Monday, December 17, 2012

A STREAM OF THE MIRACULOUS

The Christian life is a journey in the miraculous! Living in Christ is simply living in the miraculous. The day we got born again we were actually introduced into a world of the miraculous. First and foremost, the New Birth is a miracle itself. Then all that follow are miraculous display of the new life in Christ (the ZoĆ«-life of God). We see something amazing in Mark 16:15-20: “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. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” (NKJV). When you read something like this you just want to activate the miraculous dimension in you instantly. Every believer in Christ is empowered for the miraculous life. Signs should follow us and not us following signs! From this Scripture it’s so clear that Evangelism unlocks this miraculous dimension or lifestyle. These signs are simply for those who believe and act on God’s Word, not just for Pastors or evangelists or mature believers. It’s so simple. Do you believe? Are you saved? If yes, you qualify for this miraculous life. The reason a lot of believers don’t see miracles is simply because they’ve just never acted along that line before, yet it’s in them! God wants to do miracles through you! When you understand this you don’t just want to wake up to a miracle, you want to wake up to the miraculous life. There’s an atmosphere where the miraculous flow unhindered. You consciously position yourself for the miraculous. There’s so much we can learn about this from the life Christ. While Jesus walked the earth He was such a wonder to the people who witnessed His works. He simply connected heaven and earth by His miraculous acts. He brought the fragrance of heaven to the earth. Men couldn’t understand why He stood out to be so different with the power of God oozing out of Him. He never struggled to have a miracle. Miracles were so real and natural to Him. Acts 10:38 tells us “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” How was this constant, consistent and continues flow of the miraculous possible in the life of Jesus? First He yielded Himself to the Holy Ghost, walking with the consciousness of His presence; secondly, He lived a life of thanksgiving and thirdly, He acted on the Father’s Words. The key is found in John 2:5 “…Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” However, there’s always more to a miracle from God than the physical manifestation we see. Every miracle from God doesn’t just have to do with the physical manifestation we see with our optical eyes but does something to our spiritman which if paid attention to can multiply that physical manifestation. The problem is that we are often ‘distracted’ by the physical manifestations that we think that that’s all there is to it not knowing that God wants us to also pay attention to how we’re being changed on the inside as a result of what’s happening on the outside. I once saw a Church sticker on a car that reads “miracles are forever.” I was so captured by that and it just kept ringing inside of me over and over again. Yes, miracles were never meant to cease. They were meant to continue forever. Every miracle was meant to prepare us for the next one. Praise God! If so, then we must start paying more attention to what’s happening on the inside of us than just what’s happening on the outside. Never forget that what is happening on the inside (the unseen) is more real than what’s happening on the outside. In other words, the Supernatural is more real than the spectacular. As we celebrate the miracle of Christmas this season, must pay more attention to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our spirit and watch how we are changed from the inside. Sure you can end 2012 with a bang! Just get into the flow. Release your faith for the lifestyle of the miraculous and you’d be changed for eternity. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

REPORT FROM LIFE SUMMIT 2012

The year 2012 has been a Season of Grace for us as a Ministry and we have experienced undoubtedly the overwhelming grace of God in different areas of our lives. This rhythm and theme of Grace came to the climax in LIFE SUMMIT 2012. It was simply a celebration of Grace, the amazing Grace of Lord Jesus Christ. It was an unusual meeting packed with the influence of the Holy Spirit from the beginning of the service to the end. During this epoch event, we had a great time of worship as we sang songs that showed our love and gratitude to the Lord. We also had Priscilla Egbelehulu minister to us in songs of love and devotion to the Lord. It was a time of fellowship. It was a time of the Word. Bro David started by leading the whole congregation in the prayer of salvation and then he prayed for the sick both those present and those represented. Then he began to share the Word. He ministered on the power of the Gospel. Taking his reading from Romans 1:14-17, he explained that the Gospel is good news – the good news of what God did through Jesus Christ for mankind and that this good news has God’s ability to change anyone who dares to believe it. He further explained that as believers we owe the Gospel to those God bring our way every single day, explaining how the Apostle Paul felt and expressed his indebtedness to preaching the Gospel to his generation. This was crowned with a time of prayer and intercession for the nations. The whole building was saturated with the spirit of grace and supplication – everyone expressing him/herself in the spirit. Then came words of prophecies from the Lord as the Holy Spirit inspired words through Bro David. The consistent words were “it comes easy, it’s by grace. No pressures. No struggles.” Glory to God! After sharing some of the things the Lord did through the ministry in 2012, how the Lord greatly impacted lives, opened doors to the nations, provided graciously a good ministry office etc, Bro David declared the Prophetic focus for the ministry in 2013. He explained that the Lord already gave the word as early as in July. He declared 2013 to be Our Year of Honour and Glory: When the Lord is honoured, His glory is revealed. The congregation received the words with great joy. Praise God! He concluded by announcing the passing on to glory of his Mum [Rev. Mrs. Josephine C. Okoye] who passed on April 9, that’s Easter Monday this year (2012). He explained how her life has inspired him so greatly in life and ministry and how she was a vital part of all that was happening in the ministry. He encouraged all to let their lives count for the glory of God. We thank God because we know she’s not lost but resting with the Lord in Heaven. Testimonies followed immediately after the meeting starting with the ministry itself. The Lord delivered into our hands a major equipment for our outreach through one of the ministry’s partners who attended. Other testimonies of what the Lord did during the programme followed and in that same week amazing things kept happening to some of those who attended the meeting, confirming God’s Words. But what thrilled us the most was how the Lord ignited the hearts of those who attended with a holy passion to reach the lost for Him. We had people immediately enroll for our Strategic Evangelism Training after the service. We’d never forget the experience of Life Summit 2012 in a moment. We’re so thankful to the Lord for all He’s done and will do in the coming days. We return all the glory to our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.

ONE THING IS NEEDFUL

We live in a world that is fast advancing in every facet that it appears difficult for one to keep his or her mind fixed on just one thing. A lot of things calling for our attention, some of them not necessarily bad but just simply not expedient. So many things are happening, and so fast, all over the world. This is the time to pay more attention to what the Master has to say as never before. The Word of God tells us in Hebrews 1:1-3 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by 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 on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” It matters who you listen to in life. In Luke 10:38-42, we read about the incidence that took place when Jesus visited Mary and Martha. We see how Martha was so occupied with the need to take care of the Master that she neglected what was most important. But Mary gave the Master absolute attention which, the Master said, was needful. Now, it is important we understand that what Martha was doing wasn’t wrong in itself, at all. It is vital to make your guests feel at home first of all before sitting down to receive or attend to what he/she came for. It’s called courtesy. So the problem was not that she was trying to fix things for the Master’s comfort. The problem was in her not recognizing or having a full understanding of Who had visited. In fact verse 38 tells us that it was Martha who received Jesus into her house – she was the main person in focus here. We need to catch this! And I pray that the Holy Spirit grants us revelation on this. The focus of this incidence is in the juxtaposition between the spiritual need of the hour and physical needs. Martha should have known that she wasn’t always going to have Jesus in her house, knowing who He was. She should have known that Jesus was a different kind of visitor. Her understanding of Who had visited should have made her see that paying attention first was more important than taking care of Him. If only Martha understood that Jesus Christ came for just one purpose and that it was urgent, she would have also understood that this is one opportunity not to be missed. Listening to the Master would have been her uttermost preoccupation. The problem was in her not recognizing, by revelation, Who had visited. She was OCCUPIED with so many things. What’s your emphasis in life? What is taking your attention the most? It’s time we rearrange our priorities to position ourselves aright for what’s really vital in life. Friend, it’s so unfortunate that I’ve heard a lot of teachings on this subject but the Teachers only emphasize that one thing is needful and they go ahead to say other things but that one thing which is needful. I’ve hardly heard any teaching that placed emphasis on that one thing Jesus said was needful. It’s so important that we pay rapt attention to God’s Word. God’s Word is not just another literature. There are no irrelevant details in God’s Word. Every single thing is important. Why, in the first place, was this incident documented? It’s for us to get God’s emphasis on what really matters in life. Jesus lets us know what that ONE THING is: Listening to Him (Luke 10:39,42). I make bold to say this, by the Spirit of God, that a man who makes listening to God a priority in life will never lack a single thing he really needs in this world. This is so true by revelation and by experience. God will always instruct you on the way to go and how to make a thing work if only you’ll listen to Him. No wonder Proverbs 4:13 tells us that we should take hold of God’s instructions because His instructions are life. I’ll never forget what Kenneth E. Hagin of blessed memory once said. He said God told Him “If you listen to me, I’ll make you rich.” That’s just it! Praise God! As we advance from age to age, we must come to a place in life where we define for ourselves what true value is. The word ‘value’ is actually relative. What a man defines as value may be different from what another defines as value. Our various definitions of value range from our different purposes in life. But for the Believer, Jesus says, value is absolute – listening to Him! When you listen to the Master, every other thing falls in place because He will instruct you on what to do in every area of your life. It’s so unfortunate how people think spending time in prayer is a waste of time. They rush out very early to work without giving God their most precious time of the day. They return so weak and used and sometimes even try to mumble some words in prayer and just sleep off only to wake up the next day and have to leave so early to work and this goes on and on and since they cannot hear the voice of God, not being well positioned through prayer, the enemy strikes and one thing leads to another and before you know it one tragedy occurs and so on. It is blatant foolishness to live life without express communication with God! Concerning the devotional life of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God tells us in Mark 1:35 “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” This is so inspiring, considering the fact that no minister of the Gospel on earth has ever been busier than Jesus Christ was during His earthly ministry but He still had such a time for such kind of fellowship with the Father. This is to tell us what value the Master placed on listening to the Father. It’s about value friends! In the midst of all the hustling and bustling always remember that just one thing is needful. Even as the year closes up there would definitely be some kind of rush here and there in a bid to catch up with lost time. Still remember that just one thing is needful. Before you do anything, before you make any decision or take any step, especially in these last days, pay attention to what the Master is saying through the Holy Spirit. Sensitivity is a priority to those who really care about what the Lord has to say about everything. We build this sensitivity by meditating on the Word of God and letting the Holy Spirit work in us.