The Journey to Greatness

By Adebayo Adeyokunnu

Greatness, on the other hand, means to be distinguished, excellent, eminent, outstanding, very important and that is what God has called you to be. He has called you to be distinguished, to be excellent, to be eminent and to be very important. As a child of God, you must not be average. You must excel in your chosen field. You must reach the pinnacle of your career.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483544205

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INDEX

INTRODUCTION

The Journey to Greatness. Journey means going from one place to another. It is like going on a trip, whereby you start going and keep on going until you get to your destination. Greatness, on the other hand, means to be distinguished, excellent, eminent, outstanding, very important and that is what God has called you to be. He has called you to be distinguished, to be excellent, to be eminent and to be very important. As a child of God, you must not be average. You must excel in your chosen field. You must reach the pinnacle of your career.

However, greatness is earned. It is not a gift. Also, the journey to greatness is a process. It starts gradually, and then you begin to ascend. So as you go through each chapter of this book, set your mind to achieve greatness. As you do so, the Almighty God will send divine assistance to you. Each chapter actually stands on its own, and after you read one chapter, it is recommended that you pray over the message before you proceed to the next one.

Chapter 1

The Need for a New Heart

in the Journey to Greatness

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 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 him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

[Genesis 12:1-3]

When God calls you, He calls you to greatness. Examples abound in the Bible to support this. He called the progenitor of our faith, Abraham, to greatness. God said: Abraham leave your people... I will make you to be a great nation, I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shall be a blessing and I will bless them that bless thee and will curse those that also curseth thee.

Abraham was great, Isaac was exceedingly great, and Joseph also became very very great. God is a great God, and He produces great children. You might have been programmed for failure, but I want you to purge your mind of such negativity because every child of God is entitled to greatness.

1.1 RENEWED HEART

There is the physical heart and the spiritual heart. The physical heart is as important as the spiritual heart. In fact, the physical heart is the center of life. It is the only organ that causes instant death when it fails. If for instance the liver fails, you may not die immediately but if you have heart failure, you will collapse immediately.

The heart weighs between seven and fifteen ounces, and the size is a little larger than the size of your fist. The average heart beats one hundred thousand times and pumps about two thousand gallons of blood each day. But at the age of seventy-five, your heart would have beaten almost three billion times. So your heart is very important. It functions as a pump that pushes blood to the organs, to the cells of your body. You cannot live without a beating heart. Hence, as the physical heart is important to the body, so also is the spiritual heart important to the soul.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

[Proverbs 4:23]

You must keep your heart with everything you can to make sure that it is right with God. The Bible says "as a man thinketh in his heart so he is." You are a product of your thoughts. The heart actually represents the true character of a man. For God to make you great, there is the need for a renewed heart. Many people are where they are today as a result of their hearts. If you find yourself in the same spot while your colleagues are progressing, you need to check your heart!

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

[Jeremiah 17: 9-10]

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

[Ezekiel 36:25-26]

Your attitude in life starts with the state of your heart. You cannot amount to anything great if your heart is not right with God. God looks at the state of your mind before He blesses, so that He will be sure that when He blesses you, you will not be selfish in helping other people. The extent to which you can go with God or your secular career depends on the state of your heart.

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.

[Acts 13:22]

There was a crisis in the nation of Israel. King Saul had been very disobedient to God, and God decided to replace him. His candidate was in the house of Jesse. In the First book of Samuel chapter sixteen, God told Samuel to go to the house of Jesse, for He has found a man (David) who has a perfect heart, from whose loins would come the Savior of the whole earth.

Unless your heart is circumcised and sanctified, God cannot commit much into your hands. God rejected David’s other brothers because of the state of their hearts.

Many Christians struggle with their Christian lives because their hearts are not circumcised. You need a renewed heart to fulfill your entire destiny.

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart and be no more stiff necked.

[Deuteronomy 10:16]

And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

[Deuteronomy 30:6]

When King David was about to die, he gave his son, Solomon specific instructions on the blueprint for success:

i. Serve God with a perfect heart – no hypocrisy

ii. Have a willing mind.

iii. Seek God.

And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

[1 Chronicles 28:9]

I enjoin you to take a cue from this blueprint and serve your God with no hypocrisy, and with a willing mind (you must not be compelled to serve God). For the Lord searcheth all hearts – not the face. King David was very blunt with his son. He said, "if you seek Him, He will be found of you." That is, if you seek God, He will draw close to you. But if you forsake Him, He will cast you aside. The question you should ask yourself is, Is my heart perfect with God or what is the state of my mind?

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

[Matthew 12:34-35]

You can know the state of the heart of a man by:

i. What he thinks

ii. What he says and

iii. What he does.

Therefore, going by the points above, you can determine what manner of person you are.

Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

[Matthew 15:17-22]

What defiles a man is the state of his mind. Simply put, your heart determines your destiny. You cannot go far in life if your heart is not right. Your heart matters to God because your motives, thoughts, actions and what you say come from the heart.

1.2 STEPS FOR A NEW HEART

i. You must desire a new heart .

In other words, you must be dissatisfied with your present condition. Examine yourself and determine if there is a possibility for your destiny to be truncated like that of King Saul or Samson. Develop a hunger and a burning desire for change.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

[Matthew 5:6]

It therefore follows that there must be a giant thirst. There must be a new longing for God at the expense of every other thing.

As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

[Psalm 42:1-2]

When last did you thirst for God? Some Christians thirst for the wrong things: party; home video; gossiping; backbiting; mundane, profane and ephemeral things; etc. A man’s spiritual problems and challenges are often rooted in his failure to examine his heart.

ii. There must be genuine repentance .

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

[2 Chronicles 7:14]