"BUT WHEN IT PLEASED GOD, WHO SEPARATED ME FROM MY MOTHER'S WOMB AND CALLED ME THROUGH HIS GRACE,
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood."
Galatians 1:15,16 (NKJV)"WHO HAS SAVED US AND CALLED US WITH A HOLY CALLING, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began
TO WHICH I [Paul] WAS APPOINTED A PREACHER, AN APOSTLE, AND A TEACHER OF THE GENTILES."
2 Timothy 1:9,11 (NKJV)
-> Dedication
• Dedication means to devote oneself, time, and efforts to a noble cause or purpose.
- If you are sure or convinced of your assignment, you must devote yourself completely to it.
YOU must be willing to suffer for the purpose, and sacrifice whatever attainments you have had for the assignment (Philippians 3:7-9). - If God has called you, YOU ARE special and peculiar.
THE call to Ministry is a call to HONOUR: "And no man takes this honour to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was" (Hebrews 5:4).
IF you are His vessel, He would be interested in every area of your life.
HE would want to correct every mistake you made, and every disobedience attracts chastisement (Hebrews 12:5,6). - You must be willing to die to the flesh, let pride and ego die.
IF pride and ego are found in your life, God will not be able to use you maximally.
• What pride is (Ezekiel 28:1-10).
- Pride is a delayed obedience, partial obedience, or a disobedience.
- It is also sharing of God’s glory (Acts 12:20-23).
- It is thinking of yourself more than you OUGHT (Romans 12:3).
- Pride is the depending on the self.
IT is a trust in the self, personal ability, or wisdom, without acknowledging God (Proverbs 3:5,6). - It is the applying of senses, leaning on one's understanding, living independently of God.
A PROUD person would not want to ask God for direction—would not want to accept that he or she does not know how to go by whatever they wanted to do. - If you love to impress people that they may think you are what you are not, that they may praise you Or respect you, it is a pride.
- Pride causes you to be offended when you think people do not give you proper respect, honour or recognition.
- Pride is being boastful, talking about you achievements, wanting everyone to know what you have.
WHEN you love to talk about yourself and dominate every discussion (Daniel 4:28-32). - When you always think you are better than others, look down on other people, it means you HAVE pride in you (Ezekiel 28:17).
- A proud person is always fond of using ‘me’ or ‘I’ all the time when talking.
- Pride is also about arguing with God when He instructed you to do something.
- It is wanting to please MEN rather than God: "Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, BECAUSE I FEARED THE PEOPLE AND OBEYED THEIR VOICE" (1 Samuel 15:24).
- Pride is about putting trust in man than God.
- It is when you always want to be praised.
- Pride in the heart of someone could reflect in his or her dressing, behaviour or disposition
- "Moreover the LORD says: BECAUSE THE DAUGHTERS OF ZION ARE HAUGHTY, AND WALK WITH OUTSTRETCHED NECKS [Head held high] AND WANTON EYES [seductive eyes], WALKING AND MINCING [tripping or skipping] AS THEY GO, making a jingling with their feet,
- Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will uncover their secret parts."
Isaiah 3:16, 17 (NKJV)
WHEN your adornment is no more moderate, there is an element of pride in it (1 Peter 3:3,4).
WHEN you get to the point of borrowing money to buy clothes, in order to impress people, it means you have pride in you.
- Pride could reflect in what you eat, what you put on, the house 🏠 you live in, and whatever.
- Pride leads to shame and destruction—it goes before destruction (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Daniel 4:28-33; Acts 12:20-23).
• The truth is:
- Pride is the reason why God has not promoted and established some people’s WORK or assignment.
- Humble yourself, do not allow God to do it for YOU, that is, do not allow GOD to humble you by Himself, it may not be palatable (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6).
• God's dealings
- He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors.
- "Who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, THAT HE MIGHT HUMBLE YOU AND THAT HE MIGHT TEST YOU, to do you good in the end—
- "then you say in your heart, 'My power and the the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' "
Deuteronomy 8:16,17 (NKJV)
- Give God a chance in your life to deal with you AND remove every element of pride in your life.
- Be patience with Him, let His dealings be thorough in your life (Hebrews 12:10,11).
• My discovery
- I have come to discover that if God is not through with you, He will not promote or release you to move forward (Genesis 28:15).
- Until God is satisfied with your character, He will not promote you.
- Stop focusing on the Ministry, look inward, look into your life, your characters and behaviours.
GOD watches your actions and motives.
WHEN you keep focusing on the ministry work and agitating for breakthroughs, without paying attention to your characters, that breakthrough would be a mirage. - Making your Ministry big does not cost God anything and it does not take time.
- Your co-operation with God to deal with character defects in your life, in order to be what He wants you to be, brings the best results, and it determines your speed in the ministry.
- God wants to see you a changed person before He releases the anointing, the souls, finances, and whatever to you in ministry.
- Let God prune you and purge you to be more fruitful: "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" (John 15:2).
-> Factors for speed in the work of ministry
- The magnitude of the assignment determines the foundation.
IF it is a great assignment, it will require a deep foundation, which may take a number of years. - The years of preparation depend on a number of factors like:
I. Co-operation with God’s dealings, yielding, and obedience to God’s trainings.
II. It is, How prompt you are to every instruction given to you.
III. Your heart condition with the work, and when you are corrected or disciplined by God.
IV. Your ability to assimilate and put to practice, whatever He is teaching you.
V. Your ability to pass God’s test at different STAGES of your assignment, Or the work of ministry.
• Timing
- It is God Who determines the set time for your assignment.
- No matter how aggressive you are in PRAYER, fasting, and evangelism; you can not get what God is not ready to release.
• Take note:
- You must not run ahead of God, and at the same time you must not be too slow, that you might not to miss your time.
- You must be like men of Issachar who have understanding of time and season.
- Also, it is not the devil who determines the type of trials or difficulties that you face.
- Your God-given ASSIGNMENT which God has for you, gives the blue print of trials the devil brings on you WAY within a stipulated time.
- Therefore, if you are murmuring, complaining or doing the work with levity, you are delaying your journey.
- If you, because the work is small or it seems it is not yielding result and you started to do it with laxity, you will stay long At that level.
- Give the best of your time, talent, ability and all you have to the work at hand.
EVEN If there is nothing in the physical you can SEE, just keep building yourself up.
KEEP waiting, keep improving and dealing with those characters that the Holy Spirit has brought to your notice.
IN the due time, HE, that is, God will lift you.
• The truth is:
- The lifting of God is a miracle, it is NOT by chance.
GOD is the only One who can lift you, and no one else can do.
AND if you failed to please Him, measure up to the STANDARDS He expects, He would not promote you.
• You have your part in this matter and God has His own part.
THUS, do your own part and leave God to do His own part.
• You will not fail in Jesus' name.
Peace!
TO BE CONTINUED