Kingdom Refocus, Part 3 by Pastor Philip Olubakin: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Thanksgiving

• Thank God for the grace to see the media, and for going out and returning safely
• Thank God for provision in spite of harsh economic conditions
• Thank God for good health, which we should value before we lose it
• Thank God for prayers he answered, big and small, and his unconditional love
• Thank God for closed doors that were divine protection, doors the enemy opened as

  traps, and opportunities missed that we did not know were dangerous

• Thank God for godly counsel that kept us out of costly situations
• Thank God for an unshakable hope in Christ in spite of the state of the nation
• Thank God that no member of this church has been buried, and for shielding the

  church

Kingdom: Refocus, part 3

Change your mindset

After God deals with unholy or selfish ambition, he gives holy ambition. Ambition is

still ambition, but it is holy. God does not want you thinking of remaining small. The

enemy has conditioned our minds to spiritualize things that are small, connecting

spirituality with poverty, lack, and suffering, so that if something is too sweet, too

good, or too luxurious, we assume it cannot be God.

Psalm 16:11

In his presence there is fullness of joy, and pleasures at his right hand forevermore.

There is no way to spiritualize pleasure out of that scripture. Some people think that

if something is easy or automatic, it cannot be God, because we have not yet seen

heaven, where there is no poverty.

There is nothing wrong with desiring to be great, to be prosperous, wealthy, and

comfortable, or to give your children a life you did not have. There was no way Jesus

could have been tempted to bow down to Satan for the kingdoms of the world and their

glory if he did not desire those things.

Change your priorities

Seek first the kingdom means the kingdom becomes the base for every decision.

Matthew 6:33

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be

added. Let the kingdom of God be the power behind every choice, before your need,

before your need for money.

Let your prayer life be kingdom driven

Why do you need a spouse, a child, more money? Let every request and desire be powered

by kingdom purpose, not loneliness or personal comfort. Anna said, "Give me a child and I

will give you a prophet." A helper is given to someone who is doing something, in line

with an assignment, not to someone doing nothing.

Direct your finances toward the kingdom

When God knows your heart is full toward his kingdom, he will put resources in your

hands. God does not need you to have a billion before he knows what you will do with

it, he already saw what you did with the little he gave you. He that is faithful in a

little is faithful in much.

Matthew 6:19-20

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt and thieves

break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither

moth nor rust corrupt and thieves do not break through nor steal.

Every seed sown into the kingdom can be withdrawn as a harvest, it has not left your

life even though it has left your hands. Let God have a part in your finances this part

of the year, and don't live only for what you eat, drink, or where you live.

Make strategic kingdom relationships

Proverbs 27:17

Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Be deliberate about

the choice of your company. The people you know matter, and the relationships you are

servicing matter.

• When God gives you an open door on a relationship, don't use foolishness to close

  it, such as repeating what you hear in private

• Sometimes strategic relationships will cost you something before they pay off
• Don't fall in love with your destiny helper, let them finish what God sent them to

  do

• People with good relationships but no anointing will scale higher than those who

  have anointing but no relationships, because emotional intelligence matters as much as

  gifting

Everything God wants to do in your life in the second half will be done through people.

Don't waste the opportunities and harvest that come through people.

Prayer: kingdom connections and favor

• Lord, open doors for me this last season, strategic connections, helpers of

  destiny

• I receive helpers this season, I will not be left by myself
• I receive favor, I am blessed and highly favored, doors are opening for me by

  favor

• I receive supernatural connections and referrals beyond my imagination in Jesus'

  name

Luke 2:52

The child grew in stature, in wisdom, and in favor with God and man. If Jesus needed

favor with man, you need favor with man.

Psalm 44

They did not get the land by the sword or by labor, they got it by favor.

Four kinds of people the Lord will bring your way

1. Introducers, who will connect you to people who can reward your work
2. Encouragers, who will surround you in days of crisis so you are not alone
3. Interpreters, who bring clarity to a vision you find difficult to understand
4. Financiers, whose hands will not lack money to meet your need

A woman once rushed to the altar, weeping, at the lowest point of her life, raising two

sons alone and wanting to study law. God sent a man who paid her school fees at a

private university and put her children in school. Those who once mocked will come back

to hear your testimony, and the joy and laughter Sarah spoke of will come to your mouth

too.