God called Abraham after he separated from Lot his uncle’s son. Abraham chose the mountain top after Lot must have chosen the greener part of the land of which later became Sodom and Gomorrah. The separation was as a result of quarrel between Lot’s herdsmen and Abraham’s. Before Abraham chose the land, God said to him, “As far as your eyes can see I have given it to you.”

Today as believers how do we see? How do we see the boundaries of our inheritance, the promises of God for our lives – through the Eyes of Faith! As far as your faith can take you is as far as you can receive. You can’t receive more than your faith can give you. How many are ready to allow their faith to rise to the next level? If your faith does not grow, it cannot give you the victories you need in that level. The level we are now, to some our faith is not able to deal with the outstanding situations; so we need to move to a higher level in our faith. For example, the eagle when it needs food doesn’t need to fly flow. From the height the eagle flies its vision is wider and can pick what it needs. You need to make a declaration to yourself and a decision to go higher today. There are few things you need to know such as:

You are in a New kingdom: If you are born-again, you are in a new kingdom. Even though you are in the world you are not of this world. The Bible says, “He has translated us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:13). The problem many are having is they are still operating as if they are still in the kingdom of darkness – it won’t work. In this New Kingdom, there are laws, and principles that God has set I place for us to work by and operate with so we can receive our victories. If we lay hold of them and apply, we will surely succeed. Nobody can stop you!

How Do I Operate in This: The way you can be established is by faith to faith (Romans 1:17). The just shall live by faith. It is so sad we claim that we live in a New kingdom (God’s Kingdom) yet we live by how much we have in our account. The old kingdom which is the kingdom of darkness operates on the principle of how much you have in our account while the New Kingdom which is the kingdom of Christ operates on how much faith you have. Beloved faith is our heavenly currency, and we must have the wisdom of God to convert our heavenly currency (faith) to the earthly currency (money) so that we can use it here. This is the will of God for us. Remember no matter how anointed you may be when you go the market to buy food stuff, the seller requires money not faith. In this New Kingdom we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). In the old kingdom everything is centred on my sensory perception while in the new kingdom it is my spiritual perception – faith. In this New kingdom, there must be a change of our nature if we must operate in the spiritual. Because we will operate in a spiritual perception, Jesus gave us this nature by dying for us (2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Peter 1:4). Through faith we become partakers of Christ’s nature. Even though we still live in the old house (body/flesh), we are new creatures and we are going to the realm where we can make the impossible become possible but we need to know we have been given the nature to do the impossible. If you don’t know or don’t have Christ’s nature you will keep struggling. We have been given the things of God for this new nature. The New kingdom (God’s Kingdom) is a place where we govern and defeat Satan and his agents.

How Does This Faith Work: Faith comes to us by hearing and by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). If we open our ears to carnal words, we fill it with such and that is what will come out. We must make decisions to allow only positive things in our lives. As you hear the word of God I pray that this faith will come alive in Jesus name….Amen!!! Faith gets you healing, deliverance, protection, money, etc. In this New kingdom, faith is necessary and if you don’t have it you will be running to and fro because that is what the enemy wants you to do. You should not be moved by what you see but by what you believe in God and continue to confess it. The first step of success is faith. The same faith plus focus will keep you going no matter the obstacles ahead. If your eyes of faith are dead because of the constant failure you have encountered, please pray this simple prayer with me:

Lord Jesus, help my unbelief grant me another opportunity to start all over again and never to give up. For me to know with the strength of Christ I shall start and finish well no matter the obstacles in Jesus name…..Amen!!! 

Others may not see it the way you see it because you are seeing with the eyes of faith. This is the way we operate in the new kingdom which is the kingdom of God. Continue to renew your mind with the Word of God as you keep walking and working towards your God-given purpose in life (Romans 12:2). Remember no one else can help you get there if not your faith in Christ Jesus. You can get to any height in life without pulling anyone down, taking forcefully what belongs to another person or stealing people’s ideas without acknowledging them. Stand in the place of faith and see the power of God in action. Remain blessed.

By Bishop Simon Iheanacho

If we must carry out to full what God has given us to do here on earth no matter our location, no matter our jobs or kind of ministry given to us by the Holy Spirit then we must follow the example pf Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Apostle Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” This should ever be the mind set of every child of God especially to those who have been given sheep to lead. As seen in the first part of the way of doing Jesus ministry, let us see the remaining steps.

Step 4…… MANAGING YOUR RESOURCES: Resources comes in diverse forms: time, gifts/talents, money, workers (members), etc. I will write on these four. Jesus managed all the resources that the Father gave Him.

a) Jesus taught His disciples the essence of time management and their gifts (Matthew 25: 14 – 29; Romans 12: 3 – 8). Time is one of the most precious thing God has given to man. Each second lost can never be redeemed. A Nigerian singer sang a song that says,

time na money ooo (time is money)

time na money (time is money)

do better thing (do go thing meaning find a job and do a legal job)

no waka waka (don’t be fooling around)

money no dey come from (money doesn’t fall from heaven)

do better thing money go come (be useful and money will come).

That is why we need to engage ourselves in fruitful works. As a pastor praying for faithful workers is one thing, but it’s a herculean task for them to be in the area of their calling that will harness their gifting so they can be fruitful.

b) Jesus also managed all the disciples given to Him by God. He also carried everybody along such like in the case of Mary and Martha (Luke 10: 38 – 42); in case of James and John’s request for a specific position (Mark 10: 35 – 45). As a pastor you should not tolerate gossip, this is a killer! I bet you no matter how anointed and gifted you are, and you condone gossip among members, definitely it will eat up the whole congregation like cancer. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others and move on.

c) Jesus also managed the little food that was increased to feed the five thousand (Mark 6: 35 – 44). It is so sad to see that many have messed up their credit cards, and can no longer have enough money as income because of unnecessary over drafts taken from the bank to buy irrelevant things. It is so sad that God has brought helpers our way but because of inability to manage God’s blessings in the form of human beings, we treat and use them for our own gain without giving back (you service a relationship just like the way you service cars if not it will pack up).

Peter asked the Lord that they having left everything to follow Him, what then will there be for them the disciples? Jesus replied that when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me (Jesus) will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.  Ask this kind of question some places, and you will be termed a lover of money. You cannot call people to support you without expecting them to have a sense of belonging even though God rewards us, it is you (the pastor) or any other person the Lord will use to be a blessing to those working under you.

Step 5…… LIVING ABOVE REPROACH: In His teaching and by His example, Jesus warned His followers to avoid hoarding possessions, to give to the poor, and to value what will not rust or decay. “For where your treasure is,” Jesus said, “there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34). As a pastor do you live by example or by “mere” words without commensurate actions? It’s so unfortunate that many false prophets/teachers are going about deceiving many people.  In today’s world a person who goes naked is celebrated as a celebrity. Sin is rampant everywhere, and the love of many is growing cold. This has made many weak Christians in the church to sit at home and gradually turn away from God. A healthy church starts from the head. Complete obedience to God’s Word will not only prosper you and your members, it leads us to fulfilling our God-given purpose and a stress free ministry (Joshua 1:8).

Step 6…… GIVE GOD ALL THE GLORY: Jesus said, “he who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood” (John 7:18). Many at times you may have a good idea but is that what God wants you to do? As a pastor you should learn to seek the face of God in “all” matters. Do not take it for granted that God is blessing the works of your hands and you now take matters into your hands there by wanting God to consent every idea you bring. You must remember that the work is God’s own, and must be done in His own way – all for His (God’s) purpose (Romans 8:28). It is all about Jesus and no one else.

Our Lord Jesus Christ even though He was equal with the Father still humbled Himself to seek the face of the Father before He (Jesus) proceed to do anything. Jesus also said something remarkable for us to learn from in Mark 10:18; “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. No matter how great God is using you or how spectacular you think your ministry is, you should know that all has been given to you by God (John 17:7), and all glory must be given back to Him. Serve to glorify God and Him alone.

Step 7…… FINISH WELL AND HAND OVER THE BATON: Jesus prayed in John 17:4 saying, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” Even though you may not have started well, you can still end well for Christ started well and ended well. He showed us example of “how to do” and “what to do” in ministry clearly in the Bible so that we all in whatever capacity given to us will not only be fruitful will also make heaven after all the toils here on earth. Jesus handed over to those chosen by the Father. Beloved, if you must finish well then you must pray and seek the face of the Father to choose for Himself whom shall replace you when the time comes. Sometimes it is hard for some to do this because they believe that no one else except their children deserve to reap the fruit of their labour. Until you begin to see that this work is God’s work and not yours only then can the grace to finish the race successfully will begin to manifest in you. You are bound to fail no matter how successful you think you are if you see members, buildings and God’s blessings upon your life as your personal possessions. No matter the price paid, it is about Jesus, and Him alone. (Please take time and meditate on John 17: 13 – 19; Joshua 27:18). 

Excerpts from biblehub.com