A PREVIEW

HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

A PREVIEW OF How to Become Debt Free By Discovering Your Talent? A Seven Steps Model Adeyinka Oshin

A PREVIEW

HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

Copyright 2013 Adeyinka Oshin All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying or otherwise without the prior written consent of the author. Any unauthorised copying, broadcasting, public performance or re-recording will constitute an infringement of copyright. Unless otherwise stated all scriptural quotations are from the Authorised King James Version (KJV) of the HOLY BIBLE. Scripture taken from the New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from The Message (MSG) version of the HOLY BIBLE. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0Published by Rhodaword Publishers connecting communities with the message of the KING

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HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre. You thrill me, LORD, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done. Psalm 92: 1 4 (NLT)

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CONTENTS

DEDICATION PARTNERS OF DESTINY PAGE Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 A Final Word What Leads to Debts? Discover Your Talent Develop Your Discovered Talent Deploy Your Discovered Talent Network with Your Partners of Destiny Promote Your Discovered Talent Give Thanks for Becoming Debt Free

6 7 8 15 19 25 39 39 39 39

HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to ALL that desire and actively work towards living debt free.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

This book is the story of how you can become debt free by discovering your talent. It is based on a proven seven steps model used by a family in 2 Kings 4:1 7. I have also used this seven steps model to become debt free and I strongly recommend it for you to use and become debt free. You dont have to be in financial difficulty before you can use this seven steps model to launch your family into a season of financial abundance and prosperity. The model is simple and will work provided you diligently follow the steps. I used this seven steps model to become debt free and financially secured. This book explains how I did it and reveals how you too can use this seven steps model to become debt free and financially secured. It chronicles how I miraculously survived this phase of my life. It is a testimony that you too can work at your debt situation to become debt free, financially secured and empowered to fulfill your dreams and purpose in life.

HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

PARTNERS OF DESTINY PAGE

I am Specially Grateful to the following people for their tremendous support towards this book. I pray that as I acknowledge them for their assistance for this book; God will Specially Acknowledge them for their contributions to the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, amen. Reginald Ezeh Christy Iyaniwura Austin Iyede Happy Akpeyi

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Chapter 1 What Leads To Debts?

his book is the story of how you can become debt free by discovering your talent. It is based on a proven seven steps model used by a family in 2 Kings 4:1 7. I have also used this seven steps model to become debt free and I strongly recommend it for you to use and become debt free. Moreover, you dont have to be in financial difficulty before you can use this seven steps model to launch your family into a season of financial abundance and prosperity. The model is simple and will work provided you diligently follow the steps. I used this seven steps model to become debt free after many years of drowning in debts to many creditors. This book explains how I used this seven steps model as a foundation for my journey of dealing with the issue of debts and its devastating effects on my life and my family. It chronicles how I miraculously survived this phase of my life and became debt free. It is a testimony that you too can work at your debt situation and become debt free; become empowered to fulfill your dreams and purpose in life. I became debt free by writing books, articles, booklets etc; I wrote many materials and I am still writing and will definitely continue to write. I never knew I could write. I did not study writing in the University. It took a discovery journey for me to realize I had a talent to write. It took more efforts to know I had the responsibility to develop my writing skills, use it profitably and impact the lives of others.

HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

I owe my inspiration to write to God and the wonderful experience of another family that was caught up in a similar indebtedness situation, but were miraculously delivered. They became debt free and a blessing to many generations. I call them The Grace Family and their story which forms the Seven Steps Model I followed to become debt free is described in the Bible in 2 Kings 4:1 7. A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves. So Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? And she said, Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighborsempty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones. So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me another vessel.And he said to her, There is not another vessel. So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest. 2 Kings 4:1 7 (NKJV)

Reasons for Debts

There are many reasons why someone could be in debts. These might include loss of employment, mismanagement of financial resources, lack of financial management knowledge, loss of a family breadwinner, personal errors, bad investment and recession. In my case, it was a combination of many factors, lack of knowledge to manage finances wisely, poor investment management practices, and bad investments; this invariably led to me losing the grip on essential fiscal discipline. 10

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The problems came to a head when household outgoings began to outstrip household income. In other words, we had a deficit in our household finances. If this had been for a short period maybe things might have been manageable; however it continued for a long period of time. Then the phone calls from the creditors began, debt collector letters started pouring in through the mail. We had visits from bailiffs and eviction hearing in courts. It was a very emotional and frustrating period for our family of five two adults and three children; including a regular six months period, my elderly mother resides with us. Many attempts at debt management plans to consolidate the debts into an affordable lump sum proved unworkable for our unique situation. Mainly because the household income was just insufficient to meet household living expenses and pay towards a debt management plan without the risk of further defaulting on the arrangement. Survival for our family was a tricky balancing act of juggling payments between competing bills; a strict maintenance of a limited choice of groceries; numerous phone calls to keep in touch with priority creditors mortgage provider, utilities, council tax and the loving support of family, friends and pastoral mentors. The change took its toll on our family and work life. I became edgy, emotionally drained; unnecessary arguments over the allocation of the little available money will ensue; sleepless nights thinking on what will happen the next day; wondering thoughts on what is the solution to the debts problem; suicidal thoughts on ending the hold of debts in my life. It became obvious at some of the similarities in the situation of the Grace family and mine. A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves. 2 Kings 4:1(NKJV) 11

HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

Some of the things we know about the Grace family includes: They were in serious debts The sons were being evicted to become slaves They had lost Mr Grace, their breadwinner through death Some interesting information we also know, is that Mr Grace, their late breadwinner was a member of the sons of prophets; in todays terms, he was an Associate Christian Leader. Some information that would have been helpful to know about the Grace family but was not provided includes: What led to their debts problem? What efforts did Mr Grace took to resolve their debts problem before he died? What was the cause of Mr Graces death was it debt worries or natural causes? The lesson that I learnt about this encounter with the Grace family was that being a Christian does not grant immunity against debts. Being a Christian Leader does not mean you are not prone to making mistakes that can have adverse financial effects on your family. Although it is important to conduct a root cause analysis of what led to your debts situation; that analysis will not remove the debts you owe. It will only provide you with information not to make the same choices and mistakes again; which in itself a very important lesson to learn. If we know what caused the death of Mr Grace, it does not change the reality of the debts the Grace family owed. It might be encouraging to know the efforts Mr Grace put into resolving the debts situation; unfortunately now that he is no longer available the debts remained to be cleared. Unless their debts were paid, 12

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the creditors were determined to evict the sons of the Grace family and turn them into slaves. This reality struck me hard and made me more determined to find a lasting solution to our debts problem. I did not want to burden my family with debts; moreover, the Bible says, A good man leaves an inheritance to his childrens children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. Proverbs 13:22 (NKJV)

Seek Help
Nevertheless, a vital piece of information I discovered from this encounter with the Grace family in 2 Kings 4:1, was that after the death of Mr Grace; his wife, Mrs Grace cried for help from Elisha. She cried to the only source of support she knew. She sought professional and pastoral assistance to deal with her familys debts problem. I took a cue from this information. As I maintained contact with our priority creditors, I explored various options to reduce our household expenses and increase our household income; I maintained constant prayers to God for a divine intervention to resolve our debts problem. One of the responses I received from God was a revelation on 2 Kings 4:1 7 and a Seven Steps Model of how through Elisha, God miraculously helped the Grace family to overcome their debts problem. If you find yourself in a debt problem irrespective of the reasons, it is crucial you seek professional advice. It is vital practice to maintain communication with your creditors, explore various options to resolve the debt problem; learn more about managing your finances and begin to practise budgeting and financial discipline. It is essential to seek long term practical solutions that will resolve the debts problem. More importantly, as a Christian, seek help from God, He is a merciful and loving Father who has all the power to forgive your past errors and rescue you from 13

HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

financial ruin. In 2 Kings 4:1, Mrs Grace cried to Prophet Elisha, the servant of God and she obtained grace and mercy in her time of need. God used the Grace family to explain to me what I needed to do to become debt free. As practicing Christians, we believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16 17 (NLT) We are convinced that for every miracle performed by God to meet the need of someone in the Biblical times, He can do it again to meet our need in these times. Over a period of time, we held to this story about the Grace family as Gods Seven Steps Model to make us debt free. It seemed obvious that a solution to our debts problem was a significant increase in our household income. From previous numerous attempts, it became clearer that this significant increase cannot be achieved through paid employment. The Grace family became debt free because of a discovery and divine breakthrough in their lives. We became convinced that we needed to experience our own discovery and divine breakthrough to become debt free. We studied the Grace family and began to apply the Seven Steps Model they took to become debt free and today we can declare like the Grace family to be debt free.

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Chapter 2 Discover Your Talent

So Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house? And she said, Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil. 2 Kings 4:2 (NKJV) uring my study of the Grace family, I learnt a number of lessons and these greatly assisted me to make my journey to discover my talent writing. It is interesting to note that the initial response of Mrs Grace to the question, Tell me, what do you have in the house? was Your maidservant has nothing in the house As far as she was concerned, the family had nothing in the house. Their debts situation has eroded her thinking and affected their possessions to the point that she mentally believed that the family had nothing! Thank God for improved memory; she eventually realised that she had a jar of oil. It is paramount to address the effects of debts on your mental attitude. This is a key lesson I learnt from this experience of Mrs Grace. The pain, shame and embarrassment of debts could stagnant you from seeking help and discovering solutions to your problems. Many times, the solution to the problem is closer to us than we can possibly imagine. 15

HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

In the midst of our debt challenges I maintained a positive attitude; I was determined that I will come out of the debts situation victoriously. I accepted my responsibility for the problem; I confessed my sins and errors and asked God to have mercy and help me. I took steps to carry out my normal day to day essential activities with an expectant mind for an open door to a solution to my debts problem. I made a conscious decision that I will not allow the debts to stress me out and affect my creative ability to think and receive a divine solution. Of course, I am human; and once a while I will struggle, I will snap, I will become irritable but through the mercy and grace of God I will always come back to the story of the Grace family and roll all the debts problem to God; believing Him to perform the same miracle in my life. To be sincere, when I studied the response of Mrs Grace, that she had nothing except a jar of oil; I did a mental and visual scan of my house to know if I will discover my own oil to use. Well, I discovered we had many containers of various types of oil in the house; so it was unlikely that physical oil will be the answer to our desire to become debt free. Once, while working in the garden, I wishfully thought I might discover crude oil on my property which I believe will quickly turn our situation around; considering the returns on petroleum products. On further meditation on this verse, it became clearer that for Mrs Grace, her discovery journey led her to discover a jar of oil; mine will not necessarily be oil. It became clearer that the oil was symbolic of what I needed to discover. It reinforced in me, the need to make a discovery journey. It was emphatically clear that the important lesson was for me to take the steps to discover my own oil; where oil really is symbolic of something I already own; something I can claim total ownership. 16

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In other words, this verse revealed to me that an important step to become debt free is the discovery of my talent, my gift; which is something I own and have a free right to use profitably. After this revelation, I commenced my discovery journey. What is my talent? What is my gift? What is my oil? I needed to know the answers fast enough to be able to use it profitably and become debt free. I began to write various things I like to do; things I have passion for; things I know I enjoy doing; things I have some measure of skill to perform; things that were legal and lawful; things that were not sinful. I made a list and included on my list were the following: v Driving I thought I can become a driving instructor v Cooking I thought I can set up a catering business v Writing I thought I can become a published author v Sports I realised I enjoyed watching more than being an active participant v Selling What product or service will I sell? I eliminated all of them due to the start up costs, time element to get returns and other factors involved which I thought because of my debts situation I just couldnt afford. I went back to the drawing board the Grace family and began to prayerfully consider my list again. One day, while re-arranging some old stuff in my room, I discovered some material I had written some ideas about; reading through this material I realised it contained various topics I had noted to expand into articles and books. On reading these topics, some excitement began to build up within me; I wondered could I have actually written these down and forgotten about them! I now recollected that I had actually written and self published a 17

HOW TO BECOME DEBT FREE BY DISCOVERING YOUR TALENT? A SEVEN STEPS MODEL

book couple of years back Faith, Strategies for Effective Living. I developed a strong witness to read my book again. I was completely amazed that I had actually written and published a book. Probably, because of the poor sales, I had completely forgotten about it. I read a copy of Faith, Strategies For Effective Living and was strongly encouraged about the contents. I was particularly challenged by Chapter 7 Back to Bethel. In this Chapter I identified how someone can re-discover their lost vision. It was quite humbling that God could use a book I wrote many years previously to encourage and motivate me in my discovery journey. Overtime, I began to realize that I seem to have an increased ability to grasp unique words, phrases and topic ideas. During Church services, I kept picking up various ideas for either an article or a book. I became fascinated about various Bible stories and since I read a lot about news and current affairs, I developed a desire to link the Christian message with current issues happening around me. I decided to start making some notes of little information I came across. I got myself a small notepad, on which I will jot down the date, time and the information I feel will be useful for me later. On occasions, I dont have the notepad with me, I use a piece of paper which I either transfer into the notepad or staple it. I began to think seriously about writing as the talent I needed to discover. What finally confirmed writing as my talent was a discovery of a writing course pack I had enrolled as a distance learning student but never got round to completing the course. I discovered this writing course pack hidden away in a box in my room! It was then I knew without a doubt that I had discovered my talent, my gift, my oil. 18

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This was my discovery journey. Yours would most likely be different but the outcome should be the same that you discover your talent. I discovered writing has my talent. You can discover cooking as yours; driving as yours, acting as yours, photography as yours, designing as yours, inventing as yours, selling as yours, organizing as yours, pastoral care as yours, singing as yours, making people laugh as yours, doing voiceovers as yours and it could still be writing. The most important thing for you is to commence your discovery journey towards identifying with full conviction your talent. Apostle Paul was commissioned as an Apostle to the Gentiles, to spread the gospel to the world. He fulfilled most of his assignment through his writing of the epistles, which became a mighty source of blessing to the Church beyond his generation. I read of a story of a woman that save her family from financial ruin because she discovered baking cupcakes as her talent. Her family was delivered from financial ruin and became debt free by her baking cupcakes! Just imagine that for a moment. I discovered the story of a couple that stumbled on their talent when they turned the DIY Diary for their new home into a blog. And today, what started as a hobby has opened many doors of opportunities for them; guess what, theyve written a book about their experience. End of Preview Chapter 2 Continued in Book Visit www.thetalentjournal.com to order your copy of How to Become Debt Free By Discovering Your Talent? A Seven Steps Model 19