SPIRITUAL WEAKNESS

In your own understanding, what does it mean to be weak spiritually?

Omotola - To lack spiritual stamina. Aka Daku Daji 🌚

Samson - The things of the Spirit don't excite one as they should

Mayowa - When you find it difficult to like flow with things of the spirit. Like finding it difficult to pray for example

Becca - To be in a state of apathy, where nothing spiritual excites you.

Weakness

Weakness is a condition of being fatigued, tired, and inadequate physically, mentally, spiritual or emotionally to the extent that you cannot function effectively

What then is Spiritual Weakness?

This is a state of being tired and  fatigued spiritually so much that it hinders us from functioning effectively

Do you think it is normal for believers to get weak in the spirit?

Omotola - Not exactly. Infact, No. It happens but it's not normal

Mayowa - I think so

Becca - No its normal but it has a high tendency to occur once in a while if not detected and properly dealt with.

While it happens/occur, it is not God's plan that we actually get weak in the spirit. Why? Because there is no weakness whatsoever in the one whose strength we are meant to ride on: The spirit.

But, we do get weak

There are a whole lot of things that happen that are not part of God's original plan but they happen regardless. And somehow, our high priest understands 😁. 

Earlier this week, God revealed to me that a number of us on the group are suffering from this. I was praying concerning some admin related things, so I asked if it was for me or the leaders. And the spirit of God said No, that this was for the group and not just for a few people.

A large percentage of us are here, spiritually weak.

I started praying. I saw names and heart conditions. Bad part is, some of us are even doing a good Job of masking it on the outside.

I wondered if I should reach out to the names I saw privately but the instruction was to teach and encourage by the help of the spirit. The spirit says a lot of the people in this position are aware. The Lord also revealed to them. 

The Lord G od has given Me [His Servant] the tongue of disciples [as One who is taught], That I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple [as One who is taught].

Isaiah 50:4 AMP

As we share tonight, I pray that the word we receive sustains everyone of us that are weary.

Back to spiritual weakness.

Spiritual Weakness manifests in different forms. It means/looks/feels  different for different people

- If your daily fear for tomorrow overrides your showed affection for God, chances are spiritual weakness has set in.

- If you feel empty often and easily distracted whenever you pray/worship

-Uninterested in spiritual things

-Teachings/sermons/tweets are beginning to feel more like an attack

-You've lost your excitement

-You are getting easily discouraged

-You are no longer disciplined in your fellowship with God

- things are becoming meaningless

-Slack in study/praying habit

- You are not really busy o but you feel too busy.

- Loss of urgency in spiritual warfare

-Cold sense of commitment

- Falling Faith

- Your excitement for the word only tickles you. You are back to status quo in few minutes

- You feel hopeless

-Continuous self indulgence (Just this once keeps turning to more than once)

The list is really long

You see these symptoms, I'm pretty sure a lot of us can relate to one or more of them.

They point to only one thing, Spiritual weakness

Now, while spiritual weakness is a problem, it is not really the problem..

You see, spiritual weakness is an unsuspecting road to carnality

Another question for us: What do you think causes Spiritual Weakness?

Omotola - Repeated Procrastination. Not setting priorities. Life issues"/distractions.

Chelsea - When a person fills too spiritual and starts assuming or thinking a "little skip or break" won't harm. Forgetfulness. Laziness. Lack of fellowship. Overconfidence. Reliance on past victories and experiences

Retta Rubies - Allowing guilt to make us forget the freedom we have received in Christ. Trying to use standard set by others to judge ourselves and feeling terrible when we fall short of those standards which shouldn't even be there in the first place as your relationship with God shouldn't be based on any standard except what is given to is in the bible

Remi - Distractions, allowing sin overcome us can also cause spiritual weakness

How do we tackle spiritual weakness?

All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41 AMPC

Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere. Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].

Ephesians 6: 11- 13 AMPC

Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God. And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit]. But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated. But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him]. For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart. [Isa. 40:13.]

1 Corinthians 2:12‭-‬16 AMPC

1. Admittance

If we keep denying the state we are in, we cannot get out of it. We will stay stuck. It's important that we first admit to ourselves that from the look of things "I am spiritually weak". So first, recognize the patterns and admit to yourself the problem

2. Second step is to Talk to God about it

You see, you can admit to yourself that you have a problem and there still won't be solutions.

So honestly speak to God about how you feel and allow Him help

3. Be Awake

Give strict attention to the things of the spirit. Be cautious of the things you involve yourself in. Basically, be watchful and stay in prayer

4. - Put On the whole armor of God

This scripture makes us to understand that this world is a battlefield. As believers, the major battle ground is in our minds. (Remember our discussion the last time on Spirit, Soul and Body)

Day by Day, we face a spiritual way and we have a real enemy: The devil

Spiritual Weakness is a sign that the enemy is somehow at an advantage in this war we face daily

Like I said earlier, the end game of the spiritual weakness is not just for you to feel weak. Nah

It is carnality

The enemy is out to destroy

From verse 14 of Ephesians 6 down to 18, we see the full armour of God we are asked to put on. The verse 13 tells us why we need to put it on

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Ephesians 6:13 NIV

For the days when the enemy is gaining ground, these are days we need this armour that we may be able to STAND

What is this full armour?

1. Belt of Truth

Not just truth about our state. You see the enemy will rather we focus on what is wrong with us. There is a truth greater than your current spiritual condition/situation. And this is the truth of who you are in Christ. The enemy will rather you do not engage this truth as it will help you overcome this problem

Your reality might be far from this truth o, but it is your truth regardless. Whatever God deems true will always be true. Hold on to it like your life depends on it

Confess it often

For your deliverance, put on truth!

(Practical class, so someone help us with a truth confession that addresses this. More than one person if possible).

2. Breastplate of righteousness

Bring out your righteousness card. Now here is the thing, this is not just Christ's righteousness in us being lived out.

The enemy will usually try to tell us this is it. You know why? He knows we do not have any righteousness card "in deeds" to come up with. Chances are if you've been spiritually weak for a while, you've been living in a way that is not Christ like.

Your Breastplate for righteousness is that which Christ has clothed you with. The enemy wants to attack you with impurity. You must first stand on the truth that you are pure and righteous before God then proceed to live this out.

3. Shoes of Peace

The enemy wants your heart to stay troubled, either by life situations or even the problem at hand. Find peace in the knowledge that your high priest understands. And be aude He does, help abounds for you

4. The shield of Faith

Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. He is able to keep us from stumbling. We should never think that we are far too gone or we can help ourselves.

5. The Helmet of Salvation

He who the son of man has set free is free indeed. First, we must remember that we are saved completely regardless of the situation. And the one who has saved us even from sin and eternal death is able to deliver us from this too

6. The sword of the spirit

The word of God! This is the greatest spiritual weapon ever. For every response Christ gave to Satan, it was the word. The word of God is our weapon in winning this battle and getting out of this state. Don't stay far away from the word

There is no Spiritual weakness/strength without the person of the spirit. We must be taught by the spirit. We must stay with Him and allow Him help us, if not every thing will be wasted effort.

If you are finding it difficult to do so, get one or 2 people, pray with them. For those that know me, you know I don't joke with corporate prayers. Scripture says 1 chases a thousand and 2, 10 thousand. Imagine how much more we do together as a body.

Be accountable

A lot of us want to pretend that nothing is wrong when something is wrong. Hmmm, this is 10001 ways to stay in that position actually.

Open up. These things thrive in secrecy. Reach out to someone. Allow them help you. And please don't just reach out to anybody. Reach out to someone who is led by the spirit.

To root out spiritual weakness, it is not just by wishful thinking. No! It takes effort and discipline

We can be touched by the teaching tonight and still go back. Choice!

It takes you to be ready to receive the help that Christ gives to move forward from here.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Matthew 11:28‭-‬30 MSG

Here's what Jesus is saying to you tonight:

Keep company with me, allow me remove the heavy load and show you how to live light. He says to allow Him teach the unforced rhythm of Grace. To leave that place where you keep struggling and trying but never enough

Just allow Christ. Take the help He gives readily

Don't rely on your strength, it will fail. Instead look to the Lord and His strength

For those of us who are strong in faith at this time, restore others and pray for them. Be available to help everyone that is down. Support and uphold them

For those of us that have seen that we are spiritually weak, know that you are not alone.

Even the very spiritually mature ones get here sometimes.

God is utterly devoted to you. He's here again with help

I leave you with this scripture

And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes.

Jude 1:24‭-‬25 MSG

Let us pray

Thank you Jesus for your word

Thank you because it is you who keeps us

Thank you for you are our ever present help

Thank you for reaching out to us Lord

Thank you for loving us and being fully devoted to us.

As we have received your word, it is strength to us who are weary

Our ginger is activated back

We accept the help you give freely

We do not fall back asleep spiritually as we leave here

Your word comes alive in us

Amen

How To Use The Concordance in Studying The Bible

Our study will be in 5 outlines:

1. What is Concordance?
2. Why do we need concordance?
3. How to use the concordance for effective bible study - Tips
4. Practical bible study using concordance
5. Precautions to observe in using the concordance

Question: is anyone here familiar with Concordance? Do we know what it is?

Chelsea - Its an alphabetical list of words with references to a certain text or passage

Samson - Bible dictionary sort of

1. What is Concordance

Concordance is a bible, an index of words in Hebrew or Greek showing the Pronunciation of the Hebrew or Greek words, the transliteration and definition of same . It also shows other words this Greek word can be translated into (as used by KJV) it shows the number of times it appears and the verses it appears.

You'll most times find it translated into KJV English.

It helps the reader/user to compare how these words are used in other chapters for better comprehension.

2. Why Concordance?

We use concordance because:

The bible we have today wasn't originally written in English language.
The OT was written in Hebrew and Aramaic, while the NT in Greek, Koine Greek specifically.
History has it that the English Bible is the fourth level of translation from the original Hebrew/Greek bible.

Also, we need concordance because of translation errors as recorded in the bible translations we've. The KJV is the most closest to the Hebrew and Greek bible,  and even so,  most of the 1611 English used might not be applicable to us today.

Let me also add to this that the Hebrew and Greek is vast than English. Especially Greek,  it is wider,  unlike English that is limited in application. Most times a word in the Greek can mean 10 different things in English language and the AMPC version of the bible helps us see this.
This is also a reason to have and use the Concordance

This is one of the reasons why we see something like Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5 "...deliver him to Satan for the crucifying of the flesh" and we sometimes get confused.

Using concordance also helps us understand the Bible better. We can understand the thought of the writer being communicated as we study.

Let me give an example:

For my Yoruba people here: lets say i'm talking to Omotola  and i want her attention, i'll say something like "tẹti silẹ"

Literally in English it means "put your ears to the ground", but that is not what I mean. What's intended to communicate was Omotola ,listen attentively" but a non Yoruba person might go by the literal meaning and miss the though being communicated.

Also, I  should say - There is nothing spiritual about concordance it doesn't depict how spiritual a person is.

3. How to use the concordance

1. We should have the Bible concordance on our phones and of course our usual English Bible. (I'll like to say that you'll mostly find concordance being translated in the light of KJV translation).

2. While reading our normal English Bible, we might come across a word that is not clear in usage, we launch our concordance and check up the word. We check how it is used, it's literal and figurative meaning, it's relative words used elsewhere.

3. We also compare its usage. Is it a verb, a noun, an adjective, a conjunction? These are the things to look out for.

4. After checking the above, we check it's definition. The concordance will always give you definitions.

5. We might need to check the root word for some Greek words, this will be given in the concordance.

Just as in English,we have a root word,  it is same for Greek/Hebrew. E.g, We derive purposefully from purpose in the English language.

We'll understand Better when we get to the practical aspect.

4. Practical usage of concordance in studying the bible

5. Precautions

There is nothing spiritual about using concordance. Using concordance or not is not a gauge of spirituality.

Let's remember that beyond checking the Greek meaning or Hebrew,  CONTEXT IS KING.
we can know all Greek words and still miss what the author is trying to communicate.

We should study the pretext
We should understand the context
We should study the post text and with the aid of concordance, we'll have an effective bible study.

Let's not forget, the whole essence of this is to understand the author's thought being communicated and not to be doing Greek/Hebrew scholar upandan.

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

DEVELOPING EARS THAT HEAR

So far in this series, we've learnt that God speaks and we can hear.

Lovers of God have been given eyes to see with spiritual discernment and ears to hear from God.
Proverbs 20:12 TPT

As long as you are a part of the body of Christ, the bride He is coming for, you've been inbuilt with eyes that see beyond the physical. You discern things spiritually

You've been built with ears that hear not only what people around you are saying but what God is saying to you

And I keep hammering on us believing this part first.

If you doubt that it is not for you, you will not be able to function in that area

Your sight is hindered by your belief

God speaks to us ✅✅✅

Now that we know and are certain we have a hearing ear, how do we develop it?

First, let's see How God speaks to us

We've talked about this a lot of times but for the sake of this teaching, I will list all briefly

Ways God speaks in the bible

1. The scriptures
This is the first, primary and safest hearing of God for our lives. We find God speaking in the bible through scriptures written before then. God's word is true always, it stands forever. Even after looking at other ways God speaks, we must come back to that which is written.

2. Impulses and Urges

The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness,
Mark 1:12 NLT

Jesus was compelled, He had a strong urge/impulse to go to the wilderness.

God communicates with us this way. We just feel a strong urge to do something. Recently I was in a down phase. I couldn't pray that week and I was just begging the Holy Spirit, please give me strength to pray. Help me

That same week, a couple of people reached out to me. "Hi Remi, good evening. I just wanted to let you know I'm praying for you"

"Hello mama. How are you doing? I've been feeling this strong urge to pray for you"

"Fine girl. Hope you know I'm praying for you?"


"Good morning ma. God has been impressing it on my heart to pray for you since this week began. I also felt a strong urge to reach out and let you know that an altar of prayer is being raised on your behalf"

Note that I did not speak to any of these people about anything. In fact one of them, last time I spoke to her was last year.

This was God communicating with them by laying Urges upon these people to pray.

Sometimes, certain people/things just keep popping up in our hearts and we just feel the urge to pray for them. It is important that we do not neglect this urge.

Usually, it is God speaking to us and using us to meet a need.

Also God communicating with these people on my behalf was Him communicating with me too.
After they all reached out, I suddenly found strength and started praying.

My personal prayer usually has nothing personal in it except my alone moment with God, it's filled with intercession. When I was down, I felt bad that I am always praying for people and now I can't pray for myself.

But God reaching out to these people was a reminder to me that as I'm interceding on behalf of others, even people I don't know are interceding on my behalf.

Immediately, I picked up and was strengthened.

If we get Urges and we are not sure what to do, ask God.

" Lord, I keep feeling this strong impulse concerning this person/thing. I'm not sure what I'm being asked to do. Lord please, help me hear you clearly concerning this"

He will reveal further surely. Never neglect the urge.

3. Our Conscience

The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.
1 Timothy 1:5 NLT


Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.
1 Timothy 1:19 NLT

Sometimes, we make certain decisions and our conscience starts telling us it is wrong or how better we should do it.

Now, while God might speak this way, it is tricky. Our Conscience must constantly be renewed by the spirit and the word.

That's why when people do certain things, we say they don't have conscience.

They actually do have. Conscience is a person's moral sense of right and wrong.
sense of right and wrong vary according to individuals and the morals they uphold.

So it is important that the morals upheld is in accordance with the word and guidance by the spirit

Question - Remii oo what if after asking u get an answer "No " and the urge still what should we do?

God will not give you an urge to pray for someone and give a NO as an answer.

If you get a no, probably the direction of your question.
Maybe you are asking what to pray for the person and God is saying give the person money 😊.


All still points back to a hearing problem in communication. Ask God


4. The voice of the Holy Spirit

Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Three men have come looking for you.
Acts of the Apostles 10:19 NLT

The spirit is so often the voice of God to us. He speaks and it comes into our soul where we discern what is said.

5. Your natural thought Process.
Sometimes the voice of the spirit doesn't come as a voice unto our thoughts, it comes as part of our thoughts. Like we just think something and we know this is not from us

6. Other People
God speaks to us through other people. We need to be open, listening and spiritually alert at all times.
He uses prophecy to speak to us through other people.

Sometimes it's in the messages we listen to, the movies we watch. Don't know if we've ever seen a movie and it feels like God is addressing you directly

Sometimes I'm just on YouTube and a random message pops us and I know it is God that made that message pop up

Sometimes it is on social media. Someone posts something on their own o, without attaching any meaning to it but you see it and know it is you God is speaking to.

Sometimes it's in passing conversations. You are walking or doing your thing and people are gisting their own, but the message is for you.

7. Visions, Dreams, Pictures
God speaks prophetically through all of these. Some people go into a trance while some of us have these experiences with God while awake, very consciously. The latter takes a lot of spiritual alertness usually, from my experience.

8. Angelic Visitations
God speaks to us through angels. We can see this in the book of acts. I personally have had this experience a couple times. Infact, I rushed to write everything down that day.
I slept off and it continued as a dream. His angels are ministering spirits

9. Nature, Animals, Object
All of creation constantly declare the glory of God and His works. This means one thing, they speak. God speaks to us through them. He used a donkey to speak to Balaam and objects to bring messages to others. To see and hear God in all of these things and ways, our spirits must be awake and listening

10. Situations
Certain things happen around us or in our lives but they come with a message from God.
When things happen (good or bad in the physical), it is important to ask God.
"Are you saying something to me Lord?"
"Is there a message in this for me?"

11. Peace
Let your heart be always guided by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body. And always be thankful.
Colossians 3:15 TPT

God's peace is a guide, it directs us in the way we should go.

I believe this is also like our conscience. We must first subject our minds to renewal by the word and spirit.

Some wicked people have peace 😭

God will speak through whatever He wishes, the sick, the poor, the rich, the hale and hearty. He can use anyone.

Before we move on, can we share other ways we hear God that have not been mentioned

Sumi - Through songs,one on one,through someone,scripture ,situations (good and bad)
The night before I cut ma fingers in the grinding machine. That evening I had a strong urge to worship an pray. I remember I told God to use me as a way of showing his glory wherever I find myself and that may  his goodness an love be seen through me always

The next day bam I cut ma fingers and in normal situations pples fingers never come out as a whole and in other circumstances their hand or arm is cut off. BT he showed his glory through me once again. I was in awe

Uju - Through relationship
You may have thought you have found the right person,then something happens..you lose the person you thought you love,you ask for forgiveness... Then you remember this is how you are to GOD ,you claim you love HIM yet you fall astray to sin and you get back up and ask HIM for forgiveness,HE is trying to tell us we can do better,Amen

Remi - I should share mine

While I have experienced all the ways listed above, not all of them are constant or primary.

It's not everyday I have angels visiting and talking.
I hardly get messages through animals, I don't even look at animals for long.
I run when I see dogs 😂😂
So if God tries to speak through a dog, ah trouble.

God knows I won't hear anything if He speaks through animals directly
(except in a vision, pictures or as objects)

If they have to open their mouth to speak, I doubt my hearing ears will be in close proximity to hear anything. Cos I'd have ran since

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Because God wants us to really hear Him, He is mindful of us too.
He reaches out to us through ways He is certain we can hear and know it is Him.

If the way we hear is limiting, He starts from there still. As we continue to listen to Him, He strengthens us and sharpens our ears to hear through other means too.

Imagine that it is only dream God can speak through. If you don't sleep, you won't hear anything

How do we know it is God and not other voices?

We spoke about the other voices that we might hear along the way.

Now we talk on how to discern and know when it is God speaking

1. Scripture
Like I keep saying, this is number one guide.
God's word is His honor, character and integrity. He cannot speak against His word.
If what you hear is not in accordance with His word, then it is not Him. Discard.

2. Nature of the voice we hear

But the wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form
James (Jacob) 3:17 TPT

It is pure, has no mischief to it. Attest to the character of God.

Peace: when God speaks He calms our soul. He doesn't compound our problems. We are at peace on the inside.

The nature of the voice of God is conderate, gentle.
He is not harsh towards us.

His voice comes to us teachable. It doesn't manipulate us. His voice is full of mercy. It doesn't condemn or Judge. It never displays prejudice. It is unwavering, the same always. Consistent in character. No hypocrisy in it.

Finally His voice is full of good fruit.
God will never ask us to do anything that is of the flesh.
Check the fruit that will be brought forth from what you hear or receive, does it align with the character of God?

If your spirit abi mind keeps telling you to quarrel with someone, you know that's not of God.
If you dreamt that you saw money in your office, took it and became the richest man in africa, then the next day you actually see that exact amount of money

It is Not God.

You don't take the money

Don't carry office money home and say God already told you in the dream o. It is stealing. That is not a fruit of the spirit.

3. Surround yourself with trusted people
It is important that we have men who are devoted to God around us. In learning to discern, we should surround ourselves with such people.
If we are finding it difficult to ascertain or discern what is being said, we should reach out to them.

Eli knew it was God speaking cos He was used to hearing so He could direct Samuel

Also note that sometimes these people might not see anything concerning that situation when you meet them.
Doesn't mean they are bad or less spiritual.

So go back to God and listen

Developing Hearing ears

Now that we know how He speaks and ways to know it is Him, how do we develop a lifestyle of Hearing Him often and coming to a knowledge of His voice

1. Believe that you can hear
I've been hammering on this cos it is important.
All that we are in Christ is edged on belief.
If we do not believe that we can, then we won't.
It doesn't matter if you've tried listening before and you did not.
We walk by faith not by sight.
Put whatever your experience is away.
Scripture already says you can hear, is your experience greater than the word of God?

2. Value Hearing God
 We see during the transfiguration, God's voice instructing the 3 (Peter, James and John) and in extension us, this is my beloved son, Listen to Him, Hear Him. We must take this word as it is for us.
We are to yearn for God's voice and be eager to hear what He has to say

To develop our ears, we must be intentional. It doesn't happen by mistake

Knowing God's voice is something we should be deliberate about and this will mean us taking necessary steps and being more attentive spiritually

Make room. Away from the business, set a time ti just listen to God daily.

Do it even if it doesn't work the first time or it didn't before. Keep going

Value God's voice.

If you do not see a need to hear God, you will not see a need to wait when you don't hear at first

3. Consistent Time in God's Presence
Make sure to spend uninterrupted time with God. Not one today then next time is next year.
As we consistently stay in His presence, we become more sensitive to His voice.
If you do not hear today, continue tomorrow, don't stop.
It will get to a point, your mind will quiet.
It will get used to you being still and stop roaming.

4. Spend time Feeding in the word
As we focus on the word more and more, we give Him more room to speak. We open our ears more.
I'm not talking about you reading what we post on Word Alive while watching Big brother at the same time.

We taking time to meditate on the word. Alone with the word, alone with God

As you read, don't be fast or in a hurry.

Learn to quiet your soul and listen inwardly.

Take note of where His presence is resting as you read.

Are you being led to focus on a particular word?

Pray as you read, ponder and listen.

Also know that alone with the word is alone with God.
in The beginning was the word...... And the word was God

Know that you are with God. Be conscious of this fact. This is not novel or story book you are reading.

4. Learn to listen through the day
God doesn't just speak when we open the bible. He speaks while we are at work and during other activities. Stay connected inwardly. He will speak to us outside of church and prayer time, in different ways and about different things

This is what Brother Paul called the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the presence and fellowship (the communion and sharing together, and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (so be it).
2 Corinthians 13:14 AMPC

What are you sharing together with the spirit? The thoughts of God

He speaks God's thoughts to us actively.
He shares ancient mysteries.
He reveals secrets

First, we listen

5. Obedience

Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let his Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life!
James (Jacob) 1:22 TPT

When all we set to do is hear for hearing sake, we deceive ourselves. We might as well not listen.
To obey is first to listen but with full/total submission and proceed to do.

Those who really love me are the ones who not only know my commands but also obey them. My Father will love such people, and I will love them. I will make myself known to them.”
John 14:21 ERV


It doesn't just stop at hearing, we should obey. Obedience produces greater intimacy.

It also works vice versa. The more we fellowship (truly), the more obedient we become.

The more we are obedient to what we hear, increase in fellowship occurs

We also hear Him more clearly

We will see that most people discard the voice of God through prophets or even prophecy because the people who bring it do not walk in accordance with God's commandment.

Also, if we want to continue living a certain lifestyle and God's word that we hear speaks against it, we might unconsciously shut our ears from hearing since it's not saying what we want

Let us pray

Thank you Father for your word and all we've learnt tonight.

Help us to pay attention to you as we step into this week. Open our ears to hear all you have to say.
We are spiritually alert and we obey all we hear.
This week, We hear you even in ways we did not know you could speak before.
We pray that we are obedient to you Lord, we do not crave the benefits of living with you while discarding the commitments that produce these benefits/fruit.


Amen

THE HEARING GOD IS THE SPEAKING GOD

Tonight, we will be starting a new series (from today till October)

Title of the series is Divine Communication

In this series we will be focusing on communication, what it means for us as believers, God's love for it, basic principles towards effective communication, types and finally, the Prophetic.

Before we go on to the first topic in this series, I'd like us to share what communication means to us as believers

Communication is the process where feelings, thoughts, desires are passed between God and us, his children. - Samson

Pouring my mind out to God and hearing his thoughts concerning them. - Tebs

To me communication is a father to son or daughter interaction through diverse strategies in the kingdom such as..
-prayers
-worship
-meditation etc. - Kenneth

Communication is wording out our feelings infact our total mind to God 
It could be through prayers, our worship n singing - Dasi

From our definitions of communication earlier, we see that it is a two way street. It is not just us talking and pouring out to God but rather talking with God.

We pour our heart out to Him and He pours His heart out to us.

It's amazing how we sit for hours talking to God, laying it all bare before Him and we believe so much that God can hear us.

Yahweh, the one who is invisible to us but our hearts strongly believe He can hear us, so we go ahead and speak.

We do not just speak, we ask and expect a Him to answer our prayers.

Where a lot of us get it wrong is this, we believe so much in the God who hears so much that we speak non stop for hours daily but we are yet to 100% dig the God who speaks.

We hardly can sit waiting long hours to hear Him speak as we'd stay to speak with Him.

I'd like to ask, if you sit for 2 hours waiting to hear from God and you do not hear anything, what will you do?

Waiting....
Honest answers please

Move on o😂
I've found that I don't always get my answer on the spot. It could just come from listening to a song after waiting for a while. The answer could be in someone's random statement. - Tebs

Ill stop waiting for a reply - Dasi

Here is what I've come to notice in many Christians, we have poor communication skills.

If you and I talk everyday for 2 months, and I'm always opening my mouth like parrot talking every minute not allowing you to land (And this happens repeatedly), my communication skills is bad.

Though I speak a lot but if I do not listen well, then communication is Zero.

I found out at some point that i was in this place both in real life and in my prayer life.

Twice tragedy 😂😂😂😂😭😭😭😭

How can you be suffering from one problem in different angles?

Is it only me that waka come?

I tried to change the physical aspect but it did not.

Infact, I did not notice a change physically until it started with God first

It is a very good thing to talk to God, to pour our heart to Him. First, it shows love and trust, I believe. It's really so difficult to discuss with one person for a long period daily without seeing them physically..

Yet, this is what we do as believers.

Why?
If we don't love God, we won't care enough to be marking daily attendance and gisting.
A lot of relationships end when one partner changes location because they can't keep up but somehow we try to keep up even when it is difficult.

I want us to know that God loves us so much and it's such a sweet thing that we are keeping this relationship alive

Even if it's just 5 min we are able to do daily. God knows that it is only love that brings us (even when we do not know it ourselves).

Also trust.

We do not just come to Him, we come with our secrets, things we'd not tell any other person.

Such a beautiful relationship

But it doesn't end here.

The same way we want to pour out to God out of love and trust is the same way God wants to pour out to us out of love and trust.

Love because that is the bedrock of our relationship

See, it is the nature of God to speak, not just to speak but to communicate His thoughts to others.

God actually has thoughts just as you do.

The same way you want to share yours with Him is how He wants to share His with you.

Communication is a big deal for God.. It is built in the very fabric of His Divine being.

Remember creation when God was going to make man, He said, "Let us make man in our own image"

He communicated His thoughts to the trinity

We see it in His relationship with all His children in scripture.

He is a communicating God. Not deaf, not dumb.

If God had this relationship with the trinity then surely man who was created in His (their) image was created with this same specification, to relate, to hear Him and speak with Him.

Proverbs  20:12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.

The hearing ear, God made it.
What is the ear hearing?
God


He designed us - His prime creation--to hear Him.
He wove it within our very nature and being just like it is woven into His..

Look at this before us:

* God spoke and Noah heard and responded.
* God spoke and Abraham heard and responded
*God spoke and Jacob heard

Same has David, Jesus, Paul etc

The story of the bible is a story of a Speaking God and a hearing people.

Again the verse in proverbs says: God made the hearing ear.

See, if you have ears, then you can hear God because this is how God made our ears, to hear.

The only way you cannot hear God is if He is not your creator

Is there anyone here that wasn't created by God?

If the answer is no, then everyone here can hear God.

Not faintly, audibly.


He doesn't have to shout it in your ears like that mama no network woman in Nollywood (please Google if you don't know her)

So tonight, I want you to know it and believe it very well, that You can hear God, everyday, for as long as He is speaking. You have ears that hear.

Please if you need to add it to your confession daily, do so. It is important first to believe this, if not every other part of this series will be difficult for you.

Please take this home tonight

The God that hears is the God that speaks

If I have mouth that can speak to God for long, then I, Olúrèmí, have ears that can hear/Listen to God for long

I'm going to stop here tonight.


Next week we continue with The Speaking voice and The Spoken Word

SPIRITUAL VULNERABILITY AND SINCERITY

A lot of people see vulnerability as a bad thing cos when we are vulnerable we are at risk of being hurt the most. We see it as us giving allowance for people to hurt us.

But being vulnerable goes beyond this.

Vulnerability is the core of all true emotions and feelings

It is us taking the risk to expose ourselves emotionally, allowing ourselves feel truly, being willing to expose our truth, being willing to allow ourselves be seen just as we are without fear or shame of the reality of who we are

There is something about exposing our truths, usually they are shameful, scary, they are things we'd rather not open up about

A lot of us pretend to be all that we are not and this happens for so long that we live in denial of our reality.

We start thinking ourselves to be all we are not

To be vulnerable is to be exposed without wanting to cover up, holding nothing back.

Ready to face the (our) truths that confront us in this place.

It is the courage and strength to see ourselves as we really are even as we depend on God's Grace in becoming all that we've been called as

To be vulnerable is to strip ourselves, to let loose our guard.

It is in the place of vulnerability that we share our brokenness in order to display the  surpassing power and sufficiency of Christ and the gospel.

It is in this place of vulnerability that we are transformed increasingly into the likeness of Christ

Let me break it down,
To be vulnerable is to accept your weakness enough that it points us to the sufficiency of Jesus and our strength in Him - "We cannot accept strength if we do know that we are weak"

Vulnerability in itself is not what is bad, it is what we see when we are vulnerable that we usually don't like

Why are we talking about Spiritual Vulnerability and Sincerity?


It is a big part of our Christian life though most people don't know

Especially for those of us that have grown to a certain stage in our spiritual walk

We do not know how to be children anymore before God.

We can't believe that with all of our knowledge, we still did certain things so we cover up or pretend those things didn't happen

Sometimes we give excuses for those things

We forget in these moments that we actually do not have any strength to do the right thing

We forget that Christ is our sufficiency and especially in days as these, we should hold on to Him

We forget that we are open before God, nothing is hidden and He still loves us regardless.

Instead, we form hard guy, hard guy

We lose our spiritual fervor. We realize we've not been praying, though we still hear from God and get revelations whenever we study but we know there is no fellowship.

We can't just accept "a whole us" is going through this, so we pretend as if all is well

And when we speak with people, we lie about our spiritual lives too. This one comes very easy

We do not open up, Not to God, not to humans or communities we belong to

Same with when Christians make mistakes/sin

We shield ourselves

We hide in our weakness instead of baring and allowing Christ be our strength

Looking back now, I just wonder

Did I really think God wasn't aware? Like who was I deceiving?

What was I protecting or hiding?

Hebrews  4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Gen 3:9 God called to the Man: "Where are you?"

10 He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid."


11 God said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?"

Not one thing is hidden from God. Not even our thoughts

Imagine going to a doctor and lying you have fibroid when it is pregnancy

Does that stop the pregnancy from growing?

If you insist from now till next year that it is fibroid, does it change the baby to blood clots

Pretending that pregnancy is fibroid  does not change the pregnancy is fibroid

Man had sinned

And the first instinct was to run into hiding.

Sin always wants to be covered.

Of course it is shameful and the enemy uses this as a tool to help us cover it well

But we are not doing is covering it, we are actually hiding in it.

Now look at God's reaction to sin from the verse we shared.

While sin is saying hide me, hide me

God is calling out, Where are you?

He really is not seeing your lust issue. He is not seeing your anger issue. He sees beyond that


Because of Christ's covering, He sees Him in you. And though He knows all that you think you are hiding, He is not focused on that. His Where are you? is not to beat you up for all you've done wrong

God is calling us to stop trying to cover our sins cos that's a failed attempt even before we start

He is calling us to Christ as our covering Garment


There is a reason Adam and Eve still hid after covering themselves with fig, the fig was not enough covering.

Even the hiding place they found did not take away the feeling of embarrassment and shame


Christ is our only hiding place

When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable. We see how our lost condition. But God confronts us with something so much better, the truth of who we are in Him


It's like me coming to Nonso that I don't have clothes. All I have to wear is rag. (Note that Nonso has bags of expensive clothes in my name). He will not shout at me for wearing rags.

He will show me the clothes that belong to me

These are your clothes, the belong to you. Put them on

He will help me put them on

I will leave better than I came, with expensive designer wears instead of the rags I came with.

I leave knowing I am much more than I thought I was

Back to Adam, If Adam's response to God's call was Sincerity, we might not be here to be honest.

Adam refused vulnerability and Sincerity and that itself is a sin problem.

When we try to cover up, pretend or make excuses for our sins, we allow ourselves wallow deeper in sin

Some of us take this to our secret place. The place of prayer, which should be the place we open up to God totally, where we hold nothing back. Like even God is not holding anything back o.

Some of us hide there too


The secret place is no place for secrets. Whoever comes to God must come with a plain heart, ready to bare it all. I don't call my friend, Precious, to meet me at a secret place only to end up telling her lies.

Does that make sense?

Is that friendship?

God knows us. He sees our darkest parts even more than we do. He understands us more than anyone else, more than we do ourselves. So what is there to hide?

If God already sees all, why do I still have to be vulnerable and sincere? Can't He just fix all without us talking or going over this?

God knowing those dark areas is not an invitation to shine His light in the darkness.

Without us opening up, His light will be meeting a shielded wall.

We have to come before Him plainly.

Judas had a stealing problem, more like not contented. Though He saw Jesus daily, that problem wasn't fixed. Of course Jesus knew Judas' problem

Judas pretended. I'm sure he acted like he really loved people and wanted to help from the purse he was keeping. He refused to admit or give that part of him up.

How can Judas, that went with other disciples to cast demons come out to say he touches the offering he is keeping?

How?

He rather kept that dark part and it consumed him

God wants us to pour our hearts to Him

This secret brought a certain kind of closeness I can't explain to my prayer life.

Am I liking a boy and I don't really like the way my thoughts are drifting? Bet I'm telling God in prayers.

You'd actually think I was talking to My girls

Sometimes I get tired of praying and I just struggle and struggle cos I must pray. I go back to God. I really can't do this on my own.

I've learnt to never be ashamed before God.

To lay it all bare.

Have you noticed this, when you discuss something secret with your friend, it redirects your relationship. It feels like it opens them to you also. Everyone starts pouring out their hearts

I've seen this play out in my prayer life. I tell God the darkest secrets I have and He shares deep secrets I'd never have known with me.

Secrets about Him
Secrets about Me.
Me in Him
My identity in Him

And I'm just there like, so this is who I am.

Like this is really who I am?.

When we open up to God sincerely, He responds by opening up to us also. We tell Him a secret, He reveals a secret (revelational truth) about Himself or our identity in Him.

Being sincere and vulnerable before God is not spiritual weakness, it comes from a place of trust and deep intimacy.

Knowing we can tell God anything and we will leave the secret place better than we came.

God wants us to be like little children with Him, wanting to share every area and aspect of our lives with Him.

 God wants us to gist with Him about everything as we do with our most intimate friends. Sweet part, He also wants to reciprocate this gesture.

In pouring out our hearts (all of it), we establish intimacy.

Make the decision to open up to God sincerely (in every area), like a baby, in loving abandonement. Be vulnerable and sincere before Him. Allow Him draw you close to Him, Lifting your burdens, covering you with a cloak of comfort and pulling you into His warm embraces.

Psalms  62:8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

Our out your heart longings. Pause in His presence and just pour it all out

God is the safest place! Don't be afraid of what you will be revealing in vulnerability. He is safe

Trust Him at all times.

Allow yourself to be vulnerable at all times

Come as a child at all times (as that is what we really are)

When we refuse to be vulnerable, it is not usually fear that God is not safe. Sometimes it is pride
Some other times, it is shame. That shame of seeing ourselves as we are

But you want to know how Safe God is, He doesn't even allow us feel that shame when we come to Him.

Christ becomes our covering

He doesn't shame us or go over our mistakes 100 times

He clothes us with the Christ Garment

If you are finding it difficult to pray, speak with another Christian. Pray together with them

My friends and I do this always. Things people would never believe anyone of us can do, the day it happens, no hiding.

We come open.
We pray together
Encourage ourselves with the word.

I keep shouting accountability here, it is because it has helped me greatly.

I don't know how to hide myself o.

Here is to you all

I really do not know what you are struggling with, but I want you to know that God is a safe place. Don't be scared to be vulnerable with Him

I pray for everyone that this teaching is not just read and pass for us.
That we make efforts to do this, the enemy doesn't succeed in tricking us into hiding.

I pray that the revelational truths that hit us change our lives forever and even those that meet us.

Amen

REPENTANCE

We will be talking on REPENTANCE today and our teaching will be interactive

A lot of us have heard: Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
Some of us even use it.
What really does repentance mean to us?
A change of heart after the realization that one is wrong.

Wikipedia defines it as the process of reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition towards past, and *this is accompanied by commitment to change for the better*

I love this so much.

Repentance is not just me checking my actions to see if they align with God's word.
It is not just me feeling bad for those actions
But rather making efforts to change and being commited to this decision

Let's read Matthew 3:1-2

When it was the right time, John the Baptizer began telling people a message from God. This was out in the desert area of Judea. John said, “Change your hearts and lives, because God’s kingdom is now very near. ” 
Matthew 3:1‭-‬2 ERV 

John's message was a call to repentance.
Like I said, repentance is not being sorry about your mistakes.
It is okay to feel sorry but don't stop there

Repentance is not a feelings word but an action word.

It is a charge

A charge to make a change of  heart/direction.

Now I want to ask, Is Repentance something we must do before we come to Christ?

It's a YES and NO.
Repentance is totality of what coming to God looks like

Repentance is the first call to Christ.
First from John, Jesus, Paul and even the disciples when they were sent.

Another thing about John's message, He didn't say You are a sinner, so you must change your ways.


It says: Change your ways because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand
Our repentance is a response to the message that the kingdom of heaven is here.

Another thing, the call to repentance is not a suggestion.
Everytime it was mentioned, it was (is) a command.

Turn away!
Stop what you are doing!
Change!

In the old testament when people repent, we see them tearing their clothes, tearing down idolatrous statues

Is Repentance only for unbelievers? Nope Everybody



Great.

The call to repentance is for everyone.
If we do not see anything wrong or a need to change, then we cannot change.

You can't turn back unless there is a Conviction you are moving the wrong way.

So if we as Christians do not constantly check ourselves, we might keep doing certain things the wrong way

So we can basically say, one of the first step to repentance is laying that sin bare, keeping it in the open.

Do we remember when Prophet Nathan came to David after he sinned?

Repentance didn't happen until that sin was brought open and acknowledged by David.

So before we can be delivered from something, we must first undeceive ourselves


You cannot stop watching porn if you do not treat it as the sin that it is

You cannot stop lying if you take it as just and it's not really a big deal

And this is why I keep hammering on Christians covering or hiding their sins.

It makes it harder to stop.

We should always check ourselves for spiritual fervor, faithfulness, alertness, love, obedience, purity and growth.

.
Our spirits should always search diligently if there is anything we need to repent of (change or turn away from doing)

God has a purpose not just for you or me as a person but for US.

And when I say us , I mean God and I, you and God

It's a partnership

And partnership calls for responsibility on our end

Call your sins in the worst possible terms, exactly how bad it is so you know why you need to stay away from them.

As Christians, we should master the art of repentance.
We should be quick to it

Don't argue or try to defend your shortcoming.

Especially when we are faced with the truth of the word of God.
This one pierces so much
Let's allow it change us
Don't run away from it

I believe Christians should focus very much on iniquities.
A lot of us feel because we don't commit fornication, steal or we are not gay, we are better

You see all those faults hidden in subtle areas of iniquities, they are worse

You see even pastors and leaders guilty of them and this is because most people don't know.

Pride, covetousness, envy, unbelief, rebellion, selfishness, overambition

All these things in their littlest form are as dangerous as the "worse sin" you can ever think of.

Some of us don't know we are proud
A whole lot of knowledgeable Christians are actually but we don't know.

Always Wanting what others have in a self seeking manner.
You see a Pastor healing the sick and you want to heal too, not because of the sick o but also because of how that will make you feel or people revere you

These little little things, are Big.

They shouldn't be overlooked

We should acknowledge them as what they are

Repentance is not to focus on sin or kill ourselves over it

When you notice and acknowledge, what is next?

Repentance

And making a conscious effort to change

Yes, you make changes.

But on our own, we will struggle
So here we are back to God

Fix your gaze upon Him, see Him in the beauty of His Holiness
When you gaze long enough, you See your true reflection in God

You see all what He has called you to be in Him

When we fix our gaze on God, we see God's unconditional acceptance of us. We see His wish, dedication and commitment in making us just like Him.

Then our lives start reflecting all that we see gazing upon Him

*The Call to repentance is the call to fix our Gaze upon God*

To be conscious of how He sees us, of His Grace, His changing power and love

Let us pray.
Thank you Father for your word.
We pray that you reveal to us those subtle areas we need to repent and change from.

Help us to keep our gaze fixed on you always
To be conscious of your Grace.

Amen