Tuesday, August 31, 2010

GIVE EVERYTHING TO THE WORD (2)

By Joseph Akinola
 
 
Why You Need The Word Of God?
You need the Word of God because the Word of God is God John 1v1. Having God means that one automatically carries the Presence and the Personality of God.

What Happens When You Have The Word Of God In You
When you have the Word of God, you are now in possession of God and God is living right inside you and with you. You then begin to carry the presence of God about and enjoy the following Benefits:

a.    You become Unchallengeable by any circumstances.
b.    You become Immoveable by the wicked force.
c.    Your Thinking Pattern Changes and what comes out of you (the Production Quality of your heart) becomes Outstanding and Excellent. (Bible says, ‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh’).
d.    You create a new world for your world by virtue of what you carry. John 1:3; Hebrews 11:3 (the Word created the world).
e.    You become Clean and Purified John 15:3.
f.    You Words Become An Established And Done Deal John 15:5-7.
g.    You live a Comfortable Live Joshua 1:4a,
h.    You become an Authority Joshua 1:4b
i.    You become Bold and Courageous Joshua 1:5, 6, & 9.
j.    Prosperity Is Sure for you Joshua 1:8
k.    You no longer live nor see things in the Natural again, you begin to operate and dwell in the Supernatural. John 3:5-6.

How To Give Everything To The Word
1.    Accept God as your personal Lord and Saviour: John 3:3. If you cannot give your life to God, then every other thing that belongs to you cannot be given to Him. If you cannot give your life to God, then you will not be able to give Him any other thing such as your time, money/seed, heart, etc. When you give your life to God, you have just succeeded in keeping your life with Him Colossians 3:3. Then you can now say, ‘My life is in Your hand’. Giving your life to Him is likened to opening a New Bank Account and every other thing you will give to Him will be likened to Deposits.



2.    Dedicate the Totality of your life to Him. {Whatever you give in dedication to God, He Insures, Multiplies and returns guaranteed condition back in to you.} Dedication means laying down everything that pertains to you to Him. That is, when you have given Him your life, you don’t need to withdraw it again from Him through unrighteousness, sin or backsliding. Remember, God is a jealous God. Exodus 20:3-5.


3.    Submit totally to His Will and Instructions. His Will is His MIND, His Instruction is His WORDS Jeremiah 29:11.


4.    Meditate daily of the Word of God. Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:11.



5.    Have a Solid Word-life. Your Word-life determines your Prayer-life. Your Word-life also Controls and Regulates your impact and influence on your world. Your Word-life will Create any kind of world you want for you John 1:3; Hebrews 11:3; John 15:1-15.





6.    Believe: 2nd Chronicles 20:20b. Your believe in anything will determine the kind of world you will be living in James 1:6-8.





7.    Action: James 2:26. Your Faith without the Application of all you have Known and Acquired is of Futile Effort.

Note that the Word of God is a powerful weapon to deal with any situation around you. You can use that same Word to Build, Destroy, Pull Down and Tear Down anything.

GIVE EVERYTHING TO THE WORD


By Joseph Akinola

GIVE EVERYTHING TO THE WORD
John 1:1-5; John 15.

The Word of God is Promise of God, the Word of God is what God can do; what He will do and also what He is doing. The Word of God is God. The Word of God has in it the Creating Ability to cause / boost your creative prowess John 14:1-3. Anything you give to the Word, you have given to God. Giving everything to the Word means, ‘to submit totally everything about you to God Almighty’.


Why Give To The Word

1. The Word of God is Settled in Heaven Psalm 119:89. Anything you give / commit to the Word becomes a settled matter, because the Word is settled in a settled place (heaven).

2. The Word of God is Established Job 22:28. Until you embrace the Word of God, it (the Word) will not be Established in your life (it is the Word of God you embrace that is be established (proved) in your life, and that same Word will now establish you (set you up, authenticate and confirm you).

Bible says in Job 22v28 that, ‘you shall decree a thing and it shall be established’. The Word of God in your life/heart is the Word of God in your mouth. The Word of God in your mouth is what will be Established/Confirmed. So what are you saying about your life? Psalm 87:5.

3. The Word of God is Yea and Amen. 2nd Corinthians 1:20. Anything the Word of God says is what happens. The Word of God is the Truth and when you embrace the Truth, everything about your life becomes True. Anything the word says is what you will experience.

What To Give To The Word

1. Your Life: John 3:3, John 3:7; 1st Peter 1:23. Another word for this is (the salvation of your soul). The first requirement God demands of you is your life. He gave it to you and He wants you to submit it willingly to Him so that He can direct the affairs of your life. When you willingly hand your life over to God, He will handle your life appropriately. Giving your life to God means, surrendering totally, everything about your life to him. Using the principle of sowing and reaping, without giving, there can never be receiving. The same way, when you don’t give your life, you won’t really get it / have it useful to you nor will you be able to maximize the glory God had ordained of you at your creation.

2. Focus/Attention: Hebrews 12:2, Luke 11:34-36. Where is your focus? To What / Whom have you given or are you giving your attention to? Where you put your focus and attention will greatly determine what kind of focus (influence) you will be to your world and the attention you will command in your world. What are you giving your attention to? Is it the economy, relative, what people are saying or the terrible situation you are passing through? Bible says, no man can receive anything except it is given to him. Before you will be given anything by anyone, your focus/attention is highly needed/required by that person; this shows your thirst and your yearning; and this will also determine how much (in quality and quantity) what would be delivered into your hands. Bible says, that a double minded individual/fellow cannot receive anything from God, so be focus. James 1:6-8.

3. Your Heart: Proverbs 4:20-23. You need to give God your heart. Your heart is seat of decision and the throne of power for your life and destiny. God wants your heart and the devil too wants your heart. When you don’t give it to God, the devil automatically takes charge of it with several evil/wicked thoughts. Giving God your heart demands that you fear the Lord and study His word, meditate daily and ceaselessly on the word. By doing this, (meditating on the Word regularly), you will have the Word you have read and meditated upon gives birth into lots of multi-million Dollar ideas that will engage your heart and lead you into your destiny. That same Word of God you hid/kept in your heart will keep you away from all manners of unrighteousness and sin / wicked things Psalm 119v11. Bible says, ‘guard your heart with all diligence’ my question is, can you really guard your heart yourself – without any stronger person’s influence? No, you need the Word of God (God Personified) to guard your heart and also guide/direct your ways into destiny.

When you give God your heart, He will cause you to live a meaning life. This would be determined by the portion of your heart you give (apportion/allocate) to Him. Further Reading: Proverbs 3:1; 3:3; 4:4; 7:1-3.

4. Your Will: Don’t go to God with an idol in your heart. Your Will should be a reflection of what the Word of God is saying. Any Will outside what the Word is saying is a mere wish and it cannot come to pass/fruition. There is a proverb/adage that says ‘wherever and whenever there is a will, there is a way’ - but what I have discovered is that, until your will is aligned with the Word of God, there can never be a way in it. Any Will outside the Word of God is likened to a fellow coming to God with what he wants God to do for him and not what God can do or has in stock for him.

5. Your Thought. Joshua 1:8. Your thought is a product of your intake (what you feed you mind on), it is the by-product of MEDITATION. When your thought is not given to God through your meditation, you can never receive what the mind of God is for your life. Each time you meditate on God’s Word (both the Logos – written word and Rhema – received word), God deposits in you the content of His mind in your mind. Your meditation exercise is your craving for Him and His stuff. Romans 12:2.

Your life can never be better than your thought life Proverbs. 23:7a says, “as a man Thinketh, so is he”. What are you thinking? The fact is, you cannot really think right without the presence and material of God in you. Don’t forget that your life will always move in the direction of your most dominant thought.

6. Your Plans And Proposals: Proverbs 3:5-6. Present your Plans, Projects and Proposals to God and He will plan your Plans to work out excellently. Submit your Projects to God and He will Project it and you (the project carrier) to your world. Commit your Proposals into God’s hand and He will Announce you to your world and your entire world will Subscribe and Propose to (aim at) your product.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

THE HOLY SPIRIT Pt. 7

By Joseph Akinola

Sustaining the Holy Spirit/ Spiritual Gifts

The word Sustenance is synonymous to Maintenance. Maintenance is the act of upholding, preservation in order to make something to continue to exist; to make something to continue to exist.


The Cost and Price of maintaining a possession is always far greater than the Cost of Obtaining it. Maintenance is a life-long exercise/activity as long as that thing still exists.


Sustaining the Holy Spirit in your life as a believer is very crucial. Why? Because, when you don’t sustain it with the required ingredients (food), He begins to leave you – you begin to lose Him in your life. There is nothing as miserable as someone who had enjoyed the presence of the Holy Spirit in the past and now living his/her life without the presence of the Holy Spirit. The truth is, life will be unbearable to him/her.


It is very important to know that when you cannot maintain anything you have acquired, you are not really due, ripe and mature for it. Because if you are due for it, you will rise up to the Task and Price associated with it in every way it demands.


Below are listed and explained, some of the things you could do / exercises you could engage in order to sustain the Holy Spirit in your life and this would make you to always Keep Fit spiritually.


1. Righteousness: You need to live a holy life; a sinless life, to operate a righteous – bound lifestyle. Bible says in Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” If you really want to be exalted (dignified, high-ranked) in life as a person, in all you do and you want to keep growing spiritually, the need for righteousness and abstinence from sin is a must. 1st Peter 1:16 says, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy”; like begets like. You are a Vessel and the Holy Spirit is the Dweller of the Vessel – He knows the condition of the place to which He can dwell (live in), so He gives you the prescription of how His abode should be. 2 Timothy 2:21 says, “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.” 


If the Holy Spirit would really dwell inside of you, you need to be holy/clean/spiritually healthy and sanctified – to deliberately set yourself apart for Him (if you are expecting a guest, you prepare your house for his visit, so that he would find your place comfortable in order for him to stay longer). Before you will operate the verse of the Scripture that says, ‘Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world’, you must make yourself Clean and Clear of all filthiness; you must ensure that where the Greater One will dwell is clean and garnished so that when He comes, He will stay permanently and then, would start to reproduce fruits upon fruits in your life because He doesn’t stay where there is filthiness. 


Note that when the temple is not holy, the Holy God will not come and dwell/reside in it. Also note that when you live a righteous life, you automatically make yourself readily accessible to and for the Master’s use and also for His abode and when you become the Master’s abode, you begin to exhibit the acts of the Master and with this, you soon become a master in and to your world both in the natural and supernatural.

Righteousness, as defined by some Bible scholars, is said to be ‘your right standing with God’. Where and how are you standing with God? This is a very critical question no one can answer for you but for yourself. It is important to know that how you stand with God determines how close or far He is / He will be to you and this will literally determine what happens to you and how much of Him you will know, have/possess because when He is with you, He will tell you things, including things to come (John 16:13).


Always note that Who lives with you or Who you live with greatly influences and determine your influence in life both physically and spiritually.

When he lives with you, He will influence your life into full/maximum success.

2. LOVE: 1Corinthians 13. Love is from God. God is love and anyone who will truly love must have God. Anyone who has God must have love and anyone who loves must surely experience God. Love is very vital. Without love, you cannot give and when you give, it must be without any string attached. It is not the person you give that rewards you but God. Love is the greatest of the Law of God 1st Corinthians 13:13. Without love, you cannot really see God. Ephesians 3:17-19.


3. FELLOWSHIP: Hebrews 10:25. Don’t forsake the assembly of God’s brethren. When you embrace fellowship, you will enjoy Synergy. Coming together enables you do things with ease, also, you exert less energy on things you do. Note that no man is an Island. You need others. God never created you to be alone, neither does He created you for yourself. Even God, the Creator of heaven and earth embraces the principle of coming together (Genesis 1:26 {come, let us create……..}). How enormous the result is when people (believers) come together. In Isaiah 1v18, God painted a picture of synergy through coming together both ‘to learn from others’, ‘reason together’ and ‘to do together’.


4. FASTING: Joel 2:12. Fasting breaks/disconnects you from the natural and makes you spirit-man attuned to the frequency where you can hear God audibly and clearer. Mark 9:29; Ist Corinthians 7:5.


5. PRAISE: Psalm 100:4. This is the key / access into the Supernatural. Praise also brings down the presence of Divinity/Holy Spirit. Psalm 34:1


6. PRAYER: 1Timothy 2:1; Acts 10:4


7. BOLDNESS: Proverbs 28:1. A righteous man is as bold as a lion. Acts 4:13; Acts 4:31; Ephesians 3:12.


8. SANCTIFICATION: 1Thessalonians 4:3-4. The world of spirits can never be comfortable to those who plunge themselves in the filth of the flesh; nor will the righteous and holy God ever admit such into his favour and presence, unless they be first washed and sanctified, and justified in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, 1st Corinthians 6:11. 2nd Thessalonians 2:13; 1st Peter 1:2


9. THE WORD OF GOD: Acts 6:7. The Word of God Increases your Capacity Physically and Spiritually. Your spiritual health is geared / powered by the Word of God. The Word feeds your spirit-man, feeds your soul and also boosts your faith causes you to walk and live in the Spirit always.



Food For Thought

"Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

THE HOLY SPIRIT - Part. 6


By Joseph Akinola

Fruit of The Spirit - 2
Galatians 5:22, John 15:1-17

1. GOODNESS: Romans 15:1. This is Benevolence, Giving. This fruit of the Spirit enables a believer to always show the readiness to do good to all as he/she has the opportunity. Matthew 12:33 says, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.” If the tree in you is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is good, then, everything about you must also be good.  
Further Reading: Ephesians 5:9, 2nd Thessalonians 1:11, Romans 15:14.


2. FAITH: This is Reliability. Romans 12:3b. Romans 10:17. Growing greatly in faith demands you consider and watch what you hear. Faith-Building thrives on the wings of studying and listening to the Word of God. The more of God’s Word you hear, the more measure of faith that is released to you. Note that you credit your Faith-Account each time you add to / increase your Word – intake. Your faith in God makes you Buoyant and Bold to stand before and face any challenge that comes your way. Your Faith-Status makes you Unshakable and Immovable in any circumstances of life; it also makes you see every case/issue/situation as possible with GOD Matthew 17:20
Further Reading: Mark 16:16, 1st Timothy 4:12


3. MEEKNESS: This is Mildness, an Even Balance of all Tempers and Passions; this is the entire opposite of anger. Total Submission, not pride or arrogance. Matthew 5:5. This is the ability to govern one self’s passions and resentments, so as not to be easily provoked, and, when he is so (provoked), to be soon pacified. Meekness was the spirit of the Saviour Himself Matthew 11:29. Meekness presupposes humility in a believer’s life and makes him/her find expression in Moderation. 
Further Reading: Proverbs 15:1; Proverbs 16:14; Proverbs 25:15; Ecclesiastes 10:4, 2nd Corinthians 10:1, Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:12; 1Timothy 6:11; Titus 3:2.


4. Temperance: Another word is Self-Control, Continence, Self-Government, Moderation. Moderation in eating, drinking, sleeping, sex, talking, etc. Tip: Check your fasting life – If you cannot control your food appetite, you will not be able to control other appetites. As a believer filled with the Holy Spirit, you should be able to control yourself, your anger, etc. 
Further Readings: Acts 24:25; 1st Corinthians 9:25; Titus 1:8, Titus 2:2


Against such, there is no law: Those, whose lives are adorned by the above virtues, cannot be condemned by any law, for the whole purpose & design of the moral law of God is fulfilled in those who have the Spirit of God, producing in their hearts and lives the Preceding Fruits.


John 15:5When you Stay / Remain CONNECTED to the Holy Spirit, you will bear all the above fruits in QUALITY.

Further Readings: John 15:1-8

Highlight
Staying Connected Leads To Total Consecration And An Ever-Fresh Blossoming in the Spirit 

THE HOLY SPIRIT - Part. 5

By Joseph Akinola

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Galatians 5:22, John 15:1-17

The Fruits of the Spirit are as follows: Love, Joy, Peace, Long-Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, and Temperance. In this lesson, we shall be looking at the Fruits one after the other and the category each falls.

Fruit is defined as the yielding, product of a plant grown. The Fruit of the Spirit is the product of the Holy Spirit; where the Holy Spirit is the Tree / Vine and the believer is likened to the branch which, if he remains connected to the Holy Spirit will bear Fruits and without Him (the Holy Spirit) he (the believer), can literally do nothing John 15:5.

The nine (9) Fruits of the Spirit are categorized into 3:

Love, Joy and Peace -- Character as an Inward State

Long-Suffering, Gentleness and Goodness -- Character in Expression Toward Man

Faith, Meekness and Temperance -- Character in Expression Toward God

Tip: All these fruits present a moral Portrait of Christ.

1. LOVE: This is an act of denoting an inner inclination to persons or things. Lack of love in a believer’s life gets a believer disconnected from the Holy Spirit 1st Corinthians 13:1. The Holy Spirit helps the believer to possess a large heart. When the Holy Spirit enlarges your heart, you increase in quality, your love for others. Note that you can not really love without the Holy Spirit.
Further Readings: 1st John 4:7,8,12, 16; John 13:35

2. JOY: This is defined as mirth, internal gladness. Nehemiah 8:10 When you posses the joy of the Lord as the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, you become strong from within (spiritually). This joy Rejuvenates, Revitalizes and Refreshes you.  
Further Readings: Isaiah 51:11; Isaiah 61:3a; 1st Thessalonians 1:6; Romans 14:17; Romans 15:13; 2nd Corinthians 6:10; 1Peter 1:8

3. PEACE: This is a form of calmness, quiet and order which takes place in a justified soul; instead of doubts, fear, and anxiety. Peace is described as the first sensible fruit of the pardon of sin Romans 5:1. Peace is a sign of Reconciliation with God Romans 5:1. Peace means, calmness of the heart Philippians 4:7. Further Readings: Romans 15:33; Romans 16:20; 2nd Thessalonians 3:16

4. LONG-SUFFERING: This is the patience to defer anger, and a contentedness to bear injuries of life without murmuring; submitting cheerfully to every dispensation of God’s providence, and thus deriving benefits from every occurrence such as in affliction, trial and when injured by others 1Corinthians 13:4a. Note that Long-Suffering goes hand in hand with Love because Love Suffers Long. This word is sometimes translated Patience.
Further Readings: Romans 2:4; Romans 9:22; 2Peter 3:9, Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 1:11; Colossians 3:12.

5. GENTLENESS: This is a very rare grace, often wanting/lacking in many who have a considerable share of Christian excellence. A good educated and polished manners, when brought under the influence of the grace of God, will bring out this grace with great effect. Another word for Gentleness is Kindness 2Corinthians 6:6; Courtesy; Being Polite.
Further Readings: 2nd Samuel 22:36, Psalm 18:35, Luke 6:35.
Bible Verse:  
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.John 15:5
Highlight
A life lived without the Holy Spirit is a life lived in Darkness!

THE HOLY SPIRIT - Part 4

By Joseph Akinola

SPIRITUAL GIFTS - 2

The Holy Spirit is our Connector to the Spiritual world. He is meant to enable you influence lives and affect your world positively.


There are 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit – 1Corinthians 12:1-12. The gift of the Spirit is for the Release of Power in order for you to be a blessing to your world. These gifts are for the blessing of mankind.


These gifts are categorized into 3.

Category 1: Reveal Something; Category 2: Do Something; Category 3: Say Something

Category One (1) gifts are called the Revelation Gifts. These gifts Reveal Things. (Daniel 1:17)

a. The Word of Wisdom – This gift gives the Revelation about the future. Joseph is an example. It deals with God’s mindset. Deals more with the future. Knowing by revelation the mind, plan of God concerning a person and situation.


b. The Word of Knowledge – This gift gives that revelation that concerns things in the present or past. It can reveal to you fraudulent people around you. Knowing facts about the future or the present.


c. Discerning of Spirits – Knowing by revelation whether the spirit in revelation is divine and demonic. Note – Discernment of spirit is not fault - finding nor mind-reading.

Category Two (2) gifts are called the Power Gifts Luke 10:19a.

These gifts are the gifts that do things, they perform things. That is where the raw energy of God flows from the source. It is divine electricity.


d. Gift of Faith – This is the Supernatural working power of the Holy Spirit when there is a particular situation, a particular scripture comes alive in you Isaiah 49:24-25. The Gift of Faith is not the saving faith. This is not the general faith for Christians. A good example is Daniel. This gift makes you passive – you don’t really do anything, do you? You don’t prepare for war, you prepare for the day of war. How prepared are you when you are faced with challenge.


e. Working of Miracles – Operating this gift, you will actually do something. Example – walking on water. Holy Spirit helps us to carry out acts contrary to the natural laws. Example – Divided Rea Sea – Carry out acts beyond human capacity. Example: multiplication, water to wine. The Holy Ghost will give you an instruction to take a particular step.

f. Gift of Healing – This is where the Holy Spirit enables us to administer healing. This gift helps you as a carrier of the Holy Spirit to destroy the works of the devil in the human body. You don’t administer the gift of healing to / for yourself, it actually works on others.


Tip: Anytime you are in need of anything, look for a Worship song that talks about that thing to God. There is a song that ministers it. Sing of God’s swiftness. Note that: Music is the key / entrance to the spirit world either negative or positive.

Tip: To enjoy a stronger relationship with the Holy Spirit, listen to music. Learn to always sing to Him / God.


Category Three (3)Gift of Utterance – These are the gifts that Say It.


g. Prophecy – This gift is meant for edification and comfort. Prophecy communicates a message from God to People. With this gift, you simply hear from God and say what you hear. This is supernatural utterance in a known tongue.

 

h. Diverse Kinds of Tongues.

i. Interpretation of Tongues.


Final Word: Communicate with the Holy Spirit; where there is no communication, there cannot be Manifestation. When you don’t communicate to Him, He will not Communicate Instructions to you.

THE HOLY SPIRIT - Part 3

By Joseph Akinola

SPIRITUAL GIFTS
1st Corinthians 12:1-11

These gifts are for the Conviction Of Unbelievers And Propagation Of The Gospel for Christians, Believers and Ministers. Matthew 10:8 says, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” These gifts are freely given of God and spiritual gifts are bestowed for the advantage and the salvation of others.


Spiritual gifts are the Endowment of the Holy Spirit. This is a great PROOF of the Holy Spirit in the life of any believer. These gifts come for God and are to be used for Him. The Gifts, though several are of the same Spirit (Holy Spirit) and are in themselves of various kinds.


There are diversities of Gifts such as:

1. Word of Wisdom: Wisdom is Intelligence, then practical in action in accord with it. This is the Speech Full Of Wisdom under the impulse of the Holy Spirit of God. This is what is called Revelation by the Spirit.

2. Word of Knowledge: This gift says the Knowledge Of Mysteries Wrapped Up In Prophecies. This is a Skill given by the Holy Spirit to believers and also, the Readiness to Give Advice and Counsel in Perplexed Cases. This gift is Insight (Illumination).

3. Faith: The faith of miracles or faith in the Divine Power and Promise, whereby they (Christians, believers, ministers) are Enabled to Trust God in Any Emergency, and profess the truths of Christ whatsoever was the difficulty or danger. This faith is not the ‘Saving Faith’ but the ‘Wonder-Working Faith’ 1Corinthians 13:2; Matthew 17:20; Matthew 21:21.

4. Gift of Healing: Healing the sick, either by ‘Laying on of Hands’, or ‘Anointing with Oil’, or With the Bare Word. All these are the Acts of Healing Acts 4:20; James 5:14; Luke 7:21.

5. Working of Miracles: This is the efficacy (usefulness) of powers, such as Raising the Dead, Restoring The Blind To Sight, Speech To The Dumb, Hearing To The Deaf Galatians 3:5; Hebrews 2:4.

6. Prophecy: This is the Ability To Foretell Future Events. This is the Ability To Speak Forth. This is not always a Prediction, but a speaking forth of God’s message under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

7. Discernment of the Spirit: This is the Power To Distinguish Between True And False Prophets, or to discern the real and internal qualification of a person for an office. This Power enables you to discover the inward workings of the mind by the Holy Ghost Acts 5:3. Romans 14:1; Hebrews 5:14. This is a most needed gift to tell whether the gifts (so-called gifts today) are really of the Holy Spirit and supernatural.

8. Diverse Kinds of Tongues: This is the Ability To Speak Languages By Inspiration. There are varieties in this gift but the gift was essentially an Ecstatic Utterance of Highly Wrought Emotion That Edified the Speaker. 1 Corinthians 14:4; 14:2; 14:28; 14:13.

9. Interpretation of Tongues: This is the ability to render in other languages.

THE HOLY SPIRIT Part 2

By Joseph Akinola

(Who He is and What He Does)
John 14:15-18

“15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”


Importance: Jesus the Son of God could not Manifest without Power (Power of the Holy Spirit) (Luke 4:14). If Jesus Christ could not perform without the Holy Spirit, neither can you perform nor accomplish anything without Him.


What He Does

1. He is God’s Power: At your reception/acceptance of Him (Holy Ghost) into your life, you receive into you an implantation of the Supernatural that makes you operate / function in God’s Capacity.

2. He Is The Revealer Of All Things: He brings you out of your hiding place and reveals you to your world. He makes you known to your world and causes your light to shine in the darkness of this world. He announces your eminence in Christ based of your knowledge in God and of Him. He breaks the walls of Limitations surrounding you, Mitigates (justifies) you and dignifies you in such a manner that you wouldn’t have attained in life or in your profession. A very good example: The Disciples Acts 2:2-6a; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10. He shows you things to come. He reveals to you things to come and also the secrets things you don’t know if you wait on Him.

3. Brings Boldness: He gives you Courage for Delivery, so that you can deliver your potential in life. Life will never give you what you deserve but what you Negotiate and to negotiate, you need the Power of the Holy Ghost to Combat any and every powerless power that wants to stand on your way.

4. Gives You The Clout: This is your Influence power, one of the best way/medium to influence your world at large is to possess the Holy Spirit and fully maximize Him in your life. (Lot of believers today has the Holy Spirit but has never experienced His manifestation once. Why? Because they never put Him to work).

5. He Is The Comforter: Brings Comfort into your life; this is an Incomparable comfort.

6. Teacher: Teaches you all things, John 14:26. The things He teaches you are the things you rely on Him/believe him on for. He shows you the way to go, when to go, how to go and what to do per time.

7. The Helper: He Helps you in all things if you invite Him into your situation.

8. Quickens Your Mortal Body: Romans 8:11 The Spirit of God causes your mortal body to become Supernaturally Alive if you engage Him.

9. He Is the Spirit Of Truth: He guides you into all truth. It is when you possess the Holy Spirit in you that God through Him (Holy Spirit) will effectively communicate with you the future, which is the TRUTH.

10. Reminder: Reminds you of all things and all that you have learned. He brings them to your remembrance John 14:26.

11. Intercessor: He intercedes for you and I (saint). Romans 8:26:27.

12. Oil Of Joy: He infuses joy into you system Proverbs 17:22. With joy, most of the sicknesses in your body are healed.

13. Enduement of Power: He endues you with Power (The Ability To Do). This literally means you cannot do virtually anything without Him.

THE HOLY SPIRIT


By Joseph Akinola

THE HOLY SPIRIT {An Overview}
ACTS 1:8

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”



The Holy Spirit is the third Person in the Trinity.

He is the Personality behind every Exploits and Manifestations in the Pentecostal movement today Romans 1:20.


This is an Inexhaustible Jesus promised you and I when He was ascending into heaven Acts 1:4 & 8.

The Holy Spirit is a Person. He is a personality in the order of the Godhead.

He is in charge of the affairs of the Kingdom of God on earth today.

He Empowers people/believers/saints for Supernatural feats.

The Holy Spirit is the most Valuable asset to Christian living.

He is the Central Figure in any breakthrough in life

He is the ever-abiding Power of God available to saints today John 16:13.

He is the spirit of Truth John 16:13


“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”


He is the Personality that Guide, Directs, Shows, Leads, Conducts, Points, Manages, and Pilots you into all the ‘Truth’ about your life.

The Future (God’s Plan and Purpose for you) is the ‘Truth’; Everything that Makes Up the journey to your destiny is the ‘Truth’ from God, all that You Must and Should Do in order to enter it are all ‘Truth’ by God, which you cannot Access without Possessing / Having Him (Holy Spirit) in you (your life). I mean the Truth from God (what God had written concerning your life and destiny) cannot be In View, Known, Realized/Achieved and Fulfilled without His Leadings, Instructions/Companionship.

You cannot NAVIGATE through the sea of life without the Help/Assistance and the Presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.


What You Should Know About The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit, (at reception-when you received Him) is like a seed, which Grows and Brings Forth Fruits of POWER, Acts 1:8. This power enables you to do all that you need to do (Philippians 4:13). The Power you receive will make you become an Evidence of the Word of God you utter in your mouth and the Word you live by to your world.

KINGDOM COMMITMENT (Pt. 5)



By Joseph Akinola

THE CHALLENGE OF SERVICE 
(1Acts 6:11; Romans 8:35)

This Lesson would be the concluding part of this series. From all we have learnt from the beginning of this series, a summary of it is: Service is a way of sharing your Resources, Time, Personality and Life with others or a group of people in the Love of Christ.

Service is the proof of your love to God and the challenges of service are likened to a test/an examination which will always lead you to your place of rest. {If you are not thrown here and there in service (through errand), you cannot really enjoy the throne you will possess after your service}.

I want you to know that for every position, there is always an opposition (1 Corinthians 16:9 “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries”). Because your service in God and to God will always lead you to a successful end/destination, lots of oppositions; such as the people around you, friend and foes, name it, will not want you to get to your destination in service, even the devil will want to distract, deprive and discourage you from becoming who you should be at the end of your service.

All the things you experience along your way in service are all called Challenges.

Challenge comes your way, not to separate you from the love of God but in order to make you closer to God and also, to make you become a matured Christian.

Amongst the things you would experience as challenges in service are stated below and how you respond to it will greatly determine How Much you would GROW as a Christian and How Far you would GO with God.

1. Persecution – Acts 6:11

2. Tribulation – trouble of all kinds Romans 8:35

3. Distress – Romans 8:35

4. Famine – Romans 8:35

5. Nakedness – Romans 8:35

6. Peril – Danger of life, health, etc.
Here, you are exposed to lots of risks that can hamper and harm your destiny both Physically, Emotionally, Psychologically And Spiritually.

7. Sword – This literally means Death. The day you sign-up for Service, you are signing into a life or death mission.

Don’t forget that challenges are really not meant to break nor destroy you. Challenges are meant To Make and Refine you. It is how you respond to the challenges of Service that determines what becomes of you.

To scale through all the above stated Challenges Of Service, you need MATURITY.

Spiritual Maturity begins with one having the Fruits of the Spirit such as Love, Joy, Peace, Long-Suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Temperance – all stated in Galatians 5:22-23.

These fruits of the Spirit make every Spirit-filled Believer become a personality with a Magnanimous Heart, which enables the individual to be Very Generous at all he does, makes him to be Kind regardless the harsh whether/situation and Forgiving despite the offenses.
 
In our Subsequent Series, we shall be looking at the Lesson titled, The Holy Spirit and His Gifts.

KINGDOM COMMITMENT (Pt. 4)

By Joseph Akinola

THE REWARD OF SERVICE
(1 Timothy 5:8b; Matthew 6:33)
And according to the Law of Sowing and Reaping which states that, ‘For every giving that you make, there is a receiving’. Also, ‘For every service you render, there is also a commensurate Reward’.

The word, ‘Reward’ in English terminology is ‘Something Given In Return’ (I mean, desirable; given in return for what somebody has done), it is a kind of benefit received / obtained as a result of an action taken or a job done.

Coming back to the Kingdom terminology – For every Service you see the need and render in the House of God, God also sees the need for Decorating your life. Your service in the Vineyard brings the attention of heaven into your affair, makes the heaven intrude into your life affair/issues, because you have first committed yourself to the things of God and your Commitment has now committed God to do and go beyond your demands in prayer for you.

Note That, the day you register to volunteer in service in the vineyard, heaven opens an account for you where the reward of your service is deposited and also, you get/receive a Direct line to which you can communicate with the Almighty.

Amongst The Reward of Service are:

1. Eternal Life 1Timothy 6:19b

Your service per time in the vineyard is likened to an/the amount or deposit you make to secure for yourself a Life Insurance. You can never get for yourself a True Life, and Enviable End and a Colourful Future without service, mostly in the vineyard.

{Try go and trace history from ages, even in the secular, the people and personalities we still hear their names today to be great men and women are all a product of service. They gave themselves wholly and voluntarily; some after much persuasion; for Service and today, both the ones dead and alive, their names still live on even in the minds of the generations they left behind.}

Advice: Do you want to live on even after you are dead, or after you are no more in your Environment, Community, Organization/Company, Ministry/Church; then find something to do to SERVE Others and those you Served Well, Inspired and Treated Positively will find/Have Something To Remember You For.

2. A Blessed Livelihood /Life Exodus 23:25

{Here, God was talking to you & I that due to our service, He will bless our bread; this literally mean that, He will make you realize bountiful results regardless what you earn, that is, He would operate the Law of Multiplication on your Bread (earnings).}

Your service qualifies you for bread. Your service to God invokes / brings Multiplication to every result and earnings you make; He also preserves your life thus making you to live a sickness-free life.

Friend, do you want to shed weight? (I mean the weight of sickness, poverty, lack, confusion, emotional and psychological), then, please, find a way to serve. Because, a lot of things happen during service such as sickness that should take away your money and your life; anxiety that should take away your joy and happiness etc, are all being taken care of during service.

3. Service Brings Deliverance. Psalm 91:14a

You cannot be delivered from some oppressions of the Devil/wicked until you find a way to deliver your own potentials in the house of God. How? God takes care of the Cleaning and Management of your life when you Take Care and Manage His house with your Potentials.

4. Divine Lifting. Psalm 91:14b. Until you find a reason to serve in the vineyard of God, He will never find/see any reason to lift you beyond your Present status in every area of your life. High place is the heritage of the sons of God, but the son of God who will possess those high places/positions will first prove to God that ‘God, I qualify oooo’ before God delivers the high place into his hands. How? By/through your Ceaseless, Diligent, and Committed Service. Why? It is how well you serve that will determine how great you will be promoted and how well you will lead. Your service to God is a proof of your believe in His word that says, God is a rewarder of those that serve Him. Hebrews 11:6. Your diligence (persistent effort) at seeking God through your service makes Him to also be diligent/persistent at blessing and lifting you from your present status to a higher one.

5. God’s Honour and Public Recognition Psalm 91:15. Your service is a form of calling/bringing the attention of heaven/God to yourself. You want God to Notice you, recognize and honour (award) you, then lay your hand on something in His vineyard and He will certainly do so to you.

6. Your Service Earns You The Presence Of God All The Time. Psalm 91:15

His presence in your life will give you an ‘All Time Protection’ service where no trouble or affliction will be permitted to visit you.

7. Total Redemption. Psalm 91:16.

KINGDOM COMMITMENT (Pt. 3b)

By Joseph Akinola

QUALITIES OF KINGDOM ATTENDANTS (Continued)
Acts 6:3

1. Be Respectful: 1Timothy 6:1.

Respect is a must virtue if you want to succeed as a believer or an attendant in the vineyard. Each and every individual must first respect himself then also respect the other person; through this, the respect you give out will return to you and we shall all have a mutual agreement based on the Subject or Project we are taking on. Note that when there is no respect of each other, there can never be any agreement, and when there’s no agreement, the job will never be done accurately.

2. Be Teachable and willing to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2.

To be teachable means to possess the ability to learn anything at anytime from anyone for any reason. Until you are teachable, you will not be qualified to serve. Because servants are learners – they are individuals willing and ready to learn all needed to be learnt in order to carry out any available assignment.

To be willing to teach others – This translates that, what you have learnt wasn’t for you to work on and work with alone, but it is also meant for you to teach others. Let others equally get a grip of that same knowledge that you have acquired to carry out that task. Note that operating the principles of teaching others give you (the teacher/trainer) more opportunities to learn new things and more privileges to step up (move on to a higher level in hierarchy). But lots of people neglect this principle. The reason why most people neglect this principle is that, they have no ability to see into their future, they are myopic; short-sighted and cannot see beyond their present state.

You don’t want to teach others because you have a feeling that he/she would be like you but the truth is, until your trainee/student be like you, you cannot be a better person, you cannot possess the qualities to qualify for your own next level. Until you have trained someone, you cannot be promoted. Teaching others is a sign of maturity, it shows that the seed of greatness is in you and until you can let go of a thing/knowledge/status/position, that thing is greater than you.

3. Be Faith-Filled. Acts 6:5 & 8

He/she must be full of faith. Faith is a way of life but it (faith) is traceable to the state (condition) of the mind. Your faith will be built on the quantity of the Word of God you have within you. Faith will always respond to the things/material your feed on. I mean the Word of God you consume in any form.

Your Faith can enable you to move the most unexpected mountain both spiritual, financial, material, etc. (Bible verse). You are called into the Ministry of Help as an Attendant in order to assist in carrying the hand of the ministry just as Aaron did and you need faith to follow Actively and Effectively in order not to make the kind of mistake Aaron made in making idol for the people.

How To Develop Your Faith?

a. Through the Word of God – (Acts 19:20). Read it always and make sure you understand it. Study the Word of God daily, by doing this, you are developing your inner spiritual prowess (ability), programming your mind to function in the realm of the Supernatural and this enables you function at the peak level spiritually; causing you to command the unusual to become usual and the natural to respond to the supernatural.

Until you saturate your mind with the Word of God, you can never grow in faith, and until the Word of God grows in you, you can never grow anything around you that refuse to grow.

b. Messages / Tapes (Resource materials) Romans 10:17. You are what you hear/listen to. You life goes in the direction of what you listen to. What you listen to programs your mind and it has a way of working either positively or negatively on your belief system which eventually becomes your faith.

c. Among the Lord’s Brethren. Hebrews 10:25. This indicates that you must not neglect the company of saints.

KINGDOM COMMITMENT (Pt. 3)


By Joseph Akinola

QUALITIES OF KINGDOM ATTENDANTS
Acts 6:3

A Kingdom attendant is an individual who has decided to give him or herself in helping, assisting and serving in the Vineyard.

An Attendant is always a Willing Candidate because the nature of his job demands lots of Willingness, Selflessness and Service to Others.

A Kingdom Attendant’s quality is likened to his/her Property, Characteristics, Features and Attributes.

In today’s lesson, we shall be looking carefully at the qualities (features or characteristics) an Attendant must possess in order to be able to serve effectively in the Vineyard. A Kingdom Attendant must:

1. Have Good and Honest Report – Acts 6:3

This is talking about the Testimony of an individual. What can/do people say about you beginning for your home to the church of God Almighty? Your testimony matters a lot as an Ambassador of your church; as this is your Track Record.

2. Be Spirit-Filled – Acts 6:3

An Attendant without the fullness of the Spirit will automatically be empty of the Spirit. The Spirit (Holy Spirit) is the Fuel (unction) you need to run your service, the Comforter (personality to pacify you when you are in distress), Director (someone to guide and direct you when you are short in idea, initiative and strength).

3. Be Zealous – Luke 2:49

This has nothing to do with Eye-Service.

Warning: Be Zealous and Don’t Do Eye-Service and if you are accused of doing it, don’t be discouraged.

4. Be Humble (Humility): 1Timothy 6:7.

Humility is a very great virtue every believer/kingdom attendant in the house of God must possess. Things/work of God does not demand you claiming level or status. God sees every individual equally, that is why He says in Acts 10:34, that ‘He is no respecter of persons’. But I can tell you that if you come to Him without your status and title, He will surely decorate you beyond your imaginations with several titles and you will be the Title (topic) of discussion to your world at large and you will now begin to qualify for the entitlements of the people based on the respect you had first shown Philippians 2:7. Jesus was a very good example of this – gave himself no reputation just for you and I. Jesus of Great Reputation was a good example of that and till today, He still reaps His own Entitlement from the world at large.) Hallelujah!

5. Be Wise: Acts 6:3,10; Proverbs 9:10

6. Wisdom is highly of God. There is no man without any connection with God (divinity) that has ever possess that virtue called Wisdom abundantly – Wisdom is a product of your fear of God; you walk into wisdom gradually as you show your fear for God and do ALL that He commanded (Proverbs 9:10). Wisdom is the receipts (proceeds) you get each time you do what God demands of you (fear him totally). When you possess this wisdom, you have already received the unction to accomplish great and difficult things with ease.

7. Be Liberal. 1Timothy 6:18.

Being Liberal means, being Broad-minded, Generous and being able to share. A liberal individual will be able to tolerate any form of nonsense based on his broad-heartedness and this will also allow him to be able to share anything with anyone at any given time. Advantage of being Liberal – Liberality launches you into the level of Unlimited Flow in resources and also makes you not to be stranded at any given time Proverbs 11:25. When you are liberal with things, you will open yourself up to unlimited opportunities and more will always be added to you periodically.

8. Be Pure (Purity): 1Timothy 6:11.

Purity begins with the state of a man’s mind. Ordinarily, no master will like or prefer a servant/staff that is not always clean and fresh, when you are clean and fresh, you will always be presentable and used repeatedly. The same applies to the issue of God. An unclean servant/vessel is an irritated entity to and before his master. Purity attracts the presence of God. You become a Must-Use and Most-Used vessel in the hand of the God and also a Formidable Force to your world at large 2Timothy 2:21. When you are pure/set yourself apart for God to make use of, you rip the benefit the most. Why? You will hardly complain about most things others complain about because you are a carrier of the Presence of God and in the presence of God, there is fullness of joy. Why the joy? The joy comes as a result of ‘everything falls in its rightful place’ for you. When you separate yourself, God will honour you and project you to your world for its (your world’s) due honour too.
Success is sure for you if only you will do EVERYTHING possible about ANYTHING you can do Something about now.