Life is a journey that is full of varying experiences. Of course, not many people regard all of these experiences as exciting. Some see most experiences of life as unfortunate. Experiences mean different things to people depending on their attitude and perspective. One major experience that stagnates people in life; that makes them close the chapter and conclude that nothing more can happen for them, is failure. Failure is not strange to human existence, and it would interest you to know that in His programme for you, God is very much aware and has also made provisions for failure, in case it occurs. This series is base on Bishop David O. Abioye’s book entitled: “Creating A New Beginning”. It addresses the fact that beyond every failure there is success, beyond an end is another beginning and beyond disappointment is an appointment. In the race of life, it is not strange to fall, there is no one who has never fallen once whether physically or otherwise, but it is an eyesore to remain fallen.
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…” (Proverbs 24:16). Failure is never final! IF you fail you can always succeed again. People who remain in failure are not there because they failed but because they have buried their future in past disappointments and mistakes. It is refusing to rise up from your fall that makes you a reproach. That is what announces to people that you fell. No one may know that you ever failed, except you remain a failure. Everybody is busy pursuing something, if you fall and get back on your feet immediately, no one may notice it. They may think you simply bent down to pick up something from the ground so as to continue the race. But by the time you sit down on the same spot, nursing your wound and crying, people would begin to sympathize with you and ask, “What happened”. That is when it becomes difficult for you to get up on your feet again.
Your case is not closed yet! “…A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…” If you have fallen before, or maybe you are on the floor right now, God is saying to you, “Rise up! It is not over with you yet! “God does not abandon the righteous when he falls. Just as you would not throw away your child for falling when learning to walk, God will not throw you away or leave you on the ground when you fall. He does not condemn your falling, He is only concerned and disappointed when you remain in your fallen state. He said in Jeremiah 30:18, “…Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.” That means, in the same place where Satan has defeated you, God will give you victory! Where you have been put to shame, God wants to give you glory! You don’t have to run out of town before you have a change of story! Often times, it is satanic frustration that pushes people to run out of town when they encounter failure, but God’s agenda is that in the same place where you have faced shame and suffered reproach, He will build you up again.
A brother told me his story some years back, he said, “I was so poor, that my car was riding me and not me riding it.” His case was so hopeless, nobody ever thought any good thing could come from him and for him, doors began to open and he came home one day with a new car. His neighbor’s children came to his house and they saw the car. When they returned home, they told their parents, “Mr. so and so has bought a new car.” They said, “No, it can’t be his car, we know him, he can’t buy a new car, maybe somebody came to visit him with the car.” After three days the car was still parked in front of this brother’s house. On the fourth day, his neighbors came to congratulate him because it was obvious that God has changed his story. On that same heap where you have fallen, I see God creating something better for you! In that same business, career, or examination where you have failed before, you shall rise to command the respect of your world!
You can create something new! From the account in Genesis chapter one, we understand that the world we see today was created from a situation that appeared chaotic initially. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.(Genesis 1:1) If you think you have a formless and void situation, you are not the first. The first earth that God created became formless and void; everything failed, but rather than fold His hands and accept the case as closed, the Spirit of God began to move upon the face of the deep, searching out what could be done to make something better out of what had been destroyed. Then God created a new heaven and earth, which is what we are still enjoying today. You may feel so confused, wondering why life is treating you so badly, but inspite of that, you can put an end to all the failures and sorrows in your life and create a new beginning of success, advancement and joy. You can start again from scratch and hit great achievements that generations after you will continue to enjoy long after you are gone.
You must develop a tireless spirit because God is looking for die-hards; He is looking for people who are never discouraged by whatever happens to them, but are rather determined to get to the top no matter how many times they fall by the way. You must be ready to disregard failure and where necessary, start from scratch and keep scratching till you get to the top. That is the way to win! Refuse to address your present situation as final and you will see something greater unfolding for you! Say to the devil and all your mockers, “I am not finished, I am just beginning! The incorruptible seed of God’s word will turn my corrupt situation around!”
Don’t give up! It would interest you to know that until you give up on yourself, God does not give up on you. Until you say your case in impossible, heaven says “It is possible!” A brother wrote me this letter to share his testimony. I believe it will encourage you. “My Bishop Sir, I am alive and living on earth today, because of the words of your mouth. Sometime this year, I wanted to kill myself, because of what I faced and the persecutions I passed through, which almost overpowered me. I knew no way of escape, so one day, I decided to give up, by drinking some poisons and acids that I had bought. I also had a gun ready for the operation that day. But, as I was about to start, something told me to take up my pillow and remove the pillowcase so that I could use it to quickly cover my head after carrying out the operation. When I raised the pillow, I saw an amazing thing the audio tape of a message titled CREATING A NEW BEGINNING, by Bishop David O. Abioye. I played and listened to it and now I am alive! This paper cannot contain all that is inside me concerning this matter.
I have so many things to share with you but tears are coming out of my eyes for even remembering them. My story of sorrow and neglect has turned into amazing testimonies! Sir, may the God that called you to make me live, bless you! Amen! With great thanks from your servant, W. Bulus [Bro]. What a joy that people can live again through the word of God! If you will open up to God and to His word, something extraordinary will begin to manifest in your life from this season. As you go through these series, I see the inspiration of the Almighty coming upon you and enabling you to create a new beginning out of your past disappointments! The case is not closed on that issue of your life! A bright future awaits you and you will surely get there in Jesus name!
Foundation for Creating a New Beginning (3)
Use His manual! If you want to know what equipment can do, what do you do? You sit down and study the manufacturer’s manual. Many of us do less than we ought to do in life, because we have despised our Manufacturer’s manual. God is the manufacturer of man and the Holy Bible is the manual that He has given to him. All that you can be in life is detailed inside that manual. If your life must function maximally you cannot do without the word of God. When you see a pilot carrying his bag when he is going to fly an airplane, it is not just for show. What ne needs for flying is inside that bag. As soon as he sits down in the cockpit, he brings out his books, open them and then follows the procedure for safe flight. Many of us are living unsafe lives because we go about without the word of God on our inside. Most people prefer to go from one place to the other for counseling, when everything they need is inside “the manual” (Proverb 20:5) This series is based on Bishop David O. Abioye’s book entitled: “Creating A New Beginning”.
How can you place your life in the hands of a man who doesn’t know anything or much about it? Your Creator is in the best position to know all about your life and that is what He has packaged in the Bible. Every proper Surgeon has reference books. He makes references before, during and after every operation. So, how dare you think that the creator of the whole universe won’t have a reference book for you? How does He expect you to survive? Your life is in your hands, check what the manual says for maximum output. Sometime ago, I got an electric shaving machine and I was so much in a hurry to use it that I did not wait to read the manual in a bid to put the equipment to work, I was pressing some buttons but it did not work. So, I asked somebody to check it for me. But before he did anything, he asked, “Can I see the manual, please?” If you are not patient enough to read the ‘manual’ you will soon cancel yourself out of life with the dangerous counsels that you go about collecting from quacks.
Be patient to check what the ‘manual’ says about you. For instance, it says you cannot be sick because by the stripes of Jesus, you have been healed (Isaiah 53:4). Until you locate that, you may spend millions on your health and still remain sick. What you can do in life is determined by the information you have located in the manual not what anybody says about you. There was a time, when as a student in higher institution, I was having re-sits. I said, “This cannot be right!” I pushed other books aside and went to the ‘manual’. I found where it is written, “…And of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). From that day, failure died in my life. I reasoned that if all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in Christ and Christ is in me, then I have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and that does not allow for failure. The ‘manual’ also told me that I shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover (Mark 16:15). That gave me courage and boldness to call for sick people to come out for healing and to God’s glory; I have seen many of them healed by His power through my hands. No manufacturer will ever force you to read the manual of any product you buy. You can choose to read it or leave it, but your choice determines the output you get.
When a vehicle is involved in an accident, considering the extent of the damage, the owner may conclude that the car is a write-off. But when he takes it to an expert, the man says “Look, we can bring this car back to life.” Then, he begins to make reference to the manufacturer’s manual, fixing the broken parts together one after the other until what was once a wreck comes out whole again, looking like brand new. I don’t know how wrecked your life may be now, but it can be renewed, if only you will consult the Manufacturer through His manual. If you refuse to heed the manufacturer’s instructions in the manual for any product you purchase and it is destroyed, can you hold the manufacturer responsible? That is the attitude of many people towards the word of God. They look at the instructions and say, “It doesn’t matter!” And then when things go wrong in their lives they begin to challenge God. “Oh God, are you there? Why is my own case like this? “Just the same way that you can destroy your TV set by not complying with the instructions in the manual, you can destroy your life by not complying with the Word of God. Can you imagine that a man has waited so long; saving to buy a TV and then he finally gets it. All he needs now is to be patient for one hour to read the manual, but because he is in a hurry, he plugs the set direct to current and it is damaged. What a waste! His impatience has robbed him of all the time he has waited to get the television and the longer time he could have enjoyed watching it. If you believe you need God’s instructions to make it in life, then you must create time to go through the ‘manual’. Gradually you will find things becoming better for you. Christians who read the Bible live well and in all probability, live better than those who do not.
Unwind God’s Gift in you! The essence of every manual is to help the consumer maximum the potentials of the product. No wonder God said to Joshua: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shall make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8). Let what you read in the manual motivate you into action, because action destroys intimidation. Believe in “manual” and believe in yourself. Satan is not scared of those who read “manual”, only those who act on it are a threat to him because they are the ones who make things happen. When you discover anything in the manual, let everything around you know that you are set for a change. Don’t you hear the powerful noise that a plane makes when it wants to take off? That is to leave the ground and announce to it that “I am about to leave you and break through into the skies.” Why did Jesus go about healing the sick? He was acting on the dictates of the manual in order to release His potentials (Luke 4:16-21).
In every wristwatch that is operated by winding, there is a core-like system that is wound up inside and as the clock ticks, it unwinds gradually. That is how your potentials are. The gift of God in you is wound up inside. As you think and work, it begins to unwind. That is why you can’t predict you’re abilities until you begin to act. It is a crime against redemption for you to remain on the same spot from the beginning to the end of one year. Stop waiting and wasting, start doing something. The only way to create a new beginning is to place a demand on the creative potentials in you. And, it is in following the instructions in the Bible that you contact the wisdom to release your potentials and to create a beginning that is sure to endure to the end. Nothing better comes your way until you erase the good that is there now. Good is the enemy of better and best. Wherever you are now is not yet your best, some thing greater is on the way for you, if only you will work it out. July is the fourth month in the Jewish calendar named Tammuz it depicts God’s creative works, His complete control of everything He created and the necessity for creation to be subject to God’s sovereignty and dominion (Ps. 24:1). So also the Cancer, the star that appears in the fourth month of the Jewish calendar depicts God’s protection and preservation of human beings He created that are subject to His rule (Col.1:13-18). So in this month of July God is in complete control of your life and affairs that the rest part of the six month of this year your part will drop with abundance (Ps. 65:11) and what you could not achieve in the past six month God will restore double and meet all your needs like it happened to Job in Job 42:11-12. This is your month to celebrate.
Dr. Lewis Akpogena
08055059656
E-mail: akpogena@yahoo.com
