Transcription
Lord, we give you thanks. We give you praise. As we receive your word this morning, let your word bring light and understanding. And let your grace transform each and everyone to become providers for a multitude of people. That they become instruments in your hand that you will use to bring provision to multitudes of people. Open their eyes to discover their place in your divine plan to raise in this present time. Kingdom financiers, Christian philanthropies. Lord, let that grace flow to every one of them.
And Lord, we also pray that whatever could be the most pressing need in the lives of your people and everyone here in the service today. We pray that on this very special day you will show favor and make those things happen for your people in Jesus name we pray. Please be seated in the presence of the Lord. Honor Jesus one more time with your clap offering. Hallelujah.
Today we share on Jehovah Jireh, the Lord that provides. And we take our text from Genesis chapter 22 verse 1-4. Genesis chapter 22 verse 1-4. Easy to read version, just two verses there, 13 and 14. Then Abraham noticed a ram whose horns were caught in a bush. So Abraham went and took the ram. He offered it instead of his son as a sacrifice to God. So Abraham gave that place a name: "The Lord provides." Even today, people say, "On the mountain of the Lord, he will give us what we need." God will provide all that you need in your journey of destiny.
We see from this scripture one of the attributes of God, the different attributes of God. Genesis 22:14, we're seeing one of those attributes, one of the dimensions of the power of God, Jehovah Jireh, the God that provides. I believe that a lot of us here listening to this message have encountered divine provision. The persuasion I have in this message is to wake you up to go beyond your current level in manifesting and experiencing this attribute of God.
When God blessed Abraham, he said, "And you shall be blessed and be a blessing." So what is happening with the majority is that the majority are satisfied with just becoming, uh, uh, individual testifiers of God's provision. But the second dimension of what God has in mind for you when it comes to this issue of provision is that God wants to make you his channel. He wants to make you his instrument of provision. That through your kind, timely gestures of provision, the name of the Lord will be glorified in your family, in your community, in your church family. The name of the Lord will be glorified as God uses you to meet needs.
One of the challenges we have, many Christians have not yet discovered the full dimension of their destinies and the dimensions of their purpose in life. And like we have said from time to time, the church in the past, it's been corrected in the last about the last 10 years, especially in this part of the globe. It's been corrected now. But in the past, there wasn't any attempt to wake up the brethren to rise up and fulfill their peak potentials in the different realms of life, including the seven mountains of society. So we need to have our people with a kingdom spirit and kingdom mindset at the top of each of these seven mountains of societal influence, and one of them is in the realm of finance.
So when you hear Jehovah Jireh, the God that provides, today the Holy Spirit wants you to look beyond "What I will eat, what I will drink." The Lord wants you to look beyond dreaming of how you will pay rent. The Lord wants you to look beyond dreaming of owning a family house. The scriptures are clear. In the book of Proverbs, it says, "Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, not only godliness, not only morals." Houses are part of the inheritance that children should receive from their parents, and that includes Christian parents. Where is the house you are going to give each of your children? When the time is right for you to exit, each one should have an apartment from the father. Each one should have an apartment received from the mother. Say, "Houses and wealth." In addition, that is not the foundation, is not the primary thing, but in addition to godliness, in addition to teaching our children, our young adults, the right path of life, we should also restore unto them an inheritance in this realm, materially and financially.
Look at the examples, men like Abraham. Abraham had close to 500 people living with him. Close to 500. He was feeding close to 500 people. In one single day, Abraham took a decision to go and rescue his nephew Lot. And immediately Abraham, without calling for help from anywhere, Abraham raised over 300 fighters, warriors from his own domain and sent them to go and rescue Lot, and they did it successfully. You are ordained to be an employer of labor, not only within your country, outside your nation. We should have employers of labor in the realm of, uh, 10 to 100, 100 to 200. We should have some in the realm of 500, 1,000, 10,000.
We are going to find out that one of the reasons why some of us here listening have not yet risen to where we ought to be in the realm of finances is because you don't even aspire. You don't even aspire to be a blessing. When all a man thinks about is how to feed his wife and his biological children, and that is the only dream in life, then that person cannot be an instrument that God will use. That's a life of survival. But God wants you to operate in the realm of abundance, and not just for self-gratification. Your abundance now is supposed to be a channel of blessing distribution unto many people and corporate platforms like the church of God, charity homes, hospitals, or medical initiatives.
People have poured millions of dollars as a donation to research on a cure for cancer. When we read the names of those people who have donated for such a laudable cause, why can't we find the name of a Christian also there? Thank God we have some Christians there, but often not from this part of the globe. So the challenge is the unrealized potential of many Christians that are destined by God to be great philanthropists in their lifetime. So what stops you from being that kind of person that in a day of distress, in a day of distress, you will be one of those people they can call upon, families can call upon, your community can call upon, your church can call upon, even the body of Christ can call upon, and with just a phone call, you will be able to solve a big problem for which there is no answer or solution? Why can't you be that man? Why can't you be that man? Why can't you be that woman? Why must we continue to pray for you that God should send you a helper that will give you money? Why can't we pray that God will make you the helper that will be distributing help and empowering people? Can I hear somebody say amen? We must move beyond, "Lord, send me a helper," to, "Lord, make me a helper to multitudes and a helper to multitudes," not just a helper to my wife and children.
You will understand these things better when the situation plays out. When the situation plays out, somebody's rushed to a hospital and the doctors will tell you that they can't do anything except you put some money on ground. That surgery won't happen. It is then you will know the importance of money. You will know the importance of money. So one of the challenges we have is that there are many sons and daughters of God that God has ordained to rise in certain areas of life. But some of them, they only became, they rushed to that potential only in their spiritual life, only in their spiritual life. Whereas in addition to that, that same person was supposed to also be an eternal of blessing in two, three other areas of life.
Prophet Daniel wasn't only a prophet; he was a successful administrator. He served in six different governments. At a time he was out of government, they had to bring him back, and the person who referred him to the king was an unbeliever. This was a prophet. Daniel was a national prophet, and he excelled in his prophetic calling. But in addition to his prophetic calling, he was also called to be an administrator to serve in governance. Even in the midst of unbelievers, Daniel excelled. He wasn't contaminated. He wasn't polluted. And through the things they observed about him, the God that he served was eventually worshiped and referenced by the kings of his time. In every area of life where God has ordained you to shine, you will rise and shine in all of those areas. You will rise and shine in all of those areas. You will rise and shine in all of those areas in the name of Jesus. In your spiritual life, you will rise and shine in ministry. You will rise and shine also in your career. You will rise and shine in the seven mountains of societal influence. Whichever one God has gifted you, ordained you, endowed you, destined you to make an impact, you will rise and shine in the name of Jesus. Everyone listening to the sound of my voice, destined to be a kingdom distributor of the wealth and riches of the Almighty God. From today, you will arise and operate in this calling. Arise and operate in this calling. Arise and operate in this calling in the name of Jesus.
Why can't you invite your pastor to come and dedicate 10 orphanages that you have built on your fifth year, on your sixth year, a primary school you have built for your community? We will travel down with you. Wherever that place is, we will travel. We look at the value of what you have done, and we will honor you. We travel with you to dedicate that place. These are things we should have Christians doing. You will rise and fulfill your calling. Please sit in the presence of the Lord.
So when you hear "The Lord the provider," I want you to look beyond a life of survival. Look beyond the life of survival. The potential of a person has to do with what that person is capable of achieving. What a person is capable of doing. What a person is capable of becoming. And the Spirit of the Lord is challenging you this morning that God the provider can do more than just providing for you to survive as an individual or a family of four, a family of five, a family of six. You can be an employer of labor. People are working for you in Singapore. People are working for you in Asia, working for you in Europe, working for you in America, working for you in other parts of Africa. You'll be greater than that motive. But you cannot rise to that level if you don't aspire to get there. Limitations must give way.
One of those things you must do is that you must have the right mindset. You must have the right mindset. One of the things hindering so many, including believers, is a wrong mindset. The wrong mindset. The dependence mentality. Dependence mentality. Many today desire to be blessed rather than becoming a blessing to multitudes. So you need to ensure you have the right mindset. Desire to be more empowered to be a greater channel of blessing. You will fulfill your destiny. You will fulfill your destiny. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. You may not have been born from a rich family, but you can leave behind a wealthy family. It's not about the family you came from. We don't reckon with that. His morals, his godliness. We celebrate such families. You came from a good family. We thank God for it. But it's not so much a big deal. But you came out from a humble background and today you are living for the fourth generation. Not even you know, there are people who have received them from great-grandfather, great-grandmother. Yeah, that is where you belong, and I see, I see, I see from this front row, I see from these singles here, I see you rising to fulfill that purpose in the name of Jesus.
So we close. Please, sit. We close by reemphasizing to us the calling to supporting charity and the calling to Christian philanthropy. Go and check so many negative things against Christians, based churches. But check well. You will not, you will hardly see people criticizing anything that has to do with Christian philanthropy. That a believer built an orphanage, donated it, built a school, donated it, or renovated structures in some schools. You're not going to read anything negative. Some people were in distress, in need, they couldn't further their education, and God used this Christian man or woman to provide scholarships, pay for their exams. They're not going to read anything negative. So, one of the areas God has called you, called some of you into, is in the area of Christian philanthropy. And a philanthropist is someone who donates money, experience, time, talent, or skills to help others and create a better world. A philanthropist is someone who seeks to promote the welfare of others, especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.
So parents, fire up your sons, fire up your daughters, those you mentor. The foundation is always godliness. You will be a godly son. You will be a godly man, a godly husband, a godly father. That's the foundation. In addition, prophesy the ultimate height for them in some of these callings of life. God will raise you to be one of the greatest philanthropies of our generation.
One of the principles of wealth creation starts with having a specific wealth goal. And globally, globally, the goal that is advised for everyone is $2 million. So that should be the minimum. And of course, you must create multiple streams of income. And very importantly, avoid any kind of investment, especially your assets and savings. Avoid putting them in a depreciating, in anything that is consistently depreciating. Avoid going in. That is what is affecting most people in this part of the world and in our nation in the last 30 years. So, action point number two: to achieve great things, you must find a realistic strategy to achieve it within a specific timeline. Action point number three: to achieve great things, you must diligently implement every detail of the strategy. And the last one, action point number four: to achieve great things, you must consistently evaluate the effectiveness of the approach and resources you are using to achieve it. You must consistently evaluate the effectiveness of the approach and resources you are using to achieve it. You must be ready to change whatever is not effective when necessary. There are things that used to work, things that used to bring money before, suddenly something happens, and everything that has changed. No more emotional attachment to past channels of financial income. If things have changed, accept it and move on to what is productive for today.
By the special grace of God, Jehovah Jireh will show himself strong in the lives of everyone listening to this message in the name of Jesus.