BY THEIR FRUITS, YOU SHALL KNOW THEM! (Season 1) The question now is – how & where do we get to see these fruits for us to identify them or know the kind of tree they sprout from? What are the attributes/features/characteristics that really display these fruits of ours? Is it how well we preach, how fluent we speak in tongues, how deep our commitment are to the activities of God, how fanatic we are in religious legalism or is it way we dress, speak or our attitude? Jerusalem was where Jesus stays most, performed many miracles and after He dies, the disciples received power, perform miracles, baptize, & converted many to believers there but yet; they were not seen as Christ-like people. The religious legalism of the Jerusalem Apostles led to an initial and ultimately fatal subconscious resistance to the Holy Spirit. It blinded them at the time to the greatest mystery of all: the mystery of Christ. At the end of the day, it meant that those listening to them – the Jerusalem church – were not able to so reproduce Christ in the consciousness of Jerusalemites as to be referred to as ‘Christians’ there. What this means is that, in spite of all that happened in Jerusalem, the Jerusalemites could barely distinguish between the disciples and the adherents of Judaism but when Barnabas and Paul (who knew not Christ in the flesh but were more receptive to the Holy Spirit regarding the mystery of Christ, and ministering to the Gentiles) came into the scene, they made spiritual and conceptual progress beyond anything the other Apostles had ever known. And those that sat under their teachings (the Antioch church) were able to so reproduce Christ and there in Antioch, the church, people see Christ, they saw Christ’s consciousness, Christ’s love, Christ’s humility, Christ’s characters and they referred to them as ‘Christians’; something that had never happened before then, not even at Jerusalem where the Church was birthed. No wonder Apostle Paul was able to reach out more than others were because he understood the mystery of Christ – he stays rooted to the Tree called Christ and he produced Christ-like fruits! There was this particular day I was so tired & broke, I boarded a keke napep home & close to my house, this driver saw some passengers waiting & then he stopped and told me to get down. I was puzzled cos I’ve not get to my destination. I asked why & he said I should just get down cos he cannot go further than this, ‘but this is not the agreed place and not that I bargain your price’, the guy just begin to shout and argue. I just looked at him and smiled cos I suppose to be the one shouting and arguing cos im on my right but he is helping me with it. I just get out and give him the N100 waiting for my change. He fumbled his money bank & later told me ‘no change’ and he began to complain and shout again. I look @ this man and I knew he had problem. I told him to leave the change, smile at him & bid him good night. As I start my footwagen, I just saw a keke pull up in front of me and the man alighted & told me to get back into the cab. I was surprise and told him not to worry as the distance is trekable, he can go on & carry his passengers but he insisted and I entered. ‘which type of person u be sef? Despite the fact that you are on your right, you didn’t argue only smile and even when I didn’t take you to the agreed place, you still pay me the agree money and still leave your change with me, abeg tell me which kind girl for our time fit do this type of thing if no be person wey know God?’ he said. Well, I told him two wrongs don’t make a right and beside I am someone not talented in arguing or what is the point of making a scene because of N30 that can’t solve my problem at that moment. I just understood he had problem and I do not wanna add to that. He looked at me and says ‘thank you, you have taught me a lesson today’. He end up giving me his number and make me promise I will always call him whenever I need the service of a keke napep. Well, I am not trying to show how nice or wonderful I am here but you know, that incident got me thinking; if a natural attitude can send a message across to a stranger how much more possessing and displaying the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT which are LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS & SELF-CONTROL! How wonderful and gracious our world would have been? (just getting interesting, watch out for Season 2)
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 11:01:13 +0000
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