BISHOP OYEDEPO SHARES SEVERAL INSTANCES OVER THE YEARS, HE WOULD HAVE MISSED THE WILL OF GOD IN THE COURSE OF HIS MINISTRY.

TO GO TO KUMASI FOR MINISTRY WAS A GOOD IDEA TO ME BUT NOT GOD’S PLAN

AFTER LABOURING THERE FOR SIX YEARS WITHOUT FRUIT, I ASKED JESUS WHY THINGS ARE NOT WORKING AND HE SAID “I AM NOT THERE”.

WE PACKED OUT OF THE PLACE DEFEATED, WHY? WE WENT AMISS, WE MISSED OUR STEPS.

WHEN IT WAS TIME TO INVADE GHANA BY HIS COMMANDMENT, GHANA WAS ROUTED BY THE HAND OF GOD. TODAY WE HAVE OVER TWO HUNDRED CHURCHES IN GHANA. MOST OF THEM ARE MEGA-CHURCHES.

GOD TOLD ME SOMETHING THIS YEAR, HE SAID: “BEWARE OF PUTTING WORDS INTO MY MOUTH”.

I WROTE A PIECE SOME TIME AGO TITLED ‘THE AGONY OF WALKING IN THE CENTRE OF GOD’S WILL”.

MOST OF THE TIME THE WILL OF GOD IS VERY CONTRARY TO YOUR WILL BUT THAT IS THE ONLY RIGHT WAY TO GO, IF YOU GO THE WRONG WAY, YOU PAY FOR IT.

WHEN GOD SAYS NO, DON’T ASK WHY. YOU ARE TOO SMALL TO ASK WHY.

MANY ARE RUNNING AROUND ASSUMING THEY ARE RUNNING WITH GOD’S PLAN, THEY ARE OFF IT

IF YOU WANT A PROFITABLE LIFESTYLE, SEEK DIRECTION FROM THE LORD.

MAJOR ACCIDENTS DON’T HAPPEN BY MAJOR FAULTS, JUST LITTLE FAULTS AND THE CAR IS OFF AND MOST TIMES THE LIVES THERE ARE LOST

• Bishop David Oyedepo at October 2022 Week of Spiritual Emphasis, Day Three || Canaanland, Ota.

Walking with Jesus is walking in the light and no gross darkness can challenge the authority of light. Light comes, darkness goes out. Your path shall no longer know darkness. The Lord spoke to me in that awesome time I call the ‘Mount of Transfiguration’, “I have not designed life for ups and downs but ups and ups, so I vowed never to see a better yesterday. October 4th 1981 from Proverbs 4:18. When God speaks back to you from His word, they call it rhema and rhema is the cure for doubt. Church Gist. You can’t hear from God and doubt Him. His voice is like the sound of many waters. We have not recorded a better last year in these 41 years. That means you will never from this time onward experience a better last year. Proverbs 4:18. More and more, not more and less. That shall be the definition of your adventure from now.

Prayers: Jesus teach me wisdom tonight.

Jesus, we are all here at your feet, let everyone return with a wisdom key today that will lead the way forward for us in all areas of our life in Jesus name.

UNVEILING THE WORTH OF DIVINE WISDOM. Isaiah 55:8-9. One of the core virtues of wisdom is right direction. He shows the right way forward, He unveils the right step forward. The lack of it is behind all the struggles of believers. If you don’t know the way that leads to Benin, you will end up in Kano by just going straight, you pass Sagamu and you are just on, you pass Ilorin and you are just on. Ask now, you say no way! I am a Nigerian. Church Gist. When you get to Kano you know that you are a Nigerian. I wrote a piece some time ago, ‘The Agony of Walking in the Centre of God’s Will”. Most of the time they are very contrary to your will but that is the only right way to go, go the wrong way, you pay for it. No one will miss his steps anymore.

Now to go and train for ministry in the United States was my idea but not His idea. Proverbs 14:12. I was in His presence on that mountain when He said to me “the things you seek from abroad come from above. You are going to no America”. Maybe this vision would have died there. Church Gist. Ask the one who knows tomorrow instead of junketing around the world. Ask the one who knows tomorrow. One of the cheapest ways to access His direction is just engaging with His presence as a way of life.

To have the base of this ministry in Jos was my conviction and I was in His presence to give Him thanks and He said: “my son it wasn’t me you heard about going to Jos, you heard yourself”. Many are running around assuming they are running with God’s plan, they are off it. Church Gist. Then He rewinded a thought that flashed in my mind back in 1974, said “that was what you heard not me” what do I do Jesus? “Stay here”. Now, after the Commissioning Service has been held thinking I was on my way to Jos. We had four people serving in the NYSC in our system in Jos. When God says No, don’t ask why. You are too small to ask why. What do you know to ask why? If you want to go, that is the road, start going. There are many on a journey of no return, they are biting their finger day and night but they can’t tell anybody about it.

To go to Kumasi for ministry was a good idea to me but not His plan and after labouring there for six years, Jesus why are things not working? He said I am not there. He doesn’t follow you to where He has not sent you. You better don’t torment your life. Wisdom is profitable to direct. If you want a profitable lifestyle, seek direction from the Lord. Major accidents don’t happen by major faults, just little faults and the car is off and many times the lives there are off. He said “I am not there” after 6 years of labour. Church Gist. Labour without fruits, labour without expression. No one will undertake that journey. This God knows the end from the beginning, ask Him. He is the surest guide, the good shepherd. Who always leads the right way to go. It may not be the way you want to go but that is His plan. We packed out of the place defeated, why? We went amiss, we missed our steps. When it was time to invade Ghana by His commandment, Ghana was routed by the hand of God. Today we have over two hundred churches in Ghana. Most of them are mega-churches. No one will miss God’s leading again, the price is not cheap.

We were building a rectangular sanctuary in Kaduna after we acquired the property and I said Jesus, why are funds not coming in for this project. He said that is not my plan. Haba! Same site. That’s not my plan. Lord, what is your plan? He showed me His plan and I asked them to pull down all the structures that were already standing, nobody asked one question. Church Gist. We got to His plan and He began to rush in resources without asking Him. You won’t miss God’s plan for your life.

That is the power of divine wisdom. It shows the right way to go, stop assuming. Assumption is the mother of frustration. God told me something this year, He said “beware of putting words into my mouth”. “Lord, I am going to Germany, just to inform you. The Lord said I should go”. You have already gone. That won’t change His position. Before we were born He knew us and separated us to His plan and purpose. So locating His plan is wisdom. You won’t miss God’s wisdom in your life. To be where God is not is a task. Church Gist. We pulled down that rectangular structure, funds were not coming in and we put up a letter D complex and funds started rushing in and it was completed. No more swimming against the tides in your life. It is a risk, you get drowned so cheaply. A man that is blind to fall from here is very simple, he will just be going and then fall, headache, backache, waist pain and all kinds of stuff but wisdom is profitable to direct. Ecclesiastes 10:10,15. Wisdom shows where to go and how to get there.

Lagos was never my idea to live in my life. I vowed never to live here and suddenly He said “arise, get down to Lagos and raise me a people”. Many have vowed against their destiny. They just vow against it without knowing. I can’t live in Nigeria, go and live somewhere else. If you are not sent, you will see what you didn’t plan for. God calls you to ministry, you say never. Good luck. He didn’t call you to ministry, you go there, suffer head. Church Gist. You just need to find your place in the Masterplan of God which His wisdom unveils. He didn’t only ask me to go to Lagos, He said go to Agege. Agege? Are there people there? Because I never came this way before in my life. But that is the place His plan has for us and that place was routed by His glory. You won’t miss where your breakthrough will be waiting.

I had no idea on Mission to Africa because we were on believing God to fulfill His purpose for the coming years. Suddenly, “the harvest of Africa is now overripe, rush in and preserve it” and so we got into it. Now see what the Lord has done today. You won’t miss your step anymore. This thing is not far-fetched. It is your right to hear His voice. John 10:3. So find out why you are not hearing His voice. I had a very interesting discovery this week. Somebody became a member of this Church in 2005, he only got saved by his handwriting in 2011. Don’t think everybody sitting by your side is saved. The day he recorded joining this church is 2005, the day he got saved in 2011. The day he got baptized in water in 2012. What an adventure. Those are the ones who talk against the truth because they are not born again. What does he know? A dead man doesn’t know anything. To thyself be true. Until you are born again, you can’t access the things of the Kingdom. Church Gist. There is one of our pastors here. He has been here for 8 years but he never took any instructions seriously according to his own testimony by his own mouth. When he came awake from his slumber and began to engage as instructed, what became of him in three months was more than eight years of religiosity. I am a pastor, pastor of what? Pastor of disobedience? God is no respecter of persons. This month must make a difference in every one of our lives. Responding to God’s instruction becomes a natural delight. You are not struggling with it. You are going places.

I said No we are not going to send missionaries out in 1995, we had quite a number of things to do and as we came back from that meeting God said “you are going now”. He makes all things beautiful in His time. We went and He was there before us and He came after us and everything just opened up. Your days of new beginnings are here. The core expression of this mandate today is the church ministry. Church Gist. But I had no idea of church ministry as part of this mandate. “the hour has come to liberate the world” not the church. At that time we were all concerned about seeing revival in the existing churches so why are we starting new churches? That is what I thought. Then one morning in Luke 1:1-3, God said “I am also sending you to take part in Church ministry”. It wasn’t my idea. I got hold of His plan and He backed it up. The program of this church is not copied from anywhere. It was received. Isaiah 48:17, He teaches you and I how to go about it. Something is breaking forth in our life. That is what makes divine direction the gateway to a world of supernatural breakthroughs. If He commands it, He will back it up. If He backs it up, it will show. Isaiah 48:21. No more dry seasons in your life.

I said never, a church cannot be here. My little brain tells me that a church should be where people are. Now, this is a wilderness. It is not in Ota, it is not in the outskirts, it is leading nowhere. And as we got here with my big head, can we give God thanks for the effort we have made, so we can keep putting more effort to look for somewhere else. I said this place, are we farming here or doing church? I was furious but I was foolish. Church Gist. As we said thank you, He said “this is the place, stop that nonsense”. Immediately, I changed, you will think I am a chameleon. I said God just spoke to me now, this is the place. Ah ah! with all the harassment on our way coming. We followed His plan to see His hand. We followed His leading to experience His hand and His hand came down into this forest and turned it into a city. God is about to do something strange in your life.

When one wanders from His place, He becomes vulnerable to all manner of situations and circumstances. Proverbs 27:8. You know how troublesome it is to be homeless? Do you know how troublesome it is to be displaced? We have a number of displaced people around the world today. Where a man that owns his own entire estate is now under a tent, a dormitory tent. No one here shall be displaced. Mind your place, jealously guard your place, and ensure to be in the centre of God’s plan, you will not be struggling to see progress. His backing will command progress. Each one has a territory. You better locate your territory and settle in. There is this crave for “I must travel”, travel to where? Find out from Him and be true to yourself. What are you going there to do? Anything. Is that life? By His help He made me escape all manner of traps that were set for my distraction. God is only committed to leading us as long as we are committed to following Him. He doesn’t have time to waste. If He knows you are not committed to following Him, you will just be wasting your time asking empty questions. You have made up your mind, what are you telling me?

October 1 1983, I was alone before the Lord in a camp as I opened my Bible to study. I came to Isaiah 48:17. He said to me directly “I am committed to leading you if you are committed to following me”. So He doesn’t lead Jack and Harry, He leads those who are committed to following His leading. Don’t ask Him questions to test Him, thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. Church Gist. You have made up your mind about where you are going, you are now asking Him. What are you asking Him for? You know He knows everything. He knows your heart. He knows your heart is set, you are already going into one business that He has not led you into and all the things you have earned all your life just crash. God forbid. Not every open door is God’s door, many are traps in disguise.

Now let’s see some specific worth of divine wisdom. I lay that out for you to know how to go by these things.

1. Divine wisdom secures supernatural peace.

Proverbs 3:13-14,17. Divine wisdom engenders supernatural peace. Peace at home, peace at work, it leads you away from crisis. He gives you rest inside out. Mark 4:36-39. The boat was filled with water, Christ was still asleep. He awoke and rebuked the nonsense storm. Peace that passes all understanding is one of the great virtues in divine wisdom. Church Gist. Is there anybody who hates peace? Everybody loves it. People are on Valium 10, Valium 20, Valium 30 to find sleep and they can’t find it but wisdom paves the way to supernatural peace. That is your portion.

Isaiah 26:3. Psalm 119:165. You just love walking in the light of His word and great peace naturally attends to you. We were on our flight to Kano and then I saw the plane was slowing down, so I went to the cockpit to ask what was going on. He said we just lost one engine. I said relax. Relax? You haven’t found what killed the engine or whether it is going to the second one to kill it. Church Gist. I got to the other side and I said “folks would you like to have snacks?” they said yeah yeah yeah. They didn’t know there was anything going on. They weren’t having it alone, I was having it with them. I was not closing my eyes otherwise they will ask what is the matter, Sir? Great peace. Jesus was on board, can you crash Him? We are on His mission, are we not protected?

2. It secures supernatural health.

Proverbs 4:20-22. What I say on any health issue or crisis is final, not what the specialist said. We have seen death reversed, specialist has signed the death certificate so what is your headache that will be a problem to God? Don’t let what God is saying get you blind to what God has said. One day after teaching a series on victory over death, death came to try out whether I knew what I was talking about or not. The whole room was turning and turning, I was scheduled for a trip that day. My wife would know how to describe that day. Suddenly, the things in me said “what are you doing here?” from inside. I said I don’t know too. I got up, straight to the bathroom, had my shower and I was off. You won’t believe that dramatic change happened in one time like a dream of the night. I still made that journey that day. I was set to ride on any devil’s head. The things in you that you won’t let go of are what keeps your system fit. Church Gist. The things you won’t take your eyes away from get you to rule above all assaults of sickness and disease, even death. I came back from one of those prayer episodes in the forest and then as I was praying with my eyes closed I heard the noise of animals jumping up and down, I said “quiet!” you know they also know grammar. They kept quiet, no torchlight, nothing, I was alone with them. I got back to the room, I laid in bed and I couldn’t move any part of my body but inside me, just let my mouth be open because I have not learnt that I can speak from inside. As my head became free “Jesus!” the chains lifted. Don’t ever say the end has come, to where? Because I live you shall live also. The death that has a right over you must first kill Jesus.

One day I told my wife during that ordeal, get your spirit to take command of your body. Tell your spirit to take command right now, you are the engine room of my life. From now, no one shall be molested by sickness and disease anymore.

3. Divine wisdom strengthens believers for the battle. Ecclesiastes 7:19. Ecclesiastes 9:14-16. Proverbs 21:22. Wisdom! Wisdom!! It guarantees victory in every battle.

As we round up tonight, divine wisdom creates solutions. It doesn’t pet problems. It creates solutions to every problem of life. Proverbs 3:19. Psalm 104:24. All creation is a product of God’s wisdom in action. The earth was without form and void. Church Gist. No matter how shattered a life may be, God’s wisdom will regather it and restore the dignity thereof. Proverbs 8:12. There is a way out of anything, anytime and anywhere. Job 28:9. He creates impossible solutions to situations. Somebody’s story is changing and you are the one.

One of our daughters came in from Zaria one time and said it was over with the marriage. Where are you going? I am going back to the East. Who is there? My mother. Do you want to be farming cassava with your mother? I said okay, wait I will talk to you later. We made her stay in our house. So I asked her “you know I am your father, do you want this marriage to be over?”. Hmmm. You will answer this question, hmmm will not answer it. She said No! So why are you harassing us here? So the Lord gave me a word for her, you are on your way back to Zaria, fall on your husband’s neck wherever you find him. The matter will be over. Church Gist. They called us back in Kaduna. After two and a half hours, everything was over. She was going to be suffering and suffering forever in one corner of the world. Many people just take some very funny decisions and begin to torment their life. Lord, there is a problem here, show me the way out of it and He shows you the way out of it. That marriage is gorgeous, blessed with children and things are going on fine. Wisdom will rewrite anyone’s story. All these rushy rushy decisions people make, the cost is unbearable. You won’t suffer it.

God told me don’t get out of this country until I tell you so, I will never ask Him “Lord when do you want me to go?” No! He told me that I shouldn’t go out when I am fine to go out, He will tell me. Until He tells me, I am fine I am doing His bidding. That’s how to make the most of your life. 5 years have passed since He laid that embargo on me. Church Gist. I am fine, I am breaking forth. Nothing has gone down in my life. You better be awake from your slumber and stop following multitudes into error. 200 men followed the man called Absalom not knowing where they were going. They followed him in their simplicity not knowing where they were going. You are absolutely responsible for the outcome of your life. Allow God to lead you, that is one core virtue of divine wisdom

Prayers: Lord help me not to miss my steps in my walk with you. You can’t lead me wrong, you can only lead me aright. You don’t lead backwards, you only lead forward. Jesus help me to be awake to your direction in the journey of life.

—– ALTAR CALL——

No one will ever outgrow divine direction. Paul the Apostle missed his step to Jerusalem and he paid dearly for it. He went ahead, Agabus spoke the world, he went ahead. The disciples pleaded with him, and he went ahead. No anointing can rescue a man that has missed his direction in life. No one here will miss God’s plan and purpose for their life. You shall not miss God’s plan and purpose for your life. I have many stories to tell you but there is no time for them. Church Gist. May the Holy Ghost grant you insight into the power and authority behind divine direction. You never invest in error, your time, your energy and resources. When the Lord is your shepherd you shall not want, goodness and mercy will be following you as you are following Him. Grace to keep following His leading as your new lifestyle, receive it now.

John 8:29. That was the secret behind his generational impactful ministry. No matter how mature one is, the need for a shepherd cannot be thrown aside. Church Gist. No mature cow can make its way from Ibadan to Lagos, from the cow market to Canaanland. No matter how mature, it needs a shepherd.

As the Lord lives, no more taking steps in error in your life. As the Lord lives, no more rash decisions concerning your life. Grace to wait on Him to show the right way to go on every issue of life, receive it now.

From this month on, the world will see the wisdom of God at work in your life and it will impact all areas of your life. Church Gist. The seal for your being more than a conqueror shall be established.

Another good news for tomorrow, we shall be declaring Shiloh 2022.

BishopDavidOyedepo

LFCWorldwide

MorethanAConqueror

OctWeekofSpiritualEmphasisDay3

October7th2022

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