As The Lord Lives, I Will Move Forward, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye
One of the messages that God sent to us in the just concluded Anniversary is that we will move forward. We equally heard that it is not just a promise from God; but a command.
In response to that command, it is my yearning, hope and prayer that for every one of us, we will truly move forward.
There are many words the Bible employ to demonstrate the certainty and unfailing occurrence of something. Some of such words are:- Verily, verily
John 5:24 –Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Matthew 18:3 – And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 26:21 – And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
– Of a truth
Job 34:12 – Yea, of a truth God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.
– Indeed
John 8:36 – If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Genesis 17:19 – And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
– As The Lord lives
2 Kings 2:2 – And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
Ruth 3:13 – Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman’s part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth: lie down until the morning.
Again, today’s message is a personal confession and a statement of faith that is intended to nullify any iota of doubt regarding what God has said concerning us.
The bible records those who made such personal confession and so demonstrated their faith in God:
– Elijah
1 Kings 17:1 – And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
– David
1 Samuel 17:37 – David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.
Therefore, the message of today is to enable our faith to rise and by so doing enjoy the totality of all God has in store for us as His children.
At a point in Apostle Peter’s and Andrew’s life, they were opportune to meet Jesus; they were to follow Jesus so they could move forward from catching fishes to catching men. However the pressure of life made them go backward to catching fishes to satisfy their bellies.
Luke 4:38-39 – And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
– There is someone here; your belly is scaring you not to obey God’s personal instruction to you. God has me to remind you that belly for food, food for belly, but both shall be destroyed eventually, your obedience to God that shall abide forever.
Thank God for Peter and Andrew, as Jesus had another encounter with them in Luke 5:1-11. After this second encounter, the brothers moved forward indeed as they became notable apostles.
Peter who had laboured throughout the night and caught nothing was instructed by Jesus to launch into the deep and cast his net. Peter obeyed only because it was Jesus that said so, the result of his obedience was staggering.
He caught multitude of fishes to the extent that their boat and that of their friends were too full.
The statement of faith and emphasis that Peter made was ‘at thy word, I will let down the net’. It was a decision that paid off amazingly.
God has instructed us to move forward in this year. For those who will exercise their faith to do so and make necessary steps, I hear that such people will make unimaginable progress.
May you be one of them in Jesus name.
8 Hindrances to moving forward
1 – Barriers of any kind. Real and symbolic barriers can pose as hindrance to one’s moving forward. Red Sea; Wall of Jericho; Stone at Lazarus tomb; several gates shut against Peter in prison; etc.
Every barrier to your progress is hereby destroyed in Jesus name.
2 – Doubt. The words of God are Yea and Amen. Many times we doubt His words, under such circumstance; it is difficult to move forward.
John 20:24-25 – But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
No wonder people do not relate much to the name Thomas; neither did we hear much about his progress.
If you are still doubting a promise of God for you, I have good news from the bible for you.
Jude 1:22 (ESV) “And have mercy on those who doubt”.
3 – Unbelief. God treats unbelief to His word as a greater insult to His person and His name.
Matthew 13:54-58 – And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Sadly, their community could not move forward. Sickness and diseases are hindrance to progress.
4 – Outright disobedience. Some people believe in God, they are fond of disobeying Him. Possibly because He is a Spirit that can’t be seen, or because He is slow to anger.
Numbers 14:1-11
5 – Distraction. Those that must make progress must always be focus. Whether its broader destiny, or a particular aspiration, focus is a necessity. Otherwise, what one has set out to do will not happen.
Genesis 16:1-6 – Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee. But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
May nobody and nothing distract you from the progress God had earmarked for you.
6 – Fear. It has been described as false expression appearing real. But when fear grasps a man, it torments that life, to the extent that it will be hard to make any sort of progress.
1 Kings 19:1-4 – And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
How this fear rubbish all the feats that Elijah did in the sight of all Israel. Putting Jezebel at a higher level of command.
May God make the spirit of fear to be afraid of you.
6 – Prayerlessness. As believers, one of our most weapons of warfare is prayer. Hindrances first happen in the spiritual realm before manifesting in the physical. Those who cannot pray will become victim of hindrance.
Daniel 9:1-3 – In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
Daniel prayed, the prince of Persia was sent to hinder his prayers. Imagine if he didn’t pray. They might continue to suffer in Babylon.
May God cut off the hands of Babylon from your moving forward.
8 – Carelessness. This is a nonchalant attitude of someone regarding their own progress. An I don’t care attitude. Such people will settle for whatever life gave them and not what they demand from life. Usually, they are losers in life.
Judges 16:4-6 – And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver.
And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.
I Kings 11:4-13 – King Solomon.
May you not be careless with your progress in Jesus name.
Prayers
- Father, remove any barriers that might be hindering me from moving forward.
- Father, let me not be a candidate of doubts of your words regarding my life.
- Father, let me not find myself in a state of unbelief regarding your word.
- Father, let no one or nothing be able to distract me from making progress.
- Father, by your grace and mercy, I shall not disobey you.
- Father, eradicate fear of any kind from me, so I can move forward.
- Father, supernatural enable me to pray.
- Father, help me not to be careless about my moving forward.
The sermon, As The Lord Lives, I Will Move Forward, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye, was delivered on July 23rd, 2017.