DIGGING DEEP TOPICS FOR JANUARY 2013

DIGGING DEEP TOPICS FOR JANUARY 2013

Tuesday 22^ND January 2013

Topic: DARE TO BE AN ACHIEVER

Text:Gen37;39;40;41

It is a fact that anyone can be an achiever but not everyone is an achiever. Being an achiever takes a lot more than saying it. It involves consistentprogressive actions. If you are willing, you can be an achiever.

   Joseph, though a foreigner in Egypt, made a name for himself because he dared to be an achiever against all odds. You can be an achiever in soul winning, academics/career etc. May the Holy Spirit teach us today in Jesus name (Amen).

1.   WHO IS AN ACHIEVER?

  An achiever is anyone who completes or accomplishes a particular task(s) by putting effort, skill and courage. An achiever sets a goal and gets the goal. He is a success in all he does. Some biblical examples of achiever are:

David- 1Sam17:34-49;30:1-20;IISam.8:1-4; 10:1-15

Solomon- 1Kings 5:3-9;6:1-38

Moses-Exo .3;1-10;31-51;17:8-16

Paul- 1^stCor .9:16-18;27;14:18, Phil3:12-14; IITim .3;6-8

Jesus- John 4:34;5:36-38;Acts 10:38;Phil. 2:5-11

2. STEPS TO BEING AN ACHIEVER

a)   Have a dream i.e. decide what to achieve, by setting goals(plan)Prov21:5

b)  Commit it to God(through prayers)Prov 3:5-6;16:3;Jer33:3

c)   Get information about it Prov 19:2 and seek godly counsel Prov 27:17

d)  Have faith (believe in it)Luke1:37;Heb11:1

e)   Be persistent and apply wisdom James 1:5

f)    Confess positively about it Prov18:21

g)  Be diligent (i.e. work hard) Prov22:29;14:23

3. HINDRANCES TO BEING AN ACHIEVER

a)   Sin .(doubt,fear,pride etc) James 1:6-8,Prov 16:18;IITim 2:19

b)  Laziness .Prov 6:6-8;10:4;26:13-15

c)   Procrastination .Prov 6:10-11

d)  Shortsightedness.Prov 14:18

e)   Discouragement from men.Prov 13:20

CONCLUSION:

You can be what you want to be in life. What do you desire? If you desire nothing, you will achieve nothing. Nothing is impossible, you can do anything you desire Phil 4:13.Why don’t you dare to be an achiever ,do something today.

Tuesday 29^th January 2013

Topic: LIVING LIKE AN EAGLE Part1

Text: Isaiah 40:31

INTRODUCTION:

The Eagle is a bird that is unique: Today as we study the Holy Spirit will give us understanding in Jesus Name (Amen).

1.   YOU ARE UNIQUE

Everything about the Eagle is unique. For instance, before an Eagle is born, they have a small tooth on their beak and that helps them to break out of the egg. Their wings are specially designed to make them aerodynamically superior to other birds; they can build their nest at must higher elevation than other birds. As Eagles are unique from all other birds, you are also unique.You only need identify your strength.

Ps139;14 ,Pet2;9-10,Jn17;15-16,Ex 4:10,14,Esth 2;12-15,Mt3:11,Gen 29:32-35.

2.   SO WHY NOT FLY?

Believers in Christ are intended to fly at very high altitudes like Eagles. You are designed for heavenly realms. Your new nature, with these, Eagle’s wing make you want to soar up high, close to Christ in heavenly realms. You’ve got Eagle’s wings. Take an advantage of your position; through prayer and a refocusing of your mind, you will fly.

The ability to fly will give freedom, unique perspective of the world beneath, and the ability to view things differently.

Eph.2:6,Phil.4:13,Jn15;5,ISam17:45,Dan 3:17.

Evangelism @ Alagba Village

Discover Five Powerful Ways You Can Glorify God

Discover Five Powerful Ways You Can Glorify God

When anything in creation fulfills its purpose, it brings glory to God. Birds bring glory to God by flying, chirping, nesting, and doing other bird-like activities that God intended. Even the lowly ant brings glory to God when it fulfills the purpose it was created for. God made ants to be ants, and he made you to be you. St. Irenaeus said, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive!"

There are many ways to bring glory to God, but they can be summarized in God's five purposes for your life... Here is an overview:

[1] We bring God glory by worshiping him... Worship is far more than praising, singing, and praying to God. Worship is a lifestyle of enjoying God, loving him, and giving ourselves to be used for his purposes. When you use your life for God's glory, everything you do can become an act of worship. The Bible says, "Use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God" [Romans 6:13b NLT].

[2] We bring God glory by loving other believers. When you were born again, you became a part of God's family. Following Christ is not just a matter of believing; it also includes belonging and learning to love the family of God [see John 13:34–35]...

[3] We bring God glory by becoming like Christ. Once we are born into God's family, he wants us to grow to spiritual maturity... becoming like Jesus in the way we think, feel, and act. The more you develop Christlike character, the more you will bring glory to God [see 2 Corinthians 3:18]...

[4] We bring God glory by serving others with our gifts. Each of us was uniquely designed by God with talents, gifts, skills, and abilities... The Bible says, "God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God's generosity can flow through you... Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory" [1 Peter 4:10–11, 2 Corinthians 8:19b].

[5] We bring God glory by telling others about him. God doesn't want his love and purposes kept a secret. Once we know the truth, he expects us to share it with others. This is a great privilege — introducing others to Jesus, helping them discover their purpose, and preparing them for their eternal destiny...

What Will You Live for?

Living the rest of your life for the glory of God will require a change in your priorities, your schedule, your relationships, and everything else. It will sometimes mean choosing a difficult path instead of an easy one. Even Jesus struggled with this [see John 12:27–28] ...

You face the same choice [that Jesus did]. Will you live for your own goals, comfort, and pleasure, or will you live the rest of your life for God's glory, knowing that he has promised eternal rewards? ...

Don't worry. God will give you what you need if you will just make the choice to live for him. The Bible says, "Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God" [2 Peter 1:3 MSG].

Right now, God is inviting you to live for his glory by fulfilling the purposes he made you for. It's really the only way to live. Everything else is just existing. Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ. If you are not sure you have done this, all you need to do is receive and believe. The Bible promises, "To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" [John 1:12 NIV].

Will you accept God's offer?

Learn more about What on Earth Am I Here For? The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

Five ways to take control of your career in 2013

Five ways to take control of your career in 2013

Takeaway: Your career development and progression are ultimately your responsibility. Here are five things you can do to make sure you’re optimizing your performance and development, and preparing for advancement.

Employees, particularly IT pros, can no longer afford to rely 100% on their employers to help develop their skills, talents, and competencies. But continuous development is critical if you want to get ahead in your career, let alone keep current with technology. Here are five practical ways you can take control of your career.

1. Start a performance journal

Do you regularly keep notes on the highs and lows of your performance? Now I don’t mean that weekly or monthly report you’re required to write for your manager. I mean making notes on things you observe about your day-to-day performance:

the accomplishments you’re most proud of
the things you consider failures or sub-par performance, and what you learned from them
the thank you’s and other forms of acknowledgement you receive
the criticisms you received, justified or not
Collected, this information helps to give you perspective on your performance and potential, uncovering areas of strength and weakness. This kind of performance journaling will make your weekly/monthly reports, as well as your annual performance appraisal, easier to write. But more importantly, they’ll help you see your strengths, the things you’re passionate about, the areas where you need to develop, the stuff you hate, etc. Then you can use that information to drive your career development and progression.

2. Solicit feedback

Research shows that regular feedback improves performance. So if you want to take control of your career and improve performance, solicit feedback from others. Ask your manager, peers, internal and external customers, about how you’re doing and what you could to do improve. Feedback expert Jamie Resker suggests you ask two key questions:

What’s one thing that I’m doing that’s working or that I should keep doing?
What’s one thing I could do to be more effective in my role?
The key here is to get information on one strength and one weakness and then tackle them. If you’re gathering feedback from multiple sources, identify the most commonly mentioned “thing” and then focus your efforts on leveraging your strength and addressing your weakness.

3. Complete a self-appraisal

Don’t treat your performance appraisal like a spectator sport! Your performance appraisal should be something you actively participate in. One the best ways to do that, and to start a dialogue with your manager is to complete a self-appraisal, whether your performance management processes requires you to or not. A self-appraisal is a great way to take charge of your performance, progress and development. It gets you thinking about your performance, accomplishments, learning needs and career aspirations. You should not only complete a self-appraisal, you should share it with your manager before they complete their appraisal of you, to give them your perspective and open the conversation.

4. Draft your goals

Drafting your goals is another way you can easily take control of your career. Start by looking at your organization’s high-level goals and any department level goals. Then think about how you in your job, with your role and responsibilities, can contribute to achieving those. Draft goals that capture your contributions. If there are any projects on the go that you’re passionate about or would love to work on, draft a goal to do so. And think too about your own development and career progression. Are there stretch goals you’d like to take on that will help you acquire new skills, or broaden or deepen existing ones? You’ll of course need to negotiate all this with your manager, but taking the initiative to draft your goals first will help make sure you tackle work that will benefit your career.

5. Own your development

Lots of us still fall into the trap of waiting for our managers to assign us development activities. But your career and development are ultimately your responsibility, not your manager’s. So think about the knowledge, skills and/or experience you need to do your job better today. Then identify what areas you need development in to support your career progression (your performance journal notes can help you with this). Next, think about how you learn best: by seeing, hearing or doing? Do you learn better on your own, or do you need social stimuli? Once you’ve figured that out, it’s time to start identifying learning activities and opportunities. What can your company reasonably support you in doing, and what can you tackle on your own, outside of work? Then start learning, taking advantage of all the opportunities at your disposal: courses, conferences, e-learning, podcasts, blogs, newsletters, work assignments, job shadowing, mentors, volunteer work, cross functional teams, etc.

It’s your career. Make the most of it by being proactive about your performance, development and career progression. No one else will do it for you.

Sean Conrad is an It Professional.