Speaker
Jasper Gogo
January 7, 2024
Transcribed by Devon Murray
Today we should be starting a series that the lead pastor was about to start, and we have called it “Strategies For Living.” Pastor is going to come from a special dimension, but today I need to point out one or two strategies that I believe are very important as we start the year. Now actually, every one of us every year, we have new year’s resolutions. So usually, you hear things like, “New Year, New Me.” And some people have actually said this year they won’t agree for anybody else. All they want to do is what they wish to do. Every year, people come up with things like that, but there are two things that I believe are very key to success this year. Pastor is going to be coming up with lots of them, calling it, “Strategies For Living.”
Number one: It is very important, first of all, to understand that you cannot live if you don’t know God. That is basic. It is on that foundation that we are speaking on this series. If you don’t have a relationship with God or you don’t know God, this is not for you because you will not understand and you cannot operate. Like we said during the offering, by image and inscription, you belong to God. So if you don’t have a relationship with God, you’re not going anywhere. You’re not living life. And that’s one of the reasons why so many people are destined to fail; not because God destined them to fail, but because they don’t know God. They don’t have a relationship with God. Now I’m not talking about your parents dragging you to church or your pastor making you come to church. I’m not talking about singing, dancing, or giving an offering or acting “religious” or self-righteousness. I’m talking about the personal relationship with God. When you wake up every morning, He’s there with you, you are there with Him, and you talk to Him before you talk to anybody else. That’s a relationship. Before you go to bed at night, you are in your place of fellowship. You talk to God, He talks to you. If you don’t have that relationship, the first thing you need to do to be alive and to live a reasonable life is to develop a relationship with God. If you don’t have God, if you don’t know God, nothing can happen to you. You can’t live life. You can’t live a responsible life. On that foundation, I’ll give you the first thing I believe will be a strategy for you to be successful and live your life.
“Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’” (Jeremiah 11:4-5)
Now the first thing to help you live your life responsibly and reasonably is understanding your purpose. Many times, when Pastor preaches, he speaks about this. Now what is Purpose? Purpose simply means, “Why you are here.” Why am I here? Why am I the way I am? Why are you black? Why are you white? Why are you African? Why are you Mexican? Why are you Arabian? Why are you Jewish? Why are you not, right now, in Saudi Arabia? Why are you in the United States? Why are you in Plainfield? Why are you in Life Touch Community Church? Why are you here? Understanding purpose is the first foundation to living well. If you don’t know your purpose, where are you heading? You have to first of all understand you purpose, and that is why I said that the foundation is, “Do you know God?” If you don’t know God, You cannot even talk to God to find out your purpose. For those of say, “I don’t know my purpose,” well that’s why you have to know God. “God why am I here? Why am I who I am? Why am I created this way? Why am I this handsome? You know people abuse their beauty because they don’t understand why.
Some people stand on the street to prostitute because they don't know why they look so good. There’s a reason why God made you the way you are. If you are very tall, it has a purpose. If you are not too tall, there’s a purpose. If you are large sized, there’s a purpose. If you’re small, there’s a purpose. If you’re black or white, there’s a purpose. Everything about you has a purpose. And that’s the reason why sometimes many people try to alter what God made you to look like. You try to be what you are not because you don’t understand your purpose. If I don’t understand my purpose, I want to change the color of my skin. If I don’t understand my purpose, I want to change my hair. Lack of understanding of your purpose is one of the greatest problems we have in this generation, and people don’t know why.
“5Before I formed you in the womb…” that means purpose proceeds creation. That means before you are born, God knew what you would be. People nowadays will marry and then say, “Why am I married?” They have children and then say, “Why do I have this child?” People do things before they understand the purpose. You have to find out the purpose of marriage before you marry. You have to find out the purpose of having a child before you have a child. That’s what’s happening all over the place in Asia and Africa; people have children on the street they can’t take care of. I mean I see it all over the place in America; people have children and then run away. They abandon the children, and the children end up growing up irresponsible. A fatherless generation. That’s what we have. There’s a purpose for the relationship. You’re getting into a relationship and you don’t know why? “Before I formed you, I knew you.” So find out from God, “What is my purpose?” I can give you a clue. One of the greatest indications of your purpose is talent. We call it a gift. In the church, some people call it anointing or calling. That’s an indication of your purpose. Your gift is an indication. Why am I talented like this? Usually, your talent is not taught. Talent is a gift God gave to you. That means God gave you that gift to help you identify what you’re here for. So that’s one.
The other one also is, many times, your challenges. The challenges you have point you at the solution you came to bring to this earth. Sometimes you have a peculiar problem that everybody else doesn’t have. That means YOU are the one to solve that problem. I knew a young guy when we were going to school; every time someone got sick, this guy tells you, “There’s an herb for that. There’s a vegetable for that.” And he’ll find the herb and he’ll give it to you. Sometimes we ate the herb and got more sick, but eventually the guy became a doctor. If you see some children, before you give them instruction, they are arguing. There are some children that can argue more than lawyers. That child could be a lawyer, public speaker, politician, or the next president.
Talent is an indication. Problems are an indication. So identify your purpose. If you don’t know your purpose, life will be difficult for you. You can say, “New Year, New Me,” but you go back to old situations. It would be a shame if, by the end of this year, you come to church for the 31st night, you still have the same problems you had last year, or you’re still where you were last year. Someone say, “God forbid.” May this year not end with you being the same person. You should be a better person, and you start by understanding what you’re purpose is.
When you know your purpose, then the next point is very important, which is “Vision.”
“The word of the LORD came to me: ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ ‘I see the branch of an almond tree,’ I replied.” (Jeremiah 1:11)
The second thing is vision. So purpose is why you’re here. Vision is how to live that purpose. So he said, “Why you’re here is to be a prophet to the nation.” That’s what He told Jeremiah, right? But now He asks him what he sees. God wanted to know if he had a vision. So God said, “I have called you to be a prophet to the nation,” and after speaking to him, He asks, “What do you see?” You MUST see something. You MUST have a vision Last year, some of us wrote down our visions and we brought them to the pastor so he can pray over them. The reason why that’s important is because, without a vision, you’re not going anywhere. And if that vision is not written down, it’s a wish. And we know the saying: "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” That means if it’s easy to own a horse, even beggars will ride because they’d say, “I wish for a horse,” and it appears. “I wish to buy a car.” It appears. “I wish to travel the nations.” It appears. But a vision is the picture of your future. So 2024, what do you see? You can choose to see a slimmer you. I went to the gym the other day and guess what? They said there are new deals and the guy there told me that every January, they have a bunch of people registered for the gym, but at the end of the year, less than 40% of them still use the gym. Some will come and walk up, and after a few days they won’t go anymore. But they gym has made their money because they have monthly subscriptions. That’s a problem. That’s not vision; that’s a wish. New Year’s Resolution. New Year's Wish.
A vision is the picture of your future. It is what you see about your tomorrow. Many of us here are immigrants. Most of us were not born here. When you come to this country, you come with a vision. If I can say, I believe that you came with a vision that you would settle down and be so blessed so that you can be a solution to some problem back at home. So failure was never an option. The reason why some people don’t understand us is because we can’t fail. We’re going to fail the whole village. And some of us, the whole village put money together to send us here. “ I can’t fail.” What that means is I have a vision. When I get to America, I will start by looking for a job. That job is not my final destination. That is a means to the end. Many of us think when you have a job, you’ve arrived. No. As a matter of fact, I made up my mind that I will not stay in any company for more than two years. I will not. The plan is to have my own business and employ some people. That was the vision. I wrote it down that when I get to the U.S., this is what I will do; and after a certain time I will bring some family members to help me at home. So all these things written down is the vision. But also I said to myself, “I’m going to improve myself every year.” Sometimes, when I plan these things, I look and nothing is changing. One of the constant things that will help you get to that destination is Change.
Two things I took note of, “I will change and I will take risks.” People don’t like change. When I left my job, I told my boss what I was going to do. He said, “Say that again.” I said, “I’m leaving because I want to start my own business.” He said, “You know if it doesn’t work, you can come back.” I said, “Thank you.” But I shut the door. I didn’t want to go back. There’s a song we used to sing when we became Christians, “Forward Ever, Backwards Never.” I will not go back. I will take risks. I will make changes. Sometimes, if nothing is changing, I will change something about myself. That’s why, sometimes, I just cut my hair. Have you noticed? Sometimes I cut my hair. Sometimes I cut my beard. I just change something because, sometimes when you change, people go, “Hey, you look different. What happened?” I say, “Well a lot has happened recently. Some money just came in. Some doors just opened.”
“No, I’m talking about your hair.”
“Oh my hair? Well I don’t need the hair now.” [laughter]
Some of us haven’t written our visions down, so we don’t know what we’re trying to do. Go and write your visions down, and let me help you quickly understand vision. Vision is not a wish. “In 2024, I’m going to be married.” That is not actually a vision. That is what God will do for you. This is how I do my vision. My vision is one: What do I want to achieve by the end of this period? I can give you a clue to what I want to do this year. I am changing my career this year. At the end of this year, I’m going to a different career. That means I’m going back to school. That means some people who I send money to, I’m not sending money to them this year. I’m going to keep the money to pay for my school fees, take care of myself, and support those who have no job who just arrived from Africa. How do I do that? That means I have to step out in faith and do certain things. I write it down. “I want to do this? This is what I need to do.” So what do I want to do for myself, I write it down. Two, what do I want God to do for me? So the first quarter, this is how far I’ve gone. Second quarter, this is how far I’ve gone. Third quarter, this is how far I’ve gone. Some time before my birthday in October, I’ve achieved what I want to achieve in the new year and I start planning for the next year. Then I also write what I want God to do for me. There are things you can’t do for yourself. For instance, a good wife is a gift from God. You can't wish that one. A good husband is a gift from God. It is God who gives you a good man or good woman. So I can write, “This year God, my vision and plan is that You can help me get a good wife, something like that. “God, if You bless me this year I want a baby. I’ve been married for some years, and I want a baby.” You’re now ready. When I have that baby, this is how I’m going to plan for the baby. You don’t suddenly say, “Oh I’m pregnant.” You have to have a plan and ask God to help you with that baby.
Number three, what do I want to do for God in the new year. So last year, I checked how much I gave in terms of offering, how much I spent in terms of mission, and how much I spent on family. I then say, what do I want to do for God in the new year. That’s how vision should be. Your vision should not just be, “In 2024, I want to have this. I want to do this. I want to do that.” No. What do I want to do for myself? What do I want God to do for me? What do I want to do for God? That includes what I want to do for the church.
When you have children and you are the man, Pastor has made this very clear to us; you are a man, you are a leader. You are the leader of your family. One of the things I tell young people in counseling is before you marry, ask the man, “Where do you see yourself in 20 years. Five, ten, twenty? Most of them come up with stories, stupid stories. Anybody who wants to marry my daughter, the first thing I want to ask is what’s your plan? What’s your vision? Where do you see yourself in…
So I think in 20 years, I’ll have achieved my dream. What’s that dream? You have to have that vision. Now you’ve helped your children because children depend on parents. Our responsibility as parents is to help our children articulate their vision. Many of them don’t have vision. Some years ago, I told my daughter, “This is what I believe you’ll do.” She said, “How do you know?” I said, “Before you were in your mother’s womb, I knew you.” She said, “Are you God?” “No.” As a young man, I was praying. I said, “God, I want my first child to be a girl, and I want her to be this tall.” Before I even met her mother. “I want her to be this tall and she’s going to be so successful that when people see her and I on the street, they will think ‘Is that his wife?’ because of her height and beauty.” And when she was born, I called her Precious. I knew the name before she was even born. She said, “Well I want to be an accountant.” I said, “That is not you. You’re going into medicine.” She said, “I like accounting.” I said, “Let’s see.” She started with care work. I pointed her the way. I asked her a question, “What is the biggest gift you think a parent can give to their children?” Most of them say education. That’s what our parents told us. And yet we carry a PhD and we’re broke. Are the lecturers at your school the richest people? They have PhD, and no money in their account. No, the best gift a parent can give is to point the way. That is the work of the Holy Ghost, isn’t it?
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “‘This is the way; walk in it.’” (Isaiah 30:21)
That is the greatest gift from parents. So you have to help your children as parents find their vision, identify their purpose, and pursue it. The other one, when he was a baby, I picked him up. Music was going on and he was tapping to the beat. So for his second birthday, I bought him drumsticks. And that was it, he didn’t learn the drums anywhere. When he gets to church, and he sees music, he just goes to stand beside the drummer. That’s how he got these things he’s doing. I saw the gift and I pointed him in the right direction. He’s not going to be a musician. That’s not his future, but that’s part of his life. He’s going into tech. He’s already coding. He’s designing websites and doing stuff right now at the age of 17. Our job as parents is to point our children in the right direction. And that’s why every Sunday, you come to church als so that your Spiritual Father points you in the right direction. “What are you doing? Don’t do that. Do this.” That is your Father's job.
So the third strategy for living is connecting to the person who knows the way. Now first of all we say God. Your second is your father, your mentor. It is unfortunate if your father doesn’t have a vision and doesn’t understand his purpose. But don’t underestimate the power of a father. My father used to be funny. The day he’s coming to school is the day he wears red socks, black shoes, and white shirt. Sometimes that shoe is so bent that it’s not the best shoe. And he shows up to school saying he’s looking for me, and I’ll say, “That’s not my father.” Someone said, “Shut up. That’s your father.” He looks so disappointing. “Your father might be foolish to you, but he’s still your father.” Your father might be that crackhead on the street, but he’s still your father. You know one thing you don’t choose? You can’t choose your father. So I said, “Ok he’s my father. Let’s put him together. Let’s get him the right socks. Let’s help him choose what to wear to go out.” Don’t underestimate the power of your father. Your father has the capacity to do things in your life. Sometimes not even with words. Many of you here have lost connection with your father. You don’t listen. You don’t obey. You don’t check on him. You don’t connect. I’ve said, "Follow from afar, but still follow.” Somehow connect. How do you connect? Have you asked the pastor, “What is the situation? Is there something you need me to do?” Have you called the pastor and said, “I need you to tell me the problems and let me know what I can solve.” One of the things that has helped me recently is I now have someone in the house who can help me wash my car, and I’m happy these days. And I just heard recently that he’s able to clear the snow from the driveway. I was happy to hear that. I gave him a high five. He’s becoming a man. When your father feels that help, there’s some king of blessing from the bottom of his heart that goes to you. And many of you don’t understand. You have a vision, you have a plan, but for many years you have not made progress. Ask your father, “Is there something I’m not doing right?”
Many of you, your offering is not what it should be. Every time Pastor says, “Bring offering,” have you sat down to think, “Is it possible that I’m not doing it right? I need to do right by God and by my pastor.” That should be part of your vision. When you handle God’s problem, God handles your problem. Make it your duty to say, “As I plan for my future, as I plan for what I want to do; I write it down.
”Then the Lord replied: ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3)
This scripture talks about things to happen in the future; our relations, our plans, our visions of the future that God has. Also, it connects to us. You have to write down that vision. You have to put it together. You have to make it plain. The family should have a vision. The church should have a vision. Pastor came out with a vision, and that’s one of the strategies for living because we need to have a vision for this year and we need to walk on it properly. That’s what’s going on. You have a vision…”This is what we’re going to do this year,” and you share it with everybody. Everybody knows it, everybody understands it. So whoever is doing what they’re doing, they know this is the vision. “Also, this is the vision for the church.” Call up and say, “What’s happening? We need to do something for the church. We need to do this for the church. We need to get stuff going.” It’s going to snow on Tuesday, so I was talking to Brother Tony and said, “What are we going to do? Are we going to allow our pastor to go through that alone? I think it is part of our vision to stand by our pastor. When you handle these things properly, your own part is easy. God will not let you surfer. God will not let your vision fail. So part of your vision and part of your plan is what you want to do for the Lord, how I want to take care of my church, how I want to take care of my pastor, how I want to support. Sometimes , it’s not money really. Sometimes, it’s just going to clear the snow. Sometimes, it’s going to find out what’s happened to his car. Sometimes, it’s saying, “Pastor’s car is old, we need to change it.” Those are the things we need to put in the plan. Somebody called me and said, “I think you’ve been wearing those clothes for too long. We need to get you a new set of clothes.” I said, “You know what? Do as you’re led.” Have you ever thought and said, “My pastor may need some new shoes. He may need some new clothes. Maybe I should do that.” It’s important.
So, what is my purpose? And then the vision, where am I going? What do I see? As for me, I see growth in this church. This year, I see many of you bringin at least one person to this church. There should be somebody that says, “It is Sister India that brought this person, and this person is now a strong member of the church.” Somebody say Amen. It can happen. It will happen. That’s a vision. Growing this place is part of our spiritual responsibility. So today, when you pray, you want to say, “God, my vision shall come to pass. God, give me grace to follow through so that I don’t just register for a gym and be among the 60% that don’t follow through. I don’t want to have a wish. I want to work according to purpose and I want to see clearly.”
If there is one last thing I want to say to you, you need to put away distractions this year. Social media? All those people, some of them are distracting you. Some people you call friends; they are distractors. You need to put them away. Some family members that are not helping you and are dragging you away, anybody that tells you not to do what God wants you to do, that person is destroying you. Put them away. Some of you take relationship advice from social media. You’re trying to kill yourself. That is a distraction. Put it away and focus. The Word of the Lord is the constitution. Let the Word of the Lord guide you. If you don’t know how to do it, this year the pastor is going to take us through the bible through the whole year. So when you see that text, read the bible. Before you do anything, ask, “What does God say about this?” Before you take any step, ask, “What does the Lord say,” and when in doubt, call your pastor and say, “This is what I want to do. What do you say? What does the Lord say, because I haven’t heard anything from God.” Don’t let them distract you this year. One other distraction is from your job. You know some bosses will just keep you at that job so you don’t progress in life. Sometimes, they’ll increase your salary and I’ll ask, “How much increase?” “50 cents.” “And you’ve been working there for 5 years?” Take a risk this year. Make a change this year.
Number one: It is very important, first of all, to understand that you cannot live if you don’t know God. That is basic. It is on that foundation that we are speaking on this series. If you don’t have a relationship with God or you don’t know God, this is not for you because you will not understand and you cannot operate. Like we said during the offering, by image and inscription, you belong to God. So if you don’t have a relationship with God, you’re not going anywhere. You’re not living life. And that’s one of the reasons why so many people are destined to fail; not because God destined them to fail, but because they don’t know God. They don’t have a relationship with God. Now I’m not talking about your parents dragging you to church or your pastor making you come to church. I’m not talking about singing, dancing, or giving an offering or acting “religious” or self-righteousness. I’m talking about the personal relationship with God. When you wake up every morning, He’s there with you, you are there with Him, and you talk to Him before you talk to anybody else. That’s a relationship. Before you go to bed at night, you are in your place of fellowship. You talk to God, He talks to you. If you don’t have that relationship, the first thing you need to do to be alive and to live a reasonable life is to develop a relationship with God. If you don’t have God, if you don’t know God, nothing can happen to you. You can’t live life. You can’t live a responsible life. On that foundation, I’ll give you the first thing I believe will be a strategy for you to be successful and live your life.
“Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’” (Jeremiah 11:4-5)
Now the first thing to help you live your life responsibly and reasonably is understanding your purpose. Many times, when Pastor preaches, he speaks about this. Now what is Purpose? Purpose simply means, “Why you are here.” Why am I here? Why am I the way I am? Why are you black? Why are you white? Why are you African? Why are you Mexican? Why are you Arabian? Why are you Jewish? Why are you not, right now, in Saudi Arabia? Why are you in the United States? Why are you in Plainfield? Why are you in Life Touch Community Church? Why are you here? Understanding purpose is the first foundation to living well. If you don’t know your purpose, where are you heading? You have to first of all understand you purpose, and that is why I said that the foundation is, “Do you know God?” If you don’t know God, You cannot even talk to God to find out your purpose. For those of say, “I don’t know my purpose,” well that’s why you have to know God. “God why am I here? Why am I who I am? Why am I created this way? Why am I this handsome? You know people abuse their beauty because they don’t understand why.
Some people stand on the street to prostitute because they don't know why they look so good. There’s a reason why God made you the way you are. If you are very tall, it has a purpose. If you are not too tall, there’s a purpose. If you are large sized, there’s a purpose. If you’re small, there’s a purpose. If you’re black or white, there’s a purpose. Everything about you has a purpose. And that’s the reason why sometimes many people try to alter what God made you to look like. You try to be what you are not because you don’t understand your purpose. If I don’t understand my purpose, I want to change the color of my skin. If I don’t understand my purpose, I want to change my hair. Lack of understanding of your purpose is one of the greatest problems we have in this generation, and people don’t know why.
“5Before I formed you in the womb…” that means purpose proceeds creation. That means before you are born, God knew what you would be. People nowadays will marry and then say, “Why am I married?” They have children and then say, “Why do I have this child?” People do things before they understand the purpose. You have to find out the purpose of marriage before you marry. You have to find out the purpose of having a child before you have a child. That’s what’s happening all over the place in Asia and Africa; people have children on the street they can’t take care of. I mean I see it all over the place in America; people have children and then run away. They abandon the children, and the children end up growing up irresponsible. A fatherless generation. That’s what we have. There’s a purpose for the relationship. You’re getting into a relationship and you don’t know why? “Before I formed you, I knew you.” So find out from God, “What is my purpose?” I can give you a clue. One of the greatest indications of your purpose is talent. We call it a gift. In the church, some people call it anointing or calling. That’s an indication of your purpose. Your gift is an indication. Why am I talented like this? Usually, your talent is not taught. Talent is a gift God gave to you. That means God gave you that gift to help you identify what you’re here for. So that’s one.
The other one also is, many times, your challenges. The challenges you have point you at the solution you came to bring to this earth. Sometimes you have a peculiar problem that everybody else doesn’t have. That means YOU are the one to solve that problem. I knew a young guy when we were going to school; every time someone got sick, this guy tells you, “There’s an herb for that. There’s a vegetable for that.” And he’ll find the herb and he’ll give it to you. Sometimes we ate the herb and got more sick, but eventually the guy became a doctor. If you see some children, before you give them instruction, they are arguing. There are some children that can argue more than lawyers. That child could be a lawyer, public speaker, politician, or the next president.
Talent is an indication. Problems are an indication. So identify your purpose. If you don’t know your purpose, life will be difficult for you. You can say, “New Year, New Me,” but you go back to old situations. It would be a shame if, by the end of this year, you come to church for the 31st night, you still have the same problems you had last year, or you’re still where you were last year. Someone say, “God forbid.” May this year not end with you being the same person. You should be a better person, and you start by understanding what you’re purpose is.
When you know your purpose, then the next point is very important, which is “Vision.”
“The word of the LORD came to me: ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ ‘I see the branch of an almond tree,’ I replied.” (Jeremiah 1:11)
The second thing is vision. So purpose is why you’re here. Vision is how to live that purpose. So he said, “Why you’re here is to be a prophet to the nation.” That’s what He told Jeremiah, right? But now He asks him what he sees. God wanted to know if he had a vision. So God said, “I have called you to be a prophet to the nation,” and after speaking to him, He asks, “What do you see?” You MUST see something. You MUST have a vision Last year, some of us wrote down our visions and we brought them to the pastor so he can pray over them. The reason why that’s important is because, without a vision, you’re not going anywhere. And if that vision is not written down, it’s a wish. And we know the saying: "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” That means if it’s easy to own a horse, even beggars will ride because they’d say, “I wish for a horse,” and it appears. “I wish to buy a car.” It appears. “I wish to travel the nations.” It appears. But a vision is the picture of your future. So 2024, what do you see? You can choose to see a slimmer you. I went to the gym the other day and guess what? They said there are new deals and the guy there told me that every January, they have a bunch of people registered for the gym, but at the end of the year, less than 40% of them still use the gym. Some will come and walk up, and after a few days they won’t go anymore. But they gym has made their money because they have monthly subscriptions. That’s a problem. That’s not vision; that’s a wish. New Year’s Resolution. New Year's Wish.
A vision is the picture of your future. It is what you see about your tomorrow. Many of us here are immigrants. Most of us were not born here. When you come to this country, you come with a vision. If I can say, I believe that you came with a vision that you would settle down and be so blessed so that you can be a solution to some problem back at home. So failure was never an option. The reason why some people don’t understand us is because we can’t fail. We’re going to fail the whole village. And some of us, the whole village put money together to send us here. “ I can’t fail.” What that means is I have a vision. When I get to America, I will start by looking for a job. That job is not my final destination. That is a means to the end. Many of us think when you have a job, you’ve arrived. No. As a matter of fact, I made up my mind that I will not stay in any company for more than two years. I will not. The plan is to have my own business and employ some people. That was the vision. I wrote it down that when I get to the U.S., this is what I will do; and after a certain time I will bring some family members to help me at home. So all these things written down is the vision. But also I said to myself, “I’m going to improve myself every year.” Sometimes, when I plan these things, I look and nothing is changing. One of the constant things that will help you get to that destination is Change.
Two things I took note of, “I will change and I will take risks.” People don’t like change. When I left my job, I told my boss what I was going to do. He said, “Say that again.” I said, “I’m leaving because I want to start my own business.” He said, “You know if it doesn’t work, you can come back.” I said, “Thank you.” But I shut the door. I didn’t want to go back. There’s a song we used to sing when we became Christians, “Forward Ever, Backwards Never.” I will not go back. I will take risks. I will make changes. Sometimes, if nothing is changing, I will change something about myself. That’s why, sometimes, I just cut my hair. Have you noticed? Sometimes I cut my hair. Sometimes I cut my beard. I just change something because, sometimes when you change, people go, “Hey, you look different. What happened?” I say, “Well a lot has happened recently. Some money just came in. Some doors just opened.”
“No, I’m talking about your hair.”
“Oh my hair? Well I don’t need the hair now.” [laughter]
Some of us haven’t written our visions down, so we don’t know what we’re trying to do. Go and write your visions down, and let me help you quickly understand vision. Vision is not a wish. “In 2024, I’m going to be married.” That is not actually a vision. That is what God will do for you. This is how I do my vision. My vision is one: What do I want to achieve by the end of this period? I can give you a clue to what I want to do this year. I am changing my career this year. At the end of this year, I’m going to a different career. That means I’m going back to school. That means some people who I send money to, I’m not sending money to them this year. I’m going to keep the money to pay for my school fees, take care of myself, and support those who have no job who just arrived from Africa. How do I do that? That means I have to step out in faith and do certain things. I write it down. “I want to do this? This is what I need to do.” So what do I want to do for myself, I write it down. Two, what do I want God to do for me? So the first quarter, this is how far I’ve gone. Second quarter, this is how far I’ve gone. Third quarter, this is how far I’ve gone. Some time before my birthday in October, I’ve achieved what I want to achieve in the new year and I start planning for the next year. Then I also write what I want God to do for me. There are things you can’t do for yourself. For instance, a good wife is a gift from God. You can't wish that one. A good husband is a gift from God. It is God who gives you a good man or good woman. So I can write, “This year God, my vision and plan is that You can help me get a good wife, something like that. “God, if You bless me this year I want a baby. I’ve been married for some years, and I want a baby.” You’re now ready. When I have that baby, this is how I’m going to plan for the baby. You don’t suddenly say, “Oh I’m pregnant.” You have to have a plan and ask God to help you with that baby.
Number three, what do I want to do for God in the new year. So last year, I checked how much I gave in terms of offering, how much I spent in terms of mission, and how much I spent on family. I then say, what do I want to do for God in the new year. That’s how vision should be. Your vision should not just be, “In 2024, I want to have this. I want to do this. I want to do that.” No. What do I want to do for myself? What do I want God to do for me? What do I want to do for God? That includes what I want to do for the church.
When you have children and you are the man, Pastor has made this very clear to us; you are a man, you are a leader. You are the leader of your family. One of the things I tell young people in counseling is before you marry, ask the man, “Where do you see yourself in 20 years. Five, ten, twenty? Most of them come up with stories, stupid stories. Anybody who wants to marry my daughter, the first thing I want to ask is what’s your plan? What’s your vision? Where do you see yourself in…
So I think in 20 years, I’ll have achieved my dream. What’s that dream? You have to have that vision. Now you’ve helped your children because children depend on parents. Our responsibility as parents is to help our children articulate their vision. Many of them don’t have vision. Some years ago, I told my daughter, “This is what I believe you’ll do.” She said, “How do you know?” I said, “Before you were in your mother’s womb, I knew you.” She said, “Are you God?” “No.” As a young man, I was praying. I said, “God, I want my first child to be a girl, and I want her to be this tall.” Before I even met her mother. “I want her to be this tall and she’s going to be so successful that when people see her and I on the street, they will think ‘Is that his wife?’ because of her height and beauty.” And when she was born, I called her Precious. I knew the name before she was even born. She said, “Well I want to be an accountant.” I said, “That is not you. You’re going into medicine.” She said, “I like accounting.” I said, “Let’s see.” She started with care work. I pointed her the way. I asked her a question, “What is the biggest gift you think a parent can give to their children?” Most of them say education. That’s what our parents told us. And yet we carry a PhD and we’re broke. Are the lecturers at your school the richest people? They have PhD, and no money in their account. No, the best gift a parent can give is to point the way. That is the work of the Holy Ghost, isn’t it?
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “‘This is the way; walk in it.’” (Isaiah 30:21)
That is the greatest gift from parents. So you have to help your children as parents find their vision, identify their purpose, and pursue it. The other one, when he was a baby, I picked him up. Music was going on and he was tapping to the beat. So for his second birthday, I bought him drumsticks. And that was it, he didn’t learn the drums anywhere. When he gets to church, and he sees music, he just goes to stand beside the drummer. That’s how he got these things he’s doing. I saw the gift and I pointed him in the right direction. He’s not going to be a musician. That’s not his future, but that’s part of his life. He’s going into tech. He’s already coding. He’s designing websites and doing stuff right now at the age of 17. Our job as parents is to point our children in the right direction. And that’s why every Sunday, you come to church als so that your Spiritual Father points you in the right direction. “What are you doing? Don’t do that. Do this.” That is your Father's job.
So the third strategy for living is connecting to the person who knows the way. Now first of all we say God. Your second is your father, your mentor. It is unfortunate if your father doesn’t have a vision and doesn’t understand his purpose. But don’t underestimate the power of a father. My father used to be funny. The day he’s coming to school is the day he wears red socks, black shoes, and white shirt. Sometimes that shoe is so bent that it’s not the best shoe. And he shows up to school saying he’s looking for me, and I’ll say, “That’s not my father.” Someone said, “Shut up. That’s your father.” He looks so disappointing. “Your father might be foolish to you, but he’s still your father.” Your father might be that crackhead on the street, but he’s still your father. You know one thing you don’t choose? You can’t choose your father. So I said, “Ok he’s my father. Let’s put him together. Let’s get him the right socks. Let’s help him choose what to wear to go out.” Don’t underestimate the power of your father. Your father has the capacity to do things in your life. Sometimes not even with words. Many of you here have lost connection with your father. You don’t listen. You don’t obey. You don’t check on him. You don’t connect. I’ve said, "Follow from afar, but still follow.” Somehow connect. How do you connect? Have you asked the pastor, “What is the situation? Is there something you need me to do?” Have you called the pastor and said, “I need you to tell me the problems and let me know what I can solve.” One of the things that has helped me recently is I now have someone in the house who can help me wash my car, and I’m happy these days. And I just heard recently that he’s able to clear the snow from the driveway. I was happy to hear that. I gave him a high five. He’s becoming a man. When your father feels that help, there’s some king of blessing from the bottom of his heart that goes to you. And many of you don’t understand. You have a vision, you have a plan, but for many years you have not made progress. Ask your father, “Is there something I’m not doing right?”
Many of you, your offering is not what it should be. Every time Pastor says, “Bring offering,” have you sat down to think, “Is it possible that I’m not doing it right? I need to do right by God and by my pastor.” That should be part of your vision. When you handle God’s problem, God handles your problem. Make it your duty to say, “As I plan for my future, as I plan for what I want to do; I write it down.
”Then the Lord replied: ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3)
This scripture talks about things to happen in the future; our relations, our plans, our visions of the future that God has. Also, it connects to us. You have to write down that vision. You have to put it together. You have to make it plain. The family should have a vision. The church should have a vision. Pastor came out with a vision, and that’s one of the strategies for living because we need to have a vision for this year and we need to walk on it properly. That’s what’s going on. You have a vision…”This is what we’re going to do this year,” and you share it with everybody. Everybody knows it, everybody understands it. So whoever is doing what they’re doing, they know this is the vision. “Also, this is the vision for the church.” Call up and say, “What’s happening? We need to do something for the church. We need to do this for the church. We need to get stuff going.” It’s going to snow on Tuesday, so I was talking to Brother Tony and said, “What are we going to do? Are we going to allow our pastor to go through that alone? I think it is part of our vision to stand by our pastor. When you handle these things properly, your own part is easy. God will not let you surfer. God will not let your vision fail. So part of your vision and part of your plan is what you want to do for the Lord, how I want to take care of my church, how I want to take care of my pastor, how I want to support. Sometimes , it’s not money really. Sometimes, it’s just going to clear the snow. Sometimes, it’s going to find out what’s happened to his car. Sometimes, it’s saying, “Pastor’s car is old, we need to change it.” Those are the things we need to put in the plan. Somebody called me and said, “I think you’ve been wearing those clothes for too long. We need to get you a new set of clothes.” I said, “You know what? Do as you’re led.” Have you ever thought and said, “My pastor may need some new shoes. He may need some new clothes. Maybe I should do that.” It’s important.
So, what is my purpose? And then the vision, where am I going? What do I see? As for me, I see growth in this church. This year, I see many of you bringin at least one person to this church. There should be somebody that says, “It is Sister India that brought this person, and this person is now a strong member of the church.” Somebody say Amen. It can happen. It will happen. That’s a vision. Growing this place is part of our spiritual responsibility. So today, when you pray, you want to say, “God, my vision shall come to pass. God, give me grace to follow through so that I don’t just register for a gym and be among the 60% that don’t follow through. I don’t want to have a wish. I want to work according to purpose and I want to see clearly.”
If there is one last thing I want to say to you, you need to put away distractions this year. Social media? All those people, some of them are distracting you. Some people you call friends; they are distractors. You need to put them away. Some family members that are not helping you and are dragging you away, anybody that tells you not to do what God wants you to do, that person is destroying you. Put them away. Some of you take relationship advice from social media. You’re trying to kill yourself. That is a distraction. Put it away and focus. The Word of the Lord is the constitution. Let the Word of the Lord guide you. If you don’t know how to do it, this year the pastor is going to take us through the bible through the whole year. So when you see that text, read the bible. Before you do anything, ask, “What does God say about this?” Before you take any step, ask, “What does the Lord say,” and when in doubt, call your pastor and say, “This is what I want to do. What do you say? What does the Lord say, because I haven’t heard anything from God.” Don’t let them distract you this year. One other distraction is from your job. You know some bosses will just keep you at that job so you don’t progress in life. Sometimes, they’ll increase your salary and I’ll ask, “How much increase?” “50 cents.” “And you’ve been working there for 5 years?” Take a risk this year. Make a change this year.