Talent

TALENT

TALENT

L.J. Mokebe

Copyright © 2019 L.J. Mokebe

Published by 2019 L.J. Mokebe Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

ISBN 978-0-620-82560-3

Published by Lesiba Mokebe using Reach Publishers’ services,

0710052266 / 0730980456

lmokebej@gmail.com

Edited by Frankie Kartun for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Website: www.reachpublishers.co.za

E-mail: reach@webstorm.co.za

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible. All rights reserved. Amplified(r) Bible, Copyright (c) 1954, 1958, 1962,1964,1965,1987. By the Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copy right (c) 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

Note that where Jesus Christ is mentioned He is capitalised on purpose to show dominion of the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the devil’s name not capitalised.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical - including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system - without permission in writing from the publisher.

Book Illustration Cover By

Alisa Mnatsakanian

Alisamnart@gmail.com

www.behance.net/alisamn

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 Battle of Habitation

Chapter 2 Unfaithful Servant

Chapter 3 Unknown gods

Chapter 4 God’s Image

Chapter 5 Kings and Priests

Chapter 6 The Lord’s Call

Chapter 7 Faithful Servants

Chapter 8 Dominion over the earth

Chapter 9 Fruitfulness

Chapter 10 The Mystery of the Hands

Chapter 11 Attitude

Chapter 12 Pillars of Talent

Notes

Acknowledgements

Thanks be to the Lord God, my God Jesus Christ, who has made this book possible; without Him, it would be null and void. It is His glory to conceal a matter, but the honour of Kings to search it out.

To Rev. Lesiba D. Mokebe, thank you for being an obedient servant of God. I have learned a lot from you. You have been there as a father, guiding and teaching me the Word of God. Thank you for instilling the reverence of God in my life.

To Mrs. M. P. Mokebe, many thanks for not denying us the rod, which made the spirit of foolishness escape and made a way for the fear of God, which resulted in wisdom. Thanks to New Life in Christ Church for your constant support and prayers.

Special thanks to Tebogo J. Mokebe for supporting God’s vision in my life. Thanks to Apostle L.J. Letsoalo and John Chibayambuya for discovering the gift and talent in me. Thanks to Joey Mabena, Ignatius Maenetja, Boikhutso Makhanya and Keletso Malefahlo for your support and the dedication you have shown towards this book.

Lastly to my wife Kholofelo, thanks for your encouragement and dedication to this book. I love you, my beloved. And lastly to my daughter Hazael and son Anava, you make Daddy smile.

Introduction

Talent is praised by many, yet there are those that despise it. What is talent and how does it function? In this book we are looking into the definition of talent. A lot is said about it, many books have been criticising it and others encouraging it. Talking about something without defining it raises many questions, arguments and opinions, which may result in confusion.

Talent differs from spiritual gifts. A lot is taught about spiritual gifts in churches and we see a lot of their manifestations, but they cannot be given the same platform as talents. Spiritual gifts are of the spiritual realm, representing a kingdom which has a god. With your talent you choose which god you serve - money, idols, ancestors, the devil, Jesus Christ or yourself. The god that you choose to serve will reward you. Talents have a lot to do with products, services and communication, whereas spiritual gifts focus on an individual’s spiritual needs. Talents, on their own, can’t operate; they are enhanced by spiritual gifts such as wisdom, tongues, understanding, guidance, might, faith, meekness and others, to name but a few.

Talents are for the administration of the community, company, organisation, church and home. They focus on the hands and applying the mind in order to accomplish things that are done practically. A church, organisation or home in which the administration is not handled properly, misuses what it has been given by the Lord. All the members in the house of God are important, so are those who are the members of families in homes, companies and organisations. No one is useless; whether young or old, all are important.

Talent is doing what your heart loves, which will be poured out to people - pouring your heart and emotion of love to another through a product, service or by means of communication. If you have good character and are favoured, you talent will be ministered with love and grace, and people will love your service. People will refer others to you whenever they need your service, unlike the person who is talented but has no character and is rude, unmerciful and unkind. People are gifted because of God’s grace that He has lavished upon them, in order that they may be of great help to many people; it is not by their own strength or understanding.

The lack of talent utilisation is evident in Africa, yet Africa has been graciously favoured with lots of natural resources: minerals, gold, diamonds, manganese, chromium, oil, lithium, platinum, uranium, phosphate, granite, marble, limestone, copper, ore and many others that other continents do not have. Yet Africa is in dire poverty, with much unused talent. Ali Mazurui, Professor of Kenya University, said it well when he said: Africa is producing what they do not use and using what they do not produce. People don’t avail themselves in order to use the natural resources so that they can be of great help to humanity’s needs and wants.

In South Africa talent, is not given as much attention as it deserves as compared to other countries, like the United States of America, China, the United Kingdom and Spain, to mention a few. The South African Freedom Charter states: The government shall discover, develop and encourage national talent for the enhancement of our cultural life, yet they are still opening the doors of learning to educate South Africans. South Africans may be educated, yet many of them do not know their talents. Young people between the ages of 15- 34 are unemployed and looking for jobs. The rate decreased from 51.10 percent from 52.20 in the third quarter of 2017, with youth employment averaging 51.91 percent from 2013 until 2017, according to Trading Economics. The rate is too high and the youth have so much pressure upon their shoulders. Although their certificates of tertiary learning may be held high, their heads face down, demonstrating their feeling of helplessness and hunger for success.

Bill Conaty and Ram Charan, in their book Talent Masters, have said that talent is the leading indicator of whether a business is heading up or down. You can control what you are doing; the numbers are ambiguous, but the output is clear. The graduates are stagnant and they have reached a cul-de-sac. Hiding and squandering talents will not help them anymore, as they have turned their focus to studies, rather than refining their talent with education.

John Gather and Debbie Craig in their book I am Talent, have said that talent is what a person can offer, and what makes that person valuable when viewed by others. How you stand out and get noticed as someone with potential and someone worth investing in, is in your hands. We all have potential deposited is us by God.

This book is for those who are hungry to grow in the Lord; it will answer why many are frustrated. This book will tell you about what you have and what you can do, in order to maximise the talent that God has deposited into your life. In this book, as a South African myself, I’m writing to my fellow people and others in the world, especially in Africa, to wake up, for God has given us talents to fight poverty.

1

Battle of Habitation

Habitation

In the modern world, we normally hear people say: ‘‘Fake it till you make it’’, which means doing something repeatedly until it becomes a part of you. This may be an act of faith by an individual, which does not yield results.

The word ‘habit’ is from a Greek word habere, meaning ‘have’ or ‘consists of’. The word habit is also from Latin ‘habitus’ meaning condition or appearance (the term originally meant dress and attire). This word today denotes a mental or physical constitution.

The mind is the battlefield of decisions, of what is stored in the mind. Information comes from different sources, which has to be sifted and concluded. The words we hear from parents, friends and critics concerning who we are and what we have, are crucial.

The words we hear either fight what we have, or make us believe we are less capable. The devil knows that once we lose sight of the talents and gifts from God, which have a vast influence on our lives, we will lose too much in this life. So, he corrupts the purpose of our talents and gifts; he kills them or makes people neglect them and in this way he fights a person’s talents and gifts at an early age in that person’s life.

We don’t choose our talents; they are given to us by God. He may have given us one, two, three or five, but it is up to us to use them. By depriving them, we are depriving God from being able to use us through them. Those who despise talent and ask God for purpose, don’t know what they are asking for. There’s no purpose without talent, so to despise talent means they are doing so to their own detriment.

Talents and gifts are wrapped in purpose; as a result, purpose makes people become uncomfortable with what they are not. Fred Smith said that giftedness is greater than the person. The talent and gifts are there for a purpose; they both come out and fulfil their purpose, or those who hinder them suffer the consequences.

Talents and gifts cannot be faked - you either have a particular talent or you don’t. Whenever I observe an individual faking talent, my heart bleeds. Talents and gifts are in us, expressing themselves through us. We don’t force them to come out; they are gifts from God. You cannot wear a shoe that does not fit you; it will make you uncomfortable.

Haunted

"Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High"

(Psalm 46:2-3).

People are strained by not knowing who they are; they are in a constant battle between what they want to be and what God has designed them to be. Our youth are becoming worn down and growing older, without fulfilling their dreams. There’s a mournful cry in their hearts; they don’t tell anyone, because it seems like a shame not to know who they are.

Many are hiding in churches on Sundays and even during the week, praising, shouting and being ‘‘filled with the Holy Spirit’’. They move from one church to another; when they hear of a new pastor, they come flooding into the church of the new pastor, thinking that he will pull them out of their pit, but that doesn’t happen and the trend continues. They give large amounts of money to churches, thinking that their sorrows and troubles will end.

God, in His sovereignty, created and made people in His own image and for His own purpose. He has hidden His purpose in a man for His pleasure, yet man does not realise, see, nor listen to Him. Although they don’t listen, see nor understand what He has hidden inside them, God keeps on pursuing the ones He has called. This makes them uncomfortable. The dissatisfaction, the seeking of the unknown, is a sign of anguish or torment.

The word ‘haunted’, according the Webster Dictionary, means ‘showing signs of mental anguish or torment’, whereas ‘haunt’ means ‘to constantly recur or visit; to inhabit’. The youth don’t know what is opposing them, yet there’s a set time for deliverance.

Haunted by Purpose

Everyone, as created by God, has flashes in his/her mind and acts in a manner that unveils the will and purpose that God has for him/her. The severe pain of being empty, which yearns to be filled with answers to the problems that trouble mankind, causes dissatisfaction in many people’s hearts. It’s a plaintive cry to grab the answers and solve these problems. Until one holds onto the Answer, life’s barging questions will not be answered in one’s life and one will not feel a sense of purpose, or at ease, nor will one feel liberated.

Moses was a Hebrew, groomed and brought up by the daughter of the King of Egypt; because he was born to deliver Israel, he killed an Egyptian for mistreating an Israelite (Exodus 2:5-14). He did what He was designed to do before the ordained time. At an early age, people tend to do what their spirit reveals to them to do. As they grow, they become clouded by what they learn on earth. Moses went ahead of time, paid dearly, and had to run away from Egypt. That’s what many of us do. We run from who we are designed to be and what we are designed to do. It haunts us, until we come into agreement with God’s purpose for us.

Haunted by