ARTICLES ON SUCCESS

DATE:  18 May 2003
SPEAKER:  Pastor Tayo Adeyemi
TITLE:  Developing your own formula for winning.
TEXT:  2 Corinthians 2:14

Let us consider the following stories
1.Harry turns around in his bed and is startled by the time on his bed time clock, it is 8.30 on a Sunday morning - he has slept through his alarm…again. With a grunt he rose out of bed. He walks into the bathroom and reaches for his toothbrush only to remember that he has run out of toothpaste. No problem, he quickly swished the mouthwash around his mouth and gargles. He washes his face and hair, sprays on his favourite cologne, puts on the jeans and t shirt that he wore to work on Friday, quickly grabs a Kellogg's cereal bar, his bible and notebook. 5 minutes later he is walking through the doors of Gateway House. The time is 8.55am - He is looking forward to a great service.

2.Susan has been up since 4.30am; she has to complete her course assignment to hand in on Monday. About 6.30am, she puts away her books and spends sometime praying and reading the bible, she gets herself ready for church and then fixes breakfast for her mum who has not been feeling so well. She is out of the house by 8.15am she has to catch 2 trains to get to church. At 8.55am she is walking through the doors of Gateway House - she is looking forward to a great service.

3.Peter live in Manchester, normally he drives up to London on a Saturday night, spends the night with his friend in Camberwell and drives to Church on Sunday morning. This is his routine every weekend. But this weekend he has been at a training course from work and only manages to get back late on Saturday night. He catches a few hours sleep, jumps intro the car by 5am to get to London in time for service. At 8.55am he is walking through the doors of Gateway House - he is looking forward to a great service.

4.Although Ron lives only 15 minutes from Church. He has to start early to get to Church on time he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. His coordination is terrible. It takes him about 15 minutes to button his shirt and about an hour to get his breakfast down. His transport arrives at 8.15, but he doesn't make it to the door of Gateway House until 8.55am but he is looking forward to a great service.

5.Freda has been up since 5 o'clock, she has to fix breakfast for the whole family and get all kids clothes ready. She's ironing their clothes while her Husband Sam helps the kids to bath. The family has breakfast together, spends some time sharing from the bible and praying. They all jump into the car and off to church they go. Sam drops the family and goes to pack the car. At 8.55amk they're walking through the doors of Gateway House- and looking forward to a great service.

6.Jo's high flyer job takes her around the world several times a month, she is hardly in London, but wherever she is she tries to get to church on Sunday morning her service apartment in Bayswater is her sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of a thriving career. The butler brings the dry cleaned clothes in at 7am. The car has been cleaned by the in house valet service. She goes through last week financial times while she has a quick breakfast jumps into her sports car and in no time is in Woolwich. At 8.55 am, she is walking through the doors of gateway house - looking to a great service.
Now I don't know if you could locate yourself in any of those stories, but I'm sure the point has been made.
For each person who comes to church on Sunday morning there is a story. Each one does what he has to do to get to church, and as everyone walks through the doors all we know is they made it.
The words of Oleta Adams song "get here" have always tickled my fancy. I think the melody is great, but I think the most important words in the entire song is the refrain: I don't care how you get here, get here if you can.
Whether we recognise it or not, everyone has a formula for achieving what they have to achieve in life. And each persons formula will be different from others, but it's their own formula. You have your formula for winning in life, you simply have to recognise it so you can know how to use it over and over again.
What is a formula?A formula is simply a pattern or method of achieving the same result over and over again.
Our lives are governed by formulas - more than we care to admit. For example
•How do you calculate the area of a circle? Pi x R Squared; - where R is the radius.
•What about the circumference? 2Pi R - where R is the radius.
•How do you calculate the density of an object? Divide the weight by its volume.
•What is Einstein's law of relativity? E=MC Squared;
We develop formulas for working out even the simplest things like:
•Deciding where to put 'i' before 'e' or 'e' before 'i' in a word
•Deciding how many days a particular month has.
Now there are some issues in life where there is only one formula. For instance, if you want to get to heaven, there is only one way - get born again by receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal saviour.
But there are very many issues, where it doesn't matter how you achieve your result - as long as you are in the will of God.
"I don't care how you get here, get here if you can"
You have the responsibility to find out what your own winning formula in life is - and stick to it.In Exodus 17:8-16, Moses quickly developed a formula for defeating the enemy. He found that when his hands were lifted up, Joshua prevailed against the Amalekites, when his hands came down, the opposite happened.
David had a formula, he knew he could not fight Goliath with Saul's armour. He went for a formula that was tried and tested - his sling shot and five smooth stones.
Daniel had a winning formula. He knew that his strength and victory came from spending time with God - so when the enemy tried to take that from him, he wouldn't let go.
Jesus had a formula. Mark 1:35 tells us that he would wake up a great while before dawn and go out to a solitary place to pray. He regularly made time to be alone with God.
You also ought to develop your own formula. It may not be acceptable to other people, but if it works for you - and it does not violate God's word or your conscience, then do it.
For some people to just "appear normal" they have to fight many battles, fend off demons and pray long hours. That's their own formula.
For others, it's not a struggle at all. - they don't even think about it.In school, some students have to study hard, others just have to be in the lecture once.
"I don't care how you get here, get here if you can"
It's always a thrill to see marathon runners reach the finishing line - each one having applied their own formula for finishing. But two sets of runners excite me the most.
1.Those who finish first - the record breakers.
2.Those who finish last - sometimes many days after others have finished.
It may have been a struggle for them, but they also make it - they had their own formula.You have a winning formula - develop it.
I will share with you my own winning formula for each day. But please bear in mind that this is my formula - it may work for you, it may not. I give it only as a guide and encouragement to you.
1.Start your day with God
The bible opens with four parallel words - "In the beginning, God"
The most important part of your day is the beginning, and the most important person in your day is God.
Spend time in prayer - talking to God
Spend time in the word - hearing from God
Never start your day in neutral

2.Start you day with goals
Proverbs 29:18 says where there is no vision the people perish
Plan your day. If you don't someone else will plan it for you.
Decide from the beginning of the day, what you intend to achieve in the day.

3.Start your day with gusto
Gusto speaks of energy, vitality
This is the spark that ignites your engine
You need to release and receive energy - spiritual, mental and physical
Your prayers, worship, confession, exercise routine, learning programme are all important.

4.Season your day
Acts 10:38 says Jesus went everywhere doing good
Make up your mind to touch somebody's life each day - be a blessing to someone

5.End your day with grace
Grace speaks of thanksgiving - learn to give thanks for each day
Grace also speaks of forgiveness - learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes, flops and foul-ups during the day
Leave each days problems in that day
Remember yesterday ended last night
Let me close the message with this moving story below
So what's your own style?When I was only about 6 months old, my parents sat me on a dining room table and left me to my own devices. I wasn't all that mobile so they had little fear of me falling off the table what they hadn't counted on was a toothpick within my reach. My parents were engaged in conversation when one of the suddenly noticed I had picked up the toothpick with the toes of my left tooth, I not only picked it up, but I turned it over a couple of times with my toes then I turned it over a couple of times with my toes then I lifted the toothpick to my face so I could get a better look at it.
In that one brief moment, my parents realised that I was capable of doing a great many "normal" things - just in a special or different way.In lots of ways, I was an average kid. I learned to swim and eventually enjoyed doing flips off the community swimming pool's high dive. I liked to draw and paint. I wasn't that fond of math, but I was better than an average student.
Not everything in my life was doom and gloom. Some things were "perks". I got my picture in the paper more than my brothers - and I enjoyed the notoriety that came with being the one chosen to switch on he community Christmas tree lights or the one selected to help draw attention to telethons.My aunts and uncles were so eager to watch me use my nimble toes to put dimes and quarters and pennies into my own piggy bank that they'd empty their pockets every time they came to visit. My brothers got a little jealous because I seemed to get all of the loose change floating about the family. Deep down, however they understood that my aunts and uncles were trying to compensate me a little for my condition and they didn't say much, at least until they wanted a loan
I couldn't play violin or a clarinet …. but I was able to use my artificial arms to play trombone in the school band for a while.I couldn't manipulate a push lawn mower very well …… but as a child, I did great steering a lawn tractor with my feet.
I couldn't ride a bicycle … but I could drive an old golf car that had been refurbished and was given to me by a generous, very mechanically minded great-uncle.I couldn't carry a lunch tray from the canteen line to a table … but I could clutch a hot dog and bun, and pop open a soda can with my toes.
I could jump on a trampoline and ice skate …… help Mom by measuring the ingredients necessary for home made spaghetti sauce …… and brush my own teeth. For everything I couldn't do, there were dozens of things I could do.My friend since kindergarten, Neil, once told a reporter "Everything John does was kind of weird the first time we saw him do it. Then we got used to it. After a while we didn't even notice he had no arms. It was just John."
At the age of sixteen, I did what most teenagers do - I went to the local Department of Motor Vehicles and got a driver's license.Yes I drive a car. I can drive any vehicle as long as it has automatic transmission and power steering. I drive by using my left foot to steer and my right foot to operate the gas and brake pedals.
One of the high moments of my teen years was being able to joke to my family and friends as I sped down the driveway, "Look, Mom, no hands!" I had waited several years to shout that line from an open car window!My friends always asked me to drive them to the mall. There was a very practical reason other than the fact that they liked having me around. I had handicapped license plates!
Actually, a career in motivational speaking seemed a real possibility the first time I was pulled over for speeding. The officer who approached my car said, "Buddy I've been waiting for you all day." I responded, "I got here as fast as I could!"I then asked the officer to get my license out of my wallet. It was the first time he noticed that I didn't have any arms. He told me to slow down and sent me on my way.
Even today I have my own personalised "special way" of doing the chores that other people consider to be routine. I don't really think about how others accomplish their tasks. I simply go about my life doing them.I probably follow the same routine that you follow in the mornings:
I make my bed. I just do it by standing on the mattress and using my toes to pull and straighten the sheets.I dress myself. I just have clothes that are adjusted in minor ways and a small knob mounted in my closet - the only "adaptive" item in my entire house.
I shave myself. I just do it by sitting on the floor in front of a low mirror that extends all the way to the baseboard, using my feet to hold my electric razor.I comb my hair. I just use my toes to grip the brush as I raise my left foot to my head.
I cook. I keep all my dishes in the lower cabinets and the frequently used food items on the lower shelves of my refrigerator. I use a high barstool when working at kitchen chores involving the sink, countertop or stove. The added height of the stool allows me to sit at the same level as the counter in order to manipulate various types of kitchen equipment. Your Mom probably told you to wash your hands before preparing or eating food. In my case I scrub my feet.I may not be able to wear a watch on my wrist … but I certainly can wear one on my ankle.
I may not be able to adjust a speaker's microphone on a platform … but during breaks in my talk, I can take sips of water from a glass mug on a small stand on my side.I may not be able to give you a physical hug … but I can hug you with my heart.
Once we face our shortcomings squarely, we are free to embark on the things we need to change. Once we stop fighting our own selves, we can start fighting the condition we have.Once we stop running from our problems, we can start overcoming our problems.
As we find our own ways of coping and adjusting and compensating, we experience the real joys of learning. And with the joys of learning often comes related joys of laughing and loving.Every one of us has to find our unique style for "doing things".
I live in an old home that was designed and built by others. However, I have painted and furnished my home differently from the previous owners.That's a good analogy for what most of us face in our live. We are born with certain "givens". Some of those are the givens of our physical bodies. Some of those are the givens of family, environment, and cultural heritage.
Each of us has to "paint and furnish" our givens with our own unique personalities and desires and ideas. We are ultimately the "design" of our own interiors.Shakespeare said it well, "To thine own self be true" (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3, Line 78). For me, that refers not only to my destiny and mission in life, but to my own style - my own special way of doing things.
One of the major milestones in my life came the day I decided I would no longer wear prosthetic arms. Period. As I have indicated, I always prostheses cumbersome and awkward to use. I tended to use them sporadically, and in many cases, I used them to aid the comfort level of others far more than I used them to aid myself. In the end I realised that there was nothing I could do with the artificial arms and hands that I couldn't do with my chin, upper body, teeth, and toes - generally, more efficiently and quickly and with fewer negative "side effects."I once was working with an occupational therapist on picking up and manipulating various objects. One of the objects was a fairly large plastic pitcher filled with water, which I was able to pick up and hold. I turned to the therapist to express my pride in picking up this object and in the process, not only dropped the pitcher, but dropped it in a way that the water went flying out of it and soaked her blouse.
The therapist benevolently and generously responded, "Well I guess we haven't practised that handoff enough." I appreciated her kindness but the fact remained: in most situations I had to practice far more with prosthetic devices to master simple manoeuvres than I did with my own feet, toes, teeth and chin.In many ways, the prosthetic devices were cosmetic. They gave me a greater appearance of being physically normal, when in fact, I wasn't physically normal and, ultimately, I wasn't physically normal I knew it and others knew it.
That isn't to say I'm not grateful to those who tried to help me by paying for and fitting me with artificial arms. The St. Louis Variety Club purchased a couple of pairs of battery operated artificial arms for me at a cost of more than ten thousand dollars. The arms were custom made, using parts and technology from all over the world. The arms strapped around my rib cage and shoulders and were activated by buttons I could touch with my chin. The hands opened and closed, and the arms raised and lowered. They were a "technological wonder". I just found them to be more of a hindrance than a help in the long run of my life.I had to discover what worked for me. I'm still making discoveries. I suspect you are too.Through the years - mostly through trial and errors - I learned.
TO ORDER THIS MESSAGE ON AUDIO OR VIDEO TAPE, CALL 020 88 555 888 NOW.