Thursday, May 31, 2012

CONTAINERS OF HIS GLORY

The day the Believer in Christ actually understands what it really means to be a New Creation in Christ Jesus; he will automatically stop seeing him/herself as ordinary, natural or normal. We are not ordinary people. There is Some One inside us that makes us extraordinary, supernatural and abnormal. This is reality friends. 2 Corinthians 4:7 says “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (NKJV). Glory to God! Did you see that? It says we carry in us the excellence of the power of God. I pray, in the Name of Jesus Christ, that the Lord will grant us a special revelation through His Spirit on this matter. It will change us. What a privilege it is to be conveyors of God’s holy presence. What a privilege to be reflectors of the Person of God. Wow! How staggering it is to even imagine it! Acts 10:38 is one Scripture that has so inspired me personally. Whenever I read it I feel the stirring of the Holy Ghost in my spirit. It 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). The Lord Jesus Christ was a pattern for us. Today, we, the New Creations, carry and convey His glorious and mighty presence. The Lord Jesus is no longer on earth, He is seated at the right hand of the Father. Now the same Holy Spirit by which He was anointed to manifest the glory of the Father is living inside of us for the same purpose. Hebrews 1:1-3 says “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (NKJV). Today God wants us to be the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person – that’s the purpose of the Holy Spirit in our lives and not just for goose bumps! The Word of God also tells us something amazing in Acts 19:11,12. It says “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.” (NKJV). This is amazing. What do you think would happen if every Believer in Jesus Christ chooses to step out and walk in the authority and consciousness of the New Creation that we are in Christ Jesus? Be sure that God didn’t work through Paul in this manner because he was more righteous and holy than the other Apostles. This happened because Paul walked in the consciousness of what he truly was in Christ. He walked in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit living inside him. This is available today to you and me. If we dare to step out in simple faith, God will honour His Words on our lips and through our mortal bodies. 1 John 4:4 tells us something so staggering. It says “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (NKJV). Glory to God forevermore! I was so overwhelmed the day I saw by revelation that The Holy Spirit has no physical body and that we, the New Creations, are His body. The Holy Spirit can only operate on earth through Believers in Jesus Christ. He can’t carryout His Ministry to the world without the New Creations. Think about that for a moment! Wherever we go the Holy Spirit goes in actual substantial manifestation. The Holy Spirit is Omnipresence but He doesn’t manifest His presence everywhere except in places where He is welcomed. He is always eager to manifest Himself through us every single moment. Saints, let Him do so through you! We ought to carry this active presence about, glorifying Jesus everywhere! You see, spirit beings cannot manifest fully on earth without a physical body. God created the earth to be inhabited by spirits with physical bodies – men. Spirit beings don’t have full operation on earth without a physical body. So the Holy Spirit operates fully through Believers who yield themselves to His person, influence and leading. The Holy Spirit never forces Himself on anyone. Devils use men too to carryout his threefold ministry – steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10a) and he will do anything to possess any human being who opens the door or yields to him. When he can’t find a human being, he possesses animals. The good news is that Jesus Christ carries out His Supreme ministry on earth through us – the saints – the ministry of imparting eternal life to men (John 10:10b). The Great Commission means to spread the divine influence everywhere from our Jerusalem to the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8 says “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). We unlock this power by getting involved with the Great Commission – that’s the purpose of Pentecost! God wants all men saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1Timothy 2:4). This is how it works. Also, Romans 12:1 tells us what to do to activate this power in us. It says “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (NKJV). Jesus did the same. We see that in Hebrews 10:5-7 “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come--In the volume of the book it is written of Me--To do Your will, O God.'"” (NKJV). It’s a total abandonment to the will of God – spirit, soul and body – that that releases the glory in us!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

LIFE OR RELIGION?

Jesus didn’t come to give the world another religion. In fact the world was already chocking of religion when Jesus came. Jesus brought Abundant, Eternal Life to man. That’s Christianity – the life of God to the max in a man! The world has religion, the Christian has eternal life. So what have you got? A life or a religion? The word ‘religion’ is quite relative. It all depends on the usage and what it seeks to communicate. From Scriptures we actually see that there are two kinds of religion – the negative and the positive. The negative kind of religion is that which tries to connect with God through acts and deeds, not taking advantage of what has already been accomplished in Christ for them. This is the reason a lot of folks would go to hell. Salvation is just about taking what God has accomplished in Christ and personalizing it. It’s a vital decision we mu
st make in this life before we die or before the rapture if not we end up in the lake of fire. Romans 10:9,10,13 is the basis for this salvation. It says “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” A lot of people who go to Church would still go to hell for eternity because they ignored God’s pattern of righteousness and set up their own standard for connecting with God. This is actually the current problem of the Jewish race (Romans 10:1-13). This is so unfortunate! Jesus called those who practice this kind of religion thieves in John 10:1. He says “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” This is terrible! It is important we understand that we are not made righteous because of what we deed or didn’t do but because of what God did for us through Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21). In 1 Corinthians 3:11, we read “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (NKJV). The Word of God is so clear about this matter. The positive kind of religion has to do with consistency in doing the right things according to God’s Word. For instance studying your Bible, praying, walking in love etc everyday must be carried out religiously. In this case, it is an attitude not just an act. The Christianity of the Bible is not a religion at all. However, the positive kind of religion is a vital part of Bible Christianity. It is not the whole but a part of Christianity. Christianity is the life and nature of God expressed on earth through mortal men. This must be properly understood. James 1:26,27 tells us “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (NKJV). This is true religion. Blessings!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

HONOUR

The Lord has been dealing with me on the subject of honour for a couple of Months now. Ever since, I have seen the word honour in a different light. I have made a lot of discoveries from what He has been saying to me and I feel compelled to share some thoughts with you along this line. The word ‘honour’ means to treat someone with special respect. It means to regard someone highly. It also means to hold someone in high esteem. It’s is an attitude of the heart that is eventually displayed outwardly through our actions. True honour starts from the heart and is displayed outwardly through our actions. Honour is more displayed than spoken – you don’t just say you honour someone, you show it! Please read soberly and prayerfully because this could be the missing link in your life. In Malachi 1:6 the Lord Himself said this: “A son honoureth [his] father, and a servant his master: if then I [be] a father, where [is] mine honour? and if I [be] a master, where [is] my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests [people], that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?” This is coming straight from the heart of the Almighty God Himself. The first thing I want you to note here is that the Lord cares about how you treat Him. Yes, He does! A lot of times we are so quick to say “Lord, I honour you”, but in reality we despise Him. Jesus rightly said to the Jews, quoting from the Prophet Isaiah the very words God spoke to the Israelites through Isaiah: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from me.” (Matthew 15:8). Honour cannot be hidden. It starts from the heart and is displayed outwardly through our actions. We can’t claim to live honourable lives when we don’t honour the Lord. That’s where it starts from – honour for God! Honour is reciprocal. The Lord said, through Prophet Samuel, in I Samuel 2:30b: “...but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” We must seek to earn the Lord’s honour and run away from anything that would make the Lord to lightly esteem us. You see, there’s no middle ground in this thing. It is either we are honouring the Lord or despising Him. We must be very careful about this. The difference between David and Saul was honour. Honour is a seed. When we sow honour we reap honour (Gen. 6:22, Gal. 6:7). This happens naturally. True honour for the Lord is also seen in our honour for other people. When we despise people, it is a sign that we despise the Lord. Honour is just like love, if we can’t honour people that we see with our optical eyes then how can we prove that we honour the Invisible God? How do you treat your subordinates? How do you treat those who serve you? How do you treat your gate man? These are indicators. For us to treat people with honour, we must first learn to see them with the eyes of honour. How do I mean? When you look at a man of low status with the eyes of honour, you simply raise him up to measure up and then you’d be able to demonstrate honour to him. The same works with love. So it matters how you see people? Giving, in its purest form, is a sign of honour. We give to honour people. We don’t only give because there is a need. We don’t only give to people because they are needy. We give to show our honour for people. This should actually be the motivation behind our giving. When we give to the Lord, we must remember that He doesn’t need anything – He owns the earth and everything in it (Psalm 24:1). We must ensure that our hearts are set on honouring the Lord when we give to Him if our goal is to truly honour Him with our substances. If not, we despise Him. In the Old Testament of the Bible we see a reoccurring event of kings giving gifts to kings. Sometimes you read about kings exchanging gifts. This is because giving in itself is a sign of honour not need. The Word of God tells us in Proverbs 3:9 “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Note it didn’t say “give to the Lord your substance.” No! The Lord is not needy, He’s not a man. Our hearts are meant to be set on honour for the Lord. What God gets from our offering is the honour we attach to it in our hearts – not the substance. So never despise your offering whether it’s small or large. Give whatever you have to the Lord with honour in your heart for Him, that’s what really counts. Honour for the Lord brings about the manifestation of the Anointing of the Holy Spirit both in our lives and in the gathering of believers. Wherever the Lord is honoured He shows up! When we honour the Lord in a meeting, the Holy Spirit is bound to manifest His presence practically. Sometimes we short-circuit the power of God in our lives or in our meetings just because we don’t show reverence for His presence. You don’t despise the Lord and expect Him to show up for good. In fact if He shows up when He is despised it could be for instant judgement. We must be very careful. Honour is the foundation on which we build other things in our spiritual lives. Once there’s no honour for the Lord, every other thing is just noise. When you see a man who honours the Lord, you will know it – it cannot be hidden because he is a carrier of God’s presence. God honours such a man with His presence. When we honour the Lord, He honours us with His manifest presence. The more we honour Him, the more of His presence we possess. How well we honour the Lord will greatly determine the quality of life we would live as believers here on earth. We honour the Lord by our life style. We honour the Lord by the way we talk. We honour the Lord by our obedience to the great commission. Honour is displayed by HOW we obey His instructions or commands. I believe the difference between David and Saul is honour. We honour the Lord by our love walk – loving Him and loving our neighbours as we love ourselves. If we are going to truly reach this world with the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, we must live honourable lives. It is a must! The life that honours the Lord is that which esteems His Word above every other.