Thursday, June 28, 2007



THE POWER OF THE TOWEL Pt 1

I had a lovely discussion with my very dear pal, Lamide Eso, on the issue of leadership and servanthood today and I personally feel I should post this thoughts for our consideration, Because if we get it in this area, I dont see how we can fail in life and ministry.

In I Corinthians 12:12-27, Paul gives us a picture of the church as a body with many members. In verses 24 and 25 of that scripture, Paul highlights the fact that God has designed the body in such a way that the members should care for one another, so that there will be no schism or division in the body.

This principle holds true in the human body even at a microscopic level. Every cell in the body is designed to fulfill a specific function for the good of the whole body. Some cells are grouped together and called a tissue, some tissues are grouped together and called an organ. But their coming together is still for one purpose - to serve the entire body.
When every member of the body is fulfilling its role as a servant, Paul says in Ephesians 4:16, that the body is edified and there will be growth. The opposite is also true - when a cell or group of cells loses its sense of servanthood, the entire body suffers - to a greater or lesser degree. The church is only as strong as the degree to which its members are willing to serve.

As the days of Jesus on earth were winding to a close, it seems He was particularly eager to bring this message across to His disciples. He seemed to be saying to them: "I am about to leave you, and you will be my body on the earth. You will only be as strong as your willingness to serve" But it seemed that the disciples were so locked into their own agenda, they didn't get it.
Right up to the last few months of His earthly ministry, Jesus' disciples were still clamouring for titles and jockeying for positions. So He decided to give them an object lesson. He said "I am going to leave you with two weapons; and you are going to have to learn when to use each one rather than the other". Jesus left them with a sword and a towel and seemed to say to them "your ability to discern when and how to use each weapon will determine how strong My body will be"
When we fight in the heavenly realm; and contend against principalities and forces of darkness, of course the weapon of choice should be the sword. Ephesians 6:13. When we are dealing with other members of the body, our tool is the towel.

Every believer is called to be both a soldier and a servant. A soldier carries a sword and a servant carries a towel. When we are dealing with the devil and his agents, we are soldiers and are expected to wield the sword, but when we deal with other believers, we are servants and should approach them with the towel. When we confuse these weapons, we divide the body and render it ineffective.
Three events in the final week of Jesus' earthly ministry effectively illustrate this principle.
John 12: 1-3
While the disciples were jockeying for positions at the right hand and left hand side of Jesus, Mary discovered that there was a lot of room at His feet. She washed His feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. I Corinthians 11:15 says a woman's hair is her glory and her covering. So this woman takes her glory and uses it to wipe the dust and the animal dung from Jesus' feet.
In Mark 14:6 Jesus commended her saying "she has done a good work for me" and in verse 9, He testified that her action would be memorialised around the world.
John 13: 1-10
Six days later, the disciples gather in the upper room for the Last Supper. They all sat to eat with unwashed feet. The entire room was smelling, but they had quickly forgotten how Mary changed the atmosphere five days earlier by taking the position of a servant.
When we refuse to serve, the house of God stinks. It stinks to God and it stinks to our guests. The atmosphere of any house is determined by the attitude of the servants.When you deal with any organisation, you make your first impression based on the people who serve you, not by the directors or chief executive.
Many times people reject Christ because they first have to wade through the muck and mire of our flesh as believers - they are first confronted with the dust and dung of our ego.

Mahatma Ghandi once said "I like Christianity, I would have been a Christian if it were not for Christians"
When we learn to wash each other's feet, we clean away the mess in each other's lives and release the fresh fragrance of God's anointing in our services.Galatians 6: 1-3 - "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ."The law of Christ is the law of the anointing. When instead of applying the towel to our brethren's weaknesses, we swing the sword, we dismember the body and render it ineffective.
John 8:10

The third incident occurred on the same night. Jesus had told them earlier to all go and get a sword - Luke 22:36. When the Roman soldiers came to arrest Jesus, His disciples thought "This must be the reason why He told us to get a sword - now is the time to use our swords". So they asked Him "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" - Luke 22:49
But Peter did not wait for an answer; he immediately pulled his sword and cut off the High Priest's servant's ear. Jesus then commanded him to put his sword back into its sheath.
Peter must have been wondering - "If He didn't want us to use the sword, why did He tell us to get one? Had Jesus answered Peter's thoughts His answer would have sounded something like this "Peter, right weapon - wrong realm. When you swing the sword on earth, you dismember My body".

It takes maturity to keep your sword in its sheath even though you know you can use it. Earlier that same night as He shared communion with them, Jesus had commanded them "Do this in remembrance of me" I Corinthians 11: 23-26. Could it be that He was saying that our serving one another would re-unite His disjointed and dismembered body? Luke 23: 39-42
When that thief said "remember me", is it possible that he wasn't just asking Jesus to be mindful of him? It is possible that he was asking Jesus to put his disjointed body back together again? Or could he even have been asking to be joined to the body of Christ where he belonged?
When we serve one another, we re-member the body of Christ;When we swing the sword, we dis-member the body.


***IF YOU CAN SEE IN THE SPIRITUAL, YOU CAN NEVER BE BOUND IN THE PHYSICAL***

Monday, June 18, 2007




MOLADE's COMMENT

THE LAW OF CONNECTION

Whao! that's a very great right up.


I quite understand what it means to understand the spiritual laws of God and how it affects our physical lives.I remember i had a challenge that i fought spiritually through prayer. This helped me to walk into the physical manifestation of the solution to the Challenge.

And, Kenny, this is to let you know that you are very intelligent.

Don't forget that eyes have not seen, nor ears heard neither has it entered the mind of men what God has in store for you if you continue to connect with Him.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007


LAMIDE'S COMMENT

LAW OF CONNECTION

It has been an experience reading this article.

Thank you for Publishing such a wonderful article.

Basically we are all connected to a source, which is God. Why some people find life uneasy is because, at some point in their lives they have become disconnected from that source. Think about this-A river flows from a source and once that source dries up, the river dries up. That is the same thing that happens to a believer that is not constantly connected to God.

Psalm 1 vs 1-3 says "blessed is the man who does not walk in the councel of the wicked.......... but his delight is in the law of the lord, and he meditates.............he is like a tree planted by streams of water.........and whatsoever he does prospers.

My emphasis is, so far u are connected to the source(God), u will prosper, u will yeild fruits, u will meet the right people at the right time, you will meet the people that will change the course of your life for good.As all these things are happening , the devil will also try to give u a counterfiet of God's connection. If u are not sensitive enough, U could fall victim to his devices.But the good news is that there is a spirit in us that helps us to discern who is the right connection and who is not.

I'll like to say in conclusion that the gift of a man makes way for him. So it is wise to sow to a life today, give food to a hungry child, give to the needy,put a smile on the faces of people around u. Just make it a point of duty to bless as many people that come ur way. You never know who you're helping. As u do this, ur tree of connection grows.

This is the secret that will help you climb the ladder of success.