THE SEASON OF ADVERSITY IS A PERIOD WHERE YOUR BELIEFS AND CONVICTIONS ABOUT GOD WILL BE TESTED.
GREATNESS COMES AT A COST AND NEEDS A SKILL FOR YOU TO REMAIN THERE; REMAINING GREAT IS HARDER THAN BECOMING GREAT.
ANY POSITION THAT GOD PUTS YOU IN, WILL ALWAYS COME WITH IT’S OWN TROUBLE, PERSECUTION AND CRITICISM.
IT IS NOT ALWAYS WHAT YOU ARE DOING WRONG, IT MAY BE WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT.
HOPE DEFERRED CAN BE FRUSTRATING,
YOU WILL NEED THE GRACE AND THE STRENGTH OF GOD TO OVERCOME.
-Apostle Joshua Selman at Koinonia on ‘HE THAT OVERCOMETH’ (Part 1). A
Hallelujah!
Just wave your hands to Jesus. Everyone together, let’s lift our hands: are you blessing Him in the Spirit? Lift your hands to Jesus in gratitude and as an expression of your confidence.
Father we bless You. Indeed the victorious One, we worship You. Bless Him in the Spirit, bless Him even in your understanding: He is a faithful God
Prayer:
Ask Him for a visitation tonight; Lord, give me an encounter by your Word. An encounter tonight that will change my life.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
The Bible says, they go from strength to strength as many as appear before the Lord in Zion. You do not appear before the Lord and go down. You do not appear before the Lord and go back to yesterday. It is always from strength to strength, to strength to strength. It says, now the Lord is that Spirit; there are many spirits but the Lord is that Spirit. That Spirit that lifts and blesses. Church Gist. It says where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Then it says, but we all with unveiled faces beholding as in a mirror, the glory of God. It says we are changed. You will never remain the same when you see Him; you change.
What does it mean to change? That what had victory over you yesterday, no longer can have victory over you today because you have changed. That the words that came out from your lips that was downplayed by demons because he was powerless, that the next time you speak, that changed version of you will speak words that carry authority in the Spirit.
The Bible says when Jacob dismissed his wives, his cattle; the Bible says he was left alone and there came a man to him by night and wrestled with him and Jacob refused to let that man go. He said, “leave me for the day breaketh” and Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me”. And he said what is your name? Church Gist. He said, “Jacob”. He said, thou shalt no longer be called Jacob but Israel for as a prince, you hast wrestled power with God and prevailed. The Bible says, he touched the hollow of his thigh and he blessed him and the sun arose and he called that place Peniel, he said “for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved”.
Father give us an encounter that will transform our lives tonight; give us encounters that will shift us to new spiritual dimensions and I pray that Jesus be glorified tonight, in Jesus’ name I pray.
God bless you, please be seated in the presence of the Lord.
Hallelujah!
We have very serious business tonight and I want you to coordinate your attention by the Spirit, reject every form of distraction tonight because there are certain teachings that are applicable to certain people. There are teachings that are applicable to a particular gender or age range or geographic region but there are teachings that are applicable to all men provided you are alive and provided you are a man. Church Gist. These teachings are very important and tonight is one of such teachings. It is my prayer that the Lord will cause that your time spent here tonight will be a destiny defining moment in the name of Jesus.
I appreciate us, everyone for the sacrifice within the auditorium, outside, everywhere; at Zaria family following and our global family following online. The Lord bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Let me by way of honour just appreciate His Excellency in our midst, the Nigeria Ambassador to Australia, God bless you, thank you. It’s an honour to have you in the presence of the Lord Sir. May the Lord bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Let’s celebrate him. Indeed the Lord will do you good in the name of Jesus.
Let’s get straight to the Word tonight:
Revelation 2:17
Grant us understanding oh God in the name of Jesus Christ.
Tonight’s teaching is specially dedicated to those who have made a determination under God that they will live fruitful lives and lives that are dedicated to glorifying Jesus. Tonight’s teaching is dedicated to people; men and women who have made up their minds that they will fulfill their divine call in Christ. Church Gist. Tonight’s teaching is dedicated to those who have obtained the help and the mercy of God in their various endeavours and have tasted certain level of greatness and certain level of success.
Tonight’s message is also dedicated to those who have become weary as far as pursuing the purposes of God for their lives; men and women who have been bitten down by the viscosity of life and are seeking perspective and explanation as to the happenings around their lives. Tonight’s teaching is also dedicated to those who are about to begin their journey as far as their spiritual experiences and destiny is concerned.
So if you belong to any of these categories aforementioned, you are welcome to a teaching that indeed will transform your life.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord.
There are many names that believers are called in scripture. Theologically speaking, believers are classified into two groups. When God gives us our name, we are classified into two groups broadly;
- There is a name that a believer is given by reason of his oneness with Christ. These are the names that come on the account of the privilege of the new birth. Church Gist. For instance, the Bible calls us sons of God, believers, one with Christ, joint heirs with Christ and even heirs of God. Jesus Himself was teaching in John 15; “I am the Vine” and He calls us branches grafted by that substitutionary sacrifice to the Vine. But there are other names that He calls us, not just based on identification but based on function.
For instance, He calls us light, salt, ambassadors, royal priesthood, a holy nation, a chosen generation, a peculiar people; these are names that attempt to describe our function. But there are other names that are used in scripture as a testament of endurance, the strength and the stamina that an individual can get from within his spirit.
Many of them, but one of them that is very important for the teaching tonight is called an Overcomer. The Bible uses that term “an overcomer” to describe a believer who has sustained the grace and the stamina to run this race and to finish with honour and with dignity.
Hallelujah!
That it is possible for believers in addition to being one with Christ, in addition to being the son of God, in addition to the revelation of our identification and then in addition to the names given as far as our function is concerned, that you can receive this addition like a credential that more than the son of God that you are, more than light and salt, a king and a priest, an ambassador; more than all of these names, there is a noble name that only the mouth of the Lord can call a believer – it is called an Overcomer (Revelation 2:17).
The Bible is very clear as to the fact that in the entire lifetime of any individual for that matter, not necessarily a believer, any individual that is privileged to work upon the face of this earth, the Bible lets us know that God is not only the God of all flesh but He is also the God of times and seasons and that in your pursuit and journey towards the knowledge of God, towards fulfilling your divine call and assignment, towards destiny; the Bible does not leave us in the dark as to the fact that the possibility exists that you can be challenged by situations and circumstances that attempt to impede your journey or try to fight or stop you from finishing that journey or starting the journey.
The second information that is very interesting and important is that no single person wearing a mortal body is immune from the reality of these seasons; that the only guarantee we are given in Christ is that we can sustain the grace and the intelligence to rise above them but that in a man’s lifetime, it must be captured in your human experience; seasons that represent pain, discomfort, seasons where defeat looks imminent. This is the reality that we see even in the life of Jesus, our pattern man.
You think that because we are dealing with Jesus, you will not have to use such an expression for one who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords; why will the fountain of wisdom, the Captain of the host of Heaven need to endure? Church Gist. Why will you associate the Creator with that word “endurance?” Two things He did that the Bible says it is very instructive; that in following Jesus, we must pay attention to the fact that even Jesus was not immune from pain and shame.
Now, most people in church, most believers in the Body of Christ have not been taught the spiritual systems put in place to deal with these seasons and these times and in as much as we teach on victory, in the invisibility of the believer, as far as its association with Christ is concerned, we must be honest and matured enough to expose believers to the things that befall all men and to prepare their hearts so that if and when these seasons come, the believers can sustain stamina to be able to go through these seasons and then come out victorious.
So for instance, we have believers who have gone through unpleasant situations, say during the pandemic and after the pandemic people have lost money, people who love Jesus with all their hearts; people have lost loved ones without answers, there are people who the equation of their lives and destinies in spite of their commitments to the things of God – it doesn’t seem to add up and many of them continue to ask secret questions. That is the responsibility of the Shepherd in Christ, to be able to bring perspective and light to issues, even difficult issues like this.
1 Peter 4:12-16
This is a very powerful information from a matured Christian who is an apostle; he’s teaching and training you that you must be able to build a level of strength and stamina in the Spirit that if and when you are confronted with uncomfortable situations, that you do not address them as though some mysterious things were happening to you.
Psalm 61:1-3
The Bible lets us know that it is possible for a believer to go through a season in his life, in the life of a ministry, an organisation, a family, a nation and a continent where it seems as though the Word of God is not producing the kind of results that you believe for it to produce.
Proverbs 24:10
There is a day called the day of adversity; not the hour or minutes of adversity. Day there does not just mean 24hrs. It means season; there is a season of adversity and he is giving an information up hand that if you faint in the day of adversity, it is because your strength is small. It is not because the adversity naturally should sustain the power to overwhelm you but you do not build strength for that day.
Ephesians 3:16-21
The Bible encourages us to be strengthened with might in the inner man.
Galatians 6:9
There is a strange relationship between weariness and well doing. That a man can be involved in well doing and yet be weary. He leaves you with an information that provides comfort. He says for in due season we will reap, if (there is a condition) we faint not. Even if you are committed to well doing, if you faint, you may not survive the times when the harvest will come for you.
I do not know one great man, who became great properly with the dignity of kingdom integrity, who does not have a story of these seasons of adversity, whether in ministry or in business. In fact, the Bible lists the credentials of the kind of people who we should follow. It says, follow them who through faith and patience, (if you find result that did not come through faith and patience, the Bible is advising you to run way because something is wrong in that result) have obtained the promise.
It is very important for us to know that adversity is a reality that will attempt every life, family, sooner or later. By the privilege of what I do, I am exposed to people’s painful situation and the most obvious or the most challenging if I’m right on that is anything that has to do with the loss of loved ones, money or job. Church Gist. Some kind of situation that represents adversity has made me over the years, to look for a scriptural and meaningful explanation to give perspective to those events. There are people who failed and go through seasons in life because of obvious disobedience to Kingdom principles as far as victory is concerned but I have also seen in my life that there are others who you cannot exactly pinpoint anything wrong as far as their complying to Kingdom principles is concerned and yet…
Psalm 27:13-14
All men without exception go through this season of weariness, adversity, frustration, hardships, challenges and so and so forth.
Isaiah 40:29-30
This is not talking about backsliding here, this has nothing to do with backsliding. This is the reality that befall men by reason of wearing a mortal body that there is an emotional wear and tear that can befall men. So it is true that men can lose strength, people can go through seasons of adversity.
Adversity is a state of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune, hardships, challenges, mishaps. Church Gist. You will imagine that these kind of things should never happen to a believer and as far as the Word of God is concerned, we’ll continue to declare and release our faith for days of victory but the reality of the life of a man upon this earth is that sooner or later, something of this sort will either come to happen to you or to someone who is connected to you.
I’ve had the honour and privilege of standing before many dead bodies in my life, some praying for them to come back to life, others just standing and looking at the reality of the other side of life and I can tell you this; everytime I stand before a dead body, I look at myself and every body standing there and I tell myself, in truth the difference between us and this body if Christ tarries is time. Every dead body you see was once alive to see another dead body.
How about people who lost money; millions and billions of naira and dollars in business and not all of them were corrupt and wicked and foolish people, no! Some of them were sincere people. The book of Job is a classic example and I bless the Lord for the fact that that book was represented in the Bible. It’s not an extra biblical text. So it qualifies to be called all scriptures were inspired by God and it is also profitable for doctrine, rebuke, establishment in righteousness; whole, not missing in anything.
The Bible tells us about this strange man called Job, how that he feared God and eschewed evil, the wealthiest man in the East. Then the Bible now flips to the realm of the Spirit and begins to give us a very interesting picture that one time the sons of God came together and Satan was in their midst and He said, “as thou considered my servant, Job? And Satan began a very dangerous proposition; “Does he serve You for nothing, have You not fortified him, created a garrison around his life?” Give me permission he said to touch him and He said, you can go on then. Just make sure his life is spared.
The Bible says, there was a certain day; that means Job woke up in the morning and said, “this is the day the Lord has made. Thank You Jesus”, not knowing that by evening he would be on the ground with dust on his body. Many people left their homes in peace and returned back in tears; “Lord this is not my Covenant with You.” Church Gist. The Bible says this man called Job, back to back (Job 1), for all of these tragedies, there was one person left to come back and give him the story. There is no man I know who may have gone through the kind of situation Job went through within that time range, in a day. The Bible says Job sat down on the ground, removed his clothes and he fell down upon the ground and worshipped.
We like to laugh at people and say Old Testament, but most people don’t have the courage to do this even with the Holy Ghost indwelling in them. Every man under the sound of my voice, will sooner or later be confronted with seasons and situations that will test your convictions and everything you know and believe about God, provided that you are alive. One day, there is a day of adversity.
I was preaching somewhere and I gave a reference about Jesus going to the other side and the Bible says Jesus said, let us go to the other side and when He began that journey, it was Jesus that said let us go, so you can be sure His all seeing eyes already saw the end from the beginning and yet as soon as they started that journey, the Bible says there arose a storm of wind with Jesus and He the one who sold that idea to go to the other side. The wind was so boisterous and Jesus was sleeping. The disciples were angry and they had to go and tap Him; carest thou not that we perish? When Jesus got up, He rebuked the wind: “Shallom, be still! *
Forget that Jesus overcame but the fact that the storm did not fear Him, one of the most scary Scripture for me in the Bible was what happened in Matthew 4: the temptation of Jesus. The Spirit of God drove Him into the wilderness. Church Gist. He did not go to the wilderness to drink and smoke, He went to pray and He fasted for 40 days. Guess who He saw first when He was done? – Satan. How do you see satan as the first person to welcome you after praying and fasting for 40 days?
The season of adversity is a period where your beliefs and convictions about God will be tested.
Satan came as a tempter and looked at Jesus eyeball to eyeball; do you look at Jesus and not shake and fall down after fasting and prayer with the power of the Holy Ghost and with the Word of God? Church Gist. What should make someone powerful that was not in Him and yet satan walked as if he was not seeing Him. Mr Man, you are anointed but You are hungry, You need food now!
How do you bring such a demeaning statement to such El-Shaddai, the Man who created the Heavens and the earth? Satan said, turn this stone to bread. Jesus said, no! My agenda is greater than my individual satisfaction
Matthew 4:1-111
There are three things that make a kingdom; Glory, power and authority that backs it represented by a sceptre and it must have in it, habitants.
The next time Satan would come to Jesus, he did not come directly to him again. He came through one of the most disciplined and emotional person called Peter. Church Gist. He chose one who was a leader over the people and he manipulated Peter’s compassion to beg Jesus not to die and Jesus rebuked him saying, “get behind me Satan. Satan desired to swift you like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not and when thou art converted, strengthen your brethren”. Satan left and said, You saw me.
The next time he would come, people were having dinner and he came through the treasurer; you see why finance department in many ministry must pray like prayer warriors too? There is nobody in any ministry who should not be a prayer warrior because the devil will use anybody and anything. Satan came through Judas; I hope you know that the goal of Judas was not to destroy Jesus? That’s why he could not do anything with the money; the goal was to make money from Jesus. Church Gist. Don’t say Judas was a bad man, no! For Jesus to trust Judas with money, he was one of the most trusted people there. Someone shared a very interesting story that kidnappers kidnapped someone’s child and they demanded for fifty million and the family called them and said, all they have is fifty thousand and the kidnappers insulted them and switched off the phone in anger. They said if they don’t bring up to five million, they will finish the child and the man said there is nothing they can do, they should just kill the child.
Are we together?
All men can be weary, people can through challenges in their lives and so it is not unusual, but let me tell you this:
There are basically three reasons or factors responsible for the seasons of frustration, hardships and challenges:
1). Hope Deferred: Disappointed expectations can dampen people’s spiritual lives and finances (Proverbs 13:12).
Do you know why many people in this country are already beginning to face medical conditions that you will think it is for only people in their late fifties and sixties. For example, you can see a young boy in his early twenties having the same symptoms with someone who is probably 65-70 years because of hope deferred; financial issues, marital, fertility issues. Church Gist. Hope deferred can be frustrating, you will need the grace and the strength of God.
2). Attacks and Persecution (James 1:1-4).
Many of you here have tasted greatness at different levels in politics, government, family lives etc and I can tell you, there is a burden of greatness that most people do not know, if most people understand the burden that is associated with greatness, you will not hurry into greatness. You will rather pray for strength and stamina.
Greatness needs a skill for you to remain there. In fact, the easiest part of the equation of greatness is becoming it. Remaining great is harder than becoming great. Every mantle has a battle that confronts it. You want to be CEO in Africa, are you ready to stand attacks and the charms and witchcraft that follows greatness? The greats deserve your applaud, most people have no idea that greatness is a burden.
I remember many years ago as a man of God, I really had problems, you know, I’m one person who doesn’t like trouble at all. I want to make sure I call everybody, respond to everybody, do everything to everybody and it was wearying me out; I didn’t have time for myself, people would call me 12:00am, 1:00am, expressing their disappointment and sometimes they’ll try to bully you and say great men and so on and so forth. I can tell you, greatness comes at a cost. I remember a gentle man who lost one of his relatives and for more than one month, that gentleman kept sending me text messages: “Apostle, I will not let you rest until you give me an answer as to why this kind of thing happened to my family. I agreed that I am not close to God but I know that you are close to God, ask Him for me” and he meant it.
For as long as you are not great, your watch is okay. The moment you succeed, something is wrong with your watch, everything is wrong with the great – it is the burden of greatness. Next levels always come with challenges. If it’s the glory of God you’ll carry in your life, you must sustain (you will go through high waters, things that are not your business at all) the stamina for attacks and persecution. Church Gist. Any position that God puts you in will come with it’s own trouble, persecution and criticism. It is not always what you are doing wrong, it may be what you are doing right.
3). Sorrow.
Sorrow is an emotional state, it is deeply emotional and even a medical condition. The feeling of distress, the emotional pain that comes as a result of disappointment, misfortunes, losses. Church Gist. It’s one thing for you to go through seasons that are uncomfortable but when the seasons get to you, they’ll produce what is called sorrow (1 Peter 4:12-16). When you go through uncomfortable seasons on account of your love and determination to become all that God has destined you to be, the Bible says, it is not your suffering, you are only partaking of Christ’s suffering.
There are times when your good can be evil spoken of, it brings sorrow. I know a man years ago who went to do an act of charity in a region somewhere and when he went, at the end of it, they persecuted that man and insulted him and said, “shame on him that for his status, for him to go and give a mini gift that he gave the people. Ordinary people have done something better” -The bleeding of your heart that comes on the account of your greatness and your intention to serve the purposes of Jesus.
You must obtain grace through spiritual dynamics of being and remaining an overcomer.
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