Luciusministry

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Friday, October 27, 2023

The sustenance and development of the life in the spirit

To have a clear understanding of how all these are feasible and attainable one has to compare the spiritual life with the physical life because, similar to the physical man the spirit man requires a source from which life is being generated, sustained, nourished, rejuvenated and entertained and they are as follows:

· The source of our existence

Jesus Christ is the source of our life and existence in the Sprit for, in Him we live, in Him we move and in Him we have our existence.

· The source of nourishment is in;

The blood of Jesus Christ
The flesh of Jesus Christ

The blood of Jesus Christ is our spiritual drink and the body of Jesus Christ is our spiritual food they are the number one source of our spiritual nourishment and so, we have been duly admonished by Jesus Himself saying; “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him" (John 6:27).

Jesus Christ later confirmed this by saying; “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.’

“For My flesh is (real) food indeed, and My blood is (real) drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven --- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:53-58).

Unfortunately, the majorities of us who profess to be believers are unable or are not willing to conceive this idea and rather imitate the example of the first set of followers who, from the time Jesus made this statement many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

· The source of development

While the source of our physical development is through physical exercises, the source of our spiritual development is through the sturdy of God’s word and so we have been admonished to; “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever”(2Peter 3:18).

Therefore, in order to develop the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness it is imperative that we study the word of God in order to put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Colossians 3:10).

· The source of rejuvenation

While the source of rejuvenation in the physical realm is through rest and sleep, the source of rejuvenation in the spiritual realm is through prayer and fasting.

Just before Jesus Christ was betrayed into the hands of sinners and was feeling very sorrowful and said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee;” "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."

While the disciples fell asleep, Jesus went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."

Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:39-41).

· Entertainment

Another very important aspect of life is that of entertainment. In the spiritual realm or the life which is in accordance to the Spirit, the Lord has ordained specific days for His people to appear before Him and to eat and drink and rejoice before Him, for thus He said:

“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.’

“But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the LORD your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses.

And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you” (Deuteronomy 14:22-27).

So here can one clearly see that, the rationale or objective for tithing is not to enrich pastors of churches and enabling them to live in luxury at the expense of the poor membership but to be able to appear before the Lord at His ordained festivals to rejoice and worship before Him. In fact, in our New Testament dispensation it is stated that; “We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat” (Hebrews 13:10).

Even in the Old Testament dispensation where the laws of tithing were commanded what the Levitical priesthood was receiving from the people was a “HEAVE OFFERING” which is ten percent of the tithe(See Numbers 18:8-28).

Because the rationale for the tithe is for the Lord’s people to appear before Him on His feast days to rejoice before Him together with their household, the Levites, the widows and the fatherless.

It is only every third year is the year of tithing as we have been duly instructed saying; “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates.’

“And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do” (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).

So I beg to ask a question, which Minister or Pastor of any religion we know today that do not have any inheritance and therefore are qualified and entitled to receive the tithe?

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

The third dimension of life in the spirit

Sustenance, development and growth of the spirit man

The third dimension of the life in the Spirit is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to become mature and to walk in the Spirit For it is stated clearly that; “Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.’

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit: Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:24-26).

And so, the third dimension of the life in the Spirit is to go on to perfection as we have been duly instructed by the apostle Paul stating: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

“For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).

Another important aspect of the third dimension of the life in the Spirit is that the individual is being transformed from one degree of glory to another for, we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

It is a stage where the individual walks in unity with the Holy Spirit and this is the responsibility of the leaders of the church to perform for, “Jesus Christ Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

“Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head Jesus Christ “(Ephesians 4:11-14).

Also included in the third dimension of the life in the Spirit is that the individual is to walk just as Jesus Christ walked which in essence is a test to prove that we are indeed walking in the spirit for we have been duly admonished saying;

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

“But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1John 2:3-6).

Another important aspect of the third dimension of the life in the Spirit is that of empowering the believer. “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;’

“strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Colossians 1:9-11).

It entails to be practically living in the light and manifesting the fruit of the Sprit: “For we were once darkness, but now we are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:8-11).

Also including in the third dimension of living the life in the Spirit is to help destroy the works of the devil which is sin in the life of the believer and continue the assignment that was assigned to Jesus Christ which states;

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD" (Luke 1:18-19).

Therefore, the third dimension of the life in the Spirit is to be actually living and walking and being sustained by the Holy Spirit and so the question is how this is feasible?

To be continued.

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

The second dimension of life in the Spirit

Be born again

The second dimension of the life in the Spirit it is to be born again of the Spirit and this second dimension of the Spirit was given to the disciples after the resurrection of Jesus Christ when He was glorified.

Before Jesus Christ was glorified after His resurrection He met Mary Magdalene and said to her; “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' But after presenting Himself to the Father that same evening He appeared to His disciples and said to them; "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:17; 19-23).

So the second dimension of the life in the Spirit it is to receive the Holy Spirit and be born of the Spirit and so, Jesus Christ instructed His disciples saying; “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1: 5-8).

And the admonition to anyone who wish to have life in the Spirit is; “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:38-39).

The new birth is not of corruptible seed for we have been duly instructed saying; “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

One is born of the Spirit when his/her spirit is joined to the Spirit of God because, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16).

Humanity is a free moral agent and so we have the prerogative to allow our spirit to either be connected to the Holy Spirit and become a child of God or, allowing our spirit to be connected to the spirit of the prince of the power of the air and become a child of the devil.

But we have received the consolation saying; “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Ephesians 2:1-3).

But being born of the Spirit is not the ultimatum one needs to grow and develop him/her and not remain as babes as some were chastised by the Apostle Paul saying; “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.’

I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you’ are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal” (1Corinthians 3:1-4)?

The second dimension of the spiritual life is the state of justification which needs to be developed as emphasized by the apostle Paul who wrote; “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:12-14).

It is therefore imperative that we examine ourselves and see whether we are still babes, still carnal, behaving like mere men and causing fractions and divisions in the body of Christ and unskilled in the word of righteousness.

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To be continued

Lucius Joseph

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

The process of Spiritual life

The same principle that is applicable in the conception, growth and development of the physical life is also applicable to the life in the Sprit and it is being conducted by the Holy Spirit and proceeds as follows:

Coming to know and believe in Jesus Christ.

Being drawn by the Father to come to know Jesus Christ begins the gestation period of the life in the Spirit as Jesus clearly said; “, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. (John 6:44-45).

Jesus Christ is the source of life in the spirit and God the Father has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:26-28).

So the state of spiritual gestation is when the individual is drawn to Jesus Christ by the Father, and is being taught by the Father and so we have been duly instructed saying; “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things... But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him” (1John 2:20;27).

But being drawn to Jesus Christ by the Father and received the anointing a only the state of gestation. A typical example is the life of the apostles whilst they were following Jesus Christ before His death and resurrection. They all believed in Jesus Christ and followed Him, they trusted Him and were willing to fight and die with Him.

Peter for example braved it out to walk on water when he saw the Lord walking on the sea and said to Him; “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matthew 14:28).

When Jesus Christ began to explain and show His disciples what He must go through, Peter actually took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him saying; “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" (Matthew 16:21-23).

When Jesus Christ was in the garden praying before Judas betrayed Him, Peter having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus” (John 18:10; Matthew 26:51).

Now despite of all this Peter and the rest of the disciples were still in their embryonic, gestation stage they were still spiritual fetuses.

The fact that Peter and the rest of the disciples knew and believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God was a clear indication that the Spirit of God was working with them because, when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"

So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16: 13-17; 11:27; 1Corinthians 12:3).

But again, even at this point in time the disciples were still in the embryonic stage because when Jesus said to them; “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ' I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'

Peter and the rest of the disciples replied; “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble." Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And so said all the disciples” (Matthew 26:31-35).

What happened next confirmed how much the disciples were still in their infancy? Because as Peter sat outside the courtyard when people start associating Peter with Jesus Christ, he vehemently denied knowing Jesus Christ even at the point of cursing and swearing saying; “I do not know the Man!" (Matthew 26:69-72).

The reality is, at this point in time the disciples did not fully understand the teachings of Jesus Christ but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him” (John 12:16).

And so the crux of the matter is, it is possible for one to be zealous and enthusiastic about Jesus Christ and still be in the embryonic stage and will not inherit the kingdom.

As Jesus plainly said; “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' (Matthew 7:21-23).

There is more to the spiritual life than simply professing to know Jesus Christ and in works we deny Him. It is imperative therefore, that we truly know, understand and believe the three dimensions of the life in the Spirit.

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To be continued

Lucius Joseph

Monday, October 9, 2023

Process of the new spiritual birth

The process of spiritual growth

I do not think that many people have taken the time and dedication to properly asses and analyze the reality and practicality of the life which exist in the spirit despite the fact that we have been duly instructed saying; “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:16-17).

As one can clearly see, there is a definite struggle between the life which is in accordance to the flesh and the life which is in accordance to the Spirit and the admonition is; “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).

To have a clear understanding of the reality and practicality of this life in the Spirit we will need to compare it with that of the flesh for this is what we have been instructed saying; “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

And so, if we can see and understand the three dimensions of human growth we also will be able to know and comprehend the three dimensions of the life which is in accordance to the Spirit with only one exemption which has to do with time,

The process of physical life follows these three dimensions;

a. Gestation

This is the process or period of which the embryo is developing inside the womb between conception and birth.

b. Birth of the new born

This process normally takes a period of nine (9) months but sometimes one can experience a pre-mature birth.

c. Development and growth of the new born.

This is dependent on oxygen, nutrition (water and food), exercise, restoration (rest and sleep) and entertainment.

To be continued