STEP OUT & STAND OUT!

Every man created by God was created for a purpose. It is quite unfortunate that a bulk of humanity end up dying only to discover that they never lived in the first place. Every man is either living – fulfilling purpose and destiny or existing – just breathing through life. It is often said that when the purpose of a thing is unknown abuse is inevitable. Every human being has the major assignment of studying and discovering himself. You must know to what purpose you were born. You must know and understand your divine assignment on earth. This is really what brings about real fulfilment here on earth. A lot of Christians, though born again, are not experiencing a fulfilled life and they wonder why. It’s time to step out and be about something beyond yourself. A lot of people are living for themselves only – self-centred living! Me and mine kind of living will take you nowhere. You were born for something bigger than yourself! 2 Corinthians 5:15 clear states “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” This is amazing! So who or what are you living for? What in the world are you waiting for? Step out! Time is attached to your purpose and when your time is up nothing can keep you here on earth for another micro second. Excuse is one of the greatest enemies of man. Excuses only exist in the mind of the person who chooses to accommodate them. Excuses are not substantial in the sight of God. A lot of people give a lot of excuses why they cannot do a lot of things. What excuse are you accommodating in your life? Excuses would only put you down and stop you from doing what you were born to do. Romans 8:19-22 tells us “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” So what are you going to do about this? Time is short so step out! You are uniquely structured to solve a problem so stand out! You are the solution to a specific problem here on earth. It is very easy to make a difference, just be different! Accept no excuses! They don’t exist. The Word of God says in 1Peter 2:9 says “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” Please step out and stand out!

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!

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!

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!