Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.
Well Friends, the Lord put His hand in the pot yesterday and stirred it. What I thought was going to be a one day Bit, has turned into at least two, and could be more, depending on how much I’m directed to write. But that’s the Lord’s prerogative, since it’s His Word we’re writing about. Yesterday we spoke about the one body of Christ, symbolized in His Church, which is currently going through some rough times. Today we’ll begin with the ‘one Spirit’ that Bruh Paul identifies. That Spirit my people is the Holy Spirit of Christ which lives, constantly dwells in each believer. It’s the same Spirit that gives spiritual, life, strength, energy and guidance to us all. Bruh Paul put it thus to the Corinthians: ‘For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been made to drink into one Spirit.’ (1 Cor.12:13) That Holy Spirit is one of the common threads that runs through the Christian faith and promotes its oneness, its singular purpose being to lead and guide each of us. And Jesus openly spoke of it on the last of the seven day Feast of the Tabernacles, held in early October, where for six consecutive days a procession of priests carried water in golden vessels into the temple area. The pouring of the water was considered physically and spiritually significant. And it was ‘In the last day, that great day of the feast, (when no water was carried) Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe in him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.’ (John 7:37-39) That my people is the source of all our strength, courage and conviction: The Spirit of Christ; the living waters that flow out of Him on those who believe in Him and His Word. And the passage of scripture that Jesus referred to above is from Isaiah: ‘Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.’ (Isa.12:3-6) Oh my Friends, I only intended to quote the first verse of that passage, but after reading it, I decided to quote all the verses. And the Spirit agreed. (smile) It seemed so appropriate, not only as to how we should behave when we become believers, but more so right now, in these troubled times, we desperately need to do those things. My brethren we badly need to get back in contact with the Lord, and we can only do that by ingesting the living waters of Christ’s Spirit, praising Him, calling on Him for help, spreading His many miraculous deeds and His Word among the heathen, and overall exalting His Holy Name. He has certainly done many great and worthwhile things for His believers through the ages, and we need to testify to them, so that more lost souls will join His Holy flock, thereby receiving salvation and the faithful promise of life everlasting. That is what it’s all about my people; the one body and the one Spirit, ‘even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.’ That ‘one hope’ is salvation and eternal life, which all Christians share as a future certainty, living with Jesus in heavenly splendour. And the singular oneness doesn’t stop there mih people. ‘One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.’ (Eph.4:5-6) Oh Friends, you can clearly see that our belief system is based on a solid principle of ONE! There’s no plurality. And even when we speak of the Trinity, it’s still ONE, represented in three different ways. That’s the beauty of our faith; everything flows from One Deity, One Godhead. We all submit to the same divine ruler, Jesus; having placed the same faith in Him to lead us to salvation; receiving it at one time, baptism; and we all have the same God and Heavenly Father. So as a faith, a belief system, a Church, in it’s structure and set up, it is totally unified. All Christians have the same goals and aspirations; working on behalf of the same Deity who created us all, from whom all our blessings flow, who gives us a part of HImself to dwell in us, to lead and guide us on our earthly journey, and when that is over, receives us to Himself to live with Him forever. Hn! What can be better than that eh mih people? It’s all structured and set out there for us, like a feast on a golden platter. All we have to do is sincerely believe and receive it. I can’t think of an easier go than that. No other supposed deity offers anything that even comes close to it. But unfortunately, we humans are a stubborn, hard-headed, rebellious lot, and the Lord granting us freedom of choice, made it even worse. Our rebelliousness increased and we sought more independence from Him. But Friends, being independent of God is the saddest mistake we can ever make. In the first place it’s only a mental illusion, since our God controls everything, so you can never really get away from His oversight. And then, if you foolishly try to go it alone, you’ll miss all the wonderful blessings, help, guidance and rewards of salvation and eternal life that He’s stored up for you. So it’s a lose/lose situation. However people, Christ died to cleanse us of our sins, and He expects us to recruit all of the lost souls to His movement, His Church; the one, singular purpose organization designed for bringing us to right standing with Him and the Father. But He left it all up to us. And sadly, we’re not doing such a good job. The unity and oneness we’re so proud of, is quickly turning to disunity and dissension, and instead of getting converts for His Church, we’re allowing Lucifer to enlarge his domain. This is not right my people. We are letting Jesus down. We have lots of talk, but insufficient action. Remember James’ warning: ‘Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.’ (James 1:22) Yes mih Friends, it’s time we both hear and do the Word; work together in unity, build together and not break down, foment the LOVE Revolution, cause LOVE is what makes the world go round; and LOVE is of the One God we worship. In fact, that One God is LOVE! So let’s wake up, mih people, put on our spiritual armour, get out there and LOVE our God, and LIVE our Faith! It’s the only way that Jesus’ body, His Church, will be empowered, renewed and rise to the prominence it deserves. Much LOVE !…the believer’s motto…strong faith…working in total unity… rooted in unselfish LOVE…
Well Friends, the Lord put His hand in the pot yesterday and stirred it. What I thought was going to be a one day Bit, has turned into at least two, and could be more, depending on how much I’m directed to write. But that’s the Lord’s prerogative, since it’s His Word we’re writing about. Yesterday we spoke about the one body of Christ, symbolized in His Church, which is currently going through some rough times. Today we’ll begin with the ‘one Spirit’ that Bruh Paul identifies. That Spirit my people is the Holy Spirit of Christ which lives, constantly dwells in each believer. It’s the same Spirit that gives spiritual, life, strength, energy and guidance to us all. Bruh Paul put it thus to the Corinthians: ‘For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been made to drink into one Spirit.’ (1 Cor.12:13) That Holy Spirit is one of the common threads that runs through the Christian faith and promotes its oneness, its singular purpose being to lead and guide each of us. And Jesus openly spoke of it on the last of the seven day Feast of the Tabernacles, held in early October, where for six consecutive days a procession of priests carried water in golden vessels into the temple area. The pouring of the water was considered physically and spiritually significant. And it was ‘In the last day, that great day of the feast, (when no water was carried) Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe in him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.’ (John 7:37-39) That my people is the source of all our strength, courage and conviction: The Spirit of Christ; the living waters that flow out of Him on those who believe in Him and His Word. And the passage of scripture that Jesus referred to above is from Isaiah: ‘Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.’ (Isa.12:3-6) Oh my Friends, I only intended to quote the first verse of that passage, but after reading it, I decided to quote all the verses. And the Spirit agreed. (smile) It seemed so appropriate, not only as to how we should behave when we become believers, but more so right now, in these troubled times, we desperately need to do those things. My brethren we badly need to get back in contact with the Lord, and we can only do that by ingesting the living waters of Christ’s Spirit, praising Him, calling on Him for help, spreading His many miraculous deeds and His Word among the heathen, and overall exalting His Holy Name. He has certainly done many great and worthwhile things for His believers through the ages, and we need to testify to them, so that more lost souls will join His Holy flock, thereby receiving salvation and the faithful promise of life everlasting. That is what it’s all about my people; the one body and the one Spirit, ‘even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.’ That ‘one hope’ is salvation and eternal life, which all Christians share as a future certainty, living with Jesus in heavenly splendour. And the singular oneness doesn’t stop there mih people. ‘One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.’ (Eph.4:5-6) Oh Friends, you can clearly see that our belief system is based on a solid principle of ONE! There’s no plurality. And even when we speak of the Trinity, it’s still ONE, represented in three different ways. That’s the beauty of our faith; everything flows from One Deity, One Godhead. We all submit to the same divine ruler, Jesus; having placed the same faith in Him to lead us to salvation; receiving it at one time, baptism; and we all have the same God and Heavenly Father. So as a faith, a belief system, a Church, in it’s structure and set up, it is totally unified. All Christians have the same goals and aspirations; working on behalf of the same Deity who created us all, from whom all our blessings flow, who gives us a part of HImself to dwell in us, to lead and guide us on our earthly journey, and when that is over, receives us to Himself to live with Him forever. Hn! What can be better than that eh mih people? It’s all structured and set out there for us, like a feast on a golden platter. All we have to do is sincerely believe and receive it. I can’t think of an easier go than that. No other supposed deity offers anything that even comes close to it. But unfortunately, we humans are a stubborn, hard-headed, rebellious lot, and the Lord granting us freedom of choice, made it even worse. Our rebelliousness increased and we sought more independence from Him. But Friends, being independent of God is the saddest mistake we can ever make. In the first place it’s only a mental illusion, since our God controls everything, so you can never really get away from His oversight. And then, if you foolishly try to go it alone, you’ll miss all the wonderful blessings, help, guidance and rewards of salvation and eternal life that He’s stored up for you. So it’s a lose/lose situation. However people, Christ died to cleanse us of our sins, and He expects us to recruit all of the lost souls to His movement, His Church; the one, singular purpose organization designed for bringing us to right standing with Him and the Father. But He left it all up to us. And sadly, we’re not doing such a good job. The unity and oneness we’re so proud of, is quickly turning to disunity and dissension, and instead of getting converts for His Church, we’re allowing Lucifer to enlarge his domain. This is not right my people. We are letting Jesus down. We have lots of talk, but insufficient action. Remember James’ warning: ‘Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.’ (James 1:22) Yes mih Friends, it’s time we both hear and do the Word; work together in unity, build together and not break down, foment the LOVE Revolution, cause LOVE is what makes the world go round; and LOVE is of the One God we worship. In fact, that One God is LOVE! So let’s wake up, mih people, put on our spiritual armour, get out there and LOVE our God, and LIVE our Faith! It’s the only way that Jesus’ body, His Church, will be empowered, renewed and rise to the prominence it deserves. Much LOVE !…the believer’s motto…strong faith…working in total unity… rooted in unselfish LOVE…
SCRIP-BITS 