Believe me, life changing moments and encounters are moments of obedience; Moments when we act in obedience rather than trying to rationalise things. Every increase is seed based, but spontaneous increase has in addition to the seed instant obedience to a direct instruction from God. Most times when we ought to give, we wrestle with the spirit, we think of a million and one reasons why we ought not to sow now. Giving won’t be easy unless you have an understanding. I am inspired by Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, but I am much more inspired by the reason he gave Isaac.
Heb 11:17-19 ‘by faith Abraham when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence he received him in a figure’.
- He had God’s word that in Isaac shall his seed be called and he knew he could stake his life on the immutability of God’s word.
- He understood he did not have Isaac until God gave him and from the deadness of their bodies.
- That same God was able to bring him back to life again from the dead from whence he was received in the first place.
Glory to God! It’s easy to give when you have Abraham’s kind of reasoning. Whenever you have difficulty giving, reason like father Abraham. Know that God for whom it is impossible to lie has given his assurance that it’s more blessed to give. We also have the assurance that our seeds will be multiplied back to us. Be quick to give because what ever you have was given by God in the first place, if he did not give it you won’t have it. If he gave you then you can give back at his word.
And finally there is plenty where what you are giving out came from. Giving only qualifies you for more of what you give out.
Stop the complicated reasoning, just give.
– emmanuel aladenusi
| Oneness Mentality Bible Reading: Ephesians 4
Today, it is not strange to see Christians forming sects and cartels within the body of Christ. When you chat with most of them, you hear them say things like … “I can only worship in this denomination”; “Oh! I hate people that attend that Church”; “That church is really backward”; “Oh! Thank God for us, He has chosen us among other churches to be the custodian of doctrine”; “God forgive me! But everyone in that church seems to be on their way to hell” …, etc. But do you know that the way you perceive other Christians (especially those not in your local assembly) and relate with them is a good test for you to know whether you are growing spiritually or not.
The conceptualisation and proclamation of church denomination is an expression of spiritual immaturity. The early Corinthians church behaved in a similar way and here is how Apostle Paul addressed them: “You are not yet spiritual… Some of you say that you follow me, and others claim to follow Apollos. Isn’t that how ordinary people behave?” I Corinthians 3:4 (CEV) In our day, this attitude has grown worse to the point that it appears very normal to see people in our “denomination” or local assemblies as the real Christians and others as inferior or struggling Christians. Isn’t it ridiculous that the Apollos and Paul of our days are busy doing God’s work and those following them are busy proclaiming allegiance to them? It gets more terrible when it is the Paul and the Apollos that see themselves to be in competition.
Beloved, God doesn’t regard the intent behind most of the sects we have formed or are forming in the Church, which is the body of Christ. He thinks differently and those who are growing spiritually will think like Him. He says in Eph 4:4 “All of you are part of the same body”. Yes! Whether Methodist, Protestant, Baptist, or whatever. In the mind of God, we are one as long as we profess faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God also has this “oneness approach” in dealing with us. For example, Ephesians 4:11-12 says “And indeed He gave some to be apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; with a view to the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ”.
Did you see that? The bible did not say he gave pastors or evangelist for the building up of the Catholics or Baptists, but for the building up of the entire church. Therefore, even though we are working through local assemblies, we will naturally possess this “oneness mentality” if we are growing spiritually. We will not see the church as a competition ground and see people in other churches as opponents. We will turn off our local mentality and appreciate the global reality that instead of us specializing in snatching members from other churches, we should be snatching unbelievers from the devils kingdom. Spiritual growth will help us understand that differences may always exist between us, but we should focus more on our origin – God, our mission – evangelism, our destination – heaven, and join hands to expand the kingdom of God on earth. We will begin to see every true minister of God as someone who has a role to play in the church of Christ.
It is not just enough to decide right away to always watch your speech carefully to ensure you do not manifest the denomination spirit? That may be good for a short time but it’s like placing the cart before the horse. It doesn’t work most times. Change usually comes from inside out. Pay attention to your growth – study and revolve the word regularly, pray in the spirit and put to practice what you have learnt. I have written this so you would have one more criterion to test if you are growing spiritually based on some manifestations in your life. If you realize that you are not growing, just work on your growth and the childish tendencies like “denomination attitude” will effortless abscond from your life.
– tope aladenusi
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