Topic:    Divine Partnership
Text:      John 15:4-8
Minister: Pst. Belemina Obunge

John 15:4-8 “Abide in me, and I in you. · I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing …”

One of God’s greatest desire is that you and I abides in him; His plan and purpose for your life is made manifest when you abide in Him.

I realize that parents have awesome plan for their children, but there is a prerequisite. And here we see God’s prerequisite, he says “You will bear much fruits when you abide in him”. When there is that partnership, then you will be able to experience the thoughts and plans of God – “The thoughts I have towards you are of good and not of evil, to give you an expected end”; it comes when there is divine partnership.

We may ask ourselves, what do we mean by partnership? Partnership is an agreement between two or more parties or persons, to work together towards a set goal. There must be an association, there must be an agreement, and it brings forth an advantage.

When the Lord say abide in me, he means let us associate, and he says if my words abide in you, you will bear much fruit – “Advantage”.

There are three basic requirement for Divine Partnership

1.            Having God
2.            Hearing God
3.            Hearkening to God

People could have God, but they are too busy to hear Him. People can have God, hear Him but they don’t hearken to him. The beauty of divine partnership is made manifest when you have God, hear him and hearken to him.

Let’s take a quick look at some instances

Noah in Genesis 6:8-9 fulfilled the first condition – he had God. In Genesis 6:13-14 God spoke to Noah and he heard from God – he fulfilled the second condition. What about the third condition? In verse 22 of Genesis chapter 6, “Thus did Noah according to what God had given to him”; he hearkened to God. We see Noah in this scripture fulfil the three conditions: he had God, he heard God, and he hearkened to God.

What about Elijah? The Bible tells us about Elijah in 1 kings 17:1; Elijah had God and he was serving Him. In the second instance, did Elijah hear God? (1 Kings 17:2)

We also see the same attribute with Simon Peter. Luke 5:1-3 show how he fulfilled the first condition 2 Luke 5:4-5 we also see that Simon heard from God, and the Lord gave him an instruction to launch his net. In verse 6, we see how Peter ahearkened to God.

When you read cases of people that were blessed in scripture, you’d notice that these three conditions were fulfilled; they had God with them, they heard God and hearkened to God.

Why is this so important?

When you have God on your side, Psalm 16:11 “Thou shall show me the path of light, in your presence is fullness of joy.” Your association determines your acceleration, your achievement and your advancement in life. Proper association enhances unique acceleration. The hand of God was upon Elijah in 1 Kings 18:46 – the hand of God was upon Elijah and he overtook Ahab that was in the chariot.

When the hand of God is upon you, your life become a testimony, protocol is set aside, you experience unique progress. Why? Because the hand of God is upon you!

So, when you have God, it brings delight; when you hear God, it brings direction; so many people are confused because God is silent over their matter: it’s either God is silent or they are too busy. Isaiah 30:21 “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, this is the way, walk in it when you turn to the left and when you turn to the right”. John puts it this way “My sheep hears my voice and I call them by their name and lead them out”. You shall hear the Lord today in Jesus name.

Hearing God mean that you are attentive to him. Hearing God means he is attending to your case. Prayer “My father, my father, help me to hear your voice in my situation in Jesus name”.

What happens when you hearken to God?

When you hearken to God, you experience deliverance. When Simon Peter hearkened to God, he was delivered from his bad situation and he was distinguished. (Psalm 81:13-16). Many at times we miss God’s blessing because we doings our own way. There are time the flesh is speaking, your emotion is speaking, people are speaking, and you say let me just do it because you think it’s the best way. You must learn to hear and hearken to God in any situation you find yourself.

I realized that the level you are lifted is determined by whether you listen to God or not. You shall be heightened in life as you hearken to the voice of God. As you obey God’s voice, you shall be lifted in the name of Jesus. A life of blessings is a natural response to divine partnership. Once you partner with God, you can not go wrong; but you must have him, hear him and hearken to him.

What happens when one does not have God?

Let me quickly mention as I round up, what about if one does not have God; king Saul experienced that, the LORD was with him, but by the time the spirit of the LORD departed from him, the bible says in 1 Samuel 16:14 “an evil spirit came over him and troubled him”.

• When one doesn’t have God, he lives a life of distress.
• When one doesn’t hear God their life shall be a life of dismay. (Isaiah 65:12-15)
• When one doesn’t hearken to God their lives becomes a curse. (Leviticus 26:21-22)

It’s a danger not to have God, hear God or Hearken to God. I urge you by the grace of God, determine to have God, hear him and hearken unto him.

Prayer Point

• My father, my father, by your grace and mercy, I have determined that I will have you, hear you and hearken to you.
• Oh Lord, open my eyes to every situation that I have taken the wrong step, so I can retrace my steps