MESSAGE BY REV. WILLIAM OKOYE PRESENTED ON THE 2ND OF MAY, 2022
@ THE 2022 NATIONAL TEENAGER’S WORKERS CONVENTION AT TOM CAMP GROUND, LUGBE 1, FCT ABUJA, NIGERIA.
Topic: Build your life on values that last
When we speak of values, what do we mean?
Your values are your core beliefs that shape everything you do in life.
Your beliefs determine your behavior and your behavior determines what you become. So the kind of person you are, is based on the things you’ve chosen to value. In other words, your convictions in life, determine your conduct and your conduct determines your character.
If you want to build a lasting life of success and significance, you must build it on lasting values.
Luke 12:13-15 from the living Bible, has this to say, “Then someone called from the crowd, “Sir please tell my brother to divide my father’s estate with me”. But Jesus replied, “man, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that? Beware! Don’t always be wishing for what you don’t have, for real life and real living are not related to how rich we are”.
In my book entitled “Discovering what is really important in life” I wrote about King Solomon who experienced wealth, power, honour, fame and sensual pleasure, all in great abundance, in fact he saw earthly life at its best, yet they added up in the end to emptiness and disillusionment. Solomon’s primary purpose in writing the book of Ecclesiastes may have been to share his regrets and first hand testimony with others before he died, so they will not make the same mistakes he made. Solomon established forever the utter futility of basing one’s values in life on earthly possessions and personal ambitions.
One of the greatest tragedies of our time is that many God’s people do not understand what God values and what are His top priorities.
It is my conviction that the single most important factor responsible for our miseries, emptiness and shadow chasing either as individuals, the church or as a nation is our distorted sense of values and misplaced priorities. We must learn to put the values of the mind and spirit before all else. Any individual or Nation that places more emphasis on materialism is toying with disaster.
As Daniel Webster puts it “If we work upon marbles, it will perish, if we work upon brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work upon men’s immortal minds; if we imbue them with high principles, with the just fear of God and the love of their fellow men, we engrave on those tablets something which no time can efface and which will brighten to all eternity.”
Today, our country gropes in the dark, looking for a new dawn. The church is expected to play a prominent role in her rebirth, reformation and reconstruction through a re-definition of the nation’s morality, code of conduct and discipline. These are achievable if the church places greater emphasis on sound Biblical teachings and values.
The Church therefore, carries a sacred burden to return our society to the path of sanity, discipline and total submission to the will of God. The Bible says that, “righteousness exalts a nation…”. The result of unrighteousness includes poverty and want in the midst of plenty. From one of the richest nations in the world a few decades ago, our country has dropped to one of the poorest nations in the world.
We must therefore, strive to make the fear of God and righteousness the foundation upon which this nation is built if we expect to see a turn-around in the fortunes of our beloved nation. One of the greatest hindrances to the manifestation of God’s glory in the church and in our Nation today is a new generation of “Christians” I call “The Esau Generation”.
Heb 12:16-17 TLB
“16 Watch out that no one becomes involved in sexual sin or becomes careless about God as Esau did: he traded his rights as the oldest son for a single meal.
17 And afterwards, when he wanted those rights back again, it was too late, even though he wept bitter tears of repentance. So remember, and be careful.
Just as Esau did not mind selling his birthright for a single meal, these new Generation of “Christians” don’t mind if you take their bible from them so far you give them food, money, political appointment etc. It does not matter to them if you spit on the face of Christ, slaughter His children, destroy God’s church, or practice all manner of injustice.
My dear servants of God, Brothers and sisters, unless there is an emergence of men and women whose commitment to Christ is total and their allegiance unquestionable, the church will continue to be ridiculed by the world and the name of our blessed God will continue to suffer shame.
In Pastor E. A. Abeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church “Open Heaven daily devotional” of Saturday 23rd of June 2018 titled “Defiance is Allowed” he stated, “If at the expense of standing up for God, you melt in the face of threats to your life, comfort or career, you cannot call yourself a Christian. Are you in a situation where you are compromising on the truth? Are you falsifying records in your office or business to make more money? Are you collecting bribes before you do your work? Are you covering up for corrupt colleagues or friends? If you find yourself in such circumstances, you need to search deep within your heart and choose whom you will serve today. Serving God means every moment of your day, every action that you take and every utterance that you make are viewed as service to Him”.
Dare to be a Daniel, a Joseph or Esther. In any position you find yourself, stand up for Jesus.
Refer to: – The negative role of film makers (Appeal to them to show restraint). And call on regulatory agencies to take their work seriously.
– Erosion of values.
It is my recommendation that the church should tackle the moral cancer of our nation by refocusing the thrust of our preaching and teaching back to sound biblical values and principles. Part of our strategy should be:
a. To encourage a balanced and holistic approach to the preaching, teaching and interpretation of the word of God.
b. Every Christian leader should endeavor to live exemplary lives. People will take our preaching/teaching more serious when they see that we live by what we preach.
c. To encourage all Christian denominations to return to sound biblical discipleship of their members. This invariably will lead Christians to be examples of what we preach and teach, and for them to carry on this crusade to the larger society; and finally,
d. We recognize that the nature of this moral cancer is spiritual and therefore, we will back our crusade with intense devotion and prayers.
IN CONCLUSION, THERE ARE AT LEAST THREE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS I BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL ASK YOU AT THE END OF YOUR LIFE ON EARTH:
1. What did you do with my son Jesus Christ?
He died to save you from your sins and give you eternal life; did you surrender your life to him and receive Him as your Saviour and Lord?
2. As one who benefited from my death on the cross for you, did you live for me or for yourself? 2Corintians 5:15 says: He died for all so that all who live-having received eternal life from him-might live no longer for themselves, to please themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them. (LB)
3. What did you do with all that I gave you?
All the gifts, talents, money, positions, privileges that God gave you. He gave to you to use them to serve Him and serve humanity. How are you using them presently?
LET US PRAY.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’][/author_image] [author_info]REV. (DR.) WILLIAM OKOYE GENERAL OVERSEER ALL CHRISTIANS FELLOWSHIP MISSION ABUJA, NIGERIA
