-EXPLOITS IN RELATIONSHIPS- PURPOSE DRIVEN RELATIONSHIPS

So on Sunday 12th February was our #LoveAliveService and we had an amazing time in Church with two talks on Love and Relationships. Today's post features one of those talks. We hope you enjoy it.

 

-EXPLOITS IN RELATIONSHIPS-

(PURPOSE DRIVEN RELATIONSHIPS)

By Precious Eda

1.     Acknowledgements and appreciations

To the senior Pastor, the first lady, the assistant pastor and all the other pastors; I appreciate you all for the opportunity to share God’s word on a special Sunday as this. Thank you for being a teacher, a mentor, and a father, and for believing in the singles.

2.     Introduction

·        It’s in the spirit of valentine that today we decided to dedicate this special service to talking about love and relationships. And I believe the church is the most appropriate place to have such a wonderful conversation. I know that God will open our hearts to more insight and teach our hearts more of His mysteries.

·        Everything I say today, I must say was not gotten from any book or from any experience of man, but the principles as embedded in God’s word.

·        It is our year of doing exploits and exploits will be done.

·        The problem with the Christian today is not the absence of knowledge, but the absence of acceptance of knowledge. What you know but refuse to accept will never make a difference in your life. Acceptance entails the willingness to allow the knowledge make changes in your life. Change is what most people are afraid of. Many prefer to settle in the mediocrity of their comfort zone than to venture into the risk of possibilities.

3.     The purpose of man

·        God did not make the woman because he discovered the need for her. God made the woman because it was the right time for Adam to stop being alone – Genesis 1:27-28. The mandate god gave man after creation was totally impossible to achieve alone, and at the point he made man, he made them male and female.

·        This implies that the most important factor to man’s existence is relationship. Without relationships man can never fully actualize the purpose of his creation.  No matter who you are or how spiritual you may be, your purpose in life is tied to the relationships you keep. You cannot achieve exploits with your life when you run alone. No marriage can work when the partners are lone rangers. No church can work when the members fail to tap into the collective vision. No vision can work if it demands the pursuit of a single individual. Today we celebrate Paul the Apostle for writing more than half of the new testament, but even he did not become what he became working alone, he always mentioned names and appreciated people at the ends of his letters.

4.    Essentials of a purpose driven relationship

·        For us as believers, doing exploits is a given because we are born of God and he that is born of God overcomes the world. 1 John 5:4.  The only problem we face as I said earlier is that most of us are not willing to accept the knowledge.

·        Accepting knowledge also involves knowing how to apply the knowledge gotten. Our relationships will continually be failures or half successes until we know how exactly to apply the knowledge we get. Exploits will elude us in relationships unless we accept to work with the knowledge available to us from God and follow thru with it the way God wants us to follow thru. So how do we achieve exploits in our relationships?

a.    Compassion – 1 Corinthians 13

·        Compassion is a feeling of pity or mercy that makes you incline towards another or sympathise with them. Compassion entails taking yourself and putting you in the shoes of the other person.

·        The entire words in that chapter can be subsumed in the words compassion and love. My life and my relationships literally transformed the very day I read that chapter.

·        The word compassion derives from the latin word for passion. Passion means with all your heart and your life. It takes only a person with passion to be able to live out that chapter in his relationship.

·        Is your marriage not so cool? Is your relationship feeling dry?  Is your business, your church, your office, are the people in all those places feel you’re somewhat boring? Check your passion level. Weigh it against 1 Corinthians 13 and you would be able to put back some spark into your life.

·        You cannot enjoy the benefits of love from another person without giving love to them. You may get away with it for some time, but soon, they’ll find someone else who’ll give them love in return.

b.    Cooperation – Deuteronomy 32:30, Amos 3:3, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Matthew 18:19

·        As a single guy, I’ve seen many people surfer in relationships and try so hard to make their relationships work without succeeding. I’ve seen marriages surfer and even break down simply because of one small but gigantic factor called cooperation.

·        I’m not married but I know by reason of my relating with a number of ladies and also by revelation of the Holy Spirit, that one of the things that are most important to women in relationships is cooperation. Women appreciate so much when a man opens up to them on those tiny details of his life.

·        By nature man tends to be a lone ranger – he was made first and was alone for a while until God said it wasn’t good for him to be alone. But that nature has to pass away if you want to do exploit in your relationship. It’s amazing how we can apply this term very strictly in our professional relationships and reap huge benefits from it. But when it comes to our relationships with our friends, spouse, boyfriends and girlfriends, parents and even in church, we just cannot cooperate. When was the last time we came together as a church to hold hands and pray a prayer of agreement?

c.     Commitment – Ruth 1:6-14, Genesis 18:17, Genesis 29:16-29

·        I saw a post and used it as my DP some time ago; it said “commitment means doing what you promised to do even long after the mood in which you said it has left you”. No relationship can do exploits without commitment.

·        The three different stories in the three chapters above give three striking examples of commitment: Ruth showed Naomi unflagging loyalty even in the face of hopelessness, God vouched for Abraham as one who was so committed to the vision that he would teach His children after him, and Jacob showed reckless commitment to the love he had for Rachael that he served 14 years for one wife.

·        These examples really need no further explanation. Well you may say these examples are old stories and cannot happen in this modern world, but it is the word of God, and heaven and earth will fade away, but God’s word will remain.

5.    Conclusion

Valentine is in two days. I think, more than the roses and gifts and outings you plan on spending on your friend, lover or spouse or parent, is to do an evaluation of the relationship. Ask yourself where you need to sit up and express the nature of God within you to that person. Let the love of Christ come alive in your life and relationship today in the name of Jesus. Amen!

CAPACITY BUILDING SEMINAR – THE REBIRTH OF OUR NATION PART 3 –

– THE REBIRTH OF OUR NATION PART 3 –

By Inna Frank Ogbise (Snr. Ps TEP)

Welcome to #CapacityBuildingSeminar (CBS) today. God has been faithful to us as he keeps taking us higher in love and enriches us in his grace. This is the day that the Lord hath made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. I know today will be different from the others because God will do greater things in our minds through his word. God bless you for making it.

RECAP

We have been on a series that has had us go through an expository session of God’s plan and design for humanity and how we can return the nations of this world to their original state as at creation. Last time we majored on discovering the systems that God had put in place from the foundation of the world and understanding how they work in order for us to be able to effectively assert our dominion.  We saw two systems; the system of right and wrong, and the atmospheric system.  We were able to establish that the system of right and wrong represents the night and day or light and darkness. There are dark times for every man and every nation, but God has prepared the light to draw men back to him. Light represents the vision and foresight of God. The atmospheric system makes us understand the trans-boundary nature of God’s design for certain aspects of life. An influence exercised in one nation cannot help but be felt in the world over.

We will continue this time with the rest of the systems organised by God for the regulation of the world.

•  The Geological and botanical system – Genesis 1:9-10 –

Geology is the science that studies the structure of the earth, especially by examination of its features. For instance, rocks are part of the features of the earth, and rocks are any natural material with a distinctive composition of minerals. Figuratively, rocks can be described as materials that are strong, dependable and stable. Even people take up this characteristic. We can describe people as rocks if they’re able to provide security and support for us.

This can be directly likened to business and the economy. When a nation is rich and able to sustain itself economically, such a nation grows to become a world influence. When people have economic power, they easily influence their world and assert dominion over the environment. The power of money cannot be overemphasised. If the church must assert influence and dominate, the church must seize the system of business and economy. Today in our nation, Christians are being killed in the North by herdsmen, with a strong financial power and economic influence the church can change things and defeat the forces of evil with good. When a people have control over the economy, their words carry more effect and force to sway influence. 

When you are poor it is difficult to have many supporters.

Botany is the scientific study of plants and the plant life. This represents the system of agriculture. The whole world has seen the relevance of agriculture and cannot deny the economic advantage and relevance it draws for the nations that invest in it. In the Bible, Egypt became the centre focus of the world when Joseph came up with a divinely inspired strategy to invest in agriculture and business. The church must take advantage of this system and invest in agriculture; our entreprenuers must start developing business ideas that have to do with the agricultural sector of society. When we go there, our economic power will increase and our influence will be felt.

• The leadership Development and Succession System – Genesis 1:26-28 –

Everything rests on leadership! God created man in his image and after his likeness and the first thing he did was to give man authority and dominion. Image means character and likeness means functionality. So man was made in the image of God to have the character of God, and God endowed man with the ability to function like him by adorning man with leadership. The church is the leader. The problem we have in all the sectors of our nation is not corruption, but it is leadership. If we can develop leadership with values, I mean value oriented leaders, then we can change the tides of our nation.

Even in the system of leadership there are opportunities that abound for the church to invest in and make profit. The business of mentorship, coaching, capacity building and training on leadership skills is a field that the church must take advantage of and invest in to produce the leadership that God designed for this world.

World leadership has always been tied to ability to develop and advance technology. The nations that had great innovative ideas and skills had power to control other nations. The church must prepare itself for receiving technology transfer by putting leaders in place to ensure that the knowledge falls into the hands of the right people to enable development. We must begin to lay emphasis on production and productivity, and skills development.

• The Health and Wellness System – Genesis 1:29-30 –

The medical system was also created by God for the regulation of man’s health. In the text here, God has given every green herb, leafy plant, and all plants for food and for the sustenance of man. Today, the roots and seeds of plants are used in medicine. Those who invest in the health industry are the ones who influence the health of the world. There is a common saying that health is wealth, and so it is not just for saying sake, it is a truth that the wealth of the health industry belongs to those who influence it. The healthcare industry plays a key role in the economy of nations. For example, the Dubai Healthcare City is a centre of attraction for people all over the world who seek quality medical services and this has added to the GDP of that nation. 

This healthcare industry covers medicine, pharmacy, and medical equipment, manufacturing and research institutions.

The church has a duty to influence these systems with the creation mandate and ensure that the kingdom of God is established here on earth.

We will continue next time and I believe that some kind of awakening will begin in your heart as you open your eyes to the realisation that your life and your purpose are tied to the will of God, and that it is your responsibility to use your position in the systems of this world to effect the influence that God desires – an influence that would turn men back to their original place in God.

Until next time, it’s God bless you.

CAPACITY BUILDING SEMINAR - THE REBIRTH OF OUR NATION PART 2

– THE REBIRTH OF OUR NATION PART 2 – 

By Inna Frank Ogbise (Snr. Ps TEP)

It’s another amazing session of our #CapacityBuildingSeminar (CBS) and I’m so glad you could make it. I believe that it’s God’s plan for you to be here today and you will not be the same after his word reaches your life in Jesus’ name, Amen!!

RECAP

Last time we started this series on the rebirth of our nation. We started looking at God’s intention for humanity and how He wants the world to return to that perfect state after creation. We established that it is the responsibility of the church to give direction and order to the world as light and salt. And to beable to do this, the church must understand its sonship role and take up the responsibility of transforming our world. We concluded by saying that God works by designs and to be able to repair a broken world, we must understand the original design of the creator. For no one can restructure what he has no knowledge of its design.  We also highlighted key words that must be understood if we must be able to discover systems and dominate spheres of society.

DESIGN –

This week we begin by looking at the first keyword highlighted which we said would give us a good understanding of our responsibility as the church. Design is the realisation of a concept oridea into a configuration. Designs are drawings, models, moulds, patterns or specifications upon which the actual production of an item is based and which helps achieve the item’s designated objectives.

When God created the world, he had a specific design (Genesis 1). God had a plan in mind and He created everything to be good. There was nothing created by God that didn’t have goodness in all of it. God’s initial design for our nation never had the evils that plague us attached to it. The bad leadership, corruption and all the vices that have befallen us as a nation were never part of God’s design for our country.

When God created man, it was in his image and after his likeness; nothing about man’s design was evil. But when man sinned and fell from Grace, the image of God was altered, God’s original design for man was distorted and the devil took advantage of the situation to cause mayhem alter man’s nature, taking away the nature of God and putting on him the nature of sin.

But the death, burial and resurrection of Christ came to restore us back to the original design of God for man, Hallelujah!! God had sent his son Jesus to redeem man and rstore his true design. The only way man can overcome the devil and experience his true nature in God is when man receives Christ and accepts his sacrifice. The church is the custodian of the ability to change man. We have the power of God and his Spirit is in us. We are the ones who will make our nation great. The purpose of the church is to draw man back to God and use the power of the risen Christ to influence the society. Church without influencing society is just another religion. It is our duty to turn men back to their original design. We are sons of our God and our sonship responsibility involves turning things around for good in our society.

SYSTEM –

A system is a collection of organised things; as in a solar system.  A system involves a way of organising or planning. Synonymous with the word system are words like apparatus, arrangement, complex, composition, logistics, machinery, organisation, set-up, synthesis and structure.

Every part of our nation has a system. Every aspect of our society has a system. For us to be able to affect and influence the various aspects of our nation, we must discover and understand the systems these aspects operate. When we understand how systems work, then we can influence the particular spheres of society. Systems are to be discovered and understood, but spheres of influence are to be dominated. You can only influence a certain system when you participate in it. Spheres are never influenced by standing bye. You are a spectator to any system you don’t participate in.

The church must not shy away from the systems of this world; we must participate in them so we can be able to influence them with the nature of Christ. It is our responsibility to take leadership of all the systems of this world and influence them for Christ.

The church must become actively involved in every sector of society in order to ensure we grasp a good understanding of the systems and begin to enforce our dominion.

-Building sustainable systems-

God has put systems in place in order to regulate man’s activities here on earth. We can never find real success in our world if we do not understand the systems that God had put in place.

• The system of Right and Wrong (Night and Day) Genesis 1:1-5 –

Every person on earth goes through his own periods of day time and night time. The night time is characterised by darkness. No one wants to live in dark times. Nations and people go through dark times. Times of hardship and pain when things do not seem to work. But there is always the time when day comes, it is the light time. Light tells us that everything God does on earth is motivated by vision or foresight.

No matter how dark the times may be, if we can see from the perspective of God and grasp his vision, we will understand the system that we go through and operate better in it.

• The Atmospheric system (Firmament) Genesis 1:6-8 –

The firmament represents the vault of the heavens. It is a trans-boundary system that cuts across nations and it is designed in such a way that it is uncountable. This system shows a connection of the nations of the earth. There are systems in this world that are international and trans-boundary. For instance, the international fashion system is one that cuts across nations of the world. It is a system that operates in such a way that if influence is exercised over one part of the world, the other parts of the world would surely feel the impact of the influence.

We shall put our foot on the breaks here for today and when we return next time; we will continue with the other systems that God has put in place in order to ensure a smooth regulation of things on earth.

But we must not forget that God has designed systems for the earth and the church has the responsibility of running these systems to exercise God’s dominion mandate on the earth.

Until next time, it’s God bless you.