Relationship Not Religion: Put God First Both in Private and in Public

By Adeola Okubanjo

Adeola began a quest to know more about God because he felt what he was receiving from church on Sundays wasnt enough. On his journey to knowing more about God, he stumbled upon many things that are of great importance to God in regard to our relationship with Him but that churches seldom talked about or put adequate emphasis upon. Adeola dedicated several months to studying the Word of God in order to seek out why these life-changing discoveries about our relationship with God are so essential. These reasons and relevant passages in the Bible that highlight their significance have all been incorporated into this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490820026

Adeola Okubanjo

Adeola Okubanjo is a growing Christian with a passion for Christ. He spent almost a decade working within the UK Civil Service before embarking on a career in the private sector. He is currently serving as a treasurer in his local church. Adeola is blessed with a wife, a son, and a daughter.

Book preview

RELATIONSHIP

NOT

RELIGION

Put God First Both in Private and in Public

ADEOLA OKUBANJO

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Copyright © 2014 Adeola Okubanjo.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2001-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2000-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2002-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013922797

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/03/2014

Contents

Preface

About the Author

Introduction

Chapter 1: It’s Not about You

Chapter 2: Change Your Ways

Chapter 3: Priorities

Chapter 4: The Change

Chapter 5: Comfort-Zone Christians

Chapter 6: The Call

Chapter 7: Struggling With Sin

Chapter 8: Not All Battles Are Physical

Chapter 9: Encouragement and Conclusion

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

—Proverbs 1:7

Dedication

Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.

—John 7:18

For this reason, this book is dedicated to the one and only God almighty, the source of all wisdom, knowledge, and truth.

Exaltations

27579.png God of peace

27582.png God of love

27584.png Merciful God

27586.png God of hope

27588.png God of Abraham

27590.png The I Am That I Am

27592.png The One who was, who is, and who will be forever

27594.png The rose of Sharon

27596.png The faithful God, though we are unfaithful

27598.png The Eternal One

27600.png The giver of life and opeHhope

27602.png The all–knowing and ever–present God

27604.png The ageless One

27606.png Dependent on no one

27609.png King above all kings

27611.png God above all gods

27613.png Unchanging God

27615.png Unshakeable God

27617.png God of Elijah

Preface

Writing this book has been somewhat of a battle. I kept getting prompts to be careful how I wrote it so as not to offend anyone. The truth is that whatever one does, one cannot please everybody. You will probably win some and alienate others. As Christians, however, we know that the Word of God (the Bible) is the absolute truth. It doesn’t accommodate political correctness or cultural principles. It is the Word from the maker of all things, the source of all things. And yes, there are some things that may sound firm, but as a child of God, we cannot accept words that are sugar-coated or softened to appease our canal desires. The word must be told as it is. It is better to have the fear of God than the fear of man.

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

—2 Timothy 4:3–5

Extracts from this book were first published in e-mails to a selected group of people. The extracts drew praises and criticisms alike. These extracts talked about some truths that are seldom taught in churches today, yet they are clearly illustrated in the Holy Bible. I was discouraged by negative comments, but the above passage lifted my spirit and gave me the confidence of the need to get this message out to God’s people with the Holy Spirit doing the conviction of hearts.

In this age, with the ever-growing prominence of liberalism and political correctness, the Word of God is fast being watered down to suit the changing taste of the world. I, therefore, feel compelled even more to get the Word of God delivered truthfully and undiluted. For this reason, the foundations of this book are firmly rooted in the Bible with constant references to the Word of God, which is alive, active, and ‘sharper than any doubled-edge sword’ (Hebrews 4:12).

Simply put, this book is designed to draw us closer to God, irrespective of where we are in our respective walk with Christ. I myself find sometimes, I just don’t have enough time for God because I am so busy doing this and that. We seem to find time for everything else but God in our busy lives and squeeze God in here and there. Sometimes, we go the whole day without communicating with Him, but we remember Him and have all the time in the world when we are in desperate need. This should not be the case. I discovered that many times we are convenient children of God; seeking Him only when it suits us or need something from Him. But that’s not right. It certainly isn’t what God wants (i.e., us coming only when we need something from Him or performing self-righteous acts in front of man). He wants us to love Him and serve Him with all our heart and soul (Deuteronomy 11:13). This is achieved through a growing relationship with our