The Making: Discovering the Secret Code to Unlocking God’s Streams of Favour

By Dr Adegoke Olubanwo

As a child of God, you’re designed like a magnet—wired to attract good and repel evil.

While you’re meant to enjoy God’s favour, nothing is automatic in His kingdom. You must follow His rules to enjoy the fruits of living in His house.

Adegoke Olubanwo, an itinerant teacher and minister for more than twenty-five years, explores how to walk with the Lord in this life-changing book. Learn how to:

• enjoy good fortune by seeking God’s favour;
• grow into your inheritance;
• help God accomplish His divine agenda on earth;
• cultivate a strong foundation of spiritual intelligence.

The author also emphasizes that one needs sustained maturity and inner grit to adhere to God and His principles—especially when help is out of sight. By looking to the Bible and following His guidance, you’ll enjoy the rights and privileges that come with being a member of His kingdom.
You’ll be inspired to move your life forward with the wisdom in The Making.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jun 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665596626

Dr Adegoke Olubanwo

Dr. Adegoke Olubanwo has been an itinerant teacher and minister for more than twenty-five years. He is an inspirational speaker who has inspired others in church, conference, and educational settings with his captivating blend of wisdom, encouragement, and daring faith. He is also an assistant professor and enjoys computational mechanics. He has taught, pastored, and led Christian organizations. He and his wife have three children.

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© 2022 Dr. Adegoke Olubanwo. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  06/03/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-9663-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-9662-6 (e)

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views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version

(Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic

Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,

copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked CEV are from the Contemporary English Version

Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

Scriptures Quotations marked GNB or GNT are from the Good News Bible ©

1994 published by the Bible Societies/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd UK, Good News

Bible © American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992. Used with permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy

Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™

Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV Bible® (The Holy Bible,

English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing

ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG or The Message are taken

from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001,

2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

To my beautiful wife, Yinka, and our three wonderful children, Toluwa, Temi, and Imi, who have brought more meaning, love, and joy into my life than I could have ever imagined.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1:     The Favour Switch

Chapter 2:     The Noble Aura

Chapter 3:     The Seal of God

Chapter 4:     Goggling the Invisible

Chapter 5:     You Are Different

Chapter 6:     Thriving through Challenges

Chapter 7:     Beating the Market

Chapter 8:     First Things First

Chapter 9:     Be Watertight: Part 1

Chapter 10:   Be Watertight: Part 2

Chapter 11:   The Control Tower

Chapter 12:   Growing into Your Inheritance

Chapter 13:   The Bigger Picture

Chapter 14:   The Six Streams of Favour

New Birth Prayer

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is impossible to write a book like this one without the help of early-age influencers. Special thanks to

• my late parents, who loved me unconditionally, and

• my lovely and lovable brother, Bayo, who inculcated some extra discipline into me.

INTRODUCTION

God’s favour is premier to attaining greatness in life. Some folks claim they’re self-made, while yet others claim they’re made by some other person. I do not hold either of such views. I’m God-made. Simple. And I make bold to say it anywhere. The greatness of a man is not entirely within his power, nor in the hands of another mortal. Ultimately, it’s God’s grace that makes the great. However, I do not entirely disregard the role of humans (friends, family, mentors, etc.) in our upswing to prominence. The nitty-gritty of the discourse is, God is the chief Architect Who does all the work behind the scenes.

This claim may not go well with everyone. I’ll substantiate it in a moment. What I’m advancing here isn’t just a personal view. It has got a scriptural base, and I’m also a living proof. I know what it takes to move from nothing to something. I know what favour, divine help, can do in people’s lives. You see, everything I’m about to share with you, I first read in the MSG translation of my Bible years back; it revolutionised my thinking and entire life. Consequently, this has led me to the inference that only God’s Word can set the right tone, tune, and compass for all mortals.

The prophet Isaiah wrote in the forty-fifth chapter of his book about how God was going to use Cyrus, a heathen king, to free and mobilise the Jewish people from captivity in Babylon and rebuild the ruined temple in Jerusalem. Verse 15 of the MSG translation says something remarkable about God’s modus operandi. It reads, Certainly, you are a God who works behind the scenes, God of Israel, Saviour God. So this verse provides the right premise on which the contents of this book are based.

In effect, the verse we just read clearly suggests that God can use anything and anyone available, whenever it’s time to accomplish His divine agenda on the earth. He’s God, He can use you, even without you being aware of it. So with that in our minds, one can understand why some seemingly ungodly persons can be a blessing to those they are not naturally predisposed to. Such people, like Cyrus, get blessed by God, Who somehow prompts them, consciously or otherwise, to be a blessing to others in order to implement divine counsel.

In that regard, it follows to reason at this juncture that God is our ultimate helper and lifter. Not even the privileged can refute the fact that God is responsible for their fortune, either inherited or acquired. God’s supply chain initiative for humanity is non-selective. He is the Father of all creation. He is loving, generous, open-handed, and benevolent; He blesses people indiscriminately. In Jesus’s words, God makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Unquestionably, as someone once said, He’s truly the God of the rich and the hope of the poor.

Specifically, in Cyrus’ case, God emphasised through the prophet Isaiah that He was the one who lifted Cyrus to prominence, to become the Medo-Persian emperor, in order to accomplish His divine will for Israel. Verse four of that same chapter says that God did all these for and through Cyrus without his conscious knowledge. The crux of the book is therefore to help the reader focus on the Source and not the means. God is your Source; other people are the means via which we get blessed.

Once you get it right here, it will be a lot easier for you to position yourself for divine favour and help. The Psalmist said that in order to receive the right attention and support that will propel your destiny to bloom, you must look in the right direction. In Psalm 121, the author wrote, I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? You see, looking up to many mountains (i.e., the higher ups) at the same time, other than God, will confuse you. People do disappoint. The Word of God says that vain is the help of humans (see Psalm 60:11 and Psalm 108:12).

In essence, there’s only one mountain that’s worth looking up to; it’s Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. This is where true help comes from. God often demands total reliance, in order to get His attention. This level of focus and dependency on God is not always easy to come by, especially at desperate moments. It requires a level of sustained maturity and inner grit to adhere to God and His principles, even when help is out of sight.

Friend, you are intrinsically designed to grow up in your salvation, and with growth and maturity come your kingdom rights and privileges. In this book, you will learn five major themes:

1. The place of God’s favour in your quest for fortune

2. The import of growing into a total person

3. How to avoid destiny leaks

4. How to grow into your inheritance, and

5. How to unlock God’s streams of favour

To make the most of the thoughts contained in this book, ensure you read the content with the biblical references provided. When you do, you’ll soon realise that God is the Source of all you have and can ever become. All that’s required of you to live a blessed Christian life is to position yourself well and close enough to God till something greater and stronger than you rubs off on you; that is the anointing of His presence. Then, you’ll be able to live in the experiential knowledge of God’s overflow, just like David wrote in his song:

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. (New Living Translation)

You treat me to a feast, while my enemies watch. You honour me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows. (Contemporary English Version)

You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me; you welcome me as an honoured guest and fill my cup to the brim. (Good News Translation)

The essence of the three translations is to help you grasp the magnitude of what awaits you as you journey with me in this electrifying Spirit-inspired piece.

Welcome to a world of favour without end.

Nugget 1: There’s a price to every prize, but only a fool arrogates success to self.

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Chapter 1

THE FAVOUR SWITCH

May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us;

establish the work of our hands for us—yes,

establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17)

A men! Great destinies and businesses thrive in an atmosphere of God’s favour. Divine favour, therefore, is premier to experiencing stunning results in life. This is true because you need divine favour in order to find yourself in the right place, at the right time, and around the right people who believe and work for your success. I strongly believe that without these three factors converging in a loop, success will be elusive.

So the scriptural verse above is, no doubt, one of the most profound discoveries and potent prayers you could ever invoke upon yourself, family, ministry, and business. Its power is capable of helping to align your path in life with your God-given destiny and helpers. Clearly, it’s a scripture that accentuates a sure way of achieving God results, not just good results.

You see, for the past two and half decades, I have had the benefit of dealing in this powerful scriptural secret; indeed, I relish it, I teach it, and today, I make bold to say it works.

Friend, my assertion here is not contingent on guesswork. I know it too well. God’s favour rests on my life. That’s why I can say unequivocally that I owe everything in my life to God’s help. I’m completely grace-made, not self-made.

As such, I’m very much acquainted with what preferential treatments taste like, particularly when you don’t induce your way or beg for it. In fact, nowadays, it’s like things just happen for me of their own accord. And my belief is that you (or anyone, for that matter) can enjoy this dimension of grace too. All you need to know is how to turn the switch on and stay in the loop.

At this juncture, I’d like to point out that this dimension of grace is inexplicable in some sense, mainly because it often beats the imaginations and overtakes expectations when it is in full operation. But then, over the years, I pensively sought to know what could be responsible. Things don’t just happen, I thought. Something must be responsible. So one day, I found that it’s got some goodwill power behind it.

Goodwill power will always culminate in favour and success in life. This was Jesus’s number one success secret, and King Solomon lent credence to it in his wisdom collections too.

Concerning Jesus, for instance, Luke 2:52 actually says, And Jesus grew in wisdom and maturity [stature, age], and in favour with God and men. This verse of the scripture is central to every other thing contained in this book. Do not lose grip of that thought and the principles I’m about to share with you.

Pay close attention. This verse, from my observation, is what it takes to open the front door that leads to every other door there is in life. The principle that powers all-round favour here is hinged primarily on the phrase grew in wisdom and maturity.

Observe that maturity as used here can be in stature, age, or sound judgement. It can mean one, two, or all three. Consequently, I’d like to interpret this scripture in view of other scriptural verses. But before I delve into that, let me frontload a key point here; you certainly need all three to be a totally mature person.

Howbeit, you do not really require any personal effort to grow in age—just be alive, and your age will grow itself. Won’t it? But as per your physique, some genetic factors, diet, and physical activities can help build something extra. Few people make conscientious efforts in this area. It follows to say that physical growth can still happen with nominal grit, so long as you’re well and alive.

On the other hand, sound judgement, within the context of our discourse, relates to both building mental capacity and development of spiritual intelligence. This particular area of growth is not commonplace because it calls for some degree of intentionality, but unfortunately, not many people are prepared to pay the price. Did I just say price? Yes, sound judgement comes with a cost, says the scripture. Job 28:18, for instance, puts it this way: The price of wisdom is above rubies.

It is glaring from here that wisdom won’t jump on you, just as rubies and precious stones won’t come looking for you. Such stones have to be mined. Wisdom, being precious, is mined too. The mining process, as it were, is of two main steps; first, we have exploration, and then we have exploitation. You see, it isn’t a piece of cake. Really, much is involved, much is at stake, and much is gained too. Those who are ready to pay the price will eventually win the prize.

That said, wisdom and sound judgement are often used interchangeably in the Bible. So one can conclude that they are in fact inseparable. Sound judgement is defined in most dictionaries as the capacity to assess situations or circumstances shrewdly (discerningly, wisely, insightfully) and possessing the ability to draw sound, actionable conclusions. Well, it will take some level of wisdom to get all that done in one fell swoop.

So one can clearly say that wisdom underpins sound judgement. Jesus’s statement in Matthew 11:19 further supports this fact: But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.

You see, to get a clearer picture of Jesus’s meaning here, you do need to understand the context under which it’s said. In the build-up to this statement, Jesus had been called names for hanging around with some so-called sinners and unholy folks. But He knew His divine mission, which was to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10), so He told them that His actions (judgement) were perfectly in order.

You really can’t fault that; wisdom is truly proved right by the actions or results. Simply put, wisdom is judged in view of its results. What Jesus is demonstrating here is that it’s illogical and unsound to walk away from your primary assignment in life because of what people say. Isn’t it? In fact, your favour in life is tied mainly to where divine inner intelligence leads, popular or unpopular.

Sound judgement, therefore, is the dividing line between success and failure. In other words, the path to your God-given destiny requires some form of actionable intelligence from within. You don’t just do what others do or go where others go. If you do, life won’t work, and favour with God and people will drift away from you.

It’s crucial you get this right because the path to destiny can be lonely, and it demands that you be guided by God’s intelligence on your inside. People who miss it will invariably be a victim of many avoidable mishaps.

The point being made here is that it’s foolish to be involved in something that God does not approve of. If you do, you disconnect yourself from His favour loop, and the outcome is often hard luck and frustration.

Thus, it takes discernment, wisdom, and sound judgement to walk in God’s counsel and consequently bring His favour upon your life. Note: A good counsel may not necessarily be God’s. It always takes a discerning heart to differentiate between the two.

One way I was able to help myself early in life was that I told myself that if some idea is not God’s, then it’s not good for me. And that helped me develop a spiritual sense of scrutiny. At first, I did struggle, but now, it pays off a great deal. The name of the game is feeding your mind and spirit with God’s wisdom (His Word), praying, inquiring, and meditating in the Holy Spirit. This method will unravel any mystery.

In Isaiah 7:15, it’s clearly proven that Jesus, through the