SERVICE: EFFECTIVE THROUGH KNOWLEDGE

SERVICE: EFFECTIVENESS THROUGH KNOWLEDGE

Father, I thank you for I asked and you have accepted this service (writing) to you through humanity.

Paul wrote to Philemon, a man he described as a brother, dear friend and co-worker:

Philemon verse 4  I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,
5  Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;
6  That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
7  For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.

Philemon must have been a very generous man. Paul described him as one who 'we have great joy and consolation in thy love'.

The saints all across the territory recognises Philemon as a great man of love. But His Love was not only in words but in deeds.

IJn 3: 18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth

Paul's testimony of the man, Philemon, was of his deeds and in truth. Paul said:

I have rejoiced greatly and have been greatly encouraged because you, my dear friend, have acted lovingly toward God's people by encouraging them.
T4T translation.

This is what Philemon was known for, encouraging the saints.

Paul also testified that he heard of the Love and Faith of Philemon towards the Lord Jesus and for all saints.

Paul, even though at the time he wrote the letter was imprisoned, yet the news of Philemon's love for Christ and goodness for all saints was so obvious that he heard of it.

It is has Pastor Poju also preached in his message on Sunday, our acts of kindness and love is as incense and the aroma of it goes high up into the heavens. If Paul, could have heard of Philemon's love, then God must have also perceived the aroma of his kindness.

However, it doesn't end there, Paul went on to ask and make further requests of Philemon, including the return of Onesimus and the preparation of a guest room for Him (Philemon 1)

Personally, am amazed at the ability of Philemon as a giver, Paul was so confident as to ask for things even as other Saints made their own requests.

Yet, while we speak on the subject of giving, it is important to note also that one must be led to do so.

Giving will always be an act of love and thus an act of obedience to God. This means by the will of God, our desire to give to a person can be accepted or declined. Which means we do not tie our giving to decisions of our mind, but we tie our giving to compassion and the will of the Lord.

This is why our service can only be effective through knowledge: Knowledge of the needs of men as sanctioned by the will of God. An important prayer to pray therefore:

Colossians 1: 9  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10  That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11  Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

This is similar to the prayer of faith by Paul for Philemon:

6  That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
Another tanslation:
I pray that your participation in the faith may become effective through knowing every good thing that is in us for the glory of Christ.

It is a difficult thing to say, but God can say no to your compassionate desire to give someone, not out of evil, but out of love towards that person. God himself has his eyes searching the earth to find any who He would show him self strong to and sometimes, it is easy for a person in need to make someone who has resources into a god, to supply all their needs. God is provoked to jealousy when this happens. Yet, God supplies us through men and we must be vigilant to receive from those He sends to us.

Any who is in Christ has the covenant with God which says: I am your God and you are my people. If we make the error of making someone else other than God our source we may find ourselves having to receive his mercy to get back into his highway.

Give to the poor, the needy, the widow and the stranger is the command, but the instruction based on knowledge is give to THIS stranger or THAT poor man or THOSE widows.

It is important to note that Paul also talked about the FAITH of Philemon towards Jesus and the Saints. We cannot be obedient to instructions without faith. Faith is how we receive from God. Faith is how Philemon received from God the resources He used in encouraging the saints.

Which means at every time Philemon gave in love, he gave by faith. Which means he gave following the instructions to give this person or that person. Even if he had all the resources in a bag, he gave only in faith and obedience to God. What he gave is what God gives him to give as Jesus said, freely you have received, freely you give.

The subject of giving and receiving is the same, it is by Instruction and obedience in Love.

Give/Sow.
It is an act of Love in Obedience to God.
Receive/Reap.
It is an act of Love in Obedience to God.
This scripture describes both.
Luke 6: 38
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

 
Also there is an aspect of receiving I want to touch on today, Jesus performed his miracles based on compassion and knowledge of the will of God. He said it is that which I see my Father in heaven do that I do. So also we must ask what our Father in heaven is doing, that is what we do. Yet, when Jesus has compassion on someone in need and knows it is the will of God, he doesn't impose his love, he asks: would thou be made whole? Why does he do this?

God respects the freewill of people and the authority a person has over his body and soul and spirit. I learnt more of this in a message by Andrew Wommack titled the Believer's Authority. If God respects this, then it is a violation to impose our good deeds on people, something I myself recently repented of sending unsolicited messages (in love) to peoples' whatsapp pages.

So in our service to humanity, which we are more than desirous to oblige:

- we see someone in need
- we have compassion
- we know God's command is to help, yet we ask for instruction: the knowledge of his will
- we receive the grace to give
- we ask the person for permission to help.
- If the person says yes, we release the grace
- Our service is effective through knowledge. Knowledge of the peoples' needs, consent and the Knowledge of God's will on the matter.

Thanks for reading.

God bless you.

Caveat: This article is an opinion based on the growing knowledge and experience of the writer. The instructions within should be adopted at the discretion of the reader.