Ministering: Rev Sam Oye
Topic: The Secrets for Attracting and Maximising Divine Connections (CONTD)
Ecclesiastes 4: 9 – 12 (NIV) “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Two are better than one. Realistically speaking, it is not advisable that we journey through life alone. The wisest man who ever lived (King Solomon) makes us to understand the approaches to life which are better.
Ecclesiastes 7: 8 (KJV) “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” If you want to understand and experience what a better life is, you must align yourself with what is better. This means that you should not weep about what is occurring currently in your life. The present situation of your life is not better than what your life would look like at the end of it. If you are not at the end of your life and you know it, why worry about the woes of the present? Life is not a sprint, so we should not fashion ourselves as sprinters in life. Life is more like a marathon. When we consider the more complex situations of life, we can further say that life is in fact like running a decathlon. A traditional decathlon race is a combination of a long race, long and high jump, shot put, javelin throw and many other events. This shows that regardless of how we live, we will face multifaced challenges. Like athletes participating in a decathlon, we have to be prepared to overcome different kinds of challenges at varying levels and magnitudes.
It is important to note that Ecclesiastes 7:8 never says that better is he that makes it to the end first. It simply says that better is the end. This means that we need to focus on getting to our own end. Everyone and their lives have different realisations of the end. Nothing wears you out like running the race of your life at the speed of another person. King Solomon knew that as wise as he was, David had more and was connected with other officials that made his rulership easier. They were there with David to bear the burden when he was the King. It is very dangerous for the mighty to be unshielded. For a man to rise high and not have a voice of reason close by, he would eventually slip.
Life is a series of connections. There are people sent into your life for a season and others for a lifetime. It is important to know the difference so that you do not wear them out. Also, knowing that people are in your life because of the existence of differences is important. It is the duty of the individual to discern the difference that every person brings, so that you do not put pressure on them to deliver into your life what they were not sent to provide.
Every time you try to make someone who is supposed to encourage you to become your provider, you are indirectly frustrating them. In the same vein, your encourager is not your provider. There are moments they can be the same, but we have to discern what everyone has to offer. The worst thing that can happen to you is to be so close to greatness and not realize it. For example, the moment you are around Christ the Messiah, if your only vision and understanding of Jesus Christ is Him as the carpenter’s son, your experience with Him will be limited compared to anyone who sees Him as son of God. It would be very unfortunate to be close to a fountain of living water and you are dying of thirst. This shows that sometimes it is not the absence of water in the well, but the absence of recognition of the well as a well that is causing your pain and predicament.
Mark 6: 5 – 6 (NIV) “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.” In Mark 6: 5 – 6, it is shown that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was there. He was someone who could raise people from the dead but even their dogs were not raised. The reason? They only saw him as the carpenter’s son. Jesus is someone who could open their blind eyes, but He left them blind. Why? They saw Him only as the carpenter’s son.
This was the reason when Blind Bartimaeus was going to talk about Jesus, he referred to Him as Jesus, the son of David and not Jesus, the son of Mary. He was signifying to Jesus that he has connected Jesus to the roots where mercy flows from. He was not going to refer to Jesus based on His biological parents. Because of this, he found mercy. You need to know that the recognition you give determines what you get.
Two are better than one. It is called the power of recognition. Things respond to recognition. Blind Bartimaeus recognized Jesus based on his history and got his miracle, others could not because all the knowledge they have of Jesus is as the carpenter’s son. God gives us a blessing to forget old or unwanted things. When God lifts us to forget our pain and past, we should remove anyone around us that serves as a reminder. Instead of reminders of the past, we should surround ourselves with people that praise God for where God has brought us from. We should avoid using the past to reduce a person.
One of the secrets of attracting destiny helpers is prayerfulness (evidence is in Mark 1: 35 – 37). When you leave men to seek God, men leave everything to seek you. If you check the most sought-after and demanded people, one common point they share is that they know how to seclude themselves. They understand the need to seclude themselves from men. They are people that pursue God, which means, they no longer need to pursue men. We understand that God is the Father of spirits, men are spirit beings dwelling in human bodies and all spirits must have a father. If God is the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12: 9) and God, Himself, is a spirit, then those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4: 24). Until you secure the spirit that secures the spirits of men, you have not captured men.
If for you, achievements are by might and power, you will not accomplish anything great. In the divine sphere, things occur and are done by spirit. In the case of Joseph, all the gateways to leadership, he never followed any gateway, what brought him to the palace was his prison achievements. Logic therefore demands that we ask, how can achievements in a bad place give a man a good position? This is how the kingdom of God works. Without any specialty or criteria, the King declared Joseph the Prime Minister. A king’s influence is limitless. This is the spirituality of governance – the spirituality of leadership. Do not just go to a person of a certain position because you have a close relationship with them. You should secure their spirit before you get close to them. Imagine a scenario where the person you are very close to gains a powerful position and you are the first person he forgets. In ministry, a wise pastor does not pursue his members. It is the first thing you should learn in pastoral ministry. The higher the members go, the farther you should withdraw from them. If members of your church do not seek you, you do not run after them. It is advisable to stay closer to the humble and younger ones as they are growing. Concerning the big and mature ones, they should have access to you based on their demand. The reason for this is that greatness reveals one’s heart. Anyone can act humble without having true humility.
In the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11: 1 – 44), in verses 42 – 43, Jesus thanked God and declared how God always hears Him. Please note, during the resurrection, Jesus was not praying to God. So, when did He pray that God already heard? When Jesus called out to Lazarus, it was his spirit Jesus called out to. John 11: 42 – 43 (AMP) “I knew that you always hear me and listen to me; but I have said this because of the people standing around, so that they may believe that you have sent me [and that you have made me your representative].” Jesus said it for others to hear. He decided to raise Lazarus because the family of Lazarus placed a demand on Him. The Father of all spirits compels all spirits in your direction when you put a demand on Him. Do not speak to spirits when you have not spoken to their Father. The world of the spiritual controls the natural. The reason you might not gain favour from people in high positions when you seek them could be because you have not secured their spirit. It is the spirit that drives generosity. It is not by power.
One mystery of life is how the one that is not seeking you is the one you sought after and the one you sought after is not looking in your direction. When such happens, go back to the place of prayer and secure the spirits of men (God – the Father of all spirits). Rejection is not because you are not good. It is because you have not secured the spirit of the individual. Leaders are under the influence of spirits which is quite a precarious situation to be in. Sometimes, it is not a leader who makes decisions, sometimes, leaders are made to decide. For example, in the case of Joseph becoming the Prime Minister of Egypt, from the outside looking in, one would say the King decided to make Joseph the Prime Minister. This is not entirely the case. The King of Egypt was made to put Joseph in that position by God.