The PROPHETIC 1: The Prophetic is Prophecy

PROPHECY

This is one part a lot of believers shy away from.
Some of us fear it or its usage
Some of us are scared of the truths in prophecy (we don't know what part God will decide to show)
It is mysterious to some
For some Christians, it doesn't exist

One thing I've found is that Prophecy is often neglected by believers

I will like to ask, what is your attitude towards Prophets and Prophecy?

(Be honest please)

I'm asking that question because it is important you know where you stand.

If it is a ministry you are against (knowingly or unknowingly), you might have issues operating fully in it

Fola - I used to think it was exclusive to the white garment churches

Toye - It's for a confirmation of that which God is(/has been) saying

Keneth - To me i believe its a blessing to hv genuine prophet in our generation,
Though many hv tanished the image of the prophetic in many ways,
To me genuine Prophets and prophecy am for..cuz it an awesome blessx

Sumi - At first I never rlly loved prophets because the majority I saw always predicted onli good things like they never said only very positive things an it seemed like hard or difficult moments won't ever come. But it is different now

First, what is Prophecy?

It is a hearing, seeing or somehow knowing what God is presently saying or doing and expressing that to others by some means.

So when we prophesy, what we are doing is speaking for the mind and heart of God as revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Do you know how beautiful it is to speak God's mind?

How did we get to the point where we see this as evil?

This is such a beautiful thing. To not just know the mind of God but to be able to express it towards others. Wow

(let's keep in mind that in hearing God, it is not everything we hear that we speak. Directions usually come with what is shared. Sometimes we are meant to just pray about it). How long has Prophecy been?

Amplified Bible. Acts 3:21
[21]Whom heaven must receive [and retain] until the time for the complete restoration of all that God spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets for ages past [from the most ancient time in the memory of man].

God has spoken by the mouth of the prophets since the world began

Here it says from the most ancient time in the memory of man.

The gift of prophecy has been in use since the most ancient time in the memory of man.

What is being prophesied?
What God has spoken.

How?
Through Prophets

Since when?
The beginning of the world.

Amplified Bible. 1 Corinthians 14:1
[1]EAGERLY PURSUE and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy (interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching).

Here we see Apostle Paul admonishing us to desire prophecy.

To desire something is to be on fire to get ahold of, to covet it.

God through Apostle Paul tells us to be on fire to obtain and use these powerful gifts made available by the Holy Spirit but especially the gift of prophecy.

Now, if we read the letters to the corinthians, I think from chapter 12, we will get the background properly.

The church in Corinth at that point had placed  emphasis on some gifts more than the other; speaking in tongues

They "over-emphasised" speaking in tongues (praying) and under-emphasised Prophecy. Does this sound familiar?

Majority of churches in the body of Christ today are the Corinth Church o.

If you don't know how to speak in tongues, you will nearly be excommunicated in some churches or be made to feel less.

But we meet people that prophesy and we shut them up.

The only prophecy a lot of us believers agree with is "inspired preaching/teaching"

In this particular chapter, we see that Paul wasn't talking about teaching here. The Greek word for preaching (which he had used before) is not what he used in this letter so we cannot translate it to mean inspired teaching.

Now, this does not mean speaking in tongues is wrong or should be desired less. No.

Apostle Paul said in verse 5 that He wishes we all spoke with tongues.
He valued the gift of tongues.

He was only asking that we regard the place of Prophecy is our midst also

When we choose to ignore the prophetic for whatever reason, we become unbiblical Christians

If you have any thing against prophecy, it is unbiblical of us

Every fold of ministerial gift is important. We don't remove one because we've met insincere prophets.

I believe the enemy works hard in this area.

The Prophetic is a very powerful fold of ministry, requires extra training and watching over those that officiate in it too.

The Prophetic is not exclusive to a particular church or DNA.

The reason we see it more common in the white garment churches is because they embraced it while most Christians shut it out.

They help their ministers grow in this gift

History of Prophecy in Scriptures

Out of all the five fold ministerial gift in Ephesians 4, we see that it is only Prophecy that transcends all era.

From the beginning of time, we had prophets. Let's look at those who operated in the Prophetic in the Old testament. We have Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Miriam, Deborah etc.
(you can add more if you remember)

Now let's note one thing (cos we will come to it a we Continue this series), not all of these people officiated directly as prophets but they all prophesied or moved in the prophetic.

For those of us that think prophecy ended with the old covenant, let's look at after the new covenant and those that operated in the Prophetic.

1. Agabus and the prophets from Jerusalem.

Acts 11:27


2. 2. The church in Antioch.

Acts 13:1-2
 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. - Bible Offline

We see from this scripture that there were Prophets in Antioch and it was through them God spoke that Barnabas and Saul (Paul) be sent out.

Paul's call came and was established through the mouths of Prophets. Other believers might not have minded him should it not have been confirmed from these ones who officiate in the prophetic ministry

3. Judas and Silas
Acts 15:32

4. The daughters of Evangelist Phillip
Acts 21: 8-9

The promise of the spirit and Prophecy

Let's read Acts 2: 16 - 18

[16]But [instead] this is [the beginning of] what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
[17]And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions (divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [divinely suggested] dreams.
[18]Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [telling forth the divine counsels and predicting future events pertaining especially to God's kingdom].

Here we see the promise of the spirit.

When the spirit comes, four different times scripture records that He comes to make us a Prophetic people.

This is the dominant work of the spirit in our lives, He causes us to come alive and gives us a Prophetic nature.

Every person born of the spirit (and filled with the spirit) is expected to be a Prophetic person

We are a Prophetic nation, everyone of us that carry the spirit.

We prophesy (doesn't mean we officiate as prophets), we see visions, we dream, we speak God's mind and heart; All of these, upon the outpour of the spirit

So if we have fight with prophets or the prophetic ministry, now is the right time to dead it cos we need to start operating in line with the outpour of the spirit.

This is why we had to start with Hearing God (for ourselves first). If you can hear God, it is hard to doubt that another can hear God. It is also easy to examine whatever is being prophesied.

Let's also note that the basics and foundation from Hearing God remains in the Prophetic part of this series

Have you ever received a Prophetic word from anyone? How did you respond to it? Did you believe or discard?

Tebs - Someone stopped me and said don't travel for the next three months you will have an accident🙀.. Who does that? It planted fear for some days but I prayed it off and got better

Sumi - A prophet told me I will travel that time since I didn't rlly blive in prophets I was just like travel where to but deep  inside me didn't blive. Because I've never seen maself traveling.

Purposes and Functions of Prophecy

1. To equip the saints for ministry and mature the body of Christ.

And he gave some, apostles; and some,q prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Ephesians 4:11‭-‬12 KJV

The first purpose of  Prophecy as with other folds of ministerial gifts is to help the body of Christ grow and equip us for service.

2. Edification, exhortation and comfort

But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
1 Corinthians 14:3 KJV
To edify is to build up, erect and strengthen.
To exhort is to urge, spur on or encourage into action
To comfort is to bring peace, healing or a message of mercy to a wounded part of a heart.

So we see from point 2 that prophecies encourage us into action. We move in accordance with it.
Probably we've been down, sometimes God sends a word through others and it just strengthens or heals us.

Note: Almost all prophecy within the body of Christ i.e church should stay in this level, especially if we do not operate directly in the office of the prophetic.

When we get Prophetic words, we should check them with the above. Does it encourage the person? Does it heal them?

Should we notice that the prophecy we got is not in any of these categories, we should meet without church leadership and relay to them first.

This way no one is saying anything unchecked or in a manner that defies the purpose of prophecy.

3. Corrective Prophecy

This is a word that speaks to a wrong area of our life or ministry. Probably we've been doing certain things wrongly, of course God will communicate this to us cos He loves us.
This part brings correction, rebuke or a change.

I think most Christians don't like this part.

We'd rather God tells us this part directly instead of telling other people.

Well, if we were listening to God in the first place, we wouldn't be following a wrong path and need correction/rebuke.

So if we are in a position where we are being corrected or rebuked by God through certain persons, we should know it is from a place of love and if we were listening or following in the first place, the rebuke won't be coming.

Corrective Prophecy though open to every believer should be managed by leaders in the church and be done in love.

Don't go and gossip about the person God gave you a message for.

4. Directive Prophecy

This is a type of prophecy that gives clear direction, a course of direction that we must/should take.

I believe this part should be left for those who have been ascertained to be trustworthy in the Prophetic ministry, not just believers or those who officiate as prophets.

We cannot be playing ludo with people's lives. We've seen situations where prophets say don't marry person A or don't take that job, don't collect the money, move to America etc.

A wrong interpretation of what God spoke or giving the message to a wrong person or not relaying the timing of the message can actually destroy the lives of those involved.

Important
As believers, we do not give prophecies to others relating to points 2 and 3 unless we first submit it to and through our leadership.

I know we've been seeing things since birth but please these areas of the prophetic need to be weighed and judged first.

They are best reserved for the seasoned and mature Prophetic voices.

If it comes through those of us still growing, we meet our leaders about it. Also, seeing things does not automatically make you a prophet. I will explain this probably in the next teaching

5. Prophecies function as a weapon of war in the fight of faith

One of the aim of the enemy is to cause us to move out of faith and give up on the promises of God. Prophecy is a powerful weapon in this case, as a person or church. We know God has spoken, so we hold on to it.

Timothy, you are like a son to me. What I am telling you to do agrees with the prophecies that were told about you in the past. I want you to remember those prophecies and fight the good fight of faith.
1 Timothy 1:18 ERV

This is why it is important to write them down. We go back to them on days when things are not going the way we expect and we hold on to God's words as a weapon

6 God wants it to function in our prayers

To just pray what we think or what we see is not enough, God wants to speak with us, He wants us to know what is on His mind/heart, so when we pray, we pray what Christ our great intercessor prays.

Prophetic prayer births result because we are basically praying the mind of Christ

Let us pray

Lord, we thank you for your word, for flooding us with your light and opening our hearts to your truth.

Should there be anything that we find difficult to understand, spirit of God do break it down for us.

Help us to move in the Prophetic just as the Lord wishes, especially in times as this.

We pray for other believers around the world, that you open theirs eyes also to this truth and your will concerning it.

We pray that you expose those who exploit your children through the prophetic, that every false prophet in the body of Christ be brought to repentance.

Help us to grow in these gifts and manage them properly.
Help us to not get puffed up or proud as we begin to operate in this move.

Amen

HEARING GOD'S VOICE

As we walk this Christ walk, one of our greatest needs is to learn to consistently hear God's voice.
Jesus has not left and left us an incredible Job to do on our own. He does speak, He does lead, He does guide us into His perfect will and work in many ways.

We have access to both His spoken word and His Speaking voice

And like I've been hammering since we started, we have to believe this first.

Today's part of the series is focused on opening up our hearts and minds to know how God speaks to us and Specifically how He speaks to YOU

Also to understand that His speaking is in no way limited

Matthew 17: 1-5 ( The Transfiguration)

In this chapter, we see an amazing story of 3 of the disciples of Christ up on a mountain with Him. He is transfigured before them and they see Him in all of His glory, Moses and Elijah are in this cut too.

What an amazing experience it was for these men.

While they were taking all these in, the cloud of the father's glory begins to overshadow them and the father Himself speaks.

He could have said anything about His glory r Himself as the men present were so much in awe of what they saw and overshadowed by God's Glory.

But what did God say?

" This is my beloved son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!"

This was God's big statement at such a time.

Listen to Him

It was a charge, a command, a necessity

Now we cannot listen except we hear first.

You can not follow/obey what you did not hear

A lot of us have left this part to ministers alone. We've come to a place of believing it is spiritual leaders and pastors that have this access, that have been given this decree. I mean, God said that to the disciples not the general public

I am strongly convinced that it is still the primary responsibility and need today for all of us in this Christ walk (Ministers and non ministers alike)

A lot of leaders and ministers do so out of their own understanding and their own minds

A lot of us followers of Christ are led by our own desires and self instead of just being our description, Following

This call to Listen is directed at every one of us.

To be led, we must first hear then follow

Four Extremes on Hearing God's voice

1. God wrote a book and lost His voice

A lot of people believe that after the Bible was completed, God stopped speaking to us directly and only speaks through scriptures.

This is not true.
God's speaking is not limited to just the Bible. He speaks through other means (Though every spoken word/means do not go against the written word)

2. Moses' Syndrome

Just like the Isrealites:
"Oh Holy man, go up on the mountain with God and let Him speak to you and tell us what He said"

A lot of us are sitting comfortably here.
We want to be spoonfed
Waiting for someone to always bring what God is saying to us.

This set of people actually do acknowledge that God still speaks, but there is an error, they acknowledge/believe that only certain people have access to hear God speak.

So they wait for the certain/special people to always bring what God is saying to them

3. I want to hear Him but I CAN'T

A whole lot of us are here too.
We know God speaks but we just feel He speaks to others and not us.
We do not blame it on anything. It's just "we can't hear" and this is not a problem.
We've never even thought of it before, if it is something we should look forward to. I mean, we have the Spoken word and it's done so well for us

I'd like to remind us that have ears that hear for a reason. If God can speak then we can hear.
It's really this simple.

If you believe God can speak to your pastor and it is not a lie then God can speak to you too and you CAN hear

4. God speaks to me all the time about everything through His voice ONLY

This is false and extreme
If you've not dramatically heard the voice of God over a situation, this does not mean God is not speaking through other means.
The only way God speaks is not His voice.

He speaks through diverse means. "God did not tell me directly (with His voice) not to do xyz, so I'm going to do xyz"

Is xyz in accordance with scripture?

If no, why are you waiting for Him to speak again over what He has spoken before just so you can believe.

This is an extreme we must also do away with

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
John 10:3 NLT

We've been given assurance that surely He will speak to us who follow Him. He will consistently speak to us actually as there are different turns in this walk where He leads.

This is for us to know, that we can also learn to hear Him and know His voice.

I don't know if anyone has pets here and you had to train the pet from scratch.

You practically have to teach the pet (let's say dog) to know your voice, who to not bite in the house.

Infact, I've seen people introduce their guests to dogs

Like they will take you to where the dog is and be friendly with you then do introduction, just so it recognises you next time you come alone. We all can also learn to know the voice of God and hear Him

After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.  They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
John 10:4‭-‬5 NLT

Now here is the bad part, for as many of us that do not know the voice of God, it is very possible that we will follow other voices

The Other Voices (Strangers: John 10vs5)

As we walk this Christ walk, we will encounter many other voices. Jesus called these the voice of the stranger.
These voices are bent on leading us astray. These voices could also be from well meaning people who don't know any better, which is why it is important that we hear for ourselves.

The key is to learn to differentiate between His voice and these others (Strangers)

1. The voice of the world

We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.
1 John 5:19 NLT

The first voice we need to learn to deal with is the voice of the world. All over nations of the earth, the spirit of the world has shaped cultures, a whole lot of things we hold dear and valuable.

In all of these cultures and valuables, there are things that of course will not hinder our walk with Christ and us following Him

There are also a whole lot of thing that will stand in His way and oppose as we learn to follow Him

There is a reason Apostle Paul emphasised that we should no longer be conformed to the culture/pattern of the world.
 Our culture often shapes our lifestyle and even faith in God.
It plays a huge role.

There are so many things we do and believe in the church that are NOT Christ or kingdom minded.
They drifted in from our culture

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
1 John 2:15‭-‬17 NLT

The voice of the world is the first thing we should shut out, first thing.

If not we will be doing "Traditional/Cultural Christianity". Which in itself is not Christ like

And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
Mark 7:13 NLT

Traditions and cultures that we are used to are very dangerous if we do not understand that most of them are of the world. And because we've been brought up with them, we've learnt to listen to this voice, we are used to it. We have to be very intentional with shutting it out.

2. The voice of the Religious Spirit

“Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Matthew 16:6 NLT

These ones are very powerful also and dangerous as they tend to masquerade as the voice of God.
They come to seekers of God and infiltrate our ability to hear God and follow Him in a living relationship replacing the life and work of the spirit for outward spiritual activities.

Satan in this place disguises himself as an angel of light. We've explained who the Pharisees are,
Those who focus all of their lives on external religious activities, duties and all but no real life in the spirit with God.

The Sadducees sought God but didn't believe in the supernatural activity of God in our lives. We have to be very careful of these religious spirits. We can't afford to have any of them as their voices stray us.

How do Religious Voices Operate?

* This voice constantly drives us to do more religious works to attain higher spirituality, get closer to God or hear God.

* This voice pushes us to be more interested/focused on outward religious works and duties.

* This voice focuses on us always using our logical mind instead of relating to God in a supernatural way by His spirit

If you hear Let's put God aside first, na dem o.

Put God aside where? 🙄🙄 There is no reason outside of God.

* The religious voice longs to replace the voice of the spirit with our own mental reasoning or outer works. If we find ourselves guilty of any of these, it is one of the reasons why we find it difficult hearing God

3. The Voice of Other people

See, sometimes people will mean well for you and try to advice you and stuff but it will not be according to God's will.
They are not misleading you on purpose. They might even have a  relationship with God sef and fellowship often with Him but still give wrong advice.

I learnt one thing from my late spiritual mum that first, I am my own prophet

I'd go to church those days and next thing she's asking me to go to the altar area and pray. Sometimes I will sleep off o, she will ask me what did God say.
In my mind, what did which God say 😂😂😂

Like just talk abeg, stop stressing me

It felt like it was punishment then. Infact, I  used that exact word. Mummy gave me punishment, to pray for hours or come to church and pray for days or add fast

Like why not just go straight to the point instead of stressing me 😭😭😭

Today, I tell you this is one of my fondest memories of her. I won't forget.
It is one lesson I really needed in this walk.

Those close to me off this group can testify, you cannot come and dump your prayer request on my head o, especially if we are close and I notice it is becoming habit.

I could be the one misleading you tomorrow (God forbid). But it is very important that we all know God for ourselves and stop constantly relying on other people to hear God for us

It is not bad for people to actually bring message from God. I get messages through other people a lot. But we should not rely on others for it.

You have your own hearing ear too

If you see yourself constantly waiting on someone else to speak to you or tell you what God said, there is a problem and you are making it difficult for your own ears to pick anything

4. The voice of our soul

This is the loudest I believe as it forms our core part. So many times I've heard people say, "I'm not so sure it is God speaking or me"

Everything passes through our souls. It is the filter for everything we hear so we must learn to discern what is coming from us and what is from the Lord. We must also learn to filter what we take in as it has a huge influence on what comes out

The spirit lives inside of us already and that is where He speaks to us. But as our spirit man receives the word, it must then be passed through our soul (which consists of our mind, emotions and will).
Our soul is largely influenced by us.

First, what is the origin of all that flows into your soul?

Your emotions, what have they been connecting with the most?

Your mind, what has it been pondering on the most? Note that your mind also takes in all that your body does (Your senses, from your seeing to feeling, to touching etc)

Your will, what are you strong-willed about?

One of major problems I've found in this part when it comes to hearing God is Unhealed hearts/Emotions and Unrenewed minds. If these are present, there  is need for a clean filter for the voice to pass through.

This is the answer, here is the solution :

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Hebrews 4:12 NLT

It starts with the word tbh. His word is powerful enough to do the cleansing, it will do the deep work in us. It pierces deep within us and exposes us to the division between the spirit and soul

It makes us aware of what is of the spirit and what comes from our soul.
It lays us bare. It strips us naked

Note that it is not judging or condemning us. As I've been typing, the spirit has also been laying bare certain things from my end too. That is what the word does, it open us up.

This is one step we all can't afford to miss.
If the word does not come in, our minds can't be renewed, we can't be transformed.

We will always be playing a guess game when it comes to hearing God's voice. Maybe it's God, maybe not.

It really doesn't stop at hearing God's voice, we also have to know it.

It is a great key to following Him

My sheep KNOW my voice

I pray that all we've learnt today really helps us in this walk and that we all come to a place of knowing God's voice. Amen

I BELIEVE

As an Anglican, I grew up reciting the creed every Sunday. Same as almost all things I was taught growing up, I didn't understand the full implications of the creed I proclaimed every Sunday at that time.

Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator 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; the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth 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.

Every Sunday of reciting this and it took a while for it to hit me.

Same with Psalm 23, most of us knew it since we were kids but some Christians are yet to understand fully what we are saying when we read these things

Today, if you ask me to introduce myself, I will most likely mention I'm a believer..
This will be part of my description of me. I believe most Christians will also

"Oh! My name is Olúrèmí, I'm 19 and the most beautiful person you know. I'm a believer in Christ Jesus"


Sounds so sweet and cliché

I've come to realize most people don't exactly know what they are saying when they tag themselves believers.

 Tonight, we will be talking on I BELIEVE.

What exactly does it mean to be a believer, in Christ Jesus?

Our opening scripture is John 3:16.

This is one of our earliest study of believing growing up as Christians.

John 3:16 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

John.3.16 - For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

The AMPC

Trust, cling, rely on.

To cling is to hold on to something strongly

To have a strong dependence on something/someone

Every Christian is familiar with this particular scripture.

Most 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 Donald trump is the president of the US, does that mean I believe in Him?

I believe and accept Paul Biya is the president of Cameroon, does that mean I believe in Him or accept him as my own president? No.

If we go by this analogy, even the devil believes

Let's read Mark 1:24 - “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

Here is what demons had to say.

I know who you are

You are the Holy one of God!

If the devil knows and accepts that truly Christ is the son of God and this doesn't equal salvation to him, then it doesn't for us.

Knowledge and acceptance that Christ is the son of God is not all that our belief entails

This is where it begins though

Another instance is in the miraculous feeding of 5000 (John 6:5-13)

After the people saw the sign, the verse 14 says :
"After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, 'Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.'"

This is in reference to the old testament's foretelling of the coming of Christ

These people even planned to crown him king (that's how much they recognized who he was) but Jesus left quietly.

The next day, they sought christ out.
They had to cross to the other side of the lake sef to find Jesus

They found him and a conversation ensued between them (we can read the full chapter for understanding)

This came up in their conversation:

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”  Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
John 6:28‭-‬29 NIV

They already believed Christ was sent from God.

Christ's reply here shows that though the statement above is true, it is not what is required.
They had to believe IN the one that was sent

After all the explanations, long story short, this happened:

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
John 6:66 NIV

They believed Christ was the Messiah sent from God but they did not believe or accept fully His words. Don't know if the picture is getting clearer

For many people, the concept of their belief is like accepting an applications 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 sha be counted as those who are saved. So let's just head over to the I agree part of the contract

Doesn't work this way.

Suppose a person of weight, let's say 100kg, sees people walking on a bridge made of tiny ropes.
Even some other people of weight are passing through. And this person believes that he can pass and the tiny ropes won't break or give way. He even goes ahead to tell other people of weight to pass.

How do we know he truly believes he can pass and nothing will happen?.

When he actually walks across it! When he walks his talks!

Another instance,

I believe Seun can finish 10kg of rice at once. I make mouth to everybody on Word Alive

"Ehn? Seun? I trust him die. E go chop am finish. Person wey fit chop dead body. Forget. Na my guy. I know wetin u dey talk. E sure me dieeeeee"

I'm not merely bluffing, i do truly believe Seun can finish the food

Usually, what goes on next is action.
Not action to make me believe
Action produced from my believe

I will put money down for the rice or bet sef

 If Bimbo says
 "ah! Remi you are lying. How can Seun finish 10kg rice? Oya buy the rice let's see"

And my reply is refusal to buy the rice. Everyone on Word Alive automatically assumes I don't believe what I'm saying myself


Do we get what I'm trying to point at?

I'm trying to use as much relatable terms as possible

Believing IN someone brings a special kind of stanning.

Look at those that believe in the ministry of Pastor Chris, most actually model his dress style.

Look at Kim Kardashian stans, they are getting surgeries to look like her.

We tend to model the lives of those we truly Stan and believe in. We tend to obey such people (Bey hive as example here)

Take note of these words, Follow, model, obey

Let's open to Acts 16:30-31

Acts 16:30-31 New International Version (NIV)

30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

This is the jailer asking Paul, what must I do to be saved.

Believe IN the LORD JESUS Christ

It is really this simple.

Believe IN Christ (Saviour), who is also Lord (Master) and you are saved.

A lot of us like Christ as Savior but not as Lord. There is a problem here

Trust that Jesus is truly saviour makes us rely on His death as the full payment for the debt of sin
This further translates into us depending on His own resurrection as the guarantee, that we would also be raised

And because we totally depend on Him up till life eternal, we follow His every lead as our Lord and Master

This is a brief sum up of I believe


The direct implication of I believe is that my believe is trust and dependence in what He has already done. To depend is to let Him lead

Christ is saviour - Fact!

I believe that Christ is my Saviour is me embracing the fact of Christ being saviour and all that it entails

Seeing Christ for who He really is. Embracing all that we see and allowing Him lead us in His path.

If we say we believe:

1. First, we truly know that Christ is Saviour

2. We accept Him as our own saviour and Lord

3. We accept His words and obey

4. We appropriate His works and rely on it completely.

5. We follow His lead

All of these produces the very character of Christ in us. Apostle Paul defines Faith, the one that saves as a decision to not trust in ones own works but rather in Christ who justifies us.

Our dear brother James, explains this (Saving Faith) further:

My brothers and sisters, if a person claims to have faith but does nothing, that faith is worth nothing. Faith like that cannot save anyone. It is the same with faith. If it is just faith and nothing more—if it doesn’t do anything—it is dead.
James 2:14‭, ‬17 ERV

But someone might object and say, “One person has faith and another person has works.” Go ahead then and prove to me that you have faith without works and I will show you faith by my works as proof that I believe.
James (Jacob) 2:18 TPT

The author of Hebrews also had this to say:

And after being proven perfect in this way he has now become the source of eternal salvation to all those who listen to him and obey.
Hebrews 5:9 TPT

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Luke 6:46 NIV


Christ explaining what it meant to say He is Lord

Let's note that this doesn't mean we have to do to be saved


Rather that, our faith in Christ, that truly He saves us, produces these things, naturally.

If I want to know the man that believes in Jesus, how? It's in His obedience to Jesus. I don't know this by His words but by what his belief produces.

Do you believe?

If your answer is yes, then this is what it means for you:

You believe in who Jesus is (Saviour and Lord)

You trust in all what Jesus has done and rely on it completely

You obey Jesus and follow His lead

For it was only through this wonderful grace that we believed in him. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the gracious gift from God that brought us to Christ! So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving.
Ephesians 2:8‭-‬9 TPT

I will end with this reminder, that it is only Christ who saves. not how good we are or the good works that we do.


But our belief in Him and all He has done for us