FINISH LINE

As I wrap this up, I want to say that the distance of your liferathon is not in the number of years you have to live, it is in the purpose you are to fulfil. One can be 80 and unfulfilled and another 45 and fulfilled. Fulfilment is not in age, but in purpose. The reason you passed the first hurdle is to fulfil purpose in order to get to the finish line of liferathon.
“I knew you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart for me before you were born; I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations” Jer. 1:5 (ISV).

I like to say that you do not have guarantee of long life if your purpose does not allow it. It is the time was allotted for you to fulfil purpose that determines when you get to the finish line.

I used to recite Psalm 91:16 and it used to be my best verse of that chapter. For some time now, I occasionally bring things I have believed in and held tenaciously over the years to a proofing table. One of the things I discovered about that verse was that it was an effect of a cause. I had to trace the cause back to verse 14. I then realized that I have no right to long life if I am not focused on my purpose.

Your purpose defines your finish line. During REHAB, your purpose is made clear to you. You receive the vision you are to run with. The essence of REHAB is not just to empower you to run, but to remind you that your life must count for something. So when you get to your finish line, you can then declare like Apostle Paul:

“I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith” 2 Tim. 4:7 (ISV).

When you come to the point where you have completed your assignment on earth, that is your finish line.

Stay blessed.

#REHAB

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES

(Transforming the World through the Word)

RENEWED

Another thing that happens at REHAB is renewal of strength. Every new life comes with a new strength. This is not a top up or a makeup, it is new. The new strength is not added, it is given completely. This means that every strength you had initially is taken away.

God does not put an old wine in a new wine skin. He cannot give you a new life and then top up your strength. He strips you of whatever strength you have to give you a totally new one that will carry you as you live your new life. This is why He strips you of whatever gave you pleasure in the old life you had. The next time you notice that things are changing in your life that could be God taking you through REHAB.

In Luke 24:49, Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem. He could have just asked them to launch out immediately, but no, he asked them to wait. This is because the strength they need to function effectively can only come when they have received the Holy Ghost, the strength giver.

I am led to say something, and I will close with it. REHAB is a place of preparation for greater exploits. Do not be in a hurry to launch out, wait on the Lord and let Him fill you with the Holy Ghost. That is when you can be fired up for the hurdles of this liferathon.

Stay blessed.

#REHAB

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES

(Transforming the World through the Word)

NEW YOU

A number of things happen at REHAB. Of all of those things, I’ll pick out two that relates to the thought I have been sharing in this series.

One of the things that happens at REHAB is that your old self is taken away and a new you comes out. God through the working of the Holy Spirit removes the things that were hitherto making your life miserable. Everything that make you lag in this liferathon is taken away and a new person is imputed. This could be habits, friends, addictions etc., they are all taken care of here.

I have shared how I struggled with my past life for almost a year after I got born again. I had friends that I knew I should send to the outer circle, but yet, I could not bring myself to tell them that I had found Jesus. I knew I was saved, but I was struggling with letting go of some kind of friends. I have also shared how I got addicted to alcohol, that I wondered within myself how it got that bad considering my foundation. It took REHAB to get rid of those lifestyle and for me to fully embrace the new life I found.

It is not always an easy process, but it is a worthy venture. It will definitely take a lot from you. It would take you denying yourself of some things that naturally used to give you pleasure. This things could be food, company, home, comfort etc. This is the way of the Eagle. It makes the decision to strike off its beak, and pluck out its old talons and feathers. This is where you play a role in REHAB. You have to give God the permission to remove all those things that need to be removed. When they are removed, you can now see the new you emerge.

You cannot enjoy this new life, if you are not born again. You need to acknowledge Jesus Christ as your saviour and make Him Lord of your life. He is still in the business of giving a new life and He will give you today if you let Him. Do not push this any further, this is a wonderful opportunity to get rid of all those things that are wearing you out. Just pray to God to come into your life and make it brand new.

If you have done this, I want to congratulate you. You have started a journey of a life in Christ and for that, I commend you. I also will encourage you to find any Assembly of believers for help on how to fully access the fullness of this new life. If you contact me, I’ll gladly help you. I love you and I look forward to hearing from you. You can call 08063566730 or write me through transformingwordseries@gmail.com.

Stay blessed.

#REHAB

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(Transforming the World through the Word)

RENDEZVOUS

The early stages of liferathon is always rosy, bloomy and very much aglow. There is a sense of optimism and positive drive to get to the finish line victorious. You seem to have it all sorted out and everything is just dapper. You have already drawn out your expectations based on your immediate proclivities. Everything responds to your very command at the early stages. You’ve got the fervour and intensity to run.

Just like the Eagle, a time comes when all the plans begin to fizzle, the future begins to look bleak, expectations begin to lower and all the energy and intensity starts dying down. This could be as a result of difficulties encountered along the track or a number of other reasons. Like we have established in the series, this is when life happens. Here, you are faced with two options; give up or find a solution.

The easiest option always is to give up. Permit me to say that it is easier to die for something than to live for it. I am by no means bringing martyrdom to disrepute, but the choice of holding on and holding out is always the most difficult to make. You have to make the choice to live for something or die for nothing.

I encourage you today to take the Eagle’s way. Don’t quit yet, there is so much to live for. Don’t join the statistics of men who die full of potentials. For you to survive, you must locate your place of waiting; your Rehab. That is where you meet with God, your maker. That is the rendezvous. For the Eagle, it is the mountain. Where is your rendezvous?

“But those who keep waiting for the Lord will renew their strength. Then they’ll soar on wings like eagles; they’ll run and not grow weary; they’ll walk and not grow tired.” Isa. 40:31 (ISV).

Stay blessed.

#REHAB

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES

(Transforming the World through the Word)

THE EAGLE’S WAY

The Eagle gives us a perfect picture of how effective Rehab can be. The Eagle can live up to Seventy (70) years. To live this long, it goes through a process in its life. This process is not an easy one, it is a painful one.

The talons of an Eagle works properly for Forty (40) years. After Forty (40) years, its talons become weak. Thus, the Eagle will be unable to grab a prey. Its long and sharp beak also becomes bent. Its thick feathers become stuck to the chest due to its heavy wings. This makes soaring difficult. At this point in its life, it is left with only two (2) options; either to give up and die or go through a painful process of changes that lasts for about five (5) months.

If the Eagle chooses to live, it flies to the top of a mountain and sits on a nest. The first thing the Eagle does is to strike its beak against a rock so it can pull out. When that is done, it waits for a new beak to grow. The next process is to pluck out its talons. As in the first process, it waits for new talons to grow back. The third process is the plucking out of old and thick feathers, and also wait for them to grow back.

When all these painful processes are completed, the Eagle will then wait for Five (5) months to recover and renew its strength. It can then soar again and enjoy a renewed life for another thirty (30) years.

We are getting there.

Stay blessed.

#REHAB

 

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES

(Transforming the World through the Word)

THE WAITING PLACE

What do you do when all that you have laboured to build gradually fizzle before you? What do you do when you do all you know how to do, and it just seems not to be working out? What do you do when you see yourself within touching distance of victory and success, only to see yourself fall back to square one? What do you do when life happens?

My friends, there are times when every proven method seem to fail. There are even times when your friends will be far away, your connections will fail and even family will leave you to your peril. There are also times when you come to your wits end and it seems like you have no more strength left to carry on. These are times when it is like the only option left is to throw in the towel. My friends, those are times when life happens.

It could be that as you are reading this, you are already at that point when you are considering giving up on liferathon. It could even be that you have written that suicide note, and about to take the pill, kick the stool or maybe pull the trigger. Then this is good news coming your way.

I want to recommend a place for you. I choose to call it REHAB. It is a place where weakness is exchanged for strength, hopeless situations receive hope and death is replaced with life. Here, all you lost will be restored. It is a place of waiting.

“He’s the one who gives might to the faint, renewing strength for the powerless. Even boys grow tired and weary, and young men collapse and fall, but those who keep waiting for the Lord will renew their strength. Then they’ll soar on wings like eagles; they’ll run and not grow weary; they’ll walk and not grow tired.” Isa. 40:28-31 (ISV).

Welcome to REHAB.

Stay blessed.

#REHAB

 

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES

(Transforming the World through the Word)

WHEN LIFE HAPPENS

One of the things I have come to observe in my short existence is that anything can happen in life. A wealthy man today can be a beggar tomorrow. A thriving and wave-making establishment today can become history tomorrow. A lovely family today can be a wreck tomorrow. In the same vein, a bad situation today can turn around for good tomorrow. This is simply because life happens.

One constant thing in life is change. It can be for the good or the bad. I know a lot of people have said that we should be the determinant of what happens to us. We have been made to believe that we should have our own destiny in our hands. I am not here to discredit those assertions. But my friend, Life happens.

We all have big dreams. We all have earth shaking plans for now and the future. We all want to leave a good heritage for our generations yet unborn. A wise man once said that the richest and wealthiest place on earth is the graveyard. In the graveyard is where you find untapped and unexpressed potentials. I will want to believe that not all men who die with great potentials really wanted to. This still points to the fact that life happens.

The truth of the matter is that liferathon can be likened a coin. It can go down well and it can also get ugly. You will meet a lot of things that have the potential of making or marring you. There are times the momentum will rise and there are times you will grow weary. My friend, life happens.

The big question now is: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN LIFE HAPPENS?

Stay blessed.

#REHAB

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES

(Transforming the World through the Word)

LIFERATHON

I have said earlier in this series that life is a race, a marathon race at that. If life then is a race, it therefore connotes that we are athletes. Also remember I said the rules here are different from the first hurdle you passed. In the race before you came to earth, your victory was dependent on the inability of others to reach the mark before you. But in Liferathon, you are solely responsible for the outcome.

 

As I looked into some marathon racers that wrote their names in the sand of time, I noticed a commonality, which will take us closer to the main theme of this series.

 

I noticed that in a marathon race, you do not need to attack the race with all your strength at the beginning. You can run at a steady pace and at the same time keep a close distance with other athletes. As the race progresses, you gradually increase momentum.

 

Let me say this to you today; your starting might be slow, but it does not mean you cannot win. All you need to do is gradually increase your momentum, with time, you will have the victory. Quitting the race should never be an option to consider. If you are considering that now, I will plead with you to stay with me till the end of this series. I am trusting God that you will definitely receive strength to get to the finish line of this Liferathon.

 

Stay blessed.

 

#REHAB

 

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES

(Transforming the World through the Word)

SPRINGBOARD

For every symbolic event in history, there is a defining moment. A lot of activities could contribute to culminate that historic event, but there is always this moment when it will be conspicuous that history will be made.

The 78^th minute goal scored by Victor Ikpeba during the 1996 Olympic semi final game between Nigeria and Brazil was obviously the defining moment of that historic game.

During the historic marathon race of 1960, the defining moment in that race was the sight of the Obelisk of Axum by Abebe Bikila as he strode towards the finish line. For a great part of the game, he tried to keep abreast of the race favourite. But the sight of that statue became his springboard to writing his name in the history books.

Out of all the things going on in your life now, there is that particular one that is your springboard to victory and greatness. You will need to pray for sensitivity in order to make the most out of it. That difficult situation you are in today that has brought you to the point of almost throwing in the towel, could just be the spring board to victory. Hang in there, don’t give up yet, you are just one step away from winning. Just step on the spring board and win.

 

Stay blessed.

 

#REHAB

 

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES

(Transforming the World through the Word)

BARE FOOTED

History was made in Rome during the 1960 Olympics. It was historic for so many reasons.

For sixty four (64) years of modern Olympics, no Sub-Sahara African had won gold in any category of the tournament. This was the Olympic game that re-wrote that history book. Abebe Bikila became the first Sub-Sahara African to win gold at the Olympics in the marathon category.

To ice the cake, he ran the race bare footed. The odds were highly against him. As a matter of fact, he was not originally billed to be at the tournament. He was only added to the Ethiopian Olympic team at the last moment, as a replacement for Wami Biratu, who was seriously ill.

Adidas, the shoe sponsor at the 1960 Summer Olympics, had few shoes left when Bikila went to try out shoes and he ended up with a pair that didn’t fit comfortably, so he couldn’t use them.

He beat the odds and set a record that was unassailable.

Let me pause and tell you that no matter the odds, you can still WIN!  The odds may be against you, you may have come from an impoverished background, or you seem not to have the right qualifications. I have a God, who can take you from the backside of nowhere and place you in the midst of nobles. He is my God! He is your God!! He is our God!!!

Halleluyah!

Stay blessed.

#REHAB

 

©TRANSFORMING WORDS SERIES

(Transforming the World through the Word)