3 THINGS TO DO THAT WILL BRING JOY TO MY HEART IF YOU TRULY DESIRE TO CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY TODAY
BIRTHDAY IS THE CELEBRATION OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING WITH THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN
YOU ONLY TRULY QUALIFY TO CELEBRATE YOUR BIRTHDAY IF YOU ARE LIVING IT FOR JESUS, AND LIVING IT FOR PURPOSE
YOU MUST LIVE WITH ETERNITY IN VIEW; JESUS IS COMING BACK SOON!
SOME OF THE PEOPLE MAKING THE MOST IMPACT SPIRITUALLY ARE NOT THE JOSHUA SELMANS YOU ARE SEEING
MESSAGES TO THE BODY OF CHRIST
THE BODY OF CHRIST IS THE LIVING SYSTEM WITH CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE HEAD OF THE BODY AND THE FACT THAT HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, WE CANNOT FAIL
IF WE DON’T SALVAGE THE BODY OF CHRIST, MANY PEOPLE WILL LEAVE THE CHRISTIAN FAITH JUSTIFIABLY INTO EXTRA BIBLICAL PRACTICES
THE MOMENT YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO IS RIGHT, YOU ARE WRONG; THAT IS ABSOLUTE NONSENSE
WE MUST INTERCEDE FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST NOT CRITICIZE THE BODY OF CHRIST
DO NOT CREATE A SYSTEM OF HATRED, SEDITION, AND PARTY SPIRIT JUST BECAUSE YOU DO NOT AGREE IN SOME AREAS WITH OTHERS
EVERY CHURCH AND EVERY MINISTRY THAT SINCERELY NAMES THE NAME OF CHRIST FOR THE SAKE OF THE WITNESS OF CHRIST, JESUS CHRIST WILL ALWAYS LEAVE A WITNESS
- Apostle Joshua Selman on “UNITY OF FAITH”||SPECIAL BIRTHDAY BROADCAST
Koinonia 25th June 2022 (Part C)
4) The fourth key to attaining unity in the body of Christ is to pray for the Body: I cannot emphasize this enough. Pray for the Body! Pray for the body! Church Gist. Ephesians 6:18. Pray for the body of Christ. 1 Timothy 2:1. You must pray. There are many people today who are my friends in ministry, my friends in leadership, there are many areas we do not directly agree and we are aware that we do not agree in these areas yet the bond of friendship is extremely powerful and altogether profitable to both of us.
Please hear me, I’m teaching you this from a heart of love because I owe you as my dear people and then as a contribution to the body of Christ. Church Gist. This is especially for spiritual leaders and it extends to all kinds of leaders. We must be careful; do not create a system of hatred and sedition and party spirit just because you do not agree doctrinally, or just because you do not agree as far as certain thoughts are concerned. Church Gist. We must be careful. If I mentor believers to say, ‘any man of God you see who is not preaching what I am preaching, or is not part of the fold whether by covenant connection, reject the person, throw away the person,’ that is a terrible thing. Church Gist.It is a wicked statement because if Christ tarries one day I will not be here. See, errors don’t easily die, even when those who bring them are long gone, it will still be in the system and can become a pandemic. Halleluyah!
There are many believers today, whose spiritual lives would have been improved greatly if the accommodation were given to them to be able to tap and receive from the rich heritage that is within the body. Church Gist. For instance, someone may be struggling with let’s say lust or whatever, and the Holy Spirit can speak to the person, ‘listen to this man of God or this father of faith’s message.’ Church Gist. And he knows that contained within that man, that ministry, and that father of faith is the grace to cure this in one day, but simply because a subliminal advice, a body language that has been given by either his man of God or something of that sort, they will rather sit down and die in silence than to tap into the blessing.
There are people within one month, their financial status can change if only their hearts will be open to receive of the provision of wisdom and grace that is resident in the body but they would rather sit down and die in silence. Church Gist. Halleluyah! We must intercede for the body of Christ not criticize the body of Christ. One of the greatest gifts that anyone can give me as a man of God is to pray for me. You give me food I will eat, I will go to the toilet and that is it. Church Gist. You give me whatever, all of that will go but when you pray for me, you are making investments for my destiny. It’s one of the things that give me joy. It gives me joy during my birthday because there are several ministries across the globe, prayer chains. Church Gist. The last one week has been full of all kinds of prayer, night vigils, prayer chains, just for me.
Now, I honour those people and I appreciate them and as many as I could reach, I told them, ‘thank you for this.’ You do not know the kind of attack that is on every evangelist, every apostle, reverend, bishop, whoever names the name of Christ. Church Gist. The moment you stand for Jesus, just be sure that satan is coming after you. Not even Jesus was spared; when he (satan) left him the Bible says he left him for a season. Let me encourage everyone listening: please pray for your pastor. Anything you look for in the body of Christ you will find it. If you look for error, you will find it. Church Gist. If you look for fault, weaknesses, strength, satan, Jesus, flesh, sincerity, you will find it. They are all within the body; and in the midst of the lamp stands, I saw one like the Son of man. The good news is that in the midst of all of these things, Jesus is still in His body. Church Gist. I am personally convinced that every Church and every ministry that sincerely names the name of Christ for the sake of the witness of Christ, Jesus Christ will always leave a witness. Halleluyah!
5) The final thing I will say about the unity of faith is: the moment you believe you are the only one who is right, you are wrong. Church Gist. This is because believing you are the only one who is right is
1) An insult to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
2) An insult to the ministry of the 5 fold, the priesthood.
3) An insult to the power of the cross.
Can I tell you? You never find any point from when Jesus died and resurrected where only one individual was standing in righteousness. Church Gist. No, you will find that in the days of Noah, you will find that in the Old Testament; but from the moment the Spirit was poured lavishly without measure, the Spirit will always have witnesses. Remember He is called the Spirit of Truth. Church Gist. So, away with some of these mentality that we carry around the body, Joshua Selman believing I am the only one who is right, I am the only one who is teaching what is correct, I am the only one who is mentoring correctly. I can tell you by the authority of Scripture, that is absolute nonsense. Church Gist. We are called to communicate the dimension of truth as given to us with sincerity and truth while praying for the body of Christ and helping to manage the excesses but with honour for all the other dimensions.
I will repeat it is absolute nonsense if I ever stand here in Koinonia and make you believe that nobody else knows that truth. Church Gist. How did you learn it then? This is because a man cannot receive anything except it is given. So, the one who received and the one who gave who is greater? Don’t you ever believe that there are unrighteous people, unholy people, and weak people in the body, and just a few who God came to them. Oh such a deception! Church Gist. Most of those things came from culture and because of our inability to contend for transformation. I am saying this with love to help the body for the sake of the believers that are coming on. I repeat, it is nonsense. Christ is still in His body, the Holy Spirit is as powerful as ever, helping people to encounter Jesus. Church Gist. Even if every man of God in the body fails, the body will still not die because in a great house, what made the house great was not the vessels, what made the house great was the builder. The builder is still there, regardless the quality of vessels.
Please let us not demean the body of Christ. I’m saying this because if we don’t salvage the body of Christ, many people will leave the Christian faith justifiably into extra biblical practices. Church Gist. I may fail as an individual, but the body cannot fail. I may fail as a Church, but the body cannot fail. I announce to all and sundry again, that the body of Christ is the living system with Christ Himself being the head of the body and the fact that He is the head of the body, we cannot fail in the name of Jesus Christ. It says, ‘I will build my Church…’ don’t insult that architect; He is a master builder. Church Gist. No man of God builds the Church, no doctrine builds the Church. There is the builder; He is still building. So, as much as we observe limitations in the body, as much as we address them, please let us not give the world an impression like the Church is a weak defeated entity, full of licentious people, full of weak people, no! Church Gist. The Church that Jesus died for is a living Church that is alive, a Church that is powerful; He is the builder.
There are things that cannot be done by any other institution on Earth except the Church.
🎶 all my days on Earth I will await 🎶
MESSAGES TO THE BODY OF CHRIST
1) The power of purpose: connect every desire to purpose otherwise you will not find fulfilment and I have proposed to you the theme for our living and that which drives us to see Jesus revealed and to see Jesus glorified.
2) The purity of heart: we must return to vet the true states of our hearts. Church Gist. Matthew 5:8.
3) The unity of the body: this is my prayer. Unity does not mean uniformity. Church Gist. The body of Christ will never do the same thing but we can be motivated by the same purpose. I look forward to times when a man of God will be organizing crusade, and another man of God who may not totally agree doctrinally, can say, ‘this is my seed – I’m sending buses.’ Church Gist. You still keep your reservation as far as mentoring and building the people committed to you is concerned. But you are able to stand to say, ‘I love this. Jesus is glorified. Church Gist. He is bigger than what I feel or do not feel.’
I look forward to times when men of God can bump into themselves whether at the Airport, somewhere, ‘oh, how are you? How is the work? May God bless you.’ Church Gist. ‘Not you are this, you are carnal, you are satanic, no go away.’ It won’t happen that way; it’s the same Heaven we are going to. I wonder what is going to happen when we all get there. This is because none of us built it and since the one who built it admitted all of us. Church Gist. There are not 5 tables, there is one giant table. That supper, we are all sitting there.
Let me tell you this before I talk about the last point and we pray: do you know? I learnt this very early in life and ministry, that some of the people making the most impact spiritually, I say this respectfully speaking, they are not the Joshua Selmans you are seeing. Church Gist. Believe me! Thank God for the little and the bit that we are doing, but if God is to access and arrange people on Earth, based on their closeness to Him, and based on the impact, you will be surprised that some of us that you celebrate will be at the back of the queue, thanking God that we are even in a queue. Church Gist. And you will be surprised that those you will see in front are not on television, nobody knows them, they may be pastors of 10 members.
Some of them may be quiet intercessors like some of our mothers, Anna the prophetesses, praying for Jesus to succeed. Church Gist. The day I recognized this and I learnt this, it gave me that sense to know that every time I stand before God’s people and as God continues to lift me, I see it as a privilege and a debt that I must pay. I don’t stand here simply because I am the best and finest, I know you have celebrated me and I know you are sincere, but I’m wise enough to know the truth. Church Gist. When we stand before Him, you will see a woman who could not even speak English. When we stand before Him, you will see one gardener somewhere, who never had the privilege to be on television. When we stand before Him, you will see one intercessor from a village, one missionary that served God quietly till he died. And based on that spiritual stratification, some of us who have been making noise from time immemorial, God will now rearrange us and we will stand at the back. Church Gist. And some of those quiet people will come with honour and stand in front.
Knowing this, should give us wisdom early. We stand here only by grace. Our sufficiency is not of ourselves but of Christ who has made us able ministers. Church Gist. Accepting this is not weakness, accepting this is great strength.
4) To live with eternity in view: 1 Corinthians 15:19.
🎶 Did I do my best to live for truth? Did I live my life for you? 🎶
I’ve sang this song for many years and it never gets old. Can I tell you this? Revelation 20:11. One day, we will stand before Jesus. Church Gist. Please listen to me: A day will come, you will wake up in the morning and find out there is no Koinonia again. There is no election again in Nigeria, dear civil servant, there is no going to work again. A day will come, you will wake up in the morning and find out the enemy you seek to die, both you and him, the scene has changed.
Revelation 20:11-15. Church Gist. The concept of small and great is only a relative statement only within the confines of Earth; with respect to death, does not know small, does not know great.
Can I tell you? All of the wars we have in our world today, right now we are in a time of politics, all kinds of people fighting, president, chairman, national assembly, thank God for that. Church Gist. Students hoping that school will resume so that they will go to school, preachers hoping that more members will come, everybody hoping. One day, when the real referee, the referee is not social media, the referee is not the preacher, when the real referee rings that bell whether you are prepared or not, the match must stop. Church Gist. And He will gather all of us and we will stand. That day will be a day of pleasant surprises.
Please hear me, you must live with eternity in view. No matter how long you live, the highest I’ve seen in my life is about 136. But no matter how long you live, either He will come to meet you, or you will go to meet Him. But you must depart this realm. Yes, we are returning back to Earth but not this version of Earth. Church Gist. This would be folded like a curtain. When I stand before God He is not going to say, ‘Apostle, how are you?’ No! When you stand before Him, He will not say, ‘Koinonia member, how are you?’ All our titles will mean nothing. That is the day we will know that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Please let me remind us, I’m both old and new school; permit me to be old school now. Jesus is coming back soon! Jesus is coming back soon!! Church Gist. The Lord Jesus, the monarch of the universe is returning. He will return, I assure you. It’s one of the 7 pillars of the Christian faith. If all your relevance and everything that you have is just connected to money, titles, ministry, politics, and any other thing, you may be disappointed when He comes. Can I tell you the truth? I made up my mind that nothing around me and nothing outside me is worth my attachment to. Church Gist. Thank God for money, but it will come and go away. Thank God for titles, they will come and go away.
This birthday broadcast, hear me, Koinonia global, creation, and all who are listening, it is not the celebration of a celebrity, some great man, without Jesus Christ, this man you see, there is very little to me as a person. Church Gist. I will tell you this. If there is anything in my life today that is worth celebrating, including the gift of time that was given to me, it is because He is alive and has shown mercy.
Thank God for the cakes you have made, the gifts, the wonderful things, I don’t downplay it – humbled! I don’t know how many times tears rolled out of my eyes as I rolled on the floor before the Lord, thanking Him for the gift of life. Church Gist. But I am reminding you again, birthday is not the celebration that you were born, it’s the celebration of what you are doing with the life that you have been given. Church Gist. You only truly qualify to celebrate your birthday if you are living it for Jesus, and living it for purpose. Not if you are living.
I stand before you today, thanking you for your love and everything you have done, forbearing our limitations, praying and upholding us, I thank my precious leaders, I want to thank the fathers of faith in this nation who have loved me so personally, and invested and continue to invest in my life. Church Gist. I do not take your fatherhood and your love for granted. I thank God for all of the pillars in my life, the men of God, senior colleagues, contemporaries, protégés, sons and daughters, all together Koinonia global, I want to sincerely thank you. From Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa, Nigeria, right here, you have demonstrated levels of love that I cannot begin to explain. And I am not playing with words; I really mean what I’m saying. Church Gist. I want to thank my family, I want to thank the workers, and you are seated here because of your dogged commitment. The world sees the face of Joshua Selman, but they do not know that there are people who make that face visible and to be able to serve God comfortably. Church Gist. Those who have sown into my life, and into the ministry, those who pray for me, thank you sincerely.
Let me leave you with this: if you truly desire to celebrate my birthday today let me tell you 3 things to do that will bring joy to my heart.
1) Pray for me: 1 Thessalonians 5:25. More than give to me, support what I represent, please pray for me. Church Gist. Pray for me, and pray for every man of God that you know and you love.
2) Look for two Koinonia teachings that have blessed you, and bless somebody with it today.
3) Pray for Nigeria: we are at a sensitive period of transition and for God’s sake we need to take responsibility and pray for this nation. We are going to act but can I tell you, acting without praying will only recycle pain. Church Gist. By reason of my being close by privilege to several politicians, I’ve heard all kinds of opinions and different things about perspectives in Nigeria, what I am going to tell us is, we must pray and trust God to hear and know the will of God first before acting. This emotional acting based on sentiments will only recycle pain. I’m saying it as one who fears God and love my nation. God is only committed to backing and defending His will. Church Gist. Let us be aware of emotions, let us beware of sentiments. We must look to Jesus and say, ‘Lord, where you stand is where we stand.’
Pray for our leaders, present and our leaders to come. We owe a duty under God, more than complaining, more than insulting, castigating, let us pray. Church Gist. I know that there are many things that may not seem to be the way it is in our nation now. Please hear me: Christians pray for Nigeria; Muslims pray for Nigeria. Even if you don’t pray, mean well for Nigeria. Halleluyah!
🎶 Lord make us instruments of your peace 🎶
We are only safe in our nation. If every other thing is safe, death does not ask whether you are a Christian or Muslim, preacher or business man, if we are careless over our lives, all of us will suffer. Church Gist. It is a time where we need to pray and then we need to act accordingly as God grants grace. I repeat, without prejudice or biases, it is going to be a combination of spirituality, intelligence and counsel. Blindly just moving with spirituality alone will still end us in trouble. Blindly working with intelligence alone will end us in trouble. Church Gist. Blindly working with counsel alone will end us in trouble. We need that tripartite combo of spirituality, intelligence and counsel.
Thank you very much for the privilege and the opportunity to celebrate with me, I am truly honoured, I want to appreciate our global family and thank you for all of you who have listened carefully to this broadcast. Church Gist. I also want to thank the leadership of AIT and every other television station, thank you so much for the live broadcast. May the Lord bless you.
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