DOMINION OVER THE SPIRITS OF THE AGE

CONTINUED . . .

• When was the last time you gave honour to your parents? The case of a Sister that was trusting God for the fruit of the womb was referred to me some time ago. During counselling session, I asked the Sister about her relationship with her Father, she flared up and said so many things about him; in fact, she didn’t have a good relationship with her Father as at that time. I told her that that was exactly what was holding her miracle and advised her to go and make peace with him. I also advised her to go along with some gifts for her Father when she was going to pay him a visit. Initially, she protested claiming that the man was not even a child of God and that when she professed Christ, her Father decided to disown her. Eventually, she went and made peace with him. That same year, she conceived and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. There are people who when they say, “God bless you”, your life will automatically turn around for good. Honour provokes blessing. I will like to draw your attention to the story of Noah in Genesis chapter 9. Noah got himself drunk and slept naked in his tent. When his last son, Ham, saw him, he went to broadcast the news to his brothers. Thereafter, Shem and Japheth, his brothers, took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their Father’s nakedness. When Noah woke up from his wine and found out what his youngest son, Ham had done to him, he cursed the son of Ham saying, “cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers” Gen. 9:25. Shem and Japheth covered their Father’s nakedness. Action Point: Go and rebuild every bridge of honour that you have destroyed. That may be the catalyst for your miracle.

• Ungratefulness or Ingratitude especially to parents. If you raise a child horizontally, there is no way that child will reward you with gratitude when he or she grows up. In fact, that child will grow up with entitlement mentality. He never really grows up. Many adults today are really babies. How do you know a baby? As soon as a baby cries, the mother rushes to breastfeed the child. There are things that you can never commit into the hands of a baby; there are things you can never hand over to a baby. The issue of succession has never been easy. Elijah had Elisha as his protégée. Look at the characteristics of Elisha; he placed value on everything his master Elijah placed value on. He was so committed to Elijah that he decided that he was not going to leave him; he followed Elijah and when it was time to make a request, he asked for a double portion of the spirit that was in Elijah. Elijah told him that he had made a very difficult request; nevertheless, if he would be vigilant, faithful, committed, steadfast and observant to see the last encounter he was going to have, he would get it. In spite of Elijah’s attempts to send Elisha away, he refused to let go but followed him everywhere he went. Eventually Elijah was taken away and in the process, his mantle fell. Elisha was very vigilant and when he saw the mantle, he quickly grabbed it. To buttress the fact that Elisha had a right spirit, he went to Jordan with the mantle, smote the water and cried, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” The God of Elijah manifested and there was a miracle. This is hard sincere followership. It is one of the things that is lacking today. Your mentor is not your best friend; your best friend loves you the way you are but your mentor loves you so much that he cannot afford to let you be the way you are. Your mentor does not pamper you because he knows that if he does, you will park and if you park, you will attract dust; if you park, you will not optimize the resources that God has deposited in you. If Elisha had parked, he would never have gotten a double portion. Don’t park on your previous achievements. Elisha was not fortunate to have a good protégée; he had a follower that never placed enough value on his master’s anointing. Gehazi belonged to the group that opine that anointing without money leads to annoyance; that was his philosophy and so when he had the opportunity to manifest, he naturally went for money. He collected the money but also collected what money could not cure; he lost a golden opportunity. Whenever Gehazi comes to your mind, all you remember is unfaithfulness. However, reflect on this – if you found yourself in the same situation, would you have been an Elisha or a Gehazi? Recently, the Lord taught me not to be throwing things at people. What value do you place on the anointing? What you celebrate is what you attract. Ingratitude is the root of every sin and it can be traced to the Garden of Eden. It is a thing of the heart, a very terrible seed. Don’t have a horizontal relationship where a vertical relationship is required.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .