Pastor Victor Iruobe: Possessing Your Possessions(pt 2)

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I AM JUST BEGINNING OUR MESSAGE FOR TODAY. THE PRINCIPLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS I HAVE ALREADY SHARED WERE MEANT TO PLACE THE MESSAGE IN TO CONTEXT.(CONTINUED FROM PART 1, OF POSSESSING YOUR POSSESSION.
GIVE ME THE MOUNTAIN:
Reading from Joshua 13:1 onwards and also 'Joshua 14:6. Caleb refers Joshua to the fact that he was forty years old when the servant of the Lord sent him and other leaders of Israel to spy the land.Whereas Caleb and Joshua brought back a report according to their convictions, the other ten spies brought an evil report.
'The ten spies made the heart of the people melt with fear. There were two categories of spies.There was a group of people that saw opportunity in every difficulty and there was also a group that saw difficulty in every opportunity.
Forty-five years later Caleb is reminding Joshua of that incident 'And he said now here i am ......(how old was he at this stage of his life?)eigthy five years old.I have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly(How did Caleb follow God?). If you have understanding about what you will gain as a result of serving God wholeheartedly, you will be motivated in your service of the Lord.

Point of affirmation: ASK YOURSELF, HOW DO I SERVE GOD?
THEN AFFIRM: 'I AM EXPECTED TO SERVE GOD WHOLEHEARTEDLY.
There is a lot to gain from serving the Lord wholeheartedly. Caleb said to Joshua......'So here i am today still as strong as when i was when Moses sent me....(Object lesson)' i am still as strong as the day moses sent me. I am just as vigorous today as i was when he sent us 45 years ago........

(reading on)NOW GIVE ME THE MOUNTAIN!GIVE ME THE MOUNTAIN!Now give me the mountain! Now do not forget that Lot Abraham's nephew, who was a younger man some generations earlier than Caleb . When asked by the Angels of God to run to the mountains whilst being rescued from Sodom and Gomorrah,Lot opted to escape into the hills instead . He did this because he felt this was the easier option. Note the contrast between the attitudes of Lot a younger man and Caleb, an older man when faced with challenges!

Joshua 14:6 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the kenizzite said to him: 'You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. v7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and i brought back word to him as it was in my heart.v8 Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I WHOLLY FOLLOWED THE LORD MY GOD.
V9 So Moses swore on that day saying, 'Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God'. v 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke these word to Moses while Israel wondered in the wilderness; and now , here I am this day eighty-five years old.
v11As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me ; just as my strength for war , both for going out and for coming in.
v12 NOW THEREFORE, GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN OF WHICH THE LORD SPOKE IN THAT DAY; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. IT MAY BE THAT THE LORD WILL BE WITH ME , AND I SHALL BE ABLE TO DRIVE THEM OUT AS THE LORD SAID.

Success does not come on a platter of gold.It involves taking the mountains..Caleb said to Joshua ' Give me the mountains which the Lord promised me that day.v12 but the Lord helping me...........
Object lesson: It would have been a different case if God had not made a promise! But as a result of His promise the following situations will be subdued;failures,difficult situations and the list goes on.
Observe this carefully: Joshua presents to us a true picture of success. What is Success? Success is not limited to financial success and it certainly does not depend on your bank balance. In other words how much there is in credit.

what success isn't

Well one way of defining success is by pointing out what it isn't:
1. Success is not determined by what others say about you.
2. Succes will not happen if prayer(both corporate and private) are neglected. This is why prayer meetings can effect change in favour of individual and group success. During prayer times, those involved are literally in a battle to win victories in life. Success is also the result of battles fought and won after times of prayer.

what success is

1.Success :a) Must be based on what God says about you. b)It involves keeping God's word alive and preserving it....against the odds. (comment....some have already given up on their God-given vision and have allowed it to fall by
2.Success does not come easily. It involves battling through prayer.(when you honour prayer prayer honours you too). 'Caleb said i am just as vigorous to go to battle now ).
3. Success requires a wholehearted pursuit of God.
4. Success involves serving God according to Conviction. That is faith! To build up your conviction .
5. Success involves a readiness for battle. You've got to fight. In order to effectively do this you need to conduct your life in full awareness of the enemy.Here is a story of one pastor's experience with church planting:

Two short humorous stories

• .......A pastor started his church close to a Nursing Home for the Elderly...........during the service the old people fell asleep. Perhaps they were dreaming in fulfillment of Old Testament scripture. At the end of the service the pastor needed to go round waking his 'snoring' congregants , just to alert them that the service was over.
• There is another story about a University Christian fellowship prayer session. Whilst they were intensely involved in prayer, a hospital patient could overhear them from his hospital bed.The ward where he was admitted was located close to the meeting place. He hurriedly got dressed in white bedlinen and entered the meeting room. Well, the 'prayer warriors' had 'gone on the offensive in prayer' at this stage attacking the kingdom of darkness when this figure dressed in bedlinen entered. In panic they assumed this was an actual manifestation of the devil....so some dashed out through windows and others took to their heels in different directions.

Closing Affirmation: This is my year of making it happen.
Prayer: Give God the glory for his word. Thank you Lord for your word.Next sunday i will be teaching on 'How to handle storms'. This message will give some insights on how to 'fly through storms' . At the sight of a storm so many people give up their vision, saying that 'it is too difficult', 'it is impossible'. Well do not miss the forthcoming message on 'How to handle storms'