COMMUNICATION: BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
The Lord Jesus stated in the scriptures,
"Give to Ceaser what is Ceaser's, and give to God what is God's." (Luke 20:25)
In that context, Ceaser represents humanity while God symbolizes Divinity. So how does it apply to communication? One can see communication as a balance with pans hanging from either side of the beam. Divinity sits on one pan. Humanity sits on the other. God's purpose in the life of the believer may be jeopardized inadvertently unless the balance of communication is adjusted. God may see the need to adjust the balance to whatever point or degree that He deems appropriate. The appropriate degree will most likely prove conducive to the accomplishment of God's purpose. The degree that He may adjust it to will most likely justify the calling of the believer. God reserves the right to orchestrate the events in your life as a way of adjusting the balance of your communication. If and when those events are orchestrated, you might discover that the desire or tendency towards communication with Divinity seems more pleasurable and overwhelming with each passing day. This may be God's attempt to make you come into His presence often and often so that He can work on you. Keep in mind, a child of God is born but a man of God is made; and it takes time to grow from spiritual babe into spiritual maturity. For just as humans will not give a man's job to boys, likewise the heavenly Father will not commit a ministry or task that requires spiritual maturity to a spiritual babe.
Somewhere along the line, you may discover that your relationship with others is getting somehow less vibrant while the communication line between you and God is almost very busy. You may discover that you tend to desire your privacy more and more, not for any other reason other than that you just want to put yourself in a position whereby God, through His Spirit, can do as He would on you. You may realize that you tend to be willing to foster an environment that is conducive for His Spirit to move than an average person think you should. Don't mistake it for a psychological disorder. NO, you are neither sick nor insane. Try not to get carried away by acclaimed conclusions people leap to about human behaviour. Some of the conclusions reached by seemingly reliable intellectual sources tend to be stereotypical; hence, they are often erroneous. Rather, let the Spirit of God be your guide. Ask the Father to open your eyes of understanding. You have the Holy Spirit to teach you all things. You will receive tips and confirmation from the Spirit as He works through you. Keep in mind, there is no confusion in God's business. If your supposed 'weird' pattern of behaviour has its origin in the leading of the Holy Spirit, He will find means of tipping you off. In this way, confusion will be eliminated. "For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." (1 Corinthians 14:33)"
"But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things........ But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing each you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him." (I John 2:20,27)
"Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit." (I John 4:13)
"..........And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit in truth,........ If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater:......." (I John 5:6,9)
No one is saying that it is bad to have communication with others. Communication with fellow human beings is an integral of life. But come to think of it: if everyone accepts you at all times, your communication may be solely with flesh and blood. Communication with the Heavenly Father may suffer an appreciable degree of neglect. As the reality of the need of commune with fellow humans becomes quite overwhelming, the importance of communing with the Father sometimes sinks into oblivion. If and when this happens, it may not be in the best interest of the believer (even though an average person may not see anything wrong, after all human beings are social animal). A believer with a calling and a ministry should be prepared to allow God to have his way at all times.
It's not just the kind of person that others think or want you to be. Conforming to the image of the kind of person God wants you to be is very important. Don't let it surprise you if you one day realize that He has been orchestrating the circumstances / events in your life to achieve this end. This is due to the fact God's purpose in your life is somehow hard to accomplish unless He gets you to conform to the image that is acceptable in His eyes. When we attain the status of God's acceptable image, then do we become the kind of person that can duly fulfill the work of the ministry. I believe the following scriptures will serve as eye-opener to the points stated thus far.
"The Sovereign LORD has taught me what to say, so that I can strengthen the weary. Every morning He makes me eager to hear what He is going to teach me. The LORD has given me understanding, and I have not rebelled or turned away from Him." (Isaiah 50:4-5)
"Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert........ Then Jesus returned to Galilee, and the power of the Holy Spirit was with him. (Not much of a surprise) The news about him spread throughout all that territory. He taught in the synagogues and was praised by everyone." (Luke 4:1,14-15)
God bless
FURTHERMORE
Over the years, many have come to realize that there is a difference between speaking and communicating. Take Philip for example. He wasn’t just a good speaker; he was a good communicator. With the Lord’s help, he wasn’t just talking for the sake of talking. You can read something and not fully understand what it means. You can hear something and not fully understand the actual meaning being conveyed. Unless a person understands what is being stated, it is practically impossible to embark on the appropriate / proper line of action. Here is the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.
25 After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News to them, too. 26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, "Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27 So he did, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and walk along beside the carriage." 30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah; so he asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
31 The man replied, "How can I, when there is no one to instruct me?" And he begged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him (Acts 8:25-31 New Living Translation - NLT)
Philip completed another page in the fulfillment of his destined purpose on earth by pointing out the ‘diamond in the rough’ in the scripture that the official was reading. Even though he was referring to someone else, Isaiah (the author of the passage) used a literary style that involved using a third person singular (He) in a narrative context.
32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 33 He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth (Acts 8:32-33 NLT)"
With that kind of writing style, nothing in the passage can be considered as obvious as they might have seem at first. Hence, it is subject to numerous interpretations. That was where Philip came in.
34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Was Isaiah talking about himself or someone else?" 35 So Philip began with this same Scripture and then used many others to tell him the Good News about Jesus (Acts 8:34-35 NLT).
When the apostle explained to him the in depth meaning / connotation of the passage, the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ had such a profound effect on the eunuch at the end of the day, he went home rejoicing.
36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "Look! There's some water! Why can't I be baptized?" (37* Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.") 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:36-39 NLT).
A good number of times, a person may not realize the value of something until / unless someone open the eyes of understanding. What is often construed as nonchalance is, in actual fact, ignorance. When the Lord wants to use you to reach out to someone, avoid holding back on Him. You know why some folks readily leap in obedience to the Lord like Philip did? A good reason is that you may not be aware of the stage the individuals being led to are in their lives. You may assume one thing only to find out afterwards that it is something else. What seems so clear to one person may not be so obvious to the other person. Watch the tendency to assume that you know what page they are on in life. It’s quite easy to read one’s autobiography into the lives of others. Keep in mind that individual lives and circumstances can be as unique as the fingerprints. For Philip, it’s just another day in the office. I mean, he does this every time. Same old evangelical routine, it may seem to him. Reaching out to people is nothing new for the apostle. But for the eunuch, it is a whole new world of experience that left such an exhilarating and lasting effect on him. He is a high-ranking official from Ethiopia. Many theologians believed that the experience he had that day contributed immensely to the propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in his homeland. Through the ministry of a child of the God, the Lord can chart a new territory, and gain a foothold in seemingly impossible or difficult places. Philip’s deed that day was not that elaborate. From some people’s viewpoint, it’s trivial. But it is quite significant in accomplishing the Lord’s purpose. His little deed is an integral part of God’s grand design. A little spark can cause a loud explosion.
God bless.
Yours
Adekunle O. Majek'
H I A F E M
Of impact, quality and excellence
That's the Spirit!
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