A friend gave me a story of a man who proceeded to choose a vacation window and paid for all vacation expenses prior to seeking a leave approval from his boss. Contrary to his expectation, his boss refused to approve a leave for him within the vacation window he had chosen and paid for. The young man called the attention of his boss to the fact that he had already picked his vacation destination and all expenses had been paid. Furthermore, he labeled his boss as being insensitive and foolishly flouted his boss’s decision and proceeded on the vacation. This further infuriated his boss who felt slighted at his subordinate’s presumption and gross disrespect of his person, office and the institution. The young man was consequently fired for being absent without a leave approval.
Ideally, the young man should have sought his boss’s approval before making his vacation plans. This is because, as a professional, you’re primarily answerable to your boss or supervisor. To a very large extent, your level of obedience and loyalty go a very long way in determining how much you rise in the professional cadre.
The scenario described above is quite similar to what we sometimes do as Christians. We make up our minds to accomplish a task and we use all our human discretion to make out all the plans we think are necessary, then we go to God for approval. When he doesn’t give the approval we expect, then we begin to doubt His integrity and faithfulness. For instance a person gets set for a journey without initially consulting God for an approval to proceed, then when he is about to commence the journey, he ask God for a safe trip. If something goes wrong while on the journey, we begin to doubt God’s credibility. Another instance is when a person gets wealthy by cutting corners and feels that using such funds to support church events is tantamount to bribing your way through to God. Or a person who consciously and consistently eat a very bad diet and expects to live in divine health. This will all back fire. “God is not mocked, whatever you sow you will reap (Gal.6:7)”.
Ideally, whatever we do as Christians should always start and end with God. He loves us so much that he wants us to take an approval from him before we make every move of our lives, from the least to the greatest (1Cor.10:31 and Col.3:17). As our maker, Lord and savior his integrity is always at stake so he jealously protects it by nature. In other words, He sees his glory in our lives and he’ll want our every step to transmit this glory in return (1Cor.6:19-20).
To be able to effectively seek and take approvals from him we must know the following:
- Know God for who He is (Heb. 11:6, James 1:17, 1Tim.1:17, 1Tim.6:16).
- Know that God Loves you and has a perfect plan for you (John 3:16, Jer.29:11).
- Know yourself exactly as God knows you (Col.2:10, Eph.2:10)
- Know how to love your neighbor. This results as an automatic consequence of loving God and yourself (Eph. 5:1-2, 2Cor.5:14-15)
- Know that every action you take has a consequence, good or bad (Gal.6:7).
“I am God, your God, who teaches you how to live right and well. I show you what to do, where to go. If you had listened all along to what I told you, your life would have flowed full like a river, blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.” Isaiah 48:17b-18 (The Message).
-Emeka Ofia
If there is anything I wish to God the Christian would accept, it is the fact that He has been given a heritage in the King domain of God. The truth of God’s word is that you and I have escaped the corruption of this world and have been made partakers of God’s own divine nature.
Ephesians 2:2 says Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
I love the way our walk was described …“in time past”.
Today we take a peep into the fact that the Christian has been set free from all powers of the evil one and we begin this discussion by referring to a parable of Jesus. The scene was not a favourite for the Pharisee’s. Jesus had made numerous comments about the unfaithfulness and the hard impenitent nature of their hearts. But then he capped it up with this parable describing the man possessed of evil. I have heard many make reference or even sight this parable in discussing about how the Christian ought to take heed lest he is possessed of a devil. A close look at the Word shows however we ought to take heed how we attribute all statements as being descriptive of the man born again.
Verse 44 of the 12th chapter of Mathew is insightful. The word of God says that unclean spirit came and findeth the place empty, swept and garnished.
We see from God’s word certain attributes of the Christian who is born of God. But the word “empty” is not found as an attribute of the man born again. You are not empty waiting to be filled with any thing that may just pass by. You are not a holiday resort for the devil and his cohorts.
If anything we realize that for being a child of God in Glory, the Christian has received the full measure of God’s spirit.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Gal 4:6
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 1st John 4:13
God has filled you through and through. And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. John 1:16 You are not empty rather you possess in you the very life of God.
The word of God is explicit on the fact that the life of the Christian is hid in Christ and in God. Let’s see what Col 1:14 says Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Once you and I were not the people of God but now are we His people that we may show forth the excellent virtues of the one who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. For “In Christ was life and this life is the light of men the light shineth in the darkness and darkness could not comprehend it not”.
You and I are not empty. I wish to God you would understand that in you is the life of God. Bible says this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in His Son Christ Jesus. Consider the fact that you have not received the Spirit which is if this world but the sprit which is of God. This is what you and I now possess as a heritage.
Dear believer, before you consider seeking for deliverance, realize you ought to ask yourself this question – Do I know the kind of Spirit I have been made of?
You’ve been delivered dear friend.
– Dr bolaji akanni