LOVE AS AN INSTRUMENT FOR PROTECTION (ROMANS 12:17-21):

 People of God, one major characteristics of love is that love does not seek revenge. Revenge is the opposite of forgiveness, and when you operate in love, you operate in forgiveness. And when you operate in forgiveness, you don’t think about revenge.

 The bible is saying that revenge belongs to God, but there is a recommendation the bible has made here (Romans 12:17-21) which is a spiritual mystery. The bible is saying instead of revenging, treat those who have offended you with love; forgive them. And because love produces giving as we made to understand in the study of this book; when you are treating in love to somebody who wants you dead or to a person who least deserves your kindness, the bible says it becomes a judgment upon the person. It will be like heaping coals of fire upon the person’s head.

Now, how does that work? It becomes a protection for you. In other words, the revenge that the man or woman deserves because he/she has done evil against you will be execute by Jehovah who says: “vengeance is mine says the Lord”. 

And people of God, you know as well as I do that God’s coals of fire upon a person’s head are not compatible. In other words, the bible is saying: when you return love for hatred; when you return forgive for bitterness, that you pass a judgment of divine revenge upon that man or woman who you are dealing with in that manner. 

In other words, the bible is saying that you should not revenge and instead of revenging, you show kindness to the person that ought to receive revenge from you; the bible is saying that you gradually killing the person. In other words, except the person repents, the person will gradually suffer the judgment of God until the person dies. Because when you heap coals of fire upon a man’s head, except something happens and the coals of fire are removed from the person’s head, otherwise he/she is destined for destruction.

So, this is how love protects you, the power of forgiveness and not seeking revenge, the power of giving even to an “unworthy” person because of the person’s attitude to you, result in the person being handed over into the hands of God for judgment. And so love has a protective power and this protective power from Romans 12 is the product of the combined forces of forgiveness and giving. 

#Copied From The Spiritual Power Of Love (Coming up Soon)

By Pastor Michael Okwundu Onyeka.

Principles for Prospering in the Presence of Enemies

Principle Number Five: Operate By Divine Direction: In Proverbs 3:5 & 6, the bible says: if you must prosper in-spite of enemies or in the presence of your enemies, you must operate on Divine direction; Operating by Divine direction means not taking any major step in your life without clearance from God. 

The reason why that is so is because it’s written in Proverbs 14:12: “that there is a way that seems right unto man, but the end of that way is death”. In other words, it is not just a question of what you want to do (being sound scientifically), it is not a question of what you want to do being logically by man’s standard. It is not a question of what you want to do being sound intellectually. It is not a question of what you want to do; being advised by men who are trained in that area. 

All these are relevant, but the bible said in Isaiah 55, God said “My Ways are not your ways; My Thoughts are not your thoughts. Just as the heavens are high above the earth, so are My Ways and My Thoughts higher than your own”. 

So, when you combine that with Proverbs 14:12, then you will discover that even when it looks intelligent or all right by man’s calculation and reasoning, it could still be a danger. You could still fall into the hands of the enemy over it. And so, the bible expects every Christian to work with the Holy Ghost. 

Jesus said in John 14:26 and John 16:13 that Holy Ghost will do things to the Christian; will remind you of things, show and teach you things to come. Therefore, anyone that wants to survive and succeed in life and ministry must operate by Divine Direction. 

Divine direction helps you avoid the snares and traps of the devil, in our everyday life (roundabout us) are people who are working for Satan. And so, except God opens our eyes and ears to see what we are going into; in many cases, what make look like genuine business opportunity or open doors may turn out to be traps of the enemy, but by operating by Divine direction, we escape. 

Jesus was our example, Jesus said in John 5:19-22 “that the Son does nothing on His own except what He sees the Father do”. In other words, throughout the ministry of Jesus, He was taking day by day direction from the Father through prayer. That was the reason why He could escape the trap that enemy set for Him which was designed to truncated His ministry. 

The bible said: God has invited us to ask Him things in Jeremiah 33:3. We have an open invitation from God to consult in matters affecting our lives and He said that He will give us direction; and the easiest way to talk to the enemy is to be directed by God. God directs by Logos (His written Word contained in the scriptures) and also by Rhema (the Spoken Word which He speaks to His people specifically concerning different specific matters). 

Therefore, operating by the Logos and by Rhema will help you avoid and skip the traps of enemy in-spite of them. Don’t take any major step without consulting from God, listen to God. My prayer for you is that you will not in disguise of open door fall into the trap of the enemy, in the Name of Jesus Amen. 

#Copied from the Book: In The Presence Of My Enemies (Coming Up Soon)

By Pastor Mike Onyeka

How to Retain the Holy Spirit

One of the symbols of the Holy Spirit is fire, another symbol is river. And one constant characteristics of whether it is fire or river is that the fire can grow in intensity. It can come down in intensity and it can be quenched completely.

We also know that in seasons, it possible for it to dry up; so that where people stayed before and it was water, they can now walk on it because the river is dry and receded.

The power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian can go up, can come down and can be quenched. The Holy Spirit can go and so it’s of importance the way we keep Him.

Another thing in retain the Holy Spirit is Holiness (That Is Operating God’s Morality): Conducting your life according to God’s moral requirements. The bible says “without it, nobody can see God” (1 Corinthians 3:16 & 17).

People of God, the Holy Spirit lives in you, in our bodies (inside us) and so the bible calls us God’s temple. And so the bible says “if anybody defies this temple which is God’s abode, God will defile the person”. Why? Because the temple of God is holy; meaning we ought to keep this temple (our body) holy because we are the temple.

Therefore, if any Christian wants a constant communion and maintain a good relationship with the Holy Spirit, you must live a Holy life; you must live by God’s standard of morality.

It is not by man’s standard of morality, because so many things man says does not matter with God, and man’s thinking concerning morality is different from God thinking and reasoning concerning immorality. 

In Matthew 7:6, it says don’t give a dog holy things because 1. They don’t know the value; they will destroy the holy thing, they will trample upon it. 

And in this place, Jesus was not talking about the animal called Dog; He was talking about Human beings. And Human beings can behave like dogs; and human beings who behave like dogs (Jesus said), they are not qualified to be given holy things. And if any person is not qualified to be given holy things, that person will not have any relationship or a communion with the Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Holiness. 

In Proverbs 26:11, the bible explains that the man who is a fool, who behaves like a dog by returning to his mistakes or his failings the way a dog returns to it’s vomits, cannot be given holy things. 

So, the Christian who makes “a habit of sin” will disqualify himself or herself from a relationship with the Holy Spirit. It is a different thing for a Christian who is living in holiness to stumble and fall into sin; which can happen. And when it happens, the bible requires that you return to God, clean up and continue your journey with God.

But that Christian who moves in and out of sin and it’s habit for whom it no longer matters, is now behaving like a dog. And such Christian will not enjoy a relationship with the Holy Ghost because “you don’t give holy things to dogs”.

#copied from Book: The Power of Revelation (Coming up soon)

 By Pastor Mike Okwundu Onyeka

Every Miracle Is A Product Of An Instruction Obeyed

 If you look at all the records of the miracles in the scripture, you will discover that every miracle was preceded by an instruction. 

For Neman to receive divine healing from leprosy, Elisha gave an instruction: go to Jordan and deep yourself seven times.

Before the widow of Zarephath received the miracle of three and a half (3^1/2) years of supernatural provision of food, she was giving instruction by Elijah: go and do that one plate of you have left, give to me first and then go and do for yourself and your son. 

Before the walls of Jericho collapsed, God had told Israel: you have to go round the walls Jericho once a day for seven days and on the seventh day, you have to do it seven times, and when you finish it, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, shout a shout of victory and the walls will collapse; and that’s what happened. 

In the miracle of the fishes that we have talked about in Luke 5, Peter had received an instruction from Jesus: launch out into the deep for a drought, and it was when he obeyed that instruction that it was a miracle. 

So, people of God, today a number of instructions that we have; the instruction can from God as logos or as Rhema to you. The instruction can come from the mouth of the servant of God to you as Rhema; “Your Miracle Is In Your Carrying Out That Instruction”. 

And that is why obedience is described as doing what is commanded the way it is commanded and the time it is commanded. Therefore, if you are expecting a miracle from the hands of God, you have to be sensitive to instructions. 

And once that instruction is received, you must obey it fully in the manner and the time that God has ordained or recommended. That is the spiritual season for miracles; every miracle is a product of instruction obeyed. 

#Copied from the Dynamics of Miracles (Coming Soon).

By Pastor Mike Onyeka (VPAI).