BUILDING STRENGTH FOR YOUR NEXT FLIGHT OF DESTINY
ADMISSION OF OUR INSUFFICIENCY
If you like, admission of our lack of strength. 2 Corinthians 2 :16; says: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 3:5; The Bible says, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.”
How do you begin to tap into the strength of God that will keep you moving? Going from strength to strength and from height to height and from one place to another? It begins with admission of our insufficiency, of our powerlessness, admission of our lack of strength. I know that doesn’t sound like faith teaching, pardon me. The power of God, the strength of God, the ability of God begins to locate a man who realizes that without some assistance he is nothing, he is finished.
In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat was faced by three nations. Jehoshaphat was outnumbered, outsmarted, and out-gunned but he cried to God. He must have said, ‘We don’t have might against these people coming, we can’t match them, we don’t even have an idea of where to begin, but our eyes are on you.’ And God said, “Hey, you got it boy, you won’t need to fight in this battle, I’m taking it over from here.” When you recognize your inadequacies, and cry to God, he will take over your battle.
When we started our ministry in Port Harcourt, I used to remind God of a Yoruba proverb that says, “When a cow does not have a tail, it is only God who helps him to drive away flies.” I said, “God, this your boy does not have any tail. If you don’t help me drive away flies, they will finish me here, they will send me back to my village, and there I will just be tilling ground, planting vegetables and harvesting cassava.”
By this time, I had formidable forces arrayed against me; one man in Port Harcourt said, “I will send you out of this city in shame.” I said, “God, hope you are hearing, I have no tail.” And God showed up! And everyone who has tried to retire me in ministry prematurely are wondering; how is he still here? Those who have no tail, if God does not help them, they have no tale to tell.
SPEND TIME IN HIS PRESENCE
Second way we walk into the strength of God to keep going from place to place, strength to strength, is time and expression. Psalm 84: 7says, “They go from strength to strength, everyone of them in Zion appearing before God.” But today, people are getting tired, people are getting weary. Isaiah 40:29-31 says,”He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Every moment you spend in the presence of God, in the study of Scripture, in prayer, in meditation, in confession of the Word, renews your strength and gives you ability to keep going. Waiting upon the Lord, spending time in his presence, is how we connect with the strength of the Almighty.
WALKING IN WISDOM
Ecclesiastes 7:19 equates wisdom with strength. It says, “Wisdom strengtheneth the wise, more than ten mighty men which are in this city.” Proverbs 24:5 says; “A wise man is strong, Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength.” If you want to move from strength to strength, then you have to move from knowledge to knowledge, Update yourself, equip yourself; take courses if you must, read up if you must,
listen to those whom you think know. Acquire knowledge because when you increase in knowledge, you increase in strength.
A writer said, “Instead of complaining about the problems you have, why don’t you thank God for the many problems you don’t have.” Because when you bless God, you multiply strength. When you appreciate God, you multiply strength. The story of the lepers, ten of them lifted up their voice in crying for mercy but when they were cleansed, only one returned and lifted up his voice again in gratitude, inworship. And Jesus said, “were there are not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? None of them returned except this Samaritan, this stranger.
Oh, because you returned to keep faith, you can move from strength to strength. You can move from cleansing to holiness. He said to him, Arise, go thy way. Thy faith has made thee whole, that’s a new dimension, superior to just being cleansed. This is full restoration and that came because of gratitude.
What I’ve found among Christians is that many people detest knowledge, they want miracles to replace it but it doesn’t work out that way.
I had an interview in Lagos yesterday with some of the online journalists and then they asked me a lot of questions about the plight of Christians in the nation; why are Christians struggling? I said that part of our problem is this: the job that God wants us to do, we are returning it to him that he should do it for us. I told them that there are things God designed to give us by principles, what he designed to give by principles, he won’t give us by miracles. Miracles are Interventions of God in critical moments when it’s not possible to pull divinely established principles to work.
A good example is the manna. God fed Israel with manna all through their 40 years in the wilderness but when they crossed into the Promised Land and ate the fruit of the land, manna stopped. It means that in the land you have now come; the principle of sowing and reaping has to start. The problem with many believers is that even when they have got to Canaan, they still want manna. You are still looking for miracles, you are still looking for manna when you ought to cultivate your land and have your harvest. Increase your knowledge so you can tap into strength. How do we connect with the strength of God?
HEART OF GRATITUDE
A grateful heart is a strong heart. In Psalm 144:1; “Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight.” And as long as the psalmist keep blessing the Lord as his strength; his strength kept multiplying. Have you realized in scripture that the psalmist never lost a battle? Not one
recorded loss. The same Psalmist had said, “morning,, evening, and morning and noon will I pray.” The same Psalmist said, “Seven times a day will I praise you.” I don’t know about you, I think one of the reasons we just weaken ourselves is we are full of complaints and murmurings and all that.
A writer said, “Instead of complaining about the problems you have, why don’t you thank God for the many problems you don’t have.” Because when you bless God, you multiply strength. When you appreciate God, you multiply strength. The story of the lepers, ten of them lifted up their voice in crying for mercy but when they were cleansed, only one returned and lifted up his voice again in gratitude, in worship. And Jesus said, “were there are not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? None of them returned except this Samaritan, this stranger.
Oh, because you returned to keep faith, you can move from strength to strength. You can move from cleansing to holiness. He said to him, Arise, go thy way. Thy faith has made thee whole, that’s a new dimension, superior to just being cleansed. This is full restoration and that came because of gratitude.
