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Scroll down for the new year admonition from Pst. J.O. Lawal.

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CONGRATULATIONS, YOU MADE IT TO THE YEAR 2024

BE DETERMINED -J.O. LAWAL

Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be immeasurably yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to this new year, year 2024. And I pray that God will keep your heart occupied with gladness all through the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, as we begin this new year, you need to be determined to live in the fullness of God’s will, regardless of the current circumstances of your life. Otherwise, the gift of the year to you may just end up being a waste. Look at Daniel, for example. Even though he found himself in the land of slavery, against his wish, he was still determined to live in the will of God.

The bible says, “But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king...” (Dan 1:8NLT) Did you see that? Young Daniel was determined not to have his life messed up in any way, even though he was a slave in a strange land. And because he was determined to honour God with his life, He caused him to be highly favoured by all the kings he worked with. So, he went on to become a powerful force to be reckoned in the entire Babylonian realm for decades. (Cf. Dan 1-6)

So, I am not saying that it is enough to be determined to do the will of God. However determined we are about doing His will, if He does not furnish us with the strength and favour to do so, we will not be able to do so. That is because doing the will of God does not depend human desire or effort but on God’s mercy. And someone like Peter had to learn that the hard way. (Cf. Matt 26:69-75; Rom 9:16)

Nevertheless, it is important that we first show that we are determined to do His will. Then we can expect Him to furnish us with all that we need to do it. Those who have no determination to do His will are probably expecting Him to be pushing them to do what they do not want to do. But He rarely does that. And even if He has to push us to do what we do not want to do, we may end up being injured in the process. So, if we want God’s favour to freely flow in enabling us to do His will, our hearts must love and be determined to do what He wants.

Then we must also be determined to take God’s provisions for us and to make the most of them. Otherwise, Satan will see to it that we have no access to what is ours to possess and enjoy. Look at what is said about the people of Manasseh and the inheritance given to them by God in the land of Canaan: “But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.” (Judg 1:27NIV)

Think about that. Even though God had already given the inheritance of the people of Manasseh to them, they still failed to completely drive out the people originally living there. So, they ended up cohabiting with them, making it possible for those people to corrupt them with their idols. Why was that so? It was so because the determination of those people to stay in the land was greater than the determination of the people of Manasseh to drive them out of it.

So, if our determination to take hold of God’s provisions for our fruitfulness and prosperity and utilise them is not greater than Satan’s determination to keep us from accessing and enjoying them, we may end up not being all that we can be and not enjoying all that we can enjoy in this life. All of this is why our Lord Jesus tells us that men ought to always pray and not give up. It is also why He tells us to pray until our joy is full. (Cf. Luke 18L1l John 16:24)

That means as long as we are not yet where God wants us to be and enjoying all that He wants us to enjoy, we must not resign. We must not stop praying. We must not stop declaring God’s word over our lives and affairs. And we must not stop practising righteousness. Yes, Satan and his agents may be doing all that they can to frustrate us or to keep us from accessing and enjoying God’s provisions for us. But as long as we remain resolute to have and enjoy all that God wants us to have and to become all that He wants us to become, nothing will be able to stop the flow of His grace in our lives and affairs.

I welcome you once again into this new year. And I pray that your heart will be renewed with sufficient determination, courage and strength to go for all that God wants you to have in the year and possess and enjoy it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Happy 2024!

Your Friends, Pst. Toosin & Ebun, Lawal.

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