Opening Destiny doors through relationships
By Apostle Joshua Selman

It is not about preaching, it is not about all of that, no!

I like you to lay your hands on your head in one minute and repent from every kind of idolatry. Lord I don't know what has taken your place in my life. The pursuit for things that possible for Fame The Pursuit for money the person for positions cry to the Lord right now!

Oh I return I return o Lover of My Soul o lover of my destiny I return. Church stole my heart from you marriage stole my heart from you a job stole my heart from you fans stole my heart from you naira and kobo and dollars and pounds stole my heart from you but I returned someone cry I return.

you're praying, one more minute!.

Father I love you more than a job, I love you more than business excellence, I love you more than marriage, I love you more than financial prosperity

It is time for your love for money and mundane things to go behind the cross and never replace your love for Jesus. It's time for your love for fame and power even though carrying the resemblance of spirituality to go behind the cross and to see Jesus alone lifted as an expression of Your Love. It is good to excel it's time for your love and your desire for material things to move behind in the queue that nothing. That no one should sustain the ability to take his place in your life. if I perish let me perish loving you.

If I go forward let me go forward loving you if I'm mad time let me Mark time loving you if I Rise let me rise loving you. everything I will ever get that will demand my not loving you may never come from in the name of Jesus.

When Jesus started with the disciples who would later be Apostles of the Lamb he called them and they became his disciples but as that intimacy grew many things started happening to them, one day Jesus said I no longer call you Brethren but friends. He was telling them something that you have scaled a height you have demonstrated your love, you have survived a lot. Do you know what it means for God to give you a title called the friend of God.

Who in the Bible had that name? and what followed the destiny that had that name. Abraham was called more than a prayer Warrior more than a fasting giant. It is a noble title for God to call you his friend, because in Friendship there are no secrets, there is the opening of Secrets God can beckon on you shall I hide this from my friend Abraham I can hide this from my creation but not my friend Abraham this is what I want to do let me give you a chance as a friend. and Abraham came not just as God's creation but as a friend and say "hold on since you have called me your friend allow me to negotiate, I have an interest."

in Sodom and Gomorrah. someone who was my friend before, but allowed the Quest for material things will drive him away because of that friendship.

Remember the guy in the room did not call him friend but the one outside still said for as long as there is one person still carrying that point of connection he said let me advocate for lot perhaps if there are 50.

That was a negotiation that was at the table of friendship.

So do not be surprised when you see the benefits of friendship following certain people do not the Bible said there is a friend that sticketh closer.

God is speaking there are people God is saying "there is a deeper level of friendship, come, come!"

We serve God as if we are practicing idolatry there is a functional relationship with proof. Come, come! There is a river for you, come! God is pushing someone come! there is a deeper Dimension more than just church, more than just nominal Christianity is a deeper Dimension like Ezekiel 47.

Oh there is a river God is calling a man of God hold on about Ministry and come, you will be more effective when you become my friend.

when ever I call you will answer me because a friend always answers.

After this you may need to rush and go for a retreat. God is speaking to you the destiny you are seeing and the level of relationship you are giving God. you can't arrive there that is not how a prophetic mantle will land on you. That is not how an Apostolic call will come, it's not by buying suits and sharing cards no!

There are there are rivers ladies and gentlemen you have to dive deep into the river.

job said "there is a there is a path that no foul has seen the wealth of the lion has not gotten." There very deep dimensions of intimacy with God that is where power resides in the spirit that is where rest resides in the spirit.

There's a realm in the spirit where you would have surrendered everything cause you love him.

When your hands are empty not holding anything then he can hold your hands and you will find out that you have everything.

ladies and Gentlemen please hear me our mundane pursuit of things is eroding our passion for God gradually. especially this generation with all due respect it is amazing how incredibly distracted we are in pursuit of many things.

I have learned from scripture I have learned from mentorship from wisdom and by experience that anything that claims to give you what only God can give you just know that you are dealing with fraudulence there. any situation anyone who tells you he can give you what only God can give. there are things only God can give it's a With God all things.

no amount of publicity will bring increase to your ministry above and beyond the presence and your relationship with God no amount of intellectual soundness will replace the impact of the world that comes at the instance of relationship may God grant us Grace to return in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

So the first dimension of relationship is your relationship with God ever increasing hunger passion fire love for Spiritual things.

number two. what is the second dimension of relationship that is responsible for activating open doors as far as Destiny and the purposes of God is concerned.

number two. relationship with men relationship with God is number one number two relationship with men Psalm 8 and verse 1.

Now here comes a very deep mystery how excellent is thy name in all the Earth. he said who has set thy Glory above the heavens reading to verse six out of the mouth of babes and suckling thou has ordained strength.

notice what he said "oh Lord our god without any man your name is already excellent and yet as excellent as you are there is something you are looking for that only men can give you!" he says "out of the mouth of babes and suckling."

As excellent and Powerful as you are there is something that the ministry of man does to you he says thou has ordained strength. because of the enemies that thou mightest are still the enemy and the Avenger. verse 3. when I consider the heavens (The psalmist is speaking now) the works of thy fingers the moon and the stars which thou has ordained.

here is the part, this scriptur rattled me for many many years. what is man man never asked that question they don't care what is in man he said what is man that thou art mindful of?

You are already God by yourself. you are already all excellent needing no support, needing no encouragement. you are not threatened by another kingdom and another Force anywhere. the Angels were perplexed. And the psalmist is speaking through by the spirit what is man? The whole Bible is about your relationship with man why do you run around man as though you were vulnerable.

what is man that thou art mindful of him nor the son of man that thou visitest him. is it not an inconvenience for you oh God to leave heaven and come to the Earth, what benefit? you created all. You can create another reality and ignore this man but what is it about this man that in spite of his sin and deterioration, his stubbornness.

you see the patterns God's people who experience abundance and plenty they will deviate from the part of God they will now be given to the hands of their enemies and they will become slaves for many years, and without them crying to God in many regards God himself will now send a prophet to go and tell them I'm still interested in you or you have come back to me. the psalmist was contemplating and said God is it that there is something in men that we don't know what is it about men you make it look like without man you cannot be God.

what is man?

here is how I read the scripture many times: what is in man that man himself does not know.

You are about to learn a very deep mystery.

you want us to be opened we have given God his place but I must show you the mystery of man that if you ignore this mystery you can as well train yourself and remain there, because there will be no Motion in your life it's a guarantee that I give you.

what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou should visit in verse 5 it says thou has made him a little lower than Elohim the word Angels there is the word Elohim, you have crowned him with glory and honor the same man. 6. he says thou has made him to have dominion over the works of your hands thou has put how many things under his feet.

isn't it amazing... Every time I have the opportunity of seeing great gadgets aircrafts building materials you see man building skyscrapers that are many many times his height and he's not threatened by it. individuals who stand and say they want to build something that will almost reach the sky, and they will start building it from one block and one one construction material and they will actually do it the wildest of animals on earth have been tamed by man.

I once watched a video I can't even remember how I stumbled across it a hungry and angry elephant just meandered around the road and some people were moving around I think in a luxurious bus and they didn't give him anything and it just went that nose that looks like he's just is there's nothing here when I saw what he did to that car it flogged the car as though you are throwing a piece of paper and I said can you imagine how heavy this thing is he stepped on watermelon like paper and crushed it into pieces one time and yet man can tame it.

he said what is man that you have put everything under his feet. God shows so much passion around man but men do not know what is a man that's why we keep losing. if God himself the creator of the ends of the Earth did not ignore man.

God is not ashamed to show his vulnerability towards men, he would say things like I have loved you with an everlasting love and I have drawn you with my loving kindness. God is in heaven yet he will tell you that there are many things and I sought for a man Ezekiel 21 30 you would hear God make statements like that and I sought for a man why will God be seeking for a man he didn't say I called for a man I sought, meaning as God I kept moving from end to end looking for a man if God is looking for man you better look for men because it means there is something in man if the god of the heavens has not ignored men.

I tell you respectfully speaking it is lack of wisdom for you to ignore men. we live in a world where we pride over self-sufficiency we live in a world where we are very embarrassed to acknowledge that we are incapacitated and that it will take the impute of other people to make us whole and to make constructive progress. but here is God the one who is complete El Shaddai the multi-breasted one who declares his vulnerability over man God all by himself and yet he will reach down to man to an extent that Jesus came and died not for himself for men; sinless God.

Let's look at a few scriptures Psalms 115 and verse 16

The heaven even the heavens are the Lord but the Earth have he given to the Children of Men.

So who are the stewards of the earth now? men.

get this Revelation that the stewards of Earth right now. Satan does not own the Earth Satan is old only the god of the systems not the Earth. The power of Satan is derived from his partnership with man. outside of man Satan cannot wield dominion over the Earth it was not given to him, he controls the systems the systems now control man so it makes it look like he's controlling man. But he's the god of the systems he designed an antichrist system that works upon the minds of man but Dominion was given to men.

If you are not a man you cannot have dominion on Earth Satan cannot have dominion on Earth because he is not a man. I've taught you here remember ***let them have dominion make reference to it that the condition for being a man is number one you must be a spirit if you are not a spirit you cannot be a man. Number two that Spirit must be hosted in a material body and that body must be created from the elements that are consistent with this ecosystem. so there are other Spirits with other Spirit bodies from other dimensions they cannot be called men because their bodies were not sourced from the Earth. that is why Satan and every other Spirit has to depend on man for as long as there is one man on Earth who is under the influence of this software beyond the thinking pattern of this age it now strengthens Satan and he can look like he has dominion over man.

but you need to understand this. God gave the Earth to man the heaven of Heavens belonged to the Lord and the Earth has he given to the sons of man.

John chapter 5 please God is speaking to us

After this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem follow closely now verse 2. now there is a Jerusalem by the Sheep Market a pool which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda having five porches three it says in this lay a great multitude of important folks of blind hold withered waiting for the movement of the water notice what they are waiting.

The bible says, for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatever disease he had.

Isn't it amazing that this was not a parable it actually happened on Earth.

a certain man was there which had an infirmity for how long 38 years. What was this man's problem?

Verse 6 when Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case he said unto him will thou be made whole?

he's asking him a question watch the man's reply:

The important man answered and said to him sir I have no man. he never said I have no energy my limitation is I have potential to be healed but I'm not connected to any man that can provide the Leverage. Sir, in this 38 years I take responsibility I am knowledgeable enough to know that I have no man.

When the water is troubled to put me into the pool he said but while I am coming another stepped down before me.

it is logical to assume that that another had a man to help him, because based on this scripture men couldn enter the water if men could not help men he would not say I have no man to help me.

somebody who had a man to help him gave him the leverage and the acceleration to enter the pool first. I have no man this is the story of many people.

Why have you not risen till now? why has your life not changed till now? And the correct answer for many people is I have no man. there is nobody, I have not placed value on strategic relationships enough to provide a leverage from my home, my company, my Ministry, my business.

Jesus did not look at him and say you are a liar and you are speaking nonsense he knew that the man was right.

verse 8 Jesus now looks at him and says you got it right you have no man but now here is a man rise up. since you were attentive enough to understand the value of men, I have come as a man rise up take up your bed and walk.

I have no man.

why has Abuja not opened up for you for decades in spite of being born and bred here? I have gift I have degrees but I have no man.

let me tell you this ladies and gentlemen may I remind you again that all blessings come from God but they come through men to men.

You can complete this sentence with anything from God through men to men. that means if God says yes and a man to partner with him says no, yes will remain in the realm of the spirit it will not manifest here when God says yes the spirit the bride must also say yes for yes to manifest.

***The spirit and the bride say come, not the spirit alone not the bride alone, there are many of us right now who are stranded in life and Destiny and the honest explanation is captured in the story of the man at Bethesda "I have no man".

if there was a man a relationship that could provide a leverage even though you were Knocking by 12 midnight a friend will come out and give you bread.

Are we connecting to the story now?

I have no man, I have no friend, I have no helper. Why is Ministry stunted like this that easy things look difficult I have no man who can mentor me and open me up and show me the Dynamics of excelling with Integrity.

why are you so financially incapacitated? because of ten thousand someone is your family is about to lose his life I have no man that has invested their interest in my family enough to erode this unnecessary pain.

Why are you running around what how much is the rent five hundred thousand two hundred thousand. why have you not paid it? I don't have a job. That is not the right answer. I have no man.

There is always a man who is behind the results that men produce by God.

The nation of Israel had God for 430 years they were still slaves, God was there but they were still slaves. You thought that because God was there they will magically go out 430 years with God and yet the man who will work in partnership with God had not showed up and they remained slaves even though there was prophecy to Abraham that their time lapse was 400 years exactly, 30 years was added because of the delay in training the man who would come.

Until that man showed up. Moses stands before pharaoh and said thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews let my people go! God was saying now is the time for their Exodus but a man had to stand before Pharaoh. it was not God that appeared before Pharaoh but he backed the man that he sent.

Let me tell you the truth your life can be put in indefinite pain, regret PerpetualCircles of defeat and lack of fulfillment simply because you have no man.

No wonder the Bible says in the multitude of men is a king's honor, not in the vastness of the palace, not in the dexterity of the treasury.

when you read the book of Esther the Bible tells us that King ahazarus was a great king he was King over 127 provinces, watch this, the kingdom was about to split into two because one man in this case a woman vashti was going to misbehave in the Kingdom. there was no, war the treasuries were not looted, there was no Disobedience from the military men but one woman was about to cause trouble in that Kingdom.

men are powerful more powerful than what you know most of us will choose many other things and leave men.

do you know that everything you call business or Commerce today only Finds Its value because there is a man take all the men on Earth out of the Earth the banks open have money leave it with the ATM card, open up CBN and the vaults open everything there will it profit you.

Do you know why Cain cried and said my course is too great? something was put upon his life that will make no man to come near him again, that was the punishment. it was not that the Beast of the Earth would eat him. something was put upon him and he said every man that sees me will kill me and God said no I'll put a mark upon you, in all of your punishment I will still give you the benefit of relationship and the Bible says King built a city and named it after his son. he could have the benefit of relationship and there was a future for him in spite of his rebellion and the curse of God upon him.

can I tell you all hope is never lost for a man who has a man. let me say it again all hope is never lost for a man who has a man by his side in addition to the god of Heaven.

knowing that men are this important why is it that men ignore men, why God does not ignore men it is because of arrogance and largely ignorance these are the two major reasons why men have not maximized relationships please ladies and gentlemen pay attention.

every aspect of this ministry today by the grace of God it is credited to the mercy and the grace of God but through men to men.

the job that you now have if you are to be honest it came from God but through men to men. when you open the door of your company your cooperation your Superior is not an angel or a spirit sitting down there is a human being who has the power to fight you. when you pray for favor you pray with respect to that man sitting there is that true? God favor me what is in this man that he cannot increase my pay and God will do something to him and the man will call you, you call it answer prayer because the answer was in the hand of a man.

this leads me to the next the next discussion you have heard me say it and I will repeat it again in this Kingdom who hates you does not matter but ladies and Gentlemen please hear me knowing that this world is men dependent who loves you matters.

when you say you need God Alone with respect to his sovereignty and power like we discussed and worshiped earlier on your right. but when you say you need God Alone with respect to the overall dynamics of the cosmos, you will spend your lifetime learning a bitter and a painful lesson?

Jesus is on his way to Golgotha as the word incarnate bleeding literally from all the lacerations and the beatings and the wickedness that came from all these people, he is on his way and he's weak, Jesus falls on the way and if there was no man for Jesus he would have died there. I hope you know if Jesus died on the ground he could not be a curse, because it is written, cursed is every man that hangs on a tree not dies on the ground but there was one man, Simon of Cyrene who came and lifted the cross for him. you thought Jesus would say no this is redemption none of your business you are the sinner I came to save, he would have died there, he allowed the man to help him while he regained the energy that was left for him to die; Jesus needed men.

when he resurrected after the coronation service in heaven guess what he did he did not go to another planet to Rejoice, he came back straight to the Earth and gathered the men 120 of them and said even though I'm the glorified Christ I still need you come together after some days the Holy Ghost is going to be coming I need to teach you certain things.

when the Holy Ghost came, he came upon man.

the Gospel of Jesus Christ today continues to advance from Nation to Nation not just by the will of God alone but through men.

if you ignore men in your life ladies and gentlemen you will pay a very serious price write this down please. write this down:

you must understand the principles of sustainable relationships in order to excel in your life and Destiny.

you must understand the principles of sustainable relationships.

a few things about relationships, the first you already have it down, that: who hates you does not matter in this Kingdom but who likes you matters.

write this down men are ladders and men can provide a leverage to your life men are ladders and men can provide a leverage to your life and Destiny. that means there are systems of Advantage the ministry of men. Men are ladders, like you climbing ladder and move from one face and one dimension to the other and that man can provide a leverage to your life and your destiny.

God will always use men for your Rising, Satan will always use men for your falling. ***God will always use man for your Rising. Satan will always use men for your falling or for your destruction.

please do not forget this.

write this down, relationships are ***investments underline the word Investments is one of the key points I want you to get as far as dealing with men is concerned relationships are investments, they are not like Investments, they are investments! so the next time you are listing all the Investments you have make sure you do not leave relationships outside.

how many Investments do you have I have real estate, I have shares with this company that is all you made a big mistake, you are in trouble. if I'm the one interviewing you I would just advise you I'll say you are in trouble after this interview run quickly and go and start making the most Superior investment man.

if you tell somebody that men are an investment and he laughs at you feel sorry for him, not there so that you don't lose your job but in your mind.

men are always a leverage that God will use.

my life is full of stories at several points where God brought men, strategic relationships that have made for my personal advancement and the advancement of this vision and every great person here without exception can tell you that their lives changed because of the presence of a man. there are many people who are in pain here and across the globe they can trace their pain to the presence of men they didn't have that pain except an unless men came into their lives.

so you need to be very very careful ladies and gentlemen knowing that your Victory and your defeat is not only God dependent, but it is men dependent you have to obtain the intelligence to know how to peace to your life the right sets of men.

he that works with the wise the bible says, that he shall be wise himself, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

There are many people who are well-behaved people of character and they love God until they were introduced to certain men and their lives just went bad. there were people who were bad demonic devilish irresponsible but they were introduced to certain men and certain circles.

you may want to write this no man will ever outgrow the influence that comes from men.

you can never be so mature or too matured that men will stop influencing you, it's not true. you are only given the Liberty to choose who influences you. but to say you will not be influenced. no man has immunity against the influence that comes from men. you only have the Liberty to choose who influences you.

at every giving point in your life there is somebody who is influencing you and there is somebody you are influencing.

Let me as a way of just passing through it, list for you four or five Keys. keys to help you maintain relationships.

we are not really talking about relationships with men extensively I've done that teaching already you can get it and then there are other series on relationships coming in the future. but then let me just quickly put this down. you will need it ladies and gentlemen.

what I'm about to share with you will explain the reason why some of us are painfully lonely. we are alone even though we love God.

if you are a loner you say everybody hates me, it is an attack on your mind everybody cannot hate you like that it is a sign that there is a negative energy there is a pungency that comes out of you. and let me tell you the truth people love you but like Luke 11 they love themselves too the man said I love you but now your friendship is about to become an interruption to my children, so stay outside let me protect my children.

people love you but not when your relationship now becomes an interruption to their lives please pay attention.

there are some of us who never find friends anywhere. There are some of us who find friends but the lifespan of any friendship is not more than one month at the end of one month something must happen. go I don't care I've I've always been by myself that's why you see that everything continues to backfire.

in the name of Jesus as I share this, let it come as light and deliverance for you.

great potentials, great people. There are some of us if you are in trouble today God forbid there is nobody you can call, that even if it's by midnight what happened I'm in trouble, and the person says not under my watch you are too valuable.

let me tell you this if there is nobody in your life who loves you and believes in you enough to be there for you at moments of pain your life is hanging on a very delicate balance.

before I begin to give you this list I want you to think for one moment please participate let me work with your mind now.

Is there anyone in your life right now, honestly speaking that you can call and ask for help whether financial help, spiritual help and you are sure that if the person has the means the person will respond? think about it, if your answer is "no" please listen twice, because your life is in danger right now.

man of God is there anybody you can call under God, not by manipulation and sincerely share your vision with them and the person will say look I'm in a position to provide support of All Sorts. there are many people who have almost the cause of pain upon their lives they move like fugitives in life. nobody is interested in your life to invest their credibility their reputation their resources.

can I tell you if everybody hates you the problem is you it cannot be everybody cannot be stupid demonic, or is because I love God my way is different you are lying, no. that would be an insult on the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

human beings have mastered the art of avoiding trouble and they can discern trouble from afar, and when your life becomes a capture of a plethora of troubles.

Let me share with you a few Keys, number one. if you want to maintain Destiny relationships there are a few keys that you must learn.

number one you must rise above what we call competitive jealousy. you will never be able to maintain strategic Destiny relationships when you know that you are prone to jealousy. and this is not just an issue of spiritualizing it alone there is a psychology to this I have taught you again and I will repeat it. it is not unusual to have this struggle around jealousy when you are in an atmosphere where you see results and then you are alienated from it, but I advise you you can never maintain strategic relationships until you rise above competitive jealousy.

there are people who can never be in any Circle except they are the leaders there, if they are not going to lead and call the shots there they cannot go and sit quietly, it is a dangerous mentality. we got some of this mentality from culture, we got some of this mentality from our past, demonic attacks. This is why when we come to the house of God we allow the washing of the water and by the word.

Avoid competitive jealousy.

Proverbs 14 30.

the Bible says a sound heart is the life of the flesh, but Envy the rotiness of the bones.

Envy is a terrible thing, jealousy. so are you the only one who is dressing like this, why is it that everybody comes their greeting so so person and leaving me, that's always how they are I've faced this since I was born. It should be a reason to go for a retreat and say, lord the same Lord is Rich unto all if they have done this to this person. I take responsibility it means there is something I do not understand my brother or my sister what is the secret behind the favor of God in your life that I am not seeing in my life and five minutes of spiritual lecture can deliver you from years of ignorance.

for someone this is a prophetic what God is giving you. making careless assumptions and walking in competitive jealousy, will always put you in trouble.

you see this sadly with preachers you see this with business people you see this in the house of God. It shouldn't be, in the sky there are no traffic. there's room for everybody.

Number two. The second key to maintaining relationships, avoid evil speaking slash back biting you must avoid it.

I'm teaching you this to empower you, you cannot maintain relationships living in an atmosphere that is perpetually about evil speaking and backbiting.

nobody will accommodate you under that pungent atmosphere, for some of you this is why nobody wants to come around your life. there is nothing else to say except to gossip there is nothing else to say except to backbites.

I think it was Dr Myles Munroe who said losers talk about people, mediocres talk about things, but great people talk about ideas. never allow yourself to be the habitation of gossip and jealousy.

people come around and say "Hey There is a gist o, you mean you've been in this Abuja in Nigeria and you've not heard, do not allow your atmosphere to be the one that accommodates that pungent Spirit.

You must avoid evil speaking avoid back biting. some of you will talk about everybody and when there is nobody you will talk about yourself, because you just have to say something be delivered from it in the name of Jesus.

I'm not being sarcastic, I'm helping you.

listen life will be so easy when you know how

to attract and keep strategic relationships I told you relationships are investments this is how to make the investment. When your atmosphere becomes conducive you will be surprised at the kinds of people who will gravitate to your life and with them will come every blessing that they carry in their hands.

when the Magi came to Jesus they all came together with what they were carrying. When a wise man comes he comes with the benefits of his wisdom to your life.

so avoid evil speaking avoid backbiting.

Number three.

practice forgiveness and tolerance..

it will be impossible for you to maintain relationships all through your lifetime if you cannot practice forgiveness and tolerance.

I have taught you here in Koinonia the difference between forgiveness and tolerance. let me say it that forgiveness has to do with providing pardon to over a default. tolerance means accommodating the intrinsic weaknesses of people, because it will happen again and again and again. for instance if a talkative tells you sorry I will not talk again you don't have to forgive the person you are wasting your time what you need is what tolerance.

practice forgiveness there are some of us you you are you are angry with everybody including God. you don't forgive anybody at all. someone knocks your door four times instead of three times, and that becomes an offense that you carry for 10 years.

where do you know this guy in 1991 he knocked my dog four times instead of three times. you have to deliver yourself.