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."

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 15:5 – When 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!

KINGDOM COMMITMENT Pt 1

By Joseph AKINOLA

KINGDOM COMMITMENT

Acts 6:3; Psalm 91:4-6

Kingdom Commitment is the assignment you take on as your own Personal Responsibility in the Vineyard (House of God). In our previous lesson, we learnt that, ‘It is how much you are committed to your assignment that will determine how much that will be committed into your hand/care’; which literally means that, your commitment level at whatever thing you do will determine your SUCCESS level. Bringing this principle into the body of Christ; Commitment means ‘you taking an assignment in the Vineyard as an obligation/your responsibility’.

Kingdom Commitment helps you walk through the hurdles of life with ease. Why? Because as you are attending to the needs in the house of God (not only financially, but also, Physically – {your manpower is highly needed}; that is, your presence, skill and time), God is also attending to the need pertaining to your life Matthew 6:33.

Isaiah 65:14
Kingdom Commitment is likened to you, not seeing and getting worried about what you are going/passing through, but you are so much concerned and consumed about what must not be wrong in the house of God and the REWARD is: Your unsaid prayers will always automatically attract answers.

Hear This - God will never be committed to anything you do at its OPTIMAL until you are committed to His things. Matthew 6:33 – He will never seek you to bless you with all that you need until you first SEEK Him through doing His things.

A Call To Service

• Bring the whole of Yourself, your Heart and all your Ideas into the things of God and God will bring/carry the whole of Himself, Power, Infinite Wisdom and His Presence into everything you do.
• Your destiny cannot be totally fulfilled until you have fulfilled your part in God’s kingdom.
• Until you show your Creator your love through your Worship and Commitment to His thing, He will never show you the blessing-side of Himself. Proverbs 23:26 says, “My son, give me thine heart” which means, ‘my son, LOVE me’. You cannot LOVE without GIVING as you cannot Give Him your Heart without giving Him your HAND, first. So, giving Him your hand will be a proof of your love TO Him.

FINALLY

Until you see the need for your Presence, Time and Skill in the House of God, God will never see any reason to answer to your need and be with you in times of trouble. Matthew 6:33.