Apostle Joshua Selman || Why The Glory Of God Depart From Men.
Apostle Joshua Selman: Your real stamina is measured in your ability to remain. With all due respect, in Nigeria today, I do not know how old the oldest company in Nigeria is, perhaps maybe one of the banks or maybe some institutions and they are just a few years. There are structures that don’t last because they were not built according to standard. There are corporations and organizations that don’t last, in fact it is said that for most ventures that start in Nigeria, at least 80% of them die before the end of the first year. So why is greatness shortlived? Why does greatness suddenly turn to shame? What is the key that governs longevity of impact?
- Pride.
Proverbs 16:18
Behind everything that was once glorious and is no longer glorious, pride had a role to play. The Bible says pride goeth before destruction. You know what it means? That means anytime you see pride dancing around your corridor, it came with escorts, destruction and a fall is part of it. Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall
Proverbs 18:12.. Before destruction, the heart of man is haughty and before honour is humility.
You see how they work?
Proverbs 29:23.. A man’s Pride shall bring him low but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
What is pride? The unashamed to acknowledge God as the basis for where you are or the refusal to acknowledge God.
That you step in God’s way and you want to be at the center of everything to receive the credit for where you are, as though you were not helped by God, as though you were not helped by men. The refusal to acknowledge God as the reason, the basis, the principal factor for whatever result you have is called pride.
Our world today is plagued with men and women who are already disasters going to happen, in ministry, in business, in politics.
No matter who you are, if you decide to embrace a life of pride, there is no longevity to your impact. Before a man falls, he always looks like he cannot fall till he falls. Before a man falls, when you see the kind of assumed stability, you would doubt and say it’s impossible. There is nobody who cannot go down!
James 4:6-8 But He giveth more grace. wherefore before he saith, God resisted the proud.
I have taught you here that the anointing was supposed to fight anything that is against the will of God. The anointing does not fight what is the will of God. So if God is the one resisting you, there is no amount of impactation that will give you victory. The power of God fights unclean spirits, the power of God fights situations that are inconsistent with the will of God. But if God is now the one fighting you by himself, then you are in trouble and the Bible says there is such a condition where God can fight a man. Who wins when God fights you?
The Bible says but He giveth Grace not to the Christian, but to the humble. So if the Christian is the proud, He will still become a victim of God’s wrath.
I learned this lesson in life and let me tell you the truth ladies and gentlemen, it’s easier to talk about pride when you don’t have anything, it’s easier to talk about pride when you are poor, when nobody knows you, when you don’t have any anointing, you don’t have any influence. In the presence of greatness you will know how difficult it is to be and to remain humble.
2. Mentality Arrival.
Mentality, the inability to continue learning, the inability to continue improving.
1 Corinthians 8:2
Arrival mentality. What is there to know again? What is there to learn again? What is there to pray about again? I have received the highest award.
Do you know that, it is often said that for most graduates, as soon as they graduate, their mental capacity starts declining because the pressure to learn is no longer there and they literally stop growing mentally. If any man think that he knoweth anything, the Bible says he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
You really know real champions because they always carry an unassuming personality, ever open to learn. The man is a professor but he’s listening to you and even though what you are saying may not make sense, he’s still listening with an open heart. One of the ways you know great people who will last, is their passion to keep learning. They learn from the great, they learn from the small, they learn from colleagues, they learn from superiors, they learn from subordinates, they are students for Life.
The school of wisdom is a school where you never graduate, you are only admitted. The day you graduate, you graduate into failure. Arrival mentality!
The level of light that you need to excel in life and destiny, I submit to you by the Integrity of scripture, there are very few people who have accessed that level of light. I’ve had the honour and the privilege of meeting a few people who have excelled notably in their fields of endeavor and sometimes you will be amazed at the level of intellectual investment they have made and that they keep making, whether it’s in sports, whether it’s in music, whether it’s in ministry, you know and so on and so forth.
Sometimes, when I’m studying, I get this very sincere text messages from people “oh Apostle, thank you for transforming us” and doing this and then I just look at it and I smile. I’m grateful on one hand and then I just look at my Bible, face forward and I continue reading because I have taught you, nobody claps for you twice for doing the same thing. Once you receive the applauds for a level of result that is it. If you don’t grow, you will not receive any applauds again.
Yesterday’s excellence will always be tomorrow’s mediocrity. Once upon a time, owning a typewriter was a breakthrough. If you own a typewriter, it was proved that you had made it but today you can pack typewriters and give someone and the person will insult you and return it back to you.
How about Nokia 33:10? If I package it and give it to you today, I said “with love from me”, except I tell you it’s a prophetic message that you will start hearing God, otherwise you most likely may be angry. “Apostle you mean, did I offend you? Why will you give me this? But once upon a time, people stole to get it, people lied to get it. Yesterday’s excellence will always be to tomorrow’s mediocrity or today’s excellence in fact.
So you need to be careful. That you got an award yesterday does not mean you will get an award tomorrow. Our world is full of people who live in their yesterday. Their arrival mentality kept them there, while the world was moving forward and when you talk, they start giving you stories of yesterday “I once was the most brilliant person”, are you now? “I once was the most intelligent person”, are you now? “Those days I was the one who interpreted for TL Osborn”, What happened to you now? Celebrating yesterday at the expense of the impact and the exploits of today is a disaster. Your yesterday should never be better than your today. If I give you stories only of yesterday as though God is not working today, something is wrong. The Bible says Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. If He did it yesterday, where did you keep him that your result is no longer happening again? “I used to pray for the sick yesterday”, thank God but what is happening now? There are still sick people today.
Job said “oh that I was in the days of my youth when the secrets of the Lord was upon my Tabernacle”. Can I tell you, may you never lack testimonies that the only thing you have is yesterday’s results. I’m saying it again, may you never lack testimonies that you cannot tell people what God is doing in and through your life today, the only thing you have to say are the things that happened yesterday.
I was rich, I was anointed, I was blessed, I was serious… Arrival mentality.
Champions never arrive, they are aware that there is always more. You see and know the character of a champion by their passion to know more. I am passionate about knowing the things and the areas of my ignorance and when I find an area that I don’t know anything about, I don’t spare, I don’t pity myself because of fatigue. I must drive that ignorance as soon as possible. There is something we call in our world “a local champion mentality”. Have you heard that kind of thing? Where in a small group of mediocres, you are the highest, perhaps the wisest, perhaps the most enlightened and this cancer of local champion mentality has destroyed preachers, destroyed business people, destroyed great people. Arrival mentality.
3. Distractions And Compromises.
Galatians 5:7.. Who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth?
Ye did run well, it’s a question. He’s saying, you started well, what happened now that has hindered you from remaining?
Verse 8, it says this persuasion cometh not from Him who calls you.(that means something has happened to you. This is not how you started, you have exposed yourself to another influence)
Verse 9, A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
Do you know what he’s saying? The character of satan is that all he needs, is to introduce something small. What do they call living in our days today? Yeast!
You don’t put the yeast the same size as the flour, but you just put it as little as it is and watch the wonder it will cause the entire dough to rise, that’s what he’s saying there. A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump. Distractions!
4. Violating Your Winning Strategy.
Violating your winning strategy is the reason why great people fail. Violating your winning strategy either the strategy God gave you or the strategy that was built after years of discipline, sacrifice and investment. Show me a man who violates your winning strategy, you will not last again. This is true for ministry, this is true for business, this is true for every area in life.
Violating your winning strategy either divinely inspired strategy or strategy that is a composite of many years of pain, sacrifice and wisdom. Exploits and victory is always strategy dependent. See, every home that is excelling today, wonderful children, great spouse.
There is a strategy, the moment they begin to violate the strategy, there will be problem. See a student who is selling academically returning back with great results, there is a strategy that keeps them producing that result.
A bank, a restaurant, even a church, in business we call it quality control systems so that you do not veer off to maintain excellence, to maintain delivery.
The question God is asking somebody now, is have you kept your winning strategy? When God calls a man into ministry, there is a strategy God gives to you. You remember what I taught you, that it is the will of God plus the strategy to bring that will to pass, that is equal to victory.
If the only thing you have is the will of God and you do not have a strategy given by God, you will fail.
The way that we run Koinonia is a strategy God gave, it’s not something that was just invented but there are aspects of running this ministry.
For instance, that is a product of gleaning from the mind of intelligent people who have built organizations that have lasted. No system fails when they respect their winning strategy.
Leaders, let me teach you this, beware of people who come into your vision with their own strategy..No!
If it is Goliath you want to bring down, don’t assume he will fall by the spare. Goliath is a warrior too.
You need to stay with God, if it’s Jericho you want to bring down, you need to get the strategy from God and can I tell you, when God gives you a strategy even when you want to change it, consult Him, there is no major decision that happens in this ministry, no matter how intelligent it is, that I will not pray about.
After all the data and everything is brought, okay beautiful, just give me some time I have to go to God. Father this is your vision, this is your work, this is what we have, what do you have to say about it? If God is silent, I keep quiet until the day He speaks.
5. Unaddressed Weaknesses And Vulnerabilities.
I preached a message many years ago while revivals die. I’m a student of revivals, I’m a student of awakenings, I have studied revivals across continents, I have had the honour of meeting a few people who spearheaded prophetic moves of God and I began a study, first for myself and then as a contribution to the body of Christ. Why do revivals die without achieving their purpose? Why do we have mighty moves of God and then eventually everything goes down and at the end of my research I found only one reason why revivals die, is called “the humanity of men”. The fact that the vessels that sparehead that Revival are humans, it is the reason why the Revival dies. Listen to this, I heard a man of God say this years ago, that any weakness unaddressed will eventually destroy you. It is not weaknesses and vulnerabilities that destroy men, it is weaknesses and vulnerabilities that are unaddressed.
Every man born of a woman has weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities means there are things you are easily given to and it does not necessarily have to be sinful, it’s just that it can be used against you.
There are many people, their own vulnerability is lust. Now, it has nothing to do with whether you are good or bad. Women, men or both lust. There are people who don’t have that weakness but money, they can pray in tongues from morning till night but let them hear the sound of money and the old man has come alive.
There are people, their weakness is anger and
offense. If the devil wants to destroy them, one thing triggers anger and offense, they can boil even as men of God, they can boil even as whatever it is and as I’m praying, any spirit of anger here that has trapped anyone’s life in the name of Jesus I command that spirit to leave you now. I call that spirit by name and I command it to leave you now..
There are people, their weakness is an obsession for recognition is a weakness. Even if it’s the devil that calls their name and ushers them they are happy, is a weakness.
Do you know how the spirit of seduction works? The character of seduction is that, that temptation has no power over you until it can connect with something that is already within you. If Jesus is not hungry, telling Him turn these stones to bread, will be a useless temptation because there is nothing within Him that can relate to that.
One of the the ways that spirits manipulate men, one of the ways that people become victims of spirit is they are called trigger points in the spirit. So when the devil wants to come into a family, they study the couple or they study the children, what is the weakness that becomes a gateway into this family. If it is lost, they will position a way of entering it, if it’s money they would do something to crash the finances so that in that state of desperation, if it’s obsession for recognition, satan will make the husband to dishonor the wife, the wife to dishonor the husband or the children.
All this joining of heads you see in homes, is the devil, he’s only looking for an entrance point.
Weaknesses and vulnerabilities don’t care whether you’re a man of God, don’t care whether you’re a businessman, don’t care whether you a child, don’t care whether you are educated. If you become honest with yourself and deal with them, you have found your key to remaining.
Hebrews 12:1.. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin(that means sin is not the only thing that destroys you. For those who think it’s only sin.. No! There are weights, weaknesses, vulnerabilities).
There are people because of your obsession for money, the devil can program somebody who is very rich but devilish. That’s how you see people destroying the glory of people because they have a weakness and do you know what? Weaknesses and vulnerabilities do not necessarily have to bring any profit for you, before you pursue them. There are people today who drink and it’s not that it brings any satisfaction, is that they just found themselves bound by it.
Among the many things you must know about yourself, is what can bring you down, so that it becomes your prayer point. Did you hear what I said? You must find out what can bring you down and start crying before the Lord.
6. Loss Of Passion And Fire For God.
Loss of passion and fire for God. This is the final and the greatest reason why people have their greatness shortlived. It may not necessarily be anything wrong as far as whatever their engaging is concerned. The problem can be that, it is the secret place that is wrong. Ministry is still right, everything is happening right, business is still right, everything is happening right but you have stopped getting the result. You are preaching with the fire you preached yesterday but the impact is no longer the same. You are singing the songs you used to sing yesterday but the impact is no longer the same. You still have the finances you had yesterday but the impact is not the same. Here is the problem, loss of passion and fire for God.
2 Chronicles 26:5 Uzziah and he sought God in the days of Zechariah who had understanding in the visions of God. Ladies and gentlemen my Bible says as long as he sought the Lord God, God made him to prosper.
It is not always about what you are saying, it’s about who you are loving. Sometimes what you are saying may not change but because there is a disconnect between your love life and that of Jesus, what you are saying may be right but the impact is no longer right. Is someone learning?
There are many pastors that stop walking with God and they are only working for God.
Revelation 2:4-5.. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.
What is His recommendation?
Verse 5, Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent.
The secret of any man who has remained in this work, this business of thy kingdom come beyond everything they do, beyond the skill, the talent, is their love for Jesus.
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