MANIFESTING CHRIST TO OUR WORLD

The greatest need of the world today, as ever, is to see the living Christ! They have been hearing about Him, some have even been talking about Him and others have been trying to figure out if He is real or if at all He ever existed. Therefore, if the world is not seeing Christ today there’s a problem somewhere and I believe that problem is from the Church. When I say the Church, I’m not referring to physical buildings or auditoriums, but to you and me (the New Creations in Christ)! Our No.1 goal as Believers in Jesus Christ is to manifest Him everywhere we go. This is top priority! We seem to sit indoors claiming to be waiting until we’ve advanced more spiritually before taking action, while we leave out our ultimate responsibility to manifest Christ to a sick and dying world! We stay in our ‘closets’ instead of stepping out to reach a confused world with the Gospel and power of the resurrected and living Jesus! We are so indifferent and still wonder why the world keeps getting deeper and deeper into unthinkable perversions and policies by the day. All through Scriptures, we see God’s earnest desire to manifest Himself to the world through men. He started this out by coming into this world Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to reveal the Father fully to the world (Heb.1:1-3) and before leaving the earth, He transferred that responsibility to the Church! During Jesus’ days on earth, He expressed His desire to afterwards manifest Himself first, to men and then through men. We must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is not just the Son of God but the Pattern-Son of God! God has Jesus Christ as a pattern for all His sons. He wants to see many JESUSES all over the world. Sure! That’s what God wants. Romans 8:29 tells us “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” This is the ultimate goal of Christianity! Besides all that Jesus Christ came to earth to accomplish on man’s behalf, the Father sent the Lord Jesus Christ to come and exemplify what the life of a man anointed of the Holy Spirit should be like here on earth. This is the reason when any man truly meets Jesus Christ Himself by revelation, he cannot but become a different person. The whole idea of Christianity is manifesting the Christ to the world! The word ‘Christian’ simply means ‘like Christ’. I know the Church has made great efforts in the area of good Christian living and conduct but there’s more. We must understand that there’s more we’re yet to venture into and it is now in urgent demand. As Christians, we are called to manifest Christ both in life style and in power! For so long we seem to have just been content with having just the form of godliness while denying the power thereof. We are so thrilled when we see ‘few’ manifesting the life and power of Jesus Christ, whereas, that’s the mandate from Jesus Christ Himself to every Believer. Jesus said “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12). See, until we awake to the fact that we are meant to manifest Christ fully, we’d remain incomplete ambassadors for Christ! It’s absolutely abnormal for a Christian not to have an appetite for the Supernatural. It’s abnormal for the Christian not to walk in the Supernatural! The New Creation is born Supernatural! The Church of Jesus Christ needs to wake up! We need to wake up to the power of God available to us to help our world. It is not only available to some select few, but to all that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! In Mark 16:17 Jesus declares “And these signs shall follow them that believe;…” Believing in Jesus is the basic requirement to walking in the miraculous! Wait a minute; Jesus wasn’t referring to some ‘mega’ faith here. He was referring to that same faith that got you saved (See Mark 16:15-17). The moment any man believes and is saved he immediately becomes God’s potential agent for manifesting the miraculous, releasing the Kingdom of which he is now a part of – The Kingdom of God! That is what the Great Commission is! The Great Commission is about manifesting Kingdom Dominion through words AND deeds, not just good behaviour but also power demonstrations (1Cor.4:20). Praise God! During His earthly ministry, Jesus’ ultimate focus was to manifest the Fathers Person, nature, love, character, etc. The Word of God 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.” (Acts 10:38). Today, in that same way, our mandate is to manifest Jesus Christ, the express manifestation of the Father (Heb.1:1-3, John 20:21). That’s our commission. Jesus showed us how to go about it. It all begins with having a personal revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ. It all begins with meeting Him by revelation (John 14:20-23). The question is: Have you met Jesus personally for yourself? Have you encountered Him through the Word? There is something about meeting Jesus for yourself (that is, experiencing Him) that I find so difficult to explain. It’s a deeper place of fellowship. It is my prayer that this would come to you as a revelation, not just as mere words. This is the mind of the Holy Spirit for the Body of Christ. We would never know what God could do through us, that God could use us in a certain degree until we step out in faith. This is a call to action! We can’t keep looking to ourselves and expect to manifest Christ. We must look to Him! Just as Moses saw the glory of God and reflected it, when Jesus manifests Himself to us, only then can we manifest Him to our world (Exo.34:29-35). As we behold Him, we become like Him and manifest Him to the world. We look to Him by paying attention to the Word and the Holy Spirit. The need for more Supernatural labourers after the order of Jesus Christ is so urgent (Matt. 9:37-39). This is about expressing the Christ – the Anointed One and His Anointing – everywhere we go and everywhere we are, whether at work, school, business, market, neighbourhood, etc. That’s the first reason we are there. Manifest Christ!

HEAVEN ON EARTH

Ever been to a country’s embassy in your country before? What was the first thing you observed? I guess the first thing you observed was the different atmosphere based on what you saw. Though you were in your own country, that country’s embassy was strictly customized to represent that country to the latter. I guess at some point you might have almost lost the consciousness of the fact that you were in your own country. What happened to you was that you got the experience of another country in your own country. In the same way, the Church of Jesus Christ is the embassy of Heaven here on earth. The Church is the link between heaven and earth. Praise God! While the headquarters of the Kingdom of God is in heaven, the Church is the Kingdom of God in miniature here on earth. The Scripture makes it so clear that as Believers in Christ, our citizenship is in heaven (Philip.3:20, NIV). In the Kingdom of God, dual citizenship is never permitted – you’re either in fully, wholly and completely or out! It’s a strict Kingdom. We are Ambassadors for Christ (2Cor.5:20). Like every ambassador of a country, we represent heaven’s interest on earth. Having said that, let’s look at something more amazing here. Apostle John, by the Holy Spirit, narrates a striking event in his Epistle. We see that in John 1:43-51. While still choosing His disciples, Jesus found Philip and said to him “follow me.” Philip finds Nathanael and says to him “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (verse 45). You can just imagine the excitement in Philips voice. The Jews had so longed to see the Messiah and here He comes and Philip has seen Him. Oh how I share in this excitement. I could just imagine what it felt like for Philip. Then, in response, Nathanael says to Philip: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” and Philip has just one comment for Nathanael (the sceptic): “Come and see” and, of course, Nathanael comes along. I see this playing out so much in this new season the Lord has brought us into: The Greater Glory – The season of seeing. We shall not only see, but also display the greater glory of God to the world. Praise God! Now, when Jesus saw them coming, He said of Nathanael “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” and Nathanael (must have been in shock) says “How do You know me?” Jesus answers “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” This gets Nathanael’s attention so deeply, he is convinced and says: “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Now, Jesus answers Nathanael with words that he’d never forget as long as he lived. Jesus says to him “Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these. (In other words, you haven’t seen a thing yet!) And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."” (John 1:50,51). Wow! What in the world was Jesus talking about? That brings me to the point of this piece. I want you to ponder on those words again. First, He says “…you shall see heaven open…” in other words, I am walking under open heavens. Remember, at His baptism, the heavens were opened unto Him (Matthew 3:16). Well, the heavens didn’t close up later, but remained open unto Him. And then, He says “…and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Jesus was simply saying, “I have come as a link between heaven and earth.” Understand His statement. Jesus didn’t mean that He has come to create a link between heaven and earth but that He was (and still is) the Link between heaven and earth. That statement alone was the whole process of His redemptive work in just one statement! Jesus came to serve as the Link through which fallen man could connect back to God for the restoration of everything to the original plan. Oh Hallelujah! From this stand point you can now understand the purpose of all that Jesus did while on earth for man. He came to reconcile all things back to the Father. He came to be the Link! So how did the Lord Jesus Christ manifest this? He carried about the atmosphere of heaven everywhere He went. Men marvelled at His Words. He spoke with the wisdom and authority of heaven. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. He carried the aura of the Presence of God! He brought circumstances under His control. He couldn’t be defeated. He was a terror to every demonic being and He simply crushed their enterprises wherever He went. The Scripture is filled with His mighty, awesome and Supernatural work on earth. Finally, before He left the earth, He suffered and died in man’s place, as man’s Substitute. It didn’t end there, on the third day He rose from the dead by the power of the Holy Ghost! And before ascending to Heaven, He transferred to us (the Church) the mandate of being the link in His Name. That’s what the Great Commission is all about! [Mark 16:15-20, 2Cor.5:17-21]. Now, we must recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ was simply showing us how to live from heaven while still on earth. The Christian is not a weakling. Jesus didn’t do all He did for man in order to produce a weak or substandard New Creation. We're called to manifest Heaven on earth. This is what the Lord Jesus meant when he, in teaching His disciples the principle of prayer, said "Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven." (Matt.6:10). We ought to demonstrate the lifestyle and authority of heaven here on earth! Yes, we must be heaven conscious! We must think home. That's our Headquarters. We ought to operate from there. Indeed, these are days of heaven on earth (Deut.11:21). Our responsibility as Christians here on earth is to manifest the lifestyle and authority of heaven here on earth, the Lord Jesus Christ being our ultimate pattern. Think of it. In Jesus’ days on earth, He was the only Man with the open heavens but today, every believer has the privilege of walking under open heavens. This is what Jesus meant when He said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” John 14:12. Saints, let’s do it for the Lord. Get immersed in it!

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THE GLORY IS HERE!

Have you ever walked into an unfamiliar room that was dark and couldn’t just figure out where the switch that turns on the light was? You knew there was electricity in that room but just couldn’t find the switch to turn it on. The fact that you didn’t feel electricity wasn’t enough proof that there was no electricity there because you knew there was! It really had nothing to do with feelings but it had everything to do with reality. This is same with the glory of God! The glory of God had been on the earth ever since God created the earth in Genesis. Man fell short of that glory in Adam when he sinned (Romans 3:23). However, the coming of Jesus Christ into the earth was the return of the full glory of God and it’s been on earth ever since. Praise God! The Scripture tells us in Isaiah 60 “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” (vs.1). Notice it’s in present tense. It clearly indicates that this is not in the future but in the now. It says: “...for thy light IS come, and the glory of the LORD IS risen upon thee.” This doesn’t appear to be a prophecy, but a call to action and a notification of what’s happening right now. To the then Israelites it was a prophecy but to us it is a present tense reality. Praise God! It goes on to say “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.” Praise God! Here’s something else you must observe: the Light comes first before the glory is risen. This is very instructive. Habakkuk 2:14 confirms this truth. It says “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Light signifies knowledge, understanding, revelation, insight etc. The Word of God tells us in Psalm 119:130 thus “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” The light signifies the knowledge of God’s Word. The knowledge of the glory always precedes the manifestation of the glory. We only experience the glory when the light comes on and we can only have the light come on when we give ourselves to the Word of God. Therefore, if you want to see the glory, get to the Word! The glory and the Word are already here but not everyone is experiencing them because it’s a decision – not automatic. This then means that when we experience the glory is up to each one of us individually. It’s good news to know that we can decide when to experience the glory of God! All through the Scriptures the Word and the glory are always linked to each other. We also see that is Isaiah 40:5. “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.” It tells us that the glory shall be revealed because the Lord has spoken. So, we are seeing something because He has said something. Praise God! What then is glory? Glory means manifestation, a showing forth, splendour, a display, etc. The glory of God means the manifestation of the Person and Presence of God in a tangible form. The glory of God is the very essence of God. It is the weight of God! It is not just a cloud. Yes, it could manifest in form of a cloud just as it could in any other form. In the Old Testament, we had much of its manifestations in the form of a cloud but that is not all there is to God’s manifestation! Generally, the glory of God is the manifestation of God and there are different levels of that glory. There is the general glory of God which can be seen by every human – saved or unsaved, believing or unbelieving. The Scripture talks about this in Romans 1:19-20. However, as believers, there is the glory of God we can experience here on earth and there are diverse degrees to its manifestation. Then there is the degree of the glory of God we can’t experience here on earth – it’s reserved for us when we get to heaven, our human bodies can’t contain that kind. It’s so unfortunate that the devil has deceived so many believers into believing that the entire glory experience is reserved for heaven. This has resulted in making many believers content with living void of the glory of God here on earth. Isaiah 60:1 and 2 explicitly shows us that the glory of the LORD IS risen upon us and that it shall be SEEN upon us – not in heaven but here on earth. Verse 3 goes on to tell us that this glory shall be visible to the mortal gentiles and kings who would equally respond to it! Now, someone might ask, if the glory of God is here on earth today, why is everyone not experiencing it? It’s same as asking if Jesus died for the whole world why is everyone not yet saved? Remember, the fact that I don’t feel electricity doesn’t negate the presence of electricity. Apart from not having the light turned on, as we saw earlier, another reason why many don’t experience the glory of God is found in the Words of the Master in John 11:40 and it’s still linked to the Word of God. He says: “...Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” So we see that it’s because not everyone is connecting to it. Faith is the connector! When we function in faith we’re connected to it but we are disconnected from it when we are in unbelief. It’s pretty much like turning on or off an electric switch! It’s a decision. Observe from that verse the phrases: ‘wouldest believe’ and ’shouldest see’ These are clear indications that faith is a decision and that when we choose to walk in faith seeing the glory is both inevitable and automatic! Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve made up my mind to experience all there is of the glory of God available to the believer here on earth! In Isaiah 60:1, the Lord stirs us up to something. He tells us to arise! Notice that verse says “Arise, shine...”. It doesn’t say ‘arise and shine’. This is to say that when we obey the Lord to arise, we’d shine automatically. Why because our light has already come and the glory of the LORD is already reason upon us. In other words, the stage has been set already; all that is left is for you to arise. The Lord is simply asking us to arise to the occasion. So will you arise? All creation is waiting for you to arise now. Can’t you see the problems in the world and how that men are looking for solutions everywhere? The unfortunate thing is that if you don’t arise, you become part of the problem. God help us! Be challenged by the words of Deborah the Prophetess in Judges 5:7. It’s time to arise. It’s time to shine. The greater glory is here!

TIME

As the year comes to a close, there is so much rush. Everyone is in haste to catch up with time. There are things we believe must be done this year and time is running out on us. Everyone is at different levels in meeting the target. In moments like this, sometimes you want to ask: “What have we been doing all the while, when there was still enough time?” The answer to this question could be as numerous as the number of people attempting to answer it. However, one thing is a common denominator – we all have 24 hours each in a day and we spend them differently based on our priorities – our definition of value. God lives in the world of eternity, we live in the world of time. Though God lives in eternity, so long as the earth remains, time is very important to Him. While the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth He made a striking statement 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.” He worked with the consciousness that He didn’t have all the time – time was in limited supply. He further said “…Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.” (John 11:9,10). Time is more valuable than a lot of people think. Time is more precious and valuable than money. When your time on earth is up, no matter how much you own, you can’t pay for an extra time because time is more valuable than money. This is why God gave every human being 24 hours per day – no one has it more and no one has it less. 24 hours for everyone – rich or poor. With this in mind, everyone has the chance of deciding what his life turns out to become since we all have equal supply of time. Sometimes the use of time could be the difference between wealth and penury. Everyone has a chance; it’s just about how we use our daily supply of 24 hours. Every human being on earth has a generous supply of 24 hours from God and how we spend them decides and defines our experiences here on earth and ultimately in eternity. So, what are you spending your time on? Are you spending with eternity in view? We spend time just in the same way we spend money. In Economics, we are told that man’s needs are unlimited but his resources are limited. Many a times we think of these only in terms of money or other tangible materials but this also refers to time. Imagine, we all have 24 hours per day and so many things are calling for our attention but because we have limited time, we only choose what we ‘think’ are of more priority to us and that is why what a man spends his time on tells so much about his person and his value system just the same way it is with money. We must understand that when we spend time; we are actually spending our lives. On the other hand, when we waste time, we are actually wasting our lives. This is very important! This is the reason the Word of God admonishes us “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph. 5:15-17). Our purposes in life are connected to time. When a man is ignorant of God’s will for his life, he becomes a major time waster. When a man is not focusing on the will of God for his life, he becomes a major time waster. In life, not everything should get your attention. Select what you spend your time on just in the same way you do with your other limited resources. The real value of your time is greatly defined by what you spend it on. It appears as though the devil is taking advantage of technological advancement today to find more ways of wasting our time. Some people are good at wasting other people’s time. We must avoid time wasters in our lives such as sin, excess media, useless relationships/conversations, procrastination, excuses, laziness, purposeless living etc. – We haven’t got all the time! There’s a time to every purpose under the heaven says Ecclesiastes 3:1. Lateness today seems to be a norm in our society. You hear things like “I was just 5 minutes late” as though it doesn’t mean anything. Some organisations – even Churches – have a culture of lateness. They schedule a meeting for 5pm but it kicks off at 6pm or even 6:30pm and this accounts for the reason a lot of people go to some meetings late – they don’t take their time seriously. In fact some organisations have even made it a culture that in their planning when they schedule a meeting, it starts one hour later to allow for lateness. This is so unfortunate because this borders on the integrity of the organisation or the person involved. One of the virtues of the spirit of excellence is punctuality or proper time management. The Psalmist prayed a passionate prayer in Psalm 90:12 he prayed: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” May this prayer be answered in our lives in Jesus’ Name. Amen! Here are Top 5 things that earnestly worth our time (Not exhaustive): 1. Intimacy with God – The Word, Prayer and meditation (Time with God is the most invested time). 2. Purpose in Life (Which must lead us to become daily soul winners for Jesus – it’s a must!). 3. Time with our family basically, then other relatives/friends 4. Business (Develop skills, capacity, know more about your trade, ideas, profit etc) – Romans 12:11 5. Time to rest (No matter how busy you are, if you must be effective, you must find the time to rest). What do you want your life to be like in the next few years? Now is the time to decide. When time is used rightly it pays off well. Time ought to be invested. When we spend it well it is invested and when we waste it it is lost forever. What we make out of our 24 hours per day decides our experience in life. Hence, what we do with our every second, minute, hour and day counts greatly. This then makes it up to us and not up to God. God gave man the power of decision, we must use it rightly. God doesn’t give every human being the same amount of resources but the same amount of time of the day because time is the denominator on earth. Consider the parable of the talents – different capitals, but the same amount of time. May God help us to maximize our time on earth and to finish our task before the night shows up. Grace!

THE NEW DNA

What happens when a man comes to Jesus Christ? What really happened when we responded to the call to come to the Lord Jesus Christ? What did we receive when we came to Christ that made us a New Creation? Was it a new or superior religion, character, culture, idea, tradition etc.? Well, I don’t think so! Something absolutely amazing happened to us when we came to Christ. Something happened that made us so different. Something extraordinary happened to us – noticed or unnoticed but sure! We received a new nature that redefined every single thing about our lives! We received a new DNA, that’s right, a new DNA! 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 defines that so perfectly to us. It says “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;” This is the moment that redefined everything. This is where it all begins. Praise God! The DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) of a man deals with the entirety of his life. It deals with the source of his life. It deals with his origin. The DNA of a person determines the property of his person (what he has in him and why he is the way he is). It deals with the blueprint handed down from one generation to another. However, this ceases to be when a man is born again. The New Man in Christ is absolutely different from the natural man. When a man is born again he is also genetically reborn, He is born of God. God becomes his Father! The New Birth changes his entire identity! This may sound too good to be true, but it's true nonetheless. The Scripture shows this truth so clearly (See John 1:12-13, 1John 4:4, John 3:3-6, 1Cor.5:17-18). This thing must come to you as a revelation for you to truly function in it. When this truth comes home in the heart of any sick person, that sickness has come to an end. You see, as long as you remain ignorant of who and what you have become by coming into Christ, the devil would keep having a field day in your life. As a New Creation in Christ, you must register this in your heart because that’s exactly what happened in your life. If the Scripture is true then this is not an exception. The Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35)! As a New Creation, everything that should be permitted in your life must be OF GOD. 1Corinthians 5:18 speaks so clearly of the new genetic properties of the New Creation in Christ: “And ALL things are OF GOD, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ…” Praise God! Therefore, anything that is not OF GOD should never be given a legal permit in your life. Refuse to accommodate it! You become responsible for what stays or doesn't. It's up to you! What's in our (The New Creation's) DNA? Salvation and all that accompanies it, such as eternal life, health, love, righteousness, holiness, the anointing, prosperity, excellence, success, blessings etc. Praise God! And what's not in our DNA? Just the very opposite. We don't have sin in our DNA, no sickness, disease, death, hatred, poverty, curses etc. So when you find any of these negatives attaching themselves to you, you shake them off in the Name of Jesus Christ! Yes that's your job. We've got Heaven's backing! See what Matthew 18:18 says "Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this." (Msg). Whooosh! I've got a shout in my spirit. This is the Master Himself talking. Hallelujah! So, no more talks like 'I got diabetes from my dad' or 'I picked up this anger problem from my mum' or all such downward talks. What's vital now is that NOW YOU ARE A NEW CREATION WITH A NEW DNA! The old is gone and the new has come! That was then and this is now! That was true when you were still in the world but now you're in Christ. You've come into a new place. It's a different place where you function with a new nature - the divine nature! It is very important that we observe that these OF GOD properties that are in us are inside forces and not external. The DNA of a natural man is the internal forces that govern him and produces the external experiences. So it is too with the New Creation with the New DNA. It’s on the inside of us. It’s the unseen forces which makes us who we really are. So, for instance, whenever you see the manifestation of sickness in your body, you don’t have to start running all over the place in search of help. All you need do is look inward – into your spirit – and draw Divine health from the Divine deposits inside of you. This you can also do with any of the negatives of the devil that shows up in your life. With this New DNA we’re eternally covered. Nothing can stand us. Praise God! Always be conscious of the fact that it’s not outside of you but on the inside of you (1John 4:4). The inside forces are always stronger than the outside forces and that’s why the Word of God admonishes us to guard our heart with all diligence for out of it flows the issues (forces) of life! Prov.4:23. Therefore, as New Creations, we must keep beholding. The word ‘behold’ is an old English word which means to see or look upon. According 2Cor.5:17, we must consciously see (behold) that all things have become new. This is very vital. This could be the difference between living like a New Creation or like the old man. Many Christians today, though born again, are still living under the dominance of the devil through those outside forces simply because they have not beheld or are not beholding. Note that beholding is an everyday responsibility. That’s why we study the Word daily – to keep beholding what God has made us and given to us in Christ. Beholding makes all the difference in our Christian experience! A lot of Christians are not beholding and so they still find themselves struggling with ancestral curses. They haven’t come to terms with Col.1:13 which says “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” It matters what you set your eyes on, even as a Christian. I’m so concerned about the fact that Christians who are not beholding may be suffering from the same effects of sin the world is suffering from even though they’ve already been delivered from the power and effects of sin. So how do we behold? We behold by searching the Scriptures to know what’s in our new DNA and what’s not! The Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit was given to us to help us know those things that have been freely given to us (2Cor.2:12). Glory to God!

INTIMACY WITH GOD

I grew up in a day when people’s hearts were deeply longing for something more and higher than this physical, material world. Many believers in Christ had a seemingly unquenchable hunger to know the Lord more in a deeper way. This desire was clearly evident by the kind of songs sung in Churches, the kind of prayers prayed in our prayer meetings, the kind of sermons preached, and the kind of fellowship among the brethren. The prayer meetings were packed with spiritually hungry hearts – people with ardent desire for God. But when you juxtapose those days and these days, one would want to ask ‘what’s gone wrong?’ Today, it seems our hunger for God has been cheaply satisfied with physical substances. Our songs are more focused on our physical needs than our need for the Lord, our selfish agendas come first in our prayer meetings, the sermons are regulated by the laws of demand and supply, altar calls for salvation seem not to be the priority of the day and the conversation among brethren is clouded by other selfish desires. Whatever had gone wrong, we earnestly pray that there be a restoration to the Divine order in Jesus’ Name! Intimacy with God doesn’t just happen, it is built overtime. Intimacy with God is a personal thing just as it is with every other relationship. The more mature we become as believers the richer our fellowship with God becomes if we are truly cultivating it. There are things that don’t just happen to us in life, we make them happen. The decision to develop intimacy with God is the second most important decision we’d have to make in life. The first most important decision is to receive Jesus Christ as our only Saviour and Lord because there can’t be any fellowship or intimacy without a relationship – that’s the foundation for everything else. However, fellowship is the life of every relationship. To develop intimacy with God (just as it is with anyone else), we must spend quality time and attention on Him. What you spend the most of your time on or give the most of your attention to really tell your definition of value. You can’t say that God is the number one in your life and you don’t spend quality time with Him. You can’t give God the leftovers of your time or other things and claim to have Him as the number one in your life. The Lord says in 1Samuel 2:30 “...for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” Honouring the Lord is based on the principle of the first and the best. It simply means that if we truly honour the Lord, He must come first in our lives and He must get the best of our everything! And when we’re not honouring the Lord this way, we’re simply despising Him – there are no middle grounds! We must stop those things that stop our advancement in developing our intimacy with God, those things that seem to want to take the first place in our lives instead of God. We must fight anything that wants to come between us and the Lord. Yes! It’s worth fighting for. It is very important you know that if you must go deeper in God, it can’t just happen with the time of the day you set aside for prayer. He must occupy your every thought, action, word etc. 24 hours of the day! You must be saturated with the consciousness of His presence. You must involve the Lord in every single thing you’re involved with. You must care about what He has to say concerning what you do. Your every decision must stem from your fellowship with Him. This helps you live from within, uninhibited by external forces! This helps you to easily hear when He speaks to you at any time. God is always speaking and only those who care to listen hear what He’s saying, just like tuning to a radio station. In Psalm 42:7, the psalmist, by the Spirit of God, expresses a very powerful dimension to our intimacy with God. He says “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” This helps us see that it is not the Lord who decides how deep we go with Him. We decide! It means that it’s up to us to decide how deep our intimacy with the Lord would be. The depth of our hunger or desire for the Lord will determine the depth of the fullness of God we’d receive and that is why we are all at different levels in our spiritual experiences. People always want to put all the responsibility on God forgetting that God gave man the responsibility to choose and He’ll never do that for any man. When you see a man who has decided to value intimacy with God in his life you’ll know. God decides to honour that man with the tangible manifestation of His presence. There’s something about that man who carries the presence of the I AM Himself. That man cannot be hidden and the Lord honours him with His tangible presence in order to set him apart from other men and to also draw men to Himself through him. It is the Holy Spirit who brings us into intimacy with God! Without the Holy Spirit just forget about it. Apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit, expresses this in the benediction of his second epistle to the Corinthian Church: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.” (2Cor.13:14). It is the Holy Spirit who brings us into that oneness with Divinity. The Holy Spirit is God Himself and He ushers us into and sustains in that divine fellowship. Praise God! Thank God, the Lord Jesus says He’d abide with us forever (John 14:16). Intimacy with God begins with our earnest desire to know God more. The Holy Spirit stirs up that holy desire in our hearts but we must respond accordingly to make it happen. Many a times we don’t respond to the desires the Holy Spirit stirs up in us and so we lose out on the experiences He intended for us to have. We must learn to respond. We must learn to yield to Him. Therefore, to sustain the development of our intimacy with the Lord, we must nurture our hunger for the Lord. Never allow anything to steal away your hunger – your ardent desire for God and His Kingdom. It’s really a great experience when everything that comes to you in life stems from your intimacy with the Lord. This makes you safe and secure because you now see God as your Source for everything including the smallest details of your life. This is one thing that will help us live unspotted by the world. Our hunger for God swallows up our hunger for the world and its evil pleasures.