By Funmi Komolafe

Brethren, we give God all the glory for he has seen us through the first quarter of 2017.

It is therefore time to do a self- appraisal .  What were you able to do in the last three months?  Did you take steps towards the attainment of  your goals?   Have you been limited by spiritual stones?  If so, what steps have you taken to roll away the stones?

As Christians, we have our part  to play  in the attainment of our goals.  We also know that without the help of our heavenly father, we  would never  realize those dreams.

Say to yourself, “  I shall not labour in vain”. This is  a declaration but you need to be determined to remove every obstacle on your way to bring  these words to physical manifestation in your life.

For every one of us not to labour in vain, we must work in fellowship with God.

Our authority is found in Psalm 127 vs. 1&2: “ Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain  that build it: except the Lord keep the city,  the watchman waketh but in vain”.

John 15 vs. 5 further confirms this. “ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing”.

What  do you plan to  achieve this year?   You need to start planting your seeds for  a good harvest.

The first three months are gone and you are yet to get into a relationship though you desire to get married this year. The solution is not to throw yourself at any man.  Just any man,  may give temporary joy but  in the long run, the marriage may end with  bitter tales.  Take your case to  your Creator.  The one who said “ it is not good for a man to dwell alone, I will make him a suitable helper”.

When you move from the state of waiting on the Lord for your life partner to the state of “  I just want  to have children”.  I am not bothered about marriage”,  then you have surrendered yourself to the challenge rather than have  the challenge submit to you.

Have you been   believing God  for the fruit of the womb and you  are disappointed again because three months have gone by.   Yes, three months have gone but God is still in the work of creation.   He never stops.

For someone else,  his challenge is inability to   secure a job after years of graduation.

Are you a parent whose daughter or son has not  been able to secure admission  into the university, or is your child preparing to sit for the JAMB exam again?.

Are you so worried about your financial situation, which shows no signs of improvement?

Look beyond  your current account balance and focus on God whose riches are unlimited.

Take your mind to the word of God in 2nd Corinthians 8 vs. 9 “ For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though  he was rich, yet for  your sakes he became poor, that ye  through his poverty might be rich”.

Whatever is the challenge, we need to demonstrate our confidence in the Lord  by worshiping him intensely.   Stop shedding tears.  Stop grumbling, just be more prayerful and ask the Lord for divine help. When God helps you, success is assured.

The period that you have not received answers to your prayers is indeed the time to plan for your harvest by sowing seeds of prayers, tithes, evangelism, worship and other activities.  All of these will certainly bring in your  breakthrough sooner than your expectation.

What gives me this assurance? Deuteronomy 30 vs. 8 &9  “ And thou shalt return and obey the voice  of the Lord, and do all his commandments  which I command thee this day.  And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work  of thine  hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the  fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will  again rejoice  over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers”.

The promise of God for us is that we shall not labour in vain but there is a condition and that is contained in verse 10 of the same chapter  which states

“If thou shall harken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments  and his statues which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn  unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all they soul.”

Are you prepared to fully obey the Lord? Do you believe you can achieve your goals without cutting corners?

Brethren,  spending more time in the presence of the Lord requires some sacrifice. It  means  while others are doing something else, you are   praying, worshiping  the Lord or doing something to promote the work of God or preaching salvation to others.

Let’s remember that God does not forget   our labour.

Hebrew 6 vs.10  “ For God is not  unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward  his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister”.

Our emphasis here is that God is not a man that forgets. He does not and will never forget   the seeds you have planted.

The story of Cornelius is a reminder that our seeds will never be in vain.

Acts of Apostles chapter 10 verses 2-4 “ A devout man ( Cornelius) and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to people, and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision  evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, what is it, Lord?   And he said unto him, thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial  before God”.

The point  being made here is that even our financial support for others  that we do not  pay so much attention to, is noted by God.

Also note  the comments of the angel on the prayers of Cornelius.  It simply tells us that  God does not forget or ignore any of our prayer points.

Brethren, this is the time to pray earnestly.  It is the time to plant and expect a bountiful harvest.

Testimony –  As usual, I’ll share the testimony of a lady with one of the first generation banks.

I’ll simply call her lady H.   Twice, I  have seen her heavily pregnant but she lost the pregnancies. She got pregnant the third time and got more determined with prayers.   To the glory of God, last Wednesday, I received an sms from  her announcing the birth of  her baby girl.  We give God all the glory.

Let’s share the testimony of Brother Paul published by Redemption Testimonies.  He wrote  “ I have been working but there has been no success and then God asked me to come to the Redemption Camp to pray  and fast for 21 days which I did.I fainted during the fasting but God revived me. I have been having breakthroughs in my life  after the prayer and fasting”.

Beloved, wake up. This is the time to plan, it is the time to plant so that your harvest will gladden you and make your enemies envious.

Wishing you a fruitful week .