Gavin Aleogho's World: July 2020

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

-By Gavin Aleogho

Jesus said to another, "Follow me," but he replied, "Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father's funeral." –Luke 9:59. MSG

One of the reasons why many believers are not experiencing the grace and the fullness of God in their lives is because they are serving God, following Jesus Christ at their own terms and conditions instead of abiding by the terms and conditions of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As Disciples of Christ Jesus, who are called to follow Him, we must accept the fact that following Jesus should not be conditional. It should not be based on whether God plays by our demands or requirement. There are some that are serving God, so long as their job, marriage, career or business remains intact. The moment things change, they begin to withdraw their faith in God. Thus, we see supposed believers indulging in ungodly practices when things go sour.

When we make serving God conditional, we will not go far with Him. This is because the conditions that we will desire will never be 100% right for us to follow completely. We will always have more than 1001 excuses to turn back. But if we can say like Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him”. Then are we ready to go the extra mile with Him.

As Disciples of Christ, we must forsake all to follow Him to the end. We must be aware that following Jesus Christ as His Disciples is not a part-time thing but a lifetime matter.

Much more than Ruth’s commitment to follow Naomi, so should ours be in following Christ. The reward is only meant for those who will endure till the end, and not the beginners.

Then another said, "I'm ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home." Jesus said, "No procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day." -Luke 9:61-62 MSG.

Breaking forth, Despite Limitations

-By Gavin Aleogho

I felt led to write in summary on the above subject which I preached on lately in Radiant Saints InternationalChristian Centre. The aim of the message is to let you know that despite your supposedly limitations in your life, you can still break forth.

One of the truths you should be aware of is that every great and successful man you see today in any endeavour, became successful and great despite the limitations that surrounded them in the past. No man is born without some forms of limitation which present itself in different forms. Beside the limitation of family background, society and national background, there are a lot of different limitations that people face. Some limitations might be spiritual, academic, situational, marital, financial et cetera.

The point again is this, every great man you see today broke forth and became successful even when there are limitations in life to stop them from succeeding. Thus, you can also become great despite the limitations that are facing you.

One of the key to breaking forth despite limitations is recognizing and accepting the reality on ground. When you deny your problem, you can’t find solution to it. Some people in the name of faith are denying their problems. No! Acknowledge it and look for the appropriate solution to your limitation. If finance is the limitation, acknowledge it and go look for how to solve it. Always look for the root cause of the problem and tackle it appropriately.

Secondly, leverage on your strength. One of the great undoing of many people is the error of only focusing on their weakness and limitations while neglecting their strength and many opportunities surrounding them. Just like every man is born into some form of limitations, so also is everyone born with some form of strengths and many advantages. Your assignment is to discover and appreciate your strength and then leverage on it. An individual might not be too good intellectually because of faulty academic background which now stands as a form of limitation to him. But if he checks very well, he might have an entrepreneur gift for doing business which he can leverage on.

A child in a village in Africa might be crying because he is not privileged to be born in the city where he can have access to good education and many social amenities. Such child should be made to know that he has the advantage of having access to land for agriculture and also the opportunity of learning how to farm, compared to his contemporaries who are in the city that lacks such rare opportunities. So, open your eyes to the strength and opportunities you have around you.

Thirdly, never allow your limitations to limit you. Avoid complacency. Work on yourself and take appropriate action to get out from that limitation. Don’t just have faith for change of level, you must also support your faith with work and action, taking personal responsibility to get out from that mess.

Lastly, engage what I call the God factor. As humans, there are limits to what we can do because of several factors that are beyond our control. Factors like opportunities, timing et cetera which only God controls. This is why you have to leverage on the God factor to change time and seasons for you, to open up opportunity to you. How do you engage this God factor? This is through a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ who is the only way to accessing God, the Father. Let Jesus be the Lord over your life and He will give you an edge in life.

I returned and saw under the sun that-The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11.