Practically in love

Lets get practical!

When last did you get lost on your way home? You probably know the way home so well that you can walk or drive home without even being conscious of your journey. That illustrates the difference between knowing something and knowing about it. This builds on the last post Get Going...Start Knowing

Daniel 11:32

³² Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

John 17:3

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

The words 'Know God' represent 'Experiencing God'. We know things by experiencing them, we gather knowledge about people or things by engaging with them. I may know all the facts about a place by looking at pictures, reading about it and so on. But I will still need a tour guide or a map when I go visiting because it is not my home.

Knowing God is simply a relationship. The most valuable relationship we can ever be in, because the more we function in that relationship the more we tap into the eternal life God has given us. Being in an active relationship with God creates a lie force within us that fulfills this scripture and many others. Almost everything in this world is easier said than done, so if we are to fight to keep our relationship with God we need to have a practical idea of how to do it. Below are some tips:

When God said, lets create man in our own image, he had something in mind. According to design, we become that imagine when we are connected with him because we were created to function through his enabling. That is why 2 Corinthians 3:18 says But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

When we interact with the Holy Spirit, we become God's true image from glory to glory. The Holy Spirit is the key to every step towards knowing God. Remember what Jesus said about him?


John 14:15

¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

So Practical Step 1 to making this relationship work is to interact with the Holy Spirit. This is a better version of a relationship with anyone so it involves:
- Speaking
- Sharing thoughts and feelings
- Asking for help
- Asking to be taught
- Asking for understanding


God is a spirit and our spirit relates with his spirit. This is covered more interestingly in the Functionality Revealed post. Have you read it?

Practical Tip 2: Be present when speaking with the Holy Spirit, do not be absent mined, or throw words around in passing all the time. Clear your head of other thoughts. 
Dont just give seconds, those are good but you also need to share time. For example, you can turn off the radio on your way to work. 

Our relationship with the Holy Spirit consist mainly of us throwing absent minded thoughts at him? Even when we whisper 'Holy spirit help me' we need to remember that we are actually speaking to someone.

The beautiful thing about being in relationship with God is that every single thing we do that reveals God to us has a life giving effect on our own lives and 

For example, God's word has a sanctifying effect on our souls:  
John 17:17 -Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Practical Tip 3:
Try to pray this prayer or something like it before you read your bible. 


Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. (Psalm 119:18). Now remember you are talking to the Holy Spirit, so say these words to him. It works


Practical Tip 4:
Read your bible every day. Many of us try to read our bibles once in a while. The issue is we do not actually interact/engage with the words. Have you every read a scripture, closed the bible then you realize you cannot remember a thing you just read? Or even after a message on Sunday, you cant remember the message except for a joke the pastor made? Make an effort to Be Present. Meditate on the word, think about it, don't do speed reading with the word, breezing through a chapter to get the 'main gist' :D. Even if you read 5 verses (I suggest you read every single word). Read it more than once, actually think about the word you are reading so it moves from short term to mid or long term memory.


It helps to apply it to a situation you are facing or might face. This way you are actually absorbing what you have read.
So lets practice...STOP READING THIS FOR A SECOND. Go back to one of the bible verses that are pasted here. Take a deep breathe,pray they prayer and actually read those words again.

This is the sure way to get a relevant word to your life each time you read the bible. When we read the scriptures we can get 4 good types of information:

-  Our literal interpretation or application of the words written (from our minds) - This is risky it can be deadly, because we can misinterpret or misapply the word.

- The application the Holy Spirit gave someone that we heard or read somewhere (from memory)
- The application the Holy Spirit gave us the last time we read/heard it (from memory)
- The application that the Holy Spirit will give us afresh and anew for ourselves and those around us

Halleluyah! The last three are all great, they are all good but sometimes the Holy Spirit wants to show us something new because we need something new. Every word in the bible has treasures in it, some we know, some we have never heard. Halleluyah! The more he shows us in the word, the more we know what he is saying, the more we know him. Just like you know more about your friend not just by what they are saying but also by how they are saying it. Remember God's word is living, giving new things everyday and wants to give them to you. Halleluyah!

So each day, one major thing we should be fighting isnt necessarily the person we are fighting with but the urge to spend the day without getting any word into our spirits, we need to fight the urge to just say a prayer in passing and make ourselves speak to the communicate with the Holy spirit. Fight For Your Love, Fight For your Life. Knowing God is eternal life.

Prayer for Today (Remember, Be Present while saying this, you are talking to someone)

Glorious God in heaven, I thank you for your love and interest in me. Who is man Lord, who am I that you are so mindful of me? You love is truly amazing. Thank you for your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit I pray from this day forward that you will open my eyes to see the wondrous treasures in your word. I love you lord and I pray that rivers of living waters shall flow out of my belly even as I fill myself with you. Make me more like you, take me deeper in love with you Lord. In Jesus Name I pray. Amen

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When we are present and we are conscious of the Holy Spirit in our relationship activities, God reveals himself to us through his word, worship and prayer like never before and we begin to live a life that cannot be described as anything less than amazing. The next post will discuss more Practical Love activities for our number one relationship. Hallelujah!

Get going...start knowing

Whats all the fuss about eternal life? Well eternal life is not living forever or existing forever is something totally different actually. It is defined clearly in the verse below.

John 17: 1  When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee, ² since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. ⁴ I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do.

God gave Jesus the power to give us eternal life, and Jesus accomplished that.

This is an important and beautiful scripture that we all should read and absorb as much as possible. Jesus came to give us all eternal life and Verse 4 shows that Jesus succeeded in doing this work. He defines eternal life as knowing God and knowing Jesus whom God sent.

Its is as simple and as complicated as that. 

All the outcomes of eternal life come from 'knowing God and and knowing Jesus whom he has sent.' This means that the core of being a child of God is knowing God. When we know our God and Jesus whom he has sent then we live out the scripture in Daniel 11 that says:

...but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.

 In eternal life there is health, wealth, success, deliverance, protection, salvation, love, peace, victory and an endless list of blessings. Not only does eternal life give you all these things, you also become bold and start getting other people to know God and have eternal life. Like 2 Corinthians 2:14 says Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

  
This whole love story between God and man is centered around his desire for us to know him. When we know him we will live in, exhibit and fulfill all the wonderous things he has in store for us. We would be the REAL mighty deliverer of creation that he has called us to be, and nothing can stand in our way. This version of us is activated by out knowledge of him. Every precious promise of God is accessed through eternal life. Halleluyah! 

Eternal life ensures we live in our rightful place which Ephesians 2:6 says is seated together with Christ in heavely places.  Ephesians 2:6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Here is my questions to you today:

- Do you know God or do you know about him?

The enemy fights daily by trying to take away our knowledge of God or by trying to prevent us from getting any knowledge in the first place. We may fight many battles in a day, month or life time but the battle that matters most, is the one to sustain our relationship with God. An on going knowing of him.

Ephesians 6:10 says Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 

We have a mighty, awesome glorious God, who has all power, is the only true God, worthy of all praise and honour. We need to live the life he has designed for us. We live this life by knowing him Colossians 2:10-15

Colossians 2:10-15

¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
¹¹ In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins^[a] of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹² buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, ¹⁴ having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.


What we need to remember as believers is to:
Resist anything that stops us from getting to know God.
Ignore anything that stops from discovering what God's word has too say about us
Fight anything that fights our ability to know God and Jesus whom he sent.
Spend time nurturing our relationship with God.


Remember that knowing about God is different from knowing him. Just like knowing about Steve Jobs is different from knowing him (like his children would).


So many battles we end up fighting wouldn't even start if we KNOW, so lets get going and start knowing.





Prayer
Almighty king, my redeemer my helper. Alagbada Ina! There is no body greater than you. Help me Lord, that I may know you and the power of your salvation

Do not agree

Do not let the devil convince you that he can attack you because you did or that.
At every point in time, put on the whole armor of God and hold up your shield of faith, knowing that there are no orphans of God; only children.

Never stop praying, studying the word, worshiping and speaking in tongues. No matter what has happened, proclaim your rights as a Child of God because you are righteous, by the blood of Jesus, that washes away ALL sin.

No devil can condemn or judge you and say, "She has been mean today, so I have a right to attack her." No. The enemy only tries to attack your faith, by putting your sin before you to build guilt. And if your faith is tied to your 'works' or 'self-assessed holiness' then it is sure to be lost whenever you fall. Once your faith is gone, your become an easy target.
Guard your faith jealously.

At all times, when you face a situation, boldly declare. I am a Child of God! satan has no power over me! Keep saying it till you believe it. He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world. The enemy has no choice but to flee when you bring Gods word. But thats what guilt does, it makes you doubt your rights to those promises. Dont fall for it.  If things God gave you are slipping out of your hands "Health, wealth, opportunities e.t.c" Speak God's word boldly and command the situation to obey.

If you don't believe me, read Romans 8:33

No one can bring a charge against you. No one!

Jesus is the one that condemns and he is the one interceding on your behalf. He is the one who died and rose again for you. You are covered, justified.

Romans 8:31 also says IF God be for us, who can be against us?....

The key here is actually 'have faith not guilt'

We have the ability to please God and we should. Because when we became his children we accepted him as our Lord. This means we will serve and obey him. His word says that even when we are unfaithful, he is faithful. The reason to stop sinning is not to buy things from God. It is because we love him and it grieves him when we do.

Unfaithfulness to God, feeds off a nature that does not build faith. It feeds off a nature that does not believe, so one can expect that living by that nature can only lead to destruction. Not because God's promises stop being available to us, but because the devil uses the guilt of people's actions against their faith and they let him walk all over them.

So this is how guilt works:
1. A CHILDofGOD(COG) is walking right in the centre of God's will for them. Full of Gods word and power. Aware of Gods promises and walking in them. Doesn't take nonsense when things go contrary to the word of God. He/She decrees accordingly and it comes to pass
2. COG might fall for temptation leading to a mistake
3. Devil tries his luck to steal something from the person
4. Person is about to pray and activate his rights
5. Guilt comes and says "Really? Are you sure you have a right to that?
6. Person wants to search Gods word and feed his spirit. Guilt again "Really? Don't you think you are too filthy to be in God's presence?"
7. Person reads less and less of the word, prays less and less (forgetting all his/her rights). Less word = less faith not less rights.
8. Person who still has all the same rights as he/she did in number 1 allows the devil steal/kill and destroy. Because faith is gone.
9. Person who still loves God is weakened by starving his/her spirit from Gods word and presence, leaving COG who still has all rights and privileges from number 1, living like a victim of circumstance.

Say God Forbid!
God Forbid!

At some point my people, we are going to have to realize
-That our righteousness comes from God.
- Nothing can separate us from God's love.
- No devil has a right to judge you or punish you because you sinned.
- We live holy because we love God. Not because we are buying his blessings
- Living in sin, hurts a persons soul, it erodes faith and grieves God.

My Advice: Read a bit of the bible everyday, no matter how sinful you feel and pray always. If you read the earlier post "Animated For Purpose" you will probably better understand why I say this.

PRAYER:
Thank you Jesus for the wonderful work you did on the cross. You did a truly complete work. Giving my all that pertains to life and Godliness and securing it in the blood of Jesus that washes all sins away. devil, I command you to get your hands off my stuff. Get your hands off my life, my brain, my health, my finances. I do not care whatever your reason is, Jesus has paid it all. He went to hell and made an open show of you, I belong to him and he is the judge now. I cover my self with the blood of Jesus and I have a right to all the blessings of the saints. I decree a double portion of blessing in my life for all that was stolen from me by the enemy in Jesus Name. Amen.

Worship God like you know you are his.

If you felt unsure if you can pray this prayer kindly read this again and study Romans 8:33 and Romans 8:31-32
Godbless

He Has No Orphans

God has no step children.

I know what it feels like, to come into God's presence and feel like you have betrayed him.

You feel like an unworthy stepchild  (much like what the prodigal son must have felt)

You know God loves you, you once loved him totally / you still love him totally.

The things is, you are not sure.

Youve been doing some things lately or for a long time now and when they started, you were sure of your stand.

You even tried repenting alot of times, or maybe just a few.

Now Its been a while and you're no longer repenting (But you are sorry)

You know its wrong but you know you will do it again

You know that the things that made you fall in the first place, still hold you down

They hold you back from letting go

The only thing is, you miss God, you miss his presence.

You miss the way you felt in worship 

You miss the CONFIDENCE his love gave you to come into his presence boldly

I know what it feels like to be about to worship God wholeheartedly and ask yourself, "Isnt there a special ritual I have to perform before I start to worship?"

Maybe I need to ask for forgiveness first. But I am going to do this thing again. I m not ready to stop. 

I am still angry, still lying, still stealing, still seeing that person e.t.c

How can I just start singing from my heart as if everything is alright. Isnt that wrong?

How can I enter his presence when I am still living in sin?

My friend, my brother, my child, I have been there. But God has no orphans, step children or ex-children.

Forget about yourself ad throw yourself at his feet.

Can I ask you please today, worship him with ALL your heart

Forget about your sin and focus on his love

You have no other father, and yours wants you, just like that.

Worship him let him make you whole,

Worship him, he's in control,

Worship your heavenly father, he will nurse you back to health

Worship is about Who God is, not what you've done

He is still wonderful

He is all powerful

His love is everlasting and he loves you

You are his child and his heart is for you

Worship your heavenly father freely

You are not an orphan, you are his