Sunday Message: "DON'T GIVE UP "

A reading from GENESIS 16:1-6

"1Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

2And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

3And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

4And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

5And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.

6But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face."

Sarai was a wife of abram and both of them had grown very old without any child. It was their dream like any other parents in the world to hold a baby in their hands May be you also it's your dream to pass in your final year exams, may be it's your dream to become a greatest entrepreneur in the world, may be it's your dream to be a doctor, may be it's your dream to be a musician. And you can see that for sarai being barren was a huge depression to her, she lost all hope, she felt so useless that she accepted the defeat to her dream and let abram to sleep with her maid . May be you have been trying by all efforts to accomplish something  in your life but it all fails, and you have decided to give your opportunity to others to use it. When abram slept with the maid, he made her pregnant and she conceived a child. Suddenly the maid started humiliating sarai simply because she couldn't have a dream of having a child anymore, because she gave up. As a result of sarai giving up on her dream look what happened

1. She lost sense of self worthy 
2. She accepted a defeat and eventually was defeated
3. She gave opportunity to her maid which was hers
4. She exposed herself to a mockery of her maid
5. She became very moody
6. She blame abram for her failure of hope 

 Ooh!..poor sarai, look what happens when you give up it's athousand time loss than perseverence. If you read past chapters , you will find that God appeared to abram and told him that from sarai' s womb he was going to establish his convenant of blessing to generations. This was just more than enough for sarai to be happy and confident about herself because it was almighty God who said that she was going to hold her dream child and nations were going to be blessed . You know God' s word is unaltered when he says something he fulfils it (read: isaiah 55:11, james 1:17), sad enough many of us don't believe it and still dwell in our heartbreaks. But let me tell you what causes people to give up.
 Most of us give up in our dreams because we are so much distilled in FACTS rather than TRUTH. Facts is what your enviroment says, fact is what your poor life says, fact is what your situation says that you can't bear any child, that you can't afford school fees, that you can't  accomplish your dream.Those facts wear the mask of truth but is not  truth. But truth is what God says about your life. When they say " you are finished", God says" it's just a beginning", when they say" you won't succeed" God says "succeed in everything as your spirit succeed". It doesn't matter what happens in your life, education,health, dream but never give up because God is the one who knows where you will end. It doesn't matter how many have said that you can't make it in life and they have already concluded you as a failure, you know what?!!..they are just human beings like you and they are not the ones who hold your destiny, is God who holds it. It's normal for people who sit around and do nothing in their lives to discourage those who have decided to take a forward step in the lives. You will meet alot of vision killers, haters, who will tell you to look at your situation and convince you that "it won't happen" but understand this" if God says yes, no one can say no" . Listen to what he says and not what people say. Always have faith in him, yield to his world and persue your dream with courage, good things will happen.

WHAT TO DO NOT TO GIVE UP

• Always look and act upon what God says about you not people
• Have faith in God (hebrews 11:1-7)
• Be persistant (Mathew 7:7-8)
• Have patience( Hebrews 6:14-15)
• Maintain your focus 
• Rise above your problems

"If you are going to edit someone's life put a comma, because God has a full stop" 

*************WISH YOU BLESSED SUNDAY*********************