WHAT ATTRACTS POSITIVE MANIFESTATION

G.o.d honours commitment wherever He sees it. When you realize that G.o.d is a rewarder, you will raise the level of your commitment to Him. There may be issues in life that you can"t explain, but such issues are not difficult for G.o.d to handle; that is why we come to Him. G.o.d has answers to every issue of life and because of that we must seek Him always.

The Psalmist asked a question in the 15th chapter of his book. How can you enter the tabernacle of the Lord and how do you get G.o.d"s attention?

Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle? Who shall dwell in your holy hill?

Psalm 15:1

The Psalmist did not mention anybody"s name; this gives you a choice to make yourself qualified. Many times, we a.s.sume that things are in the hand of G.o.d, but most times, they are in our hands.

The Bible says that Enoch walked with G.o.d and G.o.d took him away. Enoch gave birth to Methuselah and Methuselah"s name means "when this child dies, G.o.d will judge the world". In those days, they sought G.o.d to know what the name of a new born baby would be. And through Methuselah"s name, G.o.d warned them of the impending judgment. So Enoch knew that G.o.d was using Methuselah as a warning of divine judgment coming to the world. This helped Enoch to walk with G.o.d until G.o.d found him too righteous to continue living in this world. It was after the death of the Methuselah that G.o.d judged the world during the time of Noah.

From the day of the birth of Methuselah, Enoch started to walk with G.o.d so well until he was taken to heaven; that became a mini rapture.

Verse 2 gives us the answer to the question raised by the Psalmist:

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart

Psalm 15:2

According to the above verse, the first condition is uprightness. Why did the above verse say "speaking truth in his heart"? It is because there are many times people say things they do not mean from their hearts. Often times, people"s words are different from what is in their hearts and it is only G.o.d that knows the hearts of men. G.o.d sees your heart first before He sees your action.

He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up the reproach against his neighbour.

Psalm 15:3

The Psalmist had no respect for people who had no value for G.o.d; no matter how rich they were. He did not honour those who disrespected G.o.d; no matter how much people honoured them.

In whose eyes a vile person is contempt; but he honours them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

Psalm 15:4

In your life, there will be things you say that will be difficult for you to fulfill. But if you will attract positive manifestation, you must keep to your word, even when it costs you.

I once met a minister of G.o.d who told me in his pa.s.sion and anger that he would have divorced his wife if not for the fear of missing heaven. And I wondered how such a word could come out of his mouth. Was it that the devil possessed him when he spoke those words? Certainly not! It was because he did not value the covenant of marriage; he must have forgotten that marriage vow is a lifetime covenant.

The Message Bible says, ...Those that keep their words even when it cost them.

Psalms 15:4 (MSG Bible)

It is easy to give up anything that does not cost you; but you will always cherish and protect whatever costs you. Sometimes in your life, you will get to a cross-road where G.o.d will make a demand on you; where He will demand for things that are costly to you. Your obedience at such times will prove whether you are committed to G.o.d or not.

If you are to choose between the good and the right, you must choose what is right. There are times in your life you will have to suffer for what you believe, but the good news is that you can never suffer in vain when you follow G.o.d. Your time of reward will surely come if you refuse to compromise.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Pa.s.sover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

John 2:23

The reason for their belief was that they saw miracles; any fool can believe if he sees miracles. But what was the att.i.tude of Jesus towards the seemingly people that believed Him?

But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men.

John 2:24

G.o.d loves all of us, but He"s not committed to all of us. Your relationship with people should not be based on love alone but on commitment also. This will save you from a lot of pains, betrayal, agony and sorrow. It will also make you to love people from a distance, once you notice they cannot be trusted.

In the above verse, our Lord Jesus Christ who is the epitome of love loved the people but He did not trust them. Why was it so? It was because Jesus knew that whenever He stopped performing miracles, the people could change their minds. Those who love you for what you have are not truly committed to you. You must burn the bridge of any form of deception behind you.

Jesus did not commit Himself to the crowd because He knew all men. G.o.d wants to be sure that you love Him wholeheartedly, notwithstanding the issues of life. Your love for G.o.d can be measured by your commitment. The G.o.d we serve honours commitment, and you can be sure He will bless you when you are committed to His cause.

In the book of Malachi, G.o.d explained to His people through His prophet why the people were struggling and their prayers seemed not to be answered. The reason G.o.d gave was that husbands didn"t honour their commitment with their wives. I have heard of many men that built new houses with the cooperation of their wives and after building the house, they pack to the new house with a strange woman. You can be sure that G.o.d will surely judge and reward such men.

Living a life of commitment comes out of deliberate determination to do the will of G.o.d. A man that will bring down G.o.d"s presence has to live a life of commitment and deliberate decision to follow G.o.d and follow Him only.

And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying; insomuch that he regarded not the offering anymore, or receives it with goodwill at your hand. Yet you say, wherefore? Because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, yet she is your companion and the wife of your covenant.

Malachi 2:13-14

Many times, we often talk about how G.o.d picked on a man like Joseph; how G.o.d turned his test to testimonies, how G.o.d promoted him from the pit to Portiphar"s house, to the prison and finally, to the palace. But we must also check the Bible to find out what Joseph did to make him qualified for those blessings. One important thing that G.o.d saw in Joseph was his total commitment to Him; even when he was not under the watch of his father or brothers.

In Genesis 39, we saw how Joseph refused s.e.xual advances from Portiphar"s wife. Joseph did not have any Bible; all he had was the oral tradition from his father that such an act is an abomination to the G.o.d of Israel. Joseph knew he had a glorious future ahead of him; that was why he was able to resist temptation from Portiphar"s wife. If you also know what is ahead of you, you will not fall for every little temptation.

But he refused, and said unto his master"s wife, behold, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is none greater in this house than I, neither has he kept back anything from me, but you because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against G.o.d?

Genesis 39:8-9

Joseph called seduction a sin against G.o.d, even though the woman was persistent. When the devil is persistently tempting you, you must also be consistent in your fight of faith and when you do, he will give up on you soon. On the long run, Joseph was imprisoned because he refused to sin; he chose to stand for righteousness.

For someone who is not totally committed to G.o.d, that was enough to bid goodbye to a life of holiness. Despite the fact that Joseph suffered for doing what was right, he never regretted his action. He knew it may look as if an end had come to his dreams; it was a way to be nearer realising his dreams. And one day, his vision spoke.

Everybody wants to a.s.sociate with success, but there is a rough road and hateful middle to the realization of your aspiration. That road is called the road of commitment. If you will follow G.o.d through, you will see that after darkness there is light; after the long night, there is a glorious morning.

Joseph carried a burden of commitment; he was responsible and he knew that falling for the suggestion of Mrs Portiphar was an evil act to G.o.d; whether Portiphar was aware or not. The young boy Joseph was committed to G.o.d, even in a strange land. He had a vision of where he was going; he had a good conscience. What people call enjoyment nowadays was what Joseph called "wickedness".

Joseph was put in the prison but G.o.d was still with him even in the confinement of the prison yard. The Lord showed Joseph divine favour inside the prison. Are you looking for divine favour? Then, you need to be committed to G.o.d. Men will be committed to you when you are also committed to G.o.d. The commitment Joseph had in the home of Portiphar continued in the prison yard and he was also made a leader of the prison. It was because the prison co-ordinator saw something in Joseph; he must have seen that he is dependable.

There is a natural principle in the book of Luke that shows that no one will commit anything tangible to you if you have not proved yourself as someone who can be trusted.

But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whosoever much is given, of him shall much be required. And to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Luke 12:48

It means punishment or blessings are rewards for commitment; as the case may be. If you are given much, then much is also expected from you. If you desire that G.o.d should give you more of His anointing, then be ready for accountability. Some believers have been Christians for several years, but are not as committed as someone who is less than one year as a Christian.

The more G.o.d commit things to you, the more He expects accountability from you. That is why many nations of the world have overtaken Israel as a nation in terms of achieving good things because sadly, the Israelites are less committed to G.o.d despite the huge divine investment on them. They had the law, the covenant, G.o.d fought their battles for them, but whenever they are at the cross- road of their lives, they will say they wanted to go back to Egypt.

How many of you will want a wife who will only stay with you when your salaries are paid, and will return to her father"s house as soon as you finish spending the salary? One day, such marriage will hit the rock no matter how meek you are. It is because she is not committed to the marriage but only committed to your pocket.

What advantage then hath a Jew? Or what profit is there of circ.u.mcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of G.o.d.

Roman 3:1-2

The Israelites had Abraham as their physical and spiritual father and it is a general knowledge that the land of Israel is a land chosen by G.o.d Himself. Today, people from all over the world travel to Israel because of the glorious heritage they have. Yet, the Israelites are not committed to G.o.d; no wonder they"ve found it difficult to enlarge. When G.o.d is committed to someone and such a person is not committed to G.o.d, he ends up being small with no difference between him and other unbelievers.

G.o.d has committed unto every believer the ministry of reconciliation. G.o.d has given us a message to go and preach the good news all over the world. In the first place, G.o.d gave us that a.s.signment because He trusts us. He called us amba.s.sadors for Christ, representing Him. If you are committed to that a.s.signment, G.o.d will be committed to you. If you make that divine a.s.signment important to you as it is to G.o.d, knowing you are representing G.o.d on earth, He will bypa.s.s a million to defend you.

When the whole Israel as a nation wanted to stone Caleb and Joshua for standing for G.o.d, G.o.d came down in His glory to defend them. He was even ready to give up the whole 2 million congregations to defend two people who were standing for Him. That was what Prophet Isaiah referred to in his book:

Since thou are precious in my sight, thou has been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

Isaiah 43:4

G.o.d promised to give the life of men for His own elect and that was what He did for Israel. G.o.d allowed the Egyptians to die in the Red sea because He is always committed to those who are His, to protect and to defend them. The important question now is; are you his own? Can G.o.d trust you? Remember, there is no commitment without trust. Be committed to G.o.d and you will reap the benefit of His trust.

According to the glorious gospel of the blessed G.o.d, which was committed to my trust.

1Timothy 1:11

In the body of Christ, there are too many who profess to be believers but are not reliable. Even in the secular world, there are many people who have ideas of establishing a company but they don"t have trusted and committed people to help them manage their businesses. Do not fail the trust of those who commit things to you.

In the olden days, there was trust and people were committed to one another. A trader did not have to stay beside his wares to monitor it out of fear of theft. All he needs to do is to put sticks beside his wares to symbolize how much he wants to sell them, yet n.o.body will steal them. Customers will only buy whatever they want, drop the money and go their ways. But today, thieves will carry both the money and the wares away.

Some years ago, a young man cheated his friend of about five thousand naira. But before then I had planned to buy him a motor cycle. When I heard of his dubious behaviour, I changed my mind because I realized he couldn"t be trusted. That was how he lost out. The att.i.tude of "I must have it by all means" is not of G.o.d and no child of G.o.d should have such att.i.tude; it is destructive.

Joseph did not resist temptation because he knew G.o.d would lift him after pa.s.sing the test; he just resisted the temptation because he feared G.o.d. If Joseph had said he would take the opportunity he had because he didn"t know whether G.o.d will still fulfill his dreams or not, he would have missed out. Be faithful as it is only G.o.d that will reward you, not men.

When G.o.d said if you give, it shall be given back to you; He never said the same man you help will be the one to reward you. G.o.d only said "give and it shall be given unto you", that does not necessarily mean it will be the same person. Some people you have done good to will not even remember you, not to talk of rewarding you. But be sure G.o.d will certainly reward you. G.o.d may decide to touch other people to reward you. Except G.o.d wants to reward you, you will observe that out of ten people you have been good to, all of them may turn out to be ungrateful. This should not stop you from doing good; G.o.d is your rewarder!

For this reason, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day.

II Timothy 1:12

This was how Paul faced life challenges without giving up on life. He was talking to Timothy his protégé. He was sure that his reward will come. In the days of Paul, he dictated most of the epistles he wrote in chains while he was in prison. It was as if Paul had been caged and defeated but now, the books he wrote are still being read after many generations. It was because he remained committed despite challenges.

Commit your way unto the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pa.s.s.

Psalm 37:5

Do not gamble through life or a.s.sume you need not to pray. The writer of the book of Proverbs admonishes us to commit whatever we want to do to the Lord:

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Proverb 16:3

When you commit your work to the Lord, He will honour your commitment. All of us do not know the future as we ought to know but G.o.d knows everything. Some trust in their logical mind more than G.o.d, so they wonder why they still have to pray about an issue when they already know what to do. In actual fact, there are things in life that can mess up a man, unless G.o.d is there to defend him.

The danger of ministry today is that people have committed great things to people who are not faithful. Most are even in the habit of promoting ability above faithfulness. To G.o.d, character comes first before ability. G.o.d is looking for faithfulness first before your ability; He is more concerned about your character. Apostle Paul"s letter to Timothy shows this order:

And the things that you has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able teach others also.

2 Timothy 2:2

It is a dangerous thing to commit your life to people who are unfaithful. Do not be gullible as to commit things to people who cannot be trusted. The reason why the word of G.o.d seems not to be working in the life of some believers is because most of them are unfaithful men who are preaching what they cannot practice. They allow witchcraft to take over what they are doing; they are fond of using sacrifice to cover up what obedience should have done.