BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED. TO BE FILLED WITH ENVY, ANGER, BITTERNESS, HATRED FOR SOMEONE ELSE’S PROGRESS IS TO BLOCK YOURSELF FROM PICKING GOD’S SIGNAL
MAKE SURE YOUR EYES REMAIN FOCUSED ON GOD SO THAT WHEN HE SPEAKS, YOU CAN PICK THE SIGNAL
IN THE JOURNEY OF DESTINY, DIVINE DIRECTION IS NON-NEGOTIABLE
GOD DOES NOT LEAD BACKWARD, GOD LEADS FORWARD BUT NEVER USE ANOTHER MAN’S LIFE AS YOUR TEMPLATE
AS A BELIEVER YOU ARE EITHER CARNAL OR SPIRITUAL. THE POSITION OF YOUR AFFECTION DETERMINES YOUR CARNALITY OR SPIRITUALITY
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE TO KNOWING WHAT GOD IS SAYING PER TIME.
WHEN YOUR JOY IS MISSING, CHECK WHETHER IT IS GOD TRULY LEADING.
NOT EVERY OPEN DOOR IS GOD’S DOOR. SOMETIMES, OPEN DOORS ARE ATTRACTIVE TRAPS.
TO KNOW THE HOLY GHOST IS THE ASSURANCE AGAINST CALAMITIES.
WHEN IT IS GOD LEADING, NO MATTER THE OBSTACLES ON THE WAY THERE IS AN ESCAPE ROUTE.
NEVER CLAIM TO BE A MASTER, ALWAYS SEEK TO BE A SERVANT AND A SHEEP THAT IS LED BY THE SHEPHERD.
– Pastor Isaac Oyedepo on UNDERSTANDING HOW GOD LEADS – Part 2 at September Week of Spiritual Emphasis Service Day 2 || Youth Chapel Canaanland || 7th September, 2023.
I welcome all of us very specially to this second night and this second night shall be your own and my own night of revival in the name of Jesus Christ.
Our prophetic focus is, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” Our topic tonight is UNDERSTANDING HOW GOD LEADS – Part 2. Proverbs 14:12. In the journey of destiny, divine direction is non-negotiable. Church Gist. Nobody actually sees a wrong route and intentionally passes it. We are victims not because we have decided to be victims but we are victims out of ignorance. Proverbs 14:12.
– Lift your hands where you are: none of us will take another wrong step again!
There is therefore need for us to understand how God leads. Isaiah 48:17. God is still teaching people today. Intensity without direction will lead to calamity. Velocity which talks about speed without direction will lead to calamity. There is no substitute for direction in the school of destiny. Church Gist. What God has been doing since yesterday is showing us how he leads so we can position ourselves to be led because every child of God has been given access to a supernatural GPS that points you in the right direction, that helps you escape calamities on the way, that gets you to your destination on time. God is saying, if you and I get it right in the month of September, this year will still turn out to be the year he said it will be.
– This year, starting from now, as you and I reposition it will end well for us!
It is important to note that God does not lead backward, God leads forward. Exodus 14:14-15. God does not lead backward, God leads forward. Genesis 26:1-2 – never use another man’s life as your template. Every one of us is unique; you can’t pick someone’s experience and out yourself in the same situation. Church Gist. Genesis 26:12-14. Isaac teaches us from this story: you never use another man’s life as a template. Galatians 4:28. Even when God says, “stay” it is for your forward movement. When God says, ‘return back to where you left, it is for your forward movement.’ Proverbs 4:18.
How then do we access Divine Guidance?
1. Be spiritually minded: Romans 8:6. You are either carnal or you are spiritual even as a believer. A carnal Christian is a believer but his mind is focused on carnal things. 1 Corinthians 2:14. It means continue to set your mind in spiritual things or on things above. Church Gist. Colossians 3:2. The position of your affection is what determines your carnality or your spirituality. His direction comes as signals that must be downloaded and interpreted to the situation at hand. So we must be spiritually minded. To be spiritually minded also means to be filled with holy desires or holy purposes. You cannot be carnally minded and be spiritually minded at the same time. The fruits of a carnal believer include: envy, strife, divisions, competitions, that’s how you can tell whether you are spiritual or carnal. Those are the fruits of a carnal believer but the fruits of one who is spiritual, the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy – that is, somebody shares a testimony and you are not upset. Church Gist. That is, you are going through the situations of life but you know I am not ending here, I am going through on my way to. I celebrate God for your testimony but my own is on the way. My life is not based on your template. We came differently – we have different assignments, different finger prints, designed for a purpose at such a time like this. So I celebrate when you are elevated – I only hope and desire that you do when I am (elevated). Be spiritually minded. To be filled with envy, strife, anger, bitterness, hatred for someone else’s progress, how then can you pick the signal when God is telling you, “turn left, turn right”? You are focused on somebody else. Be spiritually minded. Church Gist. The next time you see an environment of envy, depart from there without announcement because they will block your signal. Signal will jam if you are in such an environment. Maintain your spirituality; it is at all cost.
We are talking of divine direction, it is a signal. God is always speaking but are we always picking? He is always showing, are we always seeing? Watch you stand. Refuse carnality. We may all be together but our rating differs. Church Gist. Make sure your eyes remain focused on him and when he speaks to you, you can pick the signal.
– God is going to give someone such a signal this month of September! That between September to December it will look like 10 years for somebody!
You know, when God leads, many things happen:
1. He gives direction
2. He gives speed
3. He helps you escape the potholes so he gives protection – all in the midst of his guidance.
It was the same year that Isaac sowed in the land. Genesis 26:12. He wasn’t a man to be envied but at the end of the day, Genesis 26:16-30, they came and begged him to make a league with them. What a man of envy! Psalm 23:1-6. We must take that position and guard our spirituality at all cost. Church Gist. That is where we are able to download from the cloud into our spirit man. God can be speaking to 2 people seated together 2 different things about their destiny. One is picking it, one has no idea anything is happening.
– We will not miss it!
2. Be baptized with the Holy Spirit: one of the primary job descriptions of the Holy Ghost is direction. Church Gist. John 16:12-14; Acts 8:29; Acts 13:2.
Now, let me quickly say this, speaking in tongues is an evidence of His presence but you must subject yourself to His leading. He may be in you, may be with you, may be around you but are you subjected to His leading and to His guidance? We heard of the testimony I believe on Sunday; but we have heard it many times, but Sunday we heard of that testimony- This brother was about to board a bus, had already paid. Church Gist. Suddenly, the Spirit gave him a witness that, that is not your bus, don’t enter the bus. You know you can be on a route and the Holy Spirit says even though this route looks faster you have a witness within you that is not your route for the day. He got that signal and went back and said: ‘Please give me my money’, they said: ‘You have paid, it is too late’. Is it not better to lose your money than to lose your life? And you know the end of the testimony? Few minutes later as he boarded another bus he was going on the same route, he found the bus that he escaped involved in an accident and everybody perished. But for the signal of the Holy Ghost.
-May we catch every signal as He sends them our way.
You know? It’s not always you will hear a voice, sometimes it is a witness, don’t look for the voice always. The traffic light is not speaking in a way you can hear but the signal is also speaking. When you see green it means go, when you see yellow it means slow down, when you see red it means stop. To see red and to still go and say because you didn’t hear a voice is to be involved in an accident, there are signals of the Spirit. Green – go! You meet somebody for the first time, you want to share a business idea, you have a red flag, don’t say: ‘Lord! What are you saying? Church Gist. Leave the person first and say: ‘Let’s have our meeting tomorrow’. Those signals come to guide us, those signals come to show us. So we must be sensitive having been baptized in the Holy Spirit to the signals of the Spirit. So to know the Holy Ghost is the assurance against calamities. To know Him!! And to know Him means not just you are speaking in tongues, you have a palpable, sincere, authentic relationship with Him. You can speak to Him where you are seated. ‘Holy Ghost! That business I am about to sign, what are you saying’? You may not hear a sound, you may not hear a voice but a check in your Spirit: ‘Go ahead, I am with you’! You have that check, you just move on. You have that check without explanation, you just withdraw. The Holy Spirit!!
3. Have a genuine crave to be led.
Especially in the day and time that we are. Always be reminded of this fiery Scripture: ‘There is a way that seemeth right unto a man’… Proverbs 14:12. Let me shock you: ‘Not every open door is God’s door’. Sometimes, open doors are traps, attractive traps. So there is no substitute to knowing what God is saying per time, that’s why we need a genuine crave to be led. Jeremiah 29:13. A genuine crave to be led. Jeremiah 33:3.
What premium do we place on divine guidance? Is it important to us in our everyday life? Or is it when we come to major decisions in life? Are you okay with the permissive will of God or do you desire the perfect will of God? What value do you and I place in divine guidance? Have a craving to be led. When God is the one leading, even through the valley of the shadow of death you are still secured. When God is the one leading, even when the enemies are watching, you are still fed. When it is God leading, no matter the obstacles on the way there is an escape route – A craving to be led. Church Gist. Let me say this tonight, while it is awesome and great to crave higher dimensions of the anointing, why not also crave to be led because if He is the one that tells you to do anything, He will back you up. Is somebody hearing what I am saying? If God says: ‘Speak now and declare they are healed and you say: ‘You are healed’, He will back it up. So, crave to be led. ‘Oh! Lord! What are you saying concerning my life? What are you saying concerning these issues that I’m dealing with? A sincere craving to be led. Never claim to be a master, always seek to be a servant and a sheep that is led by the shepherd.
What are the biblical proofs of being led?
1. A pressure-free adventure
Proverbs 3:16-17. 1 John 5:3. So one proof that you are led of God is a pressure-free adventure. I didn’t say: ‘Attack free’. But in the midst of the attack as we have heard here, you can still be at peace. I didn’t say: ‘Storm free adventure’ because even Jesus was in the midst of the storm but in the midst of the storm, He was asleep on the pillow. Mark 4:38. But pressure-free adventure? You are at ease, you are relaxed. Church Gist. How can you be eating when your enemies are watching except that you are pressure-free? He said you will serve Me and they will be there watching and yet I will be eating and my head will be overflowing with oil – Pressure-free! When God is the one leading, pressures are deflated. Even in the midst of attacks, you are still moving on. Shout Halleluyah!
2. Supernatural joy
When God is the one leading you, even in the storm you are laughing. Supernatural joy! Joy that cannot be cooked, joy that you can’t pretend to have, joy that is genuine. So genuine that it is confusing to your enemies, that is supernatural joy. How then do you look at a situation like Jesus had: ‘For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross’. Hebrews 12:2. Supernatural joy! You are on the cross and you are joyful, being pierced and you are joyful, knowing that you are going to have to die for others yet you are looking at the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. Church Gist. Supernatural joy helps you to endure, you find strength for endurance when supernatural joy is present. Psalms 89:15. When God speaks, when God leads, even when the task is greater and far greater than can be accomplished in the energy of the flesh, that voice comes with joy, intoxicating joy. Supernatural joy! So when your joy is missing, check whether it is God truly leading and when your joy is present even when others tell you not to go, it could be a signal that He is the one leading. Supernatural joy! The truth is this: God desires to lead every one of us, the question is, do we desire to be led? Proverbs 14:12. Look at that, one way leading to many ways. There is a way that seemeth right to a man and the ways thereof are the ways of death. Some people only took one wrong decision that metamorphosed into several destructions, one way!
-Lord! May we not miss it.
It’s a very thin line. Hear this: No one knows this is a wrong route and says I will go there, it always seems right when action is taken but the end thereof tells whether it was the right way you followed or the wrong way.
-In our destinies, we would not miss it. With purpose, we would not miss it. With marriage, we would not miss it. With business opportunities we would not miss it.
Some people, one business opportunity that seemed great scattered them and they are yet to recover. It seemed okay, it seemed right, the number seemed to add up and yet it ended up in disaster. Church Gist. There are some that saw a person that seemed right, they spoke the same language, from the same Church, same Prophetic greeting, everything looked okay and they said: ‘This must be the wife, this must be the husband’ but 10 years after when they look back they say, what happened to me? It looked right, it seemed right, you may have even been told go ahead but now it has led to several other calamities. Children are involved, all kinds of things are involved, you should have been pursuing your purpose, pursuing God’s plan for your life that also suffered calamity because of one wrong step. We heard God’s Servant, he has said to us many times, one of the Great Generals of the previous generation told him: ‘Bishop, I took one wrong step and that one wrong step has wrecked my entire destiny’.
-Lord! Where we may have taken the wrong step, have mercy!
It looked right, it seemed right, we were even counselled to do it. One wrong step! You don’t need many steps to go down, you need one and you also need one right step, just one right step. God saying: ‘Now, go! Join yourself to that chariot’! Boom! Something opens up! One right step! One wrong step! One right step!
—–PRAYERS——
-No more errors! For you and me, no more errors!
—–ALTAR CALL—-
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