Be transformed and not conformed.

 Romans 12:1-2- Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Two key words to pay attention to in the scripture above are conformed and transformed. Lets start with conformed. It means to fall in or go along with something. It means to copy something. Now what we must understand as believers is that there is a spirit of conformation operating in the world today. It makes people to lose their originality and become things that they aren't. Sadly, so many people are in this category even some who claim to be Christians. The Spirit of confirmation works through three other spirits. They include;

1. The spirit of Satan.
2. The spirit of Sin.
3. The spirit of Self.

These spirits in turn work in the following conditions;

1) When there is an absence of God's transformation and no agent of God in a mans life, it creates a void and makes people think that they have no need for God based on their earthly possessions. We must not be empty. We must be filled. We must get closer to God. There is a space in our lives that only God can fill and we will never be fully satisfied in this life if we don't get Him.

2) Beware of fake and false religious terms.
So many people today twist the part of the scripture to suit their own selfish desires but we must know that every wrong approach will lead to reproach. We need to study the bible so that we can know the truth because only when we know the truth can we be set free.

3) Unteachable Spirit.
Give correction to the wise men and he will love you more. Dont make yourself available by being unteachable. Children of God must be teachable and must possess a sheep like heart.When we aren't open to correction then the enemy creeps in and takes advantage of that to destroy a man. we must be teachable.

4) Danger of negative influences.
This can come as a result of evil and wrong communication. The bible says in the book of 1st Corinthians 15:33 that we should not be deceived because evil communication corrupts good manners. We shouldnt be having wrong companions in our lives.

These are the different conditions that the enemy works with. We must do our best and make up our minds not to let any of these states come about in our lives.


The second key word is transform and it means the internal renewal of our internal being which would affect our outward person. God's word describes us as little children who need to grow and mature until our character and conduct project the very image of Christ. God wants us to have the nature of Christ and for that to happen, transformation must happen. This event can only happen if we surrender ourselves to him completely and totally. So how does He do this?

1) By The Mighty Blood of Jesus.
The blood of Jesus washes away every sin and spot of the world.

2) By God's Word.
The Word of God is powerful. It is alive and it has the ability and capacity to change a person's life or situation. God uses His word and that is why we must feed on The Word. 

3) By The leading of His spirit.
The Spirit of God helps;
to correct us
to chastise us.
to bring us back to his own path.
to lead us in right direction

4) Through His faithful ministers.
God uses his prophet to interpret His Word, mind and heart to us. We must pay attention to our leaders in the body of Christ. We must honor them and not disregard the instructions God gives us through them.

5) Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to transform us.
We are The body of Christ. We are to stand for one another and help each other. In Christ, no one is an island and so God uses us to help others stand and vice versa. This is one of the reasons why we must be careful who we keep as companions. We must make sure our close friends are those who can stand with us and help us in our race.

6) Through some circumstances and events that we may not yet understand.
there are certain events that God permits to happen to help transform us in to His own image. We cant explain it with our own human wisdom and understanding. His ways are not ours. they are as the heavens are higher than the earth.


These are the methods God uses. I call them the agents of transformation. The Church is the only agent of transformation for the world. She is like a big ship floating on water but once water enters the ship, it sinks. The only thing that can drag us down is the world. We must resist it and hold on to God dearly. We must not let the spirit of this world to destroy to our gaining of the glorious pleasures that God has prepared for us. We must be careful. Do not compromise at all. All our ambitions and desires must be tailored according to The Word of God.

NO MORE VEIL.

BIBLE VERSES.
Hebrews 10:19-20.
Genesis 24:65.
Exodus 26:31.
Exodus 36:35.
2nd Corinthians 3:13.
Hebrews 6:19.
Zechariah 2:4.
Matthew 27:51.
Ephesians 2:11-19.


 When we think of veils, we are reminded of weddings when the bride comes in to be joined to her husband int the presence of God and man but in the days of Jesus Christ this was not just what the veil stood for.
A veil in the temple was a symbol of separation between God and man. It was used to demarcate the Holy of Holies from the main part of the temple. No one else was allowed to go into that part of the sanctuary apart from the High priest and attached to his gown would be a long string of bells that made a lot of noise whenever he moved. The essence of this was so that the people outside would know if the priest was still alive or dead. It wasn't any news then that sometimes because the priest was unclean he would be struck dead by God and they would have to use the string to drag him out. This would be the practice until Jesus would come to set us free.
Now let us look at some of the serious implications of the veil in the temple.

1. It was a symbol of separation and limitation as it prevented people from getting access to God.

2. It was a symbol of discrimination. Women and children weren't allowed.

3. It is an instrument of concealing the truth as it stops one from seeing what is on the other side. Jacob could not see that the woman that was presented to him was Leah.  

4. It is a symbol of separation. It separates people from one level of the access to God and to the other. It is a symbol of discovery and scattering.

5. Falsehood and hypocrisy.

It gives a false impression. The Pharisees and Sadducees were hypocrites.

6. A symbol of fake, duplicate and copy. 

It is a denial of the original.

7. A symbol of life, deception and manipulation.

Now when The Savior came into the world, He not only came to set us free but also to reconcile us back to God our father. Entrance and admission into God's presence was through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and these events brought solution to the issue of the veil separating us from God. Matthew 27:51 says "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split" Beloved at that moment our fate in Christ was sealed. There was no more separation between God and us. The veil was torn into two and we now had unlimited access to God. As long as Christ remains in our lives then we wont have any problems stepping into the threshold of God but if he isnt in the picture then how can we freely relate with The Creator in the right way as we ought to? We cant! It would be impossible. 

It is time for us as Christians to come to fully comprehend what this event truly means. We must make sure we are no longer on the other side. We must understand that not only are we reconciled back to God but also to man as well. Our relationships with one another can now have better meaning and purpose because of what Christ did.  Oh Beloved, what a Marvelous God we serve. All praise and adoration be unto him now and forever more.





 

God's prophetic word for the year 2016: 6, The Symbol of Labour and Toiling.

The Word of God tells us that sin came in to the world through one man; Adam was his name. This was in Genesis chapter 3 and  as a result thorns and thistles replaced the initial blessings God had for us but Jesus Christ came to save us so that through himself we might receive the gift of eternal life. As a result of what He did on The Cross for us, we are redeemed from that curse. We have been reconciled back to God our Father and all the blessings he has for us.We no longer have to labor in vain yielding thorns and thistles.

In John 19, when they crucified our Lord, a crown of thorn and thistles was placed on his head. Does this ring an alarm in our hearts? Do we recall that thorns and thistles were the things that Adam had received as a form of punishment for sin? This is no mere coincidence beloved. Nothing is coincidence with God.

So how can we go back to the original labor that God intended for us from the beginning? There are three things that God wants us to do this new year 2016 which will bring us back into His original plan. it is a year of fruitful labor in Christ.

1. Labor of Love. (Hebrews 6:10)

God wants us to labor in love this year. We must never forget that Our Father is not unjust as to forget our labor of Love that we do in taking care of the saints. He will reward each and every soul for their deeds and so we must strive to work in love this year. Its important. Whatever you are doing let the love of Christ be the motivation.


2. Labor for that which will not perish. (John 6:27)

 Beloved, there are so many people on the earth who are toiling so hard and yet are doing so in vain, Jesus Christ said that we must not labor for that which will perish but for that which will endure till eternity. All the fame and success that many are running after in this present time wont last. It will all fade away eventually. we must not waste time laying up riches and treasure for ourselves here on the earth where moth and worms will eat them up later. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ.


3.  Co-laboring with Christ. (2nd Corinthians 6:1) (1st Corinthians 3:1).

 This year 2016, it is time for us to become co laborers with Christ in working with Him to achieve all that he intends for us to fulfill. the days of doing things on our own are over brethren. in evangelizing souls for the kingdom of God, we must work with The Master.

These are the three things that we must enter into This new year. We must no longer labor in vain or make futile measures any longer. The initial plan God had for us was that we should have dominion and be fruitful. he wanted us to multiply and increase but because of Sin which came in through Adam all that changed but Jesus Christ Our hope of Glory came to set things right. In him we are free from the curse and we are now heirs of an inheritance so great that it transcends human comprehension. What a mighty and great God we serve!