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.

I MUST BE GONE!

When all the earthly lights are turned off
When the sun is darken
And the moon refuses to shine
The effects of the stars go unnoticed
All the visible suddenly become invisible
The hustling and bustling ceases
All that my hands held on to in great might
I suddenly lose grip of, I let go.

All the physical become unreal
My heart begins a quest for the real
Longing for substance in place of vanities
When everything on earth becomes so dim

Then the light of eternity will be turned on
Then I will see my Master, Saviour and Friend
I will know Him just as I am known by Him
When He shall appear I shall see Him just as He is
I shall not be prevented
Nothing shall prevent the eternal cravings of my heart.

But this mortality must first put on immortality
And the corruptible incorruptible
This is the ultimate transition
But I must be gone.

Composed by David C. Okoye – April 17, 2012.

[This piece is dedicated to the blessed and loving memory of my Mother (Rev. Mrs. Josephine C. Okoye) who went to be with the Lord on Easter Monday, April 9, 2012].

The ultimate in life is seeing Jesus face to face, looking into His glorious face and just hearing Him say “well done.” I look forward to that day. Jesus says in John 9:4 “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” Friend, the night is at hand. This is the time to work tirelessly to ensure that you finish well and that you are not taken unaware. Time is running out, what we do we must do quickly.

REPORT FROM ALIVE! 2012, ABUJA, NIGERIA

When the Lord wants to do a new thing He always calls for a people. He calls for a people who would give themselves unreserved to the call. He calls for a people who would rise to the occasion. It doesn’t really matter how many they are.

Alive! Is an event the Lord inspired in the heart of Bro David Okoye to be held every Good Friday of the year. It was first held in 2009 in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. This time around it was held in Abuja, Nigeria on Friday, the 6th of April 2012. It is an event that inspires commitment to the Heavenly Vision. It is a time when we reflect on the greatest sacrifice ever made by Divinity (God Himself) and the greatest investment ever made on humanity (God’s giving up of His Only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world to purchase man back to God, producing a New Creation).
Alive! 2012 had a landmark effect in the build up of God’s people to step into His destinies for their lives. Although the number of people in attendance was small as we understand that a lot of Churches also hold events to mark Good Fridays which has always been the case in all the Alive! Events. But we still believe that those who came were destined by God to receive what He had for them. Bro David shared an inspiring Word from the Lord titled “HOSANNA: The New Sound”. He highlighted the passion the Lord Jesus had for His assignment here on earth – the redemption of mankind. Explaining that the Hebrew word ‘Hosanna’ means ‘save now’ he established the fact that our divine purpose has a voice that cries out for fulfilment. He also highlighted the place of sacrifice in fulfilling our divine purpose. This led to a moment of supplication and intercession.

It was an amazing experience in the presence of the Lord and we eagerly look forward to Alive! 2013 which would hold wherever the Lord leads.

GRACE AND GLORY

Grace and glory are interconnected and inseparable just as with goodness and mercy. The glory of God manifests the grace of God. Psalms 84:11 tells us something exciting: “For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Grace and Glory have always been connected all through Scriptures. Like brothers, they co-operate all the time. As a matter of fact, wherever there is grace you also find glory. The glory of God deals with the manifestation of God’s grace. So what is grace? What is glory? The grace of God is the workings of God in the life of an individual. The Glory of God, however, first of all, means the splendour of God. Secondly, it means the beauty of God. When the glory of the Lord is said to be upon a man it means that the beauty of the Lord is upon him or that the Lord has beautified that man. Thirdly, the glory of the Lord means the manifestation of the Lord because glory has to do with displaying, showing forth, revealing etc.

Grace is the workings of the Spirit of God in the life of an individual, while glory is the manifestation of that working outwardly. That’s the link between grace and glory. What it then means for the Lord to give grace and glory is that the Lord will do a work in you and show it forth or display it. These are 2 very important dimensions we must understand in dealing with the Lord. There are always 2 phases to whatever the Lord will do in our lives. The first phase is His workings in you and at this time it may seem as though nothing is happening but with the eyes of faith we can see that the Lord is working in us. Then the second phase is the showing forth or the manifestation of the work He’s been doing in our lives. Hence, patience is a major key in respect to this. It is just like building a house. The first aspect of the house has to do with the invisible – the foundation. And quite a lot of time might be spent in laying the foundation depending on what kind of structure is to be erected. So we can say, the laying of the foundation is the workings of grace while the completed building is the glory of the house. At the moment when the foundation is laid, it might not look so good, but when the building is completed we see the beauty.

Glory always has to do with manifestations, revealing, showing forth, displaying etc. the activities of the Lord by the Holy Spirit. God is not only interested in working in our lives. He’s also very interested and passionate about showing forth His workings in our lives. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” A lot of times, what we really need is the manifestation of what the Lord is doing in our lives. Sometimes we keep asking the Lord for a particular thing over and over again as though He didn’t hear us when we first asked for it. We might just as well receive the manifestation of the answers to our prayers by faith and stay in faith till it is delivered to us in the physical. We receive such manifestations by declaring what God says about that issue and that we receive because we know that the Lord has heard our prayers and granted our requests.

However, any Christian can know if he is living a life of grace and glory or not. It is not the question of whether we’ve been given grace and glory by the Lord because we see in Psalm 84:11 that it is the Lord’s will to give grace and glory. And every child of God has access to a life of grace and glory. It is now the question of whether we are actually living a life of grace and glory. It is a choice. A lot of Christians have lost out on God’s best for their lives because of ignorance, not knowing what is available to them in Christ Jesus or not knowing how to access those things. It is the will of God for us to live a gracious life. It is the will of God for us to live a glorious life. But then He wouldn’t force them on us. We must make up our minds to function in these by laying hold of them by faith. The life of grace and glory is that life with the Word experience. This is a life that experiences the good Word of God in reality. You see, God’s grace is linked with the Word Acts 20:32 says “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” God’s glory is also linked with the Word. Isaiah 40:5 says “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see [it] together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].” So the Word links us up with grace. The Word links us up with glory. Meaning, when we live in the Word, we automatically walk in grace and glory. Hallelujah!

The role of the The Holy Spirit is this matter can never be over emphasized because as we study the Word we see that The Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of grace and the Spirit of glory. The Holy Spirit is also called the Glory of the Father because He is the Manifester of God’s Word (Rom 6:4; 8:11). He is the Manifester of the Godhead. He shows us the mind of God. He shows us the workings of God in, upon and through us. No wonder the Psalmist says in Psalm 90:17 “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.” Friend, this is for real. The Lord is actually calling us to a life of grace and glory. We would accomplish more for the Lord and His Kingdom when we live a life of grace and glory. It honours the Lord when we present the Lord as a gracious and glorious God before the world through the quality of life we live. I see the Lord bringing us into deeper places in Him. I believe the reason you read this piece up to this point is because the Lord wants to do these things in your life. Whatever the Lord will do in your life, He would first show you His Words about it and give you the option of either receiving or rejecting it. Choose right. Blessings!

HEAVEN GETS RICHER!

Heaven gets richer as a hero of faith, the greatest woman in my life, a committed Ministry Partner with Life Commission Ministry (My Mum: Rev. Mrs. Josephine C. Okoye) goes home to be with Jesus last Monday (April 9). Indeed death has lost its power! Eternity is real. Thank God for the Hope we have in Christ. Amen!

WHERE ARE THE YOUNG FOLKS?

Young people are very instrumental to the plan and purposes of God here on earth. All through Scriptures, we see strength attributed to young people. Young people are strong. Young people are energetic. Young people are very zealous and passionate. However, it is always the case of young people either using this strength-treasure to either advance a righteous cause or an evil one. When a man is full of energy and zeal, he wants to do something; he wants to exercise his abilities. The Word of God tells us that “The glory of young men [is] their strength: and the beauty of old men [is] the gray head.” (Proverbs 20:29).

The famous king of Israel, Solomon, gave a heart striking admonition and caution to young people in Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 (I pray you take some time to study it today, it’s so important you do). Verse 1 of that portion of Scripture says: “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;” We are instructed to remember the Lord in the days of our youth because the evil days are coming fast. Because the years are drawing near. Because there would come a time when we can not do what we can do now. This is a very important admonition. Please think about it for a moment.

In my endeavours, I have often had the privilege of coming across a lot of aged people and having some time with them. I have noticed that, unfortunately, it is difficult to find one of them without regrets. Most of the time their regrets stem from the fact that they never utilized the opportunities of their youths. Now they wish they could do more but they can barely do much. Time has gone and they are trying to catch up. This is sad. I feel so emotional as I write this. Today I see a lot of aged people going into missions and serious kingdom service but very few youths are involved and I am forced to ask this vital question: WHERE ARE THE YOUNG PEOPLE? Destiny is a force that has a pull on everyone. We must respond to the call of our destinies in God. Time is ticking fast. If we don’t spend our youthful energy in earnest service to the Lord today, when are we going to do so? We must be mindful of the fact that a man can only be a youth once in a life time – just once.

I once heard a preacher explain how that when a man is young, he can both see (have dreams) and run (pursue them), but when he starts aging, this dual abilities reduce till it gets to the point where he can only see but can’t run, can’t pursue what he sees. Are we rightly spending or wasting our youthful season. We must be mindful that the youthful stage of life has a lot of distractions that we must contend with on purpose if we must make unhindered advancement in life. We must fight for this. We either fight or lose.

There is a prophetic Word for the young people in Joel 2. The Prophet Joel, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, declares “…your young men shall see visions:” (Joel 2:28). I believe this is the day for the fulfilment of this prophecy. I believe these are the days for the manifestation of more visionary youths. I see the Holy Spirit stirring up young people all over the world for unquantifiable Kingdom impact. It has already begun. In many parts of the world we are seeing many young people arising and stepping into their destinies in God, doing amazing and mind blowing things in honour of the Master. Don’t be left out. Stop everything that stops you from properly maximizing your youthful days. When you do this, you’ll rejoice and be so fulfilled at old age, mentoring the next generation. This is how it ought to be. Glory to God!

THE THRONE OF GRACE

What would you do if you knew there was a place where you could find anything – I mean anything – you both need and want in life? Guess what? There is such a place. Now this is for real! The Word of God tells us in Hebrews 4:14-16: “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast [our] profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” The throne of grace is not just an abstract imagination. It’s a real place, a place in God. It is a place where you get everything for free from admission to content. The Throne of Grace is a please you can approach from any location, no need for travels. But it is so unfortunate that we have not been able to truly see this place as our source of hope and comfort. We seem to struggle so hard through life exploring every human, man-made options only to approach this place when we have lost all. Joyce Meyer rightly said “prayer should not be our last resort but our first response.” When we pray on time we deal with situations headlong. We stop certain progressions of the situation and put it under control.

The big thing about The Throne of Grace is that we have been given express invitation through the blood of Jesus. Every blood-washed believer has free access into the Throne room. We are asked not just to come but to come boldly. This is exciting! So why don’t believers seem to respond to this gracious opportunity? Why do we rather struggle in our own limited efforts? The truth is that the devil will do everything possible to ensure that he keeps you from coming to the Throne of Grace. He can use guilt, doubt, feelings etc. to keep you from approaching that place of prayer. Any praying Christian would tell you that the place of prayer is the place of strength and safety. This is actually the reason the devil would do everything possible to stop you from dropping to your knees. The devil hates praying Saints. He doesn’t mind you being fully engaged with activities – even Kingdom activities – but not prayer. But, you see, when activities are carried out in a praying atmosphere, the devilish forces are put off, their weapons become counterproductive. Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, was a praying man while on earth. He lived a life of prayer. Mark 1:35 always inspires me. It says: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” It is truly impossible for anyone to make it through these times without prayer. The devil fights your prayer life personally because that is your power house!

Prayer is fellowship. Prayer is the fellowship or communication with God that stabilizes our lives here on earth. Prayer helps us align with God’s plans and purposes for our lives. Prayer is joining forces with God to see His Kingdom come and His will done on earth as it is in heaven. It is dangerous to only pray when you feel like praying. We pray whether we feel like it or not. We pray when things are good or bad. We pray when we experience success or failure. Prayerlessness is powerlessness. Prayerlessness is the greatest weakness of all. When we don’t pray we become a prey to the enemy. We can’t afford to lose our grounds. When we don’t pray, we operate at the same level with the devil – the level of the senses and the devil is highly experienced at this level. It should deeply concern you when your prayer life is inconsistent. It is a risky place to be. God cannot help a prayerless person. Prayer is the link – it’s the lifeline – of Heaven. You must cry out to God in earnest trust for His help in your prayer life. Never be silent about prayerlessness. It is deadly! A prayerless life is a life disconnected from power!

According to Hebrews 4:16, whenever we approach the Throne of Grace we find 2 things; mercy and grace to help in time of need. Scripturally, Mercy speaks of God’s love and compassion. Grace can be defined in 3 ways: unmerited favour, Divine empowerment, Manifesting The Blessing. At what better time are mercy and grace more needed in our lives than now? You see, a single day on earth without God’s mercy and grace is enough to bring our lives to a halt, a place of disaster and destruction. We are daily preserved by God’s mercy and grace. This is why prayer ought to and must be an everyday, every hour, every moment thing. Mercy and Grace are 2 things we need on a daily bases. We daily need mercy and grace more than we need water. We daily need mercy and grace more than we need air. We daily need mercy and grace more than we need food. So you see why it is dangerous and so costly to live a prayerless life? At The Throne of Grace, we not only find mercy and grace for ourselves but we find mercy and grace to also help others in their times of need. This is the place of intercession. When we come to the place of intercession, it means that we have gone a step further, beyond ourselves, to reach others in need. That’s the place God wants to bring us to.

The Holy Spirit helps our prayer life if we let Him. It is the Holy Spirit who always inspires us to pray. If the Holy Spirit is active in your life, there would never be a day that He wouldn’t remind you to pray. The Word of God tells us that it is the Holy Spirit who helps our prayer life (see Romans 8:26-28). The Holy Spirit quickens our hearts to call upon the Lord. A Christian experiences prayerlessness when he/she has a prolonged habit of ignoring the voice and nudging of The Holy Spirit to pray. That is why I believe, just as Pastor Benny Hinn says, that prayerlessness is a sin. We must repent of prayerlessness. Prayerlessness doesn’t happen by accident. Prayerlessness has a voice. Whenever a person is prayerless, he is simply saying: “God, I can do this or that without you.” That’s not a good place to be. It’s a place of misery and gracelessness. The Holy Spirit bids you to come to the Throne of Grace today!