Monday 10 March 2014

Getting rid of pests in a new house


I woke up this morning with the words; pests, termites, new house on my mind and I remembered immediately, the lessons I learnt from the book #EnemyAccessDenied by @JohnBevere.

In the book John Bevere gave an analogy of a new house; every where is clean but there were some cracks hidden behind the painted walls which contained termites; if the house was not fumigated before the owners move it, the termites would continue to eat at the walls of the house, creating cracks and before they know it the whole house would be infested.

When I read the book, the analogy had stayed with me ever since. When you become born again, you are a new creature - like the new house. However, there might be some spiritual strongholds that you need to deal with so that it does not open the door of sins/stagnation/bondage into your lives again.

Many born again Christians struggle with sin, some are still in bondage in one area of their lives or the other, be it lust, anger, pride, fear whatever. Some might be like me, with a tangled life borne out of being a descendant of an 'Ifa' (Yoruba spiritual divinity) man and growing up in an environment that was not completely dedicated to the One and Only God, Jehovah.

When I re-dedicated my life to Jesus, I had to 'fumigate' my body and soul with what you would call deliverance prayer. Although I was born again and I know the power in the blood of Jesus but I needed to destroy and halt all the 'spiritual' acts and deposits in my body and life as a result of the generational idolatry worship and acts.

Like with fumigating a house, you need special fumigants and experts to carry out the process; if not you will use the wrong pesticides and it would not work; if an untrained person does it, he/she might end up risking his/her health.

The process also uses specific prayers with authority. Every time Jesus cast out demonic spirits He rebukes and commands them to get out! 'Be quiet! Come out of the man.' Mark 1:25

This is a process that must be done by a spiritually matured person, one who is spiritually fortified with prayers and fasting; 'However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting' Mathew 17:21. I was not yet spiritually matured to do it myself or it would have been a case of the seven sons of Sceva '' Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?'' Acts 19:15.

Whether you believe in deliverance prayers or not, I learnt an important lesson in the analogy. I was blessed by having Spiritually matured Christian in my life when I gave my life once again to Jesus. They were able to immediately diagnosed the first thing that needed to happen for me to become a new creature in Christ and get my tangled life untangled (I will share some of my testimonies in future blogs). If I had not done it, I would have been too spiritually immature to target my prayers at the root of my problems... and they would have continued to be problems that prevents the blessings of the LORD to manifest in my life.  I would have been focusing on the consequences not the root causes.

How about you? Are you living a quality life or you are not seeing progress in your life even as a child of God? You need to look into your family root/history and get a spiritually matured christian to pray the deliverance prayer with you. In the mighty name of Jesus, the name that is above ll names, every knee shall bow, every demonic spirit operating in your life SHALL GET OUT never to return in Jesus name.

If this article has blessed you, do share with someone and give God all the praise. I would also love to hear from you, share your testimony with me adeola@we-can-leadershipinstitute.com and we'll praise God Almighty together.


SHALOM
Adeola Akintoye




















Monday 3 March 2014

Why is obedience so difficult?


I continue my spiritual journey with the study of the story of the Israelites as detailed in the Old Testament. Every time I read their story I'm always stunned by the consistent cycle of disobedience – punishment – repentance – forgetfulness – disobedience and the cycle continues.

These were people that had real life experience of the love of God, yet it takes very little for them to forget. Whenever they become comfortable, they turn their heart from God. As I read the books of the Prophets, I could hear the pain in God’s heart. He only asked for their obedience – “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice and I will be your God and you shall be My people….. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts..” ( Jeremiah 7:23,24).

Why am I so different from the Israelites of yester-years? I know that Jesus is alive and his blood continually cleanse me; yet, every time I incline my heart to the dictates of self centred ungodly desires, aren’t I bringing the same pain that the Israelites caused God? Especially, as He has sacrificed His precious Son to make me clean in His sight.

One of the things that made me stay away from God for so long was the incorrect assumption that it would be too much sacrifice. What crap! The expectations as I understand it in my journey, is to worship only God Almighty and do what is right & just to other people. Jesus said it all.. ‘Love God with all your heart… and love your neighbour as yourself,’ (Mathew 22:37-39) Simple commandment or is it?

Why is it so difficult to obey God’s simple instruction I wonder? I can’t imagine why the Israelites would turn time and time again to the worship of idols. Why would I abandon the Living God and turn to man-made stones/wood/crafts? Is it because man has to ‘see’ before they can believe?

I know we have expanded the definition of idol to include anything (image, material things, thoughts etc) that takes your love/time/focus away from God. I need the Holy Spirit to help me to keep my focus on God all the time; He must be my number one priority in all areas of my life. I must ensure I check my words, behaviour, attitude, thought process against His commandments, and learn lessons from the story of the Israelites’ relationship with God.

Loving people takes a conscious determination and effort. It is easier to love people we know and who are ‘good’ than strangers and difficult people or those we don’t get along with. I am challenged with this daily, so I need even more abundant grace. A lesson I have learnt along the way is to treat people the way I want to be treated; fairly, justly and with kindness – isn't this what love is about?

What about you? Is obedience to God a priority in your life? Or are you like the Old Testament Israelites – going back and forth in your relationship with God? Let's not be as God said, like  'this evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts...' (Jeremiah 13:10)
 
Shalom
Adeola Akintoye.
PS: If this article has encouraged you, do share with someone else to encourage them.