Time Management

An integral element towards achieving excellent grades.

Time is the most important entity that we have as creatures of God. As a matter of fact, the only thing on earth all humans have in common is time.

       The billionaire and a beggar have the same time allocated to them. In an academic context, a merit student and a level one student also the same time allocated to them. In this connection, what you are and what you become depends on how you use your time. While there are a number of things humans can control, that is not the case with time, because it cannot be stopped but humans can control how it will be used.

Some humans are not conscious with time management, this startles me. It is hard to fathom this bugbear, because if there something that distinguishes us from other creatures created by God, it is the fact that we have the capacity for thought. The capacity for thought that we possess, should give us the ability to manage time.  King Solomon puts it “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest” (Proverbs 6: 6-8).

The moral of this passage is that we must plan our time effectively and this will make us to be successful people. It is extremely impossible to sow as seed today and reap it the following day, this is the case with preparing for the examinations. If we really want to get best grades, we must give ourselves enough time to study prior to the exams. The late Maya Angelou echoes the latter statement by saying “All great achievements require time.”

 There are various things that squander out time. If you want invest on your time, rather than, spending it, please consider Stephen Covey’s time management grid. Firstly, He says urgent and important things must be executed straightway (E.g. preparing for a test to be written in two days’ time). Secondly, he says for important but not urgent, you can decide when to execute them (E.g. jogging- if you be writing a test in two days’ time, you can reschedule your jogging time to be something to do after the test).

Thirdly, urgent not important must be delegated. For instance, when your friends invites you to watch a soccer match at 15h00pm, while you are preparing for the exams. You can politely respond with a grin, telling him that he should tell you the match results when he comes back. Lastly, not important not urgent things, must be dumped, says Covey. Friends, I’m giving you a chance to select the things that you need to dump… because they are not adding value to your life.

Remain blessed and always ensure that you are in good terms with the God Trinity and the orders of the Bible our Constitution as the Kingdom of God citizens.

God gives us Legacy.

GRADUATION! Another itinerary towards unleashing what God created you to be on earth.

Success is everybody’s anticipation and desire; I often see this in action, in most cases, before and during the examinations time. This is the time when you see students using energy supplements. “ I am under pressure” are words one hears from students. It is important to state that there should first be an action for the reaction of success to take place. We all have a potential of being successful if only we can realise how precious time is.

“A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer” (Job 14:5-6). God is saying when I give you birth, I hired you and I have a certain period which you cannot exceed. In light of the latter, we can, therefore, say men are in the race of becoming what God created them to be before they depart on earth. Maximising time is about being mindful of the time you have on earth, as the verse the book of Psalms 39:4 states that “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is”.

I was challenged as I watched the graduation ceremony, hope it is the same with you. Principally, because I knew some of the graduates were climbing the ladder of success towards becoming what God created them to be on earth.

There is a difference between being killed and dying; the former refers to departing earth before you complete your assignment, whereas the latter refers to graduating, passing away in this case, after you have completed your assignment.  Apostle Paul was not killed; instead he died because by God’s grace, he had completed the assignment that God gave him before graduating to Heaven.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4: 7-8) – these are words of Apostle Paul. They go to prove that he died he was not killed.

The choice is yours to be either pronounced as someone who died or as someone who was killed. These days without a degree you can be someone in life, but with one you can open various doors for your life. It goes without saying, that a post graduate degree will open even more doors…

“The wealthiest places in the world are not gold mines, oil fields, diamond mines or banks. The wealthiest place is the cemetery. There lies companies that were never started, masterpieces that were never painted… In the cemetery, there is buried greatest treasure of untapped potential. There is a treasure within you that must come out. Don’t go to the grave with your treasure still within YOU.”

By Pastor. Dr. Myles Munroe.                                                                                                                                                            

Please die empty! There is a man you must never meet in heaven, that is, the person whom God created you to be.

The God Trinity afforded us with the Legacy of Grace though which we are saved, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8), while Apostle Paul left us the Legacy of over ten Epistles in the New Testament. The questions to you dear sister and brother, what legacy will you want us to remember you with after you are gone?

Remain blessed and always ensure that you are in good terms with the God Trinity and the orders of the Bible our Constitution as the Kingdom of God citizens.

Your future is God`s past; do not settle for less, but rather, go for His best for your life.

 A godly counsel predominantly dedicated to first-year students. 

You and I bear witness of the fact that people make promises such as; I will give you a certain amount of money, I will take care of you and other seemingly worthwhile and thrilling promises. These promises may not necessarily come to pass. This is because the value of a promise is not inevitably dependent on the promise itself, but rather, on the one who promises. God is the only reliable and guaranteed keeper of promises. Numbers 23:19, say that, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil?”

Indeed, He is the man of His Word. In this connection, the answer to the questions that some students have such as, how will I pay my tuition and residence fee? How will I juggle to have sufficient transport fare for the whole month? And other relevant questions, are nothing when compared to what God has for them in His promises.

God created and completed you before you were brought to this world; this is evident in Jeremiah 1:5 and 29: 11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

In this regard, the first step towards becoming what God created you to be in this world is to be born again, (see Romans 10:9-10). Dear brother and sister do not settle for less rather go for God`s best for your life. God`s best for your life is to become what he intended you to become in the first place. 

In Genesis 1:26 the Bibles says “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion …, and over all the earth, and …”.

The Kingdom of God citizens are expected to be ‘heads and not the tails’ in various spheres of life.  Once you are the head in respect of your academic results, there is no doubt that the funding officers will be compelled to offer you the financial aid. Regardless, of the period of the semester.

In Philippians 4:13, the Bible says “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. God would have not given us brains if He wanted study for us, that is, play your part and undeniably God will play His part. If you obey His commandments and trust Him wholeheartedly, nothing will ever go wrong. With good grades God will make you to pick from Funza, DOE or NSFAS. This was factual with Mbali Mkila.

Let’s us compete our first piece, by presenting a testimony by the Kingdom of God citizen Mbali Mkila who is a Deans recommendation achiever, a Merit student and a member of Golden Key Honour Society.

She says, “Life has never been easy, but with God you find impossible being possible. I am not talking about mystery of a fairy tale, but a reality and a testimony”. In 2014 she was on her first year in the University of KwaZulu Natal, Edgewood Campus, it was a bumpy ride year for her. God saw here through by providing her with the registration fees for both Tuition and Residence, that was just all she needed. Mbali applied for various financial aids, but her labour was in vain. The latter did not discourage her, as she passed all her modules with flying colours. When the storms came she dwelt on the promises of God, particularly believing that God is Omnipresent (See Det 31:6). “Even though I knew that there is nothing I can do, especially since my parents could not help either because of their financial disability, I just kept on praying” said Mbali. A miracle preceded by faith in God and academic diligence happened. While Mbali had questions that no one could answer about her fate with regards to 2014`s outstanding fees. Two days before 2015 academic year registration Prof. Msibi (then Dr. Msibi) sent her a sms. By God`s grace ‘that sms’ brought good news that she got a bursary because of exceptional academic excellence, on her first year. She thought she was dreaming, but believe me she was not dreaming because it was in the daytime.  “God helped me to get this bursary because if I did not, I would have experienced exclusion” are Mbali`s words.

This was also a spiritual lesson for Mbali as she got to comprehend that God`s timing is always perfect.  ‘Do not settle for less, but rather, go for His best for your life’ like Mbali. If you find yourself in Mbali`s former situation, please don`t forget the God factor. This is because, God has a way of fixing things that is beyond our comprehension.

Remain blessed and always make sure that you are in good terms with the God Trinity and the dictates of the Bible, our Constitution as the Kingdom of God citizens.