StandPoint117

It is in dealing (transacting) with a person that the deep elements of his character are revealed to us. We can claim only little knowledge of someone we have not dealt with. This is how important it is to deal with God and to be dealt with by Him. It makes what we have read about Him richer and deeper. Knowledge obtained from dealing (transacting) with God is always a living and tangible knowledge. It takes Revelation Knowledge to Relational knowledge. The way to it is to deal with God - engage Him on the issues of His word as to see its effect in our lives. And to persist on having His feedback. This is where the work is. It might require that we ask again and again, and that we keep asking until we get God's feedback. What we will obtain along the way  is a new knowledge of God. For the greatest thing God gives us in answering our prayers is not even the answer to our prayers but a new knowledge of Himself. A man who wants to know God's will, or get God's feedback, or ...

Scriptural Knowledge often is the starting point of Spiritual Knowledge. It is not all there is to it though. What Jesus prescribed is Knowing The Scriptures and Knowing The Power of God (how God works, in practice, concerning a thing), Matt. 22:29. There are those, though, who know the power of God ( how God works) concerning a thing before knowing the scriptures concerning it. It's like meeting a Person One-on-One and seeing Him at work before having the opportunity to read his profile. Even the Scriptures, there is a question upon our knowledge of it. We shouldn't be too sure of ourselves, but probe and ask the Holy Spirit to help our understanding. The disciples, up until the day of Jesus' Resurrection, did not understand that Jesus was to rise from the dead. Quite shocking! They had been with Him, and He had told them in different ways, yet they didn't get it. " They still did not understand from scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead." Jo...

We have heard so many differing views about Tithing, both from the Law Perspective and the Grace Perspective, that some New Testament believers are now stuck somewhere in the line. Please permit me to refer you to a perspective that remains solid and sure; one that is up for little or no debates. Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase ; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10. We are shown by the ageless wits of Solomon that Giving and Tithing are Honor Issues. Oh the Lord knows very well - It is a Honor issue! Again, It is a Honor Issue! It will take nothing less than the ingredients of Honour for a man to excel in this virtue (Tithing particularly). Please be sure that Tithing still comes with a promise. It never ceased to. Before God, it will never become casual. "...So your barns will be filled with plenty..." What does this mean to me? "If you continue th...

Through the adventure of the Israelites, we see symbols of the obstacles a believer might face in the apprehension of God's promise. One time they faced the Red Sea, the other time it was a huge wall. I think with the Red sea, they might even be able to see the journey ahead of them, but with a wall it is a black-out. Often when we hit a wall in our adventure, we experience a black-out . We often cannot see what the other side looks like. If it be a Sea, it must be crossed. If it be a Mountain, it must be climbed or leveled. If it be a tree, it must be uprooted. If it is a door, it must key-opened. But what if it is a wall? If it is a wall, it must be crashed! It must crumble! Its Spiritual destiny is the same as with the Walls of Jericho. We must be wise enough to know. We should approach it like the children of Israel did. Their story is given for our instruction (Romans 15:4). Please do not pray for your "Red Sea" to be taken away or dried up. That is belittling Go...

"Let us not be weary in well-doing...." Gal. 6:9 Are you telling me not to be weary in well-doing Paul? That if I do well for God, others and myself, I shouldn't refuse to lose steam? On what audacity do you say this? Do you realize that I have been serving for a long time now with little or no results? " _Yes, I can imagine!_ " Paul could say. It's on the audacity of Galatians 6:7, or he would have been unfair.  If we well understand the facts of Galatians 6:7, Paul's charge in Galatians 6:9 automatically becomes a way to go. For DILLIGENCE is a proof of Faith. Oh, there are greater dimensions of Faith! DILLIGENCE is one of them. DILLIGENCE is a proof that I believe in the promise that a thing holds. I don't need to tell you that i believe in it. You'll see it as I keep coming back at it! It will be clear that i do! I pray not only by my asking, I pray also by my acting. My prayers are justified by my attitudes. This is what we see in the pa...

"Do not be deceived, God CANNOT be mocked, whatever a man sows, that shall he reap." Gal. 6:7 We are shocked to find that God is brought into the picture of men's sowing and reaping. "God cannot be mocked!" "Whatever a man sows, that shall he reap." How do these connect? Both statements can stand apart, but here they are brought together. It is to implicate God  in men's sowing and reaping. He chairs the Harvest System. God is the Umpire of Men's Harvests. It is Men I see, but it is God I deal with. Every act of sowing or service is actually a dealing with God; a transaction with Him. It is God I interact with anytime I serve. This truth is not only life-changing, but it suggests to us that it will be unfair (to God) to think that Life can be unfair. For It is because God cannot be mocked that Life cannot be unfair. It is because God cannot be mocked that whatever a man sows will surely come for his reaping. Everything rests on God'...

1. Small places are platforms for God to work on you and watch you grow. 2. It is in your small place that you truly begin to appreciate and value things. There your love and passion become genuine. 3. It is in your small place that your intention becomes clear. Everyone's intention truly should be questioned. We often want Big things because of Self. The true test of your calling is in your genuine passion for those you have been called to ; each one of them. 4. It is in your small place that God builds trust with you. 5. Your affinity for " _small things"_ indicates your genuine heart for ministry/calling. If your heart is too far from the small, and you can't identify with it at all, there is a question on your genuineness (Jesus was a "One-man" person who cared for the individual as much as he cared for the crowd). 6. God prepares you at your small place because He wants to be able to predict you at your big place. 7. While dil...

We are shocked to decode from the conversation in Matthew 25:14-30, a disruptive idea (though not so new, it's been there all along) that tweaks our operation within God's Kingdom. To the two men who made a 100 percent return on the Trust committed to them, the Master attributes *FAITHFULNESS* . _"You have been Faithful..."_ said He. But to the man who even brought everything back intact, an inference of *WICKEDNESS* was made. For the Master, Faithfulness is not about Intactness, Faithfulness is rather about increment. The Faithful man is not the Manager, the Faithful man is rather the Multiplier; the man who increased the Trust. In the Kingdom, Multiplication, not Management, of the Trust is the idea of Faithfulness...Concerning Faithfulness, we have been called to increase things. God doesn't want his things back the way He gave them out. He doesn't mind if you " _bank_ " them, but that when you report before Him, you have some profit accr...

I find an Irony in the lines of Matthew 25, verse 14 to verse 30 precisely. *The servant with the lowest task is the one who feels cheated.* I'm talking about the servant with the 1000 Dollars, not the one with the 5,000 Dollars or 2000 Dollars.  _The athlete with the lightest load is complaining_ . _The banker with the least target is murmuring_ . Hello? " _To whom much is given, much is expected_ ." To whom not much is not given, much is not expected. There is an advantage. The man with the least targets not only has the opportunity to achieve his in record time, but he also has the platform to outdo the target, exceed expectation and win the attention of his boss. It is a matter of perspective. He who has the lightest load ought to be the one with the fastest pace. If you ask me, the servant in our text had more time on his side. What he received was less responsibilities for the same duration his  colleagues had. Less tasks, same time. Wasn't he the  favo...

_"...and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of Holiness BY THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD." Romans 1:4 Jesus' true Identity was presented by His Resurrection from the dead. His human identity was declared by His descendants from David (Rom. 1:3). But His Divine Identity was declared by the Resurrection from the dead. His Divine Identity was His True Identity. In truth, though He was found in appearance as a mere man, He was the Son of God, not just some mere man. He was neither just a prophet. This fact was substantiated by His Resurrection from the Dead. Here we find a spiritual principle. My Manifestation is at the mercies of the Resurrection. The Resurrection holds my true identity to ransom. Same for every man. What I might manifest apart from the Resurrection can be called a shadow of the original. A man can only be a shadow of Himself until He experiences the Resurrection. Manifestation (Full Manifestation) is the expression of Tr...

CONTINUED My third recourse to Revelation : *It Fast-tracks the Future!* _"the time is coming and NOW is."_ In the hour of Revelation, the _"time that is coming_ " can *NOW* be. It can, from tomorrow, be today. For Revelation closes the gap and hastens the time. We may, through Revelation, enter into age-long promises and make their day of fulfillment TODAY. Jesus enters the Synagogue on Saturday having recently returned from that " _desert experience_ ". He is to read the scriptures and the scrolls of Isaiah are handed to Him. He reads from Isaiah 61:1 _"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, He has appointed Me to preach Good News to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted and to announce that captives shall be released and the blind shall see, that the downtrodden shall be freed from their oppressors, and that God is ready to give blessings to all who come to Him."_ It is Revelation! A message unto Him. Brought alive to Him! Made...

(Continued) Revelation makes us witnesses of the truth. It makes us                     " _accomplices_ " of Divine Facts. It                " _implicates_ " us, it involves us and we become attached for life. It then becomes difficult to betray the truth, because we have seen it and we have been seen by it. My first recourse to Revelation lies in the fact that it back-tracks spiritual reality. I mean that the day of Revelation is the day we catch up with long-existing facts. It is not the day those things occur, rather it is the day we catch up with them. The day I discover I am a sinner, what a day! But it is not the day I became a sinner. No! I became a sinner over six thousand years ago when Adam ate the apple. It is a divine fact. The divine verdict was this _" All have Sinned..."_ Romans 3:23. When Adam si...

(Continued) Revelation makes us witnesses of the truth. It makes us                     " _accomplices_ " of Divine Facts. It                " _implicates_ " us, it involves us and we become attached for life. It then becomes difficult to betray the truth, because we have seen it and we have been seen by it. My first recourse to Revelation lies in the fact that it back-tracks spiritual reality. I mean that the day of Revelation is the day we catch up with long-existing facts. It is not the day those things occur, rather it is the day we catch up with them. The day I discover I am a sinner, what a day! But it is not the day I became a sinner. No! I became a sinner over six thousand years ago when Adam ate the apple. It is a divine fact. The divine verdict was this _" All have Sinned..."_ Romans 3:23. When Adam si...

Witnesses needed! I do not necessarily refer to Evangelists. That would make you picture only a small group of people. Whereas the Lord addresses a wider group here; all those He chose. They shall become witnesses. He is not satisfied till they become such. It's His very " _dream_ ". _"...And you shall be my WITNESSES..."_ _"...In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the Earth."_ Witnesses! Not story tellers or Narrators! He knew well the sophistication of the  World which they were called to capture. Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria are too sophisticated for anything less than witnessing. Talk less of the Ends of the Earth. Mere preaching won't cut it, they will have to be witnesses. Perhaps we are not penetrating the systems of this World order because we are not witnesses. Many of us are 3rd parties to the truth and 5th parties to the gospel. We carry what we were told by people who were also absent at the scene. So we report what was rep...

Perhaps we should have a peep into God's plan. We don't want to be misled or caught in a web of deception as to what the real deal is. What is happening? Why are we here?....Well, God's big plan is the reason creation still runs. What God is doing here is what really really matters. *"Those He foreknew, them He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, THAT HE MIGHT BE THE FIRST AMONG MANY BRETHREN.."* Romans 8:29 God wants a family where His Son is the first born and where He (His Son) has many brothers. This is the inspiration behind creation; the very history of the Heavens and the Earth. It was all a quest for Family expansion. God had a Son who looked like Him so much. This Son captured His personality totally - " _....the express image of His person.."_ Heb 1:3. He was also the _brightness of His glory,_ according to the same scripture. He was the validation of His Fatherhood. God's heart melted and His breasts milked. From...

The Award for the "GREATEST MAN EVER BORN OF A WOMAN " has long been given already. Don't look forward to it! Guess what? It is not Jeff Bezos. It's Not Rockefeller. Not Steve Jobs. Not Albert Einstein. Not Napoleon Bonarparte, not Abraham Lincoln not Adolf Hitler. It is still not Martin Luther King Jnr nor Nelson Mandela. Most likely, it's not anyone on your list. Let me whisper the answer right into your ears...It's John the Baptist!....shhhh....Yes, John the Baptist! The very one who ushered in the Messiah. See Matt.11:11. The focus now is for those born of the spirit. The least person in the Kingdom is greater than our Award winner. This is because the Kingdom, i mean the Divine Family, is God's ultimate plan. And now that it is here, those related to it are those who matter. True greatness is measured by my relatedness and contribution to God's plan. A mentor of mine said " *God is the only legitimate builder* ." _Whatever my Heave...

John 11:25-26 "But He who believes and lives in Me shall never die” Let's not be confused, the Lord is describing the procedure of Death and Life. He is not describing two kinds of believers here like I thought over a decade ago. He is showing us how BEFORE meets AFTER. If a man believes in Christ, Death shall come His way in many areas but it is a means to an end. Blessed is he if he opens up the door for God to work. For God will come to work every day. He who hath begun the good work intends to perfect it. He is not only able to perfect it. Halleluyah! He seriously intends to perfect it…till the day of Christ. Every man who has allowed death in an area of life has done well. Shortly after, he shall begin to live again. But this time, to die no more in that area.  _"He who believes and lives in me shall never die"._ For where death has done its work, the life that succeeds it is an immortal life. It shall never die. To this I say – *DEATH IS THE SECRET...

JOHN 11:25-26 " THOUGH ... H e may die” But the Lord also uses the word “Though” to qualify death here. And my reference now is to the use of the word. I think He did it so that you might understand that Death is not a “ _big deal_ ”. It is a means. It is a “ _fling_ ”. It is in passing. It is not the end. It is not to be worried about. It is only a necessity. God has to do what He has to do. He can’t skip the process. It may look scary but it is not as scary as it looks. It may seem hopeless but it is not as hopeless as you think. In fact, it is not hopeless at all. Death is a “ _though thing_ ”; An interjection in the operation of Redemption. It is a “ _though thing”_ in God’s scheme, and it shall never be more than that. Trust Him! ................. #FromSundaysMessage (C) Faith Oluwagbesan April 2019

JOHN 11:25-26 " THOUGH ..he may    die” But the Lord also uses the word “Though” to qualify death here. And my reference now is to the use of the word. I think He did it so that you might understand that Death is not a “ _big deal_ ”. It is a means. It is a “ _fling_ ”. It is in passing. It is not the end. It is not to be worried about. It is only a necessity. God has to do what He has to do. He can’t skip the process. It may look scary but it is not as scary as it looks. It may seem hopeless but it is not as hopeless as you think. In fact, it is not hopeless at all. Death is a “ _though thing_ ”; An interjection in the operation of Redemption. It is a “ _though thing”_ in God’s scheme, and it shall never be more than that. Trust Him! ................. #FromSundaysMessage (C) Faith Oluwagbesan April 2019

JOHN 11:25-26 *“…Yet He shall live…”* Where God sends death, He is sure to follow up with Life. It is a promise. You can take it to the bank. God shall not fail at it. He has never failed at it. This is a more assertive statement. For God, Death is always a means to Life! Death, in God’s work, is never an end. Instead, it is a means to an end. Watch out! If God sends Death towards an area of your life, it is so that He can follow it up swiftly with Life. Though your business may die, or anything for that matter, if it is God at work, it shall yet live. For Death will afford God the platform to filter that which is of Adam and Self in it. And to do a definite reconstruction by which a large way is paved for the life of Christ; that which the bible calls - “ _THE LIFE_ ”, to flow through it. That is the Resurrection! God has a super plan in mind; to re-imburse you with a resurrected version; an upgraded thing. Do not be misled about the sc...