THE PROBLEM FOR MANY OF US IS THAT THE THINGS THAT WE SEE MANY DOING THAT ARE TAKING THEM TO HELL DOES NOT DISTURB US. WE JUST BECOME COMFORTABLE AND BLIND TO IT.
WHEN THE LOVE OF GOD IS SHED ABROAD IN OUR HEARTS BY THE HOLY GHOST, YOU CANNOT BE COMFORTABLE WITH WHAT GOD IS NOT COMFORTABLE WITH.
WE ARE BORN BY GOD BUT WE ARE SENT AS SERVANTS. EVERY CHILD OF GOD IS GIVEN THE RESPONSIBILITY OF STEWARDSHIP
GENUINE PASSION IS NOT ENVIRONMENTAL, WHEREVER YOU FIND YOURSELF YOU ARE ON FIRE FOR GOD BECAUSE IT IS FROM YOUR INSIDE.
GOD’S SERVANT, BISHOP OYEDEPO HAS SAID YOU DON’T KNOW HIS SECRET NO MATTER HOW MANY OF HIS BOOKS YOU READ OR HOW MANY OF HIS MESSAGES YOU LISTEN TO UNTIL YOU KNOW HIS HEARTBEAT FOR GOD.
THE MORE PASSIONATE A MAN IS THE GREATER THE RESULTS SUCH MAN CAN COMMAND IN PURSUIT OF GOD AND THE INTERESTS OF HIS KINGDOM.
THE ULTIMATE SECRET OF A GREAT DESTINY IS FOR WHAT MATTERS TO GOD TO MATTER TO YOU.
WHEN A PERSON IS ABLAZE WITH THE FIRE OF GOD, HE CANNOT BUT GET RESULTS.
EXPLAINING FAILURE IS ACTUALLY AN ATTRIBUTE OF LACK OF PASSION.
– Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr. on ENGAGING THE POWER OF PASSION IN STEWARDSHIP 2 at June 2023 Week of Spiritual Emphasis Day 2 || Canaanland
Our Father tonight we have come to you with gratitude for the privilege of being in your presence today on this first day of the sixth month of this glorious year. You have spoken clearly for us that this is our season of glory. Church Gist. Therefore send your word tonight. Your word that will usher us into what it takes to experience the glory of this season. Thank you Father for it because we know it is done already in Jesus’ precious name we have prayed.
Yesterday we began looking at God’s word in this series of teachings captioned ENGAGING THE POWER OF PASSION IN STEWARDSHIP. God’s servant, our father began for us this adventure which we are going to be looking at all through this month in our Midweek Services. It shall be for each one of us an encounter of a lifetime.
ENGAGING THE POWER OF PASSION IN STEWARDSHIP 2.
There is no doubt about the fact that according to scriptures, every child of God is called to serve. We are given by God the responsibility of stewardship. We are born by God but we are sent as servants. Every child of God is given the responsibility of stewardship. This responsibility of stewardship requires the virtue of passion. Passion is a non-negotiable factor for any effective steward. We were told yesterday that every passionate believer will always be an ever motivated individual in stewardship. You don’t beg the passionate to serve. You don’t chase the passionate to serve. Church Gist. You don’t even monitor the passionate to serve because the passionate are motivated to serve. The passionate are excited to serve. The passionate are driven to serve. 1 Corinthians 9:20-23. I am driven to go to any extent for the sake of the gospel. That is the picture of passion. Going all lengths at all costs in order to ensure that some are saved. That is a drive that doesn’t need to be monitored or instigated. It is something internal that is valid in every environment. If you look at that scripture you will discover that Paul was a man whose drive was never low no matter the environment. That is what happens when a man is baptized with passion. There is a drive that keeps such an individual ever self-motivated in season and out of season. My prayer for each one of us is that as an outcome of this Week of Emphasis for June, our passion shall be ignited afresh. That no matter our environment, our passion will never go down. Genuine passion is not environmental. Church Gist. It doesn’t matter where you find a man that is genuinely enfired with passion, at work he is on fire. On the road, he is on fire; on the bus, he is on fire; on the train he is on fire; if he is on the plane he is on fire. At every point in time, you find a man of passion, he does not need to be monitored, he is driven to engage. My prayer again for each one of us is that as a result of this Week of Emphasis for June, our passion will be fired up to a new level.
What is passion? We began to look at the definitions of passion yesterday and we are going to be looking further this evening. What is passion? Passion is a product of the love of God shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. What that means is that when we are talking about passion here we are talking about something that emanates from the inner man. Where the Holy Ghost begins to infuse our spirit man with the love of God. When the love of God is injected into a man’s spirit it fuels that man to a dimension of uncontrollable zeal for the things of God. It is not something you manufacture. Church Gist. The decision may be man’s but the ignition is from the spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that ignites us with the love of God within us. Philippians 2:13. It tells us very clearly that it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. There is an infusion of the Spirit. When a person begins to experience this infusion of the love of God in his spirit, he is driven with an unusual dimension of passion. That is why you discover that passion is not environmental because it is something from the inside. When the Holy Ghost begins to spread the love of God inside the heart of a man that individual begins to experience passion and uncontrollable zeal. Jeremiah 20:9. Fire shut up in my bones. So it was something from inside. That is the power of passion but it is the product of the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. When you look through scriptures at the life of a man like Paul, the Apostle, you will find it continuously exhibited. You find the Bible says that they told Paul that trouble has happened everywhere and that he should wait in Athens and he began to move around and see all manner of things. Church Gist. Seeing all manner of places of sacrifice and the Bible says he was stirred in his spirit, he was disturbed by the situation, he couldn’t keep quiet and before you know it the mission began. That is what happens when the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. You cannot be comfortable with what God is not comfortable with. When you go around your environment and you see drinking bars, you are not comfortable. When you see area boys hanging around, you are not comfortable. When you see people messing on the road, you are not comfortable. That is the love of God shed abroad in the heart of a man. Whatever God is not comfortable with, you are not comfortable with it. You want to effect the change that God wants to effect. How do you feel when you are going on the road and you see somebody who is inside a keke and you see him open one of those sachets of hot drinks and he is sipping it right there on the road. He finishes sipping it, opens the next sachet and is sipping. When the love of God is shed forth in your heart you are not comfortable with that. You know this is a life headed for destruction. Every time when God’s love is shed abroad in the heart of a man you are driven from within to act against whatever God will not accept. That is what makes us drive after souls. That is what makes us pursue after the lost, that is what makes us run after those that are on their way to hell. The problem for many is that when that love is not there, the things that we see many doing carrying them to hell does not disturb us. We just become comfortable and blind to it.
When the Holy Ghost begins to shed abroad his love in our hearts, there is an internal reaction. No! This life cannot be lost like this. No! This community cannot descend into decadence like this. My prayer again for each one of us tonight is that by the encounter of tonight, the love of God will be shared abroad in our hearts. Romans 5:5. The Holy Ghost that has been given to you and I among other things is there to shed the love of God abroad in our hearts. So we can engage Him, Lord I want to feel what you feel. I want my heart to be touched with what touches you. We can engage the Holy Ghost and before you know it, He begins to mould our hearts to begin to feel what the Father feels, to begin to see what the Father sees in order to pursue the agenda of the Father. Church Gist. That is one of the vital difference makers when it comes to the maintenance of our passion for God. God’s servant, our father has said it this way: he said ‘You don’t know my secret no matter how many of my books you read, no matter how many of my messages you listen to, you don’t know my secret until you know my heartbeat for God”. That is when a person’s heart is beating in consonance with God. That is what matters to God matters to you, you discover that is the ultimate secret of a great destiny. My prayer again for us tonight is that our hearts by the Holy Ghost will be aligned with that of the Father. James 5:16-18. Elias prayed earnestly. Take note of that word ‘earnestly’ that means he prayed passionately. Church Gist. So if you look at the life of Elijah, it was a life of passion. A life of zeal. A life that was driven by an internal desire for whatever it is that mattered to God. That passion was what made Elijah effective. It is important for us to understand that when it comes to our stewardship, it is not just serving that makes a difference but serving passionately and zealously that makes a difference. So until there is zeal, passion, fervency, our stewardship does not carry value. That is why we were made to understand that to be passionless is to be fuelless. Where there is no passion there is no fuel. We were told yesterday that passion is the fuel that will drive our stewardship. Where there is no passion there is no fuel. To be fuelless is to be motionless and to be motionless is to be stagnated. What does that mean? It means that if you don’t want to be stagnated, you must be passionate. Our zeal is what gives motion to our engagement with God. Without zeal, man will be full of intention but barren of action. It is zeal that turns intention into action, it brings about motion and that is what brings about the advancement of destiny. I pray again for each one of us, from this season onward we shall begin to experience an unusual deluge of the zeal of God at work in our hearts.
We have been made to understand that what fuel is to a vehicle is what passion is to our stewardship. The way it will be a struggle to keep pushing a vehicle because it lacks fuel is the same way it will be a struggle to keep engaging in stewardship without passion. It is passion that drives our stewardship, that fuels our engagement in order to bring supernatural results. Deuteronomy 2:3. Church Gist. For that to take place, there is a need for us to engage the power of passion. Remember we have said that passion is the product of the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. That will mean that you and I must learn to engage the Holy Ghost in order to ensure our passion remains fired up. The more passionate a man is the greater the results such man is able to command in pursuit of God and the interests of His kingdom. So our results are determined by our passion. Our results are tied to our passion. This is so important, what we produce in our engagement is a direct outcome of our passion. Church Gist. That is why everybody can go out for soul winning but not everybody comes in with the same result. I remember the testimony of one of us who said that she had been going around for outreaches and every time she goes out, shares fliers and doesn’t come back with any soul and it has been happening like that over and over, over the years but she came into a service and had an encounter with the Word and the Holy Ghost infused in her the love of God and suddenly this time she went out with passion and the results was different. The person may be the same but the results will change when passion is infused. As soon as passion entered her, a casual approach was thrown out of the window, zeal was quickened and before you know it results began to follow.
Please hear this and hear it very well, when a person is on fire, when a person is ablaze with the fire of God, he cannot but get results. That is why you discover that explaining failure is actually an attribute of lack of passion. “Oh we couldn’t get any soul because you know rain has been falling for the past three days” is an attribute of lack of passion. I have noticed that the weather does not change people’s behaviour. When rain falls, people go to work. When rain falls, people go to drinking bars. Nobody closes business including hawkers because of rain. Church Gist. Rain is falling and they are still carrying trays and running in the middle of the road and serving the people because they have passion for what they are doing. They are motivated by something less, which is what to eat. So if a hawker can make sure he sells in spite of rain how can we carry the gospel and rain stops us. It is so important for us to understand this. That is the ultimate difference maker. It is what determines our results. I pray again that for each one of us, this kind of result provoking passion will come alive in the life of every one of us. That is what produces results.
Sometime recently we went out for an outreach and right there on the harvest field rain started falling and people were finding where to hide and I stayed under the rain. Somebody was bringing an umbrella, I said take it away. I finished preaching and I said “Now everybody that wants to give their lives to Christ raise your hand” They raised their hand where they were still hiding from the rain. I led them to pray the salvation prayer. I said, “Now you have prayed this prayer run here and meet me”. They started running from everywhere. Because I preached the message from start to finish under the rain so if I say you can pray under the shade and then just come and meet me under the rain. Church Gist. They looked at me like this man that will stay under the rain from start to finish, I think he is somebody we need to listen to. They started running from everywhere and met me there under the rain. We prayed for them, took their details before they were let go. There is nothing that can stop us when our passion is alive. Explaining failure away is an indication of lack of passion. When passion is there results must follow. That is one of the effects of passion, it procures results in our stewardship. So a passionate man goes out to the harvest and comes back with a harvest. A passionless man goes out to the harvest and comes back with nothing. It is passion that makes the difference. Church Gist. If we are going to get results in our engagements in the pursuit of God and the advancement of His kingdom it will require passion. If we are going to get results from our engagement, it also requires passion. What that means is that the results of our engagement is determined by passion. Whether it has to do with the harvest gotten or the reward secured, our passion is a non-negotiable factor. I pray again for each one of us there will be a fresh ignition of passion in our hearts in the name of Jesus.
2 Timothy 4:2-5. That is what we are seeing going on today, all manner of strange things being taught around the world. Preach the Word in season and out of season, no matter what it may look like. It is not everybody that wants to listen when we go out preaching but the passionate does not stop preaching because the man doesn’t want to listen, he keeps going, he keeps pushing, he keeps driving. Church Gist. Our passion keeps us energized in our engagement, we keep driving after what matters to God without any room for discouragement. I pray again for each one of us, particularly in this season of glory our passion will be quickened afresh.
Now, let’s take note of these. A sustainable love for God is what keeps our passion ever burning. When the love of God comes alive inside us, it keeps our passion burning no matter what is happening around us. Romans 8:35-37. Nothing is permitted to stop us when the love of God is at work inside us. The love of God is what keeps our passion ever burning. It never goes low as long as the love of God is still inside us. Songs of Solomon 8:6-7. When love is there, no matter the waters it can’t quench. No matter what a man is confronted with, it cannot be quenched when it is genuine from the heart. The love of God inside a man keeps that man’s passion ever burning. Church Gist. That is what we need to keep our passion ever hot. We need a genuine outpouring of the Spirit of love upon our hearts. We need the love of God shed abroad by the Holy Ghost in our hearts. That is what makes a difference. That is what changes the level of our stewardship. I have heard God’s servant say many times that if I were still driving my Volkswagen Beetle, I would not be any less committed. There must be something firing that kind of commitment because the natural attitude of man is that when they do a particular thing expecting a particular outcome and don’t see the outcome, their hearts begin to sink. When the love of God is at work, nothing can sink the heart. The heart of a man that is operating by the love of God is beyond discouragement. That individual keeps burning uncontrollably. Church Gist. That is the power of the love of God. So when we talk about the love of God we are not talking about a force that can be compared to natural fire. If you look at it, natural fire can be quenched by water. The fire of love many waters can not quench it. So it means there is nothing that can douse a man that is operating genuinely behind the spirit of love. You can’t douse him, nothing gets him down. He keeps excited in his service to God.
Now we are going to look at two examples of passion-made giants in scriptures. Individuals whose destiny took a turn on the basis of passion.
1. Moses
Passion drove Moses to greatness. That was the fundamental force at work in Moses. Exodus 2:19-22. The Bible gives us a picture that when Moses was 40 years old he went and began to defend the nation of Egypt and that got him out of the land. Here we see that when Jethro’s daughters carried the sheep to drink water and suddenly the shepherds there began to contend with them. The Bible says Moses arose, fended off the people fighting them to ensure that the sheep were watered. He was a man of strange passion. From Egypt, the passion was showing. Church Gist. When he got to the wilderness his passion was showing so when God was looking for a candidate, he found the man of passion. When Moses was bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt, there were over 3 million according to Bible historians but inside the land of Egypt, there was not one man God took as a candidate. He found somebody that was inside the wilderness. Church Gist. That man, the one difference between him and the others was passion. Uncontrollable zeal! God said this is somebody I can do something with. Any time a man is filled with passion, he becomes a choice instrument of God. Exodus 3:7-10. I thought there are people in Egypt already who the distance will not have been long to go from their house to meet with Pharaoh. It was in the desert God found a man of passion and he became the candidate of God. What made a giant out of Moses was his passion. What makes a choice out of you and I for God is our passion. When our passion comes alive, the spotlight comes on us. You always discover all through scriptures that God is always looking for men of passion. What did He say after He found David? I have found a man after my heart. A man of passion. When a man’s heart goes after God, God’s eyes goes after him. He will always find you when your heart is burning with passion. I pray for each one of us that just like Moses, our passion will make us a candidate for greatness.
What was the effect of passion in the life of Moses? Deuteronomy 34:10-12. Moses stood out because of his passion for God. That is the difference maker. Moses was a man of passion and He became God’s choice for greatness. Church Gist. If you look at all of the things around Moses, so many things could have disadvantaged him. He was a man that was a fugitive sent out of the land. He was a man that was already 80 years old so age could have counted him out but passion counted in.
2. Joseph
Joseph’s passion for God gave him his place in destiny. Genesis 39:9. That was the heart of Joseph. By Genesis 41:38-44, he had emerged as the prime minister of Egypt. There is no height a man cannot scale when the man’s heart goes after God. In the kingdom of God, it is heart before height. When our heart pursues God, God changes our height in destiny. Church Gist. My prayer again tonight is that just like Joseph our hearts will go after God.
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