Friday, 14 June 2024
“A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself” – Matthew 22:29 NLT
“Yes, there are many parts, but only one body” – 1 Corinthians 12:20 NLT
I once read an article about a South African who’s lived abroad for so many years. They said that they had never heard a South African language spoken in a while, and that they often missed speaking in their native language. Then one day, while shopping in a mall, they heard someone on the opposite aisle speaking isiZulu. She dropped everything and ran to that aisle and found a woman on the phone speaking isiZulu. She wasn’t Zulu herself, yet hearing this language did something within her inner being that words couldn’t express or explain. To cut a long story short, she and that lady became best of friends and she attributes that to their common desire to speak their native language in a foreign land.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common” Acts 2:42-44 NIV. I’ve always been fascinated by the attitude and comradery mentality of the believers in the first century church. How do you get so many different people with different personalities and characteristics to be under one roof and actually get along (really get along)? As a CHURCH (the body) we ALWAYS talk about 1 Corinthians 12:20 and its meaning, yet we don’t embrace those who don’t walk the way that we do. When you are different or your interpretation of your walk rubs people the wrong way, you get weird stares and hear comments about your “wrong” walk and demeanor. This is why I’ve always been fascinated by how the first church got it right.
I now realize that the reason is because every single one of them was full of the Holy Spirit and always under His leading and guidance. There was no time for petty issues and everyone was united under one goal and one objective, which was to advance the Kingdom. It didn’t matter if the foot looked weird and we felt that his footsteps didn’t align with our beliefs and agenda, what was important was that we knew that even though we may not agree with his style of walking, at the end of the day, we are all going in one direction. This oneness can only be achieved and only possible when we are not only baptized in the Spirit, but He also always resides and operates through us. There is no way to achieve this if we aren’t full of Him, as our flesh always tries to highlight the other organs’ shortcomings and flaws.
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising GOD and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the LORD added to their number daily those who were being saved” Acts 2:46-47 NIV. Verse 42b is the one that gives me a ventricular tachycardia. They broke bread in their homes with SINCERE hearts, and as a result, the world was attracted to them. We can fake unity and love, but sincerity we cannot; and the world can see and is attracted to it. The flesh can’t achieve this and the only person who can is Holy Spirit. This is why, to be EFFECTIVE AND RELEVANT in the Kingdom, He is needed, and those who don’t always carry Him (those in whom He doesn’t abide) cannot and will not attract and influence the world. On our own, we can’t do it, but through Him, we can do ALL things. This is another way to stay filled. It is GOD’s desire for us to be united under one goal and objective, but that unfortunately can not and will not happen unless the Holy Spirit resides and is in charge of our lives. This is how we remain filled. Like the two South Africans who were united by their love of their native language, we too as a body can only be united by the Holy Ghost.
We can fake unity and love, but sincerity we cannot; and the world can see and is attracted to it. The flesh can’t achieve this and the only person who can is Holy Spirit.
0 Comments