Hello! A blessed and refreshing day to you my dearly beloved! I welcome you to ARISE devotional for today, Sunday the 19th of February 2023 on the platform of the Builders Forum. My name is Abraham Olufemi Ojeme
Today is the sixth day and conclusion of our devotional series for this week with the topic;
UNDERSTANDING THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ELECTION OF GRACE
Let me recapitulate on our journey thus far since the beginning of the week.
- The election of grace is a divine selection purely on the platform of grace.
- Redemption, which is man’s greatest asset in life is a product of the election of grace.
- The election of grace is absolutely the prerogative of God on the basis of His sovereignty.
- Along with all the privileges that go with the election of grace, also comes several responsibilities.
- These responsibilities include the assignment of the believer as an ambassador for Christ.
- By these assignments, you cannot afford to be indifferent to issues and must therefore be observant.
- We have looked at some of the issues to be observant about and these include character, capacity, competence, pedigree, empathy and precedence.
Rom. 11:5 has been our running scriptural text.
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
We have affirmed that the election of grace, far above the blessings, confers on the believer the responsibility of choices.
And because of the responsibility of being an ambassador for Christ, it places the demand of taking a stand for God here on earth on you.
We have been focusing on leadership and governance in the land.
Leadership and governance, for the believer, is much more than position and status, it is being responsible for the destiny of people within a region or nation.
Take a listen to Ps. 115:16 and please permit me to read TPT.
(TPT) The heavens belong to our God; they are his alone, but he has given us the earth and put us in charge.
While your ultimate desire is to make heaven with the Lord Jesus, don’t ever forget that your being on earth at a time like this is to be in charge for God.
The struggles and the cares of this world often make the believer to forget that redemptive responsibility.
That is why you as a believer, you cannot afford to be indifferent to the happenings in this world, particularly as it concerns your nation or location.
Since the beginning of the week, we have looked at some requirements that will enable you as a believer to carry out this responsibility, particularly in this time of electioneering and leadership selection in the nation.
Please listen again and again to the earlier editions of the week. Hallelujah!
Since the beginning of the week, we have been looking at the things to look out for in leadership and governance, but today, we want to conclude by beaming the light on ourselves.
This is why I opined that we cannot be satisfied with expecting people to vote their conscience.
It takes a particular kind of conscience to vote right and everybody doesn’t have that kind of conscience.
I therefore feel obliged to educate you on the kind of conscience that will do the will of God when it comes to decisions on leadership and governance.
That kind of conscience is what the Bible refers to as a good conscience.
Take a listen to 1 Tim. 1:19 and please permit me to read the AMP translation.
“keeping your faith [leaning completely on God with absolute trust and confidence in His guidance] and having a good conscience; for some [people] have rejected [their moral compass] and have made a shipwreck of their faith.”
The Bible refers to a good conscience as the moral compass of the believer.
So, all the criteria we have listed out since the beginning of the week for making a decision on leadership and governance will be futile without the believer having a good conscience.
Without a good conscience, your decision is already faulty because you cannot even stand for God.
So in concluding our devotional this week, the focus is not on the choice of a national leader but on you that is going to make the choice.
If you have to make the correct choice on the behalf of God, there is a conscience responsibility placed on you.
Because a good conscience is an inherent virtue, it is only you that will know first hand, wether you have it or not.
It therefore behoves you to ascertain that you have a good conscience.
The scripture places the responsibility of self examination on you according to 2 Cor. 13:5 and please permit me to read the AMPC translation.
“Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves [not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you–unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?”
This is the first examination you must do before ever trying to examine someone else.
Until you have done this one examination all other examinations are irrelevant.
However, if this examination will be thorough, you must be ready to use the word of God as your absolute standard.
You must be ready to use the word as your mirror in EVERYTHING.
Take a listen to Jam. 1:22-25 and please permit me to read TPT.
22 Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let his Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life!
23 If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you become like the person who looks in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face in the beginning.
24 You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin.
25 But those who set their gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty are fascinated by and respond to the truth they hear and are strengthened by it—they experience God’s blessing in all that they do!
This is not a counsel. It is an instruction; it is a command.
My dear, that is your assignment for this weekend.
Don’t tell me how many times you have done this before. Do it again.
Self appraisal is not a once and for all thing. It is an again and again thing.
So my friend, settle down this weekend and beam the light of the word on every area of your life.
That is a much needed exercise in the time a we have found ourselves.
Listen to the scripture in 1 Jn. 3:3.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
You will discover that, this exercise of consistent self examination is not only for the purpose of making a good decision in choosing the right leaders but much more for your own heavenly race as a believer.
This understanding will sure help your commitment to this exercise my dear friend.
I therefore commend you unto God and His word that will make you a better Christian and citizen of the nation where you are resident. Hallelujah!
Please be reminded that WISDOM FOR THE MARKET PLACE, our entrepreneurial empowerment program goes live later today at 8am(WAT). See you there!
Please let me pray for you.
- I pray for a revival to spring forth in your soul today.
- I take authority over every spirit of deception.
- Begin to see yourself exactly as God sees you.
- I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes of understanding today.
- May the light of the word of God shatter every darkness in your life.
- Whatever has been robbing you of the blessings of the election of grace gives way today.
- Be renewed in the spirit of your mind for a new perspective in Christ Jesus.
- Receive fresh grace to let ago whatever is polluting your conscience.
- By the help of the Holy Spirit, begin to live a life of good and pure conscience today.
Welcome to a new world by the word. Congratulations. Amen and amen. Peace!
