₦airaland Forum

Share this article with friends

I will be begin this article with the question: "what is man's spirit?"

The spirit of man is the real man. It is the vital force in man - without which the man is not any different from a dog. Therefore, man is a spirit, he has a soul and leaves in a body.

Man has been and will always dominate nature, not because of his strength - the African elephant is 130 times stronger than the adult human; not because of his intellect - compare to other animals that is debatable. Man dominates nature because he has a spirit in the nature of the divine. You see, the word dominate is from the root word dominus which means lord. The word lord is in the register of the gods. And as such, that equate man in the congregation of the gods.

Psalms 82:1,6
[1]God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
[6]I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

Until a man understand that he's not in the company of animals but rather in the company of the divine, he will continue to undermine the capacity of his spirit.

Man's spirit has a more robust capacity to furnish the answer to any life question than any search engine or AI. Unlike search engine or AI, man's spirit does not get his information by crawling and indexing billions of webpages, using automated bots (like Googlebot) to analyze content, structure, and links or training data to identify patterns, synthesize information from multiple sources. Rather, man's spirit get information directly from the architect of all knowledge - the Almighty.

Job 32:8
[8]But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

You see, the reason for this article is not just to inform you how powerful your spirit is, but how you can herness its potentials.
Firstly, you need to understand that God is going to enlighten your spirit, not your intellect. This is the reason most people struggle because they have developed their intellect, which is good and fine. But the intellect without the spirit is futile - you will die like a mere man with all those knowledge in your head. You see, knowledge is in the realm of the intellect, while understanding is by the spirit. Scripture says, "The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly" (Proverbs 20:27). Put slightly differently, God has placed the fountain of enlightenment - understanding in your inward parts - your spirit.

The ancient Greeks understood that the understanding which comes through man's spirit is more important than the knowledge in man's intellect when they wrote "Man know thyself." When you unscramble the phrase "man know thyself" like an anagram, you will discover that the man connotes the spirit, know connotes the intellect ( or knowledge), while thyself connotes the man in the flesh.
It is through man's spirit that a man can know himself. Scripture says, "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him..." (1 Corinthians 2:11a). In other words, everything about you, all your life questions can be gotten by intermeddling with your own spirit through quiet meditation. It is through quiet meditation - listening and obeying the voice of your own spirit that the intellect draws understanding and wisdom to deal wisely in the affairs of life.

Proverbs 18:1
[1]Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.

You see, your own spirit knows more than you can ever imagine: but you don't listen to him because you're always in a hurry - letting your intellect and your flesh guide you instead of looking inward into the inward parts of your belly to every life's question. You will not be in dire straits today if you had taking a few seconds, or a minute, or an hour to quiet down and meditate and get the answer down from the depth of your own spirit before making that decision.

I recall a meeting where someone was assigning me several pending deliverables, of which I knew I'd completed over 98%. As they spoke, I felt the urge to interrupt and defend myself, as it was clear they hadn't been properly briefed on the status of those tasks. I was about to speak up, which likely would've led to an unproductive and heated exchange. However, an inner voice prompted me to wait and collect my thoughts for a couple of minutes while the person continued speaking.
As I followed this instinct and meditated, a clear and calm response to the accusations formed in my mind. When I finally spoke, the room fell silent, and my words had a profound impact. The meeting, initially scheduled for an hour and a half, concluded in under 15 minutes. It was as if my inner self had provided the perfect response, allowing me to address the situation effectively.

In the final analysis, man's spirit is the ultimate search engine. And when you throw a question or two at him, he will produce the answer as clear as a crystal - it might not be immediate but eventually you will get the answer or answers in your inward belly and then you will scream - eureka - I found it!


Jesus is Lord!

Don't hoard knowledge, propagate it.

My faith is in Lord Jesus of Nazareth

By asking God in the name of Jesus Christ to put on you his complete armour you're well accessorized for battle.

paxonel:
It is now you have explained it better

I learnt from you also. Well done.

Please share the article with friends

Read and share with friends

Leave a comment and I will respond.

paxonel:
So why did you say the armour is the sovereign property of God?

How is sovereign property related to wisdom?

The armour is the wisdom of God because they all stem from the word of God. And Paul said the gospel which they preach is the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 2:7
[7]But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:


Brother, the wisdom of God is the sovereign property of God because Until God gave Jesus to the world nobody had him. Scripture says, 'for God so love the world that he Gave his only begotten Son: the word, the armour of God.'

Putting on God's armour is putting on Jesus, the word of God. Yet, no man can receive Jesus unless the Father draws him near.

paxonel:
L I E S!

SCAM

The armor is your personal understanding of scriptures which you use to guide yourself from being deceived by unbelievers

Every part of the armour stems from the word of God. And so I agree with you totally when you say the armour is your personal understanding of scriptures. However, in the book of Ephesians, Paul says, "Put on the whole armor of God." You see, you can only put on what you have already or what has be given you. Nevertheless, in first Corinthians 9 vs 7 Paul asked a question as pertaining spiritual war: "Who serves as a soldier at his own expense...?" As such, you cannot put on the armour that your government that sent you to battle has not given you.

paxonel:
L I E S!

SCAM

The armor is your personal understanding of scriptures which you use to guide yourself from being deceived by unbelievers

You see, the armour is God’s wisdom for spiritual battle. And James tells us the characteristics of God’s wisdom and how to appropriate this wisdom.

James 3:17
[17]But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Notice that text says, this wisdom is easy to be intreated. The word intreated is the old English word for entreat, which means to ask for earnestly. In other words, the wisdom of God, in this context the armour, is easy to ask for earnestly.
James 1:5
[5]If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

James said if any man lack wisdom, in this case the armour of God for spiritual battle, let him ask of God, and it shall be given him. Ask, and ye shall receive that your joy may be full.

What you ask for and it is given you does not belong to you: it belongs to the giver

Share this article with family

Share this with loved ones

You can leave a comment here and I will respond

Jesus loves you

Share this with family

Please read and share with friends

Please share this article

It is impossible to put on the whole armour of God as outlined in Paul's letter to the saints at Ephesus!

Now you might be wandering why I began this treaty with such bold underlying statement "It is impossible to put on the whole armour of God." However, if you can take the time to read through this treaty then you will understand my convictions.

You see, no man can put on the whole armour of God except God puts his whole armour on the man.

Ephesians 6:11
[11]Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

To start with, the verse above informs us that the armour is the sovereign property of God. And know man can receive a thing except it be given him from above.

In the natural world, it is fundamentally the responsibility of a government to both arm and train its soldiers. This obligation is rooted in the concepts of state sovereignty, national security, and legal accountability, ensuring that armed forces are capable of protecting the state and adhering to laws of war (there are also laws of spiritual war, for example see Jude 9). Governments, often through ministries of defense, are responsible for providing the necessary resources—high-quality gear, weapons, equipment, and logistics—and training to their military forces.

When the Philistines were set in battle array against Israel, there was a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, whose name is Goliath. Scripture has it that he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

Now a careful analysis of Goliath's gear will inform you that this was provided by the Philistinian government. Goliath’s armor consisted of roughly 125–157 pounds of bronze (5,000 shekels) and a 15-pound iron spearhead. While the exact cost is not in the Bible, calculations based on the modern price of bronze and iron indicate the raw material value of his armor is likely between $500 and $1,500 USD today, excluding labor and artistic craftsmanship. And $1,500 USD when converted to Naira is over 2.1 million. In other words, Goliath alone was putting on a military gear worth over 2.1 million Naira. Goliath couldn't have afforded a gear of over 2.1 million Naira just to set himself for battle. The gear was certainly bankrolled by the Philistinian government.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, there was a young man named David whose occupation was to shepherd his father's sheep, and at this time had opted to fight the Philistines' champion Goliath. While David was gathering momentum to go into battle, the king by name Saul called David into his tent and armed him with his armour, and put a helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

Now what am I getting to? Notice in the two scenarios for Goliath and David that they both were armed in full military gear by the government of the two nations (Philistine and Israel). Neither Goliath nor David put on the whole armour so to speak, but they were wholly armed by their respective governments.

Paul asked a profound question that corroborates the fact that indeed governments whether physical or spiritual provide arms for their soldiers to battle: "Who serves as a soldier at his own expense...?" (1 Corinth 9: 7).

Scripture says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds... The fact that we wrestle not against flesh and blood implies that we wrestle against spirits. And to fight against spirits we need spiritual military gear, that'll be worn on our spirit bodies: for there is a spirit body.

1 Corinthians 15:44
[44]It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.


What am I getting to? The only way to put on the whole armour of God is to ask God in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to put His complete armour on you; and thank Him for it by faith. Just as Saul the king of Israel reserves the right to puts his complete armour on his servant David, so God the sovereign King of the Kingdom of heaven, annexed on earth in the lives of every Christian, reserves the right to put his complete armour on everyone who ask in the name of Jesus, and believe.

You see, the armour is God’s wisdom for spiritual battle. And James tells us the characteristics of God’s wisdom and how to appropriate this wisdom.

James 3:17
[17]But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Notice that text says, this wisdom is easy to be intreated. The word intreated is the old English word for entreat, which means to ask for earnestly. In other words, the wisdom of God, in this context the armour, is easy to ask for earnestly.

James 1:5
[5]If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

James said if any man lack wisdom, in this case the armour of God for spiritual battle, let him ask of God, and it shall be given him. Ask, and ye shall receive that your joy may be full.

To illustrate this, Rebecca Brown in her book "He came to set the Captives Free," related, at a time of grave spiritual battle with occult forces, how an angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, "Father sent me to tell you to be of good courage, do not be afraid or discouraged for we are with you protecting you every step of the way. The battle is going to become even more intense from this point on and Father says you must be sure to always put on the armor of God."

Rebecca said, she went a step further to ask the angel: "how do I put this armor on?" And "How often...?" To put on this armor, the angel replied, "Pray like this: 'Father, would you please put your complete armor on me now, I ask and thank you for it in the name of Jesus.'" "Father says that once every 24 hours will be sufficient. Even as the Lord Jesus told you when He was here on earth that you must take up your cross daily, so must you put on the armor and prepare for battle daily. You must understand that this is very important. Don't forget to ask for it each day. If you don't have the armor on you will get hurt."

In the final analysis, the armour is put on you when you ask the Father in the name of Jesus and believe you now have it on by thanking the Father for it. This is a faith act.

Recall that in the beginning of this article I said it is fundamentally the responsibility of a government to both arm and train its soldiers. Now having looked at the part of armament, let us look at the part of training.

Once a man is enlisted or conscripted in the military, it is the responsibility of the government to train him in the art and skill of combat. Let us look at the example of David and Goliath again as a testament to this fact. When Saul was addressing David, he said something striking about Goliath that "Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." Put somewhat differently, Goliath has been trained in the art of war from his youth by the Philistine military because he was enlisted: but David on the other hand had no skill or training in the art of combat because he wasn't enlisted in the military therefore the government of Saul has no responsibility for his training.

Nevertheless, when God through the prophet Samuel anointed David as king and enlisted him in His spiritual army, the onus was on God to train David in the art of physical and spiritual war. David in one of his psalms testified how the LORD taught him the art of war when he said: "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me."


Both David and Goliath were taught the art of war by the very government that conscripted them into the military. Goliath was taught the art of war by the Philistine military because he was conscripted therein, while David was taught the art of war by the LORD because he was anointed into God's army.

Dear heavenly Father, I ask that you would put your complete armour on every one today that you will cause to read this article. Father, conscript them into your army and teach them the art of war even as you taught your servant David when he said, "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight..." I thank you for doing it in Jesus name, Amen.


Do not hoard knowledge, propagate it!

Jesus is Lord!

This has all come to pass

Share this with friends and family

Share this article to friends and family

The only way to keep this teaching fresh in your mind is to tell it

Please read this article and tell it to someone

Send this revelation to friends and family

Share this with everyone

In my last post, I delve into how Baptisms opens the door to destiny. I cited instances such as how the children of Israel were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea on their way to the promise land ( 1 Corinthians 10:1-2) . Also, I gave example on how the Lord Jesus during his baptism the heaven over him was opened (Luke 3:21-22)

Nevertheless, baptisms not only open-up destiny, but it also aligns and bring one into the revelations of God's word.

Now, having discussed the necessity of water baptism, I would dive into how the baptism in the Holy Ghost brings one into the revelations of God's word.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom. And when you receive him, God will make you of quick understanding. Paul in his epistle to the Romans put it best, "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:11).

Consider for illustration, King Nebuchadnezzar's wife, the Queen, described Daniel as having the Holy Spirit, which makes him of quick understanding

Daniel 5:11
[11]There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

Indeed, revelations, understanding, and sound logical depths and interpretation of God's word is always preceded by the enduement of the Spirit. This is the reason the disciples of Christ, after his death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, could not understand the mystery of Christ until they were filled with the Holy Ghost; and the scriptures as it were was made plain unto them and the eyes of their understanding opened up.

Now let's go back to the beginnings and see how the scriptures corroborate this truth in principle.

The apostle Paul speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost said that the things which happened in the Old Testament are examples unto us. In other words, those things that happened in times past are types and shadows unto us in this dispensation.

1 Corinthians 10:11
[11]Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

What am I getting to? You see, before God makes a man of quick understanding to the revelations in the word, there's first an enduement of the Spirit. Now let us look at this truth in types and shadows before coming into the full blaze of the light.

Genesis 2:5
[5]And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

You see, the grass or seed or herb as used in that text above is a type of the word of God (Luke 8:11), the earth or dust is a type of man (Genesis 3:19), while rain is a type of the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 11:14).
Now notice in that text that the herb (the word) didn't grow upon the earth (man) because there was no rain (the Holy Ghost) to water the ground. Put somewhat differently, we would not be doing injustice to that text if we say that the Spirit is necessary for the word to grow in-depth and revelations in the life of a man.

Deuteronomy 11:13-15
[13]And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
[14]That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
[15]And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

Did you notice in verse 15 of that text that God said He will send the grass, which is a type of the word, into your fields for the cattle? But also notice that before God sends the grass, he had already sent the first rain and the latter rain, which are types of the outpouring of the Spirit (see Joel 2:28).

If you are a pastor, I'll advise you to meditate in the above text: because therein you will get a glimpse on what to do to effectively feed your cattle ( your congregation).

Proverbs 1:23
[23]Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

You see, an in-depth understanding and revelation in God's word and the enduement of the Spirit are not mutually exclusive. To have an in-depth understanding of the revelations in God's word you need the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Daniel put it best when he espoused that he understood by books... Why? Because Daniel had the Spirit of the Holy gods (Daniel 9:2; Daniel 5:11).

A teacher, in one of the leading seminaries, once told his students, 'Do not go out there to preach unless you have the enduement of the Spirit.' I couldn't agree more wholeheartedly.

Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus that God might grant them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so they can understand the mysteries in the word of God.

Ephesians 1:17-23
[17]That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
[18]The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
[19]And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
[20]Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
[21]Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
[22]And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
[23]Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

I remember in my own life that I was a Christian for over 26 years, yet anytime I opened the Bible it seems like I'm reading a story. But things changed when I received the enduement of the Spirit and could understand the scriptures and interpret it. Before now I could not preach or teach the word effectively, but thank God that I'm growing in the word from grace to grace.

So I encourage you, the reader, to receive the enduement of the Spirit, and God will make you of quick understanding in the word.



Don't hoard knowledge, propagate it!

Jesus is Lord!

Aidoko2:
Baptism is in a name [Jesus]
Not in a titlte

The problem I see here is that instead of you to listen to the word, you're listening to your preachers. Paul told Timothy to preach the word.

Please don't just read, share with friends and family

[quote author=AntiChristian post=137207878]So Joseph is clean? Then all man has sinned verse is a lie![/quotey]

When the Lord Jesus told Peter, "He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all "(John 13:10).
Does it mean Peter is sinless?

gohf:
after writing all this, especially being baptized into Moses do you now see that water baptism is baptism unto John?

Jesus didn't baptize anyone with water but with the Holy Spirit, the living water

Brother, if you say water baptism is baptism unto John, you are not far from the truth because John came in the spirit of Elijah to restore the heart of the children to the Father's.

Malachi 4:5-6
[5]Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
[6]And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

However, today baptism is made in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Or it could be done in the name of Jesus Christ. This brings baptism under the authority of Christ. So either way God is glorified.

AntiChristian:
Did Jesus washed his adopted father Joseph?

Have you not read, "He that is clean need no bath."

Share this with friends and family