Who do you say you are? Pt 3

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. Judges 6: 17-18 KJV

Text: Judges 6: 11- 18

You are what God says you are. Until you have an encounter with God you can never know who you really are. So God said to Gideon, “you are a mighty man of valour”.

I want to tell you as you read this that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. My prayer is that you discover who you really are. We have governors who are governing sheep; Moses was governing sheep for his father-in-law instead of governing the children of Israel. For a long time Joseph was governing in Portiphar’s household when he was destined to be govern over nations. So there are many people under-performing. As a matter of fact almost 90% of the world’s population is actually under performing. Then again, a lot of people have died and will die never knowing who they really are and what they could have become. If Joseph had died a day before Pharaoh had the dream he would have died a prisoner. Then they would have written the epitaph of Joseph to read “Joseph stolen from his father’s house, became a houseboy, found himself in prison and died there”. You know in this life you are remembered only for the things that you did and not the things you could have done.

So you must aspire to do all that you need to do before you expire here on earth.

1. Gideon had no relationship with God, he had not yet experienced God so he thought that God had forsaken His people. What was God doing? God was working extra hard to turn their situation around. God never leaves you, He never forsakes you; He is always looking for ways to solve your problem. He is looking for ways and means to make opportunities happen for you. He is looking for ways and means to transform the mess you have put yourself in. Here you are thinking that God has abandoned you and yet God is working extra hard to make life better for you. I want you to have this at the back of your min, “ALL THINGS are working together for my good”. 
2. The enemy was attacking. The Midianite had come against them and therefore he was hiding. There was an attack over his life; whether we believe it or not the enemy is attacking a lot of us, they are coming against us.  So we are fearful and in hiding like Gideon. Whether you know them or not, whether you have offended them or not; there are some people who just do not want you to succeed in life. Nobody can say what the Israelite did to the Midianites but they came against them. It is very naive to think you can go through this world and this world would be fair. It is naive to go through this world thinking everybody would give you a chance. Naive to think that because you have not offended anybody you are going to go free. There are some people you don’t offend but merely looking at you they are angry with you. Anywhere you go in life there will be someone who doesn’t like you for any given reason; you dress too nicely, you don’t dress nice, you talk too much, you have too many friends, you know the right people, your speak good English, you have a good job, the list is endless. Just focus on what you have to do because it is impossible to please everybody. If you go around wanting to please everybody, you will end up displeasing God and hurting yourself.
3. His father was an idol worshipper. If you come from a family of idol worship it puts you on a bad foot right from day 1. it puts you in an area of fear and neglect. 

The important thing is this, out of all the things that was restricting Gideon 7 was inside of him and 1, only one was against him. The enemies attacking, the remaining 7 were inside of him. This means that most of the failures that we experience is inside us and only one is from outside.

A lot of us focus more on the outside and don’t do anything on what is going on on the inside of us. You are the one making yourself fail because you have written failure into your being. If you can get rid of the 7 the one outside will fall. The minute Gideon got rid of the seven the one outside fell.

Who do you say you are? Pt. 2

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. Judges 6: 17-18 KJV

Text: Judges 6: 11- 18

There are many reasons why Gideon was not the success he had the potential to be. One is very obvious and I have already mentioned it but there are a few other reasons.
Gideon was not the success he had the potential to be because

1. He was afraid. What does this mean? If you entertain fear you cannot express faith. There are many people today who are going about the world, they look bold, they look confident and in control but deep down they are fearful and they lack confidence. I used to be like that; I used to dress well, I used to be brash but really deep down I was a little bit nervous, anxious and empty inside. There are many like that. If you are deeply fearful you cannot express faith and you cannot succeed.
2. Gideon didn’t know who he was. What did he say? He said “I am the least in my father’s house”. A man can be one of 4 people; 

• Who the world has constrained you to be. A lot of the time we are constrained by the world. The bible says that some men are eunuchs because they have been made so by the world. Some men made themselves eunuchs while some are so because they perceived they were born that way. A lot of us have been put in a certain compartment, in a certain place by the world. The problem with most of us is that we chose to remain there. There are of us who people have told us that this is who we are and we have accepted this
• A man is who he thinks he is. This time around it is Gideon saying to himself that he is the least in his father’s house and his father’s family is the least in the tribe of Manasseh. That is what he told himself; it is he that put himself in that situation. A lot of us think in our mind who we think we are. There are some people that can’t look you in the eye, some people that are always bending down, because they have looked at themselves and said of themselves “I can never ever be a success”. It is all really in your mind, whether you will be a success or not is a choice that we make. I have never read anywhere in the bible where a person is referred to as ugly. God does not create an ugly person, what He does is to create a person suited to the purpose each will carry out in life. So you are what you say to yourself that you are. 
• A man is who people say he is. That is why Jesus spoke to His disciples and asked ‘what do men say that I am?” A lot of people have become what people say they are. When somebody says to you that this is what you are, you go back thinking in your mind that the person must be right and you are possibly wrong. 
• A man is who God says he is, whom God has created him to be. In Judges 6: 12 the Lord said to Gideon that he is a mighty man of valour, this is who God has created him to be. 

It means therefore ladies and gentlemen that if you don’t know God you cannot be who you are. No matter how rich or successful you think you are, if you do not know God you cannot truly know who you are. You just go through life thinking that this is who you are but you don’t really know WHO you are. There are many rich people around the world, rich or wealthy by privilege or opportunity, by  virtue of their birth, or God working in their direction but at the end of the day every worldly thing they have accounts to nothing because they don’t really know who they are.

Who do you say you are?

And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again. Judges 6: 17-18 KJV

Text: Judges 6: 11- 18

The above passage is a true story of a man Gideon who judged the people of Israel after they got to the promised land. It happened after Joshua had died and at that time they appointed all sorts of Judges to look after the affairs of Israel, There were no Kings because what they had was a Theocracy; God ruling His people Himself through the mouth and  the voice of the Judges and the Prophets. But from time to time the children of Israel would forget their God and do all sorts of evil; whoring, adultery, fornication, idolatry, lasciviousness, enjoying life and God will be angry with them and He will make them weak.

As a result of their sinful act and disobedience God would allow the enemies that surrounded them, the enemies that the children if Israel didn’t refuse to destroy when they entered the promised land, to give them a hard time. This was one of the situations where a group of people called the Midianite, came and they attacked Israel and they laid siege on the them that things were so bad that there was a lot of shortage of food and people could not freely express themselves.

There was a man who’s name was Joash an Isrealite who had a son called Gideon; and Gideon I perceived must have been the youngest , the least favoured child of that family. He was there hiding by the wine press.

The wine press was a hidden part of the house where people could not easily access but they also had a place called the threshing floor which was typically to the left side of the house where people would bring their wheat harvest to thresh and bring out the grain.

This time around they had a little bit of a harvest and instead of threshing it on the threshing floor or where people could see him, Gideon went to thresh it at the back of the wine press to hide it from the Midianites because he didn’t want them to know that they had any form of nutrition. Or he was afraid that if the Midianites attack them, they would take again the food that the family had to survive on.
There are some questions I want you to ask yourself. Questions which are important to understanding the topic. My question to you is this;

• Why was Gideon hiding in the threshing floor?
• Why was he not the success that he had the potential to be?
• What was the reason why Gideon was hiding?

What are the principles of success? Pt 3

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.  John 1: 29-30 (KJV)

For you to succeed in life you have to move with the right kind of people. A lot of us seat in a corner of our room fasting and praying, waiting for the miracle to come to us. We must break this narrow mindedness and move out of that small corner of our life and move with understanding. The people came to Jesus because they want their life to turn around; so when John the Baptist spoke of Him they immediately followed Him. You must move with the right kind of people, you must associate with the people that can make a difference in your life. Jesus Himself moved with the right kind of people; a tax collector, a doctor, a law maker, a doubter, a fisherman, a wealthy man (Joseph of Arimathea), dynamic women. We need to chose the right kind of friend so that we can succeed in life.

Some problems are not solved by prayer, they are solved by wisdom. There are only 2 or 3 people close to you who are the solution to your problem. If Joseph had stayed in a corner of the prison and not talked to his fellow prisoners he would have died in prison, Genesis 40. Make friends everywhere you go. Don’t let the situations of life that you are faced with keep you from the knowledge of who you are. How did David get to Saul’s palace? A slave introduced him to the king. “Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth–lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him. “1 Samuel 16:18 (KJV). Why? David made friends with the slaves. The more friends you have the greater your success quotient.

You must have a clear vision of where your life is going. Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18 (KJV). Your vision must run with God’s purpose for your life.

“A person with a clear purpose will make progress, even on the roughest road. A person with no purpose will make no progress, even on the smoothest road.” — Thomas Carlyle

When we get to the gate of heaven we will be asked what we used our life for, who did we influence, how many lives did we change and lead unto the right path.

What are the principles of success? Pt 2.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.  John 1: 29-30 (KJV)

Prayer is important but information is critical. Life , spirituality is very very important. What are the things you need to do to succeed in life?

You need to have a good mentor. Someone who has walked the path you are about to work, a reliable and ready person. A greater part of King Solomon’s success was due to David (his father’s) mentor-ship. Proverb 31 was written based on advice. If you are going to succeed in life you must have a good mentor who has already gone through what you are going to go through.

"A mentor empowers a person to see a possible future, and believe it can be obtained." - Shawn Hitchcock.

Life moves by process, precept upon precept. God has said He will bless you a little at a time. He is not a magician and He follows process. He expects us to do same.

You need to have a clear vision of where your life is going. This is tied to God’s purpose for your life. If you are above the age of 22 and you are not sure where your life is going. If you don’t know where you are going it is most unlikely that you will get there.

Most of us just base our life on wants and material things. This is not the essence of life. The essence of life is to have a clear vision. They asked a man how he became the president of the united state. His reply was that when he was a young man he took a trip to the white house, well dressed, good looking and smart. When I shook his hands, I looked into his eyes and said to myself that I want to be like that man. Therefore every decision he took was targeted at being like the smart man in the white house.

Whatever decision we take ensures that we are responsible to our failure and success.
We need to seek knowledge understanding and wisdom. If we do not have knowledge and information we end up making mistakes all the time. Hosea 4:6 says “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: “.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7 (KJV). Rely on godly wisdom for biblical wisdom is important.

On Wednesday something important happened to me. I went for ministration somewhere and I was surrounded with youths in the area (people we popularly call Area Boys). As I left the church about 20 of them came and as they were coming they were dragging somebody and bundled the him. They put him in my car and said that I should leave with him.  This was a very smart and intelligent man who was destined to be a success but ended up running around the streets of Lagos. This understanding humbled me because I knew that his destiny was great and derailed by a lack of knowledge on his part.

Parents look after your children. don’t let us waste the life of our children. Fight for them to ensure they have the knowledge they need to succeed in life.

What are the principles of success? Pt 1.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.  John 1: 29-30 (KJV)

As soon as John said behold the Lamb they knew He was the one that the prophets spoke about and they began to follow Jesus. When Jesus turned around they asked where He lived and He said to them “come and see”. It was Andrew that showed Jesus to Simon Peter his brother, who when Jesus saw spoke of his purpose and destiny.

What are the important elements for our success? What are the things that makes a man to succeed in life? What makes a man to succeed? We have said that we need to know God early and move in the right season of our life. As soon as the consciousness of who God come into our heart we must take that step to not only know Him but to serve Him and walk in His purpose for our life. When people were being our compass we thought they were preventing us from living and so we made significant mistakes that has brought us to the wrong side of life.

Myles Monroe said ‘success is predictable if you know what to do to succeed’. Success is not only about praying and fasting. The challenge of today is that we think everything can be solved through praying and fasting. There are ways to pray, prayer has sequence and timing. When you pray for something you already have you may not get an answer if you do not know you already have it. This means knowledge is also important. If we pray at the wrong timing we may not have it. When you pray and pray amiss you miss.

God won’t answer some prayers because there is a reason for the times we go through or the challenges. Until we know the reason for the challenges in our life, we will not know the solution to those challenges.