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

THE "SPEAKING VOICE" AND THE "SPOKEN WORD"

A lot of Christians actually believe God is a speaking God but there is a restriction kind of.

We believe God spoke many years ago, it's been recorded (Scripture) and He has ceased to speak in such clear and definitive manner.

I remember when a video was posted on Social media about Lynxx. He was talking on his salvation story.

According to him, God appeared in his TV and spoke to him.

Like his whole curtain was shaking and stuff

(Someone can check on IG and post the link here please. Tag it "Lynxx" )


I saw a lot of Christians come for him. He was lying bla bla bla. Sounded like Nollywood

Now here's the thing, have we not read more "Nollywoodier" stuff in the bible? Do we not believe it was God?

Abi is it not in the bible people were doing "Bogun ofe", disappearing  from a place and appearing in another?

Here is the problem, we've limited God speaking to just Scripture.

And this is where we make a distinction between the speaking voice of God and the spoken word of God

The bible is the written word of God.

As Christians we must learn to differentiate between His voice and His word. We must also come to a place of belief that we have access to both.

We are not just limited to the Written word

The Spoken word of God is eternal and alive and we need to believe it.

Even God's written word in the bible takes on God's life and power as He speaks them into our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit.

It is the present voice that makes the written word all-powerful

When we engage the written word and God speaks to us from scriptures, the word takes on all of the life of God and His power, for the living God has once again spoken.

God has not gone silent

We must first believe this.

If not, He will tell you "Don't go to xyz place" but because it is not in the bible and you do not believe His voice exists, you will not follow that instruction.

Let's read Psalm 33: 9.

God is a speaking God

Psalm 33:9

9 For he spoke, and it came to be;

    he commanded, and it stood firm.

God has a voice. He speaks, He is not dumb

We must first believe this

Psalm 68:33
to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens,
    who thunders with mighty voice.

God created with His voice, rules with His voice, judges with His voice, gives life with His voice.
He is ever speaking
He is still the God who speaks!

His voice has not been silent  since the dawn of creation.

God is Here, with us, among us, IN US and He is speaking!

These truths are the foundations of all other truths in the scripture. Without them, we will never know God the way we should.

God did not write a book, give to us with expectations that we understand divine revelations with our natural minds.

He spoke forth a book and lives in His spoken word but He also lives today to constantly speak to us in many areas of our lives.

(Note that His spoken voice never acts against His written word. That'd mean God speaking against Himself)

Rhema and Logos
As we study different words for "Word" in the NT Greek, we come across these words. They give a fair understanding of the Spoken word and speaking voice.

Logos - Word spoken and understood second hand. That is a word we do not hear directly from the mouth/voice of the speaker.

Rhema - Spoken and heard directly first hand from the mouth and through the voice of the speaker.

So when I read John 3:16, it is Logos

Up until the spirit breathes life into it and speak to us on it, It becomes Rhema.

Last week we talked about the Hearing Ear, that we all have it. He created us with ears that hear.

God is always ever speaking, revealing Himself and His plan to men and He has created us to hear Him and interact with Him.


God gave us five senses to interact with the natural world so we can take in all of the created world around us.

Same way, scripture makes us to understand that He has given us spiritual sense in much the same way to interact with Him.

You have a hearing ear and it is not for fancy. It is to hear God in all of His speaking

John.10.27 - The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.

Psalm 34:8 MSG: Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see— how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.

Heb.11.27 - [Motivated] by faith he left Egypt behind him, being unawed and undismayed by the wrath of the king; for he never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him Who is invisible AMP

Hebrews 11:27, NIV: "By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible."

1 John 1:1 TPT : We saw him with our very own eyes. We gazed upon him and heard him speak. Our hands actually touched him, the one who was from the beginning, the Living Expression of God.

What do we see in all of these scriptures?


Senses of interaction

Probably they are only metaphorical, but we see the bible speak of tasting of the Lord, hearing Him, seeing Him and touching Him .

I believe they go beyond metaphors.
Sometimes, I'm having intimates moment with Abba and it feels like I'm touching Him. I've personally experienced His hug a lot of times.

I believe God has given us all spiritual senses, to interact with our sweet unseen father, friend and lover

All of our senses is to interact with this great speaking God for... the hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both (for this purpose) +

Why does man find divine communication difficult? Why is it only accessible to some Christians?

Matthew 13:13-16 TPT

That’s why I teach the people using parables, because they think they’re looking for truth, yet because their hearts are unteachable, they never discover it. Although they will listen to me, they never fully perceive the message I speak.  The prophecy of Isaiah describes them perfectly: Although they listen carefully to everything I speak, they don’t understand a thing I say. They look and pretend to see, but the eyes of their hearts are closed. Their minds are dull and slow to perceive, their ears are plugged and are hard of hearing, and they have deliberately shut their eyes to the truth. Otherwise they would open their eyes to see, and open their ears to hear, and open their minds to understand. Then they would turn to me and let me instantly heal them. “But your eyes are privileged, for they see. Delighted are your ears, for they are open to hear all these things.

Jesus, who is The word lived amonged men and here is what He saw. Some people don't want to hear and are not just listening. Some of us have trained our ears not to hear. When Abba spoke to Jesus from the cloud, everyone heard the voice but what was recorded from the people? ".. It thundered"

Their hearts were so dulled to desiring/knowing Him that that was the only explanation they could give to His voice. Most people cannot hear because the hearts of their eyes are closed.

The people here enter another group Christ spoke about. The one who CAN'T hear.

It's not because they will not love to hear o but their spiritual senses are dull. The only thing they hearing ear has been trained to hear is them self and the world around them.

Jesus said Their hearts are dull and slow to perceive. Their ears are plugged but hard of hearing

A lot of us Christians are on this Can't part.


We want to hear but cannot hear because our spiritual senses are dull.

Now, does this mean we were not created with the hearing ear?

How did we lose our natural God given ability to hear?

Romans 1:20-21, 23-25 TPT

Opposition to truth cannot be excused on the basis of ignorance , because from the creation of the world, the invisible qualities of God’s nature have been made visible, such as his eternal power and transcendence. He has made his wonderful attributes easily perceived, for seeing the visible makes us understand the invisible. So then, this leaves everyone without excuse. Throughout human history the fingerprints of God were upon them, yet they refused to honor him as God or even be thankful for his kindness. Instead, they entertained corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God was like. This left them with nothing but misguided hearts, steeped in moral darkness. For only a fool would trade the unfading splendor of the immortal God to worship the fading image of other humans, idols made to look like people, animals, birds, and even creeping reptiles! This is why God lifted off his restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires. They were given over to moral depravity, dishonoring their bodies by sexual perversion among themselves— all because they traded the truth of God for a lie. They worshiped and served the things God made rather than the God who made all things—glory and praises to him forever and ever! Amen!

First, Jesus tells us it's the condition of men's heart that determines their ability to hear.


Now Apostle Paul continues from there. He said men's heart have become darkened/misguided ( I like the word misguided. It's like a change in direction). He said men's thoughts have become futile, corrupt and foolish because they turn away from God and serve the world and the things of man

The reason some of us can't hear is because we are focused so much on the created than the creator.

We worship things without knowing.

We have time for our jobs, big brother, movies, relaxation time, family, friends, everything except God! Do married people forget to have intercourse with their spouse? Like they forget for weeks

I believe the answer is No. (Mary, Maryann, Titi, Bola, please call me out if u lied)

But then we forget to go to God and listen.

We remember to take those courses online. Shut our door and study but most times we don't have much time for God

The reason you are not hearing is because you don't really rate God and your hearing ear is very much aware of that 😊

Our spiritual senses are dulled because our hearts are not centered on the things of the spirit

Whoever will listen......

Will hear the speaking God. These really are not the days when men want to listen truly.
We'd rather the noise, activity, chase and quest for money at the expense of hearing Him.

There is really so much happening in our world today, like so much activity.

You have to be very deliberate with your fellowship with God.

Jesus did not have phone He was checking every minute In the wilderness to see who messaged him.

5 minutes prayer, most of us are already pressing phone.


There is really so much distraction around us

In all of this noise, God is saying we be still.

In learning to still our hearts and know Him, we will get the greatest surprise of God - His Speaking Voice.

It will almost look like Nollywood movie.

For some, it might not be as "dramatic" as others.
For most of us, it might come first like a distant sound of one walking in the garden.
But if we don't quit in those early days, it will grow upon us a  voice, a little more intelligible but still far and not so clear.

Then the happy days dawn as He illuminates the scriptures and speak clearly to our hearts.

He is so near, warm and intimate.
We know immediately it is God
We do not doubt.
We have heard the voice of our beloved clearly, lovingly and with power.

Now we do not just hear once and run away

No, we continue to stay still
Our ability to hear and pick His voice increases quickly.
Before we know it, all other senses are activated.

We hear Him
See Him
Touch Him
Taste Him

We will come to know that the voice of God is friendly and sweet
We will hear it not just in prayer or while studying, we will hear in on the road, while gisting with friends, in the toilet, everywhere, anytime and we will know that it is Him!

Action points for the week

1. Take out time daily to just listen. No talks.

2. Confess your reality as many times as you can daily, you have ears that can hear.


3. Have conversations with God everywhere and anytime. Don't be scared it might be one sided. Remember you have ears built to hear.

E.g
Father, I'm with my colleagues gisting today and I know you can hear me. Because you truly can hear me and you've made me in your image, then speak, my hearing ears are listening


Will be expecting feedbacks from our action points.


For those that have been hearing God before, you are also included. It's an upgrade for everyone.
New season.

Prepare!

This week's assignment added to last week's own

Important
1. Cut off from your social media time or any other thing that takes your time. Use the cut off time to just be still and quiet before God.

2. Go on a date with the Holy Spirit (Eat for 2)
Be open and free. Tell God everything you feel. Don't think He knows so no need, speak it.
He is a hearing God too.

3. Write down all you hear, no matter how little or faint. Document it


4. Confess it throughout this week that you have ears that hear. Turn it to song. Wake up with it. Go to sleep with it.

5. Intentionally write down the things that you think take your focus away from God.

LET US PRAY
Lord we thank you for tonight.
We thank you because you are a God that speaks.
We thank you for our spiritual senses
We thank you for our ears, because they can hear.
Lord, teach us to listen.
We know the times are noisy and our ears have gone weary with the blaring sounds from the world.
Help us to say like Samuel: Speak Lord, for your child listens.
Help us to believe truly that we can hear you.
Help us get used to the sound of your voice. we are familiar with your tone, so much that even in the noise the world brings, the only sound we hear is the music of your speaking voice.

Again, let's not forget

The speaking Voice Will NEVER speak against the Word. God doesn't contradict Himself.

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

GOD'S PLAN ARE BLESSED

1. When God guides, He provides
What God directs, He protects.
Blessings untold are waiting for you,
As God guides and directs the things that you do.

2. Trust in the Lord with your heart, I say,
You will hear His voice, "This is the way."
Desires from Him, they will come,
Your heart bears witness, this is the one.


3. Vision accomplished, desire achieved,
Results of a heart, willing to believe.
God's plans unfolding as a dream in the night
Your acceptance guarantees His power and might.

4. The struggle is over, the battle is done,
When you've waited in prayer, to hear from the son.
His voice is clear, the captain has spoken,
'Go forward now! - the enemy's power is broken!'

5. Rest - for you a way of life.
Gone are the days of worry and strife
You've come to the place of knowing His way,
God's plans are blessed, for you to believe and obey

Today, with this confession as a guide (it was actually shared as a poem or so, not as a confession but it became by confession), we will be talking on God's plan with the reminder that His plans are indeed blessed

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord , thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 29:11 KJV

Sometimes we are in doubt of the plans of God for us, but here is a reassurance from God. He is very sure of the plans He has for us, He knows definitely that they've not changed.

They are of Good and not evil. They are blessed and aimed towards a future filled with Hope

 We all know that truly God's plans are blessed. We know our papa loves us so much. This is so easy to agree with when things are going well and visible in accordance with what we know about God's plans for us individually

But what happens when everything is not looking like the plan and it is repeatedly so.

The vision we've been given and our current realities are so much far apart.

We are even beginning to question if we are truly running with the right vision or we missed something along the line

you've just been diagnosed of this life threatening disease and it's changing your whole life

You got to work last week only to meet a dismissal letter

Your parents' health just went from 100-0. You might need to crowd fund to take care of them. Chances of survival are still slim

You've been searching for a job tirelessly, yet nothing

So much debt hanging on your neck but inside the plan that you've been told God has for you, you are the one lending to nations

Your friends have progressed in life/left you behind  and it seems like everyone is deserting you

You and rejection mails have been 5 and 6 for a while

The partner you've been praying with for years just worked out on your relationship

For someone, the Lord has said do xyz. You've been so faithful to it but it looks like nothing is coming from it.

You wrote down the vision. You are sure you heard it clearly.

You've been running by it but things keep going wrong.

You take 1 step forward and it feels like a win only for something to happen and drag you 10 steps backwards

Any spiritually minded person sees you and immediately they tell you: you are such a great person. God's plans for you are amazing. He will use you so much for His glory

It's sweet to hear but you've heard it so many times, it is becoming tiring. For decades, messages like this have come but nothing has come out of it.

Truly, life has a way of throwing challenges, so much that we are trusting o but we are not really trusting.

We are "frustratedly trusting"

Don't know if anyone can picture this or understand what I mean

I can relate to these things.

I've been here a lot of times

I get really tired and I'm wondering, when exactly will this thing happen

Especially when it feels like I'm close to something and everything scatters. I look at the vision and I wonder again, did I miss anything?

Because at this point, local man is tired.

I don't know where you fall in all of these. I don't know what is going on in your life. But the Lord has sent me to you, He has sent me to me. He says His plans are blessed, they truly are, even with all of these plenty challenges.

I'm reminded of Joseph. At 17, he dreamt of becoming king. He was sure of the vision, so sure that He even told it to his brothers. It took 22 years for this dream to come to pass (His brothers coming to bow before him).

First, he had to be a slave then next a prisoner.

This was not in the outline he received.

All he saw was his family  bowing before him.

I wonder if Joseph ever thought of his dream  while in prison. How did it make him feel? How much of an irony that'd have been.

Some things happen to me and I'm just there like, God we didn't discuss this part. Is this one supposed to be part of the t & c too cos I'm tired.

God's plans are blessed

Let's look at the story of Daniel briefly. The King had gathered young men in the city to learn the language of the Chaldeans. Daniel and his friends were part of these young men.

(Daniel 1:17).

If we read the chapter fully, we see that God gave Daniel and his friends special ability that others learning did not have.

In the second year of the King's reign, he started having dreams.

None of the Chaldeans and wise men the king was training people to be like could tell him his dream or interpret.

But Daniel and his friends prayed to God who revealed to them.

This led to Daniel becoming the Chief Magi. He was to train all magis in the reading of stars, interpretations, dreams, vision etc since the wise men and Chaldeans were not up to the task

Daniel began a new "school" sort of for training magis (of course he'd have done it as God wished)

600 years before Christ but all of these was a setup towards the acknowledgement of Christ as king and the visitation of the magis. Magis trained in the ways Daniel had laid down would someday see a star in the sky and know exactly what it means.

They'd leave all and come in fulfillment of scripture to bow before the one born king.

Did Daniel know this? No!

Was it part of God's plan? Yes

We see that truly God's plans are blessed and even they span over time.

When God guides, He provides

 What God directs, He protects.

Blessings untold are waiting for you,

As God guides and directs the things that you do.

When God guides, He provides

We see the story of Abraham. God asked him to satisfy his only son, Isaac. Abraham didn't question, not because he was not sad but he had been in God's plan for a while. He had walked in it and he understood that there were blessings in it no matter how absurd the instruction is. No matter what the next step took from him. He knew that regardless, God had a plan and whatever it was it'd be to his advantage.

Then Abraham noticed a ram whose horns were caught in a bush. So Abraham went and took the ram. He offered it, instead of his son, as a sacrifice to God. So Abraham gave that place a name, “The Lord Provides.” Even today people say, “On the mountain of the Lord, he will give us what we need.”

Genesis 22:13‭-‬14 ERV

The ram was not provided at the point where Abraham got the instruction. He was already on the move when the ram came.

He did not know who was bringing it before time. Abraham was not busy trying to figure it out. He went out with the instruction.

Also, I believe the ram had been there before Abraham got to the place.

He just did not see it. The bible says "Then Abraham noticed a ram.. "

I don't know what God has asked you to do and probably it is looking like there is no resources.

God has told you xyz but no provision to accomplish

Know this: On the mountain of the Lord (Inside the plan of the Lord), there will SURELY be provisions

The Lord will give all that you need, when you need it

(not one minute late)

When God directs, He protects.

We see that Elisha was following God's direction. Even the people benefited from the protection that came from following God's directions

But the man of God sent a message to the king of Israel. Elisha said, “Be careful! Don’t go by that place, because the Aramean soldiers are hiding there!”  The king of Israel sent a message to his men at the place that the man of God warned him about. And the king of Israel saved quite a few men.

2 Kings 6:9‭-‬10 ERV

Because of the directions God gave Elisha, the king of Haram sent an army to surround and kill him.

But God protected Elisha still

Elisha’s servant got up early that morning. When he went outside, he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city. The servant said to Elisha, “Oh, my master, what can we do?”  Elisha said, “Don’t be afraid. The army that fights for us is larger than the army that fights for Aram.”  Then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, I ask you, open my servant’s eyes so that he can see.” The Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and the servant saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire. They were all around Elisha.

2 Kings 6:15‭-‬17 ERV

Sometimes, we are like these servants, crying : "Lord, what shall we do"

But the Lord is telling us to look around, we are protected

For the remaining days of this year, our eyes are opened to God's protection that is always around us.

Amen

Trust in the Lord with your heart, I say,

You will hear His voice, "This is the way."

Desires from Him, they will come,

Your heart bears witness, this is the one.

Like Abraham, put all your trust in God. Knowing that He will provide, that He will lead, guide and direct

Knowing that truly the vision is for an appointed time. Though it tarries, surely it will come to pass.

Though everything happening is not looking like the vision, trust that God's plans are truly blessed

March 2018, the Holy spirit showed me something.

I was sitting on a stool, no handle or place to rest my back.

The stool was placed at the edge of a cliff.

The Cliff was very high, like really high and tiny.

All around it, deep waters.

Then the Spirit told me to rest my back.

Me: on what?

He told me to lean backwards

On what?

I'm already so scared sitting on that cliff, now I should lean completely as if there was a chair I'm relaxing on?

I'm going to fall inside the deep waters, that was certain.

I couldn't even look down properly cos I was scared. Now I should lean.

Then the Spirit told me, that this is what it is to depend on God, trust in His word and know that His love will not let me fall inside that water waiting to swallow

This is what it means to trust.

You know that leaning is the end of you but you also know that the one you lean on will not allow such end

It is very difficult to allow ourselves fall back with hope that someone will come and hold us.

From personal experience, I've come to know our trusting in God is our last resort

Like we've tried other cards that didn't work and it's just the God option left. Just like the woman with the issue of blood, she had exhausted all resources before Jesus. 12 years of carrying that problem.

Sometimes, we prolong some phases inside of this blessed plan of God for our lives, because we refuse to trust completely.

Our realities, natural senses, situations etc tilt us to walk by sight.

But you see God's plan, as blessed as it is, human sight cannot catch a glimpse of the process..

It takes trusting the one that gave the plan

Ignore your reality

Ignore the doctor's report

Forget the economy and absence of "provision"

Leave yourself at the complete mercy of God.

It's sweet to talk about o but very difficult. I know this because the decision to trust is daily. Even I sometimes forget to.

I know I'm to trust God but a problem comes up and I'm worried. I'm springing into action trying to fix or work it out.

Hmmm. God's plans are blessed but you need to trust Him to work it out. And you will hear Him when you do. He will show you the way. You will be certain of the steps to take.

I will leave verse 3 & 4 for us and jump to the last.

This is the most beautiful part of this confession for me. 

Rest - for you a way of life.

I changed the you on the paper at some point to "me".

When we learn to believe that truly the plans of God for us are blessed, that He will provide, protect and all we need do is trust, we experience peace.

We come to a place of rest.

Gone are the days of worry and strife

We are not worrying or struggling, not because there is nothing to worry about but because we are at the complete mercy of God.

The plan does not belong to me. If it looks like it is not working? The owner of the plan should do the worrying 😁

You've come to the place of knowing His way,

And when we stay here, we already have expo. It becomes easier. Struggles are no longer struggles. We are almost cruising through it all.

People will look at you and wonder how you have it all together but you know you don't have it all together, only God does.

God's plans are blessed, for you to believe and obey

Hmmmm..

Indeed, God has plans for you. God has plans for me.

And they are really blessed plans

Regardless of circumstances, please believe this. Never ever doubt it

Life will tell you otherwise o. Things will not make sense but don't ever doubt

God's plans are blessed, first for you to believe then obey the instructions He gives.

If you do not believe and obey, you can't walk with the plan talk less of enjoying the blessings from it.

I will like us to google William Cowper. This man had life deal with him seriously. He was heavily depressed. Nothing made sense to him. He had experience a whole lot of pain, a whole  lot. Life had no meaning. He became a believer through John Newton (author of amazing Grace) and it was John who encouraged him to write poems to be Sung by the church.

God moves in mysterious ways was written by William Cowper. He didn't write this song when everything became rosy.

If we look at this hymn from the pain Cowper was going through, just maybe we will understand the hymn better.

(funny enough, my dad sent same hymn to me 2 days ago)

“God Moves in a Mysterious Way” by William Cowper

God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform; he plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines, of never-failing skill; he fashions up his bright designs, and works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, the clouds that you much dread, are big with mercy and will break in blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan his work in vain; God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain.

The verse 4 says to judge not the Lord by feeble sense

The Lord says, “My thoughts are not like yours. Your ways are not like mine.  Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8‭-‬9 ERV

Whatever is going on in your life, God's purposes will ripen very fast. Don't forget to trust God's plan and His wisdom to see it through.

God's plans are blessed. He is the interpreter of His plans and He will make it plain.

Let us Pray

Spirit of the Living God, we thank you for teaching us so much in such little time. 

Lord, we thank you for your blessed plans concerning our lives.

We thank you because we know that despite all that might be going on, we are safe inside of your plans.

Help us to always knows this

Help us to trust in you be at your complete mercy.

Help us to follow your lead and rest in your promises.

Help is to never forget that truly we are inside of your blessed plan

Amen

HAVING SEX IN DREAMS, WHAT IT MEANS AND HOW TO STOP IT

If a person is having sex in the persons dreams what does it mean? 

And does it automatically mean the person is under attack?  What is the remedy?

Having sex in dreams
Getting married
Eating (I'm currently game if it's amala with gbegiri, ewedu and egufe 😭😭😭)
Somebody pursuing you
Seeing yourself in the past everytime etc

Bad dreams, good dreams. I've seen different interpretation for dreams Like so many.

You can literally type a dream online and you will see different answers to it. First, I will like us to clear what dreams are, where they are from and why we even dream in the first place

So what are dreams?

Dreams are images and imagery, thoughts, sounds and voices, and subjective sensations experienced when we sleep.

Our subconscious acting film kinda

Where are dreams from?
How are they planted?


2 things

*God
*Our mind

God can communicate with us through dreams.

We see this in the bible, especially in the old testament.
God speaking to so many people in their dreams.

But maybe God does explain what he does but speaks in ways that people don’t understand.  He may speak in a dream, or in a vision at night, when people are in a deep sleep lying in their beds.

Job 33:14‭-‬15 ERV

When the Lord speaks to His people through dreams, is it for our amusement or for dreaming sake?
No.

There is always a purpose. Answers to prayers, revelations, warnings, confirmation/affirmations etc

We also have a lot of people he spoke to in the bible through dreams. Abraham, Joseph, Nebuchadnezzar etc

Dreams coming from our mind

This one is very common. Our brain kind of has a mind of its own. It takes in all the information we give it, randomly and stores somewhere.

What we watch, what we talk or think about, all of these things are being stored somewhere.
Our subconscious works on this information and produces proper season movie while we are asleep

For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
Jeremiah 29:8 KJV

There is a part in scripture that says our dreams come from multitude of activities. All the things we feed on. All activities we indulge in.

I'm having a dream where someone is having sex with me or beating me and I'm waking up with marks on my body. Is it God planting that one too or my mind?

Definitely, God did not plant this dream. And your mind did not carry cane to beat you.

Which brings me to something else...Dreams can be influenced by Demonic entities. Not just dreams now, all aspects of us. On one condition sha, access

When we let the enemy in, we cannot determine to what extent he works. What he does and how he does it

While the enemy cannot plant dreams directly, he can perform his activities inside of us if given permission/access. Because this is still activity (physical or spiritual), our subconscious sometimes takes them while our mind is at rests and produces a dream.

We wake up and realise its actually not just a dream, it's like it happened for real

I used to bedwet while I was growing up. I will dream that I wanted to urinate then I stood up and go to the toilet and peed. Only to wake up to see that I did not stand up to any toilet, I peed on my body. Felt like a dream but it was reality

For this mind part, My younger brother likes football very much. He will play and play throughout the day then when he is sleeping at night you will be hearing. Emmanuel pass the ball, pass the ball

Or is it my elder brother that likes head of fish and while he is sleeping, you will be hearing:

Mummy ori eja ni mo fe. E ma fun Keji o

Mummy I want head of fish, don't give Keji

Will be breaking down
Dreams coming through our minds and Dreams as a result of activities of demonic entities.

How do we stop these things? Do I have a control over them? Answer is YES

1. Since dreams can come through our mind, then we have to watch what we feed our mind.
What do you expose yourself to? We can't be watching porn all day and expect to not have wet dreams? For some of us, we are more sensitive. Just a movie scene with sex in it and you will start dreaming all sorts

What kind of conversations do you have?
What kind of books do you read?
What kind of movies do you watch?

Start by decluttering your mind. Anything that has appearance of evil or filth, first of all clear them.

What are you always thinking about? Man, how your husband will carry you and pin you to the wall?
But boyfriend you don't have yet.

Why are we bothering with such information that do not concern us yet? Information that we can't act upon and because we can't do anything about it, our mind will help us do things about it. It will process well.

Please, declutter

Rid yourself of these things. Empty your mind of anything that is not profitable to you, the man in Christ.

Now, some of us might probably say:
Remi, I don't think about such things. I don't do all you said but I still have bad dreams that seem real

This is still very possible even with the absence of those things we mentioned.

Before I explain further, for those that really do not believe these things happen, let's go back to the story of the man with legions

This man would cut himself with stones, throw himself on the floor, in broad daylight. All thanks to demonic influence.

If the enemy can do as he likes during the day without fear, then he can operate even while we sleep as long as he is given access

A lot of people are being oppressed and influenced by Demonic entities today but they don't know what they've done wrong.

How did the enemy get access?

The answer is this: EMPTINESS

You see, when we are asked to declutter our mind and stop taking in contents that are bad for us, this doesn't hinder the enemy in any way.


There is still accommodation for him in that space

Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all go and live there, and that person has even more trouble than before. It is the same way with the evil people who live today.” Mathew 12:45

I like how the ERV tagged this part, The Danger of Emptiness. That is the access we give to the enemy, emptiness

We don't need to chant for demons to come or specially invite them with words

Emptiness is password accepted for them

See what the last part says, when the evil spirits come and meet emptiness, the individual is troubled/oppressed even more than before

The heart of man has to be filled always. If we empty our heart from evil without filling it with something that the enemy cannot withstand, worse evil will rush back in

In essence, Jesus was telling these people that the purpose is not just to empty the house but to fill it with Himself.

I know somebody is about to shout, I have Christ so I can't be oppressed by the enemy.

Calm down 🙄

The filling here is Knowledge of Christ and all that He has done


You cannot rely on what you don't know/believe.

The Word of God

An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.
Proverbs 11:9 KJV

The just is delivered through Knowledge. Through Knowledge of what? Christ, his righteousness!

Where do you gain this knowledge? The word.


Nothing can be revealed to you outside of the word. Nothing

Fill yourself up with the word. Not just basic reading now, meditate on it. Let the word dwell in you richly till it is all that your core system believes.

Another thing that works is Worship


We see this in the story of Saul.

Do you have really terrible dreams often?

1. The Word (We can never bypass this o). Spend time studying and meditating daily. Even while you do other things, let the word of God fill your heart


2. Worship (especially before you go to bed)
Don't joke with this one o. And when I say worship, I don't just mean singing (that's expression of worship not worship itself). True worship, deep intense one. Soak yourself in it

I assure you that all of those dreams and influences will stop.

Please if you have any kind of bad dreams, do put this to trial. And if you need help with anything or accountability, you can reach out to me privately.

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