Opening Destiny doors through relationships
By Apostle Joshua Selman

Opening Destiny doors through relationships

The Bible says they go from strength to strength as many as appear before the Lord in Zion.

Strength to strength is the heritage of anyone who takes God and his house seriously.

Spiritual growth is not a gift. You press with determination, you take advantage of the grace that has been given by God and from God and you press.

It says this one thing I do forgetting the things that are behind, I press.

The second thing you should know is that the house of God is not a museum, the house of God is not a Cinema Center, the house of God is more than a recreation center. So when you come to the house of God you will be enlightened, you will be inspired.

I believe in joy and gladness and fun but it's important for you to know that the house of God is where God dwells.

When you want to look for a man you go to his house.

There is no guarantee that you will always find a man in his office, there is no guarantee that you will always find a man in some institution. But there is there is every guarantee that if you are patient enough, no matter where that man would have gone to, he will eventually return home.

When you travel out of this nation, your phone will show you different dates and timings, it will tell you details from your own time zone and then it will tell you where you are, and when you return home it will let you know that you are back home, it knows when you come home.

The house of God is not just a place where Believers converge, the house of God is where God has covenanted, the psalmist said "now arise o God and come to your resting place"

The presence of God is what makes all the difference. Minus the presence of God we're just making noise, at best just motivating and inspiring people. But the present factor is what is responsible for life.

And the Bible assures us according to Psalm 133 that when we are gathered together there the Lord has commanded the blessing, even life forevermore.

That means in the presence of God you're expect to be healed, you're expect to be lifted, you're expect to be changed.

Jesus spake a parable about the word and he said the sower when to sow, and we understand from his own interpretation that the word was and is the word of God the seed nnow And as powerful as the world is, the Bible says it fell on four kinds of grounds.

I've studied it many times in my life, but in my recent study I became amazed as to why the sower will give even a rocky ground. Any farmer and any sower already knows that there are some soils that there is no need wasting your seed because they will not grow, yet he gave every ground a chance. When you sow on rock and you saw on tons, if you are truly a farmer you should know that nothing will come out. But so that he would not be charged with bias, he gave every soil a chance, even though it was clear that nothing would come out. That's God for you.

Good ground, Rocky ground, on thorns, and thistles and gave all of them a chance. And the Bible clearly told us that some produced and others did not, and even among those that produced, there were three levels of harvest thirty-fold, sixty-fold and a hundred.

And speaking about the good ground he said there are those that hear and understand. What makes your ground good is that heard and understand.

Luke chapter 11, a continuation of exceeding great and precious promises, the goal was to open us up to the power of the promises that have been made available to the believer in Christ.

When it has to do with opening doors, the Bible gives us three platforms for opening Closed Doors.

Number one is the use of the right or the correct key, not just any key; you can use a wrong key, the door would still not open.

We understand from scripture that keys refer to knowledge.

Number two, the art of knocking, Matthew 7:7 and 8.

It shall be given to you sick and you shall find knock it says and it shall be opened unto you. For the law in verse 8 says everyone that knocketh it shall be opened. So one of the ways that doors are opened is through the art of knocking.

You must understand what it takes to be able to knock a door, there are doors that you may not have the keys to, you will need to knock for that door to be open.

Then number three, the use of force, the Supernatural and the power of God.

What I am about to share, I have watched it lift people from literally nothing and brought them to positions of Grace and Power.

I have also watched the neglect of what you are about to learn, take people from Grace as it were to Grass.

The purpose of the teaching of the word of God is to give us wisdom, at the end of any spiritual discussion if you do not have wisdom then it was not the word. Remember the Bible says that was the True Light that lighted every man; that means there are false lights, they carry a semblance of Victory, they carry a semblance of Liberty, but you find out that upon engaging them in real life, they do not produce any results.

May you not waste your time chasing Shadows in the name of Jesus Christ!

May you not waste your time acquiring a lot of useless spiritual information only to find out that they are impotent to deliver, that the truths that you find and keep, may they be truth indeed.

And the only way you know the truth, or the only way you know what is real is when you test it in real life situation.

God is going to be showing us how to knock because there are many doors that stand before us right now, and we must know how it is that men open them.

Those who know how to knock doors will keep flipping doors open from one dimension to the other, but those who do not understand this can stand stagnated in front of cheap doors sometimes even for many years.

Every door that has refused to open… perhaps the door that stands before you, you do not even have access to the key may the mystery you'll be learning tonight cause that door to swing open for you. In the name of Jesus Christ.

Opening Destiny doors through relationships

Luke 11:5

And he said unto them, which of you shall have a friend and shall go on to him at midnight and say unto him, "friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me and I have nothing to set before him."

Verse 7:

And he from within shall answered him and said, "trouble me not the door is now short and my children are with me in bed I cannot rise and give thee"

I say unto you that though he will not rise to give him, but because he is his friend yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needed.

Verse 9:

in this similitude, ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be open unto you.

Verse 10:

For everyone that asketh, receiveth. He that seeketh, findeth. And unto him that knocketh it shall be open.

Let's go back to verse 5 to observe a few things.

Number one, the Bible says which of you shall have a friend.

So this issue of opening doors is among friends not strangers.

When the guy was in trouble he did not run around, he went straight to his friend.

He said which of you shall have a friend and go to him at midnight?

That means, only a friend can accommodate that level of inconvenience.

You do not go to a stranger by midnight he will arrest you. It is not usual to go and bother and disturb people at midnight, but that there is an advantage that friendship provides, that even at uncomfortable situations, at uncomfortable circumstances rules can be bent over. And the secret is a friend.

He said which of you shall have a friend and then go to that friend at midnight...

Notice, he said unto him friend. The person in need did not call the one who he wanted him to help by his name, he invoked the relationship.

He didn't say Joseph or Stephen come out, he said "friend" in other words under normal circumstances you should be offended, but I am reminding you that the platform upon which I am making this demand is friendship.

...Lend me three loaves.

Verse 6:

Notice again, that the purpose for his meeting his friend is to help honor another friend.

There is a reason why the Bible is teaching us this. When you read the Bible, you have to read by the spirit, otherwise you will not see anything there; It will be before you yet you will not see it.

"A friend of mine, " that means someone else too came to me, it's not my fault. Ordinarily speaking I should be sleeping, but someone else inconvenienced me and I had to bend over because of relationship. And so also I have come to you.

This friend came from a journey unprepared and I don't have anything to give him, but because he's my friend I will not drive him away, I opened the door of my house to him. But now I am stranded as a person so I must do the same thing he did too. So he went to his friend and he said "friend, sorry for disturbing you this night can you open the door for me"

Verse 7.

The Bible says: and he from within shall answer and say, "trouble me not..."

Notice the guy within never called him friend, he didn't reciprocate and say "oh my friend you're outside, " No, he was angry and said "no please go away trouble me not the door is now shut and my children are with me, I cannot rise and give you."

Now see what Jesus says.

Verse 8.

I say unto you though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend.

Leave the other things that he's talking about. That means there are two possibilities that he's talking about here.

One, he can arise and give him because he's his friend, and then number Two, he can arise because of Importunity, the word Importunity there is the word persistence, persistence almost to the point of annoyance.

So that this door can be opened through, and because of friendship

Two more scriptures and then we'll begin to discuss relationships are very very powerful in

Proverbs 13 verse 20 proverbs.

The Bible says he that walketh with wise men shall be wise, he never said he that is around wise man, he that walketh with them; that you move as they move, he shall be wise.

That means when the man started the journey, he was not wise, his friends were wise but he was yet to be wise. His secret was that he chose to walk with them, and the Bible says he shall be wise.

That means you can predict the future of that person even though at the point of beginning that Journey, the person may not yet be wise, but because he has chosen to keep a wise relationship the Bible guarantees that he shall be wise but a companion of fools.

Now we don't know whether that companion was wise before, we just know that the people around him were fools and the Bible says he shall be destroyed because of it.

In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus beckoned on the disciples saying "follow me and I will make you, " "follow me, and I will make you"

I will not make you when you stand from afar, I will not make you when you sit afar wishing, I will only make you when you follow me.

"Follow me", he says, that is the price for your making.

I've taught you here in this house, that Destiny fulfillment and advancement is practically impossible without relationships and strategic connections.

So it is impossible to actualize Destiny and to make constructive progress in your life ignoring these deep spiritual mystery that is is a master key to opening doors relationships. Write this down please relationships are bridges to an exceptional Life Bridges from the word Bridge b-r-i-d-g-e-s relationships are bridges to an exceptional life and relationships are also Bridges to a life of pain and regret.

Relationships are bridges to an exceptional life that means from where you are looking at an exceptional life in Christ a life of Kingdom impact that the bridge that you have to cross to that realm are relationships. And standing before you and a life of pain and regret and destruction there are also relationships.

Relationships are bridges that lead to an exceptional life relationships are also bridges that lead to a life of pain and regret.

Remember we stated at first that Destiny fulfillment and advancement is practically impossible except and unless through relationships and strategic connections now we are saying that relationships are bridges both to an exceptional life and a life of pain and regret.

The last information I'll give you here is that relationships are currencies it's not new to us in this house but please write it now with Revelation; relationships are currencies like you have dollars you have pounds you have naira and so on and so forth. Relationships are currencies they can buy what money can buy and they can buy what money cannot buy relationships are currencies. They can buy both what money can buy and where money stops they can go further to buy what money cannot buy for instance money cannot buy you your salvation but a relationship in this case with the Lord Jesus can make salvation a reality in your life.

Let me announce to you first and foremost dear people of God you know by now but it it Bears repeating again that money does not solve every problem. I'm not downplaying the relevance of Financial Resources but it is a miracle for you to find to believe it early that money does not solve every problem.

Relationships are occurrences they are currencies. They they have high level purchasing power they can buy what money can buy and they can also buy what money cannot buy.

I have prayed a prayer for you many times in Koinonia let me pray it again, that may you never be so poor that all you have is money. Did you get the prayer. May you never be so poor that the only thing you have in your life is money.

Men have risen to enviable Destinies from very modest and sometimes shameful backgrounds using the leverage of relationships. The Bible ancient and modern history is full of the autobiography of ordinary men and women who did not have any comeliness to be desired, but they meandered across this mystery and through the ladder and the lift of relationships , they rose to enviable positions, spiritually, economically sociologically, politically and so on and so forth.

And the Bible and even history is also full of men and women who neglected the power of this mystery of relationships some of them threw away relationships to look for money, men like Judas Iscariot and they lost both. Judas had a relationship and he threw away a valuable relationship to pursue a lesser kind of thing money, at the end of it he got the money but now losing the relationship the money did not benefit him and he lost both, in fact he lost everything including his life.

The easiest way to succeed in life and Destiny is through relationships, this is this is a fact. The easiest way to succeed in life and Destiny is through relationships.

There are many factors that are there in the success equation and all of them are useful and they have their place, but I can tell you few of those factors come close to the Excellency of understanding and engaging this mysterious key of relationships.

For someone all that I've said alone has been the washing of the water just delivering you because there are many people all they see in their dreams while they are awake is money, everything they see is money, they don't care who lives and who dies the most important thing is Let There Be money.

And we have this understanding that our entire life will magically be relevant when we have money; may not necessarily be so.

Destinies are enhanced and glorified through relationships.

With respect to our discussion using relationships as tools to open doors I want to discuss with you the tripartite dimension of relationships that must be at work in your life for those to be open.

This is a subtopic this is the core point of discussion. There are three three fold dimensions of relationships that if you do not have in your life there is no future for you as far as open doors are concerned.

Number one your relationship with God.

The first dimension of relationship you must focus on if you desire relationships to be a tool that open the doors of Destiny is your relationship with God.

Matthew chapter 22 verse 37, we are reading to 40

Your relationship with God in that order Jesus said unto them Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind next verse he says then this is the first and great commandment. 39 it says the second is like unto it Thou shalt love thy neighbor as yourself. 40 on these two hang all the law and the prophets.

That means every every Lord that ever came by the prophets the dictates for the nation of Israel was to get them to achieve these two things the love for God and the love for men, your relationship with God.

Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 26. a scripture that has become an Anthem in my own life my son it says give me thine heart and let Thine Eyes observe my ways.

This is God, asking not just for your tithe asking not just for your offering not asking not just for your membership he's looking for your heart my son he says give me your heart and then let my eyes observe your ways.

Second Chronicles chapter 15 from verse 12 we are reading 12 to 15.

The first dimension of relationship that makes for open doors as far as life and Destiny is concerned is your relationship with God.

The bible says, and they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their mind. verse 13 that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death whether small or great whether man or woman 14. and they swear unto the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and trumpets and cornets, the last verse now and all Judah Rejoice at the oat they bound themselves with an oat to seek the Lord for they had sworn with all their heart and sought him with their whole desire. is that in your Bible? and he was found of them what was the result and the lord gave them rest round about.

Not just because they were intellectually sound not just because they were educationally advantaged or sociologically advantaged they had wealthy parents.

The bible says, they bound themselves corporately with an oath that we will seek the Lord and that anybody that violates this will put that person to death, whether child whether adult whether male or female that when God saw the seriousness of their heart to seek him with their everything, he gave them rest round about.

Matthew 19 26 very powerful scripture I know you've read it but I want you to look at it very carefully. But Jesus beheld them and said unto them with men this is impossible but with God.

There are things that are only possible with God with God, with God all things are possible. This is the implication of a healthy relationship with God it defines the extent of the possibilities that you experience.

Do not make a mistake of believing that just because you are saved it means every possibility will manifest in your life automatically, NO.

Every possibility should manifest as far as the finished work of Christ is concerned but entering into the experience of it depends on a functional ever growing relationship with God.

Let me tell you the truth, there is nothing in this life there is no one in this life that should sustain the ability to take the place of God in your life and to interrupt your work with God.

Anybody that succeeds to do that is the person you should worship because that person has become God who will fight anything and anyone that stands his way even if he's the one that gave you that blessing. I hope you know God can fight what he gave you the moment what he gave you becomes an interruption to his place and his purposes in your life, it becomes his enemy, just like Satan.

God created Satan and he still grants us the grace to perpetually defeat him he is not forgotten that Satan is his creation but because Satan has assumed a position where he perpetually cannot bring joy to God again even though God's creation he does not secure God's support again.

It's important for you to know that God does not just initiate processes he vet them periodically to find out that he is being glorified through them and if he stops being glorified through those processes he's he's backing ceases, except by the mercy of God.

So you will find many people being destroyed by what God gave them and you'll be wondering how could God give you a blessing that becomes a destruction. Saul, how could God make you a king and yet that position brings you shame and reproach again.

How could you be the anointed Sheriff that covereth a position God gave you and yet your pride came as a result of that position.

just because God gave you does not mean it to automatically glorify him you have to be intentional about using everything around your life to see that Jesus is glorified.

Thou shalt love the Lord your God there are many Believers today who ignore the issue of having a healthy relationship with God.

When you say it like this most Believers think it is just a press into fanatism. and they say you know what the way me I serve God I'm not into all these Jim Jim Christianity but my own God knows that me I'm serious. You can never fake seriousness, seriousness is is so palpable it should be known and detected whether from afar and near.

I'm prayerful it's just that it's only God that knows you are a liar immediately.

So many believers do not intend to take God seriously, they don't they don't plan to throw him out of their lives but they just want to keep him just at the minimum level enough to hopefully secure life after death in case, like an insurance while they go around doing everything they want to do with their lives.

Let me tell you the truth ladies and gentlemen if you want God to honor you you want to command power and relevance in our world today in order of priority this has nothing to do with Pentecostalism or whatever it is. You have to make up your mind.

Make up your mind that you are going to go all out for God.

Some of us when we started we did not start with a desire for Ministry we did not start with a desire for Fame, in fact we did not start with the desire for greatness. This journey started from a blind and a sincere Pursuit Lord I love you, it's an opportunity and it's a privilege for me to be called your own and while we press and give God literally everything. He said so this is how far you can go for me, now let me show you how far I can go for you.

Do not covet the result of a genuine lover of God if and when you are not um God why are you doing this to so so person so so lady so so Ministry. It is a reflection of the depth of their love for God.

The bible says, no eye has sin are we still together no ear has heard neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has in store for them that love him. Not them that use him not them that use him for fame, not those that use him to get publicity for Ministry, not those that use him and claim him as a ladder into a great life.

There are many men of God who do not love God clearly so there are many church members who do not love God, there are many business people who do not love God, there are many people with Christian names who do not love God. There are biblical indices that show whether or not you love God, so it is not about blind assumption and saying "I love him he knows."

When you say God I love you, you know what he's going to ask you? Let me see what you can give up for me so be careful when you want to say God I love you. We are used to fake Love in this our wicked world that we think we can play that politics with God. You don't come to him just faking tears and say "I love you"

You can roll from left to right from Pillar To Post when you are done loving he will tell you "alright, Simon Jonah love thou me more than this?"

Do you love me more than Ministry? Do you love me more than titles?

There are people who will throw God away to protect Ministry, there are people who will throw God away to protect their ego I am a man of God Apostle Joshua Salman.

There are people who will throw God away if their money is falling down they will throw God and hold the money and say "God you're a miracle worker rise back but this money if it falls I don't know if it will come back again".

There are people who will throw God away and say my pedigree, I went to school I read XYZ. let me tell you ladies and gentlemen the men and the women that God will do Mighty things within today's world are people who are dead to every other thing.

The price for all of God is all of you you've heard me say it "the price for all of God is... you will need more than your brain for God to do business with you. The price for God is more than English and preaching, oh dear one it takes more than good English to put a generation at the command of Heaven

Valentine is two days after now, there are many people whose lives are going to nose dive I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it but knows that they have not even stayed well with God, they planning all kinds of things minus God. They bought flowers they bought, they paid for the value that they will use and there is no God in that factor.

God I'm used to you interrupting my joy, stand back, when I need you I'll come this one now look.

Let me tell you ladies and gentlemen it is the foolishness of loving God that brought us this far. Never get to a point where you become too intelligent to Western to become that baby.

There are many people right now is Pedigree and Pest and Prestige that has come to a point where it has replaced God and pushed God out of their lives.

You know when we started we were poor people no money but now we're billionaires who are talking serious things, my phone can't fall down, my clothes do you know the amount. And while you talk all that nonsense the realm of the spirit is watching you. The rich fool in one day came down his life was even demanded from him.

Ladies and Gentlemen please hear me your passion for God is not about fanatism and it's not about being a preacher, do not leave passion for God to just pastors and preachers and say me God has called me into entrepreneurship, he knows that I can't love him the way... who told you that? Go and find out the people who love God as governmental figures like Daniel as economists like Joseph. they were not preachers yet you could not argue their love for God, the question God is asking you right now is "Simon ba Jonah lovest thou me more than this?"

Because the way many of us are pressing into life we're ignoring God. We are just satisfied that at least I remember coming out for an altar call and I don't care about anything spiritual, but if we begin to talk about money and business and Rising now you are speaking my language. Some of you your love language is money repent! repent!

I will keep saying it for as long as I'm alive I will give up Koinonia and close it down a thousand times to maintain my relationship with God believe me, this is not just a an empty talk that I'm saying on stage

So the first dimension of relationship if you want doorsbto open for you, it is with God! with God. If you've not encountered the God of the Bible, when I make the altar call I want you to run wherever you are just know that this is why Jesus brought you here.

John 17 verse 3 he says "and this is eternal life that they may Know Thee, " not that they may recite a prayer alone, "this is eternal life that they may not be the only true God"

Until you get to a point in your life ladies and gentlemen where God means everything to you. your love and your passion for Jesus your love and your passion for the things of the spirit has consumed you and is above every other desire then you are not ready for the relationship that opens doors.

There are men who will stand in an empty space but because of their love for God you will carry a door wherever it is bring it in front of them and open it that is how far he can go he said "I have loved you with an everlasting love and I have drawn you with my loving kindness".

it's time to return back to your love life thank God that this is a period that is celebrated world over it's a period of love. Your first love is not your husband, it's not your wife, it's not your children. It was because of him that they all arrived don't let their presence drive him.

This is how we started blind sincere ordinance Pursuit for him Lord. If you never bless me you still have my all, if you never lift me you still have my all. Not Lord I'm giving you two weeks if you don't move don't blame me all those kinds of things.

No! I love you sincerely!