Qualities of Agape Love and How to walk in them

Messages for September 2018: Our Month of Perfection
Message for Sunday 9th September, 2018
Theme: Understanding and walking in the Love of God.
Topic: Qualities of Agape Love and How to walk in them

Introduction: Last week we opened this series by looking at what exactly agape love is as opposed to the sensual perspective of love. Any right thinking person hearing that message for the first time would have observed that there is a huge distinction between what is generally known as love and what God’s kind of love also known as agape love is. Indeed, the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of men. No wonder the Apostle Paul tells us in 1Cor.1:18-30 among other things that God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise so that no flesh would glory in His sight. The ways of God are indeed higher than our ways. I want you to be prepared to thoroughly renew your mind with this message on the qualities of Divine love as it is going to revolutionize your life if you will buy into it because it is not like any other message from God; it is the ultimate. Today, we shall be looking at what love is and what it is not. Then in two weeks’ time God willing, after our family Sunday, we shall be looking at How to walk in the God Kind of love. We would never be the same again. 

Agape Love described in 1Cor.13:1-8: From last week’s message we saw that love was defined in 1Jn.4:8 as God. Thus every time we talk about love; the God kind of love, we are actually talking about God. When we understand this, we get to know that we are describing the nature of God when we are learning about His love. 

The nature of God is a graphic description of His personality which can only fit with Agape love. Just like we see that the word of God is incorruptible, indestructible and inexhaustible, so is Agape love: it never fails – 1Cor.13:8. The following are therefore the description of love: 

1. Love endures long and is Patient and kind when doing so: Many believers endure long but fail the test of patience and kindness while doing so. It is not love when one murmurs and complains while waiting on God to answer your prayer about anything you have believed Him for. The danger of murmuring and complaining while waiting on God is that you may end up making God look like He lied. The children of Israel failed to enter the Promised Land when they murmured against God ten times according to the Lord. Num.14:22-24; 1Cor.13:4 and 10:10-12.

2. Love is never envious nor boils over with jealousy: Envy happens when a person is jealous of another and because they cannot get what that other person has through God, they go out of the way to try to take what does not belong to them by foul means or any means other than God and in the process they could even try to kill the person to possess what is not theirs. When believers act this way, they are manifesting the nature of the flesh which is Satan friendly and become very destructive. The breeding ground for this kind of situation is strife. To strive is to compete and the best way to avoid this is to walk in love. Walking in love keeps us from quarrelling and competition which are all traits of our carnal natures. Those traits make people destroy each other and that is not what God wants for any of us. See 1Cor.13:4; Jas.3:13-18; 4:1-8 and Gal.5:13-17. 

3. Love is not boastful or vainglorious nor does it display itself haughtily: Pride is to be conceited, arrogant and have an over bloated self-image which thrives in self-deceit. All these are descriptive of a person laden with pride. No believer starts out walking in love. The fruit of the spirit which is love is cultivated over time of consistently seeking God and learning from Him to walk in His ways which are far higher than the ways of natural man. We have to submit to the Holy Spirit to help us mortify the desires of the flesh to please God. See 1Cor.13:4; Isa.55:8-9; 1Pet.5:5-6; Rm.8:13; Col.3:5-10 and Gal.5:16.

4. Love is not rude, ill-mannered and unbecoming in actions: This kind of attitude is what makes a believer lose their saltiness. The bible says we are the salt of the earth and that if the salt loses its flavor, it is thenceforth good for nothing than to be trodden under foot of men. So when we walk in love, we are able to glorify God in our attitudes. This is what evil spirits see and honor the name of the Lord in our lives. Love actually helps to protect us as we would be able to show forth the right attitude in life and glorify God thus encouraging others to come to the Lord through our saltiness. If we fail to bear the fruit of the spirit, discerning people will not be drawn to us knowing that we are fake. Sadly, there are many hypocritical mockers hanging around in Church institutions and some are even in leadership and causing a lot of havoc because they are not salts. When they are detected, some would be for criminal reasons that would result in the Government enforcing the law against them thereby having men trample them under foot because if they were once saved, they had lost their saltiness. See 1Cor.13:5; Mt.5:13; Job 36:13-14. 

5. Love; God’s love in us does not insist on its own rights or its own way: The reason for this is that it is not selfish or self-seeking; it also considers other people so that there can be God’s kind of justice in the situation. See Mic.6:6-8; Mk.12:28-31 and Gal.5:22-23. The only means by which you can do this is to crucify the flesh and walk in the spirit. See Gal.5:16.

6. Love is not touchy; fretful or resentful: Being touchy, fretful and resentful are extreme negative emotions with devastating consequences. To be touchy is to be quick to take offence. Dealing with this kind of person requires great tact. To be fretful is to be nervous and unable to relax. To be resentful is to be easily provoked to anger, to be irritable. Therefore walking in love is living an emotionally healthy lifestyle. For instance one of the reasons why we have so many cases of sexual pervasion today is resentment. What does it mean to be resentful? It means to feel bitter or indignant about someone or something. As a matter of fact, when resentment is not dealt with properly, it can result in a person harboring roots of bitterness that defile many which is why the bitter person can be instrumental in the hands of the devil to slander others and make nonsense of whatever good is happening in other people’s lives with an intent to destroy. According to the Philosophy of one of Job’s friends Elihu, resentful people are hypocritical at heart and they end up being cut off in their prime because of the bad choices they make in refusing to repent when God allows them to be afflicted to get their attention to do so. See Job 36:13-16 [NIV]; Heb.12:14-17 and Rm.1:18-31

7. Love takes no account of the evil done to it: In other words, love forgives whether the offender apologizes or not. This is where loving your enemies become very vital. As a rule, the Lord Jesus Christ caused His disciples to see that they were empowered to forgive and refuse to forgive. He told them that whoever they forgive would be forgiven by God and whoever they refuse to forgive would not be forgiven by God. You will see this rule in Jn.20:21-23 and Mk.11:24.  I believe that it was the obedience to God of this rule by the Lord that we are all saved today and another example was Stephen’s obedience to this rule shortly before the salvation of Saul who became Paul and wrote 2/3rd of the New Testament. If Stephen had not forgiven those who persecuted him to death, we would never have heard of Apostle Paul and we know he would have been lost forever! I believe since we obtained mercy of God, we should also show mercy to people; it would not hurt us at all; it would make us better people. See also Mt.5:44; Lk.6:27 & 35.

8. Love does not rejoice at injustice or unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevails: So many people find pleasure in what is wrong and unrighteous which is why there is such a love for violence in the world today. We are to stand out in this world by being different; loving what God loves and hating what He hates. God hates sin and injustice and unrighteousness but loves righteousness. See 1Cor.13:6; Micah 6:8 and Heb.1:8-12.

9. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes: This is the ability to suffer for long for a good cause without weakening in resolve believing the best of every person and hoping ceaselessly to see things turn out as God has said without bothering about the passage of time. This is because it knows that with or without them, God would accomplish His purpose. See 1Cor.13:7 and Heb.12:1-3. 

10. Love never fails: It never fades out and never expires nor becomes obsolete. The God kind of love is eternal; never passing away with time or use. It is destined to live as long as God in which case, it is endless love. See 1Cor.13:8; Jn.17:1-3 and 15:8-12.

We shall draw the curtain here today for want of time and space. Next, we shall be looking at how to walk in love. Believe me these truths are not carnally absorbable, but God’s grace can make it possible for us to walk in love. We shall be looking at how to engage the grace of God to walk in love in our subsequent message. Meanwhile if you are yet to belong to God’s family, you cannot walk in love because you need divine nature to do so. If you want divine nature, you can have it right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved:

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.  

The Agape of God defined

Message for Sunday 2^nd September, 2018

Theme: Understanding and walking in the Love of God.

Topic: The Agape of God defined

Introduction: Once again I welcome you to our month of perfection when the Lord is set to perfect all that concerns you [Ps.138:8]. As we saw in the word of the month, the perfection of all things is the love of God. No matter what gift the Lord has given to any man, they will all pass with time. One gift that would remain with us forever which is the pass key of our access to the presence of God in eternity is the love of God. The reason for this is that all the gifts we will use to display the glory and mercy of God are only relevant to time. The love of God on the other hand describes Him and His word. In 1Jn.2:17, we learn that doing the will of God keeps us forever. The only will we have been called of God to do is to walk in love. See Jn.13:34-35; Jn.15:8-14; 1Cor.13:1-3; 1Jn.2:1-11 and 1Jn.4:7-18.

What is Agape? The word translated agape is the Greek word that defines the God kind of love. Greek Philosophers have put love under three headings namely: Eros, Phileo and Agape. The bible refers to two kinds namely Phileo and Agape. See Jn.21:15-17 and 1Sam.18:1-3.

Eros is where we get the erotic love from which is basically sensual and humanistic. It originates in the Greek belief that Eros; one of their many gods was the god of love. This type of love falls short of the standard of God and would therefore not meet the demand of walking in love. It is the love that exists between a man and a woman which spills into the expression of sensual intimacy. This is a natural human love that cannot stand in the face of many experiences in life. Many have made the mistake of entering into marriage based on this kind of love and such marriages either hit the rocks or just exists without fulfilling the purpose for marriage in the mind of God when He first created it. This explains the confusion and competition in many families that make it difficult for individuals to fulfill their destinies.

Phileo: This is the kind of love described as Philadelphia. This is the brotherly love that exists in families. Also, this kind of love exists among groups of people of similar cultures and profession. It is the love shared by best friends like David and Jonathan in the bible. See 1Sam.18:1-3. We cannot express this kind of love towards our enemies. This kind too cannot stand in the face of selfishness because when personal interest come in, this kind of love is jettisoned to satisfy a person’s selfish interests. This kind of love may exists between best friends until their individual interests are touched. In this end times, even family members are betraying each other just to fulfill their selfish ambitions. Parents have betrayed their children on the altar of personal ambition to get ahead in life and pretend it is for the best interest of their families. This is the back of many families that have been disintegrated in the name of the head of the family or the wife traveling abroad to work. They claim it is for the best in the interest of the family. They never return home but start the business of another family in the name of getting papers; to be able to stay in the foreign country to work for money to take care of their lustful desires. This kind of love therefore can fail.

Agape: This can best be described as the God kind of love. In fact the bible defines this love as God. In 1Jn.4:8; we read: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” In other words, the definition of love is God Himself. Whatever describes God describes His love. The nature of the love of God is therefore seen in the nature of His word.

We learn in 1Cor.13:8 that this kind of love never fails. This is where we have our protection in the Christian faith. No one who walks in this kind of love is blindsided. [1Jn.2:9-11] This love keeps you seeing clearly and moving in the right direction until you end up your eternity in God Himself because this kind of love pulls you towards God on a daily basis. The more a person walks in this kind of love, the more you are drawn to the Lord and the more of Him you can manifest to the world meaning the more fruitful you will become as a believer. Jn.15:1-5 and 8.

The nature of the word and love of God: The nature of God’s word and Also His love can be listed in these three words among many others; INEXHAUSTIBLE, INDESTRUCTIBLE AND INCORRUPTIBLE.

Inexhaustible: This means what cannot be finished; what cannot come to an end. It is incapable of being used up, emptied, wasted etc. It also means incapable of being consumed or used up. When you walk in this kind of love, your life is renewed daily and knows no end. Anyone living this way is experiencing eternal life. This is the reason the Lord Jesus Christ came. This explains the willingness of the early Church fathers to die for the faith and all of them ended up as martyrs. This call for martyrdom is ringing loud and clear from heaven again today as the world draws near to the end of time. See Lam.3:22-23; Ex.34:5-9; 2Cor.12:14-15 and Jn.17:3.

Indestructible: To destroy means to damage without remedy. To be indestructible therefore means incapable of decomposition or being destroyed. When something decomposes, it is said to be damaged without remedy. It also means long lasting and if you ask how much long lasting I would say eternally long lasting. The life that the love of God therefore offers us to live by is eternal. This is why it is impossible for anyone in the flesh to be able to live this life. The love of God has the capacity to strip us of everything flesh to be able to cause us to walk in the spirit. Every believer in Christ is in the spirit and have the seed of the love of God in them through their born again spirit. However, this seed would only remain a potential if they do not walk in the spirit. Thus to activate the reality of our new life, we must walk in the spirit so that we can manifest the love of God. This is the entire purpose of our existence on earth. See Rm.8:9; Gal.2:20-21 & 5:16 and Rm.8:12-16.

Incorruptible: We are born again by the incorruptible seed of the word of God which lives and abides forever. In the same vein, we are actually saved by the incorruptible seed of the love of God which remains in us as long as we allow it. See 1Jn.3:9; 1Pet.1:23. What does it mean for the love of God to be incorruptible? It means incapable of being corrupted, incapable of corruption; the quality of being honest; truthful etc. as a matter of fact, the word of God is Truth. Therefore we are born of the truth and must manifest the truth. Every believer has a potential to walk in truth but whether we do so or not has to do with our willingness to renew our minds so that we can walk in the truth. Thus the love of God makes us incorruptible. It is the love of God that makes everything work because it is what makes faith work and if your faith fails, your life will fail. Everything we get in life is actually faith determined. See 1Cor.1:1-3; 6:9-10; 15:50 Gal.5:6, 21.

In summation here, we have seen what the love of God offers us. By God’s grace, next week we shall be looking at the qualities of the love of God. Our main text would be 1Cor.13:1-8 from the Amplified version of the bible. It would help if we would meditate on these text against next week. Meanwhile, someone is reading this blog who would like to enjoy divine nature but has never known how or decided until now. If you are that person, you can take advantage of this opportunity by saying the following prayers out loud in faith and you will be 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.

Welcome to the month of September 2018: Our Month of Perfection

Welcome to the month of September 2018: Our Month of Perfection

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God Heb.6:1

Beloved, the gestation periods for humans when one conceives is usually averagely nine months. It is therefore not a coincidence that God has graciously named this ninth month of the year for us Our Month of Perfection. In bible parlance and drawing from our text scripture above, perfection means maturity or completion. I believe that all the great things that God has reserved for us for this year which He has been building us up for would come to fruition in this Month of perfection because God is really set to do great things using anyone who would make themselves available to Him.

From our text, the writer of the book of Hebrews is saying by the word of the Lord that it is time for us to move on from our lower levels of understanding unto maturity. He listed what he considers the principles of the doctrines meant for people just coming into the faith like repentance from dead works, baptisms, laying on of hands etc. The question this stirs up in our minds is; what is perfection? This is the quest we are going to be embarking on this moth because if we do not understand it we may not be able to benefit as God intends for us to do.

A close look at scripture would disclose to us that there is nothing greater in the word of God than to get to understand His nature and walk in it. In 2Pet.1:3-4, we learn that God has given unto us exceeding great and precious promises so that by them we can become partakers of divine nature. First what are these promises and second, what is divine nature?

This morning, after reading my bible, I held it close to my heart and it suddenly hit me that this is the greatest gift God has given to man after Jesus Christ. There is no question of your heart that does not have an answer in the bible. There is no problem that the bible does not provide a solution to. In fact there is really nothing that can weigh against the scriptures. We learn from 2Tim.3:16-17 and 2Pet.1:19-21 that the bible is the more sure word of prophecy and Holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit and given the contents of the scriptures to write. We also learn that the scriptures are profitable for doctrine and instructions in righteousness to enable us to mature and be equipped for every good work. This explains why everyone on earth today who receives and practices any provision of the scriptures benefits immensely from it.

Back to our questions about what these promises that enabled us to partake of God’s nature are; we can safely conclude that the promises are the word of God that has been reduced into writing in the form of the bible. In God’s goodness He has generously made the bible available to all. Anyone can buy a Bible and read from any part of the world and have their lives changed for the better. The beauty of this is that it is the most widely translated book on earth and still the most powerful. Anyone who adheres to it can become a partaker of divine nature. In other words, they can begin to behave like God.

For us to understand this, we want to ask what divine nature really is. From 1Jn.4:8, we learn that God is Love. In other words, divine nature is love. To enable us partake of this nature, God sent His only begotten son to die for us on Calvary’s Cross to free us from sin and make us God’s children because that is the only way we can really become like Him. The only commandment He has given to us after we embrace the new birth is that we walk in love. You will find this command and The Lord’s desire when He prayed for His disciples just before He went to the Cross in Jn.13:34-35 and Jn.17:20-26 respectively. As a matter of fact, in the second text, He actually said He desires that we be made perfect in one. Thus the proof of our maturity as believers is when we walk in unity being bound together by the love of God in our hearts.

The good news is that God answered the Lord’s Prayer when He tells us through Apostle Paul in Rom.5:5 where He writes that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.

In light of the above, this month, we are going to be learning more on the Love of God by looking at a series I want to call: “Understanding and walking in the Love of God.” walking in the love of God is actually the perfection of our faith and this is the state the Lord would like to find His Church when He returns because it is the love of God in the heart of any believer that guarantees that they would bear fruit for the Lord and be prepared for His soon return as a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle.

Meanwhile someone is reading this blog that would like to partake of this nature that has proven to be the healthiest and only one guaranteeing eternal life. I have good news for you. You can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be 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.

The Benefits of Kingdom Stewardship

Messages for August 2018: Our Month of Stewardship

Message for Sunday 26^th August, 2018

Theme: Exploring the Adventures of Stewardship

Topic: The Benefits of Kingdom Stewardship

Introduction: By far the most viable place anyone could choose to serve is in the Kingdom of God. Like we have established since the beginning of this theme, no one pays like God would pay you for any kind of service. Service in God’s kingdom yields so much benefits which can be itemized as follow:

Divine presence: When the Lord gave the great commission in all the accounts of the gospel where they were recorded, He promised to be with them always even to the end of the age. He has since kept His word which is why the gospel has been kept till date even after 2,000 years of His departure. See Mt.28:18-20; Mk.16:15-20; Acts 4:33.

Divine Guidance: If God accept your stewardship, He will never leave you in the dark; He will guide you continually. This is because it is only God who knows what He wants us to do and where He wants us to do it. See Mk.16:20; Isa.58:11 and Acts 16:6-11.

Divine provision: When God finds your stewardship acceptable, He provides for you. There are three basic needs in a person’s life namely food, clothing and Shelter. Anyone whose stewardship is found acceptable by God would not lack these three at different levels of faith. For some, God may build houses and for others, provide the means to rent their own houses. He provides food and clothes all the time. In fact for the forty years God sent Moses to lead the Children of Israel to the Promised Land from Egypt, He cooked for them from heaven’s kitchen and rained the food down daily for them to gather and eat. This is so important to God that He promises to reward all those who are instrumental in meeting these kind of needs of His brethren. See Mt.25:31-46; Acts 2:44-45 and Ps.105:40-42.

Divine protection: This is one of the means by which God encourages those who serve Him. In 2Cor.5:20, we are called Ambassadors of Christ which indicate that we have Divine diplomatic immunity. Just like an Ambassador cannot be tried and judged in another nation but has to be recalled by the nation from where he came for any kind of perceived crime, likewise, the accusations of hell alone do not have power over us. They must seek the intervention of heaven. Heaven will never intervene against us but for us. This is why we must be obedient to the one who called us. See 1Cor.13:8; Jn.13:34-35; Gal.5:16, 21-24; Jas.4; and Rm.8:13.

Intimacy with God – Eternal life: This will guarantee that you will enjoy the presence of God all the time. There is no place like it. This explains the distress of the Lord on the Cross when the father turned His face from him. Contrary to the thinking of many, eternal life is not a place but a relationship. This relationship is defined by the Lord in one of His prayers in the book of John as the experiential knowledge of God and Jesus Christ. See John 17:3; Mt.27:46 and Mk.15:34

Great grace: As the early Church fathers concerned themselves with the testimony of the Resurrection, they prayed for boldness to keep testifying when they were threatened even by death and the Lord rewarded them with great grace such that many more people were won to Him through their testimony. It is grace that makes anyone anything in life. The greatness of anyone on earth today if it came by God is because of the grace of God. Grace is divine favor that attracts blessings to you and divine ability to retain the blessings.  The Acts of the Apostles Church had it which is why the Church of God has endured and keeps enlarging till date. See Acts 4:33-35; 1Pet.5:5-6 and Jas.4:6-10

Divine Health insurance: Serving God pays so much that He is able to keep you healthy. If your health is ever compromised, you will observe sin and carelessness in taking the time to rest as the reason. He promises to bless our food and water and keep sickness and miscarriage away from us. Also, there is provision for healing even though God’s chief desire is for us to be in health and prosper like our souls prosper. The difference between us and our health is faith. If you believe you will see the glory of God. See Ex.23:25-26; 15:26; 3Jn1:2; 1Pet.2:24 and Isa.53:1-5

Glorification and eternal abode in God’s Kingdom: In the book of Revelation, the Lord visited all the Churches in existence then and promised them some blessings if they overcame the adversary on the side of time until the end. These blessings are best reported the way the Lord described them because we cannot claim a full understanding of them in time. In Rev.2-3, we find these blessings promised the redeemed who endured till the end:

We are fed from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. Rev.2:7

We receive a crown of life and we will not be hurt by the second death. Rev.2:17

Power over the nations and the morning star. Rev.2:26-28

We shall be clothed in white raiment and have our names written in the book of life. He would also introduce us to His father and holy angels. Rev.3:5

The Lord would prove His love for us and He would also Rev.3:9

We get to become pillars in the Temple of our God and He will give us a new name which is given by the father. Rev.3:12

We get to be enthroned with the Lord. Rev.3:21

More could be said here but for want of time and space we shall draw the curtain here for today. However, there is someone here would like to experience this new life. It starts only at new birth; if you want to be born again, please say the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be 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 worship with us at Kingdom Joint Heirs Family Churches 25/27 David Adesanya Str. 0ff Akarapa Rd. Igborosun Badagry L. G. A. Lagos or visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.

Acceptable Stewardship in the Family

Messages for August 2018: Our Month of Stewardship

Message for Sunday 19^th August, 2018

Theme: Exploring the Adventures of Stewardship

Topic: Acceptable Stewardship in the Family

Minister: Brother Olumide Onadipe 

Introduction: We have learnt in the past weeks that God wants us to render acceptable stewardship to Him in every area of our lives. Heb.12:28

Today our focus is on acceptable stewardship in the family.

The family

"Family” means a group of people who are closely related by birth, marriage, or adoption. It could also be defined as a group of people living together and functioning as a single household, usually consisting of parents (man and wife) and their children.

Marriage was instituted by God (Gen 2:24; Eph 5:31; Mk 10:7) and part of the blessings of marriage is the fruit of the womb (children) Ps.127:3. Gen 1:27-28 says ‘Then God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it, ….”

Everything God created has design order.  In Eph.5:1-2 God gave the whole family a general instruction to follow His ways and imitate Christ. – Walk in love.

God’s design order for every family unit is:

Christ – Husband – Wife – Children, in that order.  1 Corin.11:3

At the same time God has designed a role that each family member has to play.

The Husband

Eph 5:25 -29

1.    He is the leader of his home, the head of his wife, but first must submit to the headship of Christ. He is to give direction to his family, in line with God’s plan. See Eph. 5:23 & 1 Co 11:3.  As the leader, he should not be controlling or acting like a tyrant.  He should use his leadership to love his wife.

2.    He must love his wife sincerely with all his heart, just like Christ loved the church. His love must be realistic. Jesus laid down His life for the Church; the husband is to do likewise.  That is sacrificial and selfless love. Eph.5:23-25; Col.3:19.

3.    His love for his wife must be purposeful.  He should cultivate her by bringing out the best in her. Make her a better believer in Christ. Encourage her to pursue her calling.  Eph.5:26-27

4.    His love must be personal.  To love her like he loves himself.  He must take good care of her, provide and protect her. Eph.5:28-29.  To love his wife he should also show compassion and do what it takes to make her feel his presence.  He should listen to her and let her be part of his world.

5.    The husband is also to accord his wife respect and honour and live with her with understanding, as she also shares the gift of the grace of life.  By doing this his prayers will not be hindered.  This means that you cannot maltreat or misuse her in anyway. 1 Pe 3:7. 

The Wife

Eph 5:22 -24 

1.    She is a helper to her husband – Gen. 2:18.  She is to help and encourage him.

2.    Eph 5:22-24 says, “Wives, submit yourself unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the savior of the body”. The word, submit has become a controversial word with women because it is perceived to mean to become a slave.  The true meaning is to yield to governance or authority, to yield oneself to the authority or will of another; to surrender. The wife’s duty is to come under the authority of her husband, as she does for the Lord.  The husband is under the authority of Christ and should be led by the Lord, therefore the wife should submit to the authority of her husband for he is her covering. Col.3:18. She is however to treat the man with great respect and love.

3.    She is valuable to her husband and family: she cares for those who need her, provides for her family, protects them, and shares her strength with others. She fulfills her responsibilities with grace and strength. She is a blessing to her husband. She is worth more than rubies (Prov.31:10-31). Proverbs 18:22 says “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favour of the Lord.

 Husband and Wife

Training the Children- Prov.22:6:  

1.    Both parents must work together in unity to train the children and not provoke them to anger (leading them to rebel by dominant, loose, or unfair leadership). Parents must demonstrate godly leadership that models Christ, teaches the children God’s Word, and draws them to a closer relationship with the Lord (Eph.6:4; Col.3:21; Deut.6:6-9).  We must teach them how to think, talk and live right.

2.    The parents are just caretakers of children, as they belong to God.  We must give account of how we trained them (Ps.127:3).

3.    Abraham trained his children in obedience to God’s commandment, thereby he rendered acceptable stewardship (Gen.18:18-19).  Likewise, Mary and Joseph in training Jesus (Luke 2:41-52).

4.     To train up a child includes discipline and this is the responsibility of the parent.  Refusal to discipline your child is setting him up for destruction.  Like in the case of Eli’s two sons (Phinehas and Hophni) who were destroyed.  Their father knew about their immorality, yet he was complacent and refused to discipline them (1 Sam. 3:13).

5.     In training our children, there are 4 areas to focus on and these include Wisdom (spiritual equipment), Stature (physical and emotional development) and in favour with God and Man (Luke 2:52)

The Children

Every child is instructed to obey their parents in the Lord; honour and respect them so that it may be well with them and that they may live long on the earth (Eph.6:1-3; Col.3:20).

Conclusion

In summation each family unit has a role to play. The husband is to love his wife as himself.  The wife is to respect her husband.  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.  The children are to obey their parents and both parents are to train their children in the way of the Lord (Eph 5:21, 33).  When we obey the instructions of the Lord and do it with a sincere heart, we will be rendering acceptable stewardship in the family to the glory of God.

Acceptable Stewardship

Messages for August 2018: Our Month of Stewardship

Message for Sunday 12^th August, 2018

Theme: Exploring the Adventures of Stewardship

Topic: Acceptable Stewardship

Introduction: From our text scripture of the month, it is clear that God wants us to render acceptable stewardship to Him and for that reason, we have been called to have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably.

How to render acceptable stewardship: How to render acceptable stewardship is indicated in Hebrews 12:28. The text reads as follows:

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

From this scripture, we gather that we render acceptable stewardship by:

1.     Serving God with the understanding that we have received a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Whereas every earthly kingdom will pass away, the kingdom of God is an eternal one and will overthrow every other kingdom. Thus what benefits we receive serving God are of eternal values. See Dan.2:44, Jn.3:16

2.     We serve God with grace: To have grace, we have to pray to God for it. In Heb.4:16, we are told to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Grace is divine ability and favour. Favour creates the opportunity while divine ability helps us to deliver on our opportunities. God does not want us to serve him in our own strength; that is fleshly service and unacceptable to God. We are to serve Him in spirit and in truth. See Jn.4:24 and Jn.15:5

3.     We have to serve God with reverence: Reverencing God is an indication that we hold Him in the highest esteem. This causes us to take heed to his word and do his word always ensuring that our motives, decisions and actions are governed by the word of the Lord. This is why Apostle Paul teaches us to serve God maintaining a good conscience before Him. See Prv.4:20-23; 1Tim.4:13-15; 1Tim.1:5, 19; Heb.13:18 and Col.3:16

4.     We have to serve God with Godly fear: At the root of every obedience in the kingdom of God is the fear of God. It is the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom which empowers us to depart from evil. The departure from sin is defined in Job 28:28 as understanding. See also, Prov.9:10

When is stewardship acceptable?

1.     When service of God is done with the right motive: The right motive for acceptable stewardship in God’s perspective is stewardship motivated by the love of God and people. 1Cor.13:1-3 and 1Jn.4:20

2.     When service of God is done by the right method: The right method is when it is done at the instance and with the leading of the Holy Spirit. Without the Lord we can do nothing which is why He tells us to abide in him. Stewardship is reflected in the fruitfulness of the steward. Therefore, if the service is an acceptable one, it would result in fruitfulness. See Jn.15:5; Rm.8:14-16 and Jn.12:26

3.     When service of God is done with the right material: The two principal instruments for rendering acceptable stewardship are the word of God and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads us using the word of God because the Spirit and the Word agree. As a matter of fact, whatever the Holy Spirit says always agrees with the word of God in principle. In Acts 13:1-3, the Holy Spirit said to separate Paul and Barnabas for the work He had for them. As they went, He confirmed the word they preached with signs following. The next chapter, the teachers and prophets were named Apostles because of their faithful stewardship. They preached the word at the leading of the Holy Spirit and gave God the glory. See Acts 14:14-15.

4.     For a service to be acceptable, it has to be rendered with joy and gladness of heart. We are told in 2Cor.9:7 that God loves a cheerful giver. In fact, in the Old Testament, failure to worship God with joy and gladness of heart attracted a curse of serving the enemy in hunger, thirst and want of all things. Deu.28:47-48.

More could be said here but for time and space we would stop here. Next week we shall be looking at Stewardship in the family. Meanwhile someone may be reading this blog today that is yet to make Jesus Christ the Lord of his/her life. It is only in Christ Jesus that there is salvation and the first step to that is the new birth experience. If you want to have this experience today, please say the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be 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 worship with us at Kingdom Joint Heirs Family Churches 25/27 David Adesanya Str. 0ff Akarapa Rd. Igborosun Badagry L. G. A. Lagos or visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.