But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking…. Luke 5:5-6

The one who has obtained absolute victory is bound to be fruitful; he or she will produce results far beyond his or her input. God is no respecter of persons and He is not restricted by protocol, custom or tradition. He is bound by His words, if He pronounces absolute victory in the life of an individual then it means such a person cannot labour without results - Welcome to October 2017: NO MORE FRUITLESS LABOUR! The God of heavens will smile on you and yours; whatever you lay your hands on shall prosper and you will be productive. Your smallest input will be a track record. You will not be constrained by time or protocol but for your sake, protocols will be broken and experts turned to novice. The creator of the Universe will knock over, suspend and overrule every limiting factor to your productivity. You will not struggle nor labour in vain but God’s favour will crush fruitless labour from your life. No longer will you 'work like an elephant and eat like an ant' in Jesus name.

The original plan and purpose of God for man is fruitfulness and multiplication according to Gen. 1: 28 however when man fell from the God’s intention due to the sin of non-compliance, God in His infinite mercies made a way of reconciliation through Jesus. What the devil stole at the Garden of Eden, Jesus came to restore, John 10:10 says while satan came to kill, steal and destroy, Jesus came so that we can live a life of total abundance (paraphrased). It is therefore saddening that many people including believers are still experiencing fruitless labour, having little or nothing to show for their efforts. Labour in itself is not a bad thing; the bible even said if you do not work then don’t eat (2 Thess.3:10) but it becomes frustrating when labour yields little or no results. In our anchor scripture, Peter toiled all night with nothing to show for his ‘hard labour’. To bring it home imagine a student who burns the midnight oil, and does everything imaginable only to manage an ‘E’ or that businessman or woman who follows every principle known in business yet fails to make profit. What could make one labour without results? What could be responsible for fruitless labour? One of the main culprits of fruitless labour is self-dependence and what does this mean? If we look at the entire chapter of Luke 5, we will see that when Peter was self-dependent and this made him toil fruitlessly. The scripture reveals that he toiled all night yet ‘caught nothing’. No wonder 1 Sam.2:9 reveal that ‘by strength shall no man prevail’. Leaning on our understanding can cause fruitless labour. To avoid fruitless labour, Jesus gives a very simple solution, ‘abide in me and I in you…….without me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5). There are no short cuts; it is only through connection to the vine that fruitfulness can come.

One other major cause of fruitless labour is disobedience. Peter laid aside his knowledge, experience and all and simply obeyed. Total obedience will bring an end to fruitless labour. Doing precisely what God says you should without reasoning, without questioning but just taking His word for it….Peter said to Jesus, (Luke 5:5 paraphrased) ‘I know this profession very well and based on experience it may be technically impossible because I have tried and given up NEVERTHELESS AT THY WORD and we all know that Peter’s life never remained the same from that moment onwards. I am encouraging you to push aside what the experts have said regarding that situation and simply trust and obey Him! I decree that as you obey, God will destroy the root cause of fruitless labour from your life, marriage, business, education in Jesus name. Peter not only obeyed but he totally surrendered to Jesus. Jesus’s suggestion to ‘launch into the deep’ may not have made logical sense, it may have even sounded foolish to an experienced fisherman but Peter did not object. Let your obedience be complete and your surrender total. Only in doing His will you set yourself up for a net breaking, eye popping catch!

At times one may feel productive when in actual fact one is only going in circles. The colt in Mark 11:2 must

have been moving around within the confines of its rope thinking to itself, ‘I am moving’ not knowing the rope tying it down was its limiting factor until Jesus asked that it be untied. The colt was exerting energy fruitlessly with no actual progress. In any area where your movement has been circular, Jesus will speak into your life and you will make progress in Jesus name. You will no longer operate in a circle. Every circle of fruitless effort is hereby broken. Your breakthrough is now in Jesus name.

A key factor to bringing an end to fruitless labour is favour, Peter did not beckon on Jesus to come; Jesus saw Peter and asks to use his boat. There were several other boats but Peter’s boat was chosen and his night of struggle and toiling ended in satisfaction! The night that was meant to end in disappointment became a day of divine appointment. May God single you out and bring an end to your fruitless labour in Jesus name. Let’s not forget that much labour does not mean much output, it is favour that makes the difference through the presence of Jesus. NO MORE FRUITLESS LABOUR. YOU ARE FAVOURED TO PROGRESS AND BE FRUITFUL IN JESUS NAME. Shalom.

Lekan Oyewande October 2017