The Power of Mutual Faith

"Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment on the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garment. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountain of Zion: for the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Psalms 133:1-3)
      This portion of scripture is the record of one of the songs of King David –as inspired by the Lord. Note that in virtually every psalm, there in a divine revelation, instruction or encouragement for the believers.
      This particular one is no exception at all. It’s a clear revelation of what happens when the body of Christ is united. First the psalmist said behold how good. That is, it is simply a good thing for the body of Christ to be united; for brethren to dwell together in unity.
      In contrast, it is bad for the body of Christ, when it is not united. Ill things happen. The devil is given a free course to operate and the people are not able to fulfill their glorious destinies in Christ. Same thing happens in organizations; when their members are not united, there is no advancement.
      In the next verse, the psalmist used a very beautiful illustration; comparing what happens in any united group to the ointment on the head of Aaron –which ran down through his beard to his skirt (top to bottom). In the times of old, ointment refers to a form of perfume or scent. In other portions of the Bible, it refers to anointing or unction. We can conclude therefore that ointment, as used in this text refers to the unction for advancement that comes upon every group, church or family when they are united together. It refers to the bond that operates from the head of the group through its hierarchy to the last person. When such bond is in place, the things that happen thereafter are how pleasant.
      Furthermore, the third verse compares what happens in every united group to the dew of Hermon. Dew as we all know brings with it a cool and fresh atmosphere. This is a symbol of Peace. The body of Christ experiences Peace that passes all understanding, when it is united together.
        Just How Important is Mutual Faith?
      “Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man; unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
      First, know that mutual faith builds an undefeatable church. It makes the believers too strong for the enemy. The unity of faith produces people who are according to this verse, perfect men –who have grown unto the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ. Simply put, when believers unite together in any group, they operate above the natural. They are unstoppable.
      1 Peter 3:8-9 gives this admonition: “finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.” My understanding of this verse is that every united church is a blessed church. Every united family is a prosperous one. Same with every other group you could think of. When you are all of one mind, you are sure to inherit a blessing.
      Do you know that Jesus even prayed to the Father that the church should be united? He said “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one…” (John 17:22-23). He craved that the church should be one –which is a requirement for perfection.
      Also, Jesus did not only pray for unity among believers, He took deliberate steps to unite them. That’s why He said “and other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” (John 10:16). He was consciously going out to bring everyone into one fold. If Jesus could pray and deliberately unite believers, then mutual faith is non-negligible! It helps the church to be made perfect in one.  
      Listen to the admonition of Paul; “Now I beseech you brethren, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10). I love the phrase that ye all speak the same thing. That is, everyone being of one language –no one contradicting another. Such groups would simply be unstoppable.
      If you read Romans 12:15-21, you will discover that the whole essence of the Church in the first place is to unite the world –producing people who would be of the same mind, condescend to people of low estate, operating in love and doing no evil. Our Gospel cannot be preached correctly unless we are united in faith (Philippians 1:27).
      Everything goes well when believers operate in the unity of faith. Churches grow, families thrive, the body of Christ is undefeatable and God’s Name is glorified (1 Corinthians 12:12).
      Ecclesiastes 4:9 says “two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour.” What accompanies every united group is a good reward for their labour. They make unstoppable progress. In Verse 12 of the same chapter, it says “…a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
      I admonish us therefore according to Ephesians 4:3 to “Endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace!”  

CHALLENGING YOURSELF TO SUCCEED

One night in mid 2011, I was in the “common room” of the hostel block where I lived in the university; to watch a football match. As at this time, I was a final year student. The match was an “el-classico” between Real Madrid and Barcelona; and you could imagine how packed the common room was.  
The hall was so filled up that there were no longer chairs to sit on. Therefore, those of us who arrived a bit late had to stand behind. As our custom was, we usually switched off the lights so that we could feel as though we were in a cinema. That way, we could enjoy whatsoever we were watching.
Mid-way through the game, somebody shouted “Snake!, Snake!” Everybody began to run out. Remember the lights were turned off; the room was dark and jam-packed. Everyone was running, not just because of the snake, but because it was dark and you never knew if the supposed snake was just underneath your leg.
Those thoughts ran through my mind within seconds and I wasn’t even close to the door. There was only one exit and as a result, people began to fall at the mouth of the door as everyone attempted getting out fast. It resulted to a bit of a stampede.
As I scrambled my way toward the exit, it became glaring that I wouldn’t reach the door as fast as I ought to. By this time, the thought was coming so strong into my mind again; “the snake could be close to your feet right now.”
Adjacent the exit door was a wall with a very small window close to the ceiling. The window was so narrow and high, it was far above my head. On a normal day, I wouldn’t dare to jump through that window. It was too high. But when the thoughts of the snake increased in my mind, I never knew where the motivation came from. I just found myself jumping up, grabbing the window, pulling myself high and scaling through to the other side of the wall; landing at the courtyard.
All these -from the moment the snake alarm was raised to the moment I landed in the courtyard, was about 20 seconds. How could I have done such an incredible thing within a few seconds? Something must have pushed me inside. Of course, something must have chased me right? My word! I was motivated.
Interestingly, we all got to find out that the snake alarm was just a false-alarm. The guy who raised the alarm just played a prank on us. You could imagine how mad at him we all were.
However, that day, I discovered I could do something I never imagined I could even try. I did it without preparation. I had this un-tapped ability in me already but I never knew until something came up.
That’s how it is in life. Everybody on earth has un-tapped abilities that are yet to be expressed. Many people have potentials that are yet to manifest. The reason is simple; they are not challenging themselves enough to bring out those potentials.
Dr. Myles Munroe (of blessed memory) used to tell us that the graveyard is the richest place on earth. His reasons were simple. That’s where you’ll find books that were never published, songs that were never written, stories that remained untold and visions that never saw the light of the day.
I could jump through that window because something challenged me inside. In life, you have to challenge yourself. In physics, we are told that an object will always remain at the same spot until a relevant force is applied to it.
Similarly, life will always be stagnated of anyone who will not challenge himself to move forward. You cannot be great because you are gifted. You will only become great when you manifest yourself in areas of your gifting.

~Isaac John Akagu
-excerpt  from my book: Unleashing the Star in You. 

Sources of Talents

EVERY GOOD GIFT COMES FROM GOD
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”   (James 1:17)
“Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above who created all heaven’s lights; unlike them, He never changes or casts shifting shadows.”    (James 1:17, NLT)
There are good gifts and there are bad gifts. But every good gift comes from God. In fact, everything God deposited in man was good. However, through satanic influences, some people acquire bad gifts from the devil.
Jesus explains this better in John 8:44. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it”
Jesus says the devil is father to certain individuals who will replicate his characteristics –a murderer and a liar. Also, the devil is called the thief and the destroyer in John 10:10.
There are people who are gifted liars; but God couldn’t have gifted anyone to lie. It must behave come from the devil. It’s a bad gift. There are people who are talented thieves; they just pick up anything they see. They got that from their father –the devil. There are many murderers, destroyers adulterers and so on. God never gives such gifts to anyone. They’re all from the devil, no doubt.
Those under the influence of Satan are gifted with bad talents, but those under God’s influence exhibit good gifts. It’s simple! In 1 John 3:9-10, John the Beloved said “whosoever is born of God does not commit sin…In this, the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God…”The Apostle clearly states that there are Children of God and there are children of the devil. Everyone exhibits the gifting of whom he belongs.
With Whom is No Variableness!
God is never partial. He gave gifts to all men (Ephesians 4:8); and there is no variableness with his gifts (James 1:17). He doesn’t give powerful gifting to some and less important ones to others. Your talent is just as important as anyone else’ own. God has no respect for persons (2 Chronicles 19:7b). He’s given good gifts to everyone.
Your success depends on how you are able to utilize yours. Romans 9:12 says “…the same lord over all is rich unto all…” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:4: “Now there are diversities (different types) of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are different administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all” (Emphasis mine).
Also, “There is One body and One Spirit, even as ye are called in One hope of your calling: One Lord, One faith, One baptism, One God and One Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:4-7).
There is a measure of the gift of Christ in everyone; and it is a pointer to each one’s destiny. We’re in the same Body of Christ but we’re given diversities of gifts to function in different areas. These gifts come from God –the Father of lights; with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.


~Isaac John Akagu
(Excerpt from my book:  your talent and your destiny)