Transcript: Nation Builders — Strategies For Building Great Nations

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God's word is alive and powerful. It is sharper than any double edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and our joints and marrow until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. Join apostle Emmanuel as he takes us on a journey into the word of God. It is time to encounter God, be transformed by his word, and empowered by his spirit. Thank you, Jesus. Genesis chapter 12 verse one. Today, I'm gonna begin a series. And I'm going to be introducing the series today. It's gonna be a two or three part series.

I'm not sure yet. You would permit me to use a little more time to establish this today. So that we can build on a solid foundation. Genesis chapter 12 and verse one. The bible says, now the Lord had said to Abraham, get out of your country, from your family, and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. There are three three distinctive facts I think I should start with today. And I think that a good place to start is to show you that scriptures make it abundantly clear that men can be nations. That is a fact in scriptures.

Men can be nations. Men can be nations. Men can be nations. The title of my teaching is nation builders. Strategies for building a great nation. That's one. Genesis chapter 12. The bible says, I will make you a great nation. I will make you a great nation. I told you that the men can be nations.

Nations are not just identified by their geographical stratifications, that there are men who are nations. God told Abraham, I will make you a great nation. That was the promise to a man called Abraham. And I want you to understand that the same thing God said unto Abraham is the same thing God is saying to you today. God is telling you, Emmanuel Bolo Atefer, I will make you a great nation. I believe you would say the same thing for yourself. Well, thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. It means you love me.

Genesis 25 and verse 23. New living translation. The Bible says, and the Lord told her, the sons in your womb. I'm reading from the new living translation. The sons in your womb will become two nations. My goodness. The sons in your womb will become two nations. The Bible says from the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other, and the oldest son will serve the youngest son. So many things that we can see from this scripture.

There was a woman here who was about to give birth, and God tells her that there are two nations in your womb. You are not carrying just children. You are carrying nations. There are some of you listening to me. You may think you are just one person. But God is speaking to you today that you are nations. That the mandate you are carrying isn't just for one person. There is a nation on the inside of you. You might be in Nigeria as one man. You might be going to school as one man.

You might be going to work every day as one man, but there is a nation on the inside of you. And you must understand that in this context when we say nation, I'm not saying a country will bear your name. No. That may happen. That may not happen. What I am saying is that within you lies the incredible potential to give birth to enterprises that can transform lives and communities, that businesses will emerge from your vision fueled by your passion, driven by your purpose, that ministries will spring forth from your heart, reaching millions around the world, offering hope, causing healing, causing deliverances, that innovative products, innovative ideas, solutions will flow from your creativity. It will address the needs of society and improve the world around you. That is what it means to be a nation. It means harnessing the gifts of God that he has placed within you to build something that endures, something that changes the trajectory of lives for years to come. When you understand this, you will realize you are not just living for yourself.

You are contributing to a greater narrative that transcends your individual journey. You are contributing to a greater narrative that leaves an indelible mark on the world. That your influence can stretch beyond your your your immediate circle, and you can impact families, impact territories, impact schools, impact nations, that you have a legacy that will echo through the sounds of time, that your life becomes a template for men to follow. This is what it means to be a nation. And the bible makes it abundantly clear that men can be nations. That men people look at your life when your name is mentioned in the echoes of time. Your name leaves an indelible mark in the ears of people. That what comes out of you is blessing the lives of many. That an NGO can come out of you. A school can come out of you.

A university can come out of you. A business can come out of you. A ministry can come out of you. Reaching millions around the world. That the world that God has dug on your inside is servicing nations to come, servicing millions of people. This is what it means to be a nation. That if you're a prophet, your voice is reaching the world. The kings of this earth will travel down to your loins. That if you are a teacher, men and women will give... Will feed bread from you.

You will stand before world governments, stand before NG... Stand before the UN, the African Union, and every international corporation. And when you stand there represented, the ideas that you gave, the solutions that come out of you, the innovations that you bring out. This is what it means to be a nation. The bible says I will make you a great nation, and then it says the things that follow being a great nation is that you are blessed. But not only are you blessed that your name becomes great. That is part of what accompanies being a great nation, that I am blessed and my name is great. In the remote corners of Africa, the inner places of Uphopia, the deepest part of Togo, the wilderness in South Sudan, isolated corners of the earth. Somebody knows your name there. Either through a book you have written, either through your messages reaching the world, either through solutions you have provided, this is what it means to be a great nation.

And the bible is abundantly clear that men can be nations. God is making you into nations. From minister of education in Nigeria, The solutions you will offer to the curriculum of your nation will so transform the tides of events that... Listen to me. Hear hear what I'm saying. It will so transcend or transform rather the tides of events. But by the time people see the track record of your innovation in the educational world, they say, who is the person that caused this change? We have tested our model during the four years of administration, and we saw the amount of lives that were changed. We saw the improvement in the educational quality of students in government schools, in private schools. Lady, listen to me.

We know that you have resigned. We know that your terrain has ended, but we need you in South Africa. Can you come and do something there? Ah, as you are going there, ammendation comes. He said, and we are offering you a better deal. We saw what you did in Nigeria, and we know that if we have you in this country, something can change. That is what it means to be a nation. These are the people I'm speaking to. You write a a book, a chart from nowhere. It just writes a book.

And then the state government sees the book and says, my god. This book is beautiful. This book is amazing. Can we make it available to everybody? Give us 10,000 copies. Then Lagos state government does the same thing. And before you know, 20 states in Nigeria have adopted the book you wrote. Guess what? It might even be a fictional book. And they say, you know what?

To pass Waheg, this is one of the books you must read. This is what it means to be a nation. I don't know what you see when you see yourself, but my responsibility is to show you what God sees when he sees you. The responsibility as a result of that is to align your thinking to fit into that picture. It means if whatever you are seeing about your life and destiny does not resemble what I'm painting for you, throw it away. The bible says you will be like a city that is set on a hill that cannot be hidden. That is the destiny of the believer. Number two. So number one is that men can be nations. Number two, every nation...

Now I'm not talking about men. I'm talking about the geographical stratifications, countries. Every nation is built by men. When you travel around the world or you check the news, you will wonder why certain developed countries look like the envy of the earth, And then other nations remain in a sorry, dilapidated, condemned, depreciating state. Nations, generally speaking, are divided into developed, developing, and underdeveloped. They told us that in social studies, I think. The developed countries have high GDP per capita, and that means the individual GDP of the average person is quite high. The developed countries have diversified economy. They have advanced infrastructures. They have high quality education.

They have high quality health care, massive technological innovation. You see so much in these developed countries. If you travel there or you watch movies or you see them on the news, you would see so many infrastructures that look like a dream in some countries you are from. I was seeing recently that a device has been created and is being deployed, being used right now in some parts of the world that enables you as a medical doctor, you just place your hand over it, very simple device, almost smaller than my phone here. You just place your hand over you... Over... Place the device over your hand, and it shows all the venous networks in the palm, in the hand, any area of the body that it is put so that whatever nurse or doctor is collecting blood can see exactly the needle and where it is entering into your body. In our country, you have to beat the hand and tie stains and beat the fingers, and sometimes they would even put the needle and draw nothing out. And then they would say, sorry. We cannot locate the vein.

This... That is only a limitation in some part of the world. In some part of the world right now, we don't even have to use delivery services anymore because robots now deliver your food. Robots now deliver your food. You order food online and you know a robot appear at your door, drives there from the restaurant, comes by itself to your door. You go there, put in your code, make payment. It takes your you take your food, robot tells you thank you, and it leaves. When you wonder, will this ever happen in this nation? Of course, it will happen. But I want you to know that these nations that are so called developed nations are built by men.

They didn't fall from heaven. On the other hand, there are nations that are ill developed. People struggling, high state of corruption, malnutrition, very poor health care, very poor educational levels. There was a time when it was believed that what makes a nation great was the high level of natural resources that are present within that nation. And it is believed that when you have a nation that is high in natural resources, that nation has a potential for greatness, high in copper, high in gold, high in crude. But countries like Singapore, countries like Switzerland, countries like South Korea, even Israel. Israel is in the wilderness. Israel is literally a country in a desert. These countries have little or no natural resources, and they have one of the best economies in the world, one of the strongest economies in the world. It means that a nation can have a high investment of natural resources.

But if the seas... If the three things do not understand the kingdom strategies and the kingdom principles for building a great nation, then the nation regardless of the resources will still be poor. The resources would only service other nations, but will never translate into development for the nation that it own... That owns it. Such is the faith of our nation pit... Pitifully speaking. Such is the state of many African nations, pitifully speaking. Abundance of resources that if we go by the amount of natural resources that God has invested in these countries, you would expect that this country should be the richest in the world. But in many cases, it's not so. In other words, it is not the resources that makes the nation.

It is the men that makes the nation. Every great nation was built by men. Great nations don't drop from heaven. It is built by men. And what Nigeria as a country specifically needs right now are builders, creators who will partner with God in seeing that the prophetic future of this nation is realized. Sir. And it will happen in our time. Yes, sir. This is why I'm speaking to the builders. This is why I'm speaking to the creators.

Listen. The meeting today is not for selfish believers. If if the if the extent of your life is only about yourself and you're only concerned about what you will eat and what you will drink and how you will pay your next house rent. This meeting might not bless you much. Maybe you can stay back home until we are done with this series and allow those who are ready to transform their nation hear what I have to say. When we are done, we're going to another subject. We come. But this meeting is for those who know that there is more to their life than them... Than themselves. Who knows that there is a very significant contribution that they have to make to the nation Nigeria or wherever they might find themselves because I believe there are people listening to me who are not in this country.

This is... These strategies are not Christian based. These strategy are not Nigerian based. They are to be practiced in any nation, and you will get the same result everywhere. These are the strategies from scripture that builds and makes great nations. The third thing I want you to know that is a fact from scripture is that nations can be great. In Deuteronomy 28 verse one, the Bible says now it shall come to pass. If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all his commandments which I command you today. That the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. The Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

It means it means there are levels and stratifications even in nations. Nations can be higher than themselves. Nation can be greater than themselves. The bible makes it clear. In Genesis 25 that we read, NLT verse 23, the bible says one nation will be stronger than the other. It means nations can be stronger than themselves. Technological advancement, military strength, all of these things contribute to the strength of a nation, the strength of the economy, the strength of the currency that is spent in that nation. All of these things contribute. And you see, it is possible for nations to dilapidate, to go from a place of greatness, a place of strength into a place of servitude and suffering. Again, pitifully speaking, unfortunately so, such is the fate of this nation.

But I'm speaking to men that will recreate this nation. The destiny of this nation, the prophetic destiny of this nation is that of greatness. It has been prophesied. God have sent men. In fact, God had to relocate men from their own home nations to travel down to Nigeria because of the investment that he has made in this nation. It would be a mistake to think that this is how this nation will end. It would be a mistake. It would be a mistake to think so. Do you know the investments spiritually that God has made in this nation? Riyadh Bongi spent a major part of his life and ministry, sorry, in this nation.

As a matter of fact, their fiftieth year anniversary is this year. Fifty years of Sifan ministry is this year. They are celebrating it with a massive crusade in Nigeria. When the man was going to be with the lord, he said he's passing the touch. He held a massive crusade, his last crusade of his ministry in Nigeria. Do you think that all of these things are coincidences? But helped and traveled all the way from Europe, came with his family, became a citizen of Nigeria, revoked his own citizenship. Do you think that this is a waste? No. This nation has a very prophetic destiny.

The bible says in scriptures, there is a land whose rivers divide. It speaks of Nigeria prophetically. And it speaks of the prophetic picture that God has painted for this nation. Africa is the one that will return the Christ. Christ. And Nigeria will play a major role in that revival. I... Africa will for long the last day revival. That is why you see what God is doing across Nigeria right now. Men of God that are rising in their numbers.

Do you really think all of these things is a joke to you? The crusades that are happening in other parts of the world by Nigerians and they are filling up stadiums, filling up conferences, iconic events that have never been done before. Pastor Paul Nenche, I love and honor that man of God so much, was in The US some two years ago to hold the crusade. And when they got there filled to capacity, the moment he left the place, the state where the crusade held passed it into law that there must be a bible in every classroom in the in the state. Do you think that that is a joke that a a man went from Nigeria? Do you think that is a joke? All of these things are pointers as to what is about to happen in this nation. It's not only happening in the church or with men of God. The bible says saviors will come from Zion. Hear me.

The life of Jesus, who is the forerunner of his savior, the life of Jesus, who is the first savior that we see in scriptures, that typifies how every savior will come, show us the path and the pattern by which saviors manifest. That before the coming of a savior, there will usually be John the Baptist that will forerun the coming of saviors. John the Baptist will all... Will also have influence. John the Baptist will also have massive ministries, but they are not the saviors. May God give you understanding. Believe me when I tell you that the saviors are yet to arise. I am speaking to them. What you see the people in the body of Christ doing right now is clearing the way. That was the assignment of John the Baptist.

Prepare ye the way. Prepare ye the way. So that when the saviors arise, the way is clear and the path is cleared. Many of you will enter into the harvest of a seed you did not sow. I pray that you believe what I'm saying. That is the reason why you would under... You would find out that Africa is shaped like a gun. Nigeria being very strategically provisioned at where a gun is shot. To aid this nation is to be blind. To think that nothing good will come out of this nation is to be blind.

Is to be terribly blind. There is a prophetic destiny, and some of us have seen it. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Not everybody will, but those that I'm speaking to will build this nation and will create a new Nigeria. Listen to me. Listen to me. The painful thing is that we would have become landowners and landlords. And those who did not believe that run away will come back to this nation, their own country, and they'll become tenants there. Because some people saw the future.

Some people saw the future. Many are plagued by what plagued Lot. Abraham told Lot, pick. And instead of Lot to say, I came into blessings and miracles because of my affiliation with you. How dare me separate myself from you? I will not pick. I choose to remain with this covenant of blessing. Lord thought because he was now rich in cattles and silver, he was separate from the man Abraham. There is what is called blessing by association. Lord looked and said, you know what?

I see a land over there, and he went to go and get his ticket, got his flight ticket, got his passport done, relocated from that land, traveled to a land flowing with milk and honey in his own eyes, travel to a land creating infrastructures in his own eyes. And he thought this is a place where my business can flourish. If only I can get citizenship there, and he traveled there. And all that was left for Abraham was just land upon land, empty lands with nothing on them. And the Lord told him, Abraham, see as far as your eyes can see. Yeah. As far as your eyes can see, the people I'm speaking to are the saviors of this nation. And I believe it sincerely. I've been saying this for a long time. I believe it sincerely.

The solution to this nation are the answers you will provide. Nations can be great. And at this point, as a nation, we don't need people who complain, who mumble, who grumble at everything going on in the country. We need builders. We need creators. In Genesis chapter one, God was introduced as a creator. The bible says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God introduced as a creator. The first place we see God in scripture, what he was doing was not delivering. What he was doing was not even providing.

What he was doing was creating. In verse 26, the bible says we are made in his image and in his likeness. It means we are co creators together with God. If we are in his likeness, it means we function as he does. If we are in his image, it means we have the same identity as he does. It means we are co creators together with God. We are builders together with God. The New Testament call it co laborers with God. That God is building and we are building. God is creating and we are creating.

Let them have dominion over the earth. Let us make man in our own image. After our own likeness, let them have dominion over the earth. It means that to become a creator and to become a builder in the manner at which God is, you would have to have a dominion mentality or a... The mentality of a victor, the mentality of dominion. God says the reason we are making man in our image and after our likeness is so that they can have dominion. They can have control. They can have mastery. If you do not have the mentality of dominion, what you have is called a victim mentality or a slave mentality. And anybody who has a victim mentality, anybody who has a slave mentality cannot have a role in the creation of this nation.

People with this victim mentality allow themselves to be dominated by circumstances. They cave in to situations. They get discouraged by problems, and all they do is complain. People like that do not create. People like that are not the solutions of this country. When you find anyone who has a victim mentality, all they do is complain. They are the victims in any circumstances that they find themselves. Never the victors. If the inflation Nigeria rises, they are victims. If oil price increases, they are victims.

If the wrong governor comes in, he's a victim. If the wrong president comes in, he's a victim. And all they ever do is grumble. All they ever do is complain. These people have what is called a victim mentality. That is not the mentality of dominion. To build and to create what is needed is the mentality of dominion. One characteristic of these people that have a victim mentality is that they have the... They have a very negative self image of themselves. They have a very negative self image, a wrong self image, an evil self image.

That is their image of themselves. How they view themselves is evil. What they see is evil. Their imagination is evil. Their picture of themselves is evil. It is very difficult for God to use people that have a negative self image, a victim mindset, grasshopper mentality. Remember that God created the nation of Israel, a nation that came out of slavery, and God told them, you have come out of slavery. Now I want to make a nation out of you. I want to make a nation out of you. That great nation I spoke to your father Abraham about, it is time for that prophecy to find fruition.

God delivered them from captivity for a reason. What was the reason? To make a nation out of them. They done it through the wilderness for forty years. Forty years, they were toiling. They were joining through. And when they got to the Kairos moment, the moment that God has been waiting for, the moment to possess the nation God has sent them to, the moment to possess the land God promised them and to start building that nation, something dramatic happened. They sent spies to go and spy the land. And in Numbers 13 verse 30, New Living Translation, look at the report. The Bible says, but Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses.

Let's go at once to take the land, he said. We can certainly conquer it. Verse 31. But the other men who had explored the land within disagreed. We can't go up against them. They are stronger than we are. So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites. The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there.

The descendants of Hanak were there. Next to them, we felt like grasshoppers, and that is what they thought too. Now the question is, how did you know what they thought? I understand how you feel, but how do you know what they thought? Did you journey into their mind? This tells you something, that how you think about yourself is how you think others others think about you. They were the ones who felt like grasshoppers. And because they felt like grasshoppers, they completely imagined and assumed that how every other person saw them. Do you know that? These people that they went to spy did not even see them.

Hence, the word spy. They stood at a distance, and they were spying. And from that distance, they concluded they knew what the people were thinking. How many people have sat down? They've said, is this someone like me they will give this contract to? And just assume you know what someone is thinking about you. That, ah, look at them now. They must be thinking I've said rubbish. Ah, see how they are looking at me. See how they are looking at me.

You go and submit a cloth that you made for someone, and the person wears the cloth. And you say, knew it. I knew it. I did nonsense. I knew it. See how he's looking. See how he's looking. I did nonsense. Kai. Kai.

And while they are scrutinizing you, you are you are there making all kinds of conclusions about yourself, and you have concluded that that is how they are thinking too. It is called grasshopper mentality. This is not the character of men that build nations. What God wanted to do with Israel was to build a nation out of them, and they sent spies. And the spies decided that we are grasshoppers. Grasshoppers cannot even carry cement. How can they build? The destiny of a grasshopper is to be matched upon. Grasshoppers are seen as nuisance to farmers. They come and they eat plants.

You use pesticides to chase them away. That was what they call themselves. We are insects. Do you know what the bible says about these same people? That when they got before the Red Sea and they stood in front of the Red Sea and Moses stretched his rod, the Red Sea parted. In the record of Psalms, the psalmist says, the sea saw them and fled. You think that it was just because Moses stretched the rod. But the psalmist entered into the realm of the spirit and had a revelation of what happened. And he saw that the sick drew his trousers up and said, who are these ones? And took grace.

That was what happened. The bible says of these people that when the people of Gibeon saw them, they saw that these people are are devourers. If if we go into battle with these ones, we are dead. We are done for. The bible says the mountain saw them and split. Jericho saw them and sank. But how did they see themselves? Grasshoppers. Incapable of change. Incapable of transformation, incapable of doing anything great are Jesus Christ.

Grasshoppers. People with a negative self image cannot build a nation. The bible says, let us create man in our image. Let them have dominion. In other words, image is needed for dominion. That was why what came first was image. Let us create man. It defined how we created man in our image. Because he is in our image, he can now have dominion. It means if a man ever decides or ever sees himself other than the image from whence he was created, there can be no dominion.

Image is directly proportional to dominion. That is why the responsibility of the man of God primarily is to show you who you are. If believers discover and realize their identity, there are dangerous things we can do. Before we begin to speak about strategies, we must understand that nation builders are not people with low self esteem. Nation builders are not people with inferiority complex. Nation builders are not people... Listen to me. Image is directly proportional to dominion. A wrong self image therefore cannot produce dominion. If you believe wrong about yourself, if you believe wrong about your identity, you cannot build a nation.

You cannot contribute to what God is doing in this nation. When you harbor negative beliefs about yourself, you will limit your aspirations. You will limit your goals. You will come around smallness. You will think like you... It is impossible for you to get to. When we talk about greatness, you won't see yourself taking this because you will say I'm a glass hopper. There are people that believe nobody can... Nobody from my family can do that. We can prophesy that you are doing this.

You are meeting kings. You are sowing for government as a foreign designer. And then a lady is thinking, it is someone like me that's so for that's so for governors. Is it someone like me that's so for kings? I was talking to someone who was into a business, and the... And I was encouraging the person. And I told the person, do you know that this thing you are doing can service a generation? You can even... He said, I saw I didn't get the picture of what I'm saying, so I started to be very definite. I said, from here now, you are servicing currently your hostel.

Think about how you can begin to service Ibadan. He said, and it came out so unconsciously that after she said that she apologized. She said, oh, sorry, sir. The first thing she said was a reflection of her belief. In other words, I can't I can't even picture myself doing that. I can't even see myself doing that. I can't even see myself doing that. Can you see yourself standing before the platforms of the world? Sir. Speaking to kings, speaking to princes?

Sir. Or all you can see... Listen. It's not it's not it's not in yesers. The yeser means nothing if your heart has not seen it. Because you would think that just because I said, can you see it? And your answer may meant you have seen it. If for... If only. If only.

If only. You will limit your aspirations. You will limit your goals. You will put a peg on what you can do. When people are talking greatness, you will think that's not you. You think that's not you. There was a lady some years ago who I met who was a radio presenter in Ife. And I told her, I said, you are doing amazing things. Dream for more. You can be on here as a TV personnel.

You can be in channels. You can be in all these stations. You're as good as they are. She said, ah, it's not people like us. They are collecting them. And I told her, I said, define people like you. And she started laughing. In other words, people like me are jokes. And people see us, they laugh. That's the meaning.

That's the self image that our person has of herself. And what does that do? That creates a peg to our aspirations. So inside of herself, she can't see beyond a level. A grasshopper cannot fly the way an eagle will fly. What a grasshopper can do is hop. In other words, if you think you're a grasshopper, you can't think of flying. That's the meaning of putting a peg to your aspiration. It won't come to your mind where you're taking full. The best you will do is let me jump higher.

And once you jump, you are satisfied. Perhaps you're able to reach his point. You are okay. Because whilst... Ah, come on. Look at where I came from, and I reached here. Whereas, we are meant to be swearing over mountains. You see, but what believers do is that they are... They have a grasshopper mentality so they can see there is a peg already on their aspirations on what they can become, on what they can aim for. There are people that they say how...

They are... Me, I have no ambitions. Oh. And what is happening really is a grand super mentality. And they mean that to say, I've sold my heart to God. I don't have any ambition. Check when. Is it that you don't have any ambition or you have a grasshopper mentality that can't make you see anything? Because even if you don't have ambitions, you should have vision. That vision should put goals in your heart.

When you start to pursue that goal, the name given to it is ambition. It's just that it can be so perverted. That is why we prefer to use vision. It can be so perverted. However, it's not normal that you don't desire great things. It's not normal. They are not in pursuit of excellence. They are not in pursuit of greatness. It's not normal that you camp around a field and say, ah, I thank God oh, thus far the Lord helped me. There must be no limit to your aspirations, you see.

You... When you have a false image of yourself, you will always be afraid of failing. It will paralyze you. It will prevent you from pursuing your dreams. You will have a sense of inferiority. And if that sense of inferiority exists at a national level, it is even worse. This is one of the strategies that the devil uses against nations, especially African nations. It sells a belief to us that if you are not white, you can't do great things. It makes you believe that your complexion is a disadvantage. So the average African cannot compete on the world stage.

The average... Do you know what we do? We see the whites, and we are excited. We just see a white Whether he's broke or he's rich, it's no matter. All that matters is that he's white. And we are dancing. And we'd not know that we were controlling our minds to think this person is superior to me just by the complexion of his body, just because he came from... Is a European or an American. If if if chances are, if you ever stand on the world stage with that person, you already feel defeated even before you are given the opportunity to speak. You already feel as though, hey, me that came from Abu Leva Primary School.

Look at this guy. Ah, and you... It's a self image. Right? Your your self image is doing something to you. It's doing something to you. That thing we were doing was a national thing. It was happening everywhere. That's why you have to really honor every great man of God that you see right now from this nation or across Africa going over there and reclaiming those territories back for God. It's a powerful thing they are doing.

And it must be honored because we will do the same things. It's a powerful thing because it is easier for them to come here and do that. By reason of the fact that we already think they are more than us. If you see them on a flyer, chances are you will come because Ojibwa is on flyer. Hey. Don't get what I'm trying to say. Many people came for that reason. They come and preach and the body that day, and they just come hold their microphones. And you will see marketing all of them, and they don't... They are not hearing anything.

And when you check the... What is flowing in your body, the same blood, the same heart, the same biological configuration, the same physical configuration, and some of you have been trained to believe that they are superior. What is that? What is that? It's a victim, a servitude mentality, a slave mentality, a slave mentality. And there are some of you that are listening to me that this thing is subconsciously inside of you, subconsciously. Subconsciously. There are people that if they meet someone that they perceive as a better advantage or upbringing than them, they suddenly become self conscious. They become careful so that they will not misspeak. They will not make a mistake.

They will not make a blunder, and that becomes the beginning of their blunders. See, this person went to a better secondary school than I did, a better university than I did. Because you went to Harvard does not does not give you any advantage over me. Does it? Doesn't. How do you see yourself? Apostle Joe Selman went to ABU Zaria. He was called to Harvard to come and give a lecture. Professors were there sitting now. As he spoke, I said, Kai, oh, God.

God is giving you influence. You are not less because you are young. When elderly people ask for my opinion over matters they are going through in honor and in respect. I will make my opinion known, and they will be blessed by it. I would never say who am I to speak. Ah. No. You have no idea what is inside of me. It is ancient. This I know.

Both young and old will drink from this well. And when I stand before them, I stand before them in fullness of who I am, in fullness of the knowledge of my identity. I'm not just a small boy holding a microphone. If that... If you think that is all there is to me, you are the you are you are the one who is disadvantaged. It does... That is not how I see myself, and so I don't expect people to see me like that. I don't even imagine people see me like that. This is an introduction. But before I begin to give you strategies, before we can talk about ways and systems and principles, let's first know the kind of men that build nations.

Let's know the kind of men that build nations. They are not defeated men in their minds. They are not. Just in their eyes, we were like grasshoppers. In their eyes, we're like grasshoppers. We felt like grasshoppers, and so they thought. How many of you have been creating conclusions in your mind as to how people see you? How people see your business? How people see your ministry? How lecturers see you?

How everybody sees you? And in your mind, you are just defeated. How many people are self conscious about how they appear? You see, we quote this scripture a lot. I mean, you are in the image of God. You must believe this about yourself. You are nation builders. Do you know that something as as little as believing that you are not beautiful or you're not handsome can affect dominion? Because that is also self negative self image. That's not all there is to it.

But believing that there is something wrong with your facial configuration. There is something wrong with your physique and how you appear. And you think if only this can be better, if only that can be better. And as long as you feel as though that that imperfection is there, every time you walk out, you're always self conscious. Oh, that person is looking at this thing. That person is looking at this thing. That person is looking at this thing. And you cut yourself like that. It will affect your confidence. When you speak, it will show.

When you walk, it will show. When you approach people, it will show. There are people that talk to me, and when they come and meet me, you just say, apostle. And and I'm wondering by Toriol. What is this? And you have to be loving towards everybody, and somebody think this is a style. Okay? So, sir. So, so, sir. And they'll be twisting like.

You say, ah, no no, sir. It's a negative self image. It affect how you appear. You can't be talking business days and you are doing that and doing that. No. You have lost a deal. You are sitting in a board of committee and they're asking you, so what do you think about this? Is it? Do you know that there are people that have ideas that can revolutionize the companies they work in, but they are afraid to speak because they believe that their boss already have concluded something up about them in their mind. The day I came late now, this person must think I'm a lazy person.

So when they ask you for your opinion, you just gave in and and you are afraid to speak because you have already assumed that there is something that they think about you. Say, they they don't want to hear what I want to say. They really want to make fun of me. When I when I speak, they now laugh at me. I know their plan. I know their plan. And there are believers like that. How do you want to build a nation? You have not even built your own esteem. The bible says, we quote this scripture a lot.

Psalm one three nine verse 14. I will praise you. Why? For I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You see, the problem is that that is where you stop. But that is not where the bible stops. The bible then continues to say, and that my soul knows very well. It means if your soul does not know it, we just stop. I'm fearfully and wonderfully. Do you know you are fearfully and wonderfully made?

Does your soul know it very well? Does your soul know it very well? It doesn't say I will praise you. How... You see, one of the reasons why I will praise God is because I am fearfully and wonderfully made one and because my soul knows it. It means there are people that their soul does not know. And because my own soul knows that I'm fearfully made, I'm wonderfully made. I don't need any improvement to be perfect. I am perfection personified. When you walk, it will show.

When you speak, it will show. How you carry yourself, it will show. If I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and my soul knows very well. Ah, the bible says the bible says, marvelous are the works of your hands. Marvelous are your works. Marvelous are your works. And the bible calls you his workmanship. And if you are his workmanship, the psalmist describes his works as marvelous. My god. That means I'm wonderful.

You carry yourself so elegantly. It shows you know what you are doing. It shows you know what you are saying. You give an opinion or you answer a question in your class, and lecturer says, oh, well, that's wrong. That's not the answer. People laugh and you sit. Now you're smiling. It doesn't affect your ego. Nothing nothing missing, nothing broken. The question is answered and you have gained wisdom.

The guy who is laughing is also afraid of standing up. He has more problem than you do. Listen. Listen. Understand this. He has more problem than you. You are... Oh, God. I will show you a scripture of reason. Maybe not today because it's a series.

The Bible says that the king Nebuchadnezzar, after Daniel had gone through the university system in Babylon, the bible says that the king communed with them. You know what that means? He spoke to them. He tested their knowledge. Imagine Daniel was doing. Sam, he tested their knowledge. You go for an interview. You know the questions they are asking you. Oh, yeah. Say it.

And there's a problem. You say, sir, I just have issues. I just have issues. What is wrong with your image? How do you see yourself? Are you a grasshopper? Let us create man in our image. Let them have dominion. If something is wrong with your image in your own eyes, something is wrong with the equation of dominion. This is so simple but so powerful.

If this is where I stop today, I'm okay. There are people that have allowed words to get to them, and perhaps some people have told them that they are not pretty. Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Let's do a practical. Whilst you are closing your eyes, imagine me. Just see me and see me standing in a room filled with people, and we cannot see their hand. See me preaching and singing my songs. The people are dancing. Just dancing and rejoicing.

And then a president walks into the room even as we are dancing and rejoicing and joins us to dance and rejoice. Open your eyes. How many of you saw it? How many of you saw it? Now what you just saw now, is it your thought? Is it your thought? So whose thought is it? Or did you see it as my thought? Are you seeing it as my thought or as your thought? That is precisely how the devil speaks to you.

And it makes you believe that what you have just seen is yours. And it convinces you to believe it. And somebody just paints a picture inside of you. And the person just says, ah, you know that when you have not made your hair, not always fine. And the thing just registers in your mind. It affects your image, affects your consciousness, affects everything. Perhaps you were given a speech some time ago, then somebody told you, do you know you sound like Yoruba? It's so obvious. Sound like typical Ibadan. Are you from Ibadan?

And then you become so cautious about how you speak. You you lack confidence in speaking because you think your intonations are wrong. Your affirmations are wrong. Your syllables are wrong. And so you you... The confidence because you now have a poor self image of yourself. The way you carry yourself has changed because you now have a low self image of yourself. Do you know that people define beauty according to their own perception? Do you know that beauty... When they say beauty is in height or in the older, what they are saying is that it is your perception and the experiences that you have had growing up that defines beauty for you, not what beauty is.

People don't see a thing and call it beautiful because it is beautiful. People see a thing and call it beauty because their perception agrees that that thing is beautiful. And that is why the body tribe of Utopia, the men of the body tribe of of Utopia believe that drinking milk, cow milk to stupor and bulging out their belly to a point where they have pork belly is what makes them desirable to the women. Listen to me. This is not a joke. This is not a joke. And the women will literally go for the biggest belly they can find. So your mission from when you grow up is go and be drinking milk. That's your mission. That's your assignment.

Because you know when it's time to marry, you won't get a wife if your stomach is not big. Listen. Listen. Go and do your research. Listen. Do you know that chances are if you were born there, you will also be looking for the next Port Bellic man? That is what you'll be looking for if you were born there, if you grew up there. Forget all the talk down and answer you are looking for. What you will be in your mind is who is. Listen.

Listen. Listen. The women of the Homo tribe believe that big... Creating big holes in their ears and their mouth is what makes them beautiful to the men. Listen to me. If you were born there, your picture of a perfect wife is who has the biggest hole in her mouth who has the biggest hole in his ears because that's where you were born. Chances are, if somebody now took you from that place, you... And you see women who are normal, you will say, what? What? You are ugly.

What? What is this? Because you are defining beauty according to your experience, according to your perception, according to how you grew up. Listen. That's why... Listen. Listen. Listen. That's why that's why when you believe that you are ugly because someone said you are ugly, do you know how... Do you know what they saw growing up?

You see, it's so foolish. When you decide your destiny based on what someone said, do do you do you know the experiences? I was driving to church this morning. Very interesting story. I was driving to church this morning, and a bike was on a wrong side of the road trying to overtake me. And I was just driving, minding my own business. It was all just on the wrong side of the road. You don't overtake from that side. It was close to the gutter. Any small maneuver, it could have fallen to the to the gutter.

To what... To make matters worse, there was a ditch right in front of him. And he kept on blasting at the horn. And I looked at him and said, is that the way you're supposed to be? And I kept on going. And then as we went by, there were two women who waited until the bike caught up to us and planned exactly what they wanted to say because there's a clergy on my on my vehicle. And when they got close, they say, and you call yourself a pastor. And they they they they they they waited just to say that and drove away. And I just smiled. I said, goodness.

So when... You if you go to pastoral school, they did the the teacher to drive there. One of the courses you you you you go through in seminary school is how to drive. That's why my driving skills now qualify me as a pastor or not. Instead of you to talk and correct the person carry you that wants to kill you, it is... Listen. You come and you start saying things. Imagine that I I now start feeling bad, and I'm a pastor. But that is how people behave. You have no idea how someone was brought up.

You have no idea what family they grew up in. Maybe in their family, father and mother insult themselves day to night. Maybe in their family, nobody communicates love, nobody does anything. And then you grew up from a family where they they train you to have a good self esteem. Your father communicated love to you physically, vocally. They would carry you up and throw you in the hair and cut you back and say, I love you so much. And so you grow up understanding what love is in a family and how to communicate love. And so you got to your room and you see your roommate for the first time, and you say, wow. It's so nice to meet you, and you and you hug the person, and the person say, why eating that mosquito? And you don't know that the things people say are a derivative of their perspective, and you conclude that I saw a mosquito.

It's... Listen. This can be so terrible. There are people that believe they are dull because of this. There are people that believe they cannot speak because of this. There are people that have placed limitations and pegs on themselves because of this. So many. There are people that believe that they are... Do you know what catches my attention in Jeremiah the one when God came to Jeremiah and told Jeremiah that right from your mother's womb, I anointed you a prophet and all of that. Something catches my attention.

It is what Jeremiah said to God. Jeremiah said, I cannot speak. And you think that the reason he cannot speak is because there's some form of speech deformation. Note, he didn't say I'm not a prophet. Note, he didn't say I can't prophesy. What he said was, I can't even speak. And you wonder why can't you speak? Are you dumb? Are you deaf? You dull of hearing?

Do you have speech deformation? Is it... Do need healing? By the time he gives the reason why he cannot speak, he says I cannot speak for I am a youth, for I am a child. The question is, who told you that because you are a child, you cannot speak? Get that. How is being a child the prevalence of not not speaking? I understand most is saying I cannot speak for Amish Tamra. But how do you equivate I can't speak to Amishild? How...

In other words, you must question how he grew up. He grew up probably in the society most like you, where if you wanna speak, they'll tell you, come on. Keep quiet. Elders are talking. The elders are talking. How dare you speak when elders are talking? How do you talk? Then you have assumed that, I can't speak. Oh, I'm a child. And that was the image of himself that he had.

And as long as he had that image, that means if he can't speak, he can't prophesy. And the assignment was to be a prophet. There are people who have who have who have who have prophetic giftings of psalmistry upon their lives, and you'd expect that by... Look at the voice you have, you will be a blessing to several people. Join the worship team. Lift your voice in worship. Let us... Let us be blessed on this thing, and they say, hey. Hey. Me.

Ah. Me. Me. That is how bad it is. There are opportunities you will not apply for. Doors will open onto you. You will not enter into it because your self image will not permit you. That land was there for the taking, but they said we were like grasshoppers. These people are not grasshoppers, knowing none that you are gods. It is a terrible day when a god calls himself a grasshopper.

Such a terrible day. Such a terrible day. Such a terrible day. Are you blessed? In numbers 14, let us close in this point. I'm verse 27. The Bible says, how long must I put up with the wicked community and his complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against me. Now tell them this, as surely as I live, I'm reading from the NLT, declares the Lord. I will do to you the very things I heard you say.

Did you see that? They said, remember what were the very things that they said? We are like grasshoppers. This land divorced them that enter it. Ourselves and our children, we die there. Look at look at the terrible... God says, according as you have said, so will I do. Verse 29 says, you will all drop dead in the wilderness because that was what they said. Because you complained against me, everyone of you who is 20 year old or older and was included in the registration will die. You will not enter and occupy the land I sought to give you.

Can you read the next line together, everybody? Are you the exception in Nigeria? I saw this, and you can't imagine the hunger that rose in my spirit. The holy exceptions. This was God speaking. God said the holy exceptions. God... That a generation will perish, but there will be exceptions. God. God.

God. There will be exceptions. The only exceptions will be Emmanuel and his people. Listen to me. We are not part of the complainers. God said, you said we are grasshoppers. They will finish us. They will kill us. So shall it be. You said this land divorce whoever treads on it, so shall it be.

You said ourselves and our children will die, so shall it be. As you have said in my years, so will I do. Then God himself said except. We are not part of the complainers. When they were calling themselves grasshoppers, Joshua and Caleb never called themselves that. Joshua, you know, Judah and Caleb said we are able. We are able to take this land. Let us go at once to take it. God has given us the land. Let's go at once to take it.

Two people went to an event, and then two of them went to an event. One of them was telling second girl. She said, that is this minister of the gospel. Let's go and meet him and introduce ourselves. He said, hey. Hey. No. No. No. Why?

And the lady messaged me and said, sir, I saw this person. I saw this person. I was just there. And this person said, let go and... And I could not. I don't even know why. I was just afraid. It is because of how you saw yourself. The problem was not fear. What generated fear was a negative self image.

You already made a conclusion as to how they will see you. But if what you saw yourself was an anointed minister of the gospel, you will have no fear even as you introduce yourself to those that you look of... You look you look up to. You will meet with... You will meet with answer and tell them very boldly. I listened to your messages growing up. I worshiped with your music, and it was such a blessing. Thank you so much. And there is no fear in your heart, nothing. I remember some years ago, now they have changed.

But then they were grasshoppers. So I knew I had work to do because I will I will not lead grasshoppers. A lion cannot lead grasshoppers. I took some of my guys, and I took them as... And I introduced them to a friend of mine who was a major force in the media industry, and these people were also in the media. And I told them, I said, this is, I introduced them to the guys, and these are my... Some of the members of my media department. And I thought this is the owner of this media company, media agency, and we all shocked and just started looking like this. I was dumbfounded. It was the person that was not asking them, so what is your name?

So you are the one that post all those pictures I see. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. No, sir. Ask a question. This is a great man standing in front of you. You are even older than the guy. He's a young man.

Ask him a question. Yes, sir. No, sir. I stood there and said, these are the people I'm prophesying to. Then there must be a diet change immediately so that a mindset reformation, a mindset reengineering can happen. Whatever has clogged your eyes to stand before greatness and you lose your speech. Come on now. Come on now. It doesn't matter whoever walks into this place. Whilst I am preaching, let it be a celebrity that have won 25 Grammys.

If anybody screams and shout, I will send you out. God, God sees my... I I will send you. I'm telling you. That shows that that is your first time in experience. Must it also be your first time in your mind? One of my guys won an award, and the award came as a surprise. Amazing award. Came as a surprise to him. He wasn't prepared.

He just called him up. He was even serving there in a national conference of leaders, businessmen, seated down there, and he was serving. And he just called his name and gave him an award, and he got there, received the award, and gave his speech as though he has been preparing to receive that award, and he wasn't told. When he was asked, look at your composure. Look at your stee. It's unchanged. He told them... He said he said, I have seen these things since last year. Listen. He said, I've reasked my speech for a day like this.

Every time I come and serve in my capacity as a media giant in this place, and I see them giving people award, I have seen myself collecting an award. I have dreamed of the speech I will give. So I did not call him as... Hey. It means if that is your experience, you never saw it in your mind. It is true. You never saw it in your mind. The first time I was I was on the plane, I never... You would never think it was anything different. You know how many times I've seen it in my mind.

Now I order plane ticket like a joke. I wanted to invite someone to come and teach my... Train my worship department, and they told me it was Nabuja that can we do online? I said, I don't want online. We can fly you down and take it back. He said, oh, I'm down for it. I said, don't don't go back. Okay. What is what is what is what is playing ticket? Yeah.

You'll be excited and I'm I'm joking over it. That's nonsense. Something has shifted. Something has shifted. There are many things that it will be your first time experiencing in life. Doesn't mean it's your first time experiencing in your mind. You have seen it over and over again. For instance for instance, when somebody brings me a car, you don't think... You think I'll be shouting and screaming? I've seen multiple cars.

When someone come and tells me, apostle, you have blessed me so much. Take this estate in Abuja. Take this estate in Lebanon in Lagos. I will look at you and say, let me pray for you. Where is he? Where is the place? No. No. No. I can see it because I see myself as someone deserving of that.

Someone... Things must come to me. I attract good things. The Bible the Bible says where the cactus is, there the eagles gather. And wherever I go to, eagles must gather. Yes. Do you believe this? No. Please believe it. Please believe it.

You complain about problems from today to tomorrow, it doesn't change anything. It doesn't solve anything. The way you solve problems is to create solutions. And in Psalm one one five verse 16, the bible says the heaven, even the heavens is the lord. The earth has he given to the sons of men. God will not do for you what he has given you the power to do for yourself. He only does what you cannot do. The problem with Africa, which is actually the side effect of our prayers, because we pray a lot in Africa. And I believe our praying a lot has developed a kind of side effect. And the side effect is that we now...

We know that God is one that answers prayers. So we have replaced with the things that we are supposed to do as answers that come from God. Did you get that? There's now a very thin line they got between what God does and what we are supposed to do. So what is your responsibility we attribute as answers to prayers? And God said this is not how I operate. When God healed the man by Bethsaida, he told him, arise, take up your bed and walk. His problem was that there was no strength in his legs. His legs was crippled. God gave him strength, but God will not arise for him.

God will not take up the bed for him. God will not work for him. All of those things will be his responsibility. The strength to do it, however, will come from God. So there are many believers who are praying for national change, and they will say prayer is the answer to the Nigeria's problem. And other believers will hear them and say, no. It's not prayer. All the prayer I've been praying, what has changed? Both of them are wrong because none of them can cause any change. One is a group of complainers can do nothing.

The other pray and expect God to do everything. You see that now? Yes. It's a wrong combination. There are strategies that build a nation. But if we know that as individuals and as nation builders, and we begin to deploy that in every part of our lives, it will be inevitable for us to arrive at greatness. Rise up on your feet. Are you blessed? Yes, sir. In the part two of this series, I'll be gonna show you what the strategies are for building a great There are seven of them.

The strategies are not just national. They are largely individual. There are things that must be practiced in the lives of each and every one of us. Are you blessed? Yes, sir. Yes. I want you to thank God for what you have received. Thank God for what you have received. Thank God for the transformation. Thank God for the newness of the experience.

Give him all the glory. Give him all the praise. In Jesus name, we have prayed. In Jesus name, we have prayed. Amen. I want us to pray and say anywhere I have had a wrong or a negative image of myself. You see, it's one thing to have a wrong view of God. It's another thing to have a wrong view of yourself. If you have a right view of God and have a wrong view of yourself, it's still a waste. Everything must be complete.

Whatever stronghold has been built in my mind by the words of people, by the suggestions of the devil that has affected the image of myself that I have. Father, let your word break it. Let your spirit break it. In the name of Jesus, we just pray right now. Let it be broken today. In the name of Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. In Jesus' mighty name we have prayed. We believe you were blessed by this message to connect with the Disciples Christian Network and get more from Apostle Emmanuel. Follow us on our social media platforms.

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