UV 1057/10,000 The Components of Faithful Living
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Micah 6 v 8
The Lord has shown us what is good. He has shown us which is the better part that we should choose of spending time at His feet, listening to His Word and enjoying His company. He has taught us what He requires of us, that we should act justly. We should try to relieve the oppressed as much as it lies in our power, to help the widow, the orphans , the poor, the defenceless and the distressed. He has taught us that whatever we do to the least of our fellow beings that we do unto Him. When we give to the poor, we are lending to Him. When we cast our bread upon the waters, the Lord sees it and blesses us in our hour of need. When we visit the afflicted and sick and imprisoned, we are visiting the Lord. When we give clothes to the naked, we are clothing Him. Once while I was sitting as Commissioner of a city, an old woman came to see me and said she needed a small sum to do a surgery. Thereafter, the Lord told me, “ I have come to you in many forms seeking help and you helped Me.”
The ministry of Cornelius, the Roman centurion was precisely this: to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God. Cornelius was known for his charity to the poor in Israel. He had a good testimony among his soldiers and was known for His fear of God. He was always in an attitude of prayer and reverence. There was no trace of arrogance of power or position in him. But he knew in his heart that this was not enough. He felt a need to know God more intimately. God prepared him first to be the first Gentile to believe and receive the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit by sending him an angel who said, “ Your prayers have been answered.” The angel asked him to send for Peter who was in the house of a tanner in Joppa. Cornelius acted promptly with obedience. God sent Peter to him to tell him about His Son and Saviour of the world, Jesus. Cornelius did not treat the mercy of God lightly or take it for granted. Power did not go to his head nor did he consider it below his dignity to consult or meet with a member of a subjugated race, the Jews. He valued or loved it. In fact, he fell down and knelt before Peter recognizing that he is a representative of the Almighty God. He and his family obeyed the Lord’ s word spoken through Peter , believed and were baptized. He knew that to be a centurion or a military officer was only a temporary earthly calling and that there was a higher and eternal calling. The result was that a succession of mighty Caesars, in whose army Cornelius served, perished with their empires and armies but Cornelius and his family were saved and live forever.
Cornelius had done everything right and yet in the vision of Peter he was included among the unclean. It was the Word that cleansed him and made him worthy of the kingdom of God. This is the true circumcision of the spirit and heart of man. The Word moves like a sword in the hands of the Holy Spirit and circumcises or cuts all round us to remove our most fundamental lusts and our pride of life so that we can walk in faith and in humility before God. Cornelius had got the “ works” aspect of faith right. Now that the “ faith” component was in place, he was complete, perfect, not wanting in anything. God is calling us to such a living faith, a faith that we live and a faith that causes us to live fully in spirit, mind and body. Faith has a hidden invisible component and a visible component. The invisible component consists of the elements or aspects of our belief. The visible component consists of our behavior, our actions and reactions.
The leadership and management concept contained in this uni-verse is that faith has an invisible root component and a visible component. The principles evolved from the concept are: a) We need to know who we believe in b) we need to know what we believe in c) increasing our intake of the Word of God will increase the depth and strength of our faith d) our faith should express itself in good works
The practical steps to translate these principles into a habit are: 1.) Spend more time reading, studying and meditating on the Word 2.) Spend more time in silence and prayer seeking the Lord and His will 3.) Using every opportunity and means to help others in need around us
Prateep V Philip
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