Posted on Mon, Jun 1, 2009
Entering Your Place of Abundance
Speaker - Eld. Ayodeji Adesina (Lay-Pastor, BHSDAC, UK)(summarised by Ayobola Akwarandu)
Key Text: Psalms 66: 8-12
Entering your place of Abundance – Psalm 66:8-12 by Lay Pastor Ayo Adesina
Looking at my own personal experience, many like me are going through a period of crisis; speaking to people at work, or while shopping at the superstore, reading a newspaper or watching TV, we see that we are all going through a crisis. Normal monthly bills are overstretched by extra costs so quickly. We are confronted with situations with no reasonable answers. Sometimes it seems we are wandering around in a maze. Some of us have crises that are not financial and unspeakable. Crisis is defined by the Webster dictionary as “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending”; it is a change from one condition into another condition. God has promised us a blessing in our time of crisis and to protect and guide us.
You may ask, is it possible for an individual or Church to be in a crisis and yet be in God’s will? Yes! We even grow the most in the middle of our crisis. Our roads can pass through crises but God never leaves us. God is ready to take you from lack to abundance. God did not bring Israel out of Egypt to kill them. He brought them out for freedom; but before going to the promise land the Israelites had to pass through the wilderness. Let us look at 3 phases of the Israelites journey which is also similar to phases in the life of every child of God:
Egypt – This is a place of slavery and labour, it was a hard place for the Israelites. Similarly, some are in one form of prison or the other today – spiritual; health; marital; or social. You feel weak under the weight you carry. Egypt is a place of barrenness, a place of unfruitfulness. “You allowed men to ride over our heads” (Vs 10). You may be going through a tough time at work, feeling looked down upon; someone else seem to be getting the applause, or you may feel handicapped like the man at the pool of Bethesda, and it looks like others keep getting ahead of you. Sometimes, you may feel all choked up, almost crying out “Get me out of here!” You see letters arriving at your home signifying “Egypt”. You need to realise that God is not glorified when you continue to be in Egypt. I prophesy to someone in Egypt today that the chains of slavery will be broken in Jesus’ name!
Wilderness – Maybe you have left Egypt and you are no longer in lack per se; just like when the Israelites needed food, God provided but enough for one day at a time. When they needed water, God provided water from the rock too. The wilderness is a place of basic needs (Vs 8 and 9). God ensures you have your daily needs “you keep our feet from sliding”. This is a place of preservation, a place where you are tested to see whether you will stay with Him when you are brought to abundance. Some of us become so proud when God blesses us with little more than before, at this point, some stop giving tithes and offering this is why a lot of Christians remain in the wilderness till death because God deems it better for them to stay there to be able to make heaven. The wilderness is the place of refinement. Is your situation looking like it’s the end of the road? Even though the Israelites were standing at the verge of Canaan land, looking at the promise land yet did not make it in. So also, many Christians are giving up on their life experiences just when it’s almost over. In Numbers 14, the Bible says the Israelites were ready to turn their backs on Canaan and head back to Egypt. On the other hand, Joshua and Caleb also passed through the same crisis but they never took their eyes off the focus. As you stand at the verge of Canaan, you should say “If the Lord is pleased with me, I will make it to the other side”, say “As long as the Lord lives, I will not tolerate any form of insufficiency in my life.” Crisis is something inevitable and irreversible. It is said that tough times never last but tough people do. God desires to move you from insufficiency to more than enough. God’s intention is that the wilderness is just a passing phase; not a permanent experience.
Canaan: In verse 12, we read, “you brought us to a place of abundance…” The desire of God is not just for you to make it but to make it big. A place of abundance is your Canaan land. Deut 11:10-12. The first noteworthy thing about this place is that it is a land to be possessed. There are many blessings opened to Israel but these have to be possessed. There are great possibilities when you get over your crisis; however it is possible to pass through your crisis without gaining the great possibilities. Let us look at how we can ensure we gain from the opportunities.
- Possession must start with a desire to possess. Pray that God will awaken your desire.
- You must understand the great principle of possessing. It doesn’t come by our pious deeds or self effort. You need to know that it is ‘faith’ that lays hold of what we have in Christ. So study the great principle of faith. No one gets anything from God without faith.
- You must apply all these principles in the ‘present’ moment. Many of us know the principles of victories but never experience it because we don’t apply it for the present moment. If we don’t live in the present tense, we will end up living in the past tense or future tense.
The breakthroughs coming your way are not like last year’s Moses says in Deut 8:7; in the land where you are going there are hills and valleys but even in the valley there is water, this is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. Canaan is a land of divine concern…which shows the Lord your God cares. Far beyond and beneath all other precious truths is that God is truly concerned, and truly cares about you. Even in this crisis, the eyes of the Lord are upon you. When you appreciate the fact that God’s eyes are on you, your attitude will be different. Praise the name of God in the midst of your crises because the Lord is taking you to a place of abundance.
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