Your Background Must Not Limit Your Height, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye

Your Background Must Not Limit Your Height, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye

In general terms, a man is a product of his background and his environment. Several branches of knowledge like Medicine, Sociology, Psychology, etc. teaches us that we are all products of our genetic background and the environments we have lived, which is largely true.

The only twist to that knowledge is that the Ultimate power of the Almighty is not included in the equation. The bible makes us to know that “But with God, all things are possible”. So that a man can completely be different from his past and what he had been through.

Equation 1 is Gene + Env = Man

Equation 2 is Gene + Env + or – God = Man

So that who we are today is a product our background, our past life experiences and the level at which God is operating in our lives.

We do not have power to change our background; neither can we re-write our past experiences. Two things we can do to rise higher in life is to seek more of God’s involvement in our destiny and be more determined than before.

Talking about arising glory, God can override genetic factors and set aside environmental factors that have hindered a man’s glory to rise. He can then make the person what He wanted him to be.

Let’s consider Elijah the prophet; he arose from obscurity to prominence in Israel and in Christendom. He was from a little village called Tisbeh, which was part of the clan of Gilead, which is half tribe of Manasseh.

He however was able to stand before kings to declare the word of God and even went further to make decrees which never failed.

His father and mother were not known. His genealogy was not known. His academic or prophetic background was not known. But one thing was sure, he was sent by God.

Elijah was able to fulfil his destiny, attain greatness and left a huge legacy behind for all of us. He was able to live out his name (Eli – My God, Jah – Yaweh/power/strength).

He was one of the two prominent people that appeared with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration. He will be one of the two Last Witnesses that will evangelize Israel during the Great Tribulation. What a glory!

• Your glory shall not be hindered by your genes. It shall not be hindered by your past experiences.

The Book of Esther tells us about two people whom God permitted their glories to rise, despite their disadvantaged background and ugly past experiences. These persons were Mordecai and Esther.

At a point in the history of the Children of Israel, because of their sins, the Assyrians took the Ten Northern Tribes away and never allowed their return. The Babylonians took the Two Southern Tribes away for 70 years. When the Persian kingdom overthrew Babylon, their King allowed the Two Tribes (Judah) to go back. Mordecai and Esther – his orphaned niece were among the people that decided to remain under the Persian King, possibly because he had a good job.

God used these 2 persons to glorify His name and He raised their status to what their background and exposure could not have achieved.

How could a free slave got a job to work so close to the Persian King, to the extent that he was able to hear when the conversation of two of the closest aides to the King? That must be God’s glory.

• I see God’s elevating somebody to a shocking position in their society.

• I have an instruction for someone that you need to make scary applications. That is how it has been design for your glory to rise.

Mordecai did not let the threats and hatred of Haman to deter him. He was always at his duty post.

• Are you been intimidated in anyway at your marketplace? It may be that the devil is just trying to thwart your rising glory, be diligent and determined; pray and fast; then see what the Lord will do.

The bible makes us to know that where sin prevailed, grace also abounds. The more your destiny is been persecuted, the more God will make His grace available to you.

Romans 5:20 – Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Mordecai became very powerful. He became the lawmaker of Persia, from India to Ethiopia; the interesting thing is he was a Jew and not a Persian.

– You are hearing me, your job can be liking to keeping the gate for others, you are however a lawmaker. You should be a MP. Don’t let your background and things you’ve been through limit that height.

Esther was also a Jew and not a Persian, but she entered into the competition to become the Queen. How did she become the Queen? It was God factor! Esther was determined to make something great with her life regardless of the odds against her. With God’s help, she did.

What are the odds against you in life? You shall overcome them in Jesus name.

If one should consider the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, though few of them were learned (Mathew), largely they were illiterates. They were however transformed to powerful people, influential figures in their time and even now. How could that have happened? It was the God factor!

They were regular people as we are, but later became extraordinary beings (Acts 4:13). God is willing to demonstrate His glory in our lives like in the days of the Prophets and the Apostles; the problem is that most of us are not ready. Some of us are timid, fearful, lazy or too occupied to be used by God.

We are created by God to be agents of change. We are salt and light in a dark and unsavory world. To help us still, the whole creation is waiting for our manifestation as Children of God.

Will you be willing to manifest?

How effective have we been putting the name of Jesus to use?

Are you been limited by the nature of your background? I don’t care even if your background is occultism, idolatry or atheism, God can still make your glory to rise, if you seek Him earnestly and you are determine to rise.

Regardless of the environment in which you have grown, God can still use you to proclaim His glory.

Are you ready? Let us pray.

Prayers

Psalm 57: 8,

Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!

Psalms 108:2

Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!

David is someone that his glory really arose. As our bodies wake up and things begin to work, so also can glory arise.

1. My glory, I command you to arise in Jesus name.

Isaiah 52:1

Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Jerusalem was a holy city of Jehovah. Her glory was special. But unfortunately, she became defiled by strange things.

2. Father, let the garment of splendor replace any defilement that has attached itself to my glory.

Luke 9:32

But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

Jesus has always looked physically like the Apostles. At the Mount of Transfiguration however, God revealed a glimpse of Jesus real glory to three of the Apostles.

3. Father, reveal my glory to mankind.

Psalms 26:8

Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

Psalms 27:4

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

One of the things that made David to stand out is the passion he had for the things of God: Jehovah worship, His service and His temple. For our glory to rise, these three are paramount.

4. Father, help me to love worshipping you, love serving you and love the glory of your temple.

1 Samuel 4:21-22

And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

All these in one day! Glory must have departed.

5. Father, if any of my glory has lost or stolen, please let it be restored now

1 Corinthians 15:40-41

There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

Heaven is more glorious than the Earth, that is why we all want to go there.

Within the Earth itself, certain things are more glorious than others.

Have you consider how the wise men were able to follow the Star of Jesus from the East to Bethlehem? Because that Star was different.

6. Father, make my star different from the stars around me.

1 Samuel 3:11

And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

Eli’s linage rejection, but led to Samuel’s election was an ear tingling news.

7. Father, make the rising of my glory cause the ears of men to tingle.

Judges 16:20-21

And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

A mighty man was reduced to a reproach by a lady. Thousands of soldiers couldn’t, men could not.

8. Every strange power that swallows up man’s glory, my destiny is above your powers in Jesus name.

2 Samuel 3:1

Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.

Ishbosheth was on the throne of Israel; David was only on the throne of Judah. He commanded a bigger and well equipped army; he lost the war because the glory of his family has expired.

9. Every fading and expired glory of my linage be ignited afresh on my head right now in Jesus name.