GETTING AND KEEPING GOD’S BLESSINGS

                                                25/05/2017

GETTING AND KEEPING GOD’S BLESSINGS

Gen. 12:1-3; Deut. 28:1-15; Ephes. 1:3

God is a benevolent God “…who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17b). His plan for man is to daily enjoy His blessings as confirmed by David in Psalm 68:19, where he emphasized “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” God’s manifold blessings are available to all His creatures, especially His children (His covenant people) to enjoy as He doesn’t discriminate. What He did for the people in the Bible days, He is still able to do them for us today if we can fulfil the conditions for receiving His blessings. We need to position ourselves to maximally enjoy these blessings, and of course, there is need for us to consider the secrets of how to keep the blessings.   

1.   CATALOGUE OF GOD’S BLESSINGS

a.    Salvation and Adoption into God’s Family – Isaiah 53:4-6; Luke 3:6; Gen. 12:1-3; John 1:12

b.   Sanctification and Holiness Experience – Luke 1:73-75; I Thess. 5:23,24

c.    Spirit Power – Joel 2:28-30; Acts 1:8

d.   Healing and Divine Health – Exodus 23:25,26; 3 John 2

e.    Divine Preservation – Psalm 91:1; Psalms 121:7-8; Zech. 2:8

f.     Divine Provision - Psalm 23:1-6; 145:16; Matthew 6:33;

g.    Divine Companionship – Deut. 4:31; 31:6

h.   His Ever-abiding Presence with us – Deut. 31:6,8; Mat. 28:20

2.   CONDITIONS FOR GETTING GOD’S BLESSINGS

     Gen. 12:1-3; 2 Tim. 2:19-21; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 1 John 2:6; 3:6-9

God’s blessings are available to only those who have entered into a covenant relationship with Him. A personal encounter with God opens the door into a life-long of untold, unlimited blessings from God. After genuine conversion experience, the Lord expects perfect obedience to Him if we want to enjoy His blessings. As the children of Israel were leaving Egypt to possess the land of promise, God told them that “…If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26). Obedience, we are told, brings blessings. Abraham received a call to go out from his native country and he obeyed, that obedience turned him to a father of nations. Separation from the world and its ungodly practices is pivotal to receiving untold blessings of God in your life. Daily practicing God’s abiding presence will always attract His blessings into your life. Abstaining from sins and all the works of darkness will guarantee the regular inflow of God’s blessings into your life.    

3.   CAREFUL STEPS FOR KEEPING GOD’S BLESSINGS  

     Genesis 26:5; Exodus 19:5; 15:26; Deut. 4:40; 28:13,14; Jer. 35:18,19

Obedience brings blessings while disobedience will bring God’s judgment and wrath upon the disobedient ones. When the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, God told them that their continuity in the enjoyment of His covenant blessings with Him is based on their implicit obedience to His divine instructions. In order to consistently enjoy God’s blessings, you need to take note of the following:

a.      Implicit Obedience to God’s word – Deuteronomy 28:1-2; 1 John 3:22

b.     Continual abiding in Him – John 15:7

c.      Unwavering faith in God’s unchanging faithfulness to keep His promises – 1 Kings 8:56; Mark 11:22-24

d.     Living a life pleasing unto God every time – 1 John 3:22; Romans 12:1-2

e.      Abstain from sins – 2 Timothy 2:19

f.       Live a life of holiness all the time – Heb. 12:14; Luke 1:75

g.      Preaching of the gospel to the lost souls – Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16.  

“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). With all these wonderful blessings that God has for us His children, the only way to reciprocate His kind gesture and to be able to enjoy all these blessings is for us to hate what He hates and love what He loves. He hates ‘sins’ “Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Timothy 2:19) so must we hate sins; He loves ‘holiness’ so must we also love holiness, “without which no may shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). 

LIVING HOLILY DAY BY DAY

DEEPERLIFE THURSDAY MESSAGE May 11, 2017

LIVING HOLILY DAY BY DAY. Titus 2.11-12,  1 Peter 1.15, 1 Thess. 2.10

Holiness of life and character is demanded by God from all His children in all generations. God is Holy and He wants all His children to possess and manifest holiness day by day. This is the kind of lifestyle that is free from sinful practice in secrete or in public. God’s grace makes us to deny every form of ungodliness and worldly lust, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present evil world (Titus 2.11-12). This is living holily day by day in everything we do and everywhere we go. This experience of daily walk with God gives outright victory in both our spiritual and secular life, and assures the believer of living with God eternally.

PRECEPTS FOR DAILY HOLY LIVING Titus 2. 11-12, 2 Cor.5.17, 1 Peter 1.15, Rom 12. 2,

When one gives his life to Christ, he becomes totally changed that his thought, conducts and characters becomes totally different from that of others around him. Though all his colleagues may be sinful, he will remain without blemish in character. This is in conformity with the commandment of God to all His children. However, to maintain a day to day holy living before God, There must be genuine repentance from all sins. Also there must be strong passionate conviction that nothing shall make you fall into any temptation. Purposeful perseverance to endure hardship and continue in the faith no matter what happens (Rom 8. 35). He must also be given to prayer and intercession. Prayer always give the grace to overcome every trial of life.

Such a person is now separated from the world and sanctified unto the Lord and consecrate every part of his body to the Lord as a living sacrifice (i) our Tongue (Titus 3:2, James3:2 – No more backbiting and negative idle talks), (ii). Our Temper (Eph.4: 31-32- No anger, No bitterness, No hatred against anybody (sinners or believers alike), (iii) our Thought—Phil.4:8 Don’t think on the negative, because negative thought weakens believers and hinders him from edifying others  or help other believers.(iv). our Tolerance Col.3: 12-14 (We must not allow or accept any sinful practice in life, work or business), (v) our Thirst, longing and desires Ps.63: 1-3, Ps.73: 25, Ps.42: 1. (must always be to please God and to serve Him. (vi). our Temple 1Cor.6: 19-20, Rom.12: 1-2, i.e  our body must be kept holy and pure. Everything we do as believers matter to God including our clothing, speeches, friendship, aspirations, even our environment must befit holiness and godliness. (vii) Our Team mates, friends and church members (Ps. 1.1, Eph.4: 2-3).

People who maintained daily life of Holiness. Ps. 24.3-4, Ps. 15. 1-5, Isa 33:15; Zec 8:16; Eph 4:25

Day by day holiness of life is the unique characteristic of people who walk with God and who would eventually live with Him in eternity. They are men and women of Integrity, humility, submission to God, faith in God, and men of impeccable and unquestionable characters. They are people who know their God and will always do everything to please Him.  Examples of such people with day to day holiness of life are: (i) Enoch Gen. 5. 22-24, (ii) Noah Gen. 6.9, (iii) Samuel 1 Sam. 12.3, (iv) Daniel  Dan. 6.4-5, (v) Zechariah and Elizabeth Luke 1.5, (vi) Paul the Apostle Acts 24.16, (vii) Our Lord Jesus Christ John 8.46, Matt. 27.4, Matt. 27.19, Luke 23.13-15. To be like them, you must be totally separated from sin, sinners and worldly pursuit, Be fully given to searching the scriptures to know God’s will and be prompt to do them, be a man/woman of prayer and supplication interceding for others salvation; be a man of great consecration to God’s purpose and always pursue peace; must be someone who wouldn’t allow God’s spiritual provisions to be wasted but quickly embraced them and utilize them. Also, must be a person who would never allow anything or any man to blur his conscience with any offence towards God nor towards any man. Finally, he must be someone who looks forward to Christ’s return and always prepare to meet Him.

Profits of living holily day by day. Ps. 1.1-3, Ps. 84.11, Isa. 33.16-17, 2 Kings 20. 1-6, Num 12. 4-9,

There are many blessings in living a life of purity and holiness. The scripture is full of the blessedness and the profits accrued to a holy man now and in eternity. No one can walk with God and be confounded. The scripture declares that “no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly”. In summary God’s blessings upon the practically righteous and holy believer includes but not limited to the following: (i) Freedom from guilt and condemnation of sin (Rom. 8.1), (ii) Fruitfulness in every areas of life, family and business, (iii) Excellent Spirit from the Lord to overcome all the opposition and challenges of Satan and evil forces. (iv) Assurance of answer to prayer. Jn. 14. 12-14, (v) Divine defense against oppression and opposition, (vi) Holy Ghost Baptism and other gift of the Spirit with the privilege of signs and wonders. (vii) Eternal habitation with God in the end and many more.

POWER OF CORPORATE PRAYER

TRETS 04/05/2017            

POWER OF CORPORATE PRAYER

Matthew 18.18-20, Acts 4. 23-31

There is an awesome power in the corporate, passionate and united prayer of two or more believers joining their heart, mind and soul together concerning a common purpose. God loves the unity of believers because it symbolizes the unity of the Godhead, He therefore always move to honor and answer the request of united believers instantly. As the Godhead is a united force that governs the heavens and the earth, so also the united believers stand to command undeniable respect through their corporate prayers before the Lord who had earlier prayed for the unity of the church. In this regard, no mountain can stand before two or more believers who are praying in unity to the Almighty God. To them, Christ declared that if they shall agree as touching anything on earth, it shall be done by the father in heaven. No limitation can therefore hinder the church when we stand in the fullness of God’s power to declare total embargo to every activities of the enemy in our families, church, in our communities and on our missionaries. This was the source of the unprecedented results of the early church. When they were threatened to stop the spread of the gospel, they used the power of corporate prayer to demolish the host of Satan, When Peter was held in captivity, they also utilised this power to set him free, and before now Esther and the Jews in Shushan had untilised this unbreakable power to reverse the death sentence of the wicked king to their favor and sent the satanic arrow back to the sender. We also today will be denying our selves, families and the church a great good if we continue to neglect this all important resources of ammunition the Lord had provided for us as Christians. Unity and agreement in prayer makes our families and our church better and stronger and we can grow faster and spread faster if we begin to employ this weapon in our lives.

PRINCIPLES  OF CORPORATE PRAYER Matt.18:16-19, Gen 11. 1-4, 1 Cor 12.12-13, 2 Chron. 7.14, Ecc.4.12, 1`John 3.22, 1 Cor. 12.25,

The Lord gave an important principle in our text toady as the prerequisite for the agreement which forms the basis of the undeniable answer to their prayer saying “if two of you shall agree as touching anything, it shall be done be done…”. This is the principle of synergy in which the overall performance of a united body is infinitely greater than the sum of all the members. This was the underlying principle behind the builders of Babel in Genesis which made them unstoppable. We too shall become unstoppable in our goals if we can follow the natural and supernatural principles of agreement in prayer. (i) There must be a common goal or desire for achievement among the people. This goal to be accomplished forms the basis of their prayer. Everyone in that agreement must put other issues aside to ask God for the same thing. (ii) The members must be genuinely converted and be truly born again and being controlled by the Holy Spirit. If not sure, there must be a period of true confession of sins so that their prayers are not hindered (2 Chron. 7.14). (iii) They must be truly united to God’s will and must be ready to obey God’s purpose; otherwise their mission will be overturned by the almighty God as He did for the builder of Babel (1 John 3.22). (iv)They must all believe and rely on God demonstrating total trust and confidence in the power of the Lord and His readiness to answer their prayer. (vi)There must be genuine love without hypocrisy among them. There must be no competition, internal jealousy, envy or division among the agreeing partners. (vii) Every member must be ready to pray fervently knowing they do not have any other source of power apart from God through united prayer. In summary, there must be lateral aggrement with one another in love and unity before they can demonstrate singular goal in prayer. Secondly, there must be vertical agreement between the people and the Almighty God and His will. And they must be ready to pray for goals that will glorify the name of the Lord.

THE PRACTICE OF CORPORATE PRAYER. Matt. 18.18-19, Eph 6. 12-13, Esther 4.1-3, 16-17, Acts 2.1-4, Acts 4. 23-31,

Spiritual agreement is something different from having the same opinion as unblievers do. It goes much deeper. Agreement among believers begins in the heart of each individual believer before God. Each believer is convinced within himself of the need of the hour and hence need not to be pushed to pray for it. Agreement prayer had been in practice for so long. Whenever there is a serious need among the people of God, they all came together, aparently being led by someone, to seek God’s face for divine intervention. The Jews in Shushan were all faced with the threat of death sentence by the king’s decree. This cause great lamentation, wailing, fasting and praying among the Jews. Note that they all believe in the God of Israel who can do all this. Therefore, they all unitedly saw the serious need to pray to avert this satanic declaration. After Christ had left them, the disciples now see the need for the comforter as Christ had commanded them, they had to come together in agreement prayer before the Holy Ghost came (Acts 2. 1-4). Also, when there was a threat against the apostles of old to silence them and truncate the spread of the gospel, the believers joined hand together in prayer to overturn the device of the enemy (Acts 4. 24-30), Not only that, when Peter was kept in prison after the execution of James by Herod, The believers knew they had to pray in agreement to effect a supernatural change in the situation.

As we look at the scriptures, we discovered that two people (e.g husband and wife, bother to brother, sister to sister) can pray in agreement together (e.g. Paul and Silas in Acts 16.25). Also, the whole family can come together to influence positive change in the home. The entire church can also come together for a particular purpose of prayer. God is looking for the sincerity of unity and purpose in our agreement so that He could answer us speedily.

POWER OF CORPORATE PRAYER Deut. 32. 30, Matt. 18. 18-20, 1 John 5. 14-15, Acts 16. 25-30, Ps 133. 1-3.

When people of like-minded faith (in Christ) agree together on a purpose and bring their request with one voice to the Lord with passion, great things happen, heavens get opened, resurrection power of Christ comes alive, lives become transformed, purposes become achieved, and destinies become fulfilled. There is nothing that had changed the course of nature in scriptures like the united, purposeful  and passionate prayer of God’s people.  Jesus said in Matthew 18.20, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."  God is also with us as individuals, but our power increases as we come together in unity and agreement.

There is an undeniable power in action when believers agree together to decree as touching anything on earth. Paul and Silas agreed together in prayer, and instantly, God sent an earthquake to shake heavens and to open the prison doors "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's bands were loosed v.26.". When the church prayed for Peter, God instantly sent an Angel to rescue Peter. Whenever you discover that you had prayed on an issue and it seems not answered, them look for someone of like passion faith and join hand in prayer with him or her. The power of corporate prayer will surely work in your case without fail. Our families can be turned around for good if we can begin to pray together in agreement. There would be unprecedented revival and supernatural growth when we can forget our differences and come together in unity of prayer. The foundations of satanic strongholds will be shaken and destroyed when we can pray in agreement together against the whiles of the devil. We can change our circumstances.  

We can move all mountains, we can solve all problems and put the enemy to flight if we can rise up in the fullness of God's armour to utilise the power of corporate prayer because God will always command His blessing upon us. Rise up upon your feet and change your destiny for better.