Welcome to NECF Sermons. Each message here is
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
right in. This evening, I sense that this evening
is going to be very different. We're going to
do as much as we can this evening. So I want
to just remind us of what we're doing. We said
just a bit of recap, and then we're just going
to what we're doing today. Understanding the
Father's love in Christ. Understand the Father's
love in Christ. Walking in love. And our scripture,
which is the prayer team. Thank you so much,
prayer team. Helped us just build, just remind
us. and just set the foundation for us to continue
in the teaching. Ephesians 5, 1 and 2 says, Therefore
be imitators of God as dear children, and walk
in love, as Christ also has loved us. Note that
it's loved us, not will love us. Has loved us
and given himself for us. An offering and sacrifice
to God for a sweet -smelling aroma. For a sweet
-smelling... Arama and we had gone back and gone
forward. We were going to take time. We were
looking at the prayers and we looked at the one
in 1 Thessalonians 3, 12, and then we're looking
at the one in Philippians and we'll continue
with that. We'll continue with that. But I want
us to remember, which is what I've been saying,
that our thoughts, our minds is very important
in the things that God is doing in and through
us. Our minds are very important. And I'm saying
this to tell you how, I'm saying this to build,
I will build more and more, talk about it more
and more because if you have a wrong mindset
or wrong understanding or your thoughts are wrong
about a thing, it means that you have a wrong
belief system and it means that your conversation
will be, there will be error and then even your
actions will be erroneous. So it just spirals
down. It builds up from your thinking. And I'll
start this by telling us something that we need.
I think that was a powerful lesson to me back
in high school. Back in high school. And what
happened in high school was that I was born in
the northern part of Nigeria. I was born and
not raised. I schooled there for most of my growing
up. And in the north, there's this attire. I
don't know. They call it Jalabia. I don't know.
What do you call it in English? I think African
middle. It's a long robe. I don't know. What
do you call it? Is this the same? That's what
they call it. So it's a long robe. It's silk.
Some of us have seen it around. It's silk, long
robe. So what happens is that people wash their
clothes and spread them, right? People typically
wash their clothes. And in the dormitory area,
when there are enough spaces to spread, people
hang them on trees. People hang them on trees.
So you can have it on hangar and people hang
it on trees. That's just like, because in our
dormitory, I can remember, I can see it as I'm
speaking to you now. In our dormitory, there's
a tree just somewhere in the middle of the tree,
of the dormitory. So people hang those things
there. So in the middle of the night, one of
our roommates wanted to go ease himself. That
night was dark, cold like this night, and a bit
windy. A bit windy. So on opening the door to
want to go out, he saw something around the trees,
moving like it was, you know, when something
is not on the ground. You know, you see something,
it's not, you can't, he couldn't see, it's suspended
in the air. And it's around the tree area. And
then the wind was moving it like it was moving,
but it was not moving. And the young man decided
that he was going to hold his pee throughout
the night. In fact, I think he tapped some of
us. We heard the story in the morning because
some of us were fast asleep. We don't know what
we were. But yeah, it went on until light came
in the morning. And you can imagine his horror
or his disappointment or his like, oh, it was
even a or someone's clothes. He started looking,
who is the person that owns this clothes? Who
owns this? So what had happened is that in the
dark, in the thick, in the dark and in the dead
of the night, because it's dark, he couldn't
see. And he assumed that what he saw there was
a ghost. or something, you know, Jesus Christ
and his disciples. So, you know, that one is
understandable. You're in the sea and then you
see somebody. It's understandable. You know,
if your brain is not prepared for certain things,
you just assume. And if you have a mindset that
is very, you have a very spooky or you watch
too much of all of those things, you will have
so many ideas when you see certain things that
don't even, like, you can logically, a person
that doesn't have that view on things will say,
oh, this and this is what I'm seeing. But for
someone that has a mindset structured in that
manner, you will conclude, you reach a conclusion,
act on that conclusion. Because what has happened
is that he reached a conclusion, this was it.
And we know that now, because when I was telling
the story, the moment I got to the part where
he couldn't go out and he thought it was something,
we understood, we're all laughing. But for him,
it was serious. Because he lacked what? Understanding
of what he saw. And what brought that understanding
was the... light or the morning sun right i can
imagine when he could imagine when he woke up
and then he was like he was angry because can
you imagine what someone's clothes that stopped
me from going to ease myself because what is
more important to him is we live in himself what
should be more important to him is we live in
himself but at this point in time fear crippled
and didn't allow him to make the move that was
important to his well -being praise god So I
used that to start, and that wasn't even the
plan. I think I was afraid. I was reminded of
it, and I said, let me share it to just bring
to us the importance of what you think about,
your thoughts, the things you think about, the
things you hold on to, the things that you, the
way you understand things. It will greatly affect
your work. It will greatly affect your action.
It will greatly affect your action. As I said
earlier, If you have a wrong thinking or wrong
perception, that wrong perception will build
into a wrong belief system. And that wrong belief
system will be expressed in how you communicate,
the things you say. And that will build into
your action because you don't just act on things.
Some people think you just wake up one morning
and say, this is my idea. I was sharing to a
couple of people. I said, even your career, You
can be walked through to where you decide that
you say, this is what I want to do with my life.
But somebody had given you ideas that you internalize
and you saw yourself doing that particular thing.
And then when they say, what do you want to do?
You say, right from when I was a child, that
is what I had in mind. But you can be trained
or fed certain information that will make you.
act in a certain kind of way. And this is what
we see here and then. And as I said earlier,
what enables, the renewing of our mind, the renewing
of our mind is very important in our walk. In
Ephesians 4 verse 23, the instruction is be renewed
in the spirit of your mind. Be renewed in the
spirit of your mind. What it means is that our
love for God, our love for God, The love of God
must be what is rooted, our hearts are rooted
with. The teaching, the understanding, his word
is what should tell our action. If we act a certain
way, it's because we know that as the only way
to act. We can't do anything other than where
our minds are at. So when we looked at Romans
12 verse 2, It says, do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Do not be conformed to this world,
meaning that there are informations that you
get that makes you act a certain kind of way.
It says, but be transformed, meaning that there
should be a change, right? That happens by the
renewing of our mind. The B part now will say
that you may approve. That you may approve. And
that word there, the Greek word may approve there
is dokimazo. That is D -O -K -I -M -A -Z -O.
That you may approve, that is dokimazo. And this
will mean that the transformation of your mind
will result in a different kind of action. There's
a demonstration now. And it will show what it
is you value, what it is you accept as true.
Because now you have a new set of information
that will tell your action. A new set of information
that will tell your action. See, approve what
is good, acceptable, and a perfect will of God.
I mean, we have been taught in this church that
it's not like good, better, best. Like there's
good, there's better, and then there's the best.
It means that all, you see, the good, which is
the acceptable, which is the perfect. Will of
God. All is the will of God. I like the NLT.
It says, don't copy the behavior and customs
of this world. We have a lot of people or we
are bombarded with a lot of information. And
when you receive, and some of us don't even know
the extent to which we have absorbed this information
because we just go about our daily living assuming
that, oh, it doesn't get to. As little as what
people say subconsciously. Like you're not even
paying much attention. You are receiving that
information and you won't be surprised when it's
time to act. You act that kind of way. He says,
don't copy the behavior or customs of this world,
but let God transform you into a new person by
changing the way you think, even though it was
it and then you will know and then it goes further
and further on that. So what I want us to live
with is if your lifestyle does not reflect Christ.
Not that you're saved. That doesn't change. You
don't lose it because you are living differently.
If your lifestyle does not reflect, the root
of it is your thinking doesn't reflect. Because
your thinking, if your thinking reflects the
character of Christ, what you think the most,
what you give your mind to, give your attention
to, is the Word of God. When it's time for you
to act, you will not act any different because
you have a set of information that tell us your
thinking. So what this means in essence is if
your thoughts are not guided, your actions won't
be guided. If your thoughts are not guided, your
actions will not be guided. We know that what
guides our thoughts or what we should even give
attention to is the word of God, meaning that
when it's time for us to, or when the opportunity
presents itself, we don't show up and then we
start. Our actions don't just spring up from
nowhere. They come from a place and our minds
are where this whole thing happens in. And just
to tie it with Philippians, remember when we're
going through Philippians, Philippians 1, 9.
He says, And this I pray, that your love may
abound still more and more in knowledge and all
discernment. 10 now says that you may approve.
10 now says that you may approve. Go to New Kingdoms.
It says you may understand what really matters.
It says that you may approve. That may approve
is the same word as we saw in Romans 12 .2. Romans
12 .2. May prove and may approve is the same
Greek word that we saw in Romans 12 .2. That's
New King James. New King James. Yeah. It says
that may approve, that you may prove. May prove
here and may approve in Philippians 1 .10 is
the same Greek word. Go back to Philippians 1
.10. And the word, let me use the opportunity
to explain. The word, the Greek word, which I've
said is to test, to examine. and then accept
if it's genuine is to test, to examine, and then
accept if it's genuine. So what this means is
that your thinking demonstrates what you value
and accept as true or correct, or true and correct.
So your thinking demonstrates what you value
and accept as true and correct. So, you can dwell
on a thought if you have not received that thought.
If you don't agree with that thought. Most of
us, notice I think last, on Sunday, I think I
was speaking to someone. When somebody says something
you don't agree with, how many of you have noticed
that your first reaction is, you just say no?
Some of you, by default, you just say, no, I
don't. Your mind just says, I don't agree with
this. You just quickly will say, I don't agree
with it. Because your mind is the guard. You
don't even allow it to settle because you don't
agree with it. And when you agree with something,
you're like, ah. And sometimes we even say, I
just like this brother. See, this brother, we
just, we, there's something about meaning that.
You have thoughts, the mindset the person has
and your mindset aligns a lot. And for many of
us, we're in a day and age where people don't,
if you don't, if your mindset, you just say,
I don't, I don't just know. In fact, some people
will say my spirit and the spirits. They go to
spirits. They say my spirit and the spirit doesn't
just align. I don't just know why. Every time
he's talking A, I'm talking B. Talking C, I'm
talking his mindset. It's just, it's just. What
is important to him is not what is important
to you. That's basically what it is. What you
prioritize is not what you prioritize. And you
always have issues because if somebody say, let's
go up, you say, let's go down, you'll be like,
well, why are you always going north? And then
we're trying to go south because that's the mind.
The same way, if a person is grounded, you will
just naturally flow because you agree on so many
things that scripture, and that's where we come
together on is on scripture. Praise God. Why
we come together on this on scripture. So it
says, our thinking demonstrates what we value
and what we accept. So it means that if our thoughts
are not anchored on the word of God, we'll have
a lot of, there'll be, I don't want to use a
big word, but I want to say dissonance. Things
will not align. Like you'll just be going south
and you will not be leaving out things or leaving
out your identity. Praise God. And then it goes
to say, that which, Approve the things that are
excellent. You know, he mentioned when he was
leading us to prayer, he says, the excellent,
I show you the excellent, we say, that which
is excellent, that is it that are excellent.
It's another Greek word which refers to things
of higher priority and value. Higher priority
and value. So you approve because you know that
you're thinking of what you value and those things
that you value are things of higher priority
or things that are excellent. That's the diphero.
So it's a D -I -D, that excellent is a Greek
word, which is D -I -A -P -H -E -R -O. So this
word refers to things of higher priority of value,
things that are higher priority of value. We
see this a lot in scripture. Our highest priority
and value is what God values, not what the world
values. Every now and then, the renewing of mind
means that we are prioritizing God's values,
not the world's value. So it means that when
you prioritize the things of God, your actions
will show it, right? Your actions will show it.
When you are asked to choose between doing this
or coming to... midweek service or coming to
Sunday service or coming, it naturally will show
itself because you know what is more important
to God. God will prioritize because you can't,
there's no way you say, okay, it will be better
for you to be elsewhere than with his people.
Praise God. There's no way that will be what
he will want for you. Your mind will naturally,
a mind that is, fixated on worldly things will
naturally gravitate there. Because things will
naturally find their place. You know, I was talking
to some people, I said, as Africans, check yourself.
When you walk into a room, the first tendency
you have is to look for the Africans in the room
and go to them. You don't even think too much
about it. In fact, you do it so much that you
say, why are you always with your... Then you're
like, no, am I with my... Then it now brings
it... Your attention is brought to it because
you naturally will find them or naturally because
you know that you will not have much difficulty
communicating with them first and foremost. Your
brain is not wanting to deal with the difficulty
of... Excuse me, can you... No English. You don't
want to deal with that or you don't want to...
But once you... and then you are doing what doesn't
come naturally to you because you know that it's
important. I was discussing with someone, I said,
if you really want to improve in a particular
area or you want to learn a language, you can
learn a language when you are speaking the language
you already know. Praise God. You can learn a
language when you're speaking a language you
already know. You can learn a language when you're
speaking that language that you want to learn.
And sometimes we can say, I want to learn a language.
You just want to, you just like the idea. of
speaking a new language. It's not like you want
to learn the language. You just like the idea
of speaking a new language, but you know that
it moves from... When you know that this thing
is important, it moves from just liking the idea,
but seeing yourself speaking the language and
being motivated to do the things that are most
uncomfortable for you, the things that you don't
like, but you have to do it because this is the
new nature that you have. Praise God. So it says
we gravitate towards... So a renewed mind will
naturally gravitate towards... The things that
are excellent in God's eyes, not the world's
eyes. And we see in Matthew 16, Matthew 16, 23.
Matthew 16, 23. But he turned and said to Peter,
get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me,
for you are not mindful of the things of God.
but the things of man. You're not mindful of
the things of God, but the things of man. Meaning
that Peter's attention was not on the things
that are of value to God, because what would
be of value, what was in the conversation of
value to God is his son, right? Remember what
I've been talking about, and it's almost like
Peter always finds his way in this conversation
anytime we're talking about it, where what is
going through his mind is something else, which
is not bad, right? Not that the things, some
of the things, the things that are around us
are important. But not that when you have prior,
you choose what is most important when you have
several important things. Because something has
to rank because you can't do all of them at the
same time. There's certain things you can't do
all at the same time. It's like you can't be
in your house sleeping and be here. Right? Or
you can't be in your house studying and be here
at the same time. It means that you have to choose
which one. And sometimes we go for the one that
is most convenient. The weather is cold. There's
heating in my house. Outside it's cold, like
who, who, who, who? So that's why I applaud you
for making the effort to do the difficult thing,
which is find your way, get on the bus or get
a taxi or get something, get a means by which
you can transport yourself to this place. So
it means that, at least for starters, you prioritize
fellowship. You prioritize sharing the word of
God. You prioritize. And note also, in Philippians,
it also goes further to talk about how that it
is. That's in the same thing. It says that you
may be sincere and without offense. We'll just
look at the sincere and without offense. And
sometimes when we say somebody's sincere, we
use the word sincere for somebody that's genuine,
right? Somebody that's genuine. somebody that,
and the Greek word there is somebody that's pure,
that you have genuine motive and thought. So
for someone's thought to be genuine means that
there are motives of the actions, because it
starts, remember, everything we're talking about
starts from the thought. If I have a wrong, if
my thought stores you evil, will my actions towards
you be good? No. Even if I have a good, even
if my actions towards you are good, temporarily
is for the end goal. Because people do that.
I think most times what comes to mind about this
is when you have an animal that you're training
for around the season. When you have an animal
you're training for around the season, the animal
will think you love them. But when it's time
for something to die, when it's time for something
to die, They will have to lay down their lives.
They have to lay down their lives because people
need to eat, right? People need to eat. So, know
that there is always the thinking or the thought,
I think Proverbs says it, Proverbs 23 verse 7
says it, that for his thoughts, for he thinks,
for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Because
the person's thinking will very much reflect
in how they act. So, that's why it's the... and
even 2 Peter. 2 Peter 3 verse 1. I want us to
go to 2 Peter 3 verse 1. 2 Peter 3 verse 1. It
says, Beloved, I now write to you this second
epistle. In both of them, which I stare your
pure minds by way of reminder. Note that he will
not be saying, when he says pure minds, I mean,
jeez. It's not necessary, you know, when we hear
the word pure, I think one time, I think when
Pastor Victor was teaching, when we say something
is pure, we think of pure as something that is
solely that thing. We think of pure as something
that is solely that thing. And we can say the
water in the bottle is pure, even though we are
taught that it's wholesome. It's not necessarily
pure, meaning that it has one thing. It's wholesome,
meaning that it's drinkable. You can drink it.
But it has more than you know. When I explained
to students in class, I said, the water they
think is just H2O has ions in it, has different
ions, has different other minerals and all those
things inside the water. So it's like a combination
of things, but it's wholesome. We can drink it
and not have issues. And then he says without
offense. That without offense, many times when
he says, I am without offense, we feel that he's
taking offense. You know, to take offense is
different from giving offense. You know, many
times we have a tendency when we say without
offense. So, I don't want trouble. I'm just on
my own. I don't want to. We think of the offense
there as someone, like we taking offense. But
when he says without offense, the Greek word
there, I'll spell it to us. The Greek word there,
just to check and see, is A -P -R -O -S -K -O
-P -O -S. A -P -R -O -S -K -O -P -O -S. Sounds
like a word from where I come from. So it means
to not cause others to stumble. It means to not
cause others to stumble. It means to not cause
others to stumble. It's not about you. It's about
the other person. Praise God. It's not about
you, but the other person. Because many times
when we think of offense, offense, offense, offense,
offense, it's like he offended me. I am offended.
The church has offended me so deeply. That's
why I don't even come to church. I missed church
for a couple of times. Nobody checked up on me.
How is love? How is this law of their teaching
expressed if they did not even check up on me?
It says, not causing others to stumble. And we
see this in 1 Corinthians 10, the same word,
1 Corinthians 10, 32. 1 Corinthians 10, 32. It
says, give no offense. Now it's you that is not
giving the offense, right? It's not you, it's
not taking offense. It's give no offense. Either
to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church.
So, you know, you can give, you know, it can
be cultural. You know, one time I was in a church.
I was in a church where on the service day, the
brother, I know the brother speaks English. I
know the brother speaks English. He can speak
English very well. In fact, he has preached before
in English. But on that particular day, he decided
to preach in his native language. Ha! The Ghanians
did not like it though. Me, I was excited because
the brother was on fire. You know, when you're
preaching in your native tongue, there's a different
feel. For some people, there's a different feel.
When they're preaching in their native tongue,
there's this, and he had a translator. So now
we had to do, he would say it, and then we'll
hear it, he would say it in Shona, and we'll
hear it in English. And we'll hear it from the
translator in English. So he was doing, so the
Ghanians were very angry. They were like, how
can he? Me, I was like. I was taking notes with
the one I understand. I was taking notes with
the one I understand. But it was an issue. It
was an issue. So they took offense because the
brother had given, had done things in a way that
it was like, and he was, he felt that that was
the, because actually the good amount of the
congregation was Zimbabwean. So he felt like
that's the way to go from there. He says that
you may be sincere and without offense. And know
that in our dealings with our brothers and our
sisters, right? We have a tendency to give. Like
we cause the other person to stumble. We know
that the word is to cause the other person to
stumble or to, on other ways, to harbor harm.
or evil in your heart towards that person. And
they are very subtle things. I used that example
of someone coming and what he was doing was the
best work, what he was doing was good in his
own sight, but the other person took an offense
because what the actions of this person caused
them to have that. So you want to, even when
a situation happens, you want to still have that,
you know, when you love someone, Right? You always
will have, you know, the way you defend yourself
against the action is make an excuse for them,
right? Because we do that. And then every other
person will be like, can't you see what the person
did is wrong? And you're like, no, I think he's
trying to do this. You will construct, you will
like think of what the reasons why, you know,
notice that I told you the reason I stood for
why he used the language. in the course of construction.
Because I wasn't offended because I felt like
this guy was, I was enjoying the way he was,
even though I wasn't hearing a good amount of
what he was saying, not saying what he was saying,
but I was following the one I was understanding,
right? But I was enjoying the fact that he was
very much energetic, he was doing, he was very
much, I could tell the difference because I observed
and I saw the difference. But the other person
wasn't getting it. Because in my mind, I was
like, he just wanted to do something different.
And then even though... But just to enjoy the
service, right? Just so that you'll be blessed
from the service. Because if you... I know that
he wasn't taking notes. The other man, he had
every right to. But know that when you prioritize
being blessed from a service, you will not allow
what the other person does to not allow you to
be blessed. Praise God. And this is... This is
something that we need because we're dealing
with individuals that are different from ourselves.
Sometimes we think everybody is from our hometown.
They understand our language. We can relate to
them. But you always have people, you remember
on Sunday I was telling us, people's culture
is different from your culture. And what is normal
in your culture is offensive. So they will take
offense because you don't understand. That's
why we're dealing with knowledge, right? You
want to go out of your way to understand how
things operate. And you want to be very careful
not to now, because of their actions, now have
harbor setting, like harbor evil towards the
individual. Because if you're harboring evil
towards that individual, you will struggle to
express love to that person. Praise God. You
struggle to express love to that person because
you're harboring evil towards them. And you don't
want to allow for the enemy to make instances
where you will not be able to do so because you
would be the person at that point in time to
do that and then you deny yourself an opportunity
of being blessed. Because when we love on someone,
we allow the love of God to flow through us.
We're blessed while we're at it. Praise God.
We're blessed while we're at it and we're encouraged
to do so. We're encouraged to do so. So I want
to go to... Yeah, this is also very important.
That you want to, from time to time, check yourself.
Because sometimes we don't do it. Check yourself.
And ask yourself, what is my touch towards this
person? Or what is my touch towards that person?
Like, what emotions do I feel when I think of
the person? Because that in itself will help
us to ask ourselves, Is it consistent with the
word of God? Because sometimes we push it off.
And for some of us, we do it and it piles up.
I've never seen instances where somebody does
something, in fact, a very practical situation.
You know, you won't know that you are working.
You can't determine whether you're working in
love if everybody's saying, hi, love you, brother,
love you, sister. You know, you can't find out.
It's when somebody that doesn't have the fear
of God comes around. That's how you will know
whether you're truly working in love. The person
does something, presses all the buttons. You
know, somebody say, he knows how to pee. If he
knows the button, the button should not be working.
But he presses all the buttons. You know, when
somebody presses all the buttons, you know, there's
individuals that you see, they say, don't do
this. It's that thing that they say, don't do.
That's the one. You know, I was, so I think every
time I talk about this, I see that there's this,
video of a guy that they say don't touch the
walls the guy just went like this i'm just going
i don't do it was just going we're just going
they said don't touch the world you guys like
is that that's what you want to talk to just
go go around and you'll be because you're like
you have painted this wall now this guy is and
probably he had oil in the hand and so something
like that just to get you because now we will
know what is and when you have done it and probably
poured out everything of yours and you're done.
You know, when you're calm, have you ever noticed
when you're calm, that's when the Holy Spirit
will say, see this thing you've done now. How
has it communicated the love of God? And many
times we don't even have to say, let him go away
now. Say what he did was wrong. But they say,
what you now did also did not help. The situation,
praise God. It doesn't help the situation. So
you want to, and even when in a church setting,
where you interact with people, you want to also
ensure that you're touched towards them. Remember
we used the word pure. You're looking at a sister.
You want to see that lady as your own sister,
your blood sister. The things you won't do to
your own sister, you don't want to do to that
lady. A guy, same thing. You don't want to be...
Remember we said, you don't want to cause an
offense to that person. Because the moment we're
doing that with one another, we're training ourselves
to walk in the nature that we've received. Praise
God. We're training ourselves to walk in the
nature we've received. It doesn't speak well
of you when you are just, because once you, remember
we said, when your actions are not guarded, it
means that your thoughts to just go, you allow
your thoughts to go anywhere. You allow your
thoughts to go anywhere. Praise God. And it says,
it says, continuing that, it says, till the day
of Christ, meaning that you have to continue
in it, right? You have to continue. Just keep
on it. Keep on it. You don't come to a point
and say, I'm tired of this. You know, there's
how you do stuff. Say, in fact, I've tried. It's
like you're taking it and then you explode it.
Praise God. There's no explosion. What should
happen is that you keep pouring it out and the
explosion is love that should be coming out because
that's what you are full of, right? When we say
abounding more and more in love means that the
love should always find expression whether you
feel like it or you don't feel like it. Praise
God. Because what? God had done, you know, I
think I listened to, I saw a video, I think this
morning when, I think you shared a video and
then I saw another video after. I was just thinking
about it. I was like, just imagine what Christ
had gone through. At some point in time, he got
it, he had it up to here. And then he decided
to just say, all of you. You know, some of you
have thought about it. Your mind has already
gone there. He said, in fact, you know, some
of you are, you know, Avengers, you know, when
he does it like this, when he does like this,
everything, like all the, he doesn't even need
to, he does the thought of it. Praise God. If
I, he would say, I say I could, if my kingdom
was of this, I would have, Ah, praise God. But
we see an example, right? And you know, sometimes
I've heard a song, you see, don't try me. Don't
try me. It's Jesus. It's Jesus. You know, when
you sing those kind of songs, you'll be further
justified. But yeah, he's him. I am me. But remember
we say the love is in Christ and we have the
life of Christ, right? So it means that if they
try you, what Jesus did is what you're going
to do. Praise God. Praise God. And it's not a
problem when sometimes you lose it, right? That
just shows that you have work to do, right? That
just shows that we have work to do because really,
if you're dealing with... If you're here, you
will have situations sometimes. You don't even
need to be a parent. You don't need to be a teacher.
You don't need to be... You know when you explain,
you have repeated it like 10 times, and then
the person says, excuse me, sir. When are we
going to have the quiz? And you wrote it on,
you published it on UZEM. You said it like five
times in the class in the beginning. You said
it like five times in the middle, and then you
still... In fact, sometimes you just ask a random
person, when is it the person tells you another
date? And then you know you spoke English. You
didn't use Mandarin, you didn't use French, you
didn't use Russian. In fact, even if you use
the language that the person understands, it's
still going to be the same result. But you still
choose to still do it regardless, right? Sometimes
it really can get to that point where you're
wondering, how will I walk or how will I do this?
And we see it in an example of Christ because
it says they're fruits. It means that these things
will find expression. And there's a reward for
it. We see it in the life of a believer. And
I want you to see, we're not doing something
strange. We're doing the things that are in our
nature. Remember the passage we started with.
It says, be imitators. of God, right? Be imitators
of God. So, you are living out your original
self when you act in accordance to or you replicate
the character of your father. You're living out
your original self. You're living out your true
nature. You know, sometimes we think that imitations
are fake. You know, when they say that's an imitation,
in my country, it's from Abba. But sometimes
those things are quality because they are made
to suit our environment. The ones that are made
to suit the environment will break and the ones
that you bought, you know, sometimes you wonder
the most expensive things might sometimes not
be the things, depends on the manufacturing and
the quality of what is used to make that. So
when you're saying you're copying or you're leaving
out, you're leaving out the character that is
of the one whom you have received. And in 1 Corinthians
4 verse 16, 1 Corinthians 4 verse 16 says, therefore
I urge you, imitate me. Apostle Paul speaking,
therefore I urge you, imitate me. Therefore I
urge you, imitate me. And in 1 Corinthians 11
verse 1, he goes further to say, imitate me just
as I also imitate Christ. Meaning that you're
not directly imitating him, you are imitating
the character of the one who he is. He's like
a person you can see, to meet it, even if you
don't have some model to follow. Praise God.
And then in 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 6, it says,
and you became followers of us. That word, that
followers there is still the same Greek word,
which is mimetis. followers of us that is m -i
-m -e -t -e -s m -i -m -e -t -e -s that's the
imitators or followers of us and of the lord
having received the word in many affliction with
joy of the holy spirit with joy of the holy spirit
and we see it again and again and we see even
in hebrews it says in hebrews 6 verse 12 In Hebrews
6 verse 12, this is speaking of Abraham. Hebrews
6 verse 12 says, that you do not become sluggish.
That you do not become sluggish. Hebrews 6 verse
12, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate
those who through faith and patience inherit
the promises. Who through faith and patience
inherit the promise. That's speaking of, because
in the next verse you see, Abraham's being spoken
of. Abraham is spoken of. And I want us to go
to, Ephesians 4 .24. Let's look at that and then
we'll see some examples with Christ. We'll see
some examples with Christ. 4 .24, it says, Then
you put on the new man that was created according
to God in true righteousness and holiness. So
it says put on the new man, meaning that you
are actively doing these things. You're actively
working in it. Remember, we say the work is a
lifestyle. You're choosing to live a certain
kind of way. You're choosing to follow. And that
is the walk in love. The walk in love is a consistent
lifestyle and a behavior. It's not just, it doesn't
just stop at doctrine. It's a consistent lifestyle
and behavior and it's something that we do independent
of the other person's actions. It's not dependent
on the other person's actions. It's independent
of the other person's actions. And we know what
independence means, right? Meaning that if they
do it to you, it doesn't change. And for some
of us, I think I was reminded whilst I was preparing
this, there was some lady that we heard that
she doesn't have food to eat. We heard that she
doesn't have food to eat. We went, bought foodstuff.
We gave it to her. She said, no, she's fine.
I said, we heard, we know, and in fact, we can
see that she doesn't have. We gave it to her.
She said, she's fine. I said, me? I'm giving
you something, and I know, and I have full information.
I said, take it and give it to anybody that you
feel like that has missed it. And I was thinking
to myself, I was like, what will make you see
what you need and pass? I was, I was, I was,
I was like, what, what is going on? We had to
force, like, we had to force it. We had to force,
it's like, it's like, you need this thing and
we're forcing it down. And I was like, And it
took a while. I think it's, it's almost like
it took the lady a while. I think it took a while
before she got to accept, start receiving, start,
it was used to. And if you're using the way the
person reacted, you will not give them again.
Yeah, if you're using the way the person reacted,
you will not give the person again. You'll be
like, this person always, and the person needs
it. So, know that when you, when you love someone,
you will, you will, you will do what you do independent
of how they respond to you. Because it's necessary,
because they need it. And then if you choose,
whether they, okay, if you say, I'll give you
this thing, when the person just say, good morning,
say, they not greet me well, okay, tomorrow,
even you have suffered well enough, then I'll
come back and you will check whether you are
ready to receive the love I have to give to you.
Remember what we said, that even whoever yet
see this, it is not, we were not put together,
even put together, there's no need for him to
do it, right? Praise God. So it's independent.
So it's our nature and it's not, we don't react.
We don't like, we don't, when somebody asks them,
we react and then we react. So we just flow with
our nature. We flow with our nature. Don't your
neighbor and say, I flow in my nature. I flow
in my nature. If the person is not answering
you, say it, shake them. I flow in my nature.
Ask them, do you flow in your nature? See that
nature is love. The nature is the nature of God's
love. And it's not transactional. Tell the person
also it's not transactional. It's not if I do
you, if I help you today, you now help me back
tomorrow. Because sometimes you can be very angry
because you help the person. Remember that time.
That time when you had nothing. You had nothing
and I showed up for you. Now it's time for you
to... To reciprocate. You know. That time you
were begging me. I told you you should not bother.
Now I'm the one begging you. Please show me love.
Please show me love. So turn to your neighbor.
Turn to your neighbor. And tell him it's not
business. It's not business. We are called to
be kind to one another. We are called to love
one another. It's not business. So it's only
business you do like that. You give them goods
and services and they supply you with even money
and they supply you with goods and services.
Praise God. So when you're doing good, you will
really be offended. If you are going about doing
yourself, you say, just look at the person. You
say, this person, if I give him like this and
that, when is time? Will they have it to give
me back? Say, no, no, no. Let's find somebody
that is in more fertile ground. Because, yeah.
There are some people that even if I keep selling,
nothing will come out. They always don't have.
If there's anything, they don't have. Those kind
of persons, when I need, they will not supply.
Praise God. So that's not how we live our lives
as believers. We give regardless. It's unconditional.
We don't have conditions attached to our giving.
Right? We don't have conditions. Regardless of
how the person responds, we don't still choose.
We don't look at their faces and then respond
the way they... They respond to us. Praise God.
So I want to quickly run through, I think, I
don't know how many we'll be able to do, examples
in the scripture of how Christ showed compassion.
And really, if there's anything, I want you to
see the example of the way he moved, the way
he, the actions that motivated, like what motivated
his action. I want you to see that. I want you
to see how compassion was what motivated him
to do the things that he did. And the compassion
there is the word, just write it down, is sp
-l -a -g -c -h -n -i -z -o -m -a -i. If you notice,
there are a lot of zomai, zomai. S -P -L -A -G
-C -H -N -I -Z -O -M -A -I. So, you can try it.
It's experimental. It means to be moved from
one's inner depths. You know when somebody says,
my liver, inner organs, to be moved in one's
inner organs or depth. And it's not pity. It's
not just pity. It's not just pity. It's not just
pity. It's a profound empathy that leads to action.
Because it's from the depth of the person, it
will always result in action. It's not just words.
It doesn't just stop at words. It will always
result. You see... actions that align with the
person's, with the compassion, because the word
is compassion. And I'll just list a couple of
things. Know that we see in scripture, Jesus'
compassion towards the lost and the helpless.
The first one, Jesus' compassion towards the
lost and the helpless. And this is one theme
that you will see again and again and again with
regards to Jesus Christ. Just write, I'll just
give us the scriptures. We can do that because
we don't have much time. Let's give us the scriptures.
Matthew 9, 35 to 36. Matthew 9, 35 to 36. Mark
6, 34. Matthew 9, 35 to 36. Mark 6, 34. So I'll
just read to us the 35. I think 36, just 36 thereabout.
It says, But when he saw the multitudes, he was
moved with compassion for them, that they were
weary and scattered like sheep with no shepherd.
It was scattered like sheep with no shepherd.
And in Mark 6 .34, it says, And Jesus, when he
came out, he saw the multitude and was moved
with compassion for them because they were like
sheep without shepherd. So he began to teach
them many things. Note that the solution to what,
because when you say like sheep without shepherd,
note that what he was looking at is the fact
that these people lacked care, there's teaching,
there's understanding. And then he taught. He
taught. He sought an opportunity to teach them.
Jesus perceived that there was a need. There
was spiritual confusion. There was no direction.
There was the exploitation that was happening.
The Pharisees, the Sadducees were just exploiting
the people because they lacked an understanding.
And that's why if you look throughout Jesus'
ministry, a lot of teaching was involved in it.
A lot of teaching was involved in it because
people needed... spiritual guidance people needed.
And that's why when he was leaving, he told Peter,
feed, teach. They took time. You see that that
was very much the solution to this. So it means
that when people are in ignorance, you should
have compassion towards them. You're actually,
this is not, hey, you don't know. You don't know.
These are the basic doctrines of the foundation.
If you're... If you're doing that, you are not
in any way walking in the, because when Jesus
Christ saw them, he did not say, ah, you would,
you know, you don't understand these things.
Okay, I'm here for you. Don't worry. I'm going
to teach you. Know that he, there was a love
and you see him saying, when you see that without
shepherd, well, they are like ships without shepherd.
He went ahead and did what was needed. And then
going for the, from the Mark six, we'll see that
when you read down. From that Mark 6, in the
35, 44, you see that there's also his compassion
towards the hungry. People that now, besides
the spiritual, there's also the physical needs
that they had. They were hungry and they needed
food. And we see that he was practical. Not that
I talked earlier about somebody that was hungry,
that needed food. And they received the food
because there was no way that food would come
about. And we see that he did this when they
fed the 5 ,000, right? In Mark 6, we see the
feeding of the 5 ,000. And then in Mark 8, we
see the feeding of the 4 ,000. We see the feeding
of the 4 ,000. In Matthew 14, 13 -21, we see
the feeding of the 4 ,000. And in Matthew 15,
32 to 38, we see the feeding of the 4 ,000. We
see it in both accounts. And I'll just read the
Matthew's account. It says, Now Jesus called
the disciples to himself and says, I have compassion.
I have compassion on the multitude because they
have continued with me three days and have nothing
to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry,
lest they faint on the way. Lest they faint on
the way. We see Jesus' desire for them. to be
fed physically, not just to go without feeding.
And then I'll go to the important part or the
one I want us to see very quickly while we close.
Jesus' compassion for the sick and those suffering
and those grieving. For the sick, suffering,
and the grieving. Jesus' compassion for the sick,
suffering, and the grieving. this was one thing
that was very important to him because Jesus
Christ never moved into a place and he finished
teaching and then there were people, he will
follow it with killing. He'll follow it with
healing. If there's anybody that's sick, there
will be prayers for the person and you see that,
scripture will tell us that all that were sick
were healed. All that were sick, they were healed.
And we're reading a book on healing. Please read
that book. If you read the book, you'll see there's
a lot of things that has to do with the mind.
There's a lot of things. There's a sense, knowledge.
There's a sense, knowledge, and there are different
things that will help you to understand what
it is or what motivated or why we do things the
way we do things. We don't walk with understanding.
We don't look at sickness as is the will of God,
you know. Jesus Christ, we see his action towards
sickness. Everybody that was sick, that was within
that perimeter was healed. Let's see Matthew
14, 14. Matthew 14, 14. Matthew 14, 14, it says,
and when Jesus went out, he saw the great multitude
and he was moved with compassion for them and
healed their sick. He was moved with compassion
for them and healed their sick. Matthew 20, I
will just give us Matthew 20, 29 to 34. You see
that even the blind, he opened the eyes of the
blind. Matthew 20, let's go to 34. Just go to
34. Let's go to 34. It says, so Jesus had compassion
and touched their eyes and immediately their
eyes received sight and they followed him and
they followed him. So we see even him healing
those with leprosy. And I don't know whether
you know, I think those of us that are following
in the cell meeting teachings, there's something
about when people are deformed, they don't, they
will not, And they are not part of the worship.
They're not part of the worship because they
have defects. And that is the end goal of every
of the healing is for people to serve God, right?
Every of the things, because spiritual is more
important to him, right? Even though the physical
is, but in the order of things, we see that he's
more moved, there's a teaching. And by the way,
once there's teaching, all of those things will
flow naturally. Because in the course of teaching,
you will receive. Because you have an understanding.
Light comes to you. Remember what I started with.
The moment where there's light, there's clarity.
There's no confusion. You're not mistaking somebody's
clothes for a ghost. Praise God. Because there's
something that happens when there's light. Understanding
comes. You receive. And please, when you receive
something, don't go to where it will be stolen
from you. Or don't listen to things. Or don't
now harbor understanding or teachings that will
undo. You know, they have taught you to pray
in the spirit and then you go somewhere and they
say, I'm sure you're not communicating with spirits.
They start telling you things. You're like, eh,
it's true. It's true. I noticed that I used to
hear voices when I... Then you now start using
several other things and then you now scatter
everything that you have. That's why you stay
grounded and rooted. In Mark, I want us to see
the lepers. I'll just give us the scriptures.
Mark 1, 40 to 42. Mark 1, 40 to 42. We see, then
Jesus moved with compassion. That is, then Jesus
moved with compassion. Yeah. Two, yeah. Yeah.
Then Jesus moved with compassion, stretched out
his hand and touched him and said to him, I'm
willing be cleansed. I'm willing be cleansed.
Then the... Other one which is grieving is the
woman that lost her son and she was weeping.
Luke 7, that's for grieving. Luke 7, 11 to 15.
The widow of name. 11 to 15. Just take us to
13. Let's just go to 13. It says, when the Lord
saw her, he had compassion on her and said to
her, do not weep. Do not weep. And we're reminded
of Lazarus' situation where he wept and then
he called him forth. So note that Jesus Christ,
every of his action was motivated by love for
the individual and compassion that led to action
on that particular situation. So one very important
thing, and we have parables too that also communicates
that, where we see the... Samaritan, where he
calls us to do likewise, to go out of our way
to show compassion to others. He gave an example
with the Levi and all of those people, and then
there was a Samaritan. He made the Samaritan
a hero in that particular story to just communicate
the fact that we go out of our way. Compassion
is what led him to stop. He had where he was
going to, but he stopped. And in some of us,
we have things that, you know, the money that
you have in your pocket, you can use it to do
many things. But there's something about when
you... You're concerned that this person hasn't
had something to eat. You know, you can see the
person. And even though I will tell us that there
are individuals that will lie to you, right?
The individuals that we have had instances where
people will come and they will lie. We know that
they are lying. We know. We know that they are
lying. When the person comes, we assess it. We
know that this person is lying, but we'll just
do what we can. Praise God. We'll do what we
can anyways. And for some people, they will just
call. I was talking to them. You call and then
you will get the same results every time because
you're doing things the way you want to do it.
And know that some people use the opportunity
of, oh, you're supposed to PR this. There are
certain things that you will... You know, in
love, there's correction. And many in this day
and age, people, when you correct them, they
feel like, no, there's no love in this place.
So I had a situation where I was speaking to
someone. She used to come to church and we had
talked and we had encouraged her. And then I
said, we love you. You know when somebody doesn't
know when they roll their eyes? Because they
feel like you're not feeling the love and you're
telling them that you love them. How can you
say that is love? And for many people, they have
a wrong understanding of it that when somebody
is giving them, they can't comprehend it. And
what happens is that time will tell. Time is
going to tell because as I said when I was speaking,
the same person that blocked you because you
were trying to correct them or tell them or help
them are the people that when they have sorted
all the, they have looked for it and they say,
ah, these people really had loved me. You know,
there's something that happens when you have
hit, hit, hit, hit and then you now see, ah,
there's no other way. You'll come back to base.
Praise God. So I want us to just open our mouths
and just thank God. And please, I will close
with what I started. Following with all that
has been said, in the course of the week, you
will have people's names come to your mind. You
have thoughts of people. Sometimes you just have
them come again and again. Don't ignore it. Pray
for that person. Pray for that person. Try to
reach out to that person. That's another thing.
One thing is praying for the person. Another
thing is reaching out to the person. It goes
a long way in causing the power of God to flow
through. You will just have a random conversation,
but because God had brought it to your attention
for a reason, you will see that reason. I want
you to open your mouth and just thank God for
the fact that His love has been poured out. His
love has been poured out. into our hearts by
His Spirit, and we walk in that love. We appreciate
you being here today. We hope you carry this
word with you throughout your week. Don't forget
to check the show notes for additional insights.
Stay connected with us through our website or
follow us on social media. If you are encouraged,
share this message with someone you care about.
Until next time, stay blessed.