Welcome back. This is the second part of this blog post.

We saw that God made man in His image, His image being an expression of how He appears in His ‘physical’ form, how He relates with the physical world. How the world ‘feels’ or ‘sees’ God.

We saw 2 things about how God relates with the world;

1. He reigns in dominion- In calm, confident, loving display of control and dominance.
2. He sets in motion a system for fruitfulness and multiplication- ignited by the blessing.

Now, if God relates with the world in these 2 ways and he made man in His image, then God expects man to relate with his world same way. Genesis 1:28 introduces man to the blessing and although God pronounced the curse because of Adam’s disobedience, the Lord Jesus Christ restored man’s dominion and the blessing (Galatians 3:13-14).

A blessed man has potential for limitless productivity, fruitfulness and multiplication.

To continue today, let’s look at 2 interesting scriptures…..

Genesis 3:17-19;

Then to Adam He said, “because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying; ‘you shall not eat of it’, cursed is the ground for your sake, in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return”. NKJV

And Genesis 1:28;

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, ‘see I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.”

We see that with the blessing, the earth and its resources are obligated to yield multiplied increase, whereas with the curse, man can only bring out his meals through toil and sweat until he eventually dies.

Lord!!!

We find another description of the blessing and the curse in Deuteronomy 28:2-14, and 28: 16-57.

If there is one scripture I don’t like reading, it is Deuteronomy 28:16-57! It is heartbreaking! I mean Curse is bad. I don’t want anything to do with the curse.

Curse smells of lack, hopelessness and death.

You know, I used to wonder what ‘the blessing‘ really meant until I was introduced to Deuteronomy 28 in Church. You wonder why I was seeking a revelation on the Blessing? Because in pentecostal circles, the phrases ‘I am blessed’ ‘be blessed’ ‘bless you’ ‘remain blessed’ etc are very common everyday cliches 🙂 I am finding out that a lot of Christians use these phrases without really understanding the full meaning.

I have a relation (a pastor) who is always begging for help, always sending messages for assistance and then he ends the message with ‘remain blessed as you give’ !! What happened to his own blessing? 🙂 Is he not consciously trying to gain help by trading the blessing? 🙂 Truly, his messages almost come across as ‘help me, so that you’ll continue to have the blessing‘ 🙂 but obviously, he doesn’t understand the blessing himself. What is a Pastor doing begging for help? Here are the possibilities

1. He is not a Pastor, he is not a child of God.
2. He can be a child of God who is ignorant of his rights and privileges
3. He may be a child of God who does not know how to appropriate the blessing.

Now if we assume that this ‘pastor’ falls under number 3 above, we can try to provide answers to the question we raised in part 1; how can any child of God appropriate the blessing?

1. Apply Yourself: Find some work to do with your hands, because it is the works of your hands that the Lord blesses. (Deuteronomy 28 verses 8 & 12b). The blessing will flow out of your God-given works. True that we have the blessing, but truth also remains that the blessing only becomes evident when we apply ourselves in the areas, fields and places God has assigned or called us to. How do we know someone is blessed? By the increase, abundance, wealth we see around them which are usually products of their investment of time, energy and/or skill. Think about Isaac and Joseph. … It is important to stress that we have to do our work in uprightness, integrity and in the fear of the Lord. I doubt that the blessing will be operational in shady and dishonest deals.
2. Apply your faith: Expect a manifestation of the blessing and consciously pronounce the blessing on the works of your hands-….continually confess and maintain that the works of your hands are blessed. The Bible tells us how God blessed man – …..by saying it……Genesis 1:28; ………”Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “be fruitful and multiply..”. Another way to apply one’s faith is to give out of a seeming lack. Too many Christians are poor in the Church today, not because God was impartial in distributing the blessing, but because some persons have refused to learn from the experience of the widow of Zarephath who rapidly moved from lack to abundance by simply applying her faith (1 Kings 17).
3. Apply the first fruit principle: Be diligent to give a tithe of the proceeds from the works of your hands- Malachi 3:10 commands that we bring all the tight into God’s storehouse to ensure steady supply to His house and then the Lord tells us to dare Him in being faithful with the tithe, as in return He would pour out blessings “.…and try Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

Additionally, we should continually give thanks for the blessing through our praise, worship, service and offerings.

Alright, next time we continue to look at other features of the Image of God.

Stay blessed.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25

Galatians 5:25 clearly says there is a difference between living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit.

The Lord Jesus Christ kept His promise in John 14:16; the Holy Spirit is freely given to anyone in Christ who asks of the Father. The Spirit is given to us to equip us with power for the work of the kingdom, to teach us all things, to quicken our mortal bodies, to help us pray according to the will of the Father, to guide us, and more.

Ezekiel 36:27; says that it is also the job of the Holy Spirit to cause us to live according to the standards and principles of God.

“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and you will keep My judgments and do them.” NKJV.

Does that mean then that everyone filled with the Spirit of God, naturally walks in His statutes, keeps His judgments, does not sin?

Galatians 5:25 suggests otherwise,…… it says someone can have the Holy Spirit living in them and yet the person does not walk in the Spirit (selah).

Two questions we must quickly answer to proceed;

Question 1: What does ‘cause to’ mean literally?

Question: What does it mean ‘to walk’?

According to the dictionary, ‘cause to‘ means to give rise to an action, phenomenon or action. To make something happen, to bring about, to result in, to produce, to generate, to prompt, to inspire, to induce.

There are different definitions for Walk found in the Cambridge Dictionary, however, I am interested in this one; to move along by putting one foot in front of the other, to go with someone to a particular place (so as to protect them from danger, or show them the way).

Therefore, ‘walk in the Spirit’ in Galatians 5:25 and in Ezekiel 36:27 would mean to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit….. one foot in front of the other.

Apostle Paul in Galatians 5 from verse 1 wrote to discourage self righteousness through a personal effort to follow the law- commands and statutes. Instead, Paul admonishes the Galatians to simply follow the Spirit who already indwells them.

But how do you follow someone?

You listen out for instructions or directions then you act out or obey the person’s directives.

So there is clearly a role I have to play; …. I must listen and act accordingly.
Walking in the Spirit isn’t automatic! If it were so, every Christian filled with the Holy Spirit would be fully expressing the 9 fruit of the Spirit;
-love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness, gentleness.

Personally, I wish this is the case but sadly and unfortunately, there is another stimulus begging for our follower-ship and attention…..the Flesh.

The effect of the flesh on any human can be really profound.

Galatians 5:17 tells us there can be an ongoing battle between the flesh and the Spirit that supersedes our wishes as Christians. Meaning that someone can really really wish to do right, but finds himself/herself doing the opposite. Sounds to me like someone trying to keep the Law- really trying and struggling without success.

There is a way out!

Galatians 5:18 advises us to be led by the Spirit…..to walk ‘in-step’ with the Spirit.

How do we know when you’re ‘in-step’ or ‘out-of-step’ with the Spirit?

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” Galatians 5:19‭-‬21 NKJV.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”
Galatians 5:22‭.
Frankly, out of the 9 fruit of the Spirit, I can only confidently say (today) that I express 4 fully. You can laugh at me or you can do your own maths…..

One virtue I boast of myself is that ‘I tell myself the truth when I see it‘.

Growing up, I probably got more beating refusing to say ‘sorry‘ for an offence I am sure I didn’t commit than for committing the offence or not. I kept saying ‘God would vindicate me….naaaaa….. I got more beating 🙂 Marriage brought me wisdom!! Sometimes, a ‘sorry’ saves you an unnecessary fight {you fix the problem when there is less tension}. Anyway, that’s an aside… 🙂

Point here? …do your maths…..be truthful to yourself.

What’s your score out of the possible 9? Would you say that you are fully walking in the Spirit? You may not be guilty of adultery, fornication, idolatry, uncleanness, murder, drunkenness, etc, but do you express any of the following attributes?- hatred, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, envy, do you brew trouble among people or cause people to argue sometimes? Do you lose control always or often?

Galatians 5:19-21 says you are responding to and following the leading of the flesh, you are under the control of the flesh.

Again, it’s not about do’s and don’ts, but about living in the predominance of the Holy Spirit.

I don’t want to go to Heaven without fully expressing all 9 fruit of the Spirit while on earth. I am not sure there will be room to express them in Heaven.

Brethren, we have a decision to make at every point when we walk in the Spirit. Someone offends you, you have a choice how to react; retaliate immediately, defer your retaliation or immediately listen to what the Spirit would have you do. You say, ‘Grace, in that split second? …..so I find too 🙂 ……..in that split second.

Walk in the Spirit- move from giving natural, ‘fleshy’ responses to releasing spiritual responses. Yes we miss it sometimes, but with practice it gets better.

Temptations to be angry, jealous, show that we are in charge, that we cannot be intimidated, or to express ‘self’ in different dimensions will come, but we don’t have to yield when tempted, we choose to respond by the Holy Ghost.

Help us Lord!

And thank You for Your Word!!

Galatians 5:16 says;

“So I tell you, live the way the Spirit leads you , then you will not do the evil things your sinful self wants”. NKJV

Welcome to this blogpost series; In His Image. I am confident that it is going to be enlightening as well as a blessing. Like many of my blogposts, I am really excited to be doing this at this time. And if you have been following me on the blog of late, God has been faithfully pointing me to my identity in Him. I am a son of God, I have the God-status, I have beautiful rights and privileges and now He’s saying; ‘Grace (your name), I made you in my image’. Hallelujah!

Our focal scripture is Genesis 1: 26-27;

“Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our Likeness, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth”. So God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:2

Starting off to write this article, I had no clear idea what direction to go. I knew for sure that The Lord has given a topic to explore, but there was no content for many days. I am thankful that the more I turned the topic over in my mind, the Lord faithfully (as always) began to download the contents to me by His Spirit. So to thoroughly distill insights from Genesis 1:26-27 relevant for this study, I’ll be adopting a very detailed approach to sharing my thoughts. Every step is important. Stay with me 🙂

A. What is an image?

An image is “a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art”.

Note the words in bold- external form (as against internal). The external of a thing describes the part of the thing that can be connected to easily by the senses. It is the outer surface or substance of a thing. So, an image is a reflection of how a thing or person appears physically. For example, my image reflects my physical expression, how I appear, how I am seen.

Therefore the image of God is an expression of how God appears in His ‘physical’ form, how He relates with the physical world. How the world ‘feels’ or ‘sees’ God.

I am carefully choosing the words to describe Image, especially as it relates to God. And that’s important because God Is a Spirit. A spirit does not have a physical image. So ‘God’s image’ would not be referring to His spiritual nature. And so, when the Bible says God created man in His image, that would mean God created man to be just as He (God) interacts with the physical world {these are my thoughts on this portion of scripture}.

Another word used for image in our focal scripture is ‘Likeness’ , and I looked up it’s meaning as well ?….

Likeness means the semblance, guise or outward appearance of something or someone.

Some synonyms of likeness are; appearance, character, shape, form, outward form.

It is quite instructive for me that the verses of scripture immediately following Genesis 1:26-27 begins to enumerate how God wanted man to relate with the world around him….think about that for a bit..

B. What are the features of the Image of God-how does God relate with mankind?

1. God reigns in dominion.

When we think of God, we think of a supreme or sovereign being,….. that’s exactly how God expresses Himself. Not as an aggressive or arrogant display of dominance or control but in calm, confident dominion. He is God all by Himself. Sovereign and Self-sufficient.

Again, here are some interesting synonyms for dominion; supremacy, dominance, preeminence, authority, command, control, rule, sovereignty.

Now, look at Genesis 1 again, and notice that God transferred to man His dominion character….

“Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our Likeness, let them have dominion….”

There is a link between ‘let us make man in our image’ and the ‘let them have dominion‘. You can’t have one without the other. To have dominion requires a ‘being made in the image of God’ and being made in the image of God confers dominion on you.

God gave man dominion over everything that He created, to rule, dominate, control, command, have authority. And God was careful to spell out Adam’s sphere of influence….over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over every living thing that moves on the earth. In addition, man can have any herb that yields seed and every fruit with seed as food.

If you are thinking ….’did God really give man dominion over mere animals, birds, fishes, etc?’, yes He did! I noted that too. What am I going to do with dominion over these creatures? ?… Why didn’t he say to the first blessed man; ‘I give you dominion over all other humans after you?’

Learning point here for me is; it is useless indulging in rivalry and competition with other humans. I should apply my dominion in calling forth answers to my needs from the world around me. Amen!

I love dominion 🙂 Have you ever considered the opposite of dominion?……..

How do we reign in dominion? We take charge or control of the world around us. We speak, we decree, we believe, we walk by faith, we call things that be not as though they were, we wield authority through the name of Jesus Christ. We RULE.

2. In relating with the world, God sets in motion a system with a multiplier effect for productivity and fruitfulness.

One Adam- many humans, One Begotten Son- many other sons, One set of animal kind- many generations of same kind.

How does God achieve that? – He puts the blessing on the first specie! The blessing sets off a system of multiplication.

Oh! Adam could have had a generation of blessed descendants not requiring the coming and death of a Saviour because the blessing was placed on him. But the reverse was the case. A blessed Adam sinned, became cursed (Genesis 3:17-19) from then onward, could only reproduce cursed and sinful descendants. We see the same principle put in place for salvation (Romans 5: 12-21).

How did 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish feed over 5,000 men with remnants (Matthew 14: 19)? Because Jesus blessed and broke it! (selah).

So when I confess that I am blessed, that means I have potential for limitless productivity, fruitfulness and multiplication. And Yes! I am blessed, ….right from the beginning;

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘be fruitful and multiply..” Genesis 1:28

That is what the blessing does for you- makes you fruitful and gives you the ability to multiply. Hallelujah!

Therefore no child of God should live in poverty (selah).

Maybe someone is saying ‘Grace, what about the effect of the fall of Adam? Do we still have the blessing? YES! Jesus Christ made sure (Galatians 3:13-14).
So then, if we were to operate in the likeness of God, how do we cause the land, the sea, the livestock, etc to yield an exponential output for us?

Question: How did God bless man? How did Jesus bless the loaves and fish?

We will provide answers to this question in the next part.

Thank you so much for studying with me 🙂

Welcome back! Apologies for the long break publishing this next part of this blogpost series. This is part 5 and I am excited to be back on it.

Essentially we’ve seen that the mind of Christ is a mind of great reverence for the Father, it’s a humble and selfless mind and it is a mind conscious of the God-status as well as its attendant privileges and advantages.

Today we continue our study looking at the privileges of being a son of God.

1 John 3:1 tells us it’s a great privilege to be called sons of God, an identity that positions us for the Father’s love. And when we have the Father’s love, we have everything.

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!…”

All the privileges we see below are offshoots of His love…

1. We have the god-status.

“I said, “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.” Psalm 82:6

We have the god-status to do works of miracles and power. We express the God-status by doing the Works of The Father. We have power, authority, dominion, we can create things, we can move mountains, we can bind and unbind stuffs, etc, all so that we EXPRESS the power of God by doing His Works (John 14:10, 34-38, John 14:12).

2. We have access to the Father at all times.

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba Father’ Romans 8:15 NKJV

It is not a Master/slave relationship where the slave walks subdued in the presence of the Master.

Naa, we walk in boldly expecting to see the Father’s hands outstretched towards us in love.

There’s an endearment in knowing God as Father. Walls and barriers of fear and uncertainty are broken. We operate in liberty and freedom.

3. We have an inheritance

“”..and if children of God, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” Romans 8:17

An heir is a person legally entitled to the property or rank of another on that person’s death. An heir is an inheritor, a person who inherits and continues the work of a predecessor.

We are joint heirs with Christ to;

a. Continue the work of the kingdom

b. Enjoy the benefits of the Father’s Will. And God’s Will is His Word. And His Will is that we prosper, be in health, even as our soul prospers (3 John 1:2); speaking of material prosperity, wholeness in health and emotional stability.

4. We have the privilege of being provided for by the Father;

“If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him” Matthew 7:11.

So all we really need do is ask (and to ask according to His will) and we have good things.

The question that always comes to mind whenever I read Matthew 7:11 is; who defines the ‘good things‘, me or the Father? 🙂

Because many times as Christians we draw up our own list of ‘good things’ without ‘touching base‘ with the Father. I believe it’s much easier for our good things to materialize when they’re in sync with the Father (selah).

Healing is a good thing. Abundance is a good thing. Children are good things. A godly marriage is a good thing. A good paying job is a good thing. A heart at peace is a good thing.

It is the Father’s pleasure to daily satisfy our mouth with good things (Psalm 103:5).

5. We have the assurance of His presence at all times

“At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” John 14:20 NKJV.

There is nothing more assuring of security for me, than John 14:20.

In fact the way I interpret that scripture is; I am safely kept in the Father through Christ. It is a multi-level protective wall…in Christ, in the Father and Christ in Me.

Again, John 14:20 tells me that all things are possible, because I am not an ordinary being. I am a 3-part squad, my team wins always and in all things. Amen!

6. We are led by the Spirit of God

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” Romans 8:14 NKJV

I am led by the Spirit of God, I have wisdom and direction. I have the spirit of understanding, power, might, counsel, knowledge and I operate in the fear of the Lord. I know what the mind of God is concerning a thing by His Spirit. I am not tossed to and fro. I have discernment. I hear my Father’s voice and I know it’s Him.

7. We have the privilege of profiting from His Word

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV

Because the Word of God is profitable. The Word is Sound. The Word is Light, it illuminates. The Word is Life.

To find life is to know wisdom. And the fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom because a deep reverence for The Lord keeps one on the track of His Word, with a yearning to do only what the Father would approve. That is wisdom; knowing the right thing and doing it.

For every Christian the right thing is the Truth and the Truth is the Word.

Oh! what awesome privileges I have as a son of God. My whole life completely catered for. Nothing omitted.

Thank You Faithful Father.

You indeed work everything together for my good. Amen!

When was the last time you read Daniel chapter 10? Recently, long time ago or never? 🙂

Whatever your response, it is never a waste to read Daniel Chapter 10. In fact, to follow this blog post, I encourage you to read Daniel Chapter 10 and possibly to the end of the book. This is a very interesting narrative of Daniel’s encounter with an heavenly being and this scripture is laden with many useful spiritual insights that remain relevant to Christian living.

Before we start line listing learnings from this scripture, there’s a need to clearly identify the heavenly being in Daniel’s vision.

Was this Jesus?

Daniel’s vision brought to mind a similar experience by John in Revelations Chapter 1.

Wanting to gain clarity on this, I sort for parallels between the Man Daniel saw in his vision and the Man John saw in Revelations 1.

1. John talks of encountering one like the son of a Man however in Daniel 10, the person that appeared to Daniel is simply described as a man.

2. The Man in Revelations introduced himself as the First and the Last (Jesus) while Daniel’s Man introduced himself as a messenger sent to deliver information.

3. Daniel’s Man was withheld by the prince of Persia. The prince of Persia describes a spiritual force rather than a physical one. Something seeming like a principality. Principalities are subject to God, principalities cannot stop God, Jesus is God. In fact, this point was probably the most intriguing for me in Daniel’s account. I was curious to know,…was Jesus withheld by the prince of Persia?

It wasn’t Jesus.

4. Angels are generally referred to in the Bible as ministering spirits or messengers. When Jesus came down to earth, He didn’t come as a messenger but as a Saviour. Many times God sends Michael or Gabriel to His people. So if Daniel’s Man says Michael came to his rescue, then the Man in Daniel’s vision is most likely Gabriel.

So that’s sorted.

Now what great learnings do we see in Daniel 10?

Number 1 learning:

We are told that Daniel separated himself in a kind of fast for 21 days prior to his vision. His vision came on the 24th day. The Bible is careful to present one event before the other. It was not a coincidence.

So first thing to learn for me is this; it pays to occasionally separate oneself to see, hear and clearly understand what God is saying.

We are told in verse 12 that Daniel set his heart to understand and humbled himself before God…..

“Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words”.
DANIEL 10:12.

Today, fasting in Christianity is either underplayed, abused(done for the wrong motives) or not done at all.

Probably we’d gain more clarity on grey areas in our Christian walk if we set our hearts to understand and humble ourselves before God (selah).

Number 2 learning:

God has a unique nametag for those who separate themselves to Him. Those committed and persuaded about their faith and belief. Those who are resolute about their integrity anchored on their faith in Him.

It was impressive for me to see Daniel described as highly esteemed one (verse 18). I immediately remember Mary’s (mother of Jesus) nametag revealed again by Gabriel- highly favoured one (Luke 1: 28) David’s nametag a man after Gods heart, Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were described as righteous in the sight of God, ….and there are others.
So here I am with a smile on my face and only imagining what nametag The Father has given me, I’d love to know ?.

Number 3 learning:

God answers us always and He sends a response.

Again, in verse 12, angel Gabriel informs Daniel that God released an answer to His prayer from the first day.

First day!

There was no delay in God responding to Daniel’s prayer. God sent an immediate response.

But did Daniel know that? No. I am not saying Daniel was on a faithless mission, but he was oblivious of Gabriel’s plight with the prince of Persia. He had no way of knowing that God has released an immediate response to his request, yet the truth remains- God did.

One of my favourite blog posts is a response I provided to someone’s question on my online counselling platform. Blogpost title: Why Hasn’t God Answered Me?

I encourage you to read up that blogpost as it systematically alludes to the truth that God hears us always, He always sends a response for every of our request and we are guaranteed of receiving what we ask of Him when we ask according to His Will. Amen!

Number 4 learning:

There’s a devil somewhere actively working to avert God’s goodness towards us.

This is not an old testament thing. So don’t immediately jump to saying Jesus Christ defeated Satan. Well right, Jesus Christ defeated Satan, put him under our feet and gave us authority over principalities and powers.

Great!

But Christ gave us authority so we could use it. He didn’t just give us authority so that we’d be posing around as possessors of authority. No. He knows that as long as we live on this earth and for as long as Satan remains the lord of the world, we’ll need to exercise that authority to stay victorious.

Too many Christians work under the illusion that because they belong to Jesus Christ, Satan cannot reach them. So they generally put everything in Gods hands and then go to sleep. That is a fallacy not from God.

Yes, sleep and rest in God’s love, never doubt His faithfulness, love, mercy or ability to keep promises, but hey, Gabriel was withheld for 23 days. Someone might say, well, he was just an angel, and I quickly point out that He had the backing of Heaven to deliver God’s message to Daniel. Good news that Michael succeeded in releasing Gabriel from being bound, but we’re not told at what point God sent Michael out to help Gabriel. Why the 23 day delay?

Brethren, when sickness and disease come, let us by faith use our authority, when we feel attacked from different fronts, let us use our authority. Let’s stay always kitted with the whole armour of God so that we’ll be able to withstand all the fiery darts the enemy throws at us. Never falling prey to the lie, that God is in control of everything.

Our authority is in the Name of Jesus Christ.

Number 5 learning:

Angels carry a presence. Yes they’re ministering spirits, they serve us now as Christians but still they carry a presence. In fact, staying repeatedly in God’s presence is enough to cause a rub off ?.

And God didn’t stop sending angels on errands because Christ came to save the world or because we now have the Holy Spirit. So we should be sensitive to discern when we encounter an angel and not mistake one for Christ (selah). You say what’s the relevance of this point? Many ‘Christians’ have subscribed to the worship of angels, whether seen or imagined. This is misleading, and will ultimately land one in hell.

True angels of God do not accept to be worshipped as they immediately identify themselves as messengers and not objects of worship.

Well, I hope you study the rest of Daniel Chapters 10 to 12.

God bless.

Thank you for joining me, this is the 4th part of this series. We have been studying the Mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5) and what learning we can apply to ourselves as Christians.

Essentially we’ve seen that the mind of Christ is a mind of great reverence for the Father, it’s a humble and selfless mind and it is a mind conscious of the God-status as well as its attendant privileges and advantages.

Hebrews 1:5-10 showed us how God the Father sees Jesus Christ; importantly, we saw that Christ is God’s Firstborn. Then we tried to locate ourselves (Christians) by asking the question, ‘who are we?’

Galatians 3:26-29 provided us with answers to that question;

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

So Christ is the firstborn. We are all sons of God. We are Abraham’s seed. We are heirs of the promise.

Next, we have a bunch of questions to answer; What privileges do sons have? What advantages are there in being Abraham’s seed and/or heirs of the promise? What promise are we talking about?

I’d like to jump in and start exploring the scriptures for answers to these questions but first, the story of the prodigal son has been on my mind since my last publishing on this series. In my notes, I dropped some leading questions around this story; who is a father and what are his duties? How much of his father’s possession was the prodigal son entitled to? What is the Father’s (GOD) Will for His children and how would we find it?

From Luke 15:11-32, a narrative of the story of the prodigal son, we find that Jesus did not tell the story of the prodigal son solely from the son’s perspective. In fact, the story goes to show more about the heart of God the Father than the behavior of the prodigal son (which really is a regular occurrence with man).

So what do we see about The Father from Luke 15:11-23;

1. The Father has ‘goods’ (possessions) reserved for his children.
2. These goods/possessions are always available to the sons (the Father doesn’t withhold or hoard them).
3. These goods/possessions are limitless, they don’t run out, and we can draw from them over and over again.
4. The Father is compassionate.
5. The Father’s love is unconditional; He loves us irrespective of our shortcomings.
6. The Father is not afraid to let us ‘roam’ sometimes because even from afar, His love and compassion can reach and save us.
7. The Father is not afraid to allow us to be exposed to challenges sometimes, because these would build our faith and confidence.
8. The Father knows that all that He has belongs to His sons and He is not threatened.

Brethren, we are sons/heirs of God through Christ (Galatians 4:6-7), the Father has ‘goods’ reserved for us which we can access at anytime and in any dimension without it running out. We have a compassionate, merciful and loving Father and all that The Father has belongs to us.

Now, remember we’re trying to answer the question of our rights and privileges as sons of God. So what are these rights and privileges? What goods did the Father reserve for us? What’s our inheritance as heirs?

1. We are God’s children, therefore we are gods. Just like Jesus Christ, we have the God-status. We are not God The Father, We are not God The Son, we did not exist in the beginning, we did not create the world in any way or form, but we are God’s children, we are His heritage, we have the genes of God and we have the God-status.

Psalm 82:6 calls the children of the Most High; ‘gods’.

“I said, “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.”

Don’t let me lose you now to religious thinking; possibly thinking; ‘hey Grace, this is blasphemy, why say we are gods?

Maybe one easy way to understand this is this; I have 3 children, they are all OBOMANU 🙂 They can claim all rights and privileges and carry out any duties of an OBOMANU anyday, anytime.

Now, Jesus actually got this same ‘blasphemy’ reaction from the Jews;

“Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming’?, because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him” John 10:34-38 NKJV

Question: Why do we have the God-status? …..To flaunt it around? To feel good about ourselves?…..or why?

Again, Jesus provides answers to this from John 10:34-38;

“…..If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him”.

So we have the God-status to do WORKS. We express the God-status by doing the Works of The Father. We have power, authority, dominion, we can create things, we can move mountains, we can bind and unbind stuffs, etc, all so that we EXPRESS the power of God by doing His Works.

The next rational question to ask is- what are the works of God that Jesus spoke of?

John 14:10 answers this for us;

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not say on My own initiative or authority, but the Father, abiding continually in Me, does His works [His attesting miracles and acts of power].”AMP

Answer: Works of miracles and acts of power.

And in verse 12, Jesus tells us that our REACH, COVERAGE, in doing these Works would be more;

“I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father.”JOHN 14:12 AMP

What’s the scope of the authority of the name of Jesus?

“.…..So God raised Him up from the most important place and gave Him the name that is greater than any other name. God did this so that every person will bow down to honor the name of Jesus. Everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth will bow“. Philippians 2:9-10.

With the authority we have in the name of Jesus, forces from the different spheres/realms bow to us. Therefore there is no feat we cannot achieve.

Greater Works…..because He goes to the Father. Because He’s finished His Works, defeated the Devil, reclaimed power and authority and secured a Name higher than any other. So that anything we speak, declare or ask in His Name, will get done. Hallelujah!

We are God’s sons, we are gods and like Christ, we have Works to do…greater in reach, extent and coverage, because we have The NAME to which every knee must bow, all prayers will be answered, every victory will be won.

Thank You Father.

Thank You.

When we read Philippians 2:5, we see without much brainstorming that the mind of Christ is a mind of humility, selflessness and great reverence for The Father. We’ve discussed these 3 attributes of the mind of Christ in the first 2 parts of this series.

Is there anything else we see about the mind of Christ in Philippians 2:5?

“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of Himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of Himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. he didn’t claim special privileges. Instead He lived a selfless, obedient life and then dies a selfless, obedient death-and the worst kind of death -a crucifixion.” ERV.

Well, I see something else;

4. A mind conscious of the God-status

5. A mind conscious of the privileges and advantages of the God-status.

So we see that Christ had equal status with God the Father, then we are admonished to have same mind as Christ

Question: Should we think of ourselves as having equal status with God the Father?

To help answer that question, we need to understand what the scripture mean by ‘Christ had equal status with God’?

In Blogpost 1, we mentioned that Jesus Christ did not misunderstand His position in the Godhead. He was the Son, there is God The Father (the supreme head) and the Holy Spirit. The 3 existed in the beginning having EQUAL status, power, authority, but their roles and interactions with man is distinct.  One of the things that fascinated me as a young Christian was getting to understand the person of the Holy Spirit. I’d read a book by Benny Hinn on the Holy Spirit (not about miracles) where he said that Christians were currently in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit; The Teacher & Comforter. I loved the revelation so much I started writing a book on the Holy Spirit ……don’t ask me where my notes are 🙂

Colossians 1:15 describes Christ as the firstborn;

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation”. NKJV.

In Hebrews 1:5-10, we see a very interesting narrative of the Father-Son relationship;

“….You are My Son, today I have begotten You? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says; “Let all the angels of God worship Him” And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire” But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of  Your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore, God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions”. And You Lord in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands…” NKJV

We can tease out a lot about Christ Jesus (and His status) from Hebrews 1 {referenced from Psalm 45:6-7};

He was in the beginning. The heavens are the works of His hands. He laid the foundation of the earth. God is His God. The Father God calls Him both God & My Son. He is the firstborn.  He has an everlasting throne, etc

Now, we see how God describes Christ. How do we (Christians) fit in? Who are we?

Galatians 3:26-29;

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Christ is the firstborn.

We are all sons of God.

We are Abraham’s seed.

We are heirs of the promise.

Question: What privileges or advantages do we have as sons? What’s our status? What does scripture mean by ‘we are Abraham’s seed and heirs of the promise?

We’ll look into the scriptures to provide answers to these questions in the next part.

What have we learnt so far?

We should have a mind of great reverence for the Father, we should stay humble, remain selfless and never attempt to usurp the position of the Father, nonetheless living in the consciousness of our status as sons of God, being fully aware of the privileges and advantages we have as sons.

Started the year on a high note, with so much expectations and excitement. Towards the end of 2018, The Lord gave me a word for 2019; ‘Look up, The Drought Is Over, The Rains are Here‘ {which I discussed in 4 blog posts- you may wish to read that up}. I am thankful for the testimonies I’ve received from my blog subscribers, how the rains have been falling around them, Praise God! I am also thankful that The Lord have confirmed this Word that indeed It Is My New Season; the drought is over, the heavens are open and the rains are pouring down, rains of full, complete miracles, goodness and blessings of God.

But then there is a thief with a job description to steal, kill and destroy…

Somewhere towards the end of January, I started having thoughts of self-harm. Am I now a mental health case? Nope. I exposed myself and mind to evil.

Two things; One, I joined a group on Google+ with the name BIBLE, very misleading name indeed! It’s really Bible, but not The Holy Bible- Satanic Bible {YUP!}. My aim was simply to share the gospel among brethren; I found myself among wolves. Didn’t take me long to realize I’d stepped into the wrong territory. I got out! Praise God. But then a lot of stuff started happening around me.

Two, the first time I watched a horror movie many years ago, I spent about a week asking The Lord to clear my head and thoughts- I was oppressed every second of the day. The Lord saved me. This time, I watched another movie, wouldn’t really describe it as horror, but had some evilish stuffs. And that’s how I found myself oppressed and depressed. Thank God He sent me His Word-

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
Philippians 4:8 NKJV

Great news, I could choose what to think about!

The Lord reached out and delivered me. Halleluyah!

And just as I was celebrating my victory over those horrible thoughts, I started feeling a sharp persistent pain in my left breast, and then there was a lump! Oops! The Surgeon wanted to immediately yank it out {fearing malignancy), but I knew I’d made declarations repeatedly against malignancy in my body. I believe the Holy Bible, that ‘I shall decree a thing and it’ll be established’. Something about the Surgeon’s plan wasn’t aligning with my believe and declarations. So I said NO. I needed a second opinion on the decision. Scan, mammogram, blood tests, etc. Everything looked good. The devil is a liar 🙂 Next Surgeon that saw me said He couldn’t even locate the lump his colleague had measured and documented a week earlier {I am just smiling in my corner}. The pain persisted for a few more days, but finally gave in to ‘by His stripes I was healed‘. Months later the pain returned. This time there was a palpable lump; even visible to the ordinary eyes. The surgeon that saw me struggled to hide his fear. I was to be scheduled for all kinds of investigations. On a brief thought, the surgeon decided to stick in a needle. About 10mls of fluids emptied from a cyst. The surgeon said to me; “you are one lucky lady you know that”. I just smiled. My Father has come through for me one more time…it is not luck.

And just as I started celebrating that victory, my blood pressure went up! Actually had my first blood pressure scare in 2018; a reaction to the steroid therapy I received for paralysis on one side of my face 🙂 I’d just woken up in the morning and oh no, one side of my jaw was drooping, my smile was funny, my entire face looked distorted 🙂 Some medics thought it was a Bell’s palsy, others thought otherwise. My thought? The Lord would fix my face and He did, halleluyah!

I was given low dose anti-hypertensives to bring down the BP, but it shot up again 3 months later. Something wasn’t right. I insisted The Lord fixed it. Told Him I wasn’t interested in any medications. And yes, He gave me an answer of peace. I clearly heard to introduce a particular vegetable into my meals, that was it. The BP went down and stayed down {don’t ask me for my veggie, ask The Lord for your answer of peace}.

So this new surge wasn’t welcome at all. I seized the opportunity to run my routine medicals for the year- everything was perfect. I reminded The Lord that we’d settled this BP issue, He reminded me about my vegetables which I’ve been omitting from my meals 🙂 On a second review, the Physician decided he wouldn’t give me anti-hypertensives- that was my ‘ask anything in My name‘ answered. Praise God!

I woke up the next morning and lo all the horrible symptoms I described in my blog post ‘When The Doctor says No‘ were back in my body like a storm! How? yesterday I was cheerful, hale and hearty, today extremely dizzy, weak, light-headed, nauseous, etc etc??

This is March 2019, and certainly these symptoms are not the RAINS The Lord promised me. This is unacceptable. I missed mid-week service, barely did any work, to lie on my bed again for days, weeks, months?? Naaa. The next morning, Saturday, I grabbed my running shoes and yes, I jogged for about 30 minutes, confessing and proclaiming that ‘he whom the Son sets free is free indeed, and ‘with Christ Jesus, I can reach any height, climb any mountain and achieve any feat’. And I jogged the next day and the next. My balance is back! Halleluyah.

But the thief wasn’t done, I started having terrible pains in my renal area. Hian! {dialect exclamation}. They hurt me for about 3 days. Somehow, I knew it was needless going to the clinic, this was a mirage. I mean i just ran my routine medical checks (so I already went to the clinic…do same if you need to).

Laid my hands over the area many times declaring that my organs were perfect. Today, as I write this I am amused….God is good.

And this is the end of this trend of events in Jesus name. I rebuke and resist you Satan in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Whatever your experience, doesn’t matter the storms or wind that blow your way, or the fire that suddenly appears to unsettle your peace, remember 2 Corinthians 2:14 and Isaiah 43:2, Isaiah 54:17, and all the promises of victory we have in Christ Jesus…

“But thanks be to God, who ALWAYS leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread His knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume“. ERV. 2 Corinthians 2:14

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall flame scorch you“. Isaiah 43:2 NKJV

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment YOU shall condemn. This is the HERITAGE of the SERVANTS of The Lord.…” Isaiah 54:17 NKJV.

There will be evil weapons formed against God’s Servants, evil enchantments will take place, there will be waters, rivers, fire and flame but VICTORY is our HERITAGE.

In the first blog post we stated that the real identity of a person is revealed in not always what we see them do or the way they act but in the way they think which they eventually voice out. The Bible tells us that ‘out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks‘ (Matthew 12:34).

Then we started looking at how the Mind of Christ is.

No.1 we said Christ had a mind of great reverence for the Father. Reverence here meaning to yield or submit to the Father’s Will by simply answering the question; ‘what would God have me do‘?

Reference scripture is Philippians 2:5;

“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of Himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of Himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. he didn’t claim special privileges. Instead He lived a selfless, obedient life and then dies a selfless, obedient death-and the worst kind of death -a crucifixion.”

The next thing we see about the Mind of Christ from our reference scripture is this;

‘He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of Himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what.’

‘Didn’t think so much of Himself‘ can mean- humility or selflessness or both.

Question: If Jesus didn’t think so much of Himself, then who was He concerned about?

Answer: Others, the world, the Father’s will….sounds like selflessness to me.

Selflessness is defined as;

-“the quality of caring more about what other people need and want than about what you yourself need and want” (Cambridge Dictionary).

Humility means ‘the quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance’.

Notice that humility doesn’t mean the quality of thinking of oneself as unimportant, rather it refers to a state where someone of great importance chooses to pay little or no attention to the things defining their status.

Arnold (my hubby) tells me I ‘worry’ too much about everything, even when it’s clearly not my ‘worry’ 🙂 and I pray that I will {upgrade} to consciously put the wants and needs of others above mine always.

Somebody said something to me some years ago, it was the first time I was hearing the second part of it -‘Grace, you look kind of unfriendly from far, but you actually have no airs’ Yes, I regularly get the feedback of having an unfriendly strict look from a distance {Lord Jesus help me! 🙂 } but that always changes on close contact. Strict/firm? Yes. Unfriendly? Try me 🙂

Question: Grace, are you implying that you’re someone of great importance? Yes! I am a Child of the Most High God, an heir of His Kingdom, that’s super important 🙂

So, ‘not having airs‘ was coming to me for the first time. And indeed, I am completely free from any sort of complex defined by a personal worth or possession. There is really nothing in this world I consider luxurious or invaluable {Heavenly things are heavenly}, this can be a problem sometimes when people think they should gain some respect because of their wealth- I may not notice….. Yes, I love beautiful lovely things and places (and The Lord blesses me with them always) but many times, I find that people keep defining my status from their personal evaluations 🙂 Surprises me how they do it!

Humility is not about portraying a depressed self or form but a choice to pay little or no attention to the things defining one’s perceived status, Selflessness is putting others above self.

Help us Lord.

The Mind of Christ is a mind of humility, selflessness and great reverence for The Father.

My first draft on this blogpost was 3 weeks ago. Isn’t it interesting how God’s Spirit works?; this was a sub-theme discussion in Church last Sunday! Ordinarily I wouldn’t bother publishing this again but for this reason; I am interested in doing a personal study on this scripture. I hope we can together gain some insights as we draw from the wisdom of Christ (Colossians 2:3).

My notes 3 weeks ago reads;

The real identity of a person is revealed in not always what we see them do or the way they act but in the way they think which they eventually voice out. The Bible tells us that ‘out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks‘ (Matthew 12:34)- Interesting that that came from Jesus Himself! Little wonder Jesus said, speaking about the Pharisees; to listen to what they say but never to act the way they do.

Focus scripture for this blogpost is Philippians 2:5 and I love the Message translation;

“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of Himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of Himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. he didn’t claim special privileges. Instead He lived a selfless, obedient life and then dies a selfless, obedient death-and the worst kind of death -a crucifixion.”

So how exactly is the mind of Christ?

1. A mind of great reverence for the Father (The Supreme Head).

Many times we misunderstand and misinterpret the Godhead. Jesus didn’t. On more than one occasion, He clearly reverenced the Father….don’t let me lose you now 🙂 – the Godhead consist of 3 ‘persons’; The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The 3 have EQUAL status, power, authority, but with distinct roles in their interaction with man. I believe that while Jesus walked on earth, he clearly identified the different characters of the Godhead. The Father as the Supreme Head, Himself as the Messiah and the Holy Spirit as the Comforter/Teacher.  Need we do same? ………

I used to wonder why Jesus repeatedly admonished His disciples to ‘make their requests to the Father in His name’ (e.g The Lord’s Prayer), why He’d pray to the Father at Lazarus’ grave before calling  him out of the tomb, why He’d ask the Father to take away the cup of His death from Him, why he said He’d pray the Father to send us the Comforter, why he’d say ‘in my Father’s house (not His house) are many mansions’….and many more why’s. The Father is just that….THE FATHER. Did He give birth to the Son? We’re not told, but we’re told the Son existed in the beginning with The Father with same God status (John 1:1-3).

Does it then mean that every time we call ‘GOD‘ we’re referring to the Godhead? Would we get the attention of all 3 of them or would they work in unison to respond? (Selah).

Certainly, we can be specific (just as Jesus always was) in clearly identifying the deity we’re referring to by calling on their specific titles; The Father, The Son (Jesus Christ) and The Holy Spirit. While they remain ONE and can do All things, but can our knowledge and familiarity of the Godhead be of added benefit to us, especially when we pray?

Back to our discussion on reverence……..

There is a particular tribe in my country Nigeria, where ordinary word greeting (good morning, evening etc) is unacceptable, especially for elders; any greeting unaccompanied by full physical prostration is considered disrespectful. Can we describe physical prostration, kneeling, bowing etc as reverence? Depends on how you look at it. Did Jesus have to do any of these to communicate His reverence for The father? (Selah).

What does it mean to reverence someone?

Dictionary definition: Simply to regard or treat someone with great respect, to think highly of someone, to hold someone in high esteem, to value someone, etc.

My all-time personal definition for reverence as relates to my faith walk?: What would God have me do (in every given situation)?  Like it or not, I tell you that this personal understanding of reverence have kept me on the right track, kept me away from trouble and given me peace.

There is a strong relationship between reverence and obedience/submission. I find that because I answer the simple question of ‘what would God have me do?’ in very challenging life situations, I am compelled, against my natural and preferred inclinations, to give a divine response to such situations and circumstances . It always pays better!  🙂

So first question to answer for ourselves: Do we have the mind of Christ as regards reverence for The Father? Do we often follow our flesh and personal inclinations, often ignoring God’s word and Spirit?

Jesus could have walked away from the cross. But He submitted to the Father’s Will (Mark 14: 36; Luke 22:42, Matthew 26:39).