GOD IS NOT AFTER YOUR CASH, HE IS AFTER YOUR HEART.
YOUR HEART IS WHAT YOU GIVE TO GOD THAT IS OF GREATEST VALUE TO GOD
IT IS WHEN YOUR HEART IS GIVEN TO GOD THAT GOD’S HAND IS RELEASED IN YOUR DIRECTION.
GOD WILL NOT MAKE A MAN WHOSE HEART HE DOES NOT HAVE. UNTIL HE HAS YOUR HEART, HE CANNOT MAKE YOUR LIFE.
THE ABSENCE OF LOVE IN THE HEART OF ANY INDIVIDUAL IS THE EXEMPTION OF THAT INDIVIDUAL FROM THE LIST OF GIANTS.
OUR PASSION FOR GOD IS THE DIFFERENCE MAKER IN OUR ADVENTURE ON THE EARTH.
I LOVE THE STORY OF R.G. LETOURNEAU. HE WAS ILLITERATE, HE DIDN’T EVEN FINISH PRIMARY SCHOOL BUT ONE THING ABOUT HIM WAS HIS HEART FOR GOD. EVERYTHING THAT CONCERNED GOD CONCERNED HIM.
SUDDENLY AS A ROADSIDE MECHANIC, GOD BEGAN TO SHOW HIM VISIONS OF MACHINES WHICH HE DESIGNED AND THOSE MACHINES BECAME EARTHMOVING MACHINES.
HE BECAME THE SUPPLIER OF EARTHMOVING MACHINES IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR.
BEFORE YOU KNEW IT, HE WAS CATAPULTED TO GREATNESS. SO MUCH SO THAT HE FOUNDED A UNIVERSITY AND WAS LECTURING THERE. AN ILLITERATE LECTURING OTHERS.
BEFORE HE DIED, HE SAID THIS IS WHAT THEY WILL PUT ON HIS TOMBSTONE “SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS OF AND ALL OTHER THINGS SHALL BE ADDED ONTO YOU”.
- Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr. on PROVEN LOVE FOR GOD ENGENDERS SUPERNATURAL BREAKTHROUGH 2 at Midweek Communion Service || LFC Canaanland
Our Father tonight we have come before you with open hearts, ready again to receive your Word. By your Word tonight let every one of our lives be transformed. Church Gist. We give all the praise and glory to you because we know you have done it again.
Our teaching series in our midweek services this month has been PROVEN LOVE FOR GOD ENGENDERS SUPERNATURAL BREAKTHROUGH. According to scriptures, the last days are the days of giants in the Body of Christ. In the book of Psalm 87:5-7, the Bible paints a picture of what will be happening in Zion. So Zion will be the birthplace of giants. That is God’s ordination for the last days. These will be men and women who tower over their generations as saviours. Obadiah 21. The Bible describes these individuals as men and women that will raise up the foundations of many generations. Church Gist. They will be called repairers of the bridge and restorers of the path to dwell in. Isaiah 58:12. These will not be people that are selected based on the nobility of their background. In fact, the Bible says do you not know and see that not many nobles are called? So we are not talking about the product of a physical heritage. That is not what God is referring to. He is talking about raising individuals who may have even been written off by others and turning them into giants. Isaiah 60:15. Zephaniah 3:19-20. God is not looking for names to use but names to make. That is His agenda in these last days. He is not looking for names to use but names to make. Individuals that He will raise in these last days that will come up as giants in Mount Zion. For somebody hearing my voice, you shall be listed among those giants.
From scripture, we discover that the pattern for the rise of giants is that the giants of scriptures are men of faith. Hebrews 11:33-34. These men commanded exploits by faith. Very clearly from scriptures we know that faith can only work by love. The absence of love in the heart of any individual is the exemption of that individual from the list of giants. Until love is present, an individual can not be enlisted in this present army of giants. Church Gist. That is why you and I must ensure to know what it will take to operate in this love God is talking about. What is the evidence of the genuineness of this love God is talking about? The Bible makes us understand that there is love that is unfeigned, that is genuine and there is also love that is feigned, that is false. So what is it that will make us identify as genuine lovers of God? Because until you are a genuine lover of God, you cannot be enlisted as a giant in this world. We look at five characteristics tonight and I pray that the spirit of God will give us understanding.
- Passion for God
The most vital and critical demand of God from any individual is passion for God. Proverbs 23:26. There is nothing of greater value to God than the heart of a man. It is when your heart is given to God that God’s hand is released in your direction. God will not make a man whose heart He does not have. Until He has your heart, He cannot make your life. It will take your heart being given to Him. 2 Corinthians 8:5. Before they gave their resources, they gave their heart. Please hear this, God is not after your cash, He is after your heart. Your heart is what you give to God that is of greatest value to God. God’s servant puts it this way: The Mystery of the Greatest Seed. There is no seed of greater value to God than the seed of your heart. Church Gist. Jeremiah 17:10. 1 Samuel 2:3. Two people can do the same thing but it will carry different weights. What determines the weight of the act is the gift of the heart. When our hearts are given to Him and our passion is enflamed for Him, then you and I become valuable to Him. That is what makes the difference in our adventure.
We look at two examples from the scriptures. One of them is the example of Elijah. 1 Kings 19-10,14. We see the secret of Elijah painted plain in scripture. That was the secret of Elijah – a man whose heart was passionate for God. Whatever touched God touched Him. Whatever moved God moved Him. The heartbeat of God was the heartbeat of Elijah. When he saw the nation turn against God, he was not just concerned about them turning to God. He was concerned about them turning them to God. He was a man moved by God, passionate for God. No wonder this man Elijah emerged as a giant. The one factor that distinguished Elijah was his passion for God. There was nothing else, that was the one factor that distinguished him. Read through the scriptures and you will discover that we don’t have any history of Elijah, he just appeared somehow. Church Gist. 1 Kings 17 tells us Elijah the Tishbite stood before the king and said “before the Lord whom I stand, there will be no rain”. What pushed a man without history into the history books was his passion for God. What carried a man out of being a nonentity to a kingdom celebrity was his passion for God. That was the difference maker. That was all Elijah had. No qualifications to become a national prophet, no introduction to become a national prophet, what pushed him to the limelight was his heart for God. When a man’s heart is burning for God, his life can not be kept a secret again. The Bible tells us that you don’t light a candle and put it under a bushel but on the candlestick that it may give light to all. When your heart is burning for God, your life becomes an attraction to the world. I pray for each one of us today that our passion for God will come alive in the name of Jesus.
The second example we have is the example of David. David was a relegated individual even in his family. The Bible says that Samuel came to the family of David having been sent there by God to anoint a king. The Bible says all of the brothers of David were at home and they began to pass before Samuel. When Eliab first passed suddenly Samuel saw him and said this is the Lord’s anointed. God said don’t look at the outward appearance, I have rejected Him. God does not look like man looks. Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. All the brothers came and passed and Samuel said is there no other one? They said there is still one in the bush keeping the sheep. We will not sit until he comes. That young boy from the bush came out and was anointed king. His heart was the difference maker. God does not look like men look, man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. Church Gist. It was the heart of David that gave him his path. His passion for God was palpable. How do we know? When he came to the camp of the Israelites and Goliath was challenging the people, he said “who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God?” He was a teenager at the time, how is it that he thinks he can stand to fight against this giant? As far as David was concerned, He was fighting for his God and in a moment, the boy that was a forgotten shepherd became the hero of Israel. That was all it took. Read your Bible, there is no record that David was educated but David was passionate. I don’t know how a person was educated, who is always in the bush following the sheep. The Bible even spoke and said his entire CV was following after sheep but his heart for God gave him a throne on the earth. I don’t know what your CV is like but as your heart for God is confirmed in this season, your throne shall be established on the earth.
So our heart for God is the starting point. Our passion for God is the difference maker in our adventure on the earth. I love the story of R.G. Letourneau, this man was illiterate, he had basic education, he didn’t even finish primary school but one thing about him is his heart for God. Everything that concerned God, concerned Him. Suddenly as a roadside mechanic, God began to show him visions of machines which he designed and those machines became earthmoving machines and he became the supplier of earthmoving machines in the first World War. Before you knew it, he was catapulted to greatness. So much so that he founded a university and was lecturing there. An illiterate lecturing others. Why? His heart for God pushed him to the limelight. When you have an answer nobody checks your degree. Church Gist. Everybody forgot that he was uneducated because he was carrying answers that were required. When he died, he said this is what they will put on his tombstone “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness of and all other things shall be added onto you”. The illiterate man became a celebrity in His generation on the basis of His passion for God. I pray again for each one of us that our passion for God will be ignited afresh.
- Passion for souls
John 21:15-17. The confirmation of the genuineness of our love for God is in our pursuit for the lost. In the book of Romans 8:35-27, Paul the Apostle painted a beautiful picture of the love of God and how nothing can separate us from the love of God. Then he gave us a perfect picture and example in Romans 9:1-6. What is Paul saying? I am having this heaviness and the heaviness of my heart is how can I come from a place and they are not yet saved? How can I say I am from Israel, from whom the covenants came, from whom the oracle of God came, from whom the fathers came, how can I come from there and yet they are still unsaved? A great heaviness and continual sorrow, that was Paul speaking. How can you be comfortable when people you know don’t know the God you know? How can you go to sleep when the people you claim to love don’t know the God you claim to love? It is important for us to examine the authenticity of our love. If we claim that we love God, we will love the lost and if we love the lost we will go for the lost. Our passion for God is the evidence of our genuine love for God. It is critical that we recognise this. 1 Corinthians 9:16-17. Church Gist. This is Paul expressing the genuineness of His love for God and the evidence of it was in his passion for the lost. Every true lover of God is passionate for the lost. When you see those who don’t know God around you, what goes on in your heart? You are in an office sitting at a table that you are sharing with someone who is not saved, what goes on in your heart? You carry a colleague in your car that you are transporting to your place of work, what goes on in your heart? You are riding in a bus full of passengers, what goes on in your heart? Matthew 9:37-38. When He saw them, His concern was for their souls. His heart was burning for their souls. When we go into our various communities and we see people roaming around the beer parlours, what goes on in our hearts? Do we just pass by laughing at their drunkenness, not realizing that they are on their way to devastation and destruction? Church Gist. What goes on in our hearts? This is the evidence of the genuineness of our love for God. When our love for God is genuine and palpable, the pursuit of the lost will be unstoppable. I pray again for each one of us that by the encounter of tonight, a new passion for the lost will come alive in the heart of every one of us.
I can’t forget the story of a particular man, His name was Charles Peace. This man was a criminal, a terrible man and he had committed some crimes and was to be executed. A man was brought to him at the point of death to read to him from the scriptures. You know when they want to execute people most of the time they will take them through the scriptures then they carry them to the place of execution. The man began to read some passages of the Bible, passages that talked about hell and Charles Peace said please Sir, stop. If I truly believed what you were saying, I will gladly go on my hands and knees crossing all through the entire United Kingdom to save one soul from a hell like that. What was he saying to the man? Is it hell you are talking about that you say I am going to and you are talking so passionlessly about like this? Church Gist. That you are not even concerned. He said if I believed it like you claim to you did, I will be willing to cross the entire nation on my hands and knees to save one soul from a hell like that. That was a sinner talking to a believer. That was a sinner at the point of death challenging one who was to speak to him at that point of death. We must understand that we are dealing with very weighty matters we can not be casual about it. Our passion for God must be palpable and the evidence of it must be our passion for the lost. To win the lost at any cost is the proof of a genuine love for God.
The truth is that when that becomes the case you scale heights without struggling. We see giants today made on the basis of their love for the lost. We have heard the story of God’s servant, how at the age of 19 he went to a particular village and was sent there as a relief teacher. By the time he got there, the first question he asked is “is there any church here?”. They said there is no church. No church here at all? then he began soul-winning little by little. He will tell the children to tell their parents that Teacher is coming to their house. He preached to them in prayer and told them that this blessing prayer will continue in Teacher’s house on Sunday. They began to come one and by and before you knew it, a church was built in the village within the space of 40 days. A church was built and everything there transformed. At the end of the 72 days engagement, they gave him a lantern “the light you have brought to this village let it shine around the world”. Church Gist. That was a test that needed to be passed for greatness to emerge. Just passionately pursuing the lost is all God required. That prophetic lantern was given and today we can see the light. It began shining in Nigeria, started shining in Africa and across the globe from a village corner. It is our pursuit of the lost that positions us for being placed on the lampstand of life. I pray again for each one of us that the very same passion, the very same zeal that drove His servant at the age of 19 is still driving him today, it will drive every one of us in the name of Jesus.
- Passion for the afflicted around us.
Exodus 3:7-10. Moses began to wonder “Me?” why me? Why must I be the one that is sent? Because not only was God moved by the affliction of the Israelites, Moses was also moved. Remember that what drove Moses out of Egypt was fighting for the Israelites. He was moved by the afflictions. In many cases the affliction that moves you, God empowers you to move them. Moses became the agent through which the affliction of Israel was overturned. Why? His passion for the afflicted. His desire to see the afflicted rescued. That was the difference maker in His race. Just that passion, just that desire, just that drive to see the afflicted rescued, that was what brought about a change of level for Moses. Moses was a man that should have been written off. He began in Egypt, in the house of Pharaoh exiled from the house of Pharaoh to the point that he had nowhere to go. Church Gist. By the time he got into the wilderness, he met there Jethro and then married Jethro’s daughter and was living in the house with Jethro till the age of 80. Can you imagine living with your father-in-law? At 80, you are a baba and you are still living with baba. That was Moses’ story but the one thing Moses had is that he was moved by the affliction of people. Look at the conclusion of the story of Moses. Deuteronomy 34:10-12. How can a man’s story change that quickly? That at the age of 80, he was regarded as a nonentity but by his love he emerged as a generational celebrity. Not one prophet arose like Moses, this man became the epitome of greatness in his generation because of his heart for God. You must be moved by what touches others. When you see the affliction of others, let your hearts be moved.
God’s servant said he was watching a particular crusade video. As he was watching the video he saw the sick being brought in. The meeting was an evening meeting but from afternoon they were carrying them in, bringing them in affliction, in agony and in that crusade God did mighty things and many people were healed. He said he switched off the light and right there he began to speak to the Lord, “Lord who will help this multitude of the afflicted. Who will help them? How can they be helped? Then suddenly he began to hear the majestic footsteps of the Master on the carpet. He felt a touch on his back and cold shivers went down his spine and from there, there was an eruption of the miraculous. Church Gist. Because the afflictions that move you, God empowers you to move them. And we have been seeing mighty works, all manner of miracles happening from that time in 1987, this is 2023 because of what moved his heart. My prayer for each one of us is that from tonight, every afflicted soul we come across our hearts will be moved towards them. As a result of that, for many of us right there on the harvest field, miracles will be taking place.
- Passion for those in need around us
1 John 3:15-17. Let’s be genuine in our love and one of the evidence is been moved by the needy. You can’t be coming to Church, you carried a new convert to church, after service you are going home with the new convert buying gala, buying drink and the new convert is watching you. You are explaining the service to him without sharing anything with him. Church Gist. It is not normal. Our heart for God must be quickened afresh and it will move us. I pray for each one of us there will be a fresh baptism of the Spirit of love upon our lives. - Passion for fellowship
Everyone that is a true love of God is addicted to fellowship. They are uncomfortable being out of fellowship. Being away from fellowship is not because you are busy, that is not true. It shows how much a person’s heart is after God. It is not about the church is far. There is nowhere that is far for a person that has love. When a person’s love is burning, no distance is far. So our addiction to fellowship is an evidence. It means that any time Church starts looking far, it means your love has started going down. It is as simple as that. The distance has not changed, it is still where it was. It is the heart that is far. When the heart is far, Church starts looking far but when the heart is near to God, you are never far from His presence. Psalm 122:1. That is what happens when our heart for God is confirmed, we are continually excited by fellowship. Church Gist. That is why you see us as the Winners Family there is something unique about us, fellowship all the time. Sunday fellowship, Monday to Saturday, Covenant Hour of Prayer. Wednesday, Midweek Service. People keep wondering, how come you are going on and on like that, are you not tired? No! We are in love. There is no day where we don’t have at least one fellowship either morning or evening. Continuously. Why are we there all the time? Because our heart is burning. When you are in love with God, the companionship of God is never too much. I pray again for each one of us that the passion, the consistency, the addiction to remain in fellowship will remain with us. From now you and I will never be missing in fellowship again.
