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| Pastor Gideon O. Oladokun |
By 'Gbenga Bankole
The DCC Superintendent of Christ Apostolic Church, Itire Districts' Coordinating Council (DCC), Lagos, Pastor Gideon O. Oladokun has told Ministers of God they are not fulfilling divine purpose if they are doing the work to please anybody.
He noted that God has given Ministers of the Gospel divine purpose to live for, saying that without a purpose, one is merely existing and not living.
Quoting John 1:6-7, the Cleric said that purpose is a cause, life's direction, a perpetual aim, dream, vision and something worth living and dying for, adding that to discover your purpose is to have a reason for living.
Pastor Oladokun said this on Thursday October 8, 2020 while ministering on the topic "Serving God's Purpose" at the 2020 Conference of All Evangelists, Planters, Prophets and Prophetesses.
The Cleric further stressed that poverty of purpose is becoming more rampant and worse than poverty of the purse and to really soar and be fulfilled in life is to live, pursue and die for a purpose, stating that a life without a purpose is an empty life waiting to expire anytime.
According to him, the characteristics of godly purpose are as follows; to make you totally obedient to God and dependent on Him for direction, to make you meet human needs, it is often revealed to you by God, not learnt or created for you by people, it keeps coming to you even when you are tired and wish to run away from it, it does not make you a competitor to people, but compliment them to better humanity, it will starve you of your ego and cause you to acknowledge and glorify God, and it will shift your focus from making money but to sincerely serve the people.
He said barriers to discovering your purpose are disobedience to God, operating under curses, stubbornness of heart, revenge and anger, competitive spirit, fear of the unknown, following people blindly and wishing to be like them, love for money and material possessions, playfulness and frivolities, pride of life, position and titles, harbouring sin, idol worshiping, prayerlesness, engaging in endless talking and discussion, living constantly in sin, unprofitable use of time, and quarrelling and fighting with neighbours.
Commenting on how to discover purpose, Pastor Oladokun said: "pray and seek God's face through fasting, check and access what drives you, make up your mind to be a contributor to life and not a spectator or a consumer and always value your communion periods with God. Don't be satisfied with average, crave for maximum impact in whatever you do, keep company only with purposeful people, attend programmes, seminars and conferences that will enhance your vision, develop yourself in the areas you feel mostly compelled and directed by the Holy Spirit, make the Bible your closet companion, read books, listen to tapes and keep growing in preparation for what is coming ahead and stay focused."
To live for a purpose, according to Pastor Oladokun is to be known for something, adding that "when there is nothing to pursue there won't be anything to possess. Life is more than material possession, need for approval, financial fulfillment etc. Life is purpose. It is a pursuit of something worthwhile fulfilling."