Living an Exceptional Life Through Gratitude and Friendship

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The Christ that walked on the surface of the earth is not the same one that resurrected. The one who walked on the surface of the earth was eating food, he was eating heba, he was eating amala, whatever food was there. The one who walked on the surface of the earth actually died, but the resurrected Christ cannot die.

I believe many people do not live their lives to their fullest. In fact, unfortunately for many people, I think 90 to 95 percent of the people on earth do not live life to the fullest, to the opportunities that God has given to them. [00:04:52]

God did not make you to do life alone. None of us was created to do life alone. In fact, if you look at it critically well, when God saw man that man was alone, what is God saying? That it wasn't good. It wasn't good for man to be alone. [00:08:14]

One of the greatest epidemics in our generation today, more than the epidemic of cancer, is an epidemic of loneliness. Men are lonely. If I see someone with five thousand friends on Facebook, if he has a problem, who can he share it with? There'll be no one. [00:08:45]

Men are looking for likes instead of living for love. Many people have many likes as their friend, but they do not have anything to love. [00:09:16]

When God created man, God did not create man for heaven. God created man for the earth. Why did God create man for the earth? God gave man the earth. God did not give man heaven. God gave man the earth. Therefore, there is nothing on earth that God wants to do, he needs a man to do it. [00:10:06]

If you think that it's only church that can answer all the questions, you will not be able to explain why someone like an Elon Musk is the wealthiest man and probably the most spiritual man in your village probably has nothing to show for it. I am not downplaying spirituality. In fact, I'm going to overplay it today. But I'm only just telling you that God did certain things in the Bible in certain ways. [00:12:50]

You will stop accepting being an ordinary person in life. What did I say? You will stop accepting being what? Ordinary life. You will go for the most exceptional living life. The exceptional life that can be possible. Look, every one of us has one attempt at life. Only one. Only one. And we must give it our best. [00:13:29]

I want everyone to become an exceptional person. I don't want mediocre. I want everyone to live their lives to the fullest of the potentials that God has given to them. I hate to see a G-wagon running like a motorcycle or like a bicycle. Have you seen it's not error if you see a bicycle overtaking a G-wagon on the expressway? It's not error. Bicycle that is using energy will overtake G-wagon, brand new G-wagon, but many men do not leave their potentials. [00:17:22]

There's a principle in life I call it the principle of honor. If any man honors God, God will honor him. [00:20:03]

If God wants to bless a man, God will give him a friend. If Satan wants to destroy a man, Satan will give him a friend. I want you to fight for godly friends. [00:22:21]

We are made for friendship and we are also made by our friendship. You get what I said? We are made for what? Friendship. We are also made by our friendship. The kind of friends you are, who you have, will make you. [00:23:24]

Jonathan was the prince, the son of the king. Jonathan knew he was supposed to be the next king, but he knew also and Saul knew that God had not ordained him to be king, he had ordained David to be king. So in First Samuel chapter 18 from verse 24, Jonathan in understanding that entered into a covenant with David, said David when you are king you will support me. Jonathan did not look at the fact that his own ambition was going to be cancelled, he looked at what God was about to do. [00:24:13]

The reason why the church used to be so powerful, it's not because maybe pastor was praying harder, was because there was a community of believers who live for one another. In Acts chapter 5 they all live one. In fact, the truth about it, if we get that back, if anybody tries to break it, God will kill the person. People were living, the Bible says that no one had lack in the church because everybody was friendly, nobody was selfish, everybody brought it forward. [00:28:31]

Friendship in this world, friendship is about convenience, but in the world that God is calling us to, it's not about convenience, it's about the commitment and the covenant. [00:30:00]

A friend is someone who knows all that you have done and still likes you. It doesn't accept all you have done, but he knows it. [00:31:11]

There's a price for greatness. There's a price in which everybody will have to leave you and you alone. There's a price in which your vision, your dream, even you cannot see it, or your friend will say don't give up, stay the course. The battle may be there. [00:31:55]

Fighting for your friends is an expression of the sacrifice of this, of the sacrificial love of Christ. Praise the Lord. Jonathan fought for David. Jonathan fought for what? For David. Can you fight for anyone in life? [00:34:28]

Friendship is costly, but please let us have friends that can let, I want you to pay costly prices for your friends. And the Bible also tells me that if you have too many friends you will go into poverty, because the truth is that you cannot, you cannot keep many friends but you can keep one or two friends. [00:37:06]

Friends are not meant to be envied, they're not meant to be what? Envied. Friends are meant to be what? Empowered. They're not meant to be envy, they're meant to be what? Empowered. [00:39:19]

I want you to encourage, look, look, when I was ending, what I was thinking about this service, I was just saying to myself, I said, I don't know which one to talk about, that you should look for a friend or you should be a friend to someone. I said okay, you know what, there's someone that, there's something that you have the power over that you may not have, I mean, I may have a big look for a friend or until God gives me that friend, I mean, I have no power to get that friend, but you can be that person to someone. I said look, you know what, I choose out of all the multitude of likes that I have on Facebook, let me choose one or two people, this will be their friend and I'll decide to pour into them, I will decide to be selfless to them, I'll pay a costly price for them, I would encourage them, I'll be like Jonathan to them, I would enable them to fulfill their life dreams, I'll be a source of encouragement to them, I'll be a source of empowerment to them. [00:41:20]

The one of the highest title God can ever give a man is to call him a friend of God. God told Abraham, Abraham would I hide from Abraham 18 when he wanted to destroy Sodom, he said would I hide from you what I want to do for against them? He said no, I will not hide because I am, I'm, what do you call it, you are my friend. [00:44:20]

Jesus said in John chapter 15, he said I've no more called you servants but I've called you friends. If friends know what if a guy is doing, I will tell you, I will show you all the things my father is about to do. [00:44:49]

Jesus says he wants to be your friend. He wants to reveal the father's heart to you. He wants to tell you what the father is thinking about your future, about your marriage. Look, if you choose God as your friend, he will tell you about the relationship you want to enter, he will tell you about the potholes, he will tell you about the difficulty, he will tell you everything, he will show you, he will reveal it to you. That's what friends do. Friends reveal. Friends reveal the thoughts of the father. [00:47:44]

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