WALKING WITH GOD

1 John 3:22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.*

THE LIVING SACRIFICE AT THE ALTAR

Psalms 50:5 "Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."

The Lord instructed us to raise Holy altars in this season but we need to know that these Holy altars must have a sacrifice (an offering) and a priest who is consecrated always making prayers.

We need to understand the kind of sacrifices God requires of us if we are to maximise what He has for us.

Psalms 51:16-17 [16] For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. [17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-- These, O God, You will not despise.

God only requires sacrifices that come from a broken Spirit and a contrite heart because God looks at the heart. We need to know that Sacrifice is of God; He Himself sacrificed His only son before the foundation of the earth was laid Revelation 13:8

God desires that everything we do springs from a place of love; that is why the Holy Spirit introduced this love in our hearts when He resided in us. Romans 5:5

So, even as we lay ourselves on the altar, we need to cry to God daily to increase our capacity to love such that everything we do comes from our hearts and that place of love. Ephesians 3:17

Unlike in the old testament where the temple had three segments: The altar which was within the temple, the inner court and the Holy of Holies, time came when God no longer resided in the constructed buildings but in our hearts.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit: that which was trapped in the covenant box is now inside us. We are the moving altars and the first sacrifices that God needs.

According to Hebrews 9:15 and 2 Corinthians 5:15, Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice and the same demand is now on us to as well offer ourselves as living sacrifices according to John 20:21 and Romans 12:1-2.

How do we give ourselves as living sacrifices?

Ephesians 4:22-32

Below are some of the ways how we can give ourselves as living sacrifices. By,

1. Putting off the former conduct.

2. Being renewed in the Spirit of our minds.

3. Putting on the new man created according to God.

4. Not sinning when we get angry: not letting the sun go down on our wrath.

5. Stop stealing and work with our own hands.

6. Not letting any corrupt word proceed from our mouths.

7. Not grieving the Holy Spirit.

8. Avoiding bitterness, wrath, anger etc.

9. Being kind and forgiving each other.

10. Fleeing sexual immorality.

According to 1 Corinthians 6:16-17, the Bible is making comparisons between the harlot and Christ. The joining with which we have been joined is that the Spirit has mingled with our spirits and now we are one with Christ.

We should run from sexual sins because the bonding of our bodies with the harlot is like our union with Christ but rather glorify God in our bodies and spirits because they are His. 1 Corinthians 6:20

STAY BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED, WE LOVE YOU. PASTOR BEN OCHOLA.!

THE LIVING SACRIFICE AT THE ALTAR PART 1

Psalms 50:5 "Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."

The Lord instructed us to raise Holy altars in this season but we need to know that these Holy altars must have a sacrifice (an offering) and a priest who is consecrated always making prayers.

We need to understand the kind of sacrifices God requires of us if we are to maximise what He has for us.

Psalms 51:16-17 [16] For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. [17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-- These, O God, You will not despise.

God only requires sacrifices that come from a broken Spirit and a contrite heart because God looks at the heart. We need to know that Sacrifice is of God; He Himself sacrificed His only son before the foundation of the earth was laid Revelation 13:8

God desires that everything we do springs from a place of love; that is why the Holy Spirit introduced this love in our hearts when He resided in us. Romans 5:5

So, even as we lay ourselves on the altar, we need to cry to God daily to increase our capacity to love such that everything we do comes from our hearts and that place of love. Ephesians 3:17

Unlike in the old testament where the temple had three segments: The altar which was within the temple, the inner court and the Holy of Holies, time came when God no longer resided in the constructed buildings but in our hearts.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit: that which was trapped in the covenant box is now inside us. We are the moving altars and the first sacrifices that God needs.

According to Hebrews 9:15 and 2 Corinthians 5:15, Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice and the same demand is now on us to as well offer ourselves as living sacrifices according to John 20:21 and Romans 12:1-2.

How do we give ourselves as living sacrifices?

Ephesians 4:22-32

Below are some of the ways how we can give ourselves as living sacrifices. By,

1. Putting off the former conduct.

2. Being renewed in the Spirit of our minds.

3. Putting on the new man created according to God.

4. Not sinning when we get angry: not letting the sun go down on our wrath.

5. Stop stealing and work with our own hands.

6. Not letting any corrupt word proceed from our mouths.

7. Not grieving the Holy Spirit.

8. Avoiding bitterness, wrath, anger etc.

9. Being kind and forgiving each other.

10. Fleeing sexual immorality.

According to 1 Corinthians 6:16-17, the Bible is making comparisons between the harlot and Christ. The joining with which we have been joined is that the Spirit has mingled with our spirits and now we are one with Christ.

We should run from sexual sins because the bonding of our bodies with the harlot is like our union with Christ but rather glorify God in our bodies and spirits because they are His. 1 Corinthians 6:20

STAY BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED, WE LOVE YOU. PASTOR BEN OCHOLA.!

APPROACHING GOD REVERENTLY ACCORDING TO HIS WORD

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

We must align ourselves with God’s protocols, understand His ways and respect His sovereignty, if we are to consistently walk with Him and see the God-kind results in our lives.

Remember, He is a king and God all by Himself. He can do without us, yet in His grace and mercy, He chose to include us in His plan. We must therefore have a degree of reverence when we come to Him, for we ask, but He works in His own time

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time...

It is wisdom for us to release our faith in God's timing because times and seasons are in His hands.

A good example is in the book of Joshua;

Joshua 5:13-14 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, "[Are] You for us or for our adversaries?" So He said, "No,...

God does not take sides in human conflicts. Many of us become casualties expecting God to join us, yet it is us to be on God's side by taking our matters into His hands and letting Him dictate over them.

God is only accountable to His Word. If there are issues in your life, the best you can do is to locate His Word concerning that issue and remind Him. This is how you gain leverage over calamity. (Romans 10:17, Hebrews 4:12)

Psalms 80:18(KJV) So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

Effectiveness in prayer is hinged on our speaking, praying, fasting and seeking according to His word.

Remember David picked five stones and he used only one. You don't have to use every word, there is that one word that the Lord brings in your spirit and becomes the light.(1 Samuel 17:50)

When Elijah stood before the Lord on Mount Carmel, he wasn't presumptuous. The reason why he had such boldness to call fire, is because God had spoken to him and before he finished praying, fire fell. (1 Kings 18:30-38)

Daniel remembered that after seventy years, the captivity of the children of Israel in Babylon was over and so he gained leverage with God.(Daniel 9:2)

When the children of Israel began to cry after the three hundred years of Egypt, the Lord said; "I have remembered my word".(Exodus 2:24)

Brothers and sisters, there is nothing that gives a man confidence and boldness in the place of prayer, like the promises of God that are lit up in your spirit.

This is the same reason Peter told the church in Acts 6:4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word."

There is no way you can separate effective prayer from a life of the Word because you bring what the Word says in prayer and what prayer lights up, you take it to the Word. You therefore, can't grow your prayer life without the word. Always remember that God is only accountable to His Word. (Isaiah 55:11, Jeremiah 33:3, Jeremiah 29:11)

Psalms 19:13

Presumption is not only words but the way you treat God in your heart. It is so wrong to worship and pray to the king of kings when we are absent minded. We must approach the presence of God with reverence in our hearts.

Many have aborted dreams and visions because they heard the Lord too late or were too early. If you want God to be part of your journey and story, live a life that is yielded, surrendered and submitted to His Word. Don't throw this away, it will make things beautiful in its own time.

Further study

Hebrews 11:6

John 5:4, 11:34-38

Psalms 19:13

2 Corinthians 4:6

STAY BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED, WE LOVE YOU. PASTOR BEN OCHOLA!