THE FUNCTION OF FAITH

 
 - Gavin Aleogho

Besides other functions of faith, I will love to show you two important functions of faith. If you can apply this truth in the order it is presented, you will definitely see results as you exercise your faith.
 
First, Faith Is For Pleasing God
 
The first and most important use of faith is for pleasing God. I know this might sound different from what you’ve been taught that faith is for receiving from God. We will come to that, but it is very important that you accept the truth that primarily, the use of faith is for pleasing God.
 
Going to the book of Hebrews 11 that talks about faith, verse 6 points to the fact that faith is for pleasing God.
 
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
 
Looking at the patriarch of faith, you will discover that their primary motive of believing and following God was not to receive from God but to please him. Every exhibition of their faith was geared towards pleasing God.
 
For instance, there was no record that Enoch had a personal need that compels him to follow God the way he did.
 
Even father Abraham; although he had needs, nevertheless despite his needs, he was willing to forfeit his needs to please God. That was why even when one of his major needs was met (that is, the birth of Isaac), he was willing to sacrifice Isaac just to please the Lord in whom he had faith in. Thus, you can see that Abraham’s faith was primarily to please God.
 
In the same vein, our faith should be aimed at pleasing God by first of all believing that God is real (that He exists). Next, is to exhibit our faith by living our lives every day to please this God who is real, in accordance with His will.
 
Therefore, you can’t say that you have faith in God when in secret you can still comfortably break His law. Your action simply shows that you don’t really believe that He exists. If you do, it will affect your conduct both in the secret and in the public.
 
Thus, when you decide not to do that evil, not because anyone will know, but simply because you have faith that God is real and He sees you even in that dark room; that is faith.
 
This is the starting point of the function of faith in the life of a believer.
 
Secondly, Faith Is For Spiritual Transactions
 
The second use of faith that I will love to share with you is that faith is for spiritual transactions.
 
You can’t do business in this Kingdom that we have been brought in if you lack faith. That is why God gave us a measure of faith when we got born again (Romans 12:3). This is to enable us to transact effectively in this kingdom of light. And the good thing is that, we can grow our faith so as to do bigger spiritual transactions.
 
So, what do these transactions entail?
 
i.                    To receive anything from God, you need faith.
ii.                  You need faith to put to fleet the host of darkness that crosses your path.
iii.                You need faith to enforce the authority that has been given to you in Christ Jesus.
iv.               You can’t effectively relate and walk with the Holy Spirit without faith.
v.                 It takes faith to obey God even when it does not make logical sense.
 
Sincerely speaking, you can’t do any of the above spiritual transactions if you lack faith. Even though you have faith, if you don’t know how to transact, you will still be ineffective.
 
But thank God for the instrumentality of God’s word and the Person of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us to help us learn how to put our faith to work. The more we yield to Him, the more our faith produces results.
 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPASSION IN MINISTRY

-Gavin Aleogho

It is my discovery and experience that if a minister of the gospel lacks compassion for anybody or any people that he is ministering to, he can’t really minister in the power of God to meet their needs. But when compassion is developed, it is easy to release and flow in the anointing. For the anointing flows when compassion is present. I am not talking about head-knowledge love, but real compassionate love for the person or people you are ministering to.
 
This is one basic truth everyone who wants to do miracles and walk in the miraculous must understand. If you lack compassion, you can’t see the power of God flow through you.
 
This principle was exemplified by our Lord Jesus Christ; compassion always precedes the miracles He does. Before Lazarus was raised back to life, the Bible recorded that “Jesus wept” (John 11:35); that was an expression of compassion. Such compassion is the kind of love that always changes situations.
 
Some references that point to the fact that our Lord Jesus always shows compassion before doing miracles are found in the following scripture:
 
35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
36 But when he saw the multitudes, HE WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION ON THEM, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Matthew 9:35-38
 
And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was MOVED WITH COMPASSION TOWARD THEM, and he healed their sick.
Matthew 14:14
 
Before Jesus fed the 4000, He had compassion for them.
 
Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I HAVE COMPASSION ON THE MULTITUDE, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
Matthew 15:32
 
Before Jesus gave sight to the two blind men, He had compassion for them.
 
So JESUS HAD COMPASSION ON THEM, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
Matthew 20:34
 
I can go on and show you many other scriptures, how Jesus’ compassion precedes the miracles He did. So, you can see that He didn't just have sympathy, but He also went further to give a helping hand. His love was practical; with the aim of changing a situation into something better.
 
It is my discovery that the stronger the compassion that I have for the people I am ministering to, the stronger the anointing of God flows to bring healing, baptism of the Holy Ghost, deliverance and enlightenment.
 
Do you want to see the sick healed through your hands? Have compassion for them.
 
Do you want to see insane (mad) people delivered through your hands? Have compassion for them.
 
Do you want to be used by God to feed hungry people, to meet the needs of orphans and the less privileged? Have compassion for them.
 
Your compassion does two things; it opens you up for God to give you the resources to meet the need at hand and it also helps you to channel the resources appropriately.
 
One of the reasons why God is using me in the area of enlightening the body of Christ with the truth of the word of God is simply because of the compassion I have for brethren who are sincerely ignorant about the basic truth of the Kingdom of God. It is not compassion that is infected with pride or criticism, but one that is filled with love, humility, sympathy and is willing to be used by God to bring light to the Church through the instrumentality of the word of God which in itself is light itself.
 
Without genuine compassion, our ministry becomes showmanship and eye-service that is only geared at receiving the praise of men not minding God’s approval.

COMPASSION, A DRIVING FORCE OF AGAPE LOVE

 

- Pst. Gavin Aleogho

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV

 

I have often been asked, “why is it that a lot of Christians do not live a life of practical love for their neighbours, despite the fact that a lot is being said about love in Christianity?”

 

I believe one of the missing components that hinder a lot of Christians from expressing true love to their neighbours is the component of compassion.

 

It is my discovery that if you lack compassion you can’t show kingdom love to anybody. You can claim to have lip-service love, but when it comes to the practicality of agape love you will be found wanting.

 

It is the element of compassion that allows us to have pity on our neighbours and go further to show them God’s love, practically. Thus, agape love cannot be expressed when compassion is lacking in our hearts. For compassion is a thing of the heart. It is not a thing of the head.

 

Compassion is showing sympathy for the suffering of another with the desire to help. Thus, it is not enough to just have sympathy. If it is genuine compassion, you must move to the next stage of asking yourself, “what can I do to help this person?”

 

Agape love must involve having sympathy for your neighbour who is in need and also the willingness to give a helping hand to get the person out of what he/she is going through.

 

When we were lost in our sins, God didn’t just have pity on us, He went further to provide a solution to our sinful state by giving His Only Begotten son to die for us.

 

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

 

Why is compassion vital in the act of showing agape love?

 

God’s -kind-of-love is transformational in nature. That is, it has the ability to change the object that it loves. But this cannot be achieved without the element of compassion. If you lack the element of compassion in your heart, your love will not be able to change or affect another man.

 

True love is action and it is aimed at transforming another man’s situation into a better situation. When compassion is lacking, our love only becomes lip services, without the power to change anybody.

 

For instance, if you are concerned with the sinful state of a neighbour who is not born again, then your compassion should push you to do the needful of praying and preaching the word of God to the neighbour.

 

In the same vein, if you claim to love your neighbour who is in need, then your compassion should push you to give what you can to help get the individual out of that situation.

 

So, you can see that compassion is the driving force that causes our love to flow from our hearts to another person.

 

If compassion must have enough driving force, then it must have the element of sympathy. And sympathy is the ability to understand and show pity or sorrow for the pain or distress of another. Thus, genuine sympathy is given birth to when we understand the situation a person is going through and then identify with the person in question, by putting ourselves in their shoes. That is what is called empathy.

 

Empathy is the ability to identify with and understand somebody else's feelings or difficulties. It is the act of putting yourself in another person’s shoes so as to feel what they are feeling.

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Romans 12:15

 

That was what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us, He identified with our weakness by coming to the earth and putting on flesh so as to feel what we were going through.

 

Hence, our Lord Jesus Christ knows what it means to be living on planet earth.

He knows what it means to be weak in the flesh.

He knows what it means to be tired.

 

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15.

 

For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

Hebrews 5:1-2.

 

It is difficult to give a helping hand to a neighbour when you can’t feel what they are feeling. You have to put yourself in their shoes. If you were in their shoes, how would you want to be treated?

 

 Compassion Is One Of God’s Character

 

The following scriptures point to the fact that God our Father is a compassionate God.

 

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

 

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

Psalm 103:13

 

If we claim to be God’s children, we must also exhibit this attribute of compassion in dealing with our fellow humans.

 

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Colossians 3:12

 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV