FERVENCY IN THE SPIRIT

Dearly Beloved, I bring you greetings in the name that is above every other name, Jesus Christ the Son of the living God and our soon coming King. Welcome to another beautiful Sunday; I hope you are still basking in the love of God for you, and revelling in all that His death, burial and resurrection accomplished on your behalf. This God is too good to us.

Today, we will be sharing the importance of staying fervent in spirit. If there was ever a time we needed to be fervent in our faith, it is now. The enemy is not pulling any punches, he has come out in full force, and so we must remain fervent to withstand his fiery darts. The scripture tells us to resist the devil, and he will flee (James 4:7). The word resist there means to stand against, to oppose and it is not a soft/calm task, it takes force and vehemence.

It is equally critical for us to be fervent in spirit so that we can hear divine instructions and directives. These are not the days to just beat about the bush, if we are going to enjoy exceeding abundantly, we must hear specific instructions from the mouth of Jehovah and this requires fervency.

“not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;” – Romans 12:11 (NKJV)

The 12th chapter of Romans is an admonishment to the believer, on how to live our lives and go about our activities here on earth. Our text urges us to be fervent in spirit and to serve the Lord with all our hearts. The word fervent here means to be passionate, intense vehement, zealous, hardcore, committed, devout. The only way to remain fervent is to stay in the Word and prayers, because outside of these two things you cannot remain fervent.

The heat is on, everything in our world today is pushing you in a different direction away from God’s Word, but you must refuse it. Make up your mind to stay fervent in spirit. This is why you need to keep the right company because the company you keep can either push you towards fervency or away from it. The scriptures tell us not to forsake the assembly of the believers (Hebrews 10:25). The church is there to help you stay fervent.

These are not the days to stay away from services and programs. If there was ever a time where staying devout is easiest, it is today. The Word of God is right there on your device, and so you can just tap to read the Bible, tap to watch a sermon, or listen to worship music. I’ve always said, that technology is for the advancement of the kingdom. We just got out of lockdown the other day, but we were able to still reach you through technology. No one has an excuse today not to be fervent in the Spirit.

Every program and service is put together for your good, to enable you to stay at the cutting edge in your faith. There is no excuse that is acceptable today for apathy. Don’t allow the enemy to hinder you with laziness, busyness, or whatever else he brings your way. Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek God’s kingdom first, and all other things that men seek after will be added unto you. Don’t run after things, seek after God, He knows how to bring the things your way.

I believe with all my heart that when you start to apply this word, you will see your life radically transformed to the glory of God. I pray for a holy hunger for you; a hunger and thirst for God that will saturate your entire being in the name of Jesus. I bless you today, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Maranatha!

In His Royal Service,

Dr Mike Okonkwo

The Presiding Bishop of TREM