Meeting: Community Service
Date: 22nd March, 2026
Message: The Responsibility attached to loving our Neighbor
Minister: Pastor Laide Olaniyan
Tongues and Interpretation (1)
For that which you have done in response to my Spirit that seemingly looks like a mere activity,
You know not what you have pushed back,
You pushed back a cloud with a downcast disposition,
For it’s a trickery of the adversary that men will look down and not behold the wondrous things that the Lord has done,
For the commandment for you to rejoice with joy unspeakable is the season where, having not seen, you believe,
Joy is a key weapon to keep faith, even in seasons of contradictions,
It may not look like it, but rejoice, be joyful,
It maddens the adversary and causes him to go mad,
When you rejoice, you join faith and allegiance with Him that sits in heaven,
For He laughs, you should also laugh,
You should speak to your soul to come out of that disquietness and downcastedness,
The Lord has done great and wondrous things,
You may not see it and they may not yet appear,
But can you shout Hallelujah!
Hallelujah is the song of the heavens,
Bring into appearance that which has not yet appeared,
Laugh at the enemy, laugh at that situation,
Your hallelujah must be bigger, louder and fiercer than your mountain,
Look at that mountain, that situation and shout hallelujah!
It’s how you keep faith and push back the agenda of the enemy.
Tongues and Interpretation (2)
I have brought you to a new ground, a new pedestal,
Yes, a new door has been opened, and this new door requires a new way of fighting your battles,
For you are fighting from the place of victory,
Yes, indeed I have given you many lands to conquer, and victory is yours,
For I am with you and have gone ahead of you,
I go before you, I am behind you, I am even surrounding you,
I am come and we are many,
Hosts are many around you,
March and wage this war as a victor,
For many will find victory songs,
Many victory songs will be birthed,
You will hear many sounds, many drummings,
And as you hear these sounds, let your conversation align with the rhythm you are hearing,
Many have asked questions, when will I leave this point? When will I drop this battle?
Begin to sound and dance to the rhythm of victory,
For the rhythm of victory is already sounding in the spirit,
There is victory over the Hittites, Girgashites, Perizzites,
You will dance as you hear this rhythm,
Dance from that point of victory,
Saith the Spirit.
Tongues and Interpretation (3)
I am bringing you to a greater height,
I have bright a greater height,
Many are coming up,
This place you are standing is a new ground,
Therefore the battles of this new heights is also a new kind of battle,
I am with you at this new height,
Many are surrounding you and are with you so walk with many that have been sent to help and support you,
Work with these Angels for it is a new ground,
You have been welcome and ushered into a high height and tide,
It’s a new height, a new ground,
Saith the Spirit.
Message begins..
When the Lord starts emphasizing that He is with us and will give us victory, it’s because seasons where we feel lonely, deserted and even sometimes feel pangs of despair will come.
We also need to hear what God is not saying when He is speaking to us. If God is saying He will give us victory, then we must understand that there is a battle to fight. If God says he is bringing help, it is because seasons of helplessness are coming. If He says I am with you, know that there are seasons around the corner where you will not feel God at all. If the Lord commands us to rejoice, it’s because the season is about us when it seems there is no reason to be grateful for anything.
We must be sure not to lose these activities of the Spirit around us. God can bring his blessedness to us, and we would lose it because of our lack of understanding. All that the Lord says is for us to fight with it. Some things that the Lord has said will happen without your input, but most of his sayings need your effort and cooperation.
The Lord has said some doors will open of their own accord with no labour needed. However, at the doors of opposition and doors that are shut, the commandment we need to fulfil is to rejoice in the Lord.
This is not only limited to our natural, but also in the spiritual. Some doors of revelations that open are answers to joy. Some doors in the spirit are tied to our disposition and not faith alone. We must learn to rejoice even in the midst of heaviness.
(1 Peter 1:7-9) — “that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”
Many times, the goal of Satan is for us to despair of life.
(2 Cor. 1:8-10) — “For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: but we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;” — We are not the only ones that are faced with contradictions, even Apostle Paul experienced the same. However, the Lord being the same yesterday, today and forever, delivered us; he delivers us even now, and he is also the one who will yet deliver us. No matter how pressure comes and how often it comes, one thing we are always sure of is “The Deliverance of the Lord”
(2Cor. 1:4-6) God can work consolation by the way we handle an affliction, which will be a ministration to others. The Lord sometimes permits us to go through certain situations that look like suffering and want us to endure it, so that we can have the authority to help those who would also experience such in life. We will not have the might to comfort others if we have not gone through some things. We should know that irrespective of what we face, God is faithful; He is a deliverer. Every affliction we face has come to pass; it cannot stay. We should not give Satan the privilege of seeing us in tears and downcast. If we have to cry, it should be a cry to God for Salvation. God is in charge!
Scripture says; Rejoice always! Rejoice. This shows that it is possible for us to choose to rejoice at all times. We should allow ourselves to be glad in the Lord. We have the power to decide our mood and response always. (Psalm 43:5) — “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: For I shall yet praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
Looking at Habakkuk when he set himself to inquire of God, and the Lord responded to him, this was his response back to God. That he will rejoice in the Lord without anything external influencing it. (Habakkuk 3:17-19) — “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.” —
His prayer after was that the Lord would change his walk and cause him to walk on his high places. When God touches our legs, then He has touched our lives. Jesus told Peter that if He washes his feet, his whole body becomes clean (John 13:6-10). The gospel we are hearing is to polish our feet and change our walk. When our walk is changed, all of our lives would also be changed.
We are not supposed to be strangers in church; we are a family. After we have heard the word, we are not yet done in church; it is our relationship and interaction afterwards that make us family. Family is supposed to talk together and bond together, and as a church, we must do this much more. We must not be strangers to the church family and must be committed to knowing how things are done. We must know that in this Church Family, we all have a stake.
Many of us crave liberty so that we can do what we please, but one of the ways we are being trained is to be subjected to the will of another. If we are not subject to the will of another, we can never get to God. The training we get from our parents, even though it’s after their own pleasure, is approved by God. God uses the training of pleasing another person to train us on how not to live according to our own will, and also to learn how to walk with the Father of Spirits (Heb. 12:9). One of the major ways God trains us is through the people He has set above us.
(Phil. 2:12) — “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” — One thing that God puts on both natural and spiritual authority is fear, honour and reverence. Every single follower should honour and revere who the Lord has placed above them, because you can’t see God but can see man; this principle applies to spiritual and natural authorities. Without having this attitude, we won’t be able to see the workings of God through them towards us.
Sometimes we disconnect authorities from God, so we can’t see the workings of God in and through them. One major way through which God leads us is through our leaders. We see the Philippians, who obeyed in Paul’s presence, but obeyed much more in his absence because they had learnt the culture of fear and reverence while Paul was physically present; they had learnt a lifestyle. When we find the grace to submit ourselves to this training through our leaders and exercise it, we will gain a skill in life that we did not have before. To expand your horizon and enlarge you, the Lord leads you contrary to yourself.
One area we are deficient in our journey towards Eternal life is our responsibility towards our neighbour, which is crucial to fulfilling our charity walk (Luke 10:30-37).
(Luke 10:36-37) — “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”
There are many people we have the opportunity to do good to daily, but we do not realise it. A neighbor is not your brethren (not love of the saints) or someone who shares the same compound with us, but rather a neighbor is defined by opportunities that God presents our way. The love of saints is different from the love of our neighbor. We must excel in the love of our neighbor if we want to move to the love of God.
Most times, we do not realize the opportunities God has placed around us to show love to a neighbor; not the person living in the same compound with you but people that God has allowed you to help, shine light to, and be a witness of the truth of life to (Gal. 6:10) — “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” — As believers, we should witness Jesus to people around us. We can’t arrive at Eternal life alone; Heaven has placed a demand upon us to do good to all men. God expects a preference and wants us to be more invested in those who hold the same faith as you, but nevertheless, you must do good to all men.
(Matthew 25:40) — “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
(Matthew 25:45) — Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”
There is a commitment to the brethren, and there is a commitment to our neighbors. ‘The least of these’ in the scripture above is not referring to brethren or disciples, but to the general Christians around us. If we have not exercised commitment to our neighbor, we won’t be able to do the same to our brethren as we should. We have a responsibility to do good. One of the greatest goods we can give to a soul is to show them the good thing we have found—God, who is good. We must be healed from every selfishness in our souls; it’s a deficiency that, if it’s not addressed, it will affect our walk.
(2 Kings 7:8-9) — “And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.” — In the days of good tidings, like the lepers, we should not hold our peace. If we hold our peace, mischief will come upon us. This is the same thing Modecai told Esther. If she had held her peace, mischief would have happened to her and her family (Esther 4:14). We should be intentional about shining the light of the gospel both in lifestyle and words. God wants us to shine the light that Jesus is shedding to us (Matt. 5:14-16, Phil. 2:15). Either people accept it or reject it is not the issue, but let’s shine it all around, that men may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.
Light is a reprover of darkness. When we do righteousness, and it reproves someone else’s darkness, then light has been shown. Satan intimidates us so much that he doesn’t want the light of Jesus to shine through us. Many are too ashamed because there is an intimidating spirit that makes us timid when we are doing righteousness. Brethren, we shouldn’t be ashamed to stand for truth and godliness. We should be known for Jesus and not have a double personality. The demand concerning the harvest is tied to our progression in the faith. If we don’t do it, we might not prosper on certain grounds. We should stand as ardent followers of the spirit; we must obey faith, truth and righteousness.
The primary reason we do righteousness is not so that men can see it, but so that God can see it. However, men need to see what God is working in us, that they may see God who is at work in us. We have a responsibility of love to all men. As we grow in faith, our bowels of compassion should also be enlarged.
There are certain opportunities and coincidences that have been staged by God so that we can do good to people and respond to charity. It is not just about giving out worldly goods; it could be by showing concern or giving encouragement to someone. Sometimes these opportunities might seem like a coincidence, but it’s not; it is God’s deliberate attempt.
(Ecclesiastes 11:1-2) — “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.” — We should learn how to cast our bread upon many waters. Catering for the neighbor in need can be the door to our salvation. When something blesses us, instructs us, and delivers us, we shouldn’t hesitate to share it. And we also should not share at the expense of doing and obeying. We shouldn’t just enjoy the goodness of God alone; we should share. We should begin sharing from our Jerusalem, which refers to our family. We should share the word and let them know the principles of Christ that we uphold. Husbands should share good tidings with their wives; they should both stand for Jesus, irrespective of their love for each other.
When we are sharing the word with people, we should not sound high and mysterious. We should be meek and share the love of God, as Jesus loves them. With love, we will be able to determine the actual need of a person at a time, and whatever word we share with someone should be based on what they are able to bear. Love will help us to judge this.
Everyone that God grants the opportunity to help is our neighbor, and we owe that neighbor love. Even if we don’t have money, we should make sure our hearts are with them. It is for the exercise of our hearts in righteousness.
May great grace come upon us to embody light and become children of light, and in causing that light to shine, make others see the light of life