS among believers, which by and large can be traced to the mixed teachings we have been exposed to, especially about the concept of Grace. God NEVER contradicts Himself, we might not understand some things but it doesn’t mean God is confused… Only confused people contradict themselves. There are quite a number of believers who think that God and His graceful nature will exempt them from the demand for diligence and hardwork in this life… No, God won’t do that. God demanding Hardwork from you is as Gracious as He gets. Diligence is a universal currency that God has allowed to be a means of exchange for success in life, and we His children of all people should know that. Those days of miracle money are over, if there ever were. Does God perform financial miracles? Absolutely!!! Through what means? Through the channels of work and a good labour… Of course that’s if you intend prospering the God way.

Acts 20:33(KJV) I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. 34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 35 I have shewed you all things, how that so LABOURING ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Prov 12:24(BBE) Much work will give you power. But if you are lazy, you will become a servant.

Notice the Bible didn’t say if you’re a lazy Christian, you’d be exempted from servitude. Christians ought to be the most hardworking of all men, we have the Bible, the compendium of all divine thoughts and practical wisdom at our disposal, but we would rather seek miracles rather than principles. I’m particularly of the opinion that principles prevent the need for “miracles”. For example, if you read and revise your books way before your exams begin, you will easily pass your exams and most likely avoid needing the miracle of God turning an F into an A. If you exercise regularly, rest well and eat a balanced diet which strengthens your Immune system, you would not likely need the miracle of God healing you of obesity and heart related diseases. If you give to those who don’t have, sow into the kingdom and then save part of your Income, you would most likely not need an emergency financial miracle to pay some bills, and the list is endless. The working power of a principle in itself is a miracle. God has put a lot of working power into principles that generate results automatically even without God’s supervision. That’s why it’s called a system. Christians, it’s high time we got diligent in our work, ministry and life endeavours. Adam was so consumed with work, he had no time to sleep, God practically sedated him so he could sleep. Jesus worked so hard his disciples wondered what manner of man he was. He was consumed with work. John 4:34, 5:17, 9:4. Now you must understand that there is a balance to this, rest is crucial to your wellbeing. I’m not emphasising work at the expense of a good and healthy rest, but rest could get to a point where it becomes totally unhealthy.

Work is part of the new creation plan. Paul openly declared that he didn’t become the most influential apostle by chance, he laboured more abundantly than the others in that arena, making his boast in the Grace of God, 1 Cor 15:10. To maximize the Grace of God, diligence is a non negotiable factor. Any lazy person, institution or country, whether Christian or not, will beg from wealthier ones. God demands diligence from you. Diligence is a virtue and a character trait. It is the combination of a lot of ingredients in one. There’s a dimension of endurance, long suffering, patience, and faith all locked up in diligence. And hey, no one is born with the gift of diligence, we all must develop it, the same way we develop and grow in the expressions of the fruit of the Spirit. That’s for someone who says; “I’m just a very calm person by nature, my personality does not like stress (what he really means is work)” very hilarious, I hope your personality does not like success too? Great ministries are hardworking ministries. Talent is never enough, that’s more than a book written by a man, it’s a fact of life. You need to invest several hundreds if not thousands of hours of dedication and dogged commitment to your work in order to be an authority in it. Diligence is scarce and that’s why the diligent easily shine. For the remaining part of this year, choose to be diligent in whatever you do, always go the extra mile. Ask Jordan, he would tell you how many hours he invested into making and missing shots, ask Edison, he would narrate his ordeal with the bulb to you, ask Lincoln, he would tearfully share his political history with you, ask Carson, he would gladly allow you glean from his experiences. Ask Bishop Oyedepo, he would tell you how he gave himself “whooooolly” unto the ministry. What have you given yourself totally to that you’re already asking for rewards? Are you a diligent person, do you fight till you succeed? I believe the following verses will enlighten you further.

Prov 22:29(Easy English) The king will give WORK to a man who WORKS well. But he has to do BETTER than most men. Prov 18:9 A LAZY person is like someone who DESTROYS things. Prov 21:25 LAZY people refuse to WORK. They will die before they need to die. Eccl 10:17 But a country will become rich if its ruler is wise. It will become rich if its leaders do not go to parties all the time. Romans 12:11 Do not be LAZY, but instead want very much to WORK on the *Lord’s behalf. Continue to WORK on his behalf, as his servants, because you want very much to make him happy. 2Thess 3:10 Even when we were with you, we told you this rule. ‘If anyone refuses to WORK, you should not let him eat’,…

My dear, wake up and smell the coffee… For your one life to count out of the 7.2billion+ people in the world, you must do more than sleeping and waking up, you MUST work hard. I’ll still continue with Diligence in our next post… but meanwhile, make a decision today to become a diligent person. Develop the virtue called DILIGENCE and Gracefully excel in life. God bless you.

Prov 24:30(Easy English) I walked past the field of a LAZY person. And I walked past the *vineyard of a silly person.31 There were weeds over all the ground. And the wall of stones round them had fallen down. 32 I looked at this and I thought about it. Then I learned a lesson. 33 Perhaps you say, ‘I will sleep for a short time. I will put my hands together and I will rest.’ 34 But while you are asleep you will become poor. You will become as poor as when a man had robbed you. You will be as if a soldier had taken away all your things.