EMINENT LADIES CLUB “BELIEVER’S MANNA”
JANUARY 2012 NEWSLETTER
Beloved,
Praise, laudation, and thanks be given to our Father in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ–in whom we live and move and have our beings.
It is my delight to come to you, in this first newsletter of the year, with a fresh word from the Lord to you, saying, it is time to double up on the word of God. Doing that will safeguard and enrich your life in every way. For want of space, I will conclude this message in the February newsletter. If there was ever a time we needed to know and maximize the word of God for our lives, it is NOW. All over the world, as you watch or listen to secular news, as you even watch some programmes that are aired on some Christian channels, you wonder, what in the world is going on? Today, it is almost difficult to distinguish between the true children of God and the children of darkness. I watched with horror the blatant display of seduction by some women pastors, TV presenters, and leaders of a particular Christian organisation. These just deliberately dressed to expose their bodies—not different from the outrageous dress codes you see in Hollywood. These have failed to realise that God hates ungodly exposure of our bodies (His temples). To show His aversion for nudity, the very first thing God did back in the Garden of Eden after the fall of Adam and Eve was to clothe them with tunics of skin (Genesis 3:21). Today, seduction, immorality and nudity are rampant in the church worldwide.
In another dimension, we also see the way some church leaders and ministers have taken advantage of people’s desperate needs for miracles, to try to twist the scriptures or take them out of context, so as to attract gullible people to themselves. In many ways, the simplicity of the gospel has been abused by the introduction of certain ungodly doctrines and practices, which are all labelled “acceptable.” For example, some offer all kinds of products on TV—from soap, perfume, water, water, key rings, etc., to just about anything to get your debts wiped out or for any other miracle you need. I believe in using points of contact but it is vital we follow patterns that are found in scripture. I have also seen some ministers who claim they are washing their church member’s feet, put anointing oil in the water they use, and also advertise the practice as miraculous. But if you read the Bible and look closely at the very feet-washing account where Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, you find that it is totally different from what these are doing.
I encourage you to go and read John 13:1-15. There, you find that Jesus never put oil in water to wash anybody’s feet. Besides, He washed their feet once simply to point us to a customary service, intended to reveal to us the need to serve one another. Thus He advised that we should do it one for another. There was nothing mystical or miraculous about feet-washing as people are pointing it to be today. The gullible are deceived, thinking that it is only if their feet are washed that they can receive their breakthroughs. This is error! People should at all times fix their eyes on Jesus and His word, not on a method. The Lord showed me clearly the cause of the problem and its solution. This being, the lack of adequate knowledge of the word of God, and the need for His people to go back to the word of God, and begin to study it over and over again. Many people are lazy and distracted when it comes to spending time to carefully study the word of God. Jesus Christ, our Lord, and model, understood the problems we will face, while working out our salvation here on earth, and thus took time during His intercessory prayer to pray for His disciples, and us, saying, “Father, sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). He also affirmed that we will know the truth, i.e., the word, and that will make us free. On the other hand, if we do not know the truth, then comes bondage, fear, and destruction.
To help us in this present-time, it is absolutely imperative that we take time to go back again to the scriptures. I am not talking about making any New Year resolutions, as often many start and never carry it through. I am talking about the need for us to recognize the power of God’s word and just go back to delight ourselves again in His word—to spend time daily in the word of God—to do so with the help of the Holy Spirit, the only One who can give you accurate understanding of the word of God. Personally, coming from the Catholic background where not much emphasis is put on personal study of the word of God, as we are often led to think that is the job of the priest, who is to bring us the short excerpt from the Bible each Sunday, I suffered so much from not knowing what is in the word of God for many years. But when God in His mercy fully brought me into His kingdom and to His eternal service over 22 years ago, in desperation, I prayed and asked the Lord to give me the grace to read my entire Bible at least once each year, and He obliged me ever since. Understanding the great benefits I have reaped from this practice in my personal life and also in relation to God’s call and assignment for my life, I do challenge people to try and read the entire Bible once each year, emphasizing the need for them to prayerfully receive grace from the Holy Spirit in order to do this. This is not just so as to prove to anyone that you are super spiritual, but just to help yourself gain adequate insight into what God has spoken in His word—the truth, which is settled in heaven. Never forget that it is only the truth you know that sets you free.
Pathetically, many believers are looking for people who will complicate the simplicity of the word of God. Consequently, rather than spending time alone in God’s presence to study His word, and receive day to day fresh revelation of the word for their benefit, they would have someone with no evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit or His genuine love and power operating in their lives offer them a half-baked, incorrect interpretation of the word of God. Thus more error develops from what they teach and do, and people are further enslaved. The truth is, doubling up on the word of God helps you in every way to be more discerning about what you hear being taught, and also makes you more sensitive to receive genuine ministry from the right God-ordained ministers of the gospel who genuinely operate in the anointing and gifts of the Holy Spirit amidst great compassion. I believe that the Berean Christians set a remarkable scriptural example for us all to follow. Here is what they did: “Now these [Jews] were better disposed and more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they were entirely ready and accepted and welcomed the message [concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] with inclination of mind and eagerness, searching and examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore became believers, together with not a few prominent Greeks, women as well as men” (Acts 17:11-12). Notice the Bible comments on their noble character, which is a clear sign of Christian maturity, associated with their passion for the word of God–to hear, study, and fully live by it. Realize that their passionate hunger for, and study of the word of God was a key factor to their conversion experience and establishment in the faith. Having read, they were convinced that the word was, and is, and will always be the only truth, and Jesus Christ the only way to salvation. So they embraced it. How God yearns for us to emulate such believers and also produce the kind of godly fruit they had. I encourage you to get hold of my anointed book, LORD OPEN MY EYES for the price of £11.50 each (P&P inc) for you and your loved ones. Allow 7 days for delivery. Know that my books and music CDs are solidly scriptural and loaded with God’s anointing. They are already changing so many lives in different parts of the world. You can call or write to order, or visit our websites: www.favourbooksandmusic.com / www.rormi.org.uk. Next month, we will continue this message, focussing on the mechanism and power of the word of God.
Yours in Christ Royal Service,
Apostle Ifeoma Fiiriter–ELC Founder & President
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