THE Ephesians Series Charter 1

Text: Ephesians 1

The church has evolved from when it was just the 120 in the upper room to receive the promise of the Father to massive cathedrals and big chapels filled with worshipping masses. Yet, the power and glory experienced by the former day saints seem to be lost to the church. Or found in only a few congregations. If the latter has to be greater than the former, what is the church missing? The modern day church may be blessed with all the electronic gadgets the apostles never had or jet planes to fly all over the world and plant churches that Paul would have appreciated but we fail to operate where God has ordained us; In a place of power and authority.

The Ephesians church (one would wonder why this is the subject matter) was the best church in the bible. Through the epistles Paul wrote to them, they learnt who they were in Christ and how to translate that into a mode of operation for functioning in our modern world. Therefore, our expose on this epistle is not farfetched but aimed at transforming the believers’ mindset such that we operate the government for the earth that was placed on the body of Christ. Until the church understands that we are God’s kingdom (ambassador, embassy) on earth, we can’t exercise the authority and power God has given to us

Paul begins in Ephesians one by establishing that whom we worship is God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see that? As mundane as that may sound to you, many religions all over the world say we serve the same God, but the mode of worship is different. That’s a big lie! My God is different from yours if he’s not the father of Christ. We do not serve the same God; Allah and God are not the same. We do not serve God through Christ! He’s not a medium. Christianity is not a religion or a way of life but a relationship (1Cor 1:9). He went on to tell us how we’ve been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. The believer has got to understand that he’s got spiritual blessings. They are yours! You don’t have to go to a mountain to get it or travel from church to church, looking for a blessing. These blessings exist in Christ, the anointing that you received when you became a believer. This blessing came by confession and is a spiritual ball game all the way. So the believer’s priority is to tap into the blessings that are already given to you. Selah

Ephesians 1:4 says “according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love…”

God spoke the same words to Jeremiah in Jer 1:4. The bible says we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Set aside to show forth his glory because we were chosen in Him! This heavenly place we occupy is according as hath chosen us! God knew you before the foundation of the world and you were called holy and the justified. The church in Africa is confused as to what holiness means as we find churches preaching morality and physical dowdiness to pass as holiness. The sign of the believer is the sign of the chosen! Holiness is not a function of you, Sister Mary but of God after whom we were created in true holiness (Ephe 4:24). You were chosen to be holy son! As a result, no physical attribute can make you more holy than God already did when he put his life in you. So you understand when Paul continues in the next verse to tell us that we have a pre-destiny in Him. In him, we live, move and have our being! (Acts 17:28) This is not about fate, but what God has destined for you. It’s based on Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary. His blood speaks better things about your life. So it’s not a cold cut plan that says, you must be a doctor. Predestination means you know who you are. You can’t make a mistake because you have a destiny in Him. All things work together for your good! So the predestination plan of God brings us to a place of adoption. Not the legal adoption the world is used to where you bear the name, but God put his nature in us so that you would never see us behave like our former father! There’s no past in our former father. God loves you and there’s no condemnation in you. You are holy! (Rom 8:1)

In verse seven, Paul establishes a critical fact that the church has confused. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace…” (Ephe 1:7). We are not the redeemed but the RESULT of the redemptive sacrifice He undertook on the cross. The New Testament believer was never under the curse of the law. We died with Christ and rose with him! So I'm not the redeemed, but a result of the redemption. Get it? Selah! There was a time when we couldn’t operate this dispensation of being in heavenly places (Ephe1:7). So the believer has got to realize that it’s a new dispensation and it brings forth a more “glorious” glory. Our mentality has got to change from the Old Testament, Moses revelation. The dimension of the spirit within started with you. It’s time for our sons and daughters to prophecy, our young men, to see visions and respond to the call upon their lives. You’ve got to operate the Kathizo (set) power! The fullness of time has come for priests to rise up and do greater works. Don’t wait for the latter rain; ask for it in the time of rain! There’s no mystery in Christ anymore! It has been revealed to you His son because you were sealed with His spirit.

Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentile; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col1:25-27)

Selah

Ray Power

Text: Matthew 5:14-16

         1 Peter 1:10-12

The sun can be described as a ball of fire millions of light years away from the earth. However, energy and radiation travel through that distance in the form of light to illuminate the earth and cause the natural life cycle to continue. Without the sun, the earth would have neither light nor life.

The bible uses this type and shadow of the sun to describe Jesus in Malachi 4:2. He is the true Sun that gives life and illuminates every darkness. The Christian today is often perplexed by the level of “gross darkness” that seems to surround the world. We hail from Zion and we are not of this world but we live here, albeit temporarily. The church has become the recruitment centre for God defying artiste’s and stars and the adversary’s propaganda is being preached on every nook and cranny of the internet highway. Every day, believers are compromising their beliefs when they should be standing out. The work Jesus did on Calvary wasn’t to give salvation alone. No! You became a Joint heir with Him and walk in the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 8:11).

The Karthizo Power 2

The Moses generation struggled with this because they didn’t understand that God can make them die in the wilderness. It was meant to be a 4-days journey of singing praises and worship, talking psalms and singing hymns to each other. But they thought it was God bringing them to a place of middle when they got into the wilderness. They said, “This is mara!” “It’s bitter!” “We don’t understand it!”  The fact that you go through those things doesn’t mean you’re in the wilderness and it doesn’t mean you are out of the promise. It should signal in your spirit that there is a God somewhere if you find yourself in that kind of place.

Whatever He brought you out of, that’s not the gospel! People just lie to you as a believer, and you believe them. You came out of the old nature of sin. God raised you up, justified you and glorified you. So He brought you OUT of something and IN to something else. The question now is, have you come out of something and are you in something else? It doesn’t matter what He has brought us out of.

THE Kathizo Power..Part 1

The bible says His word is like a hammer that breaks the rock. It’s powerful, piercing through the asunder of the soul and emotionalism of the things we go through as Christians.

The word Kathizo means “set.” From our text in Ephesians chapter 1, the bible says He was raised by God and was set. The raising power is the resurrection which is very awesome but that’s not where God wants us to end. That’s not where God wants us to stay. God wants us to move a little further than just resurrection power; He wants us to function in a life that the resurrection has brought. So He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand. “Set” there talks about a dwelling, or when something is settled down. He’s not leaving the place anymore. It’s a permanent seat. That’s what Kathizo is.

Unfortunately, many Christians don’t know this about the Kathizo. They don’t know that they have been set, they have been settled in a place, they have been called into a place of power! And that’s where we operate from.

If You’ve got the Word You’ve got The guts Part II

 Daniel 3:1-28, John 1:1-14

God needs your guts! This isn’t your best shot! You can do better than this! Jesus rebuilt the temple in three days! Excellent and outstanding architects cannot even do a design in three days! TALKLESS OF A BUILDING! Designing a massive place takes at least six months – a “WOW” mega structure. Building it takes more time. I don’t know what Jesus was thinking when He said THREE DAYS! The efficacy, integrity and power of God’s words can do what you cannot do in THREE DAYS! Nobody can come back and claim that there is a defect in the building because whatever the Lord does is done perfectly!

That’s why I KNOW THAT I KNOW THAT I KNOW that God is speaking a new word to somebody reading this blog RIGHT NOW! And in three days, you’re going to testify about what you didn’t have! Hey! That’s why your neighbour is busy slam docking and shouting – because he knows it only takes God three days!

If you, reader, have a word, then you got to have some guts! Guts to step on the word, guts to do what you couldn’t do… you know, I realise that God can speak and speak and speak! But all you need is some GUTS and GUTS and GUTS! The “Word” doesn’t do things the way you do things naturally; what you couldn’t build in two and a half years, it builds in three days! Until you come to the unity of faith and your spirit is one with Him, you will not get the best from God. You don’t even need to know so much in the word of God; all you need is to BELIEVE!

Each time you come across a prophecy in the word of God, you see, “...that it might be fulfilled.” That’s why I know that God is not going to bless you more than what he has written to you. ONCE has He spoken; TWICE have I heard. MMmmm… you can as well shout “YEEES” reader!!! Go get yourself some guts!

I borrowed from Hananiah, Mishel and Azariah (whom you may call Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego though these were not their original names, so sorry to burst your bubble) and some of us may see a religion in their story. But it was actually a challenge against the word of God. Their law forbade them to bow to ANY graven image but now they were under the servitude of Nebuchadnezzar who was a despotic monarch with the power of life and death. You couldn’t just say you were not going to bow to whatever image he set up. Remember that the bible says in the words of a king lies power. Watch Nebuchadnezzar’s words go out in that scripture. And any disobedience attracts a certain penalty.

I’m actually glad that the graven image/goddess wasn’t named – it could have been named unemployment, singleness, same salary scale – and that’s exactly what happened. These guys were asked to bow once they heard the “choir’s instrumentals”. Nebuchadnezzar did this so that he could elevate himself above the word of God; remember what Paul told us about ANYTHING that tries to elevate itself more than the word of God. God’s word is YES and AMEN and so, he brings them to nothing! His word is too living and too active not to believe in! It literally pierces too fast for you not to feel it! What was facing these men was an imagination that was placing itself above the word of God.

Hananiah, Mishel and Azariah looked at themselves because they were told by the “king” in their lives to bow in order to get to their next level. Daniel was busy administrating over the affairs of Babylon because he had a gift which made a way for him. In other words, their mentor wasn’t around. So they decided to have some guts to do what the word of God said. With guts you would have bought the car, started the ministry, written the book, bought that land, and married that girl!

Neb invited everybody around – the princes, princesses, administrators, chief of army staff and everybody to the plain of Durah. He told them to bow once they heard the sounds of music which was exactly what happened. Everybody there, including the Israelites in captivity bowed to the image of Nebuchadnezzar. ANYONE who failed to bow was going to be thrown into the fiery furnace. I wish these guys didn’t know the consequences, but yet they knew and still didn’t bow.

There are certain consequences some of you readers may face if you do not do it the way “they” want you to do it. If you don’t have a first class or a 2(1), you don’t get some jobs. But how many people have guts even when they know that thing isn’t right? As far as there is a word, then there are some guts! Shadrach knew that if death did not hold Jesus down, nobody can hold him down! Meshach knew that he was already crucified with Christ but nevertheless he lives!

You should speak the things that are not as though they were! You should be a talking spirit, a talkative god! Faith is coming out of somebody’s mouth like a double-edged sword. On the island of Patmos, John didn’t see any word come out of Jesus’ mouth; he saw a sword! Somebody reading this: I prophesy that in three days, you’re going to speak like you’ve never spoken before! You have the guts to speak! To start the business! To go to nations for Him!

People wondered how I did it back on campus. They didn’t know that what you see is not what you get! What you see and what you get are two different things! Man looks at the outward, but God looks at the heart. If you got the heart of a champion then I DOUBLE DARE you to do stuff with the word! Don’t just hear and believe; DO IT!

The three boys entered that furnace of fire with the Son of God! When it was time to penalize them, they were brought out of hundreds and millions of people and condemned them to death for their failure to bow. But they looked at the king and said, “We are not careful of what we are about to tell you!” Some of you readers are still on the same level because you are anxious for something:

“How am I going to get married at 29?”

“How will I get a job when I passed out 10 years ago?”

You calculate too much for God! But God wants us to believe anything like children! I don’t know about you but I got some guts about what God has told me, and I am going to do stuff! It’s a lot to roll with someone like me, and that’s because when I do the word and you don’t, then I become a threat to you and you may not like me anymore. The truth is I AM NOT CALCULATING AND YOU ARE!

The furnace was boiling hot! Women were already in tears! Their fellow Israelites came to them and said, “All you have to do is bow!” But they had some guts from their faith! People marvelled at the things I could do especially when I was on campus and they checked my faith. But guts is nothing when you don’t know the consequences of the fire in front of you. These three guys were bound in a manner that they couldn’t escape the seven-times-hotter fire and they were cast right in!

READER!!! The hotness is a symptom that somebody is challenging your dream. YES! That dream is the devil’s reason for harassing you with a furnace, BUT THE WORD IS GONNA SHOW UP IN THE FURNACE OF YOUR LIFE! You have this TREASURE in earthen vessel – not the talent, not the gift, but the WORD of God!

Nobody can call you sick because by His stripes you are healed. Nobody can call you broke! You’re made rich through His poverty!

These guys were thrown in bound and while the Babylonians expected the smell of ashes, the king himself came to the furnace, not knowing that he was about to see the King of Glory! And from where he stood, he saw Hananiah, Mishel and Azariah but there was an appearance of one more Person – the Word of God! The fourth man! The Son of God! Nebuchadnezzar said, “Come and see what I see!” It’s okay for some people to look down on you as far as there is a fourth man. People are so used to three dimensions of things but hey! Here comes the fourth!

They were struck down but not destroyed! And that’s because they were with the fourth man. The fourth man is a High priest who is toughed wit the feeling of our infirmity. As the Monogenes, He will go down and bring us up together with Him! even if it is seven times hotter, He is life!

Nebuchadnezzar asked how many men were cast into the furnace. How many of them did we give a job? How many of them have a disease? How many of them ……! They told him three men were cast into the furnace but he said he saw a fourth man! Sometimes, we need to allow the word of God give us some crazy confidence. These guys were walking in the furnace! We need to learn how to walk in our fire because we have a WORD that will take us out! Nebuchadnezzar didn’t see Jesus but he saw something he couldn’t deny! God wants not just believers but UNBELIEVERS to testify about us.

The fires we go through don’t matter! What matters is the flow that comes out of our belly. God will not give us a word and leave us there! That word is enough for us. So come out WITHOUT THE SMELL OF FIRE! The only thing the fire did for them was to remove their shackles…!!! So when you come out of this fire, the shackles would have gone and the jobs would have come, the marriage would have happened.

STOP READING AND SHOUT – “I GOT GUTS! IN THE NAME OF JESUS!!!”

Just look to the hills from whence cometh your GUTS!

If You’ve Got The Word You’ve Got The Guts Part 1

 Daniel 3: 1- 28, John 1: 1-14

 I have a word for somebody today! There’s something about the overriding power of God’s word. The greatest revelation of God’s word is that it is God! Once you know that the word of God is God and God is his word, then you can go anywhere and do anything! ONLY BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD!

God’s word is progressive and never stays on the same level! It is always at work within us! All you have to do is believe! When God comes to give you a word, he equally requires of you to give Him your guts. God’s word appears to you as the FOURTH MAN personified. When Jesus appeared to the disciples at sea, Peter said, “If it is you, tell me to come.” Peter had some guts! Peter stomped out of that boat. Don’t allow God to speak until you have some guts to stand on that word.

“Guts” is the reason why we are still where we are as a church. If believers will believe God addictively and stand on the word, they will do what eyes have not seen and what ears have not heard. God told me that He is raising men that have eaten His word. Even when their legs are shaking, they know they have a word. Your manifestation is anchored to the word that God has given to you. Your manifestation is anchored to what you are willing to do despite what you are going through.

Do you know that guts will get you to price the cars and plan for the wedding that you don’t have money for? Guts will get you to go and lay hands on the sick you are not yet anointed for? That’s because you believe and you are willing to take a jump. Because the word said it, do it. Let your guts be on the run!

Rainmaker

Text: 1 Kings 18:41-46

          James 5:17-18

The word “Rainmaker” even in our modern world today tends to bring up images of super heroes who can lift up their scepter and call down torrents of rain characterized by boisterous winds and a black sky. My friend Elijah… “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are… (James 5:17-18)” prayed for rain in 1 Kings 18 and got an answer in the form of a minute cloud. Ha! The difference being the former example is a big hoax by Hollywood; the latter is the reality we live as Christians, by Faith not by sight.

Many a times, we are caught up in situations that have been settled by Gods Rhema word but still remain unsolved in the physical, thereby sending the unseasoned believer to the mountain and back. We fret about what God has already settled, going back to our prayer time to “check” if God has finally come through. And if that’s not enough, we wait for people to confirm what God has done in our lives! People being what they are, are limited to the physical. Mr. Elijah, our friend and a great man of God wasn’t sure if the rain would come even though he told Ahab in verse 41 that there was a sound of abundance of rain!! So his servant, the ‘confirmer’ went back and forth telling him, “there ain’t no clouds here master”, “yes you said God would come through for you about a job but you’re still broke”, “didn’t you say you were getting married this year,  what happened?” I refuse to be part of the ‘Confirmer’ generation like Elijah’s servant...I personally believe  Mr. confirmer was an Israelite, the ones who saw the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night signifying Gods presence. Yet they wanted a Physical God and went ahead to build one themselves. They couldn’t believe in an unseen God because to them, seeing is believing! Elijah’s servant even had the effrontery to come back and say the cloud was the size of a man’s hand! A man’s hand? Hey, don't let the myopic view of others cloud your judgment about what God is doing in your life; didn’t two fishes and five loaves feed the multitude? (Mark 6:38-41)