Discp. Samuel Ojo

  Peter and John followed Jesus for three and a half years, yet during that time, they did not possess the inner spiritual life that Jesus later offered. Their experience with Jesus was more like a visual representation or a picture rather than a deep, inward transformation. Their journey with Jesus was characterized by external imitation rather than internal change. When Jesus went up the mountain, Peter and John physically followed Him, but this act did not signify an inward spiritual change. Despite their close physical proximity to Jesus and their participation in His activities, Jesus had not yet entered into their lives in a transformative way. The Lord remained external to them—they were still separate from Him in essence.   You have to see the distinction between external adherence and internal transformation. Peter and John's initial following of Jesus was based on outward actions and imitation. However, true spiritual life and connection with Jesus come from an inwar...

  The central revelation in the Bible is that God wants to enter into man to be his life. If man receives the breath of life, absorbs the life of God, and enjoys the riches of God, God will be lived out from him. Man is designed to be only a receptacle, a container, to receive God.   In practical terms, this involves humans receiving God's life,  given by the Life-giving Spirit—into our  own being. This indwelling is believed to enable believers to live in a way that reflects divine attributes, such as love, joy, peace, and righteousness  etc . The "breath of life" is a metaphor that can be traced back to the creation narrative in Genesis  1 , where God breathes life into Adam, the first man, symbolizing life that is more than biological but imbued with divine presence.   A bsorbing and enjoying the riches of God is  a continual process of spiritual nourishment and growth, where one constantly draws on the spiritual resources provided by God. This...

  The Old Testament reveals a profound understanding of God's intent in creating human. According to Genesis 1:27, "God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him." This creation can be likened to a glove designed specifically to encase a hand, suggesting that man was made in God’s image which mean to contain Him, a concept further explored in Romans 9:23 , which speaks of vessels destined to manifest God's glory.   The use of "image" in Genesis suggests God’s desire to dwell within man, a process depicted as dynamic rather than static. Genesis 2 elaborates on this by showing God placing man before the tree of life, signaling His wish for man to partake in its fruit and assimilate God within himself. This theme of divine-human mingling recurs throughout the biblical narrative and is fundamental to understanding humanity’s creation in God’s image.   John 6 counters the resistance to this idea by presenting Jesus as the heavenly bread ...

God entering into us through faith may be likened to a photograph being impressed onto the film inside a camera. In order to take a photograph, we should first remove the lens cap and focus the camera on the scenery. When we press the shutter, there is a “click,” and the outward scenery is impressed onto the film. The shutter’s “click” may be compared to our faith, and the scenery impressed onto the film may be compared to the Spirit, who is the Lord Himself and the ultimate consummation of the Triune God (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17).   We may take “photographs” of the Triune God as the divine scenery by turning to and focusing on the Lord (vv. 16, 18; 4:4). Since the Lord is the Word, we also need to focus on God’s word. We may “click” as we study the Scripture and spiritual books or listen to God’s word in a meeting. For instance, when we listen to a believer’s testimony concerning how real the Lord is or we have the experience, we may appreciate this...

From this short note, trying to transmit out to your understand the process of renewal that we, as Christians, must undergo for God's purpose. 2 Corinthians 4:16 emphasizes that our inner being is renewed daily. Although this Epistle describes a life marked by suffering, delving deeper reveals a message of renewal. Every hardship God allows in our lives serves a singular purpose: to renew us. Regardless of our moral standing, we belong to the old creation. Yet, God's ultimate desire is to bring forth something new from the old. The creation of the old world was accomplished in a matter of days—five for all things, six for humanity, and rest on the seventh. However, this old creation was never God's final goal; it serves as the raw material for God's new creation.   RENEWED THROUGH FOUR DISPENSATIONS Scripture reveals that God works through four dispensations in His old creation to bring forth something new. The first, the dispensation before the law, spans from Adam to ...

The concept of God manifesting as the Word, intended for reception by humanity, can be likened to the act of consuming a watermelon. Just as partaking in a watermelon involves its segmentation and subsequent extraction of its essence into juice for consumption, God initiates a series of actions to impart Himself to us.   Fundamental to this process is His manifestation as the Word, as elucidated in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Here, the Word symbolizes God's tangible means of communication and revelation to humanity, which is the expression of His mind. In contrast to directly perceiving God, which is beyond soulical faculties, engaging with His Word becomes the channel through which we apprehend His mind. Analogous to a person revealing themselves through speech, God's Word serves as the medium through which His essence is conveyed.  Consequently, just as silence impedes our understanding of an individ...