Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Psalm 112-- The Prosperous!

 Psalm 112 (The Message) -Personalized


    Hallelujah! I'm a blessed woman, because I fear(respect, love and heed) God,
   I cherish and relish his commandments,
   My offspring robust on the earth,
   And my homes blessed, because I'm upright!
   My houses brim with wealth
   And my generosity that never runs dry.
   Sunrise breaks through the darkness for me, because I'm a good person—
   God gives me grace and mercy and justice!
  
Trelan Hylton, the good person, is generous and lends lavishly;
   No shuffling or stumbling around for me,
   But a sterling and solid and lasting reputation.
   I'm unfazed by rumor and gossip,
   Heart ready, trusting in God,
   Spirit firm, unperturbed,
   Ever blessed, relaxed among enemies,
   I lavish gifts on the poor—
   My generosity that goes on, and on, and on.
   I live an honored life! A beautiful life!
   Someone wicked takes one look and rages,
   Blusters away but ends up speechless.

 

Psalm 112 (King James Version)


 1Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
 2His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
 3Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
 4Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
 5A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.
 6Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.
 7He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
 8His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.
 9He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.
 10The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.

Monday, November 28, 2011

The True And Firm Foundation

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste (Isaiah 28:16).

The prophet Isaiah, in the scripture above spoke prophetically about the "stone" which the Lord God would lay in Zion, I want you to observe the way this "stone" is described. First he refers to it as "a tried stone"; secondly, he calls it "a precious corner stone," and then thirdly, he refers to it as a "sure foundation." Being a "tried stone" mean it's been tested and proven; then as "a precious corner stone" it means it's the most important stone in the building; while as a "sure foundation", it means you can stake your life on it.

That's who Jesus is; He's the only true foundation upon which you should build your life. No wonder He said in Luke 6:47-49: "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great."

It matters the foundation upon which your life is built. The Bible says "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."(1 Corinthians 3:11). He is the true and firm foundation. Make Him the foundation of your success today by employing the principles of His Word in all your dealings. That way, when contrary winds blow against you, you'll remain standing because you're founded upon the Rock, Christ Jesus! In the face of adversity you'll be unshaken because on Christ, the Solid Rock, you stand.

Remember, the foundation is what makes the difference. Both houses in the illustration given by Jesus in Luke 6:47-49 were confronted by the same flood; but the one without foundation came to ruin. No wonder that the songwriter wrote, "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand; All other ground is sinking sand! All other ground is sinking sand."

Let Christ, the Solid Rock, be the foundation and anchor of your life! Be a doer of His Word, for that's how to build your life on the solid rock. That's what will keep you on the path to success and prosperity all your life.

PRAYER
Dear Father, you've taken me out of the miry clay, and planted my feet firmly upon the rock, Christ Jesus. Now I know that I'll remain unshakeable even when the storms of life blow against me, for I've been securely planted on the true foundation-- Jesus Christ the Rock. Thus, no situation can overwhelm me in this life because I'm not just a hearer but a doer of your Word. Amen.


Rhapsody of Realities      November 28, 2011
--Pastor Chris Oyakhilome

Friday, November 25, 2011

Can You Believe?



Belief is something a lot of people struggle with. People struggle with seeing a new and greater reality than the one they're currently aware of. A wheel-chair bound man, for example, can't recast himself as running and jumping, while playing basketball. He can't see the muscular definition in his lean, strong legs. He only sees the atrophied reality.
A woman raising a mentally retarded teenager can become a life coach, and the only possibility she can show you is how to navigate situations while burdened with handicaps. Some people suffer in a condition for so long that they see absolutely no other possibilities. It's like getting so used to the stench of rotting flesh that it no longer offends you, and has become a part of you.

One would think that such people and conditions are not only permanent, but universal, yet people have been emerging from oppressive conditions to new realities.
In places(such as areas in Africa & South America) not touched by the influences of modern media, people are walking out of being crippled from birth, the only condition & reality they ever knew. While others in more "civilized" societies strain under the oppression of a plethora of conditions yet unknown to those remote nations. Why is that?

A Pastor from America saw the state of these remote places, the lack of medical facilities and all the modern accoutrements, so he decides to bring salvation to the wild. He goes around and gathers all the village chiefs willing to participate and have their subjects partake. Pretty soon he has a small crowd, open and waiting for something; expectant. He preaches on healing, and randomly, people in the crowd are being released from blindness, deafness, pain...
The Pastor is flabbergasted! He hadn't even called people to be healed, hadn't even prayed for them, wasn't even aware that a message imparted by him could have such an effect. He's never experienced this before. Man!
What happened there?

How is it possible that a Pastor can preach one message in his home church in Ohio, then preach the same message with slight tailoring to fit an African audience, yet get two vastly different effects? How can he preach on healing miracles in church, have loyal, longstanding, dutiful church members suffering diabetes, wheelchair bound, etc, yet a stranger sits in on one message and is automatically released from cancer. How did that happen? 
 

The problem the civilized people have is their inability to be persuaded by Truth. The Word has become common for the church members such that they are loyal to the church for intellectual reasons. People have magnified intellect to the point where it's a giant in their lives. Every experience (and I use "experience" very loosely here) is cerebral. Every message has to be analyzed, dissected and look at from various angles, but at a distance. It never gets in the analyst's spirit. But how can it when it's been categorized as historic information, appreciated for etymology and allegory?

Somehow people have been convinced that being "brainy" is the ideal to be attained. Some Christians form a process called "Apologetics" in order to debate the atheist on an intellectual level. Such Christians even run the risk of being swayed towards the dead's perspective. Have they won over any atheist? Some have, but how lasting is mental maneuvering without intimacy with Truth?

If you're a Christian intent upon winning over the carnal man who is mind ruled, you've got to get past his intellect and reach his spirit. Trying to win him over by mental gymnastics is next to futile because that's his territory. Don't focus on refuting his arguments in debate, because that's when you're dancing to his music and it won't work. Take him out of his comfort zone. Your mind won't tell you how to do that well, so you have to ask the Holy Spirit to give you utterances that will shake his "foundation". Utterances that will reach into his core. Now you may not see the immediate shake, but he will leave the conversation with niggling questions of his position. The dam has a hairline crack...

Listen friends, our God is a supernatural God. He functions in the realm where all things are possible. You've got to take advantage of the grace you received when you confessed Jesus as Lord.

In his first letter to the Corinth Church, Paul said "...when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. ...but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). You have to come out of the realm where you see words in the Bible as mere words. Make them real to you. Experience them.

A man's soul(mind, will and emotions) is the gateway to his spirit. Your spirit is where ideas, behaviours, life boundaries and directions live. It is the person God's Spirit connects with. The same way food and eating habits shows up in your body (whether you're svelte and healthy or overweight and disease prone) is the same way the ideas, words, pictures, thoughts and emotions show up in your life and present state. Feed Truth to your spirit.

Start with his mind: We experience the world through our physical senses but did you know we have spiritual senses? The same way your eyes allow you to experience the physical world, you have the ability to see with the eyes of the spirit, to use your ability to picture possibilities. 

Your ear allows you to experience sounds, to decipher positions and directions based on sound vibrations. The ability to hear the state or condition a person is in, to hear past and future conversation via thoughts, to get directional vibration, is within your spirit. We have the ability to imagine. The Bible is replete with admonition to meditate (examples are Joshua 1:8 and Psalms 1:2) on His Truth.

Touch his soul's will: We drop our defenses and allow ourselves to trust Truth. We stop seeing ourselves as inferior, undeserving or in condemnation, so that we can step boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). Having the conscious awareness of who we are, who God is and our relationship, allow us to dwarf any and all circumstance that tries to exalt itself above the knowledge of God. Take action on God's Word.

Grab his emotions: Our physical bodies allows us to experience sensations of pleasure or pain; similarly our emotions/ feelings allow us to experience various forms of either joy or hurt. As we meditate God's truth over current physical circumstance, we allow feelings of well-being and gratitude for our change in state. We rest in His Truth.

This is how belief works. What a man meditates on in the spiritual becomes reality in the material. But here is a key, the reason people in third world countries experience miracles in cases where North Americans cannot is simply this: No is not an option. They've meditated on a new reality such that it's now their experience and no other possibility exists. Influenced by media, and "logical" people in their lives, North Americans have made God's Word foolishness in their own sights. As a result, they live oppressed lives.

Read on the woman with the issue of blood (Mat 9:20-22; Mar 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-47). She'd been oppressed by an issue of blood(probably fibroid) for 12 long years, then she heard  of Jesus and his working of miracles and made a decision(her will) that today she will be free. She saw no other possibilities except a healing. How do I know? Levitical law pronounced her as unclean in such a condition, so legally she's not allowed to go into crowds (Leviticus 15:19-28), but her meditated experience was so real to her that she was blind to legalities and possibly consequences. She acted on what she said within herself (If I touch his garments I'll be whole). And get this, Jesus' own will/faith had nothing to do with it!


If you're a Pastor struggling with a bum knee, hear me, that's wrong! Don't vacillate between Truth and present circumstances. Staggering between two stories only lead to failure (James 6-8). Let go of vain reasoning and lose yourself into Truth!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Talk Your Spirit Up!

 Hey, look what I found! 


If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace (Romans 8:6 CEV).

The activities that take place in a man’s spirit are mostly what govern his life. Whether or not you’re going to be successful in life depends on what happens in your spirit, for out of your spirit are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). As you navigate your way through life, it’s important that you train your spirit with the Word to be a sure guide.

Negative thoughts and ideas (thoughts of failure, weakness, wickedness, sickness and sin) may come to your mind, but as long as the Word of God is stored in your heart richly, you’ll be able to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Word (2 Corinthians 10:5). One way to achieve this is by meditation. Through meditation you talk your spirit up, while drowning the negative voices around you.

When I first learnt to do this as a young lad many years ago, I’d sometimes get into my dad’s car, in the garage, just so I could be alone in a quiet place and there talk my spirit up. You need to do this from time to time. You need to lock yourself away in a private place so as not to disturb others and then shout the Word until you completely drown every negative thought of fear, unbelief or failure. As you do this, the Word will gain the mastery over your mind, and your spirit will have the controlling influence.

To live the ever-glorious life in Christ continually, you have to learn to talk your spirit up, and that way dispel negative thoughts from your consciousness. As you shout the devil and your mind down, your spirit will gain the mastery.

PRAYER
Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to receive your Word into my spirit for it to affect my body and influence my mind! Your Word is imparting wisdom to my spirit and renewing my mind to think at your level; thoughts that are consistent with your eternal purpose and will for my life, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.



 Rhapsody of Realities     August 1, 2011
-Pastor Chris Oyakhilome

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Holiness Versus Righteousness

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Some believers have confused holiness for righteousness, assuming that there's no difference between both. Though often used by many interchangeably, holiness is not the same as righteousness and the difference between the two needs to be clear. 

Holiness is a place in God; a condition. When God sanctifies something, whether it's a place, a person or a thing, it becomes holy. That person or thing becomes separated from all others unto God. It includes two aspects. Firstly, the Lord separates you or sets you apart; and then secondly, He separates you to Himself. It is one thing to separate anything or anybody to other things, but that doesn't mean you've separated that thing to yourself. But in this connection, God separates you from others to Himself; for His sacred use, thus you're holy!

As God's children, we've been sanctified by the Spirit of God. So we're called holy. That's our condition. Also, when God's presence comes upon someone or when God's presence comes to a place, like it did on Mount Sinai in the Old Testament (Exodus 24:16) it becomes holy. The temple in the Old Testament also was called holy because the presence of God was there, and God had separated that place for Himself.

Righteousness, on the other hand, is a nature. It's the nature of God that describes His rightness; His ability to do, and be right. He is never wrong, He's always right. Whatever He does is right. When He imparts this ability to be right and do right into your life, you automatically become righteous. This also gives you right-standing, which means you can stand in His presence without a sense of condemnation, inferiority or guilt.

Righteousness is your nature now; it's the character of your spirit. You're not the only the righteousness of God in Christ, as the scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, instead, you're both righteous and holy (1 Corinthians 3:17). In Hebrews 3:1, we're called holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. You share the same life and nature with the Lord; His nature of righteousness and holiness have been imparted to your spirits; you're one with Him now: "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:11). 


CONFESSION
I am the temple of God and God's Spirit lives in me, therefore, I am holy, as He is holy. By virtue of Christ's death, burial and resurrection, I've been declared righteous, justified and sanctified unto God, therefore, I live and walk daily in the nature of God that has been imparted into my spirit. Praise the Lord!
Rhapsody of Realities        November 25, 2011
--Pastor Chris Oyakhilome

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Don't Joke Against The Word!

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned (Matthew 12:36-37).


Some Christians, in their confessions, are sometimes positive, and some other times negative, and that's the reason they experience "ups" and "downs" in their lives. Have made a wrong confession they'd say: "I didn't really meant what I said," or "I was only joking when I said that." Well, in the realm of the spirit, you have whatsoever you say, whether or not you meant it. In Mark 11:23, Jesus didn't say "You shall have whatever you mean," He said "You shall have whatever you say."

If you must joke, let it be positive, and don't joke against the Word. Don't make careless statements for they'll produce results for you. That's why you must say only what you mean, and be sure it's consistent with the Word. 
Jesus said "...by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37). In the realm of the spirit, words are extremely important. Interpreting the Master's words above literally means, a man will go to heaven or hell because of what he said or didn't say. But beyond that, your life is the character of your words. If a man's words are confusing, his life will be confusing. In the same way, if a man's words are wholesome, his life will be wholesome. This is why you must watch what you say! 




PRAYER
Dear Father, thank you for teaching me about the power of words. Through your Word, and by your Spirit, I'm culturing my tongue to speak only faith-filled words! No unwholesome communication is allowed to proceed from my mouth. I speak only life-giving words that are consistent with your plans and purposes for my life, and I declare that my future is secure in Jesus' Name. Amen.



Rhapsody of Realities    November 15, 2011
--Pastor  Anita Oyakhilome

Friday, November 11, 2011

Created In His Image

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24).


The natural man, the man who is not yet born again has his understanding of spiritual truths darkened. He is estranged from the life of God because of his ignorance and the blindness or hardness of his heart. "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Ephesians 4:18).

But for you that are born again, you have the life of Christ in you; you have God's nature, which is completely contrary to the flesh. When you believed in your heart and confessed the Lordship of Jesus with your mouth, you were at once recreated in righteousness and true holiness, after the image of Christ.

Unlike the unregenerate man, you're not spiritually separated from God; you're alive to the fatherhood of God. The Bible says now are we the sons of God (1 John 3:2),  therefore it's not blasphemous for you to declare that you're an associate of the God-kind; you have a sonship relationship with the Lord: "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6).

You're now a partaker of the divine nature, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him (Colossians 3:10). Operate in this new realm of life--where you know you have the life and nature of God in you.



CONFESSION 
I'm excited about my new life in Christ. I've passed from death to life; from sin to righteousness; from sickness to health; from poverty to wealth. I have the life and nature of God in me; I've put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness, and true holiness. Praise the Lord!



Rhapsody of Realities   November 12, 2011
--Pastor  Anita Oyakhilome

Thursday, November 10, 2011

The Truth About TRUTH -- Part one

 What is Truth?
Online, the Oxford Dictionaries describes truth as : "...that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality"
Can I tell you though, they don't know even the half of it...

I've often hear some people use the word "Truth" in respect to the state of their lives; specifically, if they go through some personal struggle, be it addiction, sexual abuse, life-style choices etc, that they've come to accept and regard  as "their personal truth". Some think that somehow their personal experience determine the truth of things and processes. 

People who observe and study behaviours and functions of (other people and) existing materials often err the same way.  A consequence of lacking the ability to discern the things of God, (carnal) scientists and doctors can only make guesses at best. (This is why one month you see a study of how awesome chicken eggs are for you, and the next month, a new study of how bad they are.)

The oxford dictionaries got it wrong because Fact is NOT Truth...
...Fact is lesser than truth.
What, did I shock you? At least you're not offended, hang on!  Facts are what you are able to observe with all physical faculties available to you, and this is why it is usually not truth. I said usually, because sometimes you get it right... Hold on, don't take offense now, I'm not done yet.  Take this example; mid-afternoon, the sky is clear, I ask its colour and you declare, "it's blue!" But is that true? Well not for a dog. A dog doesn't experience colour the same way the human does. It only sees in black, white and shades of grey.  (I won't bother to go into a greater truth that colour itself is only a function of types of lights, the way they hit an object and their relationship to your eyes and brain. Neither will I go into the concept of "sky"...) That the sky is blue, while being a fact, is only a human perception.

Truth comes from the Spirit of God. Why do I say this? Some years ago I sat in church and for the very first time, heard the story of the spies and the promised land. (I said for the first time because while my mother is a very spiritual woman, growing up, we only read the Psalms. Man, I could recite you some Psalms...) Reading the story I thought "man, how just is it to go occupy an already occupied land--" (not the best idea to read with outside stories, colouring the material...) until I bumped up into Numbers 13:32-33 "And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Why would the Bible called what the 10 spies reported as evil when in fact they actually saw gigantic men of great power?  Those spies were meant to see beyond the physical, with the eyes of the spirit, good possibilities. Excellent outcomes. Instead they saw these men as beyond them, and themselves thoroughly defeated.

The 10 spies saw and agreed with facts. As a consequence, they were left to wander a small desert for forty years until they all expired.

You know the saying "It's too good to be true"? Every time I hear it my skin pricks up (well not literally, but you get the idea). I know people are attempting to protect themselves from being deceived, but they're going about it the wrong way. 
Practical example: a couple weeks ago I had a conversation with a woman who works with her husband, he's a massage therapist, and as a compliment to his work, she does facials. Being married 38 years(much longer than I've actually existed hah aha), she only speaks of her husband as if he were the greatest thing ever.
I told her, "your husband is so blessed to have such a supporting wife. That's what I've noticed lasting marriages consist of, a loving and supporting wife, and a providing and protecting husband."
She pipes in "He's a very good provider, very good!"
I don't doubt it either, her clothes are always so cute, you wouldn't guess she's 58.

Another person was in the room with us, a woman in her mid to late 20's. She chimed in, "yeah, but men seem to like me only because I'm helpful, they don't like me for me." To me, that was a very strange statement. She explained would like them to compliment her on her looks etc
"But that's a part of your character, that's what lasts..."

Little did I know that earlier that morning she had called the older woman aside and asked her a series of questions...
The woman had been wearing a beautiful yellow dress that other ladies complimented her on, and she responded "Thanks, my husband loves it too!"
Somehow, this bothered the younger woman so she called her aside and asked "Are you OK, are you being abused?" Puzzled, older woman said no. The younger persist, "Are you afraid your husband will leave you?"
To that the older woman asked "why do you ask me these questions? Where is this coming from?"
"Because I see a void in you... a vacuum..."!!!

Now, I hadn't mentioned that the younger woman defines herself as a life-coach, yet somehow, she saw a healthy marriage as being too good to be true; there must be something wrong with it.

Of course she might have concluded that the older woman was a victim on account of her being Asian. In North American skewed mindset, people tend to view Asian women as being docile, cowered by dominant men. But if that were true, the wife, living in Canada for 30+ years, had opportunities to not see and express love for her husband. But she remains loyal and loving.

Why would the younger woman see a void where there was none? She, herself, had been a victim of sexual abuse by her own father, coupled with a neglectful mother, and as such, not only does she wear a badge of victim-hood, but she sees other women through that prism. (In fact, the only reason she gives for her career is to protect other children by teaching them her personal truth).

What the older woman told to me saddened me. That a person who defines herself as helpful, is unable to tell good from evil (whether with her own character that she defines as her helpfulness(though misguided), or with seeing true joy in other people).

One day I'll do a blog about seeing and pulling value out of people instead of searching for things that are (only possibly) wrong. Often, when you go searching for things that are wrong, if you don't find them you might make them up and call them true. Be careful with that...

James said "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."(James 1;17)
Goodness comes from God and if it's good then it's True!

This reminds me of Jesus' response to a man who asked, "Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"
Jesus' responded to the designation of "Good" saying: "Why call me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." (Mark 10:17-18). Now with that one statement people veer off in various directions (whether to question Jesus' deity, or the Bible itself etc--generally because some people read with an intention to find faults), but I got what Jesus told that man; God is goodness personified, i.e God is the Spirit of Goodness. Well that's the same way I see Truth...

John said in John 16:13: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth..."
All truth? Does that mean that there are multiple truths or does it mean that truth is multi leveled?
Well let's look at Truth different angles...

Truth creates...
Have you ever had a revelation that struck you so hard you remember the exact time and place it happened? I had been listening to a message taught by Pastor Chris earlier (I can't say if it was that day or not because sometimes I let a message remain in my car's CD player for a week or two ), where he emphasized that the reason God cannot lie is because whatsoever He says gets established. If today was Tuesday and He declares it's Saturday, it becomes Saturday. He's God.

This is why we read in Hebrews 6:17-18 that He's bound Himself to His oath and as such, it is impossible for Him to lie.James chapter 1 verse 18 says "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth..."
Whenever God spoke, His word got established. Through words of creation, backed by faith, our physical world came into existence. "So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)

God's Word is known (and the "known" I'm using is one of intimacy and communion) as Truth such that whosoever agrees with it overcome circumstances and situations that had them under oppression. If a man has been oppressed by cancer or some other disease, if he confesses God's truth( by His stripes, I was healed - Isaiah 53:5) over the state of his body, believing with his heart, his body has to obey and be made  whole. 

God's Word changes the state of (things in) existence and as such, God's Word is Truth. 
How was it possible for a man to walk on water? (We know about the basilisk lizard, with large hind feet, speeds atop water surfaces, but Jesus, at regular gait, walked on rough seas.) How is that explained? Jesus used words of Truth. He spoke to inanimate material as though he would a person, backing the words with faith, and they obeyed. I wouldn't doubt that he had told the sea to accommodate his stroll.

Moses held a rod over the red sea and commanded it to part. He spoke words that the Spirit of God gave him. The red sea had no choice but to obey. Jesus himself  told us that all the miracles he worked were according to the Words (will) of God.  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:30). 
It is actually the Holy Spirit, also known as the Spirit of Truth (John 15:26), who changes the state of things.  
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2).  

Fortunately for us, children of the Most High God(1 John 3:1-2), we have full access to the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and with us. If you've not yet receive the Holy Spirit of God, ask Him in then be filled daily (using the steps laid out in Ephesians 5:18-20). ...You shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you... (Acts 1:8 Amplified). 

 Power is the ability to cause changes, (changes that work dynamically). As such, through the Spirit of truth, the addicted have power to conquer addiction, the sickly have power to live in divine health, the simple have the power to walk in wisdom. 

Live in Truth...



Thursday, November 3, 2011

Seeing The Father In Us!

Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:  Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me (Deuteronomy 5:8-9).

All over the world, people have different misconceptions of who or what they think God is. Some believe He's everywhere and in everything. By that, they mean, if you see a great stone or a tree, for instance, that's God; anything you want God to be represented with, that's who and where He is. No, that's ignorance on rampage! God isn't that stone or big tree you see in the park; He's the Creator of the whole world.

The Psalmist said of Him: "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands."(Psalms 102:25). He created all things; therefore He's greater than all creation. He therefore can't be represented by His creatures for He's too great--too big for that. 

The Bible tells us in the book of Acts how Paul encountered certain people at Athens who thought this way about God. They were mostly Athenian philosophers who has a muddled idea about God's personality. Paul in his response to them said: "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:29-30).

He made them realize that the reason they likened or represented God with physical objects was because of their ignorance of who He is. Jesus came to show us what God is like. He said in John 14:9, "...he that hath seen me hath seen the Father..." He is the express image of the Father's person (Hebrews 1:3).  
Colossians 2:9 says "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily."

Being born again, we have the nature of the Father. We have the life of Christ. Like Jesus, we can say, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father: "...as He is, so are we in this world...." (1 john 4:17). We're today the effulgence of His glory, the express image of His person, sharers of His life and partakers of His divine nature. 




PRAYER
Dear Father, thank you for the life of Christ in me! As He is, so am I in this world, to be your expression to the world in love. Thank you for giving me the ability to live and function like you, in Jesus' Name. Amen.


Rhapsody of Realities    November 3, 2011
--Pastor Chris Oyakhilome

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

"Such As You Have... Give!"

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength (Acts 3:6-7).


Jesus said in Mark 16:17-18 "...these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."  He didn't say we should negotiate with sickness; He said heal the sick. Lay your hands on the sick and they shall recover. The apostles didn't pray for those who were sick; they healed them. Peter healed the crippled man at the gate of the temple called Beautiful. He said to the man: "...Look on us" (Acts 3:4).

The impotent man, expecting to receive alms, gave Peter and John his attention, but Peter didn't have any money on him at the time. But he knew he had something greater than money; the Name of Jesus. Hence he said to the impotent man, "...silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee..." Peter made a demand on the Name of Jesus and a miracle took place. He transmitted the power of God into the man's body using the Name of Jesus.

It reminds me of a certain lady confined to a wheelchair because she was unable to walk. I had preached during the service on the Name of Jesus and as I looked at her, I noticed she had been crying, I said to her, "In the Name of Jesus, get up." She leapt off the wheelchair instantly, walking and praising God. I had something to give.

We've been given the power of attorney to use the Name of Jesus. You can bless your world with the Name of Jesus and the life of God in you. When you make a demand on that Name, miracles take place. Your hands are not empty; they are divine instruments through which eternal life flows. So you have something to give; something with which to bless the world.



CONFESSION
Dear Father, I thank you for your pulsating life that permeates my entire being, and with which I bless my world today. I'm conscious that I have something to give; therefore I distribute the blessings of the Kingdom to those I come in contact with today. This is an awesome privilege and I'm grateful to you for it, in Jesus' Name. Amen.



Rhapsody of Realities     November 8, 2011
--Pastor Chris Oyakhilome