A covenant forms the wall which surrounds a promise..................Oluwatotan Sobode

The believer is a possessor............Chris Oyakhilome

Men cannot of themselves understand the functionality of angels............Oluwatotan Sobode

Perfection is a possibility................Oluwatotan Sobode

When you allow fear into your heart, what you are afraid of begins to haunt you................Oluwatotan Sobode

Hundreds would never have known want if they had not first known waste.........C.H. Spurgeon

Money is not a god, it's a tool............David Oyedepo.

If I am your mentor, I will also be your tormentor...........Matthew Ashimolowo

    I am gifted in motivating people. What you will read now may seem a motivation to you. However, this is far beyond motivation. It is an expression of one of the most important revelations I ever came across.
   We shall view success from two perspectives. These perspectives are:
(i) The Perspective of its Meaning
(ii) The Perspective of the Real Meaning (which is our major focus).

    First, we shall view success from the perspective of its meaning. What does it mean to be successful? Lots of theories, postulations, assumptions, opinionated sentiments, beliefs and fallacies have been propagated about the concept of success. Well, we will not consider the fallacies. Rather, we will look into the most impressive and most acceptable facts that have been brought forth about the meaning of success.
                                                                                              

    Someone defined success as the gradual attainment of a God-given goal. According to Abraham Lincoln, success can be defined as going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it this way: "To know that one soul has breathed easier because you lived, this is to have succeeded." John Bunyan opines thus: "You have not lived today successfully until you have done something for someone who can never repay you." A famous African preacher, Chris Oyakhilome, defined success as influencing your world with the investment of your personality. Could there be anything more valuable than these precious words? One thing is certain; those who have truly applied these principles of success have been distinguished.

     One of the most concise exegeses on success is contained in John Maxwell's Success One Day at a Time. Personally, I have applied these great principles and they have really worked for me-or should I say, they are really working for me. According to John Maxwell, success can be broken down this way:

S - Select Your Goals

U - Unlock Your Personal Potential

C - Commit Yourself to Your Plan

C - Chart Your Course

E - Expect Problems

S - Stand Firm on Your Commitment

S - Surrender Everything to God

      Obviously, all the points are self-explanatory. In the book, Maxwell also gave what he called an "eight P-plan for success." They include:

Plan Purposefully

Prepare Prayerfully

Proceed Positively

Pursue Persistently

      According to the founder of the largest church in Western Europe, Matthew Ashimolowo, Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

      Whichever you find most inspiring among the definitions and explanations that have been brought forth by these extraordinarily influential luminaries, it is good to consider your own view of the meaning of success and see if it is acceptable judging by what those who know better have said about it. For instance, I have personally found this out: Money is the greatest enemy of success. It so easily draws our attention away from its real meaning. While money may be important for the accomplishment of important goals, it is so easy to mistake a rich man for a successful man. I used to consider money as the litmus test for success but that is something I do not agree with anymore. If you have known of St. Francis of Assisi, you may understand what I mean.

    If you add all the things you have read in this piece to all the things you previously knew about success, they will not amount to 0.05% of the real meaning of success. Where then does the rest 99.95% lie?

   The definition of the real meaning of success is perhaps the simplest definition you will ever come across in your entire life. But it carries more meaning and is sure of greater importance than all the theologies, postulations, explanations and definitions you will ever come across in any field of study.

    We are not viewing life from the general and well-known myopic stance. In other words, the reality of life after death is being taken into consideration in this discourse. Mystics know that there is life after death. If you don't believe, you will only have the time your years on earth give to you to dwell in unbelief as far as this certainty is concerned. Once death catches up with you-at any time-you will find out the truth which you must have so foolishly repudiated. This is not a debate. There surely is life after death. And that life is unlimited-it continues forever.

    How best can I consider the difference between the few decades you may get to spend on earth to the endlessness you will inevitably partake of in eternity? It is said that if a bird were to pick up a grain of sand from the shores of an ocean and fly over with it to a distant location, the time it will take for the bird to repeat that procedure until every grain of sand by the sea shores is taken away represents eternity. I dare say that that analogy in itself is an understatement. Eternity simply means timelessness. You are an eternal being. If success is referenced only by what you-an eternal being- experience, do or engage in during a period of time in a visible sphere, that definition of success is not only futilely incomplete and completely insufficient, it is crazy and senseless.  Why would the activities of a second be used as the criteria for determining the totality of experiences of billions of years unknown and unseen? Why would the first action of a baby be used to spell out what the totality of its life will represent? In the same vein, why would fifty years of accomplishment be used to ascertain the success of a man who still has over a billion years to exist? The definition of success based on activities and accomplishments is insufficient. It is faulty and as I said, senseless.

     What is success? As I said, there can hardly be a definition with more simplicity. Success is entering into the kingdom of heaven. Period! No definition of success no matter how bogus, grammatical or appealing can be more comprehensive than that. Most other definitions are just complicated complexities that seek to appeal to your sense of reasoning. I do not mean to criticize anyone's view. If your definition of success only references earthly achievements, it is faulty and I dare repeat, senseless. Live your life without impacting anyone. Do not obtain a single degree. Never acquire a single possession. Produce no offspring and leave no inheritance on this earth but get into the kingdom of God and you can be described as an epitome of success. Do all of those and even more but go to hell and you are an outright failure. Success is not measured by material possessions, personal achievements, public recognition or relevance in the society. It is solely determined by what happens to you after your stay on earth. And that is the part the great theologians, philosophers and writers on success pay absolutely no attention to. What a deception!

    How would you like to be a person of influence on earth only to get to the gates of heaven and be turned away? There couldn't be a thing more terrible than that. I am not rubbishing the importance of living a life of influence. Neither am I saying it is wrong to have a positive impact on the world. Jesus Himself encouraged us to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. It is not bad to be an achiever on earth. Your achievements as a believer undoubtedly glorify God. What I am against is the tendency to measure success only by what one does on this earth neglecting the reality of eternity in its endlessness. To make it a little bit simpler for you, I can summarize my message thus: To fail on earth and succeed in getting into heaven-i.e., succeed in gaining access into Christ's kingdom-is good; to succeed on earth and succeed in getting into heaven is better. The greatest nightmare of a life is for a person to succeed on earth (i.e., be an achiever, a luminary, a well known politician, a business tycoon, an extraordinarily brilliant student, an anointed man of God, etc.) but fail to make it into heaven. It is the greatest havoc that can ever be wrecked by a person on himself.

     What choice have you made? The only way to succeed in getting into heaven is by surrendering genuinely to Christ. I will lead you to Christ now. Say this prayer audibly (don't just think it, say it):

FATHER, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY YOU HAVE GIVEN TO ME TO COME UPON SUCH A REVELATION AS THIS. I PRAY FOR YOUR MERCY AND GRACE. LIBERATE ME FROM THE BONDAGE OF SIN AND DECEPTION. I CONFESS YOU THIS DAY AS THE LORD OF MY LIFE. AND I BELIEVE YOU DIED FOR ME ON THE CROSS. WASH ME CLEAN WITH YOUR PRECIOUS BLOOD, AND MAKE ME WHITER THAN SNOW. THANK YOU FOR FORGIVING ME. I AM A NEW CREATURE. I AM A CHILD OF GOD. I AM BORN AGAIN.....AMEN!!!

A giver is not known by what he gives but by how he gives it..............Oluwatotan Sobode

If it is about looking for a job, count me out.............Oluwatotan Sobode

I am a walking dead man...............Oluwatotan Sobode

Serpents only bite when the hedges are broken................Oluwatotan Sobode

The worst sickness that ever struck man is ignorance............Oluwatotan Sobode

Your position determines your possession.............Oluwatotan Sobode

Your expectation determines your declaration and prompts manifestation............Oluwatotan Sobode

Declaration of the Word without obedience to the Word is like a vehicle without an engine. It will never move.............Oluwatotan Sobode

A negative mentality is the seed of a negative reality..........Dave Meyer

It seems like God will do nothing until we pray..............John Wesley

No amount of education without Christ, will make a man not to behave like Satan...............Donatus Emmanuel

Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.............John Mason

I will go anywhere as long as it is forward..........David Livingstone

By God's standard, any giving that doesn't show elements of selflessness is not giving...................Oluwatotan Sobode

Godly gullibility is not foolishness................Oluwatotan Sobode

Great men are ordinary men with extraordinary determination...........Abraham Lincoln

If you don't make your vision great, your vision will not make you great...........Yonggi Cho

It is time to boldly go where no man has never gone before..............Bill Newman

Wisdom is reflected in your words but manifested in your actions.........Oluwatotan Sobode

Every action is a result of a conviction, a thought or an influence..........Oluwatotan Sobode

It's not in your name but in your personality, not in your orientation but in your manifestation............Oluwatotan Sobode

The basis of credibility is dignity..................Oluwatotan Sobode

The Christian who isn't a doer of God's word will suffer the same fate as the rest of the world..............Chris Oyakhilome

If  you are led by divine fingers, you cannot be stopped by carnal hands...............Matthew Ashimolowo

In God's divine calculation, the most possible things are impossibilities, the most likely things are uncertainties...............................Oluwatotan Sobode

The realm you are in determines the rest you will have...............................Oluwatotan Sobode

Truly rich men are those who will make themselves poor for the sake of others......................Oluwatotan Sobode

Even if Christ was a failure, I would still follow Him..................................Oluwatotan Sobode

When God is in league with man, the man can be sure to cross the longest bridge in the least possible time..............................Oluwatotan Sobode.

I choose to see what I say, rather than say what I see........................Oluwatotan Sobode