HOPE AND LIFE THROUGH THE WORD-4

There is one scripture about the life that is available through the word of God that we will examine to enable us temporarily conclude this section. In the book of Proverbs chapter4 and verses 20-23 we read:
“My son, attend to my words; incline your ear unto my sayings.
Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart.
For they are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh”.
Finding or locating a rhema word in a time of crisis, can easily instill hope and faith in our hearts and catapult us to victory.
I will never forget a miracle, in fact three miracles in one that God performed for a dear sister a few months ago. I know that going to sleep at night, and waking up in the morning, can actually be a miracle since it is not everybody that goes to bed at night that wakes up in the morning. However, that is not the kind of miracle that I am talking about here, this is actually more than that.
This precious sister that I am talking about, was pregnant with her fourth child, and has been having elevated blood pressure and blood sugar for some. She happens to be amongst that group of women who suffer from what doctors call-Pregnancy induced hypertension; as well as Gestational diabetes.
Normally, she was expected to have sought the attention of a trained Gynecologist, who in addition to managing her throughout that pregnancy, would as well have involved a trained Internist, or Specialist physician, who would have controlled her blood sugar, and blood pressure at the same time. This would have helped her baby develop normally, without being overweight, and would have helped her to have a near normal pregnancy. I am not her family physician, but I had tried to let her know about the dangers of not taking these precautions.
She received antenatal care, but not the kind care that was appropriate, as indicated above. She had ignored all the things that she was told. This she did not do because of her faith in a miracle working God, but because of carelessness, and an apparent ignorance of the enormity of the problem.
As her pregnancy drew closer to the time of her delivery, a seer had warned her that there was actually going to be a problem at the time of her delivery, and that if care was not taken; she and the baby may lose their lives. Everybody would have thought that these were enough troubles for our sister and her family, but it did not end there.
At the same time that these things were happening, our sister’s husband was being pursued by hired assassins, who were masquerading as kidnappers. The same seer had warned that unless serious prayers and intercessions were made, there was no way he would escape them. He equally warned, that without divine intervention, he might not be released alive, even after the payment of a ransom
One morning, while her husband was in the office doing his business, the wicked men struck, but God gave him a clue of what to do, and he escaped, before they could decide whether he was the one they were looking for or not. However, a client who came to his office that day was not lucky, and he was shot dead. This clearly showed that these were not mere kidnappers. After that incident, he decided to relocate with his family to another city. The seer warned that this was not the solution to the problem.
Two months later, his wife’s pregnancy had come to full term, and one morning, the husband left for the office, and had no idea that his wife would go into labor that day, and that he would be kidnapped by the men that had been sent after him.
When our sister went into labor, in a near rural community in Nigeria, with a poorly managed and medically complicated pregnancy, and on the same day that the horrible news of her husband’s kidnap came in, it seemed that all of hell had been let loose.
Surprisingly, that was just the beginning of lots and lots of trouble. The kidnappers, refused to make any contact for two days, she labored for two days in a small rural clinic, and her baby could not come out. She had thought that her labor would be normal, and that she would deliver her baby with minimal stress, but the opposite was the case. At the end of the second day, she was fully dilated, and that baby stayed for eight hours in the womb with a fully dilated cervix, but still would not come out.
At this point, they had contacted me on phone and there was no way I could possibly get to her before something horrible happens. I requested to speak with her doctors on phone, and was put through. They told me how complex the situation was, and that her baby was too big, as could be expected following her medical condition. They had decided to refer her to a tertiary centre for caesarian section.
I advised her to cooperate with them, and go to the tertiary centre for the surgery, but she explained that she could not go for a number of reasons. I immediately called some friends in a town close to where she was to please go and help her, but before they could get to her, she had requested to be taken to a maternity centre, because, she was confused and dejected, and was not sure that she would see her husband again. She equally was afraid that before she gets to the tertiary centre, something horrible might happen, besides, without money, most doctors who are not Christian, do not care who dies or who survives.
All this while, I was keeping in touch with them, but forgot something very important-the power that is resident on the inside of us! This was now clearly beyond me and in fact, was already looking like that warning was about to come true negatively. If care was not taken, I was about to lose my sister, her baby and husband.
I called my brothers who were around, and only one person came to join me, and I explained to him, that the enemy had planned to take away our sister, her baby and husband because they are vulnerable, but that I was not going to let him do that. At that point rhema began to pour into my spirit- I shall decree a thing, and it shall come to pass; When men shall say, there is a casting down, I shall say, there is a lifting up; And nothing shall be impossible with God!
We began to pray, and I commanded the devil to lose his grip and let that baby come out, and decreed that the enemy’s captives, even if they were his lawful captives, be releases immediately.
We went ahead to pray in the spirit for about thirty minutes, until, I suddenly had peace in my spirit, what is called a note of victory. Then we stopped praying, and I told my brother that it was all over, and we would hear shortly that she has delivered safely.
Amazingly, two hours later, the phone rang, she had delivered a 5.6kg, live baby, and both baby and mother were in good condition. The surgery was no longer necessary.
I cannot express the joy, and peace, and every good feeling that I felt. I was totally awed by the greatness of God.
Two weeks later, her husband was released, and is alive and hale and hearty today, although ransom was paid.
To God be the Glory, GREAT things He has done.

HOPE AND LIFE THROUGH THE WORD-3

The man of God-Job did not understand the revelation, the Lord gave him thoroughly. I know what you are thinking now! Chidi, how did you know and what do you mean by that?
Job believed, that this was true for a tree, but not for a man. He got this word in his spirit, but did not understand it in his mind. Is that possible-yes it is!
We are told that the Old Testament prophets, or Holy men of God, spoke as they were moved by the Spirit, meaning that sometimes they did not understand what they spake.However for us to understand this better, let us go back to the scriptures. In Job chapter14 and verses 10, 11, 12, and some others down, you see him express his ignorance, that God will actually resurrect and can resurrect a dead man. Equally in verses 16 and 17 he seems to believe that God was looking out for his sins was packaging them, so that he will punish him. These we know are not true. In verse 19, he says that God destroys the hopes of man, which is not true! Let us look at the scriptures: Job chapter 14, verses 10-12
“But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep”.
These scriptures strongly suggest that Job did not believe or know that God could raise up a dead man out of the grave. It is possible that he felt it was possible, but was not sure. I say this because he also got a revelation that I know we sing as a song today, strongly suggesting that he knew that a day of change was coming when his dead worm eaten body will be glorified as he beholds the king of glory.
Therefore in the 19th chapter of Job and beginning from verse 25, Job addresses his previous ignorance, when he talks about the rapture of the saints, and hope in his present condition, let us read and compare: Job 19, verses 25 -27:
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at a latter day upon the earth:
And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold, and not another: though my reins be consumed within me”
The only time that Job would see his redeemer in his flesh on the earth, and with his previously destroyed body now made new, is on that day of the rapture. This tells us that Job has now realized that there is hope after all for a dead man.
Many times when we are faced with difficulties and problems, we behave like Job in chapter 14 of Job. We allow our troubles to block our vision and our revelation.
We see our problems big and magnify our doubts. Even as Job talked about his doubts concerning hope for a dead man, he expressed a little ray of hope when he said in verses 14 and 15of chapter 14, of Job:
“If a man dies, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.
Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou will have a desire to the work of thine hands”
This question Job asks at this point seriously tells us that he was not totally ignorant that God could raise the dead, or change a man’s rotten, sick or dead state, else he will not be talking about change. The real issue was that he could no longer convince himself at some point, that there was still a ray of hope.
Let us not forget however that Job never saw a dead man raised, because he lived long before the time of the prophet Elijah, whose miracle is the first recorded in the Bible of the dead being raised. He equally did not live in the time of Christ, so he never saw or heard about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. These things could explain why he did not understand that just as there is hope for a tree that has been cut down, there is hope for a man that has died for both of them to live again!
You and I know better, because we have not only read from the scriptures, but have read about as well as seen in video documentaries or even met one on one with the dead who have been raised. This should go a long way to magnify the power of that scripture in our lives that there is hope for a tree that has been cut down. It will surely spring up again through the scent of water.Hallelujah, and to God be the glory!There is hope for you and I.
.

HOPE AND LIFE THROUGH THE WORD-2

We can therefore see from the scripture that Job had this great revelation about the ability of water to rejuvenate a tree although it had been cut down.
We have also seen that the tree is representative of a man, or men; while water is representative of the word and the Spirit of God.
There are however some very important lessons for us to learn from these scriptures as we break them down. It is important to note that when a tree is cut down, and there is no water, it may not regenerate. It is therefore important that we note that the scripture is not saying that a tree that is cut down must regenerate-it can only happen through the scent of water.
COMPLICATED CASES MUST ALSO RESPOND TO THE WORD
This is very important, and can be clearly seen from the scripture in verse 8 of Job chapter 14.
“Though the roots thereof wax old in the Earth and the stock thereof die in the ground”…
This talks about complications that might have arisen out of that problem. Many times we not only have problems come into our lives, but they also get complicated. I remember a case of a couple that happens to have been friends to me who struggled to have a child after their marriage. The man amongst them is a medical doctor. He did all that he knew, and when he exhausted his streghnth, sought for medical attention from specialists, and they confirmed, that his wife had a pelvic inflammatory disease which has led to complications, and now she has bilateral tubal blockage.
These specialists tried all they could and latter gave up and recommended higher forms of treatment which he was not willing to go for, because they offered minimal and unpredictable levels of hope.
Finally, my friend decided that hope was still available through the word, and one day he heard that a prophet of God was organizing a special service as instructed by God, for those struggling with childbearing and conception. He and his wife co-operated fully with the prophet’s instructions during the service, and today they have a baby boy, that was conceived through the move of the word and the spirit during that service.
This simply tells us that no matter how bad that condition, or situation might be, it will never ever escape the power of the word and the spirit of God to deliver, to set free, to heal, to restore, and to renew.
This tells me that no matter how dead your dreams might have become, or how messed up you are, when you come around the ministry of a powerful motivational speaker like Pastor Joel , or an emotional healer and teacher, like Joyce Meyer, there will be a resurrection.
In the same vein, if you are sick and you come around the Ministry of a Pastor Benny Hinn, or Our father in the faith-Dr Morris Cerrulo, you will be healed.
However, these are men anointed or gifted by God, I am not saying that they have the power, but they have the word of God including thousands of others not mentioned. The most important thing is that if you can get a hold of the word, you can be healed, even in your bedroom.
A scent of something, speaks of a trace, or a little hint of that thing, or the smell of that thing. No wonder the scripture says “That which is borne of God overcomes the World”, which means that you do not necessarily have to cram the whole Bible to receive that miracle: all that you need is a trace of the relevant word taken a hold of by your human spirit.
Why do our miracles wait, or seem to delay, have we really caught the revealed word?

HOPE AND LIFE THROUGH THE WORD-1

Have you seen this beautiful allegorical prophetic revelation in the Old Testament Book of Job? Let us look at Job Chapter 14 and verse7:
“For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that it’s tender roots will not cease”.This in itself, is a very good scripture, and already carries a great message of hope, which is that after all, there is still-hope! But hold on, that is just the beginning. Let us now proceed to hear the rest of the story.
Job chapter 14 and verses 7-9 “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that it’s tender roots will not cease.
Though the roots thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock there of die in the ground;
Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.”Here and now we have a clearer picture of the revelation, and the process of change or transformation.
For us to clearly understand this revelation, remember that it is an allegory. An allegory is a symbolic representation of something-simply put. A broader explanation of an allegory, is that it is a work in which the characters or events are to be understood as representing other things and symbolically expressing a deeper, often spiritual, moral, or political meaning.
Added to the allegorical nature of this great message, is the concept of typology, as we shall explain shortly.
HOPE FOR (A) MAN
A tree is representative of a man of God or man, for men or children of God are called trees of righteousness.
Again in the Book of Psalms chapter 92 and verse 12 we read “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon”.Finally, we see the clearest picture of what Job is saying in Psalm 1, verses 1-3.Let us now zoom in completely:
Psalm 1 verse 1-3 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.This scripture, not only likens a man to a tree, but talks about the ability of the tree to be sustained, rejuvenated, and made to blossom, by water
WATER-THE SPIRIT AND THE WORD
Theologians teach about a concept known as typology which is scattered all over the word of God. Joseph and Joshua we are told were types of Christ. Most importantly and especially for the purpose of our study today, water is a type of the word. We all have read about the washing of water by the word. I will equally add that water is representative of the Spirit, for we read in the Book of Isaiah Chapter 55 and verse 1,
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without price.”This scripture talks about the Spirit of God, just as Ezekiel in chapter 47 gives an extensive explanation of the progressive infillings of the Spirit using water to represent the Holy Spirit as God gave the vision.
We shall see how the word and the Spirit move together to produce change, and why Job did not understand this revelation, as well as what that represent today, in the second part of this article.

YOU CAN PASS THIS TEST-1

It is important to understand that God knows your ability, and will never allow any test to come to you beyond what he has enabled you to overcome. In the Old Testament book of Exodus, we read a very interesting scripture and receive a very tremendous revelation from it. In Exodus, the account of how that the children of Israel left Egypt, is clearly told and their journey through the wilderness and to the promise land. Then in Exodus chapter 13, and verse 17 we read,

17 “ And it came to pass that when pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the philistines, although that was near; for God said, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and return to Egypt: 18 but God led the people about, through the way of the, wilderness of the Red Sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt”

At this point in time, the children of Israel were just coming out of the land of bondage, and were not yet trained for war. They had also not seen the mighty deliverance of God that can take place in a battle field. God knew all these things, and he knew that their enemies, the philistines in particular, were great fighters. And God did not want his people to turn back because of war, so he decided to avoid that route which was shorter, so that by the time they ,would have passed through a certain distance through this longer route, they would have become ready. We can clearly see that in the process of time, their numbers increased, they fought wars, they saw God deliver them in the Red Sea, when the army of Egypt came against them and they were able to withstand many Nations.

POWER OF FAITH-2a

Then faith came alive and the unexpected happened, these men put their faith to work by believing and speaking what they believed. Mortal men, who faced being burnt up by fire did not care what happened and spoke to the king what they believed, because they had tested and tried this God, He does not and cannot fail. Thus in verse 16 we read
16 "Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego, answered the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou has set up".
Then as you would expect, the king was mad at them,
19 "Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego; therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace".

THE POWER OF FAITH-2

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Welcome back.We will continue with the story you know latter!

Who or what god do you serve? The Bible says that so many people are in the valley of decision.That is just like what we have in the picture.Many are facing different directions. It is important to know only one true God-the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His son whom He has sent.This is the true God and eternal life!

THE POWER OF FAITH

Faith is that which enables people or man to do the impossible. In the 11th Chapter of the book of Hebrews we read about what faith is and how faith was applied in the old covenant by men of old to come out of trouble.
Even though faith was defined or made clearer in the New Testament, it had been there right from the old, and anything about the entire Christian race hovers around faith and works by faith.
Thus we hear of people doing everything that was humanly speaking – difficult or impossible– by faith, in that chapter.
David, 1 Sam.17 was one of those mentioned here, and through faith he subdued kingdoms (Heb.11:32-33) Then in verse 34 we read:
34 "Quenched the violence of fire…"
The beautiful story of how faith can be used to come out of trouble includes to quench the violence of fire, this is clearly written in the Book of Daniel Chapter 3, where the three Hebrew children – Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego demonstrated an unshakable faith in a God that cannot fail and by so doing conquered or quenched the violence of raging fire.
Israel was at that time captured and indeed in captivity in Babylon, and the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar had made a golden image which he claimed was now God, and had instructed that everyone in his kingdom was to bow at the sound of instruments to this idol that he had made. He further instructed that whosoever would not bow down at the sound of music was to be thrown into a burning fiery furnace which he had prepared – Dan 3:4 – 6.
4 "Then an herald cried out aloud, to you it is commanded, O people, nations and languages".
5 "that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer; and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up"
6 "And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace".
This single decree spelt trouble for the Jews, but especially for those who were committed in their service to the God of heaven, because this God of heaven is the only true God, and will never share His glory with the gods of the heathen which were objects of creation. Amongst these Hebrews were Shadrack Meshack and Abednego, who were not willing to share their worship of God Almighty with Nebuchadnezzar's god of gold. And so in Daniel Chapter 3 verse 12, we read of a reporting of these Jews to Nebuchadnezzar because of their refusal to bow down to his god.
12 "There are certain Jews, whom thou has set over the affairs of the province of Babylon Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego; these men O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou has set up".
The King who was ignorant of the ways of God Almighty, became very angry and ordered that they bring Shadrack Meshack and Abednego to him, to come and explain themselves. He actually told them to get ready to bow down to his golden image or be cast into the fire as you can read from verses 14-15.

WELCOME BACK

Welcome back to the House of hope, we want to assure you, that we will be publishing again from now on.Expect inspiring and life changing articles.