WHO ARE YOU
A Paper Presented By High
Chief Osaro Ollorwi on the Occasion of Egbalor Cultural Day Celebration on
Sunday 1st October, 2017 at Egbalor Civic Center, Egbalor Ebubu
Eleme
“In vain do
we build the city if we do not first build the man”, Edwin Markham.
You
Are Not A Name But Divine Personality
Mastering
who we are has been one of the most difficult tasks facing mankind. In battling
to find out who and what we are, many have been misled, destroyed and even
killed. Knowing who you are begins with knowing the difference and similarity
between your physical body and spiritual you; it means knowing the composition
of your body, soul and spirit; the trinity you and properly applying this
knowledge for the betterment of humanity. It enables you to distinguish between
your NAME (the mere means of physical identification) and your Divine PERSONALITY
(the totality of your INNER SELF, the spirit
of man which is the lamp of God that searches all the inner depths of his
heart).
In
attempting to find out who you are, it is necessary you first and foremost KNOW YOUR SELF. You must master,
explore and utilize your MIND POWERS in a manner that pleases God. God expects each and every one of us
to use the powers of his mind to advance the frontier of creation, add to human
comfort and pleasure. Think what the world would have been like in the absence
of Light, Motor Vehicles, Aeroplanes, Ships, Information and Communication
Technology and other notable discoveries that have dismantle space, subdue
distance, overcome time and made the world a global village, advance the
frontier of civilization and make life more lovely, enjoyable and pleasurable.
It is the human mind that drives those great achievements and breakthroughs.
The human mind still holds great opportunities and possibilities for mankind.
Join the train! You can be next to be admitted into the Hall of Fame and celebrated!
Dominate
Your World
Moses
in his narration of creation said rightly that God directed man to fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion
over everything .Solomon was emphatic when he held that God takes glory in
concealing things but it is to our own glory to search things out. A man’s mind
plans his way and God directs his steps. Therefore the mastering
of our mind is the first step towards knowing our SELF.
The
Human Mind
The
Mind is the greatest storehouse and workshop of all discoveries and development
of man. Yet the human mind remains one of the greatest challenges facing man as
he sojourn through life searching for who he is. This quest had led to the
discovery of several religions, believes and what is popularly known now as
“path”. From the cave of the early man in prehistoric age, through the Greek
world, Egyptian civilisation, Babylon, Rome, the Moors, Athens, Ancient Ebubu
Kingdom, the Judea-Christian tradition, and down to the present information and
communication technology age the urge to Know Thyself had been on.
Know
Your Self
As
an individual, have you ever ask yourself who you are? Have you ever ponder who
people say you are? How do the society, your friends, parents and siblings see
you? Above all, who does God say you are? Have you ever taken the time and
necessary efforts to synchronize all these views and perceptions to arrive at
who really you are? Are you comfortable with your concept of you? Are you happy
with your present state of life? Time may not permit us to answer all these
questions, but we will endeavour to deliberate on one or two of them.
To
know yourself means to discover your inner self, the God Within You, through
reprogramming your consciousness for excellence and success in life. It refers
to listening to your innermost vibrations that can help you discover your
potentials. It is what David Oyedepo described as “Productive engagements that excite you and pointers to the kind of
divine deposits that are on your inside”.
Every man and woman is naturally endowed by God. He did not create any
one without a natural talent. Everyone has been provided for. Right from
inception man has been given all he would need to succeed in life. No wonder
the Scripture says, “If anyone will not
work, neither shall he eat”. The Scripture equally enjoined “That you also aspire to lead a quiet life,
to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded
you. That you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may
lack nothing”.
In
his book, “In Search Of Ancient Gods”, Erich Von Daniken said, “When a man has a brilliant idea today he
has not discovered or invented it himself. He has dredged up basic information
from the primordial memory to the surface of consciousness. The creative man of
today must summon up knowledge from the punched holes of the remote past at the
right moment. Past, present and future are united in an exhilarating way in the
memory and mind of man”.
Learn
from Others
The
struggle to discover who you are is a tedious one. Many have been lured into
crimes and life of deception and make-believe all in the name of finding
meaning to life. Learn from the mistakes of others. When you learn from the
mistakes of others and avoid it; you are wise.
Many
have renewed their lives and become great achievers that the world not only
celebrate but adored. A glance at the story of the Phoenix, the bird in Greek
Mythology will suffice here.
According
to the tale, it was a rare species, only one of its kind. After living for
about half a millennium, the bird set itself ablaze and got burnt to ashes. And
from the ashes it emerged again, younger and renewed. It flew away.
This
story ought to stir something in the depth of your consciousness. There is an
inexplicable affinity between you and the bird. Let us briefly analyse the
story. The bird is like to you. The ashes are the pains, loss, defeat, sadness
and failure you have or are going through. Many people undergo this phase of
life once in a while.
One
experiences the ash phase of life when he begins to experience some reverse of
fortune. That is when the world seems cruel and lonely. It never rains but pours.
At one time or the other, one faces a reverse of fortunes. Problems, challenges
and other woes don’t leave in a hurry. They come like interminable down pours.
Everything you clutch at to get out of the drowning pool turns out to be a
straw. It is like falling down from a mountain peak; every boulder you clutch
at gives way, leaving you crashing further down. Every foothold gives way, and
you continue to crash down. And the sky is far away, seeming indifferent and
mocking at your efforts.
When
things get really bad, the first casualty is your ego and personality. Nothing
hurts a man’s image and self-pride more than serious reverse of fortunes that
leaves him feeling down and out. Everything seems to be squeezing and snuffing
out your life. Are you currently passing through such situation? You feel the
world is against you, snuffing life out of you? You feel like you are taking a
lonely walk through the valley of the shadow of death? Thank God, it is only a shadow, and not death
itself. Robert Schuller observed that, “Every
valley has its low point. Reach it and there’s only one way to go from that
point, and that’s upwards”. You can always use that fall to gather momentum
to bounce up again. Let your desire to be a great achiever be spiced with work.
Avoid the desire of the lazy man that kills him because his hands refuse to
labour.
In
You Lies Latent Powers
In
you lies a latent power capable of propelling you to achieve what you hitherto
termed difficult or impossible. The
inner self provides the freshness in our journey through life in a manner that
brings success and great achievements to the doorsteps of every person who
discovers its potentials and utilises it. This power has been variously
described. The Mystics call it “Cosmic
Consciousness”, the Psychics and Metaphysicians refer to it as the “Great Within” or the “Inner Being”. Moses knows it as “Breath of Life”. Elijah denotes it as “A Still Small Voice”. Prophet Isaiah
terms it “My Spirit”. In one place
Jesus Christ described this POWER as “Keys
to the Kingdom of Heaven”, in another he refers to it as the “Gift of God” and yet in another as the
“Wisdom of God”. Apostle James
defines it as “Spirit Who Dwells in Us”.
Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians describes it as “Christ in You”. Harold Sherman names
it “God Consciousness”, and says, “You can, through intelligently directed
meditation awaken higher sensory powers within you which will make it
increasingly possible for the God Power within to offer guidance and protection
to you through the faculty of your intuition”.
David
Oyedepo recognises it as “The
Supernatural” and stressed in the introduction to his book, “Releasing The
Supernatural” that his aim is “to
provoke you to a rediscovery of your roots in God and how you can unlock the
vast potential of the supernatural for your welfare in life. From the days of
the patriarchs until now, those who have ‘reigned in life’ have been those who
were adept at harnessing the forces of the supernatural”. We live in a
world of choices and not chances. Your lot in life is determined by your
choice. God reaffirmed that you and I are in His class of Being. ‘I said, “You are gods, and all of you are children
of the Most High”’. You are spirit and you belong to the class of God. One
of the greatest discoveries you can make about yourself is to know that you are
a SPIRIT after the order of God.
Problem
Confronting Youths Today
The
greatest problems confronting our youths today is not unemployment, poverty or
illiteracy, as many of us would want to postulate, but mind-set that turns our
youths into mediocre and failures, or into monsters and makes their dream
success like Hitler’s, become nightmare to others. “Down the ages”, says Etin-osa S. Omuemu, “this has become the root cause of man’s
chaos, oppression and wars”. In her book, “Battlefield of the Mind”, Joyce
Meyer cautioned that “People living in the vanity of their own mind not only
destroy themselves, but far too often, they bring destruction to others around
them”. She urged us to gain control over our mind and you will find freedom and
peace.
You
Are What You Think and Do
No
identical twins have identical “self”. It is the “Self” that makes us individual and unique and relates us to
God. The Inner Self or Spirit is the SPARK of God that takes up the case which
we call body to express the Self that either redefines the world, advance the
frontier of creations and makes life comfortable for all; or brings about war
to destroy, enslave, exploit or take that which is the possession of other men.
The expression “image and likeness of God” doesn’t
refer to your physical body but that “breathe”
of God or the “Christ” in you which
has the capacity to lift you from nothingness to significance. That accounts
for why a little child, a blind, lame, deaf or any physically or mentally
challenged person can express and demonstrate God to the surprise of many.
This
is the time for you to have a change of mind-set, to receive mind empowerment
to live and overcome to become who God wants you to become, a great achiever
with all the powers to explore and dominate the universe, subdue and overcome
all obstacles and hindrances.
Challenges Are
the Flavours of Life
In
every man and woman’s life there comes a time of ultimate challenge, a time
when every resources you have is tested; a time when your faith, your values,
patient, ability to persist and persevere are all pushed to the limit and
beyond. Some people use such tests as opportunities to become better people;
others allow these experiences of life to destroy them.
Instances abound in the
Bible where challenges made people to revert to the Inner Self to bring out the
best. Joseph who dreamt of the Moon and Stars and rose to become a Prime
Minister in Egypt discovered the secret of his success inside the pit where his
brother threw him. Moses was one of the most remarkable characters in the
Bible. He had a mandate from God to bring the children of Israel out of the
land of Egypt. Trapped between the Egyptian Army and the Red Sea the secret was
revealed to him.
Abraham
had a great assignment to bring out a Covenant Child through whom the whole
would be blessed. But the fact on ground was bad enough. The wife was too old
and so was Abraham. Yet he has expected to be a father of many nations. When
God asked him to count the stars, there was something Abraham saw in those
stars. That was the secret. It still remains till this day as one of the
principles of success if you apply it.
Love Transforms Fortunes
When
hunger made Esau to sell his birth-right to his brother Jacob, he did not dwell
on his mistakes for too long, but rather, he pardoned himself, reprogrammed his
mind, changed his attitude, launched himself on the path of success and became
a great achiever. There reunification was famous. Their successes were
celebrated. Esau showed love to Jacob not hatred. He embraced and kissed him
and they expressed joy of brotherhood. Jacob confession that he had seen the
face of Esau as though he had “seen the face of God” also reveals the power of
love in transforming fortunes. Success is never in isolation of the will of
God and the general welfare of every other man. Esau did not look at the
shadows. He knew that there is no substance there.
You
Are Solution to the World
There
is a potential in you which represents a solution to the world. The proper
exercise and channelling of this potential is what makes a man rise from
obscurity to prominence. You are limited by your mind. Believe you can win all
the time. Focus on victory in your mind ahead of time. Your level of
consciousness, your character, attitude, and behavioural pattern determine what
you attract to yourself. Consequently, let all your thinking, feelings, gestures,
expressions and actions reflect positive attitude, and you will go on winning
and succeeding.
Any
battle can be won in the mind. Edward Hilary said, “It’s not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves”. You have a
responsibility to break away from that self-limitation. Unchain the imagination
and let it breath with vibrant colours of multiple opportunities, break loose
from the fetters of limited experience and unproductivity. The earlier the
better! There is danger in delay because the more you continue seeing things
from the wrong attitudinal point, the more you get to firmly accepting it as
the right way.
Don’t
Underestimate the Potency of Your Mind
Do
not underestimate the power of your mind.
Dr. Lao Russell declared that,
“There is nothing else to know for the mind is the seed of creation from which
all things unfold from invisibility”. Stair up your faith and pursue your
set goal today; search your life, explore your mind, harness your supernatural
resources to solve life problems. Trace out what you must do and go into it
with boldness. Release the supernatural and live life to the fullest. “The
supernatural is not reserve for us till we get to heaven. It is to be
manifested here on earth”, David Oyedepo pointed out. Walter and Lao Russell observe in their book,
Atomic
Suicide, that there is height you reach and you will comprehend your
omnipotence and work knowingly with the divine Mind-power which is within you”.
The wealth and power of the world lies inside you. Stop REMEMBERING and
REPEATING and begin to THINK and KNOW.
Connect
With the Universe
Avoid
selfishness and self-centeredness. Give to the services of mankind and the
world will reward you abundantly. Self-centeredness is an attitude of the mind,
and like love, it is an emotion. Neither can be seen, but both are demonstrated
by our actions. Self-indulgence can be overcome and replaced by love. The table
below is a description of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. It also contrasts love
and selfishness.
Table
1: Characteristics of Selfishness and Love
|
SELFISHNESS LOVE
Impatient
Patient
Unkind Kind
Proud Sincere
Suspicious Generous
Self-seeking Polite
Inconsiderate Trusting
Demanding Gracious
Unselfish
|
Advices
1.
There is potential in you which
represent a solution to the world.
2.
Picture what you want and you capture
it. Desire and visualization are forces that drive the ether. You cannot go
beyond what your mind (inner self) can see.
3.
Rise from your ashes and fly. Like our
story of Esau reprogramme your mind, change your attitude, launch yourself on
the path of success and became a great achiever.
4.
See problems as opportunity for growth
and self-mastery. Know that you will find no real satisfaction or happiness in
life without obstacles to conquer, goals to achieve, and a purpose to accomplish.
Challenges leave us better and richer in experience. If you look at problems
with the possibility attitude you will benefit from it.
5.
Value the powers of your mind. Do not
underestimate the powers of your mind. Your mind or Inner Self is the God or
Christ in you. You can be confident about the future if you walk with God in
the present.
6.
Your dreams can be likening to a wheel
barrow, if you don’t move it forward; it remains on the same spot. Take the
first step and doors all over begins to open. You can’t watch destiny come through to you,
you have to work it out! Destiny does not fall down from the sky, rather it
starts from that thing you are meditating over and appreciating always
concerning your life and future. Solve a problem for the world and the world
will reward you for it.
7.
Concentration and focus entail the
coordination of all the energy of thought, action, and purpose to one point of
vision. “To finish the race, stay on the
track”, says John Mason.
8.
Change does not start from the outside
unless it comes from the inside. If you can change your attitude, then you can
change your life.
9.
What you SEE is what you GET and is also
what you will BE. See yourself a failure and you will be one. See yourself a
success and you are one. The power of your imagination is your most precious
gift. It is what you choose to see that matters not the resources and life
experiences.
10. Success
is being in position to help others. “If
you eat all your food and drink all your waters alone, it will soon dry up. But
if it flows out to others you will stay refreshed. Stagnant water stinks”,
posited David Oyedepo. Solomon also admonishes that, “There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who
withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty”.
11. Clarify
your desire and you will discover your destiny. What are the things you want?
Desire is a positive power. Desire when released into the universe links you to
your destiny.
12. Love
attracts good; love propels desire and desire fires imagination, the audio and
visual channel that God uses to communicate His dream to your consciousness.
Love revitalises and recreates the universe. Love what you do, do what you
love. Passion kindles enthusiasm and ecstasy. Love recognises no barrier or
obstacle on its way to success.
Conclusion
From
the foregoing it is clear that we think in mental pictures, not words.
Associated with every mental image of a life experience is the feeling you had
at the time. Today, you are the sum total of your mental and emotional reactions
to whatever has happened to you, up to the present moment. What you are is
represented by the mental image you have of yourself and your attitude toward
life and others. You are dominated, at any given moment, by what you think and
how you feel. If you think good thoughts, you will eventually attract good
things and vice versa.
You
are a far greater and better person than you have ever thought yourself to be.
Irrespective of your time in life, the kind of body or mind with which you came
into this world or have developed, the experiences you have had to date, you
possess unlimited possibilities for development.
Finally,
if you haven’t known your SELF, then you haven’t started living. The supernatural
is not reserve for us till we get to heaven. It is to be manifested here on
earth. Arise and shine!
High Chief Osaro
Ollorwi
