Tag: devotion

My first experience of the fire of God was during my service as an executive of a Christian fellowship in senior high school. We gathered together, praising God. Suddenly, a girl started complaining about fire burning her. At first we resisted her leaving but when she complained that there is fire in the gathering and she could not bear it, we had to let her leave. I have since experienced more people complaining about the same. one observation during these ordeals is that their flesh does not burn but it is their spirit burning. That is a glimpse of the fire in hell, an indication that the bible is true. Imagine being tormented with such fire momentarily, what of eternity where will your spirit be?

Fire from the lord has its root in the priestly order. The priests were commanded to offer burnt offerings of all sort – peace offering, sin offering, guilt offering. As a result the fire on the altar must continue burning.  When priests offer these offerings, a superior fire comes from the lord and consumes. The fire can consumes two things – either the priests  or the sacrificial offering. Fire from God consumes priest, when they offer sacrifice not in accordance to God’s instructions. Fire consumes sacrificial offering when priests adhere to God’s instructions. When fire consumes burnt offerings it is an indication that their trespasses have been pardoned, restoration of relationship with God which commands the blessing. When priests offer burnt offerings it is not that fire is the answer but the presence of God is what is invoked, fire bursts from the presence of God when there is anything that is consumable. There are places where the glory of God came down but no fire (1 Kings 8:11. 2 Chronicle 5:14) and there are places with fire (2 Chronicles 7:1-16).

This fire can take two forms – invisible or visible. What is witnessed nowadays is the invisible fire of God. 

The old testament was a shadow of things to come. The gathering, the church is is not a place for perfect people but a clinic for the brokenhearted, a place of deliverance for the captives and a place for equipping of the saints. When priests follow the instruction of God in order of leading the people, an invisible fire from God delivers his people, restoration of broken relationship with God is made and they are blessed. On the contrary, if he fails to follow the instructions the priest suffers spiritual death from an invisible fire. Examples of fire consuming priests – Eli and his sons (1 Samuel 2:12-36), Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1). 

Fire from God is burning in this season. Are you playing with fire?

The bible, we often do not consider it a required accessory of a christian except when attending church, it is one of those dusty books on the shelf. Some of us attend church without it. When instructed by the discipler that we should always read the bible we often find it difficult to obey. Often it is because we consider many parts as stories on pages of a book, skim through, become bored. Other times, we completely forget to read it. It feels laborious because we do not know its purpose. When the purpose of a thing is undefined abuse is inevitable. Personally, I realized when I am in spiritual mode – maybe in the place of prayers, praising, fasting or meditating the Spirit of God always brings to remembrance part of the bible that I have read to instruct me, strengthen the reasons for prayer petitions and sometimes a bible verse may be an answer to prayers.

The bible is a past, present and future book. It is past because it contains past stories of God’s interaction with people. It is present because it is applicable to now. It is future because it is prophetic in nature. We have knowledge on how to relate with God based on his attributes which he demonstrated in the past – we know God gets angry, we know he is merciful, we know he speaks, we know he gets jealous, we know he loves companionship etc. It contains the recipe for man’s survival now; the voice of God written down which can be used to navigate the affairs of life (Deut 8:3, 2 Peter 1:20). It is an ordinary but powerful book when the spirit of God breathes on it; it contains promises which when wield by the spirit of God commands blessings. It helps build up the voice and life of God in us; the more we read it shapes our consciences.

Therefore, It is important for us to be keen on reading the bible. Here are 6 points that I think might help:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit for help – The holy spirit breathes life to the words on the page of the book. He is the author of the book (2 Peter 1:20-21) and he alone understands better the intent of the word and how it is supposed to be applied to you.
2. Take the Bible as Medication – to always read the bible when you feel uninterested, assume you are spiritually sick and the only medication for that is the Word of God in the Bible. Most medications feels bitter in the mouth but they always perform their function when swallowed. The same is the Bible, it may feel bored when reading it but read it anyways it will perform its function in the future.
3. Study to Show Approval by God – study to show yourself approved to God not unto men. Studying the bible this way allows God to be involved in the study and devoid of the opinion of men.
4. Read Christian Books – christian books often contains application of the bible which helps to deepen our understanding of the bible.
5. Meditation – read it, churn it in your thoughts until your spirit man syncs with the spirit-life bursting out of the book. This may take several hours in the day but it is one of the ways Rhema comes from the bible. 
6. Read it daily – If we eat daily then we should read the bible daily.

A place of adjustment for our lives

He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. (Psalms 103:7 KJV)

The healing of Naaman was not in the Jordan river but in his decision to become humble, the miraculous provision for the widow of Zarephath was not Elijah but her sacrificial giving (giving next to nothingness) and the answered prayers of Hannah was not the blessing of Eli, neither her yearly coming to Shiloh but her huge longing after God which made her forsook the amusement from her husband, stayed behind at Shiloh and made a covenant with God.

It gathers that for the miraculous to occur some things have to change in our lives.

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Resonance

Physics is one of my favorite science subjects. One of my favorite topic is Resonance. It is a phenomenon that occurs when a moving body is able to induce another body to move at an amplitude or frequency equal or greater to its own. It simulates spiritual law; for the miraculous to happen we must be in the same amplitude or frequency with God — we must be in accordance with what he wants. Moses was told by God to go down to Egypt for the deliverance of the children of Israel. On his way, an Angel of the lord met him and tried to kill him. Why? Because there is a part of him that is not in accordance with what God wants. He was only delivered from the angel when he resonated with God.

Resonance with God is always in two ways — it is either He moves you or you move voluntarily. We oftentimes fall into the first category as it is part of the Contract of Grace (see Ezekiel 36:27). This is when He moves us and most times its unbearable, an uncharted terrain, life experiences we have not had before, somethings we never hoped will happen but happened — it is called The Moment of Wilderness. It is a season to sift out those things in us that will not allow us to resonate with God and bring out the best in us that resonates with God, until God says ‘I have formed you’ (see Isaiah 43:1). The consequence of failings of Resonance with God are two 1. Stagnancy (going round in Circles) 2. Return to Egypt (Backsliding). Unfortunately, many of us have no knowledge of resonating with God;We just do not want to move voluntarily neither compelled to follow his ways.Hence, we suffer the consequences.

For two bodies to move in the same amplitudes or frequencies they must be in the same system. A system by definition in physics is a portion of physical universe chosen for test or analysis. Likewise, there is an element in our Christian walk that determines whether we resonate with God or not — The Presence of God.

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The Right Question — Escape from the Wilderness

How amazing it is that He led them to and through the wilderness. Wilderness in stages — wilderness of Shur, wilderness of Sin, wilderness of Kadesh. Nonetheless, His presence was with them by cloud in the day and pillar of fire in the night.

There is something unique about the Presence of God; It changes a person. People who have experienced it were transfigured, have their character changed and got confirmation of sonship of God (see Matthew 17:5–6). An example is Moses who was known as the meekest man on earth (see Numbers 12:3). His face shone of brightness.

The simple truth about His Presence is that — He is not just there but that you might convert (transform , resonate) to him.

The good thing about the New Birth life is that it is always longing for God, for the Presence of God. As a result, he or she wants to go to church every Sundays, he or she feels not satisfied with only Sundays but also attends mid-week services, conferences and also worship in solitude. The bothering question arises when a fulfilment of the miraculous is not achieved in such a life. It is not an uncommon case in the scriptures; the Psalmist reveal the reason for the Israelites stagnation, that they knew the works of God and not his ways (see Psalms 103:7 KJV).

If Resonance with God makes the miraculous to happen, if its the escape route of the wilderness, then the right question should be ‘What do you need from me Lord?’. An answer to such request will facilitate The Adjustment to one’s live, eradicate futile prayers, create resonance with God, escape the wilderness and bring about the miraculous — the barrenness of Hannah could have been drenched a long time ago, if only she knew that God required her sacrificial giving. Likewise the Shunamite woman, if only she knew that God required her benevolence to a Man of God.