Tuesday, July 19, 2011

THE WONDERFUL LIFE


The Word of God clearly tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” This is simply amazing. It appears as though the Church is yet to fully comprehend this passage of Scripture. We seem not to be living in the fullness of it. Understand this Saint, the life we have in Christ is not an ordinary life. No! It’s not. The above Scripture tells us that we became new beings – and of course with a new life – when we got born again. If this is true – and of course it is – what kind of life did we receive at the new birth? What kind of life was imparted into our spirit then? See, it is so important we catch this Saint, because the quality of life we live as believers will be in proportion to the revelation of God’s Word we’ve received into our spirit!

By virtue of our new birth in Christ, we received the very life of God. Can you handle this? At the new birth, God imparted to our spirit the very life He possesses. In the Greek, this life is called ‘zoe’ meaning The God-kind of life. Another meaning for this term is eternal life. Understand that this doesn’t just have to do with longetivity of life. This actually refers to the quality of life that God has. The amazing thing about this kind of life is that it changes the nature of the man who has received it entirely. When we received that life, we received the full package of God into our spirit. This zoe-life of God contains the righteousness of God which we receive and then become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We can simply call the zoe-life of God ‘the divine package’ because it has all the benefits of salvation contained in it – all in one. This is God’s biggest and best offer ever! Glory to God! So the child of God is a possessor of the fullness of God. That is why we’re told in Colossians 2:10 “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:” The new creature lacks nothing! We’re complete in Christ even though we are still growing into that fullness, but we are already what God has made us to be!

The zoe-life is not an ordinary life. It’s a higher life! It’s the Supernatural life. It’s the extraordinary life. It’s the unusual life. Romans 5:17 tells us that we reign in the realm of this life through Jesus Christ! In this realm of life ignorance cannot survive because Christ has become our wisdom. We don’t learn wisdom, it is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit (Of course, you know there’s another kind of wisdom which belongs to the world – not of God). Wisdom is a spirit! It is one of the seven spirits of God as revealed in Isaiah 11:1-2 [Also see Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5]. The Seven spirits of God are actually the full [seven-fold] operation or manifestation of the Holy Spirit (There are no seven other spirits. It is actually the same Holy Spirit operating or manifesting in seven dimensions which display the fullness of God. If you have the Holy Spirit you have them but you must consciously yield to the Holy Spirit in these areas to manifest them).

The zoe-life is a journey in grace. It’s a life that moves by the wind of the Holy Spirit. It is a life that is anchored on and operates by the Word. It is also called the wonderful life! When you have this life you walk in love naturally, you simply become a wonder to the world. This is why Jesus came. He came to give us the wonderful life – the same quality of life He has. He said in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” NIV renders the phrase ‘more abundantly’ as ‘in its fullness’ which fully expresses what Jesus meant. This God-kind of life is governed by love – the agape-love of God! I’m so passionate about this subject because this is what I’ve been divinely ordained to share all over the world – to tell the world about the wonderful life in Christ! To receive this life, YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Life Digest - Volume 11

Download the 11th Edition of Life Digest. It is simply inspiring, enriching and uplifting I promise you. Read inspiring articles from Evangelist Bonnke, Dr. E.W Kenyon, Evangelist Daniel Kolenda and lots more! Just Click this link to download: http://www.lifecommissionministry.org/WebPDF/ld11.pdf you can also

copy the link to your browser.

Monday, July 4, 2011

REPORT FROM CATCH THE FLAME CONFERENCE, NIGER STATE.








It is simply just the beginning of something big. Though starting in a little way, it was just an inspiration or a spark up of the continual flow of the Holy Flame from the Lord upon His people all over the world. Tagged “Catch The Flame” Conference, the event is a divine initiative from the Lord to David on 9th December, 2009. The Lord inspired Him to start holding believers’ conferences alongside the ministry crusades he holds with the team. The event is designed to stir up the hearts of the believers towards flowing with the Holy Spirit in the area of evangelism, thereby spreading the influence of the Holy Spirit. “Catch The Flame” Conference, Niger State, Nigeria held on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th of June 2011 was the first step of faith towards carrying out this divine mandate. It is was a 2-Day, 3 sessions event. As it is well known, Life Commission Ministry exists strictly for the purpose of winning the lost and inspiring the saints to do the same. The conference is in line with the vision of the ministry.

On Friday 24th, the first day of the conference, David spoke on the outpouring of the Spirit. According to him, the Holy Spirit instructed him to build an altar of salvation on the first night of the event which he did. He explained the urgent need for men to get saved all over the world and that the Holy Spirit wants to set men aflame to enable them go everywhere and preach the Gospel with power and fervour. Journeying through 1Kings 16 through 18, he explained how the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal relates to the present world situation and the need for more men like Elijah who would challenge the status quo.

On Saturday 25th, during the Ministers and Church Workers’ conference, David taught on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, explaining why they seem not to be in operation in many Churches today and how we can get them to start operation in our Churches again. It was a moment of insight and revelation as this resulted into a moment of passionate prayer. In the evening, the people came with real expectations to receive the fire of God in their lives. David briefly shared on what he titled: The Supernatural Labourers. Reading from Matthew 9:35-37, he emphasized that God is not looking for just teachers of the Word or just preachers of the Word or just healing ministers. But in order to get the job done properly, God is looking for labourers after the kind of Jesus – Supernatural labourers – who would teach, preach and heal – all three! He challenged the people that all God is looking for is available vessels who would be willing to go and do whatever God wants done. With this he led the people into receiving the Holy Ghost and fire. The fire of God simply fell on the people as they prayed and cried out to the Lord.

Though it was a believers’ conference, we had 14 people make a commitment to Jesus as Saviour and Lord of their lives for the 2 nights. Hallelujah! The Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the area requested that we returned to repeat the event on a larger scale. We know that the impact of this event will remain in Niger State, Nigeria. The event was immediately followed by Strategic Evangelism Training (SET), a one week training done by the ministry to teach people the basics of soul winning.

ACCORDING TO PATTERN


God has a pattern – a blueprint – for whatever He does. It is our responsibility to enquire of Him the pattern for whatever He asks us to do. This then means that God is not just concerned about getting a task done but also about how the task is accomplished. This is worth considering if you desire to walk with God successfully. Is your life presently according to God’s pattern or first, have you discovered God’s pattern for your life? The reason there seems to be so much confusion and disorder in the body of Christ today is that men and women no longer seek to follow God’s pattern in accomplishing His purposes for their lives. This is unfortunate. It is important we understand that success in any divine task is not determined by how gigantic or glamorous it is but in how much of it fits into God’s pattern. God’s Pattern is His standard.

In giving Moses the blueprint for the construction of the Tabernacle of Witness, the Lord instructed him thus, “And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” (Exodus 25:40, NKJV). God told Moses to see to it that he built the tabernacle according to specifications. It seems to me that God cares about the very details of our lives. You know, some times we are tempted to think that the Lord only cares about the ‘spiritual things’ of our lives. But it is so clear that if by virtue of the New Birth we now belong to the Lord, then it means that He has total possession of us and if He has total possession of us, it then means that He has a pattern on how our lives should be run – physically, spiritually, mentally, financially, academically, socially etc. God is not careless about His property! 1 Corinthians 6:20 says “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” (NKJV). Think on this for a moment.

Are you building according God’s pattern – God’s standard? One thing is certain, just like a man can reject a building if the builders refuse to build according to his desired plan, pattern or specifications, so also God will reject every building, thing or life that doesn’t correspond with His pattern. God will not accept anything less. He would not be satisfied with sub-standards. 1 Corinthians 3:11 tells us that “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (NKJV). Jesus is our pattern for life. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world not just for the salvation of souls but also as a pattern-Son for all other sons of He’s who would be produced by virtue of the finished work of Christ. No wonder Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, tells us in Romans 8:29 that “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (NKJV). This clearly tells us that God wants us to pattern our lives after His Son, Jesus Christ – not any man! Many people make men their pattern and when those men fall, they also fall. God doesn’t want us to go about making men our pattern. Men are limited and fallible. He wants Jesus alone to be our pattern – our focus! Who are you patterning your life after?

When we start building our lives according to God’s pattern, we’d suddenly discover that there is no need or grounds for competition. Success in life is all about doing the will of God for our lives and being satisfied with it. Please, get this straight: Jesus is God’s pattern for our lives. Also the Word of God is God’s pattern for our lives. But then there is God’s specific pattern for our lives which we can only uncover by revelation or divine encounter. This is very important because, in as much as we are all meant to live according to the Word of God and to look to Jesus as our supreme pattern for life, God has called us to different areas of service which we must particularly ask Him to reveal to us. God has shaped us for a particular assignment. He has designed us to fit into His specific purposes for our lives and until we discover it, we can’t properly build according to His pattern. Hence, the need for prayer!

Just as God said to Moses, “And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” (Exodus 25:40, NKJV), we must understand that the pattern for our lives can only be revealed to us on the mountain. So does it mean that we must go to a mountain to get the pattern for our lives? No! The word ‘mountain’ is a symbol of prayer. It is also a symbol of divine encounter. That is to say that we get the blue print for our lives by enquiring of the Lord in the place of prayer. We get it by revelation. We don’t figure it out with our heads. You see, when we stand before the Lord on that day of judgement, Jesus will only be concerned about what God designed us to do and not just anything. We must all give account to Jesus of our stewardship with regards to what God wanted us to do. So we can see that it is a very serious matter and we must do whatever it takes to get the proper design or pattern for our lives. It is worth spending time in the place of prayer to know and understand God’s pattern for our lives.

The role of the Holy Spirit in helping us know, understand and build according to God’s pattern cannot be over emphasized. We must depend on the Holy Spirit to be sure that we are building according to God’s pattern. It is not enough to know God’s pattern for our lives. It is also important that we walk with the Holy Spirit to ensure that we build daily – everyday! – according to that pattern. That means the Holy Spirit helps us maintain a life that follows God’s pattern consistently. He helps us stay with it. As long as we depend on the Holy Spirit, we can’t get it wrong. God sent the Holy Spirit to us, the saints, to help us know His mind. 1 Corinthians 2: 9-10 says “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” (NKJV). God always reveals His mind to us through the Holy Spirit. That means if you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you are limited in life and there is no way you can know, understand and build according to God’s pattern. The Holy Spirit has come to help us build according to God’s pattern. Jesus, in John 16:13 said “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.” (NKJV). So if you’re born again and don’t have the Holy Spirit, invite Him into your life by a simple prayer to the Father in the Name of Jesus, asking Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit and He will! Don’t live another day without the Holy Spirit. Let Him help you build according to God’s pattern!