A
journey that began with one man, but today, is blessed with a biological
family of a wife and four children and a spiritual family of several families
whose impact is reaching cities and nations to the glory of God.
This indeed is
a case of "Though thy
beginning be small, thy latter end shall greatly increase." Job 8:7.
And in all of
these, I can say 'it pays to follow wholeheartedly the Lord'. Below are some of
my GREATEST LESSONS LEARNT THESE YEARS.
LESSON ONE
PAINFUL BUT FULFILLING
Stepping out of my comfort zone alone to a completely unknown zone
just because God said so without confirmation from any man was tough. The Holy
Ghost told me that period “PAINFUL PARTINGS is a must in the progressive match
into destiny. However the consolation was that in the midst of the PAIN was
FULFILLMENT (an inner satisfaction) that I am doing the right thing, taking the
right step, obeying and doing the will of God, like it was for our fathers in
the faith (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Obeying God could be very expensive and
painful but will always bring fulfillment. Leaving home, friends, brethren,
known environment was painful but there was a fulfillment that I am obeying God.
LESSON TWO
GOD FACTOR
Based on my biological, academic, social and spiritual background
and exposure, it didn’t make sense naturally speaking, for me to decide to
settle in Sokoto. However, after fifteen years, I can’t say I am missing any
major thing that I could have gotten anywhere else. So, my honest and humble
conclusion is that the only advantage any man has per time is the GOD FACTOR
(GOD’S BACKING), not necessarily location, profession or qualification. What I
mean is this, if any man will survive and succeed, it is not necessarily
because of the location, profession, qualification etc but that GOD is WITH
HIM. Remember the story of Joseph in the bible – Genesis 39:2.
LESSON THREE
THE BATTLE YOU MUST NOT LOSE
As long as you don’t lose this battle, you will never lose any
battle of life no matter how fierce. Whatever it will take or cost to win this
battle, you must put in because it’s the mother of all battles and the decider
of every other battle. It’s the battle of maintaining a healthy, working
relationship with God on a daily basis in prayers and the word. John 15:5.
NEVER FORGET YOUR BEGINNING
Never
forget the following because it will help you stay focused, faithful and
strong, and the tendency to forget gets higher as the year goes by with
accompanying experiences and results. They are:
-
The
initial word God spoke to you
-
Where you
took off from
-
The
initial encounters with God
-
The
initial experiences in your obeying God.
You
must develop a strategy to keep them in remembrance. They act as checks on the
journey.
LESSON FIVE
LESSON FIVE
THE WAY UP IS THE WAY TO STAY UP
There
is the usual common saying, “Staying up is always harder than going up.”
However, I have come to discover that the practices, obedience, consecration
etc that takes you up is what you will need to stay up. In other words, once
you remain faithful to them, you will stay up. That’s what the Apostles were
saying in Acts 6, we came up or the church grew by our commitment to prayers
and the ministry of the word. For us to sustain the growth, we must stay
committed to prayers and ministry of the word.
LESSON SIX
HARD WORK
Hard
work pays. God worked hard before He rested. He ordained work for man. So He is
against laziness and idleness because it’s not in His character nor gene.
However, being a HARD WORKER is not just being full of activities, doing
everything and anything. What it means is “DOING THE RIGHT THING AT THE RIGHT
TIME, THE RIGHT WAY, TO GET THE RIGHT RESULT” which is usually the challenge
that confronts us all, THE RIGHT THING, TIME, and WAY. Once these are right,
you can be sure of the result, outcome or experience.
LESSON SEVEN
RELATIONSHIP
RELATIONSHIPLife is about relationships. The quality, worth of your life, worth of your
life is a direct fruit of the kind of relationships you succeed in having in
your life. God will always bring you into covenant relationships at HOME,
MINISTRY into your LIFE. You have the responsibility to;
-
Identify
them
-
Respect
and protect them
-
Stay
accountable in them
-
Build
and develop them
These
relationships could be very expensive but the price is always cheaper than the
prize for not keeping them. It’s actually your greatest asset on the earth. I
never cease to thank God for my God-given relationships.
LESSON EIGHT
INLET – OUTLET
For
you to remain fruitful, you must have both (INLET – that is avenue for
receiving the word, revelations, refreshing, growing your faith and OUTLET –
avenue for giving, preaching, teaching, any form of ministering). In other
words, you must keep being BLESSED (INLET) to be a BLESSING (OUTLET). However,
the INLET should always be wider than the OUTLET. That’s the way not to run dry
or be exhausted.
LESSON NINE
FAITH
The
importance of faith in our walk cannot be over emphasized. It’s not just a must
but we must constantly make sure our faith is growing. Our lives and walk can
only please God when we walk by faith. (Heb.11:6, 2 Cor.5:7, Rom. 1:17). And I
discovered that one sure way your faith grows is when there are events,
circumstances, experiences that challenges your faith. No wonder this saying
fits in “FAITH IS SECURED IN DANGER AND ENDANGERED IN SECURITY.” Faith that is
constantly put to work will definitely keep growing. Practically speaking, when
you constantly take advantage of life and ministry issues to practice what you
learn from God, your confidence in God increases.
LESSON TEN
NEVER GET BITTER BUT BETTER
I
first heard this statement said by a great, elderly man of God to a man who was
starting out in ministry. And over the years, the meaning of this statement
became clearer. As a man in the forefront, leading people, blackmail, betrayal,
rebellion, misunderstanding, disappointment etc. are the order of the day and
the only way not to get bitter which leads to contamination and then, death
(Heb.12:15) is to get better as a Christian. Growing in your LOVE WALK,
withdrawing expectations from people and staying focused on obeying God at all
times and under any condition, God is the only way, the one who is constant and
cannot change. Psalm 62:5
LESSON ELEVEN
GIVING
There
is joy and fulfillment in GIVING. Truly, I discovered that giving does not
reduce a man, rather it increases a man. Truly, the word works and it is yea
and amen. The principle of giving cuts across and will always produce the same
result. All great people are givers. The scope of giving is far beyond money, you
can give your time, talent, idea, advice and care. It’s a sure path to
greatness and fulfillment. The fruit of giving (testimonies, impact, and
experiences) are always very refreshing. Till Jesus comes, I am eternally
committed to giving to the glory of God in Jesus’ name.
LESSON TWELVE
JUST LOVE
Some
of the things I was taught as a younger minister on love and what I was taught
on AGAPE, run contrary. I never actually knew they were contrary until I set
out for ministry. I was constantly taught and told as a pastor, “Love the
people so that they will stay in church, those you truly love will never forget
you.” Matching experience with knowledge (AGAPE – Unconditional love), that
teaching or line of thought is not true, it’s false. What’s the truth at HOME,
CHURCH in your dealing with everyone? JUST LOVE with no strings attached and no
expectation. Let God decide how you will be appreciated and rewarded. JUST LOVE
and KEEP LOVING even when those you love most leave or forget you. That’s
AGAPE.
LESSON THIRTEEN
COVENANT TIMING
My
definition of covenant timing is your life’s schedule based on your assignment
or call or phase in life. And as long as you respect and keep your covenant
appointment by the two regulators of covenant time. (Ordained by destiny and
direction of the Spirit) That is, you are at home, church, work, friend’s house
etc when you are supposed to be. E.g. when you are at home, time for your wife,
children etc. you are sure to be more effective, fruitful and exempted from
evil, pitfalls and hazards. I learnt from King David (See 2 Samuel 11:1) and
Eph.5:15-18. In summary, learn to be at the right place at the right time.
Eccl. 3:1-11.
LESSON FOURTEEN
THE WORD WORKS
We
have a slogan in my campus fellowship, “CHEER UP BRETHREN, THE WORD WORKS.” You
never know how real and true God’s word is until you make deliberate effort to
commit your life to reading, studying, meditating, praying, doing, preaching
and teaching it. The lesson really lacks expression because the taste can’t be
described but experienced. THE WORD WORKS! It has worked for me these fifteen
years. I boldly and wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.
LESSON FIFTEEN
GOD IS FAITHFUL
You
want to know how faithful God is, then stay faithful to what He has commanded,
instructed or said. Just make that your only FOCUS, obeying to the very
latter. The outcome, reward, wages is His responsibility. Staying faithful to
His word provokes His faithfulness, because what God is really committed to is
His word, what He rewards is FAITHFULNESS. (1 Cor. 4:1-2)
