(This teaching was primarily for Young People)
Rom 8:28 We are assured {and} know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together {and} are [fitting into a plan] for good to {and} for those who love God and are called according to [His] design {and} purpose.
Heb 12:16 That no one may become guilty of sexual vice, or become a profane (godless and sacrilegious) person as Esau did, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
Heb 12:17 For you understand that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected (disqualified and set aside), for he could find no opportunity to repair by repentance [what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], although he sought for it carefully with [bitter] tears.
•If we are to progress in life and achieve, we must seize or utilize every opportunity that we get
•Some opportunities that we miss or neglect may not come anymore
•In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Abraham told the rich man that he (the rich man) lost his opportunity for salvation when he was on earth and could not get another. The rich man begged for Lazarus to go back to earth and preach to his brothers, Abraham said the brothers should use the opportunity presented by Moses and the prophets, if they fail to use it, they too will die.
•So, we need to be careful and not miss or the opportunities that God gives us, they may not come again
•Esau missed his opportunity and sold his birth right, he tried in vain to regain it again, but could not, he had lost his chance!
Examples Of Opportunities
1)Salvation Opportunity
•Some miss the opportunity for salvation and end up in eternal death
•You get the chance of accepting Christ, you hear the gospel but you keep procrastinating until you die in sin!
•Some accept Christ but later get caught in other silly things and lose their salvation and lose opportunity for eternal life
2)Education / Academic Opportunity
•Some lose opportunity for excelling in their education
•You have somebody taking care of you, paying for all your school needs and you play with that chance.
•When you are / were at school, did you put enough effort to study and being serious? Are you not regretting today that you lost opportunity to excel when you were at school?
•Some realize when it is late that they missed a good opportunity to excel at school but now they have no resources to correct the mistake
•Some dropped out of school when they were pregnant and could not write exams, later when things are bitter in life, they regret
3)Employment Opportunity
•Have you lost opportunity for employment?
•Some lose opportunity by being late, not adequately preparing for interviews, etc
4)Business Opportunity
•Have you lost opportunity for making money or business deal?
5)Giving Opportunity
•Some lose opportunity for giving
•Sometimes God can instruct you to give something having earmarked you for a blessing or reward, if you do not obey, you lose the blessing
6)Ministry / Service Opportunity
•Some miss the call of God for service for simple small things, you miss your destiny in serving God by disobedience
•Saul lost the opportunity to be a king by simple disobeying God’s instruction in war
•You may lose your opportunity by arrogance, some run to ministry prematurely and lose their opportunity
7)Marriage Opportunity
•Some lose the opportunity of keeping themselves virgins till marriage
•You cannot afford to lose your virginity and a testimony in marriage for sleeping for 5 minutes with a man/ woman! You can lose the opportunity for a happy good marriage just for failing to control yourself. Some lose their virginity just months, weeks or days before their marriage!
•Some disobey God, get married to a wrong partner and die prematurely
Conclusion
•I know that there is room for repentance with God and forgiveness
•But there are some opportunities that come once in one’s life and when lost can not be regained again
•If you lose your virginity, you may be forgiven but that can never make you a virgin again
•Some of the opportunities we lose or mistakes we make may cost us our lives
•If you live a promiscuous life, you make get infected with HIV at a young age, lose your opportunity for a happy marriage and die prematurely
•I have seen very good and promising young people die prematurely
•You may miss the opportunity of listening to God and marrying the wring person, marry an HIV career and die prematurely
•I know of good people in church that have died of HIV and you know for sure that they had a destiny to achieve before they die but died prematurely
•You need to seek God will and purpose for your life and not just do things your way
•Sometimes God’s ways may not seem good and wise but His plan is always the best
•Do not lose any opportunity because of ignorance or disobedience
•It is painful to look back and regret because of lost opportunity and bad choices that you made
•It is painful for people to come and say, “we told you” and you know they did!
•There was a time when Moses lost opportunity to got to the promised land, God said because of what you did, you will not get into the promised land. Moses tried to beg God until God said, “Do not mention that to me again” Numbers 20v8-12,
•Let us be careful, let us not abuse God’s grace and opportunities that He gives us
•Utilize every opportunity and not live to regret tomorrow
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
WHAT DO YOU HAVE?
Ex 4:1 AND MOSES answered, But behold, they will not believe me or listen to {and} obey my voice; for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you.
Ex 4:2 And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
Ex 4:3 And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so and it became a serpent [the symbol of royal and divine power worn on the crown of the Pharaohs]; and Moses fled from before it.
Ex 4:4 And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand,
Ex 4:5 [This you shall do, said the Lord] that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has indeed appeared to you.
Ex 4:6 The Lord said also to him, Put your hand into your bosom. He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
Ex 4:7 [God] said, Put your hand into your bosom again. So he put his hand back into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored as the rest of his flesh.
Ex 4:8 [Then God said] If they will not believe you or heed the voice {or} the testimony of the first sign, they may believe the voice {or} the witness of the second sign.
Ex 4:9 But if they will also not believe these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water of the river [Nile] and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which you take out of the river [Nile] shall become blood on the dry land.
Ex 4:10 And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent {or} a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy {and} awkward tongue.
Ex 4:11 And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
Ex 4:12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.
Ex 4:13 And he said, Oh, my Lord, I pray You, send by the hand of [some other] whom You will [send].
Ex 4:14 Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.
Ex 4:15 You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do.
Ex 4:16 He shall speak for you to the people, acting as a mouthpiece for you, and you shall be as God to him.
Ex 4:17 And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].
Ex 4:18 And Moses went away and, returning to Jethro his father-in-law, said to him, Let me go back, I pray you, to my relatives in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
•Many a times we look from outside and far places for answers and solutions when they are within us
•In most cases, the solution and or answer to our problems is in our hearts and in the written Word
•We many a times make pledges that when something happens, we will do such and such a thing
•You need to realize that you cannot do great or major things if you fail to do the little in your ability
•Start from where you are and not wait for something to happen before you do “something”
•If you want to give to the work of the Lord, to the poor or any other good cause, do not wait to accumulate great wealth before you start giving
•Start from where you are, if you can not give from the little you have, you may not give when you get much.
•When it comes to giving, people will think, “I will give or accomplish much when I get a lot of money”
God Does Not Expect What You Do Not Have
•The example of the widow and Elijah, 1Kings 17v8-16
•The example of the widow and Elisha, 2Kings 4v1-5
•The example of Moses and his rod, Exodus 4v2
•The example of the poor widow and Jesus, Luke 21v1-4
•David and the sling, 1Samuel 17v40-51
Start From Where You Are
•What ever dream you have, look at what have and start from there
•You need to take the bold first step and things may fall in place
•Examples:
i)Giving
-start giving from what you have, sometimes it takes a sacrifice
-giving is not giving excess or what you do not need
-giving involves taking a risk, sometimes it is painful to give
-do not wait for a day you will have a million dollars before that start giving
-Many a times there are financial opportunities in church for you to give but some do not utilize them
-Some wish they could have millions of dollars and give to “Big” TV ministries but fail to give the little they have to their local church!
-Start from tithing, weekly Sunday offerings, special offerings and other needs and grow from there.
-You cannot start by giving houses, cars and other major assets when you cannot give the little
ii)Starting business
-For you start a business, do not wait to accumulate a lot of money
-Start from the little you have and grow from there
-I one asked a certain “Indigenous” business man about the secret behind his success, he said “Vision, Taking Risk and Persistence” he did not mention having a lot of cash
-You need faith to start, then the rest will follow
-If you have a dream of starting a business, start from where you are, look at the talents, experience and the ability you have, what assets do you have? What do you have?
-We need to look more on what we have than what we do not have
-You have land to plant vegetables, fruits, etc
-You have a rural home to keep livestock (cattle, chickens, etc)
iii)Getting involved in politics
-start from the little you have / know
-you need to realize that you are the person that can influence change in your nation or political environment
-Look around you and see where you can start, start from the cells, province, etc
-Rise up and do something, in Zimbabwe politics is very risk in the present moment but if we are to have any positive change in our politics, we need people who will rise up and start from where they are
-The current political leaders can not take us where we need to go as a nation, we need young people with vision, insight, courage, intelligence, appreciation of the modern world
-We need to go beyond liberation politics, that we fought for independence is now irrelevant and outdated, that you were beaten by police and suffered as a opposition part is now becoming irrelevant
-Do you see a need to be part of the political leadership? What do you have? Start from there and move on!
iv)Ministry
-Some people thing to be a great man / woman of God, you need to hear a loud voice from heaven, that may or may not happen.
-Start from where you are, what are good at doing, what opportunities are there for you to serve?
-What do you have? What can be your contribution to your local church?
-Do not wait to open your own ministry to start serving God.
-Every or any opportunity given you to positively contribute to the body of Christ seize it. Do not wait to attract large crowds of people and have healing / miracle meetings.
-Start from where you are; what gift or anointing do you have?
-You can start by being a cell leader, usher, singer, deacon, teens or youth leader, associate pastor, etc until you get to where God is calling you to.
v)Increasing your commitment to the things of God
vi)Pursuing any major decision
•Do not wait for conditions to be favorable before you do something
•Start now, take the risk, sometimes what you do may not be making any sense to other people but do it anyway.
•Major achievements are achieved when people acted on simple things and acted against odds.
When There Is Responsibility, There Is the Ability (grace / anointing)
•When God gives you responsibility or vision, he also gives the ability, anointing or grace to accomplish it.
•You may not realize that grace until you step out in faith, obey God and start doing something
•Faith is taking a risk, you may not know what will happen
•Praying for the sick for an example is a step of faith, you do not know what will happen but you step out by faith!
Conclusion
•So, look at yourself, what do you have?
•God is in you, His anointing and ability is in you
•What talents and giftings do you have?
•Start from where you are, do what you can, remain focused on your vision, the rest will follow.
Ex 4:2 And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
Ex 4:3 And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so and it became a serpent [the symbol of royal and divine power worn on the crown of the Pharaohs]; and Moses fled from before it.
Ex 4:4 And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand,
Ex 4:5 [This you shall do, said the Lord] that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has indeed appeared to you.
Ex 4:6 The Lord said also to him, Put your hand into your bosom. He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
Ex 4:7 [God] said, Put your hand into your bosom again. So he put his hand back into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored as the rest of his flesh.
Ex 4:8 [Then God said] If they will not believe you or heed the voice {or} the testimony of the first sign, they may believe the voice {or} the witness of the second sign.
Ex 4:9 But if they will also not believe these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water of the river [Nile] and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which you take out of the river [Nile] shall become blood on the dry land.
Ex 4:10 And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent {or} a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy {and} awkward tongue.
Ex 4:11 And the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
Ex 4:12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say.
Ex 4:13 And he said, Oh, my Lord, I pray You, send by the hand of [some other] whom You will [send].
Ex 4:14 Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.
Ex 4:15 You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do.
Ex 4:16 He shall speak for you to the people, acting as a mouthpiece for you, and you shall be as God to him.
Ex 4:17 And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].
Ex 4:18 And Moses went away and, returning to Jethro his father-in-law, said to him, Let me go back, I pray you, to my relatives in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
•Many a times we look from outside and far places for answers and solutions when they are within us
•In most cases, the solution and or answer to our problems is in our hearts and in the written Word
•We many a times make pledges that when something happens, we will do such and such a thing
•You need to realize that you cannot do great or major things if you fail to do the little in your ability
•Start from where you are and not wait for something to happen before you do “something”
•If you want to give to the work of the Lord, to the poor or any other good cause, do not wait to accumulate great wealth before you start giving
•Start from where you are, if you can not give from the little you have, you may not give when you get much.
•When it comes to giving, people will think, “I will give or accomplish much when I get a lot of money”
God Does Not Expect What You Do Not Have
•The example of the widow and Elijah, 1Kings 17v8-16
•The example of the widow and Elisha, 2Kings 4v1-5
•The example of Moses and his rod, Exodus 4v2
•The example of the poor widow and Jesus, Luke 21v1-4
•David and the sling, 1Samuel 17v40-51
Start From Where You Are
•What ever dream you have, look at what have and start from there
•You need to take the bold first step and things may fall in place
•Examples:
i)Giving
-start giving from what you have, sometimes it takes a sacrifice
-giving is not giving excess or what you do not need
-giving involves taking a risk, sometimes it is painful to give
-do not wait for a day you will have a million dollars before that start giving
-Many a times there are financial opportunities in church for you to give but some do not utilize them
-Some wish they could have millions of dollars and give to “Big” TV ministries but fail to give the little they have to their local church!
-Start from tithing, weekly Sunday offerings, special offerings and other needs and grow from there.
-You cannot start by giving houses, cars and other major assets when you cannot give the little
ii)Starting business
-For you start a business, do not wait to accumulate a lot of money
-Start from the little you have and grow from there
-I one asked a certain “Indigenous” business man about the secret behind his success, he said “Vision, Taking Risk and Persistence” he did not mention having a lot of cash
-You need faith to start, then the rest will follow
-If you have a dream of starting a business, start from where you are, look at the talents, experience and the ability you have, what assets do you have? What do you have?
-We need to look more on what we have than what we do not have
-You have land to plant vegetables, fruits, etc
-You have a rural home to keep livestock (cattle, chickens, etc)
iii)Getting involved in politics
-start from the little you have / know
-you need to realize that you are the person that can influence change in your nation or political environment
-Look around you and see where you can start, start from the cells, province, etc
-Rise up and do something, in Zimbabwe politics is very risk in the present moment but if we are to have any positive change in our politics, we need people who will rise up and start from where they are
-The current political leaders can not take us where we need to go as a nation, we need young people with vision, insight, courage, intelligence, appreciation of the modern world
-We need to go beyond liberation politics, that we fought for independence is now irrelevant and outdated, that you were beaten by police and suffered as a opposition part is now becoming irrelevant
-Do you see a need to be part of the political leadership? What do you have? Start from there and move on!
iv)Ministry
-Some people thing to be a great man / woman of God, you need to hear a loud voice from heaven, that may or may not happen.
-Start from where you are, what are good at doing, what opportunities are there for you to serve?
-What do you have? What can be your contribution to your local church?
-Do not wait to open your own ministry to start serving God.
-Every or any opportunity given you to positively contribute to the body of Christ seize it. Do not wait to attract large crowds of people and have healing / miracle meetings.
-Start from where you are; what gift or anointing do you have?
-You can start by being a cell leader, usher, singer, deacon, teens or youth leader, associate pastor, etc until you get to where God is calling you to.
v)Increasing your commitment to the things of God
vi)Pursuing any major decision
•Do not wait for conditions to be favorable before you do something
•Start now, take the risk, sometimes what you do may not be making any sense to other people but do it anyway.
•Major achievements are achieved when people acted on simple things and acted against odds.
When There Is Responsibility, There Is the Ability (grace / anointing)
•When God gives you responsibility or vision, he also gives the ability, anointing or grace to accomplish it.
•You may not realize that grace until you step out in faith, obey God and start doing something
•Faith is taking a risk, you may not know what will happen
•Praying for the sick for an example is a step of faith, you do not know what will happen but you step out by faith!
Conclusion
•So, look at yourself, what do you have?
•God is in you, His anointing and ability is in you
•What talents and giftings do you have?
•Start from where you are, do what you can, remain focused on your vision, the rest will follow.
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