“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5
When they asked the great artist, Michaelangelo, about his masterpiece David, he said, “The image was always there, all I did was remove some debris to discover it.” In general, when men of God come face to face with their calling they become intimidated by the great responsibility that is being entrusted to them. Their initial reaction is often, “I’m sure there are others out there better suited for the job.” This was Moses’ reaction when God called him to liberate the people of Israel from the oppression of the Egyptians. Immediately he questioned, “Who am I?”
Another example of this was Jeremiah, who felt he was only a child, unable to do the work of God. Paul said, “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10).
God always relies on the human element to fulfill His purpose on Earth. When the Lord Jesus was here He chose twelve men whom He called Apostles. In them He invested a major part of His ministry life, and later He sent them to continue the mission of redemption that He had begun. Although, Jesus could have invested His life in the multitudes, He did not. Instead, He preferred to work diligently in forming the character of twelve people who were completely different from one another. Just like a potter with clay, for three and a half years Jesus molded the character of each one of them. And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22b) How was the Lord Jesus able to achieve this with those twelve people? They lacked culture awareness, had no education, very little money or social status, but he managed to convert them into the pillars of Christianity. The answer is simple, these people responded to the calling of God and they were willing to be molded by Him in order to be sent into the world.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
In the early days of our church, we saw many people come into the church but they left almost right away. During this time God opened my eyes, speaking to me very clearly. Although we were winning people for Jesus, it was difficult to affirm their faith in God. This went on until the Lord revealed to me the principle of the Government of Twelve and we began applying it in our congregation. This later became a model that many churches, all over the World, started to implement. I understood that if we did not follow-up every person who made a decision to become a Christian, all our work would be in vain. Understanding this gave us a focus and we were able to start working with a purpose. At the same time, God brought people alongside us who had the same heart and they rose up to become the leaders that the Lord has chosen for such a time as this; with them we have formed a united team, working as one.
TODAY’S DECLARATION
“I am an instrument in the hands of God to impact this generation.”
Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Two.
TODAY’S BIBLE READING
Our Bible Reading Plan gives 25 daily readings per month. There is no scheduled reading for today. You can use this time to catch up on any readings you may have missed, or read through previous passages again.
