REFRESHED BY MUSIC

-By Gavin Aleogho

 “Music is one of the fairest and most glorious gifts of God, to which Satan is a bitter enemy, for it removes from the heart the weight of sorrow, and the fascination of evil thoughts.”  -Martin Luther 

There is something about “Holy Spirit inspired music” which I discovered from my early walk with the Lord that has made me to remain glued to them. And that is the spiritual refreshing I get from it. This is besides the worship experience I am drawn into. I guess, I am not the only one that has such testimony.

King Saul experienced deliverance from the evil spirit of depression that was tormenting him whenever David the lad played music for him. And never forget that David played under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This implies that, a Spirit inspired music can wade-off evil and demonic presence. You can try it also. Whenever you are depressed, sad, fearful or in doubt, switch on a good gospel music and see the great deliverance you will experience.

Another lesson from the story shows that a Holy Spirit inspired song changes the atmosphere of the place where it is being played. It charges the atmosphere with the presence of God. And you should know that the presence of God comes with peace, glory, freedom and rest.

You can enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost in your house by consciously changing the atmosphere of your house with good gospel songs; I do this a lot and can tell you for real that it works.

“And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him”. 1 Samuel 16:23.

Get rid of secular songs that invoke demonic presence around you, which influences you with the spirit of sexual seduction, lust, violence, greed, selfishness etc.

Your music selection should pass the Philippians 4:8 and the Colossians 3:2-5 tests. They should be songs that are promoting truth, noble, just by God’s standard, pure, lovely and good report. They should be songs that promote godly virtues and are praiseworthy. It should be songs that help you to foster your relationship with your Father-God.

Don’t waste your time listening to the songs of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:5). Keep your heart clean. Stay refreshed in the spirit and be inspired.

“It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools.” Ecclesiastes 7:5.

YOU ARE IDENTIFIED BY YOUR FRUIT

- By Gavin Aleogho

The production of fruit is what differentiates a fruitful tree and an unfruitful one. The fruit of a tree is what makes it visible to all what kind of tree it is. So, when you are in doubt about what tree you are looking at, check out for its fruits.

In the same vein, what shows that we are in Christ and that we are His Disciples is when we produce fruit after His manner. We cannot say we are of the light and are producing fruits of unrighteousness. That is contrary to the nature of Christ, our Saviour.

You are not identified by your activities or by what you say or what you claim to be. The saying that “action speaks louder that voice” applies here. When an individual gets to a new environment, people begin to watch that person for a period of time, maybe for some couple of months or years. After which, they begin to form an opinion about this individual based on the fruit of his character he has manifested over the period of time.

You can’t fool anybody, just like Jesus spoke about the false prophets, that, “by their fruit we shall know them”, so also does that saying applies to you. By your fruit people gets to know what kind of person you are. You may fool them initially, but after some period of time, your true character will begin to manifest.

Thus, as Disciples of Jesus Christ, you are expected to exhibit the same character trait of Jesus. You are expected to speak, act and do things like Jesus. Anything contrary to this only points to the fact that you are never a Christian but only a wolves in Christian (sheep) clothing. You are only an imposter.

The only major sign of a true Christian to the people of the world, as a proof of his followership of Jesus is simply by the kind of fruit that he manifests. And by fruit, it implies character traits as spelt out in Galatians 5:22-23.

The sign of our Christianity to the world is not by the long and loud prayers we make in our apartments, nor the big size of our Bible or the saintly way we dress, but by our godly character. We should strive to produce godly fruits; it is by this people will know that we are Jesus’ Disciples.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”. Galatians 5:22-23.

GROW SPIRITUALLY OR DIE

-By Gavin Aleogho

No man is born a full-grown overnight. Growth to any living organism comes with the passage of time and as a result of having the right nutrients. When any plant or animal does not take in the right nutrients or when it is not exposed to the right environment, it is bound to die. Our walk of faith is similar to this.

When an individual gets born again, although he or she might be an adult, but he is considered a spiritual babe in Christ, thus the term “born again” or “born anew”. He needs to intentionally “work out his salvation” to ensure that he grows up to become a matured Christian, this is solely an individual responsibility. Although, God has made the provisions available to all that wants to attain spiritual maturity; an enabling environment of the Church and the fellowship of Believers. He has also made available the spiritual nutrients needed which is the Word of God (1 Peter 2:2).

Today, besides the Bible, there are countless numbers of spiritual (Christian) books available to help you grow.  There are innumerable numbers of articles written, both on the web and on hardcopy which are written by inspired Christian authors to help you grow spiritually.

Thank God for the internet; there are countless numbers of audio and video messages online readily available for you to take advantage of. Thus, “oh man thou art inexcusable”.

I will quickly want to put a caution here, just as I will not recommend just any gathering in the name of a Church for you to fellowship with, I will also warn you not to consume anyhow material whether written, audio or video. For some are never inspired by the Holy Spirit to bless you.

The whole essence of this short piece is to wake you up to take responsibility for your spiritual growth. You don’t have excuse why you should not be growing spiritually. If you are not growing, it is your fault. You can never take advantage of the full package of salvation, until you grow spiritually. If you are not growing spiritually, you are dying gradually.

“Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world”. Galatians 4:1-3.

BONDSERVANT OF CHRIST

- By Gavin Aleogho

One of the Apostles who understood the concept of servanthood in Christianity can be said to be Apostle Paul. In several of his letters, which are part of the New Testament, we see that he always referred to himself as either “servant” or “bondservant” of Christ (Romans 1:1, Galatians 1:10, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:7, Titus 1:1).

He was totally committed to the course of Christ because of this understanding. This is definitely one major reason why he did much for the course of the gospel, for he was totally sold out to the course of his Master, Christ.

Apostle Peter (2 Peter 1:1), James (James 1:1), Jude (Jude 1:1) and even John (Revelation 1:1) also reflect this concept in their letters. This shows that the concept of being a “servant of Christ” was not foreign to the early Church or fathers of faith. Rather, it was one of the fabrics of humility that the Church was founded upon.

There is a level of commitment to the course of the Kingdom of God that you will never attain until you grasp this revelation of becoming a servant of Jesus Christ. There will be limitation to your walk with God if you don’t understand and accept this concept. Your personal motives (will) will keep interfering with the will of God if you don’t appreciate this. Ignorant of this concept will make you to misbehave and misuse the gifts and endowment of God upon your life (Matthew 24:45-51) for personal gain or intention.

Yes, we should never forget that we are friends of God, we are sons and daughters of God and that we are joint heirs with Christ. All these are fundamental truths which are biblical. But if we don’t balance it with the truth that we are “servants of Christ” we will slip into spiritual apostate by becoming spiritually proud and self-righteous. It is the concept of servanthood that brings the balance of humility to your life. It helps you to see yourself for who you really are, as one saved by the grace of God.

The moment you start seeing yourself as God’s servants, your perspective about ministry, worldly possession and life will change drastically.  You will begin to understand and accept the fact that you are only a tool in God’s hand whom He can use to fulfill his purpose. And you will be ready to answer yes, whenever He calls. As Christ your Master wishes, He should do with your lives the way He pleases. You should be rest assured that all He does with your life is for your benefit.

"So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'" Luke 17:10.