Understanding the Father's Love in Christ pt 4: Walking in Love

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

Ephesians 4:23

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

Romans 12:2

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

Proverbs 23:7

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

2 Peter 3:1

go to 2 Peter 3 verse 1. 2 Peter 3 verse 1. It

2 Peter 3:1 2 Peter 3:1

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

1 Corinthians 4:16

4 verse 16, 1 Corinthians 4 verse 16 says, therefore

1 Corinthians 4:16

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

1 Corinthians 11:1

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,

1 Thessalonians 1:6

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

Hebrews 6:12 Hebrews 6:12

6 verse 12, this is speaking of Abraham. Hebrews

Hebrews 6:12

6 verse 12 says, that you do not become sluggish.

That you do not become sluggish. Hebrews 6 verse

Hebrews 6:12

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

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Until next time, stay blessed.