YOUR FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS (I) --"The Story of the Prodigal Son"

Text: Luke 15:11-32

 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. ¹⁴ But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. ....... I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, ¹⁹ and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

²⁰ “And he arose and came to his father. 

There is always a popular saying that What You Practice is What You Become. So, in this topic, I want to emphasize the fact that your future is in your hands because you are the architect of your own future. God has given us free will and that means that our choices will give us the same benefits as once prescribed in the garden of Eden before the fall of man. In the words of Aristotle,  he said we are what we repeatedly do and that excellence is not an act but a habit.

As I was writing on this biblical universal subject, I came across the submission of one of my revered pastors, James Fadele and I felt like sharing it as well. James Fadele is the chairman of The Redeemed Christian Church of God in North America with over 700 parishes under his supervision. I so much cherish this Man of God, not necessarily for his title, but for being a true and an ardent laborer in the vineyard. He's one of the pastors that I can forgo anything to be under his ministration. In fact, I personally call him a powerpoint educator because anytime he teaches, or preaches, he always wants to give you something to work on so that you can as well equip yourself. What an astounding Man Of God. Fadele, an author, an adjunct professor and a doctorate degree holder himself submitted that almost everything that happens to you is in your hands. You are the architect of your fortune or misfortune. Every choice or decision made by you per second on a daily basis factors majorly in carving out your future. 

In essence, what you achieve is the result of what you do or fail to do, day by day and year by year. For instance, the self-orchestrated predicament in which the prodigal son found himself turned around when he made another fresh decision of retracing his steps back to His father. In verse 18 of Luke chapter 15, he said, ‘I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him…’Sometime ago, a group of unruly boys gathered themselves together one day to test and stump an old man that was highly reputed for his intelligence, sensitivity and wisdom. Their ringleader said ‘Here in my hand, I have a bird. We will go and ask the old man if the bird is alive or dead. If he says that it is dead, I will raise it and it will fly away. If he says that it is alive, I will crush it and the bird will be dead. Either way, he will at last have been proven wrong. As they approached, the old man watched them coming and noticed the eager looks on their faces. The leader stepped forward and asked, ‘old man, I have a bird in my hands. Is it alive or dead?’ The old man looked at their mischievous, expectant faces and then quietly said, ‘Boy, it is in your hands’.

Since life is a personal adventure it follows that the thinking, planning, choices, praying and the actions required to carve out your desired future is your sole responsibility. It is never transferable. Take your destiny in your hands. Accept responsibility for yourself and the result of your actions. Seek for knowledge and relevant information that will guide your choices and decisions. Mere hoping is never a strategy for success. Life is too short and important to be left to chance. Remember, the best way to predict the future is to create it. God bless you! 

Discover the tools, be certified in it, develop it and sacrifice for it and start doing it with every fiber of your being. With the submission of chairman Fadele on this topic which I wholesomely agreed with, I challenge you to ask yourself if more of your woes have been that enemy in your neighborhood, or in your office rather the enemy you see in the mirror when you hold it to your face. Your Future is in Your hands. To make the right decision in life, you need to be sold out to God and stop using mortal men as your springboard. The second part of this message will focus on the actions of the brother at home when the prodigal son returned. Don't miss it

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ARM OF THE FLESH WILL FAIL YOU

Text : 2 Chronicle 32:7-8

“7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah”.

The very first time I ponder over this topic based on experience; I thought the phrase was directly from the bible until I started writing about it. I later found out that it was from the song “stand up, stand up for Jesus”. However, I found out that the biblical injunction of the same phrase even made things worse. Rather than just being an advice, the book of Jeremiah painted it different as rightly recorded in Jeremiah 17:5, “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord”.

We could relate this phrase to the common axiom that says, “Human Confidence is Vanity”. In every step we take, every move or decision we make in life, we should be assured that it tends to our future. So, rightly put, our actions, inactions, writings and utterances are the embodiment of who we grow up to be. Crisis is part of daily living and crisis is nothing but the distance between our expectations and reality.  How many times newly wed and even young couples feel like their happiness is dependent upon the other rather than focusing on God? The wife feels like her joy would be made complete by the man she marries and vice versa. Family members do expect a brother/sister, uncle/aunt or even cousin who is favored by nature as the lifter of their burden. Remember the bible says Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee, Psalm 55:22a.

As believers, God had given us His Invitation, Instruction and Code of Conduct. Until we are ready to adhere to what God desire from us, our dependency in man; hopes and aspirations is just another privilege wasted. In Matthew 11:28, the invitation was well explicit, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. The instruction was in the famous Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and he who seeks, finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened”. The code of conduct was inscribed in John 14:14, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” Jesus said

God is aware of us. He’s aware of our weaknesses as well as our shortcomings. Instead of looking up unto man, or self-made god, based on our assessment of them, we should set our eyes on the hill. If we need help in life, just as God made Eve out of Adam as a helpmate, He would as well send us help. Our destiny helpers are always available if we let Him into our acclaimed troubles and trials. The arm of flesh will always fail. How many times our fellow men help us and they want us to serve them forever? We live under suppressed oppression because someone somewhere helped us to climb the ladder of success in life. From the passage above, we should learn to be courageous and not feel dismay because our God is always willing, able and ready to help us. Do not assume your ascension in career, or your joy in life endeavor, or the peace of mind in your home to be dependent on any human being, even the so called men and women of God. Our relationship with God will always bail us out.  So. Let us trust Him and develop a relationship with Him daily, and He will always be there to see us through our supposed challenges of life.

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WEIGH YOUR OPTIONS

TEXT: Judges 9:8-15

⁸ One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. 

They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’

⁹ “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both Gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’

¹⁰ “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹¹ “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’

¹² “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹³ “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’

¹⁴ “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’

¹⁵ “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade;but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’

God gave you freewill and we live in a world full of options, but regardless of the circumstances and the situations, I want to encourage you that we should weigh our options. In this story of the search for a king among the trees, there is a great lesson to learn and I believe it would help you as an individual as you continue on this journey of faith. You need to appreciate that whatever you have to the glory of God instead of longing after worldly accomplishments. It is evident that all the trees contacted value their products and its benefits to God and man than taking the position of being the king where they may or may not have any impact in the society. As a believer and/or worker in the vineyard, you need to take a deep look into who you are and why you are engaging in what you are doing, as well as consider its benefit of what you are about to do, or doing to the advancement of the gospel to the body of Christ, rather than running after what the bible calls perishable things like fame, wealth, position etc. How many times have you heard anointed men and women of God that are hyped up and they begin to prophesy millionaires in the congregation, as if that is the only way to live our purpose in life?

We need to continuously approach God in our daily undertakings for direction in order to weigh our options. The essence of our existence should be to glorify God as occasioned in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”. A whole lot of people have taken the high way, the only way and the end result has been very ignoble as well as catastrophe. We see firsthand in the first few verses before the passage of what Abimelech got into for the sake of position that did not glorify God. Just as the position of the bramble, which somehow figured out that the intent of the trees seeking his ascension, as king was not real, so was the end of Abimelech. No wonder the bible says in I Corinthians 6:12a that All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.

In our contemporary days, we have heard of several rich, famous and wealthy individuals, like the wall street stakeholders, respective political leaders etc. who enjoyed fame and affluence, having fed the public with lies, but ended up in jail where all their acquisitions would mean nothing to them. Likewise, how many times have we seen men and women of God who are gifted in certain areas of ministry where the glory of God would radiate but for title as first lady, senior pastor, bishop etc. they neglected their callings and sit on congregation where their so called anointing runs dry? As a children's teacher or a choir leader, just like the trees pointed out, the body of Christ would have been impacted more gloriously than answering the call of first lady, or first daddy, or senior pastor over no pastor, or whatever it is. As you weigh your options, I want you to always remember the counsel of brother Mark when he said “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”(Mark 8:36). Just think about that and weigh your next action in the options before you. Will it glorify God or just because of your selfish ulterior motive?

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GET REFRESHED

I am the living water, the river of life,
I am the fountain that never dries up,
Come and drink from me, it is time
to be refreshed and find peace for your soul.

You shall find your soul refreshed
and your hope will spring forth,
if you drink from the water of life.
Whoever drinks from me will never
be thirsty again but have abundant peace.

I will be like the dew to you and you
shall blossom like the lilly, and flourish,
Like Cedar in Lebanon you shall
send down your root.

Come and  refresh your soul,
For I will make you lie down
in Green pasture, I will lead you beside
Quiet waters, come and drink the river of life
that will revive your soul and refresh you anew.

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