How to Receive and cultivate Divine Presence Pt. 1

Messages for May 2016: Our Month of Divine Presence
Message for the 15th May, 2015
Theme: The wonders of Divine Presence
Topic: How to Receive and cultivate Divine Presence Pt. 1
Introduction: The bible is replete with promises of God being with us. We are told in Matthew 28:20 that God would be with us always even to the end of the age. We also learn in Joshua 1:9 that the Lord would be with us wherever we go. Moses also brings to light in Exodus 33:16 the truth that the proof of God being with a people is His presence with them. So it is very clear that the presence of God with us is God’s promise to us that can graduate into a covenant as we believe and embrace the demands of it. However, we must be properly positioned to not only receive the presence of God but to also cultivate and enjoy it to the fullest. Today we shall begin looking at steps we can take to activate the promises of God’s presence with us and how we can cultivate and enjoy it to the fullest.
The New Birth: In the beginning, after Adam sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, he lost his place with God and was banished from God’s presence. See Gen.3:22-24. Since then, those who enjoyed the presence of God were those who exercised their choice to walk in the ways of God. For instance Enoch was said to have walked with God until God took him without his having to experience death. See Gen.5:21-24. Sin made the demand of the new birth absolutely necessary so that God could raise a new breed of people born of His word and his Spirit [Jn.3:3-7]. This was made possible through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gen.3:15 became a promise kept from the day of the death of the Lord on the Cross until the day of Pentecost when the early Church fathers first got filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time and up till today. From that day, anyone who makes the choice of embracing the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord is admitted into the family of God and therefore is granted access to this grace of enjoying divine presence. See Matt.28:20; Eph.2:18-19.
Cultivate a relationship with God: How much of God’s presence you enjoy however, depends on your willingness to cultivate a relationship with him. There are three parts to cultivation; they are planting, nurturing for proper growth and harvest [Mk.4:26-32]. When we make a decision to embrace the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ for us on the Cross of Calvary, we are sown into God’s Kingdom as seeds. From the time we hear the gospel until our departure from time, we are constantly presented with choices either for a glorious destiny or a woeful one. When we choose the Lord, the next choice we would have to make is whether we want to grow up to be spiritual or not. If we make the choice to be spiritual and meet the demands, we would grow to become fruit bearing believers in Christ [1Cor.2:12-16]. As long as we remain bearing fruit, God would personally prune us to bear more fruit until our harvest from time. See Philippians 2:12-13; John 15:1-5, 8 and 16. The more we bear fruit to God, the more intimate our relationship with Him would become and the more of His promises would find expression in our lives. When this happens, it is proven by His constant presence with us. So many have confused God’s presence for glamour and material blessings. This has led many astray and many who were on track with God feeling less of themselves and allowing themselves to be deceived into error. A look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and His legacies would show us exactly what it really means to have God present with one. See Jn.8:16 and John 16:32.
Walk in the Spirit: Another great choice we would have to make to maintain God’s presence with us is to walk in the spirit. God is a Spirit and it would therefore require spirituality to access His presence all the time. To be spiritual is to walk according to the dictates of the word of God and the Leading of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul makes us understand that if we walk in the spirit, we would not fulfill the lust of the flesh at the same time. Thus to walk in the Spirit is to exercise your choice to walk in God’s presence. See 2Cor.3:16-18; Gal.5:16 and verses 22-23.
We shall stop here for today, next week we shall be looking at how to walk in the spirit as the second part of this message.
Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.
If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall 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.   
Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!

How to Receive and cultivate Divine Presence Pt. 2

Messages for May 2016: Our Month of Divine Presence
Message for the 22nd May, 2015
Theme: The wonders of Divine Presence
Topic: How to Receive and cultivate Divine Presence Pt. 2
Introduction: Last week we saw that we can receive divine presence first by being initiated into God’s family through the new birth experience and then we can start cultivating it by walking in the spirit. Today, we will begin to look at what it means to walk in the spirit and how to do it.
To walk in the spirit: As the term indicates, to walk in the spirit is to be spiritual or to live in a way that one is controlled by decisions made based on the word of God and the Leading of the Holy Spirit. The book of Deuteronomy 30:29 gives us this key when God instructed the children of Israel through Moses to make a choice for life by choosing to be controlled by His word. In the 20th verse of this scripture, God made them understand that His word is their life and the length of their days. This truth is resonated throughout the bible. For instance, in Jos.1:8, God made Joshua understand that the key of good success is to live by His word meditating on it and doing it. In Ps.1:1-3, God said through the Psalmist that the greater life is one that is ruled by the word and God’s counsel. When Jesus walked the sands of time, He also taught that the flesh would bring us no profit but that His word would because the words He speaks to us are Spirit and life. You would find this in John 6:63. Finally, Apostle Paul said in 1Tim.4:13-16 among other things that it is in meditating on the word of God and giving ourselves wholly to it that our profiting would be evident to all.
To walk in the spirit is therefore that key to accessing the presence of God where we can hear His voice, be taught and led by His Spirit. You would have observed so far that the extent to which we can enjoy any relationship with God is our choice determined. This is the glorious life everyone yearns for. However, not everyone can attain to it because not everyone would make the choice. Even among those who make the choice some are going to give more to it than others. The question therefore, is what are the demands placed on us by God’s word that would enable us actualize this grace of walking in the spirit or being spirit ruled as opposed to being flesh ruled?
Live a prayerful life: Prayer is the means by which we speak our hearts to God and rightfully expect and receive His response. The importance of prayer cannot be overstated. The Lord commanded us to pray always and not to faint or give up. See Luke 18:1. He even went the extra mile of teaching us how to pray by laying out a pattern we should follow for us in Matthew 6:9-15. Apostle Paul also teaches us in 1Thess.5:17 to pray without ceasing. He said we should even pray all manner of prayer in the spirit. See Eph.6:18.
Why is prayer so important? It is because it is the legal means by which we can access the supernatural realm to get things done on earth. Prayer is the means by which we get heaven to hear our voice. When this is done, then we can expect to hear God’s voice in response and this also brings us closer to His presence. It is through prayer we cultivate an intimate relationship with God that enables us to enjoy His presence all the time. See Ps.65:2; Hab.2:1-2; Jer.33:3; Mt.7:7-8 and Mk.11:24.
Fasting: The Lord taught about fasting. Interestingly, some people are of the erroneous belief that since the Holy Spirit is now with us, we need not fast because the bridegroom is now with us through the Holy Spirit. Let us see what Jesus really taught. In Mat 9:15, we read: “And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” We observe here that Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom. This distinguishes Him from the Holy Spirit’s ministry of being our helper in Jn.16:13. As our helper, He would take from the bridegroom and the father and show to us. Therefore, the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth today is to fulfill a different role than the role the bridegroom or Christ on His return would play when He returns. 
Further, in Matthew 6:17-18, Jesus said: “But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. …” this presupposes that we must fast; and that fasting is not optional. When we fast means we must fast and not “if we fast” supposing that we may fast or we may not fast. In other words, fasting is not optional; it is a mandatory requirement in the kingdom of God for getting things done God’s way! There are times when the issues confronting us would only respond to fasting and prayer. This is because fasting is one of the principal helpers of our prayer lives. See Mt.17:21 and Mk.9:29.
Why is fasting so important? Certain issues cannot be truly dealt with until the flesh has been thoroughly subdued and fasting is a major means for subduing the flesh. For examples, some devils will not bow to an individual who they consider to be flesh ruled in the area they seek to dominate the devils. In addition, the attitude of pride would never leave a person until the person humbles himself with fasting. See Ps.35:13; 1Kings 21:27-29 – God showed mercy to Ahab here when he humbled himself with fasting before the Lord.
Giving: This is the third part of the requirement for getting things done in the kingdom of God. Jesus taught about prayer, fasting and giving. You will find this in Matthew 6:1-18. To find out why giving is so important, let us visit Isa.58 where God commanded Isaiah to proclaim a message on how to fast and what to expect when we do. In verses 10-11, we learn that giving to the hungry will cause God to hear and answer us and make the cry of our hearts to be heard in heaven guide us continually. No one can be truly great without divine guidance. When God guides, the best of us would come out. This is triggered by giving to the hungry. So you see; it is impossible to get things done in the kingdom without this triplet of a combination of prayer, fasting and giving. In Matthew 6:1-18 when the Lord was teaching about prayer and fasting, He also included giving. A study of God’s word would reveal to us the different levels of giving. The first is the tithe of your income which is also called the first fruits. It is the Lord’s. See Lev.27:30; Heb.7:1-28. The second is offering and we are commanded to bring these to the Lord. See Mal.3:8-12; Deu.26:12; Prov.3:9-10. There are also the giving to the needy which we saw in the previous paragraph in Isa.58, giving to your parents which guarantees that you truly honor them and therefore protects you from untimely death etc. see Ex.20:12 and Eph.6:2-3 and Mk.7:10-13. And so many other kinds of giving. Each of these givings does something good for you. You just need to find out from God’s word what you stand to benefit from giving and do it. 
We shall stop here today for want of time. Other steps you can take to cultivate and sustain God’s presence include thanksgiving, praise and worship, obedience to God’s word and service in the kingdom. We would do well to do our personal studies of these demands in the word of God.
You may be reading this material and wondering whether you could take advantage of this grace. My answer to the question of your heart is yes if you are born again. In case you are not and desire to be, you can say the following prayer out loud and you will be welcomed into God’s precious family:
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!

What it means to enjoy Divine presence part 2

Messages for May 2016: Our Month of Divine Presence

Message for the 8^th May, 2015

Theme: The wonders of Divine Presence

Topic: What it means to enjoy Divine presence part 2

Introduction: Last week, we began to look at what it means to enjoy divine presence from the life story of Joseph. We learnt from that account that anyone who has divine presence is engraced. Today, we shall see what the Lord Jesus Christ taught on this subject from the gospels bearing in mind other qualities of those who enjoy divine presence.

We learn from the Lord in the gospels that to enjoy divine presence shows up with the following traits:

1.     They are led by the Lord Jesus Christ through His Spirit: In John 10:27, the Lord said His sheep hear his voice and they follow him. We are also taught in Romans 8:16 that the Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are the sons of God. God can only lead us if we stay in His presence and not any other way. In Ps.32:8, we are told by the Lord through the Psalmist that He would instruct and teach us in the way we that we shall go and that He would guide us with His eyes. This is what it means to be led by the Lord. When God is present with us, it is evident in His leading us in the way we should go. Believe me when God leads you, you will never be lost.

2.     They hear the voice of the Lord: If you have lived with someone for some time and the person passes on, the one thing that proves their absence more than anything is that you do not hear their voice around the house anymore. In the same way, the presence of someone in a place is proven by hearing their voice in that place. In our text in John 10:27, the Lord is teaching that His sheep hear His voice. The proof that God is with a person is that they hear his voice always. When God rejected Saul for instance, we are told that He stopped speaking to him by urim, Thummim and by a prophet. See 1Sam.15:10-35; 28:6. 

3.     They shall never perish: To perish is to be stripped of dignity. In the book of Proverbs 29:18, we learn that where no vision is, the people perish. Another translation puts it this way: “A nation without God’s guidance is a nation without order…” GNB another one puts it this way: “where there is no prophetic revelation, the people run wild…” God’s word. The bottom line here is that where God’s presence is maintained, revelation is not scarce to people therefore, they maintain orderliness and do not lose color. Many people who stopped walking in God’s presence find themselves in this situation as there would be no revelation from God that comes with His presence in a person’s life that creates the momentum for living in beauty and glorifying God. For instance, God was with Samuel and did not allow any of his word fall to the ground. See 1Sam.3:19

4.     They build and maintain enduring legacies: Every time God enters into a covenant with a man, He usually makes it eternal because His covenant is trans-generational. The reason is that when He is with you, his intention is that the covenant lasts forever. However, man does not last in time forever so the covenant devolves on his offspring. This is why God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. These men represent three generations of a family. For instance, he told Abraham that the land of Canaan was bequeathed to him forever. This explains why the land of Israel is being held on to as theirs up until date because God gave it to them. Every time God enters a covenant relationship with man, he usually puts the forever clause. For example, God said that the throne of David would be established before him forever. Up till date, the Israelites still celebrate the anniversary of David’s coronation even though he has since gone home. See Gen.15; 2Sam.7:15-17 and Exod.3:15 and Ex.12:24.

5.     They are joyful people: One of the hallmarks of people who abide in God’s presence is that they are joyful people because in the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy. See Ps.16:11. Also Apostle Peter points out in 1Pet.1:8 that the manifestation of our redemption is joy unspeakable full of glory. When we connect this with the word of the Lord in John 15:11 where he said that he spoke those words to His disciples so that His joy might remain in them and that their joy might be full. Finally, He promises to answer our prayer that our joy may be full. If God is not with you, He would not answer your prayer like he dealt with Saul.

6.     They enjoy supernatural protection: when God was to dole out the plague that compelled Pharaoh to submit to His authority, He exempted His people in Egypt. When Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s den, he enjoyed divine protection because God was with Him and found no fault with him. When Paul the Apostle was bitten by a snake, he was not harmed because God was with him and protected him. See Gen.47:20, 27; Dan.6:21-22 and Acts 28:3-5.

Finally, when God is with a person, it cannot be disputed as all these infallible proofs would confirm it. Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.

If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall 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.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name! 

What it means to enjoy Divine presence

Messages for May 2016: Our Month of Divine Presence

Message for the 1^st May, 2015

Theme: The wonders of Divine Presence

Topic: What it means to enjoy Divine presence

Introduction: Every great story within time has been shown to be rooted in divine presence with a person. Please this would be clearer to us if we do not confuse greatness with the possession of money like the case of the rich fool, fame like the case of people being set up for disgrace etc. A person is only as great as he has received divine recognition as such the opinion of men notwithstanding. Today, we shall be looking at the creator’s manual only to find out what it really means to enjoy divine presence.

Those with divine presence are engraced: As I sought God for understanding of this great topic, here is what He said to me: “Those who have my presence in their lives are engraced. As long as they maintain my presence, my grace remains. If they turn back from following me and start to walk in their own ways, they gradually begin to lose my presence until my spirit can no longer strive with them and I have to leave them to themselves… those who choose their own way would lose my presence and end up in disgrace. Disgrace simply means a lack of grace.” See Gen.6:1-8. In this instance, whereas the wickedness in the world caused men to lose grace with God resulting in the gross reduction of their life span, Noah found grace with God because God considered him righteous based on his walk with God. On the other hand, Samson lost the presence of God through consistent disobedience and was disgraced by the Philistines who plucked out his eyes. See Judges 16:18-21.

What it means to be engraced: The story of Joseph as a slave in Egypt is a very good example of one engraced. Here is what the word says about him in Gen.39:1-6. The following truths are shown here:

1.     The Lord was with Joseph [Divine presence] and he was a prosperous man.  To be prosperous is to be whole; nothing missing and nothing broken. Even though he was a slave, he prospered.

2.     His possession of divine presence was also evident to his master as he saw that God caused things to blossom in his hand. He could be described by his master as resourceful. Things worked in his hands and he could be trusted because the master also observed that his fear of God controlled his decisions which resulted in God’s blessing on all he did.

3.     God caused him to find favour with his master those creating the opportunity for him to serve his master visibly to the master. God also engraced him to deliver on the confidence reposed on him with excellence and integrity.

4.     The leadership of Joseph over the household of the Egyptian resulted in God blessing the entire environment because everything rises and falls on leadership. Because Joseph carried and maintained God’s presence, the blessing of God came on the home and business of his master.

5.     Joseph was so trustworthy that even in his master’s absence; he could be trusted to maintain the boundaries in spite of the Master’s wife’s temptation to do the contrary. 

From the story of Joseph, it is clear that when God is with you, He causes you to do nothing but good to others. Joseph was a blessing to his master and grew to become a blessing to the prison warder, the nation of Egypt and the entire world. This is the progression that the presence of God in one’s life can bring them to.

When the glory departs: If a person or a people carried God’s presence and lose it, the result is usually catastrophic. Let us see a few examples in the Bible:

1.     Adam was disobedient and lost the glory or manifest presence of God [all that God is and has]. He was driven out of his place of honor. He lost his throne as god of this world to Satan and became a prey to God’s arch enemy. See Gen.2:16-17; Gen.3:6-7 and 17-19.

2.     Saul was anointed king over the nation of Israel and therefore enjoyed God’s presence until he ceased being small in his own eyes. God caused him to lose his throne while he was still alive and his place was given to David. He only enjoyed God’s presence for two years. The remaining thirty eight years were years when he was history while still alive. His life was empty; he could no longer hear God’s voice. God refused to speak to him until he died a miserable death and his entire lineage was wiped out. See 1Sam.15:10-35; 28:6. 

Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.

If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall 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.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name! 

Welcome to the month of May 2016: Our Month of Divine Presence

Joshua 1:9 and Matthew 28:20b

Last year about the month of February, I boarded a flight from Houston TX to Newark NJ and the weather condition on that day way quite scary. I prayed and requested divine protection just to calm my fears. God was so gracious that day. He caused me to see two angels guarding the flight and one of them gave me a beautiful smile that allayed most of my fears. Then my eyes were opened in the midst of the turbulence and I saw the Lord pick up the plane like a toy from the airport in Houston and gently dropped it at the Newark int’l airport. That vision settled me and I was no longer scared. Since then, any time I am tempted to fear whenever I am aboard a flight, I always recall that vision and it has helped me big time.

From our text scriptures above and many other scriptures, we have God’s promises of his presence going with us everywhere. Moses so understood this great grace of God’s presence going with His people that He had the following conversation with the Lord in Ex.33:12-16:

Exo 33:12  And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

Exo 33:13  Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

Exo 33:14  And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Exo 33:15  And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

Exo 33:16  For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

This conversation between Moses and the Lords says it all. In this month of May in our year of divine exemption from all evil, we are blessed with this prophetic promise that will guarantee our safety in the days ahead in this year of Divine exemption from all evil.

To this end, this month, we shall be learning from a series I title: “The wonders of Divine presence” I so cherish this great expression of God’s love to us because a look at the word of God would reveal to us that behind every story of greatness and extraordinary grace in the word of God is the presence of God with a person or people. For instance we are told in Gen.39:1-6 that even as a slave, Joseph was prosperous because of God’s presence with him and his blessing on all that Joseph did. We also see another example of Daniel in the land of captivity rising to lead even as a slave because of his relationship with God and God’s presence with him that incapacitated even the carnivorous lions from harming him.

The greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ up till date is tied to the truth that God was always with him. The children of Israel carried the presence of God by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to the point that every evil fled from them at the presence of God. See John 8:16; Ex.13:21-22; Ps.114:1-8 and John 16:32.

The wonders of God’s presence with us is best expressed when we understand it and how it works. We therefore must know how to receive and cultivate it to our best advantage and the glory of God.

Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.

If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall 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.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name! 

Helpers of our joy

Messages for April 2016: Our Month of unspeakable Joy
Message for the 17th of April 2015
Theme: Understanding the importance of the Joy of the Lord

Topic: Helpers of our joy

Introduction: 2Cor.1:23-24:

“Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.

Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.”

Last week we were looking at the benefits of joy in this series and we established that the joy of the Lord is so valuable that each of us should desire to flow in it. In our text here, we saw Paul referring to himself and Timothy as helpers of the Joy of the Church at Corinth. This means there are people and things that can help our joy. Another aspect of the importance of joy we are going to be looking at in this series therefore is the helpers of our joy. What are the things about life that help us to become and remain joyful so that we can continue to experience the benefits that the Joy of the Lord brings? We will look at some of them today to provoke us to research more from the word of God to find more hidden treasures that would help us in our quest for walking in the joy of the Lord.

The following are some of the helpers of our joy:

The word of God: The word of God is the revelation of what God says or imparts to the heart of men by the Holy Spirit. They are either written down like the scriptures [2Tim.3:16, 2Pet.1:19-21] or spoken to us directly in our hearts either audibly – Jn.15:11 or by the inward witness – Romans 8:16. The result of this is that the joy of the Lord is released into our hearts to confirm that it is God who has spoken to us. When Jesus spoke to his disciples in John 15:11 about bearing fruits for the father, he brought this truth out clearly in relation to the connection between the joy of the Lord and bearing fruit in the kingdom of God. He said he spoke these words to them with the intention that His joy might remain in them and that their joy might be full. This makes the word of God a major helper of our joy because it not only gives you joy, it makes you full of joy.

Another helper of our joy is The Holy Spirit: He is not just a helper of our Joy for being God; He is the oil of Joy. In Isaiah 61:3, he is referred to as the oil of joy and has the capacity to destroy everything that causes a person to mourn. In other words, the Holy Spirit has the capacity in his ministry as to oil of joy to eliminate depression from the life of a person and replace it with divine strength. Like we saw last week, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Therefore, the oil of joy comes to strengthen us for the journey of faith and empowers us to take the journey to the end without weakening. In John 16:13, we are told that when the Spirit of truth is come, He shall guide us into all truth. When we are guided into all truth, we are guided into all the revelations of God. Therefore, we are guided into unspeakable joy because the truth revealed to us as we saw in the previous paragraph, causes the joy of the Lord to remain in us and makes us joyful.

Hope: This refers to the expectation of something good to come in the future. When we were looking at the definition of joy, we established that joy is the passion or emotion excited by the expectation of good. The expectation of good is hope. Where hope exists, joy is inevitable. This is why the bible tells us that the feet of those who bring us glad tidings are beautiful [Rm.10:15]. A major instrument that is used to convey hope is glad tidings. When that happens, people become joyful. For instance, in Acts 8:5-8; we are told that when Phillip took the gospel [or glad tidings or good news] to Samaria, the people received Christ and the result was that there was great joy in that City. Thus the preaching of Christ to the Samaritans helped them to come to a place of great joy. So if you want to be an instrument through which God would help people to rejoice, preach Christ to them.

Faith: Another helper of our joy is faith. Faith is acting on the expectation of the good resulting from the promise of God revealed to you. This is why Apostle Paul said in 2Cor.7:4 that they were joyful in all their tribulations. They were acting in faith on the word that the Lord Jesus Christ taught them in Matthew 5:11-12 where is said that they should consider themselves blessed when men shall persecute and revile them and even say all manner of evil things against them for his sake. He further said that they should rejoice and be glad in these circumstances for great is their reward in heaven. Thus every time our faith is tried through persecution, is a time of opportunity to rejoice. When we take advantage of this, it would help our joy.

People: People help our joy in various ways. As we saw in the previous paragraph, they can help our joy by persecuting us if we would maintain the right attitude in trials. On the other hand, they can help our joy by influencing us to be joyful through what they say to us and how they treat us. In John 15:11, the Lord told the disciples some things to cause His joy to remain in them and cause them to be joyful. There are some people who share the revelations of the word of God with you in such a way as to trigger joy in your heart in unimaginable ways. Remember that one of the main instruments God uses to bring us joy is revealed knowledge and he can convey this knowledge through human vessels. This is why Apostle Paul and Timothy referred to themselves as the helpers of the joy of the Church at Corinth. See 2Cor.1:1, 23-24.

We will stop here for today believing God for grace to be given to each of us by God to seek Him for more helpers of our joy from His word. Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.

If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall 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.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!

What are the benefits of the Joy of the Lord?

Message for the 10th of April 2015

Theme: Understanding the importance of the Joy of the Lord

Topic: What are the benefits of the Joy of the Lord?

Last week, we began this series by looking at what Joy is and we took the time to establish that it is also part of our entitlements in the covenant of grace. In explaining what Joy is, we also saw some of the characteristics of joy that distinguishes it from any other thing like happiness and natural zeal.

Today, we shall be looking at what we stand to benefit if we take advantage of this great grace of the joy of the Lord. Please understand that this great gift of God is meant for our good and part of the mystery keys of the kingdom of God that enables us to exercise dominion on earth until Jesus returns. No matter how much grace God makes available to you, your ability to take advantage of it is limited to your awareness and understanding of it. If for instance; you own money in the bank and are not aware of it, while the money will always be yours, you could remain in abject poverty if you are not aware of its existence and how to cash it. While looking at what joy is last week, we saw how it comes and from that we can gather that it is a gift of God and we can also generate it by staying with God until His word is revealed to us. John 15:11 and Isa.11:1-2.

The benefits of Joy

The word of God reveals the following benefits of joy among others to us:

1.     The joy of the Lord is what makes your service of God acceptable in the kingdom especially when all your service is done joyfully. For instance, for your offerings and tithes to be acceptable to God, you have to give them willingly and cheerfully because God loves a cheerful giver [2Cor.9:7]. In truth, any kind of service you render to God must be joyfully done otherwise it would not be acceptable to God and therefore not be rewarded. This is because in God’s kingdom, only acceptable service is rewarded [Heb.12:28]. When you do not render service to the Lord joyfully, you risk serving your enemies in sorrow; lack, want etc. see Deu.28:47-48.

2.     The joy of the Lord is a fruit of the recreated human spirit that proves your new birth status. With the joy of the Lord in you to the overflow, the enemy of our souls cannot mistake you for one of his own because this joy keeps him and his cohorts off you and yours just like fire keeps off wild beasts and prevents them from harming you. See 1Pet.1:8; Gal.5:22.

3.     The joy of the Lord empowers us to bear fruit because the absence of joy causes barrenness. In Joel 1:12, we are told that everything around us can dry up and wither away if joy is not present in our lives. This is quite serious as there is an unleashing of the spirit of depression on people these days due mainly to lack of fulfilment rooted in their refusal to embrace the great salvation provided for them by the Lord. See Heb.2:2-4. The antidote to a situation like this is first to get saved and then make a choice like the prophet Habakkuk to rejoice in spite of your circumstances. Hab.3:17-19.

When Israel did this in 2Chron.20:1-24, their enemies were smitten before them by God. All they had to do was to cart away the spoils from the war they did not fight.

4.     Helps us to bind the any kind of strong man no matter how long they had afflicted us and our loved ones: Without joy, we cannot render acceptable praise to the Lord. When we render praise that the Lord accepts, we can bind the strongman. Believe me, joyful praise is a sure means of binding the strongman; disarming him and spoiling his house – Luke 11:21-22; Ps.149:1-9.

5.     The joy of the Lord is the strength of the believer in all walks of life. Neh.8:10. Remember that last week; we established that joy is a gift of God and that he delivers this gift to us by the Holy Spirit in His manifestation as the Spirit of might[Isa.11:2]. This explains why the joy of the Lord is our strength. It provides us strength that enables us to deliver on the favour that God brings our way. For example, if you are favoured with a good job and lack the strength to accomplish it, the favor given to you would lose value and you may never have another chance at it again. So the spirit of might which presents in unspeakable joy provides the drive or momentum required to stay on the work until it is completed. This is what Joseph had going for him that made him become prime minister in Egypt and delivered on his job eventually with excellence. See Gen.41:38-44.

6.     Joy facilitates access to revelation: in Isa.12:3, the Holy Spirit reveals to us by the prophet that joy is the bucket with which we draw from the depths if revelation from God. It takes revelation knowledge for one to gain access to the top in life. This is why Apostle Paul who was so distinguished among his peers said in Gal.2:2 that he went up by revelation. See also Deu.29:29 and Prov.20:5. Understanding is only available to us by divine revelation which we receive on the platform of joy.

For want of time, we will stop here today. Next week, we shall continue this series by looking at helpers of our joy. Meanwhile, Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.

If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall 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.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!