Resonance

Category: Christianity

  • The Forbearance of God in Execution of Judgement

    The Forbearance of God in Execution of Judgement

    One most important but extremely missing ingredient of Love is forbearance or long-suffering. It has quickly become an unpopular word, almost Old English, barely heard or used in everyday English. It’s not even associated with Love anymore and yet, it’s an underlying theme in the entire Scriptures. Without forbearance, love has an expiry date. Agape Love is understood in this light because the Love that suffers long does not make sense. That notwithstanding, it makes everything else make sense, makes patience a reality, bitterness an abomination and love worthwhile. Let’s delve in!

    Love Suffers Long

    I know forbearance is old school to this generation. This generation will definitely call this kind of Love stupid, reckless or even immature. Yet, this is what covenanted love looks like. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself”. Hosea experienced this love when God used him as a shadow of His love life. Hosea had to love and be faithful to his prostituting wife. His love was not conditional; based on her performance and actions. His love was unconditional; based on himself.

    Hosea is not the only one to have embraced this God kind of Love. It was the same chesed Hebrew word used in Ruth’s love for Naomi, David’s love for Jonathan, . It is the same “I’m-not-going-anywhere kind of Love. It is steadfast loyalty, tender mercies, lovingkindnesses. This part can be well understood until we add another ingredient; the wrath of God. See, our love for God ought to include our fear of Him. You separate the two at your own peril. If you love God but don’t fear Him, you’ll begin to live the kind of life that takes evil advantage of His kind of Love.

    Judgement as an Act of Love

    When it comes to judgement in this context, I’d like to separate it into two; chastening as discipline & executing judgement as justice. It’s not everyone that God chastens. The chastening is part of God’s grooming activity as Bridegroom to His Bride. Not that God is showing favoritism but He can only discipline those who have surrended to Him. In Psalm 32:4, we see the Hand of God upon David when he sinned. This Hand was not responsible for favour but judgement. However, the judgement is not the ultimate or final verdict. Whenever you fall into sin, this Hand falls heavy upon you until you return to your true place.

    God’s chastening is important, especially in this age where we are not fully perfect. Although you are not perfect, you ought to strive towards mastery because you have been perfected and given all things that pertains to life and godliness. It is God’s way of saving you from His wrath when He chastens you. Immediately you begin to deviate, you lose your peace. If you sin, you feel conviction from His Spirit. If your prayer life and relationship with God is diminishing, you feel unsatisfied in your spirit. Sometimes, God’s chastening may mean failing where you’re supposed to succeed because if you had succeeded without God, you would have stayed longer in your deviation.

    Have you realized God is not wicked? He disciplined you out of love but you thought He was being too hard on you. He’s insisting on you more than you see Him to do others doing worse than you did. Don’t compare yourself to them. They chose to live comfortably in sin. You chose to surrender to Christ. Therefore, He chastening you is legit and must be taken seriously because God takes you seriously. His Love suffers long for you until you reach the full statute of Christ. Do you realize God never reduced or suspended His standard of righteousness and holiness and Justice? Meanwhile, this is a standard all humanity fell short of. God would have been still right to condemn all of us. He didn’t because His Mercy literally endures forever.

    Forbearance in Light of Swift Judgements & Making Hell

    God’s anger is His ability to carry out judgements against evil, and God’s wrath is His ability to execute His anger. Do you know what? He does not suspend His love in this equation. His anger only exists because of His Love. Just as a father disciplines His children, so does the Lord chasten those He loves. Even allowing someone to go to hell is an act of God’s Love. The power of choice only exists because of Love, and although it breaks God’s heart that you choose something else above Him, He ultimately acknowledges your position to spend eternity without Him. That is Love. He made an intervention by paying such a hefty price to save you, but He won’t force you to spend time with Him if it’s not your will.

    He is not willing that anyone should perish but those without everlasting life will perish. It’s those with everlasting life who should not perish. We think Omnipotence is using power to bully and override will. However, God shows His true Power by self-restraint. On the Cross, Christ restrained Himself and laid down His life for me although He had the power to scatter the whole thing. God also demonstrates restraint in not punishing outrightly when injustice is committed. Therefore, what you’re seeing in this New Testament is not God cancelling judgement and Justice forever but restraining judgement until it’s time to sit on the Throne of Judgement.

    Right now, He sits on the Throne of Grace so it’s easy to think you can fool and get away with it in the New Testament, unlike in the Old. That’s a lie from the pit of hell. God by no means let’s the guilty go unpunished. Remember, there are more stories in the Old Testament than the New. So it’s not surprising to see more swifter judgements of God in the Old than in the New. What is written in the Old was written for our learning. There are still certain states a man can put himself in to warrant God’s swift judgement, just like in the Old Testament. In fact, the New Testament has several warnings of God’s judgements, both the swift ones and the ones that tarries but happens suddenly. We’ll discuss all that soon. The question one may ask is, why is God putting up with all this inconsistencies of men.

    Saved by Grace, Made by Grace

    That is why God created humans in the first place. He foresaw all of this and decided to go on with His marvelous plan. In Ephesians 2:4-7, Paul is revealing something eternal and monumental. Before God made man, He already foresaw our fall; our rebellion, sin, and separation. And yet, rather than abandoning the plan, He chose to proceed, because in man’s fall, He saw the perfect opportunity to reveal a dimension of His nature that even angels, principalities, and powers had never known before: grace.

    You see, angels see His holiness, His justice, His power, His wisdom, but never His saving grace. There’s no redemption plan for fallen angels. But with us fallen, broken, rebellious humanity, God poured out His immeasurable love, not because we deserved it, but precisely because we didn’t.  Here’s the mind-blowing part: In the ages to come, meaning eternally, forever, and ever, God will point at you, yes you, as a living, breathing, glorified, eternal example of what His grace can do. You’ll be the display case, the exhibit, the masterpiece that says, “Look what the mercy and kindness of God can produce.”

    It transcends time and creation. New beings, creations, or realms of existence will behold you and marvel, not at you, but at the riches of His grace that you represent. You are proof that God’s love is so powerful, it can transform the dead into life, the lost into seated heirs, the doomed into glorified co-kings with Christ. I have uncovered a glimpse of my eternal significance in God’s eternal story, and all was made possible because God’s Love suffers long. Throughout this entire imperfect journey and sanctification process, the Holy One tolerated my human weakness and frailty, knowing that the good work He has begun in me can be brought to a good and expected end.

    To be continued…

  • How Were People of the Old Testament Saved?

    Different Dispensation, Same Age

    There are dispensations, eras, seasons and times; A time appointed for everything, as Ecclesiastes 3 rightly says. There is a set time of favour and mercy (Psalm 102:13), and a set time of judgement (Psalm 75:2), amongst others. A season can last as short as a month and as long as a year. Eras define seasons. Since a lot happens in times and different seasons can run concurrently, eras give a summary and pattern to the outworking of the seasons and times. Dispensations are characterised by a life-altering, destiny-defining moment for the rest of the age. For instance, when Adam sinned, all our original destinies were altered.

    There was a dispensation of innocence where righteousness was not fully established in the life of Adam. God could come to Adam in the cool of the day, but Adam hadn’t found how to approach God yet. Then there was a dispensation before the Law was given. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job and Judah, etc., did not have the law, but God was with them. It was a dispensation of conscience. The Law brought a new dispensation where the entire justice system of God was revealed to man objectively. Jesus brought about the new dispensation of Grace when He died and rose again.

    However, there hasn’t been a change in this age. We are still in the same age, whether you were born at the time of the New Testament or the Old. The dispensation has changed, but the age has not. To say nothing has changed will be a fallacy that does not acknowledge the work of Jesus on the Cross. To treat it as though it’s an entire new age is the other extreme of the error. It is the same age. Therefore, the standards and requirements for everyone in this age remain the same.

    Avoiding Both Extremes

    Jesus’ death and resurrection did not bring us into a new age. Sin is not dead. We are dead to sin, but sin is not dead. Jesus has all authority, but the devil still has powers. We are not living in the time of the Millennial rule. The world is still evil and corrupt. God’s judgment still exists, just like in the Old Testament. He hasn’t changed, although Jesus’ sacrifice did change us. To now paint God as only a Loving Father who has no power to kill or judge evil because of Christ’s example is making a mockery of God, who has never changed throughout all ages. Jesus’ first coming is Grace and Truth. His second coming is Righteousness and Justice.

    Avoid the other extreme, where we act as though Jesus’ death on the Cross changed nothing. “God forgave before Jesus died”. Yes, it’s just like credit and debit. Those before Christ were debited and those after Christ were credited. Thus, forgiveness, for both those before and after Christ, was only possible because of Jesus’ death that satisfied God’s justice. “If death is conquered, why do we still die?” To leave this corruptible realm and overcome death by resurrection, just like Christ did. Let’s not act as though Jesus’ death changed nothing.

    The Gospel was Preached in the Old Testament

    The Bible says, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before you in Psalm 22, which is a Psalm about the Messiah. All nations, including the Gentiles. Isaiah 11:10 says, “In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to him shall the Gentiles seek.” Thus, the idea of Gentiles being part of God’s people was a mystery that had always been part of the plan. Remember Genesis 12:3? All families of the earth are blessed through Abraham. In Galatians 3:16, Jesus is referred to as the Seed of Abraham.

    Isaiah 49:6: Salvation reaches the ends of the earth. Psalm 86:9: All nations will come and worship God. Isaiah 56:6-7: Foreigners join themselves to the LORD. Isaiah 60:3: Gentiles come to the light. Malachi 1:11: God’s name becomes great among the Gentiles. Isaiah 11:10: The Gentiles seek the Messiah. Grace is not a New Testament concept. Several times in the Old Testament, the grace of God was spoken about. I listed all these verses in the post on God’s Mercy;

    Mercy: How to Obtain Mercy at the Throne of Grace

    Being born an Israelite in the Old Testament is like being born into the church by Christian parents today; it didn’t automatically make you a believer and follower of God. We see this clearly when certain generations in Israel’s history completely forsook God and followed after other gods, leaving only a remnant. The Gospel was preached severally in the Old Testament. In Romans 9:17, God chose Pharaoh to use his stubbornness as a tool to evangelise His greatness to the entire ancient world. There are over 350 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament.

    You can preach the entire Gospel from the Old Testament. Jesus’ gruesome suffering was captured more by Isaiah in Isaiah 53 than the disciples themselves who witnessed it. The entire Bible is the Gospel. The Old Testament captures the promise. The New Testament captures the reality. Jesus Himself, in Luke 24:44, used the Old Testament to preach the Gospel. In fact, whenever you see the Gospel being preached in the book of Acts, you should know they were using the Old Testament, as at the time, because the New Testament was still in the process of writing.

    Why is it necessary to understand this? Because just as we are saved by believing the Gospel, the people in the Old Testament had the same opportunity given to them all to hear the Gospel and believe. Noah preached the Gospel to his generation, and so did Jeremiah. Hebrews 1:1-2 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“. God has been speaking the Gospel since time immemorial.

    Same Righteousness

    Since we are all of the same age, the same standard of Righteousness is required of us all. In fact, the same standard of Righteousness will be required in all ages to come. My righteousness is no different from the righteousness of Abraham. If it were, why would God choose a man in an old dispensation to be the father of all who believe?

    Abraham is the template God chose to bring redemption to man. The promise was given to him, and the manifestation was fulfilled in Christ. Although men before him, like Noah, were declared righteous – and Enoch – walked with God – it was by Abraham that God established a covenant to save all nations. Abraham was given the promise in Genesis 15, and He believed. That was how righteousness was imputed/accounted/credited unto him.

    In Romans 4:5-8, Paul explained that salvation and justification have always been by faith. God did not change the plan halfway. “It is of faith that it might be according to grace“. The purpose of the law was never about salvation. Through Abraham, God established for all men that you become righteous by responding in faith to the grace He shows. It is the same God, same faith in God, and the same righteousness God imputes.

    So then, if Old Testament saints have the same righteousness as we have, at what point exactly do they become saved, you might ask? After all, Jesus’ death on the Cross was in their future. Exactly! For them, it was a promise and was in their future, while for us, it is a manifestation and is in our past. Just as we are saved by believing in what was done for us in the past, they were saved by believing in what will be done for them in the future. Whoever believed in the promise had Righteousness accounted to them also.

    If you believe Jesus’ death and resurrection are still relevant, although it is in the past, you should not be confused that it was equally as relevant while the manifestation was in the future for those in the Old Testament. Moses’ rich relationship with God was because of the access Jesus paved. God forgave the sins David confessed because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. In Psalm 65:3, David prophesied that God would be the one to atone for our sins. They saw the shadow, believed and confessed. Their confessions became prophecy for those in their day to also hear and believe.

    Let us explore some examples: Rahab the prostitute became saved by her confession in Joshua 2:10-11. What is the Gospel? One definition of the Gospel is in Romans 1:16; it is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe. Rahab was told about the power God displayed in Egypt; she believed and confessed that the Lord God is indeed God. That was how she was saved and inculcated into the lineage of Jesus. Same with Ruth. Her confession is in Ruth 1:16. I used people originally not in the nation of Israel to show you that, even in the Old Testament, God’s plan of salvation included everyone. In fact, in Isaiah 56:3, God commanded the foreigners who had joined His people not to think of themselves as a different breed. Of course, the full manifestation of this was seen in Christ, as written in Ephesians 3:6.

    The Conclusion of the Matter

    The easiest way to understand all of this is to remember three things: the same God, the same age, and the same righteousness, but different dispensations. God has always had one plan for humanity. The dispensations changed, but God’s character, His standard of righteousness, and His ultimate plan of redemption did not. What changed with Christ was not God’s nature or the standard by which He judges righteousness, but the fulfilment and manifestation of the promise that had been spoken about from the beginning. What about those living in remote places who have never heard the Gospel? How will God judge them? Read the Mystery of Witnesses to understand.

    Judgement Day: The Mystery of Witnesses

    The people before Christ looked forward to the promise. We look back at its fulfilment. They believed in what God said He would do. We believe in what God has done through Christ. But in both cases, salvation is by faith in God’s grace. This is why we must avoid both extremes. We cannot say that the Cross changed nothing, because it changed everything about how God’s redemptive plan was manifested and gave us access to what the Old Testament saints only saw in promise and shadow. At the same time, we cannot say that Christ introduced an entirely different God, a different standard of righteousness, or an age where judgment no longer exists.

    Therefore, Abraham was not saved by a different method from us. Rahab was not saved by a different God. Ruth was not accepted because she was an Israelite. They believed God, responded to His grace, and righteousness was accounted to them by faith. Different dispensation. Same age. Same God. Same righteousness. Same Gospel. The difference is that they were looking forward to Christ, while we look back at Christ. And that is why the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is ultimately telling one story: God’s plan to redeem humanity through Jesus Christ.

  • Righteousness: the Operating System of God’s Kingdom

    Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God’s throne. That means God rules in righteousness. That also means what is righteous is what is pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God. Thus, righteousness is right standing with God. We cannot stand before God if we are not righteous. We cannot also represent God if we are not righteous. God alone is right, good and true. He is the only determiner, definer and demonstrator of what is right. Something is only right because God makes it so. Therefore, we cannot seek the Kingdom of God without seeking His Righteousness. His Righteousness is His Way of being and doing right. That means He determines how we become righteous and what deeds are righteous.

    The sin of Adam and Eve is that they ate from the tree of death after listening to the voice of the devil. Thus, they gained the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, they now determined what was good and evil without God. We cannot be righteous outside of God. Ask atheists; the foundation of good and evil collapses when God is taken out of the equation. Without the presence of God, we cannot even differentiate between good and evil anymore. Nothing is inherently right without God. If God says go and you stay, you have faulted. He is the Judge of All, and He judges what is right rightly because He alone has the right to determine what is right.

    The Nature of Righteousness

    Righteousness is first of all a nature. You don’t do to become. You become, then you do. You can never do righteous deeds if you are not righteous. Righteousness is what is pleasing in the sight of God. That means God alone gets to determine what is good and what is evil. However, we were not able to live fully according to His Law. Therefore, we couldn’t stand before Him blameless. The Law was only to show us that we will never achieve righteousness by what we do. Jesus became our substitute in this regard. He is the Righteousness of God. Therefore, if we believe in Him and accept His Life, which is a righteous life, we gain access to the presence of God. By this same access, we are able to live the life of righteousness God has fashioned for us.

    This is why Righteousness comes first in the order; Righteousness, Peace, Joy in the Holy Ghost. Righteousness is when we accept the Lordship of God. This means we give Him the full right to rule our lives and be the one to determine how we live. You cannot claim to be in the Kingdom if you are living according to your own understanding. We ought to seek first His Kingdom and Righteousness. Righteousness is the operating system of the Kingdom of God. It is His government and constitution. The nature of righteousness then flows into our words, works and ways.

    Words, Works & Ways

    Your input determines your output, in computer language. You cannot say you are righteous when you do not bear any fruits of righteousness. Yes, righteous is who you are. Righteousness will naturally flow into what you do. What you do cannot make you righteous but you being righteous will flow into what you do. It’s that simple! Feeding a child does not make you a mother but a mother feeds her child. Being a mother is who you are and it will naturally flow into what you do. Therefore, you are making excuses when we don’t see your righteous works. The very first “output” we will see is your words. The Righteousness of God is the Word of God. If you have the Righteousness of God, you will speak the words of God.

    There are works God has predestined for us to walk in. These works are righteous, for they please the LORD. This is God’s way of doing right. Because we have the Spirit of God within us, we are able to perform the Kingdom duties given unto us. Wherever the Kingdom of God is, the Righteousness of God is established there. Our ways refer to how we do things as our works refer to what we do. How we do things is as important as what we do. The Righteousness of God makes sure that we don’t try to use evil to achieve good. Don’t try to help God by giving birth to Ishmael. God has His Way of doing things, and righteousness demands that we follow that particular way.

  • Mercy and Truth, Righteousness and Justice!

    In my studies of the book of Psalms, I discovered a collocation. I saw mercy and truth together. Whenever I saw righteousness in certain contexts, I simply knew justice was lurking somewhere behind. I’ve studied Scriptures meticulously enough to know that nothing in the Bible is ever by accident or coincidence. Even the details we think are redundant are tremendously intentional. These collocations were no different. Today being the introduction, I’ll simply give a general overview and show you all where these four occur in Scriptures. The next four parts will go into detail for each one.

    In the courtroom of Heaven, God sits as the Judge. Satan, meaning accuser, has a role in the courts as well. In fact, Satan’s role as the accuser of the brethren in the courts of Heaven is more well known to the average believer than our role. If you don’t know your role and authority in these courts, a lot of things in life will not only confuse you; it will make you a victim. Thus, this 5-part series is given for you to understand these 4 pillars that operate in the courtroom of Heaven; Mercy, Truth, Righteousness and Justice.

    Every single decision, intent and outcome passes through this courtroom. Whether in eternity or in time, every decision is foreknown by the Omniscient God, and He chooses to allow or approve based on the 4 collocations. That means nothing has ever happened that wasn’t first approved, acknowledged or allowed by God. If God does not allow or permit something to happen, it can never happen. This Truth can make a lot of us confused, especially when we focus on all the evil and atrocious activities that do happen. However, the fact that God allows it does not mean He condones it.

    God is Just, therefore, He cannot disobey His own Word. He will never disobey one Truth to obey another. He justifies every single action He takes, although He does not need to justify Himself to anybody. Every single decision He makes is merciful, true, righteous and just. All parametres must be fulfilled. That’s how God works. Every single thing that God has ever done and will ever do is within these 4 pillars, all at the same time. Jesus dying on the Cross is the pinnacle of this revelation. On the Cross, we saw Mercy, Truth, Righteousness and Justice all fulfilled.

    I don’t want to be God. Only God can be God. Because this is so incomprehensible, especially to the human mind. Do you understand? If God wants to show you mercy, He has to be true, right and just. If God wants to judge, it ought to be merciful, true and righteous. At no point has any been left out. If God is to choose Jacob and not Esau, He needs to justify His decision. If God favours you instead of anyone else, it’s not random selection. Predestination and election is approved in the courts of Heaven. Many of the unfoldings of this life were approved before the foundations of the world.

    God designed and approved every single person’s destiny before the foundations of the world. Do you get it? He designed everything before He started. That notwithstanding, predestination and foreknowledge are two different things. There are also things God did not predestine but allowed although He foreknew. Even what He allows is based on Mercy, Truth, Righteousness and Justice. It’s not all things that you need to understand before you believe. This should be one of them. If you check really well, there’s a balance to it too. Mercy balances Truth. Righteousness balances Justice. What is Truth without Love? What is Grace without Truth?  Think about it! What is Justice without Righteousness? What is Justice without Truth and what is Mercy without Justice?

    There are many things that God allowed, although He never predestined, because legality was secured by the kingdom of darkness. That’s why you need to understand the jurisdiction of the devil. Because God is just and the person involved broke God’s Word, satan can secure rights in the court of Heaven to perpetuate evil legally. How? An example is when Adam fell. Adam not only disobeyed God; he directly obeyed the devil. The Truth of God’s Word says we are slaves to whomever we obey. Because of this truth, justice demands that we become slaves to death – the one we obeyed.

    However, because of God’s mercy, Adam was not directly cursed. He cursed the ground for Adam’s sake and did not allow humanity to reap the full repurcussion of our gross disobedience. Instead, He paved a way of escape from death according to His Righteousness. He foreknew that Adam would sin but still went on to create man because He had predestined that although man would fall, He would save man according to His Righteousness.

    What I mean by “according to His Righteousness” is that God cannot now speak words for our death penalty to be paid although He is All-Powerful. That would violate His own Word when He said “ye shall surely die”. So someone still needs to die for justice to be fully served. The person needs to be a man for it to be right and just. Thus, God became man, lived a perfect life so He can exchange His life for our death and suffer the full repurcussions of our sins, satisfying Mercy, Truth, Righteousness and Justice. The wrath of God against sin needed to be satisfied; that wrath was poured upon Christ.

    This is going to be an exciting series, isn’t it? Mercy, Truth, Righteousness, Justice!

  • Consecration: Set Yourself Apart Unto

    Consecration is not only what you set yourself apart from. If you ‘set yourself apart from’ but do not ‘set yourself apart unto’, it amounts to nothing. It’s the purpose of ‘setting ourselves apart to’ that makes ‘setting ourselves apart from’ meaningful. If this purpose is missing, it can rather lead to sin-consciousness. Living on mountains and caves away from the activities of life will not stop sin from reaching your mind. Thus, the goal is not to distract yourself from the distraction. It is to participate in what the distraction wants to distract you from.

    The true mark that something belongs to God alone is consecration. Romans 6:13 says “do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” The true mark that you belong to God is that you consecrate yourself unto Him. Not just yourself but your body, your gain; your all. Why? He gave Himself up for you so you could give yourself up for Him.

    The Consecration of Christ

    God did not need to do what He did for us. He wouldn’t have been out of character to destroy us because per His justice, He is justified in destroying all humanity in His wrath. However, He demonstrated His Eternal Love as never before known. Michael is a creature of His Power. Lucifer was a creature of His Light. You are a creature of His Love. It cost God to have you.  Christ gave Himself up for you. He is God, yet, He relinquished His God-abilities to take on flesh. For the very first time, God could be tired, God could be hungry, God could be betrayed. All because of you.

    He gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us. Why won’t you give up everything to become like Him? The hefty price Jesus was willing to pay demanded that He lived a sinless life from the beginning up until the end. He was without spot or blemish so that He meets the requirements of the justice system of God. Yet, He didn’t die as a child but a full grown man with all the hormones. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. In the days of His flesh, He consecrated Himself for you.

    Christ died to consecrate you unto God. He is the only way to the Father. Without Him, you have no right to stand before God, talk less of having a relationship with Him. It is the biggest sacrifice in all eternity. Jesus literally put everything on the line to reconcile you back to God, knowing very well some will even still reject His sacrifice. Will you? Make up your mind and heart to live wholeheartedly for Him without shame or compromise. He died naked on the Cross, beaten and crucified and despised by the very people He came to die for. He gave His all for all of you.

    Your Consecration is the Only Reasonable Response

    You’re not doing God a favour by consecrating yourself to Him. The life of Adam died and the only life you have is the Eternal Life you have in Christ. The only power you have in this equation is the power of choice. Worship cannot be authentic if there was no other choice. You have to see that the only reasonable choice you have is to dedicate your living to God so His Spirit can live His life through you. You’re not indebted to the flesh because death no longer holds any legality over your life.

    God has every right to tell you what to do. He has the right to place a demand on you at any time. He is your Lord. Of course, He has that right as your Creator, God, Father and Lover. Don’t use your power of choice as a leverage to think there are no legal demands and expectations of God upon your life. You’re literally His servant. Just because He is not forcing you doesn’t mean it’s not required of you. The life you have in Adam is dead. The only life you have now is Christ’s. You are eternally indebted to Him and He didn’t force you. That’s why you willingly gave your life to Him.

    Winning the Battle Against Desecration

    We have three main battles that we have overcome and need to practically sustain victory over in this life; the flesh, the world and the devil. If you have not overcome your flesh practically, you are no match for the systems of the world practically. A man who has not conquered himself cannot conquer the world. If you have sin in you, the god of this world has something on you. His goal is not to fight you boot for boot but to desecrate you. My prayer for you is that when the god of this world comes, he will find nothing of him in you.

    When you wage war against the kingdom of darkness, they will simply exploit your weaknesses. If you love anything at all above God, that will be your downfall. Christ literally condemned sin in His flesh so stop using sin as an excuse not to consecrate yourself unto God. Sin is not more powerful than the life you have in Christ. Make up your mind to please God and live a life consecrated unto Him. The life He gave you is a holy life. The Spirit He gave you is the Holy Spirit. The Word He gave you is the Holy Scriptures. If it were not possible to live a holy life, He wouldn’t have commanded you to.

    You are made holy and accepted so make up your mind and heart to live holy and acceptable. It takes intentionality to live a life of sin as a born-again believer. That same intentionality is what is used in living a holy life. By holy life, I not only mean setting yourself apart from but also setting yourself apart unto God. We are called to live a sinless life. If we do sin, our Advocate speaks for us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to make us sinless again so we can continue on our journey of pleasing God.

    Forget about satan for a second. Consecration is an eternal disposition. When Lucifer abandoned his consecration, he became satan. God doesn’t accept just anything. No! He only accepts what is consecrated to Him. If He puts you in an office, gives you a gift or blesses you in any way, there is a level of consecration expected of you to sustain it. The day Lucifer looked at himself instead of God, iniquity was found in him. Even if sin wasn’t in the equation, the ordinance of consecration will still exist because it existed before sin.

    Covenanted Consecration

    Consecration is never by accident or automation. It is intentional and must be ordained on the premise of the testament. We all have one covenant with God in Christ. It is called the New and Eternal Covenant. Every other personal covenants is tied to and realized in this One. By being eternal, it means it has no end. By being eternal, it means everything it makes available is equally eternal. The backend of the blessing is consecration. Whatever God gives is holy and must be dedicated to Him. Consecration reminds you that you’re a steward and God is the true owner of it all, including your very body.

    In practical terms, if God wants to make you a kingdom financier, there are special consecrations expected of you as so sustain that blessing. As a kingdom financier, giving is your consecration. Consecrated giving means you cannot support God’s Kingdom and the other kingdom. It means your income shouldn’t be made by or given to vices. Your giving should be out of love and must kill pride and greed out of you. It’s not as fun as we make it seem. Anything that thrills the flesh abhors the Spirit. Your giving will make your flesh squirm, stretch your faith and leave you waiting on God most times. Because indeed, you are a channel, a vessel, a partaker.

    Your consecration should not be haphazard. It must be structured. In the beginning, you’ll think you’re doing well because you decided to wake up at night to pray. Actually, God is the One who placed that demand on you. You’re not doing it out of performance or because your prayer is what sustains your blessings. No! That mindset will let you think God is now against you on days where you fail. However, you’re doing it out of covenanted love. Thus, you have decided; on days you feel like or don’t feel like, when you have enough or don’t have at all, when it’s convenient and when it’s not, in good times and bad times, you are dedicated.

    How to Daniel in Babylon

    Your consecration ought to be part of your everyday routine. The systems of this world have already made sure that your desecration is part of everyday life. Consecration demands that you come out from among them. You have to leave Egypt and Egypt has to leave you. Goshen, as good as it is, is not the Promised Land. From Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah 6, Isaiah realized that the people he lived amongst was part of the reason why he was unworthy to dwell amongst the divine beings in the courts of Heaven.

    However, you’re not always going to have the comfort of a consecrated conclave. Mount Zion is dedicated to God but the likes of Nehemiah, Esther, Joseph and Daniel did not have the luxury of living in such a place. Christians have been known to desist other Christians from taking up such positions in high places because of the level of corruption that dwells around it. That’s true. That notwithstanding, those called to sit those high places as holy servants of God should be mindful of the kind of consecration that ought to sustain.

    Esther had a Mordecai. Daniel had the three Hebrew boys. Joseph had no one for a long time until his family arrived. If possible, have someone. You’ll need a company of people. Your surroundings may be evil but your environment must be holy. Your inner circle will keep the holy fire. There’s a level of wealth that goes beyond your input. There’s some kind of money that when you get, mammon will come and look for you.

    There’s some level of influence that when you about to attain, satan will be attracted to you. There’s a kind of political power that if you’re able to sustain by your own strength, a secret society will approach you. Life has always been spiritual. It will shock you to know that in board rooms where the destinies of nations are on the line, everyone shows up with supernatural backing.

    If you’re not backed, you’ll be unexplainably eliminated without trace. A Daniel in Babylon should be aware of this. An Esther should never attempt to approach the king without having fasted and prayed with her kindred. Life is a battle. Those who avoid battles will not reach anywhere and will settle for a mediocre life.

    What Must I Do?

    Having understood what Christ has done for you and having reasonably responded and understood that you ought to live a life of consecration, you are asking what it practical things you have to do in your everyday life to live a consecrated life. I only talked about kingdom financiers and Daniels in Babylon. You may be a singer or a career woman etc. Jesus is the template for living. The Holy Spirit is the instructor for personal living. The life you have is unique to you. God’s purpose for your life is as unique as the consecrated life you ought to live.

    John the Baptist could not drink wine but Jesus’ first miracle was wine. There’s what generally cuts across but there are perculiar things God will outrightly tell only you to do or not do. You can’t copy and paste someone else’s consecration. That’s why I always desist from giving detailed prescriptions. Follow Christ as your template and heed the Holy Spirit’s clear instructions. In this season, as you intentionally make up your mind to live a consecrated life, may the Holy Spirit reveal to you on a daily basis how to ought to live your life to please the Father.

    AMEN

  • Consecration: Set Yourself Apart From

    Consecration is a two-way dedication; being set apart from and being set apart to. We set ourselves apart from to set ourselves apart to. The One who is pleased when we set ourselves apart to Him does not want us entangled with any other thing. Thus, the need for consecration.

    The truth is, the devil doesn’t mind sharing you with God. After all, it’s the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Evil people are allowed to do good. That’s the real definition of deceit. Darkness is devised to operate like light. You can have both feet in the two kingdoms and the devil will count it as a plus for his kingdom. It is God who wants you to worship Him only!

    That’s why the true essence of consecration is Holiness. Holiness means uniqueness. No alloys, no impurities; pure containment and dedication to the predestined purpose. Look at the human body. Each part is unique! In fact, so unique that when you put the right instrument in the wrong hole, it’s an abomination that causes desecration. What use is your eyes if it was below your waist and behind your head? That’s perversion; the wrong version.

    To Be Set Apart From

    This is why we fast. Fasting sets you apart from the appetites of the flesh. If your flesh always dictates its desires to you, sin can take advantage of it. This is why we go on retreats. To set ourselves apart from. To constrain yourself from worldly dictates. Sin is a 🦠 virus. It behaves exactly like it. A virus is dead outside a living organism but comes alive when in one. Sin craves you as its vessel. It wants to grow in you until the fruit is no longer undeniable. Yes, there’s a stage in sin where you’re too far gone to restrain yourself from obeying its lust. At worst, you’ll be a die hard addict who has no hope of escaping its prison. At best, you’ll sin, repent but repeat.

    Consecration is the ordinance that makes sure you don’t fall into the trap of sin or open any gate for it to enter your heart, the control room. In the Levitical order, coming into contact with anything that death has touched made you ceremonially unclean. Some uncleanness lasted until evening but some lasted for 7 days and included purification rituals. The sacrifice of Jesus puts an end to the ceremonial laws but the precept is still eternal. It means purge yourself from things (people, places, posits etc) that are fashioned to defile you.

    Consecration demands that you not only hate sin but avoid its slippery slopes. Once you begin to ask “how far is too far?”, your process of desecration has already begun. Consecration demands that you not only abstain from sin but abstain from any environment likely to give room for sin to enter. Being alone with a person you’re not married to in a cool dark room with a locked door is not a sin in itself. However, you don’t understand consecration if you entertain that. Avoid anything that sets you on the path of destruction or increases the tempting lure of sin.

    The seductive power of sin is in deceit. Once you begin to loosen your guard little by little, you surround yourself with stings of death. Don’t make it easy for sin to reach you. He who digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent. Don’t believe the lie that you’re not susceptible, that it’s not your weakness, or that nothing will happen. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?

    You drove recklessly a couple of times and nothing happened but you forget that it only takes one fatal accident for you to destroy yourself. It’s better to be laughed at human beings for looking weak than to be laughed at by the kingdom of darkness for falling prey to their snares. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?

    I have realized that the misconception of grace (or should I say, the conception of hypergrace) is why Christians don’t want to take consecration seriously. “After all, when I fall into the temptation I have long been entertaining, God will forgive me.” You see, Grace was not given so that sin will abound. No! The reason why where sin abounds, Grace abounds much more is so that there’s no instance where a person does not have more than enough grace to live above sin. The work of Grace is Titus 2:11-12. You have been given grace to consecrate/set yourself apart from sin.

    A man who consecrates himself demonstrates his love for God in action, and set himself apart for God. To be continued….

  • Participating in the Perpetual Partnership in Prayer

    “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
      John   15:7   NKJV 

    Prayer is most essentially the Godhead communicating with Himself in union with us. We pray with the help of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus to the Father. The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us according to the Will of God (Romans 8:27). Jesus said the Holy Spirit will remind us of God’s Word. That means God wants to exercise His authority through us.

    Jesus has granted access to ask the Father whatever we wish for. The Father always grants the wishes of His Son. That’s why we pray in His Name. That’s His authority. But prayer is not only praying in His Name, it’s also praying His Word. We pray God’s Word in God’s Name to God as God’s way of involving us in God’s Will for us. We are partakers of the divine nature.


    God’s Spirit dwells in you. God’s Word abides in you. What is more intimate than this? You in Christ and Christ in you. The indwelling of not just God’s Spirit but also God’s Word. This is what changes our lives forever. The Spirit of the Word is the Word of the Spirit. The Spirit and the Word work hand in hand and are One (1 John 5:7). God not only wants us to be One with Him in Spirit, but also one in Word, where His Word is our words. 2 Corinthians 4:13 says, “And since we have the same Spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak”.



    Since we have the same Spirit, we can also speak according to the same Word. That’s the only way all our prayers are answered. It’s when you’re so intertwined with God’s Spirit that He speaks His Word through you to Him and He fulfills His Word to you through Him. Thus, even in a prayer of request, we get to participate in the eternal communion that exists in the Godhead.

    It’s that place of intimacy where you’re so full of God’s Spirit and God’s Word that your wishes and desires are His wishes and desires. And when you pray God’s own Word to Him, God answers because He always fulfills His own Word. 

  • Confessions, Proclamations & Declarations

    2 Corinthians 4:13 NIV
    It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same Spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak.”

    The way to bring a spiritual reality into the physical is by believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth. Even God operates by this principle. The first time words were used, it was used to create. Literally everything we see and has been made was first a thought. The thought was believed and voiced out, before anyone even got to work on it. From trees to buildings to businesses. Think about it!

    Confessing with your mouth but not believing in your heart carries no weight and substance. That is why we need revelation before we can make effective confessions. Imagination is how the enemy can get you to believe something so you can confess it into reality. Whatever you continually set before you becomes your reality. Because spirits know that unless something becomes so real to you inwardly, you cannot confess it outwardly for it to come to pass.

    See, one of the major reasons why demons prefer to possess humans is because we legally possess the right to speak things into our realm. If the enemy can speak in the spirit and cease your vocal cords to speak hurtful words on your friend, he can destroy your friend’s self-esteem continually by your words, legally. Not every thought should come out of your mouth. He Spoke, therefore I Speak! The Greek word for confession is homologeo. Homo means one. Logeo is Logos; the word. One Word! This is why we listen to hear God speak a Word. When we hear, we believe and then speak. One Spirit, one mind, one faith, one Word. 


    The truth about believing in our heart is that whatever you really believe in your heart, you will naturally and eventually confess it. It is also possible to simply believe in your mind without believing in your heart. This is why we meditate on God’s Word until the Word becomes real to us. That’s what we call Rhema. At that point, you begin to proclaim and confess and declare the Word of God by the inspiration of the Spirit.

    James 1:6/Mark 11:23 teaches us that we shouldn’t doubt in our minds when and after we confess. Confession is not magic. It’s an act of faith, not spells. Whether it unfolds immediately or years later, you are not moved because you have evidence of things not seen. Whether you believe it or not, you are where you are today because of some confessions you made in the past. We confess to confirm. Whatever we confirm, we become a witness of. If we are witnesses unto Christ, we ought to confess Christ and confirm His Word to the nations.

    Confession is always in past tense. It is agreeing with what God has said. That means God has to speak first before we can confess what He has said. Proclamation, on the other hand, is giving an announcement. Once you give an announcement and your word falls to the ground, that means you didn’t have the right or authorization to give such an announcement. An announcement is how people are ushered into their destinies or their next level, and how seasons and eras are changed.

    You can proclaim praise for creation to follow suite. Declaration is affirming what has been established by authority. We decree to declare. If nothing has been decreed, nothing can be declared. Psalms 2:7 says “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me…”.

    By confessing, you acknowledge and align to God’s provision and truth. Confessions are to God while proclamations are about God to others. By declaring, you enforce what God has already established concerning you. Rebellion is what characterizes the kingdom of darkness. They are stubborn. They don’t care about what God has said about you as long you don’t know. Even if you know, they will still try you. You will need to declare what has been decreed. Declare God’s truth in the face of temptation, opposition and contradictions to overcome.

    Now that you know this, how can you keep quiet? Confess! Proclaim! Declare!

  • The Knowledge of the Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven II

    Secret 03: A Good Foundation and A Good Environment are the Viable Conditions for Growth and Abundance

    Matthew‬ ‭13:8‬ ‭CEV‬‬
    But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants produced 100, 60 or 30 times as much as was scattered.

    When you read the parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, Jesus describes four soils/environments. The first environment was blocked at the top and at the bottom. The one that fell on rocky grounds was blocked at the bottom. The one that fell among thorns among thorns was blocked at the top. What did the last soil described have that the others didn’t have? a good foundation and a good environment.

    This will always be true; you will reflect what you set before you. If you want to be conformed to the image of Christ, look unto Jesus. You are in the world but not of the world. That means you realise that you being seated in heavenly places is your true environment, and thus you live your life from such a reality; from Heaven towards earth, not vice versa.

    Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].

    Colossians 3:2 AMP‬

    That means you carry the Ecosystem of God. Although the kitchen is room temperature, the temperature of the room doesn’t affect you because you are on fire, literally. You are on the stove with constant heat and fire that changes your atmosphere and affects your environment. You are a victor and not a victim.



    Jesus said  ‭‭”The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life and are fooled by the desire to get rich. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything” (Matthew‬ ‭13:22‬ ‭CEV‬‬).

    Your true environment is not your surroundings. There’s a difference. Your environment is internal; your subconscious mind, thoughts, wills, desires, imaginations and self-talks. You can be surrounded by the most brilliant minds but if this environment speaks of self-doubt, failure, mediocrity and pride, it will amount to nothing.


    Create an environment for God’s Word to grow in you, otherwise, you won’t experience abundance. “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you…”. I just released a Kingdom Key secret to you. Paul said it this way, (Colossians‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭GNT‬‬) “Christ’s message in all its richness must live in your hearts. Teach and instruct one another with all wisdom. Sing psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing to God with thanksgiving in your hearts.”

    This is what it means to meditate on God’s Word. To live in God’s reality, God’s Word must dwell in you richly. Meditation is not emptying your mind; it is filling your mind with the Word of God. That is what will make your way prosperous and give you good success, bearing fruit in every season.

    Make sure your atmosphere is the Ecosystem of God. Pray internally as you about your daily tasks. Soak yourself in Spirit-filled music. Have alone time with God. Meditate on the Word. Surround yourself with like-minded people. That’s how you set yourself ablaze. Otherwise, the room temperature of the world will eventually make you lukewarm. Selah!

    We do not belong to the spirit of this age. We are kings and priests of an eternal Kingdom. We are only ambassadors of the Kingdom of God in this world. This is how we win the battle against the spirit of this age that forces all to conform to its world system. Don’t be choked by the vicissitudes and needless worries of life. Seek the Kingdom and His righteousness. ‭

  • The Knowledge of the Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven

    Introduction


    ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:11‬ ‭GNT‬‬
    Jesus answered, “The knowledge about the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

    ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬
    He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.

    ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:11‬ ‭CEV‬‬
    Jesus answered: I have explained the secrets about the kingdom of heaven to you, but not to others.

    Secret 01: Anything With No Foundation Will Spring Up Faster

    ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:5‬ ‭CSB
    “Other seeds fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep.”

    God has all the patience. Thus, it is one principle of discernment. If it is from God, it has the ability to last because God will invest in a strong foundation that will stand the test of time. Jesus plainly said in John 15:16 that His disciples bear fruits that last. If it’s from the enemy, it will come out of nowhere to lure the masses and die out. Gamaliel said it this way; “‭‭if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them…”



    So you shouldn’t be worried in life if you don’t see yourself “springing”. God will invest a solid foundation into something He believes is worthwhile. He is in no hurry like we are. He doesn’t run out of time. Even the enemy has learned strategic patience. He can patiently wait for thorns to grow with the seed of the Word and choke it before it bears fruit. In Revelation 12:4, the dragon was strategically waiting for the woman to give birth so it could devour the child.

    Let us separate ourselves from a quick-fix, fast food, where-are-the-results, manifest-now-by-shortcuts-and-formulae, soft life, comfort zone generation. God does not change His Word, regardless of the generation. He will never put His name on a person He didn’t prepare. He Himself became man but still took 30 years to be prepared for a 3-and-a-half year ministry. This is also why you ought to be aligned with God, especially in seasons of preparation. God will never let you skip any process. It’s rather detrimental to you in the future. The more you go through the motions with Him, the better.

    Not everything that springs up faster has a shallow foundation, but anything with a shallow foundation will spring up faster. Bamboo takes root for several years and then springs up faster. God wants you to go deeper before you can go lengthier. The deeper it is, the lengthier it becomes. Take this from an architect. The deeper the foundation, the taller the building. The deeper the depth, the higher the heights. You CANNOT go higher if you didn’t go deeper. Something the enemy cannot counterfeit, yet it’s God’s divine strategy to build a fruit that lasts.

    Secret 02: When You Rush and don’t Build a Solid Foundation, what is Destined to Help You will rather Destroy You.‭‭



    ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:6‬ ‭CSB‬‬
    “But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.”

    Of all the things God created, trees are the only living things that don’t rely on other living things for food. Check the food chain. They produce their own food. Photosynthesis. Photo means light. Synthesis means building up. They essentially produce food using the elements; of light and water. However, any tree without a root will be scorched by the very sun meant to help it to be productive. The rains will even come and wash such a plant away. This is not a mystery.

    Without a firm foundation, things meant to help you will rather destroy you. This is why, although the Israelites could have spent 40 days on their way to the Promised Land, they rather spent 40 years. It is yours but it won’t be given to you until you are prepared. Jesus said He won’t cast pearls before swine nor will He give what is holy to dogs (John 7:6). If you are not firm in humility, some breakthroughs will destroy you. You will become very proud. That’s why there are waiting seasons; so that patience teaches you humility.



    The Bible says God will not let us be tempted higher than we can manage (1 Corinthians 10:13). People don’t like to hear this but it includes He shutting some good doors too. He is a very efficient God and will not waste resources by giving it to people who can’t steward it in any possible way at the time. That is why He gives according to each one’s abilities (Matt 25:15). Accept God’s time because God’s time is the best. If He says you’re ready, believe Him. If He says wait, trust Him. He always has your best interest at heart.

    Sometimes, it’s not that the enemy has closed that door. That door is closed because you are being prepared for the appointed time it will be opened. A blessing becomes a curse in the hands of the unprepared. The prerequisite of sustaining a blessing is a solid foundation; preparation precedes promotion. Galatians 4 says it this way; “‭‭…as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. Instead, he is under guardians and trustees until the time set by his Father.” When the set time comes, the Spirit will be poured from on high, and the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. AMEN

  • Perceiving the Progress of the Body of Christ

    On average, humans are quick to spot existing problems due to the fallen nature. However, we are never quick to see solutions in motion, especially when it’s a slow long-term one. Most good outcomes are only realized in retrospect. That notwithstanding, let me show you commendable long-term solutions in the Body of Christ today.

    Corporate Fasting

    For many recent years, as though it was communicated to everybody, every charismatic church fasts in January. This synchronous spiritual sacrifice must be noticed while we are at it, not when it is no more. “We used to” is the language of losers. Let’s recognize the power of what we are doing now. The first test of the 1st & 2nd Adam was food. Isn’t it amazing that at the gate of the year, we are fasting as a corporate group? Whether a 3, 7, 14, 21, 40 or even 90-day fast, there is a week in January where literally every church is fasting. How powerful & profound!

    There are certain aspects that can only be effected at the corporate level. Even the prayer for the revival of nations does not take an individual as we think. What it takes the cumulative effect of several individuals across different generations to do, the corporate group of one generation can do. Now is not the time to fast for personal needs and breakthroughs. What God always does is bigger than the individuals involved. It took a long time for the shift to move from individuals to the ekklesia. Make sure that your prayers include praying for all the saints everywhere.

    Rise of Teaching Priests & Apostolic Christianity

    When Christianity begun to take root in Africa, there were a lot of syncretized doctrines. We mixed spiritism with the spiritual, and the end result was laughable. The earliest indigenous prophets were no different from native doctors, and soon, we couldn’t tell the difference as a body. Prophets could mount pulpits without a Bible and prophesy from beginning to the end because there was zero demand on them to preach the Word. This created a breeding ground for funny deceptions and lies due to a lack of firm foundation. Some believed sleeping with anointed men of God makes them anointed. Others believed Jesus was no different from one of the gods in their clan, and so on.

    This problem have arisen in Europe & the Americas before, and how God solves it is by raising Prophetic Teachers & Teaching Prophets. Every prophetic ministry had teachings & every teaching ministry had the prophetic. This brings balance to the effective working together of the Word and the Spirit. In fact, anyone found lacking in either was eventually rooted out by God. Today, many will not believe but this is the best time in church history where both the Spirit and the Word have been highlighted without choosing one over the other as if they were opposites.

    Unity of the Brethren

    The Moses generation saw many lone rangers. They were so powerful and lofty in the Spirit that they became like God to their congregation. However, when such men fell or died, nobody had the rank to intercede for them or take up their mantle respectively. Joshua had Caleb, someone he can call brother. Today, our fathers have fathers. Our fathers also have others they can call brothers and sisters. From Moses to Joshua and Caleb and then to the entire tribe of Judah, we have become more united than before. Diversity is not the opposite of unity. Whatever we thought was contradictory was actually complementary.

    At first, we used to see fights among each other because of the contradictions of our callings. The Holiness movement fought the Prosperity movement. The wisdom people fought the power people and vice versa. Now we realize we need each other because one person cannot carry it all. Our fellowship is not only with God; our fellowship is also with one another. We are family, related by the blood of Jesus & the Spirit that dwells in us individually and corporately. People listen to their pastors and listen to other pastors without necessarily joining the other pastor’s congregation. This has reduced the monopoly of pastors to lead their entire congregation astray when they themselves go astray. God has people even though there are more people who aren’t fully living up to the destiny upon their life. That notwithstanding, there is unity among the brethren.

    Signs and wonders of past times and ones that have never happened before are happening today. It hasn’t always been like that. Young people are carrying ancient mantles, apostles (sent ones) are many in the marketplace, even entire cabinets of Spirit-filled Christians is becoming the norm. Transformation is happening among individuals, the corporate group and eventually, nations. Recognize the times you’re living in. These are the last days, the amalgamation of it all. If the Bible was written in our time, you’ll be shocked at how many of these wonderful things will be documented. It’s time to rise and walk on the path of our destiny. The church is marching on from glory to glory. You were born for such a time as this. If you’re slothful, you’ll miss your slot.

  • How Christ Came & Fully Dealt with Man’s Greatest Problem

    Sin is man’s greatest problem, not merely because of what it does outwardly, but because of what it separates inwardly. From the moment it entered, sin brought guilt, corruption, death, and distance from God, leaving humanity unable to restore itself. Christ did not come to manage sin, reform behavior, or postpone judgment. He came to deal with it fully, decisively, and forever.

    In His coming, God addressed sin from every possible dimension, leaving nothing unresolved and nothing undone. The Scriptures reveal this complete work through twelve interconnected realities: blood, water, fire, garment, fragrance, oil, light, body, cross, sacrifice, life, and Spirit. Together, they testify that sin has been confronted, judged, removed, and replaced with life in Christ. Let’s explore!

    BLOOD

    1. Hebrews 9:14
    How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

    2. Revelation 1:5
    Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.

    3. Ephesians 1:7
    In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

    WATER

    1. Galatians 3:26-27
    For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

    2. Ephesians 5:26
    That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word.

    3. 1 John 5:6
    This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood.

    FIRE

    1. Matthew 3:11
    He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.

    2. Malachi 3:2-3
    For He will carry out a purifying process. He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s bleach. He will be as a silversmith who sits refining and purifying silver. He will purify the Levites, refining his priests until they are like pure gold and fine silver. Then I, Yahweh, will have those who bring me offerings in righteousness.

    3. Luke 12:49
    I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

    GARMENT

    1. Isaiah 61:10
    He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.

    2. Romans 13:14
    But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

    3. Revelation 7:14
    And have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

    FRAGRANCE

    1. Ephesians 5:2
    …Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

    2. II Corinthians 2:15
    For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

    3. Psalms 45:8
    All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.

    OIL

    1. Isaiah 10:27
    It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

    2. Leviticus 8:12
    He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, thereby anointing him to make him holy.

    3. 1 John 2:20
    But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things.

    LIGHT

    1. John 1:7
    Ephesians 5:8
    For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

    2. John 8:12
    I am the light of the world: He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

    3. 1 Peter 2:9
    But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

    THE BODY

    1. Hebrews 10:10
    And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

    2. 1 Peter 2:24
    Who His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

    3. John 1:29
    Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (Implied sacrificial body offered for sin).

    THE CROSS

    1. Colossians 2:14–15
    Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
    And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

    2. Galatians 6:14
    But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

    3. 1 Corinthians 1:18
    For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

    THE SACRIFICE

    1. Hebrews 9:26–28
    But now once in the end of the world has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

    2. Hebrews 10:12
    But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.

    3. 1 Peter 3:18
    For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.

    LIFE

    1. John 10:10
    I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

    2. Romans 5:10
    For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.


    3. 1 John 5:11-12
    And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life.

    SPIRIT

    1. Romans 8:2
    For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

    2. John 3:5-6
    Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.


    3. Romans 8:10-11
    And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he shall also quicken your mortal bodies.

    4. Galatians 5:16
    Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

    5. Ephesians 1:14
    The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance, which is applied toward our redemption as God’s own people, resulting in the honor of God’s glory.

    • Blood deals with guilt
    • Water cleanses
    • Fire purifies
    • Fragrance satisfies God
    • Oil empowers
    • Garment covers
    • Light reveals
    • Body bears sin
    • Cross executes judgment
    • Sacrifice satisfies justice
    • Life restores what was lost
    • Spirit applies, seals, sustains, and completes it all.

    This completes a twelvefold framework of Christ’s finished work in dealing with sin, revealing a single, coherent redemptive reality. The blood of Christ deals with guilt, redemption, forgiveness, and the cleansing of the conscience, while water cleanses, sanctifies, and incorporates the believer into Christ. Fire purifies and refines what belongs to God, burning away all that contradicts His holiness, and the garment of righteousness covers the believer with acceptance before God. Christ’s sacrifice rises as a fragrance that satisfies God, and the oil of anointing breaks yokes, empowers, consecrates, and enables true service. Light delivers from darkness, reveals truth, and governs the new walk of the believer.

    In His body, sin was borne and judged once for all, and at the cross sin, accusation, and hostile powers were executed and defeated. Through His once-for-all sacrifice, divine justice was fully satisfied and sin was put away forever. Life is restored in Christ, eternal and abundant, replacing everything sin destroyed. The Spirit stands as the living agent who applies, seals, sustains, and completes all that Christ accomplished, for without the Spirit the work of Christ would remain historical, theoretical, and impersonal, but with the Spirit it becomes present, active, and eternal.

    By His blood Jesus secured redemption, and by that same blood He made us forgiven and accepted; through water He cleanses, and so He made us clean by the washing of the Word; He baptizes with fire, and thus He kindles our hearts with holy zeal; He offered Himself as a sweet fragrance to God, and now our lives rise as a fragrance of Christ; He is the Anointed One, and He has given us the anointing by the Spirit.

    He is righteous, and He clothed us with the garment of righteousness; He is the Light of the world, and He made us light in the Lord; He bore sin in His body, and made us His body on the earth; He died on the cross, and crucified the old man with Him; He became the once-for-all sacrifice, so we now offer spiritual sacrifices; He rose as Life, and made us alive together with Him; and through the eternal Spirit He accomplished all this, then gave us that same Spirit to dwell in us and make His finished work real and living within us.