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.

DON’T OPPOSE YOURSELF II Tim. 2:23-26, Jam. 3:8-18

The greatest opposition a man can face is actually not from the devil, but from himself.  Please I want you to know that you can oppose yourself.  In fact, many today are opposing themselves while thinking God or the devil or someone else is.

Could you be opposing yourself somewhere? You ask how? First by your words.  Do you speak words that oppose good things in your life?  Words such as “I don’t know why bad things always happen to me.”  Do you speak words that oppose the word of God?  Do you speak words that curse rather than bless the heaven?  If you do, you have been opposing yourself through your own words.  It is time to change your language.  The first key to success given to Joshua by God in Joshua 1:8 was to change his speech.  When God touched Isaiah in Isaiah 6, it was his mouth he first touched. 

We need not only to have a born again spirit, we must have a born again mouth if we will make it in life.  The devil is looking for your words to fight you, don’t give them to him.  Rather give your words to God and angels to build your life for you.

The second way you can oppose yourself is by getting involved in strife.  Strife creates the most favourable atmosphere for evil to grow and demons to work.  Strife creates a poisonous atmosphere for the Holy Spirit.   Strife is a cancer that eats the very soul of a relationship, be it a marriage, friendship, business or church.  An environment of strife is simply a little piece of hell on earth wherever you find it.  When you get into strife with anyone for any reason, you begin to oppose yourself.

When Rachael got into strife with Leah, she opposed her health and life and she died at childbirth.  Many researches have proven that many cancer patients also have been involved with strife and unforgiveness at one time or the other.

When two business partners get into strife, they begin to oppose that business, no matter the potential, it won’t grow.  Get rid of all strife through forgiveness.  It is the key that unlocks the prison of strife.  Start practising how to forgive; it is the key to releasing all supernatural brakes on your progress.

The third way you can oppose yourself is through a lack of instruction.  Ignorance kills and in the realm of the spirit there is no room for ignorance.  There is no bliss in ignorance.  What you are ignorant of could kill you. To receive instruction requires you submitting your opinions.

You know the Bible says, “stubbornness is equal to idolatry’ a worship of your own mind.  A stubborn man is a devotee of his own opinion, he worships at the temple of his own ideas, becomes set in his ways, not willing to change and he slips into pride without knowing.  Pride makes God the enemy of the proud.

Pursue instruction and you will experience progress.  Pursue instruction from God and you will know his good will.  God takes special delight in those that pursue his wisdom.

The fourth and final way you can oppose yourself is by refusing to acknowledge the truth.  What is truth? The word of God is truth.  God’s word on a matter is truth.  When you see anyone opposing God’s word on a matter, he stops himself.  Solomon said one of the keys to enjoying divine direction is to acknowledge him in ALL your ways.

The man who enjoys divine direction obviously will make rapid progress in life, while the one who does not will be slow down in life.  To acknowledge means to recognise something.  It means to accept that things as real.  In order to acknowledge the truth, you will “not lean unto thine own understanding.”

Many today promote their own understanding above the word of God and end up opposing their own understanding above the word of God and end up opposing themselves.  Don’t let your education be above your obedience to God.  The kingdom of God does not belong to the educated, it belongs to the obedient.  Obedience is a proof that you acknowledge the truth. God bless you.

USING YOUR WORDS TO THE MERIT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD

One of the abilities of a man- a head of a home is the ability to speak- they speak words. Such words are recognized in heaven because he is an entity of authority. But it is so sad today that only a few are utilizing the potency of this office.

Beloved in God, I want to stir up a desire in your heart today to dish out anointed proclamations to your household. Like you have known always that words don’t die, your spoken words will not die; it takes the anointing and the anointed to cancel spoken words but if you can speak positive anointed words to your household, such words will have divine backings and the devil can never be able to erase them.

If you will be a man that uses his words well, you need to pay closer attention to these ingredients:

Avoid offenses (Gen.9:24-27, Gen.9:1-27)

Offenses, though inevitable but I want to counsel you to master what comes out of your mouth in all occasions, particularly when you are under pressure. Never find yourself under so huge, a pressure that you begin to speak negative words to your household. If you can tame your tongue and enrich your heart with the word of God, even if you get infuriated, you will find yourself blessing instead of pronouncing curses. The bible says out of the abundance of heart the mouth speaks… have your temper under control at all times and it shall be well with you.

Be sensitive

Do not think the devil will be quiet perpetually in your home. He is always on a standby; if you are cold, he will craftly come in but if you stay hot at all times, he will not stay too close- he’ll only observe afar off. Take note of the source of bitterness in your home. These usually don’t start big. For example, if you find your child stealing, instead of cursing the child for this act, let your concentration be on the spirit behind theft and not the child (I am not saying you should spare the child, discipline him but rebuke the spirit behind the act- by so doing, you have balanced the equation). When Peter spoke against the crucifixion of Jesus, Jesus rebuked the devil in him and not Peter. Walk with this sensitivity as well. Pray pre-emptive prayers.

Forgiveness

Have we not hurt our Father? We have on countless occasions but you know what, He does not keep records of our sins. He sees us in our destiny and in the blood of the Lamb. Outside this, He could have just wiped us out of existence. Forgive easily like God does. Never hold any grudge against your household. Do not live matters unresolved. If it is your wife that offended you, settle it so that the devil will not have a hold in your home. The same applies to your children. You cannot live in unforgiveness and expect divine participation in your affairs. Learn to forgive and pray for the grace to abound.

Learn to stay silent

It is not every matter that goes on in your home that people outside your home should know about. Only God knows how many homes have crumbled simply because premature dreams and visions were let lose. Zachariah and Elizabeth did not untimely expose the destiny of John the Baptist. There are some things God will want you to keep a secret until their time is ripe. Do not be frivolous, be courteous and it shall be well with you in the name of Jesus.

VICTORY LESSONS

1.   STAND ON THE MOUNTAIN: II Tim. 2:3-4

We have said that life is about warfare which the devil initiates without the consent of anybody. And this has brought about a constant and consistent need for a Christian to be ever ready. This understanding will help you to fight and fight well. The first thing to do is to STAND ON THE MOUNTAIN.

When you are on the mountain, you can see the enemy clearly. The devil will like to come when you are in the valley spiritually i.e. when you are low, at this time, his ready to wipe you away completely. Keep your spirit high everyday. You can see what God sees when you are on the mountain top that is the place of advantage for you. Don’t try to fight at the human valley level go up to Pisgah.

On the mountain top, where you develop intimacy with God, He gives you what you need for everything that the devil brings. Ask yourself where are you now in the spirit? On the mountain or in the valley? Give yourself to prayer, fasting and study the word of God, so that your spirit can be in proper shape before you face the devil. Hear this, if he devil defeats you, it is your fault, not God’s. So make up your mind on the mountain and defeat your enemy.

2.   EXPECT THE POWER OF GOD: Eph. 1:22, Phil. 2:9-11

The battle of life was won by Jesus on the cross of Calvary. “and having spoiled principalities and power, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” Col. 2:15.

Jesus gave us the total victory when he died on the cross, so there is a need for you to know that each time you face any battle no matter how severe it is, you have the victory already. Many Christian are still being defeated because of their ignorance of this fact. It is one of the factors that determine whether you are going to win or not. If a man knows that no matter what the devil does, Jesus has conquered him that is the first victory in spiritual warfare. Devil is a defeated enemy. What this will do for you is that it will put pressure on the power of God to move on your behalf whenever you face the devil. Don’t let the devil tell you that God cannot save you in that kind of problem let him know that, the power of God is still available for you to bring your deliverance. What are you going through now? Expect the mighty power of God in your life now and it shall end in victory in Jesus name.

3.   DON’T HIDE YOUR FEAR, DEAL WITH IT: II Tim 1:7, Isaiah 41:10.

Fear is one of the major weapons of the devil to defeat man. And fear is the magnification of falsehood by the devil to make it real to us. The word of God lays a very serious emphasis that you should FEAR not. Why? Because in as much as you are not terrified by the sights or lies of the devil, you can’t be defeated.

Fear is of the heart and if a man is defeated inside, it is over for him. The devil will keep attacking you in the area of your fear, he knows anytime that he comes through that weak point, you will loose your peace and strength. Don’t let anything be in your life that connotes fear, deal with it, confront it and receive the spirit of sound mind, and be free. If you don’t do that, the devil will defeat you in the battle of life. Look at the military world, there is what they called propaganda warfare, this is to scare the opposition and that is exactly the strategy of the devil. He wants to terrorize you. FEAR NOT. Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you…” no matter what is happening around you now the Lord said FEAR NOT. Let the devil see God’s boldness in you, your victory is sure.

DON’T HOARD YOUR WIFE FROM GOD

You know one of the errors we are liable to make is to pay more attention to what the Lord gives us at the expense of God. You must never forget the fact that there is nothing you have that was not given to you by God. There is just nothing. Your wife is a gift given you by God and you must always respect the place of God in her life.

At one time or the other, the Lord will place some demands on her and you must make sure you are not standing in God’s way in her life. We are not antagonising the fact that she is yours but remember that God is the ultimate owner. He is the one that has the power to kill and to make alive. When the demands of God come upon your wife, see to it that you help her meet those demands. Be ready to let go of your personal gains when God wants to have need of her. One thing you need to know is that, God placing a need on your wife is a great thing to you because God will not live you worse than He took you; He’ll make you better than when He picked you. Remember David and the disciples?

You know when we just started out in ministry, then as a missionary organisation, my wife went to a particular community and was lodge in one apartment like that. You know the devil can be funny at times! The woman that hosted her had a brother and each night, she would hand over the key to the room mummy was lodge to the brother and say, “Go and do whatever you want to do with her”. This went on severally but something would not just make the man lay his hand or even move near mummy. He just could not touch mummy. See, when you are committed to God, God will be more committed to you.

So after some times, the man got born again and was telling this story to us. When he was done with the story, the people that were with us then said I should not allow mummy go there again in order to avoid this kind of thing happening. Now I was in a fix. I love her so much that I would not want anything happen to her but at the same time, she’s got to do the will of God. It was a painful moment for me. My flesh would not want her to go but deep in my spirit, I knew she should go. (If you were in my shoes, would you let her go?) I remembered the covenant we made to God that we would not stand in each other’s way in serving God. We covenanted that we were not going to love God more each other.

So, the decision was yet to be made and everyone was waiting for my response. It was a critical time in my life and I will never forget it. And you know what I said? I said, “If God cannot protect you then I cannot protect you. Go!!!” I made the decision once and for all and she went. Look at my wife today; is God really not faithful to her and much more to me. If I did not allow her to go, something more serious and dangerous could still have happened to her, you know. When God places a need on your wife, you are going to be the first person to benefit from it, either directly or indirectly.

So beloved, do not stand in the way of God in the life of your wife. Allow her serve God and don’t hinder her. Allow her embrace the call on her; don’t stop her from giving to God. Don’t hinder her from praying because of your personal gains, particularly when she needs to. There is just nothing too much that man can give to God. One thing I want you to know is that if you hoard your wife from serving the Lord, then you have to be ready to help her when crisis comes because God will also be looking at the two of you without stretching a hand f help. Allowing my wife to enter a “dangerous zone” was something too much for me to bear naturally speaking, but I just had to allow her. I left her in the hands of God and God protected her. God gave her the protection I never could have given her.

Now look into your life and recognise the area(s) you have been hoarding your wife from serving the Lord; repent. Have you placed so much demand on her being social when God actually is intending to use her? Have you withstood her from walking the road God wants her to walk? You complain that she comes to church too much, that she gives to God too much and all that. Repent so as to enjoy God’s partnership in your home.

It is well with you as you do this in the name of Jesus.

TAKING CARE OF YOUR BODY

It is a common thing among men to be flimsy in their outlook for whatever reason you would want to attribute to it but this is not supposed to be so. One thing you should know as a man and a head is that wherever you go, you are a representative of your children and your wife. You should not just appear anyhow. I want to address the area of neatness and I do hope you’d adhere to it.

Avoiding mouth odour

There is nothing so embarrassing than for someone to speak to you and you almost want to vomit because the odor oozing out of the person’s mouth was cursive. This is bad. When you talk, people should not hide their face from you; let a clean breadth come out of your mouth. No matter the quality of what you have to pass across when you speak with people, if your mouth smells, they will not load up your message. Funny enough, your teeth may be as white as snow and yet the mouth still smells. Brush your teeth at least three times a day and if possible after each meal, paying more attention to your tongue. Use mouth wash with your healthy toothpaste. Use mouth spray as well.

Avoid body odour

Have you ever found yourself in an unventilated environment where someone there has body odour? Waoh! It is serious. When you enter a place, let good fragrance saturate the place. In fact, this adds to your confidence somehow. Each time you take your birth, use soap and sponge, not just water. Wash the pubic areas- you private part, your armpits, your ear, your hair, your ankle etc with special attention. Use deodourants or body sprays that are moderate. You may as well use roll on. All these don’t have to be expensive and the reason why it is advisable to use them is because you might inevitably find yourself in a hot environment where you tend to sweat profusely. The smell from your perfume and the likes would help neutralize whatever odour that comes from the sweat.

Clean your ear regularly

Don’t just insert anything into your ear such as paper, broom, pen, metal, match stick etc; use cotton board. It is handy; you may just take with you each morning about three pieces. Make sure you don’t have residue of soup lather in your ear after bath. Use towel rinsed in water to clean it.

Your Underwear

Use your underwear at most twice. In fact, I will recommend you to wear it just once and then wash it. It is common with men to wear their boxers for a week or even more (did that refer to you?). It is bad! Apart from the odour this tends to generate, it is not even healthy to your body. Let your singlet be white always. Don’t wait until your white singlet turns brown before changing it.

Your Cloth

Check the polo of your shirt; ensure it is neat. Check the pockets, your wrists and the armpits. Ensure they are clean before you think of wearing that shirt. Let it be well ironed and in proper shape. If it is turn, take it to a tailor and mend it.

Let your shoes be polished: Don’t just put on dusty shoes. Don’t trivialize the neatness of your socks. Let it also be worn not more than twice.

Have a sense of colour combination: You do not have to have fifty shirts before you look gorgeous. The little you have, use them well. If you have issues with colour combinations, seeks someone’s assessment before you put it on.

Comb your hair very well. Don’t let your hair be unkempt. Comb or brush your hair regularly regularly. In fact it is not a bad idea if you can have brush or comb in your bag with you always. Always think of emergency engagement coming up, so stay prepared and ready. Have your own Clipper and don’t share with anyone. This is even a common sense.

Spread your towel after use; don’t just put it on the hanger. Also, each time you return from your day’s activities, spread your cloth in the sun; don’t just put in on your hanger because of sweat.

Each time I see my husband, I always feel proud of him. He takes his time to get ready for his outings. He does not just appear anyhow, so why not take a queue from him (if you have not been taking your appearance serious). Let your wife be proud of you. Even if all you have is two shirts, take care of it very well.

It is well with you.

See you next time.

A WEAK MAN

Gen.18:19

19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

There is a burden in the heart of God for every man to take their rightful place in their calling as heads and leaders. Sadly, the world is filled with men, men that are feeble and weak; men that cannot separate their right hand from their left hand. Men that are dull in distinguishing right from wrong. These are weak men.

The administration of a home cannot be handled by a weak man. Like begets like; the best a weak man can do is to produce weaker men and this bleeds the heart of God. The administration of this world is given to men, those that can stand their ground and be firm with their decisions, not those that are wavering at every slight distortion. He desires men that can be bold in truth and men that are accurate in their choice of paths in this age. He desires men that know what His will is for them and devotedly pursue it. He desires men that know Him and that know themselves. This is opposed to weaklings that lack direction in life. They relate with life the way it presents itself. The bible calls us co-creators with God, in view of this, God desires men that will turn a hopeless situation into one that is endowed with hope.

Who is a weak man? A weak man is not a tiny man; a weak man is a man that is not strong enough to demand that everyone in his family abide by the will of God that he has found out. A weak man is one without a footprint for his life. He staggers at the word of God and can bend God’s standard for the sake of satisfying others around him. He is being ruled by his wife and outsiders administer his home for him. He has no where he is leading his family and because of this, his wife chooses the path for the family. This is a weak man. He waits for his wife to validate his decisions. Except his wife moves, he remains on a spot. Beloved, this is worse than a plague. I am not talking about being hard and harsh, but I am talking about knowing the will of God for your life, being very sure of it and leading your home into fulfilling it.

I always talk about four questions a man must answer but I am going to emphasize on the first two. These questions are;

§  Where does God want me to live? You must have answered this question before you bring a woman into your life, else, that woman will lure your heart away into another location where God has not prepared for you.

§  Which church does God wants me to attend? This is your place of planting, where you are nurtured to become what God has willed for you. It cannot be somewhere else. We tag you a weak man if you cannot bring your family to your church. It is inappropriate for a man and a woman to attend different churches, that is a demonstration of weakness.

§  Who am I to marry? Ensure you answer the two questions above before you bring a woman into your life.

§  Which job am I to do?

We can conclude that you are strong when you have found out the will of God for your life and for your family and you can lead your family into this will. Your will, God’s mandate for you is supposed to be the prevailing force in your home, which informs every other things. But if you have not found out the will of God and lead your home into it, you are a weak man because your wife will suggest alternatives.

The fact that you provide shelter, food and other basic amenities does not indicate you are strong. A strong man knows what his wife and his children should. He leads them into the will of God for their lives. Armed robbers came to a man’s house and forcefully banged his door, asking him to come and open the door. You know what he did, he told his wife to go and attend to them and he hid under his bed. This is a weak man. A strong man confronts all situations that cross his paths. He supplies security. If you must forget anything in today’s teaching, I don’t ever want you to forget that what makes you a strong man is that you know the will of God and you lead your home into it. I want you to read our text over and over again, asking yourself, “Can God speak of me in this manner?”

It shall be well with you in Jesus’ name.