The things that are responsible and can help us to advance in life were taught in this series. We looked at:
- Gratitude the foundation for advancement
- Grace the empowerment for advancement
- Grit the perseverance needed for the journey of advancement
- Grounded pursuit is a dynamic for resilience in the journey of advancement
- Gathering the tribe of Champions
- Growth, the process of advancement.
- Groaning, giving birth to the possibilities of God in the place of prayer.
Gathering is your company, your tribe.You must understand that there is a need for a company, an association. And you must find your company. Nobody can advance in life alone, life is not done in isolation. The best of accomplishments men have had is done on the leverage of people.
Acts 4:23-31 shows us that if the apostles do not have a company or a place they belong to, they may chicken out, they may drop the call of God, they may get to a point where they are discouraged and may not continue with their pursuit of the calling and assignment that God has given to them.
But the scripture says after they were threatened and let go, they went to their own company. You must find a voice of reasoning, a voice of hope around your life. People that can hold your hands together and strengthen your faith. You must have people that their voice is a voice of motivation, a voice that pushes you and wants you to get better. That scripture we read showed us that after the Apostles were threatened, they ran to their company, they held hands and prayed together and the result was that they were filled with the holy ghost and spoke the word of God with boldness.
Initially, the threat was that they should not mention the name of Jesus again, that they should stop preaching in the name of Jesus. But after they gathered together, there was this supernatural boldness that came upon them. And after that, they were moving on and also advancing. Every advancement in life is a product of men and the relationship that God has blessed you with. God has blessed us with relationships, with people in our lives and if you don’t take advantage of it, it means you are not smart.
Luke 1:35-42 shows us how Mary went to visit Elizabeth because they were both pregnant after the angel appeared to her. It was only Mary that knew that Elizabeth was pregnant, Elizabeth did not know that Mary was pregnant, but the moment Mary stepped into the house of Elizabeth, she was filled with the holy ghost immediately and the child in her womb leaped.
There shall be a performance of that which he has spoken. You need a company, especially the people who have gone ahead of you, that would hold your hand and lead you in the way to go. The moment the Angel told Mary that something supernatural had taken place in the life of Elizabeth, she went in haste. She went to “a company” for strength and stability. You need a company, not just any company, but the right company. A company that will not be intimidated by your progress. Mary’s pregnancy was accomplished by the word of God.
There was an argument between Mary and the angel that came to deliver the message. The moment Mary accepted and confirmed that she had received the word of God, as the angel needed to return with a report of the message he was asked to deliver, what the Angel was waiting for was for Mary to say was. “Let it be unto me according to thy word” and the Angel departed. The Angel could not go until she received the prophecy.
The moment Mary received the pregnancy, she went to her company. So you must find your tribe, you must find your company. There is a gathering that strengthens. One of the gatherings you need is the gathering of the people of God, a local church. When things are hard, it’s not time to abandon God, it’s a time to stand strong and believe in God.
Don’t live in isolation. You need the gift of men for life. In this age we don’t do competition, we do collaboration. If you despise the people God has placed around your life, you are actually shooting yourself in the leg. You need to leverage on the strength and capacity of the people in your life. Mike Murdock calls it the law of recognition. So you can stay with somebody for 30 years and not recognize their value. Naman was a general in the army who was helped by a little girl to overcome his leprosy.
Advancement in life is wired around men. God is all powerful but he still needs men to do his will on earth. Find your tribe, find your company. Do it diligently and intelligently. Don’t write people off nor despise them. You must find your company. Do it by the Spirit of the Lord.
Only if we know that what we pray for concerning opportunities do not look like opportunities and dreams, they are resident in men. You must find your company. You must converse with them because at the level of friendship you find yourselves. There are things that will unfold. Gathering is the tribe of achievers. It is the tribe of possibilities,of people who have seen the wonders of the Lord and understand where they are coming from. Sometimes, it comes from your network. Those things come from referral. You cannot be everywhere. Your hands cannot be everywhere. There are people that will be largely concerned about you. They will stand by you, with you and fight for you. Take advantage of everyone God has brought to you. You must learn to keep friends for long. There are people you should not call your friends when they come into your life because of your status. You should have people who are able to look at you eye to eye and call you by name. They are people you have to be accountable to.
Luke 1:80 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
…When we look at the word, “in God”, the writer wrote ,”and man”, for us not to be left wondering. He increased in favour through men. The keyword there is “grow”. Growth is the process for advancement. Stop that statement, “I only need God, I do not need man.” This is the reason why we are not seeing the advancement we are seeing. Even though some men want to play the role of God in our lives, we must understand that God also placed men as Himself in our lives. You need men. The Bible says, “He grew in favour of man and God.” Even if he did not need a man, he would not have grown. Therefore, growth is important in our lives. There are prayers that we have been praying that we had thought He is not answering but, He is waiting for growth to bring you there. Paul said, “I am what I am …”, what he was saying is that he was what he is now by labouring. He also grew. Even as we are praying for international doors, there are levels of growth we must attain to achieve this. There are things that will work on its own accord. As I am growing, the things I am looking for are looking for me. As we are growing, the things we are praying for will no longer be a prayer point. If it is by growth, we will not struggle to get the legitimate things we desire. The same way we pick our underwear without praying because we can afford it, that is how some things are. You grow in capacity to be able to afford them. Those things that look so big and far from your level will be accessible only when your capacity has grown.
What is a mountain for someone is a walk over for another person. The difference between them is their make up. God is interested in you building up your muscles in those areas you are praying for a quick miracle. In your career you need a number of years invested to attain some positions. The day David killed Goliath isn’t the day he built such capacity. The women were singing that he killed tens of thousands while Saul killed in thousands. They were amazed by such accomplishments. This kind didn’t start in a day. He had been in the wilderness diligently protecting his father’s animals. The hearts of the Israelites were drawn to him. They saw in him the qualities of the kind of King they wanted. As an individual, aim for growth. Grow! Men rarely grow. To grow, we have to be intentional about life. Deliberateness is required. There is no vacuum in life, men fill them up. You must set out. You must trust God to help you build capacity in life. Paul came last among the Apostles but he became a frontline apostle.
1 Corinthians 15: 9.
Paul was not physically with Jesus. He did not witness all the miracles Jesus performed. He wasn’t an eyewitness like the other apostles who were with Jesus during transfiguration, last supper and so on. Paul came to know about all these by the spirit of revelation unlike those who sat down to learn from the master himself. This was the diligence he was referring to when he said I laboured more than they all.
1 Corinthians 15:10
The labour of Paul caught the attention of the other Apostles that Pater said Paul’s writings were difficult to comprehend.
2 Peter 3:15
While we may be shouting grace, Paul said he laboured. He is one man who when he got born again he was keen to ask what the Lord will have him do. What Paul could not witness, he caught by revelation. That is where growth comes.