Luke 12:54-56
“Then He also said to the multitudes, whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, a shower is coming, and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, there will be hot weather, and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?”
The truth is that, you cannot know what you are not interested in. You will always interpret issues in the light of what you are passionate about. So it is with the word of God. If you are not interested in knowing the mind of God on any matter, you will not know it. Jesus called them hypocrites because if truly they were following God, they would have been able to interpret the times by the unfolding events going on and by the signs, they could see around them. When the events in the world are playing out, we need to get out of the flesh and interpret the times correctly.
No empire, kingdom, industry, organization... is forever. When world kingdoms, football stars, basketball stars, political parties etc, are failing, it should point you to the fact that nothing is permanent/constant- Jesus is the only constant. His kingdom is the only Kingdom that is constant and will reign forever because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end. Thus, as you see the events happening, interpret correctly and take your stand in God. If you do not want to fade away or become irrelevant, stay with God. Jesus’ name is the only name above all that will not change and cannot change, for the name of Jesus is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are saved. At the mention of the name of Jesus, every knee must bow and tongues will confess that Jesus is Lord. Kings come and go but the King of kings’ remains forever. May your trust not be in what is passing away. May we not stand on a sinking foundation. All other ground is sinking sand. The only sure foundation is Jesus.
You must learn to move with the cloud of glory because if whatever you are holding onto is not God, when it fades away, you will fade away with it.
Acts 19: 1-20
“And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? So they said to him, we have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit… When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve in all. And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks…Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them… So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed”.
Your first and primary concern is to be sure that all those within your scope of influence and as many as come your way, are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. At the time of the Apostles, asking anyone they came across whether they were born again and filled with the Holy Ghost was a constant and normal question. They were not diplomatic about this question.
There are things we must not outgrow because when growth comes and tampers with certain values that brought the growth in the first place, then something has gone wrong or is becoming faulty. There are questions you must not outgrow asking. Asking if someone is born again and filled with the Holy Ghost is one of such questions.
Still, we must not stop at simply getting men born again; the true goal is to make them disciples. A true disciple should be out making disciples. Thus, if you are not making disciples, you are not a true disciple. Let's not practice intellectual Christianity or be more concerned with people just attending church activities. We are to make disciples!
When you get filled with the Holy Spirit, you will speak in tongues. It is the first and initial evidence of been filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the sign that makes the New Testament believer stand out.
Apostle Paul never built his ministry on the experiences that followed his ministrations but on the revelations of Christ. He did not build a doctrine out of what took place in Asia or anywhere the power of God was made manifest, but on the revelation of Jesus. Build your life based on God's word, not experiences.
The sons of Sceva went after the power and experiences and not after the life they should be building with God. Whatever is not a product of the word of God will not stand the test of time.
Generally, people want to see the power of God but are not willing to seek God.
The fact that the word of God grew mightily and prevailed was not accidental! The word of God cannot grow mightily and prevail in a heart not trusting in the Lord, not sold out to God, nor seeking the Lord. As they kept coming daily and were studying the word, the word of God kept growing and terrible things in righteousness became the order of the day.
Make your heart a fertile ground and deliberately grow the word. Whatever has value, must be deliberately planted, nurtured and groomed.
If the word of God will grow mightily and prevail, we must deliberately grow it, give it attention. When we are full of the word, our lives will express it. We must become WORD ADDICTS. Jesus left us here on the earth to reorder it, to turn it around for God and His kingdom. We must saturate our world with the word of God.
If we want to find life, we must give attention to God’s word. Prov. 4:20-22, Joshua 1:8. You give attention by reading, studying, confessing, meditating, sharing the word, talking about it, living it and praying it.
When we are filled with the word, we will interpret life in the light of the word and the word will grow mightily and prevail in our lives.
THE SOURCE OF GENUINE SUCCESS IS THE WORD!
READ, THINK, STUDY, LIVE AND SHARE THE WORD!
