Inheritance To Your Grandchildren

22 A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.
Proverbs 13:22 (NIV)

When I was working in the financial services sector, I heard a successful financial adviser quoting this verse to justify the need for insurance. For some strange reasons, Proverbs 13:22 has been used to sell insurance. This leads me to wander, have the financial advisers joined forces with the theologians?

The truth is the above verse has nothing to do with insurance. The term “inheritance” in the Bible always refers to assets that are already in the hands of the person before he dies, not after he dies. Therefore, the heresy of Proverbs 13:22 being God’s will for good men to buy insurance is nothing more than collaboration between financial advisers and theologians. In fact, there are theologians who have become financial advisers and vice versa.

I have put this up to show you how the Theologian has never given up his efforts in theologizing (perverting) the truth. Unfortunately for him, there are also many Christians like myself who are still committed in the engineering truth of the Bible and reject the lies of theology. Let us move on with the engineering truth of the above verse.

The first part of the verse says a good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children. Please note that it does not say a good man receives an inheritance from his parents’ parents. All of us would love to have rich parents or grandparents so that we have a lot of money. Unfortunately we cannot choose which family we want to be born in. If you happen to be like me who was born in a non-tycoon family you cannot expect to be rich no matter who dies in your family. You may even be envious when you see those born in rich families.

However, the above verse tells us that just because you were not born in a rich family, it does not mean that you cannot start a rich family yourself. God has given all of us free will. We do not have to be the slaves of our families, environment and even our genes. We have everything we need to live the lives we want. If you want to have a lot of money, good health and be very successful in everything you do, rejoice because you already have what it takes to get your there. They are in the Bible. All you need to do is to read the Bible, find out all the contents that can help you to get what you want and put them to work. This is what the Bible is designed for.

Back to the first part of the verse, the good man may not have a lot of inheritance because his parents and grandparents may not know much about the Bible. They may have deceived by the lies of theology that says God is a pervert who loves to make people poor and sick to show them his sufficient grace. As a result they did not get rich. However, just because the good man’s parents and grandparents were deceived by the lies of theology, it does not mean he himself must continue to allow himself to be deceived. He can exercise his free will to trust in the truth that comes from God.

When he does he will be so rich that he will not only have enough money to live luxuriously, he will have a lot of leftover money to pass on to his descendents as inheritance. So, do not fret if you were not born in a rich family. You can start a rich family now so that you children can live in no want.

At this point, I am sure the theologians will say that the inheritance is spiritual because spiritual inheritance cannot be proven. Theologians hate things that can be proven like health and wealth. Are they right? Let us look into the entire context. If the “inheritance” in the first part is spiritual then the “sinner’s wealth” in the second part must also be spiritual. Since when do the sinners have spiritual wealth? Since when can spiritual wealth be stored for somebody else? It is very clear that the ‘inheritance” and “wealth” in the entire verse are physical and can be proven. I have just exposed another lie of theology.

The second part of the verse tells us that a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. This is good news for those of us who have chosen to believe in Jesus. As believers, we are righteous by faith and the term “righteous” here is not an empty word. It comes with privileges. One of the privileges of being righteous is the position to receive the sinner’s wealth.

Knowing this truth, we should no feel jealous when we see sinners getting rich. God has promised to transfer their wealth to us. The next question is when is this going to happen? I do not have the exact timetable but I am sure this cannot happen in heaven. Why? Even Christians cannot bring our money to heaven. How can sinners to that? It must be clear that the transfer of wealth from sinners to the righteous must happen on earth. We will soon be very rich.

In conclusion, we should learn to trust God and make him the source of our prosperity. Let the theologians continue with their heresy. As for us, we choose to trust in God. We believe we will be rich beyond our wildest dreams.

Tripped Seven Times

16 The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
Proverbs 24:16 (NLT)

This is among the most powerful verse in the Bible. It begins by telling us that the godly may trip seven times. The truth is being Christians do not cause us to be immune to troubles and failures. We Christians can be poor, sick, fail in our work or even die before our time. We are still subjected to the natural law. This is the part that carnal Christians like the theologians and doctrine worshippers can never understand or pretend not to understand.

First, they accuse us, (the true spiritual Christians) of saying that Christians are not supposed to have any troubles. Then they tried to convince us that the Bible says Christians can have troubles. This is why I do not believe in any honest dialog between the true spiritual Christians and Christians who are under the bondage of theology. Those who are under the bondage of theology can never think straight.

The truth is there are many parts in the Bible that says the godly can get into not just troubles but many troubles. However, those verses do not stop there. There is always a full context for those verses. The above verse is an example. We, the godly people can get into troubles, make mistakes and trip seven times. (The phase “seven times” refers to many times.) This is only half a sentence. The other half tells us that we will get up again. God has promised us that no matter how many times we have tripped in our lives we will always be able to get up.

Let put this in another way. God has promised that our ability to overcome our troubles is as certain as the existence of troubles in our lives. As long as there are problems, there is always solution.

Whatever problems you are facing right now, God has promised deliverance from it.

If you are poor and have financial problems, God has promised you the ability to overcome them and become rich. It does not matter how bad the economy is or how incapable you are in the natural to make money because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. God will certainly fulfil all his promises. Instead of having the problem of not enough money, you will have more than enough money.

If you happen to be sick, God promised you the ability to overcome your sickness and be healthy. It does not matter how “incurable” that sickness is because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. God will certainly fulfil all his promises. Instead of suffering in sickness, you will be able to enjoy health you never had before.

The same principle applies to all the troubles we face in this world.

The second part of the above verse tells us why it never pays to be evil. Their future is the exact opposite from ours. We can face many mistakes and failures in our lives but we can always stand up each time we fall. No matter what the devil throws at us, we always have the power to overcome them. We may fall many times but as long as we do not give up, we will eventually win.

The scenario of the wicked is the opposite. They may seem successful now. They may even be enjoying themselves in prosperity, good health and other success that we wish we have. However, that is not the end. They have no resilient to the challenges in life. All it takes is one disaster and all their “success” and “prosperity” will be gone. So, it is better to be godly than wicked.

Here is another illustration. There is a saying. Statistically, only one out of ten new business will succeed. In other words, nine out of ten new startup businesses are doomed to failure. Does this mean the society is better off if no one bothers to start new businesses? The answer is no. Do you know why? On average, the one successful business can make more money, create more jobs and pay more taxes than the other nine that failed.

Likewise, in our life journey as believers, we may have failed many times and suffer many losses. However, if we choose not to give up and hold on to our faith on the integrity of God, we will have the ability to stand up to fight on each time we are knocked down. As long as we continue to press on and not to give up, we will eventually overcome all our troubles. At that time, we will seem more and more blessings of God manifesting in our lives. All the things that we receive and give away will be more than the all the losses we suffered in the battles. The society on the whole will be better off if the godly refuses to give up.

On the opposite end, think of crime. A burglar may have the success rate of 90% where he can get away in nine out of ten crimes that he committed. However, the one time that he got caught would have caused him to lose all his loots in the previous nine crimes. All it takes is one arrest and his crime spree in over. Crime and wickedness doesn’t pay.

In conclusion, don’t give up. It does not matter how many times you have fallen or failed. Get up and fight on. As long as you refuse to give up, you will live to see your victory before you.

Sinner’s Wealth

22 Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.
Proverbs 13:22 (NLT)

The above verse makes it very clear to us on the direct result of being good or godly. In the Bible, the terms
“good” and “godly” means the same. They refer to living in accordance to the will of God. In this verse, God is telling us very clearly if you obey God, you will be wealthy.

At this point, I am sure carnal Christians like theologians and doctrine worshippers will question on what type of wealth is this. It has been a habit of those heretics to stick in the word “spiritual” to every promise on health or wealth in the Bible. This is how they keep insisting that God has never promised health and wealth in the Bible. So, I will not be surprise that the followers of heresy will say that the wealth in the above verse refers only to “spiritual” wealth.

Are they right? Let us look into the context of the above verse. There are 2 parts in this verse. The first part says good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren. What inheritance can good people leave to their grandchildren? It can be both physical and spiritual. Let me give you an example.

Consider the story of Abraham. Abraham was a godly man and he was very rich. He left all his money to his son Isaac when he died. After some time, Isaac had a huge problem. The area he lived in faced a severe famine. Yet, God had blessed him and made him even richer in the midst of the famine. The Bible tells us that God did it for Abraham’s sake. So, it was Isaac’s spiritual inheritance from his father that helped him not only to overcome the famine but also made him richer from it. Whether the inheritance is in physical or spiritual form, the result is always the same – prosperity.

The second part of the verse is more clear-cut. The sinner’s wealth passes to the godly. Sinners do not have spiritual wealth. They only have physical wealth. Physical wealth is the only form of wealth sinners can recognize and cause them to chase after. In my articles under the category of “Financial Toxic Series”, I have exposed some real life examples on how some people are willing to put their moral integrity aside when they sell financial toxic to the public for the sake of money. This is an example on what sinners are willing to do in order to make money.

However, God is not going to allow the sinners to keep their money for long. He has promised in the above verse that the sinners’ wealth will be passed on to us, the godly. This event is also known as “ The Wealth Transfer”. I like the King James Version on this verse.

22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
Proverbs 13:22 (KJV)

When you see sinners out there who appear to be being rewarded for their sins, do not feel like God has mistreated you. It is not over yet. Since these people had chosen to disobey God, God has graciously allowed them to live the way they like. They are free to sacrifice everything they have to make money. However, since they do not have God in their hearts, they do not have the ability to retain, let alone enjoy the wealth they gained. Their wealth will eventually be transferred to the godly like us.

So, God has not mistreated you. He is only allowing the sinners more time to make more money so that when he transfer them to you, you will have more money. Start rejoicing and praise God for his goodness.

Has such even happened before? The answer is yes. Let me prove this.

37 The Lord brought his people out of Egypt, loaded with silver and gold; and not one among the tribes of Israel even stumbled.
Psalm 105:37 (NLT)

Wen the Israelites left Egypt, they did not leave with only their own original possessions. They left with a lot of gold and silver. God had effectively transferred the wealth of Egypt to the Israelites. If he could did it then, he can do the same now in a larger scale. One day, we too will be loaded with a lot of gold and silver from the sinners.

I am sure some theologians will say, “Sure, it will happen in heaven.” The truth is, sinners do not go to heaven. Sinners will not go to heaven with their physical wealth and pass them to us. The Transfer will happen here on earth when we are still alive. This is the truth that no theologian can pervert.

What does this mean to us? It gives us hope for a great future on earth. We do not have to wait to die and go to heaven to have great future. Our great and glorious future begins now. Sure, may see a lot of seemingly injustice here on earth where many sinners get rich while godly people like you remain poor but you must realize that such imbalance will not last for long. The wealth of the sinners will soon be passed on to you. God will make sure it happens.

What is our role in this? The answer is to get ready to receive. Build up your faith. Read the Bible. Confess the goodness of God. Make it a habit to praise God when good things (no matter how small) happen to you. When bad things happen, never falter nor give up. Keep believing that God is still on your side. He is working behind the scenes to deliver and prosper you. Failure is not in your future. Defeat is not in your future. If the devil knocks you down seven times, get up eight! Never give up your faith because your faith the only link you have to the supernatural power of God.

The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

Pressure

10 If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.
Proverbs 24:10 (NLT)

I have written on this verse before. In this article, I am going to look at it in another perspective. The topic here is pressure. Another common word we use is stress. In our modern society, having pressure is very common. Even in the above verse, God does not guarantee us any form of stress free lives. We are not immune from pressure or stress but we are not supposed to fail under it. This is the message from God in the above verse.

So, is pressure good or bad? The answer depends on how we deal with it. Many people had excelled when faced with it and at the same time many had failed under it. How will you fare in your pressure? It totally depends on how you intend to deal with it. In other words, we decide our own destiny though our actions today.

When I was in my first (and last) religious church, I could never believe that I am the master of my destiny. I was lead to believe that Christians are supposed to behave like mindless puppets to be manipulated by God, the ultimate puppet master. If God wants me rich, I will be rich. If God wants me poor, I will be poor. If God wants me to be sick, I will be sick. Sometimes I wonder, what if God wants me to be a terrorist?

Now that I am set free by God from the lies of theology, I begin to understand that God is not interested to micro manage me as though I am a mindless puppet. I have the right to choose what I want based on the truth I read from the Bible.

What has this got to do with pressure? We can choose our response to it. In particular, we can choose whether to triumph over it or to fail under it. The decision is ours, not God’s. If we choose to exercise our strength, we will never fail under any form of pressure.

Pressure happens when we are faced with the situation that we are not used to. This includes situations where we are expected to achieve more than what we think we are naturally capable of.

Here is an example. Suppose that you are capable of making one burger in every five minutes. You will not feel any pressure if you are asked to make 10 burgers in 1 hour. There is more than enough time. However if you are required to make 20 burgers in one hour, there will be pressure because it is beyond your current capability.

The next question is how are you going to deal with it? Are you going to give up, prepare to be sacked and find a new job for failing to meet expectations? This is failing under pressure. If you do that, you will most probably be repeating the same process in the future. At the end of your life span, you will still be the same person, capability of making only one burger in 5 minutes. You will never improve, nor will you advance to the next level.

Fortunately, this is not the only option you have. The alternative is to find ways to speed up the process to meet the target. Once you do that, there will be an outcome. You can either succeed or fail. If you succeed, congratulations. You have advanced to a higher level. You are in the position to move even to a higher level of prosperity.

However, should you fail and lose your job, it is still not the end. At least you have learned something new and tried. You have also established a habit of not giving up without a fight. In the end, you are better off compared to the alternative of failing under pressure.

In conclusion, it is clear that God wants us to triumph over all the challenges we face in our lives. Yes, there will always be pressure, but that does not mean God wants us to fail under it. Our role is to overcome it and use it as our stepping stones to greater success and glory. This is the real destiny for all believers. No exception.

Integrity

7 The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them.
Proverbs 20:7 (NLT)

Today’s theme is integrity. This happens to be the weakest part for many Christians especially those who are under the bondage of theology. If you want to access the level of integrity in religious churches, all you have to do is to visit them in a regular Sunday and visit again in any of their evangelistic events. You will find 2 separate “gospels” being preached.

I have highlighted this deception in my testimony since this blog was started. Since then, many religious people had tried to correct me to their “right doctrines” but none dared to dispute the fact that religious churches had been preaching 2 separate “gospels” to 2 separate groups of people. If you are not a Christian, salvation is by faith. All you have to do is to believe and you are saved. However, the moment you have become a Christian, you are obligated to obey certain rules because faith without works is dead. Some of these crackpots even said that if you do not obey their rules, you have never been saved in the first place.

This is the greatest proof that religious churches are integrity-challenged. Is God pleased with them? I doubt so. If it is the will of God for you to attend a religious church, it must also be his will for you to live without integrity. Yet the above verse says otherwise.

It is clear for us that God wants us the godly to walk with integrity. Our personal integrity is our testimony on our God’s faithfulness and reliability. We do not have to lie to save ourselves. Our God is more than able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we dare to ask for. So, when we choose to tell the truth even if it is not beneficial for us to do so, we are making a statement of faith of our God’s faithfulness and reliability. It will not take long for our prosperity to manifest.

So, the question here is not whether we should or should not walk in integrity. The real question is whether we truly believe in our God’s reliability to deliver and prosper us. If we truly believe in our God’s faithfulness in keeping his promises, we will have no problem walking in integrity. So, if you have problems in this area, the solution is to strengthen you faith.

The second part of the above verse says blessed are their children who follow them. When we choose to trust in God and walk in integrity, our blessings will not stop in our generation alone. The blessing will overflow to our children’s generation as well. It will become a legacy.

The choice is yours. Will you choose to trust in God and walk in integrity or will you prefer to trust in the Theologian and be integrity-challenged? Whatever your choice, you will always reap what you sow.

Righteousness Brings Wealth

20 I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice.
21 Those who love me inherit wealth. I will fill their treasuries.
Proverbs 8:20-21 (NLT)

The theme for this article is righteousness. This term has been widely used in churches including religious churches that are under the bondage of theology. I was familiar of this term when I was in my previous religious church. The religious preachers of my first church had given me the impression that righteousness means obeying God. (To those who had never been to religious churches, the phase “obey God” always means obey everything the preachers said.)

It should not surprise you that I hated righteousness. I thought it was another oppressive tool for the preachers to promote missions and squeeze money from their congregation.

I thank God for delivering me from the lies of theology. Today, I understand that righteousness means being right with God and I am righteous by faith and not by obeying the lies of theology.

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Romans 1:16-17 (NLT)

This means as Christians, we do not try to be righteous. We are righteous the moment we believe. Nothing and no one can change this truth, including the most perverse of all theologians. Righteousness is our natural state the moment we were born again into God’s species.

Proverbs 8:20-21 tells us the relationship between righteousness and wisdom. Since righteousness is our natural state, it is wise for us to walk in it. It is like birds flying in the air and fishes swimming in the water. All creatures can live in their best prosperity when they are in their natural state. This is the same for us, the sons and daughters of God. We can live in the best state of prosperity when we walk in righteousness, as stared in Proverbs 8:20-21.

20 I walk in righteousness, in paths of justice.
21 Those who love me inherit wealth. I will fill their treasuries.
Proverbs 8:20-21 (NLT)

The wisdom of God walks righteousness, in paths of justice. Those of us who choose to love wisdom will do the same. As a result, we will inherit wealth. Our treasuries will be filled. Some may ask what kind of wealth? Theologians and doctrine worshippers have the habit of adding the word “spiritual” to every promise on health and wealth in the Bible. This is the way they propagate the lie that God never promised health and wealth to Christians. However, if you read the entire Psalm 8, you will find that the context of wealth is physical assets.

This means living in righteousness will always bring us wealth, true physical wealth like having a lot money. This is the truth that Satan fears the most. This explains why he has been sending his theologians and doctrine worshippers to persecute Christians who believe in this truth.

There is no escape. If you are a Christian who believe in the truth of the Bible, you will be persecuted by the theologians and doctrine worshippers with labels like “Prosperity Gospel”. This is only a sign that you are on the right path. You are living the life God wants you to live. The result is prosperity in every area of your life, including health and wealth, both spiritually and physically.

In conclusion, “righteousness” is not an oppressive word nor is it a dirty word. It our natural state as sons and daughters of God. Through righteousness, we are in position to receive prosperity in every area of our lives, including the area that is dreaded by the Theologian (also known as Satan) – lots of money.

Guard Your Heart

23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

We are all familiar with the phrase “God is in control.” Even theologians and doctrine worshippers have no objection over it. However, the difference lies in its meaning and application.

In the minds of carnal Christians like the theologians and doctrine worshippers, the phrase “God is in control” means God is micro managing us. God is the one who decides on everything in our lives. Here are some examples.

 If you were hit by a car in an accident, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be in that accident. That accident brings glory to God.

 If you were infected by cancer or H1N1 flu, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be in sick. Your sickness brings glory to God.

 If you were raped, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be raped. The rape brings glory to God. God loves to see you being raped.

 If you were killed, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be killed. Your death brings glory to God because God loves murder.

 If you were poor, God is the one who planned it for you because it is the will of God for you to be poor. Your poverty brings glory to God because God loves to see people suffer in poverty.

The above are not exhaustive. By now I am sure you get the idea on how perverted theology is. Are they correct? If they are right about the Bible, I suggest we throw away the Bible. Who needs a perverted God?

Thank God, they are wrong. The truth is, God will never micro-manage us. The phrase, “God is in control” simply means God has the power to turn our situation around but he will never force his will on us. Let me give you an example.

The Bible has stated very clearly that it is the will of God for all believers to be rich on earth as in heaven. Being rich includes having a lot of money. If you happen to be a believer and you are poor, it is the will of God for you to receive your riches and be rich. However, you will not be forced nor threatened to do so. You have the freedom to reject God’s will in your life, believe in the heresy of theology and remain in poverty. This is the reason why so many Christians are poor. They choose to believe in the lie that God does not want them to be rich. This false belief has caused them to reject the blessing of prosperity from God.

While God has the power to exercise full control over our world, he will never do it without our direct approval because he has too much respect for us. The above verse tells us that it is the will of God that we as individual believers are the masters of our future. We have the right to determine which course we wish to take in our lives and we do it by guarding our hearts above all else.

23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

The term “heart” refers to our mind. Every day our senses receive a lot of news and this news is transmitted to our brains. Our brains will acknowledge and make sense on this news. Then the information is passed on to our minds. God has designed our minds to be extremely powerful. Our minds have the power to turn what is spiritual or virtual into its real or physical equivalent.

If we do not exercise control in guarding your mind, all type of bad news will get into it and your mind will turn them into real for you. Our minds may be very powerful but they have no common sense. It is our role to use our common sense to control the information that goes into it. We need to guard our hearts.

Let me give you an example in this. Whenever you read the news, you will hear a lot about the soaring unemployment rates, the bad economy and how people have been suffering. If your mind is unguarded, it will take in this information and make it real in your life. You will end up unemployed and suffer in this bad economy. When that happens, it is not God’s fault. It is not the will of God for you to be unemployed and suffer poverty. You made it happen by not guarding your heart as stated in Proverbs 4:23.

The question here is, how to guard our hearts? How are we supposed to prevent bad news from getting into our minds? The answer is we can’t. Everything we see and hear will go straight into our brains and minds. We cannot stop this flow. However, we can present the information to create a positive impression for our minds. Let me give you an example.

You read the news about many people getting laid off from their jobs and how much they are suffering. When this information gets into your brain, you are to add in a few lines like:

“Thank God, I am in this world but not of this world. God’s promise to prosper me will still hold despite the poor state of economy right now.”

“I want to help these suffering people but I cannot afford to do so now. I want to be very rich so that I can help them.”

“Jesus died poor for me to live rich. I am glad Jesus’ death at the Cross is more powerful than the effects of the bad economy right now. So, I will still be rich regardless of the circumstances.”

When you add in positive interpretations to your mind, you are effectively positioning your minds to think positive and subsequently your mind will make those positive impressions come true. This is the way we guard our minds/ hearts.

In addition, we should not meditate on the bad news. After you read the bad news, put it aside and move on. Do not meditate on it or you mind will start making it real for you.

In conclusion, God has made in clear that he has given us the freedom to decide on the course of our lives. We are the masters of our destiny. Why type of future do you want? Do you want to be rich, healthy and successful? If you do, your role is to guard your heart. Never allow your heart (mind) to think on anything that you do not wish to have and you do it by flooding your mind with thoughts on the future you want.

In short, guard your heart.

Is There A Lion Out There?

13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”
Proverbs 26:13 (NLT)

What I like most about the book of Proverbs is its practicality. It contains scenarios, which we can identify easily around us. The above verse tells us one of the favorite excuses of those who are lazy. They are convinced that there is a lion out there waiting to eat them if they go out. So, it is better to stay inside the house, be poor and die of starvation that to go out. This is the characteristic of those who are lazy. They always prefer the option of doing nothing.

I would like to expound the meaning of laziness here. It is not limited to the idea of not physically working. There are many people who have been working hard physically but they mentally lazy. They refuse to think of ways to improve themselves and their earning power.

In Singapore, you can seldom find people who are physically lazy. We are not a welfare state. Our “welfare” policy is: If you don’t work, you don’t eat. The only welfare pay out here is limited to those who are disabled and old. The welfare payment is very small. So, no one can take advantage on the welfare payment. On the whole, we Singaporeans are not physically lazy because we cannot afford to do so. However, that does not mean we are not immune to mental laziness. What is mental laziness? I shall explain in this article.

Most of us have no problem in looking for jobs and work in it. If we don’t earn enough, we may think of moonlighting at night. Is that the only way to get more wealth? How about starting a business or taking up additional courses? When faced with this question, most people will come up a lot of reasons why business will not work. There are no limits to the reasons they can come up with.

No money for capital.
No money for school fees.
Economy is bad (when the economy is really bad).
Cost is too high (when the economy is good)
Too tired after work.
No time to study.
Do not have the knowledge.
Not good in studying.
Not everyone can be rich because economists say there is a limit on money supply.
It is better to be happy that to be rich.
If God wants me to be rich, I will be rich.

The above list is not exhaustive. I am merely showing that there is no limit on the excuses people can make in order to stay inside their comfort zone. If you happen to be one of those who is doing the same, remember this, while you are producing reasons why you cannot be rich, there are others out there who are working their way to achieve their riches. 10 years from now, you will wish that you had done the same.

So, the moral here is, stop making excuses and move forward to get all the riches you desire.

Some may ask, “How about you? You are teaching others. What have you done yourself?” Here is my answer.

I am presently a resident engineer in a condominium development. The pay is good and the position is stable at least for 2 years. However, this job can basically be called “Jack of all trades and master of none,” I am not that naïve to think that I can ask for more money being a generalist. I need to specialize. Right now, I am giving myself one week to decide on which area to specialize in and I will take action on this coming Monday. For the moment I am more inclined towards steel structures. I want to be a specialist in this subject. Specialists earn more than generalists.

Next, I have an auto trading account in place. It is basically a forex trading account that comes with the option of incorporating various computer trading programs to trade for me. What I have to do is to choose the programs I want and set the risk parameters. The programs will trade for me 24 hours a day and five days a week even when I am sleeping. It is my wish that over time, I will see an avalanche of profits rushing into my account.

I have attended a property investment seminar. However I have not started anything because the property market in Singapore is quite erratic. Properties have been selling like hot cakes since May despite no real indication of economic recovery. Not only that, rents have been falling. All these tell me that the property market may face a downturn soon. I am waiting for it to happen so that I can pick up properties at low price.

You may also notice that I have this blog. Right now, I don’t think I can sell this blog for a few billion dollars but that does not mean I cannot do so in the future. I am working to develop it into a source of inspiration for people around the world. It is my wish that people around the world will visit this blog, read the articles, be inspired and go out to achieve their own breakthroughs in their lives. This blog is also a medium for me to showcase my capability and talent that can help me to make money in other areas.

These are the areas I am currently working on. I am looking at an entrepreneur course but I plan to take it after this project ends. I don’t want to overwhelm myself. After all, the Bible advised us not to wear ourselves out to get rich. I will just focus on these few areas.

The above are the actions I took in securing my future and to advance to the next level. I hope it inspires you to take your first step to do the same.

Do Not Fear Failures

16 The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
Proverbs 24:16 (NLT)

The theme for this article is failure. The above verse begins with ,” The godly may trip seven times..” The “seven” here is not literally the number 7. It means no matter how many times. So, I can rephase it into, “No matter how many times the godly fail, they will get up again.”

This is the characteristic of the godly. We are resilient. We can withstand all the attacks from Satan and hit him back until he collapse. This reminds me of the last episode of Star Trek Voyager. Starship Voyager entered a Borg infested region in her attempt to enter the transwarp conduit to find a way home. Usually the Borg cubes have superior firepower than Voyager but this time is different. Voyager is equipped with the future armor technology, thanks to the time travelling Admiral Janeway.

As Voyager entered the Borg region, a few cubes took up defensive position and fired at her. The armor technology enabled Voyager to take those blasts with minimum dent in her shields. Then, Captain Janeway ordered 2 trans-phasic torpedoes to be fired at one cube. The cube exploded on impact and was destroyed. The Borg retreated.

I like this scene. It gives me a picture on the difference between the godly and the wicked. The wicked can fire all their phasers and torpedoes at us, creating the impression that they have the upper hand but what they do not realize is we have God on our side. Our God has given us everything we need to withstand those attacks. Our shields and armor can hod those attacks. Our shields will not fail. We will not be boarded and the warp core will not breach. If God does not think we can overcome the trouble, he would not have allowed the attacks to happen in the first place.

So, it is important for us to remind ourselves that whatever trouble we are in right now, God thinks we can overcome it. In other words, the existence of the trouble is the proof that God has given us everything we need to overcome it. We have a choice in this situation. Will you choose to agree with God and overcome the trouble or will you choose to contradict God and allow your self to be defeated? The choice is yours.

Another point I want to make here is, we are not immune to troubles. Being a Christian does not mean you can have no trouble in your life. We may not be of the world but we are physically in the world. We are as physically vulnerable as the rest of humanity but we have a secret weapon that they don’t, our faith.

 Through our faith, we are linked to the supernatural blessings of God.
 Through our faith, we can triumph over every trouble.
 Through our faith, we can turn our poverty into prosperity.
 Through our faith, we can turn our sickness with health.
 Through our faith, we can turn our failures into success.

In conclusion, no matter how many times you appeared to have failed, do not give up your faith. The movie is not over yet. The only way the movie can end is when you win. You are the hero in this movie. God has decreed that this movie must have a good ending and good ending means you win.

Improve Your Competence

29 Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people.
Proverbs 22:29(NLT)

I have written on this verse before. This time I am taking another approach. The key word here is “competence”. Being competent means being able to perform our normal duties with higher efficiency, which in turn leads to faster results, better quality and lesser mistakes.

In the above verse, God wants us to be competent in our jobs and area of expertise. He pointed out that competent workers serve kings, not ordinary people. It seems to me that God wants us to improve in our jobs in order to get higher salaries. I am sure many of us will find such advice to be redundant. It is basic common sense. Why would God gave us such a common sense advice?

I believe he wants to remind us of a blind spot we often miss in our quest for improvements. Let me ask you this question. What comes into your mind when you think of getting rich? Most people with think of going out there to start a business, taking courses to get a better job or migrating to a richer country. Most of us cannot see how we can get rich in working in our current jobs. After all, if my job can make me rich, I am already rich by now.

The only exceptions are those high flyers who are on track to higher promotions. As for the rest of us, we look at the greener pastures at the other side of the fence and wish we can get there. So, Proverbs 22:29 is a timely reminder from God that there is also wealth where we are right now.

Let me give you a biblical example. David was a shepherd boy before he was summoned into the palace to serve King Saul. Do you think he had wasted his time as a shepherd? The answer is no. When David was working as a shepherd, he learned many things like building up his faith in God, fighting skills (like sling shots) when he fought the predators and familiarized with the topography of the region. When David took up the post of army commander, he was able to put in use the skills he had learned when he was a shepherd. So, David did not really waste his time as a shepherd.

This is the same for us. You may not see any opportunity for advancement in your present job. However, you need to realize that just because you don’t see it, it does not mean opportunity does not exist. God wants us to capitalize on the opportunities he has provided in our current jobs. He may wants you to move to another company or stay on with the existing one but the bottom line is there are many things you can do right now in your current job to improve your competency.

The following are some suggestions on how we should do it.

Work with the mentality of abundance.
People can tell the difference whether you work with a positive mindset or work grudgingly. When you fulfill the responsibilities of your job with a positive mindset, you will feel happy and more enthusiastic. People around you will be able to sense your joy and they will be drawn to you. You will have favor from God and men.

Not only that, working in a positive mindset is also a lifestyle of faith. When you are in faith, you can have everything you want. This is a guarantee from God.

Make it a habit to improve your job.
Even if your job is routine, it does not mean that you cannot think of ways to improve it. If you are a dish washer, think of ways to wash your dishes faster and cleaner. If you are selling burgers, think of ways to serve better and deliver the burgers faster to your customers. Whatever you are doing right now, there is always way to improve them. When you make it a habit to keep improving your works, your competence will also improve and you will be on your way to move up your career ladder.

Specialization.
I don’t think I need to convince anyone that specialists can earn more money than generalist. Being a specialist means focusing your efforts in acquiring knowledge and skills in a specific area of interest in order to become one of the best people in that area.

If you are a civil engineer, you can specialize in the construction of tall buildings, tunnels, bridges, dams or any other critical areas. If you are a chef, you don’t have to have the expertise to cook a lot of dishes. You can even specialize in desserts or cakes. So, you don’t even have to know how to fry a fish to be a high paying chef.

Specialization can indeed improve our income but it comes with a high price. It takes hard work in learning and taking additional courses after work. It won’t be a bed of roses but the reward is great.

Niche combinations.
Let me give you an example in this area. Supposing an music company needs to hire a manager to expand their business. The ideal candidate will need to have basic competence in management. However, if the job requires close interaction with the musicians, the company may want the candidate to have some music background. So, we have a special niche here, someone with both management and music background.

If you happen to fit into these 2 categories, you can demand a higher salary due to your uniqueness. There are many people out there with management expertise but you are the one who know music. There are many musicians out there but you are the one with management expertise. You may not be the best in management and music but the combination of both gives you an advantage.

In fact, this is the direction I am planning to take. Instead of taking courses in more advanced level in engineering, I am planning to expand my competence into area like quality. I want to be an engineer with expertise in ensuring overall quality in buildings. I will need to broaden instead of deepening my knowledge. I am learning more on architectural, electrical and mechanical works.

I am sure such expertise will be in demand as Singaporeans emphasize more in quality now.

Conclusion
No matter how bad your job situation looks like right now, there is always something to learn. You can only learn if you adopt a positive attitude in your job. Use it as an opportunity to improve in your competence. When you are truly competent, you will serve kings not ordinary men. You can even be the king’s business partner.

God wants us to improve in our competence. Don’t give up.