I Will Arise, by Pastor (Mrs) Anthonia Obafaiye
Our Theme for the month of January 2016 is Arising Glory and the Bible says in Isaiah 60:1 ‘Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of The Lord is risen upon thee’
The word of God says in Micah 6:8 ‘Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, when I fall, I shall arise, when I sit in darkness The Lord shall be a light unto me.’
Our Bible reading will be taken from the Book of Acts of Apostle 3:1-11
This was a man the Bible did not mention or attribute a name to. He was referred to as a certain man lame from his mother’s womb, and he had been in this situation for 40 years. So because he could not walk, he could not help himself let alone have a means of livelihood. He was carried maybe by family or friends, and they laid him daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, the temple Solomon built for God had many gates, I don’t know why the Lame man choose the one called Beautiful.
He was set in front of the beautiful gate but his life was far from beautiful, he could not help himself, he would not do the things his fellow young men did, no activity whatsoever, he was in front of the temple hearing the worship & praise to God but he could not go into the Temple.
Brethren gates are barriers used to close an opening in a wall, fence or hedge. I want to believe that there are physical gates and spiritual gates. Spiritual gates can be likened to hinderances, obstacles, limitations, backwardness, no wonder the Psalmist said in the Book of Psalm 24:7
‘Lift up your heads, o ye gates and be ye lift up, ye everlasting door, and the King of glory shall come in.
Some people lived in beautiful houses/mansions, drive the best cars, they have everything that money can buy but they do not have Jesus, everything around them is beautiful as it were but their lives is not anywhere beautiful by the standards of God and not man. The bible says in Mark 8:36 ‘What shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and loose his soul, what can a man give in exchange for his soul?.
A life that has everything else but Jesus cannot be beautiful, the Bible says in Psalm 34:8 ‘Oh taste and see that The Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in Him’. Please if you have not given you life to Jesus, I will admonish you to do so before the end of this service and I can assure you from my little walk with God that your life will never be the same again.
I want to believe that for The Glory of God to arise in our lives, our positioning in life matters. The Book of Ecclesiastes 9:11 makes us to understand that the fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skilful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by time and chance, by being in the right place at the right time.
I want to believe that the lame man was in the right place at the right time. Brethren we need to be in the Place where God wants us to be at every given point in time. My prayer for us all is that we will be in the right place at the right time always, so we do not miss our blessings in Jesus name.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:20 ‘But in a great house there are different vessels, some unto honour and some unto dishonour, are we doing what God has called us to do or are we just doing what we want to do.
If the lame man was missing at the Beautiful gate in front of the temple at the time when Peter and John (agents of change/ destiny helpers) whom God had sent to him, he would have missed his blessing (his miracle).
So because he did not allow his situation to stop him from being where he needed to be, God turned his situation around for the best, he was dropped of by family or friends but by the end of the day he was able to walk on his 2 feet without needing the assistance of anyone.
I have come to announce to someone here today that every problem has an expiry date,
and per adventure you have been asking yourselves when will this challenge become a testimony,
God says arise and shine for His Glory is risen upon you, He says for your sake He has chosen to arise for your set time to be favoured has come.
Arising Glory is the theme of the month as spoken by God through His Prophet, the Bible recorded in verse 8 of Acts 3 that the lame man leaped up and stood and walked and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping praising God for the great thing He had done in his life.
Brethren lameness as it were could represent something else in our lives, for the lame man it was the limitation of not being able to walk, for someone else it could be failure, disappointment, discouragement, physical & spiritual unfruitfulness or challenge.
But I have good news for someone today, The Lord says everything the enemy has stolen from you, He will give you the strength to pursue, to overtake and recover all without fail in Jesus name.
The Lord says for your waiting He will give you double honour, for ashes He will give you beauty, for the spirit of heaviness, He will give you the garment of praise.
The bible recorded in the book of Exodus 12:36 that God Almighty paid the Israelites wages of over 400 years of hard labour in the land of Egypt in one night. The Bible says and they spoiled the Egyptians, no wonder they pursued after them when they realised but we know the end of their story, who can battle with Lord, no one, whoever does it never lives to tell the tale.
He says He will anoint you with oil of gladness above your fellows in Jesus name.
He says He will remove every limitation from your path in Jesus name.
The sky will not be your limit but heaven will be your goal in Jesus name.
Isaiah 62:2 says and thou shalt be called a new name which the mouth of The Lord shall name.
He says he will give you a new name, para-venture people have been calling you all kinds of names, don’t you know her she is the one that does not have a child, you don’t know her, she is that sister or brother that is still single, no one has come for her/him.
Psalm 113:9(He maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children. God did it for Sarah, Elizabeth & Manoah’s wife, He will do it for you in Jesus name.
For the single men in the house, you will find your good thing before the end of this year in Jesus name.
For our singled sisters I decree in the name of Jesus you will find the bones of your bones (and the ribs of your ribs) before the end of this year.
He says He will put a new song in your mouth (the lame man could not go into the Temple of God when he was lame but after he received his miracle, he not only entered the Temple but he sang and danced to a new song and people around him were amazed at the wonders of God in his life, as a matter of fact some people were angry, jealous and envious of that which The Lord had done for him.
He says He will give you better opportunities and divine ideas. He says favour will be your foot mat.
He says He will not only make everything around you beautiful but He will also beautify your life and he will make you laugh and all that hear you laugh will laugh with you.
He says you should not remember the former things, neither should you consider the things of old, because He will do a new thing for you.
What do we need to be able to arise?
We need Faith: Hebrews 11:6 ‘But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek & serve Him.
The lame man believed in the name of Jesus whom Peter and John proclaimed. He was expecting money from them but even they said, they did not have money but offered him something else, something money cannot buy, he was not discouraged, he believed and took their hand when they offered to help him up.
Consistency: The Bible says in verse 2 of Acts 3 that the lame man was dropped off at the gate called Beautiful every day, he was not missing at the gate. He kept coming.
The word of God in John 16:24 encourages us to keep asking till our Joy is full.
Isaiah 49:31 says ‘But they that wait upon The Lord shall renew their strength (Let us not be weary in well doing, for if we faint not our reward is sure)
Let us be faithful stewards that The Lord will find worthy. Service unto God and not unto man because we love and fear Him.
The Psalmist says in Psalm 121:1-2 ‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from The Lord which made heaven and earth’
We need to be expectant, in verse 4-5 of Acts 3 the lame man who seeing Peter & John about to go into the Temple asked alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John said, look on us, and he gave heed unto them expecting to receive something of them.
They say Expectation is the mother of Manifestation.
Romans 10:11 says for as many as looked unto Him, they were not ashamed, their faces were enlightened.
And for our glory to arise and be permanent, we need to give glory to God and be thankful.
Verse 8 of Acts 3 says and he leaping up stood and walked and entered with them into the temple walking and leaping and praising God.
The bible makes us to understand in Luke 17:11-19 that 10 Leapers were cleansed by Jesus but only one was cleansed and made whole because he came back to say thank you to Jesus. They say a thankful heart is a thinkful heart.
May our Father in heaven bless us and cause His Glory to arise in us in Jesus name.
Prayer:
Psalm 24:7-10
Father, Almighty Father whatsoever is hindering my glory from arising in you, I pray remove From my path in Jesus name. Father uproot every gate that is hindering my glory from arising in you.
My Father, My Father do something new in life, in marriage, in my home, in my career, in my academics, in my business, in your church in Jesus name.
The sermon, I Will Arise, by Pastor (Mrs) Anthonia Obafaiye was delivered on January 24, 2016.