Life Impact: Walk Through 1St and 2Nd Corinthians

By Ayo Odunayo

This book is a daily walk with God through verses and chapters of First and Second Corinthians. It provides you with a daily walk with the Holy Spirit about the deep things of God. There you will find God’s mind on several Christian doctrines, on character, morality, leadership, spiritual maturity, spiritual gifts, Christian living, and a host of thought-provoking subjects.

This book leads you into a personal walk with God, a personal time of prayer, and a personal faith confession. It is sixty-one days of impact by the Holy Spirit.

Walk through and let the Lord walk through you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973662778

Ayo Odunayo

Bishop Ayo Odunayo is the President of Victory International Ministries and Ministers Impact Network International. He is also the founding pastor and Presiding Bishop of Chapel of Victory Intl Churches with headquarters in Port-Harcourt Nigeria and several branches in Nigeria. He is a profound teacher of the word, committed to raising generations after the heart of God, sound in the word, living in victory, making impact with their callings and fulfilling destinies. A graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife Nigeria (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Bishop Ayo worked in various engineering and production roles at Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and Sarawak Shell Berhard, Malaysia between December 1985 and May 2008; and successfully combined his ministerial calling and his engineering profession during this period. He is married to Revd. Mrs. Mercy Olayinka Odunayo, an educationist and an anointed and gifted preacher of the gospel. They are blessed with four children.

Book preview

Day 1

1 Corinthians 1:1–17

Called to Be a Saint and to Preach the Gospel

Apostle Paul’s introduction of himself in verse 1 of our study mentions three important things about his assignment.

1. He boldly describes himself as being called by God. This clearly teaches us that to be effective in divine service, you must be fully persuaded and be able to boldly declare that God has called you to do what you are doing.

2. He describes what he is called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ. An apostle is one who has been sent on a specific assignment. In our study scripture, we can see that Paul knew that God sent him out to break new grounds and also preach the gospel to the Gentiles., especially. As a believer, it is important for you to recognize that God has called you for a purpose and this purpose includes preaching the gospel for the sake of expanding the kingdom of God.

3. He boldly declares that his calling and assignment are both part of the will of God.

Verse 2 of this study’s scripture describes who a born-again Christian is. Firstly, he is described as sanctified in Christ Jesus. This means that he or she has been cleansed and set apart for God’s holy use. This is who you become when you are genuinely born again. You are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and set apart for God’s use.

Secondly, the Christian is described as one who is called to be a saint. A saint is someone who stands pure without blemish before God. If you have been born again, your calling is to be pure, without blemish, and to be a shining example before God and man for the rest of your days on earth.

Verse 4 then tells us that the grace of God has been given unto us. This Grace is God’s ability to function. You have received His grace and you can do all things by His grace. You have also been enriched in everything by God, in utterance and in all knowledge. Utterance has to do with ability to speak, preach, share the gospel, or tell your testimony of salvation to someone.

On the other hand,the knowledge of God enables you to serve Him correctly and appropriately with your gifts and talents while ensuring that you walk before Him blameless. To be enriched means to have in abundance all that you need. As a Christian, you should understand that God has given you, in abundance, utterance to share your testimony in Christ Jesus and the knowledge to serve God appropriately and please Him with your life.

Apostle Paul in this scripture warned the Corinthian Christians, which also stands as a warning for us today not to cause division in the church by congregating around individuals but to rather lift up Jesus and let him be our focus, our message, our Lord, and our master.

What are your action points now? Firstly, recognize that God has called you and has an assignment for you to preach the gospel. Secondly, recognize that He has enriched you with all the utterance and knowledge that you need to live a successful Christian life while serving in the church. Lastly, resolve not to join groups and divisions but rather let Jesus be your focus.

Prayer

1. Meditate and pray over each of the issues discussed in this study. Ask the Lord to help you to stand boldly in His calling to preach the gospel and to live the life of a saint.

2. Ask for the courage to stand and focus on Jesus and to refuse to cause or join divisions in the body of Christ.

Confession of Faith

I am sent by God to preach the gospel. I am called to be a saint. I have been enriched with all utterance and knowledge, and I will not cause divisions in the body.

Memory Verse

1 Corinthians 1: 4 – 5 NKJV

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge

Day 2

1 Corinthians 1:18–31

The Simplicity of the Gospel

The message of the gospel is simple. It is the message of Christ, who was crucified for our sins and raised from the dead for our justification. This message gives salvation to those who believe. It is so simple yet profound. Jesus was crucified for your sins and was raised so that you can be justified before God. You have nothing to offer to receive this salvation other than to believe.

The Jews and the Greeks found it difficult to believe that salvation is this simple. Verses 22 – 23 say that the Jews seek for a sign while the Greeks seek wisdom. This is the same situation occuring today toward the simplicity of the gospel. Many people are no longer satisfied with the simple gospel. Some are seeking signs, wonders, and miracles, while others are seeking messages that touch their intellect and teachings that speak of wisdom. It is not unusual to see pastors teaching high-sounding intellectual messages to meet the demands of today’s Greeks who seek wisdom. Where the message does not sound trending, it is considered foolishness and too basic, or not meeting the challenges of today’s world.

Yet the gospel is very simple. God chose to save those who believe, through the foolishness of the gospel.

Those who sought a sign remained unsaved. The simple gospel became a stumbling block as it was either too simple to follow or too simple to believe. Where they sought wisdom and high-sounding teachings, the simple gospel became foolishness.

What is your own perspective, and how does the simple gospel sound to you? A major decision you must make today is that the gospel must not become too simple to you and that it must not become casual. It must never lose its effect in your life.

Prayer

1. Pray that your heart will always become tender toward the simplicity of the gospel.

2. Pray that you will not be caught in the high-sounding intellectual messages of today but will seek the gospel, raw and simple as it is.

Pray that the gospel will continue to have its effect in your life and continually bring hope, salvation, healing, deliverance, etc.

Confession of Faith

The message of the gospel shall never lose its effect and power in my life.

Memory Verse

1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Day 3

1 Corinthians 2:1–16

The Hidden Wisdom of God

The church at Corinth did not receive the gospel through enticing words of man’s wisdom or through the excellency of speech. They received the gospel of Jesus Christ as Him being crucified as a demonstration of the spirit and power. How did you receive the gospel, and on what does your faith stand? on the excellent speeches of today’s trendy wisdom capsules or on Him who was crucified for your sins and raised from the dead for your justification?

The message of salvation is hinged on the hidden wisdom of God that through the crucifixion and death of Christ, satan would be defeated and his power over man would be broken so, freedom would come to all in bondage.

Hebrews 2:14 – 15 NKJV

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same; that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; And release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

This is the wisdom of God that we preach: that Jesus has destroyed principalities and powers and that you, who was dead in your sins and trespasses, have been set free. That the handwriting of satan against you has been erased and nailed to the cross of Jesus now you can live in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 2:13 – 15 NKJV

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Does your faith stand in this, or does it stand on the elementary things of this life that do not last? Your faith must stand on the fact that your sins have been cleansed and you are a new creation bound for heaven.

Your faith must stand on what Christ has done and the things that his death and resurrection have made available to you. And these things cannot be imagined, as the scripture says, But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV)

The things you now have in Christ cannot be perceived, understood, or received by the natural senses or the natural man but by those who have received the Spirit of God and walk by his Spirit.

It is therefore necessary for you to examine what your faith stands on, whether on the things that are temporal on things that satisfy the flesh or on Christ, his death, his resurrection, and the hope of eternal life.

Prayer

Pray that your faith will not stand on the benefits of salvation but on Jesus Christ alone.

Confession of Faith

My faith stands fully on Christ Jesus, who was crucified for my sins, and not on the wisdom or teachings of men.

Memory Verse

1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV

But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.

Day 4

1 Corinthians 3: 1 - 17

Spiritual Maturity

Our Christian life is defined by our level of maturity in Christ. You are either spiritually minded or carnally minded, in other words you can either live your life as a spiritual or carnal man.

The word carnal denotes flesh as opposed to pneuma –which means the spirit; the word carnal also signifies that which is of the human nature; the lower side of man which is apart from a divine influence. To be carnal therefore means to be dominated by the human nature, human desires, and characteristics.

In this study, we can see the things that characterize a carnal man or woman; they include envy strife and discord (Verse 3). Carnality is a sign of spiritual immaturity, a sign of slow growth and the lack of growth in a Christian.

I want you to check your life today, are you still carnal? Are you still easily tripped into envying and malice? Do you find yourself creating or in the midst of those causing conflict in the Church of God? If the answer is yes or maybe, then God is calling you to a time of renewal today.

In verse 8, Paul helps us to understand that God rewards everyone according to their labor, according to their sacrifices for the kingdom and according to their level of performance Don’t expect any reward if you cannot labor in the kingdom and don’t expect the same reward with those who labor much more than you.

God is calling each of us to take off the cloak of carnality and labor with him to build His Kingdom. You must not allow the human nature and behavior affect your spiritual walk. It is important that you take heed with how you work in the Master’s vineyard (Verse 10).

How you labor in the kingdom determines the quality of work you are putting in for the master;