The first thing I wld like to say to this August gathering is that loyalty is not TAUGHT. Loyalty is CAUGHT!!!!

Shocking????

The word “loyalty” has been abused in ministry.

What we hear is you have to be loyal to me.

“I am the one God ordained not you. So as Elisha was loyal to Elijah you must be loyal to me”. That is what we commonly hear.

It becomes a coercive loyalty at that point as opposed to influential loyalty.

The former is detrimental to success in ministry.

Definition of loyalty.
Steadfast in allegiance or duty

So, the issue for discourse today is : how do pastors engender the followers’ steadfast allegiance?

Before we fully delve into this matter, let us consider the following scriptures first.

Slogan for loyalty: Matthew 7:12 – do unto others what you want others to do unto you.

Esteem each other better than yourself. Philippians 2:3-11.

Seek the good of others. 1 Corinthians 10:24

OVERVIEW OF LEADERSHIP
The first thing we need to realize is that there is leadership vacuum in the world today. God was concerned so much about this that He made a proclamation in
Ezekiel 22:30 of looking for a man…but found none!

In Isaiah He was again on the look out for a leader to send. Thank God this time around Prophet Isaiah quickly bailed out mankind! Isaiah 6:8.

Such is the dearth of leadership.

Unfortunately, God will always need leaders who will be the extension of His hand on earth. Till now, His eyes are still searching to and fro the earth seeking for ready and willing leaders. The problem is that, the qualifications for the vessels God uses in His kingdom are tougher than what obtains in worldly leadership. Brother Gbile Akanni once made a very pointed but very remarkable statement on recruitment for Godly leaders. He said in God’s army, there is nothing like “an emergency sanctification”. One that is quickly put together to usher a man into leadership position. He went on to say that neither does God follow human criteria such as good looks, physique, and academic acumen, but a good heart. To him a good heart will comprise of the following virtues:
– integrity
– honesty
– blamelessness and
– purity.

An example here is David who was referred to as “a man after God’s heart”.

How God picked David as a leader is also instructive. Let us look at 1 Samuel 13:14 to see what God had to do to pick Hs leader and particularly, what was uppermost in His criteria before he was chosen …”the Lord hath sought Him a man after His own heart, and The Lord hath commanded him to be captain over Hs people…”

The expectation of God of His leaders is that they should be CAPTAIN over His people. The leader must not be a dwarf. He must challenge himself to grow DAILY. Otherwise, he will engender followership familiarity occasioned by stagnant growth in grace, in knowledge, in purity and in power.

Leadership is a high call.

Before we leave this overview, let us consider how Jesus exemplified leadership and what he expects his leaders to do.

Matthew 4:17-19

Jesus said to them follow me and I will MAKE you.

There is a following and there is a making.

Leadership is about turning men to who God wants them to be. Psalm 23:1,2.

Until there is a making you have not led! So if I am leading I must be producing changes in the followers.

The prodigal son came back home to be made something. Luke 15:17-19.

Transforming them into something better is the goal of leadership. Not just about producing result.

So, I submit that what God expects from His leaders is TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP.

Hear how Laurie Beth Jones summarized Jesus’ leadership prowess:
“One person trained twelve human beings who went on to so influence the world that time itself is now recorded as being before (B.C) or after (A.D) his existence.”

“This person worked with a staff that was totally human and not divine…..a staff that in spite of illiteracy, questionable backgrounds, fractious feelings and momentary cowardice went on to accomplish the tasks he trained them to do. They did this for one main reason – to be with him again” ACTS 4:13.

This was influence at work. They would want to be with him again and again. Do you command this kind of followership by influence?

Ponder on this.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN LEADERSHIP
To be a great leader, you can’t but be laden with emotional intelligence. Jesus was a master in this. Emotional intelligence is a great virtue that we all need to imbibe in order to have committed and great followers. A leader needs increased EQ – Emotional intelligence Quotient to do well in leading the people.

Simply put, Emotional Intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. The four skills needed to do well in EI are:
1. Self awareness – the ability to identify your own emotions and know what makes you tick.
2. Self management – the ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving. Putting your momentary needs on hold to pursue larger and more important goals.
3. Social awareness – the ability to accurately pick up on emotions in other people and understand what is going on with them.
4. Relationship management – this taps into your abilities in the first three emotional intelligence skills. It is your ability to use your awareness of your emotions and that of others to manage interactions successfully.

Hear this amazing discovery: people with the highest levels of IQ outperform those with average IQs just 20% of the time; while people with average IQs outperform those with high IQs 70% of the time. This anomaly shows that high IQ is not always the source of success. The discovery of EQ or EI served as the missing link in this rather confusing find. According to Travis brad berry & Jean Greaves; scientists realized that there must be another variable that explained success above and beyond one’s IQ. The critical factor discovered is Emotional Intelligence EQ.

Thus, emotional intelligence goes far beyond empathy. Empathy is putting your feet in the shoes of others in order to feel what they feel and thereby be more tolerable in handling their plights.

Jesus demonstrated emotional intelligence so many times. His EQ mastery can be summarized into 3 parts :
– strength of self mastery – he said “I Am”, he stuck to his mission, he believed in himself, he had internal anchors, he felt a sense of destiny, he is keenly aware of his resources amongst others.

– strength of action – he saw everything as being alive, he had a plan, he saw things differently, he formed a team. He was bold, he took one step at a time, he took the long view amongst others.

– strength of relationships – he gave them a vision of something larger than themselves, he beheld them, he was open to people and their ideas, he treated them as equals, he spent lots of time with them. He loved them, he defended them, he acknowledged in public and in private, he believed in them amongst others.

The summary of his EI mastery is as encapsulated in John 15:15-17. He said I no longer call you servants but friends. That is the height of emotional intelligence. Friends pour into each others emotional bank account.

True friends don’t hurt each other. True friends are loyal to one another.

The maxim of EQ is TOUCH THE HEART BEFORE TOUCHING THE HAND!

ACCOUNTABILITY IN LEADERSHIP
HOW TO HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE

Matthew 25:14-30

Successful leaders believe in accountability.

When I say, “Leaders hold people accountable,” who comes to mind? Followers right?

Wrong!!!

Authentic leaders think of themselves, as well as others, when they think of accountability.

Authority without accountability is abuse.

Accountability begins with leaders, not Followers. If you want accountability from others, become accountable to others.

After you become accountable, expect accountability.

Reality about accountability:
You might try to impose accountability, but you can’t buy or force it. Accountability that elevates performance is freely embraced. Anything other than a person holding themself accountable is de-motivating coercion.

Mutual:
“Go into every interaction with those who work for you believing that you are as accountable to them for your performance as they are to you for their performance.” Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Red Hat

Leaders are accountable to followers for the following:
– Attach their job to the broader mission of the company.
– Explain how their job fulfills strategy.
– How people interact.

Additional ways leaders can be accountable to followers:

Every employee would leap for joy if they heard their leader or manager say, “I’m accountable to you for my listening behaviors.”

Create environments where people can bring out their best.

One-way accountability is arrogant. Mutual accountability is the rave of the moment.

What did John say in Matthew 3:11?

What did Jesus say in confirmation of what John said in Luke 12:49?

Friends, we become living dead without fire!!!!

Receive that fire NOW!!!!

JESUS SAID THE WORKS THAT I DO SHALL YE DO ALSO; EVEN GREATER WORKS THAN THIS SHALL YE DO……….John 14:12

If Jesus could talk like this, I wonder what else we are to do that He did not do.- he healed, delivered, supplied, blessed, cursed, brought money out of the fish mouth, raised the dead……

The revelation I got from that statement is that WHATEVER YOU CAN IMAGINE AS DONE beyond what Jesus did shall be done.

For example, you can actually command physical mountain on your land to vanish and it will happen!

So, this greater works will be hinged on how far u can imagine, envision or dream. These are the language of the spirit.

The story of Elisha that took over from Elijah and did greater works and greater miracles. 2 Kings 2:1-10

The story of Paul that did greater works than Peter…..

The story of David that did greater works than Saul…..

The glory of the latter house shall surpass the former…..

This is what the new anointing shall usher FHIM into…..

Zechariah 2:1-5

Tell your neighbour -get ready for this great move of the Holy Spirit.

Unprecedented in our days.

A replica of Joel 2:3-11.

God spoke to my heart strongly that soon and very soon the fortification of men shall begin to fail them. Their gods and deities and juju that they trusted shall begin to fail them massively.

Their ONLY hope will be Jesus Christ. For in the day of His power His people shall be willing.

And FHIM shall be the recipient and beneficiaries of this great harvest of souls.

I nfact, God showed me a vision of FHIM using a low altitude helicopter or drone to preach to the people because of the MULTITUDE jam pack on the roads and venues of our programmes and meetings.

That is why the generals are retiring now to pave way for our emergence.

Glory!!!

I cannot wait. What about you?

It will be heaven on earth.

Now hear this: this new anointing coming upon us as a people and ministry will make you active. It is not for sitting down.

Watch this: Acts 10:38

When it landed on Jesus he couldn’t contain it sitting! No sir!

The anointing propelled him…..He WENT ABOUT…..doing good…..preaching, healing, delivering and raising the dead.

Let that dimension of anointing …..yea greater dimension fall on you now!

On your streets, in your communities, in your place of work or businesses every where you go or you are, you become a mobile church…….healing the sick, raising the dead and deadly blows upon the enemies.

It will be an awesome re-awakening like never. Get ready!

Your shadows shall heal.

Your voice shall heal.

Your presence shall heal.

Your breath shall heal.

Get ready!!!

Soon all the great works you have heard of or seen shall pale into insignificance in the light of what God will be doing thru us at FHIM.

Get ready! Clean your vessels. Make your body, soul and spirit habitable for the Holy Spirit and crave his power and anointing and watch what happens next.

Shall we pray?

Father, I am ready to manifest this new anointing. Release grace upon me now, to step out of my cocoon of timidity, fear and inertia. Pray!

Receive the fire of the Holy Ghost now!

Let it burn!!!!

Let me show you the scriptures that back up this covenant of our living till at least 94 years.

– Psalm 91:16
– Isaiah 65:19-22
– Genesis 25:8
– Numbers 33:39
– Psalm 92:12-15

We are not to take these for granted. But the KNOWLEDGE of this covenant and the fact that in FHIM we actually skinned this covenant with God goes a very long way in separating us from other ministries who didn’t take this DELIBERATE action.

Let me tell you how.

How many of us were in church when our sister Gift shared a testimony of how she survived death when they told her point blank she would die? She said she remembered this covenant and refused to die! Same with sister darling. When she faced death. And many others have shared testimonies here recalling their escapes based on this covenant.

Some who don’t have this covenant would have easily given in to death when faced with such situations.

So this knowledge is good for us.

However, we need to know that every covenant has two parts to it: The Token and The instructions to follow.

The tokens are usually sacrificial in nature more or less represented by blood to activate the covenant.
The instructions are less sacrificial but are set of rules to follow to enjoy the covenant blessings.

E.g Ephesians 6:2-3

Is this clear?

What does The Lord require of us?
– Deuteronomy 4:40
– Micah 6:8

There are rules to be followed

Eg Job who instructed his eyes not to dwell on a maid. Samson was not to drink strong drink. Jonah was to go to Nineveh. Etc. instructions!

Every action has a consequence. When u choose an action you choose the consequence.

That we are under the covenant of longevity does not permit reckless behaviour or reckless living.

– Nobody is permitted for example, to pack into a house not dedicated or start building a house we didn’t pray on the foundation first.
– Nobody is permitted to pick any spouse and marry without our sanction and rules. Or sleep with the spouse or opposite sex you are not married to.
– Nobody is permitted to just travel anyhow and anywhere without permission or prayer cover.
– Nobody should engage in unnecessary fight for inheritance without us judging the case first and giving instructions on what to do.
– We are not to be careless with our health or go against medical advice in the name of faith.
– Whatever dreams or concerns anyone has that is adverse should be brought immediately to our knowledge. And I must be informed within 24 hours.
– We r to also keep the law of tithing which REBUKES DEVOURER and keeps sicknesses away.
ETC….ETC…

I skinned the covenant of longevity with our God and I am paying the required token. That’s btw me and Him. But I did it on behalf of all of us – young and old under this commission. However, you all have to live by the rules of God and by instructions that we give from the pulpit.

2 Chronicles 20:20

Moses had to read the instructions to the children to partake of the exemption during the Passover.

But whoever breaks the rule breaks the edge and the serpent will bite. That person is on his or her own. God is still faithful to His covenant. Ecclesiastes 10:8

Let us read 2 Chronicles 21:1-end.

Exodus 19:5

All thru the journey from Egypt through the wilderness, God was dishing out instructions thru moses. Why do this when He is God and He could still protect and deliver them anyway even if they refused to follow instructions? God does not operate that way. He operates by Instructions. Eg Exodus 14:2.

Concerning the Passover in Exodus 12, verses 1-12 are the instructions to follow and verse 13 shows the token of the covenant – the blood on the lintel.

On your behalf and my behalf, I have paid and still paying the token, your own is to follow the instructions. Finish.

May God release the grace for obedience upon us.

Let us pray.

Song: I have confidence in you.

Father me, forever you’ll father me…

Bless The Lord o my soul,
O o o o my soul,
Bless is His holy name….

Texts- Psalm 50:5 and Proverbs 11:24

We have discussed extensively the Abrahamic Covenant of blessing at one time this year.

As we end the year and we start to take stock of 2016 and plan for 2017, we need to know how to connect with that covenant and become wealthy. Otherwise, it would have been a futile effort to have studied the Abrahamic Covenant in the first place.

According to Deuteronomy 8:18

God has given you power to get wealth so that His covenant can be established. Established here means “founded and grounded financially so that no economic problems could ever uproot or overthrow the orderly operation of that covenant on the earth”.

God will never allow the state of the national or local economy to affect the operation of His church and chosen ministries. As far as God is concerned. His church must not be affected by the economic swings – good times, bad times, depression or recession, boom or burst.

Zechariah 1:17

But who makes up the church? You and I.

So, God has given every one of His children the power to get wealth so that they can be established financially to GENEROUSLY fund every need that arises for the operation of the covenant He made with Abraham.

So, wealth is given to the saints to PRIMARILY fund God’s kingdom on earth – the church and its operations to reach the less privileged, do crusades to win souls etc.

You should wonder why God gave the Israelites so much wealth when leaving Egypt to pass through the wilderness for about forty years. What would they need such wealth for in the wilderness? It was because God wanted them to use the wealth to build Him a sanctuary later on; which they did!

Once you are KINGDOM-MINDED, God will bless you abundantly so that ALL your needs are met too. And you lack NOTHING. Matthew 6:33.

So, how can we be kingdom-minded? The activators. These activators rest on a CATALYST called GIVING.

WITHOUT GIVING YOU CAN NEVER ACTIVATE THE COVENANT OF PROSPERITY. Luke 6:38; Galatians 6:7; Genesis 8:22.; 2 Corinthians 9:6. KJV. The message and amplified versions.

The activators.
1. PAYMENT OF TITHE. Malachi 3:8-12. Stanley Tams who wrote a book titled “God owns my business” gives 90% tithe and takes 10%. He became the richest man in his community.

Colgate toothpaste pays 30% of tithes.

When I was actively working and receiving salaries, my tithe was 30%. It’s back to 10% now; but as I trust God for increases and regular good income I want to get back to my 30%.

When you don’t pay your tithe, YOU CAN NEVER BE WEALTHY for two reasons.

1. God will not POUR YOU OUT A BLESSING. So, you will be struggling to make money. Men will not Favour you.

2. The devourer will also finish what you think you are saving by not paying tithe. There will be too much waste coming your way – cars will develop unnecessary faults, you cam fall sick or somebody close to you will be sick or your children and you keep spending unnecessary money.

Somebody say God forbid. But it’s up to us.

In our home we don’t visit hospitals. Even my aged mother that is 80 years old does not drain my money due to hospital expenses.

Tithing is an INSURANCE against waste.

2. FIRSTFRUITS. Proverbs 3:9, 10; Romans 11:16; Leviticus 23:10
Firstfruits are slightly different from tithe in that firstfruits are whole – THE FIRST OF WHAT you produce or earn.

See Nehemiah 10:35

So, if we take this then it is a year by year ordinance. It then means that you bring to God ALL THAT YOU FIRST EARNED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR.

It could be your first salary in January for those who earn salary or first earning from your business or the first profit from your business.

What that means is that, you are bringing all your salary in January to church on first sunday in February or all your profits for January or your first earnings as a business man to church on the first sunday in February.

You don’t have to bring cash you can bring cheques or do transfers to fresh hope account. Farmers are to bring the Firstfruits of their farms. But then you can also convert it to cash and bring on the first sunday in February.

But once done, it guarantees an unusual dimension of blessing like never throughout that year.

After the Firstfruits for January, you then go back to paying your 10% or more from February as you earn profit or salaries.

Hope its clear.

This is the secret behind the wealth of some churches that are doing extremely well. Where members are heavily wealthy.

It shall be our portion here too.

3. VOW. Job 22:27-29
A vow is a solemn promise made to God to perform or to abstain from performing a certain thing.

It is a powerful weapon against delay and longstanding issues.

A good example is Jacob’s breakaway from longstanding life of cheating, supplanting and servitude.

Genesis 28:10-22

Note verses 20 and 22

See also Psalm 50:14,15

4. PLEDGE. A pledge is a security given for future payment. Genesis 38:17-24. Not a good example though.

But let me say this, God is not willing that we take pledges that we cannot pay.

So, I prefer we don’t take pledges but rather post- date cheques and submit them to church or whenever you have money for that thing we are raising money for, bring it to church or pay into our account.

Reason – Numbers 30:2, Ecclesiastes 5:4-6

Same warning goes for vows too.

Let me give you an opportunity to reflect back on any pledge or vow you are yet to pay and ask that God blesses you to pay them.

There are some that are so far back that we can’t even remember again, come before the altar and let us beg God to forgive us and show us mercy by the blood of Jesus.

5. FREEWILL OFFERING. Leviticus 22:17-22; Exodus 35:29

It is a voluntary religious contribution made in addition to what may be expected or required.

That’s why we put this box out here.

It is not for pledge, vow. Normal offering or tithe – but for Freewill offering. It is there to give to God over and above all you have given – WILLINGLY. Anytime you are happy you just salute God and drop an offering.

It provokes God’s OVERJARA GRACE for you for uncommon accomplishments.

6. NORMAL CHURCH OFFERING. Malachi 3:8.

Offerings are also a part of worship. The Bible says honour The Lord with your substance (money or other materials). Proverbs 3:9.

In the New Testament, we hear Apostle Paul admonishing the people to keep by them in store offerings to give in church first day of the week.

Attitude to offering is what is important here so that we can get a reward for this service from God. 2 Corinthians 9:7, 2 Corinthians 8:7.

Three facts emerge here.
1. Give what you are happy to give from your heart. Not forcefully.
2. Abound in giving. Promote your giving.
3. Give yourself to God FIRST before your offering is acceptable to God.

7. GIVING TO THE POOR. Proverbs 19:17

Giving to the needy and the poor is a command. Because, the bible says the poor we will ALWAYS have in our midst.

That’s why we take welfare offerings.

Let us step it up.

Shall we pray?

Pray that you will be faithful in all these areas of giving in 2017 and the rest of your life.

Receive grace to give. Come against the spirit of stinginess.

The bible says there is that scattereth and increaseth. But there is that withhold etch more than is meet and it tendeth to poverty.

Pray that God will make you a giver.