Understanding how to grow up spiritually

Session 2 Lesson 2

Growing in Intimacy with God

Introduction: Last week, we introduced this segment of our series with the truth about the fall of man from grace in the Garden of Eden and the new challenge which is the spiritual death from which God had to raise man. About two thousand years ago on the Cross of Calvary, this problem was solved when the Lord said in John 19:30 “…It is finished…” as He hung on the Cross. 

Today, we shall continue to see the eternal effects of this simple sentence made by the Son of God on Calvary’s Cross in our favour. 

Man is now free to make choices: By the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary, man was delivered from the dominion of darkness. In the realm of darkness, man was completely ignorant of who he was and who he had become due to sin. The sin nature was introduced to Adam when he sinned against God in Gen.3. 

➢ Man became a slave to sin by that nature which was later passed down to their lineage. See Rom.5:15-18; 1Cor.15:21-22.

➢ Note that Eve was deceived and transgressed due to deception but Adam’s sin was a willful disobedience. See 1Tim.2:14.

➢ God decided to raise a new breed of people with his own seed [1Pet.1:23 and 1Jn.3:9]. See Rom.5:15-18; 1Cor.15:21-22. 

➢ He did this first by bringing Jesus into this world without the involvement of a male sperm thus making him the Son of God in this world. The woman’s womb is the vessel through which a child is born into the world.

➢ The bible recognizes two Adams namely the first Adam and the Last Adam. The first Adam was the one who sinned and the last Adam was the one who did not sin [Jesus Christ]. See 1Cor.15:45-50. 

➢ The sin nature left man a sinner who had no choice but to sin and live in corruption. Sin made man corruptible in that he became subject to the dictates of the devil and death. Rm.7:21-23; Ps.14:1-3; 53:1-3 and Rm.3:10-12.

➢ Any man who receives the last Adam – Jesus Christ is now free from the dominion of darkness and can now see the true difference between light and darkness and therefore be able to make choices that would help him live for God. Col.1:12-13.

➢ The death of Christ on the Cross brought the will of man alive again to be able to say yes to God and no to Satan. See Heb.9:16. 

➢ The Testator of both the Old and New Testament is the Lord Jesus Christ [John 5:39 and Rev.19:10]. By His death, the testaments came alive and so did our will that was bound to obey the dictates of the flesh prior. 

➢ Our will was rescued to be able to not only make choices but to make the right choices. See Eph.2:1-6; Col.1:13-14; 1Pet.1:23.

How To Be Fruitful Pt.2

THEME: BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY

MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY THE 27TH OF MARCH 2016

Topic: How to be fruitful Part 2

Introduction: Like we saw last week, our fruitfulness is rooted in the prosperity of our souls. We are only fruitful to the extent we develop our souls to walk in the ways of God as opposed to how we used to live before we got saved [Isa.55:8; Jos.1:8; 3Jn.1:2 and Rm.12:2]

Today, we shall be looking at the process that lead to our ability to exercise dominion as God originally intended. In Gen.1:26 when God made the purpose of His intention for making man known, He put it in these words: “Let us make man in our image and after out likeness and let them have dominion…” in other words, God made man to rule over the earth. In the 28th verse of that text, God also disclosed the process by which man was to rule in these words: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. …” in other words, the process where we are productive to the extent of fulfilling our purpose goes like this: Be fruitful, Multiply, Replenish the earth, Subdue it and have dominion over all that God said we should have dominion over. We shall look at these in details here:

Be fruitful: To be fruitful is to procreate after your kind. We want to restrict this here to having biological children. However, there is more to fruitfulness. There is the fruitfulness of your life in the area of your specific purpose. So while being productive in your body, you must be spiritually and soulishly productive as well so you can rule your world. See the parable of the pounds and the talent in Lk.19:12-26 and Mt.25:14-30. In these parables, the master wanted to see how productive they were going to be with the opportunities they were given. What you do with your time and money would tell how well you convert opportunities to wealth and would determine your rating and placement in life.

We can clarify this message by simplifying it this way. Bear fruit of your body at the right time. This means that when you get married, you are authorized to have children of your own by this scripture. See Ps.127:3-5 and Ps.113:9.

The next level of fruitfulness is that of your spirit. Following the fall of man into sin, we became spiritually dead and therefore could no longer bear fruit spiritually. When Jesus came to take our place of punishment, all who receive him would become new creations and have eternal life. But they will come into the faith as spiritual babies who must grow to the point where they can bear fruit for God. Note that if you do not grow, you cannot bear fruit and if you persist like that, you will wither spiritually and cannot attain to your potential. 

The third level is the fruitfulness of the soul. The soul is the part of man that contains the mind, will and emotions. When man sinned against God, his soul became corrupted and since his spirit had been severed from God, the soul came under the control of the flesh that had become subjected to death and its influences. Man’s mind became unproductive as a result and even though the potential of all he could be were still there, corruption had set in to mess man’s mind up and keep him in bondage to sin and therefore the devil. All the suffering of man afterwards is the product of his association with sin and therefore the devil. All the work of the flesh we see around today is the fruit of the association of man with the devil[Gal.5:18-21 and John 15:1-5]. The result of this is unfruitfulness. However, by the grace of God, since the Lord Jesus Christ came to pay the debt for our sin, anyone who receives Him as Saviour and Lord would receive eternal life or the life of God. This life has the ability to quicken the soul and body to make them all God intends for them to be. [Jn.5:24-29; 6:53-58].

In summation here, the first step towards our exercise of dominion therefore is to produce a fruit. Your fruit is what you birth following the leading of the Holy Spirit. It could be a ministry, a book, a business etc. Even your biological children can be fruits depending on how well you have raised them to follow the ways of God so that they can become seeds of the Lord. A seed shall serve him and it shall be accounted to God for a generation. So serving the Lord with your life makes you as seed sown. See Ps.22:30.

Multiply: Whatever fruit you produce is not good enough being alone. The fruit must be multiplied. For instance, if you produce a book, you have to multiply it by technology to enable it to get to many people through distribution. If you raise your children to walk in the ways of God, they would multiply and replenish the earth [Gen.18:17-19]. This is why your fruit must be multiplied. After multiplying your fruit, you have to come up with a good distribution network to spread it around the world. See Isa.9:8 and 68:11.

Replenish the earth: You replenish the earth when the fruit you have multiplied is taken from where you made it to other places where it is needed by others. The more you replenish the earth with your fruit, the more your purpose finds expression. For instance, a nation with more fruits like human resources, products from the nation’s raw materials like minerals, petroleum, vegetables and so on; is more productive than one with these same raw materials which is not producing fruits from them. This explains the existence of poor and rich nations on earth today even though all nations have the basic natural resources – man and time in it.See Is.52:7; Mk.16:15-17; Mt.28:18-20.

Subdue it [that is the earth]: The more you spread your fruit around the earth, the more you are considered valuable provided your fruit delivers on its promise everywhere it goes. The result is that wherever your product goes, the land is subdued before it. When God had made the children of Israel a great people in the Promised Land, the bible says the land was subdued before them. See Joshua 18:1. In Egypt, pharaoh became threatened by Israel because God so caused them to multiply that the land was filled with them. See Ex.1:7. The greater your fruit becomes, the more tendency it has to subdue the earth. This was the fear of the religious leaders that drove them to murder Jesus Christ and attempt to stop His fruit - the gospel. But the Gospel is God’s product and cannot be stopped because of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end [Isa.9:7]. See Jn.11:47-53 and Acts 5:28. The more this is done on a consistent basis, the more likely you are to exercise dominion as God intends. This is why the Church is taking over the earth on a daily basis because she is the fruit of Jesus Christ.  

Have dominion or reign: The ultimate purpose of God for man is that the man leads in the area of his or her calling. Leadership is attained when a person has demonstrated faithfulness in servicing the needs of others with their fruits to the satisfaction of those people. This is why the Lord said the greatest among us must be the servant of all. This is why He made us, this is why He restored us after the fall and this is what we are expected to do on earth before the return of the Lord. No one has exemplified this truth better than Jesus Christ and his followers. See Gen.1:26-28; Jn.12:24; Acts 6:7; 19:18-20.

However, dominion cannot truly be exercised in man’s fallen state. This is why we must be born again so that we can bear fruit unto God. See Rom.7:4. Should you desire to make that transition from death to life now, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved:

Heavenly Father, 

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen. 

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nannaand on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or     www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!

Understanding how to grow up spiritually Session 1 Lesson 9

Understanding how to grow up spiritually

Session 1 Lesson 9

Introduction: Everything living is proven by its growth. We were raised from death to life, therefore we must grow. We entered this new life as seeds or children and once admitted into this new life, what is required next is growth. [John 5:24; Col.1:13; 1Pet.1:23 and 1Pet.2:2]

We are still looking at how the devil tries to weaken our faith since he has failed to stop us from getting saved. Another means by which the enemy tries to weaken our faith is:

Deception: This is falsehood calculated to weaken the faith of man thereby making him unable to fulfill his God given purpose of glorifying God. There are many ways the devil has tried to deceive man over the years. See Isa.43:7

·        For instance because of man’s ignorance of who the true God is, he has claimed to be god to many through idolatry where men are cheated into leaving the creator to serve the creation like animals, the solar system like the sun, the moon, the stars and angels. Thus when you see people worshiping anyone or anything without going through Jesus Christ to God the father, they have been deceived to worship devils. See Romans 1:18-32.

·        Bewitchment: People are bewitched when they are deceived to believe a lie as the truth even though they already had access to the truth. The result is that they would leave the way of life and go back to their old ways out of fear and intimidation that if they do not continue in that former way, an evil will befall them. For instance, some people fear that if they did not continue to worship the idols of their past, they would be struck to death by the gods they left. A friend told me this story about a missionary to Republic of Benin. He said they people to who he was sent usually had to bow to an idol in that village at a particular time of the day. One day, the drum was sounded when the people were in Church. The people hurried out of Church to go an honor the devil as they used to do. The missionary stopped them and told them not to go again that Christ had redeemed them. The people obeyed the missionary. The priest of the idol was infuriated and attempted to cast a spell on the missionary and promised the missionary that he would die in seven days. The idolatrous priest died two days later. That brought an end to the bewitchment, fear and intimidation the devil tried to use to keep the people in bondage.  Gal.3:1-10.

·        Another means of deception the devil tries to use to keep men from God after they are saved is the opposition of science. Through science, people have studied and learnt medicine for instance and try to prove by natural means how disease can cause death. Then they come up with imperfect solutions like drugs etc to try to manage disease. In some cases, they even tell man that the disease is terminal in which case, all hope of getting healed is taken away. However, the bible tells us that Christ destroyed the devil and death and hell and took our sickness on his body so that by His stripes we are healed. If man keeps listening to God and excludes the opposition of science, he would be healed. If on the other hand, he chooses to believe science instead of the word of God, he would die. Science means to know. To this extent, there is nothing wrong with science. However, when that knowledge conflicts with the word of God, it should be discarded or man would come under bondage by his weakened faith. See 1Tim.6:20, Rm.8:5-9, Heb.2:14-15; Isa.53:1-5; Ex.23:25-25; 1Pet.2:24 and Rev.1:18. 

How to be fruitful

MESSAGES FOR THE MONTH MARCH, 2016: OUR MONTH OF FRUITFULNESS

THEME: BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY

MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY THE 20^TH OF MARCH 2016

Topic: How to be fruitful

Introduction: The prosperity of man is rooted in the prosperity of his soul. To prosper is to be whole nothing; missing and nothing broken. When we are whole, we would be fruitful. In the book of 3John 1:2, we read: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth”. To put it another way, I wish that you are fruitful and multiply to the extent your soul is cultivated to permit you. In other words, God has done all that needs to be done for you to be fruitful; the rest is up to your cooperation through your soul.

From today, we shall be looking at how to be fruitful based on the cultivation of our soul. The reason for the cooperation of the soul for our productivity or fruitfulness is that since the fall of man, the new birth became necessary. When we are born again, a whole new life starts for us. This is the life where the spirit must begin to control the soul as opposed to the old life when the flesh was in control. This is the real warfare of man after salvation. He can therefore only be productive to the extent he cooperates with the new creation spirit and the word of God based on the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it and have dominion: This is the statement of the blessing and it encapsulates God’s work description for mankind. We are only as fulfilled as we obey this command. When we do, we are blessed with increase and we attract God’s interest in us. So he comes to prune us to become even more productive.

If we disobey this command, we risk being cut off from our source and cast away. That will not be the portion of any of us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In these teachings, we are going to focus on spiritual fruitfulness as most of us are already familiar with the fruitfulness of the body and for those of us who have developed our minds to some extent; the fruitfulness of the soul. To have children simply entails cultivating a godly relationship as you are led of God. This relationship ends in marriage and the fruit of the marital union are children. Then the work of cultivating them and guiding them into God’s purpose for their lives so as to continue your godly legacy begins as you work to build a great environment for this to happen effectively.

Mental productivity is what informs your decision to become literate and learn a trade or business where you could grow to the point of productivity and more productivity as you faithfully build your business to the point where your efforts by the grace of God can become instrumental in bringing out the best in others. All who are blessed through your work are proofs of your mental fruitfulness.

Spiritually, Jesus tells us to bear fruit that would abide and he told us how. His instructions are found in John 15:1-8; 16. A study of that chapter would reveal the following truths to us:

1.     Jesus Christ is likened to the vine while we are likened to the branches.

2.     As the branches have to depend on their connection to the vine for sustenance, we also have to depend on our connection to the Lord for our sustenance. We do this by the fellowship with the Holy Spirit and the word of God and taking the Holy Communion daily. See John 6:56-57.

3.     The difference between us and the branches is that we can exercise our wills to choose to disconnect ourselves from the vine or stay connected to the vine. See Deu.30:19-20.

4.     If we choose to stay connected, we shall grow because we would be receiving nourishment from the vine and become productive. If on the other hand we choose to disconnect from the vine, we shall wither and die and consequently become fruitless.

5.     The father is likened to the vinedresser. Just as a vinedresser comes to prune a productive branch to become even more fruitful, so does the father do to us when we bear fruits. God is really not looking for perfect people. He is looking for available people who have the heart to stay connected to Him. Prov.23:26 and Ps103:7.

6.     In the same way the vinedresser cuts off the unproductive branch, God also cuts off those who are not willing to bear fruit. This is the same principle at work in the parable of the pounds and talents where the little that the unproductive servant had was taken from him and given to the most productive servant. In the same way, the unproductive branch will be cut off to give room for the productive ones to perform better. This is a very sobering thought when we bear in mind that God is no respecter of persons. This is why Apostle Paul talks of leading himself to be disciplined so that he would not end up as a cast away after he has preached to others. See 1Cor.9:2; Acts 10:34-35; Lk.19:20-26

7.     It is God’s will that we bear much fruit. When we do, we enjoy the privilege of answers to our prayer.

8.     In this passage, Jesus reemphasized that the reason He chose us is that we bear fruit and that our fruit would abide. So it is not enough to just bear fruit, we must ensure that they abide.

9.     The fruits we bear are godly character and good works. See Gal.5:22-23, Matthew 5:16 and Eph.2:10. The godly character is described in Gal.5:22-23. When godly character is cultivated in our lives, it would generate the ability to do good works. This is what I call the grace of God. It has the ability to attract favour to us and energize us to meet the need that the favour opportunes us to meet. The good works are anything we do that would add eternal value to people even though some temporal values may also necessarily be added in the process. For example, God has given me a vision of this ministry which has helped many to find their place in God’s scheme of things that would endure forever. This is like what we are talking about.

10.                        2Peter 1:5-11 provides the recipe that would guarantee our fruitfulness, protect us from bareness and unfruitfulness in the word of righteousness until we step out of time into eternity.

11.                         The best way we can get our souls to cooperate with our spirit to bear fruit unto God is by walking in the spirit. To walk in the spirit is a choice you make and follow through with the help of the Holy Spirit. We are told in Gal.5:16 that if we walk in the spirit, we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. In Philippians 2:12-13, we learn that if we decide to work out our salvation by walking in the spirit for instance, God would come to help us work to will and to do of His good pleasure. So we are not really left to ourselves. God is only looking for a willing and ready heart.

We shall stop here for today. Next week, we shall conclude by looking at the process that lead to our ability to exercise dominion as God originally intended. Meanwhile, the starting point for fruitfulness is the new birth experience. If you are yet to have that experience, you can begin today by saying the following prayer out loud and you shall be born again and start bearing fruit immediately:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or      www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.     

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!

Understanding how to grow up spiritually Session 1 Lesson 5

Understanding how to grow up spiritually

Session 1 Lesson 5

Introduction: Everything living is proven by its growth. We were raised from death to life, therefore we must grow. We entered this new life as seeds or children and once admitted into this new life, what is required next is growth. [John 5:24; Col.1:13; 1Pet.1:23 and 1Pet.2:2]

After redemption comes a new war

This war is called spiritual warfare. Since Satan could not stop God from actualizing His redemptive plan for man through the Lord Jesus Christ, he has been trying to make it impossible for man to attain to the realization of God’s dream for man. He tries to do this by attacking man with the following weapons:

1.     Ignorance: He first tries to make man ignorant of the following:

·        The gospel of man’s redemption: The majority of people that are unsaved today are not saved because they are ignorant of the truth that God has already sent a messiah in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem man from sin and therefore spiritual death to which he was subjected through his sin. In 2Cor.4:3-4, we are told that our gospel is hidden from the ignorant because their minds have been blinded by the devil. In that text of scripture, the devil was referred to by Apostle Paul as the god of this world. The reason for this as we have seen in the course of this series is that by his sin; Adam lost his place as the god of this world to the devil who wrested it from him in the garden of Eden by deceiving Eve with Adam’s cooperation. See Gen.3:6-7; Lk.4:5-6 and 1Tim.2:14. In light of this, our business as believers is to ensure that we win the lost for Christ. If you do not know how, start by sharing your testimony with them. Then you can read how to on my blog at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com.

·        The truth about man’s freedom: Another thing people are ignorant of is the truth that man’s freedom from sin and therefore the devil’s jurisdiction has been fully paid for by Christ and all man has to do now is take it through repentance. In John 3:16-18, this truth is clearly stated and we are expected to pay attention to it and take advantage of it. All who believe this truth and repent are saved. They are saved form damnation. This is why we preach the gospel because we understand that what people do not hear about, they cannot believe.   The devil works hard to keep people in the dark of this truth. This is why the word of God refers to him as the prince of darkness. Therefore in any area of life you are ignorant of the truth, he can reign over you. The need for being enlightened by God cannot be overemphasized as a result of this. See Jn.8:31-32; Lk.22:53; Acts 26:18; Eph.2:2-3 and John 5:24.

·        The truth about man’s healing rights in Christ: Encapsulated in the redemption package is the complete list of what Jesus died to pay the prize for. This comprehensive list includes our total healing. The healing of our souls and bodies inclusive. Sadly, many believers know that they have been saved because they have the assurance of salvation by the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in us, but they are not sure if healing is God’s will for them. The good news is that we can access these truths from the bible if we care to read it. God can not only heal you, he really passionately wants to heal you. See 3Jn.1:2 which says that God wishes above all things that we prosper and be in health even as our souls prosper. This healing package was prophesied in Isa.53:1-5 and declared as having been fulfilled in 1Pet.2:24. Furthermore, the bible proves that with God, there is no incurable disease. The prayer of faith would save the sick and if he has committed sins, God would forgive him if he goes for prayer help from the Church. See Jas.5:14-15; Mat.8:16-17 and Acts 5:14-16.

Why fruitfulness?

MESSAGES FOR THE MONTH MARCH, 2016: OUR MONTH OF FRUITFULNESS

THEME: BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY

MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY THE 6^TH OF MARCH 2016

Topic: Why fruitfulness?

Introduction: In the manufacturing industry, it is a rule that before a product is sold to people, the manufacturer would have prepared and packaged with his or her product, a little literature known as a manual of instructions showing the purpose, use and management of the product for optimum performance. I believe this was copied by man from God because God as the ultimate manufacturer who created the heavens and the earth and all of mankind, has a manual for them. His manual is the Bible. The bible is authored by God and teaches us how to live in such a way as to become the best that we could ever be.

In the bible, the origin and purpose of our existence as mankind is disclosed to us. The bible also reveals God as our source from whom we can receive all that pertains to life and godliness. We also learn from the bible how we can connect with God and learn directly from him about our individual lives and specific destiny calls so that we can be most productive and fulfilled in life.

In summary here, we learn from the same bible that God’s main purpose for making man is really achievable when we are fruitful. Imagine if Adam and Eve never proliferated; would we have the population and diversity on earth today as we do? So at the root of our fulfillment in life is this need to be fruitful and multiply. Today, we shall be looking at why we must be fruitful.

Why fruitfulness? To make this easy for all to understand, I am going to list some reasons from the word of God why we must be fruitful. By the end of this month, I hope to show us that fruitfulness in every area of our lives is not optional. It is our legal right in the covenant of grace. We can place a demand on it and receive it. For example, all the women who trusted God for Children in the bible ended up as mothers including Sarah at ninety and Elizabeth at an old age. Jabez found himself to be unproductive until he cried out to God in prayer for the blessing and enlargement of his coast and changed that destiny [1Chron.4:9-10]. We can go on and on to show that it is the mind of God to make us fruitful and multiply. These are the reasons for it:

1.     When we are fruitful and multiply, we are being obedient to God’s command to us from the very beginning. The statement of the blessing in Gen.1:28 was also a commandment that must be obeyed. When we obey this command, we fulfill the purpose for which God made us.

2.     To be fruitful and multiply is the means by which God intends for us to fulfill our purpose in creation to have dominion over all the work of God’s hands on earth. In other words, this is the means by which we can effectively lead God’s creation. When we proliferate, we grow in number enough to be able to accomplish more as a team than if we stood alone. When Adam was alone, God said that the alone state was not good and decided to make and present him with a woman suitable to him and together, they began to increase in number on the earth. See Gen.2:18 – this was the only aspect of creation to which God’s verdict of ‘not good’ was attached. When the children of Israel began to take the land of their inheritance, God told them he would not remove all the previous inhabitants from the land at once lest the evil beasts in the land would increase and gain mastery over them. See Deu.7:22-23.

3.     Fruitfulness and multiplication triggers our wisdom potential and enables us to come up with creative ways of dealing with issues that arise from it. For instance when Moses was faced with the challenge of managing a crowd of people alone, his father in law helped him out by suggesting to him what we now understand to be delegation. Also, when the early Church faced the challenge that comes with growth, the office of the deacon was created to free up the apostles to focus on their primary assignment. See Ex.18:13-26 and Acts 6:1-7.

4.     Fruitfulness and multiplication is proof of the blessing working in your life. When God called Abraham, He promised him that he would make him the father of many nations and gave him the word of the blessing. See Gen.12:1-4 and Noah’s example in Gen.9:1-3.

5.     Fruitfulness and multiplication is God’s method of destroying the curse. When we are productive, everything that resembles the curse is eliminated from our lives as we would naturally prosper as our souls prosper.  The prosperity of the soul shows mental and social productivity. See 3John 1:2; Ex.1:7-9. The king of Egypt was threatened by the multiplication of the children of Israel as he saw them more and mightier than the Egyptians.

Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.

If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall be saved:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name! Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name! 

Welcome to the month of March 2016: Our Month of Fruitfulness

Gen.1:26-28; John 15:1-8, 16 and Romans 7:4

About this time six years ago, I heard the Lord tell me to come with Him to Ghana. I promptly obeyed because I love the Lord and at time in my life, I knew it was time for another phase to begin for me. Even though at this time, I did not know the details of all the responsibilities that awaited me, I left for Ghana with a mixed sense of fear of the unknown and adventure. I knew then that courage was the ability to go on in spite of the temptation to fear.

Looking back today, I have found this to be one of the greatest decisions of my life. I went to Ghana in faith believing God’s promise to me. He quickly told me that activities do not equate effectiveness. So I knew that to succeed in this journey, would demand constructive hard work from me. He further told me that Ghana was not going to be my rest but the nation would never forget I came. This entailed that I must focus on bearing abiding fruits. So my passion was to be instrumental in raising leaders who would eventually multiply through Church planting.

To God be the glory, three and a half years later, my direct missionary work in Ghana was done and the Lord told me it was time to leave. I did not leave as I came. I came to Ghana with the word of God and my faith in the word not knowing where I was even going to stay. I recall telling my best friend before I left Nigeria that I did not know exactly what I would be facing in Ghana but that I trusted in God’s ability to see me through. He really did see me through because when I was leaving Ghana, I had been instrumental in planting the first Church of Kingdom Heirs and raising an indigenous pastor to replace me through the Bible School the Lord enabled me to start. He also enabled me to broadcast the gospel in up to eleven radio stations in the ten regions of Ghana. He also helped me to publish the gospel in all the fifteen Counties of Liberia via radio and the entire African continent through television. He enabled me to author thirteen books. Six of these books are in hard copies and two of them were also made into audio books. The Lord also helped me with my small team of committed labourers to purchase real estate and build a Church auditorium and a parsonage.

I just came back from Ghana yesterday where we went to start building in another region that was started about a year and four months ago. They have grown into three Churches with one Church affiliated to us. Also, the Accra Church has also increased to two Churches. My joy in seeing the people I left behind who started with me from the scratch growing and reproducing more Churches to the glory of God; is boundless. I came back exhausted from the trip as I had to go with my team from Nigeria by road but my heart is dancing and jubilating before the Lord because His word is producing fruits that would last for all eternity.

My testimony is one of fruitfulness. So this month of our fruitfulness, it is my privilege to share what the Lord taught me that has enabled us to become so productive as a ministry as to be able to easily plant Churches and nurture them to multiply after their kind. This method may be considered by many to be the hard way to go especially for those who just want to gather a crowd without really inculcating godly values into them. While such people may successfully boom for a while, in no time, they would surely doom because the ways of
God are higher than the ways of man and booming and dooming is not His way. Except a corn of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. God’s will for us is not only to bear fruit but to bear much fruit. See Isa.55:8; John 12:24; John 15:8. In addition, God does not want us to just bear much fruit but to bear fruit that would abide with Him forever. This is why as a Church leader, I see myself as being responsible; not only for winning the lost to my Lord Jesus Christ but to labour to see them established in faith so that they can abide with the Lord. See John 15:16.

Let us understand that the entire purpose of God in creating man and putting him on earth is for man to be fruitful and so fruitful that he would multiply and as a team; dominate the earth He has made.

In my journey as a missionary, God has enlightened me with some truths that have enabled me to labour with some results. It is my pleasure this month to share some of those truths with you so as to help you gain more light in this area to fulfill God’s purpose for your life and help others do likewise. As I write today, God has enabled us to grow and spread into four countries where we carry out diverse ministries in all these countries.

To this end, this month, we shall be looking at a series I want to caption: “Be Fruitful and multiply”. Access to this grace was freely available to man until the devil came in to mess things up by luring man into sin which resulted in his separation from God [Gen.3; Rm.3:23 and 6:23]. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ already came to solve the sin problem for us. However, we are required to embrace His sacrifice by believing in Him and receiving God’s free gift of salvation through faith. See John 3:16-18.

If you have not yet received this free gift, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you shall be saved:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.   

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name! 

Spiritual Growth Manual Session 1 Lesson 9

Understanding how to grow up spiritually

Session 1 Lesson 9

Introduction: Everything living is proven by its growth. We were raised from death to life, therefore we must grow. We entered this new life as seeds or children and once admitted into this new life, what is required next is growth. [John 5:24; Col.1:13; 1Pet.1:23 and 1Pet.2:2]

We are still looking at how the devil tries to weaken our faith since he has failed to stop us from getting saved. Another means by which the enemy tries to weaken our faith is:

Deception: This is falsehood calculated to weaken the faith of man thereby making him unable to fulfill his God given purpose of glorifying God. There are many ways the devil has tried to deceive man over the years. See Isa.43:7

·        For instance because of man’s ignorance of who the true God is, he has claimed to be god to many through idolatry where men are cheated into leaving the creator to serve the creation like animals, the solar system like the sun, the moon, the stars and angels. Thus when you see people worshiping anyone or anything without going through Jesus Christ to God the father, they have been deceived to worship devils. See Romans 1:18-32.

·        Bewitchment: People are bewitched when they are deceived to believe a lie as the truth even though they already had access to the truth. The result is that they would leave the way of life and go back to their old ways out of fear and intimidation that if they do not continue in that former way, an evil will befall them. For instance, some people fear that if they did not continue to worship the idols of their past, they would be struck to death by the gods they left. A friend told me this story about a missionary to Republic of Benin. He said they people to who he was sent usually had to bow to an idol in that village at a particular time of the day. One day, the drum was sounded when the people were in Church. The people hurried out of Church to go an honor the devil as they used to do. The missionary stopped them and told them not to go again that Christ had redeemed them. The people obeyed the missionary. The priest of the idol was infuriated and attempted to cast a spell on the missionary and promised the missionary that he would die in seven days. The idolatrous priest died two days later. That brought an end to the bewitchment, fear and intimidation the devil tried to use to keep the people in bondage.  Gal.3:1-10.

·        Another means of deception the devil tries to use to keep men from God after they are saved is the opposition of science. Through science, people have studied and learnt medicine for instance and try to prove by natural means how disease can cause death. Then they come up with imperfect solutions like drugs etc to try to manage disease. In some cases, they even tell man that the disease is terminal in which case, all hope of getting healed is taken away. However, the bible tells us that Christ destroyed the devil and death and hell and took our sickness on his body so that by His stripes we are healed. If man keeps listening to God and excludes the opposition of science, he would be healed. If on the other hand, he chooses to believe science instead of the word of God, he would die. Science means to know. To this extent, there is nothing wrong with science. However, when that knowledge conflicts with the word of God, it should be discarded or man would come under bondage by his weakened faith. See 1Tim.6:20, Rm.8:5-9, Heb.2:14-15; Isa.53:1-5; Ex.23:25-25; 1Pet.2:24 and Rev.1:18. 

Spiritual Growth Manual Session 1 Lesson 8

Understanding how to grow up spiritually

Session 1 lesson 8

Introduction: Everything living is proven by its growth. We were raised from death to life, therefore we must grow. We entered this new life as seeds or children and once admitted into this new life, what is required next is growth. [John 5:24; Col.1:13; 1Pet.1:23 and 1Pet.2:2].

So far, we have been seeing the different ways the enemy has been trying to rob man of their benefits in redemption. We are presently looking at the way he is taking advantage of man’s ignorance.

Fear: This is another means by which the devil tries to rob us of our redemptive rights in Christ. This fear can carry out the following damage in man:

·        Keep him from receiving Jesus Christ on the threat that if he does, he would die. This is the kind of fear that is usually used to force people to remain in the cults that if they leave, they would die. These vices are usually done by initiating the victims into these evil cults through blood covenants. The good news is that Jesus has destroyed that fear by taking on flesh and blood to die for our sin and thereby destroy the devil that previously had the power of death so as to deliver all those held in bondage by this fear. See Heb.2:14-15 and Rev.1:18.

·        If the first threat fails, he tries to keep man bound by different kinds of fears like fear of failure and success. Fear that they may fail at any effort they make and the fear that if they succeeded, they would either lose it or be killed for succeeding. All these fears are really unfounded when we understand that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. Also, by redemption, we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but of adoption that enables us to call God our father. See 2Tim.1:7 and Rom.8:15.

·        When you overcome the fear of death, you can overcome anything and we have the key in 2Cor.10:3-6 and Eph.6:10-18.

Carnality: When the enemy cannot get you to fear, he tries to work on your Christian life becoming very unproductive. This he does by afflicting your mind with carnality. This is living like the natural man and sowing to the flesh thereby. The result of living like this is death. See Romans 8:1, 5-8, 1Cor.2:13-14 and Gal.5:16-21.   

Spiritual Growth Manual Session 1 Lesson 7

Understanding how to grow up spiritually

Session 1 lesson 7

Introduction: Everything living is proven by its growth. We were raised from death to life, therefore we must grow. We entered this new life as seeds or children and once admitted into this new life, what is required next is growth. [John 5:24; Col.1:13; 1Pet.1:23 and 1Pet.2:2]

So far, we have been seeing the different ways the enemy has been trying to rob man of their benefits in redemption. We are presently looking at the way he is taking advantage of man’s ignorance.

·        Man’s new identity: Another truth the enemy of our souls tries to keep us ignorant of is who we now are as new creations. I want to call this the believer’s identity. Until you are able to understand what the new creation has made of you, you will live like a mere man and operate under the influence of the law of sin and death. See Romans 8:1. Therefore, to benefit from our new identity, we must recognize the following truths among others about the new creation life which we now have:

ü We are now citizens of the kingdom of God where God operates and sin and Satan no longer have dominion over us. See Col.1:13 and Rom.6:14.

ü We have been forgiven of our sin inherited from Adam. See Col.1:12-14 and Isa.43:25.

ü We are a chosen generation of kings and priest and shall reign in life with Christ. See 1Pet.2:9; Rev.1:6 and Rom.5:17

ü We are ambassadors of Christ and are therefore to occupy the earth until he comes. The occupation force of the Lord meant to enforce His rule on earth after His victory at Calvary until He returns for His Church. See 2Cor.5:20 and Matt.28:18-19.

ü We are the righteousness of God in Christ and no more sinners. This is because God has put His seed of righteousness in us that makes us unwilling to live in sin. As we apply ourselves to the word of God, sin would lose its grip over us with time. See 2Cor.5:21 and 1Jn.3:9.

ü We have constant access to the blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of the sins we sometimes commit. See 1Jn.1:5-10 and Heb.4:16.

ü We have been made more than conquerors. We are destined to win in the battles of life. This is why the fight of faith we fight is a good fight. See 2Cor.14; 2Cor.10:3-6; 1Tim.6:12 and Rev.11:12. We could say more but we need to find out more for ourselves as this would help us to know our rights better by the day.

·        Man’s destiny of freedom indeed: Man by redemption has been set free from the dominion of sin and death. But if he is ignorant of this, the enemy would keep taking advantage of him and lying and stealing from him in order to keep him a captive. This is why we must desperately live a life that hunts for the revelation of the truth from God. In John 8:31-32, we are told that we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free if we continue in the word of the Lord. 

Spiritual Growth Manual Session 1 Lesson 6

Understanding how to grow up spiritually

Session 1 Lesson 6

Introduction: Everything living is proven by its growth. We were raised from death to life, therefore we must grow. We entered this new life as seeds or children and once admitted into this new life, what is required next is growth. [John 5:24; Col.1:13; 1Pet.1:23 and 1Pet.2:2]

Last week, we began to learn that after redemption comes a new war. We also were made to understand that this war is a spiritual warfare aimed at neutralizing as much as possible; what God accomplished for mankind with Calvary. We also established that one of the means he does this is by preying on man’s ignorance. Last week we saw three things man can be ignorant of that could allow the enemy access into his life to minimize his influence namely: the truth of our redemption; the truth about our freedom and the truth about our healing rights. We shall continue today with the following:

·        The truth about man’s purpose: According to Myles Munroe of blessed memory, where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable. In other words, where purpose is known, the pursuit of it and its realization are inevitable. The importance of knowing and running in your God given purposed cannot be over stretched because that is the entire essence of living. Without knowing and running in your purpose, life becomes meaningless and barren. This is the reason why some people commit suicide for instance. Another situation is where people try to create a purpose for themselves and succeed in the wrong assignment. This is a good recipe for disappointment because the much desired fulfillment is not realized and people end up even more confused than they would have been. The good news therefore is that divine guidance is packaged in redemption and if we take advantage of this, God promises to lead us in the way we should go. He also wants to help us make the right choices in life if we would cooperate with Him. When He guides us, He will help us to know why we were born and how to fulfill our purpose and bring glory to God doing so. See Gen.1:26-28; Ps.25:9; 32:8; Isa.43:21; Jn.16:13, Rm.8:14.  

·        The truth of their source: As a result of sin, man’s entire mindset became perverted and his way of life became so corrupted that God regretted making man. See Gen.6:5-6. Because of ignorance, man was deceived to worship man made gods and other creatures of God as god. The result was total perversion and a huge reduction in man’s I. Q. Because people came under the influence of devils, they became totally blinded to the true God; their maker. This explains why people go into the occult in search of power thinking they would find God there. Sadly, man going about his own righteousness his own way have not attained to the righteousness that comes from God. Even after they give their lives to Christ some still wrongly believe that all ways lead to God and therefore fail to reach their true potential. What does the bible say about our source? In Gen.1:1, we learn that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. In Gen.1:26-28, we saw that God created man and in Ps.100:3, we learn that God made us and we did not make ourselves. So we must be wise and worship God in Spirit and in truth. See John 4:23-24; Rm.10:3-4.  It is this kind of ignorance that make believers in Christ still go back to idols which they worshipped in their ignorance out of fear. When they understand that the one who put them in fear together with his works have been destroyed, they are set free. See Heb.2:14-15 and 1Jn.3:8.

·        Man’s true God given potential: when man becomes aware of what he is capable of accomplishing as a new creation, he would explode with creativity at its best state. When man gets to become aware that all things are possible to him and to God, he can immediately begin to draw on the huge bank of resources God has put within him to help him actualize his purpose. Your potential is the hidden ability God has put within you at birth to enable you fulfill your purpose. God put them in you as seeds. As soon as you become aware of it, you have a responsibility to nurture it through hard work for its realization. There is no man who cannot become whatever God has said he can be with the help of God; if he believes and add works to his faith. This is why the Lord calls us the light of the world and the salt of the earth. He brings out this truth clearly when He said that we should let our light so shine before men that they might see out good works and glorify our father who is in heaven. This means we shine by good works. See Mat.5:13-16; Jas.2:26; 1Pet.2:9; Eph.2:10; Matt.19:26; Mk.9:23; Mk.14:36 and 2Cor.5:17-21.