| Self-denial brings honour
By BISI OLALEYE
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
|
Photos:
Sun News Publishing
|
|
Self-denial is the practice of not allowing yourself to have
what you really want, especially for moral reasons so that
God will reward you. It could also be a sacrifice of giving
up a valuable item, position in favour of somebody, country
or group of people to enable the beneficiary progress in one
area or the other. The person who will make the denial or
sacrifice may not necessarily get an immediate reward. However,
when it is done in God’s favour, there is expectation
that the reward even if delayed will highly surpass that which
was scarified.
There must be sacrifices before such manifold blessings come.action
that sacrifices one’s own benefit for the good of others
The point here is that God honours them that honour him. Many
people have been honoured or exalted in this life in one area
or the other and will still be honoured in heaven at the end
of this life. If you wish to be honoured yourself, you must
follow the examples of those whom the Lord has honoured in
time past.
The scriptures are not written in vain, everything we read
in the scriptures are supposed to be applied in our daily
lives; and as we do them the blessing which the people who
run the race in the past and received rewards will be extended
to us in the present time and hereafter. As we follow the
steps of our fathers of faith and go on to do what they did,
we cannot escape God’s blessing and honour.
A. THE REASONS AND EXEMPLES
God has so designed it that before anyone will be exalted
or honoured in this life and hereafter, he or she must offer
some sacrifices as was the case in the Bible days.
Genesis 12:1-3 says, “1 Now the Lord had said unto
Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will
shew thee: 2 and I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt
be a blessing: 3 and I will bless them that bless thee,
and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed”.
The price Abraham paid for his honour was that he left his
kindred and country to an unknown place as directed by God.
You also remember that Abraham obeyed God when he was instructed
to sacrifice his only son. He actually prepared to offer his
only son Isaac as sacrifice to the Almighty God until the
Lord prepared for himself a ram as recorded in Genesis 22:1-18
which says, “1 And it came to pass after these
things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham.
And he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and
offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains
which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early
in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young
men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the
burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which
God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up
his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said
unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and
laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand,
and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac
spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he
said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and
the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And
Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for
a burnt offering: so they went both of them together”.
He was exceedingly blessed by the Almighty God because he
paid the price. And so if today, you desire to be honoured,
you must pay the price in one way or the other. There must
be sacrifice.
The Lord asked the Israelites severally to offer sacrifices
to him before they could enter into the promise Land and they
offered sacrifices before building the house of the Lord,
and as they did this willingly as demanded by God and He blessed
them.
In Luke chapter 5 verses 1 to 7, Simon Peter and the members
of his fishing team toiled all the night but caught nothing.
It was only when he obeyed the Lord, made the sacrifice by
giving out his ship to the Lord for a preaching session that
the Almighty God blessed him bountifully by making them catch
a large number of fishes. No one ever gives to the Lord for
the cause of the master’s work without receiving a reward
much bigger than what he gave; this is because nobody can
give above God. Whenever the presence of God is felt, identify
with Him by giving to His work, He will surely bless you beyond
expectations. Remember tThe way you give determines the way
you will receive from God.
1st Samuel 2:30 says, “ Wherefore the Lord God
of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house
of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the
Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will
honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed”.
The injunction of the Lord is that we must honour Him before
He promotes us and many have followed this principle and have
become great in life. In the case of King David because he
dared his life, fought and killed an uncircumcised philistine,
Goliath for insulting God’s people, he was made a king.
God blessed Solomon with wisdom and wealth because he made
a sacrifice of a thousand burnt offering. This is an indication
of unconditional love of God.
1st King 3:3-13 says, “And Solomon loved the Lord, walking
in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and
burnt incense in high places. Solomon asks for wisdom. 4 And
the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the
great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer
upon that altar. And the Lord honoured him. I want you to
understand that the same God that blessed them is also available
for you; he has not changed and cannot change His principles.
Give out something today and you will attract God’s
blessings to yourself in Jesus name.
Mark 10:28-30 says, “28 Then Peter began to say
unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. 29 And
Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no
man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father,
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and
the gospel’s, 30 but he shall receive an hundredfold
now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers,
and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world
to come eternal life”. Anything given to Christ will
be rewarded in this world and in the life to come. Your service
in the Church shall never be in vain, your work of evangelism
or the attention given to the widow and parentless children
shall be rewarded.
The church in Philippi gave to Paul the apostle as recorded
in Philippians 4:15-19, he made a pronouncement that the Almighty
God will supply all their needs and that prophetic blessing
followed them accordingly. God blesses whoever makes a sacrifice
to serve him. Nobody has ever followed this divine principle
of God and remained without a reward. Testimonies as you have
seen and heard abound in the Bible and even in the the Chosen
ministries.
Anything you sow in this life, which is according to the will
of God, will surely bring abundant prosperity to your life.
Galatians 6:7 says, “7 Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap”. What you sow is what you reap. Sow little and
reap little, sow bountifully and reap bountifully for ‘seed
time shall not cease.
Whenever there is an opportunity to give in the house of God,
give without wasting time, and our God the righteous judge
will consider all you have done to honour you.
B. OUR APPLICATION AND BENEFIT
Whoever that wishes to be honoured, exalted or lifted up in
any area of life must endeavour to understand this message
and begin to apply this principle of the Almighty God. As
long as you go on sowing to the Almighty God, you will never
lack in Jesus name. Abraham, was blessed, Solomon, Isaac,
Jacob and even the Israelites on their journey from Egypt
to the Promised Land made sacrifices to the Lord and were
all blessed abundantly.
What about Moses who forsook the pleasures of Pharaoh and
his palace in Egypt and made himself available to the Lord
to use him to deliver the Israelites; God honoured him at
the end of his life. If you also will pay the price in any
area of your calling in the Lord and go on to make sacrifices
to him you will surely be honored in this life and in the
life to come. The Israelites, made sacrifices in the wilderness
on their journey to the Promised land. You that is reading
this message, if you want to get to the place of honour, then
you must humble yourself before him so he can exalt you and
whatever He asks you to do, please go on to do it and expect
His reward.
Exodus 23:25-26 says, “25 And ye shall serve the
Lord your God, and he ashall bless thy bread, and thy water;
and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 26 There
shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land:
the number of thy days I will fulfil”.
The Lords promises that if you will serve Him, he will bless
you, take away diseases from you and your family, and make
you to be fruitful. If you will humble yourself and obey the
Lord today, he will lift you up and never allow the enemies
to perch on you and your household and above all you will
be honoured in this life and hereafter.
Deut. 28:1-2 says, “And it shall come to pass, if thou
shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God,
to observe and to do all his commandments which I command
thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high
above all nations of the earth: 2 and all these blessings
shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken
unto the voice of the Lord thy God. If you will obey the Lord
in all things and do his will, God will command his blessings
on you and you will never escape it in Jesus mane. All these
must come to pass in your life in name of Jesus! Brethren
I can see everything turning around in your favour.
Website: www.thelordchosenworld.org
E:mail heavenatlast2003@yahoo.com
Respoheavenatlast2003@yahoo.com
Responses to the impact of this message are welcome
|
