“Can two walk
together except they be agreed?”
Amos 3:3.
Can
two walk together if they are not in agreement, nor thinking the same thing? Is
it possible to be of God and not bother about how God feels and what He’s
thinking, what His agenda is? When we are thinking differently and acting
differently, it shows we are not together.
This
is our day, it is also the day of the Holy Spirit, who is the God-Head on the
earth right now. The Father is on the throne, Jesus is at His right hand making
intercessions, while the Holy Spirit is here on the earth. You have to know
that the Holy Spirit is not inferior. They are all equal in the God-head in
authority, relevance, they only differ in function. He does not work/walk
contrary to the Father. They have the same mindset and heart.
How Does God think?
“Now the Lord had
said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from
thy Father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee… And I will bless them that
bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed.”
Gen. 12:1-3 (Emphasis mine)
“And as he sat upon the mount of
Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, tell us, when shall
these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of
the world?
And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;
and then shall the end come.” Mt.24:3,14
(Emphasis mine)
“But ye shall receive power,
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost
part of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (Emphasis mine)
From
these verses of scriptures, we get to understand that God thinks globally and
not locally. He let Abraham know that what He was starting with him, will not
end with him but will involve everyone on the earth. We cannot partner with God
if we are not thinking like Him. The Apostles started from Jerusalem but it
didn’t end there. They were commanded to go further. As the Father (God), He
expresses His desire of reaching the nations, the world, As the Son (Jesus), He
also expressed this desire and as the Holy Spirit, this desire is still
expressed.
Why is God thinking
globally? Why does He have this mentality?
Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof, the world and they
that dwell therein.” God is determined to get back what he had initially
entrusted into the hands of man. You see, man was originally made in the image
and likeness of God until he fell, but Jesus came to restore man back to that
order – the original plan.
God’s
desire is that every part be touched. That’s a global mentality. The question
now is why is God particular about the earth? The nations? (People group,
tribes or geographical boundary) The world (Every sphere of human operations,
business, academic etc) What is God’s mind full of?
“What is man that
thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Ps.8:4
Literally,
this verse is asking, “what is so special
about man that your mind is full about the thought of him?” So, what is
God’s desire? What is His wish?
“I exhort therefore,
that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks,
be made for all men… who will have all
to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim.2:1-4
When
God looks at humanity, His desire is that they will be saved. God does not need
to come down to do it, He has made provision for it to be done.
In
Psalm 2:8, God is telling us to ask
of Him, to make our requests known to Him. However, this asking is at the point
whereby one is abiding in Him, so that when one is asking, He is sanctioning
it. (See Ps.22:27-28, 2 Pt.3:9)
While
the heart cry of God is that all should come to the knowledge of the truth,
satan’s desire is to have as many go to hell. Whose side are you on? God is not
slack, He’s not weak, He can come at anytime but there’s something too precious
that is holding Him, and that is the souls of men. His desire is to give
everyone an opportunity to be saved and to come to Him.
As
a child of God, you should be bothered to know what’s in the heart of God. His
heart cry should be yours also. No matter the denomination or ministry we claim
to belong, if this desire of God (the salvation of all men) is not being
executed and accomplished, then, it is not of God.
“But when he saw
the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and
were scattered, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples,
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few, pray ye therefore
the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Mt.9:36-38.
The
harvest of the souls of men needs labourers, not collectors or bench warmers. A
labourer is worthy of his wage if he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. A
labourer does not work in isolation but is part of a team. God is pained that
majority are under the hold of satan. God is desirous of labourers who will
partner with the Spirit to bring this about. This labour to bring in the
harvest is not one of physical means, it is spiritual. It won’t come about by
physical strength but by God’s power.
“Then he answered
and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel,
saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” Zech.4:6
It
is so common these days to find people who are born again but not filled with
the Spirit. In the Acts of Apostles, the first question one is asked after
getting born again is “are you filled
with the Holy Ghost?” and not which church do you attend?
The
ministry of the Holy Ghost has been in existence right from the book of
Genesis. He has been actively in operation but after Jesus came and finished
his work and it was time for Him to ascend to heaven, He began to shift the
focus of the disciples to the coming of the Holy spirit. He enjoined them to
wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
“…And being
assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait
for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John
truly baptized with water, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:4-5,8
What
makes the Holy Spirit very unique is that He comes with power. And if you
believe in Jesus, you will believe in the Holy Spirit because He is the
God-Head on the earth right now desiring to fill men with His power. It is our
day. It is not the day of the ‘Daniels’, not the day of the ‘Finis Dakes’, the
‘Idahosas’. It is not the day of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It is our day
and the day of the Holy Ghost.
The
Holy Ghost needs vessels to manifest through, available instruments. If the
church will be saved and accomplish God’s mandate, she must recognize the person,
relevance and activities of the Holy Spirit. We must give the Holy Spirit His
place. He is the one that will lead and show us the way. Everything the
Apostles wrought in the church was by the help of the Holy Spirit. Even in the
beginning, every word that God spoke came to be because of the Holy Spirit. The
disciples were nothing without Jesus and when He was to depart, He told them He
would send ‘Another’ to take His place. The Holy Ghost has come and is here but
He cannot do beyond the extent to which we invite Him and surrender to Him. It
is only as we surrender to Him that we will begin to see the manifestations of
the Holy Spirit. He is received and not imposed. The word receive means “to
admit somebody, to hear and acknowledge something, relate with something,
acquire something, get something.”
“Now it’s time to
change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour our
showers of blessing to refresh you, and send you the Messiah he prepared for
you, namely, Jesus. For the time being he must remain out of sight in heaven
until everything is restored to order again just the way God, through the
preaching of his holy prophets of old, said it would be.” Acts 3:21 (Message)
What
was at work in Adam when he gave names to all creatures? What came upon Abraham that at the age of 99,
he impregnated Sarah? What came upon Samson that he rooted out the gates of a
city? What about Gideon and his 300 men? What about Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego? What about Archbishop Benson Idahosa, Babalola? It was the Holy
Ghost! Do you think it was because God loved them so much? No! it was because
they yielded.
In
the day of his power, his people shall be willing. The Holy Ghost is looking
for a people. We live in an arena of warfare and we will be ill-equipped
without the Holy Ghost.
The
whole purpose of the ‘Power’ of the Holy Spirit at work in us, is so that we
will be witnesses.
“But ye shall receive power after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
A
witness is one who testifies of what he hears and sees. So beyond praying in
tongues, the Holy Ghost makes you see and hear what ordinarily you couldn’t
have seen and heard.
The
mandate is an heavenly one and has a global scope. Your witnessing is to the
ends of the earth, however, your Jerusalem (where you are) must not be
neglected. It does not necessarily mean we will all go round the globe but it
follows that we can start with prayers. The disciples did same. They were all
in one accord praying and waiting for the Holy Ghost. And when the Holy Ghost
came, they spake in tongues such that other tribes could hear them speak in
their languages. When the Holy Ghost came, He confirmed and witnessed to what was
and is still burning in the heart of the Father. This shows that the gospel
will get to every tongue (tribe, people group).
Beloved,
the time of playing is over. We have a great responsibility before us. If we
are going to execute and accomplish it, it has to be in partnership with the
Holy Ghost. Some places may look impenetrable but as shown in Acts 2, it is
penetrable by the power of the Holy Spirit. This was what happened to Saul. No
one could reach, but the power of the Spirit, he surrendered to the Lordship of
Jesus.
This
partnership will also come about in the place of prayer for there is no
distance in the Spirit and we will travel faster in intercession.
What
is before us can only be accomplished by the power of the Spirit and there’s no
limit to what the Holy Spirit can do if we are in partnership. It is not about
methods. He alone knows what He will do, He has the agenda and the power to
execute it. Let us surrender to Him.
GOD thinks NATION – PEOPLE -
SALVATION
