JUST DO IT – by Kwame Otu Sakyi

You are either young or old. You can never be both at the same time, at least not in the thought of it. But whatever that may mean or be perceived to be naturally, it is nothing compared to your perception of yourself. One will say “I’m too old” and go to sleep on his dreams; another may also say “well, I’m too young for that” and shelf every vision to the morrow when he hopes to have grown a little older – just old enough. Well, both of them are so, so wrong! It’s not about being old or young; no, it’s got nothing to do with it at all! You see age is a just another number – often a single, double or three digit, considering how long we live on this side of the grave. It isn’t likely to find a thousand year olds, is it! In short, age is not a factor at all!Now let’s consider what scripture says about this issue of age, vision and/or dreams and their fulfillment. Joel 2:28 gives us a beautiful insight that will most definitely change the way you spend the rest of your life – young or old. Oh I’m so excited just at the thought of it!

Here we go:“And IT SHALL COME TO PASS afterward that I WILL POUROUT MY SPIRIT on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS, Your YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS.”And it shall come to pass! Praise God, IT SHALL COME TO PASS! What is IT, what do you see as IT and what does IT mean to you? Whatever IT is to you…hear the Living Word of God “IT SHALL COME TO PASS” Yes, it makes no difference your age; watch out for the IT you’ve been waiting for and IT SHALL COME TO PASS. IT will soon be a thing of the past, a memorial, an accomplishment and fulfilled desire, Yes, IT SHALL COME TO PASS! My, I sense the moving of the Holy Ghost as you say those words to yourself right now IT SHALL COME TO PASS!

Now let’s get through with this real quick. Sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, fellow participators of like precious faith in this righteousness we share in Christ Jesus; we all dream don’t we, we all have some vision one way or the other. We have something on the inside of us, something in mind to accomplish; some desire to fulfill, don’t we? That is splendid! And I guess you’re looking forward to its fruition. Now that sounds like a dumb rhetoric, isn’t it? Well, have you received the Holy Ghost to indwell you? I’m not talking to you “unborn-agains” No-no I should be dumb to be asking you such a question. I’m not talking to you at all, you can’t have received Him! (But you can read on alright)IF you’ve not confessed with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believed in your heart that GOD has raised Him from the dead you are NOT saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9,10) So you don’t know what I’m talking about. But well, Believe, and you’re in!

On the other hand I’m talking to you, yes you the born of God folks. I’m talking to you that have received the Word of Life with grace, having mixed it with faith and is supernaturally linked to the blessing of Abraham. Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed! You know Paul got to the believers in Ephesus and asked them this same question, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” With confused faces they said “what is that, we don’t even know there is one going by the name Holy Ghost” “what baptism did you receive then?” Paul inquired, “The baptism of John” they hastened to say. “Uh-uh that was the baptism of repentance, there is a greater baptism of which John himself subscribed to. This other baptism brings into your spirit the manifest glorious presence of God! It literally fires you up for a godly life that is absolutely fulfilling! This baptism is the Baptism of the Holy Ghost; the divine outpouring of God, that makes a natural man a superman. It transforms weakness to strength, sickness to health, confusion to certainty, death to life (Romans 8:11). Paul probably did all that explanation, laid hands of them as a means of transmission and whoops, that was it, they were filled with the blessed influence of God (Read Acts 19:1-5); anointed to go on and fulfill their God-given dreams, goals and aspirations, yes, and mighty signs followed them. Praise God!

I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH
What is all this I’m babbling about? The first place to start up your dream or vision inspite your age is the HOLY GHOST! No, I’m not overstating the matter. Infact, it can not be said any better. He is the divine influence for accomplishment! “That I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” Notice this; he didn’t say “that I will pour OUT OF my Spirit…” Uh-uh, that will have been different. He says rather (this is God speaking through Joel His mouthpiece) I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT; in other words, I WILL POUR MYSELF ON ALL FLESH! Now note this, because Acts 2 gives us an account of how Joel’ prophesy CAME TO PASS, God is now saying: “I HAVE POURED OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH” My, get that into your spirit! You have GOD indwelling you. So what are you waiting for! If you’re waiting for some power to come and shake you up and leave goosebumps all over you, sorry but you are in error. He (the Holy Ghost) is not coming, he has come! In fact He is here. ONLY BELIEVE!

Now don’t waste anymore time because your dreams and aspirations are so vital to the Kingdom of God and to its influence on society that IT MUST COME TO PASS! And if you’re going to get it done, you need this precious Divine Presence of the Living Christ. He is your being, He is your becoming! You see, He is here just for you; He is here just to see YOU come through the way, fulfilling the purpose of God for your life and through your life! ASK HIM IN NOW! Yes, because all I’m saying will benefit you nothing if you don’t have Him. Oh it may excite you, it may even edify you but, sorry to say, it will be short-lived. He is indeed your being, your becoming. With Him, you go on and on. “Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit” saith the Lord God of Hosts.

DREAMS AND VISIONS
After he comes in what then? Well, having received Him you are ready to see the fulfillment of your dreams and/or visions. Now what are dreams? What are visions? We have a two-sense meaning of both words. The first is the natural or usual means of dreams and visions that we receive or that pass through our minds whiles we are asleep or in a trance as Peter received in Acts 10:9-10 (that is, as in the case of visions.) This way the dreams and visions pass through the subconscious and we receive it in lifelike detail as though we were living it in real life. An example of a dream is recorded in (Genesis 37:5-9) i.e. to Joseph. We also have open visions as Daniel received in the book of Daniel 10; in this case Daniel was not asleep neither had he fallen into a trance. Dreams and visions have three sources namely: God, You, and Satan. Well, let’s leave it here.

The other side of both words has to do with having a goal or target that you aim at reaching. You could picture it in your minds eye, or may even have it written down (the better choice); whichever way it goes it must be a clearly defined target that you desire to reach. A vision or dream is the driving force behind decisions that you take and the resulting action that follows. In the business world, all companies or organizations irrespective of size or capital backdrop, have a vision which directs their long and short term goals they want to achieve. In the same manner all Homo sapiens as long as you are alive ought to have an aim, a dream, a vision; something you want to get done at all cost within a specified time frame or even timeless (not bound by time).

In fact every person saved or unsaved, has a purpose divinely assigned to him by the virtue of the fact that he/she has been born of a woman into this human race. More especially every believer has a God-given assignment to fulfill that will benefit the kingdom and society at large and he cannot run away from it, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. (Romans 11:29) - another version renders it "...irrevocable." Now in that purpose is your vision or dream: it is the reality before YOUR eyes that YOU desire to bring to fruition. And in this your age almost counts for nothing! It should not be a barrier at all. I’ll tell you why in a moment, but let’s check out what Joel says of dreams and visions young or old.

THE OLD TO DREAMS, VISIONS TO THE YOUNG
“Your OLD MEN shall DREAM dreams” He didn’t say your old men shall hung around waiting to die or to put it mildly, as a result of advancement in age do little dreaming! He didn’t even mean they shall sleep and have dreams, uh-uh, He implies they shall envision things that they shall go on to accomplish. God means despite a man’s advancement in age, having received the Holy Ghost, he shall be imbued with divine ability to make a significant impact. (Acts 1:8) Who says you are too old!

Consider Abraham: 90 years of age and a wife who is about 80 and barren receiving a word from God “you shall have a son”; Ha-ha-haa, Sarah laughed it off in the tent while the visitors – apparently messengers of God - were still around. How can this be, she might have thought, they certainly are strangers or even probably out of their minds; have they come to mock me? Scripture doesn’t say she said so but she just might have thought it! But just hold on right there, TEN years after that, the WORD CAME TO PASS. Praise God!

Now you probably may be asking what the “trump-card” was within those TEN incubation years.“(Abraham) who, contrary to hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken… And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead…and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, And being fully convinced that what He had promised He was able to perform.” (Romans 4:18-21)
“By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude – innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:11,12)

Now let’s reconcile the key words to see the access code to their miracle inspite their age.
IF you BELIEVE WHAT IS SPOKEN (God’s purpose defining your vision) and do not WAVER, but are STRENGTHENED IN FAITH, you will BEAR what is CONCEIVED in you being fully convinced that HE IS ABLE TO PERFORM. That is the key!
That is the way up – young or old! They received strength; from who, the Holy Ghost and so is He upon you!

Look at Old Simeon of Jerusalem: all about him were folks who might have been saying “when will you give up the ghost and leave us in peace…you these ol’ devoutees” But guess what, all those years he was ‘waiting’ for the promise of God to him (the LORD’S Christ), the vision that had become the driving force in his life inspite his gray and frail body; and “…the Holy Ghost was upon him….” Praise God! Then one fine day IT CAME TO PASS:
“So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought the child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord let your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation” (Luke 2:27-30) Glory to God! He saw it! His reason for staying alive inspite his old age CAME TO PASS! So will yours in Jesus Name!

That’s not all! There was another of great age by name Anna – a prophetess. She had been once married only seven years then her husband was gone, he was dead. But she didn’t stop living, no, she lived right on unlike many will do today. 84 years old and she was still alive fulfilling the duties of her call; active enough to see and give thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him (Jesus Christ) to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem on that very day Simeon saw the baby Jesus. (Luke 2:36-38)“Her anointed ministry during later years of life holds forth a promise for older women. There is always ministry awaiting the sensitive, obedient, and pure – ministry that can influence and shape the rising generation.” [Credit: Spirit Filled Life Bible; New KJV; Kingdom Dynamics of page 1512]

What about us young folks, well, the glory of the youth is their strength! We have a greater responsibility; a great opportunity to lift our generation on its feet for Christ. But already this generation has been branded as ‘the dark’ as in ‘dark ages.’ Well, I don’t know about that, there is one thing I know for sure though, “YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS” Yes, the moral buildup may be dwindling, godlessness and all are skyrocketing, but you see we’re not supposed to be moved – at least not in fright, because our Lord prophesied it; these are signs of the end times according to Matthew 25. But praise God, “this gospel of the kingdom WILL BE PREACHED in all the world as a WITNESS to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (vs. 14)

Moreover, “of the INCREASE of His government and peace there WILL BE NO END…” (Isaiah 9:7). Yes, iniquity shall abound and the love of many will grow cold, and for that very reason is the Spirit of God upon us; and the YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS to help preserve and maintain and redirect the ‘unseeing’ to see. This gospel shall go on anyhow! Don’t throw that vision away because they said you’re too young to carry it.

A young Israeli virgin by name Mary received an angel’s message (indeed God’s own message) of bringing forth to the world the Lord Jesus, she asked “how can it be…” and praise be to God the angel replied “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest will overshadow you;”That is the catch; the Holy Spirit is the source of the power to do. Believe in God as you have received His Spirit and just go ahead and do what you’re called to do.
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, FOR GOD WAS WITH HIM.” (Acts 10:38)
“Well that was Jesus not me” I can hear some say. Well,“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also GIVE LIFE to your mortal bodies, through HIS SPIRIT WHO DWELLS IN YOU.” (Romans 8:11)
But I don’t have power as he does? Ha-ha,“But YOU shall receive power as the Holy Spirit is come upon you…” (Acts1:8)

Do you want more proof? “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US (YOU).” (Ephesians 3:20)
Just one more, just in case you play the scripture card: ‘by the mouth of two or THREE witnesses every word shall be established.’“…because as HE is, so are WE (YOU) IN THIS WORLD.” (1 John 4:17). There you go with your three witnesses: Luke, who wrote Acts, Paul and John.

Go ahead and do the good works you ought to be doing. And when you’re done like John leaped while still in the womb of Elizabeth at the sight of Mary the whole world and posterity yet unborn will leap at the fruition of your dreams and visions saying “…blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:43) As for your critics, those who keep using your "age" as a yardstick to measure your “reach” answer them with these,“I am of God and have overcome, because greater is He that is in ME than he who is in the World” (1 John 4:4 paraphrased) The purposes of God still stand, young or old, His divine power has given to you all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the Knowledge of Him that called you by glory and virtue(1 Peter 1:3). JUST DO IT!!

GO FOR IT!

Life, I have discovered, is all about choices. A choice to make it or to mess it all up! And as long as time and season remains, I daresay, choices will never pass away! What then remains standing between those two points of choice – success or failure – is unsurprisingly YOU; and all YOU need to do is to decide to make it.I’m sure this is clear to you by now if you’ve ever had the desire to be successful at anything praise-worthy. But what I think we all often do relegate to the rear is the fact that the God who chose us and followed through to call us unto Himself more than desires to make us not only successful but more-so be SIGNIFICANT to our generation. Can you imagine a manufacturer wanting his product to fail on the market! I’ll leave you to your thoughts… but really, if your quest for success is not being opposed by your Maker, the only thing that remains then is, as has always been, your choice, your resolve to make it happen! Make that choice here and now!NOTHING can stop you! They that are for you far outnumber they that are against you; and GREATER IS HE that is in you than he that is in the world! Maintain that same stance at all times; be unflinching even in the face of adversity. In fact adversities or obstacles, I say, is only a confirmation that you are a bundle of success going somewhere to happen and they come to test the intensity of your resolve to get there! God uses them to stabilize and build you up for that great role you will be playing soon in the lives of the millions of people out there starting right where you are now.You are just unstoppable; IT’S ALL YOURS, GO FOR IT!