Brethren, I want us to give thanks to God; let us thank the Almighty God, our Maker, our Shield, our Provider, our protection, our guidance, our all in all, our yesterday, our today, our tomorrow, our forever, Almighty God, the One who shows us the way, the One who brought us into 2026, let us give Him thanks.
The One who has brought us to this 18th day of the year 2026, the One who gives us His breath that we call life, Father we thank You. The One to whom we have come to seek His face, to pray onto Him, to seek guidance, to seek direction, Father we thank You. The One who knows the end from the beginning, the One who is going to show us our future, the One who’s going to show us the vision of our life, Father we thank You.
We thank You because You are God all by Yourself, thank You because You have given us the privilege to be called Your own, thank You. Thank You Lord, thank You Father, glorious in holiness and fearful in praises, in Jesus mighty name we have given thanks.
Our God and our Father we say thank You; we thank You most importantly for the gift of life, we thank You for the privilege that we know You, we thank You for all that You have done in our lives up until this moment, we thank You for the year 2026 for which we have seen 18 days already, glory be to Your name forever more.
We thank You Lord for what You are yet doing that will unfold as the year progresses, Father, we appreciate You; Lord God of heaven, we thank You because our life, our future, our vision, our everything is in Your hands and because we are Your children, Lord, You are revealing them unto us in the mighty name of Jesus.
As we go through the message this morning, Father Lord, we pray that You will speak to us, You will give us understanding, interpretation of the word in the name of Jesus. And most importantly, You grant us grace to do the word and be who You want us to be, Lord, in Jesus mighty name we prayed. Praise the Lord! Praise the living Jesus!
I welcome you daddies, mommies into His presence this morning, let’s appreciate the choristers, God bless you in the name of Jesus. I appreciate my father in the Lord for this privilege to minister here and of course the Lord Almighty for the gift of life.
Please turn with me very quickly to the book of Isaiah 43:16-19 (MSG) and then Philippians 3: 12-16; “This is what God says, the God who builds a road right through the ocean, who carves a path through pounding waves. The God who summons horses and chariots and armies – they lie down and then can’t get up; they are snuffed out like so many candles: “Forget about what has happened; don’t keep going over old story.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new. It’s busting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert (for you), rivers in the badlands. Wild animals will say, ‘Thank you!’ – the coyotes and the buzzards – because I provided water in the desert, rivers through the sunbaked earth. Drinking water for the people I chose, the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me”. Which people is He talking about here? A people custom-made to praise Him.
Philippians 3: 12-16 (MSG), I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made it. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: by no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning on us onward – to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.
So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision – you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it. Hallelujah!
The message today is titled “The Future Starts Now”; your future starts now, my future starts now, our future starts now. This year has been declared in this assembly as our year of restoration and recovery; when we talk about recovery, is a process where you return to normal or a better state after any form of undesired occurrence has happened in the life of person like injury, illness, difficulty, when you come back to your previous state you say that’s recovery.
Restoration, however, is the act of returning something to a former or original or impaired condition through repair, renewal, or rebuilding. It involves making something new again, and I’m trusting that God will make somebody new again in Jesus mighty name. Spiritually, the core of restoration involves reconciliation with God through repentance and forgiveness, so not only will God restore you in the body, in the soul, He will also restore you spiritually in the mighty name of Jesus.
Many times when we talk about restoration and recovery, there’s an undertone to restoration and recovery and that undertone is loss, there must be loss before you talk about recovery or before you want to talk about restoration. In that passage in 1 Samuel 30: 1 – 8, David and his men of valor went out on an assignment, by the time they came back to Ziglar they found out that the whole city has been razed down, the women and the children and everything they had had been taken. That was a loss, but then he inquired of God and God said to him he would recover it all and then he recovered. Hallelujah.
So a loss can be an actual loss like in this case of David, they lost, the city was burnt, things were destroyed, but a loss can also be notional. Notional meaning you are gauging it with something, where I would have been, I didn’t lose anything but I’m not there.
In 2 Kings 13: 15 – 17, a king went to Elisha, so he needed prayers about the Amalekites who were fighting against the nation. And then he said to him after he said throw out your arrow out of the window, he did, and then he said use your javelin and strike it, and the king went ahead and he did so three times. Elisha was annoyed, he said why did you stop? You should have done it like five or six times so that you’ll know that you’ll finish your enemies forever but now you’ll only win them three times.
Now that’s also a loss but it’s a notional loss, it’s not an actual loss, but then because the king has not lost anything but he has lost. So where am I going? When we talk about restoration and recovery, some people may be here and say I didn’t lose anything last year, I actually made money, but there could be a notional loss. Are you where you ought to have been? And there are people who actually also lost things, lost businesses, lost their jobs, lost good contract, lost a good thing. In the mighty name of Jesus, God will restore, God will recover, before the end of this year, you will give the testimony of restoration and recovery.
Now this message, when we talk about restoration and recovery is going to happen, so even if it happens now in this minute is about the future. If it happens next month is the future, if it happens in December – we need to give consideration for us to be able to get into this future, to bring this future to come about. Hallelujah!
I’ll call them nuggets or points, so we take the first one; the first thing we must do is that we must break the cycle of loss. Some people here today are saying I cannot try again because I’ve tried many times and it didn’t work, I’m afraid to waste resources to try again, that’s we are allowing the cycle of loss to continue. Some people are saying I did it before I didn’t get it right, people are laughing at me, if I do it again they will laugh at me so, I don’t want to try again.
Some people are saying I’ve been disappointed many times, my heart has been broken, I don’t want to go into a relationship again, if your heart has been broken and you don’t want to go into relationship, then you remain as you are. So we must first break that cycle of loss. Some people will say I failed, what if I fail again?
Last week we heard about Thomas Edison, he failed so many times but then there was one last time that he didn’t fail again. By the grace of God, the last time you failed will be the last ever in the mighty name of Jesus.
This morning, brethren, we must let go of our past failures, our past mistakes, our past misfortunes, according to that passage in Isaiah 43:18 (MSG), forget about what has happened, don’t keep going over old history, put it behind you.
And for those who may think I didn’t lose anything, that other passage in Philippians 3 says, I keep looking forward, until I get to the goal. Yes, you didn’t lose anything paradventure you are not at where God wants you to be yet, so you must keep going forward. So we must first break this cycle of loss and by the grace of God, however difficult it may be, God will break that cycle of loss for us.
I have a testimony to share about one of our pastors; many years ago he shared this testimony, so yesterday I remembered. He was practicing law, he was a young lawyer, just started practicing and one day the office where he practiced got burnt the building was set on fire, and in his own office everything he had got burnt – his books, his law materials, references, everything, maybe even certificate was in the office everything got burnt.
You can imagine a young lawyer just starting life, so he was really down. But along that period he had an opportunity to meet with the General Overseer, he recounted the story and he was going on and on, ‘I’ve lost everything, I’ve done that’. The General Overseer said did your brain burn with the fire? He said no, and that was when he woke up and then said oh I still have something left, I still have my brain. Today that lawyer is a very senior lawyer, is a SAN today.
Why? Because he broke that cycle of loss. Whatever it is that is keeping you that you are saying you want to try again and you fail, break that cycle of loss and you’ll move forward in the mighty name of Jesus.
The second point brethren, is that when you break that cycle of loss then the question is where do we go from here? So you must carve the vision of the future you want, you desire, you must have that picture of that future that you desire in your mind. Nobody leaves a house and you just go in, you must be going somewhere. Praise the living Jesus.
That vision of where you want to be, that picture of where you want to be, that dream some people call it, is like a vision of your life. At the end of the day when they are writing about me, what would they say? At the end of the day, when I leave this organization, when I leave this church, what do I want people to say about me? Carve a vision and that’s what will direct your steps.
In Habakkuk 2:2 (MSG), the Bible says and then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in a big block letters so that it can be read on the run”. As you are going every day, it is in your mind, it’s your heart, you are seeing it, nobody else sees it, even in the midst of the crowd you are seeing what nobody else sees and that is what will carry you.
Whenever God wants to do something new in the lives of people, whenever God wants to give people a new beginning, He starts by giving them first a vision of where they’re going. I’ll share a few examples; Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, God called him out and said leave your country, he said yes, okay, where are You taking me? He said, “I’m taking you out to a place that I will disclose to you later,” that’s a big vision.
God is saying you cannot understand it now but start the journey, but then God made it simpler for him. He went further to say that and I will make you a great nation, so a man becoming a great nation is a vision, he said okay now that sounds intresting, let’s go. God gave him a vision.
What about Joseph? As a youth, God revealed to him that a time was coming that the whole nation including his father and mother and brothers will come down to bow, Genesis 11: 5-11. So when Joseph got into the house of Potiphar and Potiphar’s wife was doing rubbish and all that, he said you don’t know who I am, I have something in me bigger than your husband’s house, I’m going somewhere. And it was because he had a vision.
Brethren, there must be something you are carrying this year, otherwise, it will just be like any other year. You need to have that picture of who you want to be, the life you want to live in 5 years, in 10 years, in 15 years and you must begin with the end in mind. Where do I want to end it all?
There are some facts we need to know about this vision, the vision is for an appointed time, Habakkuk 2:3. The appointed time may be tomorrow, it may be next year, it may be 5 years time, so we must not be in a hurry, once God gives you that vision, work with God, the appointed time is set by God. Many people want it now, so don’t lose sight of your vision. Some people will say ah it’s already December, it has not happened, God are You still there? Just say God, I know You are from everlasting to everlasting, so my life is in between the everlasting, so keep on let’s continue the journey.
Then you must nurture your vision, you must keep that vision alive so that it doesn’t die. Joseph kept his vision alive, I said earlier; when the wife of Potiphar held him, he said, “No way, I’ll rather leave all the goodwill that I’ve earned in the house of Potiphar, it’s nothing compared to where God is taking me,” so he removed his shirt andnran away, he said I have a future. Is there someone here who has a future? Praise the living Jesus!
Abraham lost that vision for a moment and we know what happened in Genesis 16; then his wife called him and said we are getting old, can we help ourselves? Can we help God? And in the process of helping God, it caused them a delay of another 13 years. Please, that vision is for a time, please just keep on with God and you will not fail.
Samson lost the vision and he lost it all. In Judges 16:1-3, he knew that he was a Nazarite but he was going into harlot – from one prostitute house to another prostitute house desecrating the temple of God, he forgot who he was and what happened? He ended it all on the lap of Delilah.
You must review your vision regularly in line with current realities. Brethren, the world is changing, the vision you had in 2015 may not hold today in terms of how you are going to carry it out because things are changing. Praise our living Jesus!
I have a few examples here. Many years ago I remember the first time I wanted to install the telephone line in the house, NITEL box, we were chasing after NITE officers and all that and they kept doing like kings. Today do you need any NITEL officer to do your phone? And you can imagine people who are producing those phone boxes, they were in business then. If anybody starts a business today, you have a vision that one day I will do phone boxes, it will sell like nothing less like pure water, how many people will buy it today? So you must review your vision in line with current realities.
I also remember that in the 50s, 60s when people went to universities, they studied courses like philosophy, anthropology, those things were very sought after but in the 80s it became accounting, medicine and all that. Today if you are not studying computer science is as if you have not gone to work, so you must change with current realities. Hallelujah.
Then when the realities around your vision changes, you must revise it. You can’t remain in one place and expect something to be different. There are people whose vision are to leave Nigeria at all cost, I want to go to the US, if you go to the US now and you are not ready, they will send you back because what is happening now does not allow visitors to come anyhow. So you must revise your vision, what else do you want to do? And allow a reasonable time. I talked about that earlier.
So the vision may appear to be slow in coming, it may appear to be delayed but you need to be patient because it will surely come, the God that gave it to you is from everlasting to everlasting. By God’s grace, your vision will not fail and it will not miss one day, it will come at the right time in Jesus mighty name.
The next point three is that you must seize the moment and start working out your vision. You know some of us are waiting, “God has shown me that I’ll be big, I’m waiting, it will happen,” you must start working out. Some people are praying actually to bring it to pass, “God, You have shown me in a dream, I’m the managing director of this company”, yet you have not completed your secondary school, you didn’t go to university, “God please just give it to me, I command it, I demand it”, the devil will just be looking at you say I’ve gotten somebody who doesn’t know his right. Brethren, seize the moment, work out your vision.
In that passage, Isaiah 43:19, the Bible says I’m about to do something new, I have actually started it, already gone ahead, right? But if you do not step in to be where God wants you to be so that He can deliver it to you, then you get nothing. We must work out that vision. Hallelujah.
And to make it simpler, break it down into simpler things, is for 20 years, break it down into years so that you can work easily. Nobody can really see 20 years from now but you can see one year, you can see three years, so start doing what is important.
We must take risks, some people don’t want to take risks, you just want that thing to happen. God asked Abraham, “Leave your comfort zone, leave your family, leave your nation” and he says where am I going? God said, “I’m taking you to a place I will disclose to you later.” Abraham eventually stepped out, he struggled with it, eventually stepped out, that’s taking risk, but the risk you take with God is a very low risk or no risk at all. So take risks brethren, God has shown you a vision, God has given you how to go about it, take the steps. In Genesis 12:1-7, that’s for Abraham.
In Genesis 26, Isaac dug the well many times; after the first one, they took it, after another one, they took it, eventually he came to Rehoboth. He did not stop after the first one and say why am I wasting resources in this famine, why am I wasting energy when I know that eventually somebody else will take it? He continued until he got to a point where nobody came to strive with him and God said he had come to his Rehoboth. God will bring someone to Rehoboth this year in the name of Jesus.
So what must we do for the risk taking? You must be bold, you must be courageous. God told Joshua, Joshua 1:9, be courageous, be bold, I’ve shown you where I want to take you, step into it. Brethren, may I tell you this year, God, if He has not shown you, will show you where He’s taking you in the name of Jesus. And He will also give you the courage and boldness, please step into it, when you step into Jordan it will part.
For example, there are people who are in a certain line of business and you are hitting your head against the wall, nothing is happening. I met someone yesterday, we’re talking in a business class, he said he manufactures cello tape and then foreign imports come in and his own cost price is beyond their own selling price. I said what is he doing in that business? If you cannot work to bring down your cost and continue to hit your head, your capital that you have over time you will erode it on losses.
Find something else to do, change industry, change business, diversify, do something new, don’t continue to put money in a lossmaking venture one year, 2 years, 3 years because except you see the end. In this case there’s no end because influx – they will always bring in. Take a risk. “Oh I have invested, oh I have machines”, the machines are probably obsolate, you probably fully depreciated the machines.
Number four, we must trust God to bring His plan to pass in your life. Can I tell you something brethren? When God shows you a vision of something that looks so big that it cannot be achieved, God has already set everything to make it happen. When God told Abraham, I’m taking you to a place, God had already finished the story; God is more excited about your vision than even you are. That’s the point I’m making, God is ready, He’s waiting for you and say let’s go. He’s more excited about the vision than you are.
Jeremiah 29:11 & 12 (MSG), I know what I am doing, I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not to abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I will listen. Trust Him and you will see things begin to happen in your favor, Proverbs 3: 5 & 6.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart, don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go, He’s the One who will keep you on track, trust God to make it happen. God has assured that the earth will yield her increase for you, Psalms 7:6; God has also assured that the law of harvest will work in your favor, Galatians 6:7, so what are we waiting for?
Let’s trust God. You must trust Him because He takes preeminence over all things, He’s God above all, Colossians 1:15 – 18, without Him was not anything made that was made. So let’s trust Him, trust Him with the journey of your life, trust Him with the vision that He has given to you, trust Him with your business, trust Him with your career, trust Him with your ministry, trust Him with your spiritual life, trust Him with everything and He will take you there.
Number five, (the last point), when you trust God with the vision that He has given unto you, one thing is certain, success will come. If you do the things God has asked us to do and you trust Him, He will surely bring you to that state of restoration and recovery. But then there is a question brethren, when success comes, how do you manage this success? Because this is where many other people fail. They are successful, they fail to manage it and then when people see them later they are like shadow of what they used to be, like they never tasted success. May that not be your story in the name of Jesus.
You must be deliberate about life when success comes, live well to enjoy the blessings that God is giving unto you. Live healthy, it’s not the time you have money and you must eat everything, take care of yourself. Live well, sleep well, look well also, dress well. I went somewhere yesterday and I saw someone, ah is this person…? Look well so that people will see the glory of God upon your life. In 1 Timothy 4:8, the Bible says physical training is good, I mean exercise also, look well, keep your life, take care of your health, health is wealth and then you must manage risks.
Now I’m talking about the risk of life, there are some places you know that they are danger zones, you don’t necessarily need to go there especially at night. People may tell you you are coward, yes I’m a coward because I must enjoy what God gives to me. Hallelujah! You must live cautiously, don’t do things aimlessly, don’t just go anywhere. There was a time many years ago, we were having a service in my house – house fellowship, and one evening somebody called me, there was an emergency, I had to go to Ota, it was a Sunday evening around 6:00 p.m. I left for Ota, but then only God saved me that night because then we ran into armed robbers.
They took over the car, they put me at the back seat of the car and they were driving me around town to go and snatch other vehicles. But the question, would I do that today? I will follow someone to Ota at 6 p.m, no way, I would say let the day break or call somebody else. Praise the living Jesus!
Then you must stay and remain grounded. Train your children because they are your tomorrow; care for the less privileged. Watch out, be on guard against all kinds of greed because the blessings of God adds no sorrow.
As I conclude, your future brethren starts now; forget your past failures, your past disappointments, don’t let them hold you back. Your past should not define you, what should define you is what’s coming tomorrow. Carve out a new vision for that which you want to be in the future, work it out, otherwise it will remain a dream.
I need to add here brethren, life does not give you what you deserve, life gives you what you demand, what you take, what you go for. If it was it, everybody here should have equal balances in the account, everybody here should all park Jeep, Gwagons and all that but life does not give you what you deserve, it gives you what you go to get. Praise the living Jesus.
Trust God to work out your plans and manage your success, deliberately live well, live good, enjoy the blessings of God in your life. Hallelujah! Take one step at a time but the first step you need to start today, take that first step today. Text a friend, start a project, write that proposal, register that business, call that person and set up a meeting. Start something now, don’t let it wait till tomorrow. God is making something new, don’t miss it. Your future starts now.
Let us rise up… Brethren, we need God to function optimally. In John 15: 5 – 8, the Bible says if you are in me and I am in you, that’s when you will be fruitful. Yes, there are past failures but it’s only God that can turn around the past failures, you need a vision to move ahead, it’s only God that can give you a vision of the life that He plans for you; you need to be able to execute it, it’s only God that can give you the grace to do what is necessary, if you don’t know God, you can’t even trust Him because you do not know Him, and if all of these don’t happen, then success becomes far away.
[Altar call]
Let’s begin to give thanks to God, let’s thank Him for His faithfulness, let us thank Him for His blessings, let’s thank Him for the word, the message He sent to us. Let us thank the God of heaven, let us thank Him for keeping us alive, for making it possible to hear this message, for revealing the secrets of our lives to us. Father, we thank You, thank You heavenly Father, in Jesus marvelous name we prayed.
We’ll pray and say Father, as You did for Abraham and You did it also for Joseph, please show me the vision of my life, please reveal to me what You want me to become, where You want me to be, Father, please reveal it to me, reveal it to me, oh Lord, in the name of Jesus. What You want me to do, where You want me to be, Father, reveal it, in Jesus mighty name we prayed.
We’ll pray again and say Father, please give me the grace to leave that my past that is difficult to forget, that is difficult to leave behind, give me the grace, oh Lord, to overcome and leave it behind. I leave behind my past failures, I leave behind my past disappointments, I leave behind my past errors in the name of Jesus. Give me grace, oh Lord, to go beyond my past in the name of Jesus. Don’t allow my past to hold me down in the mighty name of Jesus.
We’re going to pray and say Father, please release unto me the grace to work it out, to work out the journey of my future that starts today, give me grace, oh Lord, to work it out in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You, Father, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
We are going to pray and say Father, I know You are a faithful God, I put my trust in You and I will not fail because I put my trust in You, I will not fail. My trust is in You, I will not fail in the mighty name of Jesus.
Finally, and Father, surely the blessings will come. Lord, let me enjoy the blessings, the blessings that You’re going to give me, the recovery and restoration is on its way, I will recover fully, I’ll be fully restored, I will enjoy the blessings of my life in the mighty name of Jesus.
Brethren, you may have 30 seconds to talk about your life to God, where do you want Him to restore and recover you?
