This morning the Holy Spirit in my communion time with Him, spoke about greater manifestations of the glory of the Lord coming to reality. He spoke of an impending awakening of the hearts of men to the realization of righteousness and what that means in real terms.
Jesus is the King of righteousness and loved and still loves righteousness which is one of the foundations of His throne. His love for righteousness caused the Father to anoint Him with the oil of gladness more than his companions.
In Hebrews.1:8 & 9 it reads these words: ” But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A Scepter of righteousness is the Scepter of Your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
The Holy Spirit pointed out to me the importance of us being found walking in the righteousness of Jesus in this season as opposed to our own righteousness. You ask, am I not supposed to walk in obedience to the laws of God and be righteous, so what do you mean by saying not walking in your own righteousness? First let me remind you of the words of Peter in the house of Cornelius in Acts.10.
These words were spoken after the Lord had given Peter a trance where He pointed out that Peter should not call what God had made clean, unclean. Then the Holy Spirit spoke clearly to Peter to go with the men who had come to him without doubting. Let us look at the words of Peter in Acts.10:34 & 35 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. 35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
God accepted Cornelius as righteous because he worked righteousness and feared God.
However Peter would never have accepted Cornelius was righteous. This is because he was not a jew. Just look at what the Holy Spirit needed to do to get Peter to go to the house of his brother in the Lord and share the truth with him. This is what the Holy Spirit is pointing out this morning that needs to be changed in our thinking particularly at this time when the Lord wants to demonstrate His power in the Nations and raise a righteous nation of faith keepers.
There was a repeat of this situation when in Acts.9:11-14 Ananias is invited by Jesus to visit Paul. So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.” 13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
When I first saw this situation with Ananias I asked the Holy Spirit why did ananias ask questions and rehearse to Jesus what Paul had done when he was sure in the vision that it was Jesus speaking to him. Was he not confident that Jesus was aware of the situation with Paul and would be setting a trap for him to walk into to cause him harm. I realized that we can be praying about issues and because things seem to be worsening we believe God will not save us and we are on our own and need to watch our backs.
The havoc Paul had caused forced Ananias to limit his trust in the Lord’s ability to solve situations because Paul’s evil works were treacherous and seemingly unrelenting. God was not acting quickly enough to save His children. Jesus ignores his complaints and orders him to go minister to His chosen vessel Paul who would stand up for Jesus before even higher people and not flinch and become the voice of Jesus to Gentiles.
We need to watch ourselves and make sure we are not measuring Jesus’s ability on our prejudices but allow His righteousness to change men and prepare them for service which He is a Master at doing.
I pray that today as you hear these words you will find grace to examine your life and correct any biases you have left that could rob you of the blessings of the Kingdom of Jesus because you believe the Holy Spirit is not big enough to have you covered and you need to maintain your own defenses.
May you find the necessary grace that enables you in these words, as was with Peter and Ananiais to complete the task for Jesus and gain the results of being faithful to the Master’s mission. May your heart be found tender enough to submit to the plan of the Holy Spirit and bring about the move of the Holy Spirit in regions where you never dreamt possible.
I recall a lady minister and her husband in a church I attended asking me that they wanted a move of God and wanted agreement in prayer because I had a call to Nations. When I asked her if God asked or required you to go to India or Nigeria for this to happen would you be willing to go.
She flatly said no so I said to her you really don’t want to participate in what God is doing but want God to create a move of the Spirit in your comfort zone in the UK or USA. The God I serve does not do that for anybody. They never got it and left the ministry pursuit.
May your hearts be willing to say wherever you lead Lord I will follow because my life is hidden in God with Christ. Meaning the only life I can live is the one prepared for me by God and just see how far your life will explore and conquer for the name of Jesus in Nations and the inheritance you will partake of ,all for the glory of Jesus’s name. Amen.