Who Influences You? Living Your Life Without Shame

By Andrews Kudjoe

Have you ever asked yourself, why do you do what you do? Are you satisfied with your life? If not, could it be due to the influences in your life? You are three-dimensional and each dimension requires your attention.

This book will give you insight about:

What makes you do what you do
How your flesh operates
How to overcome the negative opinion of others
The glory of God that is inside you

Discover your potential and God – given abilities to help you overcome your past experiences and release the hidden treasure inside you.

If you feel oppressed – YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A SLAVE TO YOUR FLESH
If you feel trapped – YOU HAVE BEEN REDEEMED TO HAVE INFLUENCE
If you feel ashamed – YOU CAN LIVE A GLORIOUS LIFE!

You can be free from your bondage and distress when you use the system that works for you. You can use the word of God as a tool and pray to the Lord to deliver your soul from pain, stress and self-ambition, and to preserve your soul so that if you go through adversity, you will emerge a winner!

The insights in this book will help you to understand God’s unmerited favour, the blessing of His authority and power activated and expressed by faith and working through love.

The aim of this book is to equip you to be strong in yourself and in your faith and to have a winning mindset.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Aug 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781984591340

Andrews Kudjoe

Andrews is a child of God, by the grace of God, a family man, an Apostle of prayer, preacher of ‘word of faith,’ Christian counsellor and author. Andrews conducts seminars addressing personal and corporate spiritual warfare for churches, to bring greater understanding and more effective utilisation of the word of God in the churches. He also teaches about the unity of church auxiliary departments, the Christian’s identity in Christ, the ministration of spiritual offices and the ministration of spiritual gifts. Andrews has taught and raised a lot of prayer people who have found their purpose and place in the five-fold ministry in Ghana, West Africa and abroad. His desire is to see the people of God living and reigning in the liberty and authority that God intended.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

This book is about the truth you know and believe, which will liberate, elevate and establish you; equally, the lies you believe, can destroy you. My belief helps me to train my mind and discipline myself, so this is how I fight the battle to take control of my life, by meditating on the truth of God’s word and acting, by faith on what I believe.

This book was written after years of counselling Believers and unbelievers, and because I believe God was speaking to me through His Word while I was searching for answers and information, with which I want to bless you.

I used to ask: ‘Where can you rest your heart? Where can you find some peace for your soul in this broken world?’ Then I found out through the scriptures, that my relationship and intimacy with Christ gives me assurance, which brings peace and rest, John 14:1, 16-17, 22-27 AMP. This truth became the reality and acceptable truth that would stop me from believing the lie that there was a limit to what I could achieve or receive from God.

We can have inner peace by praying and asking God to fill us with His Spirit; we can also act on His wisdom in His word, which gives peace and peace of mind, Proverb 14:29-30 AMP: A calm and peaceful and tranquil heart is life and health to the body.

As we read God’s word, it transforms us, it restores us, it guides and warns us and makes us wise. The word of God causes the heart to rejoice, enlightens the eyes and helps us receive and believe truth. Proverbs 1:2-5 NLT. Through it, we receive wisdom, we grow in faith and discernment and we are transformed. The Psalmist says that God’s word is of even greater delight and value than gold because you can build your life on it. The Psalmist prays the following prayers in Psalm 19 verses 12-13 NKJV: Cleanse me from secret faults.¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

In these prayers, is a sense of self-awareness and self-reflection; the idea is that you read God’s word and then use its teaching to carefully consider your heart and life. This truth makes me desire to follow God in every way and ask God to cleanse me from my own error, so that it does not control and dominate me. In this truth you will find God’s promises to restore your brokenness. According to the scripture in Proverbs 1:33 AMP, listening to and meditating on God’s word helps us to be secure and not to fear evil.

The word of God is a spiritual tool to use in your life and to pray for your spirit, soul and body; it can also be used as a weapon against the inner desires of the flesh, that part of us that responds to the sinful nature which lies within us.

I hope this information will inspire you, that you will gain insight from it and use the scripture quotes and prayers to speak and pray over your life.

PART 1

THE FLESH

CHAPTER 1

What I Did Not Know About My Flesh

I did not know that understanding the Biblical truth of my nature would help me to identify which part of me was being influenced. This also helps to express the essence of who I am, and in it is the truth that can completely liberate me from being subject to the circumstances of life, from being influenced by my base nature and allows me to connect to my true self. We were created to be happy naturally, it is part of our nature and we experienced happiness before the fall of man, but most of us do not know it and so do not express it in our behaviour. Having this truth, I now know that evil and my flesh must not control my true nature.

Not having what we desire makes us sad and causes us to pursue material things, hoping to fulfil that desire. We need to remember and understand that although we are created by God, man was separated from God because of disobedience to God’s instruction, which affected his relationship with God. This caused the broken world that we now live in and also caused man to suffer and ‘die’ to the things of the spirit, and instead, start to live for, and respond to his flesh and soul.

I Nearly Destroyed My Life

When I was growing up, I was told happiness brings satisfaction in life and, believing this to be true, I pursued happiness in the wrong places, like going to the disco, dreaming of having a big mansion, seeking a well paid job, partying, drinking alcohol and hanging out with women who loved to party. I spent my time trying to be happy, and gain self-satisfaction, not knowing all of this would only bring temporary happiness. Proverbs 3:13-18.

Then, one day I thought, if life is about happiness, what should I do to experience this happiness? So I tried to focus on fulfilling my purpose, but thinking of having all of this did not satisfy me, and rather, brought frustration and discomfort of unfulfilled lustful desire. I struggled to fill the emptiness inside and could not control my emotions and my will because my problem was internal, not external. This frustration continued, because my focus was on material things, until I received the right information about my well-being in 3 John 1:2-4.

Job 5:7-27, opens the eyes of my understanding to know that, although we were born into this world full of issues, we must respond to God’s word by faith to have results, because God has power to do things we cannot do. God’s word frustrates the strategy of the enemy who tries to make us sad or upset, He guides the wise in their own cleverness, He rescues us from issues that will cause us pain and gives us the freedom to choose. Verse 17 of Job 5, humbles me and helps me not to despise the correction of the Almighty because He has power to transform and heal, so that I will be happy.

It takes a step of obedience to react to His word, which encourages me not to be sad or afraid of destruction. Obedience triggers the promises made in verses 19-27 of God’s protection and provision.

This helped me to change my negative lifestyle and trust in God’s promise that the joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy that God puts inside us is able to endure anything and then, the lust of our sinful nature, which drags us like a force, to commit wrong acts, has to let go, because the power of the Holy Spirit subdues this force and sets us free, to the glory of God the Father.

What you meditate on can make you or break you and meditating on this scripture in Mathew 16:26-27, changed my life. What you put in your heart will determine your inner calmness, because to be stressed is a horrible thing to go through in life but if you make God your first priority, this will help you to experience rest in Him, so that you can live a better life by feeding yourself with positive things and not feeding on your problems.

It is important not to keep complaining about your problems, or to live your life according to the negative opinions of others. Be grateful for what you have and get into the habit of creating an atmosphere with Christian songs, to bring God’s encouraging strength and presence; don’t give up on yourself and others. Do everything with love and not out of pain, because the human nature is a bundle of characters and has ways of thinking, feeling, and acting, which humans are said to have naturally. My attitude affects the way I feel or act towards a person or situations and this expresses a temporary feeling or state of mind.

Now I know happiness is not just external or self satisfaction, which is based on circumstances, but real happiness is based on inner spiritual satisfaction and the truth you set your mind on. It is also the knowledge and understanding that the Lord has given us opportunities to live our dreams, to be glad and rejoice, to honour and glorify God with our lives. This gives me satisfaction and the desire to plan towards enjoying life. According to Hebrews 11:24-26, only faith could influence such a great choice to trust God, which looks far beyond external pleasures and the present scene.

Happiness is a choice you make, so we need to understand that any lustful entertainment that the Lord cannot reward is selfish and selfishness is not of God. Real happiness comes by delighting in the word of God and if you meditate on His word, it will help you to overcome your fears and anxieties, and give you the confidence to relax and enjoy the moment of your life. Proverbs 3:21-26. Whatever usually holds you down, pray the burden out of your soul and into God’s hand, so that His peace that brings you hope, will give you assurance which brings inner joy and happiness for your present activities and in the future. By this, you can focus on the truth of God’s word to influence your actions, so you will not be affected by the things you used to dwell on, which drain you emotionally, because character and conduct begin in the mind. The scripture in Philippians 4:8-10 NKJV encourages us to think on the right things so that we can act on them to influence us.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. ⁹ The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

If we depend on the desires of our flesh, emotion and will, frustration is inevitable. In this life, it can seem as though you are the only one that is having problems with your nature, but according to this scripture in Romans 15:4 NKJV, this can be avoided if we have the word of God as our comfort in our affliction. ⁴ For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Our relationship with Christ connects us to divine life and happiness.

Jesus clearly stated and illustrated His personality in His word and said if we need help, we should call on Him because He said: I am the Redeemer, I am the Saviour, I am the Way, I am the Door, I am the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep; I gave them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. He is the Source of Truth and example of how to live a life. John 14:6 NKJV: "No one comes to the Father except through Me." Eye witnesses also testified about Jesus in John 4:42.

For you to experience this truth and the life of Christ, as in 1 Peter 1:3, you must first be alive in Christ, so that you will live with great expectation. Keep the word of truth in your mouth, hope in His word of truth and keep them in your heart continually, so that you will walk in liberty. This is what quickens your ‘spirit-person’ so that when you go through life’s challenges, you can maintain this liberty in Christ. Refocus on the promises of God and replace any negative thoughts with the word of God; you must know His love and add virtue, which is moral excellence, to your faith; we also need to receive revelation knowledge and goodness. We can then draw virtue and spiritual insight from our ‘spirit man,’ as well as living a Christ-filled life by confessing God’s promises in our lives and renouncing the corruption that once caused us all to conduct ourselves in the lusts of our flesh. We can overcome the desires of the flesh and of the mind according to the course of this world, through the resurrection power that works in us.

This is the benefit we have in Christ, from which we can draw strength, and stir up the investment the Holy Spirit has made in our spirit, because out of this fruit of the Spirit in the inward man, we can draw all the spiritual blessings from the well of salvation, Isaiah 12:2-3.

What is in your soul can influence you, which is why Peter said in 1 Peter 2:1-3, 11-12, we should lay aside and abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. This will enable you to experience transformation as you get to know the will of God concerning your life and rejoice at His word, for all your ways are before God and He will deliver you according to His word. This only comes by receiving Christ as your Saviour and you will know the will of God and be influenced by the Spirit as you renew your mind with the word of God. It was this freedom in Christ that set us free, and the benefit of this freedom will affirm the Lord’s precepts concerning all things. This is how I revive my body and restore my soul, by believing in and accepting the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and by this, my spirit is filled and refreshed as I fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NKJV: ¹³ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Our attitude towards situations should always be one of praise and thanksgiving to Jesus for what

He has done for us in sharing His Kingdom truth and enforcing His power and the glory to withstand negative thoughts of ourselves, other people and the enemy. This is the right way of thinking or feeling about something, so that we will not be overwhelmed by the temptation of the evil one. This helps us not to give in to satanic lies, world concepts of shame or fear, hopelessness and self destructive behaviour, even if we experience the frustration of addiction, depression, hardship, pain or hurt.

If you are pre-occupied with your wants and fears, what do you rely on to give meaning to your life? We can rely on the promises of God and help other people by encouraging them and this adds meaning to the lives of people who you come into contact with. Romans 15:1-4. The decision to praise God as Most High and to focus on the promises of His word and His glory, will determine your freedom; also, because you know the truth and Whom you believe, you will not be discouraged or give up on your goals. This will help you to do the things that have life in them because you cannot achieve anything by crying and sleeping due to depression.

We must also balance life well, by accepting God’s forgiveness and also by forgiving ourselves of any guilt and wrong-doing of the past. But if you hold onto the pressures of life, distress and suffering, pain of abuse, this will stress you out and cause you not to live the fullness of life. You should not feel guilty for not fulfilling your assignment as you wished because this will frustrate you and cause depression and this attitude becomes a spirit that can influence you with pain and bitterness. If this happens, it means you have allowed this negative attitude to hold you down and stop you from experiencing the peace of God and the joy of the Lord, and stop you from experiencing this free gift of God. This can cause you to be a ‘waster of grace’ because you have refused to accept God’s truth and grace, now you are running out of energy or struggling to achieve your aim. Consequently, this can cause the root of bitterness to spring up and make you anxious, which can destroy your life.

All of these issues I have mentioned can hold you back and are the result of fleshly and carnal thinking and seeing things according to the senses but you can be free from the desires of your flesh and any distress when you act on the promises of God and pray to God to deliver your soul from pain, stress and self-ambition and ask Him to preserve your body and soul - not in the sense that you will never suffer adversity - but that if you go through adversity you will come out a winner! These scriptures, 2 Timothy 2:8-10, Psalm 27:10-14, are evidence that people will forsake you, harm you and resist your words because of your vision. You should not wait for people and things to make you happy, but hope and trust in the Lord for your victory. Psalm 27:14 NKJV: Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

In this life, sometimes you can become weary and feel like giving up on your vision or you can make the wrong choices that can affect you physically and psychologically. But the Lord promised to stand with you, strengthen and deliver you from evil and preserve you. Isaiah 40:30-31. In the past, I did not know about this truth and in the midst of difficulties I would panic and make decisions based on my feelings, so I made wrong choices, but thanks be to God, that through the knowledge of His word, I am set free from bad attitudes that bring stress. God answers the desires of His children, so now may the God of joy fill you with all the promises of happiness you are expecting in your finances, marriage, health and children. 2 Corinthians 1:20-23.

This message can help to develop the mindset needed to release you to do what you have been called to do, to enjoy life and positively influence others. 2 Timothy 1:7-10 AMP. Accept the truth, reject and renounce the lies. I pray the insight of this book will help you to understand and receive God’s unmerited favour, the blessing of His authority and power, activated and expressed by faith and working through love.

CHAPTER 2

How Your Flesh Operates

The flesh is often used to refer to our natural sin tendencies in the Bible, as in Psalm 51:1-6. The works of the flesh are the things human beings naturally tend toward that are contrary to what God designed for us, so the flesh manifests the desires of the flesh, or displays the works of the flesh and makes us self-centred.

The desire of the flesh and the cause of negative thoughts used to trouble me and I realised it was also an issue with some of my clients. I did a lot of questioning and searching for answers - in the Bible and other literary sources - until I found the truth. I learned and understood about the nature of man and how to control myself and not to be controlled by situations. What you believe and act upon will influence you and we that believe in Christ can experience what He has done for us and we can activate the blessing by faith. This book is a result of counselling Believers and is also based on research I have made and applying the word of God in my life.

According to the Bible, we are intelligent beings - we are spirit, having a soul and living in a body. That is why Paul prayed for our spirit, soul and body in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV: ²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He wants us to understand our spiritual position and heritage in Christ. You should also read Ephesians 3:3-13.

The Bible uses the word ‘flesh’ and ‘the body’ interchangeably. The body, or flesh, is the physical ‘house’ of the soul and spirit, but also denotes human nature; this earthly nature of man can be weak but can be refreshed by having fellowship with God. Psalm 63:1-5. Without divine influence, this earthly nature can also drive us to sin and to disobey God. The physical body of man is subject to suffering as we see in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

The sensual aspect of physical pleasures is the expression or pursuit of the desire of the flesh which belongs to the natural man. This condition of pleasing or fulfilling the senses, is unspiritual, living by what is experienced through the five senses of the soul, concerned with this life only. Being sensual is being aware of, and communicating through, the five senses of the body which are: taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell. These can be the gateways for lust or illicit desire, which is pleasure derived from the senses, and unclean practices that can open a person up to demonic oppression or possession. Based on this, we are judged, not so much by what we have accomplished, as by who our character reveals that we are, before looking at what we do. 1 Samuel 18:5-9.

The nature of the flesh with its craving can incite a person to be corrupt and to commit sin. Genesis 6:3, 12. That nature drives you to do what you