ARTICLES ON PROMOTION
DATE: 6 January 2002
SPEAKER: Pastor Tayo Adeyemi
TITLE: Positioning yourself for promotion
Part I: The prerequisite for promotion
TEXT: Psalm 75:6,7
We live life on levels and experience it in stages. Hopefully, the level that you are today is higher than the level you were five years ago, (that is what is called progress). By the same token, you will be on a higher level in five years than the one you're on now. Success in life is when we can move up a given number of levels within a given period of time. Measurable progress in a reasonable amount of time.
Genesis 1:28 : "Be fruitful" means be productive, "multiply" means be progressive. There is built within everyone an innate desire to be productive and progressive. When either of them is hindered, frustration sets in. We are designed for progress; we are wired up for movement - physically, mentally, spiritually and socially.Luke 2:52
Something in us wants to go forward and move upward. Inside every one of us is a desire for promotion.
ULTIMATELY ALL PROMOTION COMES FROM GOD. John 3:27, Psalm 75:4-8
By the very nature of its definition, a person cannot promote himself or herself. To promote means to raise to a higher rank, status or degree.
"No power from the east nor from the west, no power from the wilderness can raise a man up " Psalm 75:6 [New English Bible].
Promotion does not come just because you want it or because you need it but it comes because you have fulfilled the criteria for promotion. In school, you don't advance to the next grade until you have passed the test at this grade.
NO PROMOTION COMES WITHOUT A TEST. The prerequisite for promotion is that you pass the test.
In the same token, God will require you to prove yourself at one level before you are released to go to the next. God does not promote you because you need it, He promotes you because you qualify. So, even though you cannot promote yourself, you can position yourself for promotion.
If you are lifted up to the next level without passing the test at this level, you become dangerous - dangerous to yourself and dangerous to others.
What would you do if you discovered that the plane you are on is going to be flown by a student pilot who dropped out of school? How about if you were about to be operated upon by a student who did not graduate from medical school?
We only entrust our lives to people who have passed the test, proved themselves and qualify to take our lives in their hands. By the same token, every time God promotes you people's lives are in your hands. And God must ensure that you are "USER FRIENDLY" before He unleashes you on an unsuspecting world.
Before you buy a car, it undergoes rigorous tests so that it will not disappoint you or, worse still, endanger your life. The tests help you to know that it is safe and reliable. The only way a manufacturer can guarantee something terrible will not happen, with the product you bought is because they have confirmed, from their rigorous tests that the product is safe. In the same way, God will test you before He releases you to the next level. Every level of promotion comes with it it's own measure of authority, influence and responsibility.
Luke 12: 48 - "…For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required, and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more" If at your current level you are influencing 100 people it means that you have the power to bless 100 people. But it also means you are potentially dangerous to 100 people. As your influence increases, so do your power to bless and your potential to be dangerous. Therefore, you have to pass a more stringent test before your influence increases.
SEVEN TRUTHS ABOUT TESTS1.Tests are not pleasant◦If students had a choice they would avoid the test part of the academic programme. But then, so would the teacher. Tests are stressful, strenuous and tough for everybody.
◦God is not a sadist - He does not enjoy seeing us go through difficult times.
◦Isaiah 63: 7 - 9 "…In all their afflictions, He was afflicted…"
◦Judges 10:16 "…His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel…"
Genesis 1:28 : "Be fruitful" means be productive, "multiply" means be progressive. There is built within everyone an innate desire to be productive and progressive. When either of them is hindered, frustration sets in. We are designed for progress; we are wired up for movement - physically, mentally, spiritually and socially.Luke 2:52
Something in us wants to go forward and move upward. Inside every one of us is a desire for promotion.
ULTIMATELY ALL PROMOTION COMES FROM GOD. John 3:27, Psalm 75:4-8
By the very nature of its definition, a person cannot promote himself or herself. To promote means to raise to a higher rank, status or degree.
"No power from the east nor from the west, no power from the wilderness can raise a man up " Psalm 75:6 [New English Bible].
Promotion does not come just because you want it or because you need it but it comes because you have fulfilled the criteria for promotion. In school, you don't advance to the next grade until you have passed the test at this grade.
NO PROMOTION COMES WITHOUT A TEST. The prerequisite for promotion is that you pass the test.
In the same token, God will require you to prove yourself at one level before you are released to go to the next. God does not promote you because you need it, He promotes you because you qualify. So, even though you cannot promote yourself, you can position yourself for promotion.
If you are lifted up to the next level without passing the test at this level, you become dangerous - dangerous to yourself and dangerous to others.
What would you do if you discovered that the plane you are on is going to be flown by a student pilot who dropped out of school? How about if you were about to be operated upon by a student who did not graduate from medical school?
We only entrust our lives to people who have passed the test, proved themselves and qualify to take our lives in their hands. By the same token, every time God promotes you people's lives are in your hands. And God must ensure that you are "USER FRIENDLY" before He unleashes you on an unsuspecting world.
Before you buy a car, it undergoes rigorous tests so that it will not disappoint you or, worse still, endanger your life. The tests help you to know that it is safe and reliable. The only way a manufacturer can guarantee something terrible will not happen, with the product you bought is because they have confirmed, from their rigorous tests that the product is safe. In the same way, God will test you before He releases you to the next level. Every level of promotion comes with it it's own measure of authority, influence and responsibility.
Luke 12: 48 - "…For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required, and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more" If at your current level you are influencing 100 people it means that you have the power to bless 100 people. But it also means you are potentially dangerous to 100 people. As your influence increases, so do your power to bless and your potential to be dangerous. Therefore, you have to pass a more stringent test before your influence increases.
SEVEN TRUTHS ABOUT TESTS1.Tests are not pleasant◦If students had a choice they would avoid the test part of the academic programme. But then, so would the teacher. Tests are stressful, strenuous and tough for everybody.
◦God is not a sadist - He does not enjoy seeing us go through difficult times.
◦Isaiah 63: 7 - 9 "…In all their afflictions, He was afflicted…"
◦Judges 10:16 "…His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel…"
2.Life tests are not pre-announcedContrary to tests in the academic or corporate world, nobody sends you a letter to tell you that you are about to be tested. In fact, a lot of people go through tests without knowing that they have just been through a test.
3.A test is not designed to teach you anythingYou don't learn anything from a test - the lesson has been taught before. The test is designed for you to demonstrate what you have learnt. Deuteronomy 8:2. A test reveals what is already in you.
4.A test is not the same as a temptationA test is designed to encourage you to demonstrate your strengths. A temptation is designed to entice you to demonstrate your weakness. Notice that both of them only bring out what is already in you.
Tests are from God and temptations are from the devil. James 1:13-17 The teacher is hoping you would pass. The tempter wants you to fail - he is looking for that faint possibility that you would slip up just so he can prove you are not that big a deal
If you claim to be strong, the devil will set out to prove that you are weak. If you say you are a patient person, the devil will look for that shred of evidence to prove that you are impatient.
5.A temptation can also be a testThe very same incident that the devil sets up to tempt you, God can use it to test you. God does not create hardship for you, but there are those times that He will not shield you from it.
And that can be good for you, because you can kill two birds with one stone. Overcome the temptation and pass the test at the same time.
6.When you fail a test, you usually will have to repeat itYou will not get promoted until you pass the test. This is why some incidents keep repeating themselves in our lives.
Remember IYAD, WYAD, YWAG, WYAG God is not in a hurry - He is the ancient of days, He is the eternal God - He is not growing older and time is not running our on Him. You on the other hand, don't have much time.
In school, if you get promoted when you did not pass the test at the previous grade, you will be terribly confused - you will drag the entire class back.
The higher up you go in life, the less the room for mistakes - just like a triangle. There are some mistakes you can afford to make when you are 20. If you make those mistakes at 40, they will cost you.
The higher up you go, the longer the way down, and the more disastrous the fall. Now, if you do not move to the next level when you should or within reasonable time, you start to become irrelevant.
7.No matter how hard a test is, it will be overSo the big deal is not that the test came or it went - but what you became as a result. In Matthew 7:24-27 - the storm came and the storm went. That was not the big deal, the real issue was that one house was standing and the other was not.
James 1:2-4 : "Consider it a sheer gift, friends when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that, under pressure, your faith - life is forced into the open and shows its true colours. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become a better person". [Message Bible]
Tests are supposed to make you a better person, they are supposed to become your stepping stone to promotion.
THIS IS WHY YOU MUST POSITION YOURSELF
James 1:2-4 : "Consider it a sheer gift, friends when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that, under pressure, your faith - life is forced into the open and shows its true colours. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become a better person". [Message Bible]
Tests are supposed to make you a better person, they are supposed to become your stepping stone to promotion.
THIS IS WHY YOU MUST POSITION YOURSELF
TO ORDER THIS MESSAGE ON AUDIO OR VIDEO TAPE, CALL 020 88 555 888 NOW.
No comments:
Post a Comment