Every Man his Measure
Every child of God has a portion of inheritance mapped out for him or her — a particular (definable) portion of inheritance over which he or she is to exercise dominion. The apostle Paul, speaking to the Ephesians says:
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them, which are sanctified. (Acts 20:32)
In a sense, every believer has his own measure of calling in God. The onus is on the individual to discover his call slot, enter it and walk in the fullness of his measure. Paul discovered that not only was he called, but also he was expected to attain a particular measure defined by God (Phil 3:12). With the knowledge of this fact, his life-long desire thereafter was to attain the fullness of his own measure (Phil 3:14), paying no attention to all his past achievements but focusing his mind on reaching his ultimate goal.
It should be noted that reward in heaven will not be apportioned according to how famous we were on the earth or how much “blessing” we received or dished out. It will solely be on the accomplishment of our individual purpose as ordained by God. But the tragedy of Christianity in the Pentecostal era is that it seems to have lost a sense of God's ultimate purpose. We all seem to be satisfied with the status quo — those feelings of spirituality, ideas and works that emanate from self rather than God. We erroneously believe that once we are saved, that is it; we can carry on with life by ourselves. We do not realise that conformity to God's will is the Lord's end goal and that salvation is only the first step in the journey to this ultimate purpose. The truth, which many may not agree with, is that we are saved and left on the earth, not for us to pursue our individual desires and enjoy ourselves, but to discover and do what God wants done.
Today, God is saying to the Church that it is time to move on in the pursuit of His eternal purpose. The Church must put a stop to the pursuit of self-will and make up her mind to pursue God's will — as individuals and as a corporate body. No longer should we be satisfied with seeking temporary blessings. There is a purpose higher than these.
The Emerging Priesthood
There is a generation that is being prepared by the Lord for the battle of the last days. He will break, shape and reshape them until they conform perfectly to His will and made fit to manifest full kingdom life and have the capacity to cause fundamental change on the earth for the Lord.
If you are one of those whom God has recruited among those He wants to use in this generation, one of the lessons you must learn right from the outset is that there is no way you can make any meaningful and eternal impact or affect anyone else if you yourself are not changed from your inside. This is so because whatever God will do through you must proceed from your spirit, where God's Spirit dwells and from where He will ultimately take over your soul and body. It is not in enticing or multitude of words or sheer enthusiasm wrapped in spiritual garb, meant to flaunt superficial spirituality.
As you bring yourself under the rule and authority of the Holy Spirit, desiring God's will for your life and to do it at whatever cost, the power of the kingdom will start to be revealed in you and through you; then you will begin to receive visions, plans and strategies on what to do, where, when and how to do it. You will be able to manifest these things, at the appointed time, in your environment because it has been revealed from heaven to you first, as you submit to the internal government that regulates all your actions, words and thoughts.
At this level, you come to agree with Jesus that of a truth you can of your own self do nothing (John 5:3) and you become a man under authority. You listen to receive information from within and act strictly according to the information being released from the throne room of God. You have now come fully under heaven's rule. You do nothing unless you receive instruction from God and as you do so, you are sure that when you step out to do those things you have been instructed to do, you will definitely succeed — devil or no devil. God's will has become your delight and as you pursue it, the Lord Himself will separate you from the crowd and honour you. Your light will shine because the glory of God has risen upon you.
God is looking for servants who will not go on to do their own thing but who will walk under the complete rule of heaven. And then He will bring them to a position where they will go on to do things on the earth that will compel the world to acknowledge that Jesus is indeed the King of kings.
Jesus was able to manifest kingdom power and glory wherever He went because He was completely yielded to the higher power — God the Father. We cannot do otherwise if we desire to be used by God in this generation. Our prophetic mandate is to walk in the ancient pathway, preach the old- time gospel according to Matthew 6:33 and make the path straight for the manifestation of the glory of God on the earth. Anything other than this will make our fate not different from that of the generation that died in the wilderness.
They failed because:
They soon forgot his works. They waited not for His counsel. But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their requests but sent leanness into their soul. (Psalm 106:13-15).
The clarion call to the Church today, as always, is not to make the things that the Gentiles seek after top priority. And as we make up our mind to seek and do God's will regardless of what happens to us in the process, then ours will be the experience of Solomon in 1Kings 3:11-13.
And God said unto him, Because thou has asked this thing, and has not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment. Behold l have done according to thy words: lo, l have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was not like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And l have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour, so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
It is only God that has the plan on how this earth will be subdued, to ultimately make "the kingdoms of this world" to "become the kingdoms of our God". So whoever will work has to co-operate with God, who has been working from time immemorial, to know what this plan is all about and how it will be executed. But when believers are moving in their own chosen directions, pursuing their individual ambitions and lusts, regardless of what God is saying, then nothing can be done by the Church except continue in an endless religious rigmarole. The emerging prophetic/apostolic ministry has the mandate to guide God's people forward in the journey to His ultimate eternal purpose; to bring to the Church God's plan for this season and help the people adjust to the demands of the times.
To be continued.
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