Monday, December 31, 2012

Hope


1 Thess 1:2-3
We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. 3 As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many people in the world who do not have God do not have any hope for a better life or a better life to come; they have to depend on the crumbling economic system of the world. We are not like that. Jesus came to give us hope, and this hope is not just wishful thinking, no, this hope is real because He has given us the Holy Spirit of promise as the earnest for our inheritance. We have the Holy Spirit within us who fortifies this hope for us, He is also the one who keeps us intact and preserves us in this Hope of a coming kingdom and dominion of our lord who is the Christ.
What exactly is this hope? This hope we talk about is the knowing inside you that one day, all will be well. Everything in the universe will work according to plan without chaos or shortage of resources, and you know that you will be part of that harmony. On this day, our Lord Jesus will rule and reign as king over the kingdoms of the whole earth and we will reign with Him as kings. This hope not only exists in the life to come but also in this life we are living right now. The Holy Spirit who lives within us makes good things happen to us and restrains the evil one from our lives. He is our seal and guarantee so He does all these great things for us in preserving us for the kingdom.

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Why Christ Came



    

Eph 1:9-11
God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

The scripture we just read tells us that a time is coming when God will bring everything under the authority of Jesus Christ. A day will come after the rapture, when Jesus Christ and we who are in His kingdom will rule and reign in this earth for one thousand years.  The city which you dwell in will probably still be known by the same name when this happens. This period of our rule and reign with Christ will be after we have been raptured and the anti- Christ’s era has come and gone.
You see, those of us who are working for the kingdom of God; working to populate the kingdom of heaven and depopulate hell, are the ones who will reign and rule with Christ in His Millennial reign. It is after this period that the new heaven and the new earth will be created.
For example, do you think Governor Mimiko who just won the gubernatorial elections of Ondo state (Nigeria) will appoint in his cabinet people who didn’t campaign for him? He is more likely to appoint people who worked hard to see that He won the elections. So It will be during that reign of Christ on earth; the people who will reign and rule in His government will be those who  continue to stay united with Christ, bearing much fruit and doing His will (being His witnesses- campaigning for Him).
Jesus Christ wants you to rule and reign in this world and in His coming reign on this earth. The key to this is to trust Him and obey Him, never look down on yourself but take advantage of the blessings God has bestowed upon you.  He will make all grace abound towards you. Amen.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Growing in your knowledge of God

 
Eph 1:15-18
 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God's people everywhere, 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
NLT
FURTHER STUDY (click to read)
Our relationship with God is organic; this means that we are expected to continue to grow in our knowledge of Him and His ways. The fact that you have a strong love for the things of God and a strong faith is not enough. God expects you to grow in the knowledge of Him. The more you know Him, the more you want to know. You cannot exhaustively know God. There’s always something new to learn every day.
The fact that you love and like a person very much doesn’t necessarily mean you know him enough to have a smooth relationship with him. So it is with our walk with God.
In our bible text, Paul, having heard of the strong faith and love of the Christians in Ephesus, still prayed for them constantly that God would give them spiritual wisdom and insight, without which they will not grow in the knowledge of God. We all need these two virtues in order that we may grow in the knowledge of God.
Wisdom helps us make good use of our time (“teach us to number our days (time), that we may apply our hearts to wisdom”. “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil”, see more) and insight helps us understand what the lord’s will and word is per time.
 One of the most effective ways you can know God is by studying His word in an atmosphere of prayer and praying in an atmosphere of the word. Be careful with the use of your time, do not waste it. Walk in the spirit that you may not gratify the lusts of the flesh (Gal 5:16). I said a few days back that when you walk in the spirit, it means you are conscious of the Holy Spirit’s presence in you; the spiritual aspect of your life becomes the most important. When you walk in the flesh, it means the most important aspect of your life is how your body feels; giving how your body fends more priority to how your spirit fends.
God’s plan for you is for you to live a life of greatness, He wants you to implement this plan in this three dimensional world by walking in the spirit.
Prayer: Thank you father for your word. May it bring fruits in my life today In Jesus name. Amen

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Fellowship with the Holy Spirit


1 Cor 2:14-15
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
NIV


Another way of knowing that you are a child of God (not as if you don’t already know if you are truly a child of God) is that you accept and agree with a deep conviction the things that are inspired by the spirit of God. You are convicted about things like what we discussed earlier when we talked about the millennial reign of Jesus and the saints on this same earth, things like the fact that you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, things like the fact that you can completely put off the old sinful nature and put on your new nature of true holiness.
The will of God for you is that you be filled with the Holy Spirit such that you can discern the things of God by yourself. God wants to have a sweet fellowship with you. This is how you grow spiritually-by knowing God
If you have a friend, the more of that friend you know, the closer you two get, the more of his deep things he reveals to you, the closer you two get. That is how it is with God. God reveals His mysteries to you through His spirit that lives in you.
The only way you can truly grow spiritually is by keeping your fellowship with the Holy Spirit intact. Because He is the Holy Spirit, you have to be Holy to do this. The good news is that holiness is your new nature and you can put this on because the grace is abundantly available for you to do so.
When you have the Spirit of God living in you, you have unlimited access to all the power in the universe.
Prayer: Father I thank you for this day that you have made. I ask that you give me the grace to keep the fellowship of your Holy Spirit, and that you help me to grow into who I should be. Amen

Monday, December 17, 2012

Right Standing With God

 
Romans 4:13-14
Clearly, God's promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God's law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.
NLT

God almighty who is your father is more interested in having a right relationship with you than for you to conform to certain rules and regulations which are encapsulated in religion.
Jesus Christ came to this world to die on the cross for us so that we would have a relationship with God first as children. For as many as received him, God gave them power to become sons of God. God wants you to know that as long as you have received Jesus Christ as you lord and savior, He is your father. You have to respond to Him that way in order to complete the process.
If a homeless child who is adopted by a wealthy man never accepts him as father; or even agrees to move to his house, that child will continue to remain homeless even though he now has a father.
It is your choice whether you will walk in the position and authority you have as a son of God. God has given you the power to become a son, whether or not you use this power is your choice.
If you make a mistake don’t waste any time by dwelling there, run back to your Father who is always on your side; Tell him the details of the mistake and repent of it. Do not let satan make you dwell in that guilt because dwelling in guilt does not produce any good result.
Remember that God cares for you and that He loves you with an everlasting love. God does not want you to be unhappy, no God wants the best for you at all times. When you walk with God you will discover that God’s ways will eventually produce better results than you ever hoped for or imagined.
Prayer: Heavenly father, thank you for your word. I pray that your word will bear everlasting fruits in my life, and that your name will be glorified in my life today and every day. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Love is the greatest

Broadcast 3976 Click here for the audio version: https://streamglobe.org/aud3976 1 John 3:18 (NIV) Dear children, let us not love with words...