Unimaginable Progress, by Apostle I.D Lawon

Unimaginable Progress, by Apostle A.D Lawon

Bible Text: Mark 10:46

In that text 8 problems were highlighted but the passage ended with the name of blind Bartimaeus who experienced unimaginable progress.

Vs. 46 …  “And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging”.

From the understanding of the context; Jericho is a deaf and dumb city where nothing goes out and nothing comes in. Some people are at Jericho today, if you have been stagnant, at a plateau where it seems nothing is working for you, you seem not to be making progress, this day you will find the Lord and break free. Jericho was the city the children of Israel got to and the Lord told them to march round the wall to break free. So as you read this and activate the power of God, your barriers will come down in Jesus name.

Vs. 47 “…And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me”.

Faith comes by hearing. Blind Bartimaeus experienced faith because he heard about Jesus. There needs to be continuous hearing. Bartimaeus cried “Jesus, thou son of David have mercy on me”, Vs. 48 many asked him to be quiet but he was persistent. They wanted to hinder what he had to achieve, he had a purpose in life and he knew he wanted his eyes to be open. Don’t be tired of hearing, when you are tired of hearing, faith will no longer come.

Many have a project, working on an assignment, have an objective but because they have been shut out, they stopped. No, Bartimaeus was different; he kept on calling on Jesus because he knew what he wanted. Every lame spirit in your life that is trying to impede your progress you are freed from such bondage in Jesus name. A lot of people think they are running but yet they are crawling. May your eyes be opened to see the wonderful things set aside for you in Jesus name.

And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.

When Jesus heard blind Bartimaeus, Jesus stood still. For your cry today Jesus will stand still. So many people stood in the presence of God, Jesus was in the presence of the multitudes.  But only Bartimaeus made Jesus stand still, only him had a request that made Jesus stand still..  The message at this juncture is that, some people come to church without desire, they just come and go.  Church is like religion to some people, they just come and go but they do not know how to possess their inheritance.

When Jesus called him, the man threw away anything that could hinder him.

When Jesus met with the man he asked him what you want. Not that he doesn’t know he is blind but Jesus still asked. Some people do not know what they want, they do not know why they come to church, may be you just come to worship, you just come because your parents come , you come because your friend invited you. Still what do you want?  When you lack purpose and you come to the opportune time, you may not be able to seize it.  That was what happened to Solomon, he asked for wisdom and the opportune time came and he manifested the power of God by solving the problem.

When God asked Bartimaeus, He didn’t ask for coins, he asked for the unimaginable. May God give you the grace to dream big because that is the limitation of so many people. Activate the violent faith to take old of your inheritance.

God gave me formula for unimaginable progress. Connect to the power source because when man is promising 10% he is promising 3000%. The unimaginable is that which no one can imagine. People will say it is a lie.  Bartimaeus replied “that I may receive my sight” Jesus said “..go your way for you faith has made you whole”.

How do you know you are making progress?

  1. To go forward is to make progress but there are many types of making progress
    1. You may want to go forward but you are not going forward
    2. You may go forward but it has been arrested
    3. You can go forward but it is marginal
    4. You can go forward in an unimaginable manner

So in our journey in life, in our journey in church, in our journey within the family we need unimaginable progress. However, God is the one that makes a difference in the way we make progress.

God is the one that give unimaginable progress but how?

  1. By prophetic insight. That was happened to Bartimaeus, he was brought out of the pack. He was among the multitude but God set him apart. The Bible says “he was by the road side begging, God can bring you from the pit to highest realm of life. Blind Bartimaeus was by the road side and he got the prophetic insight
  2. You have faith planning: Not a normal plan. Bartimaeus heard, he had heard what Jesus had been doing, so he shouted. When you have no plans, what do you want God to bless? You should have a goal, God can restore all that you have lost and he said He will restore
  3. Appointed times: Take advantage of appointed times. Blind Bartimaeus heard and seize upon his time. Seize opportunities and activate appointed times
  4. Violent faith: Bartimaeus had violent faith. Has he cried and shouted “Jesus thou son of David have mercy upon me” they asked him to shut up but he refused. With violent faith, you do not go with the norm; you act abnormal in an extraordinary way. With violent faith, your gaze is upon the Lord to receive an answer. Know what you are looking for and do not be intimidated by the oppressor. I pray that you would not be double minded in Jesus name. Bartimaeus was not double minded
  5. Capitalize on your present assets. In our modern day thinking, capitalize on your present resources. When Bartimaeus said “Jesus thou son of David …” he was capitalizing on what he knew. He knew David was the one that used a stone to kill Goliath. He understood the power behind the actions and he wanted a part in it. So Bartimaeus activated this power by shouting “Jesus thou son of David, have mercy on me…”. God is asking you today what you have. Is that you can sing, you can dance, you can serve people, you can sweep the church floor, you do visitations, you can preach the gospel, you can pray for people? Capitalize on it and see how God will lift you up. A testimony and an unimaginable progress happened to me when I wanted for a visitation some years back. I had a brother who was a full time evangelist but on that day , he was not at the service .After church service we went to his house to find out what was happened. On reaching no one had seen him but they thought he must be inside the house. My driver forced the door open and on getting inside, he was faced down with his hands folded to his chest. My driver and I called his name but he didn’t answer. He seemed lifeless. So we started praying, after praying, the Lord laid it upon my spirit to stretch his hands and when I did; he opened his eyes. I had never seen a miracle like that. Afterwards we took him to the hospital. Bartimaeus capitalize on the fact that he had no money, that no one will shut him down, that the way he used to beg for money he would beg heaven for his breakthrough.
  6. In Luke 11, There are 2 types of prayers that the Jesus talked about from Vs. 1-5 is the “our father ……” from Vs. 6 the Lord talked about a man who was travelling and lodged with his friend who had no food. His friend had to go bang on neighbors’ door to beg for food. In Luke 18, the Lord talked about praying for mercy. It is pleading a case in court. There are times you go to God and you are begging, because something went wrong in your bloodline. Plead your case before God and ask for mercy. You may not be the one that committed the offence but you need mercy to be set free.
  7. A visitation may be what you need to experience the manifestation of the power of God. . Capitalize on what you have; your unimaginable gift will come from what God has given you to do. What you have may be kindness but one day you will break through.
  8. So what do you have today that you can capitalize on to give you unimaginable progress?
  9. Plot your pursuit. Not the way they do it in the world but you read the parable of the sower and plot your pursuit. It says a man went to sow, some fell on good ground, some on thorns …, some yielded 30 folds, some 100 folds. The 30 folds mean 30 times not 30%. So plot your pursuit on this message in Mark 4 and Matthew 13Some people don’t know what they want, you give them prayer request sheet and they write “God bless me “bless you in what? Be specific.
  10. Be consistent and insistent on what God has given you to and what you want God to do for you. For example
  11. You evaluate all that you have done in the past and forecast how you want God to bless you.
  12. The key is consistency and longevity – Jeremiah 17:7&8 – Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit”.

The Bible says picture your life like a tree planted by the streams of water. When you are planted, you are going nowhere; it means no doubt, you are insistent. To be planted by the rivers of water implies you are connected to the source of power 24/7. You do not loose power or source of growth. For example, when I just started my church, there were churches growing all around me but there was no progress. I read about John Wesley that he prayed every day from 4am-8am. I started doing that and I did for 9years. Suddenly my graft turned and I gained unimaginable progress, it is what the mathematicians called exponential growth.

Always activate the turn of events at the end of every month. Wait upon God so that he can teach you the secret things and very month you can experience unimaginable progress. May you experience unimaginable progress this year in Jesus name, Amen.

The sermon, Unimaginable Progress, by Apostle I.D Lawon, President Full Stature Missions Ministries, Nigeria, was delivered on April 30, 2017.