Directions Are Guaranteed

We are introduced to Elijah who told King Ahab;

1 Kings 17:1 (NKJV)

…As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”

Emphasis Mine

1 Kings 17:2 (NKJV)

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

Emphasis Mine

1 Kings 17:8 (NKJV)

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

Emphasis Mine

On 3 different occasions, the word of the Lord is mentioned and in every season, the purpose of the word that came was specific

In the first verse, the word of God spoken was a declaration over a situation. In verse 2 and 8, the word of the Lord that came were specific instructions for Elijah. In all 3 verses, the word of God changed the direction of activities for the season. Amen!

Elijah declared that there will be no rain as surely as God lives after which the Lord instructed Elijah on where to go right after the drought was declared. Then, when the brook dried up, the word of the Lord came to Elijah again instructing him to go the village of Zarephath.

As we read this chapter, many things come to light;

1)     Selflessness – Elijah comes across as someone who understands that His life is not his own. Meaning, his very existence was for God. Elijah was so dependent on God to a place where he only moved from one point to the other based on the word. Unless we develop a selfless attitude, it will be impossible to abandon the direction of our lives to God. Amen!

2)     Focus – It takes a certain level of spiritual attentiveness and alertness to hear the voice of the Father. We can agree that Elijah remained focused evidenced by his attentiveness and alertness to spiritual matters. When God spoke, he heard and acted immediately. Also, at no point was Elijah confused neither is it recorded that he panicked because of the unfavorable conditions surrounding him at the time. Therefore, his obedience to God was not dependent how favorable or not the conditions were, around him.

3)     Trust - His trust in God was expressed through his obedience to God’s word/ and instruction for the season. In verse 5, the Bible says “So Elijah did as the Lord told him…”,  In verse 10, after the instruction from God to Elijah, the Bible records “So he went to Zarephath…”. Amen! So he trusted God consistently.

It is best for you to allow the seasons of your life to be determined by God’s word. That is the lifestyle of the Godly. Let go of control over your life. Surrender your entire being to his leadership and direction and you would not regret it.

When God's Word Determines The Seasons Of Your Life - Introduction

The Word of God will help you navigate God’s kingdom with ease.  It is vital to our walk with Him that we make Him and His word the center and the very reason why we live the life He has given us.

Job 12:10 (NIV)

 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

1 Kings 17 introduces us to a character by name Elijah. Elijah was a prophet, as we read this chapter, our emphasis is on the truth that the word of God determines the seasons of our lives. Meaning, it determines the beginning and the end of each season or phase of your life; it determines the activities that happen within that window when the change occurred; it will sustain you for as long as the season last. Amen!

It is very detrimental and will be a disfavor to your spiritual and physical well-being to navigate through life without the Word. It is risky to live a spiritually dull life such that you are unable to recognize the current season of your life and the things the Lord is doing or instructing you to do.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)

 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

Two things for us to pay attention to in this verse; time and season. It is important to get both the time and the season correct. You might get the season right but the timing wrong. So it is imperative to remain vigilant enough to know when the seasons change without which, even with good intentions and actions, you just may be doing the right thing in a wrong season. Amen!

I will use this opportunity to expose you to the fact that even a well-meaning person can miss the timing and season. It took the spoken Word of God to David in order for him to know that it was not his duty to build the house of God, but rather, the responsibility of his son, Solomon according to God’s instruction.

1 Chronicles 28:6 (KJV)

And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.

Emphasis Mine

Later on, Solomon confirmed what David said in the following scriptures;

1 Kings 8:17-18 (NLT)

Then Solomon said, “My father, David, wanted to build this Temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.  But the Lord told him, ‘You wanted to build the Temple to honor my name. Your intention is good, but you are not the one to do it. One of your own sons will build the Temple to honor me.’

As we can see, when it comes to times and seasons, it does not matter how well-meaning you are. When you miss the season and the time, the impact of the activities you perform at that time may not serve a relevant purpose before God and man.

So, together, let’s learn from the man of God Elijah, how imperative it is to allow the Word of God to determine the seasons of our lives. Amen!

Prayers For You

Father, we have been privileged to understand your system; the kingdom of God. In the times and seasons in which we are now, you are providing opportunities to your children to get closer to you and know you for who you really are to us. We say thank you for teaching us the many steps to take into living godly lives. We have come to an understanding that in order to live godly, it requires some purposeful actions on our part.

Father, this season, we have been enlightened about the significance of living purpose-driven lives, we have been reminded that our actions should be in line with what the Father approves and that will not only stay at a place godliness but we will increase in godliness.

Father, thank you for teaching us to be children who learn and come to a knowledge of the truth.

As we continue to grow, we will keep the faith, we’ll purposefully become vessels of honor. We will add value to others. We will develop a personal relationship with you to a place whereby we will have personal encounters and testimonies of our relationship with you.

Father, our desire is to pursue undivided fellowship with you and fellow brethren. We began this journey from salvation with the spirit and we will continue in the spirit. We choose to persist in prayers and the word and develop an uncommon desire to grow in the fruit and gifts of the spirit.

Father, thank you for the gift of life, for the privilege to be alive. For as long as we live we will use our lives to be blessings to the people around us, for your glory Father. Thank you.

Develop An Uncommon Desire To Grow In The Fruit And Gifts Of The Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such, there is no law.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NKJV)

 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

So much needs to be said here about the fruit of the spirit and the gifts of the spirit which cannot be covered within 5minutes. However, I will say this, develop an uncommon desire to grow in the fruit and the gifts of the spirit. We had established that the godly lifestyle is the spirit led lifestyle. The spirit has so much to offer; in this case fruit and gifts. Set some time aside and begin studying on the fruit and the gifts of the spirit. There are 9 fruit and 9 gifts of the spirit. It is worth mentioning that Galatians 5:22 mentions “the fruit” of the spirit not “fruits”. Meaning with the spirit of God within you, you cannot have one fruit apart from the other. You might be more generous with some over others. All you need to do is continually work on them in order to get to a place of maturity. Amen.

For the gifts of the spirit, do not be ignorant about their existence. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12: 1 says this “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:” They are available for you. Note that it says gifts – so there is nothing you can do to get them but to live godly and earnestly develop an uncommon desire to receive them. Know about them in detail, desire to get them and the Father will honor your requests. Amen.

Your growth in the fruit of the spirit will benefit you. The gifts of the spirit given to you will benefit the body of Christ.  The fruit of the spirit, the gift of the spirit and the power of the spirit within you will together produce the anointing. Amen.

Persist In Prayers And The Word

Luke 18:1 (NKJV)

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart

Emphasis Mine

In this verse, Jesus was talking to His disciples. Encouraging them to always pray. “Always” here will mean to be consistent and persistent. Meaning to always pray even when there is no tangible evidence of the results you expect and to pray even when it is uncomfortable.

Why should we be consistent and persistent in prayers? We should because we trust His character as a never changing Father and we have chosen to live in obedience to His instruction given in Luke 18:1. The bible also records in John 17, Jesus’ prayer to the Father.

Prayers keep us in perpetual fellowship with the Father. It is a two-way communication with our Daddy.  Through prayers, we receive instructions and directions for the next assignment for our lives. One who chooses to live godly must settle it within them that godliness will require total surrender and complete dependence on God Himself on how to navigate through life.

The Word of God provides the language we use in communication with the Father. When we pray, we get into agreement with the Father concerning His word. For example, the word of God tells us that in everything, we should give thanks. So, when we give thanks (or say thank you, Father, in our prayers), we are agreeing with Him according to His word. Amen.

It can be quite challenging to be consistent and persistent in prayers without knowledge of God’s Word. Through the word, we have access to the knowledge of His promises, we receive encouragements through some of the characters in scriptures and more.

Do not relent; Persist in prayers and the word.  because these are the two most important aspects guaranteed to equip you to live a godly life. Amen.

Continue In The Spirit

A decision to live godly is a decision to live a Spirit-led life. Meaning, as a believer, the Holy Spirit now dwells in you. We are told in John 4:24 that God is Spirit, so, it, therefore, His offspring are spirit beings as well. As an unbeliever, the Holy Spirit convicted you of sin and as a result, you received the message of your salvation and became born again.

Our emphasis is this, you began in the Spirit, so continue in the Spirit. Paul, writing to the Galatians said this,

Galatians 3:2-4 (NIV)

Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.  How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

Always remember to tell yourself this truth “I began in the spirit; I will continue in the spirit”.

As already established, a godly life is a Spirit-led life, and your success in this new lifestyle of godliness is only guaranteed when you live as led by the Holy Spirit within you. Otherwise, you will wound up living in condemnation, depending on human effort to make changes in your life and more.

It is only by continuing in the Spirit that you can be guaranteed to enjoy blessings from the spirit such as the fruit of the spirit, the gifts of the spirit and more.

So, I encourage you to let go of human efforts, let go of the law, rather, continue in the spirit. Amen

Pursue Undivided Fellowship

As one who has decided to live godly, fellowship with the brethren is non-negotiable. In fellowship, we build healthy relationships and also learn how to reach out to others just like Jesus did. In fellowship, we learn from each other and grow spiritually to a place of maturity. When we fellowship, we are living in obedience to the word. Hebrews 10:25a encourages us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

In Galatians 2:12-13, a situation arose whereby Paul had to confront Peter because of what I will call a fellowship misconduct.

Galatians 2:12-13 (NLT)

When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision.  As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

A little background on this story. In their days, Jews were circumcised and Gentiles were uncircumcised. In order for the Gentiles to fellowship with the Jews, they had to go through circumcision; all these were according to the law. Peter was an apostle to the Jews and Paul an apostle to the Gentiles (Galatians 2:8).

Peter (an apostle to the Jew) ate with (fellowshipped with) Gentile Christians (Christians because they are not under the law) but when Peter’s friends came, Peter stopped eating with the Gentile Christians because he was afraid of being criticized by people who believed in circumcision. So, as a result, Peter’s hypocritical action led others astray. Amen.

Our point of emphasis is this, pursue undivided fellowship. Fellowship with purpose and when you do, it will guide you and prevent division. When you fellowship with the brethren, encourage one another. When you find yourself in the midst of unbelievers, bring the message of salvation to them and anything else the Holy Spirit leads you to do. Be careful not to avoid unbelievers without giving them a chance to hear the message you have to bring. Do not be an eye-servant, if you do, you will lead many astray just like Peter did in this situation. Amen.