UNTIL YOU FIND A HOUSE OR HAVE MONEY.
THE ONLY THING THAT CAN GIVE YOU FULFILLMENT IN YOUR LIFE IS THE PEACE THAT COMES WITH KNOWING THAT YOU HAVE LIVED YOUR LIFE EFFECTIVELY SERVING THE PURPOSES OF GOD AND BEING A BLESSING TO HUMANITY.
ASIDES FROM YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST, YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR ASSIGNMENT, NOTHING ELSE IS A DO OR DIE AFFAIR.
WORRYING DOES NOT ADD ANYTHING, IT ONLY TAKES EVERYTHING.
WORRY IS A DEVOURER; IT WILL COME AND TAKE WHAT IS THERE THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW THAT IS THERE.
AT THE END Of YOUR LIFE, THERE ARE ONLY TWO THINGS YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR; THE PROBLEMS YOU CAUSED OR THE ONES YOU SOLVED.
- Apostle Joshua Selman at Koinonia on ‘WHAT SEEKEST THOU?’
(PART B).
Why are you angry when people forget your birthday? Did they kill you? Did they blackmail you? So why are you angry over something that happens in just 24 hours? Why do you take it personal that after ten years, you are still angry and you transfer that anger to the children? What you are trying to say is, you did something that gave me a perception that was against my desire for any of these six cravings.
My brother, it is not a car you are looking for; give yourself rest. It is not twins or triplets or another job you are looking for; give yourself rest. I can tell you, what you are looking for is a craving for security, dynamism and variety, a craving for significance and acknowledgement, acceptance and love, a craving for growth, an increase and advancement. What you are looking for is an honest opportunity for your life to at least, count.
All physical things that we seek are only expressions and conveyors of a deeper, spiritual and psychological longing. Through that car, marriage, increase, anointing or the political position; you hope to find something else. I’m helping you with this teaching so that, as you seek to have physical things around you; you will have it at the back of your mind that, nothing in itself that I have or ever have will give me what I’m truly looking for. Church Gist. So you can enjoy the physical blessings by having this knowledge that if it is fulfillment I am looking for, these are not the things that will give it to me. That way you can become wealthy and wise, exceptional and wise. Why? Your wisdom comes in knowing that none of these things in themselves can give me fulfillment. Then, you will start looking for what will give you security, variety and acceptance in a deeper way.
If you don’t answer this question and trust God to help you; as a husband, you will find yourself beating your wife every day and if they ask you, why are you really beating this woman? You will say she does not cook well. If they probe you, you too will say, “Honestly, I don’t know why?” I will tell you; you are hurting somebody because of something you are looking for and because that is the obvious scapegoat around you, you will land it on the person, using the guise of any story. Same thing with wife. You are looking for what money, marriage, employment or a designer cannot give (Genesis 37:15).
When you have a problem with too many people, the problem is you. Because you interpret life from the lens of your own limitation. When you have a problem in Lagos, London, Abuja, UK; the problem is you. I remember a story of a man whose car got burnt and the man killed himself. I wonder what he will find out. Well, he will find out how foolish he was by killing himself because the car got burnt. Let me tell you why the man killed himself; because that car burning seem to have an impact on his mind, based on the awareness that my self-worth is tied to this reality and now that that car has gone, what will my family people think of me? If you understand this message I am teaching you, it will bring you permanent deliverance. You will strive to be successful but you know that there’s something greater than success. So, you will not postpone your joy till the day you build your mansion. You will start rejoicing today. If they ask you why, you will say; “I know that even my ten years is not what will give me joy and fulfillment.”
The narrative that most people have, especially in Africa, unfortunately is a narrative that has been sold by social media is that the moment you have money, especially lots of it, your respect, esteem, you have photos of people with all kinds of variety vehicles there around, wearing designers and there’s a craving in you; “I must get it anyhow.” Let me give you an advice before time; there was one who already got it before you. Hear what that person said; “vanity upon vanity”. You have to understand the person who the Bible says was speaking; the Bible did not call him a businessman. The Bible called him a preacher. Church Gist.
This is not a call to a life of mediocrity and careless, it will challenge you to aspire to get your dreams and your goals, but let me tell you sincerely; as you seek to become all that God has created you to be, I give you an advice because the world of the great is very deceptive; they arrived there and then, they sit and check to see if that craving had been satisfied and they find out painfully that like a drug that will satisfy you for a short time and you are back to yourself. That’s why they get angry; “So all my labour of doing this and getting that, I thought it will give me that sense of significance and yet, it does not give you anything.” What then satisfies this craving?
One day you will be tired of the same car you once rejoice about. One day you will be tired of the same phone you are now holding and rejoicing about. One day you be tired of the same hair you are wearing now that gave you joy. Remember during the Inaugural Service here in Koinonia, remember how we rejoice over this beautiful place, the excellence, the ambiance; now we are tired of it and we are trusting God to go to another place. I visited Redeemed and I saw the one kilometer by one kilometer that was built and I thought to myself, what was in Baba’s heart when this came? Then, they got fed up and tired of it, then they moved to three kilometers by three kilometers. Our father in the Lord, Bishop David Oyedepo, they are building the Ark now. Remember for a long time, he celebrated the fifty thousand capacity seater and one day, that thing again. He said, let’s go for the Ark. I can assure you by the God of Heaven, if Christ tarries except age and other things, but if Christ tarries, usually and every time he blesses people, he will tell you that there’s even a greater one coming.
Why am I teaching you this? Because I want you to be both successful and fulfilled. I’ve had the honour and the privilege by the grace of God to be around people who were diagnosed with terminal diseases, they literally knew they were on their way going. I’ve had the honour of praying with them. I’ve had some healed miraculously but in all fairness, they are others that I prayed and I knew that probably these people, their time was up. Church Gist. We have to borrow the mindset of a dying man to know what fulfillment is about. Once you are not a dying man, you cannot really comprehend the wisdom behind seeking fulfillment. You have to borrow the thinking, the last minute of the man who is alive, who is transcending the earth. There’s something about that wisdom you must capture and that is what will help us tonight.
What does a dying man look for?”
Imagine that God told you right now (don’t be afraid) that by 12:00 midnight today, He’s coming.
Question: I know you have investment around the world, I know you have all kinds of things, I know you plan to travel next week, you plan to do a lot of things, there’s a TV interview somewhere but what will become your point of focus with that knowledge? Just one information was passed to you that you have three more hours in this life and that’s it. Wrap up whatever you have to do, you have three hours. Church Gist. No prayer will change it. You are not sick and it’s not going to be accident or anything; once it’s time God, knows the many ways you’ll pick so that you don’t fear, but you just have three hours. Think for a moment, what are you going to do?
I can give you an idea of what will happen to you; in that moment, I give you a guarantee; When you are right there, you may think of your businesses, investments, certificates, wife, husband, parents, children, goals, future, house under construction, the person owing you, the police case that is still pending; you may think of all of these things and yet, you’ll be surprised that none of them at that point will be able to bring you satisfaction. There is only one thing you will be looking for at that point, when you stand with the consciousness that I have only three hours to live in this life, there is only one thing you will look for. It is called “the peace of God” (John 14:27).
The things you are looking for at the point of death is what you should find first in your life and have the privilege of enjoying it because I’ll tell you, in that security, variety, significance, acceptance, growth, achievement – all of them are various ways of saying the same thing. This is one thing you are looking for; “Peace.” Church Gist. How come you only find it when you are hours to the end of your life, whereas that is really what you need, even from the start of your life? And can you imagine that it is available even before you find any of these things? That you can have it without a car, child or church and yet, we ignore it. But when you are about to go, when every other thing fades, you find out that is the real thing. So, when I crave for security, what I’m really looking for is peace.
John 14:27
It is a waste of time to suspend your pursuit for peace until you find a house, have children or money. None of those things have the power to give you peace. They may carry with them expressions of conveniences that may minster security or variety. But security, variety, significance, love and acceptance, growth and advancement, impact and contribution are psychological ways of looking for the same thing; peace. Jesus said, I’ve given it to you. I don’t give it you when you finish your degree, masters or PhD; right where you are, before you even start your journey, you can carry the peace of God. When you find a house, it’s just an added advantage but peace is there. Even if the house goes, your peace remains.
No matter what you lose, you did not lose if what you have left is peace. But no matter what you gain, you really lost if you lost your peace on the way. Many of you started with that gift of peace, you throw it away to look for a wife, husband, job or ministry increase. At the end of it, watch what you have: children, a name, a private jet, money in your account in various currencies, a political position, titles, qualifications; no peace.
The only thing that can give you fulfillment in your life is the peace that comes with knowing that you have lived your life effectively serving the purposes of God and being a blessing to humanity (Philippians 4:6-7). Let me tell you this and I submit to you by the God of Heaven, I thank God for what He has done in my life and I thank God for all of you and our global family who have contributed to helping this life attain some level and some measure of success, but I thank God because I learnt early; ministry is powerful, it reveals Jesus but on its own, as an act or occupation does not give you peace.
Asides from your relationship with Jesus Christ, your family and your assignment, nothing else is a do or die affair. Why are you allowing the issue of the job to kill you? Are you that cheap to give it the power to kill you? Why are you allowing the fact that you were not recognized in an occasion; this thing happened in January and till now, you are almost sick because your ego was torn. So?
When you’re fighting and dragging for your ego, let wisdom stand in between to separate you and say, there’s no time for this. Remember what you should not lose; lose the business but don’t lose peace. Remember the wisdom of a dying man, money will not do you much at that time. So as you begin your journey and explore everything you are trying to explore, there is a kind of desperation many of you are giving life that will end up hurting you. Church Gist. It’s an unnecessary desperation. There are the things that matter, the greatest among them is peace. Tie it around you, no matter what happens; refuse to let your peace go and at the end of your life, you will find out that peace brought you houses, certificate but you will wave them at the gate of success and peace will escort you gallantly into the realm where only few ever get to; the realm of fulfillment. You will stand there with joy, knowing you have lived your life effectively, serving the purposes of the Kingdom and when He comes to meet you or you go to meet Him, you can wave earth goodbye with joy because it is the same peace that goes with you.
Someday, very soon or later, you will have the opportunity to stand before the coffin of someone you know, someone related to you (I pray not you. At least, not soon), but you will have a cause to stand. Every time you stand there, let it remind you of the message of this preacher that money does not give fulfilment. Church Gist. Money can create an environment that gives you efficiency and redeems time, I do not downplay this. I have taught you and will continue to teach you the principles of the Kingdom but there are many people today who have peace but no car or house. They will tell you, “I’m a failure.” So says the narrative of ignorant people. Come to the world of wisdom and God tells you, no matter what you have, if peace is the foundation; you have something.
I’ve told you here in Koinonia, I stand before God and I’m speaking to the whole world and let me tell you sincerely, you see this work Koinonia, I love you passionately with my heart and for as long as God grants me breath, I will keep driving and thriving to give my very best but I can shut down Koinonia this night if God says so and believe me, I’ll go and rest the restfulness of a successful person because my success is not derived in these things. Man of God, give yourself rest. This “must make it” is killing people. It’s good to be excellent but let us be careful.
Most times people see the enormous work that God is doing and they feel that, ah Apostle, you must be thinking, your head is going left and center. “I said me, you are joking. You don’t know me. I’m busy but I’m not busy doing many things. I plan to live a successful and an effective life.” Church Gist. Give yourself rest, the real estate will come, but not by worrying (Matthew 6:25-33). Worrying does not add anything, it only takes everything. Worry is a devourer; it will come and take what is there that you do not know that is there. You may not have anything but God has given you health and if you allow worry, it will take the health that is remaining.
The only thing that should necessitate your continually wanting to attract more money is the building of the Lord’s house and Kingdom assignment. No matter how greedy you are, if it is for your personal comfort, there is an exact arithmetic limit of money that when you have as a Christian, you can live as lavish as you want to live, you will still not exhaust it. If you want more, Kingdom come must be the basis for it. But if it is just to fuel your lust and to try to give you security, you are wasting your time.
Please listen to me, ladies and gentlemen, the Lord gave me this Word tonight because I believe with all my heart that someone here, someone watching, you are about to kill yourself and commit suicide because you think you are a failure. There are others, you are not committing suicide by carrying knife to cut yourself but your worrying is already reducing your lifespan every day. Church Gist. Preacher, don’t look at the Joshua Selman travelling around and every poster carrying their faces and allow the devil lie to you and say, you are not doing anything and you now say, “why is that people are not placing a demand on me” and you get into a lot of nonsense that is not in the blueprint of your prophetic destiny because you are trying to match up with a narrative that has been given.
I am more comfortable today than I was ten years ago but believe me, I stand before the God of Heaven, nothing added to my life today has made me happier. No! I know you won’t believe it but it is true. I found out that no matter how many beds I have in my house, all of me only lies down on one side, not even the whole bed. There will always be an empty side. No matter how greedy you are, you hand will only hold one spoon at a time, even if you eat with the serving food, it’s still one. Anything that wants to take your peace is not worth it. Among the many things you should never tell yourself; you should never tell yourself you are a failure.
Let me give you an advice, if you are part of this social media group that sells all these nonsense to you and they start torturing your peace, go out of it immediately! It’s not by force; give yourself peace. I’m not teaching you mediocrity; I’m showing the partway to genuine fulfillment. Little with peace is much. You don’t know the worth of peace until your days are wrapping up.
At the end of your life, there are only two things you will be remembered for; The problems you caused or the ones you solved. The joy you took out of lives, the mockery, the heads of people you join together, the pain you brought for people or the fact that you stretched yourself and did your very best. Maybe you did not do everything but that you did something. I made up my mind, it is not my goal to do everything and solve everybody’s problem in this life, that’s a futile venture. But I made up my mind that for as long as I have breath, I will do the best that I can to help anyone and everyone who can experience Jesus in and through my life. However, it is a revelation that I’ve given to myself that while I do the many things that I do, I will guard the peace of God jealously. It is the one asset that I have, not the building, not the clothes; none of those things.
PRAYERS:
Genesis 37:15
- Lord, I confess that I need the cars, houses, promotion, visas; I confess that I need the political position but there is one thing I’m asking You; that above and beyond these things, let me find fulfilment.
- Father, everything it takes for these six things to be represented in my life, I pray by your mercy, make them happen for me.
(Altar Call)
#Mondaymoments
#ApostleJoshuaSelman
#WhatSeekestThou03March2022
#KoinoniaAbuja
#KoinoniaGlobal
#ChurchGist
