God Seeker

By Xyvah Okoye

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

-Jeremiah 29:13

God Seeker is a collection of teachings, carefully written to guide all who are seeking God.

Inspired by the Word of God, it contains teachings on faith, love, relationships, intimacy with God, and so much more.

This book is a must-have for anyone who desires to know God on a deeper and more intimate level.

Topics touched on in this book include:

◆ Understanding Christianity

◆ Finding the will of God for your life

◆ Developing a deeper relationship with God

◆ The Presence of God

◆ The Church and its importance in the life of the modern Christian

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xyvah Okoye
• Release date: Jun 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781915129079

Xyvah Okoye

Xyvah is an author, a poet, and a part-time human.Her fuel is coffee, and her cogs are best greased with Peanut M&M's.When she isn't tinkering with the mechanics of another story, she might be refuelling her magic in a pool, on the beach, or close to some other body of water. And at times like that, with her pointy ears twitching and her button nose buried in a book, if you look close enough, you just might see the shimmering veil around her... The rift between this world, and hers... Between what is, and what possibly could be.

Book preview

God Seeker

Xyvah Okoye

Published by Chartus.X Publishing, 2022.

For anyone seeking intimacy with God

GOD SEEKER

This edition published by Chartus.X, 2022

Thy will be done copyright ⒸXyvah Okoye, 2014

Understanding Christianity copyright ⒸXyvah Okoye, 2016

Chasing God copyright ⒸXyvah Okoye, 2020

Show me Your Glory copyright ⒸXyvah Okoye, 2021

Why Christians go to Church copyright ⒸXyvah Okoye, 2022

The production of this book was sponsored by Dr. Tonye Wokoma.

Editorial Team: The Derah, Neliya Dalu, Priye Okoye

All rights reserved under international copyright law. This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission from the publisher.

The moral right of Xyvah Okoye to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

Hardback ISBN: 978-1-915129-02-4, Paperback ISBN: 978-1-915129-06-2, eBook ISBN: 978-1-915129-07-9, Audiobook ISBN: 978-1-915129-18-5

Excerpts from Kohlenberger, J.R., Swanson, J.A. (2001). The Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Michigan: Zondervan.

Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

To connect with Xyvah, visit www.xyvahmokoye.com

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite eBook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Understanding Christianity

What Is Christianity?

The Process Of Christianity

The Concept Of Gospel Salvation

To The Saving Of The Soul

The Cornerstone of Christianity

That I May Know Him

Thy Will Be Done

The Right Thing

How To Know What God Thinks Is Right

Doing The Right Thing

Justification By Faith

The Faith Of Abel

The Way

Growing In God

Seasons

Different Seasons Of Life

Four Stages Of Life And Ministry

Rewards Of Righteousness

The Path Of Righteousness

For His Name’s Sake

Chasing God

Beginning With Salvation

From A Background Of Nothingness

Leaving And Cleaving

Covenant Relationships

Putting Others First

Laying A Good Foundation

Dealing With The Past

The Key To Relationships

What It Means To Be A Friend Of Jesus.

Faith And Belief

Faith And The Knowledge Of God

Faith And Hearing

Faith And Obedience

Faith And Speaking

While We Wait

Show Me Your Glory

The Hand Of David

Eight Characteristics Of David

The Meaning Of The Presence

Signs Of The Presence Of God

The Anointing

Forty Days In His Presence

The Purpose Of The Presence

Called To Witness

The Ministry

Building The Wall

Why Christians Go To Church

Part One: The Church

Basic Christianity

Understanding The Church

Seven Reasons Why The Church Is Important

10 Things That Happen In The Church

Church Membership

Three Rewards Of Being A Stable Church Member

Different Churches, Different Doctrines

Church Leadership

How To Relate With Church Leadership

Seven Reasons Why Every Christian Should Go To Church

Part Two: Reasons Christians Give For Not Going To Church

Church Is Boring

Christians Don’t Get Along

I Feel I Don’t Belong

People In Church Are Proud

People In Church Are Nosy Snitches Who Report Everything To The Pastor

There Are So Many Things Wrong With The Church

People Idolise Preachers

Christians Are Hypocrites

God Is Everywhere And Jesus Is In My Heart

Other Excuses

More Types Of People You Will Find In The Church

A Word Of Caution

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

About The Author

Connect With Xyvah

Other Works By Xyvah

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

-Jeremiah 29:13

INTRODUCTION

This book is a collection of teachings, written to guide all those who are seeking God. It is made up of 5 parts which touch on different aspects of the journey, beginning with Understanding the concept of Christianity itself.

Part 1, Understanding Christianity, deals with the very basics of the religion and relationship with God.

Part 2, Thy Will be done, focusses on building the believer’s relationship with God, flowing into deeper truths and more complex realities as we get to part 3, Chasing God.

This third section takes a closer look at various aspects of the journey to knowing God more intimately. Oftentimes, in this section, when referring to those in authority, the word father is used. Please be aware that this is gender neutral and does not necessarily mean one’s natural or birth parent.

In part 4, Show me Your Glory, the emphasis is on the manifest presence of God, birthed in intimacy and brought forth with a purpose. The first part of this section refers to being a musician because I am one. However, these truths and principles are applicable to all aspects of one’s life and calling.

The final part, Why Christians go to Church, deals with understanding the Church of God and how it fits with the life of the believer.

Each part of this book can be read independently, though one will get a sense of progression in their understanding and experience of the journey to finding and knowing God by reading it as compiled.

This book is a guide. There is still so much to learn and experience in finding intimacy with God, but my prayer is that this will be a great starting point and will assist in the journey to a deep relationship with Him.

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIANITY

WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?

Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)

-Acts 11:25-26 (New Living Translation)

The earth has existed for thousands of years, and many have walked upon it, leaving footprints etched in both sand and stone to guide us through this wilderness we call life. One of the many paths we tread towards understanding and enlightenment is that which we call religion.

Religion, in its most basic sense, is a system of faith in and worship of a supernatural being or power that controls (or at least affects) one’s life. It is a controversial and complicated subject, and this is the reason I have taken the time to explain Christianity in such a way that uncomplicates things.

A plethora of people who call themselves Christians have no idea what it truly means to be one.

The name Christian was given by the people of Antioch to the believers who came after Christ. This name was given to them because they were like The Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah. This Anointed One refers to Jesus.

The resemblance between the disciples and Jesus was clear enough for the people of Antioch to describe them as being Christ-like.

In the most basic of terms, this is what it really means to be a Christian. It is to be someone so transformed by the teachings of Christ that it is obvious you follow him even without you declaring it.

THE PROCESS OF CHRISTIANITY

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

-Romans 8:29

Many believe the change which happens in becoming a Christian takes place overnight. They do not understand that Christianity is a process. Often, believers backslide or do not really get the full benefit of Christianity because they do not understand what exactly has happened to them in Christ.

Christianity is not a new set of rules or even a new way of life. It is a process of faith-inspired growth which takes place due to an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As Dag Heward-Mills so perfectly puts it in his book, Gospel Salvation, Christ will change your heart and give you power to control your body and renew your mind.

This process we call Christianity can take any length of time, depending on the individual and their level of intimacy with Christ. Christian or spiritual growth is not really determined by how much you do, but by how much your character is changed to conform to that of Christ.

The reason we don’t just die and go to heaven once we receive and accept Christ, is because God still has work for us to do, both by and within us. One’s character needs to be changed and shaped in holiness. The believer must be purged of the sin and iniquity that is ingrained in their personality, and be presented to God holy and without blemish, sanctified and cleansed. Without this, one cannot get to heaven. (See Galatians 5:19-21.)

Being born again does not guarantee entry to heaven. Heaven is God’s home, and only His children will be allowed entry. This is why He sent Christ to come to be the first-born of many brethren.

By dying on the cross, Christ gave believers the power to become children of God and opened the way to be with God. Being born again gives the believer the ability or power to become a child of God; it doesn’t automatically make them one. (See John 1:12.)

In John 3, Jesus explained this to Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to him one night.

The Pharisees were a Jewish sect, the religious leaders of that day. They were the stewards of the power and presence of God. They were supposedly His spokespeople and chosen vessels. Nicodemus came to Jesus because Jesus had the power, authority and miracles the Pharisees were supposed to have. Jesus walked in the ministry that Nicodemus and his sect were supposed to be walking in.

Old Nick probably wondered how Jesus had the power and authority to manifest such a ministry. Nicodemus wanted to know the secret to having God with him, so he snuck out one night to ask Jesus. The Pharisee said to Jesus (I paraphrase), I know you have God. I know you’re walking in the power and in the kingdom and in the authority of God.

Nicodemus asked Christ for a secret. He wanted to know how to have the kingdom of God manifested in his life as well; he wanted to have the presence of God in his life. Jesus explained to him that these things would not happen in his life and ministry until he was born again.

Jesus teaches here that no one can see the manifested kingdom, rule, or authority of God if they are not born again. The power of God is a privilege reserved for those who are born again.

However, being born again, as Jesus explained to Old Nick later, is only the first step. In being born again, a believer receives power to become a child of God, to see the Kingdom of God on earth, but not the power to inherit it.

Old Nick marvelled. Who wouldn’t? Jesus was telling him that he needed to be born again. Did this mean he had to return to his mother’s womb and be reborn to enter heaven? Or was Jesus referring to being reincarnated into the same family (which was likely impossible because his mother was probably dead or too old to have children anyway)?

Jesus explained to Nicodemus that that was not the case. He explained that what Nick was looking for came by being born of water and of the Spirit. Becoming a child of God would happen by being born of the Spirit and of water.

Like most trying to decipher Jesus’s cryptic words, Nicodemus must have been confused out of his mind. Kindly, Jesus took the time to explain what he means in John 3:4-7. Being born again is a simple way of saying a person has been born of the Spirit. It means the person exists as a result of the Spirit. The person’s existence is as a result of, and therefore governed by, the Spirit of God.

Becoming a child of God who would enter the kingdom of heaven is a process that begins with true and total surrender to the Spirit of God. This is the rebirth commonly referred to as receiving salvation or being born again. Once this process is begun, the believer is gradually changed and moulded until they are conformed to the image of Christ.

THE CONCEPT OF GOSPEL SALVATION

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

-Romans 1:16

In the previous chapter , we looked at what being born again means. Here, we learn a bit more about how it actually happens.

The Bible says the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God that leads to (or brings about) salvation to all who believe. The gospel of Jesus Christ is what brings about the rebirth of the believer. Without it, one cannot be born of the Spirit, and in turn, cannot become a child of God.

The word salvation is translated from the Greek noun "Sōtēria, meaning rescue, or deliverance." Through the gospel, believers are given power that will deliver them from danger, power that brings about a rebirth. This delivering power enables the believer to be conformed to the image of Christ—to be born again.

With this simple analysis, it is safe to conclude that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power that delivers believers from danger by changing them to become more like Christ. This knowledge is unfruitful without a true understanding of, a). What the gospel of Jesus Christ is, and b). What danger it is delivering the believer from.

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:

-Acts 1:1-2

The word gospel means good news. The gospel of Jesus Christ is therefore the good news of Jesus Christ. This good news is explained by the author of the book of Acts, Dr. Luke, to be divided into two categories: the things Jesus did, and the things Jesus taught.

WHAT JESUS DID

What Jesus came to accomplish by his life, death and resurrection is easily gleaned from the acts he carried out while on earth. The words, teachings and acts of Jesus are topics that have received extensive study over the years because, as mentioned, these things make up the gospel of Jesus Christ which is the power the believer needs in order to become a child of God.

However, it would be beneficial to go a bit further back in order to understand why Jesus had to come to earth in the first place.

In Colossians 1:16, and John 1:3, we are told that all things were created by Jesus, for his good pleasure.

In the beginning, God (through and for Jesus) created the heavens and earth. He then formed the earth, setting boundaries, sprouting vegetation, and creating animals, all to bring forth after their own kind. God loved all of creation so much that He thought carefully about who would take care of it for Him. All the animals and the plants were created as an expression of Himself. They were created to show His Glory, not to take care of one another.

Since God was the only one actually capable of caring for the world as it was designed to be, He decided to create someone especially just to look after it. He created this person to be like Him, to love the world the way He did and to care for it the way He would. He called this person Man. (See Genesis 1.)

After God made man (whom we shall call Man, because he was not named at this point), He did not throw him right in the deep end and say, Here’s the whole world, take care of it! No, He curtained off a portion of the world, gathered a bit of everything Man would have to deal with in the world, and placed Man there to learn to tend it.

Sidenote: Even natural, God-given talents must be trained and honed to produce the optimum results.

So, Man is placed in this virtual-training-garden that God has created—Eden—and he must now learn to look after God’s creations. To help him to work effectively, God pays him regular visits, giving him tutorials on how to handle things. God talks to him, fellowships with him, and finds out if there are any challenges he is facing.

Then one day, as God is observing Man’s progress, He realises Man is lonely and in need of help. God seeks to give him a helper but cannot find anyone who actually meets Man’s needs. So, God decides to create one. He puts Man to sleep, takes one of his ribs, and forms a helper out of it. When Man wakes, he calls this helper Woman. (See Genesis 2.)

God leaves Man in the garden and Woman with him to help, visiting them regularly and fellowshipping with them. Till one day, the Serpent (whom we shall call Serps) comes to present Woman with a proposal to eat from a tree God instructed Man not to eat from. Mind you, this was the only tree Man was not allowed to eat from, and the reason God had given was that the day Man ate from it, he would die.

Serps told Woman that God never said they would die for eating the forbidden fruit, but rather the fruit would give them the knowledge that would make them like God. Now, this was a tempting offer because Man and Woman were both in Eden to learn how to care for all of creation how God wanted. They were created like God (in His image and likeness) and were learning to be like God, so eating a fruit which sped up that process could not be bad, right?

Wrong.

Woman reached for the fruit, hand trembling as she anticipated the inevitable. When her