Without the spirit, the Body dies (James 2:26). However, where the spirit remains, the body stays alive. Just as the body lives on food, the spirit lives on the Word (Matthew 4:4). The Word of God is Spirit and Life. As long as you feed your spirit with the relevant Word of God, you shall live..
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
John chapter 15 verses 1-5 places a high priority on fruit-bearing which is possible when we abide in the Vine…
1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:1-5 NKJV
The importance of ‘Branches‘ being fruitful and productive is made clear by the involvement of both the Vine and the Vinedresser.
Jesus identifies Himself as the True Vine, the Father as the Vinedresser and His followers as the Branches. The Vine supplies nourishment to the Branches while the Branches have the responsibility of bearing fruit.
The Vinedresser is just like a gardener or farmer, His job is to dress the branches. He cuts off none-fruit bearing branches and trims/prunes the fruit-bearing ones so that they can bear more fruit. According to Jesus, this pruning process cleans and prepares the Branches to bear more fruit, the same effect the Teaching of the Word has on the Branches (verse 3). A branch that undergoes continuous pruning, inevitably bears fruit.
What kind of a Branch are you? A fruit-bearing or non fruit-bearing one?
Considering the context of John 15, “Fruit’ as used here can mean;
(a) the fruit of the spirit {Galatians 5:9, 22} or (b) souls of men {James 5:7}.
While the primary force that gets people saved is the Gospel of Christ (Romans 10:9), a good Christian character does contribute to soul winning.
So are you winning souls and/or exemplifying good Christian character?
It is interesting and worthy of note that Jesus clearly identified Himself as the True Vine. So obviously, there can be a False Vine which is what we see Him talk about in Matthew 7:15-20. False Vines can be likened to False Prophets whose source and Supply is the Devil. They only yield bad/corrupt fruits.
One way to identify false prophets is by their expressed character (how they live and relate with others), not necessarily by what they say, preach or teach……”by their fruit you shall know them“. A human spirit that has not been recreated by the new birth cannot yield the fruit of the spirit. An unbeliever cannot express true love (agape), joy, peace, goodness, temperance, faith, etc (Matthew 7:15-20). Hence the Bible describes the purposeful marriage between a believer and an unbeliever as “an unequal yoke- inconsistent with the Christian faith” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness?“
2 Corinthians 6:14 AMPC
‘To abide’ as used in John 15:4 means to remain, to stay, to live in union with, to dwell.
In John 15:4 Jesus speaks of a 2-way relationship;…… Abide in me and I in you.
4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me”….. John 15:4.
How does Jesus abide in us? By His Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells us. He stays and remains in us forever (except we denounce Christ).
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” John 14:16 NKJV
So we can say that Jesus is Always with us. Halleluyah! He never leaves. His part of ‘Abiding’ is assured. The Holy Spirit is in us, we just have to submit to His leading.
Now, how do we ‘Abide in Him?‘ In John 15:7, Jesus seems to elaborate further on John 15:4 by saying; if you let my Words Abide in You, whatever you desire will be granted.
” if you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.“
John 15:7 NKJV
So, we abide in Him when we spend time in His Word. And the way to spend time in the Word is by reading, studying, meditating, or listening to the Word of God.
Jesus Christ is the Word, staying in the Word is staying/remaining in Jesus.
Just as bread nourishes the human body, so does the Word nourish the spirit man (Matthew 4:4).
A fruit-bearing branch is the Believer who is yielded to the Spirit and habitually dwells on the Word. Implying that a combination of both the Word and the Spirit is necessary for fruit bearing.
Do you want to be productive and fruitful? The one thing you need to do- Abide in the Vine.
Make no mistake about it, someone can be in Christ (born again), filled with the Holy Ghost and yet is not ‘abiding‘ in the Vine. Since we know that Jesus is always with us, then fruitlessness is only possible if a Branch is not doing its part.
Are you just In Christ or are you also Abiding In Christ? It is more beneficial for the one in Christ to also abide in Him.
Do not identify with the Believer Jesus talked about in verse 2a of John 15…
…”Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away” …
The ‘fruitless’ branch referred to in verse 2a is ‘In‘ Christ, yet not bearing fruit. Why? Because the branch did not choose to abide in the vine. This suggests that every branch has a choice to make; to abide in the vine or not.
A useless Branch is one who does not bear any fruit; and its end is undesirable….
” if anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
John 15:6 NKJV
Choose to Abide In The Vine. Stay deeply rooted/planted in the Vine.
“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
Psalms 92:13-15 NKJV
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Blessings & Love Always!
You know, as I thought about the uneventful ‘disappearance’ of the poisonous serpents, I realized that actually that is how life problems ‘pass away‘ as we move our focus away from them and fix them on Jesus and His Word. You wake up one day and realise the narrative has changed- you have a testimony! The serpents (troubles and challenges) disappear as we fix our gaze on Jesus and His Word.
I recently visited with a relation who had been seriously ill in the recent past months and who is currently in the recovery phase. The person was looking really fresh and strong from the last time we met, when the illness was at it’s worse. So I complimented the person’s appearance noting specifically the apparent vigor and strength being expressed. The person’s response was; ‘I don’t really feel so strong “inside”….
Believe me when I say that I’ve felt same way before and it doesn’t only happen with recovery from an illness.
Do you sometimes feel weak on the inside, uncertain about something, undecided about a next step, troubled, tired, afraid, impatient, agitated or weary? There is a way to stay strengthened in the innerman.
Ephesians 3:14-19 is one of the Pauline prayers and it tells us how to become strengthened “inside”…
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:14-19 NKJV
We can be…… strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man…..yes, it is through His Spirit!
The way I understand it, ‘the innerman’ in Ephesians 3:14-19 is your spirit (being that a person is a tripartite being; a spirit who lives in a body and has a soul).
So our spirit can become strengthened by the Holy Spirit.
How does this happen?
According to First Corinthians 14:4a speaking or praying in tongues strengthens your recreated human spirit..
“A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.”
1 Corinthians 14:4 NLT
“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.“
I Corinthians 14:4 NKJV
Below is an extract from Kenneth E. Hagin’s ‘Ten Reasons Why Every Believer Should Speak In Tongues’ offering explanations on 1 Corinthians 14:4……
……”In writing to the church at Corinth, Paul encouraged them to continue the PRACTICE of speaking with other tongues in their worship of God and in their prayer lives as a means of spiritual edification. Greek language scholars tell us that we have a word in our modern vernacular which is closer to the meaning of the original than the word “edified.” That word is “charge“—as used in connection with charging a battery. Therefore we could paraphrase this verse, “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifies, charges, builds himself up like a battery.” And this wonderful, supernatural means of spiritual edification—notice that it is not mental nor physical edification—is for every one of God’s children.”
Speaking in tongues edifies (charges up) your spirit-man, putting you spiritually alert and in control of your feelings. When we pray in tongues as we should, the Holy Spirit charges up our born again spirit (Ephesians 3:16).
Becoming strengthened in the inner man is not the only thing that happens when we pray in tongues, I believe that we also receive a fresh dose of wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge because the Spirit of God possesses all these traits/abilities (Isaiah 11:2 NLT). And suddenly we have clarity on how best to handle life’s challenges.
Therefore for discernment; pray in tongues. When at crossroads and in need of direction; pray in tongues. Feeling emotionally disturbed, weary and anxious; pray in tongues. When you don’t know what to do next? Pray in tongues. If you need understanding of a particular portion of scripture? Pray in tongues.
I find that some Christians don’t believe in speaking in tongues. Someone once said to me that it is impossible to be speaking same tongues for different prayer topics. Some others think it’s too monotonous or boring. Well, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. You’ll never really maximize the benefits of praying in tongues until you commit to making it a practice.
So any time you feel weak in spirit, fearful, confused? Charge up your spirit,…. pray in tongues. When you are charged up in the spirit, you are strengthened with might in the inner man, you are more alert in the spirit, you are more sensitive to the Spirit of God and your spirit gains dominance over your body and soul (mind).
Become strengthened in the innerman today; pray in tongues.
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You can find other Benefits of Praying in Tongues in ‘The Whole Armor of God (X)‘.
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You can order the kindle and paperback copies of my book on healing ‘When the Doctor Says No’ from your local Amazon stores, and a subsidized pdf copy here.
Blessings & Love Always!
Some people don’t feel very welcome, accepted or loved in one Church, so they pack up and leave to another Church (in search of love and warmth). Some say they’ve not been able to fit into the ‘cliques’ that exist in their local Church. Others are uncomfortable with a new Church leadership style (usually following a change in Church government). For some, the Pastor and/or Church members are not ‘nice’ or caring enough (or at all). I heard it been said once, that a couple walked away from a Church because an usher was rude to them.
“For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren”
Hebrews 2:11 NKJV
Hebrews 2:11 is probably not new to you. Jesus is the One who sanctifies and everyone already in Christ Jesus has been sanctified. According to this verse of scripture, the Sanctified and the Sanctifier are ONE.
What is ONE?
ONE is a number, the lowest cardinal number.
ONE is also used to refer to or identify a person.
And ONE also describes something of same quality and make-up, something that is identical. I believe this is the meaning of ONE Hebrews 2:11 is referring to.
We are born of His Spirit. We have the same Father as He. We are one in nature with Him. As He is, so are we in this life (I John 4:17). We are One with Him in spirit.
“But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.“
1 Corinthians 6:17 AMPC
Colossians 1:18 identifies Jesus Christ as the….head of the Church, the beginning and firstborn from the dead..
“And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”
Colossians 1:18 NKJV
According to 1 Corinthians 12:27 and Romans 12:5, the body of believers make up the Body of Christ; each member contributing to the whole…
“Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body and [individually] you are members of it, each part severally and distinct [each with his own place and function].”
1 Corinthians 12:27 AMPC
“so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”
Romans 12:5 NKJV
Romans 12:5 says that though the Body has composite parts with diversities, yet the Body remains one…..
Imagine if I came to you saying and insisting that; ‘I want only your head to follow me’, you’ll probably look at me in confusion and probably quietly wondering if all was well with me. It is impossible for a head to be active, move on it’s own while separate from the body.
Both the Head and the Body are Christ.
Are you God? No, but you have His Spirit and nature. You have His life.
You are Christ!
“Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts.” 1 Corinthians 12:12. Good News bible
He died, was buried and resurrected, and we were in Him. He conquered principalities and powers, we were in Him. We conquered them as well. The curse was done away with; sickness, poverty and death and we were in Him. He is seated at the right of the Father in Heaven, a position of authority, and we are seated with Him.
You are CHRIST!
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Blessings & Love Always!
It was just like any other day, this is a place I visit quite often. The people, place and atmosphere have all become familiar with my presence. As usual I came in quite early, not wanting to be late. I quickly settled into my regular routine; switch on my PC, check my to-do-list, get updates on outstanding tasks, give necessary feedbacks and ….just generally flow with the day.
Around mid-day I was pulled from my regular seating area into another room…. no, not that ‘other room’. This room was specially designed for sorting out things, task-like things. Apart from me, there were just 2 other persons here. The other people were not exactly at my level, they’ve been around this environment for much longer. We were all supposed to be discussing and dealing with a task, but somehow what was going on here looked more like a tussle, like a spiritual fight. One of the persons in the room seemed to be chanting something, the other was fighting back with some sort of words. They were sitting right opposite each other.
This set-up reminded me of a dream I had a few days earlier which interestingly involved these same persons and in a similar position. As I watched in utter bewilderment, I wondered when this spiritual ‘warfare’ would end so we could get on with the business of the day,…. that didn’t come any time soon. So that was it for me! All this chanting was beginning to have some undesirable spiritual effect on me. Not sure they noticed my entrance and exit.
As I returned to my personal spot and space, all I could think was, ‘how does this kind of thing go on in this environment?‘ The more I thought about it, I realized that fear was gradually spreading across my mind. How do I continue to cope here? How did I get here? What do I do now?
Later that day, I decided to just pray in the spirit. It was as I prayed in tongues that first John 4:4 dropped in my spirit.
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
I John 4:4 NKJV
‘I know that scripture‘, I thought out loud to myself. But what does it even mean? Hmmm..
Before now, my understanding of 1 John 4:4 was this: ‘anyone in Christ Jesus is greater than the one who is yet to come to Him.’
This wasn’t exactly the understanding I was receiving today as I prayed.
Oh, there it is! I get it now. .…….The One in me is greater than the one who is in the world! Wow! Again, wow!!
I know who is in the world;…….the devil.
Who is in me? Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ is IN me? YES!!!
Immediately, all my fears vanished, strength and boldness suddenly rose up from within me. ‘Oh dear, I carry God in the inside of me! And if God (Jesus Christ) is in me, then I am actually bigger than I know! I am bigger than whoever or whatever is in the world. Wow!
So the next time something ‘evilish’, devilish, scary, troubling, confusing, intimidating, or negative comes at you, pause and remember that ‘The Greater One is in You’.
The One who disarmed principalities and powers is in you. You have the light of the world, darkness Never overcomes light.
The One who bore and carried all manner of sicknesses and yet didn’t die from them is in you. No, sickness and disease didn’t kill Him, nothing and no one killed Him. He laid down His life voluntarily.
The One who conquered death is in you.
The One in You is Greater. The One in You is Stronger. The One in You is Bigger. Greater is HE who is in you than he who is in the world.
Halleluyah!
The Greater One is in You (I). You are so much bigger than you appear.
Thank You Jesus !!!
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Do not miss any of our publications, subscribe here to have each article delivered directly to your mailbox free of charge.
You can order the kindle and paperback copies of my book on healing ‘When the Doctor Says No’ from your local Amazon stores, and a subsidized pdf copy here.
Blessings & Love Always!
Hi there,
Warm Calvary greetings to you and yours.
I am taking a short break from publishing starting this Monday, the 24th of August to Sunday the 12th of September 2021.
Remember that “Grace Obomanu Blog“ is a free resource for Godly wisdom and counsel useful for a victorious Christian living. Our articles are freely available and accessible at https://www.graceobomanu.com.
Enjoy great times of fellowship with God’s Word, have wonderful devotion hours and be inspired for great sermons and wholesome teachings.
So I am looking forward to publishing another inspirational and edifying post on the 13th September 2021.
Till then….
Blessings & Love Always
Grace Obomanu
Have you received Jesus Christ into your heart? You are a son of God! And God leads His sons.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans 8:14 NKJV
That day you confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, that was the day you became a son of God! (John 1:12). On that very day, your old sinful nature was done away with, your spirit was recreated and you became a brand new creature (Ephesians 2:1-10, 2 Corinthians 5:17). You have the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9). Your spirit serves as a lamp or candle to God; He sees your innermost being. He knows your thoughts, concerns, worries and even motives. (Proverbs 20:27).
Our recreated human spirits is the direct link between us and God.
According to Romans 8:14, if you are a son of God, you should never lack direction, never be confused, never be unsure of the will of God for any situation, because God leads His sons.
Are you at crossroads? Do you need to make a critical life decision about where to live, who to marry, what schools to send your kids to, your next steps, your purpose in life? You have the Spirit of Christ. You are God’s son. And God leads His sons.
The Holy Spirit of promise was given as a guarantee that we will indeed possess all our inheritance in Christ. He is God’s seal on us (Ephesians 1:13-14). When we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a new dimension of power is made available to us to do the work of the kingdom (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit is our Paraclete- Counsellor, Advocate, Helper, Strengthener, Intercessor and Standby (John 14:16). He is in us as our Guide (Isaiah 58:11, John 16:13). He guides us, not only in the truth of God’s Word, He is also available to provide guidance in all our life affairs if we let Him. We should never lack direction.
Two ways to be confidently led by God are; to recognize God’s voice and to know God’s Word (John 10:4-5). When we train ourselves to recognize God’s voice, just the way a little baby by repeated interactions recognizes the mother’s voice, we will not be misled by the contrary voice of a ‘stranger’. Therefore developing an intimate relationship with God is one sure way of getting familiar with His voice. And like any other relationship, such intimacy is developed by spending time with God; in prayer and in His Word.
Praying in the Holy Ghost is one sure way to gain clarity about God’s leading. When we pray in the Holy Ghost our spirit become charged, strengthened, more alert and sensitive to God’s leading (Jude 20, Ephesians 3:16). The Holy Spirit knows the mind of God and intercedes for us according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27). So if we engage the Holy Spirit as we should, we should never be out of God’s will, plans and purposes for our lives.
God’s leading never contradicts His Word. God will never lead us outside of His Word. The Word also serves as our spiritual compass for the present and future; His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).
Never lack direction, because God leads His sons. You have the Spirit of Christ, you have the Holy Spirit and you have the Word of life.
