THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST WHO WOULD RATHER DIE THAN DENY JESUS CHRIST
IT TAKES PASSION BURNING IN YOU TO MAXIMIZE THE PASSING BY OF JESUS
PASSION KEEPS BELIEVERS GOING IN SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON
PASSION IS NOT A GIFT BUT A DECISION MADE BASED ON CONVICTION
WE HAVE ‘CHURCH OF satan’ IN SOME PLACES. THEY ARE NOT IN NIGERIA, NIGERIANS HATE satan.
SOME PEOPLE IN THE WORLD DON’T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE, THEY STILL GO THERE.
GOD IS STILL GOD IN HEAVEN AND HE IS MANIFESTING HIMSELF ON THE EARTH IN THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE HIM. WE ARE PRIVILEGED TO BE PART OF THEM. GOD IS MOVING IN OUR LIVES.
I WAS STILL RIDING MY VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE, I WON’T LOVE GOD ANY LESS. I WON’T BE ANY LESS EXCITED THAN I AM. GOD KNOWS, THE devil KNOWS AND I KNOW.
THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE SPEAKING IN TONGUES TODAY IF THEY SAY DENY JESUS, THEY WILL DO IT WITH CANDOUR
WE GOT A TOTAL OF 214 SOULS FROM OUR OUTREACH YESTERDAY
BOOKS THAT STIRRED MY PASSION FOR REVIVAL: LIKE A MIGHTY WIND, THE MAN GOD USES AND THE GENTLE BREEZE OF JESUS
FOR YOUR PASSION NOT TO CRASH BUT KEEP GROWING, YOU NEED REVELATION; THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH GIVES MAXIMUM VALUE TO OUR PASSION
IF YOU WANT REVIVAL, SETTLE DOWN WITH REVIVAL STIRRING / PROVOKING MATERIALS
I DO NOT GIVE TO SEE WHAT GOD WILL DO, I KNOW WHAT GOD WILL DO. I AM IN A COVENANT WALK WITH GOD, I AM NOT TRYING HIM
MY GIVING LIFE CAUGHT FIRE IN MY 3 DAYS SEARCH WHERE I HEARD THE VERDICT, “MY PROSPERITY PLAN IS A COVENANT”
THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN BE DECEIVED ON ANYTHING IS IF YOU ARE DEVOID OF THE TRUTH
NO MATTER WHAT SKILL YOU HAVE, IT WILL NOT COMPARE WITH THE VALUES OF WALKING WITH GOD.
SPIRITUALITY IS KEY TO THE FULFILMENT OF DESTINY.
PASSION HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE ANYONE’S STORY
WE ARE RECORDING A HIGH LEVEL OF SPIRITUAL INFANT MORTALITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST BECAUSE OF INADEQUATE CARE FOR NEWBORN SPIRITUAL BABIES
– Bishop David Oyedepo on ENGAGING THE POWER OF PASSION IN STEWARDSHIP at Midweek Communion Service || Youth Chapel, Canaanland || 14th June, 2023
Praise God I am on the Covenant Highways of Life!
ENGAGING THE POWER OF PASSION IN STEWARDSHIP. Passion is key to motion. Luke 19:1-10. No passion, no motion. Luke 8:43-48.
– Every unwanted issue in any one’s life will stop this time because it is obvious that Jesus is on the move in the midst of his people!
Any one that has eyes to see can see, any one that has ears to hear can see hear that but it takes passion burning in you and me to maximize the passing by of Jesus. Church Gist. It is passion that keeps believers going in season and out of season.
What is passion? Undying genuine love for God and the interest of his kingdom. Songs of Solomon 8:6-7. Love keeps you in motion in season and out of season. It is a demonstration of our genuine and undying love for God and the interest of his kingdom. Passion was at the root of Jesus’ messianic ministry. Church Gist. At the age of 12 he was burning with passion. Luke 2:45-49; Luke 19:45-46. You find them several times in Scriptures, “he was moved with compassion…” I define compassion as Compound passion – irresistible passion, moving you against all odds. Mark 6:34-43. Peter’s journey with Christ began with passion. Luke 5:3-8. Passion made him forget himself. He gave Jesus his boat and that opened up his destiny. Passion – the power within that keeps you in motion against all odds.
We saw in the life of Paul that it was not a gift but a decision made based on conviction. 1 Corinthians 9:16-17. He knew what it was and his decision was based on conviction. “This is not wasting time; this is securing my glorious destiny.” Philippians 1:21; Romans 1:16; Acts 26:22. Church Gist. Passion was the driving force behind his life. He defined passion in Romans 8:35-37. That’s the aroma of passion and it is a decision made by individuals based on facts discovered.
There are some people in the body of Christ, you put machine gun in front of them, “renounce Jesus!” They say, “renounce? Jesus you are the Lord and the God of my life. I rather die than deny you.” Machine gun won’t answer. 1 Corinthians 2:9. Church Gist. Those 3 Hebrew boys burning with passion – Daniel 3:16-17. God said, “you got it; I’ll take care of that.” “You pray to any other God you will be eaten up by lion.” Daniel 6:10. Daniel said, “no adjustment.”
Singing – “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob …”
“You pray to any other God you will be eaten up by lions.” Daniel 6:10. Daniel said, “No adjustment.”
Singing – “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob …” They say “We caught him praying.” He said “Yes, that is why I opened my window. I wasn’t praying in secret. I used to open my window and I still opened it.” He was praying to the God of Abraham. The lions said, “We can’t eat him, He is already eaten up by God.” That is passion for you. All this chocolate Christianity is not what we are talking about. Genuine passion for God not for things, not for position, not for possession. Genuine passion for God. I once told you that if I was still riding my Volkswagen Beetle, I won’t love God any less. I won’t be any less excited than I am. God knows, the devil knows and I know. All these ‘if you give me butter I will serve you, if you don’t give me bread I won’t serve you. If you don’t give me Ovaltine and Bournvita, I won’t serve you.’ You know the exciting thing? Whether you and I serve Him or not, He is God. Church Gist. If you put a church as ‘Antichrist Church’ He is still God. We have in some places not in Nigeria ‘Church of Satan’. Nigerians hate Satan. There are some people in the world who don’t know the difference between these things, they say Church of Satan, you are going there. But He is still God in heaven and He is manifesting Himself on the earth in the lives of those who believe Him. We are privileged to be part of them. God is moving in our lives, He is giving us the peace and joy that the world does not have and cannot offer. Decorating our lives the way no strength or skill can do.
So you can’t be passionate and be motionless. Every truly passionate believer is in motion towards God and the interests of His kingdom. Passion is the covenant key to maximizing the blessedness of a revival. It keeps you in motion. I mentioned this before but it is important for me to re-echo it, in stewardship passion is stronger than unction. Let me share the story of my mother in the Lord, the woman who led me to Christ. A missionary to Nigeria. She came to Nigeria at 26 in 1967. Not long after she came the Civil War was threatening so the American Government asked all Americans to leave Nigeria. She said what will I say to God, that I could not deliver His assignment? Woman, not a man. Church Gist. She belongs to the Evangelical Order where speaking in tongues, baptism in the Holy Ghost was not the emphasis. It was just being born again and walking in the light of the Word of God. Passion kept my little mother here till she was past 80. Her sons and daughters decorated her till the end of her life. She never got married. One of her little boys that got saved was with her in her dying moments as a medical doctor in America. He was a missionary, he stood there and would tell us with pride ‘She died in my hand’. Church Gist. One time my wife and I were moved to buy her a brand new car at her retirement age. She said, “ I never could imagine that a car would come to me from Africa”. They delivered it brand new to her doorstep. If you don’t pay they won’t deliver it. Her life was beautified. Her passion gave her a place. Beautiful woman, I wept when she passed last year at 92. Passion is stronger than unction, there are many people speaking in tongues today if they say deny Jesus “Jesus I deny you”. They will say it with candour. There is nothing in their life that is different from the world around them. Passion.
I was in that village in 1973, I wasn’t baptized in the Holy Ghost. I got baptized in the Holy Ghost in 1975. I said ‘Jesus I mustn’t leave this place the way I met it’. Somebody say passion! It is stronger than callings, stronger than unction, I didn’t have any calling. I had no intention to be a pastor in my life. I was on an opportuned relief teaching job because some women went on maternity leave and some classes were empty. I overheard them saying so and I said I am available. That was it. Passion wouldn’t let me rest. The first prayer I prayed in the hut, I never lived in a hut in my life, was ‘Jesus see that I never leave this place the way I met it. Church Gist. Your name must be planted here.’ Why? There was no church, living or dying. There was no single church in that village but there were mosques here and there. Jesus sent me there based on the passion burning in my heart. You have the Holy Ghost, you have the Bible, you have heard what we never heard. So if you share the same passion for God the way He gave us the privilege to share, you get the same result. Passion is stronger than unction, passion is stronger than calling. Passion is far stronger than titles. I am a founder, founding what?
Passion will make any ordinary believer a wonder to his world. You must catch that fire now and it will secure your future in grand style. You can’t destroy a genuine lover because he is filled with all the fullness of God so you have to destroy God to destroy Him. Grow in love, your divine nature content is enhanced. Maybe my own is 25 per cent now, as I keep growing in love it will come to 30. Church Gist. The higher your divine nature content, the more unkillable you become. Can fire destroy divinity? No! He is the consuming fire so when fire comes He consumes the fire. He doesn’t carry weapons, He destroys with the sword of His mouth and the breath of His nostrils. So you can be carrying weapons all around as long as He is breathing, He is destroying. When He opens His mouth, the sword comes out.
However, we have this very interesting statement in Scriptures: That these people had passion for God but not according to knowledge. Romans 10:1-2. So passion decorates according to the knowledge backing it – You know why you are doing what you are doing from the Word. You are not operating in the cloud. Paul said you must be able to give everybody the reason of the hope that is in thee. Church Gist. Paul the passionate was a man of unusual revelation. Peter was the doyen of the Apostles – unusual insight! So their passion was backed up by knowledge so it was able to deliver maximally. We need the knowledge of the truth to give maximum value to our passion.
I saw from Matthew 6:21-33, verse 33 was when the light broke out but verses 21-33 was a comparison of the pursuit of God compared with every other form of strength or skill. That this thing will decorate any destiny more than the glory that was in Solomon. You cannot pursue after money and pursue after God effectively at the same time. Church Gist. Pursue after God, goodness and mercy will be pursuing after you all the days of your life. It was the labour room of revelation. That dawned on me and I signed a covenant to go with it having found it as the jackpot of life. Zeal driven by revelation will deliver maximally.
My giving life caught fire when in my 3 days search with books and the Bible, Heavens came down and with this striking verdict, “My Son David, my prosperity plan is not a promise (because then all we knew was promise. The word, Covenant, was far fetched), it does not answer to prayer so you can’t pray into wealth. It has no respect for fasting – you can’t fast your way into prosperity. My prosperity plan is a covenant. Church Gist. Until your part is played, I am not committed.” “Okay, what do I need?” Light broke out, my decision caught up with the light and operating in it became easy. It’s not giving to see what God will do, I know what God will do. I don’t have to be checking on him whether he is doing it or not, No! I should just be checking on myself to be sure I am doing what I am supposed to do.
Somebody asked me, “what do you do between the time you give and receive?” I said I have never thought about it until you are saying it now. I am in a covenant walk with God, I am not trying God. I am not checking him out. He is not my banker, he is my father. Church Gist. He is not my investment house, he is my loving father; we are in a relationship. I’ve never been at a financial corner since I caught it. That I was edged in? No! I’ve never begged! When zeal is driven by revelation it is enduring, lasting.
I’ve been on the streets unperturbed, undistracted, fearless, since I signed that covenant. The first place I got to yesterday we got 106 souls, the second place 108. My wife was calling me and said, “where are you now?” Church Gist. I said, we are on the road we are still coming; we and traffic are dealing with ourselves. Now, You have been driving that way since back in 1976 consciously. You are doing it with passion before, now you caught the revelation that will keep you doing it.
Somebody else will think, ‘I hope they are not deceiving you? You think they are not doing something else behind?’ You know why? Because you have not caught the light. Church Gist. The only way you can be deceived is if you are devoid of the truth. If you know the truth on anything, you cannot be deceived on it. Am I not glad today? Almost everybody is saying, Matthew 6:33 is the way to go. I heard it again on one satellite something yesterday. The light came from books.
For your passion not to crash but to keep growing, we need revelation. Zeal that is according to knowledge. It was the book of Oswald J. Smith I read, “The man God uses,” where the light sprang up. My passion for revival began with Mel Tari book, “Like a Mighty Wind” – 1974. 1975 I read the sister text, “The Gentle Breeze of Jesus” by Mel and Nona Tari, himself and his wife. Church Gist. I began to crave for revival, I wasn’t a pastor, I wasn’t planning to be a pastor. 1983 I got the hard core – Charles H. Spurgeon on revival. Where no wood is, there the fire goes out. Without revelation passion will be short-lived. Proverbs 26:20; Leviticus 6:12-13
You want revival? Settle down with revival stirring / provoking materials. The text recommended for the month, “Fanning revival fire” is original. It is coming from the practitioners platform. It is coming by inspiration from Heaven; you catch something that will keep you rolling all your life. “Walking in the Newness of Life” it’s not anyhow stuff like they are doing around today. “Conquering Controlling powers” – putting the devil where he belongs and “Living a life that pleases God, All you need to have all your needs met,” they are all materials that will just renew your spirit and keep you on fire for God to make the most of your life. Church Gist. “Walking in Wisdom” – walking according to the dictates of Scriptures. Matthew 7:24-25. When doing the Word of God which is doing the will of God becomes a lifestyle you are walking in wisdom. You are securing stability against the storms. “The Wisdom that works” is the same thing. It is the wisdom of Word, lives and endures forever. When you get those things there is a way they stir you up and keep you going. I’ve never seen anyone that kept on the go without access to the wood of the Word.
The Holy Ghost is fire but fire needs wood to keep burning. Where the wood stops, there the fire stops. Church Gist. A burning revelation of the Word will keep our passion for God ever burning. Jeremiah 20:9; Jeremiah 23:29; 1 John 1:1
Revelation + Zeal = Explosion/ Eruption
We have these 2 examples in David and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. 1 Samuel 17:26. David went ahead for the head of Goliath, he brought it down. He was a passion driven warrior. Passion drove him against Goliath and God backed it up and brought down the head of Goliath. Church Gist. All the heads of Goliath will come down. They began to sing ‘David has killed ten thousand and Saul one thousand’ and Saul said ‘Never! Not in this place’. 2 Samuel 18:3. They referred to David as “more than ten thousand of us”. That is how Passion changes people’s stories. 1 Samuel 18:6, 1 Samuel 17:13-50. He went for the head of Goliath and He brought it down. He was a passion driven warrior.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were passion made rulers in Babylon. Babylon was their land of captivity but they became rulers there. Passion has the power to change anyone’s story. Now we are in the planting and harvesting season. Which is what a revival is. The season of investing and getting returns on your investments in the same season. Isaac sowed in the land and reaped a hundredfold in the same year. The same season. Now, Paul is planting, Apollo is watering and God is bringing the increase in the same season. Some are on the go planting the seed of the Word, others are on the prayer altar, watering it to deliver in the same season. Church Gist. Everyone shall receive their reward according to his own labour within the same season. Proverbs 20:4. Proverbs 10:5. We must be awake to maximize the season. Not in pretence but in actuality. Something is breaking forth in our midst. Men and women will be rising in this commission that will qualify to be described as saviours because many destinies will come under their cover. That is a revival. The sons of the alien, foreigners, strangers will be serving you as God turns major employers of labour out of people that were once beggars. By just engaging with everything in them, the passion and the revelation.
We talk about the high rate of infant mortality in the developing world or underdeveloped world because of inadequate care. In the same vein, we are recording a high level of spiritual infant mortality because of inadequate care for newborn spiritual babies. If nobody picked the man, Moses, he would be lost. There was a maximum number of hours he could survive on that water. A baby born by the roadside and left there does not need any sickness, the weather will work on that baby within 24 hours and choke that life to death. So there must be genuine passion to pick up every new-born spiritual baby and give them milk to live. So it is not enough to go ministering for people to be saved, it is important to see them escape spiritual infant mortality. John 4:36. Church Gist. There must be a gathering from the streets into the storehouse where they are preserved. We must know why we are doing what we are doing. We are not rewarded for just souls saved. We are rewarded for souls that abide. John 15:16. The task is not done by just seeing them saved, the task is done by seeing them established in the faith. Supplying them with the milk they need. So many platforms are available for us to do that. A call, a text, anyone, anyhow with the passion of a mother then we see many more established in the faith.
This time we shall not suffer spiritual infant mortality. Our effort shall culminate in accomplished tasks. No one’s labour shall be wasted. So people on the prayer altar, pray that every new convert enjoys adequate care to survive their infancy. They cannot help themselves. Get them to the cell where they are closer to one another. Get them to the fellowship on Wednesday at their various zones so they can have a grounding near where they live and see them come into Church, to the city of light, the centre of divine illumination where apostles and prophets operate to bring to the level that they operate in so they can secure their destiny. Jesus is Lord. Church Gist. Every passion driven according to knowledge will always deliver. My prayer is that this season will mark a fast turning point in everyone’s spiritual life. Spirituality is key to the fulfilment of destiny. No matter what skill you have, it will not compare with the values of walking with God.
– May each one of us remain on fire for God on personal basis.
– May we remain value adding members of the Body of Christ.
– May each one not lose his crown to another. We shall not only get to heaven, we shall all wear our crowns there.
Jesus specializes in healing all manner of sicknesses and diseases. There are actually all manner of them. There are emotional sicknesses that are more tormental than physical sicknesses. People run mental from it. This coming Sunday, He will do it. Many sicknesses are oppressions of the devil, you can’t see anything by medical science but you know it is there. No medical equipment can tell you what it is. I had a woman speak to me Last Sunday among those who waited after the first service. I was moved by her story. Her dog pursues her every night and force to sleep with her. People are going through harrowing things. When you talk about fever, talk about backache, those are all little things. Church Gist. Raw oppressions of the devil. Some fight every night, they can’t tell anybody. Fight every night with mad people. Jesus who specializes in healing all manner of sicknesses and diseases. Somebody vomits and regurgitates. Do you think it is not a disease? Somebody urinates and drinks it, it is the devil sitting on his life. Anyone appointed unto death by any form of medical verdict shall escape. Jesus has an answer to all manner of sicknesses and diseases. He speaks and the dead hears how much more the dying. Every dying thing inside anyone will hear His voice and will come alive.
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