SPRINGS OF LIFE

Scripture for the year 2008 : Exodus 12:2, Isaiah 43:19

Happy New Year!

A New Beginning - Part One

By Pastor Taiwo Odukoya

God has a good place for every one of his children. He has a purpose and a new beginning for every child.  And when it is a new beginning, you do not bargain for it like God will give it to you.  

That was the case of the prodigal son in the Bible. This young man went his way; he defined his own new beginning. And that is the problem. If you define your life by yourself, you will have to be responsible for it. But if you involve God in your definition, God will then have a responsibility to sustain it.

This young man travelled away from his father and started living the way he wanted. It was a new beginning indeed for him, different from the kind of life that he had been living. But it was a downward journey. Instead of progressing he regressed. The Bible says that he got to a place where he had nothing to eat. And there was severe famine in the land. He was poor and in dire straights.

Usually, we live by our decisions. We are free moral agents; God created us to be able to choose. So, it was the path he chose, the decision he made, that got him into trouble.  But when he got to his lowest ebb, he started looking for a way out. He needed another new beginning, so he made another decision. He decided to get a job in a piggery, because that was the only job he could find. But the job of feeding pigs did not improve his situation. If anything, it made it worse.

According to a Bible commentary, working in a piggery was the basest and most disgraceful employment you could be in in those days, particularly for a Jew.  In ancient Egypt, if you were swine herding, you were not allowed to mingle with the public. So he sunk himself further into a terrible mess. 

Mark you, until you make a complete u-turn, every decision you take in a particular direction will take you further in that direction. Because the prodigal son had not made the necessary u-turn, his new decision plunged him further into trouble.

The Bible says that this young man eventually came to himself. The truth is, if you are not yourself, you are being controlled by either the devil or someone else. To be yourself is to be led by God. You see, God does not control human beings; He leads and guides as we submit to Him. It is man that controls. My prayer is that God will deliver you from the fear of man from today, in the name of Jesus. May you hear God clearly, and may you obey Him as you hear, in the name of Jesus. 

Without having to seek anybody’s permission, the prodigal son said to himself, "I will arise." By this act he was making a resolution. This is typical of what we do at the beginning of every year, popularly known as New Year’s Resolution, which never works for many. But it did for this guy. I pray that the resolution you have made at the beginning of this year will work for you, in Jesus’ name.

And, according to the Bible, the young man arose. I do not want us to gloss over this fact: When he came to himself, he said, "I will arise…" and he arose. Many have said I will arise, but they have never arisen. The Bible says, "…if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). But when faith has no work, it is totally dead. That is why what so many people think is faith is actually a mere wish. Your resolutions will not be mere wishes. No, they will not be. You will resolve, based on the word of God, follow it up with action and you will prosper, in the name of Jesus.
 
The prodigal son got up, though with trepidation, to go to his father. He must have been saying to himself, "Well, at least, he will not kill me.” He rehearsed what he would say to his father: “I have sinned against heaven; I have sinned against you; I am not worthy to be called your son, make me like one of your servants.”  His father, however, did not treat him like a servant. He treated him like a prince, which he really was. The man’s instruction to his servants was, “…Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found”(Luke 15:22-24).

This is exactly what God will do in your life this New Year, in Jesus’ name. God will give you a position that is more than you deserve, in Jesus’ name. You are not a servant; you are a son in the house. God will surprise you, in the name of Jesus. God will surpass your thinking; He will surpass your desire; He will surpass your dream, in the name of Jesus.

In your marriage, you will get more than you are looking for, in Jesus’ name. In your finances, you will get more than you are looking for, in Jesus’ name. In your health, you will get more than what you can ever think of, in Jesus’ name.

There is brand new garment for you in the New Year! For those who think they will never get married, God will remove that garment from you this year, in Jesus’ name. For those who think they can never be fruitful, God will remove the garment of barrenness from you this year. For those who have continually experienced near misses, God will remove that garment from you this year, in Jesus’ name. Whatever garment God has not put on you will be removed this year and replaced with the Lord’s best, in Jesus’ name.

This is your year of new beginnings!

Scripture: Luke 15 verse 11 - 24