Pastor Ben Ochola

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!

THE SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING

Friday 18th October 2024

Exodus 3:7-8

God delivered close to three million Israelites from bondage in Egypt and all of them had the promise to enter the promised land, yet not all of them entered it because of ingratitude.

They began well but along the way, the desert heat and hunger exposed their hearts and character: they were a generation that loved to complain and murmur.

One thing that will keep you in the same place for a long time is a heart filled with ingratitude, complaining and murmuring.

Exodus 16:2-3 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness...

Every time the Israelites lacked something, they complained and murmured to Moses. They had forgotten the pain, beatings, bondage, suffering and shame which they had been delivered from in Egypt.

They were so focused on their current condition that was only for a season, to change their confessions. This led to millions of them perishing without seeing the promised land yet it was God’s will for them to enter it.(Numbers 14:29-39, 1 Corinthians 10:9)

Don't rob yourself of the promises of God because of your current situation. God does not relent on His Word, let your heart know that it is done and praise be upon your lips despite the desert you are in today.

Hebrews 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of [our] lips, giving thanks to His name.

The sacrifice of thanksgiving is when people expect you to cry and complain but you lift up your hands and praise the Lord, no matter the hardship or pressure around you.

The children of Israel forgot. They were blinded by their condition in the wilderness to a point of despising the very food God was giving them by asking Moses, ‘what is this mana?’

Have you reached that place where you are downplaying that little miracle that God did for you? That is a trap of Satan to keep you in the wilderness longer than you should.

Anyone will lift their voice and thank God because of something big and great. There is nothing special about that because God doesn't judge us based on big things.

He says this in Luke 16:10, He who [is] faithful in [what is] least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in [what is] least is unjust also in much.

If you can't give God true praise and thanksgiving for what you call the little, but when the big happens, you lift your hands in praise, that's fake!

One of the things we need to develop is to be deliberate about the heart of gratitude. Be the kind of believer who is always grateful for the least and I guarantee you that you will qualify for the big.

Always remember that one of the greatest instruments that God uses to lift a man is a grateful heart. Judgment is not made when the big things come, it's made when the small things are happening in your life.

Psalms 75:6-7(KJV) For promotion [cometh] neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God [is] the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

God is a just judge. However, the reason most of us disqualify ourselves from promotions in life, is because we have not learnt that God judges us on the small things.

If you do not have it, don't fake it. Just break down before the Lord and tell Him; 'Lord, forgive me, I need that heart that rejoices honestly in the little.' Then, you will begin to see things quicken in your life.

Further study

1 Kings 18:43-44

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

GOD'S LOVE MAKES LIFE VERY EASY

Tuesday 17th September 2024

Ephesians 3:14-19 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ... that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what [is] the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

There are things that God will never do for you and I, until we have passed the test of love; the love of God.

This was the reason Paul prayed for a baptism of divine love upon the church of Ephesus. Each one of us needs to ask the Holy Spirit for this baptism, so that our lives are wrapped in His love to ensure that everything we do flows from that place.

The next move of God that will take over the earth, is for men and women whose hearts have been dipped in His love; those that will live for Him alone. Therefore, as we walk with God, we must examine ourselves and allow His love to correct the wrongs and redefine the reason for whatever we are doing.

Genesis 4:3-6 [3]And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering.

[5-6] but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

There is nothing you have gone through that the love of Jesus cannot help you overcome. All you have to be is willing, as you ask the Lord to pour His love into you. Let His love dissolve everything you have carried in your heart for centuries.

Give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to release the love of God in your heart which will dissolve the anger, bitterness and unforgiveness, so that you may be free to live a joyful life.

Matthew 24:12(NIV) Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

The devil knows that when your love grows cold, your chances of being offended go up. This is the danger with many believers, they easily get offended because the love of Jesus is low in their hearts.

The power of God flows best through His love. Don't be like the Pharisees or Levites who had no compassion on a wounded man, yet they were ministers.(Luke 10:30-34)

1 Corinthians 14:1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual [gifts,] but especially that you may prophesy.

The only thing that God tells us to pursue is love. What are you pursuing?

Most men and women of God who pursue physical things and gratification, appear to be living a fulfilled life, yet there is dissatisfaction in them.

It is only Love that makes life easy on this earth. When people get complicated, know that they have entered into the realm of men and the love of God is not in them.

The four gospels reveal Jesus to have lived a very simple life. This is what happens when the love of God floods your soul, life becomes very simple.

John 17:26 AMP and I have made Your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them [overwhelming their heart], and I [may be] in them.”

This is Jesus' last prayer for the church. It is therefore wise for us to pray this prayer daily. When you do it wholeheartedly, things will change and you will realize that your level of tolerance, patience and endurance is going up. This is because love makes life bearable and easy.

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

THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM

WEDNESDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2024

John 1:1,3 [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [3] All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens;

There is nothing we see on earth that God created except by His wisdom.

Mark 6:1-2 [1] Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. [2] And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!

The mighty works of Jesus were attributed to His wisdom; He wasn't born with it but it was just given to Him.

If that wisdom was given to Jesus, then you and I can get that wisdom because it is what we need to build everything we need in life.

Genesis 1:26-28

Man being created in God's image had a degree of God's wisdom that was imparted in Adam and Eve that even when man fell, God didn't withdraw it.

Every human being in the likeness of God has a degree of wisdom that they are born with and there is a kind of wisdom that we get from school but the wisdom being talked about is not that.

1 Corinthians 1:24,30 [24] but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. [30] But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--

Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God and the Bible tells us that nothing was created without Him. John 1:3

The day we accepted Christ, wisdom came into our hearts. We are potentially wise but the only challenge is that many of us have not engaged it.

Jesus was able to perform the mighty works because of the wisdom. The same Holy Spirit that filled Jesus is that same spirit in us; that means that we can produce the results that Jesus did.

JOSEPH

Genesis 41:14-38

Pharaoh attributed the wisdom of Joseph to the Spirit of God. Joseph was able to rise because of wisdom; wisdom can change your life.

God gave us this wisdom because He wants to distinguish and separate us. That is why God sent His Spirit to dwell in us.

JOSHUA

Deuteronomy 34:9 Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.

This wisdom is not learnt but it is received as a result of transfer of spirits. May God fill us with the Spirit of wisdom because that is what we need to take over all we need to.

SOLOMON

1 Kings 3:5-7, 10:23-24

King Solomon didn't have that wisdom but he asked for it and it was transferred to him. He surpassed all the kings of the earth because the spirit of wisdom that created the world was in him.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever; He doesn't change. He can give you a wise and understanding heart like Solomon but all you need to do is to get on your knees and pray for it.

Remember, this kind of wisdom is neither studied nor taught but it is only given by God.

THE SONS OF ISSACHAR

1 Chronicles 12:32

The brethren were at command because they knew the times and seasons and ought to be done.

It is not enough to know God's will, we need wisdom and spiritual understanding that we may be able to walk worthy of the Lord. Colossians 1:9-10

Further study

Deuteronomy 4:6

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

Sunday 25th August 2024- Second service

John 1:1,3 [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [3] All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens;