MONEY UNVEILS THE TRUE NATURE AND IDENTITY OF A PERSON
MOST PEOPLE HAVE AN IMPARTATION OF HUMILITY WHERE THERE’S POVERTY
WHEN WE ARE IGNORANT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF MONEY, WE BECOME VICTIMS OF THE CHALLENGES OF MONEY
MONEY IS NEUTRAL, IT IS THE OWNER, THE HOLDER OF THE MONEY THAT DETERMINES THE GOODNESS OR BADNESS OF MONEY
IT’S NOT POSSIBLE FOR 100 PERCENT OF YOUR ATTENTION TO BE ON GOD, WHEN YOU ARE IN SCARCITY
IT IS EASY TO PRAISE WHEN HUNGER IS ABSENT
YOU NEED TO HAVE PLENTY MONEY SO YOU CAN KNOW YOUR TRUE CHARACTER
GOD HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO BLESS MANY PEOPLE BECAUSE HE KNOWS THEIR TENDENCIES
WHAT A PERSON REALLY WORSHIPS IS CONFIRMED BY THE PRESENCE OF MONEY
IF YOU’RE A GOOD PERSON INTENDING TO DO GOOD, WITH MORE MONEY, YOU CAN DO MORE THAN WITHOUT IT
SOME OF THE CHOICES MADE ON THE BASIS OF MONEY CAN BE REGRETTABLE CHOICES
SCARCITY CAN SPONSOR WRONG CHOICES. POVERTY CAN FACILITATE WRONG DECISIONS
LIFE CAN BE FULL OF QUESTIONS BUT MONEY CAN HAVE A LOT OF ANSWERS
MAKING MONEY MUST NOT BE THE SOLE AIM OF OUR EXISTENCE BUT MAKING MEANING ON EARTH AND MAKING HEAVEN AT THE END
OUR BEHAVIOUR AROUND MONEY AND OUR TREATMENT OF OTHERS WITH MONEY CAN DETERMINE OUR ETERNAL DESTINY
MASTER MONEY BUT DON’T LET MONEY MASTER YOU
YOU CANNOT GIVE MORE COMMITMENT, DEVOTION AND PURSUIT TO MONEY THAN YOU GIVE TO GOD
IF YOUR VISION IN LIFE IS TO MAKE MONEY, IT’S A USELESS VISION. MONEY IS A PROVISION, NOT A VISION
REFUSE TO GET TO ANY REALM OF MONEY THAT WOULD ALTER YOUR SPIRITUALITY AND JEOPARDIZE YOUR ETERNITY
WE WERE IN A RENTED HOUSE FOR 13 YEARS AND 3 MONTHS IN ABUJA HERE, WHILE CHURCHES WERE BEING BUILT. TODAY, I CANNOT SAY THAT HOUSE IS A TESTIMONY
IT IS YOUR BEHAVIOUR NOW THAT WOULD PROVE TO GOD WHETHER YOU WOULD BEHAVE CORRECTLY TOMORROW
THE REASON WHY MANY OF US HAVE not GONE AS FAR AS WE ARE MEANT TO GO IS BECAUSE OF WHAT WE CONSIDER OUR PRIORITIES
WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART DETERMINES WHAT GOD WOULD PUT IN YOUR HANDS
WHEN YOU MAINTAIN COVENANT PRACTICE, YOU’RE CONNECTING TO RESOURCES BEYOND THE EARTHLY
– Dr. Pastor Paul Enenche on “KNOWING MONEY” || Testimonies and Thanksgiving Sunday Service || Glory Dome, Abuja.
I bring you greetings from Tanzania. We came from Tanzania yesterday and we thank God for His help and mercy and how much lives were changed and touched in that place.
We have been on a series, Light Has Come and Glory is Risen through Knowledge and Wisdom”. We started with what it means to know God – the Knowledge of God and the Blessing of Knowing God. Then we proceeded with Knowing about yourself – “who am I and what am I all about?” Church Gist. Then we proceeded in the midweek service with knowing your work and then the last Sunday we dwelt on the subject of “Knowing your Spiritual family”. Last week Wednesday, we dwelt on the subject of “Know your friends” – who can we call friends? Church Gist. It’s one of the most explosive teachings you ever heard and we were only able to do part 1. We would do part 2 this midweek service.
This Sunday, we want to speak on the subject that affects human lives so much, it’s called ‘money’ – ‘KNOWING MONEY’. Ecclesiastes 10:19. Church Gist. The contrary is 1 Timothy 6:10. The Lord bless His Word in Jesus’ name.
This morning, we have a 5-fold objective.
1. We want to understand why we must know about money, that will take us to understanding the power of money.
2. We would be understanding what our relationship with money should be, that would show us the place of money in the life of a child of God
3. We would be understanding Kingdom keys to having money, that would give usher us into the exploration of money.
4. We shall be understanding what to do with money. “Money has entered my hand, what do I do with it?
5. Understanding money traps to avoid. “What are the traps regarding money that I must avoid?”
– lift your right hand up and say after me, “Father, help me to do it well. Help me to understand the place of money. Help me Lord to understand the place of money in life, in the name of Jesus”.
I want to start by way of introduction to say that money plays such a vital role, a key role, a pivotal role for human existence. Everybody would need money at one time or the other, or in fact need money permanently. Church Gist. Listen to this, nobody is too spiritual to need money. Nobody is too educated, he has too much degrees, he doesn’t need money. Nobody is too physically powerful to need money. Nobody is too beautiful for money – “I am too fine, I don’t need money”. Nobody is too talented, “I can sing more than a singing bird”, I don’t need money. Nobody. Church Gist. Money is so vital to life that Jesus spoke a lot about money on both sides and the Apostles. But, this is the challenge. The unfortunate challenge is that very few people, including those who have money, know what money is. Church Gist. Very few people know the power of money, the place that money occupies or should occupy, the potentials and problems of money.
Now, when we are ignorant of the knowledge of money, we become victims of the challenges of money. Church Gist. Somebody said, “is money good or evil?” Money is neutral. Whether it is good or evil, it depends on who is holding it. Church Gist. There’s the neutrality of money, it is the owner, the holder of the money that determines the goodness or badness of money.
Why must we know about money? This would show us the power of money.
1. Money affects the quality of human life. It affects the quality of our lives. Someone is living in a 7-bedroom duplex in a highbrow area of the city, another person is living in an uncompleted one room apartment in a slum part of the city. Church Gist. The difference is the availability of money. It’s not because the person who is living in the one bedroom apartment in the slum does not like the 7-bedroom duplex, it is the availability of money. When somebody say, “I am looking for a house”, he’s actually not looking for a house because houses are everywhere, what somebody was looking for is money. Church Gist. If you want to buy, there’s a house to buy. If you want to buy a hundred hectares now, there’s land to buy. 1 Timothy 6:17.
– I prophesy to somebody here today, the quality of your life would change after today!
2. Money affects the focus of our spirituality. Mark 12:29-30. Everybody here can confirm that if scarcity is worrying you, it’s not possible to focus on the Lord with all your mind. Church Gist. It’s not possible for 100 percent of your attention to be on God, house rent is not yet paid, children’s school fees are there, there’s a debt on your neck, it’s not possible. It affects the focus of man’s spirituality. Joel 2:26. It is easy to praise when hunger is absent. My children, when they were very young, there was a particular child, as soon as food arrives, singing starts. Church Gist. I’m talking of a child of 3 or 4 years, it was not premeditated, the song is automatic. I heard the story sometime ago when they said, “Praise the Lord”, instead of saying “Hallelujah”, somebody in the Church said, “100 naira”. What was happening was that while the service was on, hundred naira she was owing somebody occupied her mind. I’m talking about 20 years ago or more. “How am I going to pay this money?”. Church Gist. Listen to this, it affects the focus of your spirituality because, the time you need to use to stand in the gap, to intercede for the souls that are lost and for revival, you’re using that time to pray about money problems. “Lord, I need you to set me free from this financial harassment. I’m trusting you for a change of story. How long would my life remain like this?” That occupies the prayer vocabulary of a man who has money challenges. Church Gist. But when bills are paid, when you’re owing nobody under Heaven, you can open your mouth and say, “Father, I am trusting you for you to turn around the situation of our Nation. I am trusting you for the salvation of the lost. I am trusting you for the deliverance of so and so person”. Church Gist. Money is so powerful that it affects the focus of our spirituality.
3. Money reveals the reality of man’s character. It unveils the true nature and identity of a person. You don’t know people in poverty, it’s in prosperity you know who people are. Church Gist. Most people have an impartation of humility where there’s poverty. They are very sober, gentle, cool, amenable, easily entreatable, you can discuss with them. Abraham Lincoln said, “you don’t know anybody in adversity, if you want to know anybody, give him power” and one of the powers you can give to somebody to know him is the power of money. Church Gist. That man would not marry plenty wives in poverty but the marriage of plenty wives is inside him. E dey body but poverty can’t support such a lifestyle. It is when money arrives that he now realizes that his wife is getting old, he needs to change his wife like he changes his car. Am I communicating? That is when you know people. Church Gist. He’s frequenting Church because there’s no money, let money arrive, that is when you’d know his real Church attendance. That is why you need to have plenty money so you can know your true character. Church Gist. That humble man becomes proud, arrogant and very rude, can talk to anybody anyhow because he has some money. There’s nothing that unravels character like money. I have made up my mind that no amount of position, money or resources will utter my character. Church Gist. That kind of money, position or influence, may it never near my hand.
Proverbs 18:23. That character was in him when he was in poverty but it didn’t come out. Church Gist. You know when you put sponge inside water and you press the sponge, what would come out? When you put sponge inside oil and you press that sponge, what will come out? The question is, is it the pressure that put the oil inside? Is it the pressure that put the water inside? Church Gist. The pressure only came to reveal what was already inside. Somebody drank one day and he began to insult the hell out of his father in-law, all the insults you can never think of. When he returned back to his sense, they said, “what happened? He said it’s alcohol. Insult was inside, he was planning how to insult his father in-law, alcohol helped him to bring it out. Church Gist. The things he has not been able to tell his father in-law, he was able to tell him by the power of ethanol. That is why God has not been able to bless many people, He knows their tendencies. He knows they would begin to walk on their heads. Church Gist. That’s why God has limited the breakthrough of many, they will kill persons and kill themselves.
– I pray today that Jehovah God would cause each one of us to know our possibilities and our potentials so that we can ask for His help to take us to our destiny.
4. Money confirms our true object of worship. What a person really worships is confirmed by the presence of money. Matthew 6:24. Church Gist. You cannot serve God and Mammon. I want you to know that money is the other thing that struggled to be worshipped like God. What do we mean by object of God? That is, money commands their devotion, dedication and submission. They would do for the sake of money what they won’t do for God. Church Gist. If the agenda of the Kingdom clashes with the agenda of their business, the agenda of the Kingdom can go to hell. They sacrifice Kingdom agenda in the favour of their business and earthly agenda. That is when money becomes the object of worship. Luke 16:13.
5. Money affects the extent of our impact in the Kingdom. What you can do for God, the Kingdom and for humanity is either limited or limitless on the basis of money. Zechariah 1:17. Church Gist. There are many people who wish they could do more for the Kingdom and the less privileged but they feel limited by scarcity, they feel restrained by shortage. The outcome of it is frustration. The Founder of Temple University, Conwell Russell said, “you can do more good with money especially if you’re a good man than without it”. Church Gist. That’s why I said, money is neutral. If you’re a good person intending to do good, with more money, you can do more than without it.
6. Money affects our choices in life. Money affects choices that we make most times. Some of the choices made on the basis of money can be regrettable choices. Church Gist. I would give you an example. Somebody got a job that pays him 1 million a month and got another job that pays him 250,000 a month, the job that pays him 1 million a month clashes with Sunday service and makes him to tell lies on behalf of his boss. That kind of thing. But he chose the job of 1 million because it carried more money. Church Gist. Young lady, there are two men, one is average, doesn’t have so much yet even though he has vision and he has so many things inside him but not so much yet. This one, already made, he has a duplex in Asokoro, another one in Maitama and another one in Lagos, Lekki, Port-Harcourt GRA, has house I’m Paris, he’s almost 40 now but he’s not yet married. Out of these two, which one will you marry? “ah ah, which one should I marry? What kind of question are you asking me? Church Gist. The one I am to marry is very clear. This one would fly me abroad everywhere. Who wants to suffer with suffer head?” Money consideration. She married the man and the only thing the man has not yet done to her is to sacrifice her.
One rich man, likely in the occult told his wife, he said, “please, can you agree to die? Anything you want, I would give you”. So, the woman said, “if I die, the things you would give me, who would use it?”. Church Gist. Lord have mercy. That is why you must have money of your own. That young lady already has her house, her car and her life in dignity, so when any joker comes along the line, you say, “no. I’m not looking for your money, I know you have many cars. You have a car, I have a car too. You have a house, I have a house too. I’m okay, I’m settled. I am looking for character. Do you have character? Do you have spirituality? Do you have integrity? Do you know God? Do you respect your mother and your father? Do you respect people? To hell with your money! I am not marrying money, I already have some money. It may not be up to your own but I have what has made me comfortable”. Church Gist. Scarcity can sponsor wrong choices. Poverty can facilitate wrong decisions.
-that would never be your portion! May money never suffer you to the point of making the wrong decision in your life!
Young lady, may you never marry anybody no matter how rich until you can confirm their spirituality, their character, integrity and sense of integrity. Church Gist. There are some young men, it’s the opposite, they want to marry already made girls. Total gigolo. Looking for whose house to eat spaghetti and whose car to drive. There are men like that. There are those who are vowing to marry into a rich man’s family so that, “I can be made”. What a ‘yeyecious’ man. Church Gist. Be the rich man yourself. Trust God to have resources yourself, so you can make the right decision and marry the right person.
– may money never be the consideration when you take the major decisions of your life! Because most decisions that you take on the grounds of money are decisions that are regrettable.
I will ask you another question. Many people are running out of the country, when was the last time you heard a billionaire say, “I’m going to another country?” He has businesses everywhere. Church Gist. Apart from insecurity of the land of course that everybody is praying and trusting God that God would end soon, when was the last time somebody has a million dollars in his account or something solid and say, “I’m tired. I want to go to Canada”. Which Canada? He would fly to Canada, buy businesses there and come back to Nigeria and be monitoring his investments there. Church Gist. If you have what you need, anywhere is good enough to stay. Choices that people are making on the grounds on money, scarcity and shortage.
– something is happening to somebody here.
– lift your right hand, say, “in the name of Jesus, Father, I receive the grace to make the right choices with my life. I receive that grace now!”
7. Money comes with answers. Ecclesiastes 10:19. Life can be full of questions but money can have a lot of answers. Church Gist. Young man has found a good wife to marry, but no house yet, no source of income as such. He’s not a bad person, it’s just that things are not as good as they should be for him yet. He cannot go to his father in-law’s house and they say, “where’s the dowry?” and they give him a list. They can give people list in Africa, plenty list. Church Gist. They gave him a very long list and he says, “Father in-law and mother in-law, listen to this: (starts speaking in tongues). Do you know the meaning of that? It has monetary value. Interpret and value”. And they say, “oh. you’re welcome son in-law. What you just spoke now is worth almost 5 million. It’s more than the dowry. Take wife”. Is that what they would do? Two things may happen: Number 1, Police. Number 2, Psychiatrist. Church Gist. They might find him police and psychiatrist to assess him. Say, “it looks like there’s a craze man here who said he wants to marry someone’s daughter”. Money is so important that it affects our choice and it’s so important that it answers.
Somebody is in the hospital, God has not yet intervened for them, they need kidney transplant or something, it’s costing millions. Church Gist. How many people know the number of people that have died because they couldn’t afford money for medical intervention. Money answers.
8. Money affects our eternal destiny. 1 Timothy 6:10-12. Luke 16:19-27. The story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man found himself in hell, not because he was rich. Lazarus found himself in heaven, not because he was poor. It was the character of the man. In the midst of plenty, somebody died of hunger in front of the man’s gate. Church Gist. Our behaviour around money and our treatment of others with money can determine our eternal destiny. Many people are in hell today because of money issues. Either they got plenty money and the money took them to hell or they didn’t have money and they began to steal and kill to get money.
– that would never be your portion.
Having said all of these, the pros and the cons of money, what should be our relationship with money? What should be the place of money in our lives?
1. Control money but don’t let money control you. Master money but don’t let money master you. Church Gist. Use money, don’t let money use you. Send money, don’t let money send you. 1 Corinthians 7:23. If we are not to be servants of men, how much more shall we not be servants of money?
2. Worship God with your money but don’t worship God and money. Because you can’t worship God and money at the same time. What is the meaning of that? Matthew 6:24. What is the worship of money all about?
2a. Money must never become your object of worship.
2b. Money must never take the place of God in your life.
2c. Money must never come between you and your God.
2d. You cannot give more commitment, devotion, pursuit to money than you give to God. Do you know the meaning of that? Church Gist. You cannot be committed to making money than you are committed to serving God. You cannot be more devoted to money matters than you’re devoted to God. You cannot pursue money more than you’re pursuing God. People wake up 5am, 4:30am in some places to hit the road looking for money. Church Gist. Question is, did they take any time to communicate with God before they hit that road looking for money.
I heard of a rich man who counted money and handled money until when he went to the hospital, the hospital said he was having hypoglycemia, low blood sugar. Summary is that he’s hungry. Church Gist. He was so focused on money that he had no time to eat. The question is, when was the last time like Jesus Christ, they said, “come and eat” and you said, “no. I have meat to eat that you understand not”. You’re pursuing the cause of the Kingdom to the point where you forgot to eat. I have experienced that plenty times. My wife would ask me, “have you eaten?” I would say, “I think so”. Then they would realize that the food is still there. It wasn’t that I planned to fast, I just was so busy with what I was doing that I didn’t remember to eat and I didn’t feel hungry. Church Gist. This man’s own was in the realm of money. That is, “Lord, may I not pursue anything under heaven that I am pursuing more than the way I pursue you”. That is why money has sent people to premature graves and some to eternity in hell fire.
– that would never be your portion.
3. Making money must never be the sole aim of existence. Where somebody’s whole life, his objective for life is making money. Church Gist. Making money must not be the sole aim of our existence but making meaning on earth and making Heaven at the end. “I want to make meaning with my life on earth and I want to make Heaven when my time on earth is over”. Genesis 12:2-3. Church Gist. Listen to this, money is not the end in itself, money is the means to an end. Nobody eats money physically. Money is not the end, money must not be the end in itself. Money should be the means to the end. Making a difference is better than just making a living. Church Gist. Our lives on earth should not be centered on, “I’m just trying to make a living”, we should try to make a difference, not just making a living. Let me say this, being blessed is for the purpose of being a Blessing. So, this is what happens: first of all, determine what you want to do with your life regarding money. Church Gist. Determine what you want to do for the Kingdom with money. Determine how you want to touch human lives first, then you can go for the money that would help you to do it. Don’t say, What is your vision in your life, “to make money”. That is a useless vision. Church Gist. Money is provision, not vision and it’s vision that attracts provision. So, the vision should be decided first and then the provision would come next.
– I prophesy to somebody here today, you’re going to have plenty of money to do the right thing for the Kingdom of God.
– I decree that systems are put under pressure, they shall lose their sleep, peace and rest until all that is yours enters your hand.
Genesis 12:2. Zechariah 1:17. Psalm 122:9(NIV). Making money should not be the sole aim of your existence. Making meaning on the earth and making Heaven at the end should be the aim.
4. Refuse to allow money to alter your character. Refuse to get to any realm of money that would alter your spirituality and jeopardize your eternity. You know what? Church Gist. Ask God ahead of time, “before you bring significant resources into my hands, deal with my character. Deal with me sufficiently”. Proverbs 30:8-9. Instead of being stupendously rich and say “who is God?” and go to hell, don’t give me such a money. Instead of being poor and also steal and die and go to hell, don’t give me such money. Church Gist. But the Bible gives us evidence that it is possible to be stupendously wealthy and still have a bosom in Heaven called Abraham. The Bible gave us example of Job, a man who feared God, eschewed evil, he was the greatest of all the men, richest in the east. So that possibility exists. Church Gist. What do you do then? “Lord, deal with me. Any tendency, any character or attribute in my life that would prevent from handling what you have in mind for me, deal with it Lord, in the name of Jesus”. Job 1:1-3. It’s possible to have it plenty and still be in your senses.
5. Refuse every form of addiction to money. There are people who see money and they begin to shake. Church Gist. There are those who can’t sleep unless money is around them. There are those who can’t see money and not take it, especially if nobody is watching, they must take it. You know there’s a spirit behind money? It’s Mammon. John 10:10. Church Gist. The spirit behind kleptomaniacs, kleptocrats, that spirit. That’s what makes people kill and sell their bodies to get money. It is the spirit of mammon.
– every attachment to money, may it die in your life! So that money can fear you and plenty of it can come your way.
What are Kingdom keys to making money? What are our money possibilities in God?
1. Possess the God-first mentality. Matthew 6:33. 2 Chronicles 26:5. Now, this is what I want to say: how you behave today determines what you can become with God. Church Gist. Our behaviour affects our becoming. I want us to show God that no amount of money would enter your hands tomorrow that would take his place in your life. You can do it now.
Let me give you 3 examples. When we were in the university in those days, most of our medical students, they go to another part of the campus to read in the morning. They read overnight and return back in the morning to prepare for classes and go. Church Gist. I never went to any of those reading places once for just one reason. I sat in the comfort of my room. At the most, I’d go to the cafeteria briefly but I sat there, worship is on, message on tape is on, Bible on cassette and I enjoyed myself like that for 3,4,5,6 hours. Church Gist. My only issue is, when it is morning time, how do I organize my quiet time? I can’t organize it there. I don’t like book to take that place. There are some who read like that who never graduated. Yours sincerely had not one resit. At that level, God knew that this man, nothing.
When we were in Area one, time for healing and deliverance service when one man came to me, he had said that he had a 7-bedroom duplex in a popular estate in Abuja here and he told me, he said, “I have a 7-bedroom duplex”. I said, “what is it for?” He said, “come and see it first. When you see it, I’ll tell you”. From the way he was talking, it’s like, “I want to sow it to you as a seed but if you like it first”. Church Gist. So, he said, “can we go and see it?” I said, “right now, it’s Healing and Deliverance Service, can I go later?” He said, “no. It’s better to do it now”. I told him, I said, “please, I won’t be able to go now. I have service to attend to”. Now, at that time, we were still in a rented house in Abuja here. Church Gist. We were in a rented house for 13 years and 3 months in Abuja here, while Churches were being built. God knew I didn’t have a house but I refused to leave service because I want to go and see a house. The man didn’t return back with the house and it didn’t matter and I thank God that I didn’t go. Church Gist. Today, I cannot say that house is a testimony. What kind of house? Is it one that they built with needles or what? Am I communicating at all? God saw it. He saw it then and He sees it now. Church Gist. Beloved, it is your behaviour now that would prove to God whether you would behave correctly tomorrow.
There’s no amount of money under Heaven that can move this person you’re seeing, no amount. Church Gist. That’s why we talk the way we talk. We have rejected money many times. I’ve asked people, “how did you make this money?” And they couldn’t explain, I said, “go back with it”. “I have an offering to give.” Where did you get it from? Church Gist. The God-first mentality where God is absolutely first.
– I prophesy to somebody here, that grace to walk in the God-first mentality is released upon you right now!
There was a brother in our Church during a Church construction in Area one, he was doing contracts here and there and there was this big contract, they called him, they said, “come and sign this contract now”. Church Gist. He told them, “I’m so sorry. I’m at the construction site, I am working at the Church site”. The overall boss of this Federal government establishment said, “what? Are there people in this country like this that can say I am in Church working and I cannot come to sign for money?” He ordered them to send the contract paper to him there. Church Gist. They brought him to the Church site, met him there and signed it. People dey oh.
The reason why many of us, we have not gone as far as we are meant to go is because of what we consider our priorities. Church Gist. If God can see it brutally that “if I give this one 100 billion, he won’t shift, his prayer won’t drop, his church attendance won’t drop”, then you would be shocked at what God would do with you.
– I announce to somebody here today, I prophesy to you today, a change of story is coming your way!
2. Possess Kingdom vision. Psalm 122:9(NIV). What is in your heart determines what God would put in your hands. Church Gist. What is it that is in your heart? David said, “I am not going to sleep until I find God a house”. Kingdom vision. The bigger your vision, the quicker it happens. I heard the story of a young man, he was going to the stream in the village and he saw some people in thatched house, house that rain can beat them inside and this little boy cried and said, “Lord, when I grow up, I want to be very rich so I can help people like this”. Church Gist. God heard it and he grew up and God made him very rich and he’s helping people like that. I heard the story of a man, when he and his wife married, they were lying on the bare floor. No money to do anything. “Lord, if you give money to register a company, the first three jobs, I would give it to you”. The money came to register the company. The first job came, the money was given back to God. Church Gist. The second job came and the third job, I think it was in millions, “the first three jobs I do, I would return all the money back to you” and that was done and the Heaven opened and then access into the realm of millions. Coming to the point where your product becomes the number one product in that field in the nation. Church Gist. Then begin to build Churches in the North eastern part of the country. Why? “Lord, I am not looking for money for the same reason why others are looking. Give me, I would give you”.
When this construction was on, one young man said, “I want to be a part of this thing. I am looking for money in eight zeros. If the money comes, I’m not going to pay tithe, I’m giving all of it”. Church Gist. This guy was prayed for, the money came and he gave all of it, under 3 months. One man in Kenneth Hagin’s ministry, I’ve told the story before. He came out during a camp meeting in 1978, about 17,000 people gathered from all over the world. Pastor Adeboye was in that meeting. Church Gist. The man said, “all of you here, any amount of offering you want to give today, give as much as you can because at the end of the day, everything that you people give, me and my wife, we would double it”. You know what the people did? They became angry, “who do you think you are?” Everybody emptied their pockets, “let us give angrily and see how this man can double it”. Church Gist. They waited until the money was counted, 3.5 million dollars of 1978. That is like 3.5 billion dollars today. The man came out and said, “I am disappointed. All of you, is this all you can give? Well, me and my wife, we would double it”. He wrote the cheque of 7 million dollars, on the spot. Daddy GO said he followed him to find out what is his secret. Church Gist. “How can you do a thing like this?” The man said, “he started business only 3 years before that time with 500 dollars” and he told God, “God, other people pay tithe and I think they are cheating you, you’re bigger than us, why should we give you 10 and keep 90? I would do the opposite, I will give you 90 percent of everything you gave me and keep 10”. Church Gist. And God said, “do you mean business?” (And kept supplying). By the time it was 3 years later, starting capital of 500 dollars, he could drop a cheque of 7 million dollars. Even in today’s money, 7 million dollars is not beans. It can buy most things.
Beloved brothers and sisters, one young man in this Church, a professional, Masters degree in his profession, I won’t mention the profession. His wife, the same profession, both of them stranded and struggling. Church Gist. He came to me in the office in Area one, I looked at him, I said, “do you tithe?” He said, “No, Sir”. I said, “go and start tithing”. I would tell you the story shortly.
– lift up your hands and say, “Father, give me vision for the Kingdom. In the name of Jesus, put in my heart what you want me to do in the Kingdom and I would do it”.
3. Maintain the covenant practice. When we talk about covenant practice, we are talking of the covenant of giving and tithing. Genesis 8:22. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7. Genesis 14:18-19. Church Gist. There are three things you do in the practice of the covenant:
3a. You’re covenanting your life and endeavours with God.
3b. You’re connecting to resources beyond the earthly. Your life is not limited by what the earth can offer.
3c. You’re opening your endeavour to superior influence, inspiration and wisdom. All of a sudden, you begin to operate with a wisdom that shocks you, you begin to get ideas that shock you, you begin to get inspiration. Church Gist. That was the kind of thing that Isaac walked in, Jacob when he painted the wood, inspiration was coming that was beyond him.
I told you just now of the Kenneth Hagin’s man and I was telling you about the man now. How can you be a professional, Masters degree holder in that field, your wife, the same and you’re stranded? “Do you tithe?” He said, “No, sir”. I said, “alright, go and tithe”. Church Gist. This man was jobless, wife jobless. He said he went and whatever little money came to him, he began to honour God. All of a sudden, he got a professional work that was paying him dollars per hour. I saw him 13 months later, he was struggling to pay rent when I last saw him, no job, one year and one month later, his 5 or 7-bedroom duplex was ready. His own. Church Gist. Land was bought, house was already built. He has not dropped by the covenant practice.
One of our billionaires who came to instruct our Kingdom financial stewards sometime ago told me and told the class, he said, his own, he doesn’t calculate which one is 10 percent. Church Gist. His own is, everything that enters his hands, 10 percent of it goes to God, that is not net, gross. You know what he said? He said, it’s better for God to ‘cheat’ him than for him to cheat God. He said he doesn’t want to calculate it so he doesn’t mistakenly cheat God or don’t pay the correct thing. Church Gist. He would pay everything, billions. He brought me a paper the other of a contract of 126 billion, he said, “please, lay hands on it, let it succeed”. That is the person who would start work without mobilization. He has enough money to start the work and no loan from any bank. He doesn’t believe in loans. In billions, has jobs in 34 out of 36 states of Nigeria.
– stand up on your feet!
– Something is happening to somebody here!
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