Guard Your Heart The Responsibility Of Consecration by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The 3 ways of building a believer

A wise master builder makes sure the house is built according to pattern and that there is completion. Nothing is left untouched

The model for training and building is 3-fold:

1. The way of the altar: intimacy with God, a functional knowledge of God and not an assumed relationship
2. The way of victory and dominion: using the word of God and the resources of the kingdom to become systems of advantage for manifesting dominion
3. The way of purpose and kingdom relevance

A consecrated believer who does not understand the pathway to victory will be consecrated but defeated and frustrated

If you stop at victory, you will be a happy believer but not a fulfilled one, and not useful to the kingdom

Your real value to the kingdom is not just in being born again, or in paying bills, buying cars and using the word to produce results.

It is when you become an ambassador and a witness

Being born again and being victorious concern your personal efficiency. Purpose is where maturity is demonstrated, when you look beyond yourself and become invested in driving God's program

Teach victory before purpose. Teach purpose without victory and people become too defeated and distracted to focus on God's program

God's highest desire is not service unto him. God's highest desire is fellowship with him. Even when thy kingdom come becomes a finished reality, we will still be left with fellowship

Guard your heart: the responsibility of consecration

Psalm 24:3 to Psalm 24:4

Psalm 51:17

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else is not the only thing to do. It is like the apostle telling us to ensure our souls prosper even as we prosper in other areas

Everything that represents vitality in your life springs forth from your heart

Our walk with God and the level of trust he has for us can be affected by factors like knowledge and diligence

The greatest determinant of the quality of a man's walk with God is the heart condition. More than knowledge, more than diligence, more than capacity

What the Bible calls the heart

Heart is not just the organ that pumps blood on the left side of your chest. It is a spiritual language for the innermost being of a man

The heart is the central control room of a man's destiny

Your walk with God is only as authentic as the condition of your heart

In scripture, heart is often interchanged for spirit. Mark 2:8 He perceived in his spirit, and called it their heart

The heart represents the innermost part of your being where motives, intentions and motivations are conceived

The heart is the womb of the spirit. What a womb is to a woman in terms of conceiving and giving life, the heart is to the spirit

The heart is the spiritual engine room where the force and energy that propels physical actions, good or bad, is generated

When you find a man acting kind or acting wicked, a force propelled that action. That force is generated in a chamber the Bible calls the heart

The heart of man is the motive generation center of a man's life

The states of the heart

The heart of man can assume several states and postures in scripture:

1. Desperately wicked Jeremiah 17:9
2. Deceitful above all things Jeremiah 17:9
3. Arrogant, a haughty spirit Proverbs 16:5, Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 21:4
4. A heart that devises evil, wicked imaginations Proverbs 6:18
5. A heart of stone, the hardness of a man's heart Ezekiel 36:26
6. Broken and contrite Psalm 51:17
7. A new or renewed heart, the heart of flesh, showing malleability, sincerity, innocence Ezekiel 36:26
8. A clean heart Psalm 51:10
9. A pure heart Matthew 5:8

The highest level of consecration is purity of heart

Psalm 24:3 to Psalm 24:4

Regardless of the parameters you use to measure consecration, if your heart does not pass that test, you are corrupted beyond lifestyle

No matter how pure and blameless your life and actions look, if your heart is corrupt, the verdict of scripture is that your life is also corrupt

Beyond lifestyle modification and image management, believers must truly seek to be pure in heart

Lifestyle and image management can earn reverence in the world of men. God's measure of true consecration is the state of the heart

Once your heart is truly consecrated, it will spring out like an oasis and affect every other area of your life

People's moral assessment uses chastity, modesty, discipline, humility, self-respect. These are noble and commendable and testaments of a good life

But they do not have the power in themselves to reveal the true state of a man's heart before God

A man can be very disciplined and yet wicked. A man can be very simple yet with corruption locked up in his heart.

A man can be very excellent and easily acceptable, and God must still vet the state of such a man

Jesus spoke of people who pass this test, yet their hearts were far from him Matthew 15:8

The principal basis for trust with God

In allocating possibilities in the kingdom, the parameter God uses even above capacity is the state of your heart

Eliab looked like the king by every physical parameter, tall and built, and God rejected him. God went to the wilderness for a young boy called David 1 Samuel 16

Even at the end of David's life God did not change what he said about him

• May God find you trustworthy.

It is one thing to trust God. It is another thing for God to trust you

There are many who trust God. God loves them, but God cannot trust them

It is the reason certain prayers seem not to be answered. Oh God, give me the nations. And God says, I will give the nations, but not to you.

The corruption in your heart will not be an advantage to the kingdom

At the end of this teaching you will value the prayer of the psalmist to search my heart and try my thoughts Psalm 139:23

What a corrupt heart is

Genesis 6:5, Genesis 6:11, Genesis 6:12

God can penetrate beyond the physical action and see the construct of your thoughts and heart

There is a compromised heart, maybe not before men, but certainly before God

The greatest way a heart becomes corrupt or compromised is by losing the fear of God and fabricating wrong motives or imaginations

Your reverence for God alongside your motive for doing anything in the kingdom defines the purity or corruption of your heart

Two indices: your reverence for God, and your motive and motivation for everything you do in the kingdom

God is not searching only for excellence of execution. He searches for the fear of the Lord, and the motivation behind it

Motives like an obsession to glorify self can drive a man to do good works, and the works will be found wanting.

Bitterness, revenge, pride and a haughty spirit can drive a man to do good or bad. Other motives are love and kindness

Even when a preacher shouts the counsel of God and men admire him, God looks beyond the person and X-rays him.

He looks for the fear of the Lord and the motive for what he is doing. That decides whether your service is accepted or rejected

So don't wonder why people doing good works seem unseen by God, or why God seems patient with another. God does not see as men see

The heart can deceive its owner

A man can be so deceived by his own heart that he is not aware it is corrupt. This is the fearful part of this teaching

When preparing this note, I got on my knees and cried to the Lord, let me not continue this teaching until I'm done praying for myself

You know a deceived heart where people sell an idea while they are victims of it. An arrogant person talks about pride. A self-centered person talks about self.

You are creating change in others, not aware you are the first one in need of that change

Jeremiah 17:9 to Jeremiah 17:10

While you do the things you do, good or bad, God is assessing your heart, and it affects the way he reaches down to you

God loves everybody, but God does not trust everybody. Trust is not intrinsic, it is based on track record

A corrupt heart voids your works

A heart void of the fear of the Lord, with a wrong motivation, can render all your activities of little or no value before God

Great preaching, excellence in career, acts of charity, community building, however lofty and commended, become of little or no value once they stem from a corrupt heart

Jesus watched people give offerings in the temple. Some danced with their harvest. A widow dropped her little.

She gave more than all of them, because they gave from their plenty and she gave all, as a representation of reverence for God Mark 12:41 to Mark 12:44

If God assessed this service, the one who opened with prayer or raised the offering may have presented the purest incense, not the one who preached for over an hour

Before God looks at your works, he doesn't look at the claps, likes, shares and follows. He looks for reverence and purity of motive

The acceptable worshipper may not be on stage. It may be someone at the back singing with reverence and sincerity

A preacher may preach well to build a brand called ministry because his reputation is at stake. That is not how heaven rates things

When we know this, we focus less on people and what they think, and more on generating genuine reverence for God and probing the motive behind what we do

What a corrupt heart does if left unchecked

It will eventually destroy its owner by exposing him to all forms of demonic attacks

When Satan attacks a man, he looks for corruption in the heart, or stimulates showmanship or pride in place of the fear of the Lord.

Remove reverence and right motive, and he has an official way into your life, whether in ministry, business or leadership

It will diminish glory, honor and grace from a man's life

I have lived long enough to see grace to grass and grass to grace

Many destinies are like a plane ordained to fly 17 hours. At 5 hours things start beeping and the pilot is forced to land. Sometimes it crashes into the sea

They start well, taxi well, lift well, overcome the initial bumps, plateau, then go down

• Whatever will make you rise and then go down as a negative memorial, may it never find expression in your life.
• May people never use your life to warn others. May you become an eternal inspiration.

I have seen preachers once great, vibrant, forces to reckon with. The voice, influence, demand, attention, authority, glory begin to fade. At a point it is respect based on age, not impact

This is not just seasons. It is a spiritual medical condition. A plane that lands abruptly doesn't mean the journey is complete. Something went wrong Hebrews 2:3

I have seen people in business once a billionaire, a force to reckon with. They blame government, the times, the products, and go down. Some sold everything to survive.

Some politicians once had voices like the voice of God

Better a flight delay or cancellation than a plane crash. You delay and lose things, but you don't lose your life

It takes vision to start. It takes discipline to continue. It takes mercy to finish. When the storms arise, not even vision or discipline can hold the aircraft. You need the hand of God

• Father, preserve my honor. Preserve the glory upon my life, not for self-aggrandizement, for your name's sake.
• Let me not become Ichabod: glory, honor, fire, youthfulness and value that was once there but now is not.

Men clap for you today. That does not mean they will clap tomorrow.

The same hand that said blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord can say, I donate nails Matthew 21:9

The people Jesus fed wanted to make him king John 6:15. Then they stood before Barabbas and said crucify him.

They said let his blood be on us and our children Matthew 27:20 to Matthew 27:25

They can clap for a CEO and say we have been praying for you, and two weeks later ask how to kill him or take him out

If Jesus walked the streets of Nigeria, after 2 weeks many would be tired of him. When he walked as the Nazarene there was no cloud of glory around him.

He was a man like any other. Don't blame the disciples for being tired

Peter said, I've seen everything, miracles, signs, raising the dead, and went fishing. Jesus said, have you any catch? Cast your net on the right side John 21:5.

Peter said, depart from me, I am a sinful man Luke 5:8

Though his action said I hate you, something in him said, can I leave a man that I love? Jesus returned for him. Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?

Now I trust you. Feed my lambs John 21:15

Why did the prodigal son's father accept him? He didn't refund what was stolen. But the heart was still there.

Sitting with the swine, only God knows how many days he cried, what made me this stupid? Luke 15

Don't conclude on people because the expressions around them look godless. Find out what is happening in their heart

The lady did not live right and got pregnant. While you are condemning her, find out what she is saying to God now. God can say, I want both that lady and that child.

And to you who kept yourself, God says, that's exactly why I will not use you, you think it is by your heart

The world is full of self-righteousness and bragging. Young people say, God forbid I fail in ministry. An old man is watching, saying, Lord, just show mercy.

Give that boy 15 years of ministry, fighting the beasts of Ephesus, entering the mouth of the whale 1 Corinthians 15:32, Jonah 2, and you will see how that sermon adjusts

3 indices that show the state of a man's heart

1. Your reaction in the presence of honor or disappointment

   When things work your way, and when they don't, you see the true state of your heart

   Some pray and fast, God, let it walk my way, then pass the exam and say, you think this brain is nothing? That prayer was for ego, not for the glory of God

   You expected 200 in the auditorium and 40 came, and you say, it's not all about crowd. Are you sure that sermon was necessary, or is it a way of responding to something?

   You wouldn't say it if the venue was packed

   Many things we spiritualize are not a reflection of truth. They are spiritual ways of managing pain

   When things go your way, are you quick to deflect the excellence and let Jesus be seen?

   When things don't go your way, are you honest enough to say, in spite of it, Lord be glorified? Or do you transfer the blame to others?

2. Your response to the progress or achievement of others

   The goal is not to point fingers. This is God talking to all of us. I paused in preparing these notes to pray for myself

   When you see others progress and there is a pain you cannot explain, that pain is a call for retreat. It does not necessarily mean you are bad.

   It shows your humanity has not been swallowed up by the love of Jesus

   Some people must be clapped for alone. Clap for a group and they are not happy. They never want to be where there is greatness beside them. They want everyone lower in ranking and authority

   No matter what you preach or do, the diagnosis is corruption in the heart. It is not about being good or bad. There is a fight you must win

   Three ladies are praying for a life partner. A godly brother goes for the one who looks unassuming. A part of you says, is this brother blind? Say not in your heart

   Two people prayed in the temple. One said, Lord, you know me, I'm blameless, are you ready to answer me? The other said, I'm not worthy to call your name.

   God would rather answer the other Luke 18:9 to Luke 18:14

   Sometimes what makes us think we are qualified is exactly what disqualifies us in the spirit

   Our sufficiency in ministry, in business, in leadership is of God, so that no man should boast 2 Corinthians 3:5, Lamentations 3:22, Ephesians 2:9

   When people appreciate us, we receive it, but create boundaries. Beyond that line, it is no longer honor, it is worship

   How do you respond when God lifts others? When you hear he gave another person what he gave you?

   That anger, that sense of, God, you made me common, is what you need to work on

3. Your words

   Your speakings reveal to a large extent the state of your heart

   Words that joyfully condemn and downplay the efforts or achievements of others reveal envy, insecurity and competitive jealousy

   Every time you hear good news and want to show why it is not that great, it is envy, insecurity, competitive jealousy

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   Apostle Joshua Selman

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   They just promoted this man. That whole organization is lower class, a CEO there is like a clerk in ours. Let him rejoice at his level

   This person made 2 million naira and you say, 2 million? It is nothing to you because you had the leverage of a wealthy father. This one was an orphan who built wealth

   A lady releases a song and all you hear is that her voice was cracking. The moment you train your eyes to always see what is wrong, and it is not mentorship, you are insecure

   Like a doctor giving an injection, it may not be comfortable but trust the healing it brings. This is God opening your heart to you.

   That thing you've been trying to hide, its name is envy

   When the word pricks you, prepare your heart to pray. Don't feel condemned. It hits the preacher too. If it has not affected you, you are a liar. Repent immediately

Guard your heart is a call to vigilance and responsibility

Guard your heart is a call to steward this spiritual engine room with grace and intention so that it does not lead you to destruction or perdition

It is also a call to watch the factors that influence the state of your heart, so that you only allow seeds of good to be planted in its soil

Fight any seed that can bring a tree of unrighteousness within your heart

Guarding your heart is spiritual warfare

You take advantage of the resources of the word as a weapon. The empowerment of the Holy Spirit as a weapon.

The virtue of discipline and restraint, to keep far from you all that can corrupt your heart

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, imaginations and everything that exalts itself 2 Corinthians 10:4 to 2 Corinthians 10:5

If you think consecration is only avoiding immorality, indecent dressing and nudity, that is one side. The major battle is the state of your heart

Balance on the goodness of God

A reckless, lascivious pastor teaches the goodness of God in a way that downplays his justice and judgment, because his heart is given to a reckless lifestyle

A legalistic, self-righteous man teaches it as though God selected a few who can attain the standard, and downplays the potency of mercy and grace

Both will destroy your understanding of God's goodness. God is the righteous judge of the living and the dead. He is also a father who shows mercy and draws you

Romans 2:4

Selling a God who hates and destroys makes people fearful but not broken. A child crying at a horror movie is not repentant, he is emotional. That is what happens in churches most times

People threatened to the altar don't truly repent. Revealing God as a righteous judge without revealing his mercy grossly misrepresents the work of the cross

9 things to guard your heart against

1. The lust of the eyes and of the flesh

   1 John 2:16

   Feelings and emotions are not wrong. But anybody who cannot tame feelings and emotions cannot become a spiritual man. Taming them is a secret of spiritual consistency

   I don't feel like praying. If you depend on feeling, how many people do their work by feeling and get paid every month? You get up tired for your paycheck.

   You are bound by a covenant mentality

   Vision is a blessing but it can be destructive. Many temptations never come because your eyes did not see it. Learn to see things and not let them creep into your heart

   I was thankful for my iPhone 15 or 16, until I saw someone with the iPhone 18 and mine looked like a poor man's phone.

   You must know how to look at things and say, I have access, but I restrain myself

   Fasting trains your body to see pleasure and yet not access it. Fasting is not limited to food. It can be the TV, the phone, the internet. Sometimes a network problem is your fasting

   The idea of fasting is to culture your spirit to gain dominion over appetites

2. Pride

   All forms: the pride of life, empty boastings, vain glory. Pride is a killer

   As a people we must guard our heart against pride

3. Offense and uncontrolled anger

   Matthew 11:6

   Ephesians 4:26

   People say anger is a sign of your gifting or assignment. If you don't deal with anger, you will not even start the assignment before finishing it

   Many have lost relationships, great friends, business friends, through uncontrolled anger and offense

   • I receive grace to overcome, not to manage, offense and uncontrolled anger.

4. Unhealthy comparison and competitive jealousy

   You keep sizing people in your mind. A PhD material I consulted said this is more prone in women than men

   It shows up as careless words. It happens among preachers and business people. It is sometimes enhanced by the bad behavior of members.

   Saul killed thousands, David ten thousands, and Saul looked for a way to kill David 1 Samuel 18:7

   You who are higher, reach down first. It is easier for the one on top to honor and appreciate those below, because you have nothing to lose.

   Those below are managing a fragile sense of self-worth

   Reaching down is a powerful behavior of champions. Don't make things harder for those coming up

   When I minister where there are many pastors, I train myself to walk through and greet, how are you sir, God bless you, and the tension calms

   Celebrating those below you is an investment in your own future, because they will rise. A dean of a faculty trains a student who one day becomes professor, and even dean, within the dean's lifetime.

   He can say, clear my office, or he can say, sir, I am dean but you are still my father in my mind

   Show honor and respect to what God is doing in their life. He cannot gather 50 people but raised 100,000 for a poster, so encourage him. Four souls born again is a miracle.

   A new auditorium that takes 30 instead of 70, don't laugh

   When you fight a man who is rising and he rises anyhow, his rising becomes a thorn in your flesh. The awareness that you tried to trample him and he prevailed will torture you

   People said nasty things about businesses, churches, men of God, families, nations, and they still rose.

   Some political leaders have no respect anywhere because of what they said about a nation that got its footing back

5. Self-centeredness and overestimation of self

   It is good to be confident, but there is a fine line between confidence and overestimation. It starts from internal self-flattery, where you deceive yourself that you are so good, so competent, so desirable

   Some believe they are too handsome, too beautiful, too rich, too brilliant. Give glory to God on time. There are professors who, after years of accumulating knowledge, cannot remember their wives

   People text me, apostle, you are the only preacher I listen to. They mean well. But some of you will read that kind of text and believe it.

   See how easy it is to be stupid when you rise

   Love yourself. Be happy where you are. Be confident. But fight overestimation of self

   A man of God held an artist and asked, sorry, who are you? The artist felt insulted, who does not know me? Even Coca-Cola still markets itself, because there are people who don't know them.

   Don't be embarrassed when people don't know you. Introduce yourself

   This does not mean you feel sorry for loving God, for being anointed, for being great. Some hate themselves and want to transfer it to everybody.

   I mean a healthy estimation of yourself, balanced with caution

6. Unhealthy entitlement

   There is a healthy entitlement 1 Corinthians 3:21. And there is an unhealthy one

   Some see every wealthy man and hate on him. Someone texted me a vision that God would rain curses on men who seem to have wealth.

   I said, if you don't know the way of the kingdom, don't try to punish and blackmail people

   Most things we criticize is because of envy. I'm not talking about recklessness and flamboyancy

   No man owes you anything, provided you have your life, your brain and your hands. Use them and the grace of God to build any help shown you

   My parents didn't build a house for me. A good man leaves an inheritance, they say Proverbs 13:22. What if that does not happen? Job 8:7.

   Some even wait for parents to die because they feel entitled

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   You have a rich neighbor with four cars. Go and learn from him how he got it.

   The spirit of covetousness eats into us and we emotionally blackmail people for using the word and obtaining results

   The same life you have is the same life they have. The same time you have is the same time they have.

   Don't idle it away in gossip, hatred and laziness while others invest in their destiny. Then time reveals the difference and you become angry

7. Insecurity and low self-esteem

8. Wickedness and revenge

   Tongue-talking believers nurse revenge. Some have vowed that even if it takes 10 or 20 years, they will execute it, on parents, friends, other men of God.

   You can't say you're a child of God thinking like that

   People will hurt you, hate on you, underestimate you.

   The excellency of your growth is to focus on the realm of glory God gave you and use it to please him, not to mete out vengeance

   It is God who is the avenger, not you Romans 12:19. They have sown their seeds. Let them reap. Don't go to their farm to manipulate a bad harvest

   It is painful to hear they sat together and said, should this man really be CEO, director, pastor in charge of this church?

   Even pastors I've counseled were pained by demeaning conversations from people they trusted

   Let me minister healing: it is not unusual for people to not believe you. Even the closest around you may disbelieve you. Don't let it deter you

   Explaining your story while you have not won is a waste of time. Win first, then your victory will explain the story

   Keep investing. Your season of appearing is coming. God uses men to lift men. But when the men he ordained refuse, he comes by himself and picks you.

   When people ask, what are you doing here, God will say, the lifter of men has brought them here

   There are people who, if they had their way, would tell God, you are making a mistake with this man of God, where he comes from is not the correct place. Unfortunately he chose me.

   If any man feels he should be the one, tell him God saw you when he chose you

   Esther is from a village. God saw you when he made the king like her Esther 2:17. Don't blackmail people for rising

   The man doesn't prophesy, doesn't work miracles, so why do people like him? God placed the love for him in their heart. That is why we give God glory lavishly.

   We know how frail we are outside of him

9. Hate and unforgiveness

   Don't hate people around you because God is lifting them. Don't hate them because God loves them

   There is a man of God who has been faithful for many years and desires growth not for self-aggrandizement. God has purged your heart. He will lead you into the company of the great.
   A time will come when your sermons will precede you.
   Not many listen to your powerful sermons now, online or offline. Leave it there. A season is coming when people will run around looking. You are in your night season but the day is breaking.
   When a man is in his season, five loaves and two fish can feed 5,000 John 6:9.
   They give you five minutes and all you say is, let us pray, and everybody says, who is this person? Can you come preach in this conference? Ecclesiastes 3:11 Don't stop praying. Don't stop fasting.

How to protect your heart

A man of God asked, apostle, God has lifted you so enviably, what do you do when you meet those who did not believe in you?

I said I have trained myself in prayer to love everybody. It did not come naturally

The tendency is to slap your lifting on the faces of those who did not believe you.

But when you rise in the spirit, the theme of your life is to glorify Jesus, not to defend status

This teaching is for those God has helped to a measure. Some of you are too innocent to understand its full import. You will need to rise a little in this wicked world

1. Always remember you are a child of God

   When your heart wants to devise wicked imaginations, think evil and revenge, carry bitterness beyond its boundary, remember, I am a child of God

   Being a son of God brings kingdom responsibility and makes you assignment conscious. Being a child of God connects you to the father and makes you relationship conscious

   Sometimes you need to suspend assignment consciousness and remember this man of God is also a child of God. Organs and tissues come from cells. At the cellular level you are a child of God

   That means wickedness should not be found in you. Any attribute inconsistent with the father who birthed you by his spirit restrains you

2. Guard your eye and ear gates

   They are the official gates into your heart

   There were very innocent people with malleable hearts, like clean white paper. They opened their ears to the wrong people and started planting hatred. Are you aware what they have been saying about you?

   Suddenly you nurse the seed of hatred

   Sometimes ignorance of certain things is an advantage to your walk with God. Set a guard over your ears and your eyes

3. Watch your association

   Love everyone, but carefully edit your association. Sometimes it is best to love people from afar, because proximity creates influence

   When people are close, you have authorized them to influence you

4. Feed on the word and word-compliant resources

   Keep your way pure by meditating on the word Psalm 119:9

   You are planting the right seeds in the soil of your mind. Feeding on the right thing helps you think right Philippians 4:8

   Where do you find those whatsoever things? In the law of the Lord Psalm 19:7

5. Invest in prayer, particularly praying in the spirit

   One way to build love in your heart for men is to become an intercessor. The love of God is shed abroad in your heart Romans 5:5

   It is difficult to criticize the people you pray for. Prayer warriors with hate in their heart is a lie

   Stephen, being stoned, prayed the prayer Jesus prayed in pain, forgive them Acts 7:60, Luke 23:34. Jesus ever lives to make intercession Hebrews 7:25.

   It takes stamina in the spirit to pray for people in the midst of pain

   Every time you are in pain, take it to the altar

   • Leave me at the altar with my father.
   • They can keep disbelieving me, they can blackmail me. Leave me at the altar with my father.

   See the altar as a place of comfort. When the world is too harsh, run to his presence. He wraps you with his arms, the friend that sticks closer than a brother Proverbs 18:24.

   Don't mind them, the one who loves you is greater than those who hate you

   In seasons of persecution, the pressure to defend yourself before the world is a waste of your time. 90% of those who speak against you know the truth. Their spirits are alive.

   Go and stay with him

   Why is this lady always commanding favor? She collected power from someone. Leave me at the altar with my father. Let me do my business with you

6. Practice word-based confessions and declarations

   I sense a river of healing, healing to someone. People are being healed from this message.

   Psalm 27:1 to Psalm 27:2, Jeremiah 20:11, Psalm 23:4

   I may not see the wind or the rain, yet my valley shall be filled with water 2 Kings 3:17. I am a well-watered garden Isaiah 58:11

   Faith begins to conquer doubt. A plant presses through gravity and finds a way to grow. You are the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified Isaiah 61:3

   Like that tender plant, there will always be a way of escape 1 Corinthians 10:13

   I don't have any evidence yet, but faith is my evidence. The wisdom of God is working in me

   The same energy it took to call God unfaithful, call him faithful and speak your way forward. Don't stop the tears from coming, but speak as a man of God

   There is a place for me in God's program. I respect all who have gone, but there is a unique contribution to my apostleship that no one will take. I am a faithful steward.
   Lord, you are lifting me for your name's sake.

7. Practice periodic retreats

   A retreat is a timeout where you shut yourself away from the normal activities and stay with God for renewal and appraisal. Shut away from the noise

8. Be a person of vision and diligence

   Idleness can enhance the corruption of the heart. When you are idle and not engaged, you will be angry with your state and jealous of those making progress

9. Be a peacemaker

   Matthew 5:9

   Romans 12:18 Let it be that the trouble did not come from your end

   Acts 24:16 This verse blessed me. It came to me with light

Test your motive: ask why

One of the easiest and most potent ways to test your motive is to ask yourself why

Consistently asking why will lead you to the truest motivation behind your desires and activities, good or bad. Why ministry? Why crusades? Why business? Why host this program? Why start a church or a branch?

If we are honest, we will catch ourselves not manifesting the glory of God through our desire. Why? Because others are doing it. Because I think it is my right.

Because it will enhance my sense of self-worth

There are times you think you are full, but verify what you are full of. You can be full of pride. The weight on you may not be glory.

It may be the abundance of flesh, pride, hatred, and that is what has made you heavy and you cannot fly

I'm not aware of anyone who has successfully gained the whole world, and it takes a kind of mastery to gain it Mark 8:36

Our principal motive for all things must be our love for Jesus and our desire to see him glorified. Jesus revealed, Jesus glorified is not a catchphrase. It is why we exist

This desire must be greater than our desire for victory, success, personal advancement, fulfillment

4 things it means to be pure in heart

1. A heart that loves the Lord above all else and shows deep reverence for him

2. A heart that truly means well and desires the best for people

   A heart without guile

3. A heart ever open to divine scrutiny and vetting

   Oh God, you have access to the innermost parts of my heart. Search me through and through till my heart becomes a home for you

   If God tells you there is something wrong, no argument. You never get too big to be vetted by God

   If God calls me a thief today I will not argue.

   I will lie down in his presence and say, Lord, I don't have any evidence of stealing, but the fact that you said it, show me mercy

   When you become too big for the reproof and chastisement of God, shame will be your lot before the world. God reproves because men don't forgive.

   God can chastise you with a rod of correction but show you love

   The world is very unforgiving. They call you king of kings today and Beelzebub tomorrow.

   It is better to cry before God than before a wicked and cruel world

4. A heart unashamedly repentant and willing to change

   Being open to scrutiny does not mean you are repentant

Psalm 51

This was David's cry at the lowest point of his life. Create in me a clean heart. Cast me not away from your presence. Restore the joy of salvation so that I may worship you

Consecration is not a gift. There is an engracing that comes from God

Beyond external things, the highest demonstration of consecration is a pure, broken and contrite heart. The rituals of chastity, modesty and discipline find their value only from a heart pure before God

Consecration is defined by a heart that preserves the fear of God and is motivated primarily by the desire to see Jesus revealed and glorified

This is the washing of water by the word Ephesians 5:26

• Do that inner work of cleansing, Lord, where the word touched me deeply.
• Grace to take advantage of this knowledge and the resources of the kingdom to guard my heart from corruption through the eye gate, the ear gate, unhealthy associations, vices and attacks of the devil.
• God desires that we last and that our light shine.

Cry for mercy

Mercy is not for sinners. Mercy is one of five expressions of God's love. One of them is his goodness. One of them is his mercy

• Show me mercy for every day of my life.
• Show me mercy over my vulnerabilities, over the weights and the sin that easily beset me.
• Let me stand perfect and entire in the will of God, wanting nothing, with longevity of impact in the spirit.

Hebrews 12:1

It is time to surrender everything. Those who say, I need Jesus. Those who say, I want to surrender everything and start afresh, no games, no turning back

• Lord Jesus, I have heard your word. I love you with all my heart.
• I believe you are the Son of God. I believe you rose again for my justification.
• Right now I receive Jesus into my heart. Be my Lord, my Savior and my king.
• I declare that the power of sin, Satan, hell and the grave is broken over my life.
• I am a child of God. I go from glory to glory and grace to grace.

Based on the authority of God's word, I declare your sins forgiven. The power of sin, Satan, hell and the grave is broken over your life. I impart grace to live the victorious Christian life.

Welcome to the family of faith.

• Lord, grant us a global ministry. As you lift us, let our rising not become a cause for harm.
• Keep us humble. Plant the fear of the Lord, the spirit of reverence, among us.
• Let our motivation never be competitiveness, jealousy, envy or revenge. Let our singular desire be to reveal Jesus to the nations and glorify him.
• Let this desire supersede our need to be victorious and to advance.

Charge: fast with this message

Take one day this week, at least one or two hours, and fast with this message. Take it as an instruction

You are not asking God for things, breakthrough or money. It is a prayer of consecration and rededication unto God

You will climb new heights in the spirit. In that retreat God will bring visions, corrections, prunings and redirection. Graces and dimensions that were lost will be restored

The Lord bless you. Your going out is blessed and your coming in is blessed. You will honor God in ways you have not done before.

This week God will announce you in ways that have not happened all year. Let good and good alone come to you.

I declare your family blessed. I declare the works of your hand blessed.

The wisdom of the spirit is at work in you because your heart is motivated by love and by the desire to please him. You will not fail this week.

The Lord will lift you as a lampstand and you will shine bright. Many will understand the life of God by watching you. Many will fall in love with Jesus by watching you.

Many will build reverential fear for God by watching you. The anointing of the spirit will multiply upon your life.

God will silence your enemies. You will go higher and higher, better and better, greater and greater. God will use your hands to work wonders. May God grant your requests and desires speedily.

Fresh encounters, fresh dimensions, fresh instructions, deeper levels, deeper fellowship.

As God looks for men in this end time to prosper, lift, advance and showcase, may he find you faithful. May he find you worthy.