Excellence In Leadership And The Marketplace by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Spiritual Understanding and the Power of Sequenced Truth

Apostle Paul was praying for the church in Colossae in Colossians 1:9, defining the boundaries of growth for a believer. He asked that they be filled with three things: the knowledge of his will, all wisdom (because wisdom is dimensional — all dimensions of wisdom must be captured in the Christian experience), and spiritual understanding. Ephesians 4:18 says that having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them — the ignorance of a man can rob you of the experience of the kingdom.

The challenge with many believers is not ignorance. There has never been a time in the church age where there is such a manifestation of spiritual truth. But the truths have not been sequentially arranged to provide victory. We do not know what truth is responsible for what outcome, so we randomly apply truth in hope that one of them will work. The danger is there is no mastery.

As Luke states in Luke 1:3-4, his goal in writing was to bring perfect understanding so that Theophilus would know the certainty of what he had been taught. Exactitude matters.

Grace and peace are multiplied to the saint through knowledge. The truths that are responsible for your influence and lifting are finite — you can hold them. Something plus something plus something equals your victory in this life. These truths are backed up by the integrity and jealousy of God. If applied diligently, they will turn anyone into a wonder.

The Marketplace: A Place of Exchange and Rewards

There is a concept called the marketplace. It is not necessarily about business — it is a name that captures the system of exchange on earth. The marketplace is a strategy that allows men to exchange possibilities for other possibilities.

The spiritual economic system was a download of a strategy ancient and walking in the realm of the spirit: exchange. Jesus himself used that law on the cross. Through the mystery of exchange he became sin, and through that exchange we become the righteousness of God in Christ. I can bring my weakness and exchange it for strength. I can bring my ignorance and exchange it for knowledge.

This cosmos operates by that law. Nothing really goes for nothing. Your relevance will be based on your understanding of this principle. The marketplace is a place of exchange and a place of rewards.

True Riches: The Capital That Buys Money

Luke 16:11: "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?"

Jesus calls money "unrighteous mammon" — because it can be disloyal to people at any time. But then he names something called "true riches."

Consider this: money is a product, and there is a capital that buys that product. If I want a bottle of water and it costs money, I need money to get it. But money is also a product — and if that is what I want, what is the capital that buys it?

The name of that capital is true riches.

The capital that buys money. The capital that buys influence. The capital that conquers the cosmos.

If I have true riches, I will never fear money. Nobody who has money walks into a shop afraid. Their confidence shows there is something in their pocket. The moment you have what buys money, you can look at lack and say — give me more of this, give me that.

I do not mean to be imbalanced when I say this: May you not be so poor that all you have is money.

In this kingdom, success was never designed to be pursued. The moment you find yourself pursuing success, you have already failed. Success is a product of who you are becoming — not just what you are doing. It is first being before doing.

The Law of the Mind

The first true riches is called the law of the mind. Realities are first formed in your mind before they are formed in your physical environment. The physical environment of a man is like a mirror. If I find a thread on my head while looking in the mirror, I do not reach into the mirror to remove it — I remove it from my head and the mirror obeys. That mirror is your physical environment.

Attempting to become anything not yet captured in your mind is like pulling a rubber ring — it will go back. It will use a sequence of events that look like coincidences, but it is a law.

Genesis 11:4-6: The builders of the tower of Babel were still only talking — discussing their vision — when the Lord came down to see a building that was finished. In the realm of the spirit, what their minds were building was already complete. They had not laid one block, but the edifice existed in the spirit because it existed in their minds. This is why the Lord said: "Now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do."

While they were talking in the realm of the spirit, the building was rising. And God said: behold, this they begin to do — that which is finished in the mind, they are about to execute in the physical.

In this kingdom, we only execute what is finished. If it is not finished in the mind, you will fail.

Ephesians 3:20: "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." There are two prayer warriors that speak to God: your mouth and your mind. God is able to answer both. Your asking and your thinking are both prayer requests.

Could it be that every time you say "Lord, lift me," your mind says "Lord, respect my will — keep me where I am"? The Bible says God is able to answer both.

This is the mystery behind the sudden rise of people. While David was in the cave of Adullam, his mind was already in the palace — already exalted above all the nations of the earth. Your mind can be in a place your body has not yet arrived. And everywhere your mind goes, it sustains the intelligence to call your body to follow.

Growth Is How You Rise — Not Performance

Every dimension in life has possibilities attached to it. If you have not qualified in your mind and force your physical environment to reflect that result, the law will take you back to where you really belong. This is not demon oppression — it is a law. This is the explanation behind balloon success — up today, down tomorrow. Not just an attack; we violated a principle.

Everything in life is built twice: first in the mind, then in the physical. Anything that has already been built in the mind — there is no power in existence that sustains the ability to sabotage it.

The process looks like this: you start here, and the holy ghost comes and says, "Follow me." You follow step by step. At each level, small results begin to appear — not much, but they are a report card that you are making progress. You stabilise in a realm and it is time to grow further.

• At one level, someone notices what you are doing.
• At another level, someone is ready to give you a car just to secure you for their company.
• At another level, companies convene meetings about how to keep you.

You do not force the next level — growth calls it to you. The clients that will lift your business you do not yet know where they are. But they are also looking for you. Save yourself the stress of trying to locate them one by one. The system of growth will bring them.

When the holy ghost was teaching me, I did not know you yet. Today, he has brought us together. The same way, the clients who will lift your business do not yet know you either. Look for them here — in the realm of the mind — and they will never go missing.

Favour: The Capital That Buys Influence

The second true riches is favour. The major reason we do not get favour in the body of Christ is because we teach that it is entirely unmerited. You are right that the manifestation of favour looks effortless. But there is a science to favour. The proof that something is favour — not just a breakthrough — is that it must be repeated regardless of the circumstances.

Exodus 3:21: "I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians." Favour walks with the power of sight. Every time the Bible talks about favour, it talks about the eyes.

Esther 2:15: "And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her."

Esther 2:17: "And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins."

When the grace for favour is on you, a person passing by sees you, and suddenly there is an urge to give, to sow, and to do it with joy — that is favour. If everybody who looks upon your business were to be drawn to it, would you really be poor? Favour makes men exhibit magnetic properties.

A guy — Hegai, the king's chamberlain — said: "I know the king. I know what he wants. Let me give you an ointment that you will keep applying for one year. When the year is done, go to the king." Other women were learning to walk and talk. But the one taught by one who knew the king had an advantage.

Psalm 23:5: "Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." My cup is a report card showing what is on my head. What is on you controls what is around you. You can know what has come upon you by the new experiences introduced into your space.

Favour is the number one reason we succeed in life. There is a real grace that lifts people — something that once you carry it, you begin to exhibit magnetic properties.

The proof that favour is on you is not money. The proof that favour is on you is the loyalty of men.

Proverbs 13:15: Good understanding gives favour. Transgression gives hardship. There is a science to favour — systems and principles that, when engaged, will programme favour.

I took one month of my life to pray for favour. The result is that my life is an unending wonder of what people do for me. Favour — real favour — is what makes the blessed call you blessed.

The Growth Journey

Growth is not just about doing — it is about being before doing. The soul of a man is the currency that drives external results. You start here, the holy ghost comes, and you follow step by step. At each level, results begin to grow. You do not rush to the next level; you build capacity for the level above.

There is a place in your growth where companies will come running with cameras. There is no need to lobby for a media interview — there is a level of growth where they will come to you.

Sometimes we love people too much and think we are accelerating their seasons when we are actually exposing them. Growth did not mentor them to walk in the palace. If you skip the process, you come to pharaoh without the wisdom to stand before kings.

Do not fake what can be real. The same energy it takes to fake is what it takes to be real.

And one day you will sit back and watch kings come. They will queue up at your mouth, and you will say: I have only heard that God lives — but now my life is a testimony.

Spirit of the living God, breathe upon my mind. Let your word create pictures of a future that is enviable. Take my eyes from my background. Grant me access to light.

I lay my hands upon these requests in the name of Jesus. These Egyptians you see today, you will see them no more forever. By the power of the Holy Ghost, you will see them no more forever.

Father, may the name of the Lord be glorified through every life represented here. We have received something of substance — may it speak in our lives. But remember that God must be Alpha and Omega — not alpha alone. He must be Lord all the way. The Lord of your wealth, the Lord of your influence, the Lord of your excellence. That when men ask by what mystery you command these results, you are not ashamed to point to him.