DECODING THE CODE

TO
SUCCESS

Basic ingredients for a successful life

MARTIN MBEWE
Decoding the Code to Success

Basic ingredients for a successful life

MARTIN MBEWE
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Copyright © 2021
By
Martin Mbewe
Published by: Divine Embassy Press (DEP)
All scripture quoted are from the New King James Version of the Bible
Dedication
This book is dedicated to you. Enjoy it.
Acknowledgement

I must first acknowledge the Almighty God, for His everlasting mercy and love
for me. Without Him, I would have not reached this far. I am highly grateful,
Lord.
I am grateful to my parents, Mr Wellington Namuku Mbewe and my dear
mother, the late Gladys Chitawo for nurturing me into a responsible man. I
cherish my past. I love you.
Special appreciation to my brother, Owen Namuku and all my siblings; thanks
for your support. I value you all.
A big thanks to my editor, mentor and friend, Jani Grey Kasunda for your
support, powerful inspirations and teachings.
To Mrs D. Kapoloma, Pastor John Chilemba and Thomas Mpoma, no word can
express my gratitude for your unwavering sustenance to grow me into a God
fearing man.
To my friends, Wisdom Sichali, Charles Wahara, Lloyd Chagwira, Lameck
Chimango, McLean Mafubza, Pastor Christian Phiri, James Gumulira, Aubrey
Mwenda, Jackie Hazalat Omar and all others, you are more than friends. I value
you all.
CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1
Put God First

CHAPTER 2
Be humble and generous

CHAPTER 3
Live Your Life as a Minister

CHAPTER 4
Your Destiny is in Your Hands

CHAPTER 5
Abandon ungodly Traditions
Introduction

When you embark on a journey to a place where you have never been before,
you ask for direction. If you do not follow the map given, you end up reaching a
wrong destination and destroy the whole purpose of your journey. Life is a
journey, which to me, has no map. But if you are with God and you ask Him for
directions, it is a guarantee that you are going to reach your destination with joy
and happiness.
Today, there is an evil spirit which makes many people not to have interest in
reading the Holy Bible and other spiritual books written by men of God. This
happens because the devil does not want them to know the truth about their life.
When you buy a new plasma screen, you find a remote control and a manual
book inside the carton placed together with the appliance. It is the manufacturer
of the garget who writes this manual book. This manual book tells you how the
plasma screen works. If you ignore it, you will be limited in using the buttons on
your remote control. Until you read it, it is when you can use the remote control
to its maximum ability and enjoy best performance of your plasma screen.
It is the same with life. When God created man, He created a manual book for
him as well. The Holy Bible is that manual book. This manual book helps man to
understand how he can handle life and live to his maximum potential. If you do
not read the Bible, you cannot know that praying unceasingly brings great
things to one's life. You can know that if you kneel down and pray with faith to
God, you can receive healing, find a job, a spouse, have promotion at your work
place, pass examinations at school, and more. In the book of Mathew 7:7, the
Bible says ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you, For everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks finds,
and to him who knocks it will be opened. But you cannot know these things if
you do not read the Bible or other spiritual books or listening to spiritual
teachings broadcast on radio or television.
The Bible says that nothing is impossible with God. But He said, “The things
which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27. There are
things that men can do and there are things they cannot do. Therefore, for those
things that men cannot do, God do them perfectly. But this can be known to you
if you know Him. As you are reading this book, I pray that the Holy Spirit should
give you the desire to read it up to the end. Hallelujah!
 CHAPTER 1
Put God First
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added to you." Mathew 6:33. The scriptures above are telling us that we
need to put God first in all our plans if we want to experience paradise on earth.
God is the one who grants us the desires of our hearts but this happens only to
those who are in good relationship with Him. There are several evidences in the
Holy Bible where men who stood right with God experienced great success. For
example, David in the book of 1 Samuel Chapter 17 defeated Goliath because
the living God was on his side. Elijah at Mount Carmel asked God to make fire
descend on his burnt sacrifice and it happened because God was with him. In the
book of Daniel Chapter 1, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; the friends of
Daniel, challenged king Nebuchadnezzar that they cannot worship a statue and
because they put God first, fire had no power over them. The living God was
with them. Take time and read the chapters I have mentioned above and you will
see why it is important to put God first in all your plans in the journey of life. "If
you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and
it shall be done for you." John 15:7.
In my high school days, teachers used to ask us what we would want to become
in life after doing well in our studies. Many students used to say they want to be
a nurse, a lawyer, and a doctor, etc. We spoke about our future careers with
confidence and there was nothing wrong with that. But without God and hard
work, it is difficult for one to achieve success. You can take yourself as an
intelligent fellow and take God out of your life but I have seen intelligent
students failing to write exams because of sickness or lack of school fees. I have
seen some students passing on without achieving their dreams. This simply tells
us that there is someone who takes care of us and He is supposed to be put at the
centre of our plans. That someone is God. Like a mathematical formula; I can
say God + hard work = success. Now I hope we are together when I say God is
really needed in our lives if we are to fly high.
This means putting your faith in God is the right thing to do. But let me remind
you that faith without works is nothing unless there is manifestation of a miracle
from God. For example, if you are a student, it can be difficult to get good grades
in class if you are not working hard. In James 2: 17, the Bible says that faith by
itself, if it does not have works, it is dead. It means as a student, you need to pray,
to read your notes and to live a disciplined life. That way you will become what
you want in life. If you put hard work on the lead and God second, my friend,
you will experience a downfall because you have missed the formula to success.
I am saying the formula is God + hard work = Success. Put God first in
everything and things will work for you. God should be first and hard work
second. I can speak with confidence that, people who use this formula are doing
well in life. And if you are a student or anyone reading this book, I think you
now have what it takes for one to walk in the right direction according to what
she/he desires to be in life. There is power in putting God first in everything.
As people, we make plans on how our life will be. For example, we plan for our
tomorrow without knowing what will happen next. I have heard news that a
man said goodbye to his friends and promised them that they would meet the
other day but he died the same night, all the plans drowning in the river of death.
Friend, we need to include God in everything we do and when saying goodbye
to friends every day, we should try to use the words 'see you if God allows'. God
is the owner of our lives. He is the one who knows our tomorrow better than us.
Therefore, it is important to put Him always first in our day-to-day activities
with total faith.
As followers of Jesus Christ the everlasting conqueror, we need to have
unshakable faith. Faith is what brings heaven's glory on earth. In the book of
Hebrews Chapter 11:1, the Bible says that "Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." There is power in trusting God. God
makes impossible things possible. In the book of Luke 18:27, the Bible says all
things are possible with God. Sometimes as people we pass through situations
that are beyond our control. We need to invite God in such situations. "Behold, I
am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” Jeremiah
32:27. The answer to this question is that there is nothing hard for the Lord.
In the book of Exodus, Moses exercised faith and he put God first. He made sure
that he was walking under the direction of God Almighty and you can agree
with me all his actions were a success. When the Israelites were about to cross
the red sea, something happened. The Egyptians were following them and they
started complaining to Moses that it was better for them to remain and die in
Egypt than in the wilderness. They said many things because they did not know
the power of the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses called
on the Lord. God answered amazingly by creating a way in the Red Sea and the
children of Israel crossed on dry land.
Right now, maybe you are passing through hard situations that are making you
to be sceptical about the existence of God. I want to assure you that God is still
on the glorious throne and He is watching you. That is why you are still
breathing. If God was not was not with you, my friend, you would have not been
there reading this book. I advise you to keep your faith because your miracle is
on the way. You need to know that God is bigger than your situations. It might
be that you are passing through such situations in order for the greatness of God
to be manifested on you so that others can turn to God when they see the miracle
God Almighty has apportioned you.
I always get encouraged when I read the story about a man who was born blind
in the book of John Chapter 9. The man received sight from Jesus Christ, the
everlasting conqueror. "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind
from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man
or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered neither this man nor did
his parents sin, but that the works of God should be revealed in him." John 9:1-
3. These scriptures are telling us that sometimes we pass through some tough
situations not because we have sinned but that the works of God should be
revealed in us. Hallelujah!
The only thing we need to do as Christians is to never cease praying as it is
indicated in the book of 1 Thessalonians 5:17. We should pray unceasingly
because that is the only way we can remain in good relationship with God. We
need to keep the word of God in our hearts so that we should not sin and in that
way, God will be on our side always,
"Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You," Psalms
119:11. Let us keep the commandments of God and love His beloved son Jesus
Christ and everything shall be added to us.
In John 14:23-24, Jesus said; “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and
my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear
is not mine but the Father who sent me.There is power in the name of Jesus.
Maybe you are a person whom God called to minister His word to His people
but what you are passing through is beyond your control. Beloved, Invite God
into your situation and you will succeed.
If you are a man or woman looking for a marriage partner, make sure you put
God first and you will magnetize your marriage partner. I advise you to ask God
for guidance and He will give you the right person who will support your
dreams. Many people make mistakes when searching for a matrimonial partner.
When we want to find a marriage partner, we don't involve God in our plans but
when something goes wrong in our relationship, we seek God's intervention.
Beloved, that is foolish thinking. The scriptures in the book of Matthew 6:33 are
clear, seek His Kingdom first and all shall be added to you. If it is a good
husband, he shall be given you. If it is a good wife, she shall be given to you. If it
is a good job, you will find it. If it is a capital for your business, you will get it. If
it is good health, you will have it. If it is school fees, you will get it. Is there
anything that is bothering you? Bring it to God and you will sing a song of joy
today. Make God your shepherd today like what David is saying is Psalms 23:1
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
If you have been married for many years without a child, please seek His
Kingdom today and your story will be good. In the book of 1 Samuel Chapter 1,
Hannah invited God in her childless situation and something happened. She got
a son by the name Samuel. "So, it came to pass, Hannah conceived and bore a
son, and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked for him from the
Lord,” 1 Samuel 1:20. Stop complaining about your situations and take action
today by getting into prayer. There is no victory without sacrifice. Dedicate
your life to God and everything will begin to move in the right direction. Your
destiny will be great.
One day I was seating in my room at home and something crossed my mind. I
was thinking that maybe God does not bless us because of our characters and
attitudes. Maybe He looks at person X and says “if this man is behaving this
way while he has only 50,000 Kwacha, what if I give him 2,000,000 Kwacha?
Maybe he will die early and the reason why I created him will not be fulfilled.
Let me leave him this way until he gets to know me and do my Word then I will
bless him.” But because we do not change our characters and attitudes, maybe
that is why situations continue to become tough in our lives. It was a funny
thought but I think you can get something out of it.
Today, there are some people who were dedicated to God during the time they
were jobless. When they got employed, they stopped going to church or
attending spiritual gatherings. If you ask them, they will tell you they are busy
with office duties. What a shame! My friend, I advise you to find time to worship
God, no matter how busy your schedules may be. In our country, there are some
people who dedicated their hearts to God because they wanted a spouse. With
His everlasting mercy, God gave them their desire, and they stopped going to
church. If you ask them, why are you not coming to church? They will tell you “I
am busy taking care of my marriage; I have no time for church.”
Friend, find good reasons for worshipping God. To be honest, many Christians
today worship God because they want something from Him. If that thing is
given to us, we depart from God. What kind of Christianity is that? Let us think
wisely before it is too late because God is watching us.
As soldiers of Christ, we need to stand firm in all situations no matter what
comes on our way. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the book of Daniel
Chapter 3 are good examples of saints who stood firm on God, no matter the
situation. "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king,
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the
case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery
furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be
known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the
gold image which you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18.
Friend, it is God that first loved us and we should love Him too with all our
minds and hearts.
As I conclude this chapter, I want you to know that nothing good from God can
come to you if you are not in good relationship with Him. God only answers
prayers of His children, not children of the devil. If you are into sin, then don't
expect anything from God. The good news is that there is a room for you to
renew your relationship with God by accepting His Son Jesus Christ as your
Lord and saviour. In the book of Isaiah 59:1 to 3, the Bible says "Behold, the
Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot
hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have
hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled
with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your
tongue has muttered perversity."
This means repentance is the only way of building a relationship with God.
“You will ask and it shall be given to you. You will knock and the door shall be
opened to you. You will search and you shall find” (Matthew 7:7). You just have
to believe that what you are asking will be done as Jesus Christ said in the book
of Mathew 21:22 that "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you
will receive." Luke 1:37 is also confirming to us that no word from God is
powerless.
 CHAPTER 2
Be humble and generous
There is one thing that has made human kingdoms to collapse and that thing is
pride. Pride is a very dangerous animal and it is not supposed to be tamed by
people who are aiming at achieving great things in life. Beloved, do you know
that pride is a sin that Lucifer (Satan) committed in heaven and because of this
sin; he was thrown down to earth together with his angels? As an angel, the devil
started to feel that he was powerful because of the gifts and the powers that God
Almighty gave him. Pride is very bad. Don't allow it to be part of your life, it will
destroy you. Read Isaiah 14:12-15 to hear more about the downfall of Lucifer.
There are some people who consider themselves great and they consider others
less important because of what they have acquired. Because of education they
call others primitive. Today, some children call their parents primitive and
illiterate because they are not acting the way they think is right. They forget that
it is the same parents who took care of them. Education has even made some
people to forget God. Others have even reached an extent of saying that there is
no God. I'm not saying education is bad but I believe that true education is what
makes one humble. Everything that you have acquired must be good to all and
should glorify God.
Because of leadership positions, some people consider other people useless to
the extent that they don't listen to their views. This is bad because sometimes the
people we think are useless can rescue us from danger. This takes me to the book
of 2 Kings 5:1-23. This story talks about Naaman the great commander of the
king of Syria who had leprosy. He received a message from a captive girl who
was from the land of Israel. The girl told Naaman that if he would meet a prophet
who was in Samaria, he would heal him of his leprosy. Naaman listened to the
young girl's message and he went to the land of Israel where eventually he
received healing. Had it been that he was arrogant, Naaman could have
remained a leprosy man forever.
You see my friend, sometimes the advice we get from people we consider less
important can take us to greatness.
There is a need for us to humble ourselves before God and fellow human beings.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. You see, if
you humble yourself in the sight of Jehovah, you will be rewarded and I hope
you know what that means. It means God will exalt you and you shall
experience greatness. “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your
elders. Yes all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility,
for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” 1
Peter 5:5-6.
Birth of Jesus Christ is an example of humbleness. He left all the glory in heaven
and came on earth to die for you and me. He was born and laid in a manger. He
was mocked, tortured and beaten with stripes like a thief, all because He wanted
to save you and me. In the book of Luke Chapter 3, God confirmed that Jesus
Christ, the everlasting conqueror, is His special Son. "And the Holy Spirit
descended in bodily form like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven
which said, “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22.
I think if we can learn to be humble like Jesus Christ, pride can become our
enemy. We can serve God with all our hearts and minds because He first saved
us. We can save other souls from behaviours of the fresh through preaching to
them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I have discovered that the spirit of pride has led many people to experience
failure in the activities of their life. Pride makes people to think that they know
everything and with what they know, they cannot seek guidance from others.
They don't understand the importance of having a mentor. The spirit of
selfishness is what controls their lives. This is a disease and if you have it, it will
kill your future. But I have something that can cure it, and it is humility.
Be humble and you will learn a lot from people. You can also learn a lot from the
Holy Spirit, our spiritual mentor. "But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all things that I said to you," John 14:26. This was Jesus talking to
His disciples about the Holy Spirit. Beyond human thinking, the Holy Spirit
teaches us divine secrets on how we can run our lives in order to inherit the
Kingdom of God and live a happy life. People, who humble themselves to read
the word of God from the Bible, are the ones who learn a lot and understand
what God demands of us. It is only the word of God that teaches the truth about
living a holy life.
As people, we perish because we do not have knowledge about the spirit world.
A man was created in three parts; spirit, soul and flesh. In physical life, we need
food to make our bodies healthier. We eat food every day to keep our bodies
energized because if we cannot do this for some days, we can die. In spiritual
life, if we are not eating spiritual food, we start dying spiritually. This happens
because we lack nutrients that can keep our spirit strong. Therefore, for our
spiritual life to be healthier, we need to read the Bible. "This book of the law
shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that
you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will
make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success," Joshua 1:8.
Here, God was telling Joshua to meditate on what is in the book of law for him to
succeed in life. The book of law which is being talked about here is the Holy
Bible.
Now you see, the secret has been revealed to us but because we lack knowledge
about life, we live in great disorder. "My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from
being priests for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will
forget your children," Hosea 4:6. The Bible is saying clearly that because you
have forgotten the law of your God, He also will forget your children.
Maybe you and me are suffering today because of the sins of our fathers.
Because of the weaknesses of our fathers, today we are failing to experience the
greatness of God. In the book of Kings, there is a story about a man whose sins
spoiled the lives of his offspring. "Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling
to you and your descendants forever. And he went out from his presence leprous,
as white as snow," 1 Kings 5:27. The greed of Gehazi destroyed the lives of his
descendants. Maybe today you are not married, you are not experiencing peace
in your family, you are not doing well in your studies, you are failing to grow
spiritually because of the curses of your father and mother.
Curses come in different ways and forms. In his book, Dealing with Hidden
Curses, Dr D.K. Olukoya from Nigeria said that curses come if you have broken
a marriage vow and covenant, when you treat others unfairly, through sexual
immorality, bribery or stealing the wealth of the dead. Whenever the innocent is
pronounced guilty, those who do that come under a curse. When you murder
someone by witchcraft, shedding of innocent blood by abortion, and purchasing
stolen items on which a curse has been placed, attracts a curse among other
things.
If you know you committed one of these things and you do not have peace in
your mind, do not worry, our God is a loving God, that is why today you are here
reading this book. All what you need to do is to humble yourself, repent from all
your sins and ask God to deliver you from those curses. There is good news
which encourages me. A curse cannot affect a child of God who is walking in
obedience.
If you think you cannot pray own your own, find a person who you think can
help you in prayer. It can be a pastor from your church or any other man of God.
But this can only work to those who humble themselves. People who allow
others to help them with something they do not know. My friend, if you are not
humble, I advise you to learn to seat down with others so that they can teach you
what you do not know and that way, you will be great. Learn to respect the ideas
of other people and you will be great.
Do you know that humility cures worldliness? It happens in this way because it
is a character of godliness. Pride is from the devil and you already know that
there is no relationship between light and darkness. Darkness hates light. That is
why I can say people who are more into the activities of the world find it hard to
worship or listen to the word of God. The reason is that they are spiritually tied
by satanic agents. When the Gospel of Jesus is being presented on radio, they
change the station or switch the radio receiver off. When you see someone doing
this, just know demons are at work. Demons convince the person that he has no
business in what is being presented on the radio. And the funniest part about
people who are into earthly behaviours is that, they consider those who worship
God to be somehow insane. They think it is them who understand life better than
those who worship God. If you are in this category, I advise you to change your
mind and embrace transformation, because Jesus is coming soon. And if it will
not be that Jesus will come soon, death will find you. And if you die a sinner, you
will go straight to hell with the founder of pride, Satan.
"And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,"
Hebrews 9:27. Make that right decision now.
In this life, I found that the spirit of meekness makes one accept criticism. This
spirit is what is needed in our lives today. The reason most people do not like
listening to the word of God on radio or watch it on television or go to church is
that they hate criticism. They can't humble themselves to sit down and listen to
the voice of God speaking against their behaviour. As long as someone is still
alive, there will be a fight between the flesh and the spirit. This battle is
endless until the day the person will die.
The word of God is clear in Galatians 5:16; "I say then: bursts of wrath, selfish
ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the
like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those
who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Glory in the
highest!
 CHAPTER 3
Live your life as a minister
A motorcycle with a powerful engine is useless if there are no tires. Likewise,
tires without engine cannot be called a motorcycle. In the same sense, a hand of
a person cannot be called a body without other body parts like legs, teeth and
mouth. God created eyes to help a person see things. Legs were made to help a
person walk or run, and hands were made to help a person collect things. These
body parts work together without complaining or each part considering itself
more important than the other. Each part does the work it was created for.
Have you realized that in life you cannot find a person who has it all? When I say
having it all, I mean knowing everything and serving himself. Naturally, we
were born to rely on one another. We need help from one another in our day to
day lives.
Take a look in the area that you live in, for example. You will find that when one
wants to build a skyscraper or a bungalow, he needs services from other people.
He may need a quantity surveyor, an architect who can design the building or a
building contractor. You find that these people do different tasks but their goal is
the same. These people have different skills and creativity but you cannot find
someone who can do all these tasks alone.
In this world, everyone is important regardless of his level of education, race,
gender, ethnicity, nationality or religion. Everyone makes contribution to the
development of our modern societies. Therefore, we need to respect each other.
We need to live our lives as ministers. The word minister means servant.
Therefore, to minister to someone means to serve him or her. “Therefore,
brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the
Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will
give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word,”Acts 6:4.
According to bibleline.com, the matter of serving people with God's word is
called the Ministry of the Word; the person who also serves is called a minister.
When we talk about ministers, people think about men of God in the church and
ministers in the government. In this book we will go beyond that. I want you to
understand that you are a minister too.
"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that
from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the
Lord Christ," Colossians 3:23-24.
The scriptures above tell us that we should do our work to please God, the
creator of heaven, earth, including human beings. God created us to help one
another with skills and the ministry He entrusted us with. If you are a doctor,
nurse, teacher, driver, and lawyer or of any field, you need to know that you are
in that field to serve others. The most important thing to do is to do your part
wisely as a servant.
Therefore, do not brag about your achievements or profession to other people
because without them you are nothing. You need to know that you cannot do it in
life without help or presence of others. In a country, for example, a president
cannot serve better without cabinet ministers. The president alone cannot know
the needs of people in a country if there is no one to inform him. That is why
every leader has subordinates. Subordinates help leaders in decision making
processes.
These people help a country to develop. If a country has hardworking and
innovative ministers, you see their achievements through development
initiatives. You see improvements in lives of people in that country. If it has
incompetent and selfish ministers, you also see the fruits. Ministers help a
president to lead a nation successfully. It means incompetent ministers are equal
to poor leadership.
Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United State of America (USA)
once said that "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good
men to do what he wants done." It means an executive needs to make wise
decisions and choices when choosing supporting staff if he wants to achieve
what we call success for his country, company or an organisation. God choose
us because He knew we are capable of doing that job the right way with
integrity.
In a government, ministers are supposed to be chosen according to their area of
expertise. For example, a person who is an expert in medicine can serve better if
given the role of minister of health. This is because he understands things to do
with health. Technically, it can be difficult for this particular fellow to serve as a
minister of Agriculture because he has no expertise in agriculture. Therefore,
for this ministry to run effectively, someone with expertise in agriculture must
be given that role. The president should know the people he appoints. Ideally,
ministers serving government should be appointed based on knowledge, skills
and education background. If a government puts a wrong person in particular
ministry, it is digging a pit for itself because there will be poor performance.
It is very pathetic these days to find government ministers getting involved in
corruption and other immoral behaviours. The reason is that they do not
understand why they were called to that ministerial position. They forget that
they are servants. They do not know what a servant does to his master. A cabinet
minister is a servant of the president and people. He is called to help a country
achieve its developmental goals. If you are a civil servant reading this material, I
want you to understand that you are there because of people. You need to know
that you are there not because you are special or because of your academic
qualifications. Understand that God has entrusted you with that role to serve His
people. Live your life as a minister.
Now, stop abusing the office. You need to know that God can replace you with
another person if you do not serve the right way. You need to know that God is
the supreme ruler. He has power over everything. If you are a leader now, you
will agree with me that the position you are holding was once held by someone
else. Where is that person today? I want to remind you that you will not be on
that position forever. I want to tell you that there were other people before you.
But where are they now? They were shown exit doors because they failed to
perform their duties accordingly. I am not saying that every government
minister or civil servant who served some years back is no longer there because
he was not effective. What I am saying is that, everything has a time. Today is
your time, tomorrow would be for others. Live your life as a minister. What do
you want people to remember you for? Leaving a positive legacy will be much
better because you will be considered as an example to the next generation of
leaders. Serve with integrity my friend.
I am very much sure that you cannot go to an organisation and find that it has
people of the same profession and with similar experience. You would find men
and women with different skills and expertise.
For a certain period, I was working with a certain Christian hospital that treats
children with disability in Malawi. What I observed was that we were people of
different fields and expertise but we were working as one. There were doctors,
nurses, patient attendants, cleaners, accountants, security guards and others. We
were working together with one aim of saving lives. I heard no one saying I am
more important than others here. We were working with oneness. I can
confidently tell you that the hospital is still running today and it is one of the best
hospitals in Malawi. You know the reason why? People here understand that
they are called to serve lives through their area of expertise. They live their lives
as ministers.
You can walk around the world but you cannot find a doctor who can run a
hospital alone. No doctor can do nursing of patients, cleaning or guarding his
facility. The doctor will need other people to help him. This also reminds me the
reason why God created man and woman. In Genesis chapter 2:18, the Bible
says "And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone; I will make
him a helper comparable to him.”
I hope you have heard from the scriptures above that a woman was made to help
a man. It means a man could not make it without a woman and vice versa. Men
are ministers to women and vice versa. When there is a wedding or funeral
ceremony in a community, for example, you find that it is women who take the
part of cooking food. This does not mean that men cannot do the job but women
are much better and organized than men when it comes to cooking food. Women
understand the conventions about cooking.
Let me take you to the story about Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis chapter
1:26-28. You will discover that God assigned Adam to look over His creation.
Adam was a minister in the Garden of Eden. You will find that God created
Adam and gave him dominion over creation. He was a minister of God. He was
called to serve the Garden of Eden. This is why you should understand that God
entrusted you with those skills or role for you to serve His people. But look now,
instead of you serving the better way, you are not. You are busy bragging that
you are more important than any other person in that institution you work for.
What a shame.
When I was in primary school, one of my friends told me he went to a certain
government hospital in Malawi to seek medical help. As he was waiting for
assistance, he heard and saw a medical practitioner shouting at a woman who
also came with a child to access medical help. To his surprise, the medical
practitioner shouted at the woman just because she failed to answer some
questions she was asked about her child. In short, the woman was illiterate. She
did not know how to read and write.
But what alarmed that friend of mine were the words that the medical
practitioner used on the woman. She said “you illiterate villagers give us tough
time here.” He was shocked by this statement.
Yes, education is important for a person and it is supposed to be accessed by
every person, but we need to understand that as people, we face different
challenges in this life when growing up. The medical practitioner would have
understood that she was given that chance to serve people regardless of their
level of education, race, ethnicity, religion or gender. She should have realized
that she was a minister. She was called to serve people at the hospital. If you are
a medical practitioner, you need to know that you are there because God called
you to serve His people. God gave you chance to acquire training in medicine
because there was an assignment for you. He wanted you to minister to His
people through that profession.
The message about living your life as a minister is also going to people like
barbers, farmers, bicycle tax operators, brick layers, welders, chefs, those who
sell clothes, and all other business people you know. They are ministers as well.
They offer services to other people in society. The word service means an act of
being of assistance to someone. The services by these people make life better in
every society.
Now let me finish my journey talking about church ministers. In the church you
will find people with different callings. In the book of Ephesians 4:11-12, the
Bible says "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for
the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
If you are a minister of the Word of God, you need to know that God has
entrusted you with that role to look at the spiritual welfare of people. I have
talked much in the previous paragraphs about living your life as a minister for
those serving in the secular world. Now it is time to talk about the minister of the
word of God. You need to know that you are a prophet because you are a
messenger of God. When He wants to talk to His people, He uses you. That's
why if you can take time to read books in the Old Testament, you will find that
there were many prophets that God used in communicating His will to people.
These people were acting as communication channel between God and people.
For example, when God wants to tell His people that they will have victory over
something, He reveals that secret through a prophet. In the book of 1 Samuel
15:1, God talked to Samuel about the war that Israel was to have with Amalek.
Samuel told Saul that “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people,
over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says
the Lord of hosts: 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he
ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack
Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill
man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'”
In this passage, Saul did not do what God demanded him to do, so God rejected
him from being king of Israel. Find time and read that chapter you will hear
more about the story. My aim is to show you that God talks to His people
through prophets and today we have no shortage of them in our communities. I
can say we are a prophetic generation although it is hard to know who is true. If
you are a prophet, you need to know that you are a servant of God. Therefore,
avoid telling lies.
This advice also goes to pastors, apostles, evangelists and teachers. It is very
pathetic today that we hear bad news that some church ministers sleep with
praise team girls and women they lead. This is bad behaviour. If you are one
doing this, I think you are not the right person to be a minister. Maybe you were
supposed to be a bar man. I am saying this because people who serve God live
life of purity. They cannot mix fornication or adultery with serving God
Almighty. That is insanity. After reading this book I hope you will embrace
transformation and start living your life as a minister.
No matter how you look, what you do, where you are, what you have achieved,
you need to understand that you are here on earth as a minister and your master
is God who gave you life and the skills you have.
 CHAPTER 4
Your Destiny Is in Your Hands
When a farmer wants to grow maize, he makes preparations so that he should
get good harvest. Some of the preparations can be buying farm inputs and
ploughing the land where the seeds will be planted. Despite the fact that God is
the one who brings rains, the farmer has a role to play, and that is where my
focus is. It means the future of the farmer in what he is to harvest lies in his
hands. What I want to say here is that for one to be successful in something there
must be good preparations. What you are doing today is what you will be
tomorrow. Your destiny is in your hands. This applies to both spiritual and
physical aspects. If you are sinning and you die a sinner, you will go to hell
where there will be eternal fire.
If you are doing good things, you will go to paradise where there will be eternal
life of joy and happiness. Therefore, for you to go to paradise, you have to avoid
sin and walk in the spirit. Walking in the spirit here means doing the will of God.
"I say then: walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish,"
Galatians 5:16-17. Don't be fooled my friend that because you go to church
every Sunday then you will go to paradise, that is self-deceit. Likewise, that
farmer, regardless of the fact that he has purchased farm inputs, he will harvest
nothing if there will be no cultivation.
In the book of Mathew chapter 7, Jesus Christ said that not everyone who says
Lord, Lord will enter Heaven, but only those who follow the commandments of
God. “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven," Mathew 7:21. Today,
there are many people who say that they are followers of Jesus Christ but they
do works of the flesh which are mentioned in the book of Galatians 5:19-21. The
Bible says: "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,
jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy,
murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand,
just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God."
My friend the Bible is clear, if you are practicing these things you might end in
hell if you will not change. But if you live in the Spirit, you should also walk in
the Spirit and the fruits will be evident. Do not say I can speak, behave or dress
anyhow because the truth is inside my heart. My friend, that is not true. If a tree
is bad its fruits are also bad. As a man thinks, so is he.
If you are a Christian girl and you dress the way prostitutes dress, don't say there
is no problem there; to me there is a big problem. People will see you like a
prostitute because you are looking like them. In fact, you are being controlled by
the spirit of prostitution. Do you not notice that when you dress like that a lot of
men look at you? It is because the way you have presented yourself is making
the men to stare at you. They think you are a common girl who can go with any
man. Many Christians today are called by different names because of how they
present themselves to society.
Let us say you are walking on the street near a prison and you have put on
exactly the same uniform that prisoners wear, what do you think people or
prison wardens would say if they see you? Obviously, some can think you are
one of the prisoners. So, if you claim to be a Christian, make sure that you are
showing the fruits of the Spirit which are love, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control. Your spiritual destiny is in your hands my friend, live
your life wisely.
In physical life, what you do is what you become in future. If you are a young
person, you need to know that what you are doing today is what you will be
tomorrow. Social scientists say we are products of our childhood. The
foundation that you are laying today is what will make your future. It means
some of us are where we are today because of what we did in the past. We are
behaving that way because of what we developed some years ago. If you are a
student and you work hard in your studies just know you will be great if you
maintain that character. People who live a disciplined life, achieve great things
in life. Some people dropped out of school not because they had no fees but
because they were too playful. Some girls got pregnant while schooling and
today are mothers; their future was cut short because of irresponsible
behaviours. If you are a young person reading this book, you have to know that
there is time for everything. Make sure you use your time wisely because your
destiny is in your hands.
In the Holy Bible, Ecclesiastes states that to everything there is a season, a time
for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to
plant, and a time to pluck what is planted. So, my friend, if you plant laziness,
you will reap laziness. If you plant hard work, you will reap hard work. If a
farmer has planted maize, he cannot expect to harvest groundnuts. He will
harvest maize. If you cultivate pepper, you will reap pepper. Life is fair on this
part. You may say it is not fair but to me it is. You only get what you plant.
Today, do not be surprised if you are married and you still practice sex outside
marriage. That is the product of your youth hood. Perhaps you hard multiple
sexual partners and today you cannot manage to have one woman. That habit
you developed some years ago became a character and that is what you are
today. Until you have deliverance, it is when you can move out of that bondage.
Unfortunately, some men today practice sex outside marriage because of their
foundation. I mean foundation from their father's and mother's house. They are
controlled by what controlled their parents. Maybe your father was or is a
polygamist, then do not expect that you cannot be affected. Those traits came to
you through heredity. Some children, by the grace of God, were born clean but
they are not many. Have you not heard someone saying this man is behaving like
his father? We are not surprised that he has married two wives because his father
also was a polygamist. So, I am saying, your destiny is in your hands. You have
not to repeat what your father did.
You are a girl and you have multiple sexual partners yet you are not married.
Think twice because your destiny is in your hands. You need to know that today
you are beautiful but tomorrow you will not be like that. You will grow old and
what you are doing today will make your tomorrow. Sometimes I laugh when I
see the kind of drama that happens in our societies today. You find a girl who is
running up and down with men right now saying I want to get married to a good
man who will be a monogamist and a virgin, yet she is not good at all. Do not
think you will get good things if you are not good. Good things are made for
good people. God cannot allow that His innocent Son should get married to
someone like you unless there is a miracle. My simple advice is that you should
change before it's too late because your destiny is in your hands. Accept Jesus
Christ today. Be His disciple and everything will be good for you. "If you abide
in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be
done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so, you
will be my disciples," John 15:7-8.

Start living a life of purpose today. They say living a life without purpose is like
getting into a taxi without knowing where you are going. It is like going to a
market place without knowing what you want to buy. Your destiny is in your
hands.
 CHAPTER 5
Abandon ungodly traditions
In our societies, we have customs and traditions which have been there for many
years. Some of these customs and traditions are good and some are bad. The
dictionary meaning of the word custom is frequent repetition of the same
behaviour or way of behaviour common to many while tradition means a part of
culture that is passed from person to person or generation to generation. I think
time has come that we should stop any tradition that is not godly.
As Christians, we have some behaviour which I think makes us miss heavenly
glory. We have customs that disturb us from worshipping God the right way. We
go to church every Sunday but we don't put aside some of these behaviours
although we claim to be born again. For example, many Christians have a
tendency of going to church very late. We don't know that the issue of time is
very important in the Kingdom of God. Let us assume that we are 70 people in a
church and we have agreed to have a prayer meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.
God has heard us making that agreement. Now with His everlasting mercy, He
has planned to assign angels to come and bless us on this particular day at
exactly 8:30 a.m.
Let us assume the day has come and that the angels have also come at the exact
time. Instead of finding 70 people, they find 16 people only. These people have
started prayers and they are presenting their prayer petitions to God. Then 1 hour
later, the other people come and join the 16. Who do you think God can bless
between the early comers and the late comers? Sometimes I think that the
behaviour of going to church very late is what is making many Christians not to
receive from God. This is a profitless behaviour and it can take us to nowhere
except hell. In my research I found that late comers miss important messages
that could transform their lives. If you go to church very late, I advise you to
change.
In the book of Acts chapter 2, the Bible says that when the day of Pentecost
came, all the disciples of Jesus Christ gathered in one place waiting for the
coming of the promised helper, the Holy Spirit. When I read this chapter, I see
that there was no one who was late because if it was so, the Bible could have not
said all the disciples were in one place. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly, there came a
sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house
where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire,
and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," Acts 2:1-
4.
There are some traditions that will take us to hell if we are not careful. As
Christians, we need to know that we are followers of Christ and that means we
should do what Christ demands us to do. We should believe in God only and be
enemies of sin.
In some African societies, when a child is born, parents tie something like a yoke
around the neck of the baby which they believe it protects the baby from evil
attacks. This happens even to people who call themselves Christians. If you ask
them why they do this, they will tell you that this has been their tradition. It is
their ancestors who taught them this behaviour. It is a tradition that is connected
to the practice of witchcraft. If you do this, it simply means you don't trust that
God can protect your child. I find this tradition bad and I must say it is foolish.
When a baby is born, it is God who brings that baby on earth and there is no other
being that can protect the baby except Him. People go to sorcerers to seek
protection for their bodies. They fear that they will be bewitched without
knowing that going to a sorcerer is a sign that you are bewitched already by
Satan. Find out from your society if there is anyone who is 200 years old. I hope
you will find none. We all die and God remains the same forever. Even those
who say they protect their bodies with charms also die.
My friend, the sun that you see today is the same sun that shined in the days of
Apostle Paul some years ago. We don't know our tomorrow. So, if we do not
know our tomorrow, it means we know nothing. It is only God who knows
everything.
I respect the fact that not all traditions are bad, some are good and
commendable. For example, respecting elders is very good. Elders have to be
respected in the church and everywhere. Today, we have young ministers in
church who are rude to their seniors. This is bad behaviour because the Bible
says that we should honour elders. "Let the elders who rule well, be counted
worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word and
doctrine," 1 Timothy 5:16.

Conclusion
Friend, I believe you have gained something from this book and your life will
not be the same. I hope you will start living a purposeful life and impact your
society positively. Share it to your friends if you find the book useful. God bless
you as you start walking the path to a successful, Jesus centred life for that is the
code for a prosperous life. Hallelujah!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Martin Mbewe is a writer, communicator, researcher and teacher of the word of

God. Professionally, he is a journalist. He believes in transformation and posits
that meaningful development happens when there is change in minds and
hearts. Martin has a burning passion for offering effective Information,
Education and Communication materials that are centred on promoting human
transformation.

Connect with Martin Mbewe

WhatsApp or call: +265 888 723 581
Email: mbewemartin358@gmail.com