Engineer717:
Thank you so much sir. This really blessed me.

Thank God for that. I'm really fulfilled to know you were blessed. Remain blessed in the Lord.

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Eulalia:
Nice piece bro.

A quick one, that is if you still visit as I see this is an old thread.

Now as a lady, we cannot do the approach. What if we dont feel convinced about the bro approaching us? Like after keeping an open mind and haven prayed but still not satisfied with what we see in spite of the bros conviction. Can God give us another chance or if we lose the bro, we have lost our rightful better half? It gets confusing at times with keeping an open mind.

Just curious

May

Yeah this is an old thread.And I have updated this post and posted in my blog. You can find the updated post here at:
https://righteousfaith.net/finding-a-life-partner/

You can post your question there again and I'll reply you as soon as possible. I just prefer to discuss more on this topic at my blog.

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kalinkevin1:
please i need help. is news naira for real?

Well, I've never heard of news naira. But if you can share the website link with me I can check it out for you.

Hi,

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emekrus:


Greg, I just replied your e-mail again. Check your inbox

Hello Greg,

I sent you an email again.

ediko5:

Contact Me For Your Professional Web Development Services.

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emekrus:


Greg, I have replied to the e-mail you sent. Check your inbox.

Greg, I just replied your e-mail again. Check your inbox

Rickbronze:
Do you guys charge a fee to teach someone or what? Cos I'm interested in starting a blog but I'm a beginner.

Hello Rickbronze,

Yes, if you want a full blown E-Course on blogging for profit, I'll charge you.

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Engrgreg231:
Can I have your WhatsApp number

Greg, I have replied to the e-mail you sent. Check your inbox.

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Can I have your WhatsApp number

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Hello Dear,
So you want to start up an online business soon… And if I may guess—you’re probably about to start up any of these online businesses:
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• Online Survey
• Advert Website
• Cryptocurrency Trading
• Forex Trading
• Binary options
• Online Fixed Odds
• Social Media Advertising Services
• Bulk SMS
• Affiliate Marketing
• Jumia Marketing
• Online Print on Demand Publishing


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Have you consulted with a professional, with a good experience in online business and investment?
The fact that someone is succeeding in a business does not automatically mean you’ll also succeed if you just jump in. There are many factors that ensure success in different kinds of online businesses…

Read This

A few months back, a young man contacted us to develop a website similar to a particular business website for him. But when he was asked about the business model and how he intends to run the business profitably, he didn’t even have the faintest idea.

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“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”—1John 5:4-5

The above opening text tells us that whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world. And that we gain this consistent conquest or triumph over the world, through our faith. Then added to the opening scripture, 2 Corinthians 2:14 says “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place”

So scripturally, every believer in Christ Jesus is ordained for consistent conquest over the perverse elements of this world. Such as: sin, devilish attack and manipulations, sickness and diseases, lack and want, e.t.c. And from my personal experience and observation over the years as a Christian—Practicing faith in Christ Jesus—this is the practical experience of some believers. Triumphing over the elements of this world exactly as the scripture says…

Because the scriptures cannot be broken. Yes, this group of triumphant Christians, do go through some seasonal tribulations of life, but they always come out of them victorious to the glory of God. While on the other hand, over the years, of my Christianity I have also seen (and still see) so many Christians with shipwrecked faith…

So many believers who are dominated and defeated often by the same perverse elements of the world, the word of God says we have victory over. Try as they may, sin and devils still have the upper hand over their lives. They are not any different from the unbelievers. And to make a bad situation worse, most of them have embraced their defeat and failure as the Christian ideal…

And consequently, they have made frantic and scholarly effort to bend scriptures to align with their failures, instead of pressing on till they conform to exactly what the undiluted word of God says. The word of God says we shall have dominion over sin. They say nay, no one can have dominion over sin.

The word of God says we can heal the sick and raise the dead in the name of Jesus. They say nay, the era of miracles have ceased. Then some others say healing in the scripture refers to healing for sin, not for physical health. The scriptures says God desires prosperity for his children, they say nay, poverty is the portion of the present Church.

They make all these assertions in spite of the glaring scriptural truths. When you show them these scriptures, they force them to say what their experiences have been, instead of accepting them for exactly what they say.

But this is not supposed to be the right spiritual attitude. When our practical experiences do not conform to scriptural truth, we ought to study and pray more to understand the reason behind the discrepancies in other to get the exact scriptural result…

So in line with this wisdom, we want to study scripturally the secrets behind the triumphant faith in Christ Jesus. So our practical Christian experiences can conform to exactly what the word of God says.

The Secrets of a Triumphant Faith

Outlined below are the biblical secrets for the triumphant faith in Christ Jesus.

1) Jesus Based Faith: “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God”
From the above scripture, we see clearly that the triumphant faith is Jesus based. For anyone’s faith to be triumphant, he must first believe in Jesus as the Son of God. That is, he must accept Jesus as his Lord and only personal saviour. And he must not combine Jesus with any other alternative God. His faith in Christ Jesus must be absolute.

2) Patient and Persistent Faith: The triumphant faith is the faith that is patient and persistent with God (Hebrews 10:35-36). This aspect of triumphant faith is exactly what Jesus teaches us in his parable of the wicked judge and the widow (Luke 18:1-. In that parable, the widow went to the wicked judge for justice, but the judge was adamant, but her persistent pressure on the judge made the judge to intervene in her matter.

In the same way, if we believe God for anything, we must be patient and persistent instead of drawing hasty conclusion after a few efforts. We must press until we get an answer. We must not accept silence as an answer. The word of God says you shall lay hand on the sick and they shall recover. If you lay your hands on a hundred people without a result, believe that there will be a result in the 101th person.

3) Love Based Faith : “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything , nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by Love”—Galatians 5:6
The triumphant faith is a faith that is built on a heart with God’s Love. The above scripture says faith works by Love. And Jesus defines Love for him to mean obedience to his commandments. So the faith of the obedient child of God, is a triumphant one. But faith without Love of God, is useless and dead faith (James 2:20).
4) Word Based Faith: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”—Romans 10:17
The triumphant faith is a faith that is built on the revealed word of God. The reason for so many shipwreck faith is that they are built on assumptions. They are built on popular opinion or scholarship. They are built on ‘hear says’. They are built on experiences, instead of the undiluted and untainted truth of God’s word. For instance, there is a popular belief that says “Heaven help those who help themselves”. But there is absolutely no scriptural backing for such belief. So if your faith must be triumphant, it must be based absolutely on God’s revealed word in scriptures.
5) Purity Based Faith: “Holding faith, and a good conscience ; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck”—1Timothy 1:19
The triumphant faith, is faith built on good and clear conscience. A good conscience is a conscience that is exercised not to have any offence towards God or man. A good conscience is a repentant heart. According to the scripture above, the Apostle Paul says faith, that is void of a good conscience, gets shipwreck or stranded or frustrated. So if your faith must always be triumphant according to scriptures, like the Apostle Paul, you must always exercise yourself to have a conscience, void of offence towards God and men (Acts 24:16).
6) Prayer And Fasting Powered Faith: “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”—Matthew 17:21.

In the Chapter above, a lunatic, possessed by a devil, was brought to Jesus’ disciples for healing and deliverance. But they couldn’t cure him. But when Jesus came he rebuked the devil and cured the child from that very hour. So after that, the disciples asked the Lord why they could not cast out the devil. And Jesus said it was because of their unbelief. In other words, it was their lack of faith. But then he also added “Howbeit, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”.

So Jesus recommends faith enhanced with the power of prayer and fasting for overcoming such kind of devils. Today we still have such kind of devils that won’t go except through fasting and prayers. And we don’t have to wait until we encounter them before we pray and fast. To ensure our faith triumphs over every kind of devil every time, we must make praying and fasting a consistent part of our Christians lives.
So there you have it; the secrets of a triumphant faith.

Remained Blessed!

Emeke Odili

It is scripturally very evident that God’s utmost desire for his children is health (3John2). But then it’s also scripturally true that Christians’ health can be challenged due to any several reasons…

And for the later reason, God has also provided sufficiently for our healing and wholesomeness. So in this article we want to explore these media through which we can receive divine healing in our body. And also minister healing to others when their health is challenged.

The Divine Healing Media

Scripturally, God and his healing and deliverance power reside in every believer (see 1Corinthians 3:16; Matthew 10:1; 2Timothy1:7).But there are some scriptural media through which this God’s healing and deliverance power can be released for healing and deliverance when our health is challenged. And these media are as follows:

1) The Word of God: “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions”—Psalms 107:20
The word of God is a principal media through which we can release or receive the healing power of God when our health is challenged. And that is why we have countless testimony of miraculous healing and deliverance while people are listening to the word of God being preached or taught.

One of the ministers that record these kinds of miraculous healing and deliverance consistently at the instance of teaching is Pastor W.F Kumuyi.

It is commonly reported that great miracles, including blind eyes opening, lame standing and walking, etc… often take place as he teaches God’s word. So if your health is challenged, you can receive healing and deliverance by standing on the word of God, through confession and mediation; and also by reading or listening to God’s word.

2) Faith in The Name of Jesus: “And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong whom ye see and know: yea the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all”—Acts 3:16

The above scriptural quote is from Peter, explaining to the audience the secrets behind the miraculous healing of the lame man at the beautiful gate.

He says the secret behind the release of the miraculous healing power of God for the healing of the lame man was faith in the name of Jesus. And this is why we have countless manifestation of the healing power of God today, as people exercise their faith in the name of Jesus for healing and deliverance.

So if your health or someone’s health is challenged, the healing power of God can be released through faith in the name of Jesus Christ.

3) Laying of Hands: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongue; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” – Mark 16:17-18. The above scripture tells us that believers shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.

I have personally seen the healing power of God released on me and others through the laying on of hands. I had laid hands on points of pain in my body by faith and received healings. I had also laid hands on sick folks and seen them receive healings to the glory of God. So if your health or that of others is challenged, you can release the healing power of God through the laying on of hands by faith.

4) Praying and Anointing With Oil: “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” James 5:14-15
So the healing power of God can be released through prayers, coupled with anointing the sick with anointing oil by faith.

5) Mantle Ministration: In the context of this topic, ‘mantle’ stands for any material that is taken from an anointed minister, to transfer the healing power of God. This can be a shirt, apron or handkerchief. We can see a biblical example of mantle ministration in the ministry of Paul the Apostle.

Here is exactly what the word of God says concerning this: “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them”.

So the healing power of God can also flow through the mantle to cause healing and deliverance.

6) Prophetic Directive: The healing power of God can also be transmitted through some special divine directives. The directive may take any number of forms. It may be to breathe on the sick, to lie on the sick, to issue a command, etc. I heard a pastor testify of having to kick someone with a spinal cord challenge to receive his healing. And immediately he kicked him at the challenged spot, the spinal cord problem was instantly healed. Scriptural examples of healing through prophetic directive are:

Nayman receiving his cure by going to river Jordan to deep himself from Elisha’s Prophetic directive. The blind man being anointed with saliva and clay by Jesus and washing at the Siloam. Ananias laying his hand on Paul to receive his sight through a prophetic revelation (Acts 9:11-18).

So there you have it. The list above, amongst others are the different scriptural media through which we can release the healing power of God for our divine healing; and ministration to others that their health are challenged.

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili

“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the Prophet, saying, himself took our infirmities, and bare our sickness”—Matthew 8:17

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and BE IN HEALTH, even as thy soul prospereth”—3John2

For the sake of this discuss, two scriptural texts from two Apostles (Matthew and John) have been provided. Because a matter must be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses. In the first opening text, Matthew by the Spirit tells us that Jesus’ healing acts in the preceding verses were a fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Jesus’ Atonement for our healing and health.

It says “himself took our infirmities, and bare our sickness”. And of course, if Jesus took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses, then our infirmities and sicknesses are gone.

Then for the second opening text from John, the scripture is also very straight-forward. John by the Spirit says “He wish above all things that we may prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers”. The word ‘wish’ as used by John in the above scriptural quote, is from the Greek word, ‘euchomai’ meaning ‘to wish’. Which by implication means: to pray to God or to will.

And since these John wishes or prayers were motivated by the Holy Ghost, it means John was praying the topmost will of God for us believers. And amongst these topmost will of God that John prayed for, is health. So we can safely again assert that divine health (amongst others) is God’s topmost desire for his children.

With the above two scriptures, every believer can confidently trust God for their perfect health and healing at all times. And of course, this becomes the rule.

So Can a Believer Be Sick?

Having established from the two opening text above, that perfect health and healing is the believer’s heritage in Christ Jesus, the very next question that quickly comes to mind is ‘can a believer be sick?’ The answer to the above question is yes. A believer in Christ Jesus can be sick or challenged in his health. And that is why part of the health providence of Jesus is called ‘healing’. Of course, your health has to be challenged for you to get healed.

But in as much as a believer’s health can be challenged. The believer can by his faith in the healing atonement of Christ, as we have discussed earlier, deny the fact that he is sick. Even when the symptoms are very glaring…

When he does that, he is walking by faith and scriptural understanding. The believer who denies being sick even with symptoms of sickness, is not to be judged as a liar. Any more than the believer who confesses that he is righteous, even though he fails sometimes and repents would be called a liar.

To call a person talking by faith a liar, is to be judging from a very high level of spiritual parochialism.

When a believer is having a health challenge but says he is not sick or he is strong, he is simply speaking in line with the scripture that says, when I am weak, then am I strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).

The person may be lying on hospital bed and yet still maintain his confession of divine health, looking up to God for intervention. And of course, most of the time, God does intervene in response to such faith. Testimonies of such divine interventions abound so much to deny.

What About Those That Die Saying They Are Not Sick?

A major attack brought against divine healing is the fact that many a believer had said they are not sick. And even confessed they can never be sick. Yet they ended up dying with some ailments. People ask; is that not deception? Well, from scriptures their words and acts can never in any way be called deception.

The proper classification of their words and acts is simply faith. Now most of these folks that actually made such confessions actually enjoyed undeniable divine health and healing from God through their faith in God for years. Then eventually some of them couldn’t recover from their health challenges before their death. The reason for such occurrences can vary. Especially, it may be a call home time for them by God…

This may be the reason, for the exceptional overriding of their faith by God. And that does not in any way make their profession and earnestness of faith a deception like many call it.

Even when they die like that, they can also be counted as heroes of faith. Including those who refuse medication for the sake of their faith. Hebrews 11:35 tells us that some of the heroes of faith, were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection.

So to die in one’s earnest faith in God’s word, is never a deception; but rather, a righteous act in commitment to God’s faithfulness.

And like I always tell people, we have a better hope of a believer that dies in his earnest faith, than the ones who die in unbelief and doubt.

Yes, it’s true that many have died believing absolutely in God for their healing and health. But many more have died in unbelief and doubt.

What About The Unbelieving Believers?

Most of the attacks and criticism against those who believe in divine healing even unto death come from the group of believers who don’t believe in divine healing. Most of them once believed in divine healing and health. But like the folks with stony hearts in Jesus’ parable, when they faced some tribulations and persecution, concerning their faith in divine healing, they were offended.

Then consequently, they begin to bring up one baseless attack after the other against the healing gospel. They say, ‘Many believe in divine health and healing yet they get sick and die; so the healing and health doctrine is false’. And yet with the massive failure of medical science, they still have great confidence in it…

Even much more than God’s word. When they or someone gets any health challenge, it never occur to them to look up to God first for divine healing. Instead, they first run to the hospital. And when medical science eventually fails them, in self-justification, they claim the sickness is their thorn in the flesh.

They claim such things just to attract pity from people. Instead of repenting of their unbelief so God can heal them…

They say their ailments are thorns from God, yet they keep on investing a larger share of their income in medicine. But I find that absurd. If someone claims his ailment is God’s will, why then fight the ailment with much assiduousness with medicine?

Some even get off medical science to witchcraft science. Some run to self-help materials to help themselves. Some to hypnotherapy. While some others run to one of the many new-age healing practices for relief. A cousin of mine told me of how a sick Pastor died in the hand of a witch doctor while he went to him for treatment…

Instead of believing solely in the healing and health provision of God unto death. I have often told people. I live above sickness and diseases. Because Christ had taken them away from me. And I will keep on confessing that even if I am lying down on the basis of health challenge. And I will keep on with that confession even when I’m about to take my last breath on the basis of health challenge…

Anyone that wants to mock is very welcome. But I will believe and confess the Lord’s word unto death. I will never twist scriptures to align with my experiences or failures instead of the undiluted word of God.

In conclusion… God’s desire for all his children is perfect health and healing. And he had already sufficiently provided for it through the stripes of Jesus. As such, divine health and healing for every believer, is the rule. And that being so, for other reasons, the believers health can be challenged…

And of course, this becomes the exception to the rule of divine health. Then even when this exception occur in the life of a believer, the believer can resist the health challenge by faith and divine wisdom even unto death to the honour and glory of God.

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili.

“Awake to Righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame”—1Corinthians 15:34

The above scripture calls us to awaken to righteousness. That is, we should be righteousness conscious. As it is the ultimate cure to sin.

This clarion call is so crucial, as many today in the Church of Christ are sin conscious. And that is the major reason many of them are still struggling fruitlessly with sin. Many Christian still believe and confess that they are sinners like every other person. They say everybody is a sinner, including themselves. And somehow, they believe they are being honest…

When you ask them, are you righteous? They quickly answer, no—nobody is righteous, even the bible says so. And this is because of their lack of proper understanding of God’s righteousness.

They believe the scripture that says, “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10) and the scripture that says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God “(Romans 3:23) still applies to them as believers in Christ Jesus.

Then on the other hand, many are struggling to attain to righteousness by their own self works. Hoping that as they keep on struggling to live right, someday, if God keeps them alive long enough, they may attain unto righteousness.

This group of people are ignorant of the scripture that tells us that we are not justified by our own self works. And that our righteousness is as a filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6).

They are ignorant of the scripture that says, ‘by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight’—Romans 3:20. And these delusion of many a believer about God’s righteousness, is the major reason, amongst others, for the multiplication of sin in the Church.

Because no one can actually gain dominion over sin or sinful habits with these kind of sin and self-work (the works of the Law) consciousness. Hence, we will be exploring the true meaning of righteousness that the word of God calls us to awaken to in this dispensation of God’s grace…

How Do We Attain to Righteousness?

Righteousness is a gift of Grace that is freely received by faith in Christ Jesus (Romans 5:17). We don’t get righteous on our own qualifications but by the merits of Jesus. By the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth and by the price of his death and shared blood on the cross of Calvary, every believer in Christ Jesus, is made absolutely righteous by God.

Here is what the word of God says concerning this in 2Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”

Thus, any and everybody can easily obtain righteousness by faith in Christ Jesus. No matter how evil the person has been; even if he had murdered a million persons in the past. Even if he had fornicated for years; even if he cursed God in ignorance or said there is no God…

Immediately he believes in Jesus and confess him as his Lord and saviour, he becomes as righteous as Jesus—Romans 10:10.

So if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and saviour, you are born again; and you are absolutely righteous. Now that you know you are righteous—that you are a saint—God’s clarion call in our opening scripture, is that you should awake to righteousness…

That is, you should awaken to the consciousness of whom he has made you –a saint. Let this consciousness saturate and change your mind-set. Let it change the picture you have about yourself. Let this consciousness inform your action. Let it inform your choice of words, dressing, places and events to attend.

Being made the righteousness of God is similar to a great king picking out a condemned criminal from prison, cleaning him up and adopting him as his son. Then to be righteousness conscious or awakening to righteousness, is likened to the adopted son, comporting himself in tandem to his newly conferred, gracious, royal status.

He is to jettison his past personality and identity and put on his present personality and status as a prince. Along this line, the word of God tells us in Romans 6:11:

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”.

Now that we are in Christ Jesus, we are to reckon or consider ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord in righteousness. Then another scripture buttresses this very fact thus:

“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” Ephesians 4:22-23

The word ‘conversation’ in the above scripture refers to behaviour. The Lord is saying, now that you in him, you should jettison your former, corrupt behaviours which are pertinent to unbelievers…

And that after putting off these corrupt behaviours, we should be renewed in the spirit of our mind (our hearts). In order words, we should change our consciousness and mind-set from corruption to righteousness.

The remaining part of the chapter spells out specifically how this change should go thus:

“Wherefore putting off lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil. 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.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”—Ephesians 4:25-32

The above scriptures depict righteousness consciousness in pin-point detail. So there you have it. Awake to righteousness and sin not. Don’t see yourself anymore as a sinner. Never confess again that you are a sinner. That is who you used to be. But now you are righteous. You’re the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. That is what the word of God says you are. And that is what you should confess.

Yes, it is true that if we say that we have not sinned, we make him (God) a liar (1 John 1:10). At the same time, it is also very true that after we have come into Christ we still say we are sinners, we are also calling God a liar.

So from now on, begin to confess to yourself and whoever cares to hear, that you are righteous—the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And as you do continually, it will soon practically become evident in your life in Jesus Name!

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili

“Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted”—Matthew 5:4

The word ‘mourn’ as used by our Lord, Jesus Christ in the above scripture, was translated from the Greek word “pentheo” meaning: ‘to grieve’. That is, to sorrow. So the Lord tells us that there is blessing in mourning…

As a matter of fact, the Lord tells us that one of his major commissions is to comfort all that mourn in Zion (see Isaiah 61:2-3).

But however, when the Lord talks about mourning here, he is talking about godly mourning or sorrow. Because from scriptures, we understand that there is a difference between godly mourning or sorrow and worldly sorrow (see 2 Corinthians7:10).

The word of God says godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation; while worldly sorrow works death. So when the Lord talks about mourning in the above opening text, he is not referring to mourning in the general sense, but rather, he was referring to godly mourning.

Christians are not to be mourning like the unbelieving and hopeless world… Wearing pathetic and sullen countenance in the face of afflictions or tribulations. But however, they can indulge themselves in godly mourning or sorrow.

How to Engage in Godly Mourning

In the opening text (Matthew 5:4) the Lord says there is blessing in godly mourning. And that blessing, being comfort. Now when he says comfort here, he doesn’t say they that mourn shall only be comforted in heaven or paradise as many would want to believe.

Rather, he says they shall be comforted. So there are certainly immediate and present comforts for everyone and anyone that engages in godly mourning. That established, we want to see how we can engage in godly mourning.

Scripturally, there are three basic ways to engage in godly mourning or sorrow. And these three ways are as listed below:

1) Fasting: “And Jesus said unto them, can the children of the bridechamber MOURN, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they FAST”—Matthew 9:15

We see that in the above scripture, the Lord equates mourning with fasting. So scripturally, the major way to engage ourselves in godly or spiritual mourning before God, in order to obtain comfort from any of our discomfort or affliction is fasting.
As we mourn before the Lord in fasting, he sends us comfort or consolation in diverse ways. It may be in the form of direct answers to prayers, vision or any other form of divine revelation.

Daniel did engage in this type of mourning for three weeks. And after the three weeks of mourning before the Lord, he received remarkable visions from the Lord (see Daniel 10).

Then again while the Apostles fasted and ministered to the Lord in the book of act, they also received a directional revelation (see Acts 13:2-3). So to engage yourself in godly mourning, engage yourself often in fasting before the Lord.

2) Prayers: Another way to engage in godly mourning is to engage in deep, hearted-felt prayers concerning the burdens in our hearts. This kind of prayers is what James calls “effectual fervent prayer”. It is a passionate prayer birthed in a burdened heart.

Sometimes this kind of prayers is accompanied with deep groaning in the spirit. And some other times, it is watered with tears. That is, a time of weeping before the Lord in child-like intercession and supplication.

So another way of engaging in godly or spiritual mourning is to weep before the Lord in heartfelt or passionate intercession or supplication. Daniel took this kind of mourning for Israel (see Daniel 9:3).

3) Penitence: Penitence here refers to remorsefulness. In the first epistle of the Apostle Paul to the believers at Corinth, he rebuked them of their sinful acts. When he learnt that the people involved in such acts were not remorseful, but rather puffed up.

In his second epistle, he revealed his Joy as a result of the effect of his rebuke in his first epistle. Here is exactly what he says; “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing”—2 Corinthians 7:9

The Apostle Paul was glad at their penitence or remorse. As Christians, we are to mourn over sin. That is, when we know we’ve missed it in our walk with God, we are to humble ourselves before God in compunction as we go to him for forgiveness. We are not to just excuse ourselves in boldface; or try to explain away our errors in the name of grace

This type of godly mourning or sorrow is lacking a great deal in Christendom today, as a result of some extreme teachings. As a matter of fact, the situation has degenerated in the church presently. So much that penitence for sin is now perceived as irrelevant by many.

And the result of this is a breed of Christians who approach the throne of God’s grace with boldface, and hearts caked unrepented sins. Instead of the true spiritual boldness that proceeds from a pure, broken and contrite heart; saturated by God’s forgiving love.

The bible tells us that sorrow for sin or penitence or compunction for sin leads to repentance unto salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10). So if there is an area of your Christian walk where you are missing it or where you eventually miss it, be remorseful for it, and repent quickly.

What Are We to Mourn For?

Having scripturally understood what godly mourning is all about and how to engage in it…
The very next issue we want to consider are the things we are to mourn for.

We are to mourn for everything that burdens us or anyone around us. We are to mourn for all men; especially for their salvation. We are to mourn for our government and people in one position of authority or the other. We are to mourn for ministers of God that we believe are missing it; instead of tearing them down with our mouths.

We are to mourn for nations that we perceive are going through any form of affliction. As children of God, people’s plight should become our burden.

And of course, the burdens we feel shouldn’t just end in our hearts and talks. Any burden we bear; either ours or for others should end at God’s table through mourning in order for us to receive comfort.

When a Christian gets afflicted, the best approach to the affliction is not to try to endure the burden alone and assume or accept it to be the will of God. And even begin to wear pathetic and sullen countenance. But rather, the issue should be taken to God in mourning with faith and expectation of comfort. For he says we should cast all our cares on him for he cares for us.

And like I wrote earlier, the mourning can take the form of fasting or passionate prayers. And as you mourn before the Lord, you are sure to get comforted by his Holy Spirit in you in the Mighty name of Jesus Christ!

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili

In my last article, “Exceedingly Growing Faith” the meaning of exceedingly growing faith was thoroughly expounded. In that article, I did establish scripturally, that exceedingly growing faith is our patience and confidence amidst persecutions and tribulations of life…

It is our tenacity and assurance in God, displayed in the face of tough and even life threatening situations. Learning how to get our faith grow or manifest to the exceedingly growing dimension, is very crucial, especially in this end times, when persecution and tribulation is increasing at a warp-speed on the church.

Exceedingly growing faith is needed by every believer to remain firm in their faith like the three Hebrew boys in the face of great trials… rather than fainting and wearing pathetic or sullen look in the face of little challenges of life…

And even worse, giving up completely on God because of some momentary persecution and afflictions of life.

In this particular article, we want to see the biblical secrets on exactly how to develop our faith to the exceedingly growing dimension like the believers in the Thessalonian Church (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4).

The Biblical Secrets to Exceedingly Growing Faith

The scriptural keys in the list below are the secrets of developing our faith to the exceedingly growing or manifesting dimension in the face of life’s challenges and trials:
1. Realisation of Our God Given Faith: The number one hindrance to the manifestation of believers’ God given faith at salvation is lack of awareness. Many a believer has the wrong notion that faith is the exclusive gift of God to some Christians but not to them. For some others, they believe the size of their faith has to grow to that of a balloon—with time—for them to be able to move mountains.

But on the contrary, the Lord Jesus says, if you have faith that is the size of a mustard seed, you are able to move mountains. And of course, every believer in Christ Jesus has enough size of faith to move any mountain of life (see Romans 12:3).

The realisation of the above fact is the major key to exceedingly growing faith.

2. The Love of God: Having realised that you have the mountain moving size of faith, as every other believers. The very next key to engage for exceedingly growing faith is the love of God, from God (Romans 5:5). The bible tells us that faith works by love (Galatians 5:6).

It is the love of God that can enable you face any situation of life, including persecution and even death without giving up on God (see Romans 8:35-39). To obtain exceedingly growing faith, pray the Lord for the saturation of your heart with his Love by the Holy Spirit.

3. Prayers: When our Lord Jesus Christ was faced with death, he had to pray fervently in order to receive supernatural strength to accomplish his assignment by faith. The bible says as he was in agony, he prayed more earnestly till his sweat became like drops of blood falling down to the ground (see Luke 22:44).

So when you are faced with agonising situations, like our Lord, don’t faint. Instead, pray earnestly to build yourself up in your most holy or exceedingly growing faith. And the most effective way to achieve that is to pray in the Holy Ghost, especially praying in other tongues (Jude 1:20).

4. Righteousness Consciousness: “the wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion”—Proverbs 28:1.

Righteousness consciousness is a major key to exceedingly growing faith. That is, living in the consciousness that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). A believer that doesn’t walk in righteousness can never obtain an exceedingly growing faith; as a result of guilt and condemnation. Nothing hinders faith growth as much as the guilt of sin in the heart and self-condemnation.

In the face of the slightest challenges of life, the faith of a believer who does not walk in righteousness easily gets watered down. So to obtain exceedingly growing faith, you must awake to righteousness and sin not as the word of God admonishes us (1 Corinthians 15:34).

5. The Word of God: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”—Romans 10:17

The word of God according to the above scripture, is a major key for receiving faith from God. As you consistently read, meditate and confess the word of God to yourself, overtime, your faith in God grows to an exceeding dimension. The more of God’s word you study, meditate on and confess on a regular basis, the more exceedingly your faith grows.

As a matter of fact, through the key of God’s word, your faith can grow to the extent that the things people see as challenges or tribulations will eventually appear so simple and trivial for you to handle by God’s grace.

6. Consciousness of the Indwelling Spirit: A major key to walking in exceedingly growing faith is a full persuasion of the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in you always as a believer. The word of God tells us that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. That is to say, you are possessed by God similar to the way people are possessed by demons.

And he is always in you and with you. He doesn’t visit you sometimes. He is always in you and with you. He has said he will never leave you, nor forsake you (Hebrews 12:5). Once this reality dawns fully on you in your spirit, your faith in God will definitely grow or manifest exceedingly.

7. A Lifestyle of Faith: “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him”—Hebrews 10:38.
I had earlier established from scriptures that every believer in Christ Jesus has enough faith inherent in him or her to move any mountain of life. But however, a believer with such inherent faith deposited in him at salvation, might as well not be able to move a stone. If he doesn’t engage that faith for growth or manifestation…

Any more than a talented or gifted footballer will be able to play professionally if he doesn’t practice playing football often. For our God given faith at salvation to grow exceedingly, we must make the practice of faith a lifestyle. We must live by faith in any and every area of life. That is, the exercise of our faith must become a daily affair, as much as eating is to us…

We must exercise our faith in holiness, health, business, career, marriage, children, finances and even the most trivial matters of life. The more we exercise our faith, the more it grows, until it becomes an exceedingly growing faith by the grace of God.

So there you have it. The biblical secrets for exceedingly growing faith. But however, the above discussed biblical keys for exceedingly growing faith, is for only the saved. The born again. If you have not yet given your life to Christ, you need to begin your pursuit of exceedingly growing faith in God by first receiving the Lord Jesus as your Lord and personal saviour.

To do that right away, say this prayers with all sincerity…

Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. But today, I repent totally of my sins and accept you as my Lord, and personal saviour. Come into my life; wash me with your precious blood. Write my name in the book of life. Thank you father for saving me, in Jesus Name!

If you just said the above prayers, I congratulate you. You are now a child of God. You are saved at last from sin and condemnation. And you now have the mountain moving faith. As you engage the above listed biblical keys, your faith must grow exceedingly in God forever in the mighty name of Jesus!

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili

“We are bound to thank God always for you brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth”—2Thessalonians 1:3

The word “exceedingly” is from the Greek word, ‘perissos’ meaning—Superabundant in quantity or superior in quality. And by implication, it means to be excessive.

In the context of our opening text above, exceedingly growing faith refers not to faith growing in superabundant quantity. But rather, it refers to faith growing or manifesting in excessive or superior quality.

The above conclusion is drawn from the biblical fact that every believer in Christ Jesus already has the superabundant quantity or measure of faith given to him or her at salvation…

When someone accepts Jesus as his Lord and personal saviour, he receives the same quantity or measure of faith as every other believer before him (see Romans 12:3).

So in the context of the opening text, when the Apostle Paul talks of exceedingly growing faith, he is not referring to growth in terms of increase in size or quantity…

Because every believer already have the mountain moving size or quantity of faith, deposited in him at salvation. Even though many believers have not yet realized this scriptural truth.

When the Apostle Paul refers to exceedingly growing faith in the lives of the Thessalonian believers, he was referring to the super abounding or excessive manifestation of their God given faith at salvation…

Because it’s not every believer with the super abounding quantity of faith, that actually have their faith growing (manifesting) exceedingly.
For so many believers, their faith manifests so very little. While for some others, their faith grows or manifests normally. Then for some other Christians their faith grows or manifests exceedingly.

Now let’s take a practical analogy to better understand this scriptural concept of exceedingly growing faith…

Now I can have an electric bulb of a particular Watt power. This bulb has all the capacity to produce as much light as any other bulb of the same wattage. But yet it could be producing lesser illumination than it is supposed to…

Then at some other time, the same bulb could also be producing normal light that it is supposed to produce. While at some other time, the same bulb can also produce excessive illumination. All these variations in the quality of light produced by this electric bulb can easily be traced to the voltage of electric current it receives per time.

Exceedingly growing faith can also be likened to the electric bulb example above. Every believer in Christ Jesus has the mounting moving faith given to him at salvation…

Yet some believers can only move little pieces of stones with their faith (little growing faith). While some other group of believers can also with the same measure of faith move big rocks (normally growing faith). Then some other group of believers can as well engage the same measure of faith to move mountains…

The believers that can engage their measure of faith to move mountains or great mountains can be referred to as having exceedingly growing or manifesting faith.

But however, unlike the electric bulb with excessive illumination or light, which can be traced to only the voltage rate, exceedingly growing faith is a function of a number of scriptural keys. These keys to exceedingly growing faith will be discussed in another post.

In this article, we’ll be exploring the features that make up or constitute exceedingly growing faith. We want to study and understand the attributes or attitudes of a believer who is said to be having exceedingly growing faith. So we may engage our faith to receive such attributes as well…

Why? Because such attributes are commendable godly attributes as we can understand from the opening text.

The Features of Exceedingly Growing Faith

A believer with an exceedingly growing faith is not the one that doesn’t face any hard time or difficulty in life or his spiritual walk. But rather, he can be recognised by how he handles hard times or adversity that comes his way per time.

Here is exactly what the Apostle Paul says concerning the believers with exceedingly growing faith:

“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure”—2 Thessalonians 1:3-4

From the above scripture, it is clear that we can recognise a believer with an exceedingly growing faith, by his patience and faith amidst persecutions and tribulations.

A believer with an exceedingly growing faith is not identified by how many scripture he quotes, or how much faith he professes when everything is going well or rosy. He is not identified by how much zeal or excitement he displays when everyone is in harmony with him.

But rather, he is recognised by his affirmation, profession, attitude, patience, perseverance, tolerance and confidence or assurance in God amidst strong oppositions or afflictions.

Many Christians can believe a number of truth from scriptures, and profess them with all fervour, but when they face some serious persecution or adversity, they waiver in their profession, and eventually give up on the faith they have zealously professed amongst so many witnesses.
Then in the extreme cases, some even give up completely on God and become renegades or agnostic.

Scripturally, attitudes of the woman with the dead baby (with Elisha), Daniel, the three Hebrew boys and Jesus in the face of death, are good instances of exceedingly growing faith.

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili.

Ihedinobi3:
Hello brother.

I commend you for your work.

Please allow me to recommend https://ichthys.com for a treatment of this subject that you may find worth your while.

In my reading of the Bible, you got a lot right but you got some wrong too. The Lord Jesus will only return once and that is at the end of the Great Tribulation when He will destroy the Antichrist and all the armies of the world that mass against Jerusalem. That is when the Church will be resurrected to be with Him eternally.

And of course, I agree with you on that. Only that the saints will be taken away before the wrath of God. The believers will partake of the great tribulation until Christ comes back to rapture the Church, before God's wrath. That's what my OP is saying.

I definitely agree with you there.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Matthew 24:21.

As we begin to discuss about the great tribulation, it is important we first understand the meaning of the keyword ‘tribulation’ as used in the opening text…

The word translated as ‘tribulation’ in the opening text, is from the Greek word ‘thlipsis’, meaning—pressure. It means pressure—either literally or figuratively. Other synonyms of the word tribulation as translated in the New Testament are: affliction, anguish, burden, persecution, and trouble.

All through the ages, since the fall of Adam and Eve, mankind has faced several kinds of tribulation and disaster. Some God-made—by his sovereign ideal; some man-made; and some others, devils’-made…

Even Israel—the chosen nation of God—also went through tribulations from God as a result of their evil deeds. Then the Church of Christ, since her emergence after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, has also suffered tribulations, especially in the form of persecution from non-believers.

But concerning the great tribulation, the Lord tells us in his own words that the great tribulation is a special kind of tribulation. That has never been experienced since the beginning of the world till the time he was speaking…

And that the great tribulation will not have its kind after it. Many Christian theologians are divided on their understanding and explanation of the great tribulation as mentioned by the Lord. Especially concerning its features and timing. So in this article, we want to see exactly what the scriptures say concerning the great tribulation.

The Features of the Great Tribulation
Having already known the meaning of the word ‘tribulation’, the great tribulation can therefore be explained as a period of great and unusual affliction. On the entire world and its inhabitants. And the major features of the great tribulation from scriptures are as follows:

1) A Period of Great Deception: “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect”—Matthew 24:24. A major feature of the great tribulation is an unusual emergence of deception.

Which will be masterminded by the anti-Christ and his false prophet (see 2 Thessallonians2:9-11; Revelation 13:13-15) the bible says the deceptions at the great tribulation will be so strong that if it were possible, the very elect of God shall also be deceived.

2) A Period of Great Persecution of the Saints: “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues and nations”—Revelation 13:7 (see also Daniel 8:24).

Another prominent feature of the great tribulation is an unusual persecution of the Church. Yes, the church and saints of God of all ages have been persecuted and even martyred in large scale. But the persecution of the saints at the great tribulation will be far greater.

The world will be subjected to many kinds of idolatry and rituals of which anyone that fails to follow suit, will be killed or ostracised (see Revelation 13:12, 14-15).

3) A Period of God’s Wrath: The final stage of the great tribulation is a period of unusual disaster from God (Revelation 16:1-14). And this last phase of the great tribulation will happen after the rapture of the Church at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The bible says the true believers will not partake of God’s wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

To better understand this fact, the words of our Lord Jesus give us an eye-opener. Here are his exact words: “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered the ark; and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”—Matthew 24:37-39.

So amidst the great tribulation, Christ will come and rapture his church and after that, the remaining inhabitants of the earth will face the wrath of God as it was in the days of Noah.

Admonishment to the Church Concerning the Great Tribulation

With the above three features of the great tribulation, it is very clear that the saints or believers will partake of the great tribulation. Especially the periods of great deception and persecution. But the believers will not partake of the last phase of the great tribulation which is the wrath of God or the judgement of God.

However, concerning the great tribulation, the Lord admonishes the believers thus:

“Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man”—Luke 21:36.

From the above scripture, the Lord admonishes us concerning the great tribulation to be watchful and prayerful always. So we may be accounted worthy of escaping the things that shall come to pass at the great tribulation so that in the end, we will be able to stand before him—the Son of man.

Escape as used in the above scripture, can take either of two forms… Either escaping through death or martyr; or escaping through the rapture at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those who do not escape the great tribulation will be taken in the tribulation. Either they are taken by the great deception or are taken by the great persecution through personal subjection…

And that is why the Lord admonishes us to be watchful and prayerful always. Because it’s only through these two spiritual tools we would be able to escape the great deception and persecution of the end-time at the great tribulation…

And finally be able to stand before our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ in paradise forever.

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili

“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”—Hebrews 12:14

Holiness as used in the above opening text is from the Greek word ‘hagiasmos’ meaning—Purification; that is, the state of purity. From scriptures, we understand that every believer in Christ Jesus is holy by the election of grace.

In other words, the believer is set apart or sanctified unto God. He is purified or consecrated unto God by redemption (see 1Peter 2:9 and Ephesians 1:4).

So by redemption, every believer in Christ Jesus is holy, set apart, sanctified, purified or consecrated unto God. This is the status and heritage of everyone believer in Christ Jesus by redemption…

But however, Christian holiness or sanctification doesn’t just end at the redemptive purification or consecration. All through scriptures, the Lord instructs us to pursue holiness as a lifestyle. He says without its pursuit, no man shall see him (see the opening text).

But the question that quickly comes to mind is: why would God tell us to be what he has already made us to be? The answer to that question is that he wants us to actually, be a practical reflection of what he has made us to be…

So we don’t become a reproach to him and ourselves. Why? Because it’s preposterous to see a clean sheep wallowing in the mire like a pig. It just doesn’t add up. The Lord having chosen us to be holy requires a practical manifestation of our status in our everyday lifestyle.

So in this article, we want to see some scriptural keys that guarantee to confer mastery to us, as we diligently set out to pursue holiness in our daily Christian lives as the Lord instructs us.

The Master Keys to Holiness

The pursuit of holiness is majorly a lifestyle of separating from or turning away from sin and turning to God. These biblical keys being delivered here will confer mastery over sin to you. They will at the same time, confer mastery in godliness to you for the ultimate glory of God.
These master keys to holiness are as listed below:

1. Righteousness Consciousness: “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame”—1Corinthians 15:34

The number one master key to a holy lifestyle, is awakening to the consciousness that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is, considering yourself to be dead indeed to sin and alive unto Christ (Romans 6:11). This consciousness is the foundational key to mastery in holy living.

2. Faith of God: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” Hebrews 11:6.

Faith in God and his words, especially his words concerning holiness is another powerful master key to holiness. Faith in God’s word such as:

‘the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death’ (Romans 8:2). ‘For sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law, but under grace’ (Romans6:14)…

And other similar scriptures, guarantee to confer mastery in holiness to any believer. I can testify to this fact in my own personal walk with God. The besetting sins I struggled with, have been masterfully subdued by this key to a very great extent to the glory of God.

3. Fear of God: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God”—2Corinthians 7:1.

As stated in the above scripture, the fear of God is the perfecting key to holy living. Walking in the fear of God as a lifestyle confers mastery over sin. Anyone that lacks the fear of God for any reason does have a loophole for continual sinning. Whether he agrees or not.

4. Love of God: The love of God enables us gain mastery over selfishness, condemnational fear and unforgiveness. The love of God enables us to obey God’s commandments with delight. Especially soul winning. The love of God enables us to be more tolerant of our brothers and sisters in spite of how much wrong they do to us.

And most importantly, the love of God helps us love the unlovable sinners. And it even prompts us to be touched by their state and makes us share the gospel with them and also pray for them.
5. Wisdom of God: many a time, holiness is a function of being as wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. In other words, discretion or cleverness (phronimos). Many a time, many a believer indulges in sinful acts and habits, as a result of lack of discretion and sometimes outright foolishness.

For instance, it is foolishness for believers of opposite sex, that are not married or siblings to be meeting in secluded places. When people of opposite sex meet in secluded places, there is a great chance of them committing fornication or adultery. And the major wisdom—amongst others—required to flee from such act is to avoid meeting in secluded places with the opposite sex.

The above is just an instance of how wisdom key can be engaged to masterfully subdue sin. Many sin or sinful habits, many a believer indulge in, can easily be overcome by the master key of divine wisdom (phronimos).

6. Prayers: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak”—Matthew 26:41. Prayer, especially praying in tongues, is a principal master key to holiness. Just like the Lord remarked in the above scripture, there are many times when you are tempted to sin. When your spirit will be willing to overcome the temptation, but meanwhile, your flesh is weak…

So you find yourself struggling. At such a time, prayer is the master key out of such a situation. When you find yourself in such a situation, just begin to pray. From my personal experiences, praying in other tongues silently has been more effective. So I will recommend that as well.

7. Word Study and Meditation: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.”—Psalm 119:9

consistent, daily studies and meditation on God’s word (the scriptures) confers mastery in holiness to the believer. As we keep studying, meditating and confessing God’s word in our hearts on regular basis; in no time we are sure to emerge champions over sin.

Like the above scripture says, taking heed to the undiluted word of God from scriptures has the supernatural power to cleanse us from our evil ways continually. Even our Lord Jesus says, the truth of God’s word can sanctify us (John 17:17). So engage the word of God for sanctification.

So the above seven points are the major scriptural master keys to mastery in your pursuit of holiness. Study them in more detail with your bible. And as the light dawn in your spirit, you are guaranteed become a champion in holiness in no distant time; in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” – Matthew 5:3

All through scriptures, it is very evident that God delights in the prosperity and greatness of his children. As a matter of fact, the scripture tells us that the Lord has bequeathed all his creation to his children—The Church.

He has willed his ministers, the world, death, life, present things and things to come to us believers (1Corinthians 3:22). And I have expounded this fact in my article “All Are Yours”.

All through scriptures, it is evident that the majority of the people that walked with God were made great in all ramifications. Including the chosen nation—Israel. The Lord says we shall be the head and not the tail. He says we shall be above only, and not beneath…

Then again we are told in scriptures that the Lord has given us (Christians) all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Hence every believer in Christ Jesus is prosperous or rich in all ramifications through redemption and divine heritage. Now, with the above point established, we want to understand what Jesus meant when he said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”

What does he mean by being poor in the spirit? It is very important we understand this statement, because many Christians over the ages, have erroneously interpreted the above statement of the Lord to mean material or financial poverty…

But Jesus never implied that in the context of his statement; hence he was specific. He didn’t say, “Blessed are the materially or financially poor”. Rather he says “blessed are the poor in spirit”. Because someone can be materially or financially poor, and yet not be poor in spirit.
Then on the other hand, someone can as well be materially or financially rich but poor in spirit. Such was the likes of Abraham, Job, Isaac, David, etc.

So What Does Poverty in Spirit Mean?

To better understand poverty in spirit we have to consider the biblical examples the Lord spoke against their attitudes with wealth. Firstly, let’s consider the fellow that ran to Jesus to ask him how to inherit eternal life (Mark 10:17-20).

After his conversation with the Lord, the Lord asked him to go sell all he had and give them to the poor, and come, take up the cross and follow him ( Mark 10:21).

When he received that instruction from the Lord, the word of God says he was sad at the saying and went away grieved: for he had great possessions (Mark 10:22). Now the problem of this young man was not the fact that he had great possessions. No, that couldn’t have been the case; if it was, the Lord would have as well been displeased with Abraham, Job, Isaac and Jacob…

The major challenge of this rich fellow, as it is with many today, is hearty attachment to their possessions. How did I know? I knew this by the Lord’s clarifying statement in verse 24 of the same scripture (Mark 10: 24). Here are the exact words of the Lord Jesus; “Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God”.

So the challenge the Lord had with this rich fellow, wasn’t his wealth or great possessions. But rather his trust or hearty attachment to his possessions that hindered him from selling them off, giving them away to the poor and following him as the Lord instructed him.

That said, let’s consider another example. Because a matter must be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses.

“ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot… Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”—Revelation 3:14 & 17.

The same issue comes up again in the above scripture as we saw in the first scriptural example. This fellow became lukewarm concerning God and the things of God as a result of material possessions. And the Lord was displeased with him, not because of his possessions but with his material idolatry.

And the Lord was specific about that in his rebuke. He says; “Because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”. The Lord didn’t say “because you are rich and increased with good and have need of nothing”. So it wasn’t about his possession, but about the statement of his heart.

It was about his material attachment or attitude in the heart.

So from the above two examples, we can rightly define poverty in spirit to mean, a holistic trust in the Lord, and absolute detachment from possessions, position or achievements. Poverty in spirit means giving up on everything you possess to the Lord in your heart…

It means owning everything, yet submitting all to the Lord in your heart (your spirit). Poverty in spirit means, “Not letting your possessions or position get into your heart or your head”.

Poverty of the spirit means not putting anything or the possession of anything or position above God and his instructions in your heart. Thus poverty in spirit is a matter of the heart or spirit. It is not a function of material or financial possessions because like I wrote earlier, one can be financially or materially poor, yet not be poor in spirit.

Key to Poverty in Spirit

The major biblical key for maintaining poverty in the spirit (human spirit), no matter the level of your elevation in life… Is the realisation that we are actually, only receivers, not achievers. We must realise that whatever we own, possess, know; the heights we have attained, the goals we have achieved etc…

Are all given to us by the Lord. We can receive absolutely nothing except it be given us from heaven (John 3:27). When this revelation dawn in our hearts or spirits, and we walk in it on daily basis, our ego will be humbled.

And as such, we won’t have any need to glory in ourselves or be high-minded over anything. But rather, we’ll always give all the glory to God for all things at all times (see 1 Corinthians 4:7). And along the same line, we’ll also render our bodies and possessions as living sacrifice unto God.

This is exactly what poverty in spirit mean. And the Lord will have us make this attitude our lifestyle. For he says the kingdom of heaven is the heritage or possession of the poor in spirit.

The Lord does not have any problem with making us great to any level in life. But he does have a problem with our being high-minded and Idolising the greatness or possessions.

I pray the Lord make this attitude of poverty in spirit a part of your new nature in Jesus Name!

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili

“Whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, or the World, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s”—1 Corinthians 3:22-23

Christians are on polar, erroneous extremes concerning the gifts of God to his children – the Church. Hence, the Lord through the Apostle Paul helps us straighten things up with the above scripture…

The opening text was written to the Corinthians Church to correct their erroneous attitudes and mind-sets concerning the ministers of God. Then eventually it was expounded to include every other God’s providence.

And incidentally, these same erroneous attitude and mind-sets concerning God’s gift to his children—the Church—lingers till date all over the world among believers. As a matter of fact, it has even grown worse among many contemporary Christians.

Hence, in this article, we want to critically analyse the above opening text, in order to straighten up these erroneous mind-sets and attitudes towards God’s gracious and benevolent providence for his heirs—The Church.

Understanding Divine Heritage

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a Son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ”—Galatians 4:7

The word ‘heir’ as used in the above text, is from the Greek word ‘kleronomos’ meaning—a shearer by lot. That is, ‘an inheritor’. Hence, an heir of God is an inheritor of divine creations and providence.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the principal heir of God and all things the Father owns have been given unto him (see John 13:3). And they were given unto him for us as his joint heir by adoption…

Hence, all that Jesus possesses or owns are for us believers—for life and godliness (2 Peter1:3). And yes, we have access to most of these providence here and now for life and godliness. And our opening text gives credence to this fact (1Corinthians 3:22-23).

The word of God says, “all are yours”. That is, us as believers. Not some believers. So let’s consider these our heritage in Christ in a little more detail for better understanding.

Believers’ Divine Providence

From our opening text (1 Corinthians 3:22-23), the list below are the gracious gifts of God to everyone believer in Christ Jesus.
1) The Ministry Gifts: The word of God in our opening text tells us that every Ministers of the gospel are the privileged heritage of every believer in Christ Jesus. That is: the Apostles, the Prophets, the Pastors, the Teachers, Evangelists, etc. And as such, they are not to be idolised by any believer.

They do owe God an obligation to minister to every believer within their means and gifts. Hence, they do not have any scriptural reason to refuse ministering to any believer or charging for their ministries.

Then on the other hand, the believers also owe them care, honour and respect as authoritative servants and gifts of God to them. As they minister spiritual things to us, it’s our obligation to also minister materially to them (1 Corinthians 9:11). Then we also need to pray for them.

2) The World: Our opening text also tells us that the World (kosmos) is ours. That is, the universe and every of God’s creation in it—including the inhabitants—are the believers’ heritage in Christ Jesus. And the implication of this is that we are the caretakers and role-model or pace-setters of the World.

Thus, everything that affects the world, locally and globally should concern us. And of course, it’s our responsibility to influence the world positively for Christ…

And we do that through our faith, prayer, love, godliness and gospel of Christ.
Yes, we are not of the world (The perverse and immoral world) but we own the world (The Utopian, created world of God). We are not to love (or idolise) the world or the things in it (lust and pride). But we are to care for and influence it positively for God. Hence, the word of God says, we are the light and salt of the world (Matth 5:13-14)

3) Life: Another believers’ heritage, the opening verse reveals to us, is life (Zoe). That is, God’s kind of life—eternal life. So eternal life is a present and active possession of the believer. And the believer can as well minister this eternal life to others through the gospel, faith and prayers.

4) Death: Death here talks about physical death. Not spiritual death. This talks about bodily death. So the opening verse tells us that death is a providence or gift to the believer. Whether it is martyrdom or any other kind of physical death, it is a gracious providence of God to the believer.

Death is the passage way of the believer to the world of glory and bliss in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Then at the same time, the believer has the authority to resist and rebuke death in his life and that of others until their appointed time. When their assignments here on earth are over, and Jesus still tarries his coming; they can ride on the wings of death to the land of glory.

5) Things Present: The opening text also tells us that the present things of this world are also the gifts or possessions of believers. And they are for the believers’ Life and godliness. Whether it is spiritual gifts or material gifts. Seasonal suffering or adversity; or persecution in the present life here on earth… they are ours for life and godliness.

6) Things to Come: Finally, on the list of the believers’ providence or heritage, the word of God says, things to come are ours. Things to come, such as the New World—New Jerusalem. The crown and tree of life. The streets of gold. Glorious and shiny body, all are for us. And eventually, the text concludes by reminding us that we are Christ’s and that Christ is God’s.

So here you have it. The word God of God says ‘all are yours’. And you must accept all of them as a blessed gift from a loving God and Father. You are not to idolize any of them. Neither do you have to accept some and leave some on the table.

Either extreme is rebellion to God. They are yours—but they shouldn’t be idolised or abused. And at the same time, we shouldn’t call unclean the gifts of our benevolent Father because of abuse. Instead, we should receive them all with thanksgiving; and use them for their purposes. Which are life and godliness.

Remain Blessed!

Emeke Odili

“This I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh”—Galatians 5:16

“For if you live after the flesh, you shall die but if you through the Spirit do put to death the deeds of the body, you shall live.” Romans 8:13

From the above two scriptures, and other similar scriptures, the Lord reveals to us the cure for the works (lusts or deeds) of the flesh—Sin. And this cure is—walking in the Spirit…

Hence, in this article, we will be digging into what and what constitute walking in the Spirit. So we can be better equipped with the right knowledge on exactly how to walk in the Spirit for absolute dominion over the works of the flesh or sin.

The Constituents of Walking in the Spirit

There are six basic biblical consciousness that make up or constitute what it means to be walking in the Spirit. These include:

1) Consciousness of the Indwelling Spirit: The number one thing that constitutes walking in the Spirit is a full persuasion of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the spirit of the believer. That is, the realisation of the permanent residence of the Holy Spirit in a believer; and walking in this reality.

This is basically where walking in the Spirit starts. Without this first reality, walking in the Spirit is not in view. The believer must realise that the Holy is not only residing in heaven, but also in his or her Spirit. Here is what the bible says concerning the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God in the life of a believer:

“Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”—1 Corinthians 3:16.

This scripture says believers are the temple or the house of God. And that the Spirit of God (The Holy Spirit) resides (dwells) in us. And of course, he dwells in all of us individually. So to walk in the Spirit, you must always live in the consciousness that the Holy Spirit of God is always residing in you.

2) Death or Sacrifice Consciousness of The Body: “Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”—Romans 6:11

“For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God”—Colossians 3:3

So to walk in the Spirit, you must live with the consciousness that you’re dead to sin in the flesh and now alive unto God in Christ Jesus. You must see yourself as a living sacrifice in Christ Jesus at all time. This is a great part of what is meant to be walking in the Spirit.

3) Working Consciousness of The Indwelling Spirit: To walk in the Spirit, also means to be walking in the reality that the indwelling Holy Spirit in you, is always working in you; so you can please God in your lifestyle and every actions—Phillipians 2:13.

This consciousness helps you always yield yourself to the works of the Spirit in your daily life.

4) Submission Consciousness (Yielding Consciousness): Having already realised that the Holy Spirit is resident in you and that he is always working in you for God’s good pleasure…

You need to also live or walk in submission to his works and guidance in your heart and life. Concerning this, the bible says, we should present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service—Romans 8:1.

So to walk in the Spirit, is to be consciously and consistently yielded to or submitted to the Holy Spirit; his works and continual guidance.

And to do this effectively, we must diligently learn how to discern his works and guidance at all time. To learn how the Spirit works and leads, we can study the bible and relevant Christian books that treats the topic.

5) Fruit Consciousness: Another constituent of walking in the Spirit is fruit consciousness. Fruit here, refers to the fruit of the Spirit as enumerated in the scriptures as we can see in Galatians 5:22-23.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Self-Control: against such there is no law.”
Walking in the consciousness of the fruit of the Spirit as enumerated above…

That is, always benchmarking or judging all your actions with the above listed fruit of the Spirit, is to be walking in the Spirit.

Every of your action must and should conform to any and all of the above listed fruit of the Spirit. And any of your character or action that doesn’t conform, should be dropped as soon as possible. And this character assessment must be a lifestyle. These lifestyles constitute what is meant by walking in the Spirit.

6) Repentance Consciousness: Among other things, walking in the Spirit is living in repentance consciousness on daily and continual basis. The Greek word that was translated in the New Testament as repentance is “metanoia”, meaning, compunction (guilt) or reversal of decision. Hence, repentance is being penitent or remorseful for sin.

It is reconsidering and changing your way, action or character on conviction that it is wrong. Making this repentance from sinful attitudes or character a lifestyle is what is meant by repentance consciousness. The word of God tells us that repentance is what the Lord is sent to give, along with forgiveness of sin—Acts 5:31.

Then the same chapter in the very next verse tells us that the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us, is a witness of this fact—Acts 5:32. So a penitent or repentant lifestyle is surely a walk in the Spirit. Which definitely is a cure for works of the flesh.

So here you have it. The six consciousness in the list above, are the major scriptural ways to walk in the Spirit as the word of God instructs. And as you do that, sin shall no longer have dominion over you in Jesus Name!

Remain Blessed!

Emeke odili