For the body of Christ to agree on the will of God this day, 4th November 2023

For the body of Christ to agree on the will of God this day, 4th 

November 2023

Prov 4:7-8

Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding. 

8 Exalt her, and she will promote you;

She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. NKJV

I have just escorted out a man many Christians regard as a wise man. He is a retired man in comfort. He used wisdom in his younger years to have buildings for rents, to invest in shares and his children are godly. Wisdom can give you material things as well as spiritual and mental things.

Many years ago when I was in the Bible School, I was nearly pushed out of faith by what our lecturers were calling schools of thought. They teach a doctrine this way and that way too because they say that some believe one thought while others believe the other. It was embarrassing to me. I had come to know Jesus some eight years earlier. Up to that time, I didn’t know that there were so much disagreements on the written word of God. I asked them, what did the Bible say on the matter? Both sides of the arguments quoted the Bible. I was devastated. I thought that I was going to lose my faith in Christ, but I didn’t. The Lord helped me. One area that bothered me most was whether to pray against my enemy or not. 

It was at this point I saw an anchor. The book of Proverbs claims to make one wise, to make the simple prudent, to help even the wise get wiser and that by reading it we can understand the words of the wise. I decided to read it. I needed the hope it promised – that I may understand the wise. Who is as wise as God? I decided that I will read a chapter of the book of Proverbs each day. There are 31 chapters in the book. It works best in months with 31 days. When a month has lesser days, I either try to cover the extra chapters on the last day or simply leave them till another month. It became my habit. I needed an anchor, for I have never been known to be wise. 

Has it paid off? I don’t know. Only I became more stable in faith over the years, I got grounded in understanding and I became unmovable on certain Bible doctrines. Paul came to that point and was praying for others to get there.   

  Eph 3:14-19

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,*   15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height —  19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. NKJV

    

  1 Cor 15:58

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. NKJV

For instance when I saw Matt 5:43-48

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor* and hate your enemy.'  44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,*   45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  47 And if you greet your brethren* only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors* do so?  48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. NKJV.

I got stuck to the point that I will never pray against any man on earth. To me, our senior Brother from heaven has spoken. Others may disregard Him, not I. How can I? I have heard Him as He said in     

Luke 19:12-14

Therefore He said: "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.  13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas,* and said to them, 'Do business till I come.' NKJV

I have never recovered from that description of Himself. New King James called Him noble. Other versions and translations call Him prince (God’s word), a man of noble birth (NIV), high rank (GNT), a very important man (NCV), A CERTAIN MAN OF HIGH BIRTH(Bible in Basic English),   

This man is Noble both in private and in public. He is not like the Nigerian Honourables that we know so many dishonourable things about. Jesus is honourable both inside and outside. He has appeared to us on our journey from creation to now. He has said that we should deviate from the way we have been traveling. If He had asked us to take a flight instead of trekking, would we do it? He has appeared to humanity. He has come with the latest order. Theological education can't thwart that. 

Another word of the wise I'm taking seriously is that those who are children of God do not sin. The day 1 Jn 3:8-10 hit me, I wanted to come out to be born again again. 

I John 3:8-10

[8]He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

[9]Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. The Imperative of Love

[10]In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

Even if it takes several years before I see the reality of true holiness, I must hold on to it. The Church may teach what they like, for me, a saint is not a sinner. 

Let me mention another thing I have come to hold unto. I saw in the scriptures that Jesus said that our unity is world evangelization. He also prayed that we be one. I have come to know that all His prayers are answered. As a result, I have lost every excitement about denominations. They do not impress me at all. I feel bad when a denomination mobilizes to start their church branch in a village or town filled with many denominational churches already. Why don’t they help the Lord’s work in the new place? They are supposed to be looking for souls, see souls everywhere in need of help to survive and grow into the image and likeness of Christ.

Wisdom should be the principal thing. We should do the work of God in wisdom or the Lord may surprise us on that day by accusing us of ruining His work on earth.

Prepare for that day by learning to understand the words of this all-wise God. Make reading the book of Proverbs a habit also.

Alex Oguh (+234 806 579 2749) alexoguh@gmail.com

For the Body of Christ