Open Heavens August 20, 2008

BIBLE IN A YEAR: Acts 3-5

I KNOW YOUR WORKS

MEMORIZE: "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;" (Colossians 1:10)

READ: Revelation 3:1-6

In Revelations 3:1, Jesus says, ‘I know thy works’. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 says a day is coming when believers’ works will be revealed by fire. Never consider yourself clever if God chooses not to reveal all your secrets in your life time. Whatever is not revealed now, will be revealed in Heaven. Matthew 10:26 says there is no permanent cover for wrong doing. Sooner or later, whatever somebody is hiding will come to light. However, it is better if one’s secrets and shortcomings are exposed on earth, because after life, there is no room for amendment or repentance. In 1983, the number of ministers in the RCCG were quite few. One day, a man came to me and said that he had been in the church ever before I joined yet he had not been ordained a full pastor. I replied that it is God that chooses, not I. Then he asked me to tell God that he has been on the waiting list for years. When he left, the Lord asked me to ordain him even though he was a thief, a habitual adulterer, and still indulged in other sins. Shocked, I asked God, “How can I ordain such a fellow?” “And He replied, ‘So that he will have no excuse on the day of judgement’. A few months after his ordination, he died and went to face God with the title of ‘Pastor’.

A day is coming when there will be no room to manoeuvre. Everything will come to public glare. How are your works today? Can they endure God’s fiery test? Or will they be completely burnt? John 4:34 records this unbeatable loyalty concerning our Lord: “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work”. Wherever the Lord sends you to work - a department, parish or mission field, you should consider that assignment more important than your necessary food. John 9:4 says the time you have to perform any heavenly task on earth is limited and uncertain. You do not know when God will ask you to stop. Do the work with all your heart and strength. You must do it as if you have only today left. Many are not working for the One who employed them. They are working for themselves. If you are the focus of your labor - what or how much you can benefit from it -financially, materially, positionally, you are working for yourself, not God. Your reward will be limited to earth. Today, church leaders strive to meet set targets not because they want to move God’s Kingdom forward, but because they want to be promoted. Several churches have been planted just because someone is targeting promotion or finds it difficult to be under someone else. Jesus says He knows your works. Why are you doing what you are doing?

 ACTIONPOINT: Ordination kills some, pegs the growth of some, turns some into anointed sinners, but renews the strength of others for service. Your spiritual location before ordination determines what it does to you.