Friday 5 August 2016

Are You Establishing His Government? – Time to ‘Occupy’

Luke 19: 13KJV “And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, occupy till I come.”

Believers are so distracted in our times. We are so carried away with things that don’t matter that we can’t seem to focus. We expend too much energy trying to be ‘right’ and in the process, leave out the important things. If we just remain who we are, which is much easier, we will be well positioned to gain the things God ordained for us as well as ‘occupy’ until He comes. For example whilst social media appears to steal the time of a number of believers around where I live, unbelievers seem to use it wisely and even earning income from it as they unwittingly push satan’s agenda thinking it is theirs with a deliberateness that one cannot but envy. We can’t waste most of our time and energy and yet “occupy till Christ returns. I wonder – do we really believe that He will return? Whilst it is true that our mind strays and we sometimes stray with it, we cannot continue like that. The price we pay for straying is too high. It is time to take charge of our minds with the help of the Holy Spirit and ensure that we are fulfilling our assignment wherever we find ourselves including whatever jobs we find ourselves doing. Every believer is on assignment wherever they find themselves; a point Christ buttressed in one of His parables as he explained to His disciples that the Kingdom of God would come, though not immediately, so they had to “occupy” on earth until He returns. We are His disciples today and so the instruction to ‘occupy’ is to us as we await His return. If we know that we ought to occupy, our decisions may be different. When He returns, what returns will He get on His investment in you?

Luke 19: 11b “he told them a parable to correct the impression that the Kingdom of god would begin right away.”

Luke 19: 13 – 14 “Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying invest this for me while I am gone. But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, we do not want him to be our king.”

To occupy speaks of filling up and/or gaining full attention of something or someone. Jesus Christ left us an instruction to occupy though we all know that He is not the most popular of Kings on earth just like the king in the parable. The world hates Him; indeed, there have always been and still are people who would give their lives to ensure that He is not King. It started with satan who is, unfortunately, in charge in many lives as a result of which he is in charge in several places since he rules through these people in whose lives he is in control and who believe in him wrongfully accepting his lordship. It is in the midst of such people that Jesus Christ demands that we turn around His investment in us. We are to take over in every area of life, socially, economically and so on. We are to set the trend and establish His government where we are. He has not asked us to physically take over established governments but that we establish His government spiritually. Every believer, especially in my Country, need to ask ourselves – are we turning around His investment in us? What are you doing with that job/business you have? Are you taking control for Christ establishing His government instead of the devil’s agenda or are you driven by personal ambition? To occupy is not to become a problem to the establishment but to take over ‘in the Spirit’ so that the God unto whom we are yielded is then in charge and this manifest in the physical. The bible tells us that our warfare and the weapons thereof are not carnal. We don’t force people to accept our faith, we let them hear about and experience it and then leave them to respond. When we occupy, God is in charge. Remember Naaman’s maid? She was not the boss but was in charge spiritually in the home where she served yet she did not seek to nor have to overthrow her boss to be in charge. She knew who she was and ensured that satan was not allowed to reign in her sphere of influence. She knew that though she was a maid, God had entrusted her with destinies of people and she was determined not to fail. Who is in charge in your area of influence? Some believers just want to be righteous and not ‘occupy’, that is dangerous; for their fate may be that of the servant in the parable who did nothing with the money he was given and had a problem with Christ.

Luke 19: 20 -22 “But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with . . . you wicked servant! The king roared. Your own words condemn you . . . then the king ordered, take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.”

Esther almost suffered the same faith as the servant who lost all his money but for Mordecai. Initially, although she remained righteous and Jewish in the Kings palace, she did not ‘occupy’. It was not until her uncle reminded her of the reason God put her in the palace that she remembered she there ultimately for the establishment of God’s purpose. She had forgotten that she was more than just a wonderful wife and bearer of children but that she had the destiny of a people/nation in her hands. She was there as God’s battle axe to ‘occupy’. It is never too late to start as long as one starts. Esther had been in the palace for a while but she finally occupied. We fight to occupy on our knees and in the place of prayer as we prepare for the responsibilities that will follow in the physical. We will be required to do something as Esther and her people were required to act. Please listen for instructions from the Holy Spirit and obey. God wants to through us take over wherever we are; indeed that is why you are there. You can’t take charge physically when you are not in charge spiritually. Remember that the spiritual is more real than the physical. What one has not gotten in the spirit, they cannot own in the physical. Is Christ government enthroned in your life? You can’t enthrone that government if It is not enthroned in your life. Don’t just impose; take it in the spirit so that it comes easily in the physical.

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