What If Someone Else Finishes What Was Meant for You?

What if someone else finishes what was meant for you? Did you hear? What if somebody else finishes what was meant for you? That's the title of my message. Now I want to at the same time tell you this message is not about religion. This is about life. Everyone knows that feeling. You know you're capable of doing more. You're capable of more. You keep postponing that hard decisions. I mean you tell yourself all the time or most of the time I will start doing or I will start moving when the time is right. If you're looking at your life, in your life you realize that you're falling behind of what you are supposed to do or what your potential is. Let me call it that way. You know your potential is small but yet you're not moving. I mean sometimes I look at other people on the internet and I'm thinking I can do better than that person but yet I'm not doing it. But yet I'm not doing it. Look this guy is literally let's call him 15 years of age. This 14 years of age I've been longer in ministry than what his age is. But this guy preach the way I know I'm supposed to. This guy deliver people the way I know I'm supposed to. I mean sometimes you look at the guy, you come from the same background. There's nothing that has changed but yet the guy looks better than you because your potential you have not reached it as yet. They're moving faster than you and this is the thing that I want you to know. Let's talk about something you do it. Soccer. Now in soccer there's somebody who gets substituted when they are tired. Because the coach can see, no this one, I need him for the last part of the game now because the first part he already made the game. And that's the reason why because he already made the game I don't want to warn him out. I want to use him for the last 20 minutes of the game. So he substitute that person. So what does substitute means? Substitute means that you are still in the game. It's not to say you are not in the game. You still in the game. The only thing is there's just been done a correction for that moment. You have not been removed. But because you've been substituted now you feel pressure. Now you feel exposed, exposed, sorry, check the drug net here. So when you are substituted it does not mean that you are gone. Your position is still there. Your position is still there. Let's make an example. You know from the book of Jonah. God sent the fish while Jonah ran. So God did not say I because this one ran I need to listen to this next word. Because this one ran I need to replace him. God did not say let me get a replacement for him. He just said let me substitute him by helping him getting into the fish. He says and the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time saying arise and go unto Nineveh the great city preach unto it and preach that I but thee. That was the second time and you still have a second instruction. You see it's like God is correcting this guy. So it's a substitute for Jonah. Now there's two kinds of substitution. You are being corrected not removed. Which means when you are substituted you still have access number two. You still have access which means doors are not yet closed. People can still call upon you while you bench. You are still sharp. It's just that somebody still goes temporary into your place. That substitution and when you get substituted it's almost like you are pressured that you have not done the right thing. Listen tell me if I'm wrong when I say it. When they substitute you you think that you have done something wrong there. So number three the pressure is producing you to make things to be better. You get my point. This is substitution humbles you. It shows you know not because I'm Ronald Dino I can't be substituted. Not because I am whoever who's the new who's the good players these days. You understand what I'm saying. They can be substituted so it humbles them. When you go to Hebrews 1 verse 12 verse 6 from the epistles to the Hebrews he He says that for whom the Lord loved he chastened and escorted every son to receive. The Greek word there is for the chastened is Pado. It means to train or to discipline or to educate them. So he trained educate or discipline them. But now the other word I was talking to you about replacement. Now this is where it gets dangerous dangerous dangerous. And I need you specifically to listen to this. Whenever replacement happens the assignment continues but it continues without you. The game goes on. But it means you are not in the game anymore replacement is is more serious than substitution because when you when you're talking about replacement they remove your authority. That's the difference between substitution and replacement they remove your authority. So when you're looking at Saul for example that's a clear example that you can find from Samuel 1 Samuel 1 15 and 26 he says and Samuel said unto Saul I will not return with thee for thou has rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected thee from being king of over Israel. Because Saul stays alive but the kingdom has been left. So his authority has been removed and this is what replacement does. Replacement the same opportunity now that you had moved to somebody else permanently now. David was anointed while Saul was still king. That was the replacement. I need you to understand the mission now has been transferred to David. So the opportunity has been permanently removed to David replacement. You feel no conviction. There's no conviction. It's only distance substitution brings pressure because now you feel like you need to you need to up your game. But replacement brings you to know I have lost I can't do anymore I've been replaced. Now I need you to understand now remember what I said what was my what was the message the topics of the message. What if someone else finish what was meant for you. The message says the message title says what if someone else finishes what was meant for you what was meant for you. So now when you read the book of Revelation 3 verse 16. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth. Imagine. Gone. I need you to think about this in all areas of your life but mostly I want to emphasize Yes I'm talking about every area of your life but I'm just emphasizing on ministry. Whenever you do something do you feel that there's only a correction that is happening now or do you feel that somebody is ignoring. Do you still have this access to what you are doing. Let me make an example again to you Leighton. Do you know soccer specifically that you are playing. There's something that happens in the disciplinary of soccer. Skip the game once they will they won't care. Skip the game twice they start asking questions. The third time when you skip the game they see you as somebody they can't count on. And this is what I make an example of with Leighton. I'm not picking up on you I'm not picking on you I'm just making an example of you. Please don't get me wrong but at the same time I'm also teaching you something. If somebody who is not trustworthy people quickly replace them not because of you can't do the job it's because they can't trust on you when there's a critical time. If ever you need to be at the game by 8 o'clock and you are the one that's strolling in there by quarter past eight every time they won't trust you. If church starts at nine o'clock and all the instruments must be packed out and a musician comes in by quarter to ten who do you think will take out the musicians? Musical instruments for you becoming where they will think of replacing you. They will think of replacing you. God do correct his sons. But do you know what he does? He replaces rebels. So when you feel like he's not correcting you anymore hey it's a dangerous place to be in. So. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Some of these things just happen because of a delay. But there's a problem. There's a problem that we need me and you we need to address it. Opportunities don't wait for clarity. Opportunities if you if you know you need to do it if the opportunity strikes now and you're not yet thinking ah I still need to do one two three four five six. It's not going to wait for you. Opportunities wait for your response to it. There's an ancient line that exposed this truth. Let's let's go to the book of Esther if Esther 4 verse 14 well-known scripture and people people like to to quote the last part they like to say for such a time as this they're making it a motivational talk to say you are born for a time as this. They're making it so much motivational that you feel oh I have been born for a time like this. But here's the truth. Let's read the scripture in its fullness. Esther 4 verse 14 says as follows. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time at this time then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise from the Jews. Did you hear what he says? He says for thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time. So you hold your peace. Then there shall their enlargement and deliverance arise from the Jews. So you thinking that you are sitting in the place and God is giving another deliverer from another place. Deliverance arise to the Jews from another place. But thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed. And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. Let's strip away the religion and just hear the message. Let's not talking about the religion. Help will come, progress will happen, yes change will occur. But my question is will this happen through you? The church will go on. If this church doesn't do what they supposed to do, do you think God's work will stop? The church will stop, yes. But somebody else's ministry will stand up. Do you think that your tithe and offering will stop the church from going forward? God will raise another tither. Do you think that your hands will be able to keep this church from going? The moment you stop using your hands in the church, the church will not go any further. Replacement will come. If you think that ah let's just substitute you for a moment. This is the year of action. Substitution is allowed. But so is replacement. But so is replacement. Why does the life ever stop for anyone? Let me make an example. Do you think that the company when you get cancer, they will not? They will wait for you. You have cancer. They won't wait for you. They will employ somebody else in the meantime. Do you know how my daughter got the job? She was sick for a week and they said please come and help out for that week. It's now three years, four years, four years, I can't even remember. But let's call it three years down the line. She's still working there. So whenever you are sick or feel that you don't want to go to work, they replace you like this. They replace you like this. Therefore, it's very important to understand the next part. This part you need to understand. Bishop, we were talking about this one in the morning. Let's say you go to I'm just making an example. You go to Scotland now. I don't even know what Scotland is. Is Scotland a place now? Yeah, Scotland is a place. Yeah, it's a place somewhere. Let's say today you go to Scotland. Do you think that Matthew won't grow because you are in Scotland? By the time he comes back, he's standing like this in front of you. Doesn't even talk like now he's a big guy. He's no longer this small guy. It does not mean that you are not in his life. He won't grow. He will still grow. He will still become a man. You just need to choose if you want him to become a man by your side. That's where the difference comes in. Life does not stop for anyone. Kings were replaced. They thought they were the king of the kings. They were replaced. Leaders when they came in, they were removed. Not because they failed once. It's because they refused to respond. For Samuel, let's talk about first Samuel 15 verse 26, first Samuel 15 verse 26, and Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected thee from the king over Israel. This wasn't an emotional decision. It was a structural one. So when you reject your responsibilities, opportunities will be transferred to the one who takes your responsibilities. When your responsibility, when you reject your responsibility, your responsibility automatically transfer the opportunities to somebody else. This happens in business. Let me make an example. If you have a contract and you're not doing right with the contract, they change the contract to somebody else. They change. Service delivery doesn't stop. The contract will stop, but service delivery will still go on. What I mean by that is that whenever a contractor does not do the right thing, fixing the roads, the tar roads in Pretorial North, for argument's sake, if the contractor stops doing the job, they will go ahead and fix it. Because it's not the contract that needs to stop. Service delivery needs to be continuous. But let me tell you, there's some hope. Please, this is not all doom and gloom. I've been sounding like I'm depressed, but I'm trying to help somebody's life. I am trying to help somebody's life. You know what I said? The message, what if someone else finishes what was meant for you? It's not all doom and gloom. There won't be a replacement immediately. Replacement will not happen like this. There will first be a correction, like what Jonah, for argument's sake, God corrected him by putting him in the fish's mouth to get him to Nineveh. So God corrected him. So whatever you're going through, it will not be an immediate replacement. God will give you a second chance, for he's a God of a second chance. Third, fourth and fourth, seven, eight and twelve. He keeps on giving you chances, but there will be a time that's something that needs to be done immediately. You might not be able to get that chance again, just saying. But let's go and tell you how to make sure life doesn't move on without you. This is what you need to do. Number one, act immediately. Don't act when you feel like you are ready. Act immediately. Number one, waiting for confidence is how the moment gets by. This is why James 1 verse 22 says, be a hearer of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own self. When you want to see the top of the mountain, the only thing you can do is take one step at a time. You don't need to see the peak of the mountain before you know you want to be there. Just say, I want to get up the mountain and take the first step. Number two, number two is stop editing God's plan for your life. You know what I mean by editing? God tells you to go to Nunavut. You get climbed into a ship trying to run away, trying to edit the plan of Nunavut. Stop editing God's plan. Do you understand what I'm saying? Don't do the editing. Number three, always, always and always accept correction. Don't reject correction, accept correction. When somebody gets told, when my wife tells me, no, you're doing it wrongly, sometimes I don't accept. I want to first explain why. Got my point? Accept correction. Even the Bible says in Proverbs 3 verse 7, Proverbs 3 verse 7, it says the following, be not wise in thine own eyes, not wise in thine own eyes. Did you hear that? I'm picking on you now. I didn't pick on you before, but I'm picking on you now. If they say they're living at half past six and you are still busy clothing yourself at half past six, by quarter to seven when you get there, the bus might be gone. What if the bus is gone? What if the bus is gone? And for those of you who don't know, I'm talking about something specifically now. There's a time when you say, I need to be in church by nine o'clock. What if the Holy Spirit comes exactly nine o'clock when you said you must come there and you only get there by quarter past nine, the Holy Spirit already left. The plan that you had for the Holy Spirit to touch you is gone with it. So when the Holy Spirit says, be there by nine, accept that correction. Number four, finish what you start, finish what you start. If you tell yourself that one day I will become the best soccer player in the world, I'm not saying the world, but the best soccer player amongst my friends. Don't be practicing this week and for the next three weeks, no practice, because inconsistency will surely make somebody to take your place. Finish what you start. If today we're talking about the church growth, if I don't keep on pitching up, yeah, that's the word, if I don't keep pitching up, the church has already been registered. Somebody else can take it. Bishop, this church has the name. It has been registered. What is that company? What does CSD mean again? Something the social department, let's call it the social department. The social development department. If I don't go, social development will still send an email. Where is my document to prove that you are still in existence? You get my point. So finish what you started. Because even in case the ST7 verse 8 says, nice. Because the ST7 verse 8 says it so nicely. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. And the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. But I want to focus on the first part. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. Do you know what I mean by that? It's hard to start a business. No, it's hard to get your first sale. It's tough. But that beginning is just a beginning. The end is better. Because the more you keep on keeping on, the better it becomes. The better it becomes. I told you I won't be long. Now my final question to you is, is this about heaven? It's not about heaven. This is about your life. And I've made a few suggestions and questions. And I've given you a few things. But I need you to take one area of your life. One area. And in that one area, tell yourself, I won't be replaced. Even if they substitute me, I will come back with a bang. Because this is what happened when soccer. What do you mean? Yeah, yeah, soccer. When? Huh? Yeah, man. When somebody is in the game and you are tired, but the coach knows you are the best player, they will substitute you to rest and then use you in the last 20 minutes to come back with a bang. So let us rather rest than to be replaced. If you need rest, rest. But don't be a replacement. I mean, don't be replaced. Rather, rest. The second epistle of Timothy, second Timothy. Second Timothy 4 verse 7. He says, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept my faith. You know, this sentence comes out so nicely. It has three verbs. The number one verb, it says, I have fought. So it's been about fighting. The second one is finished. So I kept on keeping on. And the third one is kept. So the way I was holding on, although I fought, although I finished, I still kept. So ask yourself, when your moment passed, when that opportunity passed, when that, yeah, let's call it opportunity, yeah, when that opportunity passed, I was chosen for that opportunity, but I waited too long. Would you say that? Or would you say, when that opportunity came, I moved. But because of I moved, I did not get that opportunity. It's best to say, I have moved to get the opportunity than to say, I waited because the waiting, you lost the opportunity, not the move that you lost the opportunity. So please, let us not wait to be replaced. Let us rather rest to be substituted. Rest to be substituted. I want this moment, anybody under the sound of my voice, to take this opportunity and say, Lord, I don't want to be replaced. Take this opportunity and say, Lord, I don't want to be replaced. Look at that specific area in your life where you have felt you've been ignored, where you have felt that it's almost as if I'm about to be replaced. I'm about to be replaced. Anybody under the sound of my voice that felt like, I have started taking the time with God and somewhere down the line, I removed myself. This is actually a call to say, the way I have not been able to move, God helped me to move. God helped me to move. Today, I choose to rest instead of to be replaced. I believe, Father, I come to you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior. And I pray, O Lord, that this morning, as we have heard the word, a word in season, a word that comes at the right time, a word where you have prophesied and said to us, you've given us a prophetic word that, regardless whether we move or not, your work will still go on. And we choose to do your work. We choose to move with you. Even if we are tired, we will just rest for a bit, but we will not be replaced. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen and amen.