“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
— Philippians 2:8–11

I want to talk on the topic: “There is a Lifting in the Place of Service.”
What prompts lifting is your service, and not your certificate. It is not the way you dress or speak good English that brings lifting; it is your service. You may look tattered—still, lifting locates you. The key to lifting is service.

When you serve the people around you, you won't be there when someone will be telling people how good you can serve.

It was in the place of service that my sister got married. They went for an event somewhere, the way my sister was working, she never knew someone was watching her. After the event, somebody approached her. That is how she got married. She is now in Warri.

If you want God to lift you, engage yourself in service. Serve sacrificially. That is to say, serve free of charge. When you serve from the bottom of your heart, the Master will announce you.

What gave Jesus the name is service. When He was in heaven, that name was not given to Him. He was not answering “Jesus” in heaven. He did not also return to heaven with the name. When He was going back, He dropped the name for us to use.

There was work that needed to be done. Nobody was worthy to do the work. Jesus came down and did the work. He was arrested, flogged, tortured, and hanged like a criminal. After three days, God raised Him, and God was like:

"Wao! You did all these for Me. You did not allow your position to distract your attention. You did not mind where you came from. You humbled yourself like a sheep to be slaughtered."

For doing this, I have given you a name that is above every other name. At the mention of your name, principalities and powers must bow; every knee under heaven must bow. Jesus is Lord everywhere.

There is no mountain, situation, or condition that hears the name of Jesus that will not respond.

Don't relax when people are encouraging you. Don't go and sit down, because that time you are sitting down may be the time your Master would come and notice you are not working.

I was telling my wife yesterday that when our new building collapsed, one of our fathers confronted me in the church and said that somebody told him that I wanted to kill myself because the church building under construction collapsed. He said to me:

“Infact, don’t enter there again. You have tried. Go and rest. Will you die for the work?”

I said, “Okay Sir, thank you.” That time, we had not started doing anything there. He came yesterday and saw how far we have gone with the project. He came to me, shook me, and said to me:

“Wao! This is Wonderful. You have done a wonderful thing.”

I pinched myself. I said in my mind, That means this man was mocking me that time. That means somebody may be talking to you, and you may not know he is a chameleon trying to disorganize you.

Let me tell you: when they discourage you, if you sit down and fold your arms, lifting will not locate you. Lifting will locate you at the place of service and not at the place of sitting.

When you serve, somebody will begin to think of what to do for you. When you refuse to serve, the strength in you will start failing you because you have not put it to work.

I have read the scripture about the soldier that nearly lost his servant. The soldier ran to Christ to pray for the servant. The religious leaders told Christ how the soldier had served them.

Jesus said, “Okay, there's no problem—can we go and pray for the servant?” The army officer said to Christ:

“I am not worthy to host you in my house. I am a man of authority but I am not qualified to have you under my roof. I demand you speak a word from here.”

How you serve determines how you'll be lifted.

A young man sneaked into Monabwe by canoe. He had nobody in Monabwe. He entered a church. The church had a field and nobody was attending to the field. The young man went to the pastor and took a knife and began to dress the field. The pastor was watching him.

One day, the pastor called him and inquired: “Young man, who are you?”
The young man said to him: “I don't have anybody in Monabwe, but I came to this church and noticed how tattered the field looked. I decided to take care of it.”

The young man kept doing that. Everybody noticed it.
Guess what: the time the young man traveled, everybody felt his absence. When he came back, everybody began to inquire:

“Brother, where did you go? Did you travel?”

That is because the thing he used to do—nobody is doing it.
Today, one of the best supermarkets in Monabwe is owned by the young man.
God lifted him in the place of service.

When you dodge service, lifting will dodge you.
Service will take you to where certificate cannot take you.

Anybody that is lifted without service is like a pig with a golden ring in the finger. It will still put the finger in the mud.

Even our pastors that go for retirement don't quit service. It is only death that can stop one from serving.

The way you serve can make people fight for you in your absence.
Stop complaining. Look for where you can serve.

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As you read this message, may the LORD bless you.

Rev. Emmanuel Sunday Onuoha
Sectional Leader, Assemblies of God Church
Ogwe Ukwa District, Abia