Using Your Gifts Accordingly...

Passage: 2Kings 2.

This passage teaches about the extraordinary event that took place when Elijah was raptured to heaven. Elijah was a well known powerful prophet in his days. Just the way today we have Pastors, there are some of them that are extraordinary in these end times. I thank God Almighty for raising men and women who have accepted the call of God on their lives to follow the King of Kings in doing His business here on earth. Let's understand that every human being was created by God with some deposit in them. What you need to be great is already deposited in you. However, you cannot reach your full potential if you do not stay tuned to the source. The source of your potential is God Almighty. Yes you were born by your father and mother, but they did not deposit these potentials in you. Some people have started showcasing their potentials and it's what is commonly known as someone's talents. You see people doing mind blowing things, that make you wonder whether or not they are human beings. You think to yourself, "is it possible that a human being can be so good in such an act, he or she has to be the best." The truth I tell you is this, if a person does not consult God Almighty for their talents or after they have discovered their talents, such a fellow will not reach the highest level with his or her potential. The highest level is that level where you reach and you use your potentials or talents to the Glory of God.

Now the man Elijah was greatly gifted. He was commonly called Elijah the Tishbite (2Kings 1v8), with no particular relatives to make mention of. You could call that not being significant in the society. His family name was not mentioned. No mention of His father's lineage, or the mother who gave birth to him. Did anybody even know any of these people? He's just a man, a Tishbite, who discovered His calling, had an encounter with God and became well respected in the society. This tells me that all yo really need is a connection with God. When a man is connected to God, his whole world changes. In John 5 when the leper had a connection with Jesus by the pool called Bethesda, he became healed of his leprosy. Brethren your dreams will become reality with a God Connection.

The focus should be on God. The bible says in Matthew 6v33, that we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things will be added unto you. When you realize you gifts, you should actually seek the kingdom of God and not only focusing on the kind of things the gift can bring your way (e.g fame, wealth, babes, guys etc). If you seek the kingdom of God first, this approach will help you use your gifts to the high potentials that God Almighty has purposed for you. In the process of seeking the kingdom of God, you will discover your calling. It's not enough to just know your calling, you need to respond appropriately to your calling. How can we do this?

1) Be Humble.

Take Elisha for example, the moment Elijah called him he accepted the whole change in his life. He did what he had to do, left everything behind and followed Elijah. He served Elijah. Remember Elijah had no records in the bible of family or of any possessions, but here is Elisha in 1kings 19v19 plowing twelve yoke of oxen. Elisha was from a well to do family, however he left all that and became Elijah's attendant, servant, assistant, or whatever you may want to call it. This shows the kind of humble spirit that Elisha had.

2) Remain Faithful

If you know God has called you to do something, be faithful in that thing. Elisha never looked back from the day he was called. There will be many challenges as you face life and especially when you are on the journey to fulfilling your destiny. Oh yea, the devil is not ready to just sit down on his low throne and watch you excel because you're connected to God. That's what he hates the most; i.e. for someone to acknowledge God's faithfulness in their lives. Many people will try and discourage you, but if you remain faithful to the calling of God on your life, God will protect you and support you. Take for example Moses in the bible. When Miriam and Aaron opposed Moses, God defended him. The same still happens today, and if you're found to be faithful in God's calling on your life, He will defend you at all cost.

3) Stay Focused

When Elisha realized his calling, he stayed with Elijah till he (Elijah) was raptured. Elisha displayed exceptional focus. When Elijah was about leaving the earth, he asked Elisha what he could do for him in 2Kings 2v9. Elisha got what he asked because he kept his focus and saw Elijah as he went up into heaven.

Brethren let's stay focused on God. The kingdom is what we need to focus on. Stay Focused and use your gifts according to the will of God. God's got your back.

stay blessed

Bamex.

Divine Visitation

Divine Visitation essentially in plain words is when heaven pays you a visit. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were recipients of this great privilege, because in the Genesis 3v8, God visited them in the cool of the day. It is important we understand the nature of Divine Visitation, because it's occurred multiple times in the olden days or during biblical times. For someone who is in tune with the Holy Spirit and with the things of God, such a person will understand the importance of Divine Visitation. It is my prayer that as we walk through the study of this topic, every child of God will begin or continue to enjoy the benefits of Divine Visitation.

God loves to visit His children. He takes pride in the things which He has created. The bible says in Genesis 1 v 31, that God saw all he had done, and it was very good. Take note that "all God did was very good." It is the desire of God for things to remain the way He intended in the beginning after creation. Also Psalm 24v1-10 talks about the earth being the Lord's and the other possessions God has. Therefore being the owner of earth, God is interested in the affairs of the earth and its inhabitants. This should help us see that Divine Visitation is still in great occurrence.

As children of God, we should ask ourselves questions like

1) What do I do when my Father visits?

2) In what state do I find myself when God visits?

3) Can I live my life in such a way that God will find pleasure in visiting me?

4) Are there things I can do to provoke God's visitation?

All these questions and more will be answered as we progress in this special study. I'm excited to see what God will bring out of this exceptional topic.

Stay Blessed

Bamex

Avoiding Sin

Passage: Genesis 4 v 6-7

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Meditating on this verse reveals some truths about the nature of sin. These verses portray sin as an entity which has abilities, desires and characteristics.

Sin has the ability to "crouch at your door." In other words, sin can lurk around in an individuals surrounding.

Now just the same way as human beings we desire things, sin also has its own desires. While human beings can desire things like companionship, success, food, leisure, the main thing which sin desires is to posess the life of children of God.

If sin can succeed in posessing the life of a child of God, it will become the dictator of events in the life of that individual. For instance, if it is the will of God for that person to be in good health, or to succeed and graduate from college, the individual will fail or be sick because of sin. In other words, sin becomes the master and this person becomes a slave (John 8v34). God no longer rules as supreme in the affairs of such an individual.

In addition to what has been said so far, we see that sin is not a respecter of persons. Sin tries to take hold and enslave anybody who attracts it. The question we should ask ourselves now is "how do people attract sin?"

1) People attract sin by doing what is bad (From the passage):

from our passage we hear God telling Cain that he would have been accepted if he did the right thing. Now because of that, he (Cain) had attracted sin. Sin saw that Cain had passed the test of doing what was wrong and immediately became attracted. Since that day sin remained at the doorway to Cain's heart. Because sin is so persistent in it's mission, it tormented Cain's thoughts until it was able to get Cain to decide and kill his brother Abel (Genesis 4v8). This was what God tried to warn Cain about.

How do we avoid Sin?

We can avoid sin by staying away from things that will attract sin. Sin is attracted to everything bad and unpleasant. For example, lustful thought can lead to pornography, masturbation, fornication, adultry etc. Parents who create a bad atmosphere for their children by arguing or assault, may end up getting a divorce which is against biblical principles. It's like a chain reaction, when one starts the others get going. The truth is that sometimes we do make mistakes and end up doing bad things, but even in that state we can avoid sin, or avoid sinning the more.

If we observe what God told Cain we'll see that Cain was advised to "master sin" (Genesis 4v7)

We can master sin by not obeying it. We can take authority by not being enslaved by sinful desires. When we do what is wrong either as an error or knowingly, we must immediately stop and make our ways right. Ask for forgiveness, confess. If you steal something give it back because if you don't, sin will come in and make you tell lies in order not to get caught. Overtime, one thing will lead to another and your initial sin will become multiplied.

Now you may be thinking, "is it possible to avoid doing bad in the first place?" The answer is yes according to Philippians 4 v 13. Through Christ we can do all things. As a christian you have access to the power of the Holy Spirit which was upon Christ.

Lastly Be Encouraged:

If you're struggling with sin, you can be set free. The bible says in John 8 v 34 - 36:

- a person who sins is a slave to sin.

- a slave does not have a permanent place or position in the family, only a son does.

- therefore Jesus christ can set you free from being enslaved by sin.

- give your life wholly to Christ and He will set you free.

Let God rule your life.

Stay Blessed.

Bamex.