This is a must read it will only take 2 min. Be
Blessed!

There once was a man who had nothing for his family
to eat. He had an old shotgun and three bullets. So, he decided thathe would go
out and kill something for dinner.
As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit and he shot at the rabbit and missed it.
Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it.

As he went further, he saw a wild turkey in the tree and he had only one bullet,
but a voice came to him and said "pray first, aim high and stay focused."

However, at the same time, he saw a deer which was a better kill. He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattle snake between his legs about to bite him-so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattle snake.

Still, the voice said again to him, "I said 'pray, aim high and stay focused." So, the man decided to listen to the voice. He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey.

The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake on the head and killed it. And, when the gun went off, it knocked him into a pond.

When he stood to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and turkey to eat. The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to God.

Bottom line: Pray first before you do anything, aim and shoot high in your goals, and stay focused on God.

A diamond, the most beautiful and precious gemstone, symbolizes love, purity and strength. A perfect diamond can dazzle any beholder with its brilliance and sparkle. Yet one that appears beautiful to the eye may contain imperfections and flaws when viewed by an expert with a special magnifying lens.

All of Christ’s suffering and death, the maturing process of the individual and corporate believer and the eternal plan of God is to create a Church - a body of believers - which when showcased to the world will sparkle and shine like a perfect diamond, without spot, wrinkle or blemish. This final Church is described in Revelation as having the glory of God, shining like gold and transparent as glass (Revelation 21: 9-21).

A perfect diamond is of the highest clarity, cut, carat and color. Clarity refers to lack of visible or invisible flaws or imperfections. In a diamond, some spots or flaws are visible to the naked eye, diminishing its value. Within the Church, these represent failures that can be detected with relatively little difficulty. These are the glaring sins that are exposed by their natural or inherent consequences, such as a non-marital pregnancy, a husband who abandons his family, exposed theft or gossiping, etc.

The more subtle imperfections that distort the true brilliance of God’s people are the inner imperfections, the inclusions in a diamond which many don’t see, but are known to the expert, the one who eventually determines its worth.

A diamond dealer will examine a supposedly valuable diamond with a magnifying lens to detect any flaws invisible to the naked eye which mar the true clarity and value. These flaws, called nature’s birthmarks, are the result of the environment in which the diamond was formed or from which it emerged, reminders of an imperfect past. They are specks of other minerals that reduce the overall brilliance by interfering with the path of light as it travels through the gem.

The Holy Spirit knows the Church God desires to reflect His glory- a perfect diamond of a Church. And He works to reveal the inner imperfections, those hidden flaws that only He can reveal. Often we may not know we have these imperfections or may not realize the extent to which they are reducing the glory of God’s Church, thinking that they are individual issues. These may be acts of inner rebellion, lawlessness of spirit, disobedience or inaccuracy in our lifestyles.

Our individual imperfections hinder the overall corporate effect. Though we are individual gems, at the same time, we are part of a body intertwined and dependent on each other, with Christ as the head. As light bounces off one surface to another, a flaw in one area will cause the light to be poorly directed to another.

While imperfections in diamonds remain, reducing the ultimate value, there is no such option with us. There is a requirement for perfection in each of us: all imperfections must therefore be removed. God demands nothing less. We have to aggressively push our lives to the point of perfection, sanctification and holiness. This is not achieved by living complacently or by gliding along from day to day. We must work on our characters and our lifestyles to ensure that we are not hindering the passage of light through the body. We must not compromise the Truth, seek to circumvent His purpose or rely on earthly wisdom. We must cooperate and partner with the Holy Spirit and embrace God’s principles and standards in every area of our lives so that when the world looks at us, there are no imperfections, only a true reflection of the glory and honour of God.

Satan has many strategies to make us lose sight of what is truly important by bombarding us with the ‘immediacy’ and the demands of the world of work. Too many of us are so busy striving for that next promotion, trying to make the right ‘connections’, or simply trying to cope with huge mountains of work, that we forget the basic principle: that the only way we will ever be truly successful in Babylon and fulfil God’s purpose in the earth (that’s what we are here for!) is to put the Lord and His agenda first, whatever the natural circumstances may be.
The Pains
1. Roadrunning: The “rat race” seems to begin in the university. There seems to be the 'spirit of Pharaoh' at work there. We know, the whole 'making bricks without straw' technique. In a nutshell, there is a demand to produce more and more excellent work without any extra resources. Consequently, many people become "roadrunners" always running here and there...group meetings, assignments, transferring courses ….. not recognising the essential futility in the enterprise well enough to come to terms with the situation and strategically plan for success.
2. Crashing! Have you noticed that the work never ends? The later we work, the harder we work, the quicker our desk gets filled again and then we crash. The reality is, crashing is not fun! We get to a place of extreme frustration where nothing works and we are forced to stop.
3. Deflated Spiritual Life: Some live in the office, often to the detriment of their spiritual life because it causes them to forsake assembling with the believers. Whilst it is productive at one end, it is bad at the other end because success is achieved at the expense of their salvation and relationship with God. It is so easy to get caught up in work because of a desire to impress bosses, to be a major contributor to the continued success of the company and to be "somebody," that we become entangled in a web of deceit.
Daniel’s Technology
God has placed the detailed accounts of Daniel’s life in Babylon in the scriptures to show us what our attitude must be in the midst of Babylon.
1. Accurate Spiritual Position: Daniel was, undisputedly, as successful in the secular environment of his day as he possibly could have been. However, it is clear from his writings that Daniel did not place any undue emphasis on his worldly success. His success was simply a by-product of his accurate position in God.
2. Community as Priority: In modern times, Daniel’s refusal to eat the king’s meat could be equated to our refusal to compromise our standards, simply to be popular with work colleagues. His faithful and regular prayer life before during and after the king’s edict was an act of faith in God and defiance against the devil, as is ours sometimes when we pack up our things at 4:30pm and walk boldly out of our office to assemble with the believers. Daniel's close friendship with Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego can be compared to our conscious effort to build community by taking time to interact with fellow saints. This sacrifice is clearly seen in Matt. 16:25-26:
'For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul…?’
3. God 1st = Success: The important thing to note about Daniel’s life is that, despite the fact that his heart remained in Jerusalem i.e. God’s kingdom, and despite the fact that placing the Lord first often brought him into direct conflict with Babylon, he still managed to far surpass the Babylonians.
What does this account teach us?
The Lord does desire that we succeed in our jobs, and outshine the unsaved in every arena. Giving Him top priority in our lives will do nothing but benefit us in all areas of life: Mal. 3:10 ‘ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test me now in this . . .if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.’ This scripture is not necessarily limited to money, but can be applied to anything we have offer to God - that is, our time, or our talents. In order to get the Lord’s best in every sphere of our lives, we must give the best of all we have to Him. How many of us can say we honestly do?
Freedom from the Trap
1. Plan strategically: Start by thinking about the type of organisation you want to be a part of and work toward getting there. And remember, there is value in hard work but what we resist is Babylon's dominion through overwork. A lot of the times what we actually need to do is work smarter during the day, so that we don't spend more hours doing stuff that could have been done within the normal work hours. There are the jobs that require 14 hours day and there are other jobs that require 8 hours day. Some people may be required by God to work 14 hour days…if but for a season. On the other hand, maybe some of us may need to make sacrifices i.e. lower salary for more hours to dedicate to community building and most importantly, our relationship with the Lord.
2. Leisure is a Must! The reality is though, for our own good health (spiritual, emotional, physical), we have to take time out for leisure. Very important is time spent just for you, doing things you like. This is not self-indulgence; this is part of fostering a healthy internal environment; that does not only come by praying in tongues for an hour. We also need time to interact with others. I think that we should all be smarter by taking time to hang-out, to pray, to build the community, 'time-to-smell-the-roses' breaks; these are essential. Our lives are more balanced that way and God can do more with us.
3. Intimacy with God: We must always seek the Lord first in these situations and strive to maintain balance. There is a time to put in the extra hours; sometimes striving for a promotion may be just what the Lord has for us at this time. Anyone who is considering being a serious professional should realise that there are hours to be put in and if you were to ask anyone who, for example, owns his/her own business, packing your bags at 4:30pm all the time simply would not cut it.
The key to averting the cleverly set ‘career trap’ is a close relationship with the Lord so that in ALL that we do, we are in the middle of HIS divine purpose for OUR lives. In other words, one day we may be required to work the extra hours, another day it may be just fine to leave at 4:30pm. If we keep tuned in to His requirements we will find the balance.

Hey! Guys here is an inspiring story to all my firends(Every TIG member)out there doing something really commendable and being part of this great community.

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw kid from my class was
walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he carrying all
of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his
books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned
(parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I
shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him,
knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the
dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten
feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eye. My
heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around
looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his
glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives."

He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face.
It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned
out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung
out with a private school kid before. We talked all
the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty
cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends
He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the
more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning
came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.
I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious
muscles with this pile of books everyday!" He just laughed and handed me
half the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were
seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I
was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles
would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for
business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I
teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for
graduation.
I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak.
Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that
really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked
good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.
Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his
speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be
great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one)
and smiled. "Thanks," he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his
throat, and began.
"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those
tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but
mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to
someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story."
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first
day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of
how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later
and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me am little
smile. "Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the
unspeakable."
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us
all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and Dad looking at me and
smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's
depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you
can change a person's life. For better or for worse.

God puts us all in each other's lives to impact one another in some way.
Look for God in others.

Pass this on to your friends. Show your friends how much you care.

One of the most topical issues today is that of manhood, and what this entails for future generations. Amidst the many wrong examples that exist - the stuff upon which countless articles have been written - there still exists a definition for manhood and masculinity that exists in the mind of God that we should be pressing towards. Both biblically and historically, men have been known as leaders, providers and visionaries. Now, the baton has fallen to us to assess our journey towards attainment, and to conduct the evaluation from a very personal point-of-view.

God has always intended there to be a perfect standard of manhood that accurately expresses His character. Babylon’s attempt, on the other hand, has been to continuously distort this standard. We must realise that many of us may still have some of Babylon’s ideals residing in us and that these will prevent us from attaining. One element that needs to be instilled from youth is the necessity to be competent in every area of life. This may prove more difficult for single men as against those who are married, simply because, for the latter, there is a natural thrust to be more focused. Greater effort is required of a husband to be more courteous and open and to make provision for his family.

It is equally necessary, despite popular opinion, to develop these traits before marriage. To become real men means that we need to clothe ourselves with character, integrity, righteousness, purity and most importantly obedience to God in a very conscious and deliberate manner. As men of the kingdom we do love God and we can speak ‘the language’, but there is a requirement to be engaged in building values into our lives, if we are to think about taking care of a family in the future. Godly character is not merely an ingredient needed to gain the heart of a young woman but more importantly it is an ingredient necessary for the journey called life.

Another thing needed for correct fathering is understanding what it means to be a provider. One of the things that men as fathers give is vision. We are expected (in the mind of God) to be providers, and are engaged in providing vision (provision). In order to lead accurately, we must have learnt to submit (again, having built that component in before marriage) not only material and character needs, but our opinions as well. For example, general masculine thinking was always that if we earn $1,000.00 dollars less than our wives then we lose our rights to being the “man” of the house, and so we spend a lot of time thinking about earning large salaries before we even begin to “scout”. Now a large salary is certainly not a bad thing; in fact, one should always seek to advance economic status. But we must realise that we are secure in God and our manhood is intact, then those concerns disappear.

1 Corinthians 11:3 states: “But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
This scripture speaks volumes. It says that as men, we should allow every aspect of Christ to be rehearsed in our lives at all times and in all seasons. We must be convinced that when our hearts willingly submits firstly to God and we align our character to that of Christ’s then the issue of a woman willingly submitting will no longer be something to fight for. This will definitely not occur merely by a man saying, “Well I am the man so you must respect me,” since this is clear evidence that perhaps we are yet to submit to Christ ourselves. Headship is like gravity: from God the Father to His Son, to us, and then to our wives and families.

In these times, God is bringing the focus on personal development and internal quality in us that is of a royal standard. We need to be men of vision, insight and prophetic depth if we are to steward properly. Our personal desires should be to reach a level of maturity that will allow us to build whatever God gives us to build. If it is a family then the right mentality must be in us from now, or we will stay right where we are until it is. And once it is built, we will not be just husbands and fathers, but husbands and fathers that assist in the shaping of the destiny of the ones in our care.

N. C. Warren on "Finding Contentment", says this: "The richest and deepest contentment is a natural result of achieving authenticity - that is, knowing yourself intimately, appreciating your unique gifts and abilities and making choices moment by moment that demonstrate honour and respect for yourself." He merely reiterates Proverbs 16:3, which says, “Commit your works (responsibility to become men after God’s standard) to the Lord, and your thoughts (necessary mentalities and technology) will be established.”
A vast majority of us have grown up with the wrong examples of manhood portrayed by our own fathers. With all the wisdom that can be accessed in these times, we are in a privileged position to ensure that our children see what a real man is. With an accurate representation of God’s ideal of a man existing in the earth, can we imagine the lethal people that will exist in the Kingdom twenty five years from now? We need to be authentic, close off the wrong inflows or influences, and operate from elevated positions. The future generation needs fathers patterned after “Him”.

I love travelling and meeting with new realities! I have formed an habit of seeing places and trying to make my picture of the world complete.
However, I just returned from a little town in the southern part of the Country (Nigeria). I was mersmirised at such beauty and calm in a place where nature was still given preference.
I saw the sun set after so many years of my life and it was Beautiful! I realised how much the hustle and bustle of the city can disconnect you from nature. I enjoyed every time I spent there!
I went to help a group of youths(a friend belongs to the group) on an ICT project in their school; a private University located at Ilisan Remo, Ogun state in Nigeria.
I was excited on what they were doing and I introduced them to TIG! An they are excited!
However, they have problems with their internet access and I hope they resolve it soon! They just fixed a mast and antenna and are offered free browsing presently.
The Beauty of the school in that rural settlement still lingers in my mind as I reflect on the peace, hospitality and serenity I enjoyed in Ilisan.
Woah! they made such lovely bread too! I have a few loaves with margarine and it was sure different from city bread.
I believe such trips are a good reminder that we need to balance our picture of the world from time to time!
(More on my trip in I-cubed! in the next edition)

The study of History as well as esearch on present day trends reveal to me that the world is such a wonderful place! A place filled with continous wonder!
A careful look at the occurences thru time shows that the world is and its inhabitants are in a quest for an end that is undefined - an absolute place!
The concerns of the human mind have only become more Global oriented as a result of our many issues that have become evident!
While this is a beautiful realisation, there are new challenges to think diffirently and be more strategic.
We need new thought patterns in a World older than we could know!
We a thorough grasp on the old to understand the new challenges. We don't just need a paradigm shift but a set of new thought patterns created consciously to be able to meet the challenges of this new day!
We need a generation that would create rather than destroy!

Many are times, we set goals that are never fulfilled and this brings us a sad heart and a little displeasure!
I have set many goals and I have fulfilled most of them while abandoning some! However, as I have learnt, the goals you set can determine if you would fulfill them or not!
You have the ability to choose your fulfilment and a sense of achievement. But to do this your have to be true to yourself and not over estimate your ability with thorough consideration of time.
I have sort to do this for a long time but today happens to be the day!
I call myself an "Achiever" to have posted my first update today!
I hope many more acheivers join this wonderful platform soon!