By: Manasa Kolivuso

The following is an excerpt from Manasa’s Feast Sermon.

Tonight is so special for us because today we are celebrating 52 years of Fiji’s independence… and what a joy to celebrate this anniversary here where it all began in the Land of Promise… Once Jesus gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28, the Gospel has reached us in the ends of the earth. And we are so glad to be back here in Jerusalem and the shores of the Sea of Galilee… and to celebrate with all our brothers and sisters from around the world.

Let me declare tonight that I love you, and there is nothing you can do about it. Why? Because God loves you. The Bible tells us that God is love. He doesn’t have love, He is love. And because God is love, the essence of everything He does, every promise He makes, the foundation and motivation of whatever God does is love… And the nature of love is to give. And when love gives, love always gives the best… John 3:16 says: “For God so loved that He gave His only Son.” It is not in the nature of God to give second best. When God promises you something, He always promises the best… And Jesus became flesh and walked the shores of Lake Galilee. He ministered here and performed miracles.

To do justice to the theme of Feast 2022, “The Land of Promise”, I would like to speak on “from promise to possession”. I believe it is time for us to possess the promise that God has promised. Whenever God speaks, that’s what He does. God and His Word are one! …And if God promises you something, you can rest assured He will deliver His promise.

When God called Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans in Genesis chapter 12, He did not want them to settle in Haran. Sometimes, it’s so easy to settle. It’s so easy to be comfortable where you are. But God said to Abraham, “leave your people, leave your country, leave your family, and go to the land that I will show you”. And it is interesting, He did not tell him where, He just said, “go!”

Somebody said the only two things we do in life are “we leave and we enter.” We leave our mother’s womb, and we enter into infancy. We leave infancy, and we enter into childhood. We leave childhood, and we enter into adolescence. We leave adolescence, and we enter into adulthood. We leave adulthood, and we enter into old age. We leave old age, and we enter into the grave. We leave the grave, and we enter into eternity. If you want to possess your promise, you have to leave something behind. Because if you do not leave, you will not enter.

For Abraham, it was a physical relocation. For some of us, it may not be a physical relocation. But God requires us to leave something behind. Maybe we become so comfortable where we are. We’ve settled for less. Life with God is an adventure. It’s a journey. It’s going from glory to glory, from faith to faith, from strength to strength, and for you to experience another level of God’s blessing, another level of God’s glory, another level of God’s anointing, another level of God’s supernatural intervention, my friends, there is no way you can start with where you are for God to bless you. God said to Abraham: “I will not bless you where you are. You have to leave your people, leave your family, leave your country and go to the place that I promise you, that I will show you.”

You know, sometimes when God speaks, it doesn’t make sense. And the Bible tells us that Abraham didn’t even dare question God, saying, “where am I going?” Abraham just believed God and obeyed, and because of one man’s faith and step of obedience, that’s why we are here celebrating tonight. Because one man dared to believe God. Maybe God is telling you tonight, it’s time to leave an attitude behind. It’s probably time to leave some connections. Because if you don’t leave, you won’t enter. And with our obedience and leaving, then comes understanding of where He is taking us.