SUCCESS SECRETS: Information & Decision

 Deuteronomy 8:1-3
One of the most important and significant things you can do to transform your life is to value intangible resources above tangible resources. Valuing intangible resources enables you to become more creative and gives you dominion. While Jesus was on earth, His teachings regularly emphasised the importance of intangible resources. God’s main objective for leading the children of Israel (former slaves) through the wilderness was to teach them to value His principles and commandments above physical food and material possessions. Money and other assets become over-valued by someone who has suffered a lot of deprivation. We live in a society that defines success mainly by the possession of material things and we tend to forget that the spiritual world created the material one (Hebrews 11:3). Esau and Jacob were differentiated by the value they placed on the tangible and the intangible. Jacob realised the importance of the intangible (the birthright) and gave what he had (his food – a tangible resource) in exchange for Esau’s birthright and eventually dominated Esau. If you get the intangible, you will also get the tangible.
The most powerful intangible resource in the world is information. The countries which have the highest quality of information dominate other countries. In Genesis 1, we see that God created the world using information. In Deuteronomy 8, Moses was telling the Israelites that God wanted them to develop a new value system where they are not over-excited by material wealth. Information is the foundation for transformation (John 1:1). The absence of information makes man susceptible to failure and domination by the devil which then results in deformation (Hosea 4:6). Physical exertion cannot be equated to intelligent work. The most impactful work you will do is mental work. In the absence of mental work, you will need to exert a lot of energy (Eccl 10:10, 15). The quality of your life cannot be better than the quality of your thoughts. Therefore, place a high value on acquiring information. The way physical food builds your body, is the way information builds your spirit. The quality of your life or your spirit can never be better than the information you feed it. Invest in books, CDs, DVDs and everything that stores information. If you want the quality of your life to continue improving, you must never stop learning.
In 1Kings 18:21, Elijah challenges the whole of Israel on Mount Carmel and asks them to decide whom they want to serve. By your composition and design, you will only realise your potentials when you are specific and definite. Indecisive people don’t make progress and therefore, cannot realise their potentials (James 1:5-7; Revelations 3: 15-16). Success is a matter of choices, not chances and you create your own luck when you make firm decisions. Your decision determines your destiny; so make a firm decision to be successful. Indecision is foreign to God’s nature and yours and will cause you to malfunction. Being double minded is like driving in the middle of the road; the likelihood of being hit by other travellers is very high. When you don’t make decisions, you become a victim of other people’s decisions. People who refuse to make specific decisions do not make progress. Nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific. There is power in a mind that is made up, therefore, make up your mind to succeed.