Genesis‬ ‭1:28‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, “...have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

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Our female dog (Chloé) got pregnant. And it was no surprise that the male dog (Justice) is the father. I must add that the male dog is foreign and the female, local. So the puppies are mixed breeds. We were expecting a litter but we are still excited about the two adorable additions to the family. We are still thinking out the perfect names. Before and during the pregnancy, Justice and Chloé always shared the doghouse. They had an understanding that it was their home or maybe they thought they were husband and wife.

After Chloé gave birth, she became territorial. By some code of understanding, Justice doesn’t get near the doghouse.

So I did a little digging about the “female dog dominance” after birth and I found out that owners are supposed to keep other pets away from her and the puppies. This includes other dogs who may have been her housemates. But we didn’t, Justice just knew Chloé dominated the doghouse. He just knew.

Chloé’s exercise of dominance was after she gave birth. And there’s a lesson there for all of us. When you birth forth what God has deposited in you, creation recognizes by default that you are in charge. They recognize that your authority is what must be obeyed. By giving birth, we exercise dominion over the earth. We bring new life into the world when we give birth and that new life will respond to the life-giver. God’s command to have dominion over the earth, is connected to giving birth and we do that by multiplying the fruits we bear and filling the earth with those fruits. So you would agree with me that all these commands have a common goal. It plays out man’s stages of exercising authority here on earth. They are all connected, intertwined to establish man as the spiritual authority here on earth.

What have you birthed on earth? That which you give life to, you have a responsibility over.

To have dominion is not a means to lord or dominate over people but a call to service.

Chloé’s exercise of dominion was not because she wanted to dominate Justice or lord over him but it was as a result of the puppies she had birthed. She had a responsibility to them. A responsibility that had to be expressed through service. The birthed will always need a leader and that leader is you.

God has prepped you to be fruitful, to multiply, to replenish the earth, to subdue it and to have dominion over everything.

Your dominion is over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. Anything that has life is subjected to your dominion; what are you using this power to do?

Are you exercising this responsibility in service?

Do you have dominion over what you birthed?

God wants you to have dominion. He has not removed this responsibility from us, we are still mandated in this age to have dominion.

One way by which we can give birth is to make disciples. As Ambassadors of Christ, we have a responsibility to make disciples of all nations by sharing the good news of Jesus defeating death and the glory in His resurrection.

This is the greatest way in which we can exercise dominion over the earth in that we’re using the authority given to us by Christ for the express purpose of seeing the lost become found. Because a disciple you make today is also mandated to make other disciples. The cycle of birth never ceases, therefore the command to have dominion lingers on forever.

Let us make use of every opportunity we have to give Him glory.

The time is now: because the birthed awaits!

#Verspiration

#Verse

#EatTheWord

#Meditate

#Inspiration

Genesis‬ ‭1:28‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, ‘...replenish the earth, and subdue it...’”

God’s command to man has significant tasks that are connected to each other by the use of the conjunction “and”... “Be fruitful AND multiply AND replenish the earth AND subdue it...”

This posits however that one cannot obey one command without the other. They are all connected. We must produce fruits from the seed God has placed in us, multiply those fruits, refill the earth with those fruits and have control over the earth that has received our fruits.

To replenish is to fill something again or make complete again. “Again” presupposes that the earth which was once full is now empty and the onus lies on man to refill it. Therefore God has entrusted in man the ability to refill the emptiness of the earth with good tidings, love, peace and above all else to make disciples. That earth could be the medical field, the niche of pharmaceuticals, the networking of media amongst others. Wherever you have been placed, specifically by God, He expects that you make full again; by the fruits you bear and multiply.

The fruits of the Spirit that we bear must refill the earth. The Bible says “you shall know them by their fruits.” You shall be known by the multiplied fruits you fill the earth with. When you are known it creates an opportunity for you to command influence. When you command influence, you are subduing that territory of influence.

To subdue is to have control over a territory so when God commanded man to subdue the earth, He required of man to be a god on earth with earthly influence. Nothing must happen in the earth that must overcome man.

You must control what you replenish.

We are to influence the earth, direct the behaviour of the people in it and guide the course of events of the people in our earth.

God has called us to be leaders; leaders who will shape their earth positively, leaders who will transform lives in the earth, generational thinkers, problem solvers, soul winners who by their influence can bring all creation to the feet of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

There is a higher calling to subdue the earth. There is a calling to brighten the corner where we are; a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Believers must rise and take over the reins of power.

Precepts upon precepts, line upon line we must raise a generation according to the will of God. Can it be said of you, like it was done David, that you are serving your generation according to the will of God?

Creation awaits the manifestation of the sons of God who have been mandated to fill the earth and subdue it.

Wherever you find yourself; replenish the earth with your fruits and exercise spiritual control. All things are yours.

Do you know who you are?

Do you know what you carry?

Do you know what God has made you?

Have you replenished the earth?

Are you exercising control over the earth you have replenished?

Beloved, You have power to do the unimaginable.

Are you?

#Verspiration

#Verse

#EatTheWord

#Meditate

#Inspiration

Jesus preceded the parable of the talent with the words “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

Man has not been placed here on earth to while away time. There is a specific reason for our existence. Therefore in anticipation of the Son of Man’s coming we are to keep watch and what better way to do that than to work? We were made to work. When Adam was placed in the garden, He was charged to take care of it. Adam had the ability to do what God asked him to do. God has a mission for everyone and He expects us to accomplish it in the here and now.

There are lessons from the parable of the talent;

We need to understand first and foremost that we have been given something.

Just as the master expected his servants to do more with what had been entrusted to them, so does God expect us to generate a return by using what He has given us towards productive ends. And this return can only be gathered when we multiply what has been given to us.

The servants were given enough to produce more because their talents had the seed of multiplication. So are we; wired with talents that have the seed to produce in multiples.

Secondly, we have been given according to what we can do and it takes the same amount of effort to multiply what we have.

The master gave to each servant talents, “…each according to his ability.” The master understood that the one-talent servant was not capable of producing as much as the five-talent servant or the two-talent servant. This flows from the fact that it takes just as much work for the five-talent servant to produce five more talents as it does the one-talent servant to produce one more talent.

God has placed in us gifts; some have received more than others not because God discriminates but according to their ability. We have been given more than enough to meet the master’s expectations. Each and everyone of us has something we must do here on earth. That is why we must multiply the seed in us. It takes much effort to multiply a talent of one as it does in the same measure a talent of five and God knows we are well able.

Thirdly, we need to settle it within our hearts that God has prepared us in advance for what we have to do.

The servant who received one talent received as much as he could handle from the master to produce but chose to bury it in his backyard. He was given more than enough to meet the master’s expectations, yet decided to do nothing about it.

Unfortunately, that’s the story of many of us- it is the same with the gifts God has given us. We remain at the level of excitement pondering to the point of broadcasting what we have received yet do not multiply!

We bury the talent hoping it will without effort multiply.

God always gives us everything we need, to do what He has called us to do. That which God has called us to do, He has already prepared us for it in advance. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

You have to know, you have to come to an understanding that you have it in you to multiply what you have. You have been prepared in advance for this.

We also gather from the parable that God will hold us accountable for what He has placed us here for. From the parable, there’s not a single servant who received nothing; it means we have all been given something. Until we work to increase and multiply what we have been given we will not fulfill our earthly callings. What are you using what you’ve been given to do?

Have you multiplied the one? How about you who had five? Or the two?

We are responsible for what we do for God with what we have been given, and one day we will be held responsible.

What we hear from the Master on that day is up to us.

Beloved, you have it in you;

Identify it,

Count how many,

And multiply it greatly for the benefit of mankind

Genesis‬ ‭1:28

“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and MULTIPLY...”

Walking in God’s command equips you for rulership and ownership here on earth. Therefore the detail of God’s command to man seeks to unearth the person of man; Man is fruitful! and A multiplier!

God has never and will never give a command to man that is beyond man. He places in him the ability “to be” what He instructs.

So the command to multiply does not stand in isolation; you have been graced to multiply what you have.

To multiply is to increase in number especially greatly or in multiples. It involves obtaining another number from a number which contains the first number a specified number of times. So if I have a 4 and I double it to get an 8, I have obtained another number which contains the first number I had twice.

multiplication doubles what you have. God requires that you double Whatever you have. In simple terms you need to Increase what you have.

We must understand that to multiply, we must have something upon which we can increase. If I have two cups of a concentrated drink and I am asked to multiply it, all I need to do is to add a quantity of water to increase its volume.

What we have is the fruits we bear and this is what we must multiply.

The conjunction “and” connects the words “fruitful” and “multiply” together which means you cannot bear fruits without increasing in number greatly or in multiples the fruits you bear.

In other words, You can’t be fruitful without multiplying. The two are not disjointed. Your increase is linked to your fruitfulness.

The fruits you bear out of abiding in Christ must be increased for the world to glorify our father in Heaven.

Whatever you find doing; either in the house of God or at work or anywhere, your service to God must reveal to others that you’re abiding in Christ to bear fruits of increase.

So in all you do;

1. Abide in Christ; stay connected to Him

2. Bear fruits; that exhibits His image and likeness as you abide in Him and

3. Multiply; increase your fruits upon earth.

Is it a business venture, there’s grace to multiply in that field

Or you’re starting a ministry? You have the grace to multiply your fruits.

Maybe you’re a student...you have been imbibed with the ability to multiply.

Multiply that which you bear as fruits.

Increase greatly that which you have in you.

Clone your fruit, multiply its seeds and let the world be represented by your fruits.

Picture your famished self entering a popular restaurant; you are warmly welcome, greeted and relaxed into a seat and handed a menu. You glance through slowly but carefully as you salivate at the mouth watering options. You finally make a choice and signal the waiter towards your table.

As you place your order; the thought of satisfaction elicits a sigh of relief. This thought doesn’t linger long enough as it is interrupted with the sight of the waiter apologetically emphasizing that there is no food in the restaurant.

Question is why open?

Why welcome and hand in a menu when there’s no food!

This is the same situation that met a hungry Jesus. He saw the fig tree by the road and must’ve heaved a sigh of relief only to be struck with the disappointment of finding nothing but leaves.

Leaves? Where are the fruits?

Beloved, where are your fruits?

God has commanded man to be fruitful.

Are you bearing fruits?

There are two things we can learn from the fig tree;

Firstly, The fig is cultivated and celebrated for its intense nourishment. And this is who the believer must be. When people come to pluck of your fruits, they must leave nourished and nurtured. Are people nourished when they leave your presence? Or you leave them starved and deprived?

Secondly, Figs don’t grow overnight. They produce two harvests of fruits in a year; this means that it takes time to culture and nurture them. Their maturity indicates that the gardener has been continuously and steadfastly tending to their growth over the years. so does Jesus when we abide in Him. He carefully cultures and nurtures us to bear fruits that attract the hungry.

That is why we need to be connected to the vine. We need to abide for we cannot bear fruits that satisfy of ourselves.

John 15:4 says

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

Many in the world today are searching, looking for answers to the tough questions life throws at them.

Others are looking for something to fill the emptiness within. They seek the wisdom of men, and even though they agree to its accuracy it doesn’t satisfy, they still want more.

Just like the fig tree was by the road, God has planted you in places where your fruits must attract people so you can satisfy their hunger. So the question is “Are we bearing fruits?”

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People need their storms calmed and their hearts unburdened. And this is reason why we must bear the fruits of the Spirit.

They are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:22-23‬ ‭

Do people experience the fruit of love when they come to your tree? How about joy? Peace? Long suffering? Kindness? Oh goodness? What of faithfulness, gentleness and self control?

As we learn to abide in Christ, we bear these fruits the hungry needs.

And when they eat and they are filled, they can truly testify that they are nothing without Jesus.

Learn to abide in Christ;

Creation awaits the manifestation of your fruits to satisfy their insatiable hunger.

Are you really bearing fruits?

God’s command to Man; Be Fruitful!

Genesis 1:28

“Then God blessed them and said unto them, ‘Be fruitful’...!”

What a plant produces as fruit must be of the same type, quality and substance as the plant. So when God said, “Be fruitful” he emphasized an understanding that the fruit we bear must be of the same TYPE, QUALITY and SUBSTANCE in His IMAGE and LIKENESS.

In John 15:5, Jesus makes a clear delineation between the vine and the branch; the two are joined but not the same- the vine gives life and the branch draws life from the vine to bear fruit. As the branch draws life from the vine, so are we expected to draw life from the true Vine; Jesus Christ.

Abiding in Christ involves drawing upon the life of Jesus and this is possible if we remain stable and constant in our relationship with God. Until we ABIDE IN CHRIST, we cannot carry out the command to be Fruitful!

The amount of fruit we bear must correlate with how apparent it is to others that we are believers; for “herein is our father glorified when we bear much fruit.” (John 15:8).

Is your faith known to Others through the fruit you bear?

You have not been called to produce!

No planting is needed on your part!

The seed is already in you; once you’re rooted; you just need to BEAR FRUIT in type, quality and substance to the vine.

Abide in the True Vine; Unite with Him and allow Him to work through you.

Bear fruit!

Not just some fruit, but much fruit!

Are you fruitful? What fruits are you bearing?

Are people brought to Christ through your fruits?

When you learn to abide in Christ, the impossible on your part will become possible. Draw upon the life of Jesus and watch your life draw others to glorify Him.

Genesis 1:3

“And God said, let there be light and there was LIGHT.”

Imagine walking into a dark tunnel; a tunnel so dark that all you see is your imagination. A flicker of light from something as small as a phone’s torch is enough to cast a luminous glow which expels the darkness.

Light is a condition and not a substance.

So when God said, “Let there be light” and “there was light,” He established an order so supreme and a condition ever permanent; “Light is the only condition that can expel darkness.”

Light also makes a sensible impression on the organ of vision. The light that expels darkness causes an illumination. Once the light is turned on, you begin to notice the rough walls that snake it way into the depth of the tunnel and you see the mangled tracks beneath your feet.

When God said “Let there be light” and “there was light,” He set in motion an opportunity for us to engage our sight to the revelation that “light expels the darkness that covers the face of the deep.”

He also invites us to focus on Him the Creator, as the LIGHT that created light. In John 8:12, Jesus reiterates that He is the “Light of the world.” The world has no light of its own, so Jesus came into the world as the True Light to draw people out of the darkness of the world and into His marvelous Light.

God rendered light visible through the Person of His Son through whom we have all received the light of life.

Having received this Light through grace, we are now the light of the world; A city that cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Not only do we command light, we are THE LIGHT!

So when you walk into a room, you need not necessarily speak light, your presence alone must scream out Jesus to effect change to that dark situation!

For you are light! It encompasses your very being! You cannot be hidden.

For you are light, you speak and command light to lifeless situations and it obeys.

That dark situation you are experiencing will give way if you will stand in who you are; the Light of the world and call forth, “light!” And there will definitely be light!

A part of God’s ingenuity was revealed through His creation in the beginning. But the

most humbling and awe-inspiring act took place when God made man.

Picture the creator carving, modelling and assembling out of clay a lifeless form; limb for limb, muscle for muscle- He connects the parts.

Then He bends over the sculptured face and breathes! Dust stirs, the cheeks flesh up, a finger moves, an eye opens and the lifeless form, now with the breath of life rises to its feet and for the first time ever; thinks!

“Who am I?”

You are man!

The zenith of God’s creation.

The only creature whose creation required a consultation; “Let us make man...”

The magnificent beauty made in God’s “...image and likeness...”

The ultimate creature who was blessed with dominance; “Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion...”

The Creator’s masterpiece for whom all other creatures were made; “I have given you every herb bearing seed...every tree...every beast...every fowl...everything that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life...”

Yes! Man!

The one for whom the haven was designed!

The one who was made out of nothing yet with more significance.

God’s image and likeness on earth! A god!

One who is a little lower than the angels.

Within whom God placed his divine seed; a seed of Himself.

What is man that You are mindful of him?

God created Himself...The earth version!

The earth’s greatest!

The Creator had not created another one of His creations, but another creator!

Who really is man that You are mindful of him?

For You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands and You have put everything under his feet. Ps 8:6

Such power given to man!

Yet God reached out from within Himself and placed in man the seed of choice.

Regardless of the authority He gave to man, He did not impose Himself.

“Wouldn’t it have been easier not to give man choice?”

Certainly! But to remove the seed of choice is to remove the love.

And God wouldn’t have that!

When you probe deeper; Love is all you find.

Go to the beginning of every decision He made and you will find it.

Scurry to the end of every story He told and you will feel it.

Love!

Such unspeakable love!

Even when man chose otherwise, He demonstrated His love by sending His son for man’s redemption. “For He did not send His son to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17.

He had a choice, and He chose us anyway.

What manner of love is this?

Do you know who you are?

Do you know your place in God’s heart?

Do you know who He has made you?

When you walk around today and throughout the week, take a moment to appreciate the beauty around you; let each detail remind you that He did it for you!

And has wired in you the ability to create and breathe life into stagnant situations.

Be reminded that when the mighty hand of God went to work on His Greatest masterpiece, He made you!

A god on earth!

All things are yours!

Walk in this confident assurance!

You are unique! And God’s Love.

You are not a creature, you are another Creator!

God’s promises are Yes and Amen. Therefore when He says He is going to be with us, He has already honoured that word. God has given us a sign; the sign of Immanuel— God with us. Are you alone? He is with you. Are you weary? He will give you rest. He is God! And He will be with you!

God is concerned with insisting that His word comes to pass. Once He sends it forth, He watches to perform it. He therefore sought to fulfill prophecy as foretold by sending His son to die for us; that we may be saved and be assured of eternal live. In this season of Christmas, be assured that He is the reason for the season and you are the reason He came. He will surely see to it that His word concerning your life is performed.