Sunday 10th January, 2016.
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Pet. 1:5-11).
Without any iota of doubt, this is our year of “ENLARGEMENT”. This idea should be the mindset of everyone of us who really wants to experience enlargement. Christian enlargement is all-encompassing – starting from the spiritual to the secular. As we are now in the New Year, it should be our earnest desire to grow in the spiritual, because this is what will enhance the growth of other areas of our lives. When we grow in the knowledge of God, other things that connect our lives will surely receive its share of growth.
According to the text of this message, there is a need for every Child of God to strive to grow in the faith and the knowledge of God. Our growth last year will not be enough to sustain us for this New Year; we need to be diligent in our walk with Christ and the knowledge of His word. Looking closely into the contents of our text, one finds that there are Christian virtues that should characterize our everyday living so that the beauty of Christ may manifest in our lives. The easy way to do this is to be determined in our mind to conform to the image of Christ by studying His life, His word, His actions and reactions, His relationship with God the Father when He was here on earth, then to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in every step we take (Rom. 8:14,29) and then to give ourselves to prayer as Jesus Himself did when He was here on earth.
You cannot adopt the life of Christ and remain the same. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” (II Cor 5:17 NIV). Jesus was fruitful when He was here on earth; the apostles who succeeded Him were also fruitful. We cannot afford to do less. Jesus even said. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you” (John 15:16). One of the dividends of spiritual fruitfulness and growth is answered prayers which I believe each of us wants to see happen in our lives.
You will ask and receive as you become fruitful and enlarged in this year of ENLARGEMENT. Let us recite together our Faith Confession we made on the first day of this year. “This is the year of ENLARGEMENT for GOFAMINT. We will grow spiritually, materially, numerically, extensionally and financially. We are moving forward to the next level in every area of church growth. We reject retrogression, mediocrity and stagnation in all our performances. Everything we lay our hands upon will experience an enlargement. I am now an achiever, an agent of enlargement, a child of blessing and the blessed of the Lord. I will reach my goal in life and eternity. I will fulfill destiny and remain blessed in Jesus’ majestic name. Amen.
Dimanche 10 Janvier 2016.
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