SEPARATION FOR DESTINY Text: Gen. 13:1-8

A lot of times we don’t like separation, but for destiny to happen there must be separation. Many people today have mortgaged their lives because they were unwilling to enter into separation. You cannot avoid separation; it is necessary for you to get to your destination in life. So as you mature in life, you will see that some separations are very necessary if you want to grow and unless you embrace the separation you cannot grow.

The Yoruba speaking people have a proverb that says twenty children cannot play together for twenty years; this is a truth that happens even in the normal system of life. Looking into the book of Gen. 13:5-9, we see that there was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle and the land was unable to bear them together so they separated. Abraham separated for greatness and Lot disconnected into destruction. I want you to understand that there is a difference between separation and disconnection.

Divine Separation and Satanic Disconnection

We see that there was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle and herdsmen of Lot’s cattle so this called for separation, Gen 13:8 – 9

“And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we be brethren.

Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left”.

Here we can see the strife between Abraham’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. We understand the critical nature of relationships from this example. When the two men went their separate ways, to Abraham it was separation but to Lot it was disconnection.

When it is not time and you separate from a divine relationship then you have disconnected yourself from your God ordained portion in life. When strife occurs, it’s always a sign of disconnection. So when strife begins in your life never disconnect but wait for separation.

Lk. 15:16 - 17

“And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”

Disconnection always calls for some kind of suffering so you must recognize the time to separate the passage above tells the story of the prodigal son. He disconnected from the father; disconnection takes place when you leave before your time or when you leave when you ought to stay. When it’s not time for you to separate and you go that means you disconnect. He could have asked for separation but he disconnected and the end of it was much suffering.

Always learn to wait and be sensitive to divine time for you to separate. Sometimes, it takes more faith to wait so always wait enough for God to separate you for your destiny in life. When you disconnect, you don’t disconnect from the person but from everything that the person has. There is a time to separate so, wait well and separate at the appropriate time.

THINGS GOD GIVE TO GET YOU TO GREATER HEIGHT 2Kings3; Phil.2:5-9

God is not a magician; HE is a deliberate God, who takes men through a process until you get to your place of destiny.

He will give you opportunity (ies) in life, so the rest will now depend on you. So for the greater height that God has planned for you, there are ladders to climb to the place which are not negotiable if you want a true greatness in life and destiny. No short cut. The things that God gives are:

1.SACRIFICE: God gives you an opportunity to sacrifice yourself for others and at the place of your sacrifice greatness comes true. Look t Jesus in Phil.2:5-10, after the sacrifice of Himself for the redemption of man, He was highly exalted. The greater you sacrifice, the greater the place you get to. Be ready to sacrifice yourself, time, money and things. No greatness without sacrifice.

Any place you get to without a corresponding sacrifice, things can't be handled well. It will enter your head and at the end you can't sustain it. Because there is no life of sacrifice in you.

Sacrifice is not suffering, it is a price of great heights that you want whether spiritually or secular, be ready to sacrifice, the more you sacrifice, the more you rise in life.

Life is sacrifice, marriage is sacrifice, if you can sacrifice as a man/woman you can get to that platform, so also in ministry, you will have to sacrifice a lot but not in vain. May the Lord give you grace in the name of Jesus.

God is a deliberate God, who takes men through a process before putting them in a place (of course the greater heights.

There will always be an opportunity for men to be great in God's way, so becoming great now depends on how a man can make use of the opportunity.

Another ladder to greatness is

2. SERVICE: God anoints service. It is Major part of the process to greater heights.

Look at 2Kings3:11, here we see the reason for the anointing that Elisha received, he served Elijah. You can't get the authentic anointing by sitting where the anointed seat but through service. Elisha served his way into the anointing. Don't be deceived, service is the key and God will give you opportunity to serve. Jesus served in Luke22;26, greatness and service can't be separated from each other.

True service attracts authentic anointing; God can't mistakenly put the anointing on a man that is not serving. For example, Saul the first king of Israel was anointed at the place of service, where he was looking for his father’s sheep. David was anointed right when he was serving his father, men may not see you in the place of service but God does and the rewards are in place. Don't let people mock service to you. It has nothing to do with who God has chosen you to serve; it is between you and God.

Remember the anointing you don't serve can't mistakenly drop on you.

There is always an opportunity that God gives to every individual in life to move into their destiny. God will not do things without a pre-plan. God is a deliberate God not a magician; He is a God of process. Men get to their place of destiny by taking the process of God and opportuity that comes their way with it serious.

Another opportunity that God has given to man that will put him in his place is:

3. SEED: Your seed towards your destiny is a tool that can't fail. Inasmuch it is sown correctly at the right time on the right ground, it will definitely bring greatness.

The seed principle has never fail and it can't fail, there are seasons for seed which you must not miss. For the future that God has given you, there are seeds you must sow that will give you the harvest that is the exact you are to be. The devil himself can't stop the harvest of a seed that has been properly sown; in fact God can't change HIS mind about the harvest. You can say the seed is the sure means to greatness. Every seed sown will always multiply. Another thing is that the seed should be sown deliberately towards your future and destiny. Don't be careless with your seed; it is the gift of God to man to become very great on the earth. Sow into the anointing, marriage, Children, career and another man, you will just end up great.

A GOOD MAN Text: Matt 12: 34

' O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.'

Everybody wants good things in life whether they are evil themselves or good they want goods things to come to them. Everybody wants good houses, good cars, good clothes, good life, empowerment, promotion, and all the good things you can think off. Jesus even said in Luke 11:3 'If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifs unto your children.' This shows that men that are evil want good things to happen to them and their children. But it does not work this way.

Jesus showed us a fundamental principle to having good things in life. The principle of God that will always produce good things which is shown in Matt 12:34 read again.

The first step to having good things is being a good man. To be qualified to operate the principle in Matt 12: 34, we must be sure we are a good man. It is not enough to be a good man you must be sure, if you are or you are not

A good man is first somebody that is born again not necessarily a perfect man. Secondly a good is somebody committed to maturity as a Christian which means getting better everyday. From the day you get born again there should be a daily progress, daily growth, what you are struggle with should be changing. From the day you give your life to Jesus till you will see Jesus in the rapture, you will have area to grow into His likeness continuously. And when you see Him, you will be perfectly changed (transformed) 1Jn 3:2, Php 3:21.

The longer you stay in being born again, in walk with God, in fellowshipping with Jesus through the Holy Spirit the brighter you should shine. To be born again qualifies you as a good man, it does not mean you won't make mistakes but you don't feel fine or enjoy your mistakes. Immediately you take steps to correct the mistakes. And if you are good man you are qualified to expect that Matt 13: 35 is possible in your life.

Every man is naturally evil, a liar a sinner and carnal, as a man you don't have to struggle to become the three. Actually everyone born of a woman is evil, a liar, a sinner and carnal. Num 23:19 says 'God is not a man that He should lie' showing that naturally a man is a liar. Rom 3:23 also records ' all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God' if you are still in sin you are not a good man no matter what people say you are, no matter how religious you are. You must repent, forsake your sins, accept the death and resurrection of Jesus that it is for you. And then you can be changed to a good man.

This is how you get born again. When you get born again you are good man it does not mean that you will not be tempted by the devil. It does not mean a lady will not tempt you. It does not give you a guarantee that unholy offers will not come from the devils agent to lure you back to sin and bring you down and back to where you were. But it means you have the power to say no. You are no longer a captive of the devil, to do the things he suggests into your heart but you have the redemptive power through the nature of God in you. You can say no to the devil.

You are no more a sinner but a saint despite the challenges you are facing. As you mature in your walk with God you have more power (more power is available to you because of your growth to resist the temptation of the devil). If you are a born again all your sins are forgiven you; no matter your past, you are a good man. The death of Jesus has taking care of your past.

OVERCOMING REJECTION Text: Exo 2: 14

 ‘And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.'

Rejection is an attack against who you really are by people who don't know who you are. It creates a wound spiritually and emotionally that if you don't know how to be healed from the wound of rejection it begins to manifest as lifestyle that are inimical to success. This is what affected Moses when he was rejected when he attempted to make effort at identifying with his people.

One of the outstanding manifestations of rejection is pseudo sophistication. It is an unreal land of life. Rejection could come from words from people we expect to accept us. Rejection could come from parents at home not appreciating a child for who the child is, either as a boy or as a girl, rejection could come from racial discrimination and you will meet rejection one way or the other as you strive to become who God says you are.

The devil will raise people who will say to you who made you a ruler and a judge over us. And if you are not careful you will keep the wound in your heart through life and come to God say to Him like Moses said 'who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh' Exo 3:11. Moses answered like this because of the wound of rejection that was still in his heart. Knowing who you are will protect you from rejection wounds. When you know who you are not from what people call you but from who God says you are, you will not be affected by the attack of rejection and you will be healed of every form of rejection.

Ask the Lord to show you who you are in His eternal purpose, plan and design. Let it be what you believe and live your life according to it. There is nobody who can accurately tell who you are except God who made you.

Ex 3:11 ‘And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt'

Most of the time, people are affected by rejection and they are not aware of it. The wound of rejection manifests itself in different ways and is responsible for certain manifestations in people. If you cannot trace the root of such manifestations or the wound caused by rejection, you will not be able to deal with it properly.

One of the manifestations of rejection wounds is identity crisis. Moses said who am I? He was blind to who he was. He could not believe in himself. He did not see himself in the light of what was burning inside him that made him decide to visit his brethren; he was incapacitated. The desire to defend his brethren was disabled because he was rejected.

Identity crisis is one of the wounds of rejection. Another wound of rejection is inferiority complex. Inferiority complex manifests in two important forms:

·      Denial of greatness.

·      Low performance in life.

We can conclude that Rejection --- Inferiority complex --- Denial of greatness --- Low performance in life.

Make sure you don't harbour rejection in any form, it will incapacitate you. The devil uses rejection as a weapon to stop children of God from proceeding to do what God called them to do. And actually God will always call you to do something greater that what you think you can do personally by any standard. This is because there will always be more that God sees in you than you see in yourself. Accept what God says you are and proceed and do what He says you can do.