Tuesday, March 27, 2012

I AM 15 YEARS OLD


  Exactly 15 years ago, (February 29, 1997) my journey in SOKOTO began, and I am so grateful to God for the journey thus far knowing full well that better and much more glorious days are ahead in Jesus' name.

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.


LESSON FOUR
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
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)

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