Pastor Taiwo Odukoya @ Sunday Service.
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya , in his message at the March 12 Sunday service, admonished his listeners to constantly be filled with the Holy Spirit. According to him, man was created for God’s habitation, and He desires to do much more than just live in them; He desires to work through them.
“The Holy Ghost in the lives of believers is not sedentary or just established in them. He moves through their beings. He created you for Him,” he said.
Speaking from Ephesians 5:18; 3:14–16, the clergy noted that the Holy Spirit takes care of anything in the lives of believers that contradicts God’s purpose for them. In his words, “He will make you strong for the journey and establish you. In every aspect of life, the Holy Spirit deals with anything that is against strength, confidence, and establishment. All you need to do is know who and whose you are.”
Pastor Taiwo also explained that the Holy Spirit helps a believer become one with God, thereby making it easy for them to love. “The characteristics of Jesus Christ will be rooted in you, and you will be filled with love,” he said.
He also said believers can get filled with the fullness of God through the help of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in Ephesians 3:15–19. “The more of Him you have, the more yielded to His Spirit you become. You don’t have to force it,” he said.
He therefore urged them to allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through them.
Also in the service, Pastor Babatunde Ladipo, while sharing the promise for the week, taken from Isaiah 41:10, with the congregation, said that fear is a weapon from the pit of hell that the devil uses against the children of God. This is why, according to him, fear is a natural response of the average man. “Fear has torment and keeps you busy without doing anything,” he said. He therefore admonished them to not fear but to fight fear by speaking and declaring God’s words. “You are a covenant child of God, and so you have what it takes to defeat fear. So, let the devil know he cannot mess around with you. Declare the Word of God boldly,” he urged.
EVERYTHING YOU GET FROM GOD IS VIA HIS SPIRIT.
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya @ Thursday Showers
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya has reemphasised the importance of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life, noting that everything from God comes via Him. The Senior Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church (TFOLC), Lagos State, said this while preaching at the Thursday Showers of March 9, 2023.
He explained that all of God’s promises are manifested via the Holy Spirit, who also empowers the believer in his faith walk. “Thank God for the testimonies, but without the Spirit, they would never have happened,” he told the congregation, taking his text from Ephesians 3:16.
“You may know the word intellectually, but God, in His infinite mercy, will still give you what you want. But I am telling you how He does it: it is only through the Spirit. There is nothing you get from God that is not made manifest by the Spirit. He executes the promise, but He leaves it for the Holy Spirit to reveal to you.”
Another role of the Holy Spirit, the cleric added, is the empowerment of Christians to live a triumphant life. “That you will be strengthened with might! You know what that means? That your spirit man will be agile,” he said.
Pastor Taiwo explained that the inner man, as noted in the passage, is not the emotional or external man. According to him, some portions of the scripture tag it the hidden man of the heart or the Spirit. “Every human being is tripartite, just like God. God is one God manifesting in three persons: the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit,” the preacher said, noting that God’s Spirit dwells in the believer so he can live victoriously.
He said the Spirit of God in Christians helps them, among others, to discern things, urging them not to forget who they are. “He made you who you are—a spirit. Why would you forget who you are and think you are just ordinary?” Pastor Taiwo asked.
He went on to say that the Holy Spirit is responsible for heart regeneration and that no one can believe in Christ except through Him. He also urged the congregation to lay everything before the Holy Spirit, as there is nothing the believer needs that has not been provided for.
Thursday Showers also featured testimonies of God’s faithfulness amidst difficult situations. The choir also led the congregation in several sessions of praise and worship.
