MAKING YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE

 “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers”.  3 John 1:2. True prosperity begins from the soul (Inside).

So, your prosperity is dependent on the prospering of your soul. If your soul is not prospering, you won’t prosper. Prospering is not something that is static. There has to be a daily and regular upgrade of your soul. As your soul prospers, you stay in health and you prosper all round.

“But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day”. (Prov. 4:18) The brightness is progressive, it is not static.

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. (John 8:31-32)

 It is not enough to be born-again, you are Jesus’ disciples indeed if you continue in His word. And you can only know the truth if you abide in His word, continue in His word; then and only then will you be free. Needless to say, our freedom, therefore, comes only when we know the truth. We cannot have the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ except we abide and continue in the word. If we call Him Lord, Lord, then we must do the things He says. He must be the one in charge and control of our lives.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser…I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing”. John 15:1-5. Jesus clearly states in this scripture that without Him we can do nothing but with Him we can do all things as Paul confirms in Phil. 4:13.  If we abide, stay more with Jesus, we can do all things. If you are struggling in any area of your life, you should check if you are really following and having a walk with Him.

We must embark on progressive growth and development till we become like Jesus.  It is very possible that you are growing in age, but are not developing as you ought. God is a God of principle and process. You must subject yourself to process. Your faith will be tested, so your convictions must be strong.

There is no vacuum in life and you must not be static. The brightness of your light should be on the increase. You do not outgrow spiritual exercises, reading and studying the scriptures, fasting and praying, etc. There’s no room for retirement, we need to keep refiring.

“Therefore He says: when He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men. And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…”  Eph. 4:8-16. The ministry gifts are for the perfecting of the saints...till we all come...unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The way to show you are growing is to know how much of Christ you are revealing, that’s a part of the reason we come to church, and fellowship. Our perfection or imperfection is measured using Jesus as the measuring rule.  2 Peter 1:1-10, makes it clear that:

1)  It is possible to stumble, fall and fail as a believer. We need to echo this truth because there are all kinds of doctrines trying to negate this truth.

2) It is also possible to be barren and unfruitful

We must be diligent, make deliberate conscious effort to develop our character and conduct, spiritual sensitivity, fellowship with God etc, and we must be consistent in doing it.  You cannot develop anything whether spiritual or physical if you are not consistent in it. You have the responsibility to make your calling and election sure.

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition…”  (2 Thess. 2:1-3)

We must not be ignorant of the fact that we are in times of high level of deception, so if you do not want to be swept away, you must choose not to be among those who are or will be deceived as some will be, before the coming of Jesus. If you are not focused on the truth you will be deceived.

3)  There is what to add, or what you must not lack if you will not fall, fail or stumble. This plays out with how we spend or use our time. We must be deliberate in giving our time to God. There's a common adage that says "Time will tell", it's not time that will tell, but what you do with time, that will tell

4) Ahead of us, there's light and darkness, plenty and scarcity; however, if you will not lose your place in the coming days, you must develop the CHARACTER, the STRUCTURAL FORMATION for the VISION, for the MANDATE, for the EXPECTATION, the CHALLENGES and the BLESSINGS ahead.

Joseph had a dream, but if he had not developed the character and structural formation, the dream wouldn't have been fulfilled.

Jesus grew and developed before He started ministry.

There is no promotion without a test. There is always room for growth for all of us in order to get better.

Let’s prepare and equip ourselves for the days ahead

One of the greatest evil in the present day church, is embracing a gospel that does not place personal responsibility on the believer.

We must become very deliberate in growing and developing. We must make up our minds to be partakers of Jesus’ divine nature. And that divine nature is perfected in love, and Christ is love.

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”. 2nd Peter 1:5-8

As you continually exercise your faith, it is producing something. God cannot commit to you beyond the extent to which you have grown. Your real collateral is your life, your character. Build it.  As you are building good character, you should also be seeking for spiritual understanding and this comes as you read and study the word, fellowship with the Holy Ghost, read books that will enhance your overall spiritual growth and development as you mature in Christ.

If you are becoming more like Jesus, you will love everything about God.

God didn’t call you to mind your business but to mind His business

You don’t outgrow what you need to grow in. We must be deliberate in growing in these qualities- 2nd Peter 1:5-8.

It is the word of God that should define your lifestyle, not your environment. Keep pushing, make progress, rise up.