When you hear spending time with God what easily come to mind is praying or reading the bible.

Spending time with God means to spend time with the Lord, meaning you come to him spend time and talk with him. No prayer here, you just sit down or stand and you talk. It doesn’t always mean he will talk with you. Sometimes it’s both of you reasoning like you do with your fellow man; reasoning with God in your heart, and sometimes you just stay in him. So, you talk with the Lord it comes to an end, he goes his way and you go your way. This happens with your eyes opened not closed, so you are not praying. When you pray you close your eyes, and maybe groan having an image of something in your mind, but when you spend time with the Lord it is more like talking with someone. This is not prayer; you discuss with God. In the mist of it he can answer your prayer or tell you something that blesses your life but the purpose for the meeting is not for that but is to sit relax and spend time with God. You have to practice this. Have it in mind that you are actually relating with a person someone just like you, not of thundering or some shaking -God manifesting his power. Sometimes he does not have anything to say to you, he just wants you around, he’s lying, sitting or standing with you; you just spend the time with him. This type of fellowshipping will take you out of religion.
Example of spending time with God is when God came down and visited Abraham on his way to Sodom. He didn’t come as God to Abraham. Abraham saw them and they sat together, ate and talked. God then decided to give him a gift of information. God shows us here he had good relationship with Abraham. Jesus had the same thing with God. When he went to raise Lazarus he spoke to God in like manner. He wouldn’t have spoken like that If he never had a relationship with God. You can’t have this without first having a good relationship with God, just like you can’t start having a deep discussing with someone new to you. The way to start having a relationship with God is to start obeying his word.

Prayer is actually not spending time with God but making a request for something you want from him. Praying is different from having a relationship with God. It is acknowledging the sovereignty of the Lord. Prayer, no matter how long it lasts even if it is in tongues is for edification, connecting with God for something.
So what is it, how are we to approach it? Praying is when you acknowledge that this friend of yours is your God so you no longer have this ‘friend image’ of him. You are actually bowing to a God acknowledging his sovereignty and then you pray. In prayers like this you receive answers, just like Jesus prayed at Gethsemane. This time he needed to hear from God, not really to have a discussion with him. It was a pouring out of the heart in humility recognizing a God, and God answered by sending an angel. Jesus had prayers like this from time to time. You will be pouring out your heart & spirit to the lord, submitting to his sovereignty not just talking. This prayer builds & equips you as you ask and receive from God. Earnestly expressing your heart to God, you might not get your answer immediately but you continue, this is prayer.

Reading your bible has nothing to do with spending time with God. God is in heaven in his throne as a person. The bible is the written word of God made available to you, not the Person himself. Spending time with the book about the person doesn’t mean you are spending time with the person. You can’t spend time with him if you do not have a relationship with him.

Also spending time with God is not spending time with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God came to teach you things. If the Spirit calls you out to show you things that’s not God and it’s not spending time with God. The bible says truly our fellowship is with the father and his son Jesus.

For those who have a relationship with him you sometimes find yourself wanting to pray or praise him but when you remember you are here to spend time with him you stop. If you know this is not your story and you desire it then you need to first start building a good relationship with him because you can’t spend time with someone you don’t have a relationship with. God loves us, he wants to be a part of our lives. He loves us that much. You observed this with Abraham. God came to visit Abraham and they discussed about both their affairs. This is not only for Abraham, desire it too. You will have to work with the lord with this very strong passion then he’ll begin to take you through the steps, bringing you to that stage. It may take some time but as long as you have that desire in your heart you’ll come to it.

#JesusTheKing

By Goodnews Okpara

U are wlcm bro

Whatever you are facing in this life, know that you have a God who knows all things, and if He is quiet about your situation and says nothing directly to you concerning whatever you are going through it means a whole lot. It could be two things:
He needs you to learn something from it; or

He needs that thing to draw you closer to him, to hear from him what he has to say concerning your situation.

Sometimes when we are going through a particular thing and God fixes it for us we will not learn what he wants us to learn. When you get into a situation, he sees it. When he decides not to get you out of that situation yet, there is something he has in mind. He wants you to learn something from it. So, don’t put yourself in that place where you feel God has left you or where you are worried as though God is not for you. Remove yourself from those places. Trust everything to God and try to find out what God wants to teach you from the situation. It’s not every situation that you wait for a word to come to you. God is dealing with each one of us personally. We have a relationship with him. If you get a direct word from a minister it means God is not trying to teach you anything. But if the minister(s) is silent concerning your situation it means God wants you to learn something from it, so you need to go to Him. Sometimes ministers talk when God isn’t talking, it’s the same as God not talking. God knows his children. He knows the way to get you. What he’ll do is he’ll be quiet and wait until he gets your attention. If you don’t turn to him he will finally help you out of the situation but a wise son will know his father needs his attention even when he’s trying to get things done on his own or when he observes things are not working the normal way.

Job’s situation in the bible is what nobody understood or could correctly describe, but God had given the devil a go ahead on Job’s life to test if he is a faithful servant to him. All Job knew about God’s word was that if you obey, evil is not supposed to come to you. Even his friends confirmed this understanding, accusing him wrongly. But what Job needed at that point was to give his attention to God so God would let him know that in all that was happening he had not wronged anybody.

God may not give you the exact words but he’ll let you know what it is true about the situation and allow you use your sense to understand that something is going on and he is behind it, so you can feel relaxed. In the mist of all the situation he doesn’t want you troubled. The situation you are passing through is enough trouble. So it’s very important to give God that chance to know what he wants from us. God is great, there is nothing too big for him to handle. The trouble is for a reason, give God your attention

The call to repentance in the new dispensation started with John the Baptist. God sent John the Baptist to baptize unto repentance because the kingdom of God is coming.

John preached repentance saying God’s judgement is coming. It was not enough that they were born Jews and believe in the law, then they living their lives the way they please. They needed to repent from their wrong ways.

Then Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God. He also died to redeemed man from condemnation and to bring repentant men to where he is -John 14:3.

The disciples preached repentance, salvation and the kingdom of God. They preached salvation to the people because the people had already repented.

Repentance is not salvation. when you repent from your wrongs you still owe for what you have done. After you repent salvation from Jesus is next.

The message from Jesus also came so that we will walk out our salvation. Christians are those who walk out their salvation.

Sometimes it seems there was no repentance when the apostles preached, but in Acts 19:1-8 Paul shows us how it is; first its repentance (verse 3) next is salvation by Jesus (Verse 5) and then you receive the Holy ghost to help build you fit for the kingdom of God.

Paul asked - should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Because If you must come to Christ, you are expected to drop your old ways which is repentance.

God has exalted Jesus and placed him over us so that he will work on us because he is the express image of what God accepts.

He is to carry us to what brought him to whom he is-a son, this is the kingdom God gave to him. Right now we are in the kingdom of Jesus- Corinthians 1:13. This is why the kingdom is full of the name Jesus, everything has been given to him.


Jesus leads us through the guidelines of God. ‘Working our Salvation’ is Jesus pouring out the father’s will unto us which is the renewing of our minds. This is not repentance. The bible declares you are saved already, next is the renewing of your mind.

This salvation is a working unto perfection unto the image of the son of God which the father is pleased with.

He gives you his word so that you become like his son in stature. In Jesus’s kingdom he says do not be conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (Roman 12:2) if you notice it didn’t say ‘not conformed to bad things’ which is repentance but to the world. So daily we learn the ways of sons picking up good things and dropping bad ones, gradually becoming like the son in character/image.

God sends us to preach to all nations as a witness, once we are done he returns for Judgement; he comes for those who have separated themselves unto him.

If a person says he is a Christian but keeps his bad ways it shows he never repented, he is not walking in Christ. The bible lists several characters which is not found in the kingdom of God but the kingdom of Jesus accepts all characters to purify them.

We are all saved but he that endures till the end shall be saved. Paul was saved yet he said ‘least I be a cast away’ because he was working his own salvation.

The kingdom of Jesus is where you are being shown the way to the kingdom of God, to be like the son because the father is pleased with him. Jesus is our mediator to God purifying & arranging us individually and collectively unto the father’s plan, showing us where to work on in our lives, so the kingdom of God is made easy not difficult anymore because of Jesus.

God gave us his spirit and word to be able to follow according to the kingdom principle. Jesus knows what the father wants so the spirit is sent in the name of Jesus.

At the end of time Jesus will bring all enemies under God’s feet and present us to God as bride in the kingdom of God, we will live as sons approved by God with Jesus Christ our elder brother and leader as the first of all.

In acts 19: 7,8 Paul preached about the kingdom of God –where we are going as Christians. Narrow is the way that leads to salvation is talking about God’s kingdom not the kingdom of Jesus.

The kingdom of God has not yet come. The kingdom of God is the place of the new heaven & earth where Jesus hands over everything to God so that God is all in all 1cor 15:28 and we are going to be his people and he is going to be our God 2cor 6:16. This is the structure.

The kingdom of God talks about better things where things are right. Jesus came talking about the kingdom of God- separating the good from bad at judgement, and then gave us salvation and left.

In the end death and every evil thought would be destroyed. You can’t think evil anymore, no evil in the kingdom of God. We will live as sons approved by God. So no judgement for those who walked with God and have been separated because judgement has already been Passed-God declaring us faithful. The kingdom of God is where we will be stamped as sons not a place of Judgement anymore.

You may ask with all the requirements who then can qualify for God’s kingdom? It is possible, God in Christ in the answer.

With this in mind you can see why it’s wrong for a Christian to seek power from God. It shows you do not understand your purpose on earth. Miracles which supposed to be a sign have become a distraction, it has become what the people are attracted and moved by. Such character is never found in scriptures.

Miracles is God’s place not man's. Jesus was the one who said these signs shall follow them that believe, it was not the disciples that desired it.

It was God who confirmed their message with signs and wonders not them seeking power. Christians wrongly desire power so that they can go and “show it forth”. But these Christian also need salvation, they need to keep building themselves.

God worked in the midst of the apostles confirming them. But nowadays it’s a show; they say ‘If you have any problem bring it we have the solution forgetting that it's God who solves problem not man. The focus has moved to what God will do for you when it’s suppose to be a working of our salvation.

The mentality of some Christians is that the kingdom has come so they relax saying- “there is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus”. But that verse continues and says, “who do not work according to the flesh”(romans 8:1)

Other scriptures show us characters of the flesh warning those who walk according to the flesh that shall not inherit the kingdom of God, this means something is happening- the working of salvation. But those who walk according to the flesh shall be judged.

So don’t allow anyone make you feel so relaxed saying you are saved already, free from sin. You are not yet in the kingdom of God; you have to pleased the father first.

God needs you qualified for his kingdom, you have not gone through that yet. Your focus should be to build yourself to come to that stature of the image of the son of God, that was what Jesus was like.

The father was pleased with Jesus because he was obedient and humble even to death. He had beautiful characters.

The word of God was given to you to keep building & come to that image. Never lose focus. You might be troubled like the disciples asking ‘how will I be saved?’ Jesus now takes us through the process. That kingdom of God that seem impossible to achieve is now been made possible as Jesus said. There is a starting point, he was this way and now he is built. First requirement is turning from your old ways (repentance), be willing to follow him (discipleship) and then he will take you making you a qualified son that God has tested and is well pleased with.