Living from Above

BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME

2013-03-10T23:12:00.001+01:00

Where Does God Want Me At Any Point In Time?
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Timing is everything. God created time for men. There is a timing mechanism in eternity different from ours. It is time of sort but far greater than seconds and minutes and days. It's measurement lifecycle is such that we cannot relate with it without first removing the concept of day and night, and the concept of sleep and death. With these gone, we can relate with eternity better. And with death and sleep gone, we can also understand why God isn't in a hurry to get something done, because the stakeholders are not dieing at all, neither are they coming to any harm that can shorten their life and subsequently their plans. As it relates to us humans, we are limited by time, we don't have all the time we need. We are limited by harm, which can affect our tasks and our objectives and our goals. We are also finite in resources, finite in geographical placement. In eternity there is no constraint of resources, no constraint of geographical placement. Movement from one point to another isn't as cumbersome and resource intensive as it is for a human.

HOW TO RECEIVE ANY MIRACLE FROM GOD

2013-03-10T18:59:00.001+01:00

The first obtacle to receiving from God is what James called "asking amiss".

James 4:3 (KJV)
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Other translations use the word "wrong motives", "wrong reasons", "ask wickedly", "ask evilly", and adds that it is intended to be consumed on one's own pleasure. This then begs the question, "You mean I can't ask God for something I really want to consume on myself? That's unfair!"

Well, you don't have to worry either way. You can ask and still get if all the conditions are right in God's eyes. Then that also begs the question, "What is right in God's eyes? I have not met him, I can't see him, so how?" That is also not a problem. He has indicated very clearly in His Word the Bible what the limits are.

One thing to avoid is basically ignorance, and improper education on how to get things. First, there are things you don't need God to get. If heaven considers that it is something within your natural sphere of control as a human being, and that if you are wise, smart and channel your resources properly you can get, then if you start praying about it, you are very likely not to get an answer. It is although different if you have already identified that you don't want to bear the cost, and you want it miraculously, this is also doubtful, except it is under the exercise of your faith muscles. This is what I mean by its being within your sphere of control. There are things you can obtain by your faith-power built in you by virtue of your knowledge of God's Word. It is a good practice to exercise those faith muscles, and to know the necessary "works" to be done to achieve your objectives.

Going by the title of this blog, I am dwelling on how to receive a miracle. A miracle is evidently by its name something already outside your sphere of control. Something you need a force more powerful than yours to achieve. Miracles come in sizes and scopes. What you deem a miracle is not to some others. But there are universally accepted issues that are not within anyone's scope of solution, for example a miraculous disappearance of a tumor, fibroid, or the automatic restoration of sight to someone medically declared blind, or crippled feet straightened and made whole, being able to walk. The apex of that is a dead person raised to life. I mean a medically certified dead person, not a faint, not a coma, not one simulating all conditions of death but not dead, but a really certified dead person.

First, you need to settle some indisputable facts about God. Enough of all the assumptions. God wants you well. God wants you healthy. And He loves you to crown it all. The following are the 3 things that will get you any miracle from God.

1. Accept that God is willing to give you a miracle. Also know that you are receiving a miracle, not taking a miracle. God's miracles have been given, and it is in the air, it is the receiving part that is the problem. He has said in His Word in 2 Chronicles 7:14, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. See what He has said. His conditions are so simple. God has a procedure for working sometimes, just like we have procedures at our workplaces for carrying out certain tasks. He says:
a. Humble yourself
b. Pray and seek My face
c. Turn from your wicked ways
d. I will hear from heaven
e. I will forgive their sins, no matter how grievious

f. I will heal

God is not asking for too much, is He? No, I don't think so. If that health of yours is worth getting back to you, and getting that incredible quality of life back, then that desire should spur you. We don't need the pains and sufferings. It is not worth it.

2. Search His Word for the constitutional provisions for that miracle. There are numerous provisions in God's Word that constitutionally provide for your health, an example is Romans 8:11, And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

3. Get into the atmosphere where that miracle is obtainable such as a scheduled prayer, praise, study programme. First of, do it on your own and put a timeline to obtain it. The tricky part is if it concerns just you or if others are involved. Depending on your situation, the most time I think you can wait for a miracle is one year. If after this you do not obtain it, then you will need to escalate to a stronger Christian body, because it is possible that your faith-muscles aren't strong enough to pull it through and you need someone with the Gift of Faith. I recommend Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy (Nigeria), Prophet Kobus van Rensburg of Spirit Word Ministries (South Africa) and Pastor Benny Hinn (USA). These ministries have been endowed with health and healing graces. There are countless others obtainable in your locality, you need to carefully do your research and find them. Please remember, God is not hiding.

4. Stay in the church where you got the miracle. This is very vital. What I mean by staying there is not living in there, but attend that church's services and meetings regularly, till you get to the point where the miracle is permanent. There are cases of people who obtain a miracle from God and lose it. Yes. It is possible to lose a miracle. This is why I emphasize staying at the brook where you got it, and get established in God's Word there sufficiently till you can self-sustain by yourself in faith.

THE LAW OF SPIRITUALITY IS AS REAL AS THE LAW OF GRAVITY

2013-02-26T15:56:00.003+01:00

One of the phenomenons that exists today along with other well known phenomenons is spirituality. When I say phenomenon, I am talking about those events in our existence that seem to be shrouded in some mysteries, that only a few people can logically think through and understand. The aurora in the north pole is one of the easiest I can reference. In that phenomenon, we see color lights dancing in the skyline, and if you weren't familiar with that by experience, can make the very hair on the back of your neck to bristle in awe, and even fear. Thanks to efforts from scientific minds who have taken the pain to explain how that has come to be.

Another phenomenon that we can relate to is the law of gravity. By experience we have all come to get accustomed to it. We use it unconsciously because we are so familiar with it. In fact, the only time you probably actively think about it is when you are flying, from one city to another. As the plane takes off, if you are by the window seat, your mind automatically reminds you that gravity is at work. As long as the engines of the plane is working, no failures, you know gravity cannot kill you today. As the plane touches down at your destination, you unconsciously are happy to have beaten the law of gravity, even though you take that also for granted. Thank you technology and faith in technology.

There is another law I want to bring to your consciousness. It is the law of spirituality. Take note, you don't have to be a born again Christian to put the law of spirituality to work. It is just there, working. You can choose to do one or two activities around that law and you will see its effect. I want to talk about that law from a born-again Christian's perspective. To do this, I will use one Bible passage, and tackle one example of a situation under which you can put that law to work. Interestingly, the law of spirituality also works by perpetuity. This means that the law gets initiated in your life starting from the very first day you activate it. When you do, and then you forget it for a few years, and one day return to it, it will continue right where you left off. Different people today, Christians, and non-Christians are at different stages of spirituality by perpetuity. It doesn't grow by unconsciousness. It grows by deliberateness. It goes into a pause the day you stop being spiritual, and resumes playback the day you pick up on spirituality.

Romans 8:6
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

The easiest way to die is to be carnal in your thoughts. To be carnal does not mean to be thinking of sex and sexual things as most people believe that scripture to mean, which is still true. Thinking about sex is just one of the characteristics of being carnal. You can be thinking of beer and alcoholism, that is also a characteristics of being carnal. You can be thinking of ripping someone off of their hard earned money, that is still a characteristics of carnality. You can be thinking of watching a game of football after dinner, it is one and the same thing. Carnal is not a bad thing altogether, but in its core is a law of death, because carnal means TO BE ORDINARY. When you are ordinary in your thinking, you are carnal. So the Bible is saying if you are an ordinary thinker, you will end up in death.

Why did the Bible say this? Because you live in an ordinary world. Everything in the ordinary world ends in death. That is the end purpose of life in the world since the fall of creation to ordinariness. Check everything around you. Everything is dieing. You give birth to a baby today, it begins to die from that very day. As the baby grows up, it is growing up into decay. Each birthday celebrated is actually a year closer to demise. The rest is just a matter of time. You build a brand new car, depreciation begins to set in. Depreciation is death of a kind. It means the item is degrading. Dieing. Back to one's life. Everything around you is dieing. Our health for one. Now the Bible is saying, if you think like an ordinary person, if you are carnal, you will end up actually dead even before you are really thoroughly dead.

The Bible adds another clause, which is that BUT to be spiritually minded is LIFE, it is PEACE. It means that spirituality can prolong your life. Spirituality can stop, pause, delay the death process. It means for example, that if you are on a diet system, a healthy living regime, a program of eating what has been dubbed "living food" as against eating "dead food", that you will live longer. Scientifically, yes, that is very true. But you see, that is where the problem is again. Science is part of the ordinary system of things. In an attempt to live longer, you are using the very principles and tool of death, science. What you need to have a better quality of life is spirituality. It doesn't matter what you eat, with spirituality you will enjoy a better quality of life.

The Bible admonishes us to eat everything with thanksgiving to God. The Bible also says that God has given us everything from the beast and crops of the field to those of the air for food. Do you think that God didn't know that eating red meat will kill you? Did you think that God did not know that milk will kill you? He knows. That is why he said take these things, enjoy it, but do it with thanksgiving.

HOW TO INTERPRETE YOUR GLOSSA LALIA

2012-12-12T10:10:00.000+01:00

I thought it will be of great help to a lot of glossa lalia speakers out there, especially the new and upcoming speakers who have been wondering on the subject of how to interprete what they pray in tongues or speak in tongues. This is actually a sub-topic in an earlier blog today, but I think this sub-topic deserves to be given a front page, hence I have it up now.

As gibberish as praying in tongues sounds, as unstructured and annoying as it is, you can be able to interpret what is spoken by you. Interpreting what someone else speaks is a subject of discussion for another topic.
Is this possible you ask? Yes, it is very possible. It's all dependent on your affinity for the Holy Spirit. First of all, let me state it that:

1. When you pray in tongues, do you see pictures in your mind?
Wow, if you haven't been seeing the pictures that fly through your mind when you are deep in prayer in tongues, you have to cultivate that fast. That is the first step in interpreting your tongues. In fact that is crucial for effective prayers in tongues.

2. When you pray in tongues, is your mind wandering?
Boy o boy. If this happens to you, then you are not anywhere close to interpreting your tongues. Praying in tongues is a serious business. You can't afford your mind wandering. You have to bring your mind into captivity of the Holy Spirit. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17).

3. When you pray in tongues, is a worship song playing in the background?
For starters and beginners, this is one of the fastest ways to activate the intensity of your prayer in tongues and get closer to interpreting some of them. There are people who can do this without a worship song. For beginners you need to get a carefully selected range of worship songs. I am not talking about techno and body jiggling praise songs. No. Praise songs mostly reach out to your flesh, that is why you dance. Worship songs reach out to your spirit and emotions and that is where your tongues are coming from. Worship is emotional, worship is deep spirit-seated.

4. When you pray in tongues, wait for that moment when English language comes to you, then utter it.
This is where your interpretation is located. There comes a point while you are praying in tongues and worshiping God, and praying in more tongues and worshiping and seeing all these pictures flying through your mind, and praying in more tongues...there comes this point when your default spoken language of understanding (probably English language) comes to your lips. That is your interpretation coming to you. Speak it then, let it flow. Speak it. You may find yourself reverting back to praying in tongues again, not a problem, go back into tongues and wait for that moment again. When you continue like this over a period of time (days, weeks) you will gain the mastery, and you can readily interpret. It is like swimming in water and you bob up a few times and go under. Interestingly it is scriptural, the water analogy. When you fist kickstart the engine, it's like water at your ankle level, then as you continue it rises to your waist level, as you push on it becomes a bigger water, water big enough to swim in.
Take note that interpretation is often one of these (1 Corinthians 14:3):

1. Edification,
2. Exhortation, and
3. Comfort

In other words, your interpretation will be prophetic in nature. It will bless you. And if people are around you it will bless them. This can happen either when you are alone praying in tongues and unwittingly switches to speaking in tongues all alone, or if you are in a crowd or assembly or congregation with a microphone in your hands. Interpretation is not a respecter of location. Once you have it you have it.

GLOSSA LALIA | SPEAKING AND PRAYING IN TONGUES

2012-12-11T16:51:00.002+01:00

It has come to stay. It has been around a long while now. It is not going anywhere anytime sooner. It is sometimes irritating and annoying when someone else does it uncharacteristically. It doesn't matter though how much it is detested, it will continue to be spoken by many. It is called glossa lalia. Meaning speaking in tongues.

There are no rules, no best boundaries, no known grammatical structure, no known formulae, no books on its lexis, and of all no known accurate speaker. Simply open your mouth and utter it as it comes to you. That is speaking in tongues for you. I love to speak in tongues. In fact 95% of my prayer at any time, and since all time (when I met the Saviour Jesus Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father) has been in glossa lalia. I cannot tell exactly how effective this is, but one thing I have known, it sure feels sweet to my stomach, gives peace to my heart, and life's troubles are easier to handle. Speaking in tongues comes in two observable packages, quick charge and long charge. Quick charge is required when you need to tackle impromptu issues, and long charge is useful when you need to systematically over time deal with issues.

Before I go further, it is important at this time to not mix up terminologies. Where glossa lalia is concerned, there are many confusions, even among experts in the topic, something we readily always forget. So, let's iterate it.

There is a difference between:
1. Speaking in Tongues, and
2. Praying in Tongues.

What is the difference?

SPEAKING IN TONGUE - is when you make a prophetic declaration in a speech-like manner, especially when addressing a crowd, or during personal prayer (only at a certain point in personal prayer, and it usually goes with an interpretation, and mostly it goes unnoticed).
"For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries." 1 Corinthians 14:2 KJV

Look at the points of emphasis, we call it keywords.
Keywords in this scripture are:
speaketh | |unknown tongue | | speaketh not unto men | | speaketh unto God | | no man understands him | | in the spirit he speaketh mysteries

From this we establish that Apostle Paul ( an attorney at law) knew what he was saying. This is a lawyer talking for Christ's sake! He is not the type of man to throw words around. He is reputed to be choosy and selective with his choice of words. Paul knows there is a difference between speaking and praying, and he thus distinguished both.

The confusion most people have is when understanding of the English language. For example:
I am talking to you and telling you, "When are you sending the money to my account? I hope you have seen the bank details I sent to you by mail earlier today. Kindly use Standard Chartered Bank."

Using this sentence, you absolutely know that I (first person) am addressing another person (2nd person). That is what speaking in tongue is all about. You pass information, but in the case of speaking in tongue, it is usually prophetic information. It is like standing in front of an audience and passing prophetic information across to them, only in another language, an heavenly language that neither you or your listeners understand. This then calls for an interpretation. This is where the problem is. Interpreting.

Why did Paul add the clause saying the one who speaks in tongue speaks not unto men but unto God? That raises a question. If speaking in tongue is speaking to men in another language and prophetically so, why then contradict that by saying he speaks to God? Remember, speaking in tongue is first of all a prophetic utterance. The power of prophecy is in its public declaration. Making a prophetic declaration in tongues requires interpretation, so you actually end up speaking to God and angels (minus the devil) who understand perfectly what you are saying because they put it in your spirit in the first place. and you are definitely not speaking to men in languages they understand, hence men do not understand, hence needing interpretation. Let's hold it right here, we will talk about interpretation later.

PRAYING IN TONGUES - is when you are saying words of prayer (popularly in pentecostal parlance known as "charging oneself up").
"For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." 1 Corinthians 14:14-15 KJV

This is the one you hear every Sunday morning from most pentecostal churches. I am tempted to want to type it out here, but I know it will be gibberish and you will be all the more annoyed, especially if you hated this and you are just enduring to read this write up trying to figure out if I will say something that at least makes sense to you. Laughs. Praying in tongue is your regular, vigorous, intense, demanding, "give-me-give-me" prayer, but this time in a strange language. And even more, when in this mode of prayer, the Holy Spirit helps to structure your prayer properly by encapsulating it in the Father's will for you. When you pray in tongues, you cannot pray amiss. Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

This is why praying in tongues is very vital. This level of prayer gets great results. keeps your human spirit athletic and in shape. Your spirit is attuned and picks wavelengths of spiritual verities.

INTERPRETING YOUR TONGUES
Is this possible you ask? Yes, it is very possible. It's all dependent on your affinity for the Holy Spirit. First of all, let me state it that:
1. When you pray in tongues, do you see pictures in your mind?
Wow, if you haven't been seeing the pictures that fly through your mind when you are deep in prayer in tongues, you have to cultivate that fast. That is the first step in interpreting your tongues.
2. When you pray in tongues, is your mind wandering?
Boy o boy. If this happens to you, then you are not anywhere close to interpreting your tongues. Praying in tongues is a serious business. You can't afford your mind wandering. You have to bring your mind into captivity of the Holy Spirit. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17).
3. When you pray in tongues, is a worship song playing in the background?
For starters and beginners, this is one of the fastest ways to activate the intensity of your prayer in tongues and get closer to interpreting some of them. There are people who can do this without a worship song. For beginners you need to get a carefully selected range of worship songs. I am not talking about techno and body jiggling praise songs. No. Praise songs mostly reach out to your flesh, that is why you dance. Worship songs reach out to your spirit and emotions and that is where your tongues are coming from. Worship is emotional, worship is deep spirit-seated.
4. When you pray in tongues, wait for that moment when English language comes to you, then utter it.
This is where your interpretation is located. There comes a point while you are praying in tongues and worshiping God, and praying in more tongues and worshiping and seeing all these pictures flying through your mind, and praying in more tongues...there comes this point when your default spoken language of understanding (probably English language) comes to your lips. That is your interpretation coming to you. Speak it then, let it flow. Speak it. You may find yourself reverting back to praying in tongues again, not a problem, go back into tongues and wait for that moment again. When you continue like this over a period of time (days, weeks) you will gain the mastery, and you can readily interpret. Take note that interpretation is often one of these (1 Corinthians 14:3):

1. Edification,
2. Exhortation, and
3. Comfort

In other words, your interpretation will be prophetic in nature. It will bless you. And if people are around you it will bless them. This can happen either when you are alone praying in tongues and unwittingly switches to speaking in tongues all alone, or if you are in a crowd or assembly or congregation with a microphone in your hands. Interpretation is not a respecter of location.

Husband, You Need To 'Dwell' With Your Wife! | Making Marriage Work

2012-12-05T11:50:00.000+01:00

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Special thanks to my wife who sent me this email today. She got it from rejoiceamerica@aol.com.
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One of the meanest tricks in the world occurs when a man romances his future bride and treats her like a princess as they are courting - but then once they get married, everything suddenly changes! Before the marriage, the man held her hand, walked with her, opened the door for her, called her on the telephone, wrote her romantic notes, sent her flowers, and took her to dinner. He treated her so royally that she viewed him as her "Prince Charming" and felt like she was his queen!

Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life....
-- 1 Peter 3:7

Unfortunately, upon returning from the honeymoon, many new husbands suspend all those romantic gestures that made their future brides feel so special. These men begin to act as if they have forgotten how to show their brides the tenderness to which they had grown accustomed. As a result of this change in behavior in their new husbands, young brides often feel disappointed, let down, and deceived. They inwardly ask themselves:
• Where is the Prince Charming I fell in love with before I got married?
• Was that all an act?
• Who is this man I have married?
• Who is this man who rarely calls me, who rarely treats me to a date, who seems to have time for everyone except me, and who shows very little tenderness in our relationship?
• Where did the man go who once treated me so nicely?
Men are often unaware that they are becoming insensitive and neglectful of their wives. Perhaps they get busy at work, or their minds are heavy with details, or they are mentally and physically exhausted. These may be some of the contributing factors that explain why men do the things they do.
But regardless of what a husband is feeling or going through at work or in his financial affairs, his wife needs his attention and affection. She married him because she wants to be a part of his life. She has a need to feel cherished by him and to know that he wants to include her in his life.

This is precisely why Peter in First Peter 3:7 told husbands that they are to "dwell" with their wives. The word "dwell" is the Greek word sunoikeo, a compound of the word sun and oikos. The word sun always carries the idea of partnership and cooperation. When the word sun is used in the New Testament, it always connects two or more people into a very vital union.
The second part of the word, oikos, is the Greek word for a house. When these words are linked together as they are in First Peter 3:7, it means to share a house together or to dwell together in one residence.

But there's more to this than simply sharing a house together. The fact is, there are many husbands and wives who live in the same house, who eat at the same table, and who share the same bed, yet who don't really "dwell" together.
They are like two ships that occasionally pass each other. Although they share the same residence, they live separate lives, never really connecting with each other.

Because the first part of the word sunoikos ("dwell") is the word sun, which always conveys the idea of partnership and cooperation, this lets us know that Peter is urging husbands to share their lives with their wives.
This is a great challenge to men, who often want to be quiet when they come home after a busy day at work. Many men would rather sit down in front of the television and flip the channels all evening rather than communicate with their wives.

Husband, learning to share your life with your wife is a skill that must be developed. This is why Peter goes on to say that husbands are to "dwell with them according to knowledge." The phrase "according to knowledge" implies that you must gain understanding of what blesses and distresses your wife. First, you must seek to obtain that knowledge by reading the Word, by reading a good book on marriage, by attending a seminar on how to be a better husband, by listening to a teaching tape on the subject, and so on. Then you must apply what you learn to your marriage if you want to have a happy wife.

For instance, what do you do, husband, when you come home from work in the evening? Perhaps you're one of those husbands who walks in the door, plops down on the couch, turns on the television, and begins to flip mindlessly through so many channels that it is impossible to focus on any single program. Meanwhile, your wife has been waiting to talk to you all day long, so she sits next to you as you flip from one channel to the next and wonders, Why doesn't he turn off the television and talk to me instead?

The truth is, you've talked to people all day long, and you probably don't want to talk anymore. But you have a precious wife who needs you at that moment. She has cleaned the house, taken care of the children, cooked your evening meal, and faced her own challenges throughout the day. After an entire day of caring for the children, she needs some adult fellowship. Even more importantly, she wants fellowship with you because you are the one she loves and needs the most.

Why not turn off the television, take your wife by the hand, and ask her to take a walk with you? Or why don't you sit at the kitchen table with your wife and let her tell you all about her day over a cup of coffee or tea? And after she is finished telling you every nitty-gritty detail of her day, take the time to tell her about your day! She wants to know what you did, whom you talked to, what they said, what happened next, and so on. She wants to know all about you and your day.

Also, instead of spending most evenings and Saturday with the guys or with other people, send a powerful signal to your wife that she is important by scheduling time to be only with her. That's right, husband - spend quality time with your wife! Take her out to dinner or a movie. Do things together that you both enjoy so you can keep your relationship fresh and alive.

You need to treat your wife like she is the most central, significant, and important partner in your life. This doesn't mean you can't spend time with the guys. Certainly you need fellowship with Christian brothers. However, if you spend every free minute with them and never schedule any time with your wife, you are communicating that your male friends are much more important than she is. Is this the message you want to send to your wife?

As you learn to treat your wife with tender care, it will pay off big dividends in your life. If she is assured that she is a top priority in your life and feels secure in her relationship with you, she will gladly follow you and help you wherever God leads. But if she doesn't feel valued or secure in her position as your wife, she will find it much harder to follow you with a sweet and submissive heart. She may be afraid that if she follows you, she will ultimately find herself abandoned and uncared for. Thus, how you care for your wife greatly determines how easy or difficult it is for her to follow you.

In my own life, my wife and I actually schedule our times to be together. We plan those moments when we will go for a walk together, go shopping, go to a café to have a cup of coffee or tea, or share a special meal with each other. Like most people, our schedules are very busy. We have found that if we don't plan these times together, all the other responsibilities of our lives and ministry consume us, and in the end, we don't spend enough quality time together.
But because we both consider our marriage relationship to be the most important relationship in our lives, we treat it like it is important and make certain that we spend quality time together on a regular basis.

Husband, I urge you to make the decision that you are going to do more than just share the couch, share the table, and share the bed with your wife. Share your life with her. Open your heart to her; talk to her like she is your best friend and most important confidant. "Dwell" with her and do everything you can to let her know that no one else is as important to you as she is.

If you're wondering what your marriage will be like if you fail to treat your wife with this kind of tender care, just ask those husbands who have made the mistake of ignoring their wives. They will testify how they hurt their wives, and many husbands will have to admit that they were a big factor in their wives becoming bitter and hardhearted.

When you invest in your wife, you are investing into your own life. You see, if you have a happy wife, you can be sure that you'll have a partner who is with you all the way. So I urge you today to learn how to dwell with your wife according to knowledge. Make sure that from this day forward, you treat your wife like she is a top priority in your life!

WHY SHOULD I PRAY ALWAYS | FIND OUT

2012-12-02T22:08:00.000+01:00

This story involves three parties: a judge, a widow and an adversary . There was this judge who “did not fear God nor regard man.” We know there were such men in Palestine then, and we believe there are such men in positions of judicial authority today. They have the position, but they do not have the godly character, compassion and sense of justice that should qualify a man to be a judge. Jesus says that this man “did not fear God nor regard man.”

Luke 18:1-8
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

As this parable is introduced, we are specifically told the point: “that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” When I look at that phrase I see a choice – either pray or lose heart. If I pray as Jesus taught I should, in His name and with an obedient faith that guides my life daily, I will not lose heart! To express the other end of this, if I lose heart I must not be praying in the manner taught by Christ. Which will it be? Will you pray or lose heart? In the story, Jesus gives a reason why we should always pray.

The prayer Jesus mentioned here is specific to a certain kind of situation. TRIBULATION. PERSECUTION, TIMES OF ADVERSITY like is obtainable in nations or countries where Christians are publicly executed for their faith, or they are prime targets of terrorists (northern Nigeria for example), Jesus is not talking about our regular, normal, "give me" prayer. He is not saying for you to bombard heaven with your promotion request, job request, wife request, more money demands, miracle desire, death of your enemy request, fire-for-fire demands, bless me bless my family bless my uncle frenzy, etc. No! That is not what Jesus is talking about. A lot of Christians use this scripture to think we should be talking to God about these things always 24/7. Let me tell you what happens in heaven when you put up this kind of "I, me and myself" attitude in prayer. They put you on voicemail. Because your needs have a separate principle of prayers for achieving them, and you are not spiritually smart enough to know them (I will thrash that out in another topic). So, back to our widow.

The widow came to the judge to plea for relief from her adversary, someone who had wronged her, but we are not told who or what the person did. The Lord said that “for a while” the judge would not respond; he would not do anything. Then the judge thought, “this widow really annoys me. Although I don’t fear God or respect people, I’ll have to give her justice. Otherwise, she’ll keep coming to me until she wears me out.” And there were no restraining orders in those days, perhaps he could have restrained her maybe (just a funny thought).

Jesus calls attention to what the unjust judge said. Then He said, “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Can you see that? The item in red. When God meets your needs that is not avenging. Jesus used the word "avenge". I mean, at least in this generation we know who the AVENGERS are. The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Black Arrow, Nick Fury, Agent Coulson. Right? Those guys fight an enemy. So Jesus knows better that the word avenge has to do with an adversary, an enemy, and I am not talking about your mom who is a witch from the village, you can handle that witch easily, ignorance is just your problem. There are bigger problems on the big picture that Jesus was addressing. At that level, even witches don't stand a chance. You have to understand that at the level of persecution, all those demonic harrassments and possessions you encounter are child's play. You will even be surprised to see that the witches will join sides because it has gone beyond them. Have you heard of the era when witches were persecuted? That is when you will know that a witch is just another human being. Jesus was talking about non-spiritual forces (who are actually being puppeteered by greater spiritual forces such as the Prince of this World, Spiritual Wickedness in High Places, Rulers of the Darkness of this World), these are human institutions with enough firepower and political control to make being a Christian a nightmare. These human forces can be dangerous to the extent that Jesus said when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”. These are the situations under which Jesus said we ought to pray ALWAYS and not to give up as COWARDS.

Some who have read this parable get stuck on a supposed comparison between the evil judge and God. Jesus does not say that God is like the unjust judge. The point is, if an evil judge will eventually gives relief to those who appeal to him, how much more will God (who is perfectly just) give relief to His own elect! This is like the teaching of Christ earlier (in Luke 11:1-13, note the expression “how much more”). God’s people should always pray and not “give up” or “lose heart” because we are appealing to a perfectly just and righteous Judge. One way faith expresses itself is in the persistent, fervent practice of prayer.

Prayer should not be like a “fire extinguisher.” This equipment hangs on the wall and you may pay little attention to it until there is an emergency. Then you want it! Some treat prayer the same way. If there is no “emergency” in life, they don’t use it. But in time of crisis they want God to listen and respond at once! The teaching of Christ is exceedingly plain – we ought to pray regularly, “always,” knowing that God is perfectly just and will answer according to His wisdom.

Dr. Creflo Dollar | THE VOICE BEHIND THE WORD

2012-12-02T00:48:00.000+01:00

Although God has promised victory for every Believer, it is not uncommon to experience moments when our faith is under attack. During these times, we tend to wonder if we will ever receive real answers to our prayers, and we may ask ourselves, How can I tap into the hidden wisdom of God that will bring forth my breakthrough? The key is hearing God’s voice behind His written Word.

To identify God’s voice, we must actively communicate with Him. If we want to hear from Him, we must fellowship with Him through regular meditation on His Word and consistent prayer. As Believers who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, we can also speak to God by praying in tongues. Through praying in the Spirit, we speak the very mysteries that could unlock the answers to the situations we face in life!

Speaking in tongues is not just babbling. It is an intimate form of communication with God. 1 Corinthians 2:7 says, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory....” According to 1 Corinthians 14:2, when you speak in tongues, you are speaking directly to God in a Heavenly language! Each time you pray in the spirit, hidden wisdom is revealed, and you allow the Holy Spirit to show you things that are hidden from everyone else—even the devil.

There is something powerful that happens when we spend time praying in tongues. It is often during the quiet times that follow that we hear the voice of God speaking truth and wisdom directly from Heaven. You may be driving your car or ironing your clothes one day, for example, and the Holy Spirit will give you the revelation you need during those intimate moments with the Lord.

You will experience great success in your life when you clearly hear the voice of God. Most people can read the Bible and gain some understanding of it, but when you are able to hear God’s voice behind a scripture or sermon and allow the Holy Spirit to show you how it applies to your specific situation, you will experience real breakthrough.

Through God we have access to wealth, healing, deliverance, peace, and so much more. He wants to speak to you about any situation you are facing in life. When you spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word, you open the door for Him to speak a word that will help you. Listen to the voice of God behind Scriptures for maximum results!

When you learn to hear God’s voice, He will give you the insight you need to strengthen your relationship with Him.

BEER | WINE | WHISKEY | RUM

2012-12-01T14:45:00.001+01:00

A preacher was addressing a congregation: "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and throw it into the river".
And the congregation cried, "Amen!" ...
"And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and throw it in the river".
And the congregation cried, "Amen!"
"And if I had all the whiskey and rum in the world, I'd take it all and throw it in the river".
Again the congregation cried, "Amen!"
The preacher sat down.
The deacon then stood up & said: "For our closing hymn, let's turn to page 126 of our hymn books and sing, 'We shall drink from that river'.
The congregation SCREAMED "HALLELUJAH !!!"

FAITH DOES NOT ALWAYS SAVE

2012-12-01T00:28:00.000+01:00

Do you know that faith does not always save? You are probably shocked, as I am! I don't know why I am typing this, but it sure is true.

James 2:19 (New Living Translation)
"You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! EVEN THE DEMONS BELIEVE THIS, AND THEY TREMBLE IN TERROR."
Can you imagine that? There is an example of a situation where faith doesn't save!

The Amplified Bible, puts it this way: "You believe that God is one; you do well. So do the demons believe and shudder [in terror and horror such as make a man's hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin]!"

I have only seen this type in horror movies, and it is nowhere close to what those demons pass through at the fear of the power of Jesus Christ. Negative faith.

A scripture comes to mind. But before that, let's iron out definition of terms. Faith. What is faith? Is it positive thinking? A feeling? One’s church affiliation? The belief that Jesus died for your sins? Confidence? Hope? Or is it something far more? The Bible states that “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:6). This is an incredible statement - yet, it is in the Bible! Take it for exactly what it says. Just think! Anything a person does, in attempting to be Christian, means absolutely nothing, if he lacks faith. For without faith, he has no hope - no possibility of pleasing God. Any who are not pleasing God are Christians in vain. That is serious! Consider yourself. Do you have real faith? Is it sufficient for salvation? Can you know?

You are probably thinking of the famous Hebrew 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

This is difficult English. Trust the King James version to do that often. But I do love the King James Version, helps to keep certain verse of scriptures simpler, poetic and easy to remember.

Let's use a simpler translation, the New Living Translation: Hebrews 11:1, Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Four things are evidenced so far, let me give them to you authoritatively:
1. Faith is required to please God.
2. Faith tells you your desired or expected future will happen as expected; it has not happened yet, but it will.
3. Human beings can have faith.
4. Demons have faith.

So the big question now is, what saves a man? I got you right where I want you. Here is the answer. GRACE saves, not faith. Faith is the second level requirement.

Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."

Did you see that?! It is grace that saves a man, not faith. But faith is your response to grace. Here you are drowning. Let's say you cannot swim, and you are drowning and gulping water, and losing your breathe, your lungs are filling with water, your brain is getting numbed and the last sparks of life is ebbing out of you. Then suddenly, someone stretches his hands at you. That is grace. That is what is your salvation. But that salvation requires your response. You stretch your hands to the hands, that is faith. But you see, you can be drowning and hoping and having faith that someone will see you struggling and come save you. Yes. That is faith as well. But no one came to save you, grace is missing. So you see that your faith alone is not enough. Grace is required. And that grace we are told is the gift of God. Your salvation is a gift. The grace-gift of God is what saves you, not your faith.

I am tempted to want to go further in this blog to explain some misconceptions about faith, perhaps in another topic, but it will feel good to say that I have known many people who believed that faith is an intangible “feeling” that cannot be defined. It is often thought to be personal, mysterious and unique to each person. This feeling usually has no definition, structure, or clear purpose and, inevitably, is whatever people want or need it to be. In other words, for almost every person, there is a different description and definition of faith. It is strange how many people view faith this way, yet the Bible has never said anything of the sort. Others believe that faith is some kind of “positive thinking.” It is as though as long as people take an optimistic view and remain upbeat about events and circumstances, they are demonstrating faith. The Bible nowhere describes faith with the words positive or optimistic—though these are good qualities of mind.

We live in a generation where we beg men to have faith. And here we are, the adversary of our soul demonstrates faith at such a high frequency that, it doesn't produce salvation or righteous living, but produces "horror"! And this same enemy knowing the power of faith will attempt to make you live your whole life in UNBELIEF!...and sadly many Christians buy into it even at a discount!..gosh!!!

A man should not assume, therefore, because he has faith, even that faith in God which will fill him with alarm or reverence, that therefore he is safe. He must have a faith which will produce another effect altogether - that which will lead to a holy life.

TOP SECRET: Motivation Isn't Enough

2012-11-29T08:20:00.000+01:00

A man once wrote and said, "Whatsoever you can conceive you can achieve." Another man said, "A man who is positive, optimistic and undertakes his work with the assurance of success magnetizes his condition, he draws to himself the creative powers of the universe." You have probably heard that before. It is called motivational speaking. Motivation isn't enough. Those aren't lies, but they aren't the complete truth either. Your motivation is not enough for success. It is an ingredient for success, but it is not all that matters. There is something known as the GOD FACTOR. That is the key to success.

There is an ability called "dunamis". You probably have heard about it before. It means power. But it is not ordinary power. It is a special kind of power that works like a dynamo. Notice I didn't say it works like a dynamite. A dynamite blows things up. But a dynamite is a kind of dynamo power. Dynamo is a self-sustaining regenerative power. In science, a dynamo was a source for electrical current, and you know in this 21st century that electricity is everything. We can also call electricity power. So power is also everything. Electric power is required to run everyday life. Shut it down and we may end up in something terrible to describe.

You need more than just motivation to make it through anything in life. Motivation can get you some money but power sustains the money and gives you wealth. Motivation can make you seek for good health, but power can sustain your health. Motivation can make you endure a terminal disease, but power can heal you of it. What power are we referring to here? I am talking about the power we called "dunamis" meaning dynamo, the power that sustains itself.

Jesus said, Acts 1:8, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Let's amplify that with another translation:

But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.

This is the power that you need to make it in life. This is the power you need to succeed in business. You might say "Common bro, Bill Gates didn't use that kind of power to become the world's richest man," Perhaps you are right. I can even add to that for you, Steve Jobs of blessed memory probably didn't as well. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg probably didn't as well. Have you tried their method? You probably haven't and you probably lack their brains and ingenuity. So what are gonna do, sit on your ass? Get a hold of this power! Get Dunamis. This power will infuse you with ability. Elijah had this power one time the Bible records that he ran faster than a chariot in 1 Kings 18:46 (New Living Translation) Then the LORD gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab's chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.

There are abilities that the Godhead have given to us all to use to enrich ourselves. There are those who tap into those abilities and make something great out of it, then there are those who short-changed themselves and are living a life of mediocrity, perhaps that is where you find yourself, this power can put you over in life. The biggest part of it is that when you are busy in your room or your closet applying this power nobody sees you, nobody even hears you, because it is not for noise, it is not for show even though some people use it for show. It is like getting up in the morning and brushing your teeth and having a shower and freshening your skin with skin creams and the rest of the things we do in the morning when preparing for the day. Very few people see you doing that, but it becomes evident when you hit the streets that you are set for the day. In the very same fashion nobody sees you doing the dunamis stuff, but when you begin to get results and make it over in life people will think you were just intelligent and smart, but you know better that it is the power of the Holy Ghost acting on your mind reactivating your ingenuity for success.

So, for those who ask Bill Gate didn't do that, Steve Jobs didn't do that, Mark Zuckerberg didn't do that, my question is, how can you be so sure? Do you live with them? Do you even so much as know anyone close to them beyond the distance news you read of them. We know one man who did. One man who used this power to the fullest. He subdued nature, subdued death, subdued nations, conquered life, his name is Jesus. And today when men are in distress they call upon him! When that freak accident was about to happen, men scream his name.

HOW TO GET DUNAMIS (DYNAMO POWER)
This dynamic ability to cause changes power comes only from one method, salvation. It is a power whose source is not earthly, but spiritual, a force field that controls the very aura of natural life. It puts the very laws of life and physics in its place. To get it, you have to go spiritual.

1. Get saved by giving your life to Jesus Christ, denouncing the life of sin and shame and taking on the righteousness of Jesus Christ by faith in his death, burial, resurrection and ascension to heaven. To do this you need to find his representatives on earth. Every nation and kingdom have what is known as the embassy. Find Christ's embassy on the earth. Who are they? Where are they? They are the churches you see in every nook and cranny of the earth. Go into one of them, ask to speak with the minister in charge, tell him your life and what you want. he will initiate the conversion process protocol and get you born again.
2. Then tell him you want to receive the power of the Holy Ghost, this power we have talked about. He will explain how it works to you and initiate the receival process and teach you about the constant infilling process. This is how you go beyond motivation, because motivation isn't just enough in life, you need more than that. You need power from above. Dunamis.

QUICK TIP: How To Kill Yourself

2012-11-27T08:58:00.001+01:00

Several years ago I made a startling discovery. Ever since then, I became at peace with the idea and concept of dying. Death is not a loss. We misunderstood it from beginning. Death is actually a victory. When you die you actually gain. It is easier for people to transition from no job to a mouth-watering job. That is a death of the joblessness to job-fullness. It is easier for people to transition from being broke to being wealthy. That is the death of the broke-ness to wealth-ness. What actually scares people is the separation of relationships.

God's plan for his children is to get familiar with death. I am not going to quote the favorite 1 Corinthians 15:55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" because till this very moment we still don't understand it.

Jesus was the first person to demonstrate this truth. The apostles during the tribulations also demonstrated this. However, our generation and few past are yet to understand it.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that YE PRESENT your bodies a LIVING SACRIFICE... - Romans 12:1 (KJV)
...sacrifices are supposed to be dead...
...this typifies a Christian... the quickest way is to die now, right now while you are still alive, is to present your body as a living sacrifice, a living dead, a zombie for righteousness.
The Father of all spirits can ask you to do things your fleshly mind will want to oppose...

...don't creep out!... do it. This is how you die to self. This is the acclaimed and rare brokenness we talk so much about.
If your denial of certain pleasures can promote God's kingdom...
...you are better off...but He won't force you to...
...it is your choice to PRESENT it, OFFER it...
...stop that cigarette, stop that drink...
...stop that relationship, stop that vacation...
...stop that sleep, stop that filthy lucre...
Let your life count for the Message of the Kingdom

Romans 12:1

New International Version (©1984)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

QUICK TIP: How To Avoid Sinning Often

2012-11-26T00:02:00.001+01:00

What is sin? Primarily, sin is getting on God's wrong side. Doing something that offends God or the Godhead. There are many things that can offend the Godhead. Quite a lot. In fact, some of the things that offend the Godhead range from sins directly offending them stipulated in the Bible to things that are just morally wrong even to fellow human beings (not all though). And as well as sins that you do to yourself that can have long lasting wrong effects on you.

Sin is either physically noticeable or totally invisible such that nobody even knows it has happened. It can even be so bad to the extent that you the sinner do not even know that you have sinned. Sin is really a sublime thing. The sin I am most concerned about is not the sublime version, I am talking about the very easily noticeable type such as found in the 10 commandments, because these are what most people are familiar with, and strangely enough they form the basis for morality, and even stranger, God has written it into every man's heart...hahahaha...so, that technically makes all men without excuse. Many people find themselves flaunting these laws so badly.

Let me list the commandments for reference, EXODUS 20:1-17

And God spake all these words, saying,

I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

SOLUTION:
1. Get born again, and it will help you fix it. Not permanently, but you will notice the difference and great help.
2. Get filled with the Holy Spirit. He will bail you out. Not 100% because you will disobey him sometimes, that is normal regular human stubbornness, but as long as you have him, you will notice the difference and great help.
2. Build a good reputation among a handful of people such that if you break these laws or get caught you will be ruined. People who have a lot at stake rarely commit crimes that will ruin that reputation. Not 100%, but you will notice the difference and great help as well.

Good luck, the force be with thee.

IS IT WRONG TO FLY IN MY DREAMS?

2012-11-23T09:13:00.001+01:00

Dreams. Powerful experience. You are entering the mysterious and fascinating world of dreams, where the rules of reality do not apply. First of all, it's just a dream, so how could it be right or wrong. What is the world turning into?! You bring morality into dreams too? Jeez, totally absurd. Soon enough people would start judging you for having premarital sex in your dream and tell you how sinful you are. That is totally sick. Nonetheless, I know a few people are out there whose logical receptors do malfunction at certain topics such as this one, so this post is for them, and for you who are curious enough to have found yourself here to read. I realize that dreams are unique; no other individual can have your personal background, your emotions, or your experiences. Thus, your own dreams can only be connected to your own "reality". With this in mind, it is important to draw from your personal life and experiences when interpreting a dream. You will gain a better understanding and discovery of your true self. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. I am not going to delve into any particular specific, as I am not going to give an anatomy of dreams. There is no such thing as an anatomy of dreams, it is too subjective to be turned into a science. It is more of a psychology and spirituality.

Take a look at Ecclesiastes 5:3

New International Version (©1984)
As a dream comes when there are many cares, ...

New Living Translation (©2007)
Too much activity gives you restless dreams; ...

English Standard Version (©2001)
For a dream comes with much business,...

Dreams are generally the effect of the business in which we have been engaged during the day; this does not mean that dreams cannot come from other sources. Dreams can come from God in the form of night visions, or from the devil. What is important in a dream is your ability to conquer. If you are not victorious in any dream you have, then that is when we have problem. There is no dream in which your defeat means victory. If your dream is from God, victory is God's plan for you, it is the essence of the gospel. You also have to weigh your dreams in the light of Scripture, does it glorify the works of salvation in your life or does it make the works of Christ of no effect?

Let's talk about a very contentious type of dream, flying. In African parlance, it is viewed wrongly because of the notion that witches are the ones who fly, hence flying may indicate that something is wrong with you. Perhaps for an unbeliever maybe, but for a practicing Christian it isn't a bad thing. In your dream did you fly by choice or by a freak stroke of luck, were you in control or were you afraid? Were you chasing after something trying to elude you and you had to fly to catch-up with it? Where you in danger and you had to escape from it by flying? It is important to determine the circumstances behind it. We have several instances of prophets in the Bible who were in a flying experience in dreams and visions.

Flying dreams fall under a category of dreams known as lucid dreams. Lucid dreams occur when you become aware that you are dreaming and you are able to control the dream settings to a large extent. Many Christians describe the ability to fly in their dreams as an exhilarating, joyful, and liberating experience. If you are flying with ease and are enjoying the scene and landscape below, then it suggests that you are on top of a situation. You have risen above something. It may also mean that you have gained a new and different perspective on things. Flying dreams and the ability to control your flight is representative of your own personal sense of power. For example, I have had gruesome creatures and even human-like creatures come after me in dreams, and I had to just take off. Sometimes, they upgrade and fly up to catch-up with me, and I had to fly even higher beyond their ability, far above all principalities and powers.

Having difficulties staying in flight indicates a lack of power in controlling your own circumstances. You may be struggling to stay aloft or stay on set course. Things like power lines, trees, or mountains may be obstacles that you encounter in flight. These obstacles symbolize something or someone who is standing in your way in your waking life. You need to identify what or who is trying to prevent you from moving forward. This does not mean you go and challenge them in real life for getting in your way, absolutely no. Difficulty flying may also be an indication of a lack of confidence or some hesitation on your part. You need to believe in yourself and not be afraid. Take hold of the gospel, take hold of Christ, take hold of the anointed one and his anointing.

If you are feeling fear when you are flying or that you are flying too high, then it suggests that you are afraid of challenges and of success. Perhaps you are not ready to take the next step. In reality, we cannot really fly, of course. Thus, such dreams can be representative of things that are beyond your physical limitations. In your mind, you can be anybody and do anything. Philippians 4:13 (I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me). Another way of interpreting flying dreams is that these dreams symbolize your strong mind and will. You feel undefeatable and that nobody can tell you what you cannot do and accomplish.

Personally, I recommend that every Christian should come to a point where they can re-dream any dream in which they were not victorious. I do this a lot. I have a peculiar sleeping habit. I am aware that my mind consists of both conscious and sub-conscious. I am aware that the conscious mind is powerful but limited as well. I am aware that the sub-conscious is usually untapped, and that many of the forgotten things reside there and subtly form the underpinning of our belief system and even power system in times of adversity or spiritual attack.

So, I make it a point of duty to feed my sub-conscious by sleeping at night with:

1. A message of the gospel playing all night, I vary the volume depending on my mood as at the time I am about to sleep. I have select play-set of faith, priesthood, glossa lalia (speaking in tongues), healing, deliverance, amongst others.

2. I play a gospel worship song ( I am not talking about trash gospel songs without meaning). I am talking about soul-reviving, spirit lifting and revelational gospel worship songs extolling the virtues of the Holy Spirit, of God, of the blood of ransom, of grace and mercy and power, of the defeat of Satan and the coghorts of hell).

This is how you feed your spirit who doesn't sleep, this is how I mastered my dreams. This is how I know spiritual realities, feeding on the word. This is what The Lord and Master, Jesus Christ would have you do.

Luke 10:42, There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her." THE WORD.

ADAM WAS NOT THE FIRST MAN...SERIOUSLY?

2012-11-18T22:59:00.001+01:00

In my residence today, I decided to play a little prank on the fair beautiful maidens at the restaurant. I was talking about something I really do not remember right now, but it was along religious lines. So, I said, "Girls, I will make 2 statements that you will think is false from the scriptures. In fact I will make three. No, I think I should say four. I will say four statements that are true but that you don't know are true, and you will almost hate me." And they were quite excited, and gave me a go ahead.

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WARNING:
There are issues of scripture that DO NOT have direct correlation on your salvation. I mean your ignorance of it does not make you any less saved. Your knowledge of it does not make you any more holier. You do not need to know the Bible A-Z to be saved, all you need is John 3:16, finito. Everything else is juggling of spiritual muscles and Biblical show-off, like I am about to do. Gerrit? Cool.
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So, I said to the young pretty maidens:

1. Jesus was a sinner (the Bible even said worse than that, it said Jesus became sin).
2. Adam was not the first man (my topic of today's exegesis).
3. Refusal to pay tithe is not a sin (I have treated this in this blog before)
4. Masturbation is not a sin (I have treated this in this blog as well).

As I mentioned the first statement, they went like wTf!!! By the time I released the second one, they were like I am the antichrist! The third one and they went like "You freak! You asshole!" And by the time I said the last statement, they were 101% convinced I was Satan's younger cousin. Funny. Anyway, I did have fun priming them that way. Shake up their belief system and take them back to the drawing board.

It's amazing the mass ignorance of the Holy Bible containing God's Word and the treasures hidden within them, and at the same time the mass mis-education and assumptions of vitally 90% of Christians. How dare you be a Christian and not know your Bible's hard facts! We would rather watch stupid videos on YouTube, high-powered immoral musical videos, and trash magazines and gossip columns, and even worst, half-baked uneducated preachers with non-cooked off-tangent grayscaled gospels. When you put take a look at scriptures, and read one section and read another section, and cut and paste related sections out like an FBI investigation board, and you connect the strings, and stand back and look at it all, you will SEE CLEARLY the same thing many of us have seen. The scale will fall off your eyes.

Many people have become agnostics because of the supposed conflict between the Bible and science. In truth, there is no conflict at all between a correct translation of the Bible and really proven science, not just unproved theories. One of these supposed conflicts is between the fact that science knows that human beings have lived on the earth far longer than the few thousand years covered by the Bible, and the common belief that the Bible says that Adam was the first man. But the truth is that the Bible nowhere says that Adam was the first man. Yes, I know that most of the preachers say that, but the Bible doesn't. Let's look at the record.

The many mis-translations in the King James version obscure much of the truth. For example"

Genesis 1:1-2 "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep."

In the Hebrew, it says, "Now the earth HAD BECOME chaotic and empty." (See Rotherham's Emphasized Bible). That is, some early catastrophe had wrecked the earth, which was not "without form and void" before that. This was a judgment of God on earlier civilizations for their wickedness.

Jeremiah 4:23-27 gives a vision of it:
"I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void, and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, "The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end."

Therefore we do find buried ruins of cities older than Adam and skeletons which can be dated by the carbon 14 process as many thousands of years older. But the Bible itself tells us about this. Next the Bible tells of the creation of men in the plural. In Genesis 1:26-28 is says "Male and female created He THEM" and God told these people "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth" (1:28). "Plenish" is an obsolete English word meaning "to fill" and you cannot RE-plenish what was never plenished, or filled before.

The 4th chapter of Genesis records the birth of Cain and Abel. In the Hebrew the wording suggests that they were twins. No other child of Eve is mentioned until the birth of Seth when Adam was 130 years old--certainly long after the birth of Cain and Abel which most scholars say was over 100 years earlier. Yet when Cain killed Abel, and in punishment was driven out of the land he complained to God that "any one that findeth me shall slay me." (4:14).

Whenever someone tells you the Bible is in conflict with what modern science has proven true, don't you believe it. The things many preachers teach are in conflict with scientific truth, as we all know, but these preachers are equally in conflict with the Bible. Go back to the Bible, not to any man made doctrines and double-check it for accuracy of translation. You will find what the Bible really says, in its original languages, is accurate with a precision our scientists have not yet achieved. I REST THIS CASE FOR NOW (I feel sleepy).

A FEW THOUGHTS ON MARRIAGE AND WEALTHY PREACHERS

2012-11-17T17:40:00.000+01:00

This world is deranged, crazy and insane all at once. I blame the educational system of many countries. I blame the poverty, unemployment and corruption of many governments. And most of all, I blame the half-baked churches and their half-baked gospels. Let me give you this breakdown, and I pray to God you follow, in case you are dumb-dumber enough to not comprehend. Okay, maybe that was a little too expensive, I mean, who uses swear words in a blog? Nobody does that. Sometimes I really don't give a crap if this blog is supposed to be religious and morally upright. You wrong brother! I am gonna just paint it as it is, if that is what it will take to get the message across.

Several problems need to be addressed in this blog. The problem of failed marriages, the problem of bias towards preachers who are wealthy, the problem of educated spiritual illiteracy, and I am going to stop right there.

First is the problem of failed and failing marriages.

Did you know, that by yourself, you were a 80:20 ratio of being an illiterate and uneducated nice young person? Where 80 percent is your actual chance of being uneducated and illiterate, and the 20% your chances of at least almost making a basic education. You are educated today and reading this blog and have that degree of yours mostly because SOMEONE knew the right thing to do for you. SOMEONE took it upon HIMSELF/HERSELF to school you. All by yourself you stood no chance. By yourself you would have not made basic school. by the time you will realize that you are supposed to, you would have been in your late teenage years, and thereby slimming your chances because at that point you will be thinking of basic survival techniques such as food, shelter and then you will probably have a baby momma waiting on your neck. So education just wouldn't cut it for you. But SOMEONE took the pain to force you to school. Someone took the effort to discipline you to stay in school. By high school you felt it was too tough and would rather quit. The teachers and principals were just too harsh, and trigonometry and physics just wasn't your thing, and you hate numbers. Who does that, hating numbers. Then one day, this mystery person who happens to be your parent or guardian, let you be, and you were on auto-cruise. Glad to have an education. Now you could pull through on your own, and you can't imagine not to have an education. You even went further to get a masters degree and seriously now contemplating a doctorate. What a journey.

If it took so much effort to school you in conventional education before you could succeed, how can you expect to do well in marriage in which there is no known official curriculum for success? The percentage of people whose marriages are a blossoming success is too meager compared to those in marital traumas. Marriage was instituted by God, and only him has the blueprint for its success. And to know God's mind on marriage you have to go to church. No, that even came out wrong. You don't need church to know how to succeed in marriage. What you need is the Word of God and revelations from it, and unfortunately, the primary vendor of the Word of God is the church. So you need to go to church to learn about how to succeed in marriage. Pheeew! Now that came out better.

The next issue on my heart is the negative attitude people have against preachers who are wealthy. For the sake of this blog, I am going to stay with Nigeria as an example. You can read about it HERE.

There wealth is not their problem. Jesus promised them that a long time ago.
Mark 10:29:
"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life."

Your current persecution and bias against these wealthy preachers was also promised to them by Jesus! And it doesn't end there, they will get eternal life also. In fact this eternal life isn't just the eternal life in heaven, but in other upcoming ages. Oh you mean you didn't know? There will be other dispensations, it all doesn't end on earth, or heaven, there are still other ages to come. So, like the Americans say, "Stop being so bitchy about it," and if it hurts you that much to see these preachers living life affluently, like the popular proverb says, "if you can't beat them, join them.". Go be a preacher as well.

THE CREATION OF MAN | LIVING SOUL

2012-11-17T12:24:00.001+01:00

When God first created man He formed him of dust from the ground, and then breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. As soon as the breath of life, which became man's spirit, came into contact with man's body, the soul was produced. Hence the soul is the combination of man's body and spirit.

And Jehovah God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen. 2.7 ASV).

The Scriptures therefore call man a living soul. The breath of life became man's spirit; that is, the principle of life within him. The Lord Jesus tells us it is the spirit that gives life (John 6.63). This breath of life comes from the Lord of Creation. However, we must not confuse man's spirit with God's Holy Spirit. The latter differs from our human spirit. Romans 8.16 demonstrates their difference by declaring that it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. The original of the word life in breath of life is chay and is in the plural. This may refer to the fact that the in-breathing of God produced a twofold life, soulical and spiritual. When the in-breathing of God entered man's body it became the spirit of man; but when the spirit reacted with the body the soul was produced. This explains the source of our spiritual and soulical lives. We must recognize, though, that this spirit is not God's Own life, for the breath of the Almighty gives me life (Job 33.4). It is not the entrance of the uncreated life of God into man, neither is it that life of God, which we receive at regeneration. What we receive at new birth is God's Own life as typified by the tree of life. But our human spirit, though permanently existing, is void of eternal life.

"Formed man of dust from the ground" refers to man's body; "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life" refers to man's spirit as it came from God; and "man became a living soul" refers to man's soul when the body was quickened by the spirit and brought into being a living and self-conscious man. A complete man is a trinity the composite of spirit, soul and body. According to Genesis 2.7, man was made up of only two independent elements, the corporeal and the spiritual; but when God placed the spirit within the casing of the earth, the soul was produced. The spirit of man touching the dead body produced the soul. The body apart from the spirit was dead, but with the spirit man was made alive. The organ thus animated was called the soul.

Man became a living soul expresses not merely the fact that the combination of spirit and body produced the soul; it also suggests that spirit and body were completely merged in this soul. In other words, soul and body were combined with the spirit, and spirit and body were merged in the soul. Adam in his unfallen state knew nothing of these ceaseless strivings of spirit and flesh which are matters of daily experience to us. There was a perfect blending of his three natures into one and the soul as the uniting medium became the cause of his individuality, of his existence as a distinct being. Man was designated a living soul, for it was there that the spirit and body met and through which his individuality was known. Perhaps we may use an imperfect illustration: drop some dye into a cup of water. The dye and water will blend into a third substance called ink. In like manner the two independent elements of spirit and body combine to become living soul. (The analogy fails in that the soul produced by the combining of spirit and body becomes an independent, indissoluble element as much as the spirit and body.)

God treated man's soul as something unique. As the angels were created as spirits, so man was created predominantly as a living soul. Man not only had a body, a body with the breath of life; he became a living soul as well. Thus we find later in the Scriptures that God often referred to men as souls. Why? Because what the man is depends on how his soul is. His soul represents him and expresses his individuality. It is the organ of man's free will, the organ in which spirit and body are completely merged. If man's soul wills to obey God, it will allow the spirit to rule over the man as ordered by God. The soul, if it chooses, also can suppress the spirit and take some other delight as lord of the man. This trinity of spirit, soul and body may be partially illustrated by a light bulb. Within the bulb, which can represent the total man, there are electricity, light and wire. The spirit is like the electricity, the soul the light, and body the wire. Electricity is the cause of the light while light is the effect of electricity. Wire is the material substance for carrying the electricity as well as for manifesting the light. The combination of spirit and body produces soul, that which is unique to man. As electricity, carried by the wire, is expressed in light, so spirit acts upon the soul and the soul, in turn, expresses itself through the body.

However, we must remember well that whereas the soul is the meeting-point of the elements of our being in this present life, the spirit will be the ruling power in our resurrection state. For the Bible tells us that it is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body (I Cor. 15.44). Yet here is a vital point: we who have been joined to the resurrected Lord can even now have our spirit rule over the whole being. We are not united to the first Adam who was made a living soul but to the last Adam who is a life-giving spirit (v.45).

GENERAL REVELATION AND SPECIAL REVELATION | GNOSIS AND EPIGNOSIS

2012-11-17T01:12:00.000+01:00

In the past couple of days I have been in discussion with a few friends over a very common disputed subject. It was more of an argument rather than a discussion I must admit. One thing was constant, none of my co-arguers could establish a proper scriptural quote without quoting wrong and out of context, and yet vehemently insisted they were right. Every item I put up in defence were direct quote of scriptures. We therefore argued, and I was clearly wasting my own time. But I kept at it because the online community is a repository and archive of valuable information for future generations, this was my motivation for the continued argument on my part because I was thinking of the future breeds who will need the information. If you are interested on reading that story, click HERE.

One thing was very clear though, it was the contention between gnosis and epignosis.
GNOSIS means knowledge of spiritual matters; mystical knowledge.
EPIGNOSIS means precise and correct knowledge.

Apparently, my contenders possessed general revelation and knowledge. This is called gnosis. And by the way, gnosis is a Greek word. We find it in the Bible. General revelation is the knowledge of God, as well as the knowledge of right and wrong, that can be obtained through nature. This general revelation of God’s existence and basic morality is known by everyone. First of all, the apostle Paul tells us that the people can obtain knowledge of God in creation.

Knowledge of God, Rom. 1:18-20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

Paul goes on to tell us that there is a natural order of morality written on the hearts of all people.

Knowledge of Morality, Rom. 2:14-15, “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.”

This morality, however, is obscured by people's natural sinfulness and the cultures in which they are raised. So, though the basics of proper morality are written on the hearts of everyone, people's different situations, culture, upbringing, etc., obscure proper moral understanding.

The Bible tells us that non-Christians have sufficient knowledge of God as well as knowledge of right and wrong, but that they are suppressing the truth of this knowledge in their own unrighteousness. Therefore, all people are without excuse before God since the Scriptures tell us that the knowledge g special of God and the knowledge of sufficient moral responsibility can be seen in creation as well as known in the heart.

Epignosis on the other hand being special revelation, and more accurately precise and correct knowledge is higher and requires intimate participation with the truth. General revelation does not provide sufficient information for the gospel message. The gospel, which is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, is found in the Bible. So, where general revelation deals with the existence of God and generic morality, special revelation, the Bible, and the person of Christ, give specifics regarding sin, salvation, heaven, hell, the nature of God, the Trinity, the incarnation, death, the Fall, redemption, etc.

The sweetest thing is that this special revelation or epignosis is the highest kind of knowledge. Let me break it down like this:

When you receive Christ into your life and the Holy Spirit takes up His abode in you, you're brought into a new kind of knowledge, which has nothing to do with your intellect. The revelation knowledge of God's Word unveiled to you. Things the human mind can't easily perceive, for instance, the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus are unveiled to your spirit. The Greek word for this kind of knowledge is "ginosko"; it's revelation knowledge. It is the same way that you can comprehend that Jesus was a sinner at one point in his life, and that much later at another point he even became sin itself. This same advanced knowledge also lets you comprehend that masturbation is not a sin, because epignosis let's you know precisely, correctly and accurately what SIN is in God's vocabulary. This is clearly shown when you read this lines of scripture:

"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence." 1 Corinthians 1:25-29 (KJV).

After that, you're brought into awareness, a different kind of knowledge that shows you all the wonderful blessings God has deposited in your life. It's like when you enter a dark room and the lights are turned on, you become aware of all the things in the room. This is another form of revelation which in Greek is called "aido" knowledge. It means knowledge with awareness.

It is not enough, however, to be merely aware of all the wonderful blessings God has bestowed on you. You have to start enjoying or living in those blessings! You have to participate in your awareness. This is where another kind of knowledge, which in Greek is called "epignosis" comes into play. "Epignosis" is knowledge with participation; it's revelation knowledge that comes to you full through your participation in that knowledge. Through "epignosis" you understand how to apply the knowledge you have received, and the power behind that revelation. It's the highest kind of revelation knowledge, and it comes to you through meditation.

Functioning with "epignosis" will bring you to the realm where you operate in the fullness of God, and that's the will of God for you: "...that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). No wonder the Apostle Paul prayed in Colossians 1:9 for God's children to be initiated into this kind of knowledge: "For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge (epignosis) of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;"

When you have this kind of experience with God, earthly things will fade. You will begin to see clearly the heart of God. You will understand why God will keep quiet about such a presumably big deal issue such as masturbation, when he could have specifically dealt with it like he dealt with fornication and adultery expressly, and forbidding it. But the great God of glory chose to ignore it because it is not an issue enough. At this level of relationship with God, you live in glory, you live in righteousness and because they that look at the sun do not see the shadows, you will be king and priest in God's business, conquering the world and depopulating hell.

Spirit | Soul | Body = YOU

2012-11-16T07:41:00.000+01:00

The ordinary concept of the constitution of human beings is dualistic-soul and body. According to this concept soul is the invisible inner spiritual part, while body is the visible outer corporal part. Though there is some truth to this, it is nevertheless inaccurate. Such an opinion comes from fallen man, not from God; apart from God's revelation, no concept is dependable. That the body is man's outward sheath is undoubtedly correct, but the Bible never confuses spirit and soul as though they are the same. Not only are they different in terms; their very natures differ from each other. The Word of God does not divide man into the two parts of soul and body. It treats man, rather, as tripartite-spirit, soul and body. I Thessalonians 5.23 reads: "May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." This verse precisely shows that the whole man is divided into three parts. The Apostle Paul refers here to the complete sanctification of believers, "sanctify you wholly. "According to the Apostle, how is a person wholly sanctified? By his spirit and soul and body being kept. From this we can easily understand that the whole person comprises these three parts. This verse also makes a distinction between spirit and soul; otherwise, Paul would have said simply "your soul." Since God has distinguished the human spirit from the human soul, we conclude that man is composed of not two, but three, parts; spirit, soul and body.

Is it a matter of any consequence to divide spirit and soul? It is an issue of supreme importance for it affects tremendously the spiritual life of a believer. How can a believer understand spiritual life if he does not know what is the extent of the realm of the spirit? Without such understanding how can he grow spiritually? To fail to distinguish between spirit and soul is fatal to spiritual maturity. Christians often account what is soulical. as spiritual, and thus they remain in a soulish state and seek not what is really spiritual. How can we escape loss if we confuse what God has divided?

Spiritual knowledge is very important to spiritual life. Let us add, however, that it is equally as, if not more, important for a believer to be humble and willing to accept the teaching of the Holy Spirit. If so, the Holy Spirit will grant him the experience of the dividing of spirit and soul, although he may not have too much knowledge concerning this truth. On the one hand, the most ignorant believer, without the slightest idea of the division of spirit and soul, may yet experience such a dividing in real life. On the other hand, the most informed believer, completely conversant with the truth concerning spirit and soul, may nonetheless have no experience of it. Far better is that person who may have both the knowledge and the experience. The majority, however, lack such experience. Consequently, it is well initially to lead these to know the different functions of spirit and soul and then to encourage them to seek what is spiritual.

Other portions of the Scriptures make this same differentiation between spirit and soul. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb. 4.12). The writer in this verse divides man's non-corporal elements into two parts, 11 soul and spirit. The corporal part is mentioned here as including the joints and marrow organs of motion and sensation. When the priest uses the sword to cut and completely dissect the sacrifice, nothing inside can be hidden. Even joint and marrow are separated. In like manner the Lord Jesus uses the Word of God on His people to separate thoroughly, to pierce even to the division of the spiritual, the soulical, and the physical. And from this it follows that since soul and spirit can be divided, they must be different in nature. It is thus evident here that man is a composite of three parts.

AGE OLD CONTROVERSY || MASTURBATION IS NOT A SIN

2012-11-14T08:41:00.000+01:00

Growing up I was opportune to hear a lot trash, a lot of beliefs and mediocrity. I do remember that I believed them, but for education I would have been a thoughtless spineless dude. Growing up and having my formative experiences were quite confusing, I encountered a lot of disappointment in people's characters, people I looked up to. But I also vividly remember not judging them for it. Whatever the reason, I found myself not doing that, I just observed.

Weaved into our faith system is a gross mis-education, from money to sex. These two have been core of controversy, and I wonder why. Is it because we want them so bad and they form the underpinning of our humanity? Whatever it, I share this truth today, and I stand by it vehemently after thorough studies in the holy scriptures, references, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of grace and faith, the concept of sin and the nature of divinity, that MASTURBATION IS NOT A SIN.

I was at work one day when I heard that a popular minister of the gospel, an international church made such a declaration. My first reaction? I wasn't surprised, just a side smile of mischief. This same minister of the gospel is renowned to have made some other controversial statements in the past. I spare you the details of his name. He declared in an internet video stream in response to questions that masturbation is not a sin. So, I decided to hear his point of view for myself. So I watched the video and listened to his exegesis. People simply quoted the man of God out of context. He is a teacher of the gospel, he simply taught it and laid it out bare.

Mathematically speaking, the average on the street guy or neighbour barely passed out of school. Still mathematically speaking, a quantum number of them barely had excellent grades in college, and had multiple sittings to qualify to make it into higher institution. Worse still, higher institution is full of many who make you wonder how the hell they got admitted in the first place. Use of English as a subject with special emphasis on comprehension and summary, lexis and structure, including essay writing were a nightmare for many of today's average on the street guy or neighbour. How can a man who can barely understand these things I mentioned above be a subject matter expert at spiritual verities? The realm of the spirit is far more advanced intellectually than ours. Whatever knowledge we have in science on this planet is not so much as beginning to be a scratch of the intellectualism in the spirit realm. If we suck so badly at the scratch levels, how far worse can it get? And let me make this clear, there are people who will argue that knowledge of God is revelational or inspirational, meaning you just know it. I stick my tongue out at you. That is not true. The spirit-world has an educational system, the reason for revelation and inspiration is because we are in a less parallel world.

...this is what i gathered after listening to the same video as a fellow teacher of the gospel:
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1. Masturbation is NOT a sin

2. But it can lead to SIN where it generates:
a. lasciviousness, a sin
b. uncleanness, a sin

Masturbation involves sexual pleasure similar to other human activities that brings pleasure, such as:

NOTE 1: Eating is not just necessary for life it is also an habit, BUT can lead to sin known as GLUTTONY.

NOTE 2: Drinking is not just necessary for life it is also an habit, BUT can lead to sin known as DRUNKENNESS.

NOTE 3: Sex is not just necessary for life it is also an habit, BUT can lead to sins known as FORNICATION, ADULTERY.

3. It is a habit like any other bad habit that can be stopped by replacing it with another habit but a good one, such as NOT masturbating

4. SINS are categorized as:
a. Sin against God
i) Sin that can lead to death
ii) Sin that cannot lead to death

b. Sin against man
i) Pardonable
ii)Unpardonable

c. Sin against yourself/body
i) It's all entirely up to you

You don't need to bother with God about if the sin is pardonable or not, Divinity has no problem with that, but men do.

5. Satan's main purpose is to lead you to hell. And he will do that with anything even the hair of your eyebrow, he can use it to strangulate you.

Finally, the battle for your life is fought NOW in your heart,
1 John 3:18-21 - "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him."

In conclusion, weigh your conscience and by all means LIVE RIGHT with God. If you have to stop it, #STOP IT! And His grace is available to destroy anything in your life He has not planted. If you find yourself compelled to want to stop, perhaps it does a thing or two to your mind and your righteousness consciousness is waning, and all round affects your whole being relationship with Divinity, i

t's tough; it takes a lot of will power, and the very God who you serve is ready to help any of his children overcome anything they are not comfortable with. But I put it to you again, masturbation is not a sin.

The Master Strategist

2012-11-13T23:18:00.000+01:00

Christianity is beautiful thing. It is a life that we didn't plan for. Someone did. Just like we did not plan to live with the people we call family today. It was the accident of birth. Now I cannot tell precisely if it was a real accident, where accident is something we didn't plan for but happened. Or if someone actually planned that you should be in that family you belong to today. Even more than that is the country and continent that we belong to. But someone did know. He is God. He is the master strategist. He has your life's blueprint. Where you were supposed to be born, to whom, how you were supposed to grow up, and perhaps die as a little kid (now am uncertain about that, and I cannot speak authoritatively on that subject) but I do know that all things play into a big plan shaping either our lives or the lives of others, forming ideas and principles for living in some of us, and even for others creating the fabric for their life's future empathy and the results that will follow. Nothing on earth is an accident.

In every movie there is a plot. In every movie there is a prevailing theme. In every movie there is a protagonist, antagonist, villains, victims, passersby, and life is like a movie in a movie where every person's life's plot weaves into another person's life as a major player, minor role, or even as a passersby. Whatever the script of your life is, know one thing, there is a master strategist who knows how to make good endings. Your life doesn't have to start with a mess, lived in confusion and end in a tragedy. God has plans for you. Good plans. But like every actor in every movie has a choice to follow the director's instructions and be a big famous celebrity and star, you have choices to make that can make you into God's celebrity and star.

Love God. Adore him. Respect him. Worship him. And you will see, witness and experience firsthand his immense addictive and refreshing effect in your life 3D and in true color. He wants to make something beautiful out of your life. No artist wakes us to make trash. You are not trash. You are worth so much more to the Master Strategist. The one in whom there is no variableness, and neither shadow of turning. The one who holds the whole universe and its God particles in his very hand. The owner of all knowledge and maker of science. He wants to brag with you and show you as evidence of his victory, hold you up as his trophy.

Let him make something with you. Submit to his will.

PRAYER THAT WORKS

2012-11-13T06:26:00.000+01:00

The fellowship of prayer is an awesome experience for those who have trained themselves to plunge into it hungrily. For others it is a very harrowing and dry experience, and yet much is expected, and many have a wiki-load of unanswered prayers. But they never stop praying. They still hope that God will somehow still answer. A sort of gamble. But prayer is not supposed to be like that. Prayer is not a gamble. Prayer is definite. Prayer is specific. Prayers are intended to be answered. Prayer is like a light switch. You press it, you should get results. Every time Jesus prayed he got results. He prayed the right way. His prayer works. If our prayers don't work, then it's possible that we are doing it all wrong.

What do we need to do to get answered prayers. The answers are quite simple. The answer is given to us by God himself, the very person who answers prayers. According to him, our prayers must:

1. Be according to his will. Remember that famous scripture in 1 John 5:14? If we pray according to his will thingy. It's true. Pray out of his will and you are on your own. Relax, it is not an authoritarian will, and he is not some evil maniacal white haired autocrat as you imagined. Whatever it is you are praying for just go through the Bible and see if there is any provision in there for you to have it, 99% of the time it is always there, so you are in luck.

2. Our prayer must be heartfelt. This means that you gotta totally be desirous of what you are praying about to have it. Remember another famous scripture James 5:16? The effecetive fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The amplified translation puts it as The effective fervent heartfelt continued prayer of a righteous man availeth much, tremendous in its working.

I feel like I am quoting this improperly. Compare my re-quote with the actual stuff which says The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

I literally cannot finish explaining that. If you read it well and paint the picture correctly, your prayer that is heartfelt and continued, meaning you don't give up on your request, it says it works like an Ahmadinejad (Iranian president who wants to kill the rest of us Christians) nuclear bomb. Do you know what a dynamo is? It is energy that continues to reproduce itself and is self-sustaining. That is what your prayer does. Tell me why you won't get an answer. You will!

3. Our prayers must be specific and must not conflict with certain immutable principles. How badly do I need to stress this? Remember Elijah? That dude stuck to his one singular payer point till he got results. It can be a little tricky though. Bottomline is, don't ask for a black coloured CRV today and tomorrow you say it should be carbon green. No. Don't appear unserious to the spirit beings (angels) who are going to be working their asses off trying to make your request translate into physical stuff in the human world with all its dynamic complications and bottlenecks. You see, if what you are praying about is something 100% absolutely within your sphere of control, then stop praying and go do it. If it's something that has terrible consequences like trying to deactivate a bomb, ok, well, that is scary stuff, but you need to go in faith after taking into considerations safety measures. Sweet Jesus, it involves you alone, you will go and come back in one piece. Now if it goes kaboom, sorry, well it's no loss afterall because you will be in heaven anyways looking down on the rest of us and hoping we make it too.

Jokes apart. What that means is that, if your request will involve the changing of the minds of several people and sets of actions and processes need to be taken, your result may be a little delayed, that is the idea of the continued prayer and the dynamo effect. And you need to go table your requests again before those people, don't wait for the extra miracle of them bringing up the subject again and favouring you. Go again, and table it. See if their minds have changed. If it hasn't, go pray again, wait some more time and go bug the hell out of them. Jesus said about the judge that didn't fear God nor regard man that he got tired of the widow woman pestering him and he had to grant her what she requested (Luke 18:2-6).

If it affects nature, such as the solar sun standing still, you need a very good reason to alter the cosmic laws, so you need to really continue that prayer, because you are trying to change an immutable law of earth's revolution and rotation. That isn't exactly specific, it looks like a single specific thing, but many things will be altered. Except you want to plague the antichrist like Moses did Pharoah, I don't think you should making that kind of prayer request. I for one aren't going to that. I mean, I'll probably die disappointed. There is just no justification for it. There is a classic one I have seen. Here is an open sky convention or crusade coming up, and it's holding right in the middle of the raining seasons, and here you are asking the good Lord to not let it rain. I have seen people who got away with it, but most of the time we rarely do get away with it. Some farmers do need that rain. I have been wet more times in a three piece suit on crusade grounds and almost angry at God for not answering my prayer. Rain beating you and your 5,000+ strong crusade attendees isn't entirely a bad thing. If you are so concerned about that, perhaps you should also consider using an indoor venue, or at worst if you must hold it outside do a mass production of cheap rain coat and sell and make some revenue doing that. We really need to wise up sometimes. So, bro, don't go fighting one of God's immutable principles all in the name of prayer. I cannot guarantee you results. But if you do get results, I will be glad to hear and rejoice in your testimony.

4. Our prayers will always be answered by him. There is no doubt about this. God answers prayers.

NOT PAYING YOUR TITHE IS NOT A SIN

2012-11-12T17:16:00.002+01:00

Heresy! Heresy!! Calm down. It is not an heresy. An heresy is not something you disagree with. You don't label something you disagree with as an heresy. You just have a differing opinion. Heresy by definition depends on what field of truths you are coming from. There are issues deemed heresy in Christianity and in Islam, amongst others, to name just those two. By definition heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs. I have no such intentions to question the meaning of established beliefs, or customs because that in itself is a long topic.

What I concern myself with is the idea that not paying ones tithe is a sin. No, it is not. It never has been. And it is not an heresy either. The list of heresies in Christendom are adoptionism, Apollinarism, Arianism, Docetism, Luciferianism, Macedonians or Pneumatomachians, Melchisedechians, Monarchianism, Monophysitism or Eutychianism, Monothelitism, Nestorianism, Patripassianism, Psilanthropism; Sabellianism, etc. There is quite a long list of them. If you are curious you can read them here. I have listed these items, it does not mean I listed them because I disagree with them or that I agree with them. The reason for all the confusion today is because some folks just won't go read the holy writ for themselves. They lazily prefer to listen to someone who has read it. I must tell you, listening to someone isn't just enough. You need to be able to listen and search your own thoughts. You need to be able to test, taste and see the truth for yourself. truth is like a great light. Well, I think that last construction is even wrong and misleading. Truth is a light. That is an equally misleading last statement as well. I totally need to say this rightly. TRUTH IS LIGHT.

And before I shed more light on why not paying your tithe is not going to take you to hell, and why it is not a sin, let me shed some lights on what light is. And by the way, don't get me wrong, I pay my tithe, okay? I do. I pay my tithe. I do it because I am convinced it is right to do so. I do it because it has great benefits. Benefits I have experienced firsthand. I fail a few times in payment, but I don't kill myself about it. I still pay the next one. I don't make any attempt to strangulate myself or allow the devil use it to strangulate me if I do not pay. What most practicing believers in Christ have done is to make a religion out of it and stab themselves with many unnecessary wounds when they fail. So, back to light.

Light is first of many categories, visible and non-visible. Visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. I am able to write this blog because light helped me. I can't do that without light. Light is the first step in enablement, to do anything. You are able to read this because there is light. Then there are other light types, the non-visible, such as infra-red, gamma, x-ray, and even the human body is a light source, just that it is not visible to the optical eyes. There are lights that can travel very far, there are those that cannot. There are lights that burn and can hurt, there are those that do not. There are lights that recognize barriers and there are those that pass through barriers. There are lights with origins and sources, and there are those without origin or sources. THE WORD OF GOD is a type of light. Light describes. Light gives shape, meaning and definition to things. The Word of God gives shape, meaning and definition to anything. Even more, the this particular light type, the Word of God can give substance to anything from material to immaterial things.

Now, we need the Word of God to give light to TITHE.

This is what the Bible says about tithe.

Malachi 3:7-12 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

This scripture has absolutely nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now don't get me wrong, and don't mis-read and mis-interprete what I just said. The gospel of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with tithes. But tithe is a good practice. And if you do not tithe, you will not go to hell. I have heard people, I have read people, and I have seen people who say you will go to hell if you do not tithe. In fact I have read and seen a video of someone who said she saw people in hell fire who were there because they did not tithe. No. Not true. According to the Holy Bible which contains the Word of God, which is light, below is the basic rule of tithing.

1. Tithe has a pre-testament origin. This means it was not institutionalized as an old testament practice, it came before the old testament. It started with Abraham paying tithe to a mysterious personality called King of Salem by name Melchisedec. (Genesis 14:18-20And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.)

Hebrews 7:4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

This is however where we make the mistake. The Bible never said Abraham has had this practice before this day, neither did it say Abraham gave it as an institutionalized act of giving called tithe. Abraham actually gave it free-willed and cheerfully! The equivalent of this in the new testament for this practice is

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly,or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

What Abraham did was called cheerful giving. It is that simple. It has no repercussion on eternal salvation or damnation any more than giving or not giving alms will take you to hell or not.

2. Tithe is practiced in the old testament as a law. And the law is practiced by the Jews. If you are not a Jew or an Hebrew person, you have no business with the law, any more than you have any business practicing Aztec or Inca or some deep native African village's ritual practice! It is none of your business. You don't have any obligation to do it. In fact I am reminded of a story in the Bible, it was a rape. And the family of the victim could not punish the violator and his family because they were not Jewish people. In other to take their blood-thirsty revenge on the rapist and his family, the Jewish girl's family deceived the non-Jewish people into circumcision, and right after that they applied Jewish justice of rape on the non-Jewish guys and basically slaughtered them off...yikes! (Genesis 34:1-27). So, if you really want to live with tithing law, go and convert to a Jew. If you are not, you are basically doing the wrong thing, practicing Nigerian legal system in the United States of America, how terribly uncool and insane could that possibly be? So uncool. DO NOT FORGET though I pay my tithe. There is a reason for it. But I am establishing with you that not doing it is inconsequential on your eternal salvation.

3. There is no tithe in the new testament. Simple straight, basic, no arguments. There is no scripture in the new testament that said you should give it. Paul never said you should give it, he only mentioned it as a reference point while establishing another spiritual truth, and cross-referenced to tithe (Hebrews 7:4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.)

Sometimes, all I wanted to blog about was just a simple thought, and then it gets out of hand, and I have to go the whole 9 yards. I wasn't expecting to write and research this long. Sometimes I really do hate blogging. Jeez. Takes so much of your time, putting thoughts to paper, or in this case thoughts to blogging. Bites and chews off your official working productive time. So, basically I need to establish with you that your mind, including your spiritual mind, but mostly your regular fleshly mind has a way of going round in circles and generally get you confused, especially if you have been properly indoctrinated by a church sect. You basically end up being dumb enough to be silly. You need to free yourself from idiocity. I mean stop being an idiot for religion's sake. I must admit there are certain people I would rather have as idiots really, I mean, they just basically deserve it. But if you really want to grow in Christ, you need to start by questioning things, and then consciously ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and that you do not intend to be a rebel who is hell bound. You just want the truth. You want light. You want Him. He should fill you through and through with light. Illuminate your life with His love and fellowship. It is here that you will discover the next set of light I am about to show you. Read on.

1. How Should You Give?
a. It must be done with love.
1 Cor 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Anything you've ever done as a Christian will be burned up at the Judgment Seat of Christ, unless it was done just because you love the Lord Jesus Christ and you didn't get a reward or praise for it. See 1 Cor. 3:8-15

b. It's a "Spiritual Sacrifice"
Heb. 13:16 But to do good and to communicate (Gal. 6:6; Phil. 4:14,15) forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

You don't have to give of your means, but you should give because of what the Lord did for you.

c. You put aside what you are to give.
1 Cor. 16:1,2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

They didn't have "direct deposit" or "checking accounts" back then. What they did was put aside whatever they were to give in a certain place so when Paul came by they could bring it to the meeting place and give it to him to take to Jerusalem for the poor saints, verse 3. Which brings me to the next point.

2. To Whom Should You Give?
a. Give to Poor Saints!
1 Cor. 16:3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.
Rom. 15:25-27  But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. 26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. 27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.
Eph 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
2 Corinthians 9:1 For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you: 2 For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many. 3 Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready: 4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting. 5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness. 6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. 10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

b. Give to Missionaries
1 Cor. 16:17 I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied.

This looks like Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus on their own brought money or goods to Ephesus to help Paul out.

2 Cor. 11:8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.

Here in this verse Paul isn't saying that he stole from other churches, he's saying other churches supported him in his ministry so he could help the Corinthians.

2 Cor. 11:9 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.

Here some brethren from a church in Macedonia or some saints that knew him just came to Corinth to give him some money.

c. Support the Preacher
1 Cor 9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
1 Tim. 5:17, 18 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.

Getting up messages that are scriptural is work. Most of the time it takes me several days to get together one message. First I have to ask the Lord what He wants me to preach, then if it's a new message, I have to search for the verses and the illustrations and put it in some sort of an outline.

3. How Much Should You Give?
a. All You Can in Good Conscience!
2 Cor. 9:6,7  But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Abraham gave 10% one time of the spoils he got from rescuing Lot and he didn't give it to any local church, he gave it to a type of Christ or a theophany.

Jacob made a vow: Gen. 28:22  And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

Well, I don't see where he ever gave the tenth. But he sure got into a lot of trouble and maybe God got the tenth through Laban.

Gen. 31:41  Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

The conclusion of the above is; Don't make a vow unless you intend to pay it, which is entirely tricky in itself. Just don't make it. Don't make that vow. You are safer not making it. God is still God with or without your vow which you will not keep anyway. And you should spare the good Lord the grief of having to punish you goodly for your good intents which ended up as wrong action.

Ecc. 5:4-6  When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
Luke 21:1-4 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. 3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

The poor widow gave all she had although it was just 2 mites. Evidently she gave it with the right motive or the Lord wouldn't have bragged on her.
Conclusion: He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
1. You will reap what you sow. Give little, reap little. Give big, reap big.
2. Give what you have decided in your heart to give (why doesn't he say 10%? - there is no law of tithe here).
3. Do not give reluctantly [as some do, begrudgingly]
4. Do not give under compulsion [not be forced by some legalism -- most Christians feel forced to give their 10%],
5. God loves a cheerful giver. You cannot be a cheerful giver if, (1) you family is hungry (2) someone has forced you, by a twisting of the Scriptures-i.e. Malachi 3:10--to feel guilty if you don't give.

All You Need To Know About Fasting

2012-03-14T15:28:00.000+01:00

The term ‘Fasting’ generally refers to a period of abstinence from food for the purpose of engaging in uninterrupted study, prayer and meditation with a clear objective and goal in focus. Why is Fasting Necessary?
The scriptures are replete with numerous accounts of remarkable results and dramatic testimonies produced through Fasting. As Christians, Fasting is one of the godly exercises we should engage in regularly, with the promise of present and eternal benefits. The advantages are numerous, and here are a few:

Through Fasting, we can improve our effectiveness in the things of the spirit. In simple terms, Fasting helps you to tame the flesh and lift the spirit. As Christians, we are required to walk in the spirit, always. This means to be spirit-controlled and not flesh-controlled. This is important because Rom 8:6 says “…to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” and also in John 6:63 our Lord Jesus said “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing….”.

So how does Fasting help you to tame the flesh and lift the spirit? One of the cravings of the body is food. It is a craving that is connected to the senses. When we fast, we deliberately abstain from food even though our body craves it. We resist the urge to eat thereby improving our mastery over the cravings of the body, and instead focus on activities that build the spirit. Of course, we could engage in activities that build our spirit without abstaining from food, but the abstinence from food adds a level of ‘seriousness‘ and ‘discipline‘to the exercise.

Fasting helps to sharpen our ability to receive or hear from God. It is like raising a spiritual antenna to pick the finer signals of the Spirit’s communication.

But how does this happen? When we Fast, abstinence from food is a key characteristic but that is not all. The Fasting exercise promotes focus and undivided attention to study and prayer. There should be a deliberate cessation of all unnecessary activity and a conscious increase in activities of that engage the spirit. This helps to unclutter the mind and remove the ‘noise’ or interference that often prevents the hearing of God’s voice. During a period of Fasting, many have received clear direction and heard the voice of God in a more distinct way than before.

Fasting can be a vehicle to effect dramatic and urgent change in things that pertain to us or even in the circumstances of others around us. In James 5:17 (amp) the scriptures assure us that “….the earnest (heartfelt)…prayer of a righteous man makes power available (dynamic)….” which means power to effect changes, shift things, re-arrange things in the present or in the future can be produced by me – when I pray a certain way. So how do I ensure my prayer is earnest and heartfelt.

When you declare a Fast, you are raising the stakes. It is a declaration of seriousness and urgency in addressing the matter at hand. It helps you to be earnest in your prayers and certainly it will be heartfelt. Your heart is in it to the point that you are giving up eating to focus on the matter at hand. And when you pray like this, the results are guaranteed!

FASTING THE RIGHT WAY! MAKING IT EFFECTIVE…..
It is important to note that Fasting is not an effort to change God. When we fast, we are the ones that change and we are the beneficiaries of the Fast. Our Fasting does not change God for the scriptures say in Mal 3:6 “….I am the Lord, I change not…”
So with this in focus, here are steps that can make our Fasting more effective;

Have a clear objective in focus – what are your expectations from this Fast?
The period of Fasting must include regular intervals of prayer, study and meditation on the Word. Having a clear focus and expectation will help guide your prayer, study and meditation time.
Minimize unnecessary activity or distractions during the Fasting period. Though solitude may not always be achievable, strive to be ‘alone’ with the Spirit as much as possible.
And while there is no single prescription for the length of a Fast, it should be sufficiently long to be effective. It ought to be long enough to span several normal eating periods. And you should be hungry at some point during the Fast. But this is not a reason to break it but rather to endure and continue! Remember, part of the training of the Fast is to curb the craving of the flesh and maintain focus on the spirit.

WHO SHOULD FAST, AND WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO FAST?
It is quite common for people to Fast when they are in dire need or in trouble, but you don’t need to be in trouble or in a messy situation to be compelled to Fast. We can Fast to improve our spiritual acumen, stay ahead of situations, make general improvements in our life and to prepare for a greater future.
And while anyone can Fast at anytime, there are special times when the Spirit of God leads us to Fast. These are special Fasting sessions not to be missed because they bear an accuracy and grace that is unusual.
The advantages of Fasting are numerous, and every Christian should benefit from it. What Fasting can do for you, may not be obtainable in any other way. And like many things in our Christian walk, the benefits come to you by doing. You may learn, read or even talk about Fasting – but that won’t bring the benefits. The benefits are realized when you do it.

A GOOD MORNING PROPHETIC MESSAGE

2012-03-13T07:43:00.003+01:00

God says: I want you to bring your joys to Me and all of your sorrows too.
I want to share all things with you--your victories, your defeats,
your hopes and your dreams. Come to Me and bring them to Me. I want
you to desire Me on your bad days, as well as on your good ones. I
want you to run to Me, just as you are--I don't want you to try to
make yourself perfect before you run to Me. Let Me be the One to make
you perfect, as My Spirit works within you to transform you.

Do not hide your darkness, expose it. Do not sympathetically make excuses for it, confess it. Hate it. Renounce it. For as long as darkness remains in darkness, it rules you. But when you bring darkness out into the light, it becomes light. When you take your secret sins and boldly come unto the throne of God's grace and confess them, He cleanses you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). If you sin again, repent again. And again, until the habit of sin is broken within you.

Like the prospectors of old, you must stake your claim high in the kingdom of God, being ready to defend your rights to the "pure gold" of Heaven (Rev. 3:18). And as you pitch your tent at the throne of grace, something eternal will begin to glow in you, like hot coals on a furnace floor. And as you persist with the Almighty, the sacred fire of His presence will consume the wood, hay and stubble of your former ways.

Power such as Jesus had will reside in your innermost being. Angels will stand in awe, for your gold will be refined, your garments light and your life holy.