FamilyLife

Genesis 2-18.; Gen.1:28
Prov.18:22 In a marriage God gives favour to the family
Ps.133:1-2 It is in family that you see people walking together
God has bestowed certain blessings exclusive to the family setting.
we see, Authority, Dominion, Favour, Companionship, and all this causes us to be fruitful
Matt.1-20; God chose to have Jesus Christ come through a family.
Your destiny might be wrapped up in the extended family thus causing us bareness.
We need to open up to the extended family and thus break free from bareness.
Laban lived with his uncle and they were blessed.
Jesus brings us to the family of God when He makes us joint heirs. Romans 8-17
When we are in God's family, Jesus is our brother, and with him we cant be barren.
If you don't have any other form of family then you should know we are placed in God's family- Psalms 68-1
How many people have we welcomed in our family?
It is amazing that the people you place in your family are the ones who help you achieve greater.
Ask God to place you in a family where you will bless them and they will be your blessing.
The prodigal son even after rebelling against his father, repented and returned to family. a place of reconciliation, peace making, protection, support, companionship, unconditional love, total freedom, acceptance etc.
Think about;

1. Joseph in Potiphar's house- Gen.39
2. David in Saul's house,
3. Ruth in Naomi's house
4. Moses in Pharaoh's house

These people prospered in these families, because they found favour, and they had dominion and the blessing was two-way.
If you want to go to the next level, be faithful and allow God to use you in the place where He has placed you.

How God desires a family

How should the family be managed?
  God created man and told him to multiply.
  God created man and woman, man not with man and woman not with woman.

  Genesis 1:28 The family is thw only isntitution that was blessed to multiply.
  Genesis 2:19-24 God desires that we marray, that we have families, that we multiply.

   Collosians 3:18 Wives were instructed to submit to there husbands.
   1 Corinthians 11:3 We should not have power struggle in the home.
Husbands are instructed to love there wives as Christ loved the church.

  Ephisians 5:28-29, love your wife as your own body, don't be harsh to your wives. Your wife is your body

Association brings assimilation which in yirn brings importation. You will always appear like the people you associate with.
Choose a friend that will help you in life, that will not break you, the people in your life either make or break you.

Love is a must, but relationship is a choice.

#FamilyLife

We are family and there are levels of family.
Breaking bareness in Gods family (The Church)

Some fundamental questions that we may relate with personally,

• What is my role in this family of God as far as breaking bareness is concerned

• How am I contributing to breaking bareness or otherwise promoting it.

• How possible is it to be a peacemaker in times of bareness, to give out love in times of bareness?

Somehow you hear some murmuring (bareness) in the church exists.

Sometimes bareness might confuse us, we might see things (bareness) as if they are all ok.

We shouldn't give up and settle for less but press on for fruitfulness 

Sometimes the bareness comes because we are fighting the wrong battles

What bothered Rachael was Leah's' productivity because she took her eyes off God

Sometimes we have taken our eyes from God and focused on others things which seem to be productive. But this was not the case with Hannah when Penninah was productive unlike her, she continued fixing her eyes on God. and she was rewarded.

Scriptural Ref. Gen.30:1-3; 

Fruit of the spirit

Galatians 5:22-23New International Version (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

We all must bear spiritual fruit
The Spirit of God who lives in us is producing results as long as we are born again.
pro-activity is a life of a christian-

John 15:5 New International Version (NIV)

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus emphasizes the connection to Him (the branch rather than the process of fruit bearing).
to be connected is a life of sacrifice, it is demanding of us.
Its obvious to see and tell what tree a fruit comes from.
The fire within us is covered by the ash, we need to blow away the ash and this fire will be rekindled then we will bring forth the fruit of the spirit that lies within us.
If we are to stay alive, we must stay in the spirit because we are born of the spirit, lest we die and not bear fruit

John 6:63 New International Version (NIV)63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[a] and life.  The words of Jesus are spirit and life, the flesh accomplishes nothing.

You can't build walls with no foundation neither can we build a roof without walls
We can't manifest the fruit of the spirit when we live outside the spirit realm.
everything that happens in this life first happens in the spirit.
The assurance that Jesus lives in us and works in us is the key to our victory over the sinful nature.
The Holy Spirit doesn't immunize us against the fruit of the flesh but He empowers us to be able to stand in the moment of trial and temptation and resist the power of the sinful nature.

Romans 8:13 New International Version (NIV)
13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

An encounter with the Holy Spirit will not leave one the same; because He will master us and thus we will bear fruit of Him.

Fruits of the Flesh

Galatians 5:16- 19

Anger, Idolatry, witchcraft, desires of the flesh.

The fruit if the Spirit are produced by the Spirit in us.

As long as you are born, you are capable of sin.

Why doesn't God take away sin once someone is Born again once and for all?

Being born again means u r capable of the fruit of the spirit, so there is a declaration of war against the flesh. One against the other.

Mark 11:13 God expects us to have the Spirit producing fruit at all times.

There is always a war going on in the inside of us, and where there is war, one side wins.

No one who lives with the values of the flesh will inherit the kingdom of God. There is need for you to examine your life to find ourselves and if we find the fruit of the flesh, we repent and ask God to give us His Spirit.

You need to command the body to follow the desires of the Spirit.

Because there is war going on, we r not able to do that good that we know we should do.

God doesn't take away son when we turn to God because God wants us to entirely depend on Him.

Galatians 5:16

Let the Holy Spirit guide your life, there is no other way to overcome the desires of the flesh but by the Holy Spirit.

You need to make a decision to stop committing sin with the help of the Holy Spirit.

You cannot succeed without the help if the Holy Spirit. Live and be guided by the spirit of God.

We should yield to the Holy Spirit and allow the desire if the Lord to fulfill us.

We shall live with this battle until we leave this world.

The duty we are called to as Christians is I align with the Holy Spirit.

How shall we perform this duty.

1. Be ware of the desire of the Holy Spirit as opposed to the desire of the flesh
2. Commit ourselves to the guidance of the word of the Lord.
3. We need to depend on the Holy Spirit and His influence in our lives.

Christian Living that honors God

Galatians 5:15-26

People should look at your life and see the glory of the Lord.

You become what you are connected to.

There are things that when you plug into, you start to live a holy life.

You cannot live a life beyond the revelation of yourself.

Its easy for you to know sin, but you still go ahead and sin.

Psalm 119:133

Let not iniquity have dominion over you. Sin has potential to rule over you.

Let the word of the Lord guide me... Order my steps according to your word.

1. Your life has to be ordered by the Lord
2. You need to delight in the Lord

The word of God establishes a saint and whatever he does, prospers.

You demand your entire being to obey the Lord.

Magnify the word of God Psalm 138:2

"I have magnified my word and exalted it above my name" ~God

1. Every knee will bow before the name Jesus.
2. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved

Yet he says he has magnified His word above His name.

Make the word of the Lord workable in your life

Sometimes your defenses are so broken, but every time you realize it, magnify the Word of God.

Stop living a life of mixture.

Mathew 16

Your leader becomes to you what you call him.

Mathew 16:17-18

When the Holy spirit came upon Peter, 3000 people gave there lives to Christ

You need to come out if those intoxicating environments

1. Build Character
2. You become a reflection of your company
3. Change counsel, it matters who you are listening to.

The fruits of the flesh continued

Isa.54: Do not hold back, some are tired of being;

Last in class; children being disobedient; etc still don’t hold back stretch out

The fruit of the flesh can fail us to attain what God has planned for us. It is pleasing to meet someone who is righteous and very fulfilling.

The fruit of the flesh stands between the enlargements of your tent- the song am so glad that Jesus set me free makes sense when you know what God has saved you from.

Rom.7:25.

The reason the weeds comes back in our lives is because we believe when we got saved the rest is a smooth walk. But the Psalmist said; Search me O Lord Ps.139:23

Gal.5:19- The works of the flesh are Obvious,  when I allow these fruits to be manifest in me, how much has the blood washed out of me, what is the effect of this blood in my life?

Eccl.2:4—11 The fruit of the flesh causes us to focus on material things- but all will come to nothing

The fruit of the flesh leads us to unquenchable desire and pleasure

There is nothing of the fruit of the flesh that will cause satisfaction.

The fruit of the flesh causes you to believe yourself partly and you cannot trust God that much. 

Where this fruit prevails we trust the devil with certain terms. When it comes to what the devil can 

do, no believer can’t doubt it.

On the contrary, God is faithful and He gave us a helper. The only problem each one of us has the pressure of Marah Exo.15:22. The only thing you need to do is to EXAMINE ourselves. Matt. 21:19.

After doing what we are supposed to do, do we see the fruit or the leaves of the, the fruit of the Spirit will always prevail over the fruit of the flesh.

When you are isolated from the good and rosy picture of a glow- which fruit will be manifest in our lives?

Lets us uproot the fruit of the flesh, not only through your prayer, but total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus.

Stretch out

Stretch out.

Isaiah 54

We have to stretchout in the knowledge of the word

God's love is sufficient.

Stretch out in love

Stretch out in your business
Use what you have and the Lord will bless you, He will not jet you be humiliated.

Worry, or not worry the Lord will provide, so why worry ?

The Lord will provide.

We need to stretch out as family too, as a family, you can do something out of the ordinary, for example, go preach the good news to the community.

The prayer of a righteous person avails much, let's stretch out in our prayer life too.

Don't be driven by fear, buy by the love if God. He calls you to trust Him.

Galatians 4:1

Once you are a child of God, you are a partaker of His belongings.

Embrace the Vision (Stretch out, don't hold back)

1. The vision is for an individual
2. The vision is for our families
3. The vision is for the church 

Isaiah 54:1~ Sing oh childless woman. Sing oh you barren person.

Zachariah 9:12 God renders you double, he has heard your affliction, he has heard your cry.

God is permitting you to have many children.

A woman abandoned by her husband cannot bear children. God had abandoned Israel, but He still called Israel His own.

If you want to shutout God's blessing, then don't prepare. You don't want to be taken by surprise

Examples of how barrenness was handled.

1. Abraham Genesis. The blessing is in blessing others. "I will bless those who bless you" At the Lord's word, Abraham moved. 
2. Sunamite Woman ~ 2 Kings 4:9... Speak your situation to the Lord ad He will bless you.
3. Hannah  ~ 1 Samuel 1... Prninah used to mock Hannah. Hannah would be reduced to tears each time until one day Hannah said enough is enough and she started groaning unto the Lord, the priest thought she was actually drunk. 

This is your time, don't let God pass you buy, God remembered Hannah and she delivered Samuel.

Enlarge your house. God is commanding you to enlarge your house. 

Stretching out of the comfort zone

2Kings 13
Getting out of the comfort zones
The fruitfulness that comes with spiritual fruitfulness comes with process.
Lk. 13 a man with a vineyard planted a fig tree 3 years with no fruit.
Matt. 25 a man with the talent that yielded nothing was under a comfort zone
Mark. 11 Jesus finds a tree full of leaves but no fruit, he curses it.  How then that he was expecting fruit of this tree?
John. 16 there is fruit that lasts and also fruit that is fruit so a true should never be ever green but ever fruitful.
Is it possible to produce fruit that lasts, yes it is a matter to stretching
The life of Jesus is a matter of stretching from the time he came from heaven when he left his glory.

PLACES JESUS WENT
Jesus grew up in a town called GALILEE a form of comfort, a place we find identity, no challenges, there's no time to stretch.

GETHSEMANE is that place that will pull you out of the comfort zone. This was a place of betrayal, all his disciples ran away from him but Jesus was only moved by knowing the will of God for His life- the salvation of mind-kind, the fruit that lasts that motivated him. what happens when we get to Gethsemane. John.19-1 Many people think the zone of discomfort has many displeasing things but Ps. 23 tells us those are shadows. God says he is with us. Jesus came out with a crown of thorns and a purple robe. The spirit world was seeing a king unlike the world. He received the robe from Herod and this was symbolic of a King.
There are good things in a place of discomfort, you have to wait for them. 

Within the midst of the discomfort there is a robe, there is a crown

He went to GOLGOTHA
here he was confirmed as the King of suffering but will come again a glorious King

The GRAVE to glory
1Cor. 15 speaks to us of the victory he won in the grave

Even Jesus began to say, father can this cup be take from me.

for all of us to be fruitful especially of fruit that lasts, we must sow seed

Matt:4 Jesus was tempted but in all this He made reference to His Father and what was written, this is the seed that we must sow to bear lasting fruit.

It is necessary to move into discomfort zones, we must also know that these zones will not consume us but make us strong

Are we ready to move into these zones of discomfort, shall we stretch ourselves?

Thanks giving

Thanks giving..

John 3:16

Psalm 106:2

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.

Is He good to you? Then give Him thanks.

Deuteronomy 8:10

When u've eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord.

There is a time God rebuked the

Children of Israel for not giving thanks.

Luke 19:34-37

Give thanks.