How to discover yourself and achieve your own personal success

I have been digging into the phenomenon of self discovery for over fourteen years now and have learnt a whole lot. I’ve written severally on the subject, and taught on the subject in seminars, conferences, and workshops. Yet, through all these years, I was always halted on my tracks each time I encountered the question, “Pastor, how can I discover myself?”

For years, I tried to resolve this difficulty, all to no avail. Then, one day, as I reflected on my own personal experience of self-discovery, I realized the main reason for the difficulty; I was searching for a non-existent linear process of self-discovery!

Self-discovery is not a linear process, it’s a mystical experience. And I do not mean mystical or spiritual in the sense of some weird, and spooky kind of trance-like religious vibrations. Its a mystical phenomenon, and a spiritual experience, rather in the sense that it’s dynamics are too spontaneous, varied, and simultaneous to be captured by any linear ideological equations.

So even though I’ll attempt to lay out a sequence of principles, instructions, and guidelines associated with the process, I’ll encourage you to avoid the trap of setting the sequence up as a definite mathematical formula for self-discovery, because there’s nothing like that. A better approach would be to absorb the self-evident truths contained in this series, assimilate their most obvious implications, and then reach your own inner convictions.

There will, of course be contradictions (or varieties of perspectives ). So everyone should be able to reach their own personal conclusions, just as it ought to be.

HOW TO DISCOVER YOURSELF AND ACHIEVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL SUCCESS

#1. Become aware of your vital connection to God.

In phaenomena by the Cilician poet Aratus (315 – 240 BC) as well as in Hymns to Zeus by another Greek poet, Cleanthes (331 – 233 BC) we encounter the following line:

“We are his offspring..”

Centuries later, the Apostle Paul employed this line to reveal the vital relationship between all humanity and God. It is interesting that the Apostle did not in any way debunk the idea expressed by those ancient Greek poets. He rather used it as a premise to elevate their consciousness and awareness of God. He told them:

“Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone – an image made by man’s design and skill” St. Paul , Acts 17:29

What a powerful argument!
More so, what a serious rebuke to those who continue to assert that only certain members of certain religious groups can be referred to as offspring or children of God.

The reality is that you are His offspring.
You are an expression of divinity.
You are a child of God.

The validity of this truth has nothing to do with your awareness or ignorance of it, nor has it anything to do with the opinion of any other person or group for that matter. However, your personal awareness of this truth has everything to do with your own self-discovery process!

I believe that self-discovery is rooted in your personal awareness of your vital connection to God. So, in this first part of the series on how to discover yourself and achieve your own personal success, I’ll focus on the mystery of divinity and your connection to God. I’ve already dealt with the vital connection aspect in my post Ye Are Gods and I suggest you read it for a clearer insight into your oneness with divinity.

Ensure that you are established in the awareness that you are an offspring of God.

#2 Acknowledge the infiniteness of the varieties of God.

For the rest of today’s article, let’s bring the spotlight to bear on what I’ve termed ‘the infinite varieties of divinity’. This is a very important aspect of the self-discovery process. The insight you gain from this particular concept is critical to the process of self-discovery. And when you link it with your awareness of your vital connection to God, the impact on you would be practically indescribable.

First of all, divinity has infinite varieties of expressions

Now read the following line:

“I am Who I am” ~ God to Moses, Exodus 3:13,14

This simple, yet profound revelation envelops powerful mysteries pertaining to divinity and subsequently, to you (since, as we’ve already noted, you are an offspring of God). It embodies the truth that divinity has infinite varieties of manifestations and expressions. The expressions of the divine personality are inexhaustible. No human vocabulary or concept can completely describe the wholeness of God.

Sequel to the acknowledgment of the infiniteness of the varieties of divinity, is the realization that no single form or image can describe Him. The moment you attempt to confine Him to a form, blasphemy, sacrilege, or idolatry has occurred. This sacrilege is not limited to tangible or bodily forms (such as is rampant here in Africa ) but also in terms of conceptual and intangible forms.

When God says,

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything…” ~ Exodus 20:4,

He means that you should not try to confine Him to any definitions, descriptions, or specific ideological and conceptual dimensions – such as is the case with organized religions today.

Secondly, the infinite varieties of divinity can be expressed and manifested

The fact that we should not try to confine divinity to any form does not in any way contradict the fact that the infinite varieties of divinity can be expressed or manifested in time and space; actually, He can. However, this cannot be done through any single unit of creation, but rather by all of God’s creative expressions through all of time, space, and eternity.

No single creative expression of God can manifest all of His varieties and attributes. It would require all of God’s creative expressions in eternity to do this.

So far

What I’ve done so far is to unravel two fundamental aspects of self-discovery – your vital connection with divinity, and the infiniteness of the varieites of divinity. Your awareness of these realities is basic to a genuine experience of self-discovery. In other words, to discover yourself, you must

• Become aware of your vital connection to divinity, as well as
• Acknowledge the infiniteness of the varieties of divinity.

Hopefully, your appreciation of these two aspects of the process will enable you understand the rest as we continue this series.

See you tomorrow!

 

Tags: self-discovery, discover yourself, God, divinity

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You are a unique variety of divinity!»