FAITHFULNESS IN GOD'S SERVICE

What is faithfulness? What do we understand by faithfulness?

Ally: I think faithfulness is being "committed" to something or someone

Some synonyms of faithful include, loyalty, allegiance, fidelity. All these are strong words that we use in everyday speeches. They sure mean a lot to us.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,” Galatians‬ ‭5:22‬ ‭NKJV

“But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.” Galatians‬ ‭5:22-23‬ ‭TPT

KJV actually renders the word "faithfulness" as "faith". The Greek word used there does not mean "faith" but "faithfulness". This means that faithfulness is already a fruit we have, produced in us by the Spirit of God residing in us. We can be faithful because we're born again. What this means is, God does not require from us what he has not given us capabilities to be or do

Having established what faithfulness means, what then is service? By English definition, service is an act of being of assistance to someone.

Ally: Doing something for someone

I want us to properly understand the terms used in the definition of service 

1. Assistance

2. Someone 

If we say God's service, it means we're being of assistance to God. Think about it for a minute

Will God, the God of the Heavens and Earth, that created everything by the word of mouth? Is there anything he cannot do? We all say "what God cannot do does not exist" and we say right. If so, why will God, needing no help require my service? i.e. my assistance?

We'll unravel as we proceed.

WHY SHOULD WE BE FAITHFUL IN GOD'S SERVICE?

1. God is faithful 

God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9 NLT

“God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.” 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:24‬ ‭NLT

We see that scriptures established that God is faithful. Firmly committed to us. He is loyal. 

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. 2 Timothy 2:13 NLT

2. God requires faithfulness 

And the Lord replied, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. Luke 12:42 NLT

The Lord Jesus himself told parables on faithfulness. It shows how highly he requires it.

3. The Apostles demanded faithfulness even as they were faithful

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. 2 Timothy 2:2 NLT

Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 1 Corinthians 3:10 NLT

In 2 Timothy 2:2, we see a plan for 4 generations to receive the gospel simply on the premise of faithfulness. 

Paul was faithful and committed to Timothy

Timothy should be faithful in commuting to faithful men

The faithful men should be faithful in committing to others! What a big deal! 

Apostle Paul called himself a wise master builder! What an accolade!

4. We're beneficiaries of faithfulness

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18‭-‬20 NLT

Post resurrection, Jesus committed the gospel to 11 people. 11 unlearned people. Those 11 men ran with the gospel with faithfulness and that's why we've the gospel today. Think of Paul, who suffered many perils, yet wouldn't relent in the preaching of the gospel, even in prison, he still was concerned for his converts. 

What is going to happen to the next generation? Can they boast on our faithfulness as a reason while they heard the gospel?

5. Ministry requires it 

Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 1 Corinthians 3:10 NLT

If you're going to build, it requires carefulness and faithfulness. We've been called to build men! We might say, oh, I'm not a pastor or evangelist or any 5 fold ministry. But all believer have a ministry of reconciliation

In other words, it was through the Anointed One that God was shepherding the world, not even keeping records of their transgressions, and he has entrusted to us the ministry of opening the door of reconciliation to God. 2 Corinthians 5:19 TPT

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF FAITHFUL MEN

The Bible is replete with men that served God, from the old testament to the new Testament and served with faithfulness.

a. Our Lord Jesus Christ 

We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God! Hebrews 12:2 TPT

Jesus showed the example of faithfulness! Faithful to the end! I want us to know that Jesus died as a man like you and I, not with a body higher than ours with maybe higher threshold of pain, no! I mean Jesus could have taken the beatings, mockery, spitting, carrying the Cross etc. And then on the cross, even with nails and crown if thorns on, he could have looked at the people mocking his kingship and come down, pull out the nails and say "una no even worth am"😃

What made Jesus stay? Faithfulness to the cause! This is to say that faithfulness would require us pushing through the inconveniences, pain, rejection, tiredness, discouragements etc! 

I mean, how many of us leave our secular job (assisting a man)  because of tiredness?  Why then would we leave God's work?

b.  Moses

Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My household. Numbers 12:7 HCSB

See God boast of Moses' faithfulness! 

c. Timothy 

This is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dearly loved and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church. 1 Corinthians 4:17 HCSB

We all know how Paul worked, yet he acknowledged Timothy's faithfulness. 

d. The disciples of Jesus 

The disciples of Jesus were faithful and supportive of Jesus' ministry and of course after his early ministry - Acts 4:19-20

e.  David and Jonathan: 1 Sam 23:15-17

f. Other believers in the bible 

 Epaphras - Col 1:7

Onesimus- Col 4:9

Silvanus - 1 Peter 5:12

Tychicus - Eph 6:21

The list is inexhaustible.

Jesus in Matthew 24:45 says 

“Who then is a faithful and sensible slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? Matthew 24:45 HCSB

The master cannot be in charge of his household, so he requires a faithful slave!

Ministry is doing for God, what God cannot do for himself. Think about it. Does God need help? No! But this one thing, he does! 

If we see service to God as the God who made the worlds relying on us to do stuff for him, to wins souls he died for, to cater to the needs of his body (the church), to look after that brother or sister, to give to that needy, to pray for that person, just this one thing and we cannot be faithful? 

Let's have a sober reflection. 

Faithfulness is big to God, it must matter to us. 

Just as we won't do our secular job anyhow, let's not do same for God.

This is the assistance, this is our service. And you know what, like we started with, it's not a demand from God, what we cannot give. 

Remember Galatians 5:22...the fruit of our spirit is... Faithfulness. We have it's! Let's draw from within!

EVANGELISM

We already started the conversation on Evangelism last month and some of us already started doing this physically.

First of all...:What is Evangelism?

Samson: Evangelism is the act of telling people about Jesus, the Good News, using every media available.

Ally: Evangelism, I think, is letting people know about Christ's sacrifice. Drawing men to accept Christ and serve God. Can be through speech, music, dance, etc etc

Chelsea: I think it is preaching the Gospel of Christ to people

Evangelism is simply sharing the gospel.

What is the Gospel? Good news

Let’s look at News stations for example. Imagine that they are hoarding news. Imagine they are shy to share news. Imagine Arise TV expects people to know the truth of what is happening by just looking at their body language.

It sounds odd, funny and stupid at the same time right? That’s because news is meant to be shared. It’s meant to be amplified. Everyone should know about it. If nobody shared the news, we’d live in ignorance about so many things and we will pay for it.

Imagine there is a curfew at 9pm today and the news houses refused to broadcast it. People will go out at that time and be arrested, because someone failed to do their job.

As believers, we’ve been called to broadcast. You are a broadcaster in this kingdom. Our duty is to share the gospel. It is the commission Jesus gave to everyone of us

So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I have told you to do. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of time.” Matthew 28:19‭-‬20 ERV

We’ve talked about following before here. Followership/discipleship is such a strong word

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Romans‬ ‭10:14‬ ‭NKJV

People do not become followers to who they don’t believe in. There is no way they can also believe in a person they’ve not heard about. The only way people get to know about Jesus is when we open our mouth to preach.

Jesus was very strategic in His time here on earth. He definitely could not reach everyone directly in His life time, so what did He do? He trained some directly with the commission to tell this good news and raise followers of Him (Christ). And these men in turn raised other men. And those ones, more men.

Somebody told somebody that told somebody that told another person till it got to us. If people had broken the chain, the gospel might probably have gone extinct today. We can’t afford to break the chain

Here’s the thing: A lot of us believers know that the gospel should be shared. We understand the importance of it. But we are sometimes still reluctant to share. Some of us are also looking for “perfect moments” Or people that will reach out to us like Nicodemus in John 3 to know about the gospel. We will most likely sleep here. It is our duty to reach out to unsaved people

Jesus said: Go ye into the world

Some of us are also trying to be politically correct. We do not want to come off offensive. So we only talk about Jesus to people that talk about Him with us. If we do it with outsiders, we are very diplomatic

We don’t want to offend anybody

Flash news: The gospel itself is offensive (to those on the path of destruction)

To everyone that is unsaved, this good news doesn’t first sound to them as good. In fact, they do not think on the good in the news at first but how it strips them. “How dare you come and tell me I’ve been on the wrong path all my life with my 2 PhDs”

I remember Maraji (Maraji is a Nigerian comedian) posting on IG that Jesus is the only way

Not Buddha 

Not Allah

Not Sango

Just Jesus

And guess what? Even Christians got offended. Their excuse? She said it on a Muslim festive day

“So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:20-21‬ ‭NLT

So many times we are trying to package the gospel in such a way that is not offensive so much that we water down the message itself. We want to translate the gospel in a way that our hearers will like. Feel good messages. There is no feel good way to tell someone that they are on a destructive path and are subjected to the wrath of God. Even when we show them what Christ has done for them

Have you noticed that usually when people accept Christ/meet Him, their first reaction borders tears and soberness? Anyone noticed this? That a new convert is most likely not jumping around at the time of conversion

Samson: Yes

It is because people do not accept to be made right unless first they acknowledge they’ve been wrong. You cannot tell someone to come and join path to life if they believe that is where they are already

The Gospel is truly good news. The acceptance of this news means stripping of self. Some people would rather die than be emptied in such a way.

So what we are doing with these people is pat them on the back and really deceive them that they are on the right path. That is wickedness. You see that first confrontation that brings people’s defense up? We cannot avoid it. This doesn’t mean you should go and be confronting people and be harsh on them in the name of preaching o.

The Gospel will do its work in its own. Ours is to just share it. It’s a loving news so share it lovingly. There’s a difference between sharing in love and patronizing people to avoid backlash. 

One thing God has been hammering to me is the aggressiveness we should apply to evangelism in this season. It’s not a once in a while thing. We evangelize like our lives depend on it

God cares for souls. God cares for men. And He is really counting on us to just tell them about Jesus.

Some of us, it is shame that stops us from preaching the gospel “So people don’t look at us as if we are too spiricoco”. We don’t want to look like uncool kids. 

Hell fire is not cool one bit. Please, preach the gospel to men. 

“So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News. For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.” Romans‬ ‭1:15-16‬ ‭NLT

How many believers look forward to evangelism? Paul looked forward to it. He was eager

By identifying strongly with this gospel, people will leave you. 

You are dating cool Christians? They will walk out on you  “How can my girlfriend be preaching and constituting a nuisance in public transport”. The person is a Christian too 😁

But will we stop?

No! You see that salvation for everyone who believes ehn, is our motivation. And truly, people will believe. I already explained the success part of evangelism to us before now

A strong evangelism key is prayer. Paul longed to preach the gospel in Rome but long before then he was praying for them

“God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son.” Romans‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NLT

Pray for people. Don’t stop. Don’t be weary

Prayer opens the doors to soul winning. Prayer also gives you discernment and helps you with the right words in presenting the Gospel. Cos we can’t go to people reciting the same 4 lines (60s) pastor taught you. Jesus approached the Samaritan woman with discussion on water and introduced Himself as the living water.

Another thing is Love for people. When you love people, you automatically carry the burden to preach

Note that you can’t love people if you don’t love God. And your love for God is seen in how you love people. 

How best do you love he unsaved? Show them the father’s love. This is a prayer point for us all

That God should help the church love people truly so much that our hearts yearn for their salvation. There was a bad habit the Holy Spirit called my attention to

If I’m in a ride ehn (Uber or taxi) and I’m not in the mood or led to preach the gospel, I will fix my earpiece in. I don’t want to hear a word from the driver.

Don’t talk to me abeg

But you see, when I want to preach, I’m all smiles and ready. What if the driver wants to be silent?

What if he doesn’t want small talks like me too?

Another thing was, I used to set out with mindset to evangelize. So it’s like I’m looking for fish to catch with my net 😂😂

We want the Uber driver to listen by force but we don’t want to listen to them

God listens to people. God has an agenda for men o. But He listens to men 

He allows us express.

Genuinely listen and connect.

Also don’t listen to fish out what is wrong in what they are saying 

A lot of us believers do this (even with other believers ). It’s not good. Don’t wait for such perfect moments.

Be led by the spirit: If you are inviting anyone into a life of the spirit, then you yourself must be led by the spirit

Be very sensitive in evangelizing

Good news if not delivered rightly will sound bad

Who determines mode of delivery? The spirit! Allow Him lead you

I’m going to share the remaining part of the messages I got at the  spiritual pool on Feb 20

MESSAGE FROM SPIRITUAL POOL

Don’t stop with the evangelism (tell my children)

Broken men are all around

The walking wounded, all with covered up wounds

Even for believers, I am sending you with comfort to all men

Meet believers? Share your love for me with one another

Hold hands and offer to pray with them in the spirit

Pray with/for men

This is key. I’m doing something with it

My children walk wounded and broken

I want to spread my comfort 

I have rested it in you

Words and healings will flow

I am doing a new thing, a really new thing. I mean this and I wish you all will see it

Part 2

Preparation time is not over, don’t be in a hurry 

Slow down, speed.....

Slow down, speed

I give you influence 

Don’t keep shut about the gospel

You see me. I appear to you

Yes, I come to you!

I speak to you mouth to mouth

You hear clearly

Go back to the promises/word for 2020 and 2021

Dance/rejoice over them

For the Lord God does all He promise

Instructions come

More is coming....

For you,

You think I depart from you?

You think so?

Burn your incense before me 

Watch and see that it is acceptable 

I am with you till the very end of time

Did you miss out on any instruction?

Confused or you forgot something?

ASK ME

I make all things clear

There is a visible mark on you

You are marked as mine and men see

You are equipped with boldness

For me, you are drunks

Full of the spirit

Give Him the reins

Allow Him lead

Let Him control

The lost are brought back and restored

Again,

Speed, flight, catching up.