Staying out of Pits: A Revelation of the Victory

By Pneuma Phillips

Staying Out of Pits: A Revelation of the Victory is the second of three books written by Pneuma Phillips. It is a continuation of the first book, Out of the Pit: The Work of Grace (if you have not read it, we suggest you do). We averred that though we were once in a pit of sin, God had saved us by pulling us out (Psalm 40:13, KJV; Colossians 1:1314, MSG) through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this book, we recognize different pits we do not need to accept: the pit of sin, self, failure, fear, hell and Hades, sicknesses and diseases, poverty and lack, curses, religion, and pit of death (Exodus 7:112:40).

God wants us to know that, by the sacrifice of Jesus, we have victory. An understanding of this victory will help us stay out and enjoy victory over every pit, such as sin (Romans 6:11, 14, NLT), self (Matthew 16:2425, ISV), failure (Thessalonians 1:11, MSG), fear (John 14:1, NLT; 2 Timothy 1:7, MSG), hell and Hades (Matthews 25:3234), sickness and diseases (Isaiah 53:45, MSG), poverty and lack (2 Corinthians 8:9, NLT), curses (Galatians 3:1314, MSG), religion (Romans 10:13, MSG), and death (1 Corinthians 15:5557, MSG).

We therefore rejoice always because we have the victory over every pit. We stay in our victory by constantly looking unto Jesus and depending on God. How? In 1 Corinthians 10:1315, Romans 6:11, and Galatians 5:16, we learn five key things. God is faithful, so God does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. He has made a way of escape so we reckon ourselves dead to sin but alive in Christ. Thereafter, we must yield to the Spirit not to gratify the desires of the flesh or experience the limitations of any pit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524509095

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© 2016 by Pneuma Phillips.

Library of Congress Control Number:     2016909805

     ISBN:   Hardcover     978-1-5245-0912-5

                 Softcover      978-1-5245-0911-8

                 eBook            978-1-5245-0909-5

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Rev. date: 07/07/2016

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Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter One Victory Over Sin

Chapter Two Victory Over Self

Chapter Three Victory Over Failure

Chapter Four Victory Over Fear

Chapter Five Victory Over Hell And Hades

Chapter Six Victory Over Sicknesses And Diseases

Chapter Seven Victory Over Poverty And Lack

Chapter Eight Victory Over Curses

Chapter Nine Victory Over Religion

Chapter Ten Victory Over Death

Chapter Eleven Practical Examples

Chapter Twelve Receive God’s Help

Chapter Thirteen Communion Key To Character And Charisma

Epilogue

‘They defeated it (satan) through the BLOOD OF THE LAMB (JESUS) and the BOLD WORD OF THEIR WITNESS. They weren’t in love with themselves; they were willing to DIE FOR CHRIST.’ - Revelations 12:11 MSG

‘The POWER OF CHRIST within you is GREATER than the POWER OF EVIL around you.’ – David McCasland (Our Daily Bread Devotional – Day 22 of 90-Day Military Edition 2015)

FOREWORD

FOREWORD BY REVEREND JOHN DUROTOLUWA

WHOLESOME WORDS ASSEMBLY KADUNA NIGERIA

1. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

2. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

3. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest. Revelations15:2-4

The word Victory ‘nikao’ as used in Revelations 15:2 connotes ‘to conquer, ‘to overcome and ‘to prevail’. The beast and his image and the number of his name are the hostile spiritual culture that threatens to overwhelm Believers. Exodus-redemption is a picture of Believer redemption in CHRIST. In CHRIST, Believers are victorious over the beast.

Paul personified death and represented it as having sting and dagger by which he devours and swallows up all generations of men. Through JESUS death and resurrection the empire of death was destroyed. God completely swallowed up death and eternity gulps him down. Satan endlessly lost and absorbed in its illimitable waste. It is written:

4. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (Isa.25:6)

5. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (Hosea13:14)

6. The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

7. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. - 1Corinthians 15:54-57

The author using a strong allegorical interpretation drew a correlation between the plaques God unleashed on Egypt and the victory we have in JESUS. As it were, God gave us victory over sin, satan, death, the grave, and hell at the instance of JESUS death and resurrection. We have victory over the ‘beast’!

And who is he that overcome, conquer and prevail over the world system that is under the control of Satan? John the Beloved in his letter in 1 John5:4 answered us, ‘he that is born of God’. The strategy of living an overcoming life is OUR FAITH IN JESUS. Such faith is being fed and it increases as we relish in the word of God: reading, studying, meditating, memorizing and confessing it daily – Romans 10:17.

‘Staying Out Of Pits - A Revelation of the Victory’ is a must read for pilgrims; those who are really keen in living a victorious life.

Dt. John

WWM

Kaduna-Nigeria

FOREWORD BY REVEREND EMMANUEL AMADI OPARA

GLORY LAND MINISTRIES ABUJA NIGERIA

‘For the Law of the Spirit of Life in CHRIST JESUS hath made me free from the Law of Sin and Death.’ - Romans 8:2

Like the Law of Gravity constantly acting on every object upon the face of the Earth. There is a law (force or power) called the LAW OF SIN AND DEATH. It was introduced into the Earth after Adam sinned according to Romans 5:12. This law is responsible for sickness, poverty, mental deficiencies, lack, sin and every limiting and retrogressive factors on Earth.

This law is the constant force acting upon every man born upon the Earth. But because of JESUS death, burial and resurrection, another law (force, power) was introduced called the Law of the Spirit of Life in CHRIST JESUS. This force or power has freed us from the law of the sin and death, and is acting upon us, bringing life, prosperity, joy, peace, rejuvenation.

Now, our Brethren, the Phillips in this Book, bring out from God’s word how to stay free from this law of sin and death. And they are not just writing from head knowledge. I have known them for a long while; and these truths are what has guided their lives and brought a lot of inspiring testimonies of the victory of CHRIST in their life, career, family and ministry.

Enjoy the Good Life, STAYING OUT OF PITS as you have a revelation of our VICTORY in CHRIST JESUS.

DEDICATION

To our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ; Who was, Who is and Who is to come, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah; Who chose to become a Lamb, slain on our behalf’. The Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent One, we worship You. We will love and serve You all the days of our lives.

Also, to our mothers of blessed memory, Patricia Kosiwa, Abosede, Amina Sassou - Aunty Pat (1948 – 2007); who taught us - Kenny Akindele Phillips, Eyo Peter Yellow-Duke and I; devotion to God, discipline in life and generosity to all as well as Evang Eunice Modupe Mosugu (1944 - 2004) our Bastion of Love and Grace, a Mother in Israel and Pillar of Help. We will always remember you both and your memories live on.

To all our children – Phoebe Anuoluwa Phillips, Tirzah Iyanuoluwa Phillips and others too numerous to mention, We salute you. For everyone OUT OF THE PIT but struggling with one pit or the other, know you have overcome by THE BLOOD. So, keep seeing what JESUS has done; LOOK AND LIVE even as we continue to reconcile others to Him.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It has been a worthwhile journey so far and there are many we are indebted to. First we give God all the GLORY and appreciate our parents for partnering with God to bring us into the world and nurture us till we decided to follow Him for ourselves. We also remember and appreciate all our Fathers and Mothers of Faith, GREAT IS YOUR REWARD.

Mention must be made of our partners and friends – Savannah Ministries, Christ Family Ministries (including Christ Family Centre Kaduna), Nigerian Military Christian Fellowship, Our Daily Bread Ministries, Glory Land Ministries, Mighty Supply Ministries, Manifold Grace Ministries, Building on the Word the Lighthouse (including the Jaji Church), Father’s Delight Ministries, Purpose International Worship Centre, Sunrise Music Ministries, Graceville Christian Centre, Renaissance Assembly, Grace Call Ministries and the Nigerian Air Force Family amongst others; THANK YOU FOR LOVING US.

To JJR Family, we say, YOU ARE THE BEST, KEEP SOARING AND ENJOYING. We also appreciate Joy Williams and Pst John Oche who took out time to meticulously edit this Book - YOU ARE BLESSED. For Barr Joan Okafor and Mrs Gold Obiefuna; YOU ARE JUST AMAZING.

We also acknowledge Reverend John Durotoluwa and Reverend Emmanuel Opara for writing the impeccable Forewords; your contributions have enriched this Book and we are grateful. Heaven rejoices and so do we. Glory to God.

PROLOGUE

‘I waited patiently for (relied completely on) the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry (for help). He brought me up also OUT OF an horrible PIT, out of the miry clay, and SET MY FEET UPON A ROCK, AND ESTABLISHED MY GOINGS. And He hath put a song in my mouth, even praise unto God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord" - Psalm 40:1-3 KJV

"God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the Kingdom of the Son He loves so much, the Son who got us OUT OF THE PIT we were in, GOT RID OF THE SINS we were doomed to keep repeating’ – Colossians 1:13-14 MSG

‘So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of CHRIST merely from a human point of view. How differently we know Him now! This means that ANYONE WHO BELONGS TO CHRIST HAS BECOME A NEW PERSON. THE OLD LIFE IS GONE; A NEW LIFE HAS BEGUN! And all of this is a gift from God, who has brought us back to Himself through CHRIST. And GOD HAS GIVEN US THIS TASK OF RECONCILING PEOPLE TO HIM. FOR GOD WAS IN CHRIST, RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF, NO LONGER COUNTING PEOPLE’S SINS AGAINST THEM. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors: God is making His appeal through us. We speak for CHRIST when we plead, Come back to God! FOR GOD MADE CHRIST WHO NEVER SINNED, TO BE THE OFFERING FOR OUR SIN, so that we could be made right with God through CHRIST.’ – 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 NLT

In our first Book, OUT OF THE PIT – The Work of GRACE(if you have not read it, we suggest you do),we averred that though we were once in a PIT OF SIN, God had SAVED us by pulling us out and this was simply because He loved us and it was never His plan for us to perish. SALVATION is a work of GRACE; and now, He simply wants us to help SHOW GRACE and PULL OUT others from pits. Bottom line, ‘… EVERYONE HAS SINNED … YET GOD FREELY AND GRACIOUSLY DECLARES THAT WE ARE RIGHTEOUS … WHEN HE FREED US FROM THE PENALTY FOR OUR SINS’.¹Additionally, we said that what is interesting about every pit is that it originates in the spirit and manifests in the physical as either your intellect – how you think; or emotion - how you respond and behave.

So as we look at (BEHOLD) JESUS, all that is required of us is just to grow - Luke 2:52 says that "JESUS grew in wisdom – intellect, He grew in stature – physique, He grew in favor with God – spiritual and then He grew in favor with man – emotion. God gave us this understanding as we prayed for our daughter Phoebe on her 10th birthday in 2014. Everyone must grow properly in 4 areas: spiritual, physical, emotional and intellectual. JESUS grew in wisdom (intellectual) knowing how to do things upon the earth. Wisdom is the practical application of knowledge. That means JESUS grew intellectually.

He grew in stature. That is why there was a kind of standard in the Old Testament that you start serving in ministry when you are 30. By that time, your body matches up with the demands/going up and down of ministry. We believe that is the reason why JESUS and John were manifested at 30. There is a demand on you physically in ministry. JESUS grew in favor with God (spiritually) because God is Spirit. He also grew in favor with man (emotionally). For instance, I (HIM) am right with God all the time, but I (HIM) can’t be slapping my wife. I (HIM) would be wrong with her – not with God. And that is why Christians must walk in love in their environment and be careful with their utterances and how they behave because they are righteous and a testimony to the world.

It is unfortunate that some unbelievers have become discouraged by the way some other Believers behave and turned their backs on the Church. Some people even find it difficult to come to CHRIST because of the way ‘their fathers’ handled them. They just assume that God is the same. However, God is LOVE and kind to everyone. Naturally, as you grow, you just see yourself taking more