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GOG - 20 - 290 - Building A Future Of Inuence
Building A Future of
INFLUENCE Pastor Charles Omofomah
In Genesis 41:1-40, we read of how Pharaoh had a dream that exposed the ineptness of his magicians. Then, the chief butler remembered how Joseph interpreted his dream while he was in prison and told Pharaoh about him. Thereafter, Joseph was brought from the prison and he interpreted the dream of Pharaoh. That singular act and the ensuing sequence of events altered his future forever and saw him to the throne as the Prime Minister of Egypt. This is a brief background to the subject in this article. 25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. 27 And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine. 28 This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. 29 Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; 30 but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. 31 So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe. 32 And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. 33 “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint ofcers over the land, to collect one-fth of the
produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. 35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. 36 Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine”. Genesis 41:25-36
Future means tomorrow or the time ahead. Inuence is the power of providing an effect, impact, control, direction or inspiration. In this article, we will look at how you can build a future of inuence and economic fruitfulness. “You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you” (Genesis 41:40). Pharaoh put Joseph over the economy of Egypt because he knew that as long as Joseph was in control of the economy, he was controlling every other thing. It doesn’t matter who is on the highest earthly throne now, if you have the economy in your hands, you can inuence the nation. As a Christian, you need to understand that God’s desire for you is for you to control the economy, so that you and the entire church can control every other thing.
There Is A Dream In The Heart Of The King For You There is a dream in the heart of the king for you, which nobody else knows about. That dream will show you how you can build a
future, if only you will recognize that the King has a dream for you. A lot of Christians are still in the dungeon today, because they are trying to build a future without knowing the dream that the King has for them. People want to pattern their future after other people’s dreams. No. Go into God’s presence, authenticate and concretize your own future. You can only nd your future in the King’s presence.
Your Dreams Are Characterized By Seasons 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one. Genesis 41:26
Every dream is characterized by seasons: good seasons and bad seasons. You may have dreams right now and those dreams are going through the most turbulent seasons you could ever imagine. Do not worry or fret, the unfavorable seasons may come in order to stie your dream but those seasons shouldn’t stop you because no season is permanent.
Understanding Your Calling And Gifting 11 we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. 12 Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told Him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream. 13 And it came to pass, just as he interpreted
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GOG - 20 - 290 - Building A Future Of Inuence for us, so it happened. He restored me to my ofce, and he hanged him”. Genesis 41:11-13
One of the things that will help you build your future is the understanding of your calling and gifting. “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). God will always equip you with the necessary gifts that you need to build your future. For example, you may come to the King’s presence speaking in tongues for twenty hours, but it will not help you if you are not called to do that. Once you are called to do a particular thing, God will always accompany it with all you need to accomplish it. Pharaoh had his magicians who were daily in his presence, but this particular dream was not for them. Until you come in contact with the dream that is for you, it will not prot you. It’s only when your call begins to blossom that you know you are building a dream that will inuence the future. Proverb 18:16 says, “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.” If you must build a future of inuence, you must come to terms with your call and your gifts.
Sowing, Reaping And Gathering 33 “Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint ofcers over the land, to collect one-fth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. 35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. 36 Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine”. Genesis 41:33-36 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they
neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Romans 11:25-26
The birds don’t have the ability to cater for their future but they wait for God to feed them. That way, they cannot have inuence. If you’re going to be a person of inuence, then you must know how to cater for the future. You have the ability to sow, reap and to gather. When you sow and reap, that should make you not to be anxious. The principle of sowing, reaping and gathering will help you secure a future of inuence.
tells me where I should concentrate my storage. I can have a storehouse here for the purpose of administration but most of my storage should be in the place where neither moth nor rust can destroy; where thieves cannot break in.
Set Up A Structure Do you know why Joseph could draw on his deposit? He knew that the years of abundance were not for spending and living a luxurious life. So, he tasked the people to give more, they made sacrices and stored up more. Make sacrices in your nances and when you have to go the extra mile, you will gather resources that will equip you for the future. 34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint ofcers over the land, to collect one-fth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. 35 And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. Genesis 41:34-35
Joseph, an Old Testament saint, knew this and he said to Pharaoh, “We’ve got to begin to sow in order to beat the future famine”. The seasons can swallow up your dreams and your visions if you do not learn to sow, reap and gather. That shows you that sowing, reaping and gathering are advantageous to your future. The unbeliever has only one way to gather here on earth. That is through the banks, but as a believer you have an advantage because you have two ways where you can gather your resources. The rst place is the bank. (As a businessman, whether you have started making prot or not, I advise you to open an account because God is not limited to bringing your breakthrough only through your business). Secondly, there is a place where you can lay up your treasures and moth and distress can never affect it. If the world comes crumbling on its knees, you can draw on your heavenly deposits. This, therefore,
Set up a structure that will administer your gifts and the resources of your gifts; a structure that works. A lot of people who have gifts don’t want to come under a structure or any authority. Joseph said, “And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities” (Genesis 41:35). It doesn’t matter how big your gift is, if it doesn’t come under authority it will amount to nothing. Subjecting yourself to authority is one sure way to plant your dreams on a sure foundation. I’ve seen talented people who refused to come under authority fail and the people, who were stars yesterday, have today become scars. Observe these principles and the whole world will not only depend on you, they will be ready to pay anything to benet from your gifts.
The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other, without the prior permission of the above.