Two more lessons as we conclude our sharings this year.

#HumbleBeginnings will not lead to the desired end if your motive is to announce yourself.
David did not fight Goliath to show himself, he did because he couldn't bear a pagan, insulting The LORD.
If your motive is God alone, greatness is within reach.

The path to greatness may not turn out to be the greatest way available.
When David was to fight Goliath, he was offered the armour of Saul, couldn't he have been offered that of Joab, or Jonathan?
The Armour of an earthly king brings setbacks, but the knowledge of God propels unto greatness.

The young man who said of Jesus Christ  "Can anything good, come out from Nazareth?" later referred to Him as Rabbi, and King.

Remember, every tree begins as a little seed.

May the LORD bless you, and sustain you on your days of #HumbleBeginnings.

The LORD sparing us, we shall return on #ChristmasStories17 to explore the theme of #DivineVisitation.
Keep us in your prayers.
We're praying for you too.

Thanks for being part of the edition this year.

Remember the lessons.
Grace always

Your friends,
At the Godly Ideas.

David was an extra-miler.
If not, why would he jeopardize his life by pursuing lions and bears because they came to pick his father's lambs?

Faithfulness is the highlight here.

Would you keep working well if no one is watching, or planning to reward you handsomely?

God knew indeed that David had passed the test of his #HumbleBeginnings. Therefore we have this account.

"He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands." Psalms 78:70-72

We chose to include verse 72 because "God uses the days of #HumbleBeginnings to prepare us for the throne."

Faithfulness is God's voucher of payment and promotion.
How faithful are you?

We're gradually approaching the end of #ChristmasStories16
Sure it's been great blessing.
Good evening.

"And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither." 1 Samuel 16:11

"Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep." 1 Samuel 16:19

"But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 1 Samuel 17:15

Do you notice from these Scriptural references that David never used his #HumbleBeginnings as an excuse to be lazy. Rather, he always had something doing.

Simply put, God doesn't employ lazy men.

It is again pivotal to gather information in the days of lowly beginning.
On arriving the valley of Elah, David sought to know what was happening.

In other words, he was updating himself.

It's not everyone with #HumbleBeginnings who will last into greatness.
These principles are expedient.

Enjoy the day, we shall return later to press further.

Good afternoon.

We ought, also to know that days of #HumbleBeginnings are days when we must add value to ourselves.

Everyone is busy, but we must not be too busy to add values to yourself.

David was not introduced to the palace because Jesse was an influential chief, or because he was the last born child of a poor family.


It wasn't 'nigga', a special haircut or an imported accent, neither.
What introduced him to the palace was this:

One of the young men spoke up, "I know someone. I've seen him myself: the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, an excellent musician. He's also courageous, of age, well-spoken, and good-looking. And God is with him." 
1 Samuel 16:18 Message Bible.

First, he played the harp, and was skillful.
Then he built up courage.

But most importantly, secure God in the days of #HumbleBeginnings.
Any musician can be skillful, but there's immeasurable difference, if God is with you.

May The LORD grant you space to add the right values, and even more Grace to walk with Him.

We shall return later in the day to continue on #ChristmasStories16

Good morning.

Tonight we shall begin to pursue our responses and responsibilities in the days of #HumbleBeginnings

Beloved, days of #HumbleBeginnings may involve running errands with the anointing.

I was surprised that even though David was anointed in the midst of his brothers, he was still chosen to run errands.

Given that his first three brothers were on the battlefront, what about Nethaneel, Raddai and Ozem his other brothers?

But you see dear friends, regardless of your prospects, be humble enough to run errands.

God has a way of orchestrating breakthrough using such means.

Again, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and we ask to LORD to confirm the lessons of the season in you.

It's still #ChristmasStories16.

Good evening.

Do you also know, that Days of #HumbleBeginnings could be days when men 'size you up' according to their statistics, and conclude that you're of no value.

Look at this:
"Master," said David, "don't give up hope. I'm ready to go and fight this Philistine."
Saul answered David, "You can't go and fight this Philistine. *You're too young and inexperienced—and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."*

That's 1 Samuel 17:32-33 MSG Bible.

According to statistics, David was just too insignificant to matter.

But I ask, what about all of the Israeli Army. What have they been able to do?

We shall return on #ChristmasStories16 later in the day, to look into our response, and responsibilities.

We do wish you an amazing season, of unforgettable positives.

Compliments,
Happy Sunday.

Have you ever been misunderstood because of your position, or lowly office?

I do remember that when David got to the valley of Elah, his brothers concluded that he was too insignificant to be relevant in the fight against Goliath.

You remember, how in 1 Samuel 17:26-28, Eliab misunderstood his intentions of trying to help.
If David were a general in the Israeli Army, would Eliab have asked him to keep quiet?

Yet, God gave victory to the nation, through this unknown young lad.

Where an army couldn't succeed, a boy became Victor.

#HumbleBeginnings definitely has its share of unfair circumstances, but all things are working together, to result in your increase.

A quote from the post

May The LORD encourage you, in the days of your lowly beginning.

It's still #ChristmasStories16

Compliments.
Good evening

The biggest things around didn't begin that big.
The largest mansions began with a piece of brick.

Whether giant or dwarf, biology teaches that we all began as a cell.
Even the biggest of trees grew from a hidden seed.

Imagine how easy it would have been, for Herod to locate Jesus, had He been born in a mega teaching hospital?

#HumbleBeginnings may display a tiny start, but definitely not an insignificant end.

We shall return later, to look at our experiences that may denote #HumbleBeginnings.

Welcome to #ChristmasStories16
Blessings, and peace.

Compliments

#ChristmasStories16
The Burden.

About six years ago, as I listened to Pastor E.A Adeboye, he made a statement before he began his teaching, that is of great importance as we pursue #HumbleBeginnings this year.

He said *"Anything that starts too big is only likely to decrease."*
That struck me well.

So when we came to know that our focus text this year shall be
Micah  5:2

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

We tagged it #HumbleBeginnings.

Our LORD'S path to glory began in the lowly manger.
And maybe we may be right to think that shepherds took his delivery.

A small beginning doesn't mean an insignificant end, if indeed God is with us.

Our sharings shall border around David, the young shepherd boy, who God made king o'er His people.

May The LORD teach us, grant understanding, and send us special, specific, and definite words.

Do feel free to share, without request for permission.

The LORD bless you.

So we see tomorrow.
Good evening.

2017 is in few days,
Let's take a moment to reflect,
If God remove His mercy from his dealings with us, with the way we live our lives in 2016, can we make it to 2017?

Let's draw out two inferences from here.
* Only His mercy could have kept us this far, so we ought to thank Him for his grace and mercy, despite Economic recession, we never experience price hike on his mercy.

*  Much more than anything, God have much interest in our lives. Romans 12:1 says "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."(NKJV). Then shouldn't we live a holy life? Of course, we should. We ought not to misuse the grace given, for the grace is not to sin more but to help us live without sin. Titus 2:11-12 gives us a detailed explanation. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions..." (NIV)

2016 is going in few days,
2017 is coming in few days,
But much more than anything, He desired our lives.
Let's resolve to live a holy life in 2017 and it's well with us.

Abayomi Adeoye

You are weak?
Lean on me
You are poor?
Lean on me
Lonely and rejected?
Lean on me
You are not loved?
Lean on me
You can't go on?
Lean on me
You are afraid?
Lean on me
In everything you are going through,  I can hear Christ saying "my grace will be sufficient for you".
 2 Corinthians 12:9
 All you have to do is "LEAN ON ME"

Abayomi Adeoye