10 principles to be a successful Student

Let’s pray….

OK today we shall be looking at 10 principle to be a Successful Student

#PRINCIPLE 1: Start with a clear purpose/aim/goal with God in Mind.

Ok Let’s look at some Bible texts:

Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and [there is] none else. 

So, why did God form the heavens and the earth? he formed it to be inhabited. Hence, at creation God created with a purpose in mind.

Start with a clear purpose/aim/goal with God in Mind

….with God in mind. What does this mean?

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

     With that in our mind, QUESTION, What are you studying and Why?  It is highly possible that we have not considered God in what we are studying, it maybe that our selfish ambition was considered when we choose our course of study, if so, I believe is time to make amends by checking ways to glorify God in our Course of study.

       One may ask why should I consider God to succeed? ANSWER: Proverbs 19:21 [There are] many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.  I believe we should choose the winning and assured team let our toil not be in vain. May we acknowledge God in all our set purpose. Amen.

 #PRINCIPLE 2: Have Specific set activities to do from day-to-day.

Let’s go back to the Creation Story in Genesis 1.

Question:

  1. Did God create everything in one day? NO!
  2. Could He create everything in one day? YES!
  3. Did God do specific set activities on the various set days? YES!
  4. Did God Completely finish His work? YES!

Here, we learn lessons from how God handle His work, He did specific work at a set day and He finished it completely. This should teach us to plan our day and be realistic about it(…Not saying I will read the whole of engineering maths textbook in one day).

#PRINCIPLE 3: Discipline- Allocating time for your set activities in a day.  Doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done at the set time alone.

Let’s move over to John 2:4; 12:23; 17:1;

John 2:4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

         In saying to Mary that His hour had not yet come, Jesus was replying to her unspoken thought,–to the expectation she cherished in common with her people. She hoped that He would reveal Himself as the Messiah, and take the throne of Israel. But the time had not come. Not as a King, but as “a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” had Jesus accepted the lot of humanity.  {DA 147.3}

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 

John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

Looking at the Verses just read can we say Jesus knew the allocated time for a set activity? YES!

Knowing this, we should know that we are living at the time of the end,  we should construct our activities at the set time that this theme(we are living at the time of the end) would not be forgotten.

#PRINCIPLE 4: Keep to Time.

Genesis 18:14    Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

 COMPARE with:

Genesis 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 

 21:2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

  1. Hmm, Does God have a Time table? YES
  2. If yes, what is the Name? THE TIME OF LIFE(Genesis 18:14)
  3. Did God do as He had said at the set time? YES
  4. Are we to follow in His steps? YES
  5. Did anything  or anyone try to disrupt God’s timing(for instance in Jesus’ birth)? YES (The Devil through Herod)
  6. Who succeeded God or Devil? GOD.
  7. WHY? Because, God planned before hand to by-pass failure.
  8. Are  we to follow soothe when we anticipate agents to keep us late, are we to prepare to keep to time? YES

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

LET US NOT BE VICTIMS OF PROCASTINATION!

#PRINCIPLE 5: Don’t involve yourself in unnecessary activities.

Luke 12:13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. 

 12:14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?

  What does the Verse above tell us? Jesus did not come to settle materialistic disputes but to save us to from our sins(Matt. 1:21).

        Having this in mind if Mr A comes to FUTO to study engineering and his friend, Mr B, comes and invites him for “FRESHERS NIGHT” what should Mr A do if he is to follow Christ’s example? Mr A is to refuse the offer because 1. His on earth to please God;

                                             2. His in school to study Engineering.

If anyone is getting you to participate in activities that do not fit to your already defined purpose to please God you don’t belong. NO should be the positive response. “Am sorry I cannot attend. These events conflict with the principles of my faith. And I cannot dishonour my Lord.”

#PRINCIPLE 6: Everything you do, do to the best of your ability.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; for [there is] no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

 When given an assignment or a work try to do it to the best of your ability. Don’t be sloppy in any given assignment no matter how big or small the reward maybe, do your best because sloppy work produce sloppy results in you as a person(… in other words you reduce your ability to become more efficient). ALTHOUGH REWARDS HAVE THEIR PART TO PLAY, LET’S NOT BE DRIVEN BY REWARD-MUCH, THAN BY GOD. LET’S NOT BURY THOSE BEAUTIFUL HANDS THAT GOD HAS GIVEN, INSTEAD LET’S MAKE GOOD USE OF GOD’S GIVEN TALENT. Because God demands it, so like the three(3) Hebrews and Daniel we may do a better service for God and humanity and not merely to please men or win awards.

#PRINCIPLE 7: Avoid Eye servicing

Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things [your] masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 

 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 

 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 

 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. 

Every work we do whether under human supervision or not, we should do it consciously knowing that we are under divine watch and we shall receive our due reward from Him who owns the heavens and the earth. Therefore every single duty or assignment we perform at work, or school, or church, with little or no supervision, should be done faithfully to please God. Do not forsake honesty to please men. Do not indulge in idleness to please yourself. Sow the seed of righteousness and you will reap honor from God.

#PRINCIPLE 8: Evaluate.

Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good. 

We see in the above verses that after God had created He evaluated all He had done critically and was satisfied that it was perfectly good.

What lessons can we draw from this?

We should all evaluate ourselves, What am I doing? Why am I doing what am doing? We need to ask ourselves the question before venturing into anything.

  1. What is my aim in this venture or course of study?
  2. Will I glorify God and be of use to humanity?
  3. Can I be sustained in my beliefs?

During the Venture:

  1. How am I keeping up?
  2. Have I advanced in my venture or course of study since I started?
  3. How is my relationship with God?

After the Venture:

  1. Have I achieved my desired result?
  2. Did I gain more in wisdom and character or did I lose?
  3. How is my relationship with God?

We all need to assess what we want to do? What we are doing? And what is the intended result?

#PRINCIPLE 9: Do all to the Glory of God.

1 Corinthians  10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 

God deserves excellence because He owns you by creation and redemption therefore we should glorify God in all we do. When you study physics study with God in mind. For Example: (A) Newtons 1st law of motion {states an object will remain at rest or uniform motion on a straight line unless acted upon to move otherwise by an external force} now let’s relate this with the bible{Rom. 8:7 Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be — we are objects on a uniform motion to Death. But goodnews there is an external force — Rom.  8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. — Thank God for the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus that has acted on us to Change direction to Life }

(B) What about the 3rd law of motion? It states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Hmm, Cause and Effect, how can we connect this to the Bible — (i) Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.(Therefore action: live in flesh reaction: Death; action: live in the Spirit of Christ by mortifying the deed of the flesh reaction: LIFE.  (ii) James  4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Action: Resist the devil. Reaction: Devil flees)

(C) Like Charges repel while, unlike charges attract(i.e positive attracts negative and negative attracts positive )—Jam. 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you… GOD: Divinity Man: Humanity, we are so un-a-like and yet if we negative charges draw near to God’s positive charge, God’s positive charge will draw near to us and continually feed us with His infinite charges of grace and goodness(Note: Only positive charges give out electrons, while only negative charges receive electrons). Wonderful!

(D) What about Elect. Elect. Engineering? With the formula I=V/R; Current, I, is inversely proportional to Resistance, R,(Hence the more current the less resistance, the less the current the more the resistance) Connecting to the bible — James  4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [Resistance to the devil and his wiles(the bad music and movies), cuts down his evil current on your Life]

#PRINCIPLE 10: Study your Bible and pray for God’s will.

Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with ALL thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

No study is better to give energy to the mind, to strengthen the intellect, than the study of the Word of God. No other book is so potent in elevating the thoughts, in giving vigor to the faculties, as is the Bible, which contains the most ennobling truths. If God’s Word were studied as it should be, we would see breadth of mind, stability of purpose, nobility of character, such as is rarely seen in these times…. FH 30.4

Of all the books that flood the world, however valuable, the Bible is the Book of books, most deserving of our study and admiration. It gives not only the history of this world but a description of the world to come. It contains instruction concerning the wonders of the universe; it reveals to our understanding the character of the Author of the heavens and the earth…. FH 30.5[From the Heart pp.30 par.4,5]

But be not discouraged if your prayers do not seem to obtain an immediate answer. The Lord sees that prayer is often mixed with earthliness. People pray for that which will gratify their selfish desires, and the Lord does not fulfill their requests in the way which they expect. He takes them through tests and trials, He brings them through humiliations, until they see more clearly what their necessities are. He does not give to His children those things which will gratify a debased appetite, and which will prove an injury to human agents, and make them a dishonor to God. He does not give men and women that which will gratify their ambition, and work simply for self-exaltation. When we come to God, we must be submissive and contrite of heart, subordinating everything to His sacred will. BLJ 17.3[To be like Jesus pp.17 par.3]

My Prayer is God helps us inculcate all this principles for His Glory. Amen.

Let’s Pray….