COVET SPIRITUAL VIRTUE

 


Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi

1 Cor 12:31 KJV "But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way."
  The scriptures speaks of God’s love for mankind demonstrated in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins.  No greater love has any man than he should lay down his life for another man. It was God’s desire for fellowship and family bonding in an atmosphere of unconditional love that necessitated the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
       Jesus Christ did not come to condemn but to save the world by reconciling us back to God . The process of reconciliation can only be attained when we value a relationship. You want to be as far as possible from someone you detest. Sometimes this could be as a result of not knowing the person enough to gain their trust and vice versa. Ironically, the average person tends to hate persons that we know little or nothing about. It would amaze you to know how loving some of the persons we despise are if we got a little closer to them in fellowship.
     Nature abhors vacuums that is why it is very easy to be suspicious of persons when there is a break in communication between us .  It is for this reason that many persons are afraid to make a commitment to serve God because of what religion portrays him to be : a person with no desire for a relationship whose only interest is to have humans as slaves . This is far from what Jesus Christ displayed during his earthly ministry. He shared in human emotions as proof that God is emotional, he enjoyed the company of friends, attended weddings , burials , wept and so on.
     The human emotions is a gift from God designed to better appreciate creation and one another and should be employed in worshiping God . We tend to value what we are emotional about . It is for this reason that the scriptures says in 1 Corinthians 12:31 that we should covet spiritual virtues . This is how we bond with the father . The word  ‘covet’ is the Greek  word ‘Zeloo ‘ it means : to have warmth of feeling for or against. To give an idea of the meaning of this word : imagine what happens when you are hugged by someone you love, maybe a dear friend, parent , mentor, spouse etc . There is an emotional exchange that is beyond scientific description. You cannot deny the feeling, it is tangible, intuitive, volitional, magnetic . That’s is what keeps us yearning for the presence of such persons in our lives .
     It is  our yearning for spiritual values that unveils the beauty of God’s holiness and the resurrection power of Jesus Christ . This is how we overcome materialism and selfishness which is behind the chaos in the world . The revelation of God’s word to the believer should be as exciting as receiving financial riches  , Ps 119:14 says “ I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches.”  Also Ps 119:162-163  TLB “I rejoice in your laws like one who finds a great treasure” . in our daily prayers we should ask the lord to help us become more heavenly minded , Colossians:3:2 NIV says  “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things .”  
   It easy to be heavenly minded when we realize that in reality God is not impressed by our earthly achievements , the word of God says in  Jer 9:23-24  TLB The Lord says: "Let not the wise man bask in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his might, nor the rich man in his riches.  Let them boast in this alone: That they truly know me, and understand that I am the Lord of justice and of righteousness whose love is steadfast; and that I love to be this way. “
Prayer : Heavenly Father forgive me of my sins against you, I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation I  receive him as lord and savior and receive an ever increasing appetite for the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ .
+2348035536911 +2348098536911 email:michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BREAK EVIL FAMILY PATTERNS

Image
 By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi  Titus 1:12 -14 "One of themselves,   even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians   are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.  This  witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply,  that they may be sound in the faith;  Not giving  heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of  men, that turn from the truth."       The church in Crete was in disarray and the apostle assigned Titus to go and put things in order . On investigation it was discovered the church suffered from a vicious cycle of evil family  patterns. They were not enjoying the fruits of the salvation experience . An example of evil family patterns is that of King David who defiled Uriah's wife ,murdered him and his son Absalom murdered his brother Amnon (2Sam13) dethroned him and defiled his concubines openly (2Samuel16). His son Amnon defiled his sister Tamar (2Sam.13) and so on yet David was the anointed of the Lord....
Read more

COMMON CAUSES OF DISUNITY.

Image
 By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi "Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following."Acts 20:30 NLT   "An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin." Proverbs 29:22 NLTBible        Disunity is defined as : disagreement and conflict within a group. It is the greatest hindrance to the promotion of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Disunity creates an avenue for Satan to promote sin.       The causes of disunity are not farfetched ,they include : Unhealthy Crave for power or self- promotion. Whenever there is an unhealthy pursuit of influence in a family or group it results in resistance. Self-promotion gives birth to unfair practices and injustices. In Numbers 12: 1-15  Moses' sister Miriam and Aaron rebelled against him desiring to rule by force and in Numbers 16 :1-35 Korah led an insurrection against Moses desiring to be part of leadership. In both cases ,God wa...
Read more

CONSEQUENCES OF LACK OF FAITH

Image
By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi " Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God." Hebrews 3:12 NLTBible  ' Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”John 20:27 NLTBible     Faith is the guarantee of the manifestation an unseen reality . It is the reason behind the hope we have in God and the fulfilment of his promises. It is the substance ( title deed) of things hoped for ,the evidence of things not seen (Hebrew 11:1) .The Bible warns against not having faith in God. Lack of faith is equal to calling God a liar and untrustworthy. This type of reasoning turns us into enemy's of God.    The gospel is so much under attack by the activities of faithless religionists . They plan to replace the holy scripture with humanistic dogma. The danger in this is the relative...
Read more