Day 1
Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only
So, we have seen that if you want success, you must set time aside when you stop all word to have a quiet time. If you really, like Joshua, like meditating, you cannot meditate in noise, can you? It is a quiet time. And that is why up to now I regard very, very important that you create an appointment with God each with no one else involved. In addition to the family altar, you must have an appointment where only you and God are involved, and you are able to listen to him.
Remember I told you it is called systematic daily quiet time. I have told you it is called quiet because you listen to God. But let me go back to the beginning. Why Systematic. Because It has to be systematic. Some of you read the bible like a witchdoctor’s book. How do you read the bible? You open it and wherever it opens you read and are blessed. Have you heard of this story, I have repeated it many times, of this guy who told God, I am really wanting to meet you, I want to have time with you, wherever I open the bible, I will do whatever you tell me. So, he went and opened the bible. Do you know where it opened? And Judas hanged himself. He said, God I can’t do this. I am sorry. But the next verse, I will obey, but this one God, I can’t obey. Do you know the next verse he opened? Whatever you have been asked to do, do quickly. Are you getting the point? That’s why we say if you want to meet God in His word, it has to be systematic.
When the book of 2 Peter was written, chapter two was not written before chapter one. So, when you read the bible as a witchdoctor’s book, you never read it systematically, no wonder you do not understand the scriptures because you cannot, understand it that way. Like if your mother sends you a letter, can you start reading the end before the beginning or the middle? You will not even understand the story, isn’t it? And that’s how many people are reading the bible.
In 1968 in high school, somebody came to us, he was called Harry Corter, and told us the bible reading has to be systematic. And he came with a book called a Daily Power. And the Daily Power divides the bible into seven years and tells you each morning you just read a little. By the way you need only thirty minutes per morning because we were young boys, fifteen twenty minutes, in fact he told us, since you are young, use Daily Power. And then if you read only those 30 minutes, in seven years, you will have covered the bible from cover to cover systematically. Scripture union is still publishing them.
But you know those devotional guides are no longer popular these days. People have now gotten to the use of power house. I am calling them power house generation. They read the bible backwards, forwards, crosswords. You need to understand that’s not the way the scriptures were written. They were written systematically. And if you don’t read the bible systematically it will become a superstitious book.
The question I am answering is, how can you be a success? And I am saying the bible tells us the way to be a success is to learn how to read the bible on a daily basis systematically. And I want to suggest to you, whichever month it is now as you read this , it is not too late for you to go to scripture union buy yourself a Daily Power. Daily Power will help you take seven years to cover the whole bible.
But if you are older and you want to take a little more time each day, you will take another book called Daily Guide, or ots vernacular like Uteithio wa o Muthenya in kikuyu. That one has longer passages per day and so you finish the bible in five years, systematically.
Do you really want to be a success in God’s estimation? Joshua was told, this book of the law, the word of God, must not depart out of your mouth, you must meditate on it day and night. That’s why I told you then you need systematic, daily, reading of God’s word.
Actually, he was told meditate both night and day. And it is important to understand some of us read the bible but they read it anyhowly. Some of us read the bible on Sundays only but the instructions are you read it daily. And that’s why the Daily Guide or the Daily Power, are useful.By the way those are not the only devotion guides, but if you go to any Christian bookshop, you will find a whole section full of devotional guides. But not all devotional guides are good guides. Some of the devotional guides are like day by day by John Ng’ang’a. Have you seen those? Day by day by John Ng’ang’a is not the whole bible, it is the favourite verses of John Ng’ang’a. Those are Ng’ang’a’s verses, what do you have to do with them?
So, when you go to a Christian bookshop, look for a guide that promises you to cover the bible from cover to cover. If you choose another one, it will still by the way benefit you, I am not suggesting it will not benefit, but it might not help you go through the bible. For example Daily Bread, is very popular. But if you read the stated one verse in Daily Bread every day for the next thirty years, you will still not cover the bible because Daily Bread gives favourite verses. And the comments are rich. I really enjoy Daily Bread’s comments. They are very nice. They are better than Daily Guide or even Daily Power. But unfortunately, as long as you are following those verses, you will never cover the bible. So, I always say if you are using Daily Bread, it should be supplementary reading. It might also have reading plan for the whole bible.For example when you do Chemistry, there is a text book and supplementary book, isn’t it? So you need Daily Bread as supplementary reading.
Day 2
Jesus Prays in a Solitary Place
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
In other words, if you are covering the bible from cover to cover, in addition to that you want to read something more, now take Daily Bread. But if you don’t have any system of covering the bible from cover to cover, I will not recommend you pick only Daily Bread. And I have told you why. Where you read yesterday, may be Timothy, today you may read Genesis, tomorrow you read Revelation.I have no problem with daily bread. Am only using it as an example… Somewhere in it also give you how to read the bible in one year. They give you but they don’t comment on it.
Again, reading that way is also useful. But Many of us cannot cope with reading the bible in one year because it means that you have to read four, five chapters in one morning, and when you have busy mornings, cannot make it. Some people start in January, by April they have given up on the reading plan. So don’t take something you know you are going to fail in. That kind of reading plans, are very good idea during leave days. When you are on leave, try to cover the bible from cover to cover in one sitting. But on a normal busy time, accept that you can only read less than a chapter per day. And that’s what the Daily Guide and Daily Power do.
Remember we are talking about systematic, daily, quiet time. When to have quiet time must be selected. if you claim to read the bible any time, you are likely to read it no time. May I repeat. When do you read your bible? When do you have your quiet time? Any time. That means no time. It is important to have an appointment with God when you know there is a certain time in the day. it doesn’t matter timing, some people read it in the evening, some people in the morning, some people in the lunch hour, you really do not have to copy other people. Most people prefer early in the morning, but those are people who are able to wake up in the morning. But you need to understand you must have a specific time when everything else is closed.
Like somebody rang me, one of the bishops who is my friend, the wife rang me when I was praying. When I came, I found four calls because she had rung and rang and rang and I was not picking the phone. Okay, I returned the call and said, sorry I could not pick. She said, I actually learnt what you were doing from your wife. My wife said, oh where he is he cannot pick the phone. Because it may not be good to go with the phone to your quiet time. It will become a noisy time, telephone noise. So, you cannot claim to be praying and your phone is on. If it is on, it needs to be far away from you. It must be a time when all other things stop.It is such an important time, nothing can disturb you. Even if it rings, even if, you leave it you can later return the calls. So that you have a time with God undisturbed.
We are saying that for you to succeed as a Christian, it is critical you learn how to read the bible on your own. In Corinthians 7:33-34….one of the things that is important is being with your spouse but not during quiet time. quiet time is a private time, like I argue in my book of spiritual disciplines. And for you to be a success you begin with a quiet time.
Day 3
1 Corinthians 7:33-34
33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.
But that’s not where you end. You will not be any success if you don’t have enough time for your family. The reason why the Lord is blessing you is so that you can be a blessing to your family. So, you must allocate time to them. For you to be regarded a success, you must allocate time to your wife and to your children.
1 Corinthians 7: 33-34,
he who is married cares about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
There is a difference between a wife and a single woman.
The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
Are you hearing? The bible is saying, and this is the word of God saying, as soon as you are married, you cannot care about the Lord alone, you must care for that man you have married also. Read it for yourself. Remember it is talking to Christians, they are born again, but they are being told, if you want to serve the Lord alone, don’t get married, because then you can concentrate a hundred percent only on the ministry. But as soon as you marry, part of the time must be allocated to that man. And you don’t you go to hell because you are disobeying the bible. The bible says you must allocate time to your husband.
And please don’t quote me. I would like you to read it for yourself. It is saying a single person concentrates on the ministry, a married person divides her time between ministry and her husband.
Yet some people get married, but they are so busy in the church, they forget the husband. He comes home and asks, have you got food? No. Wait, we will cook. I was busy serving the Lord. You need to ask yourself, which heaven are you going to? Because the heaven we are talking about has said if you truly are born again,’ a married woman divides her time between the Lord and the husband’.
So, if you are not allocating any time to the husband, you will not please the Lord. The same Lord whom you want to serve is the one who has given you permission to divide time. Because that’s the word of God, isn’t it? So that’s one of the things people are missing. They think that serving the Lord is preaching. But you see, God has created another ministry. Once He allows you to marry, one of the ministry he has given you is to look after that man. And if don’t look after him properly, you don’t have a quarrel with the man, you have a quarrel with the owner of the man. It is very important for you to understand that.
And many, many people in church have not taught it. So that you argue, but I was busy serving the Lord. But serving your husband is serving the Lord also.
And the same thing with a lot of us men. Serving your wife is serving the Lord. Because we are busy in ministry, our children can never see us, our wives cannot see us. And we don’t even feel guilty, arguing it is because I was serving the Lord. Although we read only about the woman, it is also true of the man. As a man remains single, he is allowed a hundred percent to the ministry. As soon as he gets married, he must divide his time between the Lord and a wife. That is the Lord telling him. So that if you continue giving a hundred percent of your time to God, you will go to hell because the Lord has told you to divide your time. Remember it is his time but He is giving you permission to share it with others
So that even if you are a priest, the pastor, and the church has too much work, you must say, church time has now ended… I am next serving the Lord by visiting my wife.
Day 4
Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
By the way if you think this is the only bible passage on this, I can quote another one. Paul in Timothy talking about this same subject said, and he was talking to people in the church, he said, if you don’t look after your family, you are not a non-believer, you are worse. Have you read that in the bible 1 Timothy 5:8? Those who don’t look after their families are worse than non-believers. I don’t know how you can be worse, ask the bible. The bible is the one saying that if you call yourself a Christian and you are not allocating time to your family, you are not a non-believer, you are actually worse.
So that as you talk about success, you may be doing wonderful, getting a hundred percent on question on ministry, but if all the other questions are not getting any allocation in time, your final grade is fail. And it will be very important for us, whether we are young people or not, because some of us are young we are not yet married, but we have mothers and fathers, yet your mother never sees you, never, never. You have no time for them. And when they ask, why? I am serving the Lord.
Surely, you come from a family, isn’t it? How come you are allocating them no time? Ministry starts there. That the reason why you are spending so much time in quiet time is so that the Lord can fortify you so that you are able to serve your wife better, your children better. And the reason you serve your children first is because they are pilot project before the rest of the ministry. Ever heard of pilot project? When you are doing a research and you come it with new product, you don’t sell it to the mass, you first of all test it in a secluded, controlled experiment. It is called pilot study. And when you do it, if it does well, eventually it is sold to everyone. Your family is your pilot project.
So, if you are going to serve everybody, you start by serving your children, parents, and your wife and the way it works, you now can go to the rest of the church.
So remember our topic is how to be a success in life.
And we are saying to be a success you must allocate time for your family. I hope I have communicated, that there is no way you call yourself a successful man of God if there is not time for your children. No time for your husband? It is very important. I know we reading this are not all couples. But let me tell you…. If you have no time for your husband, because all your time you are with your children, and every time he says, may I see you, you argue …can’t you see I am busy with children? Do you know they will leave when older? Once they are gone you will be left with the same man you ignored. By that time, he has forgotten how to be close to you. So, he spends his time moving around, serving the Lord everywhere. When he comes there, you don’t even know how to be with each other. You forgot how to talk to one another. He is concentrating on temporary residents of your house and they will come and go.
Many people by the time they hit their mid-forties, and their children are now teenagers and gone, there is trouble in many marriages. And that’s why many marriages are collapsing even among Christians because in the early part of their marriage, they forgot how to be with one another. Surely you must remember your children are not part of your marriage, they are temporary residents.
Your husband is the headmaster and you are the deputy headmaster of home. And whoever comes to a school has a beginning and exit date…. And when they graduate, they go. It is important if you really want to end up with a successful life in later years where you are able to talk to each other, do not assume that when they are small, I will leave the husband and concentrate on the small ones. No. God has given you enough hands, one to hold the baby and the other one to hold your spouse. So do not start behaving like you have no other hand. Hold the baby still, but hold this first born of yours, your husband. He is the first born you got, isn’t it?
If you really want to be a success, you must find a way of creating the kind of environment your family needs. Do you know nowhere in the scriptures does the bible require you to buy a car for your wife, although if you buy her it is a good idea. The thing that is required for your wife is in Genesis 2. The reason a wife was created is so that she will be a companion of the husband. So cooking is secondary, the guy can cook, after all a lot of chefs are men. The thing that was required of you my sister is to give companionship to your husband, to be a friend so that he enjoys life at home. When he comes out of work, he is tired, he is frustrated, he has a person who can listen. All the other people in the office are tired with him, but there is one who is willing to listen to his nonsense. You know the nonsense of a friend becomes gold. That’s what you are, a companion.
Day 5
Ephesians 4:11-12
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [a]edifying of the body of Christ,
And if you are not a companion, even if you make wonderful chapattis, you are not a successful wife because he can buy chapattis from a restaurant. It is companionship and friendship….. we are talking about. Remember I said, what you do in your family is ministry to God. It is God who has given you that ministry. And if you are not giving proper ministry to your husband, your husband may not even complain, the heavens are going to complain. Because the grading is not by your husband, the grading is by your God, isn’t it? And He is giving you a ministry to serve you family.
I finally come to spiritual ministry and I want to quote Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
and Colossians 3:17.
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Acts 1:8 says, wait in Jerusalem, the church was told, and when you have waited in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit will come on you. The question they must have in their mind is, how will we know? How does the Holy Spirit look like? How will I know He has come? It is easy. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you shall become my witnesses. Have you read the passage? So that a lot of people ask, are you Spirit filled? The way to know whether you are Spirit-filled is that as soon as you are Spirit-filled, you can’t help but witness.
Even if you are speaking in thousands of tongues but you never tell anybody about the Lord, chances are you full of another spirit. If it is the Spirit of the book of Acts, what filling does it causes you to want to do ministry. Remember if you go to the book of Acts, you see that the book of Acts is not addressed to the disciples only. The holy spirit came on hundred and twenty. They were waiting in the upper room a hundred and twenty of them. Not twelve, a hundred and twenty. The whole church was in one place waiting. So, when the Holy Spirit came, He did not come on the twelve, He came on a hundred and twenty. So, witnesses are not pastors, witnesses are not evangelists, witness is every Christian.
So, it is important to understand, you cannot claim to be a successful Christian without a ministry. How are you serving the Lord for the extension of his kingdom? Are non-Christians coming to know Jesus because of you? If nobody ever comes to know the Lord because of you, are you really in line with Acts 1: 8? for you to be revived ask yourself, am I marking time? Or Am I moving forwards? What is your ministry? Do you know there are many people reading this whose ministry is sitology, the art of sitting? They come to church and sit. You need to ask yourself, is that Acts 1:8 philosophy.
Others are in this category, where they are ushers in the church, and they are asked what is your ministry? Ushering. Surely ushering is not a ministry. You know for example, I have three children, can you imagine one of them saying, what do you do? I pass chapattis to my father. That’s a good idea. But surely is that a job? Because the food is already at the table, all she did was to pass me chapatti. Surely that’s not a job to do. And the work of ushering is like helping to pass chapattis. We need it plus more. Are you getting the point?
If you say your ministry is singing, remember the bible says when you come together one has a hymn, one has a song, have you read that in the bible? We all share together. In other words that is not ministry. Ministry is what you do that extends the kingdom of God. And many people, the church has become a place to rest.…, little understanding what Acts 1:8 is saying. Every member of the church must find something to do for God’s kingdom.
When they went for the Lucern World Committee of Evangelization in manila in 1989 they came up with a statement on mission of the church. They said what the church is expected to do is to go to the whole world with the whole gospel, the whole church to go to the whole world with the whole gospel. In other words, we all must preach the full gospel. But in addition to that the whole church must get involved.
And what has gone wrong is, on average people only tithe and pastors keep emphasizing, please give your money, which is not a bad idea, but it is the wrong idea because the impression it gives people is, members of the church their job is to give money, the work of ministry is by the pastors. So, you don’t witness unless you are called evangelist international. You need to understand that’s not scripture. It is what the church does today, but that’s not scripture. Scripture requires every member of the church go out and actually witness. And if you are not witnessing chances are you have no Holy Spirit because the bible says when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will know it. How will you know it? You can’t help but witness. So how come you are working in a place and they have no idea you are saved and they have no idea they can get saved? How come you are staying in a neighbourhood and they have never heard about the Lord? Chances are you have a spirit but not the Holy Spirit. If it is the Holy Spirit, He will cause you to want to share with others.
Day 6
Colossians 3:17
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him
I know you argue you are ok on all the other areas, you are doing wonderful quiet time, you are looking after your spouse very well, your family is okay but are you doing ministry outside your family. The word of God expects you to be doing some ministry outside home also.
Let me finish this section by just mentioning, the book of Ephesians 4:11-12,
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
New King James Version
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [a]edifying of the body of Christ,
Please read it and hear it gives the work of a pastor. By the way it is not just a pastor, they list the prophets, the evangelists etc and one of them in the list is a pastor. The work of a pastor is not to do ministry. You know we use the wrong word when we call pastors ministers because it gives the impression they are the ministers but we are not the ministers. Just go and read for yourself Ephesians 4:11-12. It says, He appointed some to be pastors so that they can equip the saints for the work of the ministry. The work of a pastor is not to minister, it is to equip the ministers. And who are the ministers? Members of the church.
So, if there is somebody who is supposed to be called a minister is us. If anybody gets saved, he becomes a minister. The pastors work is to equip the ministers for the work of the ministry. But do you know that thing is not being preached anywhere? You don’t hear it. It is not mentioned because the pastors have taken over the job of ministers, so we have become spectators. Okay, some of them even say, please give money I do the work of God. And they give the impression that everybody must tithe. But when it comes to witnessing the pastor understands when you don’t witness because you don’t have the gift of evangelism. Have you heard that kind of preaching? Where there are some people with the gift of evangelism. So, if you don’t have the gift of evangelism, it is okay not to witness. The book of Acts never talks about some getting the Holy Spirit and could not become witnesses. All of them had to become witnesses.
Next time you hear a pastor talking like that ask him, do you know there is a gift of giving? It is in the bible. Some people have the gift of giving. When you are struggling, for them they don’t tithe, they twithe…. twenty percent. And they have not difficulty. Some of them are doing three times of a tiithe. Have you met people like that who are very, very good at giving? It is a gift from God. And not all of us have that gift. But the way you deal with that idea is all of us give but some give more. And you know very well that’s what happens. That when you are giving, by the way, can you imagine when the kiondo is passing during the giving, has the pastor said anytime, has the pastor ever said, for those of you without the gift of giving, let the bag pass. Have you ever heard a pastor say like that? Because the pastor expects those who are good at giving, those who are not good at giving, all of us to give.
The same thing with witnessing. It is true some people have a gift of witnessing, have a gift of evangelism, but the word of God requires those with the gift and those without the gift to continue and witness. When you are witnessing and only two people come to the Lord, the one with the gift will bring a hundred. But you know once you are the two of you, and he brings a hundred and you bring two, it becomes a hundred and two.
For the great work of God we must understand all of us are required to give in the same way all of us are required to witness.
Day 7
2 Thessalonians 3:10-12.
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are such we command and [a]exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread
What about Career and work? Can read you the word of God which requires that if you do not work …don’t eat. So that you need to ask yourself every evening, before your wife gives you food and you want to eat it, am I sinning. Your wife really loves you and wants to give you food, when you sit there wanting to eat, ask yourself, might I be eating a curse? Because you see if you eat when you have not worked, you are eating a curse. Please return the food to your wife and say, thank you for giving me but I don’t qualify. Today I did nothing. Are you getting the point?
Because the word of God is saying, if you don’t work don’t eat. You need to understand the idea of laziness, and some of people in church are lazy, it is not a Christian idea. Ministry includes, working with your own hands. 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12. You must work with your own hands, you must eat your own sweat.
So that it is important for you to work. And you should not be the type of person who is always asking, can you give me twenty shillings to go to town? No. You are eating other people’s sweat. Instead of asking somebody for money, ask him, can I wash your car? Because in the end when he gives you money, you are using your sweat.
If you really are going to be regarded as success by God, you must be a professional in what you do. You do a good thing. First of all, you must hate with perfect hatred free things. Unfortunately, the church of Jesus Christ is completely contradicting this verse. Because you will see a pastor stand before you and say, you people don’t bless me as much like the church I visited. They call it blessing. You see this haircut, I was blessed by one of the members. He just told me to go and he paid the bill. This suit, I was blessed by somebody in America. This shirt, it was in Australia. Can you see how blessed I am?
What is he communicating? A blessing is when you don’t work for things and they come free of charge. That’s not Christianity. The bible says God blesses the work of our hands. But because of these testimonies that a lot of church leaders are giving, we have completely destroyed even those of us in church. Some always say, God how come me everything I get I have to work hard but the pastor gets free of charge. So, and that’s why a lot of Christians have become conmen because he is looking for a way of getting things without working. And when they get it, they say, I was blessed. You are not blessed, you are a conman. It is important to understand God wants to bless the work of our hands. And it is important to understand that’s what God wants.
But most of the sermons we are getting in TV is about, send a thousand dollars and be blessed. Give seed money, you will be blessed. That’s not scripture. Scripture says He blesses the work of our hands. But now it has become like you don’t have to work, all you need is to give the pastor a thousand dollars and you will be blessed.
The trouble is when some feel cheated.You remember the story that was in the newspaper? A pastor promised like that, he was given a van, you remember the story? When the lady did not get the thing she was promised, she went back for her car. You remember the story in the newspaper? Because she said he was cheating. The word of God does not say you give money to the pastor for you to be blessed. It says, work with your own hands. And it is very important for you to understand that.
So, for you to call yourself a success, you must not only show how you are reading the bible, you must also show that you are doing a good job at work. If you are an accountant, it must be properly done, the accounts have to balance. If you are a typist, you should not be making twenty mistakes per minute, you should be typing properly.
It is very important to say, if you want to serve the Lord, you must work as serving the Lord in all areas. So that even if your boss doesn’t mind your shoddy work, God minds shoddy work. I hope you can see that if you are really going to be called success, every one of the areas must be seen as serving the Lord. What you do with your family is serving the Lord. What you do with quiet time is serving the Lord. What you do with ministry is serving the Lord. But even what you do to earn daily bread is serving the Lord.
May we all call on the Lord Jesus, crying for forgiveness. But the word of God has promised when we repent, He forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I am claiming forgiveness in the name of Jesus. But secondly, I am praying that the Spirit of God will anoint us fill us up and help us in every area of life to become a success as we serve Him.