DIVINE PROSPERITY ABOUNDS

Divine Prosperity Abounds

2^nd Chronicles 20:18-20

When one hears about prosperity, the things that come to mind is financial/material well-being. We have reduced prosperity to mean nothing more than money. The prosperity package that comes from God goes beyond money. Money is only a by-product of the real thing. This is the point at which a lot of people miss out on God’s blessing. When you run after prosperity or riches, sorrow would be added to it (Psalm 127:2). But, that which God gives adds no sorrow to it (Prov 10:22). Prosperity goes beyond finance or social status. There is more to prosperity in the sight of God than your pocket size (Luke 12:15). You might have nothing today, but it does not stop you from being prosperous in the sight of God. Prosperity is a condition of the heart, not of your pocket size. Plugging into that which is not of God makes you run a rat race. Even Joseph being a slave was prosperous (Gen 39:2). As a worker in your place of work, you can live a prosperous life (Deut 30:9). Prosperity is a function of who and what God says you are. It is a function of your thoughts. Do you see problems or solutions? Are you always complaining? God’s ideas would not stick if you are a complainer. That is why the bible says we should keep our hearts with all diligence (Prov 4:23). It is a function of your value-system. Some people have placed a ceiling on what they can achieve in life. This comes by the devil stating facts to their hearts. The devil sows a seed, and it is received hook, line and sinker. Reject every idea of the devil. Change your thoughts and change your life.

To prosper is to flourish; to thrive. Prosperity is not a respecter of societies or geographical location. Even as bad as things appear to be in Nigeria, people are still prospering. Prosperity is a state of well-being. A lot of people are not leveraging on God’s resources. Living below God’s desired expectation does not glorify God. This well-being is all round- physical, relationship, mental, emotional health. It entails you being a blessing even to your world. It entails progressive or upward movement in life. Your upward movement is powered /auto-cruised by God. You begin to ride upon the wings of destiny (Isa 40:31). When you are following God’s plan for your life- that right there is true prosperity. You have an increased / enhanced capacity to multiply.

A vital point of reference to prosperity to is found in Ps 14:3. The word “blessed” begins the Psalms and this psalm was most likely written by David. We can also connect this to Jesus’ first sermon in Matt 5:3. The word “blessed” here means “empowered to thrive, succeed, to prosper”. The delight of this blessed person is in the law of the Lord. The counsel of the ungodly would always contradict the value system of God and so a man that is on his way to prosperity would walk, but not in the counsel of the ungodly. Who are the people that power your decisions? When Rehoboam was given a godly counsel, he rejected it and went to accept the counsel of his friends. Evil communication corrupts good manners (1 Cor 15:33). Who is your counselor and adviser? The word of God should be the baseline for your decision-making process. In the light of that, you would not stumble in judgement. You do only that which the Lord has blessed.

The baseline for prosperity is faith in God (2 Chr 20:20, Heb 11:6). When the word of God came to Ahaz, it was declared that if he did not believe the word of God, he would not be established. Believing the word of God makes you immovable and firmly sound (2^nd Tim 1:7). God is too faithful to fail his word. The word of God is the only reality. The people that are foolish enough to go with the word of God, usually come back with testimonies. Divine establishment is a function of your faith in God and prosperity is an offshoot of divine establishment.

Do you believe in the Lord and His prophets? The prophets of God are the people that bear the testimony of Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. Fruitfulness is a by-product of being planted in the house of God. Prosperity is a by-product of divine establishment. If you do not believe in God, you cannot believe in His prophets (Rev 3:20). He is at the door of your heart. Would you be magnanimous enough to open the door? Our eyes of understanding would be enlightened in Jesus name. Amen.

PASTOR NATHANIEL SADELA

Resident  Pastor 

The Workings of the Holy Spirit (2)

The Workings of the Holy Spirit (2)
John 16:12-16

The bible says “it is the Spirit that quickens (gives life), the flesh profits nothing”- John 6:63. The flesh can only produce dead works. That which will bring a greater benefit to our generation has to be authored and sponsored by the Holy Spirit.

In Phil 3:3, the Bible declares that the Father seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth. This worship goes beyond the songs and the music, it is about the heart. Worship is about you going to God’s presence. The problem is, we do not want to leave where we are, we always want God to come to us.
Even Jesus queried Nicodemus, as fine a teacher of the law as he was, of struggling with base things (John 3:10-12).
Part of what the Holy Spirit does to you is to make you humble. The Spirit enables us to bear the truthful realities of the Kingdom of God (Ps 119:144). People do not understand, because their understanding has not been enlightened. Without the Holy Spirit, our hearing can never be fruitful, and our understanding can only be from the human plane (1 Cor 2:14). The Spirit must quicken the Word in you; this Word then becomes your personal sword.

We must ascend into the presence of God, because the natural cannot receive the things of the Spirit. The Bible revealed that some folks heard the same Gospel being preached to us but it yielded nothing in them because they were devoid of faith, and faith is of the Spirit (Heb 4:1-2; Gal. 5:22). Without the Holy Spirit, our understanding is unproductive and ineffective (1Cor 12:3).

Jesus Christ referred to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of faith, of life, and of God. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6, 17:17). Your path through the Holy Spirit becomes firmly rooted in God’s Word (Psa 119:105). The Holy Spirit searches out all things (1 Cor 2:10). The truth by the Holy Spirit makes you free (John 8:32). Your value-system by the help of the Holy Spirit is established on the Word of God.

Your choices for living must be dependent on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes you see the truth that sin has no dominion over you and that you have been delivered from the power of sin and death (Rom 8:1, Col 1:13). The Holy Spirit opens you to dimensions of grace, not to continually dwell in sin, but to rise above it.

Whose testimony are you bearing? If the Holy Spirit would not speak of Himself, from whom are we speaking? (John 7:18). The Gospel that is authored by the Holy Spirit is the power of God and it reveals the righteousness of God. The Spirit of God speaks from Christ. One of the assignments of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ. Anything that would not glorify Christ can never be authored by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit gives you the mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals things and events ahead of time.

Receive grace to be a doer of the Word in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

PASTOR NATHANIEL SADELA

Resident  Pastor 

The Workings of the Holy Spirit

The Workings of the Holy Spirit

John 14:15-20

In the anchor text, Jesus called the Holy Spirit another Comforter. A comforter is someone who brings soothing relief to you. A comforter is someone who brings consolation to you. A comforter encourages you in the time of mourning. For Jesus Christ to have mentioned that the Holy Spirit is another Comforter, it means that He, Jesus, was also a Comforter (Luke 4:19). The greatest thing that could happen to a man is that the Lord abides with (and in) him. When Jesus was about to leave the disciples, He mentioned that He would not leave them comfortless. Let us now consider some of the workings of the Holy Spirit.

1.    The Holy Spirit does not leave us as orphans

John 14:18- “I will not leave you comfortless”. David declared “Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). Blessed is he, whom the Lord chastens (Job 5:17). 2^nd Timothy 3:16-17 says “All scripture is given by the inspiration of God (the Holy Spirit)…it’s profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness… (2 Tim. 3:16).
God chastens a wise man and he becomes wiser (Prov 9:9). Romans 8: 14-16- The Holy Spirit ensures that we don’t live as orphans through His leading. Anybody that does not live by the leading of the Holy Spirit lives as an orphan. To live without the Holy Spirit is to be hopeless.

2.    The Spirit quickens the inner man

2^nd Corinthians 4:16- He quickens one day by day (Rom 8:26-28). Because the Spirit dwells in us and knows all things, we also by that same effect know all things. There are times when things are not going as planned, but you know it is God that is at work. The Spirit reveals to you the process flow of communication taking place in the heavenly places. God reveals the Son and the Son reveals and is revealed to you. It goes beyond human knowledge to know that Jesus Christ is the son of God (Matt 16:13-20). The Holy Spirit enables you to see yourself in the Son and enables you to see the Son in the Father.

3.    The Holy Spirit teaches you all things

The Holy Spirit teaches you all things and sharpens your memory (Isaiah 48:16). When you hear the voice of the Spirit, do not harden your heart (Heb 3:7). He teaches us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2^nd Peter 1:3). God’s testimonies become your meditation (Psalm 119: 111). He teaches your hands to war (Psalm 144:1).

4.    He bears the testimony of Jesus to you

John 15:26-27- The Spirit of God through His working to you would testify about Jesus to you. This personal revelation becomes a platform for showcasing the gospel.

5.    The Holy Spirit reproofs the world

John 16:9-11- The Holy Spirit reproofs the world of sin, righteousness and judgement.

Of sin- Why would the Holy Spirit reproof the world of sin. It is because of their unbelief. Unbelief led to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden (Rom 1:16). The message of the Holy Spirit convicts one of unbelief. A man under the yoke of unbelief is convicted by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:22-37)

Of Righteousness- (Eph 1:17-20)- The Spirit of God would make the world know the true essence of righteousness. The type that is borne out of the mystery of godliness. Not only did Jesus Christ die, He was buried, He resurrected from the dead, He ascended to heaven and is also seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Eph. 2:6).

Of Judgement – Many people see the devil as the supreme being, the truth is that he is under divine judgment (Luke 10:18, John 12:31). The world’s perception of judgement is different from that of God’s kingdom (Rom 8:1, John 5:24, 1Cor 2:15). Judgement can also be viewed as a decision-making process. If everything you hope for is earthly-based, you are under the judgement of the devil (Rev 12:12). When you have the Holy Spirit in you, He quickens your understanding to rebuff the devil.

6.    Our heart is set on pilgrimage

The Holy Spirit ensures that we don’t live our lives wrapped up in one spot (Psalm 84:5). Abraham rather than build monuments in his journeys, built tents. He instead sought for a city which had foundations whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10). You might lose friends in the process of the workings of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, our strengths lie in the wrong thing, like our bank accounts.
Your strength must lie in and on Jehovah. The development cycle of a disciple through the workings of the Holy Spirit starts with the Community-Crowd-Convert-Committed-Consecrated-Commissioned. This ensures that we do not stay in one spot, but rather are on a constant move as we are led of God.

PASTOR NATHANIEL SADELA

Resident  Pastor