MADE IN HEAVEN BUT CHANGED IN TIME-PART 1

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.- John 1:6-7(emphasis added)

The word that caught my attention in these verses of Scripture is the word the same. In Verse 6 of the scripture quoted we are given insight into something that was happening in Heaven. 

Heaven had decided on sending out a man who will bear witness at a coming time. That man was named in heaven before he came. The name he will bear in his time on earth was predetermined by heaven before John came to earth.(if this point is not clear in above scripture, then check what the angel Gabriel said when he came to his father in Luke 1:13). Heaven was very deliberate about the identity of who was being sent, and even took the initiative to name him before his birth. The details of his life, name, and ministry, were all determined before hand.

So we see at least several things from verse 6.One was that John, was not the product of the decision of his parents, he had an assignment outlined for him even before his birth, and he was named by Heaven. Heaven took so much care to attend to these details in the life of John. Its like a manufacturing company, ensuring that the manual of a product was included and then dispatching  the material properly branded and bar-coded.

In Verse 7, the Bible tells us that it was the same man, not a different person, that arrived in time! Praise God.

A man was sent from God and the same man, not a different individual, the same man, not one whose destiny had been hijacked or diverted; the same man arrived in time to fulfill heaven's mandate over his life. The same man stayed on course long enough for heaven to bear witness that, the man heaven sent arrived intact, in time.

The story so far may seem pretty straight forward, if you do not consider, that between heaven sending John, and Him remaining the same person, several things had tried to divert or change his course in time. To put it plainly a lot of sacrifice lies between these two verses of scripture in John.

What do I mean? Let me explain.

When John was born the first thing we see, is that men tried to give him a name different from what heaven gave him. It took the tenacity of the mother to refuse status quo and the miraculous healing of his father to, stop this from happening. The Point here is, they already tried to alter what heaven had sent at the very beginning!

Some start business, ministry or some service according to how heaven intended but somewhere along the line they are diverted from the original intent of God. What sort to abort what heaven began with John started early.

Secondly, consider that He left home to stay in the wilderness eating locust and wild honey.

The implication of this second sacrifice I will explain in part 2 of this discuss. 

But could you pause and ask yourself, Am I the same person that Heaven ordained? Has my time on earth changed who I was destined by God to be? 

He said to Jeremiah before I formed thee, I knew thee and ordained or appointed you a prophet?

Are you as appointed by heaven? 

To Be continued.....

GIVING: THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE (PART IIC)

SEED SOWING: THE MIX AND THE FIX

Now it is true every believer is called to do the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12) but not every believer is called to preach by way of wielding the microphone or manning the pulpit. In other words, every believer is called to serve the Lord but not all will serve by preaching and teaching God’s word. There are those whose primary assignment is equipping other believers for the work of the ministry – they are popularly called the five-fold ministers: apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors (Ephesians 4:11).
The five-fold ministers are not an elite squad of ecclesiastical oligarchs; they are like other believers who have just been set apart by the election of grace to occupy offices within the body of Christ for maturing the saints, for the work of the ministry and for the general building of the body of Christ. They are therefore set apart not by human effort but by the grace of God. The grace of God upon them empowers and compels them to provide spiritual substance for maturing the saints for the work of the ministry and building up of the body of Christ. They add value to people’s lives by giving them spiritual substance, tools and nourishment. They sow spiritual seeds in other believers’ lives. Since these folk expend much of their time in the spiritual service of others, barely having time to pursue ventures that would meet their material needs, their material needs should be taken care of by those who are direct beneficiaries of God’s grace upon their lives. There is absolutely nothing wrong with those who sow spiritual seeds reaping material harvest. Concerning these folk, Paul wrote without mincing words;
If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:11-14, NIV)
Note carefully, that in the passage above, that the ones who are doing the sowing are those who give spiritual support – the preachers, and not those being ministered to – the flock. So it not those who receive spiritual substance that sow seeds but those who give spiritual substance. So when the recipients of spiritual substance respond accurately by giving material substance to those who sow spiritual seed into them, it is not called seed sowing, it is called material harvest. What does this mean? Spiritual seed is God’s word which is living and active and can cut through and pierce right into the deepest parts of man therefore initiating deep transformation, growth, healing and deliverance (Hebrews 4:12). Material harvest is dead and can only at best affect the body and the physical environment which Paul says is no big deal. You cannot sow material things because they do not bear God’s breath and cannot initiate any deep transformation. Whatever is not framed and engineered by God’s word does not qualify to be called seed.
The spiritual seed sown would benefit the recipients far more than the material things would benefit the recipients. It is not like spiritual seed would yield material benefits; it is simply a matter of value sharing. It is like two people with complementary resources: one is thirsty but has food while the other is hungry but has water. When they share value, they would end up meeting each other’s need. This is the essence of the spiritual-material support system within the body of Christ, that no one would lack anything.
Oh yes, in an ideal situation, those whose primary assignment is preaching the gospel should make a living from the gospel. There is absolutely no unrighteousness to this. The only problem is that the situation is seldom ideal. People who do not understand value sharing would consider providing material support to those who give them spiritual support as a burden. This is why the same Paul who made it abundantly clear in the passage above that those who minister spiritual things have earned a right of material support from those that they minister to. But for the sake of the expansion of the gospel, Paul and his associates decided to sacrifice their well-earned right. In other words, they would rather give up personal comfort for the progress of the gospel than be comfortable at the expense of the gospel. Hence, Paul would rather work with his hands than be a burden to those whom he gave spiritual support. In his case, the situation was sure not ideal so he had work with his hands to support himself and those who worked with him (Acts 20:34).
GIVE AND PROSPER?
You do not give to prosper materially; your prosper materially to give material things. Just like you do not give to be blessed; you are blessed so you give. There is no material thing that man needs that is not on earth.
Material prosperity and/or wealth are acquired by value created through enterprise. To prosper materially you must do the needful. Do not build your life on exceptions; build it on universally immutable laws. You cannot say because someone got the gift a car or house, you therefore won’t need to plan or save for a house or car. You should not give material things, and then sit idly by, expecting mystery millions to fall in your lap without adding value to anyone or engaging yourself in the process of production.
I know this is hard to swallow, but God’s blessing does not operate in a vacuum. God’s blessing does not obliterate hard work, creativity and innovation. God’s blessing does not encourage snoozing and standing aloof. I know God can choose to give you a car or a house and other material things without you spending a dime but this would be an exception. And I would like to reiterate that you do not live by exceptions which are underpinned by God’s sovereignty. By God’s sovereignty, He can choose to be merciful on whoever He pleases. For instance, God chose by an act of His sovereignty to ‘love’ Jacob and ‘hate’ Esau (Malachi 1:2-3).
In His sovereignty, God is not under any obligation, He does as He pleases without owing explanation to anyone. So, in the same vein, God can choose to bless a person with material things in abundance. This does not however mean He is obligated to bless everybody with material things in abundance.
We cannot live by God’s sovereign mercy which is randomly dispensed and bestowed on people as the Lord pleases. There is a more sure way to relate with God, secure His mercy and enjoy His largess; it is called the sure mercies of David which is underpinned by His everlasting covenant. The Bible says,
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. (Isaiah 55:3, KJV)
Note, that the operative words in the verse of Scripture above are COVENANT and SURE. By covenant God is obligated to man as man is obligated to God. This means both man and God share responsibilities in a covenant. So in the covenant, as it touches material prosperity the onus for performance is not only on God. The onus for performance is both on God and man. This means nothing will happen if God does His part and man fails to do his part. This is why a lot of Christians today do not get results because they only know about their new creation realities in Christ but fail to understand the new creation responsibilities in them. So, they exercise their faith without backing it up with work, the unpleasant consequences of which always leaves them shell-shocked.
By acts of God’s sovereignty, out of one thousand people, only two or three might become materially wealthy. But by covenant, out of one thousand people, one thousand will become materially wealthy! So, God’s sovereignty in geography parlance can be compared to weather which is largely unpredictable and capricious. While covenant can be compared to climate which is more predictable and more sure. You cannot bank on the weather of God’s sovereignty but you can bank on the climate of His everlasting covenant.
I do not regret to inform you that the path to material prosperity is not paved with giving material things – it is paved with enterprise, industry and value creation. To increase your material wealth you do not sow material things (remember I said overleaf whatever does not have the breath of God does not qualify to be called seed) you must trade with them. Remember the parable of the talents? The guy with one talent refused to trade; he rather elected to hide it in the ground (this sounds like sowing to me) and embrace apathy. What was the outcome? He was severely punished and that which he had was taken from him and given to the one who was ready to trade – engage in enterprise, industry and value creation.
THE PURPOSE OF GIVING
The primary purpose of giving is worship to God and service to man. When you give to God it is called worship; when you give to man it is called service. When you give to man at the command of God it is called worship service!
In the kingdom, material and/or financial prosperity are not among the reasons for giving. The Lord Jesus Himself condemned and still condemns giving for the primary reason of receiving something back – becoming materially wealthy! I would like to conclude this bit with the words of the Lord Jesus thus:
If you [merely] love those who love you, what quality of credit and thanks is that to you? For even the [very] sinners love their lovers (those who love them). And if you are kind and good and do favors to and benefit those who are kind and good and do favors to and benefit you, what quality of credit and thanks is that to you? For even the preeminently sinful do the same. And if you lend money at interest to those from whom you hope to receive, what quality of credit and thanks is that to you? Even notorious sinners lend money at interest to sinners, so as to recover as much again. But love your enemies and be kind and do good [doing favors so that someone derives benefit from them] and lend, expecting and hoping for nothing in return but considering nothing as lost and despairing of no one; and then your recompense (your reward) will be great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind and charitable and good to the ungrateful and the selfish and wicked. (Luke 6:32-35,AMP)

-Written by Apostle Arome Osayi

PRAYER FOR PERSECUTION: THE MASTER’S COUNSEL

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:43-44,NIV)

We live in a world where Christians respond to libel and false accusations with lawsuits; persecution with vengeance and hatred with more hatred. I understand it is impossible to lead the Christian life without the enablement and quickening of the Holy Spirit. But from the quality of Christianity that pervades our society today, it is very obvious that the Master’s counsel is not being adhered to as touching how believers interface with the world and respond to persecution.

The Lord Jesus’ teachings covered every major aspect of the Christian life. His teachings were not lifeless, abstract, impracticable nuggets that came as byproducts of brainwaves. They were jewels mined from the high quality and exemplary life He led in the days of His earthly ministry. Dr. Luke, the author of the books of Luke and Acts of the Apostles testified thus:

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to DO and to TEACH (Acts 1:1, NIV)

The operative words in the verse of Scripture above are DO and TEACH. Jesus did all that He taught. His teachings were drawn from His doings. So when He commanded His followers to do anything, it was because He had already modeled it in His life.

Jesus commands, even today, that the panacea for persecution and slander is not human, carnal response which is always unproductive but a divine, productive response prayer. By the way, persecution and all kinds of rough treatments are still an integral part of the Christian faith. We should never come to the point where we begin to delude ourselves into thinking the world should give us accolades for our faith. If anything the Master has prepared our minds to expect persecutions. And when they do come, and come they will, we should be able to respond accurately. It is human to feel hatred for those who persecute you; it is very natural to formulate potent curses for those who bruise you. But on the account of our faith which is regulated by a higher life – God’s very life, that we carry; the responses are and should be different.

Jesus said to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, why? This is simply because to end the darkness in the world we must shine His light. To shine His light, our character must be transformed, reframed and reengineered by His word and Spirit to look exactly like His. How? By how we respond to the negativity, resistance and contradictions in the world. Everybody is a saint until persecutions come. Kingdom advance is largely hinged on the conduct of believers by which they directly interface with the word.

Why does the devil sling persecutions on believers? To get them offended. Offence is to the believer’s spirit what cholesterol is to the blood vessels – it blocks the free flow of life and life supply until it eventually leads to total system shutdown. The devil’s goal is to shutdown the believer’s spirit so that the believer will stop receiving life and life supply from the Spirit of God.  The believer’s heart and mind become gangrenous with bitterness so that can they no longer absorb the glory of God which is found on the face of Jesus in fellowship. Nothing hinders communion with the Spirit of God like biterness.

The devil stirred the whole of Israel against Jesus. The devil diligently kept trying to make Jesus pick offence by crafting and deploying the most vile and lethal persecutions against Jesus through people. Jesus responded by simply praying for them even to His very last excruciating moment on the cross. Jesus endured physical and emotional attacks, warded off spiritual attacks, took all shades and colours of persecutions without cracking under pressure. The Holy thing which He carried upon which the salvation of mankind depended was guarded jealously at the peril of His own reputation. The Bible says of Jesus thus,

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation… (Philippians 2:6-7, KJV)

Jesus went to the lowest low just to win the victory over the devil for mankind. His sacrifices make it possible for a sweetness-filled, bitterness-free Christian experience in spite of the myriad persecutions and offences around.

There will never come a time when the world would applaud us for our faith. It is part of our calling to suffer His sake. The Bible says:

For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake… (Philippians 1:29, KJV)

Any time people offend and hurt you, especially your loved ones, it is not time to mull over the offence; it is time to pray.

Remain blessed.

Your brother,

Arome Osayi.

THE SOVERIGN GOD

Rev 4:1-4  After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.  And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

It was curious for me to note that when John arrived Heaven in Rev. 4; the first sight he saw, were not the twenty-four thrones or the streets of gold, or even the many angels in Heaven, No! He was confronted with a throne and the one that sits on it.

He only saw other thrones as he panned away from the central throne and extended his vision away from the one that sat on it. This I believe was a very deliberate rendering of events because when you think about it, it would have been easier to see the twenty-four thrones before focusing on the ONE then you will agree that scripture was very deliberate in recounting this event.

Therefore the implications of this rendering of events should not be wasted on the reader. I believe it was intentional, that God showed John this event in this order. Let's explore the implications

John seeing the central throne first, would be brought to the realization that there exists a Monarch in heaven and who rules the affairs of the heavens.  Just in case one is not aware of that fact, John's first glimpse into heaven confronts us with that stark reality.

John was called into heaven to have things revealed to him but the first revelation that heaven gave him was that of the Monarch of Heaven. The implications for John and us, is that for him or us to advance in the affairs of heaven, he/we must recognize the Lordship of the one who sits on heaven's central throne where all true authority derives from!

Secondly, the economy of heaven is only open to those who realize the Lordship of Jesus. We are only saved when we accept his Lordship and rebelling against him can only hurt us.
 
Many call Him Lord, but do not bow to His Lordship. This act not only excludes them from participation in the affairs heaven but disqualifies them from it all together. Making of them creatures that are limited to function only upon the earth.

Except we see where true Lordship comes from and respond accurately we become as mere men ruled and controlled by this world.
#TheSoverignGod

When Jesus is Asleep In Your Boat

Mar 4:37-39  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 

 At one point or the other in our earthly existence we are faced with fierce storms. These storms beat at us from all sides and seek to drag us into the depths of despair/misery.

Human life is characterized by men either coming out of storms or getting into one. As Job said, man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. In fact, one can be fully occupied trying to calm the troubles initiated by various storms and never learn to truly find rest.

From the portion of scripture above, Jesus and his disciples were not different.Even though Jesus was with His disciples, the storms showed very little regard for his presence. The storm did not respect his holiness or his status as the Son of God. It threatened to overturn the ship and created such a fuss that would throw experienced fishermen to the brink of despair. 

Note that Jesus was WITH them, yet the storms sort to drown them! 

I have heard many quote a question posed by Apostle Paul and seem to have arrived at an answer which Paul never gave.

Rom 8:31  ...If God be for us, who can be against us? 

Have you heard people quote the above scripture? They seem to imply that this is but a rhetorical question, that concludes with the answer that NO ONE can be against! Please note that the answer to this question was never provided by Paul in his discuss but I would like to say that even when God is for you or with you, you can be sure to expect the enemy to be against you.

Some have been told that Christians do not suffer, yet have not been told that the one who authored our faith suffer and for that reason we too will experience suffering. We are however not warned not to suffer for our wrong doing.

1Peter 2:21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

Lets move on in our discuss, of all the occupants of the ship one of the few people  that was most likely least accustomed to the turbulence that the sea can offer, was Jesus. He grew up in a Carpentry shed, while Peter, James and John were all accomplished fishermen. 

In fact for James and John it was a family tradition, the left their father still active in that profession to follow Jesus! I would imagine that such a storm would frighten other disciples like the tax collector and a few other too but surely not this three.

Lets draw a point from the above, the storms of life may sometimes overwhelm your ability and experience. No matter know experienced you are in the face of crisis, it is always tasking not to give in to fear, discouragement or despair. 

Please don't start a pity party over the fact that you are unable to be more courageous in the face of crisis. The bible is full of stories of great men who fare less impressively. 

Elijah that shut the heavens, held an entire nation to ransom, called down fire, and didn't think anything of dividing the river Jordan just so he could cross  gave in to despair when threatened by Jezebel.

To be continued.......

Is Jesus' Teaching in the Gospels and the Old Testament irrelevant To Us?- PART 2

As I promised, I will use the quote below as a basis for this piece.

I was shocked to read what a well known Christian Author wrote; here is the quote again:

The word alone, as unveiled in the Pauline Revelation is the only safe guide. Don’t misunderstand me. You cannot be guided by the teachings of John the Baptist and of Jesus as recorded in the four gospels in regards to any experience, unless that teaching of the four gospels is confirmed, explained, elucidated in the Pauline revelation or with Peter’s and John’s unveiling in their epistles.

He goes on to say:

In the four gospels, Jesus is dealing almost exclusively with the Jews, the first covenant people, who were natural men, spiritually dead. In the Pauline revelation, he is dealing almost exclusively with the new creation folks.

First of all the position held by the above writer that what Jesus said, He spoke to almost exclusively to the Jews, is not correct. His life and ministry extended to the entire mankind.  In fact what he taught would have been extremely difficult for any natural man to keep.

For example, under the law, Moses spoke about committing fornication as a sin but when Jesus came on the scene He elevated this sin to include looking at a woman lustfully.

The writer of Hebrews also disagrees with this writer’s position too, hear him:

Heb 1:1- 2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Notice the emphasis I added to the US?

Unlike the writer quoted, the author of Hebrews does not express any concerns that some of what Jesus will not apply to him now that he is a new creature.

That “us” means that the writer included himself as one of those that God was speaking to through his son, Jesus.  We can safely deduce that the writer of Hebrews was not a natural man or spiritually dead, yet in his comment he did not deny any part of what God said through Jesus as not being almost exclusively referred to him. He says clearly that God has spoken to us, the writer inclusive, without any almost exclusive statement as used by the writer above.

Also with this claim that some things Jesus said as not almost exclusively to us, we are then left with the difficult choice of discovering which statement of Jesus should we discard as not referring to us and which should we accept? The writer of Hebrews clearly tells us that such a choice is not for us to make, because God hath spoken to us through his son.

I will show the error in this position quoted above by admitting to evidence the testimony of several very credible witnesses.

First witness: The witness of God the Father.

My first witness against the position above is the testimony of God Himself on the mount of transfiguration

To subject Jesus teachings to be validated by the Pauline and other epistles is, in my opinion, equivalent to making the same grave mistake that God intervened in order to stop Peter from making, on the mountain of transfiguration.

Peter sought to create 3 tabernacles, One for Jesus, One for Moses and one for Elijah. This would have made it needful for those who sought to hear the perspective of the law to have the Law giver available to consult and those who sought after the prophetic to find Elijah available.

Luk 9:35-36 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son:

hear him.  And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone.

And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had.

God had to interrupt this heavenly vision and withdraw his delegates in order to present Jesus as the only one they should pay attention to. God made it clear that Jesus was his approved voice to be heard. God says …. Hear Him!

Moses represented the law and Elijah represented the Prophets but God points us to His Son and declares His approval of him, instructing us to hear Him. Hallelujah! 

to be continued...

Order and the posture of our hearts.

Text: 1 Sam. 7:1-2; 2 Sam. 11:1-15

Study Points

There are seasons  that a man who lacks order will a great liability to the execution of God's purposes on the earth. He is already a trouble waiting to happen but if there is no battle, the gravity of his wrong heart posture will not be felt so much by the people around him.

1. God is not committed to act on behalf of men who violate Divine order. He did not act when the Philistines carried the ark because of the men who bore the Ark -1 Sam. 4:4;11

2. Why did Abinadab house the ark of God for twenty years  with no record of the blessings that Obededom saw in just 3 months of doing same? Abinadab's son Uzziah was killed when the ark was being transported out of his house(1 Sam 6:3) and the son, that he sanctified to tend the Ark; did not lead the procession.

Does it mean that in twenty years he never understood the protocols of bearing the ark?

3. Obededom ran a risk of accommodating the same Ark that had just killed the son of a man that housed it for twenty years. He had no assurances of being blessed by the ark but he yet housed it.

4. God was inactive in one man's house but so blessed another that the people of Israel noticed. The Ark that was impotent in the hands of Eli's sons became powerful without any priest in the land of the Philistines.

5. A man who works in rebellion is first a rebel at heart before his deeds follow. 

   Isaiah 14:11; 2 Sam. 6:16.

6. A man who is not under authority can not legitimately wield the power of God.

7. Uriah held God and his people in the highest regard and was recorded as one of the mighty men of David. His name was also included in the lineage of Jesus. 2 Sam. 23:39; Matt. 1:6. The posture of his heart became something that brought him as a man to be reckoned with by heaven.