CONSECRATION

Sometime last year, the Lord began to highlight 2 things to me: Obedience and Consecration

I remember in one of those conversations in November, we were in Abuja for Samson’s wedding.

I was having a conversation with Bukky and Precious while in the bathroom when all of a sudden, I stopped hearing them.

Then I heard the Lord ask me:

What are the things I’ve shown you about your journey?

Everything I’ve shown and told you, get home and write them out but first list them to me.

I first sat down on the floor in the bathroom because I knew it was about to be a long one. 😂😂😂

When I was done listing these Glorious things, the Lord asked me to list out patriarchs of Faith in the Bible that were called to special purposes and ‘glory.’

With Joy, I started calling names of men who have walked this God path. I was remembering them and in awe as I did the listing:

●      Abraham

●      Daniel

●      Peter 

●      Ayo Babalola

●      EA Adeboye

●      Kathryn Kulman,

And so on.

I began to think of these people and all they achieved; all they did in the name of God.

Then the Lord asked me a question:

Look at them, 2 things are common for all of them: their obedience and consecration. Do you think you walk in the level of consecration and obedience required for the Glory I’ve shown you?

I’d probably have responded that I do usually obey o and I’m consecrated 😂 but you see, when God brings thing like this to you, you pause right there and take it in. Wherever you think you are, whatever you think you already know, you first pause and take it in. 

Fast forward to January during my personal retreat, I heard those 2 words again, but this time for the body.

For each and every one of us!

A lot of things will happen this year;

A window of exploits open,

So many people will finally be setting their feet inside destiny,

Things that looked so far off, it is almost time 

But…

What will carry us into it and sustain us is Obedience and Consecration.

I taught on the first part; Obedience some weeks ago

Obedience and Consecration

It is how we will navigate the seasons ahead,

It is what will bring us into promises,

Our passcodes for inheritance,

It will deliver your lot to you,

It will fast-pace things that have been delayed,

But,

Nothing will happen outside these 2 things

 

What then is consecration?

Ayodele: It means to dedicate oneself to something. It's like going one step beyond the basic requirement to commit fully to something.

Samson: Means being separated from the general for a special use. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.

Teemah: It’s an act of being intentionally devoted to someone(thing)

Sis Olubunmi: Intentionally setting someone/thing apart as holy

Amaka: In this context, I will say it's giving yourself to the Lord to become a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1)

Omolola: Separating and setting aside your self, will and life for God to use

Blessing: To set aside for a purpose or cause

Ruth: Total yieldedness to a particular cause

 

1. To consecrate something is to set it apart.

To be consecrated is to be devoted to something/someone (higher than us)

Now when you set something apart, there is always a use to it. 

So to consecrate is to set apart to God

To set aside for a purpose or cause 

And this time, the cause is God Himself 

”For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.“ Philippians 1:21 NKJV

Consecration is perfect submission

One thing I’ve seen with believers is our focus on the promise, on the glory, more than the God of the promise. 

Forgetting that what brings results is the consecration not even the items. 

Not your gifts, not your person, not how good you are, but your consecration to God and ultimately His cause.

Let’s travel a bit to the Old Testament

We see how the tabernacle furniture was made from earthly items; wood, bronze, gold, stone etc. The people allowed inside the tabernacle also were men born like every other person, wore linen clothes and used water to bath. Yet, we see how all these earthly elements somehow had extraordinary and glorious significance.

Fire was literally falling from heaven through their use.

The ark of covenant was built with earthly materials yet it carried so much power that it could kill those not adhering to its manual. 

Through the use of these earthly materials, God was revealed to men in different ways.

So our question then will be:

What made these wood, bronze, priests, etc, become extraordinary?

What was the extra?

What championed the quick results?

The extra is Consecration

All of these things were consecrated to God

Set apart to and for Him!

Not committed to self or any other purpose but God’s.

What changed all of these things from ordinary to whatever glory we perceive of them is that they were consecrated.

And this is the mistake we make, we are busy trying to attain glory/purpose shown to us by God forgetting that nothing used by God can be unconsecrated.

There is no effective actualization of the purpose of God in a man’s life that doesn’t start from consecration.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”  I Peter 2:9 NKJV

[9] But you are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings,  a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world. 1 Peter 2:9 TPT

[9] But you are his chosen people, the King’s priests. You are a holy nation, people who belong to God. He chose you to tell about the wonderful things he has done. He brought you out of the darkness of sin into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 ERV

[9-10] But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. 1 Peter 2:9-10MSG

For every great and glorious vision a man has,

The first realization of it is that it is God who owns visions. He only shares them with us.

We are mere instruments for His purpose and vision, so we will belong to Him.

Not belonging in terms of believing and being a part of the body of Christ but;

Belonging to Him completely, 

Not having a life of our own 

Because your own life will not run that vision.

How does Consecration play out for us?

What is your why?

What is the sponsoring thought for everything that you do?

No man set apart to God has a purpose of himself.

He literally lives to ensure the purpose of the Lord is birth (from his own capacity) 

He lives and breathes the purpose of God

His why is always God! 

To navigate life in this season, we must move away from selfish decisions and purposes.

We must come higher to a place where our Why is God.

Break down everything you plan to do and then ask, how does this serve the purpose of God? 

Then ask a second question:

Is this what God desires of me to serve His purpose?

Ask this across board, every area.

2. Consecration is us being given to God’s Priorities

What is most important in the heart of God? 

What does God prioritize? 

List them for yourself 

I will share some too:

- God prioritizes time. Yes, your time! 

- God prioritizes kingdom (Matth 6: 33)

- ⁠God prioritizes man

3. Consecration is God becoming priority

You cannot prioritize the things of God when you have not prioritized God. 

For the priests in the Old Testament who were set apart for God, their only duty was God. 

We sing this song:

I put you in front…

You are all that matters 

But in reality, for most of us, He is not even first talk more of ALL.

On a scale of importance, where does God stand?

4. Consecration is yieldedness to God’s Process

If you are set apart for God’s purpose and its ensuing Glory, you must submit to the process that births it.

With God, you cannot bypass process. 

Christ could not jump pass the process of beatings, the pain of carrying the weight of our sin on the cross.

He bore it all.

He had to bear it all!

That is the mark of a consecrated life.

So even in pain, we submit to the process of God.

We are not cutting corners, we are not rushing and trying to get to the end that God has shown us.

And it is not just enduring the process, we must glory in it.

We must rejoice in it!

5. Consecration is Sacrificial and the sacrifice is your life

And when I say the sacrifice is your life, I do not mean you should carry knife and unalive yourself 🌚🌚🌚. 

I do not mean die for God in the literal meaning of death.

Die to self and live for God in your daily decisions.

Abraham lived this life.

From the very first “Leave your father’s land to a land I will show you”

Do we even think about it that Abraham most likely had investments in that land?

A running business?

He had things going on for him

His first sacrifice wasn’t even Isaac

Another perfect example is Christ

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13 NIV 

Greater love has no one than this!

Another example is Hannah

She prayed for years for a child and gave up that child to God.

The Levites are also perfect examples;

For them, no allotment from the lands. Their devotion was to God alone. Their lot was God and they were fine with it

I’d like to end with this:

Our destinies are preserved inside of our consecration

Consecration is not just God trying to make us live for Him or do things a certain way.

It is not a scheme to keep us under control because God is overbearing and likes to be in charge. 

Consecration is the pathway to destiny

It is how God ensures we get to destiny

Nobody who plans to arrive at destiny chooses to ignore this.

Only men set apart arrive!

For everything God has shown you, it is first His agenda, so there is no way you will get there outside of Him.

Daniel’s journey in the palace is an example for us too.

Consecration is Yes to God at every point

When it makes sense and when it doesn’t.

Again, this is that season that every Yes to God matters.

Every yes is an opening of a layer towards where we are headed.

 

And it is my prayer for everyone 

That as we walk this year and season

We receive Grace to walk with God

We stay apart even as we’ve been set apart

We are yielded to the Lord, to His every leading and nudging

We do nothing outside of Him

God is our priority 

In Jesus name

Amen

 

Aliceson: My question is with respect to this. How does one change their “Why”? For clarity, let me explain what I mean. If my reasons for doing stuff, for the longest time, has been success or fulfillment, for example, how do I truly change my perspective and make God’s purpose my Why? Is it just by telling myself “I’m doing this for God,” or…?

Adebolanle: Amen. Such a timely word for the season. Just to add, in the place or journey of consecration, there is growth, most times uncomfortable one. You will most likely have to let go of old ways and create new ways for new things. Things you used to do before, sometimes you’d have to stop or at the very least refine. A breaking down to rebuild sometimes. Sometimes you’d even have to let go of old friends or take them out of your inner circle. 

I’m sure you’re thinking why, it’s because you’re setting yourself apart for a purpose, for God. We’re not perfect, there’s no way something is not an hindrance in that process. Except you’ve truly and fully prioritised God already and then glory to Jesus for you. I rejoice and celebrate you. 

And it’s also not a one size fits all, what God may want to remove or change from your life may not be the same thing he wants to change from the next person. Therefore, we just continue to stay with him and hear what he has for us. May God grant us the grace to stay and trust the process and live a life of consecration and obedience to Him, to live a life for His purpose. Amen!

 

TO PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS OR NOT?

FORGIVENESS

Opening Prayer:

Our God and Father we thank You.

Thank you for how whole the Bible is and thank you for always teaching us the truth.

As we study your word tonight seeking answers to the questions in our heart, help us to be receptive to Your truth. 

An open heart to unlearn and relearn.

Let the spirit of God be the teacher tonight. 

In Jesus name, 

Amen.

My question to us is this:

As Christians, are we supposed to pray for forgiveness of sins every time we pray or even at all? What are your general thoughts and opinions concerning this?

So we had a pretty interesting conversation yesterday (it birthed more questions in my DMs actually which we will be treating after this) Tonight, we will be opening the Bible together and checking what it says about this.

Please come open-minded

Also, don’t take my word for it, scripture rules over our emotions and thoughts.

All of us will open the Bible together.

 

PS: Thank you to everyone who shared yesterday. I loved how the discussion went.

So to our conversation…I would like to start from the back and travel back to the front 😄

So let’s say we have to ask God for forgiveness every time we sin to actually receive forgiveness. This means if you forget to ask one thing, you are not forgiven. Or if I die without asking for forgiveness, I die in sin, and he who dies a sinner is of course positioned for hell right?

Olamide: Not necessarily but why not ask if you’re still alive and able to?

What this means is that if someone lives every day of their life not sinning, if they sin once and forget to ask God for forgiveness before dying they are going to hellfire.

Which now brings me to this: What we are really saying by this school of thought is that there is no assurance of salvation.

I’m going to branch a bit and then share what Salvation really is.

What does it mean to be saved?

How are we saved? 

What are we saved from exactly? 

The answers to these questions will help us carefully answer the initial question. 

Being saved simply means that our sins are no longer counted against us unto an eternal death sentence. 

But first, what are we saved from and what are we saved into? 

Because if I am to save someone from Nigeria by removing them, I will have to place them somewhere new (My analogy doesn’t mean we need saving from Nigeria by the way 😂😂)

This now brings me to The Gospel.

I am sure everyone has used this phrase at various points in life,

The gospel simply means ‘Good news,

And I tell you that it is one of the most important things for us as Christians.

It is what shapes our beliefs and our acts and it very much matters what we believe about the gospel.

Is it completely good news? 

What is our part to play in it for this news to be truly good? 

The Gospel is not something that every one of us Christians can handpick what we want to believe about it?

The sole interpretation of it determines our very walk in Christ so I need you to stay with me closely.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 1Corinthians 15:3-4 NKJV

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.“  1Corinthians 15:56-57 NKJV

 

I want us to first note that Paul was actually writing to believers in this letter; 

”Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. Some of you don’t know God. I say this to shame you.” 1 Corinthians 15:34 ERV

Yet see what he says to them in verse 34

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

I will start from vs 56

It says the strength of sin is the law 

The law legalistically demands that the wages of sin is death 

What then is this sin that has a demand of death?

When Adam fell, we inherited a nature; a sinful nature.

We inherited sin; it became an ingrain for mankind, follow come essentially.

It is this nature that produces lies, wickedness, cheating others, adultery, fornication, etc 

It is the manufacturing company,

It is this nature called sin that has a demand of death,

That translates to eternal damnation for every man.

The bad news here is that everybody has this nature.

So even if you are nice or you don’t lie, the nature exists and the demand is death (eternal death)

Now what did God do? 

He countered this bad news with a good news, what we call The Gospel

Because God loves man so so much, He found a way to ensure man is forgiven of their sins and do not stand condemned. He did this by sending His only son Jesus Christ to carry the sins of man on himself through death. And on rising, the son Himself who knew no sin came up without any blame.

Which means anyone who is in Christ has come up with Him and is without blame.

We take up the exact position of this Christ at judgement.

Christ died for our sins,

He fulfilled the requirement of the law when it comes to sin,

He paid the price the law demanded.

Christ dying means that the problem of sin has been dealt with completely 

“who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”  Hebrews 7:27 NKJV

“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14 NKJV

“He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”  Hebrews 9:26 NKJV

The writer of Hebrews makes this very clear, whatever we believe we owe when it comes to sin has already been paid!

No one is asking for a second payment from you if you are in Christ.

Christ paid it all Once and for all!

For all who believe, for all who will believe.

Now, I made an illustration that sin the nature is a manufacturing company right? 

If the manufacturing company’s requirement has been sorted or it be destroyed, what happens to its produce?

Same Fate!

I will expand this further during the course of this teaching by the way (sin, the deeds)

“To Him all the prophets testify (bear witness) that everyone who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him, giving himself up to Him] receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” Acts 10:43 AMPC

Now, this is how we ‘enter’ Christ 

By believing

Which brings me to the next part 

Everybody says they believe in Christ, but what do we really believe?

If they ask you, you will say I’m a believer.

But what does it mean to be a believer in Christ?

A lot of us say this as a means to be saved but is it restricted to just saying “I believe”

What we believe determines the life we live as Christians

Everyone who believes is forgiven 

John 3:16 says everyone who believes has eternal life and is not required to pay debts owed by sin.

A sweet package indeed

Who no go wan believe?

But what does it mean to believe?

 

The AMPC breaks it down

It says to believe is to:

Adhere to Christ

Trust in Him

Rely on Him

Give himself up completely to Him

Cling to Him

 

Just look at these 

To cling is to hold on to something strongly, to have a strong dependence in Christ and what He did.

I need everyone to read those words again and see what it really means to believe.

There is this creed we take, ‘The Apostles' Creed’

How many of us have heard of it before now?

 

The Apostles Creed

“I believe in God the Father Almighty

Maker of Heaven and Earth

and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into Hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead;

He ascended into Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.”

I grew up an Anglican, so I grew up reciting this almost every Sunday 

In Yoruba, my pastor will say “e je ka jewo otito igbagbo wa” (it means let us now confess the truth of our faith) and then we will recite the creed of the apostles stated above.

I was reciting this almost every Sunday o, but I did not understand it.

The truth of my faith

The truth about what I say that I believe and what it means for me.

Some years back in my quest for truth and Christ, I began to learn that the Apostles creed was actually a response to heresy in the body of Christ.

Gnosticism denied divine creation, the divine incarnation of Christ, His deity and salvation by Faith alone. 

The church gathered and the response to this was to make a creed of what the apostles taught for all who say they believe to keep saying before men slip into works and the error of the heresy spreading  (this was most likely the 2nd century, I’m not very sure)

It is named the Apostles’ creed because it is what the Apostles taught and we must not attempt to teach any thing other than it or interpret it from our own lens.

Back to John 3:16

Again, are we following?

I know it’s a lot of information but I’m doing a detailed exegesis on this so there is no room for doubt when we are done. 

I can just answer that pray for forgiveness or don’t pray and quote one or 2 scriptures, but the questions may linger.

So we must treat this from the root

 

I continue 

Most people tend to read or translate this verse as :

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that everyone who recognises and believe He is Saviour will never perish but have life everlasting. 

The word believe used here means more than simply agreeing that Jesus, is truly saviour.

I believe that Tinubu is the president of Nigeria but does that mean I believe in him? 🌚

Do I even accept him as my own president to start with?

This statement here is simply an acknowledgement, not belief in him.

The one who believes in Christ should look at that AMPC translation again.

For many people, the concept of their belief is like accepting an application’s terms and condition without reading or knowing it. 

Just scroll down straight and click the I’ accept’ part. All I care about is my need for the software.

For most, all they care about is to be counted as those who are saved. So let's just head over to the ‘I agree’ part of the contract.

And this is where most of our problems start; because we’ve not understood the terms and condition in this contract, our usage of the software is flawed.

We begin to input how we think it should work, we are trying to troubleshoot outside of already laid down tenets.

Which brings me back again to the laid down terms and condition for our salvation (where we started 😃)

 

I continue 

From all the scriptures presented (different authors/apostles, one of them being Christ Himself), we can boldly say that the only way man is saved is through Faith in Christ. 

We already broke down this faith and what it means to believe above.

This cancels out the theory that if you don’t ask for forgiveness after sinning you are unforgiven.

Because what this theory is really implying is that your salvation is dependent on your awareness of your sin and continual asking of forgiveness for it.

Then we are now forced to ask, 

Did Christ really pay it all then?

What is the worth of the blood shed on Calvary?

Does this now mean that we should not ask for forgiveness of sin?

The answer is No

I will come back here and elaborate

What I am first ruling out is that a man will go to hell because they forgot to ask for forgiveness for a particular sin.

Because the implication of this is living in fear;

Living in fear of hell,

Living in fear of death every minute,

Living in bondage to sin, fear and the flesh 

Can we not see that if we travel this lane, we are actually still living under the dictates of sin?

That fear of hell and this sin is keeping us bound.

Making us watch our every move,

Sowing seeds of doubts about our salvation.

And when they say 

Let The redeemed of the Lord shout in Joy

We are first trying to check if we have sinned or not,

Holding off on our joy

When our maker invites us to come fellowship with Him, we busy ourselves first trying to ensure we are worthy to stand before Him

As if we could ever be worthy

As if we could ever be worthy by our own deeds!

Confess your sin from now till tomorrow 

If Christ did not die, hell fire straight for all of us.

Even the best askers of forgiveness

Salvation is not a move of pity from God because we asked for forgiveness. 

Its down payment is the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the only son of God; who is GOD HIMSELF!

These things must sink, please.

It is no more about you or I but what was completely finished on the cross

If it is by this one, then we could have stayed killing bulls and sacrificing goats 

That was the children of God asking for forgiveness

They did it per time

They shed blood per time

Every time they sinned

I really wish believers understand what it means to want to pay the demand of the law yourself.

Go and ask the people in the Old Testament,

You cannot!

 

God saw that you cannot and that is why He stepped in.

Or do we think the requirement for salvation will be mere asking for forgiveness by mouth?

 

Blood!

Blood!

That’s what it demands o

And since we want to be asking every 2 minutes (knowingly and unknowingly), you will shed blood with it too every 2 minutes

Believe me when I say we cannot keep up.

 

Again, does this mean asking God for forgiveness is wrong.

Answer is a Big NO

In our journey in Christ, we will make mistakes.

We will succumb to the flesh at times 

In fact, I believe it is why we have to believe and not just accept Christ 

In clinging, in relying, in trusting, in adhering to Him, in giving ourselves up to Him, what we are really doing is becoming dead to sin day by day 

I believe is a signed agreement to die to self daily!

Asking for forgiveness for sin is not wrong!, it is just not what saves us. 

 

Now for those of us on the divide of never ask for forgiveness, we need to check too and be sure it is not pride motivating us or a desire to remain in that sin because we believe we have a bank we can pull forgiveness from.

(Repeated) Sin is a sign of weakness in the flesh 

And I tell you all of us have this in varying degrees 

For some people it is anger, some jealousy, some pride, some gluttony etc

 

Don’t be deceived by perfectionism, the type that distorts the message of Grace and perverts it. That too is a lie the devil uses to keep men living in sin, outside of their identity in Christ.

It is why a Pastor is sleeping with church members and still mounting the pulpit every day without remorse. 

Do not deceive yourself 

 

So what do you do when you sin and the Holy Spirit convicts you?

 

Go to God with it!

Confess it to Him not because He cannot see or He needs you to bring it to His attention to be aware.

Confess not because you feel bad or because you think if you don’t, you will not make heaven 

Confess because you need help

 

People make confessions only to the people they trust. 

 

To believe in Christ is to trust in Him

That He can help you with that struggle/weakness

It is not wrong to say I’m sorry Lord

But this also does not mean that every time we come before God, we have to now be searching first for sin to apologize and ask for forgiveness for.

I hope we are seeing the balance here 

And can see that there can be 2 extremes to this

So the next time you are convicted by the Holy Spirit of a sin, 

It could be while praying or even while indulging in that sin or walking on the road doing a totally different thing

Pause and ask God for help right there. Don’t brush it off. 

Don’t say that you are bigger than asking God for forgiveness of sin, 

Or the work Christ did permits you to live this way

I hope I’m making sense and the balance is clear to everyone.

I’d also like to clear that 1 John was actually written to believers in a region who had been infiltrated by Gnosticism (I explained this earlier). These people believed that knowledge is what frees us from sin so they have no sin, which is not what the early apostles taught.

John broke this down properly in 1 John to this set of people warning about such beliefs and infiltration

Forgive us our sins is a relationship conversation with the father and not a debt we owe and we are trying to pay. 

Never forget this. 

And what must always follow it is Help me, Lord.

Any forgiveness that you keep asking for without a desire to not go back (even if you end up going back) is deception.

Now to the main question:

Why Don’t we ask for forgiveness every time we pray on Word Alive?

There are days we do, there are days we don’t 

What we have every night when we gather is fellowship with the father. It is Koinonia. 

Our focus is also not on us or our requests but on God.

So there are times we attend prayers and the spirit convicts us right there as we appear before God and we just begin to say to the Lord “Have mercy, we repent of this thing. Help us to repent truly” 

 

And there are also days we are at prayers and magnified before us is what happened on the cross: the forgiveness of our sins.

We are left in so much awe that we begin to thank God for this concept of forgiveness and justification.

We do not have a legalistic approach to prayer

All we do is come before God; our Father! 

 

We gaze upon Him,

And if He chooses, He directs our gaze back to us, our failings and who we really are in Him

There is no script!

It is all men before God

When I walk into my father’s room every day, I do not go saying 

“Daddy before I say anything, forgive me my sins” everyday 

But you see, every day I appear before Him, I will greet Him

I will honor and reverence him

Always!

We approach God in worship and not in guilt.

And I beg us again, 

Never forget that God is Father, and don’t tilt to any of these extremes in the body.

Stay with the scripture.

I have come to the end of this teaching!