Secondly, it should be for the provision of our families’ needs and service to humanity. These will leave you a happy fulfilled man.

Unfortunately, most people don’t discover what life is all about until just before they die. Don’t wait until you are on your death bed to realise the purpose of life and your role in it.

Often, we attempt to live our lives backwards. We spend all our lives striving to get wealth hoping that would make us happy and fulfilled. Happiness and fulfilment comes when you commit yourself, talent and resources to service for God and Humanity. That is on a purpose that honours God and makes a difference in other people’s lives.

George Bernard Shaw said, “This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognised by yourself as a mighty one, being a true force of Nature instead of a little feverish god of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and, as long as I live, It is my privilege to do for it whatever I can………..” Similarly, Al Koran wrote in “The Secrets of Wealth” that, “When you send your money out, remember always to bless it.

Ask it to bless everybody that it touches, and command it to go out and feed the hungry and cloth the naked, and command it to come back to you a million fold. Don’t pass over this lightly, I am serious.” I said it earlier that when you recognise God as the giver of your wealth through service to Him and humanity, God is committed to ensuring that your wealth lasts. He will block financial waste on your behalf. He is faithful concerning His word.

When others are talking of losses, you are talking of gains. When they are talking of low sales, you are thinking of managing your high sales. Honouring God With My Wealth. Money is the vehicle for effective evangelism (Ex 35:21-29). The expansion of the kingdom of God (evangelism) depends on our individual financial position.

Can a church organise programs, camp meetings, crusades, print tracts, build a beautiful sanctuary or sponsor missionaries on a lean purse? There is no way the work of God can progress if the individuals in the church are poor.

That is why God gave us the ability to create wealth. With this ability, you are empowered to advance God’s work, cater for your family and assist the less privileged in the society. The expansion of the work of God is directly proportional to the individual’s financial prosperity or level. Look at (Acts 28:7) Publius – a prominent and wealthy citizen received the disciples and entertained them for three days.

That is hospitality to God’s servants. Definitely, this man must have been blessed by the men of God. He also must have recognised the source of his wealth and honoured God in his own little way. Read (Rom 12:13) on how to use your wealth. Hospitality is defined as a friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests or strangers especially in our homes. Hospitality is not possible without the means to provide it.

Anyway, most times we get so carried away by our success and we assume it came by our effort only. We forget that there is a supreme being who orders the affairs of man. Do you know that there is a reward when we honour God with our wealth or when we contribute to God’s work? Read (Prov 3:9-10 and Mal 3:10).

When God blesses us financially, it is designed to service God’s work. If you ignore it, you become a victim of financial affliction because God will ignore your welfare. Read (Hag 1:2-9). We should lay up treasures for us in heaven. We shouldn’t be pushed to offer our tithes (10%) and offerings (2Cornth 9:6- 12). Your deposit determines your withdrawal and your casting determines your catching. If you cast a hook, you catch a fish. Cast a net, you catch a net breaking and boat sinking catch.

I have tested everything I have written in this article and I testify to the validity of the word of God. Finally,

Please do not neglect your health and family in your quest for wealth. If your family is in disarray and your health is being affected, you can not call yourself a truly successful person. My advice is taken from: (Pro. 23:4-5). It says, “Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle towards heaven.”

Give God your heart and you will make your mark.

• Essential Expenses – these are expenses we can’t cut like bills, food, rent etc.
• Optional Expenses – Everything else.

Our personal values determine where we draw the line. George S Clason said, “All men and women are burdened with more desires than they can gratify. And each of us with our good families has more desires than our earning can gratify.”

Please take note that our essential expenses will be equal to our income unless we protest. However, we should not confuse our necessary expenses with our desires. Even if we satisfy these desires, more will still come up. The economist says human wants are insatiable. That is true.

You must realise that we live in a society where marketers have devised sophisticated means of selling what they want us to buy and at their terms. Well, they are only doing their job. We on our own must be wise. Prioritize your needs, wants and desires.

Let us therefore look critically at our habits of living andidentify certain accepted expenses we can reduce or eliminate temporarily or completely. Select the necessary ones and others that your 80% can accommodate. Cross out the rest without looking back.

Budget your necessary expenditure. These secrets would surely create wealth for you but the wealth will ONLY last when you first recognise the unseen hand that gave you the ideas and the strength to implement them.

Here are a few examples of those who for one reason or the other failed to acknowledge this unseen hand – GOD Make a personal reflection about this………….It is as interesting as it is thought provoking. Read till the end.

John Lennon (Singer):
Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said: “Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him” (1966). Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.

Tancredo Neves (President of Brazil):
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from His party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.

Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):
During A show in Canecio (Rio de Janeiro), while smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: “God, that’s for you.” He died at the age of 32 of AIDS in a horrible manner.

The man who built the Titanic : After the construction of the Titanic, an article asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said: “Not even God can sink it.” The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic.

Marilyn Monroe (Actress)
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: “I don’t need your Jesus”. A week later, she was found dead in her apartment.

Bon Scott (Singer)
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang: “Don’t stop me; I’m going down all the way, down the highway to hell”. On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit.

Campinas (IN 2005)
In Campinas, Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend….. The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter – holding her hand, who was already seated in the car? “My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You…” She responded: “Only If He (God) Travels in the Trunk, because inside Here…..It’s already full” Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died, and the car could not be recognized, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact.

The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none were broken.

Christine Hewitt (Jamaican Journalist and entertainer) Said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written. In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle. It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7): “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever man sows, that shall he also reap.

These facts are not intended to scare us but to state the obvious: God sure rules in the affairs of men and we all need to acknowledge HIM if we are to experience dominion in every aspect of our life.

Before investing, you must first determine the type of investor you are. Are you a high, medium or low risk taker? Depending on your temperament, some investors are great risk takers while others are not.

The timeless success principle says, “Life is nothing more than a game of numbers – the more risks you take, the more rewards you will receive.” Or in the words of Sophocles, “Fortune is not on the side of the faint hearted.”

Therefore, your risk level determines your investment vehicle and your investment vehicle determines your income. Remember, the higher a risk, the more income you can make.

Take a wise risk, otherwise later in life, when you are spent, your greatest regrets and sadness will usually be from all those risks that you did not take, all those opportunities you did not seize and all those fears you did not face.

The real secret of abundance is to spend less time searching for security and to spend more pursuing opportunities. You will win some and lose some. But failure is nothing more than learning to win.

Secondly, you have to acquire knowledge in your area of interest. This means that if you are interested in buying shares, then you must seek knowledge in the stock exchange. The same goes for any enterprise you wish to embark upon.

Sun Tzu in his book ‘Art of War’ said,

“If you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a
thousand battles.”

“If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every
victory gained, you will also suffer defeat.”

“If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will
succumb in every battle.”

The first sound principle of investment is security for the principle. Therefore read and educate yourself on the investment vehicle of your choice.

• It restores a sense of focus in our lives where there are many distractions and conflicting demands. These distractions can make us lose focus in life. It provides us with a framework for smarter choices. If you know exactly where you are going, it becomes far easier to select those activities that will get you to your destination.

• It keeps us alert to opportunities. Knowing what your goal is, you will be able to see early, an opportunity that you can take advantage of in order to achieve your goal. A clearly defined goal commits you to a course of action. Therefore setting your financial goals is a secret to wealth creation and achieving financial freedom. It could be monthly, yearly, bi-annual etc.

Let’s assume that you set out to make $1,000,000 this year. Fine…………..the next thing is to plan how to achieve that goal. This plan could include generating the income from many sources. These sources may include one or a combination of all these:

• Stream 1 – Income from work place, allowances. Etc
• Stream 2 – Income from private practice. That is outside your official work and it requires your presence.
• Stream 3 – Investments in stocks, real estate, deposits, commerce etc.
• Stream 4 – Others not included in 1-3.

Develop The Habit of Savings :

Many of us have different reasons for not saving. Some of these reasons are:

• The money I make is never enough.
• There’s just no way to reduce my expenditures.
• Maybe when I get promoted.
• After paying my debt.

To save is to resist the temptation to spend money. It starts with the determination to save. If you don’t determine to save and make it also a habit, then you will always have an excuse not to save.

The reason is that our desires are insatiable. So if you don’t control your desires, you will always be in debt. Even when all the reasons given above have somehow been met, the money will never be enough, if you don’t have the determination to save nor to control your wants. In savings, I adopt the principle of “The Richest Man in Babylon” Get the book and read it. In a nut shell, he said that “double taxation” is a key element in establishing financial freedom.

This double taxation involves giving a 10 % of you income to God first and keeping a second 10% for yourself. The remaining 80% is for you to cater for your essential needs and expenses.

The 10% for God is in obedience to His word in Mal 3:10 which gets God committed and bound to honour in your favour. He promised to block all avenues of financial waste. These wastes could be from sickness, bad investment, theft and loss. This 10% is to be given to your local church or in support of missionary works and charity.

Even if you are not religious, try this secret. It works. Sometimes, we feel that the 10% could go a long way in paying for one bill or the other. But let me ask, what if you hadn’t gotten the money, wouldn’t you have still paid the bills anyway?

Having 80% for personal need in my opinion is enough if we set our priorities right. I have tried God in this particular secret and I must confess it has been good for me. God can’t lie whether we believe it or not. He is committed to His promises.

So much has been written on savings and I advice you get some good investment manuals to learn more. The bottom line is SAVE for the future and the unforeseen now.

That is on a purpose that makes a difference in our lives and that of others. To achieve financial freedom, you need to:

• Have a relationship with God.

A relationship with God is a very vital element in our wealth creation process. The realisation of your limitation as a mortal and your absolute dependence on God for ideas, guidance and strength is the No. 1 secret.

When your spirit is in tune with the Spirit of God, you receive ideas divinely designed to enable you create wealth. Remember, the steps of a righteous man are ordered by God. You will be divinely guided and empowered with strength and ideas for success. Every creation or invention first starts as an idea which is later nurtured to fruition.

The ideas you receive, once implemented, will definitely bring you wealth because God is committed to honouring His words concerning His children. You must act on the idea; remember God does not waste ideas.

If you are not ready and willing to implement it, it will be given to someone else who is ready and willing to implement it. The other fellow takes the advantage and you end up regretting. I am sure you have seen an idea which first occurred to you being implemented by someone.

Therefore, develop a personal relationship with God. Make His business your business and God will make your business His business. Remember, “the desires of the righteous shall be granted.” (Prov.10:24)

• Changing Our Mindset.

We need to replace false assumptions with the true ones. No one is created to be poor. You are destined for greatness but it all depends on whether you believe in yourself or not. Bishop David Oyedepo said, “Life delivers to you only what you are willing to accept.” This is a fact. If you accept poverty, WOW, it will come knocking but if you accept a good life, you sure will have a good life.

Let me repeat what Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” And I know for sure that as a man thinks in his soul, so is he.

You will get uncountable ideas to generate wealth when you are positioned for a change. When you mindset has been recreated. It will be open to ideas which you will recognise as a potential wealth generator. It’s all about our belief system.

• Identify Your Skill/Talent.

Take stock of your skills and interest and begin to develop it for use to glorify God and serve humanity. Let service and not money be your vision and before long, God will single out some skills which you can commercialise and the money will roll in.

When a need is identified and fulfilled, you are in business. Norman Cousins once said, “The tragedy of life is not death, but what we let die inside of us while we live.” These are our talents and skills which could have been harnessed.

It is said that the cemetery is the greatest reservoir of ideas; because a lot of ideas die with their owners without being nurtured to fruition. These ideas could have changed the world. What a tragedy.

What a pity that most of us have lost sight of the talents and gifts that lie within us and have resigned ourselves to spending our best years watching television.

And we spend too much time focusing on our weaknesses rather than developing our strengths. The greatest people among us focus on their talents rather than their weaknesses. You see, we are all gifted in one thing or the other. We can indeed be geniuses. So take the time to discover what your personal gifts are and become a genius in it, then use it for the benefit of others and the money will surely come.

God desires for us to have life and have it more abundantly. It is His desire for us to live a rich and fulfilled life. Fulfilment in life can only happen when you impact on the lives of others through selfless service. Wealth is a factor to achieving this. You can’t give what you don’t have…..can you?

But let me ask you as a Christian……..Do you live in an average house, go to an average place of work, and have an average bank account? Do you also hope to die an average death unknown and unsung so that you can make heaven?

That is the small box mentality. Don’t just exist, live life and live it well. Dream dreams and make an impact on humanity and for God. Life is about living your dreams; don’t dream of a good life, live a good life. Don’t dream of making an impact on mankind, make an impact.

Now coming to the question I earlier asked, can religion and wealth go together? I will answer as a Christian…. My answer is YES…Christians MUST desire and work to get wealthy for it is part of our redemption package. Besides, it is a vehicle for the advancement of God’s kingdom here on earth. Wealth or prosperity is a right for every child of God. There are so many scriptures that buttress this. However, let us examine (Deut. 8:18) It says, “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to create wealth that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (NKJV).

Looking at this and many more, you will agree that nobody is created poor. As a matter of fact, God is not glorified by our poverty. How can the Kingdom of God advance if all Christians are poor?

But God has made the provision for us to improve our financial standing that His work might go on. The problem therefore lies in us. Believing His Word and honouring Him with the wealth. Do we have the right mindset to achieve financial freedom to the Glory of God?

You need to create a mindset of abundance. The mindset of an individual is what makes him rich or poor. You are the only person who can prevent yourself from achieving a financial freedom. God has already given us the ability. Benjamin Disraeli once said, “Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.”

It is not what you think that is holding you back in life. It is what you think you are not. God has given us the power to make wealth. Until we change our mindset and back it with action; we shall continue to struggle financially.

My friends, the mindset of the wealthy and upper class people confers in them, the habit of wealth creation and gathering. They are not into liabilities. The middle class believes in showing how many cars they own. While the poor have a certain mindset – they are destined to be poor.

The poor believe that God created them that way – no connection or a rich background. But we forget that the thoughts of God towards us are of peace and not evil, to give us a future and a hope. (Jer 29:11). God has deposited in each and every one of us a lot of potentials and abilities to harness and create wealth for Him, our families and the society. But our mindset limits us and we end up blaming people and the society.

Now, looking at wealth in this context, how many of us reading this article, believe they are wealthy? 10, 17 or 1,000. Well if you are, then congratulations. Otherwise, you still have an opportunity to learn how to become one. I believe that most of us are engaged in one form of work or the other. Be it a paid job or personal business. At least we are engaged in some productive ventures in order to provide food for our families’ need.

But Can This Job Make Us Wealthy?

I don’t think so. It could give us a measure of comfort but not wealth as described earlier. Most of us are working for money when we are employed. This is to assure there would be pension for us when we retire. But working for money can not make anyone wealthy. It is economic slavery. You might get fired one day when your productivity drops and lose your income source. That can’t make you wealthy. You become wealthy only when your money works for you.

Your money works for you when it is put into ventures that require little or no input on your part, except your initial investment and re-investment. These ventures could be in real estate, savings deposit or shares/stocks.

No paid job will ever make anyone wealthy. I have since realised this. Robert Kiyosaki said, “We all learn to work formoney, but it is the few who learn how to make money work for them that achieve financial freedom.”

3 Avenues Where Money Works For You Are When You:
• Invest in Equity/Shares.
• Invest in Real Estate.
• Operate a Savings/Deposit accounts.

I know you must have heard of these avenues before, but have you really given them more than a passing thought? You need to because, the moment I did, I observed a change in my life and income.

I am an advocate of the first two. Hey! I’m not saying that the third is not ok. On the contrary, the three are ok but the first two have more advantages than the third. But this is not the focus of this article……..it only complements it. Now the crux of this article is discovering the Secrets to Wealth Creation and Making It Last.

It only requires a conscious and committed effort on your path to make a change. That is the only assurance for a success. The choice is yours. Success and failure in life generally are about taking chances and not taking chances. One man is a success because when the chance came, he was ready, able and capable of meeting it headlong.

Another is a failure because when the chance came his way, he was found unwilling and incapable of taking it. That is life. So, in addition to the secrets to wealth creation, you will also understand that your desire for wealth must have a purpose for it to last. What do you intend to do with the wealth you desire after you have acquired it? Albert Schweitzer said,” There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.”

About Me

Warmest greetings to you……..
My name is John McKay, the author of this article you are now reading. I was born forty years ago. I have always desired the good things of life like most people and have also dreamt of living a wealthy and fulfilled life.

But somehow, I found myself living an average life and just struggling to survive through the years. This struggle continued until 4 years ago when I decided that I have had enough of this rat race or what my friend calls “small box mentality”. This decision to change my quality of life was as a result of what Bishop David Oyedepo said during a church service. He said,” Life delivers to you only what you are willing to accept.”

My eyes were opened to the secrets of creating wealth and sustaining it. I discovered that God had deposited in me the ability to create wealth. I made up my mind to be all that I have ever dreamt of.

I read motivational books, books on investments and financial management and related them to the words of God. I saw that the principle of wealth creation and wealth multiplication are basic and in the Bible. We only need to apply them. Subsequently, I applied the “double taxation” and other principles I learnt. Now, I earn a six digit income in addition to having multiple streams of income; one of which is selling on ebay. I have a wonderful wife and 2 beautiful children all living in Ireland.

Ireland is a very peaceful and beautiful country. I love making money, inspiring and watching people, polo, golf and praising God. You see, “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” You need to understand that when God dominates your finance, you are bound to command financial dominion. Align yourself to the truth in Mal 3:1-end and experience the validity of God’s promises.

The validity of these promises however lies in you fulfilling your part of the conditions. These, I have done and I urge you to try them too. One thing for sure – no one else is going to do it for you. If you choose to sit down, fold your hands and do nothing for one reason or the other, no amount of wishful thinking or dreaming will help you.

Remember that, “ When one door of happiness, success or opportunity closes, another is open, but often enough we keep on starring at the closed door that we do not see the one that is open.”

It is not about physical strength. It is all about you knowing and applying the right principles. It takes wisdom to make the right decision.

Get wise now.