Recovering From Defeat To Win A Battle

At some point man has been hit under the belt and felt humiliated. Laying there with a smashed ego, and hallucinating, and glaring defeat is the worst form of humiliation. Many have never recovered from defeat,  nor overcame because of self- pity, and have feared  to face the antagonistic approach anymore. The modus operandi in the Christendom has not been made better by the buoyant tendencies, which hide in the scope of humility, albeit suffering in silence.

We have seen many a people, who for some reasons, could not engage in the spiritual combat, and emerge triumphant. Scores of them lost the battle even before it was fought. Ephesians tells us that, our spiritual warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the “darkness” of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places! Ephesians 6. 10.  With this in mind we are, obliged to have an inkling into the operation of the enemy, who will stop at nothing utill he sees us glaring defeat, and succumbing to it, as though we have no hope. He is a murderer, a liar, and the father of all lies from the very beginning as Jesus affirmed in John 8. 42.

To be a staunch believer of Christ, and not be immersed in spiritual battle is unheard of, because the enemy is on the prowl seeking whom he may devour, as it is reported to us by Peter in his epistle. 1Peter 5.8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. It is sad that many have been devoured, and they that were supposed to be custodian of them devoured stood there as by -standers and helpless, not even slightest endeavor to invoke the powerful name of the Jesus was attempted.

These days we are not engaged in perennial battles as the nation of Israel did in those medieval days, when they fought perennial wars with most of her neighbors,   chief among them the Philistines and other former Canaanite nations. Nevertheless we are spiritual Israel, and as the nation of Israel fought battles with nations eager to annihilate them, so are we though fighting spiritual battles each passing day, against  an enemy who is determined to stop us in our spiritual tracks. He cannot   win unless we capitulate under his pressure that he piles on us day by day.

Today most people are nursing spiritual wounds; some are giving up in all spiritual fronts. The prospects of ever receiving a rejoinder to the many prayers said to the deity have diminished. Expectations were high, but after waiting, and that miracle never came on time as long anticipated, despair crept in, and many hitherto have given up any hope of succeeding.

Lately I have encountered many folks with a defeatist mentality. They are too skeptical that anything good can emerge out of what has transpired in lives led here on the planet. Some others still live in bitterness, and every day they rue missed opportunities.  They seem to have given up completely to as whether they will ever own a home, car, husband, wife, kids, job and many other things they trusted God on. Preach to them the long wait that Abraham had, and they will dismiss you about that, by literally saying “gone are the days of Abraham, and we are now in the 21^st century”. It seems it is long forgotten that the Lord God is the same yesterday, today and for ever more.

Let me begin to address this issue in a way it was revealed to me, when I too felt as though, no hope remained in me anymore. Many a times, when we pray and our faith is confronted by the powers that be, which are diabolic, we have faulted the deity for not being sensitive to our plight. But the heavenly Father is much concerned about us, that is why he send His only begotten son to die a humiliating demise on that ugly wooden cross. He so loved the World that he gave the World he loved His only begotten son that whoever does believe in Him perish not, rather he will have everlasting life. John 3.16. This is a very famous quote by every soul wining clergy!

Now one thing that has over the years escaped most believers is- how the war is waged. Volumes of books with various keys have been churned out, and the verdict is still strangely the same- defeat! I don’t   fault those who have written these books; rather I am bringing in a new dimension as revealed to me.

We need a paradigm shift, and stop applying the same strategy every time. And this how it was shown to me. When God did send Prophet Samuel to anoint Saul as the first King of the nation of Israel, he knew he was very ordinary. Being ordinary one tends to do things in an ordinary manner, the way one knows best. He was not oblivious of the fact, that Saul was untested in leadership. He had no war history, not even managing a small band of militia that could hunt down bandits who terrorized their tribe.

God instructs Prophet Samuel to anoint him King. Remember the Children of Israel yearned for a king like other nations around them, who could rally the nation in defeating all those nations that were trying to invade the land. Now examining the scriptures from this point of view, you will begin to see a great picture on how to avoid defeat, and always emerge victorious. 1Samuel 10.6-7

And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shall be turned in to another man.

7-And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee: for God is with thee.

Here is where the mystery lays. When we are changed after accepting the Lord as our savior and we are duly baptized in the Holy Ghost, we are no longer on our own, though the flesh is at war with the Spirit because we are human by nature.  There was dramatic transformation In Saul’s life after he was anointed into kingship by Prophet Samuel, he prophesied when he encountered the prophets and Saul was turned into different man as Samuel had promised.  People said “is Saul also among the prophets”?. This is what takes place when God appoints us to certain offices. He doesn’t want us to be led by emotions, or our whims,  to the contrary he wants to lead us to successful accomplishment of every task bestowed upon us by Him.

Saul began to wage war against the aggressive armies that invaded the land, one thing though he could not wait longer when under immense pressure. One time when Israel was under siege, the prophet told him to wait for seven days, the nation was in a strait, because of the philistines who had  ganged up against them, and he could not wait longer, he went ahead and offered a sacrifice which was not permitted him to do in the law. Samuel told him that he acted foolishly. How many times have we acted foolishly because we could not wait longer for God to do something we expected of him? The battles we wage are they for a show? Or glory? Or is it that God is to be glorified in that war? One thing to be noted here that exacerbated his downfall which is vivid ; is -"he was minded about the fears, emotions, distress of other people", and the idea he entertained of what people would say of him, and how they  would  also view his leadership skills. To his chagrin the prophet tells him bluntly the "Kingdom" shall not continue, which means Sauls'," for God has sought a man after his own heart". He went out of the way to a jurisdiction that was not his, though he was told “do as the occasion serves you, when you are turned to a different man”. Many times we have disobeyed Gods voice and acted foolishly because we felt our egos would suffer, and we desired short cut to miracles, so that we could have a good standing among people around us. He was to wait for the Man of God to offer sacrifice, but took upon himself a role that was not designated him. How many times do we do that? We have today spiritual infants who have usurped spiritual authority, doing what is not incumbent up on them to do. When trial comes the infants cannot stand, and they live to rue the things of God, and they remain defeated most of the time.

Another time, God tells him, I want to execute my wrath upon the Amalekites. He says they waylaid the Israelites as they came from Egypt, and he was therefore commanding him to revenge against the Amaliketes. This meant that the battle was the Lords. He goes, kills, but spares the choicest of the animals, and also saves the Kings life, which was not what God told him. With this coming to the fore, God rejected him and chose his neighbor. A great lesson to learn!

One, the battle always should be the Lords not individuals’. We should wait on Gods direction, even when under immense pressure and the pangs of the enemy to heavy to bear. If we learn to understand how spiritual battle shapes up, and know the importance of waiting on God, we will never lose any battle. David never lost any battle. He sinned couple  of times against the Lord, but in such situation when the enemy had brought him so low, and down, he fell in the hands of God. He collected himself from the shame associated with sin, and took the enemy head on, giving him no room to celebrate when he was down.

Jehoshaphat joined affinity with Ahab, Gods enemy because of his notorious evil wife Jezebel. And he once joined him in a battle. He got almost killed, but when he screamed God spared his life. Now back home God sternly rebuked him for this act. Years later the enemy came against him, and he was no match for the advancing enemy, he remembered the promise God gave to Solomon his great grandfather, that his name will forever be in the place he had built Him a house.  He told him about the enemies who were now advancing, and brought to the fore his answer to Solomon when he prayed during the temples dedication. God answered and said to him, the battle was not his (Jehoshaphat) but the Lords! 2Chronicles 20.14, and he is told to believe Gods prophets and he shall be established.

Spiritual wars are not won by our own initiatives, and abilities to fight the war our own way, or use strategies that are appealing to us, or any sophisticated armory at our disposal, rather God uses his own strategy that looks so foolish in mans eyes to confound the enemy. Figure out where a nation had laid down all the sophisticated weapons, and allowed men of God, and the praise and worship team to praise him in the battle. It is ridiculous in the eyes of man. I say this will rile some great military pundits who have such great knack in analyzing the dimension of any combat. The generals in Jehoshaphat army had no choice but to obey. Obeying the voice of God is key to winning any spiritual looming battle. They won big, without much ado from the advancing foe, God killed those armies, and made them have spoils of war which they gathered for three days.

We should not be dismayed, or despair when we don’t see ready answers to our prayers. The enemy should not be given any room to maneuver. It is irksome to see how irate folks can behave when, they don’t seem to have their way.  Learning that God has given us power is vital, and it should not escape our attention that as many as are` led by the Spirit, they are the Sons of God.

Jehoshaphat had been down, though he did some good things, but his association with Ahab's family through marriage, had eroded his spiritual standing. God send him a terse message that showed his dislike of such unholy alliance. With Jehu son of Henani meeting him to deliver God's verdict after near lose of his life, when he joined Ahab the hater of God in battle, things were taking a dramatic turn.  God said "should you help the ungodly, and love those who hate the Lord"? and the seer told him the wrath of the Lord is upon you. Nevertheless some good deeds were noted by the Lord which he had done. The story of this king is a good example on how one can recover from a fatal spiritual fall and overcome to register on of the great victories recorded in bible history times, that truly shows the working mighty hand of the Lord.

In 2012 you will not walk as a defeated person, recover from the attack, and charge at the enemy. It is a year of great victory. I hear the voice tell me that, time has now come for the Children of God to walk victorious. They will triumph as they obey Gods voice. God is taking you out of that situation into great victory never seen in your life in 2012. Glory be to God!
Dr. Ephantus N. Steve

El misterio detrás del espíritu de Elías!

Siempre me han fascinado las hazañas de Elias. El vivio en un tiempo en que la fe era algo del otro mundo, entre un pueblo absorto en la adoración de ídolos, introducidos por la monarca Jezabel. Para empezar, no se nos da su genealogía solo se le llama Elías Tisbita y que  vivia en el área de Galaad  1Reyes 17.1. Si analizamos el hecho que era Tisbita o que era de Galaad, uno puede estar tentado a creer que no era israelita, esto lo descalificaba de cualquier autoridad moral para criticar al Rey. Sin embargo, cualquier experto de la Biblia necesita tener en mente que a la gente, en ese tiempo se le refería de acuerdo a su lugar de nacimiento. Un buen ejemplo es María Magdalena, ella venia  de Magdala por lo tanto, su apellido se conoce como Magdalena. Esto tambien es cierto con respecto a Elías, ya que era proveniente de Tisbea, o rel acionado con la gente de esa region. Lo mismo aplica Elkana, el padre de Samuel, que era de la tribu de Efraín, y se refiere como, Elkana el efrateo.

CONTINUA...

The Mystery Behind The Spirit Of Elijah!

I have always been fascinated by Elijah's exploits. At the time when faith was nothing to write home, to a people engrossed in idol worship introduced by the monarch Jezebel. For starters, no genealogy is given other than Elijah being a Tishbite and living in the Gilead area 1Kings 17.1. Sensing Tishbitic trace or being from Gilead, one may be tempted to believe he was not an Israelite, then lacking moral standing to castigate the King. But for any Bible pundit one needs to be privy to the fact that people were being referred to, with places one hailed from in some instances. A good example is Mary Magdalene, meaning she was from Magdala hence her last name being referred to as Magdelane, which signified where she came from. This is true on touching on Elijah, as either coming from Tishba, or among folks there. The same applies to Elkanah, the father of Samuel, who was from Ephraim and referred to as, Elkanah the Ephrathite.

A little research will show you Samuel genealogy is numbered among the children of Levi and not among the tribe of Ephraim 1chronicles 6.22-28, this is startling when you get to learn about this genealogy. This is very interesting, and an urge begins to build up, when genealogy of Elijah is not given, just in the same way Melchizedeks' genealogy is not given, save a brief line that- he was the King of Salem and the priest of the Most High, whose attributes are replicated in the person of Jesus Christ.

 Why is much not highlighted about this man Elijah as touching to his childhood upbringing like many others before him and after him. How can people unravel this startling state of affairs in our time? When we look in to his prophetic ministry we see a great shift from the acclaimed prophetic move to rather unique attributes unequaled in his time, and even after his departure, except instances where his servant Elishah operates in a unique unction. Remember his prayer prior to his master being taken away? "I pray for the double portion of your Spirit"- a hard prayer made at that time. The end of his ministry on the planet is as dramatic as the start of the prophetic ministry. His clothing, manner of eating, combative spirit when others were busy hiding from the face of Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel, and the mind boggling departure that was so dramatic to those who witnessed the episode first hand lives a lot to desire about this man. One thing that adds mystery to the whole saga is when a letter purportedly written by Elijah many years after he is carried away with Chariots of fire- is read to the King 2Chronicles 21-12.
 It is so intriguing to a carnal mind when all this is read about this man, that operated so differently from the laid down norm. He commanded both respect and awe among the Jewish people. He still does to date command,  awe, and inspiration, in the same breath.

When God appoints a man in a specific office, and he is available to be used of Him, nothing can deter God from exihibiting all he wants. It was the most terrible times in the history of this nation that had only seen  few Kings since the glorious days of David and his son Solomon. Jeroboam had caused the nation to sin against God, by deviating people from sound worship, and made them turn their backs against God who had brought them out of slavery. Certain acts though appealing may distract many and lead them away from God. Jeroboam for fear he would lose his grip on people if they trekked to Jerusalem was the root cause of this problem that kept repeating itself in this Northern Kingdom that was dominated by 10 of the tribes of Israel, save for the two tribes, that remained in the South, and commonly known as the House of Judah.

He substituted the worship in Jerusalem by introducing Baal worship. And this looked very okay among most of the people. He erected higher places, where the worship will go on, and appointed priests. What made him do this? His interests. No one saw this scheme, every one was so happy with it, till the time God dispatched a young prophet from Judah, with a clear cut message to the King whom God had entrusted with ten of the Northern tribes. When God entrusts us with any noble task do we change the plan, when we are under threat because we want a hold on Gods people? The things we introduce to replace God's accepted way of doing things are they ordained of God, or they are sparked by the fear raging in us?. One outstanding scenario was about an old Prophet who lived there, but had no guts to tell the king  that what he was involving himself in was idolatry. He had outlived his usefulness. It is sad when you outlive your usefulness because of compromise. Most  people, have chosen to remain mum, even though they are aware of what is going on. They will not desire to be seen as antagonizing some players with a timely godly discourse. God does not relent, and will not hesitate to send one of the many vessels he has ordained to pass the message.

Even after conveying the message and starting for home, this old prophet with a lying spirit, had the audacity to mislead this young and promising prophet. How many folks have been mislead by old Prophets who were compromised and lost favor? He meets his demise on the way home for failure to heed God's stern warning that he should not take the same path he did tread when heading there, neither drink or eat in any of those places. The old prophet said to him, "I am also a man of God and His Spirit told me to tell you to change tact, and come in my house to drink and eat". Whereas God seeing this in advance fore warned him, not to use the same path, neither turn in anywhere near the place for a meal or drink. He believed this man since he pointed to him that he was a man of God just like him .He never took time to inquire of the Lord as to whether that was true. And  he should have asked himself since when did God rescind his earlier stern warning he had given him, and what prompted him to rescind the warning sternly given.
Many have been spiritually mislead by old prophets, and died a spiritual death, they need Jesus to breathe new life in their spiritual death. After the young prophet has come to his house and eaten, the Spirit of God came upon the old prophet and began to upbraid him for failure to heed Gods voice, and he was told about his imminent death. It is such a sad story, nevertheless the prophecy was to come to pass according to the word of the young prophet. The nation had began to walk in the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

When Ahab takes the reins of power,  the nation is awash with idolatry introduced by his great grand father Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He became the defender and promoter of this propensity through his wife, the queen of the land who polluted the nation with Baal worship. There was no stopping for her, she did outrageous things. She had the prophets of the Lord killed. She usurped authority, and did all the evil things that were abominable in the eyes of God. Ahab the King was a pale shadow of himself, subdued by Jezebel who was not an Israelite at all.

This brings me to our times, are we experiencing things like this though in a modern set up?. And  is it hard to tell that many are walking in ways similar to those in the days of Elijah?. This is when the mystery behind the Spirit of Elijah is seen. God was so incensed by all this atrocious acts. Elijah confronts the King and declares "they will be no rain or dew till his word came to pass" Which duly takes place. He is searched everywhere. the King goes out of the way to make other Kings enter in agreement with him that Elijah will be handed to him once spotted. God takes charge of his life, by providing for him in unique situations, first by ravens, then the widow. For the space of three and half years the heavens are shut! no dew, nor rain, is spotted in the land. Man does not change even with all the unfolding events, because he is so engrossed with the mundane issues. We had good people even among the Kings' officials who had the fear of God like Obadiah, but did not have the guts to confront the King for fear of being put to death.

Today many people are afraid to speak the truth for fear of losing favor or being excommunicated from their respective assemblies and cathedrals. What a pity! The Lord speaks to him to go and show himself to Ahab with a message-" they will be rain again". A contest ensues on the mountain that pitted the priests and prophets of baal on one hand, against Elijah and His Lord on the other,  and God comes down to honor the sacrifice of the troubler of the Land ( Elijah), what a great vindication. When we do things the Lords way, following his instructions he will reveal himself, and we will for sure be vindicated. It is not about our interests, fame, or any other of  the things we value, and cherish most, but what is of God carries the day, and he wants those things he desires done, that is what counts and brings His power down.
Elijah Kills the prophets and priests of baal, though aided by people who saw fire come down from heaven, and prostrated themselves before God saying " The Lord,  he is the God; the Lord, he  is the God", this infuriated Jezebel, and she vows to do the same to Elijah, and with this he is put on flight for fear of death from the wicked queen, and in the nick of time God tells him to make a 40 day journey up the mountain. Here he instructs him on what to do on his way back. One thing I left out is the saying of Obadiah when he meets with Elijah who tells him to report to the King, that he wants to meet with him face to face. He says "do you want me to die"? when I am  told to come get you, and the Spirit of God takes you a way to unknown place, death will be meted.
This shows how God was working in the life of this great prophet. When much is going on in the spiritual realm that try to stifle Gods agenda, he raises men and women who are ready to be used of Him in a great way, and sends them with such power, and revelatory prowess unmatched, who will speak the word boldly in spite of the circumstances around them, and this is what we are being faced with today in our time. We need a great voice that speaks against all the ills that are being spotted today, which most folks are mum about! Immoral behavior, Neo- idolatry, self-same sex marriages and gay behavior, abortion among other evils commited today.
Malachi states God will send Prophet Elijah before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord Malachi 4.5

Prior to his coming the Jewish folks who read this book (Malachi) waited for the coming of Elijahs' person, but it was not to be. Seeing Jesus display all the power in both preaching and teaching on Kingdoms principals many were thrown in spiritual confusion.

Then it is patent evident, things- changed against the backdrop of this anticipation. Religion went through some changes, and reformation in Isreal at the same time was taking place according to the religious understanding of the time, when all was not going on well spiritually, sects sprung up. We see the Pharisaical sect, the Seducees, and the Scribes prominently trying to out do each other with the knowledge of the law. This made religious confusion reign the more. Today the same is happening when sects, denominations, and other religious outfit try to out do each other by selling their relevance. Everyone of them making people believe they are "sound" on matters partaining to the things of God.

When Jesus begins his ministry many were hard pressed to accept him as the King in the Davidic order, for many were spiritually myopic at the time, thus seeing things in a carnal way like most of their teachers.  Jesus says of John that he was the Elijah to come Matthew 11.14 and we see many of the Jewish folks knew nothing about it.

Going back to Malachi, he states that God will send Prophet Elijah before that dreadful day of the Lord. We are in the last days, when the unction will be great as the Lord allows it. To combat many of the spiritual vices we need the great working power of the Spirit, in the same way it operated in the life of Elijah. James has a perfect way of putting it James 5.17 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
and he prayed again, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
He was human just like you and I, but had passion for the things of God. turning man to God, and also back to sound worship that God wants.

We need to have a great zeal for the things of God. Jesus says if you believe in me, and in my works, you shall do them, and great works than the ones he did, because he was going to the Father. We have never done what Jesus did, but it is not lost yet, time has come for us to do what is right, and we will see the power of God in our days! to be continued.
Dr. Ephantus N Steve

Staying The Course

As the year  come to an end, and anticipation grips us over what is to shape 2012, we need to ponder on the very aspect of Christianity detailed at the length in the Bible. Many have been the challenges experienced this year. Some will say promptly " Thank God the year is over" and some others it has been the best of years in their lives. All these are not in anyway to cloud what we still need to achieve in terms of spiritual goals. We still need to stay the cause, to contunue fighting all those spiritual wars and overcome him that has vowed to vanquish us.

The World has seen so much of spiritual upheavals as a result of manifold situations that have in the past gripped the mundane. Earthquakes, Tsunami, Floods, Wars, economic slow down are among other documented aspects that  engulfed the planet for the better part of 2011. And we are not out of the woods yet. Why is it that "man" does not seem to think for a second as to why all this has been going on? A case to point out vividly is, when Moses had been dispatched by the Lord ( I am Who I am) to Pharaoh with a clear message-" let my people go". He told Moses that this message will go unheeded by the Egyptian King because He had hardened his heart. Miracles alone were not going to unsettle him, he will try (Pharaoh) to defy the spiritual cause, for the Lord was permitting it, in order to visit great punishment on this nation as he had pointed out to Abraham. Genesis 15.13-14. Could this be the same path most of the people on this planet might be treading on?

Christ, prior to his death on the wooden cross at Calvary, had given his disciples some prophetic insight as it partains to our times. In this set up, and scenario that is evidenced in our generation matches what the" prophetic" has vividly pointed out. There are many things that are on going to which some bible commentators are touting as end-time signs.The end-time has been here as suggested, bearing in mind that Jesus hinted to his disciples that he was coming soon. The soon has now been about 2,000 years. Every prophetic word must be fulfilled, and that is why we are seeing myraid aspects unfolding in our time. We are not to be blinded by anything that runs counter to what has been singled out.

Not to dispair as this situations take toll on some, we are at the same time not going to keep quite, but enlighten many others on a need to stay the cause. Time is of great essence, and we have a duty to do that which we have been called upon to execute. Isreal as a nation in bondage at the time when God was dispatching him ( Moses) from the  Midian desert had cried to Him, and he duly tells Moses I have heard the cry of my people. Was God waiting for the cry of His people to act? have we cried enough for God to emancipate His people? It is interesting to note that God had told the Israel patriach that he will allow his descendants to be in Egypt for 400 years, but we see later that they were there for 430 years. Does it mean the cry of this people in bondage had not sufficed? Signs and all indications were there, even though most of it was either seen or not, we see when moses is send to them what the reaction of the people was. Every time, when things seemed not to be rosy they will recoil and lay blame on Moses chosing to live in bondage than get out. Many people today are chosing to live in bondage than get out of it. Others want to maintain the status quo than raffle the religious, or political feathers the wrong way. In the mean time Moses knew what his mandate entailed, and since he had experienced the visitation, when he himself had resigned to the fate that had come upon him, would not take it laying down, but see the bondage trounced. When we duly encounter Him (God), we can not allow anything to cloud our vision.

One thing that strikes me is shear manifastations that were wrought by God in Egypt. We see whereas the people of the land had enjoyed relative calm, prosperity, and had seen it loaded over to the slaves who had multiplied, time came when the nation was jolted from its spiritual slumber. And God protected the "slaves" as they were seen by the Egyptians. None of the plagues visited upon Egypt had a bearing on the Isrealites, because God protected them. He is also in the business of protecting us who call upon him faithfully.

Many things that are not good will be reported. Hearts will melt and live in fear, and this is not going to be the end, rather the starting point as pain is inflicted. Are we going to cry because the world is crying, and panic when great economies are grounding to a halt? No! He is going to provide for them that continually call on him day and night Romans 1-17 the just shall live by faith. We need to be strong in the midst of great challanges that will come our way.
The challenges and mountains you saw this year,  in 2012 you shall see them no more, it is a year of great victory as we step in the plenty and "rest" in matters partaing to the Kingdom of God. To be contiuned.
Dr. Ephantus N Steve
Lectures Christian Philosophy.