IF WE’RE GOING TO BE VICTORIOUS IN THE ADVENTURE OF LIFE, WE MUST WIN THE BATTLE OF THE MIND
THE WISDOM OF GOD WHICH CARRIES ANSWERS FOR ALL THE CHALLENGES OF MAN IS LOCATED IN THE WORD OF GOD
THE WORD OF GOD MAKES A WONDER OUT OF THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO COMMIT THEMSELVES TO IT
WHEN WE BEGIN TO OPERATE IN HIGHER LEVELS OF WISDOM, WE BEGIN TO COMMAND HIGHER LEVELS OF RESULTS
BEFORE THE ENEMY WILL BE ABLE TO ATTACK OUR LIVES, HE WILL FIRST INFILTRATE OUR THOUGHTS
IT IS WHAT YOU FILL YOUR HEART WITH THAT DETERMINES WHAT WILL FILL YOUR THOUGHTS
ANY BATTLE THAT YOU DESIRE TO SEE CONQUERED, THE PATHWAY TO OUR TRIUMPH IS TO SETTLE DOWN WITH GOD’S WORD IN THAT AREA OF CONCERN
ONE CANNOT CONTINUE TO THINK FAILURE AND MISTAKENLY EMERGE A SUCCESS
WHAT YOU SEEK DOES NOT COME FROM ABROAD, IT COMES FROM ABOVE
REALIGN YOUR THINKING! IT’S NOT YOUR LOCATION THAT DETERMINES YOUR SITUATION
IF FAILURE IS YOUR THINKING, FAILURE WILL BECOME YOUR LIVING. WHEN SUCCESS IS YOUR THINKING, SUCCESS BECOMES YOUR LIVING
WHAT COMES OUT OF ONE’S LIFE IS DETERMINED BY WHAT IS COMING OUT OF ONE’S HEART
- Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr on THE WISDOM OF SCRIPTURES CREATE A FUTURE at SHILOH 2024 Day Two Shiloh Hour of Visitation – First Word Session || EVER WINNING WISDOM || Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland || 11th December 2024
This morning by privilege I’ll be taking this teaching that is captioned “THE WISDOM OF SCRIPTURES CREATE A FUTURE.” Yesterday, we were made to see in the opening session that we are in the last days. Church Gist. In fact, we were made to see that we’re in the latter part of the last days and one of the characteristics of the last days for the world is in 2 Timothy 3:1. It’s an era in which the natural man will come to his wit’s end in search for solutions. Isaiah 60:2. Church Gist. But at the same time, it is ordained as a season of attraction for the people of God. Isaiah 60:2-3. Zechariah 8:23. So, according to the Word of God, the last days would be days of attraction for the people of God. Church Gist. It will be clear that the Church of Christ is the solution of the world.
- that will be somebody’s testimony from now.
And this is because, the natural wisdom of man will come to nought. 1 Corinthians 2:6-8. So, there’s another dimension of wisdom that is available that is beyond the natural. 1 Corinthians 2:8. Church Gist. So, there’s a wisdom dimension that is not of this world. We were told yesterday that there’s four categories of wisdom. We have the earthly wisdom, that’s common sense. We have the sensual wisdom, that’s intellectual wisdom. Church Gist. We have the devilish wisdom, that’s diabolical wisdom. And then, we have the wisdom that comes from Above, the one that cannot be decoded by human intellect.
- I see that kind of wisdom finding expression in you and me!
But it’s important for us to understand that the wisdom of God which carries answers for all the challenges of man is located in the Word of God. Church Gist. In other words, God’s Word can be said to be the wisdom bank of God. Luke 11:49. So, the Word of God is the wisdom of God. It has the capacity to make a wise man out of any individual. 2 Timothy 3:15. Church Gist. So, it can make a child wise. Psalm 19:7. So, the Word does not need to meet you wise, the Word can make you wise.
- For somebody hearing my voice this morning, by the encounter you’re going to have with God’s Word upon this mountain, I see the wisdom that comes from Above finding practical expression in your life.
- everyone that sees you after Shiloh this year will know that the wisdom of God is at work in you!
What a joy, this wisdom is limitless in capacity. So, yes, you may have attained some dimension of wisdom before but there are greater levels of wisdom made available to us. Proverbs 9:9. Church Gist. So, there are different levels and categories of wisdom and when we begin to operate in higher levels of wisdom, we begin to command higher levels of results.
- for each one of us, I see greater level of results answering for us in the name of Jesus!
The first function of the Word is to transform the thinking of man before it can transform his living. Romans 12:2. Church Gist. This is why the believer is responsible to keep engaging with God’s Word day and night in order to see his life made what God has ordained it to be. Psalm 1:2-3. Church Gist. So, the Word of God makes a wonder out of the lives of those who commit themselves to it.
- My prayer today is that for each one of us, as we engage with God’s Word beginning from now, I see our lives changing supernaturally in the name of Jesus.
Now, some very striking things that we’d note about the mind.
- The battles of life are essentially battles of the mind. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. So, our battles in life are largely battles of the mind. Church Gist. From Scripture, we discover, for example, that until one stops the thought of sin and corruption, he or she cannot stop the act. Until you win it in the mind, you cannot win it in life. Mark 7:21-23. Church Gist. So, the battles are largely of the mind. Until one wins the war within, he cannot win the war without.
For example, from that Scripture we saw in 2 Corinthians, if we don’t cast out evil imaginations, it’ll cast the victim down. Church Gist. If we’re going to be victorious in the adventure of life, we must win the battle of the mind. We must watch our thoughts. If you look through Scriptures, the Bible gives us very strong admonitions. It tells us to watch and pray, lest we fall into temptation. Watch and pray. Church Gist. Not only pray but also watch. So, we are told not only to pray but also to watch. That means, we must be alert.
Before the enemy will be able to attack our lives, he will first infiltrate our thoughts. This is why we must be alert to cast down imaginations and everything that seeks to exalt itself against the knowledge of God in us. So, the battles of life are essentially battles of the mind.
- Nothing sets free like the knowledge of the truth. Church Gist. It takes the knowledge of the truth to be genuinely set free from the captivity of life. John 8:32.
- for somebody hearing my voice today, I see your liberty established in the name of Jesus!
So, if we’re going to be set free, then, we require the truth of the Word. The revelation of the truth is what establishes our liberty in the adventure of life. Furthermore, no one can live the overcomer’s life without faith. 1 John 5:4. Church Gist. But the faith will overcome the world requires the Word. This is why it becomes important for us to recognize that if we’re going to win the battles of life, we must transform our mind by the Word of God. That is the key to a life of perpetual triumph. Never forget, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Church Gist. But it is what you fill your heart with that determines what will fill your thoughts. When your heart is loaded with the Word, then, your thoughts will be aligned with the Word. Colossians 3:16. As it is loaded in us, it begins to fill our thoughts.
- My prayer today is that for each one of us, from this day onward, the appetite to keep filling our heart with God’s Word so we can win the battles of life, may that be granted to each one in the name of Jesus.
So, any battle that you and I desire to see conquered, the pathway to our triumph is to settle down with God’s Word in that area of concern and fill your heart with it until you’re able to conquer in that dimension.
- Again, I pray that for each one of us, whatever came to Shiloh with you as a concern, as the Word of the Lord comes alive in you, I see it turned around for a testimony in your life.
Now, let’s look at it practically in several areas of life. First of all, we discover that one cannot continue to think failure and mistakenly emerge a success. You can’t keep thinking failure and end up a success. Proverbs 23:7. Church Gist. Your imagination ultimately determines your destination. If success is in your thinking, success will become your living. But if failure is in your thinking, failure will become your living. This is why the Bible tells us in Joshua 1:8. Church Gist. Until we begin to align with the success virtues in the Word, we cannot command success in the world. This is very important. And that is why it is vital for us to recognize the necessity of settling down with God’s Word to renovate our thinking.
As a student, I recall particularly in secondary school, right after every examination, you’ll find out that there are people who write their papers, leave the class but they don’t leave the vicinity, they’re always around waiting for others who are coming out of the examination and when the people come out of the examination, you see them desperately asking, “what did you write in number one, two, three or four?” Why? Church Gist. Because when they were leaving the examination, they left the examination with an agitation of possible failure. I don’t know about what your own experience was but my own experience was anytime they come out, you see them saying, “yeh! I almost wrote it. Ah! And that’s what I wanted to choose. Ah! I almost wrote that oh. I wrote it and cleaned it and wrote something else again”. Church Gist. If you check those that kept doing that, look at them, you discover they kept failing. Church Gist. If failure is your thinking, failure will become your living. When success is your thinking, success becomes your living. So, you must renovate your thinking with God’s Word.
When I noticed that, I did an analysis, I saw everybody hanging around were people who were failing, I decided I will not hang around again with them. Church Gist. When I write my exam, I put my pen in my pocket, I walk out and stroll out of the place with confidence that no matter what happens, I’m passing this exam. Is somebody getting what God is saying? Church Gist. We must settle down to renovate our thoughts and we renovate it with the Word of God and you can’t think failure and mistakenly arrive at success.
- No one here will be counted a failure again.
- One cannot continue to think poverty and not end up a pauper. Proverbs 4:23. What comes out of one’s life is determined by what is coming out of one’s heart. Church Gist. If our thinking is prosperity, our living will match up eventually with prosperity. 3 John 1:2. So, we must become full of the thinking of what God’s Word has said. Church Gist. We must align our thoughts with what God has said in order to see it manifest practically in our lives. Shout Hallelujah!
If one settles down to begin to think poverty, poverty will become a reality and that’s why we must settle down to renovate how we think. Church Gist. God’s servant said years ago, I believe 1987, he went to America and ministered somewhere and after ministering, a man came to him excitedly, “oh, we are so blessed by the things that you have taught. Brother David, what needs do you have in your ministry?” And he said he responded very sharply, “our ministry has no needs, we only meet needs”. Church Gist. We must understand, that’s a product of realigned thinking. Normally, most people going to America in the past will go to America to minister expecting for a blessing to come from America but the thinking had been realigned by the Word of God that what you seek does not come from abroad, it comes from Above. Church Gist. That’s what repositions us. That’s what makes us not to carry ourselves like entities of penury but we carry ourselves as personalities of prosperity. Why? Because the Word of God renovates our thinking. You see, we have to enlarge our thinking, expand the territories of our thoughts. Isaiah 54:1-3. So, we need to realign our thinking. Recognize that it’s not your location that determines your situation.
Your physical location is not what determines your financial position. It is your covenant location that determines your financial position. Church Gist. Those who are standing on the covenant conquer the situations of life. They conquer the situations of life.
- For somebody hearing my voice today, I see a divine repositioning taking place supernaturally!
So you cannot continue to think poverty and expect to begin to experience prosperity. So if we are going to experience the prosperity plan of God, then we must realign our thoughts with the Word of God. This is where many people miss it. There are people who engage in covenant practice but not covenant thinking. Church Gist. They pay their tithe but they think life can be tight for them. They are givers, liberal in their giving but not liberal in their prosperous thinking. As a result of that, they find themselves continuously held captives by the situations of life.
- But for somebody hearing my voice this morning, an end comes to that siege in your life in the name of Jesus!
So we must change our thinking. Refuse to think poverty. 2 Corinthians 8:9…that is the provision of Christ for every redeemed child of God. And as we engage in the covenant, that rich provision of God covers every area of life. 2 Corinthians 9:8…sufficiency means no deficiency. Church Gist. That is the provision of God for everyone that is a child of God and standing on the covenant of God. So what does that mean? It means I cannot begin to think lack. I can’t begin to think want. I must fill my mind with the position of God that if I’m practicing the covenant, I’m bound to experience all grace that makes all things sufficient on my behalf.
That’s why we hear over the years – we have heard it from our father, over and over again. Haven seen the light of the Word of God, we have heard him say, “I can never be poor.” Why? Church Gist. Realigned thinking on the basis of the Word of God. So, covenant practice must be backed up by covenant thinking. It must be backed up by covenant thinking. That is what brings us out of the captivity.
- We discover that one cannot continue to think like a slave and emerge royalty. You cannot continue to think like a slave and emerge as royalty. Mark 7:21, 1 Peter 2:9. So every child of God is born as royalty. Say with me: “I am royalty.” Revelation 5:9-10…so it doesn’t matter what your tribe is, what your compound is, what your nation is, what your language is; it said “if you are in Christ, He has made us unto our God as kings and priests and we are to reign upon the Earth.” Church Gist. Your language notwithstanding, your nation notwithstanding, your tribe notwithstanding – He has made us unto our God kings and priests and we are to reign on the Earth.
But royal living requires royal thinking. The reason why many people have not escaped the slavery dimension of life is because they have not embraced the royal thinking of Christ. Church Gist. We need to embrace royal thinking to escape slavery living. It takes a renovation of our thoughts with the Word concerning our royal position in order to begin to experience the royal package that God has in store for us.
God’s Servant said as a child haven seen the Word of God that he has been made a king, he said he would go out sometimes and look at himself and ask himself before he steps out of the house, “will a king appear like this?” You see, one of the reflections of royalty is dignity. When you find a royal, they are represented by dignity everywhere in the World. It doesn’t matter where you are. Church Gist. That is one thing that refinement does not take away. There is dignity. You find the Queen of England before she passed (Queen Elizabeth), when you find her come out, she represents dignity. There are things she would not wear because she is royalty. There are things she will not wear because she is royalty. Royalty has renovated her thinking. So it is demonstrated in the dignity that she portrays.
You see, it is important to recognize that when we are genuinely renovated by the Word of God to see our royal identity, it causes us to escape the slavery mentality that has kept many people bound. You find the King of England going somewhere, you see him well packaged. Church Gist. You find our royal fathers from our various places, you will find them well packaged. Listen, it is not only in dressing, also in conduct. You don’t see a king in the middle of the road shouting, “nonsense, come down, let’s fight.” Not because there are no fights to fight but he is a personality that is not for fight. You don’t find a royal because somebody bashed his vehicle on the road, comes out and begins to fold his trousers. “Okay, if I don’t k1ll you today…” You know why? Royal mentality and because of that, there is a dignity that accompanies it.
You find some people today in Church even the way they carry themselves, you know there is no royalty in them. A young lady, you dress scantily and say that you are royalty. You see the truth is this, mentality will always present itself both in conduct and action. Church Gist. The way you conduct yourself, the way you carry yourself. Why? Because if genuinely you can see yourself in that limelight, in the light of which Christ has made you, then it begins to show itself in the life that you exhibit.
- My prayer is that for each one of us today, there will be a change of position!
- Whatever has been contrary to our identity in Christ, today may it be converted and turned around supernaturally!
That’s the power of mentality. It causes us to experience a change of reality.
- One cannot continue to imagine sickness and live a healthy life. You can’t continue to imagine sickness and live a healthy life. Very important. Psalm 19:14. Church Gist. So as our meditations and our thoughts are made right, our system is also realigned appropriately. This is why if you continue to think sickness, you can’t be free from sickness. If you continue to think disease, you cannot be free from disease.
Yes, it is true that the Word of God makes it clear that Himself took our infirmities and He bore our sicknesses (Matthew 8:17) – that is what Christ has done for us by redemption. Church Gist. But we also know that according to Scriptures, the mind of man is the gateway to his spirit. Romans 8:6. So the mind is the gateway. It is the middle ground that passes things from the physical to the spiritual and from the spiritual to the physical.
So, when our mind is filled with the thinking of our right to health, it realigns our bodies. Why? The spirit of a man will sustain him in his infirmities. Proverbs 18:14. If you check it, you will discover that what kills many people who have terminal conditions, it’s not the condition. It’s their meditation. It’s not the condition. You see somebody who is perfectly okay, body is fine, no challenge at all. He goes for physical…they check his body and then he goes to the hospital, he’s walking okay. No challenge. Church Gist. He enters the doctor’s office, the doctor adjusts his goggles and looks at him. “Mr. so and so, I’m so sorry. The physical we have taken shows that you have this condition, that condition and you only have about 2 weeks to live.” The man haven heard it, you will discover that the man who entered the office is not the one who came out. He comes out, his entire body begins to move from one angle to the other. Why? Because he has heard something that has filled his thinking.
I heard the story of a man who went to the hospital and they told him, “sir, we don’t know what happened. We checked you and we discovered that you have just about a week to live.” The man who came to the hospital well left and all the symptoms that he has never had, all of them landed the same day. And he began to languish and languish away. By Friday, they called him from the hospital, “Sir, we are sorry. Church Gist. The report we gave you is somebody else’s own.” He would have died for free with somebody else’s condition. Why? His condition was changing according to his meditation. He was thinking dead and he was becoming dead.
Please hear this and hear it very well: our thinking is what ultimately determines our living. So you cannot afford to continue to think sickness. Think the Word! Church Gist. What does the Word say? “Himself took my infirmities” – if He took it, I cannot have it. You say, “okay, but I’m feeling somehow.” It doesn’t matter what I’m feeling because the spirit of a man will sustain him in his infirmity. If there is health in your spirit, health will enter your body.
- For somebody hearing my voice today, whatever came with you as a sickness, any disease, any pain, any condition in your body, upon this mountain, by the Word of God, I see it destroyed in the name of Jesus!
- One cannot be thinking death and not be assaulted by the same. Job 3:24-25. You can’t be thinking death and not be assaulted by the same. It’s important to know that death does not have the power that it seems to have. So many people live practically in the fear of death. Church Gist. Hebrews 2:14-15…not has but had – that’s past tense. satan does not have the power of death. Stop thinking death, start thinking life. Stop thinking death!
Some time ago, we had one of us stand on this altar at 110 years old. 110! Stop thinking death. Don’t hurry, except Jesus comes, stay till your time is finished. Like God’s Servant would say humorously, “if you go too early, you will go there and join construction work. Jesus is busy building mansions if you go too early, you will carry spiritual blocks and be building houses in Heaven.” Settle down! Church Gist. Don’t let death pervade your thinking. Philippians 1:21-25…that is somebody who is choosy. Should I go, should I not go? So you have a choice.
I will close with this testimony. Years ago, I was traveling and I was going from Lagos to London and we got on a flight and the flight was in a serious turbulence. Everybody was praying. Church Gist. A woman sitting in front of me was praying and charging in the spirit – a young boy was sitting beside her, out of fear, he started confessing all his sins because he thought he would die. In the midst of the storm, I said, “what did Jesus do in the midst of a storm?” So I reclined, my chair and I slept. Why? I cannot die.
- Good news for you, you cannot die!
Therefore, the responsibility for you and for me is to work on our thinking with the Word.
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