WHAT ARE YOU RUNNING AFTER?: DR. MENSAH OTABIL, SUNDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER, 2020

ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE MESSAGE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)

TOPIC: WHAT ARE YOU RUNNING AFTER?

DATE: 20TH SEPTEMBER, 2020

TEXT: GENESIS 19:17, 2 KINGS 2:4, PHILIPPIANS 3:12-15, HEBREWS 12:1-2.

Amen and Amen! Shall we rise on our feet (wherever you are) as we make our DECLARATIONS OF EXCELLENCE? SAY WITH ME:

Out of Zion, the Perfection of Beauty, God shines forth. The Lord my God causes the righteous to shine forth as the Sun.

His Awesome Hands has formed me; His Creative Spirit inspires my mind. He skillfully guides my hands.

Therefore, I boldly declare: I am set apart for Excellence. The Ruler of the Universe has exalted my horn among the Nations. He sets my feet on high! In His Strength, I rise!

By Faith, I Press forward towards the Prize of my Highest Calling.

I believe in my heart, and confess with my mouth: that Jesus is Lord! He is the Vine, I am the Branch; in Him I abide, in Him I Blossom.

As it is written: God, who commanded Light out of darkness, has shone His Light in our hearts;

We have His Treasure in Earthen Vessels. That the Excellence of the Power may be of God, and not of us!

In this Year, I commit to EXCELLENCE, I commit to EXCEPTIONALISM, I commit to do the EXTRAORDINARY.

In Jesus’ Name – Amen!!! And Amen, and Amen and Amen.

May the Lord speak to you and Minister life to you; and may His Words bring Guidance and Direction to each one of us – Amen.

As you know, I started Preaching a Message originally, I had thought that it will be a two (2) Part Message. But I had to break it up a little. And it has become a three (3) Part Message. Today is the concluding Part of it.

And I said from the beginning that there are two (2) Powerful Forces that enable each one of us to make Progress -Two (2) very Powerful Forces:

There is the PUSH Factor, and there is the PULL factor – One PUSHES us from behind. And the other PULLS us from ahead. One is what is running after us, and the other is what we are running after.

So in Part one (1) of my Message, we asked the Question: “What is running after you? “

And if you didn’t read that Message, I encourage you to go and read it on the Label of DMC – “What is running after you? ” on this link:

What is Running After You – Pastor Mensa Otabil

And we looked at some of the disadvantages that Pursued us in life. We looked at four (4) Biblical Characters and the Negatives that Pursued them but which encouraged them to move on in life.

In Part two (2); we asked the Question: “What are you running for?

And if you didn’t read that Message, I encourage you to go and read it on the Label of DMC – “What are you running for? on this link:

What-Are-You-Running-For-Part-2-Pastor-Mensa-Otabil

And we looked at two (2) kinds of Running: Those who run with a Message or a Mission and those who run without any Mission – They just run because others are running.

… And I hope none of you is like that!

And today we are asking a Third (3rd) Question – Which is related to the PULL FACTOR of what is Pulling us up.

And the Question is: WHAT ARE YOU RUNNING AFTER?

Remember, Part one (1) is: What is Running after you? and this one is: WHAT ARE YOU RUNNING AFTER?

I spoke about the Legend of the Lion and the Gazelle in Part 1 (What is Running After You) – One is Pursuing and the other is being Pursued.

In Part one (1); I made this statement that: “People who have nothing running after them usually live life without any sense of Urgency.”

They live life comfortably, because:

I. There is nothing Threatening their life.

II. There is nothing that is Pursuing them.

III. There is nothing that makes them to get up and feel that: If they don’t MOVE, they are going to Perish!’

So, there is no sense of Urgency in their life.

Today, in relation to our Statement, or our Topic of: “WHAT ARE YOU RUNNING AFTER?

This is a Second Statement I will make: “The People who don’t have something they are running after, usually live life without any sense of Mission.”

A sense of Urgency, helps you to move QUICKLY; and a sense of Mission helps you to move PURPOSEFULLY.

It is great to be FAST; but to move, you have to know what you are moving for, or where you are moving to.

So we are going to look at Four (4) Examples in the Bible, of People who Pursued a Target and achieved it.

And we are going to relate to different aspects of what they did in their lives.

1. The first (1st) Character we are going to look at, is not a very nice Person in the Bible, but he is important for this Message.

… And that is LOT. Abraham’s Nephew – Lot.

And LOT is important because he didn’t LOOK BACK.

If you are going to run after something, you don’t have to look back. You have to look ahead, you have to look forward.

Lot had a lot of Problems (I think that is why he is called Lot) – He had a lot of Problems!

He made a lot of mistakes in his life, in his choices: He choose the wrong location to live in, a wrong neighbourhood!

And so made a lot of mistakes in his life.

But today, we would not look at all the wrong things that he got wrong. We are going to look at one (1) thing that he got right:

And that is the fact that he NEVER LOOKED BACK.

When Lot and his family were rescued from Sodom and Gomorrah. They were instructed to run to the mountains – and NEVER LOOK BACK.

Genesis 19:17 (NKJV) reads:

“So it came to Pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the Plain. Escape to the Mountains, lest you be destroyed”.

You can listen to the audio here: What are you running after? – Pastor Mensa Otabil

They had been delivered from great catastrophe – A City they had lived in; a Place they thought was going to be a Place of Prosperity, had become the Symbol of Debauchery in the world.

God is now destroying their home – He sent Angels to go and rescue them because Abraham had Interceded for Lot.

And then Lot and his family were PULLED from Sodom and Gomorrah.

The instruction is: ‘Don’t stay in the Plain, go to the Mountain and DON’T LOOK BACK!

DON’T LOOK BACK: If you are going to run for something; the first (1st) thing I want you to know – You don’t have to look back, you have to keep looking forward.

But something happened on the journey as Lot and his family are moving towards the Mountain – escaping from Sodom and Gomorrah.

Genesis 19:26 (NKJV);

“But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a Pillar of salt.”

HOW DO WE KNOW LOT’S WIFE LOOKED BACK?

Because nobody is supposed to look behind. How could Lot know?

Now, if the wife was walking BEHIND him (Lot) he wouldn’t have known that she had looked back!

… Because everybody is going forward!

If she looked back and she was BEHIND; you wouldn’t have noticed. And the record would not be there that she looked back.

So, for that record to be there; for Lot to know that his wife had looked back – She had to be one of two (2) Positions:

Either she is walking BESIDES him, or she is walking AHEAD of him – Definitely not behind him!

So, can you image a man who is supposed to look back; he is walking with his wife. He looks side ways and sees that the wife has looked back, and the wife becomes a Pillar of Salt.

Or the wife is ahead of him, and the wife looks back – Lot sees it, and then the wife becomes a Pillar of Salt.

Can you imagine? – Think of it! The extreme discipline it would require for Lot not to look back.

A man of great discipline – Somebody close by you (Your wife); You are on a journey with her, she looks back, right besides you, and she is a Pillar of Salt.

And he says: I will NOT look back!

… That is extreme Discipline!

Or if he was ahead, he said: I will not look back!

And that is why I Picked him! He made a lot of mistakes, but he knew how to focus into the future.

If you are going to run after anything in life, you have to learn this Discipline from Lot: I Will NOT LOOK BACK!

Somebody say: I WILL NOT LOOK BACK!

Unfortunately, some times in looking forward, you have left some People behind.

Sadly, People who are frozen in time, People who refused to Pursue any Agenda; sometimes, have to be left behind.

Then, I am not talking about ignoring and abandoning People simply because they are in trouble.

… That is not what this is about!

Or you are just leaving your wife because you don’t love her, or you have seen a New Girl.

… That is not what we are talking about!

We are talking about when you are focused on something; and you and somebody are focused on it and unfortunately, the Person looks back!

It is like friends who are both escaping a bad habit – They are escaping Sodom and Gomorrah.

It could be your friend you used to drink with – And you are both escaping Alcoholism; or you are both escaping Drugs; you are both escaping Prostitution, or Robbery, or Abject Poverty.

You and your best friend, you say: we are going to make it in life. We are going to stop drinking, we will not do drugs again.

And you are going on this journey; and your friend decides: I am going to go back to Drugs: I am going to go back to Alcohol. I am going to go back to Prostitution.

You have to be like Lot and say: Although he is my best friend, I am not going to look back because I am running AFTER SOMETHING.

And when that happens, sadly, you don’t have to join the one who LOOKED BACK.

The tragedy of life is that many of us are where we are because we have joined somebody who looked back.

We went back to somebody, we went back to a relationship that was going nowhere and we are stuck inside, Frozen in Salt like Lot’s wife.

When God gives you a Vision in life, or a New Hope in life, DON’T LOOK BACK!

No matter the temptation, DON’T LOOK BACK.

Lot’s view (his Vision) was the Mountain of Safety – And he had to FOCUS on it!

So if you look at Lot’s life, there are Two (2) Things driving him:

• The FIRE behind him;
• And the Mountain ahead of him.

The FIRE is Sodom and Gomorrah – that is the PUSH Factor. He has to RUN from Sodom and Gomorrah.

But if that is all he is doing and there is no Vision – he will LOOK BACK.

And that was Lot’s wife Problem – She knew what was running after her. She had no Vision of where she is escaping to.

So when it became stressful, the only Place she could look is backward!

It is not enough to have FIRE behind you:

I. You must look to the MOUNTAIN ahead of you.

II. You must have HOPE ahead of you; you must have VISION ahead of you.

So that when you escape the PAST, there is a Place that you are going to.

Somebody say: I AM NOT LOOKING BACK!

And for some of you:

I. God has delivered you from Alcohol – DON’T LOOK BACK!

II. He (God) has delivered you from Drugs – DON’T LOOK BACK!

III. He (God) has delivered you from Bad Company – DON’T LOOK BACK!

IV. He (God) has delivered you from some friends who are in Sodom and Gomorrah, who are there to destroy your life – DON’T LOOK BACK!

If you go around and achieve your Vision, you have to be like Lot – YOU DON’T LOOK BACK!

2. Second (2nd) Example – He is a better Person than Lot.

ELISHA is the Person who couldn’t be discouraged – He was determined to go for something, you couldn’t discourage him.

It’s not just enough not to look back, but you have to determine: I WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED.

Elisha was a man who was discouraged by everybody around him!

Do you feel that everybody around you is trying to discourage you? Everybody is trying to put a stumbling block on your way?

There are times in life when you get to a situation where almost everybody around you is trying to discourage you.

Your friends are discouraging you, your Parents are discouraging you, some times, even your Pastor is discouraging you.

And that was true of Elisha – Everybody was discouraging him.

He started his Mission under a Senior Prophet called Elijah.

But Elijah had a way of always discouraging Elisha, every steps of the way. And he tried to stop him in every way.

So in 2 Kings 2:4 (NKJV) we read:

Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, Please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel”.

But Elisha said: “As the Lord lives, and as your Soul lives, I will not leave you!”

… So, they went down to Bethel.

Four (4) times on this journey, Elisha was discouraged:

He was discouraged by Elijah; he was discouraged by the Sons of the Prophet – from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho to Jordan.

… Every steps, he was discouraged!

But his eyes were fixed on something. He had moved from something to the Other.

He wanted something; he had a Vision.

What was Elisha looking for? Why was he not discouraged in life?

2 Kings 2:9 (NKJV);

And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?”

Elisha said: “Please let a “Double Portion” of your spirit be upon me”.

Now, when I read the Bible, I try to imagine what is going on.

And when I read this, I just feel Elijah’s Question is a Question of frustration.

It is not that he wanted the man to have a “Double Portion”; but the guy had followed him and followed him – Never Quitting.

So, finally he said: What do you want?

… It is a Question of frustration: What do you want from me?

He said: I want a “Double Portion” of your Spirit.

So why was Elisha never discouraged?

It was because he had set his heart – I am going to have a “Double Portion”, I will be Significant, I will rise up, I will be used of God, and I will do Greater Things than Elijah is doing.

And if that is your Vision, then no one can discourage you.

WHAT DO YOU WANT IN LIFE?

… Is it a double portion?

If you want happiness, a Good Marriage, then nothing is going to discourage you in your Marriage!

If you want your children to do well, then nothing is going to stop you from raising Godly children.

And if you want to Prosper, nothing will stop you from Prospering because life is full of discouragements.

If you are one of those People who get discourage when you are discouraged; you will go nowhere!

Because life has Specialists in discouragement – They are Called, Ordained and Anointed to discourage you.

Every steps of the way, they are going to discourage you – It could be your Parents, it could be your Boss, it could even be your Pastor!

But Elisha said: I will not be discouraged.

WHY? – Because I want a DOUBLE PORTION in my life!

So, even if:

I. My Boss is discouraging me, I will not be discouraged.

II. My friends are discouraging me, I will not be discouraged.

III. Even if a Prophet discourages me; I WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED!

… He wanted a “Double Portion”!

Elisha’s Push Factor in life was discouragement – The more People discouraged him, the more he moved ahead.

But the Pull Factor for him was the “Double Portion”.

There was something running after him! Everybody discouraging him! But that is not enough. There is also something he was running AFTER.

He had seen something he wanted, and he had determination that he will not be discouraged!

Are you like Elisha? Or are you where you are because somebody discouraged you?

Sometimes you talk to People, they say:

I. Oh, no one believes in me! – But believe in yourself.

II. Nobody encourages me – Encourage yourself!

III. Even my Parents did not take me to school – Take yourself to School!

IV. All my friends are telling me that I can’t make it – Then tell yourself ‘I can make it!’

What are you sitting there for? Whom do you expect to encourage you?

Have you employed a Paid Encourager? Have you recruited and Encourager in your life?

If you haven’t, then nobody owes you encouragement.

The Bible says: “And David encouraged HIMSELF in the Lord!”

… Nobody owes you encouragement!

If you are tired, and you want People to clap for you before you run, you would collapse.

If you are hoping that one day – Somebody would hold your hands and say: I believe in you.

Listen to me: You are on the wrong Planet!

Maybe, it happened on Pluto, which is degraded from the Planet! May be it happened on Jupiter. But here on Planet EARTH, we don’t have many Encouragers.

… All of us were discouraged!

I remembered when God called me to Ministry and I told my BEST FRIEND (at that time) what God had said to me: He said to me: ‘You are a FOOL!’

And I don’t blame him because what I was doing, looked foolish – It didn’t look sensible.

And a Good friend was telling me: You are a fool.

That is a Good advice.

But, I was not discouraged, and I was not angry! And I am not angry at him!

All I am saying is: If you are looking for People to clap for you to Perform; you are on the wrong Planet.

Go and look for your own Planet and settle there. And recruit your Cheerers and Praise Singers and settle there.

But here on Earth, it is full of discouragement. But you have to be like Elisha – I have have set my eyes on the “Double Portion”, and even if my Boss says I shouldn’t go with him, the Sons of the Prophet are saying I shouldn’t do it; I know what I am looking for – I WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED.

Somebody say: I WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED!

Because is you are running after something, you have to be like Lot: “I will not look Back!”

You have to be like Elisha: “I will not be discouraged!”

3. Third (3rd) example is PAUL – The Great Apostle. He didn’t stop pressing on!

Philippians 3:12-15 (NKJV) these are Paul’s own words;

12 Not that I have already Attained, or I’m already Perfected; but I Press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

14 I Press towards the Goal for the Prize of the upward Call of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

… As many as are mature must think like this – Forgetting those things which are behind!

Paul was driving towards something and he was driven by what was ahead of him.

He called it: The Prize of the Upward Call of God in Christ Jesus.

And he kept that ahead of him – He knew what it WAS; and he said he has not attained it, but he will PRESS towards it!

*And to Press toward this thing he called the “Upward Call” of Christ, he had to put everything behind him.”

He had to put Success behind him; he had to put Great Spiritual experience behind him; his Great Vision behind him; great Accomplishments behind him; Persecutions behind him; Hunger behind him, Distress behind him; Nakedness behind him.

In other words, for Paul, Success and Failure made no difference to him – They were ALL BEHIND HIM.

There are People who are so swollen headed that they can’t enter the door God has opened for them.

Their head is too ‘big’ by some Success they choked!

So Paul calls it a ‘Goal’. And he said: I have not attained it and I am going to get it.

… And nothing could stop Paul from getting it.

He couldn’t be discouraged, Prophecy didn’t stop him.

In fact, there were Prophets who came, told him he was going to suffer Pursuing that and he said: I will still go!

In Prison, he Pursued it, out of Prison, he Pursued it. On the ship, he Pursued it – Until, in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NKJV). This is what he said:

7 I have fought the Good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the Faith.

8 Finally, there is laid up for me the Crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

How did he know he has finished the race?

How can you know the race you have finished, if you don’t know the Finishing Line?

So when Paul set out, he knew what he wanted to achieve. He knew where God wanted him to get to. And when he got it, he said: Now, I have crossed the Finishing Line, if God takes me, I am ready!

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU WANT TO GET TO?

… For Paul, it was what he called the “Upward Call” of God.

He had a lot of PUSH Factors. And the greatest thing that was a Push Factor for Paul; Motivating him; driving him, from his Past that he didn’t like was what he did as a Persecutor of the Church; especially in the Martyrdom of Stephen.

And it always drove him!

It made him feel that he was insufficient, he was unworthy.

Just really disturbed him that at one time in his life, he Persecuted the Church and Participated in the killing of Stephen.

… And that was his PUSH Factor!

But was was PULLING him ahead was not what he did to Stephen; it was the “Upward Call”.

You have to have something driving you from behind, or something Pulling you from ahead.

And Paul calls it: The “Upward Call” of God in Christ Jesus!

… And he was kept PRESSING ON!

We have to Press on through Success; which is very difficult to Press on because Success is a Place we all want to settle at!

You get to a Place where everything is cool, you just wish: Oh, I wish life would end – This is my final Place.

But you have to move on. You have to keep moving on. You have to Press on and Press on because beyond your Success, there is something more.

Beyond your achievements, there is something more; beyond your imprisonment there is something more; beyond your Pain, there is something more. Beyond your nakedness there is something more

… And Paul says: I Press on!

Somebody say: I AM GOING TO PRESS ON!

So, Lot tells us: ‘Don’t look back’ – We don’t look back when we are following our dream.

Elisha tells us: ‘Don’t be discouraged!’

Paul tells us: Keep Pressing through.

4. And the Fourth (4th) and final example – What better example than the LORD JESUS CHRIST Himself?

… He did it all, with Joy.

That is how he have to do it all; in running after something – We don’t do with with bitterness and anger. We do it all, with Joy.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV);

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a Cloud of Witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 LOOKING UNTO JESUS, the Author and Finisher of our Faith, who for the Joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the Right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus Christ shows us that what we are running after should give us Joy – Even if it is accompanied by Pain; the end results should be something that brings us great Joy.

It is like a mother going through labour to have a child – It is Painful, but she is waiting for the first (1st) cry of her Baby.

And when she hears the first (1st) cry, the Pain is no longer the most important thing – The Child is important!

For the Joy that was set ahead of Him, Jesus Christ endured the Cross, and He despised the shame.

Sometimes, life can be very bitter. Life has a way of surprising everybody and throwing bitterness our way, Pain and sorrows all our lives!

But there must be something in your life you are looking for, that brings great Joy.

And for Jesus Christ, the Bible says: For the JOY that was set ahead of Him, He ENDURED the cross.

Endured means He allowed it.

And He is now seated at the Right Hand of the Father.

That was the Joy that was set before Him: The Redemption of Mankind. Deliverance of Souls from the hands of the devil.

… And He did it with Joy.

The Cross is not the Joy, Trial by Persecution is not a Joy, being whipped is not a Joy, having a Crown of Thorns on your head is not a Joyful Thing – That is Painful.

But all of those Pains must be compensated by a Joy that you are looking forward to.

SO WHAT IS THAT JOY YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO?

Ultimately for us Christians, the Joy is being with the Lord Jesus Christ – Living for Him on Earth and living for Him in Eternity.

That is our Greatest Joy.

But aside from that, there are also things on Earth that gives us Joy:

I. The Joy of seeing your children doing well.

II. The Joy of seeing your life becoming a Blessing to People.

III. The Joy of doing something with your life that the world is blessed by.

So, People go out there and say: But for so and so, I would not have done this. But for so and so, I would not have achieved that!

IV. The Joy of standing behind and watching God use your life to be a Blessing.

That Joy allows the Pain to be Tolerable.

And today I Pray that: No matter what you are going through, the Joy of the Lord will keep you running – Amen.

… So, what have we learned today?

1. Like Lot, we will not Look Back!

And I Pray you will not look back – Amen.

Even if the Person close to you looks back – You can go to your old neighborhood or old classmates, and see Good friends who looked back;

Went back to a lifestyle that you and them were running away from. And they got frozen. And you see what God has done. When you and see them, don’t look back!

2. Like Elisha, we must refuse to be discouraged.

Even if the People are our Superiors, they must not discourage us.

3. Like Paul, we keep Pressing on, even when we seems to be the most successful People – We still keep Pressing on.
4. And like our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself; We do it all with Joy.

Before we close I just want to give everybody including those ones reading now on the Label of DMC: If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Saviour, we just want to Pray.

Because the Greatest Joy in life that you must Pursue is to have JESUS CHRIST as your Lord and Personal Saviour.

And if you are here or reading now on the Label of DMC, and you don’t know Christ Jesus as your Lord and Personal Saviour, I am going to lead you in Prayer.

And we are going to Pray that Prayer. And you are going to invite Jesus into your heart!

… Bow down your head with me, everybody:

And if you truly want Jesus Christ to come into your heart, I am going to lead you in Prayer.

But I want you to say this Prayer with sincerity in your heart.

And everybody join me in this Prayer. Say with me:

Heavenly Father, I come to You today, just as I am. I am a sinner. I cannot save myself. Today, I ask You to save me.

Wash me and cleanse me. My whole life is to Please You, to Honour You, to Serve You and to be with You forever.

In Jesus’ Name – AMEN AND AMEN!

GOD BLESS YOU!

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