A preparatory footing for the

manifestation of the third-day ecclesia.

By Isaiah-Phillips akintola

 

theme scripture:

 

Romans chapter 5:1-4

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience hope.

continuation… Part 6

 

Redefining poverty

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [Mathews chapter 5:3]

Poverty itself must be understood from a kingdom perspective so the enemy does not use the distorted world view to keep us disenfranchised from our position of completeness in Christ. There are those who are rich unto material things but are poor in the sight of the father, and this is the plan of the enemy.

Many Christians have been taught that poverty is the lack of possession of things. While this may sound to be true from the human viewpoint, however, when you examine this belief from a true kingdom perspective and understanding, you immediately realize that such philosophy has no basis of standing. Every one of us has been apportioned a certain level of grace, favor, and virtue to allow us by default to produce all that we need for life and godliness according to the scripture.

None of God’s children is left wanting and disenfranchised. When there’s an understanding of our identity and position within the kingdom of sonship, we step into a reality of what is required for sustenance. Sustainability is a universal law that governs everything and everyone.

 On the other hand, there’s poverty we are called into that keeps us joyful, peaceful and righteous. This poverty amid wealth keeps us disciplined, focused, determined, humble, courageous in our spiritual journey unto perfection in Christ. This call into spiritual suffering regulates the entire spiritual structure of the person as it gives us a clear and sound outlook into the emerging reality of the father and his kingdom within us and through us.

It makes it easy to hear and access not just the mind of the Lord, but also regions that have been captured through the spirit of pride and materialism. This suffering is a call to meekness so one can inherit the earth. There are people I use to know who the Lord will visit at some seasons of their lives with a major complex challenge that shakes the very core of their spiritual foundation.

The father releases a particular wind to blow off the leaves on their trees only to make room for fresh greener one. But I can tell you honestly, that’s not a place you want to be if you’ve not been taught about the ways and dealings of the Spirit of God. Only those who are have been weaned from the gospel of materialism and carnal influence enjoy this spiritual reality because they now understand that such dealings are required for their perfection in Christ. The call to suffer with Christ is a virtuous thing we all need to embrace if we must be found matured and engage in the act of spiritual conquest

Yes, this suffering or tribulation is a seasonal reality for all spiritual migrants on earth. When the lord is trying to get our attention or usher us into a new season, he will usually do that by announcing the wind of sufferings to shake and awaken us, and this is good if we are going to adequately learn to know how to respond to this glorious dealing of the father.

There are virtue and glory revealed in the place of spiritual sacrifice. Experience in the ways of the lord and in the dealings of the ministry of the spirit of truth has begun to highlight and clearly separate between that which sound, look and even feel authentic from the actual acceptable biblical spiritual structure of a life refined and approved of the father to represent his voice and the activity of his kingdom in this new transitional season.

As we continue to witness the almost blurring of the line between biblically sound authentic spiritual value system from all those other things false brethren and charlatans are crafting today in the name of the lord. Truthbearer must continually seek from the lord how to raise the bar of spiritual standard and its required engaging value principle to the degree that the saints can precisely identify the false from the authentic. We must spiritually raise the capacity standard of the ministry of truth to the dimension it cannot be duplicated.

 

The consistency of readjustment

 

The constant readjustment of our wineskin and discernment capability to listen and flow at the same frequency heaven is broadcasting is highly recommended in this new day. We can no longer depend on the issues of the mere use of scripture and biblical phrases to ascertain if a person is one with the lord or just a wolf in sheep clothing.

I hear a lot of noise about the apostolic and the kingdom of God but when you examine the life of the bearers of the message, you hardly see a scar-mark received as a token of the reward of a true bearer of the (truth) treasures of the life and message of the kingdom of heaven. The truth is not just about the accumulation of theological information, nor is about the acquiring of some revelation.

Truth is a spiritual experience one grows and develop into seasonally in obedience and complete trust to the ways and dealings of the Lord. As one further journey into the glorious life and nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, the very embodiment of the spirit of truth, one also become both the receptor and reflector of the very nature of the life of truth in those areas we have completely yielded to the Lord.

You see friends, we can never compare the response behavioral attitude of a person who accidentally stumbles on some spiritual things to a man who saw wisdom and value in selling all that he owns only to buy a piece of land, buried with a treasure of kingdom truth. They may both sound alike, look alike, or may even seem to share the same personality traits, but they sure do not have the same spiritual value structure and depth of perception in engaging the things of the kingdom.

 

 

The principle behind Job’s tribulation

 

The patriarch Job, is a character figure that predates the very theological base of some narrow down religious, or even spiritual argument that merely seeks to build the act of worship, righteousness, justice and the unfolding prophetic program of the father on the mere premise of keeping some ‘rigid’ acts of regulatory laws, beliefs and ceremonies as first seen under the old Mosaic covenant, and subsequently  seen in the religious church approach to understanding and interacting with the [Almightiness] sovereignty of the God of heaven and earth, who is also known as our father who is in heaven.

Our revelatory approach and understanding of spiritual matters and their realities far outweigh the very act of their manifestation through our lives. The seeking of an outward, material blessing as a sign of divine approval of worship or even righteousness is a powerful distractive mechanism from the enemy to lure us away from the true substance of what the father seeks to build and finally manifest through us at his appointed time of representation.

It is a fact that whatever is conceived through a process of seed carries within itself the season of fruition, as long as we allow other required processes of development to effectively play their part accordingly. In other words, you cannot have a seed not planted and water with the right atmosphere and expect to harvest fruit at some later season.

The pursuit of mere material manifestation without divine due process of a well-structured inner value principle, built on the accurate biblical pattern, always result in a state of deception and delusion that may lead to ultimate destruction if there’s no divine intervention. The renewal of our inward life is pivotal to the birth and sustainability of our journey into the kingdom life.

Those who merely seek to manifest certain spiritual or supernatural powers without a concrete footing of where and how this power gets to be formed in them to the degree of working through them risk being deceived by the enemy at a certain point in their life.

It does not take too much wisdom to understand why many leaders and followers alike today in the body of Christ are open to wholesale deception and delusion for that matter.

It is my strong opinion that even some today who claim to be at the forefront of the present apostolic reformation message is yet to clarify the issue of the authenticity of their faith culture.  There are certain approaches with regards to values standard that still baffles many of us, especially, when it comes to the origin of life, creation, the purpose of man, and even on the matters of the existence of God himself.

Many, in their faith philosophy, and spiritual approach, still struggles to confidently assure themselves on the issue of the sovereignty of God over their lives and everything else in the universe. These and many other spiritual fundamentals are what we see dealt with in the book of Job which is a beautiful piece of resource material we need to investigate as we once again sense the approach of the closure of the Age.  We shall not go on successfully with into this new season without dealing with the concept of the standardized concept of entering the Ark of God.

Building or entering the finalization of the Ark requires that all the divine measure given as a standard of accurate building is completely followed to the letter. How we know and understand the Godliness and fatherhood of the creator of the heavens and earth carries a far more implication of shaping our final destiny and relationship with the Lord and creation to whatever else we are seeking to receive or become in our Christian faith.

Perspective, of whatever kind, usually creates not just a general belief, opinion and approach system, but also forms the very basis of defining and interpreting what we want to see, believe and accept, regardless of the proven errors and inaccurate facts.

There’s a big difference between deception and delusion. In the case of deception, it is when someone else uses the means of a lie, or dishonesty to mislead, by convincing you to see, accept or even reject an idea, fact or believe. In most cases, deception uses the power of what seems right in the eyes or thought to misdirect, shift or readjust your opinion, value or even the principle of general interpretation and interaction.

While delusion, on the other hand, is more of a personal, inner false conviction, acceptance and even the assurance to suggest that what you think, see, belief and accept is most correct viewpoint or perspective, even when there are no concrete facts and evidence to prove that what you believe is inconsistent to absolute truth.

The ministry of Sonship

  6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” 8The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” 9Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10“Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11“But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.  [Job 1:6-12]

 

I am highly intrigued whenever I have the opportunity to read or study the book of Job because it connects and explained to me a deep genealogical, ancestral lineage of my spiritual image and identity. The spiritual ties the church of the last days has in connection with the spirit of Job is something I am perceiving the lord will have us to begin considering even as we enter the closure and the reopening of another Age.

We know the book of Job is, in fact, one of the earliest and oldest writings of the scripture. Some say the book was written just almost the same time the book of Genesis was penned down.  One thing is clear, the book is an ancient spiritual manuscript that gives us deep spiritual insight and technology with regards to the architectural design of the father sovereign process as also seen through the life of Joseph in Egypt.

 It is not coincidental that most of the prophetic expression today is centered around the return of the ministry of sonship, and yet, the very beginning of the book of Job starts with the gathering of the sons of God before the council of the father, and we are old that Satan, who is also known as Lucifer was present as a son. One thing is clear from this gathering is that there is a kind of [spiritual beings] people who are given the title sons of God.

All sons are born of God. Yet, the birth of the first man, who is also known as Adam reflected a different type, or quality design of sonship the rest of the sons of God have not seen before.  Other sons, which also known as angelic being does carry a high measure of spiritual power and authority.

When the councils of son’s seats 

However, the ministry of the sonship of Adam was the pattern after the image and likeness of the father himself. While this article is not directly on the ministry of sonship, I, however, thought I should give a brief background of this concept of sonship because of its link to the life and character nature of Job. The father had confidence in the sonship life of Job, and therefore, he was ready and willing to challenge Satan to test the quality standard of the spirit of sonship in Job.

While Lucifer, as a fallen [son] being now known as the accuser of the brethren was given the permission to also appear with other sons of God. He was given the opportunity by the father to test the integrity and position of Job as one of the reflections of the humans carrying the spirit of sonship who will not give in to the lies of the enemy as we see in the life of Enoch. Lucifer was asked by the father himself if he had noticed, or considered Job as the Father’s finest, most noble righteous man on the earth?  There was no doubt that the father was not just making a boast of the life of Job but was also making a statement and a declaration with regards to Job’s advanced spiritual status.  What an opportunity was given to Satan to prove his case before the council of the sons of God.

Satan made it clear to the Father that the only reason why Job was righteous was due to the

A]. the protection he enjoys over his life

B]. the protection of his family

C]. the provision and protection of his property

D]. the Father has blessed his handwork 

Satan declared to the father, you remove your hand of protection over his life and see if Job will not curse you to your face. Since Satan has well studied the fallen human nature to the degree that he can almost predict the response system of any man who is either searching for these four-seemly secure systems of man. Man will do anything to make sure he gets these four points as his secure bulwark and protection.  Satan was impressing a point the father that man will seek these four pillars in his quest for spirituality or the worship of the Father or will continue to seek the righteousness of the father in order to maintain what was given to him by the father.

Satan was indirectly saying to the father that man does not worship you without reward expectation.  It is easy to worship the Lord when there are protection, provision, and blessing. Therefore, the justice system of the father kicked in, go ahead and strip Job of everything he owns, including his children, afflict his body with sores, sickness, and disease. In the sovereignty of the Father, as he prepares us for what he has eternally designed our life to achieve for his glory, we may have to go through certain painful and suffering season like Job did.