WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED YOUR POST?

While on campus during my days in Bible school, I asked a question in class about a sensitive topic in the body of Christ. Without hesitation, the reverend began his answer by saying, 'You are not thinking right.' Although we trashed that opening statement out after the lecture, it has always stuck with me because it made me aware of the need to find the source of every thought process each time I communicate or discuss a topic with anybody or listen to anybody on a matter. I have come to understand that everything we think, say or do is based on an understanding gathered from the few or many years one has lived on earth, whether being a Christian or not. It is, therefore, imperative for the Christian to choose to live based on the daily instructions of the Holy Spirit. A Christian who fails to commit to a life locked in a secret place with their maker will indeed follow the guidance provided by family spirits, eventually leading them into generational paths that have nothing to do with their destiny in Christ. Their lack of attention to the secret place has made that available in their life. The absence of one authority automatically makes the other available. It is like an automatic plant that takes over when the lights go out. Until Christians consciously choose to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit daily, they are prone to all demonic influences, no matter the abundance of knowledge about their heritage in Christ. (Anyway, I have veered off the main reason for this article.)

 

The Holy Spirit has drawn my attention to a dangerous thought pattern currently running in the kingdom of God – the belief that the success of every individual is solely dependent on the actions or influence of another individual. This belief, which is not in line with the teachings of the Bible, is a form of pride. It is wrong for such a thought to run in the kingdom of Light, where we know that the source and ability to do all things is from God, not mere men. It is a demonic thought that has infiltrated our camp, and yet we have meditated on it for too long that it has caused a viral infection that is slowly killing the kingdom army. I know what I am saying because I have thought about and acted on this for several years, and it took several teachings by the Holy Spirit to snap out of it.

It is sad to see commanders in the kingdom of God put down their armour and leave their post because the men they claimed to have made 'somebodies' have disappointed or betrayed them, and so they are no longer going to be a help to any other person the Lord brings on their path. Men have buried their gifts and operations of the spirit because another man failed to show gratitude to them for the effects of the gifts or operations that had nothing to do with them but God.

I am not encouraging ungratefulness towards men; I am only fighting the viral infection. Suppose the so-called men we have made 'somebodies' are still connected to God and are always eternally grateful to God for what God has done for them.

 

Why are we offended that they never said thank you or are refusing or forgetting to acknowledge our efforts in public as they interact with great men or women? The fact that 'we' helped a fellow human to find or open the books concerning their lives should instead be held as a privilege in the sight of God, not a badge of honour we hope to carry on our heads wherever we find ourselves in the space of men. When did honour before men become more valuable than honour before God in the kingdom of Light? The Holy Spirit clearly stated in the first three chapters of the book of Luke that John and Jesus found favour in the sight of God before men. In other words, they were first honoured by God before men. They were more concerned with God's words than men's. They were appreciative of the blessings of God before the blessings of men. Isn't John the Baptist, the man who would later say that 'no man can receive a thing in the realm of men unless it has been given freely from God?' How, then, is a man or woman who came to this world naked and will eventually return naked, thinking that he or she has the power to make and unmake a fellow human without thinking there is a greater power in play in his or her life?

 

Every person comes into this world with a complete book already written about their life. Many die without opening a page of that book because they failed to interact with their genuine Maker and Master. In contrast, some are fortunate to meet others who lead them to the King of Light, such as pastors, mentors, or friends who guide them along a path obscured by the darkness in the world. Some of these men or women who have helped others by leading them to the King of Light have failed to understand that it is an honour to be selected by God to be the man or woman through whom another encounters the kingdom of Light. We only help that person by leading them to the King of Light so they can get the Light needed to manoeuvre the darkness in this world while carefully opening the pages of their eternal book. If Christ is our Light, why do we take credit for His actions through us? Why do we think we need to share in the glory of God if the work was entirely orchestrated and performed by God?

 

It is a divine honour to help others recognize what God has destined them to be.

It is a divine honour to lead others to that ever-flowing river that is sustaining us.

So, why have you allowed the offence to take you away from your post?

Why does a sense of self-entitlement lead us to underestimate the immense responsibility we have received from God?

Why have we become so gratitude-thirsty that we have hindered a gift we have freely received from the Lord to help others boldly come before the throne of Grace to encounter the Grace of God from freely operating?

Why are you offended that all the people God has enabled you to raise in His kingdom by His Grace and guidance are ungrateful to you and not to God?

Weren't we ungrateful when we ignored the blood of Jesus and went about doing as the enemy led us?

Weren't we ungrateful when we refused to thank God for the numerous things He had done and was doing for us?

 

Man of God, Woman of God, Boy of God, Girl of God, Spiritual father/mother, Senior Usher/Protocol Officer, Sunday School Teacher, let go of that self-entitlement and return to your post immediately. How you feel has nothing to do with the will of God concerning a generation. Your ego is killing millions in the kingdom of Light. Your ego is making your gift a dangerous weapon against the kingdom of Light instead of darkness. Offense because of the lack of gratitude is burying many in the kingdom of God. We are losing a great army to the kingdom of darkness because of the offence you have buried in your heart. Your Light has become darkness because of that offence, which we can notice in your so-called 'spiritual nuggets/quotes.' You have been teaching us with your pain, not the words of Christ.

 

Cleanse your heart, and let us move on with the Kingdom assignment!

Remain in the blessings of God as you remain in Christ.

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE WAY YOU ARE LIVING?

[BUILD THE TEMPLE BEFORE YOU DO ANY OTHER THING (2)]

When the Israelites were considering their needs instead of rebuilding the Temple of God for God to rest in, strange things were happening in and around them. It was happening to them each day. They saw it happen to their neighbors also as they experienced it, but they could not see the hand of God in it. They thought it was normal because everybody was going through it. So, the Lord drew their attention to what they were failing to notice as a sign from Him to them.


Haggai 1:5-7, 9-10 (TLB)
5 Look at the result:
6 You plant much but harvest little. You have scarcely enough to eat or drink and not enough clothes to keep you warm. Your income disappears, as though you were putting it into pockets filled with holes!
7 “Think it over,” says the Lord Almighty. “Consider how you have acted and what has happened as a result!
9 “You hope for much but get so little. And when you bring it home, I blow it away – it doesn’t last at all. Why? Because my Temple lies in ruins, and you don’t care. YOUR ONLY CONCERN IS YOUR OWN FINE HOMES.
10 That is why I am holding back the rains from heaven and giving you such scant crops.


According to the above scripture, they were harvesting little after planting much because of their failure to rebuild the temple. So, if they knew that, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that they scarcely had enough to eat or drink because of their failure to rebuild the temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that they did not have enough clothes to keep them warm because of their failure to rebuild the Temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that their income was disappearing as though they were putting it into pockets filled with holes because of their failure to rebuild the Temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that they had little when they were hoping for much and the little they were bringing home were being blown away and were not lasting because of their failure to rebuild the Temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that the rains from heaven were being held back and they were receiving scanty crops because of their failure to rebuild the Temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they had known, they would have been quick to rebuild the temple before doing any other thing. But, they failed to notice because they were not considering what was happening to them as a result of their inactions.

They were not considering their lives!

It is the same today. Our failure to notice the little things happening to us because of our failure to rebuild our spiritual walk/life with God is the reason we are going through those little things each day and ignorantly blaming the devil. But the devil is not to blame, YOUR SO-CALLED "CHRISTIAN LIFE” is to blame.
If you have placed the world, thus, the cares of this world, before God, then you are to blame; not the devil!


Matthew 6:33 (TLB) (emphasized)
And He will give them [(food, drink, clothes)] to you IF YOU GIVE HIM FIRST PLACE IN YOUR LIFE AND LIVE AS HE WANTS YOU TO.


Until you put God first, you are to blame, not the devil! The devil has no right over a believer, God does! And God will do everything in His power to grab the attention of His children again. Even if it means taking away what they love most.

So, how are you living your life as a Believer/Christian? Are you living your life for God or for man? Are you living your life according to what God wants or what man wants?

If your answer so far has been in the favor of man, you should now understand why you are going through such misery in life. You should understand why you are still living a powerless life though your Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, had all power and authority in Heaven and Earth given to Him. You should understand why other believers are happily manifesting the power of God when you are not.


CONSIDER YOUR LIFE!

REBUILD THE TEMPLE BEFORE YOU DO ANY OTHER THING.

Haggai 1:8 (TLB)
“Then go up into the mountains, bring down timber, and REBUILD MY TEMPLE, and I will be pleased with it and appear there in my glory,” says the Lord.

When the Israelites returned home after their time of exile in Babylon, their first and main assignment from the Lord through the Prophet Haggai was for them to rebuild the Temple. In God's plan, for His children, Israel, to be considered as a nation, they needed to build a Temple of God for God. Israel would never be a nation without a Temple of God for God to rest in. To be a nation, Israel needs a Temple for God, not a human governmental structure.

The Israelites in this scripture happen to be believers like you and me who once lost our way in the world and have finally returned home to God by rededicating our lives to Him. Again, Prophet Haggai is giving us the first step we need to take for a fruitful and lasting walk with God. Prophet Haggai is asking you and me to rebuild the Temple for God before doing any other thing.


1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (TLB)
16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the house of God and that the Spirit of God lives among you in his house?
17 If anyone defiles and spoils God’s home, God will destroy him. For God’s home is holy and clean, and you are that home.

1 Corinthians 6:19 (TLB)
Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you.


If you still do not understand what I am driving at, I am not talking about you going to buy land to start a building project for God. The Temple of God today is far different from what it used to be then. The Temple of God is YOU and ME. It is YOU! The Temple of God is YOU, the person reading this.
Our ignorance of the above fact is the reason we are facing difficulties in our Christian walk. When we, therefore, come to the realization that the Temple of God is not the beautiful edifice we meet in every Sunday or Thursday or Friday to worship but our own bodies, we will begin to better understand our Christian walk.

Like the Israelites then, most of us know or knew this before we fell for the things of the world.
Like the Israelites then, most of us started rebuilding the Temple but stopped because of external opposition, discouragement, and self-interest.
Like the Israelites then, we had seemingly good reasons to stop rebuilding the Temple.

But, what we are not considering now is what they also did not consider then – the danger of NOT BUILDING THE TEMPLE.
Like them, we are not considering the absence of an Almighty Ruler, the absence of divine law and order, the absence of divine development or developmental structures, etc.

Then, the Lord was very surprised at the actions of the Israelites; and He is surprised that we are walking in the same ignorance today. The Lord did not expect the Israelites to think of themselves when the correct structure – A Temple of God for God – was not in place.
It did not make sense or look right for His people, called by His name, to think of themselves first when they knew very well that they had to put the correct structure in place first, which was God's Temple

It is the same today. The Lord does not expect you to be thinking of your worldly needs when you have not thought of your spiritual need, which is Him (GOD). Why? When your attention is on the Spiritual need (GOD) first, the physical needs will automatically align themselves to you.


Matthew 6:33 (TLB)
And He will give them [(food, drink, clothes)] to you if you give Him first place in your life and live as He wants you to.


To the Lord, it did not make sense for the Israelites to think of settlement when they did not have a Temple in place for Him to rest in.
And it is the same story today. We are thinking of our physical needs more than our spiritual need – GOD. We are more concerned about what we need to eat, what we need to wear, where to sleep, the business to establish, who to marry, the car to buy, etc.

What happened to we knowing Jesus for ourselves? What happened to us understanding salvation with fear and trembling? What happened to us walking in faith like the heroes of faith in Hebrew 11? What happened to us praying without ceasing? What happened to us putting on the whole armor of God so that we will be able to stand safe against all the strategies and tricks of satan? What happened?!


Haggai 1:2-4 (TLB)
2 “Why is everyone saying it is not the right time for rebuilding my Temple?” asks the Lord.
3-4 His reply to them is this: “Is it then the right time for you to live in luxurious homes when the Temple lies in ruins?


If like the Israelites then, you are still saying or thinking this: “IT IS NOT THE RIGHT TIME FOR ME TO REBUILD MY TEMPLE”, you are walking or living in a demonic delusion from the pit of hell my brother/sister.


THE TIME TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE IS NOW! (…to be continued)