SERVING GOD IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE AND JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.
In our last fellowship meeting, we discussed the topic: Serving God in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
We began our teaching with the passage of Scripture from 1Peter 4:10,11. We said God has entrusted gift to each Christian to minister to one another for the building up of the church. And we must use this gracious divine endowment we have received to edify, strengthen and establish one another for the healthy and vibrant growth of the church.
From the same passage, we mentioned that God works with us through His grace to inspire us to speak the right words and enable us to minister with His ability.
And in everything, the Father must receive the glory and honour. We cannot draw attention to our ourselves or take any glory in our pursuits of serving God.
WELL, FOR US TO GRACIOUSLY ACHIEVE THE THINGS INDICATED ABOVE–SERVE GOD ACCEPTABLY TO BUILD UP THE CHURCH, AND NOT TO DESTROY OR TEAR IT APART SO THAT THE FATHER WOULD BE GLORIFIED–THE WORD ADMONISHES US TO SERVE THE FATHER IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE AND JOY IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT–ROMANS 14:17–19.
Notice the verse 18 says,” For he who serves Christ in these things –(IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE AND JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT) is acceptable to God and approved by men.”
Our Righteous and Holy God abides in the domain of light. We cannot work in partnership with God to serve His people, if we walk in unrighteousness and abide in darkness. Definitely, He cannot work in us and through us, when we choose not to pursue righteousness as light and darkness cannot fellowship together. We must always endeavour to have the same standing with God in character and conduct for us to work together with Him.
Quite rightly, instead of being controlled by our carnal nature, God’s grace empowers us to live righteously, godly and soberly through His Spirit. We put to death the deeds of the flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit– Romans 8:13. And we produce the fruits of righteousness in our lives through the same Spirit.
GRACE INSPIRES US, ENABLES US AND TRANSFORMS US TO BE EXAMPLE TO THOSE WE SERVE OR LEAD. AND OUR GOOD CONDUCT DECORATES THE GOSPEL WE PREACH. IT MAKES THE TEACHING ABOUT OUR GOD ATTRACTIVE IN EVERY WAY–TITUS 2:10–12.
Sad to say, those who deny or reject the power of the Spirit which works in their lives only have a form of godliness. They live and conduct themselves anyhow in their own strength –2Timothy 3:1–5(NLT). The verse 5 of this passage says, “They act religious, but they reject the power that could make them godly . . .” What a sad commentary!
Peace was the second thing we deliberated on. We said that we must have harmony within ourselves, and work out to live in peace with everyone. Peace is so vital as it binds us together in unity which the Spirit has brought us into –Ephesians 4:3.
We said that in the absence of peace, there is always strife, contention, jealousy, envy in the church, as it were among the Corinthian believers –2Corinthians 12:20. And we found out what such hostile situation breeds among us in James 3:16:”For where envy, and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”
There is disorder and evil of every kind where we fail to live together in harmony. However, “those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”– James 3:18(NLT).
We must, therefore, at all cost work at living in peace with everyone as we depend on His grace–the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.
Joy was the last element we considered in our teaching. Under the Law, the Jews were commanded to serve God with joy and gladness of heart, and they came under divine curse when they violated this law–Deut 28:47–49.
We are not under the Law to come under any divine curse, but God expects us to serve Him with the true and lasting JOY– THE JOY OF THE LORD which the Spirit generates in our hearts.The joy of the Lord strengthens and motivates us to serve in the fervency of the Spirit. It is this joy that inspires and energises us to serve God and others without complaining and murmuring. Always remember, it is the JOY OF THE LORD which is our strength, and not our joy–Nehemiah 8:10; John 15:11.
Let us pursue righteousness, peace and joy in the power of the Holy Spirit, and work together in unity and harmony with God’s zeal to build up the church to His glory.
We will continue.
GRACE COVENANT GLORY FELLOWSHIP
RISING A NEW GENERATION OF BELIEVERS FOR HIS GLORY
Make time to be with us every Saturday between 8am and 10 am.
GOD’S servants: Peter Collins Obeng and David Tsibu.
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