Scripture: Ephesians 4 v 11 - 15: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:"
We are a work that is in constant progress. When we become born again we become as clay in the Potter's hands. The thing is......what will He form out of the clay?
He needs supple and yielded clay not stiff, dry, hard matter, so He applies the oil to soften it. In real terms we need the oil of the Holy Spirit to break down our resistance to change. We know we need change but with the business of life its often inconvenient to accomplish it.
To accelerate us out of resistance to change the Lord starts fires of Revival in places far and wide. The Lord is seeking hungry hearts to pour out His fragrant oil to draw them deeper into His Kingdom. And the Saints were changed and improved in double-quick time by the Holy Spirit.
The testimonies of salvation, healing, deliverance coming out of the American campuses are exciting and uplifting to those receiving them. It certainly propelled Donald Trump to a landslide election victory this month.
Many times the Lord has to extricate us out of wrong teachings, false doctrines, bad relationships or idolatry, things that have warped our knowledge of Almighty God. He will use whatever means to bring us to the correct understanding of His Word and His love for us. The more we yield to that love the quicker our spiritual growth will be.
Love means speaking the truth in order to change someone's wrong perceptions or some lie they believe to be true. Matthew 6 v 22 - 23: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"
If, before you met Jesus, you were subject to a false religion with a foreign God whom you were taught was the same God as all religions have - you would have been walking in double darkness. If you are deceived you are in darkness. If in that deception you believe lies to be truth - how great is that darkness!
Everything you know is tainted and needs to be totally discarded. Paul counted everything he learned as a Pharisee as dung, threw it all out, in order to have a clear and true understanding of who Jesus is.
The whole world consists of those who are sinners or not yet born again believers. John 3 v 3: "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Whenever Jesus says Verily, verily, or truly, truly, He is emphasizing the importance of what He is saying.
The Saints are not dead people you pray to for protection or help. The Saints are those who are born again. Whether alive on Earth or in Heaven. It's the only way to truly know God and His Kingdom. The Roman Catholic Church which is founded on the old Babylonian religion and blended with Christianity, changed praying to multiple gods into praying to multiple "saints" for help. Jesus said, Pray to the Father in My name. So let's do that rather.
We are being perfected to achieve unity of Faith. Right now there is much division in the Body of Christ because of false doctrines that bring confusion and doubt, controversy and arguments. The Apostasy that precedes the manifestation of the Antichrist - Satan masquerading as a Man - is causing people to fall away from the Church. Has the Father started this revival to bring them back to Himself? It's the desire of His heart.
The work of the ministry needs to be defined by yielded members to perfect the saints until they come into the full stature of Jesus Christ. We are being changed into His likeness. To follow Him is to desire to be like Him. It takes commitment, discipline, submission and determination. It takes time away from recreational pastimes while putting Jesus first.
Luke 4 v 18 - 19: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
This is what perfected saints must do using the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be obedient to the will of God. Let us be about our Father's business of gathering the souls and changing their eternal destination.
Let us at least start checking our spiritual bearings to make sure we are complying with all Jesus wants us to do. Put Him first, ask Him permission to do things which may compromise our integrity. Be obedient without grumbling. Love, give, pray, go the extra mile, turn the other cheek.
Prayer: Heavenly Father Your patience with us is amazing, and we are very grateful for Your kindness and mercy. We yield ourselves to being made perfect so we can be like Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit please change us now. In Jesus' name. Amen.