Brethren I'm back with the much awaited teachings. However brethren we would have to suspend our teaching of "The Battle Instruction Series" because the manuscript was lost when our PC was stolen. However, you have my words on that that same teaching shall come your way soon when we're done with rewriting the manuscript. Suffice it to know that my absence--as all other things--works together for the good of you and I because we love God. Thanks for your patience.
Now for our desire to resume the teaching of God's word via this media and based on popular demand, we brought this your way and we believe you will find it helpful in your striving for mastery. Thank You
Aligning Your Life for God's Mandate
Introduction
A mandate is an order given to somebody to carry out a certain task or duty. When God created man, it was for him to fulfill mandates. He was Predestinated to fulfill the Dominion mandate. The purpose of the creation of man is a culmination of mandates. But how come that today with more than 6 Billion men who are created to fulfill mandate, God seems to lack men to carry out his biding as if there was no man. There is no gainsaying the fact that the mandate was stolen by the devil when man fell. However, Jesus died to give man a new life and by which He raised up for himself a people prepared and zealous for all good works. (Titus 2:14). To that extent, we were, in Jesus, predestinated to fulfill mandates. The fulfillment of these mandates is what determines if we had a fulfilled destiny or not. At the point of creation, God put in us ability to fulfill various mandates in accordance to the data of our predestination. Thus as we live our lives here on earth, God send various mandates per time expecting them to be fulfilled by his children who are invested with the ability to do such.
God calls all men to come unto Him but he does not chose all men to fulfill His mandate. The very concept of choosing shows that the object of the choice must have fulfilled a condition that convinces the one making the choice that it is qualified. Mandates therefore are fulfilled only by the persons that prepare themselves for them This preparation is what we mean by alignment and this alignment is what determines whether or not we are qualified to fulfill a mandate and whether or not we can enjoy continuous relevance to that mandate.
How to Align oneself
The scriptures states unequivocally the prerequisite which must be met before a man can be aligned and made ready for any mandate that the Lord would give. This all important principle is stated in the 1 Tim 2:20-21
Verse 20
for in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of wood and of earth. And some to honor land some to dishonor.
From the passage stated above, at least three important things are made clear. Firstly, God will not look outside his house for a vessel to use for his holy mandates. He definitely will check in his great house. The vessels that are in the house are the people that are the called of God. Take note that according to the book of Romans 8, they are foreknown by God, predestinated and called by the function of grace, justified by faith, and glorified by the impartation of the Spirit of Glory which is the down payment of the hope of glory (Eph 1:13-14). This is the premise upon which they are vessels in the house of God. Thus those that are not in the house are not anywhere near the first step towards aligning himself for God’s mandate. If a man must be useful to God, he must first be born again.
Never the less, simply being in the house is not enough to make a vessel fit for the use of God in the implementation of his mandate. For though many are called but not all are chosen.
Secondly, the vessels are of varied materials. This shows that God has specially designed each person in His kingdom in a peculiar way which is different from the way he mand another, and has distinctly enedowed each person with potentials. However, it is not the material of which a vessel in the house is made that makes it honorable but the use to which it is put. The make up of a person does not determine whether he will fulfill the mandate of God or not. Taking illustration from normal home appliances, Ceramic could be used to make a beautiful plate for serving honorable guests, yet it could also be used as the toilet seat. We are all of various make up so that we can fit for various tasks or mandates,yet it is not our makeup or gifts and endowments that make us fit for the mandate of God. Then, what makes a man fit for God’s mandate
Verse 21 states:
If a man therefore purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work.
If a man purges himself…
This goes to show that though the call is collective, the choosing is individualistic. God does not chose a person based on his affiliation to a group of person or denomination. It’s a matter of "if a man”. Next, the man must purge himself. From the foregoing, the scriptures shows that purity of material is what determines its honorable use. It is be noted that the scriptures does not say that if a man is purged from these things. Rather, it says if a man purges himself. This shows that the duty of purging oneself is vested on the man. It is his prerogative and God will not do that for him. Now what are “these” from which the man must purge himself
The Amplified Bible explains it as "what is ignoble and unclean". It goes to show that if a man can purify himself from uncleanness, he would have been aligning himself for the master's mandate. No wonder, the scriptures says, " Remove impurities from the silver and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice" (Prov 25:4 MSG). What God intends to purify here is the character (See Rom 5:4 NIV). According to the Message Bible, patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue(what the Message calls Character), keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. It is our character that makes us qualified or otherwise for the mandates of God. No matter who you are, before God commits a mandate into your hands, he must test your character. From Genesis to Revelation, the patter runs unbroken; the foundation of the Lord still standeth sure. We were accepted into the great house totally renewed by the blood of the Lamb of God but one thing was left for us to change. It is our character. From birth, the human deprave nature and the sinful society has taken its toll on the character of a man. They have made it perverse. Now that we are saved, God wants us to wash away the dross from ourselves through the fire baptism.
This is the major reason why God gives us our faith. The scriptures says the end of our faith is the salvation or regeneration of our souls (1Pet 1:9). This is how it works; there are at various times the trial of our faith by the fire of circumstances. We are to exercise our faith by staying by the word of God. This produces in us hope and hope in turn produces character. (see Romans 5:3-4). No wonder, the trial of our faith is said to be of more value than gold (1Pet 1:7). Through many test to which we refuse to yield because of the reverence for our God, we build character which can be defined as the sum total of a man's mode of behavior. This is the salvation we are asked to work out (Phil 2:12) and we are told to do it with fear and trembling
It must be noted that before a man is allowed by God to fulfill any mandate, his character must be tested. The Lord says of Joseph "The LORD'S promise tested him through fiery trials until his prediction came true”. (Psalms 105:19 GW). God is not prepared to give mandate to a person that has a problem with his character. It was until God found in Joseph a consistent way of behavior in his refusal to bow to sin, giving of himself to diligent hard work with all cheerfulness and devotion that God gave him the mandate that made him fulfill his destiny.
A good illustration of test of character can be seen from a story we might have overlooked in the book of 1Samuel 30:1-19. David has just found out that the Amelikites have made an invasion on his camp and carried away all that belongs to his men and himself. God has given him the mandate to pursue overtake, and without fail recover all. They have pursued for about two days and some men are already too tired for the race. Now he finds a man at the verge of death and irrespective of the haste of his mission, his character will not let him abandon the man in that state. He stops to help him. Once he passed that test of character, he is furnished with the information he needs for the fulfillment of his mandate. David had all the anointing he needed for that assignment with the word of God backing him up. However, if he had left the Egyptian in his misguided haste, he may never have known where the Amelekites went and even if he got it latter, it might be too late to recover all for some of the goods would have been spent and some of the women defiled so that the all that he would recover would have depreciated. The difference between “thus says the Lord” and “it came to pas”s has always been a test of character
Many times, what we need is just an information which would navigate us to our thrones. And most of the times the information is hidden behind the veil of the test of character. A simple act of kindness, faithfulness to leaders, prudence etc, which can never be imparted by the laying on of hands but by conscious decision to do them are all cost has been what was needed to bridge the gap between those promises and dream s of your destiny and the fulfillment thereof.
Mandates are always here. They are like batons flying in the air. But who is fit to take the baton. One may sometimes wonder why God should so passionately lament "I sought for a man and found none” when there are more than 2 billion professed Christians on earth. Why should Jesus cry out that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few when many times we silently wish that the Lord could just call us into his work. We wish to carry the name of the Lord and like Elijah send down fire and be noted to be the man behind the miracle. We want to be associated with the great move of the Holy Spirit in various dispensations and generations. But God seem to ignore our desires and even strong prayers and yet as if he is pretending, cries out the laborers are few or worse still "I found no one"
It will definitely continue to baffle us until we understand that God has a standard which he cannot compromise. This is because the foundation of the Lord standeth sure. God is not looking for just anybody; he is not even looking for just a Christian.
From the foundation of the world, it has always been so, no matter your endowments, there shall be the test of character. Men have fallen and risen on the scale of character. Lucifer had all the anointing that he needed. He still has them but he is no longer fit for purpose and as such was sent packing. He lost his mandate. Abraham obtained the promise after a test of character. Judas lost his apostolic office because he could not jettison the character of pilfering and avarice amongst others from his character traits.
Though the gifts and calling of the lord are without repentance, choice for the fulfillment of his mandate is definitely with repentance. This calls for caution for though we may be with grace which God will not take back, but a irrespective of our spiritual C.V, we may lose relevance. The fulfillment of purpose is what determines relevance. Salt is bought definitely to salt meals and to preserve perishable items. But if it no longer salts, it may still retain it look but definitely not its use for, it is no longer fit for purpose. It is then cast away. God has made it clear that “my counsel shall stand and I will do my pleasure”. God is so purpose oriented that he does not mind casting off a man with all his gifts if he lost value for then he will not be fit for purpose.
Eli is a beautiful example. He was called to be high priest after the Aronic order by covenant. Yet when he became an embarrassment to his office, the Lord replaced him. It is the calling of the Lord that is without repentance, definitely not his Choice. The call may remain on a man's life but he may no longer be the Lord's choice for the mission. Remember Lucifer. He still has his anointing but definitely he has lost his mandate in heaven. Remember a host of all others that we have made allusion to. They all rose and fell on the scale of character. Beloved, it takes grace to be predestinated, faith to be justified, and sanctification to be glorified: but it takes character to get aligned to and fulfill God’s mandate.
STAY CONNECTED TO GOD.
Introduction
A mandate is an order given to somebody to carry out a certain task or duty. When God created man, it was for him to fulfill mandates. He was Predestinated to fulfill the Dominion mandate. The purpose of the creation of man is a culmination of mandates. But how come that today with more than 6 Billion men who are created to fulfill mandate, God seems to lack men to carry out his biding as if there was no man. There is no gainsaying the fact that the mandate was stolen by the devil when man fell. However, Jesus died to give man a new life and by which He raised up for himself a people prepared and zealous for all good works. (Titus 2:14). To that extent, we were, in Jesus, predestinated to fulfill mandates. The fulfillment of these mandates is what determines if we had a fulfilled destiny or not. At the point of creation, God put in us ability to fulfill various mandates in accordance to the data of our predestination. Thus as we live our lives here on earth, God send various mandates per time expecting them to be fulfilled by his children who are invested with the ability to do such.
God calls all men to come unto Him but he does not chose all men to fulfill His mandate. The very concept of choosing shows that the object of the choice must have fulfilled a condition that convinces the one making the choice that it is qualified. Mandates therefore are fulfilled only by the persons that prepare themselves for them This preparation is what we mean by alignment and this alignment is what determines whether or not we are qualified to fulfill a mandate and whether or not we can enjoy continuous relevance to that mandate.
How to Align oneself
The scriptures states unequivocally the prerequisite which must be met before a man can be aligned and made ready for any mandate that the Lord would give. This all important principle is stated in the 1 Tim 2:20-21
Verse 20
for in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of wood and of earth. And some to honor land some to dishonor.
From the passage stated above, at least three important things are made clear. Firstly, God will not look outside his house for a vessel to use for his holy mandates. He definitely will check in his great house. The vessels that are in the house are the people that are the called of God. Take note that according to the book of Romans 8, they are foreknown by God, predestinated and called by the function of grace, justified by faith, and glorified by the impartation of the Spirit of Glory which is the down payment of the hope of glory (Eph 1:13-14). This is the premise upon which they are vessels in the house of God. Thus those that are not in the house are not anywhere near the first step towards aligning himself for God’s mandate. If a man must be useful to God, he must first be born again.
Never the less, simply being in the house is not enough to make a vessel fit for the use of God in the implementation of his mandate. For though many are called but not all are chosen.
Secondly, the vessels are of varied materials. This shows that God has specially designed each person in His kingdom in a peculiar way which is different from the way he mand another, and has distinctly enedowed each person with potentials. However, it is not the material of which a vessel in the house is made that makes it honorable but the use to which it is put. The make up of a person does not determine whether he will fulfill the mandate of God or not. Taking illustration from normal home appliances, Ceramic could be used to make a beautiful plate for serving honorable guests, yet it could also be used as the toilet seat. We are all of various make up so that we can fit for various tasks or mandates,yet it is not our makeup or gifts and endowments that make us fit for the mandate of God. Then, what makes a man fit for God’s mandate
Verse 21 states:
If a man therefore purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work.
If a man purges himself…
This goes to show that though the call is collective, the choosing is individualistic. God does not chose a person based on his affiliation to a group of person or denomination. It’s a matter of "if a man”. Next, the man must purge himself. From the foregoing, the scriptures shows that purity of material is what determines its honorable use. It is be noted that the scriptures does not say that if a man is purged from these things. Rather, it says if a man purges himself. This shows that the duty of purging oneself is vested on the man. It is his prerogative and God will not do that for him. Now what are “these” from which the man must purge himself
The Amplified Bible explains it as "what is ignoble and unclean". It goes to show that if a man can purify himself from uncleanness, he would have been aligning himself for the master's mandate. No wonder, the scriptures says, " Remove impurities from the silver and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice" (Prov 25:4 MSG). What God intends to purify here is the character (See Rom 5:4 NIV). According to the Message Bible, patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue(what the Message calls Character), keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. It is our character that makes us qualified or otherwise for the mandates of God. No matter who you are, before God commits a mandate into your hands, he must test your character. From Genesis to Revelation, the patter runs unbroken; the foundation of the Lord still standeth sure. We were accepted into the great house totally renewed by the blood of the Lamb of God but one thing was left for us to change. It is our character. From birth, the human deprave nature and the sinful society has taken its toll on the character of a man. They have made it perverse. Now that we are saved, God wants us to wash away the dross from ourselves through the fire baptism.
This is the major reason why God gives us our faith. The scriptures says the end of our faith is the salvation or regeneration of our souls (1Pet 1:9). This is how it works; there are at various times the trial of our faith by the fire of circumstances. We are to exercise our faith by staying by the word of God. This produces in us hope and hope in turn produces character. (see Romans 5:3-4). No wonder, the trial of our faith is said to be of more value than gold (1Pet 1:7). Through many test to which we refuse to yield because of the reverence for our God, we build character which can be defined as the sum total of a man's mode of behavior. This is the salvation we are asked to work out (Phil 2:12) and we are told to do it with fear and trembling
It must be noted that before a man is allowed by God to fulfill any mandate, his character must be tested. The Lord says of Joseph "The LORD'S promise tested him through fiery trials until his prediction came true”. (Psalms 105:19 GW). God is not prepared to give mandate to a person that has a problem with his character. It was until God found in Joseph a consistent way of behavior in his refusal to bow to sin, giving of himself to diligent hard work with all cheerfulness and devotion that God gave him the mandate that made him fulfill his destiny.
A good illustration of test of character can be seen from a story we might have overlooked in the book of 1Samuel 30:1-19. David has just found out that the Amelikites have made an invasion on his camp and carried away all that belongs to his men and himself. God has given him the mandate to pursue overtake, and without fail recover all. They have pursued for about two days and some men are already too tired for the race. Now he finds a man at the verge of death and irrespective of the haste of his mission, his character will not let him abandon the man in that state. He stops to help him. Once he passed that test of character, he is furnished with the information he needs for the fulfillment of his mandate. David had all the anointing he needed for that assignment with the word of God backing him up. However, if he had left the Egyptian in his misguided haste, he may never have known where the Amelekites went and even if he got it latter, it might be too late to recover all for some of the goods would have been spent and some of the women defiled so that the all that he would recover would have depreciated. The difference between “thus says the Lord” and “it came to pas”s has always been a test of character
Many times, what we need is just an information which would navigate us to our thrones. And most of the times the information is hidden behind the veil of the test of character. A simple act of kindness, faithfulness to leaders, prudence etc, which can never be imparted by the laying on of hands but by conscious decision to do them are all cost has been what was needed to bridge the gap between those promises and dream s of your destiny and the fulfillment thereof.
Mandates are always here. They are like batons flying in the air. But who is fit to take the baton. One may sometimes wonder why God should so passionately lament "I sought for a man and found none” when there are more than 2 billion professed Christians on earth. Why should Jesus cry out that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few when many times we silently wish that the Lord could just call us into his work. We wish to carry the name of the Lord and like Elijah send down fire and be noted to be the man behind the miracle. We want to be associated with the great move of the Holy Spirit in various dispensations and generations. But God seem to ignore our desires and even strong prayers and yet as if he is pretending, cries out the laborers are few or worse still "I found no one"
It will definitely continue to baffle us until we understand that God has a standard which he cannot compromise. This is because the foundation of the Lord standeth sure. God is not looking for just anybody; he is not even looking for just a Christian.
From the foundation of the world, it has always been so, no matter your endowments, there shall be the test of character. Men have fallen and risen on the scale of character. Lucifer had all the anointing that he needed. He still has them but he is no longer fit for purpose and as such was sent packing. He lost his mandate. Abraham obtained the promise after a test of character. Judas lost his apostolic office because he could not jettison the character of pilfering and avarice amongst others from his character traits.
Though the gifts and calling of the lord are without repentance, choice for the fulfillment of his mandate is definitely with repentance. This calls for caution for though we may be with grace which God will not take back, but a irrespective of our spiritual C.V, we may lose relevance. The fulfillment of purpose is what determines relevance. Salt is bought definitely to salt meals and to preserve perishable items. But if it no longer salts, it may still retain it look but definitely not its use for, it is no longer fit for purpose. It is then cast away. God has made it clear that “my counsel shall stand and I will do my pleasure”. God is so purpose oriented that he does not mind casting off a man with all his gifts if he lost value for then he will not be fit for purpose.
Eli is a beautiful example. He was called to be high priest after the Aronic order by covenant. Yet when he became an embarrassment to his office, the Lord replaced him. It is the calling of the Lord that is without repentance, definitely not his Choice. The call may remain on a man's life but he may no longer be the Lord's choice for the mission. Remember Lucifer. He still has his anointing but definitely he has lost his mandate in heaven. Remember a host of all others that we have made allusion to. They all rose and fell on the scale of character. Beloved, it takes grace to be predestinated, faith to be justified, and sanctification to be glorified: but it takes character to get aligned to and fulfill God’s mandate.
STAY CONNECTED TO GOD.
Beloved, Thanks for reading. Please make sure you check back every Wednesday when new posts come out.
Yours in Christ,
Pst Sam
