If you are in a relationship with someone and your heart is disturbed
and you keep saying, ‘I’m not sure’,
I would suggest to you, he is not ‘the one’ - she is not ‘the one’.
Right now, I want to give you an opportunity to ask any questions.
If you have a question to ask, just indicate by raising your hand.
I would like to know - when we have many gifts and talents,
how can we know what our specific purpose is?
Ok. So for you, brother, let’s be personal. What is the talent you are talking about?
Music.
Ok. Music - it’s a good example.
We know from the Bible that music is a gift from God.
But look at society today.
A lot of people are using the gift they receive from God to glorify the devil.
Brother, if God has gifted you in the area of music - wonderful!
Make music for the glory of God, not to celebrate the world,
not to celebrate money, lust or all these foolish and futile things. For God!
If you use your gift for the glory of God, He will continue to increase it.
And He will not take you to a place that your character is not enough to maintain.
Because many people today - they can reach somewhere with gift
but they quickly fall because they lack character.
If you are gifted
and you realise you are not at the place you expect to be with the gift you have,
perhaps God is preserving you for you to work on your character.
Gift begins; character finishes.
So, thank you brother. God bless you! It’s a good question.
Good afternoon. My name is Dayron.
As a young man who grew up under the mentorship of Prophet T.B. Joshua
can you give us some examples of how to have a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit,
to reach the level that God moved in The SCOAN?
OK! It’s a good question.
I said something yesterday, that my journey is different to yours.
And faith is not based on imitation.
It’s based on the Word of God in our hearts and the conviction that comes from that.
So, I can mention to you today some specific things that I did.
But I am not you and you are not me.
You need to know, through God’s Word, what He wants you to do in your situation,
based in your calling in life.
But I can give you some principles
that can help everyone, irrespective of what God wants you to do.
I will give you one.
When you wake up in the morning, the first person you should greet is God.
Many of us today, when we wake up in the morning, the first thing we greet is our phone.
If you can begin your day on your knees in prayer,
you start the day on the right foundation.
Prophet T.B. Joshua lived a life of prayer.
We are not talking about prayer on Sundays or when it’s time for service.
He lived a life of prayer on a daily basis.
He said, “I took care of the depth of my relationship with God
and Jesus took care of the breadth of my success.”
So, people of God, there is no special formula when it comes to spiritual growth.
If you want to build your relationship with God, you must be prepared to give quality time.
It’s a sacrificial lifestyle.
Because to give that time,
there are some other areas of your life you are going to have to sacrifice.
But I tell you - whatever you lose for God’s sake,
you will gain a thousand-fold.
So, thank you, brother. I have just given you one but it’s something for you to feed on.
Ok, let’s hear from our brother here.
My name is Diolio and I’m 24.
My question is - what advice would you give to yourself,
with your experiences in the Lord, if you were 24 years old.
I’m still a young man; I’m not that old!
I’m 35 years old.
So, I consider myself a youth still.
We have so many influences surrounding us.
But the best influence is the Holy Spirit.
If there is anything I would have done differently,
it would be to spend even more time pursuing my relationship with God -
even more time in prayer, even more time in the Word,
even more time in God’s presence because these are things that are priceless.
If something is priceless, you should be ready to pay any price for it.
Jesus said, ‘If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.’
Pay any price to pursue your relationship with Christ.
Ok, we want to hear from a sister. Thank you, sister.
Blessings. My name is Yunet.
How can I remain in the love and fear of God?
Because it has been very difficult for me.
So, let’s ask you, sister. If you examine yourself, what are the things that are
affecting your love for God or your fear of God.
Just mention any of those things.
Lust and anger.
So, yesterday, by God’s grace, I prayed for people for deliverance.
Deliverance means uprooting anything spiritual
that is pushing you to do something contrary to your will.
Now you are delivered, you have the choice to say yes or no.
Don’t be too fast to clap.
Because the deliverance will not remove temptation.
If anything, the deliverance will increase temptation.
Because the devil does not want you to be free.
That’s why you must be serious in your relationship with God to maintain what you receive.
So, let’s talk about lust.
Many people today blame the devil for entering the doors they leave open to him.
You are one that opened the door to him and you are surprised when he enters and strikes.
You are tempting the devil to tempt you.
‘God, deliver me from the spirit of lust’ - but check your phone.
Many of the pictures on your phone, if you ask me to check it -
you would want to delete them.
So, what I am saying to my sister is that if you identify the areas of your life
that are affecting your relationship with God,
identifying those areas must now bring you to a place of deeper commitment to God
to overcome those temptations.
If we examine ourselves sincerely,
the cause of our inconsistent relationship with God
is not too far from ourselves.
So, the answer is in your hands.
If you take the message you have received in this conference,
you are equipped to maintain a fear of God.
Thank you.
My name is Mario and I’m 27.
I have two questions that are related.
First, there is a common trend of thinking that to be successful, you must get married at any cost.
However, we have seen in your own life that there was a process
and with God at the centre, at the right time, He brought the right person.
What should be our focus as young people with God at the centre of our lives,
to have the conviction it’s the right person coming with the right motives?
Secondly, how can we know if our calling does not include marriage?
Ok. Thank you for the question.
So, first of all, let me say to everyone - this is my wife.
I can give advice on this issue from practical experience now.
I came to a point where I said to myself, ‘If I don’t get married, I’m content.’
And when I arrived at a place of contentment,
the issue of marriage no longer became a burden.
And when it no longer became a burden, God gave me my wife from Heaven.
Why am I saying this?
If you seek marriage before God,
you may enter a marriage that will affect your relationship with God.
So, the issue of marriage is more about maturity.
If you are mature spiritually
and God’s appointed time comes for you to get married,
there will be heart agreement in line with the pursuit of purpose.
Look, when we talk of heart agreement,
you don’t need anyone else to confirm to you; you know!
If you are in a relationship with someone and your heart is disturbed
and you keep saying, ‘I’m not sure’,
I would suggest to you, he is not ‘the one’ - she is not ‘the one’.
God speaks to our hearts.
He will not lead you to a relationship that is going to affect your life negatively.
So, if you are in the right place with God,
and God’s time comes for you to get married,
the Spirit of God will bear witness with your spirit.
I will quickly share a short story.
When God put it in my heart to speak to Allison,
within three minutes, I went from saying the feelings that were in my heart
to saying, ‘Will you marry me?’
Three minutes!
Now, I want to stress that I’m not saying my case will be the same for all of you.
What I am saying is that when God speaks to your heart, you will know.
So, your concern should be to be in the right place with God.
When you are in the right place with God
and His time comes for you to get married, it will happen spontaneously.
And based on our brother’s question, if it’s not the will of God for you to get married,
you will continue your journey with contentment, not burdened.
So, that is my advice concerning that.
Nowadays, many in the church have idolised family above God
and give family the greatest attention in their lives.
But the Bible says those who are willing to follow Jesus
must be ready to sacrifice family, business, marital time.
So, without removing the value of family,
to bring the move of God we desire in Cuba
and prioritise our relationship with God,
to what extent should we be prepared to make such sacrifices?
So, let me take you to the Book of Mark 3 from verse 31.
“Jesus’ mother and brothers came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.
And a multitude was sitting around Him;
and they said to Him, ‘Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.’
But He answered them, saying, ‘Who is My mother, or My brothers?’
And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said,
‘Here are My mother and My brothers!
For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother’.”
Now, Jesus is not saying here that He is denying His biological family.
We know the role that Jesus’ mother played in His ministry and later on, His brothers as well.
So, this Scripture is not saying, ‘I don’t have mother, brother or family.’ No!
What Jesus is saying here is that the Spirit is thicker than the blood.
Jesus was there on an assignment from God, teaching the people.
That spiritual assignment was more important at that moment
than the pressure of His mother and brothers wanting to see Him.
So, the issue of managing your family, your human responsibilities -
you must do so, it is good, there is nothing wrong with that -
but not at the price of your spiritual life.
It’s a matter of understanding your priorities.
How can you be an effective father, mother, brother or sister that shows love
and helps your family if you are not in the right place with God?
The greatest way you can help your family is to take care of your relationship with God.
Because the overflow of your relationship with God will bless those around you.
So, if you are now experiencing spiritual stagnancy because you are giving
too much time, attention, focus, interest to your family - check yourself.
Family is very important.
But when you stand before Jesus on the last day,
your wife will not be there.
Your father will not be there; your mother will not be there.
It’s you and Jesus.
Thank you.
Blessings. My name is Carla; I’m 23.
If you have the desire to serve God full-time, when do you know it’s the right time?
How do I know the thoughts in favour of this are not just my own thoughts
and the thoughts against it are not attacks from the enemy
but it’s actually God telling me He wants me to do this, that this is the right time?
The work of God is not a matter of human qualifications.
When Jesus commissioned Peter in John 21,
He didn’t ask him if he was a qualified Bible teacher or gifted speaker.
He asked him the question, ‘Do you love Me?’
It is our love for Christ that is the basis of effective ministry.
If you take care of your relationship with God and He has called you to ministry,
events will unfold beyond your control that will push you to your calling.
It will not be a question of ‘I’m not sure, is it my thought or is it God’s thought?’
It will be a sign beyond human comprehension.
So, what should concern you is - my love for Jesus.
That is the most important thing.
To do great things for Jesus, you must have great love for Jesus.
Thank you.
So, my brother, go ahead.
My name is Fernando and I’m 18.
My question is what can we young people do for the fire of God
and the desire to serve Him to not be quenched in our lives?
So, let me ask you brother. What do you think quenches the fire of God?
Sin.
Ok, you have given the answer.
No one here is perfect.
All of us make mistakes.
But there is a difference between making a mistake in the pursuit of purpose
and committing sin in the pursuit of self-satisfaction.
What is the evidence the Holy Spirit is dominating our heart?
It is when we do the wrong thing and we are convicted of sin.
‘God, I am sorry! I don’t want to do anything to break my relationship with You.’
You run to God in repentance - He restores you, and the fire is not quenched.
But check yourself.
If you do the wrong thing and your first response
is to make excuses, to justify yourself,
it shows the Spirit of God is not dominating your heart.
The Holy Spirit prompts our conscience to repentance.
But if you internally justify your wrong, you remove the need for repentance.
At that moment, the fire is quenched.
Because the Spirit of God cannot share a heart dominated by sin.
I can just give you a very simple example.
Many of us here come to an event like this
and say, ‘Holy Spirit fire, fall on me!’
But we are still harbouring unforgiveness towards someone.
The Holy Spirit cannot share a heart with unforgiveness.
Because, in the case of offence, it is because someone has done something wrong to you,
it’s easy for you to feel justified in refusing to forgive.
You may feel justified before man, but before God you have no right to hold offence.
Because Jesus died on the Cross and said, ‘Father, forgive them.’
If He did not withhold forgiveness from us,
who are we to withhold forgiveness from someone?
I am just giving you one example of things that can quench the fire of the Holy Spirit.
A heart full of offence.
So, thank you for the question, brother.
Good afternoon. Blessings, church! My name is Gema. I am from Mayabeque.
This is my question.
You have been talking a lot about character, God’s Word and communion with our Father.
How can we know in our lives if we have the calling or gift to manifest the glory of God
to deliver and change lives at the same level we saw you doing among us yesterday?
God’s Word reflects His character.
When it comes to character, there are no shortcuts.
This life is a marathon, not a sprint.
I will quote Prophet T.B. Joshua. He said, “We must value processing more than result.”
Processing builds character.
Rather than focusing on the fire, focus on the oil.
The fire is gift; the oil is character.
So, give more attention to the oil,
which has to do with your relationship with God.
Because it’s not just about getting somewhere or achieving something.
It’s about maintaining it to the end.
The evidence of genuineness is consistency.