Fountain of Living Waters Ministries (FOLWAMS)

CELEBRATE GROWTH

Mark 4:26-29

Actually I would have loved for this message to be the last message of the year but in order to bring in other pressing messages, it got pushed into the new year so I decided to make it the first message in the new year.

I still expect us to be in the mood of thanksgiving to God for keeping us alive to witness the beginning of a new year.

Whatever it is we are expecting God to do for us this year, the bible says we should be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving we should let our requests be made known unto God, Phillipians 4:6

For some of us, great things happened for us in the just concluded year, we had a lot of achievements.

While for others, nothing much happened. It is just the usual trend of things. Normal day to day life nothing much.

It is because of people in this second category that the Lord is sending this message at this time.

First and foremost, this is a new year and a new beginning so forget the past and start afresh with God on a new page this year, Phillipians 3:13-15.

At least you are alive and in sound health and mind that is more than enough goodness of God. Because you need all these things mentioned to enjoy those things you are crying over that God did not do.

If you are alive, healthy and in sound mind, God has truly been good to you. What if your health is taken but you built a mansion would you not have asked God to take the mansion and give you your health back?

What if you hit that savings target but you are dead who would have invested the money or spend it?

It will be somebody that was not there when you were sweating and labouring for it that would share and spend it anyhow, Ecclesiastes 2:18-21. Be wise and give thanks to God. He has indeed been good to you.

All the things you wanted God to do for you in 2022 that He didn't do have gone to wait for you in your future.

My singular prayer for you is that when those things eventually show up in your life, you will be alive, in good health and sound mind to enjoy them.

Now you understand what I am saying. Give thanks to God once again and let's get into the message for today.

What is growth?

Simply put, Growth is the gradual process of increase in size or stage of development that has not yet reached its fullness.

It is at the point when growth reached its peak that harvest begins and decline also begin to set in.

So growth is something that must be constantly happening in our lives if we don't want to begin to decline after every harvest.

Growth is beautiful but many only celebrate harvest, that is achievements.

Achievements can be likened to harvest but every achievemnet is brought about by progressive growth.

In short, it is the cumulative process of growth that leads to achievements.

So, while it seems you didn't have any achievemnet to point out to in the just concluded year, you have a growth to celebrate.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that only celebrate achievements but not growth, forgetting that every singular achievement that we celebrate came out of growth.

We only celebrate the arrival of a baby we don't celebrate the nine months of growth that preceeded the birth of the baby.

You only celebrate the day you packed into your own house, you don't celebrate the day you bought the land, the day you put one load of sharp sand on the land. The day you bought 40 bags of cement. The day the foundation was completed.

You only celebrate the day you graduate from school, you don't celebrate the days you went for lectures and wrote exams and got promoted to the next level.

These are the reason for our unhappiness. This is the reason why we only have few moments of celebratuon amd few things to thank God for because we have believed a lie that achievement is an event but not a process.

When you begin to celebrate growth and process you will have so many things to thank God for and you will have so many happy days and very few unhappy days.

You will thank God for the day you narrowly missed being hit by a bike and that could have been the end of your life.

With that incident, the day of graduation that we so much celebrate would never have come.

Don't let people laugh at you for celebrating growth. It is worth celebrating, infact it is foolishness to only celebrate achievements but not growth because it is the process of growth that leads to major moments of achievements.

Achievements will give you only few occasions of celebration and happiness but Growth process will give you on a daily basis something to be happy about and to thank God for.

Don't wait until you pack to your house before you celebrate and be thankful, don't wait until you graduate before you will have something to celebrate.

Without the 4/5/6 years of going to class consistently there would never have been a day of graduation that you are celebrating so much now.

People that celebrate growth and process have unending days of happiness and gratitude but those that celebrate only achievements have only few days of happiness and thanksgiving.

Achievements does not happen everyday whether you like it or not but growth takes place everday, so celebrate growth and have many happy days.

Gather your children and your spouse and celebrate growth. Harvest does not happen everyday but that does not mean growth is not taking place.

If someone bumps on you while doing it and ask what you are celebrating. Tell them you are celebrating the several days of going back to work and coming back safely.

Tell them you are celebrating your children going to school and arriving safely without sustaining injury or being kidnapped.

Tell them you are celebrating not being hospitalised. Tell them you are celebrating being alive and in sound mind.

As you go into the new year arm yourself with this message. You will need it as the months roll by. It will cause you to always have something to be happy about and to always maintain an attitude of thanksgiving.

PEACE

SALVATION PRAYER

Anything short of you being born again and living a life of holiness and purity hurt Jesus so much. But you can make things right here and now by saying this simple prayer and mean it genuinely from your heart:

Lord Jesus I come to you today. I acknowledge that I am a sinner and I cannot help myself. I repent of all my sins and I forsake them. Jesus, I invite you into my life, be my Lord, be my Saviour.

Wash me by your precious blood, forgive my sins and write my name in the book of life. From this day, I promise to follow you all the rest of my life. Help me Lord, in Jesus name, Amen. Congratulations you are now born again!

PEACE

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