The bible says all are called to entreaties and prayers, petition and thanksgiving. We Christians should be leading in prayer and there should be no time when we feel we’ve done enough in prayer. Prayer is the most ancient, most universal, most intensive of the religious instincts. It touches the infinite extremes, the simplest form of speech that even infants can try with the simplest strains reaching the majesty on high. It is indeed the Christian vital breath and native air.

Queen Elizabeth of England once said that she could not fear any great army as she feared the prayers of John Knox. It was the same with Martin Luther and the black and the white Americans, who could do nothing by themselves but only by prayer. It is not a strange paradox that most Christians today do not naturally delight in drawing near to God. We pay lip service to the delight and the potency and value of prayer. We assert that it is the indispensable adjunct of the spiritual maturity.

Despite the many prayer outcomes mentioned in the bible, we too often fail to pray. We should be encouraged by the lives of men of like passion with ourselves who conquered their natural reluctance and became mighty men in prayer. The aids of Samuel Chadwick said that he was essentially a man of prayer. It was said that every morning he would wake up early and go to a small room he had made for his private devotion and would pray greatly. Toward the end of his life it was said that he wished he would have worked less and prayed more.

Mastering the art of prayer takes time, but we need to know that the time we allocate to things is dependent upon the importance of the things in our lives. When we feel our prayers are important we will automatically allocate enough time. We will have to reduce the crowding duties and fix time for the prayers. Martin Luther once confessed, when being asked about his program of the day, that his day was so busy and had a lot of work and so he prayed for three hours before he did anything in the day. It meant to me that when he had much to do the he would pray much.

Those who are skeptical of the validity of prayer do not take it seriously. We can not learn to pray except by praying itself and slowly we come to realize the joy of having fellowship with God. Sometimes to the skeptic, prayer does not seem logical, but they need to do it and will come to know its validity. If Jesus himself taught much about prayer, how will we see the prayer as unnecessary in Christian living? If prayer had no meaning in Christianity, then Jesus would not have taught much about it.

It touches our hearts to see that Jesus himself, being then begotten son of God, being the prince of life and possessing every power, would humble himself before the throne of the father praying for grace to help him in times of need.

In Luke 5:16 we find that Christ would withdraw himself from the people and go to places with no people to pray. One so mighty and endowed with all power found it necessary to do this. How will we sons of men then withdraw ourselves from the people and the many affairs that surround us and seek God’s help and guidance?

True prayer is a strenuous spiritual exercise that demands our utmost mental discipline and concentration. Paul said to the Colossians that Epaphras was laboring for them in prayers (Col 4:12), He further said that he was in prayer conflicts because of them. Praying for the Colossians was agonizing. It was not easy. It was an act of toiling. It was a battle and as a soldier struggling to deliver people from danger so it was and usually is in the realms of prayer.

When we pray in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit links himself with us and pours his supplication into us in those times we do not know how to pray, when we get weak and become helpless. He who knows the will of the Father intercedes on our behalf. (Rom 8:26-28). If we do not understand the importance of the Holy Spirit in our prayers we will not be able to fix it.

Most of our prayers are physical and not in the realms of the Spirit. They move in the realms of minds alone. They are products of our own thinking and are prayers out of hope and not in faith. The bible says that without faith no one pleases God. We should move from praying in the physical to the praying in the Spirit. We need to move from praying out of hope to the praying out of faith.

Ephesians 6:18 says that we need to pray in the power and the energy of the Spiri, giving ourselves wholly into prayer and praying in every occasion. Human energy of the heart, mind and will can only give human results but there are times when we need the supernatural. Therefore we need to pray in the supernatural, i.e. in the Spirit. Our minds are sometimes ignorant of the will of God but the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God.

Whenever we pray we should overcome the opposition from the devil who will always seek to oppress and depress, to create doubt and discouragements. This can only be in the mighty assistance of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is a spiritual warfare. When we pray we have God on one side, man on one side and the devil on the other side, but our power comes from our unity with Jesus. When we pray for people, we should always pray against Satan and his will. He holds people captives. It is good to deal with the cause other than dealing with the effects. It is Satan to be blamed in the bad lives of the people. Satan must be rendered powerless and must be bound before we can loose our brothers and allow them to go free to serve the lord.

By prayer we will move the world. It is by prayer that we can say no or yes…to God. God has given us control of whatever happens in earth and by allowing him to do, mighty he will do. He is waiting for us to allow Him to do as He has promised. He is just waiting for our prayers. Let us continue to pray. Prayer influences God to influence the world. Without prayer we can not move the world.

The eminence of great leaders of the bible is attributable to that fact that they were great in their prayer lives. They did not become great because of their magnificent culture, native endowment or their brilliancy but because they prayed greatly. May you become great as you pray. May the supernatural begin to work in your life as you pray. May your enemies be defeated as you pray. May the Lord give you grace to continue in prayer. May you begin to pray even when there seems no hope. May you begin to move in prayers by faith and may your prayer move the world, in Jesus name.

I was once reading one of the books by Myles Munroe about his saying that nothing in life is ever successful without the networking and bringing together of many talents, gifts and abilities by people willing to work together toward success. Surely we are what we are because of the many people that God brought our way.

As people network, their talents, abilities and gifts get lifted to high levels. Relationships happen with a goal of the benefit of one another, but we go wrong when we use or abuse one another. Making friends is a social skill that God needs us to know or understand. Coming together enhances the quality of the life we live and enhances learning. Elisha was a friend of Elijah, David and Jonathan were great friends, Abraham and Lot were great friends.

A friend is a person who loves you as he loves his own soul (1Sam 20:17) Ruth and Naomi were great friends. A friend is someone who will not leave you, even as Naomi spoke. It is important to know how to get along with people, for God will use people to take you where he needs you to be. It is His will that His people come your way. We can not succeed in our living if we take lightly the relationship and the friendships that God has brought our way. May you begin to be serious with the things of God.

During weekends or when the schools were closed for the vacation, having been born of a poor family in the drought stricken area of eastern Kenya, my life, my living was a trial and error. At the age of twelve, I remember I would take my little brother and we would leave our grass thatched hurt and walk for abut five kilometers in the morning, searching for daily casual labor. We would then find weeding jobs from the rich men and would weed from six to six. Alternatively we would wake up as early as three am, walk to the nearby road and wait to be ferried by lorries to the coffee plantations in the rich central province.  In these places we would be hooked up with adults, and by the end of the day would get three Kenyan shillings each.

A few years later, being a Sunday school child, God brought someone my way when I was wounded nearly to death by economic hardships.  Eller Mujunen, a good Samaritan, risked a lot and decided to stand by me with her friends in Finland and Sweden.  They educated me until I was ripe for the job market. May God bless all of them, who have remained good friends and who made me reach to my current height.

Proverbs 27:9-10, it is pleasant to have a friend. A friend is a treasure. It are these friends that God will use to expand you, and without them you may remain limited. Successful living is a people’s contribution. The number and the qualities of friends you have matters in life. Lovers of men will have great capacity with them.

David gathered men around himself: true friends, who were even ready to die for him. True friends are people who will stand with you even in times of death. John. 13:1 says that having loved His own, He loved them to the end. Love is founded in relationship. Without relationship there is no love. It is men whom God uses to help you to succeed, even as you understand them and honor them as they trust you.

May God cause you to understand how people feel about you and cause you to change for the good of the friendship and relationship. People will only respond to your action. When people run away from you, customers run away from your business or company.  When spouses’ runs away from you, please pray that God will help you to change and then change their response. That’s when they will start coming back.

For relationships to exist there remains a need for trust. Trust is a place that people can build their friendships upon. To be trusted is better than to be loved. Without trust, love and relationship dies. The number of dying relationships is alarming. It’s my prayer that God is creating and recreating them again. Please begin to be approachable. Someone once said that if you learn to greet people and learn to smile to people, you will own the world. Young men want to marry while young women want to be married, but the secret is to be approachable. Many young women who come for counseling on how to get a life partner admitted that they had not been approachable, even as God sent the right people to them.

Love your neighbor, and also strangers and those from afar, for by so doing you may minister to angels. In Covenant Center Fellowship, Malaba, Kenya we have understood this principle and have invited in as many people as God brings to us.  God has used many of these locally and internationally to take us to heights we would not have reached.

I was in my study room, reading about the study of the University of Yale on friendship and came about their findings that friendship increases one’s life, even increases one’s personal immune system, and reduces depression, anxiety and mental illness.

May the lord help you to increase your social network. May God use His people to boost your personal survival and may He increase the days of your life.  May He use His people to decrease your anxiety and fears as you learn to love people and appreciate them. May God cause you to stay at the top. May He cause you to understand people’s long term value, spheres of influence and how they can boost your growth and potential.

Some friendships are more costly than others and therefore one must balance giving and receiving, for success in life is also dependent on a balanced life. As you learn to get along with people may every curse of rejection, whether inherited or adapted, be broken in Jesus’ name. May every character element causing people to run away from you be broken in Jesus name. May every spirit of rejection working in your life under demonic assignment be broken in Jesus name. May you receive your freedom to increase your friendship.

May true friends begin coming your way.  May all that left you begin to return, in Jesus name. May people begin to come to you easily and may they find it difficult to leave you in, Jesus name. May God begin to extend your friendship network and may people begin to return the favors that you showed them. May your ministry expand its global partnerships and may your friendship ties be strengthened. May your customers begin come and to refer their friends and families to you and your business, in Jesus name.  May you remain to prosper in His name. Amen.

The gospel of church growth should go together with the gospel of reconciliation. The church is full of Christians, growing but wounded, flourishing yet with festering wounds. This is the contradiction in many churches today. People are bitter, but still preaching the gospel. Many have anger within themselves. Problems are not being tackled by our preaching. Children abandoned by their parents are still living in mystery. We can not succeed in church growth if we are not serious on reconciliation. It is true that in a country like Rwanda, where 90% are said to be Christians, a million people died in 100 days. This is an anatomy of failure.

If we can forsake this gospel of reconciliation and preach some selected gospel then we are not preaching the full gospel. We are here to preach the gospel fully. Most of our preaching has been through intellectualism, not experiential. Memorizing bible verses does not mean that we know the real meaning of the bible. We have taught about love while within us we have sowed seeds of divisions. The missionaries came hand in hand with colonialism. The church is coming again with politics. The marriage has become adulterous.

Many people were killed in church buildings because the church became butchers. May the church raise up and support the governments in reconciliation!  May the church understand its failure and lead the efforts of reconciling between people!  Muslims are helping their mosques to grow, why should the Christians not help one another?  Churches are the funders of many governments, and we pray that they will start helping one another.

Sin alienates people from God and leads to spiritual problems. Alienation from self: psychological problem. Alienation from each other: social problem. Alienation from nature: this is what we call ecological problem.

However, Christ is our pain bearer, ( Isaiah 53:4) and Christ is our reconciler (Eph 2:5). He cried “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.” They did not need to be hated. There is no reason for us to hate one another, whether white or black.

We need to look to a new perspective of the Church’s mission as reconciliation. We need not forgive people because they are good, but because our God and Father is a good God. When we fail to reconcile people then we have failed as a church. Let us be people whom God can use to transform this situation.

Let us have a new perspective on social relationships ( i.e. the holy nation of God), the perspective of power in unity. In this perspective, people will know that we are His disciples and will accept Him as their Savior. If we want to see a change, then let us remain in unity, for our God commands his blessing to such.

Racism, tribalism, and nepotism should not exist in the church when true reconciliation enters. Where true reconciliation enters then you find people going together, and not the other way. When true reconciliation enters, it removes fear. When true reconciliation comes in, people start feeling relevant. People stop hating themselves, their color, or their language. These things will stop disturbing them. When reconciliation comes in, people leave their comfort zones and start interacting with one another. The black and the white will go together, stay together, and worship together. Calling people by their tribe or color means that we segregate them. It is good that we call them men and women of God.

Jesus should not be seen as weak because of our disunity. Our God should not be blamed because of our hatred toward one another. The church will not be hated when reconciliation enters. It will be seen as a place of peace, a place of support and a place of blessings. The color of people will not matter.

Reconciliation means the offender goes to the offended and asks for forgiveness. Repentance is a process in between people crying. Most of the time when go to people we tell them that God loves them, but we never remember to tell them that we love them too.

Segregation is more harmful than AIDS. The anger towards one another will not come again. No black will hate the white and no white will hate the black, for the reconciliation of God rests on them all. God is healing people from the inside the church; growth is now including in itself true reconciliation. Wounds are being healed in Jesus’ name. People are beginning to believe one another. There is a happy face that is coming again to the church in Jesus’ name. People are being allowed to leave together. No Jew nor gentile; no man nor woman. The forgiveness of God is sweeping over the world again in Jesus’ name.

The true gospel will reconcile the people of God together.  Let us look at Calvary and see the suffering of Jesus in order to reconcile people back to God and to one another.

Reconciliation values all God’s creation while capitalism values a certain number of people. Writing the bible into local languages, giving people hope, the role of music, making theology ecumenical, Pentecostalism, primal speech, signs and wonders all make a church grow, but unless they include reconciliation it shall come down.

It is reconciliation that will finish rebellion, ignorance, exploitation, poverty and corruption. We are not here by mistake. Let us all unite and reconcile the upcoming generation, training them to listen to one another. Let us train them in understanding one another, knowing the dream of one another. Let us give them strategies, priorities and teaching on how to move forward from where they are.

Leadership should not leave behind the reconciliation ministry. It should go together with church growth, and divisions and conflicts will be no more. All believers being led to maturity must be shown more than bookwork.

Dualistic theology, sexism, disunity, individualism and pride will cease when true reconciliation comes into the church and the world. Competitions and adapting a number of people to be a measure will be no more. Denominations will not be able to work together if each church sees itself as the only one making impact in the kingdom. We need to know that we all belong to one large body. May the fruit of justice love and compassion be full in all messages that we preach.

There can be no reconciliation unless sin is named and judged. That is why God did not only forgive the sinner but a penalty was paid at Calvary. May God give us power to speak against the evil done.  We the church should start with ourselves. Justice plays a very big role in reconciliation.

If we as the church fail to play our role of reconciling, then the world will be doomed. In reconciliation, conflicting parties need to come together and understand on another.

Acts 5-6

The church of the apostles was different from that of today. It was full of power because it stood by the truth. Lying is stealing. It means obtaining something that one cannot merit. Every liar makes his audience a fool. Every liar is packed with pride while lifting himself to what he is not.

Deception and pride are great friends with Satan being their origin. Ananias and Sapphira were double-minded people, unstable, dishonest and proud. Ananias failed to give direction to his family. He followed the example of Adam who failed to direct his wife Eve. Families will survive if their leaders, who are the men, will stand for their survival.

It is unfortunate to find a family that should build one another standing for the destruction of one another. Jesus is the truth and the way. Whosoever does not pass through Him is a liar and a thief. Ananias and Sapphira are both a picture of a church filled with deception and pride.

Every church full of lies and pride is rejected and dead. Jesus was a picture of humility. He came like a root in a weary land. Nobody liked His salvation but with him he carried salvation. Heaven’s formula for going up is to first come down. He who ascended is him that descended. Philippians were told to be of this mind. Jesus though being God did not compare Himself with God but humbled Himself, even to the death on a cross.

Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey (Matt 21: 5-7), a picture of humility, and before him and after him they all sang Hosanna. This donkey had been tethered somewhere by the road to Calvary. However, the Lord saw it and chose to use it. No matter where you are tied, the Lord sees you as you remain humble. He is seeking a place to dwell and the humble are going to become His habitation. Then the glory of the Lord comes and pulls more people in.

We have derived our own methods of pulling people to us, through architectural buildings, music, entertainment and much more. But we have failed to humble ourselves and to let God to dwell in us. Jerusalem refused that humility and Jesus said, ‘Oh Jerusalem, you will never see me again.’

It takes humility to speak the truth. It takes humility to be where we are. It takes humility for a wife to live with husband and vise versa. It takes humility to sit on the bench and to wait upon the Lord, and it takes humility to be under someone else.

LUKE 12:48

Behind every joy of favor there is a burden called responsibility. Your strength and prosperity should not be heaped up for you alone. I believe that all this is for the test of responsibility. When we are blessed by God he expects us to be responsible people if we are to expect more blessings from Him. The Bible says that to him that much is given, much shall be required of him. We have always had problems because we expect much but give little.

When we are favored in every category whether physical or spiritual, something is expected of us. Whatever level of opportunity given by men or God we are all expected to show our performance. Someone once said that if we cannot stand the heat we should get out of the kitchen. If we are to live a life of irresponsibility then we should not expect any further favor.

Favored churches carry big burdens with them. They have to handle many prayer requests, they help many financially, make a lot of outreach calls, pay many bills, handle family problems and preach to many and many more. This is what we call the burden of favor. Sometimes when God has to accomplish much, He gives skills to people and equips His people, expecting much responsibility. Now that we have opportunities and all that we have needed from Him, let us be responsible people.  Let us be determined to be faithful to the high calling to which we have been called.

As a church we have the call of being responsible people. Teachers are expected to teach, and all that desire to be bishops should know what is required of them (1 Tim 3:10). Our God has given us much responsibility, but the outcome is below the expected. Though the apostles passed through much persecution and martyrdom, they did not forget their responsibility to preach the gospel even when ridiculed.

All pastors, ministry leaders, evangelists, pianists, and singers should remember their responsibility and put aside running with titles, doing nothing pertaining to their gifts. Every ordinary person in the ministry has received the gift of eternal life by grace through faith. We are all called to a life of responsibility and there is much demanded of us. God said He would build the church, yes, but we also need to understand that He has from the beginning used people and will continue to use people here on earth. Myles Munroe once said that any spirit operating in this world without using a man is operating illegally.

It is good that we rise up again and begin to seek to know how we will conduct ourselves in the house of faith.

Every noble position in earth comes with obligations. Whenever you are placed in that position you need conduct yourself nobly. Those placed by God to the positions of super power then need also to conduct themselves nobly. God is expecting them to use their nobility and honor to His glory in every way. Those holding positions need know that they are there for God’s glory

Those in church positions have a responsibility to unite, bring joy and peace to the brethren, but not hopelessness and destruction because of their irresponsibility. For every little gift that God gives you He expects something of you.

Responsibility grows as you continue receiving more favor.  When we entered into salvation we entered into an area of responsibility. To be forgiven our sins was a different thing but living a responsible Christian life is another thing. If we only concentrate on the salvation we received, preaching only forgiveness of sin, and fail to be taught about Christian responsibility then we will find ourselves living a life of irresponsibility, even after claiming God’s forgiveness. We will then end up with poverty, hunger, frustration, despair and defeat due to our irresponsibility.

Responsibility means that we be doers of the word. In Isaiah 58:3-4, some people wonder why they don’t see power. They question God in their foolishness. They were lifted up to a certain level, but did not do as God expected.

From the beginning, God has held forth a difficult principle flowing naturally into the concept of unity.  Many have stumbled over this concept of unity with easy listening, but unwilling to practice it.  In Genesis God said “let us make man in our own image and our own likeness”. There was more than one person and unity in the Godhead.

There was an agreement and harmony in heaven. Great creativity occurs where there is unity. God’s power is always released where and when there is harmony. The power of judgment came from unity where man was judged after eating the forbidden fruit.

The bible says that wherever two or three gather in His name then He will be there. Unity is the fountainhead of God’s creative power. In unity, the progressive power of explosion will be manifested. One shall chase a thousand and two shall chase ten thousand enemies. If unity worked in heaven then let us allow what was done in heaven be done here and now.

The early church was united, and continued to stick together even after Christ was crucified. Though it was weak and uncertain of what would happen and it was afraid, it remained in one mind.  They devoted themselves in one mind, in one prayer and one accord and the Holy Spirit, the giver of power, was poured upon them.

The power of the Spirit was manifested at the church of Antioch  (Acts 1:14; 11:26). The prophets and teachers were fasting and praying, refusing to eat for a time and worshiping the Lord. Diverse leaders centered on Christ, ministering to Him by worshiping Him. Then the Lord came to them and separated Paul and Barnabas with power.

Disunity causes the Holy Spirit to flee. The Holy Spirit is the power that effects the change and must be with us. Disunity and division has been the character of the church until now, bringing lack of power to change the world. The power that comes from unity is now returning to the Church and the Church is returning to power.

In the tower of Babel, the unity was good but for the wrong purpose. Whenever the purpose is wrong then the unity cannot survive for long. Whenever a business, co- operation, family or nation comes together, things become possible. Any unity motivated by pride and a man’s effort to glorify himself will bring many to collapse, for this is a rebellion against God. Our unity must exist to glorify God.

Religion of man is a unity to glorify himself and as long as they remain opposing to God they will be defeated.

UNITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL

Unity must begin with an individual. A man must be unified within himself with an internal harmony if he or she wants to experience the power that can change the world. A double minded person is never stable. He is like a wave tossed here and there by the wind.

The divisions of internal belief or faith have wracked many in their walk of faith.

In Psalms 57: 7, David said that his heart was fixed. For you to make an impact in any of your area of operation you need to work single-mindedly. In Luke 10:38 we see Martha handling so many things and ending up with nothing but frustration, but Mary was a single-minded woman who chose to be at the feet of the Lord only.

Single mindedness is the solution for the many who are experiencing an internal despair coming from the heaviness and weight of carrying many things at one time.

COLLECTIVES

Collectiveness is something quite essential. Any city divided within itself will be laid waste and any house divided within itself cannot stand. (Mt 12:25). Without internal unity, groups, families, businesses and political entities will ultimately collapse. Vacillation and dissention lead to tearing and destruction. All forces will collapse unless they are unified. Unity is strength while disunity is weakness.

He who troubles his own house will inherit wind. When the house of leadership falls to fighting within itself it will crumble (Proverbs 11:29). The power of an individual is multiplied by the harmony of the group, clan and family he comes from. When a family is supportive to each other with all members working together for the good, of one another they succeed but when they are hostile to one another they will fail.

When husband and wife support each other, their children working together with them, they will bring success to the whole family.  However, when a husband and wife battle each other and undermine each other, the children are then neglected and grow up even hating their parents and all bring failure to their family.

The economic and social cost of the lack of unity in the family is appalling. When families lack unity and cohesion then the whole society suffers. The hatred engineered by disunity in marriage leads to racial, ethnic and class warfare, which rips society apart and destroys cities, states and nations. A kingdom divided within it cannot survive.

UNITY OF GOALS AND MISSION

When any business, co- operation or institution abandons a clear vision of its mission it will move to hard times. Successful organizations and individuals are those unified around a single goal and mission. When there is absence of harmony in any organization then in comes fragility and a falling apart.

Every nation founded on the biblical principle of unity shall prevail. Jealousy and the self-concerns of individuals bring division, and when divisions grow bring violation. This is why Cain said ‘I am not my brother’s keeper.’

Carnal ambitions and selfish spirit work against God’s plan of unity. It is the will of God that we remain united. Our working may differ but let us remain united.

Gifts may vary but we should all work towards a common goal. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 says that now there are varying gifts but one spirit, varying ministries but one Lord, varying effects but one God all working for a common goal.

In families, businesses, churches, and nations, the Lord is looking for people of varying personality, talents and styles unified in purpose who will work together toward a common good. These people will overcome the crisis of this century.

Jesus prayed that His disciples may be one that all may know that Jesus was send by God. It is this unity that will overcome the world and that the world will see the power of God. The fulfillment of God’s purpose requires unity.

IMPORTANCE OF VISION

Habakkuk 2: 1-4

Life was designed by God to be inspired by purpose and fueled by vision. Purpose is when you know and understand what you were born to accomplish. Seeing that purpose in your mind is what we call vision.

Vision is a clear mental image of a preferable future, imparted by God to His obedient servants and based upon understanding of His word, time and circumstances.

It is simply a mental sight or seeing from the inside.

Jonathan Swift said in 1699 that vision is the act of seeing the invisible. It is vision that will cause you to reach the unsearched. Vision will make you to bear a testimony. It is true that visions lay buried, forgotten and dismissed because those that had them did not think of how it would be. They only thought of how it is by now.

Ephesians 4:10 says for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them.

We need to have vision for our families, ministries, nations, countries, continents, businesses etc.

Helen Keller once said that there is something worse than being blind: it is the worst thing in this world to have sight and lack vision.

When you have vision you have a sense of purpose in life. It is found in the scripture that God has a plan for each one of us. It is our responsibility to walk in faith totally depending on Him. God has chosen you to fulfill a certain plan in your church family or the world, and you need to catch the vision to accomplish this. The problem that we have is that we want satisfaction now by sacrificing our future’s greatness. Most of us have been unmindful of the future. We do not want to plant a seed that will grow into an oak tree but we want to plant today and harvest tomorrow.

Sometimes we need to step out of the stream and look to where we are going.

Seneca, a Roman philosopher once said that you must know where you are going in order to catch the right wind. Vision shows you who to become and enables you to choose the right vehicle to take you there otherwise, you can waste everything and die hopeless.

Job 21:23 says that one dies in His full strength being wholly at ease and satisfied while another dies with a bitter soul.

2 Sam 16:5_14 says that David died in shame and in pain.

Gen 25:8 says that Abraham died honored and with joy.

The choices you make today will determine your future shame or honor. Let your vision dictate your choices today.

You don’t need to walk in conformity to the world but you need to pray that God will give you vision that will make you to choose things with clarity. The things those are helpful to you.

Conformity leads to compromise, then mediocrity, then sin and wasted life. Visions dictate your direction. It is like a six sense and through it you begin to grasp the unseen.

People that powerfully and permanently influence this world are seers. These men have seen more and further than the others have. They are men of faith.

Elijah saw more than Gehazi. Every man of God must have insight into things that are spiritual. He must be a man of revelation and must be able to see now and then.

Charles Cowman the founder of the Oriental Missionary Society was a man of vision and saw what the world of his time could not see. He saw wider and fully than the men of His time and for this he was called the man of far horizons.

Vision causes you to see both now and the future. It causes you to see the result of the formulas and the methods that you use.

Eyes that see are common but the eyes that see are few.

Somebody somewhere saw something and pursued that vision and that is why we are what we are now.  Seeing is the fulfillment of what they saw because they did not give up through their many years of wilderness or valley experiences.

Before anything is seen in the natural, it is first seen with the eyes of faith.

Every great move of God had its beginning in the hearts of some child who listened and obeyed His will.

Moses to delivered Israelites, Joseph delivered the house of Jacob, David lead the Israelites from being a shepherd boy.

What has God spoken to you? Are you tempted to think this as silly? Whenever vision comes your way, it makes you to scheme.

Vision was given to Abraham, Jacob Moses Samuel Nathan Isaiah, and Paul etc. Gen 15:1, 46:1-4, Exodus 3:2-3

Many visions come because of prayer. Through prayer God’s will for His people is made known that we can only do what He intends. You need visions to go with your time. Being visionary you will never be behind your time. You will never be behind your time. You will catch new horizons now and then. Vision prepares your mind to be receptive to new Ideas in a time like this when people are allowing things to take their own cause.

Men of Vision look to the future of their spouses, children family, and ministries.  Its men of vision who will influence their generations for they always see further than their colleagues will. Men of great spiritual insights searching into the matters of the Kingdom are able to see and to interpret what God has put in place.

Men of vision see what the crowd cannot see. They see more than the men of their day and these are the people that make good leaders

Men of Vision put their ears on the ground and know what is coming. They interpret what they hear to be what they see. They are men who see the whole world while their colleagues only see some meters away. They see the end of the things right from their beginnings. They are men who concentrate on the goals. They are large men and their schemes are large.

Vision is what comes in before great things happen. Great men are driven by vision to practice towards becoming great. Their imagination of how they will be causes them to practice more.

It is vision that gives direction and gives birth to logotheraphy, paradigm, and planning.

Our vision for future does always fight with our current reality. There is always this tension but men of vision can bear this tension for they understand whom the will becomes.

Vision causes choices and without vision you have no choice. Vision is what you want to do or to be or have. It’s vision that makes the coming generation start in a better position. We should not pass our problems to the current generations. Men of vision have no false start. Therefore, they don’t keep on repeating things with no meaning.

Vision is a picture of the end result. It makes us to know where we are going. Without vision we beat about the bush, go to all places but end up nowhere. Vision dictates acts and penetrates emotions.

Gen 15:1, The obedience and the following of your vision is what will give you followers. The vision of Abraham was the start of a great nation. It is vision that buys your tomorrow today knowing very well that buying tomorrow will be much expensive. Those that bought their today yesterday can sell their today at their own desired prices.

Today we need people who can see beyond the obvious.

We are only a revelation away from our success. Vision is the revelation. All that Solomon did came out of revelation.

Vision means sight. You can look above, look within, look around, look behind, look to the future and even to the past and the more you see the better you are.

THE VALLEY PHASE OF VISION.

Every vision is like a journey, has a starting point and a finishing point. A times you go through dryness, sometimes your going gets sloppy, it seems as you can fall any time, sometimes you go though your own wilderness and your going seems to be though mountains and valleys. It seems like you cannot make it. Satan tempts you to despair because he is the enemy of every good thing. It is in such time many give up only to regret on realizing how close they were to their victory. When tempted to give up please remember that that Christ is faithful.

For it is precisely when every earthly hope has been explored and found wanting, when every possibility of help from earthly sources has been sought and is not forthcoming, when every recourse this world offers, moral as well as material, has been explored to no effect, when in the shivering cold the last piece of wood has been thrown in the fire and in the gathering darkness every glimmer of light has finally flickered out, it is then that Christ’s hand reaches out sure and firm.

Gen 11:2, I will open rivers upon the slopes and will make fountains in the midst of valleys, the wildernesses, the wildernesses a pool of waters and the dry land springs of water. Isaiah 41:18. This is said to those who are ignorant, and those beyond the knowledge of faith.

Valley phase means a time of ignorance, lower things. Valley means places of attack, a place of fear. When God takes you out of the valley then he brings you to places of joy.

Valley is a place of trouble, devastations, and mourning but you need to go on, knowing that the vision you have will happen.

This fellowship ministers as salt and light to the Teso community. The Teso community is among the smallest tribes of Kenya, bordering Uganda. The name Teso to many means suffering, but this ministry is up to bring the opposite of this. Inside this fellowship, people relate to one another and to God.

-Pastor Timothy and Pastor Florence Ikinya

Our Women's Ministry