When a woman knots the tie with a man,he does so knowing rest assuredly that the man will supply all that she may ever need,the man likewise,such is the married life.

The Christian is in a love relationship with the Lord,the Scriptures calls us his bride,and like bride we must be pure and free from all pollutions.

The Bible goes further to tell us of the divine responsibilities before us,Paul knew that after God saves a man,He calls him into a divine ministry.

Though we may have had the Bible in different languages and versions,one thing remains that Genesis to Revelation cannot be added to or subtracted from,from Enoch to the last man in the book of revelations,all men who walked with and worked for  God have one characteristics : they committed their all.

 

Many consider the job of the president as the greatest job but we forgot that his job is contested and he can be voted out anytime,the believer who have genuinely given his heart to God is given an office greater than that of the president,the president is charged with the well being of the citizens for the time when he is elected into office,the believer is charged with the eternal destinies of people,for every silence when he could have spoken for Christ he may have allowed someone slip into hell without warning,the believer is the hands and feet of Jesus,if he does not move,God cannot move,if he does not speak,the people cannot hear God.

 

Friends,the responsibilities before the believer are grave and failure is a punishable crime.

There are billions of Bibles today,millions of sermons today,billions of books today,we have the radio,television,internet,airplanes,computers etc but we are terribly failing.

Is ignorance the reason we are failing?,no,we have some of the best seminaries and theologians with us yet we are failing.

We have churches everywhere yet drug abuse is on the rise,crime is on the increasing and everything that has evil on it

 

If with all this and all we have we are still failing,there something must be wrong

 

Like the children of Israel who were fully armed yet turned back in the day of battle,the church today has gotten more resource than it has at any time before today,yet we have massive failure.

One reason for this massive failure is that we have not come to terms with our failures

This failure is a consequence of believers not committing their all in the pursuit of God and all that pertains to Him and His Glory.

We believe we can have the best of both worlds,we want the best of God and the best of the world at the same time,we want to eat from the table of the Lord and the table of the devil at the same time,we want to love two lovers,we want to be loyal to two masters at the same time.

Peter and the other apostles most of them were unlettered men,yet they were very effective with God and for God,their secret was they left all and followed him.

 

A young man once met the saviour and said Lord,i will follow you anywhere. Really,okay,go and sell all your possessions and follow me,the young man went home sad,he could not part with the certain to follow the God.

Maybe his brain was telling him,if you sell everything,how will you feed and clothe yourself,he succumb to the voice of reason and missed out on the incomparable prize of been a follower of Christ.

 

At one time,Peter and the apostles said to Christ,Master we have left all to follow thee,have you left all.

Many want to be father of many nations like Abraham but don’t want to do obey God “foolishly” like Abraham did.

Many want to do the works of Paul but we avoid the desert of Arabia.

Many want to the ministry of Jesus but not the sufferings, fastings and prayers of Jesus

These are hypocrites who want maximum at minimum,beloved many of such have crept in unawares like Jude said,these men who know not the cost of Jesus death on the cross and who know not the solemnity of the ministry and charge of the believer as demanded by God,many of such have filled our pulpits,seminaries,these men came through the back door,they are strangers of God’s works.

 

The story is told of 600 soldiers who went on the boat to fight,when they landed on the shore to their amazement,there were outnumbered and out weaponed.

Their general knew that his men may fight with fear,so he gathered them together and ordered that the boats they came with be burnt and also the bridge,he said if we must go back to our country let it be with the enemy’s boat,he wanted his men to fight with all their life,this is called the death ground strategy,the had to fight for their life,at the end of the battle they emerged victorious.

 

The moral lesson of the story is that when a man ventures on a mission to move forward in a certain direction,he must forgo the certainties,opportunities and privileges that comes with where he is coming from,he must detach his mind from his past.

 

The story is told of a preacher who obeyed God’s call to preach the gospel,he was already a lecturer at the university he was saved,one day he did the something considered foolish by many,he burnt his diplomas and certificates,he said he did that,that he may have nothing to look back to. Indeed the journey was rough for him,he resigned from his position,he left the certain for the uncertain,he had to endure hunger,lack,ridicule,shame and whatever,today his decisions have paid off,millions today receive spiritual teachings and tutelage from him.

Like other generals in God’s army,he has earned his place.

 

Friends,salvation is a free gift of God that Christ already paid for but the rewards of God are earned.

 

Jesus gave his all and that was why He was very successful

Paul gives an account of his ministry,may God touch your heart today and cause you to be serious with his calling on you. We have a cloud of witnesses before us,many have ran this race and were very effective despite having very less than what we have today,may God deliver us from this shame and make us His weapons today.

Are they servants of Christ?

I am talking like a madman-

I’m a better one:

With far more labors,

Many more imprisonments,

Far worse beatings,near death many times

Five times i received 39 lashes from Jews

Three times i was beaten with rods by the romans

Once i was stoned by my enemies.

Three  times i was shipwrecked

I have spent a night and a day in the open sea.

On frequent journeys,i faced dangers from rivers

Dangers from robbers,dangers from my own people

Dangers from the gentiles,dangers in the city,

Dangers in the open country,dangers on the sea,

Dangers among false brothers,labor and hardship

Many sleepless nights,hunger and thirst

Often without food,cold and lacking cloth.

Not to mention other things,there is the daily pressure on me

My care for all the churches

Who is weak, and i am not weak?

Who is made to stumble, and i do not  burn with indignation?

If boastings is necessary, i will boast about my weaknesses

2 Corithians 11:23 -30