#WordforToday 12 April 2018 A journey to spiritual maturity

https://leolearning.com/2015/07/consider-entire-learning-journey/

1. Understand, acknowledge and accept your new identity in Christ.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; (2 Cor 5:17). Many people are unaware of the divine power they carry. Many cannot comprehend it. Many find it difficult to accept it. What you can’t see, touch, smell or taste is difficult to accept. It's only when some people feel the physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit that they can accept that God is.

2. Transform your mind; your thoughts, beliefs, mind-set  (Romans 12:2). And bring every thought under the obedience of Jesus Christ. Develop the skill (or habit) -  whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things (Philippians 4:8 NIV). The mind is devil’s gateway to your soul. If he can get you to believe the lies, see yourself with human eyes not God-eyes, operate with your five senses rather than with the Holy Spirit; then you are letting him win over your life.

3. Walk in the Holy Spirit and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. This will take you out of your comfort zone. It will make you operate at the level of supernatural not natural. You will start seeing Kingdom pattern nor world ways. You will be rebuked, mocked, called over-spiritual and many more.

4. Ready to die for the gospel of Jesus. Now this is the ultimate. Many have fallen off the wagon because of fear. This is the litmus test of your discipleship

#PrayerforToday 12 April 2018

Help oh Lord to grow into spiritual maturity. Let me move from the milk of your word to solid food. Help me to seek Your Kingdom first and its righteousness.

It is the will of the everlasting Father that you may have everlasting life through Jesus. See Him in the Holy Scriptures, believe in Him and He will raise you up on the last day ‭‭John‬ ‭6:40‬ ‭NKJV

I pray this inspires you to be more and do more for Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus Christ).

#AdeolaAkintoye ©

#WordforToday 11 April 2018 The high and mighty

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” Luke‬ ‭18:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

It is amazing how the teachings of Christ is contrary to the world. What the world expects is completely opposite what Jesus says is the Kingdom culture.

Humankind glory in the accumulation of material things, the accreditation in scholarly achievements, the demonstration of power - position, wealth. Even in the Christendom, titles (Apostle, Pastor, Prophet, Bishop etc.) are sources of exaltation than the gospel of Jesus.

The Pharisee was a keeper of the law to the mi-nute detail. As a Christian, it is thus easy to become enthralled with our religiosity and fool ourselves with self-justification. Who are you trying to impress with self-exaltation? Let your works speak for itself and let your words glorify God.

No matter how many boxes you tick right; or how God is using. you, remember God resists the proud and give grace to the humble.

Be mindful and alert to the Holy Spirit in you. Stop exalting yourself and lift up Jesus. Walk in the #HolySpirit and stop being led by your five senses.

#PrayerforToday 11 April 2018

Almighty Father, in the name of my Lord Jesus, I reject every spirit of self-justification. I will not glory in earthly things but will be mindful of heavenly things. Help me to remain humble because You resist the proud and give grace to the humble. Give me the grace to be a carrier of Kingdom Culture in every area of my life. Amen

It is the will of the everlasting Father that you may have everlasting life through Jesus. See Him in the Holy Scriptures, believe in Him and He will raise you up on the last day ‭‭John‬ ‭6:40‬ ‭NKJV

I pray this inspires you to be more and do more for Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus Christ).

#AdeolaAkintoye ©

The power of the spoken word

"Let there be Light" and there was light. Yes, those words might have been spoken by the Almighty Himself, nevertheless there is power in the spoken word. 

There are so many promises of Yahweh to His children.

"As you have said in my ears so shall I do"; "Whatever you ask in my name, my father will do"; "Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven." And so many more. Read the bible and discover them for yourself.

Of course there are conditions or your words would just be empty without the creative life to bring it to pass. For the people that abide by these conditions, we read great and mighty things that they accomplished just by speaking the word - Moses with signs and wonders. Joshua commanded the sun and moon by his words and they stood still. Elijah caused a climatic famine for two years by his words and many more including Jesus and the Apostles. And in our lifetime men and women of faith performing healing miracles by the spoken word.

I know many of us desire to speak the word and see miracle, signs and wonders. The challenge is meeting the conditions - faith in Yeshua, abiding in the word, prayer and so forth. The most important condition is having the deep, intimate relationship with Yeshua Jesus. A relationship that is so close, whatever you ask for is done because you ask according to the knowledge of His will. 

A relationship that is built on love and obedience. This is not just about going to Church, serving in departments, praying and fasting 24/7. But giving up your life as a living sacrifice - seeking and finding Him, seeking and knowing Him, seeking and obeying Him, seeking and spending quality time with Him in the word and in prayer. Your life is centered on Him. He becomes your lifestyle. His will becomes your life manuscript.

Many desires to have the power of the spoken word become reality in their lives but unfortunately they are not willing or able to pay the price. Only a few people do pay the price. Many of us settle for the little we try. We prefer to go to the pastor to pray for us when we need it and hope that Elohim will answer the prayer. This is living below our capability in Christ Jesus.

Let us seek Jesus to know Him, obey Him and be a living sacrifice, seeking first the Kingdom and its righteousness. Every other thing shall be added and whatever we ask in the name of Jesus shall be done.

Pressing On

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me...I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:12, 14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Christ laid hold of salvation for us. The upward call of God is a relationship with Him, restoring that which was lost in the garden of Eden.

You have to press on, growing in maturity, being more and more Christlike to make it to Heaven. The way, the right, the access has already been cleared by the finished work on the Cross of Calvary.

It's an upward call. Looking unto Heaven and things of the Kingdom. Not a world call - looking at the here and now. But an upward call, being mindful of the things of the Spirit and of the Kingdom of God.

 We forget what we have done or attained in the past, but look forward to those things ahead. Our holiness yesterday can not prevent us from falling into error tomorrow. We must not boast of our righteousness of today but press on to that of tomorrow. 

If you did not sin yesterday, glory. Forget yesterday. Focus on not committing sin today. Continue to press forward towards the goal. You can do it through a life sold out to Jesus.








image attribution https://clipartfest.com

#Lifelessons Grow Up!

A matured person knows what to do and is not afraid to take (tough) decisions to get things done. A matured person takes responsibilities for their decisions and actions irrespective of the consequences. Whenever you look for someone else to blame for your mess, you are demonstrating childishness. 

As a child, you get things done for you, decisions made for you - it was someone else's responsibility to feed, clothe and provide for you. Life was all about your own desires. You cry when things didn't go your way. You sulked in self misery. It was all me...me...me...

A child that refuses to grow becomes stunted - mentally, physically and emotionally, an abnormality. There is a saying that a fool at 40 will be a fool forever. 

How long have you been a Christian? How has your life been transformed by the word of God? Seek to increase in wisdom, knowledge and understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Grow up!

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭13:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Pruning for growth

I live in an area that has many trees. One day on my way from work, I noticed a row of trees have had all the branches chopped off! 'Why did they do that?' I asked myself. A few months later, I was intrigued to see leaves had started sprouting from the cut off branches. It did not need the branch to grow longer because it was still connected to the trunk which was still connected with the root that fed it.

Sometimes in life we go through a period when it seems we've been stripped of nearly everything if not all. We go through challenges that leaves us feeling vulnerable; maybe our job is gone, no income is coming in, our spouse have left us, we feel all alone and we are wondering why LORD?

Like those trees near my home, maybe we are going through our season of pruning. Maybe there are some dead leaves and branches that needs to be cut out of our trunk so that our lives can become even more fruitful and productive.

The trees were still able to produce green leaves because they were still connected to their root that gives them their nutrient for living. Just remain grounded in Jesus, the season shall pass and you will be even more fruitful.

As a man thinks in his heart…

‘...There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.’ (Numbers 13:33 NKJV)

I had been so fascinated by the incidence that finally broke the Carmel’s back (so to speak) in the wilderness of Paran (Numbers 13). I had read this story so many time in my life but it was now making some profound impact in my spiritual journey.

As a man thinks in his heart so he shall be. The Israelite elders believed they were grasshoppers in their own sight, and also felt their enemies sees them as such... so they became paralysed with fear. I couldn't just imagine why this people would see themselves like that when they had God fighting and protecting them. They were full of murmuring and complaint all the time! As I studied the Israelites’ wilderness journey, I saw them as spoilt pertinent children who would never be satisfied no matter what God did for them. It’s all about me…me…me.

Just to read how God provided and protected them showed the depth of His love for them. Despite the challenges they might have been facing; harsh terrain, no water, no meat, enemies to fight, yet they only needed to ask God (respectfully not with complaints and murmuring) and He would grant them their wishes but no they complained like little children (God still granted them their wish... but oh boy were they punished as well).

To give them a little credit, some of their complaints were from the strangers in their midst '.....Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat’’’? (Numbers 11:4 NKJV). This brings to mind the statement...'Do not be unequally yoked to unbelievers.' However, they still had the choice not to complain.

They did not see themselves as God saw them – His beloved children, whom He loved very much and whom He would care for and protect. They still saw themselves as slaves under the yoke of the Egyptian masters. And because of this it was difficult for them to really comprehend the miraculous work that God had been doing in their midst.

Father, I am thankful for everything you have done for me and are still doing for me. With a grateful heart, I bring my desires to you without murmuring and complaint like a spoilt ungrateful child. Help me to see myself as you see me and not as I see myself.

How about you? Do you see yourself as the loving child of the Almighty God, made righteous by the blood of Jesus? Or are you still pulling yourself down and back with limiting thoughts and mind-set?

Prayer: Father I believe I am loved by You. I believe You are my banner, my Shield, my Strength and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In the Mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Shalom

Holding God in contempt?

"...Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” (Numbers 14:9 NKJV)

When I read this bible passage I was floored. This statement was made by Joshua when he and the eleven chosen men went to spy the land of Canaan. Despite the giants in the land, the fortress of the city and the fear inspired report of the other ten men, he and Caleb were confident in the ability of God to help them. What faith!

As I progressed in my bible study goal this year, my spiritual eyes continued to be opened to awesome revelation of the depth of love God had for the people of Israel. As I follow their exodus from Egypt, I still could not comprehend why it was easy for the people to doubt God - He had promised to give them the land 'flowing with milk and honey', they were on the verge of possessing the land but fear and unbelief ensnared them. 

Who cares whether there were giants in the land…after all the miracles, signs and wonder that God wrought for them in the land of Egypt and since their journey started; 

• parting of the Red Sea - 'So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore’(Exodus 14:30 NKJV), 
• meat and bread - “..At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 16:12 NKJV), 
• water from the rock - "...Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink” (Exodus 17:6 NKJV),
• victory over the Amalekites in the wilderness of sin - “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exodus 17:6, 14 NKJV).

The people saw all these with their eyes (as we say in my native language- korokoro eyes), they were not told stories but they were part of the experience, yet they still doubted the awesome power of the Almighty God.

Joshua, the son of Nun had the right attitude... Do not fear he said... this people are our bread. They are nothing....they have no protection.....the LORD is with us.

Having experience God first hand like this, one would expect all of them to have the same confidence like Joshua and Caleb but no- '......the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night.’ (Numbers 14:1 NLT).

What can I learn from this? I got insight from God's response 'And the lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD’s glory, not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it. But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land. (Numbers 14:1, 11, 21-24 NLT).

When we refuse to believe the word of God.. we are holding Him in contempt. Trusting in God is being loyal to Him and this brings His blessing and manifestation of His promises in our lives.

I pray that my challenges would not overwhelm me to the extent that I will treat my God with contempt through lack of trust and unbelief.

How about you? Do you still struggle with trusting God despite the number of times you have experienced His faithfulness in your life?

Prayer: Father, help me to be like Joshua and Caleb when I am faced with challenges that seems impossible. Let me trust in you and remember your help in ages past. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Shalom

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

Selfish Ambition

 Have you ever met someone, and one of the things that crosses your mind immediately is how this person can help you….. contribute to your business…..open doors for you…..

Yup, been there and done that. Many of us have as well and still do. When you meet someone, we think immediately, ‘How can this person be a channel of blessing to me.' The new member that just joins the Church is assessed for financial status;  the person you just met is assessed for what they do, who they know, their financial status – generally what do they have that can be of benefit to me.

It’s all about me – what I can get from this person/relationship. It’s rarely about what I can contribute into this person’s life; how can I be a blessing in their life. Yes, God uses people to bless us but this is not an excuse to deliberately assess people for what and how they can be a blessing to you. That is selfish ambition.

As I continue on the journey into spiritual maturity, I have had to deal aggressively with this attitude in myself. I had to transform my thinking with the help of the Holy Spirit to always think; ‘How can I be a blessing to this person,’ instead of the other way round.

 I use the word ‘aggressively,’ because I have come to understand that as long as we are in this earthly flesh, our sinful nature will continually try ( can only try because it no longer has authority over us) to rear it’s ugly head and you need to eliminate it with aggression. A soft approach would only lead to you giving in.

One of the results of giving in to our sinful nature is selfish ambition; ‘When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear…..selfish ambition’ (Galatians 5:19-20 NLT). And it is certain that, ‘anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.’ (vs. 21)

Apostle Paul was talking to the ‘born again’ Christians in Galatia. Even after being born again it is still possible to miss the Kingdom of God! My friends, all evidence of the sinful nature must be dealt with aggressively.

Thanks be to God that we have the Holy Spirit in us to guide our lives. You still have to make the choice though to, ‘…let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.’ (Galatians 5:16 NLT)

 Are you struggling with your sinful nature, renew your commitment to Jesus today and let the Holy Spirit guide every area of your life. Pray the following prayer and make the bold confession below;

Almighty God, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct my life. Give me the grace to say NO to all sinful desires and YES to the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let the fruit of the Spirit be evidenced in all areas of my life; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self control.

I confess that Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of my sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there (Galatians 5:24); I appropriate my authority in Jesus over all sinful desires in the name of Jesus. Amen

If this article has blessed you, I would love to hear your testimony so that we may together continue to offer praise and thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father. Write me at adeola@we-can-leadershipinstitute.com

SHALOM

Adeola Akintoye

Compromise or uncompromising?

As a young believer, I desperately wanted to grow spiritually. I yearned to know God than only be taught about Him by other people. I did not want to be like a distant cousin of the family, who depended on the sons/daughters of the house (pastors) to know God. Then I remembered that I am also a daughter of the house by adoption through Jesus. So I started on a quest; a journey into spiritual maturity.

Like with any journey you embark on, you meet many challenges on the way; some to stop you, redirect you or push you along your way. One challenge that I had to overcome was the spirit of compromise.

We live in a world where political correctness is the order of day; it is not about godly laws and values but about secularity (state of being separate from religion). How do you as a believer navigate through all these, especially in the market place?

When I started writing on leadership, I felt torn between compromising God centred principles with secularised principles. One of the (christian) leadership guru of our time has churned out leadership books made to suit the world. I have been challenged with not putting 'God' in my leadership writing if I want to attract a lot of people to buy or read the book. I have been tempted with advice and suggestions on how to develop godly leaders without quoting the bible.

In the workplace, fellow believers advice you to keep 'low' about your beliefs. I currently work in an organisation that embraces all faith - there is a dedicated prayer room to use if you so desire-, something for which I am ever so thankful to God for.

On my journey to spiritual maturity, I had to make a choice and I decided that there will be no compromise in whatever work God has put in my hand. I will continue to write on God centred leadership principles, which is targeted at believers to empower us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. I will evaluate my speech and actions against the Word of God not what is trending in the world today. I am either for God or against Him; there is no middle option. Thank God for 'human right'. It is my human right and I am choosing to exercise my faith.

What about you? Have you compromised your faith because of your work? getting that contract? being accepted? making friends? selling more books? speaking at fortune 500 companies? Do you take out the God in the God principles that you teach?

How far are you willing to compromise your faith in Jesus and at what cost? Remember God is not mocked.

I am learning that spiritual maturity comes at a price.