Encouragement
IT’S MY TIME TO FLOURISH!
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; Psalm 92:12-14;
To flourish means to prosper without limitations, to grow without confinements, and to expand without restrictions. From the above scriptures, we understand the extent of flourishing God has in mind for His people. When a man is flourishing, he has clearly gone beyond the state of mere survival or that of being comfortable, he operates in the realm of exceeding greatness and super abundance. When a man is flourishing, he is clearly ahead and distinguished from others; he becomes the centre of attraction and nobody can hide his glory.
It’s God’s earnest desire that His children flourish in all areas of life like the palm tree. Just as the palm tree stands high and tall among all other trees, and thrives no matter the climatic conditions, God wants His children to remain evergreen and flourishing. God manifests Himself as Jehovah Elshaddai – The God who is more than sufficiency, whose sources of supplies are inexhaustible, and His desire also is to demonstrate this in the lives of His children.
God has pleasure in the flourishing of His children and has actually made provision for their exceeding greatness. It is however sad that majority are still struggling to survive; they are even very far from being comfortable let alone flourishing.
Exceeding greatness is attainable! One major requirement for flourishing is righteousness, and those who desire to flourish must understand God’s way of prospering His own people. The scripture says ‘Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people’. If you must flourish as God desires, righteousness is a key requirement. Where righteousness is missing, shame is unavoidable! Men, who flourished and were exceedingly great in their generations according to the scriptures, were men who had affinity with God and lived in righteousness. Abraham was so great in his generation that he became the envy of all around him; Isaac became exceedingly great and flourished to the extent that he was richer than the country where he lived; Job was extraordinarily great that nobody could measure up to his greatness and prosperity in the whole country of the east (Asian Continent)! The principle of God has not changed, righteousness still exalts!
This is the age that many people have concluded that it is impossible to attain exceeding greatness and prosperity while living righteous. This is clearly devil’s lie from the pit of hell. There’s no other way to flourish as God desires, than to live in righteousness. The reason the righteous will flourish is simple: God is an ally of the righteous - meaning that if you live to please the Lord in righteousness, you have unrestricted access to God and His divine inexhaustible resources! Like a tree planted by the riverside,you will continue to draw from him and flourish no matter how critical the situation or the circumstance may be. In case you are reasoning in your heart that there are many people who live in sin and have no regard for God, yet they prosper and flourish; the scriptures had already provided the answer: ‘When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:’ Psalm 92:7. Prosperity of the wicked is compared to the sprouting up of grasses, it is
temporary, their destruction is imminent! This is the reason the scripture admonishes us never to envy sinners when we see them sprout up. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Psalm 37: 1-2;
To flourish as God desires, another important thing we must do is to continually draw from the rivers of life which is in God. In God, we have access to all things which pertain to life and godliness, but these can only be delivered to us when we consciously draw from the source through constant communion and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. There are many opportunities around which you can only see through the eyes of the Spirit; one inspiration from God is enough to transform your life permanently! It is true
that you have access to God’s inexhaustible resources, but so many believers are satisfied with little and have no desire to be exceedingly great as God desires. It is important to emphasize that you are the one who will determine how great you will be here on earth. If you have no desire to be greater than you are
at the moment, it is unfortunate, God can never help your situation! For instance, God didn’t set limits in Prophet Elisha’s instruction to the wife of the late prophet who experienced divine intervention with respect to the huge debt left behind by her late husband; God’s instruction was simple: ‘Go, borrow thee
vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few 2Kings4:3. However, the woman, perhaps in doubt, limited the number of empty vessels she gathered, and the oil ceased from flowing! The oil ceased from flowing because there was no room more created for expansion. If you must flourish, don’t ever make the mistake of limiting yourself, let your dreams be big, let your visions be exceedingly great.
Finally, it is important to state that those who will flourish are those whose lives are sources of blessings to others. The reason God makes us to prosper and flourish is not for our own selfish ends, it is to bless other people around us. As long as your life remains a source of blessing to others, God will not cease prospering you. Many people have not understood this principle and that is why they are still small and insignificant in life. The surest way to keep the doors of divine abundance opened upon your life is to open your arms to others. It is more blessed to give than to receive. You must be a reckless giver to the things of God and also provide for the needs of others. If you do this, you are bound to flourish.
Shalom.
Ezekiel Olukolajo
(c) September 2011
[email protected]
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