Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 4

Messages for November 2015: Our Month of the Holy Spirit

 John 14:18, 26; John 16:13; 1Cor.12:7

Message for Sunday 29^th November, 2015

Theme: Understanding the Gift and Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Topic: Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 4 [Testing the voice you hear]

Introduction: From the beginning of this month, we began to look at this great subject on the Holy Spirit that would help us acquaint ourselves with the Lord. In Job 22:21-23, we read:

“Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.”

We therefore established that for us to really know God, we must be able to hear His voice because the first step to becoming acquainted with anyone is communication. We also saw that you cannot truly communicate with someone you are not on the same page with. In other words, you must understand their language and ways. We also saw that when God wanted to erode the unity of men who were united against His purpose, He had to confuse their tongues so that they could no more operate on the same page. In the same way to be in agreement with God, we must understand His language and ways. This is why we have been looking at how to hear the voice of God.

Today, we shall be looking at how we can ascertain that the voice we hear is actually the voice of God.  I have here listed six things we can look out for to enable us test the voice we hear to ensure that it is God’s voice.

1.     The voice of God carries peace with it. When we lose our peace over a voice we hear, we should pause because evil spirits are always in a hurry. If you wait long enough, you would discover that it was not God who spoke as the cover would be taken off by your patience. Remember, in Galatians 5:6, we are told that faith works by love and patience is the first manifestation of love. This is on the understanding that God’s voice is the basis of true faith as shown in Romans 10:17. See Phil. 4:6-7, Ps.85:8.

2.     The voice of God agrees with the Bible. All scripture is authored by the Holy Spirit and therefore the bible is the basis for testing any voice that claims to be the voice of God. Whatever you hear from God will never conflict with the principles of scriptures because the bible is the word of God that has been tried seven times and has come out flawless. See Ps.12:6; Isa.8:20; Jer.23:25-29; 2Tim.3:16 and 2Pet.1:19.

3.     The voice of the Lord does not encourage hastiness. Any voice you hear from God that promotes hastiness should be checked against what we have discussed in paragraph 1 above. See Isa.28:16 and Heb.6:12.

4.     The voice of the Lord does not release fear but faith in your heart. Every time God speaks, His voice shoots arrows of faith into your heart such that you are empowered to take faith actions that bear the fruits that can only be described as the hand of God at work. See Rm.10:17; 1Jn.4:18.

5.     The voice of the Lord releases joy in your heart. Every time God speaks to us, his voice settles us in such a way that our hearts become filled with joy because in His presence is fullness of joy. Jesus said things to His disciples that enabled their hearts to receive and be filled with joy. See Ps.16:11 and John 15:11.

6.     Whatever God says eventually comes to pass as He says it will. God always confirms what He says through others who are more experienced in the ways of God. This is why we are told in Isaiah 30:20-21 that God gives us teachers who we can see and through them, the Holy Spirit confirms the leadings of God for our lives. See Deut.8:21-22; Isa.44:26, Luke 21:33 and Matthew 24:30, 35. Note however that this is without prejudice to conditional promises which requires that we meet certain conditions before the word can be actualized. Once the demands are met, the fulfilment of God’s word in this case is absolutely certain. A good example is His promise to Israel in Deuteronomy 28.

In summation therefore, putting all we have done so far in this month together, we can say that God not only speaks but He wants to speak to us and it is His pleasure to do so. He also wants us to hear and know for certain that He is the one speaking to us.

However, this blessing is meant for those who have entered into the covenant relationship of the New Birth with the Lord. The bible says that Christ in you is the hope of glory and this mystery was hidden from the foundation of the world for our glory. They are not hidden from us but for us to be able to discover them. If you desire this new birth experience so as to take advantage of what God has given us, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved and granted access to the mysteries of God that would enable you manifest His glory on earth. When Jesus was about to round off His mission on earth, he said he had brought glory to God by fulfilling His purpose. See John 17:4. If you want to be able to say the same thing when the time comes, please say the following prayer out loud and God would honor your faith:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!

Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 3 [hearing His voice]

Messages for November 2015: Our Month of the Holy Spirit

 John 14:18, 26; John 16:13; 1Cor.12:7

Message for Sunday 22^nd November, 2015

Theme: Understanding the Gift and Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Topic: Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 3 [hearing His voice]

Introduction: Last week, we established that God speaks and why. We also began to look at the different ways God chooses to communicate His mind to us. Today, we shall continue looking at how God speaks and begin to look at how to hear the voice of God spoken directly to us by the inward witness which is the main way God wants to speak to all His children apart from the bible:

A sixth way God speaks to us is through the written word or the bible. It is a compilation of prophecies spoken by men who were moved by the Holy Spirit to reveal the heart of God to man and the stories of men and women who walked with God and people of their time. See 1John 5:7-8, 2Peter 1:19-21 and 2Tim.3:16.  This is why Isaiah, referring to those who consult familiar spirits; said in Isa.8:20 that if people do not refer you back to the law and testimony [the confirmed word of God] that it is because there is no light in them. Spiritual light can only be generated when the written word of God is mingled with faith otherwise, God is not obligated to confirm what a purported preacher preaches.

I consider the Bible the Creator’s manual for mankind and his environment. All that can be known of God and man are packaged in the bible made up of the Old and New Testament. Thus the only way we can actually live meaningful lives is by living by the word of God.

A seventh way God speaks to people is through circumstances. A good example of the circumstantial leading of God is seen in the entire book of Esther in the bible where the name of God was not mentioned once yet His acts from behind the scenes were evident. In our lives, God can bring this about by shutting every door except the one He wants to open for us. I have had this experience several times in my missionary journey and at the end of the day, it always turns out that God was actually working behind the scenes and usually, the hand of God becomes visible in the testimonies that accompany the outcome of being led circumstantially. See the story of the four lepers at the gate of Samaria in 2kings 7:3-8.

An eighth way God leads us is through the teaching and preaching of the word of God. This method is usually taken lightly by many, but I have found it to be one of the best ways to confirm a leading you get privately from the Lord. See Isa.30:20-21, Mt.4:23, Mk.9:35, Acts 15:35; Acts 28:30-31 and Hebrews 10:25.

A ninth way God leads is through prophecies: Prophecies are messages from God through mostly human vessels intended to bring edification, exhortation and comfort to us. They do not invoke fear; even when they foretell of terrible events that may come, they also tell the solution that could avert the crises immediately. See 1Cor.14:3, Acts 11:27-30. In our example here, through prophecy, the Church received prudence, they saw the evil ahead and took care of it. See Prov.22:3; 27:12. This is comforting.

A tenth way God Leads is through angels: we see this so many times in the bible like in Gen.18 when God sent angels to assure Abraham of the coming of Isaac and when God revealed His impending judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah and gave Abraham the opportunity to intercede for them. Also, an angel was sent to reveal the virgin conception and birth of the Messiah in Matthew 1 and Luke 1 and 2. Also, angels were assigned to help Paul in his missionary journeys like in Acts 27 when they were affected by a shipwreck that would have cost all of them their lives.

How to hear the voice of God using Habakkuk’s example

In Habakkuk 2:1-3, we read:

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”

From this text of scripture, we can identify four steps we can take to start hearing the voice of God and build on it to consciously be led by the Holy Spirit through the inward witness or inward perception. They are as follows:

1.     Stillness of quietness before God: In the first verse, we are told to be still before God. This entails that we shut out every other voice consciously. This is not a time to remember the many other things we want to do. We must shut out the world, television, radio, internet, phones etc and get quiet in a quiet place before God. This is what Jesus sought to do daily on his earthly sojourn. See Mark 1:35. Indeed, to make a practice of waking up early and seeking God this way is the best. This was Abraham’s style too. In Gen.19:27, we see an account of Abraham rising up early as is the habit with him to the place where he usually stood before the Lord. We must make a habit of making out time daily with the Lord. I do this in my bedroom every morning taking the posture most comfortable for me. When this is in place, then we are ready for the next stage where we begin to see what God is saying.

2.     Vision: When God speaks, His voice activates our imagination so that we begin to see what He says with our minds. This is why Habakkuk says he has to see what the Lord would say to him. In other words, what God is going to say to us would be first caught in vision before our inner ears can pick it. The power of our imagination cannot be overstated. In Gen.11:6, God said nothing will be withheld from a people working together as a team with one imagination. This is why God involves our imagination when He speaks to us to enable us have faith. It is one of the complex means of getting our faith to work because our utterances are empowered by a unity of our speech and imagination. When our imagination becomes one with God’s own, we are said to have vision. This is why it is very necessary for us to be filled with the word of God so that our minds can be renewed enough to be able to comprehend what the Spirit is saying to us. See 1Cor.6:17, Rom.12:1-2 and Col.3:16.

3.     Spontaneity: When God begins to speak to our hearts, it comes through a spontaneous flow of thoughts which can only be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Even though we can stop the flow by our distraction, we cannot turn it on at will. However, God has promised us that when we seek Him with all our hearts, we shall find Him. See Jer.29:13; 33:3, Matthew 7:7-8. The first answer to prayer I look forward to is what God has to say to me in answer to my prayer. Once God says anything to you, you can lay your life on it as it would surely come to pass even if not immediately. See Hab.2:3

4.     Journaling: Finally, to maintain the flow of thought, we should immediately begin to write whatever we hear down in our diaries. This way, we would be able to capture most; if not all of what we hear. Then later, we can go over them along with our bibles to enable us ascertain it was the voice of God. The scripture we are looking at in Hab.2:3 says to write the vision down and make it plain on tables that we may run with it when we read it. This is very important to God. In Jeremiah 36, when He sent the prophet to his people and they burnt the scroll in which His words were journaled, God instructed the prophet to write it out again. What is documented cannot be forgotten easily and even if it is forgotten, we can refer to the documents again. See Apostle Paul’s example in 2Tim.4:13. I have kept journals since 1990 and many of what the Lord had told me then have come to pass.

I will stop here today. Next week by God’s grace, we shall be looking at how to know that what we heard is actually God’s voice and not another.    

However, this blessing is meant for those who have entered into the covenant relationship of the New Birth with the Lord. The bible says that Christ in you is the hope of glory and this mystery was hidden from the foundation of the world for our glory. They are not hidden from us but for us to be able to discover them. If you desire this new birth experience so as to take advantage of what God has given us, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved and granted access to the mysteries of God that would enable you manifest His glory on earth. When Jesus was about to round off His mission on earth, he said he had brought glory to God by fulfilling His purpose. See John 17:4. If you want to be able to say the same thing when the time comes, please say the following prayer out loud and God would honor your faith:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.    

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!

Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 2 [hearing His voice]

Messages for November 2015: Our Month of the Holy Spirit

 John 14:18, 26; John 16:13; 1Cor.12:7

Message for Sunday 15^th November, 2015

Theme: Understanding the Gift and Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Topic: Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 2 [hearing His voice]

Introduction: Last week we established that God already knows us through and through but because of sin, we lost living contact with God and that Jesus Christ came to restore that living contact with us through His sacrifice on the Cross which enabled the Holy Spirit to come and live in us. We also saw that for us to enjoy His ministry to us, we must cultivate a relationship with Him. The reason being that all we can know of God is purely by His revelation to us and this revelation is only accessible to the believer. We saw three demands placed on us to enable us cultivate this great relationship. The first was new birth, the second was communicating with God His way and relating with Him on the platform of His word – The Bible. When this is in place, we become spiritual enough to start hearing Him and being led by His Spirit because God is a Spirit and can only relate with our spirits as spirits talk to spirits. See John 4:23-24 and 1Cor.2:14.

Hearing the voice of God: To hear the voice of God, we must first understand the following:

1.     The answer to the question whether God speaks is positive and this is what distinguishes him from idols which others call god [see Ps.94:9] because He is the prototype of the man He made. He has eyes and sees and ears and hears. Whereas some idols are masterminded by evil spirits to speak, it is evident that they cannot legally speak to man and any man who goes to them for help is seeking help where there is no help. David compares them aptly with helpless beings who have eyes but cannot see; ears but cannot hear and hands and feet but cannot handle or move on their own and concludes that all who make them would be like them. See Psalm 115:5; 135:16. The help the evil spirits offer through them serve to steal from you, kill and then destroy you [John 10:10]. This is why it is so vital to cultivate the divine skills of hearing God directly so as to avoid going to idols as we used to do when we did not know Him. Apostle Paul makes us understand in 1Cor.12:1-2 that this is why we need to learn about the gift of the Holy Spirit.

2.     Secondly, the answer to the question whether God wants to speak to us is also positive because this is why He made us in the first place. He wanted to have children like Him who would communicate with Him on the same level. See Gen.1:26. It is also interesting to note that God speaks to all of His creation for example, He authorized Jeremiah to speak to the earth in Jer.22:29 and Ezekiel to speak to hopeless dried up skeletal bones of men and cause them to come back to life. We can go on and on but let us just understand that God speaks to all and expects us to do likewise because it is the means by which He demonstrates His creativity and we have His DNA to do likewise. See Ps.33:6, 9. Gen.1:1-3, John 1:1-3.

How God speaks and Guides

From the word of God, we understand that God speaks by the following means among others:

1.     Through the audible voice: see 1Sam.3:1-10 and Acts 9:1-7

2.     The inward witness or inner perception [we shall be looking at this in greater details in future by God’s grace]: Rom.8:14, 16; Acts 16:6-7; 27:10-11, 14-20.

3.     Through dreams and visions of the night: Dan.2:19; Job 33:14-16; Matthew 1: 18-21 and Acts 16:9-10.

4.     Through trance: This is the temporary suspension of our senses to enable us become more aware of the events taking place in the spirit realm which God wants to show us. See the example of Cornelius and Peter in Acts 10:1-20 and the example of Balaam in Numbers 24:4, 16.

5.     Through Spiritual and open visions: Spiritual visions happen as a flash of pictures in our minds which we cannot shake off easily. I believe this was how Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream on the spot in Gen.41:14-38. Another example is Elisha getting to know of Gehazi’s treachery in 2Kings 5:20-27. The open vision however happens when we see events as though they are playing out right in front of us like a television screen. See the example of Jesus and Nathaniel in John 1:48 and the visions of John in the entire book of Revelation.

We shall stop here today. Next week we will continue looking at the different ways God speaks and subsequently, we will focus on how to hear God through the inward perception as it is the most important way God wants to speak to us all through our lives and when confirmed by the bible principles and the Spirit, it is the most authentic means by which we can be led by the Holy Spirit because only the Spirit of God resides in the spirit of the new creation.

However, this blessing is meant for those who have entered into the covenant relationship of the New Birth with the Lord. The bible says that Christ in you is the hope of glory and this mystery was hidden from the foundation of the world for our glory. They are not hidden from us but for us to be able to discover them. If you desire this new birth experience so as to take advantage of what God has given us, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved and granted access to the mysteries of God that would enable you manifest His glory on earth. When Jesus was about to round off His mission on earth, he said he had brought glory to God by fulfilling His purpose. See John 17:4. If you want to be able to say the same thing when the time comes, please say the following prayer out loud and God would honor your faith:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!

Topic: Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 1

Messages for November 2015: Our Month of the Holy Spirit

 John 14:18, 26; John 16:13; 1Cor.12:7

Message for Sunday 8^th November, 2015

Theme: Understanding the Gift and Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Topic: Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit Part 1

Introduction: Last week, we commenced this month’s theme with looking at who the Holy Spirit is and what His mission is on earth. We were able to establish from the word of God that He is God and the first of the Godhead introduced to us in the Bible. We also saw that His mission could be interpreted as reestablishing God’s original purpose for making man which was to have a family for Himself who would replenish the earth with His plan for the earth by multiplying the Garden of Eden all around the world according to the prototype God showed him in the beginning thus subduing the world and exercising dominion over it. However, man could not do this without God and unknown to him at the time, there was a dangerous slimy enemy in the earth known as Satan the devil who through the serpent lured the first man from God’s purpose through sin. Man was thus disconnected from God and all efforts to get back to God on his own proved to be to no avail until God reestablished the link by coming in the person of God the Son: Jesus Christ to take away our sin and make it possible for us to be able to relate with God as he originally intended. Since then, all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ are given access to God and can receive a new spirit that becomes the house where the Holy Spirit resides in on earth.

What is required in this relationship?

1.     Understand that God now dwells in man through the new birth experience. This means the closest person to us now is God the Holy Spirit. This therefore shows us that any man who wants to cultivate a relationship with God must first be born again. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord, the Holy Spirit births a new spirit within you where He would reside and from where He would fulfill His ministry to you and through you. See John 3:3-7, 16; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Heb.10:15-22; 2Cor.5:17-21; 1Cor.3:16 & 6:19-20.

2.       In every relationship, communication is vital for the parties to be able to understand each other and relate appropriately. God knows and understands us more than we even know ourselves because He created and made us and like the perfect manufacturer He is, He has our entire lives mapped out in His plan. If we seek Him, He’ll reveal it to us [Jer.1:4-5; 29:11-13 & 33:3]. See Gen.1:26-28; Ps.100:3; Isa.43:7; John 1:3 and Col.1:16. On the other hand, we had lost the glory of knowing and walking with God to sin. Therefore, we must work out our salvation by meeting the demands of spirituality so that God who is Spirit can reveal Himself to us because all that can be known of God is only possible by His revelation to us. What He does not show us would be hidden to us because the secret things belong to Him but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever [Deu.29:29; Philippians 2:12-13]. God has solved this problem by offering us the infilling with His Spirit. When we are filled with His Spirit, we have ease of access into the world of God’s Spirit by His language. Let us understand that the importance of language in communication cannot be overemphasized because it is the foundation for communicating. This explains why unity cannot be actualized without a common language. When God wanted to break the unity among men because they were using it against their purpose, He confused their language. Now for us to come into oneness with God, we have to speak His language in tongues and His word revealed to us now packaged in the bible. See [Gen.11:1-9; Mark 16:17; Isa.28:11; John 4:23-24; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 38-39; 1Cor.14:2, 14].

3.       We must get to know and understand God through His word because the Holy Spirit would only reason with us on the platform of the scriptures. See Isa.1:18; 43:25-25; Romans 12:2; Ps.1:1-3; Joshua 1:8. Knowing God through His word is actualized by reading, meditating on and doing His word. If we only read and cram the word, the best we would get out of it is quoting the scriptures like parrots without benefiting from the life it generates. But when we read, meditate on and do the word, we would be able to access the Spirit and life of the word and be instrumental in bringing it to others. We would not only receive the light of life, we would become lights indeed to the world. Let us not forget that God’s desire for us is to bear much fruit. This is the only way we can maintain sustained relevance with God. See Jas.1:22-25; 1Tim.4:14-16; John 1:1-5; 6:63; 15:8; Ps.119:130; Matthew 5:14-16.

However, this blessing is meant for those who have entered into the covenant relationship of the New Birth with the Lord. The bible says that Christ in you is the hope of glory and this mystery was hidden from the foundation of the world for our glory. They are not hidden from us but for us to be able to discover them. If you desire this new birth experience so as to take advantage of what God has given us, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved and granted access to the mysteries of God that would enable you manifest His glory on earth. When Jesus was about to round off His mission on earth, he said he had brought glory to God by fulfilling His purpose. See John 17:4. If you want to be able to say the same thing when the time comes, please say the following prayer out loud and God would honor your faith:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!

AN OPEN LETTER TO MY TREASURE (THE LORD)

I will lift up my voice in praise to my God. I will sing joyfully to the Lord God my maker who has not left me to the will of the wicked.

Their archers had shot sorely at me but my God has not allowed them to prevail against me. I cried out to the Lord my God and you heard my cry and drew me out of many waters.

You also took me out of the pit where there was no water. You did this with your life and rendered me double for my troubles.

The fear of death were shot at me from every side but you [my God] delivered me from all my fears saying you destroyed him that had the power of death to deliver all in fear of death from its bondage. You also showed me that the keys of death and hell now vests with you and you have graciously handed them to me and authorized me by all the power vested in you in heaven and on earth to go and set others free from their fears. You also authorized me to uproot and to plant; to pull down and to build. You gave me your voice to roar against the wicked so that as soon as they hear of me; they shall obey me and the strangers of their wickedness shall fade out of their closed places.

Every time the wicked took counsel against me to destroy me, you turned it around for my good and caused the wicked to fall into the pit they dug for me instead.

Time would fail me to declare the many lone times you have kept company with me and spoken to me with such affection as no mortal man could muster. You have indeed been my strength and my salvation. You are my rock and my fortress. You are the light that constantly dwell in me and surround me. You have filled my heart with good things and enlarged me beyond my imagination.

In you, I have found rest and peace beyond all understanding and you have done all these without charging me any money. You own it all and have graciously given us all things to enjoy freely. At no time have I come to you that you turned me back even when my life had not impressed you. You have always been there for me.

Your purpose has been that in the ages to come you might show the exceeding riches of your grace in your kindness towards me through Christ Jesus. What a mighty God you are!

As I celebrate the seventh seven years of my stay in time, I come to return all the praise to you and to thank you Lord for rendering me double for my troubles.

I love you my Treasure with all that is within me: I love you!!!

Alero Flourish Nanna

If you desire to know him in this intimate way, it starts with becoming a part of His family. You can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud and you will become born again:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!

Who the Holy Spirit is and what He does

Messages for November 2015: Our Month of the Holy Spirit

 John 14:18, 26; John 16:13; 1Cor.12:7

Message for Sunday 1^st November, 2015

Theme: Understanding the Gift and Ministry of The Holy Spirit.

Topic: Who the Holy Spirit is and what He does

Introduction: a look at the word of God reveals to us the names of the Holy Spirit through His multiple personalities. In Genesis 1:1-3, He is the first of the Godhead introduced to us as the Spirit of God. We know from the Bible that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit [1John 5:7, Matthew 3:16-17]. He is on earth to accomplish a mission we shall be looking at in more details in the course of this month. According to the Lord Jesus Christ, His mission among other things is to bring conviction to the world with the aim of saving mankind and his environment and reveal God and His mind to us. See John 16:7-13, Rom.8:19-22 and Acts 3:19-21.

Who then is the Holy Spirit?

To understand who He is, we have to go back to God’s word to find our answers. From the scriptures, we are made to know that He 

1.     A person described in the male gender. In John 16:13, the Lord Jesus Christ gives us this insight when He refers to Him as follows: “When He the Spirit of truth is come, He shall…” and went on to describe His mission to us. In talking about His purpose on Earth from John 16:8-15, the Lord refers to Him as a person in the male gender. Until you recognize Him as a person, you will not be able to establish a working relationship with you and that would be very devastating considering what His purpose is on earth in relation to our fulfilling God’s purpose for us.

2.     He is God: As God, He has all the power and backing of the Godhead. Whenever He speaks to us, He speaks on behalf of the Father and the Son. Like we saw earlier, He is the first of the Godhead introduced to us in the bible. In Gen.1:3, we see Him hovering over the face of the deep before the father could issue the command that triggered the recreation of the Earth as it is today. See 1John 5:7 and Matthew 3:16-17.

3.      He is also known as The Lord: When we compare the places when He ministered in the Old Testament and some of what was reported about those same texts in the New Testament, this truth is made very evident. For instance, when we compare Hebrews 10:15-17 with Ezekiel 36:22-28, we see that Ezekiel was prophesying what was to be discussed in our Hebrew text here as having been fulfilled. Ezekiel refers to Him as The Lord God while Paul calls Him The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost.

4.     He is the author of the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation: As a Spirit, He could only work on Earth through human vessels. This is why we are told that He moved on Holy men to put the scriptures together. He is therefore, the most authentic source of bible interpretation. See 2Peter 1:14-21 where Peter left his legacy affirming the authority of the word of God, He makes us realize that He witnessed God Speaking and that Holy men of Old also heard God speak to them and documented them in writing which now makes up the scriptures. Also, Apostle Paul in 2Tim.3:16 makes us see that the Scriptures were not original with men but that they were given to men by the Holy Spirit to show us how to live well. This is why the Bible is God’s manual for our lives and environment.

Why is the Holy Spirit Here?

The Holy Spirit is on Earth today for the following reasons:

1.     To bring Conviction to the world: He convicts the world of sin showing us that we are all sinners and lost and hell bound and in need of salvation          [John 16:7-13; Rom.3:23; 6:23]. Then, He convicts us of righteousness that could only be found in Christ Jesus because we were not eyewitnesses to his death, burial and resurrection. Even many who witness it like Pilate could not understand it. All to the understanding given to Apostle Paul like the one in 1Cor.15:1-5 came by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. See Gal.1:12; 2:2 and Eph.3:3. Also, when People sought to know what they must do to be saved, the Holy Spirit used the disciples to show them. See Acts 2:37-39 and Acts 16:31. This is his ministry of showing the world true righteousness. See also Ephesians 2:8-10. Finally, He shows us the defeat of our archenemy and that we need not fear him anymore as all power has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ including the power he once stole from Adam. This is what gives us the audacity to bind him and cast him out. See Matthew 28:18; Mark 16;17 and Revelation 12:7-11 and 20:10.

2.     To give us vision: Vision is God’s revelation of our purpose to us: Like we already know, a life without a purpose is a meaningless life. In every right thinking person; is a desire to know why they are on earth and the only person that can reveal it to us is our manufacturer – God. This is why Jesus said He would take of Him and the father and show it to us. Then He added that He would show us things to come. See John 16:13. The importance of vision for each of us cannot be overemphasized. It is what gives us direction and the proper pursuit of it brings out the best in us. Every one without a vision lacks beauty and dignity; they perish. See Prov.29:18. Vision is the compass for life that enables us to know where to go. As we receive and follow divine instructions on a consistent basis, we will get there. The example of Joseph is very instructive here. See his story in Genesis 36-42. He knew his calling and lived a life that honored God until He was standing in his dream.  

3.     To bring us all the revelation required to fulfill our purpose: Every time we read the bible, we need the Holy Spirit to open our understanding to help us see the secrets embedded in the scriptures. Jesus said He will teach us all things in John 14:26 [all things means exactly that and includes everything about life including our profession]. It is an understanding of these mysteries that provides us with the wisdom to master our world. If it is not given to us to know the mysteries of the kingdom, we cannot know them on our own. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us to know. See Mark 4:11, Ps.127:1, Luke 24:13-31. Without the revelation from God to pursue our God given purpose, our vision will look like a lie because it would never find expression as we would not know what to do to bring it to pass. This is why the preacher says in Ecclesiastes 10:15 that the labour of the foolish brings them weariness as they do not know how to get to the city.  

4.     To help us with the power we need on the journey: He does this by filling our hearts with the Joy of the Lord. Peter refers to this joy as joy unspeakable full of glory. It is joy that provides us with the energy required to make it to the end of our journey on earth. See 1Peter 1:8, Neh.8:10.

However, this blessing is meant for those who have entered into the covenant relationship of the New Birth with the Lord. The bible says that Christ in you is the hope of glory and this mystery was hidden from the foundation of the world for our glory. They are not hidden from us but for us to be able to discover them. If you desire this new birth experience so as to take advantage of what God has given us, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved and granted access to the mysteries of God that would enable you manifest His glory on earth. When Jesus was about to round off His mission on earth, he said he had brought glory to God by fulfilling His purpose. See John 17:4. If you want to be able to say the same thing when the time comes, please say the following prayer out loud and God would honor your faith:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!