Written by rhemanigeria@gmail.com on . Posted in Faith Digest.
Written by rhemanigeria@gmail.com on . Posted in Faith Digest.
Written by rhemanigeria@gmail.com on . Posted in Faith Digest.
By Rev. Toks Adejuwon
So what is a Holy Ghost meeting and what do we expect?
In July, 1987, the Lord appeared to Kenneth E. Hagin of blessed memory in a vision and said to him; “…there is a move of the Spirit that would be lost to this generation except they are led into it …” and that He (the Lord) wants him teach about the Holy Spirit. Then sometime later in 1993, in Lakeland, Florida, he spoke out of his spirit that “… we are going to start having Holy Ghost meetings…” He didn’t start right away, but eventually he did. He asked the Lord “What’s a Holy Ghost meeting?” And the Lord told him a Holy Ghost meeting consists of three (3 ) things, namely:
1. In a Holy Ghost meeting, the Word of God is preached and (or) taught.
Jesus said in Mark 16: 15 “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature…” This is our primary assignment. The preaching and the teaching of God’s word must come first. Matthew records the same thing in Matthew 28 verse 18, and 19; “all power (authority) is given to me in heaven and in earth…go therefore and teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things…”
When Brother Hagin pastored in 1939, he did Deliverance Meetings, then Getting Free Meetings and finally Loosening Meetings. After nine months altogether of those meetings, nothing changed in the people’s lives, they were just as bound as they had been. He then began to seek the Lord in prayer and fasting about the situation and the Lord said to him; “… you are trying to do for my people through prayer, anointing with oil and laying on of hands what My Word and My Word alone would do for them…”. The Lord gave him a scripture in John 8:32 which says; “… you shall know the truth and the truth SHALL make you free….”. He began to put out God’s Word. This time round, the people got free and stayed free. The Word of God is anointed.
One time I pastored, as a regular thing, I ministered to the sick. There was a lady who was part of that assembly, who had had surgery thrice for a certain respiratory condition, but the surgeries did not fix the problem. She never came on any of my healing lines for me to minister to her. After a few months, she came to me saying; “… you know, I had trouble with my breathing and I have had surgery on it three times but it couldn’t fix it but by sitting under the teaching of the Word I am now completely healed” The Word did it. Psalm 107:20 says: “He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
2. In a Holy Ghost meeting, the Spirit of God is leading, He’s guiding, He’s in demonstration and in manifestation.
A minister once said “With just the Word, you might dry up, with just the Spirit you might blow up, but with the Word and the Spirit, you get to grow up”. We put the Word first, but we’re just as much a people of the Holy Ghost as we’re a people of the Word. We believe in following the Holy Ghost; flowing with the Holy Ghost. As a matter of fact, that’s how Rhema started in the first place. Brother Hagin was teaching on the first night of Camp meeting, July 1973, when he suddenly spoke out of his spirit; “… we’re gonna start a Bible School right here on this premises, to train people in the Word of God and in the Holy Ghost…” He just spoke that out of his spirit without realizing it mentally and that is how Rhema started. So, we believe in following the Holy Ghost. He leads, He guides, He directs, and we want to be sensitive to His leading.
There are manifestations of the Spirit spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. Through any of these nine manifestations, the Spirit of God moves to bless lives. Those manifestations are as the Spirit of God wills. We can create a conducive atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to move by cooperating with Him.
I remember one time I was teaching in one of the Rhema campuses in India. I was teaching “Christ the Healer” and as I taught and moved around, I stood right at one section of seats and then there was a lady that sat right in front of me. On the inside of me I heard “ tell her she’s healed” I thought to myself ‘I don’t even know if she’s sick”. Well, I just pointed at her and said, “listen up, I’m human and I could miss it, but I seem to have an impression in my spirit to tell you that you are healed.” She didn’t show much emotion but just said something like ‘praise God’, and that was it. I found out later she had had a heart condition that was incurable, but instantly she got healed, just in a moment. These are manifestations of the Holy Ghost and they belong to the body of Christ. More so, the Spirit of God yearns to manifest Himself through any Spirit-filled believer.
Just like there are manifestations of the Spirit, there are also demonstrations of the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 2:4, Paul said, “… my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man’s wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of the power of God…” There are physical demonstrations of the Spirit of God. For instance, Psalm 126:1 says; “When the Lord turned again captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream, then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing, then said they among the heathen ‘the Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us whereof we are glad”. In Hebrews 12, we see that Zion is the Church and Colossians 1:12-13 says “giving thanks unto the father who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the authority of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son…” so, certainly, He has turned our captivity. Notice it says. “then was our mouth filled with laughter”. Psalm 2:4 says “He that sits in the heavens shall laugh”. God laughs and we are seated at the right hand of the Father (Eph 2:6) and so we can laugh inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says, “a merry heart, doeth good like medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). There is something about rejoicing in the Spirit that blesses us and causes God’s power to be brought on the scene.
In 1 Peter 1:8, the Bible says “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:” Now, if the joy is unspeakable, there’s bound to be ways to express it. That’s why we sometimes laugh, run, dance and sometimes get hilarious!
3. In a Holy Ghost meeting, the needs of the people are met, and they are full of joy.
Sometimes, there is exuberant joy, but the Holy Ghost could be in manifestation and there is silence. In a Holy Ghost meeting, He may want us to worship. He may want us to pray about something and He may roll prayer burdens. We do not see much of these things anymore these days, but these are the things we need to go back to, that need to be taught and we need to be led into. God’s best is that we walk by faith but not everybody is at that place where they will receive by faith. Some people are so far gone that except there is a manifestation of the Spirit, they will not receive their healing but may die. Some people have lost their minds and don’t even understand what you are saying, so it will take a manifestation of the Spirit to get them delivered. God, being the kind of Father that He is- a loving and gracious Father, He wants to help people regardless of the level that they are at. For the unbelievers, He wants to get their attention through signs and wonders. Signs are not going to get them saved, it is the preaching of the Word that will, but the signs can get their attention. Sometimes, all of us need a little bit of help and in some of these kinds of meetings, where the Spirit is moving, some of that help shows up.
I have seen people who have been believing for healing for years come to a Holy Ghost Meeting and then in such an atmosphere, the healing comes into manifestation. I remember one man, he hadn’t seen in one eye for 7 years and I laid hands on him with the tangible anointing
of healing power, and the blind eye popped open instantly. Now, I can’t heal a fly, Jesus is the healer! One way and not the only way Jesus heals is through the laying on of hands.
On June 1, 1992, the Lord Jesus appeared to me and said “I’ve called you specially and anointed you specially to do what I’ve called you to do, now I want you to go in the strength of that call…” If you will believe that I’m anointed and you will receive that anointing, that power will flow from my hands into your body, it will drive out whatever sickness or disease you have and it will effect a healing and a cure in you. God’s power destroys yokes.
The laying on of hands can be used to minister healing (Mark 16:17-18), the baptism in the Holy Ghost (Acts 19:6), separate people to God’s call (Acts 13:1-4), impart spiritual endowments (Deuteronomy 34:9, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6), and impart blessings (Mark 10:16). Expect to be blessed, expect your needs to be met and expect to be full of joy.
REV. TOKUNBO ADEJUWON graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center Nagpur, India. He is ordained and credentialed with Rhema Ministerial Association International, USA. He currently serves in Rhema Bible Training Center Nigeria, as the National Director. He is happily married to Dr. Akunna and they have 3 lovely children: Zoe, Sophia and Victor.
Written by rhemanigeria@gmail.com on . Posted in Faith Digest.
By Dr. (Mrs) Akunna Adejuwon
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and 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”
Gen 1:28
God has always had increase in His heart for us His children. Starting from creation, after He made man, He gave him a command to “Be fruitful and multiply” It has been the plan from the beginning!
Notice that also there were some rules that He gave Adam to abide by as he was in the garden of Eden which as long as he abided by those rules he would always increase or be fruitful in his dealings in life.
Adam disobeyed God and committed high treason, that particular action set man up to some consequences that affected the Blessing! He couldn’t go beyond God’s best for him. Looking through the Old Testament to the New Testament, God’s will for his children to have and enjoy the best in life is clearly seen. Increase is always seen in any of his children that followed his status and worked closely with Him. We can see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc all of them experienced increase in their lives by following Him.
In this church age, God has given us His Word to work with. All that we need to experience His increase is in His Word!!
Obeying and willingly doing God’s command will set us up on the path of God’s increase or fruitfulness. When we constantly don’t do His Word, His Word won’t produce for us. Willingness and Obedience is the key to enjoy all of God’s promises. Isaiah 1:19
Attending to His Word daily and making it a priority in our lives will cause us to succeed in this life!
Joshua 1:8 says (KJV)
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Message translation says:
“And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed”.
YOU will make YOUR way prosperous and YOU will have good success( get where you are going).You obeying His Word is a determining factor to Increase in God’s way!
Written by rhemanigeria@gmail.com on . Posted in Faith Digest.
By Pastor Toks Adejuwon (@toksadejuwon)
1. Meditate in the Word
To build up a healthy and strong body, it’s not what we eat that counts; It’s what we digest. The same goes for our spirits. Joshua 1:8 makes this clear. Moses had recently died and Joshua was just beginning his ministry. As Moses’ successor, he had some big shoes to fill, and this was what God told him:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Joshua 1:8
Now, this tells us how to prosper and how to have good success in life, and how do we achieve that? By meditating in the Word.
The Hebrew word translated “meditate” here in the Old Testament also carries with it the thought of “to mutter” i.e, to say something quietly to oneself. You don’t even have to be a Hebrew scholar to figure that out. Notice it says: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein…” That immediately tells us something: that our mouth is a part of our meditation. Proverbs 18:20 says: “A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth, with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.” If I’m going to fill my belly, which is my spirit, my mouth is involved. So, your mouth is not just for feeding the physical belly, it’s also for feeding your spirit. To meditate equally carries the thought of “ to actively read, to think upon, to ponder over, to say to oneself, to mutter, to toss God’s Word over and over in our minds and spirits”.
You would notice that God said to Joshua here “…for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Many a time, we pray thus: “God make me prosperous, make my way prosperous.” “Listen!, God is not the one to make your way prosperous. If you’re ever going to prosper, it will be your own doing, your prosperity is in your own hands!” You are the one to make your way prosperous. God has given us the tools whereby we can make our way prosperous. There’s a whole lot out there about keys to success, but I tell you, the real key to success is the development of the human spirit. If we can train our spirits through the Word, we will make our way prosperous and we will have good success.
2. Practice the Word: James 1:22
Be a doer of the Word.
In every situation of life, learn to ask yourself “what does the Word of God say?” and then put it to practice. Philippians. 4:6 says “Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God, “ Verse 7 says “and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”.
Many times, we want that peace that passes all understanding but we are not ready to do what God’s word tells us to do to get it. We don’t mind doing the praying part, but often times, we don’t do the “do not fret, nor have anxiety about anything…” part. If you’re going to worry, your prayer is not going to count, it’s not going to amount to anything other than the proverbial hill of beans – it won’t amount to anything! God will not tell us to do what we do not have the capacity to do. He will not tell us to do what we can’t do. Oh, have I been tempted to worry? Many times!. What do I do in such situations? I just hand the matter over to God and I tell Him “Father, look at this situation…” One time when I was praying, I said “God, if you’re the one who is in trouble the way I’m in trouble and I can help you like you can help me, I’ll do it…” and that was the end of my prayer, case closed! Yea…I remember another time I said “Father, guess what? You are in trouble.” Someone says “What are you saying? How dare you talk like that?” Well, He said, “He will be with me in trouble” (Psalm 91:15) didn’t he? He said, “He will never leave me nor forsake me..” (Heb. 13:5), and if I’m in trouble, and He is with me in trouble, then He is in trouble
too. But I’m yet to see the trouble that will trouble Him. So, I’ve learnt to roll those cares on Him and leave them with Him. So, let’s get into the Word, let’s meditate in the Word, and let’s practice the Word. It is the doer of the Word who’s blessed and not just the hearer.
3. Give The Word of God First Place:
Remember that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8, 11, 21:6, 22:13). He’s the Alpha, He wants to come first, and He wants to be the Omega, He wants to be the final authority, so give God’s Word first place. If you’re going to train your spirit, if you’re going to educate your spirit, you’ve got to give the Word of God first place. Proverbs 4:20:22 says “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. ”
Note that God tells us to attend to His Word. What does it mean to attend to something? Well, if you are attending a class, it means you’re present. What God is saying is that where His Word is concerned, be present, and attend to it. Give it your undivided attention, everything else OUT, and the word of God IN. We’re to give God’s Word first place. You remember the story of King Asa, who had a disease in his feet. He would rather seek a physician first instead of seeking God, and so he died (1 Kings 15:23). There’s nothing wrong with seeking the help of doctors though. They are good people, and there are good, godly Christian doctors, but don’t let your faith be in that first. The Bible says for us not to trust in the arm of flesh. If you need medical help, don’t feel condemned about getting help, go get it. However, don’t put that first. The Word of God should be first place. When you are in financial need as well, before you think of whom to borrow from, talk to God about it. Put God’s Word first. I don’t think it’s a sin to borrow, but don’t let your first impulse be “who can I borrow from?.” Have you talked to God about it? Why not give Him first place? Have you asked yourself “What does the Word of God say about this situation?” Let your perspective about anything; marriage, having children, business, politics, etc, be “What does the Word of God say about it?” We are to let God’s Word trump culture, trump your perspective, trump your views. No matter what happens, we should be so Word conscious that the first thing that comes to our minds or out of our mouth is “what does the Word say about it?” and we put that Word into practice.
4. Instantly Obey the Voice of Your Spirit:
Just like your outward man has a voice, your spirit man also has a voice. Conscience is the voice of your spirit, reason is the voice of the mind and feeling is the voice of the body. Your conscience is the voice of your spirit. Any man, whether saved or unsaved, his spirit has a voice. The conscience of the man who is not born again will allow him to do anything, therefore his conscience is not a safe guide. The opposite is the case for the saved man. The saved man has the life of God in his spirit and as he gives his spirit the privilege of meditating in the word, practicing the word, and giving the word first place in his life, then his spirit becomes an authoritative guide.
Listen, we are to obey our spirits. Proverbs 20:27 says “the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” Whatever God’s Word has told you to do, don’t
pray about again. Just do it! Don’t put out a fleece. When God’s word tells you what to do, there’s no need praying; you’ll be opening yourself up to deception if you do that. Do what the Word of God says. In other issues where the Word doesn’t tell you specifically what to do, we are to instantly obey our recreated spirit. (Acts 23:1, 24:16).
Keep your conscience tender because that’s how God is going to guide you. Now, a believer who doesn’t renew his mind, who doesn’t keep his body under, who lets his flesh dominate him, who lives in the flesh, is going to have a hard time being led of God. God is going to guide us through our spirits and that’s why it’s important to keep the flesh under. 1 Timothy 1: 19 says “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.” If you don’t keep your conscience tender, you’ll make a shipwreck of your faith. Now, don’t get into sin consciousness. If your conscience is not condemning you, don’t condemn your conscience. Keep your conscience tender. Your conscience is a function of your knowledge of God’s Word, and it’s your moral compass. God will guide and enlighten us through our spirits.
Written by rhemanigeria@gmail.com on . Posted in Faith Digest.
By Aderanti Olowoshoke
“13. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
14. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
15. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.”
1 Timothy 4:13-15
The Apostle Paul admonished Timothy in the passage above to devote himself to some spiritual exercises, and not to neglect his gift. Doing these would make Timothy’s progress (profiting) obvious to everyone. We can also say doing these things would result in an increase for Timothy.
Again, we see in Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthian Church that Paul planted, Apollos watered and God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6).
From these two scriptures, we can see that increase comes with planting and watering (i.e. reading and studying the word, as well as fanning our gifting through praying in the Holy Ghost). God is EVER INTERESTED in OUR INCREASE, but we also see that having our hearts as a good ground for God’s word can facilitate our increase/profiting.
As we begin to round up the first quarter of 2019, ask yourself “Is my profiting evident to all”? “Can I see an increase in my life”? If your profiting is not evident and you can’t see any increase, it couldn’t be because God does not want you to increase. God always wants the best for us! So it may be worth taking extra time to sow the seed of God’s word into your heart and watering it with the Word of God as well as praying in the Holy Ghost. As you do and hold fast to your confession, your increase will become evident to all.