Tag Archives: exercising faith
The Greatest Love
Love was one of the most powerful weapons God used in redeeming Mankind back to himself; and that weapon is still very much active today.
The Bible says in John 3 vs 16;
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his ONLY begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”.
Jesus was the only Son God ever had, yet, God was willing to sacrifice Him for the salvation of the world.
God gave Jesus out into the cold hands of death just because of you and I and in doing this, put both Heaven and Earth in Great danger.
Great danger?
Yes! Because the fate of both Heaven and earth depended on whether Jesus would fulfil or fail in His mission.
Jesus faced several temptations, yet, He overcame them all. He refused to be distracted in His mission to save mankind. Scriptures tell us that He prayed with so much fervency – not for Himself, but for you and I. (Hebrews 5 vs 7)
He had the power to disappear before even when the soldiers came to arrest Him at Gethsemane.
But He said, “Not my will Lord, but thy will be done”.
His great love for us made Him willing to sacrifice His freedom and dignity.
He even bore our curse;
Galatians 3:13 – “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”
Folks, God’s display of love on calvary remains the highest display of love for eternity.
St. John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Even when we fall, He picks us up and wipe the stains of sin and guilt away with His Blood.
This is the incomprehensible love of Christ – the love that passes understanding.
If you ever feel like anyone hates you, remember that two thousand years ago, a Divine Being named ‘Jesus’ made the greatest love sacrifice on the cross.
Are you feeling hopeless or in despair? Look unto the cross and be strengthened.
If you ever feel like an outcast, Remember you have been adopted by God through Christ and you are now a part of God’s Household {Ephesians 2:12-13}
Rejoice and bask in the love of Christ! 😊😊
Written by Tolu-Taiwo Victor
Live Love
Image Credit: Crosswalk
The supreme revelation of God was unveiled to us in 1 John 4:8:
“…. God is love”.
Unfortunately, the word, ‘Love’ is a word which has been wrongly defined, misused and misinterpreted by people.
Love, to the fallen man, is a feeling – a good feeling one has for another. This mediocre definition is a contributing factor to the numerous divorces found in American homes.
But for the Saint, love is not a mere feeling; neither is it an idea. For the Saint, Love is a nature, heart and life of benevolence, charity and kindness to humanity.
Adamic love is conditional. But Agape love – the love we are commanded to show to man – is unconditional.
Are you living this life of Love?
When your heart is lain bare before several eyes, what will be seen? Will it be a heart clothed with divine love, or a heart hardened with hate?
The Love of Christ was what made Him to leave the pleasures of Heaven to partake in man’s humanity, for our liberation.
Romans 5:8: “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” {NLT}
God expressed His love for us through the sacrifice of His beloved Son.
By that act, God created a precedent, a standard and an ordinance, to govern Christian living.
It is no secret that this is a tough season for nations around the world.
Even the world’s global power, USA, is experiencing a steady decline in its national economic strength.
Millions around the world are dying daily. Hope is fading away, like the setting of the sun.
Music therapy is no longer working. Motivational speeches are no longer antidepressants. Who shall the world turn to?
Jesus answered this question when He said, ‘We are the light of the world’.
The Church is God’s light meant to illuminate the darkened hearts and hopeless lives of people.
We do this by showing and expressing the Love of Christ to them.
This Love must be lived, not just in the Church, but even outside the Church. It must be felt by our neighbours and friends.
A religious scholar once posed this question to Jesus:
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
Jesus answered him, “‘Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you.’ {TPT}
“This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is like it in importance: ‘You must love your friend in the same way you love yourself.’ Contained within these commandments to love you will find all the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 23:36-40 {TPT}
The greatest commandment that Christ gave the church is to love God and to love humanity.
Some believers are full of so much hate that they actually desire the eternal destruction of those who hate them; whereas, God’s Word tells us that He does not want anyone to perish.
“Now, this is the goal: to live in harmony with one another and demonstrate affectionate love, sympathy, and kindness toward other believers. Let humility describe who you are as you dearly love one another.” 1 Peter 3:8.
The core value of the Church is Love. Every other value and principle is built upon it.
The same way Christ expressed the love of The Father to man, is the same way The Church, must express and exemplify Agape love to humanity.
“Beloved children, our love can’t be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds. We know that the truth lives within us because we demonstrate love in action, which will reassure our hearts in his presence.” 1 John 3:17.
Real love is an action. Real Love is overwhelming; it is a tangible phenomenon.
Love is more of a verb than a noun.
Love is seen by actions and not by mere words. Real love will push you to the undeveloped nations of Africa to provide spiritual, emotional and financial edification to humanity.
It will cause you to give to the poor and needy. When there is true love in one, one’s smile becomes a healing balm to the wounded.
Manifest God’s Love today!
Written by Greenhills Emmanuel Amarayahweh
Exercising Faith
Faith is conviction in the certainty and reality of God’s word. It is living a life of trust in God.
Faith is very important in the life of believer. It is so important that in Ephesians 6, Paul said “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
He described faith as above all the other weapons of Christian warfare. This shows its priority in our lives.
Without faith, there is no Christianity.
We need faith not for our salvation alone, but for a continuous experience of the benefits of salvation here on Earth.
What if my faith is small?
Jesus never told us that only large faith is accepted by God.
St. Matthew 17:20: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
There is nothing that is impossible to the man who lives by faith.
Jesus likened faith unto a mustard seed. Though a mustard seed be small, yet, it grows to become a mighty tree. Jesus expects our faith to grow and expand daily.
Faith grows when we utilize it. The more we live by faith, the stronger it grows.
Exercising Faith is not just claiming the provisions of Scripture, but also understanding the laws of Christ and applying them.
EXERCISING FAITH
– Total devotion to God
” For we have heard of your devoted lives of Faith in Christ Jesus and your tender love toward all his holy believers.” – Colossians 1:4 TPT.
The strong in faith are the consistent in devotion. Faith is built and released at the altar of our devotion.
The faith of a man becomes more solid as long as he advances with being committed and steadfast in his walk with God.
– Understanding the Will of God:
Faith without understanding the will of God will not be profitable. For faith to be active, your understanding must be enlightened. You must understand the will of God concerning you.
You must understand the will of God concerning your health. You must understand the will of God concerning your family.
When Satan wants to cripple great faith, he comes with a wrong, unscriptural perspective which seems to match with the believer’s negative circumstance.
Choose to cling to the illumination that you’ve received from God’s Word.
– Hearing the Word of Christ daily:
“If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;” – Colossians 1:23 (KJV)
The Gospel is the Word of Christ. The Word of Christ is like a seed that is planted in our spirit to bear fruits.
The fruit of God’s engrafted word is Faith.
When a food crop, take rice for instance, is eaten by one. The moment it is processed by the body’s digestive cells, the chemical it produces is known as Carbohydrate.
When one rats Beans, the chemical produced by the processing of that beans in the stomach is known as Protein.
The same way rice produces carbohydrate in the body, and beans produces Protein in the body, is the same way God’s Word, when taken into our spirits and meditated on, produces Faith.
– Take the steps of faith.
James 2:20: “Faith without works is dead?”
The steps of faith we are to take are generally our obligations in the New testament.
Pray without ceasing. Support the Lords work through your Giving. Love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul. Preach the Gospel.
While doing these things, there are times God will give one specific instructions that might look strange to the natural mind.
At that moment, your faith is being tested. Do not let doubt becloud your mind. Hold and obey the instructions firmly.
That’s the way of faith.
Greenhills Emmanuel
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