OUR SOCIETY CONTINUES TO BE DESTROYED TODAY BECAUSE WE ARE HOPING THAT RELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL AND GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS WILL DO THE WORK THAT FAMILY SHOULD START.
ONE OF THE ASSIGNMENTS OF SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES IS TO KEEP YOU TRUE TO YOUR VALUES AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR
SYSTEMS WILL GIVE YOU THE LEGITIMACY TO SAY NO TO MANY THINGS THAT MAY BE GOOD BUT ARE NOT USEFUL FOR YOUR LIFE.
IT TAKES MORE THAN A CHARACTER TO EXCEL; A CODE OF CONDUCT GUIDES HOW YOU BEHAVE, BUT A CODE OF OPERATION GUIDES HOW YOU DO THINGS.
SYSTEMS ARE SUPERVISORS; THEY SUPERVISE COMPLIANCE.
- Apostle Joshua Selman at Koinonia on ‘STRIVING FOR MASTERY’ (PART THREE)
(PART B).
How to build formidable systems and structures; there are six questions that everybody must answer this night if you want to build a system and a structure in your life and organization:
1). Why do I exist? (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.
There must be a clear definition of your vision, the goal to be achieved and the end product. It is difficult to systematize anything if you do not know why it exists. When Jesus showed up, He gave us His manifestos in clear terms, in fact, His name captured His manifestos – Jesus, the One who saves, that salvation to seek and to save the lost was his primary goals. Church Gist. He also added to us that He came as a correction of our idea about God, that everything we thought God is or God was, Jesus came as a marking script, so that we’ll look at His life and begin to edit our understanding about God that was told us by the prophets and the law.
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? There are many people today respectfully speaking, who do not excel in ministry because the ministry has no vision, goal and an end product. How many of you will go to a school or send your children to a school whose end you do not know? Knowing the end product gives you the power to endure. You cannot indefinitely receive the staying power to become nothing. There must be a clear definition of your vision; a vision for your life, a goal to be achieved. It is a risk to start moving without knowing where you are going.
2). Who are the beneficiaries of my solutions?
Don’t say, “I am sent to everybody.” Potentially, yes but who are the beneficiaries of your solutions? Jesus Himself when he came, He said He was here to seek and 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’re sent to.
Every mandate and any call, whether in ministry or business, there are targeted beneficiaries that you must understand. It can be an age range, vision or 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 lives, every time I see people who have gone down spiritually; you are calling for my attention. Church Gist. Every time I see someone who has not been saved, you have not encountered Jesus; 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, show me someone who is sick that needs the demonstration of the power of God, show me a territory that needs revival and fire. You are calling me, that is my invitation based on the mandate.
Question; what calls you?
There are many people who do not know what calls them. For some of you, you have been raised as Kingdom financiers, that 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 solutions. Not knowing this 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.
I sing, I’m not ignorant as far as music is concerned. I was 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. Church Gist. There is nobody who has invited me to come and sing a special number, yet if you invite me, I must always sing. Why?
Because that gift can find expression as a subset of the bigger picture.
- 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 and call!
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. Respectfully speaking, there’s a ministry called the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship. 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. Church Gist. 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, frustration is because we have not defined our beneficiaries. There are businesses that do not have more than hundred clients, yet they are billion naira and billion dollars businesses because the nature of the business, it does not serve everybody. You must discover who you’re sent to and what calls you.
3). What tools do I need?
Your tools talk about your skills, resources and relationships. Don’t just create systems out of nothing, what tools do you need? You cannot create systems until you know the tools that you need.
There are some of you, what you need to succeed in your assignment is billions and billions, that will now help you to know what to put in place; the kind of structures that will drive you. If you are Moses, remember you need a rod. Church Gist. Never move until you find the 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. If you are a man of God and you know that you need a high-level anointing and 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 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.
4). Who does what?
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. As wonderful and great as this ministry is, there are things I don’t come close to. Do 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 but I cannot play this keyboard as effective as this person is playing. Church Gist. I can play most of the instruments here, but I have not mastered them to that level of efficiency and combining both of them will not make me efficient, so there’s a definition; we are all on stage and we are all ministering but who does what? There has to be a proper distribution of tasks and roles to be played by everyone involved. Compromises only make sense when standards are in place
Systems should be greater than individuals, so that it does not matter who is doing the work, the result is the same. Do you know why I am sure that you will be nothing short of a sign and wonder? It is not because of the person standing before you; this is it (the Bible). I can still teach you even though I don’t know your background or have an advantage by default, regardless the situation, the Bible was built to survive and produce a champion out of everyone, regardless the limitation.
There are some of you, the reason why you are inefficient in your life today is because you are doing many things that your level of growth, you are supposed to have outsourced those things and given other people. Most of the efficient people in life, they write everything that they need to excel and begin to allocate responsibilities. Church Gist. This was what was killing Moses in the Bible. Every time there’s 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 hundred, thousands” and the same thing in Acts 6.
You cannot effectively lead a ministry like this if you are the one involved in checking the offering and finding out where it went and then, you quickly find out where the security people are and then while you are here, you are looking around. There are things you cannot do, please define who does what? Church Gist.
You know that system 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, then I’ve failed woefully. 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 or growth. If growth stops with my absence, then I’ve failed.
5). What is the most important aspect of the vision to focus on now? This talks about emphasis. 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’s always something God is doing now. Woe betides a man who cannot find the emphasis for his life and destiny now.
I remember when I started with God; there was nothing about finance, 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 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 it is cold or its just you; there are all kinds of impartation happening within your spirit man but a 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.
- In the name of Jesus Christ, God will complete everything that needs to be completed in your life to make your Christian experience holistic!
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, I used to share with the people those days that, the assignment was to enthrone Christ, first in the heart of men and then across every strata of human activities. The first phase of the ministry had to do with building people, so there was no so much emphasis to aesthetic and structures, it didn’t mean that we didn’t believe in excellence, but in order of priority. Church Gist. So, people could sit on the ground, sit in an auditorium that maybe did not have the best of ambiance 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 them today are the ones serving and doing marvellous and mighty things (1 Corinthians 10:23).
Do not major on minors and minors on major. What is most important in your life now?
6). What are the major limitations, pitfalls and distractions to avoid?
1 Peter 5:8 – one of the assignments of systems and structures is to keep you true to your values and what you stand for and you must be able to know the limitations, pitfalls and distraction to avoid. There are many pitfalls that can destroy you spiritually, business wise, politically and one of the ways you manage your growth and your results is by creating systems around your life.
Systems can protect you beyond your imagination, 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. Systems will give you the legitimacy to say no to many things that may be good but are not useful for your life. Church Gist. You must build a code of conduct (a code of conduct guides your character) and a code of operation (it guides how you do things) around your life and in your organization out of the six questions given. It takes more than a character to excel; a code of conduct guides how you behave, but a code of operation guides how you do things.
I got to a point in my life when God started lifting me and doors were opening and until that time, in my conservative way, I didn’t think that I’ll need a system to manage my itinerary and all of that and 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, you are my friend, I will come.” Sometimes, I would find out that I had agreed for three ministrations within the same time and not knowing and I found out that I was damaging useful relationships in my life because now I’ll say yes to this and find out I said yes to this person. Church Gist. Now, how would I choose? I knew that my failure was a revelation that I had risen to a point in my life where allocating that and then, starting ministry, most of my ministration was among friends and people 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.
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 build to say no, you kept saying no by yourself. You will lose out on many precious relationships if you don’t create a system around what you have to do.
1). How do I build a system that maintains my spiritual growth and maintain my spiritual fire? Most of us rise up today and then down tomorrow, we are 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.
What is the system you have put in place for your Bible study, consistent prayer; anybody who tells you prayer is comfortable and convenient lies to you. Prayer has nothing to do with emotion. You have to create a system that not even your emotions can easily tamper with. Church Gist. You can never become spiritually alive and robust, allowing your emotions to define the level of your spiritual commitment. Systems are supervisors; they supervise compliance. You must create a system around your spiritual life.
Someone met me and said, Apostle, I need to grow spiritually and I confess that my study of the Word and my prayer, I’m not really benefiting and I’m not really growing. How can you help me? This is what I told the person as a recommendation; “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. If you will just focus on what is being taught per week, you can help yourself and build consistency for your spiritual growth.
There are some of you here, you cannot pray for one hour. 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. The days that are coming will depend on your spiritual health. There are many homes here that don’t have a system for their spiritual upkeep. Anybody who feels like praying in the house just calls for prayer and then, everybody just respect it. You can’t grow that way. Church Gist. The home needs to have a system; whether it is in the morning or night or both, so that any visitors who come to stay with you meets an existing system, so people don’t ship in Babylon to your house and come and destroy your home. When they come and meet a system, they’ll respect it.
Do you that many children do not learn about God from home? They don’t build character from home because there’s no system for that. Our society continues to be destroyed today because we are hoping that religious, educational and governmental institutions will do the work that family should start. The reason why you are well nourished is because there’s a system.
2). What is the system you have put in place for your mental development?
Mental development is correcting and building superior beliefs, to give you superior philosophies about life. To shape your mind and your understanding, you must align with His thoughts mentally. Submit to mental development, get up and look for people whose philosophies are Word-compliant; listen to them to adjust your philosophies about life. Don’t depend on the low-level thinking, you can’t be global that way.
3). You must build a system to manage your health and your wellness. There must be a provision in place to maintain your health and you must create a system around it. You must create a system on how to access rich food, vitamins and supplements if you want to and then, scriptures for your health.
I made up my mind one time that I was going to build a gym, just for fitness and then I said they should look for a gym instructor for me. Ladies and gentlemen, they went and brought one fine young man who really respects and honours me. I was inside when they said he had arrived. I said, okay, let him just go to the gym and wait for me there. When he went there and I saw the guy, I said, “did I tell you people I want to box? Church Gist. This guy was built and looking like he could pick me up. I said, what is he here for? To build me? It is such as you have that you give. I’m not interested, no way. That is not my assignment, it is not in the blueprint of my destiny; my assignment is just to be healthy. Any other thing greater than my strength, I depend on the Holy Spirit and military people, thank God, He has surrounded me with so many generals, they can help me.
That gentleman was built, he now showed me videos of him doing exercises, he was using chains. But the point is this, if you don’t take care of your health, you will die. I am not confessing negatively; if you don’t take care of your health, you will die. Is there a system in place?
Apostle, I collect two hundred thousand naira per month, you can discuss and allocate something for healthy living. It is discipline we must learn in the Body of Christ. Don’t allow taking care of your health to be an emotional thing. I’m a man of faith, I’m a man of the Spirit but the Bible says, wisdom is profitable to direct. I need to live long for the sake of the assignment. We are not afraid of death but we know that we need to live long to finish that which God has given to us.
3). What system have you put in place to excel in your work? Your work here means your career, business and ministry. Do you have a system for buying good clothes, a system for your presentation? Be very systemic around your life.
4). What are the systems you have put in place for your family life, training your children, spending time with your spouse, bills and welfare that have to do with the home?
For many people, there is no system to raise the children God has given you, they just keep growing in your house. Our children can be becoming all kinds of bad decadence in the house and yet, we don’t know. Church Gist. We are busy making money, doing several things and there is no system. That was the mistake of Eli. Eli was a great man but he was careless over his sons and as a result, it led to his own death.
- Your children will not kill you in the name of Jesus!
5). What is the system you have in place for finances and budgeting?
There are some people today, with what you are earning per month, in all fairness and in all sincerity, you may not be earning the whole world but there are certain needs you should not have if there were systems in your life. As God lifts you, you can adjust your lifestyle to suite the growth.
Do you have a system in your life for replenishing? Manage your passion for celebration and some of these excessive things; let God build you and then you will have enough to do anything and even give.
6). What systems have you put in place for having and maintaining the various relationships needed in your life? What is the standard in your life for having friends?
There are general relationships, seasonal relationships and covenant or destiny relationships. There must be a system to manage your relationship. I told you my story, my dear mom, years ago, I didn’t used to have that time, not intentionally; that time for my family and all of that. I was busy ministering, justifiably busy and then, we used to gather together, first of January to pray and after the prayer, then AOB and my mother made a statement and I cried that night. Church Gist. My mother said, well her statement is directed to me. She said, “please sometimes my family members also have issues, they want to see me, they want me to pray for them and she would not mind that, even if it is to tell them what time to be calling me.” I said, my mother? These are some of the people who will stay with you when everybody runs away and I went back and I said, God and I made up my mind that I was going to come up with a system of reaching out and at least doing my best to maintain my relationship with my family members. Some of you need to do this.
Don’t generalize your relationships. Who are the five most important people in your life today by reason of the spiritual contribution they bring to your life, their dependability as friends in your life, the level and magnitude of their financial commitment to your life – don’t generalize everybody, no, it is a mistake. Don’t waste the opportunity of being a celebrity around the world to people who only love your gift and not you and forget the people that really matter in your life. It is time to re-order your life and create systems. Church Gist. I learnt this from God’s servant, Bishop Oyedepo and many of our fathers of faith in this Nation, a few of them, I’ve had the privilege of talking with them, except it is necessary, they will be home. Not out of insecurity, it is their primary assignment and as far as God grants grace, I will not fail in that, I will make sure that week after week; to honour your sacrifice of taking the risk to be part of this vision.
When people know that you are that serious about them, they will be serious about you too. Please go back and rewrite your relationships again; who are the people who have shown you the greatest honour in your life? Write it down, the first five; invest in that relationship. Who are the first five people who you know are shoulders you can lean on no matter what happens, in your tears and in your smiling, they will be there. Church Gist. You must edge your impact in the lives of people so that when the rainy days come, they will remember you. If you ever see any man excelling in life, ministry and business, they systemize their success by helping them to reign and understand what they need to do to reign.
I have been holding this mic for at least one or two hours now and yet, it has not failed to stop because there’s a system that powers it and for as long as the conditions for that system is in place, I can hold it from morning till night. My goal is for you to become like Jesus in every way; first in your character and stature and then through knowledge and high-level illumination, that you truly become people of influence and power, that God can do much with you, witnesses indeed (John 1:6-7). Church Gist. Every teaching you receive here; series after series, every miracle service here, every time of counseling, prayer and activity in this ministry was designed by the Spirit of God and through wisdom to work in synergy to build you to become a certain kind of people.
My challenge for you tonight is that, God desires that you leave the realm of trial and error. It is time to strive towards perfection (Hebrews 6:1).
PRAYERS:
- Lord, I’m ready to step up to a life and a Christian experience that produces results indeed. I am tired of shadow boxing my life, up today, down tomorrow spiritually, financially and otherwise. I take responsibility for my state right now and I obtain grace.
- Lord, visit the areas in my life where my results need to be predictable in my Christian experience.
(Altar Call)
#MondayMoments
#ApostleJoshuaSelman
#StrivingforMasteryPartThree
#ThePowerofSystemsandStructures15May2022
#KoinoniaAbuja
#KoinoniaGlobal
#ChurchGist
