GREATNESS

CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD

MATTHEW 6:28–29
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

You may think that you must work very hard to provide for yourself and get ahead in life. But God wants you to consider the lilies of the field—they do nothing. They toil not, spin not and struggle not. Yet, they grow and are clothed by God while simply resting and basking in the sunshine of God’s love! And when God clothes them, they look even more glorious than King Solomon, the richest king who ever lived.

Like the lilies of the field, God wants you to let Him take care of providing for your material needs, instead of you striving to do it yourself. When you let go and let Him, you will see Him bless you supernaturally, abundantly and generously!

This is what happened to one of our church members who had been looking for a job. Initially, he received only two calls for interviews after sending out 12 résumés. Refusing to be discouraged, he believed that God wanted to bless him not just with a job, but with a position of influence too.

God was faithful. This church member soon became the business manager of an engineering company even though he had no engineering background. He was offered a very attractive remuneration package and within his first week on the job, was asked to quote on two projects. He knew that this was God’s doing because it was difficult enough just to secure an appointment with contract managers to discuss projects, let alone be asked to quote on not one but two projects. Before long, he was offered the position to run the entire Singapore subsidiary with only one other business development manager. He was then only 25 years old!

My friend, God can do for you what He did for this person. Just believe that if God clothes the lilies and grass of the field, which are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will He clothe you, His eternal and precious child, with beauty and favor! All He asks is that you cease from your striving, allow Him to take over and just flow with Him!

ANYTIME U DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO …. REMEMBER GOD DOES !!!

In the book of Genesis, God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son and that all the generations of the earth would be blessed through him. In the natural, this looked impossible because they were both well beyond childbearing years. They could have easily looked at their situation and decided, “There is just no way.” But even though they couldn’t see a way in the natural, they chose to put their faith and trust in God. They chose to stay open and consider what He could do beyond their earthly limitations.

Hebrews 11 tells us that their faith opened the door for God to bring to pass what He had promised in their lives. When they considered God, He did the impossible—He strengthened their mortal bodies so they could conceive a child even when there was no earthly way.

Are you facing a situation in your life that seems impossible—something in your relationships, finances or maybe in your physical body? Anytime you don’t know what to do or how to do it, remember this: God does. He is not confined to the resources of this earthly realm. He is the God of the impossible!

There’s always more happening than what you can see. Even when your hands are tied, His hands are never tied. When it looks like there is nothing in your bank account, God has an unlimited supply. He promises to meet every single one of your needs according to His riches in glory. When a relationship seems broken beyond repair, God is the God of restoration. He can soften and mend people’s hearts. When you need an opportunity to open up and you can’t see a way, don’t give up because God can make a way. He knows how to get you to the right place at the right time. He can cause the right people to have favor on you and bring you the right connections. Hope on in faith knowing that God is always working behind the scenes for your good!

“Nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37, NLT)

DON’T MAGNIFY YOUR ENEMIES

...Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? - 1 Samuel 17:26, NIV

Did you know that when David faced Goliath, he never called him a giant? Other people did, but not David. He didn’t brag on the enemy’s power. He didn’t magnify the obstacle. He did just the opposite. He called him an “uncircumcised Philistine.” Not only did he not acknowledge who Goliath was, or his strength, his power, his experience, he took it one step further and diminished him. When he said, “He’s an uncircumcised Philistine,” he was saying, “This man is not in covenant with my God. He’s not in covenant with Jehovah.” In other words, “He doesn’t have the favor on his life that’s on my life. I know the favor of my God keeps my enemies from being able to defeat me.”

So when he went to face Goliath he said, “This day, I will defeat you and feed your head to the birds of the air.” How could David, a teenager practically half his size with no military experience, go out with such confidence and face Goliath, a skilled warrior wearing a full set of armor? It’s because he understood this principle. David is the one that said, “The favor of God keeps my enemies from defeating me.
 
RIGHTEOUSNESS

2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 For He hath made Him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

I sometimes get asked this question: “Pastor, how can I, who did no right, be made righteous?”

I always answer this question with another question: How could Jesus, who knew no sin, become sin on the cross for us?

You see, Jesus had no sin of His own, but He took upon Himself all of humanity’s sins. Similarly, you and I had no righteousness of our own, but on that cross, Jesus took upon Himself all our sins, past, present and future, and in exchange, gave us His perfect, everlasting righteousness.

Now, is this righteousness that we have received a result of our own works or His work? It is clear that our righteousness is a result of His work and we can only receive His righteousness through His unmerited favor!

Beloved, because Jesus has paid so dearly for you to have His own righteousness, you can cease from your own efforts to be righteous in God’s eyes to earn His favor. See yourself the righteousness of God in Christ and expect the blessings of the righteous to manifest in your life!

GOD IS POSITIONING YOU FOR GREATNESS!

God is positioning you for greatness!

And I’m not talking about greatness in just one area of your life — I’m talking about every area:

A great family life, a great career, great favor, great creativity, great opportunities, great increase.

You may not see it in the natural — you may not feel any different or notice any major progress — but that doesn’t mean greatness isn’t coming your way.

Almighty God is working behind the scenes on your behalf. He’s strategically shifting things in your favor. He’s preparing you for something new...

God is ordering your steps. He’s lining up the right people. He’s preparing the right breaks. This is the season of positioning — God is masterfully working His plan in your life.

I like what the scripture says about our response to God’s work...

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. (Psalm 126:3 NIV)

We can be “filled with joy” because God has done great things...God is doing great things...and God has even greater things in store.

But here is a special key I want you to receive: You and I have an important part to play in order to experience greatness.

Maybe it’s learning a new skill, building a friendship, starting a business, helping someone go higher, forgiving the person who hurt you, speaking an encouraging word.

Whatever it is, I want to encourage you to put your faith into practice. Get up, step up, dream big, act in faith, plant seeds and watch God do something miraculous in your life.

Dare to have a “brighter and brighter” kind of faith today.
Don’t settle for good enough... you’re positioned for greatness.
Don’t give up on that dream...you’re positioned for greatness.
Don’t put limits on God...you’re positioned for greatness.

Don’t focus on the adversity; focus on God. No matter what you go through, stay in faith, be your best each day and trust that God will use it to position you for greatness.

Remember that God has great things in store for your life!

PRAYING JESUS' WAY (4) :

'Give us each day our daily bread.' Luke 11:3 NRS

The second part of the Lord's Prayer addresses our everyday concerns: 'Give us each day our daily bread.' Your Father is willing to meet your physical and financial needs. The word Jesus used here meant literal 'food'. God is more concerned about the necessities of your everyday life than you are. He multiplied food for five thousand hungry people. '...He...healed all who were sick.' (Matthew 8:16 NKJV) And He wants to meet your needs, too. '...Do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?"' (Matthew 6:31 NIV) The 'bread man' delivers fresh bread daily! So trust Him for today's needs, andtomorrow morning get up and do the same. '...Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors..' (Matthew 6:12 NKJV) The moment you enter God's presence, you become aware of your sin. And Satan will try to bring condemnation on you. How does he do it? By making you feel unwelcome and uneasy in God's presence. But Satan is a liar. 'There is...no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...' (Romans 8:1 NKJV) God's Spirit brings your sins to light not to condemn you, but to motivate you to confess them and receive His forgiveness. God's Word identifies several categories of sin that we need to recognise. There's falling short of what's required; the deliberate violation of a specific rule; unintentional and often passionately motivated slips; deliberate disobedience and rebellion; failure to fulfil your indebtedness; the sin of omission. Regardless of what your sin is, the moment you confess it and ask God for forgiveness, He restores you (1 John 1:9).

REVELATION KNOWLEDGE :

John 6:45, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."

The Old Testament prophets prophesied of a new covenant where we would all be taught of God. This is speaking of revelation knowledge that comes from within, through our spirit. Under the Old Covenant, God dealt with the Jews through the outer man. He did this because an Old Covenant man (who was not born again) could not perceive the spiritual truths revealed in the New Covenant by the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:14). This difference between the old and new covenants is the reason why there had to be two covenants.

The Old Testament man was comparable to a child in his ability to grasp spiritual truth. It is impossible to explain spiritual truth to a young child, and yet, a child must be restrained from submitting to evil. So, the Word of God teaches us to use the "rod of correction" (Prov. 13:24; 19:18; 22:15). The child may not understand resisting the devil, and yet, when the devil tries to entice him to steal, he will say "No!" because he fears he will get the rod if he does steal. Likewise, Old Testament saints were restrained from sin by a fear of the wrath and punishment of God. This curbed sin, but it also hindered them from receiving the goodness and love of God (1 Jn. 4:18).

Under the New Testament, which Jesus is speaking of in this verse, the punishment for our sins was laid on Him. We no longer serve God out of fear of punishment like once we did when we were "children" under the law, but we serve Him out of love; because He has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, making us His sons. We serve Him because our nature has been changed through the new birth. Today, be taught of God through the indwelling presence of Christ.

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