Travel guide for distinction candidates

I welcome you not only to a New Year, but also to a new decade. Happy New Year!!

One woman met me one day after Service as I was walking to the car with my wife. She was backing a child. I saw the worried look on her face and stopped to ask her what was wrong. She told us she was stranded. She lost her husband not too long ago and became destitute. She had to find her way from the South to Kano where her parents live and had to hitch a ride to Abuja. She no longer had a home in the South and could not get to a place of succor. She was stranded.

Life has left many people stranded. I have met several people who got halfway in their journey but could not continue. They ran out of supply. They ran out of energy. Some simply ran out of the will to continue. They can’t move backward they can’t move forward.

Some are stranded financially. Some are stranded spiritually. Others are stranded socially.

You lost your job and you are left stranded. The man that was supposed to marry you walked out and left you stranded. Witches and wizards have battled you to a stand still. But this year God will move you forward!

God spoke to Moses in Deuteronomy 2: 3, “Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.”

“It’s time to move forward.” Move forward spiritually, move forward financially.

How do you travel this year for maximum victory and impact?

1. Travel aimed—at a destination. The first thing that is vital for the success of a journey is destination. You must have a clear vision of what you want to achieve this year. The truth is we can have anything we desire in life. Earl Nightingale said that if man only knew that he could have anything he wanted he would set more goals. The truth is if we set more goals, we would achieve more things in life. If your vision is clear, you are assured that you will get there. The problem is we do not have a clear vision and set enough goals. We do not take the time to create the vision. Dream and dream big. Use your imagination. Thoughts become things. Your imagination becomes your image. Live in your dream as if you are already there. You must see yourself healed, blessed, delivered, married, in your mind. Your perception becomes your possessions.
2. Travel light—Purity positions you for the power of God. Hebrews 12:1(b) says, “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us…” Sin is a weight; drop every sin with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. The sin you do not drop will drop you from the race of destiny.
3. Travel equipped—astronauts carry their environment with them—with their Oxygen (O2), water, food, etc. Equipped to handle the normal and the abnormal, when it’s bright or dark. Planning is essential for success in the achievement of your goals. This is time to evaluate your performance in the outgoing year and prayerfully set goals for the coming year. Make changes where necessary. Most importantly draw up a plan for getting to where you want. Develop a plan of action. “Vision without plan is nothing more than a daydream.” No vision brings itself to pass. Make a list of everything you can think of that you will have to do to achieve each goal. As you think of new ideas, add them to your list until it is complete.
4. Travel determined (never to quit)—right attitude. You cannot have an ‘A’ performance with a ‘B’ attitude. To be distinguished, you must be prepared to do more than what is required or expected.
5. Travel connected—with the right crowd. It is not everyone following you that is for you. You cannot afford to travel with vision killers. You cannot afford to travel the fool. You cannot afford to travel with those who encourage you to disobey God. You cannot afford to travel with people who are jealous of you because of your God-given dream.
6. Travel guided—Nelson DeMille: We’re all pilgrims on the same journey—but some pilgrims have better road maps. The accuracy of your road map determines the precision of your journey and your effectiveness. How good is your road map? What is your navigation system? How good is it? You cannot afford to judge on the basis of what you see, hear or feel. Pilots depend on the navigational equipments in their aircraft and the control towers to guide them from take off through the flight to landing. The Bible says “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.” Develop a very strong communion with the Holy Spirit.
7. Travel fired—You must have a strong passion for what you do. Passion makes all the difference. Fuel + Fire = Explosion. If you have fuel and no fire, you cannot make any impact. Rockets are fired to overcome the force of gravity to get to space. A spark in the engine of a car produces the power that drives the car. You cannot have fire if you don’t do what you enjoy doing; what you are gifted to do.
8. Travel believing. You need faith in God to achieve the impossible. Believe you will make it to the end. Believe you will arrive at your destination. The problem is that many people want to wait until everything is “just right” before they start anything. But you don’t have to see the end of the road in order to take the first step; taking that first step without seeing the end is what faith is all about. The rule is simple: Go as far as you can see. When you get there, you’re able to see farther, so again go as far as you can see.

God does not want to make success HAPPEN TO YOU; He wants to make success HAPPEN WITH YOU. That is, you have a role to play in your success story.

God had declared this year as our year of GREAT GRACE! His grace will distinguish and give you unimaginable results, in Jesus name!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Bishop Dr. Charles Olowojoba is the General Overseer of Dayspring Bible Church Worldwide with HQ in Abuja, Nigeria & President, Dayspring Christian Ministries Int’l.