The Lord loves faithfulness, commitment and righteousness. We must constantly remember that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Seeking Him involves pleasing Him always and spending time in prayer. It is simply not enough to say ” I have faith” and be idle and disobedient. We must show our faith by imitating Christ and living the way He lived. Christ demonstrated His faith by complete obedience and prayer. We should too.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
When we imitate Christ and think and act like Jesus, God will also anoint us with power and the oil of joy. The anointing will give life to our faith and break yokes. May God give us the grace to never get distracted and loose focus so that we can arrive at the mountaintop of Christian maturity.
May the Lord give us grace to stop grumbling and complaining and be filled with gratitude, praise, love and rejoicing. May we desist from flattering people in order to take advantage of them. May we become vessels of honor instead of dishonor.
Self awareness is very indispensable as a life skill. When we are self aware and understand ourselves better, we attain a higher level of inner consciousness. This higher level of consciousness will in turn help us to recognize negative and unattractive behavior patterns that actually repel others and cause conflicts and frictions in our professional and personal relationships with others.
With self awareness skill, we actually step aside to study ourselves and gainfully get the chance to observe ourselves, behaviors and personalities the way that others see and perceive us. With a high level of self awareness, we realize the necessity of changing and modifying our thoughts, emotions, behaviors to be more positive, attractive and appealing. This is very necessary for professional and personal success.
We must keep striving for and climbing the ladder of self awareness if we desire to enhance our emotional intelligence, quality of life and overall success.
Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? (Matthew 7:9 NKJV)
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:11 NKJV
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:13
God promised us :
1. The Holy Spirit
2. Good things
This is a glorious promise from our Heavenly Father, however so many people are not enjoying the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Many people are also not enjoying good things. So, why is it that it seems impossible for many people to enjoy the fullness of the Holy Spirit and good things? It is because nothing good comes easily.
The Kingdom of God suffers violence and only the violent take it by force. We must take it by force not by complaining or crying. Taking it by force requires forceful, aggressive, persistent, praying, asking, seeking and knocking.
Also, when the Bible says the Kingdom of God is within us it means that the Holy Spirit who makes God’s Kingdom a reality on earth is within us. The Holy spirit is heaven on earth because He is heavenly and is from heaven and constantly carries the presence and anointing of Heaven. In order to taste the fullness of Holy Spirit who manifests God’s Kingdom, we must be spiritually violent and aggressive not docile and lazy.
We must ask, if we do not ask, we will not receive. We must position ourselves to receive and never give up.
For us to receive good things we must desire them and pray fervently with passion and holiness. We must approach God’s throne with focus and determination. God has promised us good things so we must not be shy, lazy or confused in asking. We must also be expectant and confident and not doubt because God does not like double mindedness and timidity. We must pray with boldness and faith.
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him (1 John 3:21 – 3:22 ESV)
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. (1 John 5:14 ESV)
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3
In our asking, prayers and desires, we must not place those good things or blessings above God, His word or love of God and others. Every thing must be in the right order and perspective because God is a God of order and intelligence. We must value goodness, love, purity, spiritual blessings and the fullness of the Holy Spirit above good things. The personification of every and all good things is the fullness and gifts of the Holy spirit.
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. James 1:5-8
It is more important to receive the crowning fullness of the Holy Spirit than to pray for good things. It is biblical and not bad to pray for good things {Give us today our daily bread.Matthew 6:11} but when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will have clean auras and will easily attract good things and the blessings of God. When the Holy Ghost is upon us we will not spend long hours, shouting, screaming, praying and asking. Jesus and Paul never screamed when they prayed – there is no record or evidence of that in the Bible.
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” John 11:41-42
God will hear us before we open our mouths and even if He does not answer us, He will tell us why. When Paul’s prayer for God to remove the thorn in the flesh was not answered, God told him why. If we are not praying according to His plans and purposes for our lives and are asking amiss, He will tell us and we will not spend hours asking for something that opposes God’s will and purpose.
May God give us the grace to persist in praying for the fullness of the Holy Spirit till we are soaked to overflowing and our cups run over. May we be wet, filled and soaked with the latter rain in Jesus name. May His great glory rest upon us until we taste heaven on earth.
Every knowledge you are reading and gathering from the Bible, books, Church, Television, Youtube, blogs etc is actually for one thing – doing. When you have understanding and knowledge and refuse to apply it, there will be no victory. When we do that, the Bible calls us foolish builders and foolish man.
Anyone who does that is just like the man that built his life on sand. He read and heard but refused to apply what he read and heard. He also heard wrongly. He is also like the man that keeps looking at himself at the mirror of the law but forgets what he looks like when he leaves the mirror.
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. James 1:23-25
The victory comes from doing. Gather knowledge and do. In doing, apply the knowledge correctly. Some people keep gathering knowledge and refuse to do, while some people do not gather knowledge and do. They apply false doctrines, false knowledge and wisdom to their own destruction.
Wisdom is the right and correct application of knowledge. A lot of people have struggled to collect knowledge from the Bible without the Holy spirit – the Spirit of wisdom, understanding and revelation.
They apply the word of God wrongly because they have no understanding or partial understanding. They suffer from complete or partial spiritual blindness. They lack wisdom, that is why they are the foolish builders, not the wise builders.
It is for our own good for us to gather knowledge by looking at the mirror of the word and also do. We must never forget to do because it is the doing that saves. Obedience is a collective name for doing and practicing the word of God. However, let’s break down obedience and doing to minute components so that we can elucidate further. Complete obedience means putting on and practicing the whole counsel of the word of God.
Obedience can be summarized as:
1. Have faith in God, believe that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
2. Follow the pattern of worship outlined and practiced in the New Testament. Do not worship God in the manner and pattern of the idol worshippers and claim to be worshiping God. By their fruits, deeds and manner of worship we know idol worshippers not what they claim. Action speaks louder than words.
You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it. Deuteronomy 12:31-32
3. Pray at all times
4. Have expectation when you pray and don’t doubt
5. Know what idolatry is, and flee it
6. Flee sexual sins
7. Love your neighbor as yourself
8. Forgive and overlook hurts and offenses
9. Put on the complete armor of God.
10. Offer spiritual sacrifices of thanksgiving, praise, love and worship
11. Do not forsake the gathering, assembly and fellowship of believers
12. Give offerings and donations to promote the gospel and sustain your local church
All these instructions can be narrowed down and further summarized to:
Don’t hurt God
Don’t hurt man
Pray, praise, thank, worship and grow to maturity
May God help us to put on and practice the whole counsel of the word of God.
Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ (Matthew 7:22 NKJV)
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23 NIV
This is an example of a popular Scripture that highlights the importance of not just believing but also doing the will of God.
Points to note
The people that Jesus was referring to:
1. Believed that Jesus is Lord
2. Had faith because they believed in the the Lordship of Jesus and His Significance
3. Had spiritual gifts
4. Did not do the will of God
Jesus told them that He did not know them because they did not do his will while on earth. Jesus wants to know us and He knows us by our commitment to Him and His will.
Reminder:
Faith alone is not enough, we must do the will of God to make heaven. Also, doing good works without believing that Jesus is Lord and that His blood saved us will not take us to heaven. Faith is vital but we must also express that faith in action or works to really prove that we have faith.
Just like the old song says, ” Trust and obey for there is no other way.”
Jesus constantly emphasized doing the will of God, building your life on the rock and abiding in His word and will. Belief and faith precedes obedience so we must believe because without faith it is impossible to please God. However, if we just believe and never obey, we are like the ones that heard the word of God but did not build their lives on it and when the winds and waves came, they crashed terribly.
May God help us to live above the deception of faith alone and, “it does not matter.” It matters – life style matters.
For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted – you may well put up with it! (2 Corinthians 11:4 NKJV)
Another Jesus is when people preach and teach strange doctrines that are contrary to the word of God. Believers need to learn how to test the spirits and the apostles. Any practice that was not practiced in the early Church by the apostles is a strange doctrine, it is another Spirit and another Jesus different from the Jesus that was preached by the apostles.
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. Revelations 2:2
We, as believers must constantly search the Scriptures to make sure that what is being preached by our pastors is in line with the Bible. The Berean Christians did it to Paul. The only way to have a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures is by constantly reading the Bible and comparing spirits or doctrines with the Bible.
The source and origin of every doctrine is spiritual. Doctrines come from spirits. Bible doctrine comes from the Holy Spirit while false doctrines come from demons. They are called doctrines of demons by the Bible. Demons will always introduce doctrines that exalt man or created things and scorn or ignore Christ. They never ever glorify Christ.
We must be wise enough to realize that not everyone who claims to be an Apostle or messengers of light is one. We need to guard ourselves against the yeast and teachings of false teachers. Jesus Himself warned us that there will be false prophets and teachers. This wisdom might sound simple but it can be the difference between life and death, heaven and hell.
Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. Acts 18:24
He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. Acts 18:25
Apollos had accurate and thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. This shows that we can also have thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. When we have a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, we will be able to defeat errors, lies and the fiery darts of the enemy. We must put truth on our waist. The truth is the whole counsel of the word of God.
May God help us the constantly clothe ourselves with the word of God and defeat false doctrines.
I was lying down last week when suddenly the Lord spoke to me clearly and said, “ Do not join them to criticize ministers.” I was surprised and was busy contemplating what I had just heard when the Lord continued, “Remember Miriam and what happened to her.” That was the end of the message He gave to me.
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.Numbers 12:1-2
When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprousa —it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”
The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” Number’s 12:10-15
This suddenly hit home and I thank the Lord for that because we take a lot of things for granted. Brethren, criticizing ministers is a deadly snare that we must avoid at all cost. Aaron described their sin as a foolishly committed sin. In this message, the Lord reminded me about what happened to Miriam. Ministers have a Master that is their judge. We must allow the Lord Himself to judge them because sometimes we do not have all the information and revelation necessary for judgement.
We can correct false doctrines present in Churches by preaching the true gospel and stating what is right and wrong doctrine. Paul did that with Peter. However, we cannot judge, attack and criticize a minister, his personal life, his personality and his choices. We should not call him names or give him labels. We should not mock him and subject him to public ridicule -that is directly attacking the church and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. Galatians 2:11
The Holy Spirit is Lord on earth and will judge the Church and His ministers when they derail. Judgement begins in the house of God – but by God not by men. We must respect God’s anointed. The word of God says, “touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm.”
About two weeks ago, I shared a post that I cannot even remember the name of. I think it was a post on a revelation and message. Someone was in the comment section, being offensive, rude, insulting and nasty. I did not even think about it because I really don’t care about criticisms. However, there is someone who cares and I had forgotten the comment. Immediately I lay down to sleep that night, the Lord spoke to me and flashed the comment in my face. He said, “I will put him in jail.” I was shocked. From past experience, I understood what the Lord was talking about and I knew it would come to pass.
Sometimes the Lord would quote, “touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm,” and say He would do something to someone. Sometimes He would be specific about the judgement He would administer. The judgement He mentioned would always come to pass in that persons life. Even when I have derailed, He treated me the same way. He judged me and I bore my judgement. Even when I was undergoing judgement in the past, the Lord commanded me to cheer up and praise Him. He said, “You had better cheer up.”
We must be very careful. If I join them to criticize ministers, God will deal harshly with me. He has already reminded me about Miriam. Everyone can learn from this revelation and message. Even though it is in the Bible, man is hard to teach and constantly needs to be reminded the word of God. Man needs to keep looking into the perfect law and the mirror of the word so that he will not forget and fall into a pit. He needs to hide the law and word of God in his heart so that he will not sin against God.
Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:11
May we escape the snare of the devil and mind our own business. If we have nothing good to say, we can simply keep quiet and escape judgement.
And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3 NKJV)
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:4 – 7:5 NKJV)
The Scripture admonishes us against looking at speck in other peoples lives. We must learn how to mind our own business, control our tongues and stop all forms of negative communication – criticisms, backbiting and gossiping. They stain our garments and aura.
Stop looking at imperfections, weaknesses, flaws, faults and sins in other peoples lives. Judge and criticize yourself. The Bible says that if we judge ourselves we will not be judged by the Lord. There is only one judge and lawgiver – God. Instead of being negative and always criticizing, encourage and be positive towards others. You want to make others perfect and you expect perfection from them, yet you are not perfect.
I have come across people who constantly look at faults and flaws in others. It is as if they are incapable of seeing anything else but flaws. They are always sad and constantly fight because all they see is the negative. They are very sensitive and all they do is complain, and grumble about others. Such people keep everyone around them unhappy with their negative attitude. They seem oblivious of one fact themselves – that they are also not perfect. That is a very unbalanced and unhealthy way to live – positivity can be learned.
Over expectation kills relationships – love people the way they are. Everybody will not be mature in one day and a lot of people will never be spiritually mature here on earth -that is the uncomfortable and bitter truth.
Nobody wants to be around a negative critical person so it is better for us to focus on ourselves and judge ourselves instead of being negative towards others.
God loves us with our weaknesses so we must also love others with their weaknesses. Love must be unconditional – we must not expect people to be perfect before we can love them or love them completely. May God help us, empower us and enable us to understand peoples weakness and accept them with love and compassion.
May the Lord give us grace to stop grumbling and complaining and be filled with gratitude, praise, love and rejoicing. May we desist from flattering people in order to take advantage of them. May we become vessels of honor instead of dishonor.
