1 Chronicles 4:10 ‘And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.’
DAILY READING • Romans 9:1-29; 1 Samuel 17:55-18:30; Psalm 63.
The Redeemed Christian Church of God [RCCG] was founded in 1952 by Pastor Josiah Akindayomi. When he went to be with the Lord in 1980, Enoch Adejare Adeboye took over in 1981 as the new General Overseer. At that time, the Redeemed Christian Church of God had only 39 parishes.
Years later, the RCCG experienced amazing growth, spreading to over 198 countries, with over 32,000 parishes in Nigeria alone. There are at least 732 branches in the UK and Ireland, where it is the fastest growing Pentecostal church.
How did that happen?
The rapid growth of the Church was in answer to Pastor E. Adeboye’s desperate desire for God to expand his territory. During his first five years as General Overseer of RCCG, he tried all he could to see the Church expand, but didn’t gett any results.
One day, he heard about Paul Yonggi Cho in South Korea who had the world’s largest single congregation.
So Adeboye decided to visit South Korea for the first time to attend David Yonggi Cho’s prayer conference and find out things for himself.
When he attended the Church’s Sunday service, he found that the 50,000 capacity auditorium, could not contain the Church’s population of about half a million, so they were having seven services on Sundays in an attempt to contain the crowd.
Pastor Adeboye was shocked to hear Paul Yongi Cho make an announcement asking congregants who came that Sunday to skip the next Sunday in order to give room for other congregants who couldn’t attend that Sunday.
When the international delegates at the prayer conference were taken to visit the Church’s prayer mountain, it was an opportunity for Adeboye to pour his heart out to God.
Adeboye was so burdened that he prayed for hours, and upset the other delegates in the bus, because he kept them waiting for him to come down.
When he returned back to Nigeria, his experience at South Korea birthed in him the hunger to see a revival.
As he began to pray and follow divine instructions, which included
the spread of many model parishes, RCCG began to experience enormous expansion. The growth was so great that years later, Yongi Cho himself invited Adeboye to come to fellowship and pray for him.
The first time Adeboye went to South Korea he was an unknown delegate, who could not gain access to see Paul Yongi Cho, but this time around, he was going on the special invitation of Paul Yongi Cho himself, who had seen the amazing way God was expanding RCCG.
In the genealogies of the Old Testament, there was a man called Jabez, who dared to ask God to expand his territory.
The name of Jabez meant “trouble, sorrow, heartache.”
Based on his name, it can be easy to imagine that his life was full of pain, troubles and disappointments. But instead of settling with these limitations, Jabez believed that God could do great things in his life.
The thing that made Jabez stand out in the Bible is that he was bold enough to ask God to open greater doors for him.
1 Chronicles 4:19 says Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, Lord, bless me indeed and expand my territory. Keep Your hand on me,”
The Bible says “And God granted him what he requested.”
God blessed him and gave him a change of story.
We learn from Jabez that pain can push you towards your greatest breakthroughs. You can either live with the name and the reputation life tries to enforce on you, or you can decide to ask God for greater things.
When you stretch your faith, when you get a vision to enlarge and expand your influence, it can open the door to an amazing future. .
Therefore, instead of settling with uncomfortable situations, we should
rather look for the turnaround trigger. There is something we can do that will suddenly turn everything around. And often the key is prayer.
Just as Jabez prayed and God turned around his situation and enlarged his territory, so can it be for you.
There is always a way out. Do not settle for less. No matter the limitations the enemy tries to place on you, determine that you will experience growth, expansion and the glorious future God has ordained for you. Ask the Holy Spirit for the wisdom to turn your stumbling blocks into stepping stones.
Today, let us begin to praise God for what He is set to do. Certainly we are about to see God enlarge our territory, open greater doors of opportunity, increase our influence and move us forward into the abundant life He has for us this year!
PRAYER:
Lord, I thank You for answering my prayers and doing something great in my life this year. Thank You for great opportunities, great ideas, big breakthroughs and indeed giving me a supernatural change of story in Jesus’ Name.
QUOTE:
Whenever God places a demand on you, He is only positioning you to receive more from Him. WORDBITE 222.
Shalom!
@GOODHEART- EKWUEME .
PLS FEEL FREE TO SHARE IF THIS BLESSES YOU!🔥
(I would love to hear your testimonies via WhatsApp +2348052234444 / Email: apostlegoodheart@gmail.com)