The Way to Greatness: Unveiling the Undeniable Impact of Sacrificial Obedience

PREFACE

When I was still a child couple of years ago, in a children’s Sunday school class, our teacher taught us about Isaac the only son of Abraham, who was an adolescent, and was demanded for sacrifice by God from his father (Abraham). And he (Isaac) was so humble and willing to go and present himself unto God to be sacrificed by his father to God as his burnt offering, laying him down on the wood before the altar of covenant. We all know that, Abraham had Isaac at a very old age of about one hundred years and Sarah his wife was about ninety, and considering that as a fact, under normal circumstance becomes very difficult for such a demand to be met. If not for the Spirit’s enablement what I call Holy Ghost’s Aide. Now after some wide expressions and teachings on the story of Isaac and his father Abraham according to the Bible, she (Our teacher) asked us if any of us could be as obedient as Isaac to his father, to the extent of allowing him to lay hands on him and tying him down to be sacrificed as a burnt offering to God?

Taking a wide range of thoughts on this issue, Isaac could have if he wanted to; over powered his father and ran away, after all Abraham was already old, and can an old man of his age withstand the power of Youthfulness that was inherent in Isaac? Of course capital NO! That was why I said initially, that it only takes the Holy Ghost’s Aide for such kind of demand to be met because both parties had to be in the Spirit before they could agree to lay down something more than precious to them for God. What they wanted to lay down was so precious, in the sense that, Abraham needed an heir to his throne so as to take over his mantle of leadership otherwise, his name would be wiped off forever on the earth without an offspring to enjoy his wealth and take over his responsibility when he finally joins his ancestors; considering the fact that God gave him a lot of blessings that he had no room enough to contain them and what a waste all that would have been for him if he ended up slaughtering the only heir to his throne.

The same thing applies to Isaac, because he needed those wealth and riches of his father. So much that he couldn’t have just afford with human thinking to lose all and just die like that.

What a trial of faith that was for both the father and the son. Well in our response to our teacher’s question, we all echoed NO! And this should be the right answer for anybody that wants to be sincere to him or herself at that point in time. One thing about me then was that I loved my parents so much and respect them a lot and even up to date they know that I still do. So I boasted of my loyalty to my parents, I started contemplating on the question over and over again, and began to consider within me saying; you know you love your dad so much, if he was to ask you for such favor or similar to it, wouldn’t you do it for him? Trying to be a smart kid (As my nature always was), I said I can, if Isaac could; And this have been my attitude or nature from child hood: there is nothing I see as impossible to me because I often think that if somebody could have done it then why can’t I ? But the truth in me remained that, considering how difficult the thought of such could be; there is no possibility of such to me that I should submit myself to be slaughtered as a burnt offering for sacrifice. ``That’s putting myself in the shoes of Isaac `` remember? I knew I was just trying to be a smart kid when I said I could have done it too. Let me also throw this rhetoric question to you my cherished reader! If you were to be Abraham would you have obeyed the mandate of God to offer up not just your one, but only son or the only thing you have for a sacrifice unto the Lord your God? Or better still, if you were to be Isaac as a son, would you have laid down your life to your father just for him to kill and therefore have you burnt up as an offering to God? Wouldn’t you have said unto him while trying to bind you up on the altar; Dad, are you crazy? Are you ok Dad? Have you gone Bananas? What sort of devil has possessed you Dad?

Do you realize what you are trying to do, Dad? And even release some Holy Ghost fire on him, (for the fire brand – Christian)? But despite been tied, Isaac was said to be so co-operative with his father according to the scriptures, so co-operative that even though, he was going to be the sacrificial lamb without his early – knowledge of it he was the one that bore the wood and went together with his father to the place of mission accomplishment (Mount Moriah) genesis 22:3 & 6-1. That sacrifice would not have been peaceful nor acceptable had Isaac not played by the rules. My prayer is this: that by the time you would be true devouring the context and total content of this book, there will be such an impartial and incorruptible kind of obedience unto God and unto man when necessary, found in you and after words you shall blossom, glow, radiate and shine for the light has come and the Glory of God is risen upon you in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen. After revealing many secrets to you on how to make life more meaningful by just playing by the rules, you will have innumerable testimonies to back up your knowledge, just follow me carefully and closely enough as we set the ball rolling.

You know a man cannot live according to plans except his mind plays along with the plans, Zig Ziglar said so many years ago. Therefore I would like you to open up your mind and download the mysteries of the word of God into you in other for the plans which I have towards you after you finish this book to be of a great and efficiently commendable result in your family, business, marriage and above all, your Christian race, life and faith. You know Abraham became the father of faith by simply doing what God bade him, By faith Abraham, when he was called to go into a place which he should later receive as an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out not knowing where he was going, By faith his journey in the land of promise, as in a strange country dwelling in tabernacle with Isaac…. (Hebrews 11:8-9 KJV). In this scripture reference, I want you to mark the word ``OBEYED``, Abraham like we know by the scripture, was asked by God to leave his place of current comfort to another land in which he was going to be uncomfortable, unhappy and probably unwelcome as a stranger, after which if he obeys and plays by the rules, will be given unto him freely as an inheritance forever and thank God he obeyed according to Hebrew’s 11:8, And he obeyed…… If you read the book of Hebrews which just stands as a confirmation of the real story and go to the main scripture of that story, you will find many more interesting confirmations of God to Abraham’s obedience.

Now the LORD had said to Abraham. Get out of your country, leave your kindred, and depart from the house of your father entirely and start going into a land you know nothing about nor have heard of it before but I the LORD will show you where it is and how to get there. And if you obey me by leaving your country and father’s house as I commanded you, fine and good then this and many more blessings will I pour out on you from heaven in abundance; And I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee, and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse those that curse thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be BLESSED. (Gen. 12:1-3 KJV.). What a fantastic Mouth – watering, flamboyantly attractive offer from the most high himself to mankind. You will now agree with me that we all have tremendous and very great plans of God over our lives, which will not manifest until we play by his rules and laid down principles. Remember Zig Ziglar said and I agree; with Him, except a man play by the rules in a laid down plan he can never live according to plans on him. Therefore it becomes unanimously clear, that except you position your mind towards Him who have called you out of darkness into the everlasting light of His son Jesus, you will agree with me that nothing can ever be achieved on you as He had planned – Remember this; for I know my thoughts towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. (Jer.29:11). The whole promises of greatness, excellence, fame, richness, honor, dominion, increase, abundance and fruitfulness until the end of his journey, could not have come to a full actualization on Abraham’s life except he had obeyed and gone the way God bade him. He OBEYED, and he went out not knowing where he was going Hebrew 11:8. These and many more you will unveil in this package, and I pray that you grasp the mysteries so that they will grant you mastery in every field of your life’s endeavor. Watch out for the signs, follow the tracks, play by the rules and stay in line with the plans and just in a blink of an eye, you will find yourself mounting up with wings as eagles and ready to SOAR till you get to the crux of God’s purpose for your life and family.

Remain blessed as you dig.

CHAPTER 1

OBEDIENCE DEFINED

SACRIFICE

Obedience is known as simply the act of showing unquestioning, non-argumentative compliance to rules, regulations, laws, commands and / or demands as the case may be. This in other words, means total willingness, to carry out orders without any negligence, argument or inquisition. An obedient person is indisputateous and always eager to do as told or directed as far as it lyeth in his ability to do even beyond. Have you ever been asked to do something difficult and you look up and down, left and right but having no choice than to obey? What do you do in such events? Do you ignorantly refuse to do what should be done because of risk consideration or do you go ahead to do as you have been commanded your fear of risk not withstanding? Have this in mind, the things that happen to you does not matter or count but what you do with the things that happens to you determines what you get out of the circumstances of your life. In general and as a person with human spirit you have the ability, right and influence to determine the results you get. In my own experiences, there came a time at my very young age of the teenage that I got hooked up in an interdenominational ministry and then we had an unction to go into three consecutive days of dry fasting, I was still in Junior high school then, and I was even supposed to have some vital examinations to sit for my qualification into senior high school, which starts few weeks front after the fasting and prayers must have ended, but I was so obedient to that call and we left for the program, a brother’s house was our lodge and after the prayers, I came back home and my eldest brother in whose house I was residing then upbraided and chided me so much that I got provoked almost.

Asking if fasting and prayers would be my answer to the exam questions? But I was not worried about that though, because I knew that the meeting was so important for my spiritual benefit. So, I forfeited all the earthly benefits then and paid the price to win the crown of power that I wanted. Eventually, I read my books and went for the exams and in all, I came out very successful and the most important thing I want to bring to your knowledge from this personal experience is that, the camp meeting, being the first time of me fasting for three good days without water or anything to taste" was the major build up of my spiritual life today and that was when I became an endowed with Glory, fire brand Christian. Even till tomorrow, I owe my spiritual development and well–being to that event and it is unforgettable to me. So you see; God has a thing or the other he wants to give you or do for you but you must play by the rules of fulfillment before you can ever be fulfilled in your own field of play both in career and destiny’s pursuit. If you don’t enhance, make use of, and maintain the gift, talent or quality that God has invested in you, by obeying him to discover them through an active search, you will suffer the risk of dissipation in your career.

Sacrifice is the act of giving away / up something very valuable, to obtain something else for yourself or other people. In other words, anything connected to sacrifice is referred to as being sacrificial, now it does not really mean that you have to give yourself or somebody else to be used as a burnt offering before your obedience becomes sacrificial. It can also be in other forms, just as our definition says, you necessarily have to give up something useful to obtain another thing which considerably, is usually more glorious than the one you are giving out. Considering sacrificial obedience you discover or unveil that we are not just talking about obedience on its own accord but rather, we are discussing something very unique or dynamic. Something spectacular occurs or involves in our point of view and as such, it becomes something SPECTRAL because it no longer involves human ability but spiritual aide from above to be able to obey sacrificially. No wonder we are encouraged in the scriptures: Zachariah 4:6. Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts. And in the book of St. John’s gospel chapter 6:63. It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing (KJV). This entails that you cannot, irrespective of your Charismatic self esteem, do it on your own except you are empowered by the Holy Ghost (The Spirit of the living God Most High). Obviously speaking, it involves something spectral for someone to be sacrificially obedience in all manners or forms because; a spiritual direction or enablement is required for it to be enforceable.

We’ve got to be knowledgeable enough about the fact that obedience exists in various or different dimensions but the one that is corrosive is the one that requires sacrifices or payment of certain remarkable prices. If for example you send your child on an errand, like going to buy something from the next street or doing something and he does it according to your biding. That is just an ordinary obedience which is normal, because it’s mandatory that he should obey you as his parent(s). Therefore don’t see it as a big deal of accomplishment or as too much effort when the child carries out such duties of obedience; though, appreciate the child to enable him do more and love to do more for you. By the inexhaustible grace of God, I have being able to split obedience into two major proportions, and believe me honestly, this is not just a theory but an important aspect of the human life that governs as a principle the total existence of man.

TYPES OF OBEDIENCE

(i) HORIZONTAL OBEDIENCE

This is man to man obedience or better still man’s obedience to his fellow man. In other words; it is shown or enforced as a result of mandate. Though it also has a large involvement of difficulties in compliance to it but it is the easiest to be enforced and does not necessarily require spiritual or divine help to carry it out considering the fact that man is used to his fellow whom he sees here on earth compared to God in heaven who he cannot see until he gets to heaven. Friend, I’m not saying that you don’t need God, of course you and I know that there is nothing we can do on our own except God strengthens us; but rather, I’m only trying to bring out a point that certain things are natural and must be understood or comprehended the way they are. For instance, if you want to eat your meal, you already know how and when to because it is natural that we should eat as our system demands that. So, you aren’t going to start asking God to come and start spoon-feeding you when he has already given you the hand and mouth to do so.

Neither when you want to take your bath, do you go and call on God – Oh God please come and help me take my bath, No! You wouldn’t do that because he already makes you know how to go about it. that’s just by the way, like I said before, if a parent sends his child on an errand or give an instruction to the child, the child has no choice than to do as ordered because there is a mandate as to that regard that children should obey their parents in the Lord so that their days may be long and also knowing full well that the parents cannot give instructions or orders that are humanly impossible to implement the child should obey. Children’s obedience to their parents is very useful to illustrate horizontal obedience as the Bible says in the scripture. Children obey your parents in the LORD for this is right. Honor thy father and mother which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth. Ephesians 6:1-3 (KJV). This now makes it clear; that there’re no ways you can obey someone for whom you’ve got no honor.

The scripture says ``honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with promise``, what are the promises? You have the promise of long life, prosperous career or business achievements in the future, successful marriage, peace of mind-being rest assured that your parents are in a very good state of their mind over you, coverage of grace by the words of prayers and blessings they shower on you as a result of satisfaction with your attitude or approach towards them, and many more promises that follow the honor of parents eventually of a truth come to a fulfillment in your life time as a youth or as an adult. This should now make it known to you that many people are living hopeless, futureless, visionless and mediocrity life today because of the lack of good conscience from their parents towards them as a result of their Lackadaisical, Nonchalant, Impious and irreverent attitude towards them.

It might have been in the past but it works, if you were never respectful or obedient to your parents and any of them has eventually died without your reconciliation, well you live to pay the price of their grief towards you, no doubt about that. But do you know the good news I have for you today: He that is in Christ is a new creature, behold all things have been made new, for old things are passed away. Therefore I announce to you that the spells placed upon you by your parents because of your foolishness be broken and you set free in the name of Jesus Amen. For if the son of man shall set you free; then you shall have a total freedom indeed. (John 8:36). Let me also advice you, if you’re in conflict with your parents as a result of your rebellious impious and irreverent lifestyle towards them, please go back to them and plead for mercy and forgiveness before their wrath over your naughtiness destroys you and your endeavors in the future.

Look at the prodigal son for instance, he had more than one hundred reasons why he should never work as a swine keeper not to even think of attempting to eat of the pig’s meal; but scripture makes it clear to us that because he rebelled against the plans of his father upon his life disobeying the laid down rules that he should have followed, he became even worse than the pigs themselves. Let’s see the story I believe you are very familiar with it. A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the portion that falleth to me of the goods, and he divided unto him his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. (Luke 16:12-14 KJV). Look, let me tell you, no matter how much intelligent you think you are, there is no how you could have survived the tough and testing times as a child without adequate parental guidance or watch over you. Of course many youths, (male and female) say to their parents like the prodigal son did, look Dad, mum, let me tell you my mind, I am of age and fully fledged to know what is good for me so I’ve got to choose to live my life the way I want it, after all it’s my life, so let me be, and probably because they refuse to let you have your foolish way the way you think you should, because of the plans they have of a better tomorrow for you as a son or a daughter, you start to feel that they are becoming too intrusive and inquisitive about your private and probably unfruitful lifestyle.

You then finally, make up your mind to say ok! Maybe because I am still in their house-under their roof, that’s why they are treating me as though I am not mature or old enough to make my choices and take my decisions, well since that’s the case I will better live this house for good and find my way out of their house after all I’ve got many friends to hang out with, or you start to keep away from home by spending even the late hours of the day outside the house. Did I hear you say leave the house for good? No my dear, you’re not leaving that house for good, you know what? You are leaving the house to make the most regrettable record of regret in your life and also you are inviting a preposterous and completely incurring of damnation on yourself because it is through such nasty and unthoughtful decisions that many youths get into armed – robbery, drug trafficking and abuse, sexual immoralities due to influence of drugs, prostitution due to insatisfaction of money and sexual urge which in return leads to the occurrences and spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDS). Militancy, Terrorism, and many other crime related offences that you can think of or make mention of.

Pause a while and think about the events you see in the national news papers and maybe magazines, you will observe that the crime fighters, when they catch a group of criminal suspects; one, two, or three out of them all will always tell their story as being introduced to the group or the gang by a friend who was a member of the gang, and if they ask the friend, that he holds responsible, the same friend who brought him is also telling you that he too got into the crime through a friend’s invitation and before you know what all of them got into the crime through one friend or the other. And I keep asking myself, if they all got involved through friends who then are the founders of the gang? You find out that they have no founder but the gang eventually came into existence by the institute