THERE IS NO ONE WHO WILL STAND BEFORE GOD IN HEAVEN AND BE CALLED DOCTOR OR PROFESSOR OR ARCHITECT, EACH ONE IS IDENTIFIED BEFORE GOD AS SERVANTS.
IT IS NOT YOUR TRADE, YOUR VOCATION, YOUR CAREER, OR YOUR BUSINESS THAT DETERMINES WHETHER YOU HAVE TIME FOR GOD OR NOT, IT IS YOUR HEART.
THERE IS NO ONE WHO IS LOOKING FOR TIME, EVERYONE HAS THE SAME TIME MADE AVAILABLE TO HIM OR HER. EACH ONE ONLY DIRECTS THEIR TIME TO WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO THEIR HEARTS.
WHAT GIVES VALUE TO OUR LIVES IS THE TIME WE INVEST IN GOD.
THERE IS NO POINT TOO LOW TO GIVE YOUR TIME TO GOD AND THERE IS NO POINT TOO HIGH TO GIVE YOUR TIME TO GOD
- – Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr at Covenant Hour of Prayer || August 20th 2022.
- Our Father this morning we thank you again for these mighty acts in our midst. We have come this morning to give you all the praise and all the glory for them. Accept our Thanksgiving in the name of Jesus Christ. For the answers you have given to our prayers we say thank you. Now our eyes are upon you, we ask that you speak to us yet again and by your word let everyone be transformed. We give all the praise and glory to your name in Jesus’ precious name we have prayed.
Our line of exhortation all through this week has been ONE CANNOT HAVE A HEART FOR GOD AND NOT HAVE TIME FOR HIM. We have discovered from scripture that one of the greatest treasures known to man is the treasure of time. It is an asset of equal allocation, no one has more than another. Yet we discover that this asset of time is one of the vital assets that dictate or expresses what is vital to our heart. The Bible says wherever a man’s heart is there his treasure will be also. That means for anyone who genuinely states that they have a heart for God, cannot lack time for Him. Church Gist. There is no one who is looking for time, everyone has the same time made available to him or her. Each one only directs their time to what is important to their hearts. When God has your heart, He cannot lack your time but when God does not have your heart, He cannot have your time. Proverbs 23:26. So the principal demand of God from you and me is for our heart.
God’s servant, our father has said it over and over, over the years that the heart of man is the greatest seed of man. When your heart is given to God, every other thing about you will not struggle to be given to God. Proverbs 4:23. Whatever will be one of your life is determined by the placement of your heart. God cannot be topmost in your heart and not be a priority in your time. Church Gist. When God is at the top of your heart, He will become a priority with your time. From scripture, we discover that various individuals all through scripture were men and women of various fields endeavours but as long as their hearts were with God, their time went to Him.
This morning we are going to look at the example of three men -Shedrack, Meshach and Abednego. Daniel 3:13. The Bible tells us that King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden image of himself and whenever there was some sort of trumpet and music, the people were to bow before the image. But a report came to Nebuchadnezzar that there were certain individuals, three in number who will not bow or serve his gods. Nebuchadnezzar gave a commandment and said “Listen if you will not bow and serve my god, you will be cast into the fiery furnace but if you bow from now on we will forget the past and just take it like that. The Bible says that these three men responded swiftly to the king, “we are not careful to answer you in this matter, our God whom we serve can deliver us and even if He doesn’t save us we will not bow” (Daniel 3:17-18). That statement is a statement that depicts the fact that these were men who had a heart for God. A heart for God that would not be contested by intimidation or death. Songs of Solomon 8:6. Church Gist. So even death could not intimidate these men’s love for God. “we are not careful to answer you, our commitment with God is not a secret one, we will not negotiate our stance with God. We have given our heart to Him, we will not negotiate it with another”. That was what this man was saying and the Bible makes us understand that the king was very angry and that the king asked that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter and these men were thrown into the fire. Because of the urgency with which these men were thrown into the fire, the men who threw them into the fire died on the way. The Bible says that these men who were thrown into the fire with their clothes, their coats, their ornaments upon them, the king said “do I not see four men, we threw three men inside the fire but now we are seeing four men and one of them is like the son of the living God” and then he cried out “Shedrack, Meshach and Abednego, you servants of the living God, come out of the fire”. Church Gist. It was clear to Nebuchadnezzar that these were men who were servants with their time for God. As a result of that, we saw these individuals never negotiating their time as far as their commitment to God was concerned. These were men that could be seen as top civil servants yet they had time for God.
It is not your trade, your vocation, your career, or your business that determines whether you have time for God or not, it is your heart. They were top-line civil servants yet they were ultimately God’s servants. No matter what your vocation is, as far as God is concerned our ultimate identity is found in our stewardship. Maybe you are a professor or a doctor or an accountant or a lawyer or a businessman or a student, those are temporary identities, your ultimate identity is in your stewardship. Church Gist. There is no one who will stand before God in heaven and be called Doctor so and so or Professor so and so or Architect so and so, each one is identified before God by our stewardship. That is why the ultimate value for you and me is our stewardship. It is the identity that answers both here and in eternity. My prayer is that no one here will lose that identity of a steward in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is important for us to note also that we must have time for God. What gives value to our lives is the time we invest in God. We must have time for God to make the most of our lives. When your time is invested in God even your frustrations are converted to celebrations. Luke 5:1-8. How Peter toiled all night and caught nothing and at the point of his frustration, Jesus came and was teaching and Peter gave his boat to Jesus to use. The conclusion of the teaching, Jesus said, launch out into the deep and go for a draught. Church Gist. Peter said we have toiled all night and caught nothing but at your word, we will go. By the time they returned, they had a net-breaking, boat sinking order of breakthrough. Frustration turned around to breakthrough. Why? Because they offered their service unto God. That is why there is no point too low to give your time to God and there is no point too high to give your time to God. If you will make the most of your life, then your time must be invested in God. Luke 19:13. He said to them “occupy till I come” what does that mean? Keep busy until I return. Luke 19:16-19. The first one returned with ten more pounds and he said have authority over ten cities. Church Gist. The second came and said thy pound has gained five pounds, he gave him authority over five cities. So every one of them saw their story changed by their commitment to advancing the course of the master.
It is important for us to note therefore that one can not have time for God without making great marks on the earth. They went from stewarding things to ruling over cities on the basis of their commitment. The Bible made us understand concerning Shedrack, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3:29-30. They were promoted. Ultimately in everyone’s engagement with God, you don’t end up demoted, rather you end up promoted. Church Gist. When your time is devoted to God, you may start on the floor but you don’t end on the floor. Everyone that is committed to giving their time to God always enjoys divine promotion. Psalm 75:6-7. Who are those that are ordained to be set up? The ones who are busy serving God. Church Gist. My prayer this morning is that as we keep serving God on the altar of prayer, in our various service units, on the harvest field, going after our new converts and in the various service units, you will experience divine promotion. The beauty is that when God lifts, no one can pull down because the hand that lifts is the hand that keeps. When the hand is the hand of God, it is impossible for anyone to bring you down. From this season, your lifting shall never be contested by any individual. As the hand of God lifts you, it will keep you at every height.
Prayers: Lord I receive grace to maintain my place in serving you.
Pray that prayer from the depth of your heart this morning, take grace from God.
Our Father we thank you because we know that the grace we requested is now made available and that grace will not be in vain. Each one of us will serve you effectively, and productively in the name of Jesus Christ.
Don’t forget, the cheapest way to engage grace is to use it and we use it by serving Him.
Speak to your day, and make your declarations concerning this day. What a blessed day. What a loaded day. Speak forth, call forth whatever must show forth today. It is what you decree that God will deliver.
- The day is declared blessed. It will be a day of testimonies.
- All around you today, there shall be peace on every side.
- It will be a day of stress-free deliveries.
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