GOD’S LOVE: LIVING LIFE SPIRIT-FILLED

We started this series by saying that God’s love is an abbreviation of many of our confessions. The letter ‘G’ stands for ‘God is my Father’. The O is ‘Overflowing in His fullness.’ The D is ‘Doer of the Word.’ The S is ‘Serving God in Spirit and Truth.’ The L is ‘Living life, Spirit-filled.’ The O is ‘Oneness with the Body of Christ.’ Living life Spirit-filled in oneness with the body of Christ. The V is ‘Virtuous, Happy, and Strong.’ The E is ‘Enjoying Eternal life; Everything is fine. Today, we are on “Living Life Spirit-filled. Which life has God given to us? Before this time, we were in spiritual death and separated from God. Spiritual death is separation from God, it brings you into bonding with the adversary. Man was under the power of spiritual death; He was ruled by the lord of sin and death. He was separated from God; without God and hope in this world. Then Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly. “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1st John 5:11-13). “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1) So He gave us this life, which His nature. God has eternal life, and He has imparted that life on us. We share in His nature, and the first expression of that nature is love. Once you have life, you have love. He who loves does not hate. Love is the fulfillment of all the laws. “A new commandment I give to you, that you should love one another: just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). He who loves is born of God, born again, born of the Word, born of the Spirit, and born of heaven. He who loves belongs to God. Praise be to God! We shall be taking our reading from the book of Colossians 3:16, “Let the Word of God dwell in your heart richly: teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, even as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart to God.” Let the Word of God dwell in your heart richly. The topic is, “Living Life Spirit-filled.” The Word is Spirit; The Word is God. When you are living life Spirit filled, it means that you have the fullness of the Word in your heart. The Word is dwelling in you richly and abundantly. When the Word dwells in you and becomes an integral part of your life, you are Spirit-filled because the Word is Spirit. The Word is God, and God is Spirit. “…teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.” You know what that means? In the book of 1 Corinthians 2:6-7, “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s secret wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God has destined for our glory before time began.” “Let the Word of God dwell in your hearts richly: teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…” But this wisdom we are talking about is not the wisdom of the world. It is not that wisdom that is temporary, fake, and will fail; the wisdom of this world will come to an end one day. But this wisdom we are talking about is the eternal wisdom, the wisdom from above, the wisdom of God. It is everlasting and it is beyond comprehension. You cannot get to the end of it. God has prepared this wisdom for your glory. And Christ is the wisdom. When you have it, you have the glory of God made upon your life, and it shines forth. It is a hidden wisdom kept from the world. Those who don’t understand this wisdom crucified Jesus. If they had been in the wisdom, they wouldn’t have crucified the Messiah, the eternal Spirit. But because they were blind to the wisdom that we are speaking about, they crucified the One who came to save them. 1st Timothy 3:16, “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” Praise be to God! You see this mystery? Jesus appeared in the body. We believe that He came in the body to die for us, to save us from sin and death. And that He was buried, and after three days, He rose again from the dead and was vindicated as He brought righteousness to us. If He had remained in the grave, it would have been a different story, but He was justified. He had a true mission and purpose, and that is to save us from our sins and spiritual death. The whole world was languishing under the bondage of spiritual death before Jesus came, and so He came to rescue us from sin and death. “Since the children were of flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death, He might destroy the power of him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil.” (Hebrews 2:14). “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8). By that death, He saved us. How miserable life would have been without His saving grace. And He has left us with a mission, the ministry of reconciliation, to bring back the world. The enemy has kept monopolizing, dominating, and ruling, to the extent that he took us in bondage. “I am a new creation, a partaker of the very nature of the Father. I have received the Father’s overflowing grace and His gift of righteousness. Now I reign as a king in this new realm of life. I have become a master where I once served as a slave; an overcomer where the forces of the evil ones once dominated. I am in the beloved, very near the Father’s heart, where Christ was in His earthwork.” See what He has done for us! He loved us and died for us and He expects that we should also do the same. We must be ready to sacrifice our time, our resources, even our lives for the sake of the gospel so that another’s life can be rescued and saved through us. This message is for everybody; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It’s a message for the whole world. You have received this message and it has changed your life; turned you from death to life, and from a slave of the adversary to a master. You are now the master of the adversary, so all principalities and powers of darkness are under your feet. They are under our feet because we are the body of Christ. The church is the body of Christ; Christ is the head of the church. So those principalities and powers can’t dare you. We have faith, and it is the victory. Faith is the victory. It’s the coin in the spirit realm with which you get what you need. You make your demand, and you have something great. “…He was taken up in glory.” Your glories has come in the name of Jesus, for you share in the glory that we see in the Lord Jesus. “Let this word of God dwell in your heart richly; teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…” , the wisdom that is from above. Even as you sing some spiritual songs with gratitude and thanksgiving in your hearts, your heart overflows with joy of the fullness. Let me tell you a secret; if you can sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, the inflow and the fullness of the Spirit from it is great. If you are type that sings when you are dreaming, it means you are being filled with the Spirit. It’s like a fountain flowing inside of you. To be filled with the Spirit, we must sing. Keep singing! The hymns you have at home are not for decorations. You are to fill your heart with praises, thanksgiving, and joy. Be a master of your joy and peace. Have a say in the life you lead. The only way you can have a say in the life you lead is to keep singing the praises of the living God. If you are not singing, you don’t have a say in your life and your testimony. The adversity will be dictating to you and giving you prayer points. It tells you what to pray for and what to believe. It makes you to believe that you have headache or that you have stomach problem or that you are not loved or that you are rejected or that you are poor or that you are nobody, or that you are unwanted. The enemy makes you to believe all these useless things. Have a say in your destiny! You can do that by opening to the pages of the hymn books you have at home and begin to sing those glorious songs. They are meant to fill you with the Spirit; the more you sing them, the more you are filled with the Spirit. The more you sing them, the more you are overflowing with the Spirit. And I see you overflowing because I know you will go back and you will start singing, and the more you sing, you will overflow with the goodness of the Lord in the name of Jesus. God has a package, purpose and plan for you in the coming years. With these secrets, you will go into that year a conqueror, a victor, and an overcomer over the battles of life: situations and circumstances that will come your way. You will crush their heads because you have the strength, ability, and the enablement. The angels saw this glory and miracle. They were looking when your being and regeneration was happening. They were there witnessing your transformation and they will be there to witness your prosperity. The angels are waiting, witnessing your success in the name of Jesus. The good is happening around you because somebody is behind it; there is a divine arrangement. I see a divine arrangement over your expectation, God is bringing new things to happen in your life in the name of Jesus. Nobody can change what God has decreed; you are for success and prosperity. It is an expression of the fact: the very reality of the law that is operating around you, the law of life. The law of life is bringing all those things that have been far away, bringing them near to you, that you may possess them. This Man was preached all over the world, and people believed Him. Tell yourself, I believe in His saving grace, mercy, goodness, and my prosperity, success, safety, and favour. The things you believe, you possess in the name of Jesus. They are freely given and they are here for you. Ephesians 5:18-20, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be Spirit-filled and speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make melodies in your heart to God, giving thanks to the Father in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Praise be to God! I see a confirmation of what has been spoken in Colossians chapter 3:16 here. When you go singing, you will come back rejoicing in the name of Jesus. You will be filled, and you will overflow with the Spirit. And I say to you this morning, because the Word lives, be filled with the Spirit. And you will talk about the goodness of the Lord. Speak to one another; your brother, sister, wife, husband, children and parents, and tell them about those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good reports. Don’t open your mouth to talk about sickness, fear, and doubt. Those things you call, they answer you. Call the good things! In the coming year, I will only open my mouth to call the good things. And the more you call them, the more they will answer you. Our training is to equip us for good works. Everywhere you go, your works will speak for you. Be careful not to do anything that is evil. Be careful not to go the way of the wrong, hostile and stubborn. Don’t be stubborn about these things; don’t be hostile to God. Let the Word of God dwell in your heart richly. In everything, give thanks. Show your gratitude, not because of what He has done for you, but blessing for who He is. If you only bless and thank God for what He has done for you, you will be failing and you will keep complaining. But when you keep thanking Him for what He is, you are unstoppable. Come what may, you are more than enough. You will face the year ahead with courage and boldness in the name of Jesus. You will not change your focus, direction, and decision. Therefore, you will march on in the name of Jesus. It is forward ever! I leave you with the Word.