End of year message By Pastor H.
2010 to me was a very interesting year. I had plenty of challenges and tests. I had my failures and mistakes. To me, these offered some learning opportunities and experience which "could not have been substituted by anything"! But I also thank God because I had some successes and victories. As I look to 2011, yes I expect more challenges; there are decisions that I have made which mean more challenges for me in the coming year. But there is something I understand, as somebody said and I quote, "champions are born out of challenges". In 2010, there are four areas or decisions that I had made and failed to make meaningful achievement. I have other clear and or distinct areas where God did for me more than I had expected. I have three major areas or purposes in life in addition to my family;
- Ministry
- Business
- Leadership
When I measure myself, I use the above key result areas, so, I also got victory in some areas I had planned in relation to the above grand bench marks of my life. In 2011 among other things, there are four things areas I need to launch (new things / direction) watch!
I want to encourage you; you may not have seen many positives in your life in 2010. You may have failed everything you planned or achieved a small percentage of your plans. Do not worry; there is still room and space to achieve. The worst thing you can do for yourself is to restrain from planning and having expectations for the coming year(s). There is a saying, "winners never quit and quitters never win".
Expect positives in the coming year. Do not always expect the negative or the worst to happen. I am not saying expect a smooth sailing or flow of things in your life but I am saying expect some achievements, successes and victories. You may not have 100% victory but at least you will win some. You may be late in some areas of your life but it is better to start than never. There has to be some progress, growth and development in your life. You should not be found where you have always been! Life is a process; it is a step at a time. It is dangerous to sit down and expect things to work out on their own, but, it is equally dangerous to expect to achieve everything at one go. There are things I am seeing fruit in my life now that I started working on and praying for over ten years ago. There is need for patience in life. In 2010, my/our motto was flying higher! I am very positive I moved higher in my life in some facets. In the beginning of the year I also talked about relationships, I made some progress in evaluating and developing my friendships.
As we look forward to 2011 and beyond, I believe we need to also focus on walking in love. As we move higher in life, as we achieve our dreams, as we fight our battles, we should NEVER forget to walk in love primarily to God but more to others. The bible says, technically, to love God is proved by loving other people. Failure to walk in love will deter you from achieving the best and will limit your achievements. We need to care for others and do our best to live peaceable with other people. Aim at being fruitful, resourceful and a blessing to somebody. That will not be easy because success on its own will bring enemies. When you achieve in life not everybody will be happy, you will attract criticism and resentment especially from the mediocre. Something that I have also noted in life is that greatness and success always attract controversy. It can be perceived and sometimes actual controversy. Check for any great leader whether in the bible, circular history or wherever, I am yet to see one that did not or does not attract controversy. So, to dream about achieving and succeeding without budgeting for criticism is rather close to if not actual being deceived.
Finally, I pray for the all the best for you in the coming year(s). May you succeed and prosper in all you do. May you live to fulfil your God ordained purpose or destiny. May you be a blessing to others. May God rejoice and "smile" on you. May you be protected and preserved. May you be victorious in every sphere and area of your life. I count myself blessed to have you in my life. I do not take you for granted; I appreciate and value you in my life.
Please take time also to read the following scriptures:
Mark 10:28 ¶ Peter began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You."
Mark 10:29 Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake,
Mark 10:30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
Luke 14:27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:28 "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?
Luke 14:29 "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
Luke 14:30 saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'
Jer 29:11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Jer 29:12 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
Jer 29:13 'You will seek Me and find {Me} when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jer 33:2 "Thus says the LORD who made {the earth,} the LORD who formed it to establish it, the LORD is His name,
Jer 33:3 'Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Rom 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
1 Cor 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
1 Cor 13:2 If I have {the gift of} prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
1 Cor 13:3 And if I give all my possessions to feed {the poor,} and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
1 Cor 13:4 ¶ Love is patient, love is kind {and} is not jealous; love does not brag {and} is not arrogant,
1 Cor 13:5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong {suffered,}
1 Cor 13:6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
1 Cor 13:7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Cor 13:8 ¶ Love never fails; but if {there are gifts of} prophecy, they will be done away; if {there are} tongues, they will cease; if {there is} knowledge, it will be done away.
1 John 4:7 ¶ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son {to be} the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
