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PORT HARCOURT Based Pastor, SIMEON AFOLABI
Pastor Simeon Afolabi is a well-respected Minister of God’s gospel whose preaching is always top notch. He is Senior Pastor and Serving Overseer of Firstlove Assembly, one of the wave-making churches in Port Harcourt, River State. The church has grown in lips and bound since it was set up in 1998 as the church now has a couple of churches in its network. Through the church, Pastor Afolabi pursues a life-long passion for revival and restoration of souls. The Minister of God was invited as a Guest preacher at the 50th birthday of RCCG Pastor Victoria Omotayo Adebola in Magodo area of Lagos state. There he delivered an inspiring talk which is worthy of note. City People JAMIU ABUBAKAR covered the event and brings to you excerpts from his speech: Read and learn!
I want to talk about the 6 golden philosophies that guide my life as a person.
1. Every day is a privilege and we must receive it with gratitude. Today is 15th April, 2024. Not everyone we said happy new year to is still around here. So, every day of our life is a privilege and we must receive it with gratitude. It’s not a right, it’s a privilege from the Almighty God. I tell people when we go to bed and wake up the next morning, it is not one of those things. It is one of God’s things. So, every day is a privilege and we must receive it with gratitude. Every day we wake up, let’s give thanks to God for the privilege of another day.
2.Every day is a proof that there is an outstanding mission, find it and do it. The reason why the celebrant is still alive is because there’s still a mission of God outstanding for your life. You need to find out what that mission is and do it. I want to cite an example that will resonate with many of us here. Back then in primary and secondary schools, when you got to primary 4/5, you were taught to pick biros. You begin to use Bic biro in your secondary school down to the University. Can you recall those days when you had your Bic biros in a transparent container? As the ink is dropping, a time comes when you no longer see the ink with your natural eyes. The ink has depleted to the tip of the biro. So, after a time the Bic stopped writing. What do we normally do? We shake it to write a little more with it. When that failed, we thought maybe the whole thing was blocked. So, we scratch it on the floor and it writes a little bit more. And by the time, we do all the shaking, and all the scrubbing on the floor, and it’s no longer writing, what do we do? We dispose of it, meaning mission accomplished. The reason why God keeps you is because there’s still a mission. That’s why you are still here. The day your ink finishes is the time we kiss the earth goodbye.
3. Every day and by extension every year has its challenge, receiving grace to overcome. There’s no phase of life we get to that we will not have some challenges. The challenge of a toddler is not more than giving me milk and giving me food; cry a little, get your supply. This is different from the challenge of a mother. It’s different from the challenge of a single lady, different from the challenge of a mother, different from the challenge of a grandmother. Every phase of our lives has its own challenges. No matter where you are, locate what the challenge is and tap into the grace of the Almighty God for it. Jesus was teaching in Matthew Chapter 6, talking about anxiety. He said don’t add tomorrow’s problem to today. Let tomorrow’s problem be for tomorrow. Take grace to deal with what is happening today. Everything about life has a challenge. The challenge of a 50-year-old is not the same as the challenge of a 20-year-old. But the good news is that there’s always grace sufficient for every challenge that we have.
4. Every day is a school; so take lessons. The business tells us that wisdom cries everywhere. To those whose hearts are given to learning, even walking through this hall today, you have learnt something. You look at the settings of the hall and you must have learnt a new thing, you look at the stage, you must have learnt a new thing. Those whose lives are given to learning, you must have learnt every day of your life. And amazingly even the children from your womb can be the teacher. So that takes humility. One day, I was trying to type the account number of my DSTV, I needed to fill it into something and I was picking the number one by one by one. And my son said dad, what are you doing? I said I’m typing out the numbers and he said dad, just highlight, copy and paste! I look stupid. That’s my last born. Everyday has a lesson. Every place you go is a school. You want to maximize your life and impact a generation, then learn lessons. Be open enough to learn lessons.
5. Every day is a blessing, receive it….
6. Every day is a day closer to eternity, prepare to meet your Lord. Every day is a day closer to eternity, prepare for the inevitable. Every one of us is closer to eternity today than we were last year. Even if we are going to live for 100 years or even 120 here. We are closer to eternity every day. Wise people will prepare. These are the 6 Golden Principles that guide me. When my time is over and I die, I don’t want it to be like I never lived. To avoid those pitfalls, let’s adopt the 6 principles which say; every day is a privilege, receive it with gratitude. Every day is proof that there’s an outstanding mission for you, find out that mission and do it. Everyday has its challenge, contact the grace of the Lord to deal with every challenge you face. Every day is a school; learn lessons. Every day is a blessing, receive it. Every day is a day closer to eternity, prepare for it.
ABOUT PASTOR SIMEON AFOLABI
Pastor Simeon Afolabi was born in 1962 in a place called Ipee in Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State, Nigeria. His early education was in that little community. A typically agrarian community, there he learned the virtues of hard work which prepared him for the larger role he is now known for. After his secondary education at Government Secondary School Ilorin, Kwara State of Nigeria, he proceeded to the Kwara State College Of Technology (Now Kwara Polytechnic). This was the place where he began to show flashes of ministry, but the time for full involvement in gospel work was yet to come. It will not be until his stint at the Nigerian Premier University, the University of Ibadan where he obtained B.Sc and M.Sc in 1985 and 1987 respectively.
Shortly after his degrees, Simeon Afolabi became a staff member of the Living Faith World Outreach Centre. He served here in various capacities for a period of 10 years before the founding of the Firstlove Assembly. The dynamic Ministry of Simeon Afolabi has taken him to several cities in Nigeria and to several countries in Africa, Europe, Middle East and America
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