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The entire Editorial Team of the Quiver (Official bulletin of The Change of Taste Group appreciates God for this last one year of publishing soul inspiring articles. We also appreciate all our authors, reviewers and contributors; may God bless you for touching lives. To all our readers, God is set to do greater things.....
Shalom!!!
Vol. 16.9.21
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There is a need to remind ourselves of the basic principles of
Christianity. While it’s expedient and good to grow in grace, pray fervently,
study with revelations, perform signs and wonders and win souls. We must never
outgrow the simple basics of our faith, because it seems they are been
relegated to the background like they no longer matter. But of a truth, they
always do and it's so important, for if we embrace them, we are actually
displaying Christ's character, making our lives preach Christ and living in
accordance to the will of God. As Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 2:5 (AMP), ‘‘Let the same attitude and purpose and
(humble) mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus''. The mind of Christ
as seen from the scripture above means living like Christ in everything,
portraying the qualities of a child of God like the apostles of old, who were
called Christian for this reason. (Acts of Apostles 11:26)
The basic principles to be discussed include:
·
Love
·
Unity
·
Humility
Love is of importance, as Scriptures says, ‘‘Behold what manner of love the father has given unto us that we should
be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1 KJV). Oh! How sweet and
lovely...How precious the foundation of our salvation! (John 3:16).
God is love and this love He displayed through His only son Jesus
Christ as the scriptures says; But God
demonstrated his own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ
died for us (Romans
5:8). Dearly beloved, no matter how great in the spirit you can be,
how close to heaven you may be and how anointed anyone can be, the concept of
love, cannot be ignored. God is love and the presence of love in any life or
congregation is always a manifestation of God's presence. Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians
13:1-13, ‘no matter how much anointing and power I may carry, an
absence of love is equal to nothing, for love is the greatest" (Paraphrased).
Therefore, as we grow in grace, is love growing with us? Do we still show love
to all, especially the household of faith? Is the utilization of our gifts,
anointing and ministries motivated by love for mankind or for self-glory?
Church leaders, do we still preach and foster love among our members or we are simply
interested in their tithes and offerings, and the share population just as the
hypocrites? (Matthew
23:23). Dearly beloved, let's walk in love (Ephesians 5:2). As Apostle Paul
admonished believers saying, ‘fulfill now
my joy by being like-minded, having the same love being of one accord, of one
mind, let nothing be done out of selfish ambition’ (Philippians 2:2-3).
One other basic principle is unity in the body of Christ. Christ
came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it and foster unity between man and
God. Gifts have been given to men and anointing released for men to foster
unity in the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13). Christ said when two or
three agree on a thing (Matthew 18:19) - agreement here is about
unity, not of words of mouth alone but of heart and purpose. The basic concept
of unity in the body of Christ have been so trivialized that it now looks like
Christ simply came to share gifts to all for their individual and personal use;
whereas, Christ is more interested in the unity of his body than display of
gifts. He expects that as we grow in grace, we should grow into the fullness of
unity in Him, born out of genuine love, to form one body in which each part
utilizes the grace and gifts he was given for a common goal like the apostles
of old; they were in one accord, breaking of bread from house to house, sharing
their possession among all who had needs (Acts 2:40-47). If we could do the same, it would
bring growth in the body of Christ.
Last but not the least, another basic principle of Christianity
that flows out of love is humility. God desires that we become humble as Christ
who humbled himself even to the point of death (Philippians 2:5-8). Giving Him
the glory at all times for He is the Lord, that is His Name and he will not
share his glory with any man (Isaiah 42:8). He alone deserves the glory. He
opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6ESV). Let us therefore approach his throne at all
times with total humility behaving like Christ by saying "Not my will, but
yours be done".
In conclusion, brethren,
let's live to please God, imitate Him (Ephesians 5:1). In all areas of our life let
Christ be seen in us, for Christ in us is
the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27KJV).
Shalom!!!
Authors
Sonia O. Umurhumuhu
angelsonie15o@gmail.com,
Opeyemi B. Ogunsuyi
opeyemiogunsuyi@gmail.com
If you are inspired by the Holy Spirit to reach out and affect many souls through writing, send your articles to thequiver4changeoftaste@gmail.com and we will help you spread it across the world audience. God bless you as you choose to impact lives.
The Quiver is the Official Bulletin of The Change of Taste Group (a non-denominational mission intercess
