Tonight
as the Lord in his infinite mercy draws the curtain of the year to a closure,
we are gathered in His presence with one major theme on all our minds – the
theme of gratitude. We were privileged of Him to see the beginning of this year
and in spite of all that happened with, in and around us, we are still here. We
can still be thankful and appreciate all the good things He has done for us
this year until now.
This
year, some of us have asked the rhetorical question when in adversity several
times: why me? However, if we count our blessings and name them one by one, we
cannot deny that God has indeed been faithful. For instance, in spite of the
fierce battle that has been raging between light and darkness; we are not
casualties and did not fall away. So many started this year with us and did not
make it to this day. We did not have to say why did we survive? We are rather
grateful for the good hand of the Lord upon us and His magnanimity of giving us
the ability to dream again even when our previous dreams were challenged.
As
I waited on the Lord for this program, He opened my understanding to see that
anyone who was sensitive to His program for His Church this year would have
known that; for many who have laboured with Him for a long while now; it was a
year to fellowship with Him in His suffering. Philippians 3:10 comes to mind to
remind us that we would better understand the Lord when we have known the
fellowship of His suffering as indicated by Apostle Paul thus:
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by
any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” See Philippians
3:10-11
From my experience
this year I can boldly say that your knowledge of the Lord is grossly
restricted if you are yet to know the fellowship of His suffering. Apostle Paul
sought to know the fellowship of his suffering with the understanding that he
would have to become one with the Lord indeed in his death with a passion to
attain to the resurrection of the dead as his focus. He found it every day of
his life to the point he declared that he died daily. See 1Cor.15:31. I believe
the Lord used this year to condition us for His glory that shall soon be
revealed to the world to separate his elect from others. You cannot truly
become a partaker of his Holiness without first becoming one with Him in His
suffering. If you have been with the Lord, it will show in your speech and your
general disposition to life. You will have to have submitted to Him in such a
way that the fruit you are bearing for him will attract His attention enough
for Him to prune you. Believe me; without being pruned by the Father, you
cannot partake of His Holiness. It is only when you have been pruned that you
can be qualified to handle His glory without corrupting it. You could be tempted
to become bitter if you do not handle his chastening with meekness. Bitterness
can result in defiling one’s self and others. See Jn.15:1-5 and Heb.12:6-16.
I am glad to let
you know that in the midst of my trials, the Lord gave me the word of the year
in the Month of August. As at that time my circumstances were speaking a
different thing when the Lord told me that 2020 shall be our year of divine
Appointment. We are to appoint unto those who morn in Zion, beauty for ashes;
the oil of joy for the spirit of heaviness etc. all by the help of the Holy
Spirit whom He will cause to rest mightily upon us. More would be said on this
in the word for 2020.
As we count down
to next year, I wish to let us all know that we must be grateful to God for
giving us more time to fulfill our destinies and in good health with divine
provision and protection. Amen.
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