I COULD NOT SEE LIFE IN CANAANLAND BECAUSE OF MY SHORTSIGHTEDNESS BUT I ASKED THE LORD AND HE SAID, “THIS IS THE PLACE.”
-Bishop David Oyedepo after 23 years of defying all practical and theoretical Church Growth principles and the advent into Canaanland, a move from city to the forest.
1st Service, Faith Tabernacle
Covenant Day of Settlement
*This is not near to the old Church, thereby losing the catchment area of the Church
- What if I didn’t ask? We will be struggling for survival.
*You won’t miss God and you will not miss your place.
*There are certain things that don’t look like it at all. Ask God, that may just be exactly it.
UNDERSTANDING HOW GOD LEADS
It has been our Teaching series for our services this month and we have tried to explain how important being led by the Lord is.
Isaiah 48:21
One can experience a gushing in the midst of dryness by subscribing to the leading of the Lord. When the Lord is your Shepherd, only goodness and mercy are permitted to follow you – Psalm 23:1,6
-Therefore, from this time on, no one here will miss the leading of God in their lives.
Let’s conclude this morning by looking at 3 ways that God leads His people.
- By the witness of the Spirit
Romans 8:16, 14
He communicates with our spirit on the right way to go. Among the ways He leads us through the witness of the Spirit: signals being sent to our spirit man on the way to go and the way not to go.
Acts 16:6-7
They wanted to go to Mysia, the Spirit of the Lord forbade them.
There is no voice here, it is just the Spirit of the Lord saying, “No, signal!!”
That’s why we need to keep our spirit man alive. Keep our spirit man on his feet, so we can connect with the signal from heaven.
At times, you go to some places where there is no connectivity on your phone, they are not connected, there is no mast to connect them. When you are not in the Spirit, you can’t be connected. So these signals come time and again to show us the way to go.
The way to keep your spirit man alive is to feed your spirit man with the Word of life, by which we get strength. He strengthens us by His Spirit in our inner man. The Holy Ghost helps to strengthen our inner man to be sensitive to divine signals. How we need that!
One of us got on a bus on his way to the East and he got a signal, “Get down from this bus.” There was no voice there according to his testimony. He told them, “Please give me my money, I am not going again.”
Response: We can’t give you all the money. Go away if you wish.”
Before they got to Sagamu, the vehicle crashed, everybody dies.
Signal of the Spirit.
These are fundamental laws in walking with God. Church Gist. Church is not a club. Being born again is not fashion, it is becoming a member of the house of God. And among the ways He leads is the Holy Ghost sending signals to our spirit: which way to go and which way not to go.
This is very important to know how the Spirit worked in the life of Peter when he was to go to the house of Cornelius
The Spirit: Go with them, doubting nothing. Acts 10:19-20
The Spirit said to Philip, “Go, join yourself to that chariot” – Acts 8:29
He is still bearing witness today.
-May we take responsibility to keep our spirit man on his feet so we can continue to access divine signals at all times in the name of Jesus Christ.
- Another way we access divine guidance is through the prayer of enquiries.
-Which way Lord? It is not weakness to ask questions particularly from the One who knows. No one knows a thing like God. He knows the end from the beginning, so ask Him.
Am I on course with your plan or am I walking my own way?
2 Samuel 5:18-20
Prayer of enquiries is one of the of the ways we access divine guidance
James 4:2
“I know the way to go, why asking you? I am going”
“I know the way to go, why bother asking you? This is an opportunity.”
Not all that glitters is gold.
Not every open door is God’s door, many are traps in disguise.
Jeremiah 33:3
Call upon Me and I will show great and mighty things you don’t know about that opportunity, so you don’t get trapped end up in regrets.
-No one here will end up his life in regrets.
1 Samuel 30:6-9
I could not see life in this place because I am short sighted. I was very rough and angry with people who brought us here, looking for land for Church. But I asked the Lord, “Lord what are you saying?”
He answered me, “this is the place.”
What if I didn’t ask? I went to work with my small head, off somewhere else. We will be swimming against the tide. We will be struggling for survival.
-You won’t miss God and you will not miss your place.
Don’t live your life to chance. You don’t have a spare.
Proverbs 14:12
This is not near at all to the old Church. You have lost the catchment area of the Church and then you are still stupid and daft enough to say, “No Church holds here.”
You didn’t go back because you heard from God, “this is the place.”
There are certain things that don’t look like it at all. Ask God, that may just be exactly it.
They don’t look like it at all in any way but that is it.
2 Samuel 30:17-19
David recovered all through the prayer of enquiries!
- THROUGH A LIFESTYLE OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP
Acts 13:1-2
“As they ministered to the Lord…”: That’s worship. He spoke in the midst of worship.
Isaiah 30:29-31
Supernatural victory through the Voice of the Lord that comes through a lifestyle of Praise. That’s why murmurers, complainers can’t access divine guidance
Psalm 100:4 – the only way to enter is thanksgiving, praise and worship; He will show us the path of life as we enter into His presence – Psalm 16:11.
It has to be a lifestyle of Praise and worship, that provides cheap access.
The day the Lord delivered the Mandate of this Commission, it was supposed to be a point of disappointment because the friend I went to check up on was away on weekend. There were no mobile phones then and I said, “all things work together to the advantage of them that love the Lord…”
And the Lord said, almost immediately, “seek a quiet place, I want to talk to you.”
Instead of complaining, you are giving thanks to God because all things work together for our good.
Now came this global Mandate through an attitude and lifestyle of Praise.
Believers complain too much, it deafens their ears and blinds their eyes.
If you don’t know what to thank God for, thank God for safe drive to that place.
Thank God that he is not sick, he just went on a journey.
Then God steps in. You can’t hear from God as expected without a lifestyle of Praise and Worship. Any day you don’t know what to say Thank You to God for, thank Him for the breath in your nostrils.
When we come in for Monthly thanksgiving the first thing that must be on your mind and your heart: Thank You for the gift of life.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, then He will begin to add other things – Psalm 150:6
As you appreciate Him for the one thing that no one can do: none of us can keep ourselves alive.
Psalm 3:5
You can’t sustain yourself and your greatest asset is your life.
Nothing holds the greater value to man than life. That is why when your health is challenged, everything you have loses value.
“They need 10 Million” – can you sell that house?
“The house is 50 Million, just sell it 10 Million, we need 10 Million”: it has no worth to you and yet Somebody is behind it, that sustains that life and you say, “what has God done? NOTHING. Since this year, God has not done anything for me. Let me say my mind you know Papa will say, ‘don’t say so’, let me tell you, you know you are my friend. Nothing is working for me.”
Well if you know how many things are working for you, you will know that is not a wise statement to make.
Is your lung still working?
Is your heart working?
Your eyes working? Your ears working?
No one will play the fool anymore.
🎶Things are working for me, things are working for me, for the Lord is on the throne, things are working for me. Things are working for me. 🎶
🎶Things are getting better, things are getting better. Things are getting better, things are getting better. 🎶
Is somebody here saved and born again?
It is the free gift of God and you say, “God has not done anything for you.”
Thank God you are not lost in the midst of hemp smokers you are not in armed robbery gang, you are not in the cult where they are messing your life up.
Things are working for you.
If you can’t see what He has done, He will never do the next.
Always acknowledge God and He shows you the way forward all the time.
The beauty of a lifestyle of thanksgiving is access to the way forward, access to the next level.
Biblical Proofs of Being Led By the Spirit
- When God leads, He endues the led with passion, to drive in the direction that God is leading you.
You enjoy divine passion that keeps you in motion, in pursuit of any leading of the Spirit. It is just there, you are not trying to organise it. His leading is like fire shut up in your bone, you can’t withhold – Jeremiah 20:9
When God is the One leading, you don’t drag. You are God driven, Spirit fired, you can’t hold back. You are just on and on. His leading enjoys divine passion to drive it.
It comes heavy… You are just God driven – Galatians 1:15-17
“Immediately” – This was one turnaround. Called to preach what you have been persecuting all your life, like a hooligan.
Every true vision enjoys the God driven force to response. - Every vision enjoys divine protection
Joel 2:7-8
When you are on course with divine plan, you are working as divinely guided, you are divinely protected.
Exodus 13:17-18; Exodus 23:20
There is a divine protection package that goes along with you when you are going in the direction God has led.
He led us here for instance and like a mighty man of war, He kept us. No breaking in. He will always keep you in the way He leads you.
Psalm 23:4
You don’t have to fear anything as long as I am the one leading you.
-No one will expose his life to danger anymore.
Endeavour to remain divinely guided and your life and destiny will remain supernaturally secured in the name of Jesus Christ.
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