Tag Archives: Mysticism

THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING SPIRITUAL CAPACITY


From the previous message of this subject matter, we have known the strategies for building spiritual strength. If you have implemented them, its benefits will definitely not elude you.

The importance of building spiritual capacity include:

1. FITNESS IN THE INNER MAN

The true fitness of a man, is not measured in the level of his/her physical ability, rather, it is measured in the level of his/her spiritual ability.

What really makes us fit and tough in the face of challenges, is our fitness in the spirit. Whatever challenge you are going through, if there’s fitness in your spirit, you will victoriously come out of it.

If besetting sin is your challenge, you can tackle it because you have the strength it takes.
The Bible tells us that while there is some value in physical exercise, spiritual exercise is much more important.

1 Timothy 4:8: “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto ALL THINGS, having promise of the life that NOW IS, and of that which is TO COME.”

Godliness is a lifestyle that is retained through spiritual workouts, you can’t benefit godliness without EXERCISING yourself unto godly living.

Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:7: “….Exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”

The passage in 1 Timothy 4:8, shows that spiritual exercise gives both contemporary and eternal benefits. With the contemporary benefits, we can have access to the benefits in eternity.

We CAN lay hold on the promise of eternal life, and there will be stability of confidence within us.

Hebrews 10:35: “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath GREAT RECOMPENCE OF REWARD.”

In the context of the above scripture, ‘confidence’ is the ‘assurance’ of your faith in Christ Jesus. There are believers who failed to take time to build strength into their spirit man, and as a result, they ended up casting away their confidence.

If your convictions and faith must be intact, you must sustain the inbuilt strength. With that, you CAN hold on to the end.

2. ENHANCEMENT OF MENTAL FACULTIES.


Both the physical and spiritual mental faculties, can be enhanced through meditation. However, there is a limit to what our physical mentality can fathom, this is because its faculty cannot exceed the natural level.

Job 11:7 (AMP): Can you discover the depths of God? can you [by searching] discover the limits of the Almighty [ascend to His heights, extend to His widths, and comprehend His infinite perfection]?

The above scripture is a question that Job asked the natural man with natural mentality, and the answer is No!

But when spiritual capacity is built, it will suspend you on a higher plain where you can understand the things that looks deep and ambiguous. At that plain, your spiritual mentality can comprehend things that are beyond human understanding.

Ephesians 3:3 (KJV): How that by revelation he made KNOWN unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words.

“….To you (who have been chosen) it has been granted to KNOW and RECOGNIZE the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” Luke 8:10 (AMP)

Our spiritual mentality has a faculty, when your faculty is enhanced, your spiritual mentality CAN substantiate the unseen and unbelievable things, which God is conveying in your spirit.

But if your spiritual mental faculty is lacking enhancement, it will suffer from deficiency.

3. STRENGTH FOR SPIRITUAL BATTLE.


Spiritual battle requires not only the whole armour of God, but also spiritual strength. The armour can protect you against spiritual attacks, you can use the armour to war against dark powers, but it does not give you STRENGTH FOR WAR.

Even though your spirit man is armed with instruments of war, you can still be defeated if you have no strength to handle the warfare instruments, you’ll be vulnerable to your opponent if you don’t have the CAPACITY to fight. This is why it is important for every believer to build spiritual capacity.

David is an example to us. He and his four hundred men pursued after the Amalekites, but the above mentioned scripture proved that he alone, slew more number of the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 30:17: “And David SMOTE them FROM THE TWILIGHT EVEN UNTO THE EVENING of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.”

Indeed, he is a man with strong spirit, if it were by physical strength, it would not had been possible for him to slay from twilight till next day evening. He was full of strength beyond natural, even after the war, he wasn’t looking like a tired man.

That’s amazing about David.

Build up your spirit to know no weakness in warfare.

As a christian pilgrim, you will be frustrated on the pilgrimage if your spiritual strength is small, most unfortunately, you will continue struggling with sin if you don’t have strength to withstand them.

Start building spiritual capacity, its benefit cannot be overemphized.

Let us pray!

Written by David Chikwado Caleb

STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING SPIRITUAL CAPACITY



Both physical and spiritual capacity building, have strategy, when the strategy is implemented, the importance of capacity building will be achieved.

Strategies are consistent with some FACTORS that aids the two aspects of capacity building, but we are concerned about the spiritual aspect.


Amongst the factors, are the two eminent ones which are:
Resistance and Investment.

Resistance in this context, refers to elements that will either disable or enable you to build spiritual strength, depending on your reaction to it.

While Ivestment is the input effort of a believer, to implement the strategies and benefit from then.

Among the strategies are;

i. Meditation

ii. Application.

You are to study the word of God and meditate on it, meditation enhances the capacity of your spiritual mentality.

The next thing is to apply the word of God in everything you do. When you apply the word of God, it is called exercise. Paul attested to that in 1Timothy 4:7

He said, “….EXERCISE thyself rather unto godliness”.

Godly living is one of the applications. Praying in the Holy Ghost is one of them.

Jude 1:20 But ye, beloved, BUILDING UP yourselves on your most holy faith, PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST.

However, it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes persistence and dedication.

Spiritual fitness involves a PROCESS. The process is not sweet. In that process, you must invest your time and effort. You give yourself to the sacrifice of fasting, praying and meditation.

When you go to the gym, you use equipment that gives resistance to your movements. Whether they’re weights, a stair climber or a treadmill, these workouts are designed to make you struggle.

Likewise, we encounter “resistance” which God uses to build the muscles of our spirit man. As we go through struggles and difficulties, we are forced to dig deeper, seek harder, and trust God like never before.

• Study and meditate consistently on the Word!
• Build up your spirit man daily, by praying in the Spirit!

This is where lies your spiritual capacity, this is where the ‘state’ of your spirituality is determined.

“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Proverbs 24:10”

The days of adversity will try your strength, to know whether it’s little or great.

In the next message, we will further consider the importance of building spiritual capacity, so that the full import of this subject matter will be understood.

Let us pray!

David Chikwado Caleb

Hidden Lessons in Peter’s Miraculous Catch of Fish

Luke 5:1
So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,

Luke 5:2
and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.

Luke 5:3
Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

Luke 5:4
When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

Luke 5:5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”

Luke 5:6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.

The story of Peter’s miraculous catch of fishes is one which is widely read, awe-inspiring and faith-lifting.

Yet, one can be tempted to ignore it, or pass over it during Bible study, due to one’s familiarity with it. Hence, missing its Spiritual significance.

Therefore, I intend to use this medium to highlight three important spiritual lessons the Saint must imbibe from the event.

1. Life without Jesus will be full of Toiling:

Night was the season where fishes were to be caught easily. At night, once the net is thrown into the river, much stress isn’t required to get a catch.

Yet, Peter labored all throughout the night, and he has nothing to show for his labour. He had nothing to show for his toiling.

When you are a Christian, and you try to make a living on your own, without the support of The Master, like Peter, you will discover that your toiling will amount to nothing.

Because there are spiritual forces that are against the thriving of a believer. If you fail to acknowledge Christ and get Him involved in whatever you do, it will all amount in nothing.

Peter toiled and caught nothing.
Could you have spent hours studying, yet, ended up getting a result below what you expected?
Could you have toiled in your business, yet, the more you toil, the more the business collapses.

Fear not, The Master has the ABILITY to restore you hundredfold.


2. He Gave His Master His Boat

The place of Giving in getting financial miracles can never be over emphasized. The Master asked Peter for his boat, and Peter gave it willingly.

This very day, the Master is asking for your boat. Your boat could be your capital, it could be your business, it could be your heart.

In our quest to get quick fortune, many of us have shut the door of our heart against the Master.

We have become unfaithful in our tithes and firstfruits and offerings, because we feel that giving to the Lord’s work will impoverish us. But that is the mindset of a carnal man. The Enlightened Saint will know that Giving to the Lord’s cause will only make you Richer.

Have a portion in your income that you use for the Gospel. Use your social media Influence as a platform for preaching the Gospel.

3. The Miracle was in Peter’s Obedience to Jesus’ Instruction

Jesus used Peter’s boat to preach, yet, nothing happened. Peter never received any miracle. Peter received his Miracle when he obeyed Jesus’ Instruction to let down his net into the sea.

Maybe you have been working for God for years, and it seems as if nothing is happening. I want you to know that your miracle is tied to your obedience of God’s Instruction.

The commands of God are our Wisdom. God’s breakthroughs are embedded in His Instructions.

Are you doing that which God asked you to do?

Do you know the right thing to do at this moment?

This is the reason why fasting and prayers are necessary. When one fasts, one separates oneself from worldly engagements, to hear from God, the secret to one’s breakthrough.

Have you sought the face of God on the next course of action to take?

Have you sought the Lord’s will on the work you are doing.

Until you do this and align yourself with His Will, you will keep Toiling and laboring without anything to show for it.

Peter was initially reluctant to obey Jesus’ Instruction. He was reluctant because he had labored all through the night and had caught nothing.

He had given up already. He was already tidying things up.

Have you given up on serving God?
Or maybe you have given up on actualizing that dream.


I admonish you this morning, be not weary. Don’t give up. God is working out something big for you. A Miracle is coming your way.

Jesus never came to Peter when he was telling at night. It was in the morning when Peter had given up and lost hope, that the master showed up with a miracle.

The Master which shows up when All Hope Is Lost and breakthrough seems impossible.

There might be economic crisis. They might be lockdowns. And in the midst of all these, your business might seem to be at its last breath.

You might even be pondering closing it and signing for unemployment. I want you to hold on just a little longer.

The Master has a miracle in store for you.

Another reason Peter was reluctant to let down his net into the sea, was that the day time wasn’t the right time for fishing in the Bible days.“

Fishes always rose to surface at night which made fishing at night easier.

So when Jesus instructed Peter to let down his net for a catch, Peter said, ‘We have toiled all night, yet, we caught nothing’.

It was as though he meant to say, ‘At night, which is the best time for fishing, we worked hard, yet, we caught nothing. Is it now that isn’t the right time for fishing, that we would catch fishes?’

Probably, you’re in Peter’s condition. You’re skeptical about believing in God’s promises. You say to yourself, ‘Before the Covid, my business was already failing, is it during this lockdown that God wants to prosper it?’

Beloved, the God you serve is the Master of Times and Seasons. You do not determine the season of your visitation, He does.

Believe in Him.
Trust Him for a visitation!
Listen for His Voice and obey His Word.

You will be amazed at the miracle you will receive!

Communion with The Holy Spirit



Communion with The Holy Spirit refers to a state of fellowship with Him. It is that blessed Union we have with the Holy Spirit. Communion with The Holy Spirit is both an activity and a life.

It is something we experience when we pray and study our Bible. Yet, it also a reality in which we live in daily.

Communion with The Holy Spirit is the continuous flow of wisdom and love from The Holy Spirit to us, and our alignment and Obedience to the desires of The Holy Spirit.

It is Intimacy with God. This precious Spiritual disposition, is the essence of Christianity.

Beyond the body of rules and regulations, dos and don’ts, the climax of Christianity is an uninterrupted flow of thoughts between God and man.



Communion involves a close interactions which exist between or among people who have common aim and interest.

Therefore, communion with the Holy Spirit is an intimate interaction or engagement via the relationship which the believers have with Him.

1 Corinthians 13:14: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and THE COMMUNION OF THE HOLY GHOST, be with you all. Amen”



The grace of Jesus and the Father’s love, will be outlandish to us, if we do not have communion with The Holy Spirit.

If there is no communion, we will not be able to feel, understand and manifest the indwelling presence of God domiciled in our being.

Galatians 5:16, 25.
“This I say then, walk in the Spirit…. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”



From the aforementioned scripture, we see two terms used to describe this communion with The Holy Spirit.

Paul uses the words, LIVE and WALK.

Videlicet, Paul was admonishing the Church to live, continuously, a life of intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

It will be very evident that we are communing with Him, if we’re living in His ambience and walking on the pathway of the kingdom under his leadership.

This begins immediately after repenting from sin and receiving Christ by faith.

Acts 2:38
“Then Peter said to them, ‘REPENT, and let every one of you be BAPTIZED in the name of Jesus Christ for the REMISSION OF SINS; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”




The Holy Spirit comes into our lives as emblem or seal of our redemption in Christ. When we accept Him, He becomes the one in control of our lives. He constrains and restrains us in our dealings with both man and God.

John 14:26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

John 15:26: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me

John 16:7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”

Even Jesus acknowledged the need for His Church to have daily communion with the Holy Spirit.

Hence, in three chapters of John, He spoke extensively of the need of The Holy Spirit, and the role He will play in their lives.

After one has been born again, The Holy Spirit begins to teach one, the ways of the kingdom. He teaches us the Principles of God’s kingdom.

On our part, we submit to His dictates and deliberately allow Him to lead us.

How does one live in communion with The Holy Spirit?

One can live in communion with The Holy Spirit by studying the Word of God, fellowshiping in church with other brethren, and praying continually.

When one does this continuously, The Holy Spirit will keep nurturing one’s faith, as well as open one’s eyes to behold wondrous things out of God’s word.

This is the sweetness of Communion with The Holy Spirit. It gives us access into the deep thoughts of God. It makes us to know God more.

Let us seek for this blessed Communion with The Holy Spirit. Let us not be so entangled in worldly engagements that we ignore The Holy Spirit living in us.

Beloved reader, if you have not experienced this Spiritual bliss; if you do not yet know this ecstatic reality of communion with God, I beckon on you that wherever you are, you ask The Holy Spirit for this communion.

It is not reserved for a special few, it is meant for every child of God to enjoy.

I pray that the Lord guides you into it.



Written by David Chikwado Caleb.