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!

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.