Monday, December 20, 2010

HOW TO END THE YEAR RIGHT

 So many people don’t know exactly what to do with the last days of a year. Some people seat back and feel sorry for themselves because of the unaccomplished goals and dreams. Some take inventory on how the year was spent. Others even count their successes during the year. Still some ponder on the events of the year – the good, the bad and the ugly. While some of the listed are quite good, I believe there is more to the last days of the year than these.
Let’s take a look at what Jesus did during the last days of events. All through the Gospel of John, we see Jesus reserve the best for the last. In John 2:1-10, we read about the event (wedding ceremony) Jesus attended. Verses 9 & 10 say “…He [the chairman of the occasion] called the bridegroom over and said, "The best wine is always served first. Then after the guests have had plenty, the other wine is served. But you have kept the best until last! (CEV). Also in John 7:37, we read something amazing that Jesus did on the last day of an important feast (the feast of Tabernacles): On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, "If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! (CEV). Jesus literally ends things up with a shout! Think of the fact that prior to these two events; He was faced with ugly circumstances – issues that tend to question His mission and personality – but He chose to end the events with the shouts of victory! It was a matter of choice – He chose to do so.
Why not do it the Jesus way this time? As the days of this year gradually come to an end, achieve more for the Kingdom, win more souls, do more business, do the best of the best and shout aloud His goodness! Don’t let the devil deceive you. Never let anything steal your shout of victory! Your success is not dependent on what you have or have accomplished but on who you are! The extraordinary was the ordinary life style of Jesus. Listen; if folks could predict your next action or the trend of your life, you are living an ordinary life no matter what you think about it.
Friend, make it different this year. Instead of murmuring, complaining or even feeling sorry for your mistakes in the course of the year, why not shout His praise and thank Him for the up coming year – it’s going to be better than this! Besides, anything is still possible between now and 31st of December. In fact, the Lord gave me a Word along this line few Weeks ago about a special goal I had for the year. He said, “31st of December will not come if that goal is not achieved.” Here am I today with the goal achieved and in grand style. Glory to God! Please don’t waste the last days of your year – celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness in your life! What many don’t know is that what they do with the last days of the old year will determine how the new year will be. It’s a spiritual principle! Be wise!
Much love,

Thursday, December 2, 2010

HOW WISE MEN CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS


It was on the cold morning of Friday 25th December, 2009 when I woke up in a community where I had been awhile for ministry activities. I was new to this community and never knew what Christmas was like or meant to them here. I had woken up that morning as early as when it was still dark only to hear sounds, not of some strange spirits, but of pots, spoons and other kitchen utensils. When I looked through the window, I saw some women with lanterns trying to fix things for the celebration. They’ve been on these same preparations for days and today’s the ‘D day’ and I thought “oh it’s Christmas again”.

 “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:1, 2, 11.

I know a lot of things have been said about the wise men from the east (both positive and negative things) who came to see and worship Jesus at His birth. So many things have been said about who they were and what they represented by virtue of what they did and what they were known for at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem of Judaea many years ago and all of that. They were also known as ‘magi’ or ‘magos’ in the Greek meaning ‘of foreign origin’. In Hebrew it means ‘oriental scientist’ by implication magicians: sorcerers, wise men. But here’s the point: If the Author of the Scriptures – The Holy Spirit – finds it a thing of worth to include their story and pattern of celebration, I think it is also worthwhile for us to examine them closely and learn from them. Their pattern of celebration was not a ‘spiritual gift’ exclusive to them, it was just common sense! People celebrate foolishly because they don’t use common sense. There is no place for purposeless celebration in Christianity. Why waste time and energy?

Searching for the King
The first thing the wise men did was to search for the King. Salvation for the soul is the core of Christmas – knowing the Celebrant personally. They went in searched for the new-born King. Finding the King should be the number one priority at Christmas. This speaks of salvation from sin – knowing Jesus as your Saviour. Matthew 1:21 says “…and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” When we find the King, we find salvation from sin and the oppression of the devil. Finding the King means finding freedom and all that the King offers. Finding the King also means find a new Lord over your life. It means Jesus will become the new Lord of your life. You’re now free from the old lord – the devil – who put you in bondage and fear. This new Lord will now take you by the hand and lead you into the new place of rest, peace and tranquillity. The Lordship of Jesus means salvation for your spirit, soundness for your soul and health and healing for your body. It means wholeness. The old life of sin is past away and the new life of righteousness has taken over. It’s now a life of purpose. Your divine purpose can now be actualized. If you’re already saved, then it’s the time to celebrate your blood-bought salvation.  Are you born again? Have you found the King and Saviour? How can you celebrate who you don’t know?

Worship
The Second thing they did was to worship the King. They didn’t sing some cool songs or hop all over the place. It’s good if we do that anyway. But their worship was based on the conditioning of their hearts. Their hearts were conditioned and ready to do His biddings. Their worship started from believing that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Faith is of the heart not the head. I tell you, they must have believed that Jesus was the Christ of God. Remember they were wise men; they couldn’t have just come to worship a helpless and unknown babe. They had better things to do than that. They knew this was that holy, prophetic babe of Jehovah! Does God have your heart? Who has it?

They presented valuable gifts
The third thing they did was to present valuable gifts to Him. Value means different things to different people. Get a hundred people together and ask them what their definition of value is, you’re sure to get about a hundred different definitions of value. Everybody has his own definition of value based on his uniqueness. To give someone a valuable gift, you must study what’s his or her definition of value – what is valuable to him. From Scripture, we see that the salvation of souls is the most valuable thing to God as long as this earth remains – soul winning! We all have at one time or the other received gifts we didn’t really value, not because of their monetary value but we simply couldn’t just relate to those gifts in any way. Of course we expressed our gratitude for the kind gesture but we didn’t just need the gift. It is just like reading a book that means nothing to you – no one wants to spend his or her time doing that. It is important to understand what value really is to a person before presenting a gift. This season, let Jesus give value to a life through you. Win the lost this season and always! It is a gift of value to the Lord, for that’s why He came. Is what you’ve been giving to the Lord of any value to Him?

With this, Christmas is more than an event. Your life becomes a lifestyle of celebration when these things are practiced not only on Christmas days but every single day of your life on planet earth! Remember that He whose first coming we celebrate, has a second coming but no longer as a baby born in a manger but as the King of kings and Lord of lords. And also remember that He has given us a mandate to take His glorious life-giving Gospel to the ends of the earth (Mark 16:15-20). May He find you doing so when He comes. His last words before He departed the earth are found in Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” So what will you do with this?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

WALK IN THE LIGHT

My personal moment with the Lord today was centred on the first epistle of St. John. I was so inspired by the Words the Holy Spirit brought to my consciousness. To be precise, 1John 1:7-8 was the highlight. It says “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (NKJV). From this portion of Scripture we can observe the following:

1.       If we must walk with God, we must walk in the light.
2.       We can’t claim to be in fellowship with the Lord while we walk on in darkness. Light and darkness never co-exist. There is no darkness in God at all.
3.       Fellowship is not just about going to Church, it actually means being in tune with God every single moment, every single day!
4.       It is not possible to be in the light and in darkness at the same time.
5.       Walking in the light doesn’t mean we are perfect people, there might be moments when we miss it with God. But there’s provision for cleansing by the blood of Jesus as long as we are walking in the light. We’re being perfected daily.
6.       Walking in the light is a progressive thing. We don’t do it one day and have it made. We walk on in the light till the Master comes for us.
7.       Walking in the light simply means walking in the Word of God. It means to be in sync with God. As long as we live a Word-based life, we are walking in the light and are in agreement with the Lord. When we don’t walk in the light of the Word, we are in darkness.
8.       Righteousness is light while sin is darkness – they never agree.

This is just a few of the things the Holy Spirit brought to my consciousness today. Hope you got something from it too. It would greatly help if you choose to study the entire Epistle for yourself – just 5 chapters. You’d get the bigger picture. Walk in the light. Blessings!

Monday, November 1, 2010

GRACE

The Word of God tells us through Paul’s prayer for the Corinthians in 2 Cor. 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (NKJV). It is very vital for us to understand and walk in the realm of grace because in these last days, it takes the grace of God to be sustained and preserved till the coming of Christ. It’s all by grace! Out of the many definitions of the word ‘grace’, I think 3 stand out in actually describing grace by its function. Here they are:

      1.     Grace is unmerited favour.
      2.     Grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
      3.     Grace is the outward working of an inward influence or ability.

By these three definitions, you’d see that the Bible from the Book of Genesis to Revelation is the story of Grace at work on earth. Whatever you want to talk about fits into any of these three definitions of God’s Grace. Grace is the only way out of a life of struggles. Grace is better than struggles. When you live in the realm of grace you have entered into your rest – you’ve ceased from your labours! (Hebrews 4:10). The Christian life is a life of grace – total dependence on God’s ability. Prov. 3:5-7 say “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.” (NKJV). If you’ve been struggling to serve God or make things work, it’s time to rest. It’s time to let go and let God. In Zech.4:6-7, we read “So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts. 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'" ” (NKJV). 2 Cor.12:9 says “And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (NKJV).

The fact that grace has been abused by so many and misunderstood to mean licentiousness, doesn’t wave off its importance and essential relevance to us today “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph.2:8, NKJV). Rom.11:6 says “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace…” No one needs a licence to sin – people have always been sinning without a licence. In fact, there is no licence for sin – you won’t ever get one – what is wrong is eternally wrong and what is right is eternally right. One who has truly experienced grace will never want to live another day in sin. Grace is beauty. Grace is value. Grace is clean. Grace is the only remedy to the sin problem (Romans 5:20b). It’s quite amazing sometimes how we try in our own efforts to sustain something (eternal life) that was given to us as a free gift. We must live in and by grace.

The grace of God has many dimensions. Sometimes we tend to want to put all the dimensions in one bag and then wonder why things seem not to be working for us. 2 Cor.9:8 talks about ALL GRACE. It says: “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” (NKJV). This helps us know that there are many graces in God. There are different kinds of graces e.g. the grace for salvation “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,” (Titus 2:11, NKJV) and Eph.2:8; the grace for Prosperity “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor 8:9, NKJV) etc.

We must receive grace to experience grace. That’s right. All the dimensions of grace have already been given to us by the Lord but they must be consciously received if we must function in them in our day to day living. There is never a place in Scriptures where we are told to ask God to give us grace. No! We are only to receive grace because ALL grace has been given already through the finished work of Christ! “And of His fullness we have all RECEIVED, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:16,17; NKJV). Romans 5:17 says “For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who RECEIVE abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)” (NJKV). Little wonder some Christians’ lives are graceful while others seem to be graceless! Grace must be received for it to be experienced. For instance if you are born again, you have simply received the grace of God that brings salvation (Titus 2:11). Even though Jesus died for all, all are not yet saved! The difference between the saved and the unsaved is the receiving of or not receiving of the grace of God that brings salvation. Same goes for the grace for prosperity, healing, service etc. So it is no more the issue of “Lord, give me grace” but that of “I receive grace for… in Jesus’ Name!”
                                                                     
It is also important for you to know that grace can be multiplied. Grace is multiplied through the knowledge of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Pet.1:2 says “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,” (KJV).  The more we study God’s Word, the more we walk in grace and grow in grace (2 Pet.3:18). The Word of God is the Word of grace. Paul says in Acts 20:32 “"So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (NKJV). So the more of the Word we have in our spirit, the more gracious we become. The more we function in the Word the more we function in grace. The more we take-in the Word the more we grow in grace and are built up. I believe understanding the Fatherhood of God is the basis for living in the realm of grace. I pray that the God of all grace will fill you with more insight so that you can live in the realm of His grace and walk in your predestined places in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

THINK ON THESE THINGS

 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8, NKJV). This is the standard for the thought life of the Believer.

If you know how to worry, then you sure know how to meditate – explains Joyce Meyer

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” (NKJV). Simply put: You are your thought!

“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” Prov.4:23 (NKJV). The forces of life are in your heart.

Our thoughts are the seeds for our words, our words are the seeds for our actions, our actions are the seeds for our character and our character is the seed for our habits and our habits rule our lives.

You cannot stop the birds from flying over your head but you can stop them from perching over your head. Your mind is like an express way in which all manner of cars ply – both good cars and jalopy cars! You choose which car to board! Control your thoughts!

You counter negative thoughts by speaking the Word while it is raging on your mind – never struggle with thoughts – expel wrong thoughts through God’s Word! Thoughts are altered by words naturally. But the Word of God “…is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (NKJV).

Romans 12:2 (NLT) says “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.”

James 1:21 says “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” (NKJV). The salvation of our soul – which consists of the mind (intellect), will and emotion – is a process. The battle is in the mind! The mind is the world of our thought life and as a man thinketh so is he! Think right. Think Gods Word and become the manifestation of God’s Word!

Friday, October 1, 2010

RELEASING POWER IN PRAYER

The Word of God declares in James 5:16 that “…The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” (AMP). The King James Version renders it this way: “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (KJV). Not all prayers are effective. Prayer is fellowshipping the Father. Prayer is a divine communication. Just like not every communication is effective, not all prayers are effective. An effective communication is that which conveys or transfers the actual intended information from the sender to the receiver without any form of distortion or misunderstanding and as a result gets the appropriate feedback. An effective prayer is that prayer that gets God’s attention. We don’t need to impress God with great words when we pray. God never listens for our grammatical constructions but He looks at the heart that is calling out to Him. Remember, He already knew what was in our hearts before we approached Him in prayer.

There are qualities that determines the effectiveness of a prayer. It is not in how loud or low your voice is when you pray. We must listen to God’s Word on this matter if we must really get His attention in prayer. The qualities of an effective prayer are spelt out clearly in James 5:16. It indicates that if your prayer must be result oriented, it must be earnest, heartfelt, continued and you must be sure of your righteous stand with God. In all of these, one thing stands out so prominently – Righteousness. Settle it once and for all, if you are born again you are righteous – you’re the righteous one praying! Every New Creature is righteous (2Cor.5:17,18,21). You don’t work for it. It was automatically imputed to you the very moment you confessed Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. II Cor. 5:21 says “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (NKJV). That is eternally settled in Heaven before the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. You just go ahead and walk in righteousness – live it! Boldness and confidence in prayer stems from our good knowledge and understanding of our righteous stand before the Father. It’s a gift possessed by every New Creature in Christ Jesus (Rom.5:17). Glory to God!

According to James 5:16 (AMP), when we pray this way, we release power! Which power? Power to accomplish what we desire from the Lord. The ‘a’ part of James 5:16 makes it clear that this happens when we intercede for each other. This is how it works. If I start praying for certain people all over the world, maybe for their salvation or healing, I am releasing divine virtue by reason of my connecting to God on their behalf. This power then is transported by assigned angels through the working of the Commander – the Holy Spirit – who bring the answers to the desires of such people for whom I’m interceding. God is never limited by distance. He can work anywhere and at any time because of the prayer of a righteous man – that’s the power of intercession! You’re never wasting your time when you pray in line with the Word. God is more willing to answer your prayer than you are willing to pray. If believers know the power they have on their knees, we would change our approach on how we solve the problems of life. Prayer will then become our first response instead of our last resort. There is really no powerful prayer; we only have Word-based prayer that a powerful God is eager to and answers!

Actually, it is the influence of the Holy Spirit that makes prayer a living thing. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Power! One of His ministries to the Saint is to help make our prayer life very effective. Romans 8:26-28 tell us how: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (NKJV). In prayer, it is our dependence on the Holy Spirit to guide us that makes our prayer life effective. The Holy Spirit makes prayer creative. Never start your prayer time without asking Him to help you pray aright – it would make all the difference! Many people are praying everyday but only few are actually getting results. As long as you prayed to the Father in the Name of Jesus, in faith – not wavering and it is in line with the Word as inspired by the Holy Spirit, never question whether or not the prayer would be answered – you just go ahead thanking the Lord for it until the answers manifests (John 16:23; James 1:6-8; John15:7; Philip. 4:6).

Now we know prayerlessness is a luxury! We can’t afford not to pray. I use to think that prayerlessness was just not having the desire to pray but I once listened to a teaching by Pastor Benny Hinn where he showed from the Scriptures that prayerlessness was a sin. Later on in life, I started realising that prayerlessness was a function of pride even though it was not seen like that by the one who is not praying. In the realm of the spirit, our actions make statements. When we don’t pray, we are simply telling the Lord “I can handle this. You don’t need to come into this matter. I have all it takes to get the job done”. This is really a dangerous place to be. I know this by experience. When you don’t pray, you only accomplish what the natural man can accomplish – nothing extraordinary about your life! You only get to the extent to which sense knowledge can get. I like to declare like the Psalmist: “As for me, I will call upon God, And the LORD shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.” (Psalm 55:16,17 NKJV). Many people want to walk in the Anointing but only very few are willing to spend quality time in the place of prayer. For your life to have power, you must pray! Prayer puts you in sync with the Father God. It produces in you an unusual keenness or sensitivity to the Holy Spirit which enables you to co-operate with the Spirit as he uses you to accomplish the Father’s will. This was the secret of the power-exuding life of Jesus. He understood fellowship with the Father. He spent time with Him.

When we pray in line with God’s Word, we are certain that our prayers are heard. 1 John 5:14,15 say “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (NKJV). Never question your prayer another day! There is power on your knees. Just start making the power connection right away and let it flow!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

PEOPLE NEED JESUS


There has never been a time when people are so desperately in need of Jesus than now – this very moment. If you are quite sensitive to the Holy Spirit you cannot ignore the burden you feel for the lost when you come across them. They sometimes try to put up a front as though to tell you all is well or that they are ok with their lives. They try to make you believe that their money, fame and status in the society are good coverings for them. But their very eyes betray them. When you look into their eyes you see hearts crying out “if there is a God somewhere can He please come to my rescue – I feel so terrible!” What the world really need now is not an invitation to Church. Just make a little unprofessional research and see for yourself. It would amaze you how many ‘twice lost men’ are in our Churches today and still feel that they are dying inside – they are in Church but still Christless. No one has offered them the genuine Gospel of the Kingdom of God. What are we really doing?

I think of certain communities close to us, who have never heard the Name ‘JESUS’, and I ask what shall become their fate on the last day. What shall become of their eternities? I believe that God would ask you and me about certain people whom He had allowed to come our way so that they can have the fair opportunity to hear the Gospel, whom we have ignored or allowed other trivial matters to be the bases of our relationship with them. Saint, men need Jesus – they are gasping for the life that He alone gives. Will you take Jesus to someone? Will you preach the Gospel today? Please do, for the time is short!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

WORD IMPARTATION

The things of God are not just taught, they are caught if at all there must be any result. The art of impartation is what separates the teacher of the Word from the classroom teacher. Physical things are taught but spiritual things are imparted. Impartation always precedes impact. Until there is an impartation of the Word, impact or result is not guaranteed. What in the world is impartation? Impartation is the art of catching the spirit of the Word in a given atmosphere. Now note that I didn’t say it is the act but art. It is an art; it is something we can learn. So many folks think spiritual things just happen of themselves without our involvement but if that were to be the case then the blessings of God would have been manifesting itself in the life of every saint automatically or all sinners would have received eternal life automatically. But you know as much as I do that even though Jesus died for the whole world, millions are still unsaved, so many even die and go to hell. Even though Jesus bore our sicknesses, griefs, pains, poverty etc so many are still living under these yokes. Why is that so? Because we are responsible for what we get in this life. Now, it’s very important that we understand this. Philippians 2:12 says for us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” (NKJV). You work it out!

The difference between the one who just had the Word and the one who was imparted is that the one who heard the Word was just taught and realized that he now knows better but the one who was imparted caught the spirit of the Word and that Word he received will explode within him, thereby producing deeper revelations and manifold dimensions of that Word. Words that are imparted resound in the spirit of the imparted just like the Psalmist says: “God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.” (Psalm 62:11. NKJV). Impartation is a great experience; it unveils the richness of the Word of God that has been received. Word impartation takes place in two ways; firstly, when you ask the Holy Spirit to be your Teacher during your personal study of the Word (meditating on the Word is a vital part of the study) and when your are listening to an anointed or a Holy Spirit inspired minister of the Word who is actually speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit. It really matters who teaches you the Word of God and that is why you must take out time to pray for your Pastor or Bible teacher – it’s for your own good.

Prophet Ezekiel tells us: “Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me.” (NKJV). I feel very hot in my spirit as I read this because I experience this often. When you receive the impartation of a Word from the Lord, it burns in your heart as wild fire! Despite how important this is, little or nothing is taught about this divine principle in our Churches. No wonder, the Pastor keeps repeating the same thing over and over again but his congregation would never subscribe for change. They only receive the Word as information just like a student in a classroom considers what he or she is been taught. Impartation is so deep because it brings transformation. It is always as a result of a hungry heart feasting on the Word voraciously. God will always go to any length to fill a hungry heart. It is very easy to feed a hungry man! The book of Acts describes a situation where the hungry hearts of few Gentiles got the Holy Ghost to unconventionally fall on them. Their spiritual hunger was a heavy pull! It says, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.” (NKJV). No wonder Psalm 42:7 says, “Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me.” (NKJV). The reason why spiritual hunger produces impartation is because only a hungry man has a vacuum that can be filled. A minister says that God never sends anyone empty except those who are full of themselves. A man full of himself or other irrelevant things can take little or nothing from the Lord. This is very important. God easily work with hungry people! Acts 14:8-10 also shows us that when we receive Word impartation, our miracles are guaranteed because faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God! (Romans 10:17).

We use to wonder how the Prophets of old could deliver so long a prophetic message from the Lord to the people. We ask “did they memorize these Divine Words?” Thank God now we know they didn’t. They received the impartation of those prophetic Words which inspired them to speak as the very oracles of the Lord. As ministers of Christ, we must be very careful about sharing Words that have not been first imparted into our spirits because we cannot impart what has not first been imparted into us. Impartation produces doers of the Word because Words that are imparted propel action! Words that are imparted are hardly forgotten, they spring up at the exact moment when they are most needed for action. It is also important for you to note that since the devil has and will always been known for plagiarizing, taking what is of God, perverting and using it to enhance his kingdom in the hearts of men, he also uses impartation in that same manner and that is why we must be careful about what we expose ourselves to. When we expose ourselves to the devil’s stuff, he also brings those evils ideas to us as options when we are in moments of decision to confuse us and misdirect our walk with the Lord. We must not let him do this.

Just like the Anointing of the Holy Spirit is not taught but caught (imparted), that is how the Word of God is imparted to the hungry heart. As I write these words, I’m praying to the Lord to stir up a deeper hunger in your heart for a new Word experience. I desire that greatly too as much as you do. The Word of God has the ability to make us what it talks about. When a man that is nervous receives the impartation of the Word, he suddenly becomes bold and courageous. When an anxious person receives the impartation of the Word, suddenly his troubles become so minute that they seem too insignificant. I submit to you that in there last days, the impartation of every Word from the Lord is not an option but an ultimatum. How we need every Word from the Lord in our spirit, soul and body – everything!

A PRAYER FOR YOU: Father in the Name of Jesus, thank you for unveiling these precious Words to us. I ask that you stir upon the heart of everyone who has read this piece a new hunger for the fullness of Your Word. We need a new experience with Your Word and we receive this with thanksgiving. Amen.

Monday, August 16, 2010

THE JOY OF A SOUL WINNER


There is a joy that accompanies soul winning. It just happens whenever a soul winner is privileged to lead a soul to Christ. I personally believe that since the hosts of heaven rejoice over the salvation of a soul, God allows the soul winner himself to partake of that great joy! The joy comes from the fact that a soul has been saved and even in the case where the soul winner does not get a positive response from the soul being ministered to, the fact that he is been obedient to the heavenly vision brings joy to his heart because he knows that the Father is pleased! We shall experience the climax of this when we stand before the Lord Jesus Christ on that glorious day!

For me, one of the things that gets me so greatly excited about soul winning is that, when we step out to reach the lost, we are most conscious of our partnership with the Lord. 2 Cor. 6:1 says “We then, as workers together with Him…” (NKJV). You want to get into a deeper experience with the Lord? Then be an active soul winner. There are many things a faithful soul winner never bother praying about, but the Lord ensures them because he is obedient to the heavenly vision – the very heartbeat of the Father God! No wonder Proverbs 11:30 says “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.” (NKJV). Permit me to say that by implication, he who doesn’t win souls is foolish! Just choose where to belong. I have chosen to be wise!

Monday, August 2, 2010

OUR NO.1 JOB

The Believers’ No.1 job is Soul winning or evangelism as we call it. Why is it the No.1 job? You might be asking. It is the No.1 job simply because it is the very heart of the Father that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. If you look into the heart of the Father, you’d see that the greatest desire He has is to have lost humanity come to conformity to Christ by appropriating the finished work of redemption to themselves. Think of the fact that the Father gave His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ) – the greatest and most painful sacrifice – to save a death-domed world who deserves judgement, but despite that, men ignore, reject or still die without Christ only to spend eternity with the devil in hell in eternal torment and doom known as the second death or eternal death. The price of a thing tells of its true value. If God would give His all for the salvation of the world, then it tells us absolutely that God’s No.1 priority is the Salvation of the lost. I Timothy 2:3,4 say “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (NKJV).

For an instruction to be properly and correctly carried out, it is important that the instruction is well understood. Many people have explained Jesus’ Great Commission to the Church in their own way, but there is a Bible definition of this Divine edict. Let’s look it up for ourselves. Matthew 28:18,19 say “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.” (NKJV). Mark 16:15-18; “And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." (NKJV). Acts 1:8; “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (NKJV). I believe it is clear enough.

In Summary, we see that the Great Commission is not to be carried out in the four walls of the Church structure but outside where the sinners really are! The word ‘Go’ is a command, not a suggestion and is clear enough for even a layman to comprehend. God doesn’t speak uncertainties or leave people in the dark when He speaks – He speaks in absolutes. It is as a result of people trying to bend the rules that they come up with all manner of non-existing contradictions about an instruction. The word is ‘Go!’ Another thing we must observe is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of power and was meant to be preached in the power of the Holy Spirit – not according to man’s wisdom. God never gave the Church a powerless Gospel to preach. Romans 1:16,17 tell us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ itself is – not has – the power of God unto salvation. The great commission entails being a witness – not just a preacher! You become a proof producer of the living Jesus. The Holy Spirit partners with the Saints in winning the lost. Evangelism in the power of the Holy Spirit works anytime, anywhere – even in the most hostile environment. Let’s not accept anything less! Many fail in evangelism because they do it in their own strength! It is entirely a spiritual thing. It takes the power of God to make contact with a person’s spirit when ministering the Word to him. It takes power to heal the sick, cast out devils, preach the Word with boldness and clarity! Acts 10:38 says “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” (NKJV). That is the key. For this to be possible, the Holy Spirit must be involved in every aspect of the preparation and performance.

Thirdly, full circle evangelism is exactly what God wants the Church to do. What is full circle evangelism? Full circle evangelism is the act of both preaching the Gospel to a soul, discipling him to the point where he can win another soul, then sending him out to preach the Gospel until he can do the same for another soul and the salvation chain continues till every soul hears the Gospel and have the fair opportunity to make a choice to determine his eternal destiny (Matthew 24:14). Full-circle evangelism is how it works! Jesus’ disciples made disciples who went about making disciples for Jesus. This is spiritual impact multiplication because whoever you impact and disciple to disciple others will keep adding profit to you and even when you die physically, your salvation tree will still be blossoming like Paul’s! This is great kingdom deal Saint! Many people stop at just winning a soul and never care about the spiritual welfare of the soul after that moment of salvation. Some preach to a soul, disciple that soul and stop there, not equipping them to go out (many Churches are guilty of this, they just want membership) or sending the souls out to win and equip another soul. Soul winning is God’s heart beat and should be ours if we are really mature sons who care about the advancement of the Kingdom of our Father God and who care enough for what the Father is so passionate about.

We must not ignore the urgency of this task. Unsaved souls die in their hundreds of thousands everyday with a huge percentage not having heard of Jesus Christ. This should drive us not only to the place of intercession but also to the place of action where we step out with a godly passion for the lost to preach the Gospel to whoever will listen! We as Believers in Jesus, as possessors of the Holy Ghost are Jesus’ voice of eternal life calling out to the spiritually dead to receive eternal life. We are Jesus’ feet going to the nations. We are Jesus’ hands healing the sick, giving to the needy and reaching out to the oppressed. As soon as anyone gets saved, he becomes responsible for the salvation of others. You don’t have to qualify for soul winning. Soul winning is one job you learn on the trade, as you go the Holy Spirit will teach you how to reach different people differently – He’s the Strategist! This is the right time to act. God is seeking men and women who would go out of their way to reach a soul, people who would lay down their selfish ambitions and pursue His vision for the world, people who would make His passion their passion. Are you the one? Let God find you today. It pays! Blessings!

Friday, July 16, 2010

THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD

While I was studying Ephesians 6 the other day, the Holy Spirit made a very strong emphasis on the word ‘whole’. Ephesians 6:11 says “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (NKJV). Observe the word ‘whole’. The Holy Spirit made it clear that for us to win the fight of faith, none of the armours must be missing – they are all important! It is either we have all, use them and win or we lack one and lose. God gave the Believer the whole armour to live protected in this evil world where we are pilgrims accomplishing His purpose for our lives. The only part of the Believer not covered is the back part which simply implies that the devil was never meant to see our backs – no retreat, no surrender and no backing out! It is a matter of fight or die! You must face him strongly with faith in Jesus Christ and He’s Words, thereby enforcing the victory of Christ on the defeated foe.
Remember that we are not fighting to be victorious. No! We are more than conquerors already even before the fight (Rom. 8:39). We are fighting from the stand point of victory to enforce the victory of Christ on the enemy – the devil – in every areas of our lives. So it means if we are not well armed, we become vulnerable. Even though we are already victorious in Christ, the devil would still take advantage of our unprotected areas to afflict us. You can be sure that the devil is always watching out for our unprotected areas. So we must ensure that we are always fully armed. See, because the Bible says that by Jesus’ stripes you were healed does not mean that the devil wouldn’t try to force sickness on you. You must personally and consciously take God’s Word and stand on it for yourself in spite of the opposing circumstances – that’s the fight of faith! Refuse to back out! Refuse to bow! We win in the Name of the Lord!