Called and Equipped to Lay Our Lives Down

Called and Equipped to Lay Our Lives Down                     

There was a word from the Lord given to a priest in Tanzania several years ago. It was a word of rebuke from the Lord. This word was confirmed by all the leadership of all the Christian denominations in Tanzania. The Lord said that His church was not using the gifts he had given to it to do the work of ministry.

Some were using only one, maybe two, but others were ignoring God's gifts of the Spirit. Persecution was going to come so that the church would see clearly its need for all God had provided.

The Lord speaks in Joel 2:23-32 that He will pour out His Spirit on all people, young and old, male and female and that they will receive dreams from Him, prophetic word to speak from Him. They would receive power from on High to do the work of God's Kingdom.

The work of God can only be done by the power of God. We are not sufficient in ourselves to think of anything as "coming from ourselves". Jesus Christ is our sufficiency. God would not pour out His Spirit on the church in power as He did on Pentecost IF the church did not need this anointing to live and continue to do the ministry of Jesus.

Peter quotes the Joel passage on the Day of Pentecost. It came to pass. It is here. It is necessary if we are to really follow Jesus. The Lord would not pour out the power of the Holy Spirit on His church IF we did not need all He had to give to be effective in His Kingdom's mission.

God does not give superfluously. He gives with purpose and expects us to join with Him, to receive all He has to give in order to do all He will ask us to cooperate with Him in.

When Jesus rescues a person and makes of them a son or daughter of God, He gives each believer a spiritual gift (Romans 12:6-8). That gift, as we yield to the Holy Spirit and are clothed with power from on High, provides a foundationary motivation, a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives as we follow Jesus. Being gifted and empowered by God, we can begin to function in ministry (partial list in Ephesians 4:11-13 & 1 Peter 4:10-11) with the expectation that the Holy Spirit WILL manifest Himself through us (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) to meet the ministry need at hand.

We see all these things manifested in the life and earthly ministry of Jesus. The mission and ministry that the church has been given is nothing less than the ministry and mission of Jesus. He meant it when He said, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." (John 20:21) Our call to mission and ministry has everything to do with Jesus. It is not about us, or making a "name" for ourselves. It is about Jesus becoming known through the lives we live and the grace He extends through us in the Holy Spirit's power. We have nothing to boast in, but everything to rejoice in.

The Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14 didn’t believe he needed anything from God. In fact, he was boasting about how much God should be really pleased with His performance. He is a clear example of the church of the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:17-22. They felt they needed nothing from the Lord. They were just fine, thank you.

Much of the church, especially in the West has this notion that because we have the Canon of Scripture and can prove from it that Jesus is who He said He is, that we can do kingdom work.

The disciples after that first Easter evening had all that insight. Jesus had opened their minds to understand EVERYTHING written about Him in the Law, Psalms and Prophets. But He told them to WAIT in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on High. They were to receive the same anointing for ministry that Jesus had at the Jordan River. The work of God can ONLY be done in the power of God with the gifts He provides. It is not by human might, human intellect or human resources that the Kingdom of God is made manifest!

We need everything Jesus has provided. Otherwise WE begin to take credit and WE take the glory to ourselves/denomination that belong to God alone. To deny yourself, you must rely on Another. You will never be your own salvation, rescue or life- transformer. You have to deny the satanic lie that you can any part in your salvation! To die to self, you must live in the Power of the Resurrection. Only by the Holy Spirit’s power can you stop trying to draw life giving from a broken cistern and drink from a river of Living Water

To lay your life down, you must live the Life God gives you. God replaces your death with His life. He baptizes you in the Holy Spirit so you have the power to follow Jesus in true humility.

Jesus drew His identity and worth solely from His Father, not from the responses or reactions of others around Him. He knew who He was because His Father told Him. God has told you who have put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ that you are His heirs; that you are joint heirs of Jesus and that He intends to live through you as He did through Jesus.

Can you do that apart from what God provides? Unequivocally NO! Do you need His power, His gifts, His anointing, and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit? Unequivocally YES!

So…what will you? Will you admit the truth that you need all that the Lord has provided for you to REALLY LIVE the life He has given you? Will you humble yourself? Will you answer the door…Jesus is knocking, ready to come fill you with His fullness and power so that you might live in humility and truth!