Due to man’s disposition towards God with
regards to the spiritual gifts and servile talents bestowed upon him at
creation thus ‘before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to
birth I consecrated you; I appointed you as prophet to the nations’ (Jer.1:5),
the Holy Spirit uses our attitude towards their development for a stronger
union with Him and service to man to attend to us hence “make a tree sound and
its fruit will be sound; make a tree rotten and its fruit will be rotten. For
the tree can be told by its fruit” [Mtt.12:33]. The Spirit of God breathed into
man at creation (‘The Lord God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew
the breath of life into his nostrils and man became a living being’ Gen.2:7) is
always present in man from birth till death (“your eyes could see my embryo. In
your book all my days were inscribed, every one that was fixed is there”
Ps.139:16) but his effects and visibility in and around us within these years
on earth depends on the level of disposition to use what is already deposited
in us (imago Dei; image of God: Gen.1:27) i.e the complete qualities of the
Father, Son and Spirit even at death life is not destroyed but transformed
(Vita mutamor non tollitur; Rom.8:10) that is why the bones of great men and
women (saints, martyrs, virgins, bishops, doctors and prophets) performed and
still performs miracles after their death (“such was Elijah, who was enveloped
in a whirlwind; and Elisha was filled with his spirit throughout his life no
ruler could shake him, and no one could subdue him. No task was too hard for
him and even in death his body prophesied. In his lifetime he performed wonders
and in death his works were marvelous” Sirach 48:12-14). Our disposition to the
Holy Spirit inside us brings out his effects thus
Latent (‘do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God
who has marked you with his seal, ready for the day when we shall be set free’
Eph.4:30):
here due to mans inclination to sins of the
flesh like idolatory (worship of false gods and spirits; Ex.20:1-6), false
prophecy (Jer.14:14) and heretical teachings against the church of Christ {‘so
with you, as you are eager to have spiritual powers, aim to be rich in those
which build up the church/community’ 1 Cor.14:12}, defiling Sunday and other
holy days dedicated for the worship of God [ buying and selling on such days
(Neh.10:31-32), going to work except for the cases of emergency {‘…the Son of
man is master of the Sabbath’ Lk.6:5}, refusing to worship God in His Holy
Place (“…come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the
God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths.
For the law will issue from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem”
Isaiah 2:3) due to lack of knowledge (‘better one day in your courts than a
thousand at my own devices, to stand on the threshold of God’s house than to
live in the tents of the wicked’ Ps.84:10, Hosea 4:6)], disobedience to
parents, elders, teachers, leaders e.t.c except on what does not please God
(Heb.13:9) which reduces human life-span, murder (human assassination,
character assassination, abortion by will; consent; or participation, use of
contraceptives in any form at all both condom use, pills and artificial birth
control methods), promiscuity in all forms (fornication, incest, adultery,
masturbation, pornography, lesbianism, homosexuality, voyeurism [keeping, watching
and admiring nude pictures and indecently dressed people], exhibitionism
[dressing nude or half-nude by wearing clothes that expose underwear, sexual
organs, make underwear visible to passers-by, abnormal projection of sexual
organs e.t.c]), stealing in all manner both from public and private offices
with pen, from business partners nicknamed ‘smartness’ (Gen.3:1), from parents
by children via phone calls and text demanding money for things that do not
exist, cheating in the examination halls, taking another person’s wife,
husband, properties e.t.c directly or indirectly, maltreating houseboys/girls
and servants, destroying peoples reputation via gossips, slander and backbiting
even telling lies, nursing anger, leaving on false glory (pride) and unwillingness
to voice out the truth even when all odds are against you. These are the sins
that make the Spirit we received from creation, baptism, body and blood of
Christ, confirmation, authentic matrimony and Holy Orders inactive (‘the
unbelievers whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world, so that
they cannot see shining the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God’ 2 Cor.4:4)and are longing for explosion thus “may he
enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds
for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people
and how extraordinary great is the power that he has exercised for us
believers; this accords with the strength of his power” {Eph.1:18-19}.
Seasonal (one time active the other inactive):
Here we have people who read, here and
understand the word of God but keep to them when every other alternative apart
from God has failed them in order to seek his presence and intervention in the
present situation thus ‘when they found him on the other side, they said Rabbi,
when did you come here? Jesus answered: in all truth I tell you, you are not
looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all the
bread you wanted to eat’ (Jn.6:25-26) and when they have received God’s
blessings, favors, deliverance, gifts e.t.c they return to their old lifestyle
just like prostitutes who allows another man into her chambers while the other
person is yet to vacate. People in this category can convert souls to God via
proclaiming the word, performing miracles, healing the sick e.t.c but they do
not believe as well as practice what they do hence the Holy Spirit is activated
via fasting and prayers for a particular period after which the person returns
to his/her old passions (Gal.5:19-21, 1 Pet.1:14). For people of this category
Christ said “this people honor me only with lip-service, while their hearts are
far from me” [Mtt.15:8] and their
judgment will be thus ‘It is not anyone who says to me, Lord, Lord who will
enter the kingdom of Heaven but the person who does the will of my Father in
heaven…’ (Mtt. 7:21-27). People here needs to worship God with all sincerity as
the Christ admonished (“God is spirit and those who worship must worship in
spirit and truth” Jn.4:24) by wearing the belt of righteousness and constancy
on his/her waist (Isaiah 11:5) always since it is only those that persevere to
the end that will be saved (Mtt.24:13). Here a person is often carried away by
presumption that the Holy Spirit is still active even after committing a sin
targed small by many as a result will still go ahead trying to perform
deliverance, healing or miracle hence this backfires at times causing the death
of the person or wiping away family members that are not actively united with
the Spirit of righteousness due to the fact that ‘…no sinner will go
unpunished’ {Sirach 7:8} and “…sin is a reproach to the people” (Prov.14:34).
The only category of people that are may exist in this group are Catholic
priests because they are another Christ (Aute Christus; Heb.9:28).
Unknown mode (“she cried, the philistines are
on you, Samson! He awoke from sleep thinking, I shall break free as I have done
time after time and shake myself clear. But he did not know that the Lord God
had left him” Judges 16:20):
Here people mainly involved go by the slogan
‘it does not matter’ and “it is well” for almost every situation, event,
engagement, dressing, behavior, speech, friendship e.t.c forgetting that it is
only those who believe in the Son of God that will have all things working unto
good (Rom.8:28) as well as having the power to become real children of God
(Jn.1:12). People in this category easily forget that the full passage of the
scripture is ‘tell the righteous, it shall be well with you’ (Isaiah
3:10) but they allow their flesh to control the spirit by way of avoiding any
form of quiet atmosphere rather keeping busy (satan goes about keeping people
busy in the wrong assignment like cultism, plans on how to loot the public and
covert people properties to theirs, pornography, masturbation, anger, jealousy
e.t.c) to maintain every possible trend in the world (the prince of this world
has already been condemned as well as those who follow his trends Jn.16:11).
The righteous are those who view sin as a mistake that must be corrected
immediately thus ‘for though the righteous falls seven times, he gets up again;
the wicked are the ones who stumble in adversity’ (Prov.24:16) and “do not be
drawn to sin twice over, for you will not go unpunished even once” (Sirach
7:8). People within this category are usually from wealthy background both physically and spiritually where
everything is made available for them hence they tend to forget this “woe to
you who have lost the strength to endure; what will you do at the Lord’s
visitation?” (Sirach 2:14). The people in this category need our prayers and
direction hence ‘the prayer of faith will save the sick person and the Lord
will raise him up again and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven’
{James 5:15} and “act wisely with outsiders, making the best of the present
time. Always talk pleasantly and with a flavor of wit but be sensitive to the
kind of answer each one requires’ [Col.4:5-6].
Consistently alert (‘I shall stand guard before
my home to defend it against all comers and no oppressor will overrun them ever
again, for now I am on the alert’ Zech.9:8):
This is where forces of the flesh gives up
totally on man since the wind of Heaven has taken over the man who goes
wherever the Spirit directs (“the wind blows where it pleases; you can hear its
sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is
with everyone who is born of the Spirit” Jn.3:8) even when you are aware that
the result of such move will bring about scorn, persecution, death of the body
for His glory (‘and now you see me on my way to Jerusalem in captivity to the
Spirit; I have no idea what will happen to me there, except that the Holy
Spirit in town after town has made it clear to me that imprisonment and
persecution await me. But I do not place any value on my own life, provided
that I complete the mission the Lord Jesus gave me--to bear witness to the good
news of God’s grace’ Acts.20:24). Here man gives in totally to God (James
4:7-8), evil flees from him and the Godhead nature is manifested in all
ramifications in a radical way thus
ASCETISM:
Withdrawing into the desert, monastery,
religious life to spend the rest of ones life in communion (prayer and fasting)
with God like St.Anthony of Egypt (35 years in the desert), St.Padre Pio (A
monk inside the monastery at the same time present in different places
performing different functions like Celebrating the Holy Mass, at the
confessional, attending to the sick e.t.c) with these scriptural passage in
mind “…do not press me to leave you and to stop going with you, for wherever
you go I shall go, wherever you live I shall live. Your people will be my
people and your God will be my God, wherever you die I shall die and there I
shall be buried…” {Ruth 1:16-17}, ‘as a deer yearns for running streams, so I
yearn for you my God. I thirst for God, the living God; when shall I go to see
the face of God?’ (Ps.42:1-2), “God, you are my God, I pine for you; my heart
thirsts for you, my body longs for you as a land parched, dreary and waterless.
Thus I have gazed on you in the sanctuary, seeing your power and your glory”
(Ps.63:1-2)
CHARITY:
Using ones material possessions, servile
talents and spiritual gifts to help others feel the practical presence of God
among us (Immanuel; Mtt.1:23) without any ulterior motive of being famous,
financially buoyant e.t.c hence would not minding providing succor to those in
need within the nuclear and extended families as well as non-family members
without grudges (‘let your love for one another be genuine and from a pure
heart’ 1 Pet.4:8). This type of life was seen in the life of Mother Theresa of
Calcutta, St. Francis of Assisi e.t.c who showed love even to the poor,
disabled and infected patients that were left by the road sides. This type of
life is also likened to the lives of ministerial priesthood of the True Church
of Christ (Mtt.16:18-19) and religious lives (Reverend sisters, monks, brothers
and nuns)which is a Divine call (Heb.5:4, 8:3, Ex.28:1-4, 1 Sam.10:17) that
makes a man or woman to take the vow of chaste celibacy; a gift from God to
those who desire it for the sake of His kingdom (Mtt.19:12), poverty;
willingness to give up on material acquisitions in order to serve both the low
and mighty even when there seems no reason for that as it concerns the
reactions and responses of those being served towards them but holding on to
the words of Christ like ‘how blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of
heaven is theirs’ [Mtt.5:3], “they that keep their life here on earth will lose
it but they that give it up for my sake
here on earth will gain it in the next world” , ‘so if anyone declares himself for me in the
presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my
Father in Heaven’ (Mtt.10:32) and obedience; this involves taking corrections,
adjusting to new directives and bearing wrongs patiently which is a way of
submitting to God (the Spirit that blows where it pleases; Jn.3:8) through his
vicar on earth (the bishop of Rome having a continuity link with St. Peter who
was made the first representative of Christ; Mtt.16:18-19) as Christ did and
was extolled above every other creature (Phil.2:6-11) because obedience is better
than sacrifice while rebellion is a sin of sorcery and presumption a crime of
idolatry (1 Sam.15:22-23).
DILIGENCE CUM THE FEAR OF GOD:
This phase involves serving people with
diligence (see a man who is diligent in his business, he shall stand before
kings _Proverbs) in any sphere of life like offices, schools, institutions,
government ministries, homes, markets, church e.t.c with the fear of God as the
backbone of ones decisions, behaviors and contributions thus ‘and whatever you
say or do, let it be in the name of the Lord Jesus, in thanksgiving to God the
Father through him’ (Col.3:17) and “whatever you eat then or drink and whatever else you do, do it
all for the glory of God” {1 Cor.10:31} as this will be a source of blessing
for you and the people you encounter as well as the firm you serve (‘…for the
sake of the name of the Lord your God, of the Holy One of Israel who has made
you glorious. Foreigners will rebuild your walls and their kings will serve
you…’ Isaiah 60:9-10) because “… but the people who know their God will stand
firm and take action” [Dan.11:32]
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