By Funmi Komolafe

It’s a new week and we are  hoping  to see new things   in our lives. In other words, we are full of expectations. We want to move to a new level.

Whatever we want, the Lord has  the capacity to give to us. Our God has not created us to suffer.  He has not created us to live with lack or inadequacy of any good thing.

How do we know this?  Let’s look at the promise of God for father  Abraham .

Genesis 22 vs. 17 “ That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand   which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies”.

A further assurance is given in Hebrews 6 vs. 14 “ Saying , Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee”.

Are you saying that is for Abraham?  Are you saying to yourself, I’m not in need of children , so how does this affect me?

Brethren, God’s blessings are not limited to childbearing matters alone.   It’s about promotion at all levels.  This includes, spiritual development,  marriage, completing a project, healing,  riches  and every other thing that  we desire to be or to possess.

There are lessons to learn from the pronouncement of God on father Abraham.

What did Abraham do to deserve this?

An angel had appeared to Abraham to stop him from slaughtering his son and presented him with  a ram for the sacrifice to the Lord.

The angel’s message as recorded in Genesis 22 vs. 16 states “ And said, by myself  have I sworn,  saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hasn’t not withheld thy son, thine only son”.

From this we see that God made this pronouncement on Abraham because he obeyed.   The key word here is obedience.  He didn’t obey partially he  obeyed totally.  Though like any human being, that was a painful instruction to obey.

Brothers and sisters, are you ready to obey?   When the Holy Spirit speaks will  you obey completely?  .

Let’s come nearer, as a Christian, you are expected to have a full knowledge of the ten commandments.  Do you fully obey?

Beyond that, in your office, do you not engage in running others down, in order to curry favour from your boss?

Let’s consider other factors that gave Abraham this blessing.

Hebrew 6 vs. 15 “ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise”.

Brethren, how patient are you?  What is your level of endurance?

As a man waiting on the Lord for children in your marriage are you still faithful to your wife?  Are you not telling her you have a meeting in Abuja or somewhere only to end up sleeping in the home of another woman?  Have you resorted to dating a lady in your office on the excuse that you want to prove that you are a fertile man?

All of these activities confirm you are impatient.  They confirm that you cannot endure.

Those who lack patience, those who fail to endure should not expect the full manifestation of the Almighty God.

What we all need is the divine involvement of God which is bound to put an end to lack and losses.

The story of blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, who sat by the highway begging for alms is a confirmation of what divine involvement can do.

According to Luke 10 vs. 46-52 , Bartimaeus  knew that Jesus was passing by and he cried out to Jesus , Luke 10 vs. 47 “ Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me”.

Note that he cried out.  To who are you crying out?  Are you crying out to your friend? Are you crying out to your mother, are you crying out to your doctor?  None of these people can give you children.  Many of them are not  in a position to help you  receive that desire of your heart.

So, you need to cry unto Jesus like Bartimaeus did.  Jesus has not changed.   Like Bartimaeus, you too can receive your miracle.

However, giving in to distractions, could deny you that miracle you really want.

Bartimaeus was also distracted.  Would you ever believe that there were  people who didn’t want him to have his sight restored?

Of course there are.  Just as there are people who would for ever want to you to remain jobless, those who wish that your marriage is not blessed with children so that you can continue to train their own children.  There are those  who just don’t want you to  get to the peak of your career.  In the same manner, there are those who want to see you remain unmarried for life.

In most cases, you did them no wrong.  They only take delight in seeing you unfulfilled.

Luke 10 vs. 48 identified the enemies of Bartimaeus “ And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David have mercy on me”.

Now, those who asked him to keep quite, were not blind.  They can see yet they saw the blind man as a distraction but Bartimaeus refused to be distracted.  He even cried louder.  Note that Bartimaeus wasn’t crying to them yet, they felt he was disturbing their peace.

Brethren that is how to receive a miracle.  Cry unto God and not to man

You need to prepare yourself to receive a miracle and your preparation must be spiritual and  physical.   You need to be ready to obey God.  You must be ready to deny yourself something to receive an amazing miracle.  If Bartimaeus had not shouted to the point of losing his voice, Jesus would not have heard him.

You may not need to shout but you need to create time to cry unto the Master who is capable of giving you with ease that which you have labored for years to have.

Brethren, a man of God, Pastor J.T. Kalejaye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God often says “ A closed mouth is a closed destiny”.   It simply means say nothing, get nothing.   If you refuse to cry to God and wait patiently on him, do not  expect a miracle.

Testimony- As usual, I share with you the testimony of a lady from one of the major Pentecostal churches she wrote “ I came to last year’s convention trusting God for the fruit of the womb.  I cried to the Lord for mercy and he heard me and blessed me with a child”.

Did you note  the word “ cried”?  Crying does not necessarily mean shedding tears.  It means pouring  your heart to the Lord as Hannah did in Shiloh.  You are  luckier than Hannah.  You have your Shiloh hour everyday.  God is able to hear you at anytime but how do you utilize the time you have for prayer.

Brethren, a miracle is not magic.  There are steps  to receiving a miracle .  The most important of which is your faith.  Have you taken your faith to the level that you believe you can receive?  If not, you need to work harder on yourself .

Make up your mind to receive and the windows of heaven will open for you in Jesus name.

My prayer is that today’s edition will lead you to your miracle in Jesus name.