What an honor and privilege to stand here
just to worship the lord in his holy temple!
It is an awesome thing to stand in the
presence the lord for he reigns
The maker of heaven and earth it is an
honor just to bow before him the king of all universe
With a grateful trembling heart I stand
before the throne of glory this day
Just but to bless the lord
He is great to be praised
1.
Discouragement
1 Kings 19 (New
International Version (NIV)
Elijah Flees to Horeb
19 Now Ahab told Jezebel
everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the
sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say,
“May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I
do not make your life like that of one of them.”
3 Elijah was afraid[a] and ran for his life.
When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while
he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush,
sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no
better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the
bush and fell asleep.
Elijah descended from
conquering the false prophets of Baal and goddess Asherah to the worst of the
days of his career within a matter of days
Discouragement was the
cause.
He went from victory to
defeat quickly and ran away from Jezebel feeling he was the only faithful man
of Go remaining around
Ever field the way Elijah
felt?
I hear you and even feel
you my friend
How we easily loose our
focus ad remove our eyes from the prize of our calling.
The devil is a master of
distraction
Do not give him your
attention or even think about him.
The best you can do is to
ignore him, knowing that he only comes but to steal, kill and destroy.
The moments other things
come in between your dream, call them delays, denials, ignorance,
postponements, name calling etc. tell them I have a great God
Let the enemy understand
that you are focused and shoving or pushing is going to move you even an inch.
You are in this journey
to the end!
Halleluiah to the Lamb of
God!
Allow the devil know that
no amount of intimidation is going to reduce the size and power of my God.
He looks at
impossibilities and they melt down, makes a way where there is no way and though
I walk through the valley of the bakkar His road and stuff they guide me.
Praise the name of Jesus!
This God of mine is the
master of storms. Luke 8:24-25
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master,
Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging
waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is
your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who
is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Therefore, do not worry
for this is the next step from discouragement
J.A.F.N (Just A Foot
Note)
Watched the experiences
of the parents of Loreto secondary school, Kiambu?
It is only by focusing on
my Lord Jesus Christ that you can come out strong and remain visionary.
Lucky for Elijah the Lord
came for him.
Who do you believe to
hold your hand as you pursue your dream?
Do not allow
discouragement to stand in the way of your vision
2. Change
Daniel 1.3-9
Daniel 13 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court
officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the
royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any
physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well
informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He
was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians.[b] 5 The
king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They
were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the
king’s service.
6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave
them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to
Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal
food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile
himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to
show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official
told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your[c] food
and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your
age? The king would then have my head because of you.
Taken captive from home by the Babylonians and
the Persians
Forced to adopt a new culture, names and way of
life
Talk about change.
But Daniel negotiated the changes in his life and
maintained his poise and vision.
Later, he became the most powerful man in the
nation
This is vision at its best!
2. Problems
A problem is something
that is difficult to deal with : something that is a source of trouble, worry,
etc.
: difficulty in
understanding something
: a feeling of not liking
or wanting to do something
These are the checks and balances that keep us on
track every day
In fact, problems are good for they bring out the
best of us in quite unfavorable times or situations
Innovations, discovery and inventions have been
successfully achieved during times of distress.
Some of the greatest solutions in life have been
made possible as a result of nagging problems.
When sending money by the postal corporation
became a night mare, then M-Pesa was born a sure relief
Information used to take ages and some letters
were opened up and never reached their destinations. Then the SMS was birthed
and today information travels at tremendously fast speed.
We can schedule a meeting now and in the next
hour or so all shall be assembled from destinations far and wide.
No wonder you take breakfast in Nairobi, lunch in
South Africa and enjoy dinner in Seychelles and the following day you are the
earliest in the office.
You can say for him giving up could be
justifiable.
He lost his land, his livestock, his possessions
and what else? His children
And then as is expected of “friends” have no
counsel of Jesus.
Theories, explanations and conspiracies were
thrown his way.
They taunted him about what was happening to him
as well as explaining to him why he was going through all through those problems.
They concluded he must have wronged God and as a
result this was the reward.
As I stand here today, I still do not have an
answer as to why bad things happen to good people but never the less they do
But Job’s attitude did the trick
Yours Attitude for this matter will determine
your aptitude
You will go as far as your attitude is possibly
able to carry you to.
Job remained steadfast and lived his dream.
He was steady, hopeful and finally God rewarded
him in the end.
3. Fear
David 1Samuel 17
The young boy of 17 who
brought down
Goliath shepherd boy
whose career was tending after his father’s flock.
A career that God used to
shape and prepare David from the background
God trained away him away
from eyes of his family
He killed lions, bears by
his bear hands.
David stood before the
well armed and skilled Philistine soldiers and asked a question that baffled
all and sundry.
“What shall be done to
the man who brings down this un-circumcised Philistine” 1Samuel 17:36
Saul, David’s brothers
and the other army were quick to snub him.
But the fearlessness and
determination in David was un-stoppable.
Know what?
Visionary persons are
unstoppable.
At whatever cost and
whatever will be required they will bring down walls to live their dreams to
the fullest.
The bible declares in 2
Timothy 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but
gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Dreamers are daring.
They have very strong
resolve and conviction.
They also understand that
there is power, power wonder working power in the precious blood of Jesus
Christ
Visionary people do not
look at problems and shudder.
They look at them and see
opportunities to exploit
To them this is fertile
ground to bring out what could have been brewing in them without your
knowledge.
Fear surrounded the camp
of Israel.
To them, they were
staring at death in the eye.
Until the vision filled
David appeared on the scene and changed the situation.
The Lord, like in
Gideon’s time is calling you man of valor to step out and show your might right
now.
You may not have known
about.
But today if you will
head this voice, your tomorrow will be full of smiles and heart rendering
testimonies.
Could you be in the
situation of Mephibosheth.
2 Samuel9:17
David and Mephibosheth
9 David asked, “Is there anyone
still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s
sake?”
2 Now there was a servant of Saul’s
household named Ziba. They summoned him to appear before David, and the king
said to him, “Are you Ziba?”
“At your service,” he replied.
3 The king asked, “Is there no one still
alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”
Ziba answered the king, “There is
still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.”
4 “Where is he?” the king asked.
Ziba answered, “He is at the house of
Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar.”
5 So King David had him brought from Lo
Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.
6 When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the
son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor.
David said, “Mephibosheth!”
“At your service,” he replied.
7 “Don’t be afraid,” David said to him,
“for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I
will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and
you will always eat at my table.”
Fear surrounded Mephibosheth but David looked at
the picture differently.
When there was fear he gave reassurance.
This is how my God works and visionary people
know how to trust him.
When everybody run scared Goliath, David only saw
him as a man after fighting with God himself.
1 Samuel 17:45
David said to the
Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come
against you in the name of the Lord Almighty,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This
day the Lord will
deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This
very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the
wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in
Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is
not by sword or spear that the Lord saves;
for the battle is the Lord’s,
and he will give all of you into our hands.”
Do you see how differently people with insight
view things?
They do not stop at seeing but go to ahead to decree
things 1Samuel 17:46-50.
David knew that fear will deter him from seeing
how BIG MY
GOD IS.
Beloved do not look at the size of the enemies
spear.
Realize this that the word you speak in Jesus’
has more venom than Goliath’s spear and shields.
Your bag may only be having the Bible, do no
worry.
Allow me to declare in this are the BASIC
INSTRUCTION BEFORE LIVING EARTH.
Just remove one of the building blocks and use it
against your greatest fear.
This is when people will know you do not just
read a book, but have powerful spiritual impartation. 1Corinthians 4:20
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of
talk but of power.
2
Corinthians 10:4
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
4.
Failure
Barnabus is our reference
person
Bible scholars believe this was Barrabus who was
elected to replace Judas Iscariot as the 12th apostle.
This being the case Acts 4:36
Joseph, a Levite from
Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”),
Acts 9:27
But Barnabas took him and
brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the
Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached
fearlessly in the name of Jesus.
He did not grumble and go home.
Bur assumed his ministry was to be an encourager
He gave his money generously and his time to
mentor young leaders.
Know what? Least of Barnabus’ mentors was the
great apostle, Paul.
Barnabus’ took failure and turned it into
success.
Be visionary
Stop stooping so low
Arise and shine for the lord for his glory has
come
Halleluiah and now may Praise glory Honour and
Majesty go up to the King of Kings
Amen!
Pastor Geoffrey Douglas Otuko
Friday 21st March 2014
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