THE BATTLE TO PROGRESS

Luk 15:17  And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 

The simplest thing for anybody is to say “I will arise” and then he arose.

If we think in that direction, then we are not realistic

Why Is It That We Cannot Easily ARISE?

There is an enemy that loves to keep us under bondage.

Success, progress and victories are not got on silver platter, you must fight for them.

Nobody had ever been successful accidentally.

To have progress in life, you will work on and fight the greatest enemy that is you, yourself.

You Will Fight And Work On These Areas

1. Your limited vision
2. Your stubbornness
3. Your laziness
4. Your inability to change
5. Your desire to copy or be like others
6. Your desire to do things your own ways
7. Your inability to recognize Jesus as the Lord of ALL
8. The fear of ridicule
9. The fear that people can misunderstand you
10. The desire to please man and not God.

These and many others had to be handled fully before we can progress or succeed in life.

We shall see some cases to be able to understand this important point.

1. JOSEPH – Satan used Joseph’s brothers to keep him out of Gods plan for his life and when he realized that he was losing, he engaged the wife of Potiphar.

Genesis 37:19  And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. 20  Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

Joseph’s brothers were so sure that they could quench the visions of Joseph. As you are planning to ARISE, the enemies might be planning how to put out the light of your vision so that it never happens.

• ISRAEL IN EGYPT Exodus 1:10  Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

Pharaoh had his grip on them and he would like to ruin all of them.

Exodus 5:2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

The Israelites did not want to continue as slaves but the enemy, Pharaoh would not allow them to go, he feared no one.

• ISRAELITES Judges 6:3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; 4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. 5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. 6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.

The enemies made sure there was no breathing space for the Israelites and how can they plan to PROGRESS?

• ISRAELITES AT SAMUELS’S TIME 1 Samuel 7:3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

The Philistines would not even allow the Israelites to worship their God. How could they think that they can ARISE?

• HEROD TO KILL BABY JESUS – Matthew 2:13  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

For Herod, he thought all things were possible for him and he did not know that there was and is a God that has overruling power over all things.

• SOME HUSBANDS have kept their wives under so that it is not easy to determine and carry out their determinations.

The enemies are in different levels and they also work in a web because there is a sinister coordinator that is directing the affairs

As we look at the parable of the prodigal son, there were many hindrances on the way for him. Some of them are-

1. The friends he left behind would laugh at him if they saw him as a servant and not a son.
2. The servants in the farm of the father would laugh at him and ridicule him that they have become the same.
3. Those who warned him not to take that useless decision at that time would laugh at him and ridicule him and say, did we not warn you?
4. The suspected treatment from his father and his senior brother was also there waiting for him.

In all these cases, he said, “I will ARISE” and HE AROSE.

If you are looking at the situations around you will not decide to ARISE.

If you are envisaging what the people will say, you will not ARISE.

If you are not humble to be ready to face anything, you cannot say I WILL ARISE.

As we have seen different cases in the bible, we can now understand our own case.

1. Are there some idolatrous powers waging war against you so that you cannot ARISE?
2. Are there some things to show to you that there are some powers that had been working against your family members and that they are also working on you?
3. Are there some curses either on you or from the family that are working against you?
4. Are you having some powerful leader, husband or father that will not allow you to ARISE?
5. Have you empowered some anti-success practices like laziness that will stand against you like a terrible giant?
6. Is your mind so closed that you cannot easily think of how to ARISE?
7. Have you accepted your situation as God’s plan for your life?

God as the great manufacturer does not produce fake or inferior products. So, you are not a fake, or inferior product, you are the real original product

 – Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Apart from that, God has plan of victory and success for everybody

 – Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BEFORE YOU CAN ARISE

1. You must know who you are
2. Are you in Christ or outside of Christ?
3. You must be fed up on the type of life you are living now.
4. You must agree with God and go along with Him
5. Confess the right things
6. Take constructive moves and actually ARISE.