Ministering to the Lord

S. Sekou Abodunrin

1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. Acts 13: 1 - 2

That phrase is all encompassing – “as they ministered to the Lord”. This was a gathering of ministers, in reality a ministers' conference. It is true that at this conference there was ordination of ministers, prophecy and the likes, but these came secondary to ministering to the Lord. In fact it seems they didn’t gather to prophesy or ordain people to the ministry, those really happened in response to the expressed will of the Lord after they had ministered to him and not firstly to one another. There is a rarity of the expression of this concept. It seems to the carnal mind that there can be nothing spiritual about shutting yourself out from doing things for the Lord or for one another. There are pressing needs to be met all around us so it is easy to justify continuously darting all around and getting “busy” meeting these “needs”. I want you to notice that these are ministers – prophets and teachers. It appears that the proper measure of the prophet and the teacher and in fact any ministry is the measure to which we minister to the Lord. Notice this is not about ministering FOR the Lord.

It is noteworthy that the piece in Acts 13 is sprinkled with all the giant spiritual words “fasting”, “prayer”, “prophecy” but it didn’t start with these, it says “ministering to the Lord and fasting” – ministering to the Lord and fasting - often these two go together, but in reality fasting is quite a separate and distinct entity from ministering to the Lord and in God’s mind they do not mean the same thing at all. There are people, religious people, who are champions at fasting, but who know little or nothing about ministering to the Lord. It is the easiest thing as a Christian to minister to our own needs. We have those that are slightly more spiritual – they minister to others’ needs, but there is a need to awaken to the fact that God should also be ministered to and in fact that should come first! You have to learn the deep spirituality of seeing your needs and other’s needs as secondary to ministering to the Lord. Ministering to the Lord is not the same thing as meeting other people’s needs, there is a place for these things, but they are given a place that steals the show from properly ministering to the Lord. Real ministry flows from ministering to the Lord.

Contrary to religious thinking, God is not primarily interested in using you to reach others. Surely he wants to reach others, but firstly he wants you to himself exclusively. Think about it, when Adam and Eve were in Eden, there was no evangelism, no church to minister to, nor were there any lost people to discuss about, yet the bible talks about God coming to fellowship with his man in the garden – hmm what were they talking about? Adam only understood Eve because they stood in the presence of love. The love that Adam had for Eve was a byproduct of the love that he received from God. this love exchange is fellowship. In reality many folks will be totally out of place in that kind of atmosphere. Strip many Christians of their needs, the needs of other believers or the needs of the lost world and their basis for fellowship vaporizes! There is a primal need in the heart of God and we meet that need by ministering to the Lord. You realise that the bible describes Adam and Eve as being "naked and not ashamed". The immediate thought is that they pursued intimacy without any sense of condemnation as they stood in one another’s presence only because they knew God's love. As soon as they sinned, they lost a consciousness of God's love and they covered up for the loss of this intimacy. They didn’t just withdraw from one another, that was just the symptom. The real tragedy was that they withdrew from love [God]. They were still busy, but they were withdrawing from the wooing of love. Somehow they interacted more with trees than with God!

When that which you do for God takes the place of ministering to him, even that which we do for him becomes meaningless. Ministry for him flows from ministering to him first. It’s very much like a man who would rather leave his family out in the cold than get the car dirty in a snowstorm. The car has lost its reason for being, for it should come secondary to the family and not replace it. God wants so much of you that he indwells you by his Spirit. He is as much at home in you as he is at home in heaven. This is the genius of the new birth – God lives in you. While it is noble and proper to want to minister him to others, we must never forget that the main thing is to minister to him in the sanctuary of your spirit.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: Gen 1:26a

The bible shows that man is created in the image and likeness of God. This is not just stating the fact that we look like God, but that man is primarily a mirror of God. God wants to mirror what he is like for creation to gain an insight into what our Father is like. In simple terms we are to function very much like God and exhibit characteristics that can be found in God. God is not man, nor is man God but it is obvious that every human carries a capacity to receive and give love. This love characteristic does not originate in man, but in God. God wants to give and receive love. He has given his love, but very few believers respond by also loving him back. Sometimes what we call praise is not truly praise, but a “spiritual” bribe disguised as flattering words or words spoken to keep him from getting angry. The mouth is declaring the majesty of God, while the heart is focused on overcoming some demon, getting a new house or scoring religious points with God. In that religious system praise is the money of the kingdom. Definitely God wants us dwelling in goodly houses, but we do not trade praise for houses. We praise him understanding that it is our ministry of love to our father.

We must learn the reality of covering God with spirit-born, heart-felt praise not born of duty or obligation but of love and adoration. It must sink into your consciousness that God needs ministry too. You see, love must have an object of its affection otherwise love is not in full flow. God is love and so he expresses himself in showering us with his goodness. Whatever gives love is also capable of receiving the same, therefore God has a need to receive love also. We don’t praise him because he is having a bad day or worried about the happenings in Iraq or some corner of the universe. He is love, so he gives love and yearns to receive love back. Our praise is a form of ministry; we are returning love to God. Our conversations with him must be filled with an awareness of him. We are interested in saturating the atmosphere of God with our thoughts towards him.

… to be continued

Why did Jesus appear to Saul on the road to Damascus?

S. Sekou Abodunrin

[For context please read Luke 11: 1 – 13, Acts 9: 1 – 18]

And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Acts 7:60, Acts 8:1

Stephen faced the full venom of religious persecution. This whole episode was overseen by a young man who was full of offense. While the heavy stones were landing on Stephen and splitting his head he remembered the type of man that he was – he was a new creation love spirit. Stephen manifests a royalty and calm in the midst of this storm – he had time to remember to kneel down! Apparently this was his preferred prayer posture! He had the choice of allowing the hatred in Saul and the mob drive him to fleshly retaliation.

He also had the choice to follow the example of Jesus and allow love rise out of his spirit and dominate that frenzied mob action. He opted for the love option, for he was a love man. A fellow doesn’t make such decisions on the spur of the moment. He was a hardened lover. He loved his enemies and was as merciful as his heavenly father is merciful.

I want you to notice that Stephen cried with a loud voice. It is important to meditate deeply on what he conveyed through this loud cry. He was extending mercy to Saul and his companions! We know that Saul was consenting to this death. Saul got more than he bargained for. The things he heard pouring out of the mouth of Stephen were from another world. Saul didn’t know what God was like, but he could see it in Stephen. Through Stephen then God was gong to have good advertisement that will register on Saul’s senses. Saul was a natural man, a man of the senses, he needs to have a demonstration out in the sense realm and God was willing to give this to Saul, the trouble was there was a scarcity of men who would be sold out to love no matter what.

Stephen prayed a short but deeply spiritual prayer that was born of love. His desires were tied up with the desires of Jesus. He said for Jesus not to lay the offense against Saul and his companions. This caught the attention of Saul. This caught the attention of Jesus. Usually he is seated in heaven, but this time Stephen saw him STANDING. He is standing because of the type of love that Stephen is demonstrating. Jesus now has an opportunity to answer the prayer of Stephen. This was the door of love that Stephen opened to Jesus so that Jesus, a man of heaven, could come into the earth and make an appearance to Saul.

Stephen operated in the spirit of the new covenant – he operated in forgiveness. This was the same forgiveness that he had received from the father in Christ Jesus. You recall the case in Mt 18 involving reconciliation? The actions of the brethren can loose the Spirit to go after the errant brother or close the door in such a way that the Spirit is limited in manifesting restoration. Jesus as the head of the church and the saviour of men needs to be given audience before men so that his influence can be manifested. What Stephen did in allowing love to make a statement through him effectively gave Jesus such a door through which he could pursue Saul. He chose to make his appearance on the road to Damascus.

If you closely study the events surrounding Saul’s encounter you realise that while Stephen’s love walk was the door through which the Spirit could manifest Jesus to Paul, the Lord needed the love walk of another believer in order to manifest his healing life to Saul. This is why Jesus approached Ananias. Ananias could walk in unlove and thus delay Saul’s deliverance or he could open a further door to Jesus so that he could give Saul a first rate demonstration of his love.

The stones split the head of Stephen, but couldn’t break his love resolve. We have a scarcity of this in our day. Stephen remained a love man to the very last – Jesus stood up for such a man! Old Sekou would have prayed what’s now known as “dangerous praying” asking for the death and destruction of his enemies, but Jesus has used Stephen to teach that love can have full sway. Dangerous praying is really ignorance about love. Stephen really provided a door through which Saul could walk out of the room of hate and unlove. This is a clear case of Stephen, a new creation man, walking in a degree of judgement that sentenced Saul to an encounter with Jesus.

You have read of how Jesus appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus. Is this a case of randomness of spiritual operations or is there something we can learn from it?

Jesus died for Saul, but religious zeal was stealing Saul away from Jesus. There is nothing that is as effective in stealing men away from Jesus as religious zeal. Love in expression will break the power of religion over the minds of men. Jesus has a rare chance to get through to Stephen and through Stephen get through to Saul. What happened to Stephen never really left the mind of Paul. He was branded by this type of hot love. Jesus could go after Saul in hot pursuit without Saul requesting it. Stephen’s prayer would be answered and he will bear love fruits. Do you realise that as you choose to walk in and enforce mercy to the undeserving you take the game up one more level to where the Saul’s of this life have no hiding place from the power of love?

Stephen recognised that the torment and anger he could see on the face of Saul was really a reflection of the state of Saul’s heart. It is a known law that the face reveals the hidden emotions of the soul. This meant that Saul was really a man on a journey. He saw Stephen as enemy, but Stephen saw him as friend. This was a friend on a journey.

For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? Luke 11:6

Saul’s hatred is making a demand upon Stephen. Stephen must have something to present to Saul. Stephen could present unlove or he could reach into the mind of Christ and present love. Stephen enters into communion with Jesus and receives and releases love and forgiveness towards Saul. Saul isn’t like many Christians today who would dig out of their flesh the most deadly acts of unlove and go to the level of the ignorant man who walks in hate. There is a tendency to curse in these situations or even send Saul to hell. This would mean that Stephen is ploughing contrary to the way that Jesus has ploughed. Jesus is waiting patiently to receive the precious fruit of the earth – a man like Saul. Stephen presented love to Saul and by doing this he was receiving bread for Saul. He was bypassing the flesh of Saul and making it possible for Saul’s inner man to participate in the heavenly bread – Jesus.

Stephen extended friendship on a new level to Saul. The Holy Spirit enforced it by manifesting Jesus to Saul. Saul came breathing threatenings, while the Lord Jesus through Stephen was breathing love. Love in the resurrected man is stronger and mightier than any threat that the man of hate can bring.

…to be continued

WORSHIP: Baptising the senses in God - Part B

S. Sekou Abodunrin

[Please read PART A before reading this]

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth
John 4:23,24

Can you pick the triumph in Jesus as he said that – the hour cometh and now is ……..
It is as if every measure of time would either look forward or backwards to that hour. Something new and unknown to the earth was unfolded by Jesus.

God has been seeking for true worship. David and the Old Testament saints gave all that they could give, but they couldn’t give that which they didn’t have. This was because they were spiritually dead. God sent his Son as the answer in order to meet this need. We have received from him that which God seeks. We can now worship God out of his nature within our reborn spirits.

The enemy will work in such a way as to steal from you a revelation of this worship. The circumstances of life fuelled and distorted by the flesh will endeavour to hoard you and your vocabulary into a place of disagreement with love and with the word. It encourages you to think that you are all alone and so you succumb by speaking your thoughts instead of his thoughts. We are persuaded however that above all that surrounds us; we know that the one who has the last say so is installed in majesty.

When you worship out of your new nature your mind and imagination are carried past the barriers of fear.

Only perfect love can cast out this fear. This love is available in worship. How could you ever worship for any other reason asides love?

It is amazing that God is seeking for a particular type of worship when you consider that God had created multiplied billions of Angels before he created man. These already praise him night and day without ceasing. He even has angels whose sole duty it is to worship. These Angels serve God day and night worshipping and praising the most High. Yet the scriptures say that God is looking for a particular type of worship. It is nature to nature worship. God is a spirit; his life is the God-life or Zoë. He has given this life to your reborn spirit through the new birth. The life within your spirit is fully capable of corresponding to the life within God, this is spiritual worship. The Angels don’t have this life, they have angel life, just like animals have animal life and vegetables have vegetable life.

The life within you is God's own type and quality of life and the highest praise flows out of this life. We praise and worship him now no longer requiring any reason other than the fact that our nature loves to fellowship his nature. We are not trying to earn his favour, nor are we trying to score points with him. We do this not for profit, but just because we love him. He loves us first and our works second. When I know that God hotly pursues me in love, it frees me to love him without seeking to manipulate him with my actions for I know I am already loved. So I love back.

Why do we worship? Not because we want something from him or want some circumstance changed. We worship just because we choose to. When I “worship” because I want something, it means that my mind is really focused on the thing that I want and not on him. This locks the mouth in a place where the heart is not and robs God of having the mouth and heart in union. You must learn to discipline your senses in the gym of God and approach him as father of the family. There are some that need to be taken through lengthy psyches in order to locate a reason for praise. This really reflects the fact that they have not saturated their minds with him. Really you don’t need a reason to praise or worship. You have the true reason within - his love and his life. We have him.

The bible talks about two mountains. [See Hebrews 12:18 - 24]

The people in the Old Testament came to that first mountain and it was a fearful experience. The people couldn’t draw near to this mountain because of fear in their hearts, this robbed God of the fellowship he deeply desired. Even Moses the lawgiver trembled. By extension Moses cannot take you up this mountain past the barrier of fear for he himself had the same limitations.

Then we come to another mountain, the New Jerusalem on high. On this mountain there is no fear. We draw near with excitement and love because Jesus leads us into the very holiest of God. He leads us into the most holy by a new and living way.

On the first mountain there was only one son, this son is called the only begotten, for none other could lay claim to sonship. On the second mountain, the one that is available for us today, there are many sons in glory. He is no longer the only begotten, but the first born among many brethren.

You must choose to walk away from the first mountain where fear rules and whose worship is conducted in fearful trembling, and walk in the reality of this other mountain where the one on the throne is for us.

There is a tendency in some quarters to measure wealth in terms of money, gold or silver. The Apostle Peter says that these things are perishable [1 Pet 1:18, 2 Pet 3: 10 – 12]. One of these days there will be a big melt down according to the word of the Lord, the whole system will dissolve in fervent heat as God brings forth a new heaven and a new earth. God has given us clear revelation that the true riches of the earth are not perishable, this is because they are eternal - they are the humans on this earth. You have to learn to appreciate the estimation that God has placed upon man. You will survive this melt-down and pass on into the fuller plan of God. He wants you to present to him the most expensive thing on this earth – YOU! This is worship. He doesn’t want from you that which perishes, he wants the imperishable. He wants you.

You will survive the meltdown. You will outlast the sun. You will throw your hands up in worship.

You see, man is a spirit being who functions and expresses himself through a soul. Your spirit craves fellowship with the father like a flower seeks the sun. The Father also longs for you like the farmer longs for the rain. Your soul will pick impulses from the happenings in the natural world, hence when you are in worship your spirit gets into communion and your soul crawls down to oxford street lost in thought. The reason is because you haven’t gone to the gym of the soul where you focus its adoration on the truths of the word. This would have aided you in true worship, but notwithstanding there is enough within your new nature to pause, stroll down that road and drag your soul back to the place where its focus is the father and nothing else.

Your mouth is expressing in melody the adoration that your spirit “feels” towards the father. Mix it with the confession of the word to deliberately keep your soul in line. This will aid your mind and help recover your imagination in calling up images of father’s love. It will also raise your mind’s awareness of the presence of the Lord in his word.

How do you do this? The secret is in the fact that words will reframe and reassign thoughts. You take a thought and own it by saying words [Mt 6:31]. In other words your words will always arrest the progression that your soul is making. This is the true reason for what is called confession.

If you want your imagination to bring up images consistent with the nature of God you will need to declare rather boldly and consistently the things that your spirit knows to be true about God. You say this loud enough to drown the noise in your soul. Your imagination will start bearing another fruit that aids your spiritual worship. This is worship in truth. You are activating and enforcing the truth as revealed in God’s word. When this is accomplished in your soul and your mind and imagination are recovered you return to that fellowship that your spirit was having with the father and you carry on by faith. Again your soul will take a fancy journey down to the nearest Sainsbury or Tesco store. Do not panic. The fact is that the spirit is willing; it is the flesh that is weak.

The flesh will impose this wandering and roaming upon your mind and imagination especially in worship. God has always known this, but it is all new to you. This is not the devil, but the flesh in action. You lift your voice again above the “noise” in the soul and boldly declare what you know about Jesus and his sustaining power over your whole being. This is confession. This will extend the dominion of God into your soul and extend the territory of worship – this baptises your senses in God’s own wine. You have to learn to fill your mind with the word as it will aid these seasons of confession. This is not so much good statements like “By his stripes I am healed”, it is more like “he is my substitute, he is my high priest, and he is my healer”. You see, the first set of confessions was centred on a thing called healing, while the second is centred on a person called healer. Healing is what your body needs, healer is who he is. In worship I get absorbed into the atmosphere of God. I fill the whole place with the perfume of his name, his standing, and his glory. He will baptise my senses in whatever I call him.

In effect you would be giving to the father God the most precious thing – yourself. That is what he really wants and that is the hardest thing to give it seems, but as you learn the revelation of worship you take the war over your soul to a whole new level. There is a vocabulary in the word that will aid your emotions, intellect and will in pouring out the adoration locked deep within. As you give enough of yourself to him in worship, you are able to receive and retain enough of him in your walk until your very presence becomes the presence of God. He will exchange your presence with his. Currently you are so aware of your fears, so you talk your fears. You cannot help it, they are so real to you. It is a habit. As you learn the revelation of worship out of the reborn spirit and on the basis of the revealed word, you will rescue your soul from fear. That which is within your spirit will transport your emotional life across the barrier of fear and sorrow.

I am not even describing somebody who carries an anointing to lead people in worship or anything of that sort. That is different. You need to realise that when we say a person is “anointed” what really happens is that the Spirit of God takes hold of the spirit of a man, and through the spirit of the man bypasses the man’s soul and reaches out through some part of his body in order to bring the blessing to others. Please read that again. The implication is that this concept of “anointing” while valid it really leaves the man’s soul intact and unaffected! This operates as the Spirit wills. In fact if the degree of anointing is intense, the same process takes place in the person that God is trying to get to. The anointing bypasses the receiver’s mind and changes the condition in the natural. Both parties have their souls intact and unaffected. Both are still drunk in “wine”.

You might need to re-read the stuff you just read above. This describes the enigma of an anointed man whose senses are immersed in wine.

Many Christians go through this even in what’s called “worship service”. This holds true for both the one used of God to lead the worship and those cooperating with him. The senses are often submerged in wine while the mouth is uttering mysteries. You can deliberately declare war on your senses as you worship Yahweh Adonai. You can ,on purpose, mix confession with what you have been doing knowing that words will anchor the soul into the harbour of peace. As you worship out of your new nature on the basis of the revealed word you create opportunities for the Spirit of God to use your spirit to pour out into your soul. You soul gets so saturated that it pours out into your body and through your body out into the earth. This brings your senses into a fresh intoxication with things heavenly and spiritual. Practice this often until it becomes an atmosphere perceptible in your daily walk to you most importantly and to others secondarily.

What!! You feel saturated by what you have read? Hmm Relax, grab a pizza and re-read PART 1 & 2 again and again.

...to be continued

WORSHIP: Baptising the senses in God - Part A

S. Sekou Abodunrin


And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Eph 5:18

When one is filled with the Spirit, he is filled with a clear understanding of the things that concern Jesus in glory. No one is able to participate in true worship that hasn’t first learned the secret of knowing what Jesus is doing for him today at the right hand of God. It is the knowledge of his service for you that enables you to participate in true service. It is not the other way round. This puts within you a well, a living well of living water. You can drink of this well anytime that you want to even when the pressure is mounting all around you. The Spirit will fill you with the knowledge that enables you to take with quiet faith his promised supply.

Please re-read what follows very slowly. Paul likened the effect of true worship to that which a man feels when he is under the influence of wine. When he said “wine” he really means that which intoxicates and empowers the flesh against the spirit. Wine dulls the senses and creates a false security temporarily. In order to prolong this false security there is need to baptise the senses in more wine. This affects how quickly the problem lays hold on our senses. You see we have been trained by experience and culture to drown our senses in a false reality through this process. You realise that wine is whatever produces this in you. Through much fellowship with wine, we are effectively hiding from facts. The amazing thing is that Paul likened being filled with the Spirit to this concept. The effect of the Spirit as wine is to dull your senses to the flesh and awaken its consciousness of the reality of God.

When you yield to the true worship rising out of your reborn spirit, it will ultimately transport your senses into a new awareness. In effect it will baptise your senses in God’s reality for you are drunk in God. Wine alters your chemical composition and so distorts your perception of reality. True worship on the other hand adjusts your senses to see clearly into God, break away from the false images imposed by the flesh on your mind and this opens you up to answers that will change the problems. In other words you are running towards facts so as to change them. See it this way – as you operate in true worship, you are reversing the effect of “wine”. It carries us past the barrier of irresponsible living. True worship dulls your sensitivity to the flesh, just like wine dulls your sensitivity to happenings around you. This comes about by lending your mouth and your imagination to the Spirit of God.

People who are drunk in wine often do not see clearly. Their vision is distorted. As we behold the glory of the Lord in the mirror we are transformed into the image that we see in the word. You are not really who you think that you are. There is more. You need to exchange vision. Somehow we must see past our current limits until what we see as the glory of the Lord is really seen for what it is - A glory he has shared with us and called us into[John 17:22]. This understanding aids your transformation. The trouble is that our experiences have imprinted on our minds what we think that we are and we have a lot of evidences for it. It will take the greatest fight in you, but you will have to see through the eyes of God’s love to go past this place of comparing spiritual things with natural. You must learn not to compare the spiritual standing of Christ with your natural weaknesses. Through worship you find it easier to compare his spiritual standing with your spiritual exaltation in Christ. It is God’s plan that as you look at Christ your senses contact the things that drive change.


Here is an exercise based on 1 john 4:17 to gain expertise in the practical application and meaning of the baptising the senses. Can you see Jesus as the very holiness and righteousness of the living God? Can you see him seated? Now, you are to worship and give thanks to God the father for Jesus the holy, glorious and righteous one. Now recall that “as he is so are we in this world” – So boldly confess that you are glorious, holy and righteous. Thank God for this slowly and repeatedly.

Worship is a door into the love of God.

It helps you receive more of that love that he has loved you with from all eternity. He cannot love you any more than he does now, but you can discover, bask and live in the reality of more of his unchanging love. Through worship you become more attuned to God’s atmosphere.

There is no end to knowing who he is, but there is a knowledge of him that is sufficient for this dimension of existence that we know as the earth. The love of God will carry you across the barriers of fear. Knowing him can bring your soul into a new set of realities, a place of being where all things are possible.

So you have a little team, and two people leave the team and you throw your hands up in despair? You should be genuinely mindful that the two have left, but very often we are in intense pain because we think that it is all about us - "they left me" - this is where we need restoration. It is not about you, but about him. Your mind gets adjusted by this and true love is born. Love for God, true love for his people – even “deserters”.

You and I are familiar with three creations - The animal, the angelic, and the human. This is the border of revelation that we can cope with, but you can be sure that in God there is a lot that we cannot wrap our brain around just yet. Generally, it seems that men cannot quite handle interaction with the angelic without seeming to loose common sense. Even John had to be instructed against angel worship in the book of revelation. What would happen if more were made obvious to us? Yet God will reveal more. You could postpone it till after death in the sweet by and by or you might as well step the game up one more level now.

We see a pattern in the way that God has created men and angels. The concept of choice is so important to him that he designed even his servants [angels] with power to choose. God has kept this pattern with you also; he has designed you with a right to choose. This is a right that is deeply costly to God for he knows that the choice can work either way, but in love he hasn’t made you a puppet. What pleasure would God get from operating you like a puppet and making you say what he wants to hear? He has billions of creatures in far flung space already serving that function. You have a right to choose confusion when all hell breaks loose around you and it is likely that you have exercised this fundamental right more than a few times or haven’t you?

Some of the angels chose to rebel against God. God’s own very creatures had turned around in rebellion. He also faced rebellion from Adam and humanity. Yet he has made you with a right and a capacity for making choices and he has not withdrawn it. He has eternity. He created it. He has angels around him in glory. Why does he not give up on man? The reason is that He wants sons and daughters who have made a choice to love him - he really wants you.

You also have a fundamental right to throw your hands up in abandonment to the love of the living God. What he wants is for you to want to worship, just because it has become an outflow of your new nature. This means so much to God.


Jesus showed us in the divine exchange called redemption, that the people of the earth are his treasure. God wants to commit enough of himself into your hands such that he can reach out through you to transform lives. This is true wealth.

The truth is that God would like to use you to win London. Or does he need to look farther? This is what it means when it says that God will commit to you the true riches. As love gets a handle on you, God can get the rare opportunity to place his treasures in your care. He knows that in the worst of times you can have the best of communion because you will throw you hands up in worship rather than speak offence to his treasured possession you will speak peace.

According to Peter, this whole structure shall melt with fervent heat. The gold, silver, and current measure of wealth will melt away. The precious human will survive this meltdown.

You matter to him.

Consider this, imagine that a certain rich man has a steward; he asks for a cup of tea, the steward makes it such that it is not hot enough. The rich man is angry; he throws the cup of tea in the steward’s face forgetting that he is addressing a fellow man. He is rich in a sense, but so poor in true riches. He doesn’t have the capacity to contain the true riches of God. Some need to be reminded that they were spared the flood in England before they can find enough reason to release worship. They are too drunk in the senses so you need to constantly shock their minds with gory tales of earthquakes, hurricanes or one disaster or the other before they express thanksgiving. Escaping these grave dangers is all the reason that they can think of. Guys, we need no reason other than that his love overflows in us. He has paid the price. We take our life in our hands and give him influence before men. Love is our motivation.

.... to be continued

Giving what you have from God

S. SEKOU ABODUNRIN

I want to encourage you to read through 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13 & 14. In 1 Corinthians 12 we have the manifestations of the Spirit, while in chapter 13 we have the great expose on love. The Apostle felt it important to discuss these two concepts before going onto chapter 14. Chapter 14 is in effect an application of chapter 12 and 13. Chapter 14 will not make any sense until you realise that it is an outline of how love will seek to bring the greatest possible benefit through the manifestation of the Spirit. It is seeking to describe love beings in fellowship. When you mix love and the manifestation of the Spirit together you have the local church in expression.

The local church is a place where love reaches out through one believer to bless another believer. This puts the supernatural in proper perspective. The supernatural manifestations of the Spirit are not a badge of spirituality in themselves, they only serve their purpose when we are well adjusted to our love nature. Love is spirituality. The manifestation is an aid to showcase this love. The manifestation will also as quickly showcase unlove and confusion if these lessons are ignored, the problem is not with the manifestation, but with unlove.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal 1 Cor 12:7

We see that the manifestation is given; it is given by the Spirit to our spirit so that we can receive it and give it on to others. It is easier to think that the problem is on the giving side so we plead with God to send manifestation whereas he is far more willing and able to manifest himself than our asking can ever express. He has given, but do we receive? Many dont receive, Then some that receive are unaware that God's intent was to bless others. The reason for the manifestation of the Spirit is to bring benefit or profiting to the believers around you. The implication of this is that there is a whole lot that the Spirit of God would pour out to you in your private life that is not really meant for you alone. Often the believer has been conditioned to expect this flow when he is in “meetings”, while it is true that there will be manifestation while gathered with other believers the real flow happens when you are not in a “spiritual” environment. This is the very reason why many Christians think that the Spirit does not flow through them when in reality he does but unlove stops them from pressing further to bring the manifestation out into the open where it can bless some other person. We are often expecting some “new” thing, when we already have his ministry within.

This is where 1 Cor 13 comes in. It is the prevalence of God’s love within you that will open you up to the fact that the manifestations of the Spirit that you often personalise are really meant for the edification of another person. We are often not sensitive to this because of the ceiling that the flesh imposes on our soul – things like sadness, depression and melancholy. So when the comfort of God flows out of our spirits we quickly appropriate it for ourselves and sadly it all ends there. The melancholy is reversed and we are now happy!! Yippee!! In reality if you weren’t sad to start with, it would have been obvious that the surge of encouragement that you can perceive must be for another’s benefit. The fact then is that until I learn to walk in God, I would unconsciously think every “word” or “prophecy” that comes to me in private is for me! We are the hand that Christ will use to extend comfort into the lives around us. Because we think this way we know that utterance manifestations will pour out of our spirits by God's Spirit to edify people.

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 2 Cor 1:4

This teaches that in any trouble we can expect comfort. We receive from this comfort, but the comfort of the Spirit that is flowing in the midst of our tribulations is not primarily given for our benefit alone but that through us, as yielded vessels, God is able to convey his mercy to others. We are required to take this edification that we have in the midst of trials and tribulations and brood upon it until we become full of the ministry of God. When we get to the presence of other men, the Spirit reaches within this fullness that we have within and pours out tremendous blessing to others. This is only possible when love reigns in me. Otherwise it is all about me.

Very often believers are waiting for some mysterious force to shake them or make their teeth rattle before they move out in the spirit, but the truth is that you can rise up within and allow the activity of the Spirit in you to bless others.

How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying 1 Cor 14:26

According to the truths presented in 1 Cor 14 believers ought to go to church conscious of the fact that they already have something. You receive this in private. The emphasis in our day makes church largely a thing of “coming to get”, which is good in its own place, but there is something better – coming to give that which you have from God. He is talking of things that we had before the meeting and not because we came to the meeting to start with. Imagine what would happen when believers become so love-aware that they rush to meetings in order to give that which will edify another. The implication is that before the meeting you are meant to have something, and this is not about offerings, but about the release and operation of the Spirit through you!

Since you already have these things before the meeting, it shows that there is nothing magical about the venue that suddenly causes you to be spiritual. The meeting is not really where you come to get something to give “on the spur of the moment”; it is a place where you watch for the timing of when to give what you already have.

As we develop in love, we become so conscious of the people that God wants to reach out to that we become full of the answers. We carry these answers into the meetings. You realise that Paul just listed 5 broad categories – psalm, doctrine, tongue, revelation & interpretation. This would mean that a church of 50 Christians would have about 10 people each with about the same message to deliver! This is good. The thing to note is that you shouldn’t go for a meeting and everything spoken was over your head. You should have a witness. Everyone ought to know something before the meeting.

Paul said two or three should do the speaking in the general meeting. He is not saying only these should talk at all. This definitely means that the greatest blessing doesn’t happen in the general assembly, otherwise why did everyone come with things to minister and you allow only two or three? Love will teach you that there is timing for the delivery of what you have. Likely you belong to some unit or group in church, what do you do there? Talk about the size of the new church bus? Or the colour of Gordon brown’s latest shirt? These are powerful opportunities to deliver what you have. While hugging the folks at close of service the love-man doesn’t fume that he wasn’t called out to minister, he knows the people to hug, the ones to run after at the close of service so that he can release the ministry of God.

… to be continued.

Love's plan of increase

S. SEKOU ABODUNRIN

[I encourage you to read Lk 19: 1 - 11 before reading further]

And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. (Luk 19:2)

You do not need to read too far in the gospels to catch the general feeling that the jew had towards someone of Zacchaeus' standing. The Pharisees classed the sinners and the publicans as first-class citizens of some looney part of hell. Here we have the impact of such a publican recorded in the word of God forever. There are lessons that we can learn from this. Notice that Zacchaeus is not just a publican, he is not even one of the noted publicans, he was the chief, You could say that he was "god father" amongst the publicans! The bible is also not silent about the fact that he was rich. He had mastered how to use manipulation strategies to obtain wealth and that plan was working.

There is a scarcity of what we see in Zacchaeus - a rich man running, not after money, but to see Jesus. He tries to press through the crowds, then this rich man climbs up a tree just so he might catch a glimpse of love. Somehow the crowd couldnt see all this! love was making claims on Zacchaeus, but religion was blind to it. It is beautiful that Jesus locates this fellow and reaches out to him.

Until Zacchaeus met Jesus, he was a typical, rich, chief-publican but everything changed after an encounter with Jesus as the wisdom of God revealed. I am persuaded that Zacchaeus perhaphs understood the love plan best of most characters recorded in the earth-walk of Jesus. He did what the rich young ruler couldnt do, and he did it of his own accord! You recall that Jesus is the word of God in action. In order words, this noted jew came in living contact with the word of God and he received the word of God into his house as guest. Let us watch carefully what happens when the word passes through Jericho to locate Zacchaeus. There is something about waiting upon the word that hands you over to true greatness in God.

We do not know exactly what Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus that caused the radical change as it is recorded in this passage, but it is obvious that he would have shared with him the concept of true riches that were hidden in God's word. Zacchaeus was a reservoir of wealth. Somehow whenever the money gets to him it gets stored up and the flow of increase does not reach out from him into the society. In other words Zacchaeus represents the system by which poverty rules over a locality. Like most of the religious gurus of our day, If you had walked around the town where Zacchaeus was you would have reason to suspect that the wealth was truly with the wicked and you might in fact see behind the scenes enough to realise that this is the method by which satan affects the circulation of wealth thus enslaving both the rich and the poor. Someone would quickly suggest that some generational curse or some other ancestral thing was holding that city bound. This is where things get exciting in this record. Now it is obvious that there is serious stranglehold on finances in that town, but how does Jesus affect this stranglehold that satan has over such an area?

I want you to notice that Jesus does not enter into that town seeking to rent the strongest camel that could take him up the tallest building in order to "pull these strongholds down". He realises that satan cannot legally touch the money. Men must be involved somehow in order for the financial strategy to be effective. If the men are influenced, everything changes.

The love of money is the root of this evil. The secret to breaking down this evil system therefore will be to re-assign the love-life of Zacchaeus! The love-relationship that Zacchaeus maintains with money, together with the ideas, thoughts and practices of the publican has been used to erect a stronghold in Zacchaeus' heart. The strength of this stronghold is sustained by the degree to which Zacchaeus is schooled in the ideas, thoughts, and love relationship he maintains towards money. Outside of these thoughts, ideas and emotional attachment about finances, there is no stronghold. These strongholds then become the channel through which money is drained from circulation into the reservoir of the wicked. Zacchaeus is a typical example and not an exception to this law.

Jesus, the living word, exposed Zacchaeus to the love of God. Zacchaeus had a love-need and love reached out to him. The people feel that the method of Jesus wouldnt work. They murmured and grumbled because their religious sensibility was violated. They were loveless. Jesus pays no attention to it whatsoever. You see, religion enslaves man and binds his mind until he is not free to think creatively. Zacchaeus is affected by the force and wisdom of this love that is poured on him through Jesus. This drives out all the fear that Zacchaeus had about people and the financial realm and it effectively dismantled satan's regime enforced through Zacchaeus' stale lovelife. This is the lesson that Jesus taught here so emphatically. The way to dismantle satan's stranglehold on the financial realm is not to do extensive city marches battling spirits and devils. You see, men spend money, not spirit beings. The way to affect the money is to systematically dismantle the ideas that men have where money is concerned. Zacchaeus was supplied with the wisdom of manipulation and being manipulated. This is a corrupt wisdom. If every man around had operated in the wisdom of God, the spirits will still be around, but effectively useless. The secret then is to expose the soul of Zacchaeus to the living word who is the wisdom of God in motion. Zacchaeus didint know God's strategy. This gave room for satan's manipulations. Jesus plugs this knowledge gap and supplies Zacchaeus with the very wisdom of God and Zacchaeus cooperates! The salvation of Zacchaeus' soul was in effect the financial salvation of that town. Notice verse 8

And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.

Zacchaeus had caught unto the very wisdom of God! Imagine the impact that this outflow from Zacchaeus will have on that city. Suddenly there was bounty flowing towards the poor. The money wasnt coming from heaven or from satan's hands. Wisdom was flowing from God through his word, while money was flowing through Zacchaeus. The abundance was flowing from the love of God that had affected Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus had used the fear-tactic of false accusation to drain money from the poor! The people had also succumbed to fear-tactic which kept them impoverished. God was now using Zacchaeus to extend his mercy and grace in that town. Now let us walk through the same town 2 weeks after. The very atmosphere is changed!

The demons are not dead, they have been profoundly neutralized by the word!! The man had lost God's love plan in the financial realm and Jesus leads him back to it as the living word. The impact of this was so profound that the people thought that the kingdom of God would appear immediately. They had seen the religious leaders use fear tactics and laws to affect the flow of money. They had seen the publicans use the same fear-tactic through extortion and false accusation, but when they saw love's impact they immediately connected with the kingdom. The word of God contains the keys that bring exaltation in finances according to God's love plan.

...to be continued