We are co-creators with God

According to the freedictionary.com to co-create means to create jointly.

1 Corinthians 3:9 (NKJV)
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.

God created the heavens and the earth, vegetation, animals by speaking them into existence. It is the nature of God to create and everything He created was beautiful and good before the fall of man.
We are partakers of His divine nature which includes His creative ability.

To effectively co-create with God, we should come into alignment with Him so that we do not work at cross-purposes with His plan for our lives, families and spheres of influence.
We co-create by the words of our mouth, the choice of words we speak over our lives, families and nation. Let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich, declare His word over your life, family and nation

Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV)
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
As we begin to speak His word concerning us, our families, etc, things will begin to line up. 

James 3:5-6 (NKJV)
5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 

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We get our words to come into alignment with Gods words through 

Prayer 
Asking God and desiring earnestly for our tongues to come into alignment with His words, He shall grant us the desires of our heart. Ask and ye shall receive. When Isaiah had an encounter with God, his tongue was changed:

Isaiah 6:5-7 (NKJV)
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”

Study and meditating on God’s words 
Thoughts produce words, and therefore we guard our hearts with all diligence!

Luke 6:45 (NKJV) 
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart[a] brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Philippians 4:8 (NKJV) 
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Joshua 1:8 (NKJV) 
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Note
Proverbs 15:4 (KJV) 
4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

Prayer
Father bring my tongue, the words of my mouth to align with your word, that instead of creating chaos, You will bring order through my tongue

Keep the main thing the main thing

Happy New year! 

It’s that time of the year again when we make new year resolutions, decisions to improve on ourselves, family relationships, work, etc.

However, for me this year, I trust God to keep the main thing the main thing.

Jesus visited Mary and Martha, Martha was busy serving (there is nothing wrong in serving though) but Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to Him, Martha was upset that Jesus did not ask Mary to help her, Jesus answered her saying. “But one thing is needful …

Luke 10:42 (KJV)

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

What is that one thing that the Lord will have you focus on this year? When He reveals this to you, keep it in focus all the time. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who is always with us to guide us into all truth and to bring all things to our remembrance. 

John 14:26 (KJV)

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Our relationship with God is so important that Jesus prayed for us shortly before His crucifixion in John 17. It is His desire for us to become united with Him and this comes by regularly spending time with Him in His Word and obeying Him, Prayer, singing His praises and giving Him thanks. 

John 17:21 (KJV) 

that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Ministry should be the outflow of our personal walk with the Father, we come to Him not because of what He wants to do through us but because of who He is and we have been bought with a price – the precious blood of Jesus.

Before the fall, God used to come down to fellowship with Adam, this relationship was restored after Jesus died and resurrected. He is a God that longs to fellowship with His own – Man. So many times we get caught up with the busyness of the day and even “ministry” and neglect the place of intimacy with the Father.

It is in the place of intimacy that the Lord deposits His substance in us. Proverbs 8:17,21.

Proverbs 8:17, 21 (KJV)

17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.

This year, let us endeavor to keep the main thing the main thing – Fellowship with the Father.

Song/Prayer

Draw me close to you

Never let me go

I lay it all down again

To hear you say that I’m your friend

You are my desire

And no one else will do

'Cause nothing else can take Your place

To feel the warmth of Your embrace

Help me find a way

Bring me back to You

You're all I want

You're all I've ever needed

You're all I want

Help me know You are near

Knowing God Intimately

My post today is from my hubby’s Monday Devotional. I trust you will be blessed by this article, which can also be found here: www.changemakersforchrist.org

Friends, greetings in Jesus Name! Today I will be sharing with you on what I title, “Knowing God Intimately”. As a believer, your endurance and perseverance in your walk with God can only come by your depth of knowledge and understanding of His ways – knowing who He is, what He stands for, what He hates, what He loves, and how He operates. This clear knowledge of His personality enables you to clear the fog off your eyes from any wrong perception about His person. I know some people who fell out of the way just by a slight trial of life. Unfortunately, many of such people have made God their enemy. Simply because certain things did not work out as expected, they blame God as the cause. Remember, our God is loving, tenderhearted, caring, and kind. He cannot tempt you with evil, and neither does He tempt any man (James 1:13). He is never the cause of our problems as some thinks. He is the one who tries every possible means to save you from your problems. The real enemy of your destiny is the devil. He hates you with passion!

The bible declares in John 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Why? It is in knowing God and His son Jesus Christ, that you can truly live and lead a successful life. Apostle Paul said, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10). Listen, what distinguished Moses from the rest of Israelites was his knowledge of God. Psalm 103:7 says, “He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel.” There are certain things others don’t know but you know when God makes His ways known to you. Unfortunately, God cannot make His ways known to you when you do not thirst after Him. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are they that thirst and long after righteousness for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). What is righteousness? It is having right standing with God. This occurs when you constantly desire to fellowship with God, walking intimately with Him, and learning His ways like Moses did.

Many years ago, when I was learning to drive a car using the manual gear system, I remember starting out with gear one, then I move a while and change to gear two, and to gear three, and to gear four, and finally to gear five depending on my speed or traffic on the road. Really, you don’t start out with gear one and quickly change to gear four. If you do so, the car will stall and malfunction. The general rule is to understand the law of “gradual process”. Likewise, walking with God requires a process. You do not start with God from gear three. No! You have to start from the basics, and learn through the ranks. Jesus said in Matthew 11:29, “Learn of Me”. Therefore, as the year draws to a close, seek to know God, learn of Him, and walk closely with Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. Do not carry-over your mistakes, failures, disappointment, and setbacks of 2017 into the year 2018. You must desire to cross-over to take-over in the New Year. Have a fantastic week. With love, Elvis!

Thanksgiving

Psalm 100:4 (NKJV) 
Enter His gates with thanksgiving, 
And into His courts with praise. 
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Thanksgiving according to the dictionary.com is expression of gratitude especially to God and the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, especially to God.

Most times it is difficult to give thanks to God when we are overwhelmed by unfavorable situations, however it is important that we look beyond our circumstances and thank God for who He is, He daily loads us with benefits and His word is true, so for each day if we would look closely we will see the benefits for the day irrespective of whatever the situation is.

When Jesus went to Lazarus tomb, He lifted His eyes and said, He looked up beyond what the situation was at that time and gave thanks. 
John 11:41 (NKJV) Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 

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Thanksgiving or gratitude to God shows that we have complete trust in Him and we appreciate who He is. It is the will of God that we give thanks. 
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV) in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We see ten lepers who were healed and only one returned to give thanks.

We must ensure that we give thanks to God daily for His benefits, there is always something to appreciate God for. We cannot operate in an attitude of gratitude and complaining at the same time, they are mutually exclusive.

Philippians 4:6 (NKJV) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God 

Even when we pray and ask God for things, we thank Him in faith knowing that He has answered, He already knows what we need before we ask and He is able to do exceedingly above all that we could ever ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father I thank you for loving me, thank you for sending Jesus to die for me, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, thank you for the outworking of your purpose in my life. Thank you for who you are. Help to always remember to appreciate you in every season of my life, to look beyond what I face and be grateful at all times. In Jesus Name. Amen

Renewed Strength

Isa 40:28-31 (NKJV)

28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the LORD,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the LORD
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

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The Lord gives power to the weak, sometimes in our walk with the Lord we become weary, like Jesus said in this world we would have tribulations but be of good cheer.
He will never leave us nor forsake us. He strengthens us when we become weary in this journey of faith, we must learn to exchange our weakness for His strength, Apostle Paul said that when I am weak, then I am strong, (2 Cor 12:10) for His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

God gives us emotional strength, physical strength, mental strength and spiritual strength, it is His plan to make us whole, even though sometimes we get sick, yet His promises never fail. We must receive that which has been made available to us through the blood of Jesus Christ. For by His stripes we were healed.
Meditating on God’s word and remaining focused despite the challenges and distractions we face, produces strength. 

Prayer
Lord help me to remember that you are always here with me, though I may be weak, you are my strength, help me to draw strength from you always, to run this race set before me. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Increase in Love

Few days ago, during my devotion time with the Lord I read in 1 Thessalonians 4:10b But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; in it I saw that the Lord wants us to continue to increase so I thought about Joseph, from being sold into slavery down to Potiphar’s’ house to prison. During that period of his life, it didn’t look like he was increasing - from Potiphar’s house straight to prison, in the natural it was obvious he was going down. However, the Holy Spirit told me that Joseph was increasing on the inside in terms of character development and as far as heaven was concerned it was important for Joseph to go through that season. In God’s eyes he was increasing.

 

Photo credit: kerrypostel.com

In Thessalonians, again chapter 3:15, we see Paul praying for the believers for increase more and more in their love for one another.

In Philippians 1:9: And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment

Meaning there is capacity to increase our love for one another.

Prayer

Lord I pray that my love for you and people will increase more and more. In Jesus Name. Amen.

All things Work Together…

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (NKJV)

One of my goals in life is to become like Jesus. So yesterday after closing from work, I got to the car park and was ready to zoom off. I had earlier asked for my car to be washed, I gave the washerman N1000 note and he went to get the balance. I waited and waited and was already getting impatient, I couldn’t find him anywhere, traffic was already building up and I needed the balance to complete the amount to fill up my tank at a nearby petrol station. My fuel indicator had given me warning signs in the morning, so I needed to top up to make the ~16km journey home.

Feeling frustrated I decided to go wait for the washerman in my car and there he was standing by the car, he said he had been waiting for me there for over five minutes. Well I collected the balance and drove out of the car park to the petrol station. On getting there, there was a queue and only one service point was functional. I was already agitated, I just wanted to get home on time. Why today of all days that I planned to get home on time? For those of us who live in Lagos, every minute counts when it comes to beating the traffic.

As I waited for my turn, a few other drivers decided to shunt the queue by reversing their cars and queuing up at the other side of the fuel pump, two motorcycles also got ahead of me. At some point I just felt I needed to calm down and wait quietly until it gets to my turn.

When it got to my turn and I asked the attendant why they had just one fuel pump working and he said they were almost out of fuel and what they have left can only be dispensed from that pump. On my way I began to thank God I was able to get fuel before beginning the journey home, how would I have coped without fuel in my tank from “Island to Mainland”.

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At night the Holy Spirit replayed the events of that evening to me and I saw my reactions/response to slight delays. I felt bad that I had not reflected His character. The fruit of the spirit is peace, peace that passes all understanding that does not depend on the circumstances around us. Nevertheless, I thank God He allowed the situation to show me areas of my life that needed to be worked on. All things work together for good, the journey of becoming more like Him continues…