Heb 6:12That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
There is no need for light to be created if there was no darkness. What enhances your light is gross darkness. This is the time for you as a Christian to shine. Some are looking for convenient opportunity and a comfortable zone to succeed. Many times because we are not so exposed to others, we a.s.sume that we are the only one going through issues. But you must know that the final answer does not come from your enemy but from G.o.d.
G.o.d has called us to inherit the promise. There are many promises in the word of G.o.d. Many are heavenly conscious to the extent that they are not enjoying G.o.d"s blessing in the now. We must be able to allow G.o.d"s promises have fulfillment in our lives. No matter how long we stay in heaven after the rapture, we are coming back to the earth so don"t postpone your blessing. All promises of G.o.d in Christ Jesus are yes and the Amen is spoken by us.
G.o.d made everything for a purpose. He did not make anything void; it was the fall of Adam that made things void and wild and that is the reason why we must read the bible more than we read news. The news in the word of G.o.d is real news, it never becomes stale. It has stood the test of time. You must comb your mind with the word, so that when you hear the news in the world, your heart remains rooted. No matter what you go through, you become stable since you require some degree of emotional/ mental stability to prevail. Let not your heart be troubled.
You must discover what G.o.d has for you. The Bible says that through faith and patience, we inherit the promise; we must not be slothful. To be slothful means to be lazy. Don"t be pa.s.sive, dragging or sluggish through life.
Life has a time-limited a.s.signment. You will not live here forever; once you come to the earth, you have come to run a race. From the day you were born, you go towards the cemetery. People don"t ask how young you are, but how old you are. Everything on earth moves towards decay. You may be able to slow down your journey but you cannot slow it down forever. Therefore you must let your life counts but it cannot have meaning until you know what G.o.d has said in his word.
It is either you are following somebody or somebody is following you. Whatever you do, somebody is looking at you, and even your children are your reflection. They have copied your behavioral pattern over the years. If you are careless, they are careless. If you don"t honour your word, they don"t either. Many are so busy that they are not teaching their children, they don"t give them G.o.dly examples to follow. They are using prayers to do what obedience, instructions and G.o.dly example will do.
Beloved, it is not only through faith that we inherit the promise but through faith and patience. Patience here means long-suffering. To be patient in Christ means suffering for long in the will of G.o.d. If faith does it alone, the Bible would have said so. Many have faith but the promise is not a reality in their lives because they give up too soon. Many can stand for a while, but can you stand with G.o.d when it looks as if nothing is happening?
G.o.d wants us to mature through what we go through. That is how to develop spiritual muscles. Yet there are many dejected Christians because they don"t know the place of patience before the promise manifests. Many confess but in few years, the same person is jumping around compromising his stand for the truth. Following G.o.d is not a guesswork we must believe him in good and bad times. Anybody can have possessions by inheritance from their father but I am talking here about enduring wealth that comes as a result of standing on G.o.d"s promises.
Anybody can have anything but that does not make him a man of faith. They can have stuff by inheritance. You cannot take me through a road you have not gone. That is why G.o.d allowed Moses to go through the wilderness. He could have stopped him from the mistake of killing the Egyptian. A boy that was born with silver spoon in his mouth, becoming a cattle rearer, serving Jethro, unlearning for 40 years what he learnt under Pharaoh for 40 years.
At 40 years of age, he thought he was ready to be a deliverer but by the time he went through the hot sun of the wilderness for 40 years, at 80 years old, he was ready for G.o.d"s great plan of deliverance. G.o.d said he was now ready but he said he was not ready again. Moses never complained when the people were complaining because 40 years of wilderness journey as a shepherd had matured him. He had learnt that true life is not lived by comfort but by conviction and sacrifice. Beloved, G.o.d wants you to stay put in his purpose.
You may look like a fool for a while; you should stand in the midst of contradictions to gain experience and wisdom so as to be what G.o.d wants you to be. Don"t run away as a wife from your home; don"t despise the wife of your youth as a husband. You must live for the Lord. Be a G.o.dly example.
Hophni and Phinehas were bad examples; yet Samuel in the house of Eli did not follow their examples. You can be a light in the midst of darkness.
Joseph is another good example of somebody that added patience with his faith.
His dream came from G.o.d, and he told the hateful brothers in his immaturity. The dream provoked the envy of his brothers. A man"s enemies are the members of his household. But he never changed his composure or commitment to G.o.d. For 13 years, he stayed put: from the pit, to the hand of the Ishmaelite, to Portiphars house. He was stripped naked. They took away his coat of many colours but one day, he became the prime minister over Egypt.
Gen 39:20
And Joseph"s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king"s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
The things you don"t have today, you will have more than enough in the future if only you can stay put. From the pit to Portiphar"s house; his glory excelled in Portiphar"s house. Portiphar an unbeliever saw his managerial skill. Some believers don"t recognize talents and integrity. Somebody comes into your life and trouble comes and yet you are not discerning. Jonah was a resisted prophet running from mission work; the people in the ship would have died if not that they threw Jonah into the sea having recognized him as a resisted person. He was a prophet who G.o.d was looking for!
Many believers don"t ask questions from G.o.d about what is happening in their household. Joseph believed right. In believing right, his brothers could not kill him because he held on to his dream. You only need to believe. You may not know how it will come to pa.s.s for it is the job of G.o.d to bring to fulfillment the manifestation of your belief. Portiphar in wanting to please the wife sent Joseph to the prison of the king so as to save himself from the hara.s.sment of the adulterous wife. Portiphar could have killed a slave he bought with his money if he had believed the report of his wife.
G.o.d was involved in the journey of Joseph, although it did not look like G.o.d. The pit, Portiphar"s house, prison yard and palace are divine links. Those links make meaning to G.o.d. Will you still hold on when it looks as if it is not working? G.o.d will not change his words. G.o.d is waiting for your Amen. Therefore venture into his promise, stand on it and claim it for when it seems you are going down in the will of G.o.d, you are actually getting nearer to the fulfillment of your dream. The greater the pressure the nearer you are to the manifestation.
Rebecca, the mother of Esau and Jacob went to G.o.d on her own to inquire from him. She wanted to find out about the reason for the struggle in pregnancy. Some women are waiting for their husbands to approach G.o.d on their behalf. G.o.d told her that two nations were in her womb and that the elder shall serve the younger. As a matter of principle, G.o.d will not tell you certain things until you seek him
Gen 25:23
And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
We can see the patience of faith in the life of Joseph. He found himself in the prison, notwithstanding he did not give up on his dream.
Gen 39:21-23
But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph"s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.
He had G.o.d"s presence, mercy and favour working for him before the keeper of the prison. G.o.d did not disown him. The officers in prison trusted him with the other prisoners. Joseph was consistent for 13 years; he could have buried his gift and became bitter as a prisoner by refusing to interpret the dream of the butler.
1. He spent 13 years in prison for a sin that he did not commit, they thought they were stopping him but the enemy was pushing him towards his goal. But the time he was going through all these, some would have called this as wasted years. What you call wasted years, G.o.d calls preparation time that is why you must take your lesson very serious.
2. Men don"t have the final say; the final say comes from G.o.d. If you stand for him, the promise will come to pa.s.s.
3. To be encouraged, you must see the end of your faith and patiently wait for it.
Heb 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of G.o.d.
Then you can be able to endure anything. At the peak of pain is when there is delivery. It was as if it was getting worse for Joseph. The pit, Portiphar"s house and the prison, but with G.o.d, it was getting better. So the palace is your future. People may fail you, if they walk away it is because they are not part of your future.
When G.o.d is working for you, you see the devil"s wickedness as G.o.d"s hand. You are one step closer to your throne. So take a step of faith. Don"t just hope alone, your experience is not wasted. Let G.o.d use your experience to help you. G.o.d is the potter, he can repair you no matter how broken. G.o.d has a pay day and the price is not greater than the prize. He does not pay at the end of a month but he will surely pay.
G.o.d paid the debt of 430 years in one night by transferring the wealth of Egypt to three million house born slaves who were leaving for the Promised Land. Trust Him, good things are ahead of you; and your better days are here already. Plant dies to grow, what you are going through is a planting. But after death comes a resurrection. Understanding and revelation make you wet a tree that looks as if it"s not growing.
Others may be running like rockets, but when G.o.d is ready for you, you will obtain the promise. G.o.d rewards the consistent and the faithful. May you wait for him. There is always a fullness of time for your manifestation when the time comes, you cannot be stopped.
4. The enemy will not fight you as much as he is doing if there is nothing in your future. The attack is a sign that your future is great. G.o.d uses the unlikely; He used Gideon, who was hiding from the Midianites. The angel called him a mighty man of fearless courage. G.o.d was talking about his future not his circ.u.mstances.
5. Every step is a blessing. It is not about destination. Don"t be stagnant through life, but take a step further each day as you see the days approaching. Remember the snail found its way to the ark of Noah. It is better to keep the standard of G.o.d high and have few than lower his standard so as to accommodate everyone.
Don"t despise the day of small beginning. Henry Ford had divine idea and became one of the richest in his days. He said that money is just an appearance of wealth. Real wealth is the ideas you have. Rejoice in the fact that you are going forward. Don"t trivialize the steps you are taking. Learn to be grateful even over little things. G.o.d celebrated his creation on the way to where he was going, even when he had not finished. G.o.d said it was good even only after the first day. You are not where you used to be, so celebrate yourself. Don"t let anyone be happy for you.
James 5:11
Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
Don"t delay your praise. G.o.d knows how to resurrect your dream.
Job 42:10-12
And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and everyone an earring of gold.
So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she a.s.ses.
So it is not over. Your end is glorious, you will rise tall and you will rise high. I pray that G.o.d will give you double blessing for all your shame. No one should ever write you off. Many in life see our hateful middle but the bible advised us to see the end of Job. The hateful middle of our lives should not define us for joy is coming in the morning.