Saturday, January 16, 2010

GOD’S REDEMPTIVE NAMES


In the Old Covenant, God revealed Himself to His covenant people through Seven Names which showed what was to be the content of the Redemptive work. They are as follows:

1. Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord my Righteousness
“In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jeremiah 23:6, NKJV).

2. Jehovah Shammah – The Lord is present with me
"All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits; and the name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE." (Ezekiel 48:35, NKJV).

3. Jehovah Raah (or Rohi) – The Lord my Shepherd
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1, NKJV).

4. Jehovah Rapha – The Lord my Healer
“and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you." (Exodus 15:26, NKJV).

5. Jehovah Jireh – The Lord my Source or Provider
“And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided." (Genesis 22:14, NKJV).

6. Jehovah Shallom – The Lord my Peace
“So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is -Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.” (Judges 6:20-24, NKJV).

7. Jehovah Nissi – The Lord my Banner (Victory)
“But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.” (Exodus 17:15, NKJV).

He revealed Himself in parts then but today we have His complete revelation in Jesus Christ. If you are born again, these blessings belong to you In Christ. When any child of God awakens to the realities of these Names, he suddenly finds Himself walking in God’s fullness – His Best!

Friday, January 1, 2010

MAKE ROOM FOR THE HOLY GHOST


HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU! I pray the blessings of newness be yours this season and all through the year in Jesus’ Name. Amen. This is a great year full of possibilities and I believer what I have strongly sensed in my spirit for a while now that we shall know and experience more of the manifestations of the extraordinary and supernatural life from this year onward and it would continue to increase because the Holy Spirit is up to something really big. Please don’t be left out of this. But you must get ready for it. It all starts with knowing the Person of the Holy Spirit and learning to fellowship and yield to Him daily. While Jesus was on earth He so much depended on the Holy Spirit. Knowing how impossible it was to honour the Lord on this defiled earth without the Holy Spirit, He promised to send Him (the Holy Spirit) to everyone who accepts Him (Jesus) as Lord and Saviour. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to Believers in Him when He was about going to the cross. He said these precious Words: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:16-18. NKJV).

The Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who has the Holy Spirit living inside of him is in a place of advantage. He is not perturbed by the happenings around him because he has a Helper living within him Who tells him what to do always (John 14:17,26; 1 John 4:4). He has an edge in life. But then, what happens when a Believer would not yield to the leading of the Helper or simply ignores Him in his daily pursuits? Very simple! He struggles and labours like every other unsaved, sense-ruled person. All through the Epistles, I can only see two instances where the Saint is asked to labour. Firstly, the Saint is to labour to enter into God’s rest (Hebrews 4:10,11) and this means labouring to get the knowledge of the Word of faith – labouring in the Word. In other words, this speaks of feeding on the Word of God so much that it becomes part of you to the point that you are the walking Word of God. At this stage you have entered in your rest. It’s your seventh day – you cease from your struggles and labours. Secondly, our labour of love is our eternal investment (Hebrews 6:10). This involves everything we go through for Love’s sake; everything we do to please the Lord or to make the lives of people better than we met them. The labour of love is the Greatest Commandment Jesus gave and it summarizes all other laws ever given including the 10 commandments (Matthew 22:37-40, John 13:34,35). Well, these are very good reasons to labour, or what do you think?

A large number of Saints live their lives void of the influence of the Holy Spirit. Many don’t even know that the Holy Spirit has a ministry in their lives and they keep searching elsewhere for directions and wondering why things aren’t functioning fine. We must come to understand that there is a way out of every trouble but until we listen to the Voice of the One Who knows all things we keep getting stock in life. The Holy Spirit wants to be a part of your daily life and He wouldn’t force Himself on any one. You must make the choice to invite Him to be in charge of your entire life. We can avoid some silly mistakes in life by simply listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Instead of always looking for how to get out of trouble, we can avoid getting into trouble by learning to just listen to the Holy Spirit. Some mistakes can cost us our very lives, so we must avoid them. Jesus said: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (John 14:26; 16:13, NKJV).

Perhaps, you’ve been struggling alone in all your pursuits; profession, ministry, business, finances, job, relationship etc. it’s time to make room for the Holy Spirit – your Helper – to set things in order. As you listen to His voice, He would give you counsel that can never fail. People who always make consultations with the Holy Spirit before carrying out actions never lose. The only time they lose is when they forget to involve Him. Never be too much in a haste that you forget your Helper and Counsellor, your efforts become futile. How the Holy Spirit longs to help us daily. Proverbs 3:5-7 says it all: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” Also Eccl.10:15 says: “The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.” Start practicing consultations with the Holy Spirit today. He wants to direct your paths. You can never lose with the Holy Ghost! It is time to turn it all over to the Him, let Him lead you into God’s purpose for your life and in the achievement of your dreams and goals from today onward.

David C. Okoye