The spirit of God says through Apostle Paul in Philippians 2: 1 - 11 about the responses, fruits and attitude of a believer after receiving the blessing, compassion and love from Christ, our Lord.
The word of God says as,“1.If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, 2. Complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. 3. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, 4. each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others.5. Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, 6. Who,* though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.7. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance,8. he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10.that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11.and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Whoever benefited by the holy spirit in their life, it can be spiritual encouragements, compassion and love are invited to produce more fruits in the church being united, sharing the same mindset and love with a single spiritual heart , aiming and embracing the very nature of Jesus Christ. If we are genuinely one in our heart, there is no comparison between among ourselves, no competition and no room for dispute and arguments. The obedience and self-denial are the steps towards humility and there is no spirituality without them. The same humility invoked the kindness, mercy, compassion, unconditional love in the life of Jesus and the culmination was on the cross and thereby he pleased his heavenly father and with these all commandments had been fulfilled.
Attitude of Christ
The First sin occurred in Universe among the angels in the heaven was from pride,
Isaiah, 14, 12-16
12. How did you come to fall from the heavens, Daystar, son of Dawn? 13. How did you come to be thrown to the ground, conqueror of nations? 14. You who used to think to yourself: I shall scale the heavens; higher than the stars of God I shall set my throne. I shall sit on the Mount of Assembly far away to the north. 14. I shall climb high above the clouds, I shall rival the Most High." 15. Now you have been flung down to Sheol, into the depths of the abyss! 16. When they see you, they will scrutinise you and consider what you have become, "Is this the man who made the world tremble, who overthrew kingdoms?
Pride caused the fall of rebellious angels from the heaven and waiting for the eternal hell fire. But, if we look at the attitude of Jesus, the son of God, he was completely obedient and ready to take the image of man forgetting his equality with God and because of that heavenly father raised his name above all. Again if we go through the attitude of Mother Mary, mother of God, she was obedient and completely submitted herself to the will of God and thereby all generations praise her. The obedience of Jesus was not to his father alone and it continued throughout his life in his relation to his parents and authority wherever he lived and to the Law of Moses. Even after being obedient he took the cross and surrendered all his life to the will of the heavenly father .Mother Mary silently witnessed all these incidents, silently carried the cross in her heart. The spiritual meaning of self-denial means being obedient, take the cross and follow Jesus and says it in Mathew 16:24 ,
Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
When Jesus denied himself he did not bother about himself and considered all others more important. Even on the cross, he was concerned about the salvation of others. In our spiritual life no matter how is the current time, favourable season or unfavourable season, convenient time or inconvenient time, painful time or comfort time ,self-denial and overflow of fruits are possible with Holy Spirit. Whoever wants to join with the Glory of resurrected Lord in this world and life in heaven they need to join in the self-sacrifice and the life on the cross. If there is no cross then there is no resurrection and glory, rejecting the cross or running away from it is equal to rejecting the salvation.
Lord says in John 16:33 , “In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world”.
Once we empty ourselves nothing stops us from being united in one spirit. If countries, families, fellowships and each individual are merely concerned about their own issues even after knowing about the salvation in Christ, we will become self-centric, it will waste our allotted time and Holy Spirit can’t use us and we will become blockers of the Grace of Jesus which is to follow from person to person.
1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.”
John 15:5, I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.”
One who denies himself and takes the cross remains in Christ and his Holy Spirit and finally, he will bear more fruits. The fruits of the Holy Spirit will witness Christ in this world and will radiate light in the darkness of this world. If we are not careful and open the door to Satan, the spirit of pride will enter and our fate will be the same as of fallen angels. Satan can offer the pleasures of this world only and if we deny them he can’t knock at the door and offer anything which tempts us and effectively none of his tactics will work. If Christ denied all his image of glory, nullified the equality of God we are also supposed to deny our self-esteem and take the cross and reach out the needy with the word of God and embrace all with their own shortcomings. All our reach out should not be based on faith in Christ alone, but it should also be followed by honest deeds as Mathew 5: 16,
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven.”
Let all our actions be complementary to our faith and produce more glory to our father in heaven. Lord Jesus conquered the hearts of generations by his everlasting and ever living love. Let the holy spirit in our hearts overflow as it happened in the life of Christ to the people affected by evil bonds, orphans, poor or rich, unwanted or wanted, sick or healthy, people under fear and anxiety, people who have no hope, depressed, oppressed etc. The more we are devoid of ourselves within our hearts that much Christ will start to grow and finally Christ will live within us fully and we will be taken over by heaven.
What should be our interest?
Seeking others interest, always and relentlessly, the very nature of Jesus is a non-compromising character of Church and its children. All the organs of the body don’t stand and function for its own need, instead most of the time they feed and nourish other organs for their own purposes. Growth in the spiritual life is always mutual and is based on how much we serve others. If any organs are not performing well the accountability will be for other organs to support it performs well. The Good Samaritan, Jesus himself, does not stop just in healing the wounded man but he ensured the future support as well and the affected person is covered fully. Our call as children of God is not ending in giving our hands to the needy one or two times, but it is forever because we all carry the image of God and the same image of God is dwelling in the heart of all people.
Glory in Christ
2 Thessalonians 2: 13-14, But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth. 14To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord our God has chosen us to be saved and thereby to inherit the same glory of Jesus Christ and the only medium is Gospel of Christ which is nothing but Christ itself. The gospel tells each one of us to deny our own self, to take the cross, follow Jesus, be united with the same Holy Spirit and wait for the Glory with full faith which is assured by Christ, our redeemer and saviour. Let us pray to Jesus, let your spirit give the fire of anointing into our hearts and souls to live for you as you have shown us which is nothing but submitting to the will of Father in heaven, giving glory to father by our faith and actions in this world as a true witness of Jesus Christ, the son of God.
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