Let Your Gifts Speak For You – The Joseph Principle That Changed Everything (Pastor Sam Adeyemi)

0:00 Romans 11:29, New Living Translation. Let's read together. For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. This is one of the most important messages you will ever hear in this church. Apart from how to give your life to Christ, okay? I start with a character that I love in the Bible. I can't even pretend that I love Joseph, right? Because of his remarkable story and the many lessons you learn from it. Okay. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to read some passages of scripture that have to do with this gentleman.

0:46 And then you will tell me the word that is common to those passages, the first one. John Sorry. Genesis chapter 37 and verse 5. Genesis 37 verse 5, New Living Translation. It says, "One night, Joseph had a dream. And when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever." Genesis 37 verses 8 to 9, New Living Translation. "His brothers responded, 'So you think you will be king, do you? You think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?' And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them." "Soon, Joseph had another dream. And

1:32 again, he told his brothers about it. Listen, 'I have had another dream,' he said. 'The sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed low before me.' Let's jump to Genesis 40 verses 6 to 8, New Living Translation. Genesis 40:6-8. "When Joseph saw them the next morning, he noticed that the both looked upset. Now, he was in prison, right? And these were fellow prisoners. 'Why do you look so worried?' he asked them. And they replied, "We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell tell us what they mean." "Interpreting dreams is God's business," Joseph replied. "Go ahead and tell me your dreams." Finally, Genesis 41:12-14, New Living Translation. Genesis 41:12-14. "There was a young Hebrew man with us in

2:18 prison." Now, this was one of those prisoners restored back to the palace talking to the king. "There was a young Hebrew man with us in prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant, and everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cupbearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole." Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. So, what was common? Dreams. Dream dreams. Dream dream dreams. Right?

3:05 This is the question. Have you recognized patterns of extraordinary results in your life? So, for Joseph, it was dreams. Oh, I have a dream. >> [laughter] >> And he had another dream. And then, oh, fellow prisoners had dreams. He said, "I God gives interpretation." And he was able to give the interpretation, and it was accurate. And then, it was one of them that would mention his name in the palace. And the day he saw Pharaoh face to face, everything changed. Isn't that amazing? So, have you paid attention to patterns of extraordinary results in your life, or have you ignored them? This is I'll say a few things about our

3:52 gift. Number one, you are likely not to value your own gift. You are likely not to value your own gift or to recognize its value. When you stand on top of a mountain and you look down, are you likely to have a correct sense of the height of that mountain? Not likely. The person that is likely to estimate the height of the mountain more accurately is the person that is standing at a distance. Am I right? That's how gifts work. Each of us is standing on a mountain. I can describe your gift as a mountain, a mountain of value.

4:37 But when you look straight down, you don't recognize how powerful it is. It is someone else that is likely to recognize the value of your gift. The challenge with many of us is that people around us have been recognizing patterns in our lives. They've been recognizing those gifts and they've been talking to us. We've been resisting. We've been refusing. No, it's not a crime. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I will tell you I was in that club. Right? I resisted the idea that I was called to be a pastor for a long time. In in in my church, you know, when I was in school, I was a leader in the fellowship in school. I was also a leader in church. At home, I was active.

5:23 And we had these Bible study classes that were started an hour before the service on Sunday. And I was I took one of the groups. People rushed to be in my group. Why? Because once I started teaching, once I started teaching, it was like somebody pressed a button inside me, right? I I I was in my flow or what people call the flow. Honestly, I enjoy teaching. It's been like that for decades. I enjoyed that. And then after some time, people began to say to me, "Oh, you're a pastor." I rejected it. I did not like the pastor side. I just wanted to be a teacher. Hallelujah. That's it. Other people were seeing the

6:08 mountain, I was standing on top of it. I could not recognize it. And then, I went I remember I went for my national youth service, and we were on the orientation camp, you know, they do that for like 3 or 4 weeks at the beginning. And then, there is a fellowship of all, if you've been through it, there is a fellowship for all the youth coppers, all right, in the state. I was attending the fellowship quietly. Quietly. And then, just before the end of that orientation program, the coordinator for the whole state called me to a discussion. And then said to me that I was going to be the coordinator for the next 1 year. I could not believe it. The first question I asked him was, "How

6:54 did you guys see me?" >> [laughter] >> Because I was intentionally quiet. My vision for the service year was to work on the construction site. I trained as an engineer. If you took up that role, that was what you did full time, fully, for the 1 year. "How did you guys see me?" He said, "We saw you." Some of us had conversations with you. Maybe you didn't pay attention, or something was remarkable. And then, I now ask God himself, "What is this about?" He said, "I want you to develop your gift gift of government, administration. That it goes with the pastoral office." Saying "Wow.

7:40 Okay, now. All right. Some of us have an anointing for stubbornness. People have been saying, "This is it. This is it. You are this. You are this. You are this." And we resist it. We We want to do what we like to do. I should tell you this, when it comes to this issue of value and using it to serve people, you are not the one to decide what is valuable to people. It is actually the people that you use your gift to serve that will be able to tell you how valuable the gift is to them. Amen. I read a book many years ago titled Acres of Diamonds. Acres, if you can find that book, read it. It's amazing. The book is about the farmer

8:25 who had, you know, that some people had discovered gold somewhere in Spain. He sold his farm, took the money, traveled to the far country to go and look for the gold. He went there, went up and down for the proverbial gold. There was nothing. Eventually, they said he jumped from a bridge and drowned in the river out of frustration because he had finished all the money. Meanwhile, the farm that he sold, the new owner, Mhm? The new owner saw a shiny stone, you know, near the stream, by the stream that went through the farm. He took the stone just because it was shiny and put it on the table, on the cabinet in his

9:11 living room. Just for it to be reflecting light there. Then they said someone came and said, "What Where did you get this stone from?" You know, he then said, "I think I know what it is. Let's take it to a geologist. Let Let him tell help us to test it and find out what it is." You know what it was? Diamonds. Right? The whole farm was sitting on diamonds. The former owner sold it, went to look for something. But right where the farm was was diamonds. That's why the book is titled Acres of Diamonds. Let me to tell

9:56 someone close to you are sitting on something. Then tell the person you are standing on something. Amen. Next point, your gift is your key to extraordinary competence. Your gift is your key to extraordinary competence. We said this earlier on, you know, earlier on in this series, that your gift is the expression of God's divinity through you. God took a part of himself and put it in you. A part of his creativity. Accept it. And, you know, our our Pastor Nike did share with us, Pastor Bolaji shared with us, Pastor Nike also shared with us,

10:42 and I believe we'll be hearing through all the messages there is nobody does not have a gift. Absolutely no one. But let me talk about this divinity. In other words, when you are functioning with your gift, you are on the same frequency with God. Galatians chapter 2 verses 6 to 8, New Living Translation. Galatians 2:6-8. Paul the apostle went to Jerusalem. He said, "And the elders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites. Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. Verse 8, for the same God who worked

11:30 through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also walked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles. My main point is in verse 8. The same God who walked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews. Can you hear that? When you are functioning in with the gifts that God put inside you, it is God working through you. That's why I said you are functioning in the realm of divinity. You may be stopped or stoppable in some areas of life. When it comes to you functioning in the area of your gift, it is very difficult for you to be stopped. What cannot stop God will not be able to stop you. Amen. It's as powerful and as important as that.

12:20 Let me point out something though from verse 6. And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has to fulfill his I like that. You need to have esteem. There's something sometimes about some of our cultures that make you perpetually feeling inferior to other people. Paul the apostle acknowledged Peter They were working with Jesus John. They were working with Jesus when Jesus was around physically. Peter was not Paul was not saved at that time. He got saved after Christ had resurrected and gone back. But he said, "That did not make him inferior to anybody." It's absolutely important. The fact that somebody is your mentor does not make you inferior to the person. You need humility of course. Learn from

13:07 the person, right? Receive from the person. Very important. You cannot receive anything without humility. I'm just saying humility and inferiority complex are two different things. Don't be shaking in front of people to the point where you have no esteem even after 20 years of learning. Is that okay? Sorry, that's by the side. That's by the side. That's by the side. When you function in the area of your gift, you are functioning on the frequency of divinity. And that's where you are capable of extraordinary productivity. I remember when I decided to leave the construction site cuz eventually I got a job.

13:53 Right? I told you right that I'd been stubborn. >> [laughter] >> I insisted on getting the job. And I did. Anyway, I didn't last more than 8 months on the site. Cuz while I was on the site, I didn't feel like it was my ideal environment. It was good for making money. But I was also an associate pastor in church. And then there, when it had to do with people, had to do with administration and so on, it was I was I was in the flow, so to speak. So, the day I was leaving the site, they did a small send-off thing for me at the end of the day. My director said something. He was not a Christian. He said, "Mr. Demi,

14:40 congratulations on your decision. However, I must tell you I don't understand it. I don't understand why a young man like you with a very promising career would leave this promising career and go into religion." That's how he described it. I thanked them cuz they they really had very kind and that day they said very kind words about me. I thanked them. Then I said something. I said, "Don't worry about me. I have found an area of life where I function like a computer. I said, "I think it's better I go invest my life there." I said, "A few years down the line from here, you will hear about me." I reflect on those words now, right? Some 34 years later, and I'm amazed at the words that I used. I found an area of life where I function like a computer. That's how I could express

15:28 how I feel when I'm functioning in the area of my gifts, right? Anyway, to to tie the story up, years later, right? Years later, my director will write me a letter will write me and say, "I hear of the great things you're doing in the vineyard of God and I am very proud of you." Ah, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ that you will not function outside of your gifts and outside of your calling. Did I hear you say amen? It's in the area of your gift that you achieve extraordinary productivity. When you get home, read number 17. How some people were complaining against Moses and Aaron. Are you the only one?

16:15 Who do you think you are? The way God is using you, he can use us, too. Ta-da! Moses said, "No, no, no, no, no. There's no need for argument. Each tribe, right? Give me a rod. Give me one of your staffs, one of your rods. Bring them." He took the 12 representing the 12 tribes of Israel, including the rod of Aaron to to represent their own tribe of Levi. Took them and put them in God's presence overnight. When he came back in the morning, they said that Aaron's rod had budded, blossomed, and produced a ripe almond fruit overnight. That's why I said, "Dry rod, dry rod." When it comes to the area of this your calling, that's where extraordinary productivity is possible. That's why Paul said,

17:01 "Whenever Peter is preaching to Jews, he gets big results there." You remember it was Peter that preached on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, 3,000 people gave their lives to Christ. It was the same Peter that God used to heal the lame man by the gate called Beautiful. They said another 5,000 people were added that day. That's Peter for you. But when it came to preaching to Gentiles, he had issues. Paul the apostle was a Jew. When you read Romans chapter 9, you will see how passionate he was about the Jews. He wanted them to get saved. Every city that Paul entered in his travels, the first place he went was the Jewish synagogue. You know what they did? They beat him and threw him out. Then he will go and look for Gentiles, his correct customers. Ah. I'm just There's somebody here. They have beaten you enough. Amen. They've

17:49 beaten you enough. The Holy Spirit has been trying to draw your attention to something. I prophesy, this is your season to get it in the name of Jesus Christ. Let's move on. Your gift defines your minimum irreducible level of wealth. Your gift defines your irreducible level of wealth. This is what I mean. We cannot call you poor until they remove that gift from you. Remember, it's a gift because it is free. You did not work for it. Which work would would you have done before you were put in your mother's womb? It's a gift. That's why some of us

18:35 take it for granted. It's a gift. And I'm saying here, as long as it's in your life, we can't call you poor. We will have to remove it to call you poor. Amen. Help me to tell someone close by, I can never be poor again the rest of my life. Amen. If for some reason if for some reason you've experienced some downtime and you want to power back up or you've achieved success, but you sense it's time for you to power up, shift to a new level. You know the thing to do? Peel the layers of your experiences until you get back to that core original gift that God has put on you. Build on that.

19:21 Project on that. Start again from there. This is very important. Somebody is coming into a season of restoration right now. And it's going to amaze you and it will amaze everybody around you in the mighty name of Jesus. Dry rod of Aaron produced right almond fruits overnight. What it means is that that rod was cut originally from the almond tree. You can't remove that nature. The gifts and the the call of God and the gifts of God can never be withdrawn. I prophesy in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Someone is powering back. I said somebody is powering back. And I prophesy on someone who is successful already. Your success is about to multiply to a new level in the name of

20:07 Jesus Christ. So in the Bible you will see those questions. Moses is about to go uh lead Israel out of slavery. God asked him, "What is in your hand?" We have the story of the widow in 2 Kings chapter 4 who ran to the prophet. "Hey, hey, hey, they want to take my two sons to be slaves. Everything is about to scatter. They want to kill me, oh." "My husband died already. Now they want to take my two sons." The prophet says, "Woman, what do you want me to do for you?" 2 Kings 4 verse And then he quickly verse two, then he quickly follows with the second question which is "Tell me, what do you have in the house?" She said, "Your handmaid has nothing, nothing. Just a small jar of oil." He said, "Well, that's what we're looking for." When the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see that passage

20:53 and I shared it to our church many years ago, many people many people started their businesses based on that message. And I'm saying it again to someone here today. The Holy Spirit said I should tell everybody that he would never allow you to get to the point where there is nothing around your life he can use to move you to the next level of breakthrough. I said it's your minimum irreducible level. In the name of Jesus, the way the power of God came on that widow's oil, I prophesy a miracle flow of whatever it is God has placed in your life today in the name of Jesus Christ. If you've never read the book start with what you have which I wrote from that revelation. Check the bookshop, it's

21:39 there. You need to have it. Some members of this church tell me they bought hundreds of copies and give it to people because of how it has transformed their lives. Secondly, you must attend our mission school. That's our 300 level training, but you can't go there until you do 100 level and 200 level, right? So, make sure you do ministry school by all means. Is that okay? Everyone must go through. Why? We run psychometric test there. We actually help you to run test that help you to discover those gifts. Ah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Okay. Next, active service activates your miracle flow. Active service activates your miracle flow. Active service activates your miracle

22:25 flow. So, for that widow in 2 Kings chapter 4, the moment she began to pour the oil into large drums, there was a miracle flow. When Jesus fed the crowd, he took the bread and the fish, blessed them, broke, gave the disciples. As the disciples broke bread, broke fish and gave people, there was a miracle of multiplication. You can't afford to be a part of this church and be shy of using your gifts, shy of serving people. You can't even be a afford to be afraid. You cannot be a theoretician who enjoys the service. Honestly, this is the easiest part of it. Enjoying the message. Come on, word. That word. Word.

23:13 What do we want to do with word? Amen. We thank God for the word. It is the doer that is blessed, not the hearer of it. You've got to do something. And the thing to do is to take your gift and use it to meet people's needs. Amen. Make that move. Do something. Amen. Holy Spirit told me to go on radio to teach people how to succeed. I was asking him, what authority do I have to teach people how to succeed? Should I not be successful first? He said, the authority you have is the fact that I commanded you to do it. Go ahead. I did. I was amazed. Miracle flow. Ah. Help me to tap someone close by. Tell the person, take action. It is active service that activates your miracle flow. Second

24:00 Timothy 1:7 message Bible. Second Timothy 1:7 message Bible says, God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible. Hallelujah. If you need to work for free, work for free, but don't let your gift lie dormant. Joseph interpreted dreams in the prison for free. You see where free landed him? Palace. Ooh. Thank you, Jesus. I prophesy in the name of Jesus to someone who's been volunteering, who has been serving, meeting people's needs even when not paid. I prophesy, your day of pay is here. The power of God will rest on the value you've been adding to people's lives and multiply it back for a breakthrough

24:46 in Jesus' name. Next, we're almost done. Next, raise your skill level to serve with excellence. So, service will activate it, but you will do a big disservice to God and to your gift if you do work that is average. If you do work that is mediocre. Serve with excellence. What did Pharaoh say? Genesis 41:38. So, Pharaoh asked his officials, "Can we find anyone else like this man, so obviously filled with the spirit of God?" 39. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one is as

25:31 intelligent or wise as you have. Period. Become number one." That's the justification for having the Holy Spirit, that we serve with excellence. Genesis 1:31, and God looked at everything that he had made, and he saw that it was what? Very good. Jesus Christ healed one man, they said, "Ah, he has done all things well." Come on. Let's serve with excellence. Is that okay? Good. Finally, if God has blessed you already, you've been using your talents, leveraging your opportunities, you are successful. There's just one level that is left. Help other people. Empower other people to unleash their

26:17 talents. Be like our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 4:19, "Follow me, I will make you fishers of men." I will make you. Not just I will teach you, I will make you. Following me will transform your life. This is the challenge I've been throwing to executives in the last couple of years. One of the major ways we can change the world is to have a thousand of you. Jesus Christ made it possible for us to have millions of himself. Right? A thousand people like me at least should make our city better or our country better. Same thing with you. You can't hold God's grace.

27:05 If you're going to have a legacy, you will have to impart to others the wisdom and the grace that God has given you. 1 Timothy 4:14 message Bible. Paul told Timothy, "And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed, keep that dusted. Keep that dusted off and in use." Well, what I noticed here was the leaders of the church laid hands and did an impartation. You got to lay hands on someone. Amen. Whether effectively or physically, you you got to transmit. You've got to transmit. I Sometimes it's not easy, but I prophesy in the name of Jesus with love in your heart, the genuine love and

27:51 desire for others to rise, to discover and use their gifts. I prophesy We know God's given you testimonies already. He's going to take those testimonies and he's going to multiply them. He's going to multiply them to stratospheric levels in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. I prophesy here in the name of Jesus. I prophesy into the gifts that God has put into each of us and I declare them activated in the mighty name of Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, I declare them activated. Gifts that have been lying dormant are activated now in the name of Jesus and God will place a demand on those gifts in the name of Jesus. I receive for each one holy restlessness

28:37 until those gifts begin to transform other people's lives in the name of Jesus. I prophesy that as we make decisions to align with those gifts God has put inside us, God will open doors for you that has never opened before. I prophesy you will attract resources you have never attracted before in the name of Jesus. I prophesy that as you act, you know, take action on your plans and goals, I prophesy in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, you will get extraordinary competence and extraordinary productivity in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. The days of delay are over. The days of manifestation are here. The days of fulfillment of prophecy are here. In the name of Jesus. Thank you,

29:25 Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And I declare in Jesus' name, the days of financial lack or struggle, they are over forever. Destroyed. As value goes out from you, value will come back to you. Angels will intervene to make sure it happens in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. I pray for the person who's been a part of this service service who says, "Pastor, can you pray with me? Can you pray with me? My relationship with God is not okay." That's where it has to start from. The God who put the gifts there, you're going to have a relationship with him. Sin is our biggest problem, and he sent Jesus to die for us on the cross. A shameful and a painful death. But once Jesus paid for our sins, all we have to do is for ask for forgiveness, God forgives us. So, if

30:11 you're that honest person who wants us to pray together, can you put your hand on your heart? I want God to forgive my sins. I want I want Can you put your hands on your heart and say this prayer after me. Dear God, you may be present physically, you may be online. Please say this prayer after me. Dear God, I believe that Jesus paid for my sins. I ask you to forgive me and to accept me as your child. Thank you for hearing my prayer. In Jesus name. Let me pray for you. Can I ask you to raise that hand up as I pray for you? Heavenly Father, in Jesus name, I pray for everyone that said this prayer. And I thank you because Jesus said

30:56 there's celebration in heaven when this happens. So, I thank you because their sins are forgiven. The nature of sin is removed from them, and the Holy Spirit has put your nature inside them right now. That's a miracle of change. And I pray, Father, that you help them to understand what happened. Teach them to know you personally. Teach them to love you and to love other people the rest of their lives. In Jesus name. Someone said a good amen.