The following 23 honorable members of COP Lesotho were ordained as elders, deacons and deaconesses. The ordination was gracefully made by Apostle Dr. Dela Quampah during the just ended National Fasting and Prayer Conference dubbed Direction 2019. We give thanks and glory be to God Almighty for the growth of the church. His name be praised forever Amen!
Surprise! Human beings are excited about surprises, especially when it is a pleasant one. It is one reason the Father Christmas tradition is still active and relevant in many cultures, because he is believed to have been going about and giving out gifts that take us by surprise. It is my prayer that God will visit you with a pleasant surprise this Christmas and in the New Year! May divine selection affect someone this Christmas, and may his or her position, title, residence, car, attitude, family situation etc change miraculously! We will soon discover that the Christmas narrative (Nativity story) is full of unlikely choices.
Occasionally you receive gifts you hardly expected or donations that you think you didn’t deserve. And this makes you the unlikely choice or the unexpected recipient. It could also come in the form of an appointment, a promotion, a business deal, a marriage proposal, or a child birth that you think you were not qualified for. Human beings observe certain protocols when giving gifts or selecting people for certain offers, appointments and positions. They might consider your family background to find out if you are a Mandela or a Sisulu. Your level of education could be a factor, as you don’t stand a chance to be selected over a professor. Your financial capacity could be a catalyst for selection; the richer you are, the better your chances. Beauty pageants look for the most beautiful, in boxing the referee selects the stronger of the two combatants, judges in track athletics pick the fastest, and the best performer is always located in competitions to carry the much-coveted prize.
Thankfully God’s standards are different because, “His ways are not our ways” (Isa 55:8). God’s criterion for selection is grace or underserved favour. God will rather qualify those disqualified by human standards. According to the Preacher, “the race is not to the swift, and the battle is not for the strong …” (Eccle 9:11). With God, the less qualified you are, the better are your chances of winning the contest. Paul states categorically, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor 1:26-27).
The Christmas story is full of unlikely choices. Ultimately God’s gift to humanity in Christ Jesus is the most amazing surprise anyone can imagine. No wonder His birth occurred among people, at a place, and in circumstances that were rather unexpected. In deed there were many unlikely choices connected to the birth of Christ, the following are just a few:
– The choice of Mary as mother of God
– The choice of Bethlehem as the place for the most famous birth
– The choice of a manger for the site of birth Christ’s birth
– The choice of the shepherds as the first audience to the news of His birth.
Let’s now consider them individually.
The Empowered21 Asia Conference, which opened on Wednesday, May 31, 2017, under the theme: “Wind and Fire,” ended on Friday, June 2, 2017, in Singapore.
The three-day conference brought together Christian leaders from 258 churches from 49 nations with over 7,000 participants including 1,500 young people.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr. Billy Wilson, the Global Co-Chair of Empowered21, said the Spirit-empowered movement traces its background not just from the Azusa Street revival in the United States of America but to the Upper Room in Jerusalem after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ as recorded in Acts 2:1-4 when the Holy Spirit entered the room like a mighty rushing wind.
He said during creation, the world was in chaos and without order, but the Holy Spirit was hovering above the water; subsequently, God spoke and the Holy Spirit brought about creativity and order into the world.
Dr Wilson, who is also the President of the Oral Roberts University, emphasized that: “when the wind moves, life comes and it is the breath of God.”
An important feature of this year’s Asia conference was the pairing of pastors and their children to preach sermons throughout the conference.
According to the Host Pastor of the conference, Pastor Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist Church, Singapore, Asia is concerned about the future of the church in the hands of the next generation; therefore there is a plan to ensure that tomorrow’s leaders receive adequate training and guidance from Christian leaders around the world.
Among the paired preachers included Father and son; Rick and Jeremy Seaward (Victory Family Centre, Singapore), Pastor Colton and Dishan Wickramaratine (People’s Church, Colombo, Sri Lanka), Father and daughter; Dennis and Sharon Balcombe (Revival Christian Church, Hong Kong), Father and daughter; Lee Seung Bang and Esther Lee (All Nations Church, South Korea), Father and daughter; Cesar and Sara Castellanos (International Charismatic Mission, Colombia), Lawrence and Daniel Khong (Faith Community Baptist Church, Singapore), Host pastors of the conference and Niko and Billy Njotorahardjo (Gareja Bethel , Indonesia).
Other speakers at the conference included Prophetess Cindy Jacobs (Generals International, USA), Wayne Hilsden (King of Kings Community Church, Jerusalem, Israel), Evangelist Daniel Kolenda (President, Christ for All Nations), David Yonggi Cho (Full Gospel Church, South Korea), David Mohan (Superintendent of Assemblies of God Churches, India), among others.
According to Pastor Khong, the year 2017 marks the 500th year of the Protestant Reformation and the 111thyear of the Azusa Street Revival.
“In Singapore, it is the 45th anniversary of a divine visitation, which catalyzed the greatest charismatic renewal movement. Across Asia, hope is rising in anticipation of a historic outpouring of the spirit in the 21st century,” he said.
The meeting also acknowledged and honoured Christian leaders who have helped with the growth of the church in Asia.
The Empowered21 Conference is a Holy Spirit-led movement of World Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches with a vision to ensure that each person on earth would have an authentic encounter with Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit by Pentecost 2033.
The Empowered21 Africa Conference would take place in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2018 and, it is anticipated that thousands of African Youth leaders would be mobilized to participate in the event. As a result, a preparatory meeting is being held in Accra in June 2017 in preparation towards the conference to be held in Africa next year.
Easter Convention, Thursday, March 29 to Sunday April 1, 2018
Theme: The risen Lord deserves our worship (John 20:28)
Relevant songs
Majesty worship His Majesty
Verse
Majesty
Worship His majesty
Unto Jesus, be all glory, honor and praise
Majesty
Kingdom authority
Flows from His throne, unto His own, His anthem raise
Chorus
So exalt, lift up on high the Name of Jesus
Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King
Majesty, worship His majesty
Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings
Ending
Jesus who died, now glorified
Jesus who died, now glorified
King of all kings
Lord I lift Your name on high
Verse
Lord I lift Your name on high
Lord I love to sing Your praises
I’m so glad You’re in my life
I’m so glad You came to save us
Chorus
You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord I lift Your name on high
My Lord and My God
John 20: 19-29
Thomas’s confession “My Lord and my God” (John 20:18) is one of the most profound confessions of faith recorded anywhere in Scripture. Someone describes it as the highest point of the gospel. A confession is a verbal expression of a deep inner conviction. “My Lord and my God” implies an intense appreciation of the majesty, power, glory, and sovereignty of Christ. Beyond that it also signifies Thomas’s willingness to absolutely submit to and serve to this ineffable (inexpressible) majesty. In the presence of this inexpressible majesty we can only stand amazed, awe-struck, enchanted, enthralled, captivated, and mesmerised. A similar confession one is Peter’s “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). And the sinful woman saw in Luke 7:36-50 was so wonder-struck by His Majesty that she expressed her confession in action by washing the Master’s feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, and soothing them with costly balm.
The question is how do you respond to the resurrected Lord? Is your devotion to Him absolute or partial? Is your service to Him whole-hearted or half-hearted? Is your pursuit of His inexpressible majesty intense or dull? Our service to God should never be the same after this Easter. We must spend every passing second of our lives expression this our devotion to Jesus in word and in action.
How did Thomas get there?
It has been a very difficult journey. It would cost you a lot to be convinced with Thomas, that Jesus is your Lord and your God. Christianity is not a tea party otherwise everyone would be a Christian. Christianity is a difficult pilgrimage, but it brings ultimate fulfilment. Thomas is introduced to us in the Gospel of John
Thomas’s had his scars
Thomas was a reasonable, logical, but dedicated follower of Christ. However, the pursuit of divinity breaks the limits of logical evidence and convincing proof. Following Christ is about faith, not logic. It is about wonder and amazement, not understanding and comprehension. Thomas knew about scars, because he has been wounded before. He is not one of the foremost disciples and we do not know much about him. The first mention of Thomas occurs in the list of disciples in Matt 10:2-4:
”These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”
According to John 11:16, Thomas was a twin (Didymus), and this is probably symbolic of our dual nature, we can doubt and we can believe, we can sin and we can be righteous, we can hate and we can love, we can be honest, and we can be dishonest, we can curse and we can bless, we can praise and can insult; we always live in tension, don’t we?
He was pessimistic
We know Thomas was wounded person because he was cynical and pessimistic. Such a person doesn’t see anything good in any situation. When Jesus left Jerusalem to Perea, across the Jordan (John 10:40-42), because the Jews wanted to kill Him, Jesus received a report from Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus was ill. After waiting for some time, Jesus decided to make the perilous journey back to Bethany in Judea, which was a stone’s throw from Jerusalem. It was not reasonable for Jesus to go back to Jerusalem because of the threat to His life. But have you considered what would have happened to the course of history if Jesus had refused to go to Jerusalem. It was a dangerous journey, but it was also purposeful and full of promise. The promise of the universal redemption of the children of God.
But Thomas’s response to Jesus decision was peculiar. He said to his colleagues, “let us go and die with him” (John 11:16), which is extremely cynical. According to A. B. Bruce, Thomas was “the man of gloomy temperament, prone to look upon the dark side of things, living in the pensive moonlight rather than in the cheerful sunlight.”[i] To Thomas, the whole thing was a suicide mission. He saw no hope, no future in the Jesus project, it would all end in a pointless self-sacrifice.
Pessimism can be crudely judgemental. It sees no value in anything or anybody. It operates on a worst case scenario basis. It only sees the worst in people, the worst in ideas, the worst in situations, the worst in institutions, the worst in the weather, the worst even in God. To think that Jesus was foolhardy and wanted to throw His life those of his disciples away, way an extreme accusation.
But at least He thought Jesus was a good man enough to die with. People with scars of the past are normally pessimistic. Life has dealt them hard and harsh blows that they could not forget. To them life has very little to offer. But Oswald Chambers insists that “We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him [Christ], despite any potential personal risk.” Life with Christ is unpredictable, but full of promise. He can turn sickness into health, death into life, poverty into wealth, bareness into fertility, hopelessness into promise and fulfilment. To them that love God all things work together for their good (Rom 8:28). God can bring good out of evil, and as a verse in the popular songs, “The God of the day is still God of the night” goes, “If things go wrong, He will make them right.” According to Prov 14:32 “When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a refuge.” If we have a refuge in death, then we have a refuge in every one of life’s crisis. The death of Jesus inspires hope, not despair. The potential of the trip to Jerusalem is enormous, that was the only way Jesus could accomplish victory over death Jesus was going to Jerusalem, not to be conquered by death, but to conquer death; not as a victim, but as a victor; not as a loser, but a winner.
Confused
The next stage of Thomas’s journey was to overcome his confusion. Because our perspective on life is limited, we often get confused. We get confused by the number of options open to us; we get confused by the way life is treating us, we get confused by how people are treating us, and we get confused about what lies ahead in the future. Don’t worry if you’re confused, Thomas has been there.
In John 14:1-7, Jesus makes one of the greatest promises in Scripture, He gives the assurance that we have real estate in heaven, which is permanent, eternal, glorious, and unchanging. After such a declaration, today’s Pentecostals would have responded with a loud “Amen”. But let us see how Thomas responded:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
And this inspires one of Jesus’ greatest “I am” statements:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
The Master said, “you know” and Thomas responds, “We don’t know”
Had Jesus wasted His time teaching them. He taught them about the Father, about heaven, and about eternal life. He says, “you know”, but Thomas thinks otherwise.
There are many things we desire to know, there are many things we desire to understand. But the knowledge of God is supreme. Thomas had this knowledge, but he was still looking for something beyond it. It is this attitude that drive people to false prophets and scam investors to be duped – they promise more than they can deliver, and we are excited by their cheap and empty promises. We turn to demand and expect more of life than it has given us, therefore we often fail to appreciate the value of what we have. We live on what Joyce Meyer call entitlement agenda, we deserve this and that. However, until we need to start thinking more of what we owe to others, rather than what other people owe us. That is the only way to avoid confusion in life.
Thomas thought, “If this were the promised Messiah, our situation should be different.” We expect more from God than He has given us. We demand more from our spouses than they can deliver, we demand more from our children than they are capable of. We never enjoy life, because we are driven by ambition, we lust after what we cannot get. We can only reach the future we desire if we appreciate what we have today, because you can only build tomorrow success on today’s resources.
Doubting
Although Thomas said he would die with Jesus, throughout the trial, torture and crucifixion, we never hear of him. The next time he emerges in the narrative is when he heard of Jesus post-resurrection appearance; and he doubted it. He was not with the disciples on the night of the resurrection; Thomas missed an extremely important event, the first post-resurrection meeting of the disciples. And that was when Jesus preached His first sermon after His resurrection. Had Thomas known that Jesus would be there, he would have attended this historic sacred and historic service. The advice to those who often absent themselves from church is: “But one never knows when the good things will come, and the only way to make sure of getting them is to be always at our post”.[ii] Why? we can only speculate. Had he given up on the cause of following Christ? He might have made up his mind, “I told you guys that the game is up, and nothing will come out of this. Didn’t I?”
On the evening of resurrection Sunday the disciples met without Thomas, and Jesus appeared in their midst in His glorified. When they later told Thomas about it, he replied, “Are you not making up the story?” “Well, this doesn’t make sense, even if I see Him, I will not believe it until I put my hand in His scars.” God knows our weaknesses, and He responds to them adequately. Jesus knew He had a “doubting Thomas” in His team, and He would help Thomas overcome his doubts. So Jesus appears with the doors closed, which exposes Thomas to the miraculous. And that began to overthrow Thomas’s logic and rationalism. To challenge Thomas’s scepticism, Jesus engages him in the prophetic, by implying to Thomas that He, Jesus, even though He was not there physically, knew how Thomas had doubted the resurrection. Jesus therefore invites him to come and apply his evidential test.
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27)
Thomas was stunned and enthralled, he suspended logic and screamed; “My Lord and my God”. Bruce regards this statement as “a noble confession of faith – the most advanced, in fact ever made by any of the twelve during the time they were with Jesus. The last is the first; the greatest doubter attains to the fullest and firmest belief.”[iii]
Scars are for testimony
Thomas knew about scars because he has been wounded before. Scars are for a testimony. Scars occur when we are wounded, which could be a cut through contact with a sharp edge, be it a bottle, knife, shrapnel or a violent contact with an object. Such cuts may develop into wounds which may have to be dressed until they heal. And with some people huge scars can emerge as a result. But some skins only develop thin scars. However, the spot of the wound or sore never vanishes. It is the only proof of evidence that a person has been wounded before.
Symbolically wounds represent damage, the damage could be physical, emotional, mental or psychological, financial, educational, professional etc. Many of us in church are carrying scars, physical scars of robbery and surgery, emotional scars of abuse and insult, scars of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD as psychologists call it), phycological scars of failure and frustration, scars from broken relationships, scars of unfulfilled expectations and ambitions, we have scars all over.
Jesus was wounded for our transgressions (Isa 53:5). He was wounded by scourging, the crown of thorns, nails, and a spear. He incurred sacred wounds, mysterious bruises, and holy blood flowed from His body. When He was raised from the dead he carried a glorious body, a spiritual body that did not have scars.
According to 1 Cor 15:42-44 “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”
Jesus resurrected body didn’t have scars, but He could reproduce them, He could ask the scars to appear for a testimony.
Christ signifies/symbolised the supreme hope of humanity (power over death)
He is the source of courage and strength we need to face all of life’s challenges; “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength …” (Isaiah 40:31).
He is our resource base to meet all our physical and spiritual needs; “His divine power has given us all that we need for life and godliness.” (2Peter 1:3)
Let us constantly kneel with Thomas and exclaim, “My Lord and my God!”
We just rounded off the 7-day Crusade to reach out to the city of Polokwane – Limpopo, the place where I term as “the spiritual capital of South Africa”. We had a team of about 11 people coming from Ghana to join us lead by evangelism Ministry director, Apostle Dr Amos Jimmy Markin, and the Crusade run from Monday 29th of January, to Sunday the 4th of February and, made such a huge impact. We had evening sessions where we reached out to the win souls, and also we had morning sessions where training and impartation services took place. We had training in information technology about digital evangelism. There was impartation for anointing for evangelism and ministry. There was a session where the women were taken through income generating activities and we had medical consultation because there were three qualified medical doctors on the team. generally the program made such a huge impact and we believe it’s going to bring a transformation to the church here in Polokwane not just in Polokwane but the whole of South Africa. A lot of people donated so much to support the program from Ghana and South Africa and I just want to use this medium to thank them and bless them for the investment they have made in the work of God and I want to assure them that their investment will never be in vain and we bless the team who have sacrificed their time, energy, and resources to make such a huge deposit of internal value into the Ministry in South Africa by the impact of this Crusade I just want to say that the church in South Africa who will never be the same again thank you so much for supporting the Jesus my redeemer Crusade in Polokwane – Limpopo, South Africa God bless you. Amen.
The world is looking for moral leaders. The worst plague or disease that has affected every generation of humanity is abusive leadership. Abusive leadership has caused conflicts, underdevelopment, poverty and disease, which have turned many communities into refugees and displaced people. Going by biblical numerology, “seven” is the number of perfection. As we begin a new count of seven from 2018 towards the number of perfection, I am convinced that God will raise a new breed of leaders, by divine manifestation, and strategically position them to change the world. This new generation of leaders will arise in the church, government, education, medicine and healthcare, agriculture and fishing, science and technology, manufacturing and commerce, social and charity work, transport and communication, the security establishment, sports and positive entertainment etc. And may they take up their leadership mantle to make the world a better place than it is today!
Life is made up of processes and events.
Your biography is made up of processes and events. In a rather fascinating way, these events and processes feed into each other; a process may lead to an event, and that event will in turn trigger another process. For instance, the process of getting formal education up to the university level may take years to accomplish, which is normally celebrated with the event of graduation. The graduation then begins another process of seeking a job and settling down to work; one thing leads to another, doesn’t it?
The birth of Moses was the main event that set in motion the process leading to the liberation of Israel from slavery in Egypt. More than that it reveals the redemption plan of God to deliver us from the house of bondage to sin in this world and guide us safely to the new Jerusalem. It is significant to note that when Moses was born, baby boys were being killed, but God miraculously preserved him for the mission. Similarly, when Jesus was born, Herod committed infanticide targeting Jesus, but God preserved him as well, by sending His family into exile in Egypt. Egypt again! God has a sense of pattern. The prophet Hosea connected the exile of Israel in Egypt and that of the child Jesus, when he declared:
“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
(Hos 11:1)
To render the wisdom of Egypt foolish, God caused the Egyptian royal family to sponsor Moses’ upbringing and education, without being aware that he would one fight against the Egyptian establishment and liberate the Hebrew slaves. Although Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house he grew up conscious of his mission to deliver Israel. He however jumped the gun when he killed an Egyptian who was oppressing a Hebrew man (Ex 2:11-15). He fled to Midian for safety, and became a shepherd until God called him at the burning bush event. The life of Moses is neatly divided into 3 segments of forty years; he spent the 1st forty years in Pharaoh’s palace, he spent the second set of forty years in Midian, and he spent the 3rd segment leading Israel in the desert.
God often calls diligent and industrious people. Moses was called when he was shepherding, Elisha was called when he was ploughing, and Peter was called when he was fishing. Shepherding was humbling work for Moses, someone brought up as a prince in Egypt. Sometimes when God gives you a vision you maIy find yourself going far away from the vision. That is the preparation stage, whatever you find doing, no matter how menial, do it at full capacity. Let your sense of devotion and commitment to God be as high as it can be, and do your work with all the passion and dedication you can muster. For one day, God will show up! And when God shows up things would never be the same again.
The divine manifestation
Moses went out with his sheep one day, it looked like a normal day, but that day was pregnant with mystery. All the days are not equal, some days are set aside for divine manifestation. One day can change the course of person’s life, it can change the situation of a family, it can change the story of a community, and one day can change the course of human history. And this particular day in Moses’ life was a destiny changing moment. That was the day God broke into history to call Israel as the prophetic nation and launch His redemption plan for the nations.
God made His invisible presence manifest in the burning bush encounter. God speaks to us through images and symbols. The lamb symbolises humility and sacrifice, the lion stands for dominion and conquest, the thorn symbolises pain and suffering, etc. In this case God choose fire to announce His presence. The word “fire” occurs 459 times in the NIV of the English Bible. Fire is a symbolic expression of many conditions, but I will stick to two here, which are; fire symbolises destruction, and purification. The most first significance of fire is that it can burn and destroy other objects. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was done with fire. By manifesting His presence in fire, God is clearly stating that His presence will certainly destroy evil. According to Heb 12:29″God is a consuming fire. Secondly fire is used to purify objects and to test their value and durability. Any thing that goes through fire and survives it will last for a very long time. In a metaphorical interpretation of the trials Christians experience, Peter compares it to the fire used to refine gold in 1 Peter 1:7, “These [trials] have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (NIV).
However, the fire that caught Moses’ attention in the desert was a different kind of fire. It was a benevolent fire, a fire that did not consume the host. Later, God was to lead Israel through the desert by a pillar of fire, which did not consume them. And in Acts 2:3 the fire of the Holy Spirit appeared on the head of the disciples without burning them. Moses’ attention was caught by an unusual sight of the bush burning without being consumed. And he approached the strange sight for a closer look.
When God wants your attention, He excites your sense of wonder. Moses was captivated, enthralled, enchanted, mesmerised. The divine manifestation possessed, controlled and directed His attention for the whole period of the encounter. Matthew Henry describes it as “an extraordinary manifestation of the divine presence and glory” And God spoke, calling Mosses by name to commission him for the task of delivering Israel. The manifestation was such a mysterious one that the writer of Hebrews refers to it as “seeing the Invisible One”. “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible” (Heb 11:27). The Invisible One cannot be seen, but for Him to manifest Himself to Moses was an unprecedented act of divine grace and favour directed at Moses. The fire of God will burn this year to call, commission and set people apart for specific tasks. The fire of God is burning in our midst, and in the heart of sinners who do not serve Him, calling them to faith and repentance.
The divine commission
When God realised He had captured Moses’ full attention, He called Him by name and commissioned him to go and deliver Israel from Egypt. The omniscient God, knew Moses was the man for the job, and He had no alternative. But Moses thought he was not cut out for that assignment. Has it ever occurred to you that God has more confidence in you than you have in yourself. God knows what He has deposited in you. He knows the experiences you have been through by way of preparation. He knows your strengths and weaknesses, and He has selected you; the task is customised for you, no one else has the capacity for it. God is not going to conduct a selection interview, He knows everything about you, and He has favoured you with a divine appointment.
Moses had potential, he was knowledgeable in the culture and court life of Egypt. Besides he was bold and courageous. But most importantly he had a heart for God, and that was the most important qualification God was looking for. Whilst God focused on Moses’ potential, Moses was looking at his own limitation. When human potential meets divine opportunity, something creative is emerges. There is inspiration to confront your challenges, there is inspiration to overcome your fears, there is inspiration for concepts and ideas, there is inspiration to write that book, there is inspiration to compose that song, there is inspiration to prophecy, there is inspiration to go on a mission, there is inspiration for a project, there is inspiration for an invention, there is inspiration for signs and wonders, there is inspiration for witnessing, and there is inspiration for service.
It so happens that some individuals are appointed as channels of solution to human problems. Just as Moses became the solution to Israel’s problems to liberate them from bondage, God sees you as a solution to many human difficulties. And may you live up to your calling to accomplish your divine-given purpose.
The promise and the revelation
There is human response to every leadership assignment; the person must be willing and available for the mission to be successful. But Moses’ initial response was negative: “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Ex 3:11-12) This is an understandable concern, one, in appreciation of the magnitude of the task, and secondly because of Moses’ criminal record in Egypt. But God had a more than adequate response to Moses’ objection. And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (Ex 3:12). “I will be with you”, does not mean that God had been absent from Moses’s affairs up until then. “I will be with you,” in this context means God will provide the courage, wisdom, guidance, protection, all the virtues, and all the resources Moses needed for the mission. In this instance, Moses secured a promise from God that is ringing throughout eternity, that God will surely be with His people.
Then Moses went further to ask for God’s identity card, (Ex 3:12). And God was ready with it. Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you, (Ex 3:13-14). This was God’s covenant name that He did not disclose to Abraham, but He chose to reveal it to Moses. And it implies God’s self-existence, His independence, and His self- determination. But God went further to present His resumé:
“God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation (Ex 3:15).
With the two pronouncements, God’s promise and God’s covenant name, Moses had all he needed to change the course of history. And he did change the world, didn’t he?
In 2018, some people’s preparation period would be over, and they would be called to take up a special assignment, duty and responsibility.
In 2018, the manifest presence God will touch your life in a special way for heaven to captivate your attention. Your devotion, commitment and service to God will be on a different level altogether.
Something creative will emerge as divine opportunity meets your human potential.
God has more confidence in you than you have in yourself. He is looking at your potential, and not your limitation. May you be the answer and solution to some of the numerous human problems.
God’s promise and the power in His name is all you need to change the world. You’re a potential world-changer, aren’t you?
The National Head, Apostle Dr Dela Quampah, on Monday, November 28, 2016 cut the sod at the Church of Pentecost, Peelton
Assembly in East London District.
