KNOWLEDGE THE PATHWAY TO THE TOP

Knowledge: The Pathway To The Top


You are a creature of limitless potentials and abilities. And the reason I say that is because the Holy Bible makes it clear that God created man in His own image and likeness; He breathed into man the breath of life (Genesis 1:26, 2:7), thereby giving to man His identity and ability. That means you are limitless as God, that is the true measure of your potentials. But it is not just enough to know that you have potentials or even discover those potentials, you must also accept responsibility to develop what you have. And this is made possible through the acquisition of knowledge. I want to encourage you to go tirelessly after knowledge because that is what determines your scope and your spread in life.
Your Knowledge Determines Your Class
You must understand that inferiority is not a person, but a product of ignorance. So also superiority is not a person, but a product of knowledge. It is what a man has in him that is exhibited as inferiority or superiority. Any man can be superior depending on his level of knowledge. Knowledge is what destroys inferiority and the second-class citizen syndrome. What you don’t know is what makes you inferior to others but knowledge enhances your confidence. You can keep changing your status from one level to the other by changing the level of your knowledge. Whether you know it or not, we live in a classified world, and class is not a function of age or tribe but of knowledge. It is what you know that determines the class you belong. Every man is respected, rated and classified according to his knowledge. When people discover that you know what they know, they admit you into their class. When you are able to understand what they understand and think the way they think, they no longer discriminate against or ostracize you. Knowledge is that powerful! There is the story of a man called Job in the Holy Bible. He was speaking to his friends and he said, “But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you…” (Job 12:3). Inferiority is the plague that is inflicted on the ignorant. Every ignorant man will always be plagued with inferiority. So, when we fight ignorance we are fighting inferiority.
You Can Change Your Class!
Inferiority is the tribute that the ignorant pays to the knowledgeable. The ignorant would always cow when he meets a man of knowledge. So, if you don’t want to keep on being cowed when you meet the knowledgeable change your class by acquiring knowledge. When you know what others know, they can’t intimidate you. Job also said to his friends, “What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you” (Job 13:2). Knowledge makes you acceptable and welcomed among others. If you don’t want to remain under the lid and chain of inferiority, change your level of knowledge. I have noticed in my personal life that my class has changed over and over again as I increase my knowledge. It’s not people that intimidate you; it is ignorance that intimidates you. Stop thinking that you are down because somebody is up. Nobody has the power to push you down. You can change your position by acquiring more knowledge.
Display Your Knowledge!
You don’t apply for greatness, you display what you know to earn greatness. One day, the man called Daniel in the Holy Bible, a man of great wisdom, was called to appear before the king in Babylon. At first the king looked at him and said, “Are you that Daniel?” Because he did not look it. But after Daniel spoke and the king heard his wisdom, he bowed and worshiped Daniel. Daniel never applied for it, yet the king made him a great man and gave him many gifts, all because of his knowledge (Daniel 2:1-48). People may not like your face but they can’t deny your knowledge. So, stop showing your face, start displaying your knowledge. Another thing is that people who are knowledgeable are often mistaken to be proud. It is natural. But you can’t, because you want to come down to the level of others, pretend not to know what you know. You have to keep exhibiting your knowledge and by so doing, you remain superior. When David arrived the battle field in 1 Samuel chapter 18, king Saul and the army of Israel were being intimidated by Goliath but because David knew what to do to bring him down, he told Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail him. I will go and fight him.” He asked the soldiers, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine?” David’s elder brothers heard it and were angry, and accused him of being very proud. But by the time he displayed his knowledge by killing Goliath, his class changed, far above that of his brothers and even Saul the king. When they were returning from the battlefield the women of the city were singing, “Saul has killed his thousands but David has killed his ten thousands.” (1 Sam. 18:7). Their class was no longer the same because of knowledge.
You Too Can Be Superior!
Superiority is attracted; it is magnetized, by changing your level of knowledge. Develop your skills. Read books and don’t just read, read and think. Spare money to buy books, create time to study, keep adding more to your knowledge and one day your knowledge would speak up. Be blessed today!
How To Be A Problem Solver


It is important for us to be reminded that our placements in life, especially at work, is for the purpose of solving problems. You are employed to solve a problem and when you are no longer a problem-solver, you are no longer fit for the job. Your present placement was necessitated by problems, so when you are no longer solving problems, you will naturally be on the list of those to be displaced. The positions of life are not just meant to be occupied, they are meant to be functional. Whether you are called a manager, teacher, CEO or whatever, your rating is according to your function. When you are no longer functioning, you are dysfunctional and would soon be tagged ‘redundant.’ So, for you to maintain relevance and remain on line, you must remain a problem solver. Your relevance is tied to the problems you are able to solve. That is what makes you a contributor. And when you are a contributor, your worth is enhanced. With the enhancement of your worth, your value rating will change. A problem solver can never be ignored, a problem solver will always have a place among men because he will always be needed. A problem solver is an asset not a liability.
The Benefits Of Problems
It is the problems you solve that reveal you to your world, that is what earns you recognition among men. If there were no problem in Israel, nobody would have known David. Problems are opportunities for fame and greatness. A man is as famous as the problem he solves. It was after he killed Goliath that his status changed from a mere shepherd boy to chief of army staff and eventually to the king in Isreal. People don’t know you in your hiding place, they know you in the open place where the problems are. The problems you solve will reveal the real you. Every man is described according to the problem he solves. That is why you never find an ordinary name in an history book, every name in history is tied to an achievement. Think of people like Michael Faraday, in our contemporary times and Joseph, Gideon and Moses in the Bible, they were all problem solvers. What gave them names was not their looks or appearances, but the problems they solved. You can never find an idle name in history. So, for your name to enter into history you have to be a problem solver. If you leave where you are today, what will you be remembered for? Is it for the problems you solved or the ones you created? Wherever you find yourself, ensure that you are a problem solver and you will never need to struggle for promotion or recognition among men. Now, how do you become a problem solver?
Have A Correct Perspective Of Problems!
Your number one point of victory in life is your perspective. How do you see things in life? Your perspective determines how you handle your situations. If you have a poor perspective, you will always have poor results. Your perspective determines your control. How do you address problems? Because the problem you can’t address you will never be able to arrest. How do you see problems? Do you see problems as opposition or as opportunity? When the giant called Goliath challenged the Israelites, none could face him because they all saw him as an insurmountable opposition, only David saw him as an opportunity so he was able to overcome him (1 Samuel 17). When you see your problem as opportunity, solving it becomes very cheap. Problems may, initially put you under pressure but with the right perspective you can turn it into pleasure. It is perspective that turns pressure into pleasure. Problems may stretch you but it will ultimately spread you. There can never be a spread without problems. That is to say, problems don’t leave you the way they met you. They either stretch or shrink you.
Hunt For Ideas!
Secondly, you must always hunt for ideas. Ideas are talents or instruments for improvement. If you are full of ideas, you will always be on line of improvement. So, always hunt for ideas and the way to do that is to give yourself to deep and focused thinking on your job. How do I improve on my assignment? How do I handle this situation? How can I gain speed and time in my assignment? How do I make this and that to function? There are no dull brains, there are only unused, unutilized brains. Every man’s brain can function, God never made a useless brain. We have heard stories of people who were once described as complete dullards; un-educatable, but when they decided to wake up and instigate their brains, ideas began to flow. How much use you put your brain to is what determines what comes out of it. So put your brain to work. Breakthrough that barrier that tells you, you are not smart enough or that you can’t make it. Breakthrough! You are full of ideas, you are full of inspirations. There are many resources in your brain that you can bring out to add to what you are doing. Keep thinking! It will amaze you that ideas are so close at the corner but until you give your mind to it you don’t lay hold on them.
You Need Fortitude
The third thing you require to do to be a problem solver is fortitude. What is fortitude? Fortitude is inner strength, it is the conviction that the challenge before you can be handled, and not just that it can be dissolved but that you can be the one to get it done. Fortitude is ‘stay power.’ You stay on till the result comes out. Most people get tired too soon, they give up too soon and begin to console themselves by saying, “I have tried.” When I hear a man say, “I have tried my best”, it reveals to me his lack of fortitude. A genuine worker will never commend himself until the problem is solved. Above all, when you tell him, “Well done” before the job is completed, he is not comfortable because he feels he hasn’t done what he ought to do, so what are you greeting him for? If people greet you ‘well done’ for what you have not done well, they are only mocking you. So, beware of such greetings. You need fortitude to look at a problem and say, “No, this problem must be solved!” As a Pastor, be determined that your church must grow. Rather than being discouraged by the low attendance, sit down and start thinking! Document the ideas that come to you and start taking practical steps. That is fortitude! You need such inner strength to be able to keep on pushing at the mountain before you, until it gives way.
You Must Press On!
Those who are weary will never wear the crown. Those who give up will never go into the next phase of life. Ironically, they give up at the eve of their going in. The closer you are to your breakthrough, the higher the pressure. That is why you must be determined to press on. The Holy Bible talking of Gideon and his men when they were in pursuit of the Midianite kings that had oppressed Israel for so many years, said “…He, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing…” (Judges 8:4). Even when you are fainting, keep pursuing. Most people give up too soon, that is why they never make a mark. Talking of Jesus also the Bible says, “…Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2). He was stumbling and falling under the weight of the cross yet Jesus pressed on. The difference between excellence and good is fortitude. Don’t stop where others have stopped, stay on! Don’t commend yourself the way others commend themselves, don’t peg yourself to a particular spot by saying, “I have tried.” Remove that phrase completely from your vocabulary and replace it with, “This problem can be solved and it must be solved!”
Go The Extra Mile!There is the story of a great scientist called Albert Einstein. He had a very large laboratory, and one day, it got burnt. Rather than become discouraged, he rose up and built another one. When Jesus was told that John the Baptist had been killed, He went to the next village to preach. John was very precious to Him, but He couldn’t stay there and allow people to start consoling Him because that might distract Him from His assignment. No matter what is happening around you now, don’t wear out too soon. The difference between a worker who is watching and waiting for the closing time and the one who stays beyond the time is fortitude. And you discover that those who spend extra time are the ones who solve problems. Only those who go the extra mile make an extra mark in life. Fortitude is the trade secret of problem solvers; those who will not sleep until the problem is solved. You need fortitude, you need extra input to become extraordinary. If you don’t want to be a burden in life, if you don’t want to become a liability, then you must be an asset, be a problem solver. Be blessed!

Maintaining Relevance At Work!


In every workplace, relevance remains the baseline for retention and promotion. An employee will automatically lose his job when he is no longer relevant to the organisation that employed him. You don’t remain on your job or get promoted because of your good looks or connections, every success-oriented organisation retains workers on the basis of usefulness. You need to ask yourself this question: How useful am I in my work place? That perspective would help you to improve on whatever you are doing. Jesus told a parable of a man who planted a fig tree and for three years there was no fruit on it. Finally he said, “…These three years l come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?” (Luke 13: 7). When you are not relevant, you are simply occupying space. The essence of being in a place is usefulness. When you are no longer useful then you are not needed. Who wants to know how green the leaves of a fruit-bearing tree is if it bears no fruits? So also in every workplace, nobody wants to know who you are or where you come from, what matters is your relevance or usefulness. How useful are you to your employer? To be a worker means you are an aid. Your employer employed you in order to aid him. Are you truly fulfilling that purpose? Stop complaining that you have not been promoted for many years. Are you efficient on your job? Even if you are a gateman, you can work in such a way that your employer will not need to look for a substitute for you. When they begin to look for a substitute, it means you are no longer useful. Let me show you how to maintain relevance in your workplace or business.
Enhance Your Efficiency
It is your efficiency at your duty that determines your relevance. To be efficient you need to locate your area of assignment and work at it – give yourself to personal development and improvement. Read current books on your profession! Subscribe to relevant journals! Our world is changing very fast because knowledge is also being multiplied at a fast rate that if you want to keep abreast with the pace, you must be current! So get informed about your work in order to acquire more skills on it. If you don’t update, you will become outdated. There is hardly any profession now that you won’t find books written about on how to be more efficient in such profession. For instance I didn’t study management in school, but I have acquired quite a lot of management skills through reading and that has resulted in my rapid progression at work.
If you can’t get books to read, observe people who are ahead of you, ask them questions! Show interest in the work! At your spare time, instead of loitering and chatting around, do something to improve your performance. If your employer discovers that somebody else knows the work better than you, do you expect him to leave you there as a figurehead? Of course not! He wants to make more profit in his business so he would naturally go for better hands.
In the military setting for instance, the moment an officer is redundant they sack him so that those who are behind can move forward. When an organisation retains a senior officer who is not efficient, he won’t let the others behind him do the work, he will be a clog in the wheel. But the moment he is removed, they will rise and may even perform better. This is why you must strive to be more efficient on your work, discover new ways of doing your job better and in less time, that way, you become an asset to your employer or your clients. As a preacher for instance, I constantly take steps to develop my competence on the pulpit. Apart from preaching the Bible, I have to develop my communication skills and mastery of words. No matter your business or profession, enhance your efficiency. What happens to people who don’t improve their efficiency at work is that the organisation outgrows them and with time they become irrelevant redundant and are eventually laid off. The same applies to the business world. If you don’t enhance your efficiency, you will lose your clients to somebody who knows the job better and who is able to give them better value for their money.
If you are operating an equipment and it keeps breaking down in your hand, you should know that it will cause your employer some concern, because every wise businessman balances what he invests with what is destroyed and what is gainfully put to use. Somebody is in charge of a building project for instance, and about 2,000 pieces of blocks are bought per day, if 1,000 pieces are broken, calculate the loss incurred compared to the work done. Why must such a person be retained on his job? What he has destroyed is more than his salary for 3 months! Please be progress-minded, rather than being a concern to your employer. When you are efficient, your employer has confidence in you and as such would not want to lose you. That is how to enjoy quick successions of promotions at work.You don’t have to make noise to make news, you only need to discover something new. You have made enough noise, now start making news.
Assess Yourself!
It is assessment that prepares the ground for improvement. A diligent man does not wait for someone to assess him, rather he appraises and weighs himself on the balance of progress from time to time in order to make improvements. You need that! You need to ask yourself, “Am I really doing well or are people just greeting me ‘Well done’ for greeting sake? Am I fulfilling the purpose of my employment? Am I filling up the gap to a point that my employer or clients (as the case may be) will not think of getting a replacement for me?” Be more concerned about your effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and usefulness than the pay that you are receiving. Relevance is the root of fulfillment. You can never be more fulfilled than how much you satisfy the need of your employer. No matter how much you are paid, money does not satisfy. What satisfies is that your employer appreciates you and that you are meeting somebody’s need.
Take Initiative
To enhance your relevance at work, you must also be a man of initiatives. Don’t do your work blindly, open your eyes to see where there are needs and then take the initiative to meet those needs. If all you do daily is to wait for instructions, then you are not useful to your employer. You remain at the level of a messenger when you keep waiting for instruction before you can work. You should always think of how to contribute to the improvement of the organization. When you don’t think along with the organization you can’t have initiative towards its well-being. Your employer has every reason to be skeptical about you if you are not making any suggestions or contributions towards the well-being of the organisation.
Have you ever wondered why somebody gets employed in a place and in less than 3 years he gets promoted far ahead of some one who has been there for 15 years even though they both have the same qualifications? The difference is initiative. Learn to take initiatives, don’t keep waiting for instructions. If you make the first proposal or suggestion and it is not accepted, don’t be deterred. It only means you need to work harder and improve, so you sit down and think better. Initiative will birth skillfulness, skillfulness will birth efficiency, efficiency will birth relevance and usefulness, which will in turn birth promotion for you.

Understanding The Purpose Of Work


Many people don’t like to work because they don’t understand the purpose for work. They see work as punishment, so they are unmotivated and as a result they get little or nothing at the end of the day. That is why they complain and grumble about their work. Every man who lacks understanding of purpose lives under punishment all the days of his life. But as you get educated on the purpose of work, you would understand why diligence at work is non-negotiable. I see you enjoying fulfillment in your work from henceforth.
- It’s A Scriptural Obligation: The foremost reason for working is because God commands that man must work. In Genesis 2:15 the Bible says:And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.So when a man refuses to work he is not only ungodly, he has despised the original purpose for which he was created. Nothing makes a man purposeless like idleness.
- Work Creates Pleasure: Every man’s pleasure is derived from his work. Your sweet will always come from your sweat. Those who love leisure will never see pleasure because pleasure is a product of pressure. So, refusing to drop your sweat is denying yourself of the sweet because every pleasure you desire in life is embedded into your work. That is why you can never find a happy idle man. The most excited people I have ever met are workers.
- It Is The Ladder To Elevation: Your work determines your rating and your rating determines your promotion. Nothing gives you the opportunity for promotion like work and nothing attracts promotion for you like your work. Only a worker has the opportunity to prove his worth and eligibility for promotion. Every highly placed man you see today worked his way up. A genuine worker does not need to lobby for promotion, he will never need to beg for promotion, his work will naturally speak for him. Promotion is the heritage of workers. Prov. 22:29
- We Work To Generate Wealth: It is your work that makes you wealthy. The Holy Bible says in Proverbs 10:4, “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.” So what you have is a function of what you do. Your hand is the generator of your wealth. When a man’s hand is always in his pocket or behind his back, he is bound to become poor.
- Work Maintains Health: When you work you exercise yourself physically and mentally and by so doing, your life spam is prolonged. That is why you find some old people still looking strong and healthy at 70 years and above, especially in our rural areas. Majority of them don’t take drugs, they are simply working. When you don’t work, your body becomes flabby due to disuse. But work keeps you in sound health, which leads to long life. Work also has a way of sharpening and improving your mental output.
- We Work To Contribute To The Well Being Of Our Society/Community: When you work, you are contributing your quota to the well being of your community and the improvement of your society. Through your work, you create advancement and accomplishment for the system to which you belong. There is something you have that somebody needs, there is also something you need that somebody else has. It is through work that you contribute to others and also gain from them. Unfortunately there are many who just parasite on others or on the society and the government. All they are looking for is what to take and when they don’t get enough they steal! You cannot be fulfilled if you are not a contributor in a workplace. In fact you don’t have a right to be at a place where you are not a contributor.
It is on record that from the day Joseph was employed in Portiphar’s house everything there prospered. “…The LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake…” (Genesis 39:5). You need to ask yourself sincerely: “Has anything prospered since I was employed at my place of work? And if there has been, what is the measure?” Joseph was a slave, yet he had something to contribute to Potiphar’s house. So don’t look at yourself as being too low in cadre or status to contribute something to that organisation where you are working. If you think that way then you are not a worker but a mere salary earner. Be a contributor rather than working just for pay. Wherever you find yourself, be committed to the good of the organization because that is where God will bless you. Work as if it is your father’s business, as if the entire life of the organization depends on you. Whether you know it or not, whatever you practice as an employee is what you will keep doing when you become an employer. So, if you are an employee today, start practicing how to become great tomorrow by being a diligent worker.
- It Is Service: Work is an avenue to express your sense of stewardship. It is unfortunate that most people put money first as their reason for working when it should be last. And you will discover that such people are often not sincere with their work. They have mistaken work to be an avenue for making money so they scheme so many ways to cheat their employers and clients. But the Bible says, “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished…” (Proverbs 13:11). Your work will bring you wealth but not by cheating or exploiting people. It is narrow mindedness to think of pay as the first reward for work. A man’s actual reward is not the pay he receives but the impact he makes on the lives of others and on his community. I want to implore you to work with the purpose of contributing to your community.
This understanding will make you an asset and not a liability wherever you find yourself. Your fulfillment in life is tied to your work. That is why Proverbs 14:23 says, “In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.” You can see from theses points that you are the major beneficiary of all the virtues of work, so if you are not working you are only cheating yourself.