Category: Holy Spirit

Did You Not Hear?

Bible, Christian Faith, Grace, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Home, Inspirational, Jesus, Knowledge and Wisdom, Scripture, The Word, Visions
Did You Not Hear?

 The Spirit Of The Lord

8. He Makes Our Garments White

The Holy Spirit is the one who cleanses our garments and makes them white. He said, “buy from me white garments to hide your shameful nakedness,” and He also said, “if you have ears hear what the Spirit says.” We are to buy that garment from the Holy Spirit by letting go of the flesh with its thoughts and desires and accepting and embracing the thoughts of the Holy Spirit which is ‘ the word of God.’ We must embrace Jesus, the word of God.

He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. Revelation 19:3

I had this vision a long time ago when I was still behind in my journey to the mountaintop of grace, faith, love and maturity in Christ. We were many students in a hostel all busy with different activities. I was on my bed in the hostel when all of a sudden, a group of men with a leader came to take me away by force.

I immediately knew they were taking me to a place of torture so I began pleading, “ please don’t torture me, please don’t take me away.” The head of the group who had a stern face and was not good looking then said to me, “ Did you not hear that you are supposed to be putting on your white garment?” I shook my head in amazement. “No I did not hear, please I will put on my white garment, don’t torture me.” Then he gave me a very ugly look.

He looked at me from my feet to my head and from my head to my feet with a nasty sneer. Then he said, “look at you, you and your stomach problem.” Then I exclaimed in shock and disbelief, wondering how he knew about my stomach problem, “how did you know I have a stomach problem!” and he replied, “I know, I know, Satan has been dealing with you.” Then he left me and I came out of the vision.

Everyone in that hostel were students of the word of God, who were not putting on their white garments. They were living in disobedience and were facing all sorts of trials until they repent and put on their white garments. The white garment is for purity and the word of God is pure seven times refined. If we judge ourselves and purify ourselves with the word of God, there won’t be any need to pass us through the fire of tests and trials.

The purpose of the fire of tests and trials is purity which means putting on the word of God or the white garment. If we are purified in the word of God, the purpose of purity is achieved in us and the cleansing fire will no longer hurt us but it will baptise us.

I am sure the meaning of this vision is clear but so many truths are embedded in it. They are:

1, We must put on our white garments – the word of a God

2. I opened the door to torture by not putting on my white garment – the word of God

3. We are all students of the word of God

4. God is sovereign over Satan. Even though Satan was dealing with me, God permitted it. The root cause of my torture was spiritual deafness, stubbornness and inability to put on the word of God.

5. When I showed willingness to put on the white garment or the word of God, the tormentors left me.

6. Demons or tormentors believe in God and the word of God. Do not be deceived, it is man that does not believe in God, the word of God and defies the word of God. Man also sometimes partially believes the word of God. Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe—and tremble with fear.James 2:19, And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him (Matthew 18:34 NKJV)

7. God is not satisfied with partial acceptance of His word. All those students of the word of God were believers but partial believers of the word of God. They had not embraced the whole counsel of the word of God. They did not have thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Acts 20:27

8. Did you not hear? Where was I supposed to hear this command or announcement of putting on the white garment from? The answer is my Bible. I must read my Bible, pay close attention to the instructions and follow those instructions.

At that time a Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. Acts 18:24

Ezra was a scholar with a thorough knowledge of the Law which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given to Moses. Because Ezra had the blessing of the Lord his God, the emperor gave him everything he asked for. In the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, Ezra set out from Babylonia for Jerusalem with a group of Israelites which included priests, Levites, Temple musicians, Temple guards, and workers. Ezra 7:6-7

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Psalm 12:6

“I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. (Revelation 3:18 NKJV)

You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4 NKJV)

“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:5 NKJV)

We are supposed to constantly put on our white garments, failure to do that will result in judgement because judgement begins in the house of God. God does not joke with faith, love, cleanness and purity.

It is so vital and imperative to put on our white garments. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can make our garments clean by constantly leading us, reminding us of the word of God and planting His words in our hearts. After cleansing our thoughts and actions, He decorates us with white garments.

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I Told You

Bible, Christian Faith, Grace, Home, Inspirational, Jesus, Scripture, The Word, Visions
I Told You

The Spirit of The Lord

7. He gives Faith

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many people were brought to the Lord. Acts 11:24

No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit so this Scripture speaks for itself. Can we really confess the word of God without the help of the Holy Spirit? Can we say, “ I am redeemed, the blood of Jesus set me free” without the Holy Spirit? Faith comes from the Holy Spirit because He is the spirit of faith, wisdom, knowledge and understanding. He is the one who makes us understand the word of God.

Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3

He writes God’s laws in our hearts. He plants His words or thoughts deep into our hearts. These words are seeds that are supposed to grow and produce faith. When He plants those words, we can vomit them or even reject them. The words can also be aborted by the cares of this world and weeds living in our hearts.

The weeds are unhealthy false doctrines that choke the life out of the word of God already growing in us.Then He starts again and keeps planting until our spirits are able to accept, digest and retain His Holy words that produce faith.

He teaches us as the perfect teacher. He keeps teaching us and eliminating confusion until we fall in line with His words. John 16:13 says that the Holy Spirit is the one who will lead us into all truth.

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. John 16:13

Understanding precedes faith

The entrance of His word or light gives understanding. He enables understanding as we meditate. If we meditate on the word of God, the Lord will enable us to understand. When the word penetrates deep into our hearts and stays there without abortion, understanding is the result. Understanding precedes faith. Anyone who has understanding of the good news, will definitely have faith and be joyful. Fear will also fly out of the window.

Think about what I am saying, because the Lord will enable you to understand it all. 2 Timothy 2:7

 

I do this in order that they may be filled with courage and may be drawn together in love, and so have the full wealth of assurance which true understanding brings. In this way they will know God’s secret, which is Christ himself. Colossians 2:2

The steps of the righteous are ordered of God. God will have to reorganise and rearrange our thoughts before our actions can be in line with His ways. The thoughts of the righteous are ordered of God

Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him, but he disappeared from their sight. Luke 24:31

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, Luke 24:45

Paul planted and Apollos watered but God enables and causes the seed to grow. Let the word of God dwell richly in us. It is only when our hearts are filled with the word of God, especially the good news of salvation that we are saved. We are already saved but if we do not cling to the word of God and obey it, we won’t actualise that salvation on earth, even though it is a Spiritual Law and reality in God’s eyes. We need to accept the word of God with meekness so that we can grow up and be saved.

I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 1 Corinthians 3:6

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 1 Peter 2:2

In the parable of the sower, a good soil is the soil that has been softened by the power of God. It is God that breaks the heart and softens it to accept the word of God.

Many years ago, I did not know the meaning of faith and I was very far away from understanding the word of God. I knew God and loved Him but I did not understand His word. I believed in Him as a good God. However, the word of God was not living in my heart. The Lord spoke to me and said, ‘ faith is a way of understanding, faith is confidence.’

Then I had a vision of a seed falling on my heart and it was bouncing off my heart. Then the Lord said, ‘it is falling on a hard surface.’ The damage to my heart was caused by all the false doctrines I had been hearing from childhood catechism.

When I came out of the vision I quickly opened my Bible to the parable of the sower which I knew but did not understand. That vision showed me that my heart was a hard stony surface, incapable of accepting and assimilating the word of God. That was when I started digging and digging for the hidden treasure and bit by bit the Holy Spirit taught me the good news.

In another vision, the Lord suddenly asked me, ‘ Now, what is the message?’ I replied, ‘is it not about sins and how we pay for our sins.’ Then the Lord responded in exasperation, ‘no! Don’t you see? You can’t pay for your sins.’ All my life from when I was a little kid, I was taught that I had to pay for my sins and suffer the temporal punishments due to sin. That teaching went deep into my soul to my spirit and caused a lot of havoc.

I defeated myself by believing I had to pay for my sins. How can God help the one who stubbornly believes he must pay for his sins even after Jesus paid for those sin? The only way God can help him is to reverse that unholy doctrine and psychology. You must reject lies to enjoy freedom. Only the truth can set us free.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducee’s.” Matthew 15:6

The conclusion is this : I am saved by the blood of Jesus. I do not have to to pay for my sins because Jesus paid for my sins. This is the good news and it is a spiritual law – it is the message. If I reject this good news and do not accept it with meekness, I have insulted the Spirit of grace, despised Jesus and looked down on the blood of Jesus. I will end up not delivered physically, not because God did not deliver me, but because I rejected the good news and refused to rejoice in my salvation.

If I accept the good news of salvation, rejoice in it, thank God and celebrate Jesus, I will end up experiencing deliverance if I cling to that good news and do not give up or turn back into unbelief. When lots wife turned back, she turned into a pillar of salt.

When we turn back in our journey of faith or reject the good news of salvation, we also end up suffering the penalty for unbelief. The penalty is this; if you don’t believe that the blood of Jesus saved you from temporal punishments for sins, your sins remain it terms of temporal punishments. You will go to heaven as a practising Christian who believes in Jesus and is running towards heaven and has rejected and renounced sin but you will struggle here on earth.

If you don’t believe that the blood of Jesus set you free from both temporal and eternal punishments, you will suffer the temporal punishments on earth and suffer the eternal punishments for your sins in hell. That is the conclusion.

The Holy Ghost then, is the one who can help us erase and eradicate the poison of unbelief. We must let Him uproot and erase every weed of false doctrine in our hearts so that the good news is not choked to expulsion. Those weeds are the contrary thoughts and imaginations fighting against the word of God in our souls. We must keep on depending on Him until we have full assurance of salvation without any shadow of doubt.

The glory for faith goes to the Holy Spirit. He will never share His glory. I was thinking to myself a long time ago, and thought to myself, ‘this happened and that happened until I discovered the truth.’ then unexpectedly, the Holy Spirit interjected into my thoughts and said, ‘I told you.’ Then I reflected on what He said and realised He was so right and I was so wrong. He told me and taught me faith and truth. I did not discover. He had to correct me because the glory goes to Him. Without Him we can know nothing and do nothing. Glory to God!

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Power Through His Spirit

Bible, Christian Faith, Grace, Holy Spirit, Home, Inspirational, Intimacy, Jesus, Knowledge and Wisdom, Power, Scripture
Power Through His Spirit

The Spirit Of The Lord

6. Power Through His Spirit

That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, (Ephesians 3:16 NKJV)

That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (Ephesians 3:17 NKJV)

I pray that he would give you, according to his glorious riches, strength in your inner being and power through his Spirit. Ephesians 3:16

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20 – 3:21 NKJV)

Might or power in the inner man means that Christ is dwelling in us. This means knowing and experiencing the love of Christ. Christ is the power and wisdom of God. He can live in you with a lot of glory and He can live in you with scanty or no glory. He is there but you won’t feel or experience His glory just like when the glory left Israel. Do you remember Ichabod ?- the glory has departed or no glory.

God is everywhere but His glory is not everywhere. His glory dwells in heaven and visits earth. However, He is in Hell as the omnipresent God in all of creation, but His glory is completely absent in Hell. Wrath or punishment is what lives in hell and these are caused by the human nature and disobedience not God.

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Psalm 139:8

The power of Christ resting upon the spirit of man is the love of Christ. It is possible for us to be Christians yet Christ is not dwelling in the inner man. Rather, weakness, infirmity and decay dwells in the inner man. Paul said this prayer because he recognised the need to pray for us to be strengthened with might or power in the inner man. God is able to do this in Jesus name.

Christ already lives in us. This is talking about Christ as the power and glory of God. It is talking about His manifest presence dwelling in us. Christ’s Spirit lives in every believer but the glory in every believer varies. The Bible says we are being transformed from glory to glory. This means that the glory or manifest presence of Christ in us must keep increasing, till we are filled up, and surrounded by His very essence, beauty and glory.

Christ dwelling in us through faith means unwavering belief in the blood of Jesus that set us free, praying with expectation and not wavering or doubting. It means constant praise, worship, thanksgiving and rejoicing. We do all these with persistence and perseverance without turning back or giving up.

These are all acts of faith. Faith is a multidimensional concept with many variables. As long as we embrace and practice the variables of faith persistently with love, worship, thanksgiving, praise and expectation God will not fail us. He is a faithful God – if we draw near to Him in faith, He will draw near to us.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 1 Corinthians 3:16

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 3:20

And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:10-11

The Scripture topic at the beginning of this post is also talking about the attributes of God. Christ can live in us yet we have not yet crucified the flesh and the Holy Spirit is not controlling our lives. Christ refers to the power, word, wisdom, glory, and grace of God. The more grace of God we have, the more understanding of the Scriptures which builds faith.

The more grace we have, the more we are able to practice the word of God, are led by the Spirit and follow God’s plan for our lives. The more grace we have, the more we are generally able to please God. These will ensure the manifest presence of God resting on us and going with us everywhere. Meaning that Christ now dwells in us and walks with us.

Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. Exodus 33:15

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. Hebrews 13:9

Power resides in the grace of God and every good thing comes by the grace and ability of God. Man’s power is useless. The more we seek God and rely on His grace, the more successful we will be in our Christian lives. We cannot even have faith or practice the word of God without His grace so we must never forget the grace of God even as we seek Him and meditate on the Scriptures to build faith.

Only God and God alone can make us mature Christians. He alone can guarantee power in the inner man through His Spirit. He alone will enable Christ to dwell in us even as we wait upon Him and continue to seek His face daily.

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He Was Upon Jesus

Bible, Christian Faith, Grace, Holy Spirit, Home, Inspirational, Intimacy, Jesus, Power, Purity, Righteousness, Scripture
He Was Upon Jesus

The Spirit Of The Lord

6. He Was Upon Jesus

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace, truth, wisdom, glory, mercy, might, counsel, fear of the Lord, understanding, and knowledge; Jesus had all these in abundance. No wonder He was so successful. Unlike most humans, as Jesus grew, He grew in body and Spirit. His body did not leave His spirit behind when he was growing.

He ran His race with His body and Spirit, while a lot of believers are running faster than their spirits or running with just their bodies. In their spiritual lives, there is a massive disconnect between their bodies and spirits. By the time that they realise they left their spirits somewhere in the valley and decide to go back and unite with their spirits, a lot of mistakes would have been made. but glory to God, it is never too late to walk in the spirit with our spirits. Better late than never.

Jesus ran with His body and Spirit. That explains His great extraordinary life. He was filled and crowned with extraordinary and extravagant grace. He had limitless supply of the Holy Spirit.

“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, the one I love, and with whom I am pleased. I will send my Spirit upon him, and he will announce my judgement to the nations. Matthew 11:2

The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and might,

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:2 NKJV)

For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. John 3:34

 

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, Philippians 1:19

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:13

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. Luke 2:52

The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:40

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel. Luke 1:80

Jesus had all the attributes of God made available to Him by the presence of the Holy Spirit on and with Him. He was filled with favour and grace. Imagine a human being filled with grace, what a wonder. Jesus as a human, was greatly endowed and decorated with grace. That grace gave Him all the ability that He needed and it came through the Spirit of grace that was constantly with Him.

The Holy Spirit was His Holy companion so He was constantly successful. If Jesus needed the Holy Spirit to be effective and successful, then it is imperative that we realise that we cannot succeed without constant great supply of the Holy Spirit. He is our help and success and we need great grace upon us.

And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33

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He Enables Church Growth

Bible, Christian Faith, Grace, Holy Spirit, Home, Scripture
He Enables Church Growth

 

The Spirit Of The Lord

5. He Enables Church Growth

The Holy Spirit is the one that helps Churches to grow. He is the head of the Church. In His great power and wisdom, He calls men into ministry and He is the one that strengthens Churches and enables them to grow.

And so it was that the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. Through the help of the Holy Spirit it was strengthened and grew in numbers, as it lived in reverence for the Lord. Acts 9:31

While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Acts 13:2

Sometimes, ministers step out of faith and step into the flesh trying all sorts of human methods of Church growth. I know a Church that gives its members targets in terms of the number of members to win in a month. They depend completely on the power of man and ignore the Holy Spirit. Some of them are so far off in error that they can no more hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. They started by His power but fell off from grace.

Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Galatians 3:3

After they have wandered off into darkness and disobedience as a result of selfishness and personal gains, they embrace tricks and deceptive doctrines that tickle the ear of man but lead to hell. They also embrace magic and idolatry. All this is as a result of personal dreams and ambitions. They are not led by the Holy Spirit and do not care about the Holy Spirit and His desires. Some even want to be worshipped.

Not everyone who says to Me, ’Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. “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?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (Matthew 7:21 – 7:23 NKJV)

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:14 NKJV)

“Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth (Revelation 2:15 – 2:16 NKJV)

We need to be sincere in our ministry and service to God. If we genuinely love God and are filled with zeal for His work like Jesus, we won’t be led astray or be deceived. Sincerity of purpose is the only thing that will protect us from the wiles of the devil. Temptations will come but if we love God, and are sincerely and genuinely doing His work His way, with the intention of pleasing Him, we will be protected because our motives are pure.

We will also be able to resist the temptations. Mind you, the purpose of temptations and trials is for God to determine our purity. If our intentions are pure, there won’t even be need to test and try us but if tests, trials and temptations come, the purity in us will lead us to victory. It is only criminals that fall into traps and are caught.

The best one to catch criminals is a superior criminal. Satan is the criminal and scammer in chief scamming and catching other criminals like himself. Human criminals are his children and some children of God are his slaves but a slave does not belong to him permanently.

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:35 – 8:37 NKJV)

“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. “I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father (John 8:37 – 8:38 NKJV)

If we are driven by pride, money, selfishness and grand ideas like owning the largest ministry or being the most famous preacher, we will fall. If our focus is right, God can make us famous, and give us large ministries like Jesus. It becomes an evidence of our dedication and success even though not all ministers will have very large ministries – not all ministers will be famous.

We must not chase the wind and vanity- it is better to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness believing that all other things will be added to us. We must not seek Mammon.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:27

We must be content with the ministry that God has given us and keep depending on Him for growth without loosing focus. We must keep on nourishing the small sheep that God has placed in our care.

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46 – 47 NKJV)

Our aim must be to love them and nourish them to spiritual maturity and heaven. God Himself, the Chief Shepherd is the one who will then grow the church and add new sheep. The congregation belongs to God not the ministers. We must not exploit and scam the sheep of Christ because we will be judged for such crimes.

Jesus had the right focus and Paul did too. If our focus is driven by selfishness and geared towards self promotion, celebration and decoration, the devil will see a road and ladder which he can use to deceive us. We will be the ones giving him a foothold.

And do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:27

However, if we realise that it is the Holy Spirit that strengthens and grows Churches, we will depend absolutely on Him to do what He alone can do even as we keep working hard, seeking the Kingdom of God and fulfilling our ministries.

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He Glorifies Jesus

Bible, Christian Faith, Holy Spirit, Home, Inspirational, Jesus, Scripture
He Glorifies Jesus

The Spirit Of The Lord

4. He Speaks About Jesus and Glorifies Him

The Holy Spirit who reveals the truth about God glorifies Jesus. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will speak about Him. This means that anyone who claims to work with the Holy Spirit must glorify Jesus .

If we go through the Scriptures, we will see that Jesus is referred to as the way, the word, truth, life, glory, power, mercy, resurrection, light, wisdom, grace. These are all spiritual qualities. When the Bible refers to God as the father of mercies, grace, glory, light etc it means that God is the source, author and only giver of mercy, Life, grace, wisdom etc

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit that will always glorify the word of God, the truth of God, the wisdom of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God, the way of God and the power of God.

The mercy of God is the death of Jesus on the cross. The Holy Spirit will always magnify, speak about and exalt the death of Jesus on the cross as the only sacrifice and way into the mercy of God.

The Holy Spirit will magnify God as the only way to life and will never present alternatives that contradict the word of God. The Holy Spirit will magnify the Power of God and not encourage man to depend on himself, others or demon idols. The arm of flesh fails man.

This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. Jeremiah 17:5

This Scripture is not referring to man as only relying on others, when you rely on yourself and refuse to depend on God’s power and mercy, you defeat yourself. The word of God said so, not me. The truth is that if man could save, there won’t be people with terminal illnesses.

Someone might says, “hey Laura, I depended on myself and my efforts to pass many though exams and obtain a great job and build a large business empire.” Ok, I get that but what of when you develop a terminal illness and the doctor fails? Is that not evidence that man does not have power? Power belongs to God alone and it is only the Holy Spirit that glorifies the power of God and teaches us to depend on God’s power instead of the flesh or demon idols.

Any other teaching you hear out there telling you how great and powerful man is, is a lying and deceptive spirit. The false teachers are mostly wealthy because the devil has given them wealth to deceive.

Do not be deceived and think that because the teacher of a false doctrine is rich so you will be rich by believing in his misleading teachings. It is all the more you look, the less you see. It is a big scam. It is all about scammers catching and scamming the impure.

He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away. Job 5:13

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 1 Corinthians 3:19

I know someone who believes in The Secret and the Law of Attraction. I warned him by telling him that it does not work. The teachers are wealthy but the followers are misled. So many people I know who believe it kept believing it and some died poor and sick and never benefited from the law of attraction.

I said to him, “ It works for those who have powers or demons in their aura. When they confess, it comes to pass because the powers bring the confessions to reality – simple. It is power that matters in life, the mind is limited in it’s ability. It is only power that can enable a man to confess and it will come to pass not wishful thinking in the mind.

Another acquaintance of mine confessed to me that when she started reading ’The Secret’ all the time she always wished things and those things came to pass. She said to me, “it’s magic and I was so scared.” I said to her,  ’you must have some powerful family idols,’ and she told me that I must be right because all her life she always wished things and saw results except that ability became very pronounced when she started reading The Secret.

She said she was so sacred that she threw the book away. It worked for her because she already had demons in her aura. The secret just taught her how to tap deeper into the demons. Others practised ’The Secret’ and it did not work because they were clean and had no demon idols in their aura. It is also possible that some end up possessed by reading the book and some don’t. That is why it works for some people and fails others. However, the percentage of people it works for is very small.

We must be very careful. Power belongs to God alone. Christians who practice magic have deserted Jesus for harlotry. Any Spirit and teaching that does not glorify the power of God and the blood of Jesus is not the Holy Spirit. It is only the Holy Spirit that glorifies and speaks of Jesus, the power and wisdom of God.

So let us be mindful of all sorts of false doctrines out there and only listen to the one that glorifies Jesus.

But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:24

He will give me glory, because he will take what I say and tell it to you. John 16:14

The Helper will come—the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God and who comes from the Father. I will send him to you from the Father, and he will speak about me. John 15:26

 

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He Prays For Us

Bible, Christian Faith, Holy Spirit, Home, Inspirational, Scripture
He Prays For Us

The Spirit Of The Lord

3. Prays For Us

The Holy Spirit prays for us. Isn’t that amazing? The best prayer is the prayer that the Holy Spirit prays for us and the best prayer point is the one given to us by the Holy Spirit. The reason is because, the Holy Spirit is the only one who knows the root cause of our problems and afflictions. He is also the only one who knows the solutions to our problems and needs, and the way to that solution.

He understands our needs, and the mind of God perfectly. When He prays, He prays for us, in line with God’s will, and purpose as one who has perfect knowledge of God. When He gives us prayer points, He does so as one who knows exactly what we should pray for. Some people spend so much time beating around the bush, praying so many off point and irrelevant prayers.

In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26

And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people and in accordance with his will. Romans 8:27

They carry books with one thousand prayer points. Come on, I don’t understand that mentality and the logic behind that. One prayer point point from the Holy Spirit is better than a million meaningless prayer points. The prayer given by the Holy Spirit goes straight to the target, the solution and the root of the problem.

If we study the way Jesus prayed for Himself, the sick and ministered to people, He did not waste unnecessary time talking about the problem. He just went straight to the target with full knowledge of the cause and solution of the problem.

He went ahead and cast out the demons and healed. He was not beating around the bush in confusion. That is because, He was constantly led by the Spirit Of God. Those who are led by the Spirit Of God, are the sons of God.

Without counsel and direction, we will grope around in the darkness, in confusion regarding prayer. But when the Holy Spirit prays for us and gives us prayer points, we will never pray amiss because the prayer is relevant to our problems, needs and solutions.

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Disastrous Lie

Bible, Christian Faith, Holy Spirit, Home, Inspirational, Sin
Disastrous Lie

The Spirit Of The Lord 

2. The Holy Ghost can be lied to

Some lies are definitely disastrous. When a man lies to God, in the manifest presence of God, what can he expect? Instant Judgement. In the case of Ananias and his wife, they got the death penalty. Peter decreed the mind of God on them.

Men can make decrees but if that decree is not the mind of God, and the judgement is not of God, it is a futile decree. Peter decreed death and it came to pass because the Lord had decreed it.

Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Lamentations 3:37

Lies are very bad – so bad that the devil is called a lair and the father of lies. Lying is human nature and even children lie. Most of the time, people lie to cover up crime or evil but people also lie to deceive, defraud and cheat.

Ananias lied to cover up His disobedience. If he had owned up and been repentant, he could have saved his own life but he chose to lie to God, in the presence of God.

But there was a man named Ananias, who with his wife Sapphira sold some property that belonged to them. 2 But with his wife’s agreement he kept part of the money for himself and turned the rest over to the apostles. 3 Peter said to him, “Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property? 4 Before you sold the property, it belonged to you; and after you sold it, the money was yours. Why, then, did you decide to do such a thing? You have not lied to people—you have lied to God!” 5 As soon as Ananias heard this, he fell down dead; and all who heard about it were terrified. Acts 5:1-5

Ananias lied because of greed. The believers were all of one mind and body and none of them claimed their belongings to themselves but they shared with one another, everything they had.  What a powerful love! No wonder there was so much power and manifestations of the Holy Spirit. They were in one accord with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love.

There was no one in need among them. Can we see how far the church has deviated from love and fallen. If you are in the same church with someone and you live in a mansion of fifty million dollars while a fellow brethren begs on the streets to eat, will you call that love?

That is simply lip service and false Christianity, charity begins at home and it is the responsibility of church pastors to help the needy in their local church.

With great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God poured rich blessings on them all. 34 There was no one in the group who was in need. Those who owned fields or houses would sell them, bring the money received from the sale, 35 and turn it over to the apostles; and the money was distributed according to the needs of the people. Acts 4:33

Lying is so inherently evil that no man likes to be lied to. Lying destroys trust and anyone who discovers that he is being lied to hates it. Lying destroys and ruins relationships because a lot of people feel betrayed by lies.

People sometimes lie to save their lives but lying is simply not good. God has commanded us not to lie so we must pray not to enter temptation, especially the temptation of lying to save our necks like Abraham in his case with Abimelech.

Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah (Genesis 20:2 NKJV)

No matter how tempting it is, we must fear God and trust Him to protect us and provide for us. Ananias did not trust God to provide for him and replenish the offering he was giving God, so he kept a part of it and lied. Abraham did not trust God to protect him and his family so he lied, and said Sarah was his sister instead of his wife.

Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?” (Genesis 20:10 NKJV)

And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. (Genesis 20:11 NKJV)

Ananias lied out of greed in the presence of God. The disaster in his own crime is that the Holy Ghost was present when He lied, so he did not lie to man but to God – how terrible.

Before you sold the property, it belonged to you; and after you sold it, the money was yours. Why, then, did you decide to do such a thing? You have not lied to people—you have lied to God!” Acts 5:4

May God Himself, protect us from temptations, including unnecessary and necessary lies. However, temptations and tests do come, and we must determine in advance that we will obey God.

Ananias and his wife fell into disastrous lie, and died. May God give us the grace to fear Him and always obey Him.

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Effective Ministry

Bible, Christian Faith, Holy Spirit, Home, Inspirational, Power
Effective Ministry

Effective Ministry

 

The Spirit Of The Lord

When the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, she became pregnant. The Holy Spirit upon signifies and connotes power and glory. When the Holy Spirit comes upon someone, the tangible manifest presence of God becomes present and visible. If your spiritual eyes are opened you will see His glory and evidence of His Holy Presence and Aura. The Holy Spirit‘s power turns you into a different man.

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God’s power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God. Luke 1 :35

When He takes control, He gives you the ability to do His works and manifest Himself . He is the rescuer and makes men rescuers.

But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

I will go through all the works and acts of the Holy Spirit for many days. Today, I will talk about His power to enable us begin and sustain ministry and discuss His other acts in subsequent days.

Power To Begin Ministry

The Holy Spirit starts His ministry through us by His power. Starting a ministry is not a joke, a gamble or an experiment. It is as a result of divine appointment and assignment. It is a gift from God and the gifts and callings Of God are irrevocable. He helps and empowers us to start ministry.

Saul was anointed before he became King, David was anointed and Paul was chosen and anointed for ministry. If we go through the Bible, we will see that the prophets and ministers were either anointed by a prophet or had direct encounters with God that anointed them for ministry. Moses had a direct encounter with God .

[ Jesus Begins His Work in Galilee ] Then Jesus returned to Galilee, and the power of the Holy Spirit was with him. The news about His spread throughout all that territory. Luke 4:14

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10:38

Man is powerless and weak without the power of God. Doing exploits and doing ministry works require power. Jesus had the power of God and kept functioning with the power of God. He never moved outside the Holy Spirit. There was complete unity of mind and purpose. He recognised the role of the Holy Spirit in His ministry.

Jesus had the Power Of The the Holy Spirit upon Him before He could manifest the works of His father. The presence of the Lord was available for Jesus to heal. If the son of God needed the power of God, we also need the power of God.

One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Luke 5:17

Without the Spirit of the Lord, we cannot start or sustain an effective ministry – we can start, but we won’t be fruitful like Jesus. We need the Holy Spirit upon us to be successful ministers. May we always seek the face of God and give His Spirit the rightful place in our ministry.

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Blessed From The Womb

Bible, Christian Faith, Holy Spirit, Home, Inspirational, Power, Scripture
Blessed From The Womb

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. (Luke 1:15 NKJV)

A lot of Christians struggle so hard to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in every believer but every believer is not filled with the Holy Spirit. The Bible talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit, being led by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit upon and the Holy Spirit with a believer.

Do not get drunk with wine, which will only ruin you; instead, be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5::18

The prophets of the Old Testament had the Holy Spirit. Remember Joseph and Daniel. Who gave them abilities to interpret dreams and see visions? The Holy Spirit did. The Holy Spirit in John made Him a great prophet and he was great in the sight of God. This same John told us that we will be baptised with the Holy Spirit and fire.

I baptise you with water to show that you have repented, but the one who will come after me will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He is much greater than I am; and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. Matthew 3:1

A lot of people struggle to be filled with the Holy Spirit but John was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. This shows that being filled with the Holy Spirit is a gift and a promise. It is not for the unclean and idol worshippers. John’s parents were clean and God chose them to give birth to John. We can see that our bloodline is very important in life. We need to lay good foundations for our children.

Bad foundation of idol worship can make an innocent child to be filled with evil spirits from the womb – poor child. He will come into this life battling and wresting with giants simply because His parents were disobedient and not wise. As for John, he came into this world blessed. There is no greater blessing than the blessing and favour of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

A person that is born filled with evil spirits usually experiences fear, torture, hardship, failure, difficulties and illnesses while a person that is filled with the Holy Spirit will experience love, joy, peace, and all the fruits of the Holy Spirit. He will manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit and be healthy because the Holy Spirit gives life. Anyone who is consistently filled with the Holy Spirit will experience the fruits of life not the fruits of death.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22 – 5:23 NKJV)

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you–they are full of the Spirit and life. John 6:63

it is he who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law but of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6

All of us, then, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his likeness in an ever greater degree of glory. 2 Corinthians 3:18

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8:11

So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45

We can learn from the example of John to keep our bloodline pure and Holy so that our children do not inherit demon idols, evil spirits and afflictions. We can also determine within ourselves to run into the blood of Jesus for cleansing power. Regardless of the how many demons or afflictions that we inherited from polluted bloodline, the blood of Jesus and the Holy Ghost power is greater.

The Bible says that we are blessed in Christ Jesus. All we need is to activate the power of God through the blood of Jesus and the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We do this by seeking the face of God and waiting upon Him. Once that happens, and we persist, our spirits and aura will become cleansed and we will experience liberty and freedom.

The blood of Jesus is powerful and active – stronger than any and every affliction. May we taste Him and drink Him like the Israelites. When His glory appears, we will be filled by Him like John the Baptist.



Further Scriptures

And drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God’s power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby moved within her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:41

Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he spoke God’s message: Luke 1:67

Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert, Luke 4:1

At that time Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit and said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen. Luke 10:21

As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:13

Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:20

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spiritenabled them to speak. Acts 2:4

He has been raised to the right side of God, his Father, and has received from him the Holy Spirit, as he had promised. What you now see and hear is his gift that he has poured out on Acts 2:33

Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from your sins and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit. Acts 4:8

When they finished praying, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim God’s message with boldness. Acts 4:31

Peter said to him, “Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property? Acts 5:3

We are witnesses to these things—we and the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to those who obey him.” Acts 5:32

So then, friends, choose seven men among you who are known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and we will put them in charge of this matter. Acts 6:3

The whole group was pleased with the apostles’ proposal, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a Gentile from Antioch who had earlier been converted to Judaism. Acts 6:5

“How stubborn you are!” Stephen went on to say. “How heathen your hearts, how deaf you are to God’s message! You are just like your ancestors: you too have always resisted the Holy Spirit! Acts 7:51

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw God’s glory and Jesus standing at the right side of God. Acts 7:55

When they arrived, they prayed for the believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:15

For the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Acts 8:16

Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:17

The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.” Acts 8:29

So Ananias went, entered the house where Saul was, and placed his hands on him. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord has sent me—Jesus himself, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He sent me so that you might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 9:17

And so it was that the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. Through the help of the Holy Spirit it was strengthened and grew in numbers, as it lived in reverence for the Lord. Acts 9:31

You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God poured out on him the Holy Spirit and power. He went everywhere, doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil, for God was with him. Acts 10:38

While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message. Acts 10:44

The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were amazed that God had poured out his gift of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles also. Acts 10:45

“These people have received the Holy Spirit, just as we also did. Can anyone, then, stop them from being baptised with water?” Acts 10:47

And when I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them just as on us at the beginning. Acts 11:15

Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ Acts 11:16

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and many people were brought to the Lord. Acts 11:24

While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, to do the work to which I have called them.” Acts 13:2

[ In Cyprus ] Having been sent by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went to Seleucia and sailed from there to the island of Cyprus. Acts 13:4

Then Saul—also known as Paul—was filled with the Holy Spirit; he looked straight at the magician Acts 13:9

The believers in Antioch were full of joy and the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52

And God, who knows the thoughts of everyone, showed his approval of the Gentiles by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he had to us. Acts 15:8

The Holy Spirit and we have agreed not to put any other burden on you besides these necessary rules: Acts 15:28

[ In Troas: Paul’s Vision ] They travelled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit did not let them preach the message in the province of Asia. Acts 16:6

and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit,” they answered. Acts 19:2

Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in strange tongues and also proclaimed God’s message. Acts 19:6

And now, in obedience to the Holy Spirit I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. Acts 20:22

I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit has warned me that prison and troubles wait for me. Acts 20:23

So keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he made his own through the blood of his Son. Acts 20:28

He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied up his own feet and hands with it, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: The owner of this belt will be tied up in this way by the Jews in Jerusalem, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.” Acts 21:18

So they left, disagreeing among themselves, after Paul had said this one thing: “How well the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your ancestors! Acts 28:25

For God’s Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives. Romans 14:17

May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

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