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Focusing on the Inner-man

Praise God for another day to share a thought with you. We have been talking about the Second Coming of Christ; so far we have been able to provide evidence from the scriptures and compared this with the real-world events to show the closeness of the Second Coming of Jesus, and what we must do at this time for us to be prepared for the season of this great once-in-a-life event. We also talked about how we must have a ready mind towards the soon return of Christ, and remain faithful in doing the Will of God in the increasing distractions and lack of peace in the World i.e. persecution, wars, famine, etc. However, I want us to focus today on the real target of all these commotions - that is the Souls of mankind.

We live in a world where most people’s perception of their environment is based on their physical senses i.e. eyes, noses, ears, skin, etc. And as such, many people in the world are blinded from seeing the spiritual reality in this present world. This can only mean that such people will be limited in how they would live life to the fullness. However, others see things from a different perceptive that allows them to see the world through the eyes of the spirit, which puts them at a greater advantage over the circumstances and events in this world.

Some years ago, I had a dream in which I saw the Kingdom of God approaching the earth in a cloud of glory from heaven; and as it approached, the powers of darkness that were hanging in the heavenly realms were displaced and began to drop to earth. Then I realized from that dream why the world will have more perilous times as the days of Christ approaches. Due to the displacement of demons from the heavenly realm to earth, there will be more demonic activities on the earth which will result in the world experiencing more challenging times as we have begun to see these happening. You cannot have the devil living in your home and expect peace. The scripture says, “(9) And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (12) Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” (Revelation 12:9,12).

So in the end times, we will be living with more demons on the earth than at any other time in the history of mankind, and they will possess people and manipulate evil things around the world without the understanding of the many people in the world. Presently, we are already seeing people killing each other for money, hatred, fear, anger and even just for the fun of it; there are now rampant theft and kidnapping in different parts of the world; an increase in corruption, cultism and immorality. All these have now started to become the norm in many societies even amongst the younger generation. Sadly, many world governments will be handicapped in finding a solution. So apart from the natural events that will happen, God will allow this to happen as prophesied in His Word (Revelation 6) to prove all that is upon the earth towards His Second Coming.

So, we must realize that the battle the world is facing is a spiritual battle that is for nothing else but the souls of humanity. Therefore, let us not be distracted by what is happening around us, but focus on what is more important - our Soul and the things of the Kingdom of God. The scripture says, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” (Luke 21:34).

There is nothing as important as the Soul of a person because even though a person gains the whole world but ends up losing his soul, they have also lost everything. Once a person crosses into eternity they take nothing out of this world, not even their hair, so how can the things of the world, which have no value in eternity, be more important? The only thing that follows people to eternity is their good works and the souls of others they have affected. The scripture says, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

Moreover, the real reason Jesus Christ went to the Cross was for the souls of mankind; so that for each soul that repents and receives by faith the gift of eternal life that was made available by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is a heavenly celebration. The scripture says, “that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7).

Therefore, let us focus more on souls because every person is made up of a spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonian 5:23). We know from the scriptures that the spirit and soul are inseparable but can only be distinguished by God's word; together, they are called the inner or inward man. The scripture says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12).

Paul also referred to the inward man in the scriptures when he was pointing out the importance of focusing on it rather than the outward man. He said, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

The outward refers to the body. If you recall, the body was the part of man God at the beginning formed from the dust of the earth. However, the man was not alive until God breathed into his nostril the breath of life (Genesis 2:6-7). That breath of life was the spirit and soul of a person that animated his body in this world. So the body is just like an earthly suit but not a person itself. So the real you and I is the inward man because once the inward man leaves the body, that body dies and returns to dust. The separation of the inward man from the outward man is what we know as the physical death (James 2:26). This is the kind of death most people know about. The scripture says, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

However, there is another death which is spiritual, and even more important. Jesus said, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28).

Spiritual death was what occurred when mankind sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). For God had told Adam that the day he ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil he would spiritually die. The scripture says, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17).

So when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they immediately died a spiritual death, and their bodies were set on a countdown towards death. Spiritual death is a result of the separation of man from God, who is their source of life. It was a result of the spiritual death of Adam and Eve that resulted in every other person born into this world by them to be born spiritually dead with a sentence of death in their bodies.

Nevertheless, the good news is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save mankind. His finished work while on the earth made available the gift of eternal life to anyone that can believe in His death and resurrection. The scripture says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

Once a person believes and receives the gift of eternal life after a prayer of faith, they have a new spirit in their inward man to replace their dead spirit. However, their soul, which makes up their will, emotion and Intellect is not immediately changed; this has to be renewed by the Word of God (Romans 12:2). It is an internal change of the spirit of a person that is termed Born Again.

Without being Born Again, a person can never make it into the soon-coming Kingdom of God. The scripture says, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18).

Therefore, my prayer is that at the end of reading this message, if you have not given your life to Jesus Christ and received His gift of eternal life, you would do it immediately. It is the most important decision anyone can make in life. Let today be the day of your salvation and don’t postpone it. Moreover, you must be Born Again, if you must have the help of God to focus and go through the times ahead and be saved. Therefore, say the prayer of salvation below this message if you want to immediately get Born Again.

Now, most people that do meditation and yoga understand the power of the inward man but the potential is limited as long as their inward man is not Born Again and their meditation neglects the Word of God. When a person is Born Again, he has access to all of God’s power by faith, and looking inward through meditation will unleash it. The scripture says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (John 1:12).

Most people focus on taking care of their body: they eat well and dress their bodies with different kinds of expensive attires and make-ups, but they never give a faction of such attention to their inward man because they do not understand they have an inward man that also needs to be taken care of, and in fact, that is their real self. Paul said, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Therefore, if the things that are in this world and our bodies are temporary, won’t it be better to focus more on what will last forever. Eternity is real and it is worth giving up the temporary pleasure of this life for eternal gain. People are not patient in life but want answers, results and benefits immediately without consideration of the long time consequences. This can be seen in many areas of human life because it is just the natural human character. For example, people are taking up the natural resources of the earth for the present gain only for the future generation to suffer the consequences of their action; people want to have sex now for the present pleasure without regard for its negative earthly and eternal consequences. Esau took the option of eating to satisfy his hunger today only to lose out on his inheritance (Genesis 25:34); but Jesus showing us an example, made sacrifices on earth after leaving glory, even unto the sacrifice of His life on the Cross, but rose in eternal glory, of which we rejoice today. Therefore, we must follow His example by making sacrifices today to be with Him in glory at His Second Coming. We must lay aside every earthly distraction and focus on preserving our souls in God’s Kingdom. The scripture says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

One major way we can focus on the soul is by meditating on Jesus Christ and the Word of God. The scripture already says that Jesus is the Word, so meditating on the Word lets us focus on Jesus (John 1:1-4). The scripture also says the Word of God is the food for our inward man (Matthew 4:4, 1 Peter 2:2). Therefore, let us meditate on the Word of God more than ever to renew our minds, grow the inward man, and remain strong through the times ahead so that we can be counted worthy of eternal life.


Be Faithful in the Midst of the Trials

Praise God for another wonderful day to continue sharing a thought with you. We have been talking about a topic titled “Preparing for His Second Coming”, and we have shown that prophecies of the scriptures are being fulfilled in this generation regarding the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Moreover, God has revealed to me that from now on His window of grace for salvation will begin to close, so that henceforth the world will start to see successive prophetic events unfolding. We have started to see this already happening; first with the pandemic or pestilence as the scriptures calls it; and afterwards came the rumours of wars and wars between countries.

Now there has been issued a warning that the world should brace for a global famine as a result of the former two events. Just this week, there is news that Indonesia, which is the world's largest producer and exporter of Palm Oil, has banned the export of this product to the world so it can made available to its citizens. Sooner or later, other countries may take the same measures to protect other export products due to global rising food prices caused by less supply and greater demand. However, this action, if not averted, will lead to a global supply food chain collapse, which will further fuel a global famine. The scripture refers to the occurrence of the prophetic event in Revelation 6 referring to the breaking of a third seal that will cause scarcity of food and high food prices just before the Second Coming of Christ. The scripture says, “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”(Revelation 6:5-6).

Other prophetic events which scripture says will occur before the Second Coming of Jesus are global earthquakes, which in the Greek rendering could also mean a “shaking”. This shakeup might not just be natural earthquakes, it could also be anything that causes an earth-shaking event i.e. an Asteroid strike or nuclear bomb on the earth. With the present war happening between Russia and Ukraine, it seems the latter could be imaginable as a reason for a global earthquake. Be as it may be, the scripture has declared that the world will experience earthquakes. Therefore, we must expect this to happen with other prophetic events before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Scripture says, “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” (Matthew 24:7).

Now that we know where we are in God’s timetable, we have to diligently prepare for His Second Coming and brace ourselves for the coming trying times by building our faith to stay with Christ during the tribulation ahead. The scripture says, “ All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:8).

Certainly, there will be a rapture before the Second Coming of Christ, but this will not happen without the world first experiencing some trying times. At this time, Christians will be the most persecuted people in the world. Unfortunately, this will also be the time that many Christians will begin to fall away from the faith. Many Christians will not be able to stand the pressure of the times because of their weak faith and lack of knowledge. Many will be offended that God will allow such evil things to happen to them and the people around them, not understanding the season of the times. The Scripture says, “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:9-12).

It is not our business to question why God would allow this to happen, but it is our business to remain faithful in the midst of it all, knowing, that God is forever faithful and He can deliver us to the utmost as long as we believe in Him. God will proof Himself in the lives of the faithful and will deliver them from every evil work even unto the end. The Scripture says, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13).

To endure in the context of Matthew 24:13 means to be patient and faithful towards God despite what might be happening in and around our lives; this is until Jesus Comes to ultimately save us at His Second Coming.

To that end, Jesus revealed those things that God will look at in His time of judgment. He gave several parables to illustrate his point after revealing God’s prophetic agenda towards His Second Coming. He started with a parable, saying, “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?” (Matthew 24:45).

There is no Christian that does not have at least one God-given talent to do the Will of God, which ultimately will revolve around the work of God’s Kingdom; but if we say we don’t know we have one, then at least we should know that God has told all Christians to reach out to the World with the gospel of His Eternal Salvation. Christians must be wise to at least start with that, and reach out to their immediate family and those they encounter daily. Jesus said all Christians should “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15).

However, if God has revealed a specific assignment to you as a Christian, you must prioritize these above any other without defaulting on reaching out to others with the gospel. When we are faithful in this assignment, God sees us as faithful and wise. Sadly, some Christians seem to be busy for God without prioritising the specific instructions God has given them. However, this amounts to unfaithfulness. No wonder some Christians are yet wondering why things are not working the way God had planned them. Just stop and go back to the drawing board to focus primarily on the things God has told you to do first, and exclude all the other excesses which have become a burden because God is not in it.

Now, if a Christian allows themselves to be distracted with the cares and pleasures of this world, thereby trivializing and not considering the soon coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but saying in his heart, “My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:48-51).

In order words, when a person is not faithful with whatever God has given them to do, God considers them an evil servant, because they have neglected the salvation of others just because of their selfish ambition in a world system that will soon come to an end. A Christian that does this has a mindset that Jesus will continue to delay His coming, because they want to continue enjoying themselves in this world rather than preparing for eternity with God. However, if God was to tell them Jesus is returning tomorrow, they probably would have a different attitude towards life, that is if they believe. However, Jesus is coming when we least expect it: the scripture describes His Coming as if when a thief is coming unannounced in the night.

Christians are privileged to know the mind of God and the seasons of time from the revelation of the scriptures. Nevertheless, what are we doing with this privileged information? Let us think again and retrace our steps to the path of the faithful. Let us not allow the distraction and the cares of this world to cost us our place in eternity with Christ. We must do all we can to remain faithful despite the difficult times ahead.

However, anyone that is not Born Again cannot be saved even though they try to be faithful by works. Faithfulness begins by receiving God’s instruction before you do it. It is when we continuously do what God has spoken in His Word and told us to specifically do, that is when we are faithful. God has said that except a person is Born Again he can never be saved (John 3:3,16). So no matter what we do without getting Born Again first it is not accounted for in Heaven. There was a man called Cornelius, who did a lot of good works, fasted and prayed to God continuously but was not saved (Born Again). God had to intervene in his matter by sending an angel to give him instructions on how he could be saved (Acts 10). If he had died in that state, he would still not have made it into eternity with Christ.

To be Born Again, one must believe Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead. Many people believe this but they never ask for the gift that comes with it, which is the gift of eternal life. The scripture says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

Therefore, it is not enough to believe and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but we have to also confess with our mouth and agree with our heart to be Born Again. That is what activates Salvation through faith. The scripture says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9).

Consequently, if you want to make it into life eternity, you have to say the below prayer in faith.

Prayer of Salvation:
Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you died and rose again for me. Forgive me my sins and come into my life. I confess Jesus as my Lord and my personal Saviour. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and write my name in the Book of Life. Thank you Father for doing all this. In Jesus' name, Amen.

If you said this prayer in faith, I will like to say welcome to the family of God. Kindly share your salvation story with us and we will be glad to tell you more about how to live your new life in Christ.

You must know that God loves you and does not want you to miss out on eternity. Therefore repent and make the necessary sacrifices to be faithful towards His Will. God bless you and kindly share this message with others

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