Grace Abounds Ministries

In the previous article , I started to share what Love is. I share the passive and active functions of love, being that it is patient and the same time, kind.   In today's article, I shall progress to share what LOVE is. “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up” I Corinthians‬ ‭13:4‬‬‬   The next thing to consider is that Love does not envy or get jealous. Envy is a sense of dissatisfaction with and opposing to the prosperity and Happiness of others compared to your own. I will also say that “Envy is pain at the sight of Excellence or beauty in another.”   Envy promotes unhealthy competition and rivalry among people. Rilvary is the most conspicuous trait of men in their relations with one another. We see it everywhere. And most ridiculously, in the church of God.   The motivation many people have is to be better than their next neighbor. Someone once asked me, “What is wrong with being motiv...

  “ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ” ‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭13:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬   At the close of the previous article , I started to Share about the behavior of Love from 1 Corinthians 13.   How does love behave?   It's essential to know and understand how Love behaves in the Bible. Else, what we would be carrying in our mind is the societal definition of what Love is. But our society is not licensed to define Love because they don't know about it.    God is Love. Love only comes from Him. For us, It is only a relationship with Him that will guarantee us access to understand and express His Divine Love.    The first behavior of Love (From 1 Corinthians 13) I started to share in the last article is “Love is patient and Kind.”   Patience is a premium in our society today. Society has been shaped in such a way that you can have whatever you want quickly. Different things have been tag...

    In the previous article , I shared the two reasons from 1 Corinthians 13 why we all need to prioritize love above every other. Today, I will be sharing the third point.   “ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. ”  I Corinthians 13:3   Naturally, we would think that all the sacrifices mentioned show a display of love. No! Paul pointed out that even though you may give and feed the poor to the extent that you get your body burnt, yet may not be operating in love. Paul said,  “ Such sacrifice will profit nothing. ”   When you look at the scripture, you'll see that there is blessedness God has attached to every sacrifice. For instance, Proverbs 22:9 reads,  “ He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor. ”  Even though many people engage in this sacrifice, namely, helping the poor, they don't receive the blessedne...

In this week's article, I will further introduce 1 Corinthians 13 as we continue to look at the First Characteristic of the Fruit of the Spirit—Love.  Love is the personality of God Himself. And He has revealed and expressed Himself—love through His Son Jesus Christ when He came to pay the ultimate price for our sins. Hence, having received His love through the life-giving Spirit, we also can enjoy and conduct our lives by it. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, The Apostle Paul calls out some of these spiritual gifts, especially the ones common among the Corinthian Christians. Paul wrote, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not loved, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” These guys could speak different languages without learning them. And they are so proud of it. No wonder Paul dedicated an entire chapter to addressing the issue of speaking in a tongue in the correct order. That shows how treasurable the gift is in this church.  However, Paul...

I n today's article, I will start showing how the Holy Spirit used Paul to explain this wonder “kingdom must possess nature” called Love from the book of 1 Corinthians 13. This chapter is so unique, and its placement is much more fascinating.   In Chapter 12 of the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul talked about the diverse giftings we have in the body of Christ. He established that one's gift is not above another (1 Corinthians 12:14-18).  In chapter 14, Paul talked about how to engage all these giftings alright. He gave the church the proper perspective on how to operate in God's gift and grace. “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” I Corinthians 14:1‬ ‭‬‬  In the middle of chapters 12 and 14, there is chapter 13. If I were to be the one to arrange the book of Corinthians, I would have put chapters 12 and 14 together because chapter 14 is the continuation of Chapter 12. However, the Holy Spirit internationally places chapter 13 in the...

In today's article, I will introduce the first Characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit, which is Love. Love seems to me as the first layer of the fruit where other characteristics are embedded.   “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” Galatians 5:22.‬ ‭‬‬  As I have shared in the previous article, “for us to be able to express all of these characteristics, we need to consider the man Jesus; how He lived among men, how He carried Himself and how He related to people and His environment.” That is what I will be sharing as we look into Love.  To start with on this subject, I love to share from 1 John 4:7-10  I so much love reading John's Epistle and his gospel because there is this familiar word he uses, which is the word ‘beloved.’ This word surfaced many times in His writing. So anytime you see the word ‘beloved,’ it is to inform you that “it is God who loves you.”  Even though everyone around you migh...

  Today we shall be talking about how to receive this fruit.   The first thing I want us to know is that all these characteristics (or nutrients as I call them) in this fruit of the Spirit are all found in God. And Jesus is God in the flesh. Paul describes Him as “ the visible image of God. ”  Colossians 1:15. The only man that mirrored God in totality on this earth is the man, Christ Jesus. Therefore, it is essential to understand that the characteristics of this fruit are all that Jesus exhibited while He was on earth.   Let's see Philippians 2:5 to see how we can receive this fruit.   In the previous article , I defined the fruit of the Spirit as  “ the complete mind of Christ. ”  It is the mindset through which He functions when He lived on the earth. Therefore, the Lord desires His followers to carry themselves in this world with the same attitude He had. So, the Holy Spirit is giving us an instruction for life;  “ Let this mind be in y...

by Ayoola Fakeye The fruit of the Spirit is first to be consumed by an individual ( Galatians 5:22-23 ). An African adage says, “What a bird eats is what will carry it.” We always think that this fruit is only for others to see. Indeed, it is to reflect in us and through us to impact others. However, if you don't consume it, then it can never impact others because it has not impacted you.   There is a tree in your Spiritman which is the source of this fruit. That tree is the Lord Jesus. He is the Tree of Life! Therefore, the Holy Spirit takes that which is of Christ and impacts it to your Soul. If so, then our souls need to start feeding on this fruit. We need to digest it to get all the nutrients from it which includes love, joy, peace, and others.   We do not have access to the fruit of the Spirit in our natural self, so there is no way we could manifest them. For instance, you don't ordinarily walk in Agape. What w...

  By Ayoola Fakeye To reiterate what I’d shared in the previous articles, The fruit of the Spirit is nothing the flesh can produce! It is only what the Father does through the Holy Spirit as He has connected us to Christ, the good Vine. The fruit of the Spirit is the operation of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and soul which consequently brings a transformation in our actions and reactions. Thus, when the Holy Spirit transforms our heart, our mind is renewed, and our will and emotion align with God's, our body will respond to those changes. The essence of what I am saying is that the fruit of the Spirit is not what you can mechanically produce but only what the Holy Spirit supernaturally produces in us.   Therefore, so far, God has endowed you with the Holy Spirit, then you can go on to bear fruit. Let it be known; God expects every believer to bear fruit. Every believer can bear fruit! Every believer must bear fruit! That is how you...

By Ayoola Fakeye   Christianity is not a rule-based religion. But life in the Spirit is based on fellowship with the triune God. That would lead us to how this fruit works.   As I was meditating, I got a verse of the scripture which I have never seen in the light I will be sharing with you. It is a famous scripture. However, I want you all to open your heart to receive all Lord has for you.    “ I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  “ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me, you can do nothing. ”  John 15:1-5. ‭   These were the last w...