All Scripture quotations are taken from the King

James Version of the Bible except otherwise

indicated.

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Copyright (c) 2009 by David Ogbueli

ISBN 978-978-48405-4-5

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 Table of
Contents

INTRODUCTION
PART ONE - THREE TYPES OF LIFE. THREE
TYPES OF PEOPLE
1. The 3 Types of life (Three ways to live life)
2. The Wasted life
3. The Spent Life
4. The Invested Life
5. 6 P's of corruption
6. The 3 kinds of people (Three ways history will
remember you)
 History watchers/observers
 History commentators
 History Makers and World Changers

PART TWO THE ESSENCE OF LIFE

7. The Essence of Life
 What is the Essence of Life?
 The Secret of True Riches
8. Discovering your Purpose for living
2 | the essence of life

Benefits of fulfilling Purpose

 7 Steps to Ministry Development
 20 things that can help you invest your
life
 7 professions that can multiply life
PART THREE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LIFE
9. The Measure of Life
The three phases of life
 The three measures of life
 the principle of life as a resource
10. The Source and Meaning of Life
The source of life
 The Meaning of Life
 2 Kinds of Life
11. The three greatest discoveries of life
Eternal life
 Abundant life
 Everlasting life
12. The Greatest Defense Against Death
The Three Pillars of Life
 Dominion over Death
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
Life?
INTRODUCTION

D eep within the heart of millions of people is the

nagging question of what their life is all about.
Generations of philosophers and scholars have tried to
find some meaning and put a tag to life but most end up
with more elusive questions than answers.
What is life and why should we care?
Life is our greatest resource. If you fail to grasp the
reality of life, the blessings and benefits of that great
resource will elude you.
Life is given as a means to fulfill purpose. If you do
not go about your existence with a sense of purpose,
you will experience loss and regret at the end of your
life on earth.
Life on earth is given so that we can use it to
exchange for a better life in eternity. If you do not
invest your life on earth on a worthy cause, you will
spend the afterlife mourning lost time which can never
be retrieved no matter how hard you try.
2 | the essence of life

This book is designed to help you understand life and

live it to its full capacity. It is designed to challenge you
into purposeful living towards an investment that has
everlasting value and returns.
The wisdom explored here is an instruction to warn
you out of a meaningless existence and save you from
loss at the end of life on earth.
I pray that at the time you are through with this book,
your eyes will be opened to the knowledge of how to
live life. I pray that you will be shaken out from an
ignorant and selfish existence into a glorious and
abundant life. I pray that as you read the words in this
book, the spirit of transformation fall on you to bring
change to your life and quicken you back to the place
where your life will begin to count.
1
Three Kinds of

Three Kinds of
Life
People
The understanding you
have of life and the attitude
with which you live it
determines the kind of
person you will be.
2 | the essence of life

re the
Nothing else existed befo
inning
beginning and in the beg
gin of the
except God. God is the ori
ce the
beginning and we can tra
to Him.
beginnings of everything
 1 Life?
Life
THREE KINDS OF

THREE WAYS TO LIVE YOUR LIFE

T
he attitude people have to life
determines what they do with their lives.
These attitudes and actions separate the
whole human family into three groups.

Those that Waste their lives — Living for survival
and personal satisfaction

Those that Spend their lives — Living for Ego and
status

Those that Invest their lives — Living for Purpose
and for others
If you do not understand life, you will misuse it or
abuse it. If you misuse it or abuse it, you will lose it.
Ironically, if you do anything with it also, you will lose
it.
There is a little story in the bible that illustrates this.
2 | the essence of life

“Again that kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the

story of a man going into another country, who called
together his servants and loaned them money to invest for
him while he was gone. He gave 5,000, to one, 2,000 to
another, and 1,000 to the last, dividing it in proportion It
their abilities and then left on the trip. The man who
received 5,000 began immediately to buy and sell with and
soon earned another 5,000, the man with 2,000 went right
to work too, and earned another 2,000. But the man who
had 1,000 dug a hole in the ground and hid the money for
safekeeping. after a long time their master returned from
his trip and called them to him to account for his money.
The man to whom he had entrusted the 5,000 brought him
10,000. His master praised him for good work. You have
been faithful in handling this small amount, he told him,
so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Begin
the joyous task I have assigned to you. Next came the man
who had received 2,000, with the report, sir, you gave me
2,000 to use and I have doubled it. Good work his master
said. You are good and faithful over this small amount, so
now I will give you much more. Then the man with the
1,000 came and said, sir, I knew you were a hard man and
I was afraid you would rob me of what I earned so I hid
your money in the earth and here it is! But his master
replied, wicked man! Lazy slave! Since you knew I would
demand your profit you should at least have put my money
into the bank so I could have some interest. Take the
money from his hand and give it to the man with 10,000.
For the man who uses well what he was given shall be given
2 | the essence of life

more and he shall have abundance. But from the man who
is unfaithful, even what little responsibility he has shall be
taken from him. And throw the useless servant out into the
outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.” – Matthew 25: 14- 30 TLB

IF YOU MISUSE LIFE OR ABUSE IT,

YOU WILL LOSE IT.

Life is man's greatest resource and it is given to fulfill a

pre-conceived purpose. It will be a foolish thing not to
live according to the blueprint of life as specified by the
author of life. If you do not understand that blueprint,
you will misuse or abuse the product.
Life as a resource and for a reason we must not misuse
or abuse our life. The life we live on earth is temporal
but it is given to gain eternal resources that are beyond
this earth and secure our future in eternity. How you
live your life on earth would determine the state of
your life in eternity. It will be a foolish thing not to
make good use of the resource called life and utilize the
opportunity to use it to make investments beyond this
earth.
God is does not care how much you have, He is more
concerned with how productive you are with what you
have. The measure of your life is not in how long you
2 | the essence of life

lived but how well you lived.

If life is all about longevity then we are in trouble
because the forces that fight against longevity have
multiplied on the earth today. We have all manner of
diseases that are ravaging nations today. Diseases like
malaria, HIV/AIDS are causing a great increase in
mortality rates all around the world. The present
economic and environmental challenges makes life
more unbearable for most people and it results in a rise
in crime and suicide related deaths all around the world.
In addition, when people harden their hearts against
the truth, they are led into all manner of deception and
distraction that ends them in destruction. All this add
up to shorten lifespan and it is getting shorter and
shorter as the days go by. So, if the quality of life is all
about lifespan, then we are a miserable generation.

THE MEASURE OF YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE IS

NOT ABOUT SPAN OR LENGTH OF LIFE BUT
ABOUT THE DEPTH OF LIFE.

The measure of your quality of life is not about span or

length of life but about the depth of life. It is not the
‘extensity’ of your years that matters but the intensity
and impact of your life. Life is not more about
longevity than it is about productivity. Stop counting
how many years you have lived on earth and start
2 | the essence of life

measuring the level of impact you have made with all

the years you have lived.
Assuming that we all have only seventy to eighty years
to live on earth; subtract the number of years you have
lived already and the number of years that are left. Do
an analysis on how much of your assignment in life you
believe you have accomplished. Try to match the
number of years you have left with the magnitude of
the assignment that is left for you to accomplish and see
how much time and life you have left to accomplish. It
will surprise you that you have burnt half of your life
and have accomplished not one thing that you are
expected to do. If you make this analysis you will find
out that you have been wasting your life, spending
your life or investing your life.
 2 Life?
Life
THE WASTED

According to the Webster's dictionary; to waste means

“to spend or use carelessly or to bring to ruin and to lose”.
Those who waste their lives use it carelessly and bring it
to ruin and end up losing it.

A WASTED LIFE IS A LIFE

LIVED TO PURSUE SURVIVAL

The moment a monkey or a lion wakes up from sleep

instinct tells them 'hunger' and they jump out into the
field in search of food. All they think about is how they
will survive. They do not care what they do as long as
they survive. They kill, steal and destroy others to
survive. That is a wasted life. If you live like that, you
live like an animal.
2 | the essence of life

PEOPLE WHO WASTE THEIR LIVES ARE THOSE WHO

LIVE FOR SURVIVAL AND TO MEET THE NEEDS OF
THEIR BODY

People who waste their lives are those who live for
survival and to meet the needs of their body - what they
will eat, what they will drink and what they will wear.
Jesus warned us that life should not be lived that way.
Luke 12 : 22-34
“don't worry about whether you have enough food to eat,
or clothes to wear. For life consists of far more than food
and clothes. Look at the ravens-they don't plant or harvest
or have barns to store away their food, and yet they get
along all right for God feeds them and you are far more
valuable to him than any birds! And besides what's the use
of worrying? What good does it do? Will it add a single day
to your life? Of course not! And if worry can't even do such
little things as that, what's the use of worrying over bigger
things? Look at the lilies! They don't toil and spin, and yet
Solomon in all his glory was not robed as well as they are.
And if God provides clothing for the flowers, that they are
today and gone tomorrow, don't you suppose that he will
provide clothing for you, you doubters? And don't worry
about food- what you will eat, and drink; don't worry at
all”
2 | the essence of life

A WASTED LIFE IS A LIFE THAT IS INSTINCT

DRIVEN; PURSUING THE DESIRES OF LIFE.

A wasted life is a life that is driven and controlled by the

desires of the flesh or the hormones. We have
hormones in our body just as animals have hormones
in their bodies. Like animals too, we human beings
have instincts in our body and appetites which drive us
to want certain things. When animals want something,
they do not care what they do to get it. For instance,
when a lion wants to eat, he doesn't mind killing to
satisfy that desire. If a man functions like this, he is
capable of any and everything as long as he can do it. He
can commit murder to satisfy his needs whatever they
may be. If you are like that, you are not better than the
lion or the vulture.
ife
ted li fe is a l
A wa s
g r at i fication;
n self of life.
spent i ea su res
rs uing the pl
pu
A wasted life is the life lived to satisfy the desires of the
flesh (sex, sleep, food, drinks, clothing, etc). Many
people live their life in aimless routine of self
gratification. Their sole desire to gratify the flesh is the
reason why so many of us are useless. You love and
pamper your flesh at the expense of your future. That is
2 | the essence of life

the reason why people can't live a disciplined life. They

cannot or maintain their health. They cannot diet.
They will not study. They will not pray or fast. All
they want to do is gratify their flesh. Everything you
do to gratify the flesh alone is a waste. Your flesh is just
a temporal part of you that will die and decay one day
and will be no more.

IF YOU FOCUS YOUR LIFE IN THE

GRATIFICATION OF THE FLESH
YOU ARE WASTING AWAY- YOU ARE
DECAYING AND RUSTING.

If you focus your life in the gratification of the flesh

you are wasting away- you are decaying and rusting. If
that is all there is to your life, you are a walking corpse.
It is like a dead body that will decay gradually until it is
destroyed. Initially, it may not look as if anything is
wrong but with time, it will decay if life is not restored
to it. Another example is metal that is left useless and
exposed to air and water. Initially, it may not look like
anything is wrong but if it is not put to use and oiled
daily, it will start rusting and decaying into dust.
If you measure the life of a man who is living a wasted
life it will just amount to the quantity of food he ate,
how many hours of movies he watched, how long he
has slept, how many people he has slept with and all the
things he did to satisfy one desire of the flesh or the
other.
The driving force for the person that lives this kind of
life is self gratification and materialism. Such a person
lives life at the peak of foolishness in the name of fun,
having sex, eating, drinking, going to have the best
clothes at the expense of destiny is the greatest mistake
you can ever make. To such people, anything that
wants to stop them on that path is seen as an enemy.
This is actually one of the major reasons why some
people are still living the way they do. They see it as a
distraction to their self gratification. They do not want
anything that will stop them from what they are
“doing and enjoying”. What they don't know is that
the path of self gratification is the path of destruction.
Salvation is a way to pick people out from that path of
spiritual death to the path of spiritual life.

When your life is lived in the pursuit of self

gratification, you will never be concerned
about service

When your life is lived in the pursuit of self

gratification, you will never be concerned about
service and as a result, your life flows away without
accomplishing anything in life. To God you are like
that child that went to school and was kidnapped and
never seen. You can be alive but be lost and if you are
lost then you are seen as dead. That was the case with
the prodigal son (see Luke 15: 10- 20). When he came to
his senses, he embraced service instead of luxury and
was restored to life. He said “there are many servants in
my father's house and they lack nothing, let me go back
and ask my father to make me like one of the servants for
am not worthy to be called his son, let him make me like
one of the servants” This was implying that he is willing
to get involved in service. In turn he father said in turn,
“This my son was lost but now found, dead but now alive”.
This shows that his father actually perceived him as
dead.
Whenever you come to your senses and switch from
living for self to living to serve, you gain back your life.
God sees you as a son that came back from the dead.

THE GRATIFICATION OF THE FLESH SHOULD

NOT BE THE OBJECTIVE OF LIFE. LIFE IS GIVEN
TO SERVE AND FULFILL PURPOSE.

The gratification of the flesh should not be the

objective of life. Life is given to serve and fulfill
purpose. It is not that eating or sleeping is a problem.
You don't live to eat; you eat to live. Food is the natural
energy that you need to run life. It is something that
living things do to sustain life. You do not live to sleep;
you sleep to renew your strength. Eating and sleeping
should be seen as the same as fuelling a car. If you have
eaten without purpose you have wasted food. If you
sleep without purpose, you have wasted time.
Wasting of time and life is more common among the
youth because they are most confused with the
pleasures and cares (fun) of this life. They want to enjoy
illicit sex without regard for the consequences. After
they have ravaged their bodies with sex, they end up
with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases that
destroy their bodies and crash the number of days they
live. Some survive but are never able to have children
or handle all the complications of birth. Others want to
smoke and feel high. With these dangerous substances,
they damage their brains and knock out their mental
capacity and rob the world of the wonderful ideas that
could have transformed lives and nations. For the
others who do not get into all these serious issues, they
burn their time idling away with purposeless talk,
online chat-rooms, pursuing self gratification. While
others are innovating and inventing things that will
establish a lot of destinies attached to it, they fall into
the evil trap of destruction in the form of idleness,
distraction and temporal pleasures or satisfaction.
s i nt he
th e
nc o m
comese in
r uc on
tiio onn
De s t is tr a c
cttiio
distr
off d a
ffoor m o
Destruction comes in the form of distraction - when
you are driving and you are drunk or high on drug, you
will not be able to see the road clearly and likely end up
hurt or dead in an accident. Also, you might end up
hurting or even killing others in the accident. That one
can land you in jail. If you are asked what caused it, you
will say the devil. It was not the devil that did the
destruction. It is just that you fell for the distraction
that led to the destruction.
The bible says that broad is that road that leads to
destruction and many find it because it is a road littered
with pleasure (Matthew 7: 13). It is a road where you
don't have to displease yourself- just enjoy and do
whatever you want to do. But there is a way that seems
right to a man but the end is destruction (Proverbs 16:
25). The road to life is a narrow but it leads to a broad
place at the end. The road to destruction is the road of
least resistance. It is the road of no breaks or any form
of control. It is the road of no discipline or authority.
Discipline and authority is a form of break or control
that keeps you from destruction.

IF YOU CHOOSE TO WALK THE ROAD OF

DESTRUCTION, VERY SOON
YOU WILL BE ARRESTED.

If you choose to walk the road of destruction, very

soon you will be arrested. If poverty doesn't arrest you,
sickness will. If sickness doesn't arrest you, accident
will. If accident doesn't arrest you, death will. If death
doesn't arrest you, demons will.
The prodigal son demanded for his share of inheritance
and wasted it in riotous living (uncontrolled/undis-
ciplined life) before long he landed in a pig sty. I want to
warn you here to stop if you are wasting your life.
When it comes to life, the fuel station doesn't refuel. If
you just keep driving and burning fuel without going
to where you have been sent to, one day you will have
an empty tank and would not have accomplished
anything. Some of you have burnt away two thirds of
your fuel and yet have accomplished nothing.
The only people that have tanks that are full are little
children who are still starting life. If we get such
children to drive their car in the right direction they
will get to where they are going too faster and they will
accomplish their life purpose without any waste.
Everything that is good - greatness, spirituality, wealth,
etc - has a price. It is only destruction that doesn't have
a price.

A WASTED LIFE IS THE LIFE LIVED WITHOUT

ADDING VALUE.

Nothing exists for itself, everything exists for

something. All things exist to add value to something
else. When it adds that value, it has fulfilled its full
cycle. Whenever anything fulfills that purpose or that
reason it exists, it has been invested. The metal that has
become an air craft have lived its full life. The fuel in a
tank of a car that has taken people to their destination
has lived a full life and accomplished its purpose. You
are created to add value to someone and if you don't
add that value you wasted your life as far as God is
concerned.
God mourns for wasted lives as a man will mourn His
dead child. If you can imagine how you feel when you
lose valuable money that is how God feels when a life is
wasted. When you hear parents say that they lost a
family member- lost here could be either that person is
missing or is dead.
People that waste their life are
seen in the eyes of God as though EVERYTHING
they never existed. If you were to THAT IS GOOD
compare their lives to money, it HAS A PRICE.
can be regarded as money that
was lost or stolen.
Those who wasted their live are those who burnt their
candles without lighting the way. They surrendered
their lives to the whim of their desires.
The person who lives or lived a wasted life is lost; he
threw away his life. He is a walking corpse. The person
who lives or lived a wasted life is living like animals
Examples of men in the bible who lived wasted lives are
Cain (Genesis 4: 9- 16); Esau (Hebrews 12; 16 -17),
Achan (Joshua 7: 24- 26), Samson (Judges 16: 28- 30),
Gehazi (2 Kings 5: 25- 27), Judas (Acts 1: 16-20), Rich
man (Lazarus),

ember
Things to Rem
and self
li fe is d ri ve n by self survival
The wa sted
preservation iven/motivate
d by
li f e is d r
 The wasted
or instincts
fleshly appetite ion
li fe is li v in g for self gratificat
 The wasted desires
ed li fe is l iv in g to satisfy the
 The wast , s leep, drinks, et
c)
sh (s e x , f o o d
of the fle njoyment- livin
g
is liv in g fo r e
 The wasted life
d fun
for pleasure an sonal
li fe is m o tivated by per
 The wasted t t h e basic necessit
ies of
g to m ee
needs. Livin
life. a living
li f e is li v in g just to earn
 The wast ed
in g fo r th e m eans instead of
iv
make money. (L
d)
living for the en
lure
T h e was te d life is a life of fai

is a fool's life.
 The wasted life
14
 3 Life?
Life
THE SPENT

To spend is to use something of value to gain another

thing. The spent life is the life that is lived for self
actualization without any regard for others. The spent
life is not bad in itself but it is important to note that it
is not what you do to improve the quality of your life
that counts but what you use that improved quality of
life to do in the lives of others.

THE SPENT LIFE IS A LIFE LIVED ONLY FOR

SELF DEVELOPMENT AND EMPOWERMENT,
CULTIVATION AND IMPROVEMENT.

The spent life is used to build knowledge and skill that

will never be used to accomplish anything that will
outlive the man. If you develop and train yourself and
it ends with you, it is a waste because it never benefitted
God or man and you will suffer loss for it like the man
who wasted his life. Your life is to be used to fulfill
purpose. All your education, skill, talent, etc will all be
a waste when the cycle of your life rounds up if all that
improvement never translates to other lives.
IF YOU DEVELOP AND TRAIN YOURSELF AND IT
ENDS WITH YOU, IT IS A WASTE BECAUSE IT
NEVER BENEFITED GOD OR MAN

The spent life is a life lived to satisfy the soul. Those

that live a spent life are more interested in culture,
etiquette, wisdom, knowledge, education, some of
them are even interested in values (they don't sleep
around, drink, smoke, etc). They do not pursue the
gratification of the flesh. Their own obsession is the
gratification of the soul.
The spent life is a mediocre life because even though it
is not necessarily wasted, it is not used to fulfill what
the manufacturer made it to do. Such people are better
than those who wasted their lives because they took a
lot of time beautify, cultivate their God-given talents
and abilities into secondary skills. They developed
their mind through education and cultivated
intelligence, some even developed their physical body
but they did not use it to touch lives.
Your life does not start counting until you start
fulfilling the purpose for life, giving your life and
becoming responsible to the people around you.
The spent life is a life lived to build and maintain
status quo. When you live your life on the basis of
what people think about you, who they think you are,
your social status, you are living a spent life. Society
people, professors, Leaders, wealthy and influential
people even anointed ministers live a spent life when
they devote their lives towards accomplishments
without really accomplishing purpose. Anything that
adds value to them, increase their knowledge base or
their intelligent quotient, anything that grows their
influence and put them in the upper class of society, is
their pursuit in life. They do not care for anything else.
Leaders who live a spent life are leaders that have power
but use it for their benefit.
A spent life is a life that is lived to satisfy ego. When
you live with the perception that you are above certain
things, too big to serve, and such, you actually lived like
a dead man. If you life to satisfy your ego, you will miss
out on opportunities in life. A lot of things that you
would have become or achieved you will not achieve
because you were only concerned about your ego and
not about service.
The spent life is a secondary degree of foolishness. It
is an average life. That life ends with the person's
development. Those that live a spent life cultivate skill
but it will be a waste if it is not used as a blessing to bless
others and bring positive change in the world.
THOSE THAT LIVE A SPENT LIFE CULTIVATE
SKILL BUT IT WILL BE A WASTE IF IT IS NOT
USED AS A BLESSING TO BLESS OTHERS AND
BRING POSITIVE CHANGE IN THE WORLD.

Self development is a means for community or national

development. When people find purpose, that purpose
places a demand on them to develop self not for self but
for the development of society.
No matter how learned you are, if your learning has
not improved the lives of people, it is worthless. No
matter how anointed you are, if the anointing on your
life has not produced results in the lives of people, it is
useless. No matter how wealthy you are, if the wealth
you possess has not helped other people, it is vain. God
does not care to know how much you have but how
what you have impacted the lives of others. The
measure of life itself is in your ability to multiply it
through impact on others. If you live for yourself
alone, you did not live at all.
If life is all about learning, how many degrees and
qualifications you have then people will be bagging
degree upon degree all throughout life. If life is all about
how much wealth and power you can store up, then by
all means all the wealthy men in the world have it. If life
is all about possession - how much you can grab and
store then let each person go and buy a gun and invade
the highways and rob people to make it at all cost. If
what is driving your life is where you will work, what
you will be paid or what you will get, then you have
not started living, you merely exist.
When men struggle over a land, property, or girls, they
are spending their lives. They are giving out precious
life for something that will cease to be theirs one day
they are gone. That land you are fighting for has been
there billions of years ago. A flood has wiped a
generation before and many generations have worked
on it and have died but the land stayed has stayed on. If
you die in the cause of fighting over these things, you
don't know the worth of life and whether you gained
what you were fighting for or not, at the end, you have
wasted your life.
I get sad whenever I hear about someone or see
someone labour all through life without making any
eternal investment. I get sad because I know that they
will lose it all when they die. Life is all about giving.
When you make flimsy excuses not to give, it is like
depriving yourself of air and it will end you in hell. It
seems to appeal to human begins to take the broad path
or the path of destruction. Like the big fool in the story
who hoarded everything he could hoard yet still lost it
all.
 Examples of spent life are:
A SPENT LIFE
Lucifer, Absalom, The Pharisees
IS A
MEDIOCRE LIFE.
and Saducces, Hitler, Bin laden,
Napoleon

Things to Remember


The Spent life is an egocentric life (driven
by ego and self pride) - power, position,
popularity, status, influence, public
image, etc

The Spent life is a life driven by self
actualizations, self adoration, self
improvement and self preservation.

The Spent life is a life lived to meet the
desires of his soul power, ego, position,
fame, popularity, a life that is driven by
pride and ego; a person that is driven by
class, status, wealth, influence, etc

The spent life is a life of vanity; a life lived
to impress people (a life driven by public
admiration and image)
 4 Life?
Life
THREE INVESTED

THREE WAYS TO LIVE YOUR LIFE

To invest means “to empower or increase”. Whatever

is put in a guaranteed investment always multiplies.
Life is given to us to be invested not wasted or spent.
Our lives are given to us to invest so that we can reap
dividends in eternity.
The invested life is the life that is given in the
pursuit of purpose. Purpose is what you should spend
life pursuing. You are not created to work but to
pursue purpose. Everybody has a unique assignment in
life. When you live to fulfill your life's assignment, you
are investing it. Your purpose always has something to
do with serving humanity and advancing the kingdom
of God.
WHEN YOU LIVE TO FULFILL YOUR LIFE'S
ASSIGNMENT, YOU ARE INVESTING IT.
The invested life is a life driven with purpose and
the passion to solve problems in life. Men were born
for two reasons. One is to help solve an existing
problem. The second reason is to help solve anticipated
problems. There is a problem in this world or in the
environment where God has planted you that you are
meant to solve. When a problem in an environment
continues, it is because the person called to solve the
problem is not aware of it. For example, Gideon was
called to help deliver the children of Israel from the
philistines but he wasn't aware. There is nothing as bad
or as dangerous as a man who has life but doesn't know
why.
One of the things you should pray and ask God for is
that He will show you why you were born.
Jeremiah 33: 3: “Call unto me and I will answer thee,
and show you great and mighty things, which you
don't know”.
Your assignment in life is to solve a problem in the
world which is part of God's greater plan in redeeming
this earth. Say these words to yourself:
I was born for a purpose, I am not ordinary, I was born to
be a savior. Jesus saved us to be saviors and Obadiah 21,
“And saviors shall come up on mount Zion…”.
The Salvation of any nation depends on the people in
that nation. The salvation of a nation will not come
from a political party unless an invested life takes that
platform. Somebody once said that evil continues in an
environment when people who are called to change it
refuse to do anything.
The invested live is a life lived to help others. People
invest their lives when they improve the lives of others.
Men who invest their lives have sacrificed something to
make positive change. They invest their lives in prayers
and they do things with Passion and Commitment.
PEOPLE INVEST THEIR LIVES WHEN THEY
IMPROVE THE LIVES OF OTHERS.

The invested life is a life of service. When Jesus said

that those that would be great must be servant of all, He
was trying to make the disciples understand that
greatness has its seed in service. It is when life is burnt
or invested in service to others that it has been truly
lived. It is when life is spent to benefit God, giving him
profit for all he invested in you that you have truly
lived.
The invested life is a life given up to attain greater
eternal resources. An invested life does not live on
things that gratify the soul, they live to satisfy the
spirit. They live to satisfy the purpose for which they
were made. The invested is the life that God has called
us to live. It is the abundant life. It is a life lived to
advance the kingdom of God.
The invested life is a life driven by values and
principles. An invested life is a life that is lived to give
value. What we call wisdom is foolishness in the eyes of
God. What we call foolishness is wisdom in the eyes of
God. What He calls wisdom is a life that gives out,
adding value to others. A life of service and sacrifice is
the true essence of life and the purpose of living.
Whatever you do in denying yourself to get a greater
reward in the future is an investment. For instance,
when you work with purpose, a portion of your life is
being invested.
The invested life is a life that measures progress with
how talents, time and treasures are used. In investing
life, you must be able to see how the little things you do
today is vital in affecting your generation and
accomplishing an eternal purpose. Every day
transcends to accomplishment of purpose and the
opportunity for multiplication. To invest our lives
successfully, we must start seeing how today translated
to accomplishment of purpose. Any purposeful act
that denies the flesh is life investment. When money is
used to trade other forms of value and it multiplies and
yields an increase, that money has been invested. But
when money used without bringing in any profit it is
spent money.
The invested life is a life that is multiplied. In many
cases, investment of life means giving your life for the
sake of a cause. Men who give their lives for a worthy
cause never die. They reproduce their lives at the end.
Don't be afraid of death because death only leads to a
higher life if you invest it. I am not afraid of death the
only fear I have in me is leaving this earth without
fulfilling the purpose for which God gave me life.

MEN WHO GIVE THEIR LIVES FOR A

WORTHY CAUSE NEVER DIE. THEY
REPRODUCE THEIR LIVES AT THE END.

Jesus lived his life purely for one intention. He kept

saying “my will is to do the will of the one that sent me”
(John 4: 34). He did not marry, it wasn't his priority.
His priority was to do the will of God. There are some
people who have sacrificed destiny and purpose for
marriage and relationship. People can sell destiny for
nothing because they do not understand the value of
life. Jesus lived for only 33 years and he has fulfilled his
destiny within that time; his impact still speaks as
though it was yesterday that he left the earth. He
invested his life and in turn has many disciples. So it is
not in how long that you live but in how well you live
your life.
“Jesus replied that the time has come for him to return
to his glory in heaven, and that I must fall and die like
a kernel of wheat that falls into the furrows of the
earth. Unless I die I will be alone- a single seed. But my
death will produce many new wheat kernels- a
plentiful harvest of new lives. If you love your life
down here- you will lose it. If you despise your life
down here you will exchange it for eternal glory. If
these Greeks want to be my disciples, tell them to come
and follow me, for my servants must be where I am.
And if they follow me, the father will honour them.
Now my soul is deeply troubled. Shall I pray, father
save me from what lies ahead? But that is the very
reason why I came! Father bring glory and honour to
your name. Then a voice spoke from heaven I have
already done this and I will do it again”.
John 12: 24-28
What Jesus did 2000 years ago is still as active as though
it happened just yesterday. Invest your life in such a
way that it keeps impacting people even after you have
gone. That is what is called abundant life; a life that
yields dividends when you are on earth and rewards
after you are gone. It doesn't matter what you do to me,
I have invested my life into thousands of people. If you
take my head off today, I will still remain alive in a
thousand lives.
That is exactly what happened when Satan got Jesus
killed. He did not know that Jesus understood the
secret of life. He did not know that the death Jesus was
to die was an investment into a future of multitudes
that will be saved. Jesus was not as concerned with the
preservation of his life as with the multiplication/dup-
lication of that life before it is taken.
YOU ARE GIVEN JUST A MEASURE OF LIFE.
INVEST IT BEFORE IT IS TAKEN AWAY.

You are given just a measure of life. Invest it before it is

taken away. The reward you will get out of life lies in
this principle: After you have lived out your measure
of life it is weighed, if the dividend that comes out of
your life is not up to the measure of life given to you,
you will be sentenced to damnation. If this happens,
you would have blown the greatest resource that God
ever gave.
Abundant life is not something to wait for; it is
something that I am already enjoying here on earth.
Everlasting life is not something that I have to prepare
for but something that I am ready for. Anytime the
creator comes, it doesn't make a difference, he will
meet me prepared, my life invested and producing
dividends for the master. I will be confident to tell him
that I did not spend the talents He gave me doing what
my parents wanted but what the author of the life
wants. If you leave me longer I will keep investing my
life and yielding more dividends to him and storing up
treasures on earth as well as in heaven.
 ANYONE WHO MAKES HIMSELF A CHANNEL
WILL NEVER LACK WHAT HE IS CHANNELING.

An invested life does not work to make a living

rather they work to make a giving. You are blessed to
be a blessing. Don't live in isolation only to yourself.
You are created to be God's channel of blessing others.
Anyone who makes himself a channel will never lack
what he is channeling. No matter how small it is, give it.
Start reaching out with a smile to brighten someone's
day, a word of encouragement, some money to help
out, and so on. Start witnessing to others about Christ
and winning souls, start with a cell group where you
can nurture the destinies of the people you have won to
Christ, may be in the field of career you are in.
The bible says, “He that winneth souls is wise”
(Proverbs 11: 30). Leave the company of fools and join
the company of the wise and start living.
Life like time or money is not to be saved or spent but to
be invested. If you refuse to invest your life, it will still
run its course.
An invested life is a life that matches career with
purpose There are many people who are spending
their time in a career they have no business being in.
They waste their lives chasing the wind. They have
settled for a lifetime of frustration just because they
want a job by all means. There is no time to play
around. Get busy with your assignment. This is not the
time to build a career on things that have nothing to do
with purpose. Your calling is higher than your career.
The way the world system is
structured today is to rob people
of their very life in exchange for YOUR CALLING
earning. In reality, it is not what IS HIGHER THAN
YOUR CAREER.
you earn but the value you add in
fulfilling the purpose of the
creator for your life and also the
value you add to impact the lives of fellow men that
define the investment of your life. By implication, if
you are a lawyer, you are not supposed to use all your
training and profession in making money. You are
supposed to use part of it in helping people for instance,
you can volunteer to advocate for the poor and
oppresses. If you are a consultant, you can work for six
days and take one day out when you consult for free.
Whatever your profession, a major part of your career,
talent, skill, etc should be invested in advancing
something that will affect people positively. Your
talents, your skills, your education, are not given to
you for your benefit; you are just a steward of what you
have received from God and He expects you to use it
for His cause.
When we are talking about reaching out to the poor,
impacting lives, and changing the society, you think it
is a waste of time. Actually, it is an investment made in
people.

IT IS ONLY WHEN YOU ARE CONCERNED

MORE ABOUT PURPOSE THAT WEALTH
CEASES TO BE AN OBSTACLE AND
RESOURCES BECOME A BLESSING.

Life is a resource; it's an economy to be invested. The

degree to which you impact also affects the degree to
which you are impacted. You can be earning while you
are living out your purpose. Money should be a reward
for fulfilling your purpose. It is only when you are
concerned more about purpose that wealth ceases to be
an obstacle and resources become a blessing. It is also
possible to compromise your purpose for the sake of
wealth. Some people are earning money yet they are
wasting their lives because none of that wealth is
translated to helping people. Don't just go to work just
to earn a leaving, see yourself as an evangelist, apostle,
teacher, etc, your classroom can become the church
you pastor. Don't just earn money just to eat, buy a car,
pay rent and all that. A good portion of it should be
used take care of that but make sure that a greater
portion of your income is put in advancing the cause of
good then you have truly lived and have found the
essence of living, culminate this investment till you can
be accessed as a rich man before God. Don't just do one
good and stop thinking that you have tried. Giving is
something you should keep doing all your life.
Money should not be a motivation for work.
Fulfillment should be your best motivation for work.
The major motivation for your career choice should be
what brings you fulfillment and gives you opportunity
to invest in lives positively.
If you have been living a wasted life, there is something
to do to begin investing your life. If perhaps you are
living a spent life and tending towards mediocrity,
multiplication is possible.
Life is given to multiply life. Jesus taught a principle
that seems like a contradiction. He stated that those
who shall lose their life for his sake shall gain it back but
they that seem to be wise in their own eyes and decide
to save their lives and not invest it shall lose it in turn
(John 12: 25).
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, God gave the
rich man an opportunity to make one real investment.
How much would it have cost him to help the poor
man that was begging at his gate? Yet he wasted the
opportunity and that sent him to hell (see Luke 16: 19-
23). The scripture says that true religion is in helping
the poor, needy and helpless (James 1: 27). Whatever
God gives you, take people and multiply that thing in
them for by so doing you will never die. If you don't get
this truth right you will not make the adjustment
needed for purposeful living.

MEN WHO INVEST THEIR LIVES CAN STAND

BEFORE GOD BECAUSE THEY ARE
FULFILLING PURPOSE.

Living an invested life is wisdom. Men who invest

their lives can stand before God because they are
fulfilling purpose. They do it with passion,
commitment and excellence. They live for maximum
Performance. They are role models. Men who invest
their lives always make history.

Things to Remember


The invested life is a life lived in pursuit of
purpose or a calling.

The invested life is a life lived for something
other than yourself.

The invested life is a life invested in people
development in employment.

The invested life is a life of service to God or
to humanity.

The invested life is a life of sacrifice - giving
and adding value to humanity.
 Things to Remember


The invested life is a life invested in solving
people's problems

The invested life is living for a cause (a life of
mission or purpose) living as a crusader

The invested life is living for posterity living
to make life better for future generation

The invested life is living for eternity living
in time with eternity in prospective

The invested life is living to do the will of
God to serve the purpose of God

The invested life is living to better the lives of
others

39
40
 5 Life?
THE 6 P'S THAT CAN LEAD TO

Corruption
When the real value of a thing is not known or
understood, there is a tendency for waste and ruin or
careless and selfish use without regard of value. When
the real purpose of a thing is not known or understood,
there is tendency also for misuse and abuse.
There are some factors responsible for making men
waste and spend their lives. These factors can cause
corruption and decay in individuals, families,
communities and nations.

FIRST P - POWER
Power is broadly defined as "the capacity to bring
about change". When you say power, many people
think it is political power alone but power comes in
different forms and can bring change in different kinds
of ways. Power could be political, spiritual, economic,
intellectual or social.
Political power has become an obsession for many. It
has become the goal of everyone. When men go for
political power with no intention to bring positive
change, they exercise that power only for embezzling
funds for their personal gain or oppressing the citizens
to satisfy their ego. The motive to get power should
not be for personal gain but to serve the people, bring
about positive change in the society, and enforce
justice and righteousness. Power gives a man who has
the desire to help people, the ability to achieve it. If you
do not have the burden to stop oppression and fight
evil, stay away from power, it will destroy you.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE BURDEN TO STOP
OPPRESSION AND FIGHT EVIL, STAY AWAY
FROM POWER, IT WILL DESTROY YOU.

Spiritual power is the type of power that gives people

the ability to change things in the supernatural. It is the
power to do extraordinary things using the
supernatural. Spiritual power is behind healing and
other creative miracles we hear about but many men
still go for this kind of power without any intention to
bring about positive change rather they use that power
for personal gain, to oppress people or wreck havoc in
society.
Economic power is another type of power people
misuse. Economic power is the type of power that
people get as a result of their wealth and financial
influence. People misuse wealth in pursuit of pleasure
and abuse it in selfish living or use it to oppress others
rather than to serve and help others.
Intellectual power is developed through the education
of the mind and it can drive great invention and
innovation. God designed man with great capacity to
bring about change by harnessing the resource of the
mind. If you throw away the abilities of the mind,
education and intellectual development, you suffer
great loss. If you use your intellectual power for
personal gain rather than to solve problems, you will
live a mediocre life on earth.
If you want to be relevant to your generation, you
must learn to develop your intellectual power and
use it to bring positive change in the lives of
people and in the society.
If you want to be relevant to your generation, you
must learn to develop your intellectual power and use
it to bring positive change in the lives of people and in
the society. Bill Gates is a perfect example of a man
who has used his intellectual power to bring positive
change. He solved a major problem in information
technology and made life easy for many. On the other
hand, there are those con men (419ers) who have used
their intellectual power illegally for self gratification
and personal gain.
Social power is released when powers are networked
together. There is a limit to the capacity of one mind or
one body but when people network, more power is
released. Sometimes if changes will not come from
above, the people can arise and change their society.
That is the power of networking. That is what social
power can be all about.
Many a time, people use this power also either for
personal gain or for other selfish reasons. When people
seek for power rather than seeking to serve and benefit
others and bring change it can lead to corruption or
decay in their lives and this consequently translates to
the society.
Many people think that if you have power, you have
everything or if you have power, everything is allowed.
That is not true. There is a purpose of power.
THE PURPOSE OF POWER
Power has a purpose. When the purpose of power is not
known, it leads to oppression, intimidation,
manipulation and exploitation whether in the family,
the community, the nation, or organizations. Only
people with this awareness of the purpose of power are
qualified to handle it such that they are not be
destroyed by it.
God is the greatest custodian of power yet He does not
misuse it. In Ps. 82: 1 3, 4; 72: 1- 4;
Ps. 45: 6-7; we gain some insight to how He uses power.
Power is given to administer justice and equity.
Power is designated to be used to lift up the weak and
free people from oppression and injustice. It is only the
drive or passion for justice that should drive you to get
power. E.g. the purpose of power is so as to administer
righteousness and justice in the land. Power is given for
justice management.
Power is necessary for national governance and the
administration of justice and righteousness not for self
gratification
Power is necessary to give you a platform and a voice
to influence things positively. It should not be used
for violating and oppressing people. The only people
that are qualified to have power therefore, whether
political, economical, spiritual or political power are
only the people who want to use their power to advance
justice.
One example of somebody who had power and used his
power for good was Jesus. He said in Luke 4:18, “The
spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has chosen me to
bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim
liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to
set the oppressed free”. (GNB).
Power is meant for service not for dominion over or
suppression of men. Many who hold power think they
are above the law and that that power is just a means to
amass wealth and riches. There must be deliverance
from this addiction to power.
SECOND P - POSITION
A position is an elevated place given to someone as a
confirmation of his qualification and expertise. It is an
affirmation of a track record of performance,
achievements or accomplishments. For instance, you
can only work in a firm as a lawyer because you are
qualified or experienced in the area of law having gone
through the required training with proven record years
of continuous success.
Position is also given to confirm something that
somebody has been doing before he got the position.
For example, if somebody is a competent marketer in a
bank that meets his goals and produces results, his
qualification and achievement will soon fetch him a
promotion to management positions where he can
accomplish more. Mere position does not produce any
result, title does not achieve anything. When your
potential is put it to work, you position will produce
more results. You don't carry a group of unqualified
people and put a title on them. A lot of people have the
collar without the calling. Positional authority is the
weakest form of authority.
When your potential is put to work, your position
will produce more results.
When you see people who are obsessed by the passion
of occupying a position because they have power or
money or the ability to manipulate people, there is
trouble. Whenever you see someone that is position
driven instead of performance driven, that person is
living a wasted or spent life.
Three Consequences of the obsession with Position
1) Abuse Of Power - If people aspire to positions
of authority without expertise, qualification or track
record, it can lead to abuse of authority because they
have no idea what the position is for. Instead of using it
to help the less privileged people, they use it to oppress
people because they are not qualified to be there.
People are not interested in your achievements but
how your achievements benefit the society. You have
to understand that positional authority is the weakest
form of authority. You don't really have authority if
all you have is position. You have authority when
people follow you not because they are meant to but
because they want to. You don't really have authority
when people are forced to follow you. Position gives
you authority over people to make them do something
for you even against their free will just because you
have the power to fire them but that is not true
authority. It is abuse of power. Respect is earned. It is
not position that gives it.
2) Low Performance And Productivity
Another consequence of placing people in
position without qualification or track record is
that it produces lack of performance. If you are a
university graduate for instance and you get a
position of authority without the required
qualification or experience, you will not be
productive because you are not qualified to
deliver the results required of you. An economy
grows on the basis of the productivity of the
individual citizens. When we acquire position
without productivity, the economy fails
because the people are not able to perform or
produce. They have no qualification or
performance record.
3) Greed And Corruption when people are
unproductive, instead of dealing with the main
problem and getting qualified, they try to
remedy the situation by applying half measures
and cutting corners. This is usually because they
are not willing to pay the price and this leads to
more corruption. When standards fall and half
measures are condoned by the general public,
the nation decays.
4) Lack Of Order And Excellence When
49
 someone occupies a position he or she has not
been trained to be responsible for, it translates to
mediocrity disorder and lack of efficiency.
Whenever a society is position driven,
performance and excellence go down.
Position should only be given based on qualification
or track record.
Position should only be given based on qualification or
track record. Position is given for service and to
enhance performance. Jesus said among the gentiles, the
unbelievers care about position, they want to sit in the
high tables and be called rabbi; they lord it over the
people so a lot of people. So a lot of people who are the
lead have as their greatest dream and ambition to get to
one of these positions since it place them among the
privileged few who lord it over the rest. Jesus said,
among you the reverse should be the case. He that will
be greatest among you; the one who should lead you
should be your servant. He that is the first must be the
last.
The Purpose of position
The purpose of position is to give a man a platform so
he can do more than he was doing before he got the
position. Without position, the benefits of our deeds
cover a limited scope and may go without recognition.
When position is given, there is recognition that
follows it and as a result, there is more influence and
50
ability to do more. For instance, if we wanted to elect a
president, we don't get a man who is just a politician
without any record of performance. There must be
proof of his achievements on a lower level of leadership
and this proof should be the basis of his qualification to
be made the leader of a nation.
The purpose of position is to give a man a platform
so he can do more than he was doing before he got
the position.
Jesus was the son of God yet he gave up his position and
took the form of a man and not only the form of a man
but the form of a servant and gave his life for the
salvation of humanity. Because of what He did, God
gave him “a name above every other name” and
conferred on him a title above all titles, “that at the name
of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess
that Jesus is Lord” (Phil. 2: 10). In addition God said to
him, “Sit down at my right hand until I make your
enemies your footstool” (Heb. 1:13). Position should be
given in recognition of performance for the purpose of
making things better not worse.

THIRD P - POSSESSION
Money without purpose will lead to corruption. When
people seek possession instead of distinction and
production, there is a problem. This kind of possession
51
DISCIPLESHIP EXPLOSION

mindedness leads to greed, robbery, 419, fraud,

cheating etc. Where people are moved by possession,
acquisition or distinction, it leads to greed and stealing.
People who are qualified to have possession are people
who have through the years proven to be hard workers,
laborers, and diligent people, because they know how
much it cost them to gain the wealth and the position
they have. They have value for themselves, for labor
and for other human beings but people who have
possession without qualification will give birth to
greed. Never value money more than virtue. The life of
a man is not in the abundance of what he possesses (See
Luke, 12:15, 1 Tim. 1:7-19).
Money without purpose will lead to corruption.
When you get possession before getting values or
understanding the purpose of wealth, you will abuse it,
misuse it, and end up losing it. (See Matt. 10:20-22)
When the purpose of wealth is kept as the motivating
factor to gain more wealth, it keeps the person in
balance when the possession comes.
The Four Purposes of wealth:
1. Wealth and possession is a reward for solving
problems. It is not a means to satisfy selfish aims. Seek
to solve problems and you will get possession and
resources. Seek to add value and you will have plenty of
possession.
52