He First Called Us to Himself

          We live in a time of great outreaches to peoples and nations, hitherto, did not welcome the Word of God, the workings and demonstrations of the power of God by the Holy Spirit, unprecedented miracles and many more. We see God doing tremendous things in and through the lives of His children and He desires to do much more. Unfortunately, very few are tapping into this great and awesome move of God in these times, thus, rendering them impotent when faced with the lures of darkness. One of the reasons for such is that many children of God fail to understand that for every power and authority given there is a responsibility attached to it: A jurisdiction, an instruction and a principle of application for it to achieve the desired effect. We see this principle of God throughout Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation in the lives of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Esther, Jesus Christ our Lord, Paul and many other clouds of witnesses. Friend, we cannot want the power and authority of God and then deny the responsibility that comes with it. Another reason why so many are succumbing to the lures of darkness is that many had failed to understand that the authority we are given by God is a delegated authority. What this simply means is that for exercising such power and authority, we need to return back to the Giver to teach us how to use it, and when done, we must be ready to give account of how it was used. 

         This lack of understanding in the use of the authority and power of God given to the children of God despite the miracles, exploits and wealth, has made so many become arrogant, abrogate authority to themselves that God never gave them, lord over the sheep, muddy the pure water of the gospel of Christ; as a result, we see so many in the Body, despite the power, authority and wealth, spiraling into a mire of flesh and worldliness. One cannot listen to news without hearing of one scandal or the other involving the children of God.  Jesus Christ in Matthew 10 did something that is a standard and pattern for following Him as a disciple. The Bible states that just before He sent them out, He called the disciples first to Himself and then gave them power and authority, after which he gave them specific instructions as to how to execute the authority and power he had given them. The gospel of Mark delved deeper into this call: “And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons” (Mark 3:13-15, NKJV). One would notice that for every time the disciples are sent out, they return to give a report to the Master. In the above quoted Scripture, it is not only for disciples to have power and authority, Jesus Christ desired that they would ‘remain’ with Him: after they are done, they will return to Him to be refreshed. That is the mandate! This principle we see in Psalm 24:3, when the Psalmist asked “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?” The ‘stand’ here connotes remaining! The desire of God in giving us the power and authority is not for us to expend as we like but to first come to Him to show us how to use it and when we are done to return and remain in Him, until He chooses to send us forth again; and the cycle is repeated. As we remain in Him, He will show us deep things that will confound the enemy in our demonstrations of the power and authority given to us. Friends, it is important for us to retrace our steps back to Him so He could teach us how to use the power and authority we are blessed with and walk in the full measure of the Spirit of God. So that when we appear before Him to give an account we will not be ashamed. God bless you.