The life of God always win. Who we are is defined by the personality of God whose image we are made in.
Understanding of the victory we have in Christ make us victorious. 1 John 5:4
Living the victorious life require lot of faith in the one that promised us victory when it seem we are surrounded by defeat. Don’t lose sight of the way out no matter how tiny it is.
It is easy to be discouraged when passing through battle, especially since our adversary is a specialist in magnifying challenges, but goodnews we have overcomed already! Some things that made me sad and cry sometimes ago when I look back I discovered I really did not have to worry that much. It all passed away
Psalms 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Valley of the shadow of death may be in terms of health, finance, marriage, academic, business, ministry etc Don’t forget it is all a shadow and you are not alone.There is correction in every battle (rod) receive it with joy. There is instruction for every battle. Receive and carry it out. Therein lie your victory. Strategize accordingly.
What discourages in life battle is thought of the worst that can happen. Renew your mind. Think positive!Fear brings negative thoughts, Faith breed positive thought. Choose faith in God in the face of seemingly defeat.
You are a Victor however do not live your life anyhow. Wear the whole armour of God to maintain your victory as the devil would always try to take it. Ephesian 6: 13-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
As Jesus is, so are you in this world. What cannot defeat Jesus cannot defeat you, if Jesus have peace in storm why should you be worried.To your victorious life🍷
TO EVERYTHING there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven.
The life on earth is within a time frame. Age is a function of time. All activities, purpose have a time frame and have to be done in their appropriate time. Nature changes depending on seasons.
Timing may be what makes an action either right or wrong. In medicine, there are appropriate behaviours for different age groups. If it is exhibited by other age groups it is seen as inappropriate and depending on the severity, medical attention maybe needed.
Somethings are always in season while others are more appropriate at a particular time. Seasons have different attributes and require different actions.
The seasons of life do not always correspond to the natural season. People’s experiences determine what season they are in. After a loss, a person might be said to be in winter, cold, dry season of their life. The activities in all seasons of life are connected.
SEASONS OF LIFE
WINTER: Time to get stronger, wiser and better. Time for personal development; spiritual, mental and physical development.
SPRING: Time to take advantage of opportunities. Expansion comes after recession. Get busy. Take corresponding action to your plan.
SUMMER: Time to take care, protect what you have created. All goods will be attacked, all values must be defended. Tend your dream. Defend your belief.
FALL: Time to take responsibility. It is not what happens but what you do about it that matters.
Maximise your time to achieve the best irrespective of your circumstances. A farmer who failed to plan and plant in spring would have nothing to weed, defend, in summer and nothing to harvest in fall and nothing to store up for winter when the chips are down.
Plant when you ought to and harvest at the right time. In between, don’t give up. Persevere until you get the expected result. Different crops have different harvest time. Don’t compare yourself.
The importance of food to life can never be over emphasized. It is natural that every living thing must eat to sustain life processes. Sometimes I wonder how a newborn baby understands what milk is when he/she cries for food. Same with mad people, they may have lost their sense of judgment but they always know that they need to eat. I guess eating is the first sense to be developed and the last to be lost.
Eating is one thing but balancing the eating is another. Balanced diet has been a topic we have been taught since elementary school days. But, I want to introduce a different perspective. As a man, as I have previously established, we are tripartite beings composed of a Soul, a Spirit and a Body.
What you used to know is the gospel of good food for the nourishing of the body. Some of us are guilty of robbing the spirit to enrich the body. Some even feed the spirit and body but neglect the soul. Balanced diet is a complete package for the whole man, not just some part of him.
As usual ignorance is the major obstacle to balanced diet. Some people don’t know the food for the soul or the spirit.
The only aspect we have given attention to is the food for the body. But should we continue to starve the others?
FOOD FOR THE SOUL
The basic function of the soul is ‘thinking’. For any thought process to be complete, words need to be metabolized. This metabolism includes all the general components such as Building up thoughts (Anabolism), casting/breaking down some (Catabolism) and amphibolic pathways too. The energy utilized in building a nice or dangerous thought is language. You must understand a particular type of language for you to use words in the language effectively in thinking. The thought goes further to develop your language.
In general science, the relationship between energy and food is forever wedded until death. Same with words and language. Different aspects of the Soul life requires different types of languages. An example is, to develop your love life you must feed on words that are related to love, to develop your mind in the medical field you must be exposed to words in this field. What we do basically in school is expose ourselves to words that will allow us to develop an effective communicating language in our chosen field of study. A mechanic does not understand the language of the doctor and the accountant doesn’t understand the language of the computer scientist. The only difference between them all is the words that each of them were exposed to.
The person who commits suicide and the person who becomes a hero is the metabolism of the words which goes on in their mind
People who speak the same language have high tendencies of having the same beliefs and norm because their thoughts revolve around the same words.
Recently I did an exercise. You can do it too. Think of anything. You can easily think something you want to do. Please answer the questions below;
1. In what language did you carry-out your thoughts?
2. If you didn’t know some of the words you used, do you think you would still have the same thoughts?
The answer to the second question is obvious. You won’t think of something that you have never heard or seen. You can’t think of death if you have never seen things die or heard about it. You can’t think of school if you have never had any exposure to it. The first time you hear these words you can spontaneously ask; What is death or school?I remember how I will spend time rehearsing words I read or listened to in anatomy lecture.
Before now, people grow up to adulthood (sometimes as old as 30 years of even more) and don’t even know what sex is. But now, children of 7 years already know what sex is and possibly have experienced it. The difference between now and then is exposure to words.
There came a time, the children of the world came together to build a tower that will reach heaven. God had to stop them. And the Lord said, Behold, the people are one, and they all have one language; and what they have begun to do: and now nothing will be impossible to them, which they have imagined to do… And the Lord confounded their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
God himself understands the power of language to imagination and imagination to actualization.
Your soul too needs nourishment, don’t deprive yourself of good soul food.
Death as most dictionary will put it; is the process of dying or the end of life.
Applying this definition of death to “In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die” makes no sense. Does it mean that we have seen the first lie of God from the very beginning of the Bible?
The devil stated categorically that the woman will not surely die but instead her eyes will be opened and she will be as God.
On a closer look we will see that the woman did not die and the Bible stated clearly that the eyes of both were open.
Opening of eyes does not in any way mean death. Opening of eyes does not mean the end of life by any means.
So, was the devil right? And was God wrong?
Minutes later, God came walking into the garden and Adam and Eve hid themselves. And God called Adam; Where are you? Adam said he heard the voice of God in the garden and he was afraid because he was naked.
God then asked “Who told you that you are naked, have you eaten of the fruit I told you not to eat?”
God was rather shocked at the words of Adam. This shock was what brought about the question; have you eaten of the forbidden fruit?
But having information about Adams physical state is not what God said will happen. If we go by the general definition of death, Eve will not even be able to give Adam the fruit, because she would have ceased to exist and not able to carry out functions of life.
By this definition, it will appear that God wasn’t right and Satan wasn’t wrong.
But the Bible stated clearly that God cannot lie.
So let’s look at the real picture. Adam was made in Genesis chapter 1 and formed in Genesis chapter 2. The creation story stated clearly that God breathed into the formed man and the formed man became a living soul. This is where the main point is, the formed man did not have life until the created man entered into the formed man. The formed man then became a living soul.
At this point man had 3 separate types of life all in one.
1. The Created (Spirit) life
2. The Formed (Fleshly) life
3. The Soul life.
The spirit life is the real life, it cannot stop existing. Spirit does not have an end and therefore cannot obey the dictionary meaning.
The formed life is secondary to the entrance of the Spirit life. If the spirit which raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, that spirit will give life to your mortal bodies. The formed life is dead without the in-dwelling of the spirit. This type of life can obey the dictionary meaning of death.
The soul is that life which harmonises the two lives. The soul life therefore is the control center of whatever action is to be taken. The soul can die because it is written; The soul that sinneth shall die.
Is God right? The question we need to ask first is; what type of life was in charge of the giving information to the soul; Is it the spirit life or is it the formed life?
God blessed man in Genesis 1 and gave him dominion. That dominion is breasted on the life of the spirit. The devil in his quest to takeover dominion from man has to make sure the spirit is dead.
The soul is the commanding life, the soul is the center that controls the body and even the spirit. Most people are aware of the fact that their mind which is centered in the soul controls the body but are not aware of the fact that the soul also controls the spirit. The soul receives information from the Spirit and body. It gives directives based on the amount of information it has inside.
Man died spiritually as commanded by God. Since the Spirit life does not die the way we understand death, what does dying mean to a Spirit?
Death means separation from the source. God is the source of life and a disconnection from him means death to the spirit.
Immediately after the death of the spirit, the only source of perception is by the formed man (Flesh). So, a translation from the Spirit’s perception to the Fleshly perception led to the opening of the eyes. The opening of the fleshly eyes gave birth to science. We now judge things by the 5 physical senses. Of course they had been naked from the beginning but they could not see it because their soul was receiving information from the Spirit. And the spirit saw glory covering themselves.
Death of the Formed man is the separation from the Spirit which is the source of life. The body without the Soul is dead. The seat of the soul in the formed man is the brain. Brain death means body death. The brain through the mind which is part of the soul controls all the body activities both consciously and unconsciously. The brain is popularly called the central nervous system or the control center of the body. Every little detail of the body is mapped out in the brain for coordination. The soul is what gives uniqueness to every man. You can find people who look alike but have totally different minds.
The life of the Spirit reside in the blood. Once you drain the blood out of the man, then the lifeless body will be lying down.
Let me quickly add this. The soul of man is not resident in the blood system but rather in the water of man. The blood brain barrier does not allow the fibers of the brain to come in contact with the blood.
So basically man is;
1. Water (Houses brain/soul)
2. Blood (Houses the spirit)
3. The water and blood is the flesh itself
So God did not lie. Man died the day he ate the fruit. Satan was aware of this fact, he deceived Eve to believe her eyes will open. The opening of her physical eyes signified a transition from a Spiritual man to a Physical man.
“So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 MSG
We can show our love for God and others by being on the look out for them.
We are on the earth however our life transcend beyond this earth. The world has its way and as people of the Word we ought not to act accordingly. It is an error for darkness to be found in light. We cannot be for God and the devil at the same time.
Being not ignorant of persecution, social, career and family pressures, we have to stand and be on our watch.
Light have no fellowship with darkness. We have a responsibility to others and ourself to ensure we do not fall on the wayside.
We can show our love for God and others by being on the look out for them.
To the brethren
EXHORT – strongly encourage or urge to do something.
The Unruly: WARN – inform someone in advance of a possible danger, problem, or other unpleasant situation.
The faintheaded: COMFORT – ease the grief or distress.
The weak: UPHOLD – give support.
Everyone: RELATE IN PATIENCE – the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
SUPERVISE – observe and direct, to watch a person or activity to make certain everything is done correctly and safely.
To Yourself
REJOICE. Joy may not take away challenges immediately but it will give you a better attitude to deal with it and give you an edge in proffering solution.
PRAY: Consistent communication with God is the secret to building up your stamina. It assures you of God’s presence.
THANKSGIVING: Maintain a grateful heart. Nothing beyond you will ever come your way. Every temptation is according to the level of God’s grace in us and there is always a way out of every challenge. Thank God for the way always there for us.
GIVE ATTENTION TO PROPHECY: The word of God is true and would come to fulfillment.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain.
You may be aware of the resurrection of Jesus but not informed of the politics that led to his death.
A long time ago, the serpent told the woman “you shall not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of this fruit, your eyes will be open and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil”. Many thought this was just a line by the devil to deceive the woman. But no, this was the beginning of the game.
Actually, God did say that man will die if he eats the forbidden fruit. So, get this, the actual consequence of eating the fruit is that they will have the knowledge of good and evil. The death penalty is as a result of disobedience to God’s word. These are two different consequences.
The devil recently lost a battle of dominion in heaven and the next target was earth for obvious reasons. Man was made in the image and likeness of God and man was also given dominion over the earth.
Please, note that man’s dominion was given by the word of God and the instruction which eventually became a law was also given by the same word of God. The word of God which was the law became a potential trap for man. The devil in his desperate quest for dominion, capitalized on the law. He knew that God had a weakness and that is; It is impossible for God to lie. So, if man can disobey, then it is certain that man will die. A dead man cannot dominate.
But one thing the devil failed to understand was that there is a big lacuna in that law. There was no provision for the timing of the execution. So even if man disobeys, he can be a condemned prisoner till forever.
And here comes the twist, the point where God himself has to make a move. God’s move is propelled by His love for man and also to display His power as God. (This is why the resurrection of Christ is the power of God to us who are saved but foolishness to those who are perishing).
God decided to win on both sides, that is; to save Man and save His Word. This seemed like an impossible task since God cannot lie. At this point the devil was stirring curiously and laughing devilishly.
This decision of God had consequences and God was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. That is he had to kill His Word in other to make adjustment to the same Word. So, that Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.
The only move was for God to allow His Word to put on flesh. This move actually got the devil confused as he was completely ignorant of the importance of this move. The unique thing about God’s Word like I have said before is that it is Spirit. This Spirit is also the image and likeness of God Himself. By this virtue, the Word which had become flesh took back the dominion. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil because God was with him.
The untold
Rage overwhelmed the devil. He was completely angry, he was being disgraced by this Word at every given opportunity. So he decided to play the death card again. This time since the Word refused to disobey itself, it will make sense to rip the flesh off it, that way the Word will have to return from wherever it came from and he will be free to take the dominion once again.
Imagine that an armed robber took his gun and instead of pointing it at your head, he did the exact opposite. That was how God was feeling, He had the devil right where he wanted him. Without waste of time the devil played his card and the Word lost His flesh.
The flesh of the Word had water and blood. And the Word itself is spirit. On earth there are 3 things that bear witness, they are; the water, the blood and the spirit. The blood is the representation of life on earth.
After the execution of the Word, some soldiers came and pierced his side and blood and water came out to kiss the earth and to testify that a man without sin had died.
Since the Word was without sin and every blood had the right to make request, the only request of the Word was that since he had paid the ultimate price for sin, let the sinners be set free.
By this, God won the battle again at the expense of His Word. God then made a new pronunciation which is “Whoever believed in this word (His son) will not die but have everlasting life.” The complete sentence now read thus; But of the tree in the midst of the garden, thou shall not eat, if you eat of it, you shall surely die and For God so loved the man that he gave His Word, that whosoever believed in the word shall not die but have everlasting life.
The dominion once again was restored to those who believed. This was logical enough since the sin of man that led to his condemnation was disobedience as a result of disbelief in the word which he spake to Adam.
Man’s only work now is to believe. Belief is the only thing that can make man obey since disbelief leads to disobedience.
As you can see, every action has its own consequence. The lacuna is that man has to believe, so the devil started again, trying hard not to give up, he was ready to make people disbelieve again. So, he started by playing the card of religion. He initiated religion as a covering to man since by default man is already condemned. Anything that will blind the man to the truth will eventually kill him.
Any man under any religious cover is under Satan’s dominion and any one who believes in the word of God dominates over Satan, that’s the hierarchy.
We therefore have one role to play as those who have been saved; we are expected to preach this good news to every creature, whoever believes and is baptised shall be saved.
“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil for you are with me.”
Peace is not an absence of fear. God promises and shows us our destination however it does not mean absence of challenges on the way. Challenges are not to put you down but to lift you up. The secret to peace and rest in challenges at all time involves the following:
Trust in God: Even when “God said”, you may encounter some momentary failure. He is ever faithful and will take you to the expected end. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Faith in God: Faith is taking the first step even when you cannot see the whole staircase. Revelation becomes clearer when you take corresponding action.
Knowledge that there is always a way out: There is solution before the challenge arose. Seek to know and understand. Strategise in line with your expected end. Ask for wisdom and plan.
Don’t forget your previous victory: God did it through you before, he can do it again. Your seemingly small victory is a preparation for greater things. David’s previous victory against the bear and other wild animals reassured him of God’s presence to help him defeat Goliath. Rebuke anything that tells you, you cannot overcome.
Remember the Spirit of God in you: You have the spirit of power, love and sound mind. The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, nothing is impossible for you.
Have self confidence which is courage + confidence in God. Be courageous even in the face of obvious impossibility. Do not be afraid.
Focus on Jesus. In storm season, do not lose sight of Jesus. Distraction itself can lead to sinking in the storm. Activate the presence of God through prayer and praise. Do not let Jesus sleep in your boat when there is storm. Your concern should be if God is with you, because if He is all things would work for your favour!
Hidden, this word brings to mind a butterfly during the process of metamorphosis. During the metamorphosis of a butterfly, there comes a time before its final change that it forms a pupa, it is hidden and it is during this time that its beautiful wings are formed.
There are 4 stages in the life cycle of the butterfly
The egg: It is laid on leaves of plants, this can be likened to the seeds of the word of God been laid in the heart of a believer, the promises of God towards you.
The larva: The egg hatches and a caterpillar comes out, at this stage all they do is eat starting from the leaves on which they are laid, as they eat they grow bigger and molt (shedding their outer skin). Likewise believers should keep feeding on the milk (word of God) to keep growing. 1Peter 2:2. What is essential at this moment is to be at a place where they are fed with the truth and for them to grow till they come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13. Shed off scales, shed off old habits
The pupa (chrysalis): Now this is my favorite, if you check the picture of a pupa, all you see is a green funny looking thing hanging off a tree. From the outside, it seems as though nothing is happening but inside the caterpillar is rapidly changing to give rise to the beautiful butterfly.
To the outside world during this stage, the outward appearance looks unattractive but straight inside is a transformation. So also, as believers there comes a time in our new life that we undergo the process of change, remodeling, in this process is pain, no beauty but that right there is giving birth to a wondrous person, one who will show forth the glory of God as His sons.
The adult: At the beginning of this stage, the new adult butterfly emerges of the chrysalis with its beautiful wings. What to do during the period?
This is a time to separate ourselves and seek God’s face, what happens during this time is consecration for God’s will, just like Paul spent 3 years in Arabia before the commencement of his apostolic ministry and Jesus telling his disciples to tarry till they receive the Holy Spirit.
Seek God’s face, tarry in His presence. Pray, pray, keep praying! Seek God, seek His will. Tarry, this is vital to your growth.
Study and meditate on God’s word for in it is contained His will for you. Do not let it depart from your mouth.
Seek Him, keep beholding Him, because in that we are changed from glory to glory.
Fellowship with the brethren, let there be an hunger, thirst in you for the divine, then will great things be birthed forth from you.
What can you sacrifice to get what you desire, want, need and love?
Treasure is something valuable, that is hidden and not readily available, something very special, important or valuable, a person greatly loved or valued especially.
When you really want a thing, you can give all to get it. The depth of sacrifice is directly proportional to the love for it. Love is what makes a thing or a person a treasure. For instance; those who love jewelry can go to any length to get a piece, make any sacrifice. For those who do not really love it, any sacrifice i.e cost, time, is extravagant or too extreme. People are different, what we love are also different. However, no matter who you are, you are driven by your LOVE. Do not compare yourself to others, everyone has what drives him/her which may be different from yours.
People are different, what we love are also different. However, no matter who you are, you are driven by your LOVE.
By your action, what you love can to some extent be extrapolated. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be.
How much of God you desire will determine how much of him you will get. God will reveal himself to you but for how long that will be is based on your level of desire. God desires that you desire Him, long for Him. His call is to the hungry and thirsty. He is a gentleman that would not impose Himself on anyone. When He calls men, He does not force them.
Mark 12:30 “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” KJV
If we obey the first commandment to love God, it will not be difficult to seek first his kingdom by treasuring whatever He desires. The bible has guidelines of appropriate way of showing love. Let us follow God’s example of love who is love personified. John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 13:3-7
Dear reader, who do you love? What do you love? Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.”
Zig Ziglar
Author
Have you been in a situation that is so very different from your expectations? Or you made something which ought to be beautiful but it is so opposite!
That moment when the reality and your vision are contradicting, still Think Positive.
The great powerful Creator made heaven and earth, still earth was formless and empty. That was definitely not His plan. He had the big picture of what He wanted the earth to be. Have you try making something and it turn out shapeless, empty and full of darkness? Or you just resumed a new position or office and everything seems bleak. At that point you may be tempted to think negative.
Automatic Negative Thoughts involves immediate thought about the bad qualities of something or someone or expression of dislike or disapproval. It happens suddenly. It may be an habit of persistent or consistent response to an overwhelming or bad situation. The situation being negative does not warrant a negative thought.
Lessons from God when he had a earth without form and void. The story of creation can be seen in Genesis 1-2:3.
Every dark situation needs light. Do not let your mind be clouded, go for insight, knowledge brings salvation. Study about the situation, discuss with people.
Have a end in mind. There is no success if the end and beginning are the same. However the constrast at the beginning should not discourage you. What are your expectations? You are there to make it better. There is always a way out.
Take a survey, analyse the situation. It may not be as bad or it may even be worse. At least know what you are dealing with. Knowing the problem is part of solving it. Know your resources, what is needed to achieve the picture you have in mind.
Create an Action Plan. Action without a strategy may lead to frustration. Your Action Plan should be SMART. It should be specific, measurable, achieveable, realistic and time bound. God did not create everything at once. There was order and sequence. Imagine what would have happened if God created the fishes and other aquatic lives before the sea!
Take action. Creation would not have occurred if God was contented with the state of the earth nor would it if He decided to do nothing. Action involves talking, observing and working. I saw this quote somewhere but cannot remember the author “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Division of Labour. The trinity were involved in the work of creation. You do not have to do it alone. Involve God and others; colleagues, family, friends, your network.
Assess yourself at the end of each day/activity. Check that you are following your timeline.
Celebrate each success no matter how small.
If you miss any of the above steps or the strategy is not feasible, Try again! You are better than someone who gave up. You definitely are transformed.
Lessons from Genesis one is non-exhaustive. Share your views in the comment box below. I look forward to hearing from you!
To your victorious life🍷
POSITIVE IMPACT 