Evangelist Godwin Oluwasegun Ojerinde
www.christhealingministry.com
Saturday 14th Jan 2012. Monthly Retreat
4 ways to reach God
1, look back and thank Him.
• Look back to whom you were before Christ rescued you.
• Look back to how unsettled you were before Christ came.
• Looking back to the unholy words that came out of your mouth.
• Looking back at your fellowshipping with satanic agents.
• Looking back to your unmerited ways of life
• Looking back to many things you have done before you gave your life to Jesus Christ.
I want you as you reading this message, just look back and thank Him.
Galatians 1:13
13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.
Galatians 1:23
23 But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.”
We are to thank God, no matter what we are going through right now, it cant be worse compare to your ways of life when you know not Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
2: look forward and trust God.
Isaiah 43:18
18 “ Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Isaiah 42:9
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
Ecclesiastes 1:11
11 There is no remembrance of former things,
Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come
By those who will come after.
Revelation 21:4
4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Looking forward means old things are passed away.
• Looking forward means your past will never hunt your present
• Looking forward means you are trusting God for elevation.
• Looking forward means you are trusting God to re-organize your life
• Looking forward means you will never again remain at the same bus-stop.
• Looking forward means you are exercising your faith to a greater level.
I can go on and on, but you know why you have to look forward to, you know that you want no more stagnancy, no more limitation, no more hindrances, no more loneliness, and no more unfriendly friends.
Before you can actually move forward, you will need to trust God, the bible says in psalm 118: 8, it says put your trust unto God, and not man. The scripture below says no matter what you going through, put your trust unto God.
Psalm 62:8
8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
My brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, you can not afford to make mistakes again, the mistakes of old has passed, the ,mistakes of not trusting God is over, look at what the scripture below says, its about time to be directed by the spirit of God, its about time will become more humble. I pray that your story will change as you decide to trust God more.
Proverbs 3:5
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
3 look around and serve God
I like this outline, it says look around and serve God. Wow, it tells us that our God is everywhere, we need to is find Him, the verse below says if we look for him
Jeremiah 29:13-14
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Its time to begin to look for the Lord more and more, it doesn’t matter your position or your anointing, its time to step up, its time to push more, its time to read and study more of His words, its time to begin to pray and intercede, its time to begin to evangelize more, its time to increase of work for the Lord, in your local church, what do you do, are you are worker, its time to do something more. Serve God with all your heart.
Worship and praise Him, have a quiet time with the Lord, raise family altar in your home, submit to the Lord. Obey the Lord, look around your life, put things right, believe the Lord, Joshua in the verse below gathered the Israelites to shechem, and their judges, officers, leaders to serve the Lord. I want you appeal and encourage you as you listen or read this txt, that its about time you give it up and begin to serve God.
Even most social sites now, people are beginning to appreciate God more, I use my face book to minister the word of God, what do you you use yours to do? Its about time we step up and serve God more. As you read this text or here this sermon, I pray that you will begin to look around for the Lord and serve Him in Jesus name. There are some friends you don’t need anymore, there are some places you don’t belong to anymore, I remember when I was in school, my nickname was Maddog, as I was always in trouble, but today I thank God that old things are passed away, all things are become new. Amen.
Joshua 24:14-15
14 “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
4. Look within and find God
When I say look within, I mean inside you. Are you purify? Are you clean inside, do you still harbor sin? I want you to take this outline serious, some people are born again, some ministers are preaching, but inside of them is dry(Leviticus 6:13) some people are dry, their fire has gone off, they are not directed, they are not lead by the spirit of God. The spirit of God does not dwell within them anymore, because they have accommodated sin in their life. You have to check yourself as you read this txt, is it the spirit of God that minister to me or the spirit of man. Let me tell you, sometimes the spirit of man,(mind) might not allow the spirit of God to operate in ones life.
1 Corinthians 2:9-14 “But as it is written: “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart (mind) of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” :10 But God has revealed [them] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. :11 For what man knows the things of a man (how can man know or think and understand and perceive and have consciousness of “self”) except (through) the spirit of the man which is “IN” him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. :12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the (spiritual) things that have been freely given to us by God. :13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. :14 But the natural man (the natural mind) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them,] because they are spiritually discerned.”
There is a spirit of a right attitude to God, ‘Renew a right spirit within me’ (Psalm
51:10), and a spirit of a wrong attitude to God; ‘Whose spirit inspired what came
forth from your mouth?’ (Job 26:4).
There is a spirit that searches diligently for God (Psalm 77:6; Isaiah 26:9).
Unmarried people can be wholly set apart in body and spirit (1 Corinthians 7:34).
There is a willing spirit (Psalm 51:12; Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38). ‘The Lord
aroused the spirit of Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and the spirit of Joshua the
high priest and the spirit of the remnant of the people, so that they came and
laboured on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God’ (Haggai 1:14). They all had a
willing spirit and the correct attitude.
We must worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23 & 24), that is with the right
attitude.
We must not turn our spirit against God (Job 15:13). That means we must not rebel.
We need to have the ability to discern between true and false spirits (1 Corinthians
12:10), or discern if people have the right or the wrong attitude.
We have the spirit of faith (2 Corinthians 4:13). Answers to prayer are achieved by
faith, and faith is something we choose to exercise. It is a correct attitude.
When the Lord renews our attitude after we are born-again, He describes it as
giving us a new spirit, a new heart and a new mind. We must be constantly renewed
in the spirit of our minds, and the spirit of man can be defiled; therefore we need to
cleanse ourselves (2 Corinthians 7:1; Ezekiel 11:19; 18:31; 36:26; Ephesians 4:23).
The spirit of man is God’s lamp in which He searches our hearts, or our innermost
parts; our emotions and attitudes (Proverbs 20:27); it is as though God has a
spotlight shining inside us to reveal our true character. By ‘seeing’ or discerning the
heart of Nathanael, Jesus could see that he had a good character and a good
attitude (John 1:47).
We are one in spirit with Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:17) and the Lord Jesus is with us in
Spirit (Galatians 6:18; 2 Timothy 4:22; Philemon 1:25). We must stand firm in united
Spirit and purpose (Philippians 1:27) and have the ‘same’ or united attitude (2
Corinthians 12:18).
These verses are speaking of having a right attitude so we can
Walk in unity with Jesus and with one another. We can be absent in body while
Being present in spirit and our spirits meet together with the power of our Lord Jesus
(1 Corinthians 5:3 & 4; Colossians 2:5).
That means somebody in Australia can pray
And believe for healing for someone in the UK, because the Christians in the two
Countries are one ‘in the spirit’, or in unity, though absent in the body.
The following verses show the spirit of man forms our character.
There is a trustworthy and faithful spirit (Proverbs 11:13).
There is a humble spirit (Proverbs 16:19; 29:23; Isaiah 57:15; 66:2) and God
blesses the humble, or the ‘poor in spirit’ (Matthew 5:3).
A gentle and quiet spirit is very precious in the sight of God (1 Peter 3:4).
There is a spirit of gentleness (1 Corinthians 4:21).
There is a patient spirit (Ecclesiastes 7:8).
There is a spirit of justice (Isaiah 28:6).
Both John the Baptist and Jesus grew up and became strong in spirit (Luke 1:80;
2:40) and this strong character was noticed before Jesus had turned thirteen (Luke
2:42 to 52).
When John the Baptist came in the ‘spirit and power’ of Elijah (Luke 1:17) he came
With the same strong character, strong faith and the same attitude Elijah had.
The spirit of man can also be called courage (Joshua 2:11). When the peoples of
Canaan heard about the Israelites, their hearts ‘melted’ and there was ‘no spirit’ in
Them (Joshua 5:1); they had lost their courage. God gives us a spirit of power, or
Courage (2 Timothy 1:7).
Intelligence is another name for the spirit of man. There is a spirit of intelligence in
man, and the breath of the Almighty gives us understanding (Job 32:8).
There is a spirit of wisdom (Deuteronomy 34:9; Proverbs 1:23; Ephesians 1:17).
There is a spirit of understanding (Job 20:3).
There is a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of
God (Isaiah 11:2; Daniel 5:12).
We have a spirit of prophecy which is a God-given gift. The Lord is God of the spirits
of the prophets (Revelation 22:6), but the spirit of prophecy is under the speaker’s
control (1 Corinthians 14:32).
We are to test every spirit of prophecy to be sure it
Has proceeded from God for many false prophets have gone forth into the world (1
John 4:1). The Lord says woe to the false or foolish prophets who follow their own
Spirit (Ezekiel 13:3).
The soul is described as the deepest parts of our fallen human nature. It was in the
Soul where Eve was tempted and where Adam disobeyed God and sinned. It is in
the soulish realm where our rebellious sin nature lurks. Our soul, which is our sinful,
corrupt character; and our spirit, which is God’s holy character are separate but both
live within our mortal bodies.
The spirits of the righteous have been made perfect
(Hebrews 12:23). It is the soul that is corrupt. The Word of God – the Bible – divides
the soul from the immortal spirit of God’s character, and of the joints and marrow,
which is the body (Hebrews 4:12).
The spirit and the soul return to God after we die,
as long as we are believers. Our sinful soul is constantly warring against God’s pure
spirit and that is acted out in our bodies (Romans 7:4 to 25). What happens to our
soul when we die? For the non-believer, the soul and the body are destroyed in hell
(Matthew 10:28).
The soul of the believer will be preserved, sound and complete
along with the spirit and the resurrected body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). That means
we will still be body, soul and spirit in the Kingdom of God, but we will have a perfect
resurrected body and our soul and spirit will be sound (perfect) and complete.
All of these positive actions, attitudes, reactions, emotions and goodness come from
the God-given spirit that entered us in our mother’s wombs (Ecclesiastes 11:5)
when we were still ‘an unformed substance’ and before our days took shape. That is
when God wrote all our days in His book (Psalm 139:16). We can recognise the
Spirit of God in a person, because every God-given spirit will confess that Jesus our
Messiah has become Man, and has come in human flesh.
Every spirit which does
not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh, is not of God but is the spirit of anti-
Messiah (1 John 4:2 & 3). Whoever is of God listens to what is written in the Bible
but he who is not of God does not listen. By this we know the difference between
the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error (1 John 4:6).
Are you ready to begin a new journey with the Lord? Are you ready to confess your sins to the Lord? Are you ready to give your life to Jesus, so that you can begin a new journey in life?
Altal call.
May the good Lord lead and direct you all in Jesus Mighty name. Amen