Ministering: Pastor Shola Awobajo
Text: Genesis 12: 1-7.
” 1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. 6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” KJV
Going into any year is a journey in itself. As a Church, we have been calling upon God in the last 6 days for His help in the New Year. We have no strength of our own to rely on, hence are dependent upon Him. It is because He is our Shepherd that we will not want. He leads us besides the still waters for His name’s sake. We need Him to be our companion and fortress all through 2024 and beyond.
Greatness is God’s desire for everyone in Christ Jesus. He redeemed us to take us to a land flowing with milk and honey. This was His promise to father Abraham. After Abraham received the word, He didn’t just go to sleep but he built an Altar to the LORD. His Altar was his connection to the divine that ensured he had dominion over the affairs of life. Greatness is the quality of being extraordinary and distinguished from the pack. Greatness is not common, only a few with exemplary qualities are accorded this honor. Only those whom God has worked upon turn out “Great” in the Kingdom. Greatness is also a quality of being outstanding and influential in quantity and quality.
Greatness was God’s promise to Abraham (the father of Faith). We inherited that promise of Greatness through our belief in Christ Jesus. What people said Abraham could not amount to, he surpassed it because of God’s Covenant of Greatness with him. As a believer in Christ Jesus, never look down on yourself or focus on your weakness, God specializes in using the weak things of this world to confound the wise. When God speaks, all machineries go into motion to cause it to come to pass. The elements of creation ensure His word is fulfilled and that it never returns to Him void. God blessed Abraham with unspeakable wealth.
Conditions for being Great in 2024
- Walking with God. Be a God-chaser – Haggai 2:8-9
- Depart from your old ways – Gen. 12:1-2
- Be busy for God – Zechariah (John’s father) was busy in the Temple when he had a divine encounter
- Be a generous Person – be faithful in your Kingdom giving and helping the poor
- Absolute trust and reliance on God’s word. Stay glued to the word of God.
- Don’t fail to plan. Do not live your life on trial and error mode. If you fail to plan, you will be a victim of somebody else’s plan. Align your life according to God’s plan for your life.
- Be a person of prayer. Matt. 17:21
In closing, Isa. 29:14 – “Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
God bless you!
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