THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT WE CAN KNOW IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
IN ORDER TO FULFILL YOUR ASSIGNMENT IN LIFE, KNOW YOUR PURPOSE
THERE’S NOT ONE PERSON THAT GOD CREATED WITHOUT PURPOSE
YOUR STRENGTHS ARE THOSE POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES THAT PEOPLE TALK ABOUT
TO SUCCEED IN LIFE, YOU MUST EMPHASIZE YOUR STRENGTHS AND MINIMIZE YOUR WEAKNESSES
BUILD ON ANY GOOD TRAIT YOU HAVE AND PULL DOWN THE BAD TRAITS
IF THE devil WANTS TO DESTROY A LIFE OR DESTINY, HE WILL LOCATE THEIR WEAKNESSES AND PASS THROUGH IT
THE SERPENT YOU DON’T CONTROL CAN BECOME A DRAGON TOMORROW
STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF. YOU CAN’T HAVE A CHALLENGE WITH MONEY AND ACCEPT TO BE A CASHIER
WHEN YOUR PROBLEM IS TALKATIVENESS, DON’T LET PEOPLE BRING TALK TO YOU
TO KNOW YOURSELF, GO BEFORE YOUR MAKER AND INQUIRE OF HIM ABOUT YOUR MAKING
WHAT YOU KNOW HOW TO DO NATURALLY CAN SERVE AS A MEANS TO FINDING YOUR PURPOSE
THE NEEDS THAT YOU SEE THAT COMMAND BOTH YOUR ATTENTION AND YOUR COMPASSION HAS A CONNECTION WITH YOUR PURPOSE
THE THINGS THAT BELONG TO US, GOD REVEALS THEM TO US BY HIS SPIRIT
THE WORD OF GOD IS A MIRROR WHERE YOU LOOK INTO AND IT BRINGS OUT WHO YOU ARE
IF YOU KNOW YOUR PURPOSE AND WHAT GOD CREATED YOU FOR, YOU WON’T CHANGE YOUR SKIN COLOUR LIKE MICHAEL JACKSON
WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE, YOU PERFORM OPTIMALLY AND EXCELLENTLY
YOU’RE CONFIDENT AND BOLD WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE CALLED TO DO AND WHO CALLED YOU TO DO IT
EXISTENCE IN INFERIORITY DIES WHEN YOU LOCATE WHAT YOU’RE TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE
YOU CAN’T MAKE AN IMPACT IN LIFE UNTIL YOU’RE FOCUSED
MANY PEOPLE ARRIVE TOO SOON, SO THEY ARRIVE TOO SMALL
FOR AS LONG AS YOU HAVE NOT SEEN JESUS FACE TO FACE, THERE’S ONE MORE STEP TO TAKE
– Dr. Pastor Paul Enenche on “THE POWER OF KNOWING WHO YOU ARE” || JUNE ANOINTING SUNDAY SERVICE || Glory Dome, Abuja.
I want to welcome everyone here this morning and I bring you greetings from the ancient city of Kano. Church Gist. I will explain in details to you shortly what happened to God and the implication of Kano crusade.
Before then, Isaiah 60:1-2. The Lord bless His Word in Jesus’ name. John 1:19-23. I want to speak quickly on the subject, “THE POWER OF KNOWING WHO YOU ARE”. The overall subject has to do with the knowledge of oneself. We have three objectives:
1. Understanding what to know about oneself
2. Understanding what it takes to know yourself
3. Understanding why you should know yourself
Last week we saw that light (knowledge) causes to rise, shine and walk in the glory. Why do I say light or knowledge? Church Gist. Because light is practically the same as knowledge. 2 Corinthians 4:6. So, light equals knowledge. So, when we say, “Arise, Shine for your light has come”. It means, arise and shine because you have accessed knowledge. That is, you have known something and that something you have known has given you action and distinction and causing you to walk in the glory. Church Gist. So, let it be established that there’s something you will know that will give more energy than you have, make you shine more than you’re shining now and make you to walk in a higher level of glory. Last week, we saw the most important thing that we can know and that is the knowledge of God.
This whole month is all about Light has come and Glory is risen through knowledge and wisdom. Last week we saw the knowledge of God, today, we want to see the knowledge of yourself. Church Gist. I am sure that this might be one of the most important lessons you may learn in your life – the knowledge of yourself. The Jews, they asked John the Baptist, “who are you?” John 1:19.
We are going to deal with this subject in three or four ways. The first thing is, “what do you need to know about yourself?”
1. Know your purpose in life. In order to fulfill your assignment, know your purpose. Jeremiah 1:5. John 1:19-23. The Master Jesus knew Himself. John 18:37. 1 John 3:8. Know your purpose. Church Gist. “Lord, what is my life all about? What is my existence all about? What do you want to do with me in this life?” Know your purpose. There’s not one person that God created without purpose.
2. Know your potentials and giftings. What are your potentials? What gifts do you have? Know them, unravel them, study them. We see examples of people like Joseph. Genesis 41:15-16. Church Gist. This man knew himself, he knew the gift he carried. He knew he could interpret dreams. What about David? 1 Samuel 16:17-18. Know your potentials. Daniel. Daniel 5:11-12. These were people who had gifts that they did not only know but people around them knew. Church Gist. Know your potentials, know your giftings. Very soon, we will be telling us about how to get to know some of these things, but it’s important you know them.
3. Know your strengths. By that, we are talking about positive traits and tendencies. Not necessarily giftings, but traits and tendencies that are positive. For example, Acts 17:10-11. Paul the Apostle in Acts 17:1-2. Paul had a trait of always going into the temple. When we are talking about strength, we are talking about your manner, what kind of person are you? Just know yourself. Church Gist. There are those who just live excited, smile all the time. It’s a strength. High sense of humour is a strength, easy to forget offense is a strength. Find out what strengths you have. The things that are positive attributes that people talk about.
4. Know your weaknesses. When we talk about weaknesses, we are talking about negative traits and tendencies. For almost every human being, there must be one thing or the other, not necessarily sinful but it’s a negative trait. Church Gist. Esau had weakness with his appetite. Genesis 25:29-34. His stomach controlled his life. He could sell a birthright to eat food. He had little value for eternal matters and great value for temporal matters. Second example, Judas Iscariot, he had weakness with money. In John 12:4-6, we saw how Judas is angry that somebody gave an offering. Church Gist. Levi and Simeon, they had weakness with anger and temper. Genesis 49:4-6. Samson, weakness with women. David. So, you know your weaknesses.
Before I go to the fifth one, I want us to know two things about strengths and weaknesses.
a. To succeed in life, you must emphasize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. Church Gist. If you’re going to succeed in life, empower your strengths and disempower your weaknesses. You quickly get angry, maintain malice, backbite people. Empower your strengths and disempower your weaknesses. To succeed in life, build on your strengths and pull down your weaknesses. Anything that is a good trait you have, build on it. Anything that is a bad trait you have, pull it down. Church Gist. When people say, “I think you’re too full of yourself. I think you talk too much”, don’t take it for granted.
b. The devil passes through weaknesses to destroy destinies. If the devil wants to destroy a life or destiny, he will locate their weaknesses and pass through it. Church Gist. Example: Moses could not enter the Promised Land because of the weakness of anger and that anger he inherited from his father, Levi. He broke the ten commandments, he struck the rock twice because of anger. Example, David literally had his destiny ruined because of the weakness of women – immoral weakness. The devil positioned Beersheba and pulled him down. Example, Judas Iscariot. Judas could not control his love for money until that love for money sent him to hell. Church Gist. Judas loved money until he sold the Master, the owner of the earth. How can you sell what you don’t have? And that money did not profit Judas, he didn’t buy anything with it, he only bought graveyard with the money. Is graveyard an asset? And of course, you know the example of Esau. Esau’s destiny was destroyed because of love for food. Church Gist. There are people who cannot say ‘no’ to food, they can break their fast depending on the smell of the food.
My father in the Lord, David Oyedepo told one man one day, the man was with him in the ministry. Church Gist. The man was very anointed and charismatic but very proud and arrogant. He told this man, “calm down with this your pride. If you don’t calm down, this pride would destory you”. The man replied, “let it destroy me”. He was actually destroyed by that pride. There are people anger has destroyed. Anger sent them to prison, they killed person out of anger that couldn’t be controlled. There are people whose weakness is laziness. Church Gist. They are just so lazy. How many of you know that when a car is parked and you don’t drive for 2-5 weeks, 1 month, 2, 3, 4 months, when you return back, something is wrong with the car. There’s something we call ‘Disuse atrophy’, the dryness of lack of use. See, when somebody’s hand is not mobile anymore because of lack of use, initially, the two hands are the same size, then after a while, it dries up. Church Gist. When a house is not occupied, after a while, it begins to crack. When people are inside, it’s healthy, when it is functionless, it begins to crack. Am I communicating at all?
See that little girl now that is talking (carelessly) and the parents are just watching and saying, “she’s a little girl”. She would look at somebody and say, “uncle, see your big nose” “uncle, this hat is ugly” and they are not talking to the girl at age 3,4. Church Gist. That same girl would insult the teacher in the class, and they would send her packing. She will change school. That same girl would slap the lecturer in the university and insult her husband until they send her back home. That ‘talk, talk, talk’ ruins her destiny. Church Gist. The serpent you don’t control can become a dragon tomorrow. I’m sure you know that the serpent in Genesis is the dragon of Revelation. What manifested in Genesis to Eve as serpent manifested in revelation as dragon.
To your own self, you must be true. You can lie to anybody, don’t lie to yourself. Face yourself and say, “this is my problem. I have a challenge in this area”. Church Gist. You have a challenge in the area of money, don’t let them put you as a cashier, tell them, “send me to another department”. I mean, they want to finish you. You have challenge in money area and they made you the head cashier and you agreed as if you don’t know yourself. You have women problem and they made you principal of women’s school and you agreed? Say, “No sir. I don’t have the ability to be the principal of an all girls’ school. Church Gist. All I need is an all boys’ school”. A former drunkard got a job in a brewery as the quality control manager. That is, he should taste the beer.
– look at your neighbour and say, “be real to yourself. Assist yourself to fulfill your destiny”.
When your problem is talkativeness, don’t let people bring talk to you because they’d be quoting you. Church Gist. It’s what you said that they will quote meanwhile they are the ones who brought the matter. When you know that you have a problem with over-talk, when people bring talk to you, tell them, “excuse me, let me attend to something”. Church Gist. Just be on your way at the spot. Don’t make a statement because silence cannot be misquoted. Nobody can say, “he didn’t say anything but I know this is what he would have said”.
5. Know who you are in Christ. There are many people who come to Church but they don’t know who they are in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17. 1 Peter 2:9. “I’m not an ordinary person, I am a Kingly Priest, a Priestly king. I have the crown of a king and the mantle of a Priest”. Ephesians 2:5-6. Church Gist. When you know where you’re seated, that is you’re on the 56th floor of a storey building and you’re concerned about the barking of the dog at the ground floor. The Bible said, “without, are dogs”. Somebody on the ground floor is threatening you and you’re shaking. Know your purpose.
How do you know yourself?
1. Look upward. Psalm 121:1. Go before your Maker, inquire of Him about your making. Nobody knows the product like the manufacturer. Habakkuk 2:1-3. Jeremiah 6:16. Church Gist. No one knows the product like the manufacturer and producer. Jeremiah 1:5. So, it’s a matter of going before the Lord, “what are you saying about my life? What do you want me to do with my life?” Isaiah 61:1-9. Church Gist. I went before the Lord, I out pressure, “Lord, I don’t want the tragedy of a wasted life, what do you want to do with my life?”.
2. Look inward. That is, look within yourself. What are you looking at? First, you’re looking at the burden in your heart. Acts 7:23. Also, look within your house, what oil do you see? What potential do you see? 2 Kings 4:2. I want to let you know that there’s nobody that is empty in this life, there’s something in your house, there’s something inside you.
– somebody say Amen.
– look at your neighbour by your side, say, “there’s something inside you. You’re not empty”.
The question is, what do you do effortlessly? Other people went to school to study it but for you, it came naturally. It’s like somebody that is levodextrous, he’s left handed, he didn’t go to school to study it. If you put a pen in his right hand, you’re wasting him, he can’t write with the right hand. Church Gist. What has happened is that the most dominant part of his brain is on his right, so he functions with the left. He didn’t go to school to try to be a ‘lefty’. So, check every dimension of your life. Church Gist. This dance I dance, I didn’t learn it in any dance school, ‘e dey body’. I learnt it from nowhere, new ones come if I want. The receiving and the writing of songs.
– somebody say Amen.
One woman was stranded many years ago, she was in debt. The shop she had, she couldn’t pay the rent. Stranded. Church Gist. She came to me and I said to her, “what can you do?” She said, “well, I know that I didn’t read catering but when guests come to my house and I cook, they don’t spare the food except maybe where the ‘Made in China’ is located. They lick their hands, almost eat the plate”. Church Gist. I said to her, “your strength is there. Your potential is there. Begin to sell food”. She said, “I don’t have a restaurant or any of those things”. I said, “you don’t need to have any of those things”. So she began to sell food in aluminum foil and go from office to office at the Federal secretariat. This person would eat it and invite another person, the other person would invite another person. Church Gist. Long story made short, “can you cook for an executive meeting?” Or whatever. From there, she took to a bank. The bank people tasted it and said, “come and operate our restaurant”. Somebody from another bank, you know the way bankers go from one bank to the other, ate the food there and said, “come to our own bank too”. Church Gist. Long story made short, in 3 months, she bought the shop whose rent she couldn’t pay. Everything changed and shifted because somebody assisted her to locate something in her she wasn’t aware was there.
There’s something you know how to do. From making people to laugh, there are people who are millionaires now. Church Gist. When they were growing up, they would just be talking and people would be laughing and they realized that there’s something there in that realm. I came across the story of a man whose name was Nicodemus The Papadopoulos. He has a very big nose. Church Gist. He would be using his nose and features as mockery for laughter and was going away with big money. There’s something in your house, there’s something you know how to do. Just look inside you. I told people, I said, “please I need an opportunity to be Master of Ceremony of their wedding” but they said they would not give me the opportunity. I told them, I said, “the way I talk, you know I can do it”. (Laughs).
3. Look outward. What is the meaning of “look outward”? It means look around you, look into your world. Church Gist. There are two things that I want to pull your attention to. Look into your world for what?
3a. What are the needs that you see that command both your attention and your compassion? It has a connection with your purpose. Nehemiah 1:1-4. Genesis 40:6-8.
3b. Look out into your world for the witness and observations of loved ones. Those who know you and love you, what witness do they bear concerning who you are. I’m not talking of your enemies, they would never find anything good with you. Church Gist. I’m not talking of those who hate you. I’m talking of those who love and care for you. Matthew 16:13-16. 2 Kings 4:9. When I was growing up, I’ve said this before, one of my loved ones, a senior one, once looked at me, the way I spoke, I was able to play with words anyhow. And he said, “the way you speak, you’re going to be a teacher, a lecturer. Church Gist. You’re going to address people”. So, there are people around you who can identify certain traits.
4. Look Spirit-ward. Look in the direction of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9. The things that belong to us, God reveals them to us by His spirit. Church Gist. When you pray abundantly in the Spirit, you come to the point where your understanding becomes saturated with spiritual information about your life and assignment.
5. Look Word-ward. Look in the direction of the Word of God. Acts 20:32. The Word would show you who you are. James 1:23-25. Church Gist. The Word is a mirror where you look into and it brings you out, who you are – your capability and audacity.
– I prophesy to somebody here today, you will not miss who you are meant to be in the land of the living.
– you shall fulfill your assignment in the land of the living!
Finally, why should you know yourself? What is the profit of the knowledge of who you are?
1. It facilitates optimal or excellent performance or delivery. If you know that this is what you’re to do with your life, I mean, if you’re a fish and you’re found inside the water where you belong, you perform optimally and excellently. Church Gist. If you’re a bird or an eagle and you’re found in the sky, you perform excellently and optimally. Most of the people that are stars in this world are not necessarily that they have two heads or anything, it’s that they have found purpose and just remained there. 1 Samuel 16:17-18.
2. It facilitates confidence and boldness in assignment. You’re confident and bold, you’re not shaky. When we were going to Jalingo, people were afraid; when we were going to Kano, many people said, “are you sure you will go there?” All manner of things. Church Gist. But when you know what you’re called to do and who called you to do it and the backing that you carry. In the crusade where we just came back from, in the hotel, one of the evenings, I told my wife, “you know that giant Angel I talked about, it’s around here right now just waiting for anybody who is on a suicide mission”. You’re confident, bold and audacious. John 1:22-23. He did his assignment with audacity. In John 18:37, Jesus also ministered with such audacity. He was talking to Pilate with audacity because He know His purpose. Church Gist. Pilate said, “I can set you free”. He said, “mechie onu (shut up) who are you? You can set who free? No man takes this life from me. I am laying it down voluntarily to take it up again. I came to die for the world. If not for that, I would submit 12 legions of Angels now, they will bury all of you alive”.
– I see somebody stepping out here with audacity.
3. It eliminates existence in inferiority and low self esteem. Existence in inferiority where it appears like other people are better than you, that dies when you locate what you’re to do with your life and you know who you are. Church Gist. How many of you know that the pig has never envied the cat? The cat would never step into the mud, the pig would lie inside mud for Christmas. It looks like the pig is one of those animals that God created for scavenging assignment – clean the earth of dead debris. I’m sorry for those who have it as their delicacy. But it has enzymes inside it, two of it. Church Gist. One is called cadaverine, cadaver is dead body. Cadaverine is to dissolve dead body and digest it. That is, “I have given you this assignment. You have a life but just clean the surface. Anything that is smelling around, just pick it”. Church Gist. I think the vulture may have such deposits inside them. So, the pig is not envying anybody, it’s fulfilling its assignment inside the mud.
– look at your neighbour, say, “I’m not envying you. If you’re taller than me, you’re too tall for assignment and if you’re shorter than me, you’re too short for my purpose”.
Now, can I drop a bomb? If you know your purpose and what God created you for, you won’t change your skin colour like Jackson and your nose. Do you know there are people doing all manner of surgery now? Church Gist. Chest, back, side. What some have naturally, others are using money to purchase it. If God knows it is fitting for your life and purpose, He would have given it to you naturally as well. Let me not throw bomb in that direction so that nobody would say I came to Church for them this morning. It delivers from inferiority complex.
I have never felt inferior to anybody under heaven irrespective of your colour. Church Gist. White, black, yellow, red, anywhere in the world, I move with audacity, with all manner of authority. I will give you your respect but if you talk to me on the basis of my skin colour, my tribe or anything, you would be shocked at what you will receive in response.
– look at your neighbour, say, “I’m not inferior to anybody under Heaven!”
4. It facilitates assignment with focus. When you know who you are, you move with focus. Matthew 6:22. You’re not easily distracted into everything. I know a billionaire who said he has never tried or dared oil and gas business. Church Gist. It’s not his realm. Neither is he doing anything called contract, but he’s in billions. There are those today when they say, “this is what is working”, everybody move there. Focus is key to impact. You can’t make impact in life until you’re focused.
5. It averts the tragedy of a wasted life and guarantees ending well in life. 2 Timothy 4:6-8. Let me tell you a story. Church Gist. I heard from Mike Murdock about a man who told him, the man said, “I work in a place that makes me feel miserable every Monday morning for the last 26 years”. That is, you woke up in the morning and you want to go to work and your heart is beating and you went. For 26 solid years. So, Mike said, “why are you doing the work?” He said, “Oh. The job is near my house. That’s why I’m working there”. “Why don’t you resign?” He said, “No. I have 3 more years to receive a golden watch”. After you work for a while, they give you a golden wrist watch. He was waiting for the watch. Church Gist. That is, a whole 30 years of life wasted. Why? The job is near my house. Two, there’s a golden watch coming. That golden watch, would it increase your time on earth? Will it make you last longer? Wasted life. Completely wasted.
– you won’t waste your life like that!
– say, “in the name of Jesus, I cannot waste my life. I shall not waste my life like that!
My counsel here today is, do all you can to know yourself. Do all you can to know who you are. You can keep on unraveling. Church Gist. When I stepped into ministry at first, there was not one song that I had or written neither did I ever know that song will come out. I was not playing no instrument, we just came raw into ministry as a Pastor. No Bible School even but the things keep on unfolding. Many people arrive too soon, so they arrive too small. Church Gist. I can tell you, for as long as you have not seen Jesus face to face, there’s one more step to take. If Moses can start the first chapter of his ministry and assignment at the age of 80, how old are you that you’re agreeing to retire?
– it’s a new day!
– you are blessed! Blessed are your ears for hearing the things you just heard.
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