Mistakes. All of us have made mistakes in life. However, your past failings do not define you or make you a failure in life. Your past prepares you for the future. The power to define is the power to determine destiny. Add a positive "yet" to your confession. Don't just say: "I have not done what I ought to do", but say: "I have not done what I ought to do yet." "I am not a millionaire yet." You are not done yet.
Truth be told, you are empowered by where you have been been -- in the difficult situations and circumstances of, say, pains and struggles. Failure teaches much than success will. Your power is from where you have been. That’s where you find, inter alia, Grace, Strength and Sanctification.
Moses was at the back of the desert before he had his burning bush encounter with God, and before he confronted Pharaoh. The past prepares you for the meeting with God, and your transformation after the meeting in your being a doer of the Word of God will revolutionise your life.
God gives seed to the sower. Measure the success of your day by the seeds that you sow. Success is not measured by the size of your harvest. After all, one sows, one waters, another reaps, but it is God who gives the increase.
Each of us is a seed. Until we are in the right atmosphere, nothing will happen. When men pray passionately, watch out. When you read the Word of God you will find that the Bible is the only book when you open it, the Author is present.
You charge and change the atmosphere by your prayers. Your power is in your place of prayer, pain, addiction. God works through you by where and what you have been through. Every thing you have experienced have prepared you for this season. You know what to do or not to do again; you have learnt. God won't make you do right, but makes you wish you had done right.
When you have been with God, He turns your pain into power. Your past is your ammunition. Your ministry comes out of your past. God never give a gift which is not needed; you just have to find where it is needed. Go where the hunger or appetite is. The ravens (from which come the word "ravenous") are not known to wanna share their food. But God commanded them to feed His prophet Elijah.
STAY HUNGRY. Fast in your pursuit for God. There are people who are starving for Jesus but are not hungry for Him. Thank God for your appetite for the things of God. Stay hungry. Sick people don't have appetite. You are in danger when you loose your hunger. Are my associates stimulating or suppressing my hunger? Men ought always to pray and not faint. We never had to ponder "Why should I go to the grocery store?" Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
STAY HUMBLE. Humus, of the earth. Be on your knees. When you are on your knees it stabilises you. It takes humility. When you are under stress, anxiety and frustration, this is the call to prayer, humility and dependency on God -- the Higher Power. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
STAY HONEST. You don't know who people are really like until you give them power. Power reveals the condition of the man’s heart. The Shunnamite woman provided a room for prophet Elisha's use and furnished it with a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp.
These are the essentials which every man needs. Bed - place to rest. You make different decisions when you are tired. Table - place to eat and nourish the soul. Chair - place to study. Lamp - illumination of the Holy Spirit.
Stay true to your calling, your real identity. Live according to what you were made for. Take care of your H.A.T. where H = Habits, A = Associations and T = Thoughts.
HABITS. You are what you perpetually do. Your habits prophesy your future. The secret of success is found in your daily routine.
ASSOCIATION. Taking a leaf from Jim Rohn, "You are the average of the five persons you are closest to." Is God amongst your selected 5? Direction determines destiny. The enemy will try to frustrate (to deceive) you. Associations are like an elevator. The right associations will elevate you.
THOUGHTS. As a man thinks in his heart (spirit), so is he. I am a new creation made in the image of God. One God-thought can change your life forever..
Jabez (he who causes pain) may have been one who caused so much pain to his mother when she gave birth to him. Yet, Jabez was eventually considered more honourable than all his brothers. You cannot give birth without pain. Sin entices with quick relieve and initial enjoyment, but ultimately seeks to enslave and dominate. Pain is necessary. Jacob intervened and changed Rachel's second son's name to Benjamin (Son of the Right Hand); she had call him Ben-Oni (Son of my Sorrow) just before she breathed her last while giving birth to him.
Remember your strength in your pain. Your past prepares you. It does not define you. People can put a label on you. Jacob's name means supplanter, deceiver, con artist, or trickster. Jacob wrestled with God all night and would not let Him, even when God had touched and caused the socket of his hip to be out of joint, till He blessed him. God then changed Jacob's name to Israel which means Prince with God. Jacob walked with a limp thereafter as a reminder of what God had delivered him from.
Your weakness is an opportunity for your testimony to be shared. God's grace is sufficient for you, for His power is made perfect in weakness. This is a sign of your turning point. Abracadabra is an Aramaic word for "I create why I speak." You shall eat the fruit of your lips. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Have a tenacity to pursue God's best for you. We are creators unlike the magicians who are merely illusionists even though they say, "Abracadabra!" "I create while I speak."
Remember what Jesus said in Mark 11:22-24 (NKJV): "So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
Remember what Jesus said in Mark 11:22-24 (NKJV): "So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."
Jabez got sick of hurting people. He asked God to bless him indeed. God does a great work in you before He can do a great work through you. "God, make me a blessing. Lord, bless me. Put your power in me; empower me to prosper." Blessing does not mean exemption from persecution. Joseph went to jail. You are not defined by where you are. Ask God to bless your desires (so that they are in alignment with what He desires of you).
As with Jabez, ask God to enlarge your territory. We are in a shift now. Pray that God's Hand of favour and protection be on you. Pray that God will keep you from the evil.
Do something great in me, O God, so that I can have homegrown food to export. Do something great in me so that You can do something great through me.
About Bishop Dale C. Bronner
Bishop Bronner is the founder/senior pastor of Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, a thriving interdenominational ministry with more than 19,000 members. He is a much sought after conference speaker and leadership trainer, whose travels have taken him around the world. An accomplished author, Bishop Bronner's message reaches millions daily through his international multi-media broadcast.
