Messages of Grace

Sunday 1, January 2017

Bible Passage(s): 2 Kings 7: 1 – 20

Memory Verse: “Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.” 2 Kings 7:9

The year 2017 is our year of Good News! It is a year in which we will go beyond our borders to obtain and gain access to our abundance and breakthrough. For many years, you have been tied down, like a goat to a stake, not able to go beyond the length of the rope with which you were tied down. This year you will receive good news and you will break free and enter into your abundance!

The people of Samaria shut themselves inside the walls of their city.

They sealed their gates, ostensibly to prevent the Syrians from gaining access into their city to destroy and take them hostage. However, unwittingly, they closed themselves in, not able to know what is going on outside their walls. They were thus limited only to the internal, unable to see beyond the walls of their city. They could not see what God is doing on the external, beyond their borders. But, thank God for the four leprous men who were at the entrance of the gate.

They ventured to get out of their comfort zone and dared to go to the camp of the Syrians. Note that these leprous men have been consigned to life outside the gates of the city. They are not worthy of living within the walls among the people of the community. They are the ones living on the external. Having gone out of their comfort zone, they were able to cast their gaze beyond the walls of their limitations to see what God had already prepared for the Samaritans in the camp of the Syrians. In so doing, God used the inconsequential to bring the good news of great abundance that He had made ready for the Samaritans beyond their gates of restriction.

What is your gate of restriction? This New Year, God is going to use the uncommon, those things that you see as unimportant and mundane, to bring you news of the great release and breakthrough that He has prepared for you. They will lead you out of your limitations, imposed either by you or by circumstances you consider beyond your control, to take possession of them all in Jesus mighty name.

On a personal and corporate level, this year, you will receive good news of the great provisions that have been made ready for you beyond your borders and you will take possession of them. The Lord will bring men and women to you, who will announce the good news of your release and abundance. They will lead you to take possession of them all! Not men or women you were looking up to in the past (the kings of the Hittites and kings of the Egyptians – verse 6), but those that you least expect. God is going to take the glory for Himself alone.

So in this New Year, prepare to go out of your comfort zone. Break free of the chains holding you hostage to one spot and go beyond your borders! Launch out into the deep at the command of the Lord and make great and incredible catch, to the extent that you will not be able to cope with the abundance of your catch! You will call out to men to lend you a helping hand to bring in the abundance and breakthrough that the Lord has ordained for you in the Year 2017 – your year of Good News.

Nigeria, this is your year of Good News. What has been insufficient and inadequate thus far will become more than enough and a common thing in your land. Nigeria, this is your year of Good Tidings! The Lord will cause those who are considered the common people of the world to bring you news of great joy and abundance and you will enter into it in Jesus name. They will come from where or who you least expect. Nigeria, joy, peace and rejoicing shall fill your streets once again.

For our world, this is the year of freedom from limitations imposed by terror and religious extremism. The Lord will cause tidings of great joy to emerge from quarters we least expect and sorrow and sighing shall flee away in Jesus name. This is the year of a quantum leap forward, of incredible breakthrough in the peace process and great and mighty discoveries that will change the course of human history and progress.

May the Lord bless and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace, now and forevermore. Amen. Have a wonderful month and a good year.

Prayer Points
1. Look back over the year 2016 and recount all that the Lord accomplished in your life. Despite all that you passed through, the Lord brought you through unscathed into Year 2017. Give praises and thanksgiving unto Him. For He is good and His mercy endures forever.

2. Make it a duty, every day of the Year 2017, to praise the Lord for who He is and what He is to you. Worship Him with songs of praises and thanksgiving for your good news is at the door.

3. Pray and ask the Lord to break you free from the stakes that are holding you hostage to one spot, not allowing you to get out of your comfort zone. Is it fear of the unknown, ask the Lord to banish all your fears and grant you courage and boldness to break free and get out!

4. Ask the Lord to bring to you your helpers of destiny. Those He has ordained to bring you the Good News of the abundant provisions that He has prepared for you this year. Come against the Prince of Persia and any form of delay that may want to prolong the fulfilment of this Word in your life.

5. Pray, O Lord, let the joy of a good harvest, peace like a flowing river and rejoicing of a new birth fill the streets and cities of nations of the world this year in Jesus mighty name.