TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE GIFT OF PROPHECY

“David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying…” 1 Chronicles 25:1 (NIV)

The Bible tells us that the gift of prophecy is the most important gift in the Scriptures; it is the number one gift of the Spirit.

Prophecy is the only gift God says you should desire, even if you didn’t have any other one. Why? We are made by prophecy. The gift of prophecy is God’s material for building His house. Your life and ministry are constructed by the gift of prophecy; your future is designed by it. This means, the vision that God has in heaven about your life and the church is only brought to this earth through the gift of prophecy, and that gift is what inspires you to get in line with the vision.

Remember, God said to Moses, see that you build the sanctuary according to the vision that was shown to you; see that you do it accordingly. So that gift of prophecy tells you of your future: God’s plan for your life, and once you get a hold of it, you must keep saying it; don’t stop talking it, and walk in the light of it.

We are a people of prophecy; prophesy today. Hallelujah!

ACQUIRE SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord… (Hosea 6:3).

Consider the Lord’s loving admonition and invitation in Isaiah 1:19 TLB: “If you will only let me help you, if you will only obey, then I will make you rich!” Many don’t know this, and as a result, haven’t consciously given the Lord the chance to help them; no wonder they live in defeat, poverty, sickness, and penury.

Let this loving admonition and invitation of the Father resonate in your heart today. The King James Version says, “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” We already fulfilled the act of obedience when we made Jesus Lord of our lives. No wonder He calls us obedient children (1 Peter 1:14). Now, you’re to live in God’s Word; not to obey, but to do the Word. If you do the Word, you’ll eat the good of the land.

The Bible says the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord (Psalm 33:5). Therefore, affirm that the lines are fallen unto you in pleasant places; you have a goodly heritage (Psalms 16:6). Believe, declare, and act on the Word.

God said, “My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge…” (Hosea 4:6). Notice that He didn’t say, “Sinners are destroyed for lack of knowledge”; rather, He said, “My people…,” that means Christians. God’s own people are crushed, oppressed, made victims in life not because they lack the knowledge of economics, government, physics or theology; no! It’s because they lack revelation knowledge or spiritual knowledge of God’s Word.

When revelation knowledge comes into your spirit, it enlightens you and catapults you to a higher realm of life. Go for the Word.

A LIFE OF EXCELLENCE

For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live] (Ephesians 2:10 AMP).

God prepared and planned your life beforehand for His glory. He didn’t create you for defeat, weakness, sadness or failure. He planned a wonderful life for you—a life of excellence. The challenge is that most people are yet to understand God’s good plan for them. In Jeremiah 29:11, He said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
God’s expected end for you is success, victory, honour, and abundance. He prearranged a good life of blessings for you to walk in. It brings to mind what He did before He created Adam. He first created a beautiful garden where everything Adam would require was made available. He then created Adam and placed him in the ready-made Garden of Eden, “…to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15), not to toil or cultivate the ground afresh.

God knew you’d be born at this time and planned ahead for you like every caring father would. That means there’s no need for you to go through life suffering, begging or seeking blessings, because you stepped into God’s destiny for you the moment you were born again. Therefore, enjoy your life, and enjoy all that He’s made available to you.
2 Peter 1:3 says, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” He’s called you to glory and virtue; that means to a life of excellence. Never think failure, because God has never made a failure. You’re His dream come true; you’re the best of everything that He created: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18).

DEFINITION AND OUT-WORKINGS OF GRACE

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ” Ephesians 4:7

”But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever”. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

WHAT IS GRACE?

Grace is the divine influence on the heart of a man and it is reflected or expressed outwardly. In other words, it is the out-working of a divine inward influence in your heart through God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. Grace is the glory of God working in a man’s spirit.

The Greek word for grace is ‘Charis’. It beautifies the spirit and would always show on the outside. Grace functions at different levels in our life. It locates you and brings you into the good place at the right and opportune time. Some people do define Grace as “unmerited favor” but this definition is from a negative point of view and is somewhat limited.

There is such a thing as to increase in grace, to grow (Auxano). As Christians, the Bible admonishes us to grow in grace even as we grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t work against Grace in other people; acknowledge, respect and help grow it when you find it manifesting in others around you.

The Grace of God can be seen in what it produces; as much as Grace is a divine working on the inside of a man, it manifests itself on the outside of a man in diverse ways:

GRACE PRODUCES THE FOLLOWING:

1. Acceptability.
There always is something about a man/woman with Grace that attracts people to him/her. Grace singles you out; they just don’t know why they are attracted towards you. Grace has got nothing to do with one’s status, profession or gender. You can turn on grace in your life; God gives you more Grace as you put to use the Grace He already made available to you. There are levels of Grace at which different Christians function. It should be your desire to function at the highest level of Grace possible.

2. The Advantage.
Grace brings and gives you the Advantage. As a Christian, you need to ALWAYS be conscious of the Grace of God upon your life, this is what makes it work and you need to recognize that you have got grace working for you. You do not need to struggle for/with anything in your life, if you put the Grace to work, it will deliver them to you, on a platter. Hallelujah! Grace is the glory of God working in a man’s spirit and it beautifies. Only the man with Grace recognizes Grace. Never try to work against Grace in a man’s life; one who does it, fights against the Source of Grace; Deity.

3. Favour.
Grace brings you FAVOUR. Good is turned towards the man with Grace and forgiveness always knocks at his door. Even when he seems to have made great mistakes, the Grace of God speaks for him. To walk in Grace means to walk in and with divine influence. It makes you have the mentality of “if I want anything, I will get it!” You are God’s trophy, and He wants everyone in the world to know how much he loves you. He is the ‘I am’ and you are the ‘in Him’. There is no need for the struggles and the worry wrinkles. Grace is available to deliver favour to you. Favour that comes by Grace comes by divine influence. Hallelujah! All He says is “yield to my Word”.

The Scripture is laden with accounts explaining how God has given us the measure of Grace. Much more, we have a huge role to play in making sure that the purpose for the Grace is accomplished. God expects us to put his Grace to work by careful study and meditation of His Word, which is the Word of Grace.

It's our Month of Increased Grace! There's increased grace for growth; for ministration; grace to do all things. You can do more for the LORD.

GOD’S SPIRIT IS GOD’S ANSWER

Is your life full of trouble and you don’t know what to do? Then take what I’m about to share with you very seriously. The Holy Spirit is the answer to the nagging situation in your life! When the earth was a shapeless and chaotic mass, it was the Spirit of God, acting on the command of Almighty God that brought order into the universe.

When persecution rose up against the early Church, they lifted their voices in one accord and prayed to the Lord. The content of their prayer in Acts 4:24-30 revealed that they wanted a sign from heaven. But what was God’s answer to their request?: “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” (Acts4:31).

God responded by filling them with the Holy Ghost! Reading further, you will discover that God didn’t come down to Jerusalem, stretching forth to heal the sick as they prayed. They were the ones that did all that after being filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the reason Paul charged us to be filled with the Spirit always (Ephesians 5:18).

A man that’s full of the Spirit is unstoppable; he is indomitable. When the Holy Spirit is in you in His fullness, He’ll strengthen you and be wisdom to you, when you don’t know what to do; He’ll give you dominion over every situation of life. Recognize Him, and you will never be the same again