The Bible makes us to understand that:
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in his way.”
Psalms 37:23 KJV
A good man is a man or a woman who knows that, he or she had been declared the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. As the one who had been declared righteous by the cleansing in the blood of Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit now leads and guides every step that you take, in fulfilling the will of God for your life. Your Heavenly Father desires to put you in His perfect will. Your spiritual posturing as a Christian is of God, who desires to use you as part of His end time army. When you become spiritually positioned in authority over the principalities and powers in your community or nation, God sees you as being available for His service, in being used to bring in the end time harvest of souls into His Kingdom.
The way you position yourself over the principalities and powers is through spiritual warfare. If you can’t fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12), where you are positioned spiritually right now, you will never be able to stand for long in that position. And if you are not standing at all in the good fight of faith, then you are struggling to stand in the victory, which Christ has given you. There is really no other way for you to do it, apart from your ability to use your faith through prayer and intercession in affirming the victory of the cross, over the principalities and powers within the communities or the nations where the Lord has placed you.
You can’t assert spiritual authority by carrying placards in protests. That’s the way of the unsaved world. They do not know anything better than what they see physically with their eyes, and what their flesh is telling them to do. But you were created by God to walk by faith and not by sights (2 Corinthians 5:7). You take your cues in this spiritual warfare, from the position where you are standing now in the spirit. Everything that you see in the physical are temporary. They are about to change, as you make progress in the spirit into the calling of God for your life. Revivals begins from your position of spiritual authority; as you stand boldly, strongly and focused in that position through prayer and intercession.
That’s why Paul said:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
Ephesians 6:10-13 NIV
No where in the scriptures is it written that you should be carrying placards to make a statement. It has never changed anything and it will never do, because it is just a manifestation of the work of the flesh. It only flares up the works of the flesh, in the people who do engage in it.
But you can’t stand boldly and strongly while keeping your focus, if you are not spiritually positioned in the realm of the spirit over the principalities and powers, that are trying to influence your community’s or nation’s social, economic and political systems. Prayer and intercession will determine the future of your country. Everything that you do in God’s Kingdom, must begin from your position of strength through prayers and intercessions. You can take any nation on the earth for God, through prayer and intercession in the spirit and by the Spirit. What Satan is doing now, must be viewed from your position of strength in the spirit. That is the position from where God sees everything. It is by the Spirit only that God will be able to take you up, to where you will begin to reign with Christ Jesus in this world. Wherever Christians gather to pray always, the Holy Spirit moves among them in power and strength.
That was exactly how the Lord positioned the locusts in devastating Egypt with the plague. The locusts all fell in line, as the east wind took them into their assigned positions over Egypt. God called the locusts out in the spirit, to move into action over Egypt even before Moses acted (Exodus 10:13-15). Before Moses spoke before Pharaoh, God had already decreed his plan to humiliate the Egyptians.
For every move of God on the earth, there is always a man or a woman needed, who must be willing and obedient to go into partnership with Him. That’s the reason He had created and called you out – to partner with Him here on the earth. When you were formed in your mother’s womb, God placed all the potentials in you to fulfill all of His heart’s desires, in revealing His glory to the people among whom you are living right now. You were created by God to manifest His dreams and visions, right from the very foundation of the earth.
The Prophet Joel compared the end time army of God to the locusts (see Joel 2:1-11). We are living now in the moment of the fulfillment of biblical Prophecies, when the Lord is raising up an army of believers, to march out through the earth in getting ready the end time harvest of souls into His Kingdom. There are souls that are waiting on you to manifest with the glory of God.
Be prepared to be tested
Your blessing will always locate you, when you are where you are supposed to be; as you do what God has told you to do. The blessing never came on Abraham, until he stepped his foot on the land that God promised him. Your willingness and obedience to the call of God, positions you for the blessing of God.
No matter how long it may take you, to get to where you are supposed to be in the Kingdom of God, always remember that your faithfulness to the Lord, must pass through the fire of His test. God blesses faithfulness and not faithlessness. Your faith must be tested. You must be found faithful in doing what God had told you to do.
So stop calling the “Noah’s ark” into which God has put you into the “Titanic”. No way! Your Noah’s ark is not going to sink, as you pass through that fire of God. You will only see the faithless drowning around you, but such things can never come near the people, who live by their faith in God. But as you allow God to purify you in your mess through His fire, you will start seeing yourself coming out as pure as gold. So stop focusing on your mess. God sees the gold in you, and He will clear up all the mess. And you will remember them no more, as the fire of God purifies your faith. But you must learn to be quick in obeying God, if you truly wants to walk with Him. That’s the key to every success in ministry.
Abraham knew God as the Jehovah Jireh (the God who provides), as he positioned himself in spiritual authority by obeying God. His faith in God passed through the fire of God. At the end of it all he was found faithful.
God told Abraham to offer his son (Isaac) as a sacrifice to Him on the mountain of Moriah (Genesis 22:1-19). By faith Abraham went ahead to the place, and God opened his spiritual eyes of understanding, to recognize the exact location on the mountain for the sacrifice. Abraham was on a spiritual journey to discover another side of God, that he never knew before – as his Provider (Jehovah Jireh – Genesis 22:14). But his promptness in obeying God by faith was part of the test. Abraham had to be careful to obey God in the details, of the instructions that were given to him by God.
The scriptures says:
“Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.”
Genesis 22:3 NIV
As an exemplary leader and father of faith to us, we can see Abraham loading the donkey and cutting the firewood by himself. He could had delegated these details in the preparation for the sacrifice to anyone of his servants. But he did not. Abraham wanted to be sure of following the exact instructions from God. He was the one who heard from God and not the servants. Abraham acted responsibly before God, even while acting by faith to obey God.
The fact that the locusts can achieve so much, without having a leader over them or the skill of a leader; shows that as a believer in Christ you can definitely do much more, by standing in your position of spiritual authority. Abraham stood in that position as he personally took responsibility, in all the preparations for the sacrifice. You must begin your spiritual journey with God, by first taking responsibility before Him for the things, that are out of order around you and the work of the Lord. And that begins when you take your position of spiritual authority over the situation. When you take personal responsibility, you are positioning yourself for God’s blessing (see 2 Kings 22).
This is not the time for you to be delegating spiritual authority to others. This is the time for you to take charge of the situation by yourself. Some people do like to give unreasonable excuses for their failures, by blaming those to whom they had delegated spiritual authority. You can’t afford to be making that mistake.
An example was Eli who delegated spiritual authority to his incompetent children. He lost his life because, he never took charge of the situation over Israel, that was spiraling out of control with his children in charge of God’s altar (1 Samuel 2:12-17 and 4).
The scriptures says:
“Now the boy Samuel was attending to the service of the LORD under the supervision of Eli. The word of the LORD was rare and precious in those days; visions [that is, new revelations of divine truth] were not widespread…
..and the [oil] lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was,”
1 SAMUEL 3:1, 3 AMP
Who was responsible before God for keeping the divine revelations of God to flow in Israel? Eli was responsible before God. But he failed to keep the oil in the lamp from going out. When the oil in the lamp of God (the Holy Spirit’s anointing) over your life is going out, you will stop receiving revelations from God. You can’t disassociate the anointing oil over your life from the revelations of God to you. They always go together. Things were spiraling out of control spiritually over Israel, because the man who was called and appointed by God, to be Priest was not standing in his office. His children were out of control and things were falling apart.
God had to personally take charge by calling Samuel out, and by putting him in the office of the Priest instead of Eli. God had to intervene on behalf of one nation – Israel; because of the eternal covenant that he has with their father Abraham. If He has to intervene in your nation, He will do it as you begin to lift up your voice before Him with prayer and intercession.
When God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, he never struggled to obey God. Abraham took responsibility for the sacrifice. God had spoken to him alone and not to his servants. Abraham wanted to please God, by using his faith to act in obedience to the voice of God.
I had often seen certain Christian leaders, who are allowing others serving under them, to take their blessings away from them. They misguidedly do this as they delegate to others, what God specifically told them to do for Him. If God tells you to do something, He expects you to do it by yourself, without delegating it to other persons. Your act of obedience in taking responsibility for the word of God, that was spoken over your life will determine your destiny in God.
Abraham would not allow his servants to take his position for the blessing before God. He decided to cut the wood by himself, and he did not even consider his own old age in obeying God. God is never limited by your age. If He can use anybody to do anything, He surely can use you also.
There are certain things that are okay to delegate to others. It’s time to stop looking for an excuse before God for disobeying His voice. Abraham knew that he was the one responsible before God for the sacrifice, and not his servants. He knew that he was responsible for obeying God and no other person. Certain things in your ministry are not meant for you to be delegating to others. If God tells you to do something specifically for Him. Just do it!
By obeying the Lord you are setting yourself up for the increase. Don’t let others take your blessing before God. Your ability to obey God in this manner will free you up in the spirit, to be able to minister more effectively before God; knowing fully well that you are pleasing Him. Abraham ministered before the Lord with Isaac, knowing fully well that he had obeyed God. At the end of his test of faith, the angel told him:
..“I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Genesis 22:16-18 NIV
Before this declaration of the blessing to Abraham, the angel had revealed the purpose of the test of faith to Abraham:
“The LORD said, “Do not reach out [with the knife in] your hand against the boy, and do nothing to [harm] him; for now I know that you fear God [with reverence and profound respect], since you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son [of promise].” – GENESIS 22:12 AMP
We can see here that when God wants to bless anyone, He looks for a man who fears Him, with “reverence and profound respect”. Are you walking before the Lord with reverence and profound respect for His word?
All you need is faith in God
The Bible says of the locusts:
“...Locusts—leaderless insects, yet they strip the field like an army regiment.”
Proverbs 30:27 MSG
The locusts have no leadership skills, yet they can swiftly organize to obey God in carrying out His command. What are you waiting on, before you will have to start obeying God? As my wife use to say: “your delayed obedience is disobedience before God”.. (1 Samuel 15:22-23). To fully obey God, you’ll need to be swift in doing it.
God will never ask you to reign on this earth with Christ, if He has not put the potentials in you to do it. You don’t need some special skills to obey God, in fulfilling your call. You just need to let your faith in Him work for you.
If you have need for some skills, God will give it to you. He will never ask you to do something, that He knows you have not been adequately prepared for. Whatever He calls you to do, He will equip you with all that you will need to do it. He will never give you a task that He knows you can’t handle.
There was a time while the nation of Israel was in the wilderness, and God commanded Moses to build the tent of meeting, with the Tabernacle to go with it. God knew that Moses would need skilled men in artworks to help him. That was why He equipped Bezalel of the tribe of Judah with the skills for the task.
He told Moses:
““See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—”
Exodus 31:2-3 NIV
Bezalel and others who worked with him, never went to some special schools or persons to acquire their skills. God gave them the skills and wisdom to do, what they were told to do. If they were not willing, they would not have been able to receive from the Lord, everything that was needed to get their tasks done.
I have personally often heard testimonies of people, who never went to musical schools before. But God put the desire in them to play musical instruments. They prayed and asked God for the skills, and He gave it to them. You are not different from them, with your calling into the ministry.
If you do need skills to do the work of the Kingdom, God will give it to you. He will never give the glory that belongs to Him into the hands of the ungodly. The Lord knows exactly how to direct people to you, in fulfilling the needs for your ministry. You just need to learn how to trust Him more to do it for you.
Walk in your calling to fulfill your ministry
There is no way that God will ever change His mind concerning the call over your life. Whatever He has called you to do for Him, He will equip you with the necessary tools and gifts to do it. But you must be able to identify and acknowledge, the different stages that the Lord is taking you through in getting you into it.
There are different callings, gifts, offices and ministries. You need to be able to identify yourself, as you pass through each one of those stages of the process into your ministry by faith. Your calling comes with some spiritual gifts from God. They are meant to establish you into the office (Ephesians 4:11-15); that God has for you within the body of Christ. It’s a process but God’s final destination for you is the ministry. Your ability to be able to stand in your office brings you into your ministry. Be careful not to stand as Eli stood in the office of the Priest over Israel. You will always need your faith to be able to walk in your calling, gifts, office and ministry.
In fact you will always need to use your faith to do everything, that God has called you to do. You must always have faith in God for everything in this world. Human beings will always fail and disappoint you; but your God will never leave you or forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:8).
Do you know where you are standing right now before the Lord? Are you in your calling, gifts, office or ministry? There are many who are still struggling with their callings. Yet they often make the mistake of identifying it as their ministry stage. They are not even close to entering into their callings. But because Satan wants to destroy them, before they even have the opportunity to start; he is pumping them up with pride and ego. The result of which is self-destruction. Watch out! Don’t get yourself into the enemy’s trap. Walk before God with reverence and profound respect for Him and His word always. Remember, God will bring the proud down, but the humble people before Him will be exalted (Proverbs 16:18).
Many people had in fact died prematurely, without ever starting their ministry. They had been too busy copying what others are doing around them. They actually do have a ministry, but they are just unable to locate themselves in the process, through which the Lord is taking them in discovering it. So they decided to just settle down for what everyone else around them are doing.
You can’t afford to be a copycat all your life. You’ve got to position yourself in the perfect will of God for your life. Being in God’s perfect will guarantees you all of heaven’s protection, in everything that you do. It positions you spiritually in the realm where Satan cannot touch you.
Being a copycat leaves you in the permissive will of God. When you are in the permissive will of God, the enemy will take a shot at you at the slightest opportunity that is opened to him. By renewing your mind daily in God’s word, you will be able to discover where you are standing right now (Romans 12:1-2). By renewing your mind daily in God’s word, you will also be able to position yourself in God’s perfect will.
You can’t afford to be a copycat of everything that other people are doing. Learn to be real and original with God in discovering your calling, gifts, office and ministry. Many people have spent most of their lives trying to copy others. But still yet they are not doing what God called them to do. You can’t be happy outside of the perfect will of God. That’s why your spiritual gifts are not manifesting. It’s time for you to start taking your cues from the Spirit of God, and not from others around you. You are a leader. Leaders are not copycats. Be original. That’s the way of the locusts that King Solomon was talking about.
Your faith will see you through the process of identifying your calling, gifts, office and ministry. Don’t let the crowd around you, whom you are copying kill you before your time. Remember that God promises us long life here on earth. You still have much more to do for God. Don’t let the enemy take your life before your time. You are a winner and never a failure. If you are in your calling, keep on using your faith to discover your gifts. And as you use those gifts, they will make room for you into your office. Before you know it God’s perfect will for your ministry will be yours, with all of His goodness in blessing you in the good fight of faith.
