Scriptural Strategies For Challenging Times by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The House of God

The house of God is a place where the weary can come and find strength, where the weak can come and be empowered. Psalm 20:1-2

The house of God is Bethel, the place of bread. Matthew 4:4 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every proceeding word that comes when you come into the house of God.

The house of God is a place of understanding — when I came into the sanctuary, then understood I their end. It is a place of empowerment where you are engraced by the Holy Ghost to do exploits for the kingdom. It is a place of discovery. When Jesus came into the temple, He opened the scroll of Isaiah and found where it was written concerning Him — "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach glad tidings to the meek." He closed the book and said, "Today is this scripture fulfilled in your ears."

The house of God is where you find hope, love, and life.

Psalm 133:1-3 — For there the Lord had commanded the blessing, even life evermore.

The Assignment of the Word

The mission of this ministry is to produce a victorious believer through the sound communication of doctrine and the principles of the kingdom. There is no other way to strengthen an individual spiritually outside the ministry of the word.

Acts 20:32 — The word of God has the capacity to build you up and to give you an inheritance among those that are sanctified.

The assignment of the word of God is to damage ignorance from your life. Provided you dwell in the realm of ignorance — darkness, as the Bible calls it — you are still within the domain of Satan.

Isaiah 60:1 — Arise from the depression and frustration that circumstances have kept you. Rise to a new light.

The word of God is beyond intellectual communication. There is a layer of spiritual communication that is not intellectual. There is a dimension that is higher than the realm of intellect — that one is a spirit communication. You can receive realities deposited in your spirit man that your mind cannot yet articulate. However, with time, that reality begins to find expression and you find yourself walking in unusual wisdom, unusual dimensions of power, confidence. Faith is imparted.

There are two things working whilst you are under the influence of the word:

• The law of sin and death — guarded by demon spirits that keep you in a thought pattern recycling pain and defeat, stopping you from being a victorious Christian even if you are saved
• The law of the Spirit of life — the liberating power of the word that edits your understanding, corrects your perceptions, and dismantles strongholds

The ignorant believer will also be a defeated believer.

Even though a believer, you can be in Christ, a bonafide possessor of eternal life, and yet never be able to manifest the riches deposited and embedded in that life. Manifesting and unveiling the riches of the God-life depends on knowledge.

Hosea 4:6 — "My people" — they are His people, but they are still destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Jesus wept twice in scripture. The first time was at the tomb of Lazarus. The second time He looked over Jerusalem and wept — "Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if you had known even in this day the things that pertain to your peace." He cried because He saw the ignorance of the people — well-intentioned, sincere people.

It takes more than sincerity to live a victorious life.

1 Corinthians 8:2 — If any man think that he knoweth anything, that man knoweth not as he ought to know. If the word is not producing result in your life, it has not yet become spirit and life to you.

John 1:9 — There are false lights. They carry a semblance of liberty but when you stand in the face of real life situations, they cannot deliver. If it is true light, it brings victory — always, all the time.

Scriptural Strategies for Challenging Times

The church is the pillar and the ground of truth. When there are problems that bedevil people, the church should be able to answer — to respond to the needs, the hurts, the pain, the confusion that people face. If the church fails to provide scriptural solutions, it has failed to be the light.

Matthew 5:13-16 — You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men that they might see your good deeds and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Romans 8:35-37 — "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 — We are troubled on every side yet not distressed. We are perplexed but not in despair. We are persecuted but not forsaken. We are cast down but not destroyed.

John 16:33 — "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." Because He overcame, we are also overcomers.

It is possible to be troubled on some sides while other sides are fine. But like Job, it is possible for a man even in Christ to be troubled on every side — something wrong with the marriage, the children, the health, the job. Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors.

It Is Not Unusual for Believers to Face Challenges

Even Jesus as the Son of God was not without challenges. His birth itself was chaotic — Herod sought to kill Him as an infant and angels had to warn Joseph to flee. By age 12 He had a misunderstanding with His parents in the temple. Then for eighteen years, scripture is silent. From age 12 to 30, we hear nothing.

When He finally began His ministry, the Holy Spirit drove Him into the wilderness — not a suggestion, a compulsion — to be tempted of the devil. He prayed forty days and forty nights, and after those forty days, it was not angels who showed up first — it was Satan. Three temptations, and only after Jesus overcame all three did the angels come to minister. He then returned in the power of the Spirit.

All through that ministry the scribes and Pharisees gave Him no rest. We are troubled on every side.

The apostle Paul — a man full of the Holy Ghost who raised the dead — was flogged time and again. Whilst in prison he was writing letters. That is the posture of a man who understood that challenges do not disqualify the anointed.

The disciples who became apostles were not without challenges. The early church was not without challenges. As far as we know, only one apostle died a natural death.

It is not unusual for believers to be challenged.

Fight With Honor

When challenges mount, do not be ashamed of the battle. Do not chicken out.

• If it is a family battle, fight it with honor
• If it is a health battle, fight it with honor
• If it is a prodigal child, fight it with honor — through intercession, through bending over backwards

Be careful not to hold a god-like expectation over believers when people pass through battles and storms, making them feel guilty as though it were always an unbelief problem.

Sometimes the storm arises because you are moving.

There are certain storms that have no business arising in your life if you are not doing anything spiritually. There are certain storms that arise because your impact is sending a signal in the spirit and the enemy is threatened.

John 9:1-3 — The disciples asked who sinned that this man was born blind — himself or his father? Jesus said neither. This is not a sin problem, but that the glory of God be revealed.

Not all challenges are the result of sin. Not all challenges are the result of unbelief. Truly, there are times that sin, unbelief, prayerlessness, wordlessness, or not growing in grace can open doors. But there are times everything can be in place — prayer life intact, word study intact, love for Jesus intact — and all hell breaks out.

When there is a conflict between your integrity and your results, fight it with honor.

Satan Fights With Foresight

When Satan attacks you, do not think he is fighting you because of you. You are too small a program for Satan to coordinate the arsenals of hell over.

He is fighting all those connected to your grace.

• When he fights Elizabeth, it is John the Baptist he is looking for
• When he fights Hannah, it is Samuel he is looking for

Satan fights men because of the prophecies on them and because of the destinies connected to them. If he fights your finances, it is not because of the money. He knows that finance will send your child to a godly school where they will find their calling and become a mighty servant of God.

Satan fights with vision. He fights with foresight. That is why the Bible says weapons are fashioned — he uses prophecy to fashion weapons.

The Four Keys

1. Be Strong in the Lord — Ephesians 6:10

   "Be strong" means draw strength. It draws from a functional relationship with the Holy Ghost, who is the Spirit of power.

   Daniel 11:32 — The people that do know their God shall be strong. Not theoretical knowledge, not religious knowledge — those who press to know God receive strength as the reward for pressing.

   God can be known. He wants to be known.

   John 17:3 — This is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God.

   There are three ways to know God:

   1. By learning His character — The Lord is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love. The richest capture of God's character in one chapter of scripture is found in Psalm 103. The knowledge of God's character helps you judge prophecy. If someone speaks a word to you that is inconsistent with His character, you know to reject it.
   2. By learning His ways, His principles, His modus operandi — Moses cried, "Show me Your ways." Jeremiah 6:16 — Stand in the way and ask for the ancient path. Walk in it and you will find rest.
   3. By studying His power — Ephesians 1:19 — Paul prayed that we may know the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. Something happens to you when you know how powerful God is. Bible faith is derived from your encounter with His power. Psalm 66:3 — Through the greatness of His power, His enemies submit to Him.

   To build a functional relationship with Jesus:

   • Develop a systemic, consistent prayer life. Prayer cannot be circumstantial or conditional. If your prayer life is epileptic, so will go your destiny. There is no gift of prayer — it is a product of discipline. Acts 6:4 — "We will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." You will never enjoy a rich relationship with the Holy Ghost if you are not given to prayer.

     The blessings that come from one encounter in the place of prayer can redefine the next decade of your life. You can draw favor from the place of prayer. You can draw wisdom from the place of prayer. It will rewrite the narrative of your destiny.

   • Submit to the truths of scripture. Do not just open the Bible and read it religiously — believe the things that are written there. Grow in the knowledge of God through consistent, systemic study. Daniel 11:32 — The people that do know their God shall be strong.

   Listen to The Knowledge of the Holy — especially if you are a minister of God.

2. Walk and Live by the Principles of the Word of God — Matthew 4:4

   Man shall not live by skill alone, by certificates alone, by human efforts alone — but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

   Psalm 89:34-35 — "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn in my holiness that I will not lie."

   If God told you He would lift you, He will lift you. If He told you you would come out, you will come out. But He will not force His word on you — He gave you the power to choose. You must walk in partnership with Him.

   Amen is not just a word to chant. Amen is a lifestyle of alignment to the speakings of God.

   There are a plethora of promises proposed by God to the believer. 2 Peter 1:3-4 — According as His divine power has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might be partakers of His divine nature.

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   Listen to Exceeding Great and Precious Promises.

   To walk by faith does not only mean confessing scripture. It means being committed to literally running your life using the word of God as your governing software.

   • The word of God must gain supremacy above every other thought and opinion
   • Whatever the word of God says, you run your life by that
   • The power of God is managed by the will of God — the power of God only goes in the direction of the will of God
   • Bible faith begins when the will of God is known

   There are three ways to know the will of God:

   1. The written word of God — Scripture — the first and principal basis
   2. The unique ministry of the Holy Spirit as the revealer of the mind of God — 1 Corinthians 2:8-10 — the Holy Spirit can search the mind of the Father and reveal to us the things that are freely given
   3. The ministry of the prophetic

   Before you execute any goal, any desire, find scriptures that support what you are doing. Investigate whether your goals are consistent with the will of God using these three channels. Do not cook up opinions that come from your own desires, sandwich them with scripture, and try to manipulate the hand of God.

   When you know you are in the will of God, here is the confidence you carry — if you ask anything in accordance with His will, He hears you.

   This is how to live by the word practically:

   • Run your life by scriptures daily — not just in crisis, but as a lifestyle
   • Let your speakings be consistent with scripture. Do not speak like an unbeliever
   • John 6:63 — The words that Jesus spoke are spirit and life. The word of God carries energy, creative power. God is not a noise-making spirit — He is a talking spirit. He speaks life. A talking spirit does not waste words; he uses words to create and recreate possibilities
   • When you wake up in the morning, speak: "This is the day that the Lord has made. I rejoice and I am glad in it." When challenges arise, declare: "I do not look at the things that are seen but at the things that are unseen, for the things that are seen are temporal but the things that are unseen are permanent."
   • When a doctor gives a report inconsistent with the word, receive it professionally, then turn and say: "Death and life is in the power of my tongue. I choose to live."

   Psalm 1:3 — He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which yields its fruit in season. It may not be every day, but it will certainly yield.

   Listen to The Hidden Wisdom of God.

   Father, I engage the ministry of the only wise God. I declare by His Spirit that wisdom will distill itself from the heart of the Father to my consciousness. I may not as yet know what to do, but I am not without a strategy. I tap into the hidden wisdom of God. I receive wisdom. I receive strategies classified for my victory, in the name of Jesus Christ.

3. Embrace the Spiritual Family System — Hebrews 10:24-25

   Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together — but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching.

   Acts 2:1-4 — The Holy Ghost did not only come because the day of Pentecost was fully come. He also came because He found them in one accord and in one place. Two conditions: the fullness of time, and unity of gathering.

   Psalm 133:1-3 — How good and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity. For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore.

   Acts 2:42-47 — They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayer. All that believed were together. They continued daily with one accord. As a result they were praising God and having favor with all men, and the Lord added to the church daily as many as should be saved.

   The key to sustaining kingdom values is to have a community lifestyle as believers.

   In isolation there is a limit to what you can do and how far you can go. God is a family-oriented God. When God desires to help a believer, regardless of the unique spiritual experience they carry, He will pick them and plant them within a spiritual family for growth and nourishment.

   Think of coal. When you bring coals together, they light a fire. Pull one coal out from the collection and drop it alone — without blowing any air, it begins to grow cold. Its ability to produce heat is in its togetherness.

   Among the many strategies Satan deploys to destroy an individual is using offense to isolate them. He causes you to fight everyone who represents your community — your prayer friends, those who can stand with you and believe God with you. Once you are alone, he strikes.

   Part of the manifestation of the spirit of depression is the desire to be alone. The devil isolates people because he wants to strike them. It is important that God takes individuals and plants them in families.

   When you gather, you are receiving both vertically and horizontally — not only through the ministry of the word from the pulpit, but from the person seated beside you who may carry the grace for favor, for speed, for endurance. The grace from someone's ten years of intercession can rub off on you and you leave receiving beyond what came from the pulpit.

   You are as powerful, you are as fortunate as the men who believe in you.

   Where you may not have the courage to stand for Jesus alone, the presence of likeminded believers plants confidence in you. It is not impossible to stand alone — but it is difficult. A prayer partner, someone who can stand with you in crisis, becomes an ally in destiny.

   Compartmentalize your life. Be good to all men, love everyone — but when it comes to your holy of holies, surround yourself with people of like mind. People who believe with you, who call you to order in love, who are not threatened by your success.

4. Embrace the Preserving Power of Priestly and Prophetic Blessings

   Genesis 18:17-33 — When God revealed to Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham interceded. Unknown to Lot, disaster was about to strike. It was on account of Abraham's advocacy and intercession that angels were released to deliver Lot and his children.

   Jeremiah 33:20-21 — God entered a covenant with David, with the priests, with the Levites, with His ministers. When God calls a man to serve His grace, His wisdom, His power to a people and a generation, there are personal covenants — not general covenants — that God has with that man. These become the rule of engagement upon which His power flows through that man to the people God sent him to. Among the terms of that covenant: when he walks in keeping with the principles God has given him, God will honor his pronouncements.

   When a man of God, anointed and sent by God, opens his mouth under the influence of the Spirit and proclaims a blessing over you, among the many things those blessings bring is preservation.

   Isaiah 65:8 — "As the new wine is found in the cluster and one saith destroy it not, for there is a blessing in it — so will I do for my servant's sake, that I may not destroy them all."

   There are calamities programmed by darkness over people, over businesses — but the priestly and prophetic word brings a covering.

   I speak to you — may God preserve you. Preserve your children. Preserve your ministry. Preserve your business in the name of Jesus Christ. You will be too late for tragedy. If it will destroy, you will not be found there. If it will cause you pain and losses, you will be too late for arrival. God will give you discernment to escape evil. You will not walk into evil like a bird walking into the snare of the fowler.

   Every tragedy programmed to cause you losses, to bleed out finances from your life leaving you in lack and want — I declare you are preserved in the name of Jesus Christ.

   Any pronouncement that has been made over your life — by a father, by a mother, by anyone who was hurt and angry, even in the days of ignorance — I declare that curse is lifted from you. That yoke is lifted. That programming is broken. Where you have been cursed, I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.

   I decree and declare it must be well with you. Though your beginning be small, your latter end shall greatly increase. The Lord will increase you more and more — you and your children.

   Every dead or dying business, hear the word of the Lord — come back to life. Every dead or dying spiritual life, come back to life. Every dead or dying family, come back to life. Every dead or dying career, come back to life.

   I speak to every storm — peace be still. Financial storms, peace be still. Marital storms, peace be still. Career storms, peace be still. Storms that arise as a result of the ill wishes of men — peace be still.

   When men say there is a casting down, I declare there is a lifting up. When there is darkness over Egypt, let light be in your homes, your schools, your offices. All those who desire that you stumble and fall — they will be the ones to stumble and fall. They come in one way but are dispersed in seven ways.

   You have toiled and not caught fish. You have submitted applications and received nothing. You have submitted papers and they have been stuck. I declare — welcome to your season of manifestation. Welcome to your season where every prophetic word spoken to you becomes flesh. It will manifest speedily.

   Evil men will not arrive at the ears of your helpers before you. Anyone hurrying ahead of you to make your helpers hate you — their wheels will be stuck until they are buried, the same way the wheels of Pharaoh's chariot were stuck in the sea. In the name of Jesus Christ.

   I decree and declare — experience the prophetic order of the blessing of the Lord. Step into supernatural finances, helped by God, assisted by heaven, strengthened until you become a mighty man in the name of Jesus Christ.