Transcription
[Music]
There are six questions that everybody must answer this night. If you want to build a system and a structure in your life and in your organization, it is important to answer these questions. Let's deal with them very quickly.
Number one: the first question that everybody must be able to answer if you desire to build a formidable system and a structure around your life is, "Why do I exist?" This is the question of vision, the question of the goal that is to be achieved, the knowledge of the end product. You cannot build effective systems around your life if you cannot answer the question of vision.
Why do I exist as a person, as far as God's divine plan is concerned? Why do we exist as an organization? There must be a clear definition of your vision. There must be a clear definition of the goal to be achieved. There must be a clear definition of the end product.
Is someone learning? Please look up. It is difficult to systematize anything if you do not know why it exists. When Jesus showed up, he gave us his manifesto in clear terms. In fact, his name, his very name, captured his manifesto: Jesus, Jehoshua, the one who saves. That salvation, to seek and to save the lost, was his primary goal.
He also added to us that he came as a correction of our idea about God. Everything we thought God is or God was, Jesus came as a marking script so that we will look at his life and begin to edit our understanding about God that was told us by the prophets and by the law.
How many of us here can tell me with precision why your organization exists? What vision it is pursuing? Now, what goal it seeks to achieve? What is the end product? Man of God, I know you are praying and fasting, but can you tell me what you are trusting God to become?
Do you know that many people do not have an idea of what the end product is? So, there are several activities that are leading nowhere. Are you learning? Now, there are many people today, respectfully speaking, who do not excel in ministry because the ministry has no known vision. The ministry does not have any goal. The ministry does not have even an end product.
As a man of God, when you teach and mentor people in a church like this, you must have an idea of the back end of your mentorship. What should they become? Beloved people, please look at me. How many of you will go to a school or send your children to a school whose end you do not know?
Imagine a lecturer coming into a class and seeing several people and saying, "Well, I am Professor this or Doctor this. I am here to teach you," and the students have no idea, no reference as to what they should become. Can I tell you? Knowing the end product gives you the power to endure.
You cannot indefinitely stay and receive the staying power to become nothing. "Who for the joy that was set before him," is it in your Bible? "He endured the cross and he despised the shame." There must be a clear definition of your vision, a vision for your life, a goal to be achieved.
So, God has called you into ministry, hallelujah! What has he given you? What is the end product? What do you see yourself becoming? You must answer that question. There are many businesses today that just happened because of hunger.
The business cannot even last more than one year because the motivation was not anything long-term. The man was hungry and he was just told that, "Look, if you at least do something, exchange value, you will get something to eat." It is a risk to start moving without knowing where you are going.
Imagine with me, ladies and gentlemen, that you stop a Bolt or Uber or any of the transport systems you have around, and then you tell the man, "Take me to so-and-so place." Do you know it? The man says yes, and then he begins to fire, running like he's been pursued by police, and then he's taking you somewhere you don't know where you are going.
So, you were banking on his knowledge, and later on, he would confess to you that, "Sincerely, I forgot to tell you this is my first day at work. I just came into Abuja last week." Would you clap for such a person and say, "Wow, you are such an..."?
Let's keep going. Now, hold on. Is there a problem with motion? Is there a problem with activity? Is there a problem with speed? And yet there is no arrival. In the presence of motion, in the presence of activity, even in the presence of speed, without vision, you will not arrive.
Is someone hearing what I'm saying now? Yes! That is the reason why you give meetings names, so that those who come for the meetings have an idea of what to expect. If you say you are coming for a citywide crusade, all those who come, they know what to expect.
If you call it a crusade, don't blame me for bringing someone on a wheelchair. Don't blame me for carrying a dead child and coming with a person. You call it a crusade; there are things that should happen in a crusade ground.
Imagine with me that we call a meeting a crusade, and as soon as people come, for instance, and respectfully speaking, I'm teaching you five keys to prosperity. That is not wrong, but that is wrong for the name given to that meeting.
A crusade targets the salvation of sinners and then, at best, the strengthening of believers within a territory. Hallelujah! You must answer the question of vision. There are many of you who want to be men of God. If I ask you why, you say, "There's something boiling in my heart. I just know that I'm supposed to be doing this."
That is good, but not enough motivation. Not enough to stand in the midst of all the things that befall you as you serve God. "Who for the joy that was set before you endured the cross, despised the shame."
Number two: is God helping us? The second question you must ask tonight if you want to build systems and structures in your life is, "Who are the beneficiaries of my solutions?" Very powerful question.
You want to build a system around your life that helps you produce impact. Who are the beneficiaries of my solutions? Don't say, "I am sent to everybody." Potentially, yes, but who are the beneficiaries of my solution?
Jesus himself, when he came, he said he was here to seek and save the lost. That means if the Father had found you, he didn't have a ministry for you to seek and to save the lost. There are many of us here; you do not know those who have been mandated to be the beneficiaries of your solutions.
As a man of God, you do not even know those you are sent to. As a businessman, you do not even understand your clientele. You have to know those you were sent to. When Moses had an encounter with God, God did not say, "Moses, take this rod, roam around anywhere you see human beings, just tell them you have met the God of the Bible."
Watch this: the nature of his training was with respect to where he would be sent to. Is someone learning now? Yes! Moses, I am sending you to Egypt. Here is your mandate: deliver them from the hand of Pharaoh, take them out of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey.
Precision! And to meet Pharaoh, I would have to train you. [Music]
Very powerful! Who are the beneficiaries of your solutions? Can I tell you? Every mandate and any call, whether in ministry or in business, there are targeted beneficiaries that you must understand.
It can be an age range, it can be a vision, it can be a gender. You have to know your clientele. I know those God has sent me to. Every time I see people who need encounters and revival in their life, every time I see people who have gone down spiritually, you are calling for my attention.
Every time I see someone who has not been saved, you have not encountered Jesus, you are calling for my attention. Every time I see someone who is spiritually down, there is no fire, no appetite for spiritual things, you are calling for my attention.
Everywhere I see demons oppressing people, you are calling for my attention. Don't invite me; just show me someone oppressed. That is my invitation based on the mandate. Show me someone who is sick that needs a demonstration of the power of God. Show me a territory that needs revival and fire; you are calling me.
Question: what calls you? There are many people who do not know what calls them. What calls you? For some of you, you have been raised as kingdom financiers. Everywhere you see poverty and lack and the house of God suffering, something should call you.
But you are not able to create any system to be excellent. Why? God cannot even use you to be a kingdom financier because you do not know the beneficiaries of your solution. Don't downplay what you are hearing.
We have a lot of politicians here. When they make you a house member, you are not a house member of Nigeria. You are not a house member or a senator. They define a region, is that true? And your assignment principally is to that region.
Who are the beneficiaries of my solutions? So that you can invest your time. Not knowing this will help you; it will make you build wrong systems. You are going to be ministering to people you are not gifted for, people you are not graced towards.
Are we together now? Very, very important! I sing; I'm not ignorant as far as music is concerned. I was once a music director, but my call is not to be a worship minister to go to the nations.
So I will sing, but I will sing while I am preaching. There is nobody who has invited me to come and sing a special number yet. If you invite me, I must almost always sing. Why? Because that gift can find expression as a subset of the bigger picture.
Are we together now? In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray for you sincerely from this night. May God lead you to find those who are the beneficiaries of your anointing, the beneficiaries of your call, that gift that he put within your spirit. You must find those you are sent to.
Please sit down. Man of God, listen. There are many people today who are genuinely called of God, but they have not been able to identify those that God put the solution in them for.
There is, respectfully speaking, a ministry called the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship. How many of you know that ministry now? Do you know that that is a powerful ministry that has changed lives?
The ministry came targeted to business people and people of influence because the founders discovered that it was difficult to minister to people of influence. So the whole idea is to evangelize people and keep them on fire for God and then to use their influence for Kingdom Come.
That is what defines that ministry. You will not see Full Gospel businessmen having a deliverance service or going around having a crusade from city to city. But you will see them hold a meeting with only 30 people, and based on the definition of their ministry, they are highly successful.
The blind pursuit for general results that creates competition creates frustration is because we have not defined. There are businesses that do not have more than 100 clients, yet they are billion-naira and billion-dollar businesses because the nature of the business does not serve everybody. Is that true?
Who are the beneficiaries of my solutions?
Question three: is someone learning tonight? Question three: are you ready? What tools do I need? This is powerful! Now, I'm answering questions that will help me build systems and structures around my life.
Question three: what tools do I need? Your tools talk about your skills. Your tools talk about your resources. Your tools talk about your relationships. What skills will I need? Don't just create systems out of nothing.
What tools do I need? Please look up. In this ministry, for instance, because of the nature of what God has called us to do, we know that to be effective, there are tools that we need and there are resources that we need.
Are we together now? That is what birthed the structuring of every department. We know that there will be a need for a media capture, and so there are media people who are walking all around as I'm speaking.
We know that the nature of the ministry and the size of the ministry will necessitate a very intelligent security system at the highest level possible. And so there is every kind of security system imaginable put in place.
You cannot create systems until you know the tools that you need. What do you need to succeed? There are some of you, can I tell you? What you need to succeed in your assignment is billions and billions and billions that will now help you to know what to put in place, the kind of structures that will drive you.
What tools do I need? Please look up. If you are Moses, remember you need a rod. Never move until you find a rod. If you are David, don't stand before Goliath until you have your sling, and make sure there are five stones, not an empty sling.
Is someone speaking? Is God speaking to someone here? Yes! What tools do I need? Look up, please. If you are a man of God and you know that you need a high-level anointing, a high-level manifestation of the power of God in your life, then you see, knowing that you need those tools, you can now create a system that makes sure that your spiritual life never goes down.
Because you need, at every given point in your life, the nature of your call will demand that you are on fire all the time, to be instant in season and out of season.
Number four: are you ready? The fourth question you have to ask, and especially for organizations, but then it also applies to your life, is, "Who does what?" The fourth question you must answer: who does what?
Distribution of tasks. You will fail in life if you do everything. Most leaders fail in life because they cannot trust anybody. "Who does what?" is a question you must ask.
As wonderful and great as this ministry is, there are things I don't come close to. You know why? I rather do my work of oversight and allow those who are skilled and exceptional to do it.
I can play this keyboard you see, but I cannot play this keyboard as effectively as this person is playing. I can play drums; I can play most of the instruments here, but I have not mastered to that level of efficiency.
And combining both of them will not make me efficient. So there is a definition where we are all on stage and we are all ministering, but who does what? Husband, who does what? To avoid trouble, wife, who does what? Children, who does what?
Man of God, who does what? There has to be a proper definition of tasks. I will never come for Koinonia and cross my leg when it's time for the word. You see me come, and I sit down quietly, the worship team doing their thing, testimonies, everyone doing their thing, because I have my own slot in the program too.
I can't get up arbitrarily and say, "This is my ministry; all of you sit down." Even if I'm going to veto for a cause, I owe you an explanation to say the Holy Spirit came in, and you will know this is an exception.
I told you, compromises only make sense when standards are in place. Now, please look up. I'm saying this respectfully; you know that I love the body of Christ. I'm teaching you, and as many who would want to listen, there are many ministries and many organizations that do not have order because there is no definition of who does what.
The man of God can do anything while the service is going on. You will see papers flying around. "Sorry, you are the one who is going to raise the offering. Are you aware?" And the person says, "I didn't prepare." "Okay, just use 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9 or 9 and 8," and you see those discussions.
And the person comes up, and he's looking confused and wondering, hoping he's right, and he says, "Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!" And all kinds of things are happening.
And then finally, you raise the offering, and you don't know what to do. There is no order. Three people will come and raise offerings, and it's as if they were trained by three different people. They don't know what to say. No standards, no systems.
Can I tell you this? Systems should be greater than individuals so that it does not matter who is doing the work; the result is the same. An example is your car. It does not matter whether it's the husband driving or the wife.
Because it is not them that define how the car moves, a system—there is the mechanics of the car. Are we together? When you go to any of our banks across the globe, you will almost find a similar or the same experience.
Yet they are sacking people and employing newer people. Do you know why? They are not really concerned about the individuals because they know that the individuals will be immersed into a system that will limit their emotional interferences.
Listen, I'm teaching you this because this is how global brands spread. They spread through systems. So you can see Apple Kenya, Apple South Africa, Apple Nigeria, Apple UK—individuals who may have never met themselves until and unless they have an executive meeting, and yet their results are similar.
You know why? There is a common code that governs them. When you call somebody a doctor, say a consultant surgeon, the person may be in Ajao, there may be another consultant surgeon in Lagos, another consultant surgeon in Adamawa.
Three of them can literally meet for the first time and meet inside a surgery room, and none of them will be afraid of one another because there is a system that made them what they are.
How about the lecturers that teach students? Some of them talk fast, some of them talk slow, some of them look dull, even though they are intelligent, respectfully speaking. Some of them are very smart; some of them have all kinds of temperaments.
But regardless of the personality differences, the students will still become what was desired because the system—in this case, the manual, the modus operandi—is greater than the personal biases of the lecturers.
Do you know why I am sure that you will be nothing short of a sign and a wonder? It is not because of the person standing before you. This is [Applause] for the way of the Lord is the way of wisdom.
I choose the way. I can still teach you even though I don't know your background. I can still teach you even though I know you may not have an advantage by default. Regardless of the situation, this was built to survive and produce a champion out of everyone, regardless of the limitation.
If I teach you my opinions, I will only teach those whose life and history is similar to mine. And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise even unto salvation.
Is God helping someone? So, who does what? Please look at me. There are some of you; the reason why you are inefficient in your life today, right now, as you are listening to me, is because you are doing many things that your level of growth—you are supposed to have outsourced those things and given other people.
There are some of you right now, respectfully speaking, with the level to which God has lifted you and helped you, you should not be the one roaming around to wash your clothes. The three hours you are spending washing your clothes, by reason of your lifting now, is a waste of time.
You will say it's humility. I respect you, but you are wasting time. Do you understand what I'm teaching you now? Most of the epic people in life, they write everything that they need to excel and begin to allocate responsibilities.
This was what was killing Moses in the Bible. If you read, every time there is increase, you will have to shed off a lot of responsibilities and allot it to people you can trust so that you focus on the things that matter.
Moses was wearing himself counseling people from morning till night, and Jethro, his father-in-law, said, "Mr. Man, you are about to kill yourself. Find people and set them as captains over hundreds, thousands."
The same thing happened in Acts chapter 6. The apostles were overseeing the sharing of food, and there was a problem when you read from verse one among the Grecian women and all of that.
And the disciples said, "No, no, no, no, no! The apostles, you are distracting us. We are about a serious assignment right now." It says, "Look among yourselves, give it to us, please."
Now, verse 2 or 3, it says, "Look among yourselves, seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." It is business, but not your business. This business!
What is our own business? Verse 4 says, "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry." Let me tell you this, please look up. Respectfully speaking, there are many men of God whose spiritual fire has gone down and who fail woefully now as far as the ministry of the word is concerned because administrative duties have become a burden on them, and they cannot trust anyone.
Can I tell you? When you are overly afraid of everybody, the problem is you. You have to take the risk to trust people. How were you when God started using you? All of us are students in training, and sometimes you have to stamp your feet and just risk it.
This is very powerful! There are things in my life that I minimize. I don't get myself involved with. Some of the brightest and the finest leaders, globally speaking, they minimize themselves to two, three, or four important tasks, and they give their all to it.
There's a statement they used to say: "Jack of all trades, master of none." It is true! Let me tell you the truth: you cannot effectively lead a ministry like this if you are the one involved in checking the offering and finding out where it went to.
And then you quickly find out where the security people are, and then while you are here, you are looking. There are things you cannot do. Your times of fasting, your times of prayer—do you know what it takes to prepare one series?
You can see some of the things I'm bringing. Those definitions did not come in the place of prayer. I studied, of course. There are things that come in. Are you getting what I'm saying now?
You cannot imagine! Believe me, I'm not exaggerating. The materials that I consult for one sermon, I preach an average of three sermons per week, aside from school of ministry and a lot of other things.
You cannot have the time to do a lot of things and still excel. Please define who does what. Some of you have grown-up children in your house; you are still washing your car. You are still washing your clothes.
Call those children and tell them to behave themselves well. And this is not about abuse or bullying; this is about training. Even if you are prosperous, if they cannot do anything, they should follow you and learn so that the day you are not there, the system is in place.
Can I tell you? Hold on. You know that something is wrong when the system collapses in your absence. Every time your absence creates such a big vacuum, something was wrong with the systemic nature of yourself or your organization.
I used to say it when I was in Zaria that even if I'm not there for one year, the only thing that should be missed is the unique expression of the grace of God upon my life. But it should not collapse.
If the ministry collapses, I failed. So if I don't come for Koinonia for one month, the only thing you should miss here is the unique expression of my grace, not edification, not growth.
If growth stops with my absence, then I failed. Listen, let me tell you this: some of you, God is speaking to you. If you do not build systems around your life, you will not be able to maximize destiny.
You will fail in many other areas of your life because many things will depend on you wrongly. So, systems!
Number five: don't be tired. Oh, please listen! Your destiny needs this. When a patient goes to the doctor, sometimes they will say, "Swallow a drug." It doesn't like it, but the doctor says, "Swallow it. I know what I'm giving you."
And sometimes you turn as you are swallowing one; you are also receiving an injection. You don't like it, but you need it. What some of you are hearing now, you need it. For some of you, you don't need it now, but you need it.
Keep it! No matter how much light I give you, you will not need it when you are in the day. But when the night comes, you will quickly go back. Some of you are about to build businesses. Some of you are about to build ministries.
You may not need now what I'm giving you, but pay attention to it, and you will thank me. Some of you, this is what you need right now.
We're about to talk about these areas of your life shortly. Question five: are you ready? The fifth question you must answer: what is the most important aspect of the vision to focus on now?
What is the most important aspect of the vision to focus on now? This talks about emphasis. Can I tell you? God is not doing everything in your life at every time. God is a God of times and seasons, and he operates based on emphasis.
There is always something God is doing now. There is always something an organization is doing now. Yes, there are many things in the blueprint, but God works one by one.
Who be ties a man who cannot find the emphasis for his life and destiny? Now, please look at me. There are some of you, based on what God is doing in your life now, you should not be reading books on finances, reading books on leadership.
You are just starting with God. The emphasis should be pressing into God with fasting and prayer. You got born again late. Now you got filled with the Holy Ghost just a few months ago.
Trying to compress everything you need, there are things God needs to achieve in your life now. Every spiritual man who was built well will tell you how God started with us. God didn't start with finances and systems and all of that; he started with Jesus.
He started with hunger. It started with fire. If you know this, even as a man of God, you will know how to disciple and train people. You don't just get people born again, and the next thing you are teaching them financial principles.
The next thing you are teaching them leadership principles. I'm not being sarcastic, but within the limit of how growth happens, there are things line upon line, precept upon precept.
Is God speaking to us? I remember when I started with God, there was nothing about finance pressing. In fact, there was even nothing about the mind, mental transformation. It was fire, presence, encounter.
"Lord, show me your glory!" Visions almost from morning till night. It's as if you can't rest. You put your head down, an angel. You put your head down, some, and you are wondering, "God, what are you doing with my life?"
You lift your hands; you put it down. Your hands are shaking. Fire, cold sensation. You don't even know the name of what is happening. You lie down to sleep; you don't know whether the weather is cold or it's just you.
These are—there are all kinds of impartations happening within your spirit man. But the season will come when God will say, "Now, son, you have done well in terms of your growth. Now you need to begin to study on your mind because your spiritual health alone will not produce victory holistically."
So God started introducing us to other people, and at first, some of us resisted it because it did not carry the semblance. It looked like a betrayal to our fire, like some of you is happening to you now as you are listening to me.
It looks like hearing what you are hearing is a betrayal to your passion for revival. Soon you will know that the sound system that you put on that crusade ground will require systems and organizations for you to preach well.
Are you learning now? We love the Lord with all our heart. The first time we went on crusade, there was not so much about administration, but goodness, there was fire and signs and wonders.
We finished the preaching of the crusade, but we were owing money for sound. Say systems! Spirituality did not fail, but there was system failure.
In the name of Jesus Christ, God will complete everything that needs to be completed in your life to make your Christian experience holistic in the name of Jesus Christ.
Look up, please. God is not doing everything every time. He has emphasis, and as a leader, you must know what is God's emphasis in your life. You must know what is the emphasis of your business at this point.
When Koinonia started, please look up. I used to share with the people those days that the assignment was to enthrone Christ first in the hearts of men and then across every stratum of human activities.
But first things first, the first phase of the ministry had to do with building people. So there was not so much emphasis on aesthetics and structure and all of that. It didn't mean that we didn't believe in excellence, but in order of priority.
Are we together now? So people could sit on the ground. People could sit in an auditorium that maybe didn't have the best of ambience because one day it will happen.
My philosophy, as given from God, was that when you build people, the people will build the structure. And thank God for that wisdom that people were built, and some of those people that were built today are the ones serving, doing marvelous and mighty things.
1 Corinthians 10:23. 1 Corinthians 10:23 says, "All things are lawful." If you look at it from Amplified, it says, "All things are permissible." All things—we are free to do anything we please.
It says, "But not all things are helpful, expedient, profitable, wholesome." All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive. Very powerful! You must know what God is doing per season in your life.
Look at me. There are some of you, even though you are great men of God, revivalists, you will get to a point in your life where God's emphasis with you is your finances. Don't neglect it just because you feel that, "Okay, now I should just focus on God."
God can push down on you, and you will find out that every book, every message God will keep recommending for the next six months is going to be your finances. Don't fight it!
If you jump that school of the spirit, you will pay for it in the future in a way you are not prepared for. For some of you, even though you are great men and women of God, you will get into seasons where the emphasis for you will be leadership and organization.
Now, you may be doing well in terms of the delivery of your spiritual solutions, but you need to now begin to build the structure. May you discern what God is doing at every season of your life in the name of Jesus.
And for those of you who run organizations here, do not say, "We are multi-purpose, doing everything." No! Look at me, please. How many of you know that in every house, there are many doors inside that house, but there is always a door called the main door? Is that true?
The main door is what leads you, and then you can leverage on other doors. Everybody who runs any successful conglomerate, there is one thing that stands them out, and then they use the leverage of that product to now build all other products.
When you talk about Bill Gates and Microsoft, Microsoft is not the only thing he does, but that is what brought him out. That gives him a leverage to do everything.
When you talk about Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, that's not the only thing he does. He's not only an investor; there are many other things he does, but that is what brought him out.
When you talk about Mark Zuckerberg, it's not only Facebook. There are many other things they do. There are many sports people who also have clothing lines, but it is just what brings them out.
You must know the area of emphasis per season. I can teach on finances; I can teach on relationships; I can teach on several things. But the core area of fire and grace and the area where the mantle speaks, you see, is in the area of encounters, communicating the wisdom of the spirit, stirring revival, helping people to have spiritual intelligence.
Do not major on minors and minor on majors. What is most important in your life now? What is the most important aspect of your vision?
And finally, number six: are you ready for this? What are the major limitations, pitfalls, and distractions to avoid? I'm showing you five questions you must ask and answer because the systems you are going to build will be in honor to the answers that you find from this question.
What are the major limitations, pitfalls, and distractions to avoid? 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8. What are the major limitations? Because one of the assignments of systems and structures is to keep you true to your values, to keep you true to what you stand for.
And you must be able to know the limitations, the pitfalls, and the distractions to avoid. It says, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour."
Please look up. There are many pitfalls that can destroy you spiritually, business-wise, politically. And one of the ways you manage your growth and your result is by creating systems around your life.
Respectfully speaking, you cannot call me and say, "Ah, Apostle, how are you? Can you just travel to this state and come to so-and-so? We just want to enjoy ourselves."
Maybe I would have been able to do that years ago, but right now, there are systems around my life that help me to manage my consistency and manage my results. Are you getting what I'm saying now?
Yes! Maybe the person who is calling you plans to kill you, for instance. And because you don't have systems and structures, you get to a point in your life where you will need security clearance. You will need several—it's not policing you; it's managing you so that you remain effective for those who God has called you to do.
Many of us don't have systems around our lives because we do not know the pitfall. If there is the pitfall of pride in your life, show me the system you have created. If there is the pitfall of all kinds of lusts and all kinds of wrong relationships that can come and introduce you, many people were destroyed because when God started promoting them, their relationships changed.
They now found out that 90% of the wealthy people around them were godless people. And because you have to go for all your friends' birthday parties, they now traveled and went to several countries and saw things that were against their convictions.
But they could not leave it because that's what happens at this level. Systems can protect you beyond your imagination.
Is God speaking to someone? Especially when it has to do with rising, even financially. The moment God begins to lift you, the dynamics of your living will change immediately.
There are relationships you don't need but will force their way around your life. Systems will give you the legitimacy to say no to many things that may be good but are not useful for your life.
For instance, if somebody invites you to come, respectfully speaking, for some birthday party or some occasion somewhere that may not honor your convictions, if you say no, they will ask you based on what? Systems give you the legitimacy.
Are we together now? Yes! Is someone learning what I'm teaching you? You see how powerful this is? Systems are very powerful; they can protect you.
Write this down: you must build a code of conduct and a code of operation around your life and in your organization. Out of these answers, the answers to these six questions, you must build a code of conduct.
Out of these five or six questions, you must build a code of operation. Don't just have a code of conduct alone. A code of conduct guides your character. A code of operation guides how you do things.
It takes more than being a man of character to excel. A code of conduct guides how you behave, but a code of operation guides how you do things.
Hallelujah! Yes! Years ago, let me tell you this. I got to a point in my life, respectfully speaking, when God started lifting me and doors were opening.
And until that time, in my conservative way, I didn't think that I would need a system to manage my itinerary and all of that. People would call me, and sometimes there could be five, six calls for ministration, the dates clashing.
I may not even remember. I would just tell this person, "Yes, oh, you are my friend. I will come, yes." And sometimes I would find out that I had agreed for three ministrations within the same time, not knowing.
And the people—I found out that I was damaging useful relationships in my life because now I would say yes to this and find out I said yes to this person. Now how would I choose?
I knew that my failure was a revelation that I had risen to a point in my life where I were allocating that. And then, because you know, starting ministry, most of my ministration was among friends and people who I was building a relationship with.
And there were times that there are legitimate reasons to say no, but I may not have the courage to say no. So you allow the system to say no for you. You see how powerful it is?
Now, there are many things you cannot say no to as an individual, so you leave the no to the system. Most of you have carried needless enemies in your life today because instead of allowing the system you built to say no, you kept saying no by yourself.
You will have too many troubles in your life with people. You will lose out on many precious relationships if you don't create a system around what you have to do.
This is very powerful! Build a code of conduct and a code of operation around your life. Now, I'm going to be listening. This is the final thing we're going to do, and then we'll pray.
I want to guide you a bit as to the various aspects of our lives. I don't just want to deal with systems and structures arbitrarily, but I want to zoom down on a few things that you can take home.
You can know that this is the problem, and this is the solution around this area of my life. Let's start with our spiritual lives. Write it down, please.
How do I build a system that maintains my spiritual growth and maintains my spiritual fire? Most of us rise up today and go down tomorrow. We're not able to sustain that spiritual momentum.
Do you know why? Because everything that has to do with our spiritual life is based on emotion. Please look at me. How many of you know that if you depend on your emotion to read your Bible, if you depend on your emotion to pray, if you depend on your emotion to go to church, you will not do any of that? Is that true?
What is the system you have put in place for your Bible study? What is the system you have put in place for consistent prayer? Anybody who tells you prayer is comfortable and convenient lies to you.
Prayer has nothing to do with emotions. You have to create a system that not even your emotions can easily tamper with. Hallelujah!
Imagine with me that I come up here on Sunday and I say, "Ladies and gentlemen, I know you love me, and I love you too, but I want to be very honest with you today. We're just going to pray in tongues and sing because I needed to sleep. I've been traveling around, and I'm so tired, and I don't have anything to tell you. I thank you for coming here since 10:00 in the morning and since 8:30 struggling for space and sitting down. And, uh, come again. May the Lord bless you. I'm sure that after two or three weeks, I'll be prepared."
How irresponsible will that sound? Now, don't you know that I lead a busy schedule? And yet not even you will excuse me for that carelessness. Why? Because preparing my sermon to make sure God's people are built has been systematized.
Are we together now? I don't allow my emotions to prepare sermons. I will fail miserably. There are many meetings that line up before me, and so there are systems, there are time periods where I'm about studying and preparing.
Whether there is rain, whether I am tired, I can pamper myself afterwards, but as far as that is concerned, I must be instant in season and out of season. Someone shout amen!
Amen! Please look up. Our parents, many of us here, our parents and our elderly ones here used to practice a system called morning devotion. Is that true?
Now, that didn't seem to be a system that some of them would not pray in tongues for one hour nor finish their Bibles cover to cover. But notice that every time they woke up, the first thing they did, their Bibles would usually be at the side of the bed. Is that true?
And because of that, they were in contact with scripture every day for 50 years, 41 years. Now, some of us have come as zealous people who love the Lord. You can pray for eight hours one day and not pray again till after three weeks.
You can study the Bible emotionally, trying to finish 15 chapters in one day, and then leave your Bible alone, then repent after two months when you hear a message like this and go back again.
Everybody say systems! Please look at me. You can never become spiritually alive and robust allowing your emotions to define the level of your spiritual commitment.
Do you know why many people who work in corporations and in the civil service, no matter how, respectfully speaking, how draggy they are, they are still able to maintain that? Because there is a register that you sign in when you come in. Is that true?
And they will query you. There is a supervisor waiting for you. So you can return home by 12, even attend a vigil sometimes, end by 4 or 5, and as tired as you are, you know your salary is at stake, your job is at stake, there are bills to pay.
It will fuel the energy; you will stand up and be on your way. Systems are supervisors; they supervise compliance. You must create a system around your spiritual life.
What is the system you are built to make sure you study the Bible every day? And for some of us, when it has to do with Bible study, that is even a discussion for another day because you get up, and there is no definition as to what you are becoming today.
You just feel like, "Let me read Proverbs. I'm not in the mood for any history." You just open Proverbs chapter 1, and with sleep in your eyes, you'll be reading the same verse for 20 minutes.
You think you have finished it. You will come back, read it again because there is no system. And then the next day, you read John chapter 2, and then when you wake up and stumble across a message online and it fires your spirit, you quickly go back to Revelation, read something small on rapture.
You don't grow that way. Your growth is not methodical. This is the reason why, respectfully speaking, we have many people who go to church, but there is no growth because people do not grow methodically.
Some of our parents who would read five chapters according to that devotional, gradually, gradually, they may finish their Bible in five years, six years. It may not be so much relative to your passion and your press, but it was systematized.
Can I tell you this? If you have not outgrown being guided to read a scripture by designing your own structure, go back to a— in fact, I don't have a problem with devotionals. They are a healthy start, and they can help you.
Of course, in truth, you will need more than that if you really want to press to certain dimensions, but it is fair enough for you to start. Someone met me and said, "Apostle, I need to grow spiritually, and I confess that my study of the word and my prayer is not—I'm not really benefiting. I'm not really growing. How can you help me?"
This is what I told the person as a recommendation: I said, "Every message that is preached here in Koinonia, let that be your study for that week. At least start from there."
So you listen to the message, and you use it for Bible study. You use it to build. Now you settle down and look at the scriptures. If you even just focus on what is being taught per week, many of us have almost everybody's message in the world.
You have everybody's devotional, but you have not listened to any of them. When we go to your library, there are books from even generals that are long gone, and you will impress us by what is in your library, but you've not even read up to 1% of it.
You will not grow that way. Say, "In the name of Jesus, I obtain grace to maintain my spiritual life by systematizing my approach."
Please look up. There are some of you here; you cannot pray for one hour every day. Now, the value of prayer is not in the timing. The value of prayer is in the efficiency and the fellowship.
But then timing is a discipline that can help you. Believe me when I tell you this: some of you don't have the discipline to wake up in the night. Use an alarm clock. An alarm clock is a system.
"Oh, Apostle, it's an embarrassment to my discernment." Please use it! Save yourself all this pride for nothing and get a good alarm clock. If you plan to wake up by 2:00, let it start by 1:30 so you can struggle for 30 minutes.
Whatever it is, you can be sure that by 2:00, you are awake. It's a strategy. Can I tell you this? The days that are coming will depend on your spiritual health.
Man of God, the ministry that you run cannot rise beyond your spiritual health. That is the truth. Koinonia, if my prayer life is just one hour, you will not grow.
I assure you, at this level of my life, it's not pride. If I pray for only one hour praying for you, what God has done, will I finish saying thank you in one hour?
There are many homes here that don't have a system for their spiritual upkeep, respectfully speaking. Don't feel bad; we're dealing with systems and structures.
Thank you so much for watching this powerful video. I hope you were blessed. Apostle Joseph Selman is really a blessing to our generation, and our prayer for him is that the Lord will keep him from falling.
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