WHERE FOCUS IS LOST, DESTRUCTION BEGINS
WHAT TOOK YOU INTO MINISTRY MUST BE WELL DEFINED. WHAT YOU ARE OUT FOR MUST BE DEFINED
YOU CAN MAKE NEWS WITHOUT MAKING NOISE.
IT IS EASIER FOR SOME PEOPLE TO FAST FROM FOOD THAN TO FAST FROM TALK IN THESE DAYS OF SOCIAL MEDIA.
WHEN YOU BEGIN TO FUNCTION WITH BRUTAL FOCUS, YOU WILL BE ACCUSED OF PRIDE.
DO YOU WANT TO SET YOUR GENERATION ON FIRE? FOCUS!
SCATTERED ENERGY IS BANKRUPTCY OF IMPACT.
WHY THE DEDICATION DATE OF FAITH TABERNACLE WAS ANNOUNCED BEFORE CONSTRUCTION COMMENCED.
EVERY FOCUSED MAN OR WOMAN IS A TERROR TO THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS.
RESULTS ARE PRODUCTS OF ROUTINES. SUCCESS IS A PRODUCT OF SCHEDULES.
IF THE devil WANTS TO SLOW YOU DOWN OR FRUSTRATE YOUR GOALS, HE BREAKS YOUR FOCUS.
WE WERE MANY WHEN WE STARTED FOLLOWING PAPA OYEDEPO BUT MANY HAVE DISAPPEARED BECAUSE THE DISCIPLINE IS TOO TOUGH.
WE WILL BE 28 YEARS OLD IN NOVEMBER, I HAVE PREACHED ON A SUNDAY ANYWHERE ELSE FROM THIS CHURCH NOT MORE THAN FIVE TIMES.
I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY YOUR CALLING IS A PASTOR AND YOU ARE NOT AT YOUR BASE ON SUNDAY MORNING
NOBODY SHOULD BE DEPENDING ON GUEST INVITATIONS AND CALL IT A MINISTRY
- Dr Pastor Paul Enenche on “THE STRENGTH OF ASSOCIATION” || International Ministers’ Flaming Fire Conference 2024 || Day 4 Morning Session || Glory Dome Abuja || 30th August 2024.
Joshua 11:13.
I am speaking on STRENGTH THROUGH STILLNESS AND FOCUS. Our objective is to understand the strength of stillness and focus. A major secret of strength is stillness that is accompanied by focus. When I talk about stillness, I am talking about noiselessness, rescued from unnecessary business or restlessness. Noiselessness! Church Gist. You can make news without making noise. Rescued from unnecessary business and restlessness. Isaiah 30:7. There is strength in stillness. There is strength in focus. Their strength is to sit still. Isaiah 30:15. Isaiah 41:1. Ensure stillness, ensure focus so you can renew your strength. The Bible is filled with examples and situations where focus and stillness brought strength.
- The Tower Of Babel
Genesis 11:6. They are focused, they are target specific so nothing becomes impossible for them. - Abraham’s journey to Canaan.
Genesis 12:5. There was a focus that Abraham had. He maintained the focus on Canaan and he allowed nothing to stop him until he arrived in Canaan. He went forth into the land of Canaan and into the land of Canaan he came. Genesis 11:31-32, his father didn’t do that. His father could not face where he was going and he died. He was going to Canaan but he allowed himself to be distracted off where he was going. Church Gist. He dwelt in Haran and in Haran he died. Where focus is lost, destruction begins. There is a proverb in our place that says what took you to the house of the blacksmith must be defined. If you went to the house of the blacksmith, whatever took you there must be defined. What took you into ministry must be defined. What you are out for must be defined.
My niece, my senior sister’s daughter, was giving an account of how she saw me at the beginning of the ministry. She saw me when I was leaving Jos for Abuja then for the call, she said my face was like a flint. Church Gist. A flint! A no nonsense flint. Maybe we will listen to one of the clips one of these days. Abraham’s journey, he went forth to go into the land of Canaan and into the land of Canaan, he came.
- The Jericho March
The march around the Wall of Jericho, there was focus plus quietness. Joshua 6:10. Concentrate your energy for now. Don’t lose energy through talkativeness. Joshua 6:20. They focused on the task, March around Jericho Wall, six days once daily and on the seventh day, seven times. Church Gist. Don’t talk to anybody until I ask you to talk. After marching, then they spoke and the wall crashed. There are many ministers of the gospel, it is not a problem they have with potential, but a problem with focus. Energy divided and scattered. It is not a problem with potential, it is not a problem of the anointing but a problem of focus, concentration and target specificity. - Elisha’s Pursuit Of Elijah
2 Kings 2:1-5. This was a man that was focused on something and there were people around that were trying to take away his focus. He followed his master and when he arrived at the end of the journey, the master asked him “what do you want from me?” Church Gist. He was not confused at all. A double portion of the spirit that is upon you. He followed and pursued with focus and that strength of focus imparted on him a double portion of the mantle. The focus that brought you here shall drop on you a mantle that you have never seen before. - Elijah’s Instruction To Gehazi When He Was Going To Raise The Son Of The Shunammite Woman.
Focus! quietness! 2 Kings 4:29.
That was an instruction that was meant to deliver power to raise a dead child. Unfortunately, the Vessel carrying the power discharged the power from the Rod, by His hand. But the instruction was clear: “Don’t let anybody…” He said: “Greet no man by the way.” At the beginning of our ministry, we told our pastors and ministers if some of you remember, that: “You have not been sent into the city as a public relations officer.” Church Gist. You remember that? “You have not been sent into the city as a public relations officer, moving from place to place fraternizing aimlessly. Go face the work! Give the work no rest until the work gives you rest. Give it all it takes until it gives you all it contains.” You remember that? Because there are those who will come aimlessly and say: “Ah! Pastor! How are you? I just came to greet you. How’s life? How’s ministry? What is happening? Is there any news in town?” Moving up and down aimlessly. “Greet no man by the way and if any greet you…”
Now! When you begin to function with brutal focus, you will be accused of pride. That will be a major accusation. My Father in the Lord passed through that and he is passing through that and every… You will hear, they will say: “He’s too big, he doesn’t talk to anybody; he doesn’t relate with anybody.” It is not pride, it is a brutality of focus that is meant to deliver your assignment with dignity. “He doesn’t come for some meetings.” Church Gist. Oh! No!!! It’s not pride. “Greet no man by the way and if they greet you answer them.” That was too brutal. But if you thought Elisha was too brutal, Jesus gave the same instruction to His disciples in Luke 10. The Master’s instructions to the seventies. Luke 10:1-2 and verses 4-6. That is, don’t struggle with resources by yourself. That was the kind of brutal focus – Quietness, that they went into the ministry and the seventy returned with joy saying: “Unclean spirits went out in Your name.”
- The Focus Of Paul, The Apostle.
Apart from Jesus in the New Testament, there’s no other ministry as impactful, that was as impactful, that is as impactful because Paul is still impacting us till tomorrow. Philippians 3:10-16. Church Gist. The meaning is, “I want to catch why God caught me. I want to catch! The reason why God caught me, I want to catch it.”
-Somebody say a loud Amen! Lift your right hand and say: “Father! I receive the grace for focus and quietness.
Hallelujah! Not every time my wife greets me in the morning she expects a reply and she understands. And when is she not to expect a reply? When I have not finished talking with God and she understands. Not every time you greet me on my way to the altar that I will answer you. “Good morning daddy!” Or “Good morning Sir.” It appeared to me as if any slight talk would leak some spiritual force. Church Gist. Leakage! Most crossover nights many many years ago, I will go from 25th December to 31st waiting on the Lord. And the first thing I want to speak is when I handle the microphone. Alone! For 7 days Israel was warned not to talk. They work? Say nothing!! That was a fasting of talk. You know? There are people it is easier for them to fast from food than to fast from talk especially in these days of social media. The phone, the text, the message. Some of the worst devils of some people.
Look at the Sunlight that you see up there, you will never hear that the Sun was too hot in Los Angeles or in Las Vegas and it burned down a house. No matter how hot the Sun has been, it has not burnt anything. Church Gist. But all you need to do is to carry a magnifying glass in a forest and concentrate and focus the rays on a dry log of wood, you’ve set a forest on fire by the power of focus. Do you want to set your generation on fire? Focus! Scattered energy is bankruptcy of impact. Do you want to set your generation on fire? There is a dimension of focus you need. There is a dimension of quietness you need.
Let’s look quickly at the power of focus. What power is in focus and stillness? What strength is in there?
- The Power Of Concentrated Energy And Effort.
Focus concentrates the energy of a man. It concentrates the effort of a man. That was the Jericho Wall mystery. Church Gist. Joshua 6:20. It’s the power of concentrated energy, the power of concentrated effort. That is, deliverance from distributed energy, deliverance from divided energy.
Every focused man or woman is a terror to the kingdom of darkness. Three and a half years of focus for the life and ministry of our Master, Jesus gave results that the World has not recovered from. Three and a half years! David “one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I follow after.” “This is one thing I do, forgetting the things behind” – Paul. Church Gist. Look at the lives of those people and look at the enormity of energy that they deployed into their generation. Show me a focused man who is quiet in the spirit versus a noisy person who is everywhere and the difference is clear.
- The power of target specific impact. When people are focused, target is unmissed. You don’t miss targets. Church Gist. You go, you hit things, you hit targets, you hit them. The power of target specific impact that is, impact without missing targets.
Before the Faith Tabernacle construction started, the date of the dedication was announced and it didn’t fail because of the target specificity of focus. Distracted people may miss a lot of goals but not focused people. Many distracted people set goals that cannot be met because they don’t have the level of focus that requires the meeting of targets. Church Gist. It is the power of target specific impact. We saw that in the life of Paul, the Apostle. Philippians 3:14-16. That is why the devil struggles for your focus because if he can get your focus, he can render you useless.
- It is the power of speed and acceleration. Focus is the sponsor of speed. Show me a focused man, a focused woman, a focused ministry, a focused man; I will show you a man who achieves more in one year than most people will accomplish in a lifetime. Church Gist. Focus! Habakkuk 2:1-3. That focus gives you speed.
When focus is lost, speed is lost. Speed is arrested with the loss of focus. Have you ever seen somebody running in the Olympics and then somebody is greeting him from the stand and he comes out of the race and says “thank you” and all of that? Church Gist. He will never reach anywhere. If the devil wants to slow you down, he just breaks your focus. If the devil wants to frustrate your goals, he breaks your focus. If the devil wants to destroy your impact, he breaks your focus.
- Everyone today who is a victim of broken focus, I declare that spell is broken right now!
Results are products of routines. Success is a product of schedules.
- It is the power of victory over the enemy. Victory is easy over the enemy when focus is sharp. What they call a sniper is a one man army. It’s the army of a person. Some can waste a hundred people in one spot by the power of target specific shooting. Church Gist. Power over the enemy is possible with focus. The lion is trained to focus so it pursues a thing without missing. Focus! Genesis 26:17-22.
- In the name of Jesus, the last battle you lost shall be the last forever!
It is the power of victory over the enemy.
- It is the power to surmount and uproot obstacles. Focus will make you surmount obstacles. Focus will make you uproot obstacles. What was an obstacle before ceases to be an obstacle now through focus. What used to take us years (and this is in all humility) to achieve (to see) is now a matter of one month, two months. You know in a place like this, you have to be a bit careful what you say. A month! What used to take like 10 years! You surmount obstacles! Church Gist. That’s the mystery of the Jericho wall. They surrounded it and it surrendered. What you surround, must surrender. You surround it with focus, it must surrender. Joshua 6:20. They surrounded it until it surrendered. You surmount obstacles. You uproot oppositions by maintaining brutal focus.
When this Church started and for many years, it was from house to Church, office back to house. House to Church – it has not changed such that when I went into the City I didn’t know the City. “Which one is this? When did this road come?” Many of us came from different countries, in this Place (in this Country), I don’t think I have entered a banking hall once or twice in the last 20 years. I don’t want anybody to get angry because there are those who must go and maybe the system or the structure around them – I don’t know. Church Gist. But if there are people who can do certain things, I don’t need to do what someone else can do on my behalf. I am to do what no other person can do for me…you have to do it yourself. But you can go ahead with focus until you come to the point where you have people who can do it for you. The necessary thing is to just narrow your energy to what requires your attention strictly. Just focus or channel your energy, channel your life’s time, your life’s resources, your life’s time and resources to what requires only you to do. Channel it!
Very soon I might begin to say some things that may be very tough and very annoying. But until instruction causes you some irritation, it may not bring you any transformation. If you only follow people who teach you what you like, you will not grow. Many of us started following our father, Bishop Oyedepo. Plenty of us Bishop This, Pastor That, plenty. After a while people started fizzling out because the discipline was too tough. Papa doesn’t have diplomacy in his talk. We are even gentler than him. He will tell you raw. So people disappeared. Where is this one? He is nowhere to be found. Where is this one? He is nowhere to be found. Out of plenty of people following, now you see just a handful of people. Church Gist. Those who follow strictly, the difference is like light and day. It is very clear. Those are ready to pay the demands, who will swallow the hard words, the hard pills. Is there any mother here who will pity the child enough not to give them medication that will heal them? Will the cry of the baby stop you from giving the child the medication? It is as if you are tormenting the child but you know that you are not tormenting the child. You know it is for the good of the child. You know that it is so you can have rest and the child can have rest.
- The Power Of Focus Is The Power To Accomplish The Inexplicable.
Power to accomplish the impossible, to accomplish the unfathomable. Power! It is power to bring about the nonexistent. The power of focus! Genesis 11:6. These people are so focused that what they imagine must emerge. Nothing shall be restrained from them. When you come to this spiritual family tree, you see some of the mega things of life. Church Gist. You go to Daddy GO you see just mega. You go to Papa Oyedepo, the same thing. Just mega things! Focus! The inexplicable, the impossible, the unfathomable, the previously nonexistent. That is the power of focus. The power to see results that people are asking how did it happen. It doesn’t happen by being distracted. It doesn’t happen by mind everywhere, it happens by the channeling of life’s energy, time, resources.
- The Power Of Focus Is The Power To Reach Your God Ordained Destination.
Where God wants you to reach, it takes focus to get there. If there is no focus in the beginning, there can be no destiny at the end. Church Gist. Your God ordained destination! Genesis 12:5. Abraham went forth to go into the land of Canaan and into the land of Canaan they came. You will reach your destiny.
Let me say this, one of the greatest battles of life and ministry is the battle of focus. It looks tiny but if you have a battle in your finances, battle in this or that, everything boils down to the battle of focus. The battle of facing what you are meant to face, the battle of doing what you are meant to do with your life. If you are having scarcity of finances, it is still your focus that is being fought. Church Gist. Because the same mind and focus that you would have used to handle your progress is the same mind you are using to handle your debts and bills. I preached many years ago on the battle of focus and I want to enumerate four or five areas of the battle of focus. One thing I believe today is that there will be victory in that battle.
- The Battle Of Concentration On One’s Primary Assignment
In the course of your life, in the course of your journey, the devil will give you so many alternatives to your primary assignment, your primary goal, your primary focus. Songs of Solomon 1:5. I am black because I have a vineyard to keep that I left and they made me the keeper of other vineyards. You lose your colour if you don’t face your calling. Church Gist. There are many people who lost colour, their ministry and their assignment should have been more colourful than it is, but they lost the colour because they are not focused on their calling. Are you an Evangelist? Face it squarely. Go on evangelistic crusades. Face it! Are you a pastor? Face it! Are you a teacher? Teach with depth and insight, let it touch lives and change destinies. Are you a prophet? Prophesy not to look for money from people’s pockets but to bring healing and deliverance and liberation and exaltation and enlarge the Kingdom of God. Are you an apostle? Break the grounds. Whatever dimension of the apostolic that God wants you to do. What is your calling, it determines your colour.
I said I am going to say somethings that will annoy some people. I don’t understand why your calling is a pastor and you are not at your base on Sunday morning. It beats the imagination. If you are an Evangelist, crusades! If it is something that happened once or twice, it is pardonable but this is your routine. Away from the flock. Songs of Solomon 1:5. There is no ministry or calling called itinerant ministry or preaching. It is not part of the fivefold ministry. In those days when we were growing up, we had people who were in ministry and their greatest resume was “I was in Jamaica this week. I was in Singapore last. I was in Oklahoma, I went to Ethiopia” and the younger ones will be envying them and feeling intimidated. Oh this man has gone everywhere. My challenge is, if in all those places he went, he organized the program like an outreach on the base of his ministry. That’s okay, that is his calling to do that. Church Gist. When you do that, just going everywhere. I am aware that to be everywhere is to be nowhere. Some of those people are still alive today, no invitation anymore and there is no work at home to come and meet. Because when the bird continues to fly from place to place and it has no nest, it will fly and fly the time will come when it can’t fly anymore, it will just drop from the sky. Many have dropped.
For the first 26 years of ministry Paul Yonggi Cho went nowhere. He didn’t go anywhere as a pastor. 26 years! By the time the church became established and he put structures in place and he felt the need to impact the world with what God had given him, Church Growth and all of that. He could travel for months but the church was already running. He had set it in a way in which it was running on its own. We will be 28 years old in November. I have preached on another altar that is not this church on a Sunday highest five times. I remember Israel, I remember Ghana, I remember Robert Kayanja’s church in Uganda. I remember one time in America and then Venezuela when I couldn’t catch my flight to turn back to Abuja. I can’t count more than that. I knew that this is my primary base. I have been with Evangelist Jonathan twice and I will preach until Friday evening in Pittsburgh and fly from there at 12 midnight. Church Gist. 1am in Pittsburgh is 7am Saturday morning in Abuja. I started the journey at 1am on Saturday in America to reach here about 7pm on Saturday for Sunday Service. Why do you pass through such stress? It would have been easier to remain with them and then finish the Sunday Service and then go ahead. We go straight from the altar to the airport. I am aware that someone placed me on appointment. He appointed seventy also. I am on His appointment. I don’t run the assignment on my own terms and expect to be remunerated on His own terms.
By the mercies of God, I don’t need any guest invitation worldwide. That is the assignment here alone is occupying. It is engaging enough. So the kind of things that pull me out are places where I believe God wants me to go and then there is impact that will affect cities or nations or so. It is strategic. When you have multiple assignments like us pastoring a church and then crusade grounds then you try to see the wisdom of God on how to handle all of that. So we go from nation to nation in crusades that we organize and then where there is a solid tangible relationship that is like an extension of the ministry. If Ntia invites me, normal. George (Izunwa) and all of that, that is more like a continuation of the same impact. My father in the Lord, I can cancel any program for that one because of the impartation that brought me to where I am. This focus is very important. You don’t build a skyscraper on a shack foundation. You don’t! This is important! Among ourselves, why not? Iron sharpeneth iron. You invited me to your altar, I invite you to my altar. That Sunday morning where the majority of the people come to the Church, other days are scanty but it is Sunday where the people come the most. Where they must witness your assignment, you are away how many Sundays in a row.
As for the evangelists, organize your meeting, Go! Nobody should be depending on guest invitations and call it a ministry. That is if people don’t invite you you don’t have a ministry. That is miserable. If possible what you left at home should be more massive than anything you met anywhere. One day one of those places I went to minister on a Sunday, they gave me an honorarium. The ministration there wasn’t deliberate like I wanted to be away from the Church on a Sunday, there was a reason for it. Church Gist. After they gave me an honorarium in foreign currency, in dollars of course, when I came home the Monday I returned, one man came and he said God asked him to give me an offering. He is not a member of our church. Another church! He said I have been with this offering for almost six months, I have been looking for you to come and give it to you. I am happy to see you. He brought that offering in the same denomination from that place and the same amount. It was a message to me. If you sit on your work and do it faithfully, anything can meet you on that work. That is, you don’t need to run around to make the rounds. You don’t need to run around.
This is very important, it is the battle of focusing on the primary assignment. Initially it may look like good opportunities, it may look like exposure here and there but eventually. Don’t misunderstand me. It is possible to move but don’t move at the detriment of your primary assignment. Don’t move at the expense of your assignment. 1 Kings 20:39-40. Many people lost their assignment to busyness, what God gave you to keep got lost as you are busy here and there. Many Ministries ended, many great callings couldn’t see the light of (the) day, what God entrusted to the man, he was busy here and there. Church Gist. One of the things that I learned early is never to violate the principles that I know to be true out of respect for anybody. One big man, he is in the class of fathers in the land. He asked me: “Can you come and be in our Church for this Sunday and minister?” I said: “No Sir, I don’t go out on Sundays. I can come any other day, not Sunday.” I’m sure that was the first time he was seeing such a thing. “It is a privilege to go to big altars but Sunday? No Sir! Please Sir, any other day but I have to be in Church on Sunday morning.” “Really? Okay!” The request was never made again. It was understood. If people know your principles they won’t tempt you for compromise. If they know the principles you stand for, they won’t tempt you; it will reduce temptations unto violations. But many times, we don’t stand for anything, so we fall for everything. Let your assignment occupy you.
Many times we are distracted because we are not sufficiently occupied. Let your assignment occupy you. And those of us that are music ministers, those that are not here please talk to them – One Church this Sunday, another Church next Sunday, another Church next Sunday, another Church. In a whole year, you may have gone to 365 Churches. How many Sundays in a year? 52. He’s not actively being pastored by anybody. He may have a Church that he calls his Church but he is not being pastored. If ministering like that is your ministry, it’s possible to honour once in a while but when it becomes permanent and then when questionable altars? Church Gist. You stand in this one and then move to the next one and then move to the next one, there are people who have lost their mantle by standing on altars that are wrong. The altar took something from you. You heard Frank Edwards who testified the other day that while they invited him to somewhere, people saw him in the handbill. They said: “Are you sure you want to go to this place?” He said: “But I have already given them my word. Who said so? Is your word the word of God that cannot fail? He said: “God is not a man that He should repent” which means man can repent. “God is not a man that can change His words” which means man can change his word. I mean, you don’t keep on driving when you know you are in the wrong lane, you do a U-turn. You can apologize: “I’m so sorry, I’m unable to honour this invitation for a very serious reason.” Your destiny is very serious! And he went! As he went, something dropped on him, not just that, he almost died. He was so sick, it was his mother – SU mother who prayed for him. Hallelujah! So that’s the battle! So let’s rush, there are other ones we need to fight.
- It’s The Battle Of The Confrontation Of Faith
Where your faith is being confronted with the capacity to take your focus off your assignment. The confrontation of faith! Your faith and confidence in God under confrontation. 1 Timothy 6:12. It’s a fight! Confrontation of faith! And I’m trusting God to deal with that brutally. Church Gist. You are meant to be preaching healing but the devil is afflicting you with a torment in your body. You can’t fast because of ulcer. You say: “Lord! I am a pastor. I need to fast and pray and this thing is confronting me.” Blood sugar is tormenting you, hypertension is confronting your faith, all the affliction of a child.
A man testified here the other day, he said his child was convulsing so much, they would have to call him. Every time the child went to school they would send for his parents. He said he was too ashamed to call himself a pastor. “Pastor, your child is convulsing again.” Or maybe, a wayward child and you are meant to be a pastor and the devil is looking at you in the face, he said: “I think you call yourself a pastor, why is this happening to you?” Or a very very terrible confrontation. I told you the story the other time. Man of God had a wife that was literally running her own ministry inside her husband’s ministry, separate! It’s very, very rebellious! Church Gist. When the man said anything… Long story made short, she went and filed for divorce. Everybody spoke, father in the Lord spoke, no way! She divorced and then went and opened her Church beside husband’s Church. What kind of fight is this? What kind of confrontation is it? And 500 members followed her. Bad Church members, bad ones! In a situation like this, either you follow the original vision or you find your way somewhere else. That Church survived for only about 2 years and closed down. I spoke with the man, he said: “You must have heard about my situation.” I said: “I heard but about 3 or 4 people who told me before you said the matter was not your fault. So I’m not going to deal with you with the eye of somebody whose home failed.” That’s a confrontation! A major distraction to ministry. What do you want to preach when you can’t keep your home? That’s what the devil will be telling you.
-But today! I announce to somebody, any area where there is a battle – hepatitis, whatever it is that the devil had put in your life; every time oppression, physical bodily oppression. Church Gist. That is fighting your focus on the assignment. I announce today, it is over! If you’re saying Amen shout the loudest Amen!
Lift your right hand say: Father! I receive victory over every confrontation of my life, of my faith, I receive victory over physical ailment, I receive victory over family situations. I receive victory now!
- The Battle Of Enemy Distractions Of The Assignment.
Let’s say, the devil keeps on trying to raise ugly head with negative occurrences just to break the man’s focus. You prayed for this one to be healed; he refused to be healed. You prayed for another one he refused to be healed. Church Gist. And not just refusing to be healed, it ended terribly. Do you understand what I’m talking about? You want to step on the altar on Sunday morning, that is when the devil wants to bring you a bad news. The devil is a bad boy and I am saying this because God puts it in my heart.
-You are not called to bury people before their time and that shall not be your assignment and that shall not be your ministry. Church Gist. And no devil will give you that assignment. No devil will give anybody here that assignment.
He said: “I will build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail.” So the gate of hell is active against the growth of the Church. Church Gist. Whenever you have a ministry, an assignment that is impactful and important; it will stir up hell.
-Somebody say Amen! Somebody say a louder Amen.
One pastor came to me crying: “Our building just reached the roofing level, we are almost trying to roof and the whole thing collapsed.” He’s crying! I said: “Was anybody hurt?” He said: “No!” I said: “Would you prefer if you died? Between you and the building, who should have crashed? Church Gist. Give the Lord the praise, out the devil to shame!” It’s just little, little thing here, he just tries to take your attention here. He just wants you to know that he is a devil that is still alive. “I am a devil and I am still existing.” He just wants to make you feel like: “I don’t care what anointing you carry, I’m a devil and I am still around. But I have 2 Scriptures for somebody on the basis of this: Nahum 1:9.
-I don’t know how many times the affliction has arisen in your life and in your ministry. Affliction shall not rise up another time!
Zephaniah 3:14-15.
-I don’t know who has that word: Thou shall not see evil anymore! Evil with your family! Evil with the situations of your children! Evil with the situations of the Church! Church Gist. Evil with the situation of the ministry. Thou shall not see evil anymore! Congratulations! Affliction shall not rise up a second time. Thou shall not see evil any more. You shall not see evil anymore!
There is a pastor from Benin who said he comes out in Church in the day; comes to the Church office and the Church building and there is fetish on the ground. All manner of sacrifices! In front of the Church, consistently, continuously. Sacrifice! So, this confrontation of the assignment will come from evil and occultic altars, even false ministries, agents of the devil masquerading as priests who feel threatened by your assignment. Church Gist. So they will come in confrontation, they will come at times openly, they will come subterraneanly but who is he that can harm you? If you be a follower of that which is good. If you don’t know them, if you have not discerned them, they will be cool with you but provided they know that you know them. But who is he that can harm you? Nobody!
-Somebody say: “Nobody!”
- The battle of disfocus from the wrong association. When your destiny is big, the devil will arrange the wrong company to come across your life. Delilah entered into the life of Samson, that was the abortion of his ministry. There are people that the devil will arrange some friends into your life, extra nice, they may become. “I saw you at the Minister’s Conference.” Church Gist. Listen to me, I will not be surprised if there are agents of the devil (in fact, that goes without saying) that are here. They want to befriend you and dislocate your vision.
One man, doing well, he was a professional. He was an engineer but a pastor also – very well, submitted. One day, somebody said, “who is your father in the Lord?” He mentioned my name and the person said, “between you and him, who is older?” As if it is village that is the villa of age. The man said, “I am older than him.” He said, “so why are you submitting to somebody that is younger than you? Go and look for an older spiritual father as if age is superior to grace or title is superior to title. No way! Church Gist. That was how the man disconnected himself. He went through the wilderness for about 7 years till now, he hasn’t recovered. He was the one who told me himself and still disappeared. The seed that was down into his mind, that seed didn’t disappear – his life, gone!
There are pastors who were not emphasizing money before until a friend entered their life. A friend! One pastor told another pastor, he said, “there are meetings that are powerful and there are meetings that are profitable.” He said, “you should do meetings that are profitable not just powerful.” He said, what do you mean? What is the difference? Church Gist. He said, “powerful meeting is where power came, people were saved, blind saw, deaf heard, cripples walked – that is powerful. Profitable meeting is measured by how much came out – plenty raising of money.” All manner. He said, give for this and that and do that and that. He said, “do more profitable meetings because the powerful ones will not get anything done. Profitable!
Another one told another one and that one got corrupted by that counsel. He said, “when you want to organize major meetings and conferences, organize it towards the end of the month or at the beginning of the new month when people have collected their salaries.” Both the counselor and the counselee – nothing! People just deviate and before you know it “I have a message to preach and it’s going to impact you financially.” Church Gist. It is important to raise money in ministry because work must be done. But where your motive is money itself not concern for the people and for the impact of the ministry, that is merchandise. People just derailed from the path of assignment.
I invited one guest minister here many years ago and he said, “should I raise money or should I…?” I said, “no, you are not invited to raise money. We have enough honorarium for you when you are done going. Please, relationships should be by principles not by convenience. That it is convenient for you to relate with somebody – no, no! It must be principle based. Principle! This Church – nobody is under money pressure. During this construction, people were coming and relaxing and smiling and enjoying their lives. What we are doing currently, you need to know the amount that it goes in multiple zeros (9). Everybody is calm and relaxed. Going round the World on crusades, no raising of offering on any crusade ground because we actually came for the souls and not for the money of the people who came to the crusade ground. After all, the Bible said, “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination before God.” That is, I am not looking for money from a sinner and yet there is no scarcity or shortage to get it done.
In my experience, those who don’t put people under money pressure, they have plenty of it far more than those who are permanently pressurizing people because of the principles that really make things work. Papa Oyedepo, I don’t know of other times but He will take sacrifice once a year and face his life till another Shiloh. Then the last time, he was raising the offering, he said, “you know this Faith Theatre (The Ark) that is being built if you have any plan to give towards it, no need. You can give towards any other thing because it has been fully paid for. ACs, chairs and everything inside is paid for. I happen to be privy to the cost of the roof because it is the same roofing company. You don’t want to know the amount in millions of dollars. Roofing – all fully paid for. “In case, you wanted to give towards this place, this one is paid for. You can channel it to other things, maybe rural Church planting. Let us know how many of the Churches you want to…” Those are people just cooling fully covenant principles both personal and Church and things are happening.
So please, be very careful with association. Let association sharpen you. Don’t associate with any friend that will introduce you into something wrong. It’s a new day! Any association that is not enhancing, it’s due for disconnection. Anything that is not adding any value to you is due for disconnection. So the devil sends the wrong people into your life just to distract and derail your destiny.
- It is distractions from human actions. We saw that in the life of Elijah. 2 Kings 2:1-12. There are human actions, some offenses filled. Matthew 18:7. Let me tell you a story. Many years ago we had a Minister’s Conference and one of our pastors after the Minister’s Conference came out in Area One – this may be up to 10 years now. He said, “Sir, people are so bad. Can you imagine someone who just left the Minister’s Conference that you preached to us so powerfully, he is talking against you just outside?” Someone who sat and was writing notes and was saying Amen – just outside; he is talking, talking “who does he think he is?” All manner! Now, two things that I didn’t do. I didn’t ask him who is he? And number 2, what did he say? I didn’t need it so as to guard my heart. Because it may be someone that is close and if I heard that, that will totally disbalance my heart in terms of my reaction towards the person. So let me not know who it is, let me not know what he said so that I can continue to relate normal and let Jehovah judge.
Please, can I advise all of us? Do your neighbour the favour of not over informing them of whatever an enemy or whoever…don’t over inform them. Senior pastors of ministries, advise the people who work with you. It’s not all information they should tell you. “These 2 people were saying this about pastor, this person was saying this…” Most of them are not necessary, they are intended to break focus especially in this social media age which is such an age of evil. There are people that are demons whose assignment is there. Ecclesiastes 7:21. Our people say “if eyes does not see, neck will not draw.”
Don’t be enquiring what did who say? He said, because the person that may talk against you, that may hurt you the most is not an enemy – the one whose salary you are paying, the one whose children, you sent to school, the one whose hospital bill you paid, whose children’s school fees you are paying may be the one who spoke against you the worse. He says, “I am talking to you. The one living in your house may be conniving with demons outside.” He said, so, don’t pay over attention.
Papa Oyedepo said he shielded himself from both applause and assault. You applaud me, I am not aware. You assault me, I am not aware. Very important. If the devil does not know how to stop you, he will step into human agents to get your attention. It’s one of the ways. “Slow this man, he’s too fast. Slow this woman down, they are too fast. We have not been able to reach him to attack him spiritually, diabolically because his heart is free. Do things to introduce bitterness so he can be accessed. In case you hear your servant curse you, your P.A, your secretary, your driver, your chef, your laundry – in case you hear them and you are likely to hear them. Because if Judas Iscariot that was the most trusted, carried the money bag (you know the level of trust to say handle the money), if he could rise and say “don’t take heed to everything.” There are things, they say, (you reply) “I am not interested.” Did you hear? “Oh, no, I am not interested.” Church members – the devil will send some people to corrupt your mind against the altar that is blessing you and the mantle.
One man who was in Winners Chapel before who left came to me to tell me terrible things about my Father in the Lord. And he was such a person that was so close with him. I looked at him and I said “look at you. I know him, I don’t know you.” There are people who will talk about some people to you until you are wondering “do I really know the man? Is this person correct?” I discarded the man and followed the oil. I won’t be here if that devil disconnected me and that devil is nowhere to be found. That agent of the devil (if I may use that word) is nowhere to be found. Somebody is saying “why are you calling the person a devil?” Jesus called Peter, devil. He said, “get behind me satan.” When satan begins to speak, when somebody becomes an agent of the devil, he also literally becomes that devil.
When we came into ministry newly, somebody came and was talking to me about my wife. She was still working in a hospital. “My wife this this…your wife that that…” A woman! I looked at her and I said “you devil, where do I know you from? I know my wife. You, I don’t know. I don’t know you. To hell…” People, let’s try and guard our hearts.
One day, Papa Oyedepo said, he was driving around Iyana Ipaja side. On his way and they were showing…you know these gossip newspapers that they used to sell (Evening News) those days on the road then and they had one, he was the back cover page (he was on the back cover). The man was telling him “buy newspapers.” He said, I don’t buy newspaper – that’s what Papa said. “Buy this one” – he said, “I don’t buy newspapers.” Then he brought another one that had his full page…He said, “what of this one? It has your picture on it and it is you they wrote about. He said, “oh, no, I’m not buying it. There is nothing about me that I don’t know. There is nothing about me that I need somebody to tell me. I don’t need to read about me from somebody. I know me so no need to…(laughs) I think such people will lose their jobs if people become less interested in garbage and rubbish.
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