RELATIONSHIP STATUS MATTERS

John 15:14-15 …You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants,^[a] for the servant^[b] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

·         Not everyone in this world believes in God…

·         Even among those who believe in God, not everyone believes in the God of the Bible…

·         For those who believe in the God of the Bible, not everyone is born of God…

·         And to those that are born of God, not everyone has the same kind of relationship with this God…

·         Some are comfortable with being children, others with being servants, and others can define their relationship with God in many ways…

·         All these relationships are in the Bible, but the kind of relationship that one treasures determines everything about their Christian life including one’s prayer life and daily walk.

For instance, children will not mind a lot as long as they get their daily bread,

Servants may not mind a lot about how they live as long as they do their work…

However, there is no greater relationship than being God’s Friend! Enoch walked with Him so closely that He was no more, the greatest level that Abraham reached for his faith in God was to become a friend of God,

Genesis 5:24… And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him].

James 2:23… and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God… at one time in Genesis 18:17-33, God felt like He had to tell Abraham about His plans of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah and He engaged Him in a friend-to-friend chat where Abraham was even able to question God’s integrity, and God was not offended!  

… and when Jesus realized that His disciples had matured up, they graduated from being servants to friends…

Important aspects to note:

1.      You can be a servant without being a friend. God can use you because you have what He needs at that time, even without you having a close relationship with Him! Even workers of iniquity can pretend to be servants of God… Jesus says, [Matthew 7:21-23]

“²¹ Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? ²³ And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].

2.      Being a servant does not necessarily require deep insight or revelation into God’s mysteries. You can serve even without much knowledge of Him or His business, but you can’t become His Friend if you’re not deeply involved… “for the servant^[b] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

3.      When you are simply a servant, you may not mind about your walk because all your focus is on accomplishing the tasks before you, and your satisfaction is in getting results from whatever you do in the name of the Lord… But when you mind your friendship with the Master, you don’t want to do anything that grieves Him; you hate what he hates and love what He loves – it affects your character, motives and actions in your day-to-day life.

4.      Serving God is the greatest honour, but only to those who have understood the essence of the relationship… Jesus says in John 12:26, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” He refers to the kind of servant that “Follows Him” – that is relationship…

[AMP] If anyone serves Me, he must continue to follow Me [^[b]to cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living…

What is your relationship Status with God? Are you simply a child, a servant, a friend or something else?

WINNING PRINCIPLES FOR 2013

1.      Have resolutions or guidelines that will help you towards the achievement you desire. God will help you with direction but He does not make your plans for you.

Proverbs 16:9 – A man’s heart plans his way: but the Lord directs his steps

2.      God should take centre stage in your resolutions; He has to be the main beneficiary

Psalm 127:1 – Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it: unless the Lord keeps the city, the watchmen wakes, but in vain.

3.      Be practical with your resolutions because it's not a 'wish game'; have strategies, count the cost

Luke 14:28 – For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?

4.      Maintain the expectation. It doesn’t have to end 24 hours after the fire works at the New Year's eve!

Psalm 71:14 – As for me, I will hope continually and will praise you more and more. (ISV)

5.     Protect what God has given you (the New Year’s Word, the Anointing, etc)

6.      Keep on the positive side of life regardless of challenges and unpleasant circumstances

2Corinthians 4:8-9 – We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; cast down but not destroyed…

7.     Make changes for the new season: Kill some things and resurrect the dead good.

PREPARING FOR 2013

Mark 2:21 no one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.

Mark 2:22 and no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins--and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.

- A new year means a new season

- ...A season can only be new to an individual if there are changes made to distinguish between the old and the new. For instance a new semester can only be new if you have new course units and new content. That means you are going to see things that you’ve never seen before, probably new lecturers, new challenges, etc…

- It is not about the change of the calendar, but the change of attitudes, plans and goals. Someone can live in a particular season for 3 years – to such people, celebrating the New Year could be a waste of time. If there’s nothing to show the change, then there’s no new season!

- Since God created seasons to signify change, He is always the first one to effect the changes. When He prepares a new season, He prepares new stuff for that season and then He waits for those who align themselves in the right position to receive the new stuff! These are people with the mentality that there has to be change; and knowing who God is, they expect a greater level. He is the God that moves us from glory to glory, from power to power, from one level to a higher level! Hallelujah!!

- Hence, we need to learn to prepare for new seasons. We don’t have to simply be excited about the New Year, but we need to prepare to eat of the good that the Lord has prepared in that new season – it has to be taking us to a higher level. We need to have more preparation in the spirit and in the mind rather than outward excitement. The celebration on the outside should simply follow what is inside! Sometimes people write resolutions on cards and envelopes out of sheer excitement but 2 months down the road they don’t even remember what they wrote!

- We need to be new vessels if we are to receive the new things God has in stock. This, we should do for our spiritual lives, our mindset, our daily habits, etc. Be more practical with your new year’s resolutions. It is easy to say that “this year I’m going to go deeper in God” but what measures / strategies have you set in place to achieve it? What you’re saying is already in God’s plan, because He knows it’s a new season everything has to get deeper / higher / better, etc.

- He cannot put new wine in old wine skins. Prepare your spirit for a new anointing, prepare your mind for new ideas, dress up for new levels, change your circle of friends if the current one isn’t taking you anywhere, think bigger, look wider, pray better, work smarter!

- New stuff is available but you need to upgrade the container